3

END OF THE LINE

Ellis stood on the platform next to the train, smoke and hot steam sighing loudly about her. The morning fog receded, slowly revealing a large crowd of people milling about, greeting one another beneath the roof that sheltered the long platform. The throng wound in and around one another with greetings and laughter. There was a cluster of soldiers near the far end of the platform on the other side of the station house. They soberly stood apart from the main crowd who blindly moved around them. It seemed no one had come to greet the soldiers and the rest of the people were determined not to acknowledge them.

Ellis was certain she knew none of these people and was disquieted when she became aware that a number of people were furtively glancing at her. Among them was a young girl with large violet eyes clutching sheet music and a dark-haired artist with her easel, paint case and canvasses in hand. Many in the crowd openly ogled Ellis. She tried to avoid their gaze as she tried to see if she could somehow divine which among them might be the doctor, her uncle.

She fingered the baggage ticket in her pocket, wondering if someone here had a similar ticket with which they might claim her. Her lips moved as she went over the short litany of things she had been told about herself.

I am Ellis Harkington; I have been ill. I have been sent to Gamin to get well. My cousin is Jenny. My uncle is a doctor who should be—

“Ellis, at last.”

—here.

Ellis looked up into sharp green eyes placed in a craggy face shaded by a straw skimmer set at a jaunty angle. He had a square jaw and a clean-shaven face wrinkled and weathered with age. His ears looked too large for his head and, though largely hidden beneath his hat, his white hair stuck out at wild angles.

“Dr. Carmichael?” She deflated a bit as she took him in and realized that she felt no recognition.

“Uncle Lucian to you, my dear.” His face split into a gap-toothed grin. “It took me a moment to spot you in the crowd. Where is your nurse?”

“I don’t know. She left the train in a great hurry with a baby. She … she…” Ellis wondered how to explain the nurse’s odd actions.

“Never mind that now, dear girl. I will speak with her later. Baby, eh? Well, they can be an awful lot of trouble.” His voice was gentle, but the green eyes looked stern. “So missy, how many pieces of luggage will I need to load into the Steamer?”

Dr. Carmichael ushered her through the platform’s doors into the large, enclosed waiting room inside the station house. Ellis could smell the freshness of the paint on the gingerbread-trimmed beams supporting the roof above them. Ceiling fans with tinkling crystal teardrops circled slowly overhead, scattering small rainbows about the walls and stirring the damp air above the crowded room. Polished brass shone brightly on all the fixtures. It was opulent for such a small town. The beveled glass doors were open on all sides despite the crisp autumn air.

“Over here.” He guided her by the elbow to a corner near the ticket desk where a single large trunk sat alone. He bent to hoist the unwieldy piece. Ellis jumped as it slipped and thudded to the floor.

“Let’s be certain it’s mine.” Ellis offered him the baggage claim ticket. Once again she felt the eyes of the crowd following her, and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

“It’s the only piece here, girl.” He looked about for a porter and then bent to struggle with it again and gazed at her from his awkward angle under the trunk. “I’m sorry, Ellis; I should have known you wouldn’t recognize it. It’s just that we have so few travelers stopping here, it just couldn’t belong to anyone else.”

Ellis nodded politely wondering what he was talking about. Few travelers? The station had been jammed with people when she arrived. She stole a glance at the now-thinning crowd, many of whom were now openly staring at her.

“Ellis.” It was a deep, husky sound murmuring her name behind her. She turned to see a man stepping out of the crowd. He was handsome—too handsome, Ellis thought, in the way that some women wear too much perfume. He was clean shaven, but there were the shades of a dark beard remaining about his strong jaw and cheeks. His hair was carefully groomed but long in a way that was no longer fashionable. His manner suggested that he did not care about fashion. His eyes were a striking light blue, intense and somehow sad, like a dog that had been beaten and did not comprehend why.

“Don’t mind them; they are all agog about any outsiders,” he said with an ingratiating smile. He was certainly older than Ellis. He wore a morning coat, waistcoat, striped pants and, incongruously, bowler hat.

He strode up with a young woman on his arm. She had luxurious blond hair beneath her wide-brimmed hat. She was about Ellis’s age and gazing at her with a look that left Ellis uncertain. At the man’s words the crowd began to dissipate.

“Merrick. How good of you to come.” The doctor allowed the heavy trunk to slide to the floor once more. Ellis wondered exactly what she saw in the old man’s eyes as he spoke to the younger man. Fear? Respect? The look was gone like the shadow of a cloud moving across the sun.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for anything,” Merrick sighed through a beaming smile that made Ellis blush.

“Merrick, would you be so good as to take this woman’s baggage to my auto?” Dr. Carmichael gestured to the large trunk beside him. “It appears to be too heavy for this old man.”

“Not until we’ve said hello.” In a breach of decorum he snatched up her hand before it was offered. The smile he beamed down on Ellis was at once charming and sad. Ellis gauged him to be a number of years more mature than herself, perhaps almost thirty, but could not determine his age. She took in the look in his piercing blue eyes, which both terrified and thrilled her at once. How ridiculous I am, she thought, mustering common sense and brushing off the fleeting tingle up her spine.

“Oh! I believe we have met,” she stated simply, feeling she finally understood the situation.

“Why, yes! Do you know me?” Merrick pressed in close to her, too close, retaining a firm hold on her fingers. Ellis retreated a half step. He gazed down on her so earnestly that she wished she could tell him yes, if only to escape his intense scrutiny.

