Saving Medesha

by DK Land

  “I really wish I had some pertinent information to give you that would break this thing wide open and lead us to the person that started all of this, but we've given you all the information we have.”

  “I know,” replied Harold. “You've been extremely helpful, and now that all this crap seems to be over, it would be so easy to just be thankful for how things turned out and just move forward from this point without any further investigation.”

  Alarmed by Harold's comment, Gerard said, “You're not considering dropping the . . .”

  Harold interrupted, “No! There is no possible way that I would consider dropping this investigation. We, as a community have paid dearly because of the person behind this thing. All the suffering those poor kids have been through, and then the worst part is the death of little Willy Sadler. No, we've got to find this person and find out how and why they committed this horrible act.”

  “However, I guess the main thing on my agenda right now is to find Tandy Williams.”

  “Don’t you think that she’s probably just partying with the rest of those folks down at the Marina?” asked Gerard.

  “No, not really. She disappeared under some rather strange circumstances.” He lowered his voice a bit as he continued. “Right now, Doc, I’d rather not have this get out to the public, but I’m beginning to suspect that she might have been abducted.”

  “Abducted!” exclaimed Gerard. “Oh, Harold. What in creation is happening to our little community? First, we’ve got this horrible disease, and then one of our citizens is abducted. Damn it! None of this makes any sense at all.”

  As he rose from his chair, Harold said, “No, it really doesn’t make any sense. Lately it seems like living in some big city would sure uncomplicate things. Well, I’d better get my butt back out there. I’m sure that we’ve got plenty of drunks roaming the streets by now. Let’s just hope that we don’t end up sending any of them your way before this weekend’s over.”

  As Harold pulled out of the hospital parking lot he thought, “I’d probably better head out to the highway and see how things are going for Larry. I hope Ollie gave him my message.”

  He reached for his microphone. “Deputy Walsh… This is Sheriff Wheaton… What’s your twenty?”

  His radio speaker crackled to life as Larry replied, “Hey, Harold. You startled me. I’m sitting out here at the edge of town just like Ollie said. There ain’t nothing going on out here, Sheriff. I haven’t seen a single car leave town since I got here.”

  Harold replied, “I’m just leaving the hospital parking lot, heading in your direction. I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”

  “Ten-four, Sheriff.”

  He continued driving west on Main Street until he came to where it intersected with the state highway. Deputy Walsh’s car was sitting on the shoulder of the highway just south of the intersection where he would have a good view of the driver of any vehicle leaving town. Harold pulled onto the highway, drove past Larry’s car, and made a u-turn so he could park on the shoulder directly behind Larry. He stepped out of his squad and walked over to speak to Larry through his driver’s side window.

  “So, nothing’s been going on out here at all, huh?” asked Harold.

  “No,” replied Larry. “Until you showed up, I haven’t seen anybody. Boy, I tell ya. By sitting here, you sure couldn’t tell that there’s a huge celebration going on back in town.” He placed his hand above his eyes to shield them from the sun as he looked up at Harold. “Man, I was sure shocked to hear about Tandy.”

  Harold shook his head. “Yeah, so was I. Damn it, I just can’t figure out what the heck could have happened. You know, when something out of the ordinary happens around here, you can usually tell who probably did it. But, Tandy being abducted! I don’t even have a clue who would have done something as stupid as that, or why they would have done it. It just doesn’t make any sense at all. God! I just hope we can find her real soon, and she hasn’t come to any harm.”

  Larry said, “I wonder if some out of towners got drunk and grabbed her. Do you suppose it would be a good idea to mosey around the campground a bit? For all we know, someone may have her tied up in one of them campers.”

  “That’s a good possibility,” agreed Harold. “Tell ya what. Why don’t we both head back downtown? We’re not doing anybody any good by having the town’s whole police force out here on an abandoned highway while there’s several hundred people partying and getting drunk down by the lake. As soon as you get your squad parked behind the Office, you can walk over to the campground. I’ll mingle with the crowd on Main Street.”

  “Okay, Sheriff,” said Larry. “I’ll call you on the PCD if I find Tandy.”

