Daniel Gale (5-7)

- 5 -

For most of the weekend, Varick sat in his parked car watching the Gale house.  He pushed the seat back as far as he could to give him the extra leg room and leaned the seat back as far as possible.  They stayed in their house most of the weekend, Marlow left only to go to work, leaving in thick, cheap make-up and bright colored-clothes.  Bill left only at night and came home drunk and slept through the day.  It was only at night that there was any signs of life and it didn’t take Varick long to figure out what was going on. 

A loud ring blared through the Toyota Camry.  Varick reached in his right pocket and pulled out his cell phone. 

“Varick.”

“Did you get the kid to agree yet?” 

“Flat out said no.”

“Better get to it,” the man said not caring.

“What about the sister?”

“What about her?”

“Bill Damon’s a drunken ex-ranger.  Daniel’s not going to leave his sister with him.” 

“Perfect—tell the kid we’ll take care of his sister in exchange for his employment.  Just make something up.” 

"But are you going to go through with the deal?"

"We'll deal with that when the time comes, for now, just do what you have to."

Varick closed his phone, ending the call.  He slid his hands over his face, contemplating how he should should go about it.  Then he thought about how far Daniel would go into the business, how far would they take him?  But he shook his head, he couldn't get attached.  His job was just to bring him in and they would probably never see each other again.  He did a lot of things in his life that he didn’t agree with, but he always did as he was told. 

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In a couple of days, the school year would be over.  The weather had already transformed into summer, blowing hot air through the large school windows, the grass now yellow from the burning sun. 

Matt had not been in school, and with double chemistry at the end of the day again, it was tremendously boring and went by painfully slow.  Mr. Dullum droned on until the bell finally rang.  Daniel packed up his bag and started towards the swings.  When he got there, Caitlyn was talking with another girl.  They were both on the swings, barely moving, if not moving at all.  The other girl gestured her hands as she talked, both of them excited about something. 

“Did you think it over?”

Hearing a deep voice, Daniel felt as if his heart almost leapt out of his chest as he turned around.  Varick stood behind him, leaning his left shoulder against a tree. 

“Yes, but the answer’s still the same,” his voice was steady, trying to keep calm.

“I know you said you didn’t want anything, but I don't believe you, it's just human nature.” 

Daniel turned his back to Varick, listening but was still watching Caitlyn and her friend. 

Varick continued, “what if I can promise the both of you a new home.” 

Varick caught his attention; Daniel had almost turned his body to Varick, but stopped himself.  He didn’t want to show too much interest in what Varick had to say, he had to keep control of the situation.  So, Daniel continued to keep his back facing Varick and an eye on Caitlyn and her talkative friend.

“She could still end up with a drunk, you know, they’re not too hard to find.” 

“Fine, if you come work for us, I’ll make sure you can even handpick your new parents.” 

Daniel kept silent.  What if he did take Varick’s offer?  He could make sure that Caitlyn had a better home, that she would be safe; she wouldn’t have to go through it anymore.  He would make sure she had loving parents, the ones who would tuck her in before she went to bed, feed her mountains of food, and give her presents. 

“Tell me more about the job.”

“There’s not much to tell, but, you’d train for most of the summer, starting after the school year ends.  When you finish what the agency asks of you, I’ll keep my end of the bargain.”

Daniel turned and faced Varick.  “She gets the home before I do what they want.”
“No, that’s not how it works.” 

“I don’t have to do this, I could just walk away.”

“And I could separate you two, you’ll never know what happen to her—she’ll simply disappear,” Varick said confidently. 

Daniel couldn’t believe how quickly the tables had turned.  There was no use hiding the fact that he didn’t what to get separated from Caitlyn.  He knew it and Varick knew it.  “All right, I’ll do it—.” Daniel answered reluctantly, “—but don’t tell Cathie.”
He knew he didn’t have much of a choice now, but he wanted to know, “What’s going to happen to Cathie while I’m training?” 

“She’ll be fine.” He put on his sunglasses and turned around.

“No, she won’t,” he retorted.

Varick immediately turned around, removed his sunglasses, and glared at him, giving him the “keep it down” face.  Daniel lowered his voice, “he could kill her.”

“Fine, I’ll take care of it,” he said and then turned around and left. 

- 6 -

A few days after school had ended, there was no sign from Varick and since he had given Daniel vague instructions, he didn’t know what to do.  At first he thought it was a joke.  It was the CIA and they had asked him to work for them.  Why him, of all people?  Why had they asked him when he was still young?  Why hadn’t they waited? 

