The Saga, Part 8 -- 'Twas the Luck o' the Irish That Saved Me!
It was just after 11 pm, and I had been on the job for 13 hours, after two nights fitful sleep with the cockroaches, and had a long way to go. Tired as I was, I had to go take another round of measurements. I slowly walked and drove through the measurements and samples and drove back to Well #1 to continue to keep 'watch'.
I was still a little 'jumpy', but the owl had stopped screeching, so that helped a little. My heart had finally settled down to its normal moorings, and the trembling had stopped, so I rested in the car for a while.
Most pumping tests at night were like this, but I'd never been alone before. I always had a helper to trade off with on the schedule. Afraid to fall asleep for fear I would either miss a measurement, have to flee from "The Mob" at a moments notice, or awaken to three menacing street punks, I sat up in the car and turned on the radio.
I had forgotten that the car had a radio! After fiddling with the knobs, I finally found a decent station, and lay back in the driver's seat, the doors locked, just listening to the music. There were stars in the sky, and, if I could just rest a bit, it was a lovely area. Just as I was getting settled, my watch beeped at me, and it was time to go again.
I left the radio on, got out of the car and walked into Well #1, took a measurement and lowered the thief into the well to collect a sample, and, all at once, I noticed a big black car in the lane. They're BACK. I dropped the line and slipped out the door to the well house. I crouched behind the well house, near a black sticker bush, hoping the darkness would cover me. I had made too much noise clawing my way through the woods last time, and I only hoped that no one could see me. Peeking around the edge of the building, I saw not one, but two cars in the lane, and four men, all in big hats, getting out of the cars.
Two of the big hats walked up to the well house and peered in. They saw a well with a line in it, the reel of the well probe, and a lot of chemical analysis reagent on the floor in bottles. I pressed up against the cinder block, hidden by the stickery bush, and tried to breathe quietly though my mouth, my heart thudding again. They knew I was here; the radio was playing in the car. What would they do if they found me? Would this night ever be over? I looked over and saw a man in a black overcoat and a big hat, standing not 10 feet from me behind the well house, and froze. Somehow, the man did not see me, and turned and walked back to the car. Everyone got into the cars and drove away, silently.
By this time, I was nearly hysterical. I sat on the stoop of the well house and shook and shivered, ready to run, as fast as my legs would carry me, anywhere I could think of that wasn't here. I must have sat there for a while, because as I was just beginning to calm down, again, another car pulled into the lane. Only this car wasn't black, it was a lighter color, and had writing on the side of it. I jumped up, ready to run, but the car had lights on the top. It was the police!
Alleluia! Police! I'm saved, I'm saved! I ran toward their car, my arms up in the air in joy, and one of the policemen got out of his car, opened his door and crouched behind it. I could see the glint of a handgun. I stopped in my tracks. They were holding a gun on me. Something was terribly wrong.
A voice said, "Put your hands behind your head and turn around." So, that is just what I did. What had I done?
The second policeman in the car got out, walked up to me, and shined his light in my face. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
I am afraid at this point that I broke into a southern gibberish, because, as I talked, the policeman shined his light in my face, on my coat to see the mud and leaves stuck to me, and back to my face. He motioned to the policeman behind me, put his gun away, and said, "All right, just slow down and let's talk about it."
The other policeman joined us and I explained who I was and that I was working for the water company, and I needed to go and take another set of measurements, but these two big black cars had come up the lane with the men in big hats, several times, and an owl had screeched and I thought someone was being murdered, and kids with blue hair and spikes, and the trunk of the car with no tire iron, and had to stop to catch my breath.
Finally, Officer O'Malley said, "It's ok, Miss. We got a call from Tony Cabinerarri that some boy was out here doing mischief at the water company wells and we came to check it out."
"Tony Cabinerwhat?" I asked.
The policeman's mouth twitched, "Tony Cabinerarri. His mom lives up the hill and he thought you might be doing some mischief out here. He asked us to come and check it out because they had come out and couldn't find anybody."
I asked, "You mean it wasn't just my imagination? He is a part of?" and let my participle dangle. "And they were worried about ME doing mischief?"
It was too much. Too much had happened. I was just some Hick from the Sticks and The Mob was afraid of me ? I laughed with the policemen until tears ran down my face. They laughed too, and got on their radio and passed the word. I could picture nice men in police cars laughing throughout the area. Finally, O'Malley, the policeman with the flashlight said, "Well, we can't leave you out here all night."
"Oh, no!" I said. "I've got to get this data. After all this, I have GOT to get this data. I'm alright now; can't you all just come by and check on me every now and then? I'll be fine if I know you're coming by every now and then."
O'Malley looked at his partner, O'Hara, and O'Hara said, "What do you have to do?"
