by H. P. Munro
Maddie jumped out of the cab where she had ridden with Sam who had peppered her with questions about her medical career throughout the journey, “Yes she is. Unfortunately she’s a beauty with a cracked radiator and blown head gasket.”
“Cracked beyond repair,” Sam added emphatically.
The dark-haired man winced at his colleague’s assessment. “Peter Campbell,” he nodded, holding up his oil-stained hands as way of an apology for the lack of handshake. “You might be in luck, I was restoring one of these a few years back, I should still have some parts in store,” he said, his smile faltering as he caught sight of Sam shaking his head vigorously behind Maddie’s back.
“Maddie Marinelli,” Maddie offered, not noticing the questioning look that Peter was throwing towards Sam.
“Doctor Maddie Marinelli,” Sam said slowly, nodding his head with wide eyes, waiting for Peter to get onto his wavelength.
Peter’s face relaxed as comprehension dawned, “Why don’t you have a seat and we’ll go take a look in the back,” he indicated over to a plastic chair and table. “There’s coffee in the pot,” he jerked his head at Sam who gave a quick smile to Maddie before shuffling off to catch Peter.
“A doctor?” Peter whispered, one eye on the door to the shop where Maddie sat.
“An ER doc, on her way to San Francisco to start a new job in four weeks, she could be what we need,” Sam replied excitement raising his voice above a whisper.
“Shhh,” Peter admonished. “I have a radiator and gasket that would fit her car,” he frowned uneasily at the hint of deception he knew Sam was about to suggest.
Sam gripped Peter’s shoulders, “Your wife is about to hatch your first child any day now. Do you want her to have to travel sixty miles to do that, just ’cause we don’t have a doctor right now?”
Peter closed his eyes and exhaled softly, “No, but there’s no guarantee that she’d go into labor while the doc is here.”
“We stall her for two weeks, two and half tops. If Ruth’s still got the bun in the oven, we fix the car and let the doc go on her way,” Sam reasoned. “No harm, no foul.”
Weighing up the options Peter finally turned towards the door, “I’m sorry Doctor. Marinelli, I don’t have the parts after all. I made a quick call and I can get them shipped here but it’ll be a couple weeks,” he held his hands out apologetically.
Maddie’s eyes widened. “A couple of weeks? I’m on my way to San Francisco, I don’t have a couple of weeks,” she moaned.
Sam stepped forward before Peter changed his mind. “You don’t start your job for another four weeks, or so you said earlier,” he added hastily seeing Maddie’s raised eyebrows. “That’s still plenty of time to get there,” he smiled. “Peter and his wife have a spare house in town; you can stay there while you’re waiting.”
The dark-haired man shot Sam a quick glare before clearing his throat. “Yeah, my wife’s mama’s house is laying empty at the moment, so you’d be doing us a favor; having someone there I mean,” he finished absently, playing through in his head how the conversation with Ruth; to explain how a complete stranger was going to be staying in her late mother’s home, would play out.
Maddie looked between the two men and sighed. “Two weeks?” she repeated with a skeptical look on her face.
“Yes ma’am and a half,” Sam inserted. “Tops,” he shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.
“Looks like I don’t have much choice,” Maddie said resignedly. She had hoped on having a bit of down time in San Francisco before she started work, now it looked as though her down time would be spent in Grace Falls.
***
“So our town is going to be one hundred and fifty years old next year,” Sam said proudly. “It was named after Ebenezer Grace and the Grace family still own most of the big businesses that employ the town. They have the lumberyard and hunting lodges and still own most of the prime real estate too.”
“Influential family,” Maddie added, looking out of the window.
“Was a time that you couldn’t fart without the Grace family having an opinion on it,” Sam said gruffly.
Maddie noticed that his face tightened when he spoke about the Grace family. “Not a fan of theirs?” she asked.
