by Eric Hodges
CHAPTER 6
DINNER AT HOME
The two of them pulled up into the driveway, Bob in his shop truck and Wheeler in the VW. The house was only a couple of miles out of town but it could have been hundreds. It was a grand two story that must have had 12 bedrooms to accommodate the large families that were normal back when it was built. It had been adequately maintained by the look of the outside, but in its 100 years there had not been any visible renovation except for the probable plumbing and electrical upgrades. It was still the grand old abode of the mildly affluent land owner.
Bob waited for Wheeler to catch up and held out his closed hand. “Here, this is for you. Lee was pleased with the generator and I sure am pleased to get it back to him.”
Wheeler took the rolled up bills and said “Thanks, I’m pleased with it too.” They walked past the overgrown shrubs and ducked under the hanging branches of a willow tree, or maybe it was a pepper, Wheeler didn’t know. They used the side entrance that opened into a mud room that protected the kitchen just beyond it. Alice had pulled her hair back and rolled up her sleeves. She was putting some kind of casserole into the oven, glanced over her shoulder and turned back to the oven “Hi guys, Bob why don’t you do the honors, Wheeler, do you want wine or beer?”
“I’ll have beer, thanks” Wheeler said, standing back in the entry trying to stay out of the way. Bob wrestled the bottles out of the refrigerator and said to Wheeler “Make yourself comfortable at the table there” as he pulled out openers and glasses for them. Wheeler’s eyes roamed the oversized country kitchen from his vantage point off to the side. The whole arrangement was large enough to feed many more than just the three of them. The table at which he was sitting had five chairs that looked a bit lonely around the heavy wooden table but it was a pleasant combination of cozy and spacious.
Bob brought two bottles of beer and Alice followed him with a blush wine Bob had poured, joining Wheeler at the table. Alice began the conversation.
“So Mr. Wheeler, why is it that you have no first name, or is it only for your close friends?” She looked at him with eyes a bit too wide, a voice a bit too sexy and a grin that was slightly playful. Wheeler nearly blushed and Bob looked on with great interest.
“When I was in grade school” he began, “my buddies and I would make good bicycles out of parts that we could scrounge. Nobody could afford new ones, so we patched and combined parts to be able to ride around instead of walk. The guys thought I was the gifted one that could barter with them and get the best deal. They started calling me Wheeler Dealer and I never liked my real name. Who would name a kid Jules for heaven sakes?”
Alice gave Wheeler a compassionate smile and Bob said “I’ve never thought about whether or not I like the name Robert. I’ve been Bob from the start.” They were settling into companionable intimacy that made Wheeler feel like a welcome old friend. Wheeler’s internal urge to gain information here was growing. There was a trail that he needed to find and his bloodhound sniffer was getting anxious.
“This is a marvelous home you have here. With both of you working in town you probably don’t see much of it” Wheeler said, guessing they wouldn’t notice he had just dropped a bit of bait.
“It’s just as well; neither of us has ever cared much about farming. Our Grandpa worked it as a farm way back when but Daddy didn’t have the dirt skills or the desire to keep the farm going” Alice said. “Bob and I were just toddlers when Grandpa passed on and Daddy rented the land for someone else to farm.” Alice sipped her wine and seemed to organize the rest of the story together in her mind. “Bob and I just stayed on when Mom passed away, and kept up the rental agreements. The property is all paid for and the income does more than taxes and upkeep, such as it is, and it helps keep mom’s antique store going.”
“That all sounds like a terrific legacy you have been left” Wheeler said. “Not only an estate but an inheritance that pays dividends right now. You both have a genteel life with no worries, that is really great.” He sensed there might be something more to the story. He sipped his beer and waited.
“If only that were the case” Bob continued the narrative. “Our neighbor Walt Carter has been trying to buy us out. Nothing serious but he brings it up whenever I bump into him. His property is just on the other side of the rise from us, about a half a mile down the road.” Bob looked to be at the end of his beer and gave the request nod to Alice. She got up while Bob continued. “His property has only one well that can just supply the house with water, nothing more. He has to buy water to have any chance of farming. We have two wells that can water our 200 acres nicely, but Walt’s 500 acres take a lot of water. Just when our dad took over from grandpa, he caught Walt’s dad angle drilling into our property trying to get to our water. Dad said it nearly came to a shootout but the sheriff and land commissioners back then were able to get it all calmed down.”
Bob started on the new beer before continuing. “That was almost 40 years ago and I’m sure they don’t have any more water now than they did then. Walt just buys it and has to add it to the price of the crops.” He could now give his beer proper attention as Wheeler wondered about the water shortages and the new direction the conversation had just taken. This was an issue concerning big forces and he may have just stumbled onto the reason he was drawn to Eaton. He sipped his second beer as his mind continued down a wet path.
“Are you actually on your way somewhere” Alice said to Wheeler, pulling him out of his reverie.
“I have no real direction” Wheeler said. “I guess I’ll just wander like I’ve been doing until I get tired of it. I like the freedom and simplicity of it all.”
“How do you live?” Alice questioned politely. “I don’t mean to pry, but I’m curious, how do you handle money and pay your bills? How do you deal with the world that needs its paper trail?” She had accelerated a bit, probably because she was nervous about Wheeler’s personal life.
“I have an account at a national bank that pays any bills that get submitted. I have a debit card and credit card that I only occasionally use, and what cash I need comes out of one of thousands of ATMs. There’s not much of a paper trail.”
Alice returned to her calm self, letting the nervousness subside. “When we moved the furniture in your bus, it looked like you might be living in it, or out of it, it is rather small.” Her delivery was back to a calm, measured pace.
