nodded.
“I’m going to take Baxter for a short walk. Do you want to come?”
“Okay.” Ellen climbed out of bed and sat on the floor, where she’d left her backpack. While the child got dressed, Anne Marie prepared a pot of coffee and put on a pair of sweat pants and a fleece top.
Her usual morning routine was to take Baxter out while the coffee brewed, getting a few minutes of exercise at the same time. Their route never varied: down Blossom Street for two blocks, crossing over to a small park, going around the park twice and then back. The entire walk took twenty minutes. Once she was home again, Anne Marie always showered, changed clothes and did her hair and makeup. On a good day, everything could be accomplished in under an hour.
Ellen was ready by the time Anne Marie finished her first cup of coffee and pulled on her jacket.
“Would you like to hold the leash?” she asked.
“Yes, please.”
As they headed outside, she asked Ellen a few more questions but the girl remained glum and uncommunicative. She wanted to ask Ellen what was wrong but figured it was obvious. The poor kid was worried about her grandmother, of course, and her own future. Anne Marie couldn’t blame her for that, so she decided to tread carefully. If Ellen didn’t want to talk, she shouldn’t have to.
“When I take you to school this morning, I’m going to see the school counselor,” Anne Marie said as they returned to the apartment.
“Okay.”
“Do you have any relatives close by?”
“My aunt Clarisse.”
That was a big relief, although Anne Marie had to wonder why Ellen’s grandmother hadn’t called her instead. Of course, there could be any number of reasons. Clarisse might’ve been out of town or at work or not answering her phone or…she ran out of excuses.
Anne Marie was confident that as soon as Clarisse learned that Dolores had been hospitalized, she’d be eager to have Ellen. Some of the tension left her now that she had the name of a responsible adult who’d step in and take care of the child.
When they entered the apartment, Anne Marie checked her watch. Twenty-four minutes so far. That was good, especially with an eight-year-old in tow.
“What would you like for breakfast?” Anne Marie asked as they stepped into the kitchen.
Ellen shrugged.
“I don’t have any kid cereals, but I do have shredded wheat. Would you like that?” Ellen had to be hungry, since she’d gone without dinner the night before.
“Okay. Thank you.”
While Anne Marie got two bowls, the cereal and milk, Ellen made her bed and brushed her hair. It was straight and dark, parted in the middle with bangs that needed to be trimmed. If she’d had any little-girl hair clips, Anne Marie would’ve used them.
Ellen ate only a small portion of her breakfast and then placed her bowl in the sink. It was a bit early to drop her off at school, but Anne Marie wanted to be sure she had plenty of time to talk to the counselor.
“Are you ready to go?” she asked.
“Yes,” Ellen replied. “Will you find out about Grandma Dolores?”
“I’ll phone the hospital this morning,” Anne Marie promised. She’d do it before ten, when the bookstore opened.
When Anne Marie and Ellen arrived at the school, the playground was already crowded with youngsters. The yellow buses had started to pull up, and students in bright jackets leaped down the few steps, like water cascading over a ledge. They all wore gigantic backpacks that threatened to topple them.
“Would you show me where the office is?” Anne Marie asked Ellen. She wanted the little girl to feel needed.
“Okay.” Ellen silently led the way down the school’s wide corridor.
“Would you like to play with your friends now?”
Ellen hesitated as if uncertain.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” Anne Marie assured her. “I’ll call about your grandmother and let you know later.”
Ellen’s eyes brightened and she nodded, then ran off.
Watching Ellen join her friends, Anne Marie walked into the office; she asked to speak to Helen Mayer and within five minutes was escorted into the other woman’s office.
“Is everything okay?” Helen asked immediately, a small frown between her eyes.
“Not really…” Anne Marie described the events of the night before.
Incredulous, the counselor stared at her. “Oh, my goodness.”
“As you can imagine, this has all been a shock.” Anne Marie pinned her gaze on the other woman. “I wonder how she got my phone number.”
“Actually I gave it to her,” Helen admitted a bit sheepishly. “She phoned last week and asked for it and I couldn’t see any reason not to tell her. She said she wanted to talk to you about Ellen.”
To be fair, the school counselor couldn’t have known that Dolores would call in the middle of the night and place Anne Marie in such an awkward position. “I’m going to need the emergency contact number in Ellen’s file,” Anne Marie told her.
“Yes, of course.” Helen turned to her computer and began to type. After a couple of minutes, she said, “The name is Clarisse McDonald.” She reached for a pen and quickly wrote down the number.
Anne Marie took the piece of paper. As soon as she learned about Dolores’s condition, she’d be in touch with Ellen’s aunt.
“Do you know what hospital the paramedics took Dolores to?” the counselor asked.
At the time Anne Marie hadn’t been thinking clearly enough to inquire, but she’d heard one of the EMTs mention Virginia Mason Hospital, which wasn’t far from Blossom Street.
She was telling Helen Mayer this when a bell rang in the distance, indicating the start of classes. The sound caught Anne Marie off guard and she jerked in surprise.
“You get used to the bell,” Helen said. “After a while you don’t even hear it.” She smiled. “You were telling me Dolores is at Virginia Mason?”
“Yes, I think so.” Anne Marie would visit the hospital first. If she hurried, she should be able to make it there and get back to the store before ten.
She stood. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”
“Thanks,” Helen said as she walked Anne Marie to the office door.
Before Anne Marie left the building, she decided to check on Ellen. She stood by the classroom door and peeked in to see Ellen chatting with her friends as if nothing was awry. Relieved, she went out to the parking lot.
When
