"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..."
Ecclesiastes 3:1
By Atonia and Jo
Jo writing Maximus, Caroline, Bud, Marie, Lachlan, Hope, Cort, Daisy, Ben, Zack
Atonia writing Terry, Dee, Alex, Linda, Jack, Tarwyn, John, Bethany, Dino, Max, Sophia
PART 3:
Dee was glad to see Tarwyn. “Hey, honey, how are ya?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Look at you smiling. I’m glad to see you up.”
“Went to see the doctor this morning. I still have to wear this collar.” She picked it up from the table beside her chair. “You want to help me a minute? Take this heat pad off and get me back into this contraption.”
Tarwyn jumped up to help. “Where’s Terry?”
“He went to the hospital to see about Zack. Zack collapsed again and actually died but they brought him back.”
“Oh, for goodness sake! I feel so sorry for him.”
“I know, me too. What brings you into town?”
“Decorating the house. Is that too tight?” She stepped back.
“I’ve been picking up drapery material. I had an idea, Dee. Jack and I have set
a date for our marriage. It’s going to be December 21st and
I’m wondering where I could get him a uniform. You know, dress blue? I know
Terry found Ben’s horse and I was wondering if he might be able to get ahold of
one of Jack’s uniforms.”
“Ah, wardrobe. Well, I don’t know. I think Russell took that uniform.”
“Yeah, but you know they have more than one made up. Ask him if he’ll try, for me.”
“I’ll do that, Tarwyn. Wow, imagine Jack all decked out and in the flesh.”
Tarwyn grinned, “I am…imagining.”
Dee’s phone rang. “Nolia, do you have a number for Sophie?”
“No, Terry, I don’t.” Dee put her hand over the speaker. “Terry needs Sophie’s phone number. Do you have it?”
“Yeah.” Tarwyn brought up Sophie's number on her phone and handed it to Dee.
“Thanks, luv. Max has collapsed here at the hospital…Zack is doing well, now.”
“MAX! He was just here.”
“I know. We don’t know why yet. Dr. Canfield is with him. I need to call Sophie.”
“What was that about?” Tarwyn asked.
“Max…he collapsed at the hospital.” Dee looked at Tarwyn with wide eyes.
Even Zack’s eyes were fastened on Max as he lay still on other bed, Canfield bending over him, listening to his heart.
“What…what happened?” Zack asked, still shocked.
“I don’t know yet,” Canfield said. This was the first time Max had required his ministrations. “Looks like he passed out but I have no idea why.”
Dr. Canfield checked Max’s pulse and then listened to his heart. His heartbeat was all over the place and he seemed to be having trouble breathing.
Max was in the blue and the blue was so thick he couldn’t see clearly. It enveloped him and he was having trouble breathing. Then…that face appeared, amused and yet curious. A few seconds and…nothing.
“Jack, what happened? You were next to him.” John asked.
“He was gasping for breath and then began falling. I didn’t notice anything prior to.”
Terry stepped out into the hallway and called Sophie.
“I am coming! I am coming now,” she replied, and grabbed her handbag, heading for the door.
“He’s in some sort of distress,” Canfield said, looking up. “Does anyone know if he’s on some kind of medication?”
“As far as I know he isn’t,” Terry replied. “Sophia Vasari is on her way and should be here in a few minutes. She would know if he’s taking anything right now.”
Because Max had been gasping for breath before he collapsed, Canfield started him on oxygen, settling a cannula on his face.
Bud growled, “Did Sid do something to him?” He knew Sid could come unseen into a room if he wanted.
Maximus was standing near Zack’s bed and rested a hand protectively on his shoulder in case Sid should be present.
“Sid…he…does things like this?” Zack asked.
“He left you injured and alone upon the rocks, did he not?” Maximus replied.
“The thing is, Zack, we don’t ever know when he’s going to do something or what. It’s never anything good…except Caroline and Cort and Maximus. For some reason he caused some bad things to happen to them and came back and made it right. None of us has ever been able to figure him out completely,” John said.
