MSW/Jessica Fletcher and the people of Cabot Cove belong to
someone else. (Have no money, make no money - written for something to do over
the summer.) The character Tipper
Murder by Skullduggery
Finished July 24th
2006 © Kats
Frank looked
up from the sofa where he was writing and regarded his mother as she entered
into the front parlor of his Aunt Jessica’s home. Lucky looked up as well and
thumped her tail as Donna sighed and sat across from him. Frank placed the note
book on the coffee table and looked up at his mother.
“Honey,
it’s a beautiful day out there, why aren’t you with your friends, maybe riding
bikes or something? I know Grady said he was going to take you to all the
places he used to play when he comes back from moving everything, but that will
be next week and I hate to see you cooped up in here all that time.”
“Willie
and Taylor are still on their honeymoon, and Tipper is working today, as is Dr.
Hazlitt. There isn’t far to ride around here on bikes and I - I haven’t made
any other friends. There hasn’t been time. I’m still an outsider, Mom - I‘m ‘from
away.’ Besides, I’ve taken a whole week off of my lessons and I have to catch
up with them. I’m not really into playing sports, and anyone who is my age
around here is helping on their parents’ lobster boats.”
“Well,
if Willie and Taylor were here, what would you be doing with them?”
“Carding
wool, and learning how to weave – it’s pretty cool. Mom, are we going to stay
here in Cabot Cove? Even though it’s quiet, I kinda like it better than the
city.”
Donna
regarded her son. “What exactly do you like the most about Cabot Cove? The
people or the seafood?”
Frank
shook his head. “Um, I’m not wild about the fishy stuff. Moo is better. I’m
learning things here, Mum, real things that, well, they don’t teach in school
and maybe they should. I’m just a number when I am in the city schools. Here,
they know me as Frank Fletcher, son of Grady and Donna Fletcher, great nephew
of Jessica Fletcher, and it doesn’t matter that Aunt Jessica writes books, they
still like to talk about me at Loretta’s beauty shop, and its not because I
stink at English, its because I am a kid.”
“There
are other things you can be doing, Frank,” she said encouragingly.
“I’ve
already cut the grass, and taken out the trash, and swept the back porch, and
clipped off the dead roses, and swept the upstairs, but I didn’t clean the
bathroom yet…”
“The
last time you were this ambitious with helping was just before you came here, and
something was bothering you. Does it have anything to do with the discussion
you and Tipper had the other day?” Donna inquired.
“No,”
he said softly.
“Frank?
It is, isn’t it…?”
“I
would rather not talk about it, Mom.” His voice became softer.
Donna
leaned forward and took his hands into hers. “You know you can tell me anything,
honey.”
Donna
watched the struggle on Frank’s face before he spoke in a soft voice. “She
hurts inside, Mom. Someone wanted her to autograph the picture that came out in
the newspaper, and it had Faraday’s picture on there. I remember what it was
like to wake up in that place, and I know there are people in this town who
probably think Fordham was right all along. I even hated Faraday because he
made Tipper laugh, and because she looked at him like that. The way you look at
Dad some times. I found myself even liking him later. If I keep doing my homework,
and the stuff around the house, then I don’t have to think about what happened.
I’m eleven and I feel old, Mom. I know you say I can tell you anything, but I
can’t tell you everything. Not that you would love me less, but because it
would upset you and Dad said we have to keep you calmer than normal,” he said
ruefully. “In a way, I don’t want to go back to my old school. I don’t fit in
there anymore."
A
voice called from the kitchen. “Hello?”
Both
Frank and Donna straightened up. “Aunt Jessica!” said Frank, springing from the
sofa and covering the distance to the kitchen in leaping bounds to embrace her
in a long hug.
“Well,
my goodness it’s only been three days!” she said, returning his hug.
“I’ve
missed you.” The door opened and Mort entered carrying someone. Frank goggled. “Ian!” he gasped, softly regarding the
sleeping boy over Mort’s shoulder.
“In
Frank’s room, Mrs. F?” Jessica nodded.
Frank looked at Jessica quizzically.
“Ian
will be staying with us until
“Apprentice?
But Aunt Jessica, he’s only nine!” gasped Donna.
Frank
shrugged. “Willie said he was helping to deliver babies since he was eleven.
How come Pattie didn’t come too?” he asked, curious.
“Because
she is being apprenticed by Gram. Each of them will learn different things, and
later Pattie will come here, and Ian will return home.”
Frank
looked at his mother. “Does this mean Willie will be taking his boards to
practice medicine here? He could be your doctor, Mom… I know he could make the
baby healthier.”
“Honey,
I know he is your friend but we’ve talked about this, and about living with
Grandma and Grandpa Mayberry,” she said firmly.
“Just
give him a chance, Mom! Please!”
Donna
struggled with what she was going to say next. She looked into her son’s
earnest eyes and said softly, “I am sure he is a wonderful doctor, but I don’t
know him that well, and I don’t know if you would understand this, but there
are ways that things are done when having a baby. It’s very difficult to, well
… things are very personal.”
“If
Willie can help save my baby sister, then you need to get over the personal
things, Mom,” Frank said evenly. Snagging Ian’s bag he carried it upstairs as
Mort came down.
Mort
looked puzzled between the two women and the upstairs. Donna threw her hands up
in the air. “I don’t know what to do with him. He loves it here, and your offer
is very kind, Aunt Jessica, but - “
“You
don’t have to explain, Donna - I understand.”
Donna
closed her eyes. “Is he a good doctor?” she asked Jessica softly.
It
was Mort who spoke up as he came down the steps into the room. “I don’t know
what is going on, Mrs. F, but I can tell you that when Willie first arrived to
claim that sword, I ran a check on him. He is one of the foremost authorities
on immunology and he heals with herbs and plants. You don’t know him, but
Donna
turned to Jessica and shrugged with her hands in despair. “Aunt Jessica!”
“It’s
all right, Donna. I understand.”
“But
you agree with them,” Donna said with a sniff. “Does that make me a horrid
mother that I won’t…?” Donna turned around and went into the parlor where Mort
heard her sniffing.
“I’m
sorry, Mrs. F. I didn’t know it was such a sensitive topic.”
“Mort,
it’s all right. I expect there will be more tears and yelling until things are
resolved. It wasn’t the peaceful vacation that was planned.”
Upstairs
Frank ran to the bed where Ian lay and climbed beside him. He was careful not
to wake the young boy with his movements, but he couldn’t help the tears that
came or the gulping sobs that he tried to keep inside of him.
When
Jessica looked in on them later she found both of them asleep, wrapped in each
others’ arms. Sighing, she made her way back downstairs to where Donna was
laying down on the sofa with a cold cloth on her head. It had been hard for
Sara to agree to allow Ian to come to
She
paused and saw Frank’s open note book that had fallen off of the end table in
the excitement of her arrival. Picking it up she glanced at the scrawled
writing and sat down as she began to read what he had written:
“Week
three of my summer. It’s hard to know where to begin, when trying to explain
what you feel inside. Things you can’t tell adults or your friends because either
they worry, or they think you’re strange. I feel ill inside, remembering,
trying to fathom how greed and hatred can ruin people. How we take things for
granted, and that there are others who live in such conditions that it makes me
ashamed to have so much. To have parents who love me, and family who owns up to
being related to me with pride. In all of their love and understanding I know I
can’t tell them what happened, not all of it.
In the middle of celebrating something good and pure, my friends
and I were snatched away, and held in a place where others had died. I saw
things: things that gave me courage, things I can’t explain. Things that others
may not have seen, or understand. I think, sometimes, that I am going mad -
maybe it was the moment, or the danger that we were in. I knew if I could not
find the way to safety, no one would. Sometimes I wish that moments could float
away on the breeze and never be seen again. I can’t speak of what I feel in my
heart, yet I know my friend who was there hurts more than I do. I know that
things won’t change soon, but I worry about my mum, and my dad, and my Aunt
Jessica, that the same people who have done these things would want to hurt
them. Or that I would do something, and not know, and it would cause them
distress. I am eleven, but I feel old before my time - it’s a burden that I can
not fathom, it’s a guilt that I should not have to bear, but I do…
I want to be a kid again. I want to do things to get into
trouble because I need a reason to be yelled at, so that I have a reason that
can justify my tears, and the horrible feeling that has been a monster inside
of me. I know my parents will love me regardless, so I need them to be firm
with me, so that I have a reason to yell, and scream, and flail my arms around
like windmills and maybe break out of what has been hurting inside of me. But I
can‘t. I can‘t bring myself to do that because their lives have been up ended
as well as mine. They hurt for different reasons, and I can‘t burden them with
what has been stabbing through my heart since then. I know, now, why Willie
cried when the storms came. I know why there is a haunting in ones heart… I
don‘t know where I fit any more…”
Jessica
closed the note book and placed it back into his back pack, zipping it closed.
She regarded Donna as she slept. She understood why Donna would want to go home
during this time. Children grow up, and they learn to find order in their
lives. It kept things normal. For Frank and Ian, and she presumed Tipper as
well, the recent events had ripped the normal away. Under the best of times
victims would require years of counseling. Of course, after growing up in the
Mayberry household, Frank might need even more counseling than he did from
being kidnapped.
Settling
back on the oversized chair Jessica felt her eyes growing heavy. The time
difference was going to take a bit to get used to, and she had informed Donna
that they would eat after everyone took a nap. It just seemed like a few heartbeats
when she woke to the sound of a scream, pots falling and the distinct sound of
Donna being ill. Rising from the seat she hurried to the kitchen and saw Donna
clinging to the counter. A carton of eggs was tipped over and a few had rolled
across the counter. Donna had knocked the frying pan to the floor. Jessica
hurried forward to see what was wrong as Donna swayed and retched again.
It
was then that Jessica saw the eggs. Every single one of them had things drawn
on them. Realistic eyeballs that were bloodshot stared back at her. Some had
the words
“Bum
Nuts” written on them. One had a set of teeth, another had a boogey nose. One
had
“Peep
Inside” and another had “U Crack ME UP!” One looked like it had a very
realistic worm coming out of it.
Donna
straightened up. “FRANK FLETCHER, YOU GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!”
Frank
lifted his head up and looked groggily around. Ian was awake. Frank looked at
the younger boy and said, “Best you stay put, mate - she’s got a full head of
steam and there will be a lot of shouting.”
Going
downstairs he peeked into the kitchen and saw Aunt Jessica was trying to calm
Donna down, and Donna snapping at Jessica, “STAY OUT OF THIS!”
Turning,
Donna saw Frank in the doorway and started yelling at him. Jessica saw Frank
didn’t flinch, though he wore a slightly baffled expression on his face until
he walked forward to the sink to clean up the mess and saw the eggs. He didn’t
try to defend himself, he didn’t try to calm her down, he just stood there and
listened to her as she berated him. He only turned his head when he heard a
catch of a sound in the doorway from the upstairs. She was yelling at him to
continue to clean it up as she saw him leaving the kitchen.
“YOU GET BACK HERE, YOUNG MAN!” she thundered following him, then came up short
as she saw Frank holding Ian as he sobbed.
“I’ll
take care of this, Mum,” Frank said softly. “He is just scared.”
Jessica
touched Donna on the arm and turned her back to the kitchen. “Donna, the eggs
came that way.”
“What?”
Donna gasped turning back to where she saw Frank comforting the younger boy.
“It’s
a marketing strategy they have been trying out to increase poultry sales
because of the cost of shipping the product up here. I tried to tell you.”
“Why
didn’t he - why did he let me yell at him then?” asked Donna stunned.
Jessica
glanced back to the room where the sounds had turned to noisy hiccups. “Because
he knew that disagreeing with you would upset you more. I understand things are
not going well, Donna, and I know how much you want to get things back to what
you can deal with. Sometimes you need to accept the help of others, even if
your heart yearns for familiar comforts.” Jessica escorted Donna back to the
kitchen and into a chair where Donna placed her hands over her face and let out
a moan.
“I’m a terrible mother,” she said before
bursting into tears.
Jessica
saw the two boys enter and go to where Donna was sitting. Ian lifted her wrist
and began to rub the inside of it gently. “Shhh Mum, tis all right,” he said
softly. “Come have a lie about until dinner.”
Obediently
Donna stood and followed him into the front room where he guided her to lie
down on the sofa. In a heartbeat with him rubbing her wrist gently, she was
asleep. Frank tugged a blanket over her and then the two boys left the room.
Ian looked back at Donna for a moment before following Frank and Jessica into
the kitchen to help Frank clean things up.
“Tears
I understand…the shouting scares me the most. Back home, at the neighbors it
was followed by beatings, and screams… and if the Met would come then there
would be shootings sometimes through the walls. I didn’t know where to go to
hide.”
Frank
scooped the egg mess into Lucky’s bowl and called her over. In a few gulps and
a whirl of her tail, the mess was gone.
“That
wrist thing, where did you learn that?” asked Frank, curious. He saw a far away
look in Ian’s eyes.
“Mam’s
been ill with every one of the lot, and Grama Rosemary said Gram used to do it
for her. I watched, and when Grama Rosemary was working an’ Mam was ill, I
would do it and she would settle some. After the crying she did, she’ll nae
want to eat eggs, or bacon, or things of that nature…”
Jessica
came over to the boys. “I will make dinner… Frank, why don’t you take Ian
outside and show him around? Dinner will be in about half an hour.”
Frank
checked the clock on the kitchen wall then nodded to Jessica, and borrowing her
cane for Ian, the two boys went out the back door. Ian looked at the rose
garden and then buried his nose into one and looked up at Frank. “I read about
a place like this, that all they grow is flowers … never thought I would live
to see the day, though…” His fingers traced the soft petals of one and he
breathed in the scent of the rose again.
Taking
Ian by the hand Frank led him to the swing and helped him sit on it before
sitting down on it himself. “I didn’t see much of
He
saw Ian stand up and walk to the edge of Jessica’s property and look into the
yard of
Letting
out a careful breath Frank said softly, “I don’t know what’s going to happen to
us. I’m not particularly chuffed about going to live with Grandma and Grandpa
Mayberry. I want to stay here, but I understand Mum wants to be with her
family. “
“An’
your da lets her get away with tha’? Back home, it was what the man of the
house said, an’ the women listened.” Ian blinked a few times and then looked
away.
“Was
your dad like that?” asked Frank softly.
“My
Da was a good man. He didn’t deserve to die like he did in the factory. Mum
would have been there too - and even with Grandma Rosemary, we would have been
sent to the Orphans’ Asylum. The girls would have a chance at being adopted,
but, well, I’d be on my own.” Ian dragged a design with his foot in the dirt.
“It
won’t ever come to that now Ian. You have a huge family now.”
Frank
saw the sadness in Ian’s eyes. “It already has happened, me being packed away
and shipped here. Gram is 97, she’s nae going to be able to teach Pattie very
long. Toot’s been remanded for the killings, though Inspector George says
that’s just until the judge signs the papers to release him, an’ that could be
ages. With the new babe on the way an’ Margarita, well, even at Mither’s there
wasn’t enough room for me. Mum wanted a proper raising for me around a man, nae
so many women. I keenly miss Pattie, though. Nae used to sleeping without
someone else in the room, even if it is a little one.”
The
porch door opened and Jessica’s voice came wafting over to them. “Dinner is
ready, boys.”
It
was later that evening that Donna looked in on them. Ian had nestled next to
Frank who had his arm around the sleeping younger boy protectively. He looked
up at his mother as she crossed the room and sat on his bedside.
“Frank,
I am so sorry…”
“Mom,
I love you, but I can’t deal with your problems and mine at the same time. I
can’t even handle the thought of moving in with Grandma and Grandpa Mayberry - I
want to hide in a corner and rock myself, or throw up, and I can’t breath. I
want to scream and throw things. I need to heal inside, Mom. I can’t do that if
every time I turn around I get hurt with you yelling at me for things beyond my
control. I know you don’t mean what you say, or the anger that comes out. I
think that it’s in best interest of our family and my best interest if I stayed
here, for good. I ...“
He
saw Donna shaking her head, and the look in her eyes. Reaching over he took her
hand in his and covered it with his own. “Every day for the longest time, months,
you’ve yelled at Dad, or me, or the landlord, and neither Dad nor I deserve it.
‘I’m sorry’ doesn’t mean anything anymore because tomorrow you will yell, and
the next day, and the next day. I can’t tell you what to do, Mom. You have to
decide, but if all the doctors that you have seen can’t make you feel well enough
to get through a day without causing the people who love you distress, then
it’s time to see a different type of doctor, even if it’s one that you just
talk with.“
Frank
saw the tears well up in his mother’s eyes. “I’m scared, Mom. I love you,” he
said, sitting up and wrapping his arms about her. “Gabe told me that there are
times that we do what is best or what is right and it depends on what is the
most important thing. I know its right for you to feel comfortable with the doctors
that you know, maybe, though it would be best if you just spoke with Willie.
