Good Dirt

Ebby

Ebby

2019

E bby sniffles as she writes. She knows that what happened to Betsey and Moses all those years ago would go on to forge the connection between Moses’s life in South Carolina and that of the Freeman family in Massachusetts. Without Moses, there would be no Ebby. She is dabbing at her eyes with the cuff of her chambray shirt when she sees Avery through the window, crossing the yard to the main cottage at a determined-looking pace.

What is she doing here?

Ebby thought Avery and Henry had already left. Henry’s SUV wasn’t in the parking area when Ebby stepped outside early this morning to check on the garden. She’d assumed, with great relief, that they had left before dawn.

Rap-rap-rap-rap-rap!

Ebby puts down her coffee mug, mumbling to herself. Why won’t people use the doorbell? First Henry, now Avery. There must be something about that old wooden door that makes a person want to bang on its surface. To feel the door rattling in its frame.

Rap-rap-rap!

“All right, all right,” Ebby calls as she opens the door. Avery’s pale eyebrows are pulled together in the middle.

“You know, your doorbell doesn’t work,” Avery says.

“Oh, no?” Ebby steps across the threshold and reaches for the buzzer. Sure enough.

“Have you seen Henry?” Avery asks.

“You mean since yesterday?” Ebby shakes her head.

“He left early this morning and hasn’t come back.”

“He’s not out doing his photography?” Ebby asks.

There is a moment when Avery blinks, and everything seems to move in slow motion. A full moment before she says anything in response. It is a moment in which Ebby realizes that, in mentioning the photography, she has revealed her familiarity with Henry’s personal life, and Avery has registered this fact. The ex-fiancée who knows Avery’s lover better than she does. It must have taken a lot for Avery to come knocking on Ebby’s door. Or maybe, Ebby thinks, it took nothing at all. Maybe Avery’s curiosity about Henry’s ex drew her over here.

“But it’s been hours,” Avery says. “It’s almost one o’clock. We were supposed to be in Bordeaux for lunch.”

“I haven’t seen Henry,” Ebby says. “Do you need a phone to call him?”

“I have my cellphone. I’ve already tried. He’s not answering.”

“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. You don’t have to worry about checking out until he shows up.”

Wait , Ebby thinks. Did Avery just do a little huff? Do women actually do little huffs? Ebby thought only characters in animated films did that sort of thing. She presses her lips together to keep from smiling. Inappropriate affect, Ebby. Then it dawns on Ebby. Avery knows, as does the entire world, that Henry Pepper ghosted Ebony Freeman on their wedding day. Could Henry have skipped out on Avery, too? Is this what Avery might be thinking? But why? Did they have a fight?

“I’m not worried about checkout,” Avery says. “I’m worried about Henry. What if something’s happened to him?”

Could something have happened to Henry? A vehicle breakdown, maybe? No matter. The idea of Henry in distress does not particularly bother Ebby. Exactly how much distress could a person get into around here anyway? She looks up and across the river, sees the willow trees, their swaying tendrils, bright green in the midday sun. Sees a pair of children running around a picnic table while their parents pull open containers of food.

The only problem that Ebby can see with Henry being gone is the fact that Ebby is stuck with Avery until he comes back. She thinks of what to say to reassure Avery. To make her go away until Henry returns. But Avery, now, is asking Ebby for help.

“Could you, maybe, drive me around a bit? Help me to look for Henry?”

Ebby, look for Henry? With his current girlfriend? She might have taken Avery’s question as a joke, if it weren’t for the red patches appearing, now, on Avery’s face.

“I’m sure he’ll turn up soon.” She stops herself before saying that Henry used to lose track of time when he was out taking photographs.

“But Henry said he’d be back by ten. He made a point of urging me to be ready to go when he got back.”

“Are you really worried? Do you want to use the house phone to call the police?”

“Don’t you have to wait forty-eight hours or something before the police will help?” Avery asks.

“I don’t know. I don’t know the rules in France. But it’s true, it’s only been a few hours, and he is an adult.”

“And you can’t, just, you know, take me around?” Avery waves an arm vaguely in the direction of the water. “Drive along the river? Check the edge of the woods?”

This isn’t happening, Ebby thinks. It was bad enough that Henry and Avery showed up here in the first place. And now this?

“Avery,” Ebby says, “I imagine you are aware that Henry and I had a relationship in the past, and that it didn’t end very well.”

Avery lowers her chin but keeps her gaze on Ebby.

“I just think it would be best for me not to get too involved here just because Henry is a couple of hours late in coming back. Now, I wouldn’t want him to be in serious difficulty, so if you really feel there might be a problem, again, I’d be happy to help you call the police.”

“Well,” Avery says, “maybe I’ll wait just a little while longer.” She walks away and Ebby goes back to her laptop. Henry is bound to show up. She certainly hopes so. Ebby would be willing to bet that she is even more eager than Avery to see Henry right now so those two can be on their way. Another thought comes to her. What if something serious really has happened to Henry? But Ebby pushes the idea out of her mind.