by Diane Morlan
“Sure, let me get to a site that has those records.” He pulled down his bookmarks and clicked on one. When the page came up, he signed in and typed the names we were looking for. After going through several screens he said, “Here we go. No Yvonne Jackson, she must be under 72 years old.”
“I’m pretty sure she is. Any other Jacksons?”
“”Yes, there are a bunch of them in Ames. Oh, look here. There’s a Jackson family on Rural Route 1 near Bethel, Iowa. I might be able to find out more but it will take more time. There are some things I can’t do through the internet. It’s much easier to find dead people.”
“That’s okay, Mort. I’m pretty sure those are Yvonne’s parents.”
“You mean she married someone with the same surname?” he asked.
“No, more likely, she never married at all.”
“Oh,” Mort said. “Oh! I see. Oh, dear. That wouldn’t have been good back then.”
The cleaning woman in Charlie’s office was his mother, snooping around while she waited for her son to finish up with his meeting. With the simple housedresses that she wore, it was easy to see why Pam thought she was the cleaning lady at Charlie’s office. She may have knocked Pam on the head because she thought Pam was in on the shake down with Whitney.
I picked up my purse and jacket and thanked Mort for all his help, and was walking toward the door when he said, “I’ll be right there. I need to unlock the door for you.”
I walked toward the big glass doors. I heard a noise that sounded like a groan coming from behind the circulation desk. I looked behind the counter and saw Deb laying there. Next to her was a six pound book titled “Human Anatomy & Physiology.”
I ran over to help her. A trickle of blood was running down from her temple. “What happened?” she asked.
“Someone hit me.”
“Do you know who it was?” I asked pulling my phone from my pocket and hitting the speed dial for the Sheriff’s Office. Deb shook her head.
Just then, I heard Mort shout, “No!” And I heard a thump. I handed the phone to Deb and said, “Ask for Lieutenant Jacobs. Tell him to get right over here.”
I ran back to the reference desk and found Mort on the floor in front of the desk. I bent over to see if he was all right. I heard a rustling behind me. I stood up and turned. Yvonne Jackson was holding a large red book over her head, the title, in large gold print read, “Lost Girls.” I sidestepped at the last minute and the book came crashing down so hard it threw her off balance. She stumbled, dropped the book, and grasped the desk to help her recover her balance.
She came at me, arms outstretched, gnarled fingers reaching for my throat. Once again I sidestepped her. I spun around and ran toward the reference stacks, hiding from her. I saw two large black volumes, titled “History of World Religions” sitting on the shelf in front of me. I picked up the first volume. When Yvonne came around the corner, I smashed her in the face with it. She fell. She didn’t get up.
Mort was sitting up. I handed him the book. “Here, if she moves whack her with this.”
I heard a racket in the front of the library. Cautiously, I peeked out from the stacks, hoping Yvonne hadn’t brought anyone with her.
I was so relieved to see Decker and Jacobs rattling the front door that I ran to let them in. I got to the door and realized that I needed a key to open it. Holding up one finger, I ran back to Deb. She was sitting on the floor holding her head. I saw the key next to her on the floor. I snatched up the key, patted Deb on the shoulder and said, “I’ll be right back. It’s okay.”
I got to the door just as Decker was about to smash in the glass with the butt of his pistol. I held up the key and Jacobs grabbed Decker’s arm.
I fumbled with the lock and finally got the door opened. I threw myself into Decker’s outstretched arms. Jacobs walked around us and said, “What the hell happened here?”
I explained briefly while he and I scurried back to the reference desk. Decker stayed at the circulation counter with Deb.
After handcuffing the woozy Yvonne Jackson, Jacobs called the police department and explained what was going on. Yvonne had blood pouring from her crooked nose. Jacobs handed her a pristine handkerchief from his inside jacket pocket. He spoke into the phone and requested that they send over an ambulance. “Just need them to check out three people with head injuries. One of them has a broken nose.”
Yvonne was taken off to the Hermann Hospital emergency room, handcuffed and with a policeman in tow. I wondered if Lisa was working tonight.
Deb and Mort were checked out by the EMTs. I heard him tell them, “Here’s a list of symptoms that you could experience if you have a concussion. If you experience any of these get to the hospital or call us again.”
