The Devil To Pay (Hennessey.) (28 page)

She had told Olivia that she would be all right, that it would look more suspicious if she went home, they might even follow her there and from what Olivia had told her about Glissando that was a possibility. She hadn’t told her that she was worried for her family. But the truth was she did not want to go home, she wanted to finish her tour, she wanted to fulfil her lifelong dream.

She looked around as she got out of the taxi. The cabins were placed in a small grove of trees on the edge of the woods; she was pleased that the cabin allocated to her was not as isolated as the other had been.

The other cabins were closer; although not so close that it would invade her privacy. There seemed to be more people around, a few couples older than her, were sitting out in the sunshine chatting. A family of two adults and two children, both boys, were just letting themselves into their cabin obviously having just returned from the beach, because they were carrying buckets and spades.

Adela smiled, she was looking forward to going to the beach, not that she liked sitting there all day, but she wouldn’t mind going for a swim in the sea, it been a long time since she had done that.

She smiled at the elderly couple sitting on their porch outside the cabin closest to her own, they smiled back and waved.

Opening the door she entered the cabin; she was pleased to note that it was much cooler inside. The layout was almost identical to the cabin in Alabama. She was sad for a moment as she thought of the cabin and the little town of Alban, Rose Hosewater and Jonas Lando.

She wondered what he was doing right at this moment. She didn’t know why she should think of him, she hardly knew him and the few times she had spoken to him he had been downright rude to her. But there had been something about him, something in his eyes, a bitter sadness that touched her heart somehow. She shook of these feelings impatiently and went to look at the kitchen. She opened the fridge and discovered as last time it was full of food, bread, milk, cheese, pasta, jam, all manner of things to keep her going for a few days.

She began to unpack her things and when she took out the awful brown hat, she had bought to replace the one she had given to Olivia an overwhelming sadness enveloped her and she sat down heavily on the bed. She recalled how Olivia had looked in it, those big brown eyes peeping up from under the large brim. But she knew it wasn’t just the hat. She knew that from now on and for the rest of her life she would think about her and wonder whether she had found that job she was so enthusiastic about. Whether she was married and had children, one called Adela. Whether she was happy. She had only known Olivia for two and a half days, but knew that she would never forget her.

She felt suddenly very tired; these last few days had been very tiring and stressful which had led to sleepless nights. She kicked off her shoes, lay down on the bed and very soon was sound asleep. She dreamed of aeroplanes and a taxi driver wearing a big hat and speaking German.

When she awoke an hour later she felt very refreshed…and hungry. She showered and changed then made herself beans on toast. After she'd eaten she remembered that she had not called David and Sally for almost three days, she reached for her phone and realised it was dead. That's what you get she thought, for only just coming into the techno age, you forgot that these things needed an energy supply every now and again. She plugged the phone into the charger, put on her sunglasses and went outside.

There were less people, about now, just the elderly couple still sitting on chairs outside their cabin. She went over and introduced herself.

They were very friendly. Adela hoped they would not be
too
friendly, then felt awful. She felt safer with them here but at the same time she did not want them invading her privacy, her space, as her brother Daniel would have said. She felt as though she was using them somehow.

Their names were Connie and Cliff Young and they were from Maine. Adela asked them about Maine and said it sounded very nice indeed and she would certainly try to get there on her next trip. She told them about her tour of the southern states, they said that she was very brave to be doing this alone and if they could do anything for her while she was here she was to let them know at once.

She thanked them then said she was going to go for a walk, they told her to be careful and she showed them her alarm thingy. (Which she
had
recharged not wanting to be caught out again.) They laughed and said they would keep an ear out for it, Adela said it was so loud they wouldn’t be able to do anything else. They laughed and Adela reassured said goodbye and went for her walk. She strolled into town and caught a shop, very much like Rose Hosewater’s in Alban only much bigger, just closing its doors. She asked if she could possibly have some chocolate and sweets. The owner, who Adela discovered was called Annie Bloom, laughed heartily and called over her employee Iris Johnson to come listen to the lady’s accent.

They made her say sweets several times and then asked could she possibly say tomatoes. She did and they laughed again even more heartily. Adela did not take offence at their laughter; they meant no disrespect to her she knew that. They both told her to come back very soon when the shop was full so she could meet some more residents of Eden.

She said she would, and leaving them laughing she made her way down the street, taking in her surroundings as she did so. There were several café’s, two bars, food and clothes shops, and to her great pleasure, a bookshop. Unfortunately it was closed but the notice on the door said it opened at 8.00am, Monday to Saturday, today was Sunday so they would be open tomorrow. Oh she would enjoy browsing around in there tomorrow that was for sure.

She strolled along smiling at people, saying hello to some as they closed their shops or walked along the narrow pavements heading home or maybe to the bar for a quick drink. People smiled back and said hello in some surprise at her accent.  She was feeling very much at home already. She felt so much better now, although she knew she would continue to think about Olivia, particularly while she was in this country. Nevertheless she intended to enjoy the rest of her vacation.

By the time she had finished her exploration she was tired again so headed home to eat her chocolate bars and finish of the novel she had begun the day she had met Olivia.

Then she got ready for bed, but sleep eluded her for a long time, which was not really surprising considering everything that had happened. She lay there staring at the ceiling well into the night and only eventually dropped off through sheer exhaustion.

