Chapter Fifteen: The Fourth Strand of Rope
Five months had passed since the capture of Louis Davenport by the FBI. The baby marketing proved to be the most emotional bout weathered by the Douglas' and by the other families concerned. It also initiated a lengthy investigation headed by the Social Service people.
Since then, everyone tried his or her best to move on. Most of Davenport's house staff, left to seek other job opportunities in neighboring towns or in other states. No one was found involved in the mess set up by Davenport so there were no reasons to detain them whatsoever.
However for Julie, it was too shocking. Whether she like it or not, the things her foster father had done stared at her on the face. Through the succession of court hearings she also found out that she was/is the Douglas' long lost daughter. This proved to be a difficult blow and the events that came after, scared her. She felt to be in two worlds at the same time. She loved her grandparents and they were there during the proceedings and she also had grown fond with the brothers. It also came to a point that she didn't appear in court. Fortunately, she had already given her testimony and wasn't called for again due to her young age. Her foster grandparents knew it was too distressing for their granddaughter and they decided to fly back to Maine, to be away from the press that the court dealings had generated. Katsumi even came over to help her. But young Julie didn't want to talk to anyone until one sleepless night...
Glancing at her clock she knew it was already midnight back in Los Angeles. She dialed the number and waited.
At the Douglas' residence, the boys' phone blinked and emitted a low beep into the room.
Colt annoyed of having been awaken by the ring, called out. "Rock, the phone's ringing again," his irritated voice floated in their room and buried his face with a pillow.
Rocky groggily pulled himself out to bed and automatically brought the phone to his bed pulled the covers so he wouldn't irritate his younger brothers.
"Hello?" he answered in a sleep-drugged voice. It seemed minutes had passed or so Rocky thought before he realize that he had indeed picked up the phone and was talking to someone on the other line. He thought he was dreaming. Did he?
He tried shaking his head but it only made him woozy.
"Hello?" he repeated. This time his tone was strong and his sleep was retreating.
Julie listened on the other end and forced herself to speak up. "Hi, Rock." She greeted back.
Rocky sat up straight on his bed with the covers still over him. "Julie?" he whispered.
"Yeah," came the reply.
"Are you still in Maine?" Rocky asked as he settled back in his bed.
"Yes," came another curt reply.
Rocky glanced at the receiver and noticed his twin sister being monosyllabic tonight.
"What's wrong?" He gently asked. "We haven't heard from you for a while and Katsumi went there but she told us you wanted to stay longer at your grandparents' house." Rocky said and felt torn.
"I." Julie stammered. " I don't know where I should be, Rocky. I don't want to forget my foster grandparents. They have been so good to me," the girl sat up on her bed and gazed out from her window. From afar she noticed the gray-white colors of the coming dawn. " And there's a part of me that always reminded me to always look for my own real family." She continued. " Now, that I got my wish, I can't decide what I want to do." Julie said with exasperation. "I feel torn." She ended.
"Janine," Rocky started to call her by her real name and heard her gasped on the other line. " I can't tell you what you want to do because it has to be your decision. What comes from your heart. You know, you're welcomed here. Why would you think, you won't be? I'm sure Colt and Tumtum like you very much and I find it nice to have a twin sister aside from the other two," he chuckled.
"Ouch!" Rocky exclaimed as something hit him. He removed the covers and saw Colt and Tumtum standing beside his bed. Tumtum was holding a pillow.
"You okay, Rocky?" Janine asked as she wondered what made him shout.
"I'm fine. The other two are awake. I thought they were asleep," answered Rocky as he sat up on his bed and made room for his brothers as they sat either side of him.
"I got you into trouble again?"
"No.no. don't worry about it," replied Rocky.
"You know we're always here, Janine." He added. He searched his mind for something else to say but there wasn't any so he passed the phone to Colt.
"Hey, Janine," Colt started as Tumtum sat close to him. Rocky went to Tumtum's bed and observed while his brothers spoke with Janine. Half an hour later, it was Tumtum's turn on the phone.