The most important thing is the baby to be born alive, isn’t it?”
“Frank,
please don’t make this any harder than it already is… you don’t understand,”
she said softly.
“Help
me understand, then,” he said urgently.
“The
baby won’t be able to breath right, it will probably have many birth defects,
and if it does survive, chances are that the baby will be mentally challenged…
profoundly…”
“That
wouldn’t change how we love her,” he said, taking his mother’s hand. “She could
be just fine as well. Just think about it, okay?”
Donna
sighed then nodded. Kissing Frank on the cheek, she pushed him back down on the
bed and tucked the covers over him. “Goodnight, honey,” she said softly.
“’Night,
Mom. Mom?… I love you.” Frank watched
his mother smile as she stood up and stood over the bed.
“I
love you too, honey,” Donna said, then went out of the room and closed the
door.
She
found Jessica downstairs still up sitting in the parlor with twin cups of tea
on the side board. She picked up the tea cup with trembling hands and regarded
the dark hot liquid.
“Frank
used to act up. Now he is soft spoken, and considerate, and responsible. He
doesn’t want to come to my parents’ house. What changed him, Aunt Jessica? I
used to be able to out think him… now I can’t do that. I feel as if I have lost
my son in all of this. I’ve lived my whole life with traffic outside the door,
and people who didn’t know you and a place where people are still up at ten pm
and the sun comes up at a proper hour. He wants me to talk to Willie, and
everyone keeps telling me to do that, and I know I have to be the one to make
that decision, but …”
“What
is your reservation about speaking with him, Donna?” inquired Jessica gently.
There
was struggle on the young woman’s face. A single tear traced down it.
“Is
it about the dreams that you had? When we were in
Jessica
saw Donna close her eyes against the memory. There was pain, greater than
Donna had ever had. She heard herself screaming - writhing, to escape it. There
was a noise behind her- music that she didn’t understand. She felt hands
reaching into her body, and looking up she saw Willie’s face as he lifted something
up from her belly. He bent over and then lifted his head. There was blood on
his mouth, blood all over him as she felt her world slip away.
The same dream had come to her every night even
before she had met Willie, even before she had learned she was pregnant. The
dream had come to her every night for months, and it was only afterwards that
she had a name to put to the face. She had found him kind and gentle, but the
memory of the recurring dreams had made her disinclined to consider the thought
of seeing him as a doctor. Dreams that she couldn’t confide in anyone, only tell
the people who had been awakened by her gasps from the nightmares that it was
just a bad dream. Considering all that had happened, it wasn’t unexpected.
There were others, too - other family members who had bad dreams when they were
together at the bed and breakfast, but none would talk about them. Tipper’s had
been the most pronounced, but given the fact she had survived two nightmarish
moments it wasn’t surprising.
“Donna?”
She felt Jessica take her hand in hers. “Are you all right?”
Donna
opened her eyes and looked at Jessica. “I’m afraid of him, Aunt Jessica.”
“Afraid?
How?” Jessica asked, perplexed.
Donna
swallowed. Jessica could see the younger woman’s hands were trembling as she
picked up the tea cup and took a sip then set the cup down on the saucer with a
clatter. “He is kind, and sweet and charming, and my son adores him. He has a
way about him that people listen to, a charisma that makes people follow him
and accept him. A sort of magic… I had the same dream, before I met him. He was
in the dreams that I have been having. I… I died in that dream by his hand,
Aunt Jessica, and so did my baby… and now everyone is trying to convince me to
go to him about the baby, and I can’t… I can’t.”
“Would
it help if Seth was there?” inquired Jessica.
Donna
shook her head then sniffed back tears. “No. Frank thinks that I should go see
a psychiatrist. What should I do?”
For
a moment Jessica regarded Donna in silence. “How do you feel about seeing a psychiatrist?” she asked.
Donna
studied the pattern of the tea leaves inside the cup awhile before looking up
at Jessica.
“I
need to speak to Willie - about the baby, and my dreams, don’t I?“
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Althea
Blair strode into
“Hello,
Ms. Blair, is it? “ The young woman nodded as the frumpy school secretary
extended her hand to her. “Mr. Charles is still away; he was delayed in one of
his interviews and is in
“Enrollment
is down this year, which is sad of course – it’s always nice to see little ones
growing up over time. There are still five more weeks of summer left for the
students, but it’s never enough time to write the lesson plans and prepare for
next year. I know Mr. Charles said that you were going to teach 4th
grade, but that may be changed to 5th grade if Jake, um, if Mr.
Edger takes over the 6th grade, or they may split it - the budget is
a bit tighter this year, and while in the past we had one teacher for each
subject, the board has decided to have one teacher per grade this year. It cuts
out four head teaching positions, though we still need someone to cover the
science department two days a week. The state was pretty firm about that. While
your little monsters are having their science lesson, you will be helping cover
either lunch or recess for the students, depending on the schedule. Oh, here is
your classroom. You should know, no contract with the town has been signed that
has a budget that is going to work. The increase in the elderly population has
decreased the amount of revenue that we can gather. It used to depend on how many
children you had going to the school at one time. Even though you’re told to go
out and buy whatever you need for the projects, there is no money to reimburse
you. We’re lucky just to have enough paper for the first six weeks. The books
are in the storage area, and your students will have lockers 400- 425. Ohhhhh,
there he is… There’s Jake Edger!” She said softly to Althea, “Don’t let him
break your heart, dear, he’s a horror with women to love.”
Althea
looked in the direction that Gibby had indicated and felt her heart skip a
beat. Jake Edger had peeked from his office by sliding his chair out the door
and waved in their direction. Too tall for the chair, his lanky frame sprawled
in it. His wavy dark hair was cut short, and his smoldering black eyes were
intoxicating even from a distance.
Swallowing,
Althea nodded. “I know the type.” She saw him unfold his frame and stride down
the hall casually until he came to where the two of them were.
“Now,
Mrs. Gibby, you’re not spreading rumors about me, are you?” he said in a deep
mellow voice, flashing a perfect grin in her direction. He turned, regarding
Althea. “Hello, Ms. Blair,” he said, extending his hand. “It has been a while.”
Shyly Althea took the offered hand and shook it firmly.
“You
know Mr. Edger?” asked Gibby, raising her eyebrows.
“Ms.
Blair was one of my students several years ago. One of my top students, one of
the three that was able to take my ‘Awful Awful Final’ and receive a perfect
score… How is Al’s mother doing?” he asked politely.
Gibby
didn’t miss the pause in Althea’s voice. “She went into remission. I will let
her know you asked about her… she always liked you,” she said, then thought to
herself, “When no one else would!”
He
regarded Althea as she smiled at something Gibby said to her.
“Well,
we will let you get back to your work, Mr. Edger. Now, Ms. Blair, down here we
have the art department. If you want to put on any plays with your students,
you will need to work with Cynthia Bohen. She has to account for every ounce of
crayon that is used – a pity. Some of the students are quite talented, and
there are lots of things they could be doing…so much… but we are stuck
with the basics. I would hope to think that we enable the children to use their
imaginations to their fullest potential,” she said with a sigh.
“Do
you have any applicants in mind for the science teacher position, or will that
be added to the curriculum that we will be teaching?”
The
older woman sighed. “Well, our last vice principal was the science teacher as
well as the physical education teacher, but his heart attack this spring sidelined
him and we haven’t really been able to fill in with someone who can do
everything. It was after that the school board voted to return to having each
teacher teach everything - it didn’t leave as many holes. Hopefully the person
our principal has in mind will accept the position.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willie
Mac exited the brightly lit room and closed the door behind him, shaking his
head. He saw
“Well?”
she asked, curious.
“Don’t
know. Oddest way that I have ever had exams before. Thousands of questions and
none of them specific. Three ways to end the exam: two an a half hours pass and
the screen goes dark on ye, or if out of all of the questions ye answered enough
to pass, or enough that you wouldn’t pass. Na a bloody leaf in sight to say, ‘Aye,
tha’ would certainly put hair on his chest.’ But the most distracting part
about the whole thing was knowing that just outside the door, you were waiting
for me…” he said, his voice dropping softly as he pulled her close for a tender
kiss.
Taking
a breath they parted. She glanced at the clock on the wall. “You were only in
there for half an hour. That rules out that you exceeded the time, leaving either
you failed - and I can’t believe that you would - or that you passed your
boards for the State of
“It’s
been awhile since I practiced medicine, Wife. Things have changed and a lot of
it is different than what I would do. Prescribing bits in tea wasn’t on what
they had as questions. I was thinking in reverse terms in there - I knew the
plants, I knew the way to use them and the chemical, but in there they had the
chemical, and then how to use them. It was agony. Pill photographs with numbers
and manufactures, knowing the difference between colors to tell the dosage, an’
some of the new fangled treatment protocols - an even if I do pass this, it
won’t make a bit of difference except the letters after my name that I could
put on my checks.“
“In
three months you could take it again, if you wanted to. You don’t have to,
Husband.”
“Gram
said as much. If I am to be a proper teacher for Ian, though, I ought to be
able to have some practice for him with the real live persons,” he said
ruefully.
He
gave her a curious look. “Odd? Ohhhh. Well. Nae, we won’t be starting out with
much more than learning the plants first - that takes well over two years before
they even learn to take a pulse. Pattie may be present when her mother gives
birth, but only since Gram will be the midwife.”
“And
what will happen when our children are born? Will Ian be there?”
“Wife,
I’ve nae ever delivered triplets. Owing to the possibility of complications,
would you be wanting to have the delivery in the hospital, with Seth helping,
or somewhere else? If it’s at the hospital, nae, Ian would na be able to be
present at the birth.”
“I
don’t know. Let’s see how today goes, and the months ahead…” She saw the door
open and a thin man peek out. She nodded to him, and was a bit surprised when
he came out from the room and closed the door, approaching Willie.
“Might
I have a moment of your time?” he asked, opening the door on the other side of
the hall.
Willie
and Taylor entered the room. There was a desk with a large chair behind it, and
three in front. He closed the door behind them.
Willie
turned to
Dr.
Norris nodded again then indicated they should sit down. “I’m going to be very
direct here. I’ve questions for you, and while the board would feel a hearing
may be in order, I would rather clear up anything before the results are
posted. Quite frankly, you currently hold the fastest time for taking the exam
in the State of
Willie
raised an eyebrow. “That your testing system is lame-ass backwards. Ye canna
know what’s wrong with someone from general terminology nor understand what really
may be wrong with them without caring for the whole of the body. I’ve na been
fond of the pills under the tongue or down the throat because they are bits of
poison that may do more harm than good, but give me the plant and I can tell
you how much would do better than what comes from a man who failed the hard
work in medical school.”
Willie
felt a tap on his arm from
“It
implies that you had the answers before you took the exam.”
“Well,
of course I had the answers. Did ye think that I was lollygagging away the
years awhile back? An’ if I didn’t know what I was doing then, I shouldn’t a
been with a patient in the first place.”
“Oh…
My Gram is a healer. All my life I have been around the plants that go into the
wee pills, an’ when I was of age I was sent off to formal learn - I knew,
though, most of what they were trying to teach everyone, an’ so I spent time in
research. I did work in hospitals as a doctor for several years until, well,
until I went home and found there had been a great deal of trouble going on. I
only applied to take the test today because my wife wished me to be able to
practice in your fair state. The outcome doesn’t change how I live my life or
what I would do with it. I’ve been told by a young friend of mine that if my
name was …” He turned to
“Google,”
“Aye,
that’s it. If you would use your computer you could Google my name and see some
of the papers that I’ve written. Imagine my surprise to see that after all this
time anyone can take a peek at the thoughts I worked out - all over the world
an’ nae even be a doctor, though unless you were, or had quite a bit of
understanding on the subject, it would be nonsense.“
Dr.
Norris leaned forward and looked directly at Willie. “Please explain to me why you took this exam?”
He
saw Willie frown. “The same reason why everyone takes it: to be licensed to
practice medicine in the State of
“Am
I to understand that you have already passed exams for the university that you
attended?”
“Oh,
aye. Top of my class. Top of ‘most all of them, come to think about it…” Willie
said, puzzling over it.
“I
see… Well, thank you for your time - you will be notified by mail of the
decision within two weeks. Good day.” Dr. Norris stood and held the door open
for them.
They
heard voices coming down the hallway as they exited the room.
“Hullo,
Mr. Murphy, what brings you to
The
tall man took his offered hand and shook it warmly. “Gordon Charles, principal
of
“Mr.
Charles, your offer is tremendously kind. I will have to discuss this at length
with my wife and will let you know what has been decided. It was lovely to see
you again, Mr. Murphy. Gentlemen, good day,” Willie said, inclining his head to
the men. Placing his hand to the small of her back he escorted her out to the
car. He opened the driver side door for her, waited until she got behind the
wheel then got into the passenger side and buckled himself in. “I’ve got to
bloody well learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road, don’t I?” he
asked, frowning as she pulled into an open slot between the cars on the road
and began the trip home.
“You
could just walk, or ride a bike to the school if you decide to take the job, or
take the bus with Ian. He will have to go to school here, you know. Maybe when we are settled in, we can arrange
to have him tested to see where he fits into the curriculum. I dare say he may
be a few grades ahead… Did Gram say what she thought was going on?”
“I
was small for my age, too… but even Seth noticed how thin he is. Pattie said he
gives the little ones most off of his plate, saying he wasn’t hungry. She’s
heavier than he is, and a mite taller too. It’s like he stopped growing two
years ago. Sara said that was the last time he had new shoes and they still
fit, even his clothes are the same. He may need to snuggle up with us until he
gets used to having a room by himself… though I don’t think Aunt Jessica would
mind keeping him just one more night while we are on the box - we are, after all,
still on our honeymoon…”
“Mmm,
well, I will leave it to you to explain to
“Ah,
that says a lot regarding your virtue, Wife,” he said, teasing her.
“Yes,
it does, and you’d better be prepared, because she’s not used to being in a
kennel and she may be a bit peeved that you were the reason why.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank
heard the car pull up to
Jessica
looked out the window and saw
Frank
looked back at Jessica, a bit perplexed. “Why wouldn’t they come over to get
Ian?”
“They
will, probably tomorrow. Willie has had a long day, and I expect
Frank
gave Jessica a look. “Uh huh,” was all
he said.
Jessica
pulled the blind down to give them privacy then tossed a sock at Frank. “Come
on, only two more baskets to go.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Althea
shook the sleep from her mind as she walked up the steps to the apartment that
she was renting and gathered the mail that had been pushed through the slot of
the door. She knew that Jake taught at that school, knew that in all of the
years that she had worked as a teacher, trying to get his attention, that he
was a rat when it came to the heart. Sorting through the mail she saw a letter
from Al and opened it, dropping all of the other mail onto the table. Al was at
the other end of the spectrum. Patent, kind, sweet, he was taking care of his
mother, and she had told him she understood. She would wait. He wasn’t dashing,
though, and he didn’t have a clue regarding the effects that a roguish grin had
on the heart of a young girl. How even going for a simple cup of coffee could
set one’s heart a-flutter.
Dear Thea,
I hope that this letter finds you well, and that everything is
in order for your new job in Cabot Cove. Mother says hello. She is improving
slightly since you last saw her, though there is little hope that the
improvements will last long. She said I couldn’t possibly abandon her now when
she needs me the most. She said you would understand…’
She
sighed as she stuffed the letter back into the envelope without reading the
rest. Althea did understand. There were some women who could use guilt to get
what they wanted, and Al’s mother was one of them. Al had been a classmate of
hers; both of them had Jake as a teacher at the same time, and it was only Al’s
lumbering patience that had prevented Jake’s barbed remarks from upsetting the young
man. Coffee had led to going to the movies, but all the dreams that followed
were just that - dreams.
Glancing
around, Althea noticed that half of her boxes still needed to be unpacked. She
really was going to do that - sometime or another - it was just that she wasn’t
sure until that very day if she could face up to Jake, or flee back home to her
parents’ house and give up being a teacher.
Teaching
had been her life’s dream. Teaching jobs were far more difficult to get: there
were far more teachers exiting the universities than teaching positions. Once
in a while the school would have retirements, or someone would move on to a
different position. Small schools had very little money, but the dangled offer
of housing within a mile of the school with utilities included was an incentive
she couldn’t resist. She now could offer Al a place to move into - after, of
course, his mother died. Althea wondered sometimes if she should worry that Al
would perhaps fall in love with the nurse who cared for his mother, and if she
should look around herself and find someone to spend the bleak winter hours
with… There is always, Jake, she thought to herself, smirking. Even if
he was twelve years her senior, the age difference wasn’t that noticeable.
Guilt
worked both ways. Jake owed her more than he could ever pay back, in ways he
couldn’t ever understand. His departure two years ago from the private school
three states away had been unexpected to the staff and students who were
reeling over the tragic death of two of their classmates when the raft they had
been using overturned during the summer vacation. Jake had been grief-stricken
and blamed himself for the accident. He had encouraged the girls to try
something new, and being young, without fear, they did. Both had life jackets
on, but the autopsy showed they had indeed drowned in the river. Why they
didn’t have an experienced guide to take them down was unknown. Jake had leant
them the equipment, and had instructed them who to contact before they went
down.
