Page 39 of Strangers in Time

He stared at her through the width of his shabby doorway.

Molly looked triumphantly back at him. She had on a light green dress with a white hat and beige coat. Her shoes were also beige. In one hand was a purse and in the other a very proper wicker picnic hamper with a lid.

“How’d you know where I live?” he said darkly.

“I had a nice chat with Mr. Oliver. He gave me your address.” She looked over his shoulder. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Don’t see why I should.”

“It would be rude if you didn’t. I’ve come all this way, haven’t I?”

“How’d you get here anyways?”

“I walked part of the way and then I took a cab. It’s a nice day.” She noted his disconsolate expression. “Is anything wrong?”

“No, why should there be?”

“You just look different. Are your parents home? Though it’s Saturday I suppose your father might be off to work?”

Charlie hesitated and then said, “He’s in the army, Miss.”

“Yes, of course, how very stupid of me. So does your mother work, then?”

He didn’t answer right away, his mind moving swiftly. He didn’t really know Molly. And what business was it of hers about his parents?

“Yeah, she does the cleanin’ at some buildin’s and such, like I told that bloke on the bus.”

“You mean at night?”

“Yeah. She’s asleep. Just got home a bit ago.”

Molly set down the basket, opened her small purse, and took out a bottle of ointment and a bandage. “Let me see your hand.”

“What?”

“The cut there.”

Charlie slowly held out his hand.

“Have you cleaned it like I told you to?”

“Um…”

“I thought so. Hold still.” She took a bottle of soapy water and a cloth from her purse, poured some onto the cloth, and thoroughly cleaned the cut and dried it. “Now some ointment and a bandage. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”

“I ain’t worried,” he muttered, thinking guiltily of dead Eddie with his smashed head.

She glanced at him as she applied the ointment and then tied the bandage around his hand, finishing with a sturdy knot. “There, that should do for now. You should have your mother change the dressing daily until the redness goes away and the wound begins to heal. You can take the ointment and I’ll leave you with several more bandages.”

She handed all this to Charlie, who put them away in his assorted pockets. “Thank you, Miss. So, did your dad pass us?”

“What?” she said, clearly startled by his query.

“Your dad? Was he home when you got back that night?”

“Um, no, actually. He worked very late and didn’t come home a’tall.”

“Does your mum mind him workin’ so late and all?”

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