Chapter 10

Tuesday, September 18 - Friday, September 21, 2001

Tuesday, thankfully, passed without much of note. The horror of the previous week was now a week behind him, and that counted for a lot. That week had already changed his life beyond anything he could have comprehended when he'd gotten up that morning a week ago, and he was pretty sure major changes would still be coming. Still, considering everything, Dave decided to hang around the apartment, work on Dithyran's Probe, and avoid turning on the television. And, it worked pretty well; he was in a more down mood than had been the norm the past few days, but not dismally so. Under the circumstances, it was a victory of sorts.

They were just about to sit down to dinner on Tuesday evening when Emily called. "I just thought I'd check in with you guys," she said exuberantly once both Dave and Shae were on the phone, on separate extensions. "Everything's ironed out for the concert."

"Did you get Cold Spring Rain?" Dave asked.

"Sure did," Emily laughed. "I don't know how Dayna twisted their arm, but she did it. And then, to top it off, she managed to get the Michigan Hillbillies for the country music crowd."

Country music was one of the things Dave had not been sorry to leave behind when he left the country, but he couldn't say that to Emily. "Never heard of them," is what he did say.

"They're not a big-name group; they've got a couple albums out, not real well known outside the area," Emily told him. "They're a little more toward the bluegrass end of the spectrum, rather than the Nashville end. They're going to open, Dayna and Sandy will do the middle set, and Cold Spring Rain the finale."

"Sounds like you've been busy," Shae commented.

"Pretty busy," Emily admitted. "To top it off, the football team has agreed to set up chairs on the gym floor and take them down afterwards; that's a big help. Mr. Weber gave us good play in the Courier, and the Reporter up in Hawthorne has been pushing it, along with the radio stations. We just got the tickets this morning, and we've already sold a bunch. Everything's been donated so far, so it looks like it's going to all be clear profit. People are really excited and glad to be doing something."

"Glad to hear it," he told her. "I've deliberately been keeping myself a little insulated from all the coverage."

"I understand," Emily replied. "But, there's one thing I'd like you to do, if you would."

"Sure, what's that?"

"Back when we talked about it last week, you said you'd be willing to send some sort of message to help out. I was thinking maybe something I could read to the crowd at some point."

"Yeah," he sighed. "I guess I did say something like that, didn't I? Give me a couple days; I'll come up with something. Do you have e-mail there?"

"Oh, yes," she laughed. "Hey, Bradford is all nice and modern now, we even have flush toilets."

"That's not what I meant," he smiled. "I mean, do you have an e-mail address?"

"Sure," she replied. "Emily88@zapmail.com is the one I use for regular stuff."

"Why does that username not surprise me?" he laughed. "It sounds like it'll be a good concert, Emily. Right now, I wish I could be there."

"You'd be welcome if you could come," she said. "But I know you've got other things to confront right now."

They talked for a few more minutes before they hung up and turned to dinner. "She sounds pretty excited about this," Dave commented.

"Of course she's excited," Shae laughed. "She's got something to organize. About all you have to do with her is drop the flag and get out of the way. That's Emily, direct action through and through."

"She's still got a few days to go," Dave laughed. "I'll bet she winds up with the U.S. Marine Corps band or something like that before she's done. It sounds like a pretty good party. It's a shame I can't go."

Shae looked thoughtful for an instant, then smiled, "Well, there's no reason why not."

"I can think of plenty of reasons," he said. "Starting with no airlines."

"They're supposed to be flying by the weekend, although every plane will be jam packed and the whole thing probably pretty messed up," Shae agreed. "But it's not a problem. The odds are we'll knock off shooting early on Friday, we usually try to. We could load up and drive it; it's only about ten hours if we go right through and only make pit stops. Or, we could leave early Saturday morning and still make it in time for the concert. After all, JoAnne, you've got to get home somehow."

"That's a possibility," Dave said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I want to spend that much time in the car with the boys in one weekend, though. They're going to get pretty antsy."

Shae was undaunted. "It'd be a little farther, a couple hours, but we could probably leave the boys with Eve and John."

"Why not just leave them here?" JoAnne commented. "There's no great rush for me to get home, and until you get them in school it's going to restrict your getting around for work, arranging for school, and dealing with getting other things straightened out."

