Victorian San Francisco Stories (7 page)

Barbara felt like an interloper in the basement kitchen. Yet she was desperate for advice, and this was the only place she could think to turn. She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable. Jamie, of course, could be found down here almost every day, doing his homework or playing with Dandy, who stayed in the kitchen when Jamie was at school and Barbara was at work. And she knew that Mrs. Stein often spent the evening down here when her husband was away on business. It wasn't that she felt she was above Mrs. O'Rourke or Kathleen, either. Mrs. O'Rourke had been so good to Jamie; she felt nothing but gratitude towards her. And Kathleen! Well, she just wished the young girls in her English and literature classes had half the intelligence and lively curiosity of Kathleen, who was probably not much older than those students. Maybe it was the third woman sitting across from her in the kitchen rocking chair, Mrs. Annie Fuller, who made her feel so uneasy.

Mrs. Fuller was a young widow, in her mid-twenties, who had inherited the house on O'Fa
rrell Street and last year had turned it into a boarding house, although Mrs. O'Rourke was in charge of the day-to-day running of the household. She was a slender, graceful woman with reddish blonde hair and deep brown eyes--eyes that were now looking at Barbara with disconcerting directness.
She sees too much. That's what makes me uncomfortable,
Barbara thought.
Everyone else just sees me as Mrs. Hewitt, the schoolteacher and doting mother of Jamie. She looks like she can see into my very soul. She couldn't possibly be really clairvoyant, could she?

Barbara tore her eyes away and looked back down at Dandy. As "Madam Sibyl," Mrs. Fuller spent most of her days reading palms and charting stars in order to advise a number of proper middle-aged women and prosperous businessmen. Mrs. Fuller had explained to Barbara, when she had interviewed her about becoming one of her boarders, that she billed herself as a clairvoyant because this was the only way she could get paid for the domestic and business a
dvice she gave. She had assured Barbara that her clientele was very select and that there would be no reason for her to worry about the effect living in the same house as Madam Sibyl would have on her son or her own reputation. At the time, Barbara had been so eager to move out of the wretched rented room she and Jamie had been living in that she had paid little attention to these assurances. But Mrs. Fuller had been true to her word. In fact, she was so discreet that Barbara had only once gotten a glimpse of her dressed in the odd clothing and wig that made up her alter ego, and Jamie seemed oblivious to the fact that the Madam Sibyl who worked in the front parlor of the house and the "nice Mrs. Fuller" were one and the same.

Of all the women in the boarding house, Mrs. Fuller was closest to her in age and education. They both had been married but were now without their husbands, and it would have been nat
ural for the two of them to become close. Nevertheless, Barbara had been relieved that Mrs. Fuller seldom ate with her boarders and that there hadn't been many opportunities to get to know her better.
Until now. Why do I have such difficulty making friends? Surely none of these women would ever deliberately hurt me,
she thought.

"Mrs. Hewitt, dogs do howl. Why has this upset you so?" Mrs. Fuller's crisp clear voice i
nterrupted Barbara's thoughts. "Was there a particular reason you needed to see Mrs. Francis today about the piano lessons?"

"Oh, no. Not really," Barbara replied. "But afterwards, I began to worry about Gordie, Mrs. Francis' little black Scottie. You know, from my window I can look down and see into their back yard. On the days I'm not working, I always see Gordie, digging in the back or sitting in the shade of a bush by the back door. And every evening, about when the sun sets, I hear Mrs. Fra
ncis call for him to come into the house. But I haven't heard her or seen the dog in a few days."

"Perhaps Mrs. Francis is away," Mrs. Fuller said.

"Yes, yes," said Barbara. "That is what her husband told me, but I don't know...."

Kathleen interrupted, "Did you speak to the lady's husband then? A handsome man but ill-mannered from what I have heard."

"Yes, I did. Maybe that is what has me so rattled. While we were trying to figure out what was wrong with Dandy, suddenly Mr. Francis loomed over the gate and asked us what was going on. Quite startled us, Dandy included, because Dandy started snarling and then leaped up, as if he wanted to bite the man on the nose. Of course, he couldn't reach him, but he can leap awfully high, and Mr. Francis pulled back and began to curse. Quite abusive. Ill-mannered is the least of it!"

