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By the time I’d got my wits about myself and raced out from the bathroom, I heard the backdoor slam. I hurried to look out the kitchen sink window, and only saw a flash of a figure dash between the neighboring houses. Was it a man? I couldn’t be sure.
I went back into the bathroom and decided against picking up the shoe and replacing it where I thought it belonged. Glancing at the time, I realized that I must get home. Before I left, I walked through the house and made sure that all the doors and windows were closed and locked.
As I walked across the street, it felt as if there were eyes upon me. I glanced around but didn’t see anyone suspicious, so I chalked it up to paranoia. Inside the garage, I quickly lowered the garage door, hustled into the kitchen, and leaned against the counter. I removed the envelopes from my pocket and read the return addresses. Both came from the Rose Oil Company. You’ve come this far open it!
The letter read: Ms. Johnson,
The Rose Oil Company will be drilling in your area and would like to make an offer for a land tract. Property on section: 345 mineral rights or outright purchase of tract of land.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,Tracy Steward.
The rest was the address. I stuffed the letter back into the envelope, placing it into my bag on the counter. I wondered where to report it when several fireworks snap, crackled, and popped from the neighbors. I looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. Aaron was late.
The Minneapolis police station was busy, but I left a message for a detective that I knew to contact me. I headed to the shower, and jumped in.
I wondered about Aaron and why he wasn’t home. As I climbed into bed, I checked my messages only to learn that he had to work overtime. That gave me ample time to think about what I’d learned.
Number one on my list was that I knew little if nothing about Gina. Also she’d never told me about her family or the land. Why would she work so hard, when money could be had by allowing the oil company to drill? Why live in Minneapolis when her home was in Medora? Nothing fit together and it left me puzzled.
Puzzled? I was more than puzzled as I wondered who the person was that had fled out the backdoor and what were they after? It hadn’t appeared as if they searched very hard for anything. Nothing was out of place. I rolled over and thought of our conversations, but couldn’t recall any concerning her family.
In spite of the more fireworks, and loud voices from backyard parties, I was able to fall asleep, thankful for air-conditioning muting the excess noise.
Aaron’s loud snores woke me early. I kissed him on the cheek and watched him wiggle his nose, then pop open one eye. He groaned and rolled over.
“Hard night?” Another groan.“You workin’ the ‘X’?”“Ten.”“Okay, but don’t oversleep. I’m leavin’.” I kissed him again on the cheek, ruffled his hair and left the room. “Poor man,” I mumbled to myself. I’d wanted to sneak a peek around the rear of Gina’s house before the neighborhood dogs began barking and owners went walking.
I scooted quickly out to the garage and dropped my purse into the car before raising the door. I glanced out and since no one was around, I high-tailed it across the street, and around to the back of the house, retracing footprints in the dew covered grass. The few prints I found didn’t lead far, evaporating on the backside of the adjoining fence line. I tried the backdoor to make sure that it was locked and walked the house’s perimeter and tried the front door. Satisfied it was secure, I slipped back to my house and jumped into my car. Within minutes, I drove safely onto the main drag after picking up a needed muffin and coffee.
The incident at Gina’s circled around in my mind as I drove and I had trouble keeping myself focused. Relieved to drive into the parking deck, I found a spot, climbed out, and locked the car. I glanced at the flow of cars and felt lucky that I had my spot. As I walked toward the elevator, I noticed two people sitting in a car with a North Dakota license plate. I figured they were heading for the ‘X’. The car’s engine was shut off, and the windows were down as I passed near it. From the loud voices, I realized it was Harry and Sunflower having a heated discussion. I was tempted to circle back and listen, but noticed Sunflower catching my image in the side view mirror. I gave her a quick wave and continued ahead to the elevator, which brought me to street level.
TR was standing by my booth, holding his lapels and showing his big teeth as I approached.
“Mr. President, how nice of you to stop by.”
“I’m surprised at all the interest in the First Ladies. It’s wonderful, really.” I watched him smooth out his walrus mustache.
