*some dark themesDISCLAIMER: I do not own these characters…well, actually a couple I’ve created, but they’re of minor importance…and one of importance…well, she wasn’t used all that much before…anyway, I’m just borrowing these people to help in my relaxation J There will be more forthcoming, and this won’t be long like The Spanish Mystery. Thanks to Cathy P. for the scan of Linnie. And thanks to my husband Brian who, though he doesn’t completely understand my "Trixie addiction" he supports me and encourages my writing and even proofread this for me. Oh yeah, and thanks Garth for the title.
Mart groaned audibly as he read the note his uncle had left on the bathroom mirror. No, he did not want to take the pumpkins down to Podunkville today, or any other day. He wanted to stay at the lodge in his pajamas and do what he had been doing for the past two months – nothing. He was glad that in the seven years since his only other visit to the lodge deep in the Missouri Ozarks, Andrew Belden had brought in some modern technology. There was a television with satellite dish, a phone, Internet connection and generator. If Mart had wanted to he could’ve stayed in touch with the outside world. Being as he did not want to, he used the TV to watch old re-runs and his lap top and phone only to stay in touch with his parents.
Learning to Live Again
Part I
Mart,
I hate to ask you to do this, but can you take the load of pumpkins down to the school in Turkey Hollow this afternoon? They need to be there by two. I’d much appreciate it. I’ll be back in a couple of days.
--Andy
With a sigh that came from his toes, Mart splashed his face with the icy cold water that was piped in from the spring, and took the note to the kitchen.
After filling a large mixing bowl with Frosted Flakes and milk, he sat down at the table and looked at the note again. This was the usual form of communication between the two men who lived in the lodge. Rarely was Andy at home when Mart was awake.
Mart’s parents had been thrilled when Andy had made a surprise visit to Crabapple Farm in August. He hadn’t been to see Chaya in months and they’d hoped that he was ready to be a father again. Instead, he’d offered Mart the job of caretaker at the lodge. After being jilted at the church door, not quite the altar, and graduating from college. Mart wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next. His uncle’s offer had been the answer to every prayer Mart had uttered since April.
Andy had sold the farm in Happy Valley to Ben after Cat’s death. The lodge had become his home base – one that he rarely used for more than a couple weeks at a time. Mart didn’t know where he went all the time and he never bothered to ask. They were just two men running from the past and scared to death of the future.
Slurping down the sugary milk from the bottom of the bowl, Mart came back to the present. Moms had so hoped that by living with Andy, both he and his uncle would begin to heal – to help each other. Not so.
"Dang it Andy! Why today of all days?" Mart shouted angrily to the emptiness of the lodge. He couldn’t remember when he had dropped the ‘Uncle’ it had just happened. He didn’t feel the awe that he had once felt toward his uncle who had seemed so grown up. He knew that his own suffering was nothing in comparison to what Andy had experienced, but it had narrowed the gap between them.
Anyway, he had plans for once. They weren’t fun plans, but they were plans. He should’ve been celebrating today instead of going through broken dreams. A year ago he had proposed to Diana Lynch – his high school sweetheart. She had joyfully accepted. He had been beyond cloud nine and the future had never looked brighter. Then she had eloped with…Mart couldn’t even think his name without wanting to rip someone’s head off. Now a year later, his future had never looked darker or more depressing.
Two o’clock…that meant he had to hitch up the mules to the already loaded cart and leave no later than quarter after one. Glancing at his watch, he swore softly under his breath. It was noon already. He had to start getting up earlier.
"Okay Tweedledee and Tweedledum, let’s look sharp," Mart muttered as he finished hitching the mules to the wagon. Shem and Japheth had been sold years ago when the Moores and Linnie had moved permanently to Point Lookout and Andy had bought his own mules.
Mart had been sorry to hear that the Moores had left, he’d been looking forward to Mrs. Moore’s good down home cooking. He had asked his uncle about the family the first night he had stayed at the lodge, when he had been desperately thinking of something to strike up a conversation with his reserved uncle. Andy wasn’t sure what any of them were doing at present, he thought that Linnie must have graduated from college by now. He knew that Matthew Moore had worked at the School of the Ozarks while Linnie had finished high school. When the school had changed to the College of the Ozarks, Matthew had stayed on, and so had Linnie. Annie Moore had taken a few classes herself and had been working as a nurse in the college’s clinic.
