Bridgetown's Eleventh Hour

by Shirley A. Roe

  Christine’s weekly articles were doing well at the Banner. The response was excellent and John was pleased. Her current interview was with the bank managers at two of the major banks in town. John had wondered what she hoped to accomplish interviewing bank managers on the environment, but he trusted her judgment.

  “Christine, I am beginning to think you have magical powers. I called the managers at the Savings and Loan and the Credit Union before I decided to run your article. Both of them are going to take your advice and offer a small business environmental improvement loan. You are a genius!” Christine beamed. She had taken a chance when she proposed the loan to the bank managers, but everything she was hearing from the local businesses told her it was a necessity. She ran it by her father on the phone, and as a former accountant, he advised her to speak to the banks. Now it looked like they were actually going ahead and she was very pleased.

  “All of the business owners are willing, but changes cost money and some of our smaller business owners just don’t have the budget to implement the changes necessary to ensure our town is clean and safe. You don’t know how many people this is going to help, John.”

  “I am running the article tomorrow. I want you to get photos of the banks and the managers shaking hands with some local business people. Let’s run with this, our readership has increased since you started this column, Christine. We are very pleased.”

  “I guess an increase in pay will be in the future?” She looked at him inquisitively.

  “Let’s run this article and I will talk to the ‘powers that be’ at the next board meeting.” Christine left the Banner feeling elated. Not only was she doing a job she loved, but she felt that she was making a difference. Even if they didn’t give her a raise, it felt good. She called Matt on her cell to give him the news.

  “Matt here.” She could hear frustration in his voice.

  “It’s me, is something wrong?”

  “I’ll have to call you back; we have a problem out at Martin and Schultz. See you tonight.” Matt hung up the phone. Christine gave the cell phone a curious look and put it back in her purse. I wonder what that is all about. She would tell him her good news later.

  Matt and Mr. Harrison stood shoulder-to-shoulder surveying the tree lot at the back of Martin and Schultz Chemical. “What happened, Matt? All of these trees came from a very reliable supplier; thank God they have a one year warranty.”

  “I don’t know, Mr. Harrison. We were very careful and followed our usual procedures, this doesn’t make any sense.” He walked over to one of the young pines and pulled the needles through his hand gently. The needles fell to the ground leaving a bare stalk. “Every tree in the second line is dying. I just don’t get it.”

  “Well, bring the men in and dig all of the damaged trees out. We will tell Mr. Martin that they will be replaced within the week.” Mr. Harrison took several cuttings from the trees and put them in a plastic bag. “I will send these to the university lab for analysis. We might be dealing with a pine beetle problem.”

  The two men walked back to their truck. Alvin Cooley stood in the doorway of the plant watching them. He had noticed some of the trees turning brown the day before. Martin and his bloody trees, he’ll ruin us yet.

  Christine, Matt, Sarah and David met at the Little Greek for dinner before the movie. He weather was beginning to cool especially in the evenings and Sarah pulled her new cardigan over her shoulders.

  “The entire town is on the ‘Green’ bandwagon. Your articles are making a big hit with the business owners, Christine.” David congratulated as he sipped his wine.

  “Thanks David. I was really happy about the small business loan. When I spoke with the owner of the dry cleaners, he explained that there are air quality rules as well as disposal problems for the cleaning solutions. He wants to upgrade, but he just can’t afford it. Now hopefully the bank is going to give him a low interest loan so he can make improvements.”

  “Working in the garage, we have disposal problems too. We used to throw old batteries in the landfill, but now there is a disposal fee and they are picked up and recycled. Even our old oil has to be properly stored and disposed of by waste management. My boss is always complaining about the costs.”

  “Mr. Harrison was complaining last week about the fine he got for idling the trucks. Who knew there were anti-idling regulations? This town is really stepping up to the environmental plate,” Matt added.

  “You’re quiet Sarah. Is it because you are working for the enemy, the big chemical plant?” David directed his question sideways to Sarah. She scowled at him.

