Class of '59 (American Journey Book 4)

by John A. Heldt

  "Yes," Piper said into the phone. "She still has a pulse. It's steady but weak. Please hurry. I don't know how much longer she can hang on."

  Piper looked at Mark and Ben and saw two men in shock. Mark knelt to her right. He supported Mary Beth's head in his lap. Ben knelt across from Piper. He pressed a wadded handkerchief against a hole in Mary Beth's back as she lay, eyes closed, on her back. Both Mark and Ben stared blankly into space.

  Piper let her own mind drift when the dispatcher stopped talking. She thought of the trip to Las Vegas, the prom, Ben's tennis matches, and Donna Ryan's goodbye hug. She thought of everything but her dying sister until the dispatcher spoke again and brought her out of a daze.

  "Did you say she was shot in the back?"

  "Yes. I did," Piper said. "She was hit just above the waist."

  The dispatcher typed the information.

  "Is there an exit wound?"

  Piper released her sister's wrist and brushed a hand across her abdomen.

  "I don't think so," Piper said. "Please hurry!"

  "The ambulance will be there soon, ma'am. Please stay on the line."

  Piper shook her head. What did the dispatcher think she was going to do? Hang up and have a drink with the boys? Then she remembered that the dispatcher did not know about the boys. She would have to deal with that problem soon enough.

  "How is her pulse?" Mark asked.

  Piper brought a finger to her lips and shot him a glance that he clearly understood. Then she reclaimed Mary Beth's wrist, waited a moment, and whispered an answer to Mark.

  "It's getting weaker."

  Mark nodded and returned to Mary Beth. He brushed her long hair away from her face and then stroked her cheeks with the back of his hand.

  Piper admired his devotion to her sister. Even Jordan Taylor had not attended to Mary Beth as thoughtfully and completely as this quiet engineering student from the 1950s. She wondered what would happen to Mark when he returned to his own time. She wondered what would happen when he resumed his life without the woman he loved.

  The dispatcher again interrupted her thoughts.

  "Ma'am? Are you still there?"

  Piper pressed the phone to her ear.

  "I'm still here."

  "The ambulance and a police unit should be there shortly."

  Piper turned her head. She heard two faint but distinct sirens in the distance.

  "I hear the sirens now."

  The dispatcher responded.

  "That's good. I'll stay with you until they arrive."

  "Thank you," Piper said.

  "You're welcome."

  Piper hit the mute button and turned to Mark.

  "You have to go. You both have to leave now."

  "Why?" Mark asked.

  "You don't belong here," Piper said. "The police will ask questions. You don't want to answer them now. You won't want to answer them later."

  "We'll be fine," Ben said.

  "No, Ben. You won't! Trust me. You have to leave."

  "We can't leave now."

  "Yes, you can. Go now. Find a place to stay, get something to eat, and call me later. Call me tonight," Piper said. She gazed at Ben. "Do you remember my number?"

  Ben nodded.

  "I do."

  Piper reached forward and touched his arm.

  "Then call tonight."

  "All right."

  "Now go."

  Mark gently lowered Mary Beth's head to the lawn as Ben withdrew his hands from her back. The two stood up a moment later, gazed at the bleeding woman, and then turned to Piper.

  "Take care of her," Mark said.

  "I will," Piper replied. She took a breath. "Now please go."

  Mark nodded and then led Ben across the yard to the closed front gate. They opened the gate, entered the side yard, and disappeared from sight a few seconds later.

  Piper hit the mute button, switched to speaker mode, and placed the phone on the grass. She did not hear a dispatcher clamoring to be heard. She did not hear anything except sirens, a barking dog, and Mary Beth's labored breathing.

  She tried to think of a story as the vehicles drew near. How did she explain a gunshot on a tranquil Friday morning? How did she explain a gunshot to the back? The police would have questions. So would her parents. So would the Bells.

