Among the Women

Among the Women

"Over the hills and through the woods, to Nana's house we go. . ."

"Shush now. We're here."

And there it is, Nana's house. Little and white with flowers, pretty flowers, spilling everywhere, like they grow from the inside to the outside.

I run to the backyard, feet slipping on fresh cut, delicious smelling grass.

"Slow down there, Allie!"

In the back is a garden of secrets. In a corner a blue table and chair just for me, hiding under the branches of a tree. Over here a pond, with a statue of a beautiful lady and water trickles from her cup and magic bugs skate on top of the green water.

Kitty lies in the sun. Looks at me with sleep in her eyes then runs away.

"Let her be, Allie."

Behind pots and pots of hanging green plants sits a gnome. Even with his pointed red hat he looks very serious, like he has something to say but can't 'cause he's made of stone. I pull off a flower and tuck it into his hands.

"Allie, don't pick the flowers!"

I find a pile of rocks by the shed I'm not allowed in. They're covered in a blanket that looks so soft. It sticks to my finger. I put the rocks together to make a man shape like I saw by the side of the road and use a stick to pull the blanket all around to hold the rocks together.

Daddy cooks on the BBQ. Hamburgers and a hot dog for me. All around the deck butterflies are trapped, stuck in the ground.

"At night, when the sun goes down, the fairies ride those butterflies making them shine with their light."

The tree casts a long shadow over the table and chairs. Laughter and the clink of glass on glass.

"Bedtime, sweety."

"But I want to see the fairies . . ."

"Another time."

*

"Over the hills and through the woods, to Nana's house we go. . . "

"Mom, seriously?" Jesus.

"All right. We're here."

The house, so small, sinks, like a giant hand is trying to squash it right into the ground. The grass on the front lawn needs mowing and the raised wooden beds of flowers have split open. Dirt spills out, the flowers with it.

"Jesus, we've got our work cut out for us. I expect you to put that iPod away and help, Allie."

The backyard stinks. The pond water is green and covered with bugs. I wrinkle my nose.

"Couldn't you throw some bleach in there?"

"Get the clippers from the shed and start with that fallen branch."

I attack the tree with gusto. An old cat jumps from her patch of sun and meanders away from the sudden onslaught of branches and wood. Half blind, she slinks slowly away from me.

"Don't forget to trim the ivy, Allie."

Behind the curtain of ivy I find a garden dwarf, his red hat faded to pink. He's fallen face down, covered in dirt. I expect him to be heavy, made of stone, but no, he's plastic. I grab too hard and my finger pokes through his back. I stand him upright and dig a little hole to place him in so he won't fall again. All around, under the blanket of ivy, little purple flowers grow. Sprung up from beneath the shade.

"Sometimes, when you let things grow how they want to, you get pleasantly surprised. Let's let it be."

I pull the ivy curtain back in place, like Nana wants, then make a little peep hole for the dwarf to look through.

I put the clippers away in the shed. My foot kicks a pile of rocks covered in a massive, layered spider web. Tiny red spiders scuttle out from underneath the toppled rock. "Gross!" I wait until the spiders have scattered then set about piling the rocks up the way they're meant to be.

Quiet voices, low. The clink of glasses on a glass table.

"She's so young. . ."

"She's made her choice. She wants to keep it."

"You two can stay here if you need to. . ."

"No, no, we'll be fine."

The smell of searing meat fills the air.

"I have hot dogs just for you, Allie."

"I'm vegetarian."

"Oh, there's salads. . . "

"I'll be in my room." Jesus.

*

"Over the hills and through the woods, to GREAT Nana's house we go. . ." Emma shrieks the 'great' along with us, delighted to be allowed to shout as loud as she likes.

"We're here."

The little house has settled deeper into the ground, the weight of time's hand heavy. No grass to flatten under Emma's eager feet, instead there is a rock garden. She grabs at river stones as she scampers toward the backyard, filling her pockets.

She runs straight to the tree branches hanging low and hides, giggling. Rob pretends to have lost her, then pretends to find her and catches her up in a hug. She squeals.

I follow them and Rob has found the old rotting table and chair. He's showing Emma how to screw in the broken leg of the chair.

"Do you dare, m' lady?"

Emma gingerly sits. The chair holds. Rob fishes out the still blue table and sets it in front of her. It's more than half rotten but stands. Rob draws the tree branch down.

