The Travelling Detective: Boxed Set

by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

  I dump your aftershave in the tub.

  I grab a knife and shred your clothes.

  Finally, there is nothing of yours left.

  I feel some satisfaction.

  You destroyed my life and now I have

  destroyed everything that represented yours.

  “There you bastard,” I say. “Rot in hell.”

  Fade Out

  End Act Two

  Fade In

  Act Three

  Interior-Farm House-Night

  The woman is standing in front of a picture on the living room wall. The furniture and floor are littered with debris. She takes the picture off the hook and stares at it a long time.

  I find our wedding photograph on the wall.

  I had had it enlarged for our tenth anniversary

  as my loving gift to you.

  Were you as pleased as you said you were

  or was that just a sham?

  I smash the glass against the corner of the table.

  I cut my finger removing the shards.

  I look at you smiling back at me.

  Were you an impostor in our marriage?

  For now I wonder, how many other

  women did you see over our nineteen years.

  I slash the picture with the knife. How symbolic.

  End Act Three

  Fade Out

  Elizabeth read a couple more then set the book aside. She should get on with her own writing. She opened a new file and began to enter what she had learned so far about Anna’s life and death.

  * * * *

  Wayne’s Story

  Wayne heard the car before it turned in the driveway. He looked out the window and saw the white, sixty-nine Camaro.

  Graham! He rushed out the door, his heart elated. “Graham, what a wonderful surprise.” He grabbed him in a big hug. “Why didn’t you call and let us know you were coming?”

  “It was kind of a spur of the moment thing,” Graham said. He pulled two large suitcases out of the back seat and lugged them into the house. “I’ll just put these down in my room.”

  Wayne noticed that they were the same two suitcases Graham had left with.

  “Looks like you’re here for more than the weekend,” Wayne said, when Graham returned to the kitchen. “Or did you bring your laundry home to be washed?”

  “I quit my job.”

  “What? Why?” He held his breath. He’d tried to talk Graham out of leaving the farm, telling him that he wouldn’t find a better way to make a living. But Christine had encouraged him to go and see what else there was to life. Ever since Graham left he’d prayed that he would come back home. Was his wish going to come true?

  “I couldn’t handle it any more. I don’t like the city and I don’t like pumping gas, so I quit. I decided to come home and work on the farm with you until I can buy my own land.”

  Wayne was delighted to hear that. He’d missed his son so much when he’d moved away. And now to have him say he was back and wanting to farm. There was just no measure to his happiness. The three of them were together again. Then he felt a twinge of apprehension. He and Christine hadn’t told him about their problem. Maybe Graham’s return home would put an end to that.

  “Mom working late tonight?” Graham asked.

  “I don’t think so. She’s going to be glad to see you.”

  Graham grinned. “I hope she’s not disappointed that I came back. She was always after me to try something other than farming.”

  Yes, and now Wayne knew why. “She wanted you to know that you had other options.”

  “Well, I’ve seen some of them and I like the choice I’ve made.”

  Graham helped Wayne with the milking and they had just returned to the house when Christine drove in the yard. She shrieked and hugged Graham when she saw him.

  “How long are you visiting?” she asked, taking off her coat.

  Graham looked down at the floor, then over at Wayne. “I quit my job. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time and I want to get some land of my own and start farming.”

  “Oh.” Christine sounded perplexed. Then “Oh.” again as if something had cleared for her. “Your father will like that. Did he tell you about his plans?”

  “No, he never said anything.” Graham turned to Wayne. “What plans are these?”

  Before Wayne could answer, Christine said. “He wants to expand the herd and build another barn.” She shooed them out of the kitchen. “You two go into the living room and discuss it while I make supper.”

  Most of the conversation at the table revolved around Graham’s life in the city and his decision to move back. If Graham noticed the distance between his parents, he didn’t say anything. When they were done, Wayne and Graham went back into the living room to watch television while Christine cleared the table. Wayne’s spirits had risen tremendously. He now had Graham on his side. Surely hearing his firsthand account of how he hated living and working in the city and how much he preferred living on the farm would make Christine realize how wrong she was. She would see that it wasn’t the life for her.

  He grinned at Graham and ruffled his hair as he had done when Graham was younger. “Good to have you back, son.”

  Chapter 19

  Because the beginning of the Gibbons, Smoky Lake, St. Paul loop deviated off Highway 28 at Redwater to follow the Victoria Trail, Elizabeth decided to have the second route continue along Highway 28 from Redwater to Highway 36, then go north to Lac La Biche.

  I would offer alternative routing for some of the overlap, she reasoned, so they could choose pavement or gravel roads. She hoped to get today’s tour done as fast as the first one. She was itching to talk with Christine.

  She stopped for gas then began recording as she left town. “From Redwater you continue along Highway 28 to Radway.”

  Radway was a tiny little hamlet whose claim to fame was a world-renowned Bible School. She’d read that it accepted only twenty-one students each year. While most students applied for entry themselves, some were recommended by the Vatican. They came from as far away as Germany, Zambia, Ireland, and Kuwait. Elizabeth looked around the hamlet trying to imagine it from the perspective of one of these visitors. Would they have been able to see much of Alberta or Canada during their stay or was their time taken up with their studies?

