Running Home

by Bill Sanderson

  Chapter Fifteen

  Miriam came up behind Rose at the breakfast table and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  “What was that for, dear?” Rose looked amused.

  “Just a thank you. You've done so much for me.” Miriam poured herself some tea and took a bowl of oatmeal from the pot. “I was praying last night and realized that I've been behaving toward you like you were my mother and you've been letting me. So I wanted to say thank you.”

  Rose put down her spoon and took Miriam's hand. “Well, I'm not sure what you'd call our relationship, but if you want to be an extra daughter, I’m happy with that. I expect you'll be my niece soon enough.”

  “I'm sure that will happen, too. But I'd almost rather be an honorary daughter. I haven't had anyone to mother me in too many years. My aunts were nice enough, but they weren't motherly toward me. They had no real obligation to me.” Miriam took a sip of tea. “I think I need a Canadian mom. There is so much that I'm still not used to. I wore my new walking shorts and a sleeveless blouse last week to the beach and I still felt underdressed when I left the house.” She snickered. “But not when I got there.”

  Rose sipped her morning tea. “I'll bet you still had some of the young men checking you out.”

  Miriam realized that she wasn't blushing. “I'm trying to ignore them. Maddy was right when she said it was both flattering and maddening. I will admit that if I was wearing my normal clothes from home I might be more uncomfortable because I would stand out more.”

  “Ethel finally passed on Jaclyn's version of your kiss at the dance. She said it was a good thing because the young men finally got the message that you weren't available.”

  Miriam raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn't have been there at all without Jerry. I felt like a museum exhibit most of the night. If he hadn't been there at my side I would have run away. And they're all so young.”

  Rose snickered. “Well, Jaclyn would not have known you were nervous if you hadn't told her. By the way, why are you having breakfast here?”

  “Jerry had to take Michelle to the dentist, so he also scheduled a checkup for both of them with Dr. Prinsloo and a visit to the eye doctor for Michelle. He said he wanted to get it all done at once. Their first appointment was at quarter to eight, so I wished him luck and told him I was sleeping in for a change.”

  “Good for you. What are you planning for today?”

  “Jerry won't be back from Halifax until after lunch, so I thought I'd walk down to the library to be there when it opens. I've been thinking of setting up a Hotmail account so I can email Elena.”

  “Just be careful.”

  “Elena's husband is a doctor and a very moderate Sunni Muslim. His family wanted him to marry a well educated woman, so when they met at university in Beirut his father contacted mine and they were promised to each other.” Miriam sipped her tea. “It wouldn't have happened at all if Elena wasn't attracted to him. Emile wanted to wait until he finished his residency before they married, but when Walid threatened to break the engagement and marry her off to someone else, Emile's family arranged the wedding very quickly. Walid only paid for Elena's dress for the welcome banquet and he complained about that. Emile’s family even paid for a bus to bring the family from Manzieh to Tripoli and back.” Miriam's lips compressed. “Anyway, Emile has an Internet connection to keep up with the latest medical research, so Elena has an email account. But I'll have to email him at the hospital because I don't know Elena's address.”

  “Don't mention Internet to Jack. He's not happy about the availability of high speed connections around here.”

  “Jack reminds me so much of my father. Different kinds of projects, but always thinking about ways to make the town a better place. Irrigation and water cisterns were my father's pet projects.”

  “I wish Jack had only a couple of pet projects. He might get more done.” Rose looked resigned.

  The phone rang and Rose answered. “Hello...One minute...” She handed the phone to Miriam and said, “It's for you.” Rose looked curious.

  Glenn Parker's voice sounded in Miriam's ear. “Are you free this morning?”

  Miriam stiffened a bit. “I suppose I am. I wasn't expecting you until next week.”

  “We've been asked to follow up more quickly with you because the situation in the Golan has gotten more serious. Can we come over?”

  Miriam took a deep breath and said yes. They arranged to meet at Rose's in an hour.

  Miriam turned on the television and put Newsworld on. The lead story was about a mad cow disease outbreak and the U.S. closing the border to Canadian beef. The second story was a report that Israel was moving on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in retaliation for rocket attacks on Israeli border towns. Miriam was conflicted. She wanted to run down to the library to email her sister, but that would have to wait until after she spoke with the CSIS officers.

  Rose answered the door and ushered Glenn and Maureen into the living room. “Your visitors are here, Miriam.”

  Miriam tore herself away from the television to greet them.

  Maureen said, sympathetically, “I guess you've seen the news from Lebanon?”

  Miriam's face was a mask. “Yes.”

  “Do you have family close to the fighting?”

  “One sister. The other two are in Beirut and Tripoli. When we're finished I'm going to try to contact my sister in Tripoli to see if she has any news.”

