The Legend of Safehaven (15 page)

The old farmer read Galen’s list: berry patches, fruit trees, cabbage and tall grass, chinquapin nut bushes, and beehives. He looked at his former adversary and newfound friend and grinned.

“Doc, I’ve hunted all my life. From the looks of that layout, I’d say you spotted bear spawn around here.”

“Spawn? Hell, I saw it. I talked to the damned beast. And it answered me!”

Lem laughed out loud and shook his head.

“You sure it was me that got hit in the head the first time we met, Doc?”

The men laughed, chewed on the ham sandwiches Galen had thrown together, and sipped their tea.

“Promise me, Lem. Promise me you won’t say anything to the others yet. I don’t want them to think I’m crazier than they already do.”

They laughed again.

Caddler didn’t tell Galen about the drawing he had found on the floor recently after cleaning up Miri’s room. He hadn’t told Ben, either. He thought it was a good likeness of Galen, but he had wondered about the bear standing beside him and the semicircle of gray wolves. Now it was starting to make sense.

It was late afternoon on that day of the winter solstice. After their lunch Galen walked down the mountain through the woods with Lem. They had surveyed the planned garden plot, and then he escorted Lem back to the little cabin he shared with Ben and Miri. They were approaching the fork in the path—one way leading down to the migratory-bird pond, the other to Ben and Miri’s home.

“Think it’s possible, Lem?”

“Don’t see why not, Doc. Soil’s good, and there’s a natural break in the trees there, so should be plenty o’ light. I’ll lay out the area, and then in the spring I’ll go rent a tiller at…”

Both men stopped. Three canines stood at the junction. They were older now, but Lem recognized two of them, and they knew him.

“Clyde! I’ll be damned … I thought ye was dead by now!”

The oldest dog, now known as Zeus, pricked up its ears. The younger male did likewise. The female sat on her haunches but remained alert should the need arise.

“He was your dog, Lem?”

Galen was fascinated. How would this play out?

“Yep, Doc, both o’ them. Ol’ Clyde there damned near took ma leg off, ‘fore he and that other critter up and left me.”

The old farmer thought a moment then looked at Galen.

“Ya know, Doc, can’t say as I blame him, seein’ as how I didn’t treat ‘em none too good.”

He looked at the two dogs and shook his head.

“Looks like you picked the right place, you two. Whose girlfriend is she?”

“Zeus … Clyde is her mate.”

He looked at the female wolf who returned his gaze impassively.

Then Zeus stepped toward Lem and let out a whine.

Caddler likewise stepped forward and put out his hand. The old dog stretched his snout forward, sniffed, then sat in front of Lem.

He touched the dog’s head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“
Felice Navidad
, folks!”

The front door burst open and Freddie, with Lilly Daumier by his side, entered the foyer of the mountain home. Carmelita had convinced Mike Dimitriades to fly in from California, and she allowed “her big Greek god” to carry in the mounds of packages she had brought. Faisal likewise had invited a guest who would stay with him and Akela at Diana and Lachlan’s house.

“Hey, everyone, meet Jacob, Jacob Geltmacher. He’s the guy who stuck his face in the video he made of me. He says his folks are traveling in Europe, and I didn’t think he wanted to spend Chanukah alone.”

Nancy, Edison, and Galen recognized Jacob immediately. Lachlan had shared the video with them when it first arrived. Indeed, the young man, despite his Chasidic outfit and scraggly beard, fit right in with the rest of the young adults.

Almost in unison, the three greeted the boy with “Shalom, Jacob.”

The young man’s eyes lit up, and he turned to Fai.

“You told me they would understand. I didn’t believe it!”

Nancy laughed.

“Jacob, before I was married, my last name was Seligman. My husband Bob and I, and Dr. Galen, grew up in Northern New Jersey outside New York City. It’s been a long time, though, so you’ll have to let me know how you want your food prepared.”

Jacob turned again and whispered in Faisal’s ear.

“Tia Nancy, Jacob brought his digital video camera with him. Would it be all right if he recorded footage of us and the grounds at Safehaven? I promised him I would write the musical score for it, and you’ll all get copies when it’s done.”

“Certainly, Jacob, just as long as you make us all look like movie stars,” Edison quipped. “And Oliver Hardy can play Galen.”

