“Oh, honey,” responded Ann. “Blossom brags that no one has specials like she has specials. Truer words were never spoken. Remember her creative streak I told you about? It extends way beyond decorating. She spends hours jotting down recipes from gourmet cooking magazines. She’ll have Benny add ‘Chicken Pot-Au-Feu’ as the daily special. At the market she’ll discover that while chicken is outrageous that week, the ham is on sale, but heaven help the person who calls the final offering ‘Ham Pot-Au-Feu’. Someday a consumer group or truth-in-advertising advocates will catch up to her, but to date she’s led a charmed life.”
Ann had been scanning the restaurant while she talked. Now a slight frown puckered her smooth brow. “Claudia, you’ve attracted the attention of our local Romeo. Roi has been watching the back of your head since you sat down. He’s weaving over to get better acquainted.” Claudia heard footsteps saunter nearer and stop behind her. Bud put down the tract and performed introductions.
“Claudia, meet Roi Lily. Roi spends summers taking tourists out on his fishing boat and charging them slightly more than the price of a two-week cruise on an ocean liner. Claudia is our guest at the Weary Traveler, Roi.”
Claudia turned fully to shake his hand, and for the first time Roi saw the scar. His double take was almost comic. Claudia maintained her composure as he stumbled through a hurried conversation. She smiled and let him make his escape back to the bar before cradling the damaged cheek in her hand.
Ann looked indignant but remained speechless. She glared at the table while Bud busied himself with his coffee cup. When Ezra came in, radiating cold, Ann waved at him with relief. “Ezra, sit with us. You already know Miss Alexander. I need help keeping the conversation flowing, and you know my Bud is no chatterbox.”
“That’s because you’ve never needed help maintaining conversational flow a day in your life,” Ezra told her and pulled up a chair. He gave Ruby his order before turning to Claudia. “Miss Alexander, so nice to see you again. Heard any good stories lately?”
Light banter held no appeal. Roi’s rudeness brought back the shame of yesterday. She wasn’t just another carefree, carless tourist and couldn’t act as one. Creasing her napkin, she considered how to begin. The silence grew uncomfortable, and she realized her dinner companions were waiting politely for her response. “Well, Philip tells me I’m the local enigma.”
Philip’s father snorted, his mother rolled her eyes, and Ezra told her Philip said anything he thought would have dramatic effect.
Claudia determined to forge ahead. “I’m really not the mysterious stranger type. Just embarrassed. See, my boyfriend dumped me.”
Ann tapped her fingers on the table, Ezra stroked his chin, and Bud picked up a spoon to stir his black coffee. Each face wore an expression of having missed something.
“I mean he literally dumped me! About sixty miles or so southeast. I caught a ride up here with a trucker, and if any of you ever meets my parents you are sworn to secrecy about that.”
Bud glowered at his cup. Ezra growled something about a no-good something-or-other, but Ann shook her head at him.
Claudia swigged her own coffee for caffeinated courage and continued, lowering her voice as she saw heads at the bar swivel in their direction. “Here’s what happened. I wanted to find someone I think lives in Weary County. Peter volunteered to drive me, and we left Chicago early yesterday morning. This misunderstanding developed and escalated into a pretty unpleasant disagreement. When we stopped for gas, I went to the restroom to cool off. I must have been gone for quite a while, because when I came out Peter was gone. I still can’t believe he just abandoned me. I have to tell you, it’s humiliating. He even took off with my luggage. Thankfully I’d kept my backpack with overnight stuff and a change of clothes, and money.” She looked at the Gomers. “I can pay for the room. At least I think I can,” she added doubtfully, realizing she had been too tired the previous night to take note of the price.
Ann flapped her hands dismissively, as though money were the furthest thing from her mind. Bud looked up with a slow smile. “Worse comes to worse Philip will hire you to do his chores.”
Ezra asked, “Why didn’t you just try to get home?” It was a reasonable question.
“Mom and Dad are vacationing in Vail with my brother and his family, and my sister in St. Louis is ready to deliver her first baby in the next few weeks. This wasn’t a big enough emergency to contact friends or other relations down in Chicago. I graduated college in December, but I don’t have a job yet and nothing to rush back for. Since you don’t seem big on public transportation around here, and a nice, reputable truck driver who knew everyone at the gas station said he was going to Weary County, which is where I wanted to go anyway, I figured I may as well hitch a ride. Barley was the biggest town on his route, and he said I could find someplace to eat and sleep here.”
