The Beastly Trees

by Sam Logue

  Julian dashed in from the bedroom, shirtless. His eyes widened and searched Katie as though he thought she might have injured herself. “What’s wrong?”

  She pointed to the window at her back. Julian glanced over her shoulder. “Neil and I were talking and he thinks there might be something wrong with the soil. There could be a fungus in it, and that’s why the roses are growing.” He stroked her face with his large, warm hand. “Neil’s taking care of the problem.”

  Katie turned away from his touch. “That doesn’t make any sense. You’ve got to make him stop cutting Paul’s roses—”

  Julian gently grabbed her hand and moved her around so that she faced him. “Paul’s roses? What are you talking about?”

  “I know they’re his roses. They have to be …” Katie pointed to the window where Neil had already cut through the last flower.

  ****

  The following day, Katie got up while Julian was still asleep. She was beginning to worry about him. She had started to notice that he’d lost weight, and at night in bed she felt his rib cage as she leaned in close to him. He had chewed his nails down over the past week. Yesterday, he hadn’t shaved. It was as though something was rotting away from inside him and bothering him.

  Katie reached for her wool coat, draped over the back of a chair. The chair was old and rickety, and it creaked when she lifted the coat off it.

  Julian turned in the bed to face her. “Where are you going?” His hair was rumpled and his eyes were half closed.

  “Out for a walk.”

  He glanced at the small clock on the nightstand and squinted at her. “What for? It’s so early – and cold.”

  Katie shrugged. “I feel like it.”

  In the hallway, Katie slipped on Neil’s snowshoes and shuffled outside. Farms with split-rail fencing loomed in the distance east of her. She trekked over to the houses. Neil had said he saw a girl at Elvina’s reading, but she still had to be sure no one had ever seen a boy there, that no one had ever seen Paul there.

  The neighbours lived in large, rundown houses. They were young women who appeared older, with creased skin and rough hands and their hair pulled back from their strong faces. No one said they’d seen a young girl or a boy. Katie asked if they had ever seen the young man who had accompanied Mrs Bloomfield to the farm, and every one of them insisted that surely she must have meant Julian and sent Katie on her way.

  One older woman wouldn’t open her door all the way and shouted through the smudged window, “Don’t you people have something better to do than bother us?” The word must have gotten around that Katie was making her way around the neighbourhood.

  ****

  That night, Julian came into the bedroom, his eyes brighter and his face smooth. “Let’s go home.”

  “I thought you loved it here,” Katie said.

  “I do, it’s just …”

  She fingered the onyx stone on the jade and turquoise necklace she wore to bed.

  “It’s so far from the island, that’s all,” he said.

  “I thought that’s why you like it.”

  “Maybe it’s become too far away for me, too far from everything. I even feel far from you, and that wasn’t what I wanted. And the thing with those roses. I can’t get over the fact that there were roses blooming in the middle of all this snow. Neil said it’s never happened before, that it never happens.”

  “Do you think it’s magical?”

  “I don’t know about that. There has to be some sort of scientific explanation.”

  Katie laughed.

  “What?” Julian said.

  “You. You’re so stubborn. Don’t you think it’s just a little bit odd?”

  “Sure I do.” He jumped into bed with her, under the covers, and tickled her bare stomach until she howled in delight.

  Early the following day Katie packed her suitcase. She was set to leave with Julian in a few hours. He would return to law school, and she hoped her mother would accept her now that she had the nerve to go back home.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Katie sat with Julian in a booth by the cosy restaurant’s large front window. Christmas was over and New Year had made its usual noisy entrance and a more subdued exit. Melting snow sent gurgling ripples through the gutters along the curbs on Blackthorn. Inside the restaurant there was a comforting aroma of frying chicken. The radiators clanked and hissed. At the counter stools, a couple sipped coffee and communicated to each other in sign language. It was amazing how much could be expressed in silence.

