Date: Sun, 07 Jan 2024 01:12:35 +0000
From: Jonah
Subject: Whiteout chapter 6

Whiteout
by Jonah

Those who have read my previous stories will need no introduction to Simon
and Garret and their family.  Those who haven't - why not?  This is the
latest in the series that began a couple of years back with "A Letter from
America" and it fits in right after "Christmas in New England".  If you
haven't read the others, don't worry.  It will stand on its own.  It is a
story of love - the real sort.  Some of its characters are gay, though that
doesn't matter.  They are good people.  They are not, however, real people.
This is a work of fiction and every character is also a fiction - created
by me, except for Garret, who was created by Jacob Lion, in the USA.  I
want to thank Jacob for permitting me to use his characters.  This story is
brought to you, free of charge, by Nifty.  Nifty brings all these stories
to you free of charge and he doesn't charge us authors either.  The cost is
borne by himself and our donations.  To keep this site going please
consider donating to Nifty at https://donate.nifty.org/

chapter 6

What we took for a fire engine turned out to be a Unimog - an off-road
vehicle designed to carry container modules to fit it for different jobs.
It was a fire-engine when it needed to be but, at this moment, it was a
mobile toolshop.  It had also achieved a miracle of inter-service
co-operation.  It had picked up and brought a paramedic, since the
paramedic's vehicle could not get through.

The noise level increased to the "can't hear yourself think" level as the
chopper drifted over at not much more than chimney height.  The snow was
whipped up from the driveway and from the road.  I had expected the air
ambulance but this was an AW189 - one of Bristow's SAR aircraft belonging
to His Majesty's Coastguard's flight - probably from Norwich.  The pilot
had obviously received Garret's advice about landing across the road.

The boys were watching, fascinated, while the fire brigade shored up bits
of our house preparatory to trying to get the roof off of the car.  The
paramedic was kneeling by the driver's door that Garret had forced open -
obviously making the best of what little access to his patient he could
get.  Bristows' crew were crossing the road with a gurney.  No winch
required for this job.

"Come on Deary.  Let's get them in the warm.  Bring them over to mine."

"You can try if you like Mrs. Briggs," I told her, "but they look pretty
fascinated to me.  They won't come willingly."

"No but, once the roof comes off that car, it won't be so pretty.  Get them
inside."

There were obviously sides to Mrs. Briggs that I had never suspected.

Half an hour later we were all in Mrs. Briggs' front room supping her tea
and sharing idle conversation with her.  She was, indeed, ex-military and
had seen action in the Gulf.  If you asked her opinion of Tony
Blair......well just don't ask.

The steady put-put from the helicopter out back suddenly rose in pitch and
volume.Within half a minute the noise had risen, fallen and was fading
away.  There was a ring on the doorbell which Mrs. B excused herself to go
and answer.

She returned in the company of a fire officer.

"Mr. Ito?" said that worthy.

"Yes, most of us are," replied Garret.

"Do you need to collect anything from across the road?"

"Can we?"  I asked, surprised.

"No," replied the officer.  "We've shored up what we can, but we shored it
up to prevent the front falling out of the building or bricks from falling
on us as we worked.  It won't prevent the upstairs floors from collapsing
as you walk on them, Or a downstairs ceiling from falling on you.  Stay out
of there and contact your insurance as soon as you can.  Got that?"

"Yessir!" replied my partner.

"Good," said the fire officer.  "We don't want another call to dig one of
you out of there."

Fortunately Mrs. Briggs had enough blankets to enable us to wrap ourselves
up on her living room floor.  Philip was the only one small enough to sleep
on her two-seater sofa.  Breakfast, on Monday morning posed a problem
though.  Of course, Mrs. Briggs believed that she had enough to feed us
all, but there was no telling how long that food would have to last her.
She wouldn't be popping out to the shops.

"The Hi-Lux will get us into school," Garret said.  We can shop at Tesco's
on the way and get our breakfast at school.  We'll pick up your shopping
while we're at it Mrs. Briggs."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do that?" said Mrs. Briggs doubtfully.
"You'll be late for school."

Garret laughed. "A car just took out the front of our house and nearly
killed us, and our biggest worry is that we'll be late for school?  Even
being late we'll probably be the first there."

"Are you dropping me off at the CTC," I asked.  "I've no other way of
getting there."

He shook his head.

"One of us needs to be here in case the insurance company needs access." He
said.

"One of us hasn't got a phone," I replied.  "I'm not allowed to go across
and get it."

"I think two of us have to stay here," said Ross.  "I can't get to the CTC
if Garret isn't going there, and my phone is in my pocket."

