Choosing One Moment

by Marja McGraw

  He ran his thumb and index finger down his mustache. “Frankly, Carrie, I’m still thinking it over. I don’t like to say it, but it gives me a new respect for that actor, Eugene Hoover. I’m a little surprised about the clothing some of the actors wore. Uh, there wasn’t much to some of the costumes. I was a might surprised about the huggin’ and touchin’, too. And in one of those movies a drunken man knocked a woman to the floor. I know things happen, but I didn’t expect to see it in a moving picture.”

  I gave him a moment to digest what he’d seen. I tried to imagine how he might feel if he saw movies from my day, but it wasn’t a happy thought.

  He was now gently tugging at his mustache. “And you say in the future these pictures will have sound and color? I mean, I’d be able to hear what those actors were saying?”

  “Yes.” I didn’t elaborate. If he thought it was surprising to see hugging, kissing and a drunk knocking a woman to the floor, what would he think of the sex and violence in modern movies? It would certainly cause a kind of culture shock.

  Daniel turned to his brother. “Would you want to see more of those moving pictures?”

  “Yes!”

  I started to laugh. Apparently Nathaniel hadn’t been completely shocked by what he saw.

  “Let’s stop at the ice cream parlor before we head home,” Elsbeth suggested. “I need something cheerful to end the day. Maybe I’m too used to modern movies, but I found the silent films rather annoying. They made me want to climb the walls. I wanted to hear what they were saying, and I got tired of women clutching their hands to their chests and foreheads. I think I’d rather see a live play.”

  I was surprised for the second time in just a few minutes. I had truly enjoyed the movies, not that I’d want to watch them on a regular basis. The trip had been something unusual, and I’d enjoyed watching the audience as much as the movies.

  Daniel took her arm and walked ahead of us, toward the ice cream parlor. I had a feeling they might be about to have their first argument.

  Nathaniel took hold of my arm. “Did you feel the same way as Elsbeth?”

  “No, not really. I thought it was fun to watch the old movies.” I was quiet for a moment before I said, “You know, I don’t think it was really the movies that bothered her. I think she’s upset about everything that’s been happening. I think she took out her feelings on the movies, if that makes sense. I mean, now we have to go home to reality.”

  “Huh! I’ll have to think about that. You might be onto somethin’ there. As a lawman, I’ve seen people have some strange reactions to crimes.”

  We followed the couple into the ice cream parlor and indulged ourselves. What were lunch and a movie without dessert?

  My aunt had perked up. We changed the subject to the upcoming wedding.

  “When we get home I’ll show you Mama’s wedding dress,” Elsbeth said.

  “I can’t wait.” Daniel smiled at her.

  “Oh, you. You can’t see it before the wedding. I was talking to Carrie.”

  “Ah. Well, it won’t be all that long until I get to see it. I guess we’d better be heading back to Little Creek.”

  My aunt’s shoulders tightened, and I patted her hand. Then I remembered that my life could be in danger, too. Oddly, the whole thing didn’t feel real at that moment.

  The ride home in the Tin Lizzy seemed shorter than the drive into Vancouver, but isn’t that always the way? The trip home always seems easier.

  Daniel had become accustomed to driving the vehicle and he watched closer for potholes and such. He seemed to know when to slow down or sidestep, so to speak, those holes and glitches in the road.

  I paid more attention to the view on the way home. I was quite taken with the scenery of my home state. The trees and fields were awe inspiring. There was so much green, and surprisingly, a lot of red and yellow in the landscape. By my day many of the trees had been replaced by houses, condos and businesses, but the state was still proud of their scenery and there were so many trees left. The creek near my home still existed. I loved 1909, but I loved my time, too.

  We pulled up in front of the house and found Mama and Papa sitting on the porch, presumably waiting for us.

  “Well, how was it?” Mama asked.

  We told her about the trip, the lunch and the movies. She was entranced by our descriptions.

