Shadow by the Bridge

by Suzanne Zewan

  “I thought about that, but I don’t want to intrude on him. And you’ve been home every night. It was just the couple of hours before Uncle John called, that’s all.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, still feeling as though I’d been selfish.

  “No, it’s all right. I had the doors locked, but I kept thinking about Florence being so helpless. Suddenly, I felt helpless, too. I kept picturing someone breaking into the house. Over and over again, I kept visualizing a dark figure breaking the glass window on our side door.”

  “I won’t leave after I come home from the farm. I’ll come home, go visit Valerie for a few minutes, and come right back.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t mean that you have to stay home with me every night that Joseph isn’t going to be there.”

  I looked at my mother and saw the fear in her eyes.

  As I sat there, I closed my eyes for a moment. I imagined nests built of rattled bones, broken skulls, dripping in cold blood inside the minds of everyone in Linden—holding everyone’s thoughts captive.

  Seventeen

  1923

  The warm afternoon sun fell on our faces as Valerie and I stepped out of the large wooden doors of the Middlebury Baptist Church. My eyes wandered across the road, over to the cemetery headstones, over the tumbling hills, and up to the clear, crisp blue sky.

  “What a gorgeous day!” Valerie said cheerfully.

  “Yeah, it sure is.” I smiled, noticing how the sun made her blue eyes sparkle like deep blue crystals. We continued walking hand in hand toward the parking lot.

  I glanced back at the church doors. “Where are they?”

  “Oh, your mom is probably introducing Joseph to everyone.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “Fritz!” my mother called.

  I turned, and she waved as she and Joseph strolled toward us, arm in arm.

  “So, was everyone interrogating you in there?” I asked, jokingly.

  “It sort of felt a little like that,” Joseph replied, and laughed about it as he adjusted his fedora.

  “I guess it’s to be expected, you’re a new face around here,” Valerie said.

  “Oh, you’re exaggerating.” My mother flashed a smile at Joseph. “There were only a few people asking questions about who you were.”

  “I’m sure I’ve put witnesses on the stand through much worse.” Joseph nodded and cleared his throat. “I’ve new empathy for the folks sitting in the witness stand.”

  I gave a lighthearted laugh.

  My mother turned to me. “Now, you remember that we’re going to the Richmond Hotel for dinner with Joseph’s parents this afternoon?”

  “You and Valerie are welcome to come with us. Today would be the perfect day for you two to meet my parents. I know they would love to finally meet both of you,” Joseph said.

  “Valerie and I have plans this afternoon, but thank you for the invitation,” I said. “I’m sure we’ll meet them soon.”

  Valerie turned to me, her head slightly tilted. “We do?”

  “Yes,” I nodded with a grin. “We do.”

  “All right!” Valerie gave me a sly look and turned to my mother and Joseph. “I guess we have plans, which is a surprise to me.”

  “Do you have any idea what time you’ll be back from Batavia?” I asked as I pulled my pocket watch out of my front pocket. “It’s quarter to twelve now.”

  “Before supper,” Joseph replied. “I have to prepare for trial tonight.”

  “I’d really like to meet your parents, Joseph; maybe another time,” Valerie said.

  He nodded. “Yes, of course. Another time,” he said and turned to my mother. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, I am.” She stepped toward me, kissed me on the cheek, and then kissed Valerie on the cheek. “See you in a few hours. Enjoy your day.”

  “Okay, let’s go!” I pulled Valerie’s hand, and we headed toward the car. I looked over my shoulder; I saw my mother and Joseph exit the parking lot and drive down the road.

  “Where’re we going?” Valerie asked and started to giggle.

  We stopped at the passenger side of the car. I placed my hands on her hips and I stared into her eyes. “You’re such a doll, you know that?” I whispered and leaned in and kissed her soft pink lips. “I almost leaned over and kissed you in church. But I thought I’d better wait.”

  “You did?” Valerie smiled. “That certainly would have turned some heads.”

