“Leon, this is Cordell Walker and Jimmy Trivette.  They’re Texas Rangers on sort of a special assignment.  Walker, Trivette this is Leon Cramer.”

The three men shook hands.  Leon looked a little puzzled.

“Texas Rangers?  In Chicago?”

Walker, generally the spokesman of the pair, grinned and explained.

“You have a doctor in town, Schuyler Fairfax.  Crumb is a friend of hers.  She’s the widow of a fellow Ranger.  About fifteen years ago her husband, a 25-year-old Ranger, responded to a call about a jewelry store robbery in spite of the fact that he was off duty at the time.  He confronted four men coming out of the store.  They opened fire on him.  He managed to shoot one of them before they got him.  He died en route to the hospital.”

“What’s that got to do with Chicago?”

“Give the man a minute Leon and he’ll tell you!”  Crumb exclaimed.

Walker and Trivette exchanged amused glances.  Crumb reminded them very much of their friend, retired Texas Ranger C.D. Parker.  Both were gruff but with hearts of gold.

“We believe that the men who pulled that heist and murdered Ranger Bradley are here in Chicago.”

“What makes you think that?” Leon wanted to know.

“Dr. Fairfax’s grandfather owns the rodeo that’s playing out at the Oak Park Fairgrounds,” Walker said. “Last night a friend of hers, a young man by the name of Gary Hobson, was beaten by three men at the dance.  Three men who Dr. Fairfax’s former brother-in-law has been hanging out with are responsible.  This much we’ve been able to determine from talking to her brother, cousins and some of the other attendees.”

“Is Hobson going to press assault charges against these guys?”

“Hard to say.  He was in pretty tough shape when we helped her get him home last night.”

 “The idea,” Trivette spoke up, “is to find out if these guys are who we think they are.  And if so, to finally bring them to justice.  Getting Mark Bradley off of Sky Fairfax’s case will be a bonus.  He’s really beginning to worry her and he hangs out with those guys who beat Hobson last night.”

 The two detectives and the Rangers talked for another hour making arrangements for use of a telephone a computer and access to the department files.  Then Walker left the group to go back to the fairgrounds.  He was entered in two events, one of which was scheduled for that afternoon.  He planned on doing some investigating in between and by hanging around hoped to pick up some useful information.

 It was 9AM.  Sam Delaney and Jamie Fairfax arrived at McGinty’s to take Sky to her hotel and in Sam’s case, take over Gary’s care for a few hours.  A still drowsy and exhausted Sky was steered down the stairs and out to Jamie’s car.  Not once in the three hours that she’d been asleep had she stirred.  Her brother took her to the Hilton and made her lie down on the bed.  Then he removed her shoes and put a blanket over her.  He’d be back to make sure she had something to eat and a shower before he took her back to the loft. ***********************************************************************

Gary’s eyes fluttered open.  He looked around the loft but saw no sign of Sky.  Just then the door opened and Sam walked in.

“You’re awake.  Good.”  Sam approached the bed, a heavily laden tray in hand.  It was noon and he had lunch for the two of them.  “How’re you feeling Gary?”

“Ok, I guess.  Where’s Sky?  Isn’t she here?”

“Jamie took her to her hotel to get some sleep.  From what he says Chuck found her asleep on the floor next to your bed this morning holding your hand.  I’d say that’s a pretty good sign that you had a rough night - both of you.”

Gary’s brownish green eyes showed concern.  Not about himself, but about Sky.  He vaguely remembered her bringing him home the night before with help from two men.  His memories of the night before were all jumbled bits and pieces like a scrapbook or a jigsaw puzzle.  Images of five men.  Blood.  Pain.  The sound of broken glass.  Sky and Elena.  Andrew.  Music. Dancing.  Bright lights.  Being on stage with Sky’s cousins.  Singing.  Singing?  No. It couldn’t be.  He didn’t really get up on stage and sing did he?

“I brought us some lunch,” Sam told his patient.  “A sandwich for me and some chicken soup for you.  I doubt you’re ready for anything else and the doc left orders that you were to eat every bit of it and have some more peppermint tea if you still have a headache.”

Gary sat up painfully.  His grimace was not lost on Sam who reached down to adjust the pillows behind Gary’s back.  Then he handed him the tray with the bowl of soup and a spoon.

“Here you go kid.  Eat hearty,” Sam said.  “When you’re through with it you’re permitted some company for a few minutes.  Marissa and Chuck are anxiously waiting to see you.”

Half an hour later both men had finished eating and Sam had checked his patient’s vitals.  He was not happy to see that Gary’s temperature had gone up again.  Not much, but enough that it could be cause for concern.  The trauma of the night before was taking its toll on the young man.  He knew Sky would worry herself into exhaustion staying up with the kid all night if need be.  He hoped he could talk her into letting him spell her but he wasn’t holding his breath.

Putting away his stethoscope, blood pressure cuff and thermometer he left the room to bring the dishes back to the kitchen and let Marissa and Chuck have their visit.

“How ya feelin’ buddy?” Chuck asked.

“Gary,” Marissa said, “Are you ok?  I was so worried when Sky brought you home last night.”

“I’m ok, Marissa.”  His voice was somewhat muffled because of the swelling.

“You don’t sound ok,” she said.

Gary gave Chuck a warning look.  He didn’t want Marissa to know how bad he probably looked.

“Honest Marissa, I’m fine,” he said.  Making sure Sam wasn’t around he asked, “Have you seen the paper?”

“Yeah, Gar, relax,” Chuck said.  “I picked it up when I came in this morning.  It’s down in the office.  You and Sky were both sleeping and the cat was just sitting on the paper waiting patiently for someone to let him in.”  Chuck’s blue eyes were wide with wonder.  “I’ve never see the cat so quiet, Gar.”

“Is there anything I need to take care of?”

“Gary!” Marissa exclaimed.  “You can’t be serious!  Last night three men beat you within an inch of your life, Sky puts you to bed and you still want to take care of the paper?”

“Gar, she’s right,” Chuck said.  “Besides I already checked.  There’s only a couple of minor incidents and I took care of them for you.”

“You didn’t…”

Marissa headed off his inquiry.  “I’ve been around all morning Gary.  I can promise you he hasn’t made any calls to his bookie or anything like it.”

Sam came into the room just then.  All talk of the paper ceased.  The big nurse shooed Gary’s friends out of the room and made himself comfortable with a couple of magazines he’d brought with him.  Gary fell asleep again a few minutes later.  He wasn’t about to admit that he didn’t feel well but he knew that the ex-boxing champ wasn’t fooled.  Not one bit.  And Gary wasn’t about to cross him or get on the wrong side of his self-appointed personal physician.  He was stubborn but not foolish.  Any resistance on his part at this stage of the game would only get him into hot water with the both of them. ************************************************************************
Sky woke up in her hotel room around four that afternoon.  Until she’d fallen asleep at Gary’s bedside it had been almost 24 hours since she’d gotten any sleep and her brother knew it.  That was why he’d let her sleep on Gary’s couch for a little while before bringing her to her hotel.

A glance at the clock on the bedside table sent her into a panic.  Rushing from the bedroom she found Jamie in the sitting room talking to their grandfather.

Taking in his granddaughter’s disheveled appearance Kenneth MacGregor asked, “How are you feeling Schuyler?”

“I’m fine Grandpa Mac,” she answered giving him a hug.  “I’ll be even better once I get a shower, some clean clothes and back to my patient.”

“Can you spare a few minutes to tell me what you know about the trouble at the dance last night?”

“I don’t know much Grandpa Mac,” Sky said.  “It’s like one minute everything was completely normal.  People were dancing and music was playing.  Some of us were sitting around talking and then bang!  Things were going crazy!  Rob, Chris and Alex went running off to where their horses are stabled to check into a problem with them.  Two minutes later somebody comes up to the table where Gary, Elena and I are sitting with Hannah, Anne and Rebecca and says there’s been an accident and someone needs medical attention.  Only when Elena and I get to the scene of the ‘accident’ there is no accident.  A minute later I hear there’s a fight going on.  By the time I got there it was all over and Gary was lying on the ground unconscious.”

“Will he be all right Schuyler?”  Mr. MacGregor asked his granddaughter.

“He’s hurting Grandpa Mac and he ran a fever last night but, yes, he’ll be okay in a few days,” Sky answered.  “He’s young, he’s healthy and he’s strong.  And he’s got two very good friends and an ex-cop keeping an eye on him.  Crumb in particular, for all his gruff talk, really does care about Gary.  I can see it in his eyes.  He just tries to hide it.”  She smiled at the thought of the crusty old cop.

“There’s nothing else you can tell us granddaughter?”

“Nothing.”

“What about the two men who broke up the fight?”

Sky shot an anxious look at Jamie.  Their grandfather traveled so much with the rodeo that even though he was legally a resident of Texas he wasn’t all that familiar with Walker.  He’d only met him at Sky and Jonathan’s wedding and Jonathan’s funeral all those years ago.  Jimmy Trivette wasn’t even with the Rangers at the time.

Jamie saved his sister from answering.  He knew she hated deceiving everyone but she’d confided in him about asking Walker for help because he had spent two years in Dallas himself on the Fire Department and was well acquainted with Walker and his exploits.  The man was practically a legend!  The fewer people who knew who he was and why he was there the better.
 

“The way I hear it Granddad two other cowboys from the rodeo came along while these guys were working Gary over and lit into them like a pair of wildcats.  They slunk off licking their wounds when Sky and the others showed up.  They weren’t up for Round Two.”  He looked his grandfather straight in the eye.  “Much as it pains me that these guys are still walking around free Granddad,” he said, “There’s two things I have to say.  One:  it’s not our say whether or not to press charges - it’s Gary’s and he’s in no shape to make that decision right now.  Secondly, and more importantly, it was imperative that he get medical attention immediately.  He wouldn’t go to the hospital so getting him back to the loft and into bed was the smartest and only thing Sky could do.”

“Jamie, how was Gary when you brought me here?” Sky asked.  “Against my will I might add.”

“When we left he was sleeping and his temp was normal,” he replied choosing to ignore the complaint after the question.

“Have you heard from Sam?”

“No.”  Seeing the worried look on his sister’s face he added, “I’m sure he would have called if there was any cause for concern.  You’ve told me a hundred times what a good nurse he is.  And I’ve seen it for myself.”

 “I’m still worried.  Take me back to McGinty’s now.”

“Not until you shower, change and have something to eat.  You’re not going to help Gary or any other patient by starving yourself and not getting any rest.”

Sky tried to argue but her brother and her grandfather were adamant.  She showered and changed into clean jeans, a baseball jersey with Red Sox Shortstop Nomar Garciaparra’s name and number printed on it and a pair of sneakers.  While she cleaned up her brother called room service and ordered steak dinners complete with baked potatoes and corn and glasses of milk for the three of them.

By the time they were through eating and had cleaned up Sky was really on edge.  Her grandfather hugged and kissed her then headed back to the fairgrounds.  Jamie got his car keys and the jacket he’d been wearing and drove his sister back to McGinty’s.  Once there she spent a few minutes with Chuck and Marissa before heading up to the loft.  Sam looked up as she entered.

“Hey, Doc,” he said.  You’re looking better.”

“Hi Sam,” she returned his greeting.  “How’s Gary doing?”

Her patient was asleep. His temperature had gone up to 101.  Sky could see that he was somewhat flushed but he was to all appearances resting comfortably at the moment.

“His temp is up a little but you can see for yourself that he’s resting right now.”

Sky set her medical bag on the coffee table and a tote bag with some books, paper and pens on the floor by the couch.  Then she crossed over to Gary’s bedside and sat down on the edge of the bed.  Sam rose from the chair and walked over to Sky who was in the process of checking Gary’s vital statistics for herself.

“He’ll be fine Doc,” he said putting his left hand on her right shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Sky’s eyes met Sam’s and she tried to smile.  But it was plain that she was worried.

“I know Sam, but I worry about him.  Especially after that mess last fall.”

“You never did tell me how you two met,” Sam said in an effort to distract her from her worries.

“I was twelve going on thirteen.  Gary was four going on five.  My family and I were still living in Kentucky at the time.  Gary and his parents came to Kentucky on vacation.  While they were out hiking Gary wandered off and got lost.  Bad enough for a little kid to be lost but Gary had the misfortune of walking into the path of a timber rattlesnake.  I was in the area and heard him crying just before he encountered the snake and was quick enough to pull him out of the way.  Then I cut the snake’s head off, comforted one badly frightened little boy and helped him find his mom and dad.  A couple of months later we moved to Hickory.  Gary became my ‘little best buddy’, or, as the boys called him, my ‘shadow’.”

“I’m sure you were a good friend Doc.  I know you are now.”  Sam got ready to leave.  “Listen, Doc, I’m headed out to the fairgrounds.  If you need me page me.”

“Ok Sam,” Sky said.  “I’ll be fine.”
 

Sam left and Sky turned her attention back to Gary.  With him sick the way he was she couldn’t help thinking back to when he had the measles as a six-year-old.  He’d been pretty miserable for almost a week.  It had been a relief at the end of that week to see him up and running around again.  Looking at her sleeping friend she couldn’t help noticing how young he still looked.  Gary may have been going on thirty-two but to Sky he didn’t look much older than when he’d graduated from high school.  The physician in her took note of the swelling around his eyes and jaw and the bruises on his cheek, jaw and forehead.  As gently as she could she removed the bandage from the gash on his left temple.  It was still nasty looking but it didn’t appear to be infected.  Neither did the one on his right cheekbone, which she checked after replacing the other bandage. Her next step was to carefully pull the bedclothes back and his tee shirt up to see how his ribs looked.  The bruises were varied shades of red and purple and to Sky’s eyes looked tremendously sore.

