When the six got back to the club house, there was no sign of David or Fr. Jerzy. Jerzy’s car was parked in the garage, but David’s was gone.

But before anyone had a heart attack, Leigh found a note on the team’s message/white board by the security monitor:

“Urgent call from Dad. Took Fr. Jerzy with me. Wonder what Dad will make of that. David.”

Since it wasn’t terribly late, Justin called his uncle’s cell phone.

“Good evening, Justin,” Jerzy answered. “I’m feeling like a new man.”

“We think we took care of it,” Justin told him.

“Good.”

“But we think that maybe you might want to re-consecrate the church, and the rectory and old graveyard, too.”

There was a pregnant pause, as Jerzy struggled against the urge to ask why. When Karen had offered to explain everything to him the day before, he’d been panicked by what was happening to him and wanted to know about it. Sleep had changed his outlook on things.

Given what Fr. Andrew had told him when they’d first met several years ago, not long before Andrew’s death, Jerzy understood that knowing ‘everything’ put one right in the middle of ‘The Fight.’ He’d seen what that had done for Andrew.

Yesterday, when he wasn’t sure he’d see another dawn, he’d been willing to throw caution to the wind. Now, he realized that he’d rather stay on the fringes of this battle, tending to the innocents rather than facing the demons. “Really,” he said.

“Yeah. And you might want to talk to Fr. Colin about doing it.”

“I’m sure that I can handle it myself.”

“Um, he might have different prayers, more specific to what happened there.”

“Ah. Well...rest assured that I will tell you immediately, should any similar symptoms reappear.”

“Good. And, um, when’s the last time you cleaned that bloody attic?”

“Metaphorically speaking,” Master Naka teased, hearing Justin’s question.

“Why?”

“It was a mess up there, and there’s a ton of stuff that looks like it came straight out of ‘Antiques Road Show.’ You might want to have an appraiser take a look at it before you get rid of anything. You could probably sell some of it on eBay. Except Berowski’s stuff. I think maybe you oughta just burn all of that.”

“Well, the church could certainly use the money. But I have to go now. I was in the middle of a fairly spirited metaphysical discussion with David and his father. We had a wonderful dinner together, too. And David said that he’ll take me to visit Weeping Sparrow tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to that.”

“Do you need me to come up and get you? I saw your car in the garage....”

“No, no. David said that, if he needs to stay very long, I can take the car and he’ll find another ride back.”

“Well, when you get back, call Gramma N.”

Jerzy was immediately worried by this. On the other hand, Justin didn’t sound like he was hiding anything. “Why?”

“Because you haven’t in a while, and it’s time you shared. She was a font of useful information.”

“She does know where all the bodies are buried. And I always heard that she was quite the terror when she was younger.”

“I remember Grandpa saying she was ‘hot stuff,’” Justin laughed.

“Well, goodbye, son...and thank you. I appreciate what you and Karen and your friends have done for me...more than I know how to express.”

“Love you.... Bye.”

Karen had shuffled around the whole first floor, searching for Drew, before she found him in one of his favorite spots, curled up on top of the ‘fridge. He gave her a look that said, “You bothered me for this? Yeah, hello to you, too. Now let me go back to sleep, if you don’t mind.”

But when Justin finally tucked her in, Drew was right there, ready to curl up directly under her chin.

The next morning, Saturday, Apr. 26, Tony’s cell phone woke him. He’d been so wiped out after the events of the previous evening that he’d gone straight to bed without setting an alarm...and without calling Fr. Claudio to let him know the Apostate had been killed.

In fact, Tony had completely forgotten that Fr. Claudio was coming to Detroit...until he saw the caller ID on the cell. It was actually one of the archivist’s assistants, calling to let Tony know that Fr. Claudio had managed to get on an earlier flight, and would be landing at Metro shortly after 10am.

Tony flew out of bed and into the bathroom, to shower and shave. He had about a half hour to get to Metro!

When Fr. Claudio arrived, he was disappointed, of course, that he hadn’t been able to offer Tony any more help in defeating the Apostate. However, he’d cleared his calendar in order to stay in Detroit for up to two weeks, and he saw no reason not to enjoy the change from his normal routine.

His first night in town, the team took him to Roma Café for dinner. He declared it “not-a bad for somet’ing in America.” The Envoys took that as high praise, confirming for them that it really was the best Italian food to be had in Detroit, short of being invited to someone’s Italian grandma’s kitchen.

