held something that looked like a club.
CHOCOLATE CHAT
CHOCOLATE THROUGH THE AGES
(Describing the first view of cocoa beans by Europeans) “They seemed to hold these almonds at a great price; for when they were brought on board ship together with their goods, I observed that when any of these almonds fell, they all stooped to pick it up, as if an eye had fallen.”
—Fernand Columbus, recorded in 1502, during the fourth voyage of his father, Christopher Columbus
“If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate pot! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?”
—Marquise de Sévigné, 1677, quoted by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe in The True History of Chocolate
“The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.”
—Thomas Jefferson
Chapter 9
I hit the horn and held it down. I guess I was yelling, too. And I slipped the van into neutral and gunned it. Don’t ask me why. I guess I just wanted to make a lot of noise.
All this commotion got results. The guy dropped the club and clutched something to his chest, then jumped up and ran.
I stopped with my fist still on the horn. Now I could see that the figure on the ground was Lindy. Or at least it had a red cap like Lindy’s and was wearing Lindy’s blue down coat. This did not surprise me, since I’d been expecting to see Lindy in that alley.
I had finally acquired a cell phone, and luckily, it was in my purse. I punched in 9-1-1 as I hopped out of the van, then knelt beside Lindy in the headlights. She was breathing, thank God.
It seemed like hours before the Warner Pier patrol car got there. I stood over Lindy, clutching the cell phone and talking to the dispatcher, terrified that her attacker would come back. I was afraid to move her, but I pulled off my wool scarf and slid it under her cheek, which had been resting on the icy ground.
The Warner Pier EMTs, who are volunteers, were only a minute behind the cops. By the time they pulled into the alley, Lindy was groaning and stirring.
The next hour was confusing. Hogan Jones and Joe showed up just after the EMTs, both of them on foot. They’d still been at the city council meeting, and both had run the four blocks from City Hall since it was faster than getting into their cars.
Joe showed a satisfying relief that I wasn’t hurt—the dispatcher had paged the chief and told him only that I’d called in a 9-1-1 report on an attack behind Herrera’s. The chief had nudged Joe and told him I was in danger, and they had arrived with no more information than that. I guess it was lucky neither of them had a heart attack. Mike Herrera was close behind them, so I gathered that the city council meeting had adjourned abruptly.
Joe and Mike left almost immediately to tell Tony what had happened. Joe stayed at Tony and Lindy’s to baby-sit the three Herrera kids so Tony could follow Lindy to the nearest hospital, thirty miles away in Holland. Mike came back to the alley to let the police into the restaurant and be available with other information they might need.
The chief asked me a lot of questions, but I didn’t have many answers. I hadn’t seen much.
The guy—or gal—who’d been standing over Lindy had worn standard west Michigan winter gear: a dark parka or ski jacket with a hood. The hood had been over the attacker’s head. I hadn’t been able to tell if the person was dark, light, fat, thin, or in between. He—or she—had run off at a crouch, so I couldn’t even tell if the attacker was tall or short. The face had been a dark blob, which might have meant it was covered by a stocking mask or a ski mask. Or it might have simply meant the attacker kept his face out of my headlights. His jacket had had no distinctive features—no stripes, checks, or readable brand names.
A short piece of scrap
CHOCOLATE CHAT
CHOCOLATE THROUGH THE AGES
(Describing the first view of cocoa beans by Europeans) “They seemed to hold these almonds at a great price; for when they were brought on board ship together with their goods, I observed that when any of these almonds fell, they all stooped to pick it up, as if an eye had fallen.”
—Fernand Columbus, recorded in 1502, during the fourth voyage of his father, Christopher Columbus
“If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate pot! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage?”
—Marquise de Sévigné, 1677, quoted by Sophie D. Coe and Michael D. Coe in The True History of Chocolate
“The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.”
—Thomas Jefferson
Chapter 9
I hit the horn and held it down. I guess I was yelling, too. And I slipped the van into neutral and gunned it. Don’t ask me why. I guess I just wanted to make a lot of noise.
All this commotion got results. The guy dropped the club and clutched something to his chest, then jumped up and ran.
I stopped with my fist still on the horn. Now I could see that the figure on the ground was Lindy. Or at least it had a red cap like Lindy’s and was wearing Lindy’s blue down coat. This did not surprise me, since I’d been expecting to see Lindy in that alley.
I had finally acquired a cell phone, and luckily, it was in my purse. I punched in 9-1-1 as I hopped out of the van, then knelt beside Lindy in the headlights. She was breathing, thank God.
It seemed like hours before the Warner Pier patrol car got there. I stood over Lindy, clutching the cell phone and talking to the dispatcher, terrified that her attacker would come back. I was afraid to move her, but I pulled off my wool scarf and slid it under her cheek, which had been resting on the icy ground.
The Warner Pier EMTs, who are volunteers, were only a minute behind the cops. By the time they pulled into the alley, Lindy was groaning and stirring.
The next hour was confusing. Hogan Jones and Joe showed up just after the EMTs, both of them on foot. They’d still been at the city council meeting, and both had run the four blocks from City Hall since it was faster than getting into their cars.
Joe showed a satisfying relief that I wasn’t hurt—the dispatcher had paged the chief and told him only that I’d called in a 9-1-1 report on an attack behind Herrera’s. The chief had nudged Joe and told him I was in danger, and they had arrived with no more information than that. I guess it was lucky neither of them had a heart attack. Mike Herrera was close behind them, so I gathered that the city council meeting had adjourned abruptly.
Joe and Mike left almost immediately to tell Tony what had happened. Joe stayed at Tony and Lindy’s to baby-sit the three Herrera kids so Tony could follow Lindy to the nearest hospital, thirty miles away in Holland. Mike came back to the alley to let the police into the restaurant and be available with other information they might need.
The chief asked me a lot of questions, but I didn’t have many answers. I hadn’t seen much.
The guy—or gal—who’d been standing over Lindy had worn standard west Michigan winter gear: a dark parka or ski jacket with a hood. The hood had been over the attacker’s head. I hadn’t been able to tell if the person was dark, light, fat, thin, or in between. He—or she—had run off at a crouch, so I couldn’t even tell if the attacker was tall or short. The face had been a dark blob, which might have meant it was covered by a stocking mask or a ski mask. Or it might have simply meant the attacker kept his face out of my headlights. His jacket had had no distinctive features—no stripes, checks, or readable brand names.
A short piece of scrap
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