Mom said, “Maybe you could write her a note for suggesting it to your dad. He ordered it for you.”
“But why didn’t you tell me? Why did I have to wait until November first?”
Dad threw up his hands. “Because I had to wait until it got here. Didn’t you like the surprise and enjoy the anticipation?”
“I love the surprise, but I don’t like not knowing something. Thank you. Thank you so much. Just think, Dad, if I learn how to sign, you may not need Mrs. Walker anymore.” I stood up and signed Thank you very much to Mom and Dad.
Dad surprised me. He signed You’re welcome right back.
“Do you know sign language, Dad?”
“Oh, no. Just a few basic signs, and I can fingerspell a little. But I’m slow. Maybe you can teach me.”
“I will. You can count on it. May I go upstairs and try out the DVDs right now?”
“Yes. Go to it, girl. I want to watch the ball game.”
I was halfway up the stairs when the phone rang. I hoped it was Piper so I could tell her about my surprise. But I knew it wasn’t her when I heard Dad say, “No, it’s not too late, Mrs. Walker.”
I stood on the step and listened. Why was Mrs. Walker calling? Maybe she’d changed her mind about teaching me.
“Oh no. When? Can you let him know I’m on my way? I’ll call someone to get it repaired, and we’ll get it boarded up tonight. I won’t be able to get anybody to replace it until tomorrow, though.” Dad paused. “By the way, the package came today, and Julia’s very happy. The DVDs won’t play fast enough for her. I can imagine she’ll be fast-forwarding.” Dad paused again. “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll get right out to Mr. Lafferty’s.”
He hung up. “Jackson, get your shoes on and get your coat. I need you to go with me to Mr. Lafferty’s. He has a broken window, and we need to board it up for the night until someone can make the repairs tomorrow. I should change my clothes. I’ll get the toolbox and a piece of plyboard from the shed. Oh, and get us a couple of flashlights.”
Dad had been called before to go out to Mr. Lafferty’s, but it was the first time he’d ever said why and the first time he asked Jackson to go with him.
Jackson grumbled. “So much for the ball game.”
Mom replied, “And so much for good deeds, Jackson. I think it’s been a while since you’ve done one.”
I practically catapulted myself down the stairs. “I’ll go. I need to do a good deed too. I know where the flashlights are. I’ll get my jacket.”
Mom interrupted. “Julia, it’s almost your bedtime, and I don’t think you’d be much help with this one.”
Dad was walking out of the room. “Your mom’s right. We’re just going to nail up some plyboard and maybe clean up a little.”
“But I could help clean up and hold the flashlight, and I could see Mr. Lafferty.”
“Not tonight. Besides, I doubt he wants to see anyone tonight. I’ll need to go out again tomorrow afternoon to make certain the repairs are done. You can go then.”
Mom added, “Yes, and maybe you could go upstairs and learn a few signs. Mr. Lafferty will be impressed that you’re learning to communicate with him.” Mom liked to change the subject. It had worked when I was about five, but not anymore.
But there was nothing to be done about it. I went upstairs and pouted and practiced my signs.
Mom was adding pecans to the oatmeal and Dad was pouring himself a cup of coffee when I came down the next morning. They were talking, so I stayed in the hallway to listen.
“This is the second window in the last couple of months. I think it’s time to make some changes.”
“What kind of changes?”
“I don’t need to be relying on Mrs. Walker for phone calls at night. So, the first thing I need to do is to get a TTY at home. I have the one at the office, and Mr. Lafferty can call me there during the day. But he should be able to get me at home any time. I’ll get Robbie on that today.”
“That’s a good idea, but I don’t know what else you could do. You know he doesn’t want anyone living there.”
“Mrs. Schumacher is there during the day, but I think there needs to be a different kind of security system, or maybe someone on the property to watch things at night for a while.”
“You’re positive this is vandalism?”
