The Hathaway

The Unburning

The name hung in the air after it was spoken and seemed to silently echo and reverberate through the building. The others looked at the three of them questioningly, as I responded, “Maggie? Maggie’s here?” I had been so wrapped up the events of the evening and the needs of those around me that I wasn’t paying much attention to myself. I closed my eyes and looked inside and I could feel her, just vaguely, but certainly present. I turned to Ben, “Where is she?”

“Beside Sabina,” he said, nodding toward her.

I listened and heard a sense of urgency from her, but hesitation because she didn’t want to scare the kids. “Listen everyone!” I announced. “Maggie saved my life once, she is someone I trust. This might be a little frightening, but she has something important to tell us, so don’t be alarmed when she shows herself to us.” I turned to Sabina and said, “She’s right beside you, are you ready to see her?”

Sabina nodded, and I gave Maggie permission to show herself. A slight chill filled the room as her misty figure came into focus. She was standing directly across from Sabina with her hands on the back of the empty chair that faced her. The rest of the kids let out a collective gasp, but did not seem unduly troubled. I addressed her, “Thank you for coming, Maggie. What do you have to tell us?” Rather than answering me directly, she looked at Sabina. After a brief moment, Sabina nodded, and Maggie smiled.

“I bring hope and a warning.” Maggie’s mouth formed these words, but Sabina actually spoke them. They continued in unison, “The sleepers have awakened. Vengeance is near. The works of hate will be undone and justice will destroy the destroyer. Behold the light of peace and love.” Maggie gestured toward the kitchen door and faded from view.

Sabina shook herself a little and smiled. “She wants us to go outside.” and rising she led the way to the door. We all followed, and what we found was unbelievable. The fire was still raging, but the flames seemed to be moving backwards, as if a film were playing in reverse. The carriage house was surrounded by a circle of blue glowing orbs, each about a foot across. They shone brighter than the flames, and hovered a few feet off the ground, moving very slowly in a counter-clockwise direction. They seemed to have an almost tidal effect, drawing the flames toward them and extinguishing them as they drew near. The firefighters had stepped back and didn’t know what to make of the sight. As they conferred amongst themselves as to what might be going on, the orbs began to slowly increase the speed with which they were circling the building.

“What the Hell is going on here?!” A loud voice demanded, rising above the general hubbub. We all turned to see Helmut fighting his way through the spectators. Once he had broken free he stood in shock, seeing nothing but the fire. I could barely make out his quiet, “Oh my god,” before Kevin broke free and ran to him.

He fairly tackled Helmut, wrapping himself around him and sobbing, “I thought you were dead. Thank God! Thank God.” The rest of us were not far behind, and soon Helmut was almost smothered in embraces.

Only Phil took his time. As he walked toward the pile of humanity with his ex at its heart, he calmly asked, “Where the fuck have you been”

Helmut heard the unmistakable intensity behind the quiet question, and taking a quick glance at all the kids, answered, “I...I, um, was visiting a friend.”

“Were you now?” was all Phil had to say.

At that point our attention was drawn back to the fire. The orbs were spinning quite quickly by now, and the color of the fire was changing from the warm oranges and yellows we were all familiar with, to cooler whites and blues. The change began in the interior of the blaze and slowly worked its way toward the outer edges. The space surrounding the carriage house began to grow cold, as if the flames were drawing in the heat they had released. The circle of orbs was beginning to create a breeze as they circled the building at a higher speed, and the reversal of the flames became more pronounced. As the breeze grew it seemed to create a kind of tornado around the structure, which instead of picking things up from the ground and scattering them into the air, was sucking smoke from the sky and drawing it in toward the flames.

