Penelope's Suitors

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Spring, 2006

The kitchen at the Mohawk Hotel couldn’t have been nicer. On short notice the chefs produced tuna salad and roast beef wraps, pickles wrapped in wax paper, a fresh Delicious apple, a bottle of Snapple lemon iced tea, a bottle of water, and chocolate walnut brownie, all packed in a foil-lined bag.

A pretty waitress delivered the package to Ted in his room. Ted noticed how young she was, with a blond ponytail that fell neatly over her red uniform jacket. He gave her a generous tip, and she thanked him profusely.

Ted got his jacket and headed out to his car. He drove along Rte. 18, darkening quickly in the twilight. There was virtually no other traffic, and he soon found himself opposite the Stone House. He saw lights in the windows and the garage doors were closed—he was here in plenty of time. Ted couldn't enter too soon, but had to arrive before Karen went to bed.

He slowed down but instead of turning into the Stone House driveway he took a left into the empty diner parking lot. He drove around the back, leaving himself just enough room to see the front of the Stone House. Ted turned off the lights and engine, opened his dinner, and settled in for a wait.

At 7:30, a battered blue Hyundai pulled into the driveway and a teenaged girl hopped out. This must be Ellie, Joan's niece. About 15 minutes later Ariadne walked out, with some small canvases under her arm. She opened a garage door with a free hand and walked in. A few moments later she drove out in a red Volvo station wagon.

Ted gave her 10 minutes. Then he steeled himself and turned the key in the ignition. Before he could give himself a chance to talk himself out of it, he drove across the street into the Stone House driveway.

Ted rang the bell. Ellie came to the door and opened it while talking on her cell phone. She was wearing an open sweatshirt over a tee shirt with a fashionable logo, torn blue jeans, and earrings that dangled almost to her shoulders.

"Hang on," she said to the phone.

"Hi. I'm a friend of Ariadne's. I was here earlier, and I seem to have left—" Karen suddenly appeared next to Ellie. She was in a white nightgown decorated with teddy bears.

"Ted!" she cried. "It’s okay, Ellie. Ted is Mommy's friend. Come on in." Ellie reluctantly stepped aside and Ted walked in.

"Good seeing you again, sweetie." He turned back to Ellie. "I'm sorry, but as I was saying, I think I left my Palm Pilot when I was over for dinner the other night. I was hoping I could have a quick look around the living room?"

"Uhh, I guess…"

"I'll take him in, Ellie. He's Mommy's friend, it's okay."

"Well, okay then…I just have to finish this call." She wandered to the kitchen. "…I was talking to Billy today, and he said that…" The kitchen door swung behind her. Ted followed Karen into the living room and began to search for his Palm Pilot behind the cushions of the couch.

"It was fun looking at the picture with you," he ventured. Karen didn't need any further encouragement, and fetched it from the end table. She plumped down on the sofa, and Ted sat next to her. "Does your mommy talk to you a lot about it?"

"Oh yes, she likes to tell me stories about everyone. I recognized you right away," and she pointed to him again in the picture. "Your hair is shorter now," she said, looking up at him. "And Mommy said you loved Aunt Penelope. This is Matthew. I see him sometimes because he lives in town. He also loved Aunt Penelope. Mommy says that's because she was beautiful, but I think Mommy is more beautiful."

This could go on all night. But Ted knew that his time was limited by Ellie's phone call in the kitchen, and even an irresponsible teen would eventually want to see what her charge was up to, especially with a virtual stranger in the house.

"Who else do you know in the picture?"

"I know everyone. This is Grandpa. He was very nice. We used to live together but he got sick and died. He was very old." She frowned, but then scanned the photo again and her brow cleared. "This is Mary-Lou. She was your girlfriend, even though you loved Aunt Penelope. Her hair is blonde. I wish my hair was blonde, but Mommy says all the girls in our family have black hair."

"Your hair is pretty," said Ted, and Karen looked up at him, to see if she was being patronized, then returned to the photo.

"This is Laurie. She is very pretty. Her hair is aub…aub…"

"Auburn," provided Ted.

"Yes. She was Vic's girlfriend, and she taught Mommy how to put on make-up. Mommy will teach me when I'm older. This is Vic. Mommy thinks he's very handsome."

"Who is this?" asked Ted.

"That's William," said Karen, now quietly. "He played the guitar. He also died." Karen looked up at him silently, with the same deep back eyes her aunt had.

"Tell me, Karen. Matthew and I loved Aunt Penelope, but whom did she love?" Karen pursed her lips and thought a moment, then brightened. "She loves me and Mommy."

"Of course. And how about Mommy? She loves you and Aunt Penelope. Did Mommy love someone else in the picture?" The dark eyes focused on him again. "She did, didn't she? She loved someone in this picture," he lowered his voice. Karen returned to the picture. And when she turned to him again, she had a sly smile.

"Yes. But it's a secret. Mommy told me once but said I couldn't tell anyone." So Ariadne still had trouble keeping a secret. He was betting Karen couldn't either. Not one this big, this wonderful.

Ted gave her a wink and smiled. "But I'm Mommy's friend. Can you tell me?"

"Are you going to marry Aunt Penelope?" she asked. The non sequitur startled him. He could hear Ellie's voice drifting from the kitchen.

"I don't know," he said.

"If you do, can I be a flower girl?" she asked. "My friend Tammy was a flower girl for her aunt and she got to wear a pink dress with a bow and carry flowers."

So that's what this was. A negotiation.

