Jack be Quick - 9. Chapter 9

“Shhhhh,,,,” Mary says in a firm but soft voice as I continue to struggle and starting to cry, “it’ll be ok, I promise “ she claims.

“YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE,”Tod yells as he jumps on Mary’s back trying to recuse me and Matt is trying to reach Tod and tackle hm.

“Ohhuuuccchhh!” Matt screeches as a knee strikes him in the groin and he goes down with a red face cradling his balls, Mary has managed to fold me in her arms tightly as I begin to give up and slump with my face in her chest and sobbing, I just sit there sobbing into her chest and completely giving in as I hear a loud thud as Tod slips and falls on Matt who screech’s again in quite a bit of pain.

“A man opens the door and freezes,”what the,,,” he starts as he rushes over to help Tod up, who has begun to cry as well, “are you all right?” he asks squatting down and grabbing the boy by the arms.

We must look quite silly I think and start to laugh and that turns into a stream of laughter which soon spreads to Tod, who begins to giggle and giggle, soon Mary is laughing as well, Matt is still on his knees doubled over in pain with tears streaming out of his eyes.

“What is so funny?” The man asks as he too begins to laugh.

“Who would have thought laughter could be so contagious?” I think as my tummy starts to ache. “I,,, dooon’t knooow,” I say between bouts of laughter. I suddenly bolt upright as I realize that there is a strange man standing over me holding Tod’s hand and staring at me intently. I am no longer laughing.”whooo,,,, are,,,, you?” I ask in a timid voice.

“I’m Mr Zackery Schmitt, young man, but you can call me Mr Schmitt,” he says, “and will someone please tell me what the he,,,” he says and changes his mind, “I mean, can someone please explain the meaning of this?” He asks out of breath.

“That woman was trying to hurt Jack,” Tod claims and starts to wiggle out of Mr Schmidt’s hands, “I have to protect him,” he states as he continues to struggle.

“Now that’s quite enough young man,” he tells Tod, “let’s all get up off the floor and have a seat and,” he says, getting frustrated, “and will someone please explain just what is going on?” he asks, as he points Tod toward a chair and moves over to help Matt to his feet.

Mary gets up and smooths our her shirt and gets up slowly still chuckling to her self, taking me by the hand she gently helps me to stand, “do you feel better,” she asks in a small voice that only I can hear, looking at her I just nod once and move closer to her.

Matt starts to pick up the chairs and papers that are strewn across the floor when the radio on the desk squawks, “this is Captain Cook,” the voice says, “come in Chicken coop over,” and the radio goes silent.

Matt rushes over to grab the mike and dropping the papers, “this is chicken coop,” he responds, ‘go ahead Captain Cook.”

“Peter Pan is on the move, I repeat , Peter Pan is on the move,” he says as the radio once again goes silent.

“Roger that,” Matt says, “keep an eye out for Wendy and do not approach, I repeat, do not approach,” Matt says as he puts the mike down.

“What games are these adults playing,” I think to myself, “Peter Pan?” I ask in an interested but perplexed voice.

“We have to move now,” Mr Schmitt says, looking at Tod and me, completely ignoring me,“ will they be ok by themselves?” He says now looking at Mary.

“I don’t think so,” she claims, “I better stay with them,” she says with what seems like disappointment in her voice.

“But you’ve been working on this case for over five years,” Matt says.

“I know,” she says, “but some things are more important.

“Well we have to go now, if we ever hope to catch Peter Pan,” Matt says as he gets up and grabs a pistol from the desk drawer, “come on Zack,” he says, “we have to fly,” and putting the gun in his holster under his arm rushes to the door, “are you sure?” He asks Mary.

“I’m sure,” she says, “now hurry up and go before Peter Pan flys away,” she commands him and turning to me she gives me a wink.

With my eyes really big, I ask, “did he have a gun?”

“Yes he did, he’s a police officer as well,” Mary informs me.

“Cool,” I say, relaxing a bit, “do you have a gun too?” I say, looking her up and down trying to see if I can see it.

