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"...I heard about the swimming pool collapsing inside Prominent House, yesterday. My grandson, Craig, was there on the new pad when that happened. He said the two of you met, last week sometime, Tim. Glad no one was hurt inside that damn house" Jimmy said as an after thought as he quickly changed subjects.
"Jimmy knew Danny and the Countess, both, Tim!" Helen smiled, looking up at me before I could reply to Jimmy.
" - Like I mentioned a few minutes ago, Helen, I grew up with Danny, as he later became known, but I only met the Countess twice, very briefly. There were half-a-dozen of us Epps' boys working that oil field back in them days and all of us met the Countess when she hired each of us" Jimmy nodded...
There was a sudden lull in the conversation then.
...I now noticed the cardboard boxes filled with all the personal possessions of Friday Epps, sitting on the living room floor beside Jimmy. I also noticed two of Helen's books lying about, and they looked as if they were currently being read, complete with bookmarks.
Maria was suddenly beside me with a smile and a cup of steaming brew.
"Thank you, Maria" I said, returning the smile.
"Tim, would you and your wife mind coming into the garage with me and showing me how to work the new lights on the bicycle?" Maria asked.
"Sure, Andrea you wouldn't mind, would you?" I asked, looking over at my wife.
"No, not at all" Andrea replied, standing abruptly and nodding.
"Kendall, I can show you those clay jars now, that we were talking about earlier. They're also in the garage.
"Oh, I'd love to see them!" Kendall said, jumping up and following us.
Andrea, Kendall, and I, now followed Maria into the garage.
"...My friends, I did not mean to drag you away from the living room but Jimmy is a bit nostalgic at the moment and he does not want others to see him cry. He is a macho man of Texas, you know!" Maria said smiling.
"We understand, Maria" I replied quietly.
"It has been many years since Jimmy's beloved father, Friday Epps, died and no one has mentioned the Countess to Jimmy, for just as long. I can see that he is comfortable talking with Miss Helen Lunsford and I think this will do him good, no?" Maria asked.
"Talking always helps and Helen is good company" Andrea nodded.
"We are reading two of Helen's books right now and I believe that Jimmy is a bit smitten with her. She reminds him of when he was a young vaquero, I think" Maria said with joyous laughter in her eyes.
"That's so cute" Kendall said, smiling.
I showed Maria how to work the new lights that I'd installed on the recumbent bicycle, and Kendall got to see some clay jars that she'd apparently expressed an interest in. The four of us then went into the kitchen and began playing a game of Scrabble while Helen and Jimmy continued talking in the living room.
...It was becoming obvious that we weren't going to make it to our, already belated Valentine's day dinner, this evening either. That was fine, it would happen on another day, I now reasoned.
"So, Cinnamon is Jimmy's granddaughter then?" I asked Maria, as I laid out the letters that spelled the word 'Humorous' from Andrea's word 'Humor.'
"Yes, she is the daughter of Angelina, Jimmy's youngest daughter. Angelina is the one that Jimmy bought the bicycle for" Maria answered as she spelled out the word 'mortgage' from my letter - M.
...Obviously Cinnamon was divorced, I now reasoned, as she was still using her maiden name of Epps.
"I've known Craig since I started working for Prominent Energy, but I didn't know he had relatives living here in Odessa" Kendall now said, looking at her own tray of letters.
"There are many Epps' living here in Odessa, Kendall" Maria nodded...
...The ladies and I chatted and played several games of Scrabble while Helen and Jimmy Epps continued to talk within the living room. From the sound of it, they were having a very in depth conversation concerning Danny Wickersham and the Countess...
...By ten-forty-five PM, Andrea, Helen, and I, were sitting within our respected gate at the airport. We had just gone through security, only minutes before, after having been dropped off by Kendall Ludus. We had postponed our Valentine's Day dinner, yet again, but had assured Kendall we'd make good on our promise of dinner, once she came for a visit.
All of us had grown quite fond of Kendall Ludus, I suddenly reflected as I sat beside Andrea and Helen, sipping another steaming cup of black coffee...
"Are you excited about finally heading home now, Tim?" my wife asked, already knowing the answer as the three of us sat together.
"Very, glad to be going home, Andrea" I nodded with a deep sigh of relief.
"Me too, babe" she nodded as she squeezed my hand.
"How did you like meeting Jimmy Epps?" I asked, looking over at Helen.
