Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Trixie Belden, I'm using the characters without permission, and I'm not making any profit. Anything else you recognize has also been used without permission.
Tennessee Dan
Chapter One
Dan had been called to the reserve center. Lord only knew what that meant.
"Yes, sir!" he saluted Lieutenant Carter as he entered the office and stood before the desk.
"At ease, Marine. Mangan, we want you on the crew for the Toys for Tots event on Saturday. I realize this is sudden, and that today is Thursday, but Flannery's wife unexpectedly went into labor nine weeks early and he's not going to be at the field. You'll be taking his place."
"Of course, sir. Anything to help. May I ask to what will I be assigned?"
"You will be part of the general assistance committee. Your job will be to do whatever certain personnel ask of you. Mainly, you will be working with the civilian event coordinator, Willa Logan. A couple of the clubs at her school came up with this Fall Festival idea and she contacted us. Since this is the first go-around with this project, and we've got a high school student at the helm, we're expecting unanticipated circumstances to arise and need a crew ready to deal with it. I guess you could say that you'll be part of a small-scale crisis intervention team. I know that back home you did some charity work and event organization, so I thought you'd be an asset Miss Logan could draw on if necessary." The lieutenant passed a folder over the desk. "Here is all of the information you should get caught up on before you report at or before oh-seven-hundred Saturday. What I'm about to tell you is in there, but just to be thorough, you will sign in at the booth marked USMC at the visitors gate of the football stadium at Rural Hill High School. There's a map in there. It is my understanding that Rural Hill isn't too far from your apartment?"
"You are correct, sir."
"Good. Then if you've no other questions, you are dismissed and I don't expect to see you again until sometime Saturday. Semper Fi."
The men saluted and Dan left the reserve building.
Thank goodness that they weren't telling me I was going to be deployed again. I've just gotten settled here, just started my degree over at ETSU. I need a chance to find myself here, in the hills of Appalachia. I surely didn't find me out in that desert. Heck, I almost lost me out in that desert. A Saturday event with kids? No problem. I'll take the kids over terrorists and jihadists any day! Guess I'd better get home and start brushing up on the months of planning I've missed.
Most people think four A.M. is an ungodly hour at which to awaken on a Saturday morning. Not me. Five's my normal, but I can handle four, no problem.
Today was the day. The big event. Her biggest moment. This could make or break her; in what, she didn't know. Willa just had a feeling that today's outcome would have a profound effect on the rest of her life, and she tended to trust these types of feelings. It was some type of heightened sensitivity or ability or something, she was sure, because she could tell things, and they were always right. Always. It was something of a family trait, converging on both sides to have an amplified occurrence in her. Neither of the boys had displayed signs of having the gift, but then her parents hadn't had It; the majority of her mother's siblings and most of her father's family didn't have It either.
Willa walked out on the second story porch in her pajamas. It was two Saturdays before Thanksgiving, and the heat was still hanging on. Setting one hip on the porch rail and leaning her head back against one of the columns, she listened, took a few deep breaths, and gauged the temperature for the rest of the day. Thankfully, she was unable to detect any signs of rain, but the day seemed like it was going to be unseasonably warm. Well, she had her wardrobe questions for the day answered, at least.
Dressing in a pair of denim shorts and a tank top with a light cardigan, she was ready to head to the high school stadium. After packing her dark green skirt and burgundy blouse with the gold accents, along with the skirt's matching blazer and an old tan leather jacket of her father's that had the Marine Corps emblem stamped over the heart in a garment bag, Willa headed downstairs. She picked her black stilettos off the bottom step and dropped them in one of the bags she'd be carrying with her.
On a normal Saturday, she and her father would be cooking a hearty meal in the kitchen. Today, she rummaged through the cabinets without much regard for nutritional value.
I do that a lot now. Sometimes I don't even eat. The thoughts came unbidden to her mind, and she willed them to retreat. This isn't what I need on my mind right now. I need to focus. I have a long day ahead of me today.
Finding nothing of interest in the cabinets, she turned to the fridge. Success! Inside was the coconut cake she had baked two days ago, a small can of cranberry sauce (she was the only one in the house who ate it), and some bacon left over from breakfast yesterday. Pulling the items from the refrigerator and pouring herself a glass of sweet tea, she sat down at the counter on the far side of the sink where she often ate when she ate alone or with only her father. She insisted the boys eat meals at the table. Most people called it a breakfast bar, but to her it was just an outcropping of the counter.
"Unlikely breakfast you've got there, Sugar," a gruff voice sounded from the doorway.
"Sorry, Daddy! I tried not to wake you. I guess I didn't do a very good job. You should try to go back to bed. You had a long week at work and ought to sleep while you can. Why, it's not even five!"
"You didn't get me up. I woke up on my own just a minute ago. I wanted to be able to tell you 'bye 'fore you left for that toy deal, and I see I've caught you. I'm gonna pour myself some cereal. Why you just didn't have any of that is beyond me..." he trailed off, mumbling into the cabinet about which cereal to choose.
"Tough, isn't it? Choosing a cereal when cereal isn't what you want to eat?"
The older man turned around and sent a mock glare her way. Giving up, he pulled a box at random.
Seeing his choice, Willa snickered. Her father just scowled at the box and grabbed the milk from the fridge.