Mrs. Coulter, I reflected, would have every business to be proud of her son
when she finally was restored to consciousness.

"I might need to borrow your phone then Ross," I told him.  "If we're not
going in, it would be helpful if one of us told Mr. Kennedy."

"Do you know his number Sir."

That was the first time all weekend that he had called me "Sir".  Obviously
the weekend was over so we had resumed our usual relationship.  Possibly
the mention of the principal had reminded him what that relationship was.

Garret had fetched it up on the screen of his phone.

"Here you are Ross," he said, showing it to the boy.

I watched as Ross tapped the numbers into his phone.

He listened for a few moments and then said.

"Good morning Mr. Kennedy.  It's Ross Coulter Sir.  I'm with Mr. Ito.  The
snow's really bad out here and a car skidded into the front of his house
yesterday afternoon.........  No Sir, we're all alright, but his house
isn't safe to live in and his car is stuck at the other end of the
village...... Are you sure Sir?  We could come in if you'll just send us a
helicopter. .... Sorry Sir, I expect it is......Yes Sir, she's in a coma
Sir. ... No Sir, it's one that they've induced to help her to heal. ....I
don't know Sir, do you want to speak to Mr. Ito?  ....Ok, yes I'll do that
Sir.  Thank you Sir.  ....Goodbye Sir."

He closed down his phone and turned to me.

"There aren't enough teachers and it's too dangerous to ask people to go
in.  He says school's cancelled, at least for today, and probably tomorrow
as well.  He's going to let you know.  He says good luck with the insurance
company."

"It'd be a good idea to phone the insurance company then," I told him "Have
you got plenty of credit on your phone?  We'll put some more on for you
anyway."

"Who're you insured with Luv'?"  Mrs. Briggs asked.  Garret and the boys
had departed so there was only her left.

"Norwich Union," I told her.

"Same as me.  I'll get you their number." She disappeared but was back
again with a wad of documents.  With the aid of those, and Ross' phone, I
was able to report the incident and to assure the claims officer that the
damage would still be there however long it took them to get a
loss-adjuster to us.

"Is any of the house still habitable?" was the next question.

"None of the house is safe," I told her.  "The fire brigade have told us
not to go in there.."

"So where did you spend last night?"

"On a neighbour's floor. "

"We can't have that.  How many in the family?"

"We have three children and are looking after a fourth whilst his mother is
in hospital, so six of us altogether."

"So we're looking for a hotel that could provide you with a suite.
Ordinary adjacent rooms wouldn't do because it would mean leaving children
unattended.  One moment."

She literally meant one moment since she was back less than two seconds
later.

"We can book you into the Best Western George Hotel on Arlington Lane.
Because of the room sizes we could get adjacent rooms that would accomodate
your family.  It's breakfast and evening meal, but you'd probably be
elsewhere in the daytime anyway."

"How long would we have to be there for?"

"Until your house has been made habitable again."

"And how long do you think that would be?"

"We won't know until we can get the loss adjuster to it."

"Which will be?"

"Mr. Ito, you have to understand that the weather and traffic reports that
we're getting indicate that the roads around Newton St Faith are impassable
at the moment.

"So you seriously believe it's impossible to get a loss adjuster here?"

"I'm afraid that's the information we've got."

"At the same time as you believe that it's going to be possible for me to
get from Newton St. Faith to Arlington Lane?"

"Oh....... Is it?

"I hope so, but there's no chance that we could book in there much before
five this evening probably nearer six."

"I'll let them know.  We'll try to get a loss adjuster out there as soon as
it's possible."

"OK, thanks for that."

"Oh, if you can't get into your house, you won't have access to your
possessions.  Is there anything in there that you can't do without?"

"Everything is in there.  My phone is there, my wallet, my cards and all
the clothes that I'm not wearing.  Even my keys are in there, but my
partner has copies of those."

"OK , Mr. Ito.  Call your bank and ask them to cancel the cards and send
you replacements care of the hotel.  We'll advance you some cash via hotel
reception.  Ask them about it when you book in.  I'll ask them to give you
a basic phone too.  Is there anything else?"

"No thank you.  You've been very helpful."

"Goodbye for now then."

I returned the phone to Ross and explained to him that we'd have to get
Garret to pick us up this evening.

"We'll I'm having fish fingers and mash for my lunch so you'll be joining
me for that," said Mrs. Briggs.

I didn't argue.  There was no argument that I could have made.

Grilled fish fingers with parsley mash, garden peas and tartare sauce made
a very acceptable lunch.

Garett called mid afternoon so I told him of the developments.

"You'll need to bring the boys back here and then take us all to the
George," I told him.  We won't have much in the way of luggage so I hope
the George is one of the better type of hotel."

