Duxford Airfield (the band) Pt. 05

"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.

"Dinner, on me tonight, guys," she said.

"Deal!" Helen quickly acknowledged.

...After spending four hours inside Prominent House, it suddenly felt good to be around live people and "living" buildings again...

The hotel had a nice quiet restaurant and happily, Andrea's appetite had returned after losing her lunch inside the abandoned mansion. All of us had steak dinners and talked about several topics of common interest, such as fitness and bicycling. The girl in the tintype was briefly touched on as was Kendall Ludus, whom we had all warmed up to.

It looked like we might be here in Oddessa for a while so I decided to start looking for an inexpensive, used, recumbent bicycle to buy within the next day or so. I needed to clear my head and bicycling seemed to be the best way I knew how, and I hadn't been on one for a whole week now. After our desserts were finished, Andrea paid our tab and we walked Helen to her room, both of us hugging her briefly while saying goodnight. I didn't always agree with; or understand Helen, but I did like the little shit.

...

"Who the hell is she?...Damn, she's spooky," I said, sitting on the hotel room's bed and looking at the girl's tintype on my phone now. Helen had texted Andrea and me both, the photo of the girl.

Andrea and I were now inside our own hotel suite.

"She's probably the Duchess that Danny mentioned in his safe deposit box note" Andrea answered.

"Yeah but, what Duchess?" I asked.

"I don't know, there doesn't seem to be anything on the internet regarding Prominent House, which is very strange. Maybe some of Helen's sources can come up with a few answers for us" Andrea replied sitting next to me.

"I wonder where Danny fits into all of this?" I asked.

"As Helen mentioned, he probably got the property, thirty years ago, with a wink and a nod, somehow" Andrea replied.

"He may have found some type of legal loophole for its purchase, I bet. Maybe his ownership of the house and land was some type of political protest against Prominent Energy or the use of oil in general. I'm sure his ownership of Parcel 134 has been a real nuisance, over the years, to the oil company" I speculated aloud.

"I don't think so, Tim, Danny wasn't political in any way, right or left. Danny didn't trust any politicians" Andrea answered.

"Oh come on, Andrea" I rebuffed incredulously.

"No, really, Tim. Danny considered himself an - Oil drilling tree hugger" Andrea replied.

"He what...?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"He used to say it this way - 'I like riding in airplanes, cars, and trains but I also like the wilderness and fishing pristine lakes, why can't we have both?" Andrea answered.

"...Oil-drilling tree-hugger, I like that. You say he wasn't a car nut though?" I asked.

"No, the only thing he ever really cared about, other than people and animals, was music and poetry" Andrea answered.

"It doesn't sound like he was easily swayed by other people's opinions, one way or the other, Andrea" I speculated.

"He wasn't but he'd always listen to each person's point of view. Many people, from both sides of the fence, had urged Danny to jump on one specific bandwagon or another, over the years. Danny would always reply that they were locked into an, us - against - them, mentality. He'd had enough politics; since Vietnam" Andrea explained.

"...Yes, I can believe it. That still doesn't explain how he wound up with forty-four acres and a mansion inside an oilfield though" I sighed with frustration.

"Maybe when we sit down with Earl Billingsly, we'll get the answers, Tim," Andrea said as she stood up and slid out of her shirt.

"...I take it that you're feeling better now," I said as Andrea leaned over me, naked, and began removing my shirt.

"I'm going to feel even better, in another minute, Tim" she replied, kissing me.

__________(6)__________

...more to follow