  I leaned in and kissed her again. Our mouths opened; our tongues twirled and ignited the desire inside my veins.

  The sounds of voices were coming toward us. I pulled away. We both turned to see who it was.

  An old lady and her husband were walking arm in arm. The grey haired lady was shaking her head with disgust on her face. Then she shook her finger at us. “You two ought to be ashamed of yourselves,” she said in a creaky, offended voice. Her tall, white-haired husband opened the car door for her; she sat down, and he shut the door.

  “Don’t mind her,” he said quietly. “She must have forgotten what it was like to be young… But I remember.” He smiled and then winked. “You two enjoy your day.”

  Valerie blushed, and then we broke out in laughter when the couple drove away.

  “Do you know them?” I asked.

  Valerie shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” I asked.

  “Yes, very ashamed.”

  “Me too! Now kiss me!” We kissed and tried not to laugh.

  Valerie pulled away. “We should stop. Now, where’re we going?” she asked with earnestness.

  “It’s such a nice day; I thought we’d take a Sunday drive.” I opened the car door for her, and she stepped inside. We drove out of the parking lot, down the road, and into the rolling hills.

  “What about dinner? I’m a little hungry.”

  “I packed it for us. It’s in the basket behind the seat.”

  “That’s so sweet! But we have to stop and tell my parents that I won’t be home for dinner.”

  “No you don’t. It’s all taken care of. I ran into your mom last night on her way to the post office and asked her if it would be all right for us to do something this afternoon. I also told her that it was a surprise.” I flashed a quick grin, and set my hand on her knee.

  “You’re sneaky. But I like it.” She flashed a sly smile. “So where’re we going?”

  “Well, I thought all last night about where to go today. Then my mother reminded me of the place we used to go to when I was young: have you ever been to Silver Lake?”

  “No, I don’t think so. Is it far?”

  “Not too far. It’s in Perry.”

  As I drove through the back roads of Wyoming County, we passed big farm houses with cows and horses grazing off the land, two small pioneer cemeteries hidden among the sparse trees, lots of woods, and fields of corn and cabbage coming to the end of their growing season.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been out this way,” Valerie said as she gazed at the countryside.

  “That’s good! I was hoping to take you somewhere you’ve never been to.”

  We entered the village of Perry and saw the painted wooden signs for the Silver Lake Marina. A couple of miles down the road, I turned into the marina and parked the car.

  “What a beautiful lake!” Valerie said as I opened the door for her and focused for a moment on the soothing sound of the water gently hitting the shore. “I didn’t realize that it would be this big.”

  “Well, it’s really a small lake compared to the other lakes around us, like Lake Ontario. You can’t even see the other side of that lake.”

  “This is perfect!” Valerie smiled and gave me a quick kiss as I opened the back door and grabbed the basket off the floor. I also grabbed my dad’s old wool blanket, which smelled of cedar and reminded me of him.

  A few blankets were already spread out across the grass. There were mothers and fathers with their children
. There was a father throwing a baseball to his young son. There was a mother holding her baby as she gazed out at the water. Children were running around, chasing each other and laughing, all under the warm sunshine.

  “Where do you want to go?” Valerie asked. “Here, let me carry the blanket.” She pulled it out from under my arm and held it up to her nose. “Cedar—I love the smell of cedar.”

  I scanned the area and saw an opening, not far from a tall maple tree shading the grass beside the water and not far from an older man who was fishing on the shore. “What about over there?” I pointed.

  “That’s a good spot, right by the water!”

  We strolled past the families who were enjoying the day. Valerie shook out the blanket and spread it out a few steps from the layer of pebbles lining the shore. The fisherman nodded and waved as he threw his fishing line into the water.

  We sat down, and I opened the basket. “My mother baked fresh rolls this morning, and I made turkey sandwiches.” I handed Valerie her sandwich, which was wrapped in a gold linen napkin.

  “This was such a great idea,” she said and bit into the soft roll.

