| Subject: Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapters 23-End |
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Jaron
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Date Posted: 16:53:05 12/13/01 Thu
In reply to:
Jaron
's message, "Sometimes the Dragons Are Real" on 18:37:45 12/12/01 Wed
Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapter 23
“Oh, Rene!!” I hugged him tightly and told him, “Taking a life is not something to be
proud of, but I did what I had to do. I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt you or your
Daddy.” I looked at the people, police officers, reporters and the curious, that were
beginning to step forward. “Rene, let me do the talking. There are going to be lots
and lots of questions. You just act scared and listen to what I tell them. All right?”
“Yep, Mom,” I was amazed at Rene’s next action. He grabbed my hand and stepped
back a few steps until he was standing behind me, peaking out at the advancing
crowd and looking very scared. I wondered if he might one day choose an acting
career. He seemed to be getting some early practice.
Questions came flying at me from right and left and I gave them the party line as
dictated by Madeline through Walter.
Yes, I told them, I did know the members of the HRT. Yes, my son did call out for his
father during the crisis. His father, my late husband had been a member of this very
team before he had been killed in the line of duty. One of the men was, in fact, my
son’s godfather and Rene had been understandably upset and called out for his
father. He had been terrified. Could you blame him? Yes, I had shot and killed one
of the men. Why? You idiot, I thought, but did not say it out loud. I killed the
bastard because he had just shot Michael and was about the finish the job. You bet I
shot and killed him. But yes, I said, I did shoot the man who was about to shoot me
and my son’s godfather. What else could I do? I squeezed out a tear and thought
that Rene and I might well decide to do some more acting.
I thanked everyone for their concern and told them I needed to get my son home to
bed, before he dropped from exhaustion. No, I said politely, unless the police had
more questions, this was to be my last statement on the subject of today’s events.
And with that, I led Rene away from the crowd and to an awaiting police car that Chief
Cowan had told me would take Rene and I to our home and quiet.
I turned to take one last look at the crowd surrounding the bank and saw the blue
pickup follow us at a distance. Maybe having Madeline’s worker bee shadowing us
was not such a bad idea. Walter had told me that this man, Cooper, had immediately
notified Madeline of our plight and had started the ball rolling that ultimately led to
our rescue. Maybe I would tolerate the man in the blue pickup.
Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapter 24
We were so happy to be home, that Rene and I just sat in silence for a few moments
to think about all of the things that had happened to us in the last 24 hours.
‘So, Mom,” Rene was the first to speak, “does this mean there’s no picnic on
Saturday?” And then he grinned at me and his green eyes twinkled.
“Rene, if you want a picnic, then a picnic we will have! But first, we both get a good
night’s sleep!” I picked him up, which I noticed was getting harder to do, he was
growing so much. I deposited him on his bed and told him to take his bath and I
would read to him before he went to sleep.
Rene called to me when he was finished with his bath, and I went to his room and sat
on the side of his bed and asked him what book we should start tonight.
“Mom, can we just talk instead of reading?” he asked softly.
I knew this side of Rene, so I put my arm around him and said, “Of course we can talk,
Rene. What do you want to talk about?” I think I knew, but I let him be the one to
start.
“Will I ever see my Daddy again?” he asked softly, as if he knew the answer, but had
to hear it stated.
“I hope so, Rene. If it is within your Daddy’s power, he will come back to you. He will
always come back to you. And until he does come back to you, you will be thinking
of him each day at 3:30, won’t you? And he will be thinking of you at the same time.
Right?” I had to make him believe and I had to convince myself at well. “I tell you
what. If you are feeling like it, tomorrow we will go and buy you a new watch, one
with an alarm on it like your Daddy’s so that you can set it just like Nikita set your
Daddy’s. You want to do that?” He nodded vigorously and snuggled into my arms.
“Daddy likes Nikita, doesn’t he? And Nikita loves my Daddy. When he....got...hurt...”
Rene had difficulty talking about Michael’s shooting, and would, no doubt, for some
time to come. “When he got shot, Nikita cried. I heard her after she pulled me back
from the hole in the ceiling. She was crying and hugging me to her and rocking me
back and forth, like I was a baby. But she was scared for my Daddy and I felt that.
She kept saying to me that Daddy would be okay, that I shouldn’t worry. But I did
worry. I kept telling myself that he was okay, but I didn’t know about that bulletproof
vest he had on until Carson told me. You know, when I came down the rope and he
caught me. He told me how the vest worked and how it was made, and how the
bullets that I saw hit my Daddy would hurt him but wouldn’t kill him. He made me
feel better, but I was still worried. He wouldn’t let me go over to my Daddy, because
he said that I needed to wait until Daddy was feeling better. He told me that Daddy
hit his head when he fell and that the medic needed to put a bandage on it. But I was
still scared. I liked him and I’m glad Daddy has friends like Nikita and Carson. I was
really surprised when I saw Nikita up there. I wondered why the bicycle lady was with
my Daddy, but she explained that she worked with Daddy and when she came to see
us, it was because the people Daddy worked for wanted to make sure we were okay.
So they sent her to check on us. Does the man in the blue pickup parked down the
street work for the same people? Is that why Daddy knew we were in trouble?”