The next day, after Mass, he began doing research on the history of the Diocese of Detroit by looking at the St. Lads parish records with Fr. Jerzy. Since the record-keeping aspect of pastoring a parish was never Jerzy’s highest priority, that turned into a major project in and of itself.

A couple of phone calls and 24 hours later, two of Fr. Claudio’s strapping young Jesuit assistants arrived with arm-loads of electronic equipment. Fr. Claudio may have been on the far side of 100 years old, but he didn’t let that stop him from being interested in the newest technology. As he organized the parish records and then moved on to gathering historical information from other parishes, his assistants were madly scanning everything into their computers.

In the evenings, the old priest spent time socializing with Tony and his friends, and Jerzy and his family. Even Fr. Colin was able to stop in for a visit, and to get a private ‘report’ on the team’s most recent case, as well.

Fr. Claudio ate everything that wasn’t fastened down during his visit, with special pleasure if it had been made by Leigh or Olenka. And he flirted with both in a jovial and harmless manner. As he told Tony when Tony asked about it, “I made a vow, and I’m-a stick to it. But da collar, it not make-a me blind, and it not make-a me dead!”

Olenka was full of praise for Fr. Claudio as well. The light-hearted flirtation made her feel like a much younger woman, and, at her age, she wasn’t going to pass that up just because he was a priest.

Jerzy felt like a young pup himself, spending time with the active and voluble older priest. And he was constantly surprised by the man’s capacity for drink as well as food. He consumed more wine than anyone that age and size ought to be able to without passing out.

As Fr. Claudio’s time in Detroit drew to an end, he mentioned that he would be going to Rome next, to spend a little time at home.

“Think my gramma would like a trip to Rome?” Justin asked. “I’ve been thinking about taking her for a nice vacation somewhere.”

“Who wouldn’?!” Fr. Claudio replied. “Roma is-a da Holy City. She’s il piu bella...da most-a beautiful....”

“But Gramma’s 90,” Justin objected. “What about the long trip?”

“Ah! A mere bambina! It’s-a not-a so bad. You sleep a little, and-a...Bingo!...you dere!”

Fr. Claudio was so enthusiastic about showing his new friends around ‘his’ city that the decision was made for them. Within hours, they’d made the flight arrangements and cleared their schedules for a short, spur-of-the-moment vacation.

And they were glad they did. Tony had been in Rome quite often lately, studying at the Vatican library. But for most of the others, it was their first time there since Fr. Andrew’s funeral. Master Naka was especially pleased to see the sights with such a learned man as a guide, and he enjoyed the opportunity to speak at greater length with the archivist.

And Fr. Claudio was tickled pink to be able to give them all the ‘backstage tour’ of both the Vatican and Rome. He was even able to accommodate Karen’s request to spent a few quiet minutes at Fr. Andrew’s tomb deep under the Vatican, for which she was deeply grateful.

When they got back home, everything was basically just like they left it. And the next couple weeks continued on that way, passing quietly with all of them going about their regular business. For some reason, Karen was beginning to suspect that it was because David was around.

She wondered if he had some sort of dampening field around him, that prevented the Unknown from existing nearby. The only times anything had happened since he’d been sent down by Weeping Sparrow, he’d been busy somewhere else...even if it was reading his email and doing research in the clubhouse office.

After his three days of forced vacation, Aiden was allowed to go back to work, but under the condition that he take at least one day a week off in the future, to avoid OSHA violations. He was so glad to be back at work that he skipped the trip to Rome so he wouldn’t miss any more time.

Leigh was making sure that Becky, in HR, was getting some of her favorites any time she brought ‘goodies’ for the ER staff. Becky was completely won over, sending Leigh thank-you notes and requests for some of the recipes.

Karen had all the arrangements made for the start of the summer’s dig. Spring/Summer Term classes had started immediately after commencements at the beginning of May, and her students were well on their way to learning the skills to make them at least competent when they got to the UP. And between Justin and Fr. Claudio, she had even let herself be persuaded to let her grad students teach for a week while she went with the others to Rome.

By Memorial Day weekend, it was easy to almost forget that the Unknown was still out there causing trouble. Since early May, the trouble Mother Nature caused had everyone’s attention. The cyclone in Myanmar, first, and then the earthquake in China were the big news, of course. Even people who didn’t normally think about world events couldn’t help but know about the devastation in those places. And, closer to home, there had already been several extremely destructive tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast.

