6
After the meal, and things had settled to an uneasy truce between Prudence and Audrey, the question came up on what to do about her. It was decided that as she was 'family', Duke would put her in his spare bedroom on The Cape Rouge.
Audrey and Nathan took their leave shortly after they'd eaten, leaving Dave, Vince, Duke, Gloria and Prudence.
"So-you ready to go-Grandma?" Duke asked. "I'm sorry, it's just weird to call you that, even if you are, you're my age."
"Prudence will be fine, Duke," Prudence answered. "It feels rather odd to me too," she smiled slightly. "My children were twelve and ten when I-left them."
"First things first, Prue needs clothing more appropriate to her needs," Gloria noted, critically looking over Dave's flannel shirt and khakis they'd given her to wear. "I'll take her over to Dooley's, and we can get her some wardrobe basics, and maybe hit Sylvia's Salvaged Duds," she went on.
"Will there be a seamstress at either location?" Prudence asked, and Gloria grinned.
"Tailors and seamstresses aren't much in demand these days," she said. "Our clothing is mass-produced in factories now, and it comes in different sizes. In your day, dresses pretty much came one-size-fits-all and you'd just cinch it up or take it out, right?"
"The dress I wore I had owned since my mother had made it for me," Prudence said. "I was married in that dress. Wedding gowns were often our best dresses worn to church." She looked pensive. "Or when on trial."
"Well, things have changed," Gloria told her. "Come on, Prue-you don't mind being called Prue, do you, or would you rather Prudence?"
"My brothers called me Prue-it is perfectly fine," Prudence smiled.
Well, I guess we will let you two girls go on your shopping spree," Vince said. "And Prudence, I will see about what we discussed earlier."
"Thank you, Vincent," Prue answered.
"I'm gonna head back to the Gull, and then I will go by the boat and make sure your room's ready," Duke said. He hadn't really been in there since Jen had died; it'd been her room, before they'd become a couple. He'd kept putting off boxing up her things. Maybe it was his way of denial, knowing that she was really gone for good if he put her things away. Now was as good a time as it ever would be.
Gloria and Prudence left in her sedan, and Duke headed back to the Gull to gather boxes, and was in the midst of sticking them in the back of his truck when he heard Nathan's heavy tread descending the stairs that led to Audrey's apartment.
"Where's the psycho?" Nathan asked.
Duke gave him a dirty look. "You know what Mara was like, Nathan. As bad as we had it, multiply that by 500 years and you can understand why Prudence is angry with Audrey."
"Mara doesn't exist anymore, Duke," Nathan argued. "This Prudence is like you when you're all jacked up on Troubled blood-super-strong, I thought she was gonna rip Audrey's throat out before I could get her to let go."
"Only that isn't Prudence's Trouble-she's naturally that strong," Duke pointed out. "I don't know if it's because of an inherited talent or magic or what. Mara and William cooked it up so that we'd all be like her, save for that we'd have to kill to end a Trouble. She has a right to be angry, Nathan," he went on, getting angry. "Mara turned her into a human Golem-shoot her, stab her, she gets up and comes back for more. And she isn't all bad-she took Sasquatch's Trouble from him and he's still breathing," he finished. "That's more than I can do."
"She can cure Troubles, that makes her a valuable commodity," Nathan conceded. "If the Guard finds that out, they'll take her and try to make her cure everybody. We don't know how much she can take. What if what happened to you happens to her?"
"Well, like you said, Nate-Mara's gone, she doesn't exist anymore, so that's not likely," Duke retorted, slamming the tailgate shut.
"Where are you going?" Nathan demanded.
"I have to go and get Prudence's room ready. I still have-some things to put away," he finished softly. "I haven't been in there since Jennifer died."
Nathan's face softened. He'd been so obsessed with getting Audrey back that he hadn't realized that Duke was still grieving for his lost love, and relented.
"You want any help?"
"No, I got it, thanks," Duke snapped, and climbed into his truck, peeling rubber as he drove out of The Gull's parking lot.
In Dooley's Department Store, Mrs. Fredricks, the saleslady in Women's Wear, was about to measure Prudence for a bra.
"Arms out, dear," she indicated.
Prue looked nervously at Gloria.
"It's okay, kid," she told her. "Just hold your arms out like this," she demonstrated. "And Edith's gonna take your measurements."
Prudence did as instructed, holding herself stiffly as Mrs. Fredricks wrapped the tape around her chest.
"Thirty-six C," she pronounced, bustling out of the fitting room to the bra racks.
"I was a 36-C once, a hundred years ago," Gloria quipped, and Prudence gave her a shy smile.
Mrs. Fredricks returned with a few lacy bras.
"What are these?" Prudence asked.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Fredricks squeaked. "You act like you've never seen a brasserie, dear."
