“Oh wow, it really is a small world,” Kendall said incredulously.
…All of us lapsed into silence again.
“On your left, Steve” Kendall spoke into her two-way radio again, as we passed around the rear of a bright yellow road grader.
The operator, Steve, waved a hand outside the grader’s cab in acknowledgment.
“…I wasn’t there when Alice Mae landed that time, Tim. You guys brought us a bunch of calibration equipment, on that trip as I recall. They did a nice write-up about John, Allen, and Alice Mae in our monthly newsletter when you guys landed here. I may be able to find a few copies of that issue for you if you’d like” Kendall said.
“That’d be great, Kendall! Andrea’s dad flew B-17s during the war” I replied.
“Yes he did” Andrea acknowledged proudly.
“Allen told me that. He’ll probably eventually marry Alice Mae; when he retires from the National Guard,” Kendall said humorously.
“Allen flies for the Guard?” I asked.
“He and John both fly the Herc” Kendall answered.
“Whats a Herc?” Helen asked.
“C-130 Hercules” I quickly answered.
“OK, what’s a C-130 Hercules?” Hellen asked patiently.
“It’s a large Military transport airplane, Hellen” Kendall answered as we pulled into the parking lot of the oil field’s office building.
…
I silently drove the rental car now, enroute back to the hotel, as Andrea and I listed to Helen’s one-sided conversation on her phone while she talked with Diane at the clip-joint back in L.A.. Somehow Helen had ended up in the passenger’s seat beside me and Andrea was in the back now, a scenario with which I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, even as much as I liked Helen…
…I now understood why Helen had called her “Mom” to remind her to take her medication. Obviously, Helen had called Kelly and Diane while manipulating her phone to shoot video while simultaneously making a face-time call without appearing to. I was extremely thankful that Kendall hadn’t picked up on this little charade, or maybe she had…
Helen continued talking to Diane.
“…yes, it was, eighteen ninety.”
“No don’t, I wasn’t supposed to take any photos or video footage at all, so don’t show it to anyone, Diane.”
“…I’m planning to go back, but I’m not sure when yet, we have to meet with the head honcho on Monday.”
“Earl Billingsly, but I don’t think he knows anything.”
“Yes, Danny willed the entire house to Andrea and me so there must be some kind of a connection there, but I’m not sure what it is yet…”
“(***SIGH***)…because it was all a game, we’re dealing with Danny Wickersham, Diane, remember?”
“Andrea is pissed, you should have heard her language an hour ago, Diane…”
(Laughter)
“…I’m going to call the publisher tonight and put everything on hold; if I can.”
“…I know, I know, all it takes is time and money but they should understand, and I need to…”
“…yes, I will…”
“That tintype IS spooky as hell…”
“No,…any idea who she could have been?…”
“…I’d guess around, nineteen-ten to nineteen-eighteen, or so…”
…I’d say she was probably around nineteen or twenty, not much more…”
“…no there wasn’t…”
“Prominent Energy, yes Oddessa…”
“…The mansion is extremely pristine for its age but spooky as hell and the largest I’ve ever seen.”
“Prominent House, eighteen ninety.”
“No idea who he was, I guess he was a wildcatter, way back in the beginning…”
“…Someone that drills for oil with their own money…”
“…I know, there wasn’t anything at all on the internet when I checked a few minutes ago, either. I guess-…”
“Prominent House, eighteen ninety, nothing else”
“…no, nothing at all, which is strange.”
“…OK, we’ll talk again tomorrow, see what you can do, in the meantime for me, alright?”
“I will, hugs to Kelly for me!”
Helen clicked off the phone.
“What’d she say?” Andrea asked from the back seat.
“Nothing, she never heard of the place, and neither has Kelly. She’s got a guy, back east, they’re going to call in the morning. I guess he’s some kind of expert on rich families with old money, so we’ll see if he knows anything” Helen said as she put her phone back in her purse.
“I’ll call Abe tomorrow too,” Helen said as an afterthought.
“Oh God, yes, bring ol’ Honest Abe right on board, as if he hasn’t done enough for us already. Maybe we can still make next month’s issue of The International Monitor, Helen,” I said sarcastically.
“You’re taking things too personal, Tim. If Abe tells me a conversation is off-the-record, then it will be” Helen replied patiently.
“Sure, that’s why he works for a gossip column” I reasoned out loud a little heatedly.
“Tim, calm down, please, and just drive the car. Helen’s on our side” Andrea said calmly from the rear seat.
“Sorry, Helen,” I said reluctantly.
“I understand your concern, Tim. Please trust me, OK? I’ve been in this game a long time now and I know who to trust and who not to trust.” Helen said, looking over at me.
I grudgingly nodded my head and held up a hand in surrender but remained silent.
“…Our plane leaves in two minutes,” I said with a degree of remorse, as I glanced at the clock on the rental car’s dashboard. We were now stopped at a traffic light.
“I know, honey” Andrea answered quietly.
“Can we get reimbursed for our tickets?” I asked doubtfully.
“Not this time, with such short notice, but it wasn’t that much, anyway” Andrea answered tiredly…
I hadn’t thought so, I acknowledged to myself…
…We pulled into the hotel’s parking lot and got out of the rental car, locking the doors with the fob. Andrea then put her arms around Helen and me as we walked toward the entryway of the hotel.
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