The sound of the wind had an eerie effect. It seemed to cancel out all the ambient noise, the chatter of the spectators, the sound of the firetruck engines, even the sounds of the fire itself. An unnatural silence descended, and in that void a faint sound of singing could be heard, distant at first, but growing louder as the speed of the orbs increased. When all the flames had lost their heat, they began to diminish. The flames at the top of the building disappeared, and I thought I could make out the outline of the roof against the dark sky. The second floor came into view as the flames retreated toward the ground level. Finally only a small circle of flames remained, licking the exterior clapboards. As that circle of flames withdrew to a single point and went out, the singing reached its full intensity and ceased. The spinning orbs simply evaporated and the normal stillness of a late summer evening returned.

No one spoke. The only sounds were the engines of the trucks and the voice of the dispatcher squawking over their radios. Everyone stood in silent disbelief for a long minute before animated chatter began to break out everywhere. The firefighters began picking up their equipment from the muddy ground and the fire chief approached our little group. “I’ll be damned if I know what just happened,” he said. “We’ll take some time to inspect and evaluate the damage. In the mean time I’m having that building cordoned off.” He took a sniff and asked, “Can you smell it? Gasoline.”

Sure enough, there was a strong scent of gas in the air. He motioned for me to follow him toward the carriage house, and scanning the ground in the spot where the fire had ended, he bent down and picked up a single wooden match. “This was no accident.”

Ben and Phil were herding the kids into the kitchen when I returned. “What did he have to say?” Ben asked distractedly. I just looked at him and shook my head slightly. He understood that I didn’t want to talk about it in front of the kids and immediately changed the subject. “Well, what are we going to do with all these snacks?” he asked, turning to the kids. “It sounds like those firefighters are going to be here for a while longer cleaning up and inspecting the carriage house. What do you say we take them out like we had originally planned?”

The kids agreed. Ben and the social worker gave them each a task and the social worker led them out, saying, “Don’t forget to thank them for all their efforts.”

When only the five of us remained, Ben turned to me and asked, “Well?”

“They think it’s arson.” I saw the shock in their eyes and continued, “The fire chief found an unlit match at the spot where the fire finally went out.”

“You mean where it started,” Andi interjected. “Have you ever seen anything like it in your life? It unburned itself.”

“And what were those lights surrounding the fire?” Phil seemed at a loss.

“The sleepers, I would assume.” Andi answered, “And if Maggie’s prophecy is to be believed, this was not simple arson, it was a hate crime. Remember? ‘the works of hate will be undone’?” she quoted the words Sabina had given voice to earlier.

“Undone, indeed!” Ben added, “It’s like there never was a fire. The carriage house looks exactly like it did this morning, not even charred.”

“Thank god for that!” Helmut chuckled. “All my clothes are in there, and theses are a bit ripe.” He lifted his arm and sniffed his pit, making a face.

“And you!” Phil finally unleashed his fury, grabbing him by the throat and pushing him back until he was pinned against a wall. “Visiting a friend. Bullshit! You were out fucking around, weren’t you?!”

“Hey! I didn’t do anything wrong.” He seemed amused by Phil’s anger.

“The hell you didn’t!” Phil pushed harder and began to choke him. “No one knew where you were. We all thought you…” Fear began to creep into Helmut’s eyes as he faced the anguish he had caused for the people he loved most.

“I’m sorry,” he managed through Phil’s strangle hold. “How could I have known?”

“Don’t you ever do that to me again!” Phil released him and backed away. Then raising a hand, he caressed the side of Helmut’s face.

Helmut looked into his eyes and gently repeated, “I’m so sorry.”

I felt Ben take my hand as they shared this tender moment, and squeeze it. But of course Helmut couldn’t leave it there.

“Do you think I might need to be punished?” he whispered to Phil with an evil look.

Phil gave us a quick grin before answering, “We can discuss that later, right now those children are our main concern. When they come back in here I want you to apologize for making them worry so. You do realize how much they all love you?”

Helmut seemed incredulous. “Kevin, yes, but the others?”

“My god, you can be thick.” He turned to us, as he walked away from Helmut in exasperation, and said, “Maybe he’ll listen to you. You tell him.”