All but one of the young people looked at him, until Freddie finally asked, “Who’s Oliver Hardy?”

“Tio is showing how old he is, kids,” Galen replied.

They had a simple homecoming dinner, but Nancy brought out special plates she had been given long ago by her parents. These she set in front of Jacob and told him of their origin and usage. He smiled in delight.

“May I also call you Tia Nancy?”

“Certainly, Jacob. So, tell me, where are your parents from? Your name is certainly a meaningful and unusual one.”

The boy-man’s eyes clouded, and he stared off into space.

“Tia, my great-grandparents came from a little town near Gdyni, Poland. They were captured and butchered by the Nazis, but they managed to smuggle their children—my grandparents—out of the country before they were captured. My grandparents were raised by members of the Chasidim in New York who adopted them and other refugee children.”

Nancy stared intently at the young man.

“Jacob, was that town by any chance called…” and she mentioned the name of the Baltic coastal village destroyed by Hitler’s killing machine.

He looked in amazement and nodded yes.

“Jacob, that’s the same town my father’s parents came from!”

Afterward, Faisal and Jacob sat in Tonio’s room.

“How’s Betty doing?” Faisal asked.

“She’s still in remission. She’s supposed to have a full-body scan to be sure nothing’s acting up. It’s scheduled for after New Year’s. She’s a real trooper, letting them poke her for blood all the time. She looks good.

“Fai, I told you what a remarkable girl she is. She’s already caught up on the schoolwork she missed!”

Jacob grinned.

“I take it you don’t like the girl … right, Tony?”

The three laughed, but Faisal, who saw more without eyes, heard the worry in his friend’s voice. He was sure Tonio had absorbed every bit of data he could about the complications that Betty might incur.

“Jacob, let’s be sure we get lover boy and his squeeze in the video.”

“Where did you pick up that language, Fai?”

Jacob looked at Faisal.

“You’re right, Tony, he’s beginning to sound like a New Yorker.”

“Listen, Betty’s coming over tomorrow. I hope you’ll both be nice and polite to her—and no comments about me. Promise?”

“We promise,” the other two replied. Tonio didn’t see their crossed fingers.

Freddie drove Faisal and Jacob to the Douglass home, and then he and Lilly left again to take a walk in town. He promised to be back but said it would probably be late, “so don’t wait up.”

Carmelita took a wrapped gift to Tonio’s room.

“What is it, Carm?”

“It’s for Betty. It’s a special assortment of girl stuff—make-up … you know. You can give it to her tomorrow, when she comes over.”

“Aren’t you going to be here? You can give it to her. She likes you.”

Carmelita barely hid the blush on her face.

“Uh … Michael and I are … uh … going out tomorrow. We’ll be back late in the day, but I’ll try to be back when she gets here.”

She eyed her younger brother.

He’ll do better alone
.

She would try to keep her promise. She always did.

“Tio Galen, can I borrow the Jeep? Faisal and I want to show Jacob the mountain, so he can take some video. Lachlan is on patrol duty, and Mrs. Douglass is busy making the stuff she’s bringing over for Christmas dinner.”

Galen reached for his car keys once again and wondered why the boy never asked to borrow Edison’s. He would never admit it, but he actually liked being the one Tonio always approached.

He watched, once more, his beloved red Jeep heading down the mountain with someone else at the wheel. He hadn’t told Tonio, but he planned to give him the keys permanently to help him get to and from college. Nancy had given her old car to Carmelita, and Edison’s “kidmobile” van had gone to Freddie. Soon it would be his turn to do the giving.

The telephone rang.

“Galen, it’s Jay. We’ve got the final reports back on the Orth girl. The genetic analysis shows she has a mosaic—bad one. I hope she stays in remission, but you know the odds on that. It’s going to be a rough one if she gets a flare-up.”

“Have you sent her sample in for bone marrow typing, just in case?”

“Yes, but even that is less likely to work in her case. I’ll let you know if anything changes.”

The blood specialist paused then added, “Oh, by the way, happy holidays.”

Both men knew the irony of that remark.

Galen went to his room and stared at the wall, hoping for an inspiration, something to avert the inevitable. The wall remained silent.

