Later
Marcus was out on the porch enjoying a glass of lemonade. Sir Ian had thrown a party for all those that had been involved in the search and it was still going strong even three hours later. Marcus had come here to get some peace and quiet and to enjoy the stars. He heard the screen door open and didn't bother to move although he tensed slightly until he saw the face of Sir Ian.
"Good evening Marcus," said Sir Ian coming to lean against the deck railing.
"Evening, Sir Ian," said Marcus taking a sip of lemonade.
"Enjoying the party?"
"Yes," Marcus admitted with a sad smile.
"But you're standing out here all alone," Sir Ian said.
"I enjoy the peace and quiet and looking at the stars. It's something I rarely get the enjoy living in Virginia. Even as much as I travel I rarely have time to just look at the stars."
"Ah," said Sir Ian in understanding. "I enjoy looking at the stars to. I will enjoy them, even more now that I have my daughter back."
"You're lucky," said Marcus softly feeling melancholy. This case had brought a lot of old feelings back to the fore, feelings he had buried for more than twenty-five years.
"In what way?" asked, Sir Ian. "You have a beautiful wife and an adorable son and five brothers and sisters. You have everything a man could want."
"True," said Marcus softly. "And I wouldn't change that for anything, but what you don't know is that my mother died when I was just a child—pneumonia. She was a woman who believed in God and was at peace with her situation. When I was younger I believed as well, but when mom died I stopped believing for a lot of years until I met Shari. Now I can start enjoying the simple pleasures in life again—a sunrise, the stars, the smell of wet grass, stuff you wouldn't normally notice."
"If you were an only child like your story suggests how'd you get brothers and sisters?" asked Sir Ian.
Marcus was quiet for a long time deep in thought and Ian thought he wasn't going to answer. Finally, Marcus sighed and said softly, "When mom died, dad died soon after of a broken heart. I was too old for a normal orphanage and I ended up at Trevor House, which is where all the older children who aren't adopted eventually wound up. I was there a couple of months when Kate showed up. We had two years of history together when one by one they others showed up." Marcus smiled at the memory.
"We—that is Kate and I made them as welcome as we could and as the years passed we became as close as a real family. We were all orphans , we had that in common. We all decided together that when we were released from Trevor House and were old enough we would legally change our last names and become a real family. A family that cared about each other—who was willing to take up for each other and who worried about each other when one was in a dangerous situation.
"Their were seven of us originally, but Jennifer the youngest of us died a couple of years ago of a rare form of cancer. It left a scar that still runs deep even to this day—to lose one of our own like that it nearly tore our family apart. It hurts even more, because she had just found her true love and they hadn't been married more than six months before she passed away."
"Did he know that before he married her?" Sir Ian asked curiously.
"Yes," said Marcus simply. "It's one of the reason's he refused to postpone his proposal and why he married her as soon as the first round of chemotherapy was over and she was strong enough, because he loved her. Jennifer was the first one of the O'Malley family to believe in God, because Tom was also a Christian. She did what was necessary to convince the rest of us and by the time she passed away only Stephen was left."
"That must have been some powerful pact," said Sir Ian, his voice full of respect.
"It was," Marcus admitted with a smile. "It took me years to realize that only Jesus could have figured out the combination that is our family. In fact, it wasn't until I met Shari that I realized, even though I had abandoned God he hadn't abandoned me—he sent me the O'Malleys. I have never been more grateful for anything in my life—except perhaps Shari."
"Tell me about some of Kate's exploits," Sir Ian suggested, in order to break the reflective silence.
Marcus smiled and began to tell him all the times Kate had worried him to death by walking into dangerous situations as her job as police negotiator required. "But there is no one I respect more," said Marcus. "I may be the guardian of the O'Malley family but Kate is its heart—its soul. There is no other person I would trust with my life as much as I trust her. When she stands up to defend someone you don't need to worry for she will get you through somehow. She's stubborn and determined, but has a soft side as well, especially when it comes to family."
Marcus stopped speaking as he heard the screen door open. "Marcus; are you going to stay out here all night? You're missing one great party."
Marcus smiled and turned around before he answered, "Getting bored ladybug?" asked Marcus with a grin.
Kate shot him a look of annoyance and said, "No, but Shari is getting lonely and I promised I'd come and find you."
"She's okay otherwise?" Marcus asked.
"Yes," said Kate with a reassuring smile.
Marcus nodded and slowly turned and bid Sir Ian goodnight, before he headed back inside to be with Shari.
