“Johnny, Johnny.” Her unsteady lips seemed unable to frame any other words. She felt sick and cold and terribly afraid.
Johnny cursed himself all the way to the clinic. When he got there, he sat in his car feeling nothing but contempt for himself. He had done the very thing that he had vowed not to do. He had exposed her to another heartbreak that could destroy her completely. And he let her think the door was open to the possibility of their having a future together.
She was lonely. She wanted a family. Hadn’t she cried because she feared getting old and being alone? Christ on a horse! What had he been thinking of? She needed a clean break from him so that she could find someone who would give her the family she had always wanted. The thought of her with someone else was like a knife in his gut. He wasn’t sure about what to do; but whatever it was, it’d have to wait until this thing with Isabel was over. In the meanwhile, he’d be careful not to be alone with her again.
Pete was in the reception room flirting with Millie when Johnny went into the clinic. Johnny was wearing what Pete called his Indian face.
“And good morning to you, too,” he said cheerfully when Johnny didn’t speak.
“How is Isabel?”
“I’ve not seen her yet. Reports aren’t good.”
“Henry Ann will be here tomorrow.”
“You’d better prepare her for Isabel’s nasty mouth. Even in her sleep last night, she spit out words I hadn’t heard during sixteen years in the navy.”
“Henry Ann’s coming because it’s what a decent person would do under the circumstances. If it upsets Isabel for her to be here, Henry Ann will know what to do.” Johnny turned back to the door. “It upsets her to see me, too, so I’ll go on back to the ranch and try to get some work done. I’ll be back in tonight.”
“I’ll see how things are going here. If they put her under for a while, I’ll come out and give you a hand.”
Johnny nodded and left, leaving Pete puzzled as to the reason for his black mood.
“Mr. Perry,” a nurse’s assistant called from the doorway, “Nurse Frank said you can see Miss Henry now.”
’Thanks, honey,” Pete said, and winked. He then watched with pleasure the blush that covered the young girl’s cheeks.
“Shame on you,” Millie said after the girl disappeared down the hall. “She’s young enough to be your daughter.”
“But you’re not—honey.”
“No, and I’m old enough to know a rogue when I meet one.” Millie stabbed at his chest with her pencil. “Flirt with someone your own age.”
“And who might that be around here?”
“Theresa and Miss Pauley, the night nurse. Have you met her? I think the two of you would make a handsome pair.” Millie pushed her glasses up on her nose, and poked the pencil into the thick gray hair over her ear.
“Flying catfish! That woman is sour as a lemon, cross as a bear, and is about as friendly as a case of the measles.”
“Use that famous Perry charm on her. Who knows, with a kiss from the right man, Miss Pauley might turn into Betty Grable or Ginger Rogers.”
“More than likely Marie Dressier or ZaSu Pitts,” Pete grumbled, then walked away, grinning.
In the hallway he met Nurse Frank. Now, she was a pretty little thing, soft and sweet. Jude had told him that her husband had been killed during the war.
“Go on in, Mr. Perry. She’s been sedated, but it hasn’t taken effect yet or else it wasn’t a big enough dose. Dr. Perry is afraid to give her too much because of her heart. Mrs. Cole is with her.”
“My brother says she’s going to die in a few days. Why can’t you give her enough to let her sleep until the end?”
“Because it doesn’t work that way. As long as there is life we must do what we can to prolong it.”
“I guess I’m not quite as civilized as you and my brother.”
The odor in the room was stronger this morning. He had smelled it at Johnny’s and again in his car coming here. Jude said it was from the cancer that was eating away at Isabel’s breast. Mrs. Cole looked over her shoulder when he opened the door, then adjusted a cloth over Isabel’s upper body before she moved away.
