Home of the Gray Dog - Segment 06

Chapter 26

"I can't imagine what life would be like without my children.” This heartbroken cry came from Delia, pacing the floor in Walker’s living room. He had just told her of receiving the phone call about an hour ago from his contact at the NTSB. Rosalie said one of the search teams had finally located the remains of the charter plane. They could see only the tail end quite a distance from them, deep in a valley almost hidden by the thick redwood forest. Their report ended with not seeing any survivors.

         Felix put his arms around Delia. “Don’t give up. The kids could just be out of sight.” He and Walker shared a glance, knowing that this probably wasn’t true. Edith and Samantha, who had come upstairs with Delia, knew Felix was holding out false hope but kept quiet.

         When the phone rang once again down the hall in Walker’s office, everyone jumped at the sound. Walker disappeared into his office, leaving the other four silently watching for his reappearance.

         Minutes passed, excruciatingly long minutes for Delia. Unable to remain seated, she paced frantically in the hallway between the two rooms. She would look into the office at Walker standing with his back to the door, phone to his ear, talking too low for her to hear. She would then head back to the living room to be with the others when Walker returned.

         Fear for her children filled Delia’s terrified mind, until finally Felix pulled her down to sit beside him. Without realizing it, she held one of Felix’s hands, clutching it tightly while waiting for Walker to return from his office. Even though he winced from the pain, Felix said nothing. His free arm went around her shoulders, and he pulled her closely to him, in anticipation of the bad news Walker might have for them.

         Edith walked over to the couple on the sofa and sat down on the other side of the terrified mother. She was ready to give her whatever comfort she could. Meanwhile, Samantha left the living room to stand outside in the hallway near Walker’s office. She got there just in time to see him put the phone receiver back on its base and then sit down heavily in the chair behind his desk.

         From the hallway, Samantha couldn’t read from his facial expression if the phone call was about good or bad news. When Walker put his head down on the desk, cradled by his arms, she feared the worse. “Walker,” she said softly, “are they alive?” Samantha walked further into the office, thinking he hadn’t heard her question. “Please, Walker, did the children survive?”

         Slowly, like the weight of the world was no longer on his shoulders, Walker raised his head to smile wearily at her. “The search party found them, all three alive.” Tears started down Samantha’s face in relief at this news. Walker stood and went to Samantha, pulling her into his arms. “Don’t cry, Sam. This is good news. The kids are alive, and they’re on their way here.”

         He smoothed her hair back off her face and tried to wipe the stream of tears away. When Samantha gave him a smile, small though it was, Walker gave her one last hug and released her. “Let’s go and give Delia the good news.”

         It took Delia only one glance at them to know the phone call had been with good news. Felix and Walker watched as the three women cried and hugged each other, ignoring the two men. .

         Eventually, the women regained their composure and left to prepare for the children’s arrival. It would be many hours before Catherine, Gideon, and the pilot got to the mansion, but even those who knew nothing about this recent crisis shared in the excitement when they caught sight of the happiness and joy on Delia’s face.

Chapter 27

Upon their arrival, Gideon and Catherine joined the ever-growing group of children at the mansion. The horror of the crash and the time until rescued by the search party slowly receded into memory for the three survivors.

          Walker knew Marie Shepherd was a skilled pilot and offered her a job as one of the pilots of his private planes. Despite the storm and the plane’s mechanical problem, he realized Marie had managed to save all three lives during and after the crash. When her arm healed completely, she gratefully accepted his job offer.

         The next couple months flew by with the orphanage rising from the forest as Karla kept her crew working 16 hours a day. Her comment to her crew, “Let’s show Walker we can bring his building to life,” kept them going even during rainy days. All lived locally and knew of the condition of the town’s old orphanage. By now, they even knew the story about the murder of Hannah Edgeworth and felt privileged to be part of Walker’s dream to honor the child.