Her best educated guess about the fever he was running was that the pain in his ribs and the headache from the goose egg sized lump on the back of his head were making him miserable and were the root cause of the problem.  As for the nightmares, Sky figured it was psychological in nature.  He’d suffered a terrible beating and was apparently still worried about her.  She was curious about the people he had mentioned in his delirium.  This Dobbs or Marley was one thing but he’d seemed so upset about someone named Emma and whether or not he should let her see some guy named Marco.  He’d been crying out to Marissa for guidance and his “big sister” was very curious.  Carefully she pulled his tee shirt back down and pulled the covers back over him.

Gary was beginning to get a little restless so Sky got up and went to the bathroom for some cold water and a washcloth. Coming back to his bedside once more she placed the basin on the floor. Then she sat on the side of the bed again, brushed his bangs back from his forehead just as she had the night before and many times when he was a little boy and placed the cool damp cloth on it.

“Bat…Mike…don’t shoot…he’s not worth it.”  Gary’s fever had brought the dreams and nightmares back.  He was starting to toss and turn in the grip of the fever.  “Fire…room’s on fire…”

Sky applied the cloth to Gary’s forehead and cheeks in an effort to bring his fever down.

“Where’s the Tribune building?  Lost…gotta get home…gotta stop the fire…city’s gonna burn…No one listens…over my head…Mom?  I’m here… can’t get down…gonna fall…Mom…Crumb…need help…gotta save Sky…can’t get down…gonna fall…Sky watch out…”
 

Gary’s temperature went up and down all night.  Sky never left his side except to get more cold water.  Shortly after closing time for the restaurant Chuck, Marissa and Crumb all checked in on them.  Marissa was extremely upset when she heard Gary’s voice crying out in his delirium, but Sky with help from Crumb convinced her that she wasn’t going to be able to do anything for him.

A very sober & worried Chuck took her home.  Crumb was not so easily talked into leaving.  He could see the exhaustion, coupled with worry, on Sky’s face and he wanted to stay and help but she finally convinced him that she could manage Gary herself.  It wasn’t the first all night bedside vigil she’d kept.  Reluctantly Crumb left for home leaving the doctor alone with her patient.

 “Marcia why?  Pritchard?  Suitcase…Why?  Mom help me…Where’s Dad?  Can’t get down.  Scared…so scared.  Mom?  Help me Mom.  Where’s Dad?  Nobody hears me…Cat get help…Scared…Can’t get down…Gonna fall…Scared…so scared.”  Gary’s head whipped back and forth on the pillow, the damp cloth falling off his forehead.  A worried Sky gently replaced it each time, crooning to him as if he were a sick child again.

 “Sshhh, sweetie.  You’re safe.  I’m here.  Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

Sky came within seconds of sending for an ambulance.  It was after daybreak the next morning when Gary’s fever finally broke and he fell into a deep natural sleep no longer tormented by nightmares of burning rooms, his ex-wife and ex-boss or being trapped somewhere high that he couldn’t get down from.

Sky was sitting next to Gary, pale faced, dark shadows under her eyes and shaky, icy hands when Gary roused briefly around eight.

“Sky?”

Sky smiled when she saw him awake, clear eyed and all signs of fever gone.

“Hi.  How are you feeling sweetie?”

“Ok.  Have…”Gary’s throat was dry and his voice cracked.  He took the glass of water Sky handed him in both hands as she helped him sit up to drink it.  Then he was able to talk again.  “Have you been here all night?  Was I that sick?”

“The answer to both questions is ‘yes’ love,” Sky answered him.  “You came very close to going to the hospital last night.  But I think you’re finally on the mend.  I don’t mind telling you that you had me pretty scared.  You were talkin’ out of your head about fires, Marcia, someone named Pritchard…”  Sky stopped speaking when she saw the hurt look that crossed his face when he heard that name.  “What’s the matter Gary?  Who’s Pritchard and why do you have that look on your face?”

“He…he was my boss at the brokerage firm.  Marcia, she…she was going to marry him after our divorce but she left him standing at the altar.”  Gary didn’t voice his private suspicion that Marcia had been seeing Pritchard while still married to him.

 “Oh, Gary!  I’m so sorry hon. I knew Marcia had dumped you but I had no idea she’d done that!”  Sky was outraged to say the very least.  Marcia had really added insult to injury.

The two of them sat there talking for a few minutes then Gary fell asleep again.  Sky busied herself straightening up.  She had just finished when Chuck, Marissa and Crumb arrived.  Chuck grabbed the paper when he got to the door.  Then he knocked softly.  He and Crumb were appalled at Sky’s appearance but tried not to let on to Marissa.  That young lady however knew, from the sound of Sky’s voice and the touch of her cold hands, that Sky was exhausted.  Wrung out would have been a better term.

The three of them didn’t stay long.  As Sky was escorting them to the door she suddenly felt very lightheaded.  As she started to sway and her knees buckled Crumb caught her by the elbows with a speed that belied his age and weight.

“Fishman, make yourself useful here,” He said to Chuck.  “Fix those pillows on the couch there.”

“What’s wrong Crumb?  Is Sky ok?” Marissa anxiously inquired.

“I’m fine, Marissa,” Sky told her.

“Sure you are.  That’s why you fainted just now!”  Crumb was slightly put out at her attempt to make light of the situation.

Chuck had quickly straightened the pillows and unfolded the blankets.  Now he went to help Crumb guide Sky to the couch.

“Here you go young lady.  You just lie back there.”  Crumb helped her sit down while Chuck took her ankles and put her feet up and removed her sneakers.  Crumb took the blankets and put them over her.

“I’m ok guys, really!”  Sky protested as Marissa sat in the chair next to the couch.  For the next few hours, until Jamie and Sam came looking for Sky, she would sit right there keeping a watch over her two friends.

 “Young lady you are white as a sheet and I would say exhausted as well.”  Crumb was not going to be put off.  “You can’t stay up all night two nights in a row and sleep sitting on the floor as well.  You just lie back there and get some sleep.  I’ll send your brother or whomever up when they get here.”

 In spite of her protests Sky was sound asleep before Crumb had even finished speaking.  The cat, having come in with the three friends, divided his time between Gary’s bed, Marissa’s lap and the couch where Sky lay sleeping the rest of the morning.  When Jamie and Sam, together, arrived at the loft they sent Marissa downstairs with words of encouragement that her sleeping friends would be fine.  This time they left Sky where she was rather than wake her.  The dark smudges under her eyes were mute evidence of her exhaustion.  As for Gary he woke again briefly while the two men were there.  Jamie went down to the kitchen to get him some more soup.  He and Sam made sure Gary was comfortable and there was no more sign of fever.  As a matter of fact the swelling around his jaw and eye had gone down slightly.

 They left the two patients sleeping long enough to go to the fairgrounds and send Elena back to McGinty’s to sit with Sky and Gary.  When Sky woke up hours later it was early evening.  Jamie came along to make sure she got something to eat and then sent her back to her hotel room for the night.  Two days later both Sky and Gary were much better and Gary was finally allowed to get out of bed and go about his “normal’ duties with Sky’s words of caution ringing in his ears.  He spent the first couple of days preventing traffic accidents and hit and runs.  Nothing strenuous enough to strain his injured ribs appeared in the paper during that time.
************************************************************************

 The day Gary was finally allowed to leave his loft Sky walked into McGinty’s at lunchtime.  She had a lot of questions she wanted answers to and they were all about Gary’s nightmares the two nights he lay tossing and turning in the grip of a high fever and crying out in his delirium.  Spotting Marissa at a table near the door to the office she walked over.

 “Marissa?”

 “Sky?  What are you doing here at lunchtime?  I thought you’d be at the fairgrounds with your family.”

 “I was.  Is Gary here?”

 “No.  He’s out running some errands or something. Why?  Do you need to talk to him?”

 “No, no.  It’s you I want to talk to.  And Chuck.  Can we go in the office and talk privately?”

 “Sure,” Marissa answered.  She was a little puzzled as to what was going on.  “Chuck’s in the kitchen.  I’ll get him.”

 The two women walked into the office together.  Then Marissa detoured to the kitchen while Sky took a seat and waited patiently.  She spent that minute or so trying to express questions and concerns about Gary in a non-threatening manner.

“Hey, Sky,” Chuck said as he entered the room.  “Marissa says you want to talk to us.  What’s up?”

“Yeah, I do.”  Sky hesitated for a minute.  “You know I spent two nights in the loft with Gary after the beating.  Two sleepless nights I might add.  He was delirious much of the time.  I have a whole slew of questions and I want answers from you two because I don’t want to spook or upset Gary with them.  I know I’ll get the truth from you.”

“What is it you want to know Sky?” Marissa asked.  “We’ll answer you if we can.”

“Ok.  First of all who or what are Dobbs and Marley?”

She wasn’t prepared for the startled looks on her friends’ faces when she dropped that particular bombshell.

“What?  What is it?”  Sky asked.  “You two look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Marley was a rogue Secret Service agent,” Chuck said.  “He almost killed Gary about a year and a half ago.”

Marissa picked up the story.  Chuck got as spooked as Gary when the name Marley came up.

“Dobbs was the name that a man named J.T. Marley used when he came to town just before the President’s visit about two years ago.  He was going to assassinate the president and then kill Gary leaving him to take the blame for it.  Crumb shot Marley before he could shoot the President.  Gary was handcuffed to a railing a couple of feet away at the time.  He’s never totally recovered from the shock.”

Marissa and Chuck together took a few minutes to explain as much as they could without giving away the secret of the paper.

“Wow!”  Sky exclaimed.  “No wonder he was so upset in his dream.  He talked about Dobbs and Marley and something about the President but I had no idea.”

“No one does,” Chuck said.  “Except those of us who were directly involved.  They kept it out of the papers.  Marley murdered Harry Hawkes, editor of the Sun-Times at the time.  He has a park named after him.  Dobbs - the real Dobbs is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and Marley got an unmarked grave in an unnamed cemetery.

Sky was silent for a moment as she thought about that.  Gary involved in an assassination plot against the President?  Are all cops and government people so stupid, so blind, that they couldn’t see that this kid would never be involved in such a thing?

“Ok.  Who’s Bat and who’s Mike?  He was telling one of them not to shoot someone.”

“Bat was Mike Killebrew.  He’s a veteran cop that Gary helped out a few months after Marcia dumped him.  His partner was killed in a shootout he blamed himself for.  He suffered a breakdown and went around acting and talking like Bat Masterson,” Marissa explained.  “Gary kept him from killing the drug dealer responsible for his friend’s death.   Crumb knows him.  He could tell you more.”

“Where’s Mr. Killebrew now?” Sky asked.

“We don’t know.  He recovered and moved away.  Gary and his doctor didn’t see eye to eye at first,” Marissa explained.  “But she came to see that Gary was right.  All ‘Bat’ needed was for someone to believe in him.  Together they helped the police nail the guy who killed Mike’s partner and another cop.”

“Boy, my ‘little brother’ has been busy hasn’t he?”  Sky said in wonder.  “What about not being able to find the Tribune building, being lost, the city burning and no one listening to him.  He told someone that something was over his head.”

 “Well,” Chuck said.  “That’s hard to explain.  What we think happened and what Gary thinks happened are two different things.

Sky’s right eyebrow went up when she heard that. “Oh?  What does that mean?” she asked.

“Well, back in October he was over at a construction site at Dearborn and Randolph and he had an accident.  He fell off a piece of equipment, hit his head and blacked out,” Chuck explained.  “The guys at the site said he was only knocked out for like two minutes but the look on his face - he was spooked about something.  Especially when he heard the name of the guy I came to the site with.  Jesse Mayfield IV was the big boss.  He put a stop to work that would have caused a building to collapse.  When Gary heard his name he looked so - so…I can’t describe the look on his face when I got him back here.  Then he asked Marissa if she was ok and started talking about traveling back to the time of the Great Chicago Fire.  I was really worried about him!”

“I was too,” Marissa added.  “I was so surprised when he asked me if I was ok.  After all, he was the one who’d been knocked on the head.  And he stuttered his way through his answer when I asked him if he wanted some tea.”

“What about a fire?  A room being on fire?”

“His hotel room at the Blackstone burned about a year after he moved in,” Marissa told Sky.  “While he was looking for a new place he found out that McGinty’s had been sold and he went to talk to Barney Kaddison, the new owner.  Mr. Kaddison was also going to destroy a foster home and use the land to build a parking garage.  Gary wound up saving Kaddison and one of the orphans from his crooked employees who probably would have killed them.  Kaddison gave Gary McGinty’s as a reward.  He’d been bitter since the death of his wife and children in a plane crash years before.  He got a healthy dose of reality check when he learned that little Annie was born to a woman that was involved in the plane crash.  She died soon after.  Annie’s father was also killed in the crash.”

“And I quit my job to help Gary run the restaurant,” Chuck said.  “He couldn’t do it without me.”

Sky’s head was spinning with the answers she’d gotten.  Gary had been involved in an attempt on the President’s life, an ex-cop who’d suffered an emotional/mental breakdown and suffered a slight head injury.  That injury had had him believing he’d traveled back in time over 100 years.  Then he lost his hotel room and gained a business and home all in a very short time.

“Wow, he’s had some tough times hasn’t he?”

For two hours or more the three friends sat talking.  Marissa and Chuck explained, as best they could without revealing the paper’s role, about Gary’s adventures and misadventures over the last two years.
 

