Carry On Cath

Chapter Three

Cath began packing clothes into her suit case. She packed what she thought she needed; who knows whom it belonged to. It didn't matter.

"The boots! Be sure to bring the boots," Wren said. Wren sat on her bed across the room.

Cath stared at the pile of closed in the middle of the room. Her mind was going through every possible situation she might encounter on the ranch. Walking through cow manure: boots.  Riding horses: jeans. Being chased by bears: bear spray. Extremely religious mothers of boyfriends: umm...??? Was there something for this? Clothing that didn't reveal too much cleavage. Or maybe the opposite. Cath wasn't quite sure what angle she wanted to play in terms of Levi's mother. What she really needed was an invisibility cloak.

Levi is on his way to pick Cath up later this afternoon and drive her to his family's ranch in Arnold. Cath could feel her heart beat faster as the hour drew near. She wanted to go, she wanted to feel him next to her on the drive to the ranch, but she couldn't bear the thought of Levi's mother.

"What are you staring at?" Wren said.

Cath didn't realize she was staring. "Just.. trying to decide which tank top to bring."

"Well, don't overthink it," Wren said.

 

Cath heard the sound of crushing gravel coming from the front of the house. Levi has arrived. She picked up her suitcase, looked at Wren and let out a deep breath.

"It's going to be fine Cath," Wren said. "Trust me."

Cath walked up to the truck, tossed her suitcase into the passenger cab, then climbed into shotgun. Levi looked at Cath. Cath stared at the coffee stain on the dashboard.

"It's going to be fine," Levi said.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Cath said.

"Because it's true."

"Your mom is like one of those religious nuts who wanted all the Simon Snow books banned from school libraries. She's going to want to ban me too!"

Levi wanted to snap back at Cath for calling his mom a nut, but his brain reminded him of the incident a few years back at a local school board meeting. He settled with, "It's going to be fine, Cath."

"You don't know that! Nobody knows that!" Cath said, tears flowing from her eyes. "I'm not perfect. I'm not religious. There's nothing about me your mom could possibly like! Give me one reason why your mom would ever like me?"

"You're not Reagan," Levi said, confidently, ending the discussion.

Cath thought about shooting back at Levi, pointing out to him that she had nothing to do with Reagan, but she decided to just drop it. It wasn't going to change anything. Instead she imagined herself being taken away to the Forest of Dreams. She imagined herself as Baz, waiting patiently every month for the full moon to come. She would pass the time by dreaming of course. Dreaming of being able to touch Simon, feel the softness of his skin under her fingertips. Then reaching up to touch his cheekbones. For some reason in her dreams Simon was starting to look more and more like Levi. It must be one of those subconscious things. She didn't really mind though.

Except for being awoken from her dream by the sudden jolt of a truck coming to a complete stop. They arrived at Levi's ranch in Arnold. That fast? Cath wondered how long she had been out dreaming. Not long enough, of course. Levi got out of the truck and walked around to open the passenger door. A stubborn Cath was determined to play dead, like a mage under a sleeping spell with her eyes closed. But Levi used a bit of his own magic. He crawled over the front seat, leaned over Cath and place his lips right up against hers. Cath's felt a spasm run throughout her entire body, as though Levi stabbed a shot of adrenaline directly into her heart. She hated when Levi used his magic for evil; yet she didn't mind.

Cath followed Levi to the house. She noticed a dairy cow staring at her, watching her every move like she was under a bovine microscope. Even the cows were religious, it seemed. She forgot about the cow when her foot hit the first step leading to the front porch. This was it. Cath started to wish she wrote a will for her valuable Simon Snow collection, but then she realized Wren would claim it all anyway.

Levi opened the door...

...and the yelling immediately began.

"Levi, how many times do I have to tell you. Put the milking claws back on the wall hooks when you're done milking the cows. They're expensive to replace." Levi's mom continued her lecture, only pausing briefly to say, "Oh hi, you must be Cath. Please to meet you." She gave Cath a quick hug.

Now Cath started to feel different. Something about this whole situation was different. It wasn't the hug Levi's mom gave her just now. It started to bother Cath that she couldn't figure out what it was. She stood there watching Levi's mom go over the various farming chores Levi failed to accomplish this morning. She made it clear that even though Levi had Cath over for the holidays, he was still expected to do all his chores. The first of which was helping get supper on the table.

"Cath, I have to help get supper ready. Make yourself at home," Levi said.

Cath wandered about Levi's living room. She stared at the photos of Levi and his sisters on the wall. All four of them, with their blond hair. "Oh dear," Cath said to herself. She had to close her eyes quickly before they started to burn. She found the photos of Levi holding his prize winning rabbits, the little blue prize ribbons right in front of them. She took another quick peek at the photos, and had to close her eyes again. But when she closed her eyes, she was immediately taken back to the first time her and Levi were alone in her room.

"Cath, supper's ready," Levi said.

Cath turned her head and followed the sound of Levi's voice to the dining room. She walked towards Levi, who pulled out a chair for her to sit on. She looked at all the food on the table. It smelled delicious. There was beef, roast beef, lost of beef. Cath turned to Levi's mother and started to say, "This looks wonderful Mrs.--"

"No please, call me Marlisse, Cath," Marlisse said.

Cath started filling her plate with potatoes, beef, gravy, corn, a bit more beef. She looked up again thanking Marlisse for the wonderful dinner, noticing a quilt hanging on the wall behind her. It was a very detailed picture of a cow made of a mosaic of triangles stitched perfectly together.

The dinner conversation continued, Marlisse asking Levi about his day. The she turned to Cath, "So what church do you go to in Southern Omaha?"

"Mom!" Levi shouted.

Marlisse turned to look at Levi, and mouthed something at him that sounded like okay. Cath stayed still in her chair, looking at Levi.

"Where are your sisters, Levi?" Cath said. Deborah and Miriam had long since gotten married and moved away. Leah was working at summer camp. Hanah, the sister Cath's age should be here.

"Hanah should be home soon," Marlisse said, sounding somewhat annoyed.

Levi turned to look at Cath and shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know where Hanah was either. There was a moment of awkward silence until Marlisse broke it.

"I read your story Cath," Marlisse said.

Oh God... Cath thought to herself. Not the Simon Snow fanfic. I'm dead now. Levi you're such an idiot for...

"It won the Underclassmen Prize!" Levi said.

Oh... that...

"It was very good Cath," Marlisse said.

Cath wondered if she'd be fast enough to hide herself behind the wall quilt. She wasn't sure what to feel anymore. What did Marlisse really think of her?

Yet, this wasn't what bothered Cath. It was something else. And it was driving her mad that she couldn't figure it out.