by Peter Grist
With Linda giving directions they headed north. Ed kept looking in his mirror, so much so that Linda asked “Are you okay?”
“I guess. I wasn’t going to tell you but I am pretty sure I was being followed this morning.”
“What?! You’re kidding me?”
“I wish I was but no, I’m not kidding. To be honest it kind of unnerved me a little.”
“Well I think it would completely freak me out. But why, who?”
“I think word has got around pretty quickly about me looking into Grace’s disappearance and someone isn’t too happy about it.”
“Did you see who it was, what they looked like?”
“No I couldn’t, the car had blacked-out windows but I found out later the car belonged to a guy that runs a junkyard around here somewhere.”
“Oh, well that’s ominous, I think we need to start being a little more discrete with our enquiries.”
“Agreed, but I’m also thinking if it is even slightly dangerous you shouldn’t be involved at all, I don’t want you getting hurt.”
“Too late for that I’m afraid, I’m in for the long haul.”
They were almost on the furthest reaches of the town limits when she finally said “It’s the next turn on the right, just there”. There was no traffic so he didn’t signal, just slowed and turned onto the road. North Acre Road took them on to an estate called Forest Hills, replete with a brick-walled entrance that lasted just fifteen feet on either side of the road. Most of the houses were ranch style and set a little back from the road. Some even had white picket fences but most of the lawns needed tending or were faded to brown. Discarded toys and small inflatable pools lay out front in the gardens that had young families. As the road went on Ed thought the houses looked rougher the further he drove. “It must have been nice back in the day.” He mused.
“It was a Levitt Estate,” she offered. “Folks used to call it Levittown. Identical starter homes but very affordable, and as you said, back in the early sixties they were quite sort after. We are getting close, there’s 1223, slow down a little” said Linda as she peered closely at the numbers and names on mailboxes. “That’s Buster’s house up there, I can see his pick-up, the yellow one”. Ed pulled up by the sidewalk and killed the engine outside of 1241.
“Linda?”
She looked at the salesman, doubt still clearly etched on his face.
“Really, we need to do this Ed, I think he can help”. “I know he’s a big guy but he’s a gentle giant, he won’t bite” she added.
“It’s not that, not at all. I just don’t want to upset the fella.”
She gently took his hand, pleasantly surprising and immediately disarming him.
“It might upset him some, but if we can find his daughter for him I think he will understand don’t you? Come on”. She leaned across, gave him a peck on the cheek then opened her door and stepped out. Dazed by the affection Ed followed, the car alarm chirping twice as he locked the doors and followed Linda past the old faded yellow pick-up to Buster’s front door. By the time Ed had stepped onto the shaded porch Linda had already rung the bell. Deep inside the house, Ed could hear the electronic chimes of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony fade away. Half a minute went by in what seemed like an eternity to Ed. The smallest movement behind curtains confirmed that someone was home. Finally, the door opened.
Buster’s massive body filled the opening, causing a greater obstacle than the wood door. He was dressed exactly how Ed had seen him at the gas station, in a light but grease-free t-shirt and dungarees. He looked at Linda then to Ed and slowly back to Linda. His deep baritone voice rumbled out, “Hello Miss Linda, how are you today?”
“Hello Buster, I’m fine”. She turned to Ed.
“This is Ed Saunders, a friend of mine”.
The two men nodded at each other. Buster broke out in a warming smile, “I think we already met maybe, full tank of regular gas”.
Ed returned the smile. “Yes, that’s right.”
Linda spoke again. “Buster, can we come in? We want to ask you something and it’s kinda delicate.”
The smile went as fast as it appeared.
“I knows why you here Miss Linda” he slowly drawled, “I been ‘specting you.”
The visitors both looked surprised. He nodded to himself as if making up his mind.