Having never actually been to Turkey Hollow, Mart hoped that he was taking the correct trail. Andy had pointed out the trail one day, saying in his new taciturn manner, "Turkey Hollow school is that way."
Pulling his coat collar up around his neck, Mart wished that he had remembered his heavy gloves. The day was dark and cold. There wasn’t any actual rain, just a miserable drizzle. He also hadn’t remembered the lanterns for the sides of the wagon, so the clouds had better not get any darker. He wasn’t going to stick around at the school – just deliver his pumpkins and be gone. He had things to do.
Unconsciously he began to hum as he continued on his way – the song fitting his mood and the day perfectly – "Paint It Black."
Mart reined in the mules as he neared a freshly painted building in a large clearing. It was larger than he thought a one-room schoolhouse in a place called Turkey Hollow should be. He came to halt near the side of the building. Jumping down from the seat, he looked around. He had kind of expected someone to be waiting for him – not a welcoming committee – just someone to say, "Put the pumpkins over here, sir. Thank you, sir." He really didn’t want to walk in and interrupt their recitations or whatever it was that one did in a one-room schoolhouse.
A raindrop slipping down the back of his shirt made Mart decide to enter the school. He entered a quiet hallway that led to a double door at the back. Halfway down the hall, on each side, were regular doors that stood wide open. Mart glanced in each room and saw that they were empty of students. Muffled sounds came from the far end of the hall.
With a sigh, Mart pulled open one of the heavy doors and found himself in a small gymnasium. For just being a small school in the middle of nowhere, there sure were a lot of kids.
Taking a few steps inside he quickly scanned the room looking for a teacher. All he could see were kids – little ones, big ones and in-between ones.
"Excuse me, may I help you," a voice said behind him.
Mart turned, trying to place the voice. He knew he had heard it before. He found himself facing a woman with a billowy mass of blue-black hair that must have reached her waist. She looked to be about his sister’s age. The most striking thing about this woman were her eyes. They were a deep clear blue.
"May I help you?" the woman repeated.
Mart shook himself, realizing that he’d been staring. No, this couldn’t be… "Um, yes, um, I brought the uh, pumpkins."
Cocking her head slightly to the left, she said, "Pumpkins?"
Swallowing, Mart asked, "This is Turkey Hollow school, isn't it?"
"Yes, but Andrew Belden was supposed to bring us pumpkins for the annual pumpkin carving contest," the look of puzzlement hadn't left the blue eyes, "at least that's what Miss McCrae left in her notes. I've only been here a week."
The more she spoke and the longer he looked at her, Mart felt that he knew her from somewhere. "Andy had planned on bringing them over, but he wasn't able to at the last minute and asked me to. Where would you like them?"
Now the teacher was looking at him strangely. Mart wished that he had taken a little more care in his appearance before he left the lodge - he hadn't shaved in at least a week and these were the same clothes that he had worn the past three days.
With a slight shake of her head, she answered, "Just bring your wagon around back. A few of the boys will help you get them unloaded." Turning towards a group of junior high age boys who were setting up tables she called, "Fred, Angus, Young Bill - go around back and be ready to unload Mr. Andy' s pumpkins please."
A chorus of "Yes, Ma'am," followed the three out the door.
With a nod, Mart murmured, "Yes, Ma'am," himself and followed the young men.
Linnie Moore couldn't believe it. Mart Belden was back! She hadn't thought about him in years. He had been her first real crush, all those summers ago when he, his brother and sister and their friends had visited Andrew Belden at his lodge next to her small cabin.
She remembered every moment of that week that the Bob-Whites had visited from New York. It had been one of the most incredible weeks of her life - if not the most incredible week. Her first crush and her father's return from the dead.
Watching the exiting form of the man who had fueled her schoolgirl dreams of romance, Linnie grinned foolishly. She remembered the excitement that she had felt when she had danced with Mart at the play party she and her mom had organized. She thought back fondly of the tense half hour that they had shared sitting in the darkness of the lodge's living room waiting for Trixie to try and sneak out to find her ghost fish.