Sam shrugged, “Story for another time.” He pointed out Ruby’s Coffee Shop and Sullivan’s Sports Bar as he drove Maddie to the old Anderson house that had belonged to Ruth’s mother, both the bar and coffee shop appeared to be the social hubs of the small town. He also made a point of showing Maddie the town’s recently vacated medical clinic, to which she made the appropriate sympathetic murmurs. After helping to carry some of Maddie’s boxes into the house, Sam’s role appeared to have ended and he nervously left her alone with a waiting Ruth.
The bemused woman led Maddie into the house where she and her younger sister had grown up. She had been somewhat perturbed by her husband’s phone call, it wasn’t every day that your husband loaned out your dead mother’s house, seemingly at random, to a stranded doctor. Sensibly, Peter had omitted to tell his wife of his part in Maddie’s predicament.
“So how much longer have you got to go?” Maddie asked dropping her rucksack onto the hardwood floor of the living room and absently taking in her surroundings. “With the baby I mean,” she added.
Ruth smiled, “Anytime now I guess.” She cupped her swollen stomach fondly, “The timing is all up to this one now. Emm.” She chewed on her lip, “Well I guess this is the living room, the kitchen is through there.” She pointed to a heavy door to the rear of the living room, “There should be plenty hot water, the boiler does it automatically and, I’ll be honest, I have no idea how to work it. There’s three bedrooms and bathroom upstairs but only the room facing the back has a bed in it now.” She gave Maddie an apologetic smile, “Don’t worry it’s not the one my mama died in.” She spun round, her hand over her mouth as she mentally went through everything that she thought Maddie would need, missing Maddie’s wide eyes at her remark about the bed, “I’ll pop back with some provisions for you, if you’d like you’re welcome to join us for supper?”
Maddie yawned loudly; suddenly feeling the effect of the hours of driving she had done prior to her engine blowing. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she effused. “It’s been a really long day, I may just shower and go to bed. Thank you though, for your kind offer and for letting me stay here, it’s a lovely home,” she gave Ruth a grateful smile.
“Well I hope you get some rest,” Ruth smiled and headed towards the front door. “There should be clean bedding and towels in the cupboard at the top of the stairs,” she pointed towards the sweeping staircase in the hall. “I’ll maybe see you tomorrow. Good night.”
Ruth slipped out of the front door and carefully stepped down the stairs towards the pathway leading back towards the white picket fence surrounding her childhood home. Sam stood leaning against his pick-up truck, a smug smile playing on his lips.
“Sam Hunter, you will tell me what is going on with that shit-eating grin of yours before I beat it out of you,” Ruth said, heaving herself up into the truck while swatting Sam’s helping hand away.
“Whaaat?” Sam said innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He closed the door to the truck and ran around to the driver’s door, giving the old Anderson house one last look before jumping into the truck to run Ruth home.
***
By the time Maddie had made her bed and had a shower, darkness had taken hold of Grace Falls, she padded downstairs to the kitchen still toweling off her dark locks. She smiled as she spotted a box on the counter, surmising that she must have had visitors while she was showering. Tossing the towel onto the chair, she peeked into the contents of the box.
Ruth had packed her coffee, sugar and a note that said that the fridge had milk, eggs, orange juice and a portion of homemade lasagna in it. There was an addition to the note in a more masculine hand advising that there was also beer in the fridge. Maddie chuckled to herself as she pulled
out the coffee and sugar and placed them onto the counter, amazed at the generosity that she’d experienced so far from the occupants of the town. Opening the fridge, she pulled out the plastic box containing the lasagna and grinned at the cooking instructions taped to the lid, she wondered whether this was one of a set for Peter to tide him over while Ruth was in hospital with the baby.
After a few moments of trial and error, she managed to light the oven and find a bottle opener for her beer. An hour later and she was sated, after polishing off the lasagna and two bottles of beer. Yawning, she cleaned away her dishes and climbed the staircase towards the back room that was to be her bedroom for the duration of her stay.
As her body relaxed into the soft mattress the thick blankets and comforters soon had her cocooned in their warmth and she drifted off to sleep.