But, considering that several members of the team had served in the military, the importance of Memorial Day was enough to draw everyone’s attention back to those closest to them as the month neared its end. Tony had gone to New York, to spend the weekend with his family. And David was spending the weekend at home, too.

The others, who were staying in Detroit for the weekend, planned a barbeque for Monday afternoon, in the garden on the roof of the clubhouse; and Aiden even managed to be there. (Though, to listen to him, the hospital had ‘forced him to take a couple days off.’)

Justin bought the best steaks he could find, and Leigh spent hours in the kitchen baking bread and desserts to die for. Aiden and Master Naka worked hard to bring a variety of side dishes and salads; and even Karen found ways to help out with the preparations by gathering all the necessary picnic supplies and getting everything set up in the ‘garden.’

That afternoon, Justin and Aiden kept squabbling over whose turn it was to tend the grill, while Master Naka watched with amusement. He found it interesting to celebrate this American holiday, though he didn’t partake of the steaks; and the others were quite happy to discuss their individual views and memories about the holiday with him.

Everyone was eating, and Justin had gotten up to take the last ears of corn off the grill, when Aiden’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, then moved away from the others as he opened it.

“You aren’t leaving ‘til you finish eating,” Justin said, pointing the tongs at him. They all expected to hear that the hospital had an overabundance of celebration-related injuries and needed a little extra help from Aiden.

They continued eating, but each kept half an eye on Aiden. After a moment, he looked very concerned. Then, all the blood drained from his face and it looked like someone had punched him in the gut. He said something quietly, shook his head, and closed the phone. Then he went to the edge of the roof and stared out into space.

“What’s up?” Justin asked. “You gotta go?”

“No,” Aiden answered, not even turning to look over his shoulder at Justin.

Leigh went over and put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder, but he shook it off. As he turned away from her, she could see tears rolling down his cheek.

By now, they could all tell that this was something more than a call from work. Justin started toward Aiden, but Leigh waved him off, motioning to her face to indicate that Aiden was crying.

“Oh, God. Is something wrong with Angie?” Justin asked, his heart crawling into his throat.

Aiden said nothing. He stepped away from Leigh, and Leigh gave him the space he seemed to want. But she stayed near, in case he collapsed suddenly.

Justin pulled out his phone and dialed Angie’s cell number. The call went straight to voice mail. “Hey, Angie. It’s Justin. I’m just calling to make sure you’re OK. Call and let us know.”

The next five minutes passed almost silently on the roof. While Aiden wasn’t as bad at lying as Justin, he was in the same league. And it was clear, despite his attempts to hide it, that he was devastated by the news he’d just gotten.

Then Justin’s phone rang. It was Angie. “Angie, thank God. Are you OK?” Justin asked.

“Dad died. I can’t talk right now,” Angie told him. She didn’t wait for a response.

Justin closed his phone, and went over to Aiden and tapped him on the shoulder.

“I really don’t want to talk right now,” Aiden told him.

“Was the call from Angie?” Justin asked.

“No. Angie’s mom. And Angie doesn’t want me there.” Aiden almost choked on the words.

“Do you want to go anyway?”

“No.” It came out flat, as if he’d given up completely and was just now resigning himself to his fate.

Leigh went to the cooler and pulled out a bottle of Aiden’s favorite beer.

“Do you want anything?” Justin asked. “Do you need anything? Or do you just wanna get drunk?”

“Yeah.”

“Then step back from the edge,” Justin told him.

Leigh handed Aiden the beer, and he took it silently. Then he turned and sat on the ledge that surrounded the roof. His cheeks were wet with tears.

Justin picked up his beer from the table and held it up. “To Mr. P?”

“Mr. P.” Everyone raised their bottles or glasses, even Aiden, who then took a very long pull.

“Angie didn’t even want her mom to call,” Aiden told them, the pain of that as evident as his grief. “But she thought I should know.”

“So why did Angie run off to New York, and why are you trying to kill yourself at work?” Justin asked him.

Aiden didn’t say anything.

“A problem shared is a problem halved,” Justin said. His grandparents, Uncle Jerzy and mom all used to say that to him any time he seemed reluctant to share his problems with them.