Linnie wondered what had brought him back to this part of the country. She had lost touch with the New Yorkers shortly after she had graduated from high school - life had gotten so busy as she worked hard to graduate from college earlier than most. She knew that he had been seriously dating Di, one of the Bob-Whites who hadn't made the summer trip seven years ago, all through high school.
"I wonder if he remembers me?" she murmured softly to herself as she went to the back door to see if any help was needed there.
'That couldn't be Linnie Moore,' Mart thought as he took the wagon around back of the gymnasium. He couldn't get out of his mind the skinny little mountain girl with her black pigtails who believed in haunts and sang so beautifully the songs of the Ozarks. He wondered if she remembered him at all. He'd been so obnoxious and cocky when he was a teenager. She probably just remembered a walking dictionary who was always hungry if she remembered him at all. He smiled slightly as he remembered her patiently teaching him the Virginia Reel at the play party. And also how she too had been worried that Trixie would take off in the middle of the night to the ghost cabin and had sat up waiting for her. They'd spent a tense half hour in the dark, just waiting and whispering.
"Sir if you would just pull up right about here, we can get them unloaded," a freckled blond boy said as Mart reached the back door.
It took Mart and the three boys a few moments to unload the huge pile of pumpkins. They worked quietly until Mart asked, "So, what do you all do with these pumpkins?"
The three looked at him in surprise. The blond, who Mart had learned was Angus, answered in astonishment, "The Pumpkin Carving Contest, of course."
"Oh," Mart said lamely, feeling that he had probably just asked the stupidest question that these kids had ever heard.
From the doorway, Linnie came to Mart's rescue, "Every Halloween for as long as I can remember, there has been a pumpkin carving contest at Turkey Hollow School. Homes here are too spread out for normal trick-or-treating, so we have a big party for all the families here at the school. There are games and food and prizes, but the most exciting part is the contest for the best pumpkin carving."
Before Mart could respond, Fred, the largest of the three boys asked, "You're not from around these parts are you, mister?"
"No, I'm just helping out Andy for awhile," Mart answered, not wanting to go into any more detail.
That answer seemed to suffice the curiosity of the boys and they returned to the warmth of the gym. Mart got ready to begin the return trip to the lodge. He could feel Linnie's eyes on his back and he could feel himself reddening.
"Thank you, Mart, for bringing the pumpkins for your uncle."
She did remember him. Mart took a deep breath. "No problem, Linnie. No problem at all." He turned around and smiled, "How are you?"
'How am I? I feel better than I've ever felt before!' Linnie felt like shouting. Instead she replied demurely, "I'm fine. I'm back to the mountains that I love, doing what I love."
"That's great," Mart wasn't sure what else to say. With a quick look at his watch, he decided that it was time to leave.
"Is Andy still coming to judge tomorrow night?" Linnie asked as he climbed into the seat of the wagon.
"Judge what?" Mart asked.
"The pumpkins. When he donated the pumpkins, he said that he'd also judge the final results," Linnie could tell from Mart's expression that this was news to him and that Andy wasn't going to be judging.
"Darn that man!" Mart said angrily. Andy had neglected to mention that in his note. Now Mart was going to have to do the judging.
"Don't worry about it, you aren't obligated to do it," Linnie said quickly, not liking the expression in Mart's eyes.
"Do you have anyone else to judge?" Mart asked, curbing his temper.
"Not at present," Linnie smiled, "Andy's perfect because he's not related to any of the kids. He's about the only person we can find that fits that description in these parts."
Mart nodded, that made sense. "I'm kind of busy, but if Andy doesn't show and if I have time, I could come and judge in his place." 'What are you saying Belden, first you lie…you're not busy, you're stagnant. And secondly, you're volunteering to join the human race for an evening.'
"That would be great if it's not an inconvenience to you," Linnie smiled again. "The party starts at six thirty. If you arrived a bit early I could go over the judging requirements with you."
"If I can make it, I'll be here," Mart replied gruffly, "I need to get back to the lodge before it gets too much darker." With a tip of his baseball cap he drove around the building.
Linnie stood there for several moments watching his departure. There was something different about Mart Belden. There was no happiness in him. He was like a lantern with no kerosene. Something must have happened that hurt him badly.
To be continued