"What's wrong with Janine?" Colt asked when he sat beside Rocky. "Why won't she come home? Didn't the court prove that she's family."?
"They have Colt, but I don't think that's an easy thing to get used to even if she was adopted, she had a life too."
" I'm sure she loved the school we're all in." Colt hastily said.
"It's not that, Colt." Rocky grew pensive. "How do you think you can take back those 17 years?" The two brothers looked at each other just as Tumtum was about to end his conversation with Janine.
"Would you like to talk to Mom and Dad?" Tumtum asked.
"No.no.. no. Not yet Tumtum," Janine said. " May I talk to Rocky again?"
"Sure," Tumtum answered and handed the receiver back to Rocky.
"Rock, please give me time." Janine told him.
"Of course," Rocky said.
"Well, I kept you all up far too long. Good night." She told him.
" Good night to you too or it is morning, over there," Rocky said after glancing at the clock.
Now it was Janine's turn to chuckle. "It's technically morning here but I'll probably stay in bed for another five hours." She answered and they hang up. In the nights to come, the brothers patiently waited for the call but as the days turned to weeks, they convinced themselves that it was the last conversation they had of Janine and this depressed them. But they soon got back to their cheery selves and tackled school with a hope that one day Janine will live with them.
As for Janine, she left for Europe once again to continue her school semester while her foster grandparents were discreetly arranging the papers needed for a school transfer. Julie or Janine as she puts it, felt a twang of sadness as she walked the school corridors. She was going to leave this school soon and for a strange reason, she was going to miss it.
It was nearly lunch break that she joined her best friends, Nikki and Lindsay.
"So, we are going to hit the cinemas this Saturday? I can't wait to watch next film they're showing." Lindsay enthusiastically announced.
"Sure, I'm up for it," Nikki replied.
"I'll be there," Julie's dry response came.
"What's up with you?" Nikki asked. "I've never seen you so distracted."
"You can't be nervous at next week's archery Competition in Belgium?" Lindsay incredulously asked. "You win that round every time." She assured her. "Maybe I can get William," She teased as she winked at Nikki who giggled.
This brought a smile on Julie's face. She hasn't told her friends what happened during her summer vacation in California and for now she pushed all those thoughts and concentrated on the Archery competition.
"Atta, girl. You just said the magic words." Nikki remarked as she smiled at Lindsay.
"So inspiration you will need. I'm calling William to get his butt over here next week." Lindsay said and made mental note on that.
The girls all laughed as they finished lunch and headed for their next classes. Two hours later, they met up again and accompanied Julie to the Archery field where she practices for a couple of hours. The other girls went to hone their equestrian techniques on another field.
Jessica held the most recent photograph of Julie, taken by Katsumi during her practice at the archery range in her school. Katsumi had given the picture to her the other day when she stopped by the Douglas' before going to the airport. She was leaving for Japan and Katsumi had also promised the boys that she would look up Miyo when she passes by Koga and tell her their messages.
This morning, the Douglas' were in Belgium to watch Janine compete at the Archery tournament. The boys were very excited at the prospect of leaving their school for at least week to visit Janine and it was made possible by Janine's foster grandparents since they saw the girl needed them. They also thought it was time for Janine move on too.
The limousine pulled into the already filled parking lot but with the Taylor's it was no problem. They had a reserved spot and all the occupants alighted from the vehicle. Tumtum could not help from gawking at what he saw and Colt made sure to remind the youngest Douglas to keep his mouth close at times.
An elderly man came up to them. "I'm glad you've arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor," he said, trusting out his hand for a handshake. The Taylor's shook hands with him.
"I like you to meet, Mr. Peterson, she's Janine's school principal." Mr. Taylor introduced him to the Douglas'
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Douglas remarked as he shook hands with man.
"Her event is about to start," Mr. Peterson told them and quickly led them to where Janine was stationed. Turning to the Douglas, "Janine is an excellent archer," Mr. Peterson beamed. "She's a straight champion for three years."
