The ‘den’ Triplets
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2011 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 23

The Chickens Strike

Everyone was ready for the start of the day, so to speak.  Police cruisers were constantly passing the house,  It felt eerie knowing that they were watching our house, but at the same time, I knew my four guys would be safer.

When I arrived at my office.  Mrs. Stocker was already seated in my office.  Jacob shrugged his shoulders, “She just made herself at home.”

I walked into the office, “Good morning, Mrs. Stocker.”

“Good morning to you, Mr. Naylor.  There is no time to pussyfoot around.  I simply want a divorce from Reverend Stocker and I’m not asking for anything in a settlement.  I want it made clear that I had nothing to do with the financial predicament that the church now finds itself in.”

“Mrs. Stocker, you certainly know what you want.  I do have a question for you?”

“Ask it?”

“Does Mr. Stocker know that you have a personal nest egg?”

“No.  The only other person besides you who has any knowledge about my nest egg, that I know of, is Jacob.  Why?”

I pointed my pencil at her, “Mrs. Stocker, think about your husband’s past record.  The fact that two thugs thought I was Jacob last night and wanted me to pay Mr. Stocker's gambling debt proves that he owes a significant amount.  If the persons to whom your husband, soon to be ex-husband, owed money were desperate enough to try forcefully to get money from me, then what would they do if they knew that you had funds.  We need to get this divorce suit filed as soon as possible.  We also need to file a statement immediately to inform everyone that you will not be responsible for any of Mr. Stocker’s debts.  I am also going to do the paperwork to announce that Jacob is not responsible for the Reverend Stocker’s debts.”

Mrs. Stocker laughed, “Okay, I get what you’re telling me to do.  I’ll hide all of my fake jewelry and go to the second hand store and buy me some frumpy clothes so people will think that I’m in need of financial help.”

“That’s a good idea, and I think you had better start riding a bicycle like Mary Poppins.” 

Mrs. Stocker started to laugh, “I’m okay with that; as long as you can find one that will fly.”

After Mrs. Stocker left, there was a lull.  I called the office at Christ the King Church and asked for the phone number for Mrs. Denton, the treasurer.  The secretary, who obviously knew I was, gave me the number without any questions.

I called the number, “This is the Denton residence.”

“This is Mike Naylor.  May I speak to Mrs. Denton, please.”

“This is Mrs. Denton.”

“Mrs. Denton, could you make copies of all of the checks that Reverend Stocker signed in the past two years?”

“Mr. Naylor, I have been going through the bank statements from the past three years.  I’m relatively new in this position, but Reverend Stocker had been writing a check to the Fairway Company once a month for maintenance fees, for the past three years.  Those are the only checks that I don’t have a bill or a receipt for.  I assumed that there was some sort of maintenance agreement that had been signed prior to my taking the treasurer’s position.”

“Mrs. Denton, please make three copies of each of those checks - one for the church, one for me to write annotations on and one to present in court if necessary.”

“I’ll bring two copies to you as soon as I can go to the church and make copies for you.”

“Thanks, see you when you get to my office.”

That was the start of a busy morning.  Everyone wanted everything done now.  It did make the morning fly by.  I walked into the outer office and Gloria was sitting there,  She looked at me and grinned, “Go ahead and leave me to the wolves.  I figured it was the least I could do, so Jacob could get some lunch and spend time with his daughters.  How come you never sent me to Las Vegas like you have David and Jeff?  You do realize that they’ll be ruined for life when they return.”

“Gloria, me thinks that you speak with forked tongue.  Let’s withhold judgment until they return.  I’ll be back in an hour and fifteen minutes if not before.”

As I was pulling into the driveway, I was approached by two boys who looked to be about eight or nine.  The older boy asked, “Sir, do you have some money so that we can get something to eat,  We haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday.  We’re pretty cold and dirty.  We slept in a cardboard box last night.”

The younger of the two boys was actually shaking because he was so cold.

“Guys, I don’t have any money, but there is plenty of food inside and it’s warmer than standing out here..  I’m sure my three sons will share their food with you.”

I opened the door, “Nurse Todd, I’ve brought you some more little boys to operate on.  I suggest we fix them some tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich for starters.  Guys, come meet my three sons and their nurse, but I think you should tell me you names so I can introduce you.”

The older boy answered, “I’m Billy Barns and he’s my brother  Bobby Barns.”

