Marie Smith's Apple Pie

Marie Smith’s Apple Pie

“Oh, Ms. Smith, your apple pies are the best I’ve ever tasted! Can I have your recipe?” Dora Jones, the bake sale coordinator, asked.

“Call me Marie, Dora, and I’m afraid my recipe lives entirely in my head – it’s not written down anywhere and never will be. My grand-mère taught me this family recipe when I was very young, and she made me swear never to give it away.”

“Well then, I must be satisfied with buying your pies at the sale. We must protect our secrets, n'est-ce pas?” Dora replied good-naturedly. She knew better than to push her elders regarding ancient family recipes.

Marie smiled and walked out of the senior’s centre, leaning into her cane unnecessarily. Must keep up the appearance of a frail old lady, she thought, smiling to herself, as she stooped to climb into her taxi waiting for her at the curb. Even though her small home was only a few blocks away, the cab would reinforce her appearance as a frail old lady.

Once inside her home, Marie hung up her cane, set down her heavy handbag and proceeded to perform a short series of stretches that transformed her hunched frame into the wiry, flexible, and slim figure that was her actual condition. Years of yoga, pilates, and krav maga training kept her in the top physical condition that most 40-year-old women didn’t have.

Toby, Marie’s, aged Malinois, padded up to greet her as she walked into the kitchen to make tea, hoping for a biscuit. Marie had used the leftover apple peels from her pie baking in Toby’s dog biscuit recipe this morning, and he knew it. Marie made a small pot of lapsang souchong and set out a small slice of pie she kept for herself. She added a couple of dog biscuits to the tray and carried it to the garden with Toby in the rear.

Relaxing in her English garden was a favourite pastime of Marie’s when she was between assignments. Marie sat on her cushioned wicker chair, reached into her pocket for an earpiece she placed in her right ear and waited for contact.

It wasn’t just the apple pie recipe that Marie kept secret.