“They’re sending her directly to rehab at the Ford
Madox Ford Center on the Eastside. According to Vito,
she’ll be there at least a couple of months. Maybe this
time the cure will take.”
As Joe tended the stove, Judith peeked over the
swinging doors that led into the dining room. The conversation seemed lighthearted. Maybe the movie people had put their differences aside now that they were
leaving what they considered a fogbound backwater.
Everyone was there. Everyone except Winifred.
Winifred Best seemed to be the least likely of the
guests to sleep in. A wave of apprehension came over
Judith as she started for the back stairs.
The phone rang. Judith grabbed it from its cradle,
hoping that Dilys Oaks was calling with good news for
Joe. Instead, it was Phyliss Rackley, calling with bad
news for Judith.
“I can’t breathe,” Phyliss announced in a voice that
was anything but short of wind. “I must have tuberculosis. Where’s the nearest sanitorium?”
“They don’t send people there for TB anymore,
Phyliss,” Judith asserted. “They can cure it with antibiotics. Call your doctor.”
“I can’t,” Phyliss replied, then coughed with what
sounded like feigned effort. “I’m fading fast. I need an
iron lung.”
“That’s for polio,” Judith said crossly. “Are you
telling me you won’t be here today?”
“How can I?” Phyliss asked, forlorn. “The Lord is
coming for me. I saw Him this morning in my closet.”
“Tell the Lord to come out of the closet and put you
on the bus to Hillside Manor,” Judith huffed. “I’ve got
a big mess here today, and I’m worn out. Furthermore,
it’s All Saints’ Day and I have to go to noon Mass.”
“You and your Roman rituals,” Phyliss complained.
“What kind of sacrifice do you make this time? A gopher?”
Judith refused to waste time discussing the sacrifice
of the Mass to Phyliss. She’d already explained it on at
least a dozen occasions. “I really need you, Phyliss. Do
you think you could make it by noon? The fog’s supposed to lift by then.”
“Well . . .” Phyliss seemed to consider the request.
“I’ll see. Maybe the Lord can work a miracle cure.”
She coughed some more for effect. “Kaff, kaff.”
Hanging up, Judith continued on her way upstairs,
then went the length of the hall to Room One, which
Winifred had shared the previous night with Ellie Linn.
Knocking gently at first, she got no response. She
rapped harder. Still no reply. She was about to hammer
on the door when she decided simply to open it.