"Your parlour, m' lady."

She's thrilled for all of two minutes before she bounds out from under the branch and darts over to the pond. The water is clear. There are no bugs and it doesn't smell, except faintly of bleach. Emma drops her river stones into the pond, one by one. I look over at Nana and her face wrinkles into a smile.

We sit at the glass table, nursing our beers.

"Emma, leave it alone."

Emma has a plastic garden gnome she's kicking around like a soccer ball. I'm on my feet and rescue the poor old thing.

"No, Emma. Don't wreck Nana's things. He belongs here." I place him back behind his curtain of ivy, just so, like the ivy is a cloak.

"He looks like a king," Rob says.

But Emma is over by the shed, tugging on the door.

"No, Emma, there are dangerous things in there."

She leaves the door and stumbles over a pile of rocks covered in a thick spider web. I catch her before she falls. She picks up one of the rocks and toddles over to throw it in the pond. I fish it out of the clean water.

"Look."

Two small rocks make a leg, two more for the other. I have to fiddle with a long rock to make it fit and not fall, like a puzzle piece. When it's in place it forms the arms. Emma recognizes it now, from our trip here, and grabs the last rock.

"The head!"

"It's an Inukshuk."

"But what is it?"

"It marks the path."

"What path?"

"The path we're on, I guess."

Rob is at the barbeque, frying burgers. Beef for Nana and veggie burgers for us. Nana sets out a variety of salads. I kiss her cheek and she pats me on the shoulder.

"What a pleasant surprise," she says, with a wink. I laugh.

Emma falls asleep in Rob's lap. We watch the sun sink behind the branches of the tree, the fading light flickering like fairies between the leaves.

*

"Over the hills and through the. . ."

"Mom? Seriously?" Emma's earphones are hooked from the phone in her jeans pocket through the top of her T-shirt. She plugs them in her ears, firmly.

We're here.

The rock garden is no longer a garden, just a pile of rocks held together by tenacious weeds. In the middle hangs a "For Sale" sign.

"I'm so glad you came, Allie." Mum hugs me. "You too, Emma." She spreads her arms wide to include Emma. "There's so much to do. Maybe you could start weeding out here, Em? They say curb appeal is the thing, right?"

Emma picks up the brown lawn-waste bag Mum has out already. "Sure, Nan."

I follow Mum around to the back. The yard is overgrown. The tree branches block the sun completely now. The deck is green with slime and the yard smells musty. Even without the pond, long since filled in.

Mum sinks into a lawn chair. "It's a little overwhelming."

I nod.

"You should see the inside."

I go in and grab a couple of beers from the fridge and rejoin Mum. She accepts the beer gratefully.

We contemplate the job ahead.

"Nana left you the house, Allie. Have you thought about moving in here instead of selling? I mean, you've moved so much ever since Rob . . ."

"I'm just -- I'm just trying, Mum."

"I know, I know. But you'd both be closer to me. And we'll clean it up. It's all junk." She waves her hand to include the house and yard.

Not everything. I get up and go over to the fence. The pots holding the ivy have disintegrated. The roots still cling to the fence. I separate the curtain and, sure enough, my garden gnome is there, face down, revealing the ugly hole in his back. His once bright hat is leached of all colour. I brush him off and carry him back to the table.

Mum raises an eyebrow. I shrug.

"I need another bag." Emma walks heavily into the backyard. "He's still around?" She picks the gnome up and places him back under the ivy.

She opens the shed to get another yard bag and the door snags against a pile of rocks. She uses the new bag to brush off the spider webs. She starts piling the rocks together. Her earphones dangle from the neck of her T-shirt like a broken necklace.

I help her stack the leg pieces of the Inukshuk.

"We should just glue it," she says.

"We could," I agree, "but there's something satisfying about fitting it together."

I think about how to broach the subject of moving once again, when she surprises me.

"We could move in here, Mom. And then we could take our time fixing it up."

"I'll think about it."

I look at her, at her T-shirt hugging her already swelling belly. Whatever path we were on, this family, we were on it together.

"Come on. Take a load off."

Mum has take-out. The setting sun releases the mosquitoes into the dank yard. We move inside.

I glance back at the gnome, like a proper troll in his cave. He still regards me with his serious expression.

"Yeah," I tell him. "Surprises can be good."