Chapter 9: Weather-bound

The entire city of New York had been practically shut down by the massive winter storm that covered most of the north-eastern states leaving Elizabeth without a whole lot to do. The tunnels gave her easy safe access to and from her work but she was nearly the only one there. She would spend about a half day handling the rare phone call and cleaning up the ever present piles of paperwork then head home in the middle of the afternoon. The rest of her day was spent helping out down in the tunnels or enjoying family time at the family brownstone. Charles, who also had easy tunnel access, spent his days supervising the emergency aid efforts of the Wells-Chandler foundation and his evenings at home. The rooftop garden had become a miniature winter wonderland and ended up hosting a snowman and a couple of family snowball fights.

Elizabeth also called Peter and Cherry a couple of times during the week to see how they were doing in that bed and breakfast that they were staying in. She figured that there would be some interesting tales to be told once this storm was over and everyone was back home.

After that first call from Peter at the bed and breakfast, Elizabeth had looked up the police department records of Mathew Dillon. He had only been on the New York police force a few years but had managed to distinguish himself as an excellent officer. A few months after his marriage he had been wounded while saving two other officers and a half dozen civilians during a shootout with a small group of drug crazed gang members in a bungled bank robbery attempt. During that encounter he had been forced to shoot and kill one of the young gang members. Shortly after that incident he left the force and moved out to a small town called Oaksburg. He still had family on his wife's side living in New York.

~ o ~

At the bed and breakfast, the following snow covered days settled down into a routine. Each morning Matt and Chastity would make the rounds in the two police snow cats to see if anyone needed any help or emergency supplies. One family had to be relocated to a neighbors house when their roof collapsed under the weight of the snow. Peter and David helped Matt remove the very large tree branch that blocked the main thoroughfare and took out the power line. Matt and Chastity had to transport the repair crews to the downed power line and to a water main break near the west end of the town. The rest of the emergencies turned out to be relatively minor and easily dealt with.

Most of the afternoons were spent in play outside in the snow. The Dillon Bed and Breakfast had five snowmobiles that they would normally rent out to guests during the winter ski season. All five snowmobiles got a lot of use that week as they explored the surrounding terrain, including the national park just north of the bed and breakfast. There were also more than a few snowmobile races during those days. David managed to flip one of the snowmobiles during one of the races but there was no damage other than his pride. Each evening was spent before the fire playing games and talking. Late in the evening Katy and Sally would call their parents in New York to talk to their children who, it seemed were loving the snow.

Sparrow and David had been put in adjacent rooms which turned out to be convenient. It allowed him to get to her quickly whenever she had one of her fiery nightmares. As soon as he reached her side the nightmare would subside and she would usually fall back into a peaceful sleep without ever waking up. She would wake up the next morning unaware of the nightmare or David's presence during the previous night. In the last week those nightmares had become much fewer, rarely happening more than once in a night.

The fourth night after the second storm front came through turned out to be particularly rough for Sparrow. Shortly after midnight the nightmare took hold stronger and faster than normal. David rushed into her room but this time the pain and horror in the nightmare continued to build. Then she cried out as she woke up shivering violently in David's arms.

Seconds later Peter and Cherry appeared at the door and Cherry spoke, her voice full of concern. "Is Sparrow OK?"

David glanced down at the still crying girl in his arms. "I don't know. I haven't seen it this severe since that first day she woke up in the brownstone." He looked back down at her shivering body. "It's OK Sparrow, I'm here. You're safe."

Katy and Matt, dressed in their bath robes, approached and Matt inquired, "We heard Michelle, ah Sparrow cry out. Did she have another one of her nightmares?" Katy added. "I thought they had gone away since David got here."

Peter replied quietly. "No, they haven't gone away but, up 'til now, they have been fewer and less severe and David could usually soothe them away before they woke her up."

Sparrows tremors were easing up as she regained control of herself. David eased up a bit on his hold on her as he felt her emotions calm down and her shivering abate. "Sparrow, are you OK? What happened?"

