Chapter 1 – In a Flash

“Are you ready?” Stefanos asked Vasso as he helped her step from the limousine.

 

“Yes,” Vasso replied though she was visibly shaking.

 

“You have the power.  These two vagabonds have been disrupting the world far too long.  Theodosis wants no more dissention.  I’ll be with you all the time.  The important thing is don’t hesitate.  There are cameras watching them all the time.  I’ve studied the films and you need to act before they realize what’s going on.”

 

Vasso nodded her head as they rounded the corner and could hear one of the two witnesses shouting at the crowd that was gathered around him.  The other witness sat on the sidewalk and appeared to be in a trance.

 

The first witness caught sight of her and stopped his dialogue in mid-sentence as Vasso raised her arms as if she was throwing a ball at him.  Beside her, red hot beams shot from Stefanos’ eyes and the area burst into flames.  Street lights exploded, and people dropped to the ground trying to put the flames out that were burning their clothes.  Screams filled the air.  Vasso watched transfixed at what she thought she had done.

 

“A little bit of overkill, my dear,” Stefanos stated as they looked at the bodies of the two dead witnesses surrounded by six other still figures.  Another half dozen people were injured.  The sounds of sirens could be heard in the distance.  “You have the power; you just need to learn to control it.”

 

Vasso gazed at her hands in wonder.

 

A crowd was gathering, civic controllers and ambulances were arriving on the scene.  The civic controllers were trying to find out what had happened.  The cameras appeared to have been destroyed and dangled from the posts where they had been suspended.

 

Stefanos walked up to a man who appeared to be in charge.  “I want the bodies of those two troublemakers placed in front of the temple on platforms.  I want everyone to see that they are mere mortals who were gifted illusionists.”  He turned back to Vasso and extended his arm to her.

 

On the farm

 

“Dad, Maude is really getting fat.  Do you think she’s okay?” Buddy asked, as he and David walked over to the pasture fence.

 

“She’s getting older, maybe she doesn’t burn off as many calories as she used to.  She could even be depressed since Bully’s gone.”

 

“But Mable doesn’t seem to miss Betsy,” countered Buddy.

 

David smiled at Buddy, “I really don’t know.  I’m just making suggestions.  Why don’t you ask Colt to take a look at her, if you’re worried?”

 

“I think I will.”

 

David and Buddy stood watching the two cows.  David thought about how proud he was of his son.  At thirteen, Buddy seemed determined to be a leader.  He watched out for the younger children, made sure chores were getting done, and volunteered for extra tasks.

 

The dwindling hay supply had forced them to go ahead and butcher Betsy earlier in the month.  David would have assumed after the goose episode that the boys would stay away from meat preparation for as long as possible.  Instead, Buddy had asked to help.  He quizzed Colt about organs and muscles.  Today, Buddy was planning to help him sharpen the chains of the chain saws.

 

The duo walked over to the barn door which was already unlatched.  “Guess someone else is working in here,” David said.  They quickly spotted Colt and Peter up in the haymow.  “What’s up?”

 

“Us, at the moment,” Peter called down.  “We’re checking the hay supply.”

 

“How bad is it?”

 

“We need an early spring and several good cuttings this summer.  The extra milk from the cows is great, but I can see why John always said that cows eat too much,” Colt answered.

 

Buddy was helping set up the spotlight in the sharpening area.  “Colt, can you look at Maude sometime?”

 

“Sure.  Anything in particular that you want me to check?”

 

“She’s fat.”

 

“No wonder we’re almost out of hay.  Maybe we’re feeding them too much,” Peter joked.

 

“We may be overfeeding.  Let’s check with Jacob and see how much the animals need.  I usually just grab an armful of hay or a bucket of corn.  I don’t think any of us measure what they get,” confessed Buddy.

 

“Interesting,” David commented.  “Did you measure when you started?”

 

“I don’t remember if we did, or if John just showed us to put so much in a bucket or grab a certain amount of hay.  It seems like it was a long time ago.  In the summer, they just eat grass, so you forget by fall.  Besides that, I only have to do it two or three times a week.”

 

Colt nodded down at David and Buddy, “Looks like something we need to get some conformity on.  Glad that you brought it up, Buddy.  I’ll look at Maude when Peter and I finish here.  Are you becoming our new chain sharpener?”

