Love Refound
by: E Walk
(© 2008 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 22
The  Rescue Teams

I was awakened on Tuesday morning by the ringing of an obnoxious bell sounding.  I looked at the clock and it was already eight o’clock, so I decided they there will be no exercising today.  I shut the alarm off but the bell kept sounding.  I looked at the phone and it wasn’t ringing.  I realized that someone was ringing from the entrance to the apartment complex.  I pushed the speaker button, “This is Doug, what can I do for you?” 

“Doug, it’s Austin and Derek.  Can we come up?  Turn on your television while you beam us aboard.”

I pushed the button to allow them entry into the building and turned the television on to the station I was watching last evening when I saw Trent, Cole and Trevor.  The newscaster was saying, “This is Rick Caster.  The station has sent me back to the Harwood area and you will not believe what we’re seeing.  The damage is even more horrendous than what we could see in the waning hours of the dusk last evening.”

“There were two farms that were severely damaged.  The first was owned by the Morrisons.  They were away from their residence at the time the storms hit.  As we speak, it looks as if  there are more than twenty people scouring through the remnants that remain,  Oh, I see one of the Nixon boys who was so helpful last night.”

“Mr. Nixon, I believe it’s Trevor if I remember correctly.”

“Hi Mr. Caster.  I’m surprised to see you back.”

“I thought you would be in school today.

“School was cancelled, so we called our friends and neighbors to see if we could help the Morrisons and the Laceys find any of their belongings.  Trent and Cole are at the Lacey’s place with another team.  So far we’ve been unable to find anything here at the Morrison’s place.  We’ve been here since about 7:00.”

Mr. Caster approached Mr. Morrison, “Sir, I know that this sounds crass, but what are you going to do now that it looks as if you have lost everything?”

“Mr. Caster, my wife and I were just talking about that.  We were living in New York City when the incident on 9/11 happened.  I gave up a lucrative position to move here to where we thought we would be safe.  We will probably be moving back to New York City, since I still am part owner of the company where I worked.  Some people aren’t going to be happy, but that’s their problem.  Our family comes first.  We will be taking a big loss on this property because all that remains is the land.”

Mr. Caster looked at Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, “I guess you are saying that you’re very concerned about the well being of your two young sons whom we saw last night?”

Mrs. Morrison answered, “Mr. Caster, our two sons are much more important than a horse farm.  I don’t want to live in fear of something like this happening again.  Right now, the two boys are still at Fairacres where Miss Leonora and Mrs. Mitchell are taking care of them.”

I will say this for Mr. Caster.  He was thorough, but he wasn’t pushy.  “Thank you for talking to us Mr. and Mrs. Morrison.  There are many people out there praying for you as we speak.  We’re going to leave now and go see what’s happening at the Laceys’ spread.”

The news van pulled up in front of what had been the Laceys’ house.  Cole and Trent were throwing boards aside looking for anything.  Cole suddenly stopped, “Quiet everybody, I hear something.”

The camera man and Mr. Caster followed Cole.  Mr. Caster whispered, “Ladies and gentlemen, I can’t hear anything.  But it was Cole who heard the Laceys calling for help in the storm cellar last night.  So we’re going to follow him to see what happens.”

Derek, Austin and I watched as Cole moved to a wooded area.  He stopped and took off his shirt. Bent down and wrapped something up, “Trent, get your truck and bring it here!  There’s an infant who has been abandoned.”

A split screen showed Trent running toward his truck and Cole  holding the small infant as if it was a glass ornament.  When Trent pulled his truck up to where Cole was holding the young infant, Cole carefully climbed in.  The two boys took off and Mr. Caster announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, there go two of America’s finest.  I’m sorry, but I need to sign off so the station can resume it’s normal broadcast schedule.”

We were to find out later that the station took a lot of heat for the decision to resume the normal broadcast schedule. 

I was in the shower when the phone rang, Austin answered it, “Doug, Autumn is on the phone.”

