Lucky to be loving you
Chapter 7
Page 19
Being Sunday, Bill wasn't pursuing Melanie Forester's whereabouts putting his investigation on hold for a few days as tomorrow was the Hope Valley Thanksgiving Celebration.
He picked up the turkeys he ordered from a local farmer so he and Lee, who was helping, could get the turkeys in brine would remain moist when cooking on the pit. After the Andersson and Johansson families were done with their family baptism luncheon, the two men went over to Billees and began the preparation.
Elizabeth brought over the decorations the children made, "Hello, I see you two are busy getting the turkeys in the brine. That's a lot of work, but so worth the delicious taste!"
"Sure hope so. What do you got there?" Lee asked Elizabeth.
"I'm happy that the school children are very talented with their creativity!" Elizabeth laughed as she showed the men some of the turkeys that were made from outlining their hands.
"They'll be busy looking for their own turkey," Bill laughed, "You better make sure they can see them, so put them low enough for little eyes to see."
"It was so much fun as we talked about the harvest," Elizabeth shared. "Some of the children who don't live on farms wanted to go visit a farm to see all the crops, and of course the animals. That was a long day for us all!"
"I bet they all enjoyed it," Bill smiled.
Molly came in Billees with Rosaleen, "Hello everyone! How's everything going?"
"I brought the decorations," Elizabeth turned to Rosaleen showing her the children's turkeys.
"Oh cute! Maggie and some of the Hopefuls will be coming soon to help hang them on string," Rosaleen said. "Plus, we will have balloons again to make animals. The animal balloons were a big hit at the family festival this summer."
"After seeing the farm animals I'm sure they'll be asking for cows and pigs," Elizabeth laughed.
Soon the Hopefuls arrived, so Sam took the ladder out from the kitchen and brought it out so they could string up the decorations, while some of them covered the tables with cloths. Katie brought in some very colorful leaves she had picked up from the ground, wiping them down and placing them under the glasses that held the candles on each table. The room was really starting to look very festive.
Luciana also came by after church to make sure there were tables set up, one for side dishes and one for desserts. The choirs from both churches met on the stage for one quick practice together with James Scholl leading them. Angela was there with Mr. Landis practicing their parts on the pianos with the choirs. Even Nathan and Allie brought their guitars to strum along. It was certainly joyful!
Henry and Dottie had just returned from their vacation to visit their brand-new grandson and family. Stopping back in Calgary they took time to sight see some of the attractions. When they walked into Billees they were coming for something to eat and had forgotten about the Thanksgiving celebration. With Molly, Elizabeth, Rosaleen, and Luciana there, Dottie sat down and talked with the ladies about their trip.
"You should have seen how adorable little Henry was watching his grandpa! The two Henrys were always together. Can you believe Henry even changed little Henry's diaper?" Dottie laughed.
"How is Rachel doing?" Molly asked.
"She's doing good. Her mother, Susannah is there helping."
"That's good", Luciana smiled, "Nothing like having a grandma around!"
"Please tell us about Spokane and Calgary," Elizabeth requested.
Meanwhile, Henry willingly pitched-in in the kitchen with Bill and Lee wherever he was needed. They happily put him in charge of chopping the onions and celery and cooking the turkey inners for the stuffing.
"What's the matter Henry, the onions got you crying?" Bill teased.
Henry retorted, "Bill, do you want these onions chopped or not?"
Bill and Lee laughed, "All right we'll play nice – for now."
"How are Christopher and Rachel doing?" Lee asked.
"Good! Your sister, Susannah is there helping. I know with the kids being young, they needed her help and advice. She's a mighty fine cook there, Lee."
"That she is," Lee agreed.
Will Malone came by with little Jack to check on Elizabeth, "Well Mom, we're done walking around the pond, and I think he wants to get something to eat."
Elizabeth smiled and bent down, "Jack, did you have a good time with Mr. Will?"
Jack giggled, "Yea, we threw some stones across the pond, but I wasn't very good. Mr. Will got them to skip across the water!"
Elizabeth joined in Jack's laughter, "He did, that's great. I'll have to try that next time."
As they left the ladies finished up and left too. Soon, the men finished, and it was time to go home. Tomorrow would be the big Thanksgiving celebration, and everything was ready!
