Crucible Crisis

by Amberley Faith

  fire dept on the way

  u have 1 hr

  She smiled as she pressed delete. The tincture she had put in Ellie's tea cup had worked flawlessly, as well as the text message leading Ellie to the studio. Everything was going according to plan.

  The Shadow threw the phone out of the window and tossed it under the car. Her back tire flattened it with a satisfying crunch. Modern technology was so useful sometimes – cheap, too. She laughed to herself wondering what her ancestors would think about how she travelled between the two worlds of modern technology and ancient casting. They probably wouldn't like it, but she was used to disapproval and, in fact, relished it. The more people disapproved, the more she enjoyed it.

  The scar on her wrist started prickling, urging her to hurry. She floored it and finally reached the Pelletier homestead. She didn't bother sneaking around; she dashed right up to the front door. She knew everyone would be focused on the fire, something the town had not seen in years and feared more than anything. In fact, she probably had more than an hour before anyone would come back to the Pelletier's home. Nonetheless, she set her timer for sixty minutes.

  As she opened the unlocked door, she felt disgusted with Ellie for making it so easy. Didn't Ellie realize what a prize she had? How could anyone be so stupid as to leave the heirloom unprotected and accessible?

  The Shadow took the stairs two at a time. She felt the tug of her scar. It was pulsing with energy, and it burned with every pulse. Her first search was of Ellie's closet. She ransacked the large walk-in space, throwing items to the floor in her desperation to find the heirloom.

  Nothing. She looked at her watch. She had forty-five minutes left. Plenty of time. She proceeded to the master bathroom. Was Ellie the type to read in the tub? There was, in fact, a small stack of books on a shelf above the claw-foot tub, but no heirloom. Next, she opened the door to the water closet but closed it again without looking inside. Ellie was too uptight to read on the toilet. She moved on to the next area.

  The Shadow knelt and looked under the bed. It was empty except for a few dust bunnies that escaped Ellie's obsessive vacuuming. She dug through the drawers of Ellie's nightstand. Candles, lingerie, and pressed rose petals. The Shadow's repulsion was only topped by her snort of disbelief that Ellie could be so stereotypically romantic. Not much imagination there at all.

  She lifted the mattress and peered underneath. A sachet of lavender blooms and five, crisp hundred-dollar bills. She pocketed the cash and continued looking. Thirty minutes remained.

  Where would Ellie be most likely to read? Her office! She pushed through the door and started pillaging the desk. Papers fluttered to the ground as she slung them aside in her raid.

  After all the drawers were emptied with nothing valuable found, she considered the laundry room. She pushed herself to her feet, but when she reached the door, her scar gave an intense burst of anger.

  She turned back to the desk, and the pain subsided.

  A signal. She wiggled her way underneath the desk.

  Shoved at the very back was a shoe box. It was just the right size. The Shadow smirked. Maybe Ellie did have the foresight to hide the book.

  The Shadow lifted the lid and cursed when she found it empty, apart from an old oilcloth and some twine. This had to be where Ellie was storing it. Where would she have taken it? The Shadow's stomach clenched as she thought of the studio. What if…

  She checked her watch - thirty minutes remained. As she started to leave, she felt another surge from the scar. What was it this time? She was furious, both at Ellie and at her own failure to find the heirloom. She stepped over the mess she'd made and received another powerful jolt.

  That was it, the evidence of her break in. The scar wanted her to clean up the mess she'd left behind. The Shadow guessed that she had just enough time to straighten up.

  She put the drawers back and threw papers into them. She figured order didn't matter – just the semblance of order. If Ellie realized her papers were askew, she might think the girls had done it. At any rate, The Shadow didn't have time to overthink it. She finished rearranging the desk. If the Pelletiers didn't realize someone had been in their home, then they wouldn't call the police, and The Shadow would have more time to plan her next move without suspicion.

  She bolted back upstairs and started cramming clothes in drawers. She straightened up the closet and returned to the bedroom. Drat! This meant she'd have to replace the money. She hated to return the cash underneath the mattress. Where else would she find such an easy stash?

