Edited by Barney R. Tweaked by me; therefore all errors are mine.

I found her in a ditch, she made my life.

Catherine Marie Quimby came into my life by accident. She and her daughter Julie were stuck in their car in a ditch when they tried to avoid a deer running across the rural gravel road that I live on.

It was the luckiest accident of my life.

I was driving home to my property outside of the small town of Stanwood Mi. when I saw the rear end and taillights of the car in a ditch on the road that leads to my house. I turned my flashers on and went and looked at the car. The accident must have just happened as the rear wheels were still spinning.

I looked in the car, and there were two people in the car. The driver was a young lady that I guessed to be about 22 or 23. In the rear was a child of maybe 4 or 5 in a car booster seat. They both appeared unhurt. I tapped on the window, and the lady opened the door.

“Can you help us, I have no signal on my cell phone, and the car is smashed. I tried to hit my brakes to avoid a deer and I started to slide and ended here.” Then she added; “I need to call my mother, so she can come and get Julie.”

I told her; “I will take you up to my house. You can make any calls you need to from there. Your car is not drivable, so I am willing to help you in any way I can.”

I am Charles Ambrose Wilson IV, a very pretentious name if there ever was one. I come from old money, but I haven’t used any. I am considered the ‘black sheep’ of the family because, horrors, I honestly earn my money. In spite of that, I get along ‘swimmingly’ with my immediate family. I was 28 when I found Cathy. I was and still, am a highly successful writer of pulp fiction. I write mostly young adult stuff, but some murder mysteries and western yarns too. Three of my books have been made into successful movies. I haven’t taken a dime from my family and paid my way through college. I wrote my first published novel when I was a junior in high school. As I love my privacy, I write under the pen name of Ambrose Forth.

I took the ladies and the child car seat and put them in my crew cab pickup and drove them the quarter-mile to my house.

Once we got to my house, I showed the lady the phone. I then went and got the little girl a drink.

The little doll said; “Thank you, mister. There was a funny-looking dog on the road when mommy tried to not hit it. I never seen a dog with horns before, have you?”

“Well, sweetheart, that dog you saw wasn’t a dog, that was a deer, and my woods are full of them. I normally feed them off of my deck. Would you like to help me?”

“Yes mister, I like animals.”

“My name is Chuck, honey, what is your name?”

“I’m Julie Anna Quimby, and I’m 5 years old.”

“OK Miss Julie, now when we get on the deck, we have to be very quiet because the animals are wild, and they are afraid of most things. If you make noise, they will run away.”

I took her hand and went out on the deck where I kept a metal garbage can full of shelled corn. I had a cooking pot that held about a quart in it that I used to scoop the corn out and scatter with.

I told Julie to sit on the lounge chair and watch. Then after I showed her what I was doing she could do the same. I reminded her to be very quiet.

I took my scoop and tossed the full pan in a flailing motion so that the corn scattered. I put about another cup of corn in the scoop and walked Julie to the rail. She tried to do the same as I did, but being so small, and not yet totally coordinated most of the corn went straight to the ground.

I picked Julie up and sat down on the chair and put her on my lap. I whispered that the deer will come in a couple of minutes, but the squirrels would be here quicker.

After less than a minute, two black squirrels and a chipmunk came and grabbed some corn. Julie was mesmerized and covered her mouth with both hands to keep quiet.

The deck door quietly opened and her mother softly moved out and sat in the other chair. Just over the top of the hill, I saw the matriarch doe looking down on my yard. I pointed her out to Julie. She snorted once and five or six more does with almost as many fawns came over the hill and walked into the yard. Julie was squealing behind her hands. The deer heard her, but after stopping for a few seconds, they kept coming down for their evening snack.

When they were finished, our two squirrels came back to clean up anything the deer had missed.

I picked up Julie off my lap and carried her into the house and sat down at the kitchen table. Her mother (who I had not gotten her name yet) sat in one of the others and silently cried.

Julie said; “Mommy did you seen all them deers and the squirrels and the chip-o-munk? Wasn’t it great? Why are you crying, mommy?”

“I’m just sorry that I broke the car, Julie, we have no place to go tonight. I’m worried, Grandma can’t come and get us until tomorrow afternoon, and the tow truck doesn’t come out this far.” Then she started sobbing.

“Ma’am I am Chuck Wilson and this is a five-bedroom house. I only use one-bedroom, and another is set up as an office. You are welcome to use any of the others. They are all furnished. I even have two that have inside locks if you would feel safer.”

“Chuck, thank you, but I don’t have any other clothes and neither does Julie. I will have to get my car out of the ditch in the morning. Oh, listen to me run on, I am Catherine Quimby, and that shy little brat you are holding is my daughter Julie. I really can’t ask you to help any more than you already have.”

