Hits and Misses
AFTER LUNCH ALL THE KIDS walked over to Grandpa and Grandma Rawson’s house. They were tired of being stuck at the guest ranch, and the adults were finishing the painting. “Your grandma invited us over for supper tonight,” Max’s mom said. “She suggested you kids could come there for the afternoon for some sledding. Try to find ways to help, too. We’ll come over after we finish here.”
Carly couldn’t believe the difference five feet of snow made in the scenery. The road was plowed, but that meant there were huge piles of snow on either side of them. Carly felt like she was walking through a massive snow tunnel. Above her all she could see was blue sky and just the tops of pine trees along the edge.
The air had warmed up to the mid-thirties, according to the thermometer at the general store, and the snow under their feet was soft. The smell of snow and pine trees filled the air. The only sounds were the crunch under their feet and their voices. It was a little bit eerie.
Max interrupted Carly’s thoughts. “With any luck we can use Grandma’s computer and see if we can find out what that coin is worth.”
“That would be cool,” Bryce said.
“I want to try and find Sophia and John Peter’s family.” Carly watched her feet make prints in the snow. She wondered if Sophia had walked this same road over to the sawmill. “Since we have no idea where Sophia and John Peter’s families went, I’m going to look online for Otto Thorson in Nebraska.”
“He’s dead by now, isn’t he?” Chad poked at the snow along the side with the stick he carried.
“Of course. They all are,” Molly said. “But maybe he named his son Otto. Or his grandson. You know, Max is named for Grandpa Rawson’s dad.”
“That’s true,” Dorie said. “Too bad we don’t know where their families went. I guess we could check the Rapid City phone book, in case they stayed in the area.”
“That’s a great idea,” Carly said. “Imagine if they are right under our noses.”
“That would be cool.” Brandon stopped and stared off to the right. He jumped to try and get a better look above the snow. “I think this is where we broke through the snow, Max.”
Max stopped and looked around. “I think you’re right, but I can’t tell for sure because of these piles.”
Carly swallowed hard, remembering how frightened Max and Brandon had looked when they told about it. She could feel her heart pounding. “That must have been scary.”
“Terrifying,” said Max. “I’m just glad the snow has been plowed or I wouldn’t be walking to Grandma’s house again. “
They spent the first hour at their grandparents’ sledding. Then they came inside and peeled off their coats and snow pants. Soon they were seated at the big table eating cookies, drinking milk, and telling about all the adventures they had experienced since they’d last been together.
“It sure is good to meet you, Bryce. We’ve been praying for your sister.” Mrs. Rawson put her hand on Bryce’s shoulder. “Have you heard from your dad today?”
“He called again right before we came over here. May Lynn is much better! They moved her out of ICU into a regular room.”
“That’s wonderful,” said Grandma.
“Grandma, Bryce’s dad said Mr. Crosby visited May Lynn last night.” Carly looked at her grandma. “Do you know how he knew they were there?”
Grandma chuckled and nodded her head. “Well, ask your grandpa. It’s his fault. He got on the phone yesterday after we heard she made it to town, and he called Mr. Crosby. You know Mr. Crosby; he isn’t happy unless he’s helping someone. He said he would go up as soon as he closed the store. They had the main streets open and someone had come by and dug his car out.”
“He took my dad to our house so Dad could get our other car and some clothes for him and Mom.” Bryce shook his head. “I bet our van is covered slap up by all that snow.”
“Covered what up?” Chad stopped mid-bite and stared.
“Covered slap up,” repeated Bryce.
Grandpa laughed. “That’s a Southern way of saying ‘completely’, Chad.”
Chad laughed. “It’s covered slap up.” He dunked his cookie in the milk and pushed it clear under. “My cookie is covered slap up.”
Carly started laughing and she couldn’t quit. Soon the others were laughing too, and before it was over, even Grandma had tears running down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” Carly said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. “I don’t know why that was so funny. I guess I just needed a good laugh.”
Grandma nodded. “Sometimes, laughter is the best medicine! So what do you want to do now?”
“I’m guessing they want to use the Internet,” Grandpa Rawson said.
“We sure do,” Max said. “We have several things to look for.”
“Well, I’ve got a surprise I think you’ll like. Look at this.” Grandpa Rawson pulled out a little tablet. “This has Internet too. I got it a couple of weeks ago. So, you’ll have two Internet connections.”
“That’s cool, Grandpa! I want to use the tablet,” Max said.
Carly giggled. “That’s fine with me. I would get frustrated with it. I’ll stick with Dorie and the desktop.”
“Let’s make it girls against boys,” Molly said. “We’ll try to find Otto and Sophia, and you guys find out what the coin is worth.”
“Perfect. Let’s go.” Carly jumped up from the table and headed for the office. The boys, like a pack of dogs, headed to the living room with the tablet computer.
An hour later Carly sat at the computer, dejected. Nothing. They had come up with nothing. There was no Otto or Sophia Thorson listed anywhere in Nebraska or South Dakota on whitepages.com. They had even tried John Peter’s brother’s name, Lars Swanson, but found nothing. Molly pulled out the phone book and looked through all of the towns in the Black Hills, but came up empty there, too.
“Try the sisters’ husbands’ names,” suggested Molly.
Suddenly, a shout went up from the living room. “We found it!” Max hollered. “Five thousand dollars, at least!”
Carly groaned. “Oh boy, they won. They will be insufferable.” She put her head in her hands. “And the worst part is, we still haven’t found Sophia’s and John Peter’s family.”
“Don’t worry, Carly. We’ll figure something out.” Dorie put the phone book back in the drawer. “We’ve learned a lot already!”
“You’re right.” Carly tried to shake the feeling of gloom. We have discovered a lot. But still she couldn’t help feeling she had failed Sophia. “We can’t quit.”
Dorie shook her head. “I know. I don’t want to either. But what do we do now?”