“ One nation indivisible.”
Indivisible, was that like, till death do us part? Because if it was, then the nation was in trouble. But something did die when he opened that door. Her respect for him. And she couldn’t love a man she didn’t respect. But this morning, looking down at his beautiful face while he slept, and he was beautiful, handsome didn’t describe him, she wavered. She’d thought with time she could gain that love back. She could make him be a better man than he was.
“ Under God.”
She’d resolved to make her new marriage work, and got out of bed to make the morning tea. She’d always liked coffee, one of the many things she’d given up to please him, but she’d learned to appreciate a good cup of tea with milk. She was dipping the tea bag for the fifth and final time, he liked his tea just so, when he came into the kitchen wearing his jogging sweats.
“ Morning,” she had said.
“ It was your fault,” he’d said. His blue eyes were hard, his square jaw was set.
“ I don’t understand?” She’d said, searching for some softness in his face.
“ I told you we shouldn’t have stopped,” he’d said.
“ With liberty and justice for all.”
“ It’s over,” she had said, gaining back the precious liberty she had surrendered to him when she obviously should have know better.
“ What about my Volvo?” was his only response.
“ You can report it stolen tomorrow,” she’d said, giving John Coffee an extra day to do what he had to do.
“ Easy for you to say, you still have your car.”
“ It’s not my fault.”
“ What if I want to call the police now, today?”
“ I think he’d probably come for you,” she’d lied.
“ Yeah, well, if you think it’s best, I’ll call the police and the insurance tomorrow.”
“ I do.”
“ Have it your way,” he’d said, going out the door.
She was packed and gone before he’d returned.
“ Miss Sadler,” it was Carolina’s voice, she looked up. “The pledge is over.”
“ Sorry, I had my mind somewhere else.” She smiled, but it wasn’t a happy smile. “I have some news for you,” she said. “I’ve never lied to you. I think it’s important to always tell the truth.”
She was wringing her hands as she talked, glancing from student to student, trying to take them all in, but she was having a hard time this morning.
“ I’m getting a divorce.”
The class was whisper silent, even Brad Peters. People got divorced, sure. But not less than a week after they got married. Something must have happened. And they all wanted to know what. She had their attention like she’d never had it before.
“ I’ve got some good news and some bad news. I asked for my job back, but it’s already been taken.”
A few of the kids sighed, Arty and Carolina among them.
“ That’s the bad news. The good news is that I’ll be teaching at the junior high, next year, homeroom and social studies.”
Then Arty did something completely out of character, he started clapping. Carolina joined in followed by Lynda Bingham, then by another kid, then another, till the whole class was clapping, even Brad Peters.
“ Thank you class. She wiped the tears away and after the applause died down she took in the whole class with the special way she had and smiled. “There is one thing, though. The first person to call me Mrs. Chase gets an F for the semester, and in case you’re wondering, Mr. Peters, you have the lowest grade in my book and it’s a C.”
“ Alright,” Brad said. “Thank you Miss Sadler.”
“ I’ll only be with you till noon today, then Miss Weber will take over for the rest of the week, while I take care of some personal business, but don’t panic and don’t despair,” she said with a little laugh, “I’ll be back first thing next Monday morning as usual and I’ll remain till the end of the term.” She smiled and looked over her class.
“ Now, for today’s first lesson,” she said, sounding like her old self. And she felt like her old self. Her life wasn’t over, it was just beginning.
During the course of the morning she studied Carolina, but the girl was behaving as she always did. She was alert, attentive and eager, a delightful child. She certainly showed no sign of any undue stress in her life. She wished she could ask her about the dark brooding man that was her father, but she didn’t want to be the bearer of sadness to the child.
As the morning wound down she found herself wondering if she was doing the right thing by taking the time off. But something strange had happened last night and she was determined to find out what it was and she wanted to know more about the man who called himself a thief.
Sarah wiped the sweat off her brow as she made her way to her yellow VW Beetle in the parking lot. She had changed in the teacher’s lounge and was wearing tight fitting Levi jeans and a loose fitting Levi jacket. She was warm, despite the overcast sky, and she walked with a brisk pace, her worn leather cowboy boots clicking on the pavement, her new hiking shoes and socks in the bag under her arm. She usually took a hike in the woods during lunch hour, but today she was just too depressed and the only thing that seemed to perk her up was thinking about the mysterious John Coffee.
There were only two places he could be staying. The Tampico Motel across the way, or the Pine Tree Motel by the highway. She didn’t think he’d be staying in town, not with Miles’ Volvo. Besides he’d said he wanted to go out to the highway, so she figured he was out at the Pine Tree.
She unlocked the driver’s door and flicked one of the three bells she had safety pinned to the headliner. She liked the soft music they made on bumpy roads, quick turns and going in and out of driveways. Getting in, she reached over to the passenger side and flicked another, then she started the car and flicked the third. Three tinkling rings for good luck, a ritual she never started the car without.
She jingled out of the parking lot and thought about putting in a tape, but decided against it, instead deciding to roll down the window and listen to the sound of the surf as she drove along Across the Way Road toward Tampico. She drove straight through the town, not even thinking about Miles as she headed for Solitude River Road, that twisty, curvy road that sometimes followed the river to Highway 1.
She sat back and relaxed once she was clear of the town. She’d driven the road so many times that the car knew the way. She loved the drive through the forest. It was so quiet and peaceful. She felt like every tree was her friend, their branches, arms waving in the breeze. It was a rare occasion that she drove straight through. What took the average driver fifteen or twenty minutes usually took her an hour or more. She loved to stop and get out of the car and inhale the forest, but today she planned on making the drive in average time.
She was reliving the night before, telling herself that there had to be a logical explanation for the crazy things that had happened, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Something out of place. Something that didn’t belong among her tree friends. She glanced right, but it was gone.
Another day she might have stopped to investigate, but she was taking no foolish chances after last night. No more than the big one she was already taking. Last night John Coffee told her to leave town. She had ignored him, thinking he had to be over exaggerating, hoping he was over exaggerating.
Then she saw the wolf, standing by the side of the road as she came around a turn. Not threatening, just there. She was past it before she had time to be afraid, but she tensed her grip on the wheel and inched the accelerator down a bit, allowing the speed to climb from twenty-five to thirty-five, until she was far enough ahead of it so that it posed no danger to her.
She eased off the gas as she rounded another turn and saw it again. This time she felt a shiver and drove over to the left, on the wrong side of the road, to put as much distance between herself and it as she went past, and once again she put her foot down on the gas, only this time she put it to the floor.
A horn blared and she forgot the wolf as she jerked the wheel back to the right. The roar of the tanker’s horn,
