by Liz Adair
She was just putting it away when Fran walked in with the shoebox. “Are you feeling all right?”
Mandy frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I found this in the garbage. I thought you loved cream-filled goodies.”
Mandy held out her hand. “What are you talking about? What’s in the box?”
“You mean you don’t know? What’s it doing in the garbage, then?” Fran handed her the box but kept the lid. “To put under my paint can,” she explained.
Mandy looked inside. The box was lined with crumpled-up tissue upon which sat a single homemade éclair, frosted with chocolate icing and chock-full of cream filling. A small envelope sat by it, with “Welcome” written in a quivery hand across the front. Mandy set the box on the table, picked up the envelope, and drew out a small card with a picture of a hummingbird on the front. “Join us at church this Sunday,” it said.
Mandy turned the card over, but there was nothing else to indicate who had brought it.
“Who is it from?” called Fran from the kitchen.
“I’m not sure. Sounds like someone from church.”
“What’s it doing in the garbage, then?”
Mandy laughed. “It’s a long story.” She carried the box to the kitchen. “Here, I’ll share this with you while I tell you about it. You don’t mind that it’s been in the garbage, do you?”
Fran shook her head. “Too many carbs for me. But you go ahead. I’ll listen while I paint.”
“What are you painting?”
“The insides of these cupboard doors. I only got one coat on them.”
“Nonsense. They look great.”
“Now they do, but they won’t stand up to lots of scrubbing. If I spend the time now to do a second coat, I won’t have to strip and repaint later. Now, why was the box in the garbage?”
Mandy took a bite of the éclair, and as she explained about the contents of the first shoebox that had been left on the deck, she found that she could speak of the stinkbugs with ease and humor.
“Kids,” Fran said when Mandy had finished. “What a rude thing to do.”
“Well, it really was high spirits, I’m sure. I’m an authority figure, which makes me fair game to a teenage mind. It was a harmless prank.” She held up the goodie. “Are you sure you don’t want some of this? It’s really excellent. The filling is almond flavored and has something in it that’s got some texture. Maybe it’s coconut.”
Fran jiggled the can to mix the paint. “Sounds entirely too rich for me. So, how are things going at school?”
Mandy shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know, Fran. If I hadn’t signed a year’s lease, I might not stick it out even to the end of the year.”
Fran paused in the act of opening the can. “You’re not serious. What’s wrong?”
Mandy licked some cream off her fingers. “Well, for starters, Grange Timberlain seems to think he’s still in charge, and he’s not the only one who thinks so. Two-thirds of the school board support him.”
“How do you know?”
“They told me. Said I should listen to Grange. He’s a leader.”
“Be fair,” Fran said. “He’s done a pretty good job so far.”
“Well, math scores are up, but reading scores are below state average. Way below, and as far as I can see there’s no plan to address that.” Mandy took a bite of éclair and added thickly, “Yet.”
Fran sat on the floor and opened a cupboard door. “So what I’m hearing is, you see this district as a challenge. You’re not really thinking about leaving, are you?”
“Who wants to stay where they’re not wanted? There’s a school up in the bush in Alaska that wanted me. The money is great. They provide housing and a trip out each summer, and I could really do some good there. I could make a difference.”
“Is the position still open?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t inquired because I signed the lease. I feel that, if only for that reason, I’m committed here.”
Fran sat back on her heels. “I don’t want to be the reason you stay if you’re going to be miserable. If you’ve got someplace else where you can make a difference, then let’s see if we can work something out.”
“Don’t tempt me.” Mandy took the last bite and took a pot from the cupboard. “Leesie gets soup tonight. I’ve had my supper.”
Fran didn’t look up from her painting. “Carb city.”
“So, tell me,” Mandy said, “where does Grange’s money come from? Was it a settlement for his face?”
Fran stopped with brush in midair and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean––” Mandy suddenly clutched her belly.
“What’s the matter? You’re as white as a sheet!”
“Ugh,” Mandy groaned. “I don’t know. I had a cramp all of a sud—” She didn’t finish the sentence, for saliva poured into her mouth as a tsunami of nausea swept over her, and she made a lunge for the sink.
Fran got rid of the paint can and scrambled to her feet. She stood by as Mandy’s body convulsed, giving up the éclair and the tuna sandwich she had for lunch at the grade school cafeteria. Fran wet a rag and wiped Mandy’s forehead and cheeks and turned on the tap to flush the vomit down the drain.
Mandy tried to say thanks, but the room began to spin, and it took all her conscious effort to stay upright. She clung to the sink, but an ebony ring haloed the outer edge of her vision and began to close in. A buzzing sound grew louder and louder until the darkness was complete, and then, from far away, she heard Fran saying, “I can’t hold you.”
After that, she floated through obscurity punctuated by sensory islands, sometimes sight, sometimes sound, sometimes both, but all with a surreal, dreamlike skew. Leesie’s voice calling her Dr. Sweetiebug hailed her in from the flow, but as she opened her eyes, she was hit by another wave of nausea, and she struggled to get up on her elbow. A strong hand supported her head. Someone said, “Use the basin,” and held it for her as she retched again.
