Episode 4: Into the Light

Previously:

The entire Armand family awaits word on Noelle’s condition.

Pierre Armand receives a mysterious call on his cell phone.

Ryan MacPherson proves himself as a promising future doctor.



"My sister was what?"  Pierre asked the two medics standing in the waiting room.

Maria tried her best to calm him down.  "We examined Noelle and found evidence of sexual assault."

“I can’t believe it. …je ne peux pas…”  He slumped down onto a chair next to his parents.  Ryan and Maria huddled around the Armands.  Stephane and Thérèse held each other’s hands quietly as Maria spoke gently.

“I know it’s traumatic, Mr. Armand, but she’s in the right place,” Maria told them.

Ryan reassured them as best he could.  “I don’t know if this is any consolation to you, but I think she’d like to see you.”

“Not just yet,”  Maria cautioned.  “We have her upstairs under sedation.  It’s for the best that she has some time to rest.  I’d suggest you do the same, Mr. MacPherson. Go home. We need you fresh for another weekend on call. Meanwhile, I’ll find a place for the Armands.”

*****
Blaine thought he had everything under control in the kitchen at the Vineyards.  He had just put all 65 dishes of crème brûlée into the fridge.  Now he could rest for a little while, or join the guests. 

He’d love to hear compliments from the guests.  Blaine had had trouble in the beginning, like many new students at La Cuisine.  Thérèse had nurtured him into a fine pastry and dessert chef.   Of that he was proud, but here at the Vineyards, he’d hoped Louisa would give him a chance to expand his creativity into other courses. 

If the afternoon tea were any indication, Blaine Carroll was well on his way.

The crème brûlée  may be in the fridge, but his favorite part of the exquisite dessert was yet to come.

Oh,  the things he could do with a blowtorch!

*****
Suzanne swallowed an allergy tablet and checked her face in the mirror of one of the guest bathrooms.  She wanted to get the dust off her face, but a splash of cold water just wouldn’t do.  

A bar of soap would, though.

She would find one in the cabinet underneath the sink.  She opened the door, and reached into the back where she thought all the fresh bars were.  She felt around for one, and when she did, an unusual feeling crept over her. 

“This isn’t a bar of soap,” Suzanne wondered out loud.  “I thought I put all the fresh soap and shampoo here.”


She toppled a bottle of shampoo onto its side, and grabbed a bar of soap, along with something else. What she found was an old book with a weathered black leather cover.

“What’s this old thing?”

She blew the dust off the cover and turned the book’s yellowed, decaying pages.  On the inside first page was a pentacle and the name Helena Weston Carroll inscribed in fine calligraphy.  Below the name were a group of mysterious runes.

“Grandma?”

*****

The soft clicking of an IV pump from the patient next to her and the soft, melodious sounds of CBC Newsworld greeted Noelle as she slowly opened her eyes. The news reporter had informed all of Canada that the nurses in Quebec were striking illegally.  She wondered how the doctors there would take the news.

A few years from now, Noelle and Ryan, if all went well, would have to think about such things themselves. 

Dr. Noelle Armand.

How sweet that would sound tripping off her tongue. The thought was much more pleasant than what had happened earlier in the evening.

She groaned and held her head in her hands as she heard computer keys tapping down the hall at the nurses’ station.

At least the nurses in Ontario weren’t on strike.  Yet. Noelle hoped they wouldn’t be next.

The cacophony of tennis shoes against a freshly waxed tile floor  were apparent as the contact between the two was apparent to Noelle’s ears.  The shoes got closer, and she pulled her blanket against her.

A knock on the door ensued, and she gasped.

Who could be visiting at this time of night?

*****
Suzanne rushed down to the kitchen and nearly knocked Blaine down when she showed him her discovery.

“What the hell was that doing in a guest bathroom, of all places?”
Blaine asked.

Suzanne’s mouth gaped open, and she stood there. For several seconds, they just stared at each other.  She couldn’t believe it.

“You mean, you know about the book?”

“What book?”

“This book.”  Suzanne thrust it into Blaine’s hand. He thumbed through the pages, and could make out most of the handwriting. Some parts, though, he found quite illegible.

“It’s a cookbook, right?  Grandma kept a notebook in the Trillium Room. It was her favorite room of the house.”

“Well…” Suzanne’s voice trailed off.  “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly what?”

“Not exactly a cookbook.  Come here and take a closer look.”

They pored over the mysterious runes in the book together and shook their heads.

“Blaine, I have a feeling Grandma Carroll wasn’t writing down just any old family recipe.”