Page 20
It was a beautiful brisk fall day this Thanksgiving, with the sun shining, the sky as blue as blue can be, and puffy white clouds sailing in the sky. The delightful weather brought the best out in the folks.
The town could smell the turkeys cooking on the pit and it was hard to stop from running over to Billees right away. It was filling the air with a delicious aroma prompting folks to get their side dishes ready to bring over so they could eat!
Aromas of all scents filled the air in Billees. As usual, the Chickadees were bustling around helping Lucianna organize the dishes. The Hopefuls were busy making coffee, lemonade, and gathering pitchers of cold water. Henry, Lee, and Bill were scooping out the stuffing and getting the turkeys sliced up and placed on platters.
Angela and Mr. Landis were taking turns playing the piano while Allie and Nathan were tuning their guitars. The choirs were humming and children were running around looking for their turkey hanging up on the wall.
Fr. Ricardo and Pastor Joseph knew they had to settle the folks down long enough to say grace so as they greeted each table they asked for their attention. Finally, the noise lowered and everyone could hear Pastor Joseph call for silence.
"It's wonderful to see all of you here. Thank you for coming," Joseph began. "As I look around today I see so many folks that I've seen in happy times and in sad, but still here ready to give thanks for all their blessings. Yes, indeed we are blessed. We have such good people here who support each other, standing side by side in difficult times like the storm we just went through, when the O'Neill barn was destroyed, or when our soldiers came back home and needed care for their injuries, and sadly when we buried one of our own," Joseph looked with compassion at the O'Neills. "When Jake and Rick were hurt you, all prayed for their recovery."
Fr. Ricardo spoke up, "We are blessed to have enjoyed great times together too. Rebuilding O'Neills barn," he smiled. "Having our baby boom, with four new babies! Or the engagement of our Mayor Fiona and fiancé James Scholl, and the marriages of Molly and Bill, Faith and Carson, Dottie and Henry, and our own Sargent Nathan Grant and Dee. Yes, romance is definitely in the air, so all you single ones - we're waiting!" he winked at the tables of Hopefuls.
"So," Pastor Joseph added, "Before we eat, we would like each of you, children too, to share out loud what you are grateful for. Now, don't worry the food is keeping warm, so let's start with the Hopefuls and go around."
As each person shared what they were most grateful for, there were plenty of hugs, laughter, and even a few tears were shed. It was such an inspiring time for all.
Until Bill, who had been cooking for hours, just wanted to eat said, "Okay, okay, Good friends, good food, good God, let's eat!"
Soon the people lined up around the buffet tables filling their plates with plenty of dishes to choose from. Brook was so pleased that her succotash was being scooped up and Carl was proud of his wife's cooking.
The turkey was moist and flavorful with the tender care that Bill and Lee took. Henry's stuffing turned out better than he expected, and of course, Emily's apple strudel was a sure hit. All the dishes were the best of homemade recipes that had been passed down through the generations.
After dinner, Dr. Scholl called all the members of the choirs on the stage. Mr. Landis went to the piano and they all sang, "Let your light shine," followed by "Seedtime and Harvest," and ending with Dee and James singing a duet of "All Through the Night". To which the crowd approved with thunderous applause.
Then, Nathan and Allie went up on stage playing their guitars and singing a duet of "This Little Light of Mine," and "Shine on Harvest Moon" with Angela playing the piano.
Andy, Gunther, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Ben, Trevor, Rick, Jesse, and Kevin all helped clear off the tables, then went outside to play a game of touch football. The younger boys followed them outside to watch their coaches play hoping to get to play with them.
A few of the fathers went with the little children to fly kites and get some fresh air. Lee turned on the Victrola and the music pepped the folks up.
Inside, as expected, the ladies were in the kitchen cleaning up the leftovers and washing dishes. Luckily, with everyone pitching in it went fairly faster than expected.
"I just knew we'd be stuck cleaning up," Debra complained.
"Better get used to it," Flo told her daughter, "I don't see it changing any time soon."
As she said that she looked over at the men playing darts while others were playing poker.
"Well, I can't complain," Molly spoke up, "Bill's been cooking those turkeys for hours!"
"Not me either," Rosemary nodded, "Lee has been helping Bill too."
