Dandelion Summer

by Mary Ellen Bramwell

  Mom was nodding in agreement. “They can’t kill Pop because they don’t know where the painting is. He’ll stay alive, all of us will, as long as they don’t find it.”

  Saturday

  It was August 9th, a Saturday, but it was anything but typical. Where Saturdays were usually days to tackle the bulk of the chores, when they woke up, Mom told them, “Just do whatever you want today. Enjoy the day.” It was a false calm and joy, and they all knew it. But they weren’t about to be disobedient to such a wonderful directive.

  Jillian and Daniel started playing board games, but it didn’t escape Madelyn’s attention that it was purposely an indoor activity. For her part, she managed to sit still long enough to read her Hobbit chapters for the week—something she’d recently forgotten all about. But then she didn’t know what to do with herself.

  “Mom, I think I’ll go mow our lawn. Aunt Dory, would you like me to mow yours as well?”

  Mom was quick to reply, “Oh, Madelyn, I’m not sure-”

  Aunt Dory put a hand on her arm. “Rachel, she’ll be safe. The police are right outside. Let her go.” Turning to Madelyn, she added, “I’d love to have you mow my lawn. Thank you. Maybe you can get Zane to help? He can use my mower.”

  Madelyn smiled at the suggestion, and before Mom could object further, she was on the phone.

  . . .

  While Zane mowed Aunt Dory’s lawn, Madelyn mowed her own. They were often within eyesight and smiled, waved, and nodded at each other every time they were. When she wasn’t sneaking a peek at Zane or spotting the police car out of the corner of her eye, she was noticing the dandelions in the front of the house—the area she and Mom had left for last. It hadn’t been that long ago that they’d worked on them, but it felt like forever ago. Everything seemed to have changed since then.

  As they finished mowing, Aunt Dory brought them each a tall glass of homemade lemonade. Then she proceeded to bring out two more—for the officers in the police cruiser out front.

  After downing their drinks, Madelyn and Zane put their tools away. As she was closing her garage door, Madelyn was grateful to see Zane standing by waiting for her. “Thanks for your help,” she said.

  “Not a problem,” he said, smiling in a way that lit up his whole face. “I’m glad you called.”

  They walked back to Aunt Dory’s house, and as they did so, Zane slipped his hand into hers. It felt warm and comforting as if that was right where it belonged.

  The rest of the day would have dragged on and on, stressful in every moment of it, if it hadn’t been for Zane. At least that was the case for Madelyn. They talked and played games with Jillian and Daniel. In the late afternoon, they even baked chocolate chip cookies together.

  It was a perfect day, except for one thing. When Madelyn said goodbye to Zane on Aunt Dory’s front porch, the sight of the police cruiser could be seen right over his shoulder.

  Week Ten – Summer 1975

  Sunday

  Aunt Dory decided to go to church with Madelyn’s family on Sunday. “I don’t usually attend church,” she said, “but I’d kind of like to stick together for the moment.”

  “Great!” Madelyn said, happy to have her along.

  Waiting for the service to begin, it dawned on Madelyn that the situation was scary for Aunt Dory as well. She was likely drawing as much comfort from their presence as they were from hers. Madelyn reached over and gave her a hug. If she hadn’t been adopted into the family before, she certainly was now.

  On the way home from church, Mom said, “I think we better tell your father what’s been going on.”

  “Really?” Madelyn said. “What about not wanting to scare him when he’s far away and can’t do anything about it?”

  “Yes, I know I said that. Maybe we don’t need to share all the details yet.” As she pulled the car into Aunt Dory’s driveway, she nodded her head to the police officers parked outside and added, “Like the presence of the police out front.”

  They all sat silently in the car for a moment, unwilling to leave its relative safety. Madelyn finally spoke. “Okay. Then why don’t you just talk to Dad? Then we won’t let anything slip that we shouldn’t.”

  “Are you sure, Madelyn? You don’t want to talk to him?”

  “Of course I want to talk to him, but maybe this time it’s for the best to wait.”

  Despite deciding not to talk to Dad over the phone, all the kids gathered around when Mom did. They wanted to know Dad’s reaction, and they were certain they could by watching the expressions on Mom’s face.

  When it was laid out step-by-step for Dad, it was surprising just how much had happened. Madelyn noticed that Mom didn’t mention a painting exactly. She simply said, “a valuable antique.” And when it came to the break-in at their house, she dismissed it with, “suspicious things have been happening.”

  She must have said, “Don’t worry,” about a dozen times, so Dad’s reaction was pretty much what they’d expected. Madelyn moved closer and put an arm around her mom, who smiled at her in appreciation.

  Mom was in the process of saying goodbye when she hesitated. “Roger, actually there’s one more thing I want to tell you. There was a break-in at our house. So, as a precaution, we’re staying over at Dory’s.” Madelyn was surprised at the confession since she’d so deftly maneuvered around it before.

  She nodded her head a few times, even though Dad couldn’t see it, then gave him Aunt Dory’s phone number. “I know. I hesitated to tell you. I didn’t want to say anything to frighten you or make you worry. But I want you to know that even though it’s rough here right now, we’re handling things. Really, if anything, you can feel better about us being here. We’re safe.” She said it with more confidence then any of them felt, but it needed to be said all the same.

