Chapter Twenty-Six
“Where’d she go?” The office was empty when Ted and Jackson returned.
“She was going to the bathroom, remember?” Jackson said.
“Yeah, but she’s like Speedy Gonzales in there, and we’ve been gone,” he looked at his watch, “thirty-five minutes.”
“Maybe she hung around and just left to find the bathroom.”
Ted sat in a chair. “Yeah, you’re right. Give her a few minutes. She’s probably cleaning the sinks for you.” He laughed.
A blueprint of the plant was tacked on the wall. Certain areas were outlined in red.
“What’s that?” Ted asked.
Jackson sat on the side of the desk. “The old plant is on this side,” he pointed to the sections circled in red. “And the newer plant is here.” He ran a finger around the other side of the paper.
“Why didn’t they just tear down the old one when they built the new one?”
Jackson turned to the file cabinet behind the desk and opened the drawer. He removed a thick, hanging file folder and began leafing through it. “When they close the plant, they’re finally going to tear that part down. No one goes over there anymore. Talk about ghosts.” He laughed.
“Why not tear down all of it? Put something less of an eyesore up?” Ted asked.
“That’d be nice, right?” Jackson pulled a thick stack of papers from the folder.
“This place is an icon. The town would be lost without it—even its presence. You should have read the documents from when they built the newer building. You’d have thought the power company was telling the residents that they could no longer walk upright.
” He set some papers down on the table and unfolded them.
The blueprint of the new section of plant, the part they were in, lay before them.
Jackson put another stack of papers next to it, and unfolded them, exposing the blueprints for the old building.
He slid the two next to each other, creating a map of the entire plant.
“Well, look at that.” Ted said.
“Yeah, can’t say I’ll miss this old place when I retire. I’ve done all I can do.” Jackson sighed. “I’m glad I stuck it out and didn’t retire early. But it’s time. Even the thought of the basement wears me out. I’ve spent far too many years in the underbelly of this old plant.”