Highway Encounter

Dwaine Johnson was about two hours into his journey home on route 90 the Billings segment of his journey from the university of Montana in Missoula. He was now the proud owner of a certificate declaring him to be a Masters in Biochemistry and Biophysics and had a week of celebration behind him with his successful classmates and gigantic headache before heading for home on the Johnson Ranch. He intended to work with his brother George for a while and consider if he should proceed with a PhD in the same area of studies or accept one of the job offers in Billings the largest city in Montana closer to where the Johnson ranch was located. It would only be a one-hour journey to regularly visit his parents if he chose to accept a job in Billings and the Johnson family were a close-knit family seeking every opportunity to meet together despite the fact his siblings were now scattered away from the ranch having chosen different careers.

James Johnson was now a businessman in Billings, Samuel another sibling training as a paramedic and their sister Ann married and living in Billings too with her husband and two children. George didn’t need the help of his sibling Dwaine as the ranch was staffed with a mix of helpers of local, Mexican and Crow Indian origin with the Crow people in the majority. Their reservation was to the South, but they were valued workers in most of the big ranches. Each looked on their fellow workers as part of a larger family and described themselves as Johnson when strangers asked their name. Other ranches helpers followed that principle describing their surnames as that of the owner. Most ranch owners treated their workers liberally and with respect specially the Crow as they were expert stewards of the land.

There was hardly any traffic proceeding east this morning and long straight sections of the road so Dwaine was feeling sleepy in the summer heat and a little fearful the monotony of the journey would cause him to drop asleep at the wheel with disastrous consequences. So, he punched the selector button on his car radio for a bit of background noise to keep him alert. It produced a sad country and western classic that irritated him, so he turned it off. Squinting ahead through the shimmering heat of the road he spied someone on route 90 hitching a ride. That was unsafe so he glanced in the rear vision mirror to check there was nothing behind him and slowed down in the event the person moved forward. They did and he once again glanced in the rear mirror to make sure and slowed further. The hitchhiker interpreted that Dwaine was planning to stop and pick them up so retrieved their carry bag and stepped out expectantly. Dwaine slowed to a crawl to avoid an accident. These days people were jumping in front of cars carefully to create minimum damage to themselves and then sue for millions of dollars. He’d read it was common in cities but was unaware of it happening in Montana but better be careful. He came to a halt and wound down the window to see clearly who it was and what they were up to. It was a young woman, and she looked decent and well cared for so he relaxed.

“What do you want Maam?”

“Looking for a ride to Billings are you going that way?”

“Not all the way I’m going to the Johnson ranch to visit with my parents, but I can take you that far. You know it’s not safe for you to be hitchhiking as a woman as there are some evil people travelling through these days.”

The woman laughed and produced a knife from the belt around her waist showing it to him.

“I know how to use it so have no fears.”

“That is not coming into the front seat with you so put it in your luggage or I’m not taking you anywhere.”

The woman hastily placed it in the carry bag and deposited it in the back seat before getting into the car. Dwaine tapped the wheel thinking then turned to take a good look at the woman sitting in the passenger seat looking nervous now. She spoke.

“Look I’m sorry. I don’t attack people I only carry the knife to protect myself. Where I just came from it was necessary.”

Dwaine glanced in the rear vision mirror and saw two cars behind him in the distance. He turned into the highway again and accelerated to normal cruising speed.

“What’s your name? My name is Dwaine.”

“My name is Biawacheeitchish”

The two cars Dwaine had seen in the rear vision mirror rushed past in the fast lane far exceeding the limit and the rush of air as they went past buffeted his car while Dwaine used extra effort to correct steering then he looked at his passenger.

“That is your name?”

The woman laughed until tears came to her eyes. She was used to this reaction from those she didn’t know.

“I’m part Crow Indian and that is my Apsaalooke name for that is what the Crow call themselves. It means pretty shield in their language and is the name my mother called me she is part Crow when I was born on the Anderson ranch. However, the ranch owner’s wife Anna who took me in when my mother died called me Shirleyann. She was like a mother to me and taught me to read, write and keep accounting records. The rancher Earl Anderson taught me to operate all the heavy machinery on the ranch and taught me the rudiments of maintaining those oil wells on his property alongside his workers. Everyone was expected to learn everything to be known about operating a ranch and women were not excluded.”

