Marjorie Thelen: High Desert Detective

Fiona laughed. “Jake told you.”

With a deadpan face Olympia said, “Fiona Marlowe you will receive a full blown lecture from me on why you need to marry Jake when I’ve finished writing for the day. You have been forewarned. Now go, go, go. I have to get back to this scene.” She flicked her hands in a shooing motion and turned back to her work. “And close the door on your way out.” She looked up and smiled. “Please.”

Fiona did as directed. She could hear Olympia’s lecture now. She had heard it before about how she should fall in love and settle down. Trouble was Olympia saw the whole world as a romance novel. Real life wasn’t like that.

Lovejoy’s ranch was still in the running, but she wondered about the ranch coming on the market so quickly. She went out on the front porch, sat down to finish her coffee, and called the hospital to see about Glory. She asked for the doctor, but he was with a patient so she left a message for him to call her. She debated about going in to see Glory, but before she could decide, she noticed a trail of dust in the distance on the road. A visitor was coming. She recognized Tillie’s truck as it drew closer. Why would Tillie be coming this morning when she knew that Opal went for treatments in the morning? Fiona had the uneasy feeling that Tillie was coming to stir up more trouble. She doubted Tillie wanted to see her. She probably wanted to see Jake.

Fiona went inside for more coffee and started a fresh pot. She helped herself to one of the muffins on a plate by the stove. Queenie had come this morning to clean, and there was something simmering in the crock pot that smelled like chili. She wondered where Queenie was. Maybe in the laundry room because the dryer was running. It was a good thing that Fiona had locked Jake’s bedroom door last night so they hadn’t had the help looking in on their naked selves.

She peeked out the kitchen window to see if she could see Tillie, who hadn’t appeared at the front door. Fiona walked to the front room window to look but only her truck was parked in front. She walked to the west facing windows and saw Tillie’s truck going toward the road that led to the pivots. She must have seen Jake’s truck in the field. The woman was going to see Jake.

Her cell phone rang, and she pulled it from her jeans pocket to answer. It was the doctor. “Glory is better, but I’d like to keep him one more day for observation. We’ll release him in the morning.”

Fiona was relieved that Glory was still alive. “Did the Sheriff send anyone to guard him?” she asked the doctor.

“Not that I know. Why would he need to be guarded?”

“Whoever beat him up might be back, and we’re concerned for his well being,” said Fiona.

“We’re pretty secure here, but anyone can come in during visiting hours. I doubt someone would be so bold as to try something in our hospital, but I’ll make a note that no one is to be allowed in the room except you and Jake.”

“Thank you. I’ll be there in the morning to pick him up.”

Fiona closed the connection and tried to see what was happening out in the pasture. She was uneasy about Tillie and decided to get in her own truck to see what was up. At first she couldn’t find her purse and keys then remembered she had put her purse on the couch when they came in last night. She went to fetch them and saw her vest and Jake’s neatly folded on the coffee table. She felt the blush in her cheeks. What a night. She guessed everyone knew by now.

She drove her truck out the lane that ran along the south side of the two huge pivots to the west of the house. The day was warm and sunny. With the windows down a refreshing breeze kept her cool. On a whim she looked toward the knoll where the gray pile of ashes of her former homestead lay. Tillie’s truck was parked at the bottom of the knoll. She hadn’t gone to the pivot to see Jake. She was on some other mission. Why would she have parked there?

Fiona backtracked and steered the truck toward Tillie’s old, battered one and pulled in back of it when the path became too narrow to go any further. She got down and softly closed the door. What was Tillie doing? Fiona scanned the knoll and the area around the knoll. She saw no one.

She glanced at Tillie’s truck. She could see faint footprints in the dust by the door. They were headed up the hill. Fiona walked to the front of the truck and started following. Now there were two sets of faint prints. Someone was with her. Tillie had brought someone, thinking no one would be around this morning. She must have figured Fiona would take Opal to town and the others would be in the fields, working. What was she up to?

Fiona followed the prints as best she could since rocks covered part of the path. She kept looking around, trying to see where Tillie and friend might be. At the top of the knoll she had the commanding view that had made the site so appealing. She paused under what was left of the burned shade tree. She could see the rest of the ridge to the west. The same ridge that someone thought would make a great place for a wind farm. Looking east was the ranch house and outbuildings. To the north lay the pivots. She could see the baler standing in the field, and Jake’s truck parked beside it. Cattle were black dots on the horizon to the south. Where could Tillie have disappeared so fast? The endless high desert landscape was deceptive. A person could easily disappear behind tall brush and re-appear just as quickly a few feet away.

Fiona decided to follow the ridge since she hadn’t seen Tillie come back and her truck was still there. It wasn’t going anywhere. Fiona had her parked in. Something told Fiona this was all about the ridge. Her curiosity got the better of her and blocked out all her common sense which should have told her not to follow Tillie alone.

Fiona skirted the sage brush, rabbit brush and a tall stand of greasewood. Stickers pulled at the legs of her jeans and the uneven ground made difficult footing. She spied a deer trail that seemed to follow the top of the ridge and took it. Bless those deer.

After walking a few minutes she stopped and surveyed her surroundings again. She could see 360 degrees but some of the brush was tall enough that it blocked a clear view. She had never walked this far from the ranch. She shielded her eyes, looking toward the sun. This was strange. Tillie had just disappeared.

Was there an underground opening somewhere that they had disappeared into? Fiona still thought the area had some kind of an underground mine. What if it were gold? But Paul had said that there was no commercial gold in the valley. She checked her watch. It was close to lunch time, and the men would be coming in for lunch. She opened her phone and called Jake’s number.

“Hello, darlin’,” he said. “How are you doing?”

“Jake, dear,” she smiled when she said it, “I’m up on the ridge where the bunk house used to be. I followed Tillie up here. Someone is with her, and they have disappeared.”

“Run this by me again,” said Jake.

Fiona gave him the longer version about how Tillie had showed up.

“Don’t go any farther. I’ve got to finish up with this repair.” He paused. “No, I changed my mind. Come back down and wait for me at your rig, okay? I’ll be there as fast as I can. Then we’ll see what Tillie is up to.”

“Did you know she was coming?” asked Fiona.

“No, and Opal didn’t take me into her confidence about what is going on with Tillie.”

“I think it has something to do with a wind farm on this ridge.”

“You may be right. I’ll get there soon as I can.”

Fiona wedged the cell phone back into her jeans pocket. She made another 360 degree sweep, looking for Tillie. Jake had said to go back and wait at the truck. She tapped her toe. She didn’t really want to do that. She wanted to walk find them, catch them in the act, because if it involved Tillie, it probably wasn’t legal.