Jack moved to the foot of Max’s bed. He was watching Dr. Canfield with Max. “It is not possible to know, is it, Doctor, if Sid has been here or not? This could not be some illness he has contracted?”
“It could be anything, possibly even something from the jungle that’s been incubating. He doesn’t have a fever, though. His blood pressure was way up there for a little while, but is settling back down again. It’s more like he experienced some overwhelming shock but I don’t see what that could have been. Nothing’s been said in this room he didn’t already know about.” Indeed, it had been Zack Canfield had been concerned about. Max’s collapse had come out of left field, taking him by surprise.
“You know,” Terry began, “when he was found in that jungle hut he was in pretty bad shape. Not so much physically, he had the insect bites and some scratches and bruises, but mentally he wasn’t in a good place. Dino said he was huddled up in a corner of the hut, hadn’t spoken or eaten since he’d been thrown in by his captors. I had a time getting him to talk to me on the helicopter. He has no memory of his time with Sid except being in the blue. There is really no way to know how long Sid had him before dropping him in the jungle. By his account he came to and was found by the rebels in that area shortly thereafter. I think he only spent a night or two in the hut before we found him.”
“That’s the thing. Sid can take someone into that damn blue and for them there’s no awareness of how long they’ve been there or what Sid’s done to them while they’re there.” Canfield was getting really tired of what Sid could do to these men.
Sophie came out of the elevator not knowing which way to go. “Where is he? Where is Max?” she shouted at the nurses’ station.
“He’s down the hall and keep your voice down,” admonished the nurse.
She ran down the hall in her high heeled boots and grabbed the door frame. Jack moved aside for her as did Terry. The room was full.
“Max, oh, Maxie!” She came around the bed. “What have you done to him?” She looked at Dr. Canfield and then noticed all the men in the room. “What?” she asked with her hands.
“No one has done anything to him, Sophia,” Dr. Canfield began.
“Unless Sid’s here and we can’t see him,” Bud added.
“We were just talking, trying to explain things to Zack about…how things are,” Maximus continued, “when all the sudden Max simply collapsed.”
“He seemed to be having trouble breathing,” Canfield explained, “and that’s why the oxygen. Basically we don’t have any idea what happened to him. He has no fever and his BP’s coming down again. Is he taking any medicines that have side effects?”
“No, only something for his back sometimes. He has had nothing today. He has these little pains in his back, you know. I’m so glad you called me. You must be Terry Thorne?”
“Yes, we haven’t met. He’s told me about you, though. How often does he get these little pains in his back?”
“Em, not that often. Sometimes he moves a certain way. I have heard it like a pop, a little pop.”
Max was coming out of it and his hands went to the cannula, trying to pull it away. He made a sound in his throat, “Mmmph.”
“Max? This is Dr. Canfield. Can you hear me?”
Max blinked his eyes and felt confused. What was going on here? He looked up at the doctor. “Wha…?”
“Max, I’m here.” Sophie grabbed his hand.
“Sophie…wha…what happened?”
“You collapsed, Max. Can you tell us why, what you were feeling right before it happened?” Canfield was really interested to hear what Max would say.
Max licked his lips. “Feeling…blue, suffocating…blue.” He turned his head a few times back and forth on the pillow. And then his eyes went wide. “Sid…Sid is not here, is he?”
John glanced down at Zack, who was watching and listening to Max. “Sid again.”
“I was right beside him and felt nothing,” Jack said, looking at John.
Terry was interested, too. This was the first time he’d heard Max mention Sid.
“There is only us here, a room full of your brothers.”
Sophie kissed his hand.
“Max, lie still now and think,” Canfield directed. “Do you believe you were in the blue just a minute ago, that Sid took you out of this room and into it?”
Max closed his eyes. “I was listening to them talk about Sid and…I…I thought…but, I remembered something. It just…came to me. The blue.” He opened his eyes and squinted for a moment. “I was in it and I couldn’t move. Oh…”
Terry looked at Maximus. “Cort was in some kind of blue coffin, I was told.”
