Part 3

Jake walked at least three full paces in front of the others. The hurry in her step reflected the fear in her heart. Heading down 7th Avenue they passed Rockefeller Center on their left. Will slowed at first...staring and then ran a step or two to keep up with the others.

"Time Square!" Will said pointing. "That's Time Square..." He repeated aloud to no one. "Wow..."

Hamilton looked back at him and nodded, "Gotta keep up with the tour guide."

Passing the Empire State Building they followed Broadway and crossed over 9th Street, Houston and finally Park Row. The men were grateful for the drop in speed and each one panted slightly in recovery. The building stood tall and foreboding in front of them. A clear view of Battery Park could easily be seen from any floor.

"Whoa..." Will said in awe.

The Parker Grand Suites once stood thirty stories high. The intricate maze of yellow police tape obscured their view of the front entrance. The left hand corner of the roof was missing and the lower right side had a large crack that had traveled the length of the brick. For those who did not know the damage could have been easily attributed to a major earthquake. But, for those who had been watching the news in the last forty-eight hours--no explanation was necessary.

Jake leapt forth into the street and ducked under the barrier. "Miss! Hey, Miss!" Someone called out to her. Jake proceeded toward the building quickening her step. A strange hand on her shoulder stopped her progress. "Can I help you?" Jake startled at first, her mouth gone dry. "You can't be here." A uniformed officer said.

"I live here." Jake offered.

"Not right now, this building had to be evacuated last night because of the..ah..damage."

"And the people?"

"Some went to shelters...some to hospitals."

"Hospitals?"

"A lot of people were hurt when the roof collapsed."

"Badly hurt?"

"Look Miss...you can't be here right now." He said sternly, avoiding the question. "No one is in there."

"No one?" Her voice low and muffled.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry."

Jake stood with her hands on her hips. Her eyes lifted the length of the building and she focussed on what she thought would be the seventeenth floor. She turned and without thinking looked right and left for the traffic she'd been accustomed to seeing. She crossed the street and returned to her friends.

Jacqueline Pratt had moved around a lot in her young life, barely settling anywhere for more than a year at a time. Her mother's touring schedule had allowed her to grow up in some of the most affluent and influential cities in the world. Moving from apartment to apartment or condo to condo had never been a devastation to her. She had never lived anywhere long enough to plant her feet too firmly. She didn't make friends easily so there were never any long, heartfelt good-byes, she simply repacked her belongings and moved on. It was only her most recent experience at Rawley Academy that had changed her perspective. Entering Rawley, completing the summer semester as well as her Freshman year, she had remained in one place far longer than she had originally intended. The start of her Sophomore year had allowed her to return to familiar places and faces. She loved the changes that had taken place in her life but the newfound continuity now afforded her the chance to be herself ... to be a girl...to be a student...a daughter...and a girlfriend. Monica Pratt had finally agreed with Jacqueline that the time was right to buy an apartment, a place to call home...a place to come home to, and this had been it.
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Bella walked through the familiar glass doors of Friendly's. She saw Scout slowly spinning on a stool at the fountain. His legs dangled and his eyes again seemed mesmerized by his own shoelaces. Bella approached and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. "Hi."

Unintentionally startling him, he looked up. "Hi." He suddenly seemed brighter. "How was your day?"

"Fine." She said although there was no comparison. "Anything?" Bella looked hopeful although she knew that if anything had changed he would have said so immediately, she still felt compelled to ask. She nodded in response and climbed onto a stool next to him. Scout's somber mood was contagious. She wanted to say something enlightening and cheery but it just didn't feel right. It felt better to be sad. "How long have you been here?"

"What time is it?" Scout asked ignoring the watch on his own wrist.

Bella looked up at the clock on the wall. "Twenty passed four."

"A while then," He answered.

"Did you go to classes?"

"A couple."

The silence and short answers were frustrating but understandable. "Hungry?" She asked. Scout shook his head no. Bella consolingly placed her hand at the back of his neck and lightly put her head on his shoulder. She could think of nothing helpful or clever to say...so she said nothing. She was just there...there for him. The warmth of her hand brought comfort to him--if only temporarily. Scout exhaled and let a small sigh escape his lips. Bella felt the counterweight of Scout's head resting on hers...and she smiled.
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"This is so creepy." Will whispered to Hamilton. "Do you really think we might find her here?" Will looked at the clogged entrance of the hospital.

"I hope not." He said at first..."Ah, I mean I hope so...ah I don't know...we just need to find her.

