Chapter Nineteen: Meet the People
"Are we there yet?" The shrill in his voice was jarring. The previous iterations of that question were either spoken through a yawn or spoken through a roadside distraction.
"Sheldon…" Amy responded as a warning. Forty-five minutes into their drive and he'd asked the very same question for the fifth time. She leered at him quickly and returned her attention to the road.
"What? I'm just asking." Sheldon shrugged as he sulked back in his seat. He had been yawning since they entered the car. They had been awake since 5 a.m., which in turn messed up with their body clocks.
15 minutes till 7 a.m. Their headlights were on, the sky tinged with light orange to yellow just above the horizon where they were driving ahead. It was a good day that day, primarily because of 3 days with no major blizzard, but snowing had been forgivingly persistent.
Amy hoped it would continue until they were done with their trip. It was Tuesday, and the trip wouldn't be over until Thursday.
"You know I told you that we are going to Concord, and it's an hour drive from Hanover, right?" she explained to him. Amy noticed that his eyes were heavy, and she couldn't help but worry about Sheldon. All they had for breakfast was a cup of coffee for Amy and tea for Sheldon. They packed sandwiches but she made sure that they will have breakfast soon enough.
"I am aware of that but I don't know what Concord looks like. God knows it might be a smaller town surrounded by trees, or maybe a seacoast town where fishermen live."
Amy cooed at his candor. "Oh, Sheldon, Concord is the capital of New Hampshire. Although it doesn't look like any other state capitals you'd seen, it is a city."
"Oh… you just made that clear," he responded lightly, expelling another yawn.
Worked up from the information, Amy started spewing out facts about her temporary home state. "Even, Manchester looked more like a city than Concord. You don't see it stealing the spotlight from Concord, do you?"
Sheldon gazed at her lazily. "I feel like you're feigning stories and mumbling names now?"
Amy laughed it off and steadily cruised along the highway.
A few minutes of silence passed, Amy's phone started to ring. It piqued Sheldon's attention, and he sat up straighter. She noticed his demeanor but decided to let it go as she pressed on the speaker. A man's voice opened the call. She knew who it was immediately.
"Hey, Bear," the person on the other line greeted.
Instead of answering, Amy laughed when she saw Sheldon stared at her in utter shock and panic like he'd seen a ghost. He mouthed "Who is that?" alarmed about the man's deep but endearing voice.
"Sheldon, relax," she assuaged, squeezing his thigh. "Hey, Frank. Good morning!"
"Good morning to you, too," the man giddily replied, "And you as well, Sheldon! We're already here at Tucker's. Hudson and Dee's with me. How far are you?"
"Umm…" Amy looked around the terrain—white trees lined each side of the road, still the same from where they departed, but the signage was helpful. "We're entering Hopkinton now. About 15 minutes, I reckon."
A simple hmm was heard from the other line. A pop of the lips and then, "What would you like to eat?"
Amy didn't think twice, she replied sweetly, "Just my usual, please."
"Got it! How about Sheldon?" The gusto in the man's voice prompted Sheldon to act like he was throwing up. Though, he did it while looking outside so Amy wouldn't see it and condemn him.
Amy glanced at the man beside her. He returned to his position, puffed his chest and tightened his jaw. "Sheldon, do you like to eat something sweet or salty?"
"I don't comprehend," Sheldon replied flatly. His piercing glance at Amy made her chuckle. Defeated, he moped, "Salty," followed by a huff.
"Order a scrambler for him, and potatoes for sides," Amy instead answered. She doesn't want to suck out the patience of the man on the other side, and she doesn't want to strain the relationship they had built for years.
"Alrighty then. Get here soon now! But don't drive fast! We missed you already. I'll meet you later Sheldon. Don't let her get too excited, okay?" The man giddily said his goodbye.
"A salty breakfast?" She didn't intend it to come out as an arrogant remark, but Sheldon thought it might be.
"I'm feeling salty," he sassed, raising his eyebrows as he swished his head.
"Hey, don't pout. Look how early it is. Sulking will ruin your mood for the whole day," Amy reasoned out. She doesn't want to deal with Sheldon being in a bad mood this early in the morning. With her free hand, she waved her hand at him aimlessly—she couldn't avert her eyes from the road!—and sought his hand. It was tough to get by his biceps and elbow, but she managed to sneak in a light touch on his hand.
But Sheldon's sassiness was persistent. "I feel like I'm being enslaved."
"Sheldon…" First, she thought. How many Sheldons can she say before he stops with this pointless whining?
