The Ghost in the Machine

by Mary Woodbury

  Ty couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward so he could hear better. This was good. This was stuff he had never heard. This was about his family.

  “What about the Armstrong kids?”

  “We lost touch. Too big an age difference. Doesn’t seem so big now, does it? I should spend time with Grace. She could use a friend or two, I gather. Her husband Lyle is a logger. He’s gone a lot of the time. But that’s another story. Anyway I ran into Scott on the campus of UBC in Vancouver ten years later. He was trying to decide between university and the Alberta College of Art in Calgary.”

  “And his sister?”

  “Grace had gotten married right out of high school. A lot of girls do that around here. That’s one reason why I left for all those years.”

  “What did she do that for?” A teacup banged back on its saucer. “I’d never do that. There are too many places to go and things to see.”

  “She was pregnant. Lots of teenage pregnancies back then. But Lyle and she had been going together since they were thirteen. Their marriage was expected.”

  “So she never got to sing anywhere but in school?”

  “She sang in the Anglican Church choir until the accident and Veronica was born. She hasn’t sung since. She hasn’t done much of anything.”

  “Wow. It makes my life look pretty simple,” Haley said. “I guess I live a pretty protected existence.”

  “You might say that.”

  “What about Tyler? Where does he fit in?”

  “I was off working in Vancouver when he was born.” Robin coughed. “Working in the university book store, raising the kids, and writing my first novel.”

  Ty admired Robin even though his dad thought she could have made a lot more money teaching than she did writing books. She had raised her kids on her own and followed her dream. She’d come back to the valley most summers to write, raise vegetables, and teach summer school. Now her two boys were in university and worked planting trees every summer.

  Everything had gone smoothly until she’d come down with this unexplained ailment. Gossip in the valley said it sounded like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome mixed with arthritis and maybe some muscle failure. According to the grapevine, Haley’s mom — a family doctor — was coming to check things out with the local doctor sometime this summer as soon as they could find someone to look after their big house on an acreage near Bragg Creek. Her dad, the oil executive, was worried about the kind of medical care his sister was getting in Benton. Grandpa thought the whole family was snooty. He’d said a few unkind things about black people, too, but Ty had ignored them. Colour didn’t make the person, according to Ty, it was what kind of a person you were that mattered.

  Robin was talking again. “There’s something about young Tyler. Maybe he reminds me of Scott Armstrong or myself when I was younger. He looks like he might make something of himself.”

  “I don’t think so. He couldn’t put two words together tonight. A dirty pickup had just pulled out of the lane as I pulled in. Two yahoos hollered suggestive things at me, made snide comments, and waggled grubby hands. They blew smoke rings that stunk to high heaven.”

  “That would be the Beaton boys, Doug and Ben. They’re the local hooligans. They like to pick on Tyler because he’s not one of them. Although I can remember a time….”Robin paused.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, nothing, really. There was a rumour about Scott and …. But that’s enough for one night.” A chair scraped across the floor. “I’ll just walk the dog a piece and then go to bed.”

  “I’ll come with you — in case of cougars.”

  “They’re way up the mountain.”

  The screen door banged behind them. The cat startled and ran across the yard. Haley’s aunt had a birch staff she leaned on as she walked towards the garden. The smells of growing vegetables and compost filled the air. You couldn’t see the sky for trees. The darkness wrapped the two women, one young and one old. Ty could hear their voices fade as they walked toward the tomato plants.

  Ty waited until they were out of sight. He unfolded from his awkward crouch on the apple box. The cat came and threaded its way between his legs. “Don’t you tell on Ty, the spy.” He shook his head at his own folly. Curiosity could make you do some strange things. He cycled back toward his place. As he passed the mailboxes he glanced up the mountain toward Uncle Scott’s trailer. He’d forgotten it was there.

  Chapter 10

  Ty was cleaning out the garage the next morning when Haley rode up on her bike, skidding to a stop abruptly so the dust rose in billows. A cloud hung in the yard, dust from his floor sweepings and Haley’s gravel spray. She had changed into blue jeans and a black T-shirt.

  They both choked on the grit and laughed. “Do you want to go for a ride, a run, or a swim?” Haley asked. “Aunt Robin said we should take the day off. We can do the basement tomorrow.”

