CHATROOM LOVE
Chapter Thirty-Seven
December 15, 2001
Edmonton, AB
It was the Saturday before Christmas break,
and Tommy had gathered the gang in his basement family room for a surprise.
"So, why did you call us all here?"
Rose grabbed some Ketchup Chips from a bowl on the table, and she offered some
to Jack, who sniffed them before taking a small bite. He swallowed it with a
sour expression on his face.
She laughed and handed him some water.
"They are a bit strong if you aren't used to them."
"Tell us, Tommy." Helga frowned.
"Don't keep us in suspense."
"Wait." He searched his pockets and
pulled out a silver key. "The key to our freedom!"
His smile faded when he saw that nobody was
sharing his excitement.
They all just stared at him for a moment,
looking puzzled.
"Oh!" A look of understanding
appeared on Dawn's face as she got up and wrapped her arms around Tommy, giving
him a kiss. "It's the key to the Banff cabin!"
"Or the T. Ryan Pad." Rose smirked.
Fabrizio gazed at the key for a moment.
"T. Ryan Pad?"
"Tommy's parents rarely use it, so he
dubbed it his own weekend bachelor retreat."
It wasn't really a cabin. It was a duplex on
the edge of the town of Banff in Banff National Park. The Ryans went up there a
few times a year for a few weeks in the summer or for the Labor Day weekend.
Rose had been there a few times, but, unlike Dawn, who was there for the long
weekend in September, she hadn't been up there since the previous summer. But
Mr. and Mrs. Ryan had always joined them. They would never trust the teens to
be out there by themselves.
"Aren't your parents going to be
there?"
Tommy just grinned. "Nope. They are going
to Canmore to visit my sister."
"So how do you get there?" Jack
asked.
"Oh, that's easy! You go down south for
about three and a half hours until you get to Calgary. Then you go east—"
"West." Dawn rolled her eyes and
settled back on the couch.
"West." He frowned at Dawn
as she stuck out her tongue at him. "For another hour and a half,
and—voila!"
"It's very cute. It's on a bottom corner
of Sulfer Mountain, across the road that leads to the Martins’ stables. You
also only have to walk five minutes to the stone bridge, and then you are
downtown. They have a Safeway and even a movie theater. It's very civilized,
unlike the Jasper National Park town site, which is only a few hours north. And
they are both on the Alberta/British Columbia border. On the other end of
Sulfer Mountain, there is this Gondola that takes you up it. And there is this
round building at the top with a gift shop, restaurant, and an observation deck
all stacked on top of each other. You follow the boardwalk and it takes you to
the other mountain peak." Dawn's eyes glittered with excitement. "And
the closest hot springs is in the same parking lot as the Gondola entrance gift
shop," she added. "Oh." Her mouth formed an O of surprise.
"Rose, doesn't Cal own a cabin out there in the middle of the wilderness?
I mean, he might want to bring some of his family out there or something!"
"Cal's cabin is in Jasper. Plus, his
family lives on Vancouver Island, and they always go overseas for
Christmas."
"Whew."
"Excuse me, but when are we going?"
Helga asked.
"The Friday after Christmas," Tommy
answered. "Why?"
"I can't go. I'm going home for the
holidays."
"Aw…that's too bad, Helga." Jack
sighed, and watched as Rose cuddled up to him. He had forgotten that they all
didn't live in Edmonton full time. Playing with her hair for a moment, he had a
thought.
"Fabrizio, are you going home for
Christmas?"
"No. My family can only afford to send
me home when the school year is over."
"What are you thinking, Jack?" Rose
sat up and straightened.
"Well, perhaps we could have sort of a
going away party."
"In Helga's honor, of course," he
added.
"Sounds good." Fabrizio got up and
headed towards the downstairs bathroom.
Dawn squealed. "Oh, it's been such a
long time since we had a party! We could invite the cheer team, the football
team…" She counted them off on her fingers and started into a long babble
of things they just had to do.
Tommy, not even pretending to understand what
she was going on about, glanced over at the clock.
"Listen, guys, not to be rude or
anything, but I think it's time for you go. I have practice at 3:30, and it's
already 2:37."
"Yeah. No problem." Rose headed
towards the stairs and grabbed her bag. "Dawn and I have to go to
cheerleading practice anyhow."
"Okay, so talk to your parents or
guardians and call me to let me know if you guys can make it."
They all agreed and headed upstairs, shutting
off the light behind them.
"Um...guys?" Fabrizio called out,
emerging into the dark and empty basement. "Hello?!"