"Don't bother hoping," Garret told me.  "It'll be what it'll be.  At least
we're all alive, which we might not have been."

"Thanks Garret.  I needed cheering up.  I'll see you later."

When Garret did eventually arrive, at about ten past four, he brought with
him three excited boys.  He had also brought with him a bag of shopping for
Mrs. Briggs, which that lady actually tried to pay him for.  She really
believed that we would let her do that.

Before she got a chance to renew the subject we said our goodbyes and piled
into Garret's car.

It was a slow journey across the city, though the bus routes had mostly
been cleared of snow and gritted.  The George, we discovered, was an
impressively stuccoed building off the Newmarket Road.  A plus for it, I
figured, was that it must be in more or less walking distance of the
University Hospital.

I reported to the front desk and booked us all in.The clerk handed me a
mobile phone and an envelope full of cash which she asked me to sign for.
she also handed me two sets of key-cards for our rooms on the first floor.
I'd have judged from the size of the beds that it'd have been possible to
fit us all into one of them, but the hotel didn't work like that.  The
hotel had fairly posh dining arrangements.  Since early March is the quiet
season for them, they were more than pleased to have an opportunity to show
them off.  Accordingly, I booked us in for dinner at half past six.  I then
sat down and made telephone calls.

Firstly, I judged it important that Grev Kennedy knew where I was.  He
thanked me for letting him know and told me that there would still be no
school the next day, but he hoped we could start back on Wednesday.  I
promised that we would be there.

My next call was to the University Hospital's Emergency Department.  Having
already spoken to Mrs. Jenkins, they put me through to Intensive Care
without any argument.  The male nurse there said that Mrs. Coulter was
still in her induced coma, but they would like Ross to visit her, if I
thought that he was up for it.  I promised to talk to him about it and
bring him in the following day if he wanted to come.

Since we had en-suite showers, that the boys wanted to use, they were put
to good use and it was time for dinner.  Apart from the bar, the George
also boasts posh dining facilities (coffee lounge and bistro) and we were
treated to their finest fare.  For most of us, that amounted to grilled
pork fillet with mash and veg, though Ross opted for Lasagne instead.  We
followed that down with chocolate and raspberry mousse cake and cream and,
once more, the teenager had to be different.  It was apple and ginger
crumble for Ross.  Garret, Ross and I all had coffee to follow that but, in
an unguarded moment, I insisted that the boys choose cold drinks instead,
as they would never sleep otherwise.  They selected Cherry Coke, and it was
only much later that it occured to me that they probably got just as much
caffeine that way.

Back in our room Ross had a quiet word.

"Are you and Garret having this room?"

"I think so, yes.  You seem to get on alright with the boys."

"Yes but it's not that.  It's just that I'm gay."

"So am I and so is Garret," I pointed out.  "You know that.  It's never
been a secret."

"But what if anybody finds out that I was sleeping with three boys?"

"They sleep with us often enough, though we try to discourage them, and I'm
pretty sure you would never hurt them."

"I don't think I would either but...."

"But you're not happy?"

He shook his head.

"You'd best sleep with me and Garret then, but don't try to rape either of
us."

The look of shock on his face told me I'd gone too far."

"Ross, that was a joke.  I mean, I don't want you to rape us, obviously,
but this big issue you're making isn't a big issue. We just don't want you
to be unhappy."

He looked at me for what seemed like ages, then ran his fingers through his
blond hair and said,

"You think I'm making a fuss about nothing?"

"It isn't nothing to you, or you wouldn't be making a fuss."

His brow was creased in thought for a moment, then he nodded, turned on his
heel and made to leave.

"Ross!"

He turned.

"I called the hospital earlier," I told him. "they're pleased with the
progress your mother is making.  She's still in a coma but they said you
could go in to see her if you wanted to.  They think it might be good for
her.  She's unconscious, so she couldn't talk to you, but they think she'd
know you were there. "

"Would you come with me?"

"Of course."

"I'd like to."

"Tomorrow then - while the others are at school."

He smiled, nodded and left.

Ten minutes later he was back, in company with Garret.

"This young man says he's sleeping with the big boys," Garret announced.

"I told him he could.  Are they alright?"

"Yes, are you going to say goodnight to them?"

"Yes, don't you two do anything I wouldn't."

I slipped in next door.  All three boys had stripped and climbed into the
bed - all at the same end for a change.  Philip had been thwarted by the
hotel's bed-making methods.

"Is Ross sleeping with you?" Lloyd wanted to know.

"Ross is a big boy.  He'd make your bed too crowded.  Now go to sleep and
I'll see you all in the morning."

I kissed each boy on the forehead and slipped out.