Donners Bend (5 page)

“How have you been?”
Marcelle
asked excitedly, “Have you found a job yet?”

“Yes, I’m working as a nanny for four little children.”

“My
God
,”
Marcelle
said as though she felt sorry for her friend, “Well, maybe you’ll find something better soon.”

“But I don’t want to find something better
. 
I love my new job.”

Marcelle
shrugged, “Suit yourself
, b
ut I wouldn’t be caught dead looking after a bunch of silly children all day.”

Ellie
didn’t comment further, though she strongly disagreed with
Marcelle
’s opinion.

“Here, let’s get your bags in out of the rain,” she said, changing the subject and taking one of
Marcelle’s
portmanteaus.

Marcelle
took the other and they walked into the warm house, which was being heated fairly well by the little fireplace
. 
Taking off her hat and jacket,
Marcelle
said with her voice full of pity, “So how often does it rain here?”

“Usually every other day
, t
omorrow will be sunny then, most likely.”

“My God,”
Marcelle
sighed
. 
She said ‘My God’ a lot,
Ellie
suddenly noticed
. 
Marcelle
went on, “If it rained every other day in
Hunter’s Ridge
, I think I’d get so disoriented and unsettled I’d just crack
. 
I’d go crazy; I swear I would.”

“
Then
it’s a good thing you didn’t move here, I guess.”

“That’s right
. 
It is a good thing
. 
I just don’t like the rain,”
Marcelle
said, leaning on the windowsill and gazing out at the pouring rain
. 
She just couldn’t stop complaining, “I don’t like it a t
’
all
. 
It’s wet and it ruins my hair and my dress
. 
And it’s really just depressing
. 
It really is
. 
Don’t you think it’s depressing,
Ellie
? 
Aren’t you getting depressed just looking at it,
Ellie
?”

Ellie
had to breathe in deeply to keep from screaming at her pestering “friend” and she stated as calmly as she could, “No, actually
. 
I usually even find the rain enjoyable
. 
It’s exciting when it thunders loudly during the night and I love hearing the pitter patter it makes on the roof and,” she paused, “It’s hard to explain why I like it, but I just do.”

Marcelle
raised her eyelids warily, “Well, I don’t like it
. 
It’s a nuisance
. 
It really is
. 
In my perfect world it would never rain
. 
Not ever.”

“Then how would the plants grow?”

Marcelle
shrugged, “I don’t know
. 
They’d find a way.”

“There is no way
. 
The earth needs rain
. 
It’s a fact.”

“Well, they’d find a way,”
Marcelle
repeated, her voice rising.

“We can’t even speak to one another anymore without disagreeing on every matter we bring up,”
Ellie
thought to herself, “Why am I even friends with
Marcelle
anymore
? 
It seems I can’t remember.”

Marcelle
sighed again before asking casually, “So, have you seen much of
Jon
since I left?”  

“No,”
Ellie
lied, “I mean, we say hi when passing on the street and everything and he stopped me once to ask if I’d had any problems with the plumbing since he’d left
, but
other than that, no.”

“Hmm
...
”
Marcelle
pondered, “Well, I’ll have to make some sort of plan so that I can see him again
. 
Do you have anything around here that needs work,
El
?”

“No,”
Ellie
answered, and that was the truth
. 
Every inch of that house worked perfectly now because every time
Jon
stopped by he found something else to fix.

“Well, I suppose we could just stop by that shop while he’s working.”

“Yes, we could.”

“Or maybe I should invite him to that dinner he promised.”

“Maybe
...
”

A long silence followed
. 
Neither spoke a word, though
Marcelle
sighed a few times
. 
Her mind was swir
ling
with new plans on how to catch
Jon
and reel him in like a fish till he was as infatuated with her as every other man she tried to seduce was
. 
Ellie
on the other hand, pondered on her and
Marcelle’s
friendship
. 
She hadn’t even been happy when
Marcelle
arrived
. 
Something was wrong with their relationship; something needed to change.

