by Marnie Perry
She had fitted her mother’s care around her part time job at the little post office, she had been lucky because Mr. Lowther the post master had known of the situation with her mother, but then who hadn’t, you could keep very little secret in a small village. Mr. Lowther had been sympathetic and understanding when she had had to take time off for hospital appointments or when she had to dash home from work when an emergency occurred, which had happened more and more
frequently towards the end, or “The blessed relief,” as David and Sally had called it.
And now her mother was dead and she had been free for six months. And then of course she had had the windfall. Sally had said, “it must be your lucky year, first your mother’s death then this money.” The money aside, Sally had a very strange concept of luck in Adela’s opinion.
She broke her gaze from the mirror and disconnected her mind from thoughts of her mother. She showered and dressed, this time in shorts, white T-shirt and trainers. She packed her backpack with bottles of water, cereal bars, an apple and an orange plus a pair of binoculars, camera, sunscreen and a towel. On her first day she had encountered a stream and had bathed her feet, unfortunately she had found no such joys yesterday.
When she was ready she placed her hat with the multicoloured flowers around the brim on her head and tied the yellow ribbons underneath her chin. She had bought this hat because it looked jaunty and colourful, she hoped it might make her seem so too. Putting on her sunglasses she left the house making sure to lock the door behind her.
As she walked through the woods she admired the scenery, the plants and vegetation, the tress and wildlife, they were like nothing she had ever seen before. The air smelt wonderful, fragrant and fresh, but every so often when the wind changed she caught a whiff of the swamp reminding her that she must not let her fascination with her surroundings make her unmindful of the dangers which lurked all around her, the ugliness amongst the beauty. She had read the tourist guide from beginning to end and back again. It was only sensible after all.
She had walked maybe an hour and a half and in that time she had seen a red fox which stared at her quite blatantly. She told him it was rude to stare and, after giving what Adela was sure was a smirk, he headed back into the undergrowth. No doubt going to tell his friends about the woman with the odd accent he’d seen on his travels. She also saw a possum who didn’t stare but ignored her completely.
Suddenly her attention was drawn to a deer amongst the trees; it was eating the shrubbery unaware of her presence. She gasped then smiled with pleasure; the deer looked around then focused its eyes on her.
She whispered, ‘it's all right little deer, don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. My, but you’re beautiful.’ The deer stared at her for a moment, then turned its head to the right as if it could hear something Adela could not before it took off running through the trees. Adela followed hoping that maybe the deer would lead her to the rest of its family.
Suddenly a loud noise akin to a small explosion almost caused her to jump out of her skin and her heart to pound against her ribs. She turned quickly around, her eyes darting from left to right and back again. The ringing in her ears persisted but her heart rate began to slow as she realised she had heard that sound before, although never so close or so loud. She knew it was a hunter somewhere close by. She realised the deer had not been the hunter’s target because she had seen it run into the thick undergrowth and the noise had come from the other direction. She stayed perfectly still hoping the hunter would not take her for prey and shoot her dead.
As she stood nervously waiting for the sound of another shot, praying it would not be the last sound she would ever hear, the trees in front of her began to move. She held her breath as a figure emerged from the undergrowth.
The first thing she noticed was the rifle he carried before her eyes travelled up to a face which was hard and set, but she caught a glimpse of surprise in his deep, dark brown eyes as he caught sight of her. He was tall maybe six one or two and he wore a hat which had once been cream coloured but was now a dirty greyish colour. Below the hat she could see straggles of brown hair which reached to just below the collar of the black short sleeved shirt he wore.
She let out her breath in relief as she recognised the man.
She took off her sunglasses; she disliked people who kept theirs on when talking to someone unless the sun was directly in their eyes, otherwise it was just rude. The relief showed in her voice as she said, ‘good morning, Mr. Lando.’
He had drawn to an abrupt halt at his first sight of her, but now he looked at her as though he would like to raise his rifle and shoot her between the eyes. Her initial relief turned to nervousness, she swallowed hard and said, ‘was that you shooting?’ She gave a small laugh, ‘the shot startled me for a moment.’
He didn’t answer only stared at her and there was no mistaking the antipathy in his expression. It was then she noticed his left hand was holding something over his left shoulder. He moved his hand forward and she closed her eyes for a moment at the sight of the dead rabbit dangling from his fingers. She swallowed again, ‘you…you’ve been hunting.’
He advanced straight towards her and for a moment Adela thought he meant to knock her down, but at the last moment he stepped to the left of her and carried on walking mumbling, ‘and they call me crazy,’ as he passed her.
The meaning of what he’d said did not immediately register because she was so amazed that he’d actually spoken. But then his words sank in and she turned swiftly and asked his retreating figure, ‘I’m sorry, what was that?’
He ignored her so she hurried to catch up with him. ‘Mr. Lando, I asked you what you’d said.’ He stopped walking so abruptly that she almost ran into him. He turned to her and the scathing look he gave her made her want to take a step back, she didn't, but met his eye which seemed to surprise him. He took of his hat and flicked it against his thigh making a snapping sound, Adela was sure he would like to do that to her neck.
