Sarah changed into her yoga outfit and her running shoes and headed up the street. Her neighbor was standing on his lawn, holding his garden hose and looking perplexed. “Hi Mr. Miller, apparently the water is shut off at the water plant, should be on soon.” She waved as she passed.
“I hope so, my lawn needs watering. Bye Sarah.”
All over town people were discovering that there was no water. Matt spent half an hour trying to discover the problem with the sprinklers at Town Hall before he realized that the water was off at the source. Inside Town Hall phones were ringing and ringing with inquiries. Workers had no answers. Restaurants had to close due to no water and several other small businesses closed their doors for the day. Sarah saw Bernie coming from the grocery store with two cases of bottled water. “Hi Bernie stocking up?”
“No, this is for the vet’s office. I have six more in the van. We don’t know how long the water is going to be off and we need it for the animals. Doc called the water treatment plant but they said they didn’t know how long it would be. Do you have an inside info?” Sarah shook her head. “Have a good walk Sarah.” Bernie hurried off toward the van and Sarah walked into the store to buy as much water as she could carry home. Looks like it might be a long wait for that bath.
Christine drove south from Mr. MacIntyre’s farm. As she passed the chemical plant she noticed that the paving crew was restoring the parking lot. However, on the other side of the road, things were not as they should be. She pulled the car into the driveway of the scrap yard and stepped out. “Mr. Bernstein, what is going on?” The scrap yard owner gave her a disgusted look. He pulled the small leather cap from his head.
“Ministry of the Environment showed up a couple of hours ago and closed us down. They are taking soil samples or something. Their equipment is everywhere and I am losing money by the minute. Martin and Schultz gets the ‘all clear’ and now they have moved over here to harass me.”
“What are they looking for? Did they give you any explanation?” Christine couldn’t make any more sense of this than poor Mr. Bernstein.
Behind her a voice shouted, “Bernstein, what the hell is going on?” The owner of the tractor parts manufacturing plant next door approached. He did not look happy.
“You tell me, Gordon. It looks like they are tearing your yard apart now.” Christine realized that there was equipment and men in white hazmat suits in the back lot of the tractor plant as well. The two men were furious. Christine left them and hurried back to town.
Jack watched the nurses and orderlies rushing through the halls. Curious he decided to get out of bed and find out what was going on. Just as he slid his feet onto the cold floor Susan appeared. “Where do you think you are going?”
“I wanted to find out what is going on out there, they are buzzing like bees in a hive. Do you know anything?” He swung his legs carefully back under the covers as she kissed his cheek. He pulled her to him and kissed her tenderly on the lips. “I missed you, how did you make out at the gas site?”
“I missed you too. Which answer do you want first? The buzzing or the site?” She laughed as she let her slim frame settle in the chair by the bed. She kept hold of his hand.
“Either. God, you’re a beautiful sight in this dull and depressing place.” Jack smiled widely and squeezed her hand.
“The buzzing out in the hall is because the water is off at the source. That is a huge problem in a hospital this size. All over town, everyone is going crazy, because there is no water. Tap water is convenient, even if it has to be boiled before using.” She kissed his cheek. “The Food Mart is sold out of bottled water already. I know because I went in to buy a case. Good thing you and Bernie keep a good supply at his place and the B & B is well stocked.”
“Why is the water off? What happened? I watched Martin tell everyone that the chemical plant was cleared and all was well with the world just this afternoon. Now what?”
Susan was about to answer when Dr. Phillips arrived. “Jack, I have some good news for you.” Jack and Susan turned their full attention to the doctor. “Due to this water problem, we are releasing any patients that are capable of recuperating at home. You can leave today.”
“Today! That is good news. Thanks Doc. I guess the water problem has turned out to be a good thing for me at least. Do you know what it is all about?” Susan looked at Jack in surprise. He had to ask about the water, even in the wake of going home.
“Jack, leave it. I am sure the doctor has other things on his mind right now.” Susan gave Doctor Phillips an apologetic look.
“I’m afraid I haven’t a clue Jack. I’ll go and sign your release. Take care of him Susan and bring him in to see me in a week.”
While Jack dressed and Susan packed his small case, the television flashed a red warning across the bottom of the screen. Susan reached over and turned up the volume. “Jack, something about the water on the television, hurry.”
Jack appeared from the bathroom, zipping up his pants. He turned to the small screen.
A woman in a red suit spoke into the camera. “Residents of Bridgetown are notified that there is no tap water, after pumps at the town reservoir cut off water supply to the town treatment plant. Town of Bridgetown spokeswoman Winn Kinselly said the problem was reported at about 12:30 today. Residents are believed to have been without water for about three hours and the situation will continue until at least tomorrow afternoon. Another announcement will be made tomorrow before two of the pumps are restored, bringing back limited water pressure in the community.
Town officials are quoted as saying, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience today. Water use will be restored as quickly as possible. Tank trucks with fresh water will be parked in the town center. Residents are advised to bring clean, 5 gallon containers for water for washing and general use. This water is not potable for consumption and there is a ‘drink bottled water only’ advisory in effect until further notice.” The screen returned to normal programming. Jack and Susan looked at each other skeptically.
