HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Twelve

Chapter 56

         Jack was in Walker’s apartment the day after Nick arrived and had been listening to the other man’s description of the newest arrival for the last half hour. “Walker, did you happen to read the article I gave you yesterday?” His mind was not on their conversation, and his abrupt question interrupted Walker in mid sentence.

         “You mean the one about Professor Logan?” Familiar with Jack’s single-mindedness about helping the underdogs of the world, Walker gave his full attention to his friend. This facet of Jack’s personality had convinced Walker to hire him and eventually to change Jack’s duties to improving the lives of the mansion’s guests. “I’m not sure why you gave me that clipping.” He suddenly had a thought, as Jack knew he would. “It said he’d previously been a teacher at a university in Arizona. Do you think…?”

         Jack again interrupted him. “You’ve been thinking of hiring someone to tutor Sue Beth and Joshua. Professor Logan would be a good choice and would also benefit him by providing a place to live where people could watch out for him.” Jack had often visited the elderly gentleman at his home years ago while attending classes at the university.

         The well-known philologist Archie Logan fell on hard times when his theory about connecting original Hebrew writings to an ancient lost language fell on deaf ears. Even his earlier writings quickly lost credibility because of the scoffing of his scientific peers. In his late 70s at the time, the man with a genius level IQ and the artlessness of a child found himself abandoned by his scandalized family.

         Even his last companion, a spinster housekeeper, left him. It was not willingly, though, as she passed away one night in her sleep. He was alone and unsuited to surviving on his own. Normal activities most people did automatically, such as eating properly and taking care of expenses, were beyond the scope of the absentminded professor. At least, this is what the now-deceased housekeeper once told Jack in a private conversation.

         “Okay, set the wheels in motion to see if he’ll be willing to live here and help with the kids’ education.” With a sigh of relief, Jack went into Walker’s office and contacted the recruiter in Professor Logan’s area. He looked forward to seeing his old friend again and hoped he would not be too proud to let others help him.

         About noon, he and Walker joined Samantha for a quick lunch in the dining room. They noticed a larger than usual group of people seated at a table near the back of the room with Nick seated at one end. While they watched, one of the diners got up and headed their way. It was Belinda Ayres, a sweet, shy woman originally from New Hampshire. Since her arrival months earlier, she had stayed in her room most of the time. Belinda only came downstairs for meals and always sat by herself. Today was the first time anyone at Walker’s table saw her interacting with the other guests.

         Belinda hesitated at their table while trying to get up the nerve to speak to them. Walker stood up with a smile on his face. Samantha saw his smile affected even this shy woman. Finally, the last remnants of her irritation with him disappeared since she could not stay mad at such a caring man as Walker.

         “Belinda, it’s good to see you,” said Walker, waiting for the older woman to tell him what was on her mind. “Is that Nick I see back there? I hope all of you are making him feel welcome.”

         “He really is Santa, you know, just like he says,” Belinda said in a soft voice. “He knew what I always wanted as a present when I was little and never got.” Suddenly, her shyness returned, as she realized to whom she was speaking and what she had said. She put her hand to her mouth in confusion and quickly walked from the room, back to the safety of her room. Samantha watched her disappear and decided to make Belinda her next project to try to overcome such painful shyness.

         Jack just sat there grinning at Walker’s stunned look. “Boss, you’re losing your touch. I never knew you to scare women away before.” He started laughing at the other man’s scathing glance, and Samantha could not help herself and joined in on the laughter. Walker realized his friends were only joking with him, but he still felt worried over Belinda’s innocent comment about Nick.

         He looked at his table companions and said hesitantly, “Did we make a mistake having Nick come here? If he thinks he’s Santa, is that dangerous?”

         “What do you mean, Walker?” Samantha asked, “Dangerous? In what way?”

         “Well, don’t you think he might be psychotic if he thinks he’s Santa?” Walker winced at the amused looks his two friends gave him. “Okay, sorry I mentioned it.”

Chapter 57

         Three days later, Jack joined Walker and Samantha to welcome his old friend, Professor Logan, to the mansion. With only a week or so to go before Christmas, the pile of gaily wrapped presents in the entrance room was reaching epic proportions. The elderly man just stood there staring at the presents in confusion.