 About spending two days or longer trapped in a condemned theater suspended on a piece of catwalk dangling 20 feet in the air above a cement floor.  How the combined efforts of his Mom, Crumb and some Latvian acrobats found him and rescued him just before the catwalk finally pulled loose.  After a quick trip to the hospital he’d been brought home, fed some soup and put to bed.  The doctor had found him to be healthy enough except for a touch of hypothermia and that he was a bit dehydrated and exhausted from being awake for two days.  Liquids and some rest were all he needed.  Two days of no food, water, heat, light or human contact had left him exhausted, cold, hungry and thirsty.  All because of a monkey named Mikey.  She got a kick out of the part where Bernie was in jail the whole time because Jerzy Carpathian thought he tried to kill him.

Much more sobering was learning the details of Gary’s unwanted divorce.  Sky had never heard all of the details, “gory” details in her opinion, about him being locked out of the house on his anniversary and having a suitcase full of clothes thrown at him from an upstairs window.  The look in her eyes told Chuck that Marcia had better never cross paths with Schuyler Fairfax or she’d be sorry she ever heard of her or her ex-husband.  And here he’d always thought Lois was scary when she got mad!

“One more question, then I promise I’ll go away for a while and let you get some work done.”  Sky looked at her watch and noted how much time had passed.  She needed to get back to the fairgrounds.

“Marissa, who’s Emma?  Gary was talking about her and someone named Marco the first night he was delirious.  He seemed awfully upset about whether he should let her see him or not.  He was asking you what he should do.”

“Emma Shaw.  She was an art restoration expert working at one of the museums here in Chicago,” Marissa said.  “Gary really lost his heart to her.  It was the first time since his divorce that he really and truly fell for someone.”

For the next few minutes Marissa, with a little help from Chuck told Sky all about the sweet little thing that Gary had fallen in love with from the time he heard her message on his answering machine.  How they’d gotten on so well after a little bit of a rocky start.  Gary had really fallen hard.  But then he’d heard that her old love, a man named Marco Sanchez, would be at the opera that night. Trying to decide what to do with that piece of news had had his stomach tied up in knots and his eyes burning with unshed tears.  Their date had ended with Gary giving Emma a lame excuse about needing to make a phone call and letting her walk up the stairs to the balcony at the theater and out of his life.  It was almost as big, maybe an even bigger a heartache than when Marcia had dumped him on their anniversary without any warning.

Sky was practically in tears herself by the Marissa finished her story.
 

“Poor Gary,” Sky said.  “He’s really been through a lot hasn’t he?  First Marcia dumps him for no good reason and breaks his heart - no I’d say it’s more like shattered what with telling him she was going to marry your ex-boss.  Then when he seems to have found someone new she’s still in love with another man, he knows it and just lets her go and gets his heart broken again.”

Sky was silent for a minute thinking about everything Marissa and Chuck had told her.  There was so much that had happened to her beloved Gary in the last two years or so that it was hard to take it all in.

After mulling all this over for a minute she asked, “How much of this is it safe to talk to him about?”

“Almost any of it except Marley and Emma,” Marissa said.  “Just the mention of Marley’s name and Gary gets nervous and scared.  Memories of that man haunt Gary to this day.  It’s a subject we try to avoid,” she explained.  “As for Emma, it’s probably best to avoid that subject as well.  Gary was a nervous wreck the night he took her to the opera.  I think his stomach must have been in knots.  He could barely talk above a whisper as he dressed and tried to decide what to do.  I don’t think it would be wise to mention her in his presence.  He was really upset when he let her go.”

“Well,” Sky said, “You’ve answered my questions all right.  But I sure wasn’t prepared to what you told me.  No wonder he was having nightmares!”  She glanced at her watch.  It was getting close to 1PM and she had to get back to the fairgrounds before certain parties, including Walker and Trivette, started worrying.  “I’ve got to run,” she said to her friends.  “The gang will be in for supper around six tonight.  We’ve got pictures to go through for a presentation we’re putting together for the party next week.  We’ll need about half a dozen tables to work at if you can spare them.

When Gary comes in make sure he gets some lunch.  And it would be a good idea if he were to lie down for a while and rest.  It’s only been a couple of days since he was hurt.  It’ll take some time for him to regain his strength.  He’s got to rebuild it slowly with regular meals and plenty of rest.  Keep an eye on him.  If you think he’s still suffering any ill effects from the beating or the fever I want to know about it no matter what he says.”

“Don’t worry Sky,” Marissa said.  “We’ll watch out for him.  Won’t we Chuck?”

“Yeah,” Chuck said.  “We’ll keep an eye on him for you.  Don’t worry.”

With a hug for both of them and a smile Sky was out the door and on her way back to Oak Park.

 ******************************************************************
Arriving back at the fairgrounds Sky parked her truck in what had become her regular spot.  She locked it up automatically and walked into the tent.  Her mind in a whirl about what she had just learned she didn’t hear her brother speak to her at first.

 “Sky, where have you been?”

 No answer.

“Sky did you hear me?”

Still no answer even as she sat down at her temporary desk.

“Schuyler Jane Fairfax I’m talking to you!”  Jamie was slightly irritated now.

“Huh?  Oh, hi Jamie,” Sky said.

“’Hi Jamie?’  Is that all you can say?”

“I’m sorry Jamie.  Did you say something?”

“I asked you where you’ve been,” her brother replied.

“Oh.  I went to McGinty’s.  Didn’t you see my note?”

“No or I wouldn’t have asked you where you’ve been.  What’s with you anyway?  You’re a million miles away.  What’s on your mind sweetie?”

“Jamie, I just had a long talk with Chuck & Marissa about Gary’s nightmares of the other night.  I’m still trying to sort it all out.”

“Talking about it might help.  Why don’t you tell me what they told you.”

Sky sighed, leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the desk.  Looking up at her brother she started to tell him what was on her mind.

“Well, it’s like this.  In his delirium those two nights Gary talked about Marcia.  He mumbled something about some people named Pritchard, Emma and Marco.  He was calling for his Mom.  He asked where his dad was.  He thought he was trapped somewhere he couldn’t get down from and all sorts of things that didn’t seem to make any sense.”

“Marcia’s his ex-wife isn’t she?”  Jamie asked.
 

“Yeah and our paths had better never cross or she’ll rue the day she ever heard of Gary Hobson!”  Sky stated furiously.  “You know what that…that snake in the grass did?  She waited ‘til Gary went to work on their anniversary.  Then she had a locksmith come and change the locks on the doors to their house.  When Gary came home that night with roses and a bag full of groceries to make dinner for her he found the locks changed and a suitcase full of clothes thrown at him from a second floor window!  Then, a few months later she tells him she’s getting married again - to his ex-boss Phil Pritchard!”

“You’re kidding me right?”  Jamie said in disbelief.  “No one could be that cold.”

“Marissa and Chuck told me everything.  Chuck may be prone to exaggeration but Marissa definitely is not.”

“Wow, that’s unbelievable.  She really married his ex-boss?”

“No, she was going to but she stood him up at the altar.  That much I got from Gary.  And would you believe that Gary and Chuck were there for the wedding that never happened?”

“I knew that kid was too soft-hearted for his own good.”  Jamie just shook his head.

“Oh, but that’s not all brother dear.  About six months later he fell in love with this little girl named Emma Shaw.  She was an art restoration expert working at one of the museums here in Chicago.  About the time he realized he was in love with her he found out that the man she’d been in love with before they met was going to be at the opera they were going to.  A man who’d been missing and presumed dead for seven years!  Marissa said he was a nervous wreck that night.  He couldn’t tie his tie, could barely speak above a whisper and was practically in tears as he tried to decide what to do.  Finally they went to the opera that night and after he made up an excuse about needing to make a phone call he sent her off to the balcony to meet up with Marco.  Marissa said he was a very long time getting over Emma.”

“Poor guy,” Jamie said.  “He’s really had it tough hasn’t he?  His wife dumps him on their anniversary.  He thinks he’s found happiness again but the woman he falls in love with is reunited with the man she’s never gotten over even though he’s supposedly been dead for seven years.

“Yeah,” Sky said.  “But there’s a lot more to his nightmares than that.”

Quickly she gave Jamie, who was sitting on the corner of her desk, the rundown on everything she’d learned from Marissa and Chuck about Mike Killebrew, Gary’s trip “back in time” to 1871.  About Dobbs and Marley, the time in the abandoned theater and everything else Gary had dreamed about in his delirium.

“The only thing I don’t know is why he’s so convinced I’m in danger,” she said.  “Unless, of course, he was dreaming about that warehouse accident six months ago.”

“Or maybe those three guys that beat him up said something,” her brother said.

“No, I don’t think so Jamie.  When he woke up after that first night he told me that they threatened him.  At least it seems that way.  I think his exact words were ‘those guys they said you were Bradley’s girl and I had to stay away from you’.  Sounds more like they threatened him as they worked him over.”

“Could be,” Jamie agreed.  “But it also sounds like your former brother-in-law is involved in this mess.”

“Oh I’m sure of that,” Sky said, “But he’s not likely to dirty his hands.  Besides, Mark may be a jerk but he’s usually not the violent type.”

The siblings spent the next fifteen minutes talking and arguing about it until Sam came back from his late lunch.  Quickly they briefed him on Gary’s adventures and mishaps.  When they were finished the three of them swore never to tell anyone else about any of it except the divorce.  Furthermore they would be very careful to never, ever mention Emma Shaw, John Dobbs or J.T. Marley in Gary’s presence.
******************************************************************

An hour or so after Sky left McGinty’s Gary returned.  He was somewhat pale and disheveled and looked tired.  His clothes were damp and caked with mud and he was limping slightly as he sat down next to Marissa who was seated at the end of the bar talking to Crumb.  Crumb looked up as Gary approached.

“Geez, Hobson what happened to you?”  he asked taking in the younger man’s appearance.  “Been mud wrestling?”

“No,” Gary said somewhat defensively.  “A jogger wearing headphones was going to be run down by a cyclist that was racing some friends.  It was on one of those grassy paths in Lincoln Park.  I managed to push the jogger out of the way but the cyclist banged into me.  I landed in the mud but he kept going.”

Marissa was listening closely to this.  She could detect a note of weariness mixed with a little hint of pain in his voice.  And she could smell the mud and dampness in his clothes.  True to her promise to Sky she spoke up now before Crumb could start with his usual “I don’t want to know” or “heebie jeebies” comments.
 

“If you look anything like you sound Gary, Sky’s going to fuss over you the way your mom does.  She just left a little while ago.”  Sliding down off her stool she reached for Gary’s arm.  Finding it she gave a tug until he, too, got off his stool.  Cane in hand she took Gary’s arm and steered him toward the door leading to the office and the stairs to the loft.  “I’ll have Tony send a meal up while you get a shower.”  With a grin on her pretty face and a gleam in her eye she added “And then you’d better be a good little boy and take a nap.”  Pausing for a second she added “Seriously Gary if there’s nothing in the paper you really should lie down for a while.  If Sky suspects there’s anything wrong with you she’ll be all over you in a second.  She left orders for you to eat and rest in order to rebuild your strength.”

“Yeah, ok,” Gary said.  He was tired and a little sore.  The last thing he wanted was for Sky to be all over him about it.

As Marissa went to the kitchen to talk to Tony about lunch for Gary, he himself went upstairs to shower and change into clean dry clothes.  After he ate he checked the paper one last time.  Fortunately it was clear.  Following Marissa’s advice he stretched out on his bed and was asleep in less than two minutes.  Cat, seeing this, jumped up on the bed and curled up next to Gary, purring contentedly, instinctively knowing that his human partner wouldn’t be stirring for hours.
*******************************************************
Sky and Jamie Fairfax spent the afternoon watching the various events at the rodeo.  It was the girl’s turn to shine as the barrel racing competition started.  Hannah managed to out perform her cousins.  She and her mount, a jet-black gelding named Thunder, turned in the best time of the afternoon.  Rebecca and Anne were not far behind.  When the competition was over they talked Sky into taking a couple of runs on one of the spare mounts that their grandfather always had available in case of an emergency.

Mark Bradley and his so-called friends were seen from a distance only.  With her brother, nurse or cousins keeping a close watch they didn’t dare approach her for anything other than legitimate business, which they didn’t have.  Ranger Cordell Walker was also not far away at any given time.  Even while roaming around talking to other participants and preparing to compete in his own events he managed to keep his eyes and ears open.  His partner, Jimmy Trivette, spent a good part of the day at Crumb’s old precinct talking to Ranger Headquarters, tapping into other law enforcement agencies databanks or talking to contacts at other agencies.  So far he’d only been able to determine that Mark Bradley had a history of public disturbances, mostly while under the influence of alcohol, but there was no record of assault charges.  The fight he had picked with Andrew was a pretty isolated incident.
 

At six o’clock that night the entire group descended upon McGinty’s like a horde of hungry teenagers.  The combination of the competition, tending to their animals and the fresh air had given them all ravenous appetites.  Robin, the young woman who waited on them that night, was amazed at how much the group ate.  Those who knew Chuck best would swear he had dollar signs in his eyes when he saw the number of steaks the McGregors consumed along with potatoes, corn, salad, bread and chicken.  Not to mention the beverages and desserts.  Sky laughed to herself when she saw the look on his face and nudged her brother who grinned broadly at the sight.

