Failed Prospects.P2
Randall Tarsh [Jon], Martin ‘Marty’ Robbins [Jordan], Hugh Johnson [Graham], Barbara Malters [Whitney], Charlie Stutz [Aaron]
8:30pm, Thursday, Oct 18th: Barbara
and Charlie had already retired to their rooms. Hugh was planted in his room as
an unconscious drunk [where he had a bad dream; foreboding]. Thus, it was the
professors in the lobby when Sheriff Jeremiah Marsh arrived, led by young
George sent by his father Jonathan Penman. “Evening folks, I understand there
has been a bit of a disagreement?” Jonathan couldn’t wait to accuse the others,
“That one kept insisting he get into the storage area where Dr. Baker stores his
fossils from his digs. Then this one makes the excuse of needing his medicine
left in the gear they stored.” The sheriff calmly took Jonathan’s statement
then asked him to leave so he could get the professors’ statements.
Elder Marty calmly explained, “Why yes, I did call him an
ass, with all due respect, when he grabbed for my medicine. I can show you if you
need to see.” Randy’s excuse, “Well, the man overserved me. Not as drunk as my
student, but I lost my way and next thing I know, I’m face-to-face with Mr.
Penman inside my room. Except, it was the storage room. How clumsy of me. At
least I wasn’t drinking and driving.” Jeremiah laughed and tried to explain, “You
have to forgive Jonathan. He overbuilt this hotel 22 years ago when we thought
the railroad would bring in more people. With Dr. Baker's team here, and his
story of potential discover that will put West Haven on the map… well, you can
imagine the excitement for Jonathan to get out of the red. Doesn’t want
anything to upset the applecart if you know what I mean.”
Randy pulled the telegram out of his breast pocket and
showed it to the sheriff, “As you can see, we were called to assist Dr. Baker.
I’m professor Tarsh; surely, you’ve heard of me. Anyway, as associates of
Baker, I thought Mr. Penman would give us access to the fossils so we could
examine them too. Help guide us when we too get out in the field. But, if we
must wait for Dr. Baker’s return, then no we won’t upset any apples. Meanwhile,
we heard something about one of the students brought into town with an injury.
What can you tell us about that? Dr. Weiss you say? OK, we’ll check in with him
tomorrow.” Marty reached into his bag for his nightly laxative and stool-softener
before asking about the food poisoning at the diner. Jeremiah nodded, “Yes, Dr.
Weiss has been a busy man dispensing stomach medicine. So, like I said, give
him a chance to sleep tonight and see him in the morning.”
And that’s when they noticed Hugh staggered into the lobby
as he garbled his words, “I know a Jonathan. Don’t like him nor this Jonathan
Penman.” Randy interceded, “On the contrary, Jonathan is a good name.”
[Greasing the wheels?] “Now sheriff, what is this about young George Penman following
the dig team?” The sheriff corrected, “You mean his younger brother Matthew.
Kids in town are bored. He followed them those first days when they were nearer
to town. But now that they are supposedly further out... Not to say the kids
can’t walk that far. Why Dr. Baker was just in town last Friday complaining
about our Indians throwing rocks at his team. I happen to be good friends with
the Lakota around here. They wouldn’t do such things. I told Baker it was
probably just local boys having fun.”
Friday, Oct 19th: Marty
always was an “early to bed, early to rise” kind of guy. So, when the clock
struck 6:30 and Randy still wasn’t up, he pounded on the professor’s door, “Somebody
has to monitor these students, and it’s not me.” They gathered at the table for
breakfast but overheard Mary complaining in the back to her husband, “I can’t
serve them these eggs. Stall them while I make some hot cereal.” When Mary
finally served food, Barbara consoled her about the food, “That’s OK, we
understand. There was food issues at the diner last night too.” Randy asked to
speak to Matthew. “He and his brother left early this morning to go fishing.
They should be back before noon. Perhaps I can make up for the lack of eggs
with some fish-and-chips for lunch. Usually someone from Baker’s team arrives
before 2pm so they have enough time to get back into the field before sunset.
At least send you on your way with a full stomach.” Mary seemed aghast when Marty
reached for the others’ leftovers, “No such thing as leftovers. You can’t take
food from a fat man.”
