Faith in the Dark, Part 3



Saturday

"Hello, I'm Dr. Peggy Fowler. It's so nice to meet you, Davey."

The young boy with incredibly beautiful brown eyes and long dark lashes looked up at Peggy and tried to smile but shyness pulled his chin down to his chest. His mother gently rubbed his back.

"Don't forget your manners, Davey," Ann reminded her son.

"Hi," chirped the eight year old who still wouldn't look up. "I'm not sick."

Peggy sat beside him on the sofa. She looked over his head and smiled at his mother. Declan chuckled at the boy's comment. "Dude, she's not going to take blood or give you medicine or anything. Remember, she just wants to talk to you and your mom about your dad. See if you guys are feeling better. Okay?"

Davey nodded and gave his professor friend a huge grin. "Did you bring the fossil?"

"Yeah, I did." Declan reached into the breast pocket of his wild Hawaiian print shirt and pulled out a little box. Davey crossed the room as Declan opened the box.

"Cooool! Mom, look!"

The boy ran to his mother and shoved the little box under her nose. Ann looked down and saw the nail thin sliver of rock. "Wow, honey, that's so...nice! Don't forget to thank Declan."

"Thanks!" Davey yelled over his shoulder. "It's a real fossil of a Hypsilophodon, a Jurrassic dinosaur, right Declan?"

Declan was enjoying this moment and Davey's excitement. "That's correct Professor Douglas. A friend in prehistoric botany came across several of these fossils while at a dig in England. He gave me a few to show in class."

Peggy watched their interaction and realized that Declan had reached a level of trust with Davey. She marveled again at his ability to relate to children of all ages. ::He's so childlike, she thought, in a sweet, grown man kind of way. :: Peggy smiled at the boy and his mother. "Mrs. Douglas, can Davey and I go up to his room and talk a little before his bedtime? I'd love to see that solar system up there."

Ann laughed. "It's quite impressive. Please call me Ann, and yes, by all means enjoy your trip through the galaxy with my number one star pilot." She tickled her son's midsection. The boy blushed red and ran toward the steps with Peggy walking quickly behind him.

Declan moved to sit on the sofa next to Ann. "He's in good hands. How are you? Still think the shadow is harmful?"

Ann sat back and sighed. "Not so much, I guess. I still don't like that it's there...out of nowhere. Lately, I've been going through pictures of my husband. It's odd how the shadow looks like him standing somewhere…near us...Jimmy was so tall."

Wistfully she got up and went to the mantelpiece and picked up the picture frame that contained a photo of James Douglas in his full dress- blue uniform. Declan found that picture slightly unnerving. The officer's body shape was almost exactly the shape of the shadow. When Ann pointed it out to him during his first visit to the house, he understood why Davey believed his father had returned.

Declan moved to stand next to her. "It is amazing or maybe just coincidental. Look…I gotta be honest with you…we're stumped. Every photo we took drew a blank. Miranda is almost infallible when it comes to physics and anything related. She measured every angle and every shadow that falls across your house…from every side. I don't want to jump to conclusions but maybe we should explore other …possibilities."

"Like what?" Ann turned to fix him with a hard stare. "A visit from the grave?" She returned the picture to the mantel and folded her arms tightly around herself. "No, I'm not ready to explore ghosts."

"I didn't necessarily mean that as an immediate possibility. I just think we need to keep an open mind about events we can't readily explain."

Ann looked away from him and he saw her struggle to maintain her composure. With eyes swimming in tears, she turned completely around and walked toward the sofa again. She did not sit.

"I'm sorry, Declan. This is an incredible situation. For Davey's sake I have to be calm and rational."

"And open to seeking answers," he interrupted, "wherever they lie."

Ann regarded him from across the room. It was difficult to dismiss his reasoning. Professor Dunn came highly recommended by the pastor of her church. She looked up several articles from the Portland newspapers that reported his "miraculous" discoveries. The articles were small but definitely newsworthy. Ann also liked his easy camaraderie with Davey. Declan was respectful of the boy's ideas and thoughts about the shadow.

