Duxford Airfield (the band) Pt. 10

"Did she speak while you were there, when you met her, Alan? Did you hear her voice?" Helen asked excitedly.

"I heard her laughter but that's all. The Countess was said to have had a beautiful voice at one time, but I never heard her speak, when I met her" Alan answered.

"Had she ever sung, she wrote and composed music but did she ever sing, earlier in her life, Alan?" Andrea asked, leaning forward.

"I don't know the answer to that, Andrea, I wish I did know" Alan replied.

"...I wonder why she wouldn't speak?" Kendall asked.

"Danny believed that it was because she'd become aware of the actual number of soldiers that were dying in the trenches of France, on both sides, during nineteen-sixteen. The Knoff Armaments Company, and many others, were becoming extremely rich by that point during the war and they never wanted to see any of it come to an end.

- Remember, as the online dictionary says, the maiden name of the Countess had been Wasser, and the Wassers' were closely aligned with The Knoff Armaments Company. The Wassers' were also getting rich from the war, themselves.

Even though the Wasser family had long since disinherited the Countess, before the war, I believe the Countess still carried a large degree of, guilt by association, with her biological family.

Also, by the autumn of nineteen-sixteen, the Countess had already begun to strongly suspect that Isaac King had participated in the demise of her first husband, Franklin. It was said that, with this realization, something deep inside the Countess had then become broken and couldn't ever be fixed again.

The Countess never spoke again, after the autumn of nineteen-sixteen.

At least that's what a few of the old cowboys and roughnecks who'd known her, had told Danny, many years later" Alan said in reply.

"...My God, it was her heart that became broken, can't anyone understand that, for Christ's sake?!" Andrea asked in sudden anger.

"Yes, my love, it was her heart that became broken" I replied gently.

There were several seconds of silence then as all of us pondered on Alan's words and my wife's sudden anger toward society, as a whole.

"...Did she drive the blue truck, Alan? We found a blue truck this morning" Helen said quietly.

"Blue truck?" Alan asked.

"A thirty-two Ford flatbed, Alan" I elaborated for Helen.

"The Countess must have been the one to paint it, because it's been painted a baby blue" Helen added, holding up her phone and showing Alan a photo of the old Ford.

"...I'd almost forgotten about that, yes I saw that truck while I was with Danny at Prominent House. The Countess drove into town quite often and Danny said she'd never even had a driver's license in her life. Neither had Philip for that matter, and he apparently drove all over the place in that thing" Alan said, nodding at the photo on Helen's phone.

"Why didn't the Countess have a driver's license?" Helen asked.

"She refused to be in compliance. I think it was because her and some judge got into pissing contest way back in the nineteen-twenties. Danny said that the Countess would receive tickets and fines in the mail and that she'd promptly send them back to the judge with specific instructions describing exactly what he could do with them. That little feud went on for many years, apparently" Alan smiled.

"What did the town of Odessa think of the Countess, Alan?" my wife now asked.

"...Andrea, a lot of people were afraid of the Countess. She either dressed like a wrangler or wore clothes from the nineteen-hundreds and she kept driving that old truck clear up to the day she died. She had no fear of anyone and some people would actually move aside whenever she came down the sidewalk. I guess the word we'd use for her today is 'eccentric'.

The fact that she never spoke made some people believe she was some kind of a divine prophet, she was a legend in her own time. Danny said whether or not you loved her or despised her, the Countess was her own person and she did whatever the hell she wanted to. No one owned the Countess" Alan replied.

"...Did she really have as many lovers as the online dictionary suggests?" Helen asked, after a silence in the room.

"Yes, she'd had many lovers. When Danny was older, some of the old-timers told him that the Countess believed she was so broken and defiled that it really didn't matter any longer what she did. She didn't believe that she could ever be clean again so she stopped trying at some point. Her only true love in life had been Franklin Epps and he'd been murdered, as the Countess had always described it.

With her marriage to Isaac King, she had, at first, believed that she could be a proper wife, but King's own infidelity had quickly destroyed any notion of that. I think after she discovered that he was unfaithful, she simply didn't care any more, to be honest. At least those were Danny's feelings" Alan answered.

"Do you think King really had a part in having Franklin Epps sent to the frontlines where he was killed?" Andrea asked.

