Duxford Airfield (the band) Pt. 10

Kendall now responded to Helen.

"After all that's happened today, I think I'd like that, Helen. I don't really feel like driving the thirty miles home tonight now" Kendall nodded tiredly.

"Thank you for the dinner invitation, Helen, my wife and I will certainly consider it. Tim, what are your plans for the model airplanes tomorrow?" Earl asked, standing beside me.

"I'm going to have a courier service come and get them in the morning, Earl" Helen replied, before I could speak.

"They'll be safe at my house tonight and I'll throw a tarp over them, in case it rains" Earl nodded.

"Thanks, you guys" I nodded, gratefully.

"We'll get the rental car, from the oilfield, in the morning, if that's alright, Earl" Helen now said.

"It'll be safe there for the night, Helen" Earl affirmed.

All of us then shook hands with Officer Benny Pack and walked out to the yellow crew cab.

Earl Billingsly drove the ladies and I to the hotel and then bid us all a good evening.

Andrea, Helen, Kendall, and I, now walked with our arms draped over each other, four abreast, as we entered the hotel lobby.

All of us were exhausted, dirty, and we stank, but we were alive and had forged friendships during that day which would last an entire lifetime...

...After saying goodnight to Helen and Kendall, my wife and I entered our own room. Andrea then locked the door behind us.

Without speaking, we each quickly undressed. Andrea then laid down on the bed and spread her legs, beckoning for me to hurry.

We both stank of the black mold that had emanated from the ruptured swimming pool inside Prominent House, hours before. Yet, my wife and I went at each other like race horses. We were alive and the warm curves of my bride had never been more sensual or erotic to me.

...Our journey into euphoria was urgent, abrupt and quick, but the experience with her had never been better.

...Afterward we lie quietly within each other's arms, atop the bedspread.

Andrea pressed her face into my hair, the way she always liked to do.

"Sheeewww, you stink, Tim!" Andrea said, wrinkling her nose.

"So do you, Andrea. Want to do it again?" I asked with a sudden urgency descending upon me once more.

We did it again, only slower this time.

...Twenty minutes later we threw our stench filled clothes into the bathtub and took a long hot shower together, standing upon our own clothes and vigorously scrubbing every inch of each other. Tomorrow morning we would throw our filthy clothes into the hotel's coin operated washing machines and wash them properly.

...Tomorrow morning, we would wake up alive. Tomorrow morning would be a brand new day. Tomorrow morning we had the rest of our lives to look forward to. Tomorrow morning I would be in love with my wife, all over again.

All of us could very easily have been killed within Prominent House, only hours before. However, neither Andrea nor myself chose to dwell on this morbid fact. We simply decided to live life, that much more, to the absolute fullest now and never take each other, or anything else for granted, ever again.

...It had once been stated that, after a near death experience, everything within life seemed that much sweeter, even the seemingly simple and mundane things. This seemed to be the case for Andrea and myself now, and I suspected that it would also be true for Helen Lunsford and Kendall Ludus as well.

Andrea and I climbed into bed together and turned out the lights. I held her close to me as we listened to the big trucks entering and leaving the massive truckstop from across the way again. Through the open window of our hotel room, I could smell the cool desert air wafting into our bedroom like an old friend.

Holding my wife close to me, I again, felt my mother's presence close to us within the room. Maybe there really were such things as guardian angels within this life...

How truly sweet life really is, I now thought as I relished in my wife's sensual warmth...

Andrea and I slept.

...My wife and I remained in bed until nine AM the following morning. Eventually the warm Texas sun, shining onto our bed, coaxed us out our slumber and ushered us into the shower. Andrea and I were in a festive mood and looking forward to heading home, late that evening / early the next morning. Our arrival home would be early Monday morning.

After exiting the shower we dressed and drank coffee as we slowly began packing our bags. Next, we threw our soiled clothes into the coin-op laundry directly across the halleway from our suit. An hour later, with our laundered clothes dry, we packed them as well. Andrea then rang Helen Lunsford and quickly learned that Helen was currently returning our rental car and would be enroute back to the hotel, via a courtesy shuttle, within the half hour.

Andrea and I sipped our coffees and made small talk while we waited for the arrival of Helen. Andrea informed me that Helen had mentioned, in an earlier text message, that the model airplanes were already enroute to Arizona City, via currier service. Helen had also taken care of our hotel bill earlier that morning, Andrea now informed me.