“Thank you,” she whispered as she was gently laid back down, but her benefactor had turned into Grange Timberlain, only his face wasn’t contorted. As he smiled encouragement, both sides of his mouth turned up. When she opened her eyes again, Rael was beside her, calling her by name.
“Yes,” she answered, but the darkness swallowed him up, and she never heard what he had to say to her.
IT WAS ALMOST noon before Mandy made it to work the next day.
Leesie, driving her home from a night spent in the emergency room at Hiesel Valley Hospital, tried to insist that she go home and go to bed, but Mandy overruled her. They went to the A-frame so both could shower and change and then Mandy dropped Leesie off at the high school.
“You’re sure?” Leesie furrowed her brow. “You’re still pale, and your eyes have dark circles under them.”
“I’ll be fine. As good as you, anyway. You were the one that was up all night.”
Leesie grinned. “Just half the night. You finally settled down around two. So, what do they think it was? Food poisoning?”
“Probably. That’s why I’m so determined to get in to work. If it was the tuna sandwich, we may have other cases we have to deal with. So out you go.”
Leesie leaned over and kissed her sister. “Bye, Sweetiebug.”
“Bye.” Mandy leaned back against the headrest and watched her bounce up the stairs. Then she drove to the district offices.
Willow Timberlain was out at the reception desk talking to Elizabeth when Mandy stepped through the door. Both girls fell silent and stared as Mandy walked past with a nod in their direction. She felt their eyes following her as she leaned on the railing for support and plodded up the stairs.
Mo came to his doorway as she rested on the landing. “Can I help?”
She shook her head and turned to cross the mezzanine above the entryway, pausing again opposite Grange’s door because her legs were turning to rubber.
Grange, standing at his file cabinet, looked her way and d
ropped the papers in his hand. He wrenched open his door, but got no farther than his doorway, because at that moment Vince burst in downstairs shouting, “Mandy!” He ran across the reception area, leaving the high school girls gaping as he took the stairs two at a time.
When he gained the landing, he hurried to Mandy. Turning his back on Grange, he put a supporting arm around her waist. “What are you doing here?” he asked fiercely. “I just came from the hospital. I can’t believe they released you.”
“Oh, Vince, don’t make more of it than it is,” she said. “Will you help me to my office? My knees seem to have gone south on me.” As he bent to scoop her up, she wrenched away. “No, Vince. You’re not going to carry me. I will walk. Just support me.”
His hand stayed on her waist, and his face was still close to hers as she held his gaze and clenched her jaw. His mouth compressed in a straight line, and they engaged in a brief skirmish of wills.
Suddenly, he smiled and said, “Yes, ma’am.” Suiting his pace to hers, he walked with her to her office and held her chair. As soon as she was seated, he stepped away.
Mandy leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Thank you.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” Vince said.
Her eyes flew open, and he held up his hands in defense. “No, don’t fire up. I won’t say it again, but did they find out what happened? Was it food poisoning?”
“Nothing showed up in the tests. They’re not sure.”
Vince looked at her intently. “May I come and take you home when you’re finished here?”
“I have my car. I’ll be fine.”
At that moment, Mandy’s secretary swept into the room with a steaming mug, which she set on Mandy’s desk. “Drink this. It’ll cure what ails you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Berman. I just realized I didn’t have anything to eat today. I think I’m suffering more from that than anything else. Will you ask Grange to come in and talk to me?”
“I guess that’s my cue,” Vince took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Mandy. “I’ve got a satellite phone. Call me if you need me. Any time, night or day.”
She took the card and smiled up at him. “You are very kind, but don’t worry. I’ll drink Mrs. Berman’s tea, and it will fix me right up.”
“See that you do. I’ll come by and see you tonight.”
Mandy shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be fit company tonight. Come by tomorrow night. Come for dinner.”
There was a tapping on the doorframe, and they both looked up to see Grange standing in the hallway, a grim expression on his face.
Vince flashed his brilliant smile at her and sketched a salute. “Tomorrow for dinner it is,” he said and strode out the door.
Grange stepped back to let Vince pass, meeting his eyes in stony silence. Then he walked to Mandy’s desk. “Edith said you wanted to see me.”
Mandy took a tentative sip of the steaming brew in front of her. “Yes. Thank you. Will you please close the door and have a seat?”
He did as she asked, sitting quietly while she took another drink from her mug.
It took a moment for it to register with Mandy that both of his eyes were blinking as he regarded her.
“Is anything wrong?” he asked.
She realized she had been staring and dropped her eyes. “No. I’m sorry. I’m not really with it today. You’ll have to forgive me. I had a spot of trouble last night.”
“I know.”
“You do?”
“I rode with you in the back of the ambulance down to the hospital.”
She stared blankly.
Grange shifted in his seat. “I’m an EMT. We have an all-volunteer community response team, and I was on call.”
As the memory returned, Mandy put her hands to her cheeks and said faintly, “You were the one holding the basin?”
He smiled slightly. “Part of the job.”
She could feel the color rising in her cheeks. “I’ll never live that down.”
“Don’t give it another thought. What did you want to see me about?”