“Yes I do,” she informs me, “would you like to see it?”she asks me, a smile crossing her face.

“Yes please,” I say with a wide grin on my face as well.

“I wanna see it too,” Tod says jumping up from the chair he was sitting on, almost knocking it over in the process.

“Careful sweetie,” Mary says as she attempts to slow Tod down, come with me,” she says to us both and walks to the door in the back of the room.

Tod follows her and I hesitate as she opens the door the the back room, “ummm,,” I stammer, “maybe I can just wait here and you can bring it to me,” I say, starting to back away.

Turning, Mary looks at confused and says, “it’s ok, it’s just my office” she informs me and steps aside to show me the open door.

Peering into the room, I see there is a desk with two chairs and a lamp on the desk. On the wall I see a bulletin board with papers tacked to it, a computer sits on the desk with papers all over in piles here and there. Curiously I take a small step closer and look more carefully at the room. A clock is on the wall and a filling cabinet against one wall. A trash can sits on one side overflowing with balled up papers.

“Do I have to go in there?” I ask with fear on my face.

“No you don’t have to,” she claims, ‘but that’s where I keep my firearm,” she informs me, “and I bet Tod isn’t afraid of going into my office,’ she says as she looks at Tod.

“I’m not afraid,” Tod says as he puffs out his chest.

“I’m not afraid either,” I say in a timid voice, trying to sound brave, “I just don’t feel like going in there,” I say backing even farther away, “who wants to see some baby gun anyway,” I say, not sure if I’m trying to convince myself or Mary.

“Ok Jack,” she says, “why don’t we all just sit down in the chairs out here and we can talk,” she asks me as she motions to a set of chairs in the corner of the room.

Hesitantly I nod my head and slowly sit down, never taking my eyes off Mary, not sure if she a bad guy or a good guy.

Mary sits down with Tod on one side and me on the other, I notice that she has a smell around her and I find that I like it, “to begin with,” Mary begins, “I won’t let anything bad happen to you or your brother,” she claims.

“He’s not my brother,” I say, almost in a whisper.

“Oh,” she says, “I just thought,” and then seems to change her mind and asks, “do you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Not anymore,” I say weakly.

“I do,” Tod says and then looks at me in a strange way.

“So you two are just friends?”she asks as she takes our hands in hers.

“Yeah,” I say.

“We are too brothers,” Tod claims.

“We are not,” I insist, “I’ve only known you a few weeks, “I admit.

“Yeah, well I know,” he admits, “but Henry said we were just as good as brothers,” he says sheepishly, “I mean I know we are supposed to be cousins, but,,,” he trails off seemingly confused, “I mean if Henry says it, it must be true, right?” He asks unsure of himself.

“Where are you two boys from?”she asks as she squeezes my hand gently.

“I’m from home,” Tod announces in a confident voice.

“No stupid,” I say before I can stop myself, “she means where is home.”

“I know,” he says sheepishly, “I used to be from Texas, before,, umm my parents lost me and didn’t come to look for me,” he explains.

“I’m sure your parents are looking for you,” Mary tells him, “but maybe they don’t know where to look?’ She asks more that says.

“I guess,” Tod says under his breath.

“My home, if you can call it that was in Michigan,” I tell her embarrassed, “but I don’t live there anymore, I’m on my own,” I inform her with a stern face, “you can’t make me go back, if you do I’ll just run away again, if I survive that long,” I say as an after thought.

“I see,” Mary says, “well we wouldn’t want that,” she says with a weird look on her face. “So Tod, can you tell me your last name?” She asks looking hopeful.

“Taylor,” he says, “do you really think my parents really are looking for me?”he asks with a new hopeful look in his young face.

“Well,” she says, “let’s see if I can find out,” she says as she gets up and walks over to the computer, “let’s see,” she mumbles as she starts to type on the computer.

Tod looks at and me and I just nod and so he gets up and slinks over behind her to see what she doing.

I look at the door and consider trying to sneak out while she is distracted, but the remembering that Henry is probably looking for us, I decide not to, I’ll just wait and see what she does, “maybe the cops are not the enemy,” I think to myself as my mind starts to go back in time, remembering the way things were at home.

