“  Granny said she heard Lenny Masterson and another boy talk about taking Mommy and hiding her in a swimming pool. Do any of the boys who hang around with him have a pool that you know of? “  She asked as they passed to catch their breath at the edge of the great cliff. The side of the mountain was covered in ice plant still in bloom but two narrow trails showed where the surfers and the people using the unmarked trail between the two major beaches often came up or down this shortcut. She wasn’t sure why she felt comforted by the silence of the sewage pumps since they were contained in a graceful brick building and gave no hint of their discrete function pumping solid waste out in the ocean where currents would take it away from the smaller community beaches here and at Aptos.

            Jane waited until she caught her breath then nodded sagely, biting her lower lip in concern as she began to edge down the rocky soil between the water filled plants. But she didn’t make any attempt until they slipped and scooted their way to the giant pair of Eucalyptus behind the freestanding showerheads. Even this late in the afternoon the scent of the trees was intense from the oven like intensity of the summer’s sun.

            “  Barry White. He’s the only one who has to use his parent’s wealth to buy friends, but I can’t figure them letting him keep a wild animal that will upset the pool man when he was to clean up the poop, you know? I’ll bet you anything they’ll try and keep her trapped in one of the waterline ‘pirate caves’ on the far side of the beach. And maybe we should stop and buy a fish on the wharf, I doubt if they’ve thought to feed her, and it’ll show her that we’re still her friends. “

            “  When did you get so smart?  “

            “  Oh, I was born that way.  “  The red head said prettily, trying to act off-hand about the instinctive compliment but it was obvious that it pleased her.

-

            Waiting cautiously for cars to pass by them at the entrance to the heavily trafficked municipal wharf, trinity found herself nervously aware of the height of the aging wooden structure over the veneer of oily water and the width of the slats with their storm softened wood. Originally built by The Conservation Corps just prior to World War Two to keep young men gainfully employed during the Great Depression, it was built of locally milled lumber over forty years ago. She couldn’t stop starring at high above the water line they were, something that she normally never paid any attention. But her heightened awareness of the possibility of falling since they crossed over the train trestle without any visible means of support was ledged against the back of her throat no matter how hard she tried to ‘be rational’ about her concern. When a break in the steady line of tourist cars looking for their chance to drive unto the pier and park moderated enough to allow Jane to sprint across the asphalt demarcation Trinity tried to hold back, searching her mind for some excuse why she should stay on solid ground while Jane walked three quarters of the length of the pier to get the fish they’d agreed to buy. When she couldn’t find any and she couldn’t catch her friend’s attention in time, she was forced to follow, urged by an impatient honk from a waiting car whose blinking turn signal was almost as red as the driver’s face.

            Jane looked around in surprise as she noticed the stranger’s face in the seashell show window, pleased to see that Trinity was running to catch up with her. The price for the headless Bass was more than either of them expected but Jane cheerfully waved away her offer to pay.

            “  Granny Mayhew slipped a roll of quarters in my pocket as I was leaving. “                      “  Don’t worry about it, Blackie’s good for it. I’ve done it before. “

            Trinity patted her pocket nervously. It seemed lighter than she expected so it must not have been a full roll. Now she was glad the slight redhead hadn’t expected her to chip in right there and then!  She reached for the heavy paper package. The least that she could do was to share the burden of carrying it all the way to the caves while they looked for Mommy.

            Trinity held tightly to the paper package, even while it rested solidly on the weathered railing. They paused beside two elderly men with their fishing gear and buckets filled with freshly caught shore dwellers. Because the tide was turning, they whispered together about which of the caves they should actually explore in the limited time until the entire cliff line as under water. Careful not to speak loudly enough to be overheard by the strange adults, who would surely feel impelled to warn them away from something they already recognized was dangerous. There were two caves visible that were large enough to be used to store things, though neither girl believed any real pirate treasure had ben stored so close to the portion of the beach with easy access from the houses above. But their very nearness made them targets even for the tourists to attempt to enter at low tide, so neither seemed a place where the two boys might try to hide a captive seal. They agreed to give them a quick look and then move around the edge of the cliff where you had to cross the narrow band of tidal pools, a place less likely to be explored by bored teens or romantically inclined couples. As they turned to go, they found themselves confronted by two grinning boys who’d apparently mistaken them for high schoolers. It was unnerving to be so near the strange boys as the focus of their attention, the way she’d glimpsed older boys and girls pair up for an evening of rides on the Boardwalk then long walks down the unlit portion of the beach but even if they hadn’t been pressed for time she wouldn’t have found the rude remarks pleasant or their conspicuous attempts to impress one another nearly as manly as they seemed to feel in playing the part.