“He was. It was made of some sort of blue electricity and when I touched it I…”
“It practically exploded his nervous system,” Canfield interjected. “Cort, though, inside the blue thing was deeply comatose. We ran tests, Terry, and found that it wasn’t just his skin that was blue, but that the blue permeated every cell in his body…even after the coffin was gone.”
“Cort was in the blue?” Max asked. “Not…not good. I…I was…awake. I’m sure…I’m sure I was. Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move…hurt.”
“No more hurt, my darling. No more blue. You’re here with us now.” Sophie squeezed his hand. “Will he be all right, Doctor?”
“Do you think you were remembering, Max, like some sort of flashback? Not like you were in the blue just now, because you never left this room, not for a second. Perhaps our speaking of Sid triggered a buried memory?”
Max raised his head a little and looked around. “I didn’t leave.” He let his head drop back down. “It must have been something locked in my mind, hidden.” He started to sit up. “I’m all right. Sorry…sorry for the…I don’t think I’ve ever just passed out…sober.”
Canfield put a hand on his chest. “You just lie there a little while longer, Max. You did pass out and you were out for several minutes. I want to make sure you’re all right before you get up. Jack’s quick action saved you from getting hurt, but we don’t want to take any more chances with that. It won’t hurt for you to be on the oxygen a little while longer, too.”
Bud ventured, “So you think, Max, that maybe Sid didn’t just take you directly from the diving board to the jungle after all? Sounds like he made a stop along the way.” He looked around the room at all the faces, then asked, “Why? What did he want with Max in the first place?”
Terry looked at Bud, “I’ve wondered about that ever since we found him. I couldn’t see any reason for him to bring Max out in such a fashion…or Jack, for that matter.”
“Does Sid need a reason to do what he does?” John asked. “Seems to me like he just likes to play with us. Maybe he was just playing around with Max?”
“I don’t think so, John. It’s not fun if he doesn’t have an audience. He likes to watch us scramble about,” Terry sighed.
“I never understood why I was brought out. I was of no use to him. It was a cruel thing he did to me. Two years stranded on an island trying to keep myself alive with no idea of what had really happened. I thought I’d lost my ship and my entire crew.”
“Zack, he’s Captain Jack Aubrey, Royal Navy circa 1805,” John supplied.
“But you didn’t spend time in his blue, did you, Jack?”
“No, Terry, I don’t believe I did.”
“What happened to your back, Max?” John asked.
“I don’t know. I assume it was from a fall, perhaps the fall into the muddy stream where I was found.”
“Were you in pain then?” Terry tilted his head.
“Of course I was in pain…disoriented and…frightened.”
“What were you afraid of?”
“Terry…if you were me and woke up in a jungle…what the bollocks do you think I was afraid of?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I asked. You doing okay over there, Zack?”
“Listening to you blokes talk about all this and what’s happened to you, it…it…well, it makes me feel less strange about myself. I guess more than anything you could be saying, this helps me…in some strange way. It really makes me aware I’m not alone.”
“You are very much not alone, Zack,” Maximus said. “Terry there was found once hanging by handcuffs around his ankles from the railing high atop a water tower. Sid put Alex in a trashcan.” He looked at Lachlan then, but said nothing.
“Ah, okie dokie. Yeah, Zack, me he put in a bathtub full of white glue. Cute, eh?”
“I was once dropped among mugs of coffee on a restaurant table,” Bud said with a sigh. “But many of his doings are much more serious than that. He is directly responsible for the death of Cort’s wife.”
“And he murdered Cort’s adoptive father,” Maximus added.
“Well,” Canfield interrupted, “you men have way too many stories for a single afternoon’s telling. But you see, Zack, how what has happened to you is not unusual behavior for Sid. I hope it will serve to strengthen your sense of belonging with this group…this family. I think the best thing from here on will be for you to watch the films of these men who are, for lack of any other sufficient word, your brothers. That will be the best way for you to see where each of them has come from, what each of them has left behind, what things have gone into shaping the characteristics of each. No Way Back may be your film or it may be the film you were just about to begin making. Either way, you have a strong connection to it and there is nothing wrong with your being called Zack.”
“We all have copies of the films and I suppose we could get up a collection for you, Zack. If Dr. Canfield can arrange a TV and a DVD player in here it might give you something to do besides contemplate the ceiling tiles,” John smiled.
