Top of The Edge - Second Thoughts

"Do you know if Chief Barnes and Agent Smith are still at the River Road and Highway 700 roadblock?"

"No, but we can call over the radio and ask." Grisby answered.

"Nah, don't bother. It's only a few miles from here and I'll be driving through that intersection anyway. On a different note, do you have a record of the vehicles that have come through this intersection?"

"We've only been out here for an hour or so, and Johnny's tow truck and you are all we've seen so far. But I copied Officer Williams' notes."

"May I see them?"

Grisby opened his note pad to the appropriate page and handed it to Tuttle and said, "They're pretty detailed... but nothing out of the ordinary." Tuttle perused the notes for several seconds hoping to see something that would jump out at him, but Grisby was right, nothing out of the ordinary. Finally, he handed the notepad back and said "Thanks, I appreciate it."

It may have only been a few miles away, but within a few minutes of leaving Stoddert and Grisby, Tuttle was beginning to have trouble keeping his eyes open. He rolled his window down hoping the cold air would keep him awake. It may have helped a little but not much. Finally, he pulled to the side of the road and got out to walk around for a bit. After a few minutes he got back in the driver's seat and continued on.

It was Saturday afternoon and Cherry had made several attempts all through the night as well as the morning to get some sleep. Now once again she sat up on the edge of her bed with her feet on the floor. She hung her head and shook it slowly as she, for the millionth time, recounted the events of the previous evening. She felt like a failure, like she had let everyone down. She and Robyn had been roommates their entire time at the College of Charleston, almost 4 years. As she looked at the bed on the other side of the room, she couldn't help but feel responsible for the trouble she had brought on her friends. "If only I had stood my ground. I knew better than to even get close to that... that... Nazi. He tricked me, and I was a sucker. I took his bait, hook, line, and sinker. He would have killed me if it hadn't been for Maryanne. I let her down too. I assured her that nothing would happen to us. I feel like such a fool."

Breaking the silence Cherry heard the phone ring down the hall. She was fairly certain as to who it was. The Kramer and Welling families were close. She wondered how frantic, angry and emphatic Mr. and Mrs. Kramer were when they conveyed their perspective of last night's events to her parents. After the 7^th ring it stopped. "Someone must have answered it, because there is no way my mother would hang up after only 7 rings."

Then she heard a knock on her door followed by the timid voice of Alice Jensen from two doors down, "Cherry are you in there? You've got a phone call."

"Yes, thanks Alice. If you don't mind, would you please tell them... uhm..." Cherry was about to ask Alice to lie for her, but then thought better of it. "Never mind, I'll get it. Thanks again Alice." She slipped on her robe and slippers and exited her room into the hall to answer the phone. In an attempted preemptive strike, she immediately began speaking the very second, she picked up the receiver. "Mom, I know you and dad are upset, just as Robyn's parents..."

"Cherry, it's me, Maryanne."

"Oh... Maryanne, I was expecting..."

"You thought I was your mom calling to give you the once over about last night."

"Yeah, I'm really dreading that call. So how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I didn't get hit in the head like you and Robyn. I'm just calling to check up on y'all. Does your head still hurt? Have you gotten any updates on how Robyn is doing?"

"Yeah, my head still hurts some, but I'm not sure if it's from getting hit or the fact that I haven't slept. As far as an update on Robyn, I haven't heard anything. Earlier today I was contemplating on whether or not to drive up to Summerville to see her as well as to drop in on my parents so I could get that bit of unpleasantness over with."

Both ladies were quiet for a few seconds before Cherry blurted out, "Maryanne, I am so sorry about everything last night. Everything that went wrong was my fault. I can't believe I was so stupid; I'm the worst and I take full responsibility for everything that went wrong. I am so so..."

Maryanne suddenly interrupted, "Wow Cherry, I've never seen this side of you, and in all honesty, I hope I never do again. You're wallowing in self-pity. I knew you were proud, but geeze, this is ridiculous. You need to snap out of it." Cherry was taken aback by Maryanne's response to her apology and wanted to further explain herself. "Maryanne I..." Maryanne abruptly interrupted again and changed the topic of conversation. "The other reason I called was to ask you about this evening."

"This evening? What about this evening?"

"We still have 2 coastal watch shifts to pull this weekend."

"You're joking right?"

"Well... no I'm not. Unless Mr. Smith told you that someone else would cover for us... Did he?

"No, but Maryanne I thought for sure after the events of last night you would want nothing more to do with watching the coastline for enemy craft and spies. Right now, I'm not sure that I want anything more to do with it."

"After some of the things I've said, I can see how you might think that. It's kind of hard to explain, but last night was like a wake-up call for me. The war is here, right on our doorstep and we; we can actually play a part in defeating the Nazis. More than ever, I want to get right back out there and do my part. So, I'll be expecting you at the regular time. Bye now."

"Maryanne wait... We can't..." Suddenly Cherry heard a click followed by a dial tone. "She just hung up on me! I can't believe she just did that."

Just as Cherry hung up the phone, with her hand still on the receiver, it rang. "Oh great, this is going to be my mother." She picked up the receiver and again immediately began talking. "Mom look, I know you and dad are..."

"Cherry, this is Mr. Smith. How are you feeling?"

"Where are you? It sounds like you're talking through a walkie-talkie or something."

"I'm calling from a patrol car radio routed through the police dispatch switchboard. So, I've got to keep it brief. How are you? Have you heard anything from Robyn?"

"I'll live, and no I haven't heard anything from Robyn. But don't worry. Maryanne and I will be watching the coast this evening as scheduled. I don't know how you feel about Maryanne being out there since we kept her presence a secret from you, but at this point I honestly don't care because there is absolutely no way I'm going to be out there by myself."

"Cherry, I'm not expecting you to get right back out there this evening."

"Well, is someone going to cover for us?"

"I haven't had a chance to work on that yet, but I'm sure we can get it taken care of somehow."

"No, I feel better knowing you're focusing your time on catching that slime-ball that attacked us last night along with his two Nazi sympathizing cohorts. Maryanne and I will handle things on the beach for the remainder of this weekend. Hopefully it will be back to the three of us by next weekend." Smith wasn't sure how to respond. This was not at all what he had expected. After a couple seconds of silence, Cherry concluded, "Well I need to get some rest and you need to free up that radio, so goodbye." Just as Smith was about to speak, Cherry had already terminated the connection and began dialing her parents. She needed to get this over with, especially if she intended to get any rest before she was to be back out on the beach with Maryanne.

The Pickle Shed

Johnny stopped the wrecker and reached into his shirt pocket to retrieve a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it to once again to study the directions Robert Walden had dictated to him over the phone. He had read them so many times now that he had them memorized. He recited them out loud to himself as he continued on. He was close, he was certain of it. He slowed considerably as he continued his search for the landmarks described in the directions. Then finally, after turning around for a third time he found it.