Paddy Plays in Dead Mule Swamp

by Joan H. Young

  “Let’s check the phone message,” I told Paddy. I had to admit that having a dog around had given me lots of opportunities for one-sided conversations. But it was a good enough invitation for the dog and he accompanied me to the kitchen. I gave him a treat and poured myself some iced tea.

  “Miss Ana.” I heard Sunny’s voice when I pushed the button on the answering machine. She sounded uncertain. “Could I... we come over tomorrow and sew? We wouldn’t have to stay long, but maybe for a little while? Please? Well, OK... bye.” I stretched my muscles and thought about it, but sewing wasn’t physically demanding, so I punched in the Leonards’ number. In a few minutes I had agreed to pick up the girls on Saturday morning. I would have to go out anyway, since I needed to buy more first-aid supplies to take care of my arm.

  About all I did after that was fill Paddy’s dog dish with kibble and fix a sandwich for myself. Then I went to bed.

  The next morning, when I reached Hammer Bridge Town, Sunny and Star were waiting for me outside the trailer, so I didn’t even see Len. They were alarmed when they noticed my bandaged arm. I assured them it wasn’t too serious, but I needed to keep it clean until a scab formed. Not wanting to worry them, I only said that I tripped and had a nasty fall on the road. In truth, I had decided the whole thing was an accident anyway. Someone just wasn’t paying attention on the narrow road.

  For the sewing project, our first goal was to lay out the pattern pieces on the fabrics. There wasn’t enough room on my work table, so Star vacuumed the floor. As yet, it was only plywood subflooring, but it was new enough to be very clean as long as the dog hair and loose dirt were cleaned up. When we knelt down to lay out the fabric, I learned that flexibility was not going to be my best attribute for at least one more day, but the pain was tolerable, and the girls didn’t seem to notice that I was stiff.

  It was a little tricky to supervise both girls’ projects at the same time, but they were patient. While I worked with Star, Sunny watched and listened. I demonstrated how the arrows on the pattern indicated the direction the pieces should be laid on the fabric, and how to know when an edge should be lined up with a fold. Shortly after noon, we had both patterns pinned down. The next step was to cut the pieces out, but I suggested lunch first. The day was hot and humid, and my head was beginning to ache. I wasn’t sure I was up for an afternoon of questions and chatter.

  I suggested we had done enough for one day, and offered to take us all out to eat. The girls were enthusiastic since they were seldom able to do that. I asked them to play with Paddy for a few minutes while I changed the dressing on my arm, and soon we were all in the Jeep, except for Paddy. I decided he should stay home rather than wait for us in a hot car.

  An idea had been brewing in my mind, and I decided I might as well see what the girls thought.

  “Would you be interested in going to Paula’s Place for lunch?” I asked. “We won’t do it if it will upset you, but maybe it will help you remember that your mom was always looking for a way to take care of you.”

  “I’d like that,” said Star. “It’s so weird that I’m almost old enough to have that kind of job. It makes me feel really close to her.”

  “Is Paula a real person, or just the name of the restaurant?” Sunny asked.

  “She’s real,” I said. I’ve met her.”

  “Was she a friend of our mom?” Sunny wound the tail of her t-shirt around her fingers.

  “She’s a little older than your mom, but yes, they were friends. She’d like to meet you. Actually, I think she knew you when you were babies.”

  “Let’s do it!” Star said.

  “OK with you?” I asked Sunny. She nodded, but the big smile she’d had before Angelica had been found still hadn’t returned. The drive to Waabishki only took about twenty minutes on the main roads, but by the time we got there the lunch crowd was thinning and we didn’t have to wait at all for a booth to open up. The girls took one side, and I sat opposite them. I noticed Madison was working again today, and she remembered me too.

  “Hi there,” she said cheerfully. “I see you have friends with you today.”

  “I do,” I answered. “I think Paula would like to meet them, if she has a minute.”

