Chapter 6- a sick type of feeling

Dan had thought deeply about what he should do about Mr Fredricks and his two colleagues. He knew they were up to something that was not going to end well. Yet he did not know the specific details or have any type of definite proof. He did know that saying something would bring his own motives into question. It was also his word against three adults, not a good position for a former gang member who had made lying to adults part of his life. So saying something directly was not going to work out that well he decided. Maybe he could sow the seeds of doubt a little though. He thought through all the people present he could talk to and settled upon Jim Frayne. The older boy at least had some similar experiences that made him more approachable than the others. Dan found him having a drink alone in his room at the Manor house . "Jim", he greeted softly. "Hey Dan, we were about to come find you", Jim remarked. He had not seen Dan arrive and would have thought the younger teen would be steering clear of the manor house, in case he came across Mr Fredricks. "What are you doing up here", he asked casually. "Oh I came up with Bobby , he was playing a game in the woods", Dan replied. He tried to make his answer sound like it was just something unimportant but was unaware he had coloured slightly.

Dan was acting a little guilty thought Jim, which was curious as he was not being accused of anything right at this moment. Okay thought Dan, forge forward and ask him a question. "I saw this strange man leaving the stables, who was he?", he asked. Jim raised his eyebrows, had Dan been sneaking around by the stables again. He decided to be direct and find out, "Dan were you watching us", he asked.

Dan let the question lie for a moment. His methods of being indirect were not working, it would seem strange to jim that he was asking about a man visiting the manor house. Maybe he would have to start by trusting someone and tell them everything. Jim after all was not an adult. "Not you, those men. I don't trust them Jim", he said simply.

Jim took in a sucking breath, what was he going to say in response to that. 'Yes, I know I have reasons to want to see them gone Jim. But that is not what this is about. They are trying to get rid of Uncle Bill for some reason", Dan told Jim. There he had done it actually told someone what he had heard. But of course not how he knew . It was a start though and he wondered what would happen next .

Jim found himself moving from foot to foot. This conversation had progressed to a stage where he should ask others for advice. Yet if Dan had wanted others to be involved then he would have called a Bob White meeting. He had not, choosing him first. Obviously Dan wanted someone to hear his concerns and not dismiss him as causing trouble. He decided to ask more questions and find out what was on his friends mind. "What makes you think that Dan", he asked. "Well ,why did that Mr Reynolds turn up, all of a sudden Jim." Dan countered. Jim found his eyebrows raising even higher, "you started off asking who the stranger was, it seems you already know Dan. How do you know". Dan coloured, this conversation was getting even more awkward. He had to forge ahead. "I was hiding in the stables Jim and heard what was said. I also saw Mr Fredricks doing things to sabotage the tack of the horses so that Uncle Bill would look bad." Dan knew he had just of loaded a whole lot onto the shoulders of Jim Frayne.

Jim was looking pale and obviously upset by his claims. He was going to tell Dan not to be stupid any second, he could feel that. Dan turned away, "it was my mistake to say something Jim, I should go", he said. He had taken one step before Jim's hand latched around him wrist and held on. Dan just managed restrained himself from reacting violently.

Jim had been shocked by Dans confession and knew that Dan could be making it up to get rid of the men that were occupying his uncles time . Yet his obvious reluctance in saying anything when he could not be believed was coming through strongly. Dan was used to being seen as a trouble maker, the one who could lie. Jim was also thinking about Regan questioning them on whether they had been in the stables. He too would have reasons to want Mr Fredricks gone. So perhaps that's why he had not elaborated upon his question when asked. It was an awkward position for both Dan and Regan to be in. At least Dan had come to him about his fears. But he really only had one answer

"Dan you should tell my father what you suspect", Jim said. Dan shook his head, "what proof do I have Jim". They can just say it is all part of preparing for the competition." All I can say for certain is my instincts tell me they are up to no good". Jim took that in soberly and made a decision.