“Get away from me, you—ugly bitch!” Isabel’s voice was weak and slurred. “Where’s Hardy? He’d take me—dancin’. Hardy is a son of a bitch. He screwed ever’thing on Mud Creek that moved. Even a rabbit, if he could catch one.” Isabel turned her fevered eyes toward Pete. “You’re a bastard, a cocksuckin’ bastard. Know that?”
“Would you like a drink of ice water?” Pete asked.
“Hell no. I’ll take a—cold beer. This broad-ass pussy here won’t give me one. I want to—I want to go—” The words trailed away, but her mouth still worked as her eyes closed.
Mrs. Cole had turned her back and was putting the soiled bedclothes in a bag. Pete waited until she headed for the door, then stepped in front of her.
“I’m sorry you have to take this abuse.” Pete put his hands on her upper arms. “Confound it. You shouldn’t have to put up with this.”
“Someone’s got to. The poor thing doesn’t realize what she’s saying.”
“I think she does.” He tilted his head to look at her neck. “Dale! What happened to your neck. Did she grab you?”
“Heavens, no. She hasn’t the strength.” She attempted to go around him. “I’ve got to get this down to the laundry.”
“If she didn’t do this, who did? I’ve seen bruises like this before.” He fitted his hand to the marks on her neck. She angrily knocked it away.
“Tend to your own business, Mr. Perry. What happened to my neck is no concern of yours.”
Pete dropped his hand. “I’d like for it to be, Dale.” He spoke so sincerely that her eyes caught his and held.
“I have a husband who looks after me, Mr. Perry.”
“Did he do this to you?”
“No!“
“Is he out looking for the bastard who did? If you were my wife, I’d hunt him down and take strips of hide off him. I’d make sure he never hurt another woman.”
“But I’m not your wife—”
“No. I’d riot be so lucky.”
“I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t make fun of me.” Pete was shocked to see tears in her eyes.
“You—think that?”
“I know what I am, Mr. Perry. I am plain, overweight, and not a clever conversationalist. I know what you are, a man with a gift of gab. Also a flirt.”
“What makes you think you’re plain? It’s what’s on the inside of a woman that comes through and says whether she’s plain or not. You may have a few extra pounds, but so what? I’d rather hold a soft woman in my arms than a bag of bones.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
Pete ignored the question. “I had men come into the navy with an attitude like yours, and I sometimes found out that a father or a mother had constantly put the man down until he thought he wasn’t worth anything. Is that happening to you?” he asked bluntly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Please let me pass.”
“Not until you promise me that you’ll let me know if you ever need help. I’m going to stay here so I can be near my brother and my cousin, Johnny Henry.”
“Why are you interested in my affairs?”
“Hell, I don’t know. I just know I’m damn mad that some son of a bitch hurt you.”
“I thank you for your concern.” Dale lowered her eyes and then turned her head to look past him at the door as it opened. Jude stood there looking from one to the other. “Excuse me, Doctor. I’ve got to get these down to the laundry.”
Jude stepped aside, then came into the room and closed the door. He walked over to the bed and looked down at Isabel.
“I wish there was something I could do for her. There are so many things wrong with her that I don’t know which to treat first.” Jude picked up her limp wrist and felt her pulse.
“Johnny was here. He said that Henry Ann will be here tom
orrow.”
Jude nodded. He had seen death dozens of times, and it always affected him as if it were the first. He placed the thin hand back down at her side.
“She’ll sleep now until early afternoon.”
“She was talking about Hardy when I came in. Said that he would take her dancing. She talks mean to Mrs. Cole. I wish that she’d not do that.”
“Mrs. Cole understands that sometimes a person in her condition is irrational.”
“The woman’s hurtin’, Jude.”
“Mrs. Cole?”
’Take a look at the bruises on her neck. Someone tried to squeeze the life out of her.”
“I noticed as she passed me just now. Theresa told me about them.”
“She denied that her husband hurt her. What do you know about him?”
“Nothing. He was here at the reception. Seems to be very personable. He works at the Gas and Electric Company. Office manager, I think.”
