Ten Days. John Sheppard

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СКАЧАТЬ the interview was over, and as he was exiting the outer office, Stephen managed to muster the courage to ask Carol to be his date for the graduating class’s military ball. She readily accepted.

      While at the ball, Carol shared with Stephen that her parents were American citizens who had visited his country with her during her teen years. She fell in love with the country, and had gone to university in the capital city. To Stephen’s surprise, he also learned that she was almost four years his senior. After she graduated, Carol had decided not to return to her parents’ home, instead ending up at Stonecrest.

      Stephen was chosen for the summer training program, but while in America, he couldn’t wait to get back to her. In his absence, her love for him had only deepened. They married shortly after his graduation.

      Lost in his thoughts, Stephen had also lost track of time, and hadn’t heard the initial knocking at his door. Quickly, he placed Carol’s picture in his luggage, picked it up, and headed for the door.

      6:43 AM

      Sam had found it difficult to get up and jog this morning, after her nightmare a few hours earlier. But, as always, jogging helped her deal with whatever was going on in her life. As she rounded one of the gentle bends in the river, she saw it. A body was floating face down.

      A year ago, it would have been news; the bridges would have been crowded with people stopping to stare. Now suicides were common, and few people even noticed. Nothing seemed to surprise anyone anymore. Numbness had settled into day-to-day living; pain and losses were just expected.

      The pressure of feeling surrounded, coupled with a lack of hope for the future, was taking its toll. There was also the not knowing when the end would come which could drive one crazy. As far as she knew, everyone had lost someone in the last five years. Many, like Sam, had taken loss after loss, until they felt they just couldn’t take it anymore. Hadn’t someone once said something, in some situation, about the living envying the dead? In her own mind, Sam had determined she wasn’t going to just give up. She had a plan, and it wasn’t the Option.

      As Sam passed the body, she wondered about the person in the water. What finally drove them to this point? Who had they been? Five or six months ago, would they have even considered their life ending this way? If things had been different, if there hadn’t been a war, who would they have become? Who had she become? How had the war and the last several months changed her?

      8:55AM

      Jackie gave a couple of quick honks of the horn as she sat in her car in her driveway. She was giving her signal to Mandy that she was ready to leave. Both Mandy’s house and Jackie’s sat on large tracts of land, considering the fact that they were within city limits. Since Jackie’s home had always been on its site, dating back to when all this was farmland, Jackie assumed Mandy’s home had been built sometime later. With more than an acre of land on which to build, the original owner of Mandy’s house had chosen to build within a few yards of Jackie’s. The close proximity of the two homes had made for neighbors who were also close friends, and Jackie treasured her relationship with Mandy.

      As Jackie waited for Mandy to join her, she once again checked her list of fruits and vegetables. Ah, this is what summer is all about, thought Jackie, sunshine, warm days, hours in the gardens, family meals outside, and fresh produce from the farmers’ market.

      Mandy soon joined her, and they greeted each other with the usual warm smiles and hugs. Jackie took note that Mandy was acting more like her old self, and decided not to bring up their conversation of the day before.

      “Okay, got your list, money, shopping bags, are we ready to roll out?” inquired Jackie.

      “Ready to roll!” responded Mandy cheerfully. Jackie dropped the gearshift into drive and they were off. The farmers’ market was less than three miles away, so the mothers felt comfortable leaving the older children to watch the younger ones for an hour or two.

      The farmers’ market was held at the high school’s expansive athletic field. As Jackie and Mandy approached the high school, Jackie thought, Now this has changed. The Enemy’s spring offensive had ended any planning for the upcoming school year in the capital. In past years, there would have been several shopping trips just to find new clothing for the upcoming year, other trips for books and school supplies. Not to mention the banter between siblings concerning which faculty had what faults or which of the faculty was preferred and why. Jackie wondered to herself if all those things would ever come back.

      Right this moment, Jackie knew she had to dismiss all those glum thoughts and enjoy her time with Mandy, enjoying shopping. As always, the market was packed with fresh vegetables, fruit, homemade baked goods, and people.

      Most of the vendors were farmers from the Dutch Brown Friends. Their name was actually Deutsche Bruder des Friedens, or German Brethren of Peace, but over the years, the English term had become Dutch Brown Friends. The same thing had happened to the Pennsylvania Deutsche, they had become the Pennsylvania Dutch in the USA.

      The Deutsche Bruder des Friedens were of Mennonite background and had come to these shores centuries before, seeking refuge from religious persecution in Europe. They had settled into the rich, flat ground which lay between the capital and Stonecrest.

      They wore clothing which was very plain, and either dark grey or dark brown in color. The women always wore flat shoes, dresses to their ankles, and a lace bonnet. The men wore wide-brimmed hats, either coveralls or pants held up with suspenders, and dark long-sleeved shirts. The only item of color other than brown or grey was worn by the men. All the men wore a bright red and white-checkered handkerchief tied around their necks. The handkerchiefs had become acceptable to these otherwise conservative-dressing people because it helped them easily find each other when harvesting amid the browns and tans of the fall crops.

      Despite the military conditions, the gathering had an almost festive flair. Jackie guessed that there were at least one hundred vendors present, and easily two to three hundred or more citizens of the capital, looking to find just the right produce. She and Mandy parted ways, as they normally did, allowing each to search for their favorite foods and vendors. They agreed to meet back at the car at ten.

      Jackie was looking for her favorite farmer in the middle of this crowd. Where are Herr and Frau Swartz? she thought. After scanning the farmers for a few minutes, Jackie found him close to the high school, almost on the outside fringe of the crowd.

      As Jackie drew close to Herr Swartz’s old red pickup truck, she heard his booming voice call out, “Frau Whitman, I thought maybe you weren’t coming.” He maintained the expected formality with which all the Dutch Browns greeted each other in public. While formal, there was genuine warmth to his greeting. His ear-to-ear smile and twinkling grey-blue eyes made Jackie feel like she was Herr Swartz’s only granddaughter, instead of a customer.

      “I couldn’t find you at first, and thought perhaps you weren’t here,” Jackie cheerfully replied.

      She saw the smile quickly fade from the big man’s face. “It’s my Gladys,” he said, the formality suddenly gone from the conversation. “She’s not doing too well today. I couldn’t find her this morning, until I looked in the pantry. It caused us to be late.”

      “May I speak to her, Herb?” ask Jackie gently.

      “Certainly, Frau Whitman. She is in the cab, but she will not know you today. Her mind is very addled.”

      Gladys СКАЧАТЬ