"I will watch them Dan and gather my own evidence. Then I will talk to my father", he stated. Dan thought about that, it could be dangerous. "Just start where I did, ask your father what Mr Reynolds was doing here". If your dad started feeling uncomfortable about being in the competition then he could end your involvement. That would lead to the men leaving, which is our ultimate goal. " Dan took a breath, "I have heard some of the scary things the bob whites have been involved in, I don't want to be the one who puts you in further danger." Jim nodded, he agreed with Dan, his method was less likely to cause a problem for the Bob whites. He looked at his friend, "I will do what you suggest ,in the meantime Dan, stay away from them". Dan thought that was probably the wisest thing to do. "Thanks for listening Jim', he said. Jim nodded, "thanks for sharing Dan I know it was not easy. You did the right thing though. I will help you work it out." He thought for a moment. "Lets not involve Trix though, that will only lead to trouble". "Don't worry I won't say a thing to her", Dan swore solemnly.

"Come on then, lets join the others", Jim suggested. Dan joined up with the other bob whites outside. "lets get out of here and go to skating", Trixie suggested. Nobody argued with that. They all felt like they needed to be away from the stables at that moment. Jim decided to talk to his father later.

They stopped off at the kitchen to collect supplies to take with them. "I will put some things together for you", the kitchen staff told Jim. He knew that once the cooks moved into the kitchen it was off bounds to anyone else. So he backed away, going outside to wait. Celia the maid, helped fill water bottles for all of them to take. She was just about finished when Ivan Fredricks came into the kitchen. "I was just looking for Mr Wheeler", he said. 'Well he's not here", Celia replied. She found herself not really liking this man for some reason. "I can see that", Ivan replied levely. He noticed she had a line of bottles ready upon the bench. "You look busy, perhaps I could help", Ivan hinted "I am just getting some supplies ready for Master Jim and his friends. They are going skating", Celia explained. "Well they should not interrupt you when you are obviously busy with other things. I could help by giving them their drinks", Ivan said. Celia found herself smiling and relaxing. He was just being helpful. "That would be kind of you Mr Fredricks ",she said handing him a bag as well so he could easily carry all of the bottles.

Ivan took the water bottles out into another room and looked them over. It was fairly easy to guess which one belonged to Daniel Mangan as it had his name written along the bottom. He unscrewed the top and then reached into his pocket for a small sachet. Emptying its contents into the bottle, he shook the water about to make sure anything was not visible. Satisifed the water looked normal he secured the lid. Then he causally passed the bottles to another member of Wheelers staff with the instruction to give it to the teens. If anyone questioned him later he could just say he got an urgent call and had to get someone else to run the errand.

He returned to the stables, " I have taken care of Daniel Mangan for awhile", he said in polish to his colleagues. "How", they wanted to know. "Well very soon, he is going to get very sick", he explained with a smile. "it is nothing fatal of course, just enough for a tummy ache. But he will need monitoring and that will get the uncle out of the way for awhile". The other men smiled.

Dan enjoyed the feeling of the cold air swirling around him as he skated. He noticed though that both Brian and Mart had stopped skating to look up at the sky. Whem Trixie joined them moment later he knew something was on their mind. He slowed then stopped beside them to ask, "what is it". "I have not seen a sky like that for awhile", Brian , told him."It means a storm is coming", Mart stated, "and it could be a bad one. " Do you know when it will hit us", Dan asked. He trusted that the Belden's, who had lived in the area for years would know something like that. "That cloud is just sitting there, it could be a day or longer. But it is coming", Brian said firmly. "We all have jobs to do when a storm threatens,"Brian looked over at Dan,"we will need your help Dan". Dan already felt a little tired from all the skating, so took a swig of his water to help refresh his body. "Let's quickly drop the skates back , then continue home", Trixie said to her brothers.

They all hurried back to the manor house. Where they found Mr Wheeler listening to the weather reports. "It sounds like something nasty is coming, heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures are predicted within the next couple of days.", he stated. "We thought the sky looked odd", Brian agreed.

Dan listened and found his spirits lifting. The bad weather was going to put a stop to training for the competition. It might even cause Mr Fredricks and his helpers to leave. "I have let the household staff know and we are preparing everything", Mr Wheeler stated. "Mr Fredricks , Mr Longhill and Mr Anderson are going to leave this evening. They were quite upset about that at first, but I was insistent. We don't need extra people around when a storm is threatening".

Jim felt calm settle over him then, his father had solved the problem of the men for the moment. Dan should have felt relieved , instead there was a distinctly unpleasant sensation centred around his middle. When a stomach cramp severe enough to make him groan passed through his body he reached out and supported himself on Jim Frayne.