Althea
had seen the looks the girls had given him the day school let out, the hugs he
had given them and the quick look in his eyes. She had seen that look before,
and known the same hugs. The day she turned twenty-one was the day things
changed. He became distant, polite, and was seen taking the two girls out for
coffee when he had promised that he would take her out for her first big event -
going to celebrate her being twenty-one at the local bar. He hadn’t shown, and
after two hours of swirling her olives, she decided to walk home. She was in
the mood for coffee - she needed something sweet. He never saw her, never
looked up to see her standing stunned as his head bent over the table in low
discussion with the girls. The accident happened two days later, or rather,
their bodies were found two days later. Water deaths were a bit tricky when it
came to determining the time someone had died. The caskets had been closed, and
in his grief Jake had disappeared up north. Althea was able to follow where he
ended up by the subscribing to the peer review circulars that listed job
postings. She knew her job was far more important than the feelings lurking in
her heart, and she would remain professional no matter what he did, or tried to
do.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The
slow chug of the lobster boats leaving the harbor at four am woke
Willie
opened his sleepy eyes and glanced up as
He
shook his head. “Who was that on the
answering machine?” he asked, picking up the milk carton to give it a shake.
The lumps moved inside of it. “Ooohhh, cottage cheese!” he said before dumping
it down the sink, followed by water to rinse down the smell.
“Just
“Ah…
so, you knew what she was going to say without listening to what the message
was?”
“Yes.
Every time she comes around there is trouble, and it winds up being very
expensive, both financially and emotionally for me. It only suits her, and the
rest of the time, I don‘t exist. From the time stamp on the calls they began
right after the story broke regarding the discovery of the treasure.”
“It
might be something else! It sounded as if she called you a dozen times and you
don’t even see what she has to say.”
“Three
dozen times. I got tired of being invisible. I became tired of having what I
did, what I look like, how I dress, criticized as not being good enough. I
could never fall in love with the right person, and nothing I did was good
enough. If I said anything regarding her behavior I would be curtly informed
not to step on her toes.
Willie
noticed the small beads of sweat that were forming on
There
was a knock at the back door. “I’ll get it,” he said, kissing her lips gently.
Striding to the back door he pulled the blinds up and saw Tipper standing on
the back porch with
Tipper
entered in the kitchen and placed
“Well,
I think there is just one more that I have to get through, and then I may well
hang up a shingle…though I was approached yesterday by Mr. Charles to be the
new science teacher at the elementary school. That would mean more testing,
though, and some other paperwork, I am sure."
Tipper
nodded. “They tend to test you on everything you might possibly have to teach.”
There was a faint whirring from her pager on her hip. “Uh, gotta go. I’ll take
you up on the cuppa later. Welcome back!” she said brightly before heading out
the back door.
Willie
closed the door and put two mugs in the microwave. It wasn’t the most proper of
ways to make tea, but it would do. While the unit counted down, he leaned on
the counter and began to sort the mail. It went into two piles, bills in one,
circulars in the other. Tossing the circulars in the trash he was about to dump
the carrots in the bin on top when he saw the corner of an envelope that had
missed his sorting. Curious, he plucked it out and flipped it over to see what
it was. In neat script he saw just
Folding
the letter he pushed it back into the envelope and left it on the counter.
Being very careful he dropped two infusers with tea into the cups and dunked
them a few time as what he had read worked through his mind. When the tea was
done he carried it to where she lay and placed it on the coffee table. She sat
up so that he could sit in the corner of the sofa and then laid her head on his
chest. His arm went around her waist and his hand rested upon her belly.
“Wife?”
he asked softly.
“Yes,
Husband?”
“Were
you concerned that if you told me about
“So,
if she decided to come to Cabot Cove for an extended vacation, how would you
handle it?”
It
was Willie’s turn to take a breath and let it out slowly. “In the mail was a
letter, just addressed to you, and I didn’t know if it was a bill, or ad, so I
opened it … an’ she is coming with her son and a few others. She said they would
be arriving sometime today. I’m na
doubting ye, wife, I just don’t know how the two of ye could have come from the
same womb and be so different. Ye could have told me about her, and that you
didn’t want her there before we were married, and I would understand…”
She
rolled on the sofa so that she faced him. “I am afraid for our children… I am
afraid what may happen if she tries to get her way and I have to get the brunt
of it…I can’t deal with her any more…”
“Shhh,
Wife… You won’t have to. I‘ll take care of things.” He saw tears beginning to
form in
“I
don’t want you to get hurt by her…”
“Dearest
Wife, there’s na much that she could say to me or about me that hasn’t already
been said. In all the world, though, there was only one who looked past what
others saw first, directly to my heart…The most fairest sight my eyes had seen,
and that my life took new meaning for.“ He kissed her gently. “I think today,
Wife, you will have a fair bit of resting to do while I play man of the house
and wear an apron to do the cooking… if that’s alright with you? Then tonight,
you may have your way with me…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jessica
heard the familiar thump-bump of Ian coming down the steps in a hurry as he
dragged his small duffle behind him and took it to the door. He was washed and
dressed and, she could tell, eager to go over to
“Whoa,
slow down! It’s just five - they may not even be up yet! And you haven’t had a
proper breakfast!” said Donna from the corner of the kitchen.
Ian
turned and saw what she was eating, saw the pot on the stove, and shook his
head. “Thank ye, no, I ... I’m na all that hungry this morning.”
Frank
came up behind him rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Don’t be daft. Lunch is a
long way away, and you don’t have to have oatmeal. We have other things to eat,
all sorts of cereals and toasts…”
Ian
shook his head again. “Wouldn’t be right to take more from ye,” he said softly.
“Nae while there is good food tha’ ye made.”
Frank
guided Ian to a chair and helped him get comfortable. “Let’s have a cup of tea,”
he said, getting the kettle and placing water in it.
Donna
was about to say that tea wasn’t proper for young boys to have at all, but then
she saw Ian nod, and give a sigh. She looked at Jessica, who was studying the
interaction between Ian and Frank with concern. Turning, Jessica opened the
bread box and withdrew a loaf from within then pulled the toaster from the
corner and popped two slices in. While they cooked, she retrieved butter and
orange juice. She poured two glasses of the juice and slid it in front of the
boys. Leaning over she said softly to them, “Donna can’t abide orange juice. I
thought she would like it. Could you help me finish up the carton?”
Ian
nodded, his nose twitching at the smell that wafted from the toaster. “What is
that, Aunt Jessica?” he asked, curious.
“It’s
cinnamon bread. It goes very well with tea and juice.”
His
nose twitched again. “Does it now?” He
watched fascinated as the toast popped upward. Jessica carefully lifted the hot
bread out of the toaster and spread fluffy butter over each slice then cut them
into fourths before placing the plate in front of the boys. She put two more
slices in the toaster and depressed the button.
Donna
watched as Frank placed two of the squares for starters before Ian. Ian studied
the bread, then with his fingers tore off a small bit of the bread and placed
it in his mouth. He chewed it for a while before taking another bit off the
edge. His eyes widened as Jessica slid the next two slices on the plate besides
the first ones.
“Oh,
ye shouldn’t be going to such fuss, Aunt Jessica. This is a plenty,” he said,
pointing to the half he was working on.
“Well,
Mum’s gone for thirds on the oatmeal, and Aunt Jessica’s had her breakfast, and
I can’t finish all of that, so you will just have to help eat it,” said Frank,
trying to keep his voice steady. Ian glanced at the sound of a slurp coming
from the corner. Frank and Jessica followed his gaze and were surprised to see
Donna lowering her bowl from her lips. There were patches of oatmeal on her
face and a milk mustache.
“Would
ye care for some cinnamon toast, Aunt Donna?” Ian asked as his hand went to the
plate to offer it to her.
Donna
gave a shudder. “Noo, noo, noo," she said, waving her free hand. “No thank
you. I was never one for cinnamon.”
Frank
turned back to Ian. “Close your eyes and open your mouth.” Puzzled, Ian did as
he was told. Frank lifted the piece of cinnamon bread and placed it in Ian’s
mouth upside down. “Bite down now…” said Frank. He saw Ian’s eye brows go up in
surprise as he began to chew with increased interest.
“Oh,
that’s lovely,” he said after swallowing. He took a sip of tea then blinked. “You’re
right, Aunt Jessica, it does go well with the tea.” Glancing down Ian saw Frank
had slipped the lion’s share of the toast onto Ian’s plate.
“I’ve
eaten my share, that’s yours,” Frank said, holding up another corner upside
down for Ian to eat.
In
short order the breakfast was finished and the dishes cleared away from the
table. Frank saw Lucky lift her head as
Ian
stood up and went to Jessica. “Thank you, I had a lovely time.” Nodding to the
others, he gathered his duffle and went out the back door over to
Frank
closed the door. For a moment he just stood not moving. When he turned Jessica
and Donna saw tears in Frank’s eyes. “He is going to die if he doesn’t start
eating more, isn’t he?”
Jessica
sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. “We don’t know. Willie and Seth are
going to do everything they can for him.”
“Then
with Ian coming here, it isn’t to learn about being a healer, is it?” Frank
asked, needing to know.
“Oh,
yes, Willie will be teaching him everything he can… He is in very good hands,
Frank, and I am sure that things will work out,” said Jessica, brushing the
tears from Frank’s eyes. “In the meantime, perhaps you could get changed, and
take your mother for a walk down to see how much the docks have changed since
she was last here.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jake
Eliot strode past the small tourist shops down to Ye Ole Tyme Mini Mart.
Fishing several quarters out of his pocket he approached the pay phones and
lifted the receiver. Leaning against the building he turned to watch the people
as they strolled along the sidewalks. He heard people calling hello to someone
and shifted his interest in that direction. “Now there is a dish worth dipping into…” he
mused, watching Tipper enter into the mini mart.
A
short, curly haired young man who was oddly dressed nodded as he stepped into
the sweet shop that was next door to the mini mart. A younger boy that Jake
didn’t recognize was helping a ditzy blond past the ice cream shop, scolding
her for something - she had chocolate on her face and he was trying to get her
to wipe it off as she slurped ice cream from the bottom of her cone.
His
eyes panned the crowd and found his mark. Althea was a creature of habit. In
the two days that she had been in Cabot Cove it had been simple to follow her
morning routine. Early rise, coffee, and then a brisk walk. She was right on
time. Glancing at his watch he knew that things were about to become
interesting. He hung up the phone and followed Althea a few paces behind her.
He knew she would take the short cut across the lower harbor. He was counting
on it and ignored the babble of voices behind him.
Feigning
surprise he called to her. “Althea! Hey, Althea! Wait up!” He ran ahead of her,
blocking her view of the bridge.
She
continued walking, forcing him to walk backwards in order to keep in front of
her. “I have nothing to say to you, Jake.”
“Well,
I do. I was a fool, and I am sorry and I love you,” he said, grasping her by
the shoulders gently, then lowering his head he planted a firm passionate kiss
upon her lips as he turned her around in his arms.
She
heard a perplexed voice behind her and tried to pull away. “Althea?”
There
was a shout of “TIPPER, LOOK OUT!” as Jake slammed into her and she tumbled
backwards into Al, who lost his balance and fell against the rail.
The
rail didn’t hold. Parts of it flew in all directions as he tumbled off the low
bridge and into the icy water head first. Jake stood frozen as someone brushed
passed him and jumped into the water and pulled Al up to the surface.
“Help
him!” gasped Althea as she saw the smaller man struggle to get Al to the side
of the bridge.
“Oh
my gosh - it’s Al!" she said, grabbing Jake by the arm and pushing him to
the edge of the bridge.
Sighing,
Jake grabbed Al by the jacket and hauled him on to the bridge. The shorter man
climbed up out of the water and moved him aside. Jake saw the shorter man tilt
Al’s head backwards and blow air into the larger man’s lungs. Al gave a
convulsive jerk, and then water spewed in a gurgle from his mouth.
Mort
hurried down the bridge. “One of the shop keepers called it in, the ambulance
is on the way," he said, then looked at Tipper. “Dr. Henderson, you are a
walking menace. That’s four you’ve manage to up end this week – twenty-three
this month alone from the reports I get from the shopkeepers! I’m going to get
a flag tagger and attach it to you so people can see you coming! If Willie
hadn’t have been here, he would have died. Next time someone else may not be so
lucky!”
Mort
saw Tipper become pale as she bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize
that I’ve become such a nuisance…” she said quietly. She stood up, then backed
up about to leave them when Frank went to her
“Angela,
something is wrong with Mom, she’s gone a bit wiggy. Can you help Willie and me
get her back to his shop?”
Tipper
regarded Donna. Frank had been telling Willie that Donna had eaten four bowls
of oatmeal, then two Snickers bars and had almost inhaled a triple scoop ice
cream cone when the accident had happened. Donna now sat in silence, just
looking at Willie as if she had seen a ghost. Althea had moved to the other
side of Al and held his hand in hers. Jake was nowhere to be seen. Tipper
nodded, then walked with Frank to Donna and helped her up to her feet.
Mort
placed a blanket over Al, and then another over Willie’s shoulders as Willie
shivered in the brisk morning air. He watched as Tipper and Frank helped Donna
to her feet and with the three of them, go off the bridge up the walkway. One
of the shopkeepers tried to hand Tipper a grocery bag, but she waved it away.
The
ambulance driver brought the gurney from the other direction. Al was mumbling
something and the woman beside him informed the ambulance driver that she was
riding to the hospital with him. Mort sighed as he dispersed the crowd, then
from habit he began to pick up the things that had fallen aside. Not that much
of it could be salvaged - the eggs were always a total loss and the milk had
leaked everywhere. But the cheese that was in the zip lock bag was okay, albeit,
a bit damp. He rescued the can of peaches and noticed something on the bridge
as he straightened
.
“Son
of a gun…” he muttered. Realizing that the tide was going out and taking the
evidence with it, he sighed then removed his shoes, wallet and radio and went
into the water, swearing at the bitter cold as he came up. It took a bit to get
to the pieces of wood. Making his way back to the bridge he was almost too cold
to move to get himself back up onto the safety of the wood. He held up the
pieces of wood and regarded the ends. Shivering he picked up his radio and
keyed it. “Floyd, I need you to get down here to the causeway bridge in the
harbor, ASAP. We have a crime scene here.”
Tipper
sat with Donna as Willie changed in one of the upper rooms. Frank had been sent
up the hill to let Jessica know what happened, and that they would be delayed
in their return. She looked up as Willie came down the steps dressed in a white
T shirt and blue jeans that were a bit too long in the leg for him. Tipper
noticed the shirt fit him across the chest just right. “Had to run in the
family,” she thought. He had something in his hand that he presented to
Donna. Tipper could see it was some sort of cracker-type bread. Donna looked at
it, and began to nibble on it after thanking him.
Tipper
had risen to her feet and was about to slip out when she felt Willie’s hand
capture hers and pull her back.
“Hang
on a tic. I need to speak with you,” he said softly.
Tipper
looked down at her pager. “Uh, gotta go,” she said as she tried to pull away.
Willie
didn’t let go of her hand. “Angela, it didn’t go off. What Mort said…”
“He
was right. I should have one of those flags so everyone can avoid me. It’s how
I met
“Like
Faraday?” he said gently. He saw her straighten up and look him in the eye.
“Flynn
shot Faraday. I just couldn’t save him. It would have been my fault just like
what Mort said.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Althea
paced in the hospital waiting room, wringing her hands with each step. What was
Al doing in Cabot Cove? Why hadn’t he told her he was coming? She stopped her
pacing. The letter. She didn’t finish reading it. She smacked herself on the
forehead and groaned.
It
still didn’t explain the timing. Lousy timing. Jake’s kiss had left her
breathless and wanting more, and it complicated things horridly. Not only her
feelings for Al, but on a professional level. There was no way that something like
this could happen. Not now. Not now when she thought her life was just coming
together.
She
heard footsteps, and a nurse entered the waiting room. “Ms. Blair? Your fiancé
has been moved to a room. The doctors wish to keep him overnight for
observation… you can see him now, Room 230 by the window.”
Nodding
her thanks, Althea strode down the hall and took the elevator to the second
floor. For a moment she paused. Only family was allowed to see someone after they
were admitted. Saying that she was his fiancée was not entirely untrue; he had asked her to marry him a few times.
Part in jest, then the last time she saw that he was serious, and she couldn’t
answer. He was always taking care of his mother, and Althea felt suffocated by
the woman. She knew that even after his mother died, she would still have the
woman’s ghost around.