  * * *

  After Harold had arrived back in town, he walked down toward the Marina where he met up with Mabel and Ollie. “Well,” he said. “I guess neither of you had any luck finding Tandy. Have you run across anybody suspicious looking?”

  Ollie hung his head. “No,” he replied. “I guess I’m a lot like Mabel. I can’t seem to be able to look at somebody, and tell if they’re a good person or a bad person.”

  Mabel rested her head against Ollie’s shoulder. “Come on, Ollie. We’ll just keep looking.” She looked over at Harold. He could tell that she had been crying recently. “Harold,” she pleaded. “We’ve got to come up with some other way to search for her. Maybe we should go back to the alley behind the factory and start from there, or maybe we could take a picture of Tandy and start asking people if they’ve seen her.”

  “I’ve thought of both of those ideas,” replied Harold. “I feel like I should go over to the factory and check that area, but Ollie has already been all over that whole neighborhood. I’m sure that he would have found her if she were still there. I think maybe we should start showing her picture around though.” He looked at the people milling around them. Most of them had been drinking to the point that he was sure they wouldn’t recognize their own face if he held a mirror in front of them.

  “However,” he said. “I doubt that we’ll have much success with that either. Does anybody have a picture of Tandy?”

  Mabel reached in her purse. “Here,” she said. “It’s a couple years old, but I don’t think Tandy has changed much since she was a teenager.” She gazed at the picture. “Oh, the sweet little darlin’. Harold, we have got to find her. I’ve always thought of her almost as if she were my own daughter.”

  Harold put his arm around Mabel’s shoulders. “I know,” he said softly. “Don’t worry. We haven’t been beaten yet. We’ll find her.”

  As they continued walking through the crowd, asking people to look at Tandy’s picture, they received nothing but negative replies. One woman that had been coming to the Memorial Day celebration for several years said, “Yeah! I know her! She’s that little gal that works over at that café. She’s probably working there right now.”

  Mabel’s reply was a simple, “Thank you. We’ll go see if she’s there.”

  As Harold scanned the crowd, his eyes caught something unusual. “What the heck is going on down at the end of the main dock?”

  Ollie looked in that direction and replied, “Oh, that’s just Wally Crenshaw and a couple of the boys from the factory. I guess old Julius Benson is getting a gazebo and a hot tub from Preston as a retirement gift. They’re loading all the redwood onto Preston’s pontoon boat so they can ship it over to the island.”

  “What’s that huge box?” asked Harold. “Is that the hot tub?”

  “Yeah,” answered Ollie.

  “Well, they better be careful or it’s gonna be nothing more than a great big anchor. They’ve got the thing hanging off one side of the boat about a foot or so.”

  “I think as long as they don’t try to go too fast, they shouldn’t have too much trouble,” said Ollie. “When they get to the island, they’ll probably have to stand the thing on it’s side to get it onto Preston’s dock.”

  The three of them had walked about halfway out onto the main dock when
Wally started driving the pontoon boat toward the island. Harold looked over to his left and said, “Isn’t that Paul Sorenson’s cabin cruiser pulling away from the dock down at the other end?”

  “Uh, Oh!” said Ollie. “It sure is. And believe me, Mr. Mayor isn’t in any condition to be driving a boat right now. The guy’s completely wasted.”

  As they continued to watch, Harold said, “Well, I guess that’s okay, because Paul isn’t driving the boat. He’s standing at the stern, drinking with the rest of those party animals.”

  “Uh, Sheriff?” said Ollie. “That may be a good thing that Paul isn’t driving the boat, but I think it would be even better if there was SOMEBODY driving it.”

  “Oh, my God!” exclaimed Harold. “No one’s driving the damn boat!”

  They ran to the end of the dock and started yelling at the mayor. As they watched, they could tell that the mayor’s boat was heading straight toward the pontoon boat that was loaded with lumber and the hot tub.

  “Hey, Paul!” yelled Harold.

