THE BANDIT QUEEN - Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

Deakin slept very little that night. Eden woke up several times and watched as he stood at the window and stared at the ocean. She’d found them a small motel right on the coast. Finally, she got up and stared out the window with him. Without a word, they both dressed and left the room. They held hands and walked for hours along the beach, letting the stiff breeze blow them around. Toward dawn, they sat on the sand and leaned their backs against a brick seawall which separated the motel from the beach. Eden leaned on Deakin’s shoulder and fell into a light doze. Deakin let her sleep as long as he could stand to be still and then pulled her to her feet. They showered and then went for breakfast. Eden stared stupidly at the plate of pancakes in front of her and wondered just who had ordered them.
Deakin poked them with his fork and said, “Eat them, like a good girl. We need some food before we visit these people. I know it’s not what you usually get but eat it anyway. I at least got you scrambled eggs and no bacon or sausage. Give me a little credit.”
Eden smiled wanly at him and pushed a fork into her eggs. “Do you think this man’ll remember your mother? What do we do if he says he never saw her?”
Deakin shrugged and stuffed a forkful of pancakes into his mouth. When he could speak again, he said, “We try something else or we give up. That’s for later, Eden. Right now we’re going to see some nice older people who just might have an answer for us.”


Eden stared at the large wooden house perched on the cliff. The wind had scoured off much of the paint and the windows were coated with salt residue. She carefully walked up the steps and knocked on the door. It was promptly opened by a small round woman with white hair piled on top of her head. The hair reached only as high as Eden’s chin. She smiled down into a pair of clear blue eyes with a twinkle hiding way in the back.
“Hello, I’m Eden and this is Deakin. He’s the one who called you last night. May we come in?”
The woman held the door wide and watched the two walk into her home. “I’m Ella, short for Eleanor, you know. And this is my husband, Orris.” She raised her voice and said, “Orris, we have company like I told you at breakfast. This is Eden and her friend Deakin. They want to talk to you about the old times when you took people out in your boat. Here, son, you sit over here where he can see you. He’s a little deaf so you might should talk a little louder than normal. Girl, you sit on this chair. I’ll get us some lemonade and cookies and be right back. You just go ahead and ask him whatever you want.”
Deakin stared at the face in front of him. The man’s head hung down as if it were too heavy for his neck and his hands twitched in his lap. Very slowly and easily he reached out and touched the man’s hands. Slowly the large head lifted to look at Deakin. A slightly humorous gleam looked the two of them over and a rusty voice said,
“What kin I do for the two of you? I can’t take you out fishing so why’re you here? You’re no kin of mine ‘cos you don't have your hand out waiting for me to put something in it.”
Deakin smiled and said clearly, “Deakin Kimbrough, sir, and this is my friend, Eden. We came to tell you a story of something that happened a long time ago and we hope you can tell us the end of that story. Will you try?”
“Sure, son, I’ll try. In fact, it’s easier for me to remember the past than present. Tell your story. At the very least, it’ll pass the time for me.”
Deakin launched into an abbreviated version of his mother’s journey. He confined himself to the bare bones of the story, leaving out the deaths that happened later on. The old man listened carefully and then seemed to turn in on himself as if he were playing all the old videos of his life. Finally, he shot a shrewd glance into Deakin’s eyes and said,
“You’re not telling me the whole story, are you, boy? Don't worry, I don't want to know it all. I know too many stories already. Well, I kinda think I remember your mama. A young woman with thick long hair. She was a very sad person. That’s why I believed her story. She carried a wooden box on her lap and she said it held the ashes of her father. He’d always wanted his ashes thrown in the sea so she asked me to take her out. I did and she did and that was the end of it. I never saw her again. It sure was a lot of ashes, though. That was only one of the times I took people out to scatter ashes. I took a lot of them in my time. Not near as many as I took fishing. All in all, it was a good life. I had me a good wife and a good life and if I didn’t have a son to follow me, I sure had a houseful of good women. Me and the wife had five daughters and every one of them as smart and pretty as their mama. They’re all married and have kids of their own now. Four of them went to college and the other one is married to a minister up in the Portland area. Well, I hope that was what you wanted to hear. I don't know no more about your mother. I just saw her that one day and I never thought about her again until today. Here comes Ella with some drinks and cookies. She makes the best cookies I ever ate. You’d better stay and have some or you’ll hurt her feelings. You can hear some of my fishing stories too. I don't often get an audience who hasn’t heard any of them before so I try to take advantage of any what come along.”
Deakin and Eden sat in that small room and listened to the old fisherman’s voice drone on as long as they could stand it. Then they stood at the same time, thanked the man and his wife, and escaped.
“End of the story. I guess there’s no more to find out, is there, Eden? She obviously destroyed all the records of the research. Do we just give up?”
Eden took his face in her hands and looked deeply into his eyes. Then she softly kissed his mouth and said,
“There’s always Seattle. We haven’t met your aunt yet. Let’s go there. She won’t tell us anything else but at least she’s family. Let’s go. We may just decide to stay there for awhile. You can work for Alden. Start a Seattle branch of the Bandits. What d’you say, Deakin? North to Seattle or south to Los Angeles.”
Deakin stared at the ocean rolling in and crashing on the rocks below the small house. Then he grabbed Eden in a large hug and said,
“North to Seattle.”
FINIS