"She means the style of the bras, Edith," Gloria put in quickly.
"Oh! Well, this one is an under-wire, this one has convertible straps, and this one is a balconette," she explained. "Makes the girls stand at attention, the men love this one," she confided. "Not that you have much to worry about in that department with your figure."
Prudence turned a deep shade of red. Ladies simply did not speak so boldly about men in her day, at least not in public places.
"Just some good basic bras-Prue's kind of a no-nonsense gal," Gloria stepped in, seeing Prue's discomfort. "And some slips and a nice nightgown, one of those pretty ones with the Battenburg lace on it like the one on that mannequin out there."
Gloria and Mrs. Fredricks left Prue to finish dressing in the fitting room, and waited outside. A short time later, Prudence emerged, wearing a calf-length skirt with a folkloric pattern and a deep blue blouse.
"You know, I've seen several women try on that exact same outfit, and it never looked right on any of them," Mrs. Fredricks said. "They all looked like they were wearing their grandmother's clothes. But it's perfect on you," she enthused. "It's almost as though you were born to wear that style of clothing."
"You don't know how right you are," Gloria muttered out of the side of her mouth.
"Beg pardon?" Mrs. Fredricks said.
"I said how right you are-it's perfect for her," Gloria said a little louder, and the saleslady smiled and nodded.
"Does it look well?" Prudence asked.
"See for yourself," Gloria said. Prudence turned, seeing herself in the three-way mirror. Mirrors were a luxury only the rich could afford in Prue's time, and she stood in front of it, observing herself for a few moments.
"It is pretty," Prudence answered, feeling the fabric of the skirt. "And so soft-almost like not having clothes on. I feel as though I am underdressed."
"Where did you come in from, dear?" Mrs. Fredricks was saying. "You must have been living a very harsh existence."
"Living in the Yukon," Gloria put in. She'd been around Haven long enough to know that 'she-washed-ashore-after-five-centuries' as an answer wasn't going to fly. "Very tough existence, freeze to death if you don't wear heavy clothing."
"Oh, well, she should enjoy the Maine winters then," Mrs. Fredricks said. "You should feel right at home around February."
Prudence began to say something else, but Gloria put a finger to her lips, and Prue fell silent.
Gloria paid for the items, and the two left Dooley's laden with shopping bags.
"What is a Yoo-kon, pray tell?" Prue questioned Gloria when they climbed in the car.
"It's a place way up north," Gloria replied. She spied Rosemary in her bakery, placing a platter of cookies in the window, and glanced at Prue.
"I think we've earned ourselves a treat today. What do you say to a cupcake?" Gloria asked her. "We can get some for Audrey too-that'll go a long way to pouring oil on troubled waters, to turn a phrase."
"I may have been hasty in my judgement," Prudence said stiffly. "But you did not know her as I did."
"Believe me, we all got a pretty good idea of what Mara was capable of a while back," Gloria told her.
"Audrey's friend-the tall gentleman."
"Nathan."
"Nathaniel, yes. He is Troubled also, is he not?"
"Yes he is. Nathan's Trouble is he can't feel anything," Gloria replied.
"Perhaps if I were to relieve him of that, that might serve as a peace offering too," Prudence remarked, and her face tightened. "But as he was rather coarse in his treatment of me, I am not of a frame of mind to do so just now."
"Don't take it too personally, Prue-Nathan's in love with Audrey. There's nothing he wouldn't do for her, and that's not because of a Trouble. It's real," Gloria said.
"Then she is fortunate indeed," Prue answered.
Gloria chose a vanilla bean cupcake with sprinkles for Prue, who sat there savoring each morsel.
"Never have I tasted anything so exquisite," Prue breathed, licking her fingers.
"Rosemary's good," Gloria agreed, swallowing the last of her double chocolate cupcake. She took the box with the six cupcakes for Audrey, and then they headed out towards the marina.
On The Cape Rouge, Duke finished boxing up the last of Jennifer's belongings, and taped the box shut.
He wiped his eyes, and had just put the last of them in the storeroom when he heard footsteps and Gloria's call of "Don't shoot, we're here!"
He swallowed hard and forced himself to smile.
"What'd you do, buy out Dooley's?" he chuckled.
"Well, you start from rotting rags in your wardrobe," Gloria chided.
Duke cast a look at Prue's face. She looked tired.
"You look worn out," Duke said.
"I am rather fatigued," Prue sighed. "One would think after 500 years, I would not be tired, and yet I am."
"Well, I guess you have had a full day," Gloria told her. "So I'm gonna take off, and leave you two to catch up. Duke, you make sure she gets some rest."
"I will," Duke stated.
"Scout's Honor?" Gloria asked, holding up two fingers.
"Thought Scout's Honor was three fingers," Duke remarked.
