Chapter 19
Walt approached James and the sleeping Kate under the tree. Sitting down next to James he whispered, "Is she sleeping?"
"Looks like it Squirt."
Walt wrinkled in a gesture not dissimilar to Kate's, "Why?"
"She was up all night in the hatch, guess she's tired."
"Oh."
James looked at the little boy with amusement, "You alright?"
Walt looked at the ground briefly before looking up at James, "I am now. Thanks to you S-"
"You can call me James, son."
"Why?"
"'Cause that's my real name."
"So then why did you tell people your name was Sawyer?"
"It's a long story, Shortround. James is my real name."
"I like it better than Sawyer."
"Yeah, I think I do too." James was smiling at the boy now.
Kate rolled her head off his lap curling onto her blanket and facing away from him. Rising at this he gestured for Walt to follow him a few yards away. They sat down on the sand, James crossing his legs. The capricious child sat down opposite him and crossed his legs too. James smirked at this.
"Mr. James, I wanted to thank you for rescuing me. If you hadn't got there when you did I don't know how much longer I could have held on."
"No problem Squirt, you don't have to thank me."
"I also thanked Ms. Catalina, she was always there when things looked like they were getting real bad."
James' eyes widened at the mention of Catalina's name, "You saw her again?"
"Yeah, she waved at me yesterday when we got back. I waved back and she was gone."
"Where did you see her?"
"By the tree Kate's sleeping under."
"Well I'll be damned."
"You shouldn't swear Mr. James."
"Sorry Squirt. So how do you know this woman you saw was Catalina?"
"Because she told me when they first took me from the raft."
"Maybe you can tell me everythin'you remember Squirt."
"I was on the boat with Mr. Frank and the other people, I was crying and Ms. Catalina sat down next to me. She told me not to cry, and that I had to be strong. Then she hugged me and sang this beautiful song to me, she smells like roses you know?I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up I was in the hut. I don't remember much after that because they started sticking needles in me and asking me all these questions."
Walt paused, as if he was struggling not to cry, James was on tenterhooks waiting to hear what had happened next.
"They told me my Dad was dead, and that everyone else would be dead too if I didn't do what they wanted me to do. They told me it was my fault because I was special. Then when they left me in the room Ms. Catalina came in the room and told me not to worry, that you were coming to find me and take me back to my Dad. She told me I had to fight what the medicine was doing to me. And that she would stay with me until you came… I asked her how she knew you were going to come and she said you would because you promised her."
Walt was looking up at James now, awe on his face and in his eyes.
"And just like she said you would, you came."
James felt torn, he didn't understand how this had happened or what it all meant. He was spiritual in his own way, he'd been trained to see and feel what others didn't, but nothing in his experiences of meditation had prepared him for this.
"I saw her too Squirt, she led me to you, that's how I found ya. Did you tell anyone else about her? Did anyone else see her?" He confided in the little boy.
"No Mr. James, she said it was our little secret and that I shouldn't tell anyone but you."
James nodded, part of him couldn't help but feel he was losing his mind.
Getting up Walt dusted his legs off, "I have to go Mr. James, like I said before, thank you."
James waved the thanks off, "See you later Squirt."
He remained seated on the sand wondering what the hell all of it meant, sighing he walked back to the tree and sat down again, glancing tenderly at Kate's sleeping form.
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Jack marched to the beach in search of James and Ana-Lucia, when he'd checked on their new prisoner he'd been shocked to find the man's bullet wound bleeding, he had a broken finger and black eyes from the lack of oxygen courtesy of James' strangulation.
Neither one of them had warned him and he'd been horrified at the bruise marks on the injured man's neck and the general condition the man was in. Jack couldn't get the man to speak as his voice was totally gone and he'd never seen such a haunted look of fear in someone's eyes before.
Spying James sitting under the palm tree looking out at sea, as Kate lay sleeping with her head in his lap, Jack saw red.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
James looked up at the spinal surgeon, "What's that now?"
"I go check on Zeke to find him half dead from your hands, you tortured him, Sawyer!Something both you and Ana-Lucia failed to mentionwhen I came in this morning!"
"Frank."
"What?"
"His name is Frank." James slid Kate's head off his lap and walked down towards the water.
They were drawing a crowd; Ana-Lucia, Locke, Sayid, Michael, Eko and Hurley were all standing around listening to the exchange. As Jack followed James down to the water's edge everyone moved too.
"Frank Mandelsson." Locke's face dropped at this revelation, something James did not fail to notice.
"He's the conman that stole my parents' money when I was a little boy."
"You nearly killed a man to get revenge on someone conning your parents at least twenty years ago?" Jack asked incredulously.
Kate had woken up by now, the sound of Jack's incensed voice had penetrated the deep sleep she'd been in. Blearily looking around she saw there was some sort of commotion happening by the water's edge.
"Yeah, an' what about it?"