After the dishes had been cleared away the McGregor/Fairfax clan trooped out to the vehicles they had arrived in and started carrying dozens of boxes of photographs, photo albums, award certificates and a giant Anniversary card into McGinty’s and over to the tables that were still reserved for them.  Rangers Walker and Trivette, using their cover names, came in on Sky’s heels and took seats at the bar.  They sat there watching with amusement as Sky, Jamie and their cousins gathered around the tables and started going through the boxes of memorabilia.  Old report cards were passed back and forth.  To Marissa and Chuck’s amusement Sky’s earliest report cards, the ones from first and second grade showed poor marks in science.  Alan, the silver-tongued orator and lawyer of the family had gotten bad grades in the oral part of Language Arts when he was in fifth and sixth grades.  And Jamie, their firefighter/paramedic had actually flunked science in the fourth grade in two different terms.

“How did you three ever get where you are today with grades like that?” a chuckling Marissa asked.

“A lot of lectures from our parents and tutoring from Uncle Jack Fairfax,” Jamie answered.

“Uncle Jack tutored us in math and science,” Sky told her.  “But his wife, Aunt Beth, is the one who helped Alan with his problems in English.  In High School he wound up on the debating team and the National Honor Society.”

“What about you and Jamie?”  Marissa asked.

“Oh, Jamie here was the family star athlete,” Chris chimed in knowing his cousin wouldn’t.  “He played baseball, basketball and hockey.”

Alex added, “Sky is a musician and an athlete.  She plays the piano, violin and guitar and sings like an angel!”

“Alex!”  an embarrassed Sky exclaimed.  “You’re exaggerating again.  I do not sing like an angel.”

“Well you do sing good,” he defended his statement.  “And I’ve seen you play softball.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sky said.  “Never mind.  Let’s get back to business here.  Have we decided anything on the music for the party?  Who’s doing what?”

“I talked Alan into doing ‘Through the Years’ for the finale,” Jamie said.  “He balked at first but Kim put a little pressure on him.”

“Good,” Sky said.  “That’ll be perfect.  Have we got anyone for ‘You Are My Sunshine’ and ‘I Swear’?”

Chris spoke up.  “I’m doing ‘I Swear’ and I think we talked Uncle Stewart into ‘Sunshine’.”

“You think or you know?”  Sky asked.

“Pretty sure.”

“Make sure,” his cousin said.  “We need to know by Wednesday.”

“How about the invitations?” Jamie asked.  “How many answers have we gotten?”

Anne looked through a box of reply cards and a folder.  “All of our parents will be there so there’s eighteen.  You three make twenty-one.  We make twenty-eight.  Gary’s parents are thirty.  Grandpa Mac and Grandma Phoebe make thirty-two.  Sam is thirty-three.  Our siblings and first cousins bring the total to fifty.  Gary, Chuck and Marissa make fifty-three…”

“Whoa!  When did we get invited?” Chuck asked.

Sky looked over at him.  “You’re catering the party.  You’re a friend of the family.  We automatically included you on the guest list.  But you had better be on your best behavior or else!”

This comment made Marissa and the other girls giggle.  Walker, Trivette and Crumb exchanged looks.  All three had had some experience with the “disciplinarian” side of Sky’s nature.

“Any more Anne?”

“Uncle Angus and Aunt Helen are flying in the night before from Scotland.  Tim, Mike and Ethan will be here along with their wives and the ten kids.  The Smiths, Browns and Lockharts and a Phil Ka-Kaz-“

“Kazakian?” Sky asked.

“Yes, I guess so.  It’s K-a-z-a-k-i-a-n.”

“No,” Chuck shouted.  “You wouldn’t!  You couldn’t!”

“Couldn’t what Chuck?” Sky asked as she and Marissa dissolved into giggles.  They knew perfectly well what Chuck’s problem was.  His Uncle Phil was rather eccentric but Sky adored him.  Marissa hadn’t met him yet but she knew that the very thought of Phil Kazakian would set Chuck on the verge of a nervous breakdown.  A brief explanation to the MacGregors was all it took to set the rest of the group off.

It was at this point that Gary wandered in.  He was still a little pale but not so pale as to worry Sky.  She expected him to still be that way.  After all it had only been a few days since the beating.

“So what exactly do we have for a head count?” Sky asked as Gary entered the room.

“With everyone that’s answered and the few we’re still waiting to hear from we should have a hundred and twenty-five.”

Sky looked over at Marissa.  “Can you handle that many?”

Marissa did some quick calculating in her head.  “Yes.  We may have to hire some extra help…”

“Do it.  We’ll foot the cost - whatever it is.”

Looking up from where she sat facing the office Sky saw Gary as he entered the dining room.  She noticed that he was still somewhat pale but she couldn’t spot anything else wrong with him.  When he’d gone up to the loft to rest he’d slept quite well for about three hours.  Then he’d gone out to do a couple of minor saves.  His slight limp had pretty much disappeared and he’d been smart enough to have someone change the bandage on his left temple.

“Hey, Gary, come on over and join us hon,” Sky said with a smile.  “We’re discussing the party plans.”  As he pulled up a chair she turned her attention back to the family discussion.  “Ok.  We’ve got approximately one hundred and twenty-five people coming.  Chris, you’re the one that plans all the barbecues at the Lazy M.  Can you come up with some figures on how much food McGinty’s needs to order?”

Chris did some quick figuring and gave a piece of paper detailing the amount of meat, green salad, potato salad, deviled eggs and such that they would need to Chuck.

“Ok, McGinty’s, the catering part of the party is now in your hands,” Sky said.  “Order what you’ll need and give me the bill.  I’ll collect everyone’s money and cut you a check.  Now, guys and gals let’s get started on sorting through these pictures.”

Gary and Chuck were willing participants in this.  The MacGregors were a warm, loving family much like their Hoosier relatives.  Knowing how Sky, Jamie and their parents felt about Gary in particular they had already adopted him as a cousin.  Chuck and Marissa were also welcomed as part of the family.

Their laughter, joking and wisecracks rang through the restaurant as the sorting began.  It had been years since they had seen some of the pictures of the family.  Especially those of their grandparents and great-grandparents.  The girls oohed and aahed over their grandmother’s wedding dress.  Even in an old black & white photograph it was obvious that the dress was beautiful.

“Does anyone know if Grandma Phoebe still has her dress” Rebecca asked.

“I’m sure she does,” Hannah said.  “I think Mom was going to find out by checking the trunks in the attic.  She and Aunts June, Katie and Vicky are planning something but I don’t know what exactly.  They’re not telling.”

“That’s our mothers for you.  They left us to handle the food, decorations and putting together the display of pictures but they’ve got something up their sleeves,” Sky said shaking her head.  “It ought to be interesting.”

The work of sorting the pictures went on.  In a separate box they placed the pictures they wanted for the display starting with their grandparents wedding picture, then the pictures of their children as they arrived.  Among them were the obligatory Christmas, Children’s Day and Easter pictures.  One favorite was a picture of Alan Fairfax at the age of two plastered with the frosting and crumbs from his birthday cake.  Nobody could figure out how the oldest Fairfax sibling who was so messy as a child, needing as many as three baths a day, could turn out to be the family neatnik.  Of course that went into the box.  Alan wasn’t around to protest or sneak it out.

Rebecca was lettering poster board with the important dates.  The first one read Kenneth and Phoebe April 20, 1933.  Underneath this would be mounted a copy of their wedding picture.  Poster boards dedicated to each of their nine children, including Sarah Fairfax, with their names and birthdates followed this.

“Hey Sky, look,” Rob said.  “Here’s a term paper on Will Rogers that you wrote.  How old were you when you did this?”

“What’s the date?”

“Uh, November 12, 1968.”

“Do the math nitwit,” she said.  You know my date of birth.”

Rob pretended to think for a second then, with a twinkle in his eye said “Twenty-one.”

“Very funny,” his cousin said.  Her attempt to throw a crumpled up piece of paper at him was thwarted by Gary who, with a grin of his own, took it away from her.

“That’s not nice,” he told her as her three friends at the bar laughed to themselves.  He received a poke in the ribs from Sky for his interference.

“What else is in that box?” she asked.

Chris handed her a piece of paper with some witty sayings on it that their grandfather called Cowboy Wisdom.  Chuck’s favorite was “Don’t squat with your spurs on.”  Nobody who knew him well was too terribly surprised.  It was just somehow appropriate for him.

One that got a big laugh from everyone was “Nobody but cattle know why they stampede.  And they ain’t talking.”

Meanwhile the digging through photographs went on.  It was the cousins’ pictures that were being sorted through now.  Alan’s picture had been a stray that somehow had wound up in a different box.

It came as no surprise to Gary and Chuck that the Fairfax siblings were always in the middle or back row of their class pictures from Elementary School.  After all, Sky was six feet, Jamie six-two and Alan was the same height as Gary, six feet one inch.

 There were pictures from Kentucky and Scotland and other family vacations in Texas and Virginia.  Where Sky had gone to Medical School in Massachusetts Jamie had gone to the Chicago Firefighter’s Academy and Alan had gotten his law degree from Northwestern.  Sky had toured places like Boston’s Freedom Trail, Minuteman National Historic Park and the Saugus Ironworks.  She had quite a few pictures and some literature from these places.  New Hampshire being so close she had sometimes gone to Hampton Beach and even drove to Vermont to visit the Calvin Coolidge Homestead in Plymouth Notch, VT.

There was a brief moment of tension when Sky’s wedding pictures made their appearance.  Marissa could feel the difference in the atmosphere.  Gary would explain to her later about the pictures.  Having learned about the tragic end to Sky’s marriage a week or so before she would understand perfectly.

Gary, sitting next to her, took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze.  They’d been close friends since the day they met.  The heart breaking ending of their respective marriages strengthened their bond though the circumstances were quite different.

It was during all this merriment that the phone behind the bar rang.  Crumb, who was still talking with Walker and Trivette, walked over to answer it.

“McGinty’s.”

“Marion, this is Lois Hobson.  Is Gary there?”

“Yeah,” Crumb replied.  “Just a second.”  Looking over to where Gary sat with his friends he called, “Hobson”.

Gary walked over to the bar.

“Phone.”  As Gary reached for the receiver Crumb told him, “It’s your mom.”

Gary took the receiver from Crumb with an apprehensive look on his face.  “Hi, Mom.”

“Gary, honey, I’ve been trying to find you all day,” Lois said.

“Well, Mom,” he said, “I’ve been busy with you know what.”

“Are you sure that’s it?  You’re not sick?”

Now the alarm bells were really beginning to sound in Gary’s head.  “No, Mom, I’m not sick.  Uh, why do you ask?”

“Well Schuyler’s grandfather told her grandmother who told Sky’s mother who told me that you were hurt at the rodeo the other night.  And Sky almost put you in the hospital and that she got sick…”

Gary tried to cut in before his mother got any more hysterical.  “Mom…”

“And she said you had broken bones and a concussion…”

”No, Mom.  It wasn’t that bad!  And I’m fine now, honest!”

“How do I know you’re not just trying to make me feel better?”

Thinking hard, Gary turned around a little too fast aggravating his sore ribs slightly.  Fortunately for him his somewhat overly protective mother didn’t see the grimace on his face or hear the grunt.  He’d been wise enough to have his hand over the mouthpiece.  Not for the first time in his almost thirty-two years Gary wished he were not an only child.  The next best thing to a real sibling though was Sky.  And she was sitting just a few yards away.

“Maybe your dad and I should drive down to Chicago and see for ourselves…” Lois was talking a mile a minute as she tried to determine if her son was truly okay and telling her the truth.

“Mom…  Mom can you hold on a minute?”  Gary desperately tried to get his mother’s attention.  Having gotten a look at he bruises still showing on his face and the unhealed cuts the last thing he wanted was his mom showing up on his doorstep.  She’d be sure to find a way to keep him in bed, or at the very least in his loft.  And he didn’t want to think about his dad and the consequences of Bernie getting his hands on the paper.

“Sky?  Can you come here for a minute?” he asked.

Excusing herself from the table with the warning “No looking through my pictures until I’m there to defend myself” she crossed the room to where Gary stood holding the telephone receiver.

“What’s up kid?” she asked.

“It’s Mom.  She found out about the fight and now she thinks she and Dad need to come down here and take care of me.”

Sky rolled her eyes heavenward.  She could only guess how Lois had found out.  And she knew quite well how Lois felt about protecting her “baby”.  Giving Gary an encouraging smile she took the receiver from him.

“Hi, Lois, it’s Sky.  How are you?”

“Oh Sky I’m glad you’re there.  I heard Gary was hurt and you were sick.  Tell me the truth.  Is he really all right?  He’s not just saying that to make me feel better?”

“No, Lois.  He really is fine,” Sky tried to reassure the other woman.

“You’re not just saying that to cover up for him?”

“Lois you know I wouldn’t lie to you,” Sky said.  “He’s a little sore maybe, but he’s going to be just fine.  Two guys stopped the trouble before any permanent damage was done.  Yes he was hurt but it wasn’t as serious as you probably heard.  After a couple of days rest he was back on his feet again.”  She smiled at an obviously nervous Gary.  “And as for me being sick I was just overtired.  I didn’t eat much for a couple of days or get much sleep either.  But I’m fine now and so is Gary.  There’s no need for you and Bernie to come down to Chicago until the day of the party.”

“Well if you’re sure…” Lois was still somewhat reluctant to believe what she was hearing without being able to see for herself.

“I’m sure.  There’s absolutely nothing for you to worry about.”

“Well, ok.  Could I talk to Gary again?”

“Sure, I’ll put him on.”  Sky handed the phone back to Gary.  While he wrapped up his conversation with his mother she walked over to the spot where the Rangers were sitting and explained about Lois and her “mother hen” complex.

