Outrunning Villainy

Chapter 1: Myrtle's Man

                   Outrunning Villainy





         a novel by Allen Buice





Chapter 1: Myrtle’s Man





         Andrew stood in the kitchen stirring a pot of vegetable soup for dinner that evening. It was a typical Friday gathering at his house. It amazed him how quickly he’d settled into and become a part of the natural rhythms of the town and his neighborhood. He’d met several of his neighbors besides Myrtle, Dora, and Engrid. They kept things lively, but he was surprised by the wide variety of people that populated Maple Avenue. The aroma of the soup was tantalizing as he gazed out on the autumnal landscape of Deerfield. It was well into October and the fall foliage had finally made it all the way down south. It began in northern New England in September and then day by day made its way down the Appalachian Mountain range through the Virginias and the North Carolina until it reached the western fringe of South Carolina. Being evergreens, the endless pine forests of South Carolina took away a lot of the color that normally would be associated with autumn, but Maple Avenue got its name from the rows of maple trees that lined the streets. The town also boasted hundreds of oaks, sycamores and other trees that glow brilliant colors come October.


         Andrew heard the front door open.


         “Is that you sweetie?”


         “Yes.” Evan called out. “I’m back with the groceries you wanted.”


         Andrew turned. Evan was just as radiant as the day he fell in love. He was muscular and strong, yet sensitive and caring. Andrew was still awestruck that he and Evan had fallen so much in love. Even more astonishing was how their love and relationship had been accepted locally. Neither imagined that a little town in the middle of the south would be so open-minded about such a thing. The secret leaked out because of the dare Andrew took at work when the girls pried it out of him who he’d been on a date with. They were surprised and amused. Andrew feared the rest of the townsfolk would show up on his doorstep with torches and pitchforks. But nothing of the sort had happened. They even attended the fall festival together last weekend and no one said anything and no one even gave them strange looks. They didn’t hold hands or show PDA or anything, which probably helped. Dora and Engrid helped with that. They were both respected elders in the town, so their acceptance helped the rest of the town stay at ease too. If Dora and Engrid said it was alright, then it must be fine.


         The four of them live in three large, rambling two story houses right in a row on Maple Ave, in the little town of Deerfield, South Carolina. All four houses had porches that ran the length of the house, with large maple trees lined up in the front yard. Their homes were quite old- having been built in the late 18 early 1900’s which suited the neighborhood. Most of the people in those big, old homes seemed to be as old as the structures themselves. Except of course for Andrew and Evan, two gay men in their late 20’s who happened to fall in love in such an unlikely place as Deerfield. Their home was once that of Rose, an elderly widow who died suddenly shortly before Andrew moved in. Andrew had been raised by his uncle in the military and had traveled all over the world, all the while dreaming of a quiet life of familiarity and security. Evan had been raised as Engrid’s neighbor by his widowed mother, Myrtle. Evan and Andrew’s house was a very light, almost faded yellow and had a very similar shape to Engrid’s and Dora’s, broad front porch, two stories with fieldstone steps that opened down to a gravel pathway that led to the driveway. Engrid’s house was the same except blue with white storm doors. Dora’s house was the most unique since it was constructed as a farmhouse back before any of the others existed. It also had a long porch, but it also had a turret at the top where Confederate soldiers had kept watch back in the Civil War days. Her house also served as a hospital for injured soldiers and others in the community. Dora’s house had stood alone on a hill for almost 80 years before the others were constructed.


         Andrew caught sight of Engrid walking towards the house carrying a large serving tray filled with squares of corn bread to go with the soup he was making. The recipe came from one of Engrid’s oldest cookbooks that dated back to the late 1800’s. She had penciled in alternative cooking instructions because the book was written for using a wood stove. No one had used wood cook stoves in ages, so she updated it for cooking on gas or electric ranges.


         Evan opened the door for her and she stepped over the threshold.


         “Evan, I’ve got a question for you.”


         They walked side by side towards the kitchen, the aroma of the soup and cornbread permeating the air.


         “What’s that?”


         “Well, I saw a car parked out front of your mother’s house yesterday. It’s the same car that I’ve seen several times since the Fall Festival last weekend.”


         “Okay. What’s wrong with that?”


         “Nothing in particular, I suppose. Well, you don’t think that maybe…she’s…I don’t know.”