            “  Does your mother know what you do with your mouth? “  Jane demanded in exasperation as the swaggering youth blocked her way again, mouthing a smutty remark meant to show he was ‘aware’ and ‘adult’. He was caught off guard by the heat of her anger and the rough shove she gave him when he attempted to seize the slight mounds under her summer shirt and Trinity simply closed her arms around the heavily weighted fish and lowered her head, almost running into her tormentor before he moved out of her way in angry denial. As

   they neared the narrowing band of stone where the sea had worn away the cliff face over the centuries, Trinity pretended to bend over one of the deep crevices in the flat bedrock but she was captivated by some inner horror into looking again at the long, narrow wharf as it was silhouetted against the length of the Boardwalk and the public beach. Imagining it to be as high as any mountain ever climbed, a dark force waiting to lure her back. When she saw the colorful shirts of the two boys who attempted to pick them up she was annoyed all over again. They were now escorting two girls in long, hippie like dresses.

            ‘ They must be city girls come over the hill to pick up boys! ‘ She thought in dismissal. ‘ They deserve one another!’ She added primly, dismissing them from mind, but oddly dismissing her new inclination to fear at the same moment.

            The tide crept around their ankles as they moved cautiously around the shoulder of the standing rock prepared to cross the lengthy mounds of intercostals tide pools that were already being filled as the waves came up over the raised flatlands then receded. Soon the entire area would be underwater and the plants and animals that lived in the crevices and deep holes would briefly come back to life, feeding and bathing in the chilled waters of the open sea. At one point they heard some seal barking and they looked at one another in dismay. The animals were lumped together in the shadows of a large rock shaped island just off shore that couldn’t be reached except by boat. If Mommy had indeed joined them, they had no way of telling her apart from the natural born residents of the cove!

            Their voices echoed from the two larger caves but even a cursory glance showed them to be empty of everything but fast food wrappers and a soiled pair of sneakers that had washed in on the tide. The first two they checked beyond the shallows were also empty but they were beginning to hiss and echo as the strengthening waves splashed inside them. It made Trinity’s heart began to beat unevenly with fear and trepidation. If they stayed here too long, they might not be able to come back this way. They’d have to try and climb up the orange and purple ice plant that the surfers used to come and go, almost straight up the mountainside! She’d never tried anything that steep before, whether Jane had or not, living here her whole life. But she was too ashamed to actually say what was worrying her. Meanwhile Jane pushed ahead of her by several yards, eager to reach the half moon shaped cave at the end of the peninsula since someone had stretched an abandoned fisherman’s net across the narrow opening. And there didn’t seem to be any reason for someone to do that, unless they were attempting to keep something trapped within!  By the time they reached the jagged entrance the water was now around their ankles, pushing and pulling with the incoming tide but no longer receding enough to allow them to see the stones they slipped and moved across. There was a large mat of debris on both side of the corded net but even Jane hesitated at stepping over it, since the water was foaming against it on the other side where the tide had pushed against the far wall and tried to return.

            “  I don’t think it will hold our weight if we try to support ourselves crossing over it, Jane?  “

            Jane Powell nodded, biting at her lower lip anxiously as their brief exchange caused a warning bark from inside the deeply shadowed cave.

            “  Mommy? Mommy! Is that you?  “

            After a few seconds the warning bark sounded again, a little nearer and both girls took an instinctive step back from the sagging barricade as it began to float on the deepening water level. Then a man’s voice, deep and guttural, warning them away just as threateningly. Trinity looked around. The level stones were now invisible, completely covered by a flat layer of foam and salt water. Unless they turned and ran now, it would be too late to go back the same way they came! She grapped Jane’s arm and began to pull nervously. But Jane’s feet were already set to resist the push of the rising water.

