The Woman Who Made Tin Faces
Chapter Twenty Two
1936
The fire came a few weeks later, but by the time they got there, the Shoppe was a total loss.
Mindy collapsed on the sidewalk in front of her Shoppe as firemen poured water on the flames.
"Are you going to be alright?" Martin asked.
"Do I look alright?" She asked through her tears.
"I am here for you, you know." Martin sighed.
"I'm sorry." Mindy put her head in HS lap as he stroked her dark hair. Part of the roof fell sending a column of sparks into the air. "Now what?"
"Mindy Lefleur, let's get married." Martin suggested.
She sat up and looked him in the eye, he did not flinch, or did he look away, "This is rather sudden."
"Is it? I've been in love with you the first moment I laid eyes on you." He smiled, something he rarely did.
"I am difficult to live with." She shook her head, but he put his hands on her tear-soaked cheeks.
"I am willing to live with that. I am willing to put up with whatever you can throw at me." He kissed her on the forehead. "We can move out of this city. We can go north."
"To Amiens?" She asked.
"If that's where you want to go, that's where we will go." He kissed her again, but this time he found her lips.
The ceremony took place at St. Mary's chapel as Father Reggliguer presided. The tower was still under construction, but the small congregation included Agnes and husband. Mindy noticed how much Father Reggliguer had aged. His face was gaunt and drawn and his once robust auburn hair now was nearly all gray, but his smile was still as warm as she remembered.
"Amiens, eh?" He asked after the vows were exchanged.
"Oui." Mindy's face flushed a bit.
"Emile needs you." He put his hand over hers and then he glanced at Martin who was all smiles at the moment.
"I will miss you. " Agnes hugged and kissed her best friend.
"You could come with us." Mindy offered.
"He's doing well with his company." Agnes wiped a tear with the back of her gloved hand.
"Please keep in touch. I don't know what I will do without you, ami." Mindy used a handkerchief to dab one of her tears.
"I will." Agnes forced a smile. One final embrace and the two friends part to go their separate ways.
"You are not welcome here." Hector de Grasse stood in the doorway blocking out most of the late spring sun. Martin defiantly crossed his arms across his chest. Seeing a man without legs caught Hector by surprise, but seeing Mindy by his side made him remember what he had come for. He dare not tell Emile about this situation. Since the deal they had made almost six years ago for the custody of the boy, Emile had the best of what life could offer while his mother, a common Jewish laborer was beriff Of many of the wineries the boy was accustomed to.
"You monsieur are not welcome here." Martin growled unpleasantly. Hector had to conceal his mirth. What could a legless man do to him? He was thinking that when the blow came to his lower region which doubled him over.
"Martin!" Mindy gasped as she watched Hector groan in pain.
"I had to teach this rude man a lesson." Martin beamed in pride as Hector held the door frame to prevent himself from falling to his knees in pain.
"I will have you arrested for assault." Hector managed to say.
"Do what you have to and I will do the same." Martin waved his finger at the retreating man. The chauffeur assisted his boss into the car and they drove away.
"He has custody of my son." Mindy was upset, "That makes him a dangerous man."
"You signed the contract." He threw his hands up in the air,"What was done was wrong. He should be afraid of what you can do to him."
"This is a socialist country." Martin interjected.
"The rich are still in charge of one thing. The rich still get their way." She stomped her foot.
"Yes, but we can fight back." He snapped back.
No matter how hard they tried to keep it from him, Emile knew the truth. Even attending a private military school, Emile had heard through the very vital grapevine of Leon de Fonteneau Military Academy where he held the top cadet rank, he knew his mother was in the vicinity. H?he was a gifted student who did not make it to the top of his class without learning a few tricks along the way.
Hector de Grasse was tight-lipped about the legless man who assaulted him, but Emile knew when something was amiss in the household. The house help loved to gossip in private places. EmIle had learned where those places were. The latest item was about the assault and Emile heard it from just about everyone. Surely it would not be hard to spot a legless man in a wheelchair in this rural place. Things like that are easy to see.
It was a Saturday in town with Horace and Netty who took him to the farmer's market when Emile saw the legless man in a wheelchair being propelled by a woman wearing a scarf wrapped around her head. Angling himself for a better look, Emile saw immediately the woman wearing the scarf was his mother.
"Mama." He blurted out.
The woman ceased pushing the legless man's wheelchair. Slowly she turned her head so he could see her in profile. With a hushed voice, she uttered, "Emile?"
