The Ghost in the Machine

by Mary Woodbury

  “Did we buy high-test fuel?” Haley asked. “I’m sure Princess is nearly ready to run. She sure wants to.” Haley patted the car’s hood with affection and encouragement.

  Tyler pulled himself out from behind the wheel. “Let’s roll her into the garage and lock up.” Ty figured he’d get his dad and one of his buddies to help him jack the car up onto the hubs, so he could work under it. So he and Haley could work on it. He grinned, thinking about working with her.

  “I don’t know about you but I’m ready for that swim we keep promising ourselves,” said Haley. “I’ll just grab my stuff from the truck and borrow your bathroom for a minute.”

  “Wait a minute!” Ty hesitated. That girl. She just marched into things. Ty usually didn’t wear a swimsuit at the lake. He had one somewhere, the one he wore at school. He glanced down at his frame. Would that suit still fit? He looked slimmer. His body was changing shape. He grinned. Ty didn’t mind at all.

  “I’ll wear cutoffs if I can’t find my suit,” Ty said.

  “I bet you guys don’t wear suits,” Haley laughed out loud. “Around me, buddy boy, you need a suit. You don’t want me getting ideas.”

  Ty blushed. He wouldn’t mind that in the least. He had some of his own.

  The two of them went into the house.

  Robin Nixon and Ty’s mother sat in the living room with big mugs of tea. Neither was talking. Both of them seemed sad.

  “Are you alright, Ma?” Tyler refilled his mother’s cup and offered more tea to Robin.

  Grace Graham nodded and sighed, “I’m better than I’ve been. Having good neighbours really helps. I’ve needed someone to talk to.”

  “Me, too,” said Robin. “The two of us have been pulling up a lot of family roots and staring at them. We decided there are too many hidden stories and unshared problems. It’s this stupid valley with its bottomless cold lake. We’re locked in a cycle of a too-small place with small-minded people rubbing each other the wrong way or getting downright nasty. Sounds pretty sick, doesn’t it? What happened up the road?”

  “Only Mrs. Beaton and Lynette were home,” said Haley.

  “I asked them to tell Doug and Ben to lay off,” Tyler said. “I told her about Scott’s car and she got upset and hurried away. I don’t get it. What business is it of hers? Why should she care?”

  “Meanwhile we’ve locked the car in the garage and we’re off for a swim. We can’t solve everything in one day.” Haley headed down the hall. “If you need to get home and rest Aunt Robin, go ahead. I’ll just cycle down the road when I’m ready.” She disappeared into the bathroom.

  Ty ran upstairs and rummaged around. Found a pair of cutoffs and hauled them on. He grabbed a belt to keep them from slipping off. It wouldn’t do to lose his pants. He crashed down the stairs.

  Robin Nixon had walked Haley to the back door. Ty’s mom was studying her son. She chewed her bottom lip the same way he did. “There’s quite a few things that we need to talk about soon, Tyler.”

  “Sure.”

  “It will explain a lot. I think I’m ready to talk, thanks to Robin.”

  “That’s great, Ma. Maybe after supper we could have a chat.”

  “Maybe. Why don’t you and Haley run along and have a good time? I might pick up Veronica from her grandma’s and come join you.”

  “That would be great, Ma.” Ty loped down the track after Haley. She was swinging her towel over her head and jogging past the track to the cottages. Leo was running with her. Haley was wearing a one-piece Speed-o suit in dark navy. Her body looked perfect. Tyler gulped in mouthfuls of warm summer air, trying to keep calm and cool. Too bad there wasn’t a manual on understanding girls. They were more complicated than cars. The gentle breeze from the lake blew his hair out of his eyes. It probably needed cutting. Catch him, thinking about how he looked. That was new. Some of his car-moving, bike-riding muscles groaned as he ran. His bare feet pounded the hard clay track.

  Bees flew past on their way to the flowers in Grandma Graham’s garden. Ty could hardly wait to dive off the water-sculpted massive rocks that jutted out into the lake. It would be cool as all deep Canadian lakes were. It would be refreshing.

  He heard a leap, splash and a yell. “Shooting Matches, it’s cold.” That girl had a colourful vocabulary.

