Cold River (18 page)

Suddenly, he smiled and said, “Yes, ma’am.” Suiting his pace to hers, he walked with her to her office and held her chair. As soon as she was seated, he stepped away.

Mandy leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

“You shouldn’t be here,” Vince said.

Her eyes flew open, and he held up his hands in defense. “No, don’t fire up. I won’t say it again, but did they find out what happened? Was it food poisoning?”

“Nothing showed up in the tests. They’re not sure.”

Vince looked at her intently. “May I come and take you home when you’re finished here?”

“I have my car. I’ll be fine.”

At that moment, Mandy’s secretary swept into the room with a steaming mug, which she set on Mandy’s desk. “Drink this. It’ll cure what ails you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Berman. I just realized I didn’t have anything to eat today. I think I’m suffering more from that than anything else. Will you ask Grange to come in and talk to me?”

“I guess that’s my cue,” Vince took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Mandy. “I’ve got a satellite phone. Call me if you need me. Any time, night or day.”

She took the card and smiled up at him. “You are very kind, but don’t worry. I’ll drink Mrs. Berman’s tea, and it will fix me right up.”

“See that you do. I’ll come by and see you tonight.”

Mandy shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll be fit company tonight. Come by tomorrow night. Come for dinner.”

There was a tapping on the doorframe, and they both looked up to see Grange standing in the hallway, a grim expression on his face.

Vince flashed his brilliant smile at her and sketched a salute. “Tomorrow for dinner it is,” he said and strode out the door.

Grange stepped back to let Vince pass, meeting his eyes in stony silence. Then he walked to Mandy’s desk. “Edith said you wanted to see me.”

Mandy took a tentative sip of the steaming brew in front of her. “Yes. Thank you. Will you please close the door and have a seat?”

He did as she asked, sitting quietly while she took another drink from her mug.

It took a moment for it to register with Mandy that both of his eyes were blinking as he regarded her.

“Is anything wrong?” he asked.

She realized she had been staring and dropped her eyes. “No. I’m sorry. I’m not really with it today. You’ll have to forgive me. I had a spot of trouble last night.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“I rode with you in the back of the ambulance down to the hospital.”

She stared blankly.

Grange shifted in his seat. “I’m an EMT. We have an all-volunteer community response team, and I was on call.”

As the memory returned, Mandy put her hands to her cheeks and said faintly, “You were the one holding the basin?”

He smiled slightly. “Part of the job.”

She could feel the color rising in her cheeks. “I’ll never live that down.”

“Don’t give it another thought. What did you want to see me about?”

Mandy put her hand to her forehead as she tried to remember. “Oh, yes— the school lunch. Did you have any other emergency calls? Anyone else have to go to the hospital?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Maybe I got a touch of food poisoning from the tuna sandwich I ate at Birch Falls Elementary yesterday. I was afraid if that were the case, we might have a food poisoning incident on our hands.”

“May I?” Grange asked, pointing to her phone. She motioned for him to go ahead, and he asked Edith to check on the number of absentees in the district for today.

While they were waiting to hear back, he asked, “What else did you have to eat yesterday?”

“I had a chocolate éclair, but I had only just eaten it. There wasn’t time for it to make me sick.”

“Where did you get it?”

“The éclair?” Mandy felt her cheeks flushing again as she remembered that it had come out of her garbage can. “It was on my doorstep when I got home. I think someone from the church left it.”

“How do you know that?”

“The card had an invitation to come out next Sunday. Surely—”

The phone rang and Grange picked up. He listened for a moment, said thank you, and hung up. “Absenteeism is down today. I don’t think it was the tuna fish.”

“Well, it may have been just a vicious, short-term bug. Whatever it was, Mrs. Berman’s yarbs have done their thing, and I’m feeling better already.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” He stood. “If I can do anything to help, just let me know.”

