A Brother's Duty
Chapter 20
John was late heading back to the house after picking up groceries in Kemptville when the CBC news was interrupted with “A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for Lanark and Grenville Counties. Conditions are conducive to tornado formation. Residents in and around the Rideau Lakes, Perth and Smiths Falls areas are advised to be on the alert for severe weather.”
He walked into the kitchen with the last of the grocery bags just as the storm front hit with high winds and lashing rain. “Oh, great. No significant rain all summer then flash flood conditions.” He peered out through the back window to see his apple trees bending in the wind.
Smudge came racing in to the kitchen and jumped onto the counter, meowing at him franticly to make the bad rain go away. John shook his head, picked up the shuddering cat and held her close. “Don’t worry, Smudge, I won’t let the storm get you.”
Although awkward, he managed to put all of the groceries away one handed. Briefly he wondered if Bruno was as much of a weather wimp as Smudge. He smiled as he remembered the introduction of the two animals. Smudge had puffed up like a Halloween cat. Bruno had given her a brief snuffling sniff then continued to prowl around the ground floor before returning to the kitchen and taking a huge amount of floor space next to the patio doors.
Smudge had responded to Bruno’s presence by leaping onto Lucy’s lap and asking for her protection from the big beast. After a few moments Smudge had settled and started to purr contentedly as Lucy stroked her. Bruno had raised one eyebrow then realized he was missing out on affection and came around to nudge Lucy’s elbow.
By the end of the evening the two animals had worked out their differences to the point that Smudge was snuggled against Bruno’s big warm back while both of them dozed.
John smiled again as he remembered his first kisses with Lucy. He had thought it could be awkward if she had wanted more than just kisses but he now recognized that she respected his principles. Part of him wished she didn’t but overall he was relieved. Even though he could sense that the kisses they’d shared were somehow different for her, he couldn’t help the niggling doubt that she would compare him to her former lovers and find him wanting. Then he remembered their swim last week and the very late supper.
At least they’d gotten a start on Rob’s room yesterday. There were a couple of souvenir tee shirts and some memorabilia that he’d kept but most of Rob’s things were heading for the thrift store or to families at church. Rob’s leftover furniture in the barn would be going there as well.
As he sorted through things, he told stories to Lucy about Rob. A family picture from Rob’s graduation with a twelve year old John, fifteen year old Irene and a pair of proud parents led to the story of Rob’s huge fight with their father and his enlistment in the Army. Another picture of him in dress uniform with Irene at her wedding led to another story about his father’s drinking and unreasonable expectations and how Al Anon and the church in Athens had been so crucial to keeping his sanity.
Through it all, Lucy had helped fold and pack up Rob’s clothes while she listened to him. She told some quiet stories of her cold and distant mother that reinforced to him that she understood some of what he went through with his father. That she understood that love needs to be more than duty. That love is, as one of his pastors had said, a verb. That love must be acted upon and demonstrated. That both of them had been deprived of their parents love.
John put his head down to pray that he could put his love for Lucy and her daughter into action. He grabbed the pile of mail and walked into his office to sort through it, putting the cheques in one pile, the invoices into the folder for his bookkeeper and putting the ad mail into the trash. The remaining package was from Classic Audio.
Inside were two advance copies of Music from the Mason’s Basement that were not shrink-wrapped. The attached thank you note from Jeff ended with the word ‘Enjoy.’ He opened the CD case with the sticky note labelled ‘John’ and on the back of the insert were four signatures and the words Thank You carefully placed in the blank space. The other CD was labelled Anne and a second sticky note asked John to pass along the copy to his neighbour. He set it aside to give to her at lunch on Saturday when she and Megan came to visit.
The local news was on when he got back to the kitchen. A news story about changes to apprenticeship testing methods reminded him to pray for Mike because it had been his last work day before his final exams.
He snickered as he remembered his last conversation with Mike. “I’ll only come back to work for you if you’re still going out with Lucy.”
