Secrets of the Spiral Tower (9 page)

Caitlyn returned with Willow’s cup of coffee. “When Mr. Rupert left, the door was closed and everything is just as he left it.”

“It looks like it, too,” Willow said, laughing. “Why don’t you get the janitorial service to clean and disinfect this room, and the one across the hall?”

“That would be later today. They come by on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at five in the afternoon.”

“Good. Now back to my question. What is the best way for me to catch up on the day-to-day operations?”

“Willow, probably a review of the files in this row of cabinets.”

“Okay. I want to start that process soon. But, I don’t want to get in your way. After the room across from Daddy’s office is cleaned, I’m going to buy some furniture and set up in there.”

“That will be no problem. We’ve used that room as a repository of old files, but they can be moved down the hall to another room. We just have to be sure to keep them in a climate-controlled room. We must keep them in good shape for future reference should an occasion arise with one of our customers or the IRS.”

“Caitlyn, I wish you would put that on your front burner. I’m going to spend some quality time with my daddy for the next couple of weeks. But, afterwards, I’ll come by here on a regular basis.”

“I’m sure I can do it.”

“Thank you, Caitlyn. I know I’m going to enjoy working with you.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Willow looked at her watch. “It’s four o’clock. I’m going to pick up Daddy. I don’t think we have time to come back today. When Connor shows up, tell him I’m with Daddy and will call him later.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Turning off Wisconsin Avenue to the Assisted Living Complex, Willow’s attention was called to a truck coming toward her blinking its headlights. It was Woody. He let her turn in front of him and followed her to the parking lot.

Slipping out of her car, she asked, “What are you doing Cuz?”

“I’ve been involved all day in a meeting out here and just happened by as you were turning. What’s up with you?”

“I’m getting re-acclimated to Vicksburg.”

Woody looked at the car. “Is this Uncle Rupert’s?”

“Yeah. It is quite a ride compared to my Jag. Say I have an idea. Why don’t you go in and visit with Daddy and me?”

Woody hesitated. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve talked to Uncle Rupert. Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Like I told you yesterday, we need to mend some family fences. I’m going to take Daddy across the river bridge and back to our house. I think he would enjoy having you come along, I know I would.”

“I don’t know. Maybe you and Uncle Rupert need privacy.”

“Privacy, my foot. We’ll have plenty of time for that when I move him home.”

“Are you seriously considering that?”

“Yes. Very seriously. I feel guilty for being an ‘absent child’ for so long. I’m going to devote some quality time to him.”

She grabbed Woody by the arm. “C’mon. Go with me.”

“Okay. Hold on a minute. I need to call Olga and let her know I’ll be a little bit late coming home.”

Woody punched a single icon on his phone.

“Olga answered. “Hello, Woody.”

“Hi, Babe. I’m with Willow and we’re taking her Daddy on a ride across the river. So I’ll be about an hour later coming home.”

“Woody, this is timely. I was just about to call you. Anne and I want some barbecue for supper. I wanted you to pick some up on your way home.”

“Hold on a second.”

Turning to Willow, Woody asked, “Do you have plans for supper?”

“No, I haven’t thought about it.”

“How about this? Why don’t we pick up some barbecue and go to my house? Uncle Rupert hasn’t been there in several years.”

“Woody, I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t we take the short drive across the river, pick up the barbecue and go to my old home? I’ll call and alert Mamie. She would be thrilled to see you.”

“That’s a good idea. Is it okay if Olga and Anne join us?”

“Absolutely.”

Woody picked up his phone. “Olga, are you still there?”

“Yes, Woody. I’m hanging on. I heard most of that conversation. What time do you want us to meet you?”

“Since you don’t know where Willow’s old house is, why don’t you and Anne pick up some pulled pork and some ribs, and meet me at the Assisted Living Complex in an hour?”

“We can do that. See you then.”  

“This will be a good opportunity to introduce Olga to your daddy. Should there be any tension between Uncle Rupert and me, Olga is a good conversationalist and could help ease the tension.”

“Okay. I’m calling Mamie. I just love it when a plan comes together.” They walked toward Rupert’s apartment. “This is absolutely wonderful.”

Willow gently tapped on the door and turned the knob,  pushing it open slightly. “Daddy, it’s Willow.”

“Come in, Darling. I’m waiting on you and ready to go.” 

Rupert, seated in his wheelchair, turned toward Willow when she spoke. “Daddy, look who’s with me.”

Woody stepped forward, extending his hand. “Uncle Rupert. It is good to see you.”

“By golly. It is good to see you, too,” Rupert said, a surprised look on his face. “It has been a long time.”

“That’s right; Uncle Rupert, but Willow and I are going to keep in close contact with you from now on.”

“Woody, I look forward to that.”

“Daddy, do you want to walk out or does Woody need to push your wheelchair?”

“As much as I would like to walk out, I had better let Woody push me out. My legs aren’t very strong.”

“I spoke to the administrator and he said you should start a walking program. We’ll do that later.”

After getting Rupert seated in the car, Willow pitched the keys to Woody. “Why don’t you drive? I’m going to sit in the back seat behind Daddy so we can talk.”

“Willow, are you taking good care of my car?” asked Rupert. “Do we need to stop for gas?”

“Yes Daddy. I’m handling your car with kid gloves. And I filled the tank yesterday. I ran into one of your old employees at the gas station.”

“Yeah? Which one?”

“You remember that hair-lipped guy. What was his name?”

“That’s Rudy. He is a sorry example of a human being.”

“I had a slight problem with him, but Connor set him straight.”

“Speaking of Connor, where is he?”

“I stopped by the office today and Caitlyn told me he was meeting somebody down at Port Gibson. I’ll catch up with him later.” 

