The Rambling Spy

by Mackenzie Morgan

  Marcie laughed. “You’re brave! Good luck with the kitchen.”

  “Thanks. Let me know if there’s anything I can do about that mess in town.”

  Marcie nodded. “I will.”

  After Bryn left, Marcie couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d said, and the more she thought, the angrier she got. And, as Marcie usually did when she was upset, she grabbed some rags and started cleaning. She took everything out of her cabinets, scrubbed down the shelves, and put everything back. Then she started on the pantry. She dragged everything out of it, washed down the shelves, and scrubbed the floor. She’d just started putting things back when Shel walked in.

  “We need to talk,” Shel said. “Privately.”

  “Caleb’s with Lance and Rayne’s at Marissa’s,” Marcie said. “Where’s Evan?”

  “With his father. I took him with me this morning and tired him out. Gorge came in after I got him settled for his nap so I told him to keep an ear out for him.”

  “So what do we need to talk about?”

  “Lisal.”

  Marcie exhaled a long sigh and pointed to the stacks on the table. “Hand me that stuff while you tell me what she’s done this time.”

  “She’s running her mouth,” Shel said as she picked up a couple of items and passed them to Marcie. “She’s trying to turn the whole town against Sister Hayley.”

  “What’s she saying?”

  “Lots of things, but what it boils down to is Hayley’s spending more time entertaining men at the chapel than tending to patients. From what I heard, Lisal’s urging the women around town to go see Father and register a complaint. She’s on a mission to drive Hayley out of town.”

  Marcie slammed the jars Shel had handed her down on the shelf.

  “Careful or we’ll be mopping the floor.”

  “Already done that.”

  “What brought all of this on? This is beyond normal cleaning.”

  “Bryn came by earlier. While she was in town yesterday Brigitte told her Hayley was seeing men, and that one of them was betrothed to someone else. Even Shondra had heard the rumors. She asked Bryn what she knew about Hayley, and said she needed a sister she could count on.” Marcie stepped out of the pantry and leaned back against the counter. “I’ve had it with Lisal. She’s the reason Marcus left town to start with.”

  Shel nodded. “He and Thom had already built a couple of wagons and were lining up clients when she broke into his house and moved his things around.”

  “I know. He’s always said that was when he found out she was telling everyone they were betrothed.”

  Shel shook her head. “That might be the thing that made him pay attention, but I know for a fact she’d been saying it for months before that, and he knew because I’d told him. I was still living in town then.”

  Marcie picked up a couple more jars and headed back into the pantry. “I remember hearing bits and pieces before she broke in, but that was the incident that brought it all to light. I told him then that he needed to do something about it. When she kept it up, I told him I was going to have a talk with her, but he asked me to stay out of it, to let him handle it, so I did. Wish he would.”

  “From what Thom says, he’s tried.” Shel handed Marcie a couple more jars. “I stopped by the smithy on my way home today to ask Thom if he’d heard any talk, which he has by the way. He said the last time Marcus was here they talked about Lisal. Marcus has told her more than once he’s not going to marry her, but she’s not hearing him.”

  “Oh, her hearing’s fine. She’s just choosing to ignore him,” Marcie said. “She’s going to keep pushing until Marcus gets fed up, packs up, and takes Hayley somewhere else to live, and we both know there are plenty of towns that would love to get the two of them.” Marcie shook her head. “I do not want to lose him again over Lisal!”

  “I don’t either.”

  “At the rate things are going, we will, so if we want to keep him around, we’re going to have to fight for him.”

  “That’s why I’m here. I think it’s time we got into this,” Shel said. “He might be a sorcerer, he might have sparred with dragons, but he’s not up to handling Lisal. I doubt Thom could and I know Gorge couldn’t.”

  Marcie gave a little chuckle. “I doubt there’s a man alive who could handle that woman. This type of fight takes a woman.”

