City Limits
13
Breaking Fences
A Silent Calling
SEEING THE WOMAN just beyond his reach, there was only one thing Ryan could do. He stripped and dove into the water, gasping air into his shocked lungs. It took longer than he expected to wrestle the body onto the shelf of rock that jutted into the water. The ledge was a good foot above the surface and the water was deep. He had nothing to brace himself against as he pushed the girl onto the rock. But he didn’t give up. As soon as they were both on the ledge, he practiced all he had been taught in lifeguard training, forcing the water from her lungs and continuing artificial respiration until he felt her thready breath and heartbeat. Shannon lay at the edge of the quarry looking down on him. She talked him through the process, relaying instructions from the 911 operator. She dropped the blankets to him. He stripped the wet clothing off the young woman and warmed her with his body.
Four people were hospitalized.
Suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion, Ryan was kept in the hospital as his mother sat next to him all night.
Shannon was released to her parents early in the morning after being given a sedative for shock. She had seen an attempted murder, a kidnapping, and her boyfriend nearly drown while trying to rescue a woman from the frigid waters of the old quarry. Nothing but sleep and gentle caring could heal her.
Rena Lynd was in a coma. Apparently, her arm had hit the ledge on her way into the water, shattering the radius. Shannon guessed that it had taken at least fifteen minutes from the time Rena went over the edge until she was breathing again. The 911 call confirmed that it had been longer but no one knew if or for how long she had been technically dead. Doctors were more concerned about her unresponsiveness and were unsure why she was alive at all. Blood tests showed high amounts of RDH in her bloodstream, the chemical she had spent so much time in rehab purging just a month ago. No one sat beside Rena’s bed.
Karen Weisman…
“She’s comatose, Gee, and I don’t know if she’ll ever wake up.”
“I don’t know what else to say,” Dr. Poltanys said as they followed Karen’s gurney into the room. Aides carefully transferred her to the bed and made sure everything was correctly connected. A mask kept her breathing. Fluids were administered by IV. She was intubated to keep her air passages open and prevent her from swallowing her tongue. Gee moved to her side and held her hand as soon as the nurses had cleared a path. He looked back at Poltanys.
“What happened to her? Was she drugged?”
“In a manner of speaking. It appears she was forced to eat nuts. There were traces of the nutmeat still in her mouth and stomach. The chemical levels in her bloodstream are off the charts. Gee, I don’t know why she’s alive. Our best estimate is that the nuts had been in her system for at least eight hours before we got her here. There’s nothing we can do. The antidote won’t touch it this late in the game.”
“Nuts? She ate more than one?”
“I’m pretty sure she did. Maybe as many as half a dozen.”
“I love you. I love you, Karen. Please stay with me. Come through for us.”
Sunday had passed as had most of Monday with Gee sitting at Karen’s side. Jonathon and Jessie stood beside him talking softly. Finally, they each laid a hand on his shoulder.
“This is an intervention, Gee,” Jessie said softly. “Karen is not coming back to us with you sitting here smelling like you do. You haven’t eaten since Saturday morning. You haven’t bathed for longer still. Your clothes are caked with dirt from struggling through the wild woods. I think the only reason you’ve been allowed to stay is because Dr. Poltanys is afraid of you. Or afraid of his nurses.”
“Gee, you have to take a break. You need food, a shower, clean clothes, and sleep. It’s not an option any longer. You have to go home and get refreshed.”
“I can’t leave her. Not like this,” Gee cried. “I can’t leave her alone.”
“I’ll stay,” Jessie said. “Gee, she is not alone. Neither of you are. You haven’t even acknowledged your visitors. We practically had to force our way into the room with you. I will be with her and I will call you if there is any sign of change.”
“The doctor says she’s stable. You can’t help her by making yourself sick,” Jonathon said, pulling at Gee to get him to stand. Gee sighed and bent to kiss Karen’s forehead.
“I’ll be back soon, love,” he whispered. “I’ll take a shower and shave, then you can wake up and we’ll have breakfast. Okay? Okay. I love you.”
Gee stumbled after Jonathon as Jessie settled into his chair and held Karen’s hand.
Jonathon was concerned when Gee did not come back downstairs for dinner after his shower. He waited with the basket of fried chicken he’d picked up from KFC. After eating a piece, he decided to check on his friend.
Gee was sprawled out on the bed, a blanket pulled half over him, sound asleep.
Jonathon called his wife and told her he’d be with her as soon as he cleaned up the kitchen.
Gee was disoriented when he woke up. He reached for Karen and she wasn’t there. Opening his eyes to the empty spot beside him in bed, the events of the past three days flooded his mind and his eyes. He hurried through his morning routine, thankful that he had at least made it through his shower the night before. He carefully shaved and dressed before going downstairs in time to hear the doorbell. Rerouting himself from the kitchen to the front door, he opened it to find Wayne Savage waiting.
“Wayne. Hi. I was just…”
“…on your way to the hospital. I figured you’d be ready by now. I’ll drive,” his friend said.
“How did you know?”
“Word travels fast. Jonathon called me last night. He and Jessie were there until about midnight.”
“Karen was alone?”
“No. Jo Ransom came in to sit with Karen. She’s still there, but the poor girl is probably exhausted. I… uh… told her I’d drive her home this morning. After you get there,” Wayne said.
“Jo was there alone all night? We should get going.” Gee grabbed his Rose Hickory walking stick from next to the door. Somehow, he’d missed having it with him since he left the house so hurriedly on Saturday.
“Well… not exactly. I met her at the hospital Sunday. You were pretty out of it, so you might not remember all the people who were there to see you and Karen. Anyway, Jo and I got to talking and… well, we went out to dinner last night and then Jonathon called and Jo insisted on going to the hospital and I just stayed to… you know… keep her company. I left the hospital about half an hour ago to come get you.” Wayne was clearly a little embarrassed about seeing Jo Ransom socially and spending the night with her in Karen’s room, though Gee could not imagine why. It was exactly the kind of thing he would do himself.
