They watched him disappear around the corner and turned to one another for support. This seemed like such an anticlimax for the ongoing saga of, ‘Where was Jack McKinnon going to show up next?’
Rikki was deep breathing; she learned how when she went to a class to learn to: ‘Be calm in the face of Disaster, Real or Imagined’.
She was busy trying to keep her feelings in check.
What if?
What if it’s not him?
Worse question, what if it is him?
Everyone was shifting from foot to foot, trying to make small talk, trying to keep the ‘elephant in the room’ at bay and out of the conversation, hanging on to reality, hoping for the best.
A young nurse appeared down the hall walking towards them. She was smiling her ‘everything is just FINE!’ smile; she learned it in nursing school.
“Mrs. McKinnon?” she said to the crowd.
They all gave way around Rikki and she stood by herself. “That’s me,” she said, “I’m Mrs. McKinnon.”
“Please come with me. If the rest of you wouldn’t mind waiting in the alcove here by the window, I’m sure Mrs. McKinnon will be with you shortly.” She turned, expecting to be followed.
Rikki just stood there, she wasn’t going anywhere without her backup team.
“Really Mrs. McKinnon, there is no need for all these people, all you need to do is look through the window, he can’t see you, but you’ll be able to see him. We’re trying to keep him as calm as possible.”
“If he can’t see me, he can’t see them either, if they don’t go, neither do I.”
“Well!”
“Come on, all of you,” said ‘Betty’, “she needs to know, we need to know, too.”
The group moved slowly down the hall, with the indignant nurse trailing. When they came to the end of the corridor and turned the corner, there was a window into a private room. Walking up to it, they looked in.
And... he looked back!
There was an audible intake of breath and Rikki clung to Carol Adler for support.
The nurse pushed to the front and looked in also, she spoke to the astonished group and said, “I know it looks like he’s looking back at you, but I assure you this is one-way glass. There is no way he is able to see you. Nor can he tell if anyone is here.”
The small group turned as one and looked in again.
He was still looking at them.
Rikki was holding Carol by the arm so tightly it was beginning to hurt. The men continued to stare. ‘Betty’ harrumphed a few times and shifted his feet; he was trying to decide if this wasted figure in the bed was in any way his old friend.
“Please take you time, see if you can find any resemblance to your husband. I’m sorry, but I’m needed at the Nurses Desk for a few moments, I’ll be back shortly.”
As they watched, a short dark nurse opened the door. She wore an unfamiliar uniform. The figure in the bed lay still, his eyes almost closed, but they could see he was watching her. She walked to the bed and looked at the wasted man laying there. Checking to make sure the door was closed; she took an object on a thin cord from around her neck and put it around his neck. She closed his hand over the little leather bag and it clung to him.
Then she checked the heart monitor, straightened the already straight bed sheets and left.
The small group on the other side of the one-way window looked at each other. With mutual accord, nothing was mentioned to the returning nurse.
Chapter 40
The ride home from the hospital was quiet. They were in two cars, the Adler’s and Rikki in her car, and the other two in ‘Betty’s’ SUV. It seemed like a very long ride. They were all thinking the same thing, but no one wanted to bring it up.
Both cars arrived at the same time, and parked in front of the McKinnon house.
Carol went to the two men in the van and told them to come in for coffee. She was glad she considered the possibility the day before, and baked a lemon sponge cake and asked her daughter Karen to put some coffee on and set the table.
The little group made their way through the lane and into the Adler’s back yard. Carol was first one in and saw with approval the dining room prepared for company.
They all found a place to sit, not much banter and concerned faces all around.
Carol Adler stood up and spoke to the group. “I know this has been a mind bending day, and on behalf of Rikki, I want to thank you for coming. I think we need to hear what she has to say about all this. Should she accept that the man we saw this morning is Jack McKinnon, or do we deny this could be him? What do you say Rikki?”
Sitting very still and staring at her plate with the yummy sponge cake, she gave a little hick-up and slithered to the floor.
Pandemonium broke loose as half the guests crouched under the table and tried to help and the other half tried to get out of the way of those that were doing the helping.
Carol raced into the kitchen and got some ice cubes. She put them in her tea towel to make a cold compress. It was a little lumpy, but would have to do.
Bill Majors and ‘Betty’ had Rikki propped up and were trying to decided where to pat her. It showed very clearly on TV, you slapped people who fainted on the cheeks. Neither man could bring himself to do that.
Carol finally arrived with the ice. The soothing cool of the tea towel on her head began to bring her around and she looked up and saw the worried circle.
A little tear trickled down the side of her face and she began to shrink inside herself.
“I’m sorry everyone,” she said, “I don’t know why I’m doing this. I thought I was over this passing out thing. I haven’t done it for years. Let me get up and we’ll finish our coffee and cake.”
‘Betty’ helped her from the floor and held the chair while she sat down with a small thump.
“Okay folks, I’m not here in any kind of legal capacity, but something funny is going on here and I don’t like it,” Sergeant Bill Majors said. “Why now? Where has that man been? He looks barely alive. Something fishy is going on here.”