  “We'll try not to take too much of your time.”

  They asked again about visitors to her uncle's house. She was occasionally pressed into serving food and drink to her uncle's guests but because she was unmarried she was not properly introduced to most of them. She told them what she could remember of the frequency of meetings, the names of the men and the boasting comments that the younger ones made.

  After an hour, Maureen pulled out a folder with twenty or so photos. “Do you recognize any of the people?”

  The first photo showed a group of men removing a canvas cover from a three ton truck equipped with an array of missile launcher tubes. Standing by the cab were two men she recognized immediately – Rafiq and her Uncle Walid. She pointed at the men in the photo. “This is my uncle Walid and this is Rafiq Mahmoud. I think the man standing at the rear of the truck is Abdul Hadadi, the imam's brother and these two look like the Hassan boys, Tariq and Mahmoud. They were frequent guests at uncle's house. This man,” pointing at the third man next to the cab, “is Sami. I don't know his family name, but he spoke with a Syrian accent.”

  “Can you tell where this might have been taken?” Glenn asked.

  Miriam studied the background with its terraced potato fields and the corner of a barn in the foreground. She tapped the photo for a while then traced her finger along the barn. “I think so. This looks like the Hassan farm near Jarmaq. I used to go with father to negotiate potato deliveries from them for the store.” She looked at the men again. “That looks like it could be Mansur Hariri, my sister Sara's husband, but they're supposed to be in Beirut.”

  They worked their way through six more photos when Rose poked her head into the living room and asked if they would like to stay for lunch. Glenn and Maureen looked at each other as if asking for permission, then Glenn shrugged and said, “She's not a suspect.”

  Maureen gave Glenn a grateful look and replied to Rose. “We'd be delighted.”

  “Seafood chowder and fresh baked rolls okay?” Rose dried her hands on her apron.

  “So that's what's been making me hungry.” Glenn remarked. “That would be lovely, thanks.”

  “It's almost ready. I'll call you.”

  They got through another two photos before lunch. They made some polite small talk while they were eating. Glenn was from Toronto originally but Maureen was from the South Shore just outside Shelburne. Within a few minutes Rose had determined that Maureen was a second cousin once removed of Jack's and they began to update each other on recent births, weddings and funerals that the other one hadn't been aware of. <
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  Glenn rolled his eyes then admitted that he'd married a Meisener from New Germany but adamantly refused to try to see how he might be related to Rose which he undoubtedly was. Miriam sat back and tapped her foot anxiously, hoping to get through the last dozen photos quickly so she could get to the library.

  “Why so anxious, Miriam?” Rose asked.

  “Have you heard about the fighting in Lebanon?” Miriam replied.

  “It was on the noon CBC radio news. Is it close to where you used to live?”

  “Very. I want to get to the library to set up an email account on Hotmail or something like that. I'm hoping Elena might know something.”

  Rose got up to check the library schedule on the fridge magnet. “The library doesn't open until three on Wednesday.”

  Miriam took a deep breath and tried to relax. “I guess I can wait.”

  They finished up and Miriam got through the last dozen photos before two. One of the men in the final photo also looked very much like Sara's husband, but Miriam wasn't positive.

  As Glenn was packing up everything to leave, a pink whirlwind came bursting through the front door. “Look, Mireeyum. I got a new toothbrush!” Michelle was waving a small yellow brush in her face. Then she saw the strangers and grabbed Miriam around the legs and hid behind her. Jerry came sauntering in with four grocery bags.

  “Hi Maureen. Hi Glenn.” His eyes lit up as he saw Miriam. “Hello, ma cherie. It's okay Mitchie, these people are friends.”

  Michelle poked her head around Miriam's hip and said, softly, “Hi.”

  Glen and Maureen took their leave with a sincere thank you to Miriam. Jerry claimed a kiss hello from Miriam. Feeling her rigid back muscles, he asked, “What's the matter?”

  “Israel got fed up with Hezbollah launching rockets at their towns and is invading south Lebanon to put a stop to it. The pictures from Newsworld seem to be from farther west than Manzieh, but I'm worried about Micheline. Her husband Tony is pretty sensible, so they'll probably pack up and go live with his relatives in Saida for a while. He's a carpenter so he can find work anywhere. But I want to know for certain she's fine, so I'm going to the library soon to set up a Hotmail account. I know Elena's husband has email at the hospital.”

  Jerry frowned. A Hotmail account was probably anonymous enough if Miriam took care with the security settings. But the local library was only open for a few hours four days a week. “You can do that. We'll go shopping for a computer tomorrow and I'll get an Internet account. I've been meaning to do that for a while, anyway. Now that I've passed my probation period with the school board, I don't have to worry quite so much about being laid off and I can use some of my rainy day savings.”