         “Do you think Evan’s mom has a boyfriend?” Andrew asked, turning his attention from the red bubbling liquid in the large pot.


         Engrid feigned surprised, as if she hadn’t been thinking the same thing the whole time. A slight upward curl at the edges of her mouth gave her away.


         “Well, I don’t know. It’s not for me to say. He was quite young. I mean, Myrtle’s not that old, but he was…well not much older than you two.”


         “She was with us at the festival. I don’t remember her talking to anyone out of the ordinary. You don’t recognize the car?”


         “No. I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I just can’t place it. It was a cute little green car. I think I would have recognized it if it were from around here.” She plopped the tray of corn bread squares on the table and dusted her hands off, even though they weren’t dirty.


         Andrew returned his attention to the soup pot but kept talking, “What if she is? I think that’s great. It’s important to have someone special in your life.”


         “Great?” Engrid seemed shocked. “She hasn’t been seeing anyone since Evan’s father died, Lord rest his soul. And this guy, why he’s not much older than you and Evan.”


         “Well, her husband passed away, she’s got her life still to live. I don’t see anything wrong with Myrtle dating again.”


         “So?”


         “Maybe you should get a man too.” Andrew twinkled mischievously.


         “Me? Oh no, that’s completely out of the question.”


         “It’s the in thing right now. Even I’ve got one. A nice young one!”


         Engrid couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Maybe. I could put out one of those personal ads, things. But I…I wouldn’t know what to say.”


         “What do you think, Evan?”


         “It seems weird, my mom dating someone.”


         “I guess it would be. But I meant Engrid taking out a personal advertisement.”


         “Yeah, maybe. I don’t even like to think of my parents as being intimate with each other, let alone with a total stranger.” Evan commented.


         “Well, I’m sure it’s just a phase. I guess even your mom has needs.” Engrid stated matter-of-factly. Noting the shocked gazes, “Well, it’s true. Women do have those things you know. It’s not just men.”


         “And not just hot flashes.”


         “Oh goodness, the last time I had a hot flash, the AMC Pacer was a concept car.”


         “Hmm. I guess more mature women, like yourself, might also have those things.”


         “No, no. I’m from a generation before that. In our generation, once your husband died, that was it. The…well….the….sexual….part of your life is over.”


         “Really? People didn’t remarry back then?”


         “Oh heavens no! Well, I suppose people in Hollywood might, but where I’m from they didn’t. Marriage was a once in a lifetime thing.”


         “I guess people around here might still think that way.”


         “Yeah. Except I’m not from around here.”


         “What?”


         “I thought you were born here?”


         “No. I wasn’t born here.”


         “Where were you born?”


         “Guess.” She sat back in her chair and waited for their guesses.”


         “Can we ask you a couple of questions so we can make an informed guess?”


         “Sure. 5 questions.”


         Evan went first. “Is is a state that borders South Carolina?”


         “No.”


         Then Andrew, “Is it considered a southern state?”


         “No.”


         “Is is a Midwestern state?”


         “No.”


         “Is is a small state?”


         “No. It is the 10th largest state, I think.”


         “So, it has to be a western state.”


         “Yes it is. That’s all the questions you get to ask. What’s your guess?”


         They boys sat back pondering which big, western state little old Engrid was born in.


         Evan spoke first, “I’ve known you all these years and I always just assumed you were born here in South Carolina, it never in a million years occurred to me that you came from somewhere else. I can’t believe it never came up – all the stories you told me about your father and growing up in different lakes and your father studying how natural lakes formed.”


         “You are right about that, my father was a geologist with the United States Geological Survey and he studied lake formation. But not in South Carolina as you assumed.”


         Andrew piped up, “Where better to study lakes than Minnesota? Were you born in Minnesota?”


         “No. Excellent guess, but no. I would have said yes to the ‘Midwestern state’ question.”


         “I would say Florida, but that’s not a western state.”


         “Hmmm. What western state has a lot of lakes?” Evan asked aloud, “Andrew you’ve lived all over the place, what area is known for a lot of lakes?”


         “I don’t know. When I think of a lot of water, I think of Washington and Oregon. Engrid, were you born in Washington?”


         “Close. Oh so close, I was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The lakes I grew up swimming in were Upper and Lower Klamath Lakes. Lower Klamath Lake was just over the border into northern California.”


         “How did you end up here?”


