DIVISIBLE MAN--TEN MAN CREW by Howard Seaborne

Author:Howard Seaborne [Seaborne, Howard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trans World Data LLC

We stayed another hour. Adeana Hampton plumbed the depths of a crystal-clear memory. She told us the names of all the men in the crew. She remembered their wives, their girlfriends. She told us how she and her future husband met on a blind date set up by a girl Paul Lockwood had been dating—a girl with a cute friend teaching English at the local high school. She remembered the restaurant where they met and the Hollywood musical the two couples watched at the local theater. She remembered quips and the color of eyes filled with love the instant she found them. In moments of reverie, she laughed. At a tale that included a flat tire and discovery of a possum in the rumble seat of an antique Ford coupe. At the funny, stumbling proposal her young husband-to-be made on the steps of a boarding house while the house matron fumed on the other side of the front door. Even in laughter, her eyes glossed with tears from a reservoir that had not run dry after six decades.

Andy shared what little she knew about what had happened in Des Moines. Adeana Hampton called Josiah James “a noisy little shit.” Then she covered her mouth with her delicate fingers to hide the transgression and the startled smile that followed. She asked Andy again for a chance to see her lost husband, at which point Andy did what she always does. She made a promise she shouldn’t have.

Drives me nuts.

When we parted, Andy traded hugs with the woman and assured her she would call soon. Mrs. Hampton needlessly reminded Andy that she would have to call the office and tell them to fetch her. As we stepped into the hall and the door closed behind us, I touched my wife’s arm.

“Did you see this?” I handed over her phone. In addition to the wedding and crew photos, I had snapped an image of the back side of the bomber crew print. Faded blue ink captioned the picture.

Best of the 6091st.

“I think I know how you can find out more about this guy.”

Andy stowed her phone, then stopped abruptly. She turned her head to listen to voices coming from the first floor below us. I started to ask, but Andy darted to the point where the hallway opened as a second-floor overlook to the common room below. She leaned over and spied on the source of the voices, then whirled back to face me, waving both hands urgently.

“Will! Disappear! Now!”

Fwooomp! The question forming on my lips vanished with me.

Andy turned away and marched to the top of the staircase. She hooked one hand on the finial topping the handrail and made a rapid descent out of my sight, headed in the direction of a familiar voice.

My abrupt disappearance left me floating in the center of the empty hallway. I hadn’t expected to need my vest or the power units they contained. My only means of propulsion remained tucked in my overnight bag. I hung in the awkward position of having nothing to grip.

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