All of us were questioned about the events of the evening by Sergeant Hackenmuller.
“Jennifer, can you tell me what happened here tonight?”
“Mort and I were looking at social security and census records when we heard Deb yelling. When I was calling the Sheriff’s Office, I heard Mort shout out, so I handed Deb my phone and ran back to see what was going on.”
“Why did you call the Sheriff’s Office instead of the 9-1-1 emergency number?”
“Because it’s on speed dial. It was quicker.”
“Do I want to know why you have the Sheriff’s Office on speed dial?”
I blushed when I told him, “Decker and I are seeing each other.”
I think that embarrassed him. He finished up with a few more questions, and then talked to Deb and Mort. Asking them mostly the same questions, he had asked me. Deb had called her husband to pick her up, since the EMTs suggested that neither librarian drive tonight.
I asked Mort if he had someone to pick him up. “No, I don’t have any relatives in town. I rode my bike. I can just peddle home.”
“Oh, no, you won’t. I’ll give you a ride.”
Decker spoke up. “Neither of you are driving tonight. I came with Lieutenant Jacobs. I’ll drive your car, Jennifer, and we can take Mr. Kelley home on the way.”
Mort shook his head, stopped and put his hand to his head. “Ouch. No, I can’t leave my bike here. I’ll be careful.”
“No way, Mort,” I said. “We can put your bike in the back of my SUV.” I knew having a big vehicle would come in handy.
We dropped off Mort at his apartment a block away from the Glockenspiel. When Decker pulled back out on Broadway, I looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was ten-fifteen. I realized that I had missed supper and was famished. Just then my stomach growled.
Decker looked at me and grinned. “Dixie Diner?”
“Yes, hurry! I need coffee and something fried.”
28
We were in our favorite corner booth at the Dixie Diner. The waitress picked up our empty plates and refilled our coffee cups.
“Okay, Jennifer,” Decker said, “Time to ‘fess up.”
“About what?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Your name. What’s the JJ stand for?”
“What’s your real first name?” I snapped.
“Okay, I’ll go first, but you’d better be ready to tell all.”
“Fine,” I said, folding my hands on the table and giving him my best smile.
“My name is Jerzy. It’s polish. My great-great-grandfather came here from Poland. His name was Jerzy Dekowski.” When he went through Castle Garden in 1890 the immigration officers changed his surname to Decker.”
“Wow. That’s awesome. What is Castle Garden?” I asked.
“It’s in New York, where European immigrants came before they opened Ellis Island.”
“You should talk to Mort. He has an avid interest in family histories. He’d love to hear your story.”
“Okay, Jennifer, your turn.”
I pulled on my jacket. “It’s getting late and I’m really tired. Let’s go home.”
“No way. We aren’t going anywhere until you tell me your middle name.”
“I
can’t, Jerry. You’ll laugh.”
“No, I won’t. I promise.” He held up his hand as if taking an oath. I should have noticed it was his left hand.
I couldn’t figure out how I could get out of this. “Okay. Well, you see, my Mom was somewhat of a hippy. Well, not really a flower child, but she embraced the whole peace movement and the music of the time. I guess I’m lucky she didn’t name me Petunia or something like that.”
Decker motioned with his hands for me to continue. “My father was out of work again and was trying to get his sister to lend him some money. He wanted to name me after her. My mom had another name in mind. So, in the end, they compromised.”
I began to slide out of the booth.
“Wait a minute. Where do you think you’re going?”
“Home. I’m very tired.” I faked a yawn.
“No way, Jen,” Decker said, holding up my car keys. “We aren’t going anywhere until you tell me.”
I heaved a sigh. “Okay, Jennifer was my Aunt Jennifer. She was so cool. In fact, she’s the one who got my mom so interested in the peace movement.”
“Out with it, woman! What’s your middle name?” He was doing all he could to keep from laughing. It wasn’t going well for me.
I sighed. “Okay, actually I have two middle names. The name on my birth certificate is Jennifer.” I dropped my voice to a whisper. “Jennifer Janis Joplin.”
”What?”
“Joplin—like in Janis Joplin. My name is Jennifer Janis Joplin Penny. Are you happy now?”