  “I also brought a couple apples.” I handed one to Valerie.

  “Thank you.” She smiled. “Did you bring anything to drink?”

  “Yes, of course, cider. The sweet cider.” I flashed a grin and grabbed the small jug out of the basket. I found two level spots, set the two glasses down, and then poured the cider.

  “I saw a sign saying that you can rent boats here. We should come back sometime and rent one,” Valerie said as she watched the boats out on the lake.

  “There won’t be much time this year with me working almost every day, but maybe next summer.”

  “That’s what I meant, next summer. I’ve never been on a boat before. It must be nice out there on the water.”

  “It is,” I said as I stared at the lake and bit into my roll. Watching the boats on the water, I remembered all the times out on the lake with my mom and dad. I could almost see my father rowing the boat as I sat next to my mother, her arms wrapped tightly around me. She was so scared that I’d fall in the water. She had held me close as she pointed to the sunfish that swam next to the boat.

  “I love the sound of the waves hitting the shore.” Valerie gazed at the lake as she sipped on her cider. She seemed mesmerized by the sight and sound of the water.

  “So, have you seen much of Junior lately?”

  “No, not much, but my mother said he stopped for supper last night. He’s been working in Attica all week.” She glanced over at me. “Have you seen him?”

  “No, that’s why I was asking: it’s been a while. And I can’t look at an apple without thinking of your brother. We must have picked a million of them.”

  “Your mom bringing Joseph to church today, that was a big step for her.”

  “Yeah, I guess. She’s been talking about bringing him for a couple of weeks. I think she was finally ready to make that move. Joseph is good for her.”

  I watched a mother, father, and young boy rowing across the lake; memories of my parents taking me out on a boat as a child flooded my head once again. I recalled a pile of flat rocks, a fishing pole, and a blue heron. My father had shown me how to skip a rock across the water. He helped me reel in my first sunfish. And I remembered him pointing to the blue heron that was standing on the shore by a decaying tree that had fallen in the water.

  “What’re you thinking about?” Valerie asked in a soft voice. “You’re smiling.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I guess I am,” I replied quietly, still staring at the lake, reminiscing. “All these memories of being here when I was young just came flooding back to me.”

  Valerie leaned over, placed her finger below my chin, and turned my head toward her. “Tell me about them.” A slight grin spread across her face. She placed her hand gently on mine and grasped it.

  I leaned over and kissed her. I could smell her perfume: a mix of jasmine and rose. “I have so many. We used to come here a lot during the summers.”

  “Pick the first one that comes to mind,” Valerie said eagerly.

  “Well, I remember one time we were out on the boat. My dad had showed me how to row… I must have been five or six then. I tried so hard to move the oars, but I couldn’t do it; I wasn’t strong enough, and the boat hardly moved. Then my father told me that his arm was hurting from rowing out to the middle of the lake and he wouldn’t be able to row us back in. My mother assured me that she wasn’t strong enough to row. I remember being so scared, I think I even began to cry. My parents had me going for a couple of minutes!” I started laughing. “So after they realized how scared I was, my dad placed his hands over mine and we rowed the boat back to the dock together. He assured me that we wouldn’t have made it back to shore if it wasn’t for my help.”

  “That’s sweet and funny. It’s a little mean, too, but funny.”

  “I know, but I felt really strong when we made it back to the shore.” I pressed my lips together and couldn’t help but smile about that memory.

  “I wish I could have seen your face when you thought you had to row the boat all the way back to shore. I will have to ask your mom about that.”

  “I forgot all about it until a few minutes ago. The day was just like today.”

  “Those are the memories that you have to hold on to.” Valerie kissed me on the cheek.

  “Beautiful day, ain’t it?” a man’s voice asked.

  I turned and saw the fisherman walking toward us.

  “Yes, it is,” Valerie replied.

  “Having any luck?” I asked.

  “I caught a few earlier. Just came over to say hello and introduce myself. Henry Benson.” He reached down and shook my hand. “You can call me Hank.”

