Chapter Thirty-One

The big Harley-Davidson sits outside the ranch house, its throaty engine idling. Willie revs the engine as T. P. sits in the sidecar. Close-by, Dewitt cups his ear to hear Willie speak.

“You sure we can’t take you over to the Señor’s house ourselves?” Willie asks.

“Sorry, Willie,” Dewitt answers, “There’s just no time, I’m afraid. I’ll make it.”

“We’re gonna miss you, Doc,” says Willie.

“Send me a postcard, okay?” Dewitt says, trying to seem upbeat.

“We don’t have your address,” T. P. shouts.

Willie throttles down the big hog.

“Well,” continues Dewitt, “when this story’s over, you can find my name on one of the pages of the newspaper. – Let’s just hope it’s not the last one people end up on!”

Willie bites his lip, becoming emotional. T. P. drops his head, realizing this is goodbye. Dewitt sighs.

“Gonna miss you guys,” he says, waving. “Take care of yourselves!”

The motor roars and the boys take off, kicking up dust from the roadway. T. P. sends back a small wave.

Dewitt, sitting high off the ground, looks down, and then side-to-side, surveying his situation.

He says softly, “I swear, I’ll never say ‘saddle up’ again!”

He takes a small whip in one hand and picks up a set of reins in the other. With a “Yee-hah” Dewitt sets off – in a small cart pulled by Oz the ostrich! With the Contract stored safely, he directs Oz toward a familiar habitat, the hacienda of Señor Undeez and family.

A little later, Dewitt wheels into the front yard of the hacienda, sending chickens and small children scurrying. One child rushes up to Oz with gladness; the youngest just stares at Dewitt in wonder.

The Señor ambles out of the house as his wife watches cautiously from inside a screen doorway. The Super approaches the cart hesitantly.

“Señor Undeez, Señor Undeez!” shouts Dewitt. “It’s me, the Doc! – Remember?”

The Señor looks closely at Dewitt, then smiles broadly.

“Señor Medico!” he shouts. “Si, si,” and then relays the recognition to his wife in Spanish.

“Señor,” Dewitt says, “I need to use-. Uh, telephono, telephono!” He cups a hand to his ear. The Superintendent nods vigorously.

“Oh, si! Telephone! Si, come!” he shouts.

Señor Undeez motions Dewitt inside. Dewitt shakes his head and points to his legs. The Señor recognizes the problem and calls out for his wife, making a cupping gesture with his arms and hands.

“Carry. Carry to telephone,” he says to Dewitt.

“Yes. Gracias, Señor. – Mui importante!”

Inside the hacienda Dewitt is placed near the telephone by the couple. The telephone rings, surprising everyone. Señor Undeez looks at Dewitt, who nods.

“Mui careful, uh, mui attention!” Dewitt says, then adds, “Why the hell do doctors take Latin?!”

The Señor picks up the phone, cradling it with both hands, not saying a word. He listens and then looks toward Dewitt.

“... I no know, Meester,” he says into the telephone. “You say you Colonel? Colonel Jesse?”

Dewitt is shocked with surprise. He nods and takes the telephone in hand.

“Jesse!” Dewitt shouts excitedly down the phone line. “How in the... ? My message finally made sense?! Man, am I glad to hear from you! Everything told me that you boys had eyes in the sky out here... Wow! A pilot-less spy plane. Great. So, everything is okay, finally!... What do you mean, ‘No way, José?”

Dewitt glances over at the Señor and mouths, “Sorry.”

At the hanger, Jesse holds the telephone as the Major and others look on with great concern. He continues talking with Dewitt.

“After your student, David, finally heard your message, he got the tape to the F.B.I. That’s when we announced publicly that it was actually you they had, just in case they still thought it was me. – You know, someone important.”

“Gee, thanks, Bro!” laughs Dewitt.

“You know what I mean,” continues Jesse. “We also announced that you were dead, to buy some time to keep searching for you. – Hey, at least that wasn’t true, thank God!”

Dewitt gives another laugh of relief.

“Yeah,” he says, “I’d rather be alive and unimportant than dead and important like you, pal!”

“Touché,” replies Jesse. “But, Dewitt, when we found the spread there – the ranch – and had the Feds start checking it out, that’s when we found out...”

Dewitt continues to listen intently to Jesse talk. His head begins to shake and he puts his hand over his heart.

“Jesse, it... it just can’t be!” Dewitt cries into the telephone. He is very shaken by the information that Jesse has just shared with him.