            “  Blackie? Mr. Pershing? Is that you?  It’s us!  “

            “  I can see who you are!  “  The disembodied voice growled. “  Go away! Go home! You’ll scare off those bad boys before I can teach them a lesson!  “

            “  We brought a fish to feed Mommy!  “  Trinity protested, raising the waxed paper object to where he could see it even though they couldn’t see him inside the large hole.

            “  You can’t do that Blackie!  “  Jane tried to warn. “  You’re bigger than they are. You’re the one who’ll get in trouble!  “

            The salt water began to make Trinity tremble as it pushed against her bare flesh, rising toward the tops of her peddle pushers. She was starting to be moved off balance by the increasing force of the rough waters.

            “  Bring Mommy and come with us now! Please! “

            “  I can’t do that! Go away little girl!  “

            “  Not until you come with us. Otherwise we’ll tell everybody where you are and what you plan to do!  “

            A dark brown shadow moved, startling them into a small cry of fear. They hadn’t guessed he was so near. Then a small form began to propel itself toward them like a sleep torpedo. Instinctively Trinity threw the fish into the water and tried to step back. She could hardly move. Something white flashed and then the paper slowly rose to the surface, shredded and partially retaining its folded shape though a hole was torn in the bottom, allowing the container to fill with greenish water and begin to sink.

            “  You’re my friend Jane Powell. You wouldn’t tell on me!  “

            “   We’re all your friends whether you understand that or not, Blackie. “  A powerful male voice said behind them.  All three of them moved, turning around to see a flat bed skiff holding two men in white naval uniforms and an over sized dog kennel. They’d been too intent on their search to hear the slight purr of the motor until this moment.

            “  No! I’m going to punish Cousin Lenny and ….. for what they did to Mommy! Then we’re going away and we won’t ever be found again! I’m bigger than you are! You can’t stop me!  “

            Brad Waverly crossed his arms and frowned angrily.

            “  You can go but she has to stay! And yes, I can make you, Blackie! But don’t force my hand! Don’t make this any more difficult than it has to be, son!  “

            “  I’m not your son! You aren’t my friend! You just pretended to be, like the others! “

            Tears coursed down his face but all Trinity could see was the giant revolver locked in his hand!

            Strong hands, chilled and firm, seized Trinity by the shoulders and picked her up bodily as the burly Lieutenant Colonel lifted her out of harm’s way and put her behind his body as a shied, but that brief delay allowed Jane to camber over the bobbing barricade, almost losing her balance as her toe briefly held in the ill smelling net.

            “  What do you think you’re doing? “ 

            “  What are you doing?  “  She challenged in false bravado, placing her hands on her hips.  Then she screamed in fear as something sharp nipped her on the heel.

            Trinity wanted to run and hide, but she couldn’t. Neither could she help her friend

As one of the sailors seized her from behind and carried her bodily to the rocking skiff.

            “  LORD! LORD! “ She cried out. “  Help us!  “

            Then she waited instinctively for an answer.

            “  Stop and think, Man. You can’t keep taking her away!  “

            “  She’s mine! I can too! You’re going to hurt her, like you did the others! I saw it! It was all cut up!  “

            “  It was already dead. We need to save others by finding out what killed it, Blackie. I thought you understood that?  “  His voice echoed sharply over the man’s soft sobs from within the cave and it was obvious that the naval officer was quickly losing patience.

            “  I can help. “  Trinity said. “

            “  You have to stay here. “

            “  Shot me or let me out of this boat, Sailor. “  She said in her grandmother’s sternest tone, and to her shock, the man obeyed, but followed after her, having to seize her waist twice to keep her from being knocked off her feet by the force of the waves against the back of their knees.

            “  I thought I told you… “

            But before he could finish the rebuke Trinity had already placed her eight on the net, breaking it and tossing her face down into the foaming water and silky debris. Jane raced toward her gratefully, trying to grasp a hold of her to hold her back, but Trinity found the strength to push her aside, into the sailor’s waiting arms, then she walked resolutely toward the shadowed figures perched on a narrow ledge part way up the side of the cliff. The water was already slapping over it, causing the worried seal to snap at the black bits that came too near her pup.