People herded in line at the doorway. Flanked on either side, the news crews seemed to take full advantage of people in misery. Reporters, on the pretense of helping people find their lost family members, shoved microphones into the faces of young women and asked them, "How they fely about the attacks" They filmed while mothers and fathers held up ragged pictures of their missing sons or daughters--they searched for the perfect tearstained face to open the six o'clock broadcast.

Jake stood silently in the line nibbling at her fingernails. More people had already crowded in behind her and she was slowly launched forward in the line. A large bulletin board stood in the foyer of the Bellevue Hospital. The first in a list of many hospitals who'd reported receiving victims from the disaster. A large table stretched out before her manned mostly by volunteers, Red Cross workers and off-duty hospital employees. Papers were strewn over the top and people searched diligently for a recognizable name. "Excuse me, I'm looking for my mother...Monica Pratt." She said to one frazzled looking woman.

"Did you check the list, honey?" She said as she pointed toward the bulletin boards.

Jake approached the board and settled on the first set of posted papers. She ran her finger down through the alphabetical list of names-Benson, Bray, Francer,Heffernanm,Lingman... "Pratt, Pratt, Pratt..." She whispered to herself. The list of names was shorter than she had imagined it would be. Not many people had been found...or identified.

The second list contained the nameless descriptions of people who had been admitted to the hospital.
John Doe#1- White male, approximate age 30, dark hair, slightly balding.
John Doe #18-Hispanic male, unknown age, gray/silver hair, plaid shirt.

Jake skimmed the list looking for the females.

Jane Doe #6-Blonde/light brown hair, medium length, approximate age 25-30, blue eyes.
Jane Doe # 9-Blonde hair, recently dyed, curly, approximate age 30-40, green eyes.
Jake scanned the list as thoroughly as she could. Finding no apparent matches Jake wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.

She moved over to what was the last and most devastating list.

Specimen #2-Dental; upper partial plate, eye tooth missing, porcelain crown, approximate age 7-10 years.
Specimen #8- Brown horned rimmed prescription eye glasses; R-2.75-25 L-2.50-75
Specimen#14- Left hand-yellow colored metal band on fourth finger; ? Nail biter.

The warmth of the crowed room began to take it's toll on Jake. Her hand fell away from the list and the blood drained from her face. "Are you okay?" she heard someone say in the distance. The darkness enveloped her as her legs gave way.

As Jake opened her eyes she felt the strength of Hamilton's strong arms around her. "Hey." He whispered in close to her ear. "Welcome back."

"Hey..." she responded. Jake was seated in a chair but had no memory of having sat down.

"You got a little pale, a little dizzy in there. Are you feeling better now?" Will asked. Finn returned with a paper cup filled with water and handed it to Jake.

Jake nodded, although she felt far from all right. Her eyes filled. "I don't want to find her here..." she whispered.

Hamilton tightened his grip and pulled her into him comfortingly, kissing the top of her hair. "I know."

"Look, I think you need a break kiddo. Let's call it a day, okay?" Finn suggested.

"No." Jake struggled to her feet. "I have to keep looking."

"I figured that's what you'd say." Finn bent to one knee in front of her. "Look Jake, you need some rest, a bite to eat...give yourself a little time. Will and I will check the other two hospitals closest to here. Let Hamilton take you back to the motel..."

Jake begrudgingly agreed. "Thank you." She said to them. Jake stood and wrapped her arms around Will's neck. "Thank you, Will." She turned to Finn and hugged him next, "I can't thank you enough for all that you've done." She said.

"Thank me later...when we've found her." He said hopefully. Finn and Will walked toward the front door of the hospital in search of the next set of lists.
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"Come on Scout, let's get out of here." Bella said taking his hand and pulling him off the stool. Evening had fallen and the stars were just coming out.

"Star light-star bright-first star I see tonight-wish I may-wish I might-have this wish I wish tonight." Bella sang softly.

Scout looked at her and smiled. "You don't really believe in that stuff do you?"

"Of course I do."

"You would." He chuckled. She playfully punched him in the ribs. "It can't hurt, can it?"

"No, I guess it can't." Scout looked up at the sky and replayed the poem silently in his head. Hand in hand they stood in front of Friendly's.

"Bella!" Bella's father hung out of the screen door that was her home and yelled across the street. Scout and Bella crossed to where her father was standing.

"Hi Daddy." She said.