  Papa looked skeptical about the event. “Guess I’d have to see one of them on my own. I’ll take Jane to the moving pictures the next time we go shopping in Vancouver.”

  Mama laughed. “In other words, not for a long, long time.”

  She turned to me.

  “By the way, Mother Possum wants to see you. She wants to hear about this new-fangled moving picture thing, too. Oh, and Tess wants to see you, but I don’t know what she wants.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  After the McGee brothers left, I went upstairs to change clothes. I smiled to myself, remembering that Nathaniel was whistling Camptown Races as they left.

  Tess was waiting for me in my room. She held something in her hands, and when she saw me she slipped whatever it was under the pillow on my bed.

  She spoke without preamble. “You made me feel bad. You lied to me.”

  “I… What?”

  “That was no rock in your apron pocket the other day.” She pulled my cellphone out from under the pillow and held it up. “What’s this? It was this thing, wasn’t it?”

  I took it out of her hand, although she tried to hang onto it. Thankfully, it was in a case so she hadn’t gotten a good look at the whole phone.

  As a writer, sometimes my thoughts come in a hurry, and that’s what happened. “I found that on the road. I don’t know what it is, but I figured it was interesting. If I had to guess, maybe it’s an invention of some kind that someone driving down the road dropped.”

  “Uh huh,” said the young skeptic.

  “I wouldn’t tell Mama or Papa about it. If it’s important, someone will come looking for it, and if it’s an invention they might want to keep it to themselves for now.”

  “You’re lying to me again. I can tell. Think about what you’re doing and maybe your conscience will make you tell me.” Tess stood and watched me while she slowly made her way to the door. She shook her index finger at me and left the room.

  She was too smart for a nine-year-old.

  I knew I should have hidden the phone elsewhere. Hey! What was Tess doing, searching my room? She had to be searching for something. I had a bad feeling. I shoved the cell phone back under the mattress.

  “Tess!” I called to her because I wanted some answers.

  She didn’t reply, so I called to her again.

  She walked into my room slowly. I could tell she didn’t want to be there.

  “Tess, why did you search my room in the first place?”

  She watched me for a moment. I had the feeling she was trying to gauge my mood.

  “You’re not in trouble,” I said. “I just want to know what’s going on.”

  She sighed, as only a child can. “I called you a liar. Now I guess I have to tell the truth, huh?”

  “Yes.”

  She stared into my eyes as though trying to read my mind. Had I been honest when I said she wasn’t in trouble? It took a full minute for her to make up her mind.

  “Elsbeth asked me to look through your bedroom when the two of you were gone.”

  “Why?” I couldn’t imagine why my aunt would put her up to this.

  “Some things were missing from her bedroom and she wanted to know if you took them, or borrowed them.”

  “What kinds of things?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes, looking resigned. “Some jewelry, and her diary was gone, too. She said a couple of – “

  I interrupted her as it struck me. “When did she ask you to do this?”

  “Oh, a long time ago. It was before you two started being friends.”

  I was right. Original Elsbeth asked her to search the room.

>   “Am I still not in trouble?” Tess’ hands were behind her back and she was nudging the floor with her toes.

  I walked to her and gave her a hug. “No, you’re not in trouble. I promise. Did Elsbeth say anything else when she asked you for this favor? Did she tell you what pieces of jewelry were missing?”

  “She said she wondered if you and Ruth were up to something, and she said she’d seen the two of you whispering a lot. Let’s see. She said her locket was gone. Oh, and she said the brooch she always wears near her heart is gone. It’s the one that Daniel gave her.”

  I was quiet and thoughtful for a moment. Of course, Tess didn’t know that someone else had been in the house. Whoever left the notes could have taken things for keepsakes. Hmm. In my day this character might have been written into a book as a serial killer who wanted mementos. No, no one else had been murdered – that we knew of. Oh, no. I’d have to find out if anyone was missing. My thoughts were flying in my face like great big bats.

  “I’ll talk to Elsbeth,” I said.

  “Will I be in trouble with her?”