  “I’ll have you know the chemical plant hired me to promote their new image. They are trying to change, but no one wants to accept that.” She folded her arms in front of her, signaling that she wasn’t pleased at his comment. He finished his wine and poured another glass, with a sideways look at Matt that said, ‘looks like I’m in the doghouse.’

  “Sounds like you have a lot of work to do this week, Matt. Aren’t you planting a hedge at Town Hall this week?” David thought he would leave Sarah to stew and turned toward Matt.

  “Yes, but we’ll get it done with some overtime. I still don’t understand why those trees are dying. I hope the test results tell us something.” He picked up his menu. “I think I will have the mousakka, how about you, Christine?”

  “I think calamari for starters and then a souvlaki with salad, for me.”

  “I will have..” Sarah didn’t get to finish.

  “The Greek salad!” Christine finished Sarah’s sentence before she could tell the others what she wanted. She punched Christine gently in the arm.

  “Stop that. I know I’m boring.”

  “I don’t think so. I think you’re consistent.” David joked, but Sarah gave him a strange look. “What’s the matter, did I say something wrong again?”

  “No, it’s just that someone else I know used to say that all the time. You threw me a curve, just then.” Trying to save the evening, she added, “Don’t worry about it, David. What are you having?” Sarah tried to keep the mood light, but exchanged a knowing look with Christine. David looked perplexed. He shrugged and ordered a steak. He found Sarah very attractive and he liked her, but she was very complicated. He liked his women simple and easy.

  The four ate, laughed and enjoyed their meal. They went to see Avatar and all four of them thoroughly enjoyed it. “I love 3D; it gives movies a new dimension.” Matt raved to David.

  “I liked the animation, it was well done,” added Sarah. “Would anyone like ice cream?” All agreed heartily. The boys started talking baseball and Sarah and Christine excused themselves and went to the ladies room.

  “I guess you and David are not going anywhere, Sarah. You don’t seem that interested, in fact you seem to be angry with him.” Christine had hoped the two of them would hit it off, but it wasn’t happening.

  “I wish he hadn’t said I was ‘working for the enemy’ and that I was just ‘consistent’ just like Jack used to. Sometimes I think everyone is trying to remind me of Jack and how I made a big mistake letting him go.”

  “You are consistent, it was an innocent statement, and chemical companies are not exactly environmentalist. Who said you made a big mistake?” Christine stuck up for David, but she was beginning to realize that Sarah was having second thoughts about breaking up with Jack. That explained the underlying tension.

  “Oh, just forget about Jack. Can I borrow your brush? I seem to have left mine at home.” Christine handed Sarah her hairbrush, she was not convinced that Sarah was finished with Jack. Sarah pulled hair from the brush before she used it, carefully discarding it in the waste basket. Christine just shook her head. “I really am getting fed up with my friends constantly going on about my working with Martin and Schultz.” Sarah pulled the brush through her hair roughly and Christine knew she was angry.

  “Put a smile on your face and let’s go and eat ice cream.” They went back to the men, who were waiting in the car.
<
br />   Chapter Nine

  Bernie could not keep the news of the diverted test results to himself. He was losing sleep over it. He told Doctor Burns, while the two of them were out at one of the farms checking the cattle.

  “I’m worried about the people and the animals, in this town, Doc. I don’t want anyone to get sick because I kept my mouth shut, but Jack’s the activist, not me.”

  “I think you should keep this to yourself, Bernie. I will speak with Professor Sayer later today during our meeting. Can you hand me that thermometer, please.” Doctor Burns finished his examination and then inoculated the cattle with Bernie’s help. After they were finished, they drove toward town. Doctor Burns stopped his car. Staring at the river, which flowed beside the field for some time, before speaking, he added. “Bernie, the local farmers are very careful about manure spreading and the runoff into the river. Do you see that embankment that runs the entire length of the field? That is to keep the manure and the chemical fertilizer contained. Of course, there is some leaching into the ground, but things are well managed.”