  “I’m Fritz, and this is Valerie.”

  “It’s nice to meet you both. Is this your first time here? Most faces I know.”

  “I used to come here with my parents when I was younger.” I gestured over to Valerie. “This is her first time here.”

  “I was just asking because I fish a lot here. My wife and I live down the road.” Hank pointed. “So, where’re you folks from?”

  “Linden. It’s about twenty miles from here.”

  “Linden?” He asked with interest. “Ain’t that where that woman was found murdered?”

  I glanced over at Valerie, then back at Hank. “Yeah, we knew her. I used to pick apples on her farm. She was a good woman,” I replied.

  “That’s a damn shame for something like that to have happened.” He shook his head. “So they ain’t never found out who did it, did they?”

  “No, not yet. No one has been arrested for it.”

  “Well, I know there’ve been murder cases open for years, and somehow they catch ’em.”

  “And sometimes they don’t,” I said in a fading voice.

  Hank nodded and scanned the lake for a moment as he wiped his forehead, maybe at an unexpected loss for words. “I’m gonna let you two get back to enjoying your meal. It was nice meeting you, Fritz, and you too, Valerie.” Hank looked at me and pointed to Valerie. “You have a lovely lady there.”

  Valerie smiled at me, and then looked up at Hank. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. “Are you done fishing for the day?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure my wife is wondering where I am. Dinner’s waiting for me.”

  “Maybe we’ll see you around again,” I said as I sipped my glass of cider.

  “Yeah, we are going to come back and rent a boat sometime,” Valerie said.

  “Why don’t you take a walk down to the rental shop and see if you can rent one today?” He pointed over to the small gray shed to the left of the dock. “You’ll want to talk to Charlie. He’s a good friend of mine. He’ll take good care of ya.”

  Valerie nodded and smiled.

  “Maybe we will.” I reached in and pulled out my pocket watch. 2:15. “We have some time.”

  “Enjoy the rest of yo
ur day,” Hank wandered away, picked up his fishing pole and tin bucket, and then headed toward the road.

  “Would you want to rent one today?” Valerie asked.

  “Sure, if he has one available.”

  “Did you bring any money?”

  “Yeah, I have a few dollars with me. Let’s pack this up and go see about the boat,” I said with enthusiasm and jumped to my feet.

  Valerie finished her cider and placed the jug and the glasses into the basket. I grabbed the two apple cores and threw them into the trees while Valerie grabbed the napkins and placed them into the basket. She stood up, shook out the blanket, and folded it up.

  “I’ll take that,” I said as I held out my hand and Valerie handed me the blanket and picnic basket. I ran it all back to the car.

  “All right,” I said, slightly out of breath. “Let’s go see about that boat.” I grasped Valerie’s hand, and we strolled over to the marina as the small waves rolled in to the shore. I felt the cool air drifting off the water as we approached the small shack.

  I pulled the handle of the gray wooden door. There was an older, bald-headed man wearing round, wire-framed glasses and a dark blue shirt with tan suspenders sitting behind a small counter, reading the newspaper.

  “Can I help you kids?” he asked.

  “Are you Charlie?”

  “I happen to be. What can I do for yas?”

  “We were just talking to Hank and he told us to ask you about renting a boat,” I replied.

  “Oh yeah, he’s my neighbor, and a good fella too. How long do you want to rent it for?”

  I looked over at Valerie. “What, an hour or so?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “That sounds good.” She smiled. Excitement lit up her eyes.

  “That will be seventy-five cents for the hour.”

  I reached into my front pocket and placed three quarters on the wooden counter. Charlie put the change into a wooden box that was sitting on a shelf behind him.

  “Follow me.” Charlie stepped out from behind the counter, and we trailed behind him. “I have two of the larger row boats left.” He pointed to the two wooden row boats, each of which was tied to a post. “Let me just untie one, and you two can step into the boat over on the dock.”