Dwaine looked in the mirror again to see what was behind him and seeing nothing at the beginning of this straight stretch of road slowed the car so he could look at this woman again. He was amazed at what she claimed to know about ranching and looked at her with new respect. Shirleyann blushed as she saw him studying her more closely.

“Why are you looking at me?”

“If what you have told me is true, I can’t understand why you are on the road looking for somewhere else to work. Sounds like you were very well respected so what’s going on. Are you having a joke at my expense again after catching me with your Crow name?”

Shirleyann sighed and thought for a minute.

“Anne Anderson was Earl’s second wife. His first wife died in an accident in the hill country after falling off her horse when it was spooked by a rattler. He married Anne who’d been bought in as a contract schoolteacher to teach his boys and after mourning his wife two years they married. Earl’s boys were angry when he married again but they kept their resentment under wraps fearful of their father who was a no-nonsense parent. They were further incensed when they saw Earl giving me so much attention as a little girl, he’d not been able to have before I came along. The more Earl and Anne gave an education and exposure to ranching the angrier the boys became. When Anne died of cancer Earl relied on me for accounting records and supervising the home and the boys became more bitter though Earl gave them free run in managing the ranch work. So just a few days ago Earl died. I nurtured him until the end and was there for the burial in their family graveyard. When the time of grieving passed the Anderson boys drove me from the property and here, I am looking for a way to survive.”

Dwaine sat in thought and there was silence between them for a while. He glanced at the sign looming up in the distance. There was an exit to a small settlement, and he recognized there was a gas station and diner there and felt hungry.

“When did you eat last?”

“Yesterday.”

Dwaine shook his head as he thought of the inhumanity of the Anderson boys treating a woman like this.

“How long have you been waiting for a ride on the freeway?

“I had to walk out of the ranch yesterday onto those back roads leading to the freeway. I walked all night before reaching the freeway and stood for hours waiting for someone to stop for me. You are the only one who took pity on me.”

Dwaine took the exit and slowed to the road speed leading to the small settlement where the gas station and diner were located. He indicated she should wait for him in the diner while he filled up with gas. Ten minutes later he joined her and saw she was having difficulty keeping awake. She’d been walking through the night. Not surprising. They studied the menu and she indicated a cheap meal. He thought otherwise and ordered a solid meal with dessert for both. She protested weakly but was too tired to resist further and wolfed the food down gratefully tears falling down her face. She did not look at him out of embarrassment as the tears flowed.

“How old are you Shirleyann.”

She did not look up as she replied.

“Anne gave me a signed paper from my mother and father and witnessed by Earl and Anne Anderson to prove my birth in the state of Montana. I have it in my bag. I think they registered it with the authorities so it should be on record. That means according to that document birth date I’d be twenty-two summers.”

“You look like you are in your late teens.”

Shirleyann shrugged. Her head was beginning to wabble sleepily and Dwaine felt sorry for this tragic woman. He got up to go to the counter and pay the bill and suddenly on impulse asked if they had a motel in town. The woman at the counter said the diner had rooms attached truckers used overnight on occasion. He ordered two rooms as it was early afternoon. The woman looked at the woman sitting at the table and smiled.

“One room would be a lot cheaper.”

“How much for two rooms?”

“Thirty bucks a room and it comes with cable”

He paid and returned to the table where Shirleyann was having difficulties staying awake.

“Let’s get your bag.”

She was instantly awake.

“You’re leaving me here?”

“No, you’re almost asleep and making me sleepy looking at you and I had a massive headache when I left Missoula after partying with my friends celebrating after graduation. I booked two rooms in their motel. I have number sixteen and you have number seventeen next door. If you need anything just knock on my door. Let’s go check out the rooms.”

Shirleyann looked at him suspiciously but was too tired to fight and welcomed his generosity. She could have been in greater danger if some evil people gave her a lift she realized so she mumbled her thanks and followed him to the car. They drove to the motel parking area at the rear of the diner, and each retrieved their luggage from the car. He took the key to her room and inspected it for safety locks and window locks, then looked at the bathroom to see it was clean and checked lights and TV. He handed her the key and told her to lock the door and if she needed anything then she should knock on his door or use the phone. He counted out a hundred dollars and left it on the bedside table. She put up her hand to protest but realized she needed that money as she had left the Anderson ranch with nothing but her meagre supply of clothing typical of the Montana customary attire a compromise between the cowboy and traditional influence. Dwaine turned and headed for the door advising her to lock after him then shower and get a good sleep. They’d resume their journey next morning.