Al
lay so very still beneath the covers that Althea could hear the hiss of the O2
tank as his chest rose and fell with every breath. Thanks to the stranger who
had pulled him out and done mouth-to-mouth Al had only been without oxygen to
his brain a short time. There were serious risks, though, with having seawater,
or any water, in the lungs due to infections.
She
regarded his scruffy face. Forever trying to grow a beard, it never came in
right, but without it, his baby face made him look like a teenager. “When I
find Jake… I’m going to kill him,” she thought as she sat on the chair at
his bedside and picked up Al’s hand. Idly she fished her cell phone from her
pocket with her free hand and began to scroll down through the options.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
High
Tide brought the ringing of a shrill bell and the steady footsteps of people
who flocked to the local grill for the 50 cent Cabot Cove’s Blueberry Piña
Colada. Jake Eliot was one of the throng. Finding himself a quiet spot away
from the bar he withdrew his cell phone and began to read the message on the
screen. “Jake Eliot you have a lot of explaining to do, and if it’s not to
my satisfaction you are so dead.”
He
was interrupted by the waitress. “Can I get you a double BPC?” she asked,
smiling.
“Make
it a triple,” he said, smiling at her. He glanced around the bar area and was
surprised to see Gibby sitting at the bar nursing a drink. Her eyes met his,
and with a nod of his head, his silent invitation was accepted. Gibby slid into
the seat across from him as he placed his cell phone on the table beside the
salt shakers. The waitress brought his triple and left them with a set of menus.
“I
shouldn’t be seen with you,” she said at last.
“Two
co-workers having lunch isn’t a crime,” he said, flashing her a toothy grin.
“Or
having a walk along the docks?” she said under her breath.
His
grin froze. “What ever do you mean, Gibby?” he asked, keeping his voice light.
“Ms.
Blair is a lovely girl. Sweet, innocent …She deserves better than the likes of
you. If you don’t stay away from her, it will be your job.”
“Althea
and I are old friends. Nothing improper has ever happened,” he said, waving his
hand loftily in the air.
“Did
I suggest something improper?" Gibby said sweetly as she took a sip of the
purple drink.
“Good
heavens, what a suggestion,” he said with a forced chuckle, taking a sip at his
drink.
Gibby
noticed the cell phone tucked to the side. Her eyes flashed with a dark humor
as she leaned forward. “Jake, be a dear, won’t you? Things have changed since
you came. You do realize that, don’t you? Just how long do you think it would
be before the board discovers the relationship between you two? Ms. Blair has
an exemplary record, outstanding actually. Yours … well, they didn’t look too
closely at it. I am quite sure that the board would be very interested as to
how she passed your ‘Awful Awful Exam.’ You are, after all, a creature of
habit…” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank
hurried up the hill. puffing as he came to the street where Jessica lived. “This
comes from being a mouse potato,” he thought. He could see a SUV parked on
“Thank
you, Andy,” she said, then hung up and regarded him.
“Mum’s
gone wiggy and Willie and Tipper are at the store with her. Who are those
people, Aunt Jessica?” he asked, pointing to where they had moved onto the back
deck and were looking in the windows as they rapped on the door.
She
gave a sigh. “I don’t know. I called the Sheriffs Office when they drove up on
the yard and began to try to get into the house, but Andy said that Mort was
busy investigating a crime on the causeway bridge.”
Frank
frowned. “That was an accident. Tipper didn’t mean to bump into the guy at
all.”
“She
never does. Perhaps you’d better tell me what happened?” she said gently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willie
regarded Tipper. “What is in your heart right now?” he asked gently.
“That
maybe I’ve worn out my welcome here in Cabot Cove. That maybe I should just
pack up and go somewhere else where there are less people for me to knock over.
That Mort is right. I am a menace.”
“Well,
I don’t know why you bump about so much. Could be many things, you know - you
could have one leg shorter than another, you could have a difficulty with your
vision, a blind spot, or a hearing problem, the wee hairs in your ears moving
in odd directions at any given moment. Or ye could just be so much in energy
that ye haven’t ever slowed down. Wearing of flags and thinking of going
elsewhere isn’t the answer, though. It doesn’t change that people respect you
and care deeply for you. You have made a difference in people’s lives. You have
helped them, and their pets, and if you would leave it would be a very sad day
for Cabot Cove and for those who love you. Give your heart’s feelings a few
days to decide, Angela Elizabeth Henderson.”
Letting
her breath out, she nodded then turned to Donna. “All right… so…what’s going on
with Donna?”
Willie
glanced over at Donna, who was nibbling the crumbs off of the paper. “You tell
me. You’re a healer, too…and by your laws, I canna practice medicine until I
have the final test taken.”
“That
didn’t stop you from helping
Donna
blinked. “I was just hungry all of a sudden. What was that I ate?”
Willie
moved to the other side of Donna. “Traveling bread. It keeps a long time, and
can fill in for meals when ye have no time to stop. I can make ye more if you
want, if they help fill inside.”
“Thank
you." For a moment Donna sat in silence, looking at Willie. Finally she
struggled with what she was going to say and blurted out, “I have been having
the oddest dreams… before I even met you… Before I knew I was going to have
another baby. It scared me and I couldn’t talk about it. It… wasn’t until just
a while ago that I knew what you were doing in my dream… You were breathing
into my baby’s mouth, to get air into its lungs. But there was blood on your
mouth, and I don’t know why that would be… I didn’t hear the baby cry…and the
dream always ends the same. I … I die. I thought, ‘If I go home to my parents,
then the dream won’t come true.’ It’s why I didn’t want to stay in Cabot Cove,
and I am sure you’re a wonderful doctor … and everyone says I should just talk
to you … I knew I couldn’t. Not until today. But, if you know what the dream
is, then maybe it won’t come out bad. Can you save my baby? I… I know that if
there was a choice to be made, I would want my baby to live, and know that I
love her more than my own life.”
For
a moment Tipper watched as Willie picked up Donna’s hand and traced a pattern
on the back of it. Finally he sighed and looked at her. “There are a few things
that may have happened. Rubella - though I know they have said it’s been pretty
much taken care of in the states, it can still happen, and cause many problems
for the baby. I know you do not drink, nor smoke, but your hands and nails tell
me that all is not well within your liver and kidneys, and that can cause problems.
Last is that perhaps the dates are off - it happens. In which case your baby
will need care because of your liver and kidneys, and will be born later, and
not sooner. If that is the case, then it explains why all of a sudden you’re
hungry. The baby is saying, as Tipper says, ‘Feed me!’ Being so young she canna
tell ye what she wants to fill her belly, which is why you seek to eat anything
that will stay down. An’ we can work on that so your baby is happy and you are
kept well.”
“My
liver and kidneys?” Donna asked, surprised. “One of the doctors said my liver
panel was up, but he said it was to be expected, and didn’t think anything of
it. How do you know without blood work?”
“Oh,
your hands tell me. An’ your nails, by the shape, and the color, and that they
are puffy, an' nae from salt or heat. Your cravings for sweets and your moods
tell me your sugar levels are off. A proper diet - an’ that means nae more
sweets - will help ye feel more up to snuff. The bread is helping already. You
feel better?” Willie asked.
He
saw Donna think about things for a moment, and then she nodded. “I don’t feel so foggy,” she said, blinking
several times. “Thank you both,” she said.
Tipper
patted Donna on the arm “Everything will be all right, Donna,” she said,
reassuring her. “I have to go, or the lads won’t be happy with me…”
Willie
stood up with her. “Angela, don’t pay
Mort any mind. He didn’t mean it. You know that.”
She
gave him a brisk nod before going out of the shop. For a moment she just stood
where she was watching the sea gulls go by. She felt rooted to the spot, and as
the sea air swirled around her she bit her bottom lip. She heard people coming
up the street, the sounds of the flags snapping in the wind. She loved Cabot
Cove. She stood next to the street sign that said ‘no parking’ and leaned
against it. It had been her home, and she was comfortable here. She would just
have to be more careful - that’s all.
She
looked up the street. She needed cat food for her lads, but she didn’t know if
she could face the shopkeeper again, and she had just enough to get through
tonight for them. She was about to begin walking up to her home when she felt
someone bump her from behind. She heard a scream behind her and instinctively
reached behind her, pulling the woman who had bumped into her back to the
safety of the sidewalk using the ‘no parking’ sign pole for balance as a car
went zooming by.
“Are
you alright?” Tipper asked the woman, who was casting fearful glances about
herself.
“Yes.
Thank you,” Gibby said, holding her purse close to her chest. “Yes… I am fine…
now…”
“You
should watch where you’re going,” snapped the woman’s companion.
Tipper
turned to look at him. He seemed familiar but she couldn’t recall from where.
Tipper found herself looking beyond the man, and saw someone sitting on the
bench not far up the street, watching her. Mumbling an apology she walked away
from them up the street to where the man was.
“May
I join you?” The man nodded. Tipper sat on the bench and kept looking at the
dark haired man with a gentle smile for her, biting the bottom of her lip.
Finally she blurted, “You look like someone that I saw not long ago - but that
was in
“Why
would that be impossible?” he asked her softly.
Perhaps
it was his tone, or the sincerity in his eyes, but Tipper felt her heart racing
in her chest. “Who are you?”
His
smile was enigmatic. Before he could answer, Tipper looked up to see the woman
that she had pulled from the path of the car walk by with out saying anything.
There was no sign of the man, and when Tipper looked back at the person on the
bench, he was gone.
Shaken,
Tipper stood up and hurried up the hill to her home. She could see her cats
through the window following her path as she came to her side door and let
herself in. She put the pager on the desk then sat down on her wicker couch. She
knew she had a stray package of noodles some where that were ages old, but she
just didn’t feel like eating just then. She felt a thump on the sofa beside her
and heard a plaintive ‘Meeewww’ as her cat walked across her lap. Hugging Dante
to her chest she buried her face into his soft fur and closed her eyes, letting
her heart be healed by his rumbling purr.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Willie
walked Donna up the street back to Jessica’s, and seeing the people still
milling about the back, helped her to the front door. Jessica met her there and
nodded her thanks to Willie.
Swallowing
Willie took a breath then went around the side of the house where the people
were. He nodded to them and went to one who was casually smoking and dropping
the ash into the tomato plants. He took the cigarette from the man’s fingers
and put it out in the bird bath.
“Hey!”
the young man exclaimed, startled.
“Nasty
habit, that… There is no smoking allowed on this street.”
“I
don’t need no gay college pool boy to tell me what or what not to do. Do you
know who I am?” the young man said, looking down at Willie.
“More
trouble than you’re worth, no doubt.” said Willie with a smile. “Excuse me,” he
said, then turned to the group. “I’m nae sure who the lot of ye are, but I am
sure that what you’re expecting you will nae find here. I would suggest that
you seek another location to loiter as it’s due to rain shortly and it would be
a shame to have your fine clothing soaked.”
A
tall brassy red head with deep blue eyes strode over to Willie. Her neck was
heavy with diamond strands that curled to embrace a 7k emerald cut diamond that
hung at a level that most men would be wanting to look at anyway. Her ears held
matching solitary diamonds, and each finger on her hand had a collection. Her
wrists were garnished as well. She wore Italian leather shoes, crisp white
linen pants and a cream silken blouse that fluttered in the brisk air, giving
her an ethereal quality.
She
hesitated a moment before smiling. “I’m Mrs. Phillips. Perhaps my sister,
Rachael Andrews, informed you of our plans to stay with her during our visit to
your quaint town?” She gave him a coy flirtatious smile.
Willie’s
eyebrows rose as he allowed an expression of enlightenment upon his face. “Ah,
well, they may well be your plans, Mrs. Phillips, however, you are at the home
of Dr. Thaladirith Razanur and his wife, who hold no such plans for any other
guests as the spare room is already occupied by someone else. Might I suggest
the Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast down the road to the left? The Hill House has
become a bit of a dodgy place.“
Rain
began to hit the deck. Mrs. Phillips stepped under the overhang with Willie and
gave an irritated glance over her shoulder. The young man whom Willie had taken
the cigarette from walked over to Mrs. Phillips and held out his hand. She
handed him the keys and then waited until the others had filed off of the deck
before putting her hands on her hips and snarling a half inch from Willies
face, “I don’t know what game she thinks she is pulling to embarrass me in
front of my family and friends but it won’t work.“
“What
did you expect,
“What
would you know? And how dare you call me by my given name!”
“Ah,
a wee less than what those give me credit for sometimes. I’m still learning
regarding the likes of women, and I canna fathom how the social dynamics of the
family structure can be so diverse within the range of siblings. I have to ask,
in what manor did you plan to see your sister? Alive and well, I hope?”
“What
sort of a question is that?” she asked, confused.
“A
valid one. I request your word of honor you will not do or say anything to distress
your sister from now on.“
“Excuse
me?”
“Or,
for that matter, anyone who enters into this household as a friend.”
“Just
who do you think you are?”
He
held out his hand. “Dr. Thaladirith Razanur. And my wife is your sister, though
she is known here as
Willie
flicked an eyebrow upward at her expression of shock He caught her lightly by
the arm and guided her to the deck chair.
“She’s
married? Married to you?” she gasped with disbelief. “She never told us she was
getting married! Why didn’t she tell us? When did this happen? We could have
changed our plans and come up for it!”
“Ah,
well, it was in
“But
she was in love with Anthony, and they were going to be married … We saw the
papers, with them together… Are you after her money?”
Willie
chuckled. “No, lass. Nor is she after mine. “
“Not
even the family heirlooms?” she asked slyly.
Willie
blushed. “Ah well… That’s between my wife and me, now, isn’t it?”
“If
ye behave, aye.”
“At
the shop. How did brunch go?” he asked, looking at Ian as he slept nestled in
her arms.
“Better
than expected. He loves Mozart,” she said with a smile.
Movement
in the doorframe caught her attention. Looking down, she saw that
Heels
clicked across the wood floor, walking around the bed to the side that was
free.
“Only
if you’re interested…”
“Lets
see… Willie takes his Clinicals sometime this week, we don’t know when, and then
his teaching certification for
“Bit
big for an afternoon nap as a seven year old…”
“He’s
nine… and he’s dying,” said Willie softly.
“It’s
just as easy to care for one person who dances with the Angel of Death as it is
for that person to care for two…or five. Here we know we are surrounded by
love, and family. I died twice in the hospital,
“They
… they said you were fine. To get on with your normal life - and you run away
here to this forsaken area …”
“
Ian
stretched, extending his arm to yawn in his sleep. Snuggling closer he opened
his eyes sleepily and focused on
“Yes,
Ian?” Willie asked as Ian beckoned to him. He tilted his ear to Ian’s mouth. “I’m
going to burst soon, uncle - I couldna ask Aunt Taylor to help me get there.”
Willie
took a breath and turned around on the bed so his back faced Ian. “Climb up,
and hold on…” he said, then as he stood lifting Ian piggy back he said, “Back
in a tich,” before they went down the steps to the bathroom.
“So,
you made me wait outside with everyone to show me what it feels like to be
invisible? To be not heard? And then you have your husband - and might I add
that a man who wears women’s clothing is a bit … swishy? - dare to tell me what
I should or should not do? How dare you!”
““Damnú
air!” said Willie’s voice behind
Willie
let out a breath that he realized he had been holding. Sighing, he went onto
the back porch with a small tin can and began picking up the cigarette butts
that had been tossed about the yard and ground into the potted plants that
lined the back porch. As he rounded the back end of the porch he noticed for
the first time that the seedlings he had labored to get started had been
knocked over and stepped on.
“Damnú
Damnú air,” he gasped as he carefully began picking the plants up and tried to
save as much of the top soil as possible as he slid them back into the pots. Then
he placed them back under the shelter he had rigged up to keep the worst of the
rain off of them, yet still allow the air to circulate. He found a miniature
rose that had been crushed and ground into the dirt. Sitting on the back steps
away from the door he held the crushed rose in his hands. Tears came mixing
with the rain as he tried to find some viable part of the plant that could be
saved. As best as he could he filled the pot with dirt, placed what remained in
the earthen pot, then held it to his chest as he kept his sobs as soft as
possible. He didn’t care if the rain soaked him, or the wind drove the warmth
from his body. He couldn’t move from where he sat as he looked around the
devastation. They were just odd plants to some, weeds to others. To Willie,
they were the beginning of his healing garden, and perhaps the last chance that
he might have to save Ian. Crushed down by careless, spiteful people.
At
first Mort didn’t recognize who sat on the steps when he walked around the back
of the house. He had already taken plaster casts of the tire marks on the front
yard. The piles of dirt that littered the back yard told him more. He knew what
the plants were, and what they meant. Willie had entrusted him with their care
when they had gone to
“Willie?”
he asked softly.
Looking
up through puffy eyes, Willie focused on Mort. “I didna understand, before. Now
I do.
“This
morning, what happened - what do you remember about the bridge?”
“That?
Frank was telling us Donna was eating everything in sight and looking for more,
an’ the people in front of us stopped all of a sudden - Tipper bumped into
them. I didna know why they fell over as they did, it was hardly just a wee
bump, and then the other went through the rail, and I went in after him. You
weren’t the kindest to her you could ha been, after wha’ she’s been through.”