"Some guy named Steve has called here twice looking for Scout." Scout checked his cell phone and noted the flashing light blinking battery low.

"Damn!" He said as he replaced the phone in his pocket. "Maybe my mother called. I gotta get back."

"Daddy..." Bella looked up at her father's eyes pleading with him to understand the situation.

"Yeah...yeah...go on." Mr. Banks said. The two turned in the direction of Rawley. "Scout!" He called out. Scout stopped and turned around. "I..ah..I hope everything is all right...with your Dad and all." The animosity he had felt toward Scout and the Senator took it's rightful place on the back burner...for now. The previous days events had brought a new meaning to life and he felt he understood where Bella needed to be.

"Thanks." He said and they turned and walked quickly away.

"Short cut." Scout said as he pushed Bella off the sidewalk and through the woods that led to Rawley Academy.

They ambled through the woods, losing the path from time to time and stumbling through small bushes and tripping over large roots. Without warning, Scout stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Bella asked, "We're almost there."

"I know."

Bella stopped too. "Scout, what is it?"

"What if it was my mother who called? What if they found my Dad?"

"Isn't that what we're hoping for?" She questioned.

"What if things have changed. What if things didn't work out the way I wanted them to."

"What if..." He stopped on his words.

Bella returned to his side and reached out for him. She pulled him into her arms and whispered into his ear. "What if everything is okay? Let's not think about the worst until we have to." As soon as the words had left her mouth she regretted them. "Oh God Scout, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. It's just that I've been thinking about finding my Dad...I've been concentrating on finding him. I guess it had never occurred to me that finding him...might mean not finding him...alive. The last time I thought about him I was angry with him for wanting to leave my Mother."

A tear fell down over Scout's cheek. He felt a security in holding Bella close to him. It was the first time he had allowed himself to think about the possibilities. Bella pushed back allowing a small space between them. She looked into his face, her own eyes misting over. "Scout, you just have to be brave and go in there and deal with whatever it is."

"I don't want to be brave."

Bella wiped away the streak the tears had left on his cheek and replaced it with her hand. Cupping his chin gently she said, " No matter what happens, you won't be alone."

He stared into her eyes. Hearing her words, still holding her close to him...he bent forward and kissed her gently on the lips. It was far from the kiss of a lover...and not the kind of kiss that a brother shared with a sister. It was something in between. The kind of undefinable kiss that was shared by two who could never be together. " Bella...."

"I love you too, Scout." She said as she broke the embrace, took his hand firmly and guided him toward the front steps of Rawley Academy.

Walking up the stack of cement stairs, Scout imagined that this must be what quicksand felt like. Bella pulled at him...willing him to continue. The opened the door and walked in.

"Where the hell have you been?" Steve met Scout in the doorway of the Common Room. "I've been trying to track you down for hours."

"I've been distracted. Did my Mother call?"

"Scout?" A deeper, recognizable voice came from behind him. Scout turned on his heels.

"Dad!!??" He called out as he rushed toward the Senator. "Dad! Oh My God, you're okay. The father and son reunion lasted another few minutes before Scout pulled back. "What happened?"

"My plane took off from DC on time but we were diverted to, of all places, Hartford. I called home from the airport and your Mother came and picked me up. We decided to drive here together."

"Mom?" Scout said out loud as his Mother appeared. Scout ran and hugged his mother. Seeing his parents together in the same room suddenly reminded him of the reason his Dad was coming to Rawley in the first place.

"Son...we need to talk." Senator Calhoun said. Scout felt his mouth get dry.

"Do we have to do it here...now?" Scout said as he looked toward Bella for strength. Bella caught his eye and nodded.

Senator Calhoun walked into the now vacant Common Room and his wife and son followed. Bella took a seat in a beautifully upholstered chair in the foyer to wait until the family meeting was adjourned. "Bella..." Scout returned to the hall.

"I'll wait here." She said.

Scout extended his hand and pulled her out of her chair. "I need you to be with me." He whispered. Bella nodded again assuring him that she would always be there.

"Your mother and I decided that it would be best if we came here to see you in person." His father began.

"I tried to call you Scout..." His mother added.

Scout nodded and looked back at his father, bracing himself for the words his mother had prepared him for. "Three hours is a long time in a car." He laughed. Scout took note of his mother's smile. "It gave your mother and I time to talk..."

"And to listen..." Sylvia added with a smile.

"Something that we hadn't always taken the time to do." There was a slightly uncomfortable pause.