  “Marissa and Mother will want in on this. Let’s finish up and go talk to them. They’ve probably heard more than we have.”

  ~~~~

  It took Marcie and Shel half an hour to get everything back in the pantry, and another hour to get to Marissa’s, so by the time they got settled at Gloria’s, it was late afternoon. It wasn’t until Gloria set out some tea and sweet rolls that Marcie realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. While the others nibbled, she ate. Then, once her hunger was satisfied, she said, “Gloria, I don’t know about you, but the rest of us are tired of Lisal’s mess.”

  Gloria shook her head. “I’m sick of her, too. She came storming in here demanding that Morris write Sister Brena and tell her to send us another sister, that Hayley’s unacceptable.”

  Shel’s eyebrows rose. “She talked to Father?”

  Gloria nodded. “Right after she shut the office door in my face. Took all I had not to toss her out right then. When I heard what she’d said to Morris, I wished I had.”

  “When did this happen?”

  “The Monday after Marcus was here. No hello, no how are you, no nothing, just demanded to see Morris.” Gloria shook her head. “How in the world Kent and Emma raised such a rude, arrogant daughter I’ll never know. They’re both such nice people.”

  Shel sighed. “Mother, you know they let her do and say anything she wanted to when we were growing up. No one could stand up to her because when any of us tried, she went crying to her parents about how horrible we were, and they believed her. We were the ones who got in trouble, not her. It’s no wonder she thinks she can get away with everything.”

  “And that’s why, if we’re not careful, we’re going to lose Hayley,” Marissa said.

  Shel sighed. “And if we lose Hayley, Marcus will go with her.”

  “And that’s going to be really rough on Thom.” Marissa sighed. “Ever since Hayley accepted the position here, he’s been so excited about Marcus coming back home. He’s hoping they can get their business up and running when Marcus comes back. I hate to see him get disappointed again.”

  “We need to do something, now,” Marcie said, “before this mess gets any worse.”

  “I agree, but what?” Marissa asked.

  “Well, I’m going to ask the next person who tells me Hayley’s been entertaining men just who she’s entertaining,” Shel said.

  “Entertaining?” Gloria asked as her eyebrows arched. “That’s how she’s putting it? At least that’s nicer than what she said to Morris.”

  “Why?” Marissa asked. “What did she say?”

  “She said Hayley was turning the chapel into a brothel,” Gloria said in a huff.

  “Brothel?!” Marcie asked.

  Gloria nodded.

  Marcie shook her head. “All right. If she wants a fight, let’s give her one.”

  “I’m all for that,” Marissa said, “but how? What can we do to stop her? How do we shut her up before Hayley gets fed up and leaves? Thom’s going to be crushed if Marcus goes somewhere else to live.” Then Marissa frowned. “Or maybe not. Last night Thom said if Marcus and Hayley go somewhere else, we might go with them. He was angry at the time, so I’m not sure how serious he was, but he was thinking about it.”

  “Oh, no you don’t!” Gloria’s eyes filled with tears. “Lose both my boys and my grandson?!”

  Marcie put her arm around the older woman. “We’re not going to let that happen. We’re going to fight back. And I think I know how.”

  ~~~~

  A little over an hour later, Marcie leaned back in her chair. “I think we’ve got this covered.”

  Over the cours
e of the afternoon, they’d settled on a plan of attack and outlined their strategy. Each woman had her own assignment and targets.

  Shel would concentrate on women with young children. Her emphasis would be the raid, how Hayley had come out of the shadows, rope in hand, and tied up one of the slavers. Then, without losing a beat, examined Evan, treated Gorge, delivered Parsyn, and without taking a break for either rest or food, checked on everyone else living in the settlement.

  Marissa planned to focus on the tenderness Hayley had shown her and her son when she delivered him in the midst of the confusion of the raid, and how she’d stayed for several days to make sure they were all right, and then insisted Myron bring her back on a regular basis so she could check on them.

  Marcie’s first target was Brigitte, the town gossip. She was going to find a way to run into her, let her bring up the gossip, and then tell her how relieved Sister Brena would be to get Sister Hayley back because Hayley was the one Brena sent to handle problems and emergencies. When Brigitte asked what she meant, she’d mention the chapel in Prosidian where the sister had disappeared, the chapel in Brendolanth where the sister was needed in Timera Valley, and the sister in Camden who had to take a sudden leave of absence, and that Hayley went with Myron to disaster sites to set up emergency clinics. She also planned to mention that Marcus had accompanied Hayley on these trips and stayed at the chapels with her. But she was going to leave out the fact that on most of those occasions Hayley had been Theresa’s assistant.

