POCKET CHANGE 3: HIDE and SEEK
by Sharon R.

Chapter Seventeen

Carter did an instant replay in his head of what the man had said to him and none of it told him that the man knew, until Carter mentioned anything, that Sam was at the house, and certainly that she had more than one kid. "What the hell was that?" he asked as he and Luka got up from their seats at the same time and looked out the front window of the cabin.

"Gunshot," Luka answered nervously, "from the house, I think."

With energy thought to be used up already, Carter and Luka bolted out of their seats and flew out the door of the cabin, running as fast as they could up Skate Creek Road trying to get to the driveway of the house in record speed. Although on their previous walks on that road they had both tripped on overgrown foliage, displaced rocks and tree roots pushing from the earth, this time their steps, although hurried, took them down the somewhat hazardous road with the care and ease they had eventually adjusted to in the jungle - their bodies just had to remember, the adrenalin the driving force.

Luka kept holding his breath, breathing only in spurts as he forced his exhausted body to run at speeds he thought weren't possible, too fast to avoid the stray whisps of green branches jutting out from the sides smacking him occasionally on his shoulder and face, the leaves leaving a noticeable sting.

It felt to them as though it was taking far too long to reach the end of the road, when they were actually taking just minutes to traverse the half mile or so. The fear creeping up inside them mimicked that which had possessed them the day they ran for their lives up the creek bed in the Congo trying to get the Vancomycin to the little girl at the clinic, Jules' rebel soldiers tight on their heels - too tight, they had eventually found out. Only this time they weren't running away from danger - they were running towards it.

Finally they got to a point where they could see where the dirt road forked with the driveway and main road. Knowing they would have to muster enough energy to run up the driveway - uphill - they both instinctively stopped, hands on hips, and sucked in as much air as their lungs could handle to compensate for what they had denied on their trek. It was at that exact moment while they struggled to re-energize their overtaxed bodies that they saw the camouflaged four-wheeler race down the driveway and turn onto Browns Falls Road, barely slowing to negotiate the turn.

There was no time to spare and without even thinking, they let their feet take them to the top of the hill where they stopped suddenly wondering where Sam and the kids were. Dusk had settled on the mountain leaving little but shadows and dusty haze beyond several yards. Carter and Luka turned in circles looking for any sign of the kids, their ears like radar hoping to hear Sam, finding nothing but silence.

Luka finally charged into the house calling for Sam and the kids. It took him seconds to peer into each tiny room and conclude that they weren't there. The house was empty.

"Luka!" Carter's voice boomed from outside. "Luka, they're here."

Back out the kitchen door, Luka saw Sam, Alex and Amanda carefully making their way down the steep hill on the other side of the driveway, Alex's arm held firmly by his mother.

"Where were you?" Luka asked frantically as he reached up and took the shotgun from Sam.

"Alex here decided he should go play Grizzly Adams, but luckily someone got to him first."

"What?" Luka asked. "Who?"

"Oscar Ackley. He works with the DEC."

"I met him at the camp," Carter said. "He's the real thing?"

"And then some, in his head at least."

"You know him?" Carter asked.

"He pined over me every summer. Wanted so badly to be my knight in shining armor and was crushed with each 'no' I gave him. Every time he saw Uncle George he'd ask about me, where I lived, my phone number. So George finally told him that I had six kids and got fat and dumpy."

"That explains things," Carter mumbled. "Oh boy. I called him a mother fu…" Carter stopped short as his eyes glanced at the kids. "…in Croatian. You don't suppose…"

"The English language was always hard enough for him to comprehend," Sam explained with a bit of a snort. "I don't think you have to worry."

"Did he hurt you too?" the little voice asked. She had been staring at Carter, paying no attention to Sam's story.

"Who?"

Amanda pointed at Carter's head where the door had smacked him, the forgotten blood now dried at his hairline.

"No. No, sweetheart," Carter answered squatting down to let her get a better look. "I was kind of clumsy and let a door at the camp get the better of me." She looked deep into Carter's eyes, still not convinced. "Luka didn't hurt me. He wouldn't."

"Let go," Alex complained, straining against Sam's hold on his upper arm.