"Are you taking me to my master?" And the sulking continued.
"Sheldon…" Second. This time, she's frantically tapped her finger on the wheel, irascibly waiting for him to quit.
"Tucker, Frank, Hudson, and Dee. Are those the men with whom you agreed to sell me to."
"Good Lord…" Amy complained enough just to tell Sheldon that he's being ridiculous.
"Yes, that's right. The Lord would not vindicate as easily as you'd expect. You are committing a heinous crime, a federal one, no less. And He will not be helping you unless you devote your life to Him like my mother."
That's it. Amy pushed her tongue on the inside of her cheek. It's too early to deal with this. She tried to be patient but sometimes her patience battery drains even before her day starts.
She maneuvered the car slowly to the side, enough to give the passing vehicles the use of the lane. The screech of the hand brake being pulled pierced into their vehicle.
"Tell me, how cold is it outside?" She took her hands off the steering wheel and folded it in her chest.
Sheldon looked at her quizzically, leaning to see the information in the car's digital stereo. "Hmm... It says it's 26° Fahrenheit, with a little bit of sunshine up until noon and a bit cloudy in the late afternoon. Sunrise is at 7:03 and sunset is at 4:56."
"I only asked for the weather but thanks anyway," she sarcastically said.
Oblivious about Amy's sarcastic remark, Sheldon continued with his commentary, "How come Americans have not switched to the use of the metric system? I know the answer, how 'bout you? And besides, why are we talking about the weather? It's clear that the snow outside indicates that we are currently in the winter season."
Amy let out a puff of air. "We have 7.8 miles left." She stared him down. "Do you want to meet us there, or would you rather keep quiet and let me drive. Cause you can go out now if you want..."
Realizing the point of her comment, Sheldon said, "Boy, the metric system is more fun than you are."
Amy gazed at him—Sheldon flinched when she did—and sighed at his comment. They continued the remaining drive to Concord. Sheldon never once again made any annoying remarks, however, he continued mumbling words to himself as he glanced out the window. All the way, Sheldon was just there, smiling in awe at the winter spectacle.
They arrived minutes later, Amy never bothered to talk to him after his pestering. How ironic that she was the one having a bad mood, expecting Sheldon to be cranky all day. He looked around the parking lot like an inquisitive child. Almost, she was expecting him to dive into the snow pile in front of their car, but he just stuck his finger into it and giggled.
Her annoyance lifted when she saw the people excitedly waving at her on the other side of the windows. She walked faster, leaving behind Sheldon, and wrapped her arms around the little girl jumping up and down at the entrance.
Amy left me behind, he realized when he turned around and saw Amy rushing to the establishment. He was just busy poking at the snowbank, and next thing he knew, Amy was way ahead of him.
One mystery was solved when he looked to his right and saw a towering sign with the words: "TUCKER'S—BREAKFAST AND LUNCH," welcoming every devout diner. However, another mystery arose when he witnessed Amy hugging a little girl at the entrance and proceeding to go inside.
He followed them, telling the hostess that he was with someone, and looked around. He found Amy, her back against him, as she sat in a booth with 2 other adults—a man and a woman.
Evidently, not all of them are men.
Sheldon peeked to look if it was Amy and proceed to sit beside her. He looked at the couple in front of them. He didn't want to assume anything, but the 2 looked more like a couple than anyone in the diner. They were about the same age.
The man sported a short stubble, enough to have the salt and pepper of his beard to become prominent. His ruffled, wavy hair brushed off away from his face. The woman had her hair swept on her side, its rich dark brown curls cascading down her shoulders, complementing her tawny skin. She looks just like Halle Berry in Catwoman, right before she cut her hair to transform into a vigilante. Once Sheldon and the food arrived, the woman tied her hair determinedly.
Amy still hadn't talked to him when he sat down a minute ago. The man started chuckling and chuckling, the woman beside him nudged him to stop. Amy looked at the man quizzically, as she was halted with her story.
"You've completely ignored Sheldon, Amy," he said, his laughing only got stronger.
Sheldon looked at them, confused. Amy realized and started chuckling a little at her mistake.
"I'm talking too much, aren't I?" she said to the group. "Sheldon…" She looked at him. "...Franklin and Danielle." she pointed at them. Amy leaned back into her seat and the kid he saw earlier waved at him timidly. "And this is Hudson."
"Frank's fine, Sheldon."
"Call me Dee."
Both Frank and Dee offered their hands to him. Sheldon took it only because the thermal gloves he wore when he got out of the car were still wrapped around his hands.