  “I need to check the alignment on Princess first,” he said. “Run the car back and forth and tighten the tie rods until the tires track straight.”

  “I’ll help.” She parked her bike in the garage.

  “Great!” Ty’s heart pounded in his ears. Breath, Ty, it’s just a girl, just a neighbour.

  Haley nodded. “Will she run on her own yet?”

  “No, we’ve got to wheel her up and down.”

  “Okay.” And without another word, Haley reached in and grabbed the steering wheel and pushed with her other hand on the door frame where the driver’s door was supposed to be. Ty pushed from behind.

  “Now, let’s try it the other direction,” Ty said. They reversed and ran it back, watching the tracks in the dirt. Haley hurried behind the car and bent to check the look of the back wheels. Ty ran ahead once it was moving and checked the look of the front wheels. He shook his head. “Look at that?”

  Haley joined him. “It looks like its bow-legged.”

  “It called toe-in,” said Ty.

  “They’re tracking to the left,” she said.

  They blocked the car’s wheels with rocks. Ty crawled under. Haley handed him the wrenches he asked for. She held the flashlight while he tightened the bolts. Ty was amazed at how well they worked together.

  After an hour they were both sweating, their T-shirts clinging to their torsos, but the car rolled straight. When they stood beside each other to admire their work, Ty noticed that Haley’s hair still smelled of shampoo. He’d have to shower later.

  “Okay, let’s roll her closer to the garage,” hollered Ty. “If the slope isn’t too much.”

  The two teenagers put all their muscles into it and shoved the old VW up the incline to the garage. “We need a break for water or something wet.” Haley wiped her forehead on a blue-and-white cowboy kerchief and stuck it back in her old jeans pocket.

  Ty went in the house and brought out two colas. “I wanted to apologize for last night…”

  “You were pretty tongue-tied."

  “I was expecting the Beaton boys to come back.”

  “So I gathered.”

  “Anyway…”

  “You’re sorry.”

  “Yeah. Those guys unnerve me. You’d have to live here…”

  “Sounds like a soap opera. My Aunt Robin told me a bit about the old clan feuds.”

  “I wish people could just be straight with each other. Honest.” Ty told her how he felt about secrets. “I’m sick of all this history. It’s like a sitcom or a Grade B movie.”

  “We’ll play it straight. Okay,” Haley reached out and shook Ty’s hand. Her hand was small in his and cool and smooth. His arm tingled.

  “Okay.”

  “What next,” Haley asked, “with the car?”

  “A trip to Ferris Auto Parts in Benton. I saw Ralph the other day in Benton when Dad and I were getting groceries. He said he had a couple of old VWs I could ransack for parts. All we need is a ride into Benton.”

  He rubbed some grease from his hand onto his baggy jeans. “I’d get my dad but he’s on the road a lot. He
’s a logger and has to go where the cutting’s happening.” Ty blushed. He didn’t like explaining his family to Haley.

  “I could drive if we had an adult along,” said Haley. “I’d love to poke around an old junk yard. Maybe I could find a car for myself.”

  “Don’t your folks have cars to spare?” Somehow Ty figured Haley would have a car of her own by now. Kids in Alberta could drive legally sooner than kids in the valley. He knew Robin’s brother had lots of money, had left the valley and never looked back. Grandpa Graham said he was a prime example of a Fat Cat Oil-slicker, the worst breed of city slicker there is. He’d made some nasty comments about marrying outside the clan, too. Ty’s grandpa wasn’t very politically correct. Ty just hoped he wouldn’t say anything racist in front of Haley.

  “My parents are control freaks. They drive me everywhere. They let me have driving lessons and get my learners. But drive one of their precious vehicles, get myself killed or hurt. No way!” Haley wiped oil off her hands onto her jeans. “They freak out if I don’t get top marks in everything. Act like it’s their brains and their future, not mine.”

  Ty studied Haley’s frowning face. Maybe being a rich kid in a fancy private school with tutors and special lessons wasn’t so great. His folks left him pretty much to his own devices. He liked it that way.

  “I should pick up the driver’s manual and try the written part of the test. I want to drive this car as soon as it’s fixed.”

