John Casey - Compass Rose

“Odd,” Miss Perry said, but she lay still.

Elsie wasn’t sure if she should keep Miss Perry from falling asleep. In her mind’s eye she could now read some of the highlighted lines: comfort and reassure. That implied keeping her awake, didn’t it? Loosen constricting clothing. Remove all dentures and dental bridges or false teeth. Why? Maybe she was mixing in advice from the epilepsy chapter. Or was there a possibility of a convulsion? Didn’t look like it — Miss Perry was breathing fast but evenly.

Elsie was pretty sure Miss Perry didn’t have dentures — wouldn’t she have noticed?

Rose was sucking steadily, her plump legs light and loose. Elsie moved her so that the bottom of Rose’s blanket wouldn’t brush the top of Miss Perry’s head.

“What happened?” Miss Perry said. “When it turns.”

“Turns?”

“Yes.”

Elsie thought at first Miss Perry meant dialing, but when she looked at the phone she saw that it was new and had buttons. Dumb — she’d just pushed nine-one-one. Then she thought Miss Perry might be worrying about the key. “You called me, and I came. I found the key. I’ll put it back.” Miss Perry rolled her head to the right. Elsie noticed her left eye again. Another highlighted fragment: “unilateral weakness … mouth drawn to one side.” It was hard to tell, since she was looking at Miss Perry’s face upside down. Elsie got it then. She said, “Dizzy. You had a dizzy spell.”

“Yes.”

“It’ll be all right. The doctor’s coming. It’s all right.”

Elsie looked out the open door. She couldn’t see the blinker itself, but she saw the light flash on the lower leaves of the copper beech. She said, “The leaves are turning. I mean, changing color. The ash, the sycamore by my pond.”

“Yes,” Miss Perry said. “Trees.”

Elsie went on. “Your red oak. All the maples.” Rose pulled away, made a face, but then nursed again. Miss Perry lay still but appeared to be listening. Elsie settled into a state of mind that could go on and on, as if she were a pond fed by a slow spring. Rose fell asleep.

When the ambulance pulled up behind her car, she thought of getting up, looked around for a pillow, something to put under Miss Perry’s head. No need. The two men moved Miss Perry onto a gurney. One sat beside Elsie and took notes as she recited what she knew. Miss Perry’s head was toward the door, only a little higher than Elsie’s. Miss Perry turned her face to the right. Elsie added, “Maybe paresis. The left eye and cheek.”

Miss Perry said, “Elsie, will you … Don’t go.”

“Yes.” Take Rose along? Call Mary? Sally? She’d figure out something. “Yes. I’ll stay with you. I’ll have to see to the baby.”

“Yes. Baby.”

Jack asked Elsie to have supper at the Sawtooth Point cottage. Since it was usually Sally who invited her, Elsie guessed that it wasn’t to be a purely social occasion. Jack held off until they finished eating. Elsie nursed Rose and put her to bed in the portable car seat. Sally cleared the table. Jack stood up when Sally and Elsie sat down. He held the back of his chair and said, “I’m wearing lots of hats in all this. Too many hats. I have been Miss Perry’s lawyer. My firm drew up her will. I’ve since become the chairman of the board of directors of the Perryville School, which is the chief beneficiary of that will. I was also to be the executor, and I’ve had her power of attorney. In case Miss Perry takes a turn for the worse, I don’t want to get caught flat-footed in what might appear to be a conflict of interest.”

Sally said, “Jack …”

“So I’ve rearranged everything. Elsie is to be executrix.”

“Jack,” Sally said on a higher note. “I think you’re being … I thought you were just going to talk it over. Elsie’s been through a lot.”

“We’re all very concerned, but this has to be faced. I’m not insensitive to the emotional situation. As it happens, I’m trying to avoid problems that would compound everyone’s distress at a later date. If you’ll let me get a little further, you’ll see that this plan is to the benefit of all concerned.” He pulled two sheets of paper from his inside coat pocket, smoothed out the fold, and laid them on Elsie’s place mat. “I’ve covered the major points here. You don’t have to take them all in right now. I’ve arranged for a capable lawyer to help you. He was an associate in my firm, but he’s on his own now.” He put a hand on Elsie’s shoulder. “So really all you’ll be doing is taking care of Miss Perry in very much the same way that you’d be doing anyway. I’d like to help more, but in light of this conflict of interest, I have to be Caesar’s wife, not just beyond reproach but above suspicion.”

Elsie ran her hand through her hair briskly enough to dislodge Jack’s hand. He moved to her other side and put his finger on the top of the page. Elsie said, “I can’t read this with your hand in the way. If you’ll just sit down and give me a minute …”

“It’s a bit technical; I thought I could clarify some of the legal language.”

“I’ll read this tonight then, and if I have trouble, I’ll call your capable lawyer.”

Jack sighed and sat down. “It would be more expedient—”

“Oh, Jack,” Sally said. “Just let her skim through it. This is no time for you and Elsie to start one of your …” Sally lifted her hands and flicked her fingers apart.

Jack got up again and went to the pantry. He said over his shoulder, “There’s brandy or port, if you like.”

Sally said, “You know brandy keeps you awake.”

“This isn’t so hard,” Elsie said. “All this about the books Miss Perry gave to Charlie and Tom Pierce. ‘Donative intent.’ Of course she intended to give them.”

Jack reappeared in the doorway. “Well, there you are,” Jack said. “The problem is that the rare editions are still in her bookcase. She only actually handed over reader’s editions. To avoid tax consequences to the donees, it would be better if the books were out of the house.”

“That happens when the boys have their eighteenth birthdays. Charlie will be eighteen next summer.”

Jack said, “Of course, we all hope—” Sally held up her hand. Jack stood still for a moment, squinting and wrinkling his forehead, visibly considering. “All right,” he said. “I can understand your concern for Elsie’s feelings. I happen to think Elsie’s made of sterner stuff. I think that she, like me, will find comfort in dealing with the formal necessities of the situation.” He turned to Elsie. “But perhaps you’re right, perhaps it will be easier talking to a lawyer with whom you have only a professional relationship. All we have to settle is that you accept that you’ll be the executrix and have power of attorney. In our last clear conversation, that is what Miss Perry told us she wants. That is the factor I should have put first, rather than my own need to stand clear. Miss Perry considers you the person most capable of understanding her intentions and making sure that they are fulfilled.”

“All right.”

“It will give her the peace of mind that—”

“I said yes.”

Jack bobbed his head several times. As much to shake away the unused bits of his speech, Elsie thought, as to reply to her. “All right, then,” Jack said. “So the next thing is for you to get in touch with the lawyer. If you’ll look at the third item on my memo, you’ll see that the lease on the stone cottage comes up for renewal. You might as well let the lawyer handle that. Do you know the tenant? That woman who works for Eddie Wormsley; I’ve seen her play tennis here. If she can afford that, she can pay a fair rent. As it stands now, it barely covers the taxes and insurance. Miss Perry is land-poor, and the cash flow may not cover nursing expenses. I have people on the waiting list for a cottage here at Sawtooth who’d be more than happy—”