Chapter 1

Michael had graduated from high school two weeks before and was still goofing off before he had to start the cutting the first crop of hay for both farms. He and his best friends had gone camping and returned home about 4 PM on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Michael's mother, Meghan was upset that Rorke had not returned home. His father had left right after breakfast to ride the fences on the North pasture and said he would return by one o'clock at the latest. It was almost four by then. Michael could see how upset his mother was so he said he would go look for his dad. As he went out the door he had a feeling that something was very wrong so when he got to the garage he called his granddad and ask him to put his CB base on channel 25 in case he needed him and his mother would not worry unnecessarily.

Michael saddled up and rode to the fence line. As he started riding the fence, the bad feeling grew and as he was not prone to jump to conclusions, he could not understand this feeling. As Michael topped the rise to the back corner of the pasture, he saw his dad's horse and spurred Red into a full run. When he approached, he saw his Dad lying on the ground. There was a large pool of blood at his head. As he was dismounting, he was on his portable CB with his granddad having him send the EMS team. Michael having taken several first aid courses so he immediately checked his dad but could find no pulse and no breathing. His dad's lips were blue and Michael knew there was no life in his dad, Michael's eyes flooded with tears and he sobbed as grief washed over him. He sat there holding the lifeless body of his father knowing that there would never be any encouragement boosting him through life. The love he felt when ever his Dad was around gone forever. The back fence of this pasture bordered the county road and was close to town, Michael could hear the EMS team sirens on the way. Surprisingly there was a County Sheriff and another truck following. One of the EMT's jumped out was running toward Michael and his dad before the ambulance fully slid to a stop. The third truck was Granddad Artur and he came over as fast as he could for his 65 years. When the EMT finished checking Rorke he looked at Granddad and Michael and just shook his head. Jake Miles, the Deputy Sheriff, who was an old family friend walked back to his car and called the office to have the coroner dispatched. Granddad reached for his phone and called Nana Erina to have Granda Darry and Gran Flanna go be with Michael's mother.

While they waited for the coroner, Granddad asked one of the EMT's if he would drive his truck back to our house, as he wanted to ride back with me. When we entered the area of the barns one of the neighbors was there to take the horses and put them away. When Michael went into the kitchen, his mother flew out of her chair. She wanted to know all about Rorke, and why neither Michael nor his grandfather was with Rorke. Granddad Artur took the other three grandparents into the living room leaving Michael and Meghan for a few minutes.

Michael told his mother where he found his dad and his condition. He did not know how or why he was on the ground or how long he had been there but his best guess was that he was thrown from his horse before 8:00 if he had left the house around 7:00 and saw no reason for being thrown from his horse. The farm is in the southwestern part of Dane County and there are Massasauga Rattlesnakes in this area sometimes but not common.

The information provided by the autopsy had found three bites: one on his neck and two on his arm and the snake poison had killed him. What was interesting was that the amount of Massasauga Rattlesnake venom throughout his system was enough to kill two men. The coroner thought that the fall probably rendered Rorke unconscious when he was thrown from his horse and there was no evidence that he had ever regained consciousness after the fall.

It took almost two months to complete the funeral arrangements, file all the insurance claims and find farm help to assist on the farm while they took some time grieve Rorke's death. Jack Moore an insurance agent who handled all of Meghan and Rorke's insurance needs asked to meet with Meghan and Michael a few weeks after the funeral. At the meeting, he told them that Rorke was concerned about Meghan and Michael if something should happen to him. He had purchased two life insurance policies, one for Meghan and one for Michael in the amount of two million dollars each. He had prepaid the policies for three years and they had been in force for two years. The policies had a triple indemnity clause because of his age, good health, and being a non-smoker. Meghan would receive a check for six million dollars straight away. Michael would receive a payment of six million dollars with interest on his 18th birthday and his Mother would be the trustee of the trust fund. Because of the coroner's report and a review by the insurance company there would no problem with the payment. Both Meghan and Michael were astounded at this news, as neither of them knew anything about these policies. They knew that they would be financially secure for the rest of their lives. The farms had no mortgages and only had a few thousand in loans on some new farm equipment. All of these loans had payoff insurance in case of Rorke's death. The farms had been purchased by Meghan and Rorke's parents more that 40 years ago. Meghan was considering dropping out of med school and concentrating on running the farms.