“Well, this has been an interesting day. I’ve left my semi-invalided partner at home with a heating pad on her neck. I think it’s time I went home and see if she’s baked,” Terry grinned. “Although Tarwyn was over there earlier.”
“Was she? Good, then perhaps she has assisted Deidre,” Jack said.
Terry walked the few steps over to Zack and shook his hand. “Good to see you stayed with us and now you’ve got something to think about.”
“A lot to think about, Terry. And, yes, I’d very much like to start watching the movies. I’m ready for it. I think today has been a real turning point for me.”
“Caroline is in town as well,” Maximus said. “I am to meet her at Bettino’s for dinner tonight and had best be on my way.”
“Italian, eh?” Bud teased. “Thought you were Spanish.”
“Why do you have an English accent, Maximus?” Zack asked.
“From what I am given to understand, Russell wished to portray me with a Spanish accent since I am often called ‘The Spaniard’ in the film, but Ridley Scott, the man who directed it, wished a more classic English accent and that is what came about.”
He looked over at Max. “Please take care of yourself, Max. I am gratified you are now feeling better but if something in your mind wishes to find its way to where it may be seen and dealt with, I would recommend you not be alone for any length of time and even possibly not drive.”
“I concur,” Canfield said. “You were in a room here in the hospital where you could be taken care of when you passed out. Had you been behind the wheel, it could have been a different matter altogether. This is obviously something that needs working out, Max. I don’t think there is any doubt that Sid spent a while with you in the blue enroute to that jungle.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you. Whatever happened it wasn’t pleasant and my mind has blocked it.” Max thought a moment. “I can’t drive? What kind of bollocks is that?”
“You heard what he said, Maxie, you might have another episode. I will drive you home. Your car should be in a garage anyway. You only have one headlight that works.” Sophie wagged a finger at him.
“I think I’ll take off too,” John said, pulling on his jacket. “I might get to see Bethany before she leaves for work. Zack, good to have you with us.”
“I may try and catch Tarwyn,” Jack pulled out his phone and looked at it. “It is so near dinner, I may as well meet her somewhere.”
Maximus sat with Caroline at the Italian restaurant, enjoying the lines of her face in the light of the candle between them. He had been telling her about all that happened in the hospital that afternoon.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe he simply…died.”
“Sid has greatly damaged his bodily systems.”
“Then Max? That must have been startling when he passed out in a room so crowded with men.”
“Our first instinct was that Sid had done something to him and he had, only not just at that moment.” He reached across the table, taking her hand in his. “Did your afternoon go well?”
“Very, very satisfactorily,” she smiled. “I’m quite pleased. And you? Did you find what you were looking for?”
“The cape is being made. The fur will not be real but the sample I was shown makes it hard to tell the difference.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go out and kill a wolf or two at lunchtime,” she grinned.
“I am now a modern man,” he smiled, turning her hand so her palm was up and leaning forward to kiss it, “and am about to marry a modern woman. I say this, presuming you, too, killed no wolves at lunch.”
“You presume correctly.” His lips on her palm were sending shivers of delight up her arm. “Though,” she finally was able to add, “there were several yaks I…”
“You intend to wear fresh yak hide to our wedding?”
She giggled. “Would you mind?”
“My eyes shall be so pleased at the sight of your coming that should you be wearing nothing, I would be satisfied.”
“Ben will be there, remember.”
“Ah, yes. Then perhaps it is best there be at least a tablecloth.”
“There will be more than a tablecloth.”
“I await the discovery of it with great anticipation.” And he kissed her palm again.
“Its been quite a day for you.” Dee ran her hand through Terry’s hair. They were under a blanket on the sofa. Terry stopped and brought home a pizza for dinner.
“Yeah, I feel better about Zack now. I think he’s going to make it. It was nice of Tarwyn to stay with you.”
“She didn’t want to leave until you got here and I said I wasn’t helpless. I’m not, you know. She wants you to do something for her. Since you found Ben’s horse, she wants you to see if you can find one of Jack’s dress uniforms.”
