The Typewriter

Chapter 25 or Day 25 of NaNoWriMo 2012 (1,700 words)

Chapter 25: Brigadier General Baldwin Disappears

Major Markov sat in an easy chair staring at Brigadier General Baldwin's unconscious body. He knew he was fortunate not to be going before the Supreme Military Council himself. Indeed, if it had not been for his wife's intervention he would be sitting in a the brig right now instead of escorting the Brigadier General back to Central City. At that moment, private Markly came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

"Major," he handed him a plate containing an egg sandwich and sit the coffee down on a side stand. "You haven't had anything to eat today. If you're not going to take a break, then I have to serve you in here."

"Thank, Markly," he placed the place next to the coffee."I should eat something," he rubbed his temples with both hands. "I can't take a break, because if something happens to Baldwin I'll be facing a court martial mys..." Brigadier General Baldwin disappeared, "Shit!"

"Uh, Major Markov, what happened to Baldwin?"

"Then you saw him disappear, too."

"Yes, Sir."

"Good," Markov sighed. "Since more then one person witness it, it means we're not hallucinating."

Captains Walton and Whitehead come running into the house. "What happened?" They shouted in unison.

"General Baldwin disappeared," said Markly sitting down in the other easy chair.

"Both of you witnessed his disappearance," Whitehead went to the couch and ran his hands over the still warm cushions.

"Yes," said Markov his hands trembling.

"Y... Yes, Sirs," Markly could not take his eyes off the couch, as if he expected Baldwin to reappear.

"Sirs," said Corporal Jones, coming down the hall from the General Baldwin's bedroom. "I just saw the General's dress uniform disappear and," he held up the clothes Baldwin been wearing on the couch. "And these appear in his closet."

"Please," said Whitehead rubbing his temples. "Please let this be somebodies idea of a joke." He looked at each man in the room beginning with Major Markov.

"Captain," said Markly, "I don't think any of us have that weird a sense of humor."

"I was afraid that was the case," Whitehead collapsed on the couch.

"You have an explanation," ask Walton sitting down beside him.

"Yes, Miss Lydia Whiteapple," he took out his handkerchief. "The only sorceress in this town with that much power."

"How do we prove it," ask Markov, willing to accept any explanation whether or not it made sense to him.

"Major Markov," Captain Whitehead smiled. "Would you like to wait here until the ambulance comes?"

"Of course," he nodded, "but what do I tell them?"

"Sir, your the ranking officer," Whitehead got up. "You don't owe subordinates any information. Captain Walton will try to get information from his sister and I'll speak to Miss Applewhite's nephew, Parole Office Dragonslayer." He went to the front door and reached for the General's car keys. "Damn! The keys are gone."

Walton go up, went to the front door, and opened it, "Maybe they were left in the car. That would explain why the garage door is closed."

"Where is the remote," Markly got up and begin looking for it, but after thirty minutes, even with the help of the three officers, he could not find it. "Uh, Sirs," he stopped and turned to face the Captains, "You don't suppose the General left both remotes in the car."

"I suppose that makes sense," Markov hoped that was the explanation, but his gut told him otherwise.

Together Corporal Jones and Private Markly went out to the garage and opened the door. "Shit!" Said Markly.

"I gather the car is missing," called Whitehead from the living room.

"Yes, Sir," the two subordinates said as they set down on the front porch steps

"I found these hedge clippers on the east side of the house," said Sargent Lewis, coming around the corner of the garage, "shall I... Where the hell is the car?"

"Good question," said Captain Walton as he and Whitehead came out of the house. "And where is Wainwright?"

"The last time I saw him," said Corporal Jones, "he was headed for the latrine, but I don't think he's in there now."

"I suspect," said Captain Walton talking out his cell phone, "that if we find Wainwright we'll also find the General's car." He dialed Mary Ann's office number, "Sis, I need you to come to Baldwin residence. Captain Whitehead and I need a ride." He disconnected and put his phone back in his pocket. "She'll be right here."

"She didn't want to know why we needed a ride?" Whitehead ask.

"Thankfully," he smiled, "Mary Ann will wait until were in her car to ask that question."

An hour later, Mary Ann turned into the Baldwin driveway. "Sorry, it took me so long," she smiled. "But right after you called, Constable Jenkins came in raving about finding a car parked near the Applewhite orchard."

"Whose car?" Ask Whitehead as he opened the backdoor of her car and got in.