"Okay," he said, still keeping a conspiratorial whisper. "You can be the flower girl, if I marry your Aunt Penelope. But," and he added a little sternness to his voice, "you have to tell me the secret. Whom did mommy love?" The sly smile again. She uncurled her little index finger. From the kitchen, he heard Ellie's footsteps, Ellie's voice: "…I'll call you later, I'm babysitting the Andrews kid and gotta see what she's up to…"

Karen couldn't bring herself to say the name, but she pointed. She brought her finger to within a hair's breadth of the photo.

Ellie walked into the room, closing her cell phone and looking wonderingly at Ted. He stood up, and reached into his jacket pocket, producing the Palm that had been there all along. "Fell right behind the cushion. Many thanks. I was going to slip out but the little miss here seized me for conversation." He patted her on the head and winked at her again. Karen smiled at him, and returned the photo to the table. "Thanks Ellie. I'll be going now."

"Uhh, goodnight," said Ellie. "Karen, I think it's your bedtime…"

Ted stepped into the night air. It was cool but he felt the sweat drenching his shirt under his jacket. He stumbled into his car, turned the ignition, and lowered the driver's side window to let in plenty of air. He hadn't realized how much he had hoped he was wrong.

Ted pressed his head against the steering wheel. Sweet, stupid Ariadne. Selfish, stupid William.

Tomorrow he'd go back to the city, and he was glad. The trees suddenly seemed oppressive and the whole place was too dark and too quiet. He wanted to look out the window onto the busy street, feel his uncomplicated girlfriend falling asleep on his shoulder after making love, as he flipped channels on his bedroom TV.

I have to leave, he thought. Ellie will wonder why I am just sitting here with the engine running. His hands were trembling as he turned the wheel and drove onto Rte. 18 toward the hotel. Tomorrow he'd have to call Penelope in the city. He'd have to call retired deputy Cress and give him some version. And William's family would want something—he'd have to lie to them. And he promised Miranda…

He hardly remembered parking the car and grabbing the remnants of his dinner-to-go. Some iced tea, the brownie, and apple remained. He found himself in his room, fell onto his bed, and dialed Miranda from his cell.

"How are you doing sweetie? Are you coming back tomorrow?"

"Yes," he said, and said nothing more.

"Are you okay?" her voice was rich with concern.

"I'm fine, I guess. I found out what happened. But it was very, very sad."

"Ohh. I'm sorry." Then her voice perked up a little. "But I am proud of you for figuring it out." He heard silence on the phone. "Is someone going to prison?" she asked, tentatively. Ted was surprised. He hadn't really thought about that.

"Actually, I doubt it. There's a difference between knowing and proving. At any rate, I don't know if it's technically a crime. Oddly, although someone died, it’s not a story about hatred as much as it is about love."

"The best stories always are," she said simply.



Summer, 1986

"We ought to get dressed and go back," she said, finally. They felt around until they found the flashlight. Mary-Lou turned it on. Suddenly shy, she turned around and searched for her clothes while clutching the sleeping bag to her neck.

"You're looking at me," she said.

"I want to remember you like this," he replied, and her face softened. "And you do know—we will see each other again."

"I know." She got into the driver's seat, started the car, and began the descent down Mount Drear. At the bottom, Ted got out to open and close the gate again, and they rolled along in silence toward the resort. Ted thought they'd park the Land Rover, and then he'd try to convince Mary-Lou to stay up with him until the sun rose. He had forgotten entirely about the Prestons, perhaps still wandering around Mohawk Falls.

But as Mary-Lou pulled into the resort entrance, the headlights lit up a sheriff's deputy in the driveway, his face ghastly white in the bright lights. He motioned them into the Stone House driveway. The automatic lights lit up the area.

"What's the problem?" asked Ted, as they jumped out of the car.

"Is this Mr. Tolford's car?" asked the deputy.

"Yes. We're his employees."

"Bobby, is that you?" asked Mary-Lou.

"Uhh, yeah," said the deputy. "Do I know you?"

"For God's sake, Bobby Arnold, you've been to my house enough times. I'm Mary-Lou Kelly. You played football with my brothers."

"Oh, Mary-Lou. Yeah. I didn't know you worked here."

"Well what's going on?"

"I dunno. A bad accident by the lake. Someone died."

"Who?" asked Ted.

"I dunno. I was just told to stay here, keep people out."

"We're going down," said Mary-Lou. "Come on, Ted."

"I can't let you down," said Deputy Arnold, and he moved to stop them. Mary-Lou looked him in the eye.

"Bobby Arnold, you know what my brothers would do to you if you laid one hand on me." He thought this over for a few seconds.

"Oh, all right," he said. "You're employees, so I guess it's okay." Ted and Mary-Lou started walking down the road. And then, without even talking, they both started to run.

The Hall was blazing with lights, and they saw people gathered around the back entrance, both sheriff's deputies and village police. Ted grabbed Mary-Lou's hand and they ran to the front, where the big door was pulled open. Vic was sitting on the dock just outside the entrance, where William sat and played during the day. Laurie sat next to him, with her head on his shoulder. They looked stunned, staring off into the distance.

"What the hell happened?" asked Ted. Vic looked up slowly.

"Where were you?" he asked. Then he shook his head. "It was William. He took a tumble off the cliffs above the hearth. He died."

"What?"

"He died," said Laurie.

Ted felt Mary-Lou grab him, her arms squeezing his ribcage, her head against his chest. He craned his neck to look at the cliff. It was lit up with portable lights, and a police launch bobbed at the bottom.

"What was he doing there?" asked Ted. No one said anything. "Why the hell would anyone be there?" They gave no sign of hearing him.

He turned to look back into the Hall, to the people gathered inside.

Did anyone know why William was there?