Baby Claire was often in evidence in our work place, sleeping on mother's arm or in her file cabinet remodeled crib, or supping on Martha's breast. When Martha was in a session with Howie, Betsy took over, coveting the child as if she were her own. Clair was good baby, seldom fussed and according to Martha, was almost sleeping through the night. Claire seemed pleased to be held by anyone, at least most of the time, but on occasion she'd let out a scream, loud enough to shake Howie from the past in spite of his near-soundproof basement room.
Howie biked to work as wheel-less Julie had driven her boyfriend's Mustang to her monastic meeting in Vermont. Quinn quipped it would be worth the price of the car if she kept motoring north to Canada and out of our lives. Martha gave her husband a searing snarl and reminded him it was Howie's life and not ours.
The anxiously awaited Friday return occurred not with a bang but the hiss of a deflated balloon as Howie snuck out early and remained invisible the entire weekend. "It's obvious he's not going to address the issue," Betsy grumbled as we spent our Saturday climbing nearby Mount Monadnock. "Like it or not, we need to take the initiative and set the record straight."
"Watch your pronoun, we," I answered as I struggled up the slope. "I'm the elected boss." While I hadn't formulated in my mind how to tackle the problem, I resolved to attack it one on one and keep animosity at bay. I'd voiced this concern to Betsy throughout the week and I knew she was of a like mind.
"Let's just enjoy the mountain and not think about our problems," she said, stopping to sip from her canteen. I heartily agreed. Howie Abbott and Julie O'Malley were not mentioned for the rest of the day.
While Mount Monadnock is less than thirty-two hundred feet, it stands alone as the highest peak for miles round, and due to early burning and erosion, is bare of trees for its top third. Therefore, it presents a distinctive tree line, similar to its far loftier distant cousins in the western Rockies. For two hundred years the mountain has attracted visitors from miles away. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both climbed the peak multiple times and praised it in their writings. At one time, a hotel, accommodating a hundred guests and stable for seventy-five horses, adorned its slopes. Now, a state park, the mountain remains a popular destination for one day hikers. We totally enjoyed our exhilarating trek to the summit.
"Now we can say we climbed a mountain!" Betsy exclaimed as we caught our breath, standing atop the highest point for thirty miles around. We stood back to back, holding hands and baby-stepped three hundred and sixty degrees, taking in the breath taking scene in all directions.