            “  Blackie. God says we have to help one another.  “

            “  He didn’t say it to me!  “  The hulky man demanded in a child’s angry voice.

            “  As often as He’s talked with you, He hasn’t? I find that hard to believe! The only way I can get out of here safely is if you carry me. “  She lifted her arms to him and saw the struggle on his face. Placing the empty gun in his belt, he scrambled down, wincing in sudden shock at the coldness of the net.

            “  Thank you for breaking the net. Now Mommy can go free!  “

            She reached out her arms and clung to his stout neck.

            “  She can’t live on her own, Blackie. You know that. She needs humans. She needs you!  “

            The arm under her knees tightened painfully as he stopped, looking at her in shock. The waves began to rise with greater force now that the crevices at the back of the cave had been filled.

            “  My Dad used to work in an aquarium and I used to help him. Sometimes. Mommy will be safe there, her and the baby.

            “  I call him ‘Sealy’. He’s going to grow up big and strong. “

            “  If you give him that chance, Blackie. On his own he won’t make it, and you know that or wouldn’t have gone back and got them twice. “

            “  Cousin Lenny and Barry White brought her here! They tried to feed her canned sardines!  “  There was outrage and fear mixed in his tone as he reluctantly began to force his way further toward the entrance, her toes now dipping into the icy froth as he attempted to shift her weight higher on his chest.

            “  The only way to keep her safe is to let her live with her own kind. Like us living with you, Blackie.  “

            “  You’re going away. You won’t be living nearby any more. That woman said so! She said I was a bad influence. “

            “  I’ll write and I’ll call. And you can tell me how Mommy and Sealy are doing in their new lives in the Aquarium over there, Maybe someday, after I go to college, I can work there too and we’ll get to see each other all the time?  “

            “  You promise?  “  He demanded with a happy grin as strong hands seized her from his arms, helping them to negotiate the torn net as it swayed in the influx of water from the back of the rapidly filling cave.

            “  I promise to do my best. Everything else is up to the Lord.  “

            “  Amen.  “  He answered respectfully as white and green arms tried to seize his hands to place them behind his back.

            “  Handcuffs won’t be necessary. “  Brad Waverly said firmly, and the Sheriff nodded, moving the deputy toward the small group of men now inside the rocking boat.

            Trinity was shocked and pleased to see the cameramen from their local television station and the van with the station logo parked at the top of the steep hill where its antenna seemed to gather clouds around its extreme height.

            “  We have to change clothes while I write my support, Blackie. Then we’ll join her. She and the pup have to go into quarantine, but they’ll treat her well and we’ll join them before dark, I give my... I promise.  “

            The stout man beamed as he accompanied the sailors toward a dark car parked at the head of the wharf.

            “  That retard should be in jail! He threatened to kill us!  “

            “  I just wanted to teach you a lesson, Cousin Lenny.  “  He said mildly but the sheriff stepped in the way as the angry teen tried to cuff the taller man on the ear.

            “  You need to come with us, son, while we call for your parents. “

            “  What for?  “  Barry White demanded in outrage as his wrist was seized and forcibly held behind his back. “  We didn’t do anything! We were the ones offended upon!  “:

            “  How about trespassing and the theft of government property?  “

            “  This ain’t over!  “  Barry growled between clinched teeth but Blackjack Pershing wasn’t even looking in his direction.

            Despite the angry teens resistance and the outpouring of foul language they were filmed being placed in the back of the municipal cruiser. Trinity and Jane hugged, their clothes sticking together from the tightness of their mutual embrace. When their mothers rushed up, the girls looked up in sweetest joy, ready to tell them everything. But before Jane could do anything more than step in her mother’s direction, Sarah Powell slapped her so hard it left her palm print on her daughter’s face, making the tan freckles stand out like paint dabs on the pale skin.

            “  Your brother’s dead and your running around having the time of your life?  “

She challenged. “  And them! Them! How dare you disobey me? No wonder God killed your brother! “ Pushing the reporter aside, she seized her daughter’s arm and began to force her way violently through the thickening crowd.

            Stunned, Trinity looked to her own mother, braced for another angry tirade but Adele’s eyes had softened at the shocking news and she simply pulled her twelve year old away from the blonde woman with the microphone who was shaking her shoulder trying to demand she say something when the world was spinning around her violently.