She noticed that his thick brown hair was sticking to his head and that his eyes were very bright without the shade of the hat he always wore; she was also surprised that he seemed much younger than she had imagined; perhaps middle thirties. His nose was slightly askew as though it had been broken and not set properly and there were small criss- cross scars around his mouth and lines at the corners of his eyes as though he squinted a lot, but his teeth were white in his tanned face. If he had tidied himself up a little and combed his unruly hair he could have been really quite handsome she thought. Standing this close to him she could smell sweat mingled with a fresh earthy scent.
Those dark brown eyes were now looking at her with contempt. His voice was low and raspy as though he didn’t speak much, which he probably didn’t, except maybe to himself, and from what Adela had heard that would not surprise her. He said, '‘you're lucky that startled is all you got.’ He waved the dead rabbit in her face, she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes in repulsion, ‘and lucky this ain't you.'
She raised her eyebrows in surprise, ‘what do you mean?’
He rolled his eyes as if he was talking to an idiot, which is how he probably saw her, and everyone else come to that since he reputedly avoided contact with the outside world, according to the lady in the shop and the postmaster that is. He said, ‘if you choose to take a detour through here you get what you deserve.’ He raised his rifle as if he was in two minds whether to shoot her for her stupidity.
She glanced around and realised what he meant. She had strayed from the path, maybe when she had been chasing the deer. Embarrassed having been caught doing something she had been told was dangerous, ‘oh, oh gosh, I didn’t realise,’ she gave a nervous laugh; ‘I was chasing a deer and got carried away in the moment.’ He said nothing only gaped at her. She tried humour, ‘oops.’
He stared at her as though she was a lunatic, which of course she was for wandering off the path like that. He gave her a look that clearly said, stupid woman, stupid foreigners.
She scanned the trees behind her and when she looked back to her amazement Jonas Lando had gone. She stood a moment shocked by his abrupt departure; she hadn’t even heard him move. She caught a glimpse of his back as he disappeared through the trees.
She did a 360 degree turn and realised that she could not see the path and that she was lost. She began to run in the direction he had gone and to her relief saw him about twenty yards ahead. She wouldn’t admit to this unresponsive, dour man that she was lost so called, ‘Mr. Lando, if you’re going back to your cabin I’ll walk with you.’ But he’d vanished into the undergrowth. She called again. ‘Mr. Lando? Did you hear me?’
She knew he had of course. Trying to keep the pleading and mounting fear at being left out here lost and alone from her voice she called, ‘I said I’ll walk back with you.’ She put on a brief burst of speed and caught him up, she took his arm and gasped out, ‘did you hear what I said, I said I would walk…’ Without turning round he shrugged her hand roughly from his arm. ‘Mr. Lando?’ She exclaimed in surprise. But he’d gone leaving her standing there alone. How rude, how very rude. Well, suit yourself, Mr. Touch- Me- Not.
She would rather die than admit to this disagreeable man that she was more than a little scared, and she certainly wouldn’t plead with him. She was sensible but she had her pride after all. As she approached the densely wooded area into which he’d gone she started to be really concerned. She was more lost than ever now, thanks to him.
She stood for a few minutes and for the first time noticed how silent it was, as though everything in the woods was waiting for something, maybe for her to make a move so that they could pounce. She chastised herself for being a fool.
She pulled her bag from her back and took out the water bottle; she took several small swigs then replaced the bottle in the bag. She decided she would follow the path Lando had taken. His cabin was only a quarter of a mile or so from her own, so if he was heading for his home then he was heading for hers too. That is of course if he was going home, he could be going to do some more hunting or he could be camping out tonight, hence the rabbit, something to cook on the open camp fire perhaps. Well, she could stick around here all day then follow the smell of burning wood later, or she could try to make her own way home, she was bound to come across the path eventually. She opted for the latter.
She had walked maybe fifty yards or so, getting more and more nervous and worried with each step and contemplating going back the way she had come, when she was brought up sharply at the sight of Jonas Lando leaning against a tree. His arms were folded across his muscular chest, the rabbit dangling from the fingers of one hand. With his arms folded like that she noticed his biceps protruding through the shirt he wore, they were huge and at this moment, quite frightening.
He was staring not at her, but straight ahead. She wondered if he was resting before continuing on…indeed it was very hot now…or if he had been waiting for her. But no, he had made his feelings perfectly plain so she would ignore him as though he was not there and act as though she knew exactly where she was. That pride thing again. She walked past him without catching his eye or even looking in his direction.
‘You can go that way if you like; you might even get home before sundown, and in one piece, if you avoid the swamp that is,’ he said.
Adela turned to look at him her face becoming pale beneath the tan. Before she could respond however he pushed away from the tree and continued to walk in a different direction to the one she had chosen. She was in two minds to continue the way she had intended, but his words still rang in her ears. Swamp, ugh. So she followed him. She was proud but also very sensible.
