Christmas With Hover Hill (6 page)

Her eyes lit on a picture on the lamp table. A
picture taken of her when she was ten and her brother was twelve.
They were standing beside their father, Martin Winston, on the
porch of an old farm house. This was one of the few pictures she
had of her father and her together. She snatched it up. The one
place none of her family would think about looking for her in the
winter was in that picture.

Once she applied for a leave, if Steven or Scott
checked with the college, they would be told she left for six
months. Since the college knew about her leaving town, this
wouldn't be like a sudden disappearance that would have people
hunting for her. Scott wouldn't get any help from the police since
she took off on her own accord.

The next morning, Elizabeth called the college to
make an appointment to talk about her leave from work. After she
ate breakfast, she instructed Hover to throw out any leftovers in
the refrigerator and pack the canned goods and other food in boxes.
He could fill the cooler with what was in the freezer. While he was
doing that she packed three suitcases with clothes and stacked them
on the bed with her laptop.

“
Hover, I'm going out for a short while. When I
come back, you can help me put the things I laid on the bed in the
car. While I'm gone you aren't to answer the door or the phone.
That is an order. Oh, if you have time, take down all the Christmas
decorations you put up unnecessarily. Put the boxes back in the
closet.”

She was out the door before he could ask questions.
First stop was the bank to withdraw plenty of money. By the time
she needed more, maybe Scott and Steven would forget about checking
in at the bank. Then she could write checks.

On the way to the college, Elizabeth debated what to
do with Hover Hill. She could leave him in the apartment until
Scott found him. It occurred to her, she might miss his help. Maybe
she was crazy for thinking about it, but Hover could go with her.
Steven spent a lot of money for that robot. It would serve him
right if she didn't ever give Hover Hill back to him. Besides,
she'd be a lot safer traveling with a man in the car. That thought
made her smile.

Chapter 5

“
Hover, I'm back,” Elizabeth called from the
apartment doorway. At least the place had a normal, familiar look
again. Hover had managed to find the time to take down all the
decorations.

The robot came from the kitchen.

“
I want you to help me put the food boxes into
the car trunk to take to the food bank. The boxes on my bed go in
the back seat. We're dropping them off at Good Will.”

It took several trips to the car. They filled the
back seat and the trunk with boxes and three suitcases full of her
clothes. “There now we can leave,” Elizabeth said. “Get into the
car while I lock the apartment door.”

When Elizabeth returned to the car, Hover asked,
“Where are we going?”

“
For a ride. To Good Will and the food bank
like I told you,” Elizabeth replied as she slid behind the steering
wheel.

She headed south. Soon they passed the city limits,
traveling along the route her father used to take when she was a
child. The flat fields were filled with snowy corn stubble and
rolling pastures of cattle and horses knee deep in snow as they
munched on large hay bales. The scenes didn't look the same as the
summer scenery she remembered when she spent a couple weeks with
her father in the country. That's all right. She was sure she was
going the right direction.

Hover Hill broke in on her daydreaming. “You packed
most of your clothes in the suitcases, food in the boxes and your
laptop is in the back seat. You would not give away all your
clothes. My internal GPS tells me we are a long way from the
closest food bank or Good Will store. Why are we headed south on a
country highway? Don't try to tell me you have lost directions to a
food bank or Good Will. I will not believe you.”

“
Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many
questions? I decided to take you for a nice ride. Let me drive in
peace and quiet. I know what I'm doing,” Elizabeth
replied.

Hover stared straight ahead.

Two hundred miles south, Elizabeth asked, “How far
does your transmitter carry? I take it Steven Mitchell was able to
overhear our conversations. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been
necessary to plant you in my apartment while you brainwashed me so
he'd know when to show up.”

“
That is true. My long range transmitter
carries fifty miles.”

“
Good! We are way out of range. Now, Mr. Nosy,
I can answer your questions. We aren't going to a food bank or Good
Will. Not anywhere close,” Elizabeth said.

