Chapter 35 - Hannibal Who?

Caleb rode hard and arrived in the early afternoon.

Valparaiso was an imposing looking place, cold and impersonal. He thought it looked more like a prison than an orphanage.

He stood by the gate and looked around for someone who could help him. Almost immediately, he spotted a woman walking by with an almost frightening air of efficiency.

He called to her. "Excuse me, can you help me? I'm trying to find someone."

She stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Who are you trying to find?"

"A boy. My nephew," he amended. "His name's Hannibal; he was sent here by mistake."

"By mistake?" Her tone was incredulous.

"My brother adopted him a few months ago. There was a diphtheria outbreak in town and no-one could look after him. In the confusion, he was sent here. We want him back."

"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?"

He pulled out the telegram and handed it to her. She seemed to consider it for a long time before saying, "Follow me."

She led him to an office and walked over to a filing cabinet. "What's his last name?"

"Heyes. H-E-Y-E-S."

She quickly searched through the files. "We have no-one with the name Heyes. What was his name before?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry."

She sighed. "His first name again?"

"Hannibal."

She spent a long time looking through the files. "Ah! Here he is." She read through the papers for a moment. "He's in the hospital wing."

Caleb felt his blood run cold. "What happened, is he alright? Can I see him?"

She frowned. "I'm sorry, I can't just take you to see a child in our care without verifying your credentials."

"Excuse me?"

"Do you have any paperwork that will prove your claim to the boy?"

"Oh!" He was glad of the foresight that had prompted Elizabeth to give him Han's original adoption papers. As he handed them over, he realized that Han's original name was probably on there as well.

She read the papers carefully before deciding he was telling the truth. "Very well, these seem to be in order. I can take you to see him. You said there was a diphtheria outbreak?"

"Yes. He didn't have a relapse, did he?"

"Not in the sense that you mean. He doesn't have diphtheria. But it looks like he wasn't really in the best of health. It seems he passed out on the day he was admitted, but he told us he was just tired and hungry. We released him back into the orphanage."

She flipped through his file again and pursed her lips. "He's been causing quite a bit of trouble - fighting with the other boys, breaking into the kitchen to steal food and trying to run away. We've had to discipline him quite a few times. It seems that during his last punishment, he collapsed again. Since then, I'm afraid, he's been refusing to eat."

She kept a quick pace as she walked. They reached the hospital wing and she walked in ahead of him. Speaking to the nurse sitting at the front of the room, she said, "We're here to see Hannibal Heyes."

The nurse looked up stupidly. "Heyes? We don't have anyone named Heyes."

Caleb's temper was now extremely short. The infirmary wasn't that large; surely she should know if Han was there without having to know his last name! He said sharply, "So take us to every boy you have named 'Hannibal' and I'll stop you when we get to the right one!"

He saw the other woman's lips tighten in annoyance. "We are doing our best to help you, Mr...?"

"I'm sorry. Caleb Curry." He held out his hand, but she either didn't see it or didn't choose to see it.

Instead, she turned back to the nurse. "Where is the boy named Hannibal?"

The nurse pointed, insulted. "Last one on the left."

The child on the bed had curled up in a ball and was facing the wall. He didn't look up at their approach.

"Hannibal! Sit up, you have a visitor."

He didn't move.

Caleb stepped forward. "Hannibal."

The boy slowly turned his head to look at them. "Uncle Caleb?" His tone was disbelieving.

Caleb had to catch his breath for a moment. Hannibal looked awful. He'd lost all the weight he had gained over the past few months and he was painfully thin. Dark shadows under his eyes stood out like bruises in his pale face.

Caleb pulled away the blankets and drew the boy towards him in a hug. "Oh, Han, look at you! You shouldn't be here, this was all just a stupid mistake. I've come to take you home, just as soon as I can."

Han didn't understand what was happening. "Why are you here?"

"I just told you! I came to find you and bring you home."

"But what I did... Adam, Tom and," he swallowed, trying not to sob as he said the name, "Pa."

"It wasn't your fault; how could it have been?"

"Doctor Masterson said. He was very sure."

"He was wrong. And Han, David is fine."

Hannibal stared at him in shock. "But the doctor said..."

"The doctor said far too much! David is fine. He's getting better all the time but he misses you. He had a shock when he found out what had happened, we all did. We didn't find out until the quarantine was lifted and then I had to track you down. Doctor Masterson died and we didn't know where you were. We've all been out of our minds with worry. David made me promise to bring you back."

"He's really alright?"

"He'll be better once you're back home again. What's this I hear about you not eating?"

Tears appeared in Han's eyes. "I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I'm sorry about Adam. And the others."

"Han, it wasn't your fault and nobody should have ever said it was. You just got sick first because you were the youngest and smallest."

"You don't hate me?"

"Of course we don't hate you! We love you, we want you to come home!"

"Really? I can go back?"

"Yes, of course! That's why I'm here."

Han looked at Caleb hopefully. "Can we go now?"

Caleb looked at the woman beside him. "Can I take him? Is he well enough to travel?"

She narrowed her eyes. "This really is most irregular! I'm not authorized to release this child. I'll have someone call for Mr. Black, the warden."

She snapped her fingers at the nurse and made a sign. The nurse scuttled away.

Hannibal looked up at Caleb pleadingly. "Will you take me anyway? Please? Even if they say no?"

