New Cardiff

by Charles Webb

  Colin stopped when they reached the sidewalk, turning to look one way then the other. ‘Which is closer,’ he said, ‘your apartment or my motel?’

  ‘You can put me down now, Colin.’

  ‘I want to carry you.’

  ‘But I’m better.’

  He started down the sidewalk with her. ‘I’m experiencing an atavistic urge to carry you.’

  ‘Not all the way to the motel.’

  ‘My manhood’s crying out to meet its supreme challenge. I’m sorry if it seems primitive.’

  She was quiet as he carried her down the sidewalk and past a bank.

  ‘Really, Colin.’

  ‘I can’t help it.’

  Ahead of them Harold Peterson had stepped out of his art supply store and stood on the sidewalk, watching them approach.

  ‘I drew him two days ago.’

  ‘Mr Peterson?’

  ‘I felt so guilty about filing the complaint against him I came over and drew him from across the street. I was going to show him the drawing to try and make things up, but I don’t think it would have.’

  ‘Hello,’ Mandy said as they reached him.

  He continued staring at them but without speaking.

  ‘Say hi to Judy when you see her,’ Mandy said, looking at him around Colin’s arm as they continued on.

  ‘He glowered,’ Colin said. ‘He knows what I did.’

  ‘That’s how he always looks.’

  Colin carried her to the corner, stopped to wait for the light to change, then stepped into the street and started across.

  ‘Well Colin?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘When you were Cheswick, you were talking about the retired bus conductors. Was that true?’

  ‘There are six of them in the home.’

  ‘Well how did the people who ran the place mistreat them.’

  ‘Didn’t feed them,’ Colin said. ‘Generally neglected them.’

  ‘That was on the Internet?’

  ‘A social services number was on the website,’ he said, stepping up on to the opposite kerb. ‘Somebody there told me a couple named Croft was supposedly taking care of them, only they used their food allowance to have drug parties with their friends while the residents were sitting hungry in their rooms. I guess it was a big scandal in the town when it came out.’

  ‘What town was it,’ she said.

  ‘Brighton.’

  She shook her head.

  ‘You haven’t heard of it.’

  ‘What’s it like.’

  ‘Beautiful. I’ve always wished I could live there myself.’

  They walked quietly for a few moments.

  ‘Aren’t I getting heavy?’

  ‘We’re building a memory.’

  They went past a drug store.

  ‘Well who’s running the place now.’

  ‘They have a temporary person in there for the moment,’ he said, ‘but if they don’t find someone permanent, they’ll have to close it down.’

  ‘I’m sure they won’t just put them out on the street.’

  ‘They’ll find new places for them,’ Colin said. ‘But that’s their home. They’ve all lived there together for years.’

  Mandy looked down at the sidewalk in front of them. ‘But what would I do there. Just basically the same things I do at Shining Shores?’

  ‘You’d run it.’

  ‘I’d what?’

  ‘Run it.’

  She looked at him without speaking as they passed a beauty parlour.

  ‘Manage it,’ he said.

  ‘I couldn’t do that.’

  ‘You couldn’t manage it?’

  ‘Be in charge of this place?’

  ‘That’s the whole point,’ Colin said.

  ‘How could I do that.’

  ‘You’ll have staff to help you. I’ll help.’

  ‘Staff.’

  ‘Employees.’

  ‘How could I have staff,’ she said.

  ‘How?’

  ‘Under me?’

  ‘I guess you could put it that way.’

  ‘But how will they know what to do.’

  ‘Obviously you’ll tell them,’ he said, ‘unless you want them wandering aimlessly about.’

  A man and woman stepped off the sidewalk for a moment so he could carry her past.

  ‘Will the staff be English people?’

  ‘More than likely.’

  ‘Colin, I couldn’t order English people around.’

  ‘What difference does that make.’

  She shrugged. ‘I just couldn’t.’

  ‘Practise on me.’

  Mandy kept her eyes on the sidewalk in front of them as they walked. ‘What if I tell them something to do and they don’t do it. What happens then.’