         The big opening day finally arrived for Hannah Edgeworth’s Home for Found Children, unofficially known simply as Hannah’s Home. The warm June weather made the fields around the tree-encircled building practically burst with colorful flowers. Their sweet fragrance floated to the crowd standing around the front door to the orphanage.

         In front of them was the magnificent edifice first dreamed of by Walker, lovingly designed by Felix, and created by Karla and her construction crew. It rose up two stories, a wood and glass edifice simply waiting for children to fill it with laughter. The tall trees surrounding it seemed part of the building, and the orphanage merged seamlessly with the forest. For many, it was difficult to see where the building started and the trees ended.

         “Speech, Walker, speech,” yelled a voice from the back of the crowd. All who knew him recognized the foghorn voice of Winston Rogers, a member of the town’s council. More voices joined his until Walker gave in and held his hands up in the air to quiet them.

         “I want to thank all of you for coming out here today to celebrate Hannah’s Home.” Walker, humbled by those who came to honor the murdered child, was unable to get out any more words.

         Samantha, standing next to him, took pity on him and gently pushed her boss to one side. “We are all happy to see so many of you here today,” she said quietly, but even those standing at a distance heard the joy in her voice. “We especially welcome the children who will be making this their new home.” She looked over to the children standing in a small group on the right side of the crowd. That morning, Mike and Itzam along with Joshua and Sue Beth had welcomed four of the five children recently fostered out to families in town.

         The fifth child, eight-year-old Melanie, was currently in the process of adoption by her foster family. They had fallen in love with the sweet child over the past few months and found they were unable to give her up. She and her new parents were also in the crowd, along with just about every person from town.

         The members of the town council stood shoulder to shoulder with the older people from Walker’s mansion. While waiting for the opening ceremony to begin, banker Samuel Hobson got into a spirited conversation about jazz with Scott Dent, the 80-year-old musician. Those standing around the two men couldn’t stop grinning when Samuel graciously admitted defeat to Scott’s superior knowledge on the subject.

         Meanwhile, the four children brought here by their temporary foster parents stared around them in awe. They remembered living at the old orphanage, a place that was disgusting and dangerous, but better by far than their original homes. Eventually the adults who helped run this orphanage would learn about the pasts of the four children. For now, though, the youngsters remained silent, afraid to believe this was their new home.

         When Samantha turned around, she saw Edith standing at the open front door of the building. The older woman nodded, which Samantha took to mean everything was ready inside. She returned to face her audience, and all conversations stopped so they could hear her next words. “Come on in, everyone, and feel free to explore.” Samantha motioned the group of children to lead the way in, and the rest of the crowd quickly followed them.

         The beauty and wonder of what awaited them inside made even the most cynical glad to be a part of this miracle.

Chapter 28

A gray shape raced to join the children just as they reached the door. Valentine, pulling free from Felix’s loose hold on her leash, made her way through the crowd to reach Itzam. In the past few weeks, Itzam had slowly overcome her fear of animals, thanks to the gentleness of the large Irish wolfhound. It had become a common sight around the mansion to see the big dog led around on her leash by the tiny child.

* * *

         The first time Jack and Felix had seen the two of them together, Jack turned to the dog’s owner in anger. “I though you were going to keep Valentine away from the kids.” He headed to where Itzam was now down on the floor, almost eye to eye with the dog. The thought of what Valentine’s teeth could do to the little girl’s face caused Jack to start running, only to stop short when Felix grabbed his arm.

         “Wait, don’t move. Just look for a second.” Felix forced Jack to stand still when Itzam threw her arms around the dog’s neck. The sound of her laughter came to the two men standing only a short distance away. “You don’t have to worry, Jack. I stayed with Valentine the first few times she met the kids, and it was love at first sight between your little girl and my giant puppy.” He let go of Jack’s arm and grinned. “I even caught her once riding the silly mutt like he was a pony.”

