Wildflower by Prudence MacLeod

her new adventure. It had been barely a month since
her world had come apart, but somehow it now all seemed so very far
away, both in distance and in time.
    Once the paperwork on the house was
completed, Abby had arranged for the electricity and phone hook ups
to be put in her name and Keith had arranged a heating oil contract
for her with his own supplier. The men were already out painting
the house and all Abby had to do now was move in.
    True to her nature, Abby had no trouble at
all in finding her way back to the place. She stopped for a moment
at the top of the hill to gaze down onto her new home. The workmen
were just finishing the painting and cleaning up from the job when
she arrived. Keith introduced them to her as she got out of the
car.
    “Hello Abby, are you all set to move in?”
    “All set Keith, everything I have is in the
car. I’m here to stay.”
    “Excellent, it will be good to have a
neighbor again. I’d like you to meet the boys. This is Alfred and
Henry Barnes. Boys, this is Miss Abigail MacKai.”
    “A pleasure gentlemen,” she smiled as she
shook each hand in turn.
    “Miss MacKai,” said Henry, who seemed to be
the spokesman for the pair, “if there is anything else we can do
for you just let us know. We can do all sorts of odd jobs.”
    “Thank you Henry, I will be sure to call you
from time to time. I assume I can get your number from Keith.”
    “Well, we don’t really have a phone,” replied
Henry, “but we can usually be found down at the post office.”
    “Excellent, has Keith paid you yet?”
    “No ma’am,”
    “I was waiting until you had a chance to
inspect the work,” smiled Keith as he put the last of the paint
cans in the back of their truck.
    “Well then, let’s have a look.” They followed
silently like two puppies as she walked around the house checking
out the paint job. In truth they had done a very good job and she
was quite pleased with it. “It looks good to me Keith, are you
satisfied?”
    “It looks good to me too Abby. I charged the
paint down at the store in Pikes Cove. You can fix up with them
when you go set up your mail box.”
    “I’ve already been there and taken care of
both those chores,” she smiled as she finished up her inspection.
“Now how much do I owe these fine gentlemen?”
    “Keith promised us two hundred dollars
ma’am,” said Henry shyly.
    “Will you take my cheque or would you rather
have cash?”
    “Cash is good,” declared Alfred.
    Henry nudged him sharply in the ribs.
“Manners,” he hissed softly.
    “Cash it is,” smiled Abby as she opened her
purse. The butt of a small but deadly looking pistol popped out of
her purse as she pulled out the money. Abby casually tucked it back
in, then counted out the money and passed it to Henry. The look on
both their faces said that they had clearly seen the gun. She
smiled as she met their eyes again. “Thank you so much gentlemen,
you have done a wonderful job. I will know where to find you when I
have more work for you.” They nodded their thanks and hurried to
pack their truck and depart.
    “You let them see that gun on purpose, didn’t
you Abby,” said Keith softly as their old truck sped away.
    “I live alone Keith; I could scream my lungs
out over here and no one would ever hear me.”
    “Mark said you take no chances.”
    “I’m not a raging paranoid Keith, just
careful. Can you help me carry some of this inside?”
    “Happy to,” he replied as he pulled a heavy
box from the back of the car. “The missus is in the kitchen
straightening up a bit for you.”
    Abby led the way inside and found a middle
aged woman in a kerchief smiling at her. “Hi, I’m Wanda, Keith’s
wife,” she said as she held out her hand to Abby.
    Abby smiled warmly and set down the box she
was carrying. “Pleased to meet you Wanda, I’m Abby,” she said as
she accepted the proffered hand. “What hit this place, a white
tornado?”
    “I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to
welcome