Time-Travel Duo

by James Paddock

  “You had amnesia?” Danny said.

  “Yes. Sort of.”

  “She couldn’t remember where she lived or anything,” Gertie inserted.

  “I’m much better now. I’m... ah... still not remembering things, but I’m feeling better. Mrs. Lamric – Ruth – was kind enough to let me stay in her home until I get things figured out.”

  “Oh! That’s nice,” Gertie said.

  Anne was glad the conversation turned away from the wood artist thing. Now she needed to get it turned away from her amnesia. “You’ve lots of books. Who reads them?”

  “They do,” Gertie said, pointing to Danny and all the children. “I don’t read very good. Never learned. But Danny say all children should learns to read. So he makes them reads every day.”

  “I told Gertie she should learn with Heather,” Danny said.

  Gertie shrugged. “I try but... I’m too old.”

  “Nonsense,” Anne said. “You’re never too old to learn to read.”

  “I gots Danny to tell me what’s important to knows.”

  “What if something happens to Danny?” Ruth said.

  “My Danny is healthy. What could happen to him?”

  “That’s what I thought too. Then my husband’s heart quit and I was left with two children. And I wasn’t much older than you are now. If I didn’t know how to read and if he hadn’t taught me everything he knew, what would I have done? If Danny’s heart quit tomorrow, what would you do?”

  “I know how to farm,” Gertie argued. “Danny learned me how to do all that. I’m a strong woman.”

  Ruth started to say something more but Anne put her hand on her arm. “Yes you are, Gertie. I think you would do all right if something happened to Danny. Probably better than I would, even with having to raise six children at the same time. Besides, you’re right. He is as healthy as a horse. I’m sure he has a good 40 years left in him.”

  There was a long silence. It was Charlie who broke it. “Where are your handcuffs?”

  Everyone looked at James who squinted his eyes and wrinkled his brow. “Lucky for you I left them at home.” Charlie’s eyes widened and everyone laughed.

  “It looks like the rain has stopped,” Ruth said.

  “Maybe we should be heading back.” Anne pushed herself away from the table. “The soup was wonderful.”

  “So was the fire,” James said.

  “You may all be excused,” Gertie announced to the children.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Sarah said in the same soft voice as her littlest sister, and then went up the stairs.

  “It was nice meeting you,” Heather whispered and then followed after her sister. The others left quietly, except Charlie who remained while the adults chatted for another ten minutes.

  Outside, the clouds had cleared and the humidity was rising. James opened the car doors for his mother and Anne, but before Anne got in she pointed down the road to where a building stood, about a quarter mile.

  “What’s that cabin?”

  “My father built that as well,” Danny explained. “It was for his mother, my grandmother, after Granddad passed away. She refused to live with us. I wasn’t but Charlie’s age. ‘I need my privacy, and so do you!’ she would say, so Dad built her a house as far away as he could and still be able to see her. We own all the land right up to the graveyard.”

  “So she lives there now?” Anne asked.

  “No. She died a few years back. It’s empty now. During harvest I had a worker living there but he’s gone now. Won’t be anyone in there until spring, earliest.”

  Anne nodded her head, thanked them both again and got in.

  As they turned onto Monck’s Corner Road, Anne looked back at the grave marker of Reverend Nelson until it disappeared from sight and then continued to watch the receding dirt road. She didn’t like leaving when she had come so close.

  “We’ll come back on Tuesday,” Ruth said.

  Anne turned forward to her friend. “Thank you.” She pulled Elizabeth in close to her, hummed the nursery rhyme her mother often sang to her, and cried.

  Chapter 39

  Sunday Evening ~ September 12, 1943

  “The letter was from Mrs. Waring’s husband and is extremely personal.”

  “We were in the middle of a breaking situation, James, and you just walked out.”

  “Anne has had amnesia and Doctor Bronson has been treating her. The letter from her husband contained all the answers, and was addressed to her. Why Bronson had it, how he got it, and why he kept it from her is certainly a mystery. I’ve read it and can guarantee it has nothing to do with his being a spy.”

  “Nonetheless, letter or no letter, you disappeared on me. And instead of delivering the letter to Mrs. Waring, you went to Bronson’s house and tried breaking down the door, and then left with a woman.”

  “That was Mrs. Waring.”

  “Well, that’s the report I got from a neighbor. You disregarded procedure and thus gave Bronson warning. By the time we raided the place there was nothing.”

  “He was long gone before I got there.”

  “How could you possibly have known that?”

  “Because Mrs. Waring had an appointment with him on Friday, her regular scheduled session at his house. He wasn’t home. She checked back Saturday and then went by the hospital Saturday night. The nurse she talked to was very concerned because he hadn’t shown up in three days. Obviously, he took off as soon as he discovered he had been robbed.”

  Eddie gave James a long look. “But, did you know that before you threw yourself against his door?”

  James shook his head.

  “So, what in the hell were you doing?”

  James breathed deep and then admitted his concern for Anne, that after reading the letter he felt it urgent to get it to her. “It was stupid, Eddie. I don’t know what came over me when mom told me she had gone down to Bronson’s to see if he was home yet. I just panicked over nothing. Granted, he’s a spy, but why should I have thought she was suddenly in danger by him?”

