Sky Queen

by Judy Kundert

  Charlotte took a deep breath and remained calm, even if she wanted to slam the receiver in the cradle and scream for help. “Oh, Emma Jean, what if she’s dead or captured? She is the most conscientious person I know. Something terrible must have happened to her. Maybe kidnapping. If she was hurt, the police would have called me by now.”

  Emma Jean squealed. “Oh, Darlin’, I can call my dear policeman friend. He can help us find her. I’ll call him right now. We can’t lose her.”

  Charlotte’s stomach twisted, surveying Katherine’s neat and organized side of the room. She clutched Katherine’s stewardess pin on the dresser. The sun slipped away as it made room for early evening skies. A dark shadow covered Katherine’s furry white throw rug.

  Charlotte stared at the clock. She thought the hands on the clock had stopped when the phone rang. Her heart thumped. That must be her calling. “Hi, Kate, where are you?”

  “Huh? I’m Adam Goldstein, Katherine’s friend. I am at Palmer House. “I’m checking to see if Katherine can go to dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Adam. Kate is missing. I thought you might be her calling.’

  “Missing? Why?”

  “Her good friend Emma Jean has an idea that this Greek man might have done something with her.”

  Adam shouted, “A Greek man. Who is he? Where did Katherine meet him? What gave Emma Jean the idea he might harm Katherine?”

  Breathless, Charlotte threw words out like a pitcher at batting practice. “Katherine met him at a Playboy party. He and Katherine talked about her interest in learning more about Greek culture. Emma Jean last saw her this morning for coffee. Then Katherine didn’t go to Bonwit Teller with Emma Jean. Instead, she took a book to this guy. It gets worse since Katherine’s airline asked her to represent them as hostess for its sponsored event with the Chicago sports teams. It sounded fantastic with the team members coming to autograph stuff and raise money for a Native American school. She never showed up. That’s not like her. She has a giant calendar with every day’s activities listed. That’s her airline training to get everywhere right on time. Not a second late.”

  Adam exhaled. “Okay, Charlotte, let’s not rush to conclusions. I agree she is dependable, but Katherine is also a free spirit with a dash of spontaneity. I’ll grab a cab and be right over to help.”

  “That’s wonderful if it’s not too much trouble. Should we call Katherine’s parents?”

  “Let’s hope that Kate will be there when I arrive, so let’s wait to call her parents. We don’t want to alarm them yet. I’m sure she’s okay … except for this Greek guy.”

  Charlotte hung up the phone and sighed. She remembered the time Adam had come to take Katherine to dinner. He was a smart guy. She’d been very attracted to him. To relieve her guilt, Charlotte told herself that Katherine might have just gone off somewhere with the Greek and planned to dump Adam. That girl does some off-the-wall things when she gets mad.

  Adam hung up the phone and hit his fist on the desk. She made me think she might even move to New York. And my friends loved her! He told himself that Katherine should use her common sense and not run off with a Greek man. He decided that Charlotte, a Playboy Bunny, might be his best revenge.

  16

  OLD MUSTY BOOKS STACKED on steel gray filing cabinets lined one wall of Security Officer O’Leary’s office. The only view out of the window was a brick wall. All this place needs are iron bars on the window, Katherine thought as cotton filled her mouth with fear. She knew the seriousness of the federal laws for illegal possession of a bald eagle feather. Katherine tugged at the zipper of her purse. Her sweaty hands kept slipping. She dug deep and pulled her calendar from her bag.

  “Oh, no, I had two appointments. I missed them both. Charlotte and the St. Joseph—” Katherine’s adrenaline bubbled. She smiled. The St. Joseph Indian School benefit dinner, she thought, could be a great explanation. I’ll tell them my airline wanted me to donate the feather to the tribe, and I need to deliver the extraordinary feather before the dinner starts tonight.

  Katherine twisted her jacket’s belt and listened to O’Leary’s speakerphone conversation with a Fish and Wildlife official. Katherine’s heart leaped to her throat. Her ears muffled his words. Her sweaty palms swiped and saturated her paisley mini skirt. She knew too well the federal penalty for stealing an eagle feather.

