The House

By Dawn Natelle

Just cleaning up some plot lines here. The next chapter from me will be Monday, probably. The question is whether it will be The House or a solo I have running around in my brain: Dawn.

Chapter 24 – Updates

In the half year that it took Grey to completely heal the babies, a lot happened. In September there was a big discussion on where Dary would go to school. Since Earl had always made her keep her hair in a near brushcut, her hair was still under two inches long and she felt it still made her look like a boy, which it did, in spite of efforts to feminize it. On the other hand, the school in Tweed would be a new one to her, since she had previously gone to Belleville.

Willow insisted that her daughter would go to school, until Grey asked if home schooling could be an option. Willow considered this and it seemed ideal. There was a great deal of talent in the house: Sun had a Masters, John was a lawyer, Nora was a medical doctor, Lois had taught for years, and had been a supply teacher at Tweed until two years ago. Even Daisy could contribute since she had taught ballet and other forms of dance, although not recently. Grey didn’t have credentials, but he was a history nut, and felt he could help with that, as well as his nature walks.

So several days before classes were to start John, Willow, Dary, and Lois went to the Tweed school to speak with the principal, who naturally was reluctant to support home schooling. For one thing, her school was under utilized, and every additional student helped keep the school open.

“How can we be sure that Dary will get the proper education at home?” the principal said.

“Well Lois Smith was a teacher for 40 years, and supply taught until two years ago,” John explained. “If she was capable in the job then, she certainly will be able to handle a class of one now. And there are others in the house who will be able to help in other areas.”

The principal tried a different tack: “Yes, but it is important for a student to interact with others her age. Home schooling will not allow that kind of interaction.”

“That should not be a problem,” John countered. “Dary is joining the Ojibwe Junior Warriors in the girls section. She will attend weekly meetings, as well as three or so campout events. That will provide her with a regular interaction with peers. Are you familiar with the group?”

“Yes. Yes I am,” the principal said. The boys in the group had ended a bullying problem in the school in the spring, and she was hoping that they would be able to keep bullying down when school restarted. “They seem to be an extremely positive group.”

Finally the principal caved, and agreed to support the home schooling. She recommended that Willow buy copies of the texts used in the school, and that she write all tests and exams at the school. John negotiated this back to an agreement that Dary only write the final exams at the school. In June her hair should be at least six inches long.

There was also a bit of a disagreement over books. The school wanted Willow to pay the full list price for the books, but when the secretary brought them out, she seemed to have chosen the oldest and most tattered copy of each book. John objected, and said they would just buy new copies of each book if they had to pay full price for abused books. The secretary then made another check of the bookroom, and found nearly new books of almost all the needed texts. Only one book had to be bought from the publisher: it was a science text that would be replaced the next year, and no good copies remained. The principal was happy to get cash from the other books to augment her budget.

The end result was that Dary was to start school with Lois on the Tuesday morning after Labor Day. They would have one of the other people in the house teach her in the early afternoons, while Lois took her nap.

One of those classes was a science trip to the Grove with Grey, where she learned more about botany or biology than any of the students in Tweed would. John was an expert at math, and taught that subject. But he tended to use practical examples from the farm, such as calculating the area of the stables, or the cost of feed per animal for her chickens or the horses. Useful examples of that type made the subject meaningful and fun for her.

Even Sun’s babies were a part of the curriculum for her, with Dr. Nora teaching about human development with Flint and Mimihaha as subjects.

------- -- -----

During this period John had taken on another duty, while tending to the woods with Grey. He managed to get Sun’s diplomas from McMaster University reissued in her new name. The tricky part of this was to keep the changes confidential, since Sun’s old persona ‘Earl Dipsen’ was still remembered on campus. A threat of a massive lawsuit if the story leaked out tended to focus the Registrar’s office on keeping the change confidential.

A more difficult task was getting an identity built for Grey Wolf. The boy was now nearly 19, and had no social security number, no health card, no driver’s license, no birth certificate, and no Indian Status card.

Luckily John knew someone who worked in the provincial government’s Office of the Registrar General who agreed to slip in a birth certificate for Grey. From there is was easier to get the other cards re-issued, except for the driver’s license, which required a road test and a written test. The former was easy for Grey, who had been driving on the house property for over a year. The latter involved some study, and Lois organized some practice tests for him, so that he passed the test with a near perfect score.

By the end of the year Grey had a complete set of IDs, and no longer needed a driver to leave the house property.

------------

In early November Cindy and Dan made an announcement before the residents of the house. They were going to marry, in early December. When asked why they were rushing things so much, Cindy put her hand on her stomach, and noted that things were going to change down there, and she wanted to marry before things got too far along.

The news of one more baby coming into the house resulted in many congratulations and celebrations. Dr. Nora insisted that she do regular examinations, and Cindy also promised, rather satirically, not to take drugs during the pregnancy.