         “Am I in the right place?” he asked, looking for help at the trio standing nearby. “They told me I could be of help by tutoring two children. Will I be doing that here?”

         “Sir, you’re in a private home where you’ll be living now.” Jack quickly offered this explanation because he knew the befuddled senior was serious with his question. “We have your rooms ready upstairs, and the children are most eager to meet you when you’ve rested.” After introductions all around, Jack slowly walked the professor to the elevator, all the while trying to tell him the purpose of the mansion and the reason he was one of its guests.

         He wondered if any of what he said sunk in when his companion suddenly stopped and looked at him, to ask once again, “What is this place?” Jack decided to wait until his clearly tired friend had rested before continuing with his explanations. Simply telling him it was his new home and not to worry about it, he got on the elevator with Professor Logan and disappeared up to the next floor.

         When Walker and Samantha were turning away to go about their daily routines, a brown UPS truck pulled up in front of the mansion, and the driver jumped out. Lately, the deliveries were a few times a day with guests and staff waiting for holiday packages to arrive. The desk clerks were especially busy notifying people to come pick up these boxes. A small, sturdy, rolling table stayed next to the desk, ready for carrying packages to the various rooms. While Samantha continued to the kitchen to check on dinner preparations, Walker headed for the front door to meet the UPS man.

         “I’ve a delivery for a Mr. Franklin White or Mr. William Walker.” The man held up a clipboard to read these names from the attached invoice. “The packages are large, so I could use some help bringing them inside.”

         “I’m William Walker and can help. No problem.” He turned to the clerk at the front desk. “Would you ring up Franklin and ask him to come down?” Not waiting to see if the clerk was following his instruction, Walker walked with the UPS man to the truck and started carrying boxes back to the mansion. In all, there were four large packages. Each man made two trips, walking slowly to keep from slipping and falling on the icy walkway. Once inside, after placing the four boxes on the rolling table, Walker reminded the clerk to have someone put more salt on the path. After the UPS truck drove away, he waited impatiently for Franklin to arrive. He knew what was inside and was looking forward to seeing Franklin’s reaction.

         Fifteen minutes later, the photographer arrived and stared at the boxes addressed to him. “They finally arrived?” he said needlessly, since he knew what was in them. Walker had previously told him to expect the boxes any day and to rest his signing hand since he would be autographing dozens of books. Months before, after he heard Walker’s idea for a book, Franklin had gone around taking photographs of the other guests, the many staff members, and various shots of the mansion inside and out. He had worked closely with editors at the publishing company Walker owned in putting together a pictorial record of the mansion. He had not seen the finished product yet since it only came off the presses a few days before. Even Walker was looking forward to his first glimpse of the book.

         “Well, what are we waiting for?” said Walker, taking hold of the rolling table. “Let’s go up to my rooms, and you can start autographing them.” He bought the books so Franklin could give them as holiday gifts to the others and get the royalties from the large purchase besides. He also arranged for wide distribution of the book around the country. Walker hoped those who remembered the famous photographer would find the pictures of interest.

         The two men spent the remainder of the afternoon in Walker’s apartment, Franklin proudly signing every copy. Walker slowly went through one of the books admiring the pictures the talented older man had taken. Never in his wildest imagination, when he suggested the book of photographs, did he imagine how it would affect him. In front of him was the proof, in black and white and color, the dream he had years ago was real.

         After gazing at the last picture in the book, a beautiful distant shot of the mansion surrounded by drifts of untouched snow, Walker closed the book and looked at the man sitting across the table from him. He remembered his first sight of Franklin months ago, the skinniest person he had ever seen, and felt humbled by the knowledge he had been able to help the man who had created such a wonderful book.

         In the coming months, the impact these photographs had on others would ultimately surprise and shock these two men. As the old saying goes, “No good deed goes unpunished!”

Chapter 58

         Samantha had a full day of work ahead of her and, therefore, was the first one down the next morning. When she stepped out of the elevator, the sight in front of her had her wondering if she should laugh or cry. She saw spread out over the entire, large entrance room the previously neatly stacked and gaily wrapped gifts. It looked as if someone used them overnight in a game of hockey. Samantha found some boxes batted under furniture while others ended at the far ends of the room, all tangled together. At first glance, she did not see any ripped or loose wrapping paper, but a few of the ribbons looked damp.

