As the Eagle Flies

by J. D. Oliver

  After agreeing to let the Hesters buy us supper, I walked over to where Faith and the kid were still talking. As I got closer, I could see that I was mistaken, he wasn’t a he, he was a she, but she was still a kid, looked to be twelve or thirteen.

  She had short red hair and freckles. Faith turned to me, “Clay I would like you to meet, Rosie O’Claire, an orphan. That is till the two pickpockets became her foster parents. They were training her in the ways of the nefarious. And since we have removed her meal ticket, I guess we’re stuck with her for awhile anyway.”

  “So Rosie”, I asked, were they from Santa Fe, or what?”

  “No”, she said, in a pleasant contralto voice, “they have a place in Las Vegas, Nevada. They said they had a short job to do down here, they just got a call the day before yesterday, we got down here last night. They had a picture of the old couple they tried to rob. Their car is over here, I have a key to it.”

  “Well, how about that, do you have clothes in the car?” Faith said.

  “Yes, I have an over night bag; with one change of clothes and my tooth brush and stuff.”

  “Okay,” I said, “lets go get your stuff, plus I would like to see what they left in the car; like papers and whatever.” We walked over to a late model ‘caddy’. In the cubby hole was an envelope, with said picture, plus a short note from; guess who, nobody but Dipper Tick. It read, ‘get Charles Hester’s wallet, he carries his social security card and a certified copy of his birth certificate with him. I need it to get in his safe deposit box’.

  I took the envelope with me. I don’t know how he was going to get in that safe deposit box without a key, but who knows, maybe he had his ways. I knew the two pickpockets would make bail right quick. Dipper Tick was probably in there right now trying to get them out.

  I asked Rosie, “Do you want to stay with them, or go with us, it’s up to you. Do they have legal custody of you or what?”

  “I want to go with you, Blackie, that was the guys name, tried to get in bed with me the other night, but she caught him. I know it would only be a matter of time till he raped me. And I don’t think this foster thing was legal anyway. They knew somebody at the orphanage, I was sort of handed out the back door late one night.”

  “Do they know you had that key to their car?” Faith asked.

  “No, I had an extra key made, they did not know. I was going to steal their car and get away the first chance I got.” Rosie said.

  “Alright then, you put your overnight bag back in the car; is there anything in there that you simply can’t live without?”

  “Yes, my birth certificate, my parents were killed in an auto accident, I carry my birth certificate and social security card in there.”

  “Get them out, but leave the bag; we’ll buy you anything you need. I’ll jimmy the door lock, so it will look like someone broke in. But how do we know someone won’t break in before they get out of jail anyway?”

  As we were walking back to the truck, Faith asked Rosie, “Just how old are you?”

  “I’m twelve, I’ll be thirteen in December.”

  “Only twelve, you seem much older than that, I guess you’ve led a hard life. How long ago did your parents die?” Faith asked.

  “Five years ago, they were both orphans themselves, so we didn’t have any relatives; that I knew of anyway.”

  “Well, I guess that’s why you seem much older. Experience wise, you’re like in your twenty’s. What about schooling, what grade are you in?”

  “I don’t know, I haven’t gone very much. But I do a lot of reading. And I have been taking some courses on the computer, I’m pretty smart, I guess.” Rosie said.

  We arrived at the truck and right away I seen we had a problem. The cab of a 1950 Ford Pickup, especially with a built in car seat, was not big enough for the four of us.

  I stood there scratching my head, Faith spoke up, “you know I never really liked this truck anyway. But I know who does, the man who did most of the work on it has a shop just a few streets over. When Teddy died he tried to buy it from me, but at that time I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe he has something bigger? Should we go see?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” I said, “But maybe Rosie can sit on your lap, if it’s just a short way?” We put Alita in her seat, and we all piled in, Faith and Rosie were a little cramped, but they’d live.

  His shop was behind a southwest style house with a lot of trees around it. As we pulled into his driveway and shut it off, he came out of the shop; he must of heard us. We all got out, he recognized Faith right away. “Hey Faith, you ready to sell me that truck, looks like you need more room?” He said. He was young man, a little older than me, say in his thirties.