  A thought occurred to her. If she were going to replace the cash, then she'd leave behind another little gift as well. Who knew? Ellie might find it, or Julien might. Either way would work in her favor. She fingered the small, plastic bag filled with dried Kava leaves.

  She glanced at her watch. Five minutes left. She shoved the money and the herbs in place and sprinted to her car. She felt relieved when she found the engine still running and was momentarily grateful that the old eyesore hadn't shut off. Every second counted for her get-away.

  She spun out of the gravel driveway onto the dirt road. She pulled over onto the narrow shoulder of the road and into a gap in the trees. She dragged over a dried-up bramble bush to hide her rattletrap ride. She scattered forest debris to disguise any impressions her tires made on the forest floor.

  She stepped back to survey her work. It would take an expert to find the teeny, overgrown path now. The surrounding forest was more of a thicket, so overgrown that a path would have to be cut with a machete for anyone to explore it.

  She walked the remainder of the path, originally an animal trail before she'd widened the entrance, making her way to her cabin. When she reached a wall of briars, she bent over to uncover the end of a drainpipe. The section of pipe allowed just enough room to crawl through the thick, thorny vines unscathed. The briars had taken over the hedge that encircled her hidden copse.

  Once through the opening, she stuffed a ready-made bramble into place, blocking the drainpipe. Her scar burned with the same fury as her mind, and The Shadow stomped into her one-room cabin.

  She picked up the ceramic vase she'd crafted and smashed it as hard as she could against the wall. The sound of shattering pottery was satisfying. She threw a plate next, and then a bowl. By the time her anger was sated, The Shadow had destroyed every piece of pottery she'd ever made.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  PREVENTING PREGNANCY

  Ellie woke up and blinked. Where was she? She wanted to look around but felt something strange coming out of her nose. She tried to lift a hand to her face, but pain shot from her left hand all the way up to her shoulder and collar bone. Her entire left arm was too heavy to move more than an inch. The jolt of pain that hit her when she tried to move the arm cleared the last vestiges of sleep, bringing her back to awareness.

  She remembered being at the studio. There was a fire. The girls! Where were they? Were they safe?

  "Méline! Bibianne!" She attempted to yell, but her voice came out as nothing more than a choked, scratchy whisper. A warm hand stroked her hair out of her face, and soft lips planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  "It's okay, ma vie. The girls are safe. They are perfectly fine," Julien said.

  "But…where are they? I couldn't find them. I - I'm not sure what happened to me." She had begun shifting her weight, trying to sit up but unable to. She fell back against her pillow. The effort left her breathless, wheezing.

  As she tried to catch her breath and collect her thoughts, she recognized her surroundings. She was in the hospital. Again. There were tubes coming out of her nose, an IV in her left wrist, and bandages around her left ankle and neck. The heaviness she had felt earlier came from the cast covering her left arm which was also in a sling.

  "Nothing happened to the girls." Julien tried to soothe her. "Calm down and rest. You are the one who has narrowly escaped death, my love."

  "Escaped death? Is that why I feel so awful?" The words choked her raw thro
at, and she coughed. "Because it feels more like I escaped a circus elephant who mistook my chest for his stool…Hagh!" She gasped mid-sentence which led to another fit of coughing. The circus…what was that about being an acrobat? Dedé and the ring of fire?

  She turned her head to him and croaked, "I want to know exactly what happened to me," she said very slowly. "But first, I want to know where the girls are. I need to know that they are okay." She finished with a slight shudder.

  "Okay, okay, mon cœur. I see that you will not be dissuaded. I will explain as much as I can. As for the girls," he said with a smile and walked to the door. "You can see for yourself that they are perfectly fine. Méline, Bibianne, venez ici."

  The girls came rushing into the room with frightened looks on their little faces. "Oh maman! We wanted to see you, but the doctor made us wait until you woke up! I am so glad you are awake." Méline leaned over and hugged her mother.

  Bibianne was too short to reach, so Julien lifted her up to give her mom a squeeze. Bibianne crawled out of his arms and into bed with her mother, snuggling up along Ellie's right side. Ellie stifled a sob.

