"Meow!" Thump!
Startled, Gary awoke from his sleep at 6:30 AM. There on his stomach was the Paper… with the cat at his feet, washing himself.
"Well, at least you had the courtesy to not leave it at the door this time." Gary grumbled.
"Meow," Was the cat's response.
Gary glared at the feline as he began to flip through the pages. There wasn't anything life-threatening in the Paper that day. It was the fact that his 11-year-old daughter had to handle these saves… alone that angered him. It wasn't right. He hated the idea of her running around New York City; especially alone. But, what could he do? It wasn't as if he could get out this bed and go with her. If he could, he would for sure. But, he couldn't let other people be hurt either. He had a broken arm, bruised ribs, and one heck of a headache. All from the stupid banister in the museum! If he had only seen the article before… no, it wouldn't do any good to think like that. He was here and that was that. Thinking about what could have happened wouldn't do him any good. No, instead he needed to concentrate on the future; such as; the Paper. How would he keep it a secret from Clint Cassidy? The man wasn't stupid, that was for sure. He knew something was up and if Gary didn't do something, the doctor would find out everything.
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It was 7 o'clock that morning. The Paper had not come and Arianna was worried. She hoped it was at Westbury with Gary; otherwise… she didn't want to think about that.
"You alright, Arianna?" Clint asked her, during breakfast, "Is somethin' bothering you?"
"No, no, I'm alright, thanks." Arianna replied.
"Well, if you ever need to talk, I'm here for ya, alright?"
Arianna nodded. But that was just it. She couldn't talk to him; not about the Paper. And that was what was on her mind.
A little while later, it was time to go to Westbury. As they walked, Arianna was afraid she'd see some kind of accident that she could have prevented… if she had the Paper. Oh! Where was that thing?
As soon as they reached the clinic, Arianna rushed in to see her father. He was, of course, lying in the hospital bed.
"Good morning, daddy!" She said, giving him a hug. Then she sighed with relief when she saw the Paper laying next to him on the bed.
"The Paper!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, it came here this morning… on my stomach." Gary explained, "I've circled everything in there that needs done. There are only a few things, nothing life-threatening."
Arianna smiled. It was just like her father to do something like that. "I can handle it, daddy. Don't worry." She said.
Gary sighed, "That's just it, Arianna. I do worry. I don't like the idea of you running around the city by yourself."
"I'll be fine, daddy," Arianna said softly, "I promise. These people need me; I've got to help them. But, we've got a problem."
"What?"
"Daddy, Clint isn't dumb. He knows something's up." Arianna pointed out.
Gary sighed and ran his fingers through his rumpled, dark hair. "I know," He said, "But what can I do? This is kind of hard to hide."
Arianna nodded silently. She didn't know what to say. She knew that it was important to keep the Paper a secret, but she wasn't sure just how exactly to do it this time. Absent mindedly, she fingered the edges of the newspaper.
"Arianna, I want you to promise me something," Gary said, his eyes and voice showing clear desperation, "Don't tell anybody about the Paper; not anybody. Do you understand?"
"Of course, daddy," Arianna nodded, "I wouldn't tell anybody about the Paper; not unless you said so. Daddy, is something wrong?"
Was something wrong? That was just it. He didn't know. He just felt as if something wasn't right; as if he had to be extra cautious… about the Paper.
"I don't know, Arianna," His soft voice finally broke the silence, "I just feel like we need to be more careful… about the Paper, I mean. If too many people find out about this, then…" His voice trailed off.
Arianna nodded and gave her father a hug. "Don't worry, daddy. Everything will be okay, you'll see. I'll handle the Paper until you're well enough, then we'll both go home… back to a, uh, 'normal' life."
Gary smiled. He wouldn't exactly have described his life as "normal", but what his daughter found normal and what the rest of the world saw as normal were two totally different things. But, that was okay.
"Listen, I've got my first save in about 15 minutes," Arianna said, glancing at her watch, "I know where it's at, so it shouldn't take long. I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Alright, but, Arianna…"
Arianna turned at the door and looked at Gary.
"Arianna… be careful."