  “No, sweetie, I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

  Changing the subject, she asked, “Would you tell me about the moving pictures?”

  “Of course.”

  I sat down on the edge of the bed and Tess seated herself on the floor, looking up at me expectantly.

  I gave her the gist of what we’d seen, concentrating on one of the short pieces that was a comedy.

  “What made it even funnier,” I said, “was that the people move funny. One day Mama and Papa will probably take you to see the movies. You’ll wish you could hear what they’re saying.”

  We talked for a few minutes more, with Tess asking questions, and then she took her leave. “I need to tell Amy about this.”

  I assumed Amy was one of her friends.

  I decided I needed to search old Carrie’s bedroom, just to be sure about a few things. Who knew? Maybe she was missing some things, too, but there was no way I could know what was gone.

  However, I needed to talk to Elsbeth first and tell her what was going on.

  I found her in her room.

  She looked up. “You don’t need to tell me. I heard it all.”

  “Good. What do you think?”

  “I think there’s more going on around here than we realized.” My aunt pursed her lips. “I know the sisters didn’t get along, but I honestly don’t believe Carrie would have stolen any of her sister’s belongings. I don’t think she borrowed anything either.”

  “I have to agree with you. She certainly wouldn’t have taken a gift that Daniel gave you.”

  “He gave me the brooch the first time I traveled back in time. Elsbeth wouldn’t have known where it came from unless… No, Daniel wouldn’t have told her.”

  My investigative side stepped forward. “We need to find out if anyone is missing. I know it’s a longshot, but could we be dealing with a serial killer? They take things to keep as souvenirs sometimes. Well, at least they do in books. I’m sure they do in real life, too.” Had I really just said that? I sounded naïve. What happens in fictional books isn’t necessarily what happens in real life. Although there are times when the opposite is true.

  “Ask Nathaniel about it. He used to be a cop. He’ll know how to find out.” My aunt took my hand and led me out of the room.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To see Mother Possum, of course. She’d know if anyone was missing.”

  We found Papa standing at the bottom of the stairs. “What’re you girls up to?”

  “We’re going to visit Mother Possum,” Elsbeth replied.

  “Then I’ll be sitting on the front porch until you come home.”

  I wondered if we should tell him what was going on.

  As though she’d read my mind, Elsbeth shook her head, almost imperceptibly.

  I knew I should keep my mouth shut.

  Elsbeth turned to Papa, big-eyed and innocent looking. “All right, Papa. And we’ll be careful while we’re gone.”

  We stopped in the kitchen and put some cookies Mama had made on a plate to take with us.

  “You’re good girls,” Mama said, taking one of the cookies for herself.

  We took our time walking to Mother Possum’s house, discussing what the day had given us. We found her on her porch, taking a nap.

  We thought maybe we should leave and come back rather than wake her up.

  We realized she wasn’t sleeping when she said, “Well, are you going to tell me about those moving pictures you went to see?”

  Elsbeth smiled. “Yes, Mother. We knew you’d want to hear about our day.”

  So we told her about the movies, including the costumes they wore and the corny acting, although we didn’t call it corny.

  “Land o’ Goshen,” she said. “I can’t hardly believe they dressed a young ‘un up as a fairy and her costume had her legs showin’.”

  “Shocking, isn’t it?” Elsbeth stifled a laugh.

  “People are changin’, little one. Not much shocks me anymore. It’s more like a surprise. What do you think, Carrie?”

  “I guess I was surprised, too.”

  Elsbeth cleared her throat. “Mother, we have a couple of questions we want to ask you since you kind of know what’s been going on.”

  The old woman leaned forward. “Ask.”

  “Have you heard about any thefts around here?” Elsbeth started off slowly considering what we really wanted to ask her.

  She tilted her head to the side and ran her tongue around her lips. “No, I can’t say as I’ve heard about anything goin’ missing. Why? Did someone steal something?”

  I tried to sound blasé about the whole thing. “Well, it’s just that something of Elsbeth’s got lost. She thought maybe someone took her locket, but I’m sure it was just misplaced.”