  James dropped his head. “I’m sorry, Eddie.”

  Eddie leaned back against the car. His voice softened. “It appears no harm was done. I’ve managed to cover your ass, told the chief you got a bad stomach. He doesn’t know you went to Bronson’s home. But I’ll tell you again, just like I did back in July, you’re too close to this. Your judgment about Anne Waring is clouded, and it’s affecting your duties.”

  James nodded.

  “Where is her husband?”

  “Can’t tell you.”

  “Why.”

  “He’s involved in a top-secret government project.”

  “But you can’t even say where he is.”

  “No. His location is just as secret as the project. That’s why Bronson had the letter. Somehow he intercepted it before it got to Anne. Maybe he was asked to deliver it to her by someone who didn’t know he was something besides a doctor. Maybe he just saw it sitting somewhere and picked it up out of curiosity. However he got it, he read it, and figured out what the project is. Maybe he thinks it’s something that could be important to Germany’s war effort. I know what the project is and cannot imagine what importance it would be.

  “My speculation is that he’s been using Anne’s amnesia to try and pull more information from her to try and find some importance. Did you know that he has been recording the sessions with her?”

  “Recording. What do you mean by that?”

  “On records like you play on your RCA. He has a machine that actually cuts her voice onto the record so he can play it back as often as he wants.”

  “No shit. How can you tell me, James, that this has nothing to do with his being a spy, when he’s going to all this trouble to get information from her? Are you sure he isn’t just sweet on her?”

  “No. Once Anne read the letter, all her memory came back. Everything. She says that from the questions he asked during their sessions, especially once he started recording, she knows
exactly what he was after.”

  “And what is that?”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me.”

  Eddie pushed away from the car, walked a few paces, and turned around to look at James sitting on the running board. “Let me see if I have the entire picture. Mrs. Waring, with child but without husband because he is off in some secret location doing some secret thing, is discovered at a navy barracks. She has no idea how she got there. Nor can she remember where her husband is or how to find him. A day later a bag shows up in the same Navy barracks full of her personal effects. Oh, in the meanwhile she gives birth. It also seems to me there’s a lot of talk about her home being in a place called Goose Creek. Whatever happened to that?”

  James didn’t answer.

  “Must have been part of her amnesia. So, Mrs. Lamric and her soft heart takes her in when she leaves the hospital and all questions settle with the dust, except for one small problem. One Charleston Police Officer, James Lamric, falls head over heels with this strange woman living in his house. For nearly two months she drives him crazy.

  “Let me back up. Some time while in the hospital, we assume, Mister Waring sends a personal letter – very personal according to the smitten police officer – to his wife, but somehow her doctor and covert German spy intercepts it. There’s something in this letter that prompts the good doctor spy to not only keep it, but to also find creative ways to meet regularly with his patient after she has been discharged. Not only that, he talks her into recording their sessions on some kind of fancy machine. He asks her strange questions, but she will not tell her police officer friend what they are.

  “Then the good doctor spy has the unfortunate bad luck of being paid a visit by a common thief who gets away with his money, his code book, and Mrs. Waring’s letter. Not knowing what the doctor’s reaction was, but chancing a fairly accurate guess, we can assume the doctor packed everything he could into his doctor spy car and raced out of town, for fear that the thief will realize what he has and turn it over to the police or military.

  “Our thief, meanwhile, has no idea the importance of what he stole and throws the code book and letter into the trash, then squirrels away the funny money. Instead of hoofing it on to his dream in Florida with his bankroll, the thief makes the unfortunate decision to make one more hit. Enter again Officer Lamric who nabs him exiting the establishment of Gee Gee’s and with the assistance of his friend and fellow officer, discovers the letter and the codebook.

  “Officer Lamric, who wants only to string the thief up by his toes and beat the information out of him, instead stuffs him with donuts until he spills everything. The source of the letter, he finds out, is one Doctor Nathaniel Bronson. A minor side-note – he discovers that the doctor is also the source of the codebook and a stash of German money, so we hang the word spy on him. Officer Lamric is more concerned over the letter, and when his fellow officer suggests there may be a relationship between Doctor Spy and the object of his desire he gets hot under the collar and reads the letter, which previously he said was addressed to Anne Waring and for her eyes only

  “Whatever is in this letter is extremely personal, says he, so personal that when he runs home to deliver it to her and finds she has gone to the doctor’s residence, he finds it necessary to break down the doctor’s door.

  “I didn’t actually break it down.”

  “True, but you did raise enough racket to attract the attention of most people living south of Broad. You are rescued by none other than Anne Waring herself who wasn’t in the house, but just down the street watching this odd event. Together they walk away and are not heard from for the remainder of the day.”

  “Does that pretty much cover it?”

  James nodded.

  “I hope your stomach problem is better because that’s what I told the chief. He doesn’t know about you trying to assault Bronson’s front door.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Tomorrow morning we need to deliver what we have on Bronson to the military.”