She smiled at the sympathy surrounding her. “I hope you aren’t feeling bad for me about Peter. It wasn’t a grand romance or anything. I admit I thought it was headed somewhere more permanent than a gas station restroom, but we hadn’t known each other that long. He turned out to be less than the man of my dreams.”
“You said you were looking for someone who lives in Weary County?” asked Ann. “May I ask who? Between Ezra, Bud and I, we know a lot of people.” Claudia appreciated her pragmatism. It was easier to cope with than pity.
“Abner. Someone named Abner.”
Ann ruminated with gusto. “Abner? Abner…first name? Last name? Doesn’t matter, I don’t know any Abners of either. Bud? Can you remember any Abners? Wait a minute. About ten years back the Akers lived down in Brier. It wasn’t Aker, was it? Ruby, can you think of any Abners around here?”
Their waitress pondered while she distributed four orders of lemon chicken and a basket of steaming biscuits. “Let me think. Sounds vaguely familiar. Yes! Abner Matthews!”
“Of course!” Ann was excited.
“Abel.” Everyone jumped as Bud spoke.
“He’s right, Abel Matthews,” Ruby agreed. “Who wants to know?”
“Claudia here. Ruby, this is Claudia—”
“Alexander,” Ruby interrupted. “and you’re staying at the Traveler. But I’m sorry, hon, I don’t know any Abners. Sort of an unusual name, don’t you think, Amos?” She refilled Amos’s coffee cup on her way past and resumed her rounds.
“What was that?” Amos leaned toward their table and Ezra shifted to put his arm across the old man’s shoulder. “This young lady believes someone named Abner lives up here somewhere, and she wants to find him. Or her?”
He looked at Claudia who shrugged. She hadn’t planned on mounting a full-scale search for the elusive Abner. She took a surreptitious whiff of her fragrant chicken before answering. “I think Abner was a he. But I can’t swear to it.”
Amos laughed, exposing a glorious set of shining white teeth that could only have recently arrived from a denture factory. “The Lord works in mysterious ways. I won’t say another word, though, ’til you’ve had a chance to eat.”
A budding journalist should refuse to indulge in something so carnal as food when a hot lead appeared before her. Claudia, who had eaten little since breakfast, didn’t care. She spread her napkin in her lap, picked up her fork, and attacked the lemon chicken. Blossom, Claudia told Ruby, could teach Chicago restaurateurs a thing or two about poultry. Ruby relayed the praise to Blossom, who came out of the kitchen glistening with perspiration and pride to tell Claudia her next meal was on the house.
When the last of the lemon sauce had been sopped up with the last of the biscuits, Ezra invited Amos to sit with them. The sidewalk preacher declined an offer to squeeze onto the trestle bench. He hailed Ruby.
“These old bones have a penchant for a sturdy back. Can I put my chair at the head of their table or will I be in your way?”
The little waitress assured him it was no bother, and he settled in by them, coffee cup clasped in his age-spotted hands.
Without preambl
e Amos began. “Probably hardly anyone knows that my grandad’s full name was Abner Jacob deBoer. He always went by Jake. He lived in Texas ’til after the Great War.” He squeezed Ezra’s arm. “You know, that’s what they used to call the First World War.”
Ezra squeezed back. “I had heard that Amos. Might you be the one Claudia is looking for?” He raised eyebrows at Claudia.
“Possibly,” she answered. “I found a microfilm copy of the death certificate with the name Abner. The original had been damaged though. Abner could have been the first or last name. The only other decipherable detail besides being issued in Weary County was the place of marriage. Galveston, Texas.” She leaned towards Amos. “Here’s why I wanted to know. An old watch—I mean really old, from the eighteen-hundreds—has been in my family for generations, but we always knew the real owner was someone named Abner. Could that be you?”
Amos’s face lit up. “Must be the one my granddad talked about. He had a fob he would haul out to show us, and tell the family legend of how he lost the watch that goes with it.”
“Is the fob shiny, like polished silver or platinum?” Claudia asked.
