Chapter Eight
The week before Thanksgiving break was plodding by for Tracy. Unlike public school, where everyone was in class until the Friday before the break, the girls began disappearing from Tweedy Pines in the weeks before each holiday.
She asked Bethany, “Why are we still here?” and pulled her phone out.
She texted Robbie. “Come get me!!!!!!”
Bethany said, “I’m here for the duration. I like the quiet campus. Hey, you coming to the Madher Turkey Genocide?”
“I’ll ask my Uncle. Thanksgiving on the Farm has always been so great, but without my parents there, it won’t be the same.” She sighed.
“I hope you can make it!”
When Robbie, Amy and Perry pulled into the parking lot at Tweedy Pines, they saw Tracy’s red hair bouncing on her head as she sprinted across the field toward them. Once she got to the lot, she waved her hands over her head in excitement. Amy popped the door open and Tracy dove in onto her lap like she was making a getaway. She said, “Go! Go! Go!”
They got back to the Farm and Tracy rolled the window down and put her head out in the chill air. “I love this place.”
She got out of the truck and danced around on the gravel. Amy beckoned her from Robbie’s workshop, “Come see what we built!”
The smell of drying finish was still strong in the room. A couple new walnut bookshelves were standing in the middle of the room and some jewelry boxes were being assembled on the workbench.
Tracy asked, “Did you do these, Amy? They’re really great.”
Amy said, “I helped. I came up with the idea for the jewelry boxes. I’m learning, but Robbie’s got all the skills.”
Tracy hugged her hard, “Real people, doing real things! I love it.”
Amy shrugged, “You want to know something really amazing? I never knew it was even possible for me to do these things. I really lived like a shadow in the world, before. It’s sort of like I was never really fully born until I came up here.”
Tracy looked at her and tried hard to understand. She scrunched up her face and asked, “Why do you think that is?”
Amy thought a while and said, “I still don’t really know the answer to that question. I’ve been thinking about it a lot since I started to feel good. I’m realizing a lot of the little small talk that Robbie makes is full of clues and hints.” She imitated his voice and mannerisms, rubbing an imaginary beard. “Amy, the sun shines on this field and makes the hay grow, we just do our bit.”
Tracy laughed, “That was a good impression!”
Amy’s face got serious. “My family was a lot different. I’m not sure if my parents really knew anything. I imagine some ancestor did. We lived in a nice big house, but honestly, I have no idea where it came from.”
Tracy’s eyes got big and she slapped Amy’s arm. “You should find out!”
Amy nodded. “I think you’re right.” She pointed at Tracy to emphasize, “Yeah, really, that’d help complete the picture. There are some boxes of pictures and letters in the attic back at my parents’ place.”
Tracy started tugging Amy’s arm and led her back into the house. They found Robbie stoking a fire in the kitchen fireplace. Perry was lounging on the stone floor and Tracy sat on the hearth stones. She asked, “What are we doing on Turkey day? Bethany asked us to go to the Madher’s house.”
Robbie dug through a pile of mail on the counter. “I almost forgot about this.” He handed her an envelope.
She opened it and found an invitation. She said, “That’s fancy. We are invited to Give Thanks for a Bountiful Year at the Madher’s home, blah, blah. They live in a castle, by the way.”
Amy looked at the card. “Wow, that’s a nice invitation. I’ve never been to a castle before.”
Robbie said, “I leave it up to you guys to decide.”
Tracy made a suggestion, “How about we go to the Madher’s then we go to Amy’s.”
Amy nodded, “That sounds good.”
Robbie said, “Road trip with the girls! This will be fun.”
A valet service took Robbie’s keys and the driver sped off in the M1008 pickup. Robbie checked out the facade of the Madher’s mansion and told Tracy, “You weren’t kidding about a castle.”
The grounds of the mansion were buzzing with people. Hundreds of people were in attendance and Robbie, Tracy, and Amy followed a throng of new arrivals to a ballroom at the back of the house. A gaggle of former pro athletes were holding court near the end of the buffet line and were surrounded by a crowd of admirers. Familiar faces from local TV wandered around, and Heather and Charlie Madher circulated among the crowd.
Bethany found them waiting in line. “You made it!” She was genuinely enthusiastic to see Tracy. “You guys don’t have to wait in line, follow me.”
They went through doors into the kitchen where a catering company was preparing trays. Bethany said, “Get it hot and fresh,” she gave them all plates and they loaded up their food. She winked at them, “You wanna hang with me or mingle with the masses?”
They followed her into a quiet greenhouse. The warm humid smell of green things greeted them. Bethany announced, “This is my favorite place to be when I’m here. I love plants.”
Robbie asked, “Do you have a green thumb?”
