The Dog Who Ate The Flintlock

by Edward Coburn

  “Are you saying you want me to read your mind?”

  “Not quite. I’m going to try to send the image to you, and I want to see if you receive it. It’s not exactly mind reading. It’s close I guess, but not quite the same thing. Your mother and I used to experiment with this, but neither of us could do it. We could sometimes guess the right card, but it was just that, a guess. Not ESP by any stretch.”

  “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try,” Sarah said. “How does it work?”

  “Well, I just hold the card up and study it. You try to picture the card in your mind.”

  “Will it hurt?”

  Mary shook her head. “Neither your Mother nor I ever felt any discomfort from trying this.”

  “Okay, I’ll try,” Sarah said and concentrated for several seconds before she said, “I’m sorry. I’m not seeing anything. It doesn’t work.”

  “It’s the queen of hearts,” Adam said.

  Mary seemed shocked. “That’s right. Did you picture it?”

  Adam smiled impishly. “No. I saw it when you picked it up.”

  “That wasn’t very nice,” Agnes admonished him.

  ‘Well, I did tell the truth.”

  “Only because you know better than to try to lie to me. And you know that’s not what Mary was talking about.”

  “True enough. I’d say I’m sorry, but you’d know I was lying,” he smiled again.

  Agnes and Mark went with Adam when he visited the University of Maine, a few miles north of Bangor. Sarah stayed with Mary to go to a movie, eat ice cream, and go shopping if there was still time.

  Adam met with several professors and even got to sit in on an acting class. They were learning how to project so the audience could hear them and in that, Adam easily held his own. After the class, the professor handed Adam a script from a one-act play he was currently directing and showed Adam the part he wanted him to read. The professor said he would read the other lines for him. They read lines for the better part of an hour while the professor made minor corrections to Adam’s portrayal. When they were finished the professor congratulated Adam on a job well done.

  “I do hope you are seriously considering the U of M,” the professor said. “I know you would make a great addition to our classes and our productions.”

  Adam blushed slightly. “Thank you very much, sir. As I mentioned earlier, my Aunt lives in Bangor, so this school is on my short list. If I do apply, could you possibly put in a good word to the selection committee on my behalf?”

  The professor withdrew a card from his shirt pocket. He handed it to Adam. “I can do better than that. I’m going to be on the selection committee next year, and you’ll certainly have my vote. I’ll even speak on your behalf. Just send me a letter at the address on that card and let me know you’re going to apply here. Then I will watch for your application and take it from there. I might even be able to get you some scholarship money.”

  Adam glanced at the card before slipping it in his pocket. “Thank you so much. I’ll certainly let you know if I’ve decided on the U of M as my choice. I’ll also write to you if I choose somewhere else and let you know why.”

  The professor smiled and held out his hand. “That would be very nice of you. Not too many students offer to do that.”

  Adam shook the proffered hand. “I merely want to show my appreciation for letting me attend your class and helping me with the reading. It was fun.”

  They walked over to where Agnes and Mark were sitting. “You have a very talented son here Mr. and Mrs. Swope.”

  Mark and Agnes beamed at him. “We always thought so. Thank you so much for letting him do the reading. We,” Mark indicated Agnes, “enjoyed it so much. And I’m sure Adam had fun doing it.”

  “I did indeed,” Adam said. Looking at the professor, he added, “You’re a good teacher. I’m sure I could learn a lot from you.”

  “Thank you, Son. As I said before, I’d be happy to have you in my classes and productions.”

  Mark checked his watch. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I guess we need to be getting back to your Aunt’s house. She’s probably fixing supper.”

  “Well,” said the professor, “I hope you all enjoyed your visit. I certainly enjoyed meeting all of you, and I hope Adam chooses U of M.”

  “We shall see,” Agnes said as they all walked out of the classroom and out the front door of the building.

  A week later as the family arrived in Morgantown, West Virginia Mark pulled into a hotel parking lot. “This one looks okay I think,” he said.

  Agnes nodded in agreement. “Go find out if they have any vacancies and how much it is and make sure they’ll let us look at the room first.”

  When Mark came back, he said it was reasonably priced, and they had one vacancy on the first floor with two double beds, and they would also bring in a rollaway.

  “Thank goodness,” Adam said. “I’m tired of schlepping Sarah’s bags around, and I wasn’t looking forward to having to carry them up the stairs.”

  “Hey,” Sarah slapped him playfully on the arm.

  “All right,” Agnes said, “let’s not start that.” She turned to Mark. “Can I see what the room is like?”

  Mark held up the key. “They gave me the key. Let’s go have a look.”

  When Agnes and Mark glanced around the room they both approved. “You go get the kids started, and I’ll pay for the room and have them bring in the rollaway.”

  “Sounds good,” Agnes said heading for the car where the kids were arguing again like most siblings the world over.

  “Why don’t we turn on the TV and find out what’s happening in the world?” Mark said as he walked into the room. “You have gotten all the bags out of the car haven’t you?” he asked Adam.