"We're very happy to know that." Mr. Douglas said and soon they were seated behind the judges' panel seats.
"Janine's on the third line." Mr. Peterson pointed at the girl who was readying her aim. Rocky immediately turned his attention his sister. Janine wearing her school archery uniform looked pale despite her tanned skin. She released her arrow and it hit the bull's eye. Several other competitors from other schools took aim and out from ten participants only five were left. Soon the elimination went down to three schools. Janine was still scoring a higher point but the two schools were gaining after her in a close match.
The unprecedented came where all three schools were tied. A brief recess was called from the respective coaches to let their players relax. The tension was so high in the air that the Douglas' brothers could feel it from where they were sitting.
On a sudden spark of thought, Rocky turned to his parents. "Mom, dad, we'd like to go down and talk to Janine for a moment before she comes back to her line,"
"It could distract Janine." their mother started.
"I'm sure its okay," their father intervened.
"Great!" The boy said in unison and stood up.
"See that gate over there," Mr. Taylor pointed. The three boys nodded.
"Go through there. Just follow the yellow line and it will lead you the participants section." Mr. Taylor instructed and the boys left their seats and headed for the gate.
Janine had finished talking to her coach as was trying to relax by stretching when a voice behind her called out.
"Janine!"
She turned.
"Rocky, Colt, Tumtum!" she called back and rushed to her brothers. "I.. I. what are you doing here," she stammered as Colt snickered.
Rocky jabbed his elbow at his brother to behave. "We came to visit you," he answered as he smiled.
From the other side of the field using a pair of binoculars, Lindsay spied on their friend talking to three boys.
"Who's that?" Lindsay asked as if she had missed out some secret.
"Who?" Nikki asked.
"Take a look," handing the binoculars to her seatmate. " Julie's is talking to some boy,"
Nikki took the binoculars and zeroed in Julie's way. "I don't know," was the reply, which came a little later. "But his cute." She added and giggled.
"You're impossible, Nikki," Lindsay commented as she took away the binoculars.
Back on the field, "You what?" The girl seemed to have the difficulty in putting things together at the moment.
Rocky noticed it and he smiled. "We all came for moral support," he said as he shook her gently. She looked stunned.
"Your grandpa is here too," she remarked.
"Even our grandpa is here." Colt amended.
Before Julie could say anything, a bell rang and the last event was about to start. "We'll talk after this," and rushed off to her place.
"Who are you?" A male voice asked from behind the boys.
"Her brothers," Tumtum answered him and stopped all talk as he directly his attention to his sister. The other two boys were silent as well.
It was her turn now and everything seemed to slow down before her eyes. Perspiration trickled down her temples and to the side of her face. Her ears hadn't stopped ringing since the start of the heat from the nervousness while her shoulder blades constrict from the tension that notched even higher during the competition. She lowered her bow arm and heaved a breath.
"What's wrong?" Mrs. Douglas asked in surprise.
"She's nervous," Mrs. Taylor remarked as she watched carefully.
Janine glanced at the other competitors. One smirked at her while the other steely looked at her as if daring her that she would not make the point. She knew that if she didn't make this shot count, her school would lose and it will be up for the other schools to take the trophy. She looked around the field and saw her friends shouting at her, or was that cheering her on. She couldn't tell. She was too wound up inside take in more stimuli. She turned her attention to her coach and her brothers. The other two were shouting while Rocky calmly stood and silently encouraging her to complete the heat. Her gaze lingered at the three boys and thought how her life changed. From the innocent summer visit to the adventure at the warehouse, she came to meet her family at long last. Then her brow furrowed. Rocky seemed to saying to her but she couldn't understand what he was saying.
Colt saw the quizzical look on Janine's face as she looked at Rocky. The middle brother turned and asked, "What's that you said?"
"I was saying, four strands of rope," Rocky repeated and the other two fell quiet as they began to understand what their brother said.
"We are one, in mind," Rocky began.
"In body," Colt said.
"In heart," Tumtum continued.
