HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Five

Chapter 21

         With the sun just barely over the horizon, Samantha slowly opened her eyes to find Walker lying on his side in bed, silently watching her. She immediately sat up and tried to put her hair back in some semblance of order, without success. Her neat French twist from the day before had disintegrated, as pins fell out during the night. Her hair hung down in loose curls around her shoulders. With no makeup left on, Samantha looked younger than her age, but felt in her 90s after her night’s restless sleep.

         “You’re feeling better?” she asked, although just looking at the man, she could tell he was.

         With the fever gone, Walker felt drained of energy. He, however, was out of danger. There still was a rash on his body, although it had finally stopped spreading. “You’re a pleasant sight to wake up to, Sam.”

         Walker’s quiet response embarrassed her, knowing he had been watching her when she was sleeping. Samantha stood up, without acknowledging his comment, and went to the phone to call Dr. Robinson. While explaining to him that Walker was finally awake with no more fever, she heard the front door to the suite open. Footsteps came toward the bedroom. Hanging up the phone, after hearing the doctor would be over immediately, she walked to the bedroom door, receiving a bear hug from Jack as he entered the room.

         “Put her down, Jack, you’ll crack her ribs.”

         Jack looked over Samantha’s shoulder at hearing Walker’s weak voice. “How’s he doing?” he whispered to her so the man on the bed could not hear.

         “Come see for yourself.” She led him over to the side of the bed and prompted him to sit in the chair she had recently vacated. “You made it back fast. Take the redeye from Los Angeles?”

         “Well, you sounded mighty frantic on the phone, so I figured I’d better get back as soon as I could.” Jack looked closely for the first time at the disheveled woman. Besides the uncombed condition of her hair, he noticed her wrinkled clothes. Jack could only imagine what the last 24 hours had been like for her.

         “Why were you frantic, Sam?” A third voice entered the conversation. “I just had a little rash, nothing all that serious.” Walker tried to sit up in bed as he made the remark, then fell back when his strength gave out on him.

         “He doesn’t know?” Jack turned to Samantha and said it as quietly as possible, but Walker still heard him. She quickly shook her head and turned to the waiting man on the bed.

         Since Walker seemed curious about the worried expressions on the faces of his two friends, Samantha decided it was time to tell him about some of the previous day’s events. “Walker, it hasn’t just been you who’s been sick.”

         “Who?” He again tried to sit up. Jack was there to help him, while Samantha piled pillows behind his back. Walker closed his eyes as waves of dizziness overtook him. The usually healthy man had never felt such weakness before, but he forced himself to hear what Samantha had to say. “Who else is sick?”

         Samantha looked down at her hands, not wanting to face Walker. “Sue Beth and Joshua caught the chicken pox. Three of the guests who watched them have come down with it, too.” She could not tell him Dr. Robinson figured Walker was the first one to get the disease, as his case was the most virulent. After returning from a recent business trip, he evidently gave it to the two children who, in turn, passed it on to the older guests.

         She knew he would feel guilty at making his two wards sick, and that was something he did not need to know. She also felt the time was not right to tell him about the Cochrans and the cruelty and deception of their daughter, Monica.

         When the doctor arrived soon after, Samantha and Jack left to check on the children downstairs. Walker had again fallen asleep and never felt the doctor’s poking and prodding of his rash-covered body.

Chapter 22

         Joshua and Sue Beth were driving the woman watching them crazy with their demands to get out of bed. Knowing it would take a few more days for the chicken pox to run its course, Jack did not envy the adults who volunteered to watch the children this week. With the promise Dr. Robinson would be coming to check them out soon, Jack managed to quiet the two bored children temporarily. He stayed behind to entertain them for an hour or so, while Samantha continued down to the main floor to see what new crises had happened during the night.

         Miraculously, everything appeared quiet and orderly. It was about time for serving breakfast in the dining room, so she headed there, suddenly ravenous. Samantha remembered she had not eaten anything since her lunch of a small salad yesterday. It explained the rumbling coming from her stomach.

         On entering the large room, she spotted Jane, yesterday’s front desk clerk, eating at one of the half-filled tables. When she sat down in the chair next to Jane, a waiter came to take her breakfast order. After requesting coffee, toast, and a small bowl of fruit, Samantha turned to Jane. “Did our new guest settle in yet?” She tried to remember the man’s name, but her tired mind refused to cooperate.

         “Yes, he arrived right on schedule soon after you and Walker left yesterday.” Jane looked at the other woman. She realized, from the rumors flying around the mansion about the seriousness of Walker’s illness, that Samantha had probably stayed up with him all night. “How is Walker doing today?” she asked, knowing the others on the staff would also want to know. Samantha’s positive progress report cheered her up because all his employees loved and respected the man in the bed on the fourth floor.

