Chapter 16:Three Months

An intruding chirp made Laura Dell’s eyes fly open. Lifting her head from the comforting crook of Herbert’s shoulder, Laura Dell’s eyes found the feathered nuisance, taunting her from its perch atop Sue. Around them, the visitors all turned trying to locate the source of the sound. The hushed murmurs of the patrons as they noticed the tiny bird echoed within Field Hall, the sound ringing in Laura Dell’s ears as she watched Mr. Feinman bow out of the tour and stalk over to her.

“Miss Dell” he said, as if addressing a small child, “You assured me this morning that you had taken care of the issue, yet, if my eyes do not deceive me, it is currently sitting on top of our most prized fossil. Am I correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take care of it now. If I ever see it again, know that that day will also be the last day you work here.”

“Yes, sir” Laura Dell replied in a perfunctory tone, knowing that there was no use in tying to defend herself.

Turning back to Herbert she said, “I’m so sorry about that. That bird has been living in the museum for the past few weeks, which Mr. Feinman believes is an absolute disgrace to both his reputation and the museum. We are worried about the uric acid from its droppings compromising the integrity of our fossils, and because I accidentally let it in, the bird is my responsibility.”

"I remember,” he replied, smiling as he motioned to his cane.

“Oh, you’re right! That was the first day we ever spoke.” Laura Dell thought back with a smile on that day, on how Herbert had scared the bird off Sue, as Laura had stood by helpless to do anything. It was the first friendly face she had encountered in Chicago, a face with mischievous eyes framing a sweet smile. As she looked upon it, she saw the same mischievous eyes twinkling at her as he too recalled that moment, but the face that it gave life to was different. The lines evident of a life of laughter and a career in the sun had deepened, and his warm complexion had waned, highlighting new hollows sheltered by his now prominent cheekbones.

Every moment she spent in Herbert’s company was a moment she spent trying to bury the reality of Herbert’s condition, and Herbert’s nonchalant treatment of his melanoma had allowed her that comfort. But now, her eyes documenting the scope of Herbert’s illness, Laura Dell understood for the first time the severity of his condition.

“How are you feeling?” she asked of him, looking him in the eye to detect any attempt at deception.

“I am not dead yet,” he said, the twinkle persisting.

“Herbert! It isn’t a laughing matter,” she cried, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. Whenever she got nervous, Laura Dell always reached for her hair, John William always told her it looked like she was trying to make a rope with which to hold on.

“It was a joke Laura. It’s from that movie, which I cannot remember the name of right now. You know the one about the plague, with people dying everywhere so a cart comes around to pick up the dead, and one pops up and says ‘I’m not dead yet.’ I’m the old one here, you should know this.”

“You can’t joke about it, there is nothing funny about it,” Laura Dell cried.

“It has to be. Look at me,” he told her and waited until she complied before continuing, “I have stage IV melanoma. I have at best three months left to live. Had I caught it earlier, things might be different, but it originated on my back. My old bones don’t allow me to twist and turn as I used to, so I didn’t find it until it was too late, so that’s that. I refuse to spend these last months moping and depressed, I want to pack years into these last few months. I want them to be worth remembering. So I’m going to joke, I’m going to smoke, I’m going to laugh, and I need you to laugh with me.”

The moment he stopped, Laura Dell averted her eyes, trying to stifle the swell of emotion building within. The little sparrow was still perched upon the skull of Sue, its tiny head cocked at her as if asking, “Now what?”

“So what do you want me to do?” she asked of him.

“Just live it with me.”

Laura Dell took a deep breath, as if to suppress her anxiety and focused upon Herbert. “Okay then, do you have any plans for tonight?”

“I don’t believe I do,” he said with a hint of a smile on his face.

“The King and I is playing at the Chicago Theater tonight, and John William surprised me with tickets. Would you like to go with me?”

Laura Dell had thought it would be hard to ask him to accompany her, but her nervousness had dissipated in response to the more pressing anxiety of not being able to spend whatever time Herbert had left with him.

“That sounds perfect. I saw that on Broadway almost forty years ago I believe, and have always wanted to see it again. I always appreciated the spunk of that Anna Leonowens.”

“Good, then its settled.”

“How about I catch a cab and pick you up before the show, so that we won’t have to walk in the cold?”

“That would be lovely.”

“Okay then, I think I am going to head home a bit early today, so you better get to taking care of that sparrow, or Feinman is going to have your head. I’ll see you later, my dear.”

Laura Dell watched him walk away, leaning on his cane as he navigated around the group of students flowing into the museum. Turning, she stared up at the sparrow that was now preening atop the fourteen-foot fossil, its downy softness contrasting with the rigid skeleton of Sue.

Deciding that the sparrow wasn’t going to move without incentive, Laura Dell retreated to her desk to research sparrows. The sparrow, she discovered, was a gregarious bird, which had a diet based primarily on seeds, but was an opportunity eater, and would feed on whatever was available. Reading this, Laura Dell thought that it must have been surviving on the scraps from the restaurant in Rice Hall, and headed over there to have a discussion with the manager to see if the restaurant’s waste could be watched closely.

That done, Laura Dell came up with a plan to trap the bird, so that she would be able to release it, rather than eliminating it as Mr. Feinman would prefer. She could tempt the sparrow with birdseed, trap it, and release it, and both the bird and her job would be safe. Looking at the clock, Laura Dell saw that it was almost closing time, and anxious to get home so that she could get ready for tonight, she left her plan on her desk and went to help close the museum.

*****

Laura Dell smoothed the pleated skirt of her dress as she waited, it was 7:30 and she expected Herbert any moment. She had left the museum around six o’clock, and forgoing her walk in favor of speed, had caught a cab home. She had spent almost an hour picking out her outfit, wanting to look nice for Herbert, but also wanting to be able to manage the freezing temperatures. Chicago was supposed to get a couple of inches of snow that night, a fact that Laura Dell was struggling with. In Siloam, people were probably breaking out the shorts and flip-flops, while she currently was wearing her heaviest coat, scarf, gloves, and hat, which she had discovered to be the key to keeping warm.

Glancing at the clock again, she saw that it was now 7:40. The Chicago Theater was over on State Street, which would take them probably fifteen minutes by cab to reach. Starting to get worried, Laura Dell paced in front of her window, watching for any sign of a man in a top hat with a cane.