“Nope. Leather with a bunch of little old stones stuck on it. It’s still around, someplace in my house. Come by tomorrow morning, miss, and I’ll see if I can put my hands on it. If you’re there before noon, I should be able to stave off the rest of my loved ones before they eat all the fresh-baked cinnamon rolls. Anyone can tell you how to find me.”
Tomorrow she would have the same transportation problem as today. Before she could tell Amos she had no car and, worse, wasn’t currently in possession of the watch, Ann checked the clock behind the bar and stood up.
“The storm is supposed to be here soon. Sorry Claudia, the conversation with my handsome friend will have to wait. Let’s get moving. Can somebody give Amos a ride home? Roi? He’s barely out of your way. Would you mind?”
That gentleman either didn’t hear or chose to ignore the request, because he pushed through their little group and clomped out the door before Ann could repeat herself.
“I don’t need a ride.” Amos also rose and pulled on his red coat. “It won’t hit for a good hour, and I’ll be home long before that. I’ve been along that snow fence in worse weather than a little squall. Don’t turn me into the town nuisance any sooner than needs be, Annie.” Amos navigated through the restaurant to the big doors and out into the night.
Ezra rushed into his own coat as Ann dithered with anxiety. “I’ve got my snowmobile and only one helmet Ann, so I can’t give him a ride. I’ll walk with him to the edge of town and right up to where the fence starts. But if I tried to sneak along behind him Amos’d have my head. It was a pleasure to see you again, Miss Alexander, and please be assured that you aren’t the one who should be embarrassed by what happened yesterday.” He too pushed through the oversized doors and disappeared in the dark.
Bud retrieved his son from the corner where Philip sat alone, eyes half-closed and chin on his chest. He’d been ready to leave since Rachel, the main attraction, finished her shift and went home with her family.
They walked to the Weary Traveler in silence broken only by Ann’s “Old New Orleans and North Woods! Those are the two Blossom’s decorating themes I forgot!” The wind rose as they reached the inn and exchanged goodnights. Claudia was asleep when the snow pounced.
She woke early the next morning to a still-dark sky and urgent sounds. In ten minutes she had dressed and hastened downstairs. In the foyer a pale-faced Ann buttoned her coat with trembling fingers.
“Amos’s son went to check on him this morning. He never made it home last night.”
FOUR
Claudia had trouble convincing Ann to let her help search for Amos.
“My folks had me on skis almost before I could walk. Family vacations were always in the mountains in the winter.” She touched her scar. “That’s how I got this, by the way—tangling with the pole of a rookie skier on a slope he couldn’t handle. Anyway, I’ve been part of several search and rescues. I’d love to help.”
Ann relented. “Of course,” she told Claudia, “we’ll welcome another pair of eyes. I’ll have Bud get you a vest. Never mind. I should have known.”
Bud had come in while she was talking, holding out a neon orange vest to Claudia. They all pulled on light, warm layers, left the house without even a thought for breakfast, and climbed into the inn’s Jeep. Philip, who had been dissuaded with difficulty from coming along, glowered at them from the porch. Ann blew him a kiss.
“I need you to answer the phone, finish your English paper, and pray like crazy.”
The snow stopped, and the sun made occasional appearances through clouds, undecided on the merits of either making an entrance or exit.
“I wish the wind would let up,” Ann said. “Claudia, we’ll go to Amos’s house. It’s headquarters until we find him.”
They were silent on the short drive down the street, past Blossom’s and out of town. According to the Jeep’s compass, the small road they turned on took them northeast. They travelled between slumbering, snow-covered orchards and dark silent woods. Ann’s eyes were closed, her lips moving, and Claudia guessed she, too, was praying like crazy. The Jeep slowed, and Ann had her door open before Bud fully braked. He let them off at the bottom of a sloping driveway lined with vehicles and snowmobiles. As they neared the small white frame house, Ann led Claudia around to the back.
“No one since the last census has used Amos’s front door.”