She couldn’t tell when or what it was that woke her up, but she was suddenly awake and disorientated by the strange surroundings. Glancing at the nightstand, she saw it was one a.m. and with a sniff of disgust at being awake Maddie buried herself further into the bed determined to recapture her much needed sleep. Uninterrupted sleep was a luxury for an ER doctor and it had been a while since Maddie had enjoyed the possibility of more than a couple of nights of complete rest. However, five minutes later and it appeared that tonight was not going to be one of those nights. A persistent noise invaded Maddie’s consciousness and once she was aware of it, she couldn’t not hear it. The noise had a rhythm to it; as though someone were digging and she found herself counting each thud, waiting on the next one arriving. Unable to return to sleep, she rose and looked out of the window to see if she could spot the origin of the noise. It took a few moments before Maddie’s eyes adjusted sufficiently to allow her to locate the source of the sound.
Standing in the backyard of the house opposite was a woman, her blonde hair tied up in a messy ponytail. She was wiping the back of her hand across her forehead, the movement leaving a large smear of dirt across her face, as she took a break from digging what appeared to be a rather large hole in the ground.
Maddie could not help but continue to watch in curiosity, wondering why the woman would be digging her garden in the middle of the night and why she would need such a large hole. Her inquisitiveness kept her monitoring the blonde woman’s progress until it appeared that the hole had reached its required depth. Maddie craned her neck as the woman dropped her spade to the ground and picked up a package wrapped in a black plastic bag. A soft blue blanket could be seen peeking out one side. She placed the package carefully into the hole then stood up; resting her hands on her hips, she stretched her lower back out. The change in her position allowed her gaze to drift up towards the deserted Anderson property, a look of shock registered on her face as she spotted a shadowy figure standing in the window observing her before disappearing.
Maddie’s mouth opened in surprise at being spotted, she stepped backwards into the darkness of the room hoping that the woman would think whatever she had seen was a trick of the light.
***
The following morning Maddie awoke to birdsong from the trees outside her window, she rose and looked out of the window to inspect the day, but more importantly to check that what she had seen last night had not been created by her sleep-addled brain. Her memory was soon confirmed, as she stood at the window she could see clearly the disturbed earth where the woman had been. Maddie frowned as she pulled on her hooded top, zipping it up as her mind still puzzled over the need to bury something in the cloak of darkness.
She entered the kitchen and poured herself a glass of orange juice, her mind drifting towards the nocturnal activity that she had witnessed. Finally unable to stem her nosiness any further she found herself out in the backyard of her borrowed house. She walked over the harsh blades of grass in her bare feet, the morning dew moistening the bottom of her blue and purple checked pajama bottoms. She edged along the boundary of the garden until she found a gap in the fence that divided the two properties. Pushing through the hedge, she squeezed through into her neighbor’s garden and then made her way towards where she had seen the woman.
Now standing over the patch of earth Maddie had no idea what she was going to do.
“Hello, did you know Buttercup?”
Maddie jumped and spun round startled, she found herself looking into a pair of pale blue eyes, a welcoming smile revealing dimples in either cheek. The young girl tipped her head to the side, her blue eyes sparkled with curiosity and intelligence beyond her years, which Maddie assessed to be around six or seven.
“I, em, no,” Maddie spluttered, still surprised at being found wandering in her neighbor’s garden while in her bed wear. “I never met Buttercup,” she finished more confidently, feigning a look of disappointment, which appeared to appease the child.
“She was a good rabbit,” the girl nodded solemnly. “But not a dwarf rabbit like my daddy thought he was buying, she was huge!” she opened her eyes to their fullest and held her arms out to illustrate the size of the recently departed rabbit. “I heard my mama say that my daddy was an ass who got robbed when he bought her, and that he should have gotten me a dog, ’cause at least we could have walked it,” the girl added, stepping forward and fixing Maddie with her gaze. “But she was a good rabbit, I’m Jessica Milne-Sullivan. Who are you?” she asked, her mouth twisted in consternation as she assessed the adult in front of her.