I showed them where the bathroom was and was feeding Kaden in between fixing the new boys’ soup and sandwiches.  The triplets were fine, but the two  Barnes boys must not have eaten for longer than they had said.

I whispered to Todd, see how much information you can get from the two boys.  We need to report their presence to      Children’s Protection Agency.  I‘m also going to call Sheriff Patrick to see if there are any reports of missing boys that match the boys description. ”

I hugged Todd, the three triplets and the two boys, “I'll see you all about dinner time.  I’ll try not to be late tonight.  Hopefully the money collectors won’t try to make me pay money I don’t owe, again.”

Billy asked, “Why do they want you to pay them money?”

“Billy, I’ll talk to you and Bobby when I get home tonight.  We’ll have to see about getting you some new clothes tonight.  You can’t wear the same clothes every day.”

When I arrived at the office, Jacob was sitting at the reception desk and Gloria was working at Jeff’s desk.  Mr. Rod Luther and Mr. Ned Small were sitting in the reception area waiting for my return..  I didn’t remember them having an appointment.  The weird part was that they weren’t seated beside each other and they weren’t talking.

I decided to get right to the bottom of what was up, so I invited them to come into my office.  When they sat down on the sofa they were definitely sitting beside each other.  “Let me guess!  Mr. Luther, I take it that you’re no longer going to be filing a sexual harassment suit against Mr. Small?”

I looked at Mr. Small, “I take it that you haven’t fired Mr. Luther yet?  What is it that you two gentlemen need to talk with me about?”

Mr. Small grinned, “We want you to prepare the paperwork incorporating my company and changing the name to Small and Associates.  I’ll be the CEO and Rod is going be the president.”

I must have had a funny look on my face.  Rod Luther chuckled, “If you're wondering, we’ve already taken care of the increase in my pay package.  I moved in with Ned and he has promised to pamper me any way I would like.”

“Don’t worry Mr. Naylor I’ll only pamper him enough to keep him satisfied.  The other reason we’re here is to invite you and your partner to a Getting Together Party at the house on Saturday at 8:00 until whenever.”

“Thanks for the invite, guys.  We have triplets sons who are only three months old.  We’ll need to find a reliable babysitter.  To compound the problem, two stray boys wound up at our house over lunch.  We know that their names are Billy and Bobby Barns and that’s about all we know, so far.  I need to call Sheriff Patrick and see if he has any reports of two missing boys.  I also need to call the Children’s Protection Agency and inform them of what’s happening.”

Mr. Small was shaking his head, “You’re going to be one busy beaver.  I understand that you’re handing the Christ the King Church case against Reverend Stocker.  I used to be on the ruling board, but I resigned because I couldn’t stand Stocker’s attitude that he was the clergy, so he was in charge.  We’ve got to go.  Call us and let us know about Saturday evening.”

The afternoon was going smoothly and I was standing in the office telling Gloria and Jacob about how Billy and Bobby were at the house. 

I called Sheriff Patrick and told him what had happened.  He informed me that he would check to see if anyone fitting Billy’s and Bobby’s descriptions had been reported missing.

I called the Children’s Protection Agency and talked to a Mr. Gene Sunday.  After I told Mr. Sunday what had happened, he took a deep breath, “Mr. Naylor, could you possibly keep the two boys at your house for the night.  For some reason, we have been inundated with placing children today and we’re running out of foster homes.”

“Of course we’ll be glad to keep the two boys.”

“I hate to ask this, but could I come to your house and talk to the boys this evening, say at about seven thirty?”

“That's fine with me, sir.  We’ll be looking forward to talking to you.”

Sheriff Patrick called, “Mike, there are no reports of any boys about the ages that you said the Barnes boys were.  Might I come to the house tonight with one of my detectives and talk to them?”

“Pat, Gene Sunday from CPS is coming to the house to talk to us and the boys at seven thirty.”

“Gene’s a good guy.  He’ll do well by the boys.  See you at seven thirty.”

At five o’clock, Jacob came into the office, “Boss, David and Jeff  called and they just landed and KCI.  They’re going to grab something to eat and will be at your house to brief you on their findings in Las Vegas.  David seemed to think that you might be pleased with their findings.”

“Thanks for the good news, Jacob.  Get along home and take care of your family.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

When I arrived at the house, mother’s car was already there.  ‘Why is she so early tonight?  I know I’m not late like I was last night.’

I walked in through the garage door to the laundry area.  I walked into the kitchen and Billy was feeding Kaden, “Hi Mister, tell Kaden to slow down.  He’s going to barf if he keeps eating this fast.”

