The Typewriter

Chapter 26 or Day 26 of NaNoWriMo 2012 (1,704 words)

Chapter 26: Brigadier General Lux arrives in Dragonview

A military ambulance, followed by three cars and a troop truck, turned into General Baldwin's front gate. The ambulance stopped directly in front of the porch steps, while the cars and troop trucks parked on the lawn. Three officers, a Brigadier General and two Major General, plus a driver got out of the first car. Three Major Generals, two of them doctors, and a driver exited the second vehicle. Two generals and a captain, all nurses, with a driver exited the third car. A platoon of M.P.s disembarked from the truck.

Major Markov, sweating profusely, stood in the open door as the paramedics got out of the ambulance, unloaded a stretcher, and climbed the steps to the front porch. "Please, come in," he stepped aside and let the paramedic enter the house. "We've been waiting for you." He smiled, letting the paramedics presume that Brigadier General Baldwin was in one of the bedrooms. He watched as they walked down the hall, opening each door as they passed.

Turning to face Brigadier General Lux, he pointed to the couch. "Please, have a seat," he waited until everyone had found a seat or a place to stand. "Would anyone like coffee or donuts," he smiled.

"Markov," growled General Lux from the easy chair on the right side of the couch. "I didn't come here for a coffee break."

"I know, Sir," he sighed, "but..."

A paramedic came out of the last bedroom and ran down the hall. "Sir," he saluted Lux, "General Baldwin isn't in the house."

"Markov," shouted Lux, "where the hell is..."

"I don't know, Sir," he took out a handkerchief and wiped his brow. "I was sitting in that easy chair," he point to the chair Lux was in. "Watching General Baldwin on the couch when he disappeared."

"Disappeared? How?"

"I don't know how, Sir," he tried to calm his trembling hands. "All I know is that General Baldwin lay unconscious on the couch one minute and was gone the next."

"Did anyone else witness this feat, Markov," Lux's face was turning red.

"Yes, Sir," Markov motion to a corporal standing in the kitchen door. "Corporal Jones was standing beside me when it happened."

"Sir," Jones walked into the room and saluted Lux. "Major Markov described exactly what we saw."

"I see," the red in Lux's face faded.

"The only other odd thing," Jones pick up a pile of clothes and carried them to Lux. "that happened were these clothes appearing in the General's closet when his dress uniform disappeared." He placed the clothes on the side stand next to Brigadier General Lux.

"I did," said Private Luis coming out of the kitchen with a tray of donuts, which he placed on the coffee table. Two more privates followed one carrying a tray of cups, saucers, and napkins, while the other carried a pot of coffee.

"Where are Captains Whitehead and Walton," Lux said as he examined the clothing, noticing that Baldwin's name was embroiderer on the shirt.

"They are interviewing Mary Ann Walton-Gray and Parole Officer Miles Dragonslayer about Miss Lydia Applewhite," Markov picked up a napkin, placed two donuts in a plate, and poured a cup of coffee, which he carried to General Lux.

"I see," Lux tossed the clothes on the floor beside the chair and then took the coffee and donuts from Markov. "Do these people know Sorceress Applewhite?" He placed the plate of donuts on the table and took a sip of the coffee.

"Yes, Sir," Markov motion the Luis and Jones to serve the other officers. "Mrs. Walton-Gray runs Gray Landscaping and provides the gardeners for Miss... Sorceress Applewhites orchards and private garden." He breathed a sigh of relief, "And Parole Officer Dragonslayer is her nephew."

"Markov," Lux placed his coffee on the side table and picked up one of his donuts. "Please have a seat."

"Yes, Sir," Markov sit in the kitchen chair which Lewis placed under him and then took the cup of coffee which Corporal Jones handed him.

"Tell me, Markov, do you think the Applewhite woman is behind Baldwin's disappearance?"

"That's the only logical explanation, Sir," he motioned for Lewis to bring him a saucer of donuts.

"That is a good explanation," he took another sip of coffee. "But I did notice open garage door and I believe Baldwin's car is missing."

"The car went missing before Baldwin's car disappear," he studied the expression on General Lux's face. "We think that his yardman, K. C. Wainwright, stole it."

"Well," he finished his coffee, "you seem to have everything under control. I suppose I should find a hotel room." A clap of thunder echoed through the house."