  Mother Possum nodded. “I’m always misplacing things. It’s part of getting’ old, but then Elsbeth isn’t old yet.”

  “Um, on another matter, have you heard about anyone disappearing?”

  This time the old woman did look shocked. “Someone is missing? Really? I haven’t heard any such a thing.”

  “No, no,” Elsbeth said quickly. “We don’t know that anyone is missing, but we thought we should ask. You know, someone could have run away or something. I heard a girl ran away with her boyfriend to get married. I mean that kind of missing.”

  The old woman licked her lips again. “I never heard of that story. Well, a long time ago Marjorie Hemp ran off and got married, but they came back and kinda rubbed it in her mother’s face. The husband was a ne’er-do-well and he ran off after just two short months.”

  “So no one has gone missing recently?” I asked.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “No, I haven’t heard of anyone who’s gone missin’, and I hear just about everything.” Mother Possum seemed pretty sure of herself.

  I believed her. It seemed we could cross Serial Killer off of our list.

  The old woman took off her glasses and wiped them with a clean hanky she had in her lap. She put them back on and they immediately slipped down her nose. She pushed them back up and tilted her head back a bit.

  “Uh oh,” she said. “Here comes Willy. It looks like he’s wearin’ his Sunday go-to-meetin’ clothes, too. He’s such a bothersome boy.”

  Elsbeth and I both turned to watch him approach us.

  “Afternoon, ladies.” He tipped his hat at us, uncovering a messy thatch of auburn hair. He was tall and lanky, and had acne or pock marks on his face. I voted for acne scars because his forehead and pug nose looked oily.

  “Good afternoon, Willy.” My aunt’s voice sounded too polite.

  “Miss Beth, I wondered if you might want to go for a walk with me.” Willy had a tone that made him sound so sure of himself.

  “It’s Elsbeth, as you well know, and I’m engaged to Daniel. We’re to be married in May, for your information. I don’t think he’d appreciate me walk
ing with another man.”

  Willy stared at her without a word before he turned to me. His lips were tight and turning white.

  “Miss Carrie, how ‘bout you? Wanna walk with me?”

  I looked up from my spot on the porch steps. “I’m sorry, Willy, but no. I’m busy visiting with Mother Possum.”

  His face turned red and he looked angry. “I don’t like your atti… atti…”

  “Attitude?” Elsbeth asked.

  “Yeah. You’ll both pay for this. Looks like I got all dressed up for nothin’, and you women ain’t nothin’ to me anymore. I swear, you’ll both pay for this. Mebbe next time you fall down them stairs, it won’t go so easy for you.”

  Mother Possum sat up as straight as her age would allow. “You get away from my house, you hoodlum, and don’t come here again. How dare you threaten these girls?”

  Willy slammed his hat back on his head and stomped away without a word. Well, I could hear him mumbling to himself, but I couldn’t understand what he was saying, which was probably a good thing.

  I watched him and out of the corner of my eye I could see Papa headed our way. When he saw Willy leaving, he returned to his seat on the porch.

  Mother Possum relaxed and picked up her pipe. She tapped it on the arm of her rocking chair, but she didn’t light it. “Some people just don’t know what good manners are.”

  Elsbeth smiled at her. “You stuck up for us, and that meant a lot.”

  “I’d keep my eyes on him, if I was you.” Changing her mind, the old woman struck a match on the table and puffed on her pipe.

  I kept my mouth shut, but I mentally moved Willy to the top of our suspect list. He knew about Elsbeth falling down the stairs, but then a lot of other people had probably heard about the incident.

  “I saw you girls in all your finery today.” Mother was smiling and she dabbed at her eyes. Did she have tears in her eyes? “You were as pretty as I’ve ever seen.”

  “Thank you,” I said. “Mama made our dresses.”

  “Your mama is quite the seamstress. She cooks, she sews. Why, it seems like your mama can do just about anything she sets her mind to.”