Patricia Rockwell - Essie Cobb 02 - Papoosed (24 page)

            “Why not?”

            “I barely know the man,” responded Essie, leaning back in her rocker and cuddling Antonio over her shoulder.  Clara gently touched the velvet box beside the necklace. 

            “Such a beautiful box!” declared Clara. 

            “You want to take a closer look?” asked Essie. 

            “Can I?”  Clara asked, her eyes wide.

            “I guess,” replied Essie, pointing to it.  Clara picked up the glittering necklace.

            “Oh, my!  Essie!” she said. “It’s lovely!  Hubert really must be smitten with you!  This must have cost a fortune!”

            “So Opal tells me,” said Essie morosely.

            “What?” asked Clara, confused.

            “Hubert told me his gift was peanut brittle.  It wasn’t until I opened it and found this … this thing inside that I realized what he had really given me.  I thought it might just be costume jewelry but I didn’t know, so I had Santos take it up to Opal and she confirmed that it is truly real gold and from Kreigsted’s.  Or at least she thinks it is.” 

            “Maybe Hubert doesn’t know himself how much it’s worth,” suggested Clara.

            “Maybe,” said Essie.  “Maybe it belonged to someone in his family.  But if that’s the case, that’s even worse, because he shouldn’t be giving me heirlooms … things that belonged to a loved one.  I barely know the man.  We just have friendly conversations.  There’s absolutely nothing romantic between us!  Dappled apples!  I’m over ninety!  I don’t want to be courted!”

            “Then send him my way,” said Clara, with a fluttering of her lashes. 

            “Clara!” cried Essie.  “I thought you were the one who was so concerned with propriety!  I can’t believe we’ve lived next door to each other all these years and I’m just now getting to know you.  There’s obviously more to you than I thought!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

“Every baby born into the world is a finer one than the last.”

–Charles Dickens

            “Appearances can be deceiving,” replied Clara, stretching back on Essie’s sofa.  “When I was a nurse, I was often privy to many family secrets that sometimes came out at very inopportune moments.  Sometimes life and death moments!  I know how to keep a secret, Essie.  But, I must tell you, I really love knowing secrets too!  There’s just not much excitement going on around Happy Haven for me.  Truth be told, I guess I’m a little jealous of you and how you managed to help poor Bob Weiderley.  I pride myself on knowing what people are up to.  Here you were solving that mystery for Bob and you–right next door to me–and I didn’t even know it! How could that be?”

            “It’s good to know you like solving mysteries, Clara,” said Essie.  “I could use more help in tracking down Antonio’s mother.  I’ve pretty much tried every avenue I can think of.”

            “Anything else I can do to help find this sweet baby’s mother,” replied Clara, “count me in.”  She reached out her arms and Essie willingly handed Antonio over.  The peaceful child smiled contentedly at Clara who cuddled him into her lap, her nursing experience evident.

            “It’s almost supper time and that means it’s been almost twenty-four hours since Maria has been missing,” noted Essie.  “I’m thinking that I’ll call the police again and find out exactly what we need to do to report a missing person.  I think you have to be a relative.  I wonder what they do when a person doesn’t have a relative … or at least any relative that anyone is aware of.”

            “That would be a problem,” agreed Clara, fixated on baby Antonio’s face.  The child followed Clara’s face as she made funny and exaggerated expressions for him.

            “You’re wonderful with him, Clara,” said Essie. 
So much for making snap judgments of people
, she thought.  Clara was certainly not the spoil-sport that she had envisioned her to be.

            A tentative knock sounded on Essie’s front door.

            “Santos?” Essie whispered as she rose and headed cautiously to the door.

            “No, Miss Essie,” came the reply.  “It’s Hubert.  Hubert Darby.”

            Essie froze in her tracks and looked back at Clara who motioned her to answer the door, indicating that she would remain where she sat and keep the baby occupied.  Essie quickly moved to the door and opened it just a crack.  Hubert Darby stood in the hallway.  He was wearing a different Christmas vest from the last one she had seen.  The light green paper face mask almost covered his blushing face. 

