The Saga, Part 9 -- Friends at Last!
Danny Laine put me in my car, shaking his head as I added my purse to the stack on the briefcase, and firmly shooed me away to the hotel for food and rest. By this time, I was famished, so I stopped at the gas station to get gas, and to hopefully find something to eat. All they had were candy bars, so I bought a couple, got a cup of coffee and a small box of cigars, and paid for the gas.
When I got to the hotel, and walked through the lobby dragging my purse, briefcase, and carry-on, the unhelpful girl at the desk stared at me. I left a little trail of mud bits, leaves, and twigs behind as I walked. It didn't matter. I was so tired; all I wanted was a shower and sleep. I had eaten the candy bars on the way there, sipping the hot coffee, so food wasn't an immediate problem, but rest was. I got to the room, scaring the cockroaches away again, and looked in the mirror.
No wonder Danny believed the police's story of my wild night! I looked like the survivor of a massacre! My hair and scalp was caked with blood, and leaves and twigs were stuck in my hair. My coat was a sodden, muddy mess, with a splash of blood down the front and on the cuffs, my clothes covered with mud, leaves, and stick-tights, but my face I'm one of those people that need a little make up to look decent, and, tired as I was, I had that wild-eyed look of someone who had had a deathly fright. No matter. I climbed in the shower, dumping my clothes in the bathroom in a tangle, ( Norman Bates, if you're in here, just make it quick! ), and found that no matter which of the un-marked faucets I turned, there was no hot water. Piffle. At least the water isn't iced cold.
I shampooed my hair and cleaned up as quickly as possible, got out, and climbed between the sheets, shivering with cold. If there are cockroaches in this bed, I thought, I hope they are warm ones. I closed my eyes and fell fast asleep.
Six hours later, I awoke with a snap! Was it time for another measurement? 2 pm. I had told Danny Laine that I was going to be there at 3, so I needed to hurry. I got dressed in clean clothes, rolled my hair, (I was still at that stage in life where I never appeared in public without make up and rolled hair), and found that I was absolutely famished. Almost-ready-to-eat-those-cockroaches famished. At least they would be protein... I desperately needed protein!
Downstairs at the desk, I asked the lady, "Are there any grocery stores here?" She stared at me blankly. "Ma'am," I said slowly and clearly, "Excuse me. Is there a place nearby where I can shop for groceries?"
She shrugged her shoulders and looked puzzled. They really need, I thought as I turned away in defeat, to get someone at the front desk that knows how to deal with people.
I walked the opposite way of the Greek restaurant because I didn't want them to see me looking so frazzled, and after three blocks, all I had found was a butcher. Peering in the doorway, the only real food that I saw, other than sausages, were three dead chickens, plucked, but still whole, hanging by their necks, their feet dangling. As hungry as I was, an uncooked chicken with the head and feet still attached, was just not it.
My stomach growled. OK, I'll ask Fred or the guys at the well field. Maybe they knew where to get something to eat. I drove out to the well field, familiar, now, with the roads, looking for a grocery, a sandwich place, a drug store, anything, and driving, which is hard to do when sitting on top of a purse and a briefcase,e and watching traffic. Not one fast food place presented itself. Not one convenience store, nor grocery, nor anything that remotely looked like quick food, or even slow food. Even if I could have parked the monster car, there was no place to go. Where did these people eat? I thought. The city that never sleeps obviously never eats, either.
I drove up the lane to the wells and a water company truck was parked at Well #2, so I got out and went to the door. No one there, so they must be up the hill with the bramble. I climbed up the hill to the monitoring well, and there was Fred, taking a measurement. He sketched a wave and wrote the measurement down. "How is your head?"
"My head?" I asked.
He pointed to the bramble, where a long hank of reddish-blonde hair hung, tangled around a thorn. "In a bit of a hurry, were you?"
I laughed and said, "There was an owl screeching at me and I thought someone was being murdered."
He gave me a long look, and asked, "Are you feeling better? Danny wants to know when you get here."
"I'm fine, thank you, just hungry," I said. "Fred, what happened with the police and Danny?"
Fred chuckled, and said, "Chief O'Malley lost an election to Danny at the Sons of Ireland and wanted to get even, so he called Danny, at home this morning. Woke him up screaming about how you had faced down 'the friends' and were out here protecting his property while he was safe and warm in bed. Sally, Danny's wife, heard the ruckus and gave him all kinds of trouble for leaving you out here by yourself, especially since you are from out of town. The police said that you had hidden from some punks in the trunk of your car. They said you were completely hysterical when they got here-- they couldn't understand a word you said. They said if it happened again, they were calling the head office and getting him fired. They said that if Danny wanted police protection of his workers, they would charge him time and a half!"
He looked closely at me, "I didn't believe him until we got here this morning. You had blood running down your face, and all over your coat. None of the guys would come out here at night by themselves, and they were ready to fight him after they saw you."
"What do you mean, Fred?" I asked. "I don't understand."
Fred smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, "No one ever brings the guys food."