"Not on your life." If she could have, she would have tightened her grip even more. "Oscar caught him aiming the gun at an old tin can set on a log right up the hill in direct line with the house. Grabbed the gun just as Alex pulled the trigger."

"I would have hit the can," Alex moaned.

"And then the bullet could have killed your mother or Amanda." Luka grabbed Alex by the other arm. "Don't ever play with guns. They only have one purpose."

"Yeah," Alex spit back, "you should know."

"Alex!" Sam tugged at Alex who had become a tug-o-war. It was the first all day that Luka had talked to them and it had come down to bitter and angry words.

"It's okay." Luka let go of Alex. Looking at the faces in front of him - of Sam, Alex and Amanda - he suddenly realized the irony of the situation and handed the gun off to Carter before turning around and going into the house alone.

Sam and Carter exchanged looks, knowing looks, as she stood with a child to each side, Alex feeling the burn of the scolding and Amanda in total emotional shut-down, not giving anything away.

"Go, Sam," Carter gave her quietly, "he needs you. I'll talk to the kids."

She hesitated but with a nod from Carter, left him with the kids to go to Luka.

He walked into the kitchen and parked himself on the little radiator seat at the end of the table. He wasn't sure why, just that he felt secure there against the little door holding the ironing board within, his knees bumped up against the edge of the table. Luka shifted against the curves of the radiator barely protected by the ages-old cushion and smoothed his hands over the surface of the table top. Closing his eyes, he saw an image that he had long forgotten, of his own grandfather as he 'held court' every evening in the warmth of the kitchen where the wood stove sat which served as the sole heat source in the old farm house. Lots of coffee, an unending supply of cigarettes, and grapa for those old enough to partake.

"Tired?"

Luka took in a deep breath as he let his heavy eyelids open at the sound of Sam's voice.

"Just thinking about my grandfather. How he would smoke his cigarettes after dinner, enjoy his grapa and tell stories about the old world and how things used to be before they had appliances and telephones. They sent us kids to bed, but we still listened through the vents."

"He was that old?"

"No," he smiled, "but electricity and other modern conveniences were slow to get to his part of the world." Luka kept his eyes trained on the table and watched as he mindlessly tinkered with a spoon. "My grandfather had a tractor, but that was a luxury. I remember the farmers hauling hay by horse and wagon right past the church. Danijella laughed about how our wedding pictures would look a hundred years old with the horses…" His voice trailed off as he looked around at his surroundings and realized what he had been talking about.

"I wouldn't mind seeing those pictures sometime," Sam ventured cautiously.

"They don't exist anymore."

"Huh?"

"War." One word said it all as Luka got to his feet and went into the bedroom far enough from the conversation to avoid it any further.

"Come on," Carter told the kids, "let's find some place to sit down."

"I don't have to go with you," Alex snipped.

"You know what? Yes, you do. And you will." Carter was tired, spent and lacking of patience, as he grabbed Alex's arm at the same spot Sam had vacated and pulled him along following Amanda as they went behind the garage to the boulder where he climbed up on top and sat to the side facing the two kids. "Now, you can ask me anything you want and I promise I'll tell you the truth."

The kids remained stationary staring at the rock or trees, but not even so much as glancing at Carter.

"Okay," Carter started, "I know that you heard Luka say that he shot Amanda's mother..."

Now they looked at him.

"This is very hard to talk about and I can't tell you every single thing. I need you to understand that." He waited for both kids to acknowledge this with a nod. "Your mother, Amanda, had met some very bad people in Africa. They talked her into doing some bad things and one night when I was talking to one of these men, she aimed a gun at my head. I didn't know it at the time, but Luka, who was secretly standing behind the bad man, did and he had to think very fast. He was saving my life, and ever since then he has had to live with what happened, and in some way he lost part of himself that night." He didn't want to get into details, the kids certainly weren't pressing him to with their silence.

"Why couldn't he save my mom?" Amanda asked quite pointedly with a hint of bitterness.

The hard question. "That's what he set off to do. You see, he left on foot from the camp in Uganda and even crossed the border into the Congo because he thought your mother was in danger. Amanda…, Luka was risking his life to save her from these bad men. He had no idea that she was working with them until that last night."

"My mother's not like that. She wouldn't kill anybody," Amanda angrily divulged. "I don't know why I'm supposed to believe you anyway. You lied to me about Sean."