I’m in a dark room, a much early time, I was small and scared. I can’t see anything and it smells like mold and trash, I wake up on the hard floor, not knowing how I got here, I call out, but there is only the sound of my breath to sooth me. A creaking comes from somewhere above me and dust falls on my face and arms, making me jump afraid that spiders are crawling all over me.

“WHAT’S ALL THAT NOISE DOWN THERE!” I hear someone from above yell.

I stay silent only listening and holding my breath, “how did I get here?” I say to myself in a whisper, “I’m going to be in so much trouble when I get home, I’m not supposed to be out this late,” I continue to talk to myself as I realize I’m not alone, there is someone else breathing and I am filled with terror as I try to see anything, but it’s all black.

“Creeeeeekkkk,” I hear from above me, someone is walking around above my head.

“Who’s there?” I whisper and wait for a response, when nothing happens I try again, “who’s there?” I say a little louder.

“Shhhh,,,” says a small frightened voice, “please don’t misbehave, it’ll be bad for us,” says the voice.

“What do you mean?” I say in a whisper, “who are you?” I ask, “where are we and how did we get here?” I say starting to feel frantic.

“Be quite,” is all I hear in response before the room is flooded with a blinding light.

“What’s all that racket down there?” I hear a voice from somewhere behind and above me.

“Nothing, “ the boys voice says,” we will be good,” is his only response.

Looking around as my eyes adjust to the light I see I’m in a basement with another boy about there or fours years older than me, “I want to go home,” I say with as much courage as I can muster.

“You’ll do as your told,” the mans voice says, “you only speak if talked to,” he commands, “the boss will be here soon and I wouldn’t want to be you if I have to give him a bad report,” he threatens.

“I don’t care,” I say definitely, “my dad will kick you butt, if you don’t let me go right now,” I threaten.

“You are a sassy boy,” the man says, “I’ll let the boss deal with you, but for now SHUT THE FUCK UP,” he commands and throws something very hard at me and hits me in the head and all I see are stars and then the room goes black once again.

“You really did it that time,” the other boy whispers to me.

I start to cry and fell my forehead.

“Shhhh,,,,” the boys says to me, “it’ll be ok, you just can’t ever cry,” he claims, “it’ll be worse for you and me if you do,” he claims as I feel an arm go around my shoulder, causing me to jump and screech in surprise, “it’s only me,” the boys says as he try’s to put his hand over my mouth.

“Jack?’ I hear Mary saying, “are you with us?”

“Ummm,,, What did you say?” I asked, wondering what that memory was, “was that just a made up story in my head” I say under my breath.

“What was that dear?” Mary asks leaning in closer to me.

“Ummm,,,, it’s nothing, “what did you want?” I ask rudely.

“I just wanted to tell you that I found Tod’s parents, come take a look,” she says as she takes my hand to lead me to the computer.

I let her lead me keeping an eye on the door as I cross the room, looking at the computer screen I see a picture of a much younger Tod and my eyes go wide, “I was right after all,” I mumble.

“Right about what?” Mary asks me perplexed.

“I told Tod that his parents probably didn’t even know where he was, that’s all,” I say.

“That was very smart of you,” Mary says causing me to beam with delight.

“They have really been looking for me this whole time,” Tod proclaims, “You mean Henry lied to me?” he says getting excited now, “I get to go home, “he says and then stops and looks at Mary with big eyes, “can Jack come live with me?” He asks with wonder on his face, “I just know my dad will say yes,” he claims, “Jacks’s parents are really mean to him,” he informs Mary, who looks sad.

“Jack has his own home,” Mary starts to explain,

“Butttt,,,” Tod starts to say.

“It complicated,” Mary tells Him as she puts a finger over his mouth, “let me see if I can find out where Jack is from,” she says as she starts to type again making the printer start to print out copies.

“Now for you Jack,” she says and turns to look me in the eye, “where are you from and what’s your last name?” she asks me.

“Umm,,, Michigan,” I say in a very small voice, looking down at my feet.