“It took half an hour to get here from the hospital?”
“No. Uh… careful where you sit. There’s a cup of Birdie’s coffee in the cup holder. She sent along some breakfast for you. Said something about you knowing what she puts in it.” Wayne turned a puzzled look to Gee.
“Mmm. French toast. Must have mixed chicken blood with the eggs.”
“Gee?”
“You know, voodoo magic. Oh, this is good. I don’t remember when I ate last. And she included bacon.”
They rode the rest of the way to the hospital in silence as Gee ate breakfast and drank his coffee, thankful for the friends he had made in Rosebud Falls.
“I’m back, sweetheart,” Gee said as he bent over Karen to kiss her forehead. He’d gone straight to his love before greeting Jo and missed the greeting she gave Wayne.
As Gee bent next to Karen, his hickory stick leaned into the bed and touched the back of her hand. Her hand grabbed the stick with such force that it was nearly jerked from Gee’s grip. Karen took a huge gulp of air, her eyes flying open. She stared ahead, gasping, her hand trying to reach the tube in her throat.
“Call the doctor!” Gee yelled, fumbling for the call button by Karen’s head. She convulsed and gasped for air, throwing her head from side to side. A nurse pushed Gee aside, but he could only move a foot away. Karen continued to clutch the stick that he still held.
Ellie rushed into the room and assessed the situation as she tried to calm Karen from the other side of the bed. She carefully reached across and held Karen still while she removed the tube from her throat. Karen moaned through her frantic gasps, finally calming as she looked around and eventually looking at Gee’s walking stick held in her hand.
“What do we have?” Dr. Poltanys demanded crisply.
“Patient is awake and responding to her surrounding,” Ellie intoned. “Intubation removed as it was causing her distress. She seems to have calmed. Heart rate is slightly elevated, but blood pressure has returned to normal.”
Poltanys examined Karen’s eyes, still locked on the stick.
“Karen, can you hear me? Look at me.” Karen’s eyes snapped up to look at the doctor. “That’s good. Let me just check your pupils. A bit of a shock to wake up with a tube in your throat, wasn’t it? That’s better now.” His voice was calm and soothing as he continued his examination of her responses. She tracked his finger as he moved it in front of her face and raised a hand to point at the mask that covered her nose. Poltanys carefully removed it. “How are you feeling?” he asked gently.
“Uh… Drunk.”
“That’s an interesting way to describe it. You’ve suffered the same kind of overdose that Gee did a few weeks ago. You remember Gee, don’t you?” Poltanys said. Karen’s heart rate and blood pressure monitors appeared to stabilize as she looked over at Gee.
“Love.”
“I love you, Karen,” Gee responded. She smiled.
“I hurt. All over.”
“Let’s get you something for pain. You took a pretty good beating along with everything else.”
“Dragged me by the hair. Like a caveman.”
“I’m sorry to say you lost a bit over your left ear. But you were punched, too.”
“Hit me when I wouldn’t eat the nut. Then he shoved it in my mouth and poured water down my throat. Need water.”
Ellie held a straw to Karen’s lips and she took a sip to soothe her throat from the rawness of the tube.
“He made you eat a nut!” Gee said. “Oh, Karen! You lived through the nut.”
“Seven. He named them as I ate them. After the first one, I just chewed and swallowed. I knew it wouldn’t make a difference after one. I would be just as dead.” Karen’s eyes squinted together as Dr. Poltanys directed Ellie regarding the painkillers he wanted administered. “I’m alive.”
“You’re alive, Karen,” Poltanys said. The other nurse left and Ellie was back with a handheld recorder. “Karen, how many nuts did you eat?”
“Seven.”
“He named them?”
“One for each Family. ‘This is Roth,’ he said. ‘This is Nussbaum.’ He cracked the nut and shoved the meat in my mouth and I ate it. I feel a little dizzy.”
“That’s the painkillers kicking in. Feeling better now?” Poltanys asked.
“Better. Still drunk.”
“That might take longer. Can you let go of Gee’s stick now?”
“Don’t want to. He’s still talking,” Karen said. Her eyes drifted closed and she sighed. “Says I need to sleep now.” With that, her breathing evened into the regular breaths of sleep.
“I’ll be damned,” Poltanys said. He continued to look at the young woman and shook his head. “I’d suggest you just stay with her for a while and let her hold your… that.” He shook his head again. He looked at Ellie and then at Wayne and Jo who continued to watch from a corner of the room. “We are all going to try hard… not to make jokes about that.” Poltanys left the room and after Ellie gave Gee a quick hug, she followed the doctor. Gee busied himself smoothing Karen’s hair with one hand while his other drifted down the hickory stick to cover her hand.
“I guess that’s settled,” Jo said with a little giggle.
“What?” Wayne asked.
“The succession. I’m sure not going to eat a nut. I just… I can’t believe what I just saw,” Jo said.
“He said… the grandfather said… he was trying to reach me but couldn’t find me until you touched me with a part of him,” Karen whispered to Gee after she’d awakened and had been checked over once more. “I have to… visit… the Family trees.”
“Family trees? Genealogy?” Gee asked.
“Oh. No. Every family has a Rose Hickory. It is on their estate. The Roth Family tree is next to the river in front of Ben’s mansion. Poltanys is in the middle of the Hilltop Retirement Village where their original home stood. I’m not sure about the others. But every Family has a tree,” Karen said.
“I saw one. Collin Meagher said the nut he ate came from the tree in his yard.”
