Chapter 8 – Storm #5
“I know. I’m glad you’re not focused on race, just don’t forget.
Most people either ignore us or mistreat us.
We’re humans, too . . . all the same emotions, hopes, dreams. But, getting back to us, it’s not like we planned last night — you’ve got to admit that.
I’m not sorry — far from it. I think we’d have gotten there on our own — ‘eventually.’ So, this — we — can be a positive. You see that, right?”
“I’ll consider it. For now. And I’ll get dressed.
Would you make me a mug of coffee?” Grace put her feet on the floor and stood naked beside the bed, looking for the buffalo plaid shirt.
Robby sighed, turned, and walked toward the coffee.
Then he remembered. He’d taken her shirt off last night on the other side of the shelves, near the woodstove.
He turned back to watch her look for it.
************
Intense debris clean-up was needed just so people could move around.
The storm didn’t cut a wide enough swath of destruction to qualify as a derecho, but to those within the damage area, the distinction was irrelevant.
The pandemic actually helped by cutting down on the number of tourists on a big holiday weekend, so there were fewer injuries.
But there was willing help. From lodge owners to residents to vacationers, no one could go anywhere, which made everyone all the more desperate to move.
Weeks would pass before all the work and repairs were completed, but within a few days the Trail was drivable, and basic services were restored.
By late morning Sunday, the rain had stopped.
Clouds were racing to the east, leaving blue sky and chilly temperatures.
Grace and Robby were on the porch righting the furniture when they heard the whir of a chainsaw nearby.
A short while later Billy appeared, wading through the pine boughs and birch branches in his boots, chainsaw in hand.
“Hi ya! How’d it go down here?” He was grinning.
Robby opened the screen door. “Better than expected.” Billy chuckled and Grace couldn’t see Robby’s face. “You got time for coffee?”
“You betcha.”
Robby added wood to the stove, and the three of them sat around the table drinking coffee and dunking stale molasses cookies. Robby looked at Grace, holding half a molasses cookie, chewing the other half. “How did I not know about this? It’s good.”
“I only discovered it by accident. I love ginger snaps. When I couldn’t find any up here spicy enough, these were recommended. The first time I opened a package — at night after supper — somebody put them in the refrigerator, open. The next morning, they were hard as rocks. Voila.”
“Well, it’s soon to be all over Grand Marais and the rez. Food news travels fast.” He turned to Billy. “How’s my cabin?”
“Fine, except for the birch tree that fell on it.” Robby frowned, and Billy hurried to add, “Not a big one. Took out the front screened door. Maybe some roof damage. Good you moved your truck, though. How’d the truck do?”
“I haven’t been out to look at it. When we finish our coffee . . .”
“Sure. Then, I’ll get going. I’ve got to check all the cabins to be sure we have no injuries and take photographs for insurance. This place looks good. I’ll need to eyeball the roof. Anything else you guys know of?”
“Not for insurance,” Grace pointed to one of the high windows, “but that window leaked down the right side.”
“Something cracked that one.” Robby pointed behind Grace. “Probably hail. And lots of blown out screens.”
“Okay, I’ll get all that from outside.” He looked over at Robby. “You ready? I gotta go.”
Robby finished his coffee and stood up. “Does Jim have an extra chainsaw? I’d like to help.”
“I told him you’d say that. He said tell you three things.
First, you can’t use a chainsaw because he doesn’t want to get blamed for ending your career when you cut off a finger.
Second, don’t come near the lodge anytime soon because he doesn’t have time to fend off your fans.
And third, thanks for offering.” Billy grinned.
“Damn.”
“There’s plenty else needs doing. Put on those gloves and start clearing this end of the road.
Oh . . . something else . . . I’ll tow a canoe down later today or tomorrow morning, and you can go into Magnetic, maybe get out on the far side and look at the rapids.
See if you spot anything. Then, come back and go up the Canadian side of Gunflint.
No one’s going to mess with you now. Just make sure everything’s okay —no stranded tourists or lost watercraft.
I’ll try to get a canoe down here today.
I’ll put in extra rope, in case you need to tow something.
Don’t come up and get one, though. Jim’s got all he can handle right now.
He’s determined to have that Memorial Day barbecue tomorrow.
” Billy shook his head. “Nan’s already making potato salad and brownies. ”
“Yum. All right. I got it.”
Robby’s truck was fine. A few scratches, but nothing worth worrying about.