He was almost done cleaning the bathroom when Marlow commanded in a raspy voice, “Clear the table.”  He got up and looked at the table, wobbly like a newborn animal yet old as a dying one.  There were scraps of chicken left on the table which he put in two separate dishes, one for Caitlyn and the other for him, and called Caitlyn out to eat. 

As she ate, he put all the dirty dishes in the sink and walked towards the trash can.  Before he could throw the bones and empty beer bottles away, Daniel saw his name in the trash, on one of the two hastily-opened envelopes, both had been postmarked two days ago.  One was a simple and formal letter which started out by saying: 




Dear Mr. Daniel Gale,

I am pleased to announce that you have been chosen to receive a full scholarship to our program, “Insuring a Future: an engineering program for gifted students”…

Daniel read furiously, clenching the letter in his hands, causing slight creases.  He was nearing the end when it said:

And remember, Kin Hubbard once said: Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.

Raymond Varick
Program Director

He was to be picked up the day after tomorrow, and was instructed to pack lightly, although the ‘program’ lasted for at least 8 weeks.  He slipped the letter back into its stained-blotted envelope, which had already begun to absorb the grease from the trash.

He grabbed the colorful envelope underneath and read it:

Caitlyn Gale,

You have been invited to Camp Luna, for girls ages 10-13.  Come and experience arts and crafts, baking, knitting, and much more…

It sounded boring, but maybe Caitlyn would enjoy it, she had never been to a camp before.  All expenses were paid for.  It also included a list of things she should bring.  She would be picked up in less than an hour.

He shook his head at the thought of finding these letters in the trash.  What if he had missed the deadline?  He should have kept a better eye out for the letters.  He could have lost Caitlyn, if they thought he wasn’t going to comply. 

Daniel stepped into their room.  Caitlyn sat on her bed, reading in the dim lighting. 
“Hey, Cathie,” he said, taking a seat on his bed.  He handed her the letter and told her about how she was going to be picked up in less than an hour.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she whined. 

“It’s going to be all right.  Besides, you’ll get to meet new people, make some new friends.”

“I already have friends,” she said defensively, turning around and continued reading.
Daniel went over to the computer, and went onto the camp’s website.  Camp Luna blared onto the screen, in annoying flashing pink and yellow block letters.  He looked at the pictures and read the “how much fun this place is” quotes from the previous campers. 

“Look, you’ll have all sorts of stuff to do there.”  She still looked uninterested.  Camp Luna must have been a real camp.  Caitlyn‘s invitation had not been signed by Varick, rather by a women named Sally Aster.  Daniel continued down the list of fun things to do.  At this point, Caitlyn had stopped listening to him, who fervently decided she would not leave him. 

Daniel looked down at his watch.  He had 40 minutes left before they would come to pick her up.  They weren’t going to be separated over something like this.  He was going to force her to go. 

Exhausted, from doing all the chores in the house, he struggled to reach the suitcase in the back of the closet.  He was able to finally grasp the old handle and pull out the suitcase.  “Pack your things,” he demanded. 

“I already told you, I’m not going.” 

Daniel walked up to her and stood there, towering over her small body.  “Pack your things,” he repeated, shouting through his teeth. 

Caitlyn sat still, sitting quietly as she continued to read. 

“Here, I’ll help you,” he said coolly.  He grabbed the book out of her hand and threw it into the suitcase.

“Hey!”  She got off the bed and went over to the suitcase, picking up her book.  “Stop being a jerk.  I said I don’t want to go!” she screamed.  She made her way back towards the bed.  He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him, “Yes you are!  Start packing!” 

“No,” she screamed, “I want to stay with you.” 

“You can’t stay with me all the time!”  He was angry and frustrated at the same time.  Angry and frustrated that she didn’t understand.  Without thinking, he pushed her.  “Stop being such a baby!” he shouted at her. He stared at her with his cool gray eyes as she hit her back against the desk, a for a moment, he felt no remorse.  Within a few seconds—when he realized what he had done, his eyes turned gentle again.  He knelt down in front of her, “Cathie—” She held back her tears until she fled the room.  Down the hall and through the door, he heard her cry as she ran away.  “Cathie!” he called. 