“Ok Mom.  Yes.  I love you too.  Say ‘hi’ to Dad for me.   Bye.”  Heaving a sigh of relief he finally hung up the phone.  Upon reaching the spot where Sky stood waiting for him Gary reached over and grabbed her in the tightest bear hug he could manage without aggravating his sore ribs.  “Thanks Sky!  You’re the best!”

“Any time sweetie, she said.  “I know she gets on your nerves.”  Giving him a little poke she added, “Never let me hear you complain about me being protective again.  I’ve got nothing on your mom.”

Together they walked back to where the others were looking through pictures and yearbooks.

Chris and Jamie had their heads together over a stack of yearbooks, both High School and College.  Rebecca and Anne had started organizing the photographs the group had already chosen.  Hannah, Alex and Rob were looking through stacks of vacation pictures.  As Sky and Gary took their seats again Andrew, who was sorting through some old Halloween pictures let out a whoop.

“Hey gang, look at this,” he said.  “I’ve got Sky’s Drama Club pictures that Uncle Bryan took.”

“Which ones?” Jamie asked.

“Um, I think it’s Annie Get Your Gun.  They’re dated 1975.”

“That would be ‘Annie Get Your Gun’ All right,” Jamie said.  “Which pictures are they?”

Chris reached over and snagged them from his younger cousin.  “The good ones,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.  “The scenes from the early part of the show where she had to wear buckskins.  I always think, when I see those pictures that they should have done ‘Calamity Jane’ instead.  Except for her black hair she reminds me of Doris Day’s version of Calamity.  It’s her favorite movie isn’t it?”

“One of my favorites smarty,” Sky said.  “And you’d better not be leading up to what I think you are.”  She glared at Chris to no avail.  He just ignored her.

Chuck’s ears perked up when he heard that.  He and Sky were always verbally sparring over something.  Hearing Chris’ comments about the picture and seeing it for himself as he did now was like pouring gasoline on a fire.

“Hey Sky,” he said, “Remember when you told me not to call you Snake Killer?”

“Yeah, what of it?” a suspicious Sky asked.

“Well I’m not going to do that any more,” he said half rising in anticipation of her reaction to what he was about to say.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, from now on you’re Calamity Jane.”

His instincts were good for a change.  Sky with a murderous look on her face stood up and started to approach Chuck as if to strangle him.  The other men laughed as Chuck tried to avoid her.  The girls were indignant on her behalf.  Even Gary, who normally would have been Sky’s staunchest defender, was laughing.

“Hey Sky,” Gary said.  “He’s a got a good idea there.  You are Schuyler Jane.  ‘Calamity Jane’ is the perfect nickname for you.”

“Oh it is is it? How can you guys possibly compare me to that uncouth, alcoholic, tall tale telling, man hungry, predatory female?” she asked him.  “I’m nothing like her and you know it.”

Gary came to the conclusion that he’d made a mistake in drawing her attention to himself.  He got up from the table as she turned toward him and moved over to use Chuck, the only member of the group standing, as a shield.

“N-n-now…now Sky,” he stuttered, suddenly nervous about how she was taking this joke.  “You wouldn’t hit me.  I’m hurt remember?”  He turned his big puppy dog eyes expression on her.

“Oh, wouldn’t I?” she replied.  Playfully she started to swing at him but pulled up short.  She had no intention of really hurting him.  But putting a scare into him wouldn’t hurt.

************************************************************

 “That’ll be $5.25 with the tax sir,” the sales clerk said.

Gary handed her a ten-dollar bill and a quarter.  She handed him five dollars in change and gathered up the Lindor chocolates he’d just purchased and put them in a bag she got from underneath the counter.

 With a “thank you” Gary took the bag and exited the shop.  He was hoping the chocolates, along with the carnations would atone for the trouble he’d gotten into with Sky the night before. Normally calm and levelheaded she’d been pretty put out with him, Chuck and her male cousins, about the “Calamity Jane” nonsense the night before.  But Jamie had put a stop to their nonsense and any retaliatory tactics his sister might have had in mind.  And when Jamie put his foot down about something they all listened.  Either that or it was the look they were getting from Crumb. More importantly, he felt that he owed her something for taking care of him so much and never charging him.  In the past six months or so since they’d been reunited he’d suffered a knife wound in his arm, a concussion, a beating and been left in a sealed up cave to die.  Then there was this beating at the rodeo and the two nights she’d stayed up with him while he tossed and turned in the grip of a fever that gave him nightmares about some of his adventures since getting the paper.

  Thankfully the paper was taking it easy on him today.  Having prevented a trip and fall injury near the gift shop had worked out well.  He knew that Sky was crazy about three flavors - milk chocolate, dark chocolate and mint.  Lindor chocolates cost a quarter apiece but it was worth it.  The carnations would be an added bonus.  Roses would have been nice but the store didn’t happen to have any.  And if Sam and Jamie were there they’d really give him the business about roses.  While he was there he thought he’d see if Elena Prescott would be willing to go out with him.

A few minutes later Gary’s attention was drawn to a toyshop.  He had a sudden urge to go in and see what they had that Sky might enjoy.  He didn’t know how much Sky would charge one of her patients but he wasn’t taking any chances.  If he really sweetened Sky up with candy and the flowers and a stuffed animal he’d be sure to get the information he wanted.  He wanted to find out all he could about Elena before he asked her out and the only way to do that was to worm the information out of Sky.  He was sure that Sky would know Elena’s likes and dislikes.

 “May I help you sir?” an older woman, apparently a sales clerk, asked him.

 “I don’t know yet.  I’ll have to look around for a minute,” Gary answered.

 Perhaps I could make a suggestion,” the clerk offered.  “What does the young lady like?”

 “Huh?”

“You’re carrying a bouquet of flowers and I’m guessing you have candy in that bag.  I’d say that means you’re buying for your girlfriend.”
 

“Oh, no, no, no!” Gary exclaimed.  “It’s not like that at all.  I mean she’s a lady and she’s a friend but she’s not my lady friend.”  Gary blushed deeply as he stumbled through his attempted explanation to the amused sales clerk.  “She’s a special friend…kind of like a sister.”

“I see,” the woman said although it was obvious that she really didn’t.  Gary’s explanation would only make sense to someone who knew all the parties involved.

“Does she have any special hobbies or interests?”

“Yeah,” Gary mumbled.  “Making my life miserable.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Nothing,” he answered.  “She likes stuffed animals - or she used to.  She always liked dogs and cats.  She had rabbits when she was in Junior High and a collie dog.  She rides horse…” Gary’s voice trailed off as he spotted what he thought was the perfect gift for Sky.  It was a stuffed pony standing about three feet tall.  Jet black in color with a white star on it’s forehead and wearing imitation leather Western saddle and bridle, it stood in a corner of the store waiting for the right person to come and claim it.

“That pony over there!  It’s perfect.  I’ll take it.”

The sales clerk walked over to where the pony stood and took it to the cash register.  Gary paid for the toy and had it gift-wrapped.  He was going to go all out in this attempt to apologize and more importantly to get Sky to tell him everything she knew about Elena.  He couldn’t approach her himself.  The night of the dance they’d barely been introduced when things had started to go crazy.

A short time later he arrived at the fairgrounds and headed for the first aid area to find Sky.  When he entered the tent he found her, Walker, Trivette, Jamie and Sam talking.  Their conversation ended abruptly when they saw him.

“Gary!  This is a nice surprise,” Sky said when she saw him.  “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the neighborhood so I thought I’d drop in.  I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“We were just leaving anyway,” Walker said.
 

“Wait, I think you guys should be properly introduced considering the events of the other night,” Sky said.  “Gary this is Hays Cooper and his friend Jim Elliott.  They’re the ones who drove off the guys who beat you up and helped me get you home the night of the dance.  Guys, this is Gary Hobson.  A very special friend of mine and the family’s.”

“Nice to meet you Gary,” Trivette said shaking hands.

Walker shook hands with Gary next.  “Good to see you looking so much better.  The doc says you’re doing well.”

“Thanks,” Gary said.  “I owe you a lot.  Sky said I was pretty sick as it was.  If you guys hadn’t shown up when you did I’d probably be in the hospital right now.”

“Glad we were able to help,” Walker told him.  Turning to Sky he said, “Thanks for the advice doc.  I'll be back if I have any more trouble with that shoulder.”

When he had finished speaking he and Trivette left.  Walker was due to compete in the next round of bull riding which would be starting in half an hour.  He wanted to go look the bull over that he’d drawn.  Jimmy Trivette was going to nose around and see if he could get any more information on Gary’s assailants that might help link them to the robbery and murder that had made Sky a widow so long ago.

Jamie and Sam were not willing to leave.  Having gotten a look at what Gary was carrying they saw an opportunity they didn’t want to pass up.

“So, Gary,” Jamie started.  “Got a thing for older women now or is your conscience bothering you?”

“Gary wouldn’t do anything that requires an apology with flowers would he?” Sam asked Jamie knowing full well what had happened the night before.  Jamie had told him about it when Sam arrived at the rodeo that morning.

“No, of course not,” Jamie said.  “My sister will tell you that Gary’s a sweet, innocent kid who’d never do anything wrong.  She’s been telling me that for years.”

Both men were enjoying Gary’s discomfort as he blushed at their remarks.

“Ha, ha, ha,” he said.  “You two are a laugh a minute.”

The other two men grinned and would have said more except that Sky had pity on Gary and shooed them out to go watch some of the competition.

 “Enough you two!  Beat it,” she said.  “Give Gary a break huh?  Go watch the competition for a while.  Elena will be here shortly and we’ll trade places when she does arrive.”
The two men left Sky and Gary alone.  As they left they each patted Gary on the shoulder in a “good luck” sort of gesture.

“So what brings you out here today kiddo?” Sky asked Gary.  “You feeling ok?  Got questions about the food or the set up for Friday’s party?”

“No.  Nothing like that,” he replied.  “I just…I…” All of a sudden Gary was nervous.  “Oh, boy,” he thought.  “This is going to be harder than I thought.”

Sky’s dark blue eyes studied Gary’s face as he struggled to find the words he needed.

“I…I…,” he stopped and took a deep breath then tried again.  “Here,” he said handing the items he was carrying.  “These are for you.”

“What’s this for?” Sky said looking at him suspiciously.  “You guys were kidding and I should be used to that by now.  Especially from Chuck.”   She stopped for a second to study his face.  Gary blushed, looked down at his feet and shifted his weight like a wayward schoolboy called to the principal’s office.  “No, that’s not why you’re here Gary Hobson.  There’s more to it than that.”

Gary tried to steer the conversation back to a safer subject.  “Aren’t you going to open your packages?” he asked eagerly.

Temporarily distracted from her attempt to get out of Gary what he was hiding Sky turned her attention to the three packages Gary had given her.

“Mmm, carnations.  One of my favorite flowers,” she said inhaling their spicy scent.  Opening the bag from the gift shop she was pleasantly surprised to find so many Lindor chocolates.  She knew he had to have spent a fair amount of money on them because in most stores she’d seen them in they were a quarter apiece.  “Gary Matthew there has to be $5.00 worth of candy in here!  And the carnations must have cost about the same!  What are you up to?”  Sky’s suspicious nature had been aroused at the sight of the flowers and candy and she hadn’t even opened the box from the toy store yet.

“Nothing,” Gary said as he blushed once more.  “Can’t a guy buy a friend flowers and candy once in a while?”

“Do you buy Marissa flowers and candy too? Makes me wonder whether I should open that box or not.”

“Go ahead,” Gary urged.  “I bought it special for you.”

Sky carefully removed the gift-wrap from the box enjoying Gary’s discomfort as she did so.  She always enjoyed tormenting him and her brothers by opening their gifts slowly.  When she took the top off and removed the tissue revealing the stuffed pony she gasped with delight.

“Oh!  It’s adorable!” she exclaimed.

“You…You really like it?  You don’t think you’re too old for such things?”

“I’ll never be too old for stuffed animals.  I love it!” was her answer.

“Good.  Good.” Gary was glad his gifts had gotten such a favorable reaction.

“Now I’ve got to think of the perfect name,” Sky said.  “Let’s see, there’s Ebony, Thunderhead, Thunderbolt, Traveler.  No, none of those is right.  Fury?  Duke?  Cochise?  Geronimo, Sequoya, Dixie, Belle.  No, none of those is right either.”  She stopped to think for a minute.  “Cherokee?  Washo, Washita?  No not those either.”  All of a sudden her face lit up, “I’ve got it!  Starlight!  I’ll name it Starlight.”

Eager to be helpful and get to the other part of the reason for his visit Gary agreed with Sky on her choice of names.

Sky’s distraction was short-lived.  She now turned her attention back to Gary.

“Ok, out with it,” she demanded.  “What’s the real reason you’re lavishing all this attention on me all of a sudden?  It can’t be to negotiate my bill because I haven’t and won’t charge you for the times I’ve treated you over the last six months.  And it can’t be for my birthday because our birthdays are the same and it’s not for a few months yet.”

Gary’s face changed colors rapidly over the next minute and he tried to find his voice.

“Well I…I was wondering about your nurse,” he started.

Now having an inkling of what was coming Sky resolved to torture her “little brother”.  “His name is Sam Delaney.  He’s 40 years old, English and Irish, six feet tall, oh about 180 pounds…”

“Not him,” Gary interrupted.  “Elena - the girl I met the other night at the dance.”

“Oh, you want to know about Elena?  Why didn’t you say so?”  Sky started laughing as Gary glared at her indignantly.