  “I know Doc. I don’t think it’s the farms that are causing the problem. They might be responsible for the small E-coli bacteria, which were corrected with the chlorine, but the chemical toxins are what bother me.”

  “What do you think it is, Bernie?”

  “I’m not sure, but I would be looking at industry before I accused the farmers. In the past, it has always been the industries that were polluting the ground and the water systems with toxic waste. Jack will be back soon, and I know he won’t let this go.” The car passed the new housing development north of town. “Jack thinks that filling in the marsh has something to do with it.”

  Doc Burns nodded in agreement as they turned onto the main road. “Well that would account for less natural filtering, but where are the toxins coming from?”

  Professor Sayer and Doctor Burns were both concerned about the water sample tests and the mayor’s announcement. Both men knew that Health Canada and the Health and Environment Ministries of the Provinces have developed the Canadian Water Quality Guidelines for drinking water quality, freshwater aquatic life, irrigation water, and livestock water. For each substance, the Guidelines establish the Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC) that can be permitted in water for each purpose and the MAC for benzene is set at 0.005 milligrams per litre of water. This is equivalent to about five parts per billion or about one drop of benzene in a large bucket of water. The level in the samples was more than triple.

  They met for over an hour, but didn’t come to any conclusions about what could be done. They agreed to keep their eyes and ears open and meet again in a week.

  Sarah was working with Marty at the charity shop on a new website for the small store. It was a small assignment that would supplement Sarah’s income and not take time away from Martin and Schultz Chemical. “That should be good for now, Marty. It is very easy to make changes and I think people will be impressed with the weekly postings.”

  “Thanks, Sarah; I don’t know anything about websites and internet. This is a big help. My son will come in and make changes and do the weekly updates. If he needs anything, I am sure he can call you.”

  “By all means Marty. Thank you for thinking of me and if you want to do anything else, just call.” Sarah put her papers back into her leather briefcase brushing her skirt with the back of her hand as she stood.

  “It’s a pity about poor Mrs. Oliver.” Marty turned the computer screen off and walked Sarah to the door.

  “Mrs. Oliver? What do you mean? I know she was in hospital.”

  “Poor old dear is dead, she died on Sunday. The funeral is Wednesday. I’m surprised you didn’t see the write-up on the front page of today’s Banner.” Marty picked the paper up off the counter and handed it to her. Sarah took the paper and scanned the front page. Her face grew pensive.

  “I will have to go to the funeral. How sad, it says she had cancer.” Sarah, very upset about Mrs. Oliver, handed the paper back to Marty and left the shop. Sarah talked to her every day, when she took her walk through town. Mrs. Oliver was always planting flowers somewhere. She would call Christine and ask her to go with her tomorrow. She took her cell from her purse and tucking herself in between two buildings out of the noise of the street, she dialed Christine’s cell. “Christine, did you hear about Mrs. Oliver?”

  “Hi Sarah, yes I know about Mrs. Oliver. Are you going to the funeral?”

  “Yes, I wondered if you wanted to go together.”

  “We can, but I am covering the funeral and the mayor’s speech for the Banner so you might be left alone, part of the day.”

  “That is fine; I’m sure the entire town will be there. Mrs. Oliver was involved in everything from the horticultural society to the Women’s Auxiliary at the Legion, not to mention the church choir. I’ll pick you up at ten.”

  “Okay, see you tomorrow.” Sarah went home and ironed her satin blouse and arranged, on the bed, the clothes and jewelry that she would wear the next day. Satisfied with her choices she turned on the television to watch a new documentary about the life of Donatella Versace.

  Matt worked past six and instead of going home, went straight to Christine’s apartment. He took his shower and changed for dinner. She was making spaghetti and meatballs, his favorite. He spent little time in his own apartment these days.

  “What is that on your arm, Matt?” Christine picked Matt’s hand up and examined his forearm.

