The Time Travelers' Club -- Chapter 100: Seeking Papa

Later that evening, Rose waited and waited and waited, pacing the dressing room floor.  Finally, her mother, Maria, glowed from her last standing ovation.  All decked out in her opera costume. 

“My darling,” said Maria, giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek.  “I had no idea you were coming.”  She slipped behind a curtain to change out of her costume.  "I am playing one of the lead roles in La Boheme by the great Giocomo Puccini.  Did you see and hear me?  They loved me."

“I’m sorry to just show up,” said Rose.  “I won’t keep you long.  Have you heard from Papa?”  Leaning towards her Mother, Rose listened carefully for her answer.

“Not lately.  Why?”  Maria’s voice was muffled by the curtain. Maria wrestled out of her costume and into her dressing robe.

“Did he say where he was the last time you heard from him?”  Rose spoke impatiently.

Maria stepped out from behind the curtain.   “Alright, what’s going on?  The only time you ever ask about the whereabouts of your Father is when you are in trouble.”

Rose slumped down on the sofa.  “You know me so well.  I'll come clean.  It’s not me.  It’s…”

“Dreda, isn’t it?”  Maria put her hands on her hips.  “I suspected, but now I know.  What is it?”

Rose rubbed her foot on the carpet making circles and took a deep breath.  “She’s involved with them.  Dr. Herkeimer led her to believe that Pavel was killed by a member of the Club.”

“Poor Dreda.  That explains why I see her so little.  She never told me anything.  Remember how she hid everything from us?"

Maria brushed her hair, shaking her head in disbelief.  “She’s so vulnerable. This is my fault.  I shouldn’t have pushed her so hard.”

Rose got up and put her arms around her Mother. “It’s not true. You and Papa did the best you could.  She wouldn’t listen and still doesn’t. Do not blame yourself.  Dreda has always beaten to her own drum.”  Rose sat down on the sofa. “How about that time she ran off to South America and got involved with that strange group down there.  There’s not much more you could have done.”

Sitting down next to Rose, Maria snuggled up to her.  “I know, but I just can’t help but wonder what more I could have done.”  Maria turned and pointed to her shoulders.  Rose began to massage her mother’s shoulders.

“There’s only one person that she will listen to,” said Rose.  “Papa.  I’ve got to find him.”

Maria went to her dressing table and pulled out a postcard.  “Here’s a card from the last place I heard from him.  San Carlos de Baliroche in the Rio Negro Province in Argentina.”

“Hmmm… Why was or is he there?”

Maria poured herself a glass of water.  “Some sort of official Club business.  You know we retired from the Club to get away from all of this and he turned right around and accepted small projects.”  She rolled her eyes.  “That’s when I decided to start my singing career.”

Rose hugged her Mother from behind.  “And a great singer you are becoming.  And I love and admire you for it.  But now, I must track Papa down.  Is he accepting notes?”

“I haven’t gotten any of mine back, so I can only assume he is.”

Maria opened a drawer in her dresser and pulled out a sheet of small paper and a pen.  “Here.  Write your note and I’ll send it.  I need to wash my face.”

Rose jotted her note.  Dreda in trouble.  I need your help a.s.a.p.  I’ve tried to talk to her, but she really needs you.  Come quickly.  Rose

“Here you go,” said Rose and handed her Mother the note.

Maria spoke the incantation that would send it.  “Et eos qui de his verbis Andreas Reulen.”  Poof!  The note disappeared in a whirl.

Rose yawned.  “Now we wait.  Do you think the notes might be intercepted?”

“Who knows?  The mission may be too dangerous to contact Papa.  We’ll just have to wait and see.”   Maria stated to clean off her make-up.  “You know your Papa.  He gets so wrapped up in his work.”

“What’s he up to now?  Do you know?”

Maria shrugged.  “Something about the lost archives.  Always with the lost archives.  He thinks he’s Indiana Jones.”

They laughed.  Rose stretched out on her Mother's sofa.  “Are you going out to dinner?”

“Not for a little while,” said Maria, peering in her mirror for any stray hairs in her eyebrows.  She glanced at Rose’s reflection in the mirror.  “You want something else?

“Not really.” Rose yawned.  “But if you have some time, tell me again about Dreda and South America.”

Still removing her makeup, Maria began.  “Dreda went to steal about a copy of the book from a collector that supposedly had a copy. It was all a trick on Dreda.”

“What was she going to do with it?” Rose yawned again.

 “Who knows,” said Maria, gently rubbing her face with a cloth.  “She doesn’t know that the International Council already knew all about it.  The collector she met was hired by them.”

“What happened then,” asked Rose.  “Anything?”

“I don’t know.  That’s where your Father got involved.”  Now at the sink, Maria washed her face, cleaning off the last of her make-up.  “He would know more…”  There she stopped since Rose had fallen asleep.