  “I’ll tell her,” Madison said, leaving menus and sweating glasses of ice water on our table. The waitress sounded less surly and more professional today.

  Sunny gulped some of the cold water. “This is fun,” she began. “Can I order anything I want?”

  “Sure.”

  “We sometimes get hamburgers, or maybe soft ice cream, but nothing like this.” A smile teased the corners of her mouth.

  “Silly, we ate out with Dad a couple of times,” Star said.

  “That was a long time ago. I was little and had to order off the kiddie menu. Hot dogs or grilled cheese.” Sunny wrinkled her nose.

  “I guess you’re right,” Star mused. “It was at least a couple of years ago.” She sat up straight and wiggled a finger at Sunny. “You make me feel old!”

  Sunny giggled and said, “You are old.”

  I steered the conversation back to the food. “Better look at the menu. There are sandwiches or big salads, or you can get a half sandwich with soup and French fries.”

  “I want something I never had before!” Sunny announced. “What’s Oriental Chicken Salad? Did the chicken come from China?”

  “I doubt that,” I said, “but it’s good. It has lots of lettuce with cold chicken, and other veggies, and mandarin oranges on top. I might have that myself.”

  “I want the turkey club with bacon,” said Star. “And a small fruit salad.”

  “Can I have a Coke, too?” pleaded Sunny.

  “Of course,” I said.

  “This is a lot of money for one meal,” Star said. She looked worried.

  I smiled at her. “It’s a treat today. Just enjoy it.”

  She smiled back at me. The look in her eyes was very grown up. “Maybe I can pay you back some day,” she said.

  Madison took our orders, and before she was finished, Paula came and slid in beside me.

  “Look at you!” She beamed at the girls. “I’m so happy to see you again, although I’m sure you don’t remember me. I’m Paula Wentworth. You must be Star.” She then turned to the younger girl. “And Sunny.”

  “Hello,” the girls said, together, tentatively. Star continued, more boldly. “Miss Ana says you knew our mother. What was she like?”

  “She had a difficult life, honey. That’s for sure. I don’t mean any disrespect to your father, but they were both so young with no real skills. She wanted to find an honest way to earn enough money to move into a real house, and buy you two some nice things.”

  “Were you her friend?” Sunny asked.

  “She was younger than I am. Not much, but it always seems like a lot when you are in school. She would sometimes tell me that she dreamed of having a pretty flower bed, or decorating a bedroom in pink for you two. As it was, you were lucky to have a bed instead of a mattress on the floor.”

  Star’s face was stony. “We’re not stupid little kids, you know. We’ve heard a lot of things this week. Talk about drug dealing. Why would we have to sleep on the floor if Mom had lots of drug money?”

  Paula took a breath. “OK,” she said. “I’ll be honest. You are old enough to hear the truth. But none of what I said was a lie. Not at all. Your mom loved you very much. I think your parents got sucked into the drug culture. Then I think Angelica woke up and tried to get DuWayne to stop the drug dealing. But once you’re in that business, it’s really hard to get out.”

  “It must be like trying to change groups at school,” Star said.

  “Yes, but even harder, because there’s real money involved,” I put in.

  Paula continued, “I’m pretty sure, at some point, she stopped taking the drug money when DuWayne brought it home, and then they would fight about it.”

  “How do you know that?” asked Sunny.

  “I do remember some argu
ing,” Star added, looking thoughtful.

  “Do you know Frank Garis?” Paula asked.

  “We met him at the memorial service,” Star said. “You were there, too.” This was news to me, but maybe Paula had been behind me, and left quickly. I was glad to know she had made it.

  “Frank’s my brother. He and DuWayne were good friends back then. So I heard some things that other people might not have.”

  “Why would she leave us?” Sunny asked in an anguished voice, a tear suddenly rolling down her cheek.

  Star looked around and then put an arm around her younger sister. “Shhh, don’t cry here,” she said insistently. Sunny sniffed and wiped her cheek.