The little girl offered her hand, too. "You can call me Sunny, Mister."
And as soon as he dropped his wave, he felt something bumping against his leg, despite the thickness of his pants and the protection from his boots. "Ahhh!" he yelped as he saw a creature, in the form of a cat, nudging its face in between his legs. The group giggled again, but Sheldon's demeanor didn't. "Where did that come from?"
"That's Hero," Amy pointed out and rubbed the head of the cat.
"Our first baby. Don't worry, his shots are up to date, and he doesn't bite, not unless you provoke him. He's a sweet guy," It was Dee's turn to talk about the feline who was still continuing his headbutting.
"He's marking you as his territory," Frank assured.
Sheldon was calmed down when he saw that the cat's black harness against its medium-length orange coat. However, his leash was just lying limply on the floor, untethered to anything. Just don't bite me, Sheldon thought as he averted his gaze on the cat's sharp eyes and just prayed that Hero will not jump him while he's eating.
After the initial introduction to everyone, Amy continued talking to them as they were munching on their breakfast. He gazed down at his food—scrambled eggs with green, red, purple, and white incorporated into it, potatoes on the sides, and 2 slices of buttered toast—a symphony of delectable but almost fake-looking food. Not touching his food, he looked up again and noticed the man glancing at him. He didn't know what to do, so he kept his stare and furrowed his forehead.
Still, he had no idea who these people (and cat) were, nor their relationship to Amy. Who are these people? He continued thinking as he ignored the food at the table.
Suddenly, the man looked at him humorously, as though he could hear him. He jerked and broke his stare to look at his food.
"Amy…" Frank called, interrupting her story about mismatched winter socks. "You haven't told Sheldon who we are, have you?"
Amy looked at the confused Sheldon and then back to Frank.
The man continued, "He just murmured 'Who are these people?' and I feel like he is ready to charge at me."
Amy shook her head, that sneaky smile she had caught Sheldon's eyes.
The couple shrieked, "Amy!" as they were guffawing together. At first, he found it offensive. How dare they?! But with Amy feigning that anger, her arms crossed as her lips pouted, he knew they weren't laughing at him.
The man's semblance was uncannily familiar. The way he narrowed his eyes, his head tilting back ever so slightly, and the lips curling up as he laughed and lines forming around it, it was something he'd seen before.
"I'm sorry Sheldon; I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at Amy," Frank defended as he pointed at Amy. Sheldon noticed that he was honest so he relaxed in his seat. "Oh, Amy, poor Sheldon. He must have been angry that you were talking to me."
Talking to Sheldon now, Frank said to him, "I was shocked when she called me on Sunday and told me that you got in her nerve. Apparently, you heard her saying I love you to me and were infuriated."
"How dare you, Amy! The poor guy's sulking over this." Now it was the woman's turn to confront Amy. All Amy did was laugh ruefully.
"Well, technically…" she said as she tried to breathe.
Earnestly, Frank looked at Sheldon in remorse. "I'm so sorry, Sheldon," he apologized. "Franklin Fowler." He leaned in. "I'm Amy's brother."
Amy turned to the shell-shocked Sheldon and clarified, "My half-brother, to be exact."
"Oh, Boo Bear, it doesn't matter," Frank replied, teasing her.
Sheldon's jaw dropped at the new intel coming from the Fowlers. His eyes followed Franklin as he stood up and went out of the booth. He gestured to Sheldon to get up and he did, although still not in control of his mind.
The next thing he knew, the man's arms wrapped around his shoulders in a brotherly hug. Two pats on his back, signifying a perceivable bond, and Frank whispered, "Cheeky girl, isn't she?"
"Franklin, I have been asking Amy where are we going, but all I got was 'You'll see,' and then she would give me a grin," Sheldon protested as they were waiting outside in the cold.
After dismounting all their bags from Amy's car and transferring it to Frank's spacious SUV, she was now parking it in the garage about 15 feet away from the road, enclosed in the backyard of the male Fowler's supposed house.
"Oh, that girl." Frank clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Ever since we were kids, I'd always get that sassiness from her. But you know, she's sweet too," he clarified. "I'm sorry I got sidetracked, were going to a cabin in the middle of the woods."
Sheldon was gazing at the mother-daughter duo who was busy rushing into the single-level house to use the bathroom. He got alarmed when Frank said that haunting phrase.
"C-Cabin in the woods? Like in the movie?"
