The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare (4 page)

“Polly, you’re a gem! By the way, are you free for dinner tonight? Mrs. Cobb is preparing a repast that’s too good for a lonely bachelor. I thought you might consent to share it.”

“Delighted! I must not stay too late, but I hope there will be time for reading aloud after dinner. You have a marvelous voice, Qwill.”

“Thank you.” He preened his moustache with pleasure. “I’ll go home and gargle.”

Turning to leave, he glanced across the balcony to the reading room. “Who’s that man over there – with a pile of books on the table?”

“A historian from Down Below, doing research on early mining operations. He asked if I could recommend any good restaurants, and I suggested Stephanie’s and the Old Stone Mill. Do you have any other ideas?”

“I think I do,” said Qwilleran. He clapped his hat on his head at a wild angle and clomped around the balcony in his yellow duck boots, stopping at the table where the stranger was seated.

In a parody of a friendly north-country native he said, “Howdy! Lady over yonder says yer lookin’ fer a place to chow down. Fer a real good feed y’oughta try Otto’s Tasty Eats. All y’can eat fer fi’ bucks. How long y’gonna be aroun’?”

“Until I finish my work,” the historian said crisply, bending over his book.

“If y’wanna shot-na-beer y’oughta try the Hotel Booze. Good burgers, too.”

“Thank you,” the man said in a tone of dismissal.

“I see y’be readin’ ‘bout them ol’ mines. M’grampaw got killed in a cave-in back in 1913. I weren’t born yit. Seen any ol’ mines?”

“No,” the man said, snapping his book shut and pushing his chair back.

“Nearest hereabouts be the Dimsdale. They got a diner there. Good place t’git a plate o’ beans ‘n’ franks.”

Clutching his black raincoat, the stranger walked rapidly to the stairway.

Pleased with the man’s exasperation and his own performance, Qwilleran straightened his hat, bundled up in his mackinaw, and went on his way. He knew by the man’s obvious lack of interest that he was not what he claimed to be.

At 5:30 Herb Hackpole arrived to pick up his dinner partner, parking in the side drive and tooting the horn. Mrs. Cobb scurried out the back door as excited as a young girl on her first date.

At 5:45 Qwilleran fed the cats. Pork liver cupcakes, when thawed, became a revolting gray mush, but the Siamese crouched over the plate and devoured the chefs innovation with tails flat on the floor, denoting total satisfaction. At 6:00 Polly Duncan arrived – on foot – having left her small six-year-old maroon car behind the library. If it were seen in the circular driveway of the K mansion, the gossips of Pickax would have a field day. Everyone knew what everyone else drove – make, model, year, and color.

Polly was not as young and slender as the career women he had dated Down Below, but she was an interesting woman with a voice that sometimes made his head spin, and she looked like a comfortable armful, although he had not tested his theory. The librarian maintained a certain reserve, despite her show of friendliness, and she always insisted on going home early.

He greeted her at the front door, a masterpiece of carving and polished brass. “Where’s the snow they promised?” he asked.

“Every day in November WPKX predicts snow as a matter of policy,” she said, “and sooner or later they’re right… This house never fails to overwhelm me!”

She was gazing in wonder at the foyer’s amber leather walls and grand staircase, extravagantly wide and elaborately balustered. The dazzling chandelier was Baccarat crystal. The rugs were Anatolian antiques. “This house doesn’t belong in Pickax; it belongs in Paris. It amazes me that the Klingenschoens owned such treasures and no one knew about it.”

“It was the Klingenschoens’ revenge – for not being accepted socially.” Qwilleran escorted her to the rear of the house. “We’re having dinner in the library, but Mrs. Cobb wants me to show you her mobile herb garden in the solarium.”

The stone-floored room had large glass areas, a forest of ancient rubber plants, and some wicker chairs for summer lounging; the winter addition was a wrought-iron cart with eight clay pots labeled mint, dill, thyme, basil, and the like.

“It can be wheeled around during the day to get the best sunlight,” he explained. “That is – if WPKX allows us to have any.”

Polly nodded approval. “Herbs like sun but not too much heat. Where did Mrs. Cobb find this clever contraption?”

“She designed it, and a friend of hers made it in his welding shop. Perhaps you know Hackpole, the used-car dealer.”

“Yes, his garage has just winterized my car. How do you like your new front-wheel drive, Qwill?”