  ‘You fire them.’

  She looked up at him. ‘Colin, I could never fire someone.’

  ‘I suppose you’d give them a payrise.’

  ‘Really,’ she said. ‘How could I ever do that.’

  ‘You’d start by calling them into your office.’

  ‘My office?’

  He carried her through another intersection. ‘Reach down to my pocket, my side pocket, for a letter.’

  Mandy put her hand into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. ‘This?’

  ‘Open it.’

  ‘What is it,’ she said, shaking it to try to open it.

  ‘A fax,’ he said. ‘It came to the motel. I gave them that fax number.’

  She reached around his neck to open it all the way with her other hand.

  ‘It’s to you,’ Colin said.

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Read it out loud.’

  She held the letter in front of her face as he carried her. ‘It’s in handwriting.’

  ‘It’s what?’

  ‘I thought faxes were in typing.’

  ‘Mandy, just read it.’

  ‘Can’t you tell me who it’s from?’

  ‘One of the residents.’

  She waited a moment, then cleared her throat. ‘“Dear Miss Martin.”’ She looked away from the page. ‘Miss Martin.’

  ‘That’s your name.’

  ‘Are they going to call me Miss Martin when I get over there?’

  ‘It’s your name. Why shouldn’t they.’

  She shrugged and looked back at the letter. ‘“Dear Miss Martin, Mr Alford at social services has informed us of the interest you’ve expressed in our plight.”’ Again she paused, looking at the sentence she had just read.

  ‘Mandy, just read it through without stopping.’

  ‘I didn’t express interest in their plight.’

  ‘We can discuss that afterwards.’

  She nodded. ‘“Just when all seemed lost”,’ she read, ‘“to hear that our desperate situation had come to your attention has brought renewed hope to us here, and it is not an exaggeration to say that our senior member, Mary McMullen, has begun eating properly again after all of us feared her despondency would surely overwhelm her.”’ Mandy turned her head to say something to him.

  ‘Just finish it, Mandy.’

  She looked at the letter again. ‘“The acts of generosity and kindness that have marked your distinguished career in America …”’ She frowned.

  ‘Go on.’

  ‘Who wrote this letter anyway,’ she said, looking at the bottom. ‘Hugh Church.’

  ‘Distinguished career,’ Colin said. ‘Go on.’

  ‘What is that.’

  ‘Your distinguished career?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Colin shrugged.

  ‘Did you tell them something like that?’

  ‘Mandy, just get to the end. You’re heavier when you’re not reading.’

  She looked back at the letter. ‘“Mr Penrose-Smith recalls reading about one of your charitable crusades through Texas last year, but unfortunately didn’t save the newspaper.” Colin, did you tell them I did charitable work in Texas?’

  ‘That was in
the newspaper, Mandy. You’re not even listening to yourself.’

  ‘But how could it be in the newspaper if I didn’t do it.’

  ‘It must have been a misprint.’

  ‘“In fact”,’ Mandy read, ‘“when Mrs McMullen got better, she said she thought you must be an American angel, flying over here on golden wings to rescue us.”’ Mandy began shaking her head. ‘Oh no.’

  ‘Oh no what.’

  ‘This is terrible.’

  ‘Why.’

  ‘Because they have completely the wrong impression of me.’

  ‘Mandy, thanks to you the woman started eating again.’

  ‘But their hopes are getting up too high. What if I get over there and she stops.’

  ‘She won’t.’

  ‘They think I’m some kind of great person.’

  ‘The Crofts locked them in their rooms and wouldn’t turn on the heat in winter. How hard an act is that to follow.’

  They were walking past a car dealership, with many small, coloured flags strung across the used cars parked on the lot in front of the showroom.

  ‘Colin, do you really think I could do something like this?’

  ‘They’re all waiting for you over there, Mandy. Waiting and watching the skies.’

  Joanie was in the office looking over the guest register when she happened to glance up and see Colin carrying Mandy along the other side of the highway. She watched them a moment, then picked up the receiver of the phone, quickly pushing a button on the keypad. ‘Fisher?’