“Name’s actually Bill. Bill Smith.” He shot his arm out, and we shook hands.
“Liv. Olivia Reynolds.” I grinned because his bulldog smile was infectious. “Nice to meet you.”
“Tell me, Ms. Reynolds—.”“Liv, sir.”“What got you so interested in the good women?” “Always had a strong interest. Went to Washington DC as a kid. The rest is history—since I’m a distant relative to Dolley Madison.”
“Ask a stupid question. Wow!”
“I have a question for you.” I cocked my head. “Did you own land near the ranch and give it to Alice?” I ran my fingers through my hair. “I have this purse, you see...”
“Hmm, interesting concept. It’s been a few years to remember if there’s a parcel of land, but it’s entirely possible.” He rubbed his chin. “I’d like to see the purse, though.”
“I should’ve brought it in today, maybe tomorrow,” I said.
“Bully!”
I watched TR walk away.
I leaned back to watch the crowds strolling through the exhibits. I’d been sitting beside my display for three days and in that time, I’d lost a good friend to a horrible death. I had trouble believing it, digesting that it’d happened. The concept scared me. Naturally the police, including my husband, weren’t saying much about it. I wondered who had been in the house and scared the life out of me by throwing that heavy shoe at me? Why not kill me too? I thought about it and realized that I must not be a threat. I hoped the danger wouldn’t escalate. Why haven’t I heard from the detectives?
Inga, the antique dealer two doors down from my store, was the person who’d sold me the Alice purse. There was a small pistol inside it. The lining seemed slightly unraveled, but it was old. I couldn’t figure out why Princess Alice, as she was called, would want a pistol in her ready possession. Newspaper reporters weren’t nearly as vicious back then, or were they? I took out my iPad and did a random search on Alice Roosevelt and got many, many hits. I was reminded that Alice had fashioned the Gibson Girl look, and was featured on posters, in newspapers and ads. Her trademark huge hat was featured in a newspaper cartoon, and her photographs was everywhere. She was flocked by people at all her appearances, and the public adored her. She even graced the cover of Time Magazine. The President had her fill in for him when the need arose, and she was his right hand in politics. Few pictures were shown with her holding a purse, which caused a frown on my lips. I clicked from the site and began reading other, less bubbly information about Alice. Her young years were troubled as TR paid her little attention until his marriage to Edith. With his first wife and mother dying, and the arrival of this little baby, at the same time, he was bereft with grief.
His grief brought him to the plains of North Dakota where he tried his hand in a variety of many things, most of all was ranching. And that information led me back to the same curious question did he purchase land and give it to Alice?
If so, where was the deed?
My phone chirped and I found a message from Grandma. She and Grandpa were on their way down to the event to see what all the hoopla was about. I immediately straightened up the minis and made sure my collection of empty bags and cups were thrown away, and then continued my search while I waited for them.
Next on my search agenda was land ownership for the late 1800’s in Billings County, North Dakota. I wasn’t able to locate an old plat map of the area. My connection was slow and I wondered if I needed to take a different route to the answer. Just then, my grandparents arrived.
“What do you think?” I asked Grandma. “Busy isn’t it?”
“It’s fabulous.”I got up so that she could scoot around and sit. “Thanks.”“Grandpa, here take my seat.” I stood to the side so he could relax.“Liv, this exposition will send plenty of customers to your store,” Grandma said, looking at me. “Last weekend was really busy, with the phone ringing off the hook. It was amazing. I almost couldn’t handle it.”
“You need two lines,” Grandpa said. “I’ve talked to Aaron. He wasn’t sure if it’s necessary but I think it is. You know? Keep things separate.”
“I’ll give it some thought.” I smiled. They were always giving me opinions. Mostly, they were appreciated. They had raised me since I was eleven, when my parents died in a car accident. I love them dearly.
“Here comes Aaron.” Grandpa nodded toward the crowd. I turned and greeted him with a kiss. “Missed you.”