Jack with hishands on his hips,shook his head, "You are not to be trusted Sawyer, you run off into the jungle in the middle of the night and start a war with the Others. Exhibiting skills that lead me to think that you haven't been exactly truthful about who you are, then you nearly kill a man for some crime he may have committed against your family over twenty years ago. Who are you? What is with the pressure points, the hiding your tracks? Quite frankly all of it?"
"My name is James."
Jack narrowed his eyesat the other man in mounting anger.
"Whatever."
"I've picked up some skills here an' there Jack that's all there is to it. I tortured Frank to get answers. He said that he had a copy of the flight manifest and the seating plan before we crashed."
"If someone was strangling me and breaking my fingers I would say anything James."
"Yeah well, since you've never had the pleasure of bein' tortured Jackass, I think I'll draw on my own personal experiences to judge whether a man is tellin' the truth or not when he's bein' tortured."
That hit a nerve, Jack shook his head in frustration.
"Yeah well thanks to your methods, the man can't speak his throat is so swollen."
"Excuse me for not carin'."
Kate was standing with the crowd now, watching the exchange between the two men with a concerned look on her face. Locke was limping off in the direction of the hatch and nobody but James seemed to realize this either.
"Looks to me like Frank has more than one fan." James said mockingly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Daniel Boone's on his way to the hatch right now, somethin' tells me he's not goin' to check on Frank's injuries."
Everyone whipped around to look at Locke's rapidlydeparting figure. Jack ran after him to find out what was going on.
"John! Where are you going?"
"Who's in the hatch right now Jack?"
"Libby. I left her there with Bernard, the two of them came to do their laundry."
"You shouldn't have left them there alone with the prisoners Jack!" Locke yelled at the surgeon.
"Why are you going there, John?"
"I'm going there because you left two very important prisoners with two people that do not have the capabilities of dealing with them or any situation that may arise."
"Fine that's one reason. Do you know this Frank?"
"No Jack, should I?"
Sayid had caught up with the two men and together they were heading for the hatch, "He's right Jack you shouldn't have left them alone with the prisoners. I don't trust Libby, something about her does not seem right. I'll run ahead."
With that the Iraqi sprinted for the hatch leaving Jack and the limping Locke to follow.
The crowd had dispersed, leaving James, Kate, Ana-Lucia, Michael standing by the water.
Michael spoke first, "Thank you for saving my boy. Whatever reasons you had going there, you have my everlasting gratitude."
James accepted the thanks, looking uncomfortable, "Yeah don't mention it Mickey."
Walking away from the group Michael went back to his tent where Walt was sleeping.
"You okay?" Ana-Lucia asked solicitously.
"Yeah." James replied.
"Gonna go see what's goin' on at the hatch, we'll talk later?" Ana-Lucia asked as she turned to walk away.
"No problem, keep an eye on things over there for me Cupcake."
Eko followed Ana-Lucia, leaving Kate and James alone.
"Do you think he's got much more information to give us?" Kate asked, seriously.
"I don't know Freckles. Guess we'll find out when he can talk again." James looked at her with conflicted eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"Somethin' I should be remembering is escapin' me. Somethin' important."
"How do you know how to do all those things James?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He teased, with no intention of discussing this aspect of his past with her.
"Yeah I would. You were right yesterday, I don't know you, and I would like to get to know you."
James was slightly taken aback by her sincerity and the forthrightness she spoke with as she looked at him. Her eyes showed she wasn't lying and he felt trapped. Sighing because he knew he was about to give her what she wanted despite his misgivings; he sat back down under the 'TruthTree' as he now dubbed the palm tree.
"After ma parents died, I stayed with my father's sister Claire-Ann, she was married to a Canadian man who worked on a reserve in Saskatchewan. I lived on the reserve for two years an' whenAunt CeCegot cancer, ma Momma's relatives got a court order to have me brought back an' raised by them."
He waited for this to sink in, before continuing, "After that I lived with ma Momma's sister Vera an' her low-life hubby, they were rich an' child services felt that it would be a better environment for a twelve year old boy to grow up in. I went back up to the reserve once, when I ran away to see Aunt Cece, she was recoverin' from the cancer an' her prognosis was good. I stayed with 'em for a month celebrated ma fourteenth birthday up there, then they sent me back. I guess Vera called an' offered to pay for any and all medical bills if they stopped hidin' me an' sent me back. They weren't rich or nothin' must have been a hard decision to make, but back to Memphis I went."
Kate's eyes were full of sorrow and compassion as he told his story, studying her face for what seemed like forever, James dusted the seat of his jeans as he got up. "That's enough story tellin' for one day dontcha think?" He was staring out at the surf pounding on the beach.
"I gotta go talk to Ana-Lulu, just remembered that somethin' that was escapin' me."
With that he turned away and headed towards the hatch, leaving Kate standing there on her own with an unbidden possessive look on her face.