         “Can you fill me in on the new guest, Jane? For the life of me, I can’t remember his name or anything about him.” Samantha sat back to wait for her breakfast to arrive and listened attentively to what Jane told her about Cyrus McKinney.

Chapter 23

         Cyrus “Slappy” McKinney was a clown. The 85-year-old was an honest-to-goodness chucklehead, complete with big shoes and a large red rubber nose. As a young child, Cyrus ran away to join the circus and quickly learned they did not want him. Returning home sadder but wiser, he vowed one day to be a clown. His dream finally came true 75 years later when the retirement home where he lived held a talent show.

         Cyrus, now calling himself Slappy and answering only to that name, worked up a routine, bought a used clown suit, which came with those big shoes, and wowed the other senior citizens with his act. One of Walker’s recruiters was visiting the retirement home at the time and recognized someone who would be an asset to Walker’s mansion and needed what it offered.

         Slappy was the newest resident, a man without any family, as he never married. He spent his life being a solid citizen, but with his head always in the clouds, a dreamer. Now he was living in a place where dreams came true, and he was about to meet one of the dream weavers.

         Samantha knocked on Slappy’s door, not knowing what to expect from the description Jane had given her over breakfast. When the door finally opened, she looked up, then up some more. Slappy was close to seven feet tall and towered over the much smaller woman. He also was rail thin and had the look of a guileless child about him.

         “Mr. McKinney?” At his nod, Samantha held out her hand in greeting. “I’m Samantha Ward, a colleague of Mr. Walker. He sends his regrets at not meeting you yesterday when you arrived.”

         The deep booming voice she next heard nearly had her stepping back in shock, but she caught herself in time. “Please, Miss Ward, call me Slappy, everyone does.” The genial man, after shaking her hand, stepped back to invite her into his suite.

         “I will, and you must call me Samantha.” She smiled. “Everyone does that, too.” She moved into the living room and sat down on the comfortable sofa. “How are you doing so far, Slappy? Do you need anything?” As she looked around the room, it pleased her to see the man had already added his own touches. Some of the new guests took a few weeks before they felt comfortable in their new surroundings, but Slappy was not one of them.

         Still in a booming voice, Slappy asked, “I understand the main man here is under the weather. Is there something I can do to cheer him up?”

         “I think Walker would enjoy meeting you, however, maybe later. He’s still weak, much too weak to appreciate what I’ve heard is a good act.” Samantha had a sudden thought. “Perhaps you’d be willing to put on a little show for the other guests here. I know just the person to help you with it.”

         Joe Carpenter, the mansion’s first arrival, had blossomed under the care and attention of the staff and shown exceptional organizational skills. He had already worked with Jack to set up weekly trips to the nearby city for some of the older people and started a Wednesday afternoon Bingo game. If anyone could work up a talent show, it would be Joe.

         A week later, a still shaky Walker came downstairs to the ballroom at the back of the mansion’s first floor. As he walked into the room, loud applause erupted. Most of them were seeing him for the first time since his illness. An usher, one of the dining room waiters, seated him in the front row of a packed audience, with Jack on his left side and Samantha to his right. Around and behind him, guests and staff waited with much anticipation for the show to start.

         On a large makeshift stage behind a newly installed green velvet curtain, they could hear strange noises, and items brushing against the curtain caused interesting waves. Somewhere back there, someone practiced a glissando passage on the piano, warming up for the opening music. Samantha glanced over and saw such a look of peace and happiness on Walker’s face she wanted the evening to last forever.

         At exactly 8 p.m., the lights in the large room dimmed, and the curtain opened.

Chapter 24

         For the next two hours, a sense of wonder and fun filled the room and surrounded the people in it, making children of them all. A large woman, sitting at the grand piano at the left side of the stage, started the show. She banged out a song, which had people in the audience soon standing on their feet, singing loudly along to it. It was an exuberant rendition of “Hail, Hail, The Gangs All Here”. Even Samantha could not resist adding her sweet alto voice. Two more sing-along songs followed, after which Joe Carpenter walked out to take front and center.

         Dressed in a tuxedo lent to him by Jack for the occasion, he looked every inch a master of ceremony. The once shy and forgotten man introduced one act after another as they came on stage. Walker watched him with pride. It was as if the elderly man was his child, blossoming from an ugly duckling into a swan.

         Slappy appeared midway through the show and had the audience laughing because of his zany antics. Pulling out some crêpe-paper flowers from one of his sleeves, he came down from the stage and handed them to a beaming Samantha. To everyone’s surprise and delight, the usually reserved and proper woman pulled Slappy’s head down by his ears and gave him a big kiss on the cheek.

         The clown looked over to the man sitting on her left. In a stage-whisper, although even those in the back of the large room still heard his loud voice, he confided, “See, Walker? Flowers! That’s how you get a kiss from a beautiful woman.” He walked back on stage, satisfied as the other man’s laughter followed him.

