Paige spent the next thirty minutes , her emotions being a complete mess , she was worried about Ralph , while not knowing what he was doing or even were he was . A constant worry why had Sly not phoned , it seemed to be an eternity waiting . However after a rather angry Walter had spoken to her at first , at least when the call was finishing he had at least told her it was nice to hear her voice , based on the way he gives a compliment "Nice" was up towards the top of the list .
Eventually Paige got the call she was waiting for from Sly .
" Hello Sly have you got any news for us ?"
" Yes i have managed to track him, but he seems to have done something unusual ."
"What do you mean by unusual , this is Ralph we are talking about ."
"I am aware of that , he has bought one one-way ticket and one open return ticket . Plus he has withdrawn $500 using the same bank card he bought the tickets with . Were did he get that card ?" Queried Sly .
" Don't worry about the card i have an idea on that . If he has bought a one-way ticket that would be for him . The open return means he as convinced someone to be a chaperone for him . He could not get away saying he was 15 because for transatlantic flights you still need a chaperone , and as you know Ralph can be very resourceful when he puts his mind to it . Can you please tell me what you have found ." Said Paige in a agitated voice .
"Sorry it is due to leave JFK. at 9.00pm . New York time , it is Aer Lingus flight AL3569 , flight time is six hours thirty minutes meaning it should land in Dublin at approximately 8.30 am. Dublin time . "
" Ok thank you Sly i will contact Walter to see if he can meet the plane . Thank you Sly I will speak to you later ." Paige ended the call and turned to speak to Happy .
"Sly as tracked Ralph down , and it would seem he has persuaded someone with a $500 bribe and an open return ticket , you know he his as resilient as Walter , i often wonder if i got the right baby or if they were switched at the hospital . Because Ralph gets more like Walter every day , if not worse . I had better phone Walter ." Paige told Happy . Paige dialed the number Walter had given her , Walter picked up on the second ring .
" Paige have you got any news ?"
" Yes he has some how persuaded someone to act as a chaperone for him . He his due to leave JFK. at 9.00pm . tonight New York time and should land at Dublin airport around 8.30am. your time . Do you think you can meet the plane and keep Ralph safe for me ."
" Of course i can and i would give my life to protect Ralph , and to be honest i would do the same for you ." Replied Walter with a catch in his voice .
" I will let you go so you can prepare for your trip . Do you how long it will take ?"
"Well it is about a ninety minute journey . But how as he managed to get a ticket , he needs a chaperone he his only 12 ." Asked Walter .
"Well to get to Portland he had lied about his age and used a false I.D. to say he was 15 . This time it looks like he has talked someone into traveling with him by purchasing an extra open ended return ticket and a bribe of $500 , using a bank card , which Cabe has told me about the account you set up . Before you say anything i am not mad at you , it is the most anyone as ever done for Ralph , his father has never even sent him any money . So i am not mad at you , i want to say thank you with all my heart . Please take care of yourself and Ralph your son . Please call me when you have Ralph ." Paige told Walter while trying to control her tears .
" I will call you later ." Said Walter .
After she had finished speaking to Walter , Paige just sat on the seat , going over things in her mind.
Suddenly she stood up and looked at Happy with fear in her eyes .
" Happy what if the person Ralph has persuaded to take him on the plane , is not what they appear to be ."
Happy realized what Paige was thinking and without answering her , she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Cabe .
" Happy is everything ok . " Cabe asked .
" No, Ralph as persuaded someone to chaperone him on a flight to Ireland , Paige is afraid they may not be what they appear to be . Can you help ?"
" Give me ten minutes and i will call Katherine to see if she can help again . I will call you back ." Answered Cabe .
By this time Paige had begun to pace up and down the aisle of the plane wringing her hands , thinking of all the things that could happen to Ralph if the stranger he had teamed up with was not of good character .
"Paige please slow down , Cabe is on the case . I am sure he will sort something out , please come and sit down and have some coffee . " Happy was almost pleading with Paige .