  “Yes, Hector I am,” Faith said, then added, “but not just sell, I would like to trade for something bigger but with all of the trimmings.”

  “I have just the vehicle for you, a new Durango I just reworked, the same goodies that your truck has. I’ll trade you for just 5,000 difference.”

  “5,000 huh? Yeah, but you see, mine’s a classic, the Durango is just a new truck, a dime a dozen. I’ll tell you what, I know how bad you want this truck. I’ll trade for 3,000 difference, how’s that?” Faith said.

  “Alright, if you wasn’t Teddy’s widow, I wouldn’t do it. But cash, no credit cards.” Hector said.

  Faith looked at me, “Sweetheart, will you pay him? I don’t have that much cash on me.”

  “Yeah, no problem.” I said, as I pulled out my billfold and counted out 3,000. I know why she traded him down, she knew I only had 3,000 in cash with me. Faith handed Hector the money, then said,

  “Hector, this is my husband, Clay Bronson. This is Rosie O’Claire a new friend of ours. I assume you have the title for this vehicle?”

  “Sure, and already notarized. What about yours?”

  “It’s in the cubby hole, I’ll sign it.” And she got it out and did the same. Then we changed our stuff over. He was right about one thing; the Durango had a child car seat.

  “Oh yeah, that switch on the dash turns on the turbo-charger, be careful with it; make sure you have plenty of room ahead before you hit it. Otherwise on cruising speed it only runs on four cylinders, it kicks up to all eight when you give it a little gas. It even has a full tank of gas; I suppose yours is on empty.” Hector said with a grin.

  “You’re wrong about that, its full, I don’t let my gas tanks get below the half way mark, that way you’ll never run out of gas,” I said.

  As we left, Faith looked back, a little wistful, I thought. I said, “We didn’t have to trade your truck, we could of just paid cash for this vehicle.”

  “No, that’s fine. It belonged to Teddy. A person’s car is very personal, it’s something like a dog, it should only belong to one person. With Teddy I was a blond, now I’m back to my normal hair color. With you I want everything to be new.” Faith said.

  “Honey, that’s fine, but there is no way that you can cut all of your ties to the past. For instance, Felicia. She’s Alita’s Grandmother, that’s a fact that you cannot change.”

  “I know that, it’s just the more personal stuff, like my hair and vehicle. I don’t want anything to stand between us.” Faith said.

  Rosie spoke up from the back seat. “You were married before?” She asked.

  “Yes Rosie, I was.” Faith said, “my first husband and Alita’s Grandfather were killed in plane crash over a year ago. Clay and I have only been married for a short while. And also Clay’s father, married my ex-mother-in-law.”

  I looked in the rear view mirror at Rosie, then said to Faith, “Do you think the boutique at the Hotel will have clothes to fit Rosie?”

  “Yes, I know they have. The fancy kind anyway. For jeans and boots, we’ll probably have to shop elsewhere. How about it Rosie, are you up for new wardrobe?”

  “Oh yes, but I don’t want to be any trouble, just the basics would be fine.” Rosie said as she handed Alita her Teddy Bear. Alita giggled at her, Rosie’s smile grew wid
e on her face. I asked her,

  “Do you like kids?”

  “Oh yes, I used to baby sit them at the orphanage. How old is Alita?”

  “Just a little over six months, we are just starting to feed her baby food, do you think she looks like Clay?”

  “Yes, remarkably so, but he’s not her father, is he?” Rosie said.

  “No, he’s not. But when anybody asks, just tell them that he is, because that’s the truth, now.” Faith said.

  “I wish she was my sister.” Rosie said, as she smoothed Alita’s hair.

  “Well, you have our permission to say that she is, if you want to.” Faith said.

  We arrived back at the Hotel/Motel, whatever you wanted to call it. On our way in I stopped at the desk. “We are going to have to have a bigger room, our daughter just arrived from home. Do you have a suite with two bedrooms?” I asked.

