Ella

  Chapter 21

  The coastal fog had hung over Jenner during summer without relief. When her children developed sore throats and fevers with a hacking cough, Ella despaired, thinking, they need medical attention, but John says we just can’t afford the luxury of a doctor.

  When John returned from work, she pressed him, saying, "John, the kids are real sic. What should we do?"

  After he listened to them coughing for several minutes, he began to rummage in the pantry.

  "John, what are you looking for?"

  "I’m looking for an onion. I'm going to mix its juice with honey. It's an old Indian cure for coughing."

  The next day, John’s cure failed to stop the children from coughing. In desperation, Ella sought the advice from an eccentric woman known for healing. After examining the children, the woman tapped her foot, saying, "Well, they’ve got the whooping cough. It's caused by bad vapors in your house. You have to open these windows and give them plenty of fresh air. Also, be sure to make them drink their first mornings pee."

  Ella looked apprehensively outside at the swirling fog, protesting, "It’s foggy out there. If I open the windows, the children would get cold."

  The woman crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. "If you don't clear this house of bad vapors, your kids will die."

  For two days, Ella administered urine, homemade cough syrup and foggy air, but the children’s condition became worse. As a last resort, she went to Juanita for her advice.

  That evening, she confronted her husband, saying, "John, we have to get the boys to a climate with dry heat. Juanita told me the fog is keeping them sick. She suggested we go to Lake County."

  His mouth dropped. "Lake County? How does she know about Lake County? That’s where I was born."

  "John, that doesn’t matter. What’s important is we get them away from all of this damn fog!"

  He scratched the stubble on his chin and replied, "Jesus, Ella, I just don’t see how we can afford to do that."

  Ella hit her palm with her fist and shouted, "Goddamn it John. They’re going to die if we don’t do something!"

  When the children began coughing with a deep rasping whoop, John listened at tentatively as they struggled to breathe. Finally, he said, "All right, they are real sick. We can go to Lake County. Tomorrow is Saturday. I’ll drive you up there and find a place for you and the kids to stay. When deer season opens, I’ll take my vacation and join you."

  On Saturday morning, Ella helped John pack the old Nash, anxious to get away from the fog. With the children wrapped in blankets, John began the journey, driving at his usual speed of 35 miles per hour. "John, can’t we go any faster?" Ella asked, frustrated with their slow progress.

  "What? Oh, we’re going fast enough. Slow and steady wins the race."

  Three hours later, they arrived at Calistoga where John bought triple-header ice cream cones to go with their baloney sandwiches. After lunch, they resumed the trip. As they left the city limits, Ella read a large sign at the side of the road, "Hot Mud Baths. Nature's Best Cure for Rheumatism. Next stop."

  Ella asked whimsically, "John, should we stop for a hot mud bath?"

  Failing to get her sarcasm, he replied, "No, it’s just something for rich people."

  At the foothills of Mount Saint Helena, John shifted to low gear in order to climb up the numerous switchbacks. At the summit, he stopped to refill the steaming radiator.

  Ella checked on the children who were sleeping peacefully in the back. She got out of the car and walked to the lookout area. Leaning against an ancient pine tree, she looked at the panoramic view, locating the distant site of her childhood home. As a child, she often had looked at the mountain peak where she now stood, just a blue speck in the future.

  She listened to the wind blowing in the trees and thought she could hear her parents and sister, talking, laughing, traveling through time, through space, through eternity.

  She focused on the road they had just traversed, folding back on itself like a serpent. She imagined herself back down on that road, looking up at herself, wondering what she would be thinking as she looked down on herself. She leaned back against the rough bark of reality, thinking, I’ve been binding my wings and blaming others for my failures. I’m stuck in the middle of my existence, but I’m going to take charge of my life, unfold my wings and soar high in the future.

  Her musings were interrupted when John joined her. Pointing to the scrubby hills shimmering in the heat, he said, "Look Ella; you can see Lake County. It’s hot, but it's a dry heat. If you get sweaty, you can always dry off in the shade. When I was in the tropics, I couldn't stop sweating, but Lake County isn’t like that. We better go now."