He asked why and Mike said, “Because you don’t sweat the small stuff since you started taking care of her. I cut you some slack because of Rob but I don’t want to come back if you’re going to be grumpy like that again.”
“Well, Mike, I’m intending to marry her if I can convince her I’m good enough for her. But she did say we could call ourselves a couple, so I’m hopeful.”
“That’s great news, boss.”
“Just study hard and come back. If you still want to work for me a year from now, we can talk about you buying into the company. I need a partner or two.”
Mike looked shocked. “Partners? That’s too generous.”
John shook his head. “Naw. I need someone patient to help with the new guys. The other supervisors are great at what they do but they don’t have a lot of time or patience for teaching. And you’ve got a better head for paperwork and administration than I do.” Sensing Mike’s hesitation, he continued. “It’s at least a year down the road, Mike, but I wanted to put the offer on the table. Right now you need to concentrate on passing that final. We can hammer out the details later.”
“Thanks, John.” The older man turned to leave. “Give my regards to Lucy and good luck to you in convincing her to marry you.”
He smiled at the reminder of Lucy as he turned his attention to making supper.
Lucy smirked as she made her slow way back to the trailer. Zara had stood her up for supper explaining that she had a date with Zack. When Lucy teased her about proposing there was a brief silence before Zara told her, firmly, that it was none of her business.
Lucy said a brief prayer for Zara and hoped that Zack would say yes.
The rain was coming down in buckets which made Lucy very glad she knew the road so well. She replayed the meeting with her lawyer that afternoon. Natalie had informed her that Gillian had been suspended pending confirmation of the forensic accountants’ findings.
The concurrence between the published articles and her draft thesis was well over eighty percent, meaning that it was simply not credible that it was taken from a different source. The university had given Dr. Drake fifteen days to refute the allegations and had placed her on leave with pay while she was assembling her counter arguments.
Natalie was almost gleeful when she detailed the discrepancies between Dr. Drake’s version of events and Lucy’s, stating that there were too many holes in Gillian’s story for it to be credible.
The rain came down harder and Lucy pulled over and put her flashers on while she rested and contemplated whether being soaked would be better than having a too full bladder. Deciding that being soaked would be worse, she took a deep breath and pulled back on to the road.
Her conversation with the lawyer in England had been odd. Ms. Cobham was still with the firm and explained that yes she was Lady Wilkinson as her father had briefly been an earl before the title passed to her uncle. But she would need to provide both her long form birth certificate and her parent’s marriage certificate before she could release the funds.
Neither of those documents was difficult to obtain although it would take a bit of time. Peter and Elizabeth had been married at Ottawa City Hall a month before she had been born in Halifax.
Lucy was still annoyed at Ms. Cobham. She wanted to contact her grandmother Wilkinson. Ms. Cobham had confirmed that the countess was still alive and well but that she was not going to provide any contact
information until she received proof that Lucy was the Lucinda Anne Wilkinson mentioned in his will. After ten minutes of arguing Lucy realized it was useless.
John had been sympathetic to her plight but counselled patience on her part. The money would eventually come to her along with the information that would allow her to contact her family in England.
She bounced down the lane heedless of the pain and raced into the trailer.
“Bruno, you’re such a chicken.” Lucy hugged Bruno’s bony head and listened to the wind roaring through the trees. The reception on the television was awful so she turned it off. Stretching, she yawned and said, “Time for bed, Bruno.”
Bruno looked balefully at the door and hung his head.
“Yes you have to.” Lucy held open the door. Bruno hesitated then she said, “Go.”
He raced through the rain for the limited protection of the oak tree and was back in under twenty seconds. Lucy held the door closed while he shook himself off on the porch then wrapped him up in a beach towel as soon as he got into the trailer. “No way I’m letting a wet dog sleep in my bedroom.” Or in my bed, she thought, predicting where she would find Bruno if it started to thunder.
She prepared for bed and got her laptop out to review some notes for improving her thesis. With the charge finally being investigated there was a possibility that she would be able to defend and publish it.
