Chapter 73

“How the tanks got to Pentwater, I have no idea. How Stalin got there? He came on the boat with the refugees.”

“I was out with my go-kart east of town near old US31 ... they call it Monroe but it used to be the only way to Pentwater ... I would have liked to see Old Pentwater before the developers ... but I’m too late. Mom ... That’s Auntie Surprise ... lets me roam, I think she’s hoping someone will take me. ‘I’m chipped, you know. So she knows where I am.”

(Tyche Selene Flintkote is NOT chipped. The rumor was started by the Ludington Animal Shelter Vet when Tyche had her family of 8 cats tagged, vaccinated and chipped. Murray, the Bengal, is her constant companion. Murray is fierce in her protection ... she shares her banana splits with him.)

“I was seeing if I could steer by the video screen from the viewer on the camera on the airplane. The drones are ok but I’m practicing flying. The area between Monroe and Madison ... they were former Presidents, the fourth and fifth ... is elevated and broken with a low spot halfway.”

She took my pen from my pocket and drew a recognizable map of the lakeshore where there are no docks on the waterside and the bluffs inside the highway. I’ve been stationed here 10 years and never noticed either ... the bluffs or the waterfront. She was using the palm of my hand as her drawing board. She started little clumps of dots. “Failed cherry orchards,” she said.

“I noticed the first tank.”

“How did you know it was a tank?”

She looked at me like I was an idiot ... and suddenly ... I was. I squirmed.

“It’s ok ... Now you know what’s like.”

SHE’S FOUR!! She’s not treating me like she’s four ... she’s treating me like I’m the kid and she’s the adult ... and she IS. What is she?

“I’d modified my little plane to make her a dive bomber. Scooting around in the sky is fun ... but Midway ... the movie ... something to do that needs skill. First it was bouncing a hardwood dowel off a floating piece of board ... then I found the dynamite. Whee! So I studied on the computer. Ooo ... what I found was wet. Baggies ... ziplock baggies ... diatomaceous earth and aluminum cigar tubes ... I rolled my own.”

“You know about explosives?”

“I have tried,” she said. I gave a little shake. She stopped.

“Listen ... I need you to humor me on this,” I said. “I’m going to close my eyes and listen ... but I can’t look at you.”

“Ok, I have tried to explain this to adults time and time again ... I’m not just me ... I know everything my ancestors know. But, my first recollection of granddaddy was when Daddy said he was blown to pieces during Tet ... I wasn’t even born yet ... I wasn’t born ... I was part of JW and JW wasn’t born yet. When Jack was gone ... Sultry had a terrible time birthing the triplets ... and I knew. Jack knew explosives ... I know explosives. Sultry read everything the triplets knew ... I know what the triplets know. Sultry knew how to fly ... Surprise knows how to fly ... I know how to fly. The trips know how to sail ... me too. They swim ... I swim ... they do complex math ... yup. I navigated us from the Saint Lawrence to Montreal. My calculations were spot on. The only time I was confused was when Junior moved us from the river to the middle of Lake Michigan. I knew it was freshwater but no current. I liked to have wrecked us before Junior told me what she’d done.”

“I knew the ‘new triplets’ before they were born.” She said.

She snuggled in closer and said into my shirt, “I know you’re an espionage agent for the FedA, and denying it will just make this take longer ... and maybe hurt.” “So ... waddyathink?”

“When my eyes are closed I believe everything you say ... wait ... espionage agent?”

“Yes ... and I’m still four.”

“Why am I an espionage agent?”

“I don’y know but I think you were placed here to help the Soviets succeed. I like you ... so I hope you’re not... ‘cause Junior does awful things to people who don’t abide by the treaty ... and to the people who sent them.”