"Scout, honey, what your father is trying to say is we're going to try to make things work again." His Mother said. The Senator crossed the room and put his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"After the events of yesterday...well, let's just say we talked about the things that really matter and it's obvious to both of us that our family is what's important."

Bella looked back from the window of the Common Room in time to catch the Calhoun family hug. Scout looked passed his mother's shoulder to Bella. She pointed out the window and mouthed the words..."star light-star bright."

Scout smiled.
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"Better?" Hamilton asked Jake. They were seated in the diner across from the motel. Hamilton finished his double cheeseburger, french fries and large coke and began to pick from Jake's plate. She pushed it toward him. "Hungry?"

"I worked up an appetite. That was a long walk back."

"Hamilton, you work up an appetite getting out of bed in the morning." She chuckled.

"True." He grinned. "It's nice to see you smile." He said wishing he hadn't brought her attention to it. Jake quickly drew her lips together again.

"I wonder where Finn and Will are?" She asked, immediately feeling guilty that she had allowed them to go traipsing all over New York in search of her mother. What kind of daughter was she.

"Why don't we go back to the room and you can rest for a while."

"I don't need to rest Hamilton...I need to be out there searching, like all the others." Jake stood up from the table and took her wallet out of her purse. She threw a $20.00 bill on the table and walked out the door.

Hamilton followed, running the last few steps to catch up. He reached out and stopped her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Let us help you, Jake. Let me help you."

"I don't need help. I can do this on my own. I've always done things on my own." Jake shook his hand off her shoulder and walked back to the motel leaving Ham standing bewildered in the parking lot of the diner.
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Jake stepped from the shower feeling somewhat rejuvenated. She knew she had a long night ahead of her. Sleep was not an option. She would search every hospital, every shelter, every Red Cross center she could find. She wouldn't stop. She knew if the tables were turned her Mother would never stop searching for her. She slipped on a clean pair of jeans, a T-shirt and retied her sweatshirt around her waist. She put her foot up on a chair and tied her sneaker. She looked into the mirror and tussled her hair into place. Her reflection brought back the memory of dressing for school just the day before. "Man...was that only yesterday?" She said out loud. It felt like a lifetime had passed since things were "normal".

She opened the door of her room and found Hamilton, arms folded across his chest, legs outstretched, ankles crossed sleeping uncomfortably outside the door. She looked down at him and smiled. "My hero." She thought. Jake bent down and nudged his arm. "Hamilton?"

"Hey." He said sleepily.

"Hey." There was a pause as they looked into each other's eyes. "Look...I'm sorry." Jake sat down beside him. "I'm sorry about what I said at the diner. I do need help. It's just that...well..."

"It's okay. " He interrupted, stretching his arm around her shoulder hoping to provide her with some small amount of comfort... "You're not used to asking for help."

"I'm not used to anyone offering me help." She answered. Hamilton smiled in return.

"I love you Jake."

"I know."

"Did you get any sleep at all?"

She shook her head. "I can't sleep. I keep thinking about her...out there, somewhere. What if she's hurt or what if she trying..." she hesitated. "What if she's one of the people on those awful hospital lists...and I just didn't recognize her." Jake looked up at Hamilton, waiting to be reassured that she was wrong...that she was exaggerating the situation...waiting for him to make her feel safe again. Hamilton lowered his head and rested it on top of hers. He said nothing. "I just can't believe this is happening. I can't believe that she could be so selfish. That she just wouldn't bother to call me and let me know that she's okay. She's doing this on purpose...she's punishing me because I wanted her to leave the play and come to Parent's Weekend. I wanted her to be here...for me. Hamilton if I'd just left things the way they were...if I'd just let her be...none of this would be happening." Confused, hurt, angry and sad Jake's mix of emotions startled Hamilton at first. She put both hands over her face and gently sobbed into Hamilton's shoulder.

"Jake..." He whispered turning to kiss the top of her head. "Don't do that to yourself. You know that's not true. None of this is your fault."

Jake let her emotions get the best of her for the first time in two days. She openly wept. "I don't know what to do next." She stuttered between sobs. "Without my mother...I'm all alone." There was a brief pause as Hamilton listened to her. "My mother is all I have. I have no idea about my Dad. I don't have any brothers or sisters. I have an aunt somewhere in Europe that I haven't seen since I was five. My family is whatever cast of whatever show she is working on at the time."

Hamilton held her tighter. "You're not alone. I'm here."