  Ty could picture himself tooling around the mountain roads, his mother and Veronica sitting in the back, their long brown hair flowing in the breeze from the open windows. He could see himself driving Princess to school no matter what the Beaton boys and their friends would say. A wide space opened before Ty and beckoned. He felt good.

  “Maybe my aunt wants to go into town. Let’s ask.” Haley hopped on her bike and led the way down the road, keeping out of the way of a slow line of RVs with summer people craning their necks watching for wildlife; turkeys, deer, or skunks. The tourists would stop at the house made of glass bottles and the handmade broom factory and the iron makers and pottery sheds that lined the highway. They might even pull off and visit Basil and Sage in their Whole Health and Aromatherapy Boutique.

  “Sometimes I feel like putting a sign on my T-shirt saying ‘I’m part of the Kootenay flora and fauna. Please do not pick or destroy.’” Ty’s laugh echoed. “I wish they’d all go away. We need their money to survive, I guess, but I like the peace and quiet.”

  “You’re a funny boy, Ty Graham.” Haley wheeled into her aunt’s driveway. “I don’t know any guys like you in Calgary.”

  Ty blushed. He was glad she hadn’t figured out he’d been spying on her. He meant to change her mind about him. He had to prove he wasn’t such a country hick, but he wasn’t sure how to do that.

  “Of course, if I know my dad, he’d scare any boy worth knowing away if he weren’t a millionaire,” Haley laughed.

  Ty glanced at Haley from under his bushy eyebrows, leaned his bike against the side of the Nixon house, and strode across the yard to where Robin was stretched out on her chaise lounge.

  “You look like a man with a mission, Ty.”

  He was about to answer but Haley beat him to it.

  “We need to go into town and buy parts for Princess,” Haley shouted. Ty began to explain. The screen door banged as Haley dashed inside, emerging in moments with a tall pitcher of juice. The ice cubes rattled the sides of the jug. “Do you need anything at the store? Can you sit in the front and let me drive? I may need some help with a stick shift.”

  Ty chuckled. This girl was irrepressible.

  Robin glanced up and a grin spread across her face. If it wasn’t for the grimace of pain as she tried to sit up straighter so she could take the glass from Haley, the picture of her in repose would have been perfect. Ty looked away in embarrassment.

  “Actually I was hoping you two could take over the driving soon.” Robin lifted her green eyes to the high hills behind and sighed. “The doctor doesn’t think I should be driving at all. He’s afraid my response times aren’t up to snuff.”

  Ty was torn between the longing to get behind the wheel of Robin’s van and a fear about her future. The back of his throat dried. “I need to pick up my learner’s permit at the Motor Club, Ms. Nixon.” He wasn’t comfortable calling her Robin to her face.

  “I could treat everyone to hamburger and fries.” Haley was dancing on the balls of her feet like a restless thoroughbred. It’s a wonder she doesn’t paw the gravel with her front hooves, Ty thought.

  “I’d prefer soup.” Robin took her birch staff and moved slowly onto the back porch and into the house. “I’ll get ready to go.”

  “I’ll have to go to the bank first,” said Ty. “We’ll pick up some gasoline and a litre or two of oil on our way back. Fast Fuel is cheapest.” He pulled a folded piece of foolscap out of his back pocket and a pencil. “I need a new battery, a used door, a window, a front left fender.” He was so busy talking that he didn’t notice that Haley had run inside until he looked up. A clutch of crows screamed as they flew overhead.

  “Nothing’s going to stop us now, Princess.” He felt like jumping over Robin’s fence. “Man, this is exciting.”

  Fifteen minutes later they left for Benton.

  Halfway to town Robin let Haley take over the driving. Robin had explained all the tricky parts of driving the old van. It was definitely ancient and had a real lived-in feel. It smelled of garden vegetables and chicken feathers. Tyler paid lots of attention.

  Robin said there were three really important safety hints. You had to be especially aware of the van’s tendency to roll. It was best not to turn the steering wheel too quickly, slam on the brakes, or tailgate.