John was preparing for bed when he heard the warning tone coming from the radio and turned his attention to the announcer. “A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for Rideau Lakes, Carleton Place, Merrickville, Perth, Smiths Falls and the surrounding areas. Tornados have been sighted. Residents should monitor the weather and take all necessary precautions.” The announcement repeated then a newscaster said, “Tornados have touched down near Port Elmsley, Otter Lake and Lombardy. Damage estimates are unknown at this time. The front line now extends through Perth, Smiths Falls and Merrickville and is heading in a northerly direction. According to Environment Canada conditions are still conducive to tornado formation along the front. High winds are also reported behind the front.” The report then segued into a discussion of how to find safety when a tornado threatens.
John’s first thought was that there was a second storm front about to hit with even more water and then remembered that the announcer said Otter Lake. He rushed to the phone to call Lucy.
“Lucy Wilkinson.”
John let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. You’re okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” She closed her laptop and put it in the small bedside table.
“CBC is reporting that tornados have touched down near Otter Lake and Lombardy.”
“It’s been really noisy but nothing so…”
John heard a crash and a shriek. “Lucy what’s happening?”
“Something just crashed into the trailer and the power’s gone out.”
He heard another shriek and then a quivering voice. “More things are hitting the trailer John.” There was a pause and a small voice. “I’m really scared.”
“I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
John looked in dismay at the sparking wires in the puddle halfway up the drive to Lucy’s trailer. He pulled out his phone and called Phyllis Plunkett. “Hi Phyllis. I know it’s late, but can you look up the number for Ontario Hydro?”
“Sure, John. What’s up?”
“I’m out at Lucy’s and the power lines from the road to the trailer are down and sparking. I need to report it so they can shut off the electricity so I can go in and see if she’s okay. Her trailer was being hit by falling trees when I called her an hour ago.”
“Okay, I’m at my computer. It might take a while to find the number.” John could hear the opening music as the computer powered up. “Is she on town water there?”
“No. Well and septic.”
He could hear the noise of a keyboard. “Then she’ll need a place to stay.”
“I’ve got room.”
“You’ve also got a reputation to preserve. I was going to offer her a place if you don’t mind. She’s wonderful company.”
John pondered that. “I don’t really care about my reputation.”
“You should. Maggie Donlon and her crowd were pretty scathing in their comments about Lucy. It would be better all ‘round if she stayed with me.”
John thought about being stubborn then sighed. “I’ll make the offer for both options to Lucy and let her decide.”
Phyllis paused and John could hear the noise of mouse clicks. “That’s fair. She’s a big girl after all. And getting bigger every day. Ah. Here’s the 800 number.” She gave it to him and he repeated it back to her.
“Thanks, Phyllis.”
The first seven attempts got a busy signal. The eighth time he got in but was on hold for almost eleven minutes before a harried sounding woman answered. He reported the problem and she said that a crew would be dispatched shortly.
John dialled Lucy but it dumped directly to voice mail and he left a message about the downed power lines. By this time the rain had dwindled to a light drizzle and the wind had died to a light breeze. The noise of the sparking wires grew louder relative to the background noise which reminded John to stay in his truck and wait.
About five minutes later Lucy emerged from the brush in front of the truck. John quickly hopped out and Lucy called, “I saw your headlights and took a roundabout path.”
John skirted the edge of the puddle and wrapped a very wet Lucy in his arms. “Thank God. You’re okay. I had feared the worst.” He held her tightly and felt her relief at his presence. “We should wait in the truck. It won’t be safe to go back to the trailer until Hydro shuts off the power. You were pretty lucky.”
“Can you shut it off?”
“I checked. It’s an older installation. I’d need the right tools to shut the power off.”
“So we have to wait? I hope it won’t be too long.”
The sound of a big diesel interrupted them. A harried looking workman climbed out of the truck and walked forward to join them. As he got even with John’s truck he saw the sparking wires. “We’re on it. But all I can do is shut off the juice. Repairs will have to wait a while.”
John and Lucy followed him back toward the truck. “That’s fine. Make this safe for us to get to the trailer and then go make someone else safe.”