Turning onto Wisconsin Avenue and weaving through the side streets, Woody turned west on I-20 and headed across the Mississippi River Bridge.

Rupert said, “My, the river appears to be on a rise.”

“Yes. It is at the end of the annual spring rise. There is a lot of timber and farm land above here that has been flooded to record levels this year.”

“You know, Woody, I can remember one year, after record snow falls across the northern states, how this river rose to elevations second only to the great flood of 1927. Towing that year was as dangerous as it gets.”

“Daddy, remember? I went out on the river with you after a big tow hit the bridge and broke up. We chased and caught barges as far downstream as five miles.”

“Yes, Willow, that was a harrowing experience. Remember that fuel barge we caught?”

“Do I ever? I recall all of the talk on the two-way radio between you and the Coast Guard. As I remember, you owned the only tow boat with enough horsepower to hook up and hold the barge. But, Daddy, since this was such a dangerous mission I’ve always wondered why you took me along?”

“It was time for you to learn how it was done. I wanted to show you the right way to hook up a fuel barge and not blow the thing up.”

“Uncle Rupert, how many times have you chased loose barges on this river?”

“I don’t remember exactly but at least twenty-five times. That was always dangerous work, but I had an experienced crew and they knew what to do. And it seemed like more often than not, we had to do it at night. But each time we were paid very well.”

“Willow, do you remember the time your mama, you, Woody, Connor, and I camped out on Goat Island?”

“Oh, Daddy, I certainly do. That was the time we almost lost Connor. We were standing on the edge of the steep sand shoreline, when a tow boat came by and rolled a huge wave into that sand face. The sand collapsed under Connor and he fell in.”

“The only thing that saved him was my long arms stretched out, and grabbing the strap on his life jacket and pulling him to shore. That scared me more than anything we ever did towing barges.”

“Yes, Daddy. That scared the punk out of me. And, we never camped on that island again.”

“Yeah. That was too close for me. But, you know it was a good place to camp overnight and have fun around the campfire.”

“Those days were fun. I guess people still do that.”

“Yes. Mainly teenage kids do it today,” said Woody.

“Uncle Rupert, I’m going to bring up an embarrassing memory for Willow. Do you remember the time she and Connor took your Jeep out on the sandbar below the bridge?”

Rupert laughed. “Yeah. You know I had just gotten that World War II  Jeep completely refurbished and had no intentions of ever getting it off the hard surface.”

“I know you spent a lot of money on mechanical and cosmetic restoration.”

“Yeah, that’s right Woody. As I recall, the paint job alone cost me $4,000. It was sharp with those chrome wheels, roll bar, and some oversized, raised letters street tires. I was so proud of it.”

 “Daddy that was a very difficult time for me, especially when I called you on the two-way radio to come get us. I knew everybody in Warren County heard my distress call. I can laugh now, but not that night. When you drove up in your Dodge 4X4, Connor drifted out of the headlights. He was terrified you were going to throw him in the river.”

“That thought crossed my mind. But, then I realized that you were probably the guilty one for going out on the sand bar anyway.”

“You’re right, Daddy. I coaxed Connor into driving down there. He was scared to, but I kept on accusing him of being a chicken. He finally gave in, and we made one run before hitting a soft spot and sank up to the axles. We stopped just like we hit a stone wall. It was a good thing the windshield was down; otherwise I would have hit it head on. I fell across the dash and onto the hood. Jumping off, I panicked, thinking if a tow boat should come by and rolled a big wave our way, the jeep would sink out of sight.”

“Didn’t you split your lip on something?” Woody asked.

“Yes, but that didn’t matter.”

“But, Daddy, you didn’t raise your voice at me.”

“Willow I don’t want to tell you what I was thinking, though. It wasn’t very nice.”

“You know, Daddy, we never went back to the sand bar. And I never asked to drive the Jeep again.”

“That’s good, because after I got it cleaned up again, I kept the key in my pocket and I wasn’t about to let anybody drive it.”

Woody asked, “Where is the Jeep now?”

“It is stored in my maintenance building at the Port Gibson Port.”

“Now that Willow is back to stay, do you think we should get it out?”

“You know, Woody, I haven’t thought about it in several years. If you want to crank and drive it, I would love to ride in it again.”

“What about it, Willow?”

“Umm, I don’t know. My last memory of that Jeep wasn’t a pleasant one.”

“Then that’s even more reason for us to get it out. I can probably get it running again with very little effort. We could make some more pleasant memories this time. “

“Okay, let’s think about it a bit more. Let’s go home now.”

“Willow, Olga and Anne are meeting me at the Complex. I’ll get in the car with them and follow you home. They have the barbecue.”

“Sounds like a plan, Woody. I’m getting hungry. I’ll call Mamie and give her a heads up and ask her to make some sweet iced tea.”

“Great.”

As Willow and Rupert drove away from the Complex, she asked, “Daddy, how do you feel about going to our old home?”

“I’m looking forward to it. Can I stay the night?  It would be great to sleep in my old bed for a change.”

“I hadn’t thought about that, but I’ll see what can be arranged. It would be nice for the two of us to stay there again.”

At that moment, Willow’s phone rang. She recognized the number. “Hello Connor. Where are you?”

“I’m leaving Port Gibson headed your way. “

“Good. Stop by my old home. I’ve got Daddy here, and Woody and his family are on the way.”

“What? You’ve got Rupert there?”

“Yes. Woody and I took him on a ride across the river today. You won’t believe what Daddy remembered.”

“What?”

“The sinking of his Jeep.”

“Oh, my. That was one big nightmare for me. When your daddy arrived to pull us out, I thought about running away. He had spent so much time renovating that old thing and in just a few minutes, we practically destroyed it. You know that Jeep is parked in the maintenance building at the port down here.”