"No -"

"Yes you did. When I left Chicago he was already dead, wasn't he?"

Carter was caught in his own deceit. There was nothing to do but own up to it. "Yes."

"People think that just because we're kids they have to lie to us. Then they tell us not to lie." Alex moved closer to Amanda, finally recognizing an ally.

"It's not that," Carter tried t explain. "Look, I think you two are more mature than your age. Can you handle some scary news?"

The kids looked at each other as if to confer, then nodded.

"We had to get you out of Chicago because some very bad people are after Amanda. We didn't have time to sit down and tell you about Sean, at least not the right way. We had minutes to get you on the road."

"What about Luka?" Alex asked. "He could have told us."

"Once he got here, being in the woods gave him frightening thoughts and memories about being in the jungle. You don't know this but when we were in Africa the first time, Luka and I were kidnapped by horrible men called rebels. They hurt us badly and we're dealing with that still." He stopped to make sure he had their attention. He did. "Luka is afraid of saying things that will hurt you both. Alex's mom and himself too. He needs time and he needs friends."

"How come you came?" Alex asked. "This was supposed to be a secret."

"Well," Carter didn't know how to answer this without alarming them, "these bad people found out where you might be. I think I'm at least a day ahead of them, so first thing in the morning we have to leave."

"You know too many bad guys," Alex grumbled, not quite willing to believe Carter's story. He looked at Amanda for back up, but she obviously bought everything Carter said.

"I know all about these bad men. They want to hurt my dad, so they try to hurt me." Her words were aimed at Alex, but she was reminding Carter, as well. "Where are we going this time?" Amanda asked as she watched Grover come out for his evening feeding.

"That's my secret." The kids seemed to be amazingly cool with the explanation, though still quiet as they looked at the groundhog. "A friend of yours?" Carter asked.

Amanda nodded. "Grover Groundhog. But he's not eating his food today."

"Maybe he's had enough," Alex surmised.

"Maybe." Amanda drew her knees up and rested her chin on them. "He'll have to learn to get his own food again anyway after tomorrow."

"Carter says we have to leave first thing in the morning." Sam stood in the doorway careful not to intrude too much in Luka's solitude.

"You go with him - take the children. I'll stay here."

"No, Luka…" Sam moved over to where he was sitting on the bed and got down on her knees so she could look up into his face. "You have to come with us. These people -"

" -aren't looking for me," Luka finished for her. "It's not me they want. If I stay, maybe I can be like a decoy. It worked before in Chicago - gave us a few days."

"Don't you think they're smart enough to consider that this time?"

"You're safer without me." Luka grabbed a towel from the bureau top along with his sweats. "I'm going to take a shower and sleep on the sofa." Before Sam could say anything, he had shut the bathroom door behind him.

After Sam had safely tucked the kids in bed, and retreated alone to her own, Carter and Luka had time to talk in the living room, though talk was not what Luka really wanted to do.

"Don't psychoanalyze me, Carter."

"Hadn't planned on it. Psych wasn't my best rotation."

"I'm staying behind here at the house."

"So Sam tells me." Carter waited for Luka to say something, but instead he sat on the sofa as if fighting sleep. "I wish you wouldn't. It's not fair to Sam."

"I might hurt them."

"No. I don't think so." Carter reached in his pocket and took out a vial. "Get a good night's sleep, then tomorrow you should talk with Sam. I mean really talk."

"What's this?" Luka asked looking at the small pill Carter gave him.

"It'll help you sleep. I only have three left and I don't need them any more. Come on…"

Luka was reluctant but eventually took the pill, washing it down with the last of a bottle of water.

The night ended up being rather uneventful. Luka slept soundly on the sofa, Carter in the recliner. Not the best for his back, but doable as he tossed and turned. He saw Sam come in and check on Luka at least twice, but feigned sleep to give her some discretion. The smell of coffee woke the two doctors, though Carter imagined the damn birds outside were louder than any alarm clock.

Carter stood and stretched the kinks from his back as Luka finally stirred. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"Seven."

"Ten hours. Haven't slept that long in months."

"Dreams?"

"No, surprisingly."