The rain went on continuously, pitter-pattering on the roof and on the steps of the front porch
. 
Every so often the wind would blow furiously and they’d hear the branches of a tree brushing up against the windows
. 
And then, they heard something else
. 
Ellie
recognized it instantly.

A horse was sprinting up the lane: a big golden brown horse with a black mane
. 
Its name was Penny
. 
Marcelle
looked up at
Ellie
curiously as they heard the horse’s rider tie her up to the front porch and knock on the front door,
calling
, “Hey Ma
e
, it’s me,
Johnny
! 
Open up!”

Marcelle
whose
usually beautiful eyes
, quickly
filled with malice as she realized it was
Jon
and looked at
Ellie
accusingly
. 

“He calls you Ma
e
now?”
Marcelle
whispered madly, “I thought you said you rarely spoke to him
. 
And you call him
Johnny
? 
Did you lie to me,
Ellie
? 
My God, I can’t believe I believed you.”

“We’re only friends,”
Ellie
promised.

“So you want him too now
? 
Is that it
? 
Well you’ve got another thing coming if you think I’m giving up that easily
. 
He’s mine,
Ellie
. 
Let me tell you now, and you better believe it: he’s mine
. 
Don’t even try.”

As they spoke they walked to the door and lowered their voices till they could barely be heard
. 
Ellie
didn’t answer that last comment.

“Let the games begin,”
Marcelle
whispered as
Ellie
opened the front door.

Jon
stood there, soaking wet, with a huge bright smile upon his face
, oblivious to their heated conversation
. 
His white-blond hair fell into his eyes and when he saw the two ladies he tipped his tweed newsboy cap and said, “Why hello, Ma
e
, Miss
Marcelle.
 
It’s nice to see you again
. 
Did you just arrive?”

“I did.”

“Come in,”
Ellie
said graciously, letting him in, and closing the door.

While
Jon
set his coat and hat on the coat hanger and
Ellie
went to get him a towel to dry off with,
Marcelle
took
Ellie
’s absence as her cue to question
Jon
a little.

“Why whatever are you doing here,
Jon
?”

“Just thought I’d stop in for a little visit with Ma
e
,
I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Well, I hope you’re not disappointed about that,” she said as she fluttered her eyelashes and touched his shoulder playfully.

“No, of course not,” he replied uncomfortably as he moved slightly away
. 

“Your arrival was certainly a surprise.”

“Yeah, I suppose it was,” he said, running his hand through his hair, “But I like surprises, don’t you?”

“Of course,” she nodded
. 
Then she asked, “Do you stop by and see
Ellie
often?”

He shrugged, “Yes, I suppose so
,
f
airly often.”

“And what exactly do you do when you’re here?”

Jon
shrugged again, “
Umm
...
Well we talk
. 
We play checker and cards- I’m teaching her how
. 
Sometimes I stay for dinner
. 
And I’ve made sure her house is in tip-top shape too.”

“Is that so?”
Marcelle
said, crossing her arms, “You know what
? 
Ellie
is taking an awful long time to get those towels
. 
Maybe I should go give her a hand.”

Jon
nodded, “You do that.”

Marcelle
stormed to the back of the house and confronted
Ellie
in the bathroom, where
Ellie
had been searching for the towels that she seemed to have misplaced
. 
It was hard to keep her voice down when she wanted desperately to scream, but
Marcelle
managed to show the anger in her
voice without yelling
.

“Well, I understand now why nothing in your house needs fixing!” she stated madly, “It’s because you’ve invited
Jon
over every day since I’ve been gone and he’s fixed everything already
! 
I can’t believe you lied to me like that!”

“I only did it because I knew you’d just get mad if I told you,”
Ellie
defended.

Marcelle
rolled her eyes, “My God, I can’t believe I listened to those blatant lies about how you rarely spoke to
Jon
after I left
! 
You’ve talked for hours with him, and played cards, and checkers, and you even invited him over for dinner a few times for God’s sake!”