by Ava Mallory
Schmeckpepper – Schwartz, really? You couldn't drop the Schmeckpepper when you got married? Remembering the horrid stench, I thought, Someone married you?
“Listen Donna,” I started.
“Donna Lee!” Karen screamed.
Of course, forgive me, Walking Book of Knowledge.
“I'm sorry. I mean, Donna Lee, but I really have no idea what you're referring to.” I said.
Donna Lee made a beeline for my table. “And, if you think I'm ever going to honor his will and let you take everything, you're sadly mistaken!”
What?
Chapter Five
“He's not here,” Jean, Charlie's secretary, waved me off with her hand and quickly shut the thin screen of plexiglass that separated her and me.
I sniffled, willing my nose to stop running. It was bad enough that it was already red and sensitive to the touch in such a short amount of time; I didn't need to be dripping all over the place. “Do you think that you could get a message to him for me? I'm the one who called yesterday. Charlie and I are old friends. I think he'd like to know that I was here to see him.”
She rolled her brown eyes as she sighed. “He's busy. Like I told you on the phone, there are some serious things happening in the county and the sheriff is very busy these days. I can leave him a note and tell him that you were here, but I can't and won't interrupt him when he's working.”
The long drive had finally begun to catch up with me. I desperately wanted to check into the motel and lie down, but first I needed to talk to Charlie. I needed to know where things stood as far as the search for Nubbin was concerned.
“Would you happen to know where I might be able to find him right now?” I didn't think there was even a slight chance that she'd give me that information, but what other choice did I have? I'd already driven all this way. I had to ask.
Without saying another word, Jean turned her attention to a pile of paperwork sitting in front of her on the desk. I was left with no choice but to turn around and walk out. It seemed that no matter what I did, Western Nebraska had no intention of welcoming me properly. I couldn't win for losing around here. I figured, I'd show them and take matters into my own hands. I didn't need them anyway. If anything, they needed me. Not that I was conceited or anything, but I just thought that I had a tad bit more experience with reading people and understanding their clues than most, excluding perhaps Charlie, but I was even beginning to doubt his capabilities.
As a nurse, it was my job to pay attention to the signs and symptoms. I'd already failed Nubbin once; I didn't intend to ever fail him again. I came here to get answers and find him and that's what I was going to do, no matter how much resistance I met.
“Looks like we're on our own here, Barney. Someone knows something and, whether Charlie liked it or not, he would have to speak to me and not in the way that he'd been speaking to me as of late, and at least help me eliminate possibilities, so I wouldn't waste time on leads that had already been followed. I didn't care if he didn't want to be friends or whatever we were anymore. None of that mattered. What I wanted was answers and some sort of direction of where to go on this Nubbin thing.
Charlie was born and raised here. He knew the lay of the land. He knew everyone and everyone, I assume, knew him, so he would know exactly who to talk to and who to trust, if there existed such a person here in Nebraska. I had my doubts. They had never been the warm, friendly type with me. I couldn't fault them for that. I just didn't understand why, even after all this time, it still had to be this way. If anything, they should be thankful that I'm back in town. I'd already saved them once. I didn't think that I had to prove myself again with this crowd.
"C'mon, Barney, let's see where the oh-so-powerful sheriff is. I bet he's at home, drinking a cup of coffee and wishing bad things about me because I didn't listen to his demands. Let's find out. I have plenty of things to say to him about all that nonsense." I trudged through the wet snow and took a moment to spiffy up. With the dance of death taking over my body from head to toe, I didn't have much hope that I'd be able to make myself presentable, but I could try.
Now, if I could only remember his address, I thought. How hard can it be to find? This is a small town.
*
An hour later, I thought I'd finally found the house after several minutes of circling O Street over and over again. Who knew that ten thousand people called the small town of Gering home? Who knew that streets in small towns don't get swept as quickly as streets in large cities? Apparently, I was the only one who didn't know that because it took me over an hour to drive the equivalent of five blocks before I finally arrived.
"Here it is," I announced to Barney.
The house wasn't at all what I'd pictured. I figured that because Charlie was a self-proclaimed bachelor that he would live in a plain and simple home without a lot of ornamentation. The quaint bungalow had character. There was even a hand carved welcome sign hanging on the mailbox.
"It almost looks like a real person lives here," I mumbled, admiring the gables.
Charlie's car wasn't parked in the drive, at least, not a vehicle I recognized. There was a newer model Acura sitting in the driveway, covered in snow, so it obviously had been sitting there for quite some time.
Why didn't he ever mention that car to me, I wondered, but quickly shook my head to make the thought disappear. After all, why did I care what kind of car he had? He wasn't my boyfriend. I had to remember that I was getting worked up about a man, who took pleasure in making fun of me from time to time and who liked to scold me like I was a child more often than not. I didn't need to worry about what his life was like. We weren't a couple.