“My only bill is a membership at the YMCA. There are Y’s all over and they always have a gym and shower. I use their showers and an occasional hotel room, but usually I sleep in the bus parked at an all night diner, a rest stop or a truck stop. It is quite comfortable for just me. I don’t entertain much.” He spoke with a dead pan expression but there was mirth in his eyes. Bob snorted beer.
“Velcome to my Cherman palace” Bob said as he waved his arm lavishly and bowed sitting in place poking fun at Wheeler. Wheeler laughed first giving them permission and they all joined in a good chuckle.
“You won’t have to use it tonight” Alice said, using her best motherly tone, “We have nine spare bedrooms and you will only need one. And besides, we don’t need a driveway guard here.” Wheeler wondered if she was picking up on a possible future like he did sometimes. It forked his thinking into water and defense. Was something coming?
“Thank you, that is very kind and I appreciate it” he replied a bit timidly.
“I bet our dinner is getting close” Alice said as she reached over to the oven to check on it. “I didn’t even ask, do you like tuna casserole Wheeler?”
“Home cooked and smelling like that? You bet I like it. What can I do to help?” Wheeler started to get up.
“Just sit back down and stay out of my way. I’ll just pull it out and dinner is served.”
Dinner was sumptuous and simple. Alice had heated some crusty rolls, served them with a salad and a boldly spiced tuna casserole that hinted of a Mediterranean flavor that balanced the pasta baked in it. She pulled out a cherry pie that was
only half there and sliced off wedges for them, serving it with coffee for desert.
“Every bit of dinner was delightful, Alice, thanks.” Wheeler was well satisfied and Alice beamed.
All of them rose to bus dishes as Bob said “Just put the dishes here on the counter and I will do the needful. We bought an industrial strength dishwasher that can take the enamel off so there’s not much to this. Why don’t you get your stuff out of the VW and I’ll show you to a room.”
“Thanks Bob, I’ll be right back.” Wheeler went out into the cool evening, ducked under the low tree and walked around to the front of the house, away from the VW. He was drawn to the center of what used to be an expansive lawn, midway between the house and the access road, twenty feet from the driveway. He just stared, rotating his head around to take in the entire property. He was looking intently but he was trying to see events. Yes, he thought, the next one will be right here. He did not know what would be there but he was certain this was the place. It jumped out at him and his attention was riveted to a bland square of sad brown grass, certain he found the spot.
He spun on his heels and quickly went to the bushes close to the house, looking back and forth for the garden hose that he knew had to be there. When he found it, he pulled the end out to the small spot of grass that seemed to waving at him saying ‘Over here, over here.’ He chuckled at the help he was getting and went back to the faucet, turning it on to a fast drip. He hoped it wouldn’t be noticed with the dishwasher going.
He stopped at the VW on his way back to the kitchen and let himself back in carrying a small bundle under his arm. Mission accomplished. The kitchen betrayed only the aroma left from dinner and Bob was hanging a towel on a hook while Alice sat at the table, finishing her coffee.
“We’re up pretty early so I’ll just show you the room now, if that’s okay?” Bob seemed reluctant to force a schedule.
“Sound good to me” Wheeler said, “I’m ready now, it’s been a long day.”
Wheeler woke with a start to the sound of a V8 blatting through loud mufflers. According to the clock in his head it was 3:30 in the morning and very dark. The engine was revving up, then down, over and over. The pieces slammed together in his head and he bolted out of bed, patting around in the dark to find his pants. He rushed to the window buttoning his pants in time to see a black pickup truck screaming its engine trying to get out of the swamp he made in the yard after dinner. My little trap caught a bug, he thought, as he grabbed his shirt and ran out of the bedroom.
He met Bob in the living room and followed him to the front door just in time for the two of them to see the truck throw grass at the edge of the lawn and then dirt from the driveway as it screamed off of the property.
“What the hell was that?” Bob said as Alice joined them on the front porch.
“Was that Pea-Brain, I mean Stevie? That little worm! What is he trying to do?”
“Other than digging up your yard, I don’t think he did much.” To Wheeler, this was under control. To the two Keefers, this was assault into the home territory. They were correct, of course, but this was just an opening volley, the real game had barely started. Wheeler’s internal antennas were on high alert, trying to pick out the next steps in this strange saga. That part of the book was not open to him yet but what was there was a research project for tomorrow. There was something he had to know, there was a missing piece of this puzzle that he had to have before the next steps could be planned.
“Let’s call the sheriff and send him over to the Carter’s place to arrest little Stevie!” Bob was angry and belligerent that would not help the situation.
“Hold on Bob, this is not even as serious as the antique store earlier today” Wheeler said, trying to calm him down. “All he really did was dig up your yard a little bit. Whatever he really had planned, if he had anything planned, never happened.” He paused to see if Bob was relaxing. He was, a little bit, but he looked at Wheeler with the remnants of a good huff.
“I really do not like this” Alice said, “I don’t like it a bit.” She looked scared. “We should call the sheriff, what if he comes back?”
“After the scare he got getting his truck stuck” Wheeler said with an air of authority he didn’t feel “I think he’ll be hiding out, panting and riding on an adrenaline rush for quite a while. We’ll be safe tonight.” He paused to let their adrenaline calm down. He would not share his concern for the future.
“We might as well just go back to bed” Bob said with resignation. They all trudged back to their rooms for the rest of the short night. Wheeler could not get rid of the coincidences involving the Carters that kept the attraction of more sleep away. The old water problem, Steve seeming to harass Alice, Jake trying to break into his VW and now Steve again, digging trenches in the front yard, all chased each other around in Wheeler's head. There had to be a story behind it and tomorrow, the research would begin.