Mort
looked at Willie curiously. “Granted, she was shook up about it - but she’s a
walking cyclone, wrecking a path …” Mort
saw Willie close his eyes. “She was a bridesmaid at a wedding and went on a
treasure hunt and was able to figure out where the treasure was - what’s the
big deal with that?”
Mort
saw Willie press his eyes tighter and saw tears coming again. “I don’t have it
in my heart right now to discuss that, Mort… Ye should know, though, she‘s
deciding to leave Cabot Cove because of your words. I know you don‘t mean them,
nae in your soul - if ye do, your na the type of man I would want to know.”
There
was a moment when Mort was about to argue the point, then realized that Willie
was feeling abject misery. “Let’s get you into the house and warmed up…” Mort
said, gently helping Willie up. Carefully he placed the miniature rose under
one of the slatted tables on the porch where it would be sheltered from the
worst of the rain and guided Willie inside. He could feel Willie shivering
violently. Ian wobbled out of the front room and regarded him before placing
his hand on Willie’s forehead.
“Get
his things off, he canna stay in wets,“ said Ian, taking command of the
situation. He wobbled to the dining room where he found a basket of clean
laundry and snagged two blankets and something for Willie to wear. He wobbled
back to the kitchen, and Mort heard the beeping of the microwave being
programmed. When he returned Mort had Willie tucked onto the sofa.
Willie’s
hands shook as he held the mug to his lips. “Thank ye, lad,” he said softly,
taking another sip of the tea.
Regarding
the two of them, Mort sighed. “I have some things to do. If you need anything,
let me know.”
Ian
nodded, then escorted Mort to the door. “Thank ye, Sheriff, for your kindness.”
Mort
nodded to Ian, then strode across the back porch through the gate to the back
door of Jessica’s house. He was surprised to see Jessica answer the door, and
even more surprised when she pushed him backwards onto the porch and closed the
door of the house.
“What
took you so long, Mort? Did you see what they did to Willie’s herbs? They were
drop kicking them across the yard! I called the station three times! Where were
you?”
“Whoa,
slow down. Someone cut every third timber on the railing posts for the causeway
bridge over the harbor. I made a judgment based on what I had been told - I am
painfully aware of the damage done to those plants, and steps will be taken.
Hell, I can’t say anything to make things right again. What I need now are
answers, Mrs. Fletcher, regarding what happened while you all were away. What
is going on? I know weddings are stressful, but according to the reports in the
paper everyone should have had a wonderful time. What happened that I should
know about?“
Jessica
sighed then moved to the oversized white wicker chair and indicated that Mort
should sit down.
“Well,
George was able to locate Willie’s mother, and bring them to where we were
staying. You’ve met Ian. Things started happening, Mort. Frank, Ian and Tipper
were kidnapped - Ian’s leg was broken in the process - and they were thrown
down into a dreadful place under the estate. Frank managed to figure a way out,
and just as Willie, Faraday and George were heading in to rescue them they
ended up bringing Fordham Sr. out before the explosion. Willie saved his life.
He had been poisoned - and I had a hunch who was responsible. The next day we
went back, and discovered that Flynn, Faraday’s stepfather, was the one who had
kidnapped them, and poisoned Fordham Sr. I confronted him, Flynn went to shoot
Tipper, and Faraday saved her life.“
Jessica
stopped speaking. Mort could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “This doesn’t have a happy ending, does it?” he
asked softly.
“No,”
she said, shaking her head slowly. “The bullet traveled through both lungs, and
clipped an artery. There was nothing they could have done to save him.”
“How
was she after?” he asked, curious. He watched as Jessica regarded her wedding
band - something that he had never seen her remove.
“Tipper
had a series of nightmares; one caused her to sleepwalk during the midday. She
fell down some steps, and her heart stopped. Willie and Seth were able to
revive her. Then the old parish priest who murdered Flynn and Fordham Sr. tried
to kill her when she was in the hospital. After that - she still had dreams,
but they were different. It affected her, Mort. It affected all of them. She’s
put up a wall again – but those who meet her casually wouldn’t notice any
difference. Frank feels as if he is going mad inside from everything.”
“What
about Ian?” Mort inquired, directing a nod to
“I
don’t think he has the physical energy to deal with thinking about it. In cases
like his, the mental processes slow, so that it all becomes just the task to
survive. He took it upon himself to make sure his sisters and mother had enough
food by doing without for himself. They made the decision to bring him here to
break that cycle - they knew that with him staying, he would fall into the same
pattern, and even with plenty of food not live to see his 10th
birthday next month. “
Mort
gently wrapped his hand around Jessica’s. Their fingers intertwined. “And you?”
Jessica
was about to brush off his concern. “I
won’t deny that the memories of the events haven’t interrupted my sleep upon
more than one occasion. George was a tremendous help, though…”
She
saw Mort look at her a bit oddly. “Why would Inspector Sutherland be with you
at night?” His question caught her off guard causing her to blush deeply and
avert her eyes from his scrutiny. A thought crossed his mind, one that he was
going to dismiss but as her blush deepened he gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m
sorry, that’s none of my concern. I… I just thought that with Seth there, he
would be the one… to help… be there, at night.”
It
was Jessica’s turn to look at Mort oddly. “Seth? We’re just friends,” she said,
a bit confused. She saw Mort look at her with something akin to satisfaction of
knowing something, discovering something that she in all of her years of
uncovering the truth hadn’t realized. His thumb played across the back of her
hand as his eyebrows arched upward, watching the realization occur.
“In
love, with me?” she asked Mort in a whisper, afraid to say it any louder lest
it become a statement of fact instead of suppositions. She saw Mort regard her
tenderly. “Why didn’t he say anything?”
“Because
he’s stubborn. It took him years to admit it to himself and longer to accept
that he wanted you to be happy with whomever you decide to care for. I just thought,
given the events of the moment, of the wedding, that - well, more than one
romance can happen under the given circumstances, and that it would be Seth. It
makes sense now, with the looks George and you were exchanging last time he was
here - like two teenagers.”
“Did
you dismiss the notion because of our ages?” she asked curiously.
Shaking
his head Mort said ruefully, “No, because of your respectability. It would be
like accepting that Dr. Henderson would be the type to wear a black strapless
beer dress and dance on tables at bars.”
“Yet,
it’s easier to accept that Tipper is responsible for bumping over half of the population
of Cabot Cove? Frank told me about what you said to her on the bridge. I spoke
with Seth, and he didn’t have any reports of injuries at all except for the one
today that was connected to her.”
“Why
would someone make up something like that?” Mort inquired, puzzled.
Jessica
shrugged and shook her head. She was about to answer when Frank opened the door
and came out onto the back porch.
“Aunt
Jessica… may I go to Tipper’s? I’m worried about her. I could use the bike to
get there. I .. I just feel that something very bad is going to happen…”
Jessica
thought for a moment to reassure Frank that everything was fine with the young
vet - but the closeness that had formed between the two - the bonds of
friendship - told her that he might well be more sensitive to her moods than
one would realize.
Mort
spoke up, interrupting her thoughts. “I’m heading up there shortly. I have to
speak with her regarding the case…”
He
saw something in Frank’s eyes - something bordering on defiance, the same look
of protectiveness for her that he had seen in Seth’s eyes when discussing
Jessica and George. A flicker that said that if Mort hurt her, he would have to
answer to Frank. “If anything is wrong,
you will be the first to know,” he said quickly. He saw Frank had noticed that
he was holding Jessica’s hand in his. “Thank you, Jessica,” he said, leaning
over to give her cheek a quick kiss as he squeezed her hand gently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mort
opened the passenger side of his cruiser and extracted two bags of groceries.
It wasn’t hard to go back down to the mini mart and make inquiries regarding
what she had purchased, and he knew that it would be the talk of Loretta’s Beauty
Shop that he had put the grocery bill for her on his tab.
Juggling
the two bags and holding them a bit higher to save his back he navigated down the
walkway to her home and knocked on the door. He noticed a few things as he
stood there - one, carrying the bags in close approximation to how he had
witnessed Tipper carrying them, it was pretty easy to be thrown off balance.
The second thing was how quiet her home seemed, and that there were two cats
regarding him from the window. He wasn’t fond of cats. One of them gave a
soundless meow as he waited, and knocked again. Not getting any answer, Mort
balanced the bags one more time and tried the door knob. No one locked their
doors in Cabot Cove, and Tipper’s door was unlocked as well.
He
remembered briefly being in her home years ago when he had called upon her to
help with the Nightshade case. Placing the bags on the counter, he shooed the
cats away from the fresh meat. Glancing about he noticed she had a large
refrigerator and a smaller, four foot high one sitting on the counter top.
Opened her larger fridge he could see that it was divided in two sections: one
side was empty, and on the other side the top two shelves had various
containers with writing on top of them. He noted with interest that on her
shelves she had two cans of mushroom soup that were outdated years ago, and a
small box of dog biscuits.
It
took only a moment to place the food in the larger fridge. Folding the empty
bags he placed them in the space between the wall and the fridge. Curiosity got
the better of him as he reopened the fridge door and took a peek at the writing
on the containers. He didn’t know what to expect - pot roast, perhaps - but to
his surprise he found a partial name, and a series of numbers. LAB-HRTAUTPSY.
Cracking the lid, he peeked in. There was a clear fluid that smelt familiar,
though he couldn’t name it until he gave the container a swirl and saw
something that made him close the lid quickly and seal it again. Blinking, he
opened the smaller unit and saw her regular food in it. Shaking his head he
removed the food from the larger unit and placed it in the smaller unit.
“Nothing
like bringing your work home with you,” he said, noticing the focusing microscope
on her kitchen table alongside a clean dissecting kit.
Walking
through her kitchen he found himself in the living room. There was no sign of
Tipper, but on the coffee table there was an open thick envelope that bore
several stamps from
A
thud from upstairs jolted Mort from his reflection. He replaced the photos and put
them back down on the coffee table before starting up the steep “stairs of
death” to the second floor of Tipper’s house. There was another sound as he
came to the top of the steep steps. A catch of a sob. She didn’t hear the quiet
knock on the door as he stepped into the room. What he saw made him catch his
breath. It wasn’t black - it was red and clung to every curve until it ended
just below the legal limit. Her back was to him and he could see that she was
struggling to pull the zipper up in the back. The progress was halted by the
sobs that came from her. In two steps he was in the room and with a quick hand
he took the zipper from her, tugging it upward. She gasped, whirling around in
his arms to face him.
“What
are you doing here?” she demanded, brushing the tears from her face.
“Delivering
the groceries you left behind…” he said.
“You
didn’t need to do that, I wasn’t going to cook tonight anyway…” she said,
composing herself. She saw Mort look at her akin to the way her father would
have if he had seen her in that dress. “Why are you here?” she demanded again.
“I
am looking for answers, Dr. Henderson,“ he said, trying to keep his tone
professional.
“Haven’t
you made up your mind regarding what a klutz I am already?” she snapped,
pulling away from him to walk across the room to her dresser, where she fumbled
with her earrings.
“About
that…”
“Well
- you don’t need to concern yourself with it, Sheriff. I’ve sent my resignation
in to the clinic, and I’ve taken an offer upstate. I won’t be plowing over
hapless tourists any more,” she said, picking up a small red purse that matched
her shoes to hunt for her car keys.
Mort’s
hand covered hers as she extracted the keys. “You’re not in any condition to
drive, Dr. Henderson.“
“Don’t
be silly. I’m fine. And I would thank you to remove yourself from my bedroom,”
she said, trying to tug the keys from him.
“This
is not going to bring Faraday back!”
Tipper
kicked Mort in the shins and snatched the keys from his hand, wobbling on her
high heels as she strode to the door. Mort was two steps behind her - as she
started down the steep stairs he noticed someone standing at the bottom of the
steps. Reaching forward, he pulled her back towards him as her foot twisted in
her shoe, pitching her forward. For a moment his left hand grasped air but his
right hand felt her thin arm beneath his fingers. He knew he had given her one
heck of a bruise as he hauled her back up the steps. Mort could see her chest
moving convulsively, gasping for air. Glancing down the stairway again as he
wrapped his arms about her he saw the man at the bottom of the steps incline
his head before disappearing into the shadows. Her knees buckled and together
they sat on the top landing with her cradled in his arms.
A
sob broke from her. “Damn you. Why didn’t you let me go?” she asked, gulping
for air.
“I
was told not to,” he said softly.
Drawing
in a breath he took her keys that she still had in her hand, placing them into
his pocket. Shifting her to one side he stood up and went into her bedroom to
return with a bundle of clothes rolled up with a pair of her shoes on top. He
went down the steps first. “Come on,” he said, taking her hand in his and
pulling her forward.
She
winced as she stood up on her twisted ankle. “Where are we going?” she asked,
using him as support to make it down the steep staircase.
“Well,
you have a choice: either the jail for assaulting an officer…” he said with a
hint of mock humor.
“You
were in my bedroom unasked!”
“…
or someplace where we can get this worked out once and for all.” He saw she was wobbling as she walked.
Thrusting the cloths and shoes in her hands he sighed, then swept her off of
her feet. Instinctively her arms wrapped about his neck clinging for dear life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Althea
regarded her cell phone with a grimace of incredulous suspicions. Jake had
texted her back, pleading his innocence in what had happened and saying he
needed to speak with her as soon as possible. She glanced over at Al. He was
going to be okay, they said. She bent over and kissed his forehead.
“I have to go, and get things straighten out,” she said softly. She sighed. At
least at the school there would be other teachers there - though she really
didn’t want to run into any of them just yet. She had noticed that Joshua Peabody
didn’t have security cameras, and they were pretty lax about having people sign
in and out. She walked to the nurse’s desk and waited as an older doctor with
white hair answered his page.
“Dr.
Hazlitt speaking… Yes?” He sighed as he listened to the rushed explanation on
the other end of the phone. “I expected as much. Yes, I can be there shortly…” Seth sighed again as he hung up the phone.
“Excuse
me, could you tell me where the cafeteria is? It’s been a long day…”
“Down
the elevator to the ground floor, make a left,” Seth said, trying not to
grumble. The signs for it were clearly marked on the wall for visitors.
She
nodded, thanking him before catching the next elevator down. Seth picked up the
phone and began to dial. As it rang, he noticed that the elevator stopped on
the first floor for an extended time before coming back up with several
doctors.
“Must
be looking for the ATM,“ he mused. He had no idea why they didn’t just put the
two of them together, unless it was because of accessibility. Part boredom,
part curiosity, he saw that none of the elevators went down to the ground
floor.
There
was a crisp “Yes?” from the Ward Nurse.
“Cici,
I’ve an emergency that I need to tend to- one of my patients …” Seth stopped
and sat down. She heard the catch in his voice. “I have to go and see to her,
Cici - can you have Dr. Bradley just keep an eye on things until the next shift
comes on in an hour, please?… No… she’s… she’s in police custody right now…
Thank you…”
Seth
put the phone down. It took a moment for his heart to stop bounding in his
chest. Mort had been brief - he had placed Tipper in the back of the cruiser
and standing outside the car, used his cell phone to call him at the hospital. “….if
I hadn’t been there she would have died, Seth. I’m taking her to Jessica’s, and
I need some medical back up to know what to do with her. Something is very
wrong… and I don’t want to make this official unless necessary.”
Walking
to his car he fumbled for his keys out of his pocket and dropped them three
times before he managed to get them into the lock. Once the door was opened he
dropped them again when he pulled them out, and then dropped them again onto
the floor mat.
When
he sat up, he placed the keys into the ignition. He was about to start the card
when a small wren landed on his hood and hopped up to regard him through the
glass. It lifted its head and broke into song. Mesmerized, Seth watched the
tiny bird. Ruth loved birds of all types, welcoming even the common sparrow
into the yard. He listened to it for about half a minute before it was
interrupted by the screech of tires and a taxi racing through the parking lot
swerved and nearly struck his car before it swept out of the exit and onto the
highway. He turned and saw the passenger was a woman. Sighing, he shook his
head, then saw the little bird still regarding him, having hunched down while
the taxi had passed by.
Seth
drew in a breath. “Thank you,” he said to the little bird. It chirped, and flew
off in a flurry of wings. He knew if he hadn’t have stopped to listen to the
little bird that the taxi would not have stopped for him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His
charm hadn’t been very helpful, though, when they were at the Lighthouse. They
were informed that they only had two rooms, and that they would have to share.
All hell broke loose when
They
had walked across the street to the bar and grill, and demanded the best table
in the house. The waitress had given her a funny look then escorted them to the
outside deck where they had an uninterrupted panoramic view of the harbor. The
service was excellent. Their lobster took exactly 13 minutes to cook, the order
was taken properly and delivered precisely. Because of serving restrictions
they had to go inside if they wanted drinks, but that was no problem. The
problem came when every time their cell phones rang, a ship’s horn sounded
nearby. In order to hear what the person was saying they had to go inside to
the bar area.
