"Willow's Tail" 4

Martha slid a sideways glance at Perfidia as they walked the two blocks to the market. Perfidia was wearing a brilliant yellow sundress and a big floppy yellow hat, not exactly inconspicuous clothing, but Perfidia had never been one to stay in the background of life. Martha, in contrast, wore her long, cotton pants of beige color and her long sleeve cotton top of white to keep the sun at bay, and to absolutely blend into the landscape.

“It’s a lovely day for a walk, I’ll say that much Martha,” Perfidia admitted as he popped her movie star quality sunglasses over her eyes and smiled into the sunshine.

Martha’s eyes, through her prescription, transition lenses of wire frame construction, did not smile as she also remember Perfidia never had an issue with sun burn either; she’d turn a nice golden color in the summer while Martha had to slather herself in sun block whenever she ventured out in the summer season. 

It was another notable difference between the childhood friends, but certainly not the most important one concerning Martha at the moment.

“Perfidia, can you tell me now, why you’ve had to seek me out and hide at my home?”

Perfidia giggled, “Why worry about that Martha. I promise my little faux pas will not roost at your door step.”

“I agree Perfidia, my door step will have no issue with it but I may find it intruding upon my home. N’est-ce pas?”

Perfidia sighed and stopped walking. “Really Martha, you can take the fun out of a simple walk.”

Martha stopped too but did not respond; she stood waiting for Perfidia to answer the question.

“Oh all right. I may have misled Mr. Appleton, a tad.”

“Misled him a tad in what?” Martha prodded.

Perfidia turned her head away and mumbled, “That a small libation I’d created would bring him his true love.”

“Love spells? Really Perfidia I thought you would have learned your lesson in that profession. You cannot interfere in other’s lives.”

“I meant well this time, I truly did,” Perfidia said with indignant defiance.

Martha’s brow lifted perceptibly over the wire frame of her glasses imparting her opinion was not in agreement.

“Well I did mean to help him, until I learned his heart’s throb was the one and only Gloria Hipswell of Jon Fairchild fame.”

“Ah, your nemesis for the heart of your own true love, now I understand…so what exactly did you do?”

Perfidia’s fine golden complexion took on a decided red hue and Martha knew it was not a little something.

“Perfidia, you have to tell me, this is my home you’ve come to hide in and I should know what I am harboring you from.”

Perfidia gave her an exasperated look through the dark lenses as she answered.

“I may have switched from love to career potion and turned him in a completely different direction, that’s all.”

“What direction did you turn him in?”

“He found a new calling and he liked it,” Perfidia said with conviction, if not complete truth.

“What calling Perfidia?”

“Mr. Appleton liked fossils, so I may have stirred his imagination enough to go on an adventure.”

“An adventure to where?”

Perfidia didn’t want to go into any details but she knew Martha was not about to let it go.

“There was an interesting article on cave dwellings with cave art that I showed him and he may have decided to go see them.”

“Where Perfidia?”

“He went back packing in the Amazon Rainforest to find the cave art recently discovered there.”

 “You sent him to the Amazon?”

“Well truthfully, he did decide to go.”

Martha’s brow lifted again in dispute.

“Okay, I may have sparked his interest a little."

Martha’s brow lifted further as Perfidia’s drew down in angry defiance.

“Fine, yes, I sent him to the Amazon. I did it,” Perfidia admitted but with great annoyance.

Martha nodded in understanding. “I see, and now Gloria is unhappy with you.”

Perfidia laughed.

“Oh no, Gloria doesn’t know he’s left, it’s his mother who is unhappy with me.”

“His mother is your problem?”

“Yes, she dotes on her son and is out to find me but I know Mr. Appleton will forgive me, once he’s out of the hospital.  Then he’ll calm his mother down and I’ll be able to go back home. So you see as I told you, there's nothing to worry over. I’m sure, it will all work out.”

Martha sighed deeply; nothing was ever without worry where Perfidia was concerned.  

“Why is Mr. Appleton in the hospital Perfidia?”

Perfidia shifted from one leg to the other wanting the interrogation to end but knew Martha would be relentless; she may as well tell her it all now.

“His first day in the rainforest, he fell down a steep cliff and into some poisonous plant and was bitten by a snake hiding there, but he is on the mend and expected to fully recover, even the use of the hand the snake bit…in time.”

“Oh my, Perfidia what have you done!”

“Martha, I didn’t mean for him to get hurt and I truly did mean him well; it’s just that I couldn’t let Gloria…”

“Be happy?”

Perfidia nodded.

Martha saw the regret and took Perfidia's arm to nudge her along.

“Come on, let’s go to market so I can gather my groceries and you can think about how to truly fix Mr. Appleton, and how you can apologize to Gloria.”

Perfidia stopped and pulled her arm from Martha’s. She went pale at the thought of what Martha had said and her golden complexion turned a sour green as she became apoplectic.

“Apologize? To Gloria? No! Never!”

Martha left her standing there spouting one word exclamations as she continued on to the Market.

“Martha…Martha!” Perfidia called out to no effect, Martha was not going to stop or rescind her conclusion.

Perfidia took several deep breaths and lifted up her agate necklace. She held the blue stone in the palm of her hand open to the sun. It warmed instantly with the sun’s rays upon it and spread a calm feeling through out her aura.

Perfidia sighed and placed it back behind the fabric of her dress then followed Martha with renewed focus and spirit.

 

Willow sat hidden in the tall weeds watching the yellow clad human follow her human and her tail twitched ever so slightly in that direction.

The wind whipped up and pulled the yellow hat into the wind and took it on a ride as the yellow draped figure ran higgledy-piggledy after it.

Willow yawned then laid down for a cat nap in the warm, summer sun.