" My mind is imagining all sorts of things , they could kidnap him , or attack him for any money he his carrying and his bank card they could even be a pedophile .Oh Happy what as he got into now ." Replied Paige trying her best to control the tears she could feel building up in her eyes . She eventually sat down but was constantly checking her watch . " I thought Cabe said ten minutes , why hasn't he phoned it as been twelve minutes now . " Paige asked Happy in a state of despair
" Steady on girl that is a figure of speech not a binding contract , i am sure as soon as he has got some information he will phone . " Replied Happy as she was trying to calm Paige down .
A few minutes later Happy's phone rang .
" Hello Cabe have you got good news , Paige is so agitated at the moment , i need good news to calm her down ."
" Well i have set things in motion , i have spoken to Katherine and explained Ralph had gone walk about . She is going to ring Homeland New York office to see if they will help again . As soon as she phones i will let you know . In the mean time text me the flight details , so if they agree we will have all the information for them ."
" Ok i will do that as soon as we finish this call ."
Happy turned to Paige and explained what was happening .
" So we still are not certain what will happen ." Asked Paige who was beginning to go into panic mode .
" Well no but i am sure New York agents will help again and checkout Ralph's companion ."
The next thirty minutes were passed in total silence . Paige just sat staring straight ahead trying not to think of what could happen to Ralph . A few minutes later Happy's phone rang .
" Hello Cabe , good news i hope . "
" Well it depends how you look at it , I suppose , Katherine has been in touch with Homeland New York and they have promised to send an agent to check on Ralph and his companion , but time is getting short . I hope he gets to JFK before they close the flight . The Agent will ring me direct if he gets to Ralph before take off . I hope to phone no later than 8.30 pm. , and tell Paige we are doing our best so to stay calm . "
" Ok thank you Cabe, await to hear from you later ." Happy again turned to Paige and explained what Cabe had told her . Paige still could not stop worrying over Ralph but she knew that at least something was being done . Cabe rang back at 8.15pm.
" Hi Cabe , good news , great , i am going to put you on speaker so Paige can hear for herself .
Paige " Hello Cabe , thank you for what you have been doing ."
Cabe " I can't let the little fellow get into to much trouble can i . First thing he his perfectly safe , but was a little annoyed when Homeland turned up again as he was about to board the plane . Agent Thomas had them come to the Aer Lingus information desk , when Ralph arrived at the desk accompanied by a grey haired lady in her seventies . She was waiting to purchase a ticket to visit her soon to be born great grandchild . When she was approached by Ralph ,who offered to pay for her return ticket if she would tell them she was his chaperone for the journey , Once he found out why she was going to Ireland to see her soon to be born great grandchild , he gave her $500 to start a college fund for her great grand child , he said it was what his dad had done for him , I assume he meant Walter not Drew . Anyway Agent Thomas stated she is certainly not any sort of threat to Ralph , so he has let them carry on with there journey in line with the instructions given by Katherine . "
Paige " Thank you so much and could you pass my thanks on to both Katherine and Agent Thomas . One thing did Agent Thomas give you the lady's name ."
Cabe " Yes it is Mrs o'Neil ."
Happy " Thank you Cabe we will contact you when we get back ."
Paige turned to Happy with a big smile on her face . " I feel better it is like a great weight of my shoulders , but i had better phone Walter and fill him in on the details ."
" Hello Walter sorry to ring you so late , but i have just found out that Ralph's chaperone is a white haired old lady by the name of Mrs O'Neil . An Agent from New York Homeland has passed her as ok ."
" Thank you Paige , don't worry about the time , feel free to call whever you want a report on Ralph ." Said Walter with a little glee in his voice . "
" I am pleased you will allow me to call and be willing to speak to me . Thank you ,have a good night and could you please call me to let me know Ralph is safe and sound ."
" Of course Paige , goodnight ."
Paige feeling a lot better now most of her worries had now been settled and she was finally able to relax , turning to Happy and smiling said .
