"Not now, Ross," I pleaded with the five year old boy. "Just another three blocks and we'll be at the bus. Then you can sleep." Ross went limp like a sixties civil rights activist and lay in a whining lump on the sidewalk.
I had my backpack on and an overnight bag slung over my shoulder. John was carrying the packages from the Bay Company. I tried raising Ross up with one hand around his resisting arm.
"Ow!" yelled the little boy. "You're hurting me, Mom!" We gained five feet of progress along the sidewalk.
It had been a long day for the kid. John and I hadn't been to Victoria in years, and we probably should have left Ross with his grandparents. But there was the Bug Museum, the taxi boats of the Inner Harbor, Madame Toussaude's Wax Museum that we were sure he'd like, so here he was.
He liked the Bug Museum, but he didn't like the hotel because it didn't have a pool. He didn't like the wax museum because he couldn't touch anything, and the taxi boats weren't running today. I spent way more time in Munro's Bookstore than he thought I should. John was worried we'd miss the bus back to the ferry because I had to run into Murchie's to get a box of Empress Blend tea.
The Empress Blend is black pekoe and darjeeling teas blended the way no one else can do it. The aroma is deep and floral. The taste delicate and earthy. I couldn't leave Victoria without it, and because of me we were in a rush. But who knew when we could return?
The black cardboard box with the gold embossed logo was tucked inside my backpack. That was sitting nicely, but the overnight bag fell over my shoulder, then to the ground as I struggled with the child. Ross jumped to his feet and ran ahead of us to a wooden bench. He lay down on one end of it and announced he wasn't moving.
There was an old, severe looking woman sitting at the other end of the bench. She wore a muted plaid wool coat and scarf on this almost hot day. Her wiry grey hair lay in neat curls under a brown beret.
"I'm tired," Ross said. "You can't make me move."
The old woman spoke.
"You should take a switch to that boy. You'd be doing him a favor. Worst thing you can do to a kid is spoil him."
I turned to get a better look at her. I saw a face that hadn't smiled in a long time.
"No, you shouldn't spoil him. He won't turn out right. I can tell that for myself, nobody ever did nothin for me, and it's a good thing, too. I always made my own way from the time I was a girl. My folks never bothered to fuss, and then my father passed away when I was a teenager. I joined the army at seventeen and worked my way up the ranks as a trained nurse. I put my money away, as much as I could so I could retire to Oak Bay. And now I have a nice house there.
"Nobody did it for me, I done it myself. If Id'a been spoiled I would have nothin today."
Then she fell silent, watching John try to coax Ross off the bench. John gave the boy a juice box from my backpack and said some soothing words to him.
"Do you have any family to enjoy your retirement with?" I asked her.
"No. There was no time for that and I couldn't rely on anyone let alone a man. Never married, and dedicated myself as an army nurse, I did. I have medals.
"Nobody ever gave me anything," she repeated.
I reached into my backpack for the Murchie's Empress Tea.
"This is from me to you," I said. "I hope it's the kind you like. It is my own favorite."
The woman did not reply, but took the tea and quickly got up and walked away. She did not look back at me.
Ross watched the woman for a moment, got off the bench, took John's hand and we walked the last two blocks to the bus for home.