“I feel the same way; I can’t put my finger on it, but why now? We need to find out where he’s been, and why he didn’t stay home the last time. We need some legal help to make whoever had him talk. Where is that wanna-be lawyer kid that was with us last time?” said ‘Betty’.
“I can answer that,” Barry Adler said, “you probably read about him in the papers. He’s an ‘up-and-coming’ lawyer these days with a big firm in Harrisburg that’s trying to get an ‘End Destination Indian Casino’ built at the north end of Andover Lake. We still keep in touch with his folks, but the son is a busy man.”
“Oh.”
“Not that he wouldn’t want to hear the latest news on his first ‘Big Case’. We’ll call and see if they think he’d be interested,” said Carol.
The little group looked at their plates and decided it was time to eat. Karen brought in an appetizer tray and some veggies on a platter and they all helped themselves. Things were starting to look brighter and good food and talk helped. Maybe with a little more planning and some luck, something good would happen.
Carol Adler worked hard to create a happier note around the table. She remembered the time Jack threw out the paint cans with the money and bonds in them. Amid smiles and the occasional chuckle, she wove a frustrating experience into a funny story; the three McKinnon’s chasing down the lane in their pajamas with house coats flying after the garbage truck. The story came alive and everyone grinned, relieved to be able to smile at something.
Finally, they ate the last of the cake, the coffee pot was empty and it was time to leave.
The Adlers said they’d find the lawyer. Bill Majors said he’d look into where exactly the Indians were going to build the casino, and ‘Betty’ said he’d go and look at the McKinnon cabin.
Rikki hadn’t been to the lake since Jack disappeared and couldn’t bear the idea of going without him. Harry, while a strappi
ng young teenager wasn’t old enough to open a cabin he’d not been to in 7 years. Besides, they had no boat, and she didn’t want to buy one.
Everyone around the table had a job to do and they agreed to a meeting in Merriweather to share their information. Barry Adler said give it a week, if it was more complicated, they’d figure out what to do then.
They were in better spirits as they left the dinning room chatting and making plans for when and what time to meet. As they filed out the back door, they realized they were one short and turned in unison to see Rikki still sitting at the table, her eyes on her full cup of tea still thinking about the strange nurse in the hospital.
Chapter 41
A few nights later the night shift Senior Duty nurse was walking down the corridor of the small hospital in Hope. The worried look on her face had nothing to do with the nurses and patients under her care.
She came to the Duty Desk, sat down, took the note out of her pocket and looked at it again.
Reading it over and over wasn’t going to make it go away. I have to do something, she thought, and the something she had to do was what she really, really didn’t want to. But, she picked up her phone and dialed the number on the note, and waited impatiently for it to be answered.
“Hello.”
“We’re ready.”
“I’ll see you at the end of your shift in the parking lot,” and the phone went dead.
Now I’ve done it, she worried to herself, I poked my nose in where it wasn’t wanted and now look what happened. “My family is going to lose its standing in the band! How will we manage, Fred will kill me,” she said to the silent phone, “I only wanted to help.”
Routine kicked in, and the nurse got up and began to make her rounds. Her duties were as much to the sick patients on the wards, as with the running of the hospital.
The evening shift dragged on, no problems, just routine to relieve the anxiety and it didn’t help, but it gave her lots of time to think.
As she moved mechanically, her hands busy, her mind went over the situation again. She thought of when she realized the patient that had come in a few weeks ago, was the Jack McKinnon everyone thought was dead. He was unwilling to speak at the time, and although they tried, the white doctors didn’t understand what was wrong with him. It wasn’t until the night they sent him to the Grace Hospital in Burnswood and she was going over the records for the day that she realized what happened, again.
The hospital wasn’t responsible for the state of the patient, but she knew who and what was causing his problem.
She should have minded her own business; it was all her fault.
She should have known better. But she did what any well raised Indian girl would do.
She talked to her father.
He told her to tell the old medicine man.
But, she didn’t!
Look what a mess she made of it.
She knew what she stumbled on, but she didn’t go to the right medicine man. She thought he was too old; she went to the younger one, the one that came to them from eastern Canada, the one The People called Running Wolf. He seemed to be doing a lot of things right. She thought it was too bad the uprising didn’t happen, it would’ve made the Provincial Government live up to the original Treaties that were signed in 1850 when the white man came and took over their land.
But that was all water under the bridge now. Lawyers were piloting treaties through the courts. It was taking a long time, but good things were starting to happen, especially in the downtown core of the big cities. It was slow, but new changes were making life better.
When she went to Burnswood the other day on hospital business and saw the caring people who were looking at the silent man, and she knew why he was in that state, how could she not help?
She kept telling herself she didn’t know the medicine bag she hung around his neck and tucked into his hand that day was going to break the spell he was under.
It was given to her, to keep her safe.
The old medicine man who finally heard her story, gave it to her and said never take it off.
But, she did.
She gave it to Jack McKinnon that day in the hospital, and now Running Wolf wanted to know where she got it?
Thank the Great Spirit that she finally spoke to her father and told him about the medicine bag and who was interested in it.