         “Well, after I finished my college degree in teaching in 1941, I headed east. I took a teaching job among the Nez Perce Indians in northern Idaho. I taught high school geometry and math. I liked it there, but my God the winters were harsh. The snow would be several feet deep by the time the spring thaw would come. The wind would howl endlessly and the snow would sting your face like bullets. The school was in Lewiston, Idaho and so that’s where I lived. I had a room at a boarding house with 5 other teachers from the reservation. Back then, teachers didn’t make enough to live alone, so most of them lived either at home with their parents or in the boarding house until they married. I had never been particularly interested in boys. My sister Ruth was boy crazy. She was always dating someone or other. But I never really was interested. So, I quietly lived and worked with the Nez Perce people for 5 years before my life changed forever. It was the summer of 1946. World War II ended about a year before then. There was a little soda shop in Lewiston where I was sitting eating a bowl of ice cream when the most beautiful man I’d ever seen stepped up to my table and asked if he could buy me a soda to go with my ice cream.”


         The boys sat rapt in her story. They were so surprised to find out that Engrid came from a very different place than either of them had imagined.


         “I was so surprised that I just gawked at him for a minute. His smile, oh I remember that smile. I managed to say yes to the soda. He asked what I wanted, I told him, and he came back a moment later with a large icy Coca Cola. He asked if he could sit. I said yes. We started talking and pretty soon hours had gone by and the soda shop was about to close. Turns out he was an army man from South Carolina that was stationed at an army base not far from town. He had just finished his time there and was honorably discharged.”


         “That’s amazing!” Evan exclaimed. “That’s such a cool story.”


         “So what happened after that?” Andrew asked, sitting down and starting to cut up onions to put in the soup.


         “Well, he decided to stay in Lewiston so I called another boarding house I knew in town and he took a room there. It was about three blocks from where I was living. We saw each other every day and started to get very close to one another. That Christmas he drove me down to Klamath Falls in his old 1935 Ford Model 48 to visit my family. It was the most incredible road trip we ever took. We drove down through the grasslands and mountains of Idaho and southeastern Washington and then through the deserts of eastern Oregon until we got back to Klamath Falls. We spent Christmas there with my family and two days before Christmas, he asked me to marry him. I will never forget that day. It seems hard to believe it’s been over 60 years ago.”


         Engrid closed her eyes, imagining the scene once again in her mind’s eye, “Our house overlooked Aspen Lake with the butte in the distance on the far shore. There was a light snow falling among the tall pine trees. We were sitting on the porch swing overlooking the water. We were bundled up in a blanket because it was quite chilly. The winters in that part of Oregon aren’t bad, especially compared to northern Idaho. I have never been as happy as I was that night. After I finished crying, I rushed in the house and told my parents what had happened. As was the custom, he’d asked them first so they knew it was coming. But they acted surprised anyway. It was such a happy time.”


         “So when did you move to South Carolina?”


         “That summer. He should have known better than to do that to me. He asked me to move back to South Carolina over the summer after the school session had ended. I was so giddy that I said yes. We had the ceremony at my parents’ house on the shore of Lake Aspen that June. Before the wedding, we pulled up stakes in Lewiston. Packed up our clothes and books and left the rest. Once the ceremony was over, we honeymooned in Coos Bay, which is on the Pacific Coast. Then, we had everything loaded up into his old car and began the seemingly endless journey to this little hamlet. The day we arrived, I learned what the term ‘heat index’ meant. Good God in Heaven I thought I would die. Oh how I hated this place. I begged George to take me back to Oregon. I would go visit my family and it would take all my willpower, love and commitment to George to get back in that car or on that train or back in that airplane to come back here.”


         “After George died, why did you stay?”


         “I really don’t know. I guess because my kids live around here and by the time they dispersed so far and wide, I was too old to pull up and move so far away. So, I stayed.”


         “That’s incredible. I guess you learned to like it here.”


         “I suppose.” Engrid fell silent, hoping for a change of topic.


         “So,” Andrew said, “I’m still curious about what Myrtle has been up to.”


         “So am I!” Engrid said, sitting up in her chair excited about returning to the topic.


         They chatted aimlessly for a while longer before Engrid went home. As she was walking back to her house, she noticed the man’s car was still at Myrtle’s house. But, better yet, they were standing on the front porch talking. They embraced and the man gave her a peck on the cheek. Of course that sent Engrid’s mind into high gear. She hurried along as the man walked down the steps and onto the concrete path that headed to the curb where his car was parked. Engrid walked quickly, watching Myrtle turn and go back in the house. The man was almost to his car door when she called out to him.