"That's very considerate of Helen. How are we going to deliver the bicycle to the Epps', since we don't have a car now?" I asked my wife.

"Kendall said she'd let us throw it in the back of her yellow truck, she's going to drive us to the airport tonight, after our belayed Valentine's Day dinner" Andrea explained.

"Oh, OK, that works" I replied.

With that thought in mind, I picked up my phone and dialed Jimmy Epps, hoping to set up a time to deliver the recumbent bicycle.

After several rings Jimmy answered the phone with "Yeah, howdy"

"Hey Jimmy, this is Tim Donovan, we would like to bring the bike back to you guys this evening, what would be a good time for us to deliver it?" I asked.

"...Anytime, after six, would work for us" the older man replied.

Jimmy seemed preoccupied with something else so I quickly wrote down his address and said goodbye.

" - Oh, by the way, Tim, Helen saw the little toy boat that you threw into the back of Kendall's truck, yesterday at Prominent House. The little sailboat is on the way to Arizona City now, also" Andrea said.

"I knew she'd want that" I replied quietly.

"She saw Danny's name carved into the bottom. Helen has already decided to devote one of the plates in her new book, to the little sailboat" Andrea explained.

"Plates, what do you mean, Andrea?" I asked.

"The publisher is allowing Helen twenty color photographs, or plates, inside her new book. She's going to devote one plate to the little sailboat, because its something Danny created when he was a kid" my wife said.

"I'd guess that the little sailboat will become one of Helen's most prized possessions" I said quietly.

"I'm sure it already is, Tim" Andrea said.

"...What time do we need to be out of the room?" I suddenly asked Andrea.

"Our check-out time is at noon, fifteen minutes from now" Andrea replied.

There was an abrupt knock on our door.

"Come in" Andrea said in a slightly raised voice.

"Good morning!" Helen Lunsford said cheerily as she walked into the room.

"Good morning Helen" my wife and I greeted in return.

"Want to head over to the truckstop and grab brunch now?" Helen asked us.

"I was just goin to suggest that" my wife answered as she stood and hugged the other girl.

"Tim, that OK?" Helen asked.

"Absolutely, that's a good idea, ladies" I answered as I too, stood and hugged Helen.

"I'll meet you outside, ladies" I said as Andrea quickly grabbed our roll-away bags and I walked the recumbent bicycle out the door of our suite.

I rode the bicycle along the hotel's sidewalk out to the parking lot and locked it to one of the pillars of the hotel's pavilion. I then went to the front desk where Andrea and Helen were in the process of leaving our bags with the desk clerk until this evening, when we'd head for the airport.

"...Do you think our bags are safe with them?" I asked, as the three of us crossed the road. I was slightly unsure of leaving our possessions with total strangers.

"Our bags are very safe, Tim" Helen assured me as the three of us walked arm in arm toward the truckstop.

"How can you be so confident?" I asked Helen.

"Because I've been taking care of the hotel clerks, as well as the staff, in this place during our stay, Tim" Helen replied.

"Explain, please" I said.

"I've done a lot of travelling, as a writer, Tim, and one thing I've learned is this, - tip your hotel clerks and your travel agents, and tip them well. They can make your life a living hell, if you piss them off. The reason the staff, here at this hotel, have let you keep that bicycle in your room is because I've been tipping the staff and the clerks, with a few bucks and also abundant praise. Since we've been here, I've given these people close to a thousand dollars in tips and its been worth every penny.

They didn't even bat an eye when I drug in all those old crates of memoirs, or when the courier service blocked the driveway for twenty minutes, each time. I told the staff here that I was a writer and I explained to them why I was dragging in all that stuff. Hotel staff and travel agents, like to feel appreciated just like anyone else, Tim" Helen nodded as I held the truckstop door for the ladies.

"I'll remember that, when Andrea and I travel in the future, Helen.

The truckstop was busy as always, yet within thirty-five minutes the three of us were all eating delicious burgers and making idle small talk. Helen was looking forward to spending time on the ranch with us and she was also looking forward to meeting everyone. However, Helen seemed a bit subdued for some reason and I finally decided to ask if anything was wrong.

"Everything OK, Helen? You're not still thinking about that damn swimming pool collapsing yesterday, are you?" I asked gently.

