Harmony House

by Ruth Hay

  “You two are exactly right. It’s time for a treat. I’m for some of those special chocolates and fresh bread, although not meant to be eaten together.”

  Hilary’s agreement brought them all to a relieved laughter and they paused to enjoy the scene in front of them before entering the doors to the warm inside of the market building, replete with many delicious aromas of food, flowers and coffee. They wandered about through the lines of stalls commenting on the produce before making their lunch selections and finding a table near the entrance. The only requirement for the rest of the day was to bring the good news to Honor, Jannice and Eve.

  “I’ll tell Jannice. I am expected at her house this afternoon.”

  Vilma then told Mavis and Hilary of the discovery of an entire wardrobe full of exquisite clothing in Jannice’s attic. In a day of good news this was the icing on the cake.

  “And you have no idea how it got there?”

  “I believe it’s a trousseau, meant for a wealthy lady. None of it is worn. Jannice was completely astonished at finding it. She estimates it’s much older than the house so we will have to go back in her family history to discover the story.”

  “That’s amazing! I can’t wait to hear what the experts say about it. You mentioned that Jannice has decided to dress up in the outfits?”

  “Yes! She’s the right size, unbelievably. I contacted a wedding photographer and he has agreed to come to the house to do the work. I don’t want to risk moving the clothing.”

  “It sounds like a perfect advert for the house sale; ‘A House with a History’.”

  Vilma had not thought this far but Mavis’s suggestion made good sense.

  Once all the food had been consumed and the shopping completed, Hilary decided to go by taxi to Honor’s apartment and tell her the good news. Mavis knew she wanted to have a private conversation with the younger woman about her finances and now that the house purchase was secured, it was a good time to find out if Honor was able to participate fully.

  Mavis would drive home to Camden Corners with the groceries and tell Eve all about their meeting with Jeffrey Thomas.

  Mavis hardly noticed the traffic she was so excited by the morning’s events. She was planning to fix a lovely lunch for Eve since she had missed the treats the others had shared. She parked the car in the driveway and carried the fancy cream cake in its box carefully up the front steps and into the house, after negotiating the lock and balancing the cake box in her other hand. She would collect the rest of the shopping once the cake was safely delivered to the kitchen counter.

  The house was silent. She felt a tiny disappointment not to see Eve in the kitchen. All the way home, she had been planning to reveal the good news to her over a cup of hot tea. Eve must be busy upstairs.

  She hung up her coat and hat and dropped her purse on the counter next to the cake box. With a happy smile she reached into the cutlery drawer and withdrew the spade-shaped cake slicer, placing it ready to use beside the cake box. She was about to call out for Eve when something caught her eye.

  There was a clump of snow in the hallway leading to the stairs. It was beginning to melt leaving a puddle. She knew she had not gone beyond the kitchen in her winter boots. There should not be snow in the house. She removed her boots and checked the soles. She had wiped them on the mat inside the door and they were damp but clean.

  Suddenly the silence became fraught with danger. Where was Eve? Why had she not come downstairs when she heard the front door opening?

  Her heart missed a beat. Howard Dobrinski!

  A chill that had nothing to do with the temperature, settled on her body. The possibility of an intruder….a known intruder, a violent man, brought a jolt of fear which focussed her mind immediately.

  Eve must be upstairs right now with that man who had beaten her badly before this, without the reasons he now thought he had.

  Her body said, ‘flee from danger’ but her mind took control. She turned and tiptoed into the kitchen. Beside the wall phone there was a cork bulletin board where messages were pinned. She lifted the phone in a shaking hand and searched for the card Hilary had brought from the police station with the name of the Sergeant who knew her from schooldays.

  There it was. Derek Price. She carefully dialed the number and prayed it would be answered at once. She swallowed to bring moisture back to her dry mouth as she waited, counting the rings. She had no idea what she would do if an answer phone took over the call. She needed help and quickly. Anything could be happening to Eve.

  A male voice on the line said, “Sergeant Price, how can I assist you?”

  She whispered the words that came first to her mind.

  “I need help right now at Hilary’s. An intruder. He’s...”

  A rough, large hand clamped around her neck cutting off her voice. The phone dropped from her hand and clanged against the wall. He picked it up and returned it without saying a word.

  Mavis Montgomery knew who her assailant was. She had never seen the man but she knew it was Howard Dobrinski.

  Through her terror she wished she had left the house immediately to get help but at the same time she could not have left Eve alone with this evil creature who had stalked his wife until he knew her location and knew the habits of the other house occupants. He had waited until she was the only one inside. And now he had two captives in his control. Hilary was not expected for an hour at least. The police call was interrupted before she could explain the situation.

  He tightened the grip around her throat and dragged her to the staircase. She tried to pull back from him but her foot slipped on the wet floor and she went down, hitting her forehead on a riser. He pulled her upright immediately but she was so dazed she could hardly function.

  “Well, now, aren’t you the feisty one! Which one are you? Let’s go up and see what Eve has to say about you.”

  The voice was deep and dark. She caught a whiff of stale beer as he dragged her bodily up the stairs bumping her legs on one after another of the stairs until they reached the top. The pain brought her back to full consciousness. She knew she had to try to think clearly before he did something to remove her options.