“You better both come in outta that sun.” He turned and led them into the house. The house was cool a dark. He took them into the room to the left of the front door where Ed had seen the curtains twitch. The carpeted room was homely, with old but well cared for furniture. A two-seat sofa and armchair had matching floral print covers while the dark brown coffee table that separated them carried the signs of many a spilt drink, the only occupant now being a silver TV remote. In the corner was a relatively modern TV that matched the remote from the table that sat on a black metal stand. An old John Wayne western film was showing but the sound was muted. In front of that sat the largest recliner Ed had ever seen. He knew that you could get out-size clothes, but he had never thought about out-size furniture before. An old TV ad popped into his head, and he wondered how many Naugas had given up their hides in the making of that one chair. Hard to accept that people once believed that the PVC infused knit fabric had really come from an animal called a Nauga. A series of ads had suggested that Naugas gladly gave up their pelts as they shed skin much like a snake so that no animals were killed in the making of the leather replacement. Few people realised that the truth was much more mundane. Named after the town where it was first produced, Naugahyde was first made by Uniroyal in 1936 at a factory in Naugatuck, Connecticut. A grim smile twitched briefly across the salesman’s features. He continued his brief inventory of Buster’s furniture. Against the back wall sat a wooden writing desk crowded with family photos of Buster and his wife, and of course, pictures of Grace Benjamin. Ed walked over to the desk and picked up a picture of Grace. Although the photo was obviously dated, it still had vibrant colours and was a close-up of the little girl’s face and torso. She was dressed in a yellow flowery dress that complimented her dark skin. The way she was hugging a dolly close to her chest stirred something in Ed’s mind but he willingly let it go.
“Folks have been talking, saying you been askin’ bout my Gracie”. Buster said it as a fact, not a question. Linda looked at Buster with sadness in her eyes.
“Can we sit down? I think you are going to want to hear what we have to say.”
“Sure you can Miss Linda, please” he waved to the two-seater as he dropped heavily into the over-sized nauga-covered chair.
He swivelled it around so he could face the couple. Ed joined Linda on the settee, cleared his throat several times, trying to think of an easy way into this conversation. Linda laid her hand on Ed’s as if to say ‘it’s okay, let me start’.
“Buster, I know it’s been a long time that she’s been gone but we think Ed might be able to find Grace.”
She looked into Buster’s big brown eyes but couldn’t read them at all, so she continued.
“When Mr Saunders came into town the other day something happened to him, something strange, that he cannot figure out, but he thinks it has something to do with your little girl going missing. We’ll understand if you want us to go and not hear us out, and we’ll definitely understand if you don’t believe a word we have to say, but believe me Buster, we are here because we want to help. Is that okay?”
The big man nodded but said nothing. She turned to Ed and said, “Tell him, tell Buster what happened and what you saw.”
Tentatively Ed retold the events since his arrival, missing out the detail about seeing the body but including the flashback of her abduction, the disturbance of his room, the missing newspaper report, the break-in at the library and the associated fire. Linda added information where she could. It took a long time to tell. When they had finished the room went quiet. Buster
looked directly into Ed’s eyes for long moments, then without saying anything, got up and walked out of the room. After a minute Ed turned to Linda, their knees touching as they sat together on the small seat.
“What do you think; do you think he believes me?”
“I don’t know Ed, it all sounds so fantastic, and I’ve witnessed some of it, but I do hope so.”
“Yes ma’am, I believe there is something in what duh man said.”
They both jumped as Buster came back in the room carrying a tray with a jug of liquid and three tall glasses. “I shoulda offered you something to drink; I’m sorry bout dat. Lemonade?”
Without waiting for a response, he set the tray down on the coffee table, pushing aside the TV remote, then three-quarters filled all the glasses. They silently took the proffered drinks, nodding thanks to their host. Buster sat back in his chair, head down, his drink untouched on the tray.