"That's a thought," Dave said. "There's bound to be stuff that needs to be dealt with in the next week or ten days, including working out the move out of Battery Park. I can't even deal with that issue until I have some idea of where we're going to move to. And, I can't really give a final answer on it until I can find out how much job flexibility I'm going to have, so I can face the Bradford-or-here issue."

"From a simplicity standpoint, here is better," Shae pointed out. "And besides, it's been a long time since you've lived in Bradford, even been there. You might get there and find you hate it."

"That's all the more reason for you to go this weekend," JoAnne said. "Maybe it'll give you a hint about whether the change in scenery will do you good or whether it's going to not be worth the trouble. There's no reason you can't stay at the house. The sheets on my bed need to be washed, but I can call Hazel and have her do it."

"Mom, if I move back to Bradford, I don't plan on living at home," Dave protested. "I can't put you out like that. If nothing else, I want to maintain the atmosphere of our own household."

"So, that's not a big problem," JoAnne said. "Maude Perkins' house right across the street has been sitting empty since she died. It's not a big house, but it's in good shape. Her son wants to sell it, and he hasn't been able to. If he rents it, he wants to have someone who won't tear it up or cause problems with a sale. I wouldn't be surprised if waving three or four hundred a month under his nose wouldn't do it, and he'd be happy to get it."

"Three or four hundred?" Dave frowned.

"From what I hear, that's about the going rate," she replied. "Maybe on the low side a little."

"Mom, would you care to guess what Julie and I were paying in Battery Park?"

"More than that, I'm sure," she smiled.

"Try five thousand a month," he shook his head. "That's considered a pretty reasonable rate for a place like that."

"Good grief, how can you afford that?"

"You have to remember, I'm making $90,000 a year, and Julie was making considerably more. Like I said, it's not a bad price for a good address, not much commuting time, and being close to everything. And at that, I can't really afford it now without Julie's income."

"Dave, I don't know if you know Wes Russell; he runs the General plant. The word around the plant is that he makes $75,000. The school superintendent makes a little less, maybe $70,000, but it's got to be about the top pay in Bradford."

"I don't doubt it," he smiled. "I've always known it's more expensive to live here, especially to live as upscale as Julie and I did. But we made enough to afford it." He shook his head and continued. "I admit that the idea of making Manhattan wages on Bradford expenses is attractive on the surface, but there are likely intangible expenses, such as the effect on my career. I don't know what they are and whether I'm willing to pay them."

"The idea of going and taking a look isn't bad," Shae commented. "I wouldn't mind a nice fall day in Bradford, myself, and I could sure stand the break from the city. There's nothing like a road trip to help you sort things out. If we left right after work Friday, we'd get in a little late, but it would give us most of the day to fool around. The alternative is two days of hard driving back to back."

"I wouldn't mind going just to get out of New York for a few hours myself," he agreed. "Mom, if you're willing to stay here, and Shae, if you're willing to go with me, let's tentatively figure on doing it, at least until I can check on a few items to make sure I don't have to be around this weekend."

"What kind of items?" she asked.

"I'm not sure about the move out of Battery Park, when it's going to be possible," he explained. "To top it off, if Dick says no to the idea of going to Bradford, that's that, and we'll have to get cracking on getting the kids into school. Shae, is there anything to keep me from riding into Brooklyn with you tomorrow, and then maybe taking the car in the afternoon if I can get everything done in the morning?"

{c}• • •

Like Monday, Shae found Dave sitting in the lobby at the studio as planned when she was done for the day. Unlike Monday, she could tell he was very down in the dumps. "Dave, what's the problem?" she asked as soon as they were heading for the car.

"Same thing," he said listlessly. "I must be getting over it; I actually managed to find my way back here by myself."

"Did you have to wait long?"

"A couple hours, maybe," he shrugged. "I really wasn't paying attention."

"What happened?" she sighed.

"The short answer is things went pretty well at the office," he said. "So I thought I'd take the subway down and see what I could find out on the Battery Park issue."

"I get it," she nodded. "Hell, I don't blame you for being down. I wish the hell you'd waited so I could have gone with you."

"Well, I didn't," he shrugged. "I probably should have, but things went so well at the office I thought I'd get away with it. Guess not, at least not yet."

"So, what did they say at the office?" she asked, seizing on something that sounded upbeat.