Chapter 4
Worship services were more than half over when Mary Jane returned. She sat listlessly through the rest of the service. When it was over, she returned home. Her parents, her grandmother, her sister, and her brothers were all up, reading the various farm and dairy journals or mail order catalogs. There was no sign anything had taken place while she was gone.
That night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Mary Jane lay awake, wondering if she would suffer some sort of breakdown after having witnessed what she'd seen. She remembered more than one girl on the island had suffered some sort of mental malady at the age of fifteen, and now she knew why. These girls had not been able to accept incest. All of them were kept locked in the mental ward of the island's only hospital, where they were allowed to talk to no one. No, Mary Jane would not allow this to happen to her. She had to get away from the island, and if anyone suspected she would not accept the Padramor ways, she knew she would be locked up, as well. Her fifteenth birthday was only weeks away. She remembered her sister had gone for "instruction" a few weeks prior to her own fifteenth birthday. That meant she would probably go, herself, very shortly. She had only until her birthday to escape. And she would have only one chance. If she missed it, she would never get another chance. Once a girl was locked up in the "Mental Ward," there was no hope of being released.
To escape, she would need outside help. The only place she would find that was at the tourist lodge. Yes, she would go there. She would offer her services as a waitress. She had never been to the lodge, since it was forbidden for anyone not working there to have anything to do with it. Frivolity was forbidden in the Padramor religion.
Imagine that! she thought to herself. Frivolity was forbidden, but incest was a must.
Any girl over the age of twelve was permitted to volunteer to work at the lodge, provided work was all they did. All tips they received were to be turned to the community fund, to be shared equally among all the families. After all, each of the Padramor families accepted its share of expenses in maintaining the lodge, just as each supplied at least one son in rotation to make sure the lodge was well-run.
Bob would be going to the lodge in the morning. It was his week to see the lodge remained a comfortable place for the tourists, and with Bob acting as the manager, Mary Jane knew she would have no trouble getting a waitress job. She would have to be there early every morning to serve breakfast, then clear the table and set it for the noon meal. Then she would hurry to school. At fifteen minutes before noon, she would be permitted to leave school to serve the inn's patrons. Then she would be allowed fifteen minutes for her own lunch. After setting the table for the evening meal, she would return to school. At three o'clock she would be finished with school, but then she would go for "instruction." She knew it would be this week. By five o'clock she would be back at the inn, helping with the cocktail hour, serving all kinds of beverages forbidden to Padramors. At six she would wait on tables again until almost eight Then she would help wash dishes in the kitchen after which she would return home. But while a the lodge, Mary Jane knew she just might meet someone who could help her get away from the horror of incest. It was her only hope.
Thinking about she fell asleep and dreamed about the horrible things she had seen taking place between her father and sister, only in her dream, she was a close up spectator, and when her father was finished with her sister, he wanted to use her.
She awoke with her covers rammed in her mouth to keep her from screaming. She had to get away, no matter what happened after. She had no idea where she'd go, or what she'd do. But she did know the Padramor way of life no longer meant anything to her. She'd do it. If she had to work in a bordello in Spanish Morocco the rest of her life it would be worth it. At least she wouldn't be sleeping with her father.
Daylight finally arrived. It was Saturday. There would be no school today or tomorrow. Normally she would be working in the little curio shop near the general store in the village. As long as she was behind a counter, wearing a quaint apron to fool the tourists, and had an adult nearby to keep an eye on her, her family allowed her to work in the store. But Mary Jane had no intention of working in the curio store any longer. She wanted to be a waitress at the lodge at the far end of the island, and she intended discussing it with her father at breakfast.
When she finally did bring it up at the breakfast table, she was surprised to see him readily agree.
"You're showing a sense of responsibility,'' he told her. "I like that. It will make facing the future much easier. We Padramors have never had an easy life, and being able to adapt to all circumstances has been a trait of ours. Yes, I think it's time you went to the lodge with your brother and helped out. Bob," he said to the oldest of her brothers. 'Take Mary Jane with you, today. I make you responsible for her behavior."
"I can't foresee any problems," her brother said. "She's always been well-behaved."
"Make sure she doesn't do or say anything that will reflect badly on us."
"Depend on it, Father."