  Adam nodded though he pretended to be put-upon and utterly exhausted as he lay down on the bed and grabbed the remote. “Boy am I beat,” he sighed heavily. Everyone knew he was being overly dramatic. As he was flipping through the stations, he ran across a news show and stopped to watch the attractive weather girl forecast nice weather for the next few days. Following the weather came a teaser about a kidnapping of a baby before the news gave way to the commercials. Adam started flipping channels again.

  “Did they say someone kidnapped a baby?” Agnes asked her attention drawn to the TV as Adam changed the channel again.

  “I guess,” Adam said no longer flipping channels.

  “Well go back to the news show. I want to hear that story,” Agnes said.

  “Yes ma’am,” Adam said trying to find the news again. He went down through the channels as he had been going up before. When he thought he’d gone down enough and must have missed the news, he started up through the channels again. He stopped when he saw the same announcer he’d seen before. Fortunately, they had just started the news story about the kidnapping. They all listened as the announcer related the story about the abduction where it was presumed the mother and an unknown man were burned up in a car. He said a stroller was discovered nearby with no baby in it, so they had to assume the baby had been kidnapped. The story switched to an interview with a man in a suit that they identified as Detective Robert Drummond who said he was the father of the missing infant.

  “My daughter Mary Beth is missing,” the detective said.

  The camera changed to a view of a stroller. “And this is your daughter’s stroller?” one of the interviewers asked shoving the microphone in the detective’s face.

  “Absolutely.” The detective said picking up a bear from the stroller. “This is my daughter’s bear.”

  “And is it your wife’s body in the burned out car Detective?” one of the other reporters asked with a complete lack of sensitivity.

  A tear trickled down the detective’s cheek. “That…that has yet to be determined. Until that happens, I can’t help but make that assumption. Molly never would have abandoned our daughter and, since Mary Beth is not in the stroller, she must be gone.”

  “And no child�
�s body was found in the car?”

  “Get away from me,” the detective had obviously had enough and shoved the reporter’s camera, so it wasn’t focused on his face. He started to walk away when another man walked up. “Keep everyone away from the stroller, Adams. The crime scene techs haven’t gotten to it yet.”

  “Will do, sir,” Adams said pushing away a cameraman who had his camera focused on the stroller.

  Drummond shoved his way through the throng of reporters, and the news anchor appeared again giving a brief recap of the story ending with a number displayed on the screen to call if the viewer had witnessed anything that might be helpful.

  “My word!” Agnes blurted. “How can reporters be so cruel?” She pulled a pad of paper toward her that she found on the small table in the room. She picked up the pen also laying there and jotted the number down.

  “I think it must be in their job description,” Mark quipped.

  Agnes turned to Adam. “Do you think you might be able to help them?”

  “What do you mean?” Mark said, confident he knew what her answer would be.

  “With his visions,” she said simply. “Like the time he saved Anabel.”

  “Maybe saved Anabel, you mean,” Adam corrected.

  “You mean the Anabel that was your first serious girlfriend,” Mark turned to Adam.

  “Yes,” Adam said and then regarded his father questioningly. “You don’t know that story? Didn’t Mother tell you?” He looked at Agnes in surprise.

  “No,” Agnes appeared slightly guilty. “I started to several times before something else came up.”

  “Okay,” Mark said. “Now that we’ve established the fact that I don’t know the story, is anybody going to tell me?”

  “I first met Anabel when I was in the fifth grade. One day when I was walking down the hallway, I heard her tell her friends they should walk home on a particular street. At almost the same instance I brushed up against this guy who I knew to be a member of a particularly bloodthirsty gang. When he shoved me away, I immediately got a vision of what would happen on one of the corners of the street the girls had planned on taking.”

  “And what was that?”

  “I got a distinct image of a drive-by shooting. One gang would be shooting at another. I knew it had to be this guy’s gang since, as you know, my visions always have to do with something or someone I touch.”

  “Yes,” Mark acknowledged. “So what’d you do?”

  “I walked up to Anabel and her friends and persuaded them not to go the way they’d intended. It took some doing, but I finally persuaded them to change their route by offering to buy them all a cold drink at a store on a different street. It cost me a buck and a half, but I got paid back the next day with a reward better than money. When she heard about the drive-by shooting, she asked me how I’d known something was going to happen. I said I didn’t. I’d just wanted to get to know her. You know Mom has always warned me not to tell people about my abilities. At least, not until I understood them better myself.” Adam smiled. “Anabel said she still didn’t understand why I’d picked that particular day to approach her but was glad I had. She was so grateful, in fact, that she gave me a kiss on the cheek. I was in seventh heaven. As it turned out, Anabel ended up in the same middle school I went to, and when I was old enough, and with Mom’s permission, I asked her out on my first actual date. It was her first date too. We went to see the movie ET™.”

  “And, as I recall, you continued to date her until something happened, but I don’t remember what,” Mark said.

  Adam glanced down at his shoes. “Until Bobby Harmon’s dad bought him a Vette and Bobby asked Anabel to go out with him instead of me. That really hurt. I thought she really liked me. But I guess she was more flighty than I could have imagined. Although I do have to admit it was a really cool car. It was bright red. The last I heard he still has it, but he doesn’t have Anabel anymore. He’s in college now. ”

  Mark looked at Agnes. “Okay. But what’s all that have to do with Adam helping with the missing baby?”