The chilled leather seat of her aunt’ rental car swallowed her up and she had to push her way through her cousins as she entered the two story house but nothing else seemed real.

She wanted to lock the bathroom door and simply cry but she was afraid too, in case it was her grandmother who tried the door and found it closed against them.

            It took her a long moment to decide it was her Aunt Alyesse who walked in with clean clothes, refusing to speak to her and not her mother but that didn’t stop the pain of it!  The sound of the grieving mother’s last words tore at her spirit with every heartbeat. God had killed Dick Powell because they’d both willingly disobeyed! Her mother tried to comfort her, but lying on the bed fully clothed, she hid her face and wept violently at causing so much pain to her friend and being shut off from God’s face!  She heard her mother’s explanation to her father through a buzz in ears that only shut out her Grandmother’s attempt to rationalize and explain. Then the bed dipped as Roberta stood.

            “  No matter what happens between you boys. After the Fourth, I’m taking her back to Chicago with me where she’ll be safe with her own kind!  “

            Feeling her nose drain violently, Trinity propped herself up to reach for a tissue, freezing in place at the look on her mother and father’s face.

            “  I’m not going to let that woman’s hatred ruin my daughter’s life!  “  Then her mother turned without a word and began to walk down the hall with loud high-heel taps that struck at Trinity like slaps in the face. As soon as the doorway was clear she fled into the narrow hall, turning right so she could sprint down the closed bedroom doors without being seen and stopped.

            As she raced across the kitchen tiles, she slipped and banged her hip painfully on the triangular table, but limping against the pain she pushed her way resolutely to the white tile foyer. As she threw open the front door half a dozen people saw her, leaping to their feet and grapping for microphones while strange men hefted weighty cameras to their shoulders. Racing past them without giving heed, she flung open the white picket gate, almost tearing if off its hinges. The door to the most bungalow was open, the summer dried lawn as empty as theirs was filled with a milling crowd. It wasn’t fair to blame Janie! Going to look for Mommy was her idea! She pushed her way through the cluttered floor and the mind numbing Sitar music whining in the incense filled air until she found the back bedroom, as bleak as it was strewn with colorful posters for the Haight Ashbury’s Summer for Love two years ago, and a bill of play for a Janis Joplin concert in the People’s Park, now faded and held on the unpainted wall with drying,  yellowed scotch tape.

            “  It wasn’t her fault! Don’t blame Janie! It was me! It was mine! Hate me! “

            Adele jerked at the sound of her daughter’s voice but her hand continued to reach out, pulling the grieving mother into her arms, for an embrace only another mother could offer. Sarah Powell sobbed so violently they both shook. Jane, hearing Trinity’s voice, unlocked the bathroom door and ran to her, almost knocking the taller girl off her feet.

            “  God hates me! God hates me! Make Him kill me and give my brother back, Trin! You talk with Him, He’ll listen to you!  “

            Trinity forced herself upright, catching her friend’s falling body and protecting her from the sharp glare of television camera lights.

            “  No He doesn’t! No He doesn’t! He doesn’t hate you and neither do I!  “

            Roberta Rodger’s stern voice cut through the shocked silence, demanding respect and obedience as she ordered the crew and the reporter out of the cluttered house. But nether girl paid any attention until she stopped by them, watching her daughter-in-law

mouth agape.  Then as silence refilled the room and the uneven pitch of the Eastern music resumed in contrast with the breaths being taken in the tiny room, she leaned forward and pulled both girls into her arms. Sheltering them as they cried, almost as hard as she did.

-

            Though it was hardly the day of fireworks and Southern fried chicken they had planned, the Fourth of July celebration on the back lawn was more than she could have hoped for, Trinity decided as she checked the wood kindling for the marshmallow fire they would light as soon as the stars came out. Blackie had already eaten half a bag of them but he seemed to have a limitless amount of space inside his vast stomach, even after watermelon, four hotdogs and half a bowl of lime Jell-O mold! Mrs. Waverly and Granny Mayhew sat side by side on new beach towels and plastic loungers, talking together as if they’d grown up together, while her small dogs slept in her lap in the space formed by the full hip cast. Rosalie kept Mary Alice and two of her male cousins occupied on a colorful blanket while they colored on books held firm on cookie sheets, and even Hugh and Scott were willing to keep the younger children away from the newly fenced edge of the yard. Tiring them out with a game of hide and seek in the thick stand of trees and the remnants of the formal garden until it became too dark to see inside the crowded space. At first the smell of smoke went unnoticed since large numbers of firecrackers had been heard going off up and down the hill. Then her Dad and Uncle Lionel, standing apart and talking suddenly became animated.