         “Yoo hoo!” Engrid waved to him.


         The man turned and saw her and tried to cover his surprise at being caught. She was too close for him to make a run for it without it seeming rude. He would have to face her now. He smiled broadly at her.


         “How do you do? I’m Engrid Matthews.”


         “How nice to meet you, Ms. Matthews I really have to go.”


         “Before you go, I’ve seen you in the neighborhood a few times and I thought we should get to know each other better. I’m having some friends over for dinner tomorrow night, please join us. We’ll be eating at around 6:30. Okay?”


         “Well, I really shouldn’t. Thank you for the invitation, though. That was very nice of you to think of me.”


         “It’s no trouble at all. Are you new around here?”


         “I actually don’t live around here. I live in Columbia. I was just visiting a friend.”


         “I saw. You were visiting Myrtle.”


         “Yes. Lovely woman, well I must be going.”


         “I live two houses down, the light blue one with white storm shutters.”


         “I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it. I have plans tomorrow night.”


         Not wanting to push her luck much further, she acquiesced, “Some other time then.”


         “Perhaps.” He turned and quickly got in his car, speeding off down the street. Engrid glanced up at Myrtle’s house and saw her frightened peeking between the curtains. As soon as she saw Engrid looking, she ducked back into the shadows. Engrid walked back to Andrew’s and poked her head in the door, “Andrew? Evan? Are you here?”


         “Yes ma’am, we’re in the living room.”


         She walked into the room. “You won’t believe who I just talked to!”


         “Who? You were gone all of two minutes.”


         “That guy. The one Myrtle’s seeing.” Engrid sat down in an armchair facing the sofa Evan and Andrew were sitting on.


         “Really?” Evan perked up, “What did you think?”


         “He’s up to something.”


         “What makes you say that?”


         “He was about to jump out of his skin. It was like he was scared to death to talk to me.”


         “So? He just didn’t want to be seen.” Andrew said.


         “Maybe. Maybe I just surprised him and that put him on edge. But something about him just didn’t sit right. I invited him to dinner at my house tomorrow night and he flat turned me down. He didn’t even do the ‘some other time’ routine.”


         “I don’t see the problem. Maybe Mom just didn’t want him to talk to the neighbors yet. Maybe she’s not ready to introduce us yet.”


         “I don’t know. Maybe I should talk to her about it.”


         “I think you should leave her alone, Engrid. She’ll tell us when she’s ready. Until then, I’d rather not think about my mother having a boyfriend.”


         “Okay. I’ll stay out of it.” She got up, “Well, I’d best be going.”


         They bid one another adieu and she left. Yeah right if she was going to stay out of it. As she was walking back home, she saw Dora’s vehicle crest the hill and begin its deceleration towards her driveway. Engrid flagged her down. Dora pulled up to the curb and stopped.


         “What’s the matter?” Dora asked.


         “Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I talked to the man Myrtle’s been seeing.”


         “Oh really. What did you think?”


         “That may is one odd duck. I’m not sure I like him.”


         “Why?”


         “He seemed jumpy. Something wasn’t right.”


         “Maybe you just scared him. You have a tendency to be a bit much upon first meeting you. No offense, just a friendly observation.”


         “I know. Andrew thought I was a crazy old coot at first too.”


         “I’m not sure his opinion has changed.”


         “He knows I’m not from around here now.”


         “Really? You told him about Oregon?”


         “More or less…and Idaho.”


         “And?”


         “He seemed rather impressed. He’s not the only cosmopolitan one around here.”


         “You moved twice 65 years ago. I doubt that counts as ‘cosmopolitan.’”


         “When Andrew’s as old as me, he’ll have lived here longer than I have.”


         “Presuming you don’t drive him into an early grave before then.” Dora smiled, she enjoyed teasing Engrid.


         “I won’t. I promise.”


         “Okay. I’m going home. I’m tired.”


         “Okay. See you tomorrow.”


         Dora released the brake and coasted down to her driveway.


         Engrid walked slowly back to her house. The only option was to follow the man the next time he left. If his story didn’t add up, she’d have to intervene to find out the truth before Myrtle got hurt.