  “I’m not sure; I noticed it in the shower. I must be allergic to those box hedge plants that we planted at Town Hall today, because other than that, I just helped with the replanting at Martin and Schultz and a little dirt never hurt anyone.”

  She kissed his forehead, “Poor baby. It almost looks like heat rash but it is not that hot now that fall is upon us.”

  “I’ll pick up some calamine lotion on the way to David’s. I’m leaving the Camaro there for an oil change. Something smells good.”

  “Your favorite, sit down and we can eat. Did you want a glass of wine with dinner?”

  “Why not? Did you hear about Mrs. Oliver? What a shame.” Matt picked up his fork and dug into his spaghetti. He stuffed a large portion into his mouth nodding his approval to Christine.

  “Sarah and I are going. I have to cover it for the Banner. Mayor Burton is going to make a speech so it will be an all day affair. I feel sorry for Mr. Oliver. He is all crippled up with arthritis and now he has no wife to look after him.”

  “Maybe we can fix Sarah up with him, because David isn’t going to go out with her again.” He finished his wine and moved the glass closer to her.

  “Matt leave Sarah alone!” She swatted him gently.

  “She is too moody for my liking. Don’t ask me to fix her up again.”

  “More wine?” Christine reached for the bottle.

  “Yes, please and fill it up this time.” Christine glared at him, but she understood his attitude toward her friend. Sarah was a challenge at the best of times.

  Most of Bridgetown turned out for Mrs. Oliver’s funeral. The cars lined up for miles behind the hearse as they drove to the cemetery. People formed a circle five deep around the grave and the priest from St. Stephens and the mayor said a few words as the coffin was lowered. The reception was held on the lawn of the Town Hall, with the new box hedges making the perfect enclosure. The Ladies Auxiliary had set up tables of food along one side of the front lawn and the steps to Town Hall became the podium. Sarah went to give her condolences to Mr. Oliver, who commented, “The gardens are in their glory in honor of Margaret.”

  “Yes, she did a magnificent job of planting gardens all over town. It is a real tribute to her. I am very sorry for your loss.” Sarah shook his hand and made way for the other mourners. Christine took pictures and recorded the speeches for later. Sarah talked with Dr. Hardy. “What a shame, cancer is a horrible disease.”

  “That it is and unfortunately I have two more patients with the same cancer in hospital right
now. Strange how things happen in cycles.” The doctor saw someone he knew and moved off. Sarah didn’t get to ask him who the patients were. What a terrible thing to happen to people she knew. She looked up in time to see Dan coming toward her. “Dan, where is Edna?”

  “At home with her feet up, she is not doing well, I’m afraid. I am really worried, Sarah.” Sarah put her arm around his shoulders in support.

  “I will go and see her after I leave today. Just pray that she and the baby will get through this, Dan.”

  Charles Martin and his wife walked past at that moment, he smiled and nodded to Sarah. “Good afternoon Mr. Martin, Mrs. Martin.” The older woman looked Sarah up and down as if scrutinizing the competition. Taking in the designer suit and the trim figure, she tightened her grip on Charles’ arm as they moved off.

  Dan watched the Martins leave. “Stuck up snob, I remember her from high school. She always thought she was better than the rest of us,” Dan smirked. Sarah made no comment. She had been thinking how nice it would be to have money and power like the Martins. Dan and Sarah chatted for a few minutes before Dan headed home.

  The next evening Dan arrived home with four cases of bottled water. Edna gaped at him in surprise. “What on earth? Dan I have never seen you buy bottled water in all the years we have been married. I hope the neighbors didn’t see you; after all you do work at the local water treatment plant. It might have everyone wondering.”

  “I want you to start using bottled water, it is better for the baby. Don’t argue, just do it, okay?” He put the water in the back of the pantry. “If you pour the water into a glass before you come out of the pantry, no one will see the bottles.”

  “Dan, what is going on? Is there something wrong with the tap water?” Edna stared at her husband, something was definitely wrong.