Chapter 31

December 30, 1999 - January 1, 2000

Spearfish Lake

The next days were hectic. As expected, there was a lot going on in Randy and Nicole's life, so there wasn't the time to kick back and enjoy one another that there might have been, but they did get in a good afternoon there at the Spearfish Lake Inn. Scooter did indeed remember Marlin and Jackpine -- who turned out to be in Tanzania in the Peace Corps, which is why Crystal was named maid of honor, although Nicole told Crystal that the decision would have been difficult if she had been home. They got a pretty good account of her hike up the trail, which from having been there and done that, Scooter and Crystal had a deeper understanding than most. There was catching up going the other way, too, filling Randy in on the rest of the Canyon season.

Later that afternoon, they went over to Randy and Nicole's new house -- carpenters were still there finishing some door moldings, and drapes were being hung; even Randy's family owning the construction company didn't mean everything was necessarily done ahead of schedule. When Crystal had seen the place the previous spring, it was an empty lot, with the local fire department burning down the remains of a burned-out cottage that had stood there. The lot was now considerably changed, for the new house was rather avant-garde and very striking, intended to be a sample of the work Clark Construction could do.

For Karin, the wedding was secondary to her being there at all. Ryan and Linda Clark were old friends who she hadn't seen for many years; Nicole's mother and father hadn't been as close, but because Spearfish Lake was a small town, she'd known them. For many years she had wanted to come back, at least for a brief visit, but Pete just didn't like to travel and preferred that she stay home, so that was that. Now, in the last few months, she'd literally started a new life, and it was especially amusing to her, to return home with her "new boss." There was a lot of catching up done, with the Clarks and with others -- and a lot of people she'd hoped to at least make contact with were going to be at the wedding.

Myleigh spent much of the time with Jennifer and Blake, talking about plans to record later in the year. Crystal knew Jennifer a little, and took the time to introduce Scooter, Al, and Karin to her. It seemed hard to believe that this rather relaxed, gentle woman was a famous country music star -- it wasn't the sort of thing that they expected to see in Spearfish Lake.

Crystal also took Al and Scooter out to see her friends Josh and Tiffany, the dogsled racers she'd spent the previous winter working for. There was indeed a yard full of huskies, 132 at the moment, Tiffany explained, dogs in training for the Iditarod, yearlings that might qualify for further training in the future, and a number of retirees, kept for touring and breeding. All those dogs made a heckuva racket, and they could see the truth behind Crystal's story that just feeding and trying to clean up after them a little was pretty much a full-time job. But, they got to take some brief dog sled rides around the training trails near the house -- and with Crystal on the runners. It was a life that was nearly as exotic to them as being raft guides would be to other people.

Considering the number of friends and relatives from out of town, there wasn't room to stay with the Clarks, and they stayed at the Spearfish Lake Inn, with Linda loaning them her car to get around. Still, they were busy pretty steadily, and although Scooter knew virtually no one, people were friendly and interested in what she and her companions did. Spearfish Lake wasn't a bad place by any means, and Scooter suspected that she'd see more than one person she met around town out on the river with her at some point in the future.

The wedding wasn't quite as big as the throng Randy had been cynical about, but there were at least a couple hundred people there. It was very late getting started; the idea was to have the minister pronounce Randy and Nicole man and wife just as midnight and the dawn of a new millennium came.

Way back in the fall, a couple trips after Randy ran with them, a little idea had been suggested by a customer around a Canyon campfire. They'd kicked it around for several months now, and the time for it had come to fruition. They'd worked out a plan, and scouted the scene of the crime to a 'T'.

In the last minute or two before the music for the wedding processional started there was a huge crowd of members of the wedding in the narthex, and others looking on. Just at that minute, both Karin and Scooter decided they had to use the bathroom before things got under way, and headed toward the church's fellowship hall where the caterers were busy. Karin marched right out to the kitchen. "I need something sweet, right now," she announced. "I'm hypoglycemic and I'm feeling dizzy."

"What do you want?"

"Anything," Karin pleaded. "A spoon full of sugar, something." She staggered for an instant, and almost fell, as a woman handed her a couple packets of sugar. She shook as she opened one, poured it down her throat, and somehow brushed up against the side of her face. "Oh, shit!" she said. "Now, I've lost a contact. Why does something like this have to happen now! My God, they're starting the processional."

"Here, we'll help you look," one of the caterers said; in an instant, they were all gathered around, looking around the floor.

Just at that instant, Scooter came in from outside, carrying a box that looked like a wedding gift, and in a way it was. While Karin and the caterers searched frantically for the contact lens that she didn't wear, Scooter popped the top of the box, twisted the top off one of the bottles it contained, and dumped it into the huge and elaborate punch bowl. As it was emptying, she popped open a second, then a third, and a fourth. In but seconds, the deed was done; she headed for the sanctuary, dropping the box with the bottles into a trash can she found along the way, then let go with a huge sneeze.

"Oh, the hell with it," Karin said the instant she heard the sneeze. "I'll just have to do without till I get home. I've got to get back in there, right now!" She raced back to the sanctuary, ducked in front of the procession that was just about to begin, and slid into the pew next to Scooter. She gave a smile at Scooter, who replied with a thumbs-up. Mission accomplished.

Even at 190 proof, four quarts of Everclear grain alcohol didn't go that far in punch for two-hundred-plus people; it was really more of a symbolic gesture than a real attempt to loosen things up. But it was a little stronger in the beginning before the level got drank down and the caterers started to refill and dilute the punch bowl, so that may have had something to do with what happened at the reception. Or, at least, so Randy and Nicole both claimed forever afterward -- after the minister found the box with the four empty bottles with Arizona tax stamps the next day.

In fact, Nicole admitted afterward that what happened was partly her fault, and that if the punch hadn't been spiked, better judgement might have prevailed.

The wedding was pretty conventional, but had its unconventional moments. The preacher was babbling away while keeping an eye on the clock -- unusual for a preacher, to say the least -- and he did indeed pronounce them man and wife at the stroke of midnight. The audience responded with a variety of New Year's noisemakers that had been passed out as they arrived, a cute touch, everyone thought. The reception was also conventional, but just as the bride and groom were getting set to cut the cake, Nicole stepped out of tradition a little bit when her little sister handed her a smallish box. Nicole thanked her, then handed the box to Randy, with the words, "Here's a special wedding gift from me to you."