Part 14 (1/2)

She scurried out of the room with mousy steps.

”I hope she will work out,” Tony muttered after her. ”Got her on rather quick notice from a new agency.”

”She seems very nice, Tony.”

”We'll see.”

”I'd better be going,” Drake said. ”I'll come by again in a day or so, Annie. Is there anything I can bring you?”

”There are things back at Winnerow that I want, Drake. When are you going to make a trip there?”

”Not for a while, Annie, but I suppose we could send for them.” He looked to Tony for confirmation.

”Of course.”

”I can just call Aunt f.a.n.n.y, too. I'm sure she's going to want to come out to see me.”

”I'm sure Drake can get away for a day,” Tony decided. ”It's important enough.”

”Make a list, Annie, and Ill pick it up when I return.”

”Thank you; Drake.”

”See you soon.” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and hurried out of the room.

Tony stood there gazing down at me. Suddenly the expression on his face changed. His blue eyes brightened and his face lifted as though he had just come upon something he thought he had lost. There was a strange look in his eyes as he turned toward the windows.

”Well now, we can open these curtains. The sky has cleared and it's a magnificent day.” He pulled open the curtains at d looked down. ”Flowers are in bloom everywhere. I'm going to have that pool filled tomorrow. I know how you like to swim.”

”Swim?” Who told him I liked to swim, I wondered, and how could he fill that pool tomorrow? It looked like it needed a lot of repair work.

”I'll have to see about Scuttles, too. I know as the days get warmer you're going to want to ride that pony.”

”Scuttles? What a funny name for a horse. You really think the doctors will let me get on a horse, Tony?” He didn't reply. He continued to stare down. ”Tony?”

He turned around as if he had just realized I was there.

”Oh. Lost myself in a daydream. So, I'll tell Mrs. Broadfield to get started,” he said. He slapped his hands together and then started out of the room.

Shortly after, Mrs. Broadfield came in and took me through some therapeutic exercises and gave me a leg ma.s.sage. Even though my legs were lifted and turned this way and that, I felt nothing, no pain, no aches, just as Dr. Malisoff had predicted. There was only a slight sensation over my toes, but perhaps even that was in my imagination.

”I see your fingers there, but I don't feel them, Mrs. Broadfield.” She nodded and worked on as though I were a piece of clay she was molding.

After that she helped me into the wheelchair so I could sit up and wheel about while she prepared a hot bath. When she went into the bathroom, I wheeled myself to the window and looked down as Tony had.

Flowers in bloom? The flower beds were so overrun with weeds and gra.s.s, nothing dainty could compete. Maybe he meant he would do something about them now so there would be flowers in bloom. Just as he said, he must have been daydreaming, I thought. Scuttles . . . horseback riding. I shook my head. It was strange, almost as if Tony were living in another time and thought me to be someone else.

”Let me prepare you for your bath now, Annie,” Mrs. Broadfield said, coming up behind me. I was in such deep thought, her voice made me jump. She put her hand so softly on my shoulder, I quickly relaxed. She could be gentle when she wanted to be. ”Are you all right?”

”Yes, yes, I was just thinking. Mrs. Broadfield, do you think I could go horseback riding in the near future?”

”Horseback riding.” She laughed. I think it was the first time I had heard her do so. ”I'm just hoping you'll be able to get yourself in and out of this chair in the near future. Whoever put such a thought in your head?”

I stared up at her.

”No one,” I said.

”Well, I'm glad you're thinking positively. It helps.” She wheeled me into the bathroom and helped me strip off my nightgown. Then she guided me into the hot tub. At the hospital, doctors, nurses and Mrs. Toadfield poked and explored my body and I had no selfsconsciousness about it. Modesty seemed ridiculous and out of place. Who cared who saw me naked? I was more like a dead person.

But now, stronger, more aware of myself, I did blush. Not since I was a very little girl had anyone helped me bathe. Mrs. Broadfield held me under my arms as I lowered myself into the hot water.

”It's so hot.”

”It has to be that way, Annie.”

When I was settled securely, she released her grip but kept her hands on my shoulders. Under the hot, bubbling water, my legs looked leaden. I still couldn't feel them at all. Her strong fingers, made muscular by hours and hours of ma.s.saging and lifting patients, kneaded my small shoulders and the back of my neck.

”Just relax,” she said. ”Close your eyes and relax.”

I did what she said and leaned back. Steamy vapor filled my lungs, misted the air so Mrs. Broadfield and I seemed miles and miles away. I drifted into a dreamy land where soft music played. I felt drunk from lack of energy. I heard her dip a washcloth into the bubbling water and then felt her bring it to my arms.

”I can do that.”

”Just relax. It's what Mr. Tatterton has hired me to do.”

It was difficult for me to relax while someone else scrubbed my body. She moved the soft cloth slowly over and under my arms. She washed my neck and shoulders and had me lean forward so she could wash most of my back.

”Doesn't this feel good, Annie?”

I simply nodded, keeping my eyes closed. It was easier for me that way. Whenever I opened them, I saw Mrs. Broadfield bent over the hot tub, her face tight and intense, like a skilled technician worried about detail.

”You have a nice, firm young body, Annie. Strong. You're going to recuperate, if you cooperate and follow the therapy.”

The hot steam drew beads of water in lines across her forehead and over her puffy cheeks. They looked like tiny pearls. Her face was very flushed, almost as red as someone who had fallen asleep in the hot sunlight.

She dipped her arms as deeply into the water as she could to reach my legs and thighs, was.h.i.+ng and ma.s.saging. Finally she sat back, looking short of breath. She saw how I gazed quizzically at her and she quickly rose to her feet to wipe her forearms.

”Just sit there and soak for a while longer,” she said, and went into the bedroom.

I did all that I could to help a.s.sist her in lifting me out of the tub. I wiped down my upper body while she wiped my feet and legs. Then she helped me into a new nightgown and brought me back to the bed. I wanted to remain in the wheelchair, even though the hot bath had tired me out.

”Just for a short while,” she said. ”I'll be back and help you into bed so you can take a brief nap before dinner.”

I waited until she left the room and then I wheeled myself to the window. The afternoon sun had fallen far enough below the great house so that the building now cast a long, dark shadow over the grounds and the maze. Still, it looked warm outside.

I had come to the window because I wanted to look again at the Tatterton family cemetery. I hadn't been there yet, but just seeing my parents' monument would make me feel closer to them, I thought.