  "Oh, girls! Thank God you are safe!" Ellie blinked back tears. "Come, Méline." Ellie reached out to hold Méline's hand, needing to touch both girls to believe that they were unharmed.

  "Poor maman, does it hurt very much?" Bibianne asked with wide eyes taking in the cast, tubes, and sling.

  "Only when you're not here," Ellie responded. "The doctors are taking good care of me. Don't fret, my pet." She managed to get it out without coughing.

  Bibianne grinned. Julien lifted her up from Ellie's bed and placed her on the floor. "Let's give maman her rest, girls. Go sit with Madame Hughes. I will be there in a moment."

  "Madame Hughes? You mean Zyla is here?" Ellie asked amidst another bout of coughing.

  "Oui, ma vie. She has been kind enough to keep the girls for me so that I could stay with you." Julien responded.

  "How long have I been here? I had the craziest …they were more like dreams, but I was awake. I'm confused. Start at the beginning." Ellie demanded as sternly as she could with her raspy voice. She stopped to cough.

  "Okay," responded Julien. "I will tell you what I know. There are some gaps that you must fill in, though." He paused wrinkling his brow, remembering.

  "The girls and I were at home preparing dinner. We received a phone call saying that there was a fire at my studio. Before I could even ask if 911 had been notified, the caller hung up. I grabbed the girls and we raced over to the studio. By the time we got there, the fire truck was parked out front, getting ready to spray down the building. An ambulance was also there. Imagine my horror when I saw them loading you inside it!

  "I rushed over to talk to the EMTs, and they told me to follow them to the emergency room. Zyla happened to be walking her dog across the street as we were coming in. I waved her over and asked her to watch the girls. She has been quite concerned for you, you know. She said you cancelled your plans with her because of a text message telling you to go to the studio."

  Ellie interrupted, "But that text message – who sent it? Someone texted me that Tai had to leave the girls at the studio – or something like that. I don't even remember who it was from. I just went over get the girls and found the studio ablaze."

  At that moment, the door to her room opened, and a physician entered. Dr. Patel's eyebrows furrowed as he studied the screen of his iPad. His expression faded into a tired smile as he nodded to Julien.

  "Well, well, well." Dr. Patel addressed Ellie. "Mrs. Pelletier, you're either having a run of bad luck, or you're beginning to like it here. Isn't this the third time I've seen you in as many months?"

  "Yes, but I assure you that I do not like it here." Ellie croaked.

  "Isn't the old saying that bad luck comes in threes?" he asked. "Perhaps now your luck will change," he said with a grin.

  "I hope so. I'm not sure my body or my wallet can handle any more accidents." Ellie rasped. "What is wrong with my body anyway? Everything hurts." She started a bout of coughing that hurt more than she ever thought possible.

  "Well," he crossed his arms hugging the tablet to his chest. "There is quite a list." He took a breath. "You have some respiratory injuries due to smoke inhalation. We didn't have to intubate you, but that doesn't mean it's not serious. You will have bronchospasms and hoarseness for a few days until the lungs begin to heal. I am prescribing breathing treatments. Again.

  "You also sustained injuries to your left side – your left clavicle is broken, and three more ribs are fractured due to the impact of a large piece of furniture, a dresser I am told, that fell on your left side. You are lucky it didn't land directly on your chest; it could have crushed your sternum and resulted in serious internal injuries, especially to your heart and lungs.

  As it stands, your injuries will be painful and may require a lengthier recovery than you would like, but they are not life-threatening.

  "Additionally, you have second degree burns on your neck and ankles – the only parts of you exposed to the flames. You may not think so now, but between the furniture that fell on you and the velvet cloth draped over you, you were remarkably well-protected from the flames. The injuries from the dresser will heal much less painfully than burns would have.

  Maybe your luck isn't as bad as we first thought." He gave a brief nod to Julien.

  Ellie groaned. She had barely recovered from the broken ribs on her other side, so she had an inkling as to what she was facing. How would she manage to teach and care for herself with only one arm? Thank God, she thought, it was the left arm. She would have been incapacitated again if it had been her right one.