Terry dropped his head to her breast.
“She wants him all decked out in dress blues for their wedding. I volunteered you.”
He looked up and kissed her. “I can’t back out then.”
“Is it a problem?”
“I don’t know. I thought Russell took the uniform.”
“You think they made up one dress uniform? It’s probably moldering away in some warehouse of forgotten costumes.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” He nuzzled her breast.
“I knew you would. Their wedding is December 21st.”
He looked up. “Are you suggesting I get up right now and start looking for Jack’s clothes?”
“No, no…not right now.” she smiled, and drew his head back to her breast.
Caroline drove the station wagon home so Maximus could call Cort during the ride and fill him in on the afternoon’s developments.
“I wish I could have been there,” Cort sighed.
“I know, but it was a matter of time and I was only able to attend because I was already in town. I think that Zack is going to be all right. Doctor Canfield wishes to keep him a while longer due to what happened to him today, but possibly by Sunday he may be able to leave the hospital.”
“Good. I’ll talk with Canfield an’ then drive in an’ pick him up whenever he’s released.”
Sophie drove Max home. He was rather quiet on the drive. “Are you all right, Max?” She’d been given a big scare earlier and it finalized something in her mind about him. No more hesitation. She loved him and would stay with him.
“I’m fine, Sophie. It was a flashback and nothing more. Threw me, though.”
“Threw you on the floor.” She widened her eyes and looked over at him.
“Not quite. Jack caught me.”
They pulled onto the road that led past the winery. “That looks welcoming.” All the lights were on in the house. It glowed on the slight hill where it sat. It looked safe and he wanted nothing more than to be caught up in that safety and the warmth of Sophie.
Thursday morning Cort’s paperwork came by FedEx. Terry called him to let him know.
“Cort, just wanted to let you know you are now an ordained minister. I’ve got the envelope in my hand.” Terry turned it over. It had been sent to Cortland Wells c/o T. Thorne.
“Ah, good, Terry. I’ll be needin’ it first thing tomorrow. If it’s all right, I think I’ll drive in later this mornin’ an’ pick it up. I want to visit Zack again anyway. Sure wish I could’ve been part of that yesterday afternoon.”
“I wish you could have been there too. It was amazing how easy it was to explain it all to him. I was a little worried and didn’t want to handle it on my own. He’s ready to watch movies now. I understand Maximus and Caroline are getting married tomorrow. I think that’s wonderful. In fact, it sounds like you’re going to be busy performing weddings for the next few months. Deidre and I will give you a break, but we’re planning something for spring and would like you to officiate.”
“Aw, Terry, that’s such an honor for you to ask me. Means a lot. We’ve been through a great deal, haven’t we, since that day I first arrived in the medical department of NanoCorp. Of course I have no memory of that.”
“Probably best you don’t remember. We have been through a lot since then. I’m beginning to think memory loss is not such a bad thing. I’d hate to think Zack remembered what had happened to him and Max had a flashback that sent him on his knees. I wouldn’t have anyone else but you, Cort.”
“Well, when it gets closer to time, let me know what you and Dee are thinkin’ about what you like. I want to make all these as individual as possible. Maximus has chosen tomorrow because of the fog predicted. I guess each of us has somethin’ that means somethin’ special. I married my Daisy in a big daisy patch in the bright sunlight an’ that was just perfect. The ancient, wounded lime tree was right for Rachel an’ me at that time. I’m glad you were there for that one, Terry. And Henri. I still miss him, you know, more’n I can say. Maximus an’ I’ve been talkin’ about what to do about that little graveyard we’ve got goin’ there in the clearin’. I think we’ve about decided to let it mostly be as it is. Seems right that way somehow. He wants at least some sort of marker for Decimus, though, and that’s right, too.”
“I hope to God I never have to visit that graveyard again. Don’t take offence, but I think you know what I mean."
"I do know, Terry, an' I pray we never have another burial there."
