Chapter 117

I had really enjoyed the dig, but I also enjoyed that it was over. I couldn't wait to get back to the barge with its hot water shower. I also missed my Canary mornings.

We headed back to the coast with me in the lead. I wasn't really ready for a nice restaurant, so we stopped at a McDonalds. It was actually very good since we didn't have one in New Wales.

When we got back to the barge, I rushed to be first into the office shower. I was in the shower at least twenty minutes. Most of that time was spent one my hair even though it is thin I like to feel it really clean. I managed to get back to the bedroom part of the barge and dressed before Wilson came down from his time in the barges shower.

When he was ready for dinner, we went out to Jefferson Island to visit a steak and rib restaurant inside one of the motels. The check was pretty large but like Wilson said we could afford it.

We went back to the barge after dinner. There were no places I wanted to go. Wilson hadn't found a new hangout by that time, so he drove the Honda to the barge house.

"We need to find someone to give us some information on the stones," Wilson suggested.

"You call around and find someone tomorrow, while I take the Canary up," I suggested.

"Fair enough, I'll call one of those pawn shops to give us an estimate on the gold," he suggested.

"Maybe one of the old time jewelry stores can tell us about the stones," I suggested.

"I'll call around tomorrow," Wilson suggested.

I slept poorly again. I awoke a couple of times before giving up and 6:30. I went quietly to the kitchen above Wilson's head. If he could sleep he deserved it. He had actually done physical labor for two weeks. He mostly ran the sluice but that was still more demanding than anything he usually did. I made coffee in the one cup maker then sat for a few moments at the kitchen table getting my head out of my ass, before I began my pedal to the airstrip.

Since Wilson never showed, I rightly assumed that he was having no problems sleeping. I managed to find the tricycle in the almost dark shed. I also found and unplugged the on board battery charger. I made sure the motor was no longer resting on the wheel, then off I went.

Since I knew what lay in store form me when I arrived at the strip, I went by to pickup a biscuit and more coffee for my thermos. The coffee at MrBJ's was barely better than no coffee at all, but what the hell, I thought.

Once I got to the grass strip I rolled out the riding mower and sat on it's wider seat to eat. It took me only ten minutes to finish the biscuit, then I started the mower and began driving the mower up and down the grass strip. It took well over an hour to get the grass trimmed.

It was almost 10AM when the Canary was on the strip with it's nose pointed into the wind. I always ran all the gas out of the carburetor before I shut down the engine. Like always I had to turn it over a few times before it fired up. When it did, it took only a few seconds to smooth out.

I ran the canary into the wind and she leaped into the air. For the next hour I ran the canary north along the coast. I enjoyed looking at the boats and letting the fishermen look at me. I loved being the center of attention now and then. When I headed home. I did the same things I did on most mornings. I would climb to altitude, kill the engine then swoop and glide for a few minutes then restart the engine. Restarting the engine was always dangerous, but so far it had always restarted. It was the same that morning. Other than the wheels had trouble rolling over the fresh cut grass the plane handled flawlessly.

After I had it tucked safely in it's hanger, I noticed the Judges hanger was complete and the door open. It had been closed when I left. I supposed the judge had his fancy little plane in the air. I had yet to get a good look at it.

"Hello," Wilson replied when I called.

"So you didn't die in your sleep?" I asked.

"No, I am quite alright. I just needed a little more sleep this morning," he said.

"Wilson you always need a little more sleep. So you want to hold off with the appraisals for an hour or so? I'll go with you, if you want." I suggested.

"That would be great, since I know you won't trust me," he laughed.

"Who me?" I asked also laughing. After the call I rode the cycle home. I pedaled some then turned on the motor some. The motor pulled the trike a little slower than I pedaled it but not much.

When I pulled into the barge parking lot, I saw that Wilson was in the office on the pier. I plugged the charger in then slipped the trike into the shed beside the plug. Then I walked into the office to check on Wilson. "What you up to?" I asked.

"Just reading our messages and the other email." Since we got our business by phone 99% of the time, I hadn't bothered with email.

"Anything of interest," I asked.

"We have three messages from the Realtor," he said.

"She is probably prospecting," I suggested.

"I don't think it is the usual Realtor you work with. I don't recognize the name," Wilson said.

"Let me take a shower, and while I do you check on the email. You might want to check any others that need our attention." I suggested.