“Yes, Rene. That man works for the same people your Daddy works for. Your Daddy
works for some very scary people and that is why you have to be careful about what
you say. When you go back to school, everyone will ask you about what happened,
and you will have to tell them the story that your Daddy told you. Do you have any
questions about the story?” I asked, worried about what effect this perversion of truth
would have on my son. “How do you feel about having to tell this story?”
“If it is for my Daddy, I will do anything to help him. I know that he would do
anything for me, so I can do this for him.” he said proudly.
I thought to myself, yes, we would be fine, just fine. Although, frankly, I would not be
surprised to have Madeline swoop down on us and spirit us away to a new place to
start our lives all over again. I knew that I would protest. After all that had
happened, this had become our home. We belonged here. But I also knew that if she
threatened us with Michael, I would do anything to keep him safe, and to keep his son
safe. And this, Madeline knew well.
Sometimes the Dragons Are Real, Chapter 25
Almost a week had passed, and still no word had come to us about Michael.
Everyday at 3:30, Rene’s new watch sounded its alarm. Rene and I would stop what
we were doing and clasp hands and send our thoughts of love to Michael. And each
day, we would hope to hear from Michael. But the days passed and ... nothing.
“Mom, would they tell us if something bad happened to Daddy? What if he got sicker
after they took him away? What if we never know what happened?” Rene anguished
voice made me want to cry. I hated Madeline for putting him through this, because I
knew that the hand that held Michael away from us was Madeline’s.
“If we haven’t heard from your Daddy by tomorrow, we will go and track down our
shadow in the blue pickup and we will make him talk to us. Okay?” I vowed to Rene.
I also told myself that I would use the phone number that had been given to me to
use in an emergency. Rene’s unhappiness at this moment constituted an emergency
as far as I was concerned.
Rene smiled up at me sleepily and I kissed him, tucked the covers around him and
told him goodnight.
The next morning, Rene was off to school as usual. The day passed uneventfully as I
worked on my new book, and continued to worry about Michael and Rene. I went to
my address book and turned to the M page. I picked up the phone and dialed the
number that Madeline had given me so long ago. The phone rang several times and a
voice, not Madeline’s, mechanically asked me to leave a message.
Frustrated, I asked for Madeline to call me about Rene’s godfather, following the party
line cover story that she had engineered. I hung up and waited. And waited. And
finally, left to pickup Rene at 3:00. Our shadow hung back two or three cars behind
me all the way to the school and back. When I pulled into the driveway of our home,
Rene noticed that the blue pickup passed our house and continued down the street
without stopping.
“He’s gone, Mom. The guy in the blue pickup didn’t park down the street. He just
drove off. What’s going on?” he asked as he looked at me with a puzzled look on his
face. We went inside our home to wait for our Michael time.
Rene and I jumped at the small sound signaling 3:30 and focused on sending our
loving thoughts to Michael.
As if in answer to our thoughts, the doorbell rang. Rene’s eyes lit up in hope and he
ran to open the door. I was close on his heels, hoping hard for the miracle that Rene
wanted so badly.
He had the door open before I got there, and I heard his startled voice.
“What did you do to your hair, Daddy?” I caught up with Rene and saw what had
startled him.
Michael stood there, looking very pale and sporting a new haircut. His hair curled
wildly on the top of his head while the back and sides were close-cropped. A thick
white bandage covered the wound on the back of his head. “Well, the doctors started
it all by shaving the back of my head so that they could attend to the laceration back
there. They made a mess, so my barber did what he could. Like it?” he said smiling,
turning his head from side to side so we could see the results of his barber’s efforts.
Michael stood on our doorstep, waiting for our opinions of his new look and holding
his left arm across his mid-section to support what I knew were his still-healing ribs.
A large black canvas carry-all was sitting on the ground next to him.
“Well, I like it, how about you, Rene?” I prompted.
Rene wanted badly to hug his father, but he held himself back, not wanting to hurt
Michael’s ribs by hugging him.
“What, don’t I get a hug?” Michael said. It was all Rene needed. He rushed forward
and carefully put his arms around Michael’s neck as Michael sank down to his knees
to encircle Rene with his own arms.
“l like your new look, Daddy,” Rene said, as he hugged his father, ”but I like even
more that you are here with Mom and me.”
I noticed Michael wince in pain, but then I remembered what he had told Rene in the
Suburban before he had been taken away from us at the bank. And so Michael
endured the sweet pain of having his son in his arms once again. Rene stepped back
and looked into the eyes of his father.
“How long, Daddy?” he asked.
Michael looked at Rene and then up a me. “I am on two weeks’ medical leave. Can
you put up with me that long? He grinned, waiting for our answers.
“Sure, we can!” Rene and I both burst into laughter.
“Uh, Grace, I don’t think I can get up by myself. Can you and Rene help me?” he
said from his knees, and putting his hand on Rene’s shoulder and accepting my help
to pull himself to his feet. He was breathing hard and his pale skin was covered with
a fine sheen of perspiration from the effort of getting to his feet. Rene and I helped
him inside and led him to the sofa and lowered him carefully.
Michael was still in pain from his injuries, but he had come to his family to
recuperate. For the next two weeks, Rene and I would make sure that he got all the
rest and care that he needed. Michael was about to be pampered back to good
health. And Rene and I were greedy to have as much time with Michael as we could
get.
The dragonslayer had come home.
The End
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