  Ty ran across the hot sand, clambered up the rocks and leapt in after Haley. He felt the cool water enfold him. He loved this lake. Summer was the best, the water getting warmer as the summer got hotter. He had never shared this beach with anyone but Nat and his buddies, or his family when life was going well for his mom and his dad wasn’t off cutting lumber in some other valley. He stroked towards Haley. He felt the power in his arms as he sliced through the water and hurried to catch up. She turned, laughed, and splashed him. Then she stroked out into the lake.

  “You better be a good swimmer,” he hollered after her.

  “The best,” she called.

  He agreed with her. She was the best thing that had happened in a dog’s age. He swam after her. He had to catch up — he had a lot of catching up to do. And this summer was going to give him the chance.

  Chapter 13

  The next few weeks went by quickly. Mornings Ty slept in. When he got up, he installed his mother on the couch with tea and the CBC. They usually chatted about what he hoped to get done on the car that day. Then he went down to Nixon’s and worked in the garden or fixing things. Haley helped sometimes but other times she ran her aunt into town in the van for supplies or to the doctor’s. Both Ty and Haley were worried about Robin. She was like an anchor in his life, Ty reflected. She made him feel really competent.

  After a late lunch, Ty and Haley would head to his house and get to work on Princess. His mom and Veronica would sit on the porch and watch. Occasionally his mother would disappear, saying she was going for the mail. But it took her ages to come back from the road. He wondered where she went. He was tempted to follow her and find out.

  Veronica was enrolled in a summer vacation school run by the Anglican Church. Grandpa drove her and picked her up, which, when you thought about his opinion of organized religion, was pretty nice. “This world needs less preachers and more hard-working folk. A farmer is closer to the Almighty than any man in a black skirt. Why I hear they’ve even let women in the pulpit now. Bunch of Miserable Militant Man-haters.”

  Ty tried not to listen when his grandpa ranted. Unfortunately, there were quite a few people around who agreed with old Grandpa Graham. Not Tyler, not by a long shot. He’d been to church with his mom when she used to go and sing. The people were nice there. Something about the music and the poetry and the quiet wooden building with its one stained glass window made him feel connected to something good, something bigger than this valley. He wished his grandpa would put a sock in it.

  One day in late July, he and Haley were working on the spark plugs and the ignition system. They took turns reading from the manual and following the procedures in the book. Haley was better at the detail work because her fingers were thinner and more supple. Ty caught himself staring at her hands as she worked. He had a sudden urge to reach out and touch them, to hold them in his own big paws.

  He used the spark plug socket to take out the plugs. He checked the spark plugs against the illustrations and cleaned them. The gap was definitely too big. Haley used a gauge to adjust the gap. Ralph had sold them a couple of new spark plugs. At least they hadn’t been expensive.

  “Wrench,” said Haley. She’d taken the cornrows out of her hair after she and Ty had started swimming most days. She claimed the hairdo was a nuisance. Now she kept her hair back in a ponytail. The tight black curls danced as she worked. Ty wondered what it would look like loose. The repair book said clearly that loose clothing and hair hanging down were two no-nos in the home mechanic’s safety guide. It didn’t matter how Haley did her hair, as far as Ty could see, it looked great. It shone in the sunlight and when she came out of the water, tight black curls ringed her forehead.

  �
�Rag,” mumbled Ty. He oiled the threads on the spark plugs, started them by hand, then tightened them with the plug socket. Next he dripped oil using a teaspoonful on the pistons. He turned the engine over and listened to the valves clicking. As the pressure built up, the fuel mixture hissed past the valves. The smell of oil and gas fumes filled the air.

  “What you doing now, Tyler?” Veronica bent down and peered in the back of the car. “Why you got Princess up on bare wheels? Aren’t they Daddy’s?”

  “It’s safer to work on her when she’s supported on these hubs,” Ty said. “It’s not safe to crawl under otherwise. If the jacks came loose, the car could fall on my chest. This way, we’re safe.”

  Veronica peered under the car. “When are you going to be able to drive her?”

  “Soon,” said Haley. “Real soon.” She reached for the tattered repair manual and read out more instructions. “I want to try her out on the road down to the lake.”

