From A Buick 8
First published: 2002
Characters
The state police of Troop D in rural Pennsylvania have kept a secret in Shed B out back of the barracks ever since 1979, when Troopers Ennis Rafferty and Curtis Wilcox answered a call from a gas station just down the road and came back with an abandoned Buick Roadmaster. Curt Wilcox knew old cars, and he knew immediately that this one was...wrong, just wrong. A few hours later, when Rafferty vanished, Wilcox and his fellow troopers knew the car was worse than dangerous -- and that it would be better if John Q. Public never found out about it. Curt's avid curiosity taking the lead, they investigated as best they could, as much as they dared. Over the years the troop absorbed the mystery as part of the background to their work, the Buick 8 sitting out there like a still life painting that breathes -- inhaling a little bit of this world, exhaling a little bit of whatever world it came from. In the fall of 2001, a few months after Curt Wilcox is killed in a gruesome auto accident, his 18-year-old boy Ned starts coming by the barracks, mowing the lawn, washing windows, shoveling snow. Sandy Dearborn, Sergeant Commanding, knows it's the boy's way of holding onto his father, and Ned is allowed to become part of the Troop D family. One day he looks in the window of Shed B and discovers the family secret. Like his father, Ned wants answers, and the secret begins to stir, not only in the minds and hearts of the veteran troopers who surround him, but in Shed B as well....
Characters
| (Buick Driver) | He drove the Buick and left it in the Jenny Station on SR32 in 1979 and disappeared without a trace |
| 2 Frogs | Left near the Buick. |
| 6 Cockroaches | Put in the trunk of the Buick in 1986. |
| 6 Green Beetles | Found dead in the Buick's trunk in 1983. |
| 8 Crickets | Left in a box in Shed B |
| AC/DC | Band liked by Sandra McCracken |
| Bat | Found dead in shed B with the Buick. |
| Bird | Came from the trunk of the Buick in 1991. |
| Blondie | Band on the song list at the Country Way |
| Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods | Band on the song list at the Country Way |
| Brandy | Singer mentioned in passing |
| Bullfrog | Left in a cage in Shed B |
| Bullwinkle | From the children's show Rocky and Bullwinkle |
| Chauncey | Pig dissected in biology classes by Curtis Wilcox |
| Fish | Came from within the Buick |
| God | Mentioned in passing |
| Guinea Pig | Left near the Buick in a plastic bucket |
| Jack | From the children's story Jack and Jill |
| Jesus | Mentioned in passing |
| Jill | From the children's story Jack and Jill |
| Jimmy | Gerbil partner of Roslyn. Was put into the Buick in 1979. |
| Judas Priest | Band liked by Brian Lippy |
| Mister Dillon | Pennsylvania State Police Troop D German Shepherd mascot. |
| Monster | Came from the trunk of the Buick. |
| Natasha | From the children's show Rocky and Bullwinkle |
| Rocky | From the children's show Rocky and Bullwinkle |
| Roslyn | Gerbil partner of Jimmy. Was put into the Buick in 1979. |
| Satan | Mentioned in passing |
| Ten-Pound Dog of Sander Dearborn | Shot by a hunter |
| Tribbles | Small furry animals from Star Trek |
| Ace, Johnny | Band on the song list at the Country Way |
| Arkanian, Arky | Custodian at the Pennsylvania State Police Troop D barracks |
| Arness, James | Actor mentioned in passing |
| Avery, Herb | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D |
| Babicki, Matt | Police Communications Officer in Troop D |
| Babicki, Mrs. | Wife of Matt Babicki |
| Badinov, Boris | From the children's show Rocky and Bullwinkle |
| Baez, Joan | Singer heard on the radio |
| Barnum, P.T. | Mentioned in passing |
| Borden, Lizzie | Mentioned in passing |
| Bossey, Hubert | Owner of the Jenny Station on SR32 in 1979 when the Buick appeared there |
| Brownell, Sid | Statler Township Chief of Police |
| Brundage, Carl | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D |
| Brundage, Mrs. | Wife of Carl Brundage. |
| Buick | Car that arrived at the Jenny Station on SR32 in 1979. |
| Candleton, Phil | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D. |
| Clouse, Floyd B. | There was a football field named after him |
| Cole, Brian | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D in 1979 |
| Colucci, Andy | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D in 1979. |
| Colucci, Stephanie (Steff) | Police Communications Officer in Troop D. Niece of Andy Colucci |
| Columbo, ? | TV Detective |
| Curie, Marie | Scientist mentioned in passing |
| Cutler, Jeff | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D in 2002 |
| Dadier, ? | One of the Dadier Brothers. |
| Dadier, ? | One of the Dadier Brothers. |
| Dearborn, Mr. | 74 Year old father of Sander Dearborn |
| Dearborn, Mrs. | 70 Year old mother of Sander Dearborn |
| Dearborn, Sander Freemont (Sandy) | Pennsylvania State Police Troop D Sergeant Commanding. |
| DeMille, Cecil B. | Film director mentioned in passing |
| Devoe, Steve | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D in 1979 |
| Diment, ? | Police captain from Butler in 1979 |
