She gave him a withering look then unlocked the door. As a habit, she had kept the windows slightly open all day but a wave of dry heat still escaped past her. She slipped behind the wheel and started the engine as he got into his car. A thick blue cloud of smoke belched from her muffler pipe as the engine turned over slowly then finally fired. Her Nissan’s air-conditioning unit had stopped working over a year ago but she hadn’t gotten around to getting it fixed yet so she simply wound down the windows more. She did plug the dash-mounted fan into the cigar lighter but that just pushed hot air around the cabin. She was sure it did nothing on a practical level but psychologically, she felt cooler with it on. She clipped her seat belt on then checked her rear-view mirror. Ed was smiling right back at her. It was a nice, warm, genuine smile with just a hint of mischief in there somewhere. She pulled away from the sidewalk up to the stop line at the intersection, indicated left and turned towards home. Ed turned the radio off, just in case, but with the heat of the day still present he kept the air-con on. He followed Linda left on to Main Street then left again at the big intersection on to Homestead Road. A few seconds later the pick-up trucks engine burst into life and pulled away too, slower than the other two cars. It too turned left onto main. It stayed a long way behind them until the driver was sure they were both headed for the stuck-up librarian’s place then he eased off some more and pulled over. He knew where just about everybody in town lived, he made it his job to know.
“Well, well, only been here a day and already you’re in with the Saxon bitch. Well, there ain’t no way you’ll get past first base with that one boy, that’s fur damn sure, she’s tighter than a camels ass in a sand storm”. The watcher chuckled at his own wisdom but the humour never reached the cold darkness of his eyes. After he had lost sight of the two cars up ahead he pulled out again and motored slowly on.
Ed and Linda drove out of town until the residential area became sporadic houses that got further and further apart from their neighbours, then stopped completely. She checked her rear-view mirror often, just to make sure he was keeping up, only to see him smiling back at her. She couldn’t help but smile in return. They turned off of the main highway on to a much smaller road that started to wind its way gently uphill. Farmland was now the dominating feature interspersed with great swaths of Pines and Buckeye as they drove further northeast. Linda clicked her turn signal down and turned on to a smaller dirt track that only had one mailbox at the end of it with the name Saxon painted neatly in white paint on the side. The track lasted just a hundred yards before it opened up. The cars crunched as the dirt track became a gravelled area outside a small but tidy ranch house. The white-painted wooden building stood two stories high with a covered porch that ran the length of the front. There were a couple of recliner chairs and a small swing chair just by the door in the centre. As Ed swung the car around to stop next to Linda’s, he could see a large barn, back and to the left of the house that may be held horses or farm equipment, its big double doors closed tight. The area in front of the house was surrounded by a low picket fence that looked out over grazing land. The sun was just starting to set on the other side of the buildings, leaving a pink tinge to the huge sky. It looked idyllic.
They both got out of their cars at the same time. “Wow Linda, this place is great!” Having seen the poor condition of her car, Ed assumed that her house would be in a similar condition. With obvious pride, she turned and replied, “Yes, it is, isn’t it? You seemed surprised. Come inside and meet Josh”. Josh must be her husband he thought to himself. Forcing a smile he followed her through the net-covered outer door through the already opened polished wooden door. He was no expert but it looked to him like solid oak and very old. It matched the highly polished wooden flooring in the spacious hall. The wood continued halfway up the walls but was now painted shaker blue. The wood panelling gave way to wallpaper depicting small roses in various colours and maturity. He breathed in the smell of polish mixed with something even better coming from the kitchen. He glanced around appreciatively and took in the large dark wood coat rack to the right with a large mirror at its centre. There were few coats on it; just a woman’s knitted poncho, a couple of bad weather faded yellow sou’westers and a bright blue anorak hanging from its hood. The hook above the anorak held a brown woollen hat with a crazy yellow zig-zag pattern running through it. Next to the coat rack was a set of stairs that lead up to the next floor and before the coat rack was an open door that at a glance seemed to lead off into a reception room. Under the stairs was another door that Ed guessed would lead to a washroom and at the back was yet another door that clearly led to a kitchen. Linda tossed her keys into a ceramic bowl that sat on a semi-circular table in front of the mirror, then lead him over to the left to the last door he could see. As they entered the large room the wooden floor gave way to a burnt umber-coloured carpet. It felt homely with a large unlit fire on the back wall, surrounded by a two-seater and two single armchairs, all covered with a matching floral design. Above the fireplace was not the Wild West scene Ed expected but a large framed print of three World War Two P-51 Mustang fighters flying over a snowy European countryside. On the mantelpiece were two family photos held in matching silver frames. He looked at the posed picture of a slightly younger Linda standing next to a handsome fair-haired guy in Air Force uniform. Linda was holding a toddler of about two. The other photo was more natural and Ed guessed it was the same toddler but ten or so years on, sitting in the porch swing he had seen outside, reading a book, the photographer unobserved.
The two-seater was occupied; an elderly woman sat quietly reading to a young teenager, the kid from the photos. “Hi Josh! I’m home, and I brought a friend with me”. The woman and boy both looked up at the same time. The woman showed relief on her face while the boy’s expression quickly changed from welcoming to consternation.
“Oh hi Linda, have a good day?” the woman asked as she stood. She wore a simple patterned floral cream dress and flat, comfortable brown shoes. She looked to be in her late sixties but well groomed with a short, neat bob of grey hair and tasteful, restrained makeup.
“Same old same old I guess, how was Joshua today?” Linda replied.
“Well, okay, but it wasn’t one of his strong days. We went for a walk as usual after lunch but a couple of jets from the base flew over fairly low and that upset him. He’s been very quiet since then, but no episodes thankfully”.
She nodded towards Ed “Are you going to introduce me to your guest or do I have to burst with curiosity?” “Oh I’m sorry Esther, this is Ed Saunders, a friend, he’s come back for supper.” Esther gave Ed an approving once over, then looked back to Linda.
“Ed, this is Esther Mourn, my saviour from insanity.” She continued the introduction.
“Pleased to meet you Mame.”
“You too.” She replied. “Well, seeing as you’re back on time, I’ll git going myself. Jed said he’d take me out to eat tonight ‘stead of me having to cook. Nice meeting you Mr Saunders”, She gave Linda a knowing wink and added “have a good evening you two”.
Linda’s cheeks flushed pink at the remark then turned away from Ed towards Josh so that Ed couldn’t see her blush. She went and sat beside Joshua who hadn’t yet moved and was now giving all of his attention to the open pages of a storybook. Although it was a warm day he wore a thick navy jumper over his dark blue jeans. She gently put her hand over one of his “Hello Josh, how are you, did you miss mommy today?” Josh withdrew his hand from hers, closed the book and walked out of the room, head down, without saying a word. Now he was on his feet Ed could tell that the sandy-haired, freckle-faced kid was about fourteen or fifteen years old and fairly tall but he seemed much younger than that in the way he moved and his facial expression. He heard the boy stomp up the stairs, along the landing above them then slam his door shut.