Arianna smiled at him. "I will, daddy." She said softly and then she was gone.
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"'Man Paralyzed in Fall'," Arianna read the article quietly, while looking around her, "'The 63-year-old was injured when he fell from a large oak tree while rescuing a kitten'." Arianna shook her head. Paralyzed because of a kitten? Good grief!
After a few more minutes of searching the many oak trees in the park, Arianna finally spotted the man she was looking for. And he was, of course, trying to climb into the tree. Arianna, again, shook her head, silently. Oh, brother.
She sighed, and then walked over to the tree. "Uh, excuse me, sir. Can I help you?"
"Not unless you can climb trees, miss," The heavy-set man said, panting and sweating, despite the cool, morning air. He pointed up, "It's my granddaughter's kitten. It's stuck up there. It'll break the poor child's heart if something happened to the animal."
Arianna looked over at a park bench where a young girl sat. She couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years old. Arianna's heart went out to the crying girl. She remembered how she had felt when the cat had killed her pet bird, Sammy. She had only been 5 at the time, but she remembered the day well. She sighed, knowing what she had to do.
"I, I'll get the cat for you, sir." She offered, already grasping hold of a low hanging branch.
"Thank you, miss," The man said gratefully, watching as the stranger scrambled up the large tree, "Much obliged to you."
"Ah, what's your kitty's name?" Arianna asked the young girl, as she edged out onto a branch. The ground suddenly began to spin as Arianna glanced down. She quickly looked back up at her feline target.
"Whiskers," The girl said, just loud enough for Arianna to hear.
"Whiskers, here kitty," Arianna called the cat, dangerously edging out further on the branch, "Here kitty. Come on. I'm not gonna hurt you. Here, Whiskers."
She was suddenly startled to hear somebody shout her name, "Arianna!"
Her head quickly turned towards the direction of the familiar voice. Clint was standing below; cowboy hat and all. "Arianna Hobson, is that you?"
"Guilty as charged." She admitted, not budging from her position.
"Arianna, what are you doin' up there?" He called out.
"She's getting Whiskers down, mister." The little girl spoke up.
"Whisk–? oh," Clint caught on, seeing the gray kitten on the edge of the branch, eyeing Arianna cautiously, "Ya know, where I come from, cats usually come down from trees on their own. We never had to climb up and break our necks getting 'em down."
Tell that to him, Arianna said silently, referring to the elderly man and recalling the article in the Paper.
"Here, kitty," Clint called the cat, "Come on."
Arianna nearly fell from the tree when the cat jumped into the man's arms and began purring. Clint handed the kitten to the little girl, who in turn nearly squeezed the life out of the tiny animal.
"Clint, do you know that cat?" She asked, shocked.
"No," Clint shook his head, "Now why don't you come on down before I have to set any more 'Hobson bones'. Ya know, I've already got one of you in the hospital and I don 't really think we need another."
Arianna sighed and pulled the Paper from her pocket. She only had time to read, "Girl Paralyzed in fall", before she lost her balance and began to fall from the tree. She screamed in fright as she felt herself leave the tree. She closed her eyes tight and just when she thought she was about to hit the ground, she was aware of strong arms catching her right before she hit the hard ground.
"Arianna, are you alright?"
She opened her eyes and looked into the concerned face of Clint Cassidy. She let out a shaky breath and nodded. "Y-yes, I'm al-alright. Th-thanks."
Clint sat her down on the ground. "Are you sure you're okay?"
She nodded as she sat down on a bench. She was still very shook up. What if Clint hadn't been there? Then she would have– quickly, she shook the thought from her mind. She didn't want to think about what could have happened. As she sat there, still in shock, she was vaguely aware of the man and his granddaughter thanking her, offering her money for her trouble. She politely refused the money and sent them on their way. She didn't want money. She just wanted this whole nightmare to end so that she and Gary could go home and get back to their regular life.
"Come on, Arianna," Clint finally broke into the girl's thoughts, "Let's get back to the clinic. It's too cold out here."
