Chapter Ten
"Mimi have you seen my purse around?" Sarah asked.
She wiped a hand over her brow, pushing one strand of brunette hair back under
the blue bandanna she had tied around her head. Mimi paused at the door, kicking it
closed with one foot as she shrugged and lugged the half dozen plastic bags into the
kitchen. Sarah sighed deeply as she leaned against the vacuum cleaner and glanced over
her shoulder.
"I haven't dear," Mimi called from just beyond the swinging door to the kitchen.
"Figures," Sarah muttered, scratching the back of her neck as she walked the
length of the cord to the wall and jerked it out of the electric socket. There was enough
carpeting in the big old farmhouse to occupy five maids over the extent of one Saturday.
Sarah satisfied herself with the living room, as she rolled the cord back on itself.
"I did meet someone who knew you downtown, though," Mimi mentioned,
walking into the recently cleaned living room as she wiped her wet hands on a dishtowel.
Sarah lifted her head briefly in acknowledgment and then clipped the black plug
against the vacuum handle. She lugged the vacuum, by the rubber grip, into the large
closet under the stairs.
"He said he had something of yours...," Mimi trailed off as she removed her heavy
snow coat and opened the large wardrobe just inside the front door. Sarah, her attention
gained, approached Mimi as she wiped her hands across her worn blue jeans.
"He?" Sarah quirked a grin across her face as she leaned nearer to her aunt, "And
who might this mysterious man be?"
Mimi looked longly at her niece and then ran a hand over the bandanna. "Where's
Toby?" she inquired, changing the subject with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Sarah
simply smiled broader and mocked frustration as she followed Mimi like a lost puppy.
"Mimi!" Sarah began and found her aunt gracing her with a look that was nothing
more then pure innocence. Sarah threw her hands up as she fell on to the aged sofa and
then leaned back briefly, resting her legs on the footstool. "Went to Billy's."
Mimi nodded. "He'll be home for dinner?" she asked and met Sarah's nod half
way through. For a moment Sarah laid silently, looking up at the highly arched ceilings.
Then, glanced longly at her aunt who came over to sit next to her on the sofa. "He was
quite a handsome man."
Sarah closed her eyes as she laughed, "Oh, well that narrows it down," Sarah
righted herself and leaned in nearer to Mimi, "Come on, Mimi, who was it? The little boy
from the market? One of your neighbor's sons?"
The light from the sun between the clouds kissed Sarah's nose and made her tan
complexion seem almost golden. She had grown so much, and was so beautiful in a
ripped sweatshirt and faded denims. A smudges of dirt slipped across one cheek bone and
lifted just below her eye as Sarah let another comfortable smile open across her face,
showing straight lines of pearly white teeth.
"No," Mimi paused again as she straightened the magazines on the coffeetable,
"The man from the bookstore."
"Gabriel!" Sarah gasped out.
Mimi nodded, perplexed with Sarah's reaction. Suddenly the young woman's
golden hue was paled and gray. Sarah wrapped her arms around herself as she leaned
back in the sofa and looked towards the window. The bit of sunshine that had entered the
home was hidden behind thick clouds, and flecks of white had begun to varnish the
outdoors once more.
"He was a perfect gentleman. Don't tell me, Sarah that.... Brian...," Mimi paused
a moment.
The mention of her husband's name immediately struck a cold steel rod of terror
into Sarah's chest. She rose and, trembling just enough to understand that she hadn't
quite gotten control of her life, shook her head vehemently. "No! I never want to see him
again! But... you don't understand Mimi," Sarah relented.
"Oh, I don't?"
Sarah rolled her head backwards as she walked briskly away from the living room,
and into the kitchen. It was chilly inside, and Sarah quickly noticed one window standing
wide open, letting little flakes of snow dance down and into the sink. Sarah remedied the
situation, and as she turned noticed Mimi standing solemnly in the doorway.
"It's not that he isn't breathtaking, but...," Sarah shrugged once more, standing
with her hands splayed across the stainless steel of the sink basin. She leaned her weight
against it, listening to the soft touch of heavy snow on the tree branches just beyond the
window.
"I asked him over," Mimi explained quickly and then offered Sarah something that
wasn't quite an apologetic smile but not quite a smirk either. It seemed as if she were
saying I know what's right for you now, and I wouldn't hurt you, but you have to be
brave.