“Nonsense, I haven’t done anything but let you use my phone. Look, it’s a ten-minute drive to Big Rapids, and there is a Walmart right off the expressway. I will take you there and you can get some temp clothes for tonight and I will buy you dinner at one of our local cafes that makes plain, but delicious food. It will be my treat. Count it as my payment for hijacking your daughter onto my deck.”

With that, we piled back into my truck to go shopping and then to supper. When we got to Walmart, Julie held my hand as we walked in. Cathy, as she asked me to call her, was looking at price tags. I put a stop to it.

“Ladies, I only rescue princesses on Wednesdays, so as today is Friday, you must be queens. Queens don’t pay; their Gentlemen’s Gentleman pays. Seriously, Cathy, I can afford to stake you to a couple of outfits. And in the morning I will fire up my tractor and we can pull your car out of the ditch and bring it to my barn.”

“Thanks” she squealed and ran and gave me a huge hug. “My bastard of a boyfriend destroyed all of our clothes when I told him I was leaving him. I promise that I will find a way to pay you back.”

“Nonsense, I don’t need to get paid; you two wonderful ladies brightened my life tonight and that’s enough. Now I have a credit card that I expect to see smoking when we get to the checkout. Let’s shop.”

I went back to the front and got a shopping cart and put Julie in the basket and rushed back to Cathy. I saw the jeans she looked at when she was looking at blouses; I checked the sizes and got three more pairs and a couple of pairs of nice but not flashy slacks and two pair of mid-thigh shorts. Cathy came back with a nice blouse and went to get Julie some stuff. I peeked at size again and grabbed two more blouses and a couple of belts and lady’s flannel shirts. I also saw some down to the floor sleep tees and grabbed one. I was just getting back to the cart when a stern-looking Cathy was holding up all the stuff I picked out.

Before she could scold me I said, “Don’t forget some bras and panties for you, sleepwear for Julie and at least five changes for her. I have extra toothbrushes and paste, but if you need feminine care stuff, we will go there when we get you two some work shoes or boots and some heavy socks.”

The tears started again. “What kind of man are you, you make my baby talk, you treat me like a lady, and you now want to help more.”

“I am a man. Just a man whose parents would skin me alive if I did not help my friends, and if you aren’t my friends now, you will be after we eat, I promise you will be full.”

Julie was holding my hand and watching her momma try to control herself. One of the store people that I knew well came over and asked, “Chuck is there a problem here?”

“No Jack, these two crashed their car on my road, and can’t get a ride back to their home until at least tomorrow afternoon. I am just trying to help. And Cathy here doesn’t understand that I just want that.”

Jack looked at Julie and then at Cathy, “These ladies seem to be worthy, just let Chuck help, he needs a cause, and even a good woman in his life, maybe that will be you. He is a very good man.”

“Jack, come on, flattery won’t get me to pay you back that 50 bucks I owe you. You are just going to have to sue me for it.”

Jack laughed and walked off.

“Cathy, when we get back to my house, I want the whole story. I can see the bruise that your long sleeves are hiding. You do not have to be someone’s punching bag. I don’t like to pry, but those tire tracks show you were speeding down a gravel road that you probably did not even know where it went. You’re running from something. Please let me help.”

We then proceed to finish shopping. Julie wanted to push the cart, so I kept one hand on it to steady and stop it when necessary. My other hand was being squeezed by Cathy and she was even smiling.

We got all of the stuff they would need, even some rubber muck boots for both of them for working in the barn and fields.

I took the ladies to a little country café called Sharon’s. Sharon was my friend George’s late wife and George named the place after her. It only had about ten tables, but it was always nearly full.

After I rolled the two stuffed ladies out to my truck we went back to my house. I showed the ladies where the towels were and left them to clean up. I gave Julie one of my tee-shirts to wear to bed because they didn’t find any sleepwear that Julie liked.

They came out of the bathroom with wet hair and in nightclothes. Julie had my shirt on. It dragged the ground. Cathy had on the sleep tee I bought her. She came over and kissed me on the cheek.

“Thank you, Chuck, I will tell you everything when I put Julie to bed.”

I grabbed one of my books and started to read to Julie after I put her on my lap. About five minutes later, she was snoring lightly. I nodded to Cathy and stood up with the little angel and walked her to the room Cathy wanted her in. I put her in bed, kissed her forehead and plugged in a night light.

We then went back into the living room and I sat on the couch and surprise, Cathy sat on my lap.

“Please, this way you are not looking at the face of a stupid failure. I have no place to go; my mother had warned me about the asshole of a boyfriend that I was living with. Thank god he never hurt Julie. But he would scream at her. She hasn’t talked to any man for more than a year. You are the first man she would let even come close without clinging to me.”

She then said; “Now for my sorry story. Julie is the product of a one night stand with the high school quarterback, and because his daddy is a big-time politician in the town we grew up in he made me out to be a gold-digging slut when I went to them for help. I have raised Julie without any help because my father disowned me. I can only talk to my mother when he is out of town on church business.

