Walking the Labyrinth

by Hart, Lois Cloarec

  “I know, but I’m glad you didn’t. Now, about those thoughts. From what I found in my research, Britten was never more than a small fish, even at the height of her modelling career, which was about ten years ago. I don’t think there’s any danger of her being ‘celeb-spotted’ on our journey north, but I thought I’d stick to secondary roads anyway, just in case.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Also, I called Rick last night to confirm that he’d warned our client away from all social media. The last thing we need is for her to tweet her disgust with her new situation or post photos of gophers, grasshoppers, and grain elevators on Facebook.”

  “Do you think she would be so foolish?”

  “I do. She apparently gave Rick a hard time when he looked into which sites she’d been logging on to since she arrived. She’d already left bread crumbs online but fortunately hadn’t mentioned her ultimate destination, so I think we’re okay for now.”

  “Social media. What a scourge.”

  “C’mon, Wil, you know it’s made our jobs a lot easier in many ways.”

  “But not in this case.”

  “No, probably not, but I’ll keep reminding the client to be careful.”

  “Good luck with that. Good luck with everything. Keep me advised, all right?”

  Lee winked before she turned to leave. “I’ll text you.”

  Lee glanced over at her brooding passenger, who was plugged in and tuned out. Since they’d left Calgary hours earlier, Britten had barely uttered ten words beyond complaining about her smart-phone connectivity. She’d spent the last couple of hours listening to music turned up so high that Lee could hear it leaking around her passenger’s earbuds.

  With a small shrug, Lee returned her attention to the road. It wasn’t her problem if Britten needed hearing aids before she was forty.

  An hour later, Lee felt the still unfamiliar stirrings of hunger. Over the past year of ignoring her body’s basic needs, she’d almost forgotten what it was like to look forward to her next meal. It was a welcome reminder that she had officially rejoined the human race.

  “Hey, Britten.”

  Britten ignored Lee, gazing out the side window and beating out the rhythm of the music on her thigh.

  “Yo, Britten.”

  When her passenger still ignored her, Lee reached over and tugged an earbud out.

  “Hey!”

  Lee ignored the indignation. “I need some guidance here. We’re just about to your old stomping grounds. Where’s a good place to stop for a bite to eat?”

  “I haven’t been here in almost fifteen years. It’s probably completely changed.”

  “You’re the one who said things never change around here. Gophers, grasshoppers, and grain elevators, remember?”

  Britten huffed but appeared to give it some thought. “Well, there used to be a café just west of Donegal, the Four Corners Café. We’re about forty minutes from it.”

  “Good enough. We’ll stop there.”

  Britten popped her earbud back in, and Lee resumed perusing the landscape. It was clearly farming and ranching territory, though too early in the year for crops to be growing. They had passed a lot of cattle, with an abundance of calves in the herds. Lee wondered if Britten’s family was involved in growing wheat or raising cattle, but she didn’t feel like trying to start a conversation.

  Half an hour later, Britten’s voice jolted Lee from her reverie.

  “There, ahead on the left. See it?”

  A cluster of pickups was parked next to an old but neatly kept restaurant. A sign advertised the Four Corners Café, and Lee slowed to make her turn.

  “Watch out. This is Dysfunction Junction. I can’t begin to tell you how many accidents have happened at these crossroads over the years.”

  Lee was surprised at the almost friendly tone in Britten’s voice and glanced over at her passenger. Britten had a look of suppressed anticipation, and Lee wondered if she was genuinely excited about returning home after all the years away. Certainly nothing in her previous manner had suggested the possibility, but Lee remembered how it had always felt returning to her grandparents’ home after long absences. Possibly her client wasn’t immune after all.

  Lee pulled into the parking lot and took a spot between a blue F-150 and another pickup that was too covered with mud to detect a colour.

  Britten was out of the SUV almost as soon as it stopped. Lee followed at a slower pace, her body feeling the ache of long hours on the road.