"MIMI!" Sarah exclaimed, her voice waving into a whimper. But, if she was so
upset, Sarah wondered, then why was it that she felt almost giddy and in need of some
desperate primping.
Her internal conflict was enough to make her sick with anticipation.
"Well if you don't want him over here then I suppose I could go back to town
tomorrow and call it all off," Mimi offered, opening the refrigerator to take out one full,
ripe orange and spin it briefly in her hand before she began to work on getting the rind
completely off.
"No... I mean, if you already invited him we shouldn't seem rude," Sarah paused,
biting her thumbnail as she moved away from the sink and over to her aunt's side, "Should
we?"
Mimi reached out with her free hand and snatched the bandanna from Sarah's head
so that it fell around her neck. Her thick hair poured out, tumbling across her shoulders
and her back. Sarah smiled again, but couldn't help the apprehension that bubbled inside
as Mimi began working on the orange again.
"You'll be fine. And Toby and I'll be here, Sarah," Mimi explained with a slight
twinkle in one eye.
"I suppose I will. Thank you," Sarah commented as she moved in and let Mimi
hug her tightly, holding the orange out so as not to let the juice slip on to Sarah's
sweatshirt.
"Anything for you, Sarah," Mimi said gently and then rushed Sarah out of the
embrace. She set the orange down and then gripped Sarah's hands briefly. "Tomorrow
night.... I'll make a big dinner and you can get Toby out of school so he can make himself
presentable. It'll be perfect, baby."
Sarah nodded and then, shivered again. She looked behind herself and cocked her
head. "I coulda sworn..." she began as she walked away from Mimi and stared longly at
the open window. Shrugging, Sarah shut it again and then, smiling, rushed out of the
kitchen.
* * * * *
"He's supposed to be here at eight? He must have gotten behind a slow driver...
or maybe he just got caught at the store late.... you think?" Sarah asked anxiously as she
paused in her pacing and peered longly out the window into the darkest night she had yet
seen. It was a new moon outside, and everything was shrouded in a thick ice fog.
"Sarah, your making the chicken nervous," Mimi commented, gesturing into the
kitchen where a warm scent of roasted chicken wafted lazily. Sarah smiled nervously,
then, clutching her hands tightly, walked back to the sofa.
Toby fidgeted in the recliner, as he set the remote control down and looked at his
sister, then his aunt, and towards the door. "He'll be here," he suggested with a smile, and
Sarah only briefly acknowledged him.
"I don't think this was a good idea," Sarah relented.
Mimi reached out and stroked Sarah's mane of chestnut hair. It was soft along her
back, and drifted like a liquid on the pool of her silky wine-colored dress shirt. Her black
pants were sticking uncomfortably to her skin and Sarah rose back up, averting herself
from Mimi's calming attempts.
"Sarah...," Mimi began, and then the doorbell rang and everyone inside the
farmhouse became suddenly silent.
Sarah ran her hands over her pants, smoothing the ironed-in-crease futilely as she
reached out to touch the doorknob. Beneath her hand the door seemed to thrum, as if a
great energy had suddenly made the wood electrical. Sarah moved her hand back just
slightly and then, blowing a piece of hair out from in front of her eyes, jerked the door
open widely.
"Gabriel, I'm glad you could come," Sarah said, but found her words rushed in one
breath that was exhaled sharply upon her seeing him. Somehow it was easier to imagine
him as nothing more than a "guy" when he wasn't standing at the threshold to her aunt's
farmhouse. There was something about him that just couldn't look normal.
But then, who needed normalcy?
"Sarah," his voice purred as he waited outside, the snow lilting on the black
umbrella he held in one gloved hand. Black leather gloves that were obviously expensive,
but made Sarah shake with things she had not wanted to think about.
Mimi rose from the sofa, ready to pull her niece back, to let their guest inside.
But, realizing that she was blocking him, Sarah moved back, her face flushed. Gabriel's
smile was touching, as Mimi looked at the handsome young man, but made ice crust
around Sarah's spine as he passed her by.
"Mimi," Gabriel began as he set his umbrella carefully in the entryway, "Your an
angel for asking me here. And Sarah," he turned to acknowledge her still standing by the
half-open door, "you look enchanting."
