With that he rode off in a paint stained white van, leaving Fiona a little steamed. She sank onto one of the old straight back chairs that wobbled under her. This was not a good beginning. She checked the time. The electrician and plumber were late.
She walked down to the ranch house to look for Opal. Maybe she knew of some other workers who were more dependable.
“No, honey,” said Opal, “I can’t say I know a single dependable contractor in this valley. You see, most of them are seasonal because they are haying or irrigating or ranching or calving or lambing or whatever, and the people they work for are, too. So it’s a little hard to keep on a schedule because Nature calls the shots here.”
Fiona mulled that one over while she sipped a mug of industrial strength coffee Opal had made.
“I’m going into town today,” said Opal. “Do you want to go with me? Jake says I shouldn’t be driving anymore. Leastways, long distances.”
“I have to wait for the electrician and plumber.”
“You better call to see if they are coming.”
Fiona called them but only got answering machines. “This is very frustrating,” she said.
“You’re going to have to slow down if you are thinking to live here,” said Opal, busy shredding cabbage in a food processor.
“I’m not sure this is going to be my permanent residence. I’ve got a big clientele back in the Washington DC metro area that depends on me. I’m reliable at least.”
“Suit yourself. You can ask Queenie to watch out for those guys while we go to town. They might not make it today.”
“I suppose I could go with you and look for someone to do the drapes. I need furniture, too.”
The back door creaked open, and Sheriff Hoover walked in. “You could come for a drive with me. Is that fresh made coffee I smell, Opal?”
Opal smiled and poured him a mug. “We don’t see you around here much in the course of the day.”
Hoover nodded. “Only when I got investigating to do and there’s a pretty woman involved.”
Fiona ignored the obvious flirtation. “What are you investigating, Sheriff, and where would you be driving?”
“I was in the neighborhood and stopped to see if you had remembered anything else of interest about finding those bones yesterday.”
“Opal had an idea, didn’t you?” Fiona said.
“It probably wasn’t anything,” she said and turned the food processor back on.
“I’m interested,” said Hoover.
While she worked, she related the particulars about the man looking for work.
“Have you found any missing persons in your reports?” Fiona asked.
“We have a few open files. Trail’s gone cold on them though. Not likely the type would end up out in the desert. A man looking for work could end up anywhere. But I’ll ask around.”
“How are Farley and the little girl?” asked Fiona.
“In the hospital. They kept them for observation overnight. The man may have a concussion. The little girl has a broken leg.”
“Poor thing,” said Fiona. “What a traumatic experience for a young child.”
“They won’t be here long,” Hoover said. “Caleb said the mother’s on the way to pick them up and take them back to Portland.”
“I’m glad they didn’t get hurt worse,” said Opal. “Accident like that they were plain lucky to make it out alive. Fiona and Jake were lucky they weren’t hurt.”
“Do you remember anything else, Fiona?” Hoover asked.
“I told you all I could remember. I did think of something about those bones though.”
“What’s that?”
“It probably isn’t anything, I mean, I don’t have any facts. When will you have the results of the DNA analysis?”
“Takes a while. This is a pretty cold case. We’ll have a diver go in there and see what else comes up. What were you thinking?”
Fiona pursed her lips. “I think it was a woman.”
Hoover nodded his head. “Why do you think that?”
“Because of the two women missing in the Hank Little case. Those bones looked small even though the clothes looked like a man’s.”
“I thought of that, too. Those two women are on the missing persons list. Great detective minds think alike, Fiona.”
“She’s very good,” said Opal. “She helped solve the mystery of my brother, Albert’s demise back in Virginia. She has natural detective ability.”
“Is that right?” said Hoover. “We’ll see what the diver finds. Meanwhile, I better get on down the road. Sure you don’t want to go with me, Fiona?”
“No, thanks,” she said. “I have to wait for the contractors. Besides, Opal and I might drive to town later.”
After lunch and resigned to the fact that the electrician and plumber weren’t coming, Fiona decided she might as well drive Opal to town.
“Where’s the car?” asked Fiona.
“Rig,” said Opal. “We’ll go in Old Faithful. Wait here. I’ll bring her around. I can at least do that much.”
Fiona waited in the hot sun on the front walk, feeling dejected that her bunkhouse improvement project was going nowhere fast. She had had such hopes for the day. A shopping trip would cheer her up. From behind the house she heard a muffled roar. Old Faithful back fired into sight and rolled to a stop in front of the house on a rough idle. Opal smiled from behind the wheel, a jaunty red cowgirl hat perched on her head.
“Climb in,” she said.
Fiona didn’t move. “You want me to drive that?”
Opal looked puzzled. “Don’t you like her? Isn’t she a beauty?”
“Does she bite?”
Opal laughed. “Of course not, honey.” She opened the door and slid off the seat. “Go on and get the feel of her. She’s hell on wheels, this rig is. Hell on wheels.”
“I don’t know if I can climb up that high.”
“No problem. Put your foot on the running board and hitch yourself up.”
Before Fiona could make a move, the truck gave out a great shudder and died.
“Are you sure this truck is going to get us to town and back?”
“Of course,” Opal said. “Don’t you worry. Old Faithful has made many a trip to town.”
Fiona walked around the truck, trying to think of a way to beg out of the trip. The truck sported huge wheels and looked more like it belonged in a demolition derby than on a ranch. The paint job had long ago faded and now looked silvery pink more than the red it must have been in its heyday. Fiona came back to where Opal was standing by the driver’s door.
“She may not be much to look at,” Opal said, “but she’s never let me down.” She paused and smiled. “Well, hardly ever. I got all we need in the tool box in the bed of the rig if we run into trouble, and we got our cell phones. There’s plenty of room to store our purchases.”
“Is it automatic?” Fiona asked.
“Sure is,” Opal said. “She handles like a dream. You’ll see. Climb in and start her up.”
Fiona looked in the cab. The bench seat was covered with a furry leopard skin print.
Opal grinned. “Don’t you love the seats? I recovered them since the original plastic was tearing open in places.”
Fiona couldn’t recall ever using leopard skin pattern in anything. She steeled herself and hopped up into the cab.
“Atta girl,” said Opal. She slammed the door and went around to the passenger side. With a yee-haw and a mighty pull on the door bar, she catapulted onto the seat.
Fiona turned the ignition key, and Old Faithful roared back to life. The gear shift was on the steering column, and the black metal steering wheel was pencil thin. She wasn’t going to ask what year the truck was, but she was sure there were no computers in the engine of this vehicle.
“Okay,” she said. “Here we go.”
The old truck didn’t handle quite like the dream Opal imagined. There was no air conditioning, so they hand rolled the windows down. The long drive out to the paved road stirred up a whirlwind of dust, but once they got to the main road, they sailed along. Opal turned on the local radio station that played classic country and western with a little bluegrass thrown in. They didn’t talk much since it was hard to hear above the roar of the wind and the scratchy radio.