“Well, the first time it was a limb through a downstairs window. So, I guess it’s possible that wind could have caused that one. But not last night. We’re talking about a good-sized rock thrown through his bedroom window. Probably happened about dusk. The rest of the house was dark, and he was working in his room upstairs with the lights on. He wrote a note saying he saw two figures running into the woods right after it happened.”
“Apparently they didn’t want to hurt him.”
I heard Jackson opening the door to his room. I didn’t want him to catch me eavesdropping on our parents’ conversation, so I dropped my backpack loudly in the hallway, walked into the breakfast room, and acted like I’d only heard the part about hurting Mr. Lafferty.
“Who doesn’t want to hurt somebody?”
Dad sat down at the table and looked at Mom like he was asking for permission to tell me. He didn’t like oatmeal, so Mom put a plate of scrambled eggs and toast in front of him.
“You might as well tell her,” she said. “She won’t stop asking questions, you know.” Then she set my cup of tea down at my place.
“Thank you, ma’am. You can tell me anything. I’m very confidential. And besides, Jackson knows, doesn’t he?”
Dad smeared peach preserves on his toast. “Well, it seems some mean-spirited people are taunting Mr. Lafferty. He’s had a couple of windows broken lately.”
“But why would anybody do that?”
“Remember, I’m an attorney. I deal with criminals and mean-spirited people almost every day. And believe me, there is no shortage of people who would do something like that just for fun.”
“You know what Grancie would say about that. She’d say that was a dump-truck load of pure devilment.” I stirred my tea and sprinkled more brown sugar on my oatmeal. “But they won’t hurt Mr. Lafferty, will they?”
“I hope not. But he could have been hurt last night. Someone hurled a rock through an upstairs window while he was sitting at his worktable carving. His bedroom light was the only light on in the house.”
“He carves birds in his bedroom?”
“Not the big pieces. He does that outside in his workshop. But sometimes when he’s working on the fine details of a small piece, he carves at night in his bedroom upstairs.”
Jackson came in, sat down, and started shoveling oatmeal into his mouth. “Yeah, you should have seen it. That is one big bedroom, and there was glass everywhere. But we got it cleaned up.”
I imagined Mr. Lafferty had been covered in glass before he knew what happened. He couldn’t have heard the glass shattering and didn’t know to protect himself. “What are you going to do, Dad? You have to do something. He shouldn’t be living there alone.”
“You’re right. But Mr. Lafferty likes his privacy, and he is very independent.”
Jackson practically heaved his milk down his throat. He made the gross-meter tick, the way he ate. “Yeah, I’ve heard plenty of tales about that place and about Mr. Lafferty, how he’s like some kind of phantom or troll. And I’ve heard about money being buried in the caves around there.”
Those were the same things Angus and Gary had said. “You never told me about that, Jackson.”
“That’s because you were a girl and a baby. Girls don’t talk about that kind of stuff. Besides, I didn’t want you having nightmares and screaming at night.” Jackson wiped his mouth.
“How would you know what girls talk about, and besides, it didn’t keep you from telling me that scarecrows come to life at night and steal little girls.”
Dad put down his coffee. “Enough. This kind of talk is exactly why Mr. Lafferty lives like a recluse. He was made fun of as a child, and
don’t think he doesn’t know about these stories about himself and his property. He’s aware. So he chooses to live his life in privacy.”
I looked at Dad. “Well, maybe if he didn’t live like that and people got to know him … ?”
“That’s not likely to happen, Julia. And none of this talk leaves this table, you hear? Both of you. And none of what you saw last night, Jackson. I’m Mr. Lafferty’s attorney and his friend, and I’d like it to stay that way. You’re both old enough now to be trusted with some information, and I’m counting on you.”
Jackson spoke first. “Yes, sir. My lips are sealed.”
“Mine too. But I have a question.”
Mom looked at Dad. “I’m not surprised.”
“Is any of that stuff true? That part about the ghost and the caves and the money?”