"Thank you. Here, we have dinner all ready," Sarah stated calmly, as she gestured
into the kitchen.
Gabriel followed, his eyes watching her figure moving supply beneath the soft
fabrics she wore. She squared her shoulders, perhaps feeling his eyes, and immediately he
turned to acknowledge the boy... Toby. Gabriel glanced down at him and the pre-teen,
stunned in silence, watched the man watching him.
"Your him," Toby whispered, once Mimi and Sarah were safely into the kitchen.
Gabriel looked slowly towards the kitchen and then, his smile simply feral, kneeled
down next to Toby. He reached out, and snagged the boy's chin in his long, slender
fingers. The smooth-finished leather caressed Toby's skin, but the pressure bit against his
chin harshly. He gasped as he tried to move back from Gabriel.
For a moment, as Toby stared in complete shock, Gabriel's eyes flashed and there
was something so much more than just a casual bookstore owner standing before him that
he had to swallow his screams. Then, removing his hands as carefully as he had first
checked for Sarah, Gabriel moved in to whisper into Toby's ears.
"Go to sleep, little boy."
For a moment Toby seemed perplexed, but then he turned and looked longly at the
pine-finished stairs. His legs moved, but with such effort that he was sure he would fall
asleep right in the middle of going to his room. Strange, for it being so early in the
evening. "Perhaps your feeling ill..." Gabriel offered from the living room as he tugged
absently on one glove.
"Yeah," Toby confirmed.
He did feel ill. His face was glowing with sweat and his body shivered with chills.
In fact, he didn't feel like he could eat if he had wanted to. Maybe he wouldn't go to
school tomorrow. Toby didn't look downstairs again, but Gabriel could see his face grow
paler as the boy made his way to his room. Cut out the extraneous subjects.
"Gabriel?" Sarah appeared in the doorway, her face shining with youthful
brightness. She placed her hands on her hips as she realized that her little brother was
missing from the room. "What's taking you so long, do you want the food cold. And
where'd Toby go? Gonna show you something?"
Gabriel moved towards and around Sarah, all the while letting his eyes rest
comfortably on her lovely face. She felt awkward, he knew. She was squirming and
trying her hardest to remain the poised woman she had become. And he saw her strength,
beneath it all. That which she hadn't realized she had had all along. An inner strength that
was so much more powerful than anyone else... else she would have fallen into her
psychosis long ago.
Definitely would have fallen to him those eleven years ago.
"He was sick," Gabriel said shortly as he reached out and ran one finger down the
side of her face.
Sarah merely laughed and stepped back. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'll let
Mimi know about Toby," Sarah relented, glancing once towards the stairs. If it hadn't
been for Gabriel she'd be up there with her brother. God knew how much he'd helped her
over the past few weeks.
"Perhaps she should check on him, he seemed very ill," Gabriel urged as they
entered the kitchen.
Mimi lifted her head when they entered, her maternal instincts automatically cueing
into the mention of "very ill." "Who's sick?" she inquired, lifting her body from the chair
she had taken earlier and looked at her niece carefully. Sarah felt her unease rumble and
boil higher at the thought of sending Mimi from the room. But then, Toby didn't lie.
Besides, Gabriel was harmless.
"Toby. Mimi, could you tell him I'll be up to see him later tonight?" Sarah asked,
concern overpowering the worry she had with the "date" that had already begun to trickle
into the realms of disaster. Sarah shrugged it off as she watched Gabriel sit gracefully at
the large table. The heaps of food were overwhelming.
"Oh dear," Mimi pushed her chair in thoughtfully and then turned to Gabriel, "I'll
be back to check on you two. Excuse me." She smiled knowingly at Sarah, and Sarah
could only roll her eyes.
And then she was alone with Gabriel, with only the sound of the clock ticking in
the far corner of the kitchen, and the constant whir of the motor in the refrigerator. Sarah
snatched a pot holder in one hand, took the thick glass cover off from the chicken and
then set it aside.
"Help yourself," Sarah offered, trying to remember her days as hostess when she
had lived with Brian.
"Oh, I will," Gabriel whispered, as he took the butcher knife into hand and sunk it
cleanly into the chicken's breast, trailing his eyes on Sarah's a moment too long.
Outside the snow began to fall heavier.