"It was that same nightmare. I heard the screams all around me but this time I heard myself crying out for someone named . . . Terry. I was in a panic looking for someone." She looked up confused. "I think it was a baby that I was looking for." She paused as she clutched at David almost convulsively. "I looked up and there was a demon, laughing at me as I was burning. Then the demon changed into an even more evil man that I seemed to recognize." She shook her head. "But I don't know who he is." She shivered as she put her arms around him. "Please hold me tighter."

"I'm here, Sparrow." He reassured her as he tightened his embrace. "I will always be here for you."

Then, with a sigh, she relaxed in his embrace as the remnants of the nightmare seemed to drain out of her. Finally she looked up into David's eyes. "But what does it mean? Who was that evil man and who is Terry?"

David shook his head. "I don't know all the answers." He paused weighing what he should say. "When I first brought you to our home, the doctor told us that you had already given birth to at least one child." He kissed her forehead. "Maybe the case files that Grandmother kept can explain the rest. We can call her in the morning and ask."

Peter commented quietly to the other's standing at the door. "I think David's got things under control. I'm going back to bed." He and Cherry headed back to their room and, nodding in agreement, Matt and Katy returned to their room.

When David started to get up Sparrow clutched his arm. "Please, don't go, David. Stay with me."

There was such need in her that he couldn't refuse. David put his arms back around her and settled himself more comfortably. She soon fell back asleep but she had her head on his chest and his sleeve tightly gripped in her right hand so he couldn't leave her bed without awaking her. He ended up spending the night sleeping in her room with her wrapped in his arms.

~ x x x x x ~

Sparrow awoke that morning still wrapped in the arms of a sleeping David. She lay there savoring the feeling of lying in his arms until he finally woke up. "Good morning Sparrow." He smiled at her then turned just a bit redder.

She glanced down shyly, also blushing a bit. "Uh, thank-you for being there for me last night."

David nodded. "Anytime."

They awkwardly disengaged and David made his way to his room to get ready for the day. When they got downstairs Sparrow felt just a bit embarrassed, thinking they all knew that she and David had slept together but no one showed any sign of having noticed and she finally relaxed.

Halfway through the morning David and Sparrow put in a call to Elizabeth and talked to her about last night's nightmare. After a short discussion about how much Sparrow did and did not want to know, Elizabeth told her that she had lost her child, named Terry, in the same fire that had burned her. Elizabeth also told her that the fire had been caused by a family member that died several days later. Sparrow thanked her for the information.

~ o ~

After Elizabeth got off the phone with Sparrow and David, she pulled out the case files she had on Sparrow and went through them to see if there were any more clues to what had happened to her. One thing she got from the files was the name of the detective that had run the original investigation back in Nebraska. She put in a call to him and talked to him for over an hour about the three related cases while taking down any additional details that he could remember. During the several years she spent working with her mother-in-law and father at the DA office, Elizabeth had learned that she could get a lot more information by simply supplying a sympathetic ear than she could by intensive questioning.

The detective told her that Michelle did not have any tattoos back when he investigated her case but he remembered that she did have a roughly bird shaped birthmark on her left forearm. He also told her that Michelle had an older brother, named Tony, that left home less than a month after Michelle disappeared. She had no living relatives other than her father, mother and older brother. They had been such a picture perfect family when the children were young. He told Elizabeth how neighbors remembered seeing them at the church socials. He had learned from a classmate that Michelle's mother often called her 'Little Sparrow' after that children's book that Michelle loved and because of the bird shaped birthmark. Church friends reported that the father had always been very strongly religious but he loved his kids. He had supposedly changed for the worse when the scandal about his daughter's pregnancy first broke. His treatment of his daughter soon became a bigger scandal than her pregnancy. Then he just seemed to have gone off the deep end when his brother was killed by the police, blaming it all on Michelle. Michelle's mother had been unable to handle the disintegration of her husband and ended up leaving him. Shortly after that the father sold off everything he owned and had gone off to join some wacko religious group somewhere in New Mexico. The detective said that he had no idea what became of the mother and brother.

After over an hour of talking to Elizabeth about the case, the detective asked her why she was so interested in a seven year old closed case. Elizabeth responded that there was a possibility that Michelle was currently in New York. That was all that the detective could get out of her. She did talk the detective into promising to let her know if any more information should turn up on the case.