"Good solid people, Tim, and Jimmy was a gold mine of information. He was a bit unsure of talking with me at first, because he thought I was some city slicker that was going to write trash about folks in the oil patch but once we gave him those unmailed letters from his dad, and all of those photo albums, Jimmy loosened right up" Helen nodded.
"What Helen is trying to say, Tim, is that essentially, Jimmy became completely smitten with her, once Helen flashed that award winning smile of hers. - He never had a chance, after that" Andrea smirked.
"Oh, please, Andrea. He's a nice man and I genuinely enjoyed talking with him and meeting his friend, Maria" Helen replied.
"I'd say, for a guy pushing eighty-three, that Jimmy's done very well in selecting himself an Amiga" I interjected.
"Wasn't she delightful?" Helen smiled.
"Yes, and she's probably thirty years, his junior" Andrea nodded with approval.
"Good for them!" Helen answered.
...At ten-forty-five PM the ladies and I boarded our aircraft to begin the flight to Tucson which included a change of planes and a two hour layover in Denver Colorado. My little brother Ricky had already texted me with assurance that he'd be waiting for us, once we stepped off the plane in Tucson. I was looking forward to seeing Ricky and Brenda again.
My God, I was so ready to be home, I nodded to myself as I sat looking out the jetliner's porthole and watched all the baggage tugs and ramp activity, once we had been seated...
...Our flight to Colorado took just over an hour. Upon landing in Denver I ventured over to the snack bar and purchased another black coffee. I then stared up at the arrival / departure monitors before sitting down with Andrea and Helen again.
The ladies were sharing a funny animals YouTube video on Helen's phone which I paid little attention to.
Taking out my own phone, I texted my little brother and let him know we were currently in Denver and all planes seemed to be on time. I'd text him again once we boarded the plane for our connecting flight.
After putting my phone away I just sat quietly sipping my coffee and listening to Andrea and Helen giggling at the video they were watching...
"What did Jimmy tell you, Helen?" I asked several minutes later as we continued to sit at our departure gate.
"He talked mostly about growing up with Danny. Jimmy said that he'd also known Philip and David too, but not nearly as well as Danny" Helen answered.
"Did he remember them flying the Jenny?" I asked curiously.
"Oh yes, Jimmy used to help them work on it but he never went up with David. David was the one that flew the Jenny, Philip was always just a passenger, - a front seater" Helen explained.
"I wondered about that" I nodded.
"Jimmy said that Philip never talked much but that he was very observant, and extremely good at making things. Jimmy also said that you could show Philip a page in a book, and even though Philip couldn't read, he could still copy the page on paper, two weeks later, verbatim. Philip had a photographic memory and the U.S. Army had actually considered using Philip's talents for viewing ariel maps, but I don't think they ever did. At least Jimmy didn't believe they ever had" Helen explained.
"Did Philip have any musical talent, Helen?" Andrea asked.
"Jimmy said that Philip had never shown any interest in playing an instrument and neither had David. Danny was the only one that was ever inspired by music" Helen answered.
"Did Jimmy know what became of David?" I asked.
"He said David was killed in a bomber over Germany in nineteen-forty-nine, during an important mission, that's all Jimmy ever knew" Helen answered.
"...That can't be right, Helen, Jimmy's mistaken. The Allies were trying to win the hearts and minds of the German people by that point, and they wouldn't be flying any bomber patrols over a ravaged Germany. It must have been a transport aircraft that David was killed in, probably a C-54, not a bomber. It would also have had to been British, because the Army Air Corps would never have recognized David's ability to fly as a flight engineer, aboard a United States Military aircraft" I reasoned.
"Maybe so, Tim, but Jimmy said it was a bomber" Helen replied, with a shrug.
"It could possibly have been a coastal patrol bomber, Based in Germany, Tim. The Cold War with Russia was underway by nineteen-forty-nine and there was a lot of distrust between the Free World and Communist Russia at that point" Andrea interjected.
"Coastal patrol bombers were extremely rare at that time, Andrea. - No, I don't think David was killed in a bomber. A four engine civilian transport, I could accept, but not a bomber. David had already been discharged from the R.A.F. by then also. So it couldn't even have been a British Military plane to begin with, now that I think about it" I said, shaking my head.
"I don't know then, Tim" Andrea replied.