  Red-faced, O’Leary slammed the phone in the cradle. “Well, young lady, you better have a good story or you’ll be in the hoosegow. My shift ends in thirty minutes. I want this wrapped up now.”

  Katherine quivered a smile at the librarian and then nodded toward the security officer. “I can explain everything. I’m one-eighth Chippewa, but that’s not why I have the bald eagle feather. Could I see my eagle feather again? I need it for my explanation.”

  The woman searched around her. Then with a white face and shaky voice, she released a whisper, “I don’t think I have it.”

  O’Leary helped her move chairs, his desk, and bookshelves to find the missing feather.

  “You idiot,” he yelled at the frazzled librarian. “You lost it. And now we don’t have the evidence. How can we prove her guilty?”

  The librarian scowled and pointed at Katherine. “You’re a witch. Stay away from me.”

  Hm, Soaring Eagle delivered a bald eagle feather to me, and then it disappeared? Was this the work of a shape shifter? Katherine wondered.

  “Look,” O’Leary said, “get out of my sight right now. We’ll forget the whole thing.”

  Dashing out of the security officer’s office, she noticed a man leaning on the wall across from the officer’s door. In her rush, she almost knocked him down. Breathless, Katherine sprinted down the library’s spiral staircase and flew out the front door.

  Her mind rushed with a rambling list of questions. Will Charlotte forgive me? Will I get fired for missing the Indian School benefit dinner? Will my life ever be normal again?

  17

  KATHERINE’S HEART POUNDED in sync with her feet rushing away from the library. She had to get home, but there wasn’t a taxi or bus in sight. Chicago at rush hour seemed like the Indianapolis 500 racetrack. Her breathing roared faster than jet engines. Like a searchlight, her eyes darted from left to right until they fell upon a pay phone.

  Katherine fumbled a quarter in the slot. The phone rang and rang. At the last ring, someone answered. “Hello,” Adam said.

  Katherine opened her mouth, but only puffs of air floated out from her quivering lips.

  “Hello? Hello?”

  Katherine gasped. “Adam? What are you doing at my apartment?”

  “That doesn’t matter right now. Are you okay? Should we rescue you or call the police?”

  “Why? I only had a minor incident with an eagle feather in the library.”

  “An eagle feather? What happened with the Greek?”

  Katherine wrinkled her brow. “Yes, an eagle feather. I don’t have time to tell you now. How do you know about the Greek? Is Charlotte there?”

  Adam cleared his throat. “Is the Greek guy a long story too? Your friend Emma Jean worried that he kidnapped you.”

  Speechless, Katherine slipped the phone in the cradle to disconnect it.

  Adam wasn’t a boyfriend, but she considered him a trusted friend. Charlotte and Adam had betrayed her. And worse they misjudged her. What are they thinking? What made them think Angelos was some derelict?

  She took a deep breath and repeated her mantra: “Stay calm and breathe in peace.” She dropped another quarter in the slot and dialed again.

  “Kate? Why did you just hang up on Adam? Where are you? What happened to you? I guess you didn’t get kidnapped, but you’re late for everything. Your supervisor called to say that you missed that special event for the Native American School. You need to call her first thing tomorrow morning. She sounded pissed. I won’t be here when you come home, since Adam will help me move the rest of my stuff to the mansion. You’ll have to come and see my new digs.”


  Katherine stared at a line of twenty-five cars weaving along Michigan Ave. while Charlotte finished her breathless monologue. “Okay.” Maybe you should stop talking and let your throat rest. “Have fun tonight. Bye.”

  Katherine’s chest tightened. Her stomach rumbled and struggled to puke. She held the receiver in her hand and pondered what to do with it. Should she toss it in the air? Should she slam it the phone cradle? She didn’t know if she should scream or cry. She wanted to talk to a friend. She needed support and understanding from Emma Jean.

