Part 27

      “A doctor... can we call a doctor?”
      “I'll have Molly send Joseph for one, but--”
      “Just go! Quickly!”
      Evelyn dashes out the door, yelling for the servant girl – for anyone. I helplessly hover by Calvin, rubbing and humping his back, trying to clear his throat, his lungs... I don't know what to do... He whimpers and moans, gasping every second for air.
      Evelyn is back in a few endless moments, and I let her take my place – she has far more claim to be near the boy than I. But she has no better plan than I did... and we exchange a helpless, fearful glance.
      “How long..?”
      “The fastest he can possibly get to town is a good quarter of an hour... and if the doctor's out on a call somewhere...”
      “Has he been this bad before?”
      “No... almost, but, never this long...” And as the words leave her mouth, Calvin suddenly gulps down a lungful of air, and does not cough.
      We whirl to stare at him, in anxious disbelief. He takes a few tiny sips of air, his eyes wide and hopeful and scared. “I... Ev, I...”
      “Shh shh shh! Don't talk, Cal, I'm here, don't talk, just breathe, all right? Just breathe, darling boy...” She cradles him tenderly in her arms, laying her cheek against the top of his head. “Just breathe for me.”
      “Ev...” he whispers, pulling his head away to look intently at her. “Evelyn, I'm not strong enough... I can't...” He stops for a moment, catching his breath, as if winded from a long run.
      “Calvin, hush, don't talk like that... don't talk at all, just breathe.”
      “Evelyn, I've got to talk, while I'm here... Evelyn, I love you.”
      “Cal... I love you too...” His somber tone keeps her from continuing to shush him, and she looks steadily into his face, a little puzzled but taking him completely seriously.
      “Evelyn... you won't ever forget me, will you? I don't care about anybody else, but, you won't forget me?” Every word is punctuated by a rasping gasp, his body shaking with each inhalation, I can hear him nearly choke with every breath.
      “Not ever, Cal... not ever.”
      “Don't... don't forget me.”
      Evelyn is sobbing, holding him close to her, and his breathing softens, and I almost dare hope...
      And then there's no more sound.
      And Evelyn wails, her voice breaking along with her heart, and I'm crying as well, I move closer to her, to hold her in comfort and sympathy, but...
      I'm alone again in the silent garden, the sound of her weeping still in my ears, my face soaked with tears under the dull gray sky.

      I return the next day, with a small shovel in my bag. I find a little grouping of forget-me-nots in a corner of the clearing, and carefully dig down around them, trying to cut as few of their delicate roots as possible. I cup the bundle of limp plants and roots in my hands, and bring them to Calvin's room. I dig a small hole where his bed, long, so long ago, held his weak body, and I tenderly plant the forget-me-nots in his place. I pour half of the water from my water bottle onto them, and check to see how much sun is here. It should be shady enough for them... but to be sure, I walk slowly around the house's outline, and carry over some bricks, to build a small wall to provide the delicate blue blossoms a little more shelter.
      “I won't forget you either, Cal... and I'll be sure you're remembered by others.” There is a drawing just beginning to sketch itself into my thoughts, of a sweet child's face, his curls dotted with tiny blue blossoms.

      I take a long, slow walk, all around the garden, trying to finally see the rest of the grounds as best I can. I can't follow every path in a day, I'm sure, but it's still a little before noon, and I have the rest of the long summer daylight ahead of me. I feel a little disconcerted by the garden's beauty, after so much sadness it doesn't seem fair that the flowers should be so bright and beautiful... and I know it's ridiculous, because all of the Masons have been dead, what, at least fifty years, if not more. All the same... I saw the lifebreath leave that sweet little face, I saw the last breath of a mere child... and such a sweet, loving little child...
      Many of the paths, even the ones carefully paved in stone, tile, brick, are impossible to follow now. The plants grow so rampantly in places, they've entirely covered the paths. One immense wisteria plant has plummeted down through a long tunnel of a trellis that once covered a path – the splintered wooden frame is almost entirely lost now beneath the thick vines and dense leaves.