"And in spirit." Janine muttered as she gazed out to her target.
Taking another deep breath, Janine slowly raised her bow and readied her shot. She took aim and after a moment of concentration, she released the arrow. It flew from her bow and head straight to the bull's eye. The passage of the arrow seemed very long. It felt like an eternity before the spotters raised the flag that she hit the mark.
The wait was close to unbearable and soon she jumped when the audience erupted in sheer jubilation! The green flag of the spotter went up and Shultz' school wins the tournament! The Douglas brothers', her coach and her friends came bounding towards Janine! She won the tournament!
" I won?" she asked, bewildered.
"Yes, you won!" her coach said. "Congratulations." He gave her huge hug. Janine was hysterically laughing from the tension, relief and triumph as she faced Rocky. "What were you trying to tell me, a while ago?" She asked as she waited for her three friends to join her.
"That you're the fourth strand of rope," Rocky replied as he held out his hand. The other two followed in putting their hands on top of the other. She finally joins in and places her hand on them and clasped all together.
"Now, we are really complete." Rocky announced as he beams.
"Congratulations, Janine!" The brothers said in unison.
Soon, her three friends came over and respectively gave her hug, even William, her big crush.
"I can't believe it, I won!" Janine repeated in surprise.
**********
"The awards ceremony came after and it took an hour. It was brisk and when it came to her event, the tournament organizers called out Janine's name instead, bearing that huge trophy!" Tumtum related.
"We all went home with happy memories. We finally had that dinner Mom wanted and all of Julie's oh, I mean, Janine's friends were invited. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were there too and the house was so full of people. By the way, Colt is hitting on Lindsay, more to follow," Tumtum giggled at the gossip he found.
"Janine came to stay with us and Mom and Dad couldn't be happier. I wonder where we'll be for our next adventure!" The youngest Douglas thought. But he was interrupted before he could go on. His grandfather asked him to join the family picture he was preparing for. So Mori set up the timer and called everyone to his or her places. The camera snaps.
THE END.
Five months had passed since the capture of Louis Davenport by the FBI. The baby marketing proved to be the most emotional bout weathered by the Douglas' and by the other families concerned. It also initiated a lengthy investigation headed by the Social Service people.
Since then, everyone tried his or her best to move on. Most of Davenport's house staff, left to seek other job opportunities in neighboring towns or in other states. No one was found involved in the mess set up by Davenport so there were no reasons to detain them whatsoever.
However for Julie, it was too shocking. Whether she like it or not, the things her foster father had done stared at her on the face. Through the succession of court hearings she also found out that she was/is the Douglas' long lost daughter. This proved to be a difficult blow and the events that came after, scared her. She felt to be in two worlds at the same time. She loved her grandparents and they were there during the proceedings and she also had grown fond with the brothers. It also came to a point that she didn't appear in court. Fortunately, she had already given her testimony and wasn't called for again due to her young age. Her foster grandparents knew it was too distressing for their granddaughter and they decided to fly back to Maine, to be away from the press that the court dealings had generated. Katsumi even came over to help her. But young Julie didn't want to talk to anyone until one sleepless night...
Glancing at her clock she knew it was already midnight back in Los Angeles. She dialed the number and waited.
At the Douglas' residence, the boys' phone blinked and emitted a low beep into the room.
Colt annoyed of having been awaken by the ring, called out. "Rock, the phone's ringing again," his irritated voice floated in their room and buried his face with a pillow.
Rocky groggily pulled himself out to bed and automatically brought the phone to his bed pulled the covers so he wouldn't irritate his younger brothers.
"Hello?" he answered in a sleep-drugged voice. It seemed minutes had passed or so Rocky thought before he realize that he had indeed picked up the phone and was talking to someone on the other line. He thought he was dreaming. Did he?
He tried shaking his head but it only made him woozy.
"Hello?" he repeated. This time his tone was strong and his sleep was retreating.
Julie listened on the other end and forced herself to speak up. "Hi, Rock." She greeted back.
