Santa Fe Rules Read Free Page A

smoothly. He cleared the runway and taxied to the maintenance hangar.
     
    “Well,” said the shop foreman, wiping his brow, “you got a dead alternator there, all right. Dead standby, too. I haven’t got either in my stock.”
    “How soon can you get replacements?”
    “Day after tomorrow,” the man replied.
    “Can’t you call the manufacturer and get the parts overnighted in?”
    “Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving,” the foreman said. “I’ll call today, but Fed Ex won’t deliver till Friday.”
    “This is Tuesday,” Wolf said, relieved that the man had got his days wrong. “Thanksgiving isn’t until day after tomorrow. You can have the parts here tomorrow, and I can be on my way.”
    The foreman turned to the mechanic waiting beside the airplane. “What’s today, Charley?”
    “Wednesday,” the man replied.
    “Thanksgiving’s tomorrow,” the foreman said to Wolf.
    “No, no…” Wolf looked at the day and date displayed on his wristwatch. “It’s…” He stopped and stared at his wristwatch. “That can’t be,” he said, shaking his head.
    “Sure can, Mr. Willett. It’s Wednesday, and tomorrow’sThanksgiving. I can have the parts here by ten-thirty Friday morning, and we’ll have ’em installed by early afternoon.”
    Wolf rubbed his forehead. Something was terribly wrong here. “Okay, where can I get a room?”
    “Try the lodge. Rent yourself a car at the terminal over there, and follow the signs. It’s real nice, and they won’t be full this time of year.”
    The lodge, a huge place, had a room for him. He explained why he didn’t have any luggage, and a bellhop took him upstairs. He immediately called the Bel Air house and got a recording of his own voice. He hung up. Julia could never remember to play the messages on the machine anyway, so leaving a message would be a waste of time. He didn’t have his address book with him, and the Carmichaels’ number was unlisted. He telephoned his office, but got a recording saying that it was closed until Monday for the Thanksgiving holiday. He didn’t remember giving everybody Wednesday, but when he hadn’t shown up for work yesterday, Jack had probably given them the day off; Jack was too softhearted.
    He hung up the phone and walked to the window. He had a fine view of the canyon, and it was truly grand, but he hardly noticed. Try as he might, he could not remember the past twenty-four hours. He remembered going to bed, but that must have been on Monday. He picked up the Tucson newspaper that came with the room and checked the date to be sure. Wednesday.
    He had lost a day out of his life. And it wasn’t the first time.
     

    Wolf woke up the next morning feeling horny and reached for Julia. She was not there, of course; she was in L.A. At least he thought she was. He had rung the Bel Air house a dozen times and gotten only his own recording. He had rung Jack’s house, too, and gotten no answer.
    He and Julia had been married a year. It was a second marriage for him—he had been widowed for more than twenty years—but the first for her. She was twenty-six at the time, and an actress. Two kinds of women he’d promised himself he’d never marry—a woman in the business and somebody half his age. It had gone well, though, had exceeded his expectations. Julia was wonderful company, and she had revived his nearly dormant sex life. She made him feel eighteen again, and he would always love her for that. God knew, she was too friendly with other men, and she was making a career out of shopping, which drove him nuts, but she was beautiful and shrewd, two qualities that had always appealed to him. She would probably leave him on his sixty-fifth birthday, but if she lasted that long, it would be worth it.
    He reached for his wristwatch: nearly noon. He never slept that late—what was the matter with him? He stood in the shower long enough to wake him, but when he got out, he still felt fuzzy around the edges. He shaved with the razor the hotel