Land Sakes (30 page)

“I hate to say this, but Mrs. Winchester told me her husband won't pay the ransom. It's a long story that I'll not go into, but you know how these rich men are. It ain't above any one of them to be in back of something like this, hiring somebody to murder their wife. If that's the case here, there is no way you and me will be left alive to testify. On the other hand, if this is truly a kidnapping and Winchester don't pay the ransom, them three goons will see to it that we're bumped off.”

“I know that's the truth, but what can we do?”

“Daisy, you know Mrs. Winchester is filthy rich.”

“Yeah, I heard that.”

“Well, lemme tell you something—she is mighty careless about jewels; won't put them in hotel safes or nothing. When I found out she leaves them any old place, I knew sooner or later somebody was going to help themselves to every diamond and ruby she has got, and when that happened, I'd be the prime suspect.”

“That's right. They'd sooner pin it on you than get to the bottom of a case like that.”

“Well, now, if Mrs. Winchester would be able to offer Willie half a million dollars in jewels, don't you think that would change his mind and he'd go along with helping us get away?”

“I wish I could say yes, but there is no way under the sun that he would. In the first place, he don't value nothin' but cold cash. Give him rubies and diamonds and he'd think no more of them than what comes out of a Cracker Jack box. Besides, he wouldn't know what to do with them.”

We finished the dishes and went back to sit in that little room. Well, I tried. I knew it was a long shot, but I was awful let down. All them jewels around my middle but not worth a dime.

Mrs. Winchester asked Daisy to turn up the radio so we would be sure to hear if there was more news. I thought Mrs. Winchester looked pretty calm considering what we were going through. I got out a Gospel of John, and she asked me to read out loud. I was glad to do that, because then Willie and Daisy would also hear some of the things Jesus said and did.

By midday a talk show was interrupted by a news flash. “Today the Associated Press has learned that Mrs. Winchester and her companion, who were reported yesterday to have fallen overboard from the cruise ship
Amsterdam
, did not fall overboard but have been taken hostage. A ransom note was delivered to Mr. Philip Winchester at 8:00 last night, Eastern Standard Time. We will keep you posted as developments occur.”

That announcement meant we were moving that much
closer to whatever fate was in store for us, and I knew we had to do something soon or we would die.

I got up to go out on the porch. Willie jerked up the gun. “What's the matter, Willie, do you think I'm going to jump or something? Mrs. Winchester, you stay inside and keep listening to the radio. Willie, you guard her good, now.”

Daisy laughed and followed me onto the porch.

It was raining hard, and with the radio blaring, I was sure Willie couldn't hear us talking. “Daisy, what are we gonna do?”

“I don't know.”

I knew Daisy was on our side, but getting Willie to join us seemed impossible. Without him and that gun, it would be simple for us to crank up one of those boats under the house and go by the water down to Juneau.

As I thought on it, I finally did get an idea. I thought it all through before I shared it with Daisy. Then I explained all the details and what part she would play in the plan.

When I finished, she said, “It might work. When the rain lets up I'll tell Willie I'm going fishing. I'll catch enough fish for our supper and come back. Then I'll gas up my boat and fix his so it won't run. That way we'll be set to go if we get the chance.”

We heard Mrs. Winchester calling us, and we ran inside. The radio was sputtering, but I could hear that Philip Winchester had offered a five-hundred-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to the safe return of his wife and her companion.

I can't tell you what that meant to Mrs. Winchester. She just fell apart sobbing. I hugged her and let her cry her heart out.

31

Having stayed awake all night, Willie looked like a zombie, but he was no less trigger-happy. Daisy spoke to him as she was putting on her slicker. “This rain ain't never gonna let up, but if we want something to eat for supper, I got to go fish.”

I helped her get the gangplank down, and she left. I could hear her under the house working with the boat, and it wasn't long before the motor started. Soon it was humming across the open water.

I was anxious to fill Winnie in on our plan, so I said, “Excuse me, Willie, but I got to go in the kitchen and use the chamber pot. I'll have to close this door.” No sooner did I go in there but I opened the door a crack, caught Winnie's eye, and beckoned to her. Right away, she caught on that something was up. “Mrs. Winchester,” I said for Willie's benefit, “I'll be in here a while. If you want to hear the radio you'll have to come in here too.”

Once inside, I turned up the radio to make sure Willie couldn't hear us. I took considerable time explaining all
the details to Winnie and her part in the plan. She got all excited. I put my finger to my lips to caution her. “Don't let on we got anything up our sleeve.”

