Makinen had learned early in his career that you never back down from a confrontation. He walked right up to the screaming kids. In his hand, he had the bow saw. The cars had arrived while he was cutting a small tree down. The saw had seemed to stay in his hands. He rocked the saw back and forth in his
hand as he walked to the kids. When he was only a few feet away from the mob, the swinging brought the saw up against his forearm. It seemed to fit. The steel tube of the bow saw ran along the edge of his forearm in the same classic way you see the police hold their batons on the late night cop shows. The saw blade ran along the outside edge of the arm protecting it.
The first student, an Arne Johanson, was swinging a tire iron. Behind him and to each side were a half a dozen other boys two of which had baseball bats. Arne didn't wait. He and John had beat up other people for Pike. He had learned that the one who strikes first usually has the least bruises afterwards. He swung the iron at Makinen's head. Instead of the crunch of metal against flesh that he expected, he heard the ring of metal against metal. Before he could recover, he felt excruciating pain in the back of his knee followed by the air leaving his chest when he landed with his back on the ground. It took him a full minute to catch his breath and open his eyes. When he did, he saw two of the boys with him with their hands raised, one had blood flowing from a ragged cut on his arm while the other had a foot long gash across his chest. Arne heard screams of terror from the distance and the sound of cars speeding away.
Makinen walked into his sight. Arne saw that the bow saw he held was bent at an angle with blood dripping from the blade. Makinen looked at them and shook his head.
'Stupid. Stupid. Stupid,' he said, still shaking his head. 'Okay, boys, you grab Arne and start walking. Your friends left you. I'm going to call the sheriff's department now. I want you a half mile down the road by the time they arrive. If you're not, I will have to talk to you again. Understand?'
The two boys shook their heads 'yes' and dragged Arne to his feet. For the first time, Arne realized his leg was broken. He screamed himself unconscious. When he woke again, he was in the hospital.
* * * *
Henry Hakanen was finishing the last of the day's paperwork when Nancy buzzed him and told him he had a call on line two. Al Gallea was leaving the office when Henry waved him to a stop.
'You're coming with me on a call, Al,' Henry told him after he hung up the phone. As they were leaving the station, Henry told Nancy, 'Send an ambulance up county six. Tell them they will find three injured boys walking down the road. Then send a deputy to the hospital. Tell him to hold the boys there until I get there to arrest them.'
Al asked, 'What's going on?'
'Some local punks tried to attack Makinen. We'll get Makinen's statement and then talk to the kids.'
When Henry and Al pulled up to Makinen's trailer, they saw the dozen black tire marks left by squealing tires along the edge of the road. In the driveway halfway to the trailer, they saw a tire iron and a couple of baseball bats. Makinen was waiting for them, sitting on the trailer's stairs. After they got out of their car, Al noticed that there were drops of blood on the bats.
'Al, would you collect the evidence while I talk to James?' Henry ordered.
Gallea went back to the car and got out a camera to photograph the scene. He walked back toward the trailer until he could overhear the conversation between his partner and Makinen.
'Henry, you've got three in the hospital. If you want the names of the others, get their names from them. I'm tired. Right now, I feel about a hundred.'
'Okay, Jim, but why don't you stay with your parents until this thing settles down?'
'What, and have them show up there? I'm staying.'
'Jim, I can't have you hurting any more kids... '
'Hold it, Henry. You're the law. You take care of the problem. It's your job, not mine.'
'I can't have you hurting anyone else. I can put you in protective custody.'
'I'm staying... '
Al had to move past hearing distance to get pictures of the tire tracks on the road. When he started back to the car, Henry was carefully loading the baseball bats into the trunk. Makinen wasn't in sight anymore. Al figured he went into the trailer.
'Henry, what went on here?'
'James was in back, doing some yard work. The kids pulled up more drunk then sober. They were yelling something about getting even for Jenny when they came at him. Three of them had those bats and the tire iron we put in back.
The other kids seemed to be along to see the fun. Makinen took their weapons away and everyone got scared and left.'
'Henry, there's more to it than that. What else happened?'
'That's all, Al.'
That was all Gallea got out of Hakanen about his talk with Makinen until they got back to the station. 'I told Jim he should go somewhere until we could get things settled down. I even suggested he go to California to see his kids. All he did was look at me and say, 'I'm not the one you should be worried about.' We've got to work fast, Al!'
The two deputies got out of the station just before midnight. The three juveniles were booked on assault and battery charges. Two had been released into their parents' custody, while Arne spent the night in the hospital so a specialist could view the x-rays of his leg in the morning before his release.
* * * *
James woke, drenched with sweat. When he concentrated, he could just remember the last few images of his nightmare. He was watching Lori walking away. He followed, enjoying the swaying of her body. He reached out to touch her shoulder. When he removed his hands, there was blood on her blouse. He looked at his hand. It was filled with blood. He woke. It was the second time that night that he had the same nightmare. He took a shower and went into the living room, turned the TV to the morning news shows. He slept finally, with no dreams, to the reading of the death tolls from across the world. One hundred killed in fighting in West Africa. Thousands die of diseases in Asia ... earthquake in South America ... bombing in Ireland ... school bus in California...
* * * *
_The hands turn over the card._
_A man in armor sits on a large black horse. He has in his hands a circular disk inscribed with a star. The armored figure looks as solid and immovable as a stone mountain.
CHAPTER 6:
The Knight of Pentacles Sandra Thomas had great parents. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a teacher. Her sister was beautiful and smart. Sandra was plain and even smarter. Sandra grew up toughened by the comparisons between her and her beautiful sister. She would come home, crying about a comment by a boy in school or an award her sister got because of her beauty, to the warm arms of her parents. She loved them so she became a lawyer for the teachers' union.
* * * *
Normally, Sandra administered the State legal office for the teachers' union. She would assign or contract out assignments from the requests sent to her office. Today she had a problem. She had contracted out the sexual- assault case of the small rural community to a local law firm. But now she had a request for help from another teacher claiming the use of blackmail for sexual favors by the principal and superintendent of the same school. And unlike most cases having to do with employer misconduct, there was proof, including audio tapes. She had a feeling that both cases were linked. She knew she wasn't the best trial lawyer on staff, but could she trust that both cases would be handled correctly if she left them with the contracted law firm?
She called in her assistant and told him he was in charge of the office until she got back. She phoned the local law firm, telling them she would be taking charge of the case but they would still be on contract for support services. She made appointments with the county sheriff's department for the next day. Finally, she called her parents and asked if they would baby-sit for tonight. She had to go out of town for a few days and would like some