  Their server, a woman wearing a pink uniform with a white apron at the front of her skirt, read them the specials. Julian closed his eyes and started to nod off. Katie nudged his foot with hers under the table. He sat up straighter and looked over at the server. He was just nervous about the baby. A loud crash came from the kitchen.

  “I’ll be right back,” the server said.

  Katie had been allowed to make up the schoolwork she’d missed, and she was in her last year of school. Everything in her life had been on track. Then she missed two periods so, just after Christmas, she had gone to the doctor where she’d learned she was pregnant. Julian was the only one she had ever been with. He’d said the same thing about her. They had tried to be careful, although they’d forgotten a few times.

  Alex had graduated from boarding school and returned to Blackthorn, attending the island’s college. She worked part-time in the public relations department of her family’s business, and just before the holidays, had created a job for Katie to work along with her after Katie was done with her classes for the day. Katie had told Alex about the baby, and Alex had bought her a book on motherhood, as though Katie had made the decision to keep the baby. And she and Julian had. Katie was already concerned that the baby – she didn’t know whether it was a boy or a girl – could be born with a Mark. At the same time she worried that without it, the child wouldn’t be protected. She wanted to have a boy, because even if he wasn’t born with a Mark, he would still be safer than a girl.

  Katie turned and peered out the window again. Hat-, scarf- and mitten-clad kids carrying their ice skates by the laces chased after one another on their way to the frozen pond. Julian moved to take Katie’s hand. Impending fatherhood must have frightened him as much as the pregnancy scared her. But then she saw why he had reached for her.

  His mother had just entered the restaurant in a fashionable black winter coat with the white-haired man who worked behind the pharmacy counter at the village drugstore. He used a black cane with a silver top as he sauntered, and Katie had noticed he had a blemish like hers on the side of his face. She put one hand on the tabletop and her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip.

  Elvina’s companion nodded at Julian and Katie and sat down in a vacant booth while Elvina approached them. Katie put her hand protectively over her stomach. As long as her baby was inside her, he or she was safe. Katie wasn’t sure how much Julian had told his parents. She only knew what she’d told hers. Katie’s father wasn’t taking sides and in general had been supportive of her and whatever decision she decided to make. Her mother’s disapproval made Katie feel as powerless as the little girl she was years ago, the girl who had just wanted her mother to stop thinking about Paul for a second and notice her. But, with a baby in the picture, now her mum was finally paying attention to her. It almost made her feel as powerful as when she’d read.

  “How nice to see you two here.” Elvina leaned down and kissed Julian’s cheek. He shied away from her. She turned to Katie. “You’re looking very well, sweetheart.”

  Whenever Katie’s mother called her sweetheart, she felt warm inside, but when Elvina used the endearment, Katie shivered. She murmured, “Thanks.”

  Julian didn’t seem to want his mother to stick around, and evidently Elvina caught on to his feeling. “I guess I’ll say goodbye now.”

  Katie watched her walk away. How could someone so beautiful do what Neil had said she’d done?

  The server returned. “T
hanks for your patience, folks.” She removed the pen that was twisted into her hair bun and asked for Katie’s selection.

  With the baby, she usually found herself wanting to eat a lot, but she didn’t feel great after seeing Elvina. “A grilled cheese and tomato sandwich, thanks.”

  The server’s fingernails were so long she could hardly hold the pen to jot Katie’s order on her pad.

  Julian nodded and smiled at the server. “Thanks but I’m not very hungry.”

  Katie studied the paper placemat, a checkerboard of advertisements for local businesses.

  “That’ll be everything then, honey?” the server asked her.

  Katie looked up at her and nodded.

  The server left their table. Katie reached across and touched the shaving nick on Julian’s face. He didn’t smile. The baby was growing inside her and would be getting heavier to cart around.

  “Are you excited about it?” She touched her stomach.

  “Sure I’m excited. I guess girls just tend to get more excited about these things than guys. That doesn’t mean I’m not happy.” After a moment he gave her a half-smile.

