On the Road to Nowhere

By Daryl D Hansen

This crazy story starts when thirty-one-year-old Leeward Daniel Thompson sells his business and his home, buys a used RV, and hits the road. Fate intervenes, and he picks up a woman walking in high heels along the highway who doesn’t know her name. Together, they rescue a baby from a ditch as well as a couple of abandoned kids.

If it sounds like a recipe for disaster, it probably is: one gentleman, one lady, two kids, and a baby. They are complete strangers thrown together by fate or circumstances. Lee should know you could be arrested for smuggling a baby into the United States, and that you can’t just pick up a couple of kids. But then, he hasn’t reckoned with the old British lady in the tweed suit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781665730785

Daryl D Hansen

Daryl D. Hansen spent most of his life in Colorado. During that time, he and his family spent nineteen years in the mountains, living in the small town of Yampa, near the ski resort of Steamboat Springs. Daryl was eventually involved with the sales and service of cash registers for the next twenty years. Now retired and living in Phoenix, Arizona, he is also the author of Has Anybody Seen Sasquatch?

Book preview

LEEWARD’S STORY

You know I was not very outgoing back in those days. I was sociable in a way, but not in a social way. Didn’t have many friends, and no good with the ladies. Tried a few dates, but I didn’t know what to say, so I gave that up early on, and just concentrated on work. I built up a pretty good small business. Had a few people working for me, and doing okay, but then a bigger company decided they wanted to expand, and they made me a ridiculous offer because they wanted my customer list.

So I sold it, and sold my little house in the city. Not sure what I was going to do, but I thought I might go see the country. Went to an RV show, just looking around and saw a travel van that looked good, so I checked around.

I found a nice used one, not too many miles on it, so I bought it, picked up a few clothes and things that I might use, and gave the rest of my stuff to the Goodwill, and headed out of town.

You know, some say that fate has a funny way of kicking in and sending you off on a certain path that you did not expect to travel. Anyway, I was just driving along and there was a highway sign that was kind of leaning out over the road, like it was about to fall over, and it pointed East.

So, I went that way, and it was a back road heading east. I didn’t have any idea where I was going. It was just random, but I didn’t care. I was in no hurry at all. Stopped sometimes for just a cup of coffee. Most of the time I ate in the van, which had a microwave and a sink, and a little commode with a shower.

Sort of cramped, in a way, but it worked for me.

So, I drove along for a few days, just looking at the scenery, and everything was fine, until one day, along in the evening, I saw a lady walking alongside the highway."

Now we’re getting somewhere, Clay said Did you pick her up?

"No, I just slowed down as I passed her. Nicely dressed with honey brown hair and all the right stuff in the right places, and she was walking in high heels, of all things. But she didn’t hold up her thumb. Didn’t look my way, so I drove on, maybe about a mile.

There was a pull off that looked like a good place to camp, so I drove in there as far as I could get off the highway. "It was a nice evening, no mosquitos around so I decided to make a little fire and cook a couple hot dogs on a stick. Gathered some firewood, and by the time I got the fire going and ate a couple hot dogs, it was getting dark.

Such a nice evening, I sat there on a log for a long time, just looking at the stars. I had never been out of the city on a night like that, with no other lights around, and the moon had not risen yet.

All those stars, and they were twinkling at me, and it was almost like they were singing a song just for me, trying to tell me something. And I remember thinking that everything must be right with the world.

Yet, for some reason, I could not get that image out of my head. That nice-looking, nicely dressed lady in high heels, as she walked down the highway.

Funny how a little thing like that could change a man’s entire life.

Chapter 1

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MARCY’S STORY

I t was a season of discontent. She never, in her growing up years, had even thought it could get this bad. Her mother had passed away some years before, and now she was at the mercy of the dictates of her father, who had reacted to the death of his wife, by becoming a workaholic, who never came home, preferring to stay in a company apartment close to the company headquarters.

Even when her mother was alive, she had been controlled by his whims and orders. Of course, he thought at the time that it was all for her good. It’s best for you in the long run" he would say, as he refused to let her have her own car. She was driven to school in a limo, with a chauffeur, who was always close by, making sure that she didn’t hang out with any boys after school.

It continued into college. She was not permitted to live in a dorm, she had to live at home, being driven every day by a different chauffeur, but the result was the same. She made no friends; all she could do was study. She made good grades, but there was nobody to appreciate her efforts.

Most people would think that living in Beverly Hills was a great thing, but they had no idea how confining it was. There was an electric fence all the way around the property. If she wanted to go shopping, she had to ask the maid and she would call the chauffeur, who had the keys to the car and the remote control to the front gate.