“Of course. That would make sense. The nuts I ate came from the wild woods. The one you ate, from the grandfather tree in the Forest. But every Family has a tree.”
“Karen, my love, are you still feeling… um… drunk?”
“Yes. No. It’s different than that. I’m still feeling connected. I’m not completely certain what is real and what isn’t. I look around and see my study at home and then I blink my eyes and see the hospital. You… were a little drunk when you ate a nut, too,” she said.
“I didn’t think of it exactly that way, but I knew about vision quests.”
“How?”
“I… Karen? I was… on a vision quest when I came here. It was…” he squeezed his eyes closed trying to recall this remnant from his past before it slipped away again. “I was to go home. To here.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
“No. Just that I needed to come home. And here is home. Rosebud Falls.”
“We’ll figure this out, won’t we?” Karen asked.
“I think we know what we are supposed to know. I don’t think it was my memory. I think it was grandfather tree telling me I’m home.”
Interrogation
GEE AWOKE lying next to Karen in her hospital bed Wednesday, much the way she had joined him when he was injured. They lay with the Rose Hickory staff between them, both gripping its smooth surface. Julia was gently nudging Gee awake.
“I’m sorry to disturb you,” the nurse said softly. “It’s going to be a busy day and you both need to be prepared.”
“Don’t leave,” Karen moaned. “We were just about to make love.”
“Karen?” Gee whispered. “You should wake up, sweetheart. Um… we’re in the hospital, not at home.”
“Oh? Oh!” she said as her eyes flew open and took in their surroundings. “Um… Forget what I said, okay?”
“Must have been a good dream,” Julia laughed. “Okay, you two. Dr. Poltanys and Dr. Gaston want to run a series of tests this morning to determine if you have all your faculties, Karen. You seem to fade in and out a lot. I’m afraid it’s going to be a rigorous morning. Then… the DA is not satisfied with the interview you gave the sheriff yesterday. She wants confirmation that you are cognizant of your surroundings and can answer questions lucidly, then she wants the whole interview again. Preferably without talking to grandfather tree.”
“This is going to be a miserable day,” Karen sighed. “What do I have to do first?”
“First, you need to let go of Gee’s walking stick. He needs to go home and shower and shave so he’s as fresh and able as you are. You are going to get a shower and scrubs so you don’t need to do the physical tests in a gown. Maybe Gee could bring some sweats back for you.”
“Where are my clothes?”
“Uh… honey, when we found you, you were… naked on the bare wood floor of a shack in the woods. I don’t believe anyone found your clothes.”
“Was… was I raped, too?”
“Dr. Poltanys should be taking these questions,” Julia said. “A rape kit was part of the standard procedure for the condition you were in, though they had a lot to deal with Sunday morning. I can tell you that it appeared you’d been violated but there was no DNA evidence.”
Karen turned her head to Gee’s shoulder and cried.
“I’m sorry we have to go through all this again, Miss Weisman,” Sheriff Johnson said. Detective Oliver had joined him for the questioning and Gretchen LaCoe sat next to her. “We’re just looking for a clue. Who would have wanted you dead?”
Karen snorted. “Do you read my articles in the Mirror? Offhand, I’d say there are about five hundred suspects accumulated over the past two years. That’s what? One out of eight people in Rosebud Falls?” They sat at a conference table in the hospital which was better than the proposed bedside interview. Karen would be far more comfortable, though, if she was dressed in a suit instead of sweats. And if Gee was with her. They’d insisted on a private interview.
“Let’s start with why you were at the quarry,” Johnson said. “Earlier, you said that Rena Lynd called you. Can you describe the call?”
“She was distraught. I had to ask twice who it was. She was crying that she couldn’t hide any longer. She was hungry and scared.”
“Did she say who she was hiding from?”
“Just ‘them.’ I was concerned for her safety and she wanted me to meet her at the quarry, so I dashed off a note to Gee and drove down there. The gate at SSG was open, so I just drove in,” Karen said. The sheriff made a note.
“Why didn’t you call the police if you thought there was a woman in distress and in danger?”
Karen sighed deeply and looked at the sheriff and detective with an eyebrow raised. “I’m an investigative reporter. My first thought is always to protect my sources. And she begged me to come alone. I falsely assumed there would be time to call in reinforcements if I discovered they were needed.”
“We’ve always tried to have a good relationship with you and the media,” Detective Oliver said.
“I know, Mead. I’ll think twice before I walk into that kind of situation again.”
“You say you didn’t see the man who attacked you, but you were alerted to his presence by Rena. Did she recognize him?” Johnson asked.
“She seemed to. And she was frightened of him. Before I could turn around, though, he’d slapped something across my face that made me faint. I screamed… or I thought I did. Now I think it was Rena who screamed.”
“Do you have any idea who it was? Did you recognize the voice? See anything about him?”
“I know who I want it to be,” Karen said. “Rena told me she loved him and he didn’t have to drug her. I think the only person she could have been describing is the preacher at Calvary Tabernacle. When her chaperone from rehab, Liz, spoke to me about the church, she indicated that Rena was totally infatuated with the preacher.”
“Both of those, sadly, are hearsay. Unless Rena recovers and can positively tell us who pushed her over the edge, we have no evidence.”
“How is she?”
“Unchanged. She had nearly as high a level of RDH in her blood as she had when she was brought in after the incident at the market,” Oliver said. “Dr. Gaston said that the shock of hitting the ledge and the cold water may have helped her purge her stomach, but it was too late to purge her bloodstream. He believes the coma is a direct result of the overdose.”
“So, you want control of the Family so badly that you’d go to this extreme,” Leah snarled at Karen later in the afternoon.
“Leah, I didn’t choose this.”