            “Hubert!” she cried. “What are you doing here?  Happy Haven is under quarantine you know.  Residents are all supposed to be in their rooms.”

            “Yes, Miss Essie,” Hubert replied softly, his face turning even redder as he stared down at the carpet at his feet.  “I came down to see you.  I came down to see if you had opened my present.”  He said this last word so softly that Essie could barely hear him.  She leaned out of her doorway over her walker, but kept the door itself closed so that Hubert could not see into her apartment.   “Did you open my present, Miss Essie?” he asked again.

            “Yes, I did, Hubert,” she said, lifting her finger up and shaking it at Hubert.  “You lied to me!  You told me it was peanut brittle!”

            Hubert’s eyes bulged as Essie’s finger closed in on his nose. 

            “I … I was afraid you might not open it, Miss Essie, if …”

            “Hubert, that necklace is much too expensive for me to accept.  It wouldn’t be appropriate!” she cried.  “Just a minute, I’ll get it.”  She started to turn back into her living room.

            “No, Miss Essie,” exclaimed Hubert, following her through the door.

            “Hubert, wait!” said Essie, turning around in an attempt to push the large man back into the hallway.  “You can’t come in here!  The quarantine!”  Unfortunately, Hubert had already seen Clara sitting serenely on Essie’s sofa rocking baby Antonio–no face mask in sight.

            “Hello, Hubert!” said Clara graciously to the man.  Hubert stood dumbfounded just inside of Essie’s front door.  Essie looked back and forth from Hubert to Clara.  “Essie, you might as well close the door before more people decide to join us.”  She gave Essie a little nod towards her front door.  Essie gave a little grimace and rolled back and closed the door.  Hubert moved towards Clara and the baby.

            “That’s a baby!” he said, pulling down his face mask and looking puzzled as he stared at Clara and then back again at Essie.

            “We can explain, Hubert,” said Essie, “would you like to have a seat?”

            “Here, Hubert,” said Clara, like a spider speaking to a fly, “sit here next to me.  This is Antonio.  Isn’t he adorable?”   Hubert carefully placed himself at the far end of Essie’s small sofa.  “He won’t bite you, Hubert,” said Clara.  “Haven’t you ever seen a newborn baby before?”

            “No,” replied Hubert, examining the infant with a mixture of wonder and fear.  Then, a puzzled look covering his face, he looked over to Essie who had resumed her rocker.  “Miss Essie?  Why do you have a baby here?”

            “I know it looks strange, Hubert,” replied Essie, “but there really is a sensible reason.”

            “Essie’s trying to track down his mother,” said Clara. “She’s missing!”

            “The baby’s mother?  Do you know her?” asked Hubert, shaking his head in confusion.  “What does Miss Violet say?  Does she know that you have a baby in here?”

            “Oh, no!” said Essie. “And Hubert, you can’t tell her!”

            “Oh, I won’t, Miss Essie,” said Hubert. “I’ll do whatever you say, Miss Essie.”

            “How sweet!” declared Clara, looking at Hubert as he stared fondly at Essie and sighed.  “Young love!”

            “Clara, stop,” said Essie.  “Hubert, we’re watching this baby for one of Happy Haven’s kitchen workers … Maria Compton.  She’s disappeared.  Her husband was killed in a car accident last night and we can’t seem to locate her.  It’s a complex story, but it involves immigration … and we don’t want to see this little one get deported or taken from his mother.  He’s part of the Happy Haven family and we all need to work together to find this child’s mother and to protect him until we do.  And, Hubert, that means keeping his existence a secret … especially from Violet!”

            “Oh, Miss Essie!” declared Hubert.  “I will keep your secret.  I will help you protect the little baby.”  He bent in to the child and looked carefully at its face.  “It’s so little.”