“Thank you. If you have anything you want on the agenda for the meeting tomorrow morning, will you please let Mrs. Berman know? She’s going to be sending it out to everyone this afternoon. I’m having all the resource room teachers join us for the second half of the meeting to discuss the district reading program.”

“All right.” Grange turned to go.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Mandy said. “You were logged out on your calendar all yesterday morning but showed yourself in the office in the afternoon.”

“Did I?” There was just a hint of a challenge in his question. “Did you have something urgent to discuss with me?”

“Yes, I did.”

“We can do it right now.” He grabbed the chair, ready to sit back down.

“Not right now,” she said, raising her hand to forestall him. “I would request, however, that your calendar reflect where you are going to be.”

He leaned on the chair and looked down at the floor for a moment. “And your calendar for this morning?” he asked pleasantly. “Was it a true reflection of where you were?”

“That’s different. That was an emergency. It couldn’t be helped.”

Grange chuckled. “Next time, I’ll tell Mr. Ruggles he’ll have to call in and calendar his heart attack ahead of time.”

She frowned. “What’s that got to do with it?”

“You’re not the only one who got a ride downriver. I was in the back giving him oxygen yesterday afternoon.”

“Oh.”

The silence stretched out as Mandy and Grange looked at one another, she with a frown and he with a bland, unreadable expression.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “Of course that was unavoidable. Forgive me.”

“Nothing to forgive,” he said. Then he walked out the door and down to his office.

Mandy was grateful he didn’t turn around and look back so he didn’t see the tear rolling down her cheek. “Pull up your socks, Dr. Stinkbug,” she muttered. With a trembling hand she reached for her cup and drank half the contents. Then she searched in her purse for a peppermint, which she popped in her mouth and chewed. Determined not to let the weakness get the best of her, she turned on her computer and began composing an email to Mrs. Berman.

That capable lady sailed in moments later with a steaming Styrofoam cup. She handed it to Mandy and commanded, “Eat.”

Mandy took the cup and sniffed at the contents. “What is it?”

“Chicken soup with some added yarbs. Go ahead. We need to get some color in those cheeks.” Mrs. Berman sat on the side chair and watched expectantly.

Mandy took a sip. “Not bad,” she said. “I’m not even going to ask what’s in it.”

“Never mind that. Tell me what you had to eat yesterday.”

“Nothing that I can think would have poisoned me. I had oatmeal for breakfast, a tuna sandwich for lunch, and just minutes before I got sick, I ate a chocolate éclair.” Mandy hastened to explain, “The cream filling was still cold. I don’t think we have to worry about salmonella.”

“I don’t suppose there’s any of that éclair left, is there?”

Mandy shook her head. “I ate it all. I’m a sucker for cream-filled things.”

“What did it taste like?”

“Why are you asking me this, Mrs. Berman? The cramping and nausea set in shortly after I ate the éclair. There wasn’t time for it to poison me.”

“That’s just the thing. It’s a little early, but we’ve been having warm days…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mushrooms. We have one that grows in the meadows on this side of the mountains— looks like a normal mushroom, but the gills are tinged with pink. It’s fast-acting and extremely poisonous. Not enough to kill you, but enough to make you wish you were dead. That’s why I was asking about the filling. This mushroom has a distinctive taste.”

“Like what?”

“I asked you first. I don’t want to plant an idea in your head.”

“The filling tasted of almonds.”

Mrs. Berman sprang from her chair. “I’m going to get Grange.”

Mandy watched her stride out the door. A few minutes later, Mrs. Berman returned, followed by the tall assistant superintendent.

He looked at his watch. “I’m due over at the high school, Edith.” Then he added, with a twinkle in his eye, “You must not have checked my calendar.”

“Never mind your calendar. I think somebody fed Dr. Steenburg some rosy-gill mushrooms.”

Grange cocked his head. “And you base that accusation on what?”

Edith Berman counted off on her fingers: “First, it was fast-acting. That’s the way rosy-gill does. Secondly, it tasted of almonds. That’s like rosy-gill, too.”

