The Canning Season by Polly Horvath

Author:Polly Horvath
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2011-08-24T00:00:00+00:00

Ratchet thought it was odd that Penpen had just told them all this about Dr. Richardson because later that same afternoon, when Tilly got up from her nap, his name came up again. There was a knock on the door. Tilly went to answer it and there standing on the doorstep was a stranger. Tilly hadn’t seen Miss Madison before and thought that she was on her way to Canada, if not already there, so she thought that suddenly everyone was taking the wrong turnoff from Dink. She was very pleased that it was not Penpen who had opened the door. They’d soon be out of spare bedrooms.

“You’ve come the wrong way! Go back! Go back!” she said to the surprised Miss Madison, who had perhaps had too many surprises already in her short life to startle easily and said, “I’ve come for Harper.”

“Oh,” said Tilly, “you’re Harper’s, er, guardian.”

“Yeah, that’s me. So if you’ll tell her to get her things together …”

Tilly nodded and put Miss Madison on the hall bench and went in search of Harper. Penpen found Miss Madison there and said, “Oh, my goodness. You’ve come back.”

“Yes, for Harper.”

“Oh, that’s much the best thing, I think. Were you driving along and realized you’d missed her? It’s not so easy giving up a child, is it?”

“Yeah, it is,” said Miss Madison, wiping her nose. She had a cold. “But, anyhow, I didn’t drive nowhere. What happens is, I’m coming through the woods after leaving Harper here and a bear runs right smack into the front of the car and takes out a headlight. Scared the wits out of me, if you want to know the truth. So I go into town and find a garage, and while I’m getting the thing fixed I start to have contractions, so I’m like all bent over, and the garage man’s wife calls the doctor in town.”

“Dr. Richardson,” said Penpen.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Lovely man.”

“Whatever. And he finds me and examines me back at his place and says that I’ve got blood pressure, so I have to lie down half of every day. No driving. Otherwise, he says, the baby could be premature and also I might have it on the road up to Canada. So I’m staying at this guest house in town.”

“In Dink?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t imagine whose that would be.”

“Yeah. And I think, well, as long as I have to stick around I might as well get Harper back.”

“Ah.”

“I don’t have hardly any money for the guest house either.”

Penpen thought, Another one. “Would you like to stay here?” she asked. “You have, after all, turned up on our doorstep.”

“No thanks,” said Miss Madison. “Nothing personal, but this place gives me the creeps.”

Harper and Tilly came in. Harper was carrying her suitcase and looking relieved.

“Well, anyhow, thanks for having her. Harper, you got anything to say?” asked Miss Madison, getting up and putting one hand on her stomach.

“Why do I have to say anything?” asked Harper. “It was never my idea to come here.”

“Say something, Harper!”

“It’s been a slice,” said Harper, picking up her suitcase.

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