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Authors: Michael Langlois
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airport and dialed Henry’s number from memory. Anne kept glancing at me as she drove, then looking away as if she weren’t curious.
“Henry, it’s Abe. I’m coming to see you tonight. Yep. That’s right. You’re still as sharp as you ever were. See you tonight.” I handed the phone back.
“What did he say?”
“He said he’d be ready for us.”
“You didn’t warn him about the bags, that they were going to his house.”
“I didn’t have to, he knew as soon as he heard my voice. We haven’t spoken in thirty years, and all of a sudden I call him out of the blue and say I’m on my way to his house?” I looked out of the rain-flecked window and watched the thunderheads flicker with internal lights overhead. “No matter what else he might be, Henry’s still the smartest man I ever met.”
As with most daytime showers, the sun was still shining between the thin clouds, painting the gray cotton with summits of liquid gold. A faint rainbow shone in the distance, seeming to pace the car as I watched out of the speckled window.
“Abe, what’s going on?”
I shrugged. “Let’s hope Henry can tell us both. And that we get there in time to hear it.”
“I hope the bags do show up. I owe them for my grandfather.”
“Yeah, that’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about. That shot with my gun was pretty impressive.”
She shrugged and looked away.
“I’m serious. Tell me about it.”
“Not much to tell. My grandfather taught me to shoot, and then had me enrolled in classes and signed up for competitions pretty much the whole time I was growing up. I was at the range every weekend when my friends were all at the mall, which did wonders for my social status. He even insisted I learn some hand to hand stuff from his Army training, which seemed pretty pointless. I asked what it was all for, and he said that in his day, men were better behaved, but now he figured I needed to be able to explain to a date that no means no. Preferably while I was driving him to the emergency room.”
I had to laugh at that. Getting grabby with Patty’s granddaughter would have led to quite the exciting evening for her dates, just not in the way they imagined.
“That’s a great idea, but I don’t think that’s really why he did it. I think that the old bastard knew all along that you had his gift. He was preparing you to do what he used to do, if it came down to that. Patty was pretty good in a scrape himself, but of course he got his training from the Brits at Achnacarry with the rest of us. Maybe he didn’t go through the whole course, but he did enough.”
“Achnacarry?”
“Scotland. It’s where all of us were trained, back in the ‘40s. The British had real commandos and we didn’t, so Uncle Sam pulled a bunch of us from the 34th Infantry and gave us to the Brits to train. Your grandfather and the Professor showed up at the end. They were more honorary Rangers than anything else. We had four head-kickers plus those two, whom we were assigned to protect.”
“My grandfather was in for his nose, right? Why Henry?”
“Doesn’t do much good to find the bad stuff if you don’t know what it is or what to do about it when you get there. Didn’t Patrick ever tell you any of this?”
“He didn’t like to talk about it.”
“Me neither to tell the truth.”
“Oh. Sorry.” And just like that, she turned on the radio and dropped it. I was both surprised and grateful for the gesture.
Austin Straubel International Airport was originally named for the first aviator from Brown County to die in the war, back in 1942. I didn’t know if the stream of people that swirled around us like we were a rock in a current knew that, but it was kind of a big deal back then. No matter what branch you served in, or where you lived or fought, he was one of us. It was satisfying to see him remembered, as if that remembrance were for us as well.
Of course, the noble history of the airport didn’t make up for
“Henry, it’s Abe. I’m coming to see you tonight. Yep. That’s right. You’re still as sharp as you ever were. See you tonight.” I handed the phone back.
“What did he say?”
“He said he’d be ready for us.”
“You didn’t warn him about the bags, that they were going to his house.”
“I didn’t have to, he knew as soon as he heard my voice. We haven’t spoken in thirty years, and all of a sudden I call him out of the blue and say I’m on my way to his house?” I looked out of the rain-flecked window and watched the thunderheads flicker with internal lights overhead. “No matter what else he might be, Henry’s still the smartest man I ever met.”
As with most daytime showers, the sun was still shining between the thin clouds, painting the gray cotton with summits of liquid gold. A faint rainbow shone in the distance, seeming to pace the car as I watched out of the speckled window.
“Abe, what’s going on?”
I shrugged. “Let’s hope Henry can tell us both. And that we get there in time to hear it.”
“I hope the bags do show up. I owe them for my grandfather.”
“Yeah, that’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you about. That shot with my gun was pretty impressive.”
She shrugged and looked away.
“I’m serious. Tell me about it.”
“Not much to tell. My grandfather taught me to shoot, and then had me enrolled in classes and signed up for competitions pretty much the whole time I was growing up. I was at the range every weekend when my friends were all at the mall, which did wonders for my social status. He even insisted I learn some hand to hand stuff from his Army training, which seemed pretty pointless. I asked what it was all for, and he said that in his day, men were better behaved, but now he figured I needed to be able to explain to a date that no means no. Preferably while I was driving him to the emergency room.”
I had to laugh at that. Getting grabby with Patty’s granddaughter would have led to quite the exciting evening for her dates, just not in the way they imagined.
“That’s a great idea, but I don’t think that’s really why he did it. I think that the old bastard knew all along that you had his gift. He was preparing you to do what he used to do, if it came down to that. Patty was pretty good in a scrape himself, but of course he got his training from the Brits at Achnacarry with the rest of us. Maybe he didn’t go through the whole course, but he did enough.”
“Achnacarry?”
“Scotland. It’s where all of us were trained, back in the ‘40s. The British had real commandos and we didn’t, so Uncle Sam pulled a bunch of us from the 34th Infantry and gave us to the Brits to train. Your grandfather and the Professor showed up at the end. They were more honorary Rangers than anything else. We had four head-kickers plus those two, whom we were assigned to protect.”
“My grandfather was in for his nose, right? Why Henry?”
“Doesn’t do much good to find the bad stuff if you don’t know what it is or what to do about it when you get there. Didn’t Patrick ever tell you any of this?”
“He didn’t like to talk about it.”
“Me neither to tell the truth.”
“Oh. Sorry.” And just like that, she turned on the radio and dropped it. I was both surprised and grateful for the gesture.
Austin Straubel International Airport was originally named for the first aviator from Brown County to die in the war, back in 1942. I didn’t know if the stream of people that swirled around us like we were a rock in a current knew that, but it was kind of a big deal back then. No matter what branch you served in, or where you lived or fought, he was one of us. It was satisfying to see him remembered, as if that remembrance were for us as well.
Of course, the noble history of the airport didn’t make up for
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