"Doesn't surprise me. Some of that stuff you've kept bottled up is out in the open. It gets better." Carter walked out of the living room, still adjusting his crooked back. "I'll take a quick shower. You talk to Sam."

Luka waited for the sound of the shower running before finally going into the kitchen. He stood in the doorway watching her do the dishes, her curly strawberry-blonde hair cascading over her fair skinned soft shoulders and down her back. She wasn't wearing a bra under the white tank top - no lines. A pair of green flannel pajama bottoms, too long for her anyway, spilled over her bare feet. He could watch her like that all day and pretend that what worried him the most, what happened in Africa, hadn't happened.

Turning off the water, Sam picked up a dish cloth but paused as she sensed Luka's presence. "Coffee's on the stove."

"Thank you," he managed quietly. "The kids?"

"Outside saying good-bye to Grover." She continued drying the dishes and putting them away, all the while her back turned to him, not wanting to give him reason to walk out. She heard the coffee pour into a tea cup, the sound of the table jolting as he struggled to fit in that end seat, just as her grandfather had done, even though he could have easily taken the empty chair at the other end just a couple feet away. "Toast?" she asked.

"Yes. Burned please."

Finally she turned around to put the bread in the toaster. They caught sight of each other's reserved smile.

"Sam," Luka started, but hesitated when he realized he hadn't thought this through, "There is a lot I have to tell you, but it's going to take time."

"I know," she said as she leaned against the sink.

"And there is only one picture of my wedding. My father has it. I'll see if he'll send it to me."

"No, that's okay -"

" - I want to."

There was a long pause - long enough for Luka to finish his coffee - before he said anything else. "Colleen - she was somehow working with the rebels, the same ones who kidnapped me and Carter. She was… I don't know, but that night was crazy."

"I know." Sam felt like she needed to help him explain, to protect him from the horror.

"Carter told me that you saved his life." She took the other seat, finally, and reached across the table, gently taking his fingers and stroking them.

"I was no hero."

"Same clothes, but clean body," Carter announced as he came around the corner, towel drying his hair, wearing pants but no shirt. "Luka, how about a clean shirt?"

"Sure. I'll get you one."

With the towel finally away from his face, Carter realized he had interrupted the very conversation he had been encouraging Luka to have with Sam. "Oh, sorry Sam."

"That's okay. He's talking a little. It's something."

"Yeah."

Just as Luka handed a shirt to Carter and he started to put it on, a scream came from outside, a scream which obviously belonged to Alex.

Sam was first outside, nearly taking the screen door off the hinges as she lunged for it. Luka wasn't far behind, and then Carter. She went right to the boulder behind the garage where the kids had spent a lot of their time. There she found Alex pasted up against the side of the rock, a look of shock on his face. Amanda was a few feet in front of him beating on the ground with a shovel Sam had left back there the day before when she was transplanting daffodil bulbs.

Amanda was full of rage as she slammed the shovel to the earth over and over, only when Sam and Luka got close enough to see, they were shocked to see her beating to death the groundhog she had practically adopted.

"Amanda…" Sam tried to get her attention. "Amanda, stop." But she didn't. It was overkill. "Alex?" Sam looked for answers.

"Grover was acting funny, and when I came down off the boulder to check on him he snarled and came at me. He had his mouth open and tried to bite me."

Luka finally stepped in front of her and took Amanda by the shoulders, forcing her to stop. Her breathing was labored, her body trembling slightly, but her grip on the shovel was resolute. Luka pried the fingers of one hand from the handle before she relented and let him have it. Then after giving him a stern look, one which showed no sorrow, she tore herself from his hands and ran into Carter's arms.

"Amanda kept him from getting me. She really did," Alex pleaded as though protecting her from criminal proceedings.

"I know," Sam said, stroking his hair. "He didn't bite you?"

"Got the rubber on my sneaker, but not me," he said showing her the teeth marks on the thick rubber sole.

"Go inside and get things ready to go," Luka said. "I'll find a safe place to bury him."

While Sam finished packing their suitcases, Carter took the kids into the bathroom and made sure they washed up. "You two okay?" he asked them. Alex nodded, but Amanda remained chillingly calm. "Alex, why don't you go help your mom pack up the car." Carter suspected that she was awfully good at putting on a face, and confirmed the suspicion when Amanda took advantage of being alone with him in the bathroom and wrapped her arms around his waist, the tears finally allowed to escape.