  By the time she’d hung up Fisher was in the doorway that led from their apartment. He turned his head in the direction his wife was looking, then stood watching Colin carry Mandy past the car park of the Deep Cup Diner. ‘What in hell’s that about.’

  ‘Go help, Fisher. He’s struggling.’

  Fisher hurried out the door of the office, waving his arms over his head to them as he approached the highway. Several cars and a large truck passed, and he walked quickly across to Colin and Mandy.

  Joanie watched as he spoke to them. At one point he held out his arms to take Mandy, but Colin turned and kept hold of her. Fisher said a few more words to them, then stepped forward into the highway, holding up his hand to stop a car so Colin could carry her across. Fisher walked beside them through the motel car park, reaching into Colin’s pocket as they approached room number twelve to take out the key card and open the door for them. Mandy took the card back from him as Colin carried her inside, then the door was closed and Fisher came back to the office.

  ‘Well?’ Joanie said, as he came in.

  ‘They’re engaged.’

  She looked over at Colin’s room, then back at Fisher. ‘Are you serious?’

  ‘They just did it,’ he said, walking past her.

  ‘Well why was he carrying her down the highway.’

  ‘It’s a custom where Colin comes from.’

  ‘To carry her along the side of a highway?’

  ‘Roadway. Highway. Whatever.’

  She looked back at him without responding.

  ‘It’s from an ancient Druid ritual, Joanie. Apparently they carried their intended down a long path as a symbolic way of embarking on the path of life ahead of them.’

  ‘Where’d you get this.’

  ‘Colin.’

  ’He told you that?’

  Fisher straightened some brochures in the display case. ‘He explained it as we were walking along.’

  ‘He was putting you on.’

  ‘No he wasn’t.’

  ‘A Druid ritual? Fisher, give me a break.’

  ‘That’s why he didn’t want any help. If he successfully carries her all the way to their destination, without setting her down, it means they’ll have a long and happy future together.’

  ‘And you bought all this of course.’

  ‘Nothing to buy, Joanie.’

  She walked back around the counter. ‘You’re hopeless.’

  Fisher watched her turn to a new page of the register. ‘You know something, Joanie.’

  ‘Totally hopeless.’

  ‘No,’ he said, ‘but I am deeply saddened that your cynicism prevents you from appreciating and sharing in the joy of a colourful custom from a foreign land.’ He walked to the door of their apartment, but then stopped, resting his hand on the knob and looking down at the floor.

  ‘Are you stuck?’ she said finally.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Are you stuck or something?’

  ‘I’m sad, Joanie. I told you that.’

  ‘That I’m so cynical.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well I just remembered another old Druid custom,’ she said.

  ‘What’s that.’

  ‘What they used to do to the people in their group who weren’t particularly bright.’

  They stood quietly looking at each other.

  ‘And it wasn’t pretty, Fisher.’

  After a few moments he reached up to adjust a plaque on the wall slightly, then went back into their apartment.

  Next time Joanie glanced up, Mandy was at the window of room twelve. When she saw Joanie looking at her she smiled and held up her hand, pointing at the new ring on her finger. Joanie silently formed three words with her lips. They laughed, then Mandy reached over to pull the curtain across the window as Joanie’s attention returned to the guest register.

  Part III

  18

  Mary McMullen loved the video from America, and had watched it at least once a day since it had come. Even on Excursion Day, after lunch, when everyone else was getting ready for the trip to Brighton Pier, she slipped into the lounge to see it again.

  Sitting in the worn green armchair, her hand resting on the remote control in her lap, she read the words VT PROMO—QUEEN V. on the television screen, then watched as the familiar image of Queen Vera appeared, seated beside a table, wearing her short-sleeved, abbreviated red-and-white robe, the small gold crown resting on her head. Mary studied Vera as the camera moved slowly in closer to the familiar image, then as Vera turned and said, ‘Hello. I’m Queen Vera, and I reign in the beautiful little village of New Cardiff, Vermont, a place where everyone feels welcome, a magical place where yesterday and tomorrow meet.’

