Frank belongs to the hidden world of over the road truckers. One of the hidden societies that we all see but few know or even give a second glance. He has driven away from his family and all human emotion to the point where he is more a truck part than a human being. It is during a terrific Christmas storm that Frank is stranded with a young girl with her deathly sick mother on a remote Montana Ranch that things change.

Santa Drives a Black Semi

By Charlie Johnson

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Charlie Johnson
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-4720-7

Chapter One

MONTANA IS A COMBINATION OF HARSH AND BEAUTIFUL contradictions in nature. In the west the Rocky Mountains reach skyward like great geological hands groping for heaven. One range violently lifting from the prairie here and another there as if blindly guessing The further west you proceed the more concentrated they become until they finally form one continuous line that make up the continental divide. Like the range of human emotions there are great precipices of unbelievable height. Summits that demand massive amounts of physical and mental effort to obtain. Views that provide the climber with unique opportunities to view their world. Through the pristine clarity of unpolluted air a sense of exhilaration prevails with new insight. Yet it is not a place where one can long endure. Here you are exposed. Although good for perspective fierce winds and sudden storms deny the body and soul of those things necessary for life. Here the air is thin and there is no shelter from the elements. Food and water are scarce and there is room for few others. Ultimately there is only the solitude that drains and the curiosity that can never be satisfied. Regardless of how high you climb there is always another mountain where for some unknown reason we are drawn. Some other point of reference to which we respond. We must come down off the peak, descend through the boulder fields, and flanks of rock that chronicle the unimaginable effort that was required to lift and support these natural monuments. It is here that the snow fields live and die in a seasonal cyclical pattern. Born of nature's enduring forces. In the cold harshness of winter the tears of the earth are trapped, stacked, and stored and in the warmth of the lengthening days of spring and summer they are released. One here and then another combining consolidated in effort and purpose. Determined and destined by the laws of gravity into a downward spiral to the ocean. Not far from the birth of water new life emerges. Bound by earth, sun, and water small hardy plants cling doggedly to life in a niche they have carved for themselves. Lower still the three life giving ingredients become more plentiful and new more extravagant, diverse, and elegant plants emerge. Evergreen trees still mindful of their harsh surroundings reach towards the skies. Here the tears of the earth have gathered together in brooks and streams. They murmur and babble and giggle like an infant child. Sheltered by the forest plant life expresses joy in blooms of wildflowers and carpets of green. The cold hard rock is now covered with a blanket of warm nurturing soil. Wildlife and animals are present in growing numbers and variety. Yet few of them reside on a permanent basis. Each has it's own unique way of surviving and thriving. Most will be present only during the short summer months. In the fall and winter they will migrate to areas suitable and similar to the current favorable conditions. Others have hibernation abilities that allow them to sleep through the harshest months of this unforgiving country. Fascinating is the fact that almost all of them will start their next generation in these highland hideaways. They will come here to complete the second highest mission in their existence. The only higher priority being that of survival.

Lower still the land loses more of it's angular inclination. Often in graduated increments but sometimes in vertical cliffs or canyons. Cliffs that seem to defy the natural course of events to defiantly maintain their own identity standing out in stark contrast to the lay of the land. Here water has gathered strength and volume turning its new identity into streams and small rivers. Like a teenager it now has a mind of its own willing to test new abilities with a sense of independence. Now confident enough to cut gorges, canyons, and carve out its own course. In one case water will throw itself recklessly off the face of a cliff to form a waterfall. Still it is willing submit to the demand of a flat land to become a placid pond or lake content to wait in peace to continue its journey. It equally exudes the sounds of the typical teenager, It grumbles when given advise on which course to choose. Water screams with joy and excitement when falling out of control. Water will sob and cry softly as it struggles against the banks of a reservoir. Is it the wind or the water sobbing through the waves as its exhausted effort wanes. Here other influences begin to invade the nature of things. Here water may encounter the first of many biological influences. Beaver build dams to be used as homes. The human influence in felt in a more dramatic way as water is redirected for irrigating fields. Predators, who have been few and far between are now more prevalent. Bear, cougar, coyote, cougar, wolf, and fox now prey in larger numbers. The smaller members of the animal community were also subject to attack from the air and although bigger fish eat smaller they are not immune to land and air strikes. Man is an infrequent visitor that also exhibits occasional predatory nature. They have a far greater impact when they harvest trees or mine for precious metals. The biggest threat most often associated with man is accidental spread of fire. It is little wonder that many animals will tolerate the upper elevations to lesson the threat of becoming a predator meal. On these slopes trails and paths occur more frequently. They are born by the travel of animals upon their appointed rounds. These narrow dirt tracks are meant more to circumnavigate natural hazards and barriers than to connect destinations.

Without the violation of violent upheaval and tempered by wind and water the land levels. Forests hold steady on these slopes as if obeying some natural treaty that stops them from advancing further. Grass and brush now exert almost total control over the landscape. At these lower elevations, although not forgiving, the climate is more temperate. Here man believes he is much more dominate. Fencing, farming, and ranching they erroneously believe they own the land and can control nature. Nature displays an ambivalent attitude in response. Man battles with her. Instead of wildlife he wants domestic stock ... Man plows under the grass to plant crops and nature responds with weeds. Man wants rain and sometimes gets floods. In the end an uneasy compromise is reached where man will nourish his plants and animals in unnatural ways. He will fertilize, spray, plant, plow, and pray. Nature will take little notice. Nature tolerates man for the entertainment value he provides. In the spring man will fertilize, spray, and irrigate a hay field. In summer he will swath, bale, and stack hay. In the winter he will bring the hay back out to the same exact field he harvested if from just months ago to spread it on the same ground from which it grew for his stock to eat. Nature provides for her wildlife without the need of fences, irrigating, haying. etc.

Wildlife maybe less conspicuous but is still plentiful. Animals such as antelope, gopher, mule, and white tailed deer abound and have adapted to the restructuring of the predator list. Man is now a much greater threat. Not so much from the hunting aspect but from the threat of traffic. At this lower elevation the land has smoothed and the trails have become wider. Wide enough for cars and trucks. They lead from one residence to another and although they still navigate around natural barriers they more frequently overcome them with bridges. If there is a hill the dirt can be moved....