“Not in this case,” Aiden said bluntly.

The others stared at him until he finally gave in. “Look...her dad got sick, and I couldn’t get free from work to go with her. It’s not like I didn’t care or try. I called around and got her dad hooked up with the best specialist I could find. But she wasn’t returning my calls or emails. And her mom won’t tell me anything.” He sounded exasperated.

After a pause and another long pull that emptied the beer bottle, he continued. “I was pretty sure she was ditching me, but...I don’t know....”

Justin got him another beer. “Were you two OK when she left?”

“Not really. We haven’t been since....” He paused again. “I thought we could past it, but....”

“Some can, some can’t,” Leigh said consolingly.

“Maybe it was too close a brush with commitment for her,” Aiden said, shrugging. “I have to admit that it surprised me that I wasn’t scared off by that. I could’ve gotten free if we’d been married...and I told her that. I mean...I really tried not to push it....”

“So do you wanna go to New York?” Justin asked him.

“No.”

“But, you knew the man....”

“No. Mrs. P. specifically asked that I not come, and I’m going to respect her wishes.”

Justin had gone to get another beer for himself, and he brought one for Aiden, too. He sat beside Aiden on the ledge and handed him the bottle. “Two more beers and we move away from the edge, OK?”

Justin didn’t mean for himself. While he was perfectly happy to let go and get drunk when there were friends around to look out for him, he wasn’t going to do it when he had to keep another friend from drunkenly falling off a roof three stories up. “So, who’s the designated driver?” he asked Karen, Leigh and Master Naka.

“We do have beds downstairs,” Leigh pointed out.

“But he may need help getting down the stairs,” Karen added.

“And staying away from the pole,” Aiden agreed.

“If Tony were here, he might already be stripping on the pole,” Justin said.

“Oh, God! I’ll have to gouge my eyes out!” Aiden wailed.

“Heck, more beer and I might be stripping on the pole,” Justin laughed.

Karen raised her eyebrows, but didn’t say a thing. She quickly shoved a forkful of food in her mouth so she wouldn’t accidently let slip that she didn’t think that would be such a bad thing.

“Of course...if I liked guys,” Aiden said slowly, “he really isn’t all that bad looking.”

“I dunno. A little too hairy for me,” Justin replied.

For the next couple of beers, the conversation just deteriorated, though it stayed pretty much between Justin and Aiden. Leigh and Karen quietly made sure to tempt the two with small amounts of food as they were drinking, so that they’d have enough in their stomachs to slow the alcohol uptake, but not so much that they’d get sick.

About 6 beers in, Aiden suddenly said, “I wanna go ta China. They need doctors.”

“China?” Justin asked, totally confused.

But Karen understood what he was saying. She’d felt the urge herself, to help all those people whose world had been turned upside down by the earthquake. “Yeah, they need everything,” she agreed.

“We have everything!” Justin exclaimed. “We can go!”

“I know they’re letting th’ Jap’nese in. Master Naka...think you could get us in?” Aiden asked, slurring considerably.

“I could get myself admitted,” Master Naka replied.

“I am with Doctors withou’ Borders,” Aiden told him, as if that might help.

“But Tony can’ go,” Justin complained.

“Why?” the others all asked.

“He’s a demolitions engineer.” Justin said it slowly, so he could get the title out without totally mangling it. “The US government prob’ly won’ let ‘im.” Justin looked down at his bottle, disappointed.

“Wait!” He suddenly brightened. “Tony has a red one an’ a blue one!”

“No he doesn’t!” Aiden objected, waving his bottle for emphasis. “I know! I examined ‘im!”

“I believe he was referring to passports,” Karen told Aiden. “Tony has an Italian one, as well as a US one. I remember him saying something about still having ‘familia’ in Italy.”

“And they have all kinds ‘a diff’rent supernat’ral things there, too!” Aiden added.

“Good reason not to go,” Karen mumbled. “We’ve got enough here.”

“But tha’s wha’ we do!” Aiden pounded his chest, a splash of beer hitting from the top of the bottle in his hand hitting his chest.

Justin and Aiden continued to drink, discussing everything they’d need to take along on their trip. Occasionally, Leigh, Karen, or Master Naka would suggest something, just to keep the guys entertained while they cleaned up the remains of the picnic.

The two also persuaded Master Naka to tell them about some of the supernatural creatures in Oriental legends.