 

“I’m trying to learn.  Dad let me do the pocket knives last time.  Today, we’re doing the chains and some scissors.”

 

“Get those scissors good and sharp.  I need your mom to give me a haircut,” Bob said as he entered the barn.

 

Sixty minutes later, Colt stood patiently waiting for Buddy to finish what he was doing.  “Well, Buddy, your diagnosis was sort of correct.”

 

Buddy looked questioningly, “Is she sick?”

 

“She’s pregnant.”

 

“How?” David asked.

 

“That’s what I wondered.  In rare cases, a bull can become fertile at seven months, according to what I just looked up in John’s agriculture book.  Bully was just over seven months old, when you put him down.  We know Bully was big to start with, and we all thought he grew fast.  My guess is that Maude was in heat, and Bully had bred her.  When Jayne tried to bring the cows in to milk them, Bully didn’t want her taken away.  He became more aggressive than usual.”

 

“When is the calf coming?” David asked.

 

“Probably mid to late March.”

 

“Any chance that Mable is carrying a calf again?”

 

“Doesn’t appear to be.  She’d have to be as far or farther along if she was.”

 

Buddy looked disgusted, “Bully bred his mother.”

 

“He didn’t think of her as his mother.  He drank his milk from a bucket.  Animals and people don’t reason the same way,” Colt tried to explain.  “Sometimes, we bred the sheep and goats back to relatives because we only have so many animals to choose from.  It’s called line breeding.”

 

“I’d prefer thinking she was fat!”

 

Colt grinned at Buddy, “If you hadn’t been observant and brought it to my attention, we’d have been really surprised in a few weeks.  This way we’ll stop milking her now and let her rest until the new baby comes. We can keep an eye on her, and be there to help if she has another big calf.”

 

“Yeah, you can operate the come-a-long for this one,” David said, clapping him on the back.

 

Italy

 

“Are you alright?” Nickolas asked Giuseppe.

 

“Very stressed.”

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Giuseppe stared off into the corner of the room and was silent.  “I’ll take that as a no,” Nickolas said as he resumed reading.  His uncle had changed in the last few weeks.  He no longer had a story to tell, nor did he laugh, not even at Bella’s antics.  He often held his Bible in his hands, but didn’t open it to read.

 

Maria passed through the living room with a basket of clean laundry to put away.  She gave Nickolas a puzzled look and he followed her to the bedroom.  She sat the basket on the bed and turned to speak to him, “He wouldn’t tell you anything?”

 

“Not a word.  Did you get anything out of my mother?”

 

Maria sighed, “She said it was a personal problem.  They must have had an argument about something.  It isn’t like either of them to hold a grudge.”

 

“I’m not sure that they are angry.  I think it’s more of a deep hurt.  They’ll have to work it out in their own way.  I’m going to get some sleep.  See if you can get Uncle Giuseppe to go to bed.  I don’t think he’s slept over two hours any day this week.”

 

“Am I supposed to slip him a sleeping pill, or do you have some other idea?”

 

“Just suggest it to him and point him in the direction of his bed,” Nickolas offered.

 

Maria shrugged as she sat the clothes basket in the corner.  Out in the living room, Giuseppe continued to sit dejectedly.  “Uncle Giuseppe, I put fresh sheets on your bed last night.  Climb the stairs and go to bed, now.”

 

Giuseppe climbed the stairs as if he was being sent to bed for punishment, but not a word came out of his mouth.

 

Maria smiled with satisfaction.  Maybe, Giuseppe and Carmela both needed someone to take control of the situation.

 

In the afternoon

 

Carmela put her jacket and lunch into her locker.  She turned to discuss how the day was going with the supervisor whose shift was ending.

 

“We’ve had problems all day.  I’ve had several engineers look at the system, but no one can figure out why it keeps shutting down.  Maybe you’ll have some luck with it.  Are you coming down with something?”

 

Carmela shrugged, “I don’t think so.  It’s just long hours and poor sleep.  See you tomorrow.”

 

Carmela walked around the factory floor checking on each of her employees who was starting at his station.  Everything seemed to be running at the moment, so she went back into the office to read the reports of the problems earlier in the day.

 

The shift had run smoothly for hours when she heard the alarm that one of the machines was going offline.  Carmela hurried out of the office and could see the engineer, Sebastian, headed toward a machine in the corner.

