Chapter Twenty-Eight. Betty, 1964
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
—Reader’s Digest
Betty felt as if she were floating in a vast, hollow space, the only person around for miles. She couldn’t even hear the sound of her own breathing.
She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.
The sun must have ducked behind a cloud, because the temperature was dropping.
Time had grown blurry. She guessed she had been standing on the grass blindfolded for maybe twenty minutes, but it could have been longer.
All she could do was hope Dr. Trimble released them soon.
She was anxious to leave. She’d picked up the scent of fire, and beneath that, a frantic desperation, like the distant scrabbling of creatures trying to escape a sealed container.
Whatever it meant, it couldn’t be good. She slipped her shoes back on, even though her calves ached.
She didn’t want this place to touch her.
Her stomach rumbled. It must be close to noon by now, she thought.
The girls’ lunches were on the table just inside the front door of the Trimble Institute, where Dr. Trimble’s wife left them each morning.
Dr. Trimble hadn’t suggested they bring along their midday meals today, and no one else had thought of it.
Betty hoped Ivy had some crackers or hard candies in her purse.
Ivy hadn’t looked well this morning. Her ankles were swollen and her foundation couldn’t mask the darkening purple smudges beneath her eyes.
Ivy was working practically around the clock.
They all were, squeezing in household chores and ironing and cooking during their few spare moments. But it was especially hard on Ivy.
The wind brushed against Betty’s face, feeling like the touch of fingers.
An instant later, something compelled Betty to move.
She stretched out her hands so she wouldn’t smash into a wall or tree and stepped carefully.
She didn’t know where she was heading, but she felt an acute sense of urgency to walk to the left.
Then she heard Ivy calling. But the noise wasn’t originating from a specific direction. It was as if the summons was coming from deep within her own mind.
Is this part of the experiment? she wondered.
“I’m coming, Ivy!” she yelled.
She stumbled over something—maybe a tree root—but caught her balance.
She could hear Ivy whimpering in pain; it wasn’t an actual noise, but more like the echo of one reverberating in her skull.
Without hesitation, Betty ripped off her blindfold and earplugs.
She blinked in the weak light. Helen and Kathleen were approaching, too, as if they’d received the same internal summons as Betty.
“Hurry!” Betty yelled. “Something happened to Ivy!”
Kathleen tore off her blindfold and began to run and after a moment, Helen did the same.
“There!” Kathleen shouted, pointing.
Ivy lay a few dozen yards away, beneath a tree. The girls ran to her side.
“Did you fall?” Betty asked, kneeling down.
Ivy’s face looked gray. Her mouth was a grimace.
“The baby,” she moaned. “Something’s wrong.”
Betty looked up to see Kathleen’s and Helen’s faces mirroring her shock.
“I’ll go call for an ambulance,” Helen said. She spun around in a circle, but they were surrounded by farmland. There wasn’t a building in sight, other than an old barn. Dr. Trimble had deserted them.
“Which way?” Helen asked frantically.
“The road!” Betty pointed. “Flag down a car!”
As Helen took off running, Kathleen removed her sweater and tucked it over Ivy. Betty gripped Ivy’s hand and said, “Just squeeze as hard as you need to. Help is coming.”
“It’s too early,” Ivy panted. “She isn’t due for a month.”
The image of the ruined yellow blanket surfaced in Betty’s mind, but she forced it away.
“You’re both going to be just fine,” she promised. She took off her sweater and draped it over Ivy’s legs, feeling helpless.
In the distance, she could see Helen struggling up a hill in her heels, heading for the road.
Hurry, she willed the message to Helen.
For endless minutes, they stroked Ivy’s brow and urged her to remain calm. When Ivy grew sweaty and restless, squirming and flinching as if ants were attacking her, they removed the sweaters and Kathleen prayed aloud.
At last, Betty heard a car rumbling toward them.
Ivy’s skirt had hitched above her knees, so Betty pulled it down to preserve her modesty.
She looked up to see the familiar maroon Buick approaching, slowly maneuvering over the grass.
Dr. Trimble was driving, with Helen beside him in the passenger’s seat.
As soon as the car stopped, Helen leapt out. “Dr. Trimble was coming back for us. I waved him down on the road.”
“Did you phone for an ambulance?” Betty asked.
Dr. Trimble hefted himself out of the vehicle in time to hear her question. “No. It’ll be faster if I drive her to the hospital.”
It took all three girls to get Ivy to her feet and help her to the car. They settled her in the passenger’s seat, then climbed into the back.
“Tell me what happened,” Dr. Trimble said as he began to bump the car over the grass toward the road, Ivy moaning with each jolt.
Kathleen cleared her throat. “After a while, I suddenly felt the need to find Ivy. It wasn’t anything that happened externally. The urge came from within me.”
“Me, too,” said Helen.
“Betty?” Dr. Trimble prodded.
“It was the same for me. We all approached Ivy at the same time.”
“Astonishing,” Dr. Trimble said. He turned onto the road, but instead of speeding up, he slowed his car and twisted around to look at the three girls. “Describe the experience, please. And start at the beginning.”
The car was practically crawling now. All Betty could do was rub Ivy’s shoulder and hope they reached the hospital in time.
Their stories spilled out, divergent at first, then funneling together into a cohesive narrative: All three girls had felt a deep sense of unease on the land.
Betty smelled smoke and channeled the need of some unknown beings trying to escape, Kathleen heard dozens of voices calling for help, and Helen saw a vision of a building consumed by fire against the night sky.
“Ivy, did you experience anything like this as well?” Dr. Trimble asked.
She whimpered in reply.
Betty caught sight of Dr. Trimble’s heavy eyebrows drawing down into a frown. “Continue, girls.”
They talked about hearing a summons from Ivy and finding their way to her despite their blindfolds.
“Extraordinary,” Dr. Trimble whispered. He drifted to the side of the road and put the car in park while he lit his pipe.
“The initial experiment was an unqualified success. I brought you to the site of a deadly fire that claimed the lives of twenty-two people a century ago. You sensed this, didn’t you?
But even more incredible, the unplanned experiment was the real triumph.
That’s the one that will command attention.
This is the proof I’ve been seeking. My hypothesis is correct!
Your gifts are magnified by your proximity to each other.
I’ll need all of you to stay late tonight.
It’s vital that we document everything while it is fresh in your minds. ”
Betty could feel Ivy’s body shaking beneath her palm. The car still wasn’t moving. Finally she could bear it no more. “Please hurry,” Betty whispered. “Ivy needs medical attention right away.”
Dr. Trimble’s eyes widened, as if he had forgotten about the threat to Ivy and her baby.
It took an eternity to reach the hospital, and Ivy seemed half out of her mind from pain by the time nurses loaded her onto a gurney and wheeled her through the doors.
At least she’s still alive, Betty thought as tears sprang to her eyes. Kathleen and Helen were standing beside her, and as if they were sharing another silent summons, their hands reached out for hers at the same moment.
Then Dr. Trimble called them. Even before he finished his sentence, her stomach knotted. “Come, girls. We need to get back to the lab.”