Морган Лливелин - Drop by Drop

The smell of burned cloth was unmistakable.

The two teenagers giggled. Before his mother could stop him, Colin picked up the bottle and smashed it against a stone.

“What did you do that for?”

The boy gave his mother a blank look.

“That’s vandalism. I won’t have it, you understand?”

Colin scuffed the dirt with his toe.

Fuming inwardly, Nell gathered up the pieces of broken glass and pushed them far under a bush so the dogs would not step on them. She walked on, obeying one of her husband’s many axioms: Act like you know what you’re doing and people will believe you.

Her children followed her.

They emerged from among the trees to find themselves on the access road. The futuristic white bulk of RobBenn loomed to their left, like a spaceship tilted for takeoff.

Jimmy Haas, whom Nell knew, was not on duty in the small sentry cabin at the front gate. Instead there was a different man with cold eyes and bad teeth. He stared at the disheveled trio approaching him. “Do you have an appointment?” he challenged.

“I don’t need an appointment, I’m Mrs. Bennett. Mrs. Robert Bennett,” she added for emphasis.

“He’s not here.”

Nell was startled. “What do you mean, he’s not here?”

The guard stepped out of the cabin to face her. “Just what I said. I been on duty since eight this morning and he’s not here, so you better go now.”

“Where is my husband?”

“How should I know? The boss don’t have to report to me.”

Nell squared her shoulders. She wasn’t going to give an inch to this self-important nobody in an ill-fitting uniform. She was aware that her children were watching her. “Please ring his P.A. on extension nine and tell her we’re here,” she said frostily.

“How’d you know the extension?”

“Just ring it right now or you’ll be out of a job by tonight!”

In a few minutes the three Bennetts were seated on the immense leather couch in the reception area of Rob’s private suite. The panting dogs sprawled on the floor at their feet. After apologizing profusely for her employer’s unaccountable absence, Karen Moeller went to fetch coffee for Nell, soft drinks for the children, and a large bowl of cool water.

While she was gone Colin said, “Hunh, I thought Dad’s secretary would be younger than that.”

“Mrs. Moeller’s not his secretary,” said Nell, “she’s a personal assistant, that’s almost an executive in her own right. Her looks aren’t important, but her initiative and efficiency are.”

Jessamyn giggled. “Or maybe that’s what Dad wants you to believe.”

Nell sat in silence, struggling to keep from scratching her own mosquito bites, until Karen Moeller returned with the refreshments. She offered to drive them home in her car whenever they were ready. As they reached the main highway they met Robert Bennett coming in. He slammed on his brakes and lowered his window.

Mrs. Moeller lowered hers.

Bennett shouted at Nell, “Where the holy hell have you been?” Without waiting for an answer he hit the accelerator and zoomed off toward the parking lot.

In the backseat of Karen Moeller’s car Colin Bennett said, “Mom’s sure gonna get it now! Just wait till Dad comes home tonight.”

With his thumbs hooked in the waistband of his jeans, Gerry Delmonico ambled around to the side of his house. In the twilight Gloria was fastening stakes to the tallest stems in a bed of irises. In spite of her busy schedule at the hospital, she managed to keep several flower beds blooming. “They’re my children in waiting,” she told Gerry.

When she saw him she smiled. “Who are you supposed to be, a fugitive from the OK Corral?”

“No, ma’am.” Gerry withdrew his left hand, cocked an invisible pistol and sighted along the barrel. “I’m the only man left standing after the gunfight and I’ve come along to collect the reward. A pretty gal in a bed of flowers is just what I had in mind. What are doing for the next hour or so?”

She laughed again; the warm, easy laugh of summer. “How did your work go today?”

“Same as usual. Maybe more problems than usual, though. Just between us, I wouldn’t put it past Robert Bennett to be involved with the craziness that’s going on. He’s always looking for angles; dissolving plastics may be part of some new scheme. Today Adele from bookkeeping came to me questioning an invoice for materials we’ve never used before, like magnesium carbonate. I asked Bennett about it but didn’t get a straight answer.”

“I never have liked that man,” said Gloria. “Before you go in, would you bring me my gardening gloves? I think I left them on the deck.”

Gerry returned with her gloves and a deep frown on his face. “Don’t go around back.”

She gave him a quizzical look. “Why not? What’s wrong?”

“The deck’s gone soft. If you step on it the boards will stick to your shoe. I’m afraid the whole structure might give way.”

“I thought only plastic was dissolving.”

“Porch decking is made of wooden planks, Muffin, but they’ve been permeated with plastic to make them last longer. Some of it’s oozing out and dripping down; there’s a puddle of it on the ground under the deck.”

Gloria instinctively put one hand on her belly. Her beautiful brown face turned ashen. “This thing that’s happening… is it something in the atmosphere? Oh my God, what if I’m pregnant at last?”

Contrary to his son’s prediction Robert Bennett did not give his wife hell the evening after her walk to Daggett’s Woods. He had stayed at RobBenn until what would have been his usual departure time, then drove home in a sour mood. He was relieved to see that the antique copper carriage lamps on either side of the front doors were lit, a sure sign that his wife was home and expecting him. She would have some excuse for her erratic behavior earlier in the day, but he did not want to hear it. Let the woman dither; he had real problems on his mind.

He found Nell in the dining room, setting the table, and gave her a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. Expecting trouble, she stiffened, but he did not notice. Nor did he observe the looks of anticipation on the faces of his children as they came in for dinner.

Bennett’s face was a blank wall with turmoil behind it.

Napkins were unfolded; a basket of hot Parker House rolls was proffered, a platter of sliced ham and bowls of freshly steamed vegetables were passed. Conversation was sporadic, and mostly involved Jess and Colin insulting each other.

Nell ate only enough food to make it look like she was eating. Then she waited. The children waited.

When Rob finished wiping up the last of the ham gravy with the last bit of his roll he said, “Anything for dessert?”

“Is that all?”

“More coffee?”

“I mean is that all you have to say to me?”

“Don’t start on me, Cookie, I’ve had a hard day…”

“ You’ve had a hard day!”

“… and when I came home this morning I found my house abandoned.”

“You were here this morning?”

“And you weren’t. Damn it, you shouldn’t go off like that without telling me first. The light switches and the—”

“That’s all you were worried about? The house?”

Rob leaned toward her. “I’ve invested a lot of money in this place, in case you’re forgotten. You blithely waltzed out the door and left it to fall apart. Or be burgled. And that’s not all; now the lunatic fringe is making threats against me. They even set up an altar in Daggett’s Woods and burned me in effigy. Some of my employees took me out to see it: a scorched doll hanging from a tree branch. I tore it down and threw it away, but I got a letter saying they would burn the whole complex to the ground if I didn’t restore the nature reserve to the way it was intended.”