Looking up, she was surprised to see that he was still there. She had thought that he left a long time ago. She nodded and stood up. She didn't say anything as she walked beside him down the sidewalk. Her mind kept going back to what almost happened.
"Clint," She finally said.
He looked at her, expectantly.
"Clint, you won't say anything about this to my father, will you? He, he doesn't need to be worrying about me. He needs to concentrate on getting better. Please don't say anything; please." Arianna pleaded.
Her eyes, looking just desperate enough, the doctor agreed, against his better judgment. What was it about this child? She was always into trouble, it seemed. Or she at least knew how to find it.
"Arianna, you sure do seem to find yourself in… odd situations a lot." He prodded.
"Yeah, well," She shrugged, "I guess I've got a real bad sense of timing. Some people are like that, you know. While others… other people never have any trouble."
"Well, I don't know about that," Clint disagreed, "I think that everybody, no matter who they are, runs into a bit of trouble somewhere in life."
Arianna nodded. He was probably right. Nobody could have a perfect life, could they?
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Gary glanced at the white clock on the wall for the 40th time. Where was she? Arianna had left over 45 minutes ago. She should have been back a long time ago. He was starting to get really worried. It shouldn't be taking her this long. Oh, how he hated being confined to that bed! He was ready to get out of bed, headache or not, and find his daughter. He quickly sat up which resulted in a reminder of is blow to the head. Grabbing his forehead, he laid back down.
Just then, Arianna walked in. She looked a bit messy, but besides that you wouldn't know anything went wrong.
"Arianna! Where have you been?" Gary asked when he saw her, holding onto his forehead.
"I told you; I had to keep that guy from getting paralyzed. It just… well, it took longer than I expected. I ran into, um, some technical difficulties."
Gary nodded. What could he say? After all, he would have done the same thing; took longer if he had to, but still…
"How're you feeling, daddy?" Arianna asked, sitting next to the bed.
"I, I'm okay, Arianna," He said, "Except for the fact that I feel like one big bruise and I've got this terrible headache. But besides that…" He let his voice trail off.
"Daddy, if we don't do something, Clint's going to find out about the Paper." Arianna said, worried, "He saw me today… saving that man. Daddy, what can we do?"
Gary let out an exasperated breath. "I don't know, Arianna," He admitted, "I really don't know."
Arianna sighed out slumped down in her chair. Well, somebody had to think of something.
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"Gotta minute?" There was a knock on the door frame.
Clint looked up from the papers he had scattered across his desk. Nancy was standing in the doorway. He smiled, "Sure, come on in."
Nancy stepped into the office and sat down in the chair across from Clint. "How is Arianna?" She asked, "And her dad?"
"Well, Arianna's doin' much better now that her dad's awake," Clint explained, "But, Gary, well he's still recoverin' from that hit to the head."
"What about you?"
"What?" Clint asked, confused.
"I don't know, but you haven't seemed to be acting like yourself, Clint," Nancy told him, "Is something bothering you?"
"Well, to tall you the truth," He admitted, "There is somethin' bothering me."
"You want to talk about it?" Nancy asked, softly.
"It's about Arianna," He began, "There's somethin' about that kid. She knows things, Nancy."
"What kind of things?" Nancy asked, not quite sure what he meant.
"Trouble, I mean. She always seems to be right where trouble would be, but she stops it," Clint tried to explain, "For instance; she's walking down the street and then she stops and talks to a man she doesn't even know. Just as she's talkin', some car zooms right through a red light. The guy would've ended up in the hospital or worse. Then, she acts like she wasn't even aware of what she did. She's done things like that lots of times; it just doesn't make any sense."
"Wow that is weird." Nancy said quietly, "Now, there's something where some people are like that, where they know what's going to happen. They have a name for it…"
"Clairvoyance."
"That's it!" Nancy snapped.
"To tell you the truth, I've already thought about that," Clint said, "But, I'm not so sure on how to find out."
"Have you tried talking to her dad?"
"No, but– ya know, that may not be such a bad idea. I think maybe I will talk to him." Clint decided.
Nancy just nodded. She hoped this went well.
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"Feel like talkin' to anyone?" Clint asked Gary later that day.