Bethany looked at her hand. “Dunno. The gardener looks after this.”
Tracy said, “Bethany is a great singer.”
Bethany rolled her eyes, “Oh, pshaw.” She pretended to dismiss the compliment, then said, “Thanks, Tracy! She’s got to listen to me all the time. It’s good she likes it, otherwise she could smother me in my sleep!”
Bethany’s phone buzzed. “This house is so big, my mom can’t find me. Next she’ll send a maid, but lemme text her.” She groaned.
A few minutes later Heather greeted them all. She said, “You must be the famous Uncle Robbie.” She shook his hand and kissed his cheek.
“Nice to meet you, Heather.” he said.
She patted Amy’s shoulder and asked, “I haven’t had the pleasure to meet you. I really like your hair.”
Tracy said, “This is our good friend Amy.”
Amy was beaming, “I really liked that TV show, Dark Alliance.”
Heather laughed, “Oh man! Blast from my past. You just took me back to when I was about your age. Oh! The stories I could tell.” Everyone chuckled.
Heather’s smile faded, and her face turned serious. She paused a moment then said, “Hey Robbie, can I talk to you a minute?”
He nodded and followed her into the greenhouse. She said, “First off, I want to tell you, I miss Telia. I was just getting to know her better.” She sighed heavily.
Robbie nodded and said gravely, “It really was a big shock to us all.”
Heather continued, “Telia and Matt were doing really important, ground breaking work. She showed me that gizmo--that big metal ball. I was wondering what happened to it. My husband and I would be really interested in helping to continue their work and legacy.”
Robbie tried to hide any reaction, but his jaw stiffened slightly. He said, “Matt’s co-researchers dismantled the reflector out of respect for Matt. As far as I know, all research has been shelved.”
She looked at the floor for a few moments, then said. “What would it take to start the research again? It was one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had in my life, and frankly, I’ve had more than my fair share of incredible experiences.”
Robbie hated to slam the door on any kind of project, but the reflector had been Matt’s life’s work, and he was conflicted about revealing anything, even incidentally. He thought a moment then finally said, “Here’s my proposal. I’ll confer with Matt’s associates and let you know what they think.”
She nodded. “That’s fair. I really hate to push on this, but I need to ask one more thing: was it Matt’s intellectual property? If so, maybe they don’t really need to be involved.”
Robbie was surprised. He’d pigeonholed her as just a pretty
face and some arm candy for Charles Madher, but he started to wonder if he should cultivate the relationship. He tried to explain his position. “Heather, we, and when I say ‘we’ I mean my family and our network of friends. We don’t work that way. When we do research, any kind of research, it’s not done in the framework of corporate ownership for the sake of making money. That said, we don’t just turn this work over to anyone. We choose to work with people based on relationships, trust, friendship, and a common cause.”
Heather inspected Robbie’s face. She’d encountered all sorts of people during her adult life: artists, intellectuals, nobel prize winners, actors and since she married Charlie, she’d become used to easily influencing people as they sought access to the money she controlled. However, Robbie and the Wells family were in a new category to her. She felt like she’d been riding the Madher family tectonic plate, and it just collided with another continent. She smiled warmly and said, “I respect that approach. I look forward to hearing back from you about it. Keep in touch.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and left them to their food.
Tracy asked, “What was that about?”
Robbie said, “She’s interested in some work your dad was doing.”
Amy asked, “What work?”
Robbie said, “He was really interested in how the mind works and connects to the world. He discovered some new things. I can explain some of it, but he was way, way out there.”
Amy nodded and swallowed a bite of stuffing. “Oh! Like the phone number trick.”
Bethany was intrigued. “What is that?”
Amy laughed. “Let me see if I can do it.” She sang Matt’s phone number to them. They all blinked and slightly shook their head.
Bethany put her fingers on her temples. “I see it in my mind! Dude! That is so cool.”
Robbie pointed at Amy, “Yeah! Exactly like that kind of thing, but even more out there. That memory trick was part of his initial research.”
They finished their meals, but before a food coma set in, Robbie stood up and said, “Well, I hate to eat and Run, Bethany, but we need to hit the road. We’re heading south like geese and we need to go pick up the dog.”
Bethany sighed heavily and hugged Tracy and Amy and shook Robbie’s hand. “Thanks for coming Trace. Have a nice rest of your break. I’ll text you later.”
Bethany led them to the front doors and Heather caught up as they waited for the valet to return with the car. They waved bye as Robbie drove away. Heather said to Bethany, “I love that family! We should hang out with them sometime, get away from all this fancy schmancy.”
Bethany nodded, “No doubt! Tracy’s cool. I’ll ask her about it.”
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 19