They climbed several steps to a screened-in porch leading to a kitchen where Claudia ran into a mouthful of fur. She brushed aside a huge coonskin cap hanging from a string of braided yarn and walked into a room that was like nothing she had ever seen. Later she would be told that, while appearing to be a perfect replica of a pre-WWII kitchen it was, except for the drop ceiling, in original condition. A sprawling cast iron sink with ribbed drain boards on either side and a bright cotton curtain strung around the bottom, occupied most of one wall. Opposite the sink a rounded refrigerator rubbed elbows with an enormous old stove. The contraption came complete with six cook lids and six doors which, she would also learn, opened to ovens, broilers, utility drawers and a bread warmer. Standing at the stove spearing sausages into a frying pan stood a heavily pregnant young woman with red-rimmed eyes. Ann introduced her as Jacy, one of Amos’s granddaughters.
All this Claudia would remember in detail later. But what she noticed first, accompanying the aroma of sausages, eggs, cheap cigars, and a pleasant sort of horsey smell, were the chains, ropes, macramé hangers, string, looped rubber bands and wires that hung from the ceiling tile along the perimeter of the entire kitchen. Each one stopped about five feet from the floor and had some item attached to the blunt hook at the bottom. Near the stove dangled potholders, wooden spoons, an apron, spatulas, and a saltshaker with a handle. By the sink, suspended dishcloths, towels, and net scrubbers clustered around several mugs. Hovering alongside the fur hat Claudia had kissed near the back door, she saw gloves, mittens, scarves, and a shoehorn. Everyone else in the room moved in preoccupied disregard of the paraphernalia.
Ann saw Claudia’s bewilderment and her own face lost a little of its tight anxiety. “We forget how odd Amos’s storage method must look to newcomers. He’s—” A roar and a shriek from outside cut her off. Seconds later Ezra Prosper poked his head through the kitchen door and, spotting Ann, scowled at her.
“I hired Philip and Andy to change my brake pads. That was all that needed fixing. And now, no matter how carefully I touch the blasted throttle, the dang thing leaps forward and leaves my head trailing somewhere behind my shoulder blades. And the blasted brakes still don’t work right!”
Ann hadn’t quailed once during Ezra’s harangue. “I told you hiring Philip was a bad idea. Teenage boys have no interest in stopping, just going fast. That means you didn’t bring Sapphira?” She turned to Claudia. “Sapphira is Ezra’s bloodhound.”
Ezra grunted. “She isn’t
technically mine. She lives at the pound on charity and venison steaks. But she’s too old and fat and hasn’t used her nose to do more than find her toilet outdoors for years. I’d probably end up carrying her and pointing my own nose to the ground. Sorry, Miss Alexander,” he added with a grimace. “Please excuse the tirade. I’ve been kicking myself for not following Amos all the way home last night.” Grim-faced, he walked to a window overlooking rows of fruit trees, their myriad tangled limbs delineated by thick outlines of snow.
At the table, a gentleman wearing a plaid barn jacket from which the horsey smell seemed to emanate gave Bud a walkie-talkie and pointed to a spot on the map in front of him. Ann explained that, besides being Ezra’s brother, this was the sheriff of Weary County. Bud waved to his wife and beckoned a sturdy young man who lounged against the wall by the stove grabbing an occasional sausage seemingly oblivious to the wire whisks and pepper mill that hung inches from his chin. He kissed Jacy, and she rested her head a moment on his chest before pushing him to follow Bud.
Ezra left his gloomy contemplation of the orchard. “Lem, sorry I’m late,” he told his brother. “Where do you want me?”
“The deBoers are all walking either side of the snow fence, and I just sent Jacy’s husband and Bud to check the south orchards. Some other folks went back to town to start from Blossom’s. Could you backtrack toward Barley and follow the west side of the road, in case Amos broke tradition and tried going that route? Take Ann and her friend with you. He was wearing that red coat he got for Christmas. Might make him easier to spot.”
Ezra took a map and the walkie-talkie. He touched Jacy on the elbow. “We’ll find him. Keep breakfast going because your grandpa will have worked up a tremendous appetite.”
Jacy managed a watery smile and cracked more eggs into a bowl.
Amos’s house stood on a rise, a large orchard to the left and dense woods to its right. The sun barely crested the horizon, but to the east and straight south they could see the bright orange vests of other searchers. They worked in groups of two or three along the snow fence line that stretched all the way into town. Roi, who had snubbed her last night at Blossom’s, headed past them toward the house. When he saw Claudia he gave their little group wide berth and kept his eyes on the ground.
Winter Watch Page 4