“Ok,” she says, “that’s a good start, can you tell me your last name?” She asks hesitantly.

“Are you going to make me go back if I tell you?” I ask him n a trembling voice.

“Not if your parents are unfit,” she claims, “I won’t let anyone else hurt you, and that’s a promise,” she informs me.

“Ok,” I say hesitantly, “my last name is,,,, Woods,” I say in a whisper, as if just speaking his name will summon him.

Mary eyes get really big and she says, “do you mean, the Henry Woods?”

“What do you mean?” I ask as I stare at her.

“Umm,,, never mind,” she tells me as she starts typing furiously on the computer, “why don’t you go sit down next to Tod, this will take a while,” she says in a nervous voice as she attempts to block my view of the computer screen.

Backing away slowly I ask her, “do you know my dad?”

“That’s not important,” she claims, “let me see what I can find, it’s probably just a coincidence,” she claims as she concentrates on the computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard at lightning speed.

I sit down next to Tod and he takes my hand and leans into me and whispers, “did she find your parents?”

“I don’t know, but I hope not,” I admit to him.

“Jack,” Mary says to me after a few minutes, “I need you to come look at something,” she says as she’s starting at the screen, “Tod, you stay there,” she commands him.

Getting up I cautiously walk over and look at the screen.

“Is that your dad?” Mary asks, pointing to a picture on the screen.

I step back away from the screen as if he might reach out and grab me, I nod slowly and continue to walk backwards, feeling terrified.

“It’s ok Jack, he cant hurt you,” she claims, “you don’t have to worry, I’ll never send you back to him,” she claims.

Starting to cry I try to say, “do,,,you,,, promise,,,?”

“I promise,” she claims, “but,,, it says here he doesn’t have any kids,” she says under her breath, “are you sure he is your dad?” Mary asks me in a strange tone of voice, like she doesn’t believe me.

“Yeahhh,” I say, not sure what she means.

“Well let me see if I can find anything else out,” she says in a low voice, reaching into her purse she takes out some change, “here, why don’t you go to the vending machine and get you two something to drink.”

Taking the change, I say, “come on Tod, let’s get a pop.” As I make my way to the machine, I keep an eye on the computer screen as long as I can, curious about what she’s talking about.

‘Hey!” Tod says, “watch where you’re walking, you stepped on my foot.”

“Opps,” I say, “I didn’t mean to, what do you want to drink?”

“Grape soda,” he says as his face lights up, “it’s been forever since I had a grape soda,” he claims.

“Here,” I say to Tod, handing him the soda and start to go back to the desk.

“Aren’t you going to get a pop?” Tod asks me while he opens the soda.

“I’m not thirsty,” I tell him and put the change in my pocket, thinking that if I have to make a run for it, I might just need something other than a pop.

The radio comes to life and I jump out of my skin, looking at the door, just knowing that Henry is busting in, he’s not of course, “Peter Pan has flowed the coop,” the voice says on the other end.

Mary picks it up and says, “never mind, return to the coop,” she says, “we have a situation here,” and puts the radio down.

“I can’t find anything on you Jack,” Mary says in a whisper, “where did you come from?” She says to herself.

“I’m telling you the truth, I promise,” I say to her in response.

“I know you are dear,” Mary says, now looking at me, “I recall you saying something about staying with your uncle?” She asks and gets up to walk over to me, squatting down in front of me she asks, “can you tell me where his place is?”

“Way out of town,” I say, “it’s in the woods,” I inform her.

“I see,” she says, “can you remember the way to get out there?”

“Ummm, it’s by a tree and a long dirt road,” I say trying to think of any land marks and realizing that I have no idea, “there’s a train track close,” I say, remembering how I got there, “I came here by train,” I say trying to explain.

“I don’t know of any train stations around here,” she says as she starts to get up.

“I didn’t get off at a train station, I just sort of,,,,fell off the train, after it stopped,” telling her the way I remember it.

“You fell off a train?” she asks astonished.