She felt like a prisoner in her own home. If she tried to talk to her father, she would get little response, except for the few times he told her how well the company was doing. Her grandfather had started the company, and now her father along with his corporate cronies had built it up into a major corporation, with assets and business partners all over the world.

Her father had insisted that she take courses in Business and Accounting, and things that would be of advantage to her, as he told everyone that he was grooming her to be the ‘corporate image’ for the Parker Corporation.

The courses she would have liked to take were things like Art and Literature. Even Architecture would be more interesting, but she was blocked at every turn. She had no bank account, and the college received a big donation every year, as long as they only did what her father told them to do.

In spite of all this, she did not hate her father. She understood that grief had changed him along with the drive to succeed at any cost. She had only one contact at the company, a lady named Shirley, who she had gotten acquainted with during one of her rare visits to the corporate offices. Shirley was a secretary to one of the board members and accompanied him to the board meetings. She could not talk to Marcy during business hours, as she said that they had a new head of Security, and she thought they had put in a system where all the phones were bugged, so they could only talk on their personal cell phones from home in the evenings.

I don’t like what is going on here. She told Marcy. This new guy, Chris Reins, has bought up enough stock to get on the board of directors. He is chummy enough with some of the other board members that he got himself promoted to Head of Security. He seems to be the sort of guy who will do anything to get ahead, and they have done some takeovers and acquisitions lately that seem to me to be rather questionable, if not illegal.

Is there anything we can do? asked Marcy, maybe I could talk to my dad.

I don’t think he would listen to you. This new guy has got them all worked up, telling them how they are going to be such a big force in the world. They are like they are hypnotized by him, and the worst part is, he has hired a bunch of guys as Security guards that look more like thugs to me. I have noticed that some of them carry guns in shoulder holsters.

Why would the company need men like that?

I’m not sure, but I think they are like enforcers. If someone refuses an offer for his business or his product, they go out and lean on him a bit, and he changes his mind.

Well, I for one, am glad that I don’t have anything to do with running the company.

Maybe not, but every once in a while, I hear your dad telling somebody that you are going to be the new corporate image of the Parker Corporation.

Marcy worried about it for the next couple of days, finally deciding that there was nothing she could do about it anyway. She didn’t like business that much anyway, and even though her mother had left her some voting stock in her will, as long as she didn’t have to attend the board meetings, she would just wait and see what happened.

She got a rude awakening when she opened the afternoon mail. It was from a printing company, and it contained a sample of a wedding invitation, for her approval.

She opened it.

"You are hereby cordially invited

to the Wedding of

Miss Marcy Margaret Parker

And

Mr. Chris Reins

At the Parker Corporation Headquarters

On June 12 of this year

Please RSVP

Marcy exploded. She got on her phone and called the main office, asking to speak to her father. She was put on hold for twenty minutes, before she finally heard his voice.

Dad, what is going on? I just got a wedding invitation, to MY wedding. This is crazy. Please tell me this is a mistake.

He chuckled. "No reason to be upset my dear. It’s all part of the plan, you are going to be the new corporate image. You will have everything you could possibly want, money, a big house, a car of your own.

She cut him off. I don’t want any of those things. How could you possibly think I would do such a thing?

"Now calm down, Marcy. I’m sorry you got the notice a bit soon. I think Chris is going to be there tomorrow to explain it all to you.

"I don’t care what he says. I don’t even know the man.’

I’m sure you will change your mind once you meet him. I really have to go now. Board members are waiting, and we are working on a new acquisition.

There was nothing she could do, at the moment, but wait to find out what this Mr. Chris Reins had in mind.

He showed up the next day, driving a fancy sports car. He was dressed like a playboy in a white suit, with a red striped tie, and white loafers. Blond hair and blue eyes, and she had to admit, he was good looking. Most of the gals on Hollywood Boulevard would probably get into that white sports car, and ride out of town with the top down and the music up.

She glared at him, while she waited for an explanation.

I’m happy to finally get to meet you he said, your father has told me all about you and I believe he is correct. You will make a great corporate image for the company.

Just what has that to do with marriage?

It’s all about appearances, my dear. Our corporate image needs to be married. It will all be covered in the business magazines, and your appearance will be requested at all the society functions.

But I don’t even know you.

That doesn’t matter. You don’t even have to live with me if you don’t want to. Just act the part, and oh, yes, wear the ring. He handed her a jewelry box. When she opened it, she could hardly believe her eyes. It was the biggest diamond ring she had ever seen.

She started to protest, but he just shushed her. Just think it over he said, you can have it all, never have to work a day in your life. We will meet in a couple of days and work out a schedule. He turned away, climbing back into his fancy sports car and roared away down the driveway, and the gate of course, opened for him.

