OldTown Story, Kelly Clandestine
OldTown Story, Kelly Clandestine, focuses on a woman trying to find answers about an old friend who has gotten into serious trouble. Is she still her friend? What role does she play in a life gone so wrong? In her confused efforts to find answers, she discovers she is not alone.
Kelly Love Clandestine leaped from the warm comfort of her compact car, shoved her hands into deep pockets, and marched onto Preservation Trail, praying in rapid-fire bursts. “Oh, God, help me!”
The winding path unfolded before her as she hurried forward. Crows squawked from the treetops, and three gray squirrels chased each other around an old oak tree.
The question, “What am I supposed to do?” played in her head like a song stuck on one verse. The picture of a woman’s face, Sabrina Kay Lewis, revolved in her mind. She looks so much older! Hardly would’ve recognized her. Hard to believe we were in the same junior high classes. Life has not been kind. Well, with the choices she’s made, how could it?
A fallen tree blocked her path, forcing Kelly to stop and consider her options. Entering the brambly woods would undoubtedly entangle her in briars, but it would take a little effort to climb over the massive trunk. She stepped forward and pressed her hand to the gnarly bark. No poison ivy or dangerous prickles. It actually felt comforting, a soothing connection to a matriarchal force that had fallen after years of woodland service.
Gingerly, Kelly swung her leg over, balanced herself, and like a child reliving a moment of carefree youth, she straddled the tree trunk and hoped no one came along the path and saw her.
A sharp memory of strolling through the woods with Sabina as an eleven-year-old materialized in her mind. Despite our differences, we were friends—for a few years, anyway. She dropped her head back and considered the pale blue sky, muttering under her breath. “But she’s a killer! I can’t be friends with her now.”
In a sudden need to move, Kelly swung off the trunk and pounded down the leaf-strewn path. No matter how fast she hurried, she couldn’t outrun the whispered voice in her head asking, “Can’t you?”
Thirty minutes later, as the sun hovered over the horizon, Kelly steered her car down a country lane and slowed at the approach to a rock driveway, leading to a neat, white farmhouse.
Dermid and Rhona Dewar were well-known in OldTown, though Kelly had only met them in passing. Some of her high school students took online math classes with Mr. Dewar, a teacher famous for turning failures into graduates. His impressive low-key but highly effective teaching style was legendary.
Her Nissan car crunched on gravel as she stopped in the driveway.
A collie loped forward with a doggy grin spread wide over its face.
In exasperation, Kelly ignored the dog and squeezed her eyes shut. “What am I going to say? Hi there, can you help me figure out—”
“Hello?”
Nearly startled out of her skin, Kelly’s eyes popped open, and she stared out the driver’s side window.
His arms folded over his barrel chest, dressed in loose sweatpants and an oversized sweater, Dermid Dewar peered at her with a question in his eyes but a smile on his lips.
Kelly plastered on a return smile, hit the right button, and waited as the window rolled down. Her words came out in rapid-fire bursts. “Sorry. I know it’s late, but I’m Kelly Clandestine, a teacher at the high school, and I just wanted to ask if I could talk with you some time…about Sabina. I heard she’s coming back to OldTown, and well…”
Dermid’s tone hinted at an understanding spirit. “It’s not late. It just seems so since the sun goes down so early. On Fridays, Rhona and I like to relax with a little treat. You’re just in time to join us.”
Instantly feeling guilty for barging in, Kelly couldn’t understand why her fingers automatically switched off the ignition, dropped the keys in her purse, and exited the car.
When the collie ambled forward, she let it sniff her hands.
Derm grinned. “Nes likes to inspect new arrivals. It’s her way of earning her keep.”
Tentatively, Kelly reached over, patted the animal on its head, then rubbed the dog behind the ears. Nes’s grin widened as she plopped down on her haunches and soaked in the gentle caress.
