Back to the Drawing Board_11_Summer Santa
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Two days before the morning of the cargo drop test, William had brought the Goggle Earth apparatus and the gifts functioning as 'cargo' to a rendezvous point where Pendrick had planned to hide the larger cargo plane. This confidential spot would help their activities remain more clandestine, and it was also closer to Murdoch's house. William intended to 'go to Church' as usual for early Sunday morning Mass, but then steal out the back, in case he was being followed. Pendrick would claim to be having a romantic weekend away, and thus his staff would have the weekend off, lowering the chances of drawing attention to what they were doing. Anticipation, and a bit of nerves, were high with the build-up to Sunday.
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When William reached over, in the still, dark room, to turn off the alarm clock before it could ring, Julia too, was not asleep. She lay, her back to him, wrestling with her internal battle. She was terrified he would die today, her emotions so high that she alternated between clenching her teeth and working to control the urge to punch something, and swallowing back the swelling of her tears. Despite herself, for he would surely notice, she sighed, having been overcome by feelings of frustration when she found herself thinking that it being 'her time of the month' was probably contributing to the problem.
Her cover given away, betrayed by her exasperation, she rolled over to face him. Eyes already adjusted to the pre-dawn dimness, she was able to make out much of his handsome face looking back at her. The urge to cry, just in that moment, won out. She could not bear the thought of losing him, she just couldn't.
"Good morning Mrs. Murdoch," he said, his voice dry and scratchy."
"Mr. Murdoch," she replied, slipping her naked body into his embrace, so very lovely, as skin slid along skin. It seemed possible, that she could hold back her tears, not let on, to her raging struggle. She pressed further, pushing him onto his back and pulled a leg up over him, dropped her head down onto his shoulder. There, she took a deep breath. In the end, she knew she would say it. She would never forgive herself if he died and she had not tried to stop him from going.
"I'm afraid I'm having second thoughts… about the plane," she admitted into the darkness.
She couldn't see it, yet she was certain he had wrinkled his face, an unconscious instinct to apologize. "Julia," his voice had an air of reasonableness, "You know you can't take what…" William paused, for feelings of his own hypocrisy bubbled up about minimizing her concerns, when he himself had been likely been bothered by the very same thing. He cleared his throat and asked, "Is it because of what Madam Celeste predicted?
"I know it's silly, William… but yes," she risked embarrassment for the sake of honesty between them.
He rolled her over…. gave her a quick and tender kiss. His sigh revealed his own level of inner conflict – he too would tell the truth. "It's not silly, Julia. I keep thinking about it too." His thumb caressed her cheek as his hand tucked under her head to settle into her curls, cherishing the feel of her delicate ear as his fingers crossed over it on the way. He wrinkled a corner of his mouth. "But, I find I see it differently. Remember, the madam's fortune was that you would save me from the Air… and certainly the Air could very well be an airplane… but, well, truth be told, it seems both you and the airplane need to be involved for her prediction to come true, and I wouldn't be going with you, so I feel it's safe," he finished proudly. So quick, his reflection, forcing him to add, "That is, if I were to believe in astrological fortunes at all… which, of course I do not, so it's really not a problem in the first place.
There was a logic to what he was saying, and she found it did reassure her somewhat… importantly, it reassured her enough. She pushed against his chest and teased, "Well you'd best get going then, detective. I believe you wanted to be sneaking out of the Church before it was light."
"I'm so glad I married you, Julia," he declared, giving her one more kiss, and then hurrying out of bed to be on his way.
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He took a cab to the Church, avoiding having his bicycle left behind as a clue to his having had slipped away. It troubled him that he still felt so certain that he was being watched, spied on, for he had never actually been able to spot anything untoward… thus he had no evidence that it was so. That being said, they were certain Pendrick was under surveillance, not just by the American government, but by their own Canadian government as well. Admittedly, all of this added an air of danger… and William found he enjoyed the thrill of it.
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"Magnificent Murdoch!" James Pendrick yelled as the wheels of the plane lifted off of the ground, surging one's head and stomach with a thrilling dizziness. The friends shared a look, each seeing the pure glee in the other. "I've set the cameras to begin photographing in ten minutes," William hollered over the loud engine. Silence settled in around them, between them, each man lingering in his own thoughts.