  Katherine enjoyed visiting Emma Jean’s neighborhood. It was two blocks away from Wrigley Field. The Chicago Cubs lived in her father’s heart, and she’d inherited his love of the worst team in history. The smell of baseball season with hot dogs, popcorn, and beer mixing with the scent of spring grape hyacinths made Katherine forget her problems. She’d lost two friends and, possibly, her job.

  She cherished Emma Jean’s friendship and needed her reassuring support. Emma Jean would forever remember Katherine’s way of introducing her to new adventures and pushing her to go new places that took her out of comfort areas. But this was one of the first times in their friendship when she needed her friend’s sympathetic ear.

  Katherine climbed three flights of stairs to Emma Jean’s walk-up in the vintage-era building. Katherine could still hear Emma Jean’s stories of Charleston’s history dating back to 1670. She liked vintage walk-ups since these buildings were as close to old Charleston as she could get in Chicago. And Emma Jean loved talking about Charleston whenever she could. Katherine preferred her high-rise apartment. For Katherine, visiting Emma Jean was a refreshing visit to a friend and a cultural experience.

  Katherine knocked on the brass doorknocker. Emma Jean threw open the door and grabbed her friend. “Oh, Darlin’, Charlotte and I fretted for you. Come in and tell me what happened!” Emma Jean had never hugged her so tight; her best friend had apparently imagined the worse. She collapsed on Emma Jean’s rosy velvet loveseat.

  “Oh, Emma Jean. My life is falling apart. I’m getting fired. I was a no show for a big airline PR assignment for a Native American School. I should just go jump in Lake Michigan right now. My friends betrayed me and I got caught with an illegal possession of an eagle feather in Chicago’s Public Library.”

  Emma Jean relaxed on her grandmother’s historic Charleston wing chairs. “Can I get you something to drink? Coffee, tea, or water? Oh, I didn’t know what to do after I talked with Charlotte. We didn’t know what to do to find you. Did that exotic man hurt you?”

  Katherine scrutinized her friend’s face to understand the misguided perceptions that her friends held of Angelos. He was from a country and culture that they didn’t know, so Charlotte and Adam created false ideas and opinions without knowing the real man.

  “No. I’m not thirsty.” Katherine paused. “Emma Jean, where did you ladies come up with the idea that Angelos kidnapped me?”

  Katherine waited for her answer as she watched her friend glance around the room.

  Emma Jean coughed. “Oh Darlin’, I started it when I said I thought that Angelos fellow must have done something with you. I’m sorry.” She paused and stared at her friend.

  Katherine waved her hand in the air. “Oh, we all make snap judgments. I’ve done the same thing. Let’s move on.” She paused and smiled at her friend and pointed to a gold-embossed copy of Omar Khayyam’s The Rubaiyat on the marble coffee table. “Oh, there’s that book that you’re always quoting.”

  Emma Jean nodded. “It’s my prized possession. My beautiful aunt Millie gave it to me. She told me always to stay romantic. And Darlin’, she is right. There isn’t enough romance in the world. My dream man must be an ardent gentleman. Real men should give us roses.”

  Katherine strolled over, turned to the bookmarked page, and read Emma Jean’s favorite verse. “‘A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou, beside me singing in the Wilderness—, Oh, Wilderness were Paradise now!’” Katherine closed the treasured book and looked at her friend. “This is your life and love quote. And it reminds me of you.”

  Emma smiled. “Yes, it’s my favorite.” She paused and nodded. “Darlin’, you have an enchanting voice. I never heard it read with such emotion.”

  Katherine sighed. She sat motionless, except for her eyes. They darted from the book to her friend, who never read books. She loved her friend but didn’t place much credit in her intellect. I value my friendship with Emma Jean. Katherine’s way of life and people insights helped Emma understand other parts of the United States. That was one reason she appreciated being a stewardess. If she’d stayed in Wisconsin, her life might be like a flat sheet of white paper—empty and boring. “Yeah, I surprised myself. That quote has power. It’s amazing a message made by a poet who lived in the eleventh century still is still relevant for us today.”

  “But you’ve never read his poetry. How do you know when he lived?”