| Dockerty, James | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D |
| Dylan, Bob | Singer thought of by Sandy Dearborn |
| Eliot, ? (Dicky-Duck) | Possibly a Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D |
| Flanders, ? | Brother of Buck Flanders. A stockbroker in Pittsburgh |
| Flanders, Buck | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D in 1979 |
| Frady, William Kirk | Owner of a Jetta stopped by Eddie Jacubois. From Pittsburgh |
| Frances, Miss | Mentioned in passing |
| Friday, Joe | Mentioned in passing |
| Garrett, Mrs. | Wife of Orville Garrett. |
| Garrett, Orville | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D in 1979. |
| Garris, Cynthia | Worked at the Country Way in 2002 |
| Grenville, Mr. | School guidance counselor |
| Hitler, Adolf | Mentioned in passing |
| Holmes, Sherlock | Detective mentioned in passing |
| Hull, George | Cigar maker who created a hoax Giant in upstate New York's Onondaga Valley |
| Hyams, Edith | Sister of Ennis Rafferty. |
| Hyams, Mr. | Husband of Edith Hyams. |
| Islington, Justin | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D |
| Jacubois, Eddie | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D |
| Jones, Mr. | He told Ned Wilcox about his father's death |
| Kalin Twins, The | Band on the song list at the Country Way |
| Lennon, John | Singer |
| Lippy, Brian | Drug dealer stopped by George Morgan and Eddie Jacubois when he was seen punching a woman in his car. |
| Loving, ? | Troop D Dispatcher in 1979 |
| Loving, Paul | Sprained his knee falling from the swing at Redfern Stream |
| Lugosi, Bela | Film director mentioned in passing |
| Marley, Jacob | Quoted |
| Maturin, John H. | Wrote "Twenty Elementary Dissections" |
| Mayhew, Esther | School bus driver |
| McClannahan, Tom | Worked for the County Parks & Recreation. |
| McCracken, Sandra | She was the girl in the car that was punched by Brian Lippy. |
| Morgan, ? | Son of George Morgan. |
| Morgan, George | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D. |
| Nevers, ? | Daughter of Rosellen Nevers. |
| Nevers, Rosellen | At the Poteenville Grammar School |
| O'Day, Tracy | Brother of Travis O'Day. |
| O'Day, Travis | Brother of Tracy O'Day. |
| O'Hara, Jackie | Former Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D |
| Oosler, Homer | Wanted to write a story on the car |
| Oppenheimer, Robert | Worked on the atomic bomb tests |
| Parker, Johnny | He was in charge of the county Motor Pool in 1979 |
| Pasternak, ? | Husband of Shirley Pasternak. |
| Pasternak, Shirley | Police Communications Officer with Pennsylvania State Police Troop D. |
| Paul, Brady | Pennsylvania State police corporal with Troop D. |
| Quinland, Peter | Owned The Country Way in 1979 |
| Rafferty, Edith | Maiden name of Edith Hyams. Sister of Ennis Rafferty |
| Rafferty, Ennis | Partner of Curtis Wilcox in 1979 when the Buick arrived. |
| Rennert, Robbie | Troop D found marijuana plants in his back field |
| Riddle, Nelson | Orchestra leader mentioned in passing |
| Rizzo, Albert | Pennsylvania State police corporal with Troop D. |
| Roach, Bradley | Worked at the Jenny Station on SR32 in July 1979 when the Buick arrived there |
| Rockwell, Norman | Mentioned in passing |
| Roth, Bibi | Forensic crew chief that looked at the Buick in 1979, and on a few other occasions. |
| Royer, Hudson (Huddie) | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D |
| Rumsfeld, Richard T. | Retired US Army UFO Expert whose article was in Inside View magazine |
| Rushing, Mark | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D in 1979. |
| Sanders, Mike | County attorney in 1979 |
| Santerre, Randy | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D in 1983. |
| Schoondist, ? | Daughter of Tony Schoondist. |
| Schoondist, Tony | Pennsylvania State Police Troop D Sergeant Commanding before Sander Dearborn. |
| Sinatra, Frank | Singer that played at The Country Way in 1979 |
| Soder, Christian | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D in 1979. |
| Soderburg, Frank | Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D in 2002 |
| Stamson, Samuel | PennsylvaniaState trooper with Troop D. |
| Stankowski, George | Pennsylvania State trooper in Troop D in 1979 |
| Surfaris, The | Band on the song list at the Country Way |
| Teague, ? | Colonel in the Butler Regional HQ |
| Vader, Darth | Character from Star Wars |
| Watson | Helped Sherlock Holmes |
| Welk, Lawrence | Orchestra leader mentioned in passing |
| White, Tony Joe | Band on the song list at the Country Way |
| Wilcox, Curtis | Father of Ned, Joan and Janet Wilcox, and Husband of Michelle Wilcox. Pennsylvania State trooper with Troop D for 20 years before he was killed in the line of duty July 2001 |
| Wilcox, Janet | Daughter of Curtis and Michelle Wilcox. Twin sister of Joan Wilcox. |
| Wilcox, Joan | Daughter of Curtis and Michelle Wilcox. Twin sister of Janet Wilcox. |
| Wilcox, Michelle | Wife of Curtis Wilcox and mother of Ned, Joan and Janet Wilcox |
| Wilcox, Ned | Son of Curtis Wilcox. |
| Wright, Orville | Mentioned in passing |
| Wright, Wilbur | Mentioned in passing |
The Books >
Rating:
Add Review