"Heavens be merciful," said Mrs. O'Rourke. "What did you do?"

Barbara smiled at Mrs. O'Rourke and said, "Well, first I instructed Jamie to pick Dandy up and take him down the block and hold on to him. Then I tried to apologize to Mr. Francis. To be fair, Dandy had been very fierce, and I think he gave Mr. Francis a start." Barbara saw the three women look down at the small dog at their feet, appearing anything but fierce as he lay on the floor, gently snoring.

Barbara went on. "In my apology, I had mentioned that I had hoped to see his wife, and that is when he said Mrs. Francis had left Wednesday evening on a trip. In fact, he became quite friendly. Told me his wife's sister had turned ill and his wife had left very suddenly. Called hi
mself an old bachelor, having to cook for himself."

Kathleen scoffed, "What cheek! His wife isn't gone three days, and he's trying out his bla
rney on you. Georgeanne, who works in the house next to them, she said he was a flirt and how it was such a shame with that pretty blonde wife of his. But they do say, 'When the cat’s away, the mice do play.'"

As the women laughed, Barbara thought,
Was that why I felt so uneasy? Because Mr. Francis was trying to flirt with me?

"
Mrs. Hewitt, if Mrs. Francis' absence is accounted for, why are you still uneasy?" Mrs. Fuller said, disconcertingly echoing her thoughts. "It's Gordie, isn't it?"

Barbara looked in those clear brown eyes and nodded. "Yes, I shouldn't be worried. I even asked after Gordie, offered to take him for walks with Dandy while his wife was away. He told me it wouldn't be necessary, that his wife had taken the dog with her on Wednesday night. But you see, I remember Wednesday night because I had trouble sleeping, and later I woke up from a disturbing dream. The light was on across the way, and I saw Mr. Francis in the upstairs window. Not his wife, but then she would have left earlier in the evening. What worries me is that right before I fell asleep the first time, around midnight, I could swear I heard Gordie furiously bar
king at the back door. If that is true, why did Mr. Francis lie about his wife taking the dog, and what has happened to Gordie?"

*****

It was Sunday afternoon, and Barbara was sitting on the front porch of the boarding house, escaping the heat of her attic room. Jamie was off with Dandy and a friend; they said they were going to the wharf to watch the ships, but she suspected they were primarily hoping that it would be cooler nearer the bay.

Mrs. Fuller came through the front door to the porch, trailed by a man, and said, "Mrs. Hewitt, I would like to introduce you to Patrick McGee."

Patrick McGee was an open-faced young man who had tried to counter his youthful freckles with a fiercely waxed mustache that was several shades darker than the copper curls on top of his head. She had heard a good deal about Patrick from Jamie. She knew that he was Mrs. O'Rourke's nephew and, as Jamie put it, that he was "sweet on Miss Kathleen" and that he was in the city police department. It turned out that it was in this latter capacity that he might be of help to Barbara.

Mrs. Fuller continued, "This morning, Kathleen mentioned your concern about Mrs. Fra
ncis' dog to him, and he thought he might have a way of setting your mind at rest."

Yesterday evening's discussion in the kitchen about what might have happened to Gordie had gone on for some time, with no resolution. Mrs. O'Rourke had been of the opinion that Ba
rbara had heard another dog and that Gordie was happily traveling with his mistress. Kathleen, who had developed a strong antipathy to Mr. Francis from her friend Georgeanne, asserted her belief that he had taken advantage of his wife's absence to give the dog away.

She had said, “Georgeanne told me that when she is in the back yard, hanging the laundry, she's heard him yell at the dog something terrible. Can you imagine? His poor wife will come back, and that blackguard will say, ‘Oh, my dear, somehow your poor dog got out. I promise I looked every where for him!’”

Mrs. Fuller had held her own council until she had finally turned to Barbara and said, "Mrs. Hewitt, do you think he harmed Gordie? Is that why you are so upset?"

When she had said those blunt words, Barbara had realized that was exactly what she thought. She had said, "I just can't get the image out of my mind of Mr. Francis striking the dog in anger, perhaps killing him accidentally, and burying him under his new sidewalk."