The others had turned to look at him and saw his normal colouring pale rapidly. Seconds later it seemed that Dan was about to collapse on the spot .Mr Wheeler actually put his hand out on the other side to support him, the first time the man had ever tried to touch him. "Dan are you alright", he asked in concern. Dan could not answer him because another violent cramp was gripping him ,he groaned again. "Take him to Regan", Mr Wheeler told the Bob whites. Dan had both Jim and Brian supporting him as they guided him up to his Uncle's apartment.

They found Bill Regan eating lunch. He regarded his pale looking nephew soberly, Dan looked really unwell. He found concern rushing up within him ."Put him on my bed and lets just check him out", he told Jim. Dan was gently laid down.

He found that was uncomfortable and kept twisting away slightly. "I have a very sore stomach ",he explained. A wave of nausea rose up then, making him pale even further. He clamped his mouth shut, hoping it was going to stop him being very sick all over his uncles bed.

"I'll give the doctor a call", Bill said worriedly. The bob Whites stayed near Dan while Regan was on the phone. Dan closed his eyes and concentrated on keeping his stomach under control.

"The doctor will call in about 20 minutes from now", Bill stated. He looked over at all of the people gathered around his bed. "I think Dan needs some quiet, why don't you all help out Mr Wheeler", Bill hinted. It was clearly a dismissal and Mr Wheeler led the others out of the apartment. 'I am not sure how long Bill is going to be busy caring for Dan", Matt Wheeler stated. "I will have to ask Mr Fredricks and the others to stay on and help us out".

Jim found himself biting his lip. Dan's words about the men wanting to get rid of Bill Regan were running through his head. Now of course Bill had been drawn away from the horses to care for Dan. Surely that was just a coincidence. It did put worrying images in his head.

Even though the others were still there with him Jim decided he had to say something. "Thinking about Mr Fredricks and the others has me wondering why Mr Reynolds turned up unexpectedly to visit the stables", Jim mentioned. He saw the others stare at him in surprise. Matt Wheeler pulled a face, "I did ask Mr Reynolds why he had come and it seemed to be that he had heard a rumour that the stables were not well managed and the horses in poor condition. He did not say where the rumour came from though. Bill and I were both upset about the claims. I had my suspicions that it could be one of Mr Fredricks helpers, though he assured me they were all professionals. He claimed that there were people that would make claims like that to get rid of fellow competitors. That was one of the reasons I wanted Mr Fredricks and his colleagues to leave , I am beginning to have doubts about this whole competition. It seems to have a lot more pressures than I suspected. However now we have a storm coming I will need their help with the horses. After that well, I will decided if this competition is worth all the fuss it is causing". Matt Wheeler wound down.

Jim marginally relaxed, it sounded like his father had doubts and that could lead to the men leaving permanently. He could feel Trixie's gaze burn into him. But she did not have time to make any comments as Brian and Mart were leading her away.

Trixie complained to Brian, "something is going on with those men Brian. It is not just me who thinks that. Brian inwardly sighed, it was hard to rein in Trixie's impulses to investigate anything she thought was suspicious. "Look Trix we have work to do at home, with the storm coming we have a lot to prepare. I honestly don't see how those men can cause trouble, they will be busy too." Trixie looked partly mollified. He relaxed somewhat, confident that Trixie would be too busy to investigate further.

Xxx

Back in Bill's apartment Doctor Ferris was gently examining Dan noting the teen was very pale and was in obvious pain. Even though Dan flinched when he touched his stomach Doctor Ferris could find nothing definite that could be causing that pain. That led to a conclusion,"it looks like you may have food poisoning Dan", the Doc explained. He turned to Bill, "I will give him something to help with the nausea". If he gets any worse, then you may have to take him into the hospital. For now though, just keep monitoring him. The doctor drew some blood to analyse, then covered Dan back up. "It is better if he just rests here, rather than moving him anywhere else." He patted Dan's shoulder, 'I know you feel terrible Dan, it will pass", he reassured.

Soon Bill and Dan found themselves alone. It was the perfect opportunity to ask Dan some questions. His eyes were closed though and Bill was reluctant to disturb him. He moved away into his kitchenette to make himself coffee. All was quiet for awhile. Bill prowled around restlessly, wondering how Mr Fredricks and the others were doing with the horses. He really wanted to go down and see. That of course would be the wrong thing to do, he knew. Dan's welfare had to come first.