~~~Beyond the Future~~~
Mary's husband and her children arrived a few days later and when Mary saw her husband, she gave him a hug and then a hug for each of her children.
"Sorry, love. The flight was delayed. You know how it is. Remember our honeymoon?" asked Simon.
Mary laughed. "Oh, do I ever. You and I were going to Hawaii and we were supposed to have a week there. The flight didn't leave until—what?—about eight hours."
"And then we went by boat and we both were seasick until the last day we docked. Already we wasted two to three days of our week being late and seasick. We did enjoy three days of bliss though and we were late again getting on the plane coming back," said Simon, chuckling.
"How were the kids on the flight, Simon?" asked Mary.
"Mummy have you ever been on a plane?" asked William, their youngest.
"Yes, dear, many times," said Mary.
"Do you know how much altitude a plane can fly in the sky?" asked Warren, their oldest.
"I bet we went fast, Mum. Faster than a car normally would," said Jean, their middle child.
"As you can see, all are quite excited," said Simon with a smile.
Mary smiled and bent down to be at eye level with her kids. "All right you can all tell me. Now, I want all of you to meet someone dear to me. Come here and you can meet him."
She took them before Sir Ian who nodded and said in the booming voice. "Hello, children my name is Sir Ian."
The children looked at him, then looked at their mother and then looked back at him. Then they opened their mouths and said.
"Is he St. Nicholas, Mum?" asked Jean.
"Are you a real knight, sir? Do you slay dragons, save damsels, and stuff like that?" asked Warren.
William said nothing and only looked at him.
Sir Ian smiled at all these enthusiastic questions and slowly he bent down on one knee to tell them his answers. "My, what young imaginations that they have!" he said. To Jean, he said, "My dear young lady, I am unfortunately not Saint Nicholas, although I have wealth and love to give gifts and money to children."
"As for you, young sir, I have never had to slay any dragons yet, but I have saved some damsels in distress, a few old and one young in my youth. One whom became my wife, " Sir Ian said.
"Where is your wife?" asked William.
Sir Ian looked sad. "She's dead. Been dead for a while."
"Oh," said William. "Do you have any grandchildren, sir?"
"Yes, some that I didn't know I had," said Sir Ian.
"How can you not know you have grandchildren?" asked Jean.
"Jean!" said Mary, admonishing her.
"Sorry, sir," said Jean
"That's all right. If I hadn't been told, I would not have known. You see, at the age twelve, my daughter was taken from my wife and I and we never saw her again until later on."
"Does my mum know your daughter?" asked Warren.
"Yes, in a way, she does."
"How?" asked all three kids.
"Well, your mother is my daughter," Sir Ian told them all/
"What?" said all three; children.
"Yes, it is true. I'm your grandfather," Sir Ian announced.
The three children turned to their mother in surprise.
Mary smiled. "Yes, it's true, my poppets. He is your grandfather. I thought he was dead."
Sir Ian smiled, even though tears were beginning to fall from his eyes. "I thought I'd never find you again, Susan—Mary."
William tugged at Sir Ian's sleeve. "Don't cry, Grandpa. It will be all right."
Mary went over to her father and Sir Ian and Mary hugged. Then he hugged the little ones and shook the hand of son-in-law. Yes, he thought, all was now right with the world.
~~~Beyond the Future~~~
"All rise! The court of the Honorable Matthias Bridgeton is in session," said the bailiff as the judge came in dressed in his black robes and white wig adorned his head. When he sat, then the bailiff yelled, "All shall now be seated." It was several months since they had found Sir Ian's daughter and for England or anywhere for that matter justice had been swifter then in most cases. Liam had been arrested several weeks ago and he hadn't even tried to run. He was being charged with kidnapping and transporting a minor out of the country to Ireland, but also with having her illegally adopted and changing her name, when her parents were still alive.
Then the judge spoke "Will the accused please stand?"
Liam and his barrister stood up and the judge continued.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Sir Ian, and members of this case that have seen this through, in all my years as a judge and before that as a barrister of the court, I have never experienced a case like this. In my lifetime, I have seen this man, Liam Simmons serve justice as an officer and Inspector of the law with such integrity that you would not think that he was anything but an upright citizen of the community. In all my years, I have counted him as one of my best friends, along with Sir Ian, who was, like; myself a young up and coming barrister in our youth. But now in light of this case, I am ashamed and no longer see fit to call this man before me 'friend'." Liam put his head down in dismay, but the judge kept on.