"It's highly probable, Andrea. I don't think Isaac King ever loved anyone in his life, he'd simply wanted to marry into the Wasser family, because of their own power and connections to the Knoff Armaments Company. At least, thats what Danny always believed" Alan replied.

"King wanted to align his power with that of the Wassers', and Knoffs', you mean?" Helen asked.

"Yes, you see, King had a vision, for after the war. He believed that Germany would be victorious and he wanted to be ready for that day. That's one reason Prominent House is so large. King wanted to create a campus for the brightest financial, political, and analytical minds in the world and then place them all under one roof, an Athens, if you will. He eventually wanted the ability to destabilize governments and control world economics at his own whim. A lot of people were behind him and believed in those efforts" Alan explained.

"...My God, no wonder the Countess hated the sonofabitch" I replied, somewhat in shock.

"The only problem with a dictatorship, Tim, is that after a while the dictator starts to believe in his own propaganda, and King was starting to believe his.

In the case of his up and coming Senate hearings, he had some very sharp lawyers and he truly believed that he would be completely exonerated, in regard to the charges of treason. Except he had no idea how much actual documentation they had actually amassed on him over the years" Alan said.

"How did authorities find this documentation and become aware of King's treason, in the first place, Alan?" Andrea asked.

"By his mistress and also the Countess herself, they both provided information to the Senator of Texas over a period of many, many, months. - I told you that the mistress and Countess were the best of friends, Andrea" Alan replied, smiling slightly.

"...The Countess must have been one very cunning lady" Helen surmised.

"She was a woman scorned, and a woman scorned is a very dangerous adversary, Helen. She'd essentially destroyed Isaac King, and that fact was most likely starting to dawn on him while he was getting ready to board his train that evening. The Countess may even have been taunting him at that juncture, that's probably one reason why he shot at her that night" Alan replied.

There was another long silence as all of us pondered on Alan's words.

"...Alan, do you know what the relationship between Friday Epps and Franklin Epps was?" Helen suddenly asked, almost as an after thought.

"Friday Epps was the old cowboy that picked up Danny and me at the airport, with the new Buick. Danny told me that Friday was Franklin's youngest brother, he was twelve years younger than Franklin. At one time the Countess had employed hundreds of people but after she sold all of her oil leases she only had about half a dozen or so, very elderly, people working for her by then. Friday was one of them. I met some of the other elderly people that were still working for the Countess while I was there and they were like family to the her" Alan answered.

"Friday Epps, cowboy. That's what we suspected, Alan, we discovered his personal quarters inside Prominent House today" Andrea nodded after a silence in the room.

"...Alan, Danny received the Silver Star and Purple Heart because he rescued you and the other gentleman, that day in Vietnam, correct?" Helen asked.

"Yes" Alan replied.

"We found Danny's Silver Star and Purple Heart, would you like to have them?" Helen now softly asked.

"Not really, Helen, but thank you for asking" Alan replied.

"...Alan, did Danny ever talk about Mary Wickersham, at all?" Andrea suddenly asked.

"He talked about her all the time, Andrea. You see, the more and more that the Countess became dependent on opium, the longer and longer her so called 'retirements' became. She'd spend days in bed at times, and as a result, Mary slowly became the surrogate mother of Danny, if you will. Danny loved his grandmother Ovia but she was often like a wayward child herself a lot of the time by then" Alan explained.

"Danny loved Mary Wickersham, didn't he?" Helen asked.

"All of three of the boys adored Mary Wickersham and much of Danny's love for Irish folklore came directly from her. Mary was, in her own right, a musician and played the Celtic fiddle herself. That's one reason that the Countess hired her, to begin with, because of their mutual love for music. It was Mary Wickersham that taught Danny to play the fiddle. The Countess taught Danny how to play the piano and guitar.

Danny also said that Mary could recite poetry and tell hilarious stories from Old Ireland and that she seemingly had an endless supply of them. Danny grew up trying to emulate Mary's Irish story telling ability" Alan explained.

"I think he succeeded admirably on that account" Helen replied, smiling.

"...Did Mary ever find out what became of her late husband, Al?" Andrea asked quietly.