When Meghan's parents and Rorke's parents Erina, Artur, Flanna and Darry heard this they were very upset and the four went to see Meghan to convince her that Rorke would rather her sell the farm than have her give up her dreams of being a medical doctor. Meghan augured that these were family farms and must be preserved to pass on to Michael. Darry had two suggestions. First, Meghan and Michael go to the cottage on Georgian Bay for six weeks to help the healing of Rorke's death. Then on the first Sunday they were back the six of them meet and decide just what to do with the farms. In the mean time Artur and Darry would oversee the farm hands and ensure that everything was being taken care of properly. Meghan thought this would be a very good idea.

Georgian Bay is on the west edge of Lake Huron. It is an area where many people from Ontario have summer cottages and spend most of their summers there. On the east side of Georgian Bay is the town of Perry Sound and Amanda Island. Artur and Darry had purchased 10 acres on the West side of Amanda Island. The property was more or less isolated. They had planted a blue spruce privacy barrier around the entire land perimeter with an eight foot high chain link fence set about about a quarter of the way into the tree barrier to not be highly visible. There was a major gate at the entrance which had a new two stage keypad access lock. The place was designed for complete privacy for reasons unknown to Meghan or to Rorke. The log cabin they had built was just over 4000 square feet. A large part of it was a common area and the bedrooms were very large with huge bathrooms. The sun deck on the west side of the house and is the full length of the house and 20 feet deep, perfect for quite days. Meghan's favorite time was breakfast before the sun got to that side of the house.

Artur called Alberto to see if he could get someone to clean the house and insure that the support systems were in operating order. Alberto had worked for Artur and Darry for more than 20 years and was very protective of their property as he knew he could use the house any time they were not there. Meghan and Michael took a couple of days to ensure that the farm hands had everything required and to pack the required clothes. They took Meghan's Mitsubishi Eclipse as it always seemed to raise her spirits. They decided to take the northern route as it would bypass all the major cities and was a much more scenic drive. They could stay overnight in Sault Ste Marie as it was one of Meghan's favorite towns. The drive from Sault Ste Marie to Parry Sound was a four to six hour drive depending on traffic so Meghan told Alberto they should arrive early afternoon. They had reservations at the Algoma's Water Tower Inn where the families had stayed many times and were known to the owners and staff. There was also underground parking that Meghan preferred for the Eclipse.

When Meghan and Michael departed on that Monday morning it was a clear day with plenty of sunshine in early June. The temperature promised to be in the low 80's F she would leave the top down and just wear a light jacket until it warmed up. When Meghan was in the Eclipse she had a tendency to have a heavy foot and had a few discussions with the Wisconsin State Patrol. Some had even cost her. The Dane County Sheriff also knew of Meghan's heavy foot and this morning Sergeant Jake Miles just happen to be on his way to the office and was coming from a side road when Meghan blew by at over 90 mph. Jake did not even check her speed with radar but turned on his lights and siren and started after her. As soon as Meghan saw the lights in her mirror she pulled over knowing that this would probably cost her and maybe a license suspension as she had paid few speeding tickets recently. Jake walked up to the driver's door and just looked at her telling her that her big blue eyes would not get her off this time. He said that her heavy foot was becoming a problem and asked her if she knew how fast she was going. Meghan thought that she was doing about 95 mph but was not sure. Jake said that was about right but the only thing that kept her from getting a ticket and license suspension this time was that he had not had his radar gun out of the trunk and that he knew that she was still upset about Rorke's death. He said that her penalty would be to remove herself from behind the wheel and let Michael drive until they were out of the Wisconsin, or he would write her a ticket right then. Looking at Michael he could see the grin on his face as his mother never let him drive the Eclipse. Meghan drummed her fingers for a few moments giving Jake the "mother look" but then opened her door and got out. Michael got out and held the door for his mother. As he went behind the car he gave Jake a high five with a big grin. Meghan told Jake she would talk to Molly when they returned in July or August. Jake laughed as he knew that his wife had the same problem as Meghan. As Michael drove away, Meghan told him anything other than bugs on her car would come out of his allowance. Both laughed and it was the first time either had relaxed since Rorke's death.