A Most Unusual Passage
Copyright© 2026 by J&J
Chapter 29
Driving home, I should have been thinking about the meeting this evening. Instead my thoughts went back to this morning. I awoke to the wonderful smells of Martha’s cooking: bacon, coffee and all the other ingredients that make up a hearty country breakfast.
Thinking it was only Marcus and Martha, I threw on that flannel nightgown. Actually, I hadn’t slept in it, because it was too long, and unless it’s very cold, I prefer to sleep in the nude anyway. I suppose I should have at least brushed my hair, but those wonderful smells sent me hurrying towards the kitchen.
I popped through the doorway looking like Mother Hubbard and was mortified to be greeted by four faces; two were amused, and two were startled. I recognized George, and while slightly embarrassing, his presence wouldn’t have been enough to keep me from the food. The other face made me fervently wish for the floor to swallow me up, while making my heart skip a beat. Maybe not remarkably handsome, but it was a nice clean-lined face, open and friendly and set off with hair as black as night. And those bright blue eyes—oh yes, those eyes—they looked as though they could see right through to my soul.
When I returned to the kitchen looking, more presentable, I tried to be cool and casual, but in truth, I could hardly look into those blue eyes without catching my breath a little. When I found that he was planning to keep horses here at the Martel’s, I impulsively asked him for lessons. It was so perfect, since I did, in fact, want to learn horseback riding. But the truth was that if he had brought yaks, I would have developed a sudden interest in yak farming. I froze waiting his answer. A “no” would have been so humiliating.
He answered “yes,” but so matter-of-factly that I couldn’t tell if it was “yes, I want to get to know you better,” or simply “yes, I’ll teach you to ride.” The blue eyes gave nothing away. How could a face be so honest and open and yet so enigmatic too? I’m not used to being at such a disadvantage and at the same time so fascinated.
But this was not the day to get lost in those blue eyes; I reminded myself then and yet again as I drove into town.
I made a quick stop at the restaurant, in order to take Hazel aside and explain Barney’s suspicions. Her eyes lit up at the challenge.
“I should have though of that,” Hazel said. “I never liked that bitch, and Everett’s been weird since the day they married. I’ll call Fancy, and we’ll get to work.”
“The question is, can you get any information on her? You only have a few hours.”
“Honey, you have hired Hazel and Fancy, gossip detectives extraordinaire. By the time you have that meeting, we’ll know the shoe size of the obstetrician who delivered her.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t ask how, should I?”
“Of course not,” Hazel laughed, “or then we’d have to eliminate you as well. Now get out of here, so we can get to work.”
After such an eventful morning and the excitement planned for the evening, it seemed odd that there was nothing much to do in the middle of the day. Today being a Saturday, with time on my hands, I did the usual laundry, housework and grocery shopping. Then in the afternoon, I curled up with a good book.
The phone rang; it was Harley.
“Elizabeth, how are you? I miss your smiling presence around here so much; I’d like to grab you for a day and run up to the mountains. I’m off Sunday. Can I tempt you?”
“It sounds great, but the catch is, I can’t tell you whether I’ll be celebrating or crying in my beer.” I briefly brought him up to speed on the situation.
“Well I’m ready to take my chances either way, so let’s make it a date. The mountains and I can either heal you or share your joy.”
I laughed. “Well, who am I to ignore the doctor’s orders.”
We worked out the details, and I hung up and catnapped for a few hours. I noticed that my dream cowboy now had acquired the most striking blue eyes.
I picked up Marcus around 5:30, to make sure we would get to Barney’s in plenty of time. He was still wearing the neck brace, and driving was uncomfortable for him. It also gave us one last chance to compare notes.
“Did you actually take Harold’s suggestion and sic Hazel and Fancy on Everett’s wife?” Marcus asked, in a tone that suggested he didn’t think I had.
“You’re damn straight I did,” I replied. “And you should have seen Hazel. She was beside herself and said she would know her better than her own mother by this time of day.”
“Damned waste of time,” snorted Marcus. “I think Harold is barking up the wrong tree with that idea. What’s he expect to find, other than she probably wants more money. But hell’s bells, if you went around firing every man who was pressured by his wife to get a fatter pay check, there wouldn’t be anyone...”
Marcus stopped abruptly in mid-sentence, when he remembered whom he was talking to. I just stared straight ahead and said nothing, leaving him twisting in the wind. Inside, I was biting my lip to keep from laughing at his obvious discomfort.
“Ah ... I’m sorry, Elizabeth; that must have sounded a bit chauvinistic,” he stammered.
“It did a bit,” but then I laughed. “I’m afraid there’s also some truth to it. Perhaps it will be less so when women finally get equal opportunities and equal pay.”
“Touché, Elizabeth,” Marcus conceded. “Of course, the lady in question, Mavis Miller, has never done an honest day’s work in her life; at least not in any profession listed in the Yellow Pages. She’s on her fourth or fifth marriage, each one less capable of keeping her in the manner she would choose to become accustomed to, as age and alcohol have plundered her one stock in trade. Her first husband was one of richest men in Denver, and she could have lived very well indeed.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“Same as all her other marriages; she was careless enough to be caught in bed with another man ... or was it a woman. I forget, because Mavis has always been pretty much of an equal opportunity gal.”
“So she’s gone from the richest man in Denver to Everett Miller?” I asked incredulously,
“Yeah, it’s got to be about as far as you can fall, and yet rumor says she’s cheating on him, too.”
“Does Everett know?” I asked.
“If he ever opened his eyes, he probably would, but he’s so smitten I don’t think he would see it, even if it happened with him in the bed.”
“I can’t help feeling almost sorry for him,” I said.
“Hold on, Elizabeth,” Marcus was now using his fatherly mentor voice. “Before you get swept up in all that female empathy, remember this. That man was preparing to get you fired from your job, and in such a way that it could have jeopardized your professional career for years to come.”
That woke me up like a bucket of cold water in the face. “You are right, Marcus; thanks for reminding me. He started this fight, but before he leaves tonight, he will wish he had never picked on a Charleston Manigault.”
As we reached the long driveway to Barney’s house, we had to wait for a car heading out. It was Hazel and Fancy, both grinning like Cheshire cats. They waved happily, gave a thumbs up and were on their way,
“What the hell were they doing here?” asked Marcus.
“Obviously, they did find out something,” I replied smugly. “It must’ve been important enough to report directly to Barney.”
“Well, whatever it is,” Marcus replied, “I’ll bet you won’t get a word out of Barney. He’ll want to play this one close to the vest.”
We got to the house, and Barney had us take a seat in his large living room. Several members of the school board were already present. Others arrived over the next few minutes. Many of the board members were puzzled, having no idea why the special meeting had been called. Barney sat at the front of the room and discouraged conversation. One of the last to arrive was Everett Miller. He entered the room with a puzzled look, which was replaced by consternation when he spied me sitting there.
As soon as all the board members were present, Barney wasted no time calling the meeting to order.
“I apologize for interrupting your weekend with this special meeting, but I felt under the circumstances, it was necessary. This last week, we have had an exchange of serious allegations between a member of our board and our new principal. As you are aware, Elizabeth Manigault, who was not slated to take over until next fall, had to step in when Marcus suffered a serious accident. It was during this period that the incidents in question occurred.
“I don’t feel it’s healthy to leave such allegations unanswered, so I propose to deal with them this evening. The first incident occurred on the very first day that Marcus was out. As I understand it, Everett Miller claimed that a book contract needed to be signed immediately and produced a letter signed by Principal Martel to that effect. He alleges that she refused to cooperate and in fact was almost insulting to him.
“Everett, in a nutshell, are those more or less the facts?”
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