“Sky!”

“All right, all right,” she laughed.  “I’ll tell you what I know.  Elena Prescott is English on her father’s side and Spanish on her mother’s.  She’s a Registered Nurse who works full time at County General and sometimes works at the clinic with Sam and me or as a private duty nurse.  She’s thirty years old, lives alone except for her dog - a Saint Bernard named Hercules.  She likes hamburger pizzas with extra cheese but no hot pepper seeds.  She’s originally from California.  She’s a sports nut.  She likes baseball, basketball, volleyball, bowling and ice-skating.  In the winter she likes to go tobogganing and skiing.  Anything else you’d like to know?”

“Yeah,” Gary said.  “Would she date a guy who’s divorced?”

“I don’t know,” Sky said.  “We’ve never talked about dating.  Now I know what these gifts are all about,” Sky said to him with a gleam in her eye.  “You just want to butter me up so I’ll ask Elena to go out with you.”

Gary’s face turned beet red as her barb found its target.

“Yeah - No - I mean sort of…” Gary’s voice trailed off as Sky started laughing.

“Gary you’re such an easy target!”  She exclaimed.  “I can nail you every time.”

“Ok, ok.”

“I thought you didn’t like for people to set you up.  You always complain about your Mom’s blind dates.”

“Yeah, I know, but this isn’t really a blind date.  It’s not like I haven’t met Elena, it…it’s just that we don’t really know each other.  And I…I…I’m not asking you to set us up.  I just wanted to know what you know about her before I ask her out.”   Ecstatic, Gary leaned over Sky who was seated at her desk, grabbed her in a bear hug and kissed her cheek.  “You’re a doll!  I owe you!” he exclaimed.

“Gary, you’re smothering me,” Sky said laughing.

“Well, now, isn’t this a pretty sight.”

Sky and Gary, startled, looked over toward the entrance to the tent.  Mark Bradley, with a sneer on his face and in his voice, walked in.  Gary could sense Sky’s tension as she turned to face her former brother-in-law.

“What do you want Mark?”  she asked.  “I told you two weeks ago to stay away from me unless you had legitimate business with me.”

“Maybe I do,” Bradley said as Gary put himself between Sky and the cowboy.

“I highly doubt it!” Sky retorted.  “I would have heard if you or anyone else were hurt.  The show’s announcer would have paged me.  Mark, I’m busy.  I don’t have time for your nonsense.  What do you want?”

“I want to talk to you.  In private.  Without your ‘friend’ here hanging around poking his nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

At this Gary bristled.  He didn’t like this guy at all.  He for darn sure didn’t like the effect he had on Sky.

“If Sky wants me to leave I’ll leave.  Otherwise I’m staying right here,” he declared.

“Didn’t you learn your lesson the other night pal?” Mark asked Gary.

That remark got Sky’s attention.  She hadn’t taken a good look at Gary’s assailants Saturday night, she’d been more concerned with giving Gary the medical attention he’d so badly needed.  However she suspected from Andrew’s account of his fight with Mark, that they were his so-called friends.

“You know why I stopped seeing you Mark Thomas Bradley.  Because you were, and still are, a self centered skirt-chasing bully.  If I so much as said two words to another guy, you were quick to condemn me.  You insulted me and questioned my honor!”  Sky was steamed.  “I’d heard the stories but I thought at first it was jealousy that made those girls complain about how you treated them.  Then you started acting that way with me.  Only I wouldn’t put up with it.  You tried bullying me.  You even hit me once.  But I didn’t react the way the other girls did.  I wasn’t afraid of you.  I struck back.  As a matter of fact I flattened you the day I broke it off.

Your behavior when I met your brother and became engaged to and married him helped send your parents to early graves!

You hear me and you hear me good Mark Bradley! You’re hanging out with the wrong crowd!  Men who may possibly be responsible for your brother’s death!  Washo is here and he’s watching you.  If you step out of line he’s going to nail you - if Jamie and Sam don’t get to you first.  And if I find out that you are in any way responsible for or involved in what happened to Gary last weekend I will personally take a horsewhip to you!  Is that clear?”

Bradley’s face grew red with anger and his eyes flashed.  “You little…You can’t talk to me that way!”

As he started to advance toward Sky Gary grabbed his arm and tried to force him to leave.  The wiry cowboy pulled loose and shoved Gary who stumbled backward into Sky who was standing behind him.  She, in turn, stumbled backward and fell hitting her head on the desk hard enough to make her wince and cry out in pain.

“Ow!”

Gary got to his feet in a flash and went to her aid, kneeling beside her. As Mark Bradley pulled Gary to his feet from where he knelt beside Sky and started to swing on him Sam Delaney who, along with Jamie and Elena Prescott, arrived just at that moment stopped him.  Pulling Bradley away from Gary, Sam let fly with a left to the cowboy’s stomach and a right to his jaw that took all the fight out of him.

Gary and Jamie helped Sky to her feet and into a chair.  Jamie examined his sister’s head with Elena’s supervision while Gary stood nearby.  All were relieved to find nothing more than a small bump and some tenderness.

“What happened?” Jamie asked his sister and Gary.

Gary wasn’t about to let Sky get away with glossing this incident over the way she had the first one he’d witnessed.

“Bradley came in while Sky and I were talking.  He said he wanted to talk to her in private,” Gary explained.  “Then he said something about my learning my lesson the other night.  Sky got mad and told him off.  She even threatened to take a horsewhip to him if she found out he had anything to do with it.  Then he got mad and acted like he was going to hurt her.  I tried to make him leave and he shoved me.  I bumped into Sky which is how she fell and bumped her head.”

Jamie’s dark blue eyes flashed with barely contained anger.  He’d had more than enough of Bradley and his highhanded treatment of Sky.  His right hand formed a fist of its own accord and he walked toward him ready to beat the tar out of him himself.

“James Robert Fairfax don’t you dare!” Sky could tell what her brother’s intention was.

Sam quickly got between the groggy Bradley and his employer’s brother.

“He’s not worth it Jamie,” Sam said.  “Don’t waste your energy or your anger on him.”  Giving Jamie a shove toward the tent’s entrance he added, “Go find Washo or Trivette and tell them about this latest incident.  They’ll want to know.”

Jamie hesitated looking back at his younger sister who sat holding the ice pack Elena had gotten for her on her head.  At her nod he left the tent.

 “As for you Mr. Bradley,” Sam said as he helped him to his feet and pushed him toward the entrance to the tent, “If I see or hear of you threatening the doc or Gary again I’ll take you down myself and leave what’s left of you for Chicago’s finest to lock up and throw away the key!  Now get out of here!”

Bradley slunk off still holding his jaw where Sam’s iron fist had connected.  When he was sure the man was gone Sam turned his attention back to Sky and Gary.

“Are you two both ok?” he asked.  “Doc?”

Sky smiled and nodded slightly.  “Thanks Sam.  He’s always been a pain but it’s the first time he’s been violent toward me in years.  I guess I ticked him off when I bawled him out in front of Gary.  His ego was bruised.”

“How ‘bout you Gary?  You sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gary answered.  “I’m fine.”

“Good.”

“Hey Sam,” Sky asked.  “How did you know we were in trouble?”

“I told them,” Elena said.  “I saw Mr. Bradley come in here just as I arrived.  Your brother pointed him out to me a couple of days ago and told me to keep an eye out for trouble with him.  So when I saw him come in here I went looking for him or Sam.  I got lucky and found both of them together.”

“Thank you Elena,” Sky said standing to give the younger woman a hug.  “I won’t say you saved my life but you probably kept a bad situation from getting worse.”

Turning to Gary who was standing next to her she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek causing him to blush at the attention she was giving him in front of her nurses.  “And thank you, sweetie, for coming to my defense like that.”

Gary gave Sky a quick hug of his own.  “You’re welcome.”    Turning to Elena he said, “Could I talk to you outside for a minute?”

“Sure,” she answered looking a little confused.

Once outside they found a semi-private spot where Gary could talk to her.

“I was wondering…”

“Yes?”

“You wouldn’t want to go out for a pizza or something tomorrow night would you?”

“Sure.  I’d love to.”

“You would?  Ok.  I’ll pick you up around seven.”

This being said Elena gave Gary her address and directions on how to get there.  Then Gary went off to attend to a couple of incidents in the paper - a dogfight perpetuated by two moronic pet owners.  And an injury to one of said dog owners when the other one swung at him with the chain he normally restrained his pet with.  He wasn’t sure at first how he was going to take care of this problem until he remembered something in a book he and Sky had read together when he was about ten years old and recovering from a childhood illness.

In the book, Beautiful Joe, the dog’s young mistress had stopped a dogfight by sprinkling pepper on their noses.  The dogs were too busy sneezing to fight.  And a boy who witnessed her act took the pepper from her and shook it in the faces of the dog owners - effectively ending their argument in the same manner.  Knowing that pepper really did have that effect on people Gary decided it was worth trying in real life and was pleasantly surprised at the results.  Not only did the dogs stop fighting their owners were too busy sneezing to even notice when Gary checked his paper and walked away before they could recover.

After Gary left Elena went back inside the first aid tent.  Sam was still there talking to Sky who looked up expectantly with a smile on her face.

“Well, did he ask you out?”

“Yes.  How did you know?”

“He was asking me about you just before Mark made his presence known.”

“Gary seems like a nice guy but he seems a little shy.”

“He is shy.  But there’s more to it than that,” Sky explained.  “You see, Gary was married.  Happily married - or so he thought.  Then one day, on their anniversary in fact, he came home with groceries and a bouquet of roses to celebrate only to find the locks changed and a suitcase full of clothes and belongings tossed at him out of a second floor window.  To make matters worse and add insult to injury Marcia, his now ex-wife wrote up the papers herself, giving herself the house and just about everything in it.  Then shortly after the divorce was final she told Gary that she was going to marry his ex-boss Phil Pritchard.  Pritchard was the supervisor who had given him so much grief on the job at Strauss and Associates.  Gary had worked as a stockbroker under this man’s supervision while putting Marcia through law school.”

“Well he seems like a really nice guy.”
 

“He is,” Sky said. “But then again, I’m prejudiced.  He’s like a younger brother to me Elena.  And there’s a little more to Gary’s story than Marcia and the divorce.  “Shortly after his divorce Gary met and dated a Sun-Times crusading reporter named Meredith Carson.  She left him and Chicago for a job in Washington, DC.  Then he met a girl named Emma Shaw.  She was an art restorer employed by one of the museums here in Chicago.  She thought she was in love with him but she was haunted by memories of a man named Marco Sanchez whom she had loved from afar before he disappeared and was presumed dead.  Gary let her go when he found out that Marco was at the opera they were planning to attend.  He knew that Emma’s heart really belonged to Marco in spite of her denials.  He couldn’t compete with the memories when they became reality.  That incident still bothers him so much that he had nightmares about it the first night that he was sick.

Gary’s going to want to strangle me if he finds out I said this, but I’m giving you fair warning.  The same warning I’d give any other woman who shows an interest in him.  If you break his heart I’ll break your neck!”

“Don’t worry Dr. Fairfax,” Elena said.  “If it doesn’t work out I’ll let him down gently.  I wouldn’t want to be responsible for breaking his heart again.  From what you just told me I’d say he’s been through a lot.  What are Gary’s interests?” she asked.  “I mean what should I expect our date to be like?”

“He’s a perfect gentleman so you don’t have any worries on that part.  He seldom swears, takes the Lord’s name in vain or loses his temper.  He likes baseball, football and hockey especially well but he also bowls on occasion.  He loves pizza but you’ll have to watch him there.  He likes hot pepper seeds and I know you don’t.  Make him put them on his pieces separately.  He can, on occasion, be a little absent-minded.  He seldom drives and he doesn’t own a personal vehicle.  If he has to drive somewhere he usually takes the McGinty’s van.  He claims to dislike his cat but I think that’s all talk.  He likes to dance some but don’t ask him to take you to a salsa joint.  He has bad memories of his ex-wife and a twisted knee from what I’ve heard.

His two best friends are his partners in the restaurant, Marissa Clark and Chuck Fishman.  Marissa is about Gary’s age.  She used to work as the receptionist at Strauss and Associates.  Gary offered her a job at McGinty's that she gladly took.  Chuck is…” Here Sky hesitated.  Chuck was not an easy person to describe or explain to a total stranger.

“What’s the matter Doc?  Cat got your tongue?”  Sam teased.  He’d met Chuck himself so he knew that she was struggling not to insult Gary’s best friend even while being honest about what he was like.

Sky stuck her tongue out at Sam.  “Very funny.”  Turning back to Elena she said,  “Chuck is Chuck.  He whines and complains and gets involved in all manner of gambling or get rich quick schemes.  He has had some strange ideas about how to run the restaurant on occasion but he’d do anything for Gary.  They’ve been friends for a very long time.”

Sky spent the next few minutes talking to Elena about Gary.  About the time she was through Jamie returned with Jimmy Trivette.  Walker was about to have his turn in the bull riding competition so telling him about the incident with Mark Bradley would have to wait.  Trivette, however, was concerned.

“Sky, Jamie told me what happened. Are you all right?”

“Yes, Jimmy, I’m fine,” She told him.  “He didn’t touch me.  I got knocked down accidentally by Gary when Mark shoved him.  I won’t even have much of a headache.”

“I’d like to wrap my hands around his neck and squeeze until his eyes pop out!”  Jamie exclaimed.  “I’m just a little sick of how he treats you sis.”