After a few minutes of silence Buster cleared his throat and said, “I’m not a religious man,” he began, “losing Gracie helped quite a bit in that. No god would put a family through what we went through. Gracie was our whole life. Elsa, my wife, she kept her faith right to the end, but she was still a broken woman. She been gone nearly ten years herself now; doctors said it was some kinda virus, a bug or somethin’ but she died of a broken heart. I promised her I would find our child an’ lay her to rest before my time is done. I aim to keep that promise; every day I get that I ain’t workin’ I spends up in duh hills. I been all over but never found any trace. I figured if she just got lost or fell there woulda been somethin’, even just bones. What you say ‘bout seein’ her in dat truck is what I felt back then, somethin’ not right bout duh whole thing.”
“If you don’t believe in a god, why do you believe Ed’s story Buster?” asked Linda.
“Well it’s true I did use to work at the 5 and dime on Main back then, an what you said ‘bout the white kids givin’ me a hard time? Well, dat happened most days, ‘til I started workin’ out anyhows, but it ain’t that. I may not believe in God but I think there is somethin’ after….. well, after we gone, but I tell you somethin’ I never told no one before today. I held Elsa’s hand when she went. It was right here in dis house. The doctor had gone, said there was nothin’ he could do so I sat with her, jus’ holdin’ her hand. Just before she went she brightened up; she said “Buster, she’s here! Our baby is here, I can see her!” Elsa smiled for the first time in many years at dat moment. She was so beautiful, the years jus fell away from her. Her eyes were open an’ lookin’ at me but she was somewheres else, with Gracie. Then the smile went and she was listenin’, listenin’ real good, and noddin’ her head. Last thing she said was “Someone gonna come Buster, gonna come help you find our baby, bring her home.” She told me what they would look like, then she smiled again, told me she loved me then closed her eyes, and she was gone.”
Buster looked up from the pages of his memory and looked straight at Ed Saunders. “Reason I believe you mister, is ‘cos duh man she told me bout, it was you, no doubt.”
seventeen
They were back in the car outside Buster’s house. He said he had to get to work at the gas station but had vowed to help them in any way he could to find his daughter, before he left he had drawn a simple map of where the bicycle had been found and where the searches had been carried out so many years ago.
“Well that’s not how I thought it would go!” exclaimed Ed.
“No”, agreed Linda, “knowing you were coming one day…..that was, er, unexpected.”
“But no stranger than what I told him!”
“True, very true.”
They sat perfectly still, staring out of the windshield, trying to take in everything that Buster had said. After his revelation about Elsa’s deathbed prophecy, he went on to say that the locals had rallied round, helping in the search but few were white folks and those few only spent two days on it, whereas friends looked for weeks after.
Ed looked at the map in front of him then passed it to Linda. “Mean anything to you?”
Linda looked at the piece of A4 paper, turned it around a few times then said, “Yes, we can find this place, but if we have to start going up into the hills we won’t make it in this or the Nissan. Most of the places he has marked are only accessible from dirt tracks.” She looked from the map to the digital clock on the dash. It read 3:47. The day was disappearing quickly. She thought for a moment longer then nodded to herself, coming to a decision. “Okay, drive me back to my place can you. I’ll pick up the Nissan later.”
“Sure”, said Ed as he turned the key. “What’s the plan?”
“I’ll show you when we get to my place.” she replied mysteriously.
There was little traffic to speak of as they drove swiftly across town but it still took the best part of an hour to reach Linda’s old ranch. The wheels crunched on the gravel as Ed pulled up outside.
“Come in a minute, I’ll have to ask Esther if she can stay a bit later today, and we need some things.”
As Linda made her way into her house Ed leaned back and swiftly grabbed an old leather flight jacket from the back seat and his 9mm Browning and shoulder holster from the glove box. By the time he had reached the house the jacket neatly concealed any trace of the weapon hanging from his left side.
He waited in the hall while Linda went and found Esther and Joshua. She found them in the kitchen baking. After hugs and kisses and the briefest of conversations Linda was back in the hall, but now carrying a foot long burgundy Maglite flashlight, her cell-phone and some snack bars.
