999_ Twenty-Nine Original Tales of Horror and Suspense - Al Sarrantonio [51]
They were married in the woods in back of the house on a cloudy June afternoon, while Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield were away to talk to their lawyer in Grand Junction. Dampy wore a red-and-white checkered kitchen towel that Hooter said made him look like a Palestinian terrorist. Hooter himself was all in black. It was the first time they’d been in the woods together so far from the house that you couldn’t even see the roof. For all they knew they were lost!
Dampy took the stub of Hooter’s wing in his paw and said, “I thee wed!”
To which the owl replied, “For better or for worse.”
“In sickness and in health.”
That was as much of the ceremony as they could remember, except for the kissing. Then there was the problem of what to do with the ring now that it was theirs. Dampy wanted to return it to Mrs. Fairfield’s jewel case, but Hooter got such a hurt look that Dampy at once came up with an alternate plan. They buried it under a stone out in the woods, marking the very spot where they’d been wed.
When they got back to the house, Mr. and Mrs. Fairfield’s lawyer, Mr. Habib, was there with them, as well as two policemen and a lady, Mrs. Yardley, with yellow hair like a movie star’s who wanted to talk to them. At first Mr. Habib said she was being ridiculous, the boy was autistic and delusional. Nothing could be gained by speaking with him, and in any case that would be a hopeless task. The boy could not be made to answer questions. Mr. Habib had tried, and so had the police.
“But I understand, from remarks that Mr. Fairfield has made in his deposition, that he does speak to, or through, his teddy bears. And I see he has them with him now. I’d like to speak to the teddy bears. Privately.”
“You want to speak to a pair of rucking teddy bears!” jeered Mr. Fairfield. “Maybe give ‘em the third degree?”
“For the record,” said Mrs. Yardley, “we have reason to believe that the child’s welfare may be in danger. There has been a history of abuse.”
“All those charges had to do with the deceased,” Mr. Habib pointed out. “And this boy is surely not fit for a formal interrogation.”
Mrs. Yardley smiled a sweet smile and scrunched down beside Hooter. “But I don’t want to talk with the boy. It’s this little fellow I’d like to meet. And his friend.” She gave Hooter’s beak a gentle tweak and patted Dampy on the head. “If someone would introduce me.
Dampy turned his face away, but Hooter was not quite so shy. “I’m Hooter,” he confided in a whisper. “And this is Dampy.”
Mr. Habib protested vigorously as to the irregularity of Mrs. Yardley’s questioning, but she just ignored him and went on talking with Dampy and Hooter, telling them about other teddy bears she knew and respected, an Evangeline, who lived in Twin Forks and was as well-dressed as any fashion model; Dreyfus, who always wore a little bow tie and was knowledgeable about mutual funds; and Jean-Paul-Luc, who spoke French, which made it difficult for Mrs. Yardley to get to know him very well, since she’d only had one year of French in high school, long ago.
She was a really nice lady, but the nicer she was the ruder Mr. Fairfield became, until finally she had to ask the two policemen to escort Mr. Fairfield out to their car. Mr. Habib accompanied Mr. Fairfield to the police car, and Mrs. Fairfield went upstairs.
When they were alone with Mrs. Yardley, she shifted their conversation away from the other teddy bears she knew and wanted to know all sort of things about the Fairfields. Hooter tried to be cooperative, but there wasn’t much he could tell her about the first Mrs. Fairfield. Dampy was not as trustful at first, and there were lots of things that he claimed he couldn’t remember, especially about the night the first Mrs. Fairfield had died.
Gradually, Hooter realized that Mrs. Yardley thought