Looking over at his nephew, he saw his eyes were opening again and he was studying he wall in front of the bed. When Bill followed his line of sight, he found himself staring at the only picture he had of his sister. Sudden anxiety welled up inside Bill, he now had an opening to begin a conversation. "The photo was taken shortly before she left to go off with Tim Mangan", Bill told Dan. "I never heard from her again after that",he finished . There was an undertone of bitterness in his own voice that made him cringe, Dan was now going to say nothing. Dan could hear the pain within the tone and knew how his uncle felt, he too was familiar with loss.

What could he say, he wondered. His loss was very recent, his uncle had yers of pain inside. No wonder he had an attitude sometimes, Dan realized .Bill too searched from within his place of pain for something to help them both move forward. Dan in the meantime had the words come into his mind, no accusations , no avoidances, just a simple truth, "I lost her too uncle Bill", he said. Bill found tears in his eyes then and found himself fighting to remain calm. He had to ask the next painful question, no matter how horrible the answer may be. "Did she tell you that I would not want you",Bill said in a half strangled mutter. Dan found himself flinching as the pain of the question made him feel sick. Bill saw his reaction and decided he was pushing too hard. He should just let Dan rest. "Sorry", he said quickly ,moving away from the bed to face the kitchen. He felt the need to get back into control.

Dan fought off the nausea . He could see his uncle faced away from him, his body tense,as he held onto his pain. No matter how bad he felt now physically, he knew his uncle needed an answer. "She told me, that she broke a promise to you Uncle Bill and that it was unforgivable. "You don't tell a child you will come back for him, then don't . It was a terrible thing to do and I should pay for that. He should never have anything to do with me after that". I am sorry you will have to pay the price for my betrayal Dan, we are both out of his life forever", that's what she said.

Dan could not help bursting into sudden tears after saying that. He remembered feeling joy when his mother had told him about his uncle, that joy though had only turned to pain.

For a moment Bill was motionless, as he absorbed the shock of his nephews words. He could hear his sisters guilt reflected within Dans words. It was a guilt born of her love for him and it had obviously affected her deeply. He had loved her to with a passion that had been torn apart by her leaving. His life had moved on slowly amidst the pain of believing he had nothing left of her love. But he did and it was sitting on his bed, in tears. He could keep blaming his sister and reflecting that blame upon Dan, or he could move onward. Without further thought he found himself moving, away from a corner where he was alone and toward his nephew. He found himself wrapping his arms around him and not holding back his own tears.

They sat like that just feeling their own grief for a long moment. When they both finally raised their heads to look at each other, it was with a sudden new connection.

Bill sighed sadly, "I can't say that I would not have felt angry if she had contacted me Dan. But I wish she at least had given me a choice ."

Dan touched his own tears gently. "I think past pain, influenced her feelings", he acknowledged. "We both know what broken promises feel like." Bill found himself frowning at that, what was Dan talking about. "Who broke promises Dan', he asked gently. "My father, uncle Bill, he too looked us both in the eye and promised he would come back from his trip overseas, he never did", Dan replied softly. His throat felt so dry and he still felt sick. The feelings were not all caused by food poisoning he knew.

Bill touched Dan's hand gently, "I know that must have felt awful Dan, I don't think you father thought he'd die though". Dan looked down at his uncles bed. He said nothing for a long minute before finally telling his uncle his own personal pain. "Dad did not die then Uncle Bill, it was a whole year later in another woman's bed." He lied to us both".I guess that is what made it harder for mother. She felt like it was justice for what she did to you. That feeling only bit deeper when she knew she was dying ,as she could not promise not to leave me".

That made Dan cry again and Bill just hold him as his own pain swirled around him. He fought understanding within his pain. So Patty had known she was going to die, then why could she have not at least tried to reach out, for Dan's sake.

He shook that off, he could not go back now,but he could let Dan know what he would have done. "Had I known I would have helped her, no questions, no hesitation', he said firmly without doubt.

Dan could hear the sincerity within his uncles words. Deep down within himself he knew he had always hoped that that is what his uncle would say. His uncle had been open and honest with him. They were a step closer to healing all the pain that lay between them. He could close that gap some more by making a confession. "Mom only told me about you when she knew she was dying. She had terminal cancer and had a few months left to live. I knew she would fight to stay with me, but I could see she was losing that fight, little by little. I did not want her to die without resolving what had happened between you." Dan took a breath, "that's why I tried to find you".

Bill's felt his mouth fall open as yet another shock hit him.