The decision also made for some changes in her career. The decision to marry and have a baby had been made after Cindy had been offered an assistant sergeant position with the OPP. Of course, that would mean a reposting to a northern Ontario detachment, and delaying motherhood for at least two years. Dan offered to go with her, knowing that his mother would be well looked after in the house. But after much deliberation, and several times holding little Flint or Mimihaha, Cindy decided not to opt for the promotion route, and take the alternative mommy path. She applied for making her Madoc detachment posting permanent, and warned the Sergeant there that she would soon be seeking a maternity leave.

In Canada there is a 17-week maternity benefit. For government/union positions, like the OPP, this is increased to a full year. Most women take maternity leave right after the birth of their child, opting to have a full first year with their child. Thanks to the women officers who came before her, Cindy was able to spend the final six months of her pregnancy in a desk job in Belleville. For the last six weeks, Dan drove her to Belleville and picked her up.

The wedding was scheduled for December 8, a Wednesday in 2004. The elder Flint told Dan that he would provide a pastor for the ceremony. Of course Cindy was less than happy with the lack of firm plans, but agreed to trust the spirit. The wedding would be in the Great Hall of the House, with all the furnishing other than chairs removed. It would be a martial marital ceremony, attended by the entire Madoc detachment, all in dress uniform including four other officers who had served there but since had taken transfers. Six officers from other detachments in the area agreed to patrol the Madoc coverage area so that all could attend.

Dan had six of his army buddies appear, also in full dress uniform. Grey was best man, and attended in traditional Ojibwe powwow garb. Willow was maid of honor, while Nora and Dary were bridesmaids. Cindy’s parents came, and her father ‘gave away’ the bride, with Lois sitting next to them, and Daisy in the honored spot of ‘grandmother’ of the couple.

Sun opted not to participate. She said she needed to look after her babies, but Grey suspected she did not want to be in photos where she towered over the bridesmaids, and even the groomsmen, which included Hawk, Frank from the store, and a friend of Dan’s from town.

On the Monday of that week Cindy’s parents arrived and were impressed by the house. They had gotten the impression that their daughter was living in some kind of First Nations commune. Daisy was a big part of allaying their fears, and by the end of the week Cindy’s mom was ready to move in. However her father was an OPP inspector out of London. He had opted for the promotion track in the force, and expected to have to move at least once more before his retirement.

The next day a Volkswagen Beetle from the 60s appeared at the house, fortuitously conking out only after it had pulled into the lane. Luckily Sun was in her shed, checking on work she had put off to be a mother. Grey had built her a two-seater papoose that allowed her to carry both babies on her back. She hoisted the device off, and set it on a hook on the mill wall, and then went over to see a skinny man about her age trying to push the Bug up the lane.

“Hop in, and I’ll push,” Cindy said, and the lanky fellow got back in and shifted into neutral. Sun easily pushed the car into the mill work area, and got the man to try to man to start the car as she looked at the engine (in the rear of the car).

“It needs a lot of work,” Sun said. “I can start on it tomorrow, but I think it will take four or five days, plus whatever time I need to get parts in. This one looks like fun.”

“Is this the Daisy House,” the man said. “I am Cooper Loneowl. Pastor Cooper Loneowl. I have been told to be here to perform a traditional wedding on Friday. Am I at the right house?’

“Of course you are. Didn’t Flint tell you that?” Sun said.

“Flint? You mean you know? I mean, he is just inside my head.”

“He’s in mine too, and Dan, the groom, as well as my brother. He’s been giving us updates on your progress. I don’t know if it was his work that kept this old bucket running till you got here, or if that was just dumb luck. Come on, let me get my babies and we’ll head to the house. Cindy has been going almost insane waiting for you to get here.”

On the way in Sun explained that Cindy was white, while Dan was First Nations, so the traditional Ojibwe wedding rituals would be secondary to the white traditions. In return Cooper said that Flint had made him bring everything he needed to the house.

“I trained first as a minister: Anglican,” he said. “The church told me they wanted First Nations pastors for the northern parts of Ontario. But Flint told me that I would not be accepted as a pastor unless I had other work to show I was not lazy. So I took a year to get to be accredited as an elementary teacher. Flint said I would be more appreciated working six days a week instead of only on Sundays. I finished my last student teaching session on Friday of last week, and then Flint sent me out here.”

“You might be needed here,” Sun said. “We have one student here, a girl in grade seven who is being home-schooled. Lois, the groom’s mother, is a former teacher, and until a few years ago was a supply teacher for the school in Tweed, just down the road. Dary is a bright young girl, and I think she exhausts Lois at times. If you want to stay on at the house after the wedding, I think you could take on some of the teaching chores.”

“And pastoring?”

“Lois and her friend Daisy, who owns the house, go to church in Tweed each Sunday. One of us drives them. The rest of us are lost souls that you might be able to convert, especially if you feature Ojibwe traditional teachings.”

---------

Even earlier in the year there had been a fall fair in Tweed in September. Daisy promised to feed and look after Grey that weekend as he recovered from a healing, allowing Dary to go to the fair with Cindy and Dan.

After a few rides and games, Dary discovered a pony ride area. There were 10 horses going around a rotating pole that had eight spokes on it. There were two ponies on two opposing poles, and one each on the others.

