Virgie’s hugs and concern for Beth ended at the same time as Constable Kitchener left the house and drove away in the patrol car with Hughes….
It was the most frightened she’d been outside of a beating….
It was a complete accident, and reasonable people understand that accidents happen. Though disappointed and upset, the average person would have accepted it as an unintentional freak occurrence and let it go. However, Virgie Clark and Gary Tremblay were not reasonable….
A week passed, and life continued as usual for Beth. She walked to school daily with Lisa and spent most of her time in class bored; she excelled and completed her assignments before the other students. Afterward, she went home, cleaned, cared for Otto, and did her best to stay in the good graces of Virgie and Gary. No help from the outside came for her, and she lost hope that it ever would. It was her fate in life. She would either learn to live with it and press on or find her way out alone….
Marg waited until Constable Hughes left before she turned to Lisa and Aurora, shaking her head in confusion….
The rest of the weekend was spent at the lakefront, hiking, sitting at the campsite, playing card games, or visiting around the campfire. No one forced Beth to wear a bathing suit at the beach. She rolled up the pant legs of her jeans, waded, and splashed in the water with Lisa and her family….
Beth stopped at home after school on Friday only long enough to drop off her book bag and pick up Otto, and their duffel bags, which she’d left near the side door so she wouldn’t have to enter the house, run into Virgie, and risk having her mom change her mind about allowing them to go on the camping trip. She opened the side door, hung her book bag on a hook, and shouted for Otto. He came running from his bedroom dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, appearing more excited than Beth remembered him being in a long time. They grabbed their bags and headed to her friend’s house without saying a word. Lisa waited for them on the sidewalk, and together they hurried away from the Clark home before Virgie stopped them….
Marg Jones poured boiling water from the electric kettle over the orange pekoe bags in the porcelain teapot. While the brew steeped, she plated assorted cookies, set the teapot, cream and sugar, lemon wedges, and plate on a wooden serving tray, and carried it into her dining room. Seated at the dark oak table was one of her neighbors, one she’d never had over for tea before but, regretting that, had called an hour back and asked her to come over. Marg had the day off from the Coverville Secondary School, where she worked part-time as a secretary. Virgie Clark worked evenings at the Coverville Hotel restaurant, so they were both available for a tete-a-tete….
Virgie stood with her shoe gripped in her hand. The vein in her forehead had popped, her jaw was set, her nostrils flared, and the muscles in her neck flexed. Her mother was beyond rational. Livid, she repressed her fury only long enough to terrorize Beth’s heart from anticipation….
May 1984
Many things fell through the cracks in Coverville, never to be spoken of or acknowledged. Political bribes. Petty crimes. Spousal abuse. Affairs. Beth Clark’s home life was one of many taboos….
At this point, both to promote my novel and get feedback, I’m sharing the first chapter of From Sackcloth and Ashes on my blog as it currently stands. I’m asking you to read it and give me your constructive critique….