8am: Professor Tarsh divided his team, “Hugh
and I will check out the General Store where the spoiled groceries supposedly
came from. The rest of you try to track down young Matthew and see what he has
to say. If we have to, maybe we can get him to guide us out to the site.”
Ma’s Goods: A weathered sign identified
the store that had a single gas pump out front. Randy entered first and was
surprised by the tingle of the overhead bell. When Hugh entered, he should have
ducked as his skull rang the bell even louder. Which interrupted the
conversation between the store owner (Mildred, aka Ma) and her customer. “I’m telling you Peggy; those eggs came in fresh yesterday morning. Are
you sure you didn’t mix them up?” Their chatter halted at the intrusion, “I’m
Mildred but you can call me Ma. Welcome to Ma’s Goods; what can I do for you
today?” Randy smiled, “Mildred- great name. But if you insist, I’ll call you Ma.
We just arrived as new members of Dr. Baker’s team. I understand you supply
their goods when they come into town on the weekends. If you would kindly
increase their order by 50% as there are another 5 of us.”
Hugh wasn’t as sweet-talking as he approached
the counter where Betty’s cartoon of suspect eggs stood and cracked one open.
He recoiled from the foul stench. He turned to Betty and asked, “How often has
Ma been selling her expired groceries to you?” At first Betty recoiled from the
rudeness, but then began to become wary of the groceries herself. Hugh turned
on Ma, “We heard you also supply Hungry Jack’s Diner that tried to
poison its customers. And the Penman hotel also had rotten eggs. Don’t be packing
any of that rotten stuff in our order.” Ma apologized, “I swear I only stock
the good stuff. Expired items get tossed. I get my goods from the surrounding
farmlands (east, west, north). I guess one of them could have accidentally
slipped in bad items. I’ll be more diligent inspecting what comes in. I’m so
sorry for any inconvenience.”
[There was a misunderstood scene where the GM
thought he heard Randy ask “What’s behind the counter I can steal?” Turns out
he was looking for something to buy as a souvenir. Someone else had teased “steal.”
On Zoom, it’s hard to associate who is talking. But Randy was also suspicious:
he wanted to see if Ma was trying to hide anything.]
Hugh began to wander the store to inspect other perishables;
he found a few sacks of grain (other sacks in the stack OK) that had mildew
spots. He opened the bag to find not only rotten grain but some that was
sprouting. It wasn’t too hard (now that he and Ma knew what to look for) to
find carrots, onions, and potatoes that had already turned bad. He left Ma in
tears as she wondered what had happened, “These were fresh. What’s happening?”
Randy and Hugh left to go see Dr. Weiss about an injured
student.
Meanwhile, the others (Marty, Barbara, Charlie) walked south
out of town toward the river that paralleled the railroad tracks. Had they
listened to Mary describe the tributary stream to the West that fed the main
river… they turned East. After an hour of walking (Marty hobbled with his cane)
and calling out for the boys, they turned around. Professor Robbins reasoned, “If
someone from the dig team arrives today, we won’t need Matthew’s directions.”
Charlie spoke up, “There’s a garage in town. Maybe they have an extra truck we
can use.”
Herold’s Garage: Metal on metal
clanking and cursing echoed from the garage. Charlie found a pair of feet
sticking out from under an old truck. He had to kick them to get Simon’s
attention. “Excuse me. I’m here with another group of scientists from the university
come to help out Dr. Baker. I don’t suppose you have a truck we could rent?”
Simon rolled out from under the truck, wiped his greasy hands on his pants and
extended his hand for a shake. “Mr. Baker rented the only trucks
I had available. Unless you’re willing to do with ‘Ole Louissa’ here (1910 Mack
truck). I gotta warn ya, she’s unreliable. Good bones but cantankerous.
Dang electrical problems.” Charlie (30) was a bit of an electrician along with Marty
(45). Simon started the truck to let them listen. Soon, Marty found the short
on one of the spark-plug wires, “you couldn’t see it because it was on the
underside. Probably constant rubbing against the engine block.” They settled on
$15 for a week’s rental. Marty asked for a receipt to “add to our expense
account.” Charlie asked for tools and spare parts “in case she gets
cantankerous out in the field.”
