Chapter 4
Jed woke with a start as the thunder disturbed his sleep. He always loved the fall showers at the farm. They seemed more intense here, in the wide open spaces, than it did in town. And he loved the smell of the rain as it came out of the northeast, a harbinger of a change in season.
He jumped from the bed and quickly pulled on some jeans, a shirt, and some sneakers. If there was to be a storm tonight, he knew exactly where he wanted to be.
Slipping quietly down the back stairs, he cringed as the old screen door creaked on opening. But since his grandparents were getting hard of hearing, he doubted that they would hear of his escape. Besides, he would be back in his bedroom in plenty of time for the wake-up kiss from his grandmother.
As he left the porch, the first rain drops hit him so that only increased the speed of his running across the dirt driveway and down the hill to the barn. He pulled open one side of the big double doors and eased his way in. Jed heard the cattle lowing in the distance but he had learned long time ago that no weather ever bothered them. In fact, he had seen them out during blizzards that would force a person into shelter. So a little thunderstorm would certainly not hurt them.
Jed grabbed a horse blanket and climbed the ladder to the loft. Positioning the blanket on the hay near the big hay opening, he laid down, eager to hear and watch the oncoming storm. He especially got a thrill when watching the jagged streaks of lightening dance their way across the sky.
As he lay there, he thought about his life and wondered what was to come. Everybody was asking him what he was going to do when he grew up but he never had a real answer for them. As much as he dreamed about playing professional hockey, he knew he was not that good. Besides, his first love was books, all kinds of books. But he wondered what he could do with that except become a teacher. He loved his other teachers at the academy where his father was headmaster but hated his father. Could he really follow in his father's footsteps yet change the qualities he hated so bad in him? He just didn't know.
The thunder boomed across the pasture land spread out below him as the torrents of rain continued to nourish the earth. His thoughts turned back to what he would do for the rest of his life. He had just met a young priest in the parish church and was fascinated with his lifestyle and his devotion to God. Father Thomas had taken an interest in the young boy and was encouraging him to research his faith and what it meant to him. Jed shook his head. 'No, becoming a priest was not what I want to do,' he thought as the storm continued around him. 'I want to go places and see cities across the world. And whatever I have to do to do that is what I'm going to do.'
Jed laid there, a sense of peace and calm moving him to close his eyes and drift off to sleep. It was always this way at the farm. He knew he would always be safe if he was at the farm.