Dr. Sullivan

A psychiatrist pays Brenda a visit. Caitlin has grandiose plans.

 The Autumn 1951 shop windows would have to be planned over coffee. Brenda decided to run her ideas past Helene Shelby. The Summer had sped by, and Daniel's visits were far and few between, but he called as often as he could. 

Little Henry was taking up a lot of his time, and he found fatherhood to be rather stressful, because Caitlin had concocted grandiose plans for the infant. She wanted to buy an expensive set of Encyclopedias for him. Grandma Maureen was spending the night way too often for his liking, and she insisted upon buying the baby things at Woodward and Lothrop. 

Daniel responded by mailing a good part of his paycheck cash by registered mail to Brenda for safekeeping. Many arguments ensued between him, and Caitlin over money. Her spending got out of hand at times, and he knew that she was just trying to be like Brenda. Little did Caitlin know that Brenda was a major penny pincher at times.

One Monday morning  an older gentleman entered the antique shop. His name was Dr. Martin Sullivan, and he was a psychiatrist. Brenda remembered him well from his visits to her mother's shop in Beltsville, and had done an astrology chart for him awhile back when he came into her Riverdale store to buy an old Valentine for his collection. 

He asked her if she still liked Riverdale Park, and inquired about buying a couple of lamps for his den at home. He noticed the new framed photograph of the Blundon House hanging behind her desk. She told him about the Blundons, and the train accidents. 

He said that he had an out patient that she should meet one day, because they might have a few things in common. The patient's name was Farleigh Hooper, and he lived in Beltsville "right by a railroad crossing" in a big old white farm house. He had suffered the loss of his wife who was much older than he, and that the wife's first husband had been killed by a train almost directly in front of the house. The doctor would leave the "rest of the tale" up to Farleigh. 

Brenda said that she would be happy to meet him. She added that she recalled her mother mentioning  a woman's dying on the tracks "down the highway" a few years back, and a man being hit by a train in his car in 1934 on New Years Eve. Dr. Sullivan said that Brenda's mother, Mary Phoebe, had a good memory.

 He added that the two Beltsville victims were buried in the St. Joseph's cemetery at the Christian Brother's Institute. Brenda gasped. Her mother was buried there, too.  Then Sullivan added that "Farleigh's mother is buried there."

Brenda said she would let him know when the Lamps came in from the catalog. She asked him if he knew Mr. Griffin. He smiled, and said "Most assuredly. I am a Freemason. Fairfield is a very good man."

Brenda couldn't wait to tell the Blundon spirits about the new development, but then, she recalled the "Train Gang" from the seance, and laughed at herself. They knew "all about it." Her psychic connections were getting stronger since the arrival of Little Henry. One day soon, she hoped, that she would get to meet him, and hopefully watch him grow up, despite the fact that she wasn't crazy about children.

C. J. Marks