"Mimi have you seen my purse around?" Sarah asked.
She wiped a hand over her brow, pushing one strand of brunette hair back under
the blue bandanna she had tied around her head. Mimi paused at the door, kicking it
closed with one foot as she shrugged and lugged the half dozen plastic bags into the
kitchen. Sarah sighed deeply as she leaned against the vacuum cleaner and glanced over
her shoulder.
"I haven't dear," Mimi called from just beyond the swinging door to the kitchen.
"Figures," Sarah muttered, scratching the back of her neck as she walked the
length of the cord to the wall and jerked it out of the electric socket. There was enough
carpeting in the big old farmhouse to occupy five maids over the extent of one Saturday.
Sarah satisfied herself with the living room, as she rolled the cord back on itself.
"I did meet someone who knew you downtown, though," Mimi mentioned,
walking into the recently cleaned living room as she wiped her wet hands on a dishtowel.
Sarah lifted her head briefly in acknowledgment and then clipped the black plug
against the vacuum handle. She lugged the vacuum, by the rubber grip, into the large
closet under the stairs.
"He said he had something of yours...," Mimi trailed off as she removed her heavy
snow coat and opened the large wardrobe just inside the front door. Sarah, her attention
gained, approached Mimi as she wiped her hands across her worn blue jeans.
"He?" Sarah quirked a grin across her face as she leaned nearer to her aunt, "And
who might this mysterious man be?"
Mimi looked longly at her niece and then ran a hand over the bandanna. "Where's
Toby?" she inquired, changing the subject with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Sarah
simply smiled broader and mocked frustration as she followed Mimi like a lost puppy.
"Mimi!" Sarah began and found her aunt gracing her with a look that was nothing
more then pure innocence. Sarah threw her hands up as she fell on to the aged sofa and
then leaned back briefly, resting her legs on the footstool. "Went to Billy's."
Mimi nodded. "He'll be home for dinner?" she asked and met Sarah's nod half
way through. For a moment Sarah laid silently, looking up at the highly arched ceilings.
Then, glanced longly at her aunt who came over to sit next to her on the sofa. "He was
quite a handsome man."
Sarah closed her eyes as she laughed, "Oh, well that narrows it down," Sarah
righted herself and leaned in nearer to Mimi, "Come on, Mimi, who was it? The little boy
from the market? One of your neighbor's sons?"
The light from the sun between the clouds kissed Sarah's nose and made her tan
complexion seem almost golden. She had grown so much, and was so beautiful in a
ripped sweatshirt and faded denims. A smudges of dirt slipped across one cheek bone and
lifted just below her eye as Sarah let another comfortable smile open across her face,
showing straight lines of pearly white teeth.
"No," Mimi paused again as she straightened the magazines on the coffeetable,
"The man from the bookstore."
"Gabriel!" Sarah gasped out.
Mimi nodded, perplexed with Sarah's reaction. Suddenly the young woman's
golden hue was paled and gray. Sarah wrapped her arms around herself as she leaned
back in the sofa and looked towards the window. The bit of sunshine that had entered the
home was hidden behind thick clouds, and flecks of white had begun to varnish the
outdoors once more.
"He was a perfect gentleman. Don't tell me, Sarah that.... Brian...," Mimi paused
a moment.
The mention of her husband's name immediately struck a cold steel rod of terror
into Sarah's chest. She rose and, trembling just enough to understand that she hadn't
quite gotten control of her life, shook her head vehemently. "No! I never want to see him
again! But... you don't understand Mimi," Sarah relented.
"Oh, I don't?"
Sarah rolled her head backwards as she walked briskly away from the living room,
and into the kitchen. It was chilly inside, and Sarah quickly noticed one window standing
wide open, letting little flakes of snow dance down and into the sink. Sarah remedied the
situation, and as she turned noticed Mimi standing solemnly in the doorway.
"It's not that he isn't breathtaking, but...," Sarah shrugged once more, standing
with her hands splayed across the stainless steel of the sink basin. She leaned her weight
against it, listening to the soft touch of heavy snow on the tree branches just beyond the
window.
"I asked him over," Mimi explained quickly and then offered Sarah something that
wasn't quite an apologetic smile but not quite a smirk either. It seemed as if she were
saying I know what's right for you now, and I wouldn't hurt you, but you have to be
brave.