  The mayor heard his name being called and looked over toward the dock. He smiled when he recognized the Sheriff and held his beer up. “Harold!” he yelled back as he fell forward into a woman that was wearing a red bikini. In his attempt to keep himself from falling, he grabbed the top of her bathing suit and ripped it completely off of her before he fell to the floor of the boat and disappeared amongst the rest of the drinkers. The woman that had suddenly lost her bikini top began screaming and started pounding on the mayor’s head with a full can of beer.

  Mabel became instantly embarrassed. “Oh, my!” she said. “That poor woman!”

  Harold yelled as loud as he could, “Stop the boat!” as he pointed toward the pontoon.

  His warnings were too late. The mayor’s boat clipped the left front of the pontoon boat as it continued speeding out onto the lake. When the cruiser had gone past the pontoon, Paul Sorenson was standing in the back fending off a half naked woman and yelling at Wallace Crenshaw. “Damn it, Wally!” he bellowed. “Watch where the hell you’re going!”

  On board the pontoon boat, Wally was having troubles of his own. The banging they had taken from the mayor’s boat had caused the box with the hot tub in it to slide further off the edge of the boat. Being that the large box didn’t have any handles on it, the three men were fighting a loosing battle as they tried to keep it from slipping into the lake.

  Watching the scene from shore, Ollie exclaimed, “Uh, Oh! There it goes!” as the hot tub slid into the lake. Quickly, he turned to Harold and said, “Sheriff, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna run out there in the Patrol Boat and see if I can help.”

  “Sure, Ollie. Go right ahead,” replied Harold.

  During the Memorial Day weekend festivities, the Sheriff’s Patrol Boat was always moored at the end of the main dock for quick access in the event of an emergency. As Ollie was jumping into the boat, Harold and Mabel continued watching the floating hot tub.

  “That cardboard box is getting soaked with water pretty fast, Ollie,” warned Harold. “It probably won’t float very much longer.”

  Suddenly, Mabel gasped. “Oh, my word! Harold! Do you see that?”

  Harold squinted and replied, “Yes! I do see it!” He looked down at Ollie as he was starting the boat. “Ollie!” he yelled. “Floor that damn thing! There’s a hand sticking out of the top of that box! Somebody’s inside there!”

  The Patrol Boat jumped forward as Ollie shoved the throttle as far as it would go. He headed directly toward the hot tub, but before he was even halfway there, the box tipped over on it’s side and slipped beneath the water.

  Mabel grabbed Harold’s arm. “Oh, Lord! Hurry, Ollie. Hurry,” she whispered.

  As Ollie arrived at the spot where the box disappeared, he quickly shut down the engine, threw the walkie-talkie that was clipped to his belt in the bottom of the boat and dove over the side. A hush fell over the crowd as Harold realized that everybody on the dock had been watching the whole thing. Everybody was holding their breath, waiting for Ollie to surface.

  It seemed as if many minutes had passed when suddenly, a single head broke the surface of the water. Ollie gulped a quick breath and disappeared beneath the water again. The waiting on shore continued in silence.

  “Oh, Harold,” said Mabel weakly. “It’s been awfully long, hasn’t it?”

  Without taking his eyes from the spot where Ollie was last seen, Harold place one arm around Mabel’s waist and said softly, “Yes, it has, Honey.”

  She glanced up at him and rested her head against his chest. Harold had never called her ‘Honey’ before.

  Suddenly, as one, the crowd that was gathered on the dock inhaled deeply as two heads popped above the surface of the water. Ollie gave a thumbs-up signal and the crowd broke into cheers and loud screams of delight. Harold grinned as Mabel jumped up and down.

  “Thank you, God! Thank you!” she exclaimed.

  They continued watching as Ollie helped the person he had just saved into the boat. The two of them huddled together in the back of the boat for a moment and then they kissed each other passionately. The crowd went wild. “Hero, Hero, Hero,” they began to chant.

  Mabel’s hands covered her face as she suddenly realized who the person was that Ollie had saved. “Oh, my God, Harold! It’s Tandy! It’s Tandy!”

  Harold beamed as he grabbed Mabel and gave her a huge bear hug. “Do you believe that?” he exclaimed. “Who would have ever thought that we’d find her at the bottom of the lake? This is absolutely incredible!” He looked down at Mabel and kissed her on the lips. “You’ve got your little girl back,” he said softly.