“Silence, both of you,” growled Benjamin as he leaned shakily on his cane next to Karen’s bed. As far as Karen knew, it was the first time the old man had been outside his mansion in five years. “Leah, if you want to challenge her, you know what you have to do. As of this moment, Karen Weisman is The Roth.”
“I’m angry, but I’m not stupid,” Leah said. “I’ll sign over all the accounts and powers of attorney you’ve given me as soon as she is out of the hospital.”
“No, Leah,” Karen said. “Please. You are managing everything on behalf of Ben, please continue to manage it on my behalf. I didn’t plan for this and I didn’t prepare for it. Please help me help the Family.”
“Really?”
“We’ve known for years that you didn’t have anyone to take over after you,” Ben said to Leah. “I know you love your sons but putting the Family leadership into any one of their hands would mean the end of the Family. I concur with Karen. You’ve done a good job. This isn’t about your ability, but what comes after.”
“Please continue as administrator of the Family estate. I reviewed all the records after you gave me my share of the Forest and your decisions and votes have always been right on. I’ll sign my one share back into the pool. I was also impressed with the way you have managed the real estate. The Family business is in good hands under your management and maybe by the time you want to retire, you will have trained me, or my heir, well enough to take over,” Karen said.
“I have nothing against you, Karen. I thought at one time of adopting you and making you my heir,” Leah said. “This was just so sudden.”
“Tell me about it,” Karen said.
“Gee,” Leah continued, “over the past few years, I have used my own resources and those of my husband to acquire a stake in SSG of forty-seven thousand shares. At the annual meeting, my attorney discovered what a paltry influence that has. I would like you to take the proxy for my shares and continue to vote your conscience to the benefit of the City and the Forest and the Family.”
“I’ll do my best, Leah.”
Trick or Treat
“YOU HAVE TO GO NOW,” Karen said. “Everything you need is in the pantry. I stocked up a week ago. I can’t stand the idea of all the children coming to the house and you not being there to hand out treats.”
“I can’t believe there are that many children in our neighborhood,” Gee laughed.
“There aren’t. But I let it slip to Ms. Tomczyk that you would be handing out Halloween treats and she sort of let it out to the parents who bring their children to the Bookhouse. Um… word might have gotten around the school, too.”
“Oh my. I’d better get home and get ready.”
“Gee!”
“Hello, my little buddy.”
“Tick-r-teat!”
“You bet. Do you have a trick for me?” Devon’s eyes got big and he turned toward his Mom and Dad a few steps away.
“I sing!” he exclaimed happily. It was the ABC song and Devon got all the words right and some of the tune. Gee happily gave his little friend a chocolate candy bar.
“Oooh. You give out the good stuff,” Marian said.
“What do I have to do to get one of those?” Nathan laughed. Gee reached in his bag and threw a candy bar to each of his friends.
“That’s because you are accompanying my best friend,” Gee said. He called the parents close. “Watch out for him. Especially around here. I don’t think the attack on Karen was the last gambit in throwing the annexation vote,” he whispered.
“Is this ever going to end?” Marian asked. Nathan took his son’s hand.
“After Tuesday, win or lose, there will no longer be a reason for all this tension. I hope.”
“Is that why you are sitting outside instead of opening the door when the bell rings tonight?” Nathan asked.
“Yes. It lets me see who is approaching and I can watch the kids on the street.”
“Well, yours is the only house on this block and we aren’t going to stay in this neighborhood. We just wanted Devon to see his Gee.” Marian said.
“You know I’ll do everything in my power to protect him,” Gee said.
“And all the other kids of our City. Thank you, Gee,” Nathan answered.
A group of six kids, all dressed as hickory shakers were headed up the drive.
“You’ve got a fan club,” Marian laughed as they left.
Kids dressed as shakers, foresters, and even in their normal picker clothes seemed to be a prevalent theme among the trick-or-treaters. He was glad Karen had stocked up with a huge supply of candy bars. He wasn’t sure there would be any left at the end of the night. Several kids sang the hickory song when Gee asked for a trick. One group—led by his little nemesis, Sally Ann Metzger—screamed and fell down on their shaker poles, mimicking Gee’s fall from the tree. Gee repeated his warning to all the parents and chaperones who escorted kids to his door, but he didn’t spot any unusual activity on the street that signaled danger.
The last group of kids to approach his house, just before he decided it was time to turn off the lights at nine o’clock, were teenagers. They were dressed in more elaborate costumes than most of the younger children wore. Gee recognized several popular superheroes and comic characters among them.
“Do you… uh… allow teens to trick or treat here?” the lead girl asked as she was pushed forward by her boyfriend. They were dressed as Wonder Woman and Captain America.
“When someone comes to my door in great costumes like yours, I’m happy to give you treats. Have you guys had fun tonight?”
“Yeah. There are only a few houses we know that allow teens. We took a chance on yours, Gee.”
“Uh… Gee…” Captain America said. “Shannon and me… We were the ones who saw that girl go over the cliff at the quarry. I’ve never been so frightened. We figured out what our real responsibility was, though.”
“Ryan figured it out and made me call 911 while he saved that woman’s life. It’s made us all think, though. I was afraid to act because I didn’t want anyone to know that Ryan and I had run off to make love. He showed me that no matter how embarrassing, we have to set aside our personal fears to do what’s right.”
Gee laughed. “Your quick action probably saved two lives. Come on, guys. Have a seat on the ledge and tell me what you’ve all been thinking.” They milled about and eventually the dozen or so teens all had a place to sit and a candy bar. Another of the teens spoke. He was dressed in a Superman outfit and Gee didn’t think the muscles were padded.
“I’m Viktor, Mr. Gee. You know me and James from basketball. We… well, some of us are from Rosebud and some from Flor. But we all figured out how brave Ryan and Shannon had to be to go to the police and face the anger of their parents. We all knew they were going steady, but no one would ever out them.” Shannon buried her face against her boyfriend’s chest in embarrassment. “Anyway, after they did what they did, we got together and decided we needed to be brave like them. Like you.”