Decker laughed out loud, forgetting all about his promise. “I’m sorry. It’s not really funny,” he said. But he kept on laughing.
“Oh, shut up. I knew you’d laugh.”
“I’m sorry, Honey. You have to admit that it’s funny. I mean, not funny, but . . .” His voice trailed off as he began laughing again.
I waited until he composed himself, then I got up and walked out to the truck. The clouds were gone and it was a beautiful night. A sliver of a moon was shining among a sky full of twinkling stars. I was still looking up when Decker came up behind me and put his arms around me. I leaned back into his chest.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said. “You could have been hurt—or worse.”
“I know, but I was careful. How could I have known that Yvonne was following me?”
Decker left his arm around my shoulder when we walked to my truck. I love the way he makes me feel so protected. “I guess you couldn’t have known. I’m just glad the library doesn’t have anything more lethal than books.”
“I don’t know why Yvonne was so determined to keep the circumstances of Charlie’s birth a secret. Single mothers are hardly scarce these days,” I said.
Decker handed me up into the passenger seat of my SUV. “Charlie wasn’t born in ‘these days.’ Yvonne was living on a farm in Iowa, hardly the Mecca of modern thought and action. He’s a few years older than you and I’m pretty sure Yvonne wasn’t part of the peace movement. If her parents were religious, it would have just added to the shame of her actions.”
“That makes sense,” I said, rolling down the window and letting in the crisp autumn air. “I just feel sorry for Charlie. I wonder if he knows that his parents weren’t married. And that his father wasn’t a war hero?”
“Don’t know.” Decker turned on the heater. “But this will certainly wreck his chances of winning the election. Who wants a governor whose mother is a murderer?”
“I guess you’re right,” I said, stretching out my toes toward the warm air. “Good thing he’s got all that real estate. Sister Bernie will put out the word that he can be trusted, even if his mother is a nutcase.”
“It might help, but there are people who will still shy away from him.”
We pulled into my driveway and Decker shut off the engine and turned to me.
“Wait a minute, Jennifer J. J. Penny,” he said when I reached for the door handle. “I want to talk about us.”
“What about us?” I asked, my stomach doing a flip. Was Decker breaking up with me?
“I think it’s time,” he said.
“Time for what?” I slowly asked.
“We’ve been seeing each other for a while now. Don’t you think it’s time for the next step?”
“You mean not seeing other people?” I answered, relieved he wasn’t leaving me.
“That’s part of it. What do you think about us living together?”
“I don’t know. We’re together most of the time, anyway. And we are usually at my place. Can I think about it?”
“Of course,” he answered, sounding pleased. “Take all the time you need. I just want to know if you’ll consider it.”
“Of course, it’s a possibility. It’s a big step,” I said and leaned over to kiss him.
Decker enveloped me in his arms and kissed me back. After a few minutes, we went into my little cottage. The neighbors were getting some interesting views these days.
I wondered what it would be like to live with Decker. Did he have any obnoxious habits? Would he take me for granted if he moved in? What did that mean, anyway? I gave up thinking and moved into the bedroom, pulling off my sweater. “What’s taking you so long, Big Boy,” I called out to Decker. I heard the lock on the front door click.
He crossed the threshold of the bedroom and shut off the light and began singing, “Hold on, I’m coming.”
CAMPAIGN COOKIES
Megan Murphy created this recipe for cookies that were served, with Primo Gusto Coffee, at political rallies for Charlie Jackson, Independent Candidate for Governor of Minnesota and former rock star from Hermann, MN.
Pre-heat oven to 400°.
Ingredients:
2 c. brown sugar
1 c. butter
2 eggs
up to 1 c. strong brewed coffee, cooled
4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips (Megan uses Ghirardelli)
1 c. chopped nuts (Megan uses either walnuts or pecans)
Cream together butter and sugar. Add I egg at a time, beat until creamy. Megan uses an electric mixer.
Stir all dry ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Add dry ingredients to butter, egg, and sugar mixture, alternating with cold coffee.
Add vanilla, mix, and then add chocolate chips and nuts.
For a stronger coffee flavor, add 2 T. Natural Coffee Extract.