  Piper thought about the matter and then set it to the side. She ignored the sirens, the dog, and the dispatcher who asked if she was "still there." She ignored them all. At eight fifteen on June 2, 2017, she cared only about her sister, best friend, and hero.

  Piper checked Mary Beth's pulse again, placed her soft purse under her head, and gently stroked her face. When she was convinced she had done all she could do for her badly wounded sister, she did something for her badly wounded soul.

  She placed her head on Mary Beth's chest and thought of their many happy times together. She thought of their fights, their struggles, and their shared journey to the past. She thought of all the things she would miss if her sister didn't make it. Then she closed her eyes and cried.

  CHAPTER 52: BEN

  Ben returned the phone to a new friend, thanked him for letting him use it, and then walked across a room toward Mark and a conversation he had dreaded for hours. He had dreaded the conversation because he had feared he would have to deliver bad news.

  Fortunately for Ben Ryan, brother, survivor, and time traveler, he did not have to deliver bad news. At nine o'clock, near the end of the longest day of his life, he had the pleasure of delivering good news. He did so with a hug and a smile.

  "She's going to make it," Ben said. "She'll be in the hospital a few more days, but she's going to make it. She's going to live, Mark. She's going to be all right."

  "What do you know?" Mark asked. He wiped away a tear. "There is a God."

  "Let's sit down. I'll tell you the rest."

  "OK."

  Ben and Mark walked to a table, one of eight in the dining room of the La Brea Avenue Mission, and sat down on opposite sides. They looked at each other for a moment, like siblings often do in times of crisis, and communicated their thoughts with gazes instead of words.

  "How are you doing?" Ben asked.

  "I'm better now. I'm a lot better," Mark said. "What did Piper say?"

  "She said that doctors operated on Mary Beth shortly after she arrived, removed the bullet, and 'patched her up in time for lunch.' She actually said that."

  "I believe it."

  "She was lucky. The bullet just missed her spine."

  "Did it hit any organs?"

  Ben shook his head.

  "Like I said, she was lucky."

  "What's she doing now?" Mark asked.

  "She's resting."

  "Does she remember what happened?"

  "I don't know," Ben said. "She hasn't done much all day except sleep and babble. She talked about 'Mark,' 'Ben,' and 'Mr. Ear' when she came out of surgery."

  Mark took a breath.

  "What about Piper?"

  "What about Piper?" Ben asked.

  "What has she said? I'm sure she's talked to the police."

  "She has. She has twice."

  Mark fixed his gaze.

  "What did she tell them?"

  Ben rested his head on his hands.

  "She told them a story they don't believe."

  "What do you mean?" Mark asked.

  Ben looked around the room before answering. He didn't think any of his fellow travelers at the homeless shelter cared a whit about shootings, even in Los Angeles, but he didn't know for sure. He decided to lower his voice and choose his words carefully.

  "Piper told the police she thinks Mary Beth was shot by someone trying to enter the house through the backyard and the door to the basement."

  "Go on," Mark said.

  "She said she heard a popping sound about eight this morning, peeked out the window, and saw someone flying over the fence in back. She went out to investigate, saw Mary Beth sprawled on the lawn, and called for help."

 
; "That sounds like a good story to me."

  "There are some problems though," Ben said. "There are a lot of problems, in fact."

  "Such as?"

  "The first is that no one else heard a shot. No one else saw a man in the backyard or even the neighbor's backyard. No one heard or saw anything unusual this morning except for a lady across the street. She saw two young white males walk along the side of the house and exit the scene in a hurry. Know anyone who fits that description?"

  Mark frowned.

  "What are the other problems?"

  Ben paused again when two homeless men sat down at a nearby table. The two were among the first people Mark and Ben had met after coming to the shelter. The time travelers had come to the mission after learning that outdated identification and twenty dollars would not get them a room at even the most inexpensive motel in the area.

  "Mary Beth's attire is one problem," Ben said. "She wore a fifties dress. She didn't bring a fifties dress to Los Angeles and apparently didn't buy one here either. Piper told police she didn't know where she got the dress. She just said Mary Beth has done a lot of shopping lately."