  They all breathed a sigh of relief when the phone call was over. Going over the details had brought so much back to their minds, as if they were reliving it all.

  “Anyone up for a game?” Aunt Dory asked, trying to break the tension. Just then, the doorbell rang.

  “Ma’am,” the officer said when Mom came to the door. “My sergeant wanted me to give you an update. We’ve been watching the house all weekend, and we’ve witnessed no suspicious activity. He also wanted me to tell you that in addition to our car out front, whenever things are slow, a cruiser drives around the neighborhood, just in case a brown sedan has been hanging around nearby. We’re happy to say it’s all clear.”

  Mom nodded in appreciation, but the officer wasn’t done. He was twisting his hat in his hands, hesitant to continue. “I … I, uh, also need to inform you that, … well, since nothing has gone on, we’ll be suspending the watch.” Mom noticeably flinched, and he glanced away so he wouldn’t have to look her in the eye anymore. “We’ll be here through the night, but if things are quiet, we’ll shut it down in the morning.” His head came up. “But, don’t worry, we’ll keep patrolling the area. Trust me, we’ll be close if you need us.”

  Mom nodded again. “Thank you. You’ve been most kind.” She was composed and calm. But when the door closed behind her, she collapsed into a pile of tears.

  Monday

  Neither Madelyn nor her mom slept much that night. They jumped at the least little creak or groan of the house. And by the time morning rolled around, they were tense, waiting for the knock on the door saying the police were leaving their post for good.

  So, they both startled when it was the phone that rang first. Aunt Dory came into the room a moment later. “Rachel, it’s your husband on the phone.”

  “Dad?” Madelyn said, having a sudden desire for the comforting sound of his voice.

  “Go ahead. You can get on the other li
ne,” Mom said, shooing her off towards the kitchen. “I’ll pick it up in here.”

  Madelyn scrambled to the kitchen, all too eager to hear her father’s voice after the night she’d had. When she picked it up, she heard her mother saying, “It’s good to hear your voice too. But I have to admit I’m surprised to hear from you.”

  “I know. I’ve been up half the night worrying about you,” Dad said.

  “I’m sorry. That’s why I waited to tell you.”

  “Don’t apologize, I just wish …”

  “I know. Me too.”

  “Well, the real reason I called is to offer to come home sooner. Right now, I’m scheduled to be done Friday and then on a flight first thing Saturday morning, but I could drop everything and get on a plane today.” She could hear the sleepless night in his proposal. Madelyn held her breath waiting for her mother’s response, pretty certain she knew what it would be.

  “No. Stay. We’ll be fine.” It’s a different answer than Mom would have given at the start of the summer, but then she was a different person now. And even though Madelyn wanted her mom to respond differently, she couldn’t help but be happy with her newfound confidence and courage.

  Dad was clearly surprised as well. “Are you sure? It’s no trouble. Everyone here would understand.”

  “I know, Roger. Part of me wants to say yes, it really does. Maybe it’s foolishness on my part, but I need to finish this—this summer without you, dealing with these challenges. I need to know that I can. I will always need you, and I want to face life with you together. But I’m just starting to believe in myself, to believe that I’m not stupid.”

  “I never thought you—”

  “I know. I know. You’ve never treated me like I was stupid. But I’ve treated myself that way. I want you to come home to me when I’ve finished the summer, when I’ve finished what we set out to do, not because I gave up.”

  “Okay. I could argue that you’re not giving up, that this is something else entirely, but I understand what you’re saying.” He paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was full of emotion. “I’m so proud of you, honey. You’re the best wife I could ever dream of.”

  Madelyn felt like she was eavesdropping on this tender conversation, but she didn’t want to hang up either.

  “Rachel, you know I love you, right?” Dad said.

  “Yes. You tell me all the time. It’s one of the reasons I love you so much. My father has always loved me. I have no doubts about it. But he rarely says it. You, thankfully, are different. I …” Mom had suddenly gone completely quiet.

  “Rachel? Are you there? Are you all right?”

  “Yeah, I’m here.” Her voice had a distracted quality to it. “I’m okay. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine, but there’s something I need to do. I’ll call you tonight, okay.”

  “What? What’s going on?”

  “I’ll call you tonight. I love you.” And then Mom abruptly hung up.

  Madelyn was still staring at the phone when Mom came into the kitchen. Mom opened her mouth to speak when a knock came at the door.

  It was a different officer. “Mrs. Osborne, I just wanted to let you know it was a quiet night. We’ll be leaving now. Call us if you have any other concerns.”

  Much as they had been dreading this moment, Mom dismissed it with a quick, “Thank you so much for your time.” As soon as the door was closed, she turned to Madelyn. “Hurry and get dressed. I know where the painting is.” Then without another word, she swept out of the entryway to get dressed herself, leaving not a hint of the tiredness from her sleepless night in her wake.

  . . .

  “Where are we going?” It was the first words Madelyn had dared speak since Mom’s declaration.