“I’m Maddie Marinelli,” Maddie smiled trying not to frighten the child in the slim hope that she could go back next door without the child’s parents knowing that she had been in their garden. “I’m living next door for a while,” she pointed back towards the loaned property.
Jessica followed Maddie’s gesture, pushing herself onto her tiptoes to see. “You’re staying in the old Anderson house,” she noted, dropping back down onto the soles of her feet. “Is Maddie short for something? My daddy says that any names that end in ‘ie’ are usually short for something, and he knows everything. He calls me Jess when my mama’s not around, but that’s a secret ’cause my mama don’t like my name getting shortened,” Jessica leaned forward nodding earnestly as she shared her secret with Maddie.
“It’s short for Madeleine,” Maddie replied, wincing as she said her full name, which was usually reserved for family occasions and verbal dressings down from her parents.
“Maddie-Lyn,” Jessica said carefully trying to get her tongue round the name.
“Madeleine,” Maddie corrected.
The young girl frowned. “Is what I said,” she replied, confused at what the difference was between what she had said and what Maddie had said.
“My daddy owns the bar,” Jessica said proudly. “He lets me sit on it and eat nuts. Do you work in a bar?” she asked, plonking herself down onto the moist grass.
Giving a quick look towards the house, Maddie shrugged slightly before dropping down to sit on the ground opposite Jessica, Buttercup’s resting place between them. She plucked a blade of grass and started to play with it absent-mindedly. “I’m a doctor,” she replied, writhing slightly against the cool wet of the grass seeping through her thin cotton bottoms.
Jessica on the other hand appeared unaffected by any discomfort from her seat. “I’d like to be a doctor when I’m big,” the girl said thoughtfully. “When I was born my daddy said that God wasn’t sure that He’d made a mistake by letting me leave Heaven too soon, but the doctors persuaded God that my daddy and mama needed me so He let me stay. Doctor McNeil said I was two pounds of stubborn.”
Maddie exhaled as she processed the information behind the detail that Jessica had just given her, she did not doubt for a minute that Doctor McNeil was right in his assessment. Seeing this seemingly healthy and intelligent child, she would not have thought that she had been a preemie, with all the health complications that could have brought. She did not envy Jessica’s parents the struggle they must have had during her early months.
“I’m sure you’ll make a great doctor, Jessica,” Maddie smiled. “Doctor M
ilne-Sullivan sounds kinda nice, don’t you think?”
Jessica scrunched her nose up. “I have the longest name in my class, it takes me twice as long as everybody else to write it,” she grumbled. “An’ it’s all ’cause my mama and daddy ain’t,” she screwed her face up and hastily corrected herself, “aren’t married.”
Maddie opened and closed her mouth, unsure how to respond to the small child casually running though her family history so nonchalantly while sitting on wet grass. Her young face so full of innocence at the information she was disclosing.
“Which is ’cause my daddy’s a manhole,” she nodded thoughtfully.
“Manhole?” Maddie repeated unsure if she had heard correctly.
“That’s what Aunt Teddy calls him when she thinks I’m not listening.”
Maddie bit down on her top lip to stop the laughter that was threatening to bubble out as she worked out exactly what Aunt Teddy thought of Jessica’s father.
The young girl brought her shoulders up to her ears in a deep shrug, “I think it’s something to do with him liking ladies, a lot, but then so does my…Mama!” The girl’s attention suddenly switched from Maddie to the blonde woman that Maddie had observed during the night. The woman approached with a look of apprehension on her face as her watchful gaze switched between her daughter and the strange dark-haired woman sitting cross-legged and bare-footed in her garden.
“Jessica,” the woman said carefully. “Could you come over here please?”
The girl stood up and dutifully returned to her mother.
“What have I told you about talking to strangers?” she admonished when her daughter was safely by her side. A look of relief flashed across her features as she gripped her daughter’s hand firmly.
“That’s not a stranger, this is my new friend Maddie-Lyn. She’s a doctor staying in the Anderson house,” Jessica said looking up at her mother in confusion as to why she was in trouble, her hand pointed towards Maddie.