“Don’t
forget these,” he said, giving her the napkin with one of the earrings peeking
out from the folds. She thanked him, then taking her drink, she rejoined her
family.
Jake
waited until she was outside before slipping his hand into his pocket and
striding from the bar. He wasn’t greedy. Well, he was, but he knew that it was
easier to have one diamond reset than a pair where they would attract notice.
He nodded to the barmaid who flashed him a grin. The town knew that Jake hated
to cook, and that it was easier for him to eat out when possible, or have
someone cook for him. He went to the parking lot and slipped behind the wheel
of his Mercedes.
The
school. Common, safe ground where he could finish what he started. Gibby had
asked him to move the things from the storage room to the upstairs science room
so the new teacher could take stock in what he had to work with. He was the only
male teacher, but rather than use the female teachers who could get hurt
lifting, he was called. He did mind. Using people was his prerogative, not
hers. But as Gibby had pointed out, by doing helpful things the school board
tended to look the other way. His black car pulled smoothly into its spot as he
noticed a taxi driving away at high speed. It could only be Althea …
Gibby
had already put her to work sorting things, and flashed Jake a knowing glance
as he strode into the class room. There were some others who were there as well
- not the quiet moment that he wanted, but that could wait. He could see Althea
was beginning to work up part of her famous temper. She hadn’t lifted or sorted
anything, and it didn’t look like she was going to. Realization had sunk in: Jake
had suckered her in once again. Leaving now would look bad for her if she
wanted the other teachers to help her in the future. She knew she had informed
the taxi to be back in an hour, but the one driver who seemed to be on call had
terrified her with the way he drove with no hands as he waved them to emphases
his point. She doubted that he would return due to the distance he would have
to take to where she waited - it was much easier for him to pick up one way
fares from the B& Bs in town.
Jake
looked over the boxes of chemicals. Some of them were so old that they were
eating through their corks. Some of the labels had faded. It was impossible to
know, without a science degree, what was good or bad. Jake sighed. “Gibby, you
could have said something before. We really shouldn’t let anything be used from
this stuff. We have no idea what’s in some of these bottles, and if there has
been contamination…”
“What do you suggest, Mr. Eliot?“ Gibby asked, regarding how he kept looking at
Althea. She had crossed her arms and was tapping her foot.
“Well,
the safest thing would be to dispose of them and get fresh, and I know THAT was
in the budget because every student pays a 25$ lab fee every semester if they
want to take chemistry. There should be a lot
of money earmarked for that because these haven’t been replaced since then …
and it looks like all the beakers are there, as well as functional Bunsen
burners. We could just dump the stuff…” he said, waving a hand to the sink.
“Oh,
no you can’t,” snapped Althea. “I know Chemistry was never one of your strong
points!” she said with a grin to diffuse the look Gibby was giving her. “The
simplest way to legally dispose of them is to take them to the nearest
pharmacy, and let them do it… they may be able to get the chemicals that we
need faster, and without going through InSchool Chemical. We did that at the previous
school where I worked,” Althea said, pointing to the label on the bottle.
“Well,
since you know exactly what needs to be done with them, Ms. Blair, why don’t you
take charge of the project?“ said Jake with a tight smile.
She
shrugged as her smile widened. “Sorry, my car is parked in town, and I will be
picked up by a taxi shortly. I thought there was an emergency here, not a clean
up in aisle 5. And according to my contract, I am not even being PAID until
next week!.”
“Alright, uncle… Well, at least could you help me carry them to my car?” he
said pointedly.
She
raised her eyebrow, noticing that Gibby was watching their interaction with curiosity.
“Why
of course, Mr. Eliot…” she said, this time with a sweet smile. She took the box
that had just a few half empty items in it. “And I would be happy to dump it
in your back seat!” she thought, smirking to herself. Most of the boxes fit
in the trunk. At Althea’s insistence, the bottles containing liquid would ride
up front with Jake. Some of them tipped slightly, spilling stuff that smelt
like cat vomit over his leather seats.
“OOPS!”
she said, smirking and giving the bottles a good tight twist of the caps. She
extracted one of the hand wipes used when one ate lobster from the ash tray
area that Jake had snagged from the bar & grill. She was very careful to
remove every little bit off of her hands as he carried the last of the boxes to
be placed in the trunk. As he slammed the trunk shut she saw something roll out
from under the seat in the back. Curious, she picked it up. The bottle was
almost full, but the top seal had been cracked. She sighed. Leave it to Jake to
have a party on wheels. He had never changed.
Glancing
up she heard the beep from the impatient taxi driver who, to her relief, had
returned. Waving to Gibby, she got into the taxi and was whisked away into the
afternoon.
Jake
saw Gibby grinning as he came around to the driver’s side of his car. “Cripes!
Wha- ?” he gasped, waving away the stench and groaning at the permanent stain
on his soft leather seat.
“Oh
don’t be a wuss!” she said, reaching in his coat pocket and pulling out the
breath freshener she knew was there. Sticking her arm in the car she gave the
spot a few blasts with the breath freshener then stuck it back into his pocket.
“I wouldn’t wear that - the sleeve would probably stain when you drive.”
Sighing,
he took his jacket off and tossed it in the back seat. Snagging him by the tie
she pulled him to her. “Don’t get any ideas, Jake… good or bad…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She
saw the barkeeper regard her. “The best place that you will find is three miles
up this road to your left and then make a right on the interstate. Look for the
signs that say ‘Pirate’s Peek’ and follow it in. It gets crowded sometimes on
the weekends, but during the week days it’s very nice.”
Slipping
him a folded bill,
She
walked away from her family without a backwards glance. They could walk to the
rooms. Belatedly, as she pulled on to the interstate, she realized she had the
room key for her husband, but, knowing him, he would probably be up half the
night with his electronically gadgets. Her son was a dismal failure when it
came to money - except for spending it, which he did with the greatest of ease.
She didn’t mind him smoking, as long as that and drinking were all that he did …
his father was rather old fashioned in that regard.
Snorting
to herself she remembered they had left their friends
She
found the sign for Pirate’s Peek easily enough, and drove down the coast the
required mileage before she saw the upper parking area. There was only one
other car that she saw in the lower area, which she pulled down and parked next
to.
She
didn’t know what she expected - a sleazy Honky-Tonk, perhaps. It wouldn’t
matter. No one knew her up here, but she didn’t care; it was her vacation. As
she rounded the stone path downward, she noticed that there was nothing except
a wrapped wire fence and a few of those one armed bandits that you placed money
into to have a view of very far away. She saw the driver of the Mercedes along
the fence - he had a box and he was throwing something over the fence that she
could hear break as it hit the rocks below.
“Excuse
me - is this Pirate’s Peek?” she asked, approaching him.
He
paused in mid throw. “Yes…” he said, sending the bottle in a perfect arc over
the rocks to crash down below as the tide danced out to sea.
“But
- where is it?” she asked, puzzled. She saw him turn slightly, and recognized
him as the person who had purchased her a drink at the bar.
He
gave a mellow chuckle. “You’re standing in it, on it,” he said, chuckling
again.
“They
lied to me?” she gasped, stamping her foot.
Hearing
her ire Jake turned. “Let me guess - you asked where there is some night life,
and they directed you here? Well, for 50 cents every fifteen minutes you can
use those things and watch the boats come in from their runs, and then after,
if you’re game, you can sometimes use them to spy into people’s homes across
the way,” he said waving his hand in the direction of the town. She saw him
pick up another bottle and pitch it.
“And
exactly what are you doing that’s more exciting than the night life here?” she
asked, curious as she strode to him, taking note of his firm build beneath his
open shirt.
He
stopped. “Ah, well, a fool’s errand. Was given this lot to take to the local
pharmacy to be disposed of, got the bright idea, after most of this began
leaking in the car, to actually ASK them if they would, on supposition, take
old chemistry stuff for disposal. The answer was no, and of course the recycle
place doesn’t want them. The good news is that the pharmacy was able to get
replacements for everything, and those will be delivered tomorrow. In the
meanwhile, I’ve got a smelly car, and no place to store this stuff, so… I
decided to do what I did with my own chemistry set years ago… mix them to see
what happens! “
“Which
has been what?” she asked, leaning against the rail looking down at the mess
upon the rocks.
“So
far, it’s just been the powders… Ah, here is something that should brighten up
the night,” he said, hefting the glass jar upward and holding it up to light.
“Magnesium, or Manganese… I can’t make it out, but it burns, if I remember… “
“You
failed chemistry, didn’t you?” she asked, regarding him. He was so handsome it
took her breath away.
“I
- won an award for creativity,” he smirked, then saw the way she was looking at
him. He handed her a bottle.
“Hold
that,” he said, going back to his car, and when he returned she saw he had a
folded blanket and the opened bottle in his other hand.
She
eyed him suspiciously. “Pray tell, what is that for?” she asked dryly.
“Well,
if you don’t have anything to do, and I don’t have anything to do, then why not
do anything together?” he asked, giving her a roguish smile.
He
shrugged. “You can burn a capful to see if it goes blue, and do you really want to know my name? Or can I be
that tall, dark, mysterious stranger that you meet on vacation and sweep you
into adventure?” he asked, dropping his voice and making her lean closer to
catch what he was saying. He unexpectedly gave the bottle of chemical he was
holding a toss over the edge. She heard the breaking of the glass then gasped
as the chemicals below ignited and burned upon the rocks in a myriad of colors.
Demurely
she placed her hand upon his elbow and allowed him to lead her to a place where
they could study the night life with a better view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mort
paced in Jessica’s parlor. It had taken some convincing to get Willie and
Taylor and Ian to come over, until he informed them it was a come-as-you-are
event. Blankets in tow, the three came over after Mort helped
Seth
had come, and given the group and Mort a curious regard. It wasn’t what he had
expected. He didn’t know quite what to expect after the call he had received
from Mort. “Sheriff, I do hope that there is a reason why you called me away
from my duties at the hospital?” Seth waited for an answer.
“Yes…
I understand that the trip that all of you took to Ireland may not have turned
out exactly as planned, but today I have seen things that I had hoped I never
have had to see again.“ He turned to Willie. “I could blame you for a lot of
things, but that wouldn’t be fair. Odd things have always happened around Mrs.
F, but either there is a conjunction of solar flares and sunspots mixed with a
full moon, or all of you have something that you’re not saying. Something that
scares me more than the street gangs and facing the tax man at the same time.
Tippers told me she is leaving Cabot Cove. Willie is crying over plants. And
you, Frank - when your parents asked me to pick you up at the airport, I had a
fair idea that you were going to be trouble for Jess, but that never happened.
I want to know what did. What changed you all? And don’t say, ‘You had to be
there!’”
“It’s
your fault,” said Frank.
“Mine?”
Mort said, confused.
“It
wasn’t Tipper’s fault that the guy fell in, and you didn’t need to say what you
did. That was just – mean,” Frank said, moving over to where Tipper sat and
giving her a worried look as she huddled in Mort’s jacket, shivering. Frank
picked up Tipper’s hand. “It’s okay to
talk about it, Angela… it’s okay to tell what happened… “
Tipper
shook her head. “Nothing more to tell than what everyone else knows,” she said,
biting her bottom lip.
Donna
regarded Tipper. “How do you keep that from sliding down?” she asked bluntly as
she began another carrot.
Tipper
looked at Donna, and it took a moment before she realized what Donna was
speaking about. “Oh… uh, the two-sided tape that’s for the plastic on the
windows in winter time,” she said, giving it a bit of a tug to be sure that it
was up. “And you have to sit very carefully.” she added.
“All
right, before we get going on fashions let’s get back to what’s going on and
what happened in
“You
first, Doc…” Mort said, pulling up a chair and pouring himself a cup of coffee
from the carafe. If he asked in the right order, he suspected he would get his
answers without having to place Jessica in the position of stating what she and
George did in their own time in front of the family.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It
was much later that
She
sighed happily as she made her way to the road that led to the interstate and
began the drive to the bed and breakfast. He had been exactly what she had
needed to make the whole horrible day better. It was several minutes down the
road that she saw a sign that she didn’t recognize and realized she had made a
wrong turn. Slowing down she made a U-turn in the middle of the road and
retraced her path. He made her feel – special. He was tender, and romantic, and
he - he didn’t say anything about needing a tummy tuck, or a lift job.
Jake
sighed as he opened his car door and settled into the driver’s seat. If he had
his choice, he could have just stayed right where he was at and spent the
night, but he knew that the police would be cruising by around midnight
checking out for teenagers looking for the night life. He heard something. A
drone. He felt something brush by his cheek and swatted something rather large
away towards the passenger side seat. It thwacked against the window. “Damn
moths,” he grumbled as he put his car into reverse then made his way out of the
parking area without his headlights on. He knew the road; he could see fine by
the moonlight as he pulled on to the road that lead to the interstate.
He
heard the drone again, this time more insistent, and as he slapped it away
again he felt a sharp pain in his hand. He put his foot on the brake and looked
at his hand - something was moving on it causing him extreme agony. He smacked
his hand against the dashboard and heard another angry drone rise from it.
Something hit his lip, as the moon grew brighter.
Humming,
Something
made her look ahead as her car wobbled on the grooved edge of the road. What
was that in the road? A moose?
The
SUV flipped the Mercedes on its side to slide down the road sixty-five feet
before coming to a rest on the edge of the hill. Bouncing off of the car the
SUV hit the cliff face and spun around in the opposite direction as the air bag
deployed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mort
glanced at the wooden clock on the mantle. 11:20 p.m. Willie and Taylor had
given him a look and simply said they had gone to Gram’s the night of the
wedding and tucked in before falling silent.
“And?”
Mort prompted.
A
Tarzan’s yell came from the jacket around Tipper’s shoulders. When it yelled
again her hand fished in the pocket and her eyes fell on the display before
handing it to Mort.
He
pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear. Andy was brief, and
Mort could hear the wail of sirens coming from down below at the fire company.
He glanced at the people in the room before leaning against the wall. “ETA fourteen minutes,” Mort said, looking at
his watch. “I have three that I will bring. Thanks, Andy.” Hanging up the phone
he strode to where Tipper had placed her things. “You need to change, now. Hurry,” he said,
pushing her to the other room and closing the door between them to give her
privacy.
“Mort?
What happened?” asked Jessica as he slid his coat on.
“The
bus with the 4-H kids coming back from the county fair had an accident on the
road near Pirate’s Peek… They need every one with medical knowledge to help.
Mrs. Fletcher - would you come too - to help figure things out…”
“Of
course, Mort.”
Tipper
came out of the room tucking her t-shirt into her jeans. “I don’t have my tranq
gun…” she said, trying to steady herself as she wobbled on her sore ankle.
“I’ve my rifle in the trunk… and my pistol.”
Willie
had left the house briefly, and returned with a leather bag that he had slung
by a thick strap over his shoulder. “I’m nae legal yet, Sheriff, but I can splint…” he said as he kissed
Mort
looked at Seth, then back to Willie as he headed to the door with the group. “I
don’t think the State of
Tipper
learned quickly that there wasn’t much she could do for the animals that had
been in the accident. When the bus had impacted it had rolled, sending the
cages of the smaller animals end over end with enough force to snap bones and
crush fragile bodies. The bus had cracked open, spilling its contents and
scattering its precious cargo. There were too many to use a bullet on each for
the smaller rabbits, and as they lay in their smashed cages panting from the
shock, Tipper moved from cage to cage carefully lifting them up and giving them
release from their pain.
The
ones that could be saved she placed in a common cage - one that the owners
would have to sort through by ear tags or markings.
Tipper
watched as Jessica moved with Mort, taking in the clues by the bright light
provided by the fire trucks. She saw him pause and look away towards where
Willie was working over a child. There was abject sorrow on Mort’s face - for a
moment Tipper didn’t understand. It was then she saw someone she recognized
standing next to Willie. Tipper looked back at Mort - there was a vulnerability
reflected on his countenance, and things seemed surreal. A man stood in a white
shirt and dark pants looking about confused. She recognized him as one of the
people on the bridge that morning. A darkness was surrounding him, one that he
began to struggle against. Tipper glanced at Mort. He was looking in the same
direction as the man was. Tipper returned her gaze to where the man continued
to struggle. She didn’t see Mort excuse himself from Jessica. He came to her,
and followed her line of vision. With a silent scream the man gave into the
darkness which enveloped him.
Tipper
looked down and away, jumping at Mort’s touch upon her shoulder. For a moment
he couldn’t say anything. Tipper asked it first. “You - saw that too?”
She
saw the conflict on his face. He didn’t say anything for a moment, then he
extended his hand to help her to her feet. “The driver of the SUV insists that
there was a moose on the road, and that that’s what caused the accident. Her
blood alcohol is - well, she’s fairly pickled. You’re the animal expert - it
means the difference between telling the families it was a tragic accident, or
that this happened because of a drunk.”
