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Chapter 6 — Where You, Mary?
Mason calculated the course of his yacht and after turning on the automatic rudder; he lay in the cabin on the bed. He felt very tired, but he could not sleep. He lay with open eyes and dreamt. In his head he had flashes from the past of him and Mary together...
Riding on the coast, together in the tent, proposing:
"And you, Mary... Take this man to be your husband?"
"I do".
Finally Mason fell asleep. His dreams were confused and unspecific until the morning, when he woke up in cold sweat with a shout "Mary!" In his nightmare Mark tormented her and he could only watch her helplessly. The yacht was supposed to arrive at Santa Catalina up at10 in the morning, but Mason was waiting on the deck from 8, looking intently at the coast in an idiotic hope to see where the house with the red roof and garden is.
He did not see the house, but he moored in the harbor on time, as he expected. It was not so difficult to find the clinic “Blanca”. But before he entered the building Mason has start hesitating. Mark could recognize him, and he didn’t want that. Eventually he called the clinic from a phone booth. They told him that they don’t have any Dr. McCormick.
Mason hanged up confused. What the hell is going on? Is that some sort of a joke? But then he’d thought that Mark probably changed his name and he has a new name now. But how is he supposed to find Mary now? Mason’s eyes catch a sign of small restaurant, and realized he was very hungry. Ten minutes later he was already chewing a steak and watching the front door of the clinic. He sat in the restaurant for a couple of hours, but nobody left the clinic. Mason was very confused, but then he heard the barmen telling some man that because of the rules of the clinic employees are leaving that place only twice a day. In 6 p.m. and in 6 am. Mason thought that he has some time until 18 and decided to drive to the coast. Who knows, may be he would just find the house with a red roof and a garden?
Mason drove to the coast and felt a treacherous desire to throw it all and return to Santa Barbara. It all looked like bad joke... But he could not, just could not, force himself to leave. The voice of Mary still rang in his ears.
"For the sake of whole the sacred, Help me, Mason!"
The time passed so fast it was almost 5 p.m. when Mason decided to return to the clinic. After all it was the only way to find out whether or not work Mark was there. But even if it doesn't work, this does not mean that Mary is with him...
Mason decided to drive to the nearest crossroads and then return. Houses at Santa Catalina coast were almost all with gardens, but their roofs were green. However in the end of planned way, Mason saw... Three houses which have red roofs! Mason stopped his car and start watching it. Then he shakes his head — all three houses can be Mary's. All three roofs are red and all three houses have gardens. May be Mary is in one of them? On the other hand, it is possible, that there are still 50 or 70 houses with gardens and red roofs that he didn’t see. Mason started driving again towards the mark, which shows where the end of the territory of Santa Catalina is. Other look-a-liked houses he did not see. Mason’s heart start beating hardly — did he really find it?! He still didn’t know which of the three houses Mary's, but there were only 3 houses, not 123.
Mason returned to the houses with red roofs and looked at his watch. Dammit! Already 18:40 p.m. He cannot find out now in which of the houses Mark lives. OK...
Mason suddenly thought that he made a stupid thing. If Mary called him last night — Mark couldn’t be home then. Mary couldn’t have called him if Mark was at home — he would have never allowed her to do it. But if yesterday Mark was at his duty as a doctor — a supposedly 12 hours shift. It means that he came off today to 6 am and he should be home now...
He went out from the car and after a moment become unsteady as he went in the direction of one of houses. Mason carefully sneaked up the window and starts to listen. He heard two voices from the house — female's and man's!
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