“Like me?”
“We’ve all noticed. You just do what’s right, no matter what. We’re going to do that too,” a very tall young woman dressed as Elastigirl stepped forward.
“You tell, ’im, Stretch.”
“Must you do that, Dash?”
“You could only be Luke and Colleen Zimmer’s kids. Right?”
“Yeah. I’m Alyson and the imbecile is Barrett.”
“I’ve played basketball with you, too,” Barrett added.
“And how are you being brave now, Alyson.”
“I’m standing up.”
“Huh?”
“I’ve always been ashamed of… my height. I’ve been the tallest girl in my class since kindergarten. I hate it. But I’m going to stand up straight. I’m six-one and I don’t even like sports. I can’t get a date and I don’t care anymore. I’m going to stand up and be proud.”
“Hey, wait! I’ll date you. I thought you’d like shoot me down.”
“You’d date anyone, Viktor. Is there anyone else in our class you haven’t taken out?”
“Yeah, but um… maybe you’re who I’ve been hunting for.”
“Give it a shot, Alyson!”
“Um… well…”
“How about being my date to the dance after the game Friday night,” Viktor said.
“Really?”
“Hey, we just all agreed to start being brave. I’m bravely asking you out in front of all these people. Don’t shoot me down. Please?”
“Um… Okay. The dance. I’ll wear flats.”
“Not on my account. I love looking up to you.”
“Okay, so you guys have all decided to be brave. What’s that really mean?” Gee asked the kids.
“Well, what Ryan and Shannon did was brave. What Viktor and Alyson just did was brave. I guess being brave means stopping being afraid,” Barrett said.
“I’m afraid almost all the time,” Gee said.
“But…”
“Having courage doesn’t mean not having fears but it’s about not letting them stop you from doing what’s right. It’s watching out for each other and for your community. Let your ideals guide you instead of your fears.”
“Wow. Thanks, Gee. Um… I guess we just wanted you to know that we… and there’s more than just those of us standing here… We’ve got your back,” Ryan said. Gee shook hands with each of the dozen kids, knowing that he wasn’t alone as champion for Rosebud Falls.
Karen did not return home with Gee for the rest of the week. He sat with her in her room, but she didn’t want to go outside at all. He picked up a new cell phone for her Thursday. He told her about his encounter with the teens on Halloween and that produced the first genuine smile that he’d seen.
“I’m getting better,” Karen said. “Really, Gee. I’m just so frightened sometimes. But these kids got the right message. I’m going to do the right thing.”
“God! If there was anyone braver than you two, the world couldn’t stand it,” Julia said as she fussed with Karen’s bedside and helped her apply a little makeup.
“What’s going on?” Gee asked. “This seems like exceptional service, Julia.”
“Command performance,” Julia answered. “Karen is going home soon, but there were some people who couldn’t wait to visit you.” There was a knock on the door and people started filing into the room. Gee had assumed that it would be the hospital staff who wanted to say goodbye, but Jessie and Jonathon stepped in, followed by Jo and Wayne. The Warren twins, Leslie and Stefan, went to stand by their cousin Julia. Gee wasn’t sure if he was as surprised as Karen when Troy Cavanaugh brought Violet Lanahan into the room, followed by Cameron LaCoe and the entire quartet. The room was crowded, but after everyone said hi, they edged toward the walls and gave the Nussbaums room to perform. By the time the quartet had filled the room with ‘The Voice Within,’ a crowd had gathered in the hall, crying and swaying to the music. People applauded and went back to their work, somehow filled with new hope.
Gee looked around the room, touched that the group of friends had come to wish them well and lend their support. But then he noticed something else. Every Family was represented in the room. And all the heirs of the war orphans. He looked curiously at Julia and she smiled.
“Stefan and Leslie were afraid that fourteen was too young to participate, so I told them I’d stand with them,” she said.
“What’s going on?”
“We came to see Karen and you because we respect you and look to you for guidance. This group represents three things,” Wayne said. “First and foremost, we all consider ourselves to be your friends. We all wanted to stand in one room and tell you that.”
“Thank you,” Karen said. “I don’t think we could ask for better friends.”
“Second,” Troy took up the narrative, “we represent the youngest adult generation of the Families. There are some who are younger, but even Leslie and Stefan wanted to be here. We’ll all be looking at a new generation soon and none of us know what role they’ll play in the coming era. I look out my window on Main Street and I can see a change has taken place in this City in just the past few months. The fight over the annexation has divided us and I think we might be on the brink of losing. Karen, your voice has been pulling people together. We miss it. We need you as a representative of all the Families. After all, you ate a nut for each of us.”
“I… I didn’t do it to take control of the Families,” Karen said. “I didn’t even want to lead my own Family.”
“We didn’t ask you to take control, Karen,” Julia said. “We asked you to represent. You and Troy have the loudest voices in our City. We want you to use them.”
“Which brings us to the third reason we’re here,” Elaine joined in, surprising everyone. “Jo, Jessie, Jonathon, Wayne, Stefan and Leslie, Violet, and my cousins and I are the heirs of the seven heroes and their trusts. We’ve already given you our proxies to represent us at SSG. It’s important because SSG controls the mineral and resource rights to most of the annex—including the wild woods. We don’t want our grandparents and their fathers to just unite the Families. Our real trust is the Forest, and Gee, you were selected by the Forest as the head of the Forest Family. We desperately need you to unite the wild woods with the Forest so it is all protected. Maybe that’s not why you thought you came to Rosebud Falls but it’s why we all choose you to be our champion.” Elaine took a deep breath as if it was the first one she’d take since she sang. She turned and buried her head against Cameron’s chest as Krystal and Gail held the two of them together.