Sure, he’s got a remote for the gate, and I don’t even have one she said to no one in particular. Not only that, he had a slick way of making everything sound perfectly reasonable.

She thought about it the rest of the day. She had no intention of marrying some guy she did not know, but she saw no way to resolve the problem without causing a big fight with her father and she did not want that.

So, she did the only thing she could think of to do.

She ran.

In the evening, she waited around the garage, until the chauffeur was putting the cars away. She watched as he laid the gate remote down on the bench as she had seen him do many times before. When his attention was diverted, she grabbed the remote and ran for the gate, taking with her only her backpack and her purse.

She had no car, and she knew she could not call a cab or do anything they might use to find her, but she knew that if she cut through the park, there was a streetcar line that ran into downtown L.A. once there, she switched to a different one, that went down Sepulveda Blvd.

At the end of the line, in South L.A. she found a cheap motel where she could spend the night.

The next day, she walked the streets, looking for one of those little family stores that might hire someone without a bunch of references, or ID’s.

She lucked out, finding a small variety store that needed another clerk, stocking shelves and waiting on customers. As she filled out the application, she changed her name and became Melissa Edwards.

She became quite friendly with two of the other ladies that worked there, Kathy and Cecelia. They offered her a room in their apartment on a share the cost basis.

They worked together, although sometimes different shifts, and they cooked together, and they shared their thoughts and hopes for the future. Marcy was happy, for the first time in her life, she was on her own, without anyone telling her what she could or could not do. She had friends, and she had dodged the bullet, as far as having to wed some creep with a sports car. It made her shudder to even think of it.

Everything was fine for a couple of months, until she made a big mistake. She found a little car in a nearby used car lot that she could afford. It was only 500 dollars, but she was making money, not much, but she could afford that. The idea took hold of her that she could finally do on her own, what she had been denied while she was growing up.

So, when she had to make out the paperwork, without thinking, she put down her real name, and her present address.

A week later, she came home one day, much later than usual, having made a stop at the local library.

Kathy and Cecilia met her at the door, all excited. It took her a little bit to get them calmed down enough to tell her.

Two big, dark looking guys came asking for you. They waited around a while. Kathy said.

They left. Cecilia said, "in a big dark sedan, but I heard the one guy tell the other one, that they were going to get something to eat, and then come back for you.

And, the worst part is. Kathy said, We could see they had guns inside of their jackets, in shoulder holsters.

They both looked so scared. She finally told them. It’s all right. They work for my father, and I know why they are looking for me.

She gathered up her stuff and did the only thing she could think to do.

She ran again.

Chapter 2

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LEEWARD

A n adventure, an experience, a happening of some kind.

Maybe that was what he needed. He didn’t really know what he needed, but there was an empty place inside of him and he knew there had to be some way to fill it.

He had never been this unsettled. Here he was, 31 years old, and he had worked hard, and he was successful. He had worked, you might say, all of his adult life to get to this point and really, he had it all, that is, as far as business was concerned.

He had employees, he kept them busy, they had all the business they could handle. He thought about expanding, but for some reason that left him cold. It used to be exciting, all he thought about night and day.

His parents had named him, for whatever reason, Leeward Daniel Thompson, and they had instilled in him a work ethic. You can do whatever you want, accomplish whatever you want to do, in life, if you stay focused, work hard, and stay on the path. They talked a lot about that path. The one they said was laid out for each of us by our Creator.

He had done it, to the best of his ability, and it worked for him up to this point. But now, here he was, on his birthday and he was spending it alone, as always, since his parents were gone, and he had no other family to share holidays or special occasions with. He always gave his employees time off on holidays, but they were not friends. None of them had any interest in his personal life, and the few times they had invited him to any of their personal functions, such as the Friday night after work beer at the local pub, he had always declined, saying that he had work to do. There were books to be balanced, bills to be paid, proposals to be written to get future jobs.

His bookwork all caught up, he tried to watch TV, but there was nothing that interested him. Maybe he would read a book. He had several novels he had purchased, and never had time to read, but couldn’t seem to concentrate enough to get through the first chapter.

Maybe music would help. He put on his favorite record, and Bread sang, I want to make it with you.

He liked that tune even though it made him sad. He had no one to ‘make it with’, never had even one serious girlfriend.

His entire like had been taken up with his striving relentless drive to the finish, to success, and now that he was there, he looked around and there was no one to cheer him on, nobody to even congratulate him for his accomplishments.

He slept fitfully that night, and along towards morning he had a dream, or he thought later, maybe it was a vision. In his dream, he could see the path that was laid out for him. All of those nice steppingstones,