Tipper
turned to where Willie was still working over a young girl. She saw the man who
was kneeling beside them stand and pat Willie on the shoulder. Willie looked up
and then nodded as the man moved away.
“It’s
not impossible, Mort, for a moose to be this close to the coast. Just -
unlikely. We will need your rifles - I don’t particularly feel like getting
trampled tonight. We can start by checking the cars to see if there are any
traces that would be left behind, like bits of skin and hair,” she said.
He
stopped her from going towards the Mercedes. “You don’t need to see that,“ he
murmured. “Besides, he had to have rolled over a hornets’ nest - the car was
full of them until we used the fire extinguisher on them.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jessica
paced in the hospital’s 4th floor ICU waiting room. Seth had
directed her up to that particular waiting room as being one of the more quite
places where she could close her eyes and rest until things were settled, but
her mind was working in overdrive, trying to sift through the puzzling clues.
Floyd was still at the accident site. There was only one fatality, three still
in surgery. The rest had been treated and released to their parents, who looked
to Mort for answers. The driver of the SUV was denying responsibility for the
accident, insisting she saw a moose, didn’t know where the other car had come
from, and only said that the barkeeper had informed her that Pirate’s Peek had
nightlife. She flinched when she heard that the other man was a well liked,
respected member of the community, and that she was being held accountable for
his death. It was four a.m. now, and the sun was just coming up across the tree
line. In the distance Jessica heard the train whistle as the Amtrak rumbled
through the intersection.
She
saw the doors open as Mort pushed in a wheelchair with Tipper riding in it, her
leg elevated and her ankle wrapped well. Despite the long night they had
endured, Tipper seemed calmer than she had in a long while. “Hairline fracture
in one of the bones of my foot,” Tipper said, waving her hand at her bandaged
ankle.
Mort
leaned forward. “It could have been much worse, young lady,” he said with
concern.
Andy
came into the waiting room and handed a plastic evidence envelope to Mort.
“Found this in Mr. Eliot’s jacket pocket, Sheriff. The micro id’s registered
them to Rachel Andrews.“
“That’s
not the woman who was behind the wheel of the SUV… was it?” asked Mort,
puzzled.
“No,
but the tire casts you made yesterday match the ones on the SUV, and Floyd
found the same matching tire prints down in the lower parking level of the
Peek.”
The
door swung open. An exhausted Willie entered with Seth beside him. Both were in
hospital scrubs, and Willie had his long hair wrapped in a pony tail. He paused
when he saw the earring in the evidence bag. “Where did ye find
Jessica
looked at the earring, and then at Willie. “It belongs to Rachel Andrews – as does
the necklace that
She
saw Willie shake his head. “Ach, no - Wife doesn’t own anything like tha’ - what
practical place could she wear it?”
“I
think it’s about time that Mrs. Phillips had her morning wake-up call,” said
Mort grimly.
Seth’s
pager vibrated in his pocket. Glancing at it he sighed. “Someone is trying to
claim Mr. Eliot’s body. Andy, I believe I will require your assistance on this
matter. If you will excuse us? Perhaps the autopsy test results will be done…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mort
and Jessica moved in quietly to her right side while Tipper rolled over to the
window, which looked out over a small park. She really didn’t want to be there.
She had heard enough about this woman, and had seen too much the night before.
Flipping
the covers back at the foot of the bed Willie ran his thumb on the bottom sole
of
Her
left eye opened and moved sideways to regard him. The patch blocked her vision
to the right completely. “It hurts…” she moaned softly. “They won’t give me
anything for the pain … it hurts so…”
“Shhh,
Deirfiúr…
stop fussing for a bit, and it will be better soon.”
She
couldn’t turn her head to look at him, though she knew the sound of his voice.
“Oh … it’s you … did they go back and find my earring?”
Willie
sighed and leaned closer so that she could see his face better. “Aye, they
found it, Deirfiúr,”
he said softly.
Jessica
walked around the side of the bed and stood behind Willie. “It brings a lot of
questions that need answering,
“Make
her stop … she - she’s upsetting me,” gasped
“Deirfiúr,
a man died last night on that road, and children were hurt. You canna hide what
has happened. If it does not come out now, it will come out later for all the
world to hear. Ye need to speak the truth.”
“I
got lost. I saw a moose, and I couldn’t stop in time!” she said with as much
force as she could manage.
Willie
eased her back on the bed as Jessica continued more firmly, “I’m sorry,
“I
don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t a clue how he managed to get my
earring either! The last time I had them on I was at the bar and grill, and I
took them off to have a discussion on my phone. I placed them in my purse - and
that didn’t leave my car after I left the bar and grill. I would appreciate its
return,”
“Most
certainly it will be returned to its rightful owner - as will the other jewelry
in your possession - back to Rachael Andrews,” said Jessica as gently as she
could, as if to a child.
“Excuse
me? Those are my diamonds, every
single one of those things are mine!”
She
saw Jessica shake her head. “The earring found in Jake’s coat pocket was
examined under a high powered microscope. They found registration numbers - for
insurance reasons the larger, more expensive gems are marked in case of theft.
The earring is registered to Rachael Andrews, your sister. Unless you care to
explain? I am sure with a bit more scrutiny the jewelry shop where it was sold can
find a record of the purchaser.”
The
door opened to her room. Seth peeked in and motioned to Jessica and Mort, who
followed him outside into the hall. He was very careful to close the door
between them.
“I
take it you have the autopsy results?” asked Jessica, curious at Seth’s frown.
“Aya,
and after having spent three hours listening to that woman rant I would love to
be able to say the best place for her is in a psych ward to serve her time -
but Jake Elliot didn’t die from the impact. He was dead before the accident after
being stung eighteen times - eight times in the hand, four on his face, and six
times directly over his heart - by the same hornets that had to be killed with
the fire extinguisher. You thought at first that the car had come in contact
with a nest, but Floyd was very thorough, and found no trace of nesting
material. He did find patches on the leather fabric that held pheromones that
induce bees to swarm. He didn’t find the bottle itself, though he did find a
discarded alcohol wipe that had the pheromones on it, and the outside wrapper
for it that had a clear thumb print. He also discovered a great quantity of old
chemicals dumped over the hill at Pirates Peek … and …”
Mort
saw Seth hesitate. “Go on, Doc, it can’t make my day any worse…”
“Floyd
discovered that Jake never turned on his headlights, or his running lights. The
Mercedes tire tracks are sideways, from a dead stop. He had pulled across the
road and died there. The accident with the bus would have happened anyway -
head on, instead of the way that it happened. Andy used that new highway safety
protocol computer program and ran all the variables. He told Floyd that it could
have been worse.”
“So
I have nothing to hold her on that would stand up in a court of law that her
husband can’t just pay a fine for her … and we still don’t know why it
happened, only how…”
“I
wouldn’t be too hasty, Mort. I have a pretty fair idea that
Tipper
saw Willie’s fingers manipulate the dose meter for the morphine drip then press
the plunger, sending a small dose of the medication into
Willie
picked up
“Don’t…
don’t call me that. I - I haven’t been a proper one at all…” she said, giving a
sigh before falling asleep.
Willie
felt Tipper nudge him with her extended foot. “Willie? Can I ask you
something?”
“Of
course.”
“The
- the man that was with you tonight when you were helping that girl … the one
who patted you on the shoulder and walked away … who is he?”
“Why
do ye need to know, lass?” he asked, curious.
“He
was with Faraday and his sister when they died, and I saw him yesterday outside
your shop sitting on the park bench just before a woman who was with Jake got
bumped into the street - I pulled her back in time, and it felt like he was
watching the whole time….”
“I
daresay he was, at that,“ he said, standing up to maneuver her. He was about to
wheel her out the door when she placed the brakes on and looked backwards.
“Who
is he, Willie?”
“Oh
- that’s just Adam. Don’t let him trouble your thoughts,” he said softly,
leaning down to unlock her chair to move it.
Her
hands stopped his. She turned her face and found her lips at his ear. “I - I
saw the shadows take Jake last night. He … he struggled and screamed against
them …”
“Did
he now?”
Tipper
hung her head. “You don’t believe me.”
“Oh
… aye, I do, lass. I very well do,” he said, somewhat distracted.
“Then
what is it?” she asked, curious over his expression.
“I’m
sorry, lass - something tha’ Jordon said. What type of a person would give gems
an’ the such to a two year old? Registered, at that. And the likes of hand-written
books… no doubt original manuscripts.”
Tipper
regarded Willie. “Someone who had too
much money and didn’t know what to do with it, or someone who was hiding their
money from the IRS?” she said, guessing. “What are you going to do?” she asked
as he finally freed the locks on the chair.
“No
idea besides getting a good rest. The family‘s got to be told… ” he said,
yawning.
“Uh…
you know, the hospital has people who do that, and Seth could deal with
explaining what was done, and what she has to look forward to. She doesn’t
know, does she?” Tipper asked, looking back up at Willie as they went through
the doors towards where Jessica was with Seth and Mort.
“She does, in a fashion, but - it’s nae real to her just yet.“ Willie pushed
Tipper’s chair up to the group.
“So?”
asked Tipper, curious, as Willie excused himself and sat down upon one of the
small love seats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite
the exhaustion Jessica felt, she was compelled to follow the information that
Andy had extracted from the computer data base. Mort watched as Jessica
carefully approached Althea and learned what she knew regarding Jake – how she
had received the text message, and had left Al’s bedside for the hour and
helped to move the boxes to Jake’s car. She knew about the bottle
of alcohol. She knew something had been spilt that smelt like cat vomit, and
she admitted using the wipe to clean her hands. Anything else she withheld was
personal.
“Look,
it wasn‘t my idea! I was just called on to carry boxes and help get them into
Jake’s car. They were ancient icky bottles that should have been thrown out
years ago. None of the stuff was any good,” said Althea with a shrug.
Jessica
gave a quick glance to Mort as they left the hospital room. “If you feel up to
it, Mort, I believe we have a delivery to intercept…”
Mort
sighed. Adele would want an explanation, of course … but wanting justice was an
addiction. “Just tell me where to go,” he said, and saw her look of bemusement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ian
was with Frank and Donna still. Donna had made grits and they were on their
second batch. If he kept up his intake, there may well be a chance to save him yet.
Sighing, she came along the back way to the porch and saw the small crushed
rose bush under the table. She felt her knees wobble. She had to sit down, and
with shaking hands she gathered the miniature rose in its pot and held it to
her chest.
She
saw a shadow fall across her vision and looked up into the eyes of her
brother-in-law. He looked anxious, and out of breath, as if he had walked a
great distance very fast. “Rachael… have you seen
She
looked back down at the rose bush. “I have had this rose for fifteen years … it
was the last thing that Pops gave me before he died.
“Do
you know, that there are all types of gardens? Some for flowers, some for vegetables,
and some for herbs. There is also a healer’s garden - generation of seeds that
have never known hybridizations. A healer plants half his seeds and keeps the
other half to pass on to their apprentice. They are the same plants as have
grown for thousands of years, helping people live. Pharmaceutical companies
have offered fortunes for access to seeds such as these. The body doesn’t
recognize these components in pill form with fillers, only in the leaves, or
the stem, or the root and only if it’s used properly and at the right time.”
“
“Gene,
she is not my problem, she’s yours. Honestly? I can’t care about her without
sacrificing my own family, and she isn’t worth it!”
“She’s
your sister! We‘re family.”
“Funny,
she never acted like it. Once Pops died, I was invisible. I would hear about
the parties and the trips you took everyone else on after the fact, and gave up
on ever thinking that I would be a part of it.”
“You
were invited! Every time! I made sure of it and I filled out the invitations
myself.
“Did
you mail them yourself?” she asked, curious.
“No.
“I
never swilled rum. It was tonic and lime. And it’s pretty hard to pretend
you’re having a grand time when you’re told at the door how horrid you look,
that you didn’t get enough sleep, that what you wore wasn’t flattering. ‘Oh,
couldn’t you have worn something a BIT more indecent this time?’”
“She
was just teasing … she loves you,” he said amicably.
He
was unprepared when
“Well,
I had hoped to knock some sense into you…” she said with her hands on her hips.
Gene
was about to respond when he saw Ian using Jessica’s cane to hobble out the
back door and across the yard. “Aunt
Taylor, Uncle Willie asks if you can come to the hospital. I told him you were
speaking with a man, an’ he says if it’s Aunt
“Let
me get my keys…” she said, giving Gene a push in the direction of where the car
was parked. To Ian she said, “Let Aunt
Donna know you will be with us, and tell Frank that if there are any problems,
he is to call for the police.”
Ian
gave her a quick nod then went back into Jessica’ s house for a moment before
coming out again and giving the door a good tug.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gene
had delighted in carrying Ian in his arms from where they parked to the
hospital. He was feather-light, and his arms wrapped about Genes neck as he
snuggled in. Joshua was never one to allow something so simple to be done with
him. Ian let himself be carried with total trust, and when they arrived at the
inside doors of the hospital, a nurse glancing at the cast on Ian’s leg and swung
a wheelchair in his direction. Carefully Gene placed Ian in the chair then
followed
The
doors were closed to the large waiting room with a myriad of people within.
Seth and Willie were speaking to some parents regarding their children and
Tipper was in her chair by the window. There were some other people in the room
we well, some that Gene knew by sight, and others by reputation, and much like
his wife, they did not expect to be kept waiting.
Ian
looked back up at
“Perhaps
ye need this seat more than I?“ he asked, reaching for her hand.
She
shook her head. “No, that one’s yours, but there are some over by Tipper, let’s
go join her - this may take awhile.”
Tipper flashed Ian a grin. “Heyyyy, slick wheels!”
“Aye,
yours are grand, too. Though I feel a bit silly in it - I can walk! “
Tipper
gave a dismissive wave. “Yeah, I should have an air boot and crutches, but they
said they don’t want the liability if I should fall here.”
Ian
giggled softly. “But it’s a hospital! If all they wanted was healthy people
here, they wouldn’t have any money, now would they?”
She
returned his grin. “Sure they would, they would just get it from the insurance
companies,” she said in a low voice.
“Is
tha’ who they are? The in- insurance companies?” he inquired, glancing over his
shoulder at the group of men in three piece suits around the elderly man who
sat cooling his heals.
Somehow
word had gotten out that one of the people who had helped rescue the children
at the crash site was there. The families had come looking for answers just as
the elderly man had arrived demanding to see his granddaughter, flailing his
arms about when Willie informed him politely that the contact with the
immediate family had to be made first before any one else could go in. For a
moment she thought it was going to get very ugly. The suit men had stepped
forward and said something low to Willie. From the sneer on the man’s face it
had to be pretty rude. Willie had just flicked an eyebrow upward and then
indicated to the elderly man where he could sit while he waited.
People
poured in then, coming over to Willie - distressed parents, weeping siblings.
Seth came in and between the two of them they managed to tell the parents that
the police were still investigating the cause of the crash, and that they would
be the ones to give the final reports to the parents. Tipper watched as Willie
interacted with the children, telling them how the accident affected their
sister or brother, and that he didn’t know about the wee creatures that were
with them, except that some went to heaven, and the rest were in one rather
large pen together, and if more wee ones happened because of it, it was meant
to be.
When
the room cleared Willie sighed and leaned against the back of the chair. Seeing
Ian, he gave him a wink.
The
elderly man stood and hobbled over to Willie. Straightening slightly he looked
Willie in the eye and thumped his cane to the floor. “Now young man, I would
like to know the status of my granddaughter…”
Willie
studied him for a moment then asked. “If I may inquire, sir, how did you learn
your granddaughter was here in the hospital?”
The
elderly man waved his hand over to the gentlemen who stood three steps behind
him. “They woke me at two this morning and told me that Thaddeus had received
an inquiry regarding one of the registered earrings. The call came from right
here in this hospital’s board of directors’ office. I was informed that there
was only one woman driving separately, and that she was on this floor, and that
you were the one responsible for her care. So, young man: where is my granddaughter
Taylor Rachael, and what have you done to her? If anything happens to her…” He
wavered. “If any thing happens to my little princess, I don’t know what I would
do…” he finished weakly.
Willie
helped him sit down on a chair and then sat next to him as he shot a glance at
Taylor, who stood frozen to her spot. “Mr. Andrews? It wasn’t Taylor who was in
the accident - it was
“Married her? Oh no you’re not!” he said with sudden anger. Breathing heavily
he closed his eyes to calm himself. “How much?” he asked, looking at Willie
shrewdly.
“Pardon?”
asked Willie, a bit shocked.
“How
much money will it take for you to go back to where you came from and forget
you were ever married to her? Ten? Twenty million?”
Willie’s
eyes glinted as he leaned forward. “I will make a deal with you. I will turn
over what I have to you - a bride price - as a sign of my love for your
granddaughter if you and your family leave us alone and in peace… an’ you’re
welcome to revoke any trust that you may have for her as well. The condition
being that ye never see her or our children ever again.”