"Mama." He ran into her embrace. Tears flowed as Martin shook his head and pushed himself ahead so he would not be in their way. Horace came scurrying after Emile worried that losing the boy would also mean losing his position which would be a burden during these hard economic times.
As Horace approached mother and child, he dropped his hand to his groin as Martin raised an eyebrow and smiled. Horace looked at Netty and then at Martin, "I don't mean you any harm."
"Then leave this be." Martin waved his finger at Horace.
"Monsieur de Grasse Won't approach." Horace shook his head.
"I don't give a damn." Martin warned the old man with a wag of his finger.
"I am a civil man. " Horace shrugged as he sat on the bench near Martin. Hefty sat next to her husband of over forty years.
"Why do you work for the tyrant?" Martin leaned toward Horace.
"He pays well." He glanced at Netty who nodded contently.
"I've had bosses who paid a decent wage, but they are still imbeciles. My commanding officer sent me and my colleagues to our doom without batting an eye. If I saw him walking the street, I'd run him over in my automobile." Martin let out a hearty laugh that startled Horace.
"Emile Is ready to go back with you." Mindy said as she reluctantly let go of her son's arm.
"Come along, Emile. It is getting late. " Netty took the boy's arm without any resistance. Mindy stood there silently watching him leave with Horace and his wife.
"We will make a deal." Mindy put her hand on Martin's shoulder. He grasped her hand. "A compromise of sorts."
There was a luncheon in the atrium where Estelle had grown some of her prized roses. Horace was in charge of the hospitality while his wife made sure the platters were full of finger food. Estelle sat in her loveseat alone as if she was the queen of France while Hector bragged about his recent beaudreau which won a ribbon at one of the more prestigious wine shows. Dressed in some very nice finery, Emile remained quiet as he let his eyes explore the artificial landscape of his parent's atrium with a fountain complete with a naked nymph statue at the place where the water splashed into a pond with koy and giant goldfish.
Martin, however, was more interested IN discussing politics since the recent strikes in the mine were crippling France's economy. While Hector expounded on the evils of a socialist government, Estelle was drawn to Mindy who with her Jewish beliefs and her invested interest in her crippled husband's politics.
"is it true Madam Delliguere that-" Estelle started, but Mindy stopped her.
"It is Lefleur."
"Fascinating, you did not take your husband's name...hmpt." She glanced at her husband , but he was too engrossed with conversation with Martin. "I heard you made tin faces for the soldiers returning from the great War."
"Oui." She picked up her tea cup that Horace had just filled and took a sip.
"Whatever made you choose that?" Estelle was amazed.
"There was a need." She answered without hesitating.
"Very noble and honorable." Estelle agreed.
"Estelle and I were big supporters of our war effort." Hector pointed a fork at Mindy after putting the food into his maw.
"So was I until the army surgeon removed what was left of my legs." Martin pointed his fork at his host.
"Sorry for your loss." Estelle smiled as she waved a napkin in her face.
"The soldiers I served were facially disfigured and just wished for a means to be seen in public without being tasked at." Mindy wiped her mouth with her napkin before laying it in her lap. "This is a most wonderful meal."
She could not help but notice Martin brooding in his chair.
"Emile is top of his class at the academy." Estelle reached over and pinched his cheek. Emile pulled his face free from her vulture grasp.
"Oh, that is wonderful." Mindy glanced first at her brooding husband and then she stole a glance at Emile who did not seem to appreciate the sudden attention. Seeing him resist Estelle's affection gave her a small modicum of satisfaction.
Later that evening as they prepared for bed in their apartment, Mindy took note of his sour mood. She got their bed clothes as they prepared for bed. She paused and then asked him, "Why are you in such a bad mood?"
He sat there for a moment, measuring his response. He sighed deeply before answering.
"Why did you sign that ridiculous contract?" Martin asked as she helped him into his bed clothes like she did every night.
"Hush you." She put her hand on his bristly cheek, "He had lawyers and some private information I did not care to be made public."
"But to give up your son." He shook his head. "A boy needs his mother, not some washed out hag."
"You had no idea what I went through. You weren't there. So many things were happening. Solomon walked into the ocean. The tax collector told me I'd have to sleep with him to take care of my tax debt. I was attending far too many funerals of my customers. Do you know what most of these men died of?"
Martin shook his head.
"Neglect." She put her hands on her hips as she panted, "Neglect. Simple. Even though I gave them hope, I could not save them."