"What am I going to do?" The two sat together in silence for a few more minutes. Hamilton was frustrated. The girl he loved more than anyone or anything in the world was here with him...crying, hurting and there was nothing he could do to console her. He couldn't make things better. He couldn't make it "all right".

"Marry me." Hamilton said softly at first...then repeating the words louder as if to give them definition. "Marry me Jake. I want to be your family." Jake looked at him...he was so sweet. The sides of her mouth turned up on either side giving way to just the smallest smile.

"Um yeah...that'll go over well with your parents...Hi Munchie, how was New York?" She laughed temporarily forgetting her troubles.

"I'm serious Jake." The smile left her face as she watched him stand up. "I want you to marry me...be my wife. I don't ever want you to feel alone again." He bent down on one knee in front of her. He wiped her tear stained cheek with the back of his hand, his eyes never losing contact with hers. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I want you in my life forever Jacqueline Pratt. I love you. I'll always love you. I'll always be here for you. I'll never leave. I promise."

"Hamilton..." she spoke cautiously. "Hamilton...I love you too. But...I think..."

He cut of her words with his own. "Say yes Jake...please say yes."

She brought his face down to hers and kissed him softly on the lips. "Hamilton..."

"What have I done with my life so far?" Hamilton spoke softly.

"What?"

"When I'm gone...what will I leave behind?"

"Hamilton...you're seventeen. You don't have to leave anything behind."

"Nothing lasts forever Jake. Isn't that what we're supposed to learn from all this? I mean, the Pentagon with a hole in the side and the World Trade Center towers... gone. People who woke up yesterday morning and went to work...they're gone now. Nothing's forever, nothing's promised to you, not even the next moment, so why put my faith in a future that might never exist. Why not enjoy it while we can, huh? Live for now. Just being together right now, being in love right now?" A small tear uncontrollably slipped from his eye and rolled down his left cheek. If buildings meant to last forever fell apart, what chance do people have?
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"Jake! Jake!" Finn called out the window of the truck, seeing the pair at the doorway to Jake's room. Will jumped out of the truck and out ran Finn reaching the couple first. "We found her!" Will yelled. "We found your Mother!"

Jake bolted upright. "What? Where?"

"We checked all the hospitals and all the medical tents...we started checking shelters in the area." Finn said. "We were hoping to find a place to drop off all the donations in the back of the truck."

"The first one we stopped at...it was in some old theater playhouse...."

"Oh my God...is she badly hurt? Is she okay?" Jake asked.

"She's fine! She was working there...volunteering."

"Wait...my Mother, Monica Pratt the actress...she was volunteering at a shelter?" Jake sounded surprised as well as relieved. "Where is she? Why didn't she call me?"

"Cell phones aren't working any place in the city." Will said.

"Where is she?" Jake asked looking into the front seat of Finn's truck.

"She said to tell you she's fine...she wants to stay and finish her shift." Will said.

"Her shift?" Jake's eyes widened.

"She wanted us to get some sleep and come back and pick her up in the morning."

"You have to be kidding me." Tears fell from Jake's eyes and into the grin that was covering her face.

Jake grabbed Finn's neck and hugged him causing a gagged sound to come from his mouth. "Jake...okay...stop now." He smiled pulling her hands of him.

"Thank you Finn...Thank you." She turned to Will and reached for him.

"You're welcome" He said as he ducked under her grasp. " Night now..."

Jake walked into the motel room and collapsed onto the bed. Finn and Will walked toward their room and allowed Hamilton a moment to say goodnight to Jake. He followed her into the room and shut the door.

"Happy?" He asked.

"Relieved." She answered.

"Jake...what I said before..."

"It's okay Hamilton..."

"No, let me finish. I meant every word I said. I do love you and I always want to be here for you."

Jake reached up and kissed him pulling him down on top of her. "I love you too..but how about we just be 'engaged to be engaged'?"

"Excellent idea." Hamilton said smiling.

"Happy?" Jake asked.

"Relieved." Hamilton laughed and Jake joined him no longer feeling guilty about smiling.
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THURSDAY, SEPT. 13: -- Investigators find data recorder from United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania. -- Secretary of State Colin Powell identifies alleged terrorist mastermind Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi-born millionaire sheltered by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, as the prime suspect. -- White House press secretary Ari Fleischer cites "real and credible information" that the White House was the original target of American Airlines Flight 77, which instead rammed into the southwest side of the Pentagon, killing an estimated 189 people.

