Redemption Mountain (63 page)

Hank sat down next to Ada, taking her hand while Charlie took a seat by himself in a middle row. He recognized most of the people filing past the coffin—people from the restaurant, members of the Red Bone Baptist Church Social Club, Emma's teammates.

Sally Oakes entered, and a few minutes later Bud and Alice DeWitt walked up the aisle, followed by Sarah DeWitt and Petey. Sarah noticed Charlie and came to sit next to him. She put her hand on his and spoke softly. “Natty's been taken to the hospital in Charleston for an operation on her leg. It's very serious.”

Her eyes filled as she stopped to take a breath, and Charlie squeezed her hand. “She hasn't hardly said anything since the accident. She can't remember it … the accident … and she hasn't cried.” Sarah seemed to drift off for a moment before speaking again. “Doctor says it's a …
fugue
state or something.” She smiled briefly and patted Charlie's hand.

“Thank you,” he said, although he'd already gotten a more extensive report from the hospital.

The funeral was in the afternoon—Janice Lowe insisted on getting it all done in one day, and the cemetery was in back of the funeral parlor—followed by a reception at Eve's Restaurant. About twenty people came, though there was enough food for twice that many. At one end of the counter, Eve had set up a bar, where most of the party congregated. Charlie had a Canadian Club and tried his best to comfort the Lowes, but there was too much pain in everyone's eyes for the usual well-meaning small talk.

He saw the glow of Eve's cigarette on the porch and joined her outside. They stood looking out at the dimly lit street, ignoring the cold wind. Charlie broke the silence. “I'd like to pay for this, Eve,” he said, “for the reception. The Lowes don't need, you know…”

Eve flicked a half-smoked cigarette into the street and turned to Charlie. She put her palms on his chest and smoothed out his jacket. “Charlie,” she said softly, “put away your checkbook. You're one of us now.” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, and they both cried their final tears for Emma.

*   *   *

C
HARLIE WAITED THREE
days, then drove to Charleston. The hospital was an ancient brownstone building in an old section of town. After circling through the only public lot for twenty minutes, he finally found a spot. He walked for what seemed like miles, through twisting, ramped, crowded corridors, before he found the psychiatric ward.

Natty's doctor was a gray-haired woman in her sixties, who studied Natty's file carefully before looking up at Charlie. “Natty can't remember anything from the last month or so, as best we can pin it down.
Traumatic amnesia.
She couldn't deal with what happened, so her brain blocks it all out and takes a little extra for good measure. Sometimes there's something deep in the subconscious that triggers it. Actually, it's a pretty common occurrence in traumatic situations. She doesn't remember anything about the accident. She also doesn't seem to remember anything about her soccer team.”

The doctor stood up and closed the file. “It's a temporary condition, in most cases,” she said, coming around the desk. “When she gets home, in familiar surroundings, she'll remember more and more. Come on, I'll take you to her. Try not to bring up recent events. We need to let her heal at her own pace.” She walked Charlie down the hall toward Natty's room. They stopped outside the door and the doctor turned to Charlie. “Tell me, Mr. Burden, do you know her husband, Buck?”

“Yes, I've met him. Why?”

“Oh, I was just wondering why he hasn't been in to see her.”

Charlie raised his eyebrows. “He hasn't visited her?”

“Not since the first day. He came up with her that day for the operation on her knee. But not since then.”

“He's got some of his own issues,” said Charlie.

“His presence could help her a lot.” The doctor nodded toward the room. “On the right next to the window.”

The room was cool and dark, illuminated only by the late-afternoon light coming through two large windows. Natty was sitting up with her head against the pillow, staring out the window. Her left leg, in a full cast, was elevated by wires suspended from a frame over the bed. A bandage covered her left eyebrow. Charlie watched her stare out the window, lost in thought. He cleared his throat, and she turned toward him.