“Well, I met Deidre in a thorn bush. What I’m thinking is we’d like to get married out on our property. We’re going to build a house out there as soon as we have time to meet with an architect. I think it might be proper to go ahead and plant some thorny bushes on a favorite spot we have.” Maybe some rose bushes, he thought to himself, remembering Major Thorne’s attentions.
“I have a tale to tell you sometime, Cort, about my origins. I think you’ll find it interesting.”
“I would very much like to hear it, Terry. The journey to our origins can be very long an’ windin’, can’t it. Mine lay through a parkin’ lot an’ a churchyard into a desert an’ finally to a daisy patch. Yours led you to Australia. It’s odd sometimes how different we are despite being the same man.”
“Yeah, nothing is ever as we think it’s going to be. You’ve been to Thorneton and I know it was a trying time for you but did you ever think there was more to the place than you could see? Did you ever feel a…presence there?”
“I’m afraid not, Terry. We weren’t there very long an’ the only presence that kept hangin’ over me was the distinct possibility of Sid comin’. I was almost sick with worry the whole time we were there…except for one time when Marthene babysat Hope an’ Rachel an’ I went up on top of that smooth hill behind the house. I remember we could see the tors of Cathedral Rocks from up there.” He paused a moment, pressing the phone to his chest as he thought of what had befallen the three of them in that park. Sucking in a breath, he spoke again. “What’s this presence you’re talkin’ about?”
“The spirit of Major Terrance Thorne. He inhabits the place.”
“You mean that, Terry? He does?”
“Yes, I mean it. I was able to communicate with him. He was a real person, a SAS bloke who died in 1997. He was a mate of Russell’s. Russell based the character on him. He told me he must have had a choice when he died. He wanted Australia and Thorneton and that’s what he got. I had memories of the place but they were Russell’s. He gave me a book, a journal he wrote when he was growing up. So now, now I have a childhood I can go back and reference. He also let me know that he thought I was an okay bloke and that I am living the life he lost. A strange encounter, Cort, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.”
“I’m truly glad you had it, Terry. Sounds like it’s settled somethin’ in you. Well, if I don’t get off the phone an’ start drivin’, I’ll never make it into the city. See you before too long.”
Bethany was asleep and John walked out onto the deck of their house. It sure was nice to be able to get outside. At the apartment when he was home he was inside with nowhere to go. Now he could get out and explore the property. He found things he didn’t know about, like an underground room. He remembered something in the papers about a tornado shelter. Did they have tornadoes in the hill country? He didn’t know but there it was. Not much more than closet size but it was finished out inside with a couple of strong steel doors. “Ha,” he said to himself. The back yard wasn’t that big because it backed up to a forest. “Cut some of that out and make a nice yard.”
He went on with his explorations. Ten acres of that forest was his and Bethany’s. He stood there looking through the trees and thought of his kid playing out there. “Better see what’s there,” he said under his breath and entered the woods. A lot of underbrush needed clearing away and he liked the idea of something like that to do. He’d need to buy some tools. He’d need a place to store them too…and a garage. Yeah…a garage. A lawnmower…John smiled. All the things that came with homeownership. He was just realizing what he had. He stopped his trek through the woods and walked back to the house. A quick note for Bethany and he picked up his keys…off to Home Depot. As he closed the door the magnet with his note slid down the side of the fridge.
Cort picked up his papers from Terry’s, spent a little while visiting with Dee, then went by the hospital to see Zack. Dr. Canfield had set up a TV with a DVD player in the room and Zack was at the scene in LA Confidential where Bud gets shot more than once in the Victory Motel. He put it on pause when Cort came in.
“Sorry I wasn’t here yesterday, Zack. Takes me two hours to get to the city an’ they set the gatherin’ up for right away.”
“I think it really helped me, Cort. I’ve got a better understanding, a better perspective on things now.” He nodded toward the TV. “I watchedMystery, Alaska this morning and now I’m almost done with Bud’s.”
Cort sat down. “Go ahead and let it play. I’ll watch the ending with you.”
Like just about everybody who saw LA Confidential for the first time, Zack presumed Bud had been killed in the shootout and was delighted to find him alive at the ending. When the movie was over, he turned to Cort. “It makes sense now, the differences between all of us. I see John in his movie and then Bud in his and even though both of them are Russell Crowe, they’re entirely different men. And John is still basically John, as Bud is Bud.”
