The Fervent

I was on the phone listening to Peggy’s cousin.

“She will be a marvelous mother. She is exceptional with children, if you’re not already aware of that.”

“I am. You should see what she has accomplished with the ones she has in her school. They all love her, and she has absolutely no discipline problems.”

“I’m not surprised about that. She has a special knack for keeping children in line. We worked one summer at Rockford College, teaching and caring for handicapped children. Peggy had the young boys and I had the young girls. There was a little boy about five years old who was terribly disfigured from birth and had no social skills. His name was Buddy and he had been shuffled from one hospital to another for corrective surgeries all during his short life. No one had ever shown him any kind of personal love or care; therefore he was a hellion on two legs and caused all kinds of problems. Peggy worked miracles with that little boy, and didn’t do it at the expense of the other boys in her charge. By the end of our six week commitment Buddy was the most likeable and best behaved kid in the place. That miracle can be attributed to Peggy and no one else.”

I unlocked the schoolroom door to step inside. We were barely in the room when the man I’d seen outside entered and shut the door. He looked directly at me as he reached around and turned the switch to lock it. Despite the overalls, without the beard there was no doubt in my mind who this guy was. He had finally located me and was about to make me pay for my part in sending him to jail.

He reached into his overalls, pulled out a hunting knife, pointed it at me and started walking toward us.

“This turned out better than I even planned it, Garrett. I get to do you and your new woman at the same time. It’s nice and quiet in here. I’ll have the job done and be gone before anyone knows I was here.”