As the Eagle Flies. J. D. Oliver

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ card in there.”

      “Get them out, but leave the bag; we’ll buy you anything you need. I’ll jimmy the door lock, so it will look like someone broke in. But how do we know someone won’t break in before they get out of jail anyway?”

      As we were walking back to the truck, Faith asked Rosie, “Just how old are you?”

      “I’m twelve, I’ll be thirteen in December.”

      “Only twelve, you seem much older than that, I guess you’ve led a hard life. How long ago did your parents die?” Faith asked.

      “Five years ago, they were both orphans themselves, so we didn’t have any relatives; that I knew of anyway.”

      “Well, I guess that’s why you seem much older. Experience wise, you’re like in your twenty’s. What about schooling, what grade are you in?”

      “I don’t know, I haven’t gone very much. But I do a lot of reading. And I have been taking some courses on the computer, I’m pretty smart, I guess.” Rosie said.

      We arrived at the truck and right away I seen we had a problem. The cab of a 1950 Ford Pickup, especially with a built in car seat, was not big enough for the four of us.

      I stood there scratching my head, Faith spoke up, “you know I never really liked this truck anyway. But I know who does, the man who did most of the work on it has a shop just a few streets over. When Teddy died he tried to buy it from me, but at that time I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe he has something bigger? Should we go see?”

      “Yeah, I guess so.” I said, “But maybe Rosie can sit on your lap, if it’s just a short way?” We put Alita in her seat, and we all piled in, Faith and Rosie were a little cramped, but they’d live.

      His shop was behind a southwest style house with a lot of trees around it. As we pulled into his driveway and shut it off, he came out of the shop; he must of heard us. We all got out, he recognized Faith right away. “Hey Faith, you ready to sell me that truck, looks like you need more room?” He said. He was young man, a little older than me, say in his thirties.

      “Yes, Hector I am,” Faith said, then added, “but not just sell, I would like to trade for something bigger but with all of the trimmings.”

       “I have just the vehicle for you, a new Durango I just reworked, the same goodies that your truck has. I’ll trade you for just 5,000 difference.”

      “5,000 huh? Yeah, but you see, mine’s a classic, the Durango is just a new truck, a dime a dozen. I’ll tell you what, I know how bad you want this truck. I’ll trade for 3,000 difference, how’s that?” Faith said.

      “Alright, if you wasn’t Teddy’s widow, I wouldn’t do it. But cash, no credit cards.” Hector said.

      Faith looked at me, “Sweetheart, will you pay him? I don’t have that much cash on me.”

      “Yeah, no problem.” I said, as I pulled out my billfold and counted out 3,000. I know why she traded him down, she knew I only had 3,000 in cash with me. Faith handed Hector the money, then said,

      “Hector, this is my husband, Clay Bronson. This is Rosie O’Claire a new friend of ours. I assume you have the title for this vehicle?”

      “Sure, and already notarized. What about yours?”

      “It’s in the cubby hole, I’ll sign it.” And she got it out and did the same. Then we changed our stuff over. He was right about one thing; the Durango had a child car seat.

      “Oh yeah, that switch on the dash turns on the turbo-charger, be careful with it; make sure you have plenty of room ahead before you hit it. Otherwise on cruising speed it only runs on four cylinders, it kicks up to all eight when you give it a little gas. It even has a full tank of gas; I suppose yours is on empty.” Hector said with a grin.

      “You’re wrong about that, its full, I don’t let my gas tanks get below the half way mark, that way you’ll never run out of gas,” I said.

      As we left, Faith looked back, a little wistful, I thought. I said, “We didn’t have to trade your truck, we could of just paid cash for this vehicle.”

      “No, that’s fine. It belonged to Teddy. A person’s car is very personal, it’s something like a dog, it should only belong to one person. With Teddy I was a blond, now I’m back to my normal hair color. With you I want everything to be new.” Faith said.

      “Honey, that’s fine, but there is no way that you can cut all of your ties to the past. For instance, Felicia. She’s Alita’s Grandmother, that’s a fact that you cannot change.”

      “I know that, it’s just the more personal stuff, like my hair and vehicle. I don’t want anything to stand between us.” Faith said.

      Rosie spoke up from the back seat. “You were married before?” She asked.

      “Yes Rosie, I was.” Faith said, “my first husband and Alita’s Grandfather were killed in plane crash over a year ago. Clay and I have only been married for a short while. And also Clay’s father, married my ex-mother-in-law.”

      I looked in the rear view mirror at Rosie, then said to Faith, “Do you think the boutique at the Hotel will have clothes to fit Rosie?”

      “Yes, I know they have. The fancy kind anyway. For jeans and boots, we’ll probably have to shop elsewhere. How about it Rosie, are you up for new wardrobe?”

      “Oh yes, but I don’t want to be any trouble, just the basics would be fine.” Rosie said as she handed Alita her Teddy Bear. Alita giggled at her, Rosie’s smile grew wide on her face. I asked her,

      “Do you like kids?”

      “Oh yes, I used to baby sit them at the orphanage. How old is Alita?”

      “Just a little over six months, we are just starting to feed her baby food, do you think she looks like Clay?”

      “Yes, remarkably so, but he’s not her father, is he?” Rosie said.

      “No, he’s not. But when anybody asks, just tell them that he is, because that’s the truth, now.” Faith said.

      “I wish she was my sister.” Rosie said, as she smoothed Alita’s hair.

      “Well, you have our permission to say that she is, if you want to.” Faith said.

      We arrived back at the Hotel/Motel, whatever you wanted to call it. On our way in I stopped at the desk. “We are going to have to have a bigger room, our daughter just arrived from home. Do you have a suite with two bedrooms?” I asked.

      “Yes, it costs a lot more, double to what you’re paying now, is that alright?”

      “Sure, just put it on the same card that you already have, do you have someone to help us move our stuff?”

      “Yes,” she said, then she rang her bell and boy appeared and accompanied us to our old room. We opened the door to find a mess. Someone had rifled it. We backed out.

      And called Cort.

      The СКАЧАТЬ