  Mark sighed.

  "Is there more?"

  "There is plenty more," Ben said. "The police seem baffled that the burglar shot Mary Beth in the back, not the front, and that the bullet didn't leave an exit wound. They have already sent the bullet to a forensics lab for examination. These guys are better than Joe Friday on Dragnet."

  "Please tell me that's all."

  "I wish I could, but I can't. The biggest problem is that the police haven't yet spoken to Mary Beth. They will probably do so tomorrow. That means Piper and Mary Beth have just hours to get their stories straight. Let your imagination go wild with that."

  Mark took another breath.

  "We've got a problem then."

  "We don't," Ben said. "Piper and Mary Beth do. We don't exist, remember?"

  "What about the witness?"

  "I guess she didn't get a good look at us. The police gave Piper a generic description of two young white males. Piper told them she didn't see anyone fitting that description."

  "When can we see them?" Mark asked.

  "That's another problem. We may not get the chance to see them. Mary Beth's parents have attended to her all day. They haven't left her room once. Then there are Professor and Mrs. Bell, the people who presently own the mansion. They just returned from Santa Barbara, where they have been the past week. They will no doubt want to visit. They will no doubt have questions."

  "Are they at the house now?"

  "I think so," Ben said.

  "That means we will have to trespass to go back to 1959."

  "I know."

  "We've got problems," Mark said.

  Ben nodded.

  "I know."

  CHAPTER 53: MARY BETH

  Saturday, June 3, 2017

  Ten minutes after waking up from her third nap of the day, Mary Beth looked at the lunch she wanted to eat and then at the sister she didn't want to talk to. She decided the sister was more important. When one had to compare notes before talking to police investigating a shooting, one sometimes had to make sacrifices.

  She pushed away her lunch tray, clicked off the television in her hospital room, and turned to face Piper. She frowned when she saw determination and restlessness in her eyes.

  "We're in a spot, aren't we?" Mary Beth asked.

  Piper forced a smile.

  "Yes, we are."

  Mary Beth sighed.

  "Have you spoken to the boys?"

  Piper nodded.

  "Ben called me last night. He and Mark are staying at a homeless shelter on La Brea Avenue. They didn't have the money or the ID to stay anywhere else. It's funny what you forget when you're being chased by mobsters in the 1950s."

  Mary Beth responded with a sad smile. She had forgotten a lot of things in her final minutes in 1959. She had forgotten to change into 2017 attire and grab some belongings she had left in the Painted Lady. She had forgotten to tell Mark that she loved him.

  "How are they?" Mary Beth asked.

  "Ben is stressed," Piper said. "He's stressed about their predicament. He knows the Bells are back and that he and Mark no longer have easy access to the property. He's also worried about us. So is Mark. I guess he couldn't even function yesterday. He loves you so much, Mary Beth. I could see it in his eyes when he was holding you on the lawn."

  "I don't remember that. I don't remember anything after we entered the basement."

  "I'm not surprised. You lost a lot of blood."

  Mary Beth turned her head in both directions.

  "Where are Mom and Dad?"

  "They went to have lunch with the Bells," Piper said. "They will be back by two. That gives us less than an hour to get our stories straight."

  "When are the police coming?"

  "That depends on you. Dad told a Detective Peterson that he would call him today when you were able to talk. Are you able to talk?"

  "I'm able," Mary Beth said. "Whether I'm willing is another matter."

  "You don't have a choice. The police want a statement. You'll have to tell them something before we leave Los Angeles."

  "I know."

  "That's why I didn't go to lunch with the others. I knew I wouldn't get another chance to tell you what I've already told the police."

  Mary Beth frowned.

  "Please don't tell me I was shot by a burglar."

  Piper nodded.

  "You were shot by a burglar around eight o'clock yesterday morning."

  "Piper!" Mary Beth said. "They won't buy that."

