TWENTY-FIVE
The Jeep came to a screeching halt outside of her home kicking up a spray of dust and gravel. Linda was out of the door even before the car had stopped, running for the front door; calling for her son, Ed was hot on her tail. The house lights were all off except for the living room. They burst through the front door, Ed calling for Esther, Linda calling for Josh.
“Check upstairs, see if he’s there, I’ll look for Esther.” suggested Ed. Linda never broke her stride and headed for the stairs to the next floor leaping them two at a time. Ed turned left into the front room and immediately saw the woman laid out on the floor. He rushed to her side, kneeling beside her head. The gash was deep and still oozed blood, matting her hair and causing the grey to turn to a deep reddish-black, the area around it a massive lump. She looked white and he could see that she had lost a lot of blood into the carpet. He felt for a pulse in her neck, it was faint, but there. He raced into the kitchen, grabbed a clean dishcloth from the side and went back to her prone body. Upstairs, he could hear Linda shouting for her son as she searched all the rooms. Ed gently placed the dishcloth over the wound then raised her head so that he could put a seat cushion underneath. Esther felt limp and lifeless in his hands. Linda ran back down the stairs and into the living room.
“He’s gone… Oh my god! Esther!” She ran to join Ed beside the lifeless body of her friend. “She’s not… please, she isn’t…?”
“No she’s not dead, but we need to get her medical attention urgently. She’s lost a lot of blood, I’ll call 911.”
“No, it’s quicker if we take her. There is a small hospital on this side of town, it has an E.R. department. You sit in the back with her and I’ll drive.” Ed agreed and between them managed to get Esther into Ed’s arms. He carried her like a small child to the back of the Jeep. Linda opened the back door and helped him slide her friend in the back, Esther’s head cradled in Ed’s lap, still resting on the seat cushion. Without further ado she jumped in the front, started the car and turned it around, the spinning wheels spitting more gravel and dust in a wide arc. It was still in 4x4 mode so the tires dug in and shot the car around and back towards town.
She drove at breakneck speed and got to the medical centre in less than ten minutes, pulling right up to the electric doors that usually took ambulances. As soon as the car was in Park, Linda was out and through the sliding double doors, calling for help. Matt Petonowski was the duty doctor, sitting at the nurse’s station just inside. Linda knew most of Ludlow’s dwindling population by face if not by name, but the young physician was a regular visitor to the library. Linda always thought of David Schwimmer from Friends whenever he came in. He jumped up, dropping his paperback to the desk as Linda burst in.
“Linda, what’s wrong?”
“Oh Matt, it’s Esther Mourn, she’s been attacked! She’s in my car, hurry.”
Matt’s dark green eyes showed shock but his professionalism kicked in as he grabbed a gurney parked by the entrance. Ludlow was a relatively quiet town and attacks were very rare. The most common thing at this time of night was bar brawls and they weren’t that regular. He ran to the Jeep, closely followed by a nurse. Between the four of them, they got Esther laid on the trolley, Matt taking a quick peek under the dishcloth. “Looks ugly, but Esther’s a tough old bird, let’s see if we can fix her up.” Matt and the nurse rattled the gurney into a side room, leaving Linda and Ed staring after them. The last thing they saw was an oxygen mask being placed over Esther’s face as the door swung silently closed. They stood close together, not moving, not talking, hardly daring to breathe. Gently, Linda slipped her hand into Ed’s. He returned the hold, gaining strength and composure from it as if being plugged into a battery charger. Linda felt the same; just the closeness of his body helped her. Eventually, she said, “I’m going to call Jed, Esther’s husband, he must be worried, she should be home by now, then we need to find Josh.”
Linda came back from the public pay phone along the hall, looking tired and distressed, but under the circumstances, Ed thought to himself that was quite understandable, and she still looked a million dollars.
“I’ve been thinking”, she said as she approached.
“Oh dear, that sounds dangerous!”
She offered a wan smile at his attempt at humour.
“No, really, we are going to need some help with this. I think I know who and I think I know how. But I don’t want to leave Esther.”
“She seems to be in good hands now, our priority is to get your son back then finish this thing. Anyway, Esther’s husband will be here soon, right?”
“Yes, you’re right, of course, Jed is on his way, but I can’t leave her.”
“Okay”, he replied, “let’s wait a few more minutes.”
Her relief was visible although she could hardly stand still with worry for Josh and her friend. There was the occasional noise and muffled instruction from behind the closed door of the side room where Esther lay but otherwise the hospital seemed as quiet as the proverbial grave. Less than five minutes had passed before they heard the noise of a car engine hastily getting closer. They walked out of the E.R. Department doors, the ‘shush’ of the electric motors breaking the barrier between the air-conditioned and sterile environment of the hospital and the warm dry air of the summer night outside. As they stood under the yellow glow of the lights of the reception veranda the beam of headlights grew quickly larger as the car speed towards them. The mid-eighties Oldsmobile sedan hardly slowed as it took a right and turned in to the hospital grounds. It pulled up just the other side of the Jeep, the wheels barely stationary before the driver stepped out. Esther’s husband showed his years, with worry accentuating the lines on an already lined and weathered face. As he limped from the dark of night into the stark brightness of the fluorescent strip lights of the reception Ed could see that Jed had lean features and a slightly stooped posture but still looked to be about six foot tall. His eyes were still sharp and intelligent, the brightest of blues. The thinning grey hair was combed over and struggled to hide large age spots on his pate. The dark green flannel shirt stuck closely to the thin body. Linda stepped forward to meet him, converging with a huge hug. Jed pulled away and held Linda at arm’s length. “What happened, is she alright?”
“Someone came to the house; they attacked Esther and took Josh. They are looking at her right now, the doctor said she should be okay but they haven’t come back out since I called you.”
Jed let go of Linda and almost to himself whispered “Oh my god! Why? Why would they do this?” as he brushed past her and into the building, limping heavily on his left leg.
Ed and Linda watched as Jed entered the building then turned to each other.
“Now, we really have to go.” She nodded in reply, grabbed his hand and moved towards the Jeep.
Buster opened the door to his house as soon as Linda had pushed the doorbell.
“We need your help Buster.”
“C’m on inside both of you’s.”
He led them back into the living room and they all sat in the same places they had earlier. Buster leaned forward, eager to hear what they had to say but reluctant at the same time. He looked into the eyes of his visitors, trying to read their minds.
“You found her didn’t you, you found my Gracie in dem hills?” he asked in his slow drawl. Ed spoke first.
“We found someone Buster, but, well, well it wasn’t Grace, it was another little girl…… but we are sure she’s there.”
The big man almost looked relieved; his emotions clear to read on his face like the cover of a book. He glanced towards the front of the house where Linda’s car was parked.