* * *

         Now, on the opening day of Hannah’s Home, Valentine and Itzam led the way through the open door. The other children, their noisy and excited voices carrying back to the adults still waiting outside, followed them. Edith stood to one side, watching them running here and there to explore their new home.

         At a slower and more leisurely pace, the various adults followed the children inside. The first thing that struck the town’s people was the enormous dimensions of the entrance room. The elders who lived nearby at Walker’s mansion were more familiar with the size since they’d watched the orphanage rising from the ground to completion over the previous weeks. The care that had gone into the design and construction of the building still managed to impress them.

         The entrance room was definitely child friendly with its colorful furniture of varying sizes. Jack, now over his anger at Felix, watched as Joshua led Mike to sit in a bright orange chair out of the pathway of the other people. Sue Beth and the four children recently brought to the orphanage eventually came back to gather around Edith. They saw Itzam and Valentine stop in front of a large portrait on the far wall of the room. “Who is that?” asked one of the little girls in a whisper.

         Edith looked at the portrait for a couple minutes before telling them a sanitized abridged history of Hannah Edgeworth. Walker had commissioned a local artist to paint Hannah’s likeness from the original oil painting found in the mansion’s hidden room. It showed the little girl in a happier time before her deranged mother brutally murdered her over a hundred years ago. The artist had painted Hannah sitting on a beautiful Persian rug surrounded by various 19th century toys. Her sweet innocent smile seemed aimed at the children now moving into a home named for her.

         Walker left the other adults and joined Itzam in front of the portrait. Without being aware of what he was doing, he reached up his right hand to touch the painting. “I promised I wouldn’t forget you, Hannah,” he said, so softly that only Itzam heard him. She didn’t understand the tears that had appeared in the man’s eyes or the sad look on his face, but she reached out to take his other hand in hers.

         Walker looked down at the little girl, so cruelly left on her own by the Whitakers and now under his protection. Seeing her innocent brown eyes staring up at him, only then did he finally understand the enormity of what he had undertaken by founding the orphanage. “Itzam,” he said to the silently watching child, “I’m making you a promise, too.”

         Walker glanced across the room at the group of children standing with his mother before continuing. “You and the others will always feel safe and loved here in your new home. Those days of pain and abandonment are over.”

Chapter 29

For the next few hours, all the adults and children explored every inch of the large two-story building. The middle section had only one floor with large opaque skylights letting in the sun to make the entrance room bright and cheerful. Games and toys eventually would end up scattered all over the carpeted floor. For now, though, the room seemed a bit empty, waiting for boisterous children to take away its feeling of newness.

         The long straight wing to the left of the main room contained multiple school rooms on the first floor. There was also a fully stocked library holding books from the “See Dick Run” level up to and including novels by classical writers such as Dickens and plays by Shakespeare. A fully equipped playroom for those still not of school age was also there.

         Up a flight of stairs were the bedrooms for some of the children and staff. Over time, each person would decorate their room to suit their distinct personality, but now each room only contained basic bedroom furniture. Walker led some of the adults upstairs and then down the hallway to show off the various rooms.

         “Mr. Walker?” A young voice behind him caused Walker to stop beside the open door of one of these bedrooms. Standing in the middle of the room was Douglas Crowley, one of the four foster children. Nine years of age, a gangly-looking boy wearing thick glasses, he nevertheless reminded Walker of himself at that age. Walker also had worn glasses until surgery as an adult corrected his eyesight. Like the child in front of him, Walker had been skinny, seeming to be all knees and elbows. It was only in his teens that he had fleshed out and shot up a few inches almost overnight.

         “Yes, Douglas? May I help you?” Walker went further into the room, looking around with a slight frown on his face. He hadn’t seen the rooms since the furniture arrived a few days previously. The bareness and institutional look of this room did not please him.

