Phoenix Inheritance (3 page)

All she wanted was for Charlie to get the help he clearly needed.

“Would Charlie's father oppose a suspension?” Partnope said.

The question shredded the last of her self-control.

“All this talk of a suspension is beside the point,” she snapped. “If I thought suspending Charlie would ensure that this situation would never happen again, I'd be all for it. But I can't say that and neither can you.”

If punishment worked with Charlie, she'd be all in with this approach. But it didn't.

“I want a full psychological testing for Charlie, as I've asked at least six times these last two months. I want to have him classified as special education/autism, and I want an aide who can notice when Charlie is getting agitated so they can teach him to calm down at school before he goes overboard like today.”

Partnope but his hands on his desk and stood. “I'll consider that.”

“You've had two months to consider it.” Renee stood too. “If you keep stalling, I will appeal to the Superintendent of Schools.” She'd been tracking all these incidents with Charlie, putting together a case. She knew her legal rights. What she'd been hoping was that Charlie would somehow magically improve or that Partnope would start taking Charlie's diagnosis seriously. Legal action was a last resort.

“That is your right, of course.” Partnope gave a quick nod. “But you must explain to your son what behavior is expected in this school. He needs to take all the rules seriously, as do you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to settle some things before the school lets out.”

He left the room before Renee could say anything else.

Renee ran her hands through her hair and composed herself in the hallway before going back out into the outer office. Something must have still shown on her face, or maybe it was her demeanor that gave her away because Dorothy called to her.

“He's going to be okay, Ms. Black,” Dorothy said.

“Thanks. I hope so.”

Renee glanced over at the conference room to make sure Charlie was still happily drawing, then walked closer to Dorothy.

“Have you asked for full testing for Charlie?” Dorothy asked.

“Constantly over the last two months. I keep getting put off. Charlie needs an aide to watch over him.”

Dorothy patted her arm. “The school just doesn't want the expense of an aide. Keep pushing. You're right.”

Renee smiled. “Thank you for that and for what you did earlier for him.”

The older woman shrugged. “Part of the job. Charlie's drawing is enough payment for me.”

Charlie ran out of the conference room and presented his drawing, which featured Thor the German Shepherd and Thor the superhero together. Dorothy thanked Charlie profusely and pinned it to the corkboard in the main office.

Charlie beamed.

He was such a great kid. She had to find a way to help him.

What did she do from here? Keep Charlie out of school? Homeschool him? What was the best way to treat this?

She put her hand on Charlie's shoulder.

“Ready to go? We need to get home before we get caught in the storm.”

Renee's hand-knit scarf rippled in the wind as she wrestled the last patio chair toward the open garage. The sky overhead had already turned from bright blue to a foreboding shade of gray. The colorful fall was now more like a moving, shifting Ansel Adams photograph.

Charlie trailed behind her, but she kept watch on him all the same, especially since he was particularly afraid of storms. She didn't want him panicking inside while she was busy outside.

“Almost done,” she said.

“Can I help?” Snowflakes dotted his dark hat and he looked so sweet in that instant that she wished she could bottle it. He was a great kid. There had to be a way to help him cope. There had to be.

“Nah, I'm good. Just keep me company and remind me next time not to buy such heavy patio chairs.” She'd bought them so the winds wouldn't knock them around. She'd forgotten about the part where she needed to drag them inside for the winter.

She glanced at the huge oak trees that dotted the borders of her yard. Their branches were still laden with leaves, making them vulnerable to the weight of the falling snow.

Charlie tugged at her sleeve. “When will it be time for hot chocolate?”

“Right about now, soon as we get the chair set and go inside.”

“Great.”

Thor and Loki barked from the inside of the house. They didn't like her being out without them. Silly boys. Too cold for them to romp outside now. The temperature must have dropped twenty degrees in the last two hours.

She turned the corner and slid the chair into her garage. There. Done. Nothing left now but hunker down and hope for the best.