  Mom was turning out of their cul-de-sac. “We’re going to visit Tommy.”

  “Tommy? I thought we were going to find the painting.”

  “We are. It’s somewhere at Tommy’s workshop.”

  “How do you know that?”

  She was busy navigating traffic and didn’t speak for a few minutes. “It’s something Tommy said that didn’t make sense. I was reminding him that Pop loved him, and Tommy said Pop had told him that himself, only I’d never heard that.”

  Madelyn remembered the conversation. “That’s right. He said Pop Pop came to see him before he went away, and that he came without you.” Her mouth dropped open. “Oh, wow! That’s why he went to see him—to hide the painting!” Madelyn was excited and scared at the same time. “Mom, you’re brilliant.”

  She smiled before saying, “I just hope we’re not too late.”

  They were so excited, they failed to notice the car that pulled in behind them. It wasn’t brown this time having been swapped out for a black sedan with darkened windows.

  . . .

  When they arrived at Tommy’s workshop, it was full of the normal sights and sounds, but to Madelyn and Mom, it felt like the calm before the storm. With relief, Madelyn spotted the familiar form across the room. “Uncle Tommy!”

  His head came up. “Madly! Why you come? This is Monday.” Then he saw Mom right behind her. “And Sissy. Wow!”

  He slowly got up from his station, carefully setting aside his work materials before starting to come their way. Despite their typical routine of waiting, now was not the time. Uncle Tommy jumped when Mom and Madelyn appeared at his elbows. “Whoa. You in a hurry today.”

  “Yes, we are, Tommy. We need to talk to you. Do you think we could go to your lunchroom?”

  “Sure. No one’s eating lunch right now.”

  As they moved toward the lunchroom, the ever-silent Annie saw them and waved. “Hi, Annie,” Madelyn said. Annie was working next to Eliza and nudged her. “Hi, Eliza,” Madelyn added. “I see you.” Madelyn was in a hurry, but these people were Uncle Tommy’s other family.

  “I see you,” Eliza answered.

  As they settled into the lunchroom, Madelyn noticed that Annie and Eliza had left their work behind to hover in the doorway. She motioned for them to come in, and Annie, seeing the motion, helped Eliza to a seat nearby.

  “Tommy,” Mom began, “can you tell us anything about Pop Pop? Anything about before he went away?”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, you mentioned that he came without me once. Is that right?”

  Tommy acted sulky. “I already told you about that—only you didn’t believe me.”

  “You’re right. You did tell me that, and I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. Did he tell you anything special, like a secret, or something he hadn’t told you before?”

  He nodded, brightening a little at the admission. “He wanted to see our breakroom and my cubby.”

  “Why? What did he do there?”

  “Don’t know. He asked me to get him a drink—water in our paper cups. And he wanted paper towels from the lunchroom in case he spilled his water.”

  “That’s kind of strange, don’t you think?”

  Uncle Tommy started to giggle. “That’s what I said, but he said when you get older you start spilling again, just like a little baby. That made me laugh. I was still laughing when I got the water. I had to get it twice ‘cause my laughing made it spill the first time.” He was chuckling even harder at the memory.

  It may have been amusing in a different context. Instead, Mom was biting her lip while trying hard not to pass her worry along to her brother. A look passed between her and Madelyn, and Mom whispered, “He was buying time to be alone.” Madelyn nodded.

  She reached over and started to pat Uncle Tommy’s back. It’s a motion Madelyn had seen her use to calm him many times, but
usually when he was agitated not happily animated.

  “Tommy, this is really important. Did you see anything that Pop Pop did in your breakroom, something you noticed when you came back?”

  “Nope, Sissy. He was just waiting for me, holding his knapsack.”

  “He had a knapsack?” Madelyn said.

  “Yeah, he brought it with him. It was cool. When I came back with the water, he let me hold it. It had a big part in the middle and then some pockets. He said I could keep it. Do you want to see?”

  “Maybe later. Did it have anything in it?”

  “No, don’t think so.”

  “And you’re certain you didn’t see him do anything else?” Uncle Tommy just shook his head.

  “I saw him,” Eliza said.

  “You saw him?” Madelyn said, knowing she couldn’t have seen a thing.

  “Yes, I saw him.”

  Madelyn rolled her eyes at Mom, but Mom was staring at Eliza. “Maybe she sees the way I used to read.” Then to Eliza, she added, “What did you see?”

  “Screws. I saw screws.”

  “In the breakroom?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you see the screws?”

  “I was in the bathroom next to the breakroom, but I heard a clink outside the door—something falling. Then, when I went out, I stepped on a screw. It wasn’t there before.” She was smiling, clearly proud of herself.

  “That’s great!” Mom said, clapping her hands. Let’s go to the breakroom and search for screws and missing screws. I’ll bet we can figure this out.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” a voice behind them said—a voice just like the one they’d heard carried on the wind the night of the break-in.

  There were two of them, just like before, but they were holding guns this time. Madelyn shivered, realizing they may have had guns that other night too, only she was never close enough to see. Silly that she was thinking about how much more dangerous that night had been than the situation right in front of her. With an odd detachment, she looked at the two of them to evaluate the situation.