Medicine Cup Read Online Free PDF Page B

diary.

Chapter Fifteen
    P aul’s eyes blinked open and he was instantly awake. He grabbed his watch. Seeing it was 8:20 A.M., he cursed silently to himself. He had to meet Jennie and Margaret in half an hour. He started to rise, but stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed the diary lying next to him on the bed. How could he have forgotten? Despite his narrow window of time, Paul couldn’t resist talking another look at it. Grabbing the book, he went to the window for better light. He flipped past the first page and stopped at the second entry:
I will go to the Amazon to study the Yohagi tribe, an anthropological oddity that might be my last hope. Alas, I am weak, but I must continue with my plan
C. B.
    Paul closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He realized he was reading the diary of a dying man. The elder Baxter was chronicling his last days.
    Did Dr. Baxter know about his father’s diary?
    He gazed back at the diary. Carefully, he turned individual pages and glanced over the entries. Most were short; only a few sentences for each day, which included a terse description of the weather. Paul closed it up and looked at his watch. It was already 8:50. To his astonishment, he’d been leafing through the diary for half an hour.
    He slipped the book into the night stand drawer and yanked off his boxers. It would have to be a quick shower; he needed to be ready in ten minutes. If he was late, though, it was worth it. He had some interesting things to share with Jennie.

Chapter Sixteen
    J ennie Bradford arrived that morning looking fresh and professional. She wore a white oxford shirt, blue skirt, and navy blue flats. Margaret studied Jennie with the envy an aging beauty reserves for a younger woman. Paul noticed and smiled at Jennie as she came in the office.
    “Morning,” Margaret said, her words underscored by her acid voice.
    “Good morning,” Jennie said, glancing at Paul.
    “Want some coffee?” Paul asked.
    Jennie waved him off. “I just finished three cups.”
    Margaret stood. “I think we should get right to it,” she said. “Jennie, how about we visit a few residents and show you around?”
    As Paul expected, Margaret was all business. While he looked on, she introduced Jennie to half the residents, reciting a short biography on each one as if she was a zookeeper.
    Finally, two hours later, Margaret stopped. “It’s getting close to lunch, why don’t we break for an hour?”
    “That sounds good,” Paul said. He was trying not to yawn but his poor night’s sleep, and the contents of the diary running through his head like a tape loop, had left him drained of any energy whatsoever.
    After Margaret left, he turned to Jennie. She gazed at him and blew a ragged breath. “Well, that certainly was interesting” she said, rolling her eyes. “What are we going to do for lunch?”
    Paul shrugged. “Let’s grab a couple of sandwiches and take a walk. I have some things to tell you.”
    The courtyard at Harbor View was a maze of English Boxwood, with granite benches placed at intervals along a gravel path. The path led to a clearing in the center of the maze where a large stone fountain sat, complete with two cherubs spouting water.
    “So, what’s all this important stuff you have to tell me?” Jennie asked.
    Paul drained half his soda and tried unsuccessfully to stifle a belch. “Sorry.” He got his breath back and started again. “Last night, I went back to the North Hall.”
    Jennie cocked her head. “I thought you said it was off limits?”
    “It is. But after seeing that room full of stuff, I had to go back. Call it professional curiosity.”
    Jennie’s eyes lit up. “That’s why you wanted the flashlight batteries.” Jennie took a bite of her sandwich. “So, what’d you find?”
    “A diary.”
    “A diary?’
    “A very old one. It appears it was Baxter’s father’s. Apparently, he took a trip to the Amazon right before he died.”
    Jennie perked up. “Ooh, this sounds