Lies, Lies, Damn Lies
LATE FRIDAY NIGHT, Gee was getting ready to settle next to Karen in the narrow hospital bed when her phone chimed. She was being released in the morning and reached for the phone automatically.
Karen looked at the text message and showed him the phone. He barely caught it when it fell from her hand and she began sobbing. A text message said, ‘We aren’t through with you yet, little girl.’ Attached to the message was a photo of a house in the Orchard Project with a swing set in the yard.
“That’s…”
“The house where my little playmate was abducted fifteen years ago,” Karen finished. “They are threatening me with her.”
“Are you sure?” Gee asked. “That’s the house where Wayne lives.”
“I know what I have to do,” Karen sighed when she got home from the hospital with Gee on Saturday morning. They’d picked up a copy of the day’s Mirror on the way home and read it with increasing foreboding. “I just hope I haven’t waited too long.”
“At least one of us knows what she’s supposed to do,” Gee said. “I still don’t know how to fulfill all their hopes for the Forest.”
“It will come to you,” Karen said, kissing him. “I want to make love. Then I need to write. I need to tell the truth.”
“Mr. Savage, I have a proposal,” Gee said to Wayne’s grandfather.
“Gee, I think we’ve established that I’m just Pàl. What’s the proposal? You know you can just direct the company.”
“I’m not comfortable with that. I want to know that what I propose is really for the best.”
“That’s one of the reasons we’ve all been so comfortable assigning our proxies to you. You now hold well-over the two-thirds majority that it would take to overturn any corporate decision. But you are not willing to exercise that power. What’s your proposal?”
“I’m still pretty new at this, so let me know if I’m out of line. I understand that the land out here doesn’t actually belong to Savage Sand and Gravel. Who does it belong to?” Gee asked.
“I don’t know, Gee. I know that sounds strange. For all intents and purposes, I suppose we could stake a claim to it. Adverse possession. Yet, SSG really only leased the mineral and resource rights. The Savage Family only ever used them for quarrying the limestone that built our City. But somewhere along the line, the Savages acquired a trusteeship for the actual owners. Under that trust, we’ve used the lease fees and royalties from SSG to pay the taxes, and even sign the renewable lease. I’m not sure even my grandfather was aware of who the actual beneficiary of the trust is.”
“It seems then that SSG has practical control over the land and the lease. I understand the church subleases the land on which it is built.”
“And I’m going to put an end to that,” Pàl growled. “They signed a fifty-year lease and it is up in two years. They’ll have to move.”
“Oh. Well. I don’t know how to deal with that. I won’t be sad to see them go. But, if SSG was able to lease land to the church, couldn’t it lease the wild woods to the City?” Gee asked. “We really need to get it under management of the foresters.”
“Hmm. That’s good thinking, Gee. Until we can arrange something more permanent. But maybe not leased to the City. The Forest is inside the City Limits but is independently owned and operated. Mostly, if I understand correctly, it was set up that way so it couldn’t be influenced by local politics. We’ve certainly seen enough instances of public lands being taken out of the public trust and given to developers to exploit lately. The independent ownership of the Forest protects it from changes in political and economic winds.”
“So, we could lease it to the Forest?”
“Let me make some calls, Gee. I’ve been gone from this town for sixty years. Like you, I need advice from those who know better than I do. Let’s see if we can make this happen.”
“I’m glad you came in, Cameron. Frankly, I have no idea what to do with this. I’m worried we could be sued for libel.”
“Did you check with Dad? I mean Jack?”
“Yes. He verified that Karen has legitimate sources who must remain anonymous for their safety. He would not, of course, verify the content of the quotes,” Axel said.
“Damn, it’s a whole book. What’s this come out to?”
“Close to one hundred eighty column inches. We’ll have to ditch nearly every story we currently have laid out,” Axel sighed. He could see a long night ahead.
“No. Put it to bed the way it is and start printing.”
“We won’t run this?”
“We will. I want a full four-page wrapper around the whole paper with just this story. Give me six column inches in the bottom right corner of the front page to run an official disclaimer indicating what Karen went through last weekend and the results of her kidnapping and coma. I’m not going to make her into a liar, but I want it clear that she’s the one who did the research. Give me a screamer in two lines at the top of the page. A three-column picture of that shack where she was found under the headline. The interior shot where she was barely covered by the blanket before the medics moved her.”
Axel was shocked. They’d intentionally not run that photo in the original story of Karen’s abduction and rescue. She was still unconscious at the time. A photo that size would lap beneath the fold. He couldn’t remember a headline like this since he’d seen the D-Day headline in the archives.
“Get every picture you can to support the story. If we need to send Kelly out to the quarry for more, send her. I want a three-column picture that the girl took of her boyfriend rescuing the Lynd woman on page two.”
“We didn’t run that because he’s a minor.”
“I’ll get permission. He’s a hero. Little picture of the church and one of SSG. See what else we have. File picture of the preacher? Here’s the skinny. Karen’s text and as many photos as it takes to fill the four pages with nice organized subheads. No ads and no other articles. I’ll have edited copy to you by the time you get the rest of the paper to bed.”
Axel’s evening—all night—was committed. The newspaper he’d worked at for as long as his publisher had been alive was going to start a war.
On Election Day.
“Ah, would you mind a little walk through town? Maybe breakfast at Jitterz?” Karen asked as she stretched luxuriously in her lover’s arms.
“Of course. Thinking you’ll spot anything?” Gee answered, nibbling on her ear. Karen reached for her phone.
“No text messages. No word. It just seems strange that Axel didn’t even call to tell me he wouldn’t run the story. I’d like to see the paper.”
“He’s probably still reeling from shock.”