Rocky sat up straight on his bed with the covers still over him. "Julie?" he whispered.
"Yeah," came the reply.
"Are you still in Maine?" Rocky asked as he settled back in his bed.
"Yes," came another curt reply.
Rocky glanced at the receiver and noticed his twin sister being monosyllabic tonight.
"What's wrong?" He gently asked. "We haven't heard from you for a while and Katsumi went there but she told us you wanted to stay longer at your grandparents' house." Rocky said and felt torn.
"I." Julie stammered. " I don't know where I should be, Rocky. I don't want to forget my foster grandparents. They have been so good to me," the girl sat up on her bed and gazed out from her window. From afar she noticed the gray-white colors of the coming dawn. " And there's a part of me that always reminded me to always look for my own real family." She continued. " Now, that I got my wish, I can't decide what I want to do." Julie said with exasperation. "I feel torn." She ended.
"Janine," Rocky started to call her by her real name and heard her gasped on the other line. " I can't tell you what you want to do because it has to be your decision. What comes from your heart. You know, you're welcomed here. Why would you think, you won't be? I'm sure Colt and Tumtum like you very much and I find it nice to have a twin sister aside from the other two," he chuckled.
"Ouch!" Rocky exclaimed as something hit him. He removed the covers and saw Colt and Tumtum standing beside his bed. Tumtum was holding a pillow.
"You okay, Rocky?" Janine asked as she wondered what made him shout.
"I'm fine. The other two are awake. I thought they were asleep," answered Rocky as he sat up on his bed and made room for his brothers as they sat either side of him.
"I got you into trouble again?"
"No.no. don't worry about it," replied Rocky.
"You know we're always here, Janine." He added. He searched his mind for something else to say but there wasn't any so he passed the phone to Colt.
"Hey, Janine," Colt started as Tumtum sat close to him. Rocky went to Tumtum's bed and observed while his brothers spoke with Janine. Half an hour later, it was Tumtum's turn on the phone.
"What's wrong with Janine?" Colt asked when he sat beside Rocky. "Why won't she come home? Didn't the court prove that she's family."?
"They have Colt, but I don't think that's an easy thing to get used to even if she was adopted, she had a life too."
" I'm sure she loved the school we're all in." Colt hastily said.
"It's not that, Colt." Rocky grew pensive. "How do you think you can take back those 17 years?" The two brothers looked at each other just as Tumtum was about to end his conversation with Janine.
"Would you like to talk to Mom and Dad?" Tumtum asked.
"No.no.. no. Not yet Tumtum," Janine said. " May I talk to Rocky again?"
"Sure," Tumtum answered and handed the receiver back to Rocky.
"Rock, please give me time." Janine told him.
"Of course," Rocky said.
"Well, I kept you all up far too long. Good night." She told him.
" Good night to you too or it is morning, over there," Rocky said after glancing at the clock.
Now it was Janine's turn to chuckle. "It's technically morning here but I'll probably stay in bed for another five hours." She answered and they hang up. In the nights to come, the brothers patiently waited for the call but as the days turned to weeks, they convinced themselves that it was the last conversation they had of Janine and this depressed them. But they soon got back to their cheery selves and tackled school with a hope that one day Janine will live with them.
As for Janine, she left for Europe once again to continue her school semester while her foster grandparents were discreetly arranging the papers needed for a school transfer. Julie or Janine as she puts it, felt a twang of sadness as she walked the school corridors. She was going to leave this school soon and for a strange reason, she was going to miss it.
It was nearly lunch break that she joined her best friends, Nikki and Lindsay.
"So, we are going to hit the cinemas this Saturday? I can't wait to watch next film they're showing." Lindsay enthusiastically announced.
"Sure, I'm up for it," Nikki replied.
"I'll be there," Julie's dry response came.
"What's up with you?" Nikki asked. "I've never seen you so distracted."
"You can't be nervous at next week's archery Competition in Belgium?" Lindsay incredulously asked. "You win that round every time." She assured her. "Maybe I can get William," She teased as she winked at Nikki who giggled.