“I’ll know better when snow flies.” In the library the lamps were lighted, logs were blazing in the fireplace, and the table was laid with a dazzling display of porcelain, crystal, and silver. The four walls of books were accented by marble busts of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare.

“Did the Klingenschoens read these books?” Polly asked.

“I think they were primarily for show, except for a few racy novels from the 1920s. In the attic I found boxes of paperback mysteries and romances.”

“At least someone was reading. There is still hope for the printed word.” She handed him a book with worn and faded cover. “Here’s something that might interest you – Picturesque Pickax, published by the Boosters Club before World War One. On the page with the bookmark there’s a picture of the Picayune building with employees standing on the sidewalk.”

Qwilleran found the photo of anxious-faced men with walrus moustaches, high collars, leather aprons, eyeshades, arm garters, and plastered hair parted in the middle. “They look as if they’re facing a firing squad,” he said. “Thanks. This will be useful.”

He poured an aperitif for his guest. Dry sherry was her choice; one glass was her limit. For himself he poured white grape juice.

“Votre santé!” he toasted, meeting her eyes.

“Santé!” she replied with a guarded gaze.

She was wearing the somber gray suit, white blouse, and maroon loafers that seemed to be her library uniform, but she had tried to perk it up with a paisley scarf. Fashion was not one of her pursuits, and her severe haircut was not in the latest style, but her voice… ! It was ever soft, gentle, and low, and she knew Shakespeare forward and backward.

After a moment of silence during which Qwilleran wondered what Polly was thinking, he said, “Do you remember that so-called historian in your reading room? He had a pile of books on old mining operations. I doubt that he’s telling the truth.”

“Why do you say that?”

“His relaxed posture. The way he held his book. He didn’t show a researcher’s avid thirst for information, and he wasn’t taking notes. He was reading idly to kill time.”

“Then who is he? Why should he disguise his identity?”

“I think he’s an investigator. Narcotics – FBI – something like that.”

Polly looked skeptical. “In Pickax?”

“I’m sure there are several skeletons in local closets, Polly, and most of the locals know all about them. You have some world-class gossips here.”

“I wouldn’t call them gossips,” she said defensively. “In small towns people share information. It’s a way of caring.”

Qwilleran raised a cynical eyebrow. “Well, the mysterious stranger had better complete his mission before snow flies, or he’ll be cluttering up your reading room until spring thaw… Another question. What will happen to the Picayune now that Senior’s gone? Any guesses?”

“It will probably die a quiet death – an idea that has outlived its time.”

“How well have you known Junior’s parents?”

“Only casually. Senior was a workaholic – an agreeable man, but not at all social. Gritty likes the country club life – golf, cards, dinner dances. I wanted her to serve on my board of trustees, but it was too dull for her taste.”

“Gritty? Is that Mrs. Goodwinter’s name?”

“Gertrude, actually, but there’s a certain clique here that clings to their adolescent nicknames: Muffy, Buffy, Bunky, Dodo. I must admit that Mrs. Goodwinter has an abundance of grit, for good or ill. She’s like her mother. Euphonia Gage is a spunky woman.”

A distant buzzer sounded, and Qwilleran lighted the candles, dropped a Fauré cassette in the player, and served dinner.

“You obviously know everyone in Pickax,” he remarked.

“For a newcomer I don’t do badly. I’ve been here only… twenty-five years.”

“I had a hunch you were from the East. New England?”

She nodded. “While I was in college I married a native of Pickax, and we came here to manage his family’s bookstore. Unfortunately it closed soon after that – when my husband was killed – but I didn’t want to go back east.”

“He must have been very young.”

“Very young. He was a volunteer fire fighter. I remember one dry windy day in August. Our bookstore was a block I from the fire hall, and when the siren sounded, my husband dashed from the store, Traffic stopped dead, and men came running from all directions – running hard, pounding the pavement, pumping their arms. The mechanic from the gas station, one of the young pastors, a bartender, the hardware man – all running as if their lives depended on it. Then cars and trucks with revolving lights pulled up and parked anywhere, and the drivers jumped out and ran to the fire hall. By that time the big doors were open, and the tanker and pumper were moving out, with men clinging to the trucks and putting on their gear.”

“You describe it vividly, Polly.”