"I have to measure the water levels in the wells, and collect a water sample. Then, I analyze the sample. It takes me about 30 minutes to do all the wells, but I have to do it every hour." I said.
O'Malley and O'Hara talked in code for a minute, and the O'Malley said, "We'll stay with you for a bit and see how it works out." So, one of them walked with me back to the monitoring well, watched as I measured the well, and wrote it down. We walked back down the hill, and they said, "Get in, we'll take you to the next well." They drove me to the wells and walked with me the whole way. By the time they were there for a while, I felt so much better! Just having another human being there was a big part of it, and especially to have an official human being there to defend me was another big part of it. They were lovely men!
Once the measuring was completed they drove me back down to my car, and there sat another police car. O'Hara smiled at me and said, "Miss Talbot, Bill and Sean are going to stay with you for a bit, we've got to finish our rounds." I thanked them profusely for their kindness, and they handed me over to the next batch.
Bill and Sean were officers Finnegan and Malloy. The invited me into their nice warm car with the radios droning and the comforting voices of the dispatcher. They asked if I would like some coffee I said, "Oh yes, please." They gave me a little cup and a splash of coffee. It was warm and sweet, and I recharged, so when my watch beeped again, I was raring to go. They, too walked with me through my chores, asking questions of what I was measuring and why.
All through the rest of that long night, I was either with a policeman, or confident in the knowledge that one was coming very soon. After the terror of the early evening, I finally felt safe, and worried no more. Each one reiterated to me that 'the friends' would never let anything from outsiders happen here, as it was so close to their families, so that worry was gone, too. Not to mention that blue-haired punks were under an unofficial APB. They didn't need that kind of punk here, and wouldn't have it. If they didn't bring them in, 'the friends' would run them off.
Each and every one of them was a wonderful man, and they were all exceedingly kind. Each and every one of them was Irish, too, and I gathered that Danny Laine was getting ready to have a rather large surprise, because many of the radio calls were about "the water company".
By 6 am, I had been up for 24 hours, most of it climbing hills and pulling on heavy lines, and was so exhausted; it was all I could do to pull the line out of the well to collect the water sample. Since the sun was coming up, the policemen were going off shift and felt that I would be fine out there by myself for a bit, so I thanked them for taking such good care of me and waved goodbye.
At 7 am, my watch beeped again, and I slowly got out of the car to do my 'chores'. Just as I was going into the doorway of Well #1, the cavalry came, with Mr. Laine leading the pack. His water company car came up the lane at a speed guaranteed to dislodge mufflers, and there were three trucks behind him, filled with the men from the day before. Even Fred Von Dyke was there. Since I had only expected to see Fred sometime that morning, I was surprised and a little alarmed. What had happened?
Mr. Laine stopped the car with a jerk, opened the door, left it open, and sprinted toward me. He grabbed my arm and looked at me, "Girrul, aire ye hurt?"
I looked at him fuzzily, "No, Mr. Laine, I'm not hurt." Fred got there, too, his face worried in the bright sunshine. The men in the trucks got out and walked up to join the crowd, as well. Everybody looked worried. What had happened?
"Saints preserve us!" Mr. Laine exclaimed, "Chief Paddy O'Malley called me this mornin' an' said ye had held off some Hooligans all by ye'self and were in a sorry state! I came as soon as I hear'd it!" He took my arm and turned me this way and that, checking for damage. "What were ye doin' out here at night by ye'self?" He brushed at my coat.
"Mr. Laine," I said, "I had to take measurements in the well, and collect water samples. I had to run the pumping test. It has to be measured every hour for three weeks." I was mystified. How could he not understand this? I thought I had told Fred that I was staying Then, it dawned on me. Fred didn't understand that when I said I'd stay, I had meant "all night".
"Mr. Laine," I asked, "are you all right?" His face was pale, too. Did they really think I was hurt? What had the police said?
Mr. Laine wiped his brow, and said, "Weel girrul, I tell ye', I was a might worried about ye'. We cain't go losin' our best geologist, now, can we? Aire ye' sure ye're all right? Ye got a nasty cut on yer head, and what's this blood on yer hand?" He peered closely at my face, "Did someone hit ye in the head? Oh, girrul, I'm so sorry we left ye' out here. It won't happen again, I tell ye."
I was flabbergasted. I wasn't thinking clearly because I was so tired, and didn't realize just how awful I really looked. I said, "Mr. Laine, I'm all right. Don't worry. It was a long night, but the police came and watched over me."
"Fred!" he said, "Go get the kit!" He turned to the boys, "Don't stand there w' ye mouths open, go and take the measurements!" He patted my hand, "Now girrul, we'll take good care o' ye. Ye'll not be thinkin' I'm such a louse, now, I'll tell ye."