Lost in thought, I didn't even notice when the front doors to the house opened. Suddenly, there was a small, woman standing at the end of the driveway, staring at me. She waved hesitantly. I froze in place, my fingers clutching the steering wheel.
Who is that?
She stepped closer tentatively and smiled. I nodded at her. She motioned for me to open the window, still staying a safe distance from my car, in case I was some kind of crazed maniac who had intentions of doing her harm. Yes, clearly, a woman with a low-grade fever and draining nostrils was a real threat in these parts.
"Are you looking for someone?" She asked.
She had such a friendly smile. I could feel her warmth. I figured, she couldn't have been from around here, because my experience with the locals didn't come close to matching her almost angelic like demeanor.
I didn't know what to say. She had just come out of Charlie's house. Who was she? In a panic, I pushed the button to close the window and shouted, "No, sorry. Wrong house." I pulled the car away from the curb as quickly as the snow and ice would let me and took off like I'd stolen something.
The motel was only five minutes away. I think I made it there in two. Good thing there were no other cars on the road and good thing my subconscious took over because the rest of me was falling apart. My hands were shaking. My heart rate increased tenfold. Every inch of my body was both hot and cold at the same time.
I checked into the motel without much of a problem. I could be thankful for that at least. By the time I managed to get settled in the room, tears were rushing down my cheeks and my heart felt like it had fallen into the pit of my stomach.
What is wrong with you, Mercy? Why does that bother you so much? I couldn't get that woman and her face out of my mind.
She was the polar opposite of me, even underneath all that winter gear she wore. Her eyes were a warm blue. There wasn't a wrinkle on her face. She was small in stature. If I had to guess, I'd say that she was all of a hundred pounds, give or take a pound or two. I couldn't see her hair, but by her fair complexion, I'd guess that she was probably a blonde. Men loved blondes. I suspected that Charlie had a thing for blondes too.
Stop this right now, Mercedes Mares! He is your friend, not your boyfriend. He's allowed to do whatever he wants with who he wants. Leave it alone, Mercedes.
I did my bes
t to keep that mantra in my head as I prepared a hot bath.
Barney settled in nicely, choosing to make himself comfortable at the foot of my bed. He had the right idea. We needed a good sleep. I needed sleep. I also needed a healthy dose of medication to at least ease some of the symptoms I was experiencing, but that would have required stepping back outside and taking yet another drive through town. Who knew who I'd run into if I did that? For all I knew, I'd run right into Charlie and his lady friend. I didn't need any of that to add to my stress. Nope, bath, a bite to eat, and a warm bed; that's all that I needed.
A knock at the door interrupted my desperate trek to the bathtub. Who in the world could this be?
“Who is it,” I called out.
“It's the front desk.” The woman cleared her throat. “I mean, I'm from the front desk. I have a message for you and a package.”
Did she say package?
I opened the door, completely overlooking the fact that I hadn't bothered to check to make sure she was who she said she was first. Clearly, I'd let my guard down, the moment I laid eyes on the future Mrs. Charles Wagner.
“Package?” I asked.
She handed a small bag from the local drugstore to me. “Sheriff Wagner said to give this to you when you checked in. I'm sorry, I forgot to give it to you when you were downstairs.”
I must have had a confused look on my face because she started to tell me again, only this time slower than before. “The... Sheriff...”
“Yeah, I understand. Sorry. I just didn't realize that he'd been here for me. When was he here?” I tried to keep my voice even and not let on that I was surprised to know that he'd come looking for me.
The young clerk adjusted her name tag. I read the name and asked again. “Tammy, do you remember what time he was here?”
She blushed. Great! Another woman smitten with the good old sheriff. That's all I needed.
“Oh, sorry. He was here about an hour ago. He said to give this to the lady that checked in from California. You're her, right?” Tammy asked, still holding on to the bag with one hand.
I nodded. “He said 'the lady'? He didn't call me by name?”
She shook her head. “No, I don't remember him saying your name. I hope it's okay to give this to you. He said that he thought you'd appreciate it.”
I thanked her and closed the door, figuring she'd already peeked in the bag to see what it was and, knowing Charlie, it was probably something I'd be a bit embarrassed about. That was his modus operandi. He enjoyed embarrassing me and I usually unwittingly obliged him.
Barney opened his eyes when he heard the rustling of the plastic bag. “Oh, that gets your attention. Not the sound of your owner screaming when she almost killed us, but the sound of a plastic bag? That excites you?” I laughed, taking a moment to rub his head. He was such a male sometimes.
I dumped the contents of the bag onto the bed. A bottle of cold medication, a bag of throat lozenges, and a couple of packages of tissue fell out of the bag, alongside a chew toy and a can of dog food. No note. No explanation. Just a friendly gesture from a man who continued to surprise me at every turn. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How could someone who took every opportunity to get under my skin also be such a nice, kind man at the same time? It just didn't make any sense.