  Miriam couldn't stand the wait, so she put on her shoes and took her IRB confirmation mail as proof of address. She waited on the steps until the doors opened to be sure she was the first customer. The librarian issued her a library card quickly and Miriam sat down at a computer to look up Emile's contact at the hospital. Within minutes she was typing her email to Elena.

  To: Emile Nesrallah

  From: miriamn33

  Subject: Is Micheline well?

  Dear Emile

  Please let Elena know that I am alive and well despite the fatwa against me. I cannot tell you anything more but assure her that I am very happy where I am. I am concerned about Micheline because of the news reports concerning the fighting in the south. If you have news, could you let me know? Please pass on my love to my sisters.

  I am keeping you all in my prayers. May His blessings come to you and your family in great abundance.

  Miriam

  Miriam did a search for news about the war and found some more details. So far the fighting was not close to Manzieh, but that could change any time. There were reports of tens of thousands of people clogging the roads to Beirut and complaints from Lebanese day workers who couldn't get to their jobs in Israel.

  She checked her mail account again before she got up to go home. Dr. Nesrallah must have been working the evening shift because there was a reply.

  Subject:Re: Is Micheline well?

  Miriam:

  Elena will be very happy to hear you are well. We are disappointed that you have abandoned Islam but we will pray that you recognize your error and return to the one true faith. Continue to be assured of our love and prayers for you despite our disappointment.

  Micheline telephoned Elena from Saida earlier this evening to let us know they are well. Sara is also well. They recently moved back to Manzieh from Beirut and are staying with your Uncle Walid. Mansur, however, appears to be out of town assisting your uncle with his Syrian investments. Sara has not heard from him in a couple of days.

  As we have news I will send it.

  Your loving brother in law, Emile.

  Miriam gave a long sigh of relief then paid to print the email to show Jerry.

  The evening was pleasant enough with Michelle nattering about her medical visits. She was very chatty about all the things the eye doctor did to check her eyes. She was especially proud that she knew her letters well enough to use the grown up eye charts. Eventually she ran down and Jerry put her to bed.

  He came downstairs to find her tuned in to Newsworld. “Anything new?”

  Miriam got up to wrap her arms around him. “No. It's the same report as before.”

  Jerry hugged her close. “You're worried about Sara, aren't you?”

  She nodded against his chest. “I didn't realize that she'd moved back to Manzieh. Uncle Walid's house could be targeted. Emile as much as said that her husband Mansur has joined the fighting on the side of Hezbollah. And there was someone who looked like him in photos CSIS showed me.”

  “You said Mansur was a good man.”

  “He seemed to be. Sara said he treated her well enough the last time I spoke to her on the telephone. That was a week before I fled the Lebanon.”

  “She's still awfully young to be married.”

  “I know. I just hope that she isn't pregnant. Although, she told Micheline that they were using protection. Mansur wants to wait a few years and let her mature a bit before they try for children.”

  “So, are we going to wait?”

  “We certainly are. We are going to wait until we're married. And you haven't asked me to marry you yet.”

  “Do you want me to?”

  Miriam drew a deep breath. “No, not yet. I want to see what happens with Annabelle first. ”

  Jerry leaned down for a kiss. A few seconds later, he said, “That's probably wise. But I will be asking you. And I do want to know if you would want to have children right away.”

  “Maybe not right away. It will depend on if we need me to work. I want to make sure that the lawyers are paid before we have children. It might be nice to pay down the mortgage, too.” She dragged him over to the story chair and motioned for him to sit. Climbing onto his lap she put her arms around his neck and kissed him until the rest of the world went away. “If it will put your mind at ease, I don't think that Michelle should be an only child.” Then she rested her head on his shoulder.

  Jerry looked down at the raven haired beauty in his lap. I was right that first night she was here. She does fit on my lap perfectly. They sat like that for what seemed like an hour before Miriam stretched up to give Jerry an affectionate peck on the cheek.

  “I should be going.” She thought about it. “That's not really true. I should be here with you, always, but I can wait for that. I need to go.”

  Jerry gave her a hug then gently eased her off his lap. “Yes, you do.”

  He helped her into her rain jacket and got another hug and kiss before Miriam walked back to Rose's.

  Jerry said his prayers as usual but sent up a special prayer for Miriam's sisters. He read for a while trying to ignore the wide expanse of bed on his left.

  Miriam fell into an exhausted sleep after saying her prayers. The morning had started so well when she was able to sleep in. Unfortunately, that had been the high p
oint of her day. Even snuggling with Jerry was less satisfying with her worries about her sisters. Praying brought some peace, but she couldn't quite let tomorrow's worries wait.