" Well i think i can finally settle down . I will see if the Captain is ready to fly us back to L.A. ."
She made her way to the cockpit to have a word with the Captain . She knocked on the door and a voice told her to come in .
" Hello Captain we have sorted out our problem so when you are ready , we can go back to L.A. "
" Unfortunately due to the delay i am over my flight time , i will not be able to leave before 6.00am. tomorrow . So if you could make yourself comfortable in the cabin or if you maybe would like to go with your friend for a meal , that will be fine . If you just want to stay on board , please ask the stewardess to arrange for some meals to be bought in . I am going to the hotel by the airport . If you do not feel comfortable sleeping in the cabin , i could arrange a room at the hotel for you and your friend . "
" No we wil be fine in the cabin , it is certainly not the first place we have had to rough it and the cabin of a luxury jet is certainly not roughing it ."
" If you are sure , Rose the stewardess will be staying on board , so you can always ask her for anything you want ."
" Thank you Captain we will see you and your Co-Pilot , in the morning , have a good night ." Said Paige as she left the cockpit .
Paige returned to Happy and filled her in on what was happening . They decided to have Chinese food and asked Rose to join them . Rose ordered the food and waited close to the plane's door , awaiting the delivery .
Paige sent Walter a text to advise him they would be in air at 6.00am. Washington time and should land at LAX at 11.00am. L.A. time . During that time her phone would be on plane mode . She also phoned Richard and Cabe to explain the delay . the last thing she did was to send a short text to Drew telling him Ralph was on his way to Ireland .
As Paige and Happy's plane was taking off , Ralph was already in Ireland .
8.30am. Dublin Airport Ireland .
Sean who had gone with Walter to the airport was looking at the board which showed the planes landing and was pleased to see that the plane had already landed and the passengers would be due through customs in about fifteen minutes . Walter joined Sean at the barrier , anxious to see Ralph , but also ready to have a "TALK" with him . Twenty minutes later the both heard a Childs voice .
"Walter ,Walter over here ." Both looked over and saw Ralph with a grey haired lady who appeared to be in her mid seventies . Walter waved and Ralph quickly ran into his arms .
" It is good to see you dad ." Said a beaming Ralph .
"Would you like to introduce us to your friend ?" Asked Walter .
" Oh yes this is Mrs. O'Neil she has come back home to vist her daughter and granddaughter . Mrs. O'Neil this is Walter O'Brian the man i have been telling you about ." Explained Ralph .
" It is a pleasure to meet you Mr .Walter O'Brian, you have certainly changed since you used to come into the sweet shop with your sister Megan ." Answered Mrs. O'Neil . "The sweet shop by Callen junior school . It was you and your husband who ran it , we would buy Aniseed balls and Sherbet lemons . It is a real pleasure to meet you again , Mr. O'Neil his he ok.?" "Oh he died ten years ago and it was then i decided to go to America and
live with my sister. I have come back now because my granddaughter is due to give birth next week so i thought it was a good time to take a holiday . "
" I am sorry about that he was a always a kind man . But excuse my ignorance , i should introduce you to my father Sean . " Sean shook Mrs . O'Neil 's hand and was suddenly pushed back as Ralph ran to him and gave him a big hug and quietly asked . " Can i call you grandpa ?" Sean whispered back "yes." Walter had seen this going on and stood there smiling .
" Well Mrs. O'Neil were are you going from here ?" Asked Walter .
" My daughter lives in Kilkenny , however she cannot meet me so i have to take a taxi ."
" Nonsense we will be passing Kilkenny we can drop you off ." Explained Walter . During the journey back Mrs. O'Neil was interested in what Walter had been doing while in America she was amazed at some of the exploits he and his team had been involved in . She expressed her sadness at the death of Megan and was completly surprised as to how Megan had married a member of Walter's team and was shocked when he told her about launching Megan's ashes into space . Mrs. O'Neil was also fascinated how well Walter and Ralph communicated with each other considering he was not a blood relative . By the time they reached Kilkenny and found the address Mrs, O'Neil was staying at an unusual friendship had been made , Walter and Mrs. O'Neil , something Walter put down to Paige's patience in trying to improve his E.Q, before Tim of course . Walter promised he would contact her and take her over to his parents farm for a meal . Once they said their goodbyes , Mrs O'Neil had to ask , were was Ralph's mother , a question that would have to go unanswered .