  The door to Mavis and Eve’s room stood open. Mavis twisted her head to see inside. Eve was tied to the bed frame by her wrists. There was a wad of cloth stuck inside her mouth but her eyes signalled fear and distress as soon as she saw Mavis.

  Dobrinski threw Mavis down on the second bed and turned to rummage in a drawer for something to tie her up with. She had gone limp when she saw Eve so she had only a few moments before he realized she was fully conscious.

  Her mind raced faster than ever before in her life. What was in a bedroom that could be used against this large, powerful man? What could she reach quickly?

  He was mouthing obscenities as he threw female underwear onto the floor in his search for less flimsy materials. She had only seconds to act decisively. She forced down panic and spared a second to glance over to Eve in the vain hope of reassuring her. Eve’s eyes were frantically looking upward, flicking up as far as her head could move. Was she having a seizure? Mavis’s eyes followed automatically and she saw what Eve meant. On the wall above each bed was a framed print of ferns. The pictures were large, in a heavy wooden frame and glassed.

  Without a clear idea of what she would do, she stood up on the bed, steadied herself against the wall and lifted off the picture.

  He had now found a sock drawer in the bottom of a dresser. He was on his knees pulling out short socks to find those long enough to tie around wrists and ankles.

  Mavis never knew how she had the strength but she found it somewhere.

  The crash of breaking glass was like a vehicle collision. He dropped sideways to the floor, covered in glass fragments and bits of the wooden frame. There was blood on the back of his head but she only remembered that much later.

  She ran to Eve, pulled out the wad of cloth, and began to untie her hands. Eve gasped for air and saliva again, but as soon as Mavis relea
sed one hand she tore at the other and ordered Mavis to get the door key from the china dish on top of the dresser. This required Mavis to walk around the prone figure of Howard Dobrinski but she did it, shuddering all the while, grabbed the key, and was pushed out the door into the hallway by a frantic Eve who locked the door at once and continued down the stairs with Mavis in tow.

  “We have to get away,” she cried. “He could wake up at any moment. He swore he was going to kill me. We have to get help. Now!”

  Eve flung open the front door and ran outside down the steps in bare feet with Mavis following. As the snow hit her stocking feet she came back to sanity and looked around for the nearest neighbour who might be at home. The women could not run for long in this condition, in the cold. She ran forward to stop Eve without a clear idea of what to do next when a harsh sound caused her to look up.

  Speeding along the street with sirens blaring was a police cruiser.

  Thank God! Mavis simply collapsed where she stood. All strength left her at the sight of rescue.

  Eve continued to run until she reached the vehicle which stopped just in time to avoid hitting her.

  Mavis vaguely remembered hearing voices. Eve’s high-pitched and frantic. Male voices questioning and reassuring. The next thing she was aware of was a policewoman’s warm hands helping her up and taking her into her own car still standing in the driveway.

  “You’re safe now. We’ll wait here until the officers can assess the situation inside the house. Your friend is with them. They will take care of her.”

  A blanket was produced from the rear seat and wrapped around Mavis. She clutched at it. Her teeth were chattering together as the shock hit. She and Eve could have been killed by that…………….. No word bad enough to describe her feelings presented itself.

  Unrelated thoughts crowded her mind. Where were her boots? Did she turn the kettle off? Who was going to pick the broken glass off the carpet upstairs? Why did her head hurt so much?

  She unwrapped one hand and touched her forehead. A lump was already forming.

  The policewoman saw the gesture and said, “We’ll get you checked out by the hospital, don’t worry. Your friend will come too. When you feel better you can give me the number of someone to call who can look after you both.”

  Hospital?

  Hilary?

  Lord above, Hilary must not return home and find this chaos.

  The calm, soothing voice of the policewoman continued.

  “Now, I want you to stay safe with me. Officers are bringing the man out of the house. An ambulance has been called and I will stay with you and your friend. Do you know where the keys are so we can lock up the house? No one else should enter until evidence has been gathered.”

  Mavis had to focus on the question but as soon as she tried to retrace her actions on first returning home, her mind sheered away from the moment of the attack and fixed instead on the cake slicer she had left on the countertop.

  “Purse. Kitchen.”

  “That’s fine. In a few minutes I will go inside and get your friend and the keys, then we’ll all go to the hospital together. Is it all right if I look for your coats and your boots?”

  Nodding was not a good idea. Mavis tried to smile but feared a grimace was all she managed. She clung onto the woman’s arm not wanting to be left alone. Eventually the need to see how Eve was surviving overcame her reluctance and she murmured something about being ‘fine now’. Fine was a condition she could not even visualize at this moment. It was like a far off mountaintop.

  The policewoman patted her shoulder and went off up the front steps and the reality of the situation began to get through the cold, immobile part of Mavis Montgomery’s brain.