William's eyes soaked up the sights. It was exhilarating, seeing familiar places – roads, buildings, rivers, all so clearly connected, from up here. Their old Hotel – the Windsor House! There's his Church – he could make out people leaving the early Mass! He wondered about it – if his cameras were taking pictures now, the photographs could be enlarged… individuals could be identified! This could be very useful, indeed, both for policing, but also for sinister purposes as well, he noted. "Wow," he thought, "that's the stationhouse – and Julia's morgue across the way!" He could trace out his route to work… Almost there, his every cell vibrated with anticipation.
Then his house, it looked so much bigger than he expected – probably because of the big front porch, and also the servant's quarters. In all his days he never thought, he, William Murdoch would own such a house. There was Judge Matthews' pond, where William Jr. had picked the controversial Mother's Day orange lily for his mother, although they were flying too high up above the ground to make out anything much more than trees and bushes from here. The woods, on the contrary, looked surprisingly small. The leaves filled out the trees so that he could not see through them to the "water well" serving as the mask for their exit from the secret tunnel from the house.
William gasped under his breath. He could make out the moving people down below! Julia in her long dress, the others… two of them, not able to tell… well actually, yes, he could. The cameras had probably started taking photos…
Pendrick cleared his throat, loudly to be heard over the noise of the plane. "Murdoch, ready the flaps!"
"No wind this morning," he commented, optimistic the cargo would land where planned. Not something he took lightly, he crossed himself, and then took a firm hold of the lever between their two seats. "Bikes away!" he declared as he pushed the lever back.
It worked like a charm… flaps opened, platform – loaded with his gifts secured tightly within thick netting – dropped away, with minimal wobble. Then the parachute – their biggest concern had been that it would get caught on the airplane's flaps on the way out – in the end, not a problem, whooshed and puffed quickly out of the plane's belly. Abruptly, it was just gone. William pulled the lever forward and the flaps closed.
Down on the Earth below, Julia alerted the children to look in the sky the moment she heard the plane engine. They spotted it quickly as it approached from the east, shielding their eyes and pointing. "There are two men flying that plane," their mother told them… "and one of them is your father. He's with Mr. Pendr…"
"But Mad Cest said Daddy woul…" Katie's voice shrieked, fear overtaking her as she remembered the show the night of the big Anniversary Party.
"You have to save him!" William Jr. rushed to interrupt, tugging at her skirts.
"Jump Mommy! Jump up," little Katie verged on tears of panic, her three-year-old brain unable to know that it was not possible for her mother to do such a thing.
Kneeling down to them, she placed her glance firmly into their eyes, first one and then the other. "Your Daddy is fine up there in that machine. He was the first man in the world to fly a plane – and that was with Mr. Pendrick in his plane too, and Daddy knows what to do. I know you're scared, but Madam Celeste is not able to know what will happen in the future. I promise you, Daddy is fine. Let's wave to him, hmm?" she suggested a plan of action. Secretly, she prayed to herself that he would be alright, that her promise was not a lie.
Julia looked to the plane and waved one arm in the air…
Gratefully, both children joined in. Katie encouraged Chelsea to wave to Daddy up in the plane too.
Bursting with excitement, William Jr. asked, "Do you think we can see Daddy?"
"I think he's too high for that, little one," she replied, straining to see with her own eyes if it were possible.
Unsure of the safety of being directly under a cargo drop, Julia decided it would be best to watch the rest from inside the house. She picked up Chelsea in her arms and ushered the other two children along towards the backdoor of the dining room.
Quickly, the parachute filled the sky below the plane, drifting slower and slower as it grew closer.
"What's that?" Katie screamed out.
"Is it Daddy?" William Jr. asked, worry entering his voice once more.
"No, no, Sweetie… It's not Daddy. Daddy is still safe inside the plane. I think it's presents!" she declared, hoping to alleviate their fears.
"Presents!" Katie yelled.
"Well, we'll have to see, but I think it might be Summer Santa," she instigated, setting their childhood excitement aflame
Up in the sky, it was not until the two men circled back that they were certain of their success. It occurred to William, though, as he couldn't see any sign of his family down there on the ground, that he should have prepared Julia for the large size of the parachute. Could they be under it? he wondered, just before he spotted Julia's long dress coming out of the backdoor of the house. So soon they were out of sight, the airplane heading northward. How he would have liked to see the children's faces when they discovered the toys… and Julia's too, for he had left her unexpected bundles and bundles of flowers and candy – lots and lots to bolster the celebratory mood.
Down on the ground, Julia insisted the children stay back while she gathered and pushed the big, puffy, parachute out of the way. "You two need to stay with Chelsea, please," she reminded again, as her own eagerness and anticipation served to help her recognize how truly elated the children likely were.