“Hey, Mr. Burden,” she said, instinctively feeling for the top of her robe. “This's a surprise. You shouldn'ta come all the way up here just to visit me.” Charlie moved to a metal chair between the bed and the window. From there, in the light from the window, he could see bruises and abrasions on her face and hands. Her left cheek was swollen, and the skin under her eye was purple. Natty looked as if she'd been in a fight for her life.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

Natty smiled without answering at first. It seemed to take more time to process the words now. “Won't be goin' runnin' for a while,” she said, knocking her cast with her knuckle. “Depends on how the operation comes out. Knee was pretty messed up. Worst is the broken ribs, though. Hurts every time I breathe.” Then she smiled again and pointed toward several flower arrangements on a table next to the curtain. “Thanks for the flowers. Yours is the biggest one.”

Charlie glanced at the flowers without seeing them. “You're welcome.”

“How's your power plant coming along?”

“Good. Ahead of schedule and under budget,” he said, the standard answer.

“That's great,” she replied. “So, you'll be going to China pretty soon, right?”

“China?”

“Like you told me. Said you'd be going to China soon.”

Charlie watched Natty's face carefully. “Yes, that's right. I'll be leaving for China in another month or so.”

A troubled look came over her face. “Think you'll be able to do anything about Redemption Mountain before you leave? Mama was in, and she didn't say nothin', but I could tell she's worried about Grandpa losin' the farm.”

Charlie studied her face, still so incapable of concealment or duplicity. Even with the cuts and bruises and the thick bandage, it was the most beautiful face he'd ever seen.

“Mr. Burden?”

Her voice got his attention again. “Oh, no, you don't have to worry about the farm. It's all taken care of.”

Natty looked surprised. “Wow, that's good news. Thank you, Mr. Burden.”

“Thought we'd gotten over that
Mr. Burden
stuff.”

Natty smiled and looked out the window again. After a few moments, she turned back to Charlie. “Sorry I threw up on your sneaker that day.”

“You remember that?”

“'Course I do. Probably said some stuff we shouldn't've, huh, Charlie?”

“Maybe,” he said, trying to make it easier for her.

“Then, that night we went over and saw Woody and Mr. Jacks,” Natty said, “that was a good time. I can't wait to see them again. I miss those old boys. They may be the two best friends I got in the world.” She raised her eyebrows to Charlie. “They okay, Charlie? You seen 'em around?”

Charlie's heart thumped. “Um, I haven't seen them in a while, Natty, so…”

“Charlie, you know I'm having trouble remembering stuff—mind's kinda fuzzy from an accident, they said.” He nodded. “And Eve and Mabel come up the other day, and I was wondering, you know, what happened to my hair.” She reached up and twisted a short lock. “Mabel told me all about the trip to New York, and gettin' my hair done at your friend's place, and going to the show and everything.” Natty rolled her eyes. “God, what was I thinkin' about, goin' off to New York City for a weekend, leavin' the kids and Buck?!”

“It was a real nice weekend,” said Charlie, his face lighting up. “We went for a run in the morning through Times Square and took a walk through Rockefeller Center. About the nicest run I ever had.”

“And you and I went out for drinks, Mabel said, and ran into her and Ada and Janice Lowe and made them have dinner with us.”

“The ladies enjoyed it. We all had a great time.”

Natty was quiet for a few seconds, squinting her eyes in concentration as she composed her thoughts.

“What is it, Natty?” he asked.

“Charlie, since I can't remember nothin', I need you to tell me.” She looked into his eyes. “I need to know if, you know, if anything happened between us in New York. If we—”

“Nothing happened, Nat. We had a nice dinner and I walked you back to your hotel. We said good night on the sidewalk. That was it.” Charlie's heart beat faster as he recalled their meeting later, in the rain on Park Avenue, when he ached for her so desperately and wanted her to come inside and stay with him forever. Then he'd watched her leave in the taxi. It wouldn't do her any good to hear that part of the story. “It was a nice weekend, but nothing happened between us, Nat.”

She nodded slowly and studied her hands in her lap. “Well, that sucks, huh, Charlie?” she said, looking up at him with a sparkle in her eye. They both laughed. “No, that's good, Charlie,” she said softly. “That's good.”

They talked about Pie for a while and how well he was doing in school. Natty didn't say anything about the soccer team, and Charlie didn't, either. There was a long silence, then their eyes met, but there was nothing left to talk about. Charlie looked at his watch.