"Sir, it's beginning to rain, perhaps you and your officers would like to remain here until the rain stops." Markov prayed the general would accept the invitation, he could feel cold claws crawling up his spine. He knew something unusual was about to happen, he just could not determine what.

"That, Markov, may be a good idea," he got up to go outside, but before he reached the front door a trooper entered carrying his travel case.

"This way, Sir," the trooper saluted, before leading the way down the hall to General Baldwin's bedroom. He sit the bag inside the door and then turned to face the general. "The latrine is directly across the hall, Sir."

"Thank you, Trooper Mason," he smiled as he read the name tag on the trooper's uniform. "You came with Markov's unit didn't you?"

"Yes, Sir," he saluted.

"Good work, Trooper," he returned the man's saluted, then went into the bedroom and closed the door.

Retired Brigadier General Lux then sit down on the bed and looked out the window. The storm raged as the lightning illuminated charcoal gray clouds heavy with rain. The thunder, sounding like the roar of dragons, reverberated through the sky. He smiled remembering the storms of his childhood, storms that his mother said was caused by flocks of dragons fighting in the night. She said that most of the dragons fighting were black or black-green fighting for dominance against bronze and gold dragons.

One of her Dragon Storm stories concerned, what she claimed was a personal experience. She said, that against her father's advice, she ventured into the worst spring storm in a century. She wanted a closer view of the fighting dragons because from inside her house they appear ordinary charcoal gray or black thunder clouds. As she stood in the rain, sheltered only by an ancient oak tree, a bronze dragon descended to the ground and picked up a heavy iron plow one of her brothers had left in the field.

Awestruck, she watched as the dragon lifted the plow into the sky and flew towards the mountains. A bolt of lightning struck the plow, causing the dragon and the plow to fall to the ground. It was raining too hard for her to investigate the sport where the dragon fell, so she went back into the house and crawled into be. Where the dragon and plow had fell she found a crater and lying at the bottom was bronze dragon scale. She retrieved the dragon scale and on her next birthday, she requested that her father have it made into a necklace. Her father agreed and from that day forward she wore the dragon scale around her neck.

When he enlisted into the military, she gave him the necklace. She told him that as long as he wore the dragon scale around his neck, nothing would harm him and that all of his enemies would be defeated. He reached under his pajama top and lifted the chain so he could see the scale. As the lightning flashed, the scale glinted reflecting bronze and gold, then he replaced the chain and scale to its original hiding place. Looking back out the window, he saw a bronze dragon carrying a military green car through the sky. Illusion, he thought, as he lay down, but he heard his mother's voice whisper a child hood poem.

"See a dragon in the sky,
And all of your ill luck will fly,
At dragon speed from your life.

As you watch the dragon fly,
Your enemies will become your friends,
And no one to you will lie.

General Lux fell asleep with his mother's words echoing through his mind. In his sleep, he felt the house shake as of something heavy had fallen on the roof. He woke up and lay listening to the echoes of the rain striking the roof. It sounded odd, as if the raindrops were falling on a metal object and not just the wooden shingles that covered the roof. After a few minutes he went back to sleep and dreamed of dragons fighting.

The next morning he was awakened by the excited and confused voices of troopers shouting outside his window. He got up, dressed quickly and went outside to see what was going on. The troopers had surrounded the house and were pointing at the roof. He joined the troopers and looked up, there sitting on top of the roof was a military green car. The car, which appeared to rest at the peak of the room, looked as it it were perfectly balanced.

"Markov," he turned to the Major who was now standing next to him. "Do you have any explanation for this?"

"No, Sir," the Major scratched his head. "However, I believe that is General Baldwin's car."

"What makes you think that?"

"Two reasons," he smiled, "First, Retired Brigadier General Baldwin's favorite color is military green. Second, no one else in Dragonview has poor taste or the guts to drive a car of that color."

"You're right about that, Major," he laughed. "I always that Baldwin was trying to make everyone sick, but perhaps I was wrong. Maybe he just needed a good woman to give him advice of his color scheme. My wife would never allow me to drive a car that color."

"Nor would mine, Sir," Markov turned to a Sargent standing next to him. "Figure out a way to get that thing off the roof before it falls off."

"Yes, Sir."