I Love to Write
Capricorn in Aquarius - Part Two
When Kathleen had finished cleaning up the mess, she went back to the secret panel and rapped twice. Apparently it was some sort of signal, because I heard a muffled set of voices, at least two, maybe more, behind it. Then the door slid back slowly, just a crack. A disembodied voice whispered, "Mrs. Nolan? They gone?"
"They're gone." Kathleen kept her voice lowered in consideration for the children in the other room. "But, they'll be back in the morning. I can't continue to hide you two boys, because they don't believe me and they'll want to search the place." She paused; I could clearly hear a scream of the gale and rattle of sleet against the one lonely window on the far wall. She resumed: "Much as I hate to do it, I'm going to have to turn you out, for just tonight. If they come in and search and don't find you, they'll go away and leave us be."
Angry voices, then. Lucas:"Where are we going to go at this ungodly hour in this weather?"
A calmer voice:"We can hide in my parents' basement for the night. My old man is off taking the cure, and my mother went with him. I've been watching the house, and they've been gone at least a week..."
I frowned. That voice sounded so very familiar to me...one voice I thought I'd never hear ever again...Reality hit me like a thunderbolt.
"Well, come on, boys," Kathleen urged. "I'll pack you a meal, and then off you go."
Lucas began to protest again. The other unseen voice cut him off."Do you want to go to jail for that shot policeman? Or have everyone else turned out because you're being so selfishly stubborn?"
Grumbling, Lucas stepped into the hallway. I only had eyes for the figure behind him.
Johnny stepped into the poor pool of light. He saw me instantly, stopped and blinked.
"Oh, my God," he whispered.
Tears of longing filled my eyes. Kathleen and Lucas, for the moment, ceased to exist for either of us.
(To Be Continued.)
When Kathleen had finished cleaning up the mess, she went back to the secret panel and rapped twice. Apparently it was some sort of signal, because I heard a muffled set of voices, at least two, maybe more, behind it. Then the door slid back slowly, just a crack. A disembodied voice whispered, "Mrs. Nolan? They gone?"
"They're gone." Kathleen kept her voice lowered in consideration for the children in the other room. "But, they'll be back in the morning. I can't continue to hide you two boys, because they don't believe me and they'll want to search the place." She paused; I could clearly hear a scream of the gale and rattle of sleet against the one lonely window on the far wall. She resumed: "Much as I hate to do it, I'm going to have to turn you out, for just tonight. If they come in and search and don't find you, they'll go away and leave us be."
Angry voices, then. Lucas:"Where are we going to go at this ungodly hour in this weather?"
A calmer voice:"We can hide in my parents' basement for the night. My old man is off taking the cure, and my mother went with him. I've been watching the house, and they've been gone at least a week..."
I frowned. That voice sounded so very familiar to me...one voice I thought I'd never hear ever again...Reality hit me like a thunderbolt.
"Well, come on, boys," Kathleen urged. "I'll pack you a meal, and then off you go."
Lucas began to protest again. The other unseen voice cut him off."Do you want to go to jail for that shot policeman? Or have everyone else turned out because you're being so selfishly stubborn?"
Grumbling, Lucas stepped into the hallway. I only had eyes for the figure behind him.
Johnny stepped into the poor pool of light. He saw me instantly, stopped and blinked.
"Oh, my God," he whispered.
Tears of longing filled my eyes. Kathleen and Lucas, for the moment, ceased to exist for either of us.
(To Be Continued.)
61-69, F
