Wordzzle 72 - A Stitch in Time

Say it ain't sew and go by the Raven's Nest to continue the thread.


The Ten Word Challenge: corn pone, delegation, nectarines, happiness, 12 going on 13, prancing horses, magenta, butterflies, fragmentary, arthritis

The mini challenge: lavender cowboy, over the moon, preparation, zebra, area rug

This Weeks Episode: Coincidence or Karma


Nurse Jane was surprised when she got the word that someone was looking for her. Her life had changed dramatically from the time she left her high school in South Dakota and went to live with her aunt in St. Paul. She'd been 17 that year and her youngest sister just 12 going on 13. Thinking back to the incident gave her butterflies and not the good kind either. Jane realized that her participation in the hazing of Constance Lawler had forever changed her life and in many ways denied her happiness for decades. The loss of her parents and then her sister left Jane with just a fragmentary hold on her life and pushed her into a career of service and sacrifice.

Only later did she learn that all those involved with the Constance Lawler affair were dead. She doubted the coincidence. It had seemed to her at the time that joining the Peace Corps, changing her last name to her mother's maiden name and working overseas would be enough to avoid the fate of the others. Now, at a few years past 50, with the early onset of arthritis spurring her on to an early retirement like a lavender cowboy or cowgirl as the case may be; she had been found. Or at least closely located.

Jane had wisely asked her many patients and friends to alert her if someone should ask after her. This bit of thoughtful preparation had been her savior. She immediately made plans to meet the riverboat heading up river and left word with her friends to tell the Frenchwoman and the river guide she had gone to Macapa for a flight to Peru. The story given out was that she would be looking after a delegation of missionaries in need of an experienced nurse. Jane hoped this would be sufficient to misdirect her pursuers.

She wasn't over the moon about leaving her tiny village in the Amazon. She'd experienced so many things on her travels; the prancing horses of the Argentine plains, some no bigger than an African Zebra. The nights filled with music, the colorful serapes of the Gauchos, (most looking like area rugs with a hole in the middle) woven with startling and brilliant magentas, turquoises and golds and those wide open skies, contrasted intensely with the rain forest canopy environment of her most recent posting. She would miss the gentle villagers and the innocence of the children, but she realized her own not so innocent past had now intruded into her life. She'd always known that there was the possibility of that happening. Jane packed a lunch of the local bread (similar to south eastern American corn pone) and a few nectarines. She said goodbye to her friends and walked away from the village up the trail to the next riverboat stop. There she would take passage to Manaus and make her way out of the country.

Martin was enjoying the Riverboat trip so far. The villages they passed were interesting. At some they docked and at others the villagers would row out in dugout canoes and more modern vessels to offer their wares. He was beginning to think he had done all the right things. After changing his identity to Mike Hensley he'd also changed his appearance. Gone were the eyeglasses, now replaced with contacts. His hair he bleached blonde and he'd acquired a good tan. Surely no one from his old life would recognize him now. Even so, he was taken aback when a fast speedboat passed the Riverboat and momentarily slowed down to view the passengers who were watching it from the railing on the port side. To Martin's surprise and dismay the passenger on the boat was the fiery haired and emerald eyed supposed French lady from Hollingsworth's house. He recalled just at this moment that her accent and voice when she woke him up at his car weren't in the least bit French.

His instinct was to run and hide, but at the last minute he decided to brazen it out and see if his disguise was successful. He stood at the railing and waved with the rest of the passengers as the boat slowly passed them. There was never the least bit of recognition in the woman's manner. As the boat moved ahead he congratulated himself on his luck and daring. It seemed his adventure would continue, unabated by the alleged Frenchwoman and her henchman.

RT