Fixing her gaze on the dog, Kelly avoided eye contact with the older man. “I really don’t want to intrude. I just wanted to ask for some advice—”
Grimacing, Derm waved to the porch. “I’m not great with advice, but Rhona’s got a knack for helping people figure out what they want. So, head on up. I bet the cocoa is hot by now.”
Rhona’s look of surprise at the sight of a strange woman following her husband into her spacious kitchen-dining room quickly morphed into a welcoming smile. She made short work of the introductions and started chatting as if they had known each other for years. “Oh, so you’re the one heading up the cooperative classes?” Standing at the counter, Rhona sliced a block of orange cheese on a platter, letting the pieces fall in a mound next to an array of crackers. I must say, I was amazed when they reopened the old high school. I thought it was closed forever.”
Following an indicative gesture, Kelly took a seat on a glossy wooden bench at a large kitchen table. “Well, it took a lot of work, but since we just need a quarter of the space, we were able to revitalize the site as more of a community educational center.”
Rhona arranged the cheese slices into a neat circle on the perimeter of the platter. “So, it’s not just a high school?”
Setting her purse aside, Kelly reoriented her thinking to school matters. “Oh, there is an elementary school, but it’s pretty small. My work focuses on high school and up. We have a cooperative between public, private, and home-schooled families, and we even have a hybrid online program for certain subjects.”
As Derm poured hot cocoa into three mugs, he spoke over his shoulder. “That’s what I do, Rhona. I’m the online math supervisor for OldTown High.”
With a pinched expression, Rhona scattered the wheat crackers in the center of the platter. “Well, I knew that; I just didn’t realize that the whole educational system was connected now.”
Offering a hapless shrug, Kelly wasn’t about to raise any expectations. “We’re getting there. But it’s been a rocky process. Amazing how much prejudice there was between public and private sectors. Some people didn’t think homeschoolers deserved a place in our cooperative. They were seen as traitors to the public school system. But since several of our best teachers were homeschooled, attitudes are changing. We’ve even had some people come back who had dropped out of school years ago, and they’re working to get specialized training in a trade.”
Rhona plucked purple grapes off a mass of branches and scattered them around the platter. “That’s for what—carpentry and plumbing?”
“Oh, we cover everything. We’re bringing in people from all sectors of the workforce to talk about what they do. We even had Detective Ryan come in and talk about his career as an investigator last month.” She took a deep breath and plunged into the reason for her visit. “That’s why I stopped in, actually. Some of the kids asked about Sabrina Lewis moving back to OldTown, and they had a bunch of questions…and concerns.”
Her face suddenly an unreadable mask, Rhona set the snack tray on the table. “Oh?” She glanced aside at her husband.
The room had stilled, and Kelly felt a chill pass over her. A desire to rush out the door nearly mastered her. She forced herself to stay in place. “Listen, I feel bad dropping in like this. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I just knew Sabina as a kid, and now that she’s coming back, I’m not sure how to act. She texted me, you see…” A war breaking out in her chest, Kelly wondered if her heart would be pummeled to death. “I’m supposed to be a Christian. I was always taught to forgive…but Sabina is a killer, even though she’s not in prison anymore. We were friends, but that was a long time ago. I’m just not sure what to do.”
Derm nudged one cup of cocoa in Kelly’s direction. “Your dad is Pastor Claude, right?”
Rhona’s decisive nod suggested that she had just put two and two together.
“Yeah. Dad’s the Pastor of Bethlehem Church over on the 185, across from Cemetery Hill. My mom is a counselor at the Reborn Center.”
Rhona’s smile returned. “I’ve met her at a couple of ecumenical services. Judy is a brave woman! I can’t imagine dealing with some of the situations she manages—runaways and—”
His eyes narrowed; Derm seemed to be sending a silent message.
Instantly flustered, Rhona gestured to the snacks. “Here, I’m jabbering on. Drink up before it gets cold and have a little something.”