"Okay." She agreed with him. "I'll stay open …to other possibilities."



"Well, we're done…" Peggy was standing in the doorway with an odd expression on her face. She turned a confused face toward Declan who quickly snatched the glasses from his nose and began wiping them on the hem of his shirt. Her sudden appearance broke the tension in the room.

"Where's Davey?" asked Ann clearing her throat.

Peggy moved into the room after a few moments of hesitation. "In the bathroom. He's a wonderful young man. You must be very proud of him, Ann."

"Yes, I am." She answered sitting on the sofa. Peggy joined her. Declan remained standing by the mantel.

Davey bounded into the room and sat next to his mother. He wrapped an arm around hers and laid his head against her. Ann realized that Davey was sleepy. She glanced at the clock over the mantel. It was 8:10 and getting dark outside. Peggy saw the apprehension on the young mother's face and could only imagine her fears as she put her child to bed each night since the appearance of the shadow.

"I think Declan and I will be looking around outside for awhile." Peggy said. "Right, Declan?"

He started nodding. "Yeah. We're just going to make the usual rounds around the house."

Ann rose from the sofa with one arm draped over Davey's shoulder. He yawned noisily

"Say good night and thank you, Davey."

" 'Night, Declan. 'Night, Doc."

"I'll be down in about a half an hour. We can talk over coffee when you're done outside." Ann said as she walked with Davey from the room.

Declan moved toward the front hallway as soon as they left. Peggy followed him out to the front yard. They spent the next hour searching for outside shadows and other possible lighting factors that could produce the image in Davey's room. Declan explained the work he and Miranda had already done and what else they still had to cover. He showed Peggy the shadows the moon created and the shapes the road lights made through the trees. They sat for awhile staring at the sky from the bench in Ann's backyard. Peggy stole a glance at Declan's upturned head as he gazed upward. She noted that his black hair was longer and sometimes dipped across his forehead. She suppressed a grin at his perpetual 5:00 o'clock stubble. The dark coating of hair covered a strong chin and accentuated his expressive mouth. Peggy zeroed in on the light, crisscross of scars on his chin and wondered how he managed to remain alive considering his history of accidents and near misses.

"Peg?" Declan was suddenly giving her a curious look.

She smiled sheepishly at him and he grinned back. "What's up, Peg? Are you wondering if I convinced Ann that her husband is a visiting shadow?"

"Did you?"

Declan looked away from her and shook his head dramatically. "No, Doctor Fowler. I only asked her to keep an open mind."

Peggy stood up with a big sigh. "You're incorrigible. What is she suppose to keep an open mind about? Shadow ghosts? Aliens? Enlighten me, Professor Dunn."

"You talk to her first and then we'll compare impressions. Ann is a very intelligent woman who does recognize the limits of logic. We've been forced to look at certain phenomena outside of those limits, haven't we?"

Peggy stared down at him a few seconds before answering. "Yes, we have. I know the impossible is sometimes all that is left. I'm just very concerned about the effect it will have on Davey. "

Declan stood and stretched. "Me too." He looked up at the stars again and then at Peggy.

"How was your date with Elliott Cauldfield the other night?"

"Good, the book party was very interesting. A nice blend of opinions and reviews."

He gave her a deadpan stare and then suddenly laughed. "It was a date for god sakes, Peg! Did you have a good time with Elliott?"

She smiled and looked embarrassed. Declan felt his mood shift from curiosity to dread and he suddenly felt awkward standing there watching her seemingly blissful recollection of her date. Peggy was blushing again and obviously searching for the appropriate words to describe that evening.

"I had a wonderful time, Elliott is…nice." she said nodding.

Now Declan was sure he was dreading any more news about the date. Inexplicably, he felt a stab of jealousy and loss. He thought of Emma for a split second and wondered if she ever had a 'wonderful time' during their brief time together.

Peggy sensed his mood change and guessed by the look on his face that Emma must have wormed her way back into his thoughts. She sighed to herself and decided to change the subject and then, suddenly, Ann's voice called to them from the front yard.