Daniel ran out the door.  There was only one place where she would go—The Lighthouse.  He ran towards The Lighthouse.  Instinctively, he looked down at his watch once more, the hands laughing in his face.  He didn’t want to lose Caitlyn, he had to get her back at the house on time but he didn’t want to leave her like this.  If he was never going to see her ever again, he didn’t want Caitlyn to remember him as her jerk brother, throwing her down to the floor.  He ran faster.  He just wanted to apologize.  He couldn’t breath as fast as he ran, his breathing became choppy. 
Finally arriving at The Lighthouse, he immediately called out her name, as he furiously climbed the ladder.  “Cathie,” he said—repeating, calling her name in between breaths.  “Cath—” There was no one there.  There was no dim lighting, no creaks in the floor.  The Lighthouse was quiet, outside, the crickets sang their steady chirps.  Where could she be? Where could she have gone?

Daniel decided to run back to the house.  As he approached the house, there were a steady number of whiny beeps from a car.  Turning the corner, he saw Caitlyn, sitting quietly in the back.  He met her eyes—her once playful eyes turned an angry and dark blue, gazing at him.  The woman, who was adjusting her mirrors, did not see him.  Caitlyn leaned forward and tapped the woman on the shoulder and said something.  The woman nodded and the car took off, Caitlyn turned away from Daniel.  “Cathie?”  He was exhausted, he couldn’t run anymore.  Why did he do it?  It pondered through his head, replaying the scene all night, every word, every action.  The whole time he had been protecting her—to stop her from getting hurt.  Was it unpreventable?  Was it expected?  He had turned into the one person he despised more than anyone—The Bull. 

- 7 -

The day after Caitlyn left for Camp Luna, Daniel started to pack.  Marlow and The Bull had not noticed that Caitlyn was gone.  That night, a car pulled up in front of the brick house. 

“Get the door.” Marlow shouted to Daniel when the doorbell rang.
 
When he opened the door, a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, introduced herself as Wendy and said, “The weather’s horrible, isn’t it? It looks like we’re going to have a big thunderstorm.”

Ironic, he thought, looking at the bright sky, not a cloud in sight.  He remembered the quote from Hubbard that Varick had written, “Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.”  She smiled and offered to take his bags but he declined. 

He shouted to Marlow, who was watching TV that he and Caitlyn were going to camp and would not be home until the summer ended.  He didn’t know if she heard him, Marlow’s eyes stayed glued to the TV, but just in case, he left a note on the dinner table. 

He followed Wendy to the car and threw his duffel bags in the trunk, then took a seat in the back.  She drove in silence, often looking in her rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of Daniel, who stared quietly out the window. 

When they arrived at Logan airport, they checked their bags and headed towards Gate B-9.  “Where are you taking me?” asked Daniel.

“The Farm—in Virginia—for your training,” Wendy said without looking at him. 
She pointed to a row of chairs, “Sit down and don’t wander off,” her voice was stern but softened when she said, “I’m going to get a cup of coffee, you want anything?” 
He shook his head gently and watched Wendy walk off to a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts.  Gate B-9 was full of little children—noisy.  They were like wild animals, running around—their parents chasing after them, exhausted and frustrated.
“Darwin!”  a boy’s mother called.  Daniel turned his head toward the angry mother.  “Darwin get off of there!”  she shouted again.  Darwin, a black-haired kid, found it amusing to make his mother turn beet-red angry, jumped from seat to seat towards Daniel.  Daniel quickly picked up his backpack and walked away from the row of chairs before he got caught between Darwin and his mother. 

Daniel swung his backpack over one shoulder and walked towards the large  windows, where many of the other kids stood watching the planes take off. 

The blonde woman behind the counter stood up and announced in the microphone that Jetblue Flight #3954 was now boarding.  Everyone rushed to the front of the line.  As the line shortened, he began to worry.  Why was she taking so long?  Was he suppose find his way there on his own? 

From the immaculate windows, Daniel saw a figure appear behind him, as he turned around, a hand touched his right shoulder. 

“I told you to stay put.” 

“I wanted to stretch my legs.” 

She sighed before she told him to get in line.  He gave his ticket to the blonde woman and started through the long tunnel into the plane.  He was unfortunate enough to be seated right next to the black-haired troublemaker, Darwin and his loud mother.  He sat uncomfortably as Darwin poked him, asking him all sorts of questions:  Was he traveling alone?  Where was he going?  The mother seemed to pay no attention to Darwin’s interrogation of a total stranger as she fed Darwin’s little brother.  She looked up and started smiling at Daniel, thinking that he was actually enjoying the fact that he was answering such obnoxious questions.