  They seated themselves, and before they’d even had time to open the menus on the table, a heavy-set, middle-aged waitress was at their side with a pot of coffee. Looking at Lee, she said, “You look like you could use a cup, hon.”

  Lee nodded gratefully as her cup was filled before the waitress turned to Britten. “What about you, hon?” Then the waitress did such a classic double-take that Lee almost laughed aloud. “Well, turn me over like a turtle! Heather Ann, is that you?”

  “It’s Britten, Aunt Eileen. Heather Ann left here long ago.”

  “Huh. Well, I changed more of Heather Ann’s diapers than I could ever count, and I’ve never met this Britten you speak of.”

  Lee watched the two glare at each other, then the waitress broke the stalemate. “It’s real good to see you again, hon, by whatever name you want to use. I’m surprised, though. We had a family get-together last weekend, and Gaëlle never said one word about you coming home. Of course, your mother can be more close-mouthed than a priest when she wants to be.”

  “Mom doesn’t know.”

  That got Lee’s attention. When they’d finalized their plans, Britten said she’d called her mother and everything was in order for their arrival. Obviously, that had been a lie, so Lee began making back-up plans in the event Britten’s mother refused to welcome her prodigal daughter home.

  “Well, that won’t matter. Gaëlle never turned a soul from her door in her life, and she’s certainly not going to start with her baby.”

  Lee relaxed a little on hearing Eileen’s assessment but still calculated where they might find a night’s lodging, just in case.

  “So, what’ll you two have?”

  They placed their orders, and Eileen left.

  Britten fidgeted, but Lee ignored her. She wasn’t about to give her client absolution for the blatant lie, so she gazed out the window instead.

  Suddenly, Lee blinked and stared. The strangest creature was riding by on a bicycle pulling a homemade cart, loaded to unbelievable heights with bags, boxes, wheels, pieces of wood, metal, and glass, and clothes stuffed into every crevice. Abruptly, the man stopped and looked through the café window at Lee.

  “Oh, for God’s sake. Is that loon still around?”

  Lee ignored Britten’s disparaging comment and examined the apparition. It was impossible to determine his age. A floppy, weather-beaten hat shadowed his deeply lined face. An unkempt grey beard hung to his chest, and his thin frame was dwarfed by an oversized, tattered greatcoat. Most startlingly, ribbons of every colour were pinned all over the coat. The steady prairie breezes caught the ribbons and lifted them in an illusion of multi-coloured feathers. Lee half expected the man to take flight, but he only stared at her with intense, light-coloured eyes. Finally, he nodded at her, pushed his bike into motion, and pedalled away as his treasures clanged and swayed dangerously on the cart.

  “How the hell does that not knock him right over?”

  Eileen had returned and chuckled as she slid their plates in front of them. “Oh, don’t you worry about Wrong-Way. He’s been riding that thing for over forty years, and he hasn’t fallen yet.”

  When the waitress left, Lee eyed Britten over her hamburger. “Wrong-Way? There has to be a story there.”

  Britten pushed disdainfully at her salad. “They still don’t know anything but iceberg lettuce here.” She set down her fork and picked up her coffee cup. “Wrong-Way Wally Woodson is the town eccentric, to put it mildly. He got the name when he was a boy, because he’d ride th
at stupid bike through town with no regard for direction signs. One time he even made it as far as the highway and got on that going in the wrong direction, so the name just stuck. He’s a complete idiot, and no one ever listens to what he says, even though some people—some really ignorant people—think he’s got the gift of second sight.”

  “You don’t sound too enthralled with him. What did he ever do to you?”

  “Nothing!” After a brief, uncomfortable silence, Britten continued, “It’s just so damned embarrassing. Wrong-Way and my mom have been best friends since they were born on the same day in the same hospital. Do you know what it’s like to have your friends make fun of you because your mother insists on treating a freak like he’s normal? Everyone in town knows he’s demented, except my mother. Hell, he’s one of the reasons I left here. I couldn’t stand the humiliation one day longer.”

  Lee’s estimation of Britten’s mother instantly shot up. “Are they...involved?”

