Discover Smith Mountain Lake
WINTER 2015/16
15
14
“Oh no, Honey,” his mother replied.
“I don’t need a thing. Just look forward
to seeing my grandchildren.” He knew
before he asked that she would refuse
any offers of help. But it was a good
excuse for the real reason of his call.
“Mom, whatever happened to our old
nanny, Ellie?” There was a long moment
of silence.
“Ellie? Why ever do you ask?”
“I just happened to think about her
today and was curious.” That seemed to
be a satisfactory answer.
“After she left us she went with a family
the other side of town. I think their
name was Hawley or Healey. He was a
doctor, and his wife taught school.”
John continued to quiz his mother for
several minutes, gathering as much
information about Ellie as she could
recall. Yes, she had remarried to a man
by the name of Jackson, and before that
her name had been Carter. She did not
know if Ellie had ever been married
to her daughter’s father. She would be
about 75 years old. It was not much
information to go on, and Baltimore is
a pretty big town.
Next John called Phil, who didn’t
remember much more than John except
for one thing: He did remember where
Ellie had lived - in Woodlawn, he
believed, on 29th Street.
“Don’t ask me how that came to me,”
Phil quipped. “It just popped into my
head.” At least that would limit the
search somewhat, John thought.
That evening after the kids had been
read to and tucked in, John searched
the business listings in the phone book,
looking for a doctor Hawley or Healey.
There were none. Outside it had begun
to sleet, and the wind picked up. John
shivered, and a feeling of dread spread
through his body. He hated the cold.
“I’m going to make a few phone calls,”
he told Jill, who was curled up in an
afghan in front of the TV.
“Did you find out anything about your
nanny?” she asked as he stood to leave.
He had shared some of his dream with
Jill. He solemnly shook his head, and
went into the den to make his calls.
He did find some Carters listed in the
Woodlawn area, just not on 29th Street.
It was a drawn out process polling
people. Besides introducing himself,
he needed to explain his reason for
calling. Carter is a common name, and
Woodlawn was full of them. One by
one he called, until it became too late.
The sleet storm during the night made
travel the next morning impossible,
so John stayed home and conducted
business the best he could. In between
business calls, he would call another
Carter from the phone book. Finally,
he found one who knew Ellie. He was
a relative, a nephew twice removed, he
explained. Yes, Great Aunt Ellie had
married a fellow named Jackson, but
they divorced or he had died; he wasn’t
sure.
“The last I heard,” her nephew said,
“She had a stroke and was in a nursing
home.” No, he didn’t know which
nursing home, but he would ask his
mother if she remembered. She did
not. Ellie had no living siblings, the
nephew explained, and her daughter
was also dead. When he heard this, John
saw again, as in the dream, Ellie’s out-
stretched arms. Suddenly, it came to
him that maybe instead of him running
to her, she might be reaching out for
him. The thought that she might need
him strengthened his resolve to find her.
John started the long process of
visiting nursing homes in search of
information about Ellie Carter Jackson’s
whereabouts. It seemed as though
all people in Woodlawn who weren’t
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