  “She didn’t want to,” Paula said. “The fact that she was killed proves it. She had no intention of leaving you, and now you know that for certain. It’s really sad, but you never have to wonder how much your mom loved you. She always carried pictures of you. You looked like two little dolls!”

  “Thank you,” Star said. “It’s nice to know that someone thought our mother was a good person.”

  Sunny wiped the back of her hand across the other cheek and nodded.

  “Here comes your food,” Paula said. “May I give you each a little hug?” She stood up. The girls slid out of the booth and let themselves be held. “I understand that you hardly know me, but if you need a friend, or some help, just call me. You’ve got Ana, too. You’ve had a rough patch, but I know you are winners, and things are going to get better.”

  The girls pulled away and looked at Paula. Her hug had been just right, not smothering, but just enough to show them she really cared. I felt confident that Paula was genuinely concerned for the girls, no matter what her father’s attitude was.

  Paula lifted Sunny’s chin. “Smile?”

  “OK,” Sunny said, and gave her a lopsided grin.

  “You can’t enjoy good food when you are sad,” Paula said. Madison had been waiting until the hugs were finished, but as the girls sat down again she placed the plates in front of us and then laid the check on the table beside me. Paula scooped it up and said, “This is on the house.” She winked at Star, who smiled back.

  The food smelled delicious. We dug in, and the taste was no disappointment either.

  Chapter 27

  My body still ached from the tumble down the gravel embankment, but I felt as if I wasn’t giving the girls enough attention, and I didn’t want to take them right home after such a serious conversation. The ibuprofen had helped a lot. Much to my own surprise I heard myself say, “Since the meal was free, why don’t we spend the money to go canoeing.”

  Both girls perked up. “I want to do that!” Sunny was now grinning for real. “Where can we go?”

  “There are canoes to rent at Turtle Lake,” I explained. “It can’t be too much for an hour.”

  “What about Paddy?” Star asked.

  “He’ll be fine at home for that long. He’d be no use in a small boat anyway, so this is a perfect day to do it. And it’s so hot; it will feel good to be on the water.”

  After we finished eating, we drove down Kirtland Road, and the turnoff to the boat livery was well marked. I wasn’t sure how we were going to manage with three people, but the young woman, probably a college student, operating the rental booth suggested Star take a kayak, and that Sunny and I could use a canoe. “That way you can all paddle,” she explained.

  She looked askance at my bandaged arm.

  “It’s just a scrape,” I assured her.

  We took off our shoes, donned life jackets and with some help from the girl managed to get the boats into the water from the sandy beach without getting completely soaked.

  “I’m thinking some of you are novices,” she said.

  I wasn’t, and turned the canoe just enough so I could see the girl on the shore. However, for the sake of Star and Sunny I simply said, “That’s true enough.”

  “It’s an easy paddle to this side of the island. See the dock?” She pointed, and I nodded. “You can disembark there for a few minutes to stretch your legs, and then paddle back. Just remember to tie up the boats, or pull them onto the beach, so they don’t float off.”

  “We will,” I said.

  “I don’t recommend going too far that way.” Now she pointed to the north side of the island. There’s a current where the river flows through the lake, and although it’s not really dangerous, it’s tricky unless you are experienced.”

  That made me think of the drag marks I’d seen on my beach, and of the dock site at the abandoned house. “Could someone paddle down the river, if they put in below the dam?” I asked.

  “In theory, sure. But I don’t know if there are a lot of trees fallen across the water, or what the current is like, or even what the depth is. Unless boaters keep a river open it tends to become unnavigable because of snags. Fishermen might clear it, though. Why?”

  “I own some river property,” I answered vaguely.

  “Hurry up, I’m getting hot,” Sunny said, and she splashed me with the paddle. I grinned. The fun-loving sunbeam was coming back.

  We paddled out across the lake, and Star showed considerable skill at navigating the kayak. I suspected she might be a natural athlete. We easily made it to the island, and explored the shore, picking up colored stones and snail shells for a while before it was time to head back.