“What on earth is going on?”
“Get dressed Jack. We have to get you home.” Susan picked up Jack’s bag and the two made their way to the nurses’ station.
Once outside, Jack used his cell phone to call Christine. She didn’t answer, so he left a message to meet him at Bernie’s later tonight. They would have to gather everyone together and find out as much as they could. Something was definitely wrong.
Matt drove towards the apartment, the town seemed to be in chaos, everywhere but at the town pool, which was filled to capacity. Good place to take a bath when the water is shut off, he thought to himself laughing. He and Christine pulled into the parking lot at the same time.
“Great timing, Chris. How about a pizza tonight?” She gave him a strange look. “What now? Don’t tell me there is another crisis.”
“First of all, we can’t have pizza because they are closed. I just stopped there five minutes ago and secondly, the entire town has no water and thirdly, there is something strange going on across from the chemical plant. The scrap yard and the tractor parts plant are being dug up by the Ministry. So yes, I believe Bridgetown is in crisis.” He reached over and pulled her close. She felt much better instantly. “Sorry Matt, but this is getting more and more curious by the day.”
“Come on upstairs and I will make you feel much better. I promise you will forget about all the weird and wondrous things that are going on in this town for a few hours.” They headed up the stairs, arms around each other.
An hour later, Christine checked her messages and called Jack. “Jack, it’s Chris, why are you home?”
“They threw me out of the hospital for being a pain in the butt. No seriously, they let some of the patients go home because of this damn water fiasco. Do you know anything about it?”
“No, but I do have some strange news. Are you up to company?”
“Definitely, ‘Nurse Susan’ is taking very good care of me and I think we all need to discuss the
latest events in our fair town. Come over about seven.”
She hung up the phone and told Matt that they were going to Jack’s at seven. He pulled her back into the bedroom to continue where they left off.
Bernie, Susan, Matt and Christine sat in the living room drinking ice cold beer. “One thing to be said for beer, it’s wet, cold and never runs out. Now who wants to start?” Bernie cheered the group and took a long drink from the brown bottle. Jack sipped on his soda, wishing he could have a beer instead.
After Christine told them about the Ministry’s latest victims and Susan made her report from the natural gas site, the group was stymied. “There is a cover up of some kind going on and I don’t know how we are going to get to the bottom of it. Water valves are not shut off from the reservoir to the treatment plant for no good reason. Something big is going on and I still don’t believe that Martin and Schultz are free and clear of any blame. I saw all those barrels and something stinks.” Jack picked up his glass of soda. He looked longingly at Bernie’s bottle, knowing beer was off limits until he finished his antibiotics. Relenting, he drank the soda.
“Oh, oh, here comes another conspiracy theory.” Bernie laughed and opened a second beer.
“My good man, are you aware that the phrase, ‘conspiracy theory’ originated in 1909, but became better known in 1963 with JFK’s death.” Jack was on a roll. “Used as a way of convincing the public that anything that was not official government information, was simply a theory or untruth, speculation and inherently dubious, thereby diverting the public from the actual truth. Actually, conspiracy theory and propaganda can be traced back to WWI and jolly old England.”
“Stop please! Not another lecture.” Christine begged and everyone laughed out loud.
“I can expound on that one Jack.” Matt picked up the proverbial ball. “The word propaganda took on negative connotations after the second world war, when the British resurrected the MOI. As a matter of fact, it was after working in the MOI that George Orwell was inspired to write 1984.”
“Matt loves that book. We’re in trouble now. Susan, shall we get more snacks?” Christine and Susan left the men to continue their discussion and went to the kitchen.
“Christine, you don’t know how much I enjoy being here with Jack and all of his friends. All of you get along so well.” Susan passed Christine more cheese and grapes.
“We all know each other pretty well and you fit right in, Susan. Can I have more crackers please?” She arranged the cheese slices and grapes on the plate.
“Can I ask you a question, Chris?” Susan gave Christine the box of crackers.
“Anything, I’ll try to give you an honest answer.”
“Was that Jack’s ex at the hospital? The blond that looked very upset.” Susan was not going to ask, but she was curious.
“Yes, that was Sarah. She and Jack are finished, but she was surprised when the volunteer called for Jack’s fiancée. Don’t you worry about Sarah; she is moving on to bigger and richer fish.” Susan looked at her strangely. “I mean she has a new boyfriend and he is loaded. Sarah is very money conscious. Anyway, she and Jack are finished and Jack obviously loves you to bits.”
“Thanks Chris,” She put her arm around her new friend. “Now let’s go back and see if we can get this meeting back on track.” The two headed for the living room carrying trays of food and more beer.
“Orwell saw all of this coming years ago, he only wrote about what he actually saw happening beneath the surface. What about Iraq? Or 9/11? Now there is a topic of conspiracy and cover up.” Matt took the tray from Chris and moved over on the sofa to make room.
“Okay boys, time to come back to Bridgetown. What are we going to do?” Susan looked around the room at the others.
“One guy that just loves this water problem is Mark Wilcox. He has sold more than a hundred in-home water filtering systems in the past month” Bernie chided. The others nodded.