Tears came to her eyes, “It was a barn fire, and he was killed by a falling timber.”

There was a long silence.

“That’s a sad story,” Qwilleran said.

“The fire fighters were so conscientious. When the siren sounded, they dropped everything and ran. In the middle of the night they’d wake from a sound sleep, pull on some clothes, and run. Yet they were criticized: arrived too late… not enough men… didn’t pump enough water… equipment broke down.” She sighed. “They tried so hard. They still do. They’re all volunteers, you know.”

“Junior Goodwinter is a volunteer,” Qwilleran said, “and his beeper is always sounding off in the middle of something… What did you do after that windy day in August?”

“I went to work at the library and found contentment here.”

“Pickax has a human scale that is – what shall I say? – comforting. Tranquilizing. But why are we all obsessed with the weather reports?”

“We’re close to the elements,” Polly said. “The weather affects everything: farming, lumbering, commercial fishing, outdoor sports. And we all drive long distances over country roads. There are no taxis we can call on a bad day.”

Mrs. Cobb had left the coffee maker plugged in and pots of chocolate mousse in the refrigerator, and the meal ended pleasantly.

“Where are the cats?” Polly asked.

“Shut up in the kitchen. Koko has been pulling books off the shelf. He thinks he’s a librarian. Yum Yum, on the other hand, is just a cat who chases her tail and steals paper clips and hides things under the rug. Every time my foot comes down on a bump in the rug, I wince. Is it my wristwatch? Or a mouse? Or my reading glasses? Or a crumpled envelope from the wastebasket?”

“What titles has Koko recommended?”

“He’s on a Shakespeare kick,” Qwilleran said. “It may have something to do with the pigskin bindings. Just before you arrived, he pushed A Midsummer Night’s Dream off the shelf.”

“That’s a coincidence,” Polly said. “I’m named after one of the characters. ” She paused and waited for him to guess.

“Hippolyta?”

“Correct! My father named all of us after characters in the plays. My brothers are Marc Antony and Brutus, and my poor sister Ophelia has had to endure bawdy remarks ever since the fifth grade… Why don’t you let the cats out? I’d like to see Koko in action.”

When they were released, Yum Yum walked daintily into the library, placing one paw in front of the other and looking for a vacant lap, but Koko flaunted his independence by delaying his entrance. It was not until Qwilleran and his guest heard a thlunk that they realized Koko was in the room. On the floor lay the thin volume of King Henry VIII.

Qwilleran said, “You have to admit he knows what he’s doing. There’s a gripping scene for a woman in the play – where the queen confronts the two cardinals.”

“It’s tremendous!” Polly said. “Katherine claims to be a poor weak woman but she blasts the two learned men. ‘Ye have angels’ faces, but heaven knows your hearts!’ Do you ever wonder about the true identity of Shakespeare, Qwill?”

“I’ve read that the plays may have been written by Jonson or Oxford.”

“I think Shakespeare was a woman. There are so many strong female roles and wonderful speeches for women.”

“And there are strong male roles and wonderful speeches for men,” he replied.

“Yes, but I contend that a woman can write strong male roles more successfully than a man can write good women’s roles.”

“Hmmm,” said Qwilleran politely.

Koko was now sitting tall on the desk, obviously waiting for something, and Qwilleran obliged by reading the prologue of the play. Then Polly gave a stirring reading of the queen’s confrontation scene.

“Yow!” said Koko.

“Now I must go,” she said, “before my landlord starts to worry.”

“Your landlord?”

“Mr. MacGregor is a nice old widower,” she explained. “I rent a cottage on his farm, and he thinks women shouldn’t go out alone at night. He sits up waiting for me to drive in.”

“Have you ever tried your Shakespeare theory on your landlord?” Qwilleran asked.

After Polly had said a gracious thank-you and a brisk good-night, Qwilleran questioned her excuse for leaving early. At least Koko had not ordered her out of the house, as he had done other female visitors in the past. That was a good sign.

Qwilleran was removing the dinner dishes and tidying the kitchen when Mrs. Cobb returned from her date, flushed and happy.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that, Mr. Q,” she said.

“No trouble at all. Thank you for a superb meal. How was your evening?”

“We went to the Old Stone Mill. The food is much better now. I had a gorgeous stuffed trout with wine sauce. Herb ordered steak Diane, but he didn’t like the sauce.”