They walked the mile into the downtown area, stopping in front of The Elmont Mirror for a newspaper on the way to Jitterz. Karen held the paper up for Gee to see.
“You did it.” He smiled at her. “Let’s get our coffee and read about the chaos to come.”
“Karen Weisman is passing right outside the window here on Main Street,” Troy Cavanaugh’s voice said through the speakers in front of WRZF. “Karen, will you come into the studio for an impromptu interview? And look, we have City Champion Gee Evars here as well.” They looked through the window of the studio and saw Troy frantically waving for them to step inside.
“And so it begins,” Karen said. She led Gee into the studio where an assistant of Troy’s was quickly arranging a microphone, and chairs for Karen and Gee in front of Troy’s broadcast desk.
“This is an unscheduled interview,” Troy continued. “But it seems that everything happening on this Election Day is a little surprising. I have with me newspaper reporter Karen Weisman, who has just laid a bombshell on Rosebud Falls with her article in this morning’s Mirror. With her is City Champion, George Evars, whom we all know as Gee. Welcome Karen and Gee.”
“Thank you, Troy.”
“Let’s get right to this headline. I don’t think there has been type this big on the front page since Pearl Harbor. ‘LIES! LIES! DAMN LIES!’ the headline says. The story is a scathing condemnation of the seven Families of Rosebud Falls, the Savage Sand and Gravel company, and the Calvary Tabernacle. Is there anyone in town you haven’t called out, Karen?”
“This story has been hidden from the people of Rosebud Falls for more than seventy-five years, Troy. Even within the Families, few of us knew the truth about why the last annexation of South Rosebud failed and why it is so important for it to succeed today,” Karen said.
“The story says that the Families have been protecting the citizens from the truth about the Forest for two hundred years,” Troy read. “Is it a dangerous truth? That seems like a noble thing to do.”
“It does, Troy. And the Family heads of that time probably did their best in setting up the structure we have. But if you read the comments the Family representatives made in interviews with me, you find them filled with City spirit, the economic value of the annexation, the benefits of extended services, and even Jan Poltanys’ statement that it’s just the right thing to do. They lied to us—to the people. The real reason to annex South Rosebud is the wild woods. Everyone has known for generations that the Rose Hickory nuts are poisonous. It seems like once every few years, someone just has to try one and we put up another gravestone. But what they have hidden amidst all the great benefits we derive from the Forest is that fact that these nuts can also be distilled for nefarious purposes. Specifically, the new designer drug Lustre and its evil cousin Lustre Plus are made from Rose Hickory nuts. And those nuts have been harvested from the wild woods. We must bring this area under control before environmental and drug task forces come in to terminally wipe out the threat.”
“This implies—well, more than implies—that someone has been harvesting nuts from the wild woods and operating a drug lab somewhere. And since SSG owns the mineral and resource rights to that parcel, it points directly at one of Rosebud Falls’ oldest employers,” Troy said.
“And the church that makes itself at home there. Until Harvest this year, the directors of the company and its CEO were all members of Calvary Tabernacle, making their decisions based on the directives of the church. A shareholder revolt at the last annual meeting suddenly ousted them.”
“Karen, the article goes on to say that a member of the congregation and an impartial observer have both reported that it appears the communion elements served in the church every Sunday are laced with the drug Lustre. Who is this member and observer?” Troy asked.
“For their safety, their identities must remain anonymous.”
“Safety?”
“Need I remind you that both Gee and I have been attacked and another woman still lies in a coma after the events of last weekend.”
“What should the people—the voters—of Rosebud Falls do?”
“There’s a new order in Rosebud Falls. This is less an election than a revolution of the next generation—both Family and non-Family—claiming a birthright that should have been theirs long ago. We are cleaning house and doing what’s right. That is why it is so important to pass the annexation on the ballot today. It isn’t about resources, fire and police services, or a blot on our landscape. This is purely and simply Rosebud Falls claiming its heritage and protecting the Forest and the citizens. And it starts by making South Rosebud part of our city.”
“I don’t want to drag you back into the horrifying experience of being kidnapped and drugged last weekend, but was this the trigger for your attack against the Families, SSG, and the church today?” Troy asked. Karen took a deep breath as the horror of that night washed over her again. She shook it off when Gee reached for her hand.
“I read the sidebar to the story just as we were walking up the street,” Karen began. “It implies that my experience left me feeling vulnerable. Well, as you said, I’d been kidnapped, drugged… and raped. But I went to the quarry that day because a frightened woman was hiding there. And while tortured and drugged, I still found evidence that the Families had lied about the importance of the annex and the church was complicit in manufacturing the drug. The picture on the front page of the paper today is the shack in the woods where I was found that horrid night. This was not merely someone’s hideaway in the wilderness. Forensic evidence shows that the shack had been a sophisticated manufacturing facility where OUR NUTS were being processed into dangerous drugs. We cannot let this survive today’s election. We must annex South Rosebud and put the ideals of Rosebud Falls to work at cleaning up this mess.”
Seeds of Revolution
“AH, THE COUPLE of the hour,” Birdie said as Gee and Karen finally walked into Jitterz. “Have you voted yet?”
“Next stop, Mizz Birdie,” Karen said. “We needed to assess the situation downtown before we go up to the library to vote.”
“Here’s your coffee,” Elaine said.
“Thank you, Elaine,” Gee responded, paying for the drinks and a couple of breakfast sandwiches.
Birdie pulled a chair up next to where they sat.
“All hell’s going to break loose,” she said softly. “I hear the kids… the ones on their way to the high school… talking. I don’t say anything, so they assume I don’t hear anything. When they see a quiet adult day after day who never condemns or interrupts them, they tend to forget she has ears. Today, they are talking about needing courage.” She cast an eye at Gee. “Your names come up. They talk about the fence that separates the wild woods from the city. They nod. They say tonight.”