"Was that really Daddy?" William Jr. exclaimed, his eyes big as saucers, mesmerized by the huge balloon in their yard.
"Yes," Julia answered him… "At least I think so… Well," she would offer up a hint at what was in the humungous air-delivered package, "Perhaps it was Summer Santa!" she exaggerated, as she pulled and hauled the parachute out of the way, the bicycles and toy horse soon to become discernable.
"Santa's not in summer, Mommy," Katie protested.
"Bikes!" William Jr. screamed out, "We got bikes! Look Katie!"
Julia quickly added, "And a horse to ride on for Chelsea too," making sure to minimize fights by defining which toy was whose.
"There's flowers… for you Mommy," William Jr. said,
"Oh my," his mother delighted in her gifts, "I do like this Summer Santa," she said, encouraging the game.
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A sign that William was still quite obsessed with the case, he asked Pendrick if they had enough fuel to venture further north than they had the last time they were up flying. He wanted to try to find the spot Schiergen had photographed. It was when they hit North York that things got exciting!
"Three buildings, like in the photographs – that one huge… I think that's the same place!" William exclaimed. My God, he wished his cameras were photographing this!
Pendrick verified, "Out your side of the plane?"
"Yes! Yes! I'm quite certain," he replied, "Can you go back around… maybe get lower?"
It was on that second pass, that the hair on the back of each man's necks stood up, for there were multiple…
"Are those airplanes, Murdoch!?" Pendrick shouted.
It seemed to be a large base of sorts – for airplanes. There were two paved runways, buildings to store and hide the planes in one of them very, very large, and quite a few airplanes out in plain sight.
"Yes!" William answered, "I count nine of them!"
William's mind moved a mile a minute. This was what all the spy drama was about – this air base! No wonder Adam Clegg was spying on Pendrick and all his flying innovations. Clegg thought Pendrick would lead him to this… And what more, if William was right about the Germans being involved, they too would have been interested in finding such a Canadian military secret as this! Everybody was looking for this base, and Meyers was trying to keep it hidden at all costs!
"Astounding!" William said. "No wonder Meyers wanted us off the case… he was sure I'd find it," he explained.
Pendrick struggled to make the connections. "So, you figure Schiergen also discovered this secret Canadian… base…"
"An airbase, really," William named it.
Pendrick continued drawing together his conclusions, "And you think Schiergen was photographing during a spying surveillance run – for who? The Americans?"
"Or perhaps the Germans," William added.
"Or, to be honest, Murdoch, maybe even the Russians," Pendrick blurted out, thinking back to the time he had spent in Russia, when he had met Svetlana. The Russians were pretty serious about flight…
Going on Pendrick said, "And that's when he got those shots, err, the photographs that you found in his flat… And that's why he was killed?"
William sensed he had hit a snag. "But, if Schiergen took the photographs for whomever he was working for…" William paused, his mind running too many directions at once. The phone number he had called, the one in the newspaper ad for a small, brave man… that would have gotten him to Schiergen's employer, and Meyers had stopped his investigation at that point, thus ensuring he wouldn't find the base… And further complicating matters, they had not been certain that Schiergen had actually been killed – it being possible that he had just fallen from a plane while working. His voice still loud to get over the plane engines, but much less excited, William wondered, "But it doesn't make sense that he would have been killed by the same person who hired him to take the photographs…"
"True Murdoch," Pendrick agreed, now turning the plane back towards home.
William considered, "Perhaps he developed the photographs and recognized them for what they were… and then tried to sell them to Meyers knowing Meyers would want to keep Canada's secret safe."
"My God," the thought crossed William's mind, "Would Meyers have gone so far as to kill Schiergen to ensure he made no further blackmail attempts, or even to stop any potential leaking of the information!?" And to top it all off, it was there, in the dark recesses of William's mind, lurking, gnawing… What did all this have to do with his abduction?
A man like William Murdoch was extremely bothered by untied ends, and this case seemed to have many of them. As he tended to do with emotions he couldn't understand, couldn't control, was unable to completely grasp, William needed to put all this on a backburner… let it stew for a while…
Pendrick suggested that they keep the discovery of the airbase between themselves for now. He urged that William was officially taken off of the case by Meyers, and now that they knew how high the stakes were, it was in Murdoch's best interests to stay out of it – just drop the whole thing.
William agreed. He didn't say it, but the biggest problem he had with Pendrick's plan was not telling Julia about it. He already regretted keeping it from her. He would give it a day, and then decide whether or not to tell her, he decided, feeling better about it for now.