His pace was brisk and she had to run just to catch him up. She was sweating and wanted nothing more than to pause and take a swig from her bottle of water, but knew he would not stop and wait for her and did not want to take the chance of being left behind. She was mad with herself for being such an idiot as to get lost and then to bump into him of all people who thought she was foolish as it was, and now he’d think she was reckless as well. She should have brought a compass with her; but she would rectify that omission tomorrow and buy one from the shop in the town, they were bound to have one, they had everything else. Then never again would she be caught out by Mr. Surly.
He didn’t speak a single word so neither did Adela; she could be just as obstinate as him. Belligerent, that’s what he was, yes, that was a good adjective to describe Mr. Jonas Lando. She expected to be walking for hours so was surprised…pleasantly so…when his cabin came into view not twenty minutes later. She broke the silence, ‘but how…how did we get here so quickly? I walked for a lot longer to get to the place where we met.’
He didn’t reply to that but waved his hand towards the clearing; ‘you know the way now.’ Then made for a small building next to his cabin.
Suddenly she knew what had happened, she had been walking around in circles until she had left the path and found herself lost. Even though he was walking away from her she felt her face redden. Oh gosh, as if getting lost wasn’t embarrassing enough without walking round in circles for hours. Now he really would think she was a loony. He had entered the little building so this was her chance to get away from him and his scorn, but her curiosity got the better of her so she followed him into the dwelling.
The inside was dimly lit so she had to blink several times to bring the interior into focus. When her eyesight became accustomed to the gloom she stared amazed at what she saw. Animals of all shapes and sizes and species, foxes, rabbits, squirrels and possums filled the room, some standing or walking, some lying down on beds of straw. There were all kinds of birds too, some in cages, some in the rafters and some flying freely around. Lando held a large bowl in one hand as a baby deer fed quite trustingly from the other while smaller animals gathered around his feet. But what surprised her most was the softness of Lando's expression as he looked down at them.
Adela gasped in astonishment. Lando turned swiftly to face her. The softness that had completely transformed his usually sullen features swiftly disappeared and his expression became hard and his eyes furious. He threw the bowl onto a box and walked towards her and grabbing her arm he half pushed, half pulled her through the door, once outside he shoved her so that she staggered backwards. His eyes flashed fire, ‘I told you which way to go, now go.’ He spat the words through clenched teeth.
Adela was embarrassed having been caught nosing around and not a little afraid by his anger. She knew she should have gone straight to her cabin but she had wanted to thank him, and yes, she had wanted to see something of where he lived. She stammered, ‘I…I just wanted to thank you for bringing me safely back. I didn’t mean to pry. I’m sorry, Mr. Lando.’
He stared at her his eyes still angry but now to that was added suspicion; she could see he was trying very hard to control himself. Swallowing hard she said, ‘I’ll go now and leave you to your…’ she didn’t finish the sentence but waved her hand towards the small building in which she’d seen the animals. He said nothing so she squared her shoulders, raised her head and ended rather haughtily, ‘thank you for your assistance. Good day, Mr. Lando.’
Still no reply so she turned and left him standing looking after her. As she took the path she knew led to her own cabin she heard a dog barking. She turned around to see Lando standing by his cabin door a dog jumping up to greet him. She couldn’t help but stop to watch this unexpected scene. Lando had squatted down and was letting the dog lick his face as he buried his face in its fur whilst rubbing its back and head. Adela thought, huh, so he keeps all his affection for his animals and so has none to spare for his fellow man…or woman.
She continued on towards her cabin. As she walked she thought of Jonas Lando and those animals in his outbuilding. They couldn’t be pets surely, they were wild animals. But they had seemed to trust him; the deer had in fact been eating something from his open hand.
She wished she knew what he was doing with that menagerie, but he was n
ot the kind of man one could ask questions of. She wondered why he had acted as he had to her intrusion, he had been angrier than the situation warranted surely; oh he was a strange man. Typical, she thought, to have such an unfriendly, taciturn man for her closest neighbour. She hoped her cabin never caught fire or that a gang of cut-throats did not invade, she knew she could not rely on Mr. Belligerent to come to her aid.
And yet he had waited for her today, he had made sure she had not wandered into the swamp; he had not had to do that. But then maybe there was no swamp, perhaps he had just said that to frighten her, to make her look even more foolish than she already did, not that that would have been too hard. No, she would not think that of him, he had done her a favour and she would be grateful to him.
She reached her cabin and stepped inside, the interior was a welcome coolness. She slipped off her trainers, slid off her backpack then went to the kitchen to prepare something for her dinner. She made a sandwich and ate it sitting on the sofa facing the open fire, which was unlit of course. But she could imagine this place occupied in the winter time by a newly married couple…or even an old married couple…sitting in front of a roaring fire toasting bread or marshmallows and sipping glasses of warm chocolate or punch.
Suddenly an overwhelming sadness descended upon her, she heard her mother’s words sneering and sarcastic, “My God, Dela,” her mother often called her Dela, she had once said that he, (he being Adela’s father,) must have been drunk when he had named her, Adela was much too feminine and beautiful a name for her. “My God, Dela, how on earth do you think you’ll ever get a man looking like you do, with that nose and that forehead, you get those from that man, (again her father), he was nothing much to look at either. Your brothers of course take after my side of the family, good looking and tall.” (Adela was only five feet four).