"No, not really, Tim. Kendall and I had a long talk about that, earlier this morning and we've both made peace with it. I never want to get that close to being killed again but I'm not going to dwell the negative either. I'm just slightly frustrated right now" Helen sighed as she chewed her food.

"Why, honey?" Andrea asked.

"...I've got everything I need now, right in front of me, to finish Danny's book. I've got the written memoirs of the Countess and Mary Wickersham. I've also got Alan's personal narration of Danny and the band, from last night. I now have hundreds of photographs of Danny and the boys growing up, taken by the Countess herself, within her photo albums. I've got every single piece of the puzzle now except one, and its driving me nuts" Helen admitted.

"What are you missing, Helen?" Andrea asked.

"What I'm missing, is what became of Danny's dad. What became of David Wickersham? I called Alan again this morning and pumped him for more information on David Wickersham, but Alan couldn't tell me anything more. He just said that David had been a flight engineer aboard an aircraft that was lost" Helen said, as she took a swig of her mineral water.

"I doubt if it'd been another bomber, there weren't many of those in use during nineteen-forty-nine" Andrea said, thinking objectively.

"Tim, what exactly is a flight engineer?" Helen now asked me.

"A flight engineer is a crew member, usually aboard a four engine aircraft, that monitors all the engines. He regulates the fuel / air mixture, and also switches the fuel tanks, for trim. The flight engineer watches for low oil pressure or any overheating and he keeps the engines running at maximum efficiency" I explained.

"You mean for, like, a bomber. Like the Avro Lancaster?" Helen asked.

"Yes, but many of the older civilian, four engine, aircraft also had a flight engineer. The DC-6 also had a flight engineer onboard" I explained.

"...So David could have been lost aboard a Military or civilian aircraft, either one. We don't know which" Helen speculated.

"Correct" I answered.

"What about the eight-millimeter films that the Countess shot? Maybe they could hold a clue to what became of David Wickersham. We should be getting those films back from the lab, once they're converted to digital format, - they may even have already been mailed to the ranch by now, Helen" my wife suggested encouragingly.

"I called them a couple days ago, Andrea. The eight-millimeter films shot by the Countess, are all blue movies. At least all the ones they've converted to digital format so far, are all blue movies." Helen replied disgustedly.

"Uh" Andrea grunted.

"...What's a blue movie?" I asked.

"They were an early type of sex movie made during the nineteen-twenties and thirties. Instead of being filmed in black and white, they were usually shot in blue and white - thus, the name 'Blue Movie'. The Countess made dozens of them" Helen explained, shaking her head with obvious annoyance at the movies' lack of historical worth for her book project.

"The Countess made, you mean, like, steamy movies? Movies where she's naked and..." I stammered, somewhat shocked.

I suddenly began to feel color come to my cheeks with the realization of what I'd just said...

Andrea and Helen now looked at me incredulously, as if I'd just now discovered that women were made differently than I was.

"Where did you find this guy, Andrea?" Helen finally asked, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at me.

"He's a bit naïve at times, Helen, but he's alright" Andrea smiled.

"The two of you are going to corrupt an innocent truck driver, I hope you're both proud of yourselves" I snorted, trying to regain some semblance of dignity again.

"You're blushing, husband. Eat your food now" my wife smiled at me.

The ladies and I slowly ate our food and then walked back outside again and into the warm Texas sunshine. We spent forty minutes walking around the truckstop just looking at all the shiny semi trucks. Andrea and Helen even got to sit in a brand new extended hood 389 Peterbilt, hooked to a dry van, and owned by an elderly gentleman that reminded Andrea and me of our friend Hans.

"Can we honk the horns?" Helen asked smiling at the older man as I filmed the ladies sitting in the cab.

"I don't give a damn, you toot them horns all you want to, young lady" the older man smiled.

I continued filming as Helen pulled the cord and tooted the horns several times, Andrea and Helen then burst out into a euphoric laughter together.

"...Where ya heading to with this load, cowboy?" Helen asked the elderly man, once the ladies had climbed down and were standing on the ground again.

"Empty trailer, just come back from Utah last night. I'm headed for the barn now, which is just on up the road a short piece from here" the man replied.

I quickly took several photos of the gentleman, standing with Andrea and Helen, in front of the classic Peterbilt.

"I'm a writer, here's one of my books for you, sir" Helen said reaching into her purse.