  What would happen to her family if she were out of work for several weeks? How many sick days did she have left? They were sobering thoughts.

  Dr. Patel interrupted her worrying. He approached Ellie's bedside and became rather serious. "I need to ask you some questions, Mrs. Pelletier. It may take a few moments. I wonder if your husband would step outside and grab a coffee?" He left the question hanging between them.

  "I can answer questions in front of Julien," Ellie rasped. "We don't keep secrets from --." She broke off in another cough.

  "Well," he walked to the foot of her bed so that he could look at both of them. "All your injuries can be explained by the fire and the furniture that fell on you. What concerns me, however, is the bloodwork I was just reviewing."

  He turned his attention back to his iPad. "The lab report says here that trace amounts of piper methysticum and menthe pulegium were found in your blood. These are unregulated but highly dangerous chemicals, Mrs. Pelletier, and even though there were only small amounts in your body, the effects could be devastating if you continue ingesting them." He paused and looked at Ellie. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me?"

  Ellie was shocked. She furrowed her eyebrows and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you sure that's my lab report?" She looked at Julien. He shrugged his shoulders in bewilderment.

  Dr. Patel gave Ellie a stern look and said matter-of-factly, "As you may already know, Kava, or piper methysticum, became popular for its antidepressant qualities." He looked at Julien. "What might surprise you, though, is that its use has led to liver transplants and death in as little as one to three months. Heavy use has also caused nerve damage and skin changes." He turned back to Ellie. "And as for the menthe pulegium, commonly known as Pennyroyal mint, it has been traditionally used to force abortions and can cause irreversible damage to the liver and kidneys. Now, are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me?"

  He paused, reaching over and giving her arm a gentle squeeze. "We can treat any unwanted pregnancies and ensuing depression with modern medicine, Mrs. Pelletier," he said, "rather than having you resort to poisoning yourself to avoid telling your husband. I'll give you two time alone, and when I return, we can have another type of discussion." He gently closed the door behind him as he exited the room.

  Ellie sputtered and cough
ed. "What? Is this a sick joke?" She looked at Julien. He was staring at her, through her, with widened eyes and a dazed expression.

  "Julien, you know this is nonsense, right? I'm not pregnant. I'd never be able to keep such a happy secret to myself, and I would never terminate a pregnancy!" He remained silent.

  "Secondly," Ellie's determination helped her continue without coughing, "I have never even heard of those herbs he mentioned! You've seen my garden; I have lavender, mint, basil – just your ordinary garden variety." She broke off in a cough and waited for him to respond.

  "You have to believe me, Julien. I mean, we're in the hospital. I'll take a pregnancy test."

  He finally spoke, looking at her quizzically, "I think the doctor believes you have already ended the pregnancy."

  She asked in a small voice, "But what do you believe, Julien? Do you really think I could do something like this and hide it from you?"

  He shook his head a little as if to clear his thoughts and said, "Of course not, my love. I just wonder…"

  "Wonder what?" Ellie asked a little defensively.

  "About your herb garden," he replied. "You grow mint, right? What if it is the wrong variety of mint? What if you have been growing this Pennyroyal mint he spoke of - by mistake? That would explain how it got into your bloodstream."

  "Julien," she coughed out his name. "If that were true, then everyone who bought from the local nursery would be showing symptoms, too. I got all my herbs from them. There's no way they are selling dangerous--" A hacking cough interrupted her this time.

  Julien got her a cup of cool water and helped her take a few sips. "I am sorry, ma vie. Obviously, it is not the time to have this conversation. You need to rest. Talking is making your cough worse, I think. Let me get the girls home. I'll come back after I get them settled with a sitter." He started towards the door. "We'll see how long the doctor thinks you'll need to stay. Is there anything you'd like me to bring you from home?"

  When she caught her breath, Ellie replied, "Yes, actually. I'd like to read. Would you bring me my book bag? It might be at school, though. I can't remember if I threw it in the car or not when I headed to the studio. It's all kind of a blur."