Callen was only 16km from Kilkenny so within 30 minutes they were pulling up in front of the farm house . Ralph was out of the car almost before it had stopped . He ran up the steps just as Louise opened the door , Ralph ran straight at her and gave her a big hug .
" Can i call you grandma ?" He asked . " If that is what you want Garmhae , you certainly can ." Replied Louise . By the time Walter and Sean arrived at the door , Louise had tears in her eyes and Ralph was still hugging her tight .
" Come on Ralph lets go inside ." said Walter With some reluctance Ralph released Louise and followed Walter into the house . Inside Louise had laid the table for breakfast , she went into the kitchen to fetch plates of food she had prepared . Everyone sat at the table and enjoyed an Irish brunch . Once they had all eaten their fill , Sean went out to check on some of his stock . Walter and Ralph helped Louise to take the dishes and uneaten food into the kitchen . Louise refused any help , it was her kitchen and she would run it has she saw fit .
" Ok Ralph you will be sleeping in my old room , so lets take your bag up and then i think we are going to have a long conversation . But just before we go , i will text your mom and tell her you are safe and well ." Once he had sent the text Walter led Ralph upstairs and opened the door to his old room , which his parents had left pretty much untouched since Walter had left for America . Ralph looked into the room , and his eyes immediately focused on one item .
" Is that the blueprint of the space shuttle that you were arrested for downloading ? " Asked Ralph his eyes never leaving the blueprint .
" Yes , once it was cleared up ,Cabe let me keep it as souvenir and that is were it as always been kept since then ." Answered Walter . All Ralph could utter was "COOL ."
" Right young man , this is where you will be sleeping , you can use or read anything in here that you want to . But nothing is to leave this house without permission from me . . Do you understand . " Ralph nodded his head as an acceptance .
" Ok now that is clear we are going to have a serious conversation . Why have you been so foolish to leave your mom in the first place , and then to leave Drew once he told you he would need to send you back to her ?" Asked Walter .
" I hated mom , because first she was responsible for you leaving . Then Scorpion , who mom seems to think she is in charge of now , let my only school friend die .I could not stand to be around her anymore . If she had only been truthful with you from the start ,none of this needed to happen , so i wanted to punish her and hurt her the way she had done to you ." Answered Ralph with a great deal of malice in his voice .
" But i left because i thought she hated me , but the last time i spoke to her she said she never would , could or will ever hate me , and i admit i find this a little confusing ." Replied Walter .
" But this is were all the problems started . Lack of communication between the two of you . Mom was jealous when you started dating Linda , but her pride would not let her tell you . The only reason she dated Tim was because she saw you hugging Linda when we had that cookout on the roof and it just so happened Tim asked her on a date at that precise moment . Then again with the Tahoe tickets , mom really wanted you to take her , but again you backed down and told her to ask Tim if he would like to take her . I know she regretted asking him , when she knew what she should have done , was to refuse the tickets unless you took her , but again her pride would not let her . Then when you pulled those childish pranks on their trip , she was angry and for once she just did not know how to handle the situation . So she tried to make you jealous ,with her antics around Tim were she made sure you could always see . What she did not take into account was your emotions were still not good and you took her actions to mean she hated you . The day after your memorial at the garage , she dumped Tim ,after we had a long conversation the night before . The way she was after your death showed me just how much in love with you she actually was ." Ralph by this time had lost the malice in his voice but it had been replaced with a hint of sadness .
" Ralph your mom is and for ever will be the love of my life and as i told her yesterday i would give my life to ensure she was safe , but i do not know how i can make it up to her . I can no longer go to America and to expect her to come to Ireland and leave all the people she knows seems so unfair ." Replied Walter .