  “God, no!” Britten glared at Lee as if she’d just suggested that her mother dated goats. “As far as I know, my mom hasn’t been involved with anyone since my dad died, and even she wouldn’t take up with Wrong-Way. Jesus, how can you even think that?”

  “I didn’t. I was just extrapolating from your words. You haven’t really told me anything about your family, so I was curious.”

  “Well, we’re not freaks, if that’s what you mean. Even Mom is just...unusual, but she’s not nearly as weird as he is.”

  “Tell me about her. Tell me about your family.”

  “Why?”

  “Since you didn’t want to alarm your mother, I’m supposed to be posing as a friend of yours. It stands to reason that you’d have talked to me about your family at some point.”

  “Not really. I don’t think I’ve talked about my family since I left here.”

  “Not even to your husband?”

  “No. I sort of...made up my background. I told him I’d been abandoned in a Russian orphanage and adopted by American parents who died a long time ago.”

  “Okay, but if we’re good enough friends that you’re taking me along for a long-overdue visit, then it would be good to brief me on what to expect.”

  “All right, but my information may be a little dated. We exchange Christmas and birthday cards, and Mom writes at least once a month, but we’re not best friends by any means.”

  “Start with your dad. You said he passed away? How long ago was that?”

  “I was a baby; I don’t even remember him. He was driving my older brothers to a hockey tournament when he lost control of the car on icy roads. They were hit by an oncoming truck, and my dad and brother Owen were killed. My brother Dale was in the back seat. He survived, though he had some broken bones.”

  “So you grew up with your mom and brother?”

  “And my older sister, Jill. Not to mention my grandmother, uncles, aunts, and a bushel of cousins.”

  “You were lucky to have a big family.”

  “Hah! That’s what you think. Everyone knowing your business; everyone butting in with an opinion. It drove me crazy.”

  Lee flashed back on her solitary childhood. She adored the grandparents who’d loved and raised her, but she’d often longed for siblings. “My parents were killed in a car crash, too. I was only three when it happened.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  Lee waved a dismissive hand. “Long time ago. So, what did your mom do while you were growing up?”

  “Do?”

  “Yeah, with your dad gone, did she have to work outside the home to support you?”

  “I don’t think so. My dad was partners in a family ranch with his four brothers. I think my uncles just kept paying Mom his share so that she had enough to raise us. I never really thought about it much.”

  Lee suspected Britten had rarely thought about much beyond her own concerns. Conversation lapsed, and Lee finished her burger. Finally, she pointed at the salad Britten had ignored. “Are you going to eat that?”

  “No.”

  “Do you want something else instead?”

  “No.”

  “Then let’s pay the bill and get going. If we’re going to surprise your mother, I’d rather do it while there’s still some light.”

  Chapter 4

  Ten minutes after Lee and Britten left the Four Corners Café, they reached the outskirts of Donegal, population 3,214. Five minutes later, they were through Donegal and on the road out of town.

  Britten pointed ahead. “Take the next left. Mom’s place is about fifteen minutes north of here.”

  Lee turned the SUV off the paved thoroughfare and onto a gravel road. They were rapidly losing daylight now, so she slowed and peered into the dusk. Two deer were feeding next to the road. They threw up their heads as the vehicle approached, then wheeled and darted away.

  “You weren’t kidding about your family’s place being out in the country.”

  Britten snorted. “When I was a teenager, I hated being isolated in the sticks during summer vacation. I couldn’t wait until the school bus started coming again in September.”

  “Did you go to school in Donegal?”

  “Yes. I had to join the basketball team just so I could travel to some decent-sized shopping centres when the team played away games. I sucked, by the way. I had the height; that’s about all I had going for me. I remember once when I missed a big game during a weekend tournament in Moose Jaw. My coach was mad, but Mom was madder. She had to drive down and pick me up after I was booted from the team.”

  “Was it worth it? Making everyone angry?”

  “I guess. I went home with some awesome swag. Or so I figured at the time. God, I can’t believe I once thought a Moose Jaw mall was the height of fine fashion. My standards were so low then.”