“I’ve seen rosy-gill poisoning,” he said. “It wasn’t this severe.”

“If you’re thinking of Pooky Lefflinger, he weighs over two hundred pounds. I’d be surprised if Dr. Steenburg weighs ninety. Makes a difference, you know.”

“It’s too early in the year for rosy-gills.” Grange stood. “Don’t say this to another person, Edith. You know how rumors fly, and there’s not a shred of evidence to support this.” He looked at his watch again. “I’ve got to go. Goodbye.”

Edith watched him leave and muttered something under her breath. Frowning, she stood and admonished Mandy to finish her soup. Then she stalked back to her desk.

Mandy was grateful to be left alone. She ate her soup, and as strength gradually returned, she worked on preparations for the staff meeting the following morning. When she finished, she sighed, leaned back, and closed her eyes.

A timid knock at the door brought her back to attention. Mo smoothed the hair over the top of his head and stepped in the room. “I just wanted to ask how you are.”

“Thank you, Mo. Much better than this morning. Mrs. Berman has been dosing me with her yarbs.”

“You still look a little peaked. I’d be glad to drive you home, if you wish.”

“That is very kind. I’ll be fine.”

He continued to stand with his hands clasped in front of him and a worried expression on his face.

Mandy forced animation that she didn’t feel into her smile. “Truly, Mo. I’m fine. Go on home.”

“All right.” He reluctantly retreated, and she heard him saying to someone downstairs, “She wouldn’t let me drive her home. I think she does look a little better than she did this morning. She looked like death warmed over.”

Mandy heard the door close, and soon Mo and Midge emerged from under the porch roof and separated to go to their cars.

“It’s four o’clock, Dr. Steenburg. Can I do anything for you before I go?”

She swiveled around. “No. Thank you, Mrs. Berman. I appreciate all you’ve done for me today. I’m feeling much better.”

The secretary nodded, swung her purse up on her shoulder, and left, calling “Good night” over her shoulder.

Moments later Mandy heard the sound of the front door closing and the ensuing backwash of silence. She sighed, took her planner out of her purse, and opened it to today’s date.

There it was in black and white, the appointment to meet with Tammy and talk about reading lessons. As Mandy looked at the directions to the woman’s house, a dozen excuses leapfrogged through her mind, most of them involving the phrase
death’s door
.
She had almost decided to call and cancel when she remembered Millie Barlow, the pastor’s wife. Mandy had already failed in her promise to go to church last Sunday. She didn’t want to fail again. Summoning the last of her reserves, she stiffened her spine, gathered her things, and headed for the stairs.

MANDY PULLED UP
at Tammy’s house and sat for a minute, surveying the neat cottage with its high-pitched, blue metal roof and cedar shake siding painted white. Masses of shiny-leafed bushes ringed the perimeter of the lawn, and well-tended beds of tulips and daffodils framed the sidewalk all the way to the front porch.

Just as Mandy opened the door to get out, Rael pulled up beside her in his postal Jeep and hopped out. “How are you doing?” he called. “I didn’t expect to see you out and about already. Last time I saw you I thought you were ready to stick your spoon in the wall.”

“I worked half a day,” Mandy said, holding out her hand. “Thank you, by the way, for everything last night. Leesie said you took charge of getting the ambulance and drove down with her so we’d have a way home.”

Rael clasped her hand in both of his. “Don’t mention it. Jake dropped Leesie off about the time you passed out. Fran looked like she was about ready to go down too, so he got on the horn to me. What was the matter, by the way?”

Mandy shrugged. “Several theories. No smoking gun for any of them.”

Rael walked to the back of his Jeep, opened the hatch, and took out two black, bulging garbage bags. As walked to Tammy’s door, Mandy accompanied him, looking curiously at his burden.

“Tammy runs a black-market garbage collection service.” He held up the bags. “I patronize her because she’s my cousin and she’s a single mom.”