"Sure, why not?" Gary agreed.
Clint stepped into the room and sat down in Arianna's chair. He had chosen this time because he knew that Arianna wasn't there. He had seen her leave the clinic… again.
"So how long before I can leave, doc?" Gary asked the man.
"I would guess in a couple of weeks. Your bones are healin' pretty fast, but we want to make sure. Besides," Clint said, "You were out for two whole days; we wanna keep an eye on that head of yours."
"No offence, doc, but I've never liked hospitals all that much." Gary said.
Clint laughed, and then got serious again. "Gary," He started, "I wanted to ask you some questions."
"Fire away."
"About your daughter."
Gary's head snapped back into attention. What was it he wanted to know?
"Well, I've been watchin' Arianna and I've noticed something." Clint admitted.
"She's not sick, is she?" Gary asked a bit worried.
"Oh, no; nothing like that," Clint shook his head, "It's just that, well, she seems to find herself in some… interesting situations sometimes."
Gary's heart quickened its pace. He knew where this conversation was going and he wasn't sure he liked it. What was he going to do?
"Is that so?" Gary asked.
"Gary… is Arianna… clairvoyant?" Clint asked cautiously.
Gary's face broke out into a big grin. This was funny! Arianna? Clairvoyant? It was all funny to Gary. He knew the truth. But, Clint was now very puzzled.
"No, doc, she's not clairvoyant. She just knows how to find trouble." Gary said and all was the truth, "But, thanks for your concern."
Clint nodded and stood up, "Well, you're right about one thing."
"What?"
"She sure knows how to find trouble." Clint said, then he turned towards the door and left.
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A little while later, Arianna walked into Gary's room. The "save" had gone by fine. She had stopped the convenient store hold-up. Now, she had only one save left and she would do that on the way to Clint's.
"You look happy, daddy." That was the first thing Arianna noticed when she walked into the room.
Gary smiled, "Well, in a way, it's not really funny."
"What?"
"Clint asked me if you were clairvoyant." Gary explained.
Arianna laughed, "What'd you tell him?" She sat down in a chair.
"What'd I tell him? What do you think I told him? I told him 'no'. No, you're not clairvoyant."
Arianna smiled. It was funny to think about. She wished she could have been there. Then she noticed that Gary's face had gotten serious again.
"Arianna, if we're not careful, Clint's going to find out about the Paper," Gary said, "I, I mean this whole 'clairvoyance' thing is nearly hitting the nail on the head, don't you think?"
"I know, but what are we going to do, daddy?" Arianna asked. She didn't have any ideas.
"I want you to lead him in the wrong direction, Arianna," Gary ordered her; "I want you to get him confused and turned around."
"What do you mean?" Arianna didn't quite understand.
"When he asks questions and trust me – he'll ask questions." Gary promised, "When he does, give him answers that he won't be able to work with. Don't let him know about the Paper. Keep him guessing. You got it?"
Arianna nodded. This should be interesting…
About half an hour later, Arianna stood up. "I've got to go now," Arianna said. She gave her father a hug, "I love you, daddy." She said softly.
"I love you, too," He replied, "Now, you'd better go. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Rest up, daddy," Arianna ordered, "The sooner you get better, the sooner we can go back home." With that, she left.
Gary closed his eyes and sighed. Why him?
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It was about 9 o'clock that night. Arianna was sitting with Clint on the couch. She knew he had loads of questions, but was just waiting until the "right time" to ask them. Finally, the right time came;
"Arianna, can I ask you a question?" Clint asked.
"Go right ahead." Arianna knew what he was getting at.
"Arianna, how do you know what you know?" Clint asked.
"Howzat?"
"How do you always seem to find the trouble… then fix it?" Clint asked, "How do ya do it?"
"I'm not sure I know what you're talking about, Clint." Arianna feigned confusion.
"Like earlier;" Clint referred to the walk home, "When you stopped that semi from running the red light and plowing into that red minivan. How did you know that would happen?"
"Oh, that?"
Clint nodded.