  “And now?”

  “And now... I don’t know. I don’t know what to do, what to plan. I certainly don’t want to spend the rest of my life back here. I fought too hard to escape.”

  Lee thought that was the most honest thing Britten had said since they’d met. It also solidified her belief that this assignment would not last long before her rootless client fled back to brighter lights.

  They drove in silence for another ten minutes before Britten directed Lee onto an even narrower gravel road. “There. Up ahead on the left. Can you see the light down that long driveway?”

  “Yes.”

  It was almost dark, but a soft, yellow light mounted high on a pole near the garage illuminated the farmhouse. Lee eyed it curiously as they approached. It was an old, three-story farmhouse with grey siding, white trim, and a large porch that fronted the house. Someone rose from a corner chair as if they’d been awaiting the unexpected guests.

  While Lee guessed the home’s age at around a hundred years, modern touches abounded. The skylights on the roof, the decorative front door, large, late-model windows, and a three-car detached garage were clearly more recent additions. Traditional lines of caragana, poplar, and Manitoba maple trees lined the driveway and formed a shelterbelt around three sides of the farmhouse. A seasonally barren garden lay to the leeward side of the house.

  Lee stopped where directed and followed Britten up the walkway where a woman stood to greet them.

  “Mom.”

  “Britten. It’s good to see you. Welcome home.”

  “Thanks. Um, sorry I didn’t call first.”

  “This is your home. You never need to call first.” She looked at Lee with a smile. “And you brought a guest.”

  Lee noted that the woman didn’t seem in the least bit surprised at their arrival. She wondered if Eileen had called ahead to alert Britten’s mother.

  “Uh, yeah. Mom, this is a...a friend of mine. Her name’s Lee.”

  Lee stepped forward and offered her hand. “Lee Glenn. I hope it’s not too much of an imposition, ma’am.”

  “Gaëlle Germaine. And it’s no imposition. My children’s friends are always welcome in our home.”

  Gaëlle was thin and almo
st as tall as her daughter. Long, silver hair fell over one shoulder in a single braid. Dark eyebrows shadowed equally dark eyes that regarded Lee calmly. Though she had welcomed them with warmth, there was reserve in the way she turned to Britten and offered a hug.

  Lee thought Britten might refuse her mother’s embrace, but after a momentary hesitation, Britten stepped forward into Gaëlle’s arms and offered her own double air kiss.

  “Your room is made up, Britten, and we’ll put Lee in Dale’s room. He won’t be home for another ten days.”

  As Lee returned to the SUV for her client’s luggage, she marvelled that Gaëlle hadn’t asked anything about why they were there or how long they planned to stay. Maybe she plans to grill her daughter privately.

  When Lee returned to the porch with several suitcases, Britten had gone inside.

  Gaëlle reached out and took a large bag from Lee’s hands. “I suspect these are all for my daughter. You don’t really seem like the lilac and green floral print sort. Why don’t you leave them here, and I’ll take them upstairs. I’m sure you want to get your own things from the car.”

  “I just have one bag, ma’am. I’ll get these up to Britten and return for the rest.”

  “It’s Gaëlle, please. And since my daughter abandoned you, the least I can do is lend a hand.”

  Gaëlle took another small bag from Lee and led the way inside. A staircase was to the right of the entrance, and Lee followed her hostess up to the second floor. When they reached the landing, Lee heard Britten moving around inside the first room on the right. They set the suitcases down by the door, and Gaëlle directed Lee farther down the hallway to a room on the opposite side.

  “When the kids were little, this floor had three bedrooms—one for the boys, one for the girls, and the master bedroom. I moved up to the attic ten years ago and converted two of the bedrooms into a suite for my son. That’s where I’m putting you. I hope you’ll be comfortable.”

  Lee poked her head into the expansive bedroom/sitting room and had to restrain herself from whistling. Whatever the original set-up had been, the suite was now the equal of any five-star hotel. “Are you sure you don’t want to put your daughter in here?”