In the terminal’s main concourse, Barbara jumped ahead of Fletch, turned around, and stopped. Facing Fletch, she put her fists on her hips.
“Fletch! What’s going on?”
“London,” Fletch said. “Then we’re going on to Kenya.”
Alston had kept walking.
“Tell me what’s happening!”
“We’ve got a wedding present,” Fletch said. “A trip to Nairobi, Kenya.”
“Who from? Tell me another.” Barbara’s face flushed. “Fletch! You accepted an assignment from the newspaper on our honeymoon!”
“No, no. Nothing like that.”
Flapping boarding passes, airline tickets, baggage stubs, Alston was at the airline’s courtesy information booth clearly straining the attendant’s courtesy.
“You did too!”
“Would I do that to you?”
“I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit in some hotel room, or some, some grass shack while you run miles in circles trying to fill up one damned inch of that damned newspaper! Not on my honeymoon!”
“I told you: the trip is a present. A wedding present. It will be fun.”
“I’ll bet. A present from the newspaper!”
“No. Not from the newspaper.”
“Who else would give you a trip to Africa?”
The courteous man at the information counter now had a phone to each ear while also, apparently, listening to Alston.
“My father.”
Barbara’s eyes popped. “Your father?”
“I guess.”
“You didn’t say,
“It’s turned into a highly conjectural day.”
At the counter, Alston’s lips were moving rapidly.
“You’ve never had a father. Or you’ve had four of them, or something.”
“What’s the difference?”
“What father?”
“The one who died.”
“You’ve inherited something?”
“No. We really don’t have time to discuss this now, Barbara.”
“You didn’t have time to discuss the wedding, either.”
“And it happened, see? It came off with a hitch. All right. Things work out.”
Barbara wagged her head. “This can’t work out.”
“Sure it can.”
“I can’t go to Kenya.”
“We haven’t had any shots, have we?”
“I don’t have a passport!”
“Oh, that.” Fletch reached into the muddy envelope. “You have a passport.” He handed it to her.
Alston was striding toward them, smiling.
“Alston,” Fletch said, “we haven’t had any shots.”
“You only need them for medical reasons,” Alston said. “Not legal reasons.”
“I’m glad you became a lawyer.”
“Yeah.” Alston glanced at Barbara. “Don’t forget: I do divorces.”
“Where did this picture of me come from?” Barbara said into her passport.
Fletch glanced at it over her shoulder. “It’s a nice one.”
“Okay.” Alston was sorting various tickets and stubs in his hands. “Your tickets to Colorado are canceled. Not sure I’ll be able to get your money back.”
“Can we get the luggage back?”
“That’s my green sweater,” Barbara said at her passport picture.
“What they’re going to try to do is get your luggage off that plane, then they’ll send it over to the International Terminal, British Air, and get it aboard your flight to London, checked straight through to Nairobi.”
Fletch put Barbara’s passport back in the muddy envelope. “We won’t know if our luggage is with us until we get to Nairobi.”
“The skis,” Barbara said.
“Can’t separate the luggage now.” Alston shook his head. “No way. Things are too confusing as it is.”
“Are you confused?” Barbara asked. “I’m not confused.”
Alston glanced at his watch. “We’ve got to get over to the International Terminal quick-quick. Got to tell them what your connecting flight to Nairobi is.”
“Quick-quick.” Fletch grabbed Barbara’s elbow.
“We’re not going skiing,” Barbara said. “We packed ski clothes! Nothing but ski clothes!”
“Barbara, we have to hurry.”
“Where?”
“International Terminal,” Fletch said.
“British Air,” Alston said.
They were dashing across the concourse.
“London, England,” Fletch said.
“Passport Control,” Alston said.
“Nairobi, Kenya,” Fletch said.
“Fletch! I told my mother I’d call her from Colorado!”
“Can’t stop,” Fletch said.
“Tonight!”
Fletch steered her into the revolving door.
“Ain’t married life fun?” After he went through the revolving door himself, he said, “So far?”
“All my mother wanted to do was meet you.” Barbara fastened her seat belt.
“I met her. At the wedding.”
“Would you believe she really wanted to meet you
“I met her before the wedding. She was wearing jodhpurs. Right? She seemed real surprised to see me.”
“Dismayed, more likely. She arranged dinner for us every night last week. You never made it. Not once.”
“I was working. Did I tell you I have a job?”
“And you’re dragging me halfway around the world to meet your father?”
“Maybe.”
“What do you mean, ‘maybe’?”
“He’s known to evade important occasions.” Buckled up, Fletch put the side of his face against the back of his seat.
“You’re going to sleep, aren’t you?”
“Barbara, I have to. I haven’t slept in days and nights, and days, and …”
Barbara sighed. “How long before we get to Nairobi, Kenya?”