         One of the most popular acts, though, was Sophia, who came out to do a slightly risqué dance with the fans Walker had once given her. Even at her advanced age, she still caused the temperature in the room to rise a few degrees. After her dance, as the audience erupted into wild applause, Walker stood up. He grabbed the paper flowers out of Samantha’s hand and walked up onto the stage. He made a deep bow in front of Sophia and handed her the flowers. For the first time in years, she blushed then stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss on his cheek.

         Spotting Slappy, almost out of sight at the left side of the stage, Walker called out, “See, Slappy? I learn quickly.” When he walked back to his seat, whistles and catcalls of appreciation from the audience followed him. Sitting down between his two friends, Walker could not remember when he had felt so happy.

          When Edith Cartwright came out on stage, though, the final act by her completed his day. Walker still had told no one of their relationship. Seeing his birth mother standing before him, he just sat quietly watching as she sang her version of the Beatles’ “When I’m 64”, changing the lyrics to 84 for the much older crowd.

         As the room lights came back up, Walker looked around at the people leaving the room. Smiles were on every face, and even the oldest among them walked out with a youthful spring in their steps. If he once had doubts about his plan for the mansion, he had none after tonight. .

Chapter 25

         The following morning, restless from staying in bed for so many days, Walker remembered the rolls of blueprints. The treasure from his hidden room, shoved out of sight on a shelf in the living room when Colin Edgeworth arrived a week earlier, took a few minutes to find. Still not dressed and wearing only cut-off pajama bottoms that came down to mid thigh, Walker padded on bare feet over to the long table near the wide window, carrying one of the many rolls.

         As he unrolled the blueprint, a slight frown creased his forehead at what he saw. Just as he was getting ready to phone Samantha and Jack to join him, he heard someone knocking at his front door. Without thinking of his near-naked state, Walker walked across the large room to the door.

         Samantha often had seen her boss dressed like this during his recent illness, but the tall stranger beside her raised one eyebrow in amusement. With a big grin on his face, Jeff Randall of the SFPD Forensics Unit gave the other man a quick handshake. So, he’s the one who had made Sue Beth and Joshua his wards, he thought, after Samantha introduced the two men. Although nonchalant in his greeting, he gave Walker a thorough examination while the three of them went into the living room.

         Noticing the other man’s grin, Walker finally realized how he must look and excused himself to go into his bedroom. While he was gone, Randall walked around the room, using his investigative skills to learn more about Walker. The mansion and the various occupants he saw on his way to the fourth floor had already pleasantly surprised him. Although Captain Steele told him about Jack and his employer, Randall still had come to see for himself if the children were happy and safe.

         A few months had passed since he had last seen the two delightful imps, and he knew they still were in danger. The man who murdered their mother back in San Francisco, Ken Milton, still was on the loose. The children were eyewitnesses to his brutal crime, and the killer had already massacred eight innocent people trying to get to them. Unsure if the man in the other room even knew about the crime, Randall had made the trip to make sure he did and to warn him never to leave the children alone.

         Walker eventually returned, dressed casually in khaki slacks and a light green short-sleeve shirt. His hair still showed wet streaks where he had hastily run a comb through it, and he was wearing shoes without socks, as usual. Standing for a minute in the doorway, he watched Randall giving the room a once-over. Samantha was sitting on a sofa also watching the man, but for a different reason.

         Randall intrigued her from the first moment she saw him, as so many woman before her had been. He was perhaps an inch or two taller than Walker and a few pounds heavier. There, however, was not an ounce of fat on his muscular body, not as far as Samantha could tell.

         Walker finally noticed where Samantha was looking. The other man was oblivious of her as he walked around the room picking up one item, looking closely at another. It looked like random curiosity to Walker, but Randall was learning facts with everything he saw.

         The simple furniture impressed him, as did the elegant pieces of artwork on the walls and the absence of the usual status symbols of the wealthy. Walking over to the large window, he spotted the unrolled blueprints on the table. “Are these of your home here?” he asked, bending down to get a closer look. Not waiting for an answer, he used his finger to trace some lines, and looked up at the two of them in delight. “You have a cavern someplace. Where is it?”

         At this curious statement, Walker and Samantha joined him at the table. While he explained the various marks and lines on the blueprint, their excitement grew to match his. Finding and exploring it, though, would have to wait for a later time. First, Randall insisted on seeing Sue Beth and Joshua, the reason he had made the long trip.

         Samantha phoned down to make sure they were in their suite. Since it had been raining for days, the children were spending most of their time there, amused by their various adoring surrogate grandparents. Following Samantha down one flight of stairs with Walker leading the way, Randall anticipated the welcome he might get from the spirited little girl and her too-serious older brother.

         When the three of them walked in the door, their greeting was like nothing he could have imagined.

Continued in next segment.

HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Six  (18+) Chapters 26 thru 30 #1082910 by J. A. Buxton