“She told you that?”
“No. Fergus plugged in the button camera he brought back with him. The old laptop he was playing with left a file that he didn’t destroy.”
“How do you feel?”
“I’m upset she was put in that position. I wanted to kill Crocker for even assuming he could have her, but someone else did it for me.”
“Mia?”
“No.”
“Abigor?”
“No. I thought it was Murphy, but I no longer think so. But I think it’s something that we’re not supposed to know. It would cause a domino effect, and something vital would be exposed. Eventually, it will come out, but I’m not going to be the one to cause it with my big mouth. I’m asking you to let it go too.”
“She has the chain now. So, she knows.”
“Mason heard her all but tell Abigor that she killed Crocker. She was ready to go to Hell for it. He dismissed it. Evidently, this gave her a bigger alibi for something else that was taking place at the same time. There are secrets, but they aren’t kept to hurt me or you. They are to protect something bigger than us.”
Together they walked back into the office to see Ralph standing there in Wyoming and lecturing Mia about not wearing sunscreen. Bernard stood behind him shaking his head. “You’re golden and freckled,” Ralph noticed.
“I love freckles!” Mia said. “You have freckles.”
“Mia, in my day, we didn’t have sunscreen. Hat and sleeves until they fade.”
Mia looked over and mouthed, “Help.”
Ted walked up and said, “Excuse me, Ralph, but I’m going to go and count all those freckles, and I’ll monitor them for the next fifty years. I promise.”
Bernard laughed. “Ted, send Ralph a bar graph every year.”
“Will do, sir.”
~
The boys were to return in two days. Mia could not let the cold war continue between her and Murphy. Cid and Ted cut through the stress by calling Murph, Robo Murphy. It took Mia a minute to realize that RoboCop was Officer Alex J. Murphy before he had become the robocop. It was funny to them, but it pained Mia. Was this going to be Murph from now on? Was he always going to be this unemotional axeman? If nothing could be done, then she would accept it and try to get the children to understand why the twinkle had disappeared from Murph’s eyes.
She found him preparing the ground for some fall planting beyond the north forty. It wasn’t part of the old Murphy homestead. The land was now part of the preserve, but it didn’t matter to Murphy. It was a sign that he still cared about his promise to Mother Nature. Perhaps he was still able to care.
She approached him slowly and recited:
Deep in the forest there is a tree
Beautiful and fragrant it attracts many bees.
Still young it has to live through many snows
Many springs and summers will come and go.
I will be there forever to protect this tree
This is the promise I give to thee.
He turned around and stared at her.
“Funny thing about promises… they’re rarely kept,” she said, kicking at a dirt clod.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“I came to ask you if you were a keeper or a breaker of promises,” Mia asked.
“I’m an honorable man,” he insisted.
“But in being honorable, does it mean that you keep promises?” she prodded. “Do you cut a tree down the first sign of disease?”
“No.”
“Do you leave the tree without water?”
“No.”
“Then why are you treating me this way?” Mia asked.
“You know why.”
“I absolutely don’t!” she said.
“You’re not who I thought you were.”
“Gee, I haven’t really morally changed since I was fourteen. Physically, I’m a mess. I don’t know from one day to the next what’s going to sprout. I’m like that tree they grafted all the different fruit trees on. I’m like a Stone Fruit Tree.”
“Those are an abomination.”
Mia sighed. “One person’s miracle is another’s abomination. Why did it take me so long to see this?” she asked herself. To Ted, she was a miracle, to Murphy…
“You only see what you want to see. You only do what you want to do,” Murphy claimed.
“Guilty.”
“Why did you lay with Crocker!”
“I didn’t. I fed his mind an illusion to keep him out of my way, so I could get the keys and set the birdmen free. Although, I could have used my body without guilt, and I’ll tell you why. I’ve had so many adjustments to my body that I don’t see it as mine anymore. The only thing that is mine is my mind and my heart. I can step outside of myself and leave my body behind. It’s just a machine, nothing more. If I have to use it to save you, Ted, the kids, then I will. I’m not some shrinking violet that kills myself instead of shaming my family. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there’s a war going on. While you tend to your precious trees, others are fighting the Cynosura. We’re trying to save the people and the planet.”
Mia stopped talking. She didn’t want, in her anger, to spout something that should be kept a secret. Murphy had in the past been known to gossip with others.
“When I was in Hell, I killed a fallen. Why? Because he was
