| |
HE REACHES THE MAUD before noon. Maud Bouchée stares with her mouth open when she sees him walking through her door. She is at her desk and looks over her glasses at him as if she has seen a ghost. She comes around the counter and holds him as a lost son, with tears in her eyes. Garty is quite embarrassed at this gesture. His heart is thumping, and he noticed a few jabs of pain across his chest.
“Thank you for sending those medical supplies. They saved my life!”
“Come and sit down,” says Mrs. Bouchée. “We thought you were fallen,” she says in a hushed tone. The reception room of the inn and the places for lunch are already set. “What else should I have done for someone who is a son to me?” She stares at him.
Garty sits down, almost overwhelmed by her reception.
“Something to drink!” She yodels as she rushes away and returns with a large glass of apple juice.
“Get this into you, for you look as weak as water,” she exclaims. “Are you recovered?” Mrs. Bouchée asks.
“Mrs. Bouchée, grace to you for your concern. I am almost completely healed from my wounds,” he says, smiling as sweetly as he can. “You sent Bubba to me today, I believe?”
“I did indeed! She was up before the crack of dawn and completed all her chores, so I asked her to visit you at St. Benedicts again. We collected more funds from locals, so I wanted you to have them straight away, of course!”
“Well, she did not get to St. Benedict’s hospice,” he replies.
Mrs. Bouchée’s face turns snow white in an instant. She clutches the arms of a chair and tumbles into it. She puts her face in her hands.
“Dearest Lord, no!” She stares at Garty? “What happened to her?” She asks in a breathy voice.
“Was she taken?”
“Who takes a young woman on a mercy mission?” She speaks as if Garty is not present. “How do you know all this? A witness?” she asks. “How did you get here?” She asks two questions at once.
“I believe she was followed and fell off Brill at some point. I noted any disturbances in the trees or bushes, but it was pointless. Nothing was visible to my eyes.” He drains the last of his apple juice and shudders. “I fear for her life,” he says at last. His face is ashen as he looks into Bouchée’s countenance. They stare into each other’s eyes. Both are devastated and understand each other.
“She is my charge,” says Mrs. Bouchée at last. “Bubba is as a daughter to me since I fostered her. We will search until we find her,” she exclaims, forming her plan.
“I believe it may be the men that stayed here when you left. They asked strange questions about you and stole some of my silverware,” she says, banging the table with her palm. “They will pay!”
Garty watches her, distraught. Chest pain has returned in force. He feels as if he has a tourniquet around his chest.
“Now, you must rest, for thou seems to hurt,” she says, returning to Garty. “I have a great tonic. I shall minister to you, but do not say a word about this drop.”
She rushes away, and returns with a cup.
“Drink and say naught.”
Garty drinks as instructed.
“It is working. You must give this to Saint Benedict.”
“That is where it came from. I gave some to Bubba and Lad to take to you.”
Garty remained quiet.
“We shall begin by taking a sketch of the young lady. Post it.” Mrs. Bouchée says.
“Ask for a newspaper advertisement.”
“I have a sketch of Bubba at Etty’s.”
Mrs. Bouchée looks aghast.
“We can ask Ted to visit there and to bring it here,” she suggests.
Garty coughs and squirms in his facial features.
“You object?”
“I would prefer to ask Lad!”
She did not argue.
“We can ask Lad?”
“Thanks. I need my files stored there.”
“My sister must wonder what on earth happened? We shall send Lad shortly.”
Mrs. Bouchée rushes away.
Garty felt exhausted. Bubba now has his focus. He closed his eyes and lay his elbows on the table with his hands on his forehead.
“Come on, we’ve got you!”
Garty hears the words as if he is in a dream. His chin is siting on his Adam’s Apple, and his arms are being lifted by two men. He recognizes their voices.
“Sorry,” he hears his own voice.
“He can lie down for a time,” says Maud Bouchée.
“He is in a state!”
Garty feels a hard edge under his legs. A bed!
He lay on his side, and a rug covers him. His eyes refuse to open.
“I shall call the doctor,” says Bouchée.
“Work out your plan to search for Bubba.”
Spoken to the two fellows who helped.
Garty wakes up in a strange room. He sees a jug, also an empty vial. He picks up the vial.
“Opium!”
Someone gave him a drink. He tries to sit up and calls out, “Mrs. Bouchée, Lad!”
“Hey, how are you?” Ted comes through the door.
“We found you in a sad state and had to call the doctor.”
“Can you please help me up and fetch me a drink of water?”
“Yes,” said Ted. He returns with a drink.
“Doctor said you should rest for a few days.”
“I must look for Bubba.”
“Nothing will happen to her. Just rest a while.”
Garty’s head is spinning.
“Where’s Mrs. Bouchée?”
“She’s somewhere.”
Ted looks towards the kitchen.
“I will find get her?”
“Yes, please, Ted, and water.”
He wants to know what her plan is for rescuing Bubba. Discussions with Ted are not on.
Garty rests his head on the pillow. Ted returns.
“Drink. We were all worried about you.”
Garty hears a click as Ted closes the door.
Sits on the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor. The floor moves. He sucks a breath, shuts and opens his eyes.
“That’s better.”
The floor stops swaying.
Why did Ted bring him a cup of apple juice? Mrs. Bouchée always kept cold water.
Garty stumbles to the door.
Locked! How on earth can I get out?
This was a storage room.
His anger mounts.
“Is someone trying to keep me locked away? Why was Mrs. Bouchée not here?”
Garty looks around for a sharp tool. He opens old jammed wooden cupboards filled with bits and bobs. Garty the detective uncovers a small box with hat pins inside.
Just the ticket to freedom!
He flops down near the door and figures out the mechanics of the lock. His eyes are super sharp, but now everything appears a little blurry. He toggles the mechanisms of the lock. Time passes as he twists and turns the hatpin. He gets a click. He rises and holds the wall nearby for a stage to steady himself. The door opens.
Success, hallelujah!
He runs his hands over his perspiration covered face. Garty pulls the door inwards and slides through, closing the door behind him. He walks through the small corridor towards the main reception room. His heart is thumping as he moves. He senses danger may lurk, not because of his recovery progress but because there is a spy living here!
He walks into the reception room and Ellie, Mrs. Bouchée’s helper, was near the counter. Ellie is wearing her new outfit, yellow bonnet and long-sleeved shirt over a black pinafore covering a black skirt.
He approves and wishes to whisk her into his arms and float away. But that is stupid!
“Is Maud Bouchée here?”