“Then I met Gary, I was working in a little café not that much different than where we ate tonight. He was handsome, smooth, and tipped well. After a couple of weeks he asked me out and I accepted. While we were dating he was all gentlemanly.

After meeting Julie, he asked me and her to move in with him. We did and he changed. He took all of the money I earned and bought booze and beer with it. After a month he started screaming at us. Then he started hitting me. Never in the face, and never where a long sleeve did not cover. Then two nights ago he told me I was supposed to entertain two of his friends while he watched. That’s when he hit me the last time. I hit him back, but I had a frying pan in my hand and knocked him out. I took what money he had and jumped in that wreck of a car and got out of there. I was headed to my parent’s house when I saw his car coming behind me. I jumped on the expressway and drove as fast as my car would go. His was faster, but we were almost to this exit when he pulled alongside and started screaming that he was going to kill us. I made a quick turn onto the exit before he could get off. I then drove a couple of miles and turned and on the first street, I turned again. I hoped I had lost him, and then that damned deer scared me and we crashed.

When I was on the phone I was talking to mom, I warned them that Gary was looking for me and might try to get them to tell him where we were. She said dad would not let us come there and I heard in the background him yelling at mom, ‘that slut and her bastard spawn are not welcome in this house.’ And mom hung up.”

By the time she was finished, she had wet the entire front of my shirt. I put my arm around her and told her; “There was a blue sedan that the sheriff pulled over by the BP station when I got off the expressway. If his car is a blue Dodge, you lost him. Now you need to stay here until you at least can get your paperwork for you and Julie.

“You need duplicate birth certificates for both of you and Julie’s school records. If you need a job, consider this offer. I work at home and am fairly well off. I hate housework and I am a terrible cook. If you would like to work for me as a live-in housekeeper, the pay is $375 a week and all you are required to do is clean and cook. The pay is low, I know, but you have rent free housing.

My parents are just a couple of miles from here and will do what they can to fix it so Gary can’t hurt you again. My dad is a retired circuit judge and does Pro Bono work for the courts. I’m the black sheep of the family; I get my hands dirty and normally earn my money. I’m a writer and have several books published.”

She looked stunned; “Why would you do that for strangers? I need a place to stay, and the money is good, yes I will take the job, boss. Do I have to bow when you enter the room?”

“I do it because you and Julie deserve it. My older sister was beaten to death by a boyfriend who wanted her to become a whore.” I took a deep breath; “I hate weak men who need to beat on women and kids. And no, you don’t have to bow, just curtsy; but the proper address is ‘your royal good-lookingness sir’. Got that my scullery maid? Improper conduct will result in wet dish rag throwing.”

That earned me a giggle followed by a big yawn.

I picked Cathy up, she could have weighed maybe 115lbs, and carried her to her bed and said; “Goodnight Miss Catherine Quimby. We will pull your car out of the ditch and put it in the barn, you can use my car, or my truck if you want to go to Big Rapids, but I would like to go with you for at least a couple of weeks so I know you are safe. I would also like it if you take Julie with you that I go too. If this guy is that mean, he may try to take her to hurt you.”

Then I kissed her forehead and went to bed.

About 2:00 AM I heard some crying and got up and ran to Julie’s room. She grabbed me in a hug and said; “I waked up and you was not here. I’m scared.”

I grabbed her pillow and took her into my room and laid her on my bed. “I’ll be right back honey. I need to tell your mom you’re with me. Then I’ll be right back.”

I lightly tapped Cathy on the shoulder and she woke with a start and slugged me right in the eye. “Gary, don’t you touch me again ... Oh no Chuck, I’m so sorry, I was dreaming that Gary was beating me again. What are you doing here?”

When I stopped laughing, I said; “Julie was scared when she woke in a strange bed so I put her in mine with me, I came to tell you so you wouldn’t panic when she wasn’t in her bed.” Then I kissed her forehead again. “Now scullery maid you need to sleep because the master is an early riser and demands coffee in bed no later than 10:00 AM.”

Cathy hugged me and whispered, “Goodnight sweet prince, you are the best man I have ever known.”

Well, I woke up at my usual 6:00 AM and had a lovely bundle of five-year-old drooling on my chest. I slid out from under her and did my morning stuff. When I looked in the mirror, I laughed again, I had the making of a good shiner.

I went into the kitchen after checking Cathy. She was still out of it. I started coffee when Julie came out and grabbed my hand.

“Julie, would you like to help me with my horses?”

“Squeal” “Yes please.”

“OK, after you get dressed, we will go feed all of the animals. Then you can meet Sally and Snooker, my horses.”

She took off to the bedroom and came back out a couple of minutes later. Shirt on inside out, pants unsnapped and shoes on the wrong feet.

I sat her up on the dining table and took the shoes off, straightened out the rest of her clothes, and put on her new work boots. Then I picked her up and carried out to the barn.