"MIMI!" Sarah exclaimed, her voice waving into a whimper. But, if she was so
upset, Sarah wondered, then why was it that she felt almost giddy and in need of some
desperate primping.
Her internal conflict was enough to make her sick with anticipation.
"Well if you don't want him over here then I suppose I could go back to town
tomorrow and call it all off," Mimi offered, opening the refrigerator to take out one full,
ripe orange and spin it briefly in her hand before she began to work on getting the rind
completely off.
"No... I mean, if you already invited him we shouldn't seem rude," Sarah paused,
biting her thumbnail as she moved away from the sink and over to her aunt's side, "Should
we?"
Mimi reached out with her free hand and snatched the bandanna from Sarah's head
so that it fell around her neck. Her thick hair poured out, tumbling across her shoulders
and her back. Sarah smiled again, but couldn't help the apprehension that bubbled inside
as Mimi began working on the orange again.
"You'll be fine. And Toby and I'll be here, Sarah," Mimi explained with a slight
twinkle in one eye.
"I suppose I will. Thank you," Sarah commented as she moved in and let Mimi
hug her tightly, holding the orange out so as not to let the juice slip on to Sarah's
sweatshirt.
"Anything for you, Sarah," Mimi said gently and then rushed Sarah out of the
embrace. She set the orange down and then gripped Sarah's hands briefly. "Tomorrow
night.... I'll make a big dinner and you can get Toby out of school so he can make himself
presentable. It'll be perfect, baby."
Sarah nodded and then, shivered again. She looked behind herself and cocked her
head. "I coulda sworn..." she began as she walked away from Mimi and stared longly at
the open window. Shrugging, Sarah shut it again and then, smiling, rushed out of the
kitchen.
* * * * *
"He's supposed to be here at eight? He must have gotten behind a slow driver...
or maybe he just got caught at the store late.... you think?" Sarah asked anxiously as she
paused in her pacing and peered longly out the window into the darkest night she had yet
seen. It was a new moon outside, and everything was shrouded in a thick ice fog.
"Sarah, your making the chicken nervous," Mimi commented, gesturing into the
kitchen where a warm scent of roasted chicken wafted lazily. Sarah smiled nervously,
then, clutching her hands tightly, walked back to the sofa.
Toby fidgeted in the recliner, as he set the remote control down and looked at his
sister, then his aunt, and towards the door. "He'll be here," he suggested with a smile, and
Sarah only briefly acknowledged him.
"I don't think this was a good idea," Sarah relented.
Mimi reached out and stroked Sarah's mane of chestnut hair. It was soft along her
back, and drifted like a liquid on the pool of her silky wine-colored dress shirt. Her black
pants were sticking uncomfortably to her skin and Sarah rose back up, averting herself
from Mimi's calming attempts.
"Sarah...," Mimi began, and then the doorbell rang and everyone inside the
farmhouse became suddenly silent.
Sarah ran her hands over her pants, smoothing the ironed-in-crease futilely as she
reached out to touch the doorknob. Beneath her hand the door seemed to thrum, as if a
great energy had suddenly made the wood electrical. Sarah moved her hand back just
slightly and then, blowing a piece of hair out from in front of her eyes, jerked the door
open widely.
"Gabriel, I'm glad you could come," Sarah said, but found her words rushed in one
breath that was exhaled sharply upon her seeing him. Somehow it was easier to imagine
him as nothing more than a "guy" when he wasn't standing at the threshold to her aunt's
farmhouse. There was something about him that just couldn't look normal.
But then, who needed normalcy?
"Sarah," his voice purred as he waited outside, the snow lilting on the black
umbrella he held in one gloved hand. Black leather gloves that were obviously expensive,
but made Sarah shake with things she had not wanted to think about.
Mimi rose from the sofa, ready to pull her niece back, to let their guest inside.
But, realizing that she was blocking him, Sarah moved back, her face flushed. Gabriel's
smile was touching, as Mimi looked at the handsome young man, but made ice crust
around Sarah's spine as he passed her by.
"Mimi," Gabriel began as he set his umbrella carefully in the entryway, "Your an
angel for asking me here. And Sarah," he turned to acknowledge her still standing by the
half-open door, "you look enchanting."
