Morning arrived in a blink. Wafts of coffee and baking bread seeped through the bleariness. For a moment, Ellis was back in his parents’ home, waking to the scent of his mother’s rolls.
Since their disastrous outing a week prior, he hadn’t reached out to his folks. It wasn’t for lack of courage; he just didn’t know what to say. Other than act like it never happened, or apologize and shoulder the blame. Either route was standard when dealing with his father. But honestly, Ellis was just too tired to slap another bandage over the festering reality of the man’s disapproval.
Besides, how could he ask for any level of respect until the mystery of the Dillards was put to rest?
A pair of small eyes peeked from the hallway, drawing Ellis back to his actual surroundings. “Heya, Samuel,” he whispered, not wanting to wake anyone, and got a wave in return.
The kid had been a surprise, no question about it. But so much more about Lily became clear. Ellis had long ago seen how smart and skilled she was at her job. Now he had a sense of her bravery too.
Sitting up, he stretched his back. After years of the rickety bed in Philly, a cushioned sofa was pretty darn comfortable, though it had still taken half the night to catch some shut-eye. “Any idea of the time?”
Samuel shook his head.
Through an opening in the curtains, light from the overcast sky gave only a hint to the hour. Ellis’s pocket watch was stored in his suit jacket, slung over the rocking chair by the window. As he rose to retrieve it, Samuel approached. He presented a linen napkin tied into a wad, causing Ellis to cock his head.
“It’s a snail,” the boy explained proudly.
“Oh yeah. I see it. A real swell one too.”
A smile, lined with perfect baby teeth, bloomed on Samuel’s face. Then he scurried off, and the memory of another boy—Ruby’s brother—swung back at Ellis. The round face and large eyes, the thick lashes. The vision of Calvin fueled Ellis for the day’s mission.
In a flash, he threw on the rest of his clothes. Down the hall, he was surprised to find the family around the dining room table, already dressed and finishing breakfast. He assumed their low voices were intended to keep from disturbing their unplanned guest. But when he said “Good morning,” the discussion snapped off.
Lily returned the greeting, as did her mother, who brought him a plate of biscuits and fried ham. Ellis took a seat, not quite hungry after his full supper the night before. He dove in regardless. He was halfway done when Lily’s father spoke to him over the rim of his coffee mug.
“Family’s headed to mass soon. You attend mass on Sundays?”
Ellis swallowed a bite of bread, aware he was again being scrutinized. This time, he didn’t bother to get creative. “I was actually raised Protestant, sir, but I did grow up going to church.”
Silence gripped the room, confirming the man’s stance.
Lily interjected, “We really should set off soon, Mr. Reed…if we’re going to make a stop for work on the way back to Philly.”
Rising from the table, Ellis thanked the family, his cue to pack up undeniably welcome.
- • •
The majority of the drive passed without conversation. Not that Ellis minded. Lily, up early with her son, dozed through even the car’s rattling. With sun rays reaching through the clouds and warming her face, she couldn’t have looked more peaceful. It was the first time he’d seen her hair worn down over her shoulders—by daylight anyhow. In ladies’ trousers and a casual shirt beneath her coat, with barely a touch of makeup, she really was a natural looker.
It took a concerted effort to keep his eyes on the road.
At last they entered Chester County. They were closing in on the train depot closest to Laurel Township when jostling from a small pothole stirred Lily.
“This is it,” he told her. The station sat at the end of a road. He pulled over to park. Fields and gravel surrounded much of the area, with distant storefronts glimpsed over a hill.
Lily reclaimed her handbag from her side, shaking off the dust of sleep. A look of determination sharpened her eyes, and Ellis refocused on the goal.
“Let’s find some answers,” she said. When he nodded, they opened their doors.
- • •
Inside the train depot, flyers pinned to a corkboard fluttered from the door closing behind Lily and Ellis. The waiting room held four long benches, only one of them occupied. An older gentleman in a beige, plaid suit balanced a suitcase on his lap. His eyelids drooped on his gaunt face.
Ellis led the way to the ticket booth. The clerk, a bespectacled middle-aged woman, stood hunched over a book. She lifted her gaze to Ellis, appearing somewhat irked by the disturbance to her reading. “Where to?”
“Good morning, ma’am. I was hoping to find a man who works here. Mr. Gaines, I believe?”
“Gale,” she corrected.
“Mr. Gale—that’s the one.” Ellis was accustomed to imprinting names directly to memory, a vital skill at the paper, but the postman’s details had been clouded by circumstance. “Do you know if he’s around?”
The clerk appeared suspicious.
Lily chimed in brightly. “We just have a personal matter we hope Mr. Gale could help us with. I promise we won’t take up much of his time.”
The woman answered flatly, “Walt’s not scheduled on Sundays.” Then she sniffed and added, “But he does usually swing through to check in.”
“That’s great to hear,” Ellis said.
“That’s no guarantee.”
Ellis understood, but it was better than nothing. Pressing for the man’s home address would clearly prove fruitless. “Any clue when he might be by?”
The clerk sighed, bordering on a huff. “Next few hours maybe. I’m not Walt’s keeper.”
Lily replied, “That’s most helpful. We’ll gladly wait where we’ll be out of your hair.”
There was no need for Ellis to concur. The clerk’s attention had already dropped to her book.
Ellis and Lily receded to the closest bench, where he took a seat. She chose to stand, gripping her purse, her gaze diverted to her side of the room. Her sparse answers to his attempts at basic conversation made clear a wedge remained between them. She had come for a single reason.
Church bells rang in the distance as Ellis hung his fedora on his knee. He was mindlessly tapping the brim when Lily murmured something to herself, then marched back to the clerk. When she returned, her steps and speech were hurried. “The clerk thinks a wedding just let out. I figure the town pastor is bound to know about the goings-on in the community. If I can catch him, maybe he’ll be willing to share. Shall we meet here after?”
It made sense, about the pastor as well as to split up. They could cover more ground. “I’ll be waiting,” he barely said before she flew out the door.
Over the next hour, impatience growing, Ellis endured the snores of the gentleman on the next bench, remarkably still seated upright. A train passed through without stopping before a teenage girl entered to purchase a ticket. She boarded the next train, as did a couple leaving for their honeymoon. The groom elatedly announced this to the clerk, prompting a muttering of condolences.
Each swing of the entry door caused Ellis to straighten, only to sink back into his bench, until a tall, lanky man arrived in a flat cap and unbuttoned jacket. He ambled toward the ticket booth, all knees and elbows. In greeting, the clerk’s mouth stretched into something resembling a smile. But it just as soon flattened when, in discussion, she pointed Ellis’s way.
Ellis scrambled to his feet. “Mr. Gale?”
The man continued over with an inquisitive look. A lump of chewing tobacco bulged from his bottom lip. “Call me Walt.”
“Ellis.” They traded a handshake.
“What can I do for ya?”
Thankfully, Walt took no convincing at all to step outside and speak in private.