The next day Elizabeth started an online search for any information about Michelle's mother and brother. She wasn't sure what she would do if she found them but she wanted to, at least, find out what happened to them.

~ o ~

At lunch Katy noticed how quiet Sparrow was and as they sat around the fireplace. She reached out to touch Sparrow's hand sympathetically as she commented. "You seem unusually somber Sparrow; are you feeling OK?"

Sparrow looked up at her and nodded. "I'm feeling just a little bit melancholy is all . . . I just found out that I had a baby that died in the same fire that got me." She took a deep sigh of a breath. "I'll be OK." She leaned into David drawing comfort from the contact.

~ x x x x x ~

After nearly a week the jet stream shifted northward and the stalled out warm front finally moved north. The snow began to melt; turning to slush and mud and creating a greater mess than before. The sheriff's department was flooded with calls for help from people that had braved the deteriorating conditions and got themselves hopelessly mired in the slush and mud. There were also calls from a few people that were threatened by the rising water in a couple of the low-lying areas.

Peter and David both offered to help if they could figure out a way to do it safely. Matt and Katy managed to dig up a large hooded parka and two wool mufflers to cover the bottom half of their faces. Chastity was able to come up with a second parka and two pairs of heavy duty work gloves. They split into two teams in order handle more calls. Chastity teamed with David and Matt teamed with Peter. The sheriff's office line was rerouted to the bed and breakfast and Clarissa took the calls while Katy acted as dispatcher. Two other locals with snow tires on their four wheel drive trucks also pitched in to help in the emergency. Doctor Peterson offered to help treat the injured and sick so he was dropped off at the school where the refugees and those needing help were being taken.

A few hours later, Katy reported that Henry Jones had called for help. "He apparently went out to check both of his storage sheds to see if the there had been any damage from the snows. He slid off the road six miles out on FM-1630 and his camper got mired in the mud."

"That area is a flood plain in the middle of nowhere and we're the closest." Chastity commented then she glanced worriedly at David. "David, that is my brother and the one that shot you . . . are you OK with this?"

David smiled warmly at her. "No problem . . . as long as he doesn't take another potshot at me while I'm helping."

Chastity nodded and changed direction while reporting in that she was responding to the call from Henry. She pushed the snow cat as fast as it could go. "I've lived here all my life and I've known that area go from nothing to five feet of water in thirty minutes when the heavy snows melt too quickly." She remarked in explanation. David merely nodded his understanding as she guided the snow cat to their destination.

When they reached the location the water and mud in the wide ditch was up to the camper's doors and was flowing at a respectable rate. The road was about four feet above the surrounding terrain and five feet above the drainage ditch. After a quick assessment of the situation David suggested a plan of action. "If that water rises much more it will sweep that camper away. The track cat will get mired if you take it down there so we need to get a cable on that camper and drag him out of there from up here. I'm a lot heavier and stronger than you so I'm less likely to get swept away. I'll take the cable."

She knew that he was right. "OK." She laid her hand on his forearm as he opened the door. "That water's already pretty deep and swift so you be careful."

Chastity released the clutch on the tow cable and David slogged his way down to the camper with the cable. As he worked his way down the muddy slope his feet went out from under him and he slid the rest of the way down into the water. He had difficulty getting back on his feet in the fast moving water and slipped down again. Once he got to the camper he had to reach into the water underneath the camper to find a frame member to hook the cable onto. Finally after a thorough soaking he got the cable secured.

He worked his way around to the door and knocked on the fog covered window. "You need to get up there to the snow cat where you will be safe." He called out.

Henry got out of the camper and David helped him make his way over to the cable. "Hold on to the cable until you make it up to the road."

Henry got a firm grip on the cable then looked up for the first time at his rescuer. He let go of the cable as he gasped in surprise and fear. David sensed Henry's reaction and realized that his muffler had slipped but he didn't have time to do more than catch Henry and get his hands back onto the cable and give him a firm shove up the cable toward the snow cat. "Get moving. Your sister's waiting in the cat for you." Then he turned his back on Henry and made his way back to the door of the camper while Henry, spurred on by his fear, scrambled along the cable as fast as he could manage. David put the camper in neutral and got the front wheels straightened out then signaled for Chastity to start pulling.