Frank gave a tiny laugh. "But unlike that movie, it's not some kind of monster-infested, human sacrifice kind of thing. It's just a plain old house in the White Mountains."
"Is it gonna be far?"
"Definitely not. Just an hour's drive." Frank looked down at his watch. "Reckon we'd be there by 9." He gave Sheldon's back a pat. "Don't worry, we wouldn't bring you in harm's way."
"Amy has talked about you a lot, you know," Frank said after a second of silence.
"She did?" Sheldon turned his head quickly, worried about Amy's brother beating him after hearing all the stories Amy told him
"Yes," he said proudly. "Way before she dropped this bombshell on us that you two got married.
All along, Sheldon's face was indescribable. It's like his stomach was rumbling, and he doesn't want to pass gas at this hour. The way Frank said about his and Amy's marriage frightened him. Sure Sheldon's an inch or two taller than him, but Frank's way more muscular and could easily body slam him in the snow mound just in front of them.
He rambled with his words. "You're mis—"
Aware of Sheldon's internal struggle, Frank let him off the hook and cackled in amusement. "We can talk about it later, brother."
Shortly thereafter, Amy walked in their direction, and Dee and Hudson were securing the front door, leaving no room for Sheldon to defend himself to Frank.
The trip continued. After 8 minutes of navigating through the city, they were on again with snow-covered trees, a few roadside establishments, and cabins deep in the forest. Sheldon noticed how the place was teeming with rivers and ponds and lakes. He'd never seen such a view. Normally on the road trips he had in California and mostly in the South, roads were surrounded by dry land, bronzed plants, and towering buttes. A few vegetation here and there—cotton fields in California and Texas, and sugarcanes in Louisiana, where his uncle used to live.
After passing by a town, everybody seemed to have drifted off. Dee's was slightly hanging on her side, her hair falling on the headrest. Amy bunched up her coat and used it as her pillow. Sunny was dozing off in her car seat beside him, the cat on her lap, calmly swaying its tail.
Their setup was a bit cramped. He didn't want to bother Frank to open up the third-row seat so he can have it for himself. And besides, sitting in the third row meant that there wouldn't be any more room for their belongings. He just needed to prop himself behind the driver's seat with Sunny on the car seat on his right and Amy on the other side.
His eyelids were getting heavier as he leaned into the window. Not before he could fully dive into sleep, a little voice started talking on his right.
"Mister, I never got your whole name," Sunny asked in her slightly drowsy voice.
Deciding to ignore the inappropriate title, he turned his head at her and answered, "It's Sheldon Lee Cooper, Ma'am. How about you?"
The little girl giggled. It may be from calling her Ma'am, but maybe also from the cat nibbling on her chin. Before she could tell Sheldon, her face was in shock. Apprehensive, she looked at her father. "Daddy, can I tell Mr. Cooper my whole name?"
"Sure, baby, you can," Frank replied as he peeked at her daughter through the mirror.
Sunny turned her head back to Sheldon and replied sweetly. "My name's Hudson Claire Fowler. Mommy said I was named after the river because I was born there."
Sheldon was sure that he heard a chuckle from the front seat, probably from Frank but wasn't so sure why.
Determined to tell his own story, Sheldon started, "Well, my mother said I was named after Sheldon Lee Glashow, one of the recipients of the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physics. She wished for a smart child, and my Pop-Pop told her physicists are one of them. In December 1979, 2 months before our birth, Pop-Pop heard on the radio the physicists who've won—Glashow, Abdus Salam, and Steven Weinberg—and told her to pick from one of those physicists' names. Dad didn't think Abdus Salam would be appropriate for a white, Christian kid in East Texas. Mom, on the other hand, thought Steven Weinberg was too Jewish. So that's why I was named after Glashow." He nodded proudly. "And oh, my twin sister's middle name is Therese, named after Mother Teresa, who also won the Peace Prize in 1979. Neat, huh?"
Sunny was dumbfounded at the ramblings of the man unfamiliar to him. Sheldon looked at her strangely as she tried to understand what was being said. Seconds past, the little girl shook her head as nothing happened and asked, "Anyway, where did AA found you?"
It was Sheldon's turn to be dumbfounded. Is that what I sound like to other people? Because, boy, I could not understand anything.
Before Sheldon could be any more confused, Frank came to his aid. "Baby, I don't think Sheldon knows who AA is."
At the realization of her mistake, Sunny giggled and tapped the butt of the cat, which in turn woke it up. "Oh, it's Aunty Amy . . . AA . . . Where did she find you?"
