Chapter 4 Father Ed's Problem

"Why would you leave the church?" Phineas asked.

The priest looked at Bogg and shook his head. "I'm no good here. I can't do what needs to be done."

"What needs to be done?"

"The impossible."

"Tell me about it."

Father Ed took a breath and began to talk. "This is a church with a Mission. We serve troubled children. I'm the Assistant Pastor and I'm supposed to help them learn to cope with their problems, only…" he couldn't continue.

"Only what?" Bogg asked.

"I haven't been able to help any of them. Not one in the 4 years I've been here. The truth is, I'm a failure at this." There was a long silence. "I just don't know why God would put me here to be a failure?"

Phineas didn't know what to say. There was another period of silence, long and uncomfortable. And Phineas acknowledged to himself that even the best Voyager wasn't equipped to counsel a priest.

Father Ed smiled sadly and stood up. "Thanks for listening. It's time for both of us to get to bed."

ooOoo

The next morning Phineas brought Jeffrey breakfast in bed.

"Wow, this is great!" Jeff said as Bogg put the tray down on his lap. "You should do this more often!"

"Yeah right," Bogg joked, "like that's gonna happen." He smiled at Jeffrey, glad he seemed back to normal. "Well, enjoy what you can because the rest of the day probably won't be much fun."

"What do you mean?" Jeff asked, taking a bite of toast and shoveling eggs into his mouth hungrily.

"You have to stay off that leg as much as you can, remember?"

Jeff's face fell, "oh," he whispered.

"And since I'm going to start helping fix a roof down the street, I won't be around to help. So you might be alone," he paused, "I'm sorry I won't be here."

"Don't worry about me," Jeff answered, a warm feeling spreading through him. Even though he would be fine on his own, just knowing how Bogg felt about leaving him for the day made him feel good. "Tell me about the roof?"

Phineas shared with Jeff what he had learned last evening during his talk with Father Ed.

ooOoo

"You rented this building without a roof?" Bogg asked an hour later as he gazed up at the tall ladder, leaned precariously against the steeply sloped roof. Phineas had signed on to help with the repairs on the building up the street. He let Father Ed think it was in exchange for giving Jeffrey and him a place to stay until Jeff's leg was healed.

"It was the only thing I could afford," the priest answered, "but I do have the roofing materials, and we can work together."

"But doesn't the church have money?" Bogg asked.

"Not for this, I don't really have approval for this."

"Oh," Phineas whispered as he climbed up onto the roof and began to work, thinking that work must have stopped on this building abruptly, because the interior was almost finished, yet the roof was only half done, leaving the inside exposed to the weather. It just wasn't a logical way to build anything.

ooOoo

Jeff hopped out into the kitchen to find it empty. He sat down at the table and put his foot on another chair so he didn't have to bend his knee.

"What's the matter, do you miss your dad?" asked a mocking voice from the back doorway as a boy entered.

Jeff decided to ignore the nasty tone and try to be friendly. "Who're you?" he asked, noticing it was the boy from last night.

"Tony," he said and entered the kitchen, helping himself to one of the freshly baked rolls in a basket on the table.

Jeff waited, then decided he would try again, "I'm Jeffrey," he said extending his hand. After a short pause, Tony took it and they shook.

"Bogg's not really my dad," Jeff said, trying to start a conversation. He knew he'd hit a nerve when Tony's jaw dropped open.

"But," Tony began, then paused, "he washed your hand... I just thought ..."

Jeff felt embarrassed as he thought about what Tony must have seen and heard. He had been in a kind of shock, and Bogg had gently washed the blood off of his hand, arm and neck. Jeff could still hear his voice, it had been soft and comforting, and his touch had been gentle. He felt a lump in his throat as he remembered and forced the thought out of his mind. He needed to use a strong voice when he talked to this kid.

"I don't really like blood," he whispered uncomfortably with a half-smile. Bogg had taught him that it wasn't a good idea to show weakness in some situations and based on Tony's nasty tone of voice, he decided this just might be one of them. He hoped Tony wasn't going to start bullying him. He made his own voice friendly, and tried to change the topic.

"You were there in the room last night, weren't you? Where did you go?" Jeff asked.

"I had to get home," Tony said as he finished one roll and took a second.

Jeff let his comments sink in. This was strange. This kid had obviously spent the evening here, then left to go home to sleep, but was now back, apparently eating breakfast.

"So is he a priest too?" Tony asked.

"Who?"

"That guy, Bogg."

Jeff laughed, "no, definitely not a priest."

But Tony wasn't laughing, "who is he then?" he asked.

Jeff was glad to be on a different topic. "He's my friend, we travel together."

A loud noise from the hall interrupted them and Tony stood up suddenly and ran to the door. "Don't tell em I was here," he whispered and then was gone.