I wrapped a towel around my midsection and went to take the call, “Hi, Autumn, we were just watching the television and saw Cole and Trent finding a very young infant.”  

“Yep, they just stopped by with Benji.  They got a blanket to wrap him in so they could take him to the hospital to be checked out.  I’m sorry that our call got cut short last night, but the line just went dead and we were without power for seven hours.”

“I realized what happened after Jeff called me and told me that the same thing had happened to him when he was talking to Trevor.  Jeff  told me to turn on the television to watch what was happening in the Harwood area.  Cole, Trent and Trevor are going to be famous after they have been on television these two days.  I hoped someone videotaped the scenes of the guys in action.”

“Doug, what happened last night was very scary.  It’s a miracle that we didn’t suffer any damage at all as far we can tell.  The appraiser is due to arrive this afternoon.  Spring is going to stay home today, but I need to go to school do some work.”

“I need to go turn in my grades, and then I’m going to drive down and see for myself how much damage was done.  I’ll see you at Summerhill when you get home.”

After I hung up, I turned to Austin, “So, how did your meeting with the Dean go yesterday?”

“That was the main reason for coming here today.  I need to get with you and talk about the classes you’ve been teaching.  I’m going to initially be teaching only the undergraduate courses that you taught.  When will you be returning from Summerhill?”

I’ll probably come back tonight, since I need to get my things out of the office so you can move in.  Why don’t we plan to get together tomorrow at ten?”

Austin nodded, “We’ll meet you at your office at ten and we can help you get your things packed.  Have they rented your apartment yet?”

“I don’t think so, or not that I know of.”

Derek grinned, “If we can rent the apartment, would you be amenable to selling us the contents other than your personal items, so we can just move in as soon as you move out?”

I started to laugh, “Guys, we need to take this one step at a time.  Why don’t you guys check with the apartment manager as to the availability of the apartment while I get dressed and take my grades and turn them in.  Why don’t you meet me here at noon.  In fact, if you’re not doing anything, why don’t you go to Summerhill with me and we can discuss everything as we drive.   We can also see if there is anything we can do to help the people there?”

Austin and Derek were waiting for me when I got back to the apartment complex shortly before noon.  I had the makings for sandwiches in the apartment.  We ate a quick lunch and it was about 12:30 when we started for Summerhill.

The guys did get the apartment, but we decided to wait until we talked to Spring and Autumn to see what, if anything, would be needed for Summerhill.

As we passed by what had been the Lacey’s farm, we saw a group of people going through the rubbish that was there.  Trent, Trevor and Cole were among them.  We stopped and I approached the guys, “Hi guys, is there anything that we can do to help?”

An older gentleman whom I didn’t know answered before the guys could, “Thank you for offering sir, but I was going to tell the people that we might as well give up.  Everything of importance is gone.  I went over to the gentleman, “Mr. Lacey, I’m sorry for your losses.  I’m Doug Christiansen.”

“Oh, so you the young man who’s going to marry Miss Autumn.  It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Mr. Lacey, are you planning to rebuild?”

“Doug, at this point, I feel as if I just want the bank to foreclose so we can move away from here.”

“Mr. Lacey, are you still staying at my Uncle Howie’s place?”

“Young man, how did you know where we were staying?”

“I was watching on TV last night when it showed Trent and Cole taking you and your family to Uncle Howie’s place.  I also was watching this morning when Cole found the infant.  Cole, how’s Benji?”

Cole looked surprised, “How did you know your son’s name was Benji?  We didn’t name him that until after we left here this morning.”

“What do you mean by my son?”

All eyes were on Trent, Cole and me.  Cole answered, “We weren’t going to have the little boy called Baby Doe at the hospital.  Trent decided we should name him Benjamin.  We couldn’t very well call him Benji Weaver because my grandparents are too old to be taking care of a child.  Trent nixed the idea of Nixon because his Mother is too busy with the horses.  So we settled on Benjamin Christiansen since you and Miss Autumn are going to be getting married before too long. So that‘s how he is registered at the hospital where they’re making sure he’s okay.”

