Page 46 of After 5
“He parked down the block.” Marco was headed to the wooded area of the park to call his transportation.
“Seems outta the way to me. He coulda parked in front of the office,” Elvira harrumphed. Exercise to Elvira meant making an extra pass down the frozen food aisle at the supermarket.
“He’s dreamy,” Paulina said.
“He’s a friend.”
“Can I have him?” Helga asked.
“Only if you live in New York. He’s not from around here.”
“Obviously, they don’t make men like that in these parts.”
“I resent that remark.” Eli entered the room.
“Dr. Cloud, you’re dreamy but in an unavailable way,” Paulina piped in.
“Good to know.” Eli sent a curious glance my direction.
“Marco came for a visit,” I added. “To take me to lunch.”
“Ah, that explains why all of my employees are staring out the window instead of preparing the charts for the afternoon patients.”
* * *
After work Eliwalked me out to my car. He had changed into his shorts and workout shirt. “I’m going to the gym, want to come?”
“Jake forces me to exercise two days a week, and I’m not adding to my plan.”
“Suit yourself. I thought with all your Lara Croft adventures you might want to buff up a little.”
“I’m fine. I have a date with Gertie. We’re watching a Civil War documentary.”
“Just make sure you don’t go back there.”
“Aye, aye captain.”
He frowned, then entered his car and drove away to build a better body. I, on the other hand, was going home to watch thousands of men die, followed by a glass of wine and a bubble bath.
Chapter 8
When I arrived home, Gertie was on the couch thumbing through one of the Civil War books I’d asked her to bring home from the library. A photo of a few wounded or dead soldiers were on the cover. It was hard to tell.
Mr. Raney had told Caiyan the sword came from the Civil War. I thought maybe watching a couple of documentaries and perusing a book of photographs might be useful. I sat next to her and we took turns making shocked remarks upon each turn of the page.
“It’s incredibly gory. Why did they take so many pictures of the dead and none of the battles?” I asked, turning my head away from a particularly gruesome still.
“Would you want to be in the middle of a battle?” Gertie asked. “The photographers stayed behind after the battle. I read they would move the bodies to stage the pictures. See, this guy’s in two different photos.”
I dismissed the mental image of nineteenth century photographers dragging dead bodies to locations of better lighting and ordered takeout on my phone. While I waited for the food, I Googled a few things on the Internet about the battles of the Civil War.
“Is this true about Gettysburg? The Confederate soldiers went to town looking for shoes and it started a battle?” I asked Gertie.
“I think that’s a fabrication, but the Rebels did meet a Union regiment and ran them back into the town.”
“Marco told me the next big battle of the Civil War is at Gettysburg.”
“When did you see Marco?”