  “Yes, it costs a lot more, double to what you’re paying now, is that alright?”

  “Sure, just put it on the same card that you already have, do you have someone to help us move our stuff?”

  “Yes,” she said, then she rang her bell and boy appeared and accompanied us to our old room. We opened the door to find a mess. Someone had rifled it. We backed out.

  And called Cort.

  The boy showed us to our new room. I didn’t want to disturb anything in the old room till they had a chance to go over it for prints. I don’t know what they could have been looking for; we hadn’t left anything of importance in it. But I had hunch who was responsible for it.

  When Cort arrived with the CSI team, he came by our new room. “Their hard at work, but I brought your new I.D. and Badge. Boy, trouble seems to follow you around, doesn’t it? I see you’ve added to your family?”

  “Yes, this is Rosie O’Claire. We had a little run in with some pickpockets, she was kidnapped by them, but now she’s not.” I said.

  “Yeah, I know. When I left the courthouse, a lawyer was already there, trying to get them sprung. They might even be out by now, so watch yourself. I know a federal judge who might help to straighten out who she belongs to, by the looks of it, I suppose you two want custody of her?”

  I looked at Faith, she nodded, “Yes, you’re right.” I said, “I also believe those two pickpockets are in cahoots with Dipper Tick.”

  “Well, I would say that you were right, since it was him that showed up to try and bail them out.” Cort said, then added as he left, “I’ll keep in touch, you had better be sure and pack your heater with you.”

  I grinned and patted my pocket. I had to smile at Cort’s use of the word ‘heater’. He must of read too many Mike Hammer novels. I looked at the I.D. that Cort had given me, Special Agent, CSI division. For the State of New Mexico. Well I guess they had to put something on there. I still couldn’t understand the why and wherefore of them wanting me to work for them. It just didn’t make sense, I was a nobody.

  I said as much to Faith, “Don’t worry about it Dear,” she said, “they must have their reasons. But we do seem to be right in the middle of things all of the time, don’t we?”

  “Yes, and I’m not sure that I like it. Now take this Charles Hester thing. I think we’re getting into things a bit deeper. Anyway, when we have dinner with them tonight, we can find out a little more I guess.”

  “Sure, but right now Rosie and I are going to get her some new clothes” Faith said, then added, “you can watch Alita, can’t you?”

  Mr. Mom, that’s me. But I really didn’t mind. I changed her diaper then fed her some baby food, then rocked her to sleep. Before they got back, the hotel boy had delivered our belongings from the old room, the CSI team had left.

  This new room had three bedrooms along with three bathrooms. The hotel boy came back with a helper and the crib from our old room. I had him put it in the bedroom that Rosie would be using, she could watch over her at night. That is if Faith would let her.

  They came back loaded down with packages. Rosie’s eyes were beaming. “I have never had so many new clothes, thank you both, so much.” She said.

  “You’re welcome sweetheart,” Faith said. Then to me, “where do you have Alita sleeping?”

  “She’s in the first bedroom, there, on our bed. The boy brought her crib, I had him put it in the next bedroom, I thought Rosie and Alita could sleep in there, is that Okay?”

  “Yes, that is if Rosie wants to sleep in the same room as Alita?” Faith said.

  “Oh yes, that would be perfect, I’d love to.” Rosie said. Then she asked, “Is it okay if I take a shower and change into some of my new clothes?”

  “Of course, we’re supposed to meet the Hester’s for supper. Here in the dinning room of our Hotel, their staying here also.” Faith said.

  “Oh,” Rosie said, “do you think they know I was supposed to be the ‘hand off’?”

  “No, they don’t know that, you’ve done nothing wrong Rosie so don’t worry about it.” I said.

  Faith and I, went to clean up and change clothes also, but of course every time Faith got naked, one thing led to another, per usual.

  Chapter Five

  The Hester’s were already seated when we got there. They weren’t expecting Rosie, but it was no problem, the table was plenty big enough.

  Edith Hester said, “I didn’t know you had another child, she looks a lot like you Faith, that is all except for the red hair.”