“What
could a medical student possibly have that could be of any value to compare to
the love I have for her?”
“Do
ye na believe I could love her as you do? When I met
“I
could never hurt her!” he gasped softly.
“Ye
have. She’s been in this room a great while an’ ye never even noticed her. She
said she’s felt invisible to her kin, an’ now I see how. It’s about money and
what is acceptable, na loveable … Wife?” he said, calling halfway over his
shoulder.
“Yes,
husband?”
“Would
that be a fair trade? He keeps the money and you are na hurt any more?” he
asked, turning in his seat.
“Would
you ask that of me, husband?” she murmured. “If he wished for the money, it
would be his, but do not ask … do not ask for me to stop loving him.”
“I
didna ask that - ye loved
She
resisted moving at first. “I could not accept that they would never wish to
care - that would be more than my heart could take.”
“Then
I canna ask that of you to accept. He can keep the money, come and go as he
wishes, but canna forbid us to love as a family even if he leaves you in your
shift an me in my britches,” he said, kissing her lips softly.
Tipper
cleared her throat. “Not to sound factitious, but that’s well near a billion
you’re tossing over to
Willie
waved his hand at the suggestion. “Ah well, she will need it for the medical
insurance premiums now, won’t she? I could always sell the estate - but the
going mark for haunted places is a bit down this year…”
“You
dare jest with me, sir??” thundered Mr. Andrews, thumping his cane on the floor
with a sharp crack.
Willie
sighed and pulled a thin leather wallet from a pocket of his scrubs. He tossed
it at one of the men. “They can look it up if you wish them to.”
For
the longest time there was an uncomfortable silence before Mr. Andrews held out
his hand for the wallet and said to the men, “Step outside, I wish to have a
discussion with my granddaughter and the man who says he is her husband…”
Willie
turned and walked over to Tipper. “Lass, could ye be introducing Ian to what
they call junk food? Just a wee tich of it, mind you…” he said with a wink.
Nodding, Tipper led Ian out and down the hall away from the waiting room.
At
the vending machine Ian regarded Tipper. “Why didn’t you tell Sheriff Mort
everything last night?”
Tipper
worked the buttons for the soda. There was a soft Clip CLUMP as a bottle of
root beer tumbled down into the slot. She put more quarters in and pressed a
few more buttons for her soda. “I didn’t
hear you tell him everything either,” she said, rolling to the next vending
machine to plug in a dollar for a bag of Aquatic Fish. She tugged them out of
the dispenser and tore open the bag.
“What
is junk food made from?” he asked, taking a bite of a blue sea horse.
“Uh,
I think cows’ hooves…” she said with a twinkle in her eyes.
Ian
took another bite. “No… I’ve had the inside of cows’ hooves an’ it makes a
decent broth, an’ it tastes nothing like this… an’ I’m na even ten, so how can
ye let me be drinking beer?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mort
sorted through the papers on the secretary’s desk and picked up Althea’s
profile. Skimming through it, he looked up at Jessica and raised an eyebrow.
“You know, when I went to school all the female teachers were old, married and
carried long rulers to crack knuckles with. This one is single, young, and
according to her record of teaching never has to raise her voice for the boys
to behave. Wish I had a teacher like that…” He sighed and picked up the next
profile. “What exactly are we looking for?“
“A
reason for murder besides the missing funds, though that’s a fair motive. There
had to be a catalyst that made the murder more reasonable now, more so than
before.”
“So
far the only ones that have any connection are Ms. Blair and Jake, and that was
from years ago at White Pines, her high school…”
“What
are you doing here?” asked Gibby from the doorframe.
Mort
waved a piece of paper. “Search warrant, Mrs. Gibby. Probable cause for
embezzlement and murder… is that the delivery you were expecting, Mrs.
Fletcher?”
Jessica
looked up. “Yes, it is … Oh - catch her, Mort!” she exclaimed as Gibby made a
bolt for the door.
Mort
neatly stepped in the path of the fleeing secretary and caught her arm none too
gently.
“Kristin
Gibby, I am arresting you for the murder of Jake Eliot…”
“I
had nothing to do with his death!” she gasped.
Mort
looked at Jessica. “The proof is in the boxes that are being delivered,“
Jessica said grimly.
It
took a while for the boxes to be unloaded from the truck and signed for. Mort
eyed the contents and then leaned into where Jessica was lifting each bottle
out and turning them so she could read the label. Finding the bottle that she
was looking for, she handed it to Mort, who read the label then looked at
Jessica curiously. “I don’t get it…” he mumbled under his breath.
“Althea
said that the boxes they carried out were ‘ancient icky bottles that should have
been thrown out years ago,’ and that ‘none of the stuff was any good.’“
Mort
leaned forward. “And that leads us to this bottle?”
Jessica
turned the bottle in his hand, and Mort’s eyebrows went up. “This breaks down
to carbon monoxide. If this stuff was old, there wouldn’t be any way that it
would have attracted the bees, but the lab boys said the sample that was in the
leather of his car looked like a cat had been sick… this doesn’t have those
properties,” he said, frowning.
“No
doubt it was mixed with glycerin to cause the oxidation process to slow down. It
would have been impossible for an old bottle to have that chemical still in its
active form. It could have only happened if it was new. We checked at the
supplier, Gibby, and discovered that you had ordered two bottles of this about
a month ago, receiving it a few days before the vice principal, Mr. Edwards,
died. What we want to know is, why, Kristin? Why kill two people? Was it the
money?”
Kristin
snorted. “Money? What money? The money collected for the students to have their
labs? No, there isn’t a lot of that - maybe five hundred dollars a semester. No,
it was all about Jake. He never passed his teaching certification… but he had a
way with the ladies, and young girls. Made you feel special - worth something
more than just a secretary. Jake got careless, though. Maybe he thought that
with Althea coming he wouldn’t need my help anymore. Edwards started asking
questions, and I knew that it would only be a matter of time before they found
out that I knew all about him. We were going through the old chemicals, and I
remembered something from high school - the entire school was closed for a week
because someone dumped a whole bottle of this stuff down the ventilation shaft over
the weekend, and the school had swarms of bees everywhere. I risked everything
for him …and he used me. I couldn’t just let him get away with that, now could
I?”
Mort
sighed. “Kristin Gibby, you have the right to remain silent…”
Gibby
gave a smirk. “You should thank me, you know… If I hadn’t kept him occupied,
there would have undoubtedly been more deaths, just like the ones at White
Pines…”
Mort
sent Jessica a glance. Unrepentant murderers made his skin crawl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“All
right, you go first. What do you think I didn’t tell Mort?” Tipper asked Ian,
curious. They had wheeled to the far side of the wing at the end of the hall by
the window to be as far away from the waiting room as possible. Ian had a fair
pile of different snacks on his lap, as did she. He had seen the corn chips,
and she had seen the Twinkies – and it had been ages since she had snacked
anyway.
Ian
swallowed the corn chip he had been chewing on and held up his small hand to
tick off his comments. “One, ye didn’t tell him about your nightmares, which,
by the way, scare the bejeebers outa me when ye let our yer shrieks. Two, ye
never told him about the daisy chain Faraday made for ye. Three, there was na
even a mention regarding the kiss you asked for on the steps of the estate from
Faraday…” His voice raised a bit in a fair imitation of Tipper’s: “‘Faraday….
Kiss me…’” he said with a glint of mischief in his eyes.
“Whoa
… hang on,” said Tipper, leaning forward. Her voice dropped. “I didn’t tell any
one about that. How did you know?” Her hands clutched the arm rests of his
chair.
Ian
saw bright tears forming in her eyes. “Ye are na the only one who had dreams
about the white steps an’ the windows. I’m sorry that I caused you pain
remembering tha’. I shouldna ha’ teased you so. It was the moment you accepted
you loved him, wasn’t it?”
“It
was the last happy moment we had before he died…” said Tipper, leaning back in
her chair.
“Oh,
lass, then I am doubly ashamed that I teased you about it,” Ian said hanging
his head.
“You
didn’t know.”
“I
should ha’ asked Aurth. She would ha’ told me if it was right or na to say. She
ha’ been spot on about other things before,” he sighed, and fell silent.
“Who
is Aurth?” inquired Tipper gently. She watched as he gave a shy grin.
“Oh,
she’s a wonderful older lady, speaks quite oddly, doesn’t sound like anyone
that I know, so I’m na sure where she hails from. Granmum said she was the
first friend they made when they moved into the projects area awhile back, an’
she would come around when there were problems in the house an’ help us. We
used to ha’ long talks about why I was so skinny. Mum realized Pattie was
taller than I was. She told mum na to go in the day that she wasn’t feeling
well, the day that Da died when the factory went up… If she hadn’t been there
to tell mum tha’, we would ha’ lost them both… One of the last things she told
Da was tha’ she knew of a doctor across the way tha’ might be able to help me
get better, a Dr. Buhmer. Da looked in the phone book but he couldn’t find any doctor
with tha’ name… Now, what were you believing tha’ I didna tell the sheriff?” he
asked, raising his eyebrow brashly.
“I
wondered if you’d seen something when we were kidnapped - there were just two
of them, and I know I didn’t see anything or realize what was happening until I
was pulled backwards, and Frank had the same memory - so that would leave you.
You were standing beside Frank, and you had to have seen something. It wouldn’t
make sense that we weren’t hurt, but you were. Why didn’t you tell any one what
you saw before?”
Ian
hung his head. For a moment Tipper thought he was going to burst into tears -
he had his eyes tightly closed.
“I
saw Faraday hugging you from behind, and he took your face in his hand like he
was going to kiss you, and you melted into his arms. I heard Frank gasp, and
then saw Flynn had him, and he was on the ground, an' you were too and Flynn
looked at me. and knew it was something horrid, and I went to scream, but I
couldn’t. Flynn grabbed me and I bit him hard, He said I was very well going to
hell, and na to make a sound on the way or my family would be joining me. I bit
him again, and he brought his foot around onto my leg, an' the nasty bit of
flannel on my face. When we got back to the bed and breakfast, I was scared
that he would make good on what he had said, so I pretended. We were found
then.“
Ian
lifted his face, looking miserably up at Tipper. “Faraday might well be alive
had I said something, or my family be dead - an’ what was I to do?“
Tipper
shifted in her chair, regarding the young boy. “Flynn was a very bad person.
Faraday didn’t want to see anyone get hurt.” She shifted forward again, taking
his hand. “Faraday would have rather died than to see you and your family come
to harm.”
Ian
studied her face. “Do you forgive him, for what he did? Can ye forgive me, for
staying silent all this time?” he asked softly.
Tipper
saw that tears were welling up in his eyes. “Oh, sweetheart,” she said gently.
“Come here.”
Ian
looked up at her, then moved the small bags of food off of his lap and set them
aside before moving over to sit on her lap. He was very careful not to bump her
ankle and when he looked up at her, he saw tears in her own eyes.
“Ian,
I want to ask if you would forgive me, and all of the others…” she said softly.
“What
did ye do?” he inquired, laying his head on her shoulder as she wrapped her
arms about his thin body.
“We
were so caught up with everything. We should have known something was wrong
when you were so quiet about everything, how you sat still, and were so very
good about helping, that we missed how much all of this had hurt you inside. We
were wrong not to ask, or try to find out. We tend to speak out a bit more here
- we let our children know that if something is wrong, to tell someone they
trust, so that we can help fix it.”
“I didn’t know who to trust. An’ your na one for opening up
yourself,” he said, looking up at her.
Tipper
smiled gently down at Ian who yawned and snuggled next to her. “I’m getting
better at it though,” she murmured.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Waving
the tumbler of Irish whiskey in the direction of Tipper, Mort raised his voice
above the din of people who were crowded in
Jessica
finished for him. “We would have had three unsolved murders, possible four
before the school year started… Mrs. Gibby had no difficulties explaining that
Jake had been calling in the complaint reports so that when Al came down the
bridge, no matter where they were, he could count on Tipper’s reputation to
give him an alibi: she bumped them, and the bridge rail would give way. His
next target would have been Althea, and perhaps even Mrs. Gibby.”
With
his arm wrapped around Althea, Al looked puzzled. “But why kill Althea, and me?
What did we do?” he asked, curious.
Jessica
shrugged. “Mrs. Gibby said it had something to do with what happened at White
Pines High School a few years ago. The only thing that we could find was a
reference to two girls who had borrowed his camping gear and had been found
dead several days later. Jake Eliot swore that he knew nothing about the
deaths, and then left town to come here. My guess is that when he learned
Althea was coming here, he panicked. He learned that from a letter from you,
Al… didn’t he?”
Al
hung his head. “Yes… I - I wanted him to know that even though Althea was going
to be working at the same school as he, that, well, she was spoken for, and he
had to keep his hands off…or else. I guess he took that as meaning I knew
something else, and was going to tell someone.”
Turning
in his arms Althea looked at Al. “That’s why Jake asked about you mother - he
didn’t know that I hadn’t received your letter saying that you were coming… I
saw Jake with the girls on my 21st birthday at the coffee shop. I always
suspected that he had something to do with their deaths, but could never prove
anything, let alone admit that I had almost fallen for his line. But you knew,
didn‘t you?” she asked her young man softly.
Al
gave her a cheeky grin. “Yes, I knew - that you had said no to his advances way
too many times for his liking… I thought, if she could turn him down, what
chance would I have… until, well, Mother pointed out that it’s not looks that
win the heart, but the heart itself…” Lost in her gaze he lowered his head and
kissed her.
Frank
and Ian looked at each other and shook their heads trying to suppress their
giggles. The other adults in the room politely looked away, giving the two a
brief moment of privacy. Mort saw something in Tipper’s eyes as she stepped
back through the door on to the back porch. Wordlessly he put his drink on the
counter and followed her out while the others resumed discussing the coming
semester. He came up beside her as she stood at the rail taking in the night
stars over the ocean.
“I’m
sorry…” he began.
“Ah,
it was bound to happen, my reputation preceded me…” she said, waving her hand,
dismissing his apology.
“I’m
sorry about Faraday. I called George after we arrested Mrs. Gibby, when I had
time at the office, and he - he told me what happened. Not just that Faraday
was shot and died, but what really happened…”
“Stop…please,”
she whispered, leaning against the rail. She took a step away from him as if
she was going to flee. His gentle hands lay upon her shoulders, turning her
around to face him.
“I
can’t - not till you hear what I have to say. Look, I know you have every right
to work where you want to, and live how you want to. I was wrong to say what I
did, and I am sorry that I jumped to conclusions. Had I looked at the reports,
I would have seen that some of the times you were knocking over people was when
you were in
“It
doesn’t matter, really…” she murmured, shaking her lowered head.
“Yes,
it does. Angela, in your house that night, I saw at the foot of your stairway
that guy we saw later at the accident.
If you go, how am I going to look after you?“
“You
don’t need to,” Tipper said firmly, looking at him finally. She was surprised
to see tears in his eyes that shone in the moonlight.
“I
think I do, for a while at least.”
“I
don’t need you to look after me!” she said, a bit sharper than she meant to. “I
don’t want you to care about me, or fuss over me, or want to rescue me.”
“You
asked why didn’t I let you go, and I told you that I was told not to. I was
told by that same man who we saw with Willie - the same one I saw at the foot
of your steps the other night. I don’t want you to go, because I don’t want to
lose you as a colleague and a friend and I don’t know how long - until, well,
maybe the day that you get married and then you become some one else’s
responsibility… “ Mort saw her shaking her head.
“Oh
no no no… No marriage for me.“ She let out a long breath then saw him grinning.
“What?”
she asked poking him in the ribs with her fingertips.
“Owww,“
he grumbled, still grinning as he turned her to the house. He was about to say
something to her when his eyes fell upon something under the slatted table on
the deck. Leaving Tipper’s side he strode forward and moved the table to pick
up the flower pot. He pulled Tipper in with his free hand and strode over to
Jessica
walked over to where Tipper stood. For a moment she regarded the young woman in
silence then said softly, “There isn’t a clinic where you said you were going …
I checked. Though you did hand in your resignation, much to the dismay of your
coworkers. They would rather you had just a leave of absence…”
“I
don’t know. Starting over somewhere has its advantages,” Tipper said with a
sigh. She felt a bump behind her. Turning she saw Frank and Ian, who had
serious expressions on their faces. Ian had tears building in his eyes.
“Mom
says we have to face this like an adult, and wish you well… but we’re still
only kids and we don’t want you to go,” said Frank softly.
Ian
took her hand in his. “We need you to stay,” he said, his voice broken with
emotion.
Tipper
became aware that there was silence in the room. She sat on one of the chairs
by the doorway and awkwardly opened her arms to the two boys, who burst into
tears. Sniffing herself Tipper looked up at her friends. Most of them had tears
as well.
“Okay
okay, I’ll stay…” she said, giving the two boys hugs. “At least for now…”
TBC
…