  Ty pulled the rag out of his pocket and wiped oil from his forehead. He stood up straight and rolled his shoulders. His jeans nearly fell off. He grabbed them.

  “You nearly dropped your pants, Tyler,” Veronica giggled. “How come you’ve changed? You don’t look like you used to. Your head is way up in the air. Are you alright?”

  It was true. All the swimming, cycling, running, and garden work had taken a real toll on his flab and his body seemed to be stretching up. He didn’t mind, but he hadn’t had time to get new jeans. Robin had given him some of her son’s discarded jeans and T-shirts. His little sister was staring up at him with a big frown on her face. Was she getting shorter or was he a lot taller? Poor Veronica — a little kid shouldn’t be worrying about her family so much. Mom had been pretty good lately, but would it last?

  “How’s it going?” called his mom from her new chaise lounge with the blue flowered cover. He had bought it for her with his latest pay cheque from Robin. “When do I get to go for a ride?”

  “Soon.”

  “I loved driving my first car,’ his mother said. “It was an old green Austin Minor.”

  “Where’d you get it?” Ty asked. It was so good to carry on a conversation with her. “How old were you?”

  “My dad gave it to me the summer I was seventeen. Scott got the Volkswagen. I got the Austin. Dad bought it off some tourists.” She sipped her tea. “I drove it until it fell apart.”

  “I’ll fix Scott’s car so it never falls apart, Ma.” Ty hoped he could keep that promise. Some days he felt confident. Other times he was afraid the job was too big for him. Did he have the guts, the gumption, the stick-to-ativity, as his Grandpa would say? That was a good question.

  Just then Sage and Basil drove up in their funky old Volvo wagon with the flowers painted all over it. “Did you hear there’s a fire over by Cranbrook?” Basil asked.

  “Yeah, Dad says they might get called on to fight it,” said Ty. “He was home last weekend.” They’d had a family picnic at the beach. It felt like old times.

  Sage climbed out of the passenger seat. “We had to come and see how the big project was coming.”

  Ty wasn’t sure he wanted the eyes of the whole valley on him. What if he failed?

  “Have you been eating right, young Ty?” asked Basil. He came over and stared into the engine compartment and shook his head. “It looks like a mess of spaghetti wires and unknowable machinery to me.”

  “It’s not bad if you have help,” said Ty. “I wouldn’t want to be doing this alone.”

  Haley bowed, “It’s about time I got the recognition I deserve.”

  Sage nodded sadly. “How’s your Aunt Robin? Has she been eating her yoghurt?”

  “She’s been in the hospital twice for blood transfusions. I’m really worried about her. The doctors in Benton are puzzled. I have to drive her to Cranbrook to the specialist again next week.” Haley wiped the sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt.

  “We both try to keep an eye on her,” said Ty. “Ms. Nixon isn’t your average neighbour. She’s really great. She’s special.”

  Haley grinned at him. Ty’s stomach flip-flopped.

  “If Robin needs anything, you let us know. Your aunt is one fine lady. We’d really miss her if anything happened.” Sage hugged Haley, turned and walked to the porch to visit Ty’s mother. She had a pouch filled with her herbal remedies. The air around her smelt like crushed flowers and dried herbs.

  Ty leaned close to Haley. “Are they just pessimists, or is your aunt in real trouble? I wish I could help more. How bad is it?”

  Haley pushed a stray bang out of her eyes and the sweat off her brow again. “I wish I knew, Ty. She doesn’t talk much about her illness. She just keeps losing weight and complaining about not having much appetite. She blames it on the medicine.”

  “Are you worried?” Ty asked.

  Haley nodded. “She’s pretty independent. I keep busy. But…” She picked up her tools and went back to work. “I’ll be glad when Mom gets here. She’ll figure out what’s going on.” She rolled out from under the engine. “Read me that section again on adjusting the valve clearance.” She had a spacing gauge in one hand and a flat-head screwdriver in the other.

  Sage and Ty’s mom had gone in the house to fix herbal tea. Basil came over and sat on the broken-down trestle table Haley and Ty were using as a spare workbench. “Can I help?”

