Chapter 27: Saying Goodbye

On a bench in Lincoln Park, Laura Dell flipped through the pages of Herbert’s life. He found letters to more than just Malynne. He wrote to friends from the war, fallen men he was unable to protect. He told the men their sons were well, that he’d sought them out when he returned to the states. Herbert gave the young men the goodbye they’d never receive from their fathers. He wrote about the things he could not change, the ones that brought heat to his face to think about, the ones he could not speak of. The notebooks had scattered pictures. Some of them were from the war; the names of the subjects were inscribed beside the photos. They live among us even today was written beneath the photograph of a sparrow. Laura Dell opened the last notebook and stared into the eyes of a woman, with dark hair and beautiful features that could only be Malynne. Laura Dell closed her eyes, took a deep breath and bit her lips all in vain. Her eyes filled and soon overflowed. She threw her face into her hands in hopes of subduing her sobs, wary of the people walking through the park.

Several minutes letter, Laura Dell read the inscription beneath the photograph through swollen eyes. It’s hard to come home from such tragedy, knowing how many did not, and meet this beautiful woman. Why I, Herbert Walters, deserve this, I shall never know. Malynne, you make surviving not seem like a terrible crime. You make my life worth living. Laura Dell shut the notebook, gathered her things, and headed to the funeral home.

***

“Ms. Dell, Dr. Walters was lucky to have such a good friend take command of his funeral. The obituary you wrote was beautiful, and the honor guard arrived this morning.” The funeral director, Jane Hill, patted Laura Dell on the back.

“Mrs. Hill, thank you for being so patient with me as we figured all of the details out. I realized Dr. Walters did not have the extended family to plan his funeral. Funerals are so much to plan. He deserved more than to pass without acknowledgement for everything he’s done.”

“Well, Ms. Dell. People will be arriving soon, please let me know if you require anything.”

“Thank you.” Laura Dell walked around in front of the entrance to the chapel. She had not shed a tear since she sat at that bench in Lincoln Park two days ago. She’d gone straight to the museum. Eddie would be able to help make plans for the funeral. It was nothing like her father’s. Then, there had been a full house. People in and out. Between Siloam Baptist church and the neighbors, Laura Dell’s family did not have to worry about buying or preparing food from the day her father died to a solid week after the funeral had ended. In Chicago, Laura Dell had to order pizza. Eddie brought lunch to her apartment one afternoon and helped with phone calls, but Laura Dell had been on her own for the most part. John William wanted her to just come home. So did her mother. She quit answering their phone calls.

Within moments, the doors opened. People came through the doors like scattered leaves blowing in the wind. There was never a large group. Laura Dell saw several men from the ornithological society. Eddie and Dr. Feinman arrived at the same time. A few men arrived in Air Force uniforms. They all past Laura Dell in silence to sit in the chapel, which had almost thirty people when the service began. Just as Laura Dell turned to head into the chapel, she felt a tap on her shoulder. John William’s strong arms wrapped her into a tight hug.

***

In Granville Cemetery, Laura Dell sat beneath the green tent on the folding chairs and wished she was a thousand miles away. When the Honor Guard stepped away from the mahogany casket, she was back at her father’s funeral in Alabama. She saw John William beside her and his swollen eyes pushed her into stifled sobs. Her mother, on the other hand, looked fine, which Laura Dell could not understand. Laura Dell knew now, sitting in front of Herbert’s casket, that her mother was not fine. That she’d spent the last three days doing the paperwork. That she hadn’t let herself think about what the paperwork was for.

After brief words from the preacher, the Honor Guard surrounded the casket and turned for the salute. The attendees stood. Fifty feet to their right, seven men in uniform pointed their guns upward. Laura Dell closed her eyes. The first round cracked the dam Laura Dell had built with mounds of paperwork and phone calls. John William looped his arm through his sisters and laced his fingers into hers as the second round sent a shutter through her body. The third round cracked.

The Honor Guard mechanically began to remove the flag. With sharp, stiff movements, they folded and smoothed the flag over the body of Herbert Walters. As they formed the small triangle, Laura Dell realized what would happen next. She imagined Malynne, grayed with age, wearing a black cardigan should be standing in her position. The young woman who directed the Honor Guard snapped toward Laura Dell. She stepped forward and knelt down to one knee at Laura Dell’s feet. John William’s strength kept her standing. The young woman lifted the flag and spoke. Laura Dell did not hear a single word the woman said, but accepted the flag.

When the woman stepped away, time stopped for Laura Dell. The silence overwhelmed her ears. Then, a bugle rang out across the graveyard. As the taps played, the last few months flashed through Laura Dell’s memory. She saw the old man, who looked as if old age did not come naturally. She remembered the tweed coat with the crest she had yet to identify. She saw the childlike wonder in Herbert’s eyes as he watched a little boy in a red baseball cap discover he felt looking at fossils of creatures. She saw his friendly face greeting her as she stepped into the Dead Yellowhammer that first night. She saw him standing in her doorway in a top hat and walking down the street, pretending that he didn’t really need his cane. She saw the light in his eyes when he left the hospital to have a smoke and hop on the L. A smile, more genuine than any she’d put on since January, rose to Laura Dell’s face. She’d always heard the taps are the hardest, that they signaled the end of the funeral. The end of a life. Her father’s funeral ended with a prayer, and a steady break away of people. Nothing meant the end, they just kind of left. She’d quit her job suddenly. No last day. Laura Dell found comfort in the lone sound of the bugle in the green tent in the big empty cemetery that meant that something had indeed, ended.