  "They have to. I've already told them that I heard a pop in the backyard around eight, looked out the kitchen window, and saw someone climbing over the back fence. Then I said I ran out of the house and found you lying on the lawn."

  "Did you describe the burglar?"

  Piper shook her head.

  "This is where you have some latitude. You can say a ninja warrior shot you, so long as you can say it to a detective without laughing. Just don't say your assailant looked like either Mark or Ben. They were seen leaving the property at the time of the shooting."

  "What do you suggest I do?" Mary Beth asked.

  "I suggest you say as little as possible. Say that you heard a disturbance in the backyard and went out to investigate. Say you saw someone of medium height and weight who was dressed from head to toe in black and wore a mask. You don't know the age, race, or even the gender of the burglar. You just know the person pulled a gun when you caught him or her in the yard and fired at you when you ran back toward the basement door."

  "They won't buy that."

  "Of course they won't," Piper said. "The police already think I'm hiding something. We just need to make sure they don't suspect we're hiding two boys from 1959. We need to tell them something that will allow us to get out of here and leave all this behind."

  Mary Beth sank when she heard the words. She wanted to leave the shooting behind, but she wasn't sure she wanted to leave Los Angeles. She didn't want to leave Mark and Ben stranded in 2017 without money or resources or the means to get home. She didn't want to leave Mark.

  "Do you want to leave?" Mary Beth asked.

  Piper sat up in her bedside chair.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean do you really want to leave this behind? Do you want to leave Ben?"

  "What do you think?"

  "I think you still want to find a way to make this work," Mary Beth said. "Don't think for a minute I wasn't watching you this week. You're as miserable as I am."

  "You noticed?"

  "You've been miserable since we decided to leave."

  Piper frowned.

  "Even if I have, what's the point of prolonging this? Mark and Ben can't stay. They have a mother back in 1959, in case you've forgotten. We have a mother and a father here. We have a life here. Do you want to throw that away for a guy?"

  Mary Beth smiled and put her hand on Piper's arm.<
br />
  "It's funny."

  "What's funny?" Piper asked.

  "I'm older than you," Mary Beth said. "I've done more, seen more, and learned more, but I'm the one who's acting like a love-struck teenager. You're acting like the adult."

  Piper returned the smile.

  "Appearances can be deceiving."

  "I don't follow."

  "I've had crazy thoughts all day, Mary Beth. I've thought about putting Mark and Ben in a hotel and then bringing them to Huntsville. I've thought about skipping college and running off with Ben. I've thought about spending every penny in my savings to keep this going."

  Mary Beth laughed.

  "What's stopping you?"

  Piper sighed and smiled sadly.

  "Do you really have to ask?"

  Mary Beth shook her head.

  "No."

  "So what do we do now?" Piper asked.

  Mary Beth gave Piper's arm a gentle squeeze.

  "We say goodbye – again. We tell the boys how much we love them and send them back to the past. Then we get on with our lives and hold on to our memories."

  Piper gazed at her sister.

  "That's a very adult thing to say."

  "It's a very practical thing to say," Mary Beth said. "We don't have any options."

  "I agree."

  "Can you sneak them in here before we leave?"

  "I think so," Piper said. "I know so."

  Mary Beth smiled.

  "Then do what you can to make it happen. I want to see both of them before we leave Los Angeles. I want to say goodbye the right way."

  Piper took her sister's hand.

  "I'll do what I can."

  "Thanks," Mary Beth said. "You're the best."

  CHAPTER 54: MARK

  Monday, June 5, 2017

  Mark held the device to his ear and tried to hear Piper's answer. He knew that the cell phone was state of the art for 2017, but for this call, it worked no more effectively than a tin can at the end of a waxed string. He stepped outside the homeless shelter and then repeated his question.

  "Can you hear me now?" Mark asked.

  "I can hear you," Piper said. "I can hear you much better."

  "Thank God. I was getting ready to break this thing."