“
I knew that. I told you that already,” Hover
declared.

“
Yes, but I couldn't answer you back. I didn't
want Steven to realize that I've left town until we've been gone so
long it will be hard for him and my brother to track us,” Elizabeth
said.

“
Where are we going?”

“
To my father's summer house. When we were
kids, he used to take my brother and me there for two weeks each
summer. No one uses it in the winter,” Elizabeth said, proud of
herself for thinking of the idea. “If you want to be helpful, watch
for a destination board that says Wickenburg on it. That's the town
we have to stop in.”

“
Why?”

“
Millie something or other is the owner of the
Maidrite Diner. It's been so long since I met her I've forgotten
her last name. She keeps the key for my dad's house,” Elizabeth
said.

“
You do not need to see a destination board. My
GPS transmitter tells me you need to stay on this highway. We are
exactly twenty three miles and a half from an establishment called
Maidrite Diner in Wickenburg, Iowa.”

Hover was right as usual. As soon as they reached the
city limits, Elizabeth watched on the right side the street. When
she spotted the diner, she pulled into a parking space near the
front door.

Lunch rush was over. The place was almost empty. A
pretty blond, about Elizabeth's age, smiled at her from behind the
counter. “Hello, what can I get you?”

“
Are you Millie?”

“
That was my mother. She turned the diner over
to me. About two years ago, she passed. My name's Susie,” the woman
said. “Anything in particular you wanted Mom for?”

“
I'm sorry about your mother. Maybe you can
help me. Mr. Winston has been kind enough to permit me use his
house in the country for a while. He said I could stop and ask at
the Maidrite Diner for the house key.”

“
Sure thing. I can get it for you,” Susie said
warmly. She brought a metal box from under the counter, picked out
the key and handed it to Elizabeth. “I'm surprised that Mr. Winston
told you to ask for my mother. He knows I run the diner
now.”

“
Of course, he does. Mr. Winston mentioned the
diner had changed hands when he told me about the house key. I just
got your mother and your name mixed up. Sorry, the mistake is my
fault.” Susie's scrutinizing stare made Elizabeth
uncomfortable.

“
I see. Wonder why he didn't call ahead and
tell me you were coming?”

Elizabeth felt queasy as she released the word,
“Why?”

“
He usually has me hire a cleaning crew to go
in and clean the house from top to bottom before he comes.” Susie
watched closely for Elizabeth's reaction.

“
Mr. Winston wanted to call ahead. He mentioned
the place would be a mess, but I told him I wouldn't be here long
enough to bother with that. I could do what cleaning was necessary.
I – we are just staying for a few weeks,” Elizabeth
excused.

Susie glanced over Elizabeth's shoulder and out the
window at Hover Hill in the car. “Sure. Anything else I can do for
you?”

Elizabeth couldn't tell if the woman believed her or
not. Guess she'd find out soon enough if Susie called her father to
verify a woman could stay in the house. He'd call the house to find
out who it was. If she didn't answer the phone, he'd send the law
out to find out for him. All she could do was hope it didn't come
to that. “I'm starving. I'll take a maidrite and coffee to go.”

Susie glanced out the plate glass window again. “What
about your husband?”

Elizabeth gave her a blank look. “My husband?”

Susie studied the man in the car. “Isn't he
hungry?”

“
No.” Elizabeth knew she'd spoken too quickly
from the puzzled expression on Susie's face. “I mean yes. Thank you
for thinking of that for me. I guess I'm just too tired to think
straight after all the driving I did. Make that two
maidrites.”
Why not get the extra one?
Saves the woman from being curious, and I'll need something to eat
for supper.

“
What does he want to drink?”

“
Drink?”

Susie gave her an exasperated glance.

“
Oh yes, to drink. Don't mind me. Like I said
I'm just tired. We've traveled a long way today. He'll take
coffee.”