This brought a smile on Julie's face. She hasn't told her friends what happened during her summer vacation in California and for now she pushed all those thoughts and concentrated on the Archery competition.
"Atta, girl. You just said the magic words." Nikki remarked as she smiled at Lindsay.
"So inspiration you will need. I'm calling William to get his butt over here next week." Lindsay said and made mental note on that.
The girls all laughed as they finished lunch and headed for their next classes. Two hours later, they met up again and accompanied Julie to the Archery field where she practices for a couple of hours. The other girls went to hone their equestrian techniques on another field.
Jessica held the most recent photograph of Julie, taken by Katsumi during her practice at the archery range in her school. Katsumi had given the picture to her the other day when she stopped by the Douglas' before going to the airport. She was leaving for Japan and Katsumi had also promised the boys that she would look up Miyo when she passes by Koga and tell her their messages.
This morning, the Douglas' were in Belgium to watch Janine compete at the Archery tournament. The boys were very excited at the prospect of leaving their school for at least week to visit Janine and it was made possible by Janine's foster grandparents since they saw the girl needed them. They also thought it was time for Janine move on too.
The limousine pulled into the already filled parking lot but with the Taylor's it was no problem. They had a reserved spot and all the occupants alighted from the vehicle. Tumtum could not help from gawking at what he saw and Colt made sure to remind the youngest Douglas to keep his mouth close at times.
An elderly man came up to them. "I'm glad you've arrived, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor," he said, trusting out his hand for a handshake. The Taylor's shook hands with him.
"I like you to meet, Mr. Peterson, she's Janine's school principal." Mr. Taylor introduced him to the Douglas'
"Nice to meet you," Mr. Douglas remarked as he shook hands with man.
"Her event is about to start," Mr. Peterson told them and quickly led them to where Janine was stationed. Turning to the Douglas, "Janine is an excellent archer," Mr. Peterson beamed. "She's a straight champion for three years."
"We're very happy to know that." Mr. Douglas said and soon they were seated behind the judges' panel seats.
"Janine's on the third line." Mr. Peterson pointed at the girl who was readying her aim. Rocky immediately turned his attention his sister. Janine wearing her school archery uniform looked pale despite her tanned skin. She released her arrow and it hit the bull's eye. Several other competitors from other schools took aim and out from ten participants only five were left. Soon the elimination went down to three schools. Janine was still scoring a higher point but the two schools were gaining after her in a close match.
The unprecedented came where all three schools were tied. A brief recess was called from the respective coaches to let their players relax. The tension was so high in the air that the Douglas' brothers could feel it from where they were sitting.
On a sudden spark of thought, Rocky turned to his parents. "Mom, dad, we'd like to go down and talk to Janine for a moment before she comes back to her line,"
"It could distract Janine." their mother started.
"I'm sure its okay," their father intervened.
"Great!" The boy said in unison and stood up.
"See that gate over there," Mr. Taylor pointed. The three boys nodded.
"Go through there. Just follow the yellow line and it will lead you the participants section." Mr. Taylor instructed and the boys left their seats and headed for the gate.
Janine had finished talking to her coach as was trying to relax by stretching when a voice behind her called out.
"Janine!"
She turned.
"Rocky, Colt, Tumtum!" she called back and rushed to her brothers. "I.. I. what are you doing here," she stammered as Colt snickered.
Rocky jabbed his elbow at his brother to behave. "We came to visit you," he answered as he smiled.
From the other side of the field using a pair of binoculars, Lindsay spied on their friend talking to three boys.
"Who's that?" Lindsay asked as if she had missed out some secret.
"Who?" Nikki asked.
"Take a look," handing the binoculars to her seatmate. " Julie's is talking to some boy,"
Nikki took the binoculars and zeroed in Julie's way. "I don't know," was the reply, which came a little later. "But his cute." She added and giggled.
"You're impossible, Nikki," Lindsay commented as she took away the binoculars.