“Isn’ it th’ Hungry Okai that can’ answer th’ phone right, or sumpthin?” Justin asked.

“The Hengeoki,” Master Naka said, “supposedly cannot say ‘moshi moshi.’ That is correct. They are shape changers.”

“Like doppelgangers, you mean?” Aiden asked.

“Oh my God! That means there really is a doppelganger password, just like my nerdy cousins said!” Justin shouted. “Aren’t there one type called Kitsune, too?”

“Hai. The fox spirits. Similar to your Native American Coyote.”

“Can’t they be badgers sometimes, too?” Justin asked.

“We don’ need no steenking badgers,” Aiden said in a drunken fake-Mexican bandito accent.

Justin started laughing, and soon both men were laughing hysterically.

Eventually, when Leigh, Karen and Master Naka had finished cleaning up the mess, they suggested going downstairs. Aiden was so drunk by then that there was no way he was going to make it down by himself.

“I’ll help ‘im down,” Justin offered.

Leigh and Karen exchanged a ‘look.’

“Wha?! He’s not heavy...he’s my brother!” Justin declared.

Aiden started the laughing this time, and both men were doubled over after a minute.

“I’ll take him,” Karen said to Leigh, pointing her thumb at Justin, “if you take Aiden. Master Naka, can you get the doors?”

“Hai.”

When they got to the second floor, Justin insisted on stopping in the bathroom. Aiden wanted to go down and play video games, so Leigh and Master Naka continued down with him. Karen was waiting patiently for Justin when he burst out of the bathroom and ran for the fire pole.

“Wheeee!!!” Justin screamed like a kid as he jumped to the pole and slid down.

Karen didn’t even have a chance to stop him, so she hoped he didn’t break his neck at the bottom.

He didn’t. He just sat there on the floor at the bottom of the pole, giggling.

“Hey!” Aiden yelled from the couch. “I challenge you to a duel!”

“Whad’re we playin’?” Justin asked, staggering over. “Halo?”

“No. No’ tha’ one.” It was obvious that it was loaded with memories of Angie for him. He turned down any game Justin suggested that he remembered Angie playing. “How abou’ tha’ superhero one? City sumpthin.”

“Ooo! Whad abou’ th’ villain one? I heard tha’s really good.”

“No! I wanna be a good guy!” Aiden whined.

Justin agreed that was probably better, even though the costumes in the villain one were cooler, and the two settled in with their game controllers.

By this point, Karen and Leigh had gone around hiding all the alcohol in the building. Aiden and Justin were both adults and experienced drinkers. But the girls didn’t want either of them going over the edge into alcohol poisoning just because the two were too drunk to see the line for themselves.

“Hey! I jus’ thought ‘a sumpthin!” Justin hollered from the couch, his eyes never leaving the TV and his fingers never pausing on the game controller. “Whad’about a inflatable boat? Tha’ could be useful in China! Is someone writin’ this down?”

Leigh and Karen grinned at one another and got out a pad of paper. They started writing down everything the group had come up with, no matter how ridiculous the item might sound, for their ‘rescue effort.’ They didn’t really think anyone was going anywhere. But they figured it might be amusing to show the guys their list when they finally sobered up.

Tents
MREs
Solar Blankets
Generator
PV cells/panels for comm equipment and lighting
‘Survival Kits in a Can’
Food
Medical supplies
Sat phones
Shovels

As the guys thought of more items, their imaginations sparked by playing video games, Leigh, Karen or Master Naka, whichever one was closest to the list, would add the item at the bottom.

Inflatable boat
Tools

“Ya know, the best thing we can probably take is some of our own ‘skills,’ Karen suggested. “Like, Tony and I do have ‘other ways’ of finding survivors.’”

Aiden’s and Justin’s eyes got wide. “Ooo, tha’s right! You don’ even hafta dig ta do tha’!”

‘Special skills’
Cooking gear
Stove
‘Solar’ showers

By the time Aiden and Justin had sobered up, they couldn’t even remember having come up with the idea of going to China to help with the rescue effort...but they liked it. And even Karen, Leigh and Master Naka had begun to wonder if it might be feasible.

They’d started a second list of things they’d have to do to make this happen:

Get Visas
Gather passports
Find someplace for Drew to stay
Pack gear
Make arrangements for time off of work
Make travel arrangements (See if Tony can fly us)