            “He’s only a few days old,” replied Clara as Hubert showed interest in the child.  “You can touch him, Hubert.   He won’t bite you.”  She held the little bundle out towards the big man in the red vest.  Hubert lifted his hand with a delicacy totally unexpected for a man of his large frame and touched the baby’s soft cheek. 

            “He’s soft,” said Hubert, breaking out into a warm smile.

            “Most babies are,” replied Clara, her face glowing as Hubert stared at the baby in her arms.

            Essie watched the scene play out between Clara, Hubert, and baby Antonio.  Eventually, she picked up the Kreigsted box on her end table.  She gave a little cough to gain Hubert’s attention.

            “Hubert, since you’re here, I can return this necklace to you.”  She reached over Clara to hand the box to Hubert, who waved it away and leaned back.

            “No, Miss Essie!” he said, “I want you to have it.”

            “Hubert,” Essie insisted, “I can’t accept this from you.  It’s obviously a very expensive necklace.”  She opened the blue box and removed the golden necklace.

            “I got it for you, Miss Essie,” the large man continued. 

            “It’s too expensive,” said Essie.  “Look!”  She held the necklace up to the light for Hubert to see.   As she dangled the sparkling object over Clara and towards Hubert, baby Antonio’s eyes widened in apparent delight.

            “Antonio likes the necklace, Essie,” said Clara.  “See it sparkle, Antonio!”  She took the necklace from Essie and moved it around in front of the baby’s face.

            “I thought you would like it too, Miss Essie.  You took it!” cried Hubert.

            “You said it was peanut brittle,” responded Essie, “I’d be happy to accept a box of peanut brittle from you, but not an expensive necklace like this.  You should only give something like this to your wife or a member of your family.”

            Hubert’s shoulders drooped and his head fell.  He scratched his head and looked puzzled. 
Poor man! He obviously doesn’t understand the niceties of gift exchange,
thought Essie. 

            “I want to make you happy, Miss Essie.  The baby likes the necklace,” said Hubert forlornly, as he peeked up into Essie’s face.  “I want to make you happy like the baby.  You are so wonderful … .”

            “Thank you, Hubert,” replied Essie.  This was so much harder than she had expected.  She surely didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings, but she couldn’t accept this present and he needed to understand why.   Somehow she had to make him understand without hurting his feelings.  “At least, Antonio can enjoy the necklace for a while.”  She smiled at Clara and Hubert as the three of them focused on the little boy as he waved his fists at the gleaming gold pendant swinging back and forth before his eyes.  They all smiled and laughed warmly at the child.  Antonio gurgled.

            A sharp knock on the door was followed by a voice calling out,  “Miss Essie, it’s Violet Hendrickson!  I need to speak to you!”

           
Oh no
! thought Essie,
Violet is at my front door and I have a room full of guests … and a baby during a quarantine!  This is not good!

            Essie quickly motioned for Clara to take Antonio and go to her bedroom.  Clara rose, grabbed the baby, and walked quickly into Essie’s back room.  Essie then motioned Hubert to follow her.  Hubert shook his head, but Essie nodded firmly, and Hubert shuffled rapidly behind Clara and disappeared.  Essie then grabbed her walker and rolled to her door and opened it.

            “Miss Hendrickson!” she cried, flinging the door open with feigned enthusiasm.  “How nice to see you here.  It’s so boring just sitting here in my room all alone during this quarantine.  It’s wonderful just to see another human being for a change!” 
Too thick,
Essie thought.

            “Don’t try that with me, Essie,” replied Violet through her face mask.  “I know you’re up to something.  I can hear you half the way down the hallway.”

            “Oh, sorry, Miss Violet!” replied Essie.  “That was probably my television again.  My hearing’s not so good so I usually keep the volume pretty high.  I’ll watch that.  I will.”

            Violet looked over Essie’s head into her living room.  Her eyes quickly scanned the area.