“There it is,” Ettie finally shouted. She looked as excited as a little girl getting her first doll.
I looked over at an old two-story house built close to the road. My first thoughts were how dusty the windows must be. Why would anyone build a house only a few hundred feet from a gravel road? Fortunately, the traffic driving by was sparse.
Ettie jumped out of the car almost before I’d come to a complete stop.
“Come in, Mabel. I’ll make us a cup of tea.”
She opened the door and we entered an old farmhouse kitchen. I’d never seen so many cupboards in my life. A handmade wooden table sat in the middle of the room. Seven or eight people could easily sit around it with room to spare. The linoleum on the floor was old and worn. There was a warmth to it though. I could imagine a happy family sitting there laughing and enjoying each other’s company.
We walked into the living room. It was small and there wasn’t much light coming in from the windows. The furniture was not new; however, it was definitely newer than mine was. I was sure they’d bought it when it was absolutely needed and on sale because nothing seemed to match. Yet there was a homey feeling to it all. On the old piano that stood against one wall, there were several pictures lined up with a mishmash of frames. I walked over and looked.
Ettie pointed to an old picture. “These are my parents,” she said. “This was their farm. They worked hard but this isn’t the best land. At least, not for growing crops. There’s too much land to clear. It’s good for cattle though. I’ve always loved it here.”
We went back into the kitchen.
“I don’t know where those boys are,” she said. She filled the teakettle and put it on the burner. Without thinking, she took the dishcloth and began to clean the dials on top of the stove and then moved over to the table and wiped it.
She looked around. “I miss all this,” she said. “My whole life is here.” The teakettle whistled so she took it off the stove and poured the boiling water over the tea bags in an old teapot.
“Let me show you the yard,” she said. “It will take a few minutes for the tea to steep.”
We wandered outside and checked her garden. Her sons had been thorough in cleaning it and removing all the dead carrot and potato tops. They sat piled high, ready to be used as compost in the spring. The soil was already tilled and prepared for next year. She was pleased with them.
“Funny how you think they can’t do anything unless you’re there to tell them,” she said.
It didn’t seem her sons were going to come home so she looked in the fridge, found some left over roast beef, and made some sandwiches. We sat across from each other at her kitchen table and talked. She told me about her life on the farm as a child and then all the struggles she and her husband faced. She laughed, she cried, and I listened.
Before we realized it, the sun was starting to go down. There weren’t many evening hours left in the day now. I wasn’t fussy about driving at night but I didn’t say anything. I knew if I mentioned it, she would feel guilty for keeping me so long. This had been a good day for her. She looked happy and more relaxed than I’d seen her since we met. I understood why she was concerned about moving into that big new house. She was a country girl and this was her home.
Before we left, she wrote a note to her boys to let them know she’d been there and to tell them she had taken some potatoes and carrots from the cold cellar.
A car was coming down the road full speed just as I was turning out of the driveway so I stopped and waited. It suddenly swerved and turned into the driveway leading off into another farm across the way.
“Mabel,” Ettie said. “Stop for a minute.” She was quiet as she watched the tail lights of the other car disappear into the darkness.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“I’m sure that was Bobby’s car,” she said.
“Are you sure? Why would he be driving down that way? Wouldn’t he come to your farm?”
She didn’t say anything for a moment and then she said, “No, that’s Patterson’s farm. Bobby was going to Patterson’s.”
Suddenly, there was no joy left on Ettie’s face. No matter what subject I brought up, she couldn’t contribute to the conversation so we drove home in silence. She didn’t say much more after we got to my house. She gave me some vegetables, I thanked her, and she left. I watched out my kitchen window as she slowly walked through my yard and over to Krueger’s.
A chill ran through me and I hoped that my friend would be all right. Surely, a son who’d once been so close to his mother would never harm her. Did he realize the pain he was causing his mother? Why would he be going over to the Patterson farm? Why would he go there and not visit his own brothers?
We had to check out the Patterson farm. By ‘we,’ I meant Reg and me.
Or, if Reg was busy, just me.
Chapter Thirteen
“What? Are you serious? There’s no way you and I are going out to Patterson’s, Mabel.” Reg’s face almost matched his red jacket. “You are not serious. That is a dangerous place. I mean it; even if I were a cop now, I’d think twice about going there.”
I tried to outstare him. It isn’t that easy with Reg. He’s had too much experience staring down criminals. Once in awhile I do come upon a cement wall when dealing with my ex-sheriff.
“And,” he said. “I forbid you to go. Don’t you dare go out to Patterson’s on your own, Mabel. I will not be accountable for your demise if you do. Understood?”
“Demise? You’re using your mayor talk. Reg, you are two feet in front of me and your finger is poking my nose, how can I not understand?”
A look of relief came over his face and he removed his finger. “Good. It’s really pointless anyway, Mabel. You have no proof about anything. Ettie might not like her son going out there to buy home brew but I’m not going up against old man Patterson and his shotgun.”
“It doesn’t seem right, Reg. They’ve been breaking the law for years now and nothing ever gets done about it. When is it going to stop?”
