[Faith-talk] Chapter 5 of my Novil

[Poppa Bear]

Here is the longest chapter so far. Now things start to get out of the back
drop and start marching into the heart of things. If anybody is still
reading I hope you enjoy. Chapter 5

After the 3 oldest children headed out to school that morning Marvin took a
ten pan off of the wood stove, grabbed a large mug of black coffee and sat
it all down in front of where Luke was sitting. Luke gave a silent moment of
thanks and then started to eat a large slice of reindeer sausage with a
small mountain of canned hash. Just then, Janice, Marvin's cousin came
bursting through the front door. "Marvin you need to hurry! Will is going
crazy! He says he is going to kill Doreen and the baby!"

    Luke was on his feet in a split second and out the door. He didn't even
turn to see if Marvin followed. His mind was intent on nothing else but
getting to Doreen's home as fast as possible. As he stepped out of the house
he spotted Janis's four wheeler still running and leaped onto it. He kicked
it into gear, thumbed the throttle and darted off like a shot. He covered
the three miles in less than five minutes and whispered silent prayers for
Doreen and her child every second of the trip. He knew that Will, Doreen's
husband had a bad temper, and when the town was dry, without any bootleggers
to smuggle in any liquor that he would often go into a rage.

    When Luke came within 70 feet of the small house he slowed down the ATV.
He turned it off, climbed off the machine and slowly walked towards the
small house. He stopped about 40 feet from the door and positioned him self
to the side of the door, which was slightly a jar.

    There were no windows, so he was unable to see anything that was going
on inside. With the sound of his thundering heart and heavy breathing
slowing down from the quick ride, he started to make out the muffled sound
of someone crying. This had to be Doreen. "Thank you Lord, she is alive," he
thought to himself.

    He spoke towards the direction of the house, "Hey Will, it's me Luke!
What's going on, you feeling ok today?"

    "No I'm not feeling ok! This woman won't stop steeling all my drink!" "I
don't think she's steeling your drink Will! The town is dry! There hasn't
been anything here for weeks!"

    There was a moment of silence and then Will bellowed out, "Since you
came here and started sticking your nose in everyone's business it's always
dry now!" Luke didn't respond to this remark. It was true, since he had been
there it had been one of his goals to stop the illegal bootlegging of
alcohol into the village, but digressing into the reasoning of the goal with
a person who was in a rage, and a mad alcoholic would not be the most
prudent coarse to take right now.

    "Will, how are Doreen and Lizzy doing?" "It doesn't matter, because all
they want to do is hurt me, and I can't let them keep doing that!" "Well
buddy, why don't you just let me take them somewhere else for a while so
they don't bother you any more today?" "I can't let you do that! I am going
to finish it today!"

    Will's demons were working full time today and Luke knew that this was
an extremely bad situation. A quick prayer rushed from his lips, "Oh, Lord,
keep these girls safe, my hands are tied. Give me a little light here
Father, because I sure don't know what to do next! 

    He remembered that Will liked to hunt almost as much as he liked to
drink, so he was sure that Will had a fire arm at hand and judging by the
last statement he made, he was ready to use it. 

    Luke heard the sound of a four wheeler in the distance, but didn't take
his eyes off the door of the little house. The four wheeler approached with
Marvin driving and stopped next to the ATV Luke had ridden. Marvin glanced
down towards his own hunting rifle, but felt no compunction to grab it out
of its case. Marvin slowly got off the ATV, but just stood there on the
trail about 30 feet from Luke.

    Luke heard the voice of Marvin speak, "What is it Luke? Are they ok?"
Luke, believing that Will could hear them and was listening said, "Will aint
feeling very good today. I think that he could use a break from Doreen and
Lizzy."

    Luke didn't want to intensify the situation; he just wanted to get
Doreen and Lizzy out of the house. He didn't want Will to feel that the
ordeal was becoming too big, because often people in these ordeals could get
very nervous as the reality of there actions started to sink in, and they
would often panic, and the panic only aggravated the situation. A man
deprived of his drink, with an anger problem, and a collection of guns was
already terrible enough without adding any more gas to the fire. 

    Marvin started towards Luke. With every step, his heavy boots seemed to
echo 5 times over as they crunched into the hardened wind packed snow.
Standing right next to Luke now, in a low tone he said, "What's up Luke, Is
it one of his normal fits?" When Luke spoke, his voice was soft and his
Virginian accent was full of worry and sadness. "No Marvin, I think it's
really bad this time. I want you to be ready to ride home and call the
troopers if anything happens."