“Yeah, the cable I was standing on, sort of broke and so the train man stopped and I sort of fell off,” I say innocently, “I didn’t mean to break the train, I really didn’t,” I claim.

“So,,,, Henry is not really your uncle then?”she asks.

“No, he just insisted that I call him that, I told you that already,” I say, “he helped me, when I was alone and looking for a place to stay and fed me, but he was not very nice and made me wear,,,” I start to say and suddenly stop talking as I realize what I was about to say, “it’s nothing,” I finish and look at the door, thinking that maybe it would be a good time to make my exit.

“What did he make you wear?” Mary asking me.

“Girls clothes,” Tod says all of a sudden.

“SHUT UP,” I almost scream at Tod and see him shrink back against his seat and I feel bad for doing that to him, but I’m so embarrassed by what he revealed that I just keep looking around and pretend that I’m not hurt by what I did.

“Can you remember anything else about where you have been living?” she asks, ignoring what Tod said.

“They didn’t have electricity or anything, it was like living on Little House on the Prairie,” I inform her.

“What about the time I met you in town,?”she asks, “where did you go?”

“To a strange office,” I say, “it wasn’t like this place,” I say and falling silent.

“An office?”she says, “but not like this?, how was it different?” She says grabbing a note book.

“Well they had a stage and costumes,” I say as Tod just stares at me in fascination, “they took my picture and then the man got mad at me and sent me into a room in the back where there was a bed and more costumes,” I say.

“WOW,” Tod proclaims, “did you get to try on the costumes?, I bet that was fun,” he says and a smile crosses his face.

“NO!” I almost scream and take a breath, “I mean no, I didn’t have to try on the costumes.”I say more calmly, “why did that freak me out so much?” I think to myself.

“Do you know where this office was?”Mary asks as she is writing on the note pad.

“It’s close to here,” I tell her, “I don’t really know, but I remembered when you told me where you lived, it was on the same street, I even looked down the street and thought I saw your door,” I say, trying really hard to think of something useful to tell her.

Getting up she heads over to the computer and starts typing, “you’ve been a great help Jack,” and picks up the radio, “everyone return to the coop, never-land has been located,” she says and puts the radio down.

Typing into her computer, she asks me, “can you remember anything else?”

“Ummmmm,,,,, 12^th Street and main, I think,” but I’m not sure, maybe it was 10^th and main,” I say unsure, “or was it 12^th Street and maple?” I don’t know,” I say, “why is that so important?” I ask curiously.

“We have had your dad under investigation for quite a while, but have not been able to uncover anything we can use against him,” she informs me.

“Investigation?” I ask with wonder.

“Your dad is a bad man,” she says, “if he is your dad,” she adds as an after thought, “but never mind that,” she tells me as the front door opens abruptly, I look over in that direction getting nervous again, but stopping myself from jumping.

“Don’t get comfortable,” Mary says, “I think I have never-lands location,” she says proudly, “when all the teams are checked in, we move,” she commands the man, picking up the phone she makes a call while turning her back to us.

“I need social services,,,,” I hear Mary say in a whisper and then can’t make our much of anything.

“What’s going on, where is never-land and is Peter Pan coming?” Tod asks all excited.

“Never mind,” I tell him, “never-Land is a very bad place and you never want I go there,” I tell him sternly, realizing something I can’t quite explaine.

“Well I want to go,” Tod proclaims as more men come bursting through the door.

I just look at Tod like he has lost his mind, “why are you looking at me like that?”he asks innocently, “is your dad really not your dad?” he asks curiously, “who is your dad?” He asks, “maybes you dad is looking for you, I mean your real dad,” he says as he starts to ask even more questions.

I reach over and put a finger to his lips, “shhhh,” I say softly, “something is going on and I dint think it is good,” I admit to him, “we need to be ready to run if Henry or my dad comes through that door,” I inform him and he gets a very scared look on his face.

“Ummm,ok” he says hesitantly, but what about my parents ?”he asks me with wide puppy dog eyes.

“I don’t know,” I admit, “but I promise I will help you find them no matter what,” I say, really wanting to mean what I say.