"Well if you do not ask you will never know ." Replied a cheeky Ralph.
" You are right Ralph , but this conversation is not going the way i meant it to go . You have somehow taken the heat off you and put it onto me and your mom . So now we will get back to the topic we were talking about . You must never do anything like that again , do you realize just how much pain you have caused your mom . How much danger you put yourself in especially approaching a complete stranger to be your chaperone , how could you know that whoever you approached could or would not be a danger to you ." Asked Walter .
" I used some of the tips Toby as taught me about peoples body language . Mrs O'Neil showed no danger signs . " replied Ralph .
" Toby i might have known , but even so what you did as a twelve year old is totally wrong and when i phone your mom later today you will speak to her and apologize for the trouble you have caused and hopefully that will put an end to the matter . " Walter told Ralph who gave him an unconvincing "OK."
For most of the day Ralph spent going though all the items Walter had left in the room , when he left for America . He was facinated by the books Walter had read , however some he put to one side ,as they were in a language that Ralph could not remember seeing before . His inquiring mind needed to know so he was going to ask Walter to explain them to him after their evening meal . Louise had kept him well supplied with milk , homemade cake and biscuits .
At six pm. he was called down as the evening meal was ready to be served . Louise had prepared Irish stew served with colcannon , another Irish dish of Mashed potato and cabbage . Once the meal was finished and the dishes cleared away , Louise returned to the kitchen to wash up and clear the uneaten food away . Sean, stayed at the table so he could have a good talk to Walter and Ralph .
" So how are you two doing ?" He asked an open question . Walter was the first to answer .
" We had a good talk when i was showing Ralph his bedroom , Ralph as explained a few things and i have given him a lecture about his behavior to his mom . I will be calling her at 8.00pm , by that time she should have landed in L.A. and Ralph is going to apologize and i need to sort a few problems out . Right Ralph ."
" Yes sir . Dad can i ask a question please ?" " Sure go ahead ." " I found some books in your room in a language i don't understand , can you explain some of them and maybe teach me to read them . " " You must mean the ones written in Irish Gaelic , the traditional language of Ireland ." " Can you speak it grandpa ?" Queried Ralph " I can but i am a little rusty and not to good at reading it either ." " How about grandma ?" " Yes she can , better than me actually , but unless he has forgotten , Walter is fluent in both reading and speaking it ." Said Sean with a laugh in his voice . " It looks like you have got the job dad ." Said Ralph with a big smile on his face as he faced Walter .
At 8.00pm. Walter and Ralph excused themselves and went upstairs and went to Ralph's bedroom . Walter called Paige's phone which she answered on the second ring . " Walter is everything alright ?" " Yes Ralph is fine and he wants to talk to you , hang on i will pass the phone to him . " " Mom i am sorry for the way i have been behaving , Walter has kicked my butt over my attitude and i realize now , Daniel's death was not your fault , he was in the wrong place at the wrong time . I was just so upset i took everything out on you . I love you mom ."
" Oh sweetie i love you to and accept your apology , would you like to stay with Walter for a time , hopefully within the next two weeks i will have sorted things out and i would like to come over to Ireland to tell you both what i have been working on . "
"Ok mom , i will pass you over to Walter and mom i really do love you ."
" Thank you sweetie , " Said a much happier Paige ."
Walter had been listening to the conversation with a smile on his face as Ralph finished speaking he reached over for the phone .
" Let me speak to your mom now , will you go downstairs and stay with mom and dad and i will call you when i am ready ."
" Ok dad ." Ralph answered Walter as he passed him the phone , Walter waited a short while before he began speaking to Paige .
" Hello Paige , Ralph and i had a long conversation this afternoon , and he did chastise me a little by saying that all the problems between us have been caused by lack of discussion . I would like to suggest we have a conversation every day to try and clear the air , because Paige i am in love with you ."
" Walter i am in love with you ."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX A/N GARMHAE is Gaelic for Grandson