  “Yes, doesn’t she though, but I just dyed my hair, you should of seen it before.” Faith said, smiling sweetly.

  Frank and Fern Blake were seated at a table a short ways over. I waived at them, Frank got up and came over. “I heard you had an interesting afternoon. Did you know they were already bailed out?” Frank said.

  “No, but it doesn’t surprise me, these are the people that they tried to rob, Edith and Charles Hester.” They shook hands, I continued, “This is Frank and Fern Blake, he’s the clerk and recorder here in Santa Fe.”

  After some more small talk, Frank went back to his table. I was always somewhat of an introvert; not too good at small talk. Now Faith was just the opposite; an extrovert, at times you couldn’t shut her up, that was fine though, I loved to hear her talk.

  After we had ordered, I said, “Charles, do you know what they were after in your billfold?”

  “Why, money, I suppose.” He said.

  “No, they were after your SS Card and the copy of your birth certificate that you always carry with you.”

  “How in the world did you know what I carry in my wallet?”

  “I’m a special investigator for the State of New Mexico, the police knew, I guess the pickpockets most of told them. They also said that they wanted to get in your safe deposit box. What do you have in there that they might be interested in?”

  “Nothing much, keepsake jewelry, a few mementos from our past, that’s all.” Charles said.

  “Those mementos, could you elaborate on them?” I said.

  “Sure, some of my medal’s from the war, and a copy of a deed, on a Spanish Land Grant that my Great Grandfather gave to me. He sold the Ranch, but the deed isn’t completely worthless, he kept the mineral rights.”

  “Ah, the mineral rights, worth more now than the land that covers them. That was what they were after. Where is this old ranch located?” Faith asked.

  “It was over close to the Brazos Mountains, close to the Chama River Valley. But I believe part of it is in the ‘Edward Sargent State Wildlife Area.’ You can’t drill for oil in there. Unless of course someone changes the rules.” Charles said.

  “Well the way their ignoring the constitution now, I’m sure some crooked politician can overcome that.” Faith said.

  Our food came and food being the more important; our conversation lapsed. Rosie had ordered steak and lobster, she had said that she never had lobster before, so I had told her to order what she wanted. Of course her eyes were bigger than her stomach. Which I knew would be the case, that’s why I had only ordered a small steak, I ended up eating what
she couldn’t. I didn’t like to waste food.

  As we were drinking our after dinner coffee, I said to Charles, “I would suggest you not carry those documents with you, I don’t know how they found out that you did carry them in your billfold, but I wouldn’t do it anymore.”

  Rosie was feeding Alita a small dish of vanilla pudding for dessert, of course she got more of it on her, than in her. I sure could get used to this family stuff. Charles sat his coffee cup down and said,

  “I suppose you’re right, this world sure has changed. There was a time when we didn’t even have to lock our houses much less worry about someone stealing our pocketbooks.”

  “Yes,” I said, “the only thing that remains constant is change itself, much like the weather I suppose. But I wouldn’t mind change so much, if it wasn’t always for the worse.”

  “Sweetheart,” Faith said, “don’t be negative, some changes have been for the better; you know like health care, haven’t they?”

  “Yeah, I guess, if health care was available to everyone on an equal footing, but of course it’s not.” I said.

  Faith quickly changed the subject, “So Edith, how long do you and Charles plan on staying down here?”

  “We planned on going back next week; but now that this has happened. We might leave quicker.” Edith said, looking at Charles.

  “Yes, we’ve been here for a week already and there are some things that I have to take care of at home. Even though my Grandson runs the place now, I’m still in charge. I think we’ll leave the day after tomorrow.”

  With that the party sort of broke up. As we were leaving the dinning room, I said to Charles. “Charles, I want to emphasize the seriousness of things now. With Crude Oil selling at over a hundred dollars a barrel, there isn’t anything some of these oil people wouldn’t do to get your mineral rights, even murder.”

  He stopped, I could see that he was mulling it over, “You really think so? They would stoop that low?”