Mandy put her hand to her forehead as she tried to remember. “Oh, yes— the school lunch. Did you have any other emergency calls? Anyone else have to go to the hospital?”
“What are you thinking?”
“Maybe I got a touch of food poisoning from the tuna sandwich I ate at Birch Falls Elementary yesterday. I was afraid if that were the case, we might have a food poisoning incident on our hands.”
“May I?” Grange asked, pointing to her phone. She motioned for him to go ahead, and he asked Edith to check on the number of absentees in the district for today.
While they were waiting to hear back, he asked, “What else did you have to eat yesterday?”
“I had a chocolate éclair, but I had only just eaten it. There wasn’t time for it to make me sick.”
“Where did you get it?”
“The éclair?” Mandy felt her cheeks flushing again as she remembered that it had come out of her garbage can. “It was on my doorstep when I got home. I think someone from the church left it.”
“How do you know that?”
“The card had an invitation to come out next Sunday. Surely—”
The phone rang and Grange picked up. He listened for a moment, said thank you, and hung up. “Absenteeism is down today. I don’t think it was the tuna fish.”
“Well, it may have been just a vicious, short-term bug. Whatever it was, Mrs. Berman’s yarbs have done their thing, and I’m feeling better already.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He stood. “If I can do anything to help, just let me know.”
“Thank you. If you have anything you want on the agenda for the meeting tomorrow morning, will you please let Mrs. Berman know? She’s going to be sending it out to everyone this afternoon. I’m having all the resource room teachers join us for the second half of the meeting to discuss the district reading program.”
“All right.” Grange turned to go.
“Oh, and one more thing,” Mandy said. “You were logged out on your calendar all yesterday morning but showed yourself in the office in the afternoon.”
“Did I?” There was just a hint of a challenge in his question. “Did you have something urgent to discuss with me?”
“Yes, I did.”
“We can do it right now.” He grabbed the chair, ready to sit back down.
“Not right now,” she said, raising her hand to forestall him. “I would request, however, that your calendar reflect where you are going to be.”
He leaned on the chair and looked down at the floor for a moment. “And your calendar for this morning?” he asked pleasantly. “Was it a true reflection of where you were?”
“That’s different. That was an emergency. It couldn’t be helped.”
Grange chuckled. “Next time, I’ll tell Mr. Ruggles he’ll have to call in and calendar his heart attack ahead of time.”
She frowned. “What’s that got to do with it?”
“You’re not the only one who got a ride downriver. I was in the back giving him oxygen yesterday afternoon.”
“Oh.”
The silence stretched out as Mandy and Grange looked at one another, she with a frown and he with a bland, unreadable expression.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Of course that was unavoidable. Forgive me.”
“Nothing to forgive,” he said. Then he walked out the door and down to his office.
Mandy was grateful he didn’t turn around and look back so he didn’t see the tear rolling down her cheek. “Pull up your socks, Dr. Stinkbug,” she muttered. With a trembling hand she reached for her cup and drank half the contents. Then she searched in her purse for a peppermint, which she popped in her mouth and chewed. Determined not to let the weakness get the best of her, she turned on her computer and began composing an email to Mrs. Berman.
That capable lady sailed in moments later with a steaming Styrofoam cup. She handed it to Mandy and commanded, “Ea
t.”
Mandy took the cup and sniffed at the contents. “What is it?”
“Chicken soup with some added yarbs. Go ahead. We need to get some color in those cheeks.” Mrs. Berman sat on the side chair and watched expectantly.
Mandy took a sip. “Not bad,” she said. “I’m not even going to ask what’s in it.”
“Never mind that. Tell me what you had to eat yesterday.”
“Nothing that I can think would have poisoned me. I had oatmeal for breakfast, a tuna sandwich for lunch, and just minutes before I got sick, I ate a chocolate éclair.” Mandy hastened to explain, “The cream filling was still cold. I don’t think we have to worry about salmonella.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any of that éclair left, is there?”
Mandy shook her head. “I ate it all. I’m a sucker for cream-filled things.”
“What did it taste like?”
“Why are you asking me this, Mrs. Berman? The cramping and nausea set in shortly after I ate the éclair. There wasn’t time for it to poison me.”
“That’s just the thing. It’s a little early, but we’ve been having warm days…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mushrooms. We have one that grows in the meadows on this side of the mountains— looks like a normal mushroom, but the gills are tinged with pink. It’s fast-acting and extremely poisonous. Not enough to kill you, but enough to make you wish you were dead. That’s why I was asking about the filling. This mushroom has a distinctive taste.”
“Like what?”
“I asked you first. I don’t want to plant an idea in your head.”
“The filling tasted of almonds.”
Mrs. Berman sprang from her chair. “I’m going to get Grange.”
Mandy watched her stride out the door. A few minutes later, Mrs. Berman returned, followed by the tall assistant superintendent.
He looked at his watch. “I’m due over at the high school, Edith.” Then he added, with a twinkle in his eye, “You must not have checked my calendar.”
“Never mind your calendar. I think somebody fed Dr. Steenburg some rosy-gill mushrooms.”
Grange cocked his head. “And you base that accusation on what?”