“It sure does help with the understandin’. There’s no better way to get a handle on who is who than by watchin’ them.”
“I thought I might watch The Quick and the Dead next.”
“Ah, well then you’ll understand a lot of the baggage I’ve carried around with me. When you watch Gladiator, you’ll see why it was Maximus who caught Sid’s attention. I’ve lived through Gladiator myself, almost entirely, from the firepots at the beginnin’ to when he comes through the tunnel toward the end. But I don’t want to say much about it. You need to watch it first, lettin’ it unfold on its own.”
“You were part of the retrieval team for Maximus?”
“I was. Terry, Dee, Rachel an' me. Rachel later became my wife. She was the one who died in Australia thanks to Sid.”
“Was it dangerous…retrieving?”
“Wasn’t supposed to be but it turned out that way. We were supposed to come in at the end but somethin’ went very wrong an' we were set down at the beginnin’ an’ had to go all the way through the whole thing. I was even in the arena with the gladiators in North Africa.”
“After I’ve seen all these, I’d really like to talk with you more about that.”
“That’d be right fine by me, Zack. Well, you look like you’re doin’ pretty good. I’ve got a weddin’ to do first thing in the mornin’ an’ need to be gettin’ on back now to help Maximus get some things set up for it.”
“You’re doing a wedding?”
“Watch my movie, Zack, an’ you’ll see why they’ve asked me,” he smiled.
Max was up at the winery going over the books. This was a part of the business he fully understood. He could hear Sophie on the phone in the next room. She was in her father’s old office, the one with the full glass wall. He preferred the one he was in as it over looked the vineyards. The vineyard was a profitable business as far as he could determine from a quick perusal of the books. He looked up from the computer screen. “New York?”
“Yes, I told them I was leaving.” She walked around the room picking up things. “I still have to and settle the apartment.”
“When?”
“When you are ready to go. There is no hurry. I have paid the lease until the end of the year.”
“It bothers you…about the job, doesn’t it?”
“In a way it does but I know in my heart that I have made the right decision. This is where I belong…with you.”
Max smiled.
Tarwyn hung over the stall railing. “Have you thought about a honeymoon?”
Jack switched off the hose. “Honeymoon?”
“Yes, the bride and groom take a little trip somewhere after the wedding. I know where I’d like to go…I want you to meet someone.”
“Where is that?”
“New Orleans. I want you to meet my mother. She may not know she’s meeting you but at least you will have seen her. She’s all the family I have left except for here.”
“We can do that, darling. If you want a few days…well, I’ll have to find someone to see to things here.”
“You need someone anyway. You shouldn’t be cleaning out stalls.”
“And why not?”
Tarwyn grinned, “Because, you’re lord of the manor here.”
“Ha, ha!” Jack laughed and taunted her with the hose, sending her away from the railing.
“There,” Maximus said, smiling as he stepped back several paces to check out the handiwork he, Hank, Cort and Ben had just finished. “Now all that is required is that the fog come in the night.”
“’Sposed to,” Hank nodded. “Conditions sure seem right to me.” He looked at the smiling General. “Sure feels different from that day Caroline called to me to help get you in the house. I wasn’t fond of the idea of that, you know, her taking some strange man she found in the woods into her home. Sure worked out fine, though. Sure did.”
Zack finished The Quick and the Dead and lay back in the bed awhile, thinking about it, about all that had happened to Cort. And now he understood why Cort was being asked to officiate at upcoming weddings. It made sense.
He’d winced hard when Ratsy’s gun butt had smashed down on Cort’s hand. He’d like to ask Cort about that sometime. He was understanding so much more and with each movie he watched, felt closer to his counterpart from it and found himself eager to talk with each of them. Gladiator would be next. There was something so arresting about the presence of the General and he wanted to see his film before watching Sid’s. Sid’s he found himself putting off, always coming up with something else to watch instead of it. Sid was the villain of the group and he knew he needed to gain understanding of him but, still, he was not eager to do so.