“I know how you feel Jamie,” Trivette said, “But you’d only wind up in jail facing assault charges and that won’t help your sister any.”

“Listen to the man,” Sam said to his friend.  “Between us we can look out for her.  Let Walker and Trivette take care of the rest of it.”

“What are we going to do about Gary though?”  Jamie asked.  “He’s gotten himself involved in this mess in spite of our efforts to protect him.”

“Banning him from the rodeo won’t do any good,” Sky said.  “I tried that already.  He just got around me by getting on Grandpa Mac’s good side. I’m surprised he hasn’t complained about how bossy I am.   And Chris and the others encourage him to hang around.  I guess the only thing to do is try and watch out for him when he’s here.”

Walker joined the group at this point.  Trivette had left a message with the announcer for him to come to the first aid area as soon as possible.

“I got your message Trivette,” he said as he entered.  “What’s up?”

“Another confrontation with Bradley,” Trivette answered.  “He wanted to talk to Sky alone.  When she told him told him to get lost and bawled him out he tried to get rough.”

Walker’s keen eyes had spotted the red mark on Sky’s left temple left by her encounter with the desk.

“Is he responsible for that bump on your head?” he asked Sky.

“No, not directly,” she told him.  “He and Gary were here at the same time.  Mark shot off his big mouth and tried to get rough with me.  When Gary tried to make him leave Mark shoved him.  When he fell backward he knocked me down and I hit my head on the desk.  He would have continued the fight except that Jamie and Sam came along.  Two of Sam’s punches and all of the fight was taken out of him.”

“You’re sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fine Washo.  It only hurts when I touch it.”

“Trivette have you been able to find out anything about those guys Bradley’s been hanging out with?”

“I ran their names through a few databases and came up blank.  If they’re wanted it’s under different names.”

“Keep trying.  Send descriptions to the FBI.  See if they’ve got anything on robbery cases that are still open.  We’ve got to end this before someone gets killed.”

“You think it’s that serious Walker?”  Sam asked.

“Look at it this way Sam,” Walker said.  “From what I’ve seen and been told Bradley has confronted Sky twice, was on the scene when her cousin’s horse was discovered to have a loose shoe right before his event.  And your friend Mr. Hobson was seriously beaten by three men while another one of the MacGregor’s was involved in another fight.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Sky, Elena and the MacGegor boys were all called away at the same time.  Mr. Hobson is close to them - especially Sky.  Someone may see him as a way to get to her.”

“You think the robbery in Texas is related to Bradley’s harassment?”  Trivette asked.

“Maybe, maybe not.”  Walker answered his partner.  “But the sooner we find out the better.  I think we’ll drop by McGinty’s and have a chat with Crumb about keeping as close an eye on Mr. Hobson as he can.  And to keep us informed of his whereabouts.  He seems to have a knack for being where there’s trouble.  We’ll take turns watching out for him when he’s here.”  Turning to Sky he said, ‘And you, young lady, will not go anywhere alone or alone with your friend Hobson unless you keep one of us informed of where you’re going.”

Reluctantly Sky agreed.  She was sure she could handle Mark on her own but keeping Gary out of trouble and/or danger was far more important to her than her pride.
 

******************************************************************
The next day, Tuesday, passed without incident.  While Gary took care of what the paper needed him for the Fairfaxes, Sam and Elena tended to a few minor injuries.  These included a cowboy who got kicked in the hip by a cranky horse, a teenager with a bee sting and a six year old boy’s stomach ache caused by overindulging in sweets behind his parents backs.  Paper permitting Gary was taking Elena out that night.  They were going bowling and for pizza afterward.

Walker and Trivette along with a few other rodeo participants also dropped in.  They brought Crumb up to date on the events of the day and got his promise to try and keep a close eye on Gary - as much as anyone could.

At six o’clock that night, a half-hour before Gary needed to leave, Sky was in the loft with him as he finished dressing.  As he tied his sneakers and combed his hair she looked him over.  She wasn’t worried about how he’d behave but it was a holdover from his teen years to see that he was properly dressed and had everything he needed.  She resisted the urge to lecture like his folks always had.  And she didn’t have a camera out to take pictures.  Neither would she follow him on his date either.  But she did warn him about Elena’s dog.

“He’s not unfriendly or anything.  Just the opposite.  He’s just big and sometimes a little too friendly.  He’s scared a few of her dates off.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” a suddenly nervous Gary asked.

“No, I’m not,” Sky told him.  “But don’t worry about it.  Elena and I worked this plan out together.  We figure if you bring him some bones from the kitchen, he’ll be so busy he won’t even notice that you’re leaving.  And you’ll be his best friend for life.”

Reaching for her leather shoulder purse she opened it and pulled out a set of keys.

“Here, take these,” she said.

“What’s this?”

“Gary, if you want to impress a girl on your first date you can’t take her on the El!  Jamie and I were talking.  He’s lending you his car tonight.  He’ll pick it up tomorrow.  Just park it and hide the keys under the floor mat.  He’s got an extra set and I’ve got a set so all you have to do is hide the keys and lock it when you get home tonight.”

Rising from her seat on his couch she gave him a hug which he gladly returned.

“Have fun tonight.  I’ll talk to you sometime tomorrow and find out how things went.”

 “Thanks Sky.  And thank Jamie for me.”

“Think nothing of it sweetie.  We want to see you relax and have a good time.  Elena’s a nice girl and I think you’ll have a lot of fun together.”

Five minutes later they both left the loft.  While Gary went off to find Jamie’s car and pick up his date Sky stayed to visit with Chuck and Marissa.  She’d been so busy at the fairgrounds the past couple of days that she hadn’t had time to stop in for more than a few minutes at a time, mostly to give Gary a quick exam to see how his bruises were healing and the cut on his head.  His lip was pretty well healed, as were the cuts near his eye and on his cheek and the bruises were pretty well healed except for his ribs.

******************************************************************

Promptly at seven o’clock Gary arrived at Elena’s little house.  Walking up to the door he rant the doorbell.  A thunderous roar seemed to shake the house as Hercules let his mistress know that someone was at the door.  Gary tried to calm himself but truth be told he was a little apprehensive.  The only dog he’d had much experience with the last few years was Marissa’s German Shepherd Guide Dog Spike.  And he and Spike got along well.  And Cat and Spike were friends as well.  Gary still shook his head over that one seeing as how cats and dogs were supposed to be mortal enemies.

“Hush Hercules,” Elena’s voice was heard scolding her pet.

The door opened and Elena smiled when she saw Gary dressed in jeans, a brown long sleeved jersey and a windbreaker jacket standing at her door.

“Gary, Hi!  Come on in.”  Elena opened the door for him to enter.

Eyeing the big dog somewhat apprehensively Gary stepped into the hallway.

“Hi. These are for you,” he said handing her a small bouquet of mixed flowers.

“Thank you.  Come on in the kitchen with me while I put them in a vase with some water.”

Elena led the way to her small kitchen where she got a vase out of one of the overhead cabinets and filled it with water.

“There, that should do it,” she said as she placed the flower laden vase on the circular kitchen table.

“Is it very cold out there Gary?”

“Huh?”  Gary was only half listening.  In spite of Sky’s reassurances and Elena’s attitude he was a little wary of the large brown and white dog and was watching the dog watch him.

“Is it cold outside?”  Elena looked over at Gary as she retrieved her purse from the chair in the Living Room where they had moved.  “Don’t let him make you nervous Gary.  He really is harmless, but big and loud.  I got him two years ago when he was just a puppy.”

“I’m not nervous,” Gary said.

Elena just looked at him with a bemused smile on her face.  She’d heard that line before.

 “Ok.  I’m a little nervous,” he said.  “You see, I-I haven’t had a whole lot of experience with dogs - except Marissa’s Spike.”

“Don’t worry about it Gary.  Hercules scares a lot of people.  Except Dr. Fairfax, her brothers and Sam.  And Hercules adores all of them.”

“Sky said I should bring him some bones from the kitchen.  I got ‘em right here.”  Gary took the bag out of his jacket pocket.  He took them into Elena’s kitchen and, followed closely by the huge dog, put them in the empty dog food dish on the kitchen floor.  Hercules went for them and settled down for a snack.

By now Elena had retrieved a lightweight, dark green jacket out of the hall closet along with her purse from the Living Room.  Gentleman that he was Gary helped her put it on.  A minute later Gary and Elena were out the door and in Jamie’s car on their way to the bowling alley.

Upon arrival Gary parked the car and lived up to Sky’s description of him as a perfect gentleman as he opened the car door for her and then the door to the bowling alley allowing her to precede him into the building.  He rented their shoes and escorted Elena to their designated alley where they bowled three strings before playing some of the arcade games.

Gary grinned like a schoolboy when Elena squealed with delight over the Bugs Bunny doll he pulled out of the claw machine.  It had been a very long time, probably not since Emma, that he had made a woman that happy over such a simple thing.

From the bowling alley they went to Gary’s favorite pizza place where they each had a pizza the way they liked.  Gary’s had anchovies and pineapple while Elena had hamburger and extra cheese.  They shared a pitcher of Diet Pepsi.  Before either of them realized it it was ten-thirty.

At Elena’s door a half-hour later Gary was rewarded with a “thank you Gary it was a lot of fun” and a kiss on the cheek.  In somewhat of a daze and close to being on cloud nine Gary walked back to Jamie’s 1991 Grand Am and drove back home to McGinty’s.

“Gary is that you?” Marissa asked hearing him enter the nearly deserted dining room.

“Yeah.”

“How was your date with Elena?”

“Good.”

Marissa smiled to herself.  She could tell from his tone of voice and the lightness of his footsteps that it had been better than “good”.  “Oh well,” she thought to herself as he headed up to the loft and his bed, “I’m sure Sky will get the details out of him and Elena tomorrow.  Then I’ll get them from her.”

******************************************************************

Plop.

“Meow.”

“Good morning Chicago.  It’s shaping up to be a nice day.  Temps could reach the mid to high seventies or even 80 degrees today.  Now here’s what’s happening in the world today…”

Gary’s hand reached over and slapped the on/off button on his clock radio as the cat made his presence known again.

“Meow!”

“I’m comin’!  I’m comin’!”  Gary dragged himself out of bed and over to the door.  He’d not gotten to sleep right away the night before.  Like a child who’d enjoyed a day at the fair or the circus he’d been too excited to fall asleep very quickly.  If the paper gave him any time to himself today he was going to ask Elena if she wanted to take in a movie.  The Sound of Music was playing at one theater.  Fiddler on the Roof and the Star Wars trilogy at another.  And one theater was showing Walt Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People with a very young Sean Connery.

Taking the leftover pizza out of the box Gary offered some to Cat who more or less turned up his nose at the offering until Gary removed the pineapple and left only the anchovies, otherwise known as “the breakfast of champions”.

Flipping through the paper briefly before heading for the shower Gary was pleasantly surprised to see nothing more than a few minor incidents for him to handle.  A malfunctioning traffic light, a cat stuck in a tree along with its owner, a ten year old girl whose braids would be tangled in the branches leaving her trapped for a couple of hours when nobody heard her cry for help.  A surprise benefit was that one of his rescues would take place at the fairgrounds.  Most of his saves that day would take place in the morning and the one at the fairgrounds would take place around lunchtime.  Maybe he could treat his friends to lunch and convince Elena to go to the movies for a late matinee or early evening show.  He was sure Sky would allow Elena to leave early since she was so determined to see him relax and have some fun.

His first save, the traffic light was handled by a phone call to city hall.  Confirmation that it had been taken care of was simple enough.  Besides the fact that the story disappeared from the paper, the traffic light happened to be down the street from McGinty’s.  The double confirmation was a great relief to Gary.

On his way to the fairgrounds Gary took care of his second save of the morning.  He found the little girl about to climb a thickly tangled oak tree to retrieve her frightened pet.  This save did not go as smoothly as the previous one.

For most people climbing a tree to retrieve a cat wouldn’t be a big deal.  They’d either do it or they’d call the fire department.  Not Gary Hobson the recipient of tomorrow’s newspaper today.    The cat was lying on one of the highest branches in the tree.  Gary’s fear of heights almost got the better of him several times.  The first time was when he looked up and saw how high the cat was in the tree.  One look at the little girl’s woebegone face and he was hooked.  He swallowed hard in an effort to remain calm.

“What’s your name honey?” he asked her.

“Holly Tucker,” was the reply.

“Holly.  Now don’t cry Holly ‘cause I’m gonna climb up there and get your cat down,” Gary told her.  “What’s his name?”

“It’s a she and her name is Cleopatra.”

“Cleopatra.  Ok.   Holly you just wait right here and I’ll get her down.”

Gary took Holly’s hand and led her a safe distance away.  Returning to the tree he moved the chair that she had planned on using to reach the lowest branch.  He jumped, caught hold of the branch and pulled himself up.  So far so good.  Safely settled on that lowest branch he then reached for the next highest one and pulled himself into a standing position.  As soon as he was sure of his footing he started the upward climb, slowly, trying not to look down.

 “Just my luck,” he muttered.  “Stupid cat would be on the highest branch in the tree.  I really, really, really don’t like heights.”  He kept going and finally found himself close enough to reach for the gray Angora cat.  Cleopatra, for her part, was not thrilled to see this stranger’s hand reaching out for her and she hissed at Gary lashing out with her right front paw.  She raked his right hand leaving some deep, bloody scratches.

“Ow!” he yelped.  “What’s the matter with you?  Can’t you tell I’m trying to help ya?”  Gary shook his hand for a second while maintaining a death grip on the branch with his other hand.