"You, Liam, decided to put it upon yourself to kidnap a young girl from her home. Even with your accomplice trying to kill her, you however could not. But even what you finally decided to do was worse than murder. For these past twenty-five years, you have made a family, who had done you no wrong, believe that their daughter was dead—causing a mother to grieve herself to death and die without ever knowing that her only child was alive. Plus, you told the daughter, the former Susan Barbara Semple, now Mary Murphy Templar, lies to the affect that she believed her father to be dead and that her mother had abandoned her. Also, you placed her with an Irish family and let them change her name being that you no longer had anything more to do with her. If she had been abused or truly abandoned, then perhaps you would be applauded for your actions, but in light of the true facts and even after all this time, you will not escape the consequences of your actions. You have deprived a man of seeing his daughter grow up into a lovely young woman, to watch her get married and become a mother. You deprived a woman of knowing her father and mother and tainting her memories of them. You almost deprived an old man of ever knowing his grandchildren. I, as a grandfather, myself, would hate to know that someone had harmed by kidnapping or any other way either my grown children or my grandchildren for I will serve them justice by my own hand. "
"Before I place the sentence on this man, would the accused like to say something to the court in his defense?" concluded the judge.
Liam turned to face those that had brought him to trial and said, "I would like to say that I apologize for all that I have done to Sir Ian and his daughter Susan—Mary twenty-five years ago, but at the time, I thought that what I was doing was right. I wanted to save my Beth and thought that kidnapping Sir Ian's daughter was the only road that I had left. But she died anyway," he said, tears streaming down his face. "So to the court, I beg for mercy. For the past twenty-five years, guilt has eaten at my heart and soul and I will serve any time that your Honor will give me for I have nothing left in my life to live for." Then he sat down.
In the massive audience, a hand was raised and the judge said "Sir Ian? Would you like to speak to the court?"
"Yes, Your Honor if I may." Sir Ian stood up and addressed Liam. "Liam Simmons, in my heart I cannot give you forgiveness at least not yet, but perhaps in the future, I will be able to do so. As the court presented, you could not get a loan anywhere so you decided to kidnap my daughter. In your testimony, you said that you went to the bank and asked for a loan.
"They denied you and you tried other places, which denied you also. If you had known, you could have asked Bridgeton for somebody to give you a loan. I would have been happy to give you one for I know what it is like to need money and not have it. Even though I am now a celebrated barrister and been knighted, once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a coal-mining town where you had to work in the mines to get any money.
"It was hard work and my mum and dad and uncles and aunts worked there day and night while my brother and I went to school, where my parents hoped that I could get a better education than working in the mines. The mines ended up killing most of my family through shafts collapsing and coal dust ravaging their lungs. By the time I was sixteen, my parents, uncles, some of my aunts, and my brother were all dead, except for me and a couple of aunts. Then I saved for the university by working in factories in London when the owner saw that I had a head for the law and sponsored me at the local university.
"There I went to Law School and worked at a cloth factory part time. In the factory is where I met my wife who was an orphan. By then, I received top marks and became a barrister. Later still, I married my wife, repaid my former factory boss for his generosity, and took care of my two aunts. I saved my money and we became wealthy through investments, though we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for five years.
"When we had our daughter, we thought we had the richest gift in the world. I didn't care about money that is why I gave it to you. I only wanted my daughter back safe and sound. As you lost the most precious gift in losing your wife so too did I by losing my daughter, whom by the grace of God been reunited with before I die.
"I hope that if you cannot find mercy in this court, then perhaps the Lord will bear your mercy in the hereafter and that your wife in waiting for you. Then you two will be always together. Thank you, your Honor." And he sat down.
"Liam Simmons, former officer of the police force, the people have judged you to be guilty and found you such under the charge of kidnapping. I, as a judge for the Crown, hereby sentence you to life imprisonment for the same time that you stole from the Semple family—Twenty-five years of hard labor in the Commonwealth Penitentiary. I should have you repay Sir Ian for the monies that you stole in ransom, but in light of your finances—being that you are still hundreds of pounds in debt, Sir Ian decided to pay your debt in full. Also, he asked if he could put a headstone on your wife's grave since in all these years, you have been unable to place one there to mark the area on which she is buried. This is the judgment of the court. The case is closed and the court is adjourned," said the judge banging his gavel and then leaving the courtroom.
Everyone filed out happy that Sir Ian's daughter had at least been found, but sad that Liam Simmons had felt he had to go to such extremes to get the money for his wife's operation. As for Liam, Marcus quietly watched him and noted genuine remorse for what he had done and also noticed the fact that he hadn't protested the sentence. It was more than fair considering the grief he had put the Semples through and Marcus hoped he was doing a lot of soul searching and would find his way out of the darkness and into the light that was God.