            “  Fire! Fire! Down on the beach!  “

            Trinity meant to stay dutifully with Granny and Mrs. Waverly as everyone else fled past the house on their way down the hill to help, but Granny motioned her on, speech impossible in the wake of the Nineteen Fifties air raid siren now wailing over their heads, calling the volunteer fire brigade from their family holidays.  By the time the firs truck arrived, the entire stack of lumber and most of the drywall was already consumed, burnt to ash!  Her heart fell to her feet as a sudden scream rent the smoky air and the Sheriff emerged, dragging a sullen teenager by the nape of his shirt neck.

            “  They just HAD to watch!  “

            “  Contemptible!  “  Gordon Rodger’s raged, but he was helpless in anger. Even at salvage prices, there would have been enough to start a trust fund so they could hope to build on the interest and actually build the site in another two years. Tears streamed down his face, making his two antagonists hoot and call in delight until they were violently shaken by the man holding them captive.

            “  I told you this wasn’t over! Now you GOT to leave town! Nobody asked you here in the first place!  “

            By the time they gathered the sleeping children and laid them on their shoulders for the long walk uphill, the municipal fireworks display had already begun over the Boardwalk, but Trinity wasn’t in any mood to watch. Taking a hold of her father’s free hand, she walked beside him as glum and silent as the dark that pressed in on them from all sides. Inside the house they heard the lonely wail of the bagpipes as Blackie walked back and forth along the fence overlooking the sea and the Coast Road. For the first time Trinity heard their sorrowful wail and understood them. They said what she could not, they grieved when she dared not speak the unfathomable loathing in her heart for the race of people would cold allow this to happen to her family!  

            Jane tried to call from across the street, but she refused to leave her room and the phone extension cord wasn’t long enough to reach further than the kitchenette table. She pulled the pillow over her head and tried not to cry so hard she’d garner God’s attention. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to speak with Him right now! He might be white! She was torn between being sad and glad for the screeching to come to an end but she was startled when she heard a light tap on her window. Almost against her will she pulled the pillow away and rose up on one arm to peer out from the blinds.

            “  Can you come out and talk to me?  “

            She shook her head no but in the end, she got off the bed, slipped on her new cashmere sweater that had been her Grandmother’s bribe to come with her on the plane on Sunday and she slipped out the back door, making sure the lock was unlatched. The air seemed cold after the warmth of the dryer she passed, but she couldn’t find any warmth inside herself. Not even when the humble giant twisted around on the top stair of the deck to smile at her late appetence.

            “  Happy Holiday.  “

            “  The Fourth of July is over, Blackie!  “  She snapped angrily, but she sat down next to him, grateful for his body warmth.

            “  I thought the Sabbath was a holiday? It is for us. “

            “  You’re Jewish?  “  She demanded in shock.  “

            “  Sure I am. You remember.  “  He coaxed.  “  I told you that when we first met. It’s why I couldn’t go to Church with you guys. Granny’s been teaching me from the Scriptures though. I knew about Daniel and the lion’s den and the statute, but she’s been teaching me all kinds of things about Joshua, the son of none. Just like I am. The son of none. “

            Trinity started to correct him, then she stopped, placing her hand inside the upright palm he offered to her companionably.

            “  I get to go see Mommy on Monday. Does it hurt to fly?  “

            “  No. You just get on the plane and read a magazine or sleep, then you get off the plane and you’re home. “

            “  I didn’t know it was that easy. Then why is Jane and her mother crying because Dick is flying?  “

            She gave a small shudder and thinking she was cold, he lifted the blanket from his lap and placed it around their shoulders. It was warm from his body heat.