  Chapter 19

  Hilary and Honor had a good chat about future plans. Honor was honest about her situation and she actually produced a printed spreadsheet outlining how her finances would come together in the next few weeks. Hilary was impressed. She was also impressed by the office area in the small apartment which Honor showed her. The second bedroom was devoted to her business and the entire room was set up for the purpose and arranged in such a way that Hilary could see how efficient and organized this young woman was. From the computers, there were two, to the shelves on which colour-coded files stood at the ready, to the high-tech printer/ fax/ copier, everything spoke of Honor Pace’s abilities in the field of internet business skills. The bright red hair was not, it seemed, indicative of her reliability.

  As Hilary had just come from the lawyer’s office and now knew the kind of complications that lay ahead for the co-housing project, she felt relieved to know they would have a competent internet person installed in Harmony House.

  “Oh, Honor, thanks again for the suggestion about the elevator company. It looks like we will go ahead with them. That reminds me to ask about your impressions of the lower level of Harmony House. I am thinking it would be the perfect location for you.”

  “I hardly dare ask for that prime spot, Hilary. It is more than I need. Could I request it temporarily, until I am fully mobile again? Access to that amazing patio and garden must be available for all our house members to enjoy in the better weather.”

  “That sounds reasonable, but I feel the space you need for your business fits the area well as long as you are content with being interrupted every time someone uses the laundry or sits outside chatting over a cup of coffee.”

  “Truthfully, I would be glad of the interruptions. I am tired of living alone like this. My business doesn’t occupy my entire day and one of my reasons for seeking out your group is my desire for the company of like-minded women.”

  Hilary chuckled. “I think we can supply the company you want. We’ll consider the lower area yours for now and the next step to make it easily available for the rest of us will be worked out later.”

  They were celebrating this mutually-beneficial decision over tea and cookies when Hilary’s phone began to chime its carillion.

  “Excuse me for one moment, Honor.”

  She removed the phone from its designated pocket in her purse and answered in a cheery voice without looking to see where the call was coming from.

  “Hello.”

  “Hilary Montgomery?”

  “Yes. Who’s calling this number?”

  “I am a police officer calling on behalf of Mavis Montgomery and Eve Dobrinski.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “Your friends are fine now. They are at London Health Sciences’ Emergency where they have been checked out by doctors and declared ready to be released.”

  “Was there an accident?”

  “There was a home invasion and I need to ask if you could take your friends to a hotel or another house for a night. Your house is the scene of a crime and access needs to be restricted for twenty-four hours.”

  Hilary stopped and took a deep breath. Honor saw her face blanch and knew there was trouble.

  “I will find somewhere. Are you sure Mavis and Eve are well? Can I come now? Will you fill me in on the details?”

  “Yes, to everything you ask. An officer will be with your friends and he will tell you what occurred. When can you be here?”

  “Soon. I am not far away. Please tell them I am coming.”

  “Of course.”

  The call ended. Honor waited in suspense. Hilary gathered her courage.

  “There’s been some kind of break-in at my home. Mavis and Eve are in hospital but they have recovered. I don’t know for sure but my instinct tells me it has something to do with Eve’s Howard Dobrinski.

  I need to find a place for us for tonight until the police are finished at the house.”

  Honor quickly grasped the situation. “Would Vilma be able to take you three for the night? It would be better if you were with a friend rather than in an impersonal hotel. I will track Vilma down for you and alert her.”

  Hilary was already pulling on her coat.

  “Excellent idea! You know my number. Let me know if Vilma can
do it.”

  Before Hilary reached her car, Honor had found Vilma and filled her in with the little she knew.

  “I’m leaving Jannice’s now. Tell Hilary to bring them to me. I’ll get everything ready for them.

  Thanks Honor. I’ll call you once they are settled.”

  * * *

  Hilary Dempster broke her own rules by speeding to the hospital. If anyone had dared to stop her she was ready with her excuse. This was an emergency.

  She parked in the nearest spot to the entrance without bothering to check if it was permitted. Then she ran at full tilt for the double doors which separated as soon as she approached. Into her mind came Mavis’s account of waiting in this same place when Eve was there. This time, Hilary decided she was not going to wait. She needed to see Mavis and Eve at once.

  Calming herself, but fully aware she was using her most authoritative voice and manner, she spoke urgently to the person behind the glass window and explained that she had been instructed by the police to come and fetch her friends, Mavis Montgomery and Eve Dobrinski.

  Apparently, she was expected. A young doctor was summoned and he took her to a waiting room where the two women sat silently together with their arms linked. She saw a large bruise on Mavis’s forehead and asked about it.

  “The doctor checked my reactions. He said I have a slight concussion but it will be fine if I take it easy for a few days.”

  “Oh, Mavis!”

  “She was so brave, Hilary. She saved my life. I don’t know what I would have done…….”

  “Say no more now, let’s get out of here. I need to talk to the officer then we’ll go to Vilma’s for the night.”

  The officer was at a table conferring with the doctor on duty. Hilary identified herself and he drew her aside so no one could hear their conversation.

  “It’s safe to say Mr. Dobrinski is under remand for ignoring a harassment order and assaulting his wife and her friend. Sergeant Price asked me to tell you there is no possibility of bail. He will be held until the judge can appoint a solicitor. We have two witnesses and a prior complaint, as well as evidence now being gathered. We will contact you some time tomorrow when we are ready to release the house back to you.”