“I might go down and have a little talk with him.”
“You can’t accuse him of anything.” Jude looked at his brother searchingly. Pete never could stand by and see a woman abused. He remembered Opal Hastings down on Mud Creek. If Pete had found out who raped her, he would have killed him. “What happens between a man and his wife is their business.”
“Not if he’s mistreating her.”
“Even then, if she won’t file charges. It’s the law, Pete.”
“Well, it’s a shitty law.”
“Theresa thinks Dale’s husband mistreats her. She said Dale was crying this morning when she came to work.”
“Did she say anything to Theresa?”
“No. She might sometime. They are good friends. Why are you taking such an interest in Dale? She’s married and has a five-year-old boy.”
“Hell, I don’t know. She seems to be a damn nice woman who has a hell of a problem.” Pete shoved his hands down into his pockets and walked out.
Jude watched his brother leave the room. In his youth Pete had been coarse, rude, and undisciplined. Mud Creek had never spawned another hell-raiser as wild as Pete Perry. Back then he would not have cared about Isabel. He would have voiced the view that she had made her bed and she’d have to lie in it. Nor would he have taken an interest in a woman who had a few bruises on her neck. Pete had changed. War did that to a man.
Chapter Thirteen
Theodore Nuding carefully stripped a length of paper from the wall of the room he was preparing for Kathleen. Looking at bright red-and-yellow roses climbing a white trellis day after day was bound to be annoying. Arranging a comfortable, safe room was taking much longer than he had at first believed. It had to be perfect for her to be happy here.
It was daylight now. He removed the pieces of carpet he used to cover the windows so that he could work at night without a light showing from the outside and stood back to admire the stout door he had put in place the night before. It would be necessary to keep Kathleen locked in until she became adjusted to being here. Then, like his mother, she wouldn’t want to leave the room.
He washed, ate breakfast cereal, then set his alarm clock and lay down to sleep for a while. By noon he was parked on the rise outside of town with his weather-observing props in place should it be necessary for him to use them.
After scanning Kathleen’s house with his binoculars and seeing no movement there, he removed his notebook from the compartment beneath his seat and began to write.
12:15 A.M. The timetable for bringing Kathleen to her new home will have to be moved to after Christmas. I am removing the old wallpaper and preparing the walls of her room for repapering. The room is next to the bathroom so I had only to close off one door and make another going out of her room. The fixtures are adequate. Later when I can have workmen here, I’ll modernize the bath and maybe even put in one of those things French women sit on to wash their private parts. The furnishings in the house are of good quality, but for some things I’ll have to make a trip to the city. I’ll buy a lovely Persian rug, a few lamps, and other doodads that Kathleen will like. While I’m there I’ll buy the best typewriter to be had and reams of paper so that when I have to leave her, she can amuse herself by writing her stories. I’ll order toilet articles and a new wardrobe for her from Neiman Marcus. Only the best will do for my Kathleen.
Note: I was lucky last night. An opportunity fell in my lap to take care of a matter that could have consumed a lot more time than it did.
“Adelaide! Come in.”
“Brought you the latest Gazette.“
“Thanks.” Kathleen closed the door quickly behind her friend. “It’s getting cold out there.”
“It’s that time of year. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.” Adelaide laid the paper on the table, headlines up, then took off her coat and draped it over the back of a chair.
Johnny has been home for a month and I still don’t know where I stand with him. What does he want from me? Kathleen’s next words were totally unrelated to her thoughts.
“When I was growing up in Iowa we always had snow before Thanksgiving.”
“Over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house?”
“My grandma always made a big deal out of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Grandpa would bring in a wild turkey for Thanksgiving and a goose for Christmas. They didn’t have much cash money, but Grandma always set a good table.”
“You’re welcome to have Thanksgiving with me and Paul.”
“Thanks. Barker and Marie mentioned my going to their place when they were here the other night. I’ll let you know.”