  Mary glanced quickly at the doorway of the lounge.

  ‘But I’m not here to tell you about the many wonderful things you’ll see when you visit me in New Cardiff Queen Vera said, as Mary looked back at the television, ‘which I hope will be very soon. No, today I want to tell you about something you won’t see when you come here. Something way deep down in the ground underneath my peaceful village.’

  ‘A spring,’ Mary said.

  ‘A spring,’ Queen Vera said, as the camera pulled back from her. ‘But not just any spring. A very special spring. One that nobody even knew was down there till just last year.’

  ‘Mrs McMullen.’

  Mary turned to see Mandy in the doorway of the lounge.

  ‘The others are waiting out in the van.’

  ‘It’s almost over.’

  Mandy looked over at the television as Queen Vera raised a glass of water to her lips and drank. A contented smile spread across her face. ‘The first time I tasted this delicious spring water I wasn’t sure it was water at all. I thought it must be some delicious elixir from a mystical kingdom far beneath the surface of the earth.’

  ‘Mrs McMullen,’ Mandy said.

  ‘It’s almost over, Mrs Ware.’

  ‘Now I’m not going make any irresponsible claims for this amazing water,’ Queen Vera said, ‘and I’m not promising anything like this will happen to you, but after a very good friend of mine had been drinking two or three glasses of it a day for a month—oh, and I should mention that she was a life-long smoker—she woke up one morning and all her nicotine cravings were gone. And guess what—she hasn’t had the desire for a single cigarette since then.’

  ‘I think I might know who her good friend is,’ Mandy said, walking across the room.
/>   ‘Oh please, Mrs Ware.’

  ‘In a minute I’m going to ask my geologist to come out and explain the scientific reasons for the sparkling and health-giving qualities of this unique beverage.’

  Mandy reached toward the television.

  ‘Oh Mrs Ware.’

  ‘It’s not almost over, Mrs McMullen, she hasn’t even sung the water song yet.’

  ‘But first I want to show you one of the life-size Queen Vera cutouts to be looking for in your supermarket next week.’

  Mandy clicked it off. ‘You can watch the rest when we get back.’ She went over to Mary, set the remote control on the table, and took her hands.

  ‘Mrs Ware?’ she said, as Mandy helped her up from the chair. ‘Is Queen Vera coming to see us next month?’

  They walked slowly across the room together. ‘She and her friend Doug will be here on the fifteenth, and everybody can talk to her and get acquainted.’

  ‘When I meet her I’m going to tell her what lovely eyes she has.’

  Mandy stepped aside so she could go first.

  ‘Do you know Queen Vera?’ Mary said, as she went through the doorway and into the hall.

  ‘I met her once.’ Mandy pointed toward the front. ‘Mr Ware has the van out this way.’

  ‘And didn’t you tell me she lives in a big hotel? I’m trying to remember the name of that.’

  ‘The New Cardiff Grand.’

  ‘That’s right. And is it very beautiful?’

  ‘It’s very nice.’

  ‘And does she go down into the village sometimes and talk with the people?’

  They continued down the hallway. ‘Do you need to go to the bathroom before we leave?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  They went slowly past the living room. ‘Just one more question.’

  ‘I’m happy to answer your questions, Mrs McMullen, but we shouldn’t make the others wait.’

  ‘I think you told me Queen Vera’s coming over here to visit Wales.’

  ‘She’s going to the Cardiff in Wales to try and get tourists to travel back and forth between the two places,’ Mandy said, walking ahead to open the front door for her, ‘that’s right.’

  ‘And will she bring me some water?’

  ‘Mr Ware called her specially to be sure she brings you a bottle.’

  In the van, parked just by the door, Colin was sitting behind the steering wheel, with the other residents on the seats behind him. ‘We’re itching to go,’ he said, watching as the two of them came out, then as Mandy tested the front door of the house to be sure it was locked and walked with Mary across the driveway and helped her up on to the seat next to Colin.