Back on the field, "You what?" The girl seemed to have the difficulty in putting things together at the moment.
Rocky noticed it and he smiled. "We all came for moral support," he said as he shook her gently. She looked stunned.
"Your grandpa is here too," she remarked.
"Even our grandpa is here." Colt amended.
Before Julie could say anything, a bell rang and the last event was about to start. "We'll talk after this," and rushed off to her place.
"Who are you?" A male voice asked from behind the boys.
"Her brothers," Tumtum answered him and stopped all talk as he directly his attention to his sister. The other two boys were silent as well.
It was her turn now and everything seemed to slow down before her eyes. Perspiration trickled down her temples and to the side of her face. Her ears hadn't stopped ringing since the start of the heat from the nervousness while her shoulder blades constrict from the tension that notched even higher during the competition. She lowered her bow arm and heaved a breath.
"What's wrong?" Mrs. Douglas asked in surprise.
"She's nervous," Mrs. Taylor remarked as she watched carefully.
Janine glanced at the other competitors. One smirked at her while the other steely looked at her as if daring her that she would not make the point. She knew that if she didn't make this shot count, her school would lose and it will be up for the other schools to take the trophy. She looked around the field and saw her friends shouting at her, or was that cheering her on. She couldn't tell. She was too wound up inside take in more stimuli. She turned her attention to her coach and her brothers. The other two were shouting while Rocky calmly stood and silently encouraging her to complete the heat. Her gaze lingered at the three boys and thought how her life changed. From the innocent summer visit to the adventure at the warehouse, she came to meet her family at long last. Then her brow furrowed. Rocky seemed to saying to her but she couldn't understand what he was saying.
Colt saw the quizzical look on Janine's face as she looked at Rocky. The middle brother turned and asked, "What's that you said?"
"I was saying, four strands of rope," Rocky repeated and the other two fell quiet as they began to understand what their brother said.
"We are one, in mind," Rocky began.
"In body," Colt said.
"In heart," Tumtum continued.
"And in spirit." Janine muttered as she gazed out to her target.
Taking another deep breath, Janine slowly raised her bow and readied her shot. She took aim and after a moment of concentration, she released the arrow. It flew from her bow and head straight to the bull's eye. The passage of the arrow seemed very long. It felt like an eternity before the spotters raised the flag that she hit the mark.
The wait was close to unbearable and soon she jumped when the audience erupted in sheer jubilation! The green flag of the spotter went up and Shultz' school wins the tournament! The Douglas brothers', her coach and her friends came bounding towards Janine! She won the tournament!
" I won?" she asked, bewildered.
"Yes, you won!" her coach said. "Congratulations." He gave her huge hug. Janine was hysterically laughing from the tension, relief and triumph as she faced Rocky. "What were you trying to tell me, a while ago?" She asked as she waited for her three friends to join her.
"That you're the fourth strand of rope," Rocky replied as he held out his hand. The other two followed in putting their hands on top of the other. She finally joins in and places her hand on them and clasped all together.
"Now, we are really complete." Rocky announced as he beams.
"Congratulations, Janine!" The brothers said in unison.
Soon, her three friends came over and respectively gave her hug, even William, her big crush.
"I can't believe it, I won!" Janine repeated in surprise.
**********
"The awards ceremony came after and it took an hour. It was brisk and when it came to her event, the tournament organizers called out Janine's name instead, bearing that huge trophy!" Tumtum related.
"We all went home with happy memories. We finally had that dinner Mom wanted and all of Julie's oh, I mean, Janine's friends were invited. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were there too and the house was so full of people. By the way, Colt is hitting on Lindsay, more to follow," Tumtum giggled at the gossip he found.
"Janine came to stay with us and Mom and Dad couldn't be happier. I wonder where we'll be for our next adventure!" The youngest Douglas thought. But he was interrupted before he could go on. His grandfather asked him to join the family picture he was preparing for. So Mori set up the timer and called everyone to his or her places. The camera snaps.
THE END.