pascal_curious | Chapter 26 : Your Secret is Safe with Me

I folded up dad’s letter with the money tucked inside and carefully slid it back into the envelope. I was determined that, when I finally did find my half sisters, they would get everything that my father had intended them to get. Every letter I had read thus far had “Return to Sender” scribbled on the front of the envelope. Even though dad must have been very hurt when every envelope had been returned unwanted, he persisted in writing to his daughters at least every month. Every letter contained money and my father’s never failing conviction that we all would be united as a family one day. There were over two hundred letters in the bundles. I felt a little guilty reading them as they were never meant for my eyes, but it was like reading a chronicle of our lives. Dad mostly wrote about us kids in his letters and very rarely about himself. I felt closer to him as I read them.

There was a knock at the door as I put the letter back into the bundle with the other letters I had read. Without waiting for me to come to the door, or even shout ‘come in’, Circe Beaker came into the house. She looked tired and harried.

“Have you seen Vidcund?” she asked anxiously.

“He went into work early,” I told her as I began putting letters away into their box. She gave me a funny look, as though she didn’t believe me. Unusual as it sounded, Vidcund had gone in to work early.

“He promised me he would help me look for Nervous this morning.”

“Something must have come up at work.”

Circe’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.

I wasn’t going to tell her that Vidcund had stumbled home at three o’clock that morning, drunken and disheveled. He had apparently walked the entire way home from the Corner Pub. At least he had the sense not to drive home in his condition. I also wasn’t going to tell her all the things he rambled on about before he went to work that morning. I wasn’t entirely sure that he was sober when the car pool had arrived to pick him up that morning.

Lazlo had taken me to pick up my Jeep at the pub that morning. On the way back, we stopped at the car wash to have it detailed. After hearing what had gone on in, and on, my Jeep the previous night, I wasn’t taking any chances. The only thing I wanted to smell in my Jeep was new car scented air freshener.

She turned to leave and opened the front door. She hesitated for a moment and came back into the room. I knew what she was going to ask.

“My car isn’t any good for getting around off road. Would you mind helping me look for Nervous in your Jeep, just for a little while?”

I sighed and closed the flaps on my cardboard box.

I was concerned for Nervous, but I really didn’t relish the idea of spending my morning off with Circe.

“I have to call and see if Amber can come over early to watch Andy,” I told her as I picked up my box from the coffee table.

“Oh, thank you Pascal, I am so worried about him. You don’t know how much I appreciate it.”

“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said. I took the box and went to my bedroom where I shoved it In the bottom of my wardrobe. I got the phone from the bedside table and made the necessary arrangements with Amber. It was going to be a few minutes until she could be over though.

“She will be over in about ten minutes,” I informed Circe as I returned to the living room.

“Thank goodness!”

“Do you want some coffee?” I asked. I was at a loss for what to do or to say to Circe. I thought that sipping coffee would cut back on time we would actually feel we had to speak since you can’t talk and drink at the same time. If only I had something to eat, like caramels.

“Thanks.”

I stood in the kitchen and quietly drank my coffee. Circe came to the Island and sat down. She wrapped her hands around the mug and watched the steam rising from it.

I watched her for a few minutes, grateful she didn’t the need to talk. She looked tired. She didn’t have her hair back in that severe hairstyle she usually wore. She had her bangs clipped back and the rest fell softly around her ears. The effect was quite pretty. I was suddenly reminded of one of the reasons I had such a crush on her in high school.

“Did Vidcund say anything to you about last night?” she asked, startling me from my reminiscing.

I wondered what she could possibly know about last night. Surely Vic wouldn’t have told her about his exploits. I decided to play it safe.

“Not really.”

“Oh,” she said quietly and went back to staring at her coffee. “We had a fight last night,” she explained. She didn’t look up from her mug.
That would at least explain Vidcund’s bender. It probably explained what had happened in my Jeep too, but I didn’t really want to have to think about that.

I knew that Vidcund was still hung up on Circe after all these years. I’m sure she knew that too, and that is what annoyed me. Vidcund and I were not really close, but it made me angry to see her toying with him the way she was.

“What do you want with him, Circe?” I bluntly asked her.

She looked up from her drink. Her expression was one of hurt and surprise. I had no regrets for the way I had said it. She studied me for a few seconds before answering me.

“I don’t know,” she said very quietly. She looked like she was about to cry.

“Maybe you should work on figuring that out,” I suggested.

I was prevented from saying anything further by the arrival of Amber.

“Hi,” she said cheerfully as she entered the room. “Is everything okay?” she asked once she noticed the oppressive gloom in the room.

“Nervous has gone missing,” I explained, glad of the opportunity to change the subject. “Circe and I are going to have a drive around and see if we can find him.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Circe.” Amber put a reassuring hand on Circe’s shoulder. Circe rose from her stool and allowed Amber to put her arms around her in a friendly hug.

“I hope he’s okay,” Amber said as she soothingly patted Circe’s back. I thought I heard a sniffle.

“I’m sure he is fine.” I said.

Amber gave me a look of ‘what do I do’ over Circe’s shoulder. I smiled at her and shrugged.

Circe stepped away from Amber and wiped her nose on the back of her hand.

“I really appreciate this,” she said, looking at Amber and then me. “I owe you both.”

I grabbed my keys from the coffee table.

“Andy is napping,” I told Amber. “We should be back before too long. We will probably find him camped out by the towers or something.”

“Good luck,” said Amber as we left.

Circe said nothing as she got into the Jeep. At least it would be a quiet ride, I thought.

I buckled myself in, started the car, and backed out of the driveway. Circe was still struggling with her seatbelt as we pulled away.

“What the?” I heard her grumble as she yanked the obstinate seat belt.

“Do you need some help?” I asked. “That one usually doesn’t stick. Maybe it needs some WD-40.”

She started shaking. I hit the brakes, thinking she was breaking into tears. After a few seconds I realized she was not sobbing, but laughing.

“Are you okay?” I asked tentatively.

From beside her, free from the seatbelt it had been tangled around, she pulled a black silk stocking with a blue lace garter at the top. She looked at me questioningly, barely able to control her mirth.