“Of course not. People have been telling tales about Emerald Crest since I was a kid. When there’s a bit of mystery, then people start making up stuff, and the next generation adds to the tales. And before long there are more legends than truth. Now, it is true there are some caves on the property, but caves are all around these parts, some probably still undiscovered. But I can assure you no one has buried any money in the caves on Emerald Crest property. That property has been owned by the Laffertys for three generations.”
“And no bones of people who got lost trying to find the money?”
“What? Bones? Where’d you get that idea?”
Hush my mouth. Jesus, forgive me. What I’m about to say is the truth, just not the whole truth. “I probably read something like that in a book.”
“Then you’re reading the wrong books.” Mom got up from the table. “Need to get going.”
“But I have another question: If Mrs. Walker wasn’t there, how did she know what happened?”
“It has to do with the way Mr. Lafferty uses a special telephone, and I don’t have time to explain that right now. Later.” Dad took his plate and cup to the sink.
“Okay, if you won’t answer that one, then I have one more question.”
“Spit it out.”
“Last night you said you were going back out to Mr. Lafferty’s this afternoon and I could go with you. Are we still going?”
Dad smiled at me. “Girl, I tell you, you will be one fine attorney someday with an assumptive close like that one. Yes, I am going back this afternoon and if your mom says it’s okay, you may go with me.”
“Mom?”
“Yes, you may go. I’ll pick you up from school and take you to your dad’s office.”
“Thank you. I can’t wait to sign to Mr. Lafferty. I already know a few signs to show I have good manners, and I already know how to fingerspell, just not so fast.”
Dad patted me on the head. “Yes, and I imagine that every word will be spelled correctly.”
“Yes, sir. But, I don’t think I want to be an attorney. Hanging around scoundrels all the time doesn’t interest me.”
Dad laughed. “Yeah, I hang around a lot of those, and we hang some of them too.”
Mom threw the dishrag at Dad. “Ben. Don’t tell her that. Tell her that’s not true.”
Dad caught the dishrag before it dampened his shirt. “Your mother’s right. We don’t hang people, no matter what. And remember, I do get to hang around some mighty fine people—people who make a real difference in the world. People like Mr. Lafferty, whose heart pumps pure goodness.”
“Yes, and I’ll be glad to see him. I have two new Christmas songs I can play for him. I think he really likes Christmas songs. Do I have time now to practice for a few minutes?”
Mom said, “Five minutes. That’s it. Then we must go. Get moving, Jackson.”
Yes. Finally. I was returning to Emerald Crest. I would play for Mr. Lafferty, and I would sign to him. I was mostly curious about Mr. Lafferty. Curious about things like what it was like to be deaf, and what his secret gift was that I didn’t know about yet, and why he was still generous and kind when almost everybody was mean to him. I didn’t think my heart pumped goodness like Dad said Mr. Lafferty’s did, but I wanted Mr. Lafferty to know not everybody was a scoundrel.
Piper wasn’t nearly as excited about learning sign language until I told her my idea: If we both knew sign language, then we could communicate when we weren’t supposed to be talking in class, and it would be our own secret language, so no one else would know what we were saying. I started teaching her the alphabet during morning break. I could tell she was going to be really good at signing. She was smart, and she signed like she danced. She asked me how to sign words that I didn’t know yet. I invited her for an overnight on the weekend so she could see my DVDs and we could learn some secret signs to start using right away. Mom wouldn’t mind. Piper was like another daughter. And besides, having Piper around kept me out of Mom’s business.
Right after school, Mom took me to Dad’s office. Mrs. Mason, Dad’s secretary, greeted us and told us Dad was still in a meeting. “Jennifer, if you need to do something else, I’ll be here with Julia. Ben has a four-thirty appointment with Mr. Lafferty, so we have a bit of time. She can have a snack from the break room, and Ben asked me to show her the TTY.”
“That would be so helpful, Robbie. I have errands to run, and that’ll give me a bit of extra time.” Mom looked at me. “Amuse yourself, Julia. Mrs. Mason probably has business to tend to.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Mom hugged me and was out the door.
“Mrs. Mason, you said something about a TTY and Dad wanting me to see it. What’s that?”