"...No, he died somewhere in the trenches of France, like millions of others, that's all Danny ever knew. Danny told me that, even as gregarious as Mary Wickersham had been, she could also be very cold, abrupt, and aloof, almost to the point of being brutal. Her late husband was one subject that was always completely off limits to Danny, or anyone else, other than the Countess, herself" Alan said.

"...Mary Wickersham must have been an incredibly strong woman" Helen said in admiration.

"She was, from what Danny told me. She never stopped grieving her late husband and she missed Ireland to her last day on earth.

The Countess and everyone else considered Mary Wickersham as flesh and blood to the family and Danny said that he never stopped grieving Mary, once she had gone. She died in nineteen-fifty, when Danny was nine years old. - One of the songs on the new album, that Danny just recorded, is devoted entirely to Mary Wickersham" Alan said, closing his eyes and rubbing his face.

"As it should be" my wife nodded with approval.

There was a long silence inside the room now.

"Did Danny ever talk much about his uncle Philip?" I finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes he did, Danny loved and admired his uncle tremendously. Philip is the one that created those model airplanes that are in the back of that yellow pickup truck, outside. He created those models from scratch, without so much as even a hand drawing. Danny's uncle Philip was considered, by many, as a simpleton. He couldn't dress himself and he couldn't ever read or write but he had a photographic memory and an incredible ability to create, much like his mother, the Countess" Alan explained.

" - Philip, was the one who created those elaborate models?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes, he did, Tim. It took him several years to complete them but Philip had more patience than a saint, the Countess would often say, apparently. He also drove the blue truck and he was a good driver but he always insisted that the Countess be with him. He would never go without her" Alan said.

"What happened to Philip?" Andrea asked.

"Danny always believed that his uncle Philip had been secretly nipping his mother's laudanum, and apparently one day he simply took too much. At least, that's what Danny always thought. I don't think anyone ever really knew for sure, to be honest. After he died, the Countess sold off all of her oil leases and retired. I met her four years after Philip had died, Danny was all she had left in the world by then" Alan replied.

"...What was it like to spend time with Danny, as a guy, I mean?" Helen asked on a brighter note.

"Danny was a man of extreme paradoxes, Helen. Danny had confidence in himself but he had no self worth, those two are not the same things. He was a roaring success in life but viewed himself, in large part, as a failure. He loved the Countess and Mary Wickersham but rarely wanted to discuss his past. As you know, he hid from his own past for decades.

Danny received the Silver Star and Purple Heart but he still felt that he could never have lived up to the legacy of his father. Danny had idolized his father David, and he never got over his father's loss.

He had never met his grandfather, of course, but Danny hated the name of Isaac King and he hated what Prominent House stood for. To Danny, Prominent House had stood for nothing but oppression, ignorance, lies, arrogance, and greed. Danny was ashamed of the name King and he was ashamed of what Prominent House represented.

Danny was also a man that loved people but I don't believe Danny ever liked himself. After the Countess had died and we left in the Buick, Danny never set foot in Prominent House ever again. However, he always carried the photographs of his father, his uncle, and also those of the Countess, Mary Wickersham, and Genevieve, for the rest of his life. He also carried the photographs of the two of you ladies, Helen Lunsford, and Andrea Donovan.

...In travelling with Danny, I quickly learned that he could be selfish in the extreme, yet he'd give a total stranger the shirt off his back, even if Danny needed it more than the stranger did. Danny could also wallow in self pity for days and then be the happiest guy in the world, as soon as he got off his lazy ass and picked up a guitar again. Music and poetry were Danny's true, and seemingly only, refuge in this life. I strongly suspect that the Countess, and maybe even Mary Wickersham, had been very similar to this in nature.

Danny was a very complicated man to try and understand but I loved him like a brother and I always will" Alan said as he closed his eyes and wiped a tear from his cheek.

"...We love him too, Alan" Helen replied softly, wiping her own eyes.

"Alan, there will be a celebration of life for Danny, several days from now, in L.A.. Won't you please join us? We'd love to have you speak!" Andrea suddenly said hopefully.

"Already have my ticket, (***sigh***) the reason I didn't attend Danny's funeral was because my youngest nephew died of a fentanyl overdose on the twenty-ninth of last month. I had to go and put him away a few weeks ago, that was when I met all of you. I will be at Danny's celebration of life, you can bank on it" Alan said, suddenly looking very tired.