"Frosted Cheerios, really? Nice, Dad. Good one. See, this is why I'm eating coconut cake and cranberry sauce with a side of bacon for breakfast. Beats the heck out of Cheerios. This right here is the breakfast of champions!"
Mildly amused, he replied, "Well, champ, I suggest you finish it so you can get a move on."
She was about to pretend to pout when a small tug came on her leg. Looking down, she saw Ricky. Though he was eight, he was small for his age and Willa easily hoisted him to her lap. Looking into his face, she saw tears brimming in his eyes.
"Aw, sugar, what's the matter?"
"I don't want you to leave! You've gotta stay here!"
"Bubby, I'm sorry, but...," she paused, unsure of what to say. Ricky was born with several disabilities, and Willa tried hard to put things in a way he could understand. "You know how, at Christmas, you get all excited when you come into the living room and see all of the presents under the tree?" He nodded, and so she continued. "Well, in lots of places, kids are lucky to even have a living room. Their families can't afford presents for them. They usually have to work to scrape up money even for a tree. What we're going to do today is get presents for these kids so that, when Christmas morning comes, they can get to know the feeling of unwrapping a present. That's why I have to leave. I'm in charge of the event. They need my help to get all those toys collected. Can you understand that?"
"I... I think so." Ricky was quiet for a minute, then said, "Sissy, can I come with you? I get so many presents, I want to help somebody get a present, too. If I could, I'd give them some of my presents, but that would be after Christmas. So I want to help. Can I, please?"
His sincere question, spoken with a child's absence of guile, brought tears to her eyes. "Don't cry, Sissy," he said, reaching up with his tiny fingers to wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes. Willa hugged him close and said, "Yes, baby, you can come with me. You're so tiny, but your heart is so big. I love you. Don't you forget that, y'hear?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Now go put some clothes on. Jeans and one of your collared shirts with a couple of buttons at the neck. Tennis shoes. I'll grab you some layers in case it gets chilly. You can eat some Cheerios in the car on the way over. Do you want milk or juice in your cup?"
"Apple juice, please. Thank you!"
Willa tousled his hair, and he ran off to do as instructed. She quickly finished her food, then set to work gathering the last-minute supplies the new addition to her crew warranted. Briefly, she wondered if she should wake Craig and invite him along. He'd already declined previous invitations, but it might not hurt to try one last time. She then vetoed the idea. On Saturdays, he rarely awoke before eleven, usually not before noon. Craig would be useless as a helper if awakened before he was ready. He'd be attending later with friends. That'd be good enough for now.
Willa filled Ricky's car cup with apple juice and filled her own refillable cup with a screw-on lid with more sweet tea. She swore she wasn't addicted to the stuff, but deep down, she knew better. She needed her tea. She was also obsessed with those cups. They were just so cute and practical!
She put two different kinds of Cheerios into plastic baggies for Ricky- some for breakfast, and some for snacks later. Then, she traded out her small cooler for a larger one to accommodate enough Cokes for herself and her brother. Tossing a couple of extra granola bars, Debbie cakes, and a handful of Fruit Roll-Ups and other gummy, fruity treats into her snack bag, she hollered for Ricky.
He came scooting around the corner, grinning from ear to ear. Willa was glad to see him so happy to be helping others in need. Turning to her father, she said, "Daddy, do you think I could take your truck today in case I need to haul something or something like that?"
He pretended to deliberate, then said, "Sure. Get the keys off my dresser."
Willa left and came back, keys in hand, then asked, "Do you want mine so you can use my car if you want?"
"Sugar, I can't fit my legs in that tiny contraption of yours if I try! Thank you, but we have other vehicles I can drive."
"Yay! Truck!" Ricky exclaimed as he ran for one of the piles of bags and attempted to pick up a big blue and green duffle.
"Ricky, honey, try this one," Willa said, handing him her vinyl, doubled-over garment bag. "Just set it in the passenger's seat, and try not to let it drag the ground, please." Beaming at having been assigned a task, the boy hurried to make short, but careful, work of it.
She continued to feed him the small bags, and the truck was soon loaded. "Ricky, buckle yourself in, but leave your door open. I need to go grab my shoes and then we'll be ready to go."
Willa ran into the house, grabbed a pair of black sandals, and ran back out the door, glancing at her watch. It was just before five twenty. That meant that she'd be at the field and have a few minutes to collect her thoughts before the early crew came in to unlock everything and set up the sign-in tables at six. As she slid behind the wheel, her phone rang. Looking at the display, she saw that it was Mack, her somewhat-boyfriend. She let it go to voicemail, then sent him a text saying, "Sorry I missed your call. I'm on my way to the field. Talk to you later :)".
"Who was that?"
"Mack, honey. Now, here's my phone. If it rings, tell me who's calling, but don't answer it. If it pops up with a message, tell me who it is, but don't open it, please. You may play on it if you like."
They were almost to the end of the gravel drive when the phone rang. "It says 'Casey'."
She stopped the truck and took the phone. "Case. Hi. Sorry I'm running a bit behind schedule. Is there a problem?"
Casey Morgan was one of Willa's closest friends; she sometimes regarded him as her only true friend because he was the only person that had never given up on her through all of the drama in her life. He was also her right-hand man on this project.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it.
More to come!
~Dixie