The man was charging $2 for a three-minute ride, and had children lined up waiting. At that rate he would be earning $300 each hour. Dary finally got to the front of the line when she saw one smaller pony stumble, and then start limping badly. “He is hurt,” the girl said, and ran over to the horse, stopping all the others from circling.

“Leave him be,” the man shouted angrily. “He’ll be fine. He’s just going for the attention.”

“I think not,” Cindy said, coming up to the man and stopping him from pulling Dary away.

“Your daughter is interfering with my business,” he protested, and probably would have pushed Cindy, had Dan not come closer.

“She is not my daughter,” Cindy said, and pulled out her badge. “I am with the OPP and I deem that you are mistreating these animals. How long have they been ridden today?”

“I started at 10. They got a break for a half hour as the parade came in, but since then we have been busy.”

“So seven hours with only a short break?” Cindy summed up. “Are they getting food and water?”

“I water them every other hour, mostly,” the man said. “They will be fed at the end of the day, probably around 9 when the little children leave the fair.”

“Okay, you have a choice,” the constable said. “From now to the end of the day you will run six horses at a time, and give the others an hour rest. With food. Rotate through them, so they ride for two hours and then rest for one. The injured horse comes with me. I will take one of your wagons, and return it in about an hour.”

“The other choice is that I will close you down completely, charge you with mistreating animals, and take you to Madoc to the station. That is the route I would prefer, but I see there are a lot of children in your line who would be disappointed not to ride a live pony.”

Dan got his truck, and brought it over to hook up the horse trailer. The pony limped in, and Dary rode in the back, comforting him as they drove back to the house. They got him out, and into the spare stall in the stable. Just having the bigger horses with him seemed to help the pony, although it was clear he was in pain.

Cindy had gotten the man’s itinerary and phoned the RCSPCA (Royal Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in all the future stops, warning them to check on him to see if he was following the guidelines she had set up.

Two weeks later Grey was well enough to sing his way into the horse, and heal the leg, which had a crack in the leg bone that normally would have cost the pony its life. But Grey was able to restore the pony to health, and a week later Dary was happily riding it around the property. The little fellow, which Dary named Tweed, seemed happy in his new life. He only had to please the little girl, instead of working for hours on end.

--------

The last big event of 2004 was Christmas. The babies stole the show, of course, receiving countless little wooden toys. Daddy Hawk had carved mobiles from spare bits of wood, one for each of the cribs he had built. Grey’s toy was even more impressive. It was a string of wooden ducks that, when pulled by a string, would waddle on uneven wheels, and occasionally turn a head and quack. Of course the infants were too small to pull it, but Dary wasn’t, and she led it around the babies as they sat on the floor, and both laughed uproariously at the sight. That made the day so much more pleasing to all.

Hawk had a special treat for Sun. He left right after lunch and returned an hour later. It was a backhoe tractor from the place he worked. He had traded 10 days of work for the old machine, which was completely seized up. But to Sun it was a glorious gift that would give her hours of enjoyment as she made it operational again.

And it was a gift to the house as well. Dan, Hawk, John, and Grey had been considering the need to expand the septic system. With more and more residents, it needed to be brought up to code. And when the men calculated out the amount of digging for the weeping bed, they realized it would be nearly a full-time task for the three of them (they all knew that Grey was not that useful with a spade.)

Dary had made Dreamcatchers for all the women, and a special one for Grey that had a moose, his spirit animal, in it. Most of the toys were handmade, but Dary scored with many dresses and other clothes bought for her. Daisy had made wooly mittens for most of the people, but the babies got small toques with earflaps to keep their tiny head warm outside, especially when they were outside with Sun, who finally had decided to let them stay with others in the house and not hanging on their papoose in the mill while she worked. She just went in to feed them, which was now every four hours or so.

Old George was thrilled to get mittens from Daisy, and other gifts from the family. He didn’t stint the others: he had made small trinkets using wire that he was still strong enough to work on the forge. Sun got some shelf holders with elaborate scrollwork sides. Willow and Nora got a baker’s rack for their kitchen. He had something for everyone.

Cooper was not missed. He received small trinkets as the newest member of the house. His gifts to others were sheets of parchment. The man was an excellent calligrapher, and his poems and saying were adored by all. Sun actually burst into tears reading hers, which was addressed to “Mother” and was a thank you note allegedly from her babies. It detailed all that she gave them, and finished with a last item “all the love in the world.”

In the afternoon Dary pulled herself away from the babies, and went to the stable. She had a big apple for each of the five occupants, and filled all their feedbags with oats, even though George had done the same thing in the morning. Her chickens got extra feed as well, and she was rewarded with 18 fresh eggs, three more than on most days. Dan had said she would get new chicks around Easter, as the older hens would be producing less.

At supper that evening Grey recalled Daisy’s prediction that they would have ‘little feet’ in the house soon had come true. Daisy then said that she had been told there was more to come in the new year, and she couldn’t be happier.