She had gone on to tell them about how she had noticed last Thursday that a stack of bricks and a pile of sand that had been sitting in the Francis' back yard for a month was gone. Instead, there was a new brick walkway from the back door to around the side of the house.

"At the time, I thought how odd of Mr. Francis to do this work when it was so hot. But then later, after I thought of how upset Dandy was, sitting in front of that new walkway and howling. Well, I just couldn't help but think that poor little Gordie might be buried under those bricks."

Barbara remembered the look of horror on everyone's face when she had confessed her fear. However, after much more discussion, no one could think of how to determine if it was true. Yet here was Mrs. Fuller, the very next day, telling her she had found a way to do so. Barbara stood up and shook hands with Mr. McGee, saying, "I am so pleased to meet you. You were so kind to help Jamie get the dog license for Dandy. I would be glad to hear your ideas about how to find out what happened to Mrs. Francis' little dog."

Mr. McGee nodded shyly and said, "You see, Ma'am, when Kathleen, I mean Miss Henne
ssey, told me about your worrying about the neighbor's dog, I thought of my sergeant, Mr. Thompson. He has this old bloodhound that he swears can find a dead body, no matter how well hidden. There was this case some years ago, a robbery, and the two villains got off with the whole Central Pacific payroll. They took a guard with them, and it were Mr. Thompson's hound that found the man. Unfortunately, he'd been killed and buried out in the mountains, but at least his family had the satisfaction of knowing what became of him. So I got to thinking that if he could find a buried man, he should certainly be able to find a buried dog. Plus, Mr. Thompson is terrible fond of animals, can't stand the idea of them being hurt. He's instructed us patrolmen to look out for this on our rounds. Says there's a law on the books that makes it a crime to ‘willfully hurt, maim, or kill an animal.’"

Mrs. Fuller interjected, "Mrs. Hewitt, do you think Patrick should talk to the sergeant? I felt you should decide." Pausing briefly, she then continued. "There might be some unpleasantness if Mr. Francis suspected you were involved. We could just wait until Mrs. Francis comes back home. If she has the dog with her, that would be the end of it. If not, you might be able to speak to her about your fears."

Barbara felt a rise of panic, thinking,
I don't want to be involved. What if Mr. Francis did find out? I don't want him angry with me or Jamie. He might do something. Even if I am wrong, how would I ever be able to befriend Mrs. Francis if she comes back?

"If she comes back," Barbara murmured. Suddenly, she realized that as long as she suspected that Mr. Francis was capable of killing Gordie, she wouldn't feel safe living across the alley from him. She had to know, one way or the other.

*****

The next day, the heat wave finally broke. As she walked home from Girls High, Barbara welcomed the cool wisps of fog that caressed her cheeks and clung to her hair. She didn't even mind that the shawl she had taken with her in the morning no longer was adequate to keep her warm. This is what September should feel like. Her pleasant mood dissolved when she entered the front hallway of the boarding house and found Kathleen waiting for her to convey Mrs. Fuller's request that she step into the small parlor where Madam Sibyl met her clients.

"What is it? Jamie, is he all right?" she cried.

"Oh, Ma'am, I didn't mean to frighten you. The lad is just fine, down in the kitchen stuffing himself with ginger snaps. Now please, Mrs. Fuller is waiting."

Later, Barbara would remember being charmed by her first impression of the small parlor. Unlike the larger formal parlor across the hall, this room had wood wainscoting and built in bookcases that held numerous objects. A fire burned in the grate, and Mrs. Fuller was sitting b
ehind a small table with a rich green velvet table cloth, and she motioned to an armchair next to the table, saying, "Please, Mrs. Hewitt, do sit down and let me pour you a cup of tea. This change in the weather has been so rapid that I have found myself chilled. I wanted to show you something that I thought you might want to digest before seeing Jamie. It’s rather sad, and I didn't think you would want to distress him. Here, do read this article on the first page."

Barbara took the paper and sat down in the chair, vaguely aware that Mrs. Fuller was pou
ring the tea into two cups, and she began to read.