Dale’s wife vetoed all of his best excuses.
“Who’s going to finish the spraying if Jeff and I are both away all weekend?”
“Mark. That’s why we hired him. You’ve trained him well. He’ll be fine,” Donna answered.
“What about the dog? We can’t leave Buddy in the yard alone for three days.”
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“Your Dad can drive out and check on Buddy,” Donna said. “Ed likes to have something to do.”
“What if I just plain don’t want to go?” Dale tried.
Donna laughed.
“We’re going to Amy’s wedding, Dale,” she said. “Her parents wouldn’t miss our kids’ weddings.”
“Of course not,” Dale agreed. “Carl would drive all the way to Washington if he thought he could get a free meal there.” Dale had never hit if off with Donna’s cousin Sherri and her husband Carl.
“He’s the cheapest guy I’ve ever met,” Dale said. “Remember when we stayed with them and he took me grocery shopping? He wouldn’t use a twist tie on the bag of onions. Said it would weigh less and be cheaper if he tied a knot in the bag.”
“He was kidding,” Donna said.
“He wasn’t kidding at the checkout counter, when he said he forgot his wallet.” Dale was still irritated by the memory. “I’m surprised he’s not charging us by the plate to go to his kid’s wedding. We’ll probably get a bill in the mail with the thank-you card afterwards.”
“Look Dale, Sherri’s my favourite cousin. Her daughter’s getting married, and we’re going. If we leave by
10 a.m. tomorrow, we can have lunch in Fort Qu’Appelle and get to Melville in time for the ceremony at 2 p.m.”
“Driving all the way to Melville,” Dale muttered under his breath. “Can’t even see anything up there. All the trees get in the way of the view.”
On Saturday morning, the Hansons were ready to pile into daughter-in-law Elaine’s SUV for the trip. “Looks like a nice day for a drive, anyway,” Dale said.
“I don’t know, they’re talking about rain,” Donna said.
“Those clouds won’t amount to much,” Dale said.
“Do you mind driving, Dad?” Dale’s son Jeff asked. “Elaine wants to sit in the back with the kids, and I was up at 4:30 this morning to go spraying.”
So Dale drove, Donna rode in the passenger seat, and Jeff, Elaine, their five-year-old, Connor and their toddler, Jenny, climbed into the back. “I feel like a kid again,” Jeff joked.
The clouds on the horizon moved closer and turned darker, but still the Hansons were a few minutes ahead of schedule, until about 30 miles from Fort Qu’Appelle, when Dale slowed and made a right turn onto a narrow grid road.
“What are you doing?” Donna asked.
“I’m just going to take a look at a combine header on a farm over here. It’s up for auction in a couple of weeks, and I want to see if it’s worth making a bid on.”
“For crying out loud,” Donna said. “Do you have to do that today? Just for once, can’t we take a trip off the farm and behave like normal people?”
“Might as well get some value out of this weekend.”
“Are you sure this is the right road? I don’t want to get stuck out here when it starts raining. Look at those clouds.”
“Of course it’s the right road,” Dale said, noticing that the road did look a little less-travelled than he’d expected. “And it’s not going to rain.”
Donna was quiet, looking at the ungraded road and watching the sky darken.
Jenny was making noises in the back.
“Jeff, wake up,” Elaine said urgently. “Where’d you put the diaper bag?”
“In the hallway,” Jeff said, groggily. “Next to your purse.”
“Oh no,” Elaine said.
“We can stop for diapers in Fort Qu’Appelle,” Jeff said.
Dale was about to tell his daughter-in-law they’d be there soon when a noxious wave of smell rolled into the front.
“What have you been feeding that kid?” Dale shouted.
“Sorry everyone,” Elaine called.
“Let’s get back to the highway,” Donna said.
“We’re almost there,” Dale said. “And after smelling this smell, our lunch stop will be a lot shorter.”
The first drops of rain started to hit the window.
“These clouds are so dark, you’re not going to be able to see the header,” Donna said.
“It’s just a shower,” Dale said.
The drops got bigger. Thunder boomed, closer than Dale had expected.
“Why is the rain so loud?” Connor asked. “I don’t like it.”
“Summer storms whip up fast, but they pass over right away,” Dale said.
They came to a crossroads, and the grid road ahead was even narrower.
The rain beating on the car drowned out Connor’s next questions.
The rain turned to hail. Pea-sized, then raspberry-sized, then the size of cherries. Dale pulled over to the side of the road.
“Is this safe?” Elaine yelled.
“Probably,” Donna answered. “Nobody’s been on this road since 1975.”
Dale kept quiet. He couldn’t admit he was likely on the wrong road. Then there was a sudden thud and the SUV jerked ahead.
There were lights behind them. A truck had nudged the Hansons’ bumper.
“This is like a horror movie,” Elaine said.
“It’s just another farmer,” Dale said, wishing he believed what he was telling her, and also that he hadn’t stayed up late to watch “The Shining” last week.
Hail kept pounding the car, and the Hansons waited and worried.
Finally, the hail stopped. It was still raining, but not the way it had been.
“It’s not so scary!” Connor said. “But it still smells.”
A knock on his window made Dale jump. He prepared for the worst, fingering the phone in his pocket, wondering if he should dial 911. He couldn’t get a good look at the man standing outside in the storm, but he looked big.
Dale hoped Donna couldn’t see his hand shaking as he lowered the window.
Then a friendly-looking man in a BASF cap stuck his head in, took a whiff of the rank, humid air inside and leaned back out into the rain.
“Sorry. Didn’t see you stopped here, and rolled right into your bumper. Don’t think there’s any damage.”
Dale let down his guard.
“Maybe you could help me,” the man went on. “I’m not from here. I’m trying to find the Samuels’ place to take a look at his combine header before the auction.”
The Hansons laughed out loud. Connor and Jenny too, although they weren’t sure what was funny. The man outside looked confused.
“I’m headed there too,” Dale explained.
“Hope you’re not in as much trouble as me,” the man said. “We’re on our way to a family reunion, and this cattle trail is putting us behind schedule.”
Soon they’d finished talking about the machinery up for grabs at the auction sale, and the man went back to his truck. Dale gave Donna a look that said, “See, I was right,” and she shot back with her long-used, “What can you do with a farmer?” look. Dale put the SUV in drive and got his family back on the road.