After trying several more times and getting nowhere Gary finally resorted to sweet-talking the cat and this time was successful.  He tucked Cleopatra inside his brown windbreaker and started climbing down.  As he climbed down he had to stop and close his eyes briefly when vertigo struck making him both dizzy and slightly nauseous as he looked down to check on his progress.  Finally he reached the ground and handed the cat over to her ecstatic owner who threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug and a kiss for saving her pet.  His irritation with the cat was forgotten as well as the painful scratches on his hand as he basked in the warmth of the rare thank you he had just received.

Gary arrived at the fairgrounds with less than five minutes to spare.  At 12:15 an elderly man would be assaulted near the refreshment stand by a group of teenage punks after he accidentally spilled some soda from a paper cup on one of them.  The paper reported that they would then steal his turquoise jewelry and he would wind up in the hospital with a stab wound in his shoulder.

Quickly Gary made his way to the scene just as the leader of the gang shoved his victim.  The elderly man was dressed in jeans, a red shirt with a silver concho belt, boots and a silver and turquoise bracelet and pendant.  As Gary approached the teens proceeded to roughly shove the old man back and forth between them.

“Maybe this’ll teach you to watch where you’re going old man,” their leader snarled.

Gary looked around to see if he could find a Security Guard but there wasn’t one in sight.

“Oh, boy,” he thought to himself.  “This isn’t going to be easy.”

The teenagers had now set their sights on the old man’s jewelry.

“Hey, Jack,” one of them said to their leader.  “Look at what the old man’s got.  It must be worth something.  It’ll pay for your jacket and pants.”

Jack responded, “Yeah, you’re right.”  To the frightened old man he said, “Let’s have the bracelet and the necklace old man.”

“No.”  The old man was frightened but defiant.

Jack was surprised when he felt a hand on his wrist as he reached out for the items in question.

“Don’t even think about it kid.”  Gary didn’t yell but he tried to put all the authority of his superior age into his tone of voice.

“Hey, man, let go!” Jack said struggling to pull free.

Gary let go of the youth who backed up a step.  Reaching out he helped the intended victim to his feet.

“Look out!” the older man yelled.

Gary turned and jumped aside just in time to avoid the knife that came whistling through the air at his right shoulder.  The blade ripped his jacket but fortunately missed him.

“Hey!” Gary exclaimed.  “There’s no need for that.  Why don’t you put that away and we’ll forget anything ever happened huh?”

“No way, dude.  I’m going to cut you up for getting in the way.”

His attack on Gary and the elderly man came to an abrupt halt as Sky and her cousins Chris and Alex arrived on the scene.  The cousins were on their way to the refreshment stand to pick up sandwiches and sodas and such for the family and friends that were gathered near the tents they were sleeping in at night.  Chris grabbed the wrist of the leader and squeezed with all his strength.  Suddenly a sharp crack was heard.  The switchblade knife fell to the ground where Gary snatched it up, closed it and put it in his pocket for safekeeping.

“Ow!” the kid named Jack screamed.  “Hey, man you broke my wrist.”

“I’ll break your head you try something like that again,” Chris told him.

Seeing their leader hurt like that set the others into a frenzy.  They turned their attention on Chris who easily avoided the first one.  Alex with the light of battle in his eyes took out a tall African American boy that must have outweighed him by thirty pounds.  The difference in their weight had no effect.  Years of wrestling broncs, steers and calves had made the wiry blond tough.  The kid went down in a hurry and stayed down.  Sky, who had stopped long enough to have Security paged took down the last kid herself much to the amazement of Gary who had pulled the intended robbery/stabbing victim to one side when the melee started.

She blocked his attempted swing with her left arm and grabbed the boy’s right arm with her right hand.  She then proceeded to force him to his knees with the arm in danger of being broken or the shoulder dislocated.

“You move a muscle you little punk and I’ll break it!” she told him.

A moment later three security guards arrived in answer to Sky’s page and took the three teens into custody.  Sky and her cousins left word with the guards to let the police know that they would come down to make their statements later.  Before leaving one of the security guards took the knife from Gary to turn over to the police.  Sky, Chris and Alex then turned their attention to the other two men.

“You ok Gary?” Chris asked before the others could speak.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he answered.  “Thanks for the help.”

Sky, meantime, had started a conversation with the elderly victim.  Gary didn’t understand a word of it as they were speaking a language he’d never heard before.  The old man’s face had lit up and he had a big smile on it when he heard her speak.  The MacGregor boys seemed to understand at least part of the conversation.

Turning to her cousins Sky said, “Would you two mind seeing Gray Wolf safely back to his stand?  I'll bring the food he was after when I get ours.  He’s a little shaken up.”

“Sure,” Chris answered.  “We passed it on the way over here.  His son will be anxious if he’s heard about this.”

Chris and Alex flanked Gray Wolf as he gave Sky a hug and said “thank you” before leaving.

  Sky then turned her attention to Gary.  “Are you sure you’re ok Gary?  You look a little pale”.

“Yeah, I’m ok.  The knife didn’t even come close - it just ripped my jacket a little.”

“I can see that,” Sky said noticing the long rent in the shoulder.  Then she noticed the scratches on his hand.  “What happened to your hand?”  she asked holding it up for a better look.”

“Oh,” he said.  “A cat scratched me.”

“Your cat?”

“No, no.  I got a cat out of a tree this morning.  She didn’t like the idea of a stranger reaching out for her.”

Pulling at his sleeve Sky said, “Come with me.  That hand needs a little attention.  We’ll go to the infirmary and clean those scratches up and put a couple of band aids on them.”

Gary didn’t bother arguing.  He knew he wouldn’t win and besides it was a good way to find out for himself if Elena was around.

No such luck.  As they entered the tent it was empty.  Obediently Gary sat in a chair while Sky got the alcohol and cotton balls.  He flinched as the alcohol stung the scratches.

“There, that’ll do,” Sky said as she put a large Band-Aid on the back of his hand.

As she busied herself putting things away his curiosity got the better of him.

“Hey Sky where’d you learn that move you used on the kid?”

“Washo taught me,” she answered.

“Oh.  And what about that language you were talking to the old man - Gray Wolf?  What was that?”

“That was Cherokee.  Gray Wolf is a full-blooded Cherokee from Oklahoma.  He travels around to different rodeos, fairs and Pow-Wows selling his handmade silver and turquoise jewelry.”

Quizzically Gary looked up at her.  “Where’d you learn to speak Cherokee?”

“In Texas.  Washo taught me.  Said I was a good student.  That I learned fast.”  Sky had a far away look in her eyes.

“Oh.”  Gary hesitated for a minute.  Then he asked, “Who’s Washo?”

“A friend,” Sky answered evasively.  “A very special friend. He’s half Cherokee himself.  His dad was a full-blooded Cherokee married to a white woman.  He’s a Texas Ranger, a black belt and then some in karate.  He’s the one I told you about - the one that trained Jonathan.  He’s been a good friend for a long time now.”

Gary thought about what she told him.  Then something occurred to him.  She’d mentioned this “Washo” the day of the incident with Bradley in the infirmary.

“He’s here isn’t he - this ‘Washo’?”

“What makes you think that hon?” Sky was wary of his questioning now.

“Because you said something to Bradley the other day about him being here.  That he’s watching him.”

“I did?!  Oh yeah, I did,” Sky was visibly nervous.  The thumb and forefinger on her left hand toyed with the silver and turquoise ring she wore on her right ring finger.  She couldn’t tell him the truth because it could jeopardize the undercover operation.  Not that she didn’t trust Gary but if he accidentally let it slip weeks of work could be ruined.

“Gee look at the time,” she said holding his left wrist up to read his watch.  “I’ve got to get those lunches to that hungry horde of family and friends that are waiting for me before they start eating the horses feed.  Care to join us?”  With a sly twinkle in her eye she added, “Elena’s with them.  That is why you came here isn’t it?”

“No,” Gary tried to deny it but it was no use.  Short of telling her about his mysterious paper foretelling the attempted robbery there was nothing for him to do but put up with her teasing.

A myriad of questions went through Gary’s mind as they walked over to the refreshment stand together.  And all of them had to do with why Sky was being so mysterious about her friend.  What was he doing here?  Who was he?  A Texas Ranger in Chicago?  Gary’s mind was in a whirl. But Sky kept teasing him for details of his date with Elena.  She wasn’t going to answer any more questions about Walker.

“Hi, Mr. Morgan,” she greeted the sixtiesh gentleman at the refreshment stand.  “Got a big order for you.  I’m ordering for my family and some friends.”

“Good afternoon Schuyler. We’re ready when you are,” he responded.

Sky grinned as she rattled off the order.  “I need two dozen cheeseburgers, two dozen hamburgers, ten hot dogs, twelve chicken dinners- half chicken size, of course.  Rob’s next to impossible to fill up and Aunt Kate says Andrew must have four hollow legs.  He’s been know to put away the equivalent of two chickens all by himself.”

James Morgan laughed.  He’d been a friend of Robert MacGregor, Andrew’s father, for years.  He knew exactly what Sky was talking about.  “How about chips and sodas dear?”

“Oh, let’s see,” Sky looked at her list, “I need a half dozen original Sun chips, three Fritos and three plain ridged chips.  As for sodas I think a dozen cokes, four ginger ales, four diet cokes and a half a dozen root beers.  “Turning to Gary she said, “What would you like Gary?”

Gary was stunned by the enormity of the order.  He hadn’t seen the amount of food the MacGregor’s had put away the night of the Calamity Jane nonsense.

“You-you mean to tell me that all that food you just ordered is just for your family?”

“Oh, no,” she replied seriously.  “One of those chicken dinners is Elena’s and one is mine.  The rest of it is for my cousins, Jamie and Sam.”

Gary blinked taken aback by that statement.  All he could think of at that moment was his mother back in Hickory and how she would love to feed this group.  She was always convinced that Gary wasn’t eating well and that he was wasting away to nothing.

“Earth to Gary!  Are you with me here?”  Sky’s voice brought him back to Oak Park and what he was there for.

“Oh, uh, cheeseburger and plain chips with a coke,” he answered.

 “Add another cheeseburger, chips and coke to that order please Mr. Morgan.

 “You got it hon. Be ready in five minutes.”

Sky, with Gary’s help spent that time gathering condiments, plastic ware, straws and napkins.  When the order was ready it was packed in six large boxes.  The sodas were surrounded by ice filled plastic bags.  Gary insisted on carrying the boxes with the hot food.  He would have carried all six but Sky pointed out the impracticality of it.  It would only heat up the sodas, melt the ice and cool off the hot food.

A chorus of “Hi, Gary” and “It’s about time!  I’m starving!” greeted the pair as they arrived with the food and drinks after dropping off Gray Wolf’s order.  Andrew and Rob made a grab for the food only to be stopped by Jamie who told them to mind their manners.  The girls would be served first then their guest - Gary- and then they could have theirs.

“Your mothers see you acting like this you’ll have sore ears and backsides for a week,” he told them.

That settled it.  The thought of what their mothers, let alone their grandparents, would say settled them down.
 

Sky and Gary distributed sodas and straws.  When everyone had one the rest were placed on a nearby folding table.  The boxes containing the hot food were placed at the other end of the table.  The napkins, plastic ware, straws and condiments were put in the middle of the table.  As Jamie had stated Sky, Elena, Hannah, Anne and Rebecca got their meals first and found a place to sit.  Then Gary, Jamie and Sam quickly got what they wanted before the “horde of locusts” descended on the table.  Gary’s eyes grew wide as he watched Rob and Andrew devour a dozen cheeseburgers plus chips, soda and dessert.  He, much like his mom would have, wondered where they put it all.  They were as tall as he was yet they had to be twenty pounds or more lighter.  If he’d ever tried to eat that much he’d have gotten sick.

There was no competition scheduled for a few hours so the MacGregors, their cousins and friends spent the time playing, singing and dancing.  Hannah got a sewing kit from the trailer she and her female cousins were staying in and fixed Gary’s jacket.

Sky had her violin with her and her guitar.  The strains of John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” and “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” filled the air as did some more contemporary country music such as “Garth Brooks “Callin’ Baton Rouge”, Joe Diffie’s “Third Rock From the Sun” and Tracy Byrd’s “Watermelon Crawl” which brought giggles from the five women.  The CD player in the trailer was put to good use for the songs Sky couldn’t play.  Of course, the obligatory oldies were cranked out such as Earth Angel, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Sky couldn’t resist the teeny little dig at Chicago with Gary there), Close To You, Leaving On A Jet Plane and Jamie’s childhood favorite of Puff The Magic Dragon.  At least Sky liked to say it was Jamie’s favorite.  He always denied it.  He always said it was Alan’s.  But they all agreed the Peter, Paul and Mary were among their favorite groups from the sixties.

After about an hour of this, The MacGregors talked their cousin into competing against them in Barrel Racing, Pole Bending and Calf Roping.  Having furtively checked his paper several times Gary was pleasantly surprised that there was nothing for him to handle.  He did suffer a twinge in his conscience for letting Chuck and Marissa think he was out handling The Paper but then again both of them were always after him to loosen up and have some fun.  Surely they wouldn’t mind him hanging out with his new friends for a while.  He had had a chance to talk to Elena and they were going to a 7 o’clock movie.  It looked like it would be the Disney movie, as Elena had to get up early in the morning and needed to be in bed at a reasonable hour.  It was, in retrospect, the calm before the storm.
 

Continue to Installment 3
Return to Installment 1

Email the author: Janet.E.Brayden@nae02.usace.army.mil
 

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