The Mourning Wave by Gregory Funderburk

Author:Gregory Funderburk
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published: 2020-08-02T13:57:21+00:00

45

OLEANDERS

At the edge of the hospital district, a man with a long beard and two pieces of cumbersome luggage stood in front of his large Victorian home, offering it to the public for a meager sum. Because he spoke German, neither Albert nor Will were sure about his exact terms, but he seemed eager to part ways with it in the condition in which it had now been rendered. In the very next lot, Miss Winifred Ruby, the socialite who oversaw the dance classes at the Garten Verein, labored in her front yard—hatless, haunted, her gown in shreds. A diamond necklace hung about her neck as she worked among the oleanders in her garden, all but ignoring the three motionless bodies lying on her porch scarcely a dozen feet away. As though she feared they were suspicious characters, she shooed off the dead gangs whenever they approached to retrieve the bodies. An oak had fallen and broken through the roof of her mansion, as well.

As Will and Albert quickly passed, Miss Ruby called to them, insisting they help tend her defeated garden. “The oleanders! I’m talking to you boys!” she called after them. “Come here, right now!”

Will pushed Albert ahead and around the corner.

“The vain things charm us most,” Albert said, looking back.

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