Once he understood, Sheldon nodded. "Well, my friend's wife is friends with your Aunty Amy. They introduced us to each other."
Sunny flashed him a sweet smile. "Okay. As long as you're good to her, I'm will be good to you."
Maybe it was just from his hallucinations, but Sheldon was sure that Sunny's statement had an underlying threat in it.
Jeez, he thought, By the end of this trip, I might as well be a grilled well-done steak. He knew this was just the beginning, and so far they had been good to him.
He drifted off to sleep after that conversation with Hudson. The absence of the engine's life roused him from his relaxation. He looked around outside: they were in a parking lot with a bunch of people walking out in the distance, their backs were against them. He saw Dee and Frank peeking their heads in their direction as they waited.
Amy woke up, stretched a little bit, and realized where they were. She looked at Sheldon, gestured him to go outside, and mimicked the couple in front as they opened their doors.
Sheldon stretched his limbs. It had only been 45 minutes since he slept, and nary a cabin nearby, nor the woods that surrounded it. Only a car park with a few vehicles spaced with each other, surrounded by trees.
"Sheldon, come here," Amy bellowed from the other side of the vehicle. He followed them further into a trail.
Frank and Dee walked as they held their hands ahead of them. Amy's hand was clasped in Sunny's gloved hand. They were walking side by side as Sunny held Hero's leash, following the little girl. Sheldon tried to catch up, jogging beside Amy, he gave her arm a poke. "Where are we going?" whispered Sheldon.
"You'll see," Amy replied. What a useless answer to his question. Although, he thought Amy redeemed herself when she wrapped her free hand around his bulging arm—only bulging from how thick his clothes were.
A short trail led them to an open space. Seven towering steel posts were positioned in an outspread semi-circle. A few people were gathered around the area but Frank grabbed him by the arm, "You're roughly six feet, right?"
He nodded, still confused. Sheldon was led to the cobblestone area where three sets of three footprints paralleled each other. Names were also engraved in the squares surrounding the area. Sheldon thought they were in a cemetery but it seemed impossible since there were no flowers or candles.
He was ordered to stand up between the closest footprint, which had a text '7 feet' on it, to one of the poles and the second closest, which had '5 feet' on it. The girls followed what he just did but this time they were using the footprints next to him and stood at the 5 feet block. Dee and Amy closed one of their eyes, gazed up at the tip of the pole toward the mountain ahead of them, and maneuvered their head slowly, as though they were looking for something. Use your other eye, too, maybe you can find what you're finding, he thought, laughing at himself.
He turned his head to Frank and Sunny who were using the set other footprints. What am I supposed to do? Sighing, everybody was closing their one eye and doing that weird thing. Eventually, he shut his left eye, looked up, and did the moving of the head. What surprised him was what he saw.
The Old Man! He almost shrieked that out loud if not for his fast hands.
Amy heard that and swiftly turned her head to Sheldon who was covering his mouth with his hands. She saw him in awe at what he just saw through the pole. She approached him, asking, "Do you know what that is?"
"Of course I do! It's the Old Man!"
"Exactly! Never thought you would see it here, no?"
"No, I didn't! Despite my aversion to the field of geology, I am well equipped with the terminologies, phenomena, and the information surrounding the field. And that right there is the Old Man of the Mountain!" Also, the reason why he knew that they were in a valley—the mountain housing the Old Man in front of them and a higher snow-capped mountain behind them that both sandwiched where they were and the highway.
"That it is. This wasn't in the itinerary, just because I'd been here a few times, but I thought you might want to see it. This plaza is in its final stages of development and will be finished by next year. But now people are only allowed on specific time and dates. It's a lucky day for us."
With his two eyes, Sheldon moved his head away from the pole and towards the mountain. He furrowed his forehead when the jagged Old Man formation he'd seen in numerous books in high school was not there anymore. "What happened?"
"It eroded in 2003. They started planning this monument a few years ago, to let those people who hadn't seen the profile before the erosion have a glimpse of it."
"That's kinda sad."
"It is. I'm grateful that I'd seen it once when I was still at Harvard. Frank and I frequent New Hampshire during our free time."
"Oh, well. Good for you. I never thought it was that high. It's so small when I stand here."
"Me either. And look," she pointed down, "There's the Profile Lake. Not a lot of people know that there is a lake beneath the Old Man. That usually freezes by early January, but now you jump in if you want."
"Are you insane?! The shores are frozen and you'd want me to jump in?!"
Next chapter on Monday. Let me know what you think. :)