  Elvina left and waved goodbye when she got to the exit door. Her white-haired friend smiled at Julian then stretched his mouth and flashed his teeth – long and a little grey – at Katie.

  ****

  The sonogram revealed Katie was carrying a girl. She tried not to worry and vowed she would keep her daughter safe. Julian and she planned to name her Molly. Katie stayed in school, which made an effort to be progressive about her pregnancy. A few months passed, and she marched in her school’s commencement ceremony, wearing the same cap and gown over a white dress as the other girls in her year.

  After Katie’s graduation, Julian found a saltbox house to rent and suggested they move in together. Katie turned down her mother’s offer for her to stay at home and raise Molly with her parents’ help. Katie didn’t ask Julian how they were going to pay for it all. He was working part-time with Katie’s father’s landscaping crew while finishing law school, and she was still working with Alex. Katie was grateful her dad was helping them out by hiring Julian and wondered how her mother felt about that. After all, her mum had never tried to hide the fact that she disliked Julian.

  Early one night after Katie and Julian had moved into their new home, Katie was alone when she heard a car pulling up. Julian was supposed to be at a class. Nat, who had gotten engaged to his college girlfriend Rachel, had dropped off a flowering cyclamen in a basket the day before. It had heart-shaped leaves and blooms that were like pink butterflies with their wings closed. Katie had just finished watering the plant.

  The doorbell rang. Katie walked into the foyer and could see the top of a woman’s blonde hair through the side window. Elvina was peeking into the hall. Katie ducked.

  “Katie? Aren’t you home?”

  Katie stayed still. After Elvina spoke Katie’s name again and showed no sign of leaving, Katie opened the front door.

  “Oh, hi there, I thought you were home but I wasn’t sure because you weren’t answering the door,” Elvina said.

  “I was in the bathroom upstairs,” Katie said.

  Elvina’s smile came across as very similar to Julian’s. “I’m sorry to drop in on you unannounced. I wanted to give you this.” She handed Katie a box wrapped in white tissue paper, with a yellow bow. It was drizzling outside and Katie motioned for her to come into the house. She closed the door, hung up Elvina’s coat in the hall and showed her into the living room. They sat together on the small, comfy couch.

  “Where’s Julian tonight?” Elvina asked.

  “At class, but he’ll be home any minute now.” Julian wasn’t due to come home for two hours. Katie started to undo the gift wrapping. “It was very… ” she took a set of carving knives out of the box, “… kind of you and your husband to think of us.”

  “Please, you can call him – my husband – Ben, and I would love it if you called me Elvina.” She started to touch Katie’s hand, but her fingers were so cold that Katie pulled away.

  Katie caught Elvina glancing at the necklace she wore before Elvina’s gaze landed on one of the many boxes Julian and Katie hadn’t finished unpacking yet. Katie figured Julian’s mother thought their place was dumpy and their decision to live together was foolish. But after Elvina had used the bathroom, she returned and told Katie the sunflower in a coffee can on the toilet tank was delightful. She reached for Katie’s stomach and paused, her hand hovering over the front of Katie’s maternity shirt.

  “Could I?” Elvina said. “I’d love to feel her kicking.”

  Katie shifted and turned slightly away from her.

  “Is everything all right?” Elvina sighed. “You know, I can’t help but think that for some reason you’re afraid of me.”

  Katie glanced at the side of Elvina’s face and tried to laugh it off. She sat taller. “I’m really not. I’m actually kind of tired right now.”

  “That makes sense. Now’s not a good time? I’ve already told Julian this, but I want you to know that I’m so excited about this baby and happy for you.”

  Katie could feel her eyebrows drawing closer together. “You are?”

  Elvina nodded and got up. “It will be lovely having a child around.”

  Katie had been planning to offer her coffee from the kitchen but now she didn’t feel like it. “I just thought of something. I promised my dad I’d call him, so … ” She got up.

  Elvina patted her hand. “That’s fine, dear. I can always come back another time. I’m sure I’ll be around a lot after she’s born. I can babysit for you and Julian whenever you need me.”