“Does Autumn know what you did?
 

Trent answered, “She only knows that we called him Benji.  We didn’t decide on the Christiansen part until just before we got to the hospital.”

Austin was laughing, “I hope you didn’t give him a long middle name too, like Bartholomew, or the poor kid will still be learning to spell his name when he starts college.”

Trent shook his head, “It’s not quite that long.  His middle name is Willingham.”

Derek frowned, “I realize that was Doug’s Mother’s maiden name, but why didn’t you call him Benjamin Summers Christiansen for Autumn‘s maiden name?”

Cole answered, “We thought about doing that, but decided against it. Too many people are too lazy to call people by their full name and are prone to use initials.  We didn’t like the connotations that could be associated with B.S.”

Everyone, even Mr. Lacey, was laughing.

Mr. Lacey turned to the people who were assembled, “People, we truly appreciate the effort you made to help us.  I think we might as well suspend the search for anything of value.  Thanks for coming to help us.”

When we arrived at Summerhill, a gentleman was standing talking to Spring.  When Spring saw us, she smiled, “Hi guys, you’re just in time to meet Mr. Wiser.”

After the introductions, Spring explained, “He was just explaining his appraisal for the land and the buildings.  He will be sending an associate to do an evaluation of the live stock and equipment later this afternoon.”

Mr. Wiser nodded, “Mr. Christiansen, this is going to be a very valuable property someday.  There have been housing developers looking into the area around here.  They will be scared away by what happened last night to the Morrison and Lacey farms, but it is only a matter of time before they try to move in.  Why don’t we plan to meet with you here tomorrow afternoon about 4:30 with our formal appraisals?”

“I can be here, Mr. Wiser.  Sir, is there anyway that you could also have an appraisal of the Morris and Lacey spreads ready at the same time?”

Mr. Wiser looked confused, “Young man, you must have something in mind.  That should be easy since all that remains is the land.  I’ll be glad to have a formal appraisal ready for the two properties as well.”

Mr. Wiser was pulling away when Trent and Cole pulled up in Trent’s truck.  Cole yelled, “Mr. C., we’re going to go see how your kid is doing.  Do you want to go with us?”

I turned to Austin and Derek, “Guys, explain to Spring what’s happening.  Spring, call Uncle Howie and ask him, Mr. Nixon, and the Laceys to be here at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon and then call Ms. Lenora and the Morrisons and ask that they be here as well.”

Autumn was pulling up as I was starting to climb into the truck.  I motioned for her to join us.  I explained what was happening as we were traveling.  The two guys in front were adding their comments as Trent was driving.  Autumn’s only comment was, “Gee, I don’t remember being pregnant.”

When we walked into the hospital, Cole went to the receptionist, “We’re here to see Mr. Benjamin Christiansen.”

The young woman looked at the files, “The only Christiansen we have is in the new born area.  Is that who you are looking for?”

“Yes, could you give us directions on how to get there, please?”

The receptionist looked at us funny, “It’s on the fourth floor.  The signs will direct you to the area.”

“Thank you, Miss.”

When we got to the nursery where the were they kept the new babies, the guys spotted Benji right away.  Cole pointed, “See, he’s the most beautiful baby in there.”

He got the attendant’s attention and was motioning that we wanted to hold Benji.  The attendant came to the door and opened it, “If you’re asking to hold the Christiansen baby, we were told to refer anyone who came to see Doctor Carson.  Let me see if she’s available.”

The attendant closed and locked the door and we could see her making a phone call.  Almost immediately a middle aged lady who obviously was a doctor appeared.  “I’d like to visit with you people in my office.  Please come with me.”

She took us into an office and as soon as we were seated, she started, “Why were the four of you here looking for Benji?  Are you related to him?”