Barney whimpered when I put the chew toy down in front of him. “Look what the sheriff bought for you. Isn't he sweet?”
Now, what was I supposed to do? I'd spent the whole day being mad at Charlie. It all seemed like such a waste of time all of a sudden. Since when did he decide to do something nice and what about his lady friend? What would she make of all of this?
“I have to call Ruby and tell her.” I said, reaching for my pocket to grab my cell phone. “Darn, I forgot. Somehow, I managed to lose two phones somewhere between here and California. I looked at the phone on the nightstand and took a deep breath. If I called from that phone, I'd be charged for it. The question was, did I have enough money in the bank to cover extra charges? I was a nurse, not a doctor. We did all the real work; they got all the glory.
Barney was happily gnawing on his chew toy, oblivious to me and my dilemma. All that mattered to him was that he was fed and he had someplace to sleep. Yep, living with Barney was pretty reminiscent of living with a man. Not that my ex was a slob or anything; he was just a man and men had their way. Good or bad, you couldn't live with them and some of us couldn't live without them.
“I'll suck it up and make the phone call. How much could it possibly be?” I walked over to the nightstand and dialed Ruby's number.
She answered almost immediately. “Why didn't you call me back?”
“Um, hi, rude much?” I pointed out her rudeness.
“Mercedes Mares, I told you to call me every step of the way. What is going on? Why haven't you answered your phone? It's a good thing that the motel had a website, otherwise I was going to send the cavalry looking for you. Not even Charlie would answer his phone. What did you do? Elope?” Ruby had a hot temper and wasn't afraid to use it when necessary. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary too often, but every once in a while, her Irish roots would make an appearance. When that happened, I'd learned the hard way that it was best to just endure her wrath, rather than try and deflect.
“I lost my phone.” I said meekly. “Sorry.”
“I called the motel. Didn't you get our messages?” Ruby screamed.
“Our? Who else called me?” I asked, remembering that the front desk clerk had handed me some messages when she gave me the bag.
“Well, let's see, me, Hank, Tina, and everyone you've ever met. What in the world happened to you? Did you find Nubbin? And, are you sick? You sound sick?” Ruby fired off questions quicker than I could think.
“Hold on. One thing at a time, Ruby. I told you, I lost my phone. A diner owner in Colorado gave me an old prepaid. You know, the kind that still flips? What do you call those?” I asked.
“Mercy? Why didn't you call me from that phone then?” Ruby asked, irritated by my response.
I giggled at the absurdity of it all. “Um, I lost it when I got the car stuck in a ditch.”
“You what?!?!”
I had to pull the phone away from my ear; she was screaming so loudly.
This conversation was giving me a headache. I had to put a stop to it. “I'm sick. I have a fever, chills, a runny nose and...”
“What ditch? You were in an accident?” Ruby's voice was shrill.
“Ruby, I'm alive. It's okay. They haven't found Nubbin yet. I'm not giving up though.” Remembering why I'd called her in the first place, I added, “Oh, and Charlie was nice enough to pick up some medication for me, so after I take a nice, hot bath, I'm going to get some rest and, hopefully, I'll feel much better in the morning and ready to go find my wayward friend.”
“You're sick? You know how you get when you're sick. You look like something out of a horror movie. Just how do you expect to do Nubbin any good in that condition and, more importantly, what happened to the car? Did you fall asleep when you were driving? Did someone hit you? Does Charlie know?” Ruby was full of questions.
“Yes, Charlie knows. He helped get the car out of the ditch. The roads were slick and I just kind of flew off the highway. A farmer saved me. He let us stay at his house until morning.” I started.
“You went home with a stranger? What were you thinking? What if he would have killed you?” Ruby was becoming more and more irritated with me. I wasn't exactly doing myself any favors by telling her that story, but she asked, so she'd have to deal with the consequences.
“Oh, and just so you know, Charlie is no saint. He has a girlfriend.” I said. “I saw her leaving his house this morning.”
Chapter Six
My theory that a good night's rest and a couple of doses of symptom relievers would cure me, failed. I woke up feeling ten times worse than I had when I'd fallen asleep. What I needed was Vitamin C by the barrel and a new life. The chances of getting either one of those things
any time soon were slim to none, so I'd have to brave the elements again and hope I didn't die in the process. At this point, I'd accept being mangled by coyotes than having whatever disease, it was I'd managed to catch after just a few minutes in the snow.
“Are you hungry, buddy?” I asked, petting Barney. “What do you say we go hunt and gather for some vittles?” What? That's a country term, isn't it?
I checked the local television stations to see what the word was on Nubbin and the rogue bandits. Of course, the first story was hog reports. What did that even mean? What were the hogs doing to be reported on all the time?