  The grin on Haley’s face as she negotiated the empty highway was something to behold. Ty couldn’t help smiling. There was something about teenagers and driving. Maybe it was the feeling of power or satisfaction in knowing how to do something that little kids couldn’t do. It was a coming of age ritual. His own fingers and palms were itching to get the chance to do the same as Haley. Wait until Princess was fixed up. Wouldn’t he ride the road like a pro? Just watch him go.

  On the outskirts of Benton, Haley slowed and turned into Ferris Auto Parts. A couple of beat-up Chevy trucks stood out front with “For Sale” signs in their windows. Behind the garage and shop stretched a fenced-in wrecker’s graveyard. Pieces and parts of every car imaginable were piled high or leaning one against another like drunken hooligans.

  “What about the bank and the Auto Club?” asked Robin.

  Haley hung her head just a tad. “I’m a little nervous driving around town Aunt Robin.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Ty hopped down and strode into Ralph’s shop.

  Ralph leaned on the counter filling out an invoice or bill. “If it isn’t young Ty Graham. How you doin’?”

  “You said you had some Volkswagen wrecks I could pick over.”

  “I do.” Ralph looked up. His dark eyes sparkled and his pointy nose and chin seemed sharp as a wild animal’s. “You think you’ve got the guts and gumption to fix up Scott’s car, Tyler?”

  The young man was baiting him. But Ty felt full of confidence for a change. If Haley could be so brash, maybe he could too. Besides, he had to rescue Princess, didn’t he? He’d made a promise to a ghost. He gripped his side of the counter and leaned over towards Ralph, speaking his own mind, telling it the way he wanted it.

  “Yes, I do. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve gone to the bank. I’m looking for a door, a fender, and a window. For now anyway. I’ll buy a new battery and oil and a gas can at Canadian Tire.”

  Ralph didn’t say anything but he came out from behind his counter and walked over to the side window. “If you really mean business, kid, if you’re not just horsin’ around, I’ll help you. Scott was a friend of mine. He was a few years older than me but we both loved cars.” He pointed over to the far north side of the yard. “All the Volkswagens a
re buried back there.”

  Robin was sitting in the driver’s seat revving the motor and Haley was drumming her fingers on the dashboard.

  “Okay, okay, I get the point.” Ty climbed in the van. The upholstery was dusty as a country lane. A typical farm vehicle, but it had two poetry books and a New Yorker magazine stuffed in the side pocket. A sachet of mint and lavender from Sage and Basil’s shop hung from the rear view mirror.

  “I’m excited,” said Haley. “When we get back to the farm, I’ll have to go for a swim or a long run. Want to come? You keep putting me off. I need to keep in shape.”

  “Sure.” Ty nodded. It wouldn’t hurt him to run off some of the stress. He wasn’t sure he wanted her seeing his awkward body, though. But if he wanted Haley to help him with the car, he’d have to do some of the things she wanted to do. He blushed. She was so sophisticated and sure of herself and flat out good-looking. What was a tubby geek like him thinking?

  He didn’t have time to think. He had too much to do to stew about any of it. He went to the bank and withdrew a couple of hundred dollars. He bought the battery and oil while Haley and Robin poked around in the garden and seasonal section of Canadian Tire. They bought some plant food and bird seed. Heavily into nature and nurture, that Robin — birds, plants, people and books. Ty just wished she weren’t so sick.

  The three of them strolled into the Burger Barn and sat in one of the orange vinyl booths. The place reeked of old cooking oil and dirty boots. It was clean enough, but the art on the walls looked like it had been bought on a vacant lot from a traveling huckster. There wasn’t any smoking inside, but the billows of smoke from the puffers huddled outside the door were enough to choke you.

  Robin ordered the soup of the day and a bun. The Burger Barn made the best homemade buns in the valley. Haley and Ty ordered burgers, fries, and coleslaw.

  “Haley and I thought we’d go to the library while you tackle the license thing, Tyler. I don’t get much chance to pick up the latest best sellers from my friend, the librarian. She’s a lifesaver, she is. She usually orders the books that are listed in the Vancouver paper. At the rate I’m going with this stupid illness of mine, I’ll have lots of time to read. My problem is holding the book up. I’ll need paperbacks or short novels.” Robin laughed but it was not a happy sound.