"Keep it up and it'll be one finger," Gloria warned, and Duke grinned genuinely.
"I promise that I will see to it that Prudence gets some rest and nobody bothers her," Duke promised.
"See that you keep it," Gloria stated and then took her leave.
Duke helped Prue carry her shopping bags into the spare room, and Prudence began to put her newly-purchased clothing away.
"Would you like some tea? I was going to make some," Duke said.
"That would be wonderful," Prue smiled. "And then perhaps you will show me how things work in the kitchen. I am quite capable of cooking, but as you do not have a hearth, I am uncertain on how to go about it."
"Yeah, I guess there have been a few improvements," Duke smiled faintly. "But sure, I'll show you how to work the stove and the dishwasher."
"What is a dishwasher? You have a scullery maid?"
"No, it's a machine. You put dirty dishes in it, and they come out clean."
"What a glorious age you live in," Prudence got out. "I despise washing dishes."
"If you say so-Prue," Duke grinned, and left to make the tea.
Prudence finished folding her clothes, and opened a drawer to place them inside. She spied a small rectangular piece of paper wedged in the far corner, and she pulled it out. It was a portrait, no, not a portrait-pictures, Vincent had called them. It was a picture of Duke and of a dark-haired, dark-eyed girl. They seemed very happy in the picture, and Prue studied it for a moment. She'd seen the sadness in his eyes, and remembered Gloria telling her that he had lost someone when Mara had come back.
She tucked it into her skirt pocket, and finished putting her clothes away before she went out into the kitchen.
Duke was just taking the teakettle off the burner, pouring it into two mugs.
Prue pulled her teabag from her mug, inspecting it for a moment before putting it back in.
"I keep trying to imagine what this must all be like for you," Duke said. "A brave new world, eh, Prue?"
"Indeed," Prue replied. She paused a moment, and then took the photograph from her pocket.
"I found this," she began. "Gloria had told me that you lost someone when-Mara returned. Did she kill her?"
"No, she didn't," Duke replied. "I don't know what happened to her, she just died."
"She was dear to you," Prudence observed.
"Yeah," Duke answered, barely audible. "She was very dear to me."
Prue put her hand on Duke's. "I am sorry. It is always difficult to lose those that we love," she said tenderly. "When Josiah died of fever, I felt that my heart would surely break in two. He was not just my twin brother, he was my dearest friend and staunchest defender."
She looked at the picture again. "She was a good woman?"
"The best," Duke smiled, his eyes bright. He blinked hard, and poured himself a shot of Chivas.
"Might you spare another of those?" Prue asked.
Duke was surprised. "I thought Puritans didn't drink."
"I am not a Puritan, I am a Quaker," Prudence said. "I did not drink in public. It was frowned upon for ladies to frequent taverns, but social occasions or holidays, we could partake of the occasional glass of sherry, or brandy."
"I don't know if I have sherry," Duke said. "Not really my style."
"It was not my style either," Prudence smiled, a wicked gleam in her eye. "I am more partial to rum."
"That I do have," Duke grinned, reaching for the bottle.
For much of the evening, Duke and Prudence talked. Duke told her about Jennifer, how they met, the things they did together, and how she'd died.
Prudence in turn, told him of her own family, of her father, who was an excellent silversmith, and of her mother, with her kind heart. She had taught her daughter some of the healing ways of the Mik'Maq, but it was her grandfather who had taught her how to open the door between worlds.
Duke showed her how to operate the stove, and the two of them made dinner. They were about to sit down to eat when Duke's phone rang.
"It's Audrey," he told Prudence.
Prue's face grew serious as Duke put it on speaker phone.
"Hi Audrey," he answered.
"Hey, how's everything going with you and Prudence?" she said.
"Prudence is very well, thank you," Prue replied with no small trace of ice in her voice.
"Oh, good, you're there too," Audrey said, relief in her voice. "Prudence, I need your help. Duke, do you remember Hailey Steinbeck? She's the girl you Troubled at the Gull. Her Trouble's flared again, and she can't get it under control. She can't eat, she can't leave her house without endangering everyone. The Guard's got her on lock-down."
"What is her Trouble?" Prudence asked Duke.
"An extremely dangerous one-anything she touches disintegrates-including people," Duke shuddered, remembering when she'd touched her boyfriend and he'd exploded before their horrified eyes.
Prue's face darkened. So far, the campaign to win her over to like Audrey didn't seem to be working, Duke noted. And if she had to keep curing Troubles like this, they were in for a long, dry spell.
"Can you help her, Prudence?" Duke asked.
Prudence looked at the phone, and then at Duke.
"I will come and help," she said, her silvery eyes narrowed. "And then I shall see if this Audrey Parker truly has only the best intentions."