Free Some Day the Sun Will Shine and Have Not Will Be No More by Brian Peckford Page B

We finally arrived at her place.
    “Rosy, if you would go and get a steaming pot of hot tea, I will go talk to
     Charlie.”
    Rosy glanced at me—a half-questioning look—but then exclaimed,
     “Okay, I will get us some tea.”
    I knocked on Charlie’s door; it was early suppertime. A slightly balding man,
     tall and muscular, appeared in the doorway.
    Of course, Charlie recognized me at once, and I could see his surprise at
     seeing me. Quickly, I explained the situation.
    Charlie and his wife were receptive and realized immediately the reason for my
     visit once I mentioned Rosy. So we exchanged experiences. They confirmed to me
     that Rosy’s husband had in fact drowned four years ago. He had fished with
     Charlie on many occasions. And they described how devastated Rosy was when it
     happened, how she had gradually withdrawn from the community and become a real
     loner, and that lately she was telling people tragic things that would soon
     befall them. It was the children and teenagers who called her a witch. No doubt
     a word used by their parents. I proposed a little agreement with them—try to be
     friendly to her and say positive things and try and get the young people to stop
     verbally jabbing her. In return I would keep talking to Rosy and try to get her
     to look outward and be more positive. We would see if this stopped the dreams,
     and if they detected any deterioration in her behaviour they should contact me.
     They were very happy to help and so I took a quick exit, explaining to them that
     I had a cup of tea waiting next door.
    Rosy was overjoyed to see me—it was as if it had been weeks rather than minutes
     since I last saw her. The tea was hot and some bread buns and partridgeberry jam
     made for a perfect mug-up.
    “Rosy,” I said. “I have spoken to Charlie and Mabel and they told me that they
     will talk to the children and tell them to stop calling you names. They also
     miss your husband. They said he was a really good man.”
    “Yes,” Rosy said, “a really, really good man!”
    “And Rosy, Mabel told me you are a top-notch knitter and her boys need some new
     mittens.”
    “It’s been so long I almost forget how to knit. Yes. I will get back at it and
     knit some mittens. That’s a good idea, Mr. Peck.”
    We passed the rest of the mug-up in small talk. There was no more mention of
     witch words and seeing things.
    “Okay, Rosy,” I said, “I have to go, but I want you to promise
     me that you will come see me every Monday morning at eleven o’clock. You can
     fill me in on how those mittens are doing and what else you have been
     doing.”
    “Mr. Peck, I was going to ask you if I could come and see you again. Every
     Monday at eleven o’clock—I like these chats.”
    And so for the next couple of weeks, Rosy was punctual and we had some great
     chats. I found out all about her family and her growing up.
    The Monday of the third week, Rosy did not appear, and it was that Monday that
     my supervisor arrived. I forgot about Rosy. The supervisor asked me to come to
     the office very early the next morning so that he could review administrative
     things with me before the office opened to the public. That night I got to
     wondering about the supervisor’s abrupt visit. Of course, I quickly realized
     that my recent refusal to provide transportation to a family (even when I was
     instructed to provide it) and the subsequent telexes to the supervisor and the
     department had probably prompted this extraordinary visit.
    It was all business the next morning at seven o’clock. The supervisor was
     unfriendly and aloof. His only interest, it seemed, was to find some fault with
     my work. To that end he examined the inside of every file to see whether I had
     cross-referenced every name from the daily worksheet. After more than an hour he
     found one omission and highlighted it in very strong terms and was then going to
     quit the scrutiny. I was not taking this very well and