  Chapter 11

  “I just thought he could offer his services to see if he could get any visions from anything that belonged to either the mother or the baby. Maybe he could discern some information that would help find the baby. I’d so like to help that grief-stricken man. To have your baby stolen…I can’t imagine,” Agnes said, sadly shaking her head.

  Mark turned to Adam. “Do you want to try?”

  “I…I don’t know. I really don’t understand my visions that well. I do know I can’t cause a vision just because I want to, so I have no idea if I could help or not. But I’m willing to try if the father is willing to let me.”

  “Okay,” Agnes said. “I’ll call the number and see what the process is for getting in touch with the father.”

  After explaining to someone that they needed to talk to the detective whose baby was stolen, she was transferred to someone else. “This is Sargent Jacobs,” the officer said. “Do you know something about the kidnapping of the Drummond baby and the burning of the car?”

  “I asked to talk to Officer Drummond,” Agnes said.

  “I’m afraid Detective Drummond is still at the scene, but you can give me any information you have.” He emphasized the word Detective as if she had insulted Detective Drummond to call him a mere officer.

  “I don’t have specific information about the crime, but my son may be able to help.”

  “Then maybe I should be talking to your son. How old is he?”

  “He’s eighteen but why should that make any difference?”

  “It doesn’t if he has some information and if he doesn’t, how can he help? Can I talk to your son?”

  “It’s too hard to explain,” she didn’t add that he probably wouldn’t believe her anyway, although that’s the way she felt. “We really need to talk to the detective. Where is the scene?”

  “I’m sure there are already too many people at the scene. Why don’t you come into the station and someone can take whatever information you have.”

  “As I’ve already said, we don’t have any information about the crime, but I think my son may be able to help.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand. As I already asked, how can your son help if he doesn’t have any information?”

  “As I said…” she turned to Mark and covered up the mouthpiece. “I’m not getting anywhere. What should we do?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe if we went to the scene.”

  “But he won’t tell me where it is,” Agnes said in frustration.

  “Okay. Just hang up, and you can try the news people. I’m sure they know where the baby was kidnaped.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Agnes brightened as she hung up the phone. She picked up the phone book and wrote down the number of the four TV stations she found. She dialed the first one, and the receptionist put her through to the station manager. She talked to him for a few minutes, but all he would tell her is to speak to the police. She didn’t get the address for the crime scene. She had better luck when she called the second number, however, because she told the receptionist she was the detective’s sister and she simply had to see her brother in his time of grief. She wrote the address while Mark perused the phone book for a street map.

  “I have a better map than that,” Adam said. “They sent me a street map of the town when I sent for information on the University of West Virginia.”

  “Where is it?”

  “I have it in my suitcase. I’ll get it.”

  After Adam spread the map out on the bed, all three of them tried to find the location Agnes had been given. They found the park quickly and then Mark traced the route with his finger that they would need to take from the hotel. “Is everybody ready to go?”

  “Are you sure we should do this?” Adam asked tentatively.

  “Did you change your mind?” Agnes asked almost wishing she hadn’t suggested anything. But then again, if Adam could help, he should. “If yo
u don’t want to do this we won’t make you.”

  “No, I haven’t changed my mind. I want to help if I can. But, if we do this, I think the only one we should talk to about what I…we can do is the detective they showed on TV. Anybody else might think we had something to do with what happened. There’s no way to be sure he won’t but he, I think, will be our best chance. I’m just nervous about being somehow blamed.”

  “We’ll be with you to be sure that doesn’t happen,” Agnes assured Adam.”

  “I hope you can keep your word on that one. I guess we can go,” Adam said still not entirely at ease.

  They drove to the park without any wrong turns but were stopped two blocks short of the crime scene. Mark and Agnes tried to convince the officer that stopped them, Officer Collins, that they might have some information but would only give that information to the detective.

  Collins waved at a fellow officer who came over. “These people claim they have some information but will only give it to the detective they saw on TV.”

  The second officer, Hanker, glowered into the car and said, “What do you know?”

  “I didn’t say we know anything,” Mark answered, “Only that we might be able to help but only…”

  “If you don’t know anything how can you help?” Hanker cut Mark off.

  “We will only…”

  Hanker cut Mark off again. “You know this is a serious matter. We can hold you as material witnesses.”

  Mark wasn’t the least bit intimated. “Witnesses to what? We weren’t here and don’t know anything. But, if you’ll let us talk to the detective, we might be able to help.”

  “How…” Hanker stopped short. “Okay,” he said shrugging and turned to Collins. “Take them downtown. I’ll let Detective Drummond know they want to talk to him.” Turning back to Mark he said, “I can’t guarantee how long it will take Detective Drummond to meet with you. But, if that’s what you want…” he stared at Mark who nodded. “Okay then. Officer Collins will take all of you to the station.”

  When they arrived at the police station, Collins took Mark and Agnes to an interview room. He made Adam and Sarah wait on a bench in the hallway. Adam and Sarah looked at each other in confusion and apprehension wondering what was happening.