"I don't think you're a louse, Mr. Laine. I was scared for a while, but I was fine after the police came," I said.
"Call me Danny, I'm not Mr. Laine t' ye, I'm Danny, and I promise ye we'll get yer fixed up right now!" he said. "Sally 'twill have me hide o'er this, she will, I tell ye. Sally's my wife, and she won't hold with this nonsense."
I seemed to be almost drowning in fuzzy surprise. When did Mr. Laine, I mean, Danny , have such a change of heart? Just what had the police told him?
Fred came with the first aid kit, and stood beside me as Danny carefully and gently cleaned my face and hands with hydrogen peroxide on cotton. He clucked over me with the tenderness of a mother. Then he gently dabbed the torn place on my head from the bramble. I thanked him when he was done, and looked up at Fred. Fred mouthed, 'tell you later'. OK, Fred held the key to the mystery. I would learn soon enough. Right now, I was just too worn out to wonder.
"Danny," I asked, "Is there someone to help me today with the measurements? I need to go back to the hotel and rest and clean up a bit before I come back."
"Weel, girrul, ye've got plenty of help now, I tell ye", Danny said, kindly. "Go rest and eat something, ye' look fit to die."
"I'll be back about 3", I told him. "Danny, can you tell me what happened with the police?"
Danny looked at me in wonder, "They said they found 'ye early this mornin', kivered in blood and screamin' like a banshee. They said that hooligans had been out here and ye' hid in the trunk o' the car. They said 'the friends' were coming after ye and that ye hid in the woods and were scared out o' yer wits. We've seen some things out here, I tell ye, from 'the friends'. I'd not stay here the night for love nor money. They said it 'twas the luck o' the Irish that ye survived the night."
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This is late, and i'm sorry-- I promised one per day, but just didn't have time last night. We were on the go until 10 pm, and when I got home, I wanted to play with my new phone, and watched a movie. A Woman in Berlin is what I watched and haunting it was...
Anyway, that night was one long night... I was so tired by the next morning, I was next to dead! And looked it! Hahaha!
Thanks so much for coming by!
ROTFLMAO,..about officer O'Malley....
kind of a private joke/thing i will let you in on,...later...
All righty! something to look forward to!
As a coda to the story, my boss, during my review the following month listed as one of my HUGE weaknesses was a lack of physical strength. Obviously, he thought I could have done a better job staying out there 24 hours a day for 3 weeks. HARUMMMPH! and Pffftt on him!
I still see that sonnovabitch every now and then, as a member of the board. He's still an A$$.
Yes, but I bet that you earned the respect of most of the crew whom you worked with.
Yes, I think I did. I was going to do my job, no matter what. If I died doing it, I was still going to do it. That didn't keep me from being afraid, but I had to survive, and back then, you had to be twice as smart, twice as willing, and 'do' the impossible, to be paid less, respected less, and treated as being of no consequence.
Those were hard times for everyone, needless to say, and I was trying very hard to carve out a niche for me to survive in. I didn't want to teach-- that was a dead end of momentous proportions for me-- I wanted to do what I was trained to do.
It was and is, a balancing act. Still, when I go out in the field, I have to prove to the crews that I can do it, and know what I'm talking about. I still fight, every day, just to do my job.
I wouldn't give it up for anything, and I love what I do-- but I get awfully sick of things, some times...
I had a big meeting today with the president of the company, VP of engineering, the director of water quality, his minion the micro-biologist in charge of the treatment, and my own dear boss... They all want me to do this and that, and I need to be left alone to DO my job. Thank God my boss seems to understand that.
That seemed like a very dauntingexperience, Dowser! I give you credit for sticking it out.
But the rest of this chapter read like funny TV sitcom. An all Irish police squad with the Mafia scared of you. It was funny when you look at it from an outsiders POV. But that was the way it was back then. I know it's true!
Anyway, I give you a lot of credit of sticking it out! And poo on that old boss of yours!
Dearest Perrie, thanks for coming by!!!
It WAS daunting, but now, it's funny. I was just so GREEN, inexperienced, utterly naive, etc. What a Stupido! But, I had to stay out there, or lose my job. I couldn't allow myself to show any weakness, nor could I do much about anything.
Yes, you do know it's true! FUNNY!
That old boss-- I don't wish evil on him, but I do wish he'd just go away. He is SUCH an A$$. I run into him at conferences, sometimes, and he goes on and on about how beautiful I am and smart and wonderful, and I know he hates my very guts. It is so patently insincere, I want to just thump him. It is demeaning, embarrassing, and totally un-called for. But, that's the way he is. I don't go to many conferences any more, because I know I'll have to deal with him. He makes it a point to find me and shower all this crap on me...
UGH!