"Oh." I could see why no one ever brought them food, there wasn't anything to bring but dead chickens, but I doubted that anyone wanted to tangle with Danny over anything. Fred called Danny on the radio and we finished up the measurements and samples. As we were finishing, Danny roared up the drive, spewing gravel.
"Marsha!" Danny called as he got out of the car. Somehow, during the day, I had graduated from 'girrul'. "Ye're lookin' a bit better for ye' rest." He looked closely at my head and face, "Aire ye doin' well this fine afternoon?"
"Danny, thank you, I'm just ducky," I said, shaking his hand. Danny held my hand gently with both hands, and I said, "I'm just a bit hungry, Danny. Is there a restaurant nearby where I can get something to eat? I couldn't find anything last night."
Danny nodded, and said, "Charlie will be comin' by, and Fred can take ye somewhere for a bite."
I thanked him, looked up in his blue eyes, and said, "Danny?" He nodded and I said, "Thank you for coming this morning. I'm sorry I caused so much trouble."
Danny clucked and shook his head. I said, "Danny, there is something you don't know." He cocked his head, a confident, crafty, redheaded monkey with a kind heartif forced. I said, "I'm part Irish, too, you know. A lot of my family came from Ireland, England and Scotland. The next town over from my great-great-grandparents land is named Sligo. Who knows, maybe we're related!" I patted his hand, "Anyway, maybe the luck o' the Irish covers me, too!"
Danny threw back his head and laughed, "Weel, Marsha, I knew ye' were o' the Green! Only a hard-headed Irishman would ha' talked back to me the way ye' did that first mornin'and only an Irishman would ha' stood up to 'the friends'. Ye've got guts, girrul, I'll gi' ye that. Don't worry, dear, ye're no trouble a' tall. I'm the hard headed Irishman that didn't listen t' ye. I should ha' known ye'd stay out here t' do ye're job. Ye're like me, girrul, nice when you kin be and tough when ye cain't."
We laughed together in the sunshine, friends at last. "Charlie will be here soon, dear, and Fred will show ye some supper. Charlie will take good care o' ye, girrul, and not let anyone bother you." He patted my hand one last time, "I'd best be gettin' home t' Sally, she'll be wantin' t' know ye've forgave me."
I waved as he left and he nodded, gettin' home t' Sally, my unseen friend.
Thanks for coming by!
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Every hotel I ever stayed in, during my field work days, had little trails of mud, leaves, and either corn stalks, soybean leaves, or some kind of twigs on their carpet, thanks to me... I used to take off my boots when I got to the door, but I still managed to shed junk, all over the floor. Fortunately, I loved to make 'mud pies' as a kid!
I hope you enjoy!
Well, you went to work hungry, but at least you not only made some peace with the owner, you got a good dinner out of the deal!
Poor Marsha! You had no idea that you were really in the middle of no where. You would have had to driven miles the other way to find good eats. And what is up with that roach hotel? $90 in 1980 money is a fortune for a roach infested nasty attitude. Come back to NY and I'll show you a good time and you will really see NYC!
See, I told you you made friends!
They were REALLY good to me! I truly loved them, and it nearly broke my heart to leave... We just had to get to know each other. The language difficulties were significant. But, you know something? The language of the heart is universal.
(((((Dowser))))))
Perrie, I was so caught up in the idea that NYC was one huge city, it never dawned on me until you told me that it was more country. Had I had any idea, it would have been so much easier to survive! As it was, I could find little food, and had little or no time to find any. They just expected me to know...
Another thing-- I was terrified of getting lost! I was having such communication difficulties, I was afraid to venture too far from the beaten path. What if I got lost and wandered around forever? This sounds silly, but I was fine out in the wilds of Ky or In, just not in the city. And, despite all these guts I supposedly had, I was really pretty timid.
Don't you worry, I loved it there, and have longed for years to return! Your explanations are finally answering all the questions I've had for 28/29 years... I just felt stupid. I knew there were answers out there-- I just couldn't figure them out...
Everyone I worked with became a close friend, and I've longed to see them all these years.
I'm so glad you're here, dear friend!
((((((((((((((crazyrooster))))))))))))
Like a bad penny, I'm back! My servers at the office went down, and after spending way too much money, I am finally able to be back on line. Will spend a few days trying to figure out things here and thenI will post more. Good to see quite a few of the familiar names here....
(((((((((((crazyrooster)))))))))))) I'm so very glad to see you!
It is good to be here, seems to be a less hostile environment. Hope you are doing well over on the dark side (NV), you should have read some of the ugly e-mails that I received from a few people over there about my comments. Have a great night...
Pay them no nevermind. That is why we have a delete button.
I'm glad you're here, and I think you'll enjoy it here! I surely do!
And yes, I actually had a rather "nice" discussion with someone who has gotten on my nerves for years... But then, it was time to leave. Sigh!
I hate it when someone tries to tell you the sky is actually green, when you know it is blue, the evidence shows that it is blue, and everyone else sees it as blue...
Perhaps I need to pray for patience.