“What about a snack first? Aren’t you hungry?” She led me to the break room.
I spied the box on the counter. “Could I have a donut?”
“They’re stale.”
“That’s okay. I like stale donuts. I’ll just put it in the microwave.” I wrapped the donut in a napkin. “And could I please have a cup of coffee?”
Mrs. Mason looked like I might have asked her for an octopus or something. “It was made a few hours ago, and are you sure you’re even allowed to drink coffee?”
“I drink hot tea mostly, with lots of milk, but on special occasions I’m allowed coffee. And today is a special occasion. I’m going to see Mr. Lafferty. And coffee would be really good with a donut.”
Mrs. Mason reached for a mug. “And I’m guessing this mug should be mostly milk too, like you have your tea.”
“Oh, no, ma’am. I have milk with my tea, but I have cream with my coffee.”
She opened the fridge and reached for a carton of half and half and started to pour.
“More, please.”
Her eyebrows were raised when she turned to look at me and kept pouring. “Enough yet?”
“Yes, ma’am. That will be perfect with three sugars.”
She handed me three packets of sugar and a spoon. “Perhaps you should stay here until you finish your coffee. Then you can join me at my desk.”
It took no time to finish my snack, and I was back in the lobby with Mrs. Mason. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Mason. I really enjoyed my snack.”
“You’re welcome, Julia. And the coffee?”
“Perfect.”
“Why don’t you come right over here to my desk, and I’ll show you the TTY. Your dad told me you wanted to know about communicating with Mr. Lafferty, and this is how we do it.” She pulled up the side chair next to her. “Sit here so you can see.” She pointed to a telephone on her desk.
“It just looks like a telephone with a keyboard to me.”
“That’s pretty much what it is. It’s called a TTY, a text telephone. Do you see the screen?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Mr. Lafferty has a phone just like this one at his house. And when he needs to talk with your dad, he dials our office number, types what he’d like to say, and it appears right here on this screen.”
“And then you answer and type back?”
“That’s about it.”
“So, Mr. Lafferty can only communicate with someon
e who knows sign language or someone who has one of these?”
“There is another way for him to use the telephone. Let’s say we didn’t have this TTY and he needed to talk to your dad. He could use his TTY to call a special number for a relay service. Then the relay service would call your dad and voice Mr. Lafferty’s message. The relay operator would type your dad’s response for Mr. Lafferty to see on his TTY. But Mr. Lafferty doesn’t like to use the relay service.”
“I know. He doesn’t like other people in his business.”
About that time, Dad came out of his office with two men, and they left. Their faces said they might have had one of Dad’s powwows and it didn’t turn out like the one we had last night.
“Hey, Jules! I see you’re learning all about the TTY.”
“Yes, sir.”
Mrs. Mason said, “And soon you’ll have one of these at your house. I ordered it today.”
Dad grabbed his coat. “Great. We should be on our way. Don’t want to keep Mr. Lafferty waiting.”
I moved the chair back to where it was. “Thank you for your time this afternoon, Mrs. Mason. And thank you for teaching me about the TTY.”
“You’re welcome. You can come by and have coffee and donuts with me anytime. No one else around here eats stale donuts.” She grinned at Dad.
Dad pinched my ear, and we were out the door. “Coffee? You had coffee and a donut? I may lock you in the car when we get to Emerald Crest.”
“No need. I didn’t eat but two bites of the donut and the coffee was mostly cream. I’m tame.”
“We’ll pick up Mrs. Walker and be on our way. I need her today because I must have a conversation with Mr. Lafferty about making some changes regarding security.”
“I’m still reading my sign language book, so I won’t be a bother. And I’ll be happy to play the piano for him if he remembers.” I pulled the book from my bag.
“Oh, he remembers. I told him earlier this morning you were coming with me.”
We picked up Mrs. Walker just like before, and she had no more than closed the door when I started thanking her for suggesting the DVDs and showed her my sign language book and told her I knew what a TTY was.
Silent Days, Holy Night Page 6