Henry scrambled into the front passenger seat of the snow cat, his eyes wide with his fear. "Chaz! Chaz, that's it! That's the Bigfoot." He was out of breath and babbling. "He's back and he's after me."

Chastity shook her head. "Calm down, Henry. Nobody is after you. Now strap in." She saw David's signal. "Here we go." She started slowly backing the snow cat up and the camper began to move. Slowly, steadily the camper moved up the slope as Chastity concentrated on keeping an even tension on the cable. Too much tension or a sudden change and the cable could snap causing all kinds of problems.

"You don't understand, Chas, that's the Bigfoot I shot." Henry exclamed excitedly.

Chastity continued concentrating on what she was doing as she responded. "Yes, Henry, I know and his mother's a bit put out with you for shooting her son. Now zip it! I need to pay attention to what I'm doing."

Finally after several minutes they got the camper up onto the road and David guided it to a wide spot on the shoulder of the road. He brought the camper to a stop well away from the road and turned on the flashers then he closed up the camper and disconnected the cable. Chastity began reeling in the tow cable as David followed it back to the snow cat.

"It's coming this way." Henry announced fearfully.

Chastity turned toward her brother in exasperation. "His name is David and he just saved both your worthless ass and that piece of junk you call a camper so behave yourself or I'll personally throw you back in that gully and leave you there."

Henry stared back at his sister in stunned surprise. "But . . ."

"I said zip it!" She cut him off.

David opened the door and climbed into the back of the snow cat. The atmosphere was thick with complex emotions coming from both of the other occupants. "The camper should be safe until we can get a tow truck out here." He told them.

Chastity acknowledged David's remarks and added her report. "While you were out there we got in three more reports of houses endangered by the melting snow."

David glanced over at Henry who was staring, wide eyed, back at him. "We need to drop your brother . . ."

They were interrupted by a female voice on the radio announcing that she had just found the Silver Creek Road completely washed out past the hi-way. All three of them glanced at the radio in surprise.

Henry remarked. "That's near my house."

Chastity remarked. "We're cut off from Henry's house now."

David remarked. "That voice sounded like Mother."

Chastity glanced at David. "Your mother?"

David shook his head. "It sounded like her." He shrugged then turned his attention to Chastity. "It looks like we will have to drop your brother off at Katy's place for now since its closest."

Chastity nodded, swung the snow cat around and gunned it.

~ o ~

Chastity, Henry and David entered the common room of the Bed and Breakfast. Chastity guided her brother over to the dining room table next to the fire. David removed most of his soaked outer clothes and hung them by the fire. At the same time he glanced around. "Where's Mother?"

Katy looked up. "Cherry found that old broken down snow cat we had in the storage shed out back. It took her less than two hours to get it repaired and running again. When she said that she was going to take it out to help the others I told her it was too dangerous." Katy shook her head. "She said that if she could manage to drive a taxi in New York for twenty-five years then she could handle a little bit of snow."

Clarissa spoke up. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Phillip went with her."

David nodded. "That sounds like Mom alright." He let out with a short snort of a laugh. "If it's mobile then she can fix it and drive it." He turned toward the stairs. "I'm going upstairs to change into some dry clothes then Chaz and I will be going back out."

During this entire exchange Henry had stared at David and the other's in the room in confusion. No one seemed to even be aware of the fact that he was not even human. Katy and Clarissa were too busy on the phone and radio but another girl that had identified herself as Cathy kept staring at Henry.

After a while Catherine finally spoke. "So you're the one that shot my brother."

~ o ~

Late that evening the rescuers returned to the bed and breakfast, exhausted but satisfied with the results of their efforts. As they sat around the table eating a late dinner and discussing their exploits, Henry sat in the corner watching the whole thing with a mixture of amazement and uncertainty. It was so late and conditions were so treacherous that Chastity decided to stay the night at the bed and breakfast.

The next morning Chastity told her brother that he could stay with her for a few days until the high water had receded and took him home.

That evening Sally got a call from her husband reporting that he had arrived safely back in New York and picked up the children from their grandparents. He also reported that he had brought Matt and Katy's kids home as well to give the grandparents a respite.

By the day after that the high water crisis seemed to be over.