"Oh, that was easy," Arianna said, "You see, anybody could see that he wasn't watching the road. He was looking back for some reason. I just got his attention so that he wouldn't hit anybody. I didn't even notice a red van."
Clint was puzzled even more now. That was a pretty good explanation. But, he decided to try again;
"But, what about the other day, when you stopped that man from being hit by a car;" Clint tried, "How'd ya know about that?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Arianna pretended.
Clint sighed. This was getting him no where. He needed some time to himself to think for a little while. "Ya know what, Arianna; I just remembered something I've got to do. I'm going to my room. I'll be out in a few minutes."
Arianna nodded. He was acting stranger and stranger. You would think he took the blow to the head. She just shook her head. Life was so confusing.
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The next morning, Arianna wasn't at all surprised to see that the Paper didn't come. And she was glad. That way she didn't have to risk Clint seeing it.
"Any surprises this morning?" Clint asked, as the two walked to Westbury.
"Not today." Arianna replied.
This puzzled Clint even more, at times the child acted as if she knew what he was talking about and other times she acted as if she was totally oblivious to what he was saying. Perhaps he would never understand.
A few minutes later, when they reached Westbury, Arianna said "hello" to everyone and then went to go see her father. Gary was, of course, already awake and had the Paper spread out in front of him on his lap.
"Good morning, daddy," Arianna greeted him, while removing her coat and gloves,
"Good morning, Arianna," He replied. Arianna noticed right away that he sounded troubled and distracted.
"Daddy, is something the matter?" The girl asked, sensing something was wrong.
"He's in the Paper." Gary said, without looking up.
"Who is?"
"Dr. Cassidy – he's in the Paper… the obituaries." Gary explained.
Arianna gasped, "Wh-what happened?"
"I'm still trying to figure that out, Arianna," Gary admitted, "You see, that's just it; that's the problem. I can't find anything on why he dies."
"Well, what am I going to do, daddy?" Arianna asked, "I mean; I'm only one kid. I, if I don't even know how he dies! What am I going–"
"Arianna, Arianna," Gary hushed her, softly, "Calm down, calm down."
Arianna quieted down.
"Arianna, come here." Gary called her, quietly.
Arianna went and sat down on the bed beside her father. He put his good arm around her shoulders.
"Arianna, I want you to remember this… always;" He told her, "You never have to do anything alone; never. Whenever you need help, I'll be there for you; every step of the way. And if for some reason I'm not," He added, "There will be someone else; I promise. There's always somebody watching over you, okay? We'll figure this out… together. Don't worry, we'll figure it all out."
Arianna managed a smile and gave her father a hug. "You're right, daddy," She said, "We'll figure this out together… but, how?"
Gary ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, Arianna, but I do know one thing; starting now, we can't let Clint out of our sight. I don't know how, yet, but we're not gonna let him die."
Arianna nodded, "I'm going to find him right now. Daddy, we can't let anything happen to him!"
Leaving Gary to finish searching the Paper, Arianna went in search for the doctor. She finally found him, just leaving his office.
"Howdy, Arianna," He greeted her, "I was just about to go check up on your dad. Why don't you come with me?"
Arianna nodded silently and followed him back down the hall. She suddenly had a thought; how was she supposed to handle the Paper and keep an eye on Clint at the same time.
"Uh, Clint, you don't plan on going anywhere today, do you?" Arianna asked, "Besides, back home, I mean."
"I don't know, Arianna. Why do you ask?" as he walked, he scanned a file labeled 'Hobson, Gary'.
"Well, I was just wondering." Arianna replied with a shrug.
"Good mornin', Mr. Hobson," Clint greeted Gary, walking into eth room.
"Good morning… and its 'Gary'." He replied. Arianna noticed that the Paper was now re-folded and laying on the nightstand beside the bed.
"Oh, right. Sorry about that," Clint apologized, "How're you doin' this mornin', Gary?"
"I'm doing okay, I guess," Gary replied, shifting slightly in his upright position in the bed, "The headache's not so bad anymore."
"And the arm?"
"Much better, I think." Gary replied, glancing down at his left limb.
