The Pumpkin Trolley

Going to Farleigh's house.

On October 30th, Brenda rode the Trolley to the Odell Road stop, and Farleigh met her by the tacks in his powder blue car. She was holding a pumpkin she bought from a woman on the trolley. It wasn't very big, but it seemed just right for the occasion. She also brought allspice cupcakes, a Grayson specialty. Farleigh looked spiffied up, and wore a newsboy cap with a matching scarf. He smelled like old bay spice, and his hair didn't have oil on it.

When they got to his house there were a few Halloween decorations, and dried cornstalks on the porch. He waved to his widowed neighbor, Greta, who had been a thorn in Edwina's side for years, but she had made amends when Farleigh explained Edwina's difficulties after Frederick's accident. Greta also had a few decorations, something she hadn't done very often until she got to know Farleigh better. 

Brenda followed Farleigh into the kitchen, and handed him the muffins. He made a fire in the fireplace, and she offered to make tea. They seemed very comfortable around each other. Brenda was eager to hear his story no matter how long it took. When they sat on the couch, Farleigh turned a picture of Edwina and Frederick toward them on the coffee table like a set of parents watching their children, or so it seemed to Brenda's way of thinking.

He said that he had met Edwina at the hardware store where he worked when she came in and asked for a man who could do a bit of "banging and fixing" since her house was in disrepair. He volunteered, and rode his bike to her house despite the fact that he had a car. 

He began by hammering a couple of loose boards on the porch, and checking for anything that wobbled. Edwina came outside with lemonade, and pointed to the garage. "That is the car I bought Frederick after my mother died, and that's the car he died in."

Farleigh said he was sorry to hear that, and she invited him inside the house, where it was cooler. The house was almost exactly the same as the day he died. She said she didn't want anything to change, and always felt that his death was a cosmic mistake, and that he would come back one day. He had climbed into his Cadillac Limo to fetch her a bottle of cough syrup on January 31 1934 at 10 AM.  She tried to talk him out of it because the roads were icy. He laughed, and said for her to get back in the house, or he would spank her.

She closed the door, and laid down on the couch. Then she heard the train whistle like it had never blasted before. When she heard a loud crash, and the sound of scraping metal, she ran out in her flimsy dress, and bedroom slippers to see the limo wrapped around a signal pole. The train kept going, but later stopped when it cleared the track crossing. The caboose man came running, and Edwina was staring into the wreck at Frederick.

Edwina said that blood was spurting from his neck, glass was everywhere, and that several of his teeth were lying on his lapel. His eyes stared straight ahead, and he was having trouble breathing. His face was bloodied, and within a few seconds, his eyes closed, and he exhaled. 

She began screaming, and waving at cars to stop. Several people had to keep her off the tracks, and the caboose man began directing traffic. Eventually, she sat on the cold ground and cried. She doesn't recall anything that happened after that except being at the hospital, and getting a needle.

Brenda poured more tea, and said that she could imagine the scene clearly. Farleigh told about the funeral, and how Edwina had clung to the casket by the burial spot. A female friend urged her to let go. As the years rolled on, Edwina set the dining room table, and included a plate for Frederick. She covered pillows with his clothing, and slept with them. 

One day, she walked out onto the porch, to fetch the newspaper while wearing Frederick's clothing.  Neighbor Greta was watching her, and Edwina began pulling the front zipper up and down rapidly as she shouted "Take THAT, you nosy witch!"  Well, Greta alerted the authorities, and Edwina was "sent up" for an "evaluation" to Dr. Sullivan. The kind doctor found nothing wrong with her. He said she was simply "working out her grief." 

So, handyman Farleigh met the widow Edwina  Walker, fell in love with her, and married her. His mother, Laura Hooper was Dr, Sullivan's nurse, and receptionist. 

Mother Laura was shocked when he told her he was married to Edwina on the spur of the moment. He had been renting a room from Edwina, and she had known about that, but the marriage seemed a "bit bizarre." 

Farleigh stopped for a spice muffin break, and said that the "whole truth" would be a shocker. 

Brenda said that the story was a sweet, and tragic one. Farleigh had some secrets of his own that would be revealed later. Brenda was drawn to him. She hardly gave Daniel a thought during the entire trip to Beltsville. 

Farleigh threw more wood on the fire and asked Brenda if she would like to spend the night. She hesitated, and he said that she could have his old room. He would drive her home in the morning, and see her Halloween decorations.

She agreed to stay. It was to be a long night.

 

C J. Marks