The Daisy Gumm Majesty Boxset by Alice Duncan

Author:Alice Duncan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ePublishing Works!
Published: 2016-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

The rest of that night was pure hell. I don't think I got more than an hour's worth of sleep altogether.

First I had to sneak Marianne out of Mrs. Bissel's house and into the Model T. That wasn't too difficult, since the rest of the household was upstairs, although they probably weren't sleeping. Not since Marianne and I had startled them out of their collective wits.

I threw my blanket over her, hoping that if anyone was looking out the window, maybe they wouldn't see her. I know it sounds stupid, but I was desperate. Besides, the night was a dark one, and the wind still howled like the devil's choir in hell. I didn't think anybody would notice a black lump huddled near me as I walked to my automobile. The wind darned near blew both of us to perdition before we got to the Model T and I gestured for Marianne to squat next to a back tire.

Marianne did as I'd told her to, staring at the driver's side of the car. "Where's the door?" She pointed, her whispered question almost blown away before it reached my ears.

I whispered, too. "There isn't one on that side."

"Oh."

"I'll have to crank it up. You'll have to wait until I get it started and get in. Then you can get in, too."

"I've never seen a car without a door on this side."

That's because she was rich and didn't have to get around in an old Model T Ford. I didn't say so. "I'm hoping to buy a new machine soon. Do you know how to handle the choke wire?" I was hoping for the best but prepared for the worst, which turned out to be a good thing.

"What's a choke wire?"

"Never mind."

Cranking the Model T to life was difficult even in the daytime. In the dark of night, with the wind trying like mad to whip me away, it was even worse than usual. I couldn't see a blasted thing. I persevered, as I always did back then no matter what I was doing, and eventually the motor coughed to life. And I didn't even break my arm, which was perhaps the first truly good thing that had happened all evening.

The Model T didn't have headlights like cars today have, and it was hard to see anything by squinting into the blackness as wind-blown dust made my eyes water. Marianne sat next to me in the machine, shivering, although she was still wrapped in the blanket.

Once I got the automobile on the road, I asked, "Are you all right?" If she took sick from eating such a poor diet for two weeks, I didn't know what I'd do. If she visited a doctor, there was no way in heck her presence in my life could be kept a secret.

I think she nodded, although I couldn't see her very well. "I'm just scared."

Perfectly understandable. I was scared, too, for that matter. Sam's warning about the obstruction of justice kept clanging in my head like an alarm bell.

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