"How about those ribs;" Clint asked, marking something down on Gary's file, "They still feel like a horse kicked ya?"
"They feel almost normal," Gary answered, "Except for when I cough, or something like that."
"Great."
"Does this mean I can go home soon?" Gary asked hopefully, eyeing his daughter's also hopeful face.
"I'd give it another week if I were you," Clint suggested, "But, then, that's just my opinion. You're free to leave at any time, ya know."
Gary nodded. He knew that, but for his sake and for Arianna's, if the doctor thought he shouldn't leave, yet, then he wouldn't.
"Uh, doc," Gary said, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand, "I, I wanted to thank you f-for taking care of Arianna right now," He glanced over at his daughter, "I really appreciate it and I don't know what I would have done without you."
"It's been my pleasure, Gary," Clint assured him, "She's been good company for me. I'm just glad I could help you out."
Arianna kept her head down through out this conversation. She pretended to be reading the Paper. It embarrassed her to be having people talk about her. She kind of wished they'd switch to a different topic.
"Well, I'll be back in a little while," Clint said after a few minutes. He started towards the door, "I suggest you rest up, Gary. Chicago's a long trip from New York."
"I will," Gary promised, "Uh, doc?"
"Yeah?"
"Take care of yourself, okay?" Gary said.
For a moment a strange look came over Clint's face, then vanished as quickly as it had come. He nodded, "I will, Gary. Thanks."
Arianna watched as Clint left the room. In a way, she felt sorry for the man. He was so confused and had no idea what was going on. She shook her head. This Paper sure caused a lot of problems.
"Daddy?" She asked after the doctor was out of ear's shot.
"Mmm?"
"Daddy, what's it like; not knowing what's going to happen?" Arianna asked curiously, settling down into the chair she had been occupying for the past few days.
Gary's mouth dropped open in surprise. What was it like? How do you describe something like that? The whole idea was basically foreign to the child. She had grown up used to life like this. She had never known any different. This was mostly a normal life for her. Anything else would be abnormal… strange even. In a way, the man felt sorry for her. She would never experience what he would call a 'normal life'. The receiving of news a day early would always be natural for her. And she probably wouldn't have it any different.
"You want to know what it's like not knowing, huh?" Gary asked her.
Arianna nodded. To her, the whole idea seemed a bit strange. Knowing what was going to happen was scary enough, but to not know? That sounded even worse! You didn't even have time to prepare for the terrible things that you couldn't prevent. She shuddered at the thought.
"Well, not knowing is very different, Arianna," Gary tried to begin explaining, "You get up in the morning… at any time you want, I might add. You decide what you would like to do that day. And nothing can change your plans except for some unforeseen situation that might come up. The day and the way you spend it is usually up to you."
"Unless you're eleven-years-old and have to go to school." Arianna added, grinning.
Gary laughed, "You're right about that one, Arianna. When you don't get the Paper," Gary then continued, "You usually don't end up in so much trouble, so many problems. Like; bank robberies, kidnappings, murders, etc. and you don't have a cat if you don't want to."
Arianna smiled. Gary was always complaining about the cat, but she suspected that deep, down inside, he had a special place for the mysterious feline in his heart.
"You know, daddy," Arianna said, "I'm not so sure I would like having what you would call a normal life. It sounds kind of scary."
Gary smiled a bit, "Yeah, well, we'll see. Who knows; maybe one day you'll have a 'normal' life. You never know."
"But you do." Arianna grinned.
Gary swatted her playfully with the Paper. "Oh, ha, ha," He said, "That's very funny. Now, I do believe it's time for the first save of the day." He announced, opening up the Paper.
"What is it?" Arianna asked, leaning in to see the article.
"'Woman Victim of Dog Bite; Loses hand'," Gary read out loud, "It's on Hammond Road at 10:25 AM. Do you know where that is, Arianna?"
Arianna nodded, "I think so. I believe I passed it yesterday."
"Good," Gary handed her the Paper, "Well, why don't you go take care of that? And be careful, Arianna."
"I will, daddy," She promised, "And I'll be back soon. This shouldn't take long."
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