  Mabel had tears in her eyes as she looked up at Harold. “Yes,” she replied. “I’ve got my little girl back.” Then she raised herself up on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear, “Harold. You called me ‘Honey’.”

  He grinned, as he answered, “I sure did, didn’t I?” Then he leaned back slightly and asked, “Is that okay?”

  Shyly, Mabel said, “I liked it a lot.”

  As the Patrol Boat pulled up to the end of the dock, Harold took charge. “Okay, everybody. Stand back, please. Let’s give them a little room.”

  He tied the bowline to the dock and reached his hand over to help a soaked and dripping Tandy out of the boat. With a huge smile, he said, “Welcome back, Tandy.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff,” she replied as she ran to Mabel’s arms. She began to cry as she said, “Oh, Mabel! I was so scared.”

  Mabel hugged her back. “Oh, Missy. I prayed so hard for your safety.” She held her at arm’s length. “Look at you! You’re wet as a sponge, but you look perfectly healthy.”

  Tandy replied as she watched Ollie being helped out of the boat by Harold. “It’s because of this wonderful man. Look at him. He’s my hero!”

  At the mention of the word ‘hero’, the crowd began their chant again. “Hero, Hero, Hero…”

  Ollie instantly turned red. “Ah, come on, everybody.” He held his hand out as he looked at Tandy. “I just had to save my girl, ya know.”

  Tandy smiled as she reached for his hand. “Oh, Ollie. Am I your girl?”

  He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I sure would like you to be.”

  Tandy turned and squealed with delight as she announced to the crowd, “Hey, everybody! I’m Ollie Torgerson’s girl!”

  The crowd cheered as they continued their chant, “Hero, Hero, Hero…”

  Deputy Larry Walsh emerged from the crowd smiling. “Congratulations, Tandy,” he said. “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  She blushed. “Thanks, Larry.”

  He grabbed Ollie’s hand. “Well, my man. I guess you figured out a rather unique way to pick up chicks. Congratulations! You did good.”

  Harold held up his hands. “Listen, everybody. Could you please make some room here? We need to get these people dried off and give them a little privacy.” He turned to Deputy Walsh. “Larry, would you take the Patrol Boat out to where Wally and t
he others are trying to salvage that hot tub, and tell him that I want him to return to shore as soon as they get the tub back on board. I don’t want him going to the island until I’ve had a chance to talk to him. I also want you to take a really good look at that tub to see if you can find any evidence.”

  Larry asked, “You don’t think that Wally had anything to do with planning this, do you?”

  “Well, I can’t very well rule him out at this point, can I?”

  Larry lowered his voice. “Harold, you know Wally. He wouldn’t be able to plan something like this. Hell, that guy couldn’t even plan a picnic for cripe sake!”

  Harold smiled slightly. “I know, Larry. But, I want to know everything that Wally knows about how all of this happened.”

  As he turned to leave, he said, “Oh, and another thing. I think you’d probably better head on over to the south end of the lake to see whatever happened to Paul Sorenson and his crew of drunks. I want to charge him with reckless endangerment and failure to have a watercraft under control, and I also want to impound his boat.”

  Larry raised his eyebrows. “Ooo! I don’t think the mayor’s going to like that at all.”

  Harold wagged his finger at Larry. “You tell him that I said if he gives you any guff at all, he’s going to jail.”

  “I bet he won’t even remember what happened.”

  “Just tell him that everybody here saw what a damn fool he made of himself. I’m going to take Tandy back to the office and ask her a few questions.”

  “Okay, Sheriff. I’ll take care of things here.”

  “Thanks, Larry.”

  When they arrived at the Sheriff’s Office, Harold grabbed an extra chair from Irene’s desk and led everybody into his office. They had already stopped at the service station so Ollie could change into dry clothes and Tandy could wear one of Ollie’s clean work shirts. She felt proud as she strutted around in his shirt with the large letters imprinted across the back that said in bold block letters, ‘OLLIE’S’. To Tandy it meant much more than just the name of a gas station; it was also a declaration. She was now officially, ‘Ollie’s Girl’.