“I need to get back down to Red Bone.” He stood up next to the bed and Natty held her hand out to him.

“Thanks for everything. For helping Pie, and for Redemption Mountain, and, well, for everything you done for us.”

Charlie took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Take care of yourself, Mrs. Oakes.” He didn't know what else to say. “Take care of your family.”

“I will,” she said. “We'll be okay. Goodbye, Mr. Burden.”

*   *   *

O
N THE ROAD
back to Red Bone, Charlie called Lucien's office on his cellphone. It was six o'clock, still early for Lucien to have called it a day.

“Hello, Charlie,” Lucien said. “How is everything down there?”

“Been a hard week, Lucien.”

“I can imagine,” said Lucien, “a real tragedy.” Neither man spoke for several seconds.

“Lucien, I've decided to take the China job.”

“You're sure, Charlie?”

“I'm sure. It's time to go.”

“Okay, Charlie. I think that's best for everyone. I'm glad you made that decision. I've got someone in mind for the Red Bone project. I'll send him down next week, and you can get him started. Then I'll make the arrangements for China.”

“Thanks, Lucien. Like to be out of here in a few weeks.”

“I can understand that, Charlie. I'll take care of everything.”

“I'll be in Aspen for Christmas, with Ellen and the kids. Then, mid-January, I'll be ready to go to China.”

“Sounds perfect, Charlie. I'll take care of it.”

“Thanks, Lucien. See you soon, my friend.”

*   *   *

T
HE YELLOW SCHOOL
bus looked tiny parked next to the giant road grader in the equipment lot. Charlie had agreed to store it there, after the police and the insurance investigators completed their work on it. Yellow police evidence tape made an
X
over the space where the folding door had been. Charlie pulled the tape off and stepped up into the bus. It was damp and dirty inside. The windshield was gone, and most of the windows were smashed or missing. The key was still in the ignition.

Charlie tried to imagine what it had been like when the bus was upside down in the raging stream. He wasn't looking for anything specific, but he felt a need to see the inside of the bus before the salvage company towed it away. The kids' athletics bags and anything else of discernible value had already been removed, but the bus still looked like the inside of a dumpster. A thin layer of dirt coated the ceiling, walls, and seats, and two inches of mud, sand, and stones covered the floor, mixed in with a good amount of trash, dirty towels, and some unidentifiable pieces of clothing.

Charlie stepped on something and reached down to dig it out of the mud. It was a round wooden disc weighing several pounds. Charlie scraped away some of the dirt and saw the engraved brass plate:
12th Annual Charleston Youth Soccer League Thanksgiving Tournament, First Place, The Bones, Red Bone, West Virginia.

He ran his thumb over the inscription and wondered if it wouldn't be better if he left the remains of the trophy on the bus.
No, it was an accomplishment for all of the kids, and someday they'll wish they had this memorial to their friend.
He held the trophy against his side and continued toward the back of the bus.

Something under one of the rear seats caught Charlie's eye—a small but unmistakable swatch of an embroidered logo. Charlie dug his fingers into the hardened mud and pulled out Pie's baseball cap. Charlie smiled, thinking how thrilled his little pal would be to get it back. Then he let out a deep sigh as he realized how soon he'd be leaving West Virginia for good. He quickly left the bus and headed back to the office. He had a lot of work to do to get the power plant ready for the next big mule.

At four o'clock, Charlie called it quits and drove to his apartment. He'd missed his run for several days, and he needed a good, long workout. He pulled on a gray sweatshirt and went out to the porch. The sun was disappearing fast, but he calculated that he'd have just enough light to make it to the end of the mountain trail. He could run the logging road and South County Road back up to Old Red Bone in the dark without a problem.

Charlie set out at a fast pace to beat the failing light. At the halfway point, he looked up to Natty's boulder. He had an urge to climb up to it, but it was getting dark, and what was the point of it now? He wondered if Natty would ever make it up to her special place again. Charlie began to run even harder, forcing himself to think about something else. He was glad now that he had only a short time left in Red Bone.
The sooner he left West Virginia, the sooner he could start to forget her.