Our conversation was abruptly interrupted by a P.A. announcement that we would soon be boarding our flight for the last leg of our journey home. The ladies and I got our tickets ready and collected our carry-on luggage.
It was time to go home...
...Our flight lasted just over one hour and I texted Ricky the second the plane stopped at our respected gate. The ladies and I were some of the last passengers to exit the cabin of the aircraft and we quickly descended the escalators toward baggage claim, there I spotted Ricky.
"How you doing, cowboy?" he asked as we embraced.
"Damn glad to be home, brother. By the way, this is Helen Lunsford" I said, indicating Helen.
Ricky and Helen shook hands. Andrea and Ricky then briefly hugged.
We got our luggage and then headed out toward the car, Brenda's Toyota Camry. I sat up front, with my little brother at the wheel.
Ricky quickly paid the parking fee and drove through the candy striped gate, soon we were on I-10.
"...Ricky, Andrea and I have decided that we don't want a swimming pool, after all" I said as I watched the road ahead of us.
"Brenda told me that, Tim. I already filled in the hole, I just rented a backhoe and did the whole thing yesterday afternoon. It's done." Ricky nodded.
"Thank you, brother" I said with relief flooding over me.
"You working tomorrow, Ricky?" I asked.
"No, I work Tuesdays through Fridays" Ricky answered.
"Good, we can share some time together tomorrow" I nodded.
...In just over an hour's time, we arrived at the Gingerbread Ranch, Andrea's and my home in Arizona City. My brother Ricky helped us carry our baggage to the house and then bid us a goodnight. My little brother then headed toward Casa Grande and his own home, twenty miles away.
Andrea's horse, Pippi Longstocking, was currently being boarded at a friend's house and the only one to currently welcome the three of us home, was WolfCat, our feral cat. It was now three-fifty-two AM. Andrea and I quickly showed Helen to her guest room and bid her goodnight. My wife and I then climbed into the shower before heading to bed ourselves.
...Climbing into bed with Andrea, we shut off the lights and held each other. Being home had never felt so good. We had been gone from home for exactly fourteen days, yet it seemed as if an entire lifetime had passed since our departure.
Sometime during the night, "Wolfie", laid down beside my wife, relishing in her warmth and gentle aura. The feral cat was as captivated by Andrea as I was.
Andrea and I slept...
...During the days that immediately followed, I spent very little time with my wife or Helen Lunsford. This wasn't out of spite but simply out my need to reboot and find my own understanding of the time we'd spent searching for clues in regard to the life of Danny Wickersham, a man whom I had never met.
In a strange way, it almost seemed as if I'd come full circle within my own life. Several times throughout the days that followed I, again, found myself staring at Duxford Airfield's Mystery Girl within the band's "Angel's" album. What irony, that I had married the very girl that I had once idolized within the Angel's album jacket.
The passage of time alone, had taken my beloved mother from me but fate had replaced her with Duxford Airfield's Mystery Girl, as my bride.
My mother would have wanted it this way, I knew...
...Drinking coffee alone one morning, I discovered another record album of the band Duxford Airfield, laying on our kitchen table. The album was the famed "Johnnie's Girl" album and I began to slowly examine the decades old album jacket. The vinyl record itself was scratched and badly worn, yet the album was a surviving reminder of a long ago and bygone era. This battered relic represented a mere moment in time within the ever changing world of music.
Obviously one of the ladies had found this tattered Johnnie's Girl album at a local thrift shop within the last few days and purchased it. The badly worn album had probably been valued at nothing more than a few dollars...
Enjoying the solitude of the morning, I sipped more coffee and spent considerable time studying the photo albums of Mary Wickersham and the Countess. It was while I was leafing through one of these old photo albums that I saw a newspaper clipping from nineteen-forty-nine which struck a chord with me. A stark realization then quickly dawned on me, concerning David Wickersham, Danny's father.
Setting the photo album aside for the moment, I picked up the "Johnnie's Girl" album again and studied it intently for several minutes.
...I then knew the answers to David Wickersham's tragic loss aboard a multi engine aircraft as I began reading the lyrics for the song "Across The Pond." Danny Wickersham had written the piece himself and included it within the Johnnie's Girl album, now everything made sense to me...
.........
...I rode my recumbent bicycle twenty-eight miles, that afternoon. My little brother Ricky and his wife were going to join us for dinner and Ricky had already promised us one of his famous barbeques dinners. My little brother could grill a steak that would knock the socks off of someone and I was already looking forward to dinner with my family and Helen Lunsford that evening.
