When Autumn Leaves: A Novel Read Online Free Page B

right into the office.
    “Really? Well, what do you think it is then, Stella?” Ellie asked the question even though she really didn’t want to hear the answer.
    “Hmmm.” Stella tapped a purple fingernail on Ellie’s desk. “It looks like Puppy Brain to me.”
    “Puppy Brain? Wow! Is that dangerous?” Ellie grimaced at the edge of condescension she heard in her own voice.
    “Now, Ellie, just hear me out. That’s what my Granny Pearl called it, Puppy Brain.” Granny Pearl starred in most of Stella’s quirky anecdotes. They had become so increasingly bizarre that Ellie wondered if her Granny wasn’t just a device Stella had invented. Maybe she thought an eccentric mountain woman somehow added credibility to her various diagnostics. “It happens when you think yourself out. Every thought and idea chasin’ its own tail.” Stella patted Ellie’s shoulder in a way that was probably meant to be comforting. “Relax, you’re almost out of here, right? Just hold steady.”
    Ellie felt her skin was thinning out. After Justy’s conversation this morning she couldn’t deal with anyone looking so closely at her. She felt like crying. She could just imagine Stella’s version of comforting, wrapping her lily arms around her, patting her gently like a grandmother would, that smell of hers permeating everything and sinking down into her own pores. No, she wasn’t going to cry. “Yeah, Stella. I really do need some downtime. So, did you need anything?” Ellie hoped she didn’t sound dismissive.
    “Well, I was hoping that you checked out that patent thing I dropped off a couple of days ago.” If she was offended, she didn’t show it.
    “Oh right, the Idlewilde patents. Well, the info is all right here. I was about to go and drop all these off to everyone’s inbox, but you might as well take it now.”
    Stella took the packet from Ellie but didn’t leave. “So . . .”
    “So what?”
    “So I mean . . . were they real? The inventions?”
    Ellie was tempted to tell her to just read the report she had worked half a day on. But it was obvious by the way Stella had both her feet rooted into the hardwood planks that she wasn’t going anywhere. “Well yes, according to the patent office. Jamie Idlewilde did hold the patents for such things as the 45-Foot Beanstock Seed Cure, The Phantom Messenger Service, and the Happy Horse Hypnotizer. But I couldn’t track down any evidence that says that these inventions actually worked.”
    “You think they didn’t?”
    There was a moment of silence as Ellie eyed her coworker. She couldn’t tell if this was Stella’s way of making a joke, or if she was actually serious.
    Stella clucked her tongue. “Geez, Ellie, I didn’t take you for such a skeptic. How long have you lived in Avening now?”
    Ellie surprised herself by blowing out an exasperated sigh. First Stella told her she looked bad, now this! “What’s with people today? That’s the second time someone’s asked me that question today! I’ve lived here over seven years, and today’s the day everyone wants to know!”
    “Well, if you’ve lived here that long, how can you be so skeptical?” Stella said brightly. “I thought that was against the rules or something.”
    It was true. While living in Avening, Ellie was aware that some things defied logical explanation. Illnesses were cured, visions were seen. You could even get actual potions from the drugstore. But nothing happened directly to her, and she grew to accept the bizarre anomalies as normal. People get used to the spectacular; whether or not this was a good or bad thing, Ellie still hadn’t figured out.
    “I’m not skeptical, I’m just jaded,” Ellie said with a smile. “Besides, if you knew all the answers, I’d be out of a job. So there you go.”
    Stella surrendered by way of a shrug. “You got me there, Sugar. Hey listen, you make any plans yet? To go away or something?”
    “No.”
    “No, you haven’t made plans? No, you’re not