She fell into his arms sobbing. Using his thumbs, he wiped the tears from her cheeks as he moved his head and passionately kissed her. Reacting to his deep kiss, She put her hand on the back of his head, lifting him from his chair as she fumbled with his pant fastener. She immediately put him inside her, feeling him go deep as if he had lost all control. This was what she wanted, the feeling of his rhythmic Pulsating of his hip until she felt him bursting, his groan was one of total pleasure he had given her in that moment of time.
"I know where they are." Claude confided to Marcel.
" Listening." Marcel looked up at his trusted colleague, allowing himself the luxury of a smirk.
Senji nodded as he put a slip of paper on his desk.
Marcel picked up the folded bit of paper, "Perhaps we should pay them a visit."
"The car is warmed up. " Senji pointed to the window.
"Let's go."
Just like that the two of them were headed for Amiens.
She saw them pull up in a sedan across the street where she was buying bread at her favorite bakery. Mindy knew Claude Senji On sight due to close relation he had with Solomon, but it took her a moment to recognize Marcel since his hair had grayed and he had grown a van Dyke he kept neatly trimmed beneath his chin. Both were dressed in double breasted business suits which she knew meant business and not the good kind. It was no secret that Martin would like nothing better than to take out Monsieur Senji Who he considered his rival.
While she did not remember the details of Martin's loathing of the man, she did remember the intensity of his hatred for him. He spoke of Monsieur Senji in the most despicable terms imaginable. It was inconceivable that they had ever managed to share an office at one time. Seeing his head swivel in her direction, made Mindy step behind a shelf in the bakery where she would not easily be seen. Her heart was pounding even though she could not identify the man he was with, but like a lightning bolt she remembered his name.
Marcel Dobbenay! It was him. He was seldom seen outside the city limits of Paris, so she knew they had come to hunt and she had a pretty good notion that she and Martin were the prey. She bit her lip trying to figure out how she would manage to exit the shop without being seen. She felt as if she was in real danger at this moment.
"So, this is Amiens." Monsieur Senji Smiled as he walked on the sidewalk at Marcel's Side.
"Rather rustic, don't you think?" Marcel voted as they walked along.
"Madam, Care for some other pastries?" The baker said startling Mindy from behind her.
"Oui." She nodded.
"Shall I ring you up?" His smile was partially obscured by his thick mustache.
"Merci." She followed him to the counter. She was relieved that Claude and Marcel had gone in the opposite direction. If she hurried she could get home to Martin to tell him the news. Handing the baker more than adequate francs to cover her tab, she grabbed the bag from his hands and hustled out the front door.
"Both of them?" Martin wore a serious expression on his face.
"Oui." She nodded as she put the bread in a tin.
"Do not worry. I will take care of this."
Mindy did not care for the sour look on his face as he pulled himself in the next room and peered out the window moving the curtains aside with his hand. They lived on a flat on the second floor of a shady brownstone building and while it was a bit cramped, it suited their needs.
"These men frighten me." Mindy confessed.
"It will be okay." He assured her, grabbing both her arms. "I will protect you."
"You know what they did to Monique." Mindy began to tear up.
"She was one of them...remember that." Martin reminded her, "She set fire to your shoppe."
"I know...I know." she curled her lip, "But we were friends at one time."
"Well these men are not friends." He sniffed.
"Oui, I know." SheI looked at her shoes.
"I wish to sit under this oak tree." Simon la Guerre told his wife Loren as she pushed his wheelchair up to the top of the knoll like she had done for twenty years since he came home terribly disfigured from the war. After getting him to the field hospital, the surgeons put him in the tent to die, but he refused.
After major surgery To remove the injured parts, he had no face to speak of and two amputated legs and arms. One of the surgeons remarked that it would have been better if he died, but Simon did not have the good sense to die. Loren accepted the physical irregularities of her husband Without Question or complaint and she never once allowed to wallow in his self pity.
"I shall wrap you, dear, there is a chill in the wind." She pulled the blanket up to his damaged chin. He fussed, but then he always did. "Feels like rain. Perhaps we should go home."
"Paaa!" Was his way of refusing the suggestion.
"Very weii, I'll let you sit and enjoy your view." She kissed him on the hairless crown of his head.
"Shaaap." was hiss word of approval. He was missing three quarters of his jaw that included most of his tongue. Without legs Or arms, Simon was not heavy In the least for Loren to push him to his favorite spot.
She had her own private spot and she went there to look down upon the bend in the river. It was as if God created this place just for her. She stayed for the better part of an hour until the sun began to drain from the sky.
