The Muse

Wendell bounded up the stairs carrying the basket of clothes. It was so full with the sheets that he wasn't looking down. His boot heel hit the shards of glass that had fallen from the table when Cecilia had stood up to get the wash off the line in the yard. The big man went down with a loud crash. Cecilia did not see him slip, but heard him hit the porch. 

At first it was quite comical. She had to suppress her laughter. Wendell was so clumsy for someone who could play the piano with such a fluid grace that she had never witnessed. But, then as she started to walk toward him she noticed that he wasn't getting up. The wind was picking up behind her and she knew they had to get inside or they would be caught in the storm. 

"Wendell, get up! We have to get in the house. I know you hurt your pride, but we have to move fast."

Cecilia continued walking toward the porch and when she finally reached the steps she noticed that Wendell was very still. Too still. She felt a panic rising up through her entire body that just seemed to burst open when it reached her chest.

She put down the basket she had been carrying in from the yard. Time seemed to stop. Everything began to swirl around her. The dust had finally made it in from the prairie. As she bent down to look at Wendell, so many thoughts began to hit her all at once. What was she going to do? How was she going to get Wendell inside? What would she do without Wendell?

Cecilia reached out to touch his throat just to check and see if he had a pulse. A wave of relief swept over her like a hot shower. She could feel the strong pulse that she had felt so many times when he bent down to kiss her on the forehead. He was alive, but why wasn't he moving?

She realized that Wendell had probably hit his head on the corner of the steps. She gingerly lifted his head to see if he had hurt himself, and then she saw it. The glass that had fallen when she had stood up earlier. Why hadn't she stopped to pick that up? This was all her fault, but there was not time to dwell in that self-pity. There would plenty of time later to think about all the things she should have done. 

She didn't see any blood and she decided that was a good sign. The dust was starting to cover everything around her including her face. Pretty soon she was not going to be able to see. She needed to get Wendell inside.

She walked around to his feet and began to pull. He was big and Cecilia was not. Wendell had grown to be about six foot five inches tall. This was almost two whole feet taller than Cecilia and he out weighed her about 100 hundred pounds. After what seemed like hours, Cecilia finally got him across the threshold of the house. She still needed to get him the rest of the way in so she could shut the door to the dust outside. She continued pulling him into the house and finally got him in far enough to shut the door. She ran outside to get the wash, and the tea pitcher she had been using. Luckily, it had not fallen and broken as well. That would have been a mess she did not want to clean up.

Just as she walked into the house with the last basket and shut the door to the storm she walked over to the window and noticed the funnel cloud off in the distance.

The Heist

Frank stood quietly and walked to the front of the room. He could feel Les' eyes boring into him. He knew the big man was wondering what Frank was going to say. Frank was wondering the same thing. On one hand, he was ready for this opportunity and ready to retire. On the other, he was more than a little skeptical of Mr. Smalls. What were his motives, where did he come from, how did he find their group? He knew that the preparations for this heist were going to take at least three months. Would Large be willing to wait that long? He seemed a bit antsy.

Then there was Indigo. She had never called them all together without first meeting with him and Les privately. Had she already met with Les? If that was the case why hadn't Les called him for the meeting. No, he was sure she made this decision by herself and Les was the first person she had called. Had he demanded to have the specifics before coming? Frank was very uneasy about the whole situation. No matter how enticing the situation may seem, he wanted to keep his wits about him.

As Frank cleared his throat, he looked around the room. "I can see you are all very interested in this opportunity. I have to say that I am also very interested. This is the job that we have all been working toward, but someone has to be the voice of reason in this room." As he paused he could feel the energy in the room plummet like a glass from the counter and shatter all over the floor.

Just then, Indigo started to cut Frank off, "Frank, we don't need you...we can do this by ourselves," she began.

"I did not say that I would not do it, but you need to remember who has the power here. I can see that you got to Les before the meeting, and I am not sure what you said to convince him, but I need to hear all the specifics before fully committing to this job. I am personally indebted to everyone here, including you. Unlike some people in this room, I am not only looking out for myself."

After his speech the atmosphere in the room got a little lighter. It was becoming clearer where Frank stood and that seemed to put everyone a little more at ease. Frank knew that he really did have the power to say no to the job and the rest would follow, even Les. He glanced over at the big man. He shifted in his seat.

"Mr. Smalls, when the bank opens in thirty minutes we will have someone there to interview for the position of head security officer. We need you to disappear for a little while. You can't be anywhere near the bank during this time. Once we get our inside man set we will be in touch."

"But, but, you need the pass code, the updated schematics..."

Frank put up a hand to silence the stout man. "We are the professionals here, not you. We will tell you what we need. Don't get me wrong, we are thankful for your coming here and presenting the opportunity, but from here on out it is our job, or we don't do it," Frank said.

Indigo rose from her seat and walked over to Mr. Smalls. "Ken, we will be in touch very soon. I told you that they would want to run the show. You will find a bag by the door. Inside the bag are a passport and tickets to a relaxing destination. Take a short trip, begin your retirement in style. When you return we will be ready for you."

Mr. Smalls looked from Indigo to Frank. Then he shot a sideways glance at Les. He did not make eye contact with anyone else in the room. Reluctantly, he turned and walked out of the room. Once he was gone everyone began to talk at once.

"Quiet, everyone!" Les finally stood and spoke. "We must move quickly now. Bones, you will be the inside man on this one. Indigo, you need to make up some credentials for him from the agency that the bank uses. Parker you need to hack into the agency's computer system and remove all the other candidates that they have identified for the position. People, we have twenty minutes before the bank opens let's move."

Frank stood in shock. So Les had known about this job before the meeting.