While we waited to hear Daisy coming back, Willie had a hard time keeping his eyes open. Jerked awake, he sat up bolt upright and asked me to make him a cup of coffee, which I did.

About an hour later, here comes the sound of Daisy's boat heading home. I don't know who was the most excited, me or Winnie, but I'm proud to say we both kept our cool.

Daisy spent considerable time under the house, messing with the boats, but finally she came up the gangplank. I met her at the door, and, sure enough, she had a great big fish. “Halibut,” she said. She was dripping wet. “Did more bailin' than fishin'.”

We left the gangplank down. “Any news?” she asked.

I shook my head and followed her into the kitchen. She put the halibut in the sink and poured herself a cup of coffee. “You ready?”

I nodded.

I left Daisy drinking the coffee. When she came out the kitchen, she looked at Winnie, and Winnie nodded slightly. They were both ready to put our plan into action.

Winnie got started. “Is that all we have to eat—
fish?”

“Ain't that good enough for you, Miss Got Rocks?”

“We had fish for breakfast! I'm accustomed to better meals than this. I have a delicate constitution and do not tolerate beans and fish.”

“Oh, you don't? Well, listen to me, lady. If you're so high-and-mighty you can't eat what I eat, you need takin' down a notch or two!” Daisy flung off her parka and rolled up her sleeves. “And I'm just the one to do it!” she said. “Outta my way, Willie!”

“Esmeralda! Do something!” Winnie screamed. I stayed put.

Daisy was dancing around with her fists balled up. “Git up, Miss Got Rocks, and I'll show you a thing or two.” How she did it, I'll never know, but she yanked all two hundred pounds of Winnie out of that chair.

“Now, see here!”

With that, Daisy hauled off and hit her hard with an uppercut. Winnie's glass eye popped out and bounced on the floor. Willie saw it, freaked out, and fainted dead away. I grabbed his gun and picked up that eye, and the three of us hightailed it outta there!

I hit that gangplank running, but my feet went out from under me and I slid all the way to the bottom. Daisy hung on to Winnie, and them two got down without no trouble.

Winnie's foot got stuck in the mud, and it took both of us to get her in the boat. I handed her the assault rifle. “Hold this, Winnie, while we untie the boat.” We shoved off, and Daisy eased us out from under the house. We chugged out a ways, then speeded up.

With the rain coming down like it was and the motor going full blast, we couldn't hear each other talk, but I could see them two were happy the same as me. I couldn't get over it. We had pulled it off! We were on our way back to Juneau!

Daisy sat in the rear of the boat with me on the other end and Winnie in the middle. In that pouring-down rain the boat would have soon got full of water, but there were a couple of cans in the boat to bail with. Winnie and I were working like crazy bailing out the water. With all our weight, it wouldn't take much to swamp the boat. Of course, we were all getting drenched, but that was the least of our worries.

It seemed like forever before the rain let up and the gray sky lightened a bit. Winnie and I kept bailing for fear the rain would start up again. It was all I could do to keep dipping out the water and throwing it over the side, and I was amazed that Winnie, who had probably never used them muscles before, didn't give up and quit.

At last, it seemed the rain would hold off, so we slacked up on bailing. It was then that I noticed how bedraggled we looked. Not only had we not had a bath in three days and had slept in our clothes and not changed our underwear, but we were muddy and wringing wet. Any bag lady would have been more presentable than we were.

Winnie wiped her runny nose on the sleeve of that ivory parka, which was too wet and dirty for even a runny nose. Something had snagged the sleeve in such a way the armhole was almost ripped out, and the coyote trim looked like a slick dishrag.

I knew I looked as bad as or worse than Winnie, but as for Daisy, she looked about the same as before. I had never seen her but what her stringy hair was falling down in her face. And she never laced her boots. They must
have been full of water; my feet were sloshing in my shoes. But if ever I was face-to-face with an angel, it was Daisy LeGrande. That Mississippi woman, poor as a church mouse, could have saved herself and claimed a big reward—or run off to Juneau and left me and Winnie to die by Willie's hand. I wondered how many women would have done that. All the good people are not sitting up in church, you know.

I have no idea how long or how many miles we traveled before Daisy swung the boat inland. “Auke Bay,” she hollered above the roar. In the distance I could see some boats.
Must be a harbor
.