Her son tapped her hip and pointed. “Mom! Look! The cat's back! I have to get him!”

Not that stray cat again. “He'll be fine. Cats can survive storms.”

“But he says I have to come get him. He wants my help.”

The problems at school were bad enough. She'd hoped this insistence on talking to animals was just a phase. Could he really be hearing voices?

“I'll walk over there to see how he is. You stay here,” she said.

“No, he said
I
have to come!”

Renee reached out to grab Charlie's sleeve, anticipating what was coming, but he was too fast for her and she missed. He took off at full speed across the lawn, toward the trees and the edge of the forest. She sped after him, yelling at him to stop but he ignored her. She ran full out, the cold air stinging her lungs.

Just before she caught up to Charlie, her feet slipped on the wet leaves. She stumbled, went down to one knee and saw him plunge into the woods, helpless to stop him.

“Wait!” she yelled again but the only response was the sound of leaves crunching far ahead. She scrambled to her feet.

Oh, God, oh God. There was a nasty drop-off only about ninety yards into the trees. Visions of Charlie going over the edge had her stomach in knots. She might have thrown up if she wasn't so busy running after him. Here she'd been pissed at the school for letting him out of their sight and she'd made the same damn mistake.

She leapt over a bush and hit the brambles at a run. Branches swatted her face and prickers grabbed at her pants. The snow fell harder and faster. The trees seemed to all meld together, obscuring visibility. She couldn't see Charlie at all, and she wasn't sure she heard him anymore either. She wanted to rage, to slam against the nearest tree in frustration.

But panicking would be the absolutely wrong thing to do. She halted.

“Charlie!”

Her throat was so closed up in fear that her yell came out as a whisper. She drew a deep breath and tried again. This time, his name came out as a scream.

Still no answer.

Everything she'd learned in her search-and-rescue work told her panicking would get her nowhere. Yeah, that training worked awesomely when it wasn't her own kid. She cupped her hands around her mouth and screamed his name again.
Answer me!

Silence. Where could he have gone so fast? She had visions of him going over that edge and hitting the bottom hard. She blinked away tears.

“Mom! Help!”

Oh, God. That came from the direction of the drop-off.

“Coming, Charlie!” She tried not to run because she couldn't see more than two feet in front of her, but the fear in her son's voice drove her.

“Mom, I'm gonna fall!”

“I'm right here!”

Her lead foot pushed against empty air. She grabbed the nearest branch before she went over the edge, only just halting her fall.

“Charlie!” Where was he? She dropped to her knees to peer over the edge, trying to see through all the fat, wet snowflakes. This was the only place he could be. But where? All the way to the bottom? No, no. Dammit…

“Mom!”

The voice came from directly below, and she finally spotted him. He smiled, but she fought not to collapse in terror. The only thing keeping him from plunging to the bottom was that he was hanging on to the exposed roots of a white birch tree that was growing half sideways out of the cliff.

After the birch tree, it was a thirty-foot drop.

She swallowed to get some saliva into her dry mouth. “Don't let go, Charlie! I'm coming for you.” Shit, how was she going to reach him before he fell?

“I'm slipping!”

“You can hold on! I know you can!”

He was only about six feet away. Too far for her to reach but there had to be some way to get him. Maybe a stray branch she could lower to him? She looked around but couldn't see anything in the snow. She would have to go over herself and hope she didn't fall but, dammit, if she did fall, Charlie would still be stuck. The footing was hazardous, even in the best of conditions, and this was the worst of conditions, with those wet leaves.

The wind whipped her scarf. Right. Her scarf! “I'm coming after you right now, Charlie!” She unwrapped the scarf from her neck, knotted one edge around the tree trunk closest to her, and tied the other end around her wrist.

“Ma!” His voice sounded weaker.

“Just one sec!”

Hold on, kid. Don't let go. Never let go.

She heard his boot scrape against the dirt and leaves, desperately trying to find a foothold. “My shoulders hurt!”