After a moment of silence, Laura Dell and John William filed out of the tent. The funeral director announced that a small, private reception would be held at Standee’s Coffee Shop, where Herbert and Malynne spent many evenings. Laura Dell and John William took their place toward the entrance to the parking lot to say thank you to everyone who had come to the funeral and further extend the invitation to the reception. When Mr. Feinman approached, John William’s shoulders broadened and his chest swelled.

“Ms. Dell, I am so sorry to hear about Dr. Walters. I know this is an awful time to tell you this, but when things settle down, I would be honored if you would come speak with me at the museum. The Board of Directors was not happy to hear about what happened. They told me I should not have been so hard on you and that the Cenozoic Time Machine was by far the best-run exhibit we’ve had in quite a while. I hate to admit it, but they are right.” Dr. Feinman forced a smile onto his face.

“You hate to admit it?” John William answered. “If that was supposed to be a compliment, you need to try again, but you’re right. Now is not the time. My sister will— ”

“Dr. Feinman, please excuse my brother. I do appreciate what you are trying to do and I will consider it, but as you said, now is not the time. I will think about this and will notify the museum to setup a meeting if I feel like that’s what I need to do in a few days. Thank you.” Laura Dell offered a faint smile and her hand.

Mr. Feinman shook it. “Thank you, Ms. Dell.” He walked away, carefully avoiding the gaze of John William. Laura Dell met several young men who were sons of the men Dr. Walters described and wrote letters to in his notebooks. They promised to tell her all they knew of Herbert at the coffee shop and continued. The young woman in charge of the Honor Guard approached and gave Laura Dell three of the shotgun shells from the twenty-one-gun salute and said her prayers would be with her in the coming months. The men from the ornithological society, along with their wives offered condolences and inquired after the sparrow’s health. Laura Dell made a mental note to check on the bird later that evening. They said their goodbyes and wished her luck with the future. Eddie was the last to head toward the parking lot. He face was stained with tears, but he offered to drive Laura Dell and John William. They got into his old Toyota Corona and headed to Standee’s.

Chapter 3: The New Exhibit

Laura Dell woke up before the sun and walked to work in Chicago’s early morning haze. She tried to focus on the new exhibit she’d been preparing for and working on since her first day a week ago: The Cenozoic Time Machine. The day before she’d started the internship, in the midst of arranging her new apartment, the museum director called and informed Laura Dell that she would be taking a leading role in the new exhibit because her major was Geology. The exhibition essentially offers a trip through the geological history of the Cenozoic period on earth. It was almost ready when its success was placed in Laura Dell’s hands. Make sure the setup is logical and be able to answer our guests and visitors questions by opening day, the director had said. The words burned in Laura Dell’s mind and caused her insides perform terrific acrobatic feats. One week to review everything she knew about the animals of the time period and the fossils that were on display—and she had thought she’d finally taken her last test seven months ago. She did well in school and actually preferred the classes that dealt with the Cenozoic Era because it was the one she lived in, though it stretched back millions of years. The problem was that Laura Dell had suffered a severe loss of confidence after the third “sorry we don’t need you” letter. She was thrilled for opportunity but did not expect her knowledge to be put to the test so quickly. To top it off, Mr. Feinman could not seem to forget the sparrow incident, so Laura Dell would be under particular scrutiny during the opening.

As she neared the museum, she tried to turn her thoughts toward her to do list for the morning, but Laura Dell could not help but to look up at the trees that were strategically aligned all the way down the street. The Chicago Public Works Department was doing their best to include nature in the city’s infrastructure. Laura Dell was in awe of the height of the trees on South Lake Shore Drive. She never imagined something could grow to be so great when it was trapped in a square of concrete and wrapped in a blanket of wrought iron.

When she arrived at work, she noticed Mr. Feinman approaching from the opposite direction. “Good morning, sir,” she said, forcing the corners of her mouth upward.

“Good morning, Ms. Dell,” he replied. “I hope you are adequately prepared for today. I would hate for the museum to be embarrassed on the opening day of such a brilliant exhibit.”

Laura Dell knew the look on Mr. Feinman’s face. Her mother had given her the same look every time she’d applied for schools, scholarships, or internships. It was the look that promised there was someone out there who was better. For the last few years, Laura Dell had been learning to live in the absence of the encouraging face that used to peek out from behind her mom. Her father would have noticed that Laura Dell graduated cum laude, not that she didn’t have a job lined up. John William did tell her the exhibit would be a hit and that she would know the answer to any questions “that old boss” of hers could throw out when she talked to him the night before.

