Chapter 21

Wednesday - continued: I invited Art down the hall a ways, filled him in on a little of the details, then asked if he would be willing to take Uncle Lee shopping for the proper clothes for the mining camp.

Art said, "I will call Rob and Sul, let them know all is well, then I will be more than happy to take them shopping. The van is parked behind the building right now." added Art while looking at the investigators who blushed.

They actually had two interview rooms, so I let Lee and her Uncle go first. I planned for Lee to go shopping with Art and her Uncle. I secured a piece of paper and asked Aunt Lee to write down all of her sizes. Jenn helped by leading her away from everyone and telling her that it was necessary for getting the proper clothes. I could see this was not sitting well with Aunt Lee but she complied. Lee actually finished prior to Uncle Lee so I had her get the list from her Aunt.

Lee said, "Aunty, I promise to keep this list secret and I will pick out your clothing personally."

Aunt Lee gave her a hug as she left to be interviewed. About 45 minutes later, Uncle Lee was done. Art left with Lee and Uncle Lee in tow. Jenn had her interview, and I went last. I felt like my interviewer strayed off target several times, but I answered the questions to the best of my ability.

After I was finished, Rob was waiting for me and said we were to meet at the Lee's house now. Marc gave me his personal phone number, said I could call anytime and not to hesitate. His last recommendation was I might want to buy a handgun.

When we reached the Lee's house, Aunt Lee led us in and went to make tea. Mary and Nukka followed her into the kitchen and soon I heard a discussion on different herbs taking place. I found out, both Aunt Lee and Nukka were into herbal cures and were busy exchanging data. The language barrier seemed to be their biggest problem. They settled to describing the different plants, when they discovered both had been referring to willow bark as a component in tea to reduce fever.

Mary finial gave up, came out to join us but she was happy saying, "At last, there is someone else in the family that will help Nukka with the herbal remedies."

Rob said, "Are you feeling a little left out?"

"No, not really; it just indicates the difference in your family and mine. It's not bad, just different. Where our worlds meet, its great but I don't have the background to join hers, nor Nukka mine."

"I would hope we could learn the best from both." I interjected.

"Your generation might be able to, but I fear much has already been lost. My generation had two paths to follow: the old or the new. Trying to follow both just didn't work. You were not accepted in either one." said Rob.

"What about Art?" I asked.

"Art maybe the exception; he learned the old ways from our father and the both of them damn near died. Mom did die when the herds migrated further south, due to a particularly bad winter. They got trapped by the weather, without food. Dad remarried, but he married a woman from the new generation and it did not work out." explained Rob. Then he continued, "Art did not like Dad's second wife, but he also realized the old ways of life were very dangerous and he needed to learn the new ways. Right now, Art is the happiest of us all. He is living the old life with the advantages of the new technology."

"Are you unhappy Rob?"

"No! Do not misunderstand me. The building boom was over. We could get little jobs but that would be it. I would never get rich. Once I was unable to work, we would be poor. To just get by is good, until you have to think of old age. With the cabin and the money I have invested, we should be able to live many years. In town, our expenses would have eaten into our capital because of rising costs. At the camp, because of the way you had us design the cabins and we make our own electricity, we don't have much in monthly expenses."

"I think Art is the happiest, because he does not miss the going out to dinner, the evening paper or for that matter, TV. For Rob and me, and probably you, it is a different choice. We picked where we live because we like it. We are willing to accept the loss of other things; like good bookstores." added Mary.

I had to laugh at her ending and said, "Touche', I know what you mean though."

A short time later, Art, Lee and Uncle Lee arrived. Uncle Lee was very excited and started showing everybody what they had bought. Art was sitting in the corner with a smile on his face, watching, when I asked him if he had talked to his Dad or Tommy.

Art pulled out his phone and called his Dad and talked for a short time. His Dad agreed to contact Tommy and come to the Lee's residence as soon as possible. Once that was completed, I called Roy and asked if he would be able to fly us out early on Friday. He could, adding it had been a quiet week for him.

An hour later, Annie, Vivian, Art Sr. and Tommy arrived. We told them all that had happened since our arrival. We then advised them, we would be leaving Friday morning and invited them to join us. Vivian and Art Sr. said it looked like they needed to return with us. Tommy and Annie decided to stay another few days. I could see no reason not to, since he had never been associated with us.

To ensure Annie's and Tommy's safety, they decided to forego dinner with us. We settled on The Pump House for dinner. We called ahead and had no problem making reservations for 10 people at 8 PM. We even managed to snag an area set off by itself.

The next step was to help the Lees pack the equipment they needed to take to the mining camp. While this was going on, Jenn, Sul and I went shopping. We bought a queen size bed, a feather down comforter, pillows, finally sheets.

On the way back, at my suggestion, Art took us to a gun shop, which also had an indoor range. Art suggested I buy a 44 magnum and I laughed, saying, "I could get off four to five shots with a good 9mm before you could fire three times."

That meant we had to have a little competition. Art fired as fast as he could and managed to get 3 out of five rounds in the desired area, although the rest did hit the paper. I located a used Walther P99 QA Compact which I liked the feel of. After I fired a couple rounds to get used to it, I shot five rounds as fast as I could pull the trigger. All five holes could be covered with a silver dollar. Art's attention vacillated between the target and me, then turned away, offered no other comments.

The shop owner said he had just taken the pistol in trade, and would let me have it cheap. I wanted a laser scope added to it and he indicated he had a scope from Laser Device Inc. which had been mounted to the pistol when he bought it. I then showed Jenn a Walther PP/KS which shoots a krutz (9mm short or .380 ACP.) I sold Jenn on the pistol, when I said I have an identical one which I really like. Unfortunately, it is stored with my dad in Florida and I miss it. I ended up buying both guns for less than $750.00, which really surprised me.

Before we left, I had mounted the laser sight and adjusted it to shoot dead-on at 25 yards. Jenn had fired the Walther and was extremely happy with it. As we were getting ready to leave, the shop owner told Art, "Buying a high powered rife or pistol you are scared to shoot or one that you cannot shoot, is plumb crazy, unless you plan on being plum lucky your whole life."

"I guess after that demonstration, I would be plum crazy to argue with you about that." replied Art.

Once in the car, Art assured me Jenn knew how to handle the pistol safely, after I had asked her. Then he asked, "Where did you learn to shoot like that?"