  Despite my sore muscles, the exercise felt good, and there was a lot more splashing and laughing before we returned to the canoe livery a little less than an hour later.

  The towels I now kept in the car came in handy again, and I was relieved that I could return the girls home this week without having experienced any traumatic events. Soon we were in the Jeep and headed back toward the Leonards’ home.

  It seemed impossible that it was only a week earlier that their mother had been found. Except for identification, the official autopsy wasn’t even complete. I was sure Adele would have called me if the Sheriff’s Office had released any information and discussed it over the radio. She kept a police scanner in the store office.

  “This was so much fun, Miss Ana!” Sunny broke into my thoughts.

  “Why are you doing all this for us?” Star asked. “I mean, I’m having a great time, and I’m glad we’re making some school clothes, but you hardly know us, really.”

  I looked at her, and she was giving me that same cold look she had given Paula. This week had taken a toll on both girls, but in different ways. “Hmmm. I’m not sure I can explain it completely,” I began. “When I first met you, it’s true I came to your house because the church assigned me to get to know you. But then we began to have fun together. That was all real. It is real.”

  “You aren’t doing things with us because you have to?”

  “Not any more,” I said. “I only have a son. I never had girls to sew and cook and giggle with. You’re definitely more to me than an assignment. Both of you.”

  “You have a son?” Sunny asked.

  “I do. He’s in college, almost grown up. His name is Chad.”

  “Does he visit you?” Star wanted to know.

  “He hasn’t been to this house yet. I’ve only lived here since spring, remember.”

  “Oh. I forgot that. You don’t seem new. I mean, you don’t act like a city person.”

  “Yeah, not like Dad’s friends,” Sunny put in. “They don’t care about anything except their clothes and cars and stuff like that.”

  Star added, “I didn’t like that brother and...”

  “Hey, wasn’t that Dad’s truck?” Sunny interrupted with a loud voice, twisting to try to catch a better look at the black pickup that had just sped past us, going south on Kirtland.

  “Can’t be,” said Star. “He said he was going back to Chicago, that he had to be at work today.”

  “It looked just the same,” Sunny insisted.

  “There are lots of black trucks around,” I said, recalling a black truck I’d encountered all too recently.

  We turned left on Sh
eep Ranch Road, and a few minutes later I pulled into the Leonards’ long dusty driveway. Star thanked me for the day, then quickly let herself out and headed for the trailer. Sunny, who was in the other front seat, unclipped her seat belt and turned toward me.

  “I don’t miss her—my mom,” she said. “Everybody feels sorry for me, but I don’t know how to answer their questions, because I don’t really feel anything. I don’t remember her at all. There isn’t anything to miss.”

  “Maybe you don’t want to let yourself feel sad,” I suggested.

  “Maybe, but not really. I can’t miss her, because I never knew her. Grandma and Grandpa didn’t want to think she had run away, so they never told us what she was like. She’s like a ghost, and now the ghost can go wherever it came from and leave us alone.”

  “Is that what you want?” I asked.

  Sunny’s chin slipped down toward her chest. “I don’t know. I wish she had run away, because then I could always hope she’d come back, and there would be some good reason she had to go away for a while, and then we’d be together again. Now she can’t ever come back.”

  “I know; it’s hard to have to give up that dream, isn’t it?” I reached my hand over to the girl. Instead of taking my hand, Sunny leaned across the space between the seats and put her head in my lap. She began to cry. It was an awkward and uncomfortable position. I wasn’t sure what would be the best thing to do. “Sit up a minute,” I said gently. I kept my hand on her thin arm, hoping she’d realize I wasn’t pushing her away.

  She sat up, and I managed to slide over into her seat, lifting my legs over the gear console. She crawled into my lap, like a very little girl, put her arms around my neck, and leaned her head on my shoulder. The tears came then, and big racking sobs that shook her body. I just held her, patting her back and brushing the wisps of hair that had escaped her corn rows away from her face.