Susie went behind the partition into the kitchen. As
she scooped up loose hamburger to pile on two buns, she asked,
“Where are you from?”

“
Ah, …. Northern Minnesota,” Elizabeth
supplied.

“
That is a long drive from here,” Susie
agreed.

“
Where is the nearest grocery store? We'll need
to get some supplies for our stay,” Elizabeth asked.

“
There's a small family operated grocery store
on your right as you leave town. The only one we have,” Susie said
as she laid the bill beside the maidrites and drinks.

Elizabeth laid out the correct change. “Thank you,
and where is the nearest gas station?” She asked, gathering up her
meals and drinks.

“
Across the street from the grocery store. You
can't miss it, either. Earnie's gas station is on the south edge of
town. He does repair work if you ever need anything fixed on your
car.”

“
Thank you for all your help,” Elizabeth said
as she headed for the door.

“
Sure thing. Enjoy your stay in town,” Susie
called.

Elizabeth stopped at the grocery store to get eggs,
bacon and bread for toast, milk, coffee and hot chocolate mix. She
could come back in the morning after Hover had a chance to help her
make a list. He'd need to go through the food boxes they brought
first.

She really was too tired and upset to think straight
right now. All she wanted was to get to the house and relax. They
traveled east out of town along a stretch of bleak, leafless timber
and brown pasture land. She said more to herself than Hover, “Seems
to me the turn off is about a mile from town. Hope I don't go past
it.”

She watched for the mile to turn over. When the mile
was up, she slowed down. To her left was a narrow dirt road between
fences lined with trees. She stopped and stared down it. “Could
this be the right road? I've come a mile.”

Hover Hill droned, “Just two hours, thirty minutes,
and five seconds ago you said you knew right where the house was
located.”

“
Give me a break! I was a small child when I
came here with my father. The trees and brush have had time to
become overgrown in the last fifteen years.” She turned down the
road and drove slowly through the potholes and frozen ruts. “Oh
well, if it is the wrong road, we'll just turn around and come back
to the main road and drive on.”

“
Good thing you did not buy cream at the
grocery store. It would be whipped in the container by the time we
get to our destination,” complained Hover Hill, holding his hand on
top his head to keep from bumping the car top.

The road came to a dead end in front of a large farm
house. The place was surrounded by trees. A trail led past the
house into the timber.

“
This is it,” Elizabeth said, relieved when she
recognized the house. “I'll help you up the front steps and set
everything from the car on the porch. You can help me carry the
sacks in.”

She gripped Hover's arm. They stepped up one step at
a time until she had him standing on the porch. She turned the key
in the lock and pushed open the front door. “Now back to unpacking
the car.”

Elizabeth set the four sacks of groceries on the
porch and climbed the steps. She handed two to Hover and picked up
the other two. She remembered her way around once she was inside.
Elizabeth headed across the speckled living room linoleum to the
kitchen. “Put the bags on the table, and you can refrigerate
everything that needs it.”

She looked around her. “For heaven's sake!”

Hover stared at her. “Don't tell me this is the wrong
house.”

“
No, I'm afraid it is the right house. This
kitchen is just as I remembered it. You would think my father could
have remodeled this house sometime in all the years he's owned
it.

Look at that old, large sink with the drain pad.”
Elizabeth waved her hand around the room. “These cupboards, with
layers of white paint, must be the original ones yet.”

She patted the bright yellow table in the middle of
the room. “This chrome table and chairs are vintage fifties. Scott
and I played checkers right here.”

She turned to look behind her. “How about this old
dish cupboard? Bet it has been here since the house was built over
a hundred years ago.” She pulled down on a knob. “This is a flour
bin. See the crank at the bottom. The flour sifted out into a bowl
to make bread and biscuits back in the old days.” She opened the
top doors. “We at least have a set of dishes. You can go through
the other cupboards to see what pots and pans are there for
cooking.”