The Fire Night Ball (17 page)

“Are you feeling any better?”

“I feel fine. Truly I do.”

“Then you may go.”

“I’ll see my way out.”

“Oh, Marlena.”

“Yes?”

“Harry and I have agreed to go cold turkey on the extra-curricular activities over the holidays. I’d appreciate it if you’d back off while we give peace a chance."

Lila smiled at her rival's numb look. "However, don't despair. Between us girls, I'm looking for a way out of this rock-pile without losing everything I put into it, which is a lot. Harry is better at taking than at giving. It will take some doing for me to get rid of him. He's no prince charming, hon, but if you want him that bad, well, maybe we can work something out between the two of us. Capiche?”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Drake.”

“Good luck, kid. Alexander will see you to the door.”

She pulled a silk cord at the side of the room, and a few moments later, Alexander appeared and escorted Marlena out.

Once she was alone, Lila paced up and down, going over in her head every detail of what had just happened. Finally, she picked up the house phone on the wall.

“Alexander, what’s the name of that woman who applied for the housekeeping position here, the one who used Dr. Huddleston's office as a reference? She cleans there. Oh yes, Rosa Brown. Find her phone number, will you, in my rolodex. Then get her on the phone for me. Wait, Alex. Let’s do it this way. Tell her you think there’s a job in it for her, if she’s willing to do me a small favor. If she goes for it, then put her on the line with me. I’ll take it from there. Got it? Good.”

Five minutes later, Alexander appeared at the door.

“Rosa Brown’s on the line, ma’am, and completely at your thervith.”

The one who gets to the lawyer first in a divorce usually wins. Based on her past exploits, Harry could probably discard her and take her money. That would be if the circumstances were normal.

But if what she suspected proved to be true, that he'd managed to knock up Marlena Bellum, then truly, the circumstances were anything but normal. Tagged with an illegitimate baby, Harry couldn't play the righteous husband in a divorce court. She might have old Harry over a barrel, thanks to the redheaded kid!

However, all in all, she’d kind of liked the kid. Imagine, showing up in a wig and pretending to be one of Harry’s Injun employees! She'd be a lot of fun to hang around with in this dullsville. Too bad she couldn’t see more of her.

After her humiliating, confusing ordeal, Marlena was so numb she could hardly feel her fingers as she gripped the wheel.

What had just happened in there? Was Lila in denial, or was Lila in the driver's seat?

And what was up with that pull of attraction she'd felt for Lila?

Lila's resemblance to the beautiful woman in the painting had been dazzling, knocking her for a loop, and then, when Lila laughed, she'd sounded just like June.

Tinkling
laughter, tickling fingers, and soft cunts.

It was difficult to think of Harry in the same resplendent light after looking at him through the lens of his wife’s poor opinion. Lila didn’t even respect Harry as much as Marlena did Coddie!

Clearly, in Lila’s eyes, their divorce would be a pole cat fight over status and real estate. Gross! And then it hit her. If Lila managed to find out about the illicit pregnancy, she’d take Harry for everything.

No more secret dallying for the sake of a pipedream. For Harry's sake, she must end the pregnancy quickly, before Lila figured it out. Chloe and Dr. Ron would know where to go and what to do. That was the new plan, and they’d be her support team going forward.

When Marlena got to Mill’s Creek, she found a team of local men finishing work on the antique mill wheel by the pond, making it operational for the Fire Night Ball. Marlena brought out cookies and cider, hoping the activity would lighten the gloom in her soul.

“What more needs to be done?” she asked the foreman.

“Pump needs to be primed. Hey, you over there, hold this rope for me, will you? We had a time getting the rope out of the pond; it fell in and got tangled up on the bottom. It's attached to the fly wheel under the housing. Hey, you, hold this rope so the wheel don’t move!”

“I’ll hold the rope,” she said. “They’re busy.”

He shrugged. “You’re the boss. Just don’t let go.”

Holding the rope didn't require any exertion, but after a minute, beads of sweat began forming on her forehead; she felt as though she were about to vomit. The queasiness made her weak in the knees, and she felt her grip on the rope slipping.

“Over here!” she called out. “Help me, please."