“Well, I’m hoping he hasn’t passed on his expertise to his good for nothing sons, and the home brew will end when he dies.”
“Do you think he makes wine?”
Reg stared at me. “Wine? Why are you asking that, Mabel?”
“Because I ran out and I don’t want to go to the store and buy it. Besides, I’ve tasted the store-bought wine and I don’t like it.”
“You mean you’re finally finished with Sadie’s wine?”
I nodded. “Down to the last bottle.”
Reg laughed but without humor. “Well, don’t try to buy any from the Patterson’s. It might be poison.”
We spent the next few minutes talking about his important position as mayor, and how he’d rather be out picking cotton in the boiling sun. Reg can be quite dramatic when he wants to be.
Just before he disappeared out the door, I said, “What’s happening with Dr. Campbell anyway? Did he get all the things he wanted? You know, the big office and the computers?”
Reg smiled, probably the first time since he’d been in the store, and said, “Oh, yes, and it didn’t come out of our coffers. We put up a fight and he told us to never mind, he’d buy them himself.”
“Doesn’t that put up a red flag, Reg? This is getting ridiculous. No one can have all that money. Don’t you see, he’s into something besides medicine.” A thought came to mind. “Do you think he’s involved in making moonshine? How much do you think Patterson makes anyway? Are there that many people buying it?”
I had a feeling Reg thought he was starting his argument all over with me.
With a deep sigh, he said, “Mabel, if that’s how Robert Campbell is making his money, I’m not going to get involved. If you want to mention it to Sheriff Jim, you go right ahead. And how much money do they make with their little operation? Well, I know it’s lucrative. People drive from all over the state to sneak in there and buy.”
“Well, if it’s so lucrative, w
hy do they still live in an old shack in the woods? Why aren’t they living in a big mansion?”
“I imagine because that would be a sure giveaway. He can’t act like he has money.”
“There doesn’t seem to be much point in being rich then. If you can’t spend it, why have it? Is that why he couldn’t send his daughter to college?”
Reg shrugged. “I guess so, Mabel. Even though we don’t arrest him, he still can’t do too much with his money.”
“I don’t know; it still doesn’t seem right to me. That old coot should be locked away in prison.”
The next day the store was closed, Flori was helping her daughter-in-law, and I didn’t see Ettie moving around in her house. Usually, I can see her through my kitchen window, standing by her kitchen sink or sweeping off the step. Sometimes we wave to each other. She was always doing something around the house. It was a warm sunny day and I was aching to go somewhere.
Monday is usually my baking and cleaning day but I couldn’t put my mind to it. I did manage to clean out the cats’ litter boxes and vacuum the living room but that was as far as my ambition took me. I kept imagining that lonely bottle of wine tucked away in my bottom cupboard and knew I had to do something.
I drove down as many back lanes as I could to leave town. If I didn’t, someone would tell Reg and he’d know where I was going.
Sammy, my white cat, sat on the seat beside me. He’s the only cat that loves going for drives. After about five minutes, he curled up and went to sleep. I know he’s not of any help but somehow it felt better having another breathing creature with me. I talked to him as he slept. I told him about his name. I called his mother Philip until I discovered ‘he’ was a ‘she’ and I called him Sammy because I wasn’t sure what he was. When the vet told me I definitely had another little boy cat, it was no problem because Sammy could work for Samantha too. Just in case. Even vets make mistakes.
As I approached Ettie’s farmhouse, I saw one of the boys in the yard. I’m not sure why I’d think of him as a boy because both her sons were over forty. My age was starting to catch up to me. I decided to drive on a bit and talk to him before I drove into Patterson’s driveway. I pulled up beside him. The hood of his old truck was up and it looked like the old rusted out vehicle had swallowed him up.
He watched as I pulled up beside him, an inquisitive look on his face. I rolled down my window, which by the way has a handle that I have to turn myself. Ettie’s son reached over to the fender, picked up an oily rag, and wiped his hands. He continued wiping as he walked over to the car.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” His voice was soft and somehow didn’t match his looks. I expected something loud and gruff.
“Hi,” I said. “Actually, I’m Mabel Wickles, your mom’s neighbor. I think I saw you for a few minutes when your mom was moving in.”
“Your ma’s neighbor?” He looked surprised and concerned. “Is there something wrong?”
“No, no. She’s okay. I was with her when we came out yesterday. Did you see the note she left?”
He smiled and surprisingly looked quite handsome.
“So, you’re the lady who drove her out. I know she’d appreciate that.” He laughed. “Don’t tell me that she forgot something. My mother is always leaving something behind.”
I smiled. “No, I don’t think she did. I was stopping in at your neighbor’s and saw you outside so thought I’d say hello.”
“Sure is nice to meet you, ma’am. Glad my mom has found a friend. I’m Thomas but everybody calls me Tommy. I’d shake hands but I might get yours a little dirty.”
“It’s nice to meet you. And what’s your brother’s name? He lives here with you too, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, ma’am. He’s the big brother. He’s Frank, named after our pa.”
“Well, Tommy, it’s great to meet you. I’ll tell your mom that I saw you.”