  Katherine rushed over the details of her day at the library and her eagle feather incident. She wondered if she could ever explain the eagle feather willing itself to disappear. Someday she could tell her parents. “Well, at the library today, I researched the Lost Tribe of Israel. And the Omar Khayyam book was lying on the library table.” Katherine stopped and chuckled. “It made me think that I was getting a message from you.”

  “Darlin’, I said read poetry and play the piano. You didn’t have to take me so seriously.”

  “I never take you that seriously. I was just curious to see about my Native American connection with ancient Israel.”

  Emma Jean furrowed her brow and stared at Katherine. “Israel? What does that country have to do with you? My heavens, first you ran off with that unromantic book to give to the Greek man. Now you mention Israel in the same breath.” Emma Jean paused and shook her head. “What can I do to talk sense into you? Why don’t you just have fun and enjoy being a young woman living a life that most young women would love to have?”

  Katherine nibbled her thumbnail. Why didn’t I just keep quiet? How could she even be a friend with Emma Jean? I wish I could share my inner self. And my unique gift of the prophecy at the Oracle of Delphi. I can never tell Emma Jean the message I received.

  Katherine gulped and took the safe road by switching to “man” talk. “Israel? Oh, Adam mentioned going there.”

  “Adam!” Emma Jean slapped her lap. “‘Darlin’, he’s out with your friend right now.”

  “So I went to the library this afternoon to do some research?” Katherine shrugged and went on, “I had no clue that you’d create an uproar that caused my friends to betray me.”

  Emma Jean sighed. “Oh, Darlin’, we all care about you and didn’t want anything to happen to you. I would never do anything to harm you. “ She walked over to her friend and patted her shoulder. “Do you like Adam? Is he Jewish?”

  Katherine shook her head. “He was a special friend and shared lot of good times together. I’m finding my path and I want true friends along the way. That’s where we’re different. I can visit in his world, and I may never stay there. My dad advised me to spend time and understand other people and their cultures. He said dig into another person’s culture, and it helps you discover yourself.”

  Emma Jean shrugged. “Well, if I want to figure out drug dealers, I don’t want to be one. Should I hang out with them, so I can find my true southern self in a better light?”

  The veins in Katherine’s neck bulged. She glared at Emma Jean. “I thought you’d be the one person to understand.”

  Emma Jean offered a small southern smile. “Oh, bless your heart, you remind me of my mama. Your heart’s so big; it’s like a bus that fills up with people needing help. You are a rare and precious soul. Remember, I’m always ready to listen and sip sweet tea with you.”

  Katherine waved at the top of the three flights of stairs. “Well, I better get home.”

  Emma Jean smiled. “See you soon. Be careful.”

  Ev
en though she was a free spirit, Katherine turned and gave her friend a longing gaze. She didn’t want to leave the friendship that they’d shared for two past years. Katherine sensed the river of life moving her away to new waters. Having Charlotte as her roommate felt as if part of Chippewa Falls lived with her. But Emma Jean’s southern ways were a constant culture lesson. Her stomach twisted in sync with her thoughts that spun like a descending anchor.

  18

  KATHERINE LOOKED OUT THE CTA bus window as it wove along Lakeshore Drive. Lake Michigan was like a graceful dancer; the waves of the massive body moved in rhythm and never lost a beat. The undulating waters mesmerized Katherine. Tight knots wrapped around her neck melted. Water always soothed her.

  I hope Charlotte is gone, so I’ll have the apartment all to myself, she thought. I’m not ready to see her. And Adam? He’s a drag. Who needs him? The eagle feather vision popped into her mind. That plume caused my life to change. I want to forget about that mystery feather and Adam and Charlotte’s act of treason.

  Katherine’s mood changed as she gazed at the impressive sight of Michigan Avenue’s lights, which sparkled and brightened in the early evening sky. Their glow waved a magic wand of joy over Katherine. Then a weary gray-haired man with an overpowering salami scent plopped next to her. His world-weary brow dripped with sweat. “Woo, what a hot night. My dogs are tired.” He bent down and untied his shoelaces.

  Katherine smiled, “Is your day almost over?”