Drop from teaspoons onto cookie sheet. Bake in 400° oven for 10 minutes.
Cool on cookie rack.
Queen Anne's Lace Tablecloth
MATERIALS: Crochet cotton thread, size 20, 221 large motifs and 192 fill-in-motifs are required for a tablecloth of about 60 x 80 inches (13 x 17 large motifs)
Each motif requires 25 yds. of thread. Fill-in-motif requires about 5 yds. Allow for extra thread for edging.
Crochet hook No. 9
Special stitches:
Cluster - Make tr in each st indicated always holding back last loop of each tr on hook, then thread over and take off all remaining loops. A tight ch st should then be made to fasten cluster.
FIRST LARGE MOTIF:
Ch 6, join with sl st.
1st Rnd: Ch 6, * tr in ring, ch 2,. Repeat from * until 7 sps are made, join to 4th st of ch-6 (8sps).
2nd Rnd: Ch 4, 4 tr in 1st sp, * ch 2, 5 tr in next sp. Repeat from * around. Join last ch-2 to 4th st of ch-4. (8 tr groups)
3rd Rnd: Ch 4, tr in same place as sl st, tr in next 4 tr, * tr in 1st ch of ch-2, ch 3, tr in next ch of same ch-2, tr in next 5 tr. Repeat from * around. Join last ch-3 to 4th st of ch-4; sl st in 1st tr of group.
4th Rnd: Ch 4; make tr in next 4 tr, working off together as for a cluster; * ch 4, 5 tr in next ch-3 sp, ch 4, skip 1st tr of next group; make tr in next 5 tr, working off together as for a cluster. Repeat from * around. Join last ch-4 to tip of first cluster.
&
nbsp; 5th Rnd: Ch 8, * skip 1st 3 ch of ch-4, tr in next ch, tr in next 5 tr, tr in 1st ch of next ch-4, ch 4, tr in tip of cluster, ch 4. Repeat from * around. Join to 4th st of ch-8.
6th Rnd: * Ch 12, skip 1st tr of next group, tr in next 5 tr, working off together as for a cluster; ch 12, sc in the single tr between groups. Repeat from * around. Join last ch-12 to base of first ch-12 (16 loops). Break off.
SECOND LARGE MOTIF:
Work 1st 5 rnds as for 1st motif.
6th RND: Ch 12, skip 1st tr of next group; tr in next 5 tr, working off together as for a cluster; ch 6, sl st in 1st ch-12 loop on 1st motif (always keep right side of work on top), ch 6, sc in next single tr on 2nd motif, ch 6, sl st in next ch-12 loop on 1st motif, ch 6, make a cluster back on 2nd motif. Complete this rnd as for 1st motif (no more joinings). Break off.
Make 11 more motifs joining each motif to previous one as second one was joined to first, leaving 6 ch-12 loops free on each side of joinings on each motif, thus making a strip of 13 motifs. Make a 2nd strip of 13 motifs joining to first strip as follows:
FIRST MOTIF OF 2ND STRIP - Work as for 2nd motif of 1st strip and join, as before, to first motif alongside of first strip, leaving 2 ch-12 loops free on 1st motif (counting from joining of 1st 2 motifs).
2ND MOTIF:
Work as before to 5th rnd incl. and join to the 2 adjacent motifs as follows - 6th rnd: Work as for 6th rnd of previous motif, but join to the 3rd and 4th ch-12 loops (counting from joining) of 2nd motif on first strip, then work 2 ch -12 loops back on same motif, then join 3rd and 4th ch-12 loops of 1st motif of 2nd strip. Complete rnd as before, but with no more joinings. Break off. (Note. 2 ch-12 loops are left free on each motif to be joined later to fill-in-motif). Work next 11 motifs of this strip thus joining each motif to adjacent 2 motifs. Work 15 more strips, joining as before.
FILL IN MOTIF:
1st Rnd: Ch 8, tr in 8th ch from hook, ch 4, tr in same place, ch 4, tr in same place, ch 4, join to 4th ch of ch-8 (4 sps).
2nd Rnd: Ch 4, 6 tr in 1st sp, * ch 5, 7 tr in next sp, repeat from * around, joining last ch 5 to 4th st of ch-4; sl st in 1st tr.