Doctor’s Office: Meanwhile, Professor Tarsh and Hugh entered
the doctor’s office where nurse Sarah Hill greeted them. “If you’ll take a
seat, I’ll see if he’s available.” 20 minutes later, Dr. Alan Weiss walked out
his child patient and mother, “Nothing broken Mrs. Turner. Keep the scrape
clean.” With the office clear, and after introductions, Alan explained, “Doctor
patient privileges.” Randy pressed, “I don’t need exact details; was it
physical or mental? We are joining Dr. Baker’s team in the field and just want
to know what we might face.” Dr. Weiss relaxed, “Strangest thing. From the
looks of the wound on young Henry Bates’ thigh, I would have said a 1st
degree burn from getting too close to a campfire. But professor Tucker with the
boy said they didn’t have a campfire. The injury appeared during the day.”
Randy followed up asking about food poisoning. “Yes, I’ve already treated a few
lumberjacks with stomach aches. You say there is more food spoilage at Ma’s
store? Perhaps I should go there for a food inspection.” Before leaving, Randy
asked for extra stomach medicine for the team, “In case we encounter trouble
out in the field.”
Noon, Regroup: When Randy and Hugh stepped back into the street, they heard a truck sputtering to a stop as it exited the garage. They saw Charlie jump out to grab the gas-can from the bed and begin walking towards the general store. Marty and Barbara reported in, “Couldn’t find the boys…”
And that’s when they saw the boys walking up the street with
canes poles over their shoulders as they carried a string of fish. Randy called
them over and struck up a conversation. As Randy knelt to be eye-level, Hugh
towered over the boys and took the fishing poles they had laid down (as if
holding them hostage in their mind). Randy asked Matthew about following the
dig team. Matthew nervously eyed Hugh as he offered, “Professor
Tucker invited me along. Funny guy, always telling jokes. God’s honest
truth, Mr. Tucker thought it would be fun to tease his friends. I only threw
them at their second dig.” George
saw the men’s eyes roll and thought Matthew had said something wrong. Saw Hugh
holding their cane poles. George grabbed his brother and bolted home to the hotel,
scared they’d done something wrong.
And
that’s when Dr. Weiss and his nurse exited their office and began walking to the
general store. Hugh tagged along. Marty? He’d been napping in the truck. As for
Barbara, she headed for the town library, while the professors returned to the hotel.
Town
Library:
Barbara met Edna Miller, librarian, who put down her knitting needles to help. Barbara
began, “Have you heard or experienced the spoiled food in town? I was wondering
if there is mining operations nearby. Maybe something leeching into your water
supply.” Edna was happy she had someone to talk to, “I’ve got a few books about
the town and surrounding area. Sorry, no mining. But we do have injuns out on
the Tri-State Reservation.” Barbara pulled a few books from the shelves and
began to read. [Library-fail; push- hard] She read how the town was founded in
1901. Not much else till she perked up at an article on the nearby Sica Hollow:
reputation for being haunted. When asked, Edna offered, “The local tribes avoid
it. Say it’s the resting place of their dead. Just ask Deputy Smith; he’s Lakota.”
Ma’s
Goods:
Hugh followed the doctor into the store, and once again hit his head on the
bell. By now, Mildred had already thrown out the bad grain and produce, “It’s
out back in the dumpster.” Dr. Weiss gathered both good produce and bad “for
comparison under a microscope.” Hugh took one of the eggs for himself to study.
And that’s when Dr. Weiss asked, “Is there anyone on your team who could help
me analyze these items?” [Hugh never passed that request on to his fellow
members. Charlie has Chemistry while Randy has Horticulture.]
[I
intervened on Randy and Marty at the hotel, wanting to attempt to break into
the storage room again.]
1pm,
Hotel:
They regrouped at the hotel for the offered fish lunch. Barbara sat closest to the
kitchen door and overheard Mary crying once again, “But I promised them fish.
What am I going to do now?!” Barbara stepped inside with apologies of her own, “I’m
sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear. It’s OK. You could make PBJ sandwiches,
and we’d be fine.” Barbara stepped back out to the table to explain how the
fish bad. “But we just saw the boys with their string less than an hour ago.
Fish don’t spoil THAT fast.” Each offered their own theory: Barbara convinced
something in the water or air, Randy thought something cursed from the Indian
burial grounds Dr. Baker picked up and put in storage. Marty scoffed at the
idea as he only believes in scientific causes. Charles agreed, "Well, it has to be something Dr. Baker brought into town. Sounds like trouble began just this week after he dropped stuff off."
TO BE CONTINUED:
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