"Han, if you're not well enough to travel..."

"I won't get well in here. Please!" Han reached out for Caleb and his small fingers dug into the man's wrist.

There was a desperation to his voice that Caleb didn't like. He saw the woman had moved away and lowered his voice. "Han? Did they hurt you?"

Before the boy could answer, the door to the hospital banged open. Han jumped, his eyes flying to see who it was.

A young woman came in to place a file on the desk.

Caleb wrinkled his brow at his nephew's' reaction. "Han?"

Han looked down and released his grip. His nails had left marks on his uncle's wrist. "Please, Uncle Caleb! Please get me out of here!"

The door banged for a second time and again, Han's eyes flew in that direction.

This time an older man came in. He walked over to them and stopped next to the woman that had summoned him. "Mrs. Chapel, what is this? Is there a problem?"

"Yes, Mr. Black. This gentleman," she said the word more out of habit than the belief that Caleb was a gentleman, "is saying that the boy was sent here by mistake. He wants to take him away. Now."

The warden raised an eyebrow and looked at the boy and his uncle. "By mistake?"

Caleb spoke up. "There was a diphtheria outbreak and my sister-in-law couldn't look after him. She asked the doctor to take care of him, but he sent him here instead."

Mr. Black turned back to the woman. "Do you believe his story?"

"I do," she said almost grudgingly. "The boy obviously knows him - he called him Uncle Caleb - and the man has the correct paperwork from the original adoption. It would also explain the boy's poor state of health."

She handed him the papers and he examined them carefully. "Hmm. These seem to corroborate his story."

Mr. Black spoke to Caleb. "This is extremely irregular. Boys are usually sent here for correction, we don't usually allow them to leave with anyone that simply comes along and asks for them. We do have procedures in place for a child's release; and in my opinion, this boy is where he should be. He has certainly proved himself to be a problem child."

Caleb saw the panic on the Han's face and squeezed his shoulder, reassuringly. After Han's last outburst, Caleb was more determined than ever to take him away as soon as possible.

Caleb stood and faced the other man. "By law, this child belongs to my brother. He is my nephew; I've already given you the paperwork to prove it. You have no legal right to him and if I have to come back here with a sheriff, I will."

The warden looked again at the boy while he made up his mind.

He lowered his voice and turned back to Mrs. Chapel, clearly unaware that he was still loud enough to be heard. "The boy's been nothing but trouble since he arrived. Since there was no court order or judgement to keep him here, we have no obligation to keep him. The boy's refusal to eat indicates a lack of gratitude and a stubbornness which I do not think is proper for a boy of his age. At this point, I do not know if he will recover his health. If this man wishes to take him back and bury the child at his own expense, then he may do so. Release the boy!"

He walked away, unaware that they had heard every word, or perhaps uncaring of the fact.

Mrs. Chapel, however, knew that they would have overheard. "Did you hear?"

Caleb nodded.

"And you still want to take him?"

He felt Hannibal's eyes on him. "Yes."

She waved a hand to indicate that she was washing her hands of the whole affair. "Then you may take him whenever you wish."

Caleb breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. Where are his things? His clothes? I believe he had suitcase with him."

She sighed heavily and went to speak to the nurse. They seemed to be arguing about something.

She returned a few minutes later. "I'm afraid his things seem to have been mislaid. We can see if we can find them and you could come back tomorrow."

Caleb turned to Hannibal. "Did you have anything important with you?"

Hannibal shook his head. "I don't know. I never saw what was inside. My clothes, I guess."

Caleb shook his head. "They can be replaced. Where are the clothes he was wearing and his boots?"

The woman pointed to a pile of clothing on a shelf above his bed. "Those are his clothes now."

Caleb reached up and picked up one of the soft soled shoes.

"He can't wear these outside. Don't you have any boots he can wear?"

She pursed her lips again. "Perhaps we can find something. If you'd like to come back in the morning, we could have him ready for you..."

Hannibal gave Caleb's hand a hard, desperate squeeze. Caleb decided he couldn't stand to be in this place another minute. He had some money with him, he could replace what was lost. Besides, every child he'd seen so far was dressed in little more than rags; he didn't think they would find anything any better.

"Never mind." He turned back to the matron. "Since he no longer seems to have a jacket, I assume that you won't mind me taking a blanket for him so he won't catch his death of cold?" Seeing her about to object, he added, "When you find his luggage, I think you'll find it more than covers the cost of the blanket!"

Grudgingly, she nodded. They both knew that his luggage had, in all likelihood, already been sold.

"Okay Hannibal - get dressed, then wrap that blanket around you as tight as you can. It's cold outside."

Hannibal dressed as quickly as he could, but his movements were clumsy and slow. Caleb leaned down and helped him with the buttons. Han swayed as he tried to stand up from the bed and Caleb reached forward and steadied him. He squatted down beside the boy.

"Han, we both want to get out of here quickly - will you let me carry you?"

Han bit his lip and then nodded. Caleb breathed a sigh of relief; he had been worried that the boy wouldn't want to be carried, but Han looked far too weak to walk anywhere.

Hannibal wound his arms around his uncle's neck as Caleb pulled the blanket tighter and lifted him off the bed. He was as light as a feather.

"Come on, kid. Let's get out of here."