After breakfast, Mary Jane was permitted to leave with her brother while her mother and grandmother did the dishes. She wore a green gingham dress that fell to her ankles, and over it she put on her heavy cloth coat. It was snowing again, and this time the snow was sticking. They had to wear boots and carry their shoes in paper bags.
As they walked, Bob said, "Don't be shocked by anything you see there."
"Why should I be shocked?" Mary Jane asked.
"You'll not only wait tables on the weekend, but help make up the rooms. On occasion you'll walk into a room where there is no sign on the door asking you not to enter-. You will see things happening between men and women of which you are not fully aware. All the other girls pretend to ignore them as they are asked to carry on with their cleaning duties. Some tourists are ignorant savages and think they can shock our girls, or even convince them to join in with them. Naturally our girls have nothing to do with them. If they're unable to leave, they do their work as quickly as possible. If, like the other girls, you wish to observe, do so quietly while doing your work."
"You act as if this goes on all the time," Mary Jane said.
"No," he admitted, "not all the time. But more than we'd like to believe. Most of the tourists come for the skiing. But many come to indulge in private bacchanals, and it doesn't seem to bother them when the maid walks in."
They continued walking for more than an hour before reaching the lodge. It was just far enough away from the mountain so that any possible avalanche might not hit it.
Breakfast time was over when they got there, and the tables had already been set for lunch, so Mary Jane, after removing her coat and her boots, put on an apron, and helped clean the rooms and make up the beds. She was actually looking forward to seeing something in the vein her brother had described to her, earlier. But nothing happened. She didn't even meet any of the rooms' occupants.
At luncheon, she was assigned five tables, each seating eight people. All forty seats were occupied, twenty by men and twenty by women. Mary Jane noted not all the women and men were paired off. Some came up as singles and so were placed-together at the various tables. Such was the case at two of her tables. And one of the men, in his mid-twenties, didn't seem the least bit interested in any of the girls there.
"Is anything wrong?" she asked, while serving dessert.
"Huh? Oh, no," he hastily replied, smiling, and she almost fainted he was so good looking.
He had black hair, wavy but not too long like all the others who were there. His features weren't classic, but they were put together in such a way no woman could help but stare at him, as the girls on either side of him were doing. But he was ignoring him. Yet, when Mary Jane had spoken to him, he had given her a brighter smile than he'd given to any of the other girls. He was thin, but not gaunt.
"Can I get you anything more?" Mary Jane asked.
"You can get me the recipe for this pecan pie," he told her. "It's better than anything I can offer."
"I don't understand," she said.
"I own a restaurant," he explained. "I go all over the country, and sometimes out of the country looking for exceptional dishes. Then I try to get the recipe and bring it back with me."
"Oh, then you're not a skier."
"Heck, no. I'd break my neck if I tried."
"You mean you're actually here on business?"
"Sounds crazy, I know," he nodded, "but it's true. D'you think you can get me the recipe?"
"Gee, I guess so," she nodded. "It might take a little time, though. I can give it to you in the lobby, later on."
"Great. I'll be near one of the picture windows looking out at all that snow."
"I'll find you, Mr.. .."
"Benson, Ronny Benson. All my friends call me Ronny."
"I'll have the recipe for you a little later, Mr. Benson."
"Ronny, please."
"I'd like some more coffee," the frizzy redhead to Ronny Benson's right announced. "How about it, little girl."
"Oh, certainly," Mary Jane replied, and went to get the coffee percolator.
As she walked away she heard the redhead saying, "Since when are you playing with babies, Ronny?"
She didn't hear the reply.
After lunch, she helped clear the tables, put fresh table cloths on them, spread the clean dishes and flatware while she took the used dishes and utensils to the kitchen and helped wash and dry them.
The pastry chef, actually a chef-ess, gave her the pecan pie recipe, which called for extra vanilla, and she tucked it into the pocket of her gingham dress.
She went to the lobby and spotted Ronny. She gave him the recipe and stood and talked with him for nearly two hours. She was entranced by his good looks, by the intelligent way he spoke, and by his gentlemanly manners.
That evening at dinner, she gave him the best portions of roast chicken (there was no beef served at all on Bell's Landing), and even made certain he got the largest piece of peach pie. Anticipating his request, she got him the recipe for that, as well.
That night, after going home with Bob and going to bed, she decided Ronny Benson might well be the one to help her.