When she reached Simon, she saw he was slumped in his chair. Before she reached him, She already knew.
"Oh Simon." Her tears baptized his remains that were inner mixed with the steady rain.
The service was short and intimate, but Mindy had once served Simon and she sat with Loren. Afterwards when they walked out of the small church, Loren took whole of Monday's arm, "He hated that mask you made for him."
"Really?"
"Hated, but I loved it when he wore it. It made him forget his deformity for a time. She sniffed.
"I Always wondered why he never came back." Mindy allowed herself a nervous laugh.
"You know I buried him with it." She admitted. Mindy put her hand on the tiny, frail woman's arm, quite unsure who was holding who steady. She had made so many tin masks without ever considering what value they held in the wearer's life. Now in Loren's testimonial, she now understood the importance of what she did for them, how she had given hope to those in despair from disfigurement and that horrible feeling that everyone Was gawking at you.
She took a cab home. A small expense for her grief and troubles. She called out Martin's name, but there was no answer, setting off an eternal alarm that started her heart beating faster and with purpose. She called his name again with the same results, silence. There was an acrid odor that hung in the air in the apartment.
She knew immediately when she reached the bedroom what had transpired in her absence.
"Martin!" She cried out when she saw him slumped in his chair. Monsieur Dobbenay lay face down in a red stain on the carpet. Martin, missing most of the top part of his head, sat motionless with his service revolver still cradled in his hand.
She screamed again, but this time she embraced him with the futile hope that this would resurrect him, but all she did was cover her light blue dress in his blood.
"Oh God, no." She repeated over and over again.
Claude Senji stepped from his concealment in the bathroom, a smirk on his face and a revolver in his left hand as he readied to finish the job, but his underestimation of Mindy Lafleur would prove to be fatal as she fired her deceased husband's pistol twice as he stepped over her. Both bullets ripped through him and he danced a couple steps before falling next to his dead partner trying to draw his next breath that would never come.
Putting the barrel.into his black hair, she fired one last time, shattering his skull like a piece of fine China.
It was done. She would spend the next hours of her life answering questions from the police as tears poured down her face.
"We are sorry to see you go, my dear." Estelle was sincere as she held Mindy's hand, "Horace will take you to the depot."
"May I go, too?" Emile implored.
"I don't see any reason why not." She shook her head, but she could see from his hazel eyes, Hector did not concur with the decision.
"We are so sorry for your loss. Are you sure you won't reconsider and stay with us on our estate." Estelle watched her husband cringe as he had every time she suggested it.
"Merci, but no." Mindy took the elderly woman's hand, "Staying here would only make his memory that much more painful to me. "
"I understand." Estelle said in such a manner that Mindy knew the offer was not actually sincere.
"We'd better go, Eh?" She embraced Estelle one last time and then bowed her head toward Hector who returned her gesture with a half hearted nod as he pretended to tip his hat.
Turning on her heel, Mindy walked from the house flanked by her son and faithful chauffeur.
The drive to the depot only took a half hour. The ride was done in complete silence, but as Horace opened her door a strange expression filled his round face, "Strange...those men who came...I've seen them before. I hadn't thought about it until just now."
"What is it, Horace?" She grasped his arm as she came to her feet.
"They came when your late husband Solomon disappeared." Horace's off-handed remark froze her as she grabbed her suitcase.
"I shall send for the rest of my things later. She said, trying not to think about the implications of what Horace had just told her.
"I want to go." Emile was out of the car before anyone could stop him.
"Your mama and papa are expecting you home for dinner." Horace blurted out in horror. Returning without the boy would cause a complete disruption in the de Grasse Household.
"This is my mama." Emile embraced his mother leaving no doubt of the outcome. Horace would return alone and be prepared to face the unhappy consequences alone.
"Bonjour." Was the only thing he could think to say as he got into the driver's seat and drove away.
They arrived in Paris just before midnight. Agnes was waiting for them with open arms.
"Twice a widow." Mindy put her head in the crook of her arm.
"Look at you." Agnes put her gloved hand on Emile's cheek.
"Bonjour Aunt Agnes." He accepted the kiss that left a red lipstick smear on his forehead.
"Dear, you are amazing." Agnes then kissed her friend on her forehead.
"They killed him in cold blood." Tears flowed from her eyes.
"Yes and the police are already doing an investigation." Agnes took a hold of Monday's hands. "You will get through this."
"I wish I had your confidence in me." She sighed as the rain turned into a sloppy snow.