Sunday, August 5, 1984
Crabapple Farm
11:45 am
“Uncle Andy?” Tessa called, catching the screen door before it slammed closed.
“In here, Tess!”
Tessa followed the sound into the living room. Andrew Belden sat on the sofa, alone, save for piles of paper. Tessa dropped a kiss on his cheek, asking, “Where is everyone?”
“Church,” Andrew answered, clearing a space next to him and patting the seat. Tessa sat down. “I expect them back in time for lunch. How are you this morning?”
“I’m okay,” Tessa grinned. “You know me. When under stress, sleep like the dead.”
“That isn’t necessarily a bad trait,” Andy told her. “I wish I could just sleep on demand, it might make life a little easier.”
“You’d hate it,” Tessa teased. “You might miss something.”
“True,” Andrew laughed. “So, tell me. What brings you here?”
Tessa sobered. “I thought maybe we should talk about last night. I checked out pretty fast, and I figured you might have questions.”
“And answers?” Andrew inquired.
“And answers,” Tessa agreed. “Uncle Matthew was gone when I got up, so I didn’t have a chance to ask him anything.”
Andrew clutched her hands. “There is one thing I really need to know, Tessa. Please? He didn’t rape you, did he? Kawolski, I mean.”
“No,” Tessa shuddered at the memory. “He didn’t get that far, but he would have, if Danny hadn’t pulled him off.” Her eyes welled. “Dan was bleeding all over the place, but he kept trying to get Archie off of me. When Archie started after him, I felt...so...hopeless and scared...and angry. I knew that when he finished with Dan, he’d be back at me, and there wouldn’t be anyone to save me. So I saved myself.” She shot a wry grin at her uncle. “I really miss that lamp. It might have been the best gift I ever got.”
“You said the bastard bit you,” Andy recalled. “Did he leave those marks you have on your neck?”
“Yes, I still have a couple of scars...in less visible places, too. Why?”
“Matt’s lawyers will be here on Tuesday to depose you, and they’ll want to take photographs of any...evidence.”
“Oh.” Tessa was silent. “Danny’s going to hate that.”
“Why?” Andrew hugged his niece.
“Because he has a lot of scars from Archie the Rat Bastard, and they’re not all in easy-to-reach places.” Tessa’s eyes grew wide. “I’m not sure Danny’ll cooperate.”
“I hope you are wrong about that,” Andrew told her. “Because I really would like to see your friend Dan cleared, and Kawolski dead.” Realizing what he had said, Andy back tracked, “I meant charged.”
Tessa snorted. “No, Uncle dearest. You meant dead. It’s okay, I’ve wished for a long time that I’d hit him harder with that lamp.”
Andy hugged her tightly, and Tessa leaned her head on his shoulder. “I am sorry, you know,” she said. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you then. Maybe if I had...”
“Maybe doesn’t get us anywhere, Tess.” Andrew stroked her hair. “I can’t really say how I would have reacted back then. I know I didn’t treat Nikodim Maxim with much respect or gratitude. I don’t know how I would have treated Dan. Let’s not play what if.”
“Okay,” Tessa agreed. “Do you know what I’m really grateful for?”
“No, what?”
“I’m grateful we never made that bus.” She grinned up at her uncle. “If we had, we’d have been looking for you at Happy Valley Farm in Idaho instead of Iowa. That would have been disastrous.”
Andrew laughed softly. “I have no doubt that you would have managed somehow. I’m guessing the two of you together are a force to be reckoned with.” He sobered. “I’m really not sure how I feel about that.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Tessa began, only to be interrupted as the entire Belden family tromped into the house, home from church and ready to make lunch. Soon both Andrew and Tessa had been swept along in the chaos of preparation.
Sunday, August 5, 1984
11:48 am
“You drugged me.”
Maypenny looked up from his weeding at Dan’s accusing tone. The boy stood in the doorway to the mud room, leaning on his crutches.
Rising, the older man brushed the soil from his hands and nodded, “Yes, I did.”
“Why?”
“Because you were having the same nightmare over and over, and nothing I did seemed to do more than briefly interrupt it.” Thomas put his hands on his hips. “I know you don’t like taking the pills, son, but you’re barely out of the hospital and you need your rest. It seemed like the best option.”
“Oh.” Dan was silent, looking for words, and not finding any.
“Are you hungry?” Maypenny asked. “It’s near noon.”
“A little,” Dan admitted.
“Let me wash up, and I’ll get some grub going.” Thomas looked at the sad expression on Dan’s face. “I’m guessing that we need to talk a bit.”
If anything, Dan’s unhappy look became even more unhappy. “I suppose so,” he said, turning back inside the cabin. “I can make sandwiches, if you’d like.”