The sun seemed to shine brighter that morning...peaking through the ominous clouds of dust and debris that still hung heavy in the sky. Finn drove back toward the small playhouse and the boys happily unloaded the back of the truck while Jake ran inside to reunite with her mother. "Mom!" She called out and ran to Monica who was setting napkins and plastic forks on to a make shift table. Her her white blouse was stained with grease. Her hair looked uncombed and she wasn't wearing any make-up. Jake almost didn't recognize her.

"Jacqueline." She smiled taking her daughter into her arms. "I'm sorry that you were so worried. I tried to call you..."

"I know, I know the cells weren't working. It's okay Mom, I'm just glad you're okay."

"I'm fine honey. I'm lucky, we're so lucky to be here and we're so fortunate to be okay." Monica reached out and hugged her daughter tightly. "I don't remember the last time I hugged you." Monica said a tear in her eye.

"It's okay Mom."

The morning had passed quickly. Hamilton and Jake set more tables and rolled more blankets preparing for the evening ahead. Will helped unpack boxes of food items and replenished trays as the Firemen and Policemen emptied them during their much needed breaks. Construction workers and welders snored as they slept on blankets on the floor. "Thank you." Will said to each volunteer as they picked up a bottle of juice or a muffin.

Not really intending to, they spent the better part of the day at the shelter. Helping out gave them each a renewed sense of community and heightened their young American spirits. Finn finally returned to the playhouse. "Where have you been?" Will asked.

"Doing my part." Finn responded. He reached for a bottle of juice and Jake noticed the fresh bandage in the crook of his elbow. A small yellow smiley was stuck to the lapel of his shirt which read, 'be nice to me--I gave blood today'.

Finn rested before gassing up the truck and preparing to head back to Rawley. Monica sat in the front of the cab with Finn. Will took Hamilton's seat in the back and Hamilton opted to squeeze into the seat with Jake. With their arms wrapped around each other, they didn't care how long it took them to get home.

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FRIDAY, SEPT. 14: --Authorities make first arrest in the case, holding one of several men detained at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York because they believe he has information crucial to the investigation. Details, including the man's name, were not released. But officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he is the same man found at the airport a day earlier carrying a fake pilot's license. --Justice Department releases names of the 19 alleged hijackers and says it is looking to question 100 people in connection with the attacks. --About a dozen people of Middle Eastern descent who were detained at Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York are cleared of any link to the attacks. --Searchers find data and voice recorders from plane at Pentagon, and cockpit voice recorder of United Flight 93.

The commencement of Parent's Weekend had changed drastically from its original plan. The Bar-B-Que in the Quad had been replaced by a candlelight vigil. The decorations and banners had been replaced by American flags and the theme music had changed to anthems and spirituals. Parents gathered grateful for their children's safety. Student's gathered grateful for the opportunity to have their parents here to share this day. Teachers gathered grateful for the chance to have an impact on the next generation of Americans. A large white candle stood burning at the center of the makeshift stage.

Senator and Mrs. Calhoun chatted with Monica Pratt on the school grounds waiting for the ceremonies to begin. Hamilton, arms wrapped around Jake's waist, stood idly by as Jake retold the story of Hamilton's proposal to Bella. Will and Scout raised the flag on the large flag pole in the center of the Quad as Dean Fleming stepped toward the podium.

"The appalling events of September 11--actions focused on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, with lives also lost near Pittsburgh--have touched every one of us, throughout the United States. I offer my deepest personal condolences to all those in our community who have suffered the loss of a loved one or a friend in this national tragedy, and salute the many people--especially members of the fire department and law enforcement agencies--whose courageous efforts in search and recovery have cost many of them their lives.
Under these grievous conditions, healing will require greater patience and support than ever before among neighbors, acquaintances, and even among friends. As we emerge from our national and personal grief, I am heartened by the long history of this Academy in bringing people of different backgrounds, ideas and interests together. Rawley Academy exemplifies how our society is defined and strengthened by this diversity. Let us continue to be a model of how people can live and work together to create a future founded on the principles of tolerance and understanding. God Bless America."

The front row stepped forward and lit their candles from the largest one. They turned right and left and lit the candles of the people behind them. Gradually, just the glow of candlelight blanketed the hill at Rawley Academy. A moment of silence followed in memory of all the victims and their families. Hamilton reached out for Jake's hand...who reached out for Scout's hand...who took Bella''s hand in his and ended with Will. Finn stood behind smiling at friendships that would ultimately last a lifetime. A long and happy lifetime.

THE END