    Stebbins                   was a very small village and like many other
villages, had no local law enforcement. In the event of a problem the
troopers would be called, and fly into the town on a small twin engine
plane. It usually took them a few hours at best, and that was dependent on
the weather.

    Without warning they heard the loud shatter of glass inside the house,
then the shrill scream! The scream was that of the little girl Lizzy! Luke
rushed forward towards the door and two ominous shots rang out!

Anchorage Providence Hospital 2 days later. Marvin sat at the bed side of
Luke. A portion of Luke's thick dark hair had been shaved off above his left
ear in order to clean up and stitch the bullet wound that he had received in
the encounter with Will. He had not gained consciousness since he had been
shot 2 days earlier.

    He now lay between two crisp snow white hospital sheets with a thin
cotton blanket draped over his unconscious form.  His chest rose and fell
with a slow, but even rhythm that reminded Marvin of soldiers marching home
from a long battle. Luke was lost in a deep dream. The dream seemed very
strange to him. One thing that made it so Strange was that it didn't seem
like a dream, it felt like he was awake, conscious of everything taking
place.

    This was not the typical dream filled with short bursts of random
images, incoherent voices and scattered confusing scenes. This dream felt
somehow warm, like when he was a boy, and the warm lazy breeze use to sweep
down from the mountains, plodding through their small farm every spring like
an old familiar friend signaling the time for Luke's people to start
planting, it was a warmth with a purpose. This dream also had a sweetness
about it, if you could even describe a dream like that. It was teasingly
sweet, and put a taste in Luke's mouth that reminded him of the hot steaming
corn bread drenched in molasses that his mother faithfully sat before him
every morning as a little boy. 

    In the dream, He was standing in the middle of a wide deep valley
carpeted with grass. The grass was so green and so luscious that it seemed
to hum with life. The walls of the valley were blanketed with countless
varieties of wild flowers sending rich pungent waves of fragrances drifting
through the air.

    The azure blue sky proudly stretched out far and wide like a massive
royal canopy that was as clear as a new born baby's eyes. The sun was
conspicuously absent, but yet there was a beatific brightness, an amplified
clarity encompassing everything. It was as if within the carnival of amazing
colors, each hew dazzlingly jumped out, refusing to stand still, but
brilliantly and laughingly demanded attention.

    Luke couldn't see anyone else around him, but yet, it felt like he
wasn't alone. He thought he could even hear voices, but the voices weren't
distinct enough to make out any words. Then he didn't think he heard any
voices at all. It was more like he felt the voices whispering, laughing and
vibrating inside of him.

    The feelings began swelling up inside of him like a giant rushing
waterfall when he noticed two figures slowly descending from the high upper
ridge of the broad valley. With every step that closed the gap between Luke
and the two figures, the feeling of the voices became more delightful.

    The next thing he knew, it seemed like his eyes were about to fill with
tears, but instead of  tears spilling down his cheeks, the rushing waterfall
inside of him gave way and broke forth spilling over in joyful laughter.

  He began to be able to see the faces of the two figures. Something about
them looked familiar, and then, as if by a holy revelation, he knew. He knew
that he knew without a doubt who the two people were.  He stopped laughing
and just fell on his knees and started to say, "Thank you Lord!" over and
over.

    The two people were his biological mother and father. Even though he was
found as an orphan and had never seen his Parents he knew that these were
them.

    When he lifted his head up and looked into their faces he could tell
that they recognized him as well. Just the longing, joyous looks in their
eyes wiped away any fears, anger or doubts that he had ever had about them,
and he was consumed with a feeling of love and joy that he had never known.

    Though no sounds escaped their mouths, the loving looks that they
exchanged held a fathomless communication that was beyond mere words. This
unspoken language that was communicated without syllables, verbs or nouns,
that flowed between the three was more meaningful and intimate than anything
Luke had ever yet experienced.

    While they stood Gazing upon one another with growing feelings of
familiarity, love and affection, more and more people started to spill into
the wide valley, and as they did, Luke felt a growing since of wonder and
excitement pulsating threw his body and mind. It was if time had stood still
and yet moved on for a thousand years and with every second that past he
felt a perfect union, a oneness with not only his parents, but each soul in
the growing multitude.