Helen then quickly autographed the book for the gentleman while Andrea was showing the driver a photo of my own Peterbilt.

"Thank you, uh, Miss Kathryn Dalloway" the man replied, looking at the book's front cover and reading the author's name.

"Safe travels amigo, see you on your return trip!" Helen said, smiling at the man.

"Enjoy the day folks, that's what its here for" the gentleman replied, climbing back into the cab again and closing the door.

He then smiled and waved a salute as he slowly pulled away in the truck.

"What a grand old man!" Helen exclaimed smiling widely as we began walking again.

"Yes, a real gentleman" my wife replied, also smiling.

...The ladies and I spent the next several hours just slowly walking around and taking photographs of Odessa within the glorious sunshine. At one point we even found ourselves playing pinball inside a video arcade alongside kids young enough to be our own grandchildren.

We spent forty bucks in the place without even trying...

After eating hotdogs at an open air café, we slowly began making our way back toward the hotel. It was nearing five PM now and I wanted to start in the direction of the Epps's place, to return the bicycle. I had already decided to ride the recumbent to their residence, rather then haul it in Kendall's truck.

"I'm going to head over to the Epps's place now. I should get there about the same time that Kendall brings you ladies over there" I said unchaining the bicycle from the hotel's pavilion.

"OK, honey, we'll get the luggage loaded in Kendall's truck, and we'll see you there" my wife said as she kissed me.

I waved at Andrea and Helen and then sped off on the bicycle. I rode briskly, chasing the last of the west Texas sun as I watched the man within my long shadow pedal his own bicycle. I really hated to sell back this beautiful machine, I thought reluctantly with a shake of my head. Yet, even with this touch of sadness, I was beginning to feel an excitement about getting on the plane with Andrea and Helen, late this evening.

This time tomorrow, we would be home, living our own lives again...

Thirty five minutes later I rolled up to the correct address and saw that Kendall's yellow truck was already parked in the driveway. Ringing the doorbell, an attractive middle aged woman quickly answered the door and then smiled abruptly at seeing me and the bicycle.

"You must be Tim! Hi, I'm Maria Ortega, Jimmy's friend. I see you brought the bike!" she said beaming.

Maria was a very striking lady with large brown eyes and long black hair. She had a quick smile and very gentle aura about her.

I immediately liked her.

"Yes ma'am, and what a wonderful machine it is" I nodded.

"Thank you so much for fixing it up and selling it back to us, Tim. Jimmy bought this bike for his daughter, Angelina, thirty years ago, and she hasn't felt right about selling it since Jimmy sold it to you. I wish she were here tonight, so you could meet her" Maria said, gently grasping the handle bar with a touch of nostalgia crossing over her face.

"I do too, Maria. Would you like to ride it?" I suddenly asked, getting off the bicycle.

"No thank you, but would you mind putting it in the garage for me? I'll pay you now too, Tim, Angelina left me some money for you" Maria said, nodding her head toward the garage.

"Sure, I'll wheel it over to the garage now" I said, nodding.

Maria closed the entryway door and a moment later the garage door began sliding upward.

...I suspected that Maria was younger than me, and that her self proclaimed title of "Jimmy's friend" held a ring of romance between the two of them somewhere. I smiled at this thought and rolled the recumbent inside the garage. I then followed Maria into the house as the garage door slid down behind us again.

Maria handed me an envelope with my name written on it.

"This is for you, you can count it, if you'd like, Tim" she said.

"We're among friends in this house, there's no need for me to count it, Maria, and thank you" I replied, putting the envelope in my pocket.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence in us, that's very kind of you. Would you like something to drink, before we sit down with everyone?" Maria asked as I followed her into the living room.

"Black coffee, would be wonderful!" I replied smiling, as I leaned down and kissed Andrea and then briefly hugged Kendall and Helen Lunsford.

"Jimmy, good to see you again, sir!" I said extending my hand.

"...You'll have to excuse me right now, Tim, but the ladies just gave me these two unmailed letters from Dad. I'm afraid you caught an ol' Texas boy with tears in his eyes, at the moment" Jimmy said as he glanced quickly at his father's unopened letters and then stood, shaking my hand as he wiped his eyes.

"Jimmy, there's no shame in mourning your blood relatives. I can still cry at the thought of my mother" I replied quietly.