 

“This one has been down several times today,” Sebastian stated.  “The first shift engineer said it seemed to be overheating.  We really need a few days of shutdown time to give this equipment a good cleaning and overhaul.  There’s the problem, there’s a section of that valve broken.  It gets hot and expands.  Once it cools down, it drops back into position.  I’ll get a welder in here to repair it.  You’ll be shut down for about an hour.”

 

Carmela nodded and turned to the machine operator.  “Take about a ten-minute break and then give the other operators additional breaks until we get your machine back up.”

 

The welder came in thirty minutes later and set up his equipment.  Carmela stood off to the side in case she could be of assistance.  After looking the situation over, the welder lit his torch.

 

Nickolas and Giuseppe were surprised to see fire trucks and police cars at the factory when they arrived at eleven that night.  Nickolas parked the car and they hurried toward the building.

 

“The factory is closed for the rest of the night.  There’s been an explosion.  No one is allowed in,” the security guard explained.

 

“My mother works second shift.  Where would we find the employees that have already left the building?” Nickolas asked.

 

“If she didn’t have transportation, she’s probably in the cafeteria.  You’ll have to wait for her to come out.”

 

Nickolas and Giuseppe waited off to the side.  Nickolas called his mother’s phone, but no one picked up.  They had stood there for twenty minutes when Nickolas’ phone rang.  “Hello…what… we’ll go there now.”  He shoved the phone back in his pocket and took off running.

 

“What’s going on?” Giuseppe called as he tried to keep up.

 

Nickolas unlocked the van and jumped in.  “Mother was hurt in the explosion!”

 

The hospital was chaotic.  Nickolas tried to ask questions of several people, but was told he would need to wait in conference room B.  Several people already were seated in the room.  Two women wore pajamas and robes and had small children with them.

 

A spokesman for the car factory and a hospital employee entered the room right behind them.

 

“I don’t know how long it will take to get everyone here, so I’ll brief those of you who are present,” said the spokesman.  “There was an explosion of unknown origin.  We have one fatality and six injuries.  Everything seems to have been confined to one area in the factory.  Investigators and a bomb squad will be examining the entire building.  As the status of your family member becomes known, you will be notified.”  With that brief report, the man turned and left the room.

 

“If you can tell me the name of your family member, and possibly any description of what they were wearing, or other identifying features, I will try to determine who we have status reports on,” said the other man who was wearing scrubs and holding an electronic device.

 

One of the women gave her husband’s name and a brief description.

 

“He’s in room eleven and you may go see him.  His injuries are first and second degree burns and he is currently being treated.”

 

Nickolas tried to be courteous and allow the women to go first though his anxiety was showing.  The second woman gave her information.

 

“Please go to the conference room next door and someone will be in to speak with you shortly,” the employee said.

 

Giuseppe watched the woman gather her things.  He knew, though she didn’t seem to comprehend, that her companion was the one who had died.

 

Finally, Nickolas was able to speak.

 

“Mrs. Caruso is in room two.  She’s being prepped for surgery.  She hasn’t regained consciousness, but you will be allowed to see her before surgery.”

 

Giuseppe and Nickolas hurried down the hall.  In room two, a body was draped with a sheet and machines hummed.  Nickolas pushed past the nurse to get to the bed and quickly turned away.  The person in the bed had spotty burns on the head and face.  The eyes were covered with a strip of cloth.

 

“What’s she being taken to surgery for?” Giuseppe asked as he stepped forward.

 

The nurse continued to work without looking up.  “X-rays show multiple breaks in her right arm.  The burns need to be cleaned and treated.  That’s all I can tell you presently.”

 

Giuseppe tried to probe further.  “Why is she unconscious?”

 

“I really don’t know.”

 

Giuseppe knelt by the bed and bowed his head.  Nickolas had left the room, but that didn’t matter to him.  He stayed there until an orderly came to take Carmela.

 

“Mr. Caruso, I need you to go to the waiting room.  Your son is already down there.  The doctors are assembled for your wife’s surgery.”

 

Giuseppe looked up and nodded.  It didn’t seem important to correct the young man.  He walked past the conference room where he could hear crying.

 

The young woman and her children sat alone.  He knocked on the door and quietly entered.  He joined them and they all poured out their tears together.