"Thank you. Here, we have dinner all ready," Sarah stated calmly, as she gestured
into the kitchen.
Gabriel followed, his eyes watching her figure moving supply beneath the soft
fabrics she wore. She squared her shoulders, perhaps feeling his eyes, and immediately he
turned to acknowledge the boy... Toby. Gabriel glanced down at him and the pre-teen,
stunned in silence, watched the man watching him.
"Your him," Toby whispered, once Mimi and Sarah were safely into the kitchen.
Gabriel looked slowly towards the kitchen and then, his smile simply feral, kneeled
down next to Toby. He reached out, and snagged the boy's chin in his long, slender
fingers. The smooth-finished leather caressed Toby's skin, but the pressure bit against his
chin harshly. He gasped as he tried to move back from Gabriel.
For a moment, as Toby stared in complete shock, Gabriel's eyes flashed and there
was something so much more than just a casual bookstore owner standing before him that
he had to swallow his screams. Then, removing his hands as carefully as he had first
checked for Sarah, Gabriel moved in to whisper into Toby's ears.
"Go to sleep, little boy."
For a moment Toby seemed perplexed, but then he turned and looked longly at the
pine-finished stairs. His legs moved, but with such effort that he was sure he would fall
asleep right in the middle of going to his room. Strange, for it being so early in the
evening. "Perhaps your feeling ill..." Gabriel offered from the living room as he tugged
absently on one glove.
"Yeah," Toby confirmed.
He did feel ill. His face was glowing with sweat and his body shivered with chills.
In fact, he didn't feel like he could eat if he had wanted to. Maybe he wouldn't go to
school tomorrow. Toby didn't look downstairs again, but Gabriel could see his face grow
paler as the boy made his way to his room. Cut out the extraneous subjects.
"Gabriel?" Sarah appeared in the doorway, her face shining with youthful
brightness. She placed her hands on her hips as she realized that her little brother was
missing from the room. "What's taking you so long, do you want the food cold. And
where'd Toby go? Gonna show you something?"
Gabriel moved towards and around Sarah, all the while letting his eyes rest
comfortably on her lovely face. She felt awkward, he knew. She was squirming and
trying her hardest to remain the poised woman she had become. And he saw her strength,
beneath it all. That which she hadn't realized she had had all along. An inner strength that
was so much more powerful than anyone else... else she would have fallen into her
psychosis long ago.
Definitely would have fallen to him those eleven years ago.
"He was sick," Gabriel said shortly as he reached out and ran one finger down the
side of her face.
Sarah merely laughed and stepped back. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'll let
Mimi know about Toby," Sarah relented, glancing once towards the stairs. If it hadn't
been for Gabriel she'd be up there with her brother. God knew how much he'd helped her
over the past few weeks.
"Perhaps she should check on him, he seemed very ill," Gabriel urged as they
entered the kitchen.
Mimi lifted her head when they entered, her maternal instincts automatically cueing
into the mention of "very ill." "Who's sick?" she inquired, lifting her body from the chair
she had taken earlier and looked at her niece carefully. Sarah felt her unease rumble and
boil higher at the thought of sending Mimi from the room. But then, Toby didn't lie.
Besides, Gabriel was harmless.
"Toby. Mimi, could you tell him I'll be up to see him later tonight?" Sarah asked,
concern overpowering the worry she had with the "date" that had already begun to trickle
into the realms of disaster. Sarah shrugged it off as she watched Gabriel sit gracefully at
the large table. The heaps of food were overwhelming.
"Oh dear," Mimi pushed her chair in thoughtfully and then turned to Gabriel, "I'll
be back to check on you two. Excuse me." She smiled knowingly at Sarah, and Sarah
could only roll her eyes.
And then she was alone with Gabriel, with only the sound of the clock ticking in
the far corner of the kitchen, and the constant whir of the motor in the refrigerator. Sarah
snatched a pot holder in one hand, took the thick glass cover off from the chicken and
then set it aside.
"Help yourself," Sarah offered, trying to remember her days as hostess when she
had lived with Brian.
"Oh, I will," Gabriel whispered, as he took the butcher knife into hand and sunk it
cleanly into the chicken's breast, trailing his eyes on Sarah's a moment too long.
Outside the snow began to fall heavier.