The Chardon Chronicles: Season One -- The Harvest Festival (47 page)

She filled him in on the story. He said, “Hey
give me the earpiece.”

He unmuted it. “Hey Ralph.”

“Who is this?” Ralph said.

“Whatever you were trying to do here tonight,
it totally failed. Chuck’s dead. Saul’s dead. Yuri’s dead. Guess
what chuckles, the county prosecutor has a file that links you to
all this shit.”

Keith heard an angry sob. “You can’t prove a
fucking thing. You’re in way over your head.”

“Does the name Reichstaff mean anything to
you, asshole?”

Keith heard a click. “Guess he shut it
off.”

They walked into the lodge. Two ambulances
roared into the drive and EMTs ran into the building.

Tracy and Demetria saw them. Chloe asked,
“How’s Morgan?”

Demetria sobbed. Tracy held her. “He was
completely out of it and in a lot of pain, but I think he’s
basically OK. They’re loading him onto a gurney, now.”

“Why don’t we all regroup at the farm?” Tracy
said. “Will you come, too Demetria? Richard?”

“Absolutely.” Richard took her arm.

“Ride with us?” Chloe took Demetria. The EMTs
rolled Morgan by.

“Wait!” Demetria hailed them. They stopped.
She kissed Morgan on the forehead, then they continued on.

She sent Marta home, and rode with Chloe and
Keith. Demetria fell asleep in the back seat.

“Who’s that?” Keith whispered.

“Oh that’s Morgan’s ‘
friend
’… I think
they’re in love. She’s possibly the nicest person I ever met.”

Chloe showered and changed into some of
Tracy’s most comfortable clothes. They had to help Demetria change.
She was almost inconsolable. They led her down into the library.
She sat on the couch and wept softly.

Johnny was listening in on a police scanner.
He said, “Responding to shots fired… at a familiar address.”

Keith asked, “The judge?”

Johnny nodded. He said, “10-56?” then scanned
through a list of codes.

Keith nodded and spit out the word, “Suicide.
Thought so.”

Demetria stood up and wiped her nose with her
sleeve. Her hair was matted down. She said, “the Brotherhood wanted
me to steal two books from you.”

Robbie was startled, “What?”

“It’s a very long story.” she held up a hand.
“But maybe if you knew which ones, it would be useful.”

Robbie nodded. She led him over to the
case.

She sniffled. “It was these two.” she touched
the jackets.

Robbie grunted, “Matt’s notes and Johnny’s
plans”

“I apologize. I didn’t want to do it in the
first place.”

He said, “Thanks. I’m sorry you had to go
through all this.”

“Believe me, I’ve been through worse. I’m
just very attached to Morgan. When he’s not here, it’s like death.
He needs me, too. I should go see him. I tried calling Marta, but
no answer… that’s bad. I loved her.”

Keith offered, “Hey, why don’t I take you to
see him.”

Her eyes lit up and she hugged him.

“Yes. Yes. Let’s go. Can we stop by my house
first? I think it’s not too far out of the way. I just need to
know…”

Keith nodded.

She saw the fire from far away. “Oh no.” she
said in a whisper. “It’s too late.”

Keith stopped the car. She sobbed. “Keep
going. Let’s see it. It’s better to know.”

Her house was engulfed in towering flames.
The fire department had not arrived. Keith tried calling 911, but
the phone kept hanging up. He pulled into the driveway. She got out
and walked over to a dark form in the yard. She patted Marta’s
hair. Her back was marked with bloody red bullet wounds.

“At least it was quick.” she said a prayer in
an ancient Greek dialect.

“Let’s go see Morgan.” she mumbled. ”There’s
nothing more to do here.”

Keith helped her back into the car and they
drove to the hospital.

As the clock ticked away into the wee hours,
Richard finally got up from the couch. “I really need to go home.”
he said to Tracy.

“Why?” She asked matter of factly.

“Let me call my mom. She’s probably crawling
the walls with anxiety. She’s not chill.”

“I would like it if you could stay here. With
me.” She said.

He smiled. “I would like that too.” He dialed
his phone. A groggy voice answered, then shifted into hysteria.

“Mom, I’m fine. Sorry I didn’t call earlier.
I’m gonna stay at Tracy’s. Nah. It’s all good. I’ll tell you all
about it in the morning.”

She led him up to bed.

“This is the most amazing night of my young
life.” He announced. I need to tell you all about what
happened.

“Not right now, tell me later.” She wrapped
her arms around his head and gave him a kiss.

They made love for a long time. Finally, they
both just passed out.

She dreamed she was on a white sand beach.
The ocean was crystal clear and blue. The sun was hanging in the
sky like the lamp on their wall.

Richard was next to her on a blanket. His
skin was the color of a leather belt and his hair was shocking
blond. He had white sunblock on his nose. His surfboard had a
bright yellow sun on it. He scrubbed the wax with sand, then
trotted out into the surf.

“Oh hey dad!” she said. Matt was sitting on
her other side on a long green blanket. The green reflected onto
his skin.

Matt pointed out to Richard, “He seems like a
nice guy. He’s standing tall in those waves.”

Telia leaned forward out of nowhere next to
Matt. “He’s beautiful.” she smiled.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“We just want you to know we’re OK.
Everything is good.”

“Why’s that big black serpent out there?”
Tracy said.

Matt sighed, “Yeah, sorry. We’re still
working on that, but see how far away it is.”

Tracy said, “Yeah. Man it’s big if it’s far
away.”

Telia leaned back and enjoyed the Sun. “I’m
not worried.” she said. “You shouldn’t be, either.”

Matt said, “I love you Tracy.”

Telia patted her back. “We’ll see you again
soon.”

“Bye, Baby. Tell him we think he’s cool.”
Matt kissed her head.

She woke up to the morning light streaming
through the window.

Richard was awake already, “Your parents seem
like really nice people.” he said.

“My parents? Did you ever meet them?”

“I had a dream.”

She grunted, “Hmmm… Me too. Well, that
happens to us. They like you.”

“That’s good to know.”

~End of Episode Eight~

~End of Season One~

Thor and the Midgard
Serpent (by Emil Doepler, 1905)

The Children of Loki
(by
Willy Pogany
,
1920)