No one heard her, and the mill wheel was slowly beginning to turn as her fingers were weakening and slipping off the rope that was holding it still. Just then a young man in leather chaps came out of nowhere at a run. He grabbed the rope from her and twisted it around his own hand, stopping the motion of the wheel.

“You seem always to be saving me,” she said to Apollo, who blushed in response.

The wave of nausea had passed, but she remained standing there for some time, staring into the water.

Was this the end for her and Harry?
Was she at the end of her rope?

On her way into the house, she was stopped by Chloe, who noted her drawn face and vacant eyes with concern.

"Getting some exercise out of doors, dear?"

Several times she'd noticed Marlena standing by the pond, staring into the dark waters as if mesmerized by an image below.

"I was holding a rope for the foreman. I almost got pulled into the water."

Omigod. The very thing that had happened to Cassandra, as she clung to a rope over her grandfather's well and flirted with Nicholas Brighton! There was that odd feeling again, as though a ghost was hovering and directing her actions. Mustn't tell Chloe, though. It would worry her.

"Are you all right?" Chloe gently examined Marlena's scraped hands.

"That pond has deep, still waters," muttered Marlena. "Perfect for a watery grave."

Then she shook her head, seemingly coming out of a trance. "I'm fine. Got to go wash some windows," she said brightly, "before Annie beats me to it."

Alarmed, Chloe searched Marlena's face. She seemed unaware she'd spoken of the pond being a grave.

Marlena abruptly excused herself and went up to her room. However, she was dragging her feet. She was thoroughly disheartened about her prospects for happiness.

After washing the windows and before retiring for the day, she put a sign on her door: “No Molestar Marlena.”

Annie tiptoed in at seven o’clock and put a tray of food on the table by her bed, but it remained untouched.

During the evening, the phone rang five times. Four times Annie answered: “Mill’s Creek. Merry Christmas.” They were hang-ups. Coddie, on the other end of the line, was too drunk to speak.

The fifth call Chloe answered, as Annie was in bed. Dr. Ron said he was calling to check on his patient. Chloe confided her worry about Marlena's state of mind, and Ron said he would make it a point to stop by in the morning.

"Please do," Chloe said. She'd noticed the mention of his name brought Marlena out of the doldrums.

After falling asleep, Marlena dreamed she was on a voyage in the Mediterranean with an older man. At times he seemed to be Harry and at other times her father, but the man’s most disturbing trait was his dark dead eyes.

To escape him, she dove in and set off swimming toward an inviting pink beach, but slightly offshore, she began to falter. There was a small wooden boat coming toward her, and the man at the helm had eyes the same shade as hers. She floundered and began to drown.

Her throat convulsing, she struggled desperately to awaken herself. Then she bolted upright in bed, gasping; her hand was at her throat, her heart wildly pounding.

This sleep apnea is getting worse, she thought. It's so terrifying, it could literally frighten a person to death.

On the other hand, she thought drowsily, death would be the ultimate escape from defeat and despair.

December 23, 1977

Faith wasted no time in calling her old doctor friend in Parma first thing in the morning. When she read aloud the contents and strengths of the big brown pills, he readily recognized Faith’s daughter was taking vitamins prescribed for pregnant women.

“Congratulations. You’re a babcia," said the Polish doctor.

“Thank you,” said Faith doubtfully. "What's that?"

“A grand-mama. Was there anything else?”

“That’s plenty.”

She felt panicked by this new development. If Marlena’s heart was hardened toward the Church, as it appeared to be from their earlier conversation, getting her to see a priest in this crisis didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell.

The only help close at hand was Chloe, who’d probably cured worse cases of head problems than Marlena’s.

Not being one to delay for a minute the execution of a difficult resolve, Faith marched into Chloe’s study.

“Knock, knock. You busy?”

Chloe promptly set aside the white paper she was working on for an upcoming symposium in Los Angeles.

“Never too busy for you, dear. What’s on your mind?”

“Marlena, of course. Do we ever talk about anything else?”

Chloe laughed. “It takes a village to raise one like that.”

“Well, now she’s gone and done it. She's produced something the village will never let us live down.”

When she told Chloe that Marlena was pregnant and how she knew, Chloe repressed a smile. She was amused by how Faith had managed to uncover Marlena’s secret. It wasn’t news to her, as Dr. Ron had called her in as a confidential adviser

“Dear, the C.I.A. could use you to unearth the secrets of foreign nations.”