He'd never heard a ring like that. One long and two short. He dried Amanda's tears and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Go get your backpack and your vest and get to the car, okay?" Stepping into the living room he met Sam running to answer the old black rotary phone.

"Hello… who?….. No, nobody…" She smacked the palm of her hand on her forehead. "Which way? How long? Okay, thanks Uncle George."

Sam ran out the door where she met up with Luka who was on his way in to wash his hands. "George called," she said as she followed him into the kitchen. "He was working in the barn when a car pulled up with three men. Luka, they're looking for us. Said they were colleagues. George sent them around the back way just in case we didn't want to be bothered."

"How long until they get here?"

"George said at least twenty minutes. This is the time when my Aunt always goes to her card party though. He said he'd call her and tell her to take her time on the one-way bridge over the river. Might give us ten more minutes."

Luka finished hastily washing up before reaching for something behind the door. He headed outside, shotgun in hand, yelling instructions at Sam. "Call George back. Tell him to call your Oscar friend. Maybe he can finally be your knight in shining armor," he mumbled to her as he loaded the gun. "Have him tell Oscar that there are squatters on your land shooting beavers and scaring the children. He's in Edwards which means he'll come the back way, right?" Sam nodded. "Good, perfect."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

Carter busied the children as they got in the SUV, then rejoined the other two. "What are you going to do with that?" he asked pointing to the gun.

"Going hunting."

"Okay, now is a good time to explain that 'sharp shooter' comment." Carter wasn't shy to pry at this point.

"My wife and children were killed at the beginning of the siege in Vukovar during a mortar attack on our building. They were waiting for me after the burial."

"Who?" Sam asked.

Luka snapped the barrel of the gun back in place and leaned down to tie his shoes, not really hearing Sam. He was focused elsewhere. "I couldn't face going to the hospital, saving others when I couldn't save the ones I loved. So I trained for the next few months with the militia as a sharpshooter. It gave me something to do and I was good at it."

"You were a sharpshooter," Carter seemed to need confirming.

"I trained as a sharpshooter." Luka was back on his feet and heading down the driveway, calling back over his shoulder. "Call him, Sam. Go." He took off with as much speed as he could gather and disappeared at the base of driveway rounding the corner onto Skate Creek Road.

Sam ran back into the house and picked up the phone, glad that the party line was free. "Dammit," she cursed as she hung up and tried again.

"What's wrong?" Carter asked as he came in to grab his few things he had brought with him.

"He's not answering the phone. He's probably still in the barn."

"Maybe you should drive down there?"

"No. I'm not leaving Luka." Her eyes darted back and forth as she searched for a way to get Uncle George's attention, then ran outside to the garage. "Alex," she yelled. "Come on, I need your help."

The kids exited the SUV and followed Sam into the garage and up the back staircase.

"See this rope?" she asked, holding an old rope out to them with a knot on the end. "I want you to haul ass on this. Ring that bell so the whole state can hear us, okay?"

The first two pulls got the momentum going, but by the third it rang out gloriously. A smile on her face and Sam and Carter were back at the house waiting for the phone to ring. It didn't take long for George to call up to the house.

Luka gave himself a minute to catch his breath and let his nerves settle before crouching down in front of a log and resting the barrel of the shotgun on top. He was as far from the dam as he could get without losing sight of it. He stretched his long legs out in back of him, laying on his belly, propped by his elbows, his left eye closed, his right looking down the site of the gun squarely at his target. Twice he had to back his face away from its pose to grab a breath and wipe the sweat from his brow, finally taking a very deep breath with his eyes closed to focus his mind. Going back to his training in the bombed out buildings and farm houses taken over by the militia, he was able to zone in on his purpose and steadily aim his gun at the 'kill'……

They were in the SUV at the bottom of the driveway when they heard the explosion. The kids jerked their heads in the direction of the sound up the camp road as it vibrated the vehicle. Carter nearly jumped out of his skin, then opened the door and started heading up the road on foot himself.

"Carter," Sam yelled, "It's okay. See? Here comes Luka."

"What the hell was that?" he yelled at Luka as soon as he was close enough to hear him.

