The officer made a perfunctory scan of the interior and then settled on
Sidney.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” The voice was tired, and not just physically.
“I … I came…” She faltered. Her mind suddenly went blank.
She looked at him, her mouth moved, but no words came out.
The cop’s shoulders sagged. “Ma’am, it’s been one helluva long day up
here, y’know? And I’ve had a lot of people just happen on by here that
really have no business being here.” He paused and studied her features.
“Are you lost?” His tone made it clear that he did not believe she had
strayed one inch off her intended course.
She managed to shake her head.
He looked at his watch. “The TV trucks finally headed out on down to
Charlottesville about an hour ago. They went to get some sleep. I
suggest you do the same. You can see and read all you want on the TV
and in the papers, believe me.” He straightened back up, signaling that
their conversation, one-sided as it was, was at an end.
“Can you find your way back out?”
Sidney slowly nodded and the cop lightly touched the brim of his cap and
headed back to his car. Sidney turned the truck around and started to
drive away. She looked in the rearview mirror and abruptly stopped. The
strange glow beckoned to her. She opened the truck door and got out.
She opened the rear door of the Ford, pulled out her overcoat and put it
on.
The cop watched her walk toward the patrol car and he got out too.
His slicker was wet from the snow’s moisture. Sidney’s blond hair was
covered by flakes as the winter storm stepped up its intensity.
Before the cop could open his mouth, Sidney held up one hand.
“My name is Sidney Archer. My husband, Jason Archer…” Her voice began
to waver here as the full effect of the words she was about to speak hit
her. She bit her lip, hard, and continued. “He was on the plane. The
airline offered to bring me down here, but … I decided to come down
on my own. I’m really not sure why, but I did.”
The cop stared at her. His eyes had softened considerably; the heavy
mustache drooped like a weeping willow, his erect shoulders slumped
down. “I’m really sorry, Ms. Archer. I really am. Some of the
other… family have already come by. They didn’t stay very long. The
FAA people don’t want anybody up there right now.
They’re coming back tomorrow to walk the area looking … looking
for…” His voice trailed off and he looked down at the ground.
“I just came to see…” Her voice failed her too. She looked at him,
her eyes a blistering red, her cheeks hollow, her forehead frozen into a
vertical column of wrinkles. Although tall, she seemed childlike in her
overcoat, her shoulders hunched forward, hands plunged deeply into
pockets–as though she were disappearing as well, along with Jason.
The cop looked embarrassed, his vacillation evident. He glanced up the
dirt road, then down at his shoes and then back at her. “Hold on a
minute, Ms. Archer.” He ducked back inside his patrol car.
Then his head popped back out. “Ma’am, come on in here out of the snow,
please, before you catch something.”
Sidney climbed inside the patrol car. It smelled of cigarette smoke and
spilled coffee. A rolled-up People magazine was tucked inside a crevice
in the front seat. A small computer screen sat atop a stack of
electronic hardware. The cop rolled down his window and swept the
patrol car’s searchlight across the rear of the Explorer. He rolled the
window back up and proceeded to hit a number of keys on the keyboard and
then studied the screen. He looked at Sidney.
“Just punching in your license plate. Gotta confirm your identity,
ma’am. Not that I don’t believe you. I mean, you didn’t drive up here
in the middle of the night for a vacation. I know that. But I got
rules to go by.”
“I understand.”
The screen filled with information, which the officer quickly studied.
He pulled a clipboard off the dash and ran through a list of names. He