She walked into the geology exhibit and paused to examine what lay before her. The time machine had received final touches during the night and was ready for final inspection. All of the boxes and packaging materials of yesterday had vanished and the floors had been toned down to create the atmosphere the exhibit designers hoped to evoke. Visitors should feel as though they’ve stepped back in time. They planned to make exhibits more of an experience and decided the floor was just too shiny.

Laura Dell’s heels echoed in the hall as she walked over to examine the diatryma and several other fossils from the era. She hoped she would live up to whatever Dr. Walters saw in her if he came through the exhibit under her watch. As she knelt down to examine the description of the diatryma, loud steps came from the hallway just outside the exhibit. Laura Dell took off to her office to grab her opening day checklist she needed to complete before nine.

* * *

“Ms. Dell, shouldn’t you have taken a lunch by now?” Eddie asked Laura Dell as she raced by.

She glanced down at her watch, “Oh Eddie, is it really almost three? I did think I was hungry a while ago, but I just don’t have time to eat. Mr. Feinman keeps finding things for me to do. Everything’s been good so far. I just need to run and grab a paper towel with some Windex on it. A kid already pressed his nose into the fossilized rock display case.” She gave him a smile and shrugged her shoulders.

“You got to take care of yourself, Ms. Dell.” Eddie let her continue through the museum.

Laura Dell walked quickly into Sue’s hall and almost knocked Dr. Walters over. “I am so sorry, Mr. Wal—I mean Dr. Walters. I did not see you getting up from the bench.”

“It’s okay, Ms. Dell. I’ve seen that look on interns before—that tunnel vision. Some snot nose kid got to close to a case.” Herbert Walters was not asking a question and Laura Dell thought his voice sounded rough, as if his throat was sore.

“Yes, sir. I’ve got to get a paper towel. Have you come to the exhibit yet?”

“No. I’ve just been sitting with Sue for a while.” Dr. Walters explained. “Where are you from, Ms. Dell?”

Laura Dell told Dr. Walters about the small town of Siloam, Alabama. “It’s not really close to anything, sir. It’s a good drive north of Mobile, and southwest of Birmingham.” She felt her heart rate quicken at the thought of home. If she was there right now, she could sit on the porch and read a good book and feel at ease. Laura Dell pushed the thought out of her mind. She liked her new job and knew her thoughts only stemmed from the particular stress that came with opening day. “Why do you ask, Dr. Walters?”

“You call me ‘sir.’ I’ve always heard that was popular in the south, but even in Texas, I didn’t hear it as much as I expected. Why don’t you run along and grab that paper towel and then I will let you give me a tour of the new exhibition. Isn’t that what you’ve been working on all week?”

“Yes, Dr. Walters.” Laura Dell sped off and returned with a couple of minutes. Dr. Walters had barely had time to put on his coat over his arm and pick up his cane, which still looked as unscathed as it had on day one of Laura Dell’s internship.

Laura Dell smiled and held up the paper towel with the faint blue circle. “I am ready if you are, sir.” She glanced down at the tweed coat draped of Dr. Walters arm and was disappointed that the crest was not facing out when she was finally close enough to decipher the details. The two walked around the corner and down the hall to the sound of Laura Dell’s heels and nothing else.

Dr. Walters allowed Laura Dell to lead the way. He listened to her introduction to the exhibit and did not say a word as they walked through the Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene, and Oligocene Epochs. Laura Dell was in the midst of describing the birds of the Eocene Epoch when Dr. Walters leaned over to examine the nameplates of the goose and duck fossils that were on display.

“Ms. Dell. These are mislabeled.”

With furrowed eyebrows, Laura Dell leaned over to read and then looked up to examine the fossils. “Dr. Walters, I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Ms. Dell it should be quite obvious. Geese have less dominate wing structures. These tags must be switched. What did you say your degree was in?” Mr. Walters asked.

“Geology, sir.” Laura Dell responded as she stepped back and looked at the fossils next to each other. Dr. Walters was right. “Dr. Walters, I am so sorry. I will get this mistake resolved immediately.”

Mr. Feinman turned around from two feet away. “Excuse me, Dr. Walters. I must speak with my intern for a moment.”

Dr. Walters said of course and returned his attention to the collection birds.

“Ms. Dell. Did you or did you not verify the nameplates yesterday and this morning?” Dr. Feinman asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“And these two are incorrect?”

“Yes, sir. I am so—”

“I don’t want to hear it. First the sparrow and now this.” He rolled his eyes and shot off toward the offices, no doubt in search of the small screwdriver Laura Dell needed to exchange the nameplates. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she turned to face Dr. Walters again. He had stepped back from the displays, but was concentrated on something. Laura Dell followed his gaze. A small boy wearing a red Sue baseball cap was staring up at the diatryma. His mouth was open and his arms hung limp at his sides. Dr. Walters shifted his coat to his other arm and lifted up his cane. He didn’t seem to know what to do with it and settled for picking it up. He took a step forward and for a moment, Laura Dell thought Dr. Walters would approach the little boy and drop some knowledge to deepen the boy’s awe. He must have changed his mind though and stopped. The boy turned around and Dr. Walters was the first person he saw. “Now that is cool, huh, Mister!”