“I’d like. I brought in fresh eggs yesterday,” Maypenny said to his back. “I’ll be in in a minute.”
Lunch turned out to be fried egg sandwiches on toasted bread, topped with cheese and tomato. Dan had managed to cook the eggs and assemble the sandwiches while balancing on a single crutch. Maypenny set the table and poured some milk, and then waited. Two sandwiches later, he was still waiting. Dan, it seemed, had used up his quota for words. Maypenny placed his hands on the table, and watched Dan finish his lunch.
Finally, Dan spoke. His voice was measured and toneless as he asked, “What did you all decide last night?”
“How much do you remember?”
“Not much.” Dan flushed, and scowled at his plate. “I can’t believe I fell asleep. It’s just...everyone was talking at once. Lawyers, limitations, I couldn’t concentrate.”
“Not to mention you had a warm little armful curled up next to you.” Thomas mentioned, his eyes twinkling as Dan blushed. “But we can talk about her later. You asked me what you missed. Let me see.” Maypenny leaned back from the table, organizing his thoughts. “Mostly, we tried to figure out what direction to take. Andrew Belden and Matthew Wheeler have an army of lawyers between them. Your uncle and I have contact with that judge, and the social worker, plus the doctor you saw in Washington. I’m thinking we’ll be in contact with your priest, and that Maxim girl too, the doctor. Dora? Tasha?”
“Dasha,” Dan provided. “Why?”
“Because we need evidence of the damage you suffered, both from the gang and the...what do you call him? Rat Bastard?”
“Archie,” Dan provided, his lips tight. “Archibald Kawolski, the Rat Bastard.”
“Kawolski, yes.” Maypenny looked at his hands, clenched into fists, and forcibly willed them open and relaxed. “I guess having more money than you know what to do with comes in handy in a situation like this. Matthew had his lawyers on the phone at the crack of dawn. On Tuesday, they’ll be coming here to depose you--I gather that means taking down your story--and to get some pictures.”
“Pictures? Of what?”
“Scars, I reckon.” Maypenny said, watching Dan’s face. “I know you have them; I’ve noticed, even if I haven’t asked about them.”
Dan struggled to control his emotions, trying vainly to keep his face void of all expression. “What will happen after that?” he asked.
“I don’t know for sure,” Thomas told him. “I suppose that the lawyers will decide that. I do know that Andrew and Matthew intend to have your name cleared, and that Kawolski bastard charged with as many crimes as they can manage.”
“Will...” Dan chewed on his lower lip. “Will I have to see him again? The Rat Bastard, I mean.”
“I don’t know, son. Probably, but I really can’t say.”
“I don’t want to.” Dan spat the words, burying his face in his hands. “God, I am such a coward, but I really don’t want to see him.” He looked up briefly, his eyes bleak. “I’ll understand if you want to, you know, cancel the adoption. It’s not like we’ve signed everything yet.”
“Daniel!” Maypenny’s voice was sharper than he had intended, but it had the desired effect. Dan raised his head, warily waiting. “You are the farthest thing from a coward that I know,” Thomas spoke gently. “It takes great courage to face what you have faced, what you are still facing. This... man,” Thomas grimaced at the term. “He treated you abominably, but you survived it. You survived it and moved beyond it. I’m very, very proud of you, son. Why on earth would I want to change my mind about adopting you?”
Dan’s eyes were bleak. “Because now you know the whole truth. You know what I did, and you know what was done to me. I’m...I’m damaged. Hell, I can’t even sleep right without medical assistance. Why would you want to be my father?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Thomas Maypenny was genuinely confused. “I’ve told you before, my boy, the past is the past. It didn’t matter before, and it doesn’t matter now.”
“But the stealing, and the drugs...” Dan’s voice trailed off.
“You did what you needed to do to survive. Tell me, Daniel, have you been stealing from me? Have you had any truck with drugs since you left the city?”
“No! Of course not!” Dan’s eyes sparked. “I don’t even want the ones I have.”
“Then why would I let things you were forced to do change my mind? My opinion of you has been formed by the choices you’ve made since you came here. Your past is irrelevant, to me.” Maypenny rose from his chair, moving to stand in front of Dan. “I think that it is important, for your own sake, to set the record straight. I can’t see any reason for you to continue being punished for things you did not do. But, in the end, the decision is yours. If you choose not to face Kawolski and make him pay for what he did to you, I’ll support you. And,” he placed his thumb under Dan’s chin, tilting the boy’s head back, so their eyes met. “I’ll still be proud to call you my son. No matter what.”
He left then. Walked out of the kitchen and through the front door, leaving Dan alone at the table with crumbs and his thoughts.