  Gloria’s approach would be different. The next time anyone mentioned anything to her, she’d act like Hayley would soon be gone and ask what they thought the town should do with the building since it would no longer be a chapel. After the inevitable question why, she’d say she felt sure Sister Brena would refuse to send another sister to Bridgeport after the way Hayley had been treated.

  The women figured Thom had as much reason to squelch these rumors as they did, so they were going to draft him. Marissa would get him to tell anyone who came by to leave work requests for Marcus that they better be sure they put everything on the list since he wouldn’t be around much more. When they asked why not, he’d say that since the women were determined to run Sister Hayley off, Marcus would go with her.

  And all of them intended to ask each person who said Hayley was seeing someone to back up what they said, to tell them who she was seeing, and if they didn’t know, press them to find out. Their goal was to make everyone think about where the rumors were coming from and whether or not they were true.

  Shel grinned. “I can’t wait to get started. This is going to be fun!”

  “Don’t enjoy it too much or someone will catch on to what we’re doing,” Marissa warned. “I do not want to have to pack everything up and move.”

  “I’ve got to get back home and start dinner,” Marcie said as she stood up to go. “With a bit of luck, maybe we’ll have this mess stopped before Marcus gets back. I’d rather he never find out about it.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Gloria said. “I’m about ready for him to go after Lisal. She’s caused a lot of headaches over the years.”

  “I know,” Marcie said, “and he’s tried, but it hasn’t work. That’s why he left the first time. I’m afraid he’ll pack up and leave again rather than fight her, especially now that someone else is involved. He’s protective of anyone he cares about, and whether or not he’s admitted it yet, that man’s in love. He will not want Hayley dragged into the middle of this mess.”

  Gloria sighed. “You’re right. I know you are. I just want to see Lisal put in her place for once.”

  “So let’s do it for him,” Shel said as she got up. Then she looked at Marissa. “Want a ride back? Or are you walking?”