“Aw, Mabel, you mentioned you were going to visit a neighbor? I think you might have taken the wrong turn. We don’t have any neighbors out this way.” He pointed to the road I’d come down. “This here road comes to a dead end about a mile down. Guess it was supposed to keep going but nobody ever built down there, so there was no need for a road. If you’re wanting the Anderson’s place, go back to the crossroads and turn right. It’s the first farm you come to.”
“What about the road on the other side?” I turned and pointed to the Patterson’s driveway. It would be easy to miss it if you didn’t know it was there. A dirt road hollowed out between rows of thick trees.
Tommy stared at me and gave a nervous laugh. “That’s the Patterson farm. Trust me, Mabel, you don’t want to be going there. That isn’t a place where women go. In fact, there’s only a certain kind of men who go there.”
“Your mom and I thought we saw your brother driving down that road yesterday.”
His eyes got bigger. “You saw Frank going to the Patterson’s? I don’t believe it. If he went there, I doubt he’d come back alive.”
I shook my head. “No, no, not Frank - Robert.”
A look of disgust passed over his face. With a sneer, he said, “You saw my baby brother going to Patterson’s? Well, that doesn’t surprise me at all.”
“Why do you think he’d be going there?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? He’s been friends with the Pattersons for a long time. We used to tease him about it when he was young. You know, having a crush on Carly and all, but now we leave him alone. He’s this big fancy doctor and he does what he wants.”
“He used to go over there when he was a kid?”
He nodded. “Yeah. He started going when he was a teenager. Before that, he was afraid of old Mr. Patterson as much as we were but that changed. It was after Mrs. Patterson left. Ma and Pa tried to stop him but they couldn’t. He’d sneak out anyway. We never did find out what the attraction was.” He laughed. “Whatever it was, I guess it’s still there.”
“You think he’s an alcoholic? You know, drinking moonshine?”
He took a moment to answer. “I used to think so. I mean, why else would he go? He never came back drunk though. I’ve never even seen him drink a lot. Maybe a beer on a hot day but that’s about all. Now he’s the rich dude but even Ma said he doesn’t drink alcohol. So, why does he go to Pattersons? I have no idea.”
“Maybe he likes their company?”
He sighed. “He’s a big smart doctor and likes to hang out with scum? I can’t see it. I could say he went to see Carly but they had some kind of falling out many years ago so it wasn’t for that.”
“Did you know Robert hired Carly at the hospital?”
He nodded. “Yeah, ma told us. Guess he felt sorry for her. She was a good kid. She went through a rough time after her mom left. You know, went kind of wild. I hear she’s done good the last few years though.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Mind telling me why you want to go over there, Mabel?”
“Well, I’ve run out of wine and I can’t stand the store bought stuff. I thought if Mr. Patterson made homebrew, maybe he made wine too.”
I could see Tommy’s lips twitching. Was I that transparent?
“Mabel,” he said. “Take my word for it, Mr. Patterson does not make wine.” He placed both hands on the car roof and looked down at me. “And, please, make me a promise that you won’t go there. There are only certain people who travel that road and you aren’t one of them.”
“You mean there are a lot of people going there?”
“Yes, ma’am. There are some who arrive in big expensive cars and others in old wrecks. We figure the rich ones go for the drugs and the poor ones buy the moonshine.”
“Drugs? Are you sure?”
He shrugged. “There’s word the boys have their own little marijuana patch somewhere out there in the bush. They’ve sort of branched out so now you can buy both.”
“Do you think Robert is doing drugs?”
“I’ll say this to you, Mabel, but don’t breathe a word to my mother. I don
’t think Robert uses drugs. He’s too smart for that. He always wanted to be a doctor so I doubt he would jeopardize his chances. But I figure he gets his money from dealing. Like I said, that’s my personal opinion. I don’t have any proof.”
“Okay, thanks, Tommy. That’s starting to make sense. I better let you get back to work.”
He smiled and nodded. I moved ahead and made a U-turn.
His head was still under the hood when I turned into Patterson’s driveway.
Chapter Fourteen
If you have an inkling to visit the Patterson farm (which I hope you don’t) I’ll tell you what you first come across - signs. I believe three said, Private Property: Do Not Enter, and two said, No Trespassing. The one that really caught my eye was Enter at Your Own Risk.
Everyone has signs up nowadays though and they don’t always mean something. My neighbor has one on her door that says Beware of Dog and she has never owned a dog in her life.
The dirt road was narrow with grass growing up through the center. In fact, the ruts were so deep, I was afraid my car might get hung up on the tall grass. Although most of the leaves were gone, there were enough evergreen trees close to the path to make it feel claustrophobic. A moment of panic crept through me when I realized that if I changed my mind, there was no way to turn around. I had to go either straight ahead or back up all the way to the main road. I’m not a good backer-upper.
I looked down at Sammy. He was still asleep. While I was talking to Tommy, he’d opened his eyes, sat up and washed his face, and then laid down again.
“You’re not much support, Sammy,” I said. Sammy didn’t even open an eye but his tail twitched, which means that even in his sleep, he can become irritated with me.
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