         Samantha swung around at the sound of her boss’s voice behind her as Walker reached the bottom of the stairs next to the elevator. “Did we have an intruder break in last night, or did Pele drop by for a visit?” Since she had no idea who Pele was, Samantha did not bother to answer. Bending down to pick up a small box wrapped in bright red paper, she shook it gently. She could hear nothing that sounded like a broken item inside. For the next half hour, the two of them slowly cleared the large room and replaced the presents under the large front window. When other people started to come through the room heading for breakfast, there were no longer any signs of the nocturnal game.

         The rest of the day was uneventful and busy for the entire staff of the mansion. With the start of Hanukkah just before Christmas, some people had made special plans to celebrate the Jewish holiday. Every evening, starting with the first of the eight days of the Celebration of Lights festival, the many Jewish guests and staff gathered by the beautiful menorah in the front room. They watched as Jack, Sylvia, or Abe used the ninth candle to light each of the other eight in commemoration of the victory more than 2200 years ago. Their gentile friends stood nearby in quiet respect while Abe offered up the traditional prayers and blessings in flawless Hebrew during the lighting of these candles.

         On the night following Professor Logan’s arrival, Jack was relieved to see the older man well rested and joining his other friends at the ceremony. He knew the professor would soon be in an intellectual huddle with Abe Goldman with the two men discussing Hebrew writings’ connection to other languages. Jack only hoped he could get the man’s full attention after the holidays so the professor could start tutoring the two children.

         The eight days of Hanukkah passed quickly. On the evening of the eighth day, Chef Geoffrey provided a delicious meal of traditional Jewish delicacies. Savory and sweet latkes, with side dishes of homemade applesauce, came out of the kitchen hot and steaming. Sylvia spent the day with the chef supervising the meal and ended blushing from all the praise heaped on her by her appreciative and well-fed friends.

         During this time, only one problem marred it for Samantha. Each morning, she and Walker came down to find the growing pile of presents scattered over the front room. Before retiring for the night, Walker double-checked the locked front door and even sat up one night trying to catch the miscreant. Unfortunately, he fell deeply asleep on one of the sofas around midnight, only to wake a few hours later to the familiar mess.

         Walker realized he looked forward to the time with Samantha picking up the scattered and still seemingly undamaged presents. He did make sure, though, after the first morning, to get down first and have a large pot of hot coffee waiting. Samantha, in the early morning without at least two mugs of coffee to kick start her day, was apt to be antisocial if anyone spoke to her. Walker, on the other hand, was a morning person and greeted the day and anyone he met with a hearty “Good morning!”

         Finally, afraid the gifts might end damaged from all the wear and tear inflicted on them nightly, Walker decided to find out who was doing this. He set up a camcorder rigged to start recording if anyone entered the room during the night. He placed half a dozen laser beams at knee height. They would activate the camcorder, if crossed. Before going up to the fourth floor for the night, he turned on the laser equipment, fully expecting he would know who the intruder was by the next morning.

         What he found was a camcorder, never activated, and the usual mess of disarrayed presents. Samantha, silently leaving the elevator and seeing her boss standing surrounded by boxes and packages, tried unsuccessfully to hide her grin at Walker’s look of exasperation. For once, she did not need her morning coffee to put her in a good mood. Even though she had forgiven Walker for yelling at her down in the cavern, or so she thought, she felt a tiny satisfaction at seeing him annoyed.

         Unlike Walker, she was pleased because she finally knew who the midnight marauder was.

Chapter 59

         With some rare free time on his hands and frustrated by the failure of the camcorder to turn on during the night, Walker walked away, leaving a still grinning and wisely-silent Samantha to clean up the mess by herself. After bolting down a quick breakfast, he headed back upstairs to the third floor. Walker had returned to his hidden room a couple times to check that no one had disturbed anything. Today, he planned on spending a few hours exploring what was in the various wooden boxes. The usually even-tempered man knew he needed a diversion to restore his good mood.

         The books found earlier were already downstairs in the mansion’s extensive library, with a handful put aside for reading to the children during the long winter evenings. The well-preserved complete works of Charles Dickens was of particular interest to many of the guests, especially “A Christmas Carol.” Walker knew the famous story was going to be part of the holiday pageant scheduled for two days before Christmas in the large ballroom. He was looking forward to that evening.