"I don't know," she laughed as her brother got in the front seat next to her. "The man is absolutely indecipherable when he starts ranting about something."

"Sis, where is the car now?"

"Probably still on Applewhite Avenue, apparently there were no car keys in it," she headed back onto Black Rose Lane. "And the towing service had no available trucks until dawn."

"Why?" Ask Whitehead.

"The city administration doesn't pay them enough to tie up their trucks at night with abandoned cars." She stopped at the intersection and waited for the light. "Especially when they can make more off the locals and tourist." The light changed and she continued up Black Rose Lane, "Would you like me to take you there first?"

"Yes, Mrs. Walton-Gray," Whitehead smiled, "If you don't mind."

"Not at all, by the way, Captain Whitehead, I owe you an apology for not calling you."

"Please," he smiled, "it was only a minor question about Miss Applewhite's yardman."

"That would be Jose Fastwalker and he's now her permanent gardener."

"He's off parole then?"

"He will be at the end of the month, but Miss Applewhite wants him to start now and, since he parole officer has no objections, what Miss Lydia wants Miss Lydia gets."

Mary Ann turns right onto Applewhite Avenue and after a few minutes stops behind a military green car. Captain Whitehead got out of the car, and as he waited for Captain Walton and Mary Ann to exit the car, he watched the sunset behind a bank of dark clouds. I wonder, he thought, if that's a sign of things to come. When the other two got out of Mary Ann's car, he went to the back door on the passenger side and attempted to open it, when he found it locked he check the the front passenger side door, while Captain Walton checked the doors on the driver's side.

"It seems their all locked," he state the obvious as he removed a small flash light and looked in the car. "The glove compartment is open and the remote is laying in the seat." Then he shook his head, "Odd that the keys aren't in it."

"Whose car is it," ask Mary Ann.

"Brigadier General Baldwin's," her brother said as he checked all the tire. "I wonder why he... or was it Wainwright, parked it here."

"If it was Wainwright," Mary Ann got back in her car as raindrops begin to fall. "He's broken his parole."

"Why," ask Whitehead as he got into the front seat of Mary Ann's car.

"Because he went to prison for breaking into the Applewhite house."

As Walton got into the backseat, a patrol car pulled up behind Mary Ann and Constable Parker got out. Walking up to the front passenger side window, he motioned Whitehead to roll the window down.

"Whose car is it," he said as Whitehead rolled the window down.

"It belongs to the Brigadier General."

"Do you have an extra set of keys, Captain," Parker glared at him.

"No."

"Shit," he went back to his car, got in and drove away.

"I wonder what his problem was," said Walton, as Mary Ann started the car. "It's not like someone is going to steal it on a night like this."

"Maybe, he's afraid it will disappear," replied Mary Ann with a smile.

"What do you mean," Whitehead frowned.

"I mean," she laughed, "weird things happen in Dragonview during thunderstorms, especially the first thunderstorm of spring."

"What type of weird things," her brother ask.

"Cars left outside disappear and are found, in tact and good condition, in unusual places such as the tops of tree or on the tops of buildings."

"Are you serious, Mrs. Walton-Gray," Whitehead stared at her.

"Quite serious," she said, turning south toward Main Street. "Last year Constable Parker found his cruiser on top of the elementary school cafeteria."

"Mary," said Captain Walton, "it sounds like high school pranksters to me."

"That's what some people say, Little Brother," he laughed when she saw his expression reflected in the rear view mirror. "Other people blame the dragons. Anyway it took Parker a week to get the car down and a month to get the smell out of it."

"What smell?"

"Parker said it smelled like apple blossoms," she turned right on Main Street. "But I think it smelled like roses. He wasn't happy about it, but it was his own fault for leaving the windows down."

"Where are we going," ask Captain Whitehead.

"Oh, didn't I tell you," she turned left onto Star Light Court. "Parole Officer Dragonslayer stopped by my office just as I was leaving to pick you up. He wants to talk to you about something."

"That good, Mrs. Walton-Gray," Whitehead nodded. "Because we'd like to talk to him and you as well."

"About what," she pulled into the drive way and parked her car under a tree.

"Miss Lydia Applewhite," Walton replied.

"Ah," she waited for the captains to get out, then made sure all the windows were rolled up before getting out herself. "Who disappeared?"

"General Baldwin," they all walked upon the front porch just as Sally opened the door.