                                                       **********

In the morning Adela rose early to a beautiful warm day although it did not seem quite as hot here as in Alabama, or maybe she was just getting used to the heat now.

Despite the lack of sleep she felt surprisingly refreshed and optimistic. She showered and ate breakfast then went outside. She had decided she would visit the town again, maybe call in at Annie Bloom’s shop and give them all a laugh again.

Then she would explore the woods that surrounded the cabins, but she would not go far and she would make sure there were others around. She would not venture into places alone, not just yet anyway, not until she was sure in her mind that the two men would not come looking for her. But she felt safe here, she was surrounded by people, and the town was only two or three hundred yards, the cabin was alarmed and she had her phone and alarm thingy.

She stepped out into the sunshine, the first thing she would do is buy a hat, she would definitely need one. She made her way into the town again first stopping off at the book shop she had found the day before; it was almost 9.30 so the shop was open. A man was standing on a ladder which had wheels on the bottom so he could move around the shelves without climbing down.

She said, ‘good morning.’

He turned around and she noticed that he was about forty five, with brown hair just beginning to grey at the temples. Through his spectacles she could see his eyes were a pale blue. He was wearing that surprised look which almost everyone she had met wore the first time she spoke to them. He said, ‘good morning, ma’am.’ He climbed down from the ladder and removed his spectacles, ‘is there something I can help you with in particular today?’

Up close he was bigger than first appeared maybe six feet and very well built, he obviously worked out, his muscles stretched the fabric of his shirt. She smiled at him, ‘well, I’m fond of crime.’

He looked bewildered. She smiled and added, ‘I mean I like crime
novels
.’

He grinned, ‘well I didn’t think a nice lady like you would be into crime, novels or otherwise.’

She laughed, ‘maybe I’m not as nice you think.’

He laughed loud and heartily then asked the inevitable questions, what she was doing here, where she was staying etcetera.

As he showed her around he told her his name was Dean Maxwell and she told him her name. He and pointed out his best crime novels, surprisingly he had a very good selection for such a small shop. Michael Connolly, Robert Crais, Sam Smith, all of her favourites. She told him she had found heaven and he laughed that big laugh again.

He asked if she had read any Charles Dickens and she said, ‘is he a cop or a private investigator?’

He looked at her for a moment obviously trying to figure out whether she was serious. The big grin that appeared on her face gave him the answer and he burst out laughing.

He showed her into the back of the shop where several tables and chairs, a sofa and half a dozen bean bag seats where laid out.

He told her this was a place where people could come to read or chat and drink coffee…or tea; he smiled pointedly when he said that.

She said she had seen these kinds of bookshops on the T.V but never in real life; there were certainly none in her home town. He told her that she would be very welcome to come here any time she wanted too. She said she would love a cup of tea now if it was not too much trouble. He told her that it was most certainly no trouble and bid her sit while he prepared it for her. She smiled to herself at the word prepare, he made it sound as if he was going to go through a ritual, like the Japanese tea ceremony.

She sat and looked through some of the books that were left on the coffee tables until he came back with the tea. He watched her intently and expectantly as she sipped it waiting and hoping she knew for her approval. She told him that it was an excellent cup of tea.

He beamed and said coming from a real English lady that was a compliment indeed. She had not needed to lie; it was indeed a very nice cup of tea.

He said, ‘oh, I have something you might be interested in.’ He went to the front of the shop and pulled down a book from the travel section.

He handed it to her saying, ‘that is a history of Mississippi, with lots of interesting and amusing stories. It also has an extensive list of places to visit, things to do, places you really should avoid. There are also maps of how to get there and how best to travel.’

She was very interested in this and told him so, he was delighted.

Just then the doorbell sounded indicating someone had come into the shop; he excused himself it seemed to Adela with reluctance.

She sat and sipped her tea and looked through the book he had given to her. It was indeed very interesting and informative.

He came back about ten minutes later, ’some people expect you to give away your stock, they don’t seem to know the difference between something you can pick up at any large bookstore, and rare.’

Adela agreed, ‘I suppose people think they can get whatever they want to read at a library, so not many bother to buy books these days.’

‘That’s true…unfortunately for me.’

She laughed, ‘well, you have a buyer here; I’ll take this very interesting book on Mississippi, these three crime novels and the Oscar Wilde.’

He made no attempt to hide his pleasure; he obviously did not get such a big sale everyday.

She paid cash for the books, which surprised him. She told him that she had drawn out too much money from the ATM and now wanted to get rid of some of it; she did not like to carry a lot of cash around with her. He understood.

In truth she had a lot of the money she had drawn out for Olivia. She had given her 8,000 in dollars and Euros. She had also paid for the taxi, her own train fare and the motel with some of it, so now she was stuck with the rest until she could get to the bank and put it back in. She did not want to admit to herself that she was still nervous about using her credit card, but if someone was tracking it, therefore her, they would wonder why she wasn’t using it, that she had something to hide. Talk about second guessing. Talk about being paranoid.

She put these thoughts from her mind as she said goodbye to Dean Maxwell and exited the shop. She had had a nice morning chatting and reading and talking about books. It was an excellent start to her stay in Mississippi.

She strolled down the street until she found the shop owned by Annie Bloom. She needed to get a hat pretty quickly as the sun was burning “fierce like,” as the waitress, Jill had said.

She was smiling as she entered the shop. Annie bloom almost screamed from the other end of the shop, ‘here she is, here’s the English lady.’