“Have you heard about Gabe Thomas getting killed?” Adelaide nodded to the headline.
“Johnny was here this morning and told me.”
“This morning?” Adelaide raised her brows. “Early this morning? That’s interesting—”
“—Don’t let your imagination work overtime. Yesterday Gabe Thomas just walked into my house, as bold as brass, while I was washing my hair. I don’t know where the man ever got the idea that I was interested in him. Anyway, he left when a fellow came to the door looking for someone. I told Johnny about it, and he was going to give him a talking-to this morning. He came by to tell me what had happened.”
“I heard that you were out on the town last night with Johnny and Dr. Perry’s brother.”
“Oh, my goodness. You can’t do anything in this town without it becoming gossip.”
“Was it a secret?”
“No. Pete Perry is a nice man. Rough, but nice.”
“Good-looking too, if you ask me. Why don’t you use him to make Johnny jealous?”
“Adelaide, you’d be the first to flay me alive if I even suggested such a thing.”
“I know, but at times I’d like to yank a knot in that guy.”
“Johnny or Pete?” Kathleen plowed through her hair with all ten fingers, holding it off her face.
“Johnny. But I didn’t come to talk about him. Well, maybe I did, but I want to talk about something else too.”
“I’m all ears.”
“I’m heading a committee to organize a fund-raiser to furnish a room at the clinic. They have only four rooms for overnight patients. Dr. Perry tells me that through a government program they will soon be getting an iron lung, and they need a room prepared to put it in. A boy from the southern part of the county died last summer before they could get him to a lung in Frederick.”
“You don’t have to sell me on the project. What do you want me to do?”
“We’ve come up with the idea of having a Christmas carnival at the school the week after Thanksgiving. We’re asking all the church circles to have booths and sell crafts. The VFW will put on a barbecue. We will have a cake walk, a bingo room, a kissing booth.”
“Count me out on that one.”
“Chicken,” Adelaide snorted.
“Paul wouldn’t let you do it,” Kathleen declared.
“Who’d want to kiss an old woman?”
“An old man.”
“Want to bet? An old man wants to kiss something young. I wasn’t going to ask you to be in the kissing booth. We’re turning the gym into a ballroom and charging ten cents a dance.”
“Good idea.”
“A lot of men will come stag if they know they’ll have someone to dance with. I want six of the prettiest girls in town to entice them to spend their money. If two or more men want to dance with the same girl, she’ll go to the highest bidder.”
“If you’re asking me to be one of the girls. I’m not a girl, Adelaide. I’m old enough to have a girl in high school.”
“You’re one of the prettiest women in town. Say you’ll do it. It’s for a good cause.”
“You’re buttering me up…”
“Yeah, I am. I need you.”
“What if no one wants to dance with me?”
“Are you dreaming? I’ll have Paul keep an eye on you, and he’ll see to it that you’re not a wallflower. How’s that?”
“Fine.” Kathleen sighed. “I’ll do it, even though I don’t want to.”
’Thank Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Now there’s just one more thing.”
“I figured there would be.”
“Don’t be a sorehead. You’ll be the most popular girl at the dance.” Adelaide opened her notebook and scanned a list of names. “I’d appreciate it if you’d be on the committee to collect items for our auction to be held before the Christmas carnival.”
“New or used?”
“Preferably new, but used if in good condition.”
Kathleen glanced out the window. “Barker is here. You can hit him up for something.”
Kathleen opened the door before he could knock. “Hello, Barker. Come in.”
“Hello.” He stepped inside. “Oh, hello, Adelaide.”
“I was going to come out to see you today, Barker. You’ve saved me a trip.”
“Better sit down, Barker. Adelaide is on one of her crusades.”
“Marie took Lucas to the clinic this morning for a tetanus shot and heard that Johnny’s sister, Isabel, is at the clinic.”
“She’s been there for a couple of days now. She’s terminally ill, I’m afraid.”
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