هربی

CHAPTER TWO

Herbie

Monica’s car had a broken headlight. As she drove to a garage to have it fixed, the sun came down through the trees along the road, making everything seem more alive than usual.

There was an old man cleaning the ground in front of the garage when Monica parked her car. He had his back to her, so she called to him:

“Excuse me. Do you work here?”

The man did not turn round.

“Excuse me.”

Monica put her hand on the man’s shoulder. He turned quickly and Monica saw her father’s face. Frightened, she put her hands over her mouth. Her father had died five years earlier when she was eighteen.

“Dad! Is that you?”

Tears came to her eyes and her hands shook. The man moved his fingers to his mouth and ears to show her he could not speak or hear.

“Hello there!”

It was the voice of a young man Monica knew from the university. She had forgotten his name.

“It’s Owen, remember? We met at a party last winter.”

“Oh, er yes! I’m Monica.”

“I suppose you’ ve met Herbie. He just started working here this morning.”

Monica wouldn’t look at the man, afraid of what she would see. He was talking to Owen in sign language. Owen spoke as he made the signs with his fingers.

“Of course you can. I told you, Mr Burns lets us take our lunch whenever we want. As long as you’ve finished your work. Okay, you’re welcome.”

Herbie walked away. Suddenly, Owen noticed Monica’s necklace.

“Is that a blue scarab you’re wearing?”

“Yes, a woman at a shop gave it to me. She wouldn’t take any money for it.”

“It was found in a chest believed to be the chest of Osiris, an ancient Egyptian god. I read about it in my class on ancient Egypt. I study archaeology.”

“I think I saw you leaving that class once. I had an economics class right after it in the same room.”

“It’s a small world. So, what’s wrong with your car?”

“It needs a new headlight.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. I can fix that in ten minutes. Why don’t you go sit in the office? While you wait, Mr Burns will write out your bill.”

In the office next to the garage, Mr Burns sat behind his desk smoking a cigar. He was a short, bald man, but Monica didn’t know how short until he stood up to shake her hand.

“Nathan Burns. Pleased to meet you.”

“Monica Halloway. Owen’s fixing my headlight. Er, he said you’d write up the papers.”

“Certainly I will. You just have a seat there. I’ll take care of it in two minutes.”

Monica looked out of the office window at Owen working on her car. His thin, young face began to look old and tired.

It was as if she was looking at a completely different man and it frightened her. Mr Burn’s voice stopped her thinking.

“How do you spell, Halloway, with two Ls or one?”

“What? Oh, two. H, A, double L, O, W, A, Y.”

Monica went outside to see Owen as he finished his work on her car. He looked like he usually did, and Monica forgot about what she thought she had seen before. She shook his hand.

“Thank you very much for your help.”

“Anytime. It was nice to see you again.”

When Owen walked away, Monica saw Herbie sitting on a chair by the garage door. He was eating a sandwich. She saw something on his right arm. It was a purple birthmark, the same kind her father had.

“It is you. I knew it!”

She took a few steps towards Herbie, but she frightened him. He got up and went into the garage. When she followed him inside, she saw that he had gone.