Lucian stepped in toward them. “Merrick, I believe it’s quite obvious that the young lady is being polite. She doesn’t even know her own baggage yet. Allow me to reintroduce you: Miss Ellis Harkington, this is Mr. Merrick Bacchus, benefactor of the entire town.”

Merrick tipped his hat graciously and let go of Ellis’s now-numb fingers. “Glad you’ve safely arrived, Miss Harkington. May I see you safely to Summersend?”

Ellis surprised by the offer, wondering what he could mean, looked up at her uncle.

“Now, Merrick, we’ve talked about this. I will take Ellis to her cousin Jenny’s. If you would just be so good as to get that trunk in the back of my car.”

“She’ll freeze in that rattletrap of yours, old man. At least my auto is enclosed. Besides, Alicia wants to visit with her.”

Ellis glanced at the woman still clinging to Merrick’s arm. Alicia was still staring back at her in such a way that Ellis was not all that sure that “visiting” was what the woman had in mind.

Dr. Carmichael shook his head. “There will be plenty of time for visits and parties and all those things you young folks like—”

Merrick interrupted, turning toward Ellis. “Let’s ask our guest what she wants.”

The young lady who had been grasping Merrick’s arm through the whole proceeding quietly cleared her throat and stepped forward, closing the tight circle. “Do let us take you out to Summersend, my dear Ellis. Merrick’s motorcar would be far more comfortable for you, and besides, we haven’t seen you for so very long.”

Dr. Carmichael gestured to the young woman. “This is Alicia, Ellie. She is a very old friend of yours.”

Both the young ladies nodded politely.

Ellis could see the couple was keen for her company, and it was heartening to be so welcome in a strange place, even though this pair’s country manners were overbearing. “Thank you for your kind offer. I think for now I should stay with my doctor and go straightway to see my cousin Jenny.”

“That is exactly what I am offering you, Miss Harkington. Summersend is the name of Jenny’s cottage.” Merrick continued to press Ellis to go with him.

The lobby of the train station was warm in the confined space and was made all the more uncomfortable by the press of strangers. Every time she took a step back, Merrick pressed forward. Ellis felt the heavy layers of her green traveling suit become warm and prickly. The spinning fans above afforded no relief. Light-headed, Ellis swayed.

Merrick dropped Alicia’s arm to catch Ellis. He wrapped an arm about her waist in support, which was both a relief and shocking at once.

“We’ve kept you standing here too long,” he whispered. “Let me help you to the car.”

Before she could protest, her uncle came to her rescue. “I’ll help my patient, young man. You get that trunk.” He turned to her. “I’m so sorry. I’m a fool for keeping you standing here. I’m sure you’re exhausted. Can you walk? My motorcar is just outside.”

Dr. Carmichael helped her out through the lobby doors and down the station steps. The fog had thinned considerably now and Ellis could see the shapes of the town buildings back down the road through the fog. Merrick followed them out with Alicia. He did not have Ellis’s baggage but had, rather, two young men he had selected from the crowd haul the trunk behind them.

The Steamer sat just at the base of the stairs. The yellow spokes and rims of the tires were clean, supporting the chassis and brown body on leaf carriage springs. The vehicle was charming—”quaint” came to Ellis’s mind—but its steam boiler hissed ominously. The doctor helped her into the car. She felt revived by the gentle fall breeze and sunlight as she sat on the passenger side of the automobile.

At Merrick’s direction, the young men hauled the trunk into the backseat. Merrick then leaned over the car door and whispered to the doctor, “I’ll let the constable know she’s here and safe. He’ll be relieved.”

Ellis’s ears burned at his words and her jaw tensed. Whatever did he mean by that?

Alicia came trailing behind him, carefully skirting the soldiers on the platform and looking downcast. Ellis could not catch her eye to smile in parting.

The doctor tucked a blanket across Ellis’s lap, then swathed her in a driving veil and goggles. The doctor situated his own hat and goggles and engaged the steam. With a chuffing sound that slowly increased in tempo, the Steamer began to roll and they set out for Summersend cottage

And Jenny, Ellis reminded herself.

The glory of autumn foliage blazed red, orange and gold in the breaking afternoon sunlight. The fog had given way to a brilliant blue sky that contained cotton ball clouds. She mused that the scene looked like a child’s idyllic painting as they rumbled along. She reflected on how exhausting and confusing the day had been.

She spied under her lashes on her uncle driving the car. She opened her mouth to speak, but he just shook his head, smiling kindly.

“I can see you are all question marks over there. You wouldn’t want a moth to fly into that pretty mouth. Best wait.”

She was left to consider her strange new existence in silence. People know me, but I don’t know them. I’ve been sent far from home to recuperate. Why? The whole town seemed aware of my arrival. Do they also know about my illness? What do they know about me that I don’t know myself? Are Merrick and Alicia truly old friends of mine? Why did the constable need to know I arrived? Will I remember Jenny?

The thought of Jenny was the one Ellis focused on as the rhythmic rumble of the car engine became soothing. She slid down and tilted her head back on the seat, rearranging the blanket to cover her arms and chest, and allowed her shoulders to slump beneath it. All but her tight lips and jaw, which held a press of unspoken questions, relaxed. She breathed in the chill autumn air as she passed below the shadow of tall, ancient trees displaying their fall finery. The passing scene took on a blurred glow through the netting of the driving veil.

Behind her the train gave a warning blast as it chugged out of the station. It wasn’t until they arrived at Summersend that Ellis realized she hadn’t seen anyone from the large crowd step up from the platform and board the train.