Ben and I finally had our turn to give him a real hug and I explained, “Yes, all of them. We are their family now. Not the social workers, they come and go. It’s really on us. We are the constants. You’ve felt it with Kevin, but, to one degree or another, they are all looking to us as parents. Why do you think Ben and I come down here for breakfast every morning?”

“I just thought…” he searched for an explanation. “I don’t know.”

“Because they need to see us, they need to know we’re here. They need to know someone loves them.”

“I hadn’t…”

“They have figured out that Ben and I love them, and they can see how Phil loves them. Have you made it clear that you love them? I know you do.”

“I do.” He seemed to be realizing it for the first time. “I just...I’ve never had kids, I don’t know how to do that shit.”

“Yes you do,” Ben answered. “I saw how you connected with Kevin. Not how I would have done it, but the perfect way for you to do it. Asshole indeed.” Ben grinned at him, “They can tell when you’re being real.”

The fire chief came in at that point and thanked us for the refreshments. “Just wanted to let you know we’ll be leaving shortly. We diluted the gasoline so that it shouldn’t pose a risk, but we’re still keeping the building under wraps until the inspector has had a chance to come and give it the once over.”

Helmut stepped forward and asked, “Can I grab some clothes before you go? Are there still clothes in there?”

“We did an initial walk through and everything looked normal,” the chief said. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t go in, but I can get one of our guys to bring a few things out for you.” Helmut followed him out and we began cleaning up the kitchen.

“Andi and I should probably head back to the boarding house,” Phil Ventured as he put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and turned it on. The kids were hanging out in the rec room, and the firefighters had long since gone. We don’t usually stay out this late.”

“I suppose that’s my cue to offer you a ride home,” I chuckled as I rose and searched for the car keys.

“I have a better idea,” Ben suggested as he walked in. “The kids are still pretty freaked out. I don’t think it’s a good idea to send them off alone to their rooms tonight. I think they need a puppy pile.”

Andi’s eyes got big, “What’s that?”

“Just what it sounds like,” Ben smiled. “We all snuggle together on the floor like puppies. It can be very comforting and I think they need that reassurance after all they’ve been through tonight.”

We all looked at each other and I shrugged, “Why not? If they’re up for it.” I looked at Andi and said, “You don’t have to if it’s to difficult for you to…”

“I hope you’re not going to suggest that I’m too old to get on the floor, young man!” she flashed me a wicked grin. “I will not be deprived of my part in offering these children the comfort and love they need. Try and stop me!”

Ben laughed. “I guess she told you!” He returned to the rec room to inform the kids of the plan.

“I’m sorry, Andi,” I stuttered. “I didn’t mean to imply..”

“Oh, shut up.” she smiled. “Sometimes you’re just too polite for your own good.” She turned to Phil and said excitedly, “I haven’t been to a sleepover in ages. This will be fun.”

As Ben sent the kids off to find all the pillows and blankets they could, Phil called Sammy to give him an update. “That’s right, we’re staying here for the night. You two can handle showing the newbies around for breakfast, can’t you? Good, whatever they want, you know where everything is. And don’t forget to clean up after yourselves. I’ve done enough dishes tonight to last a week.” After a pause he added, “Yes, yes, he’s fine...I’m sure. But he won’t be when I get through with him, I can tell you that!”

Not only did all the bed pillows find their way to the rec room, but the couch cushions and throw pillows from or apartment also made made an appearance, and soon we had constructed a pillow fort large enough to accommodate everyone. By the time we finally settled down and the kids began to drift off it was almost dawn. I must have been the last one awake, because when I noticed that Maggie was standing on the edge of the room watching us with a smile, neither Ben, nor Andi stirred. Even Sabina’s deep and steady breathing remained uninterrupted. I sensed from Maggie that she would stand guard and that I should sleep easy. I also sensed her happiness at the love she saw gathered before her. I nodded my thanks to her and she nodded back, as I allowed myself to sink into the arms of my family.