The workman gave John a salute. “Sounds like a good plan.”
Lucy called. “Will I need to sign anything?”
“Not for this.”
“Okay, then. You might want to put restoring power here at the bottom of the list. My trailer was totalled.”
“Sorry to hear that but I’m glad you’re okay. We’ll make a note of it. Call the office when you’re ready to be hooked up again.”
“Will do. Take care.” Lucy waved as the man climbed into his truck.
“Will do, missus.”
Lucy felt a surge of pleasure as she heard the respect in the workman’s voice. She looked over at John who was watching her reaction.
A few minutes later they heard two blasts on an air horn and looked toward the broken wires which had stopped sparking. “So, missus, shall we see to our dog?”
High power flashlight in hand, John walked quickly past the broken wires and clambered over a downed poplar then past a downed maple.
Coming around the last bend, Lucy called, “Bruno! Come!”
She was rewarded with a series of barks and the large dog rocketed toward them leaping another downed maple. He circled the two of them then leaned against Lucy for comfort.
“Oh, Bruno. You’re shivering again.” Bruno accepted the fussing as his due.
John had continued moving toward the trailer. He shone his flashlight at the trailer. “Oh…”
Lucy walked forward with Bruno plastered to her side. “I had to squeeze out the cargo hatch under my bed. I’m glad I’m not any bigger. I didn’t think Bruno would follow me out.”
John gathered her i
nto his arms for a comforting hug. He looked over her shoulder. A large oak tree had been uprooted by the wind and sideswiped the trailer. There was a massive poplar branch sticking out of the trailer roof about where the bathroom was and the corner John had so painstakingly leveled had been crushed by the oak. By chance the big propane tanks and the porch were both untouched. John released her and walked quickly to shut off the propane. “We’re lucky it didn’t get hit.”
He turned his flashlight on the parking area. Lucy’s hatchback was propping up a downed maple tree. John could see a replacement in her immediate future. “Do you need a hug?”
Lucy’s eyes widened at the sight of her totalled car and she nodded. She walked in a daze toward John who wrapped her in a hug.
“What am I going to do?”
“You have two immediate choices. You can stay with me or with Phyllis Plunkett.”
“Phyllis?”
“I phoned her to get the emergency number for Ontario Hydro. She’s lived in the country long enough to know that no power means no water. She offered you a place.”
“Why would she do that?”
“To preserve our virtue or reputations or some such. There would be some malicious gossip if we were living together without benefit of clergy.”
Lucy got angry. “Some people have too much time on their hands.” Then she took a deep breath. “She’s right, though. We shouldn’t live together until we get married.”
“Do you want to?” John’s surprise was evident. “Marry me, I mean.”
Lucy looked at the devastation surrounding them. “Are you proposing? If you are, your timing is suspect.”
John gathered her close. “Would you like me to propose?”
She looked at her ruined trailer and totalled car and realized that John was far more important to her than either. “Why not? My day won’t get any stranger.”
John kissed her nose affectionately. “My indomitable love.” He dropped to one knee in the mud. “Lucinda Wilkinson, will you marry me?”
Lucy looked down with a mix of tenderness and astonishment. “Are you sure it’s me you want, John?”
John’s look echoed Lucy’s. “I’m very sure. I was so scared of losing you and the baby tonight. I almost had a heart attack when you shrieked into the phone. But it’s more than that. You’ve given my life meaning again. When I’m with you I feel I’m home.”
John’s words resonated in Lucy’s soul. “Then, John MacLeish, my very own love, I will marry you.”
He rose and sealed their promise with a tender kiss. She backed out of the kiss with misty eyes and said, “But I think I’ll stay with Phyllis until we can get married.”
“When?”
“I’ll need at least three weeks to get everything together. Do you think Jack would be available three weeks from tomorrow?”
John sighed then said, “I can wait longer if you need me to, my love.”
Lucy squeezed his hand. “Three weeks it is. Now, my love, help me get some clothes and see what we else can salvage.”