  “I’ll help Gloria clear up before I go,” Marissa said. “Besides, if I walk back, someone may come up to me on the street with the latest gossip. I might be able to get started tonight.” She cracked a smile. “Would make a fitting end to the afternoon, wouldn’t it?”

  ~~~~

  Marcie was heading out when Theresa knocked on her door Friday afternoon. “Sister Theresa, come in,” she said as she took her cloak off. “Would you like some tea?”

  “No, thank you,” Theresa said. “Looks like you were on your way out. I don’t want to hold you up, but I would like to speak with you for a moment.”

  “I was going to run into town for a bit, but it can wait. Are you sure I can’t get you something?”

  Theresa shook her head. “But if you’d give me a ride into town, we can talk on the way.”

  Marcie put her cloak back on and motioned to the door. “What brings you here?” she asked as they climbed up on the wagon seat.

  “I wanted to see how things are going with Hayley,” Theresa said. “Sister Brena asked me to. She got a letter from Lisal.”

  Marcie shook her head. “Let me guess. She complained about Hayley and wants Sister Brena to reassign her and send us someone else.”

  “In a nutshell. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “How much do you know?”

  “Possibly more than you.” Theresa told her what she’d heard about Lisal, including why Hayley moved out of Marcus’s house and in with Morris. “I’m taking a chance telling you about that. Hayley doesn’t want you to know, but even more, she doesn’t want Marcus to find out.”

  Marcie exhaled a long, slow breath and shook her head. “I had a feeling it was something like that. Don’t worry, he won’t hear about it from me.” Then she told Theresa what Lisal had been saying around town and how she, Shel, Marissa, and Gloria planned to counter it. “With a bit of luck, we’ll get this mess turned around and dump it right back in Lisal’s lap.”

  Theresa wasn’t so sure. “You might, but then again, juicy gossip’s more interesting than dull facts. I hate that this could end up dividing your town.”

  “I’m not as worried about that as I am about my brother packing up and moving away, which he’ll do if Lisal manages to chase Hayley off.”

  “You’re probably right. I’ve spent a lot of time with the two of them. He’s devoted to her, and the feeling’s mutual. She almost refused her pendant because she didn’t want to jeopardize what she has with him.”

  “Seriously?” When Theresa nodded, Marcie shook her head. “I had no idea.” Then she gave a quick nod. “I knew she loved him. Even when she kept insisting they were just friends, I knew. I’m not sure he realizes it though.”

  “I think they both know, but I’m not sure they’ve talked about it yet. But they’ll end up together, whether it’s here, in Milhaven, or someplace else. And with her a sister and him a sorcerer, if they decide to go somewhere else, communities will be lining up to get them.”

  “I know, but I want them here. And I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.” Marcie pulled around behind the chapel. “Come on. I’ll go in with you.”

  Theresa picked up her overnight bag and followed Marcie inside.

  Sherri was in the kitchen washing dishes. “Sister Theresa!” she exclaimed as she rushed over to hug her, wet soapy hands and all.

  Theresa laughed and gently dislodged the young woman. “How are you doing? Do you like it here?”

  Sherri glanced at Marcie. “We’re doing fine. And everyone’s been so nice.”

  “I understand you and Marcie’s daughter have become good friends.”

  A genuine smile lit Sherri’s face. “We have. Rayne’s a lot of fun.”

  Marcie smiled. “She says the same about you.” Then she looked at Theresa. “I’ll leave you in Sherri’s hands and be on my way. Is Myron picking you up here or at my house Sunday?”

  “Your house, but it’ll be early.”

  “Then why don’t you spend the night with us tomorrow night? In fact, why don’t all three of you plan to have dinner with us?”

  “That would be nice, but I need to check with Hayley. She may have plans.”

  “She doesn’t,” Sherri piped up. “And it’s been a
long time since we’ve been down there.”

  “Good. Then unless I hear otherwise, I’ll expect you,” Marcie said as she opened the back door. “See you then.”

  After Marcie left, Sherri showed Theresa around and put her stuff in Hayley’s guest room. When they got back to the kitchen, Theresa said, “If there’s something you need to do, don’t let me stop you. I’ll be fine in here. Or if there’s anything I can do to help out, point me to it.”

  After a bit of discussion, Theresa started dinner while Sherri did some cleaning. By the time Hayley was done with patients, dinner was well underway and Sherri had finished cleaning.

  Hayley was looking forward to a long chat with Theresa, so after dinner she poured a fresh pot of tea. “Sherri, why don’t you go give Marissa a break and play with Parsyn for a while? Theresa and I are going to catch up, so I’m not planning to do anything else tonight.”

  Sherri grinned. “You don’t think she’d mind?”

  Hayley laughed. “I think she’d love it.”

  After Sherri left, Hayley and Theresa settled in Hayley’s sitting room.

  “So, how’s it going?” Theresa asked.

  “Mostly good, but I’m running into a little problem with Lisal.”

  As Hayley talked about the rumors, the town, and her patients, Theresa just listened. Finally, Hayley sighed. “Sometimes I think the best thing I could do for Bridgeport is leave. I love the people around here, well, most of them, and the last thing I want to do is cause problems.”

  Theresa hesitated. “I understand how you feel, and in your place, I’d probably feel the same, but I’m going to ask you not to do that, at least not yet. From everything I’ve heard, Lisal’s been trying to bully Marcus into marrying her for years.”

  Hayley shook her head. “There’s no way…”

  Theresa held up her hand. “I know he’s not going to marry her, but she’s driving him away, away from his home and the only family he’s ever really had. Now I know the two of you could be happy anywhere, but what about the rest of them? How’s Marcie going to feel if Marcus leaves for good? Or Caleb? What about Thom and the business they were going to build? And what about Morris and Gloria? He’s a son to them every bit as much as Thom is. Lisal’s already run him off once. I don’t want to see it happen again. One woman should not have the power to mess up that many lives.”