Cole stood, “Ma’am, none of us are blood relatives to each other or to Benjamin Willingham Christiansen.  I am the person who found him in the wooded area this morning.  Trent is the person who drove us to the hospital and helped to name Benji.  Mr. Christiansen, who is going to be Benji’s Dad, is going to marry Ms Autumn in July.  I work for Mr. Christiansen and Ms Autumn so I’ll make sure that they do right by Benji.  How soon will we be able to take Benji home?   He needs to be with people who will love and take care of him.”

Doctor Carson started to laugh, “Young man, I know who the players are, kinda, but do you suppose you all could introduce yourselves since I know your some first and some last names.  I haven’t a clue who you are other than you were the person who found the baby.”

As we introduced ourselves, she had a question or comment for each of us.  “So, Mr. Cole Weaver, you say you’re the person who found the abandoned child.  I don’t suppose your grandparents just happen to own The Shack, do they?  I think I’ve seen you spilling food on the customers on several occasions.  Gotcha!”

“Trent Nixon, basketball player, who has trouble beating his little brother in equestrian events.”

“Doug Christiansen, the new man on campus at the Harwood Community College.”

“Autumn Summers, the school psychologist, who is part owner of Summerhill.  I’ll go get the infant in question, and you can start to bond with him immediately.”

She returned carrying a little bundle, “Mr. Christiansen, since you haven't seen your son before, you get the honors of holding him first.”

I can’t describe the feeling I was feeling as I was holding the tiny human being in my arms.  I just wanted to squeeze him and love him, but I just held him and marveled at how beautiful he was.  I handed Benji to Autumn and she looked at me and nodded.

She held him for a few minutes and handed him to Trent who started talking to him, “Look, kid, we’re going to get you on a horse as soon as you can walk so you can beat that brother of mine.”

When Trent handed Benji to Cole, something happened.  Benji tried to focus but was unable to.  It was as if he was snuggling to get closer to Cole,  Cole whispered, “Benji, pay no mind to these people, we’re going make you the best person you can be.  We’re going to take you back to the nursery since I need to get to work.  I’ll stop by and see you tomorrow after school, okay?”

Cole and Trent took Benji back to the nursery and Doctor Carson asked, “Is there anyway that the two of you could be here tomorrow at about two o’clock to meet with someone from the Child Welfare Services since Benji’s case is officially in their hands.  I just wish that Cole and Trent could be here also.”

I looked at Autumn, “I can be here, how about you?”

Autumn responded, “I’ll be here even if I have to use sick leave.”

The two sixteen year old guys returned and Cole looked at Doctor Carson, “Ma’am, would you please put us on the access roster so that we could be able to hold Benji for at least a little while, so he knows that he is important?”

Doctor Carson nodded, “I will make sure that the four of you can stop by and visit with the young man.  I would like to keep him here until at least Sunday.  I have a question for you though, “Would you like the young man circumcised while he is here. Both Cole and Trent answered vehemently, “No!”

When we dropped Cole off at The Shack, Trent yelled, “Call me when you're finished, and I’ll come pick you up so you can get your truck.”

Cole turned to us, “You mean Mr. C’s truck don’t you?  I’ll call you.”

I looked at Autumn and she obviously was wondering as I was, ‘What’s happening?’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: As I write these notes, it is about a half hour past midnight going into Sunday morning. I am totally blown away by what is happening here.  First of all, how could anyone simply abandon a tiny infant like that?  Where are his parents, and are they going to show up and try to regain custody of Benji?   What a terrible way to start a life, being left all alone in the woods. 

I certainly hope Autumn and Doug get to adopt the youngster. 

I am certain that the child doesn't belong to either of the families whose property was destroyed.  How far was the baby carried by the tornado?  Was his family killed in the storm?  So many questions and so few answers. This story has certainly taken on a bazaar twist.  That is not to say that it is a bad thing.

I really am proud of the newsman, Mister Caster.  He actually seemed genuinely interested in the well being of the people who's lives were shattered by the storm.  I apologize for my random ramblings here, but it is late and I want to get this chapter back to E Walk.    

I will just say that I am very ready for the next chapter and hope it won't take too long to get it.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 05/15/09