[Canadian West 02] - When Comes the Spring by Janette Oke

was a jolly Scot who seemed to
be having the time of his life escorting visitors through what he treated
as his private domain. When he saw Wynn, his face spread with a grin.
    "Aye, an' how be ya, Delaney?" he cried, wringing Wynn's hand
vigorously.
    He didn't allow Wynn a chance for an answer. "An' shur now," he
went on, "an' don't be a-tellin' me thet ye've found yerself a lass-an' a
bonnie one she's bein'."
    Wynn proudly introduced me. I hoped with all my heart that the
jovial man would not look down and see my mannish boots peeking
out from under my sweeping skirt. He didn't look down. Instead, he
grabbed a lantern and hurried us off on our tour of his Cave and Basin.
    "A sight like this ye'll never be seein', not anywhere in this world,"
he informed me, rolling his is delightfully.

    I shivered some as we followed the man into the cave and along
rocky uneven steps to deep within the earth. It got cooler and more
mysterious as we advanced; and the old man talked in a spooky, confiding tone, pointing out strange shapes and shadows as he whispered
eerie suspicions about what they might have been in some long ago
yesteryear. I shivered more noticeably now, and Wynn reached to place
a protective arm around me. "Don't pay any attention to his stories,"
he whispered in my ear. "He makes them up as he goes along."
    "An' look there now," went on the Scot, leaning close and lowering
his voice as though someone from the dead past might hear him and
take offense. "See there by yonder wall-that there mysterious shape."
His finger pointed it out, and the lantern swung back and forth, making the strange shadows dance.
    "Right there," the man leaned even closer to me to make sure that
my eyes were following his pointing finger. "Thet there is a skeleton.
Thet of an Indian warrior caught here in the cave. He must have been
wounded in battle-or else waitin' out a thunderstorm-and somehow
he got caught and held here an' never did leave." He paused. "'Course,
I just tell thet to the young lasses thet I don't want to spook none," he
added confidentially. "What really happened, I'm a-wagerin', is thet he
was murdered right here." The is rolled round and round on his
tongue.
    I shivered again and we moved on, the lantern bobbing and shivering, too. Again and again, we had things pointed out to us and then
we descended a ladder to an underground pool steaming with heat.
    "Kneel down careful like and put yet hand in."
    I wasn't very brave and clung to Wynn's hand as I knelt to feel the
water. It was, indeed, nice and warm.
    "What heats it?" I asked in surprise.
    "Aye," laughed the Scotsman. "Only the good Lord knows. He
keeps a few secrets of His own. I'm a-guessin' we'll never know unless
He decides to be tellin'."
    We retraced our steps. I was looking forward to being back out in
the warm sun again, though I wouldn't have missed the experience for
anything. I was unprepared for the brightness as I stepped out from
the cave. My eyes protested and I closed them tightly and turned away in the opposite direction so I might open them at my own choosing.

    My eyes soon adjusted and I was able to turn back to the cheery
guide with a smile of approval for his Cave and Basin. He seemed to
feel it was very important that we had enjoyed our venture. I put out
my hand.
    "Thank you so much," I said, meaning every word of it. "I enjoyed
that ever so much."
    His eyes twinkled. He took the proffered hand and shook it heartily and then turned to Wynn.
    "I always wondered why ye kept on a-waitin' and a-waitin instead
of takin' ye a wife, an' now I know. Ye were just a-waitin' fer the finest
thet there be."
    Wynn grinned.
    "Well, the best to ye both now," said the Scot, and he gave Wynn
a hearty slap on the back and turned to care for more of his tourists.
    We were almost back to Calgary when my honeymoon reverie was
broken and my thoughts went instead to all that needed to be done in
one short day. I stirred rather