~~~Beyond the Future~~~
Marcus and Shari arrived back in Virginia late on a cool, crisp October night about three weeks after they had left for England. Davey was asleep in Marcus's arms his head against his father's shoulder. Marcus started to unlock the door with is free hand when the door swung open on its own accord. Marcus reacted instantly, "Take Davey," Marcus whispered. "Go over to the Matthews and call the police. Whoever is in there might still be there."
Shari nodded. She knew better then to argue. "Be careful," she said taking Davey who didn't wake up as he was transferred. She headed towards are neighbor across the street as fast as she could walk with Davey in her arms. While she walked she prayed, Lord please watch out for Marcus and keep him safe. Let him catch this guy before he hurts someone else.
It made her mad that someone thought they could rob Marcus and her blind while they were both out of the country. She hoped Rosie was all right, and hadn't been hurt when they broke in. Shari rang the doorbell on the neighbor's door and paced as when it didn't open immediately. She knew they would have to get out of bed and come downstairs. It was late and she was sorry to wake up the Matthews, but this was an emergency. Finally, a voice asked on the other side of the door, "Who is it?"
"It's Shari O'Malley, Mr. Matthews. I need to use the phone it's an emergency.
The door opened and Shari entered. "It must be important to wake us up in the middle of the night."
"I'll explain as soon as I call 911," said Shari, hurrying to the phone and dialing the numbers. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for an answer. She had handed Davey to Mr. Matthews so she would have both hands free.
"911, Debbie speaking. How may I help you?" came; the calm voice of the operator.
"This is Shari O'Malley. I need the police immediately. Our house has been broken into."
"The address ma'am?"
Shari gave it and Debbie put her on hold for a minute while she informed the police of a possible break-in.
"Where are you Mrs. O'Malley?" asked Debbie.
"At a neighbors."
"Stay there help is on the way."
"Please hurry, Marcus went in to check it out. He needs backup and fast," Shari said
"It'll be there in two minutes.
Shari paced until she heard sirens, then she rushed out of the house and down the street. She hung at the back of the crowd that had formed and thought, I pray Marcus is okay. I don't think I could live without him. I wouldn't want to.
Suddenly, she saw Marcus exit the house a boy who looked no more than seven or eight in tow, his head bowed and behind Marcus came a police officer with an older man in front of him, but still basically a kid. This one looked to be seventeen or eighteen and the scowl on his face and the hate in his eyes made Shari take a step back in shock. The hate in his eyes was so intense Shari was almost surprised the whole house or anybody his eyes fell on didn't burst into flame or incinerate on the spot. She searched Marcus's face and then the rest of him from what she could see he looked basically unharmed. Shari gave a silent sigh of relief at that for she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if he had been hurt.
She waited until both boys had been escorted to a police cruiser and then ran up to Marcus not caring who was watching and kissed him. "You okay?" Shari asked in concern.
"Yes," Marcus reassured. "But you should see our living room. It has been stripped bare of anything valuable including the silver frame with all the O'Malley's pictured and the one with your family as well as our wedding picture. The only thing left is the curio case and probably only because he didn't have time to remove it. There had to be at least one other person because there is no one man and one boy could have lifted that couch and some of the heavier items alone. He probably heard us coming and took the opportunity to leave while he could. He probably heard our car or saw us turn into the drive and he panicked."
"Will we get our stuff back?" Shari whispered, not caring about the thieves at the moment. It upset her that somebody would destroy the home that she and Marcus had so lovingly put together. "Dad gave me that picture and the frame. They both had sentimental value if nothing else."
"We managed to catch them before they got past the living room. And all our stuff is out in the van parked at the back of the house," Marcus answered.
"Good, although it will take us forever to put it all back. We'll need help," Shari said.
"Before we do that we need to head down to the police station and make a statement." Marcus said.
"Tonight?" asked Shari.
"Yes, tonight minx," said Marcus, rubbing her cheek gently with his thumb. "That way we won't have to worry about it tomorrow."
"All right then, I'll just go ask the Matthews' if they can't continue to look after Davey for another hour or two. I don't want to take him to such a place as a police station, besides he needs to sleep," Shari said.
"Okay," Marcus agreed understanding her reasoning.
"How's Rosie?" Shari answered.
"She was knocked out cold and has a bump on the back of her head the size of a goose egg, but otherwise she's fine," Marcus answered.
"Thank goodness, for small favors," said Shari fervently.
~~~Beyond the Future~~~