Billy looked at the cabin roof and smiled.
“Can check that off.” I’ll be down with a canoe as soon as I can.
If I don’t see you, I’ll leave it down there.
” He nodded toward the point. “I won’t come knocking.
” He laughed and walked away, saying something about “rock musicians.”
Robby removed several pine branches with his hands, then swept his arm across the hood of the truck and went in the side door.
Grace was still at the table but had pulled her laptop over and was typing.
He went over to the sink to wash his hands — tree sap, but when he turned the faucet handle, he remembered there was no electricity.
He couldn’t get sap on his guitar strings.
“Grace,” he said, turning around. She had her head tilted down looking at the screen in concentration.
She was sitting in the one ray of sunlight and her hair looked like burning embers.
For a moment, he couldn’t speak, then he said again, “Grace,” and she looked up.
He knew then, something had changed. He wasn’t sure what or what he would do about it, if anything, but he was conscious of a shift in his world.
“I need to get this sap off my hands, so I can play guitar. Do you have any nail polish remover or hand sanitizer?”
“I have both. Which do you want?” She stood up.
“I usually use polish remover.”
She was walking across the room. “So you get tree sap on your hands often on the rock ‘n’ roll road?” she teased, passing him.
“No,” he said lightly. “But polish remover takes off all kinds of things — super glue, Sharpie, scratches. I’ve used it lots of times. It’s usually around.”
“Really?” she said, coming back and handing him the bottle and some cotton pads. “I didn’t know musicians were in the habit of painting their nails.” She stood in front of him.
“They aren’t, usually — not guys, anyway,” he went on carefully, “but there are always girls around.”
“I can imagine, although I’d rather not.” She smiled and went back to the table.
Robby stood still a moment longer, then went back to the sink and worked on his hands.
When they were clean, he took the polish remover to the bathroom.
Then he moved a chair from the table nearer the woodstove and played for a long time.
Grace kept writing. After a while, she got up, stretched, went to the kitchen, and stood staring into the refrigerator.
When he came up behind her, she said, “We should have something out of here for lunch. Stuff’s going to start spoiling. ”
Robby put his hands on her shoulders and leaned down and kissed her neck. Grace let out a small gasp. “I’m not thinking about lunch right now.”
***************
They did get lunch eventually and saw Billy tow a canoe down and pull it up near the firepit. He looked up, saw them at the window, and waved. “Billy’s a good guy. How ‘bout you go with me to check Magnetic and up the Canadian shore?”
“Sure. I can get a look at those rapids.”
“It rained a lot. That changes things. We’ll paddle over there and take a look.”
Getting into Magnetic was easy. The rapids on the far side were another story.
They pulled the canoe up on the shore and walked as close to the water as possible beside the first set of rapids.
The water was rushing and so deep there were almost no rocks or boulders visible.
“They’re there though, and they’d come up incredibly fast.” They saw nothing they needed to retrieve.
Paddling back to Gunflint, they checked out a few unknown objects — one was a cooler.
They fished it out and put it in the canoe.
They turned east away from the lodge and went up the Canadian side, seeing nothing.
When they could see down to the lodge dock, only Billy was there, so they paddled down and delivered the cooler and an “all clear” report.
Then they paddled back to the point. “This is just about perfect.” Robby pulled the canoe up.
He grabbed Grace as she was walking away.
“No fair. You have an unusually long reach.” They kissed.
“You happy so far? Strings okay?” He held her.
“Yes. So far.”
******************
“I’ve got to go to Fond du Lac. See for myself if there’s anything I can do.
I’ve missed a lot of storms over the last sixteen years.
” They were in bed. It was Tuesday morning before the national lockdown the following Monday.
Grace was drifting back into a delicious sleep, her head resting on Robby’s chest.
But she opened her eyes. “When? For how long?”
He didn’t move, just answered, “The sooner I go, the sooner I can come back. I want to come back, but I need to check on things there. I don’t know how seriously the cops are going to enforce the ‘only essential persons on the road’ rule, and I don’t want to take a chance of getting stuck down there. ”
“I don’t want you to get stuck down there either.” She propped herself up on one elbow and looked at him. “Maybe this is a good thing.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m getting distracted and liking it.” She sat up. “When are you thinking you’ll leave?”
“Today.” Seeing her straighten, he said, “I can be back by Friday.”
She turned around and got out of bed. “Okay. Let’s get on with it.”