“They’ll tear down the fence,” Karen said.
“They need adult supervision. Help,” Birdie agreed. Both she and Karen looked at Gee.
“I… need to talk to some people,” Gee said. “Will you be okay getting to the library and then home, love?”
“It’s going to be a lot of work,” Jonathon said. “I don’t think they know what they’re getting into. It’s a mile of chain link. A couple dozen kids aren’t going to just shake it down with their bare hands.”
“We need to be there to help,” Jessie said as she looked over her husband’s shoulder at the map spread out on the foresters’ conference table. “They’ll follow the same path we used when we were teens. They’ll go from Flor del Día across the creek and then south.”
“We cut the fence here last weekend and only did a quick fix afterward,” Jonathon said, pointing at a spot along the border.
“If we set up with some tools at that point, and get the kids focused on taking down the fence to the west, that’s probably all we’ll need,” Gabe surmised. The old forester had worked in the area for forty years.
“How do you figure, Gabe?” Jessie asked.
“Removing chain link fence is hard work. It’s heavy. By the time they reach the creek, they’ll be exhausted. And it’s a good endpoint. They can feel they opened the Forest, even though it’s just three hundred yards.”
“We need to make sure they clean up their mess,” Gee said. “They can’t just tear down the fence and leave it there. It has to be removed.”
“There might be one of the small tractor trailer combinations left out there with the keys in it,” Jonathon said, smiling. They agreed to meet after dark.
It was after sundown. They election was over. The radio had been reporting the projected results since four in the afternoon. He quietly entered the hospital room. Somehow this girl—this young woman—had come to represent the entire battle to him. He took her hand and knelt at the bedside to pray earnestly for her soul.
“Lance Beck, step away from the bed,” a voice demanded from the doorway. Detective Mead Oliver stood there backed up by two uniformed police officers with their guns drawn. “You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Rena Lynd and for the assault, kidnapping, and attempted murder of Karen Weisman.”
“No! That can’t be. It’s a mistake. I’m a man of God,” Beck said as he stood. Dave McCarron moved behind him and cuffed his hands.
“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you?”
“No. Yes. I understand, but this is all a mistake. She is a precious child of God. I would never hurt her.”
“Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?”
“No. Maybe. I should have a lawyer. This is all a big mistake.”
The preacher looked again at the comatose girl and a tear trickled down his cheek.
“I love you.”
Pitchforks and Torches
GEE MOVED among the high schoolers and quietly talked to them as they marched from Flor del Día to the south edge of the Forest. He was surprised at the number of kids he met. He expected a couple dozen. He saw a couple hundred.
“How did you know we’d be here?” Ryan asked Gee as they walked through the peaceful Forest. Flashlights lit their way and Gee was pleased to see that most of the kids had gloves at least. A few carried tools of various sorts.
“It’s a brave thing to do. And it’s hard to keep a mob like this a secret.”
Foresters joined the group, one or two at a time, as they walked. Their friendly demeanor was something the kids were used to from their first orientations and the foresters were their allies in caring for the Forest. The foresters talked about the need to protect the Forest while they worked and how to most efficiently remove the fence. By the time they had walked the half-mile to the fence line, the crowd had swelled even more, and kids were surprised to find some of their parents silently waiting. Ewan Moffat and Jim O’Rourke stood near the cut mark where Ryan and Shannon led the high schoolers. The young couple walked straight up to their fathers.
“Dad, this is my boyfriend, Ryan Moffat,” Shannon started. Before her father could respond, Ryan joined in.
“Dad, this is my girlfriend, Shannon O’Rourke. I hope you’ve both come to help us and not to object.” Ryan looked from his father to Shannon’s. The two fathers looked at each other and Ewan held out his hand. Jim took it.
“I think we have other things to be concerned with now,” Jim said. “I have a pair of wire cutters for you, Shannon. Will that help?” The kids threw themselves at their fathers and hugged them. Then Ryan turned to the assembled crowd. He was a little shaken to see so many watching him.
“We’ve got a lot of hands,” Ryan said. “And a lot of helpers. Just like at Harvest, we need to divide into teams. If you aren’t strong enough to cut wires or carry fence posts, take the flashlights and lanterns so we can all see to work safely. Let’s get cutters going first. We need a team going each direction from the place they cut through last weekend. If you’ve got a shovel, spread out and start loosening the fence posts. Those of you with tough work gloves and clothes, you’ll have to start with the barbed wire on top of the fence. Be careful not to drop it on anyone else—or yourself. If you do get hurt… um… Nurse Ellie and…” Ryan broke off as he saw the small team of medical personnel. Gee smiled at Dr. Poltanys and his sister Julia. “…and all those doctor types are here to help. We need to roll all this stuff up and cart it out of here, so somebody start getting ready to load the trailer we found. We might need to make a couple of trips. Or more. And remember. The Forest is our lifeblood. We’re here to protect it, not to harm it. And we’re here to put a stop to using our nuts to make drugs that poison people.”
With those words from their sixteen-year-old leader, the teens began to organize themselves into teams and spread out along the fence line. Word had gotten around town and Gee saw Detective Oliver standing by with a uniformed officer. Neither moved to stop the activity. Gee saw a couple of sheriff’s deputies helping remove barbed wire.
Beside him, the people who came to pledge their support in the hospital stood. Karen took his hand. The other heads of Families stood behind them. Even old Ben Roth had been driven in a cart to watch the fence come down. Collin Meagher openly wept near him.
“This is how it happens,” Karen whispered to her lover. Then Elaine’s voice rose in the Forest as the City went to work.
No more fences, no more parting,
No more suff’ring in our heart;
We are here now. We are starting,
Never more to be apart.
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