The friends immediately gave up trying to find Hayes and didn’t receive any pressure from Snow, who knew she’d have to reopen the museum to the public tomorrow no matter what. All the attention the presidents received on the cable new channels would undoubtedly and unfortunately yield museum patrons. Mitch said he’d come into work tomorrow but Seph made no similar promise or really said anything at all.
As it turns out, President Hayes adapted to the future fairly well and got himself a job at Grande Burrito Place as the assistant manager. After two historic presidents dueled each other on live television, Hayes become concerned people would come looking for him. Having received some comments on his goofy name, the former president willing and legally changed his name to something seemingly more modern. The man who ended post-Civil War reconstruction and the Great Rail Road Strike of 1877, won the Battle of the Riders and first allowed female attorneys to argue in front of the Supreme Court would be known at Grande Burrito Place as Adero Kimble. Somewhat ironically, Mitch, Seph, and the others would actually see Hayes/Kimble working at the restaurant from time to time but after learning the man wasn’t called “Hayes” dropped the notion of ever reopening the search for the president. As it turns out, Adero Kimble never returned to his own time. This is why many American historians refer to Rutherford B. Hayes as “The Missing President.”
The day after the Adams-Polk showdown, Blair and her older sister ate at Big Pizza. Over lunch, Blair discovered that the sister she was always jealous of was actually jealous of Blair. Their mutual, broad, sibling jealousy of one another’s lives made each of them laugh. Blair also liked being able to explain her relationship problems to somebody who cared but didn’t know the other parties. Blair’s sister was so removed from Blair’s circle of friends, there was no reason for Blair’s sister to talk to anybody about anything Blair told her. Blair was able to reciprocate this trust when her sister talked about her coworkers, who had a lot of inter-friend problems themselves. Blair and her sister would have kept talking into the closing hours, but more unusual events pulled Blair away.
Knowing Blair was with her sister, Seph went back to the television studio and tried to get a job, perhaps as an associate news producer. He wasn’t hired but didn’t panic. He decided to apply for a position at the other television stations, still under the impression that creating change within the system would pay better than trying to create change by fighting the system. But before hitting the other places, Seph took the bus to Snow’s museum to quit his job in person and maybe play foot-bag with Mitch. But, yet again, Seph was thinking too many moves in advance.
Earlier that morning, keeping a promise to her family, Lily went with her father to one of his shoe stores to see the award he received by the State Shoe Board. Lily wasn’t particularly interested in her father’s shoe trophy but she was pretty good at faking interest. However, when they got to the store, they saw the place had been broken into. Shoes and shoeboxes were thrown around the store. Money was missing from the register. But most importantly of all Lily’s father’s prized, diamond-encrusted, shoe trophy was missing. Skeptical that the police would put much effort into finding a valuable shoe trophy, Lily decided to call someone she knew would actually help her with a rogue investigation.
Because the presidential brawl and ensuing presidential duel were captured on live television, interest in forgotten presidents boomed the next day and the North Town museum had its busiest day ever. Over two dozen people crowded in the lobby and followed the physically bruised and scarred Mitch for his tour of the President Exhibit. Mitch, having personally known many of the presidents, was easily able to keep people’s attention without the absurd lies he employed on his first day. Though his history was still a little blurred.
-Ah, here was have President Franklin Pierce. Now he was actually a rather depressed man. He saw some pretty messed up shit and it affected him throughout his term. I don’t know if he was suicidal, but he was hard to talk down from the edge of a building. Considered a good-looking guy, though. And he was friends with Nathaniel Hawthorne, who obviously wrote Moby Dick, or something. I think Frank Pierce drank a lot, too. Or at least when you gave him a hard frappe it was gone in three seconds—
It was then that a cell phone started ringing from behind Mitch. It was Mitch’s cell phone, still in Pierce’s coat pocket. The audience looked at one another, confused why a wax statue would have a functioning cell phone. Mitch slapped his head for forgetting Pierce still had the phone and pulled it out of the president’s pocket.
-Do you mind if I answer it?
Unsure if this was a part of the tour, the audience offered no rejection and Mitch answered.
-Hello?
Lily explained her diamond shoe trophy situation to Mitch and said they needed to move fast to catch a train leaving for Los Angeles. Why Los Angeles? Lily said she had already found a clue and would explain on the way. Mitch thought for a second then said he’d be at the train station in a few minutes and suggested Lily call the other friends. She agreed and Mitch hung up the phone.
-Sorry everybody, said Mitch. But history’s going to have to wait.
Mitch ran out of the exhibit, through the entry lobby and outside to the street.
After a few moments the stunned audience broken apart, some of whom confronted Snow and told her the tour guide took a president’s cell phone and ran away. Snow decided to re-fire the absent Mitch. It was bad enough that he abandoned the biggest tour audience the museum would ever have, but stealing museum property was too far.
An eighteen-year old girl who just graduated high school walked up to the boiling Snow and offered to finish the tour of the President Exhibit today and everyday after that. She wanted a dollar more per hour than minimum wage but promised not to abandon tour groups. Feeling this was a pretty good offer, Snow accepted and hired the girl before learning her name.
Her name was Savannah Knox and she ended up doing a pretty good job on her first day. She was an affable tour guide who knew slightly more than basic American history and had just enough attitude to be colorfully charming. She was inarguably a better tour guide than Mitch and even developed a small reputation in the city. Savannah ended up having a number of adventures while working at the museum--albeit many self-inflicted.
Over the years, Savannah’s name began to reach slightly more people than she personally did. There was one particular adventure that led her to a rattlesnake farm after an incident involving a particularly irate museum patron. After said adventure, Savannah made a sign for the museum’s lobby. It read:
If you didn’t like the tour you can come back again for free.
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