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No surprise to him, William found his family in the backyard. He stood for a moment watching them from the dining room. Julia had done quite a good job of rolling up the parachute. Pendrick had agreed to come get the whole contraption tomorrow. She was helping Chelsea roll her riding toy horse along, challenging because the wheels under the hooves were tiny and they were struggling to get through the grass. Both William Jr. and Katie were making good progress in mastering their bicycles, he noted proudly, for a grassy surface made the learning even more difficult. He would need to do some coaching, however. Katie was not sitting centered on the seat, and thus one of the training wheels held a consistent weight of the load.
He took a deep breath, soaking in the beautiful sight. He felt happy. The floral scent permeated his nostrils, and he remembered seeing bouquet, after bouquet, of flowers displayed all over the house in vases as he came in. And even now, the dining room table held three vases of roses – the copper and wool ones he had given Julia for their seventh anniversary, and two other vases – each full of a colorful mix of blooms. Next to the flowers on the table, there were boxes of chocolates and hard candies, waiting to be broken into for further indulgences to come.
"Daddy!" the exclamations rang out as William walked out to join them. Hugs and kisses and greetings all around, William quickly turned to the new arrivals.
"My, my," he awed, "What happened here?"
"Mommy says it's Summer Santa," Katie answered.
The concept got a chuckle out of him as he eyed his wife. "Summer Santa?" he marveled.
"Yes Daddy," Katie answered, deciding it might be best to show him, she rushed towards her new bike. "Look Daddy!" she yelled back, already swinging a leg over the seat.
"I got one too!" William Jr. rushed to tell, hurrying to mount up as well.
Pushing the edges of this 'Summer Santa' story, William asked them. "Did he come down the chimney?"
Bikes wheeling by this way and that, Katie called out, "No Daddy," as if he was the silliest man in the world, "From an airplane."
"Oh, I see," William answered.
So grown up, William Jr. thought about it as he whizzed by. He remembered what his mother had first told them when the airplane came, and then he just knew…
"You gave us the toys, Daddy. Mommy told us," he said, plain as day.
Julia stepped in. "And how did Daddy give you the toys?" she asked.
Pedals never stopping, William Jr. answered, "Daddy was up in the plane… with Mr. Pedrick."
U-turning and coming back for another pass, the little boy asked, "Can I go in a plane, Daddy?"
Cutting across, not able to go quite as fast as her older brother, Katie piped in, "Me too!"
Then little Chelsea lifted her hands at her father, wanting to be picked up. "Me!" she insisted, not wanting to be left out.
"We'll see," their father told them for now, "We'll see."
After dinner, the Murdoch's chose the front porch to finish their night. The Sun was low in the sky, setting up a perfect line of the sunlight through the crystal hanging from the ceiling to sparkle the rainbows that had caused so much excitement the other day. They shared the beauty of it with their mother.
Julia found that she had an irresistible urge to kiss her husband. Was it how good-looking he was in the golden light? Or the way he sparked such wonder in the world for their children… for her? Likely it was because she had been so very scared she would lose him to the astrological forces of fortune, and she had been saved the suffering of such a plight, she told herself. Either way, she would give in to the urge. She scooched over on the bench, and locked her lips to his. "I love you, William Murdoch," she whispered in his ear.
William Jr. and Katie and Chelsea too, all piled onto the bench, some on laps, some in tucked into tiny corners. It seemed everybody wanted a little loving.
Sitting on her mother's lap facing her, her head resting on her Mommy's soft chest, Katie was beginning to feel sleepy after such an exciting day. It felt so wonderful, the way her mother stroked her hair, petted her. She lifted her head and asked, "Weren't the colors bootiful, Mommy?"
The warmest smile, Julia replied, "They were spectacular." Then Julia remembered all the candy. "How would you children like to have some of the colorful candies Daddy bought for us?"
William went to get them off of the dining room table. Carrying the tin back to the porch, he opened it and the dusty scents escaped from the container. "Odd," he noticed… He felt nauseous all of a sudden. "Creepy…" the thought dropped away.
Before taking the children off to bed, a little earlier than usual that night, they talked of the upcoming August adventure. They would be going to Alberta! Fossil hunting, for Daddy's Anniversary gift. There would be a long train ride – even longer that when they came home from Katie and Chelsea's orphanage in Nova Scotia! And they would see big mountains, and Daddy would find dinosaur fossils, and they would see amazing, amazing stars in the night sky…
After all, anything was possible in a world with something as marvelous as Summer Santa.
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