“Filters are not much good if there is no water coming out of the tap,” Matt added.
“Susan is right, back to business at hand. What are we going to do?” Jack and the others turned their attention back, to the problem.
They agreed to try to gather more information. The tank trucks remained in the center of town and long lines of distressed residents continued. Everyone was speculating about the water problem, but no one had answers.
Chapter Twenty One
Two days later, there was an announcement on the local news. The Director of Public Works advised that the control panel for the electrical pumps failed in the main reservoir and the backup system failed to kick in. Why the pumps and the backup failed remained a mystery. The water is now back on, however the problem in Bridgetown has led to Ontario Health Services issuing a pre-cautionary ‘boil water advisory’ for the town on Saturday.
Jack and Susan looked at the television in disbelief. “The pumps and the backup mysteriously failed! Give me a break! Who are they trying to fool? I have to get out of this house, Susan. In- home water filters won’t help this problem.”
“Jack, the doctor said you had to rest for at least a week. Make some phone calls or something. I will do the legwork. What did you have in mind?”
Just then the phone rang, Jack reached for it. “Hello?”
“Jack, it’s Chris. The ministry has the entire road dug up at the north end of town. Apparently they didn’t find anything at the tractor plant, but there is an underground line of toxins running into the scrap yard and guess where it’s coming from, Jack? Martin and Schultz!” Jack glared at the phone.
“I knew it. Are they going to dig up the back lot again?” Jack gave Susan the thumbs up signal.
“I don’t know Jack, but Martin and Schultz Chemical is closed down, there is police tape all over the place and no one has seen Charles Martin. I’ll call you back when I know more. This is big, Jack.” The line went dead. Jack turned and gave Susan a big kiss before telling her what Christine had said.
“Finally Susan, finally we are getting some results. Now we just sit and wait.”
Across town, Sarah opened the door to the unexpected knock. “Will! Oh my God, Will! What are you doing here?” The handsome young man stood confidently on the doorstep smiling widely.
“I thought I would surprise you. May I come in?” She stepped back and allowed him to enter the house. As soon as the door closed he pulled her into his arms and kissed her passionately. She melted in his embrace. She was thrilled to see him.
After a few minutes they walked into the kitchen and Sarah prepared a cup of tea for them both. “This is such a surprise, I am so happy to see you.” Her hand went to her hair hoping that she looked her best.
“Well, I have more surprises up my sleeve. Can you pack a bag? We have to leave for Toronto in an hour.” She looked at him curiously.
“Toronto?”
“Yes, you have an interview tomorrow morning with my father’s firm. They have decided to offer you the position and the board of directors want to meet you.” He reached for the tea tray. “I wanted to deliver the news in person.”
Sarah was dumbfounded. She couldn’t speak. Finally she pulled air into her lungs and whispered, “They gave me the job?” Will set the tray on the table and smiled at her.
“Yes Silly, now go and pack that bag. I’m sorry about the short notice, but it took me over an hour to drive here from the airport. Now go. And make sure you pack something formal; you and I are going out on the town. I am back for two weeks and then I have to go back to Brussels to finish the last month of my assignment.” He laughed when he noticed her face, which showed confusion, happiness and wonder all at the same time. “Go!” She floated out of the room as if on a cloud. This was the happiest day of her life. Will poured himself a cup of tea and waited.
At the far end of town, Christine saw the police cars blocking the road, the trucks and equipment that continued to arrive and the dozens of townspeople that came to gawk. Something was going on and no one was talking. She s
topped a man wearing a Ministry of Health uniform, “Excuse me sir, I am Christine Hill a reporter for the Bridgetown Banner and I wonder if you can tell me what is going on.”
He waved her away with a “No comment.”
The police officers tried to clear the people that were blocking the road. “Go home, all of you. We have important work to do here and you are just getting in the way. Your local news will give you all the information you need today. Please everyone, go home.” No one moved.
Christine wandered down the road, leaving the crowd behind. She walked out in a field and climbed to the top of a small hill. From her vantage point she could see that the back lot of Martin and Schultz was being dug up. She sat on the grass and watched. At least an hour later, she heard the sound of an ambulance in the distance. Straining to see where it was, she saw it coming up the road toward the plant. The police parted the crowd and the ambulance raced into the back lot. Curiousity got the better of her. Christine moved quickly through the field that separated her from the plant and the ambulance. Soon she was perched behind a hedge, in full view of the gaping hole in the parking lot. She aimed her zoom lens and snapped just as something was raised from the hole. It was a body. Snap, snap, she continued to take pictures. What is a body doing in the dump site? Snap, Snap, Did one of the workers fall? Snap. What is going on? And who is it? Her mind raced and her camera snapped picture after picture.
Unseen, she hurried back to the hill and then to her car, just as the ambulance left the parking lot. She was panting by the time she dropped into the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. Christine drove straight to the hospital. She found Missy and explained the situation. Missy rushed to emergency to make inquiries. It seemed like hours before she returned. Christine paced back and forth in the hallway.
“No one has been brought in, Chris. The ambulance went to the morgue and no one is talking.” Chris thanked Missy, told her to call as soon as she knew anything and left.
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