         On entering the room, he quickly walked, as usual, to the magnificent wooden desk that pulled him like a magnet towards it. The keys for the many trunks were there waiting for him, but he ignored the temptation. After slowly running his long fingers over the desk’s smooth surface, Walker forced himself away from its magical spell.

         A large unopened box caught his attention. He had pushed it behind two of the trunks the day he had cleaned up the room, intending to delve into it the first chance he got. Life, though, had interfered in the following months, and the box stayed untouched and forgotten until now. Seeing the box reminded Walker they still were waiting word from Randall, the San Francisco forensic agent, about the bone Jack found down in the third cavern.

         Everyone at the mansion had heard about the large earthquakes that recently struck the City by the Bay. Randall managed to phone a few days later to let everyone know he and others at the lab had survived. The first 5.6 quake had merely shaken up the people at the SFPD forensic labs. However, the second and stronger 7.9 caused major damage and death throughout San Francisco and the surrounding area. Even this far away from the epicenter, pictures of the devastation appeared constantly on the local news, and Walker noticed Samantha was never far from a television for those next few days.

         During their phone call, Randall mentioned he and his staff had stayed busy following the quakes by investigating each suspicious death. These included a woman found at the bottom of San Francisco’s famed landmark, Coit Tower. He promised to tell them all about it the next time he visited the mansion and how they solved the chocolate-covered hand mystery. Walker looked forward to his new friend’s visit and all the stories he would tell them. Of course, these would have to be without his two young wards around, as he always made an effort to protect them from thoughts of death. He knew they missed their mother and grandmother the most during the holidays and tried to keep their minds away from those bad memories, not always with complete success.

         Pushing thoughts of Randall and death from his mind, Walker reached down and pried open the wooden box. What he found inside had him suddenly laughing and filled with the excitement of an unexpected treasure hunt. Piled high to the top of the box, among other items, was a mixture of toys a little girl would love, a few opened packages with handwritten tags on them addressed to ”My Darling Wife,” and neatly folded clothing from the time of Jason Edgeworth.

         Walker pulled the pieces of clothing out and added them to the pile he had found previously in other boxes. He knew the people involved in “A Christmas Carol” would put them to good use after all these years. The toys he also put aside for Sue Beth. Lastly, he decided to open one of the boxes Edgeworth had addressed to his wife. Looking at the item sparkling up at him, he remembered seeing it months ago worn by the woman in the portrait. Holding it in his hand, though, made him think of the redhead downstairs. Walker imagined how the beautiful emerald and diamond necklace would look around her slender neck. For once, he would have the perfect gift to give her for Christmas. What woman would not love such an exquisite necklace?

         It never entered Walker’s mind it might be an inappropriate gift to give to a woman he was still trying to think of as only an employee.

Chapter 60

         The next morning, Walker surprised the two children by suddenly asking, “Guess who’s coming for a short visit today?” He had interrupted breakfast in his apartment with them, Samantha, and Jack to take a phone call in his office. Walker turned to Jack, who paused with a fork of pancakes halfway to his mouth, when he saw the odd look on his friend’s face. “Randall is on his way, and he’s bringing your buddy, Bob Steele. Captain Steele, if I remember right.” Jack could not figure out how Walker felt about the unexpected visit by the two San Franciscans. He had no doubt, though, about the happiness of Joshua and Sue Beth at seeing their two rescuers. Samantha also looked inordinately happy at hearing the news, something Walker did not fail to notice.

         Later in the afternoon, they were all standing by the front door when Randall’s rental car pulled up. Out stepped the tall forensic agent, who waved at the group waiting for them. An older man joined him, and Walker recognized him immediately from Randall’s previous description. Steele stood a hair under 5 feet 9 inches and appeared stocky instead of fat. He reminded Samantha of a feisty bulldog, ready to take on all comers, if need be, but also willing to be a friend for life to those worthy of it. His clothes appeared thrown on haphazardly. That, though, could be just because he stood next to the other fashionably dressed man. Samantha admitted even Walker, who always appeared neat and casual, would look rumpled next to Randall.