I wheeled the bicycle into the garage.
"How'd you do, babe?" Andrea asked as I set the bike against the garage wall.
"Twenty-eight miles, how'd you and Helen do today?" I asked.
"We did great, we went for a bike ride earlier, and then we took Pippi out for a spin. Helen has never ridden before and she fell in love with Pippi!" Andrea answered, smiling.
"I'm so glad" I said, kissing Andrea.
"I love you" she said.
"I love you too. Get Helen now, I have something to show you both" I said as we entered the house.
Five minutes later the three of us were sitting at the kitchen table.
I then showed the ladies the newspaper clipping from nineteen-forty-nine, complete with headlines that read "ANOTHER BRAVE CREW LOST DURING FOOD WAR WITH REDS."
The newspaper article also displayed a black and white image of a decimated World War Two bomber. The craft was completely destroyed and unrecognizable.
Andrea and Helen remained silent as they briefly studied the article.
"I don't understand what this means, Tim. Obviously its relevant, because the Countess included this article in her photo album" Helen said at last.
"I don't understand what its relevance is either, Tim, but the Countess must have considered it important." Andrea nodded.
"I'll explain, but first, read this aloud, Helen" I said handing her the open album jacket for Johnnie's Girl and then pointing to the lyrics for "Across The Pond."
Helen began to read the song lyrics for Across The Pond.
...An angel on earth and now Heaven as well
the Candy Bomber is gone, and flown far away
he won't be back now, nor any other day
Now a lady wipes away the little king's tears,
his Candy Bomber is gone, and flown far away,
he won't be back now, nor any other day...
(Long instrumental)
...An angel on earth and now Heaven as well
the Candy Bomber is gone, and flown far away
he won't be back now, nor any other day
Now a soldier wipes away the Dutchess's tears,
her Candy Bomber is gone, and flown far away,
he won't be back now, nor any other day...
Helen finished reading the lyrics and then looked up at me.
"I still don't understand what this means, Tim" she said.
"Helen, I started to read the lyrics for that song, one day while we were enroute to Prominent House with Kendall, but I got side tracked and lost my train of thought. Then that night, after I made an ass of myself in the restaurant with you and Andrea, I started feeling sorry for myself and began to study the water stains of the wallpaper inside the restaurant where the three of us were eating" I said as I took the album jacket back from Helen.
I then held up the album and pointed to the lyrics for Across The Pond again.
"See what's in the water stain, here where the lyrics are written, ladies?" I asked, holding up the album jacket.
"Its just a water stain, Tim" Andrea said after a brief moment's study.
"Its just a water stain" Helen echoed.
"Squint your eyes and look at it again, ladies" I encouraged.
Andrea and Helen squinted their eyes and began peering at the water stain.
"...It looks kind of like a mountain or something" Helen said, squinting, as she looked carefully at the image.
"I don't know" Andrea answered.
"See the teeth, and the smile, now? See the goggles, ladies?" I asked, pointing each one out.
"...Its uh, - OH MY GOD! It's David Wickersham, Helen! See him?!" Andrea asked excitedly.
"You're right, Andrea, it is David! He's standing in front of the Avro Lancaster bomber, see the writing on the side of the plane now? It says - Johnnie's Girl!" Helen gasped.
"Yes, I see it now!" Andrea exclaimed.
"...Tim, what does all this mean? How does this all connect?" Helen asked.
"It means that David Wickersham was part of what was known as "Operation Vittles", otherwise known as "The Berlin Airlift." He was essentially an early casualty of the Cold War. As you know, post war Berlin Germany was divided into four sections, by the United States, Britain, and France, as well as Communist Russia. Due to politics, in regard to German currency, Communist Russia blockaded Berlin.
As a result, the ships and trains bringing food and fuel to the German people, were then halted and blockaded by Communist Russia and turned back. No trains were allowed to travel over any portion of Soviet occupied Germany. Essentially it came down to this, the German people could fall in line with Stalin or starve.
Once the blockade was in place, the United States and United Kingdom then began supplying Berlin with food and fuel by aircraft, it was a massive undertaking incorperating many hundreds of large aircraft.
Jimmy Epps, had been correct, Helen, David Wickersham was killed in a bomber when it encountered fog during final approach into Berlin and crashed, late one night in nineteen-forty-nine.