  For the next couple of hours Elizabeth focused on the natural beauty of the region. At her first stop in Waskatenau, she let Chevy run free along the asphalted nature trail while she recorded notes on the local wildlife and plants from the interpretive signs along the trail. Then they hopped back into the Tracker and drove the pretty stretch of highway past Smoky Lake to Highway 36 and then north up to the Little Continental Divide.

  In her research she’d learned that this narrow height of land between Lac La Biche Lake and Beaver Lake separated the Hudson’s Bay and Arctic Ocean drainage systems. She was disappointed that there really wasn’t much to see. She’d pictured a height of land with views of valleys and rivers, but there were just trees on both sides of the highway.

  After a quick stop for brochures and maps at the tourist information centre in Lac La Biche, Elizabeth headed out to Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park, an island Park accessed via a spectacular approach road built on a long causeway. To her delight, there was a flock of thirty or forty bright white pelicans bobbing about in the water by the causeway. She couldn’t resist stopping the car to take pictures of the odd-looking birds with their giant bills. Startled by the loud honk of a car horn, she waved in quick apology, jumped back into her Tracker and continued across the causeway to check out the beaches at the campground and the bird watching at Pelican Point. There was even a telescope she could peer through at a tiny island populated with pelicans and cormorants. What an amazing place for a camping holiday, she thought, and chuckled as she found herself wondering how wheelchair friendly the area would be.

  After finally tearing herself away from the island park, Elizabeth headed back through town towards
the Old Mission Road where she found the old convent built in 1892 at the Lac La Biche Mission. It was a three storey tall, white building and she stood staring at it wondering how such a large building could have survived the tornado in 1921 and yet the nearby church was destroyed. Inside, the artifact that she took the most pictures of was an old wood-fuelled heater. When Elizabeth looked at that heater and thought about the cold Alberta winters, she wondered how well it could have worked to keep the pioneers warm. It made her shiver just thinking about it.

  She went to the gift shop and saw a silver necklace with an eagle in flight pendant. Should she buy it for Jared? How would she explain it? She shrugged. What the heck, she didn’t need a reason to give him a gift. She paid for it and then let Chevy out and they wandered through the old cemetery across the road. Elizabeth leaned close trying to make out the lettering on the time-worn headstones. The grave of a little baby who died in 1885 really brought home to her a sense of the realities of a time when almost every mother could expect to lose a baby or two during her lifetime.

  * * * *

  Anna’s Story

  Anna had a roast in the oven and was quickly peeling potatoes. The chocolate cake she had made was cooling on the counter. Jared was playing with a truck on the kitchen floor. She felt a tightening in her chest. There was just too much to do and she always felt so tired.

  Anna held onto the edge of the counter, trying to calm her nerves. “Just remember that when our haying is over, Paul will be gone every day for a week,” she kept telling herself, trying to picture some good to the pressure now. “He won’t be here to shout or to make a mess or to slap anyone. Life will be quiet and peaceful.”

  She took a deep breath and finished the potatoes. Once they were on the stove she took a few minutes to sit. She fanned herself with one hand and rubbed her belly with the other. It was near the middle of August and the day was a scorcher. It was made even hotter by having to cook the meal but sandwiches wouldn’t do for a haying crew. If only it would rain to cool down the temperature. She longed to go out to the well for some cold water but the men would be here soon.

  She took three plates from the cupboard. There were some changes to the crew this summer. Ben wouldn’t be here and Nick was taking his father place. She wondered if they would find a fourth neighbour to replace Ben. After all, the work went easier with more men.

  When they arrived Paul ignored her and Nick looked the other way as he mumbled ‘Hello’. Wayne nodded. It was her turn to look away. She didn’t like Wayne, actually was scared of him. She’d heard the stories about his jealousy of Christine. When she’d dated Graham in high school, he’d been very surly towards her. Graham even told her that his father didn’t want him to see her. He’d laughed at that and then invited her to the movies. But at the time Anna had worried that Wayne might try to discourage her the same way he discouraged men from flirting with or even just talking with Christine.

  After they’d washed up and were sitting at the table, Paul growled. “Get us a beer.”

  Anna quickly took three beer cans from the fridge and set them in front of him. While she dished up the mashed potatoes, carrots, meat, and gravy, the men talked about how well the morning had gone.

  “I should have enough hay this year to feed about one hundred calves over the winter,” Paul said. He slid a piece of beef off the platter onto his plate.

  “Yes,” Nick said, scooping a spoonful of potatoes onto his plate. “I was thinking about going to the bank and asking for a loan to buy calves. My problem is that I don’t know if they will lend me the money, this being my first year of farming.”

  “Sure they will,” Wayne said. “The calves are the collateral. When you sell them in the spring you pay the loan and pocket the profits.”

  “If there are any profits to be had,” Paul said, around a mouthful of beef. “Some years the price of beef is so low that I’ve just barely paid the loan.”

  “When are you going to the market?” Nick asked.