“Come on, Tonio, let’s show Jacob the wolves. He’s already seen Akela, and I’ve told him about the pack. He can get some great shots.”

Faisal was almost dancing with excitement, as he and Geltmacher piled into the Jeep.

“Uh … guys, I’d like to pick up Betty, too. She was coming over anyway.”

“I smell love in the air,” Jacob laughed.

“Nope, it’s the mold in Tio Galen’s old car.”

Now, all three laughed.

Tonio drove to Betty’s house, not far from St. Ignatius. He jumped out and warned the guys not to act like idiots, when she came back with him. Then he ran to the Cape-Cod-style, oyster-white home. He had just begun to knock, when the door opened. She was already waiting for him.

“Hi,” he sighed.

“Hi!”

“Faisal and Jacob are with me. We thought you’d like to take a walk in the woods.”

He bent over and whispered in her ear, “We can always lose them out there.”

She giggled and took his hand, as they walked back to the car. She got in the front seat then turned to the two young men and the wolf-dog in the back.

“Tony, I thought there was only one wolf in the car.”

The ride back to the mountain house was filled with easy conversation about life at school in New York and career objectives.

Jacob had his video camera and was recording the ride while asking questions and panning among the occupants of the car.

“What do you want to do next year, Betty?”

“Tony and I are going to take pre-med classes at The University of Pennsylvania then medical school. How’s that sound to you?”

For his age Geltmacher already had become a skilled interviewer, and by the time they arrived at Safehaven, all four had talked about their plans for the future. As he slowly zoomed in for a close-up of the sign, he asked Tonio where the name came from.

“It’s kind of strange, but it started with an injured female wolf, two stray dogs, and Tio Galen beating the crap out of a drunk hunter who trespassed on the land. After he clobbered the guy he went into a tirade against hunters and said that this mountain was a refuge for animals. When Tio Eddie heard him use the words ‘safe haven,’ he went back to his workshop and made that sign. The name stuck.”

“Really?” Jacob asked from behind the camera.

“Yeah, and what’s even stranger, the hunter that Tio Galen hit helped save me and Betty from a bunch of escaped murderers, and now he’s going to live here in his own cabin. I think my tia and tios are going to make him a caretaker for the wildlife preserve. He has nowhere else to live. His own son burned down his house and tried to kill him.”

Tonio hesitated then added, “He had to kill his own son to save us.”

The car stayed silent for a period of time, until Tonio finished his thought.

“You’re going to meet him and Ben and Miri. Did Faisal tell you about Miri?”

Jacob kept the camera on Tonio while he replied.

“Isn’t she the autistic girl, the one that communicates only with wolves? I thought only Faisal was crazy enough for that.”

He reached out to poke Faisal, but Akela saw the outstretched arm and snarled.

“You don’t want to upset my seeing-eye wolf, Jacob. He just might eat you,” Faisal intoned in a deep and serious voice.

“Tell that lupine friend of yours that I am neither Kosher nor Parve when it comes to wolf meals, and from the beard on the beast he’s definitely Chasid.”

The laughter rocked the Jeep and echoed across the mountain, as the four youngsters and one large canine arrived at the path and exited.

Tonio led the way to the wolf den, holding tightly onto Betty’s hand. Faisal and Akela followed and Jacob, bringing up the rear, kept his camera trained on the other three, frequently throwing out questions and quips to elicit responses from his new friends.

They arrived at the clearing, and Akela let out a loud, groaning bark. Slowly the pack emerged, the alpha male and his two cohorts, one medium-sized male, one female, on either side of him. Akela whined and Faisal let the guide harness slip loose. The wolf-dog loped over to his litter mates and ran in circles of happiness around the pack.

“Amazing, I’ve never heard or seen of anything like this,” Jacob whispered.

The wolves turned at his voice, then formed a phalanx and moved toward the city boy.

“Tony, Faisal, what do I do?” he asked nervously.

Betty moved to him and held her hands out to the wolves. The alpha male came forward and sniffed at her and Jacob. This time there was no whimper, no backing away. He sat down on his haunches and raised a paw, as Betty stroked his head. The rest of the pack followed suit while Jacob kept the camera running.

“Here, Jacob, let me hold the camera. Get in the picture with Betty then you can let me get in.”

Tonio reached for the camera.