  “As soon as Haley’s finished with what she’s doing now, and puts the valve covers back on, we could lift the car down from the truck tire hubs.”

  “How’d you get the car up there in the first place?” Basil scratched his pale beard.

  “The front was easy, wasn’t it Haley?”

  “It was one of the first things we did.” Haley stuck her head out from under the trunk lid. She wiped sweat from her face.

  “Ralph Ferris gave me the idea,” said Ty. “We used a railway tie on a cement block as a lever to lift the front end. It’s light ’cause it’s the trunk. The transmission and engine are heavy and in the back. We used a truck jack in the middle of the engine block to raise the back end and get it supported on two of the hubs. That gave us six inches more clearance to crawl under the car and work on the undercarriage. It’s been cleaned and checked. We’ve replaced anything worn or loose.”

  Basil shook his head. “Young Ty, I’m impressed with both of you.” He nodded at Haley. “But this car. Your uncle Scott would be pleased. How’d you ever get the idea?”

  Ty shuddered as if someone had walked on his grave. He thought of the ghost in the machine. He hadn’t seen him for over a month. It was as if once the ghost had seen that Ty was going ahead with the repairs he didn’t need to hang around in the real world. “I wanted a car of my own,” was all he said to Basil.

  Basil, Haley, and Ty worked together to lift the car to the ground and rolled it back onto the flat space beside the picnic table.

  “You’ve still got a lot of work to do on the body, Ty,” Sage called as she and Ty’s mom came out of the house. “Speaking of bodies, you can help your mom. Remind her to keep taking St. John’s Wort or Kava. Vitamin C would be good too. My doctor friend who’s also a naturopath suggests exercise. It stimulates the brain and the immune system.”

  “She’s been going for long walks,” said Ty.

  “That’s right. Uphill too.” Ty’s mom came out on the porch.

  “That’s great, Grace,” said Basil.

  “Thanks for the medicine, Sage. I promise to take it all. I’m feeling so good. I don’t want that to change.” Grace stood on the porch in a loose-fitting white dress that reflected the sun. Maybe Robin had taken her shopping on one of their trips into town.

  Sage and Basil gave hugs all round before they drove out the laneway.

  “This valley is something else,” laughed Haley. “Some hug, some holler, and some are just plain weird or wonderful.”

  “Where do I fit?” Ty climbed in the passenger side. “I hope you’ve changed your mind about me.”

  “How do you
know how I felt about you?” Haley came over and leaned on the doorframe. Faint odours of aloe vero mixed with the smell of grease.

  “I wasn’t very impressive that first night.”

  “You’re right about that.”

  Some day Ty would have to tell her that he’d spied on her, had heard what she’d said about him to her aunt. But not yet.

  Haley pulled the car keys out of her pocket, slid into the driver’s seat and banged the replacement door hard so it shut tight. “When do you think we'll be able to get to the body? Poor Princess looks a wreck.”

  “Next week, with any kind of luck. We need another trip to Ralph’s for supplies — fibreglass and cloth. Ralph said Canadian Tire will have sandpaper and something called Bondo. It’s gooey, gunky stuff that fills dents and nicks. Then we’ll buy paint for the body.”

  “Are you going to paint Princess the same colour?”

  “What do you think?”

  “Well, red will show up on the road.” Haley was putting the key in the ignition. “Are you sure you don’t want to drive first?”

  Ty did up his seatbelt and adjusted the rear view mirror. “I want to listen to the motor. See if it sounds right. I’ll drive it back.” Besides, Ty thought, Haley deserved the chance to drive the car. He had developed a lot of patience this summer. He liked delaying the best time, liked the anticipation of doing something as much as the final action.

  “Dinah, I love this,” she said and turned the key in the ignition.

  Clunk, whirr, puh, puh, chirp. Smoke rose. The car stalled.

  Ty climbed out and adjusted the screw on the carburetor, giving it more gas. I’d like to paint it black.” He climbed back in the car and did up his seat belt.

  “Black’s boring.” Haley turned the key in the ignition again. The car started, no problem. She drove Princess down the hill towards the lake with Leo loping along beside them woofing at the motor as if it was an invading dog.