         “Mr. Walker, can I have this room, please?” Douglas smiled widely, and suddenly the room didn’t look so plain and bare. “I’ve never slept in a room all by myself before.” He walked over to the window and pulled the bright yellow curtain to one side. “It’s even got a window.” His eyes got even bigger when a sudden thought occurred to him. “I can have it open at times, can’t I, and don’t have to always ask permission?” At Walker’s nod, Douglas said to himself, in a voice filled with wonder, “A window all mine.”

         Amazed and saddened at what having a window all his own meant to Douglas, Walker left him to rejoin the adults in the hallway. After peeking into the various rooms, they returned down the stairs and crossed the front room to the opposite side.

         This longer curved wing first contained kitchen and large dining area. Chef Geoffrey, who ran the kitchen at the mansion, had thoroughly interviewed the kitchen staff members before hiring them. He also found a dietitian, Molly Baan, to make sure the meals were always delicious and healthy. She was standing next to Chef Richard when Walker and his group made their way into the kitchen.

         “Molly, I’m glad you could make it today,” said Walker, knowing the young woman originally planned to arrive from Boston the following day. He had pleaded with her to try to make the opening ceremony but wasn’t sure she could arrange for her plane connection in time. “Richard, is everything ready for our guests?” When the lanky chef nodded, Walker let his two employees show the others around the kitchen and dining room. He continued down the rest of the hallway alone, quickly checking out the various storerooms and cold-food storage lockers.

         Half an hour later, he again joined up with his guests and showed them upstairs. The second floor on this side also contained bedrooms and a nursery in case babies would arrive in the coming years. Walker looked forward to playing with the hoped-for infants, having missed out on the early years of his two wards.

Chapter 30

By late afternoon, everyone had checked out the entire orphanage. One by one, they slowly wandered down to the main room where Walker waited for them. Chef Richard opened the large French doors at the back of the main room. In front of them, the guests could see the outdoors’ enclosed area where tables and chairs were set up. Long tables on each side of the open doors contained food prepared by Chef Richard and his staff. Steam rose from chaffing dishes containing a smorgasbord of food. Cold food on platters filled in the spaces between the chaffing dishes while large bowls of punch were on a separate table.

         “You have trees out here,” said Samuel Hobson to Walker, looking up at a particularly tall Monterey Pine. The banker and town council member repeated his amazed comment. “You have trees out here. Is that why the building is shaped so funny?”

          Before Walker could answer, Jack jumped into the conversation. “You might not know it, Mr. Hobson, but Walker is a California tree hugger. At Christmas, he won’t even let us cut down a tree but has us decorate one outside in front of the mansion.”

         Walker nodded at his friend’s comments. “That’s right. I don’t know about that tree hugger bit, but I think it’s a crime to cut down a healthy tree. Felix designed this building so we wouldn’t have to cut any of these down.” Like the banker, he looked up at the tree in question, his face showing only contentment and peace.

         In this way, the rest of the afternoon and early evening passed. After the adults had their fill of the food, one by one they came to say their good-byes to Walker before leaving for their homes either in town or the nearby mansion. Only Sue Beth, Joshua, and a handful of adults from the mansion remained. By then, each child who would be staying at the orphanage had picked out their own room. Edith and Stella Farrell already had tucked the tired children into bed for the night. The elderly woman, who had been the original orphanage’s volunteer, was Edith’s new assistant. Her room was in the left wing while Edith now lived in the right wing.

         Finally, just as the sun was disappearing over the horizon, Walker led his people back along the lit pathway to the back door of his mansion. After everyone had passed by him into the building, Walker stood by himself for a few minutes in the near dark, savoring the first quiet time he’d had all day.

         Tomorrow, Hannah’s Home would be available for any new children who might need his care and protection. Already, his recruiters, originally hired to find elderly people, were locating children in terrible situations.

         Within a few days, one of these abused and abandoned children would arrive to join Westbrook’s original six foster children. Amy Erickson was the first, but not the last.

Continued in next segment.

Home of the Gray Dog - Segment 07  (18+) Chapters 31 through 35. #1131304 by J. A. Buxton