Next morning Dwaine knocked at her door at 8am and she opened the door a crack to see who was there. When she saw her benefactor, she threw it open and her face lit up with pleasure.

“Thank you so much Dwaine. I can never thank you enough for your generosity. I’ve not had a good sleep for a long time tending to Earl’s needs as he lay dying. And thank you for the money because I left without any money after serving the Anderson’s my whole life. But that’s my problem not yours so you can just drop me off when you reach your ranch exit and I’ll hope to find someone as honest as you to take me onward to Billings.”

She packed her bag as Dwaine watched her. Everything about Shirleyann exhibited energy and intelligence and he wondered at her story. It seemed unbelievable. He wanted to test her to see if she was as smart as she indicated with a knowledge of so many things associated in ranch management and a plan began to form in his mind. He nodded toward the car and carried her small bag as she followed. She was feeling quite refreshed after a couple of showers and positive about her coming adventure in Billings. They drove around to the diner and Dwaine ordered a hearty breakfast for both and they sat waiting for the order to be delivered to their table. He sat studying her and she began to feel uncomfortable under his inspection.

“Why are you looking at me Dwaine. Is there something wrong?”

He laughed.

“Actually, I find you amazing and am trying to figure you out. Nothing bad intended so relax. You mentioned you had a Crow woman for mother and I’m trying to detect tribal features in you. You haven’t mentioned your father was he tribal?”

‘No, he was a product of the pioneer white settlers, but I’m told he felt most comfortable in the company of the tribe. He was a cowboy and apparently a little on the wild side. Got in trouble with the sheriff and just disappeared one day. I wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him. Mom was the product of a white settler and his tribal wife.”

Their breakfast arrived and Shirleyann attacked it with the same enthusiasm she’d shown the afternoon before when they arrived at the diner. Then they settled in the car for the entry to the freeway and long drive ahead. Most of the journey was done in silence and Shirleyann watched the countryside passing by with occasional oil wells bobbing up and down to drag the Montana crude to the surface. This was her tribe’s adopted homeland and she loved it. Originally the tribe’s homeland was in Ohio, but they’d migrated westward in waves between the twelfth and seventh centuries fighting as they went and hunting the buffalo around the Yellowstone region. She was beginning to feel drowsy to the hum of tires on the road and familiar country and western music but was suddenly wide awake as she realized they’d slowed and entered an exit ramp.

“Is this the exit to take back roads to your ranch? You can let me off here and I’ll walk back to the freeway and hitch a ride the rest of the way to Billings.”

“I’m taking you to our ranch.”

“Why! I left ranching because it carries bitter memories, please let me out Dwaine”

“I want my family to meet you as you are an amazing woman. My family are not like what you experienced at all so relax and if you still want to move on tomorrow, I’ll drive you to Billings. It’s not safe for you to be hitchhiking Shirleyann.”

This was the test to see if what she had reported to him was true of if she’d been exaggerating her capabilities. He had to know. They drove in silence and almost an hour later they entered a huge welcoming gate that declared this to be Johnson family ranch. In another fifteen minutes they rounded a hill and entered what looked like a small town with buildings covering a wide area with silos and an expanse of solar panels and wind turbines supplying electricity to huge storage batteries. There were multiple water towers fed by pumps that pumped from the river a mile away. It was more technologically advanced than the Anderson ranch and she was intrigued as she took it all in searching in the distance for those wonderful mountains she loved. She wanted to get on a horse and head for those mountains and just live there as her ancestors had done living on the land and what it supplied. Dwaine watched her reactions out of the corner of his eye as they pulled into parking spaces outside the main ranch house. His father James paused at the horse breaking enclosure to watch his son get out of the car and strode to welcome him. His mother Elizabeth was sitting on the porch swing waiting for him to appear as he’d phoned soon after exiting the freeway. Parents and son met at the entrance to the ranch house and hugs were exchanged then they turned to the young woman standing back and looking uncomfortable.

“And who is this delightful young woman Dwaine? I hope this means you are looking to settle down and make a family.”

“Wistful thinking dad I found this young woman hitchhiking and she’s from the Anderson ranch I’m not familiar with it. She’s amazing and I wanted her to see our ranch before she heads for Billings.”

Dwaine beckoned her forward and Elizabeth moved to greet her with a Montana bear hug.

To be continued.

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