“Good evening Billy, where are Mr. Todd and my mother?

“They’re checking on Bobby; he doesn’t feel very good.”

Mother and Todd came into the kitchen.  Mother was talking, “Todd, I think that Bobby has the chicken pox.  The damage has already been done and the triplets have been exposed.  It’s probably better for them to have the disease now.  Hi Mike, I don’t suppose you have any calamine lotion here.  You need to take Bobby and give him a warm bath so that his body is clean before any of the pox become infected.  I’m going to get some clothes for Billy and Bobby while you’re doing that.  Bobby, come on let’s get rolling.”

“But Mister’s Mommy, I gotta stay and help take care of Aiden, Jaden and Kaden while Mr. Todd finishes fixing dinner.”

“Okay Billy, but I might get you some things that might not like.”

“Nah, Bobby and me will like anything.”

I went to the living room where Bobby was lying on the sofa and his teeth were chattering.  He looked at me, “Mister, I’m really cold.  Can you get me something to make me warm.  Your Mommy said I had a temperment of 101.”

I picked Bobby up and he felt like he was on fire.  ‘Why am I giving him a warm bath when he already has a temperature?  I’ll have to ask Mother about this when she gets back.’

I fixed the bath water so it was a little warm and put Bobby in the tub.  He looked so skinny and feeble.  He didn’t complain even when I shampooed his hair.  He looked up at me, “Mister, the water is pretty dirty.  I don’t feel so cold anymore.  Can you get some clean water so I can stop the itching?”

 

“Bobby, I’m going to turn on the shower and all the itches will go down the drain but first I need to get undressed so I don’t ruin my clothes.”

I stripped to my briefs and crawled into the tub with him and turned on the shower.  “Mister, why didn’t you take your underpants off?”

“Bobby, people would think it was bad if I was in the tub without any clothes on.”

“Why would they think it was bad?”

“Bobby, I’ll explain later.  Let’s get your body really clean before my mother gets back with some clean clothes and some medicine to stop your itching.”

I had just gotten Bobby out of the shower when Billy brought a bag with some clothes and a bottle of calamine lotion, “Mister. your Mommy said you should put some of this pink stuff on Bobby so he won’t itch.  Mister, why are you all wet and where are your other clothes?”

Bobby answered, “He took them off so they wouldn’t get wet.  Mister says that people would think that it was bad if he was in the shower with me without his underpants on.  That seems so silly.  Mister, can you put that pink stuff on me?  There are more spots and they’re starting to itch.”

I knelt down and started to apply calamine to Bobby’s torso, “Billy, go tell the masters that we’ll be there shortly.”

I had Bobby dressed.  Thank goodness for Mom.  She had gotten some flannel pajamas and a fleece bath robe and slipper socks for the boys as well as clean underwear.  When I had Bobby dressed, he followed me into Todd’s and my bathroom.  He watched as I took off my wet briefs and dried my body.  I put on clean briefs and a sweat suit with a mock turtle neck sweater and some casual shoes.

I looked at Bobby, “We’d better go, or the others will get angry with us for making them wait to eat.”

“Mister, I’m not really hungry.”

“Bobby, you have to eat something.  You’re already too skinny.  Eat only as much as you want.  We need to make you big and strong.”

Bobby took my hand, “Does that mean that I’ll get big all over, like you?”

I chose not to respond to Bobby’s comment.  We were just about to the landing when the doorbell rang.  I looked at my watch and it was only six thirty.  This was an ominous sign for what the night had in store. 

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:

Ok, I know for sure that E Walk has a bad case of AAKD. 

Bobby and Billy seem to be pretty trusting children. I take it from that that they haven't been badly abused, or they would have been a lot less trusting of people.  Where did they come from, and who are they?  Did they run away, or did the get dropped off? 

Chicken Pox is something that shouldn't be taken lightly.  When I was growing up, almost everyone got chicken Pox, measles, of both kinds Mumps and several other pretty serious diseases, at one time or another.

Most of the childhood ailments are things of the past, for the most part, now days. Unfortunately, since they are far less common, people don't bother to do the things that used to be common place, namely make sure that children are vaccinated properly, to prevent their getting ill.

It is not just children from third world countries that fall victim to these things, many young children are infected, and can infect other children with whom they come in contact.

I hope we will get the next chapter soon.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher 

Posted: 03/18/11