"Dynamite." Luka ran back to the SUV, gun in hand. "Main road should be cut off now for anyone coming up the back way."

"What?" Carter was exasperated. "You have dynamite?"

"No. George had dynamite stuffed in the beaver dam. I just took a shot at it."

Carter nearly swallowed a tongue with that one. "You mean the dam at the pond? The spillway…?" Images of him cramming the stick into it the day before seared through his head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask," Luka answered with his trademark mischievous grin. "Now go. Get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you here alone," Alex said as he unbuckled and hopped out his door.

"What if something happens to you? Mom said that after this vacation we'd be a family."

"I'm sorry, Luka," Sam admitted slightly mortified of her son's admission of her secret wish. "I didn't think it would hurt… I mean…"

"Why can't he stay?" Alex pointed at Carter, a man he knew, but in his eyes was expendable.

"If he stays, I stay," Amanda chimed in also exiting the SUV.

Carter didn't mind Amanda snuggling up to him, even if it was for dramatic effect at Luka's expense. "My rental car is staying. That's the safest decoy I can think of."

Luka leaned against the car, his hands on the hood as he contemplated his choices. With time running out he finally opened the door and got in. "To hell with them. Let's go."

Just over the rumble bridge they shared the road with a slew of four wheelers and off road vehicles going in the opposite direction. "Looks like the whole town," Sam remarked.

They made a quick stop at George's to unload the gun and call the Carter Foundation pilots. Carter talked with them, but found that they were halfway back to Chicago having been told by three men claiming to be FAA officials who flew into the same airport that morning that their manifests for the past six months were currently under investigation and that they had to be back in Chicago ASAP. With no way to contact their boss, they had to leave.

"Off you go, chickadee," George gave Sam with a wink as they got back in the SUV. "Drive safe and don't you worry about those men. I sent your cousins and their huntin' club buddies down to back Oscar up. I bet by now their four-wheelers ain't the only thing fueled by moonshine."

"Where are we going?" Alex asked, his youth unable to handle the suspense of the unknown.

"We're going someplace beautiful and warm," Carter explained as he drove down Route three, east towards Tupper Lake and then eventually through Lake Placid and towards Glens Falls on the eastern seaboard. It was just the beginning. "We're going to my friend's house. I think you'll like it there."

"Will there be other people?" he asked.

"Mm hmm. We tried hiding where nobody lives. Now we're going to go blend in with lots and lots of people and make the bad men take their turn at hiding."

Carter and Sam did all of the driving while Luka fell back into a much needed sleep still feeling residual effects of the sleeping pill and excitement. The kids enjoyed the drive around Washington DC and marveled at the docked ships at Norfolk. The Dismal Swamp tickled a funny bone or two as did all the billboards that lined the highway leading up to the huge three mile long causeway bridge that took them away from the mainland. Carter turned off the A/C as soon as they got to the other side and opened the windows. The sea air was refreshing.

The two lane Highway-12 made twists and turns as it wound its way between the sound and shore through quaint little communities passing Southern Shores and Duck. Carter pulled out a piece of paper and slowed down when he saw the blue water tower rising from the sea oats-covered dunes on his left. A right turn into an obviously well-to-do subdivision and Carter finally pulled into a house with a marker labeled "E067 - Candlewyck" out front. It was after midnight. Shaking Luka and Sam awake, they got out of the SUV and stood for a moment as the song of the surf from over the dunes welcomed them. It almost seemed as though with every crash of a wave reaching shore, a breeze conveniently kicked in and tugged them closer to the water. They walked around the house and over the private boardwalk leading to a staircase that would take them over the protective dunes down to the beach.

"Not now," Sam said to the kids, putting a hand on each kid's shoulder. "We'll check out the beach in the morning." The moon was bright and illuminated the pristine shoreline. It was so very calming.

"What is this place?" Amanda asked.

Carter looked at the paper again. "It's called Corolla."

"Hey," a voice called, "up here."

Turning around to look up at the magnificent house sporting wrap-around balconies on the top two of three levels, Carter smiled.

"Never thought you'd get here."

Have you ever watched a crab on the shore crawling backward in search of the Atlantic ocean, and missing? That's the way the mind of man operates. -H. L. Mencken 1880-1956, American Editor, Author, Critic, Humorist