After tonight, Running Wolf wouldn’t know where she was, she, her husband and children would be gone.
Chapter 42
The following day Barry Adler called Ralph Kullman, the father of their young lawyer, and arranged for a visit on Tuesday. He said let’s do dinner in Burnswood and arrangements were made.
He wasn’t sure how to broach the subject of Jack McKinnon again. The last time didn’t turn out the way their son expected.
What a disaster, no fees and no publicity.
No one in the group had the kind of money Richard commanded these days, and he probably was too busy to run around doing Pro Bono work for his folk’s old neighbors.
But, it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Carol was having second thoughts too. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to get in touch with Richard Kullman again.
It was too late though, and Barry thought if they were willing, they’d go and see Jack McKinnon in the hospital. Well, not exactly visit him, but see him through the one-way window. Maybe they’d understand the situation better and be able to explain it to their son.
Chapter 43
‘Betty’ was having a bad day!
Good help was hard to find, and the last two waiters only stayed around long enough to collect their week’s wages and eat their own body weight in free food. Although ‘Betty’ was more experienced than in earlier years, he still found it stressful and wearing with no help for the noon rush, and the evening meal was a disaster. Yesterday customers waited over a half hour for their hamburgers. He needed some quick help.
But he also had to go up to the McKinnon’s cabin and see what was its’ condition. It was seven years since anyone was up there, it must look abandoned and need a lot of work.
But a promise was a promise, so he looked around for a piece of paper and a black marker pen and wrote the following note.
Cafe will be closed Tuesday. But I’ll be open Wednesday first thing. Also, I’m looking for a new waiter. Permanent Position available.
He stood up, took the note and pinned it to the CLOSED sign and turned it around so the words faced out.
Now he had to get his boat gassed up and fix some sandwiches for tomorrow. It was a long way up to the McKinnon cabin and he had to check everything and make a list of any repairs.
The next day was a glorious start for a day on the lake.
The sky was ‘blue as your sweetheart’s eyes’, sang the cowboy singer on the radio.
No one saw the small puffs of white cloud forming over snow covered Scuff Peak; they looked like soap bubbles, white transparent soap bubbles, and they were getting bigger.
On the water at 7:30 am in his brand new red Fiberform Surfrider, ‘Betty’ was going up to the McKinnon cabin. He watched the sky and noted the small white clouds over the south end of the Bendor Range. He checked the near shore of the lake frequently trying to stay close in, but far enough out to avoid running aground on a shallow outcrop.
I should’ve brought someone else with me as company, he thought. And to make sure nothing odd, or funny, or ??, happened. He wasn’t afraid of the ‘odd’ or ‘funny’, but he had second thoughts about the ‘??’.
After all, there were unanswered questions from the last time someone went up lake to the cabin by the Ancient Indian Burial Ground.
‘Betty’s’ thoughts turned unwillingly to seven years ago and the fate of Jack McKinnon. The fact the dog went down didn’t help, and when his body didn’t come up, it was really bad.
Now, there might be some closure. Maybe the man in Burnswood at the Grace Hospital really was Jack McK
innon. But that brought up a lot of new questions. Why did he look half-starved? Why didn’t he know them if he really was Jack McKinnon? Where’d he been all this time? Why didn’t he come home? And, most of all, why now?
‘Betty’ was concentrating and wasn’t aware the sky was darkening. The wind began to pick up and sprayed the windshield of the boat with lake water, it rocked sideways as the waves hit.
His reverie broken, he turned the wheel sharply to the left to head into the waves. Now the heavens opened, just a small pitter pat at first, then the wind blew the rain harder, it was coming down in almost gale force, he could hardly see the front of the boat. Fighting to keep control, he headed into the waves, but a rogue upsurge pulled the steering wheel out of his hands and the boat reared up and fell!
Never thought I’d make it to shore, thought ‘Betty’ as he lay panting, half in the lake and half on shore.
Crawling up the bank and pulling himself over the berm, he saw a cabin.
Thank god it was close.
He managed to stand and staggered up the path. The front door and its’ frame were hanging askew on a shiny nail. Peering inside, he saw a potbelly stove. He had to get warm; he was so cold he could hardly control the shaking.
He didn’t care about the crooked door, but he looked up; over the door jam was a white bone with a stylized human head carved on each end...it was upside down.
He turned and faced the lake. It was night now, no lights, no stars. How could that be?
Fear bubbled up and overwhelmed the cold. He knew he had to get away, but the need to see inside the cabin conquered all. He put his hand on the door, and it began to open, terror reached up and grabbed him, and he turned and ran.
The heavy gloom was trying to keep ‘Betty’ by the cabin.
As he charged through the underbrush the branches were scratching his face and arms, it was as though they didn’t want him to go this way, either. No matter, anywhere was better than what was back there.
The story Bill Majors told of the cabin with the door and frame hanging by a nail came back. Jack McKinnon’s hurried after.
Reality began to set in as he fought to get away. Soon the night didn’t seem as dark as before, through the murky half light he saw tracks, train tracks and he knew he’d be okay if he followed them.