"Yes, and I'm quite proud of Henry making the stuffing, even though his hands smelled like onions!" Dottie laughed.
"What would we do without the help of our Chickadees?" Faith asked.
"I, for one, am quite proud of our town!" Fiona added.
"All in all, it's been a wonderful Hope Valley Thanksgiving celebration!" Dee smiled.
Page 21
At 8:00 sharp, Bill arrived in Buxton and walked in the RCMP office where Christopher Herrmann was waiting for him.
Bill and Christopher put their heads together and focused on having the home where Melanie Forester dusted for fingerprints, photographs, and collecting evidence. The broken lamp with the ripped-out cord along with her slipper that was left under the bed would be taken to the office.
Bill found it was curious that one slipper was found under the bed especially being in close proximity to the rug that was disheveled, but the other slipper was never found, "We need to make sure we have the lamp and slipper thoroughly examined," Bill said.
"I have put out a reward for anyone who finds the dog that ran away. I checked with Mr. Sinclair and he said the dog's name was Sugar and he thought it was a small collie dog."
"A sheltie?" Bill asked.
"Yeah, sounds like it. Sinclair said he was young. That's all I have, but it's worth a try."
"Are we ready to go back to Melanie's home?" Bill asked.
As they pulled into the driveway, they looked around, but nothing had changed since they left it. When they left earlier, they had locked the house up and had a locksmith change the locks so no one could enter without breaking in. Christopher had the key and they were able to go right in.
After the photographer showed up, the men assigned to do the fingerprint dusting followed right behind. Until then Bill and Christopher didn't disturb anything. In fact, Christopher was walking around with his notebook and taking notes.
Bill immediately went into his investigator persona and looked in every nook and cranny, opening anything that he could. He threw away the food that was still sitting out in the open first thing to get the smell out of the house. When he went to throw it away outside, he spotted something that caught his eye.
On the ground right next to the trash can was a cloth. Looking closer he saw it was a glove. He called Christopher over and then walking back inside, he called for Mr. Johnson, the photographer to come outside by him. Showing Johnson the cloth, he asked him to take a photograph before he moved it.
After the photograph was taken, Bill didn't want to touch it, so he found a broom and used it to bring the glove up closer to him so he could see it. It was by itself and had no mate.
It appeared to be a gardening glove but as he eyed it, he noticed there was blood on it, "Look at this Christopher, does that look like blood to you?"
"Yes, it certainly does. We'll have to get that to the lab."
Putting it into an inspection bag, he stored it in Christopher's automobile.
Back inside the two of them continued their examination and took notes of anything unusual.
"I suspect that Melanie was abducted close to her dinner time. By the looks of the vegetables that remained on the counter and the broth in the pot on the stove. Apparently, she had been preparing a homemade soup," Christopher shared.
Bill nodded in acknowledgement, then asked as he scratched his head "But, Christopher, where's the knife she was using to chop the vegetables?"
"In the sink?"
"No, it's not there, on the stove, or on the counter," Bill raised his eyebrows as he continued to look around. "Hmm, that is strange."
The men continued into the living room and happened to spot a footprint on the rug. "How did we miss this?" Christopher asked out loud.
"Not sure, but my guess is the time of day. When we first came it was early in the morning and the sun was shining in the house. This rug would have been covered with a shadow of the sofa then. Chances are it wasn't bright enough to notice," Bill answered.
"I better catch the photographer. He's outside, taking photographs."
"Good find men!" he said as he snapped a few angles of the footprint.
When he left, they went upstairs. Looking in the bathroom Bill pointed out, "You can barely see some residue from what looks like some bubbles left in the bathtub."
"So, my guess is, she took a bath first then went downstairs to eat."
"Yes, that seems to be the case," Bill said as he walked into her bedroom. The rug was still disheveled, so he straightened it out, but as he bent down, he saw what looked like tiny drops of blood under the dresser. Holding his flashlight on the floor he examined the floor reaching over to the red fluid and quickly dabbed his finger in it. When he pulled his hand back, he studied his finger and realized it was indeed blood.
"Hey, Christopher, you might want to check this out!" Bill announced.
Looking down, Christopher studied Bill's finger, "We need to catch the laboratory man!" he called out as he ran down the stairs.