  Katie stood on the stoop in the drizzle and watched Elvina walk down the front steps and get into her car.

  When she went back into the house and shut the door, she checked twice to make sure it was really locked.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The onslaught of approaching car headlights startled Victoria as they rode to the hospital in Sam’s pickup truck. Julian had called them. Katie was in labour.

  Every child meant the beginning of something. All three of Victoria’s children had meant a new beginning for her. She had longed for healthy twin boys and received one of those but was happy to have them both. Right from the start, she’d dealt with Paul’s extra needs without complaint. An uncle on Sam’s side had had epilepsy. They’d taken Paul to a half-dozen neurologists until they found the one who seemed best. From him, they learned Nat had beaten the odds and had escaped being born with it.

  Katie had been so quiet as a baby that Victoria worried something might be wrong with her. But then one day she’d found her voice. Molly would be Katie’s new beginning. And now Victoria prayed Katie would make it through the delivery unharmed and that her grandchild would be healthy.

  ****

  Molly was born with a caul. The obstetrician had to explain what it was and chuckled at Katie’s groggy confusion. He gently took it off Molly’s head. She had a buttery complexion and a few delicate blonde curls on her otherwise bald head. The obstetrician’s nurse suctioned Molly’s nose and her mouth before removing the umbilical cord. Molly didn’t cry out while they were touching her face. She remained perfectly quiet.

  Katie was now a mother, like her own mother was, with all the joys and all that could be lost. Like her mother had lost Paul, she could lose Molly. She cried for all she realised her mum had lost and all she had just gained. How had Katie’s mother handled it all, and how would she manage?

  A young nurse in green scrubs and a surgical mask swaddled Molly in a pink blanket with small white flowers embroidered around the border and handed her to Katie. She pushed the blanket back and didn’t see the Mark on Molly’s temple. Julian drew in close to Katie’s bedside. She watched Molly’s plump, dimpled arm wriggling out of the blanket and peered up at him. Katie wanted to hold on to this moment forever. She saw the start of tears in Julian’s eyes and finally grasped what Neil had meant when he said his wife had read to r
eturn to her first look at their daughter.

  ****

  Victoria had found Father Aloysius from the college hovering at the nurses’ dispensary near the maternity ward. It turned out he was also the hospital’s chaplain. He had been introducing Sam and her to a group of nurses behind the long white counter when the obstetrician came out to announce Katie had just given birth to Molly. The Father’s handsome, friendly face loomed over Victoria’s, then he kissed her cheek.

  “Please accept my huge congratulations, love.”

  Victoria was haunted by children. And with the miracle of Molly – this new little person in her life – it was as though she had wound back time to a period before she’d lost Paul. Molly was the root of some newly budding happiness.

  The hospital moved Katie to a room and Sam and Victoria visited her. A series of thick curtains on a railing divided patient spaces. The young woman in the bed next to Katie’s was very quiet. Muzak piped in from somewhere down the hall. The chair’s scratchy fabric itched the backs of Victoria’s thighs through her pants. Sam sat next to her. Julian’s mother and father had arrived a few minutes earlier and had sat on the other side of them. Whenever Victoria saw Ben Bloomfield he always looked immaculate, but today he had on an old blue suit and was chewing down his fingernails. Elvina had paired a grey and white bouclé jacket and a matching skirt with cream pumps. Her ankles were crossed in a ladylike fashion. She removed her jacket and set it in her lap.

  Katie held Molly, wrapped in a pink blanket, in her arms. Victoria leaned forward and touched Molly’s delicate wristband. Katie seemed uncomfortable in Elvina’s presence, and every time Katie glanced in her direction, Elvina’s shoulders visibly tensed.

  Julian hugged Katie’s shoulders from behind and she tilted her head and smiled up at him. Elvina glanced at the three of them and got up. She walked to Katie’s bed and gestured to Molly.

  “Is it all right if I hold her?” she asked.