“This is no laughing matter, Chloe. And speaking of unearthing secrets, now I’m going to tell you something I meant to carry to my grave.”

Faith blurted it out rapidly: “I know all about the affair between you and Austin in San Diego, before he and I got engaged.”

Chloe’s face was a cipher, unreadable, the face she was trained to present, no matter what.

“I know you two got pregnant and that you had an abortion, and that’s why you’ve never had any children. There, I’ve said it. I'm sorry, but I had to because of Marlena's pregnancy.” She took another big breath that came out like a hiccup.

Chloe reached a hand across her desk toward Faith, who remained stiffly immobile.

“My God, Faith, how awful for you to have carried that knowledge alone for all these years. I wish you’d come to me decades ago. It wasn’t an affair, only a single incident, the result of a lot of drinking and our sleeping it off in my car. It just happened.”

“So, water over the dam for you, I suppose. What’s to be done to prevent Marlena from getting rid of her baby and losing her immortal soul? I’ve come to ask if you will tell her the abortion part of your story, so she won't be tempted in that direction."

With difficulty, Chloe maintained her composure. Not even her mother had known about the abortion; it was the only event in her life she’d kept a secret, for fear Cassandra would connect it to the curse she believed was hovering over them. Based on Faith’s behavior toward her over the years, she supposed she should have suspected that Faith knew. She struggled in the deepest part of her consciousness to come up with a positive slant
.

Now that closed door was open, good consequences might yet come of the past's most terrible episode.

“I thought of the same strategy, Faith. I freely admit I’ve hung back partly because of my own cowardice. I was also afraid of confusing or distracting Marlena. But if she asks me about an abortion, I won't hesitate to tell her of my horrendous experience, if that’s what you're asking of me."

“We're in agreement then.”

“No, I don’t believe we are. An abortive procedure is much safer than childbirth. Given her circumstances, it’s probably the right thing for Marlena to do. If she arrives at that decision, I’ll support her, unreservedly. I'll even go with her.”

“You couldn't! Not after what happened to you!”

“What happened to me was an accidental pregnancy followed by medical malpractice. A simple procedure that should have been my right was available only by dark of night and at an insane risk. Thankfully, women don’t face that terrible choice anymore.”

“Lena will lose her immortal soul if she kills that child. How can anything be more terrible than that?”

“It’s a fetus, Faith, not a viable being, medically speaking. There’s no killing involved in scraping a few cells away. D& C’s are done every day.”

Faith shook her head in dismay. “You make it sound like removing a hang-nail."

"Medically, perhaps. Emotionally and morally, there are deep conflicting feelings around abortion. Marlena is entitled to her view."

"God views it as a soul. It belongs to Him.”

“And from where I sit, Marlena’s body belongs to her, and she has a legal and moral right to terminate a pregnancy. Nothing good can come from bringing an unwanted child into the world, Faith. After decades of counseling people in that fix, I’ll vouch for that, even if it means you and I can’t agree.”

“So, you'll stand by and watch my daughter's immortal soul go to hell and my grandchild's to limbo?”

Chloe sighed.

“Faith, you’ll just have to trust me. Marlena has come a long way, though she doesn't yet know it. She'll make the right choice."

"How do you know?"

"She connected in a profound way with my morality tale last night. She learned about how a selfish adventuress can redeem herself, how a frightful, tragic tale can have a happy ending. I’m hoping she’ll follow Cassandra’s example and turn her life around.”

“Ha! Nothing good can ever come of that woman's life, Chloe. I'm sorry to say it, as she was your mother. But she brought disrespect onto the family and a vindictive curse, one that promised to haunt her descendants.”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree on Cassandra's influence on the situation, Faith. Was there anything else?”

"No, thank you!"

Faith stomped off to her room and her rosary beads.

Afterward, Chloe meditated on an irony. Acting sensibly on everyone’s behalf, she had aborted her pregnancy at risk to herself and was left with nothing. Her cousin had delivered a child she didn’t want only because of her fear of God, and now she had a brilliant daughter she cared deeply for.

On that self-pitying note, thought Chloe, I might need to see a psychiatrist or priest myself, before this is all sorted out.