         The children raced outside to greet the men and grabbed their hands to pull them inside. Steele knelt down to receive one of Sue Beth’s hugs, and reached over to give Joshua a quick and painless noggin noogie. “Missed you guys,” he said softly, with tears in his eyes. Watching him, Walker did not know if Steele’s tears were from the emotion of seeing the kids again or the pain Sue Beth was inflicting. Without thinking, he rubbed his own neck at the memory of some of her hugs. He started laughing when he saw Jack and Randall doing the same thing.

         “Come on, kids,” he said, in an attempt to rescue Steele, “Let’s all go and grab a bite to eat. I bet these two want a snack after their long trip.” He received a grateful look from the police captain as he led everyone to a table at the far end of the dining room. For the next hour or so, the guests and staff enjoyed hearing the laughter coming from that table with everyone there enjoying each other’s company. At one point, the nightly problem of the rearranged presents came up. Samantha suggested perhaps Randall and Steele might be able to solve the mystery. Walker did not miss her implied comment he had failed so far and resolved to figure out what was going on before they did.

         After the late snack, the children begged Steele to stay with them for a tour of the mansion while the others offered to take Randall down into the caverns. Steele agreed willingly since visiting a dark cave held no appeal for him. Unlike Steele, his friend was excited about more fully examining the place where Jack had found the human bone. They parted company, with one group going off to see the various game rooms and the other heading down the newly constructed stairway to the caverns below. Walker did not say a word as Samantha followed Jack and Randall down the stairs. He had received a challenging look from her, daring him to forbid her from going into the caverns, but he did not want to make a scene in front of the other two men. Besides, the electricians had finished installing the lights, making the caverns less dangerous to explore.

         When they entered the first cavern, Jack guided them into the larger unfinished cavern off to the left where bones still covered the uneven floor. Samantha soon lost interest and wandered back to the original cavern. She walked down the pathway on the right to the third smaller room. The sound of falling water teased her ears, and it charmed her, on entering the cavern, to see the magnificent waterfall ending in a crystal clear pool. The recessed lighting installed near the ceiling lent a magical otherworld appearance to the area. She could almost sense tiny fairies in gossamer gowns flitting just out of sight. Samantha, a serious woman usually able to resist temptation and flights of fancy, removed her shoes and sat at the edge of the pool. Dangling her feet in the icy water, she thought she heard the sound of voices singing from far away and started to sing softly with them.

         This is how Walker found her when he came into the cavern, after feeling panic when he noticed she had disappeared. He stood at the entranceway, still unobserved by Samantha, and listened to her pleasant alto voice. She was singing “Greensleeves,” accompanied only by the sound of the soothing waterfall. He nearly broke his silence when he saw a shadow move on the ledge behind her. Walker relaxed when he recognized Rufus, the large cat who had the run of the mansion, including the caverns.

         The Maine Coon cat had turned out to be a great mouser, as shown by the small bodies found in the corridor by the kitchen most mornings. Rufus quickly and decisively showed Walker’s two pet foxes he was the only boss of the mansion. The three animals got along, if not as friends, at least not as enemies. When he saw the cat, a stray thought crossed Walker’s mind and as quickly was gone.

         “Sam,” he called out quietly, trying not to startle the daydreaming woman, “are you ready to leave yet? We’re all going upstairs to my rooms for drinks soon.” Even though he spoke softly, Samantha turned around abruptly at the sound of his voice, almost falling into the pool at her quick movement. She caught her balance and managed to get to her feet before Walker reached her. He leaned down to pick up her discarded shoes and held them out to her.

         “Thank you,” she said, not looking at him while putting her shoes back on. “Maybe Randall will tell us about one of his cases if we ask him.” Walker could see it embarrassed Samantha for him to find her barefoot and singing to herself. He silently followed her to where they met with the other two men in the front cavern and up the stairs to the first floor.

         They found Steele waiting for them in the entrance room, talking to the friendly desk clerk. He mentioned to them the children were playing in one of the game rooms. The adults agreed to meet later, and Jack left to show Randall and Steele to their rooms.

Continued in next segment.

HOME OF THE RED FOX - Segment Thirteen  (18+) Chapters 61 thru 65 #1082900 by J. A. Buxton