            “  Because he flew to live with God and he won’t be back for a long time. “  She said at last, looking up at his face to see how much of her words he understood.

            “  Are you going to Chicago or to heaven, Trin?  “

            “  I used to think they were the same place. “  She said, looking away at the shadows cast by the moon just before it disappeared too soon from the star filled sky.

“  Now I think Heaven is wherever you have friends and family to love you. “

            “  Me too. “  He said quietly, and moved his arm so she could lay her head against his rib cage and drift to sleep. Tomorrow there would be time to think, to pray. For now, she just wanted to close her eyes and know how completely she was sheltered and loved!

-

            They paused at the bottom of the hill. Movers had been hired to pack the unopened boxes and the few items they’d used in the last six weeks and they were driving over the hill to San Jose to catch a flight back East. Lionel and Alyesse would meet them at SFO for the final flight.

            “  What’s that, daddy? Big Machine eat dirt. “

            “  Yes, Baby.  “ He answered his younger daughter perfunctorily. But the cab driver stepped on the brake instinctively at the man’s sharp gasp, peering into the rear view mirror like he feared the ungainly child had fallen out the window and landed on her head. “  Please turn left first, driver. I’ll pay the difference!  “

            “  You better pay for the whole thing!  “ Came the muffled, ungallant reply, but he did as he was told, needing to move to a portion of the gravel at the side of the road to execute the unexpected maneuver. As they drove up, speech was impossible as two earth movers pinged loudly whoever they backed up, their maws filled with burnt debris and

partial logs. He had to move again as a catering trunk honked at him impatiently, eager to be down on the unscripted construction site before another ‘Gedunk truck’ noticed the unscheduled work and laid claim to it by being the first to arrive.

             Seeing him approach, Mayor Powell held out his hand to shake the hand of the stunned academian, grinning from ear to ear.

            Pastor Lyle Lydecker and Tom Castro, the high school music teacher straightened, their arms already covered with soot and sand from their sleeves being pulled up to the first line of muscle. Trevor’s voice was almost giddy with excitement as he identified the people he saw to his stoic great-Aunt.

            “  Dr. Gordon? Mayor Conner’s slipped our net and apparently got out of the country, but the FBI managed to identify and stop his wire transfer of the funds! THIS is what the money was raised for by the Community and THIS is what we want to use it on, even if we have to volunteer most of the work among ourselves to meet the deadline we promised you for building it! I just hope you’ll trust enough to come back and run it for us, sir!  “

             Gordon’s eyes filled with tears as he reached out his hand to his wife as Adele raced to him, her sandals throwing up fine bits of sand and grit in her haste to be at his side. Followed by Roberta Rodgers.

            “  I can’t go, Mother. I love you, but I can’t go! I’m sorry. The only color that matters to me is red or gray!  “

            Trinity felt her grandmother bend at the waist and give her a hug, then a slight push. It was all it took for her feet to find wings as she raced to her parent’s side. Trevor walked slowly, his face torn with doubt as he carried Rosalie in his arms, carefully transferring the five year old’s weight into her older sister’s arms as Rosalie giggled in delight and waved her small hand back to Granny Mayhew, who pressed her face against the window of the cab, looking for all the world like a Black Popeye the Sailor man! 

            “  You don’t have to stand in my shadow for me to love you, son. “  She called equitably, returning to the cab door where he stopped and poured the sand out of her shoes..

            “  Maya Analogue’s son said it best, Mother! I didn’t grow up in her shadow, but in the light of her courage and grace! “  He ‘blew’ a kiss to her and she pretended to catch it, pressing her hand hard against her heart, then she noticed Trevor walking back to her and she used the hand to pull the boy near, her eyes filling with tears.

            “  Are you sure, boy? “

            “  Yes Ma’am. I’ll come back to visit next summer when they have seals to play with. “

            She nodded, too afraid to trust her emotions to risk speech until they were settled again in the cab and she looked over her shoulder at the way in which her son and his family were working shoulder to shoulder with two burly men in work overalls such as she used to wash with metal tub and wash board so her late husband would have clean clothes to go to work and get dirty in.

            “  Many summers, I hope Trevor. Many summers at Santa Leoma` I hope and pray!  “

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The End