  “The farmers want to put as much weight on their animals as they can to increase their sale value, so they don’t start bringing the calves in until late October, early November.”

  “I’ll check at the bank and let you know.”

  Wayne smiled. “I’m glad I’m strictly in dairy. I don’t have to worry about buying and selling anything.”

  When the men had finished the meal, eaten their dessert and drank their coffee, they hurried back to the fields. They would return for a snack at about four and then come in for supper when the evening dampness put a stop to the haying.

  Anna put some food on a plate for Willy then washed the rest of the dishes. She was in the middle of making another cake, this time white, as there wasn’t enough of the chocolate one left from the lunch, when Willy entered the house. His face was dirty from summer fallowing one of the fields. He went to the bathroom and washed then came back and sat at the table. He hardly spoke to her any more. She set his microwave heated plate of food in front of him.

  As she worked, she kept one eye on him. It wasn’t that she was really frightened of him, it was just that a few times she’d caught him staring at her. She wasn’t sure if that was just his way of trying to scare her or if it was a veiled threat, but she wasn’t taking any chances. After all, he was as big as his father.

  Chapter 20

  Elizabeth got back on Highway 55 and headed to Athabasca, which would be about an hour’s drive. Along the way she went over questions she wanted to ask Christine. How well did she know Anna? What were her thoughts about Anna’s suicide? Did she know of anyone who may have wanted her dead? And of course there were many questions about Ben. Elizabeth found that she was as curious about his death as she was about Anna’s though she couldn’t explain exactly why. Her instincts told her they were somehow related.

  As she neared Athabasca, she drove through Amber Valley where two hundred Afro-Americans from Oklahoma had settled. She looked to see if there was any sign of their settlement but only saw open farm land. One question that came to her mind was, did they suffer from prejudice once they’d moved here.

  Once in Athabasca Elizabeth visited the Union Hotel, the Canadian National Railway Station, and found the United Church, all built in the early twentieth century. As Elizabeth took pictures of the church, she found it hard to believe that when it was constructed it was one of the tallest buildings in the west. It sure wouldn’t compare now, one hundred years later.

  Elizabeth headed south out of Athabasca on Highway 2. When this highway was built it bypassed Perryvale, Rochester, and Tawatinaw, three hamlets that were along the original Athabasca Landing Trail. The Hudson’s Bay Company developed the trail following the original aboriginal trail between the North Saskatchewan and Athabasca rivers. For years it was used for hauling freight and furs.

  Elizabeth pulled off Highway 2 to go into Perryvale. She drove the section of the Athabasca Landing Trail from Perryvale to Rochester and then to Tawatinaw, a Cree word for `river which divides the hills’. There wasn’t much to see in the three places but Elizabeth enjoyed the feeling of being on the historic trail. After Tawatinaw she pulled back onto Highway 2.

  She glanced at her watch. She was doing very well, time wise. She thought about phoning Christine but did she really want to warn her that she was coming? She decided not to. She wondered if Wayne had called her about Jared’s search for information surrounding his mother’s death.

  She photographed some of the village of Legal’s large collection of wall murals that showed the contribution of the Francophones to Western Canada then stopped in at Morinville to see St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church completed in the early twentieth century.

  “St. Albert is south of Morinville,” Elizabeth recorded. She drove straight to Father Lacombe’s chapel, which she was surprised to see was a small, log building.

  “Stroll behind the St Albert Parish Church and view the crypt, where the body of Father Lacombe lies in honour,” she recorded, as she walked. She the
n stood and looked at the crypt. The man inside there had spent his life helping to build the west. He’d given Alberta its first saw mill, its first bridge, and its first horse drawn grist mill. What a legacy.

  As she drove out of St. Albert and into Edmonton, Elizabeth recorded another tidbit to continue the food theme from the day before. “If it’s Saturday go to St. Anne Street, which is the site of what is called Western Canada’s Largest Outdoor Farmer’s Market. The market is held during July, August, and September. Here you can buy meats and vegetables for barbequing and dessert to take home with you.”

  * * * *

  Wayne’s Story

  “Are we still going to Charlie’s wedding tomorrow?” Wayne asked. It was Friday night, a few days after Graham had returned. They were at the table drinking their coffee after supper. Graham had gone into town to see his friends.

  “Yes, of course,” Christine said. “Why wouldn’t we?”

  “I’m just not sure what you want. Since you seem to hate it here I thought maybe you wouldn’t want to attend community events anymore.”

  Christine sighed with exasperation. “It’s not that I hate it here. I just want a different life.”

  “Well, supposing I sold the farm and we moved to Vancouver, what would I work at?” Wayne was not even considering the sale, but he hoped Christine would see that her idea was not the best for them.

  “Graham got a job when he moved to Calgary so you should be able to.”

  “At what, pumping gas like him?” He really couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “I’m a bit old for that and the pay wouldn’t be enough to support us.”

  “I’ll be making good money as soon as I get my accounting certificate.”

  “You’re not looking after me!” he yelled, pounding the table. “How can you even think that I would consider something like that? My wife supporting me.”

  Christine was silent for awhile. “You know about machinery, you could go to school and get a heavy duty mechanic’s license.”