  When they finally reached Middletown, Ella surveyed the town that would be her home for the next month. She observed its dusty deserted streets and the homes with shades drawn. "John, Where are all the people?" she asked.

  "What? Oh, everybody stays inside during the heat of the day," he replied as he turned on a shady lane.

  After driving two more blocks, he stopped in front of an old house that was over-grown with vines. "Well, here we are," he said proudly. "This is where I was born. My old pal, Ernie, owns it now, but he said I can use it whenever I want it.

  Ella looked at the dilapidated building with boarded-up windows, skeptically asking, "John, do you think this place is fit for us to stay?"

  "Oh sure it is," he replied enthusiastically. "When we cut back the vines and get it cleaned up, you'll love it!"

  For the next two hours, they pried boards from the windows, cut back vines, and scrubbed the floors. When they were finished, Ella, sweating profusely, said, "All right John, this house isn't so bad after all. I like how the breeze blows through the windows. It's good enough for camping. Now, let's make up our beds."

  While she helped spread their bedrolls on the floor, she noticed Tommy was working the outside pump handle up and down. "Look John, Tommy’s not coughing! I think this heat is just what the children need!"

  He rubbed her shoulders, whispering in her ear, "This heat is good for me too. It makes me frisky. I can hardly wait for tonight."

  The next morning, a shaft of sunlight fell across the faded wallpaper as Ella woke up to blue jays raucously calling and the steady hum of insects. She smiled as she inhaled the scent of honeysuckle, wood smoke and freshly brewed coffee. Poking his head into the bedroom, John said, "Good morning, Ella. I just put on a pot of coffee. I'm going to the bakery to get some doughnuts. I'll be right back."

  She got up and looked in on the children, happy they weren’t struggling to breathe. John soon returned with sugar-glazed donuts. As they sat on the porch, eating hungrily and drinking coffee, John waved his arm expansively, saying, "This is my kind of country. I hate to leave, but I'll be back in two weeks for deer hunting, just as soon as my vacation begins."

  Ella tapped her cigarette in an old hubcap, replying, "John, I'll miss you. Thanks for taking us here. I already can tell the children are feeling much better."

  He patted her knee. "I’ll miss you too. Now let’s get the kids ready to go to Ernie's farm before I leave for Jenner. Me and him have been pals since we were kids."

  After Ella dressed and fed the children, John drove them to Ernie’s farm, maneuvering the car over a dirt road through a pear orchard to an old farm house. When John introduced Ella to Ernie and his wife, Martha, Ella immediately liked her merry laugh and plump good-natured face.

  John and Ernie disappeared to find deer tracks, anticipating the opening of deer season. Ella and Martha chatted under a giant cottonwood tree, sipping ice tea as Joey slept in a hammock. Tommy pushed Clifford, Martha's five-year old son, in a tire swing.

  Martha said, "Ernie is my second husband. I had to drop out of high school to married Clifford’s father, but he turned out to be a bum. Ernie is a good man,
but he’s a fanatic about hunting. During deer season, I become a hunting widow."

  Ella laughed. "We have a lot in common. John’s a hard worker, but he’s also a fanatic about deer hunting. I wonder how long they’ll be harassing those poor deer."

  Martha laughed. "Well, they could be gone all night. I swear, that husband of mine would rather hunt than have sex. Ella, I know a great place for swimming. We can go there later in my old Roadster."

  Ella dragged her toe in the dust self-consciously, saying, "I love to swim, but I'm embarrassed to show myself in public."

  Martha slapped her chubby thighs, saying, "I’m no scarecrow myself. That's why I like this place. It’s always deserted. If you want, I'll pick you up tomorrow. Oh, I see the men coming. Hey, you guys, it's about time you got back."

  After Ernie barbecued venison for lunch, John brought his family back to their temporary home and began the solitary return trip to Jenner-By-The-Sea with its eternal fog.