The Heir of Middle Manor

Part 2: Cooper's Car Wash

He shrugged and stared at the fire. "Why are you here? Did you follow me?"

"You should neaten up," Mary said a little more firmly. "You should look presentable. Can't you see breakfast is nearly done?"

Ryan let out an irritated sigh. He didn't care if he had leaves in his hair or how he looked at this hour, but he knew Mary well enough to know she would keep commenting until he addressed it. He yanked the hair tie holding his hair back in a low ponytail and raked his fingers through it to get the leaves out, then tied it back.

"Are we good now?" he asked in an irritated voice, throwing his hands up in the air. "And who said I wanted breakfast?"

Mary handed him a dented tin cup filled with coffee poured from a thermos before she sat back down on a large flat rock to tend to the bacon with a wooden spatula.

Ryan begrudgingly accepted the coffee, but it began to warm his cold hands and he felt grateful. 

Mary gestured with her spatula for him to take a seat on the ground by the fire where she'd placed a small folded blanket. He sipped the warm coffee and felt the heat from the fire warming his damp clothes.

"I got here just after you arrived," she said, prodding the bacon around the pan. "Had to be sure you were safe, but you move fast. I barely had a chance to tie your shoes."

Ryan splurted coffee down the front of his shirt. "What? When did that happen?"

"When you were on the front porch. I figured you were heading here again and would appreciate some shoes."

Ryan could not even think of a way to respond to this. He abandoned the coffee cup on the ground near him. Thoughts were jamming up like a train that had just jumped the track.

"That car wash is a really terrible spot to sleep," Mary continued. "I had to chase the toads off you twice."

Ryan's eyes widened and jumped to his feet. The idea of this old woman tying his shoes, and watching him sleep while toads crawled on him was too much.

He refused to believe her version of his story. She was hardly reliable.

"Why didn't you just wake me up?" he snapped.

A brief silence fell between them, filled with the soft crackling of the fire, and the birds in the forest around them.

"I didn't know what else I might be waking," Mary said slowly. She didn't look at him. She was plating the bacon and then cracking some eggs into the pan.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan's voice was sharp. He wasn't in the mood for her riddles.

"You're kind of an irritable boy, Ryan Avery," Mary said. "You are nicer to be around when you are sleeping."

"Gee, thanks," Ryan muttered.

"You've got a toad print on your forehead. You should rub that off. It might give you a headache."

Ryan blew out another long sigh and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.

"I just wanted to make sure you were safe," Mary said quietly as she handed him a plate full of eggs and bacon. "That's important. You are important."

Ryan sat back down with his plate of food. These words deflated the anger that was welling up in him. Mary Devlin had always treated him like he mattered, even if she did that in some pretty crazy and embarrassing ways.

They did not speak as they ate, but Mary hummed a happy tune that seemed to be playing in her head, waving her fork in the air at times to tap out the beat.

The sun was rising on the summer morning in reds and golds that stretched over the grassy hill behind them. The pleasant light stretched itself over the collapsed edges of Old Man Cooper's house and through the dead branches of the old oak tree that lay on top. The sky was clear and the birds were darting back and forth across the overgrown field of wildflowers between the treelines, occasionally dipping into the car wash. Ryan could understand why Old Man Cooper chose this spot to live, even if he could not understand his desire to build a car wash here. There was not another house in sight. No prying eyes peering in on his life.

When the food was eaten and Mary reached to collect Ryan's empty plate, she fixed him with those watery blue eyes and said, "Just know I will always protect you. I will never abandon you."

"Okay," Ryan muttered. "But I'm good. I'm not a little kid anymore."

Her head cocked sideways and her funnel hat slid a bit to the side. "You are not sixteen yet, are you?"

"Not for a few more months," Ryan said.

She nodded and smiled. "That's right. I remember. Mannequin Sarah told me that just last week. She's very good with dates. I forget things."

Mary suddenly lifted her funnel hat slightly and fished out a small sack tied with string. She poured a few glass marbles out into her hand, taking time to select one before tucking the rest back up under her funnel hat. She retrieved her broom and walked toward a bit of sunlight hitting the clearing. She squeezed the marble in her closed fist, shut her eyes, and turned in a slow circle muttering.

Ryan got to his feet. He had had enough of Mary this morning. While her presence had given him a brief distraction from his sleepwalking dilemma, he was ready to be alone with his thoughts. He put his empty tin coffee cup on her makeshift rubble table and cleared his throat.

"Okay, I am going to head out. Thanks for breakfast," Ryan paused and added, "And for keeping the toads off me."

She opened one eye as she continued to move in a slow circle, "Just hold a minute!" she snapped.

He stood still and watched her slowly rotating with her arm outstretched in front of her. He was used to her erratic mood changes, but he was ready to take that run back down Go Away Road to the Bramble Farm. Aunt Hattie was surely up, and with any luck, he'd have a second breakfast waiting.

Mary stopped moving in a circle, but then also seemed to forget Ryan was there. She dragged her broom behind her as she wandered into the car wash and began to sweep.

"Mary, I have to go," Ryan said firmly.

She looked up at him, but something had changed. She was crying.

Mary Devlin did not cry. She could be erratic and loudly upset about strange things no one understood, but she didn't cry.

He walked into the car wash and spoke softly to her, trying to distract her from whatever sad thought had taken hold of her. "Mary, you should go see Mr. Patch. You can help him fix something. You know he likes that."

She pulled the marble out of one of the pockets in her skirts and handed it to him. "I wanted to give this to you for your birthday, but I don't think it can wait."

"Okay," Ryan said. "Thank you. It's very nice." He held it up to the sunlight and tried to show serious interest in it to make her feel better. "I like the orange and blue in it."

She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes with both hands. "Keep it with you. That's important. I am sure of that. But you should go now."

She began to sweep the car wash and cry again, and Ryan suddenly did not want to leave her there alone. He knew she'd be better if she was with Mr. Patch, their neighbor. He had a magic way with horses and with Mary Devlin.

"Come on, Mary. I'll walk you to Mr. Patch's place. I can carry your stuff."

Mary stood and stared at him, a blank look in her eyes, but then a flicker of anger.

"Why are you still here?" she barked. "They took your aunt to the hospital last night."