Derm slid onto a chair at the head of the table at Kelly’s right. “Your work at the school is impressive. I wouldn’t have come on board if I didn’t think you all were heading in the right direction. As for Sabina, well, I could use advice myself. We invited her here, and she’ll be coming next week, but I have no idea for how long.” He tilted his head in his wife’s direction. “Rhona wasn’t crazy about the idea, but she knows as well as I do that Sabina doesn’t have any options. She’s up north closing out some of her parents’ estate stuff, things she couldn’t very well do from prison, but she’ll be here Monday afternoon.”
He took a sip of his cocoa, then gathered a slice of cheese and cracker and held them in readiness. “Frankly, if you have any friendship to bestow on Sabina, that would be a blessing. Right now, we’re the only family she’s got, and there’s been nary a word from her old friends and co-workers in Norway, nor anywhere else, for that matter. It’s as if she never had a life before prison.”
Her heart constricting painfully, Sabina sighed as she followed Derm’s example and reached for a slice of cheese and a cracker. “Well, I would like to do some good, but there seem to be some questions about her connection to two other murders in OldTown. Detective Ryan told the kids he was going to look into it.” She leaned forward. “Is there any chance she could be involved?” A slow shake of the head. “I don’t want to get mixed up in…”
Rhona clasped her mug in a tight grip. “I felt very much the same way, but I keep being haunted by the words “love your enemies.”
“Oh, I don’t consider her my enemy. I care about her; I just don’t want to enable…well, bad behavior.” Kelly shoved the cheese and cracker into her mouth and started chewing at a rapid pace to give herself time to think.
Scowling now, Derm dusted crumbs from his shirt. “Listen, I’m not asking anyone to help Sabrina get away with murder! Good Lord, that’s the last thing in the world…but honestly, I believe there’s some spark of decency in her. Her brother Chippy cared about her, saw something lovable in her. And in respect to him, I want to find that spark. I’m not asking anyone to go along with her crazy thinking, but we got to realize that the woman, even a crazy woman, isn’t just the thoughts in her head.”
Rhona’s mumble matched her frown. “Crazy people make other people crazy.”
Derm slapped the table and swung his glare from his wife to his guest. “Well, there you have it—the two possibilities before us. What do you want to believe—that Sabina is just a crazy woman or is she more than that?”
With a flustered sigh, Rhona rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t mean to sound like that.” She turned her sorrowful gaze to Kelly. “It’s just that Derm has a heart of gold and, in some kind of weird role-reversal thing, we’re switching sides, and I’m being the cautious one here.” She met her husband’s direct gaze. “I know you loved Chippy, and you want to honor his memory. I’m just worried that Sabina is too far gone. That woman has always been trouble. I’m absolutely positive that she’s unbalanced, has some kind of undiagnosed mental illness. Without proper treatment, I don’t think anything we do will help.”
Draining the last of her cocoa, Kelly took a moment to process her disappointment. They’re just as confused as I am.
She propelled herself to her feet. “Thanks for the Friday treat and for being so honest with me. I guess this isn’t something that can be figured out over an afternoon chat.”
Derm rose and faced her, his gaze earnest. “I’m sorry we aren’t more helpful.”
Still seated and holding her cup, Rhona seemed to be speaking to the air. “You can pray for us. We don’t know what we’ve gotten ourselves into.”
With the unexpected realization that she would be back, Kelly started for the door. As she gripped the handle, she turned and considered the two OldTown citizens known for their humble good works. Compassion filled her. “I doubt any of us know that when we get up in the morning. We just do the best we can. I guess we should be grateful that everything isn’t up to us.” She quirked a smile, her heart suddenly lighter than it had been for over a month. “We’ll just have to muddle through this together.”
With that thought comforting her, Kelly stepped out into the chilly autumn night and retraced her steps to her car. A moment later, she was driving down a dark road toward home and a future she could not see.
At least I am not alone.