"...Oh, Alan, I'm so sorry about your nephew. Please call on us if we can help in any way" Andrea said.

"Alan, I'm very, very, sorry for your loss" Helen echoed my wife.

"I'm a soldier at heart, ladies, and I've got a new war to fight now. I've declared war on fentanyl and I intend to win. However, you could send me a copy of the book you're writing, Helen, that would make me happy" Alan replied, smiling slightly now.

"You'll get the first copy off the press, sir. Autographed by the author, as well!" Helen assured Alan.

"...That's all I have to tell you about Danny, ladies. That's all I remember" Alan said quietly, with his eyes still closed.

Alan was now seated in the chair that Rod Lewis had occupied earlier.

"Alan, one other question, quickly, please. Did you ever see this when you were inside Prominent House?" Helen asked as she held up her phone and showed Alan the projected image of the Countess that we'd just seen, earlier that afternoon.

"...Yes, I remember seeing that now. I saw it when I was there, but only after the Countess had already died. - You see, when I spent those three days with Danny at Prominent House, I had just come back from my second tour in Vietnam, and I had considered myself as one very dangerous and fearless man, and I was. However, that image of the Countess scared the living hell out of me, when I saw it" Alan freely admitted, suddenly remembering.

"What's the story with this? It must have taken a great amount of effort to engineer and create the lens that projected this image of the Countess onto that wall at the head of the staircases" Helen said, glancing now at her own phone now.

"...(***sigh***) Danny told me that Isaac King had been scheduled to board the train for his Senate hearings on Valentine's Day, nineteen-nineteen. The lens for the mural had been created and installed by a master craftsman, many months before that day. After the lens had been installed, the Countess had insisted that it then be covered with a leather blind. Then, early on Valentine's day, she'd had the leather blind removed.

When King entered the mansion that afternoon, the sun was projecting that image onto the wall. The Countess had apparently then stood on the second floor balcany, throwing all of the corresponding letters between her and the Senator of Texas, at Isaac King. It was then said that the rafters had echoed loudly with the shrill laughter of the Countess...

At least that's what the old-timers had told Danny, many years later" Alan replied.

"The Countess could obviously be just as destructive, in destroying Isaac King, as she'd been creative in composing music" my wife commented with irony.

"...Hell hath no fury, like the wrath of a woman scorned" I quoted somberly.

"Yes, and as I've said, seeing that image suddenly appear on the wall scared the living daylights out of me. You see, I saw that image of the Countess, only hours after she had passed, and it was very disturbing for me to suddenly see the Countess reappear again, like that. I had not been mentally prepared for that" Alan admitted.

"...I understand now" Helen replied quietly.

There was another long silence that now filled the room.

"...Danny put me through law school, did you know that, ladies?" Alan abruptly asked, breaking the silence.

"No, but that doesn't surprise me, at all, Alan" Andrea responded gently.

...Alan silently nodded his head to Andrea as officer Pack switched off the reel to reel recorder.

It was now eight-oh-five PM, the ladies and I had missed our Valentine's Day dinner engagement but we were all alive and well, if not slightly shaken by the day's earlier events.

"Alan, thanks for taking the time to help Helen with her new book, I know it wasn't easy for you to talk about everything you told us tonight. I am also very sorry for the loss of your nephew. If you're ever in Arizona City, please call on us" I said, standing and shaking hands with Alan.

"Thank you, Tim. This too shall pass, and I may just look you up one of these days" Alan nodded.

"Alan, please do come for a visit, we have a spare bedroom. Bring your wife too, we'd love to have you both stay a few days" Andrea said, briefly hugging Alan.

Helen also hugged Alan.

...Before leaving the police station, Earl and I each wrote a brief accounting of our discovery of Isaac King's remains.

All of us were soon standing together again, saying a final goodnight.

It was time to leave.

"Kendall, I have a spare bed in my hotel room, why don't you stay the night? We can all have a Valentine's Day dinner tomorrow night. Maybe Mister Billingsly could drive the truck home tonight and we could all meet back at the hotel in time for coffee in the morning. Earl, you and your wife are invited to dinner tomorrow evening, as well, and so are you Alan!" Helen said brightly.