Vi walked through the main doors of the Inn and into the reception area, her eye on the door to the basement. Was there something down there? A secret part of the hospital—B West?
The window to the office slid open, and Miss Ev scowled at Vi. “Dr. Hildreth is in a staff meeting,” she said. “She’s not to be disturbed.”
Vi smiled her biggest, sweetest smile and stepped forward. “Actually, Miss Ev, I’m not here to see Gran. I came to see you.”
Now the woman’s whole face pinched together, her mouth puckering as if she’d eaten something sour. “Me?”
Vi nodded. “See, I’ve got this idea. A proposal, really.”
“Proposal?”
She’d already gotten Gran on board. Now she just needed to hook Miss Ev.
Vi nodded again. “I ran it by Gran last night, and she told me I should come talk to you. We both agreed you were the best person here to handle this… idea. In fact, you’re the only one, really.” She smiled again, innocently. “I wrote everything out. I’ve even got sketches. May I come into the office to show you?”
“If you must,” Miss Ev said. She got up, pushing herself out of the chair and huffing her way over to the door to unlock it, her feet clomp, clomp, clomping. Vi stepped in.
Vi had never been inside Miss Ev’s realm. It wasn’t a large office, and a great deal of it was taken up by an L-shaped desk. One side had the window with the sliding glass so she could keep an eye on the Common Room and greet (more like stop and interrogate) any visitors. The desk held a phone with buttons for each separate line so she could patch calls through to staff all over the building, plus a big electric Smith Corona typewriter and a set of wire baskets for paperwork. And on the wall, cubbies served as mailboxes for the staff and patients. Under the mailboxes, keys hung on hooks, each one carefully labeled with a colored tag: STAFF OFFICE WING; DR. HILDRETH’S OFFICE; KITCHEN; DINING; DAY ROOM; BACK DOOR; FRONT DOOR; SECOND FLOOR MED CABINET; FILE ROOM.
Vi’s eyes caught the file room key, and her fingers twitched a little. There were no keys for the basement. Nothing that said B WEST. She flicked her eyes away before Miss Ev could catch her looking.
“Well,” Miss Ev said. “What is it you want? I don’t have all day, Violet.” She dropped back into her chair and drummed her fingers on the desk littered with a can of Tab, an ashtray, a cigarette pack, a lighter, and a book of crossword puzzles. Her nails were long, filed to points and painted candy-apple red.
“See, the thing is,” Vi began, “I’ve been studying habitat.”
“Habitat?”
“Yeah, it’s the environment an organism lives in, like an animal or a plant, it’s where they live, it’s got what they need to—”
“I know perfectly well what a habitat is,” Miss Ev said. She reached for the pack of cigarettes on her desk, shook one out, and grabbed the yellow plastic lighter. A flick of her thumb and a flame jumped to life, igniting the Pall Mall. She blew the first puff of smoke in Vi’s direction, as if hoping to make her disappear.
Vi nodded and smiled. “I knew you would.” She turned, looked out the row of windows to the front lawn. In front of each window hung a bird feeder. Miss Evelyn believed that watching the birds was far more entertaining than watching television, and often said so. The woman loved her birds. She had bird sweaters. Bird coffee cups. A bird calendar. Bird pictures were hanging up all over the office. “That’s what makes you the perfect person to help oversee my project.”
Vi pulled out the folder she’d carried over and laid the papers out on the desk. “A bird garden,” she said. She pointed down at the drawing that Eric had worked on so carefully last night. “Bushes, flowers, and plants specially picked out to provide good habitat. We’ll have a birdbath, maybe even a fountain. Some benches to sit and watch the birds. Nest boxes and birdhouses. I was reading about purple martins, they live in colonies. I thought we could build a big house just for them. I found a picture in a book in Gran’s library.”
Miss Evelyn leaned down and looked at the sketches and notes through the haze of her cigarette smoke.
“We’d do it right in the front yard here, so you could see it all day.”
Miss Ev’s mouth twitched in what Vi thought might be the beginning of a smile.
“The patients could help clear the area, build the garden beds, do the plantings. They could make birdhouses and feeders. But I figured that since you’re the big bird expert, you should oversee the whole project. Gran’s too busy. And besides, she doesn’t know much about birds.” Vi smiled. “And Gran and I thought the new nurse could help too.”
Miss Ev frowned. “Patty?”
Vi leaned closer, spoke in a low voice, like they were good friends sharing a secret. “Patty’s new, and Gran thought maybe this project would be a good way for her to get to know the residents. That it might help her… fit in.”
Miss Ev sat stone-faced, not saying a thing.
“So, will you do it?” Vi pointed out the little label at the bottom of the drawing, the icing on the cake: EVELYN’S BIRD GARDEN.
“If I can find the time,” Miss Ev said, which, Vi understood, was the closest she’d ever get to a yes.
“Great! Hey, is Patty around? Maybe I could talk to her, take her outside and show her the area? Tell her about it?”
Miss Ev picked up the phone, punched a button, said, “Send Patty to see me. Yes, now.” She hung up.
There was a rapping at the window. Tom’s face was peering through.
“Go back to group, Tom,” Miss Ev said through the glass.
“Please, Miss Evelyn. I need calamine lotion and they won’t give me any. Please. Have mercy.” He was tearing at his hairy arms.
“You go on outside, Violet,” Miss Ev said. “I’ll send Patty out to you.” She pushed a button on the phone and barked, “Will someone please get down here and retrieve Tom. You’ve got to stop letting the patients wander like this!”
Vi passed Tom in the front hall. “How you doing, Tom?”
“So itchy,” he said.
“What do you think it is?” Vi asked.
“Dr. Hildreth, she says it’s nothing. But I can feel them.”
“Them?”
“They’re just under the skin, Violets are blue. They’re always there.”
In five minutes, Patty appeared outside, looking flustered and confused. “Evelyn sent me,” she said. “To talk about a project?” She blinked at Vi as if she didn’t know what to make of her.
“Hi! I’m Violet, Dr. Hildreth’s granddaughter.” Vi held out her hand, and Patty shook it. Vi was good at dealing with adults; Gran had made it a point of teaching her to look them in the eye, be respectful, shake hands, make small talk and always say please and thank you.
“You earn people’s respect by treating them with respect,” Gran had said. “Be intelligent and well-spoken. Let your maturity shine through, Violet.”
Vi smiled at Patty and thanked her for taking the time to come.
“Here’s the thing,” Vi said in a low voice, because even though the window to Miss Ev’s office was closed, she could feel the woman watching. “We have to look like we’re talking about the garden.”
Patty looked more puzzled than ever. At last she said, “Evelyn told me a little about the garden. I think it’s a terrific idea.” She smiled, and her smile was contagious. “You’re the one who came up with it? The whole plan? And Dr. Hildreth okayed it?”
Vi nodded. “She thinks it’s a great idea. Which it is. But there’s something else. A secret thing. The garden isn’t the whole reason I’m here.”
“It’s not?”
“The garden is a cover.”
She was taking a chance. She knew it. Patty could go blabbing to Miss Ev and Gran and everyone else about what Vi was about to say, but Vi didn’t think she’d do that. The gods were whispering in her ear: Tell her, she’ll help you, trust her. And the gods were rarely wrong.