“I’m here until three, then it’s time for my regular duty.” He held my hand and greeted Grandma and Grandpa. “Are you working here?”
“Grandpa and I are here for the show. The Wild West will soon be on stage.”
“Put your stuff away, Liv, and let’s go see it.”
I packed up my minis, leaving behind the pictures of my dollhouses for the public to look at plus a stack of calling cards. “Ready.”
The four of us found seats in the back row, and felt lucky to have them. The room was full of spectators, and I tried to imagine what the crowds at the real Buffalo Bill shows around the United States and England. I scanned the crowd and didn’t see many Rangers.
I watched as the Buffalo Bill impersonator came out front and introduced the cast of characters. The opening act were Native American dancers and drummers, which led to Native American men re- enacting a buffalo hunt. When finished, a large wading pool was brought to center stage and explorers pretended to catch beavers. Little Annie Oakley galloped in on her horse, cartwheeled off and picked up her rifle. Someone tossed disks and she shot, hitting all ten. The silence of the crowd deafened my ears as she shot an apple off the same person’s shoulder and then another off her poor assistant’s head.
After the show, Buffalo Bill spoke to the audience, imploring us to take care of our National Parks and of our environment. He talked about all the lakes, rivers, and streams that make up the roadmap of Minnesota, and asked us all to revere the land and be good stewards. The audience clapped and cheered.
All the participants paraded around the circle, and I looked for Sunflower and Harry but saw neither. Bambi danced, and she looked beautiful. We followed the crowd out of the room and made our way back to my booth. I was happy to return. The noise echo had been loud.
Grandma and Grandpa sat down on the two chairs while Aaron and I stood off to the side. I glanced at my phone for messages, but there weren’t any.
“That was fun. Noisy though,” Aaron said, massaging his temples.
“Yes, I agree. We’re not used to all of that noise. Buffalo Bill did a great job, so did Annie Oakley,” I said. “Know who she is?”
“Nope. Doesn’t matter who she is, she’ll soon be gone.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t want you asking questions, either.”
“Anyone been over to Gina’s house?” Grandpa asked. I felt my face grow beet-red.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been through it?” Grandpa asked.
“I left a message for Detective Erlandsen. I didn’t get a chance to tell you, Aaron, but I saw a light inside the house last night, so I went inside. Someone threw a shoe at me and ran away. I brought two letters home from the house. They’re from the same return address and look identical.”
“No more, Liv. Period and I want to know when you’ve spoke to Erlandsen.”
“Okay.”
Aaron’s his pager beeped and he glanced at it. His mouth dropped open. “Something came up. I gotta run.” He leaned over and kissed me. “We’re picking up this conversation later.”
Aaron no sooner left when so did my grandparents. I was not looking forward to going home and receiving a lecture about trespassing through Gina’s house. Sometimes the police need a little bit of help, I reasoned, but I should’ve been more cautious and contacted them immediately.
My eye nervously twitched as I monitored the crowd. I tried to focus on what I knew about Gina, and still came up empty. Over at the First Lady site, I saw Ruby glance my way and waved. As soon as the crowd thinned in front of their booth, she hiked over to me.
“Hey there,” Ruby said.
“I thought you guys would’ve gone to the Wild West Show?”
“Nah, maybe next time.” Ruby glanced over her shoulder then looked back at me. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
“Yes? You’re making me worried.”
“A Ranger was at your booth for a while, and so was the John Muir impersonator, while you were gone. We couldn’t see what they were doing though.”
“Strange. How long were they here, do you know?”
“They pretended to have dropped something and looked on the floor.”
“Pretended?”
“That’s what it looked like. They both looked in different places.”
“Separately?”
“Hold on. Let me look in my stuff.” I dragged out my minis and everything seemed fine. I shook my head. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“Just lettin’ you know. Gotta get back.”
I watched her leave before looking through the mini houses.
Everything was in order.
I must be missing something, but what?
I guessed it was time to do some more research. I opened my iPad and began a search on Buffalo Bill and his impersonators.