“Hold these would you while I go and get changed?” She dumped the items into Ed’s hands then bounded up the stairs two at a time. Ed couldn’t resist following her with his eyes as she sprinted up to the top floor, once again reflecting on her magnificent physic. Within minutes she was coming back down again. Ed couldn’t help but smile appreciatively at her long legs wrapped now in tight denim covered with what looked like brown riding boots and her body covered by a tightly fitted red and yellow checked shirt. Her hair was now pushed back into a ponytail. The smile on her face showed that she had got the reaction she was hoping for. She strode past Ed, snatched up a set of car keys from the dish on the coat rack then said, “Okay, follow me.”
She marched purposefully out of the front door, off the porch and towards the big barn that sat to the side of the estate. ‘I would follow you anywhere’ Ed thought to himself, then quickly followed her out of the front door. He had to jog a little before he caught up with her, giving him an ample opportunity to watch Linda’s exaggerated wiggle.
“What have you got stashed in here, a HumVee?” he teased.
“Not far off the mark Mr Saunders.” She replied.
With a proud flourish, she pulled one of the big doors wide leaving Ed to squint into the dimly lit barn. The barn was sparsely filled with ancient farming equipment, workbenches and handtools. Near the back wall sat a shrouded vehicle. The boxy shape hidden by the cover was unmistakable.
“Is that what I think it is Linda?”
“Probably.” She said as she strode over to it. She lifted one corner of the dust cover and pulled it up and over to reveal a Jeep Cherokee.
“It’s over fifteen years old but it’s almost like new.”
Ed did a low whistle as he gave the tough off-roader a quick look over. The deep amethyst blue paint had lost none of its lustre and the chunky aluminium wheels glistened in the half-light. The SUV had obviously been well maintained. Linda walked back from pushing open the other door and blipped the remote central locking. “It was Ben’s pride and joy. He could’ve bought a sexy sports car but he had always wanted a Jeep since he was a little boy, he couldn’t find an affordable world war two jeep so he bought this XJ instead. It was almost new when he bought it; somehow I just couldn’t part with it.”
“It looks in great shape.” Ed agreed.
>
“I keep it washed and polished and take it into town every once in a while to get gassed up.”
Now with both barn doors open, there was much more light coming in. Ed bent down near the back of the Jeep.
“This thing has parabolic leaf springs on it”
“Yep!” replied Linda, “It also has a 2inch lift kit and protection plates for the engine and transmission. The winch on the front and the snorkel are extras too.” She said with pride.
“Sounds like you know what you are talking about.” Ed said, impressed.
“Not really, but Ben went on about it so much when he got things done to it, it must have stuck in my head.”
She jumped in and put the key in the ignition. The Jeep started on the first turn. She wound the electric window down on the passenger side and asked over the noise of the burbling 4litre high-output engine if Ed could close the doors after she had driven out. Ed saluted his agreement and followed behind the car as Linda slipped the T-bar selector of the auto box into drive, let out the parking brake and crept forwards. As Ed followed the off-roader he noticed a whole set of tools hanging over a workbench to the side. He selected a spade from its hook, leaving a painted shadow on the wall where the tool belonged.
Ed closed the big barn doors, set the latch then opened the rear door and put the spade with the flashlight on the floor behind the front passenger seat. He caught Linda’s enquiring look over her shoulder. “Just in case.” He replied to the unspoken question. She nodded knowingly as he jumped into the right-hand side. The soft grey leather seats were cool to the touch and a welcome from the late afternoon heat from outside. He gave her back her cell-phone which she plugged into a hands-free unit mounted on the dash.
“Okay, it’s a bit of a drive but I know roughly where we are going.” They both put on their seatbelts, Ed set the aircon to cool then Linda headed for the main road. The curtain from the front room window fell back in place as Josh let it go, turning away from the dust cloud left by the Jeep, and headed for his room.