“I'm only a few feet away!”

She nearly leapt over the edge. Her boots skidded on the snowy leaves. The scarf went taut, righting her, and she half slid, half fell the few feet over to Charlie. She grabbed his coat just as one of his hands let go. He screamed until he realized she had him.

“I've got you!” His weight pulled at her arm, up to her shoulder, but she wasn't as worried about that as about the scarf ripping apart from their combined weight.

“I'm going to pull you up against the tree,” she told him.

His gloved hands surrounded her wrist in a death grip. “O-kay.” His teeth chattered, whether from fear or cold, she didn't know. His dark hat was caked in snow.

She curled her fingers tight in his coat collar, praying all the buttons and zippers held. The yarn of her scarf creaked and strained.

“Move with me. One, two, three…”

She yanked hard, shifting him up and sideways, and his boots banged against the tree and gained a foothold. He grabbed the tree trunk and scrambled up against it. “That's better!” he yelled.

Damn right it was. Almost there. “Put your back against the trunk so you don't slip again.” She tried to keep her voice even. This was all still very tricky.

She yanked again, a little to the left, guiding him, and he settled against the trunk, secure. Whew. She closed her eyes for a quick second and let out a deep breath. Despite the cold, she was drenched in sweat.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

“Hey, it's okay. We're okay.”

She clambered over to him, so that her own feet were braced against the tree too. The scarf went slack and that awful pull against her shoulder lessened. That was gonna be sore tomorrow. Assuming they got out of here. One thing she knew, she would never, ever complain about how long her sister made the scarves again.

“Now what?” he asked, his teeth chattering. He hugged himself.

“Now we get out of here. Give me a second to catch my breath.”

Now what?
was a damn good question. Going over the edge had obviously been easy, but getting back up presented a much bigger issue.

If she'd stopped to grab a rope from the garage, they could have tied that off and used it, but it all happened so fast and she'd been so sure she could catch Charlie before she needed a rope.

Besides, if she'd gone back for a rope, Charlie might have fallen before she got to him.
Stop beating yourself up, Renee
, she thought,
and start thinking of ways to solve the problem.

If Charlie stood on her shoulders, he might be able reach the top of the cliff. And between her pushing him and his holding on to the scarf like a rope, he could scramble to safety. Yes, she'd try that. If it didn't work, if he lost his grip on the scarf or he slid back, she could catch him. It might leave her stuck but Charlie would be safe. One problem at a time.

She hugged Charlie tight and kissed his cheek. “I have an idea on how to get back up.”

“How? I can't climb!” his voice broke.

Hold it together, Charlie.
If he had one of his meltdowns out here, they were both dead.

“You won't have to climb. I'll boost you up. Plus, you get to go first. It'll be fun. Think of it like Batman helping Robin climb a wall.”

“You're not Batman,” he said.

“Captain Marvel, then, like my T-shirt,” she said. “She'll help you fly.”

“I like Captain Marvel. She punches dinosaurs.”

She explained the plan to him. His face scrunched up in fear.

“You can do it. I know you can. Being afraid is okay. But sometimes you have to work past it. You can work past it.”

“Okay.” His voice was muffled against her coat.

“Besides, we'll be doing it together. Remember what Captain Marvel says?”

He nodded firmly. “Higher, further, faster, more!” And, now, he smiled.

Not for the first time, she thanked God Charlie shared her love of superheroes. “And then we'll get hot chocolate.”

“Great.”

Yes, he was fully on board and willing to try. She tightened her grip on the scarf and wrapped it one more time around her wrist so it would have some tension. Her shoulder, already sore, felt as if her arm was being pulled from the socket. But this wouldn't take long.

She put her arm around Charlie's waist and helped him crawl over her back. Calm, she thought. Piece of cake. She'd done rescues like this before. They'd always turned out well. It was going to be fine.

Don't think about the fact that one slip and they would both go tumbling over thirty feet to the jagged rocks at the bottom.