“Right now, I don’t know what I’m supposed to believe. All I know for certain is tomorrow we need to go to Martinez and look up some winemaking brothers. Then we travel to Napa Valley and meet some winemaking sisters. I just hope Missy is all right, she sounds like someone I would really like to speak with.”
“I truly hope you find your chance.”
“Tonight, I think I’ve had enough excitement, can we find Lane and return home? I am exhausted.”
Helena took a sip of the drink that Sigmund had offered her, had she taken a moment to look at the glass she would’ve realized it was a champagne flute, filled with champagne. It wasn’t like she had never had alcohol before she basically wasn’t expecting it. Once her coughing diminished, the pair walked into the ballroom and began the search for Lane.
Helena said, “We should check the hors d'oeuvres that’s probably where he is, as close to the food as possible.”
“That is a wonderful idea, but the waiters are circulating with trays. He could be anywhere,” Sigmund replied.
“I saw him speaking with a woman right after we arrived, maybe they are still together.”
“After what happened at the Seattle club I doubt he would risk making the same mistake twice. However, we shall assume for a moment that Lane did not learn the error of his ways, so we shall go back to the beginning and learn what we might discover. Where did you last spot him?”
“At the top of the stairs before you threw me to the wolves, and made me walk alone,”
“Interesting, let’s go see if we can retrieve the wayward Lane.”
Sigmund parted the crowd clearing the way for Helena to follow behind. They didn’t need to climb the stairs to locate Lane, he leaned against the floor post eating a handful of canapés.
“I figured this would be the best place to find you two. Where d'you get off to anyway?” Lane stuffed a whole hors-d’oeuvre his mouth after finishing the sentence.
“I had an audience with the Count. Then I had a lengthy discussion with Mister Suttor.”
“Oh my, putting on airs, now aren’t we?”
“Remember your place, Lane.”
“Yes, sir,” Lane did his best to finish his snack while brushing the crumbs from his lapels.
“You get Bessie, time we head home, there is a full day planned for tomorrow,” Sigmund said as he guided Helena to the stairs.
Brothers of Martinez:
The start of the new day found Helena in the kitchen eating with the staff again. Today she didn’t dress as a man, but she decided it best to be asking questions as a young woman. She hoped that people might find it tough saying no to a fragile young woman looking for a lost friend. She felt she had to try something different.
Miss Andrea made her a substantial breakfast of pancakes. “These will stick to your ribs. I’ll fetch you a basket so you and those two fools keeping you out of trouble won’t starve.”
Before long the seven workers that ran the estate moved out of the kitchen. Leaving the long family style table to start their jobs keeping the property going, leaving the two women alone.
“Miss Andrea, do you think people should stick with their own kind?” Helena asked.
The cook continued her prep work, busying herself stuffing the basket, adding some cloth wrapped fried chicken before speaking, “Honey, that’s not an easy question to ask. I don’t know if it’s my place to tell you what I think.”
“Miss Andrea, you’re probably the oldest, sorry I mean the wisest woman in this house. You are the only woman I can talk to besides Gertie, and the two Chinese girls and they’re not much older than me.”
A frown spread across Andrea’s face as she thought, “If your parents were here, I would say, you should do as they wished. I think you should do whatever makes you happy. Just understand that no matter what decision you make, someone is going to be angry about it. Some of those people, you shouldn’t mind what they say. Some of those people will support you, some of those people will try to tear you down. That’s going to happen no matter what you do in life.”
A frown spread across Helena’s face. She had asked Miss Andrea for advice, and she felt like she got a politician’s doublespeak. Rather than vent her frustration she politely said, “Thank you, Miss Andrea,” she bundled up the basket and left the kitchen for the driveway.
Outside she found Lane and Sigmund facing each other, bodies tense as former soldiers can be. Helena couldn’t hear what they said, and they stopped speaking before she got close enough to evesdrop. Both faced her, anxious smiles on their faces.
Sigmund broke the strained silence, “Already to go?”
“I think I am. Is everything all right?” Helena asked.
“We were just discussing the best route to reach Martinez,” Lane suddenly said.
“Yes, I wanted to make sure we went the quickest route,” Sigmund said, reaching for the basket that Helena carried.
Helena gladly gave the heavy basket over, miss Andrea packed enough food for an army. “That’s wonderful,” Helena didn’t believe either one of them for a second. Not waiting for anyone to help her she climbed into Bessie’s backseat.
Nothing more to say Lane jumped in the driver’s seat, adding fuel to Bessie’s fire. Sigmund expertly tied off the basket in the boot. He joined Helena in the rear seat, and they headed off.
The trip to the San Francisco ferry terminal was uneventful. The streets were full of carriages and pedestrians all dressed in their Sunday finest heading to church. The ferry building itself, just as crowded, families loaded into wagons escaping the city for the day, traveling
