Song of the Red-Legged Birds: Chapter 41, Part 1: Only hard feelings
Plans to leave Portsmouth while Luke arrives in Boston
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With gratitude, Bill
Last week, in chapter 40, Christo was raked over the coals by Tom
Chapter 41: Only hard feelings
Holly didn’t sleep well that night. They had taken the guest bedroom next to her mother’s but kept the door open–listening for the slightest sound of movement. The fact that Sheila and Scott agreed to take shifts staying awake to keep an eye on Bodhi wasn’t much comfort. Several times, she tiptoed down the stairs to be sure one of them was alert. One always was, and to her fascination and annoyance, Bodhi was always fast asleep on the floor.
At daybreak, Takeda found Holly sitting up in bed, arms folded and head slumped forward, snoring into her hand. He slid her down underneath the covers, and they clung to each other in the warmth. Triscuit readjusted herself to nuzzle up against them. As he drifted back to sleep, Takeda felt he’d forgotten something important.
They woke around eight o’clock to the smell of breakfast and the sounds of muffled conversation. Downstairs, the dining room table was already cleared, save for a couple of coffee cups and a small plate of buttered toast. Diane and Scott were huddled by her computer, engrossed in conversation.
The old floor creaked, and Diane turned with a smile. “There you two are. Good morning! I hope you slept well. Can I get you some breakfast?”
“Mornin,’ Mom,” she looked around, “where are the other two?”
Diane got up, walked to the dining room table, and filled two cups with coffee from a carafe. “Here you go, hon.” She handed a mug to Holly, who took it and sat in a chair at the table. She pulled her legs up to her chest and cradled the cup with both hands. “I’m betting that you’re a coffee drinker, too?” Diane said to Takeda.
“I sure am, thank you.” He accepted the cup and sat next to Holly.
“Sheila is outside working on the cars, and he took Bodhi with him. He didn’t want to leave him unsupervised while Scott and I dig into Wake’s instructions.”
“Working on the cars? Like doing what?” Holly said, reaching for a piece of toast.
A thud, bump, thud, bump filled the room as Triscuit made her way down the stairs and over to Takeda.
“Oh, what a sleepy little sweetheart! I bet I can rustle up something for her to eat. That okay with you, Tak?” Diane headed into the kitchen.
“That’d be great, thank you.”
She was back in a minute with a bowl. “Some leftover stew, mostly beef, potatoes, and carrots, no onions. Oh, I called you Tak. Is that okay?”
“Both are great!” He said, looking at Holly’s face for a reaction; she slurped her coffee.
Diane sat down while Triscuit devoured the food noisily in the corner of the room. “Sheila said he’d like you to take his car for your mission. He’s looking it over to make sure it’s up for the trip; something about some trouble you had leaving the city yesterday?”
Holly looked at Takeda and shrugged.
“I call driver’s seat,” he said.
“You’ve wanted to drive that thing since you first saw it.”
“You got that straight, H!” he said, grinning.
Diane smiled at them. “You call her H? I love it!”
Holly grumbled, “Mom…” through clenched teeth.
“Oh, Sheila also said he’s looking over Bodhi’s car for anything unusual. Scott and I will do some research to try and track down info about the car’s owner later today. Maybe we’ll get some insight into our guest.”
“Mom, promise me that you’ll keep in touch, like, a lot today. I want to know that you’re safe. I still hate leaving you here with the murdering chef.”
“I will, honey, I promise—ringer on, phone in my pocket all day. In fact, I’ll turn on that home voice-recognition system thingy. I haven’t used it in years; you know the one… BeeHome?”
“I remember that thing. You hated it, but I remember it was good for simple commands. For example, dialing 911 because of a slight case of murderers in your house.”
Diane wouldn’t bite on her jokes. “Yes, simple commands worked. I remember it started to creep me out, suggesting I should cook something in particular. Once, it commented that I looked nice in my outfit. Hopefully, they’ve updated the software by now.”
Diane went to the small wall console outside the kitchen that controlled the lights and heating system. It also had a screen that displayed the day’s top news stories. She tapped on it and located the BeeHome interface.
“Yes, it looks like I’ve missed several software updates. Let’s get those downloaded.”
In a few moments, a deep and familiar male voice filled the room. “Hello, Diane, and welcome back to BeeHome.”
“Whose voice is that?” Holly squinted at her mother.
“Oh, hah!” Diane laughed. “I forgot that I set the voice preference. That’s an old actor by the name of James Earl Jones. You might remember him from a movie called Star Wars that I’d watch occasionally with your father. He was the voice of Darth Vader.”
“Yes, Mom, I know Star Wars. We both know Star Wars.” She shot Takeda a smile.
“I hear that they’re thinking of rebooting that franchise. It’s been like fifty years since the last one, I think that was Episode twenty, ‘It’s a Trap.’ A standalone one about Admiral Ackbar.” Takeda said, looking up and trying to remember.
“Oh, isn’t that nice!” Diane said.
Holly put her hand on his, “You’re a power dork.”
“Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.” Takeda said in his best Yoda impression.
The BeeHome voice said, “Diane, would you like to change your settings? You can say, constant companion, helpful stranger, or emergencies only.”
“Emergencies only, please.”
“Thank you, Diane. As a reminder, please say BeeHome if you need assistance.”
“BeeHome?” Holly said.
There was no answer.
“Hello, BeeHome?” Diane said.
“How may I help you, Diane?” James Earl Jones said.
“Never mind, just testing you.”
“Thank you, Diane,” the voice said.
“Well, that seems to be in order.” She leaned on a chair and looked over at Scott. “How are you doing?”
He was massaging his temples. “I could use your help when you have a moment, please.”
“Go ahead, Mom. I think we’re going to get ready to leave.”
Luke hadn’t been to Boston before. In fact, he hadn’t left Maui in years. The chill in the air surprised him. After getting off the plane, he went to the first gift shop he came across and purchased a grey hooded sweatshirt with ‘Patriots’ written on the front. With that and a cup of coffee he bought from a D-Squared cart, he began to warm up. Passengers walked to and fro while he sat and watched them. Although he’d stopped shivering from the cold air, he began to tremble. He’d run. He was alone. And, he knew they’d try to find him.
Next week in Chapter 41, Part 2 “Only hard feelings” A final message from Wake is revealed.