 

    Suddenly he felt a hazy cloud start to descend over his thoughts. His
head started to swim and the delightful feelings quickly started to vanish
until they had departed without a trace of ever having been. Consciousness
returned like an unwelcomed robber, abruptly dragging away the blissful
dream without hesitation or remorse.

    His hearing became sharply aroused with the beeping and small clicking
noises from the medical equipment monitoring him. He became aware of a dim
light and attempted to open his eyes. The first thing he saw was a woman
leaning down over him. He was finally waking up. He tried to sit up but the
woman laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and laid him back.

    In a soothing voice she said, "Take it easy Mr. Foster. I am Doctor
Carry. You had an accident and were hospitalized. You seem to be ok, but you
are still going to need to rest."

    As she spoke, Luke's memory flashed back to the day of the incident and
it all started to come back to him. With the recollection of the event he
slowly asked, "What happened to Doreen and Lizzy?" "I do not know, but your
friend Marvin is right here and perhaps he can tell you. Like I said though,
you need to rest still and if you get upset or bothered I will have to ask
him to leave. Your brain has been bruised and is still a little swollen."

    She stepped away from his bedside a little, and started to write on her
clip board, but did not leave the room. Luke focused his eyes on Marvin and
quickly noticed how haggard he looked.

    "Hey buddy how long have you been sitting there?" "Since they first
brought you in. I flew in with the medics. Janis is taking care of the
kids."

 

    At the mention of Janis and the kids Luke gave a questioning look to
Marvin. Marvin grabbed Luke's hand and gave it a squeeze and said in a low
but emotionally filled voice, "Prays God Luke, I don't know what I would of
done if I would have lost her." Luke relaxed a little and then asked, "What
exactly happen? I don't remember everything?"

    Marvin's expression changed a little, revealing a shadow of pain. "There
was a sound of breaking glass in the house and you ran in. Will had kicked
over the dish tub and some of the broken glass cut Lizzy, so she screamed.
As soon as will herd your foot steps he fired out the door. Luckily you
weren't directly in front of the door or he would have shot you right
between the eyes Luke, you would have been dead Luke, thank God for his
mercy!"

    Marvin stopped and cleared his throat, attempting to stifle some of the
growing emotions as he recollected the incident. Marvin's thankfulness and
concern was genuine and it touched Luke.  Luke understood that the loss of
his wife was still a painful area for him and he struggled with it on a
daily bases. Luke also understood that premature and often unforeseen death
had taken much of Marvin's closest family over the years.

    Marvin only paused for a brief second to gather his emotions and then
continued. "Then after you were shot, Will turned the gun on himself and..."
Marvin didn't finish the sentence; he just gave a slow nod that told Luke
clearly enough what happened next.

    Before anymore words were exchanged the Doctor stepped forward and said,
"Ok, I need to check my patient out now, and I am sure that he will be
asleep soon because his two days of unconsciousness can't take the place of
a good rest. Mr. Wasuly, you may come back this evening to visit. Since our
patient is conscious now you don't have to be stuck at his bedside and you
can go get                   some sleep yourself. If he is up to it, you two
can have dinner together this evening. Right now I am going to take some
vitals and give him something to help him sleep."

    Marvin shot a concerned glance towards Luke and Luke said in his slow
Virginian draw, "I'm going to be ok partner. I think my marbles just got a
little rattled." That brought a small smile to Marvin's grave features.
Slowly standing up he said, Ok Doctor, I'll be back later tonight.

    Gathering his coat he said to Luke, "Luke you can reach me at the Co
buck Inn if you need anything. Janice sent up a few of your books and some
of your clothes, they are in the hospital locker." "Thank you Marvin. I will
see you tonight."

    By the end of the short exam Luke's energy was slowly abating, but
seeing the Doctor start to pick up some pills from a tray he said, "Doctor I
would rather not take any thing to help me rest. If you wouldn't mind, would
you please send somebody to bring my books from the lockers?

    The Doctor looked up a little bit surprised. She was not accustomed to
being told that she didn't need to give what she felt was necessary to bring
about a swift recovery. On top of that most patients wanted as many pills as
they could get. This was a growing problem in her mind as the hospitals
inventory of narcotic pills had doubled in the last two years.

    She thoughtfully assessed the situation, and concluded that she didn't
see any harm in the request. She wasn't one of those people that attempt to
suppress any type of opposition to her authority without any consideration
for her patient's comfort or personal requests, so with a gracious smile she
acquiesced.