  “I know the shipyard commander,” James said. “We can pay him a visit.”

  “Not we, James. You and the chief. That way you can answer any questions he has directly; look him in the eye and cover your own ass.”

  James lifted himself off the running board. “Not a problem, Eddie.” He placed his hand on his shoulder. “I really do appreciate this. If you knew what I know, you would completely understand why I can’t divulge anything else.”

  “What are friends for?”

  “I’ve got to get some sleep. I just did the equivalent of an all-nighter. Luckily I’m not on duty tonight?”

  Eddie pulled away and James turned to find his mother opening the door.

  “Phone call, James. It’s Chief Ortmann.”

  James took a deep breath and went to the phone.

  “How are you feeling, James?” the chief asked.

  “Much better, Sir. Sorry about...”

  “No big deal. Officer Hanson did a great job without you. That’s why we’re a team. I just finished speaking with Admiral Harris the shipyard commander. He wants that codebook post haste so that he can pass it on to the appropriate people. This could be extremely important to Naval Operations. I’m meeting with him in thirty minutes and seeing as you know him as well as this Doctor Bronson personally, and you’re the one who made the collar on the thief, I want you with me.”

  James forced the weariness out of his voice and said, “Yes, Sir.”

  “I’ll pick you up in ten minutes. And James, look sharp.”

  Look sharp in ten minutes! James thought as he dragged himself up the stairs.

  The sailor at the gate saluted and then waved them through after making a phone call to verify their appointment and then giving directions.

  “I’m surprised at how busy this place is on a Sunday night,” James said.

  “Our boys are out there fighting seven days a week. The least we can do is support them seven days a week, don’t you think?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Fifty-nine days from keel laying to the launching. Can you imagine that, James? How can they build a war ship in fifty-nine days? Unbelievable.”

  “Yes, Sir. Unbelievable.”

  “And not just one, remember. Together, USS Bryant and the USS Grant were both finished in fifty-nine days.”

  “Yes, Sir. Truly amazing.”

  Rear Admiral Wilson Harris’ office sat on the fifth floor and overlooked the dry docks and piers of the shipyard. From there he could observe the progress on at least a dozen different projects at one time.

  “25,000 people!” Chief Ortmann said after turning away from the window. “That’s one hell of a responsibility, Admiral.”

  “It is, Chief, but I have a top notch staff. I just sit up here and sign things and make sure the money keeps coming from Washington.” He turned toward James. “It’s wonderful to see you again, Officer Lamric. My daughter was just telling some friends the other day how you saved her husband’s life. And now you’ve done it again. You may have saved a lot more lives.”

  “I don’t know about that, Admiral. Nathaniel Bronson, the spy, is still on the loose.”

  “True, but the code book is much more important. First, he can do little without it unless he has some kind of backup. Most likely he used it to communicate with a U-boat, so for a time, hopefully, he has been made ineffective. Second, we have been intercepting messages all along but have not been able to decipher them. This may be the key, not only in the Naval theatre, but also in the European and African theatres. We’re not talking a few lives here. We are talking thousands, maybe tens of thousand, and a shortening of the war.”

  There was a long silence while the two police officers digested the admiral’s words.

  “So,” the chief said, “where does it go from here?”

  “A team has been dispatched from Norfolk, Virginia. They’re en route as we speak, and should be here in a few hours. You can be assured there will be little tim
e wasted. They wanted me to personally fly it up there but I wouldn’t have a plane available until early morning, so they sent their own. They’ll start work on it before they’re off the ground heading back. This discovery has reached ears at the highest level. The capture of this guy is the next priority. We already have people investigating him, trying to find out were he came from, how he managed to work his way right into our midst without being detected.”

  “He looks as American as you and me,” James said. “The last person I would have guessed.”

  “How well did you know him?”

  “He was my mother’s house-guest’s doctor. He was treating her for amnesia and made numerous house calls. Since I work the night shift I sleep during the day, but he was often meeting with her about the time I awoke. I spoke directly with him very little, but he seemed like a pretty good doctor and individual.”

  “Do you know if he had any family or friends?”

  “No, I don’t. I know he lived alone. That’s about it.”

  “I’ve already had people up at the hospital checking on him,” the chief said. “They actually had a photograph. I was going to let the newspaper run the story with his photo in tomorrow’s News and Courier, but thought I’d clear that with you first.”

  Admiral Harris turned with his chair and gazed across the dry docks for a time. When he turned around he said, “Thank you for consulting me. Yes, go ahead and let it run. I doubt it’ll hurt anything. Maybe we can flush him out. As a matter of fact, tell Franklin, the managing editor, that I want it run on the front page.”

  “I’ll certainly do that,” Chief Ortmann said.

  Admiral Harris rose from his chair and came around his desk. “I guess that concludes it. Chief Ortmann, it was a great pleasure meeting you. Officer Lamric, once again I’m impressed by your service to your community and your country. Now, I’ve got to run home for a quick late dinner and then be at the airport to meet the Norfolk Team.”

  Outside they shook hands once more. The admiral walked to a car, returned the salute of a sailor holding the door, and got in.

  “Good man,” the chief said.