Three hours earlier Walter walked out of Newark International Airport with a large backpack and got in a taxi. He handed the cabbie a slip of paper with an address. The cabbie looked at it and nodded. He pushed the meter button and took off. The cabbie talked the entire way, but fortunately he didn't really ask anything that required a response. Walter had just sat there looking numb the entire time. He occasionally pulled his tablet out of his backpack and looked at the picture of his family.
They sat under a tree at the park. Paige sat on his right thigh, his arms wrapped around her waist. Cabe was sitting next to him and Ralph on his right thigh. Allie was sitting next to Cabe her head leaning against his shoulder. Walter shook his head as he thought of how less than six months ago he was happier than he'd ever been in his life. Then Paige stormed out of his life and took Ralph, his chosen son out of his life too. And then Cabe's heart attack struck and a bit over an hour later Cabe was gone, forever.
It didn't take the cabbie too long in New York time to get him to his address. Walter looked up and saw the shipping port and nodded. He opened his wallet and gave the cabbie a fifty and then climbed out of the cab and after settling the backpack on his back walked on up and into the shipyard.
It only took asking four people to get the directions to the ship he was looking for and by the time he got to it he had less than an hour before it was to get underway.
Walter showed one of the hands a slip of paper and they gestured and gave him rough directions for where to find the Captain. After a brief greeting the Captain escorted Walter down below the main deck to a cabin. "You understand our staterooms aren't like a cruise ship. And our food is far from them too." The Captain questioned.
Walter nodded with a slight smile as he handed him an envelope. "Compared to all I've been through in the last month this is like a Hilton Captain. Thank you though."
The Captain nodded. "You aren't a fugitive are you Mr. Young? I'm not going to have the feds chasing after me am I?"
Walter half smiled and shook his head. "I'm not a criminal Captain. But I do have some non-violent friends who could possibly come looking for me. If they do you are free to tell them what you know. It is just that my Father died recently and I just need to get away without having to explain myself to them."
The Captain nodded. "Alright Mr. Young, if you are hungry the galley is still open for another hour. Mess hours are posted for when we get out to sea. We're actually already loaded and were just waiting on you to arrive."
Walter nodded. "Thank you. Sorry I held you up from leaving."
The Captain nodded. "Not really a big deal on that, the company doesn't care one way or the other as long as I make port on time. Are you sure you still want to be put off just south of Ireland?"
Walter nodded. "I've family there that I'll be staying with."
The Captain nodded. "We'll probably be at that point in just over six days. I got you a small skiff that will see you safely to land with plenty of gas for the motor."
Walter nodded. "Sounds perfect Captain, thank you."
The Captain nodded as he closed the door and then counted the money in the envelope and smiled as he tucked it into his pocket before taking it to his cabin to put in his safe.
Walter sat in the small room of the ship he'd arranged transport that was bound from the east coast to London. It was slow travel, but it afforded him a way to get away from prying eyes. The probabilities he ran came out with an almost 87.3% chance that Homeland wouldn't let him leave the country if he had just tried to leave normally and that didn't take into account for his every move being monitored by Rusty and his team. He hoped that Nick would get into too much trouble by his escape.
By Walter's estimation they should be nearing his deportation point. They'd been at sea just over six days. He'd rather go on into port and go through immigration normally but by now Homeland was sure to have alerted all of the US's allies to be on the watch for him. Suddenly there was a knock on his door. "It's open."
The door opened and the first mate looked in. "The Captain said to let you know it is time."
Walter nodded as he got up and grabbed his camping backpack and followed the slightly younger man out to the main deck. He saw the Captain standing there and he looked over the side and saw the small skiff in the water. The Captain extended his hand. "Good luck Mr. Young.
Walter reached out and shook his hand. "Thank you Captain. I appreciate this." Walter turned and began climbing down the rope ladder and got in the skiff. He started the motor and then let the mooring line loose and with the rising sun guiding him Walter steered off heading almost due north. Tramore was his destination. From there he could hitchhike to Waterford and catch a bus or maybe a cab to get him closer to home. Walter sighed. He wasn't really looking forward to going home but there really wasn't any place else for him.
Walter beached the skiff just south of Tramore and began hiking towards town. He'd seen police cars driving slowly through the small town so he hid and watched them. They went to a few places, two small restaurants and a couple of gas stations before they left the town headed west. Before he continued he pulled a light auburn wig out of his backpack and put it on. He worked with it with his comb until he felt it was as good as could be and began walking on to town. Walter stopped at one of the small restaurants in town as he saw they accepted Visa and had breakfast before heading out. He was a little concerned at first but the waitress was a bit older and she obviously couldn't care who was in the building. He handed her a Visa card in his faked ID of Reginald Young to pay his bill.
He walked out and put his backpack back on but as he started to head north he saw a newspaper box and on the front page was his picture asking anyone who saw him to call authorities immediately. Walter sighed but slipped Cabe's sunglasses on and continued on his way to the north. One of the other diners who had come in before he finished drove past him about an hour north of the restaurant and he stopped and back up. He looked out his window. "Where you headed?"
Walter looked over as he smiled. "Up to my family's old home in Callan south Kilkenny."
The man smiled. "Well get in son, I'm passing not far from there on my way to Kilkenny."
Walter nodded as he moved around to the left side of the car and put his backpack in back and then climbed in the front. "Thank you so much."
He nodded. "Don't mention it. You must have been away a long time, you sound more American than Irish."
Walter nodded. "I've been living in the US for a very long time now. Actually over half of my life, kind of funny how fast time flies. But things kind of went south when a dear friend died."
"Ah, that is rough. I didn't notice a ring on your finger. A young good looking man such as yourself isn't married?" He asked.
Walter shook his head. "The woman I had hoped to make a life with broke up with me just before my friend died."
"Whoosh, that is even worse. You've had some powerful bad luck then. But now you are back home and you can recharge your blood with that good Irish magic." The man grinned.
They shared stories back and forth on their way. The man was powerfully curious about the US and wanted to know as much as possible. As they neared the turn off of R669 to get back to his family's small town the man decided to see Walter all the way to his family's home. He was concerned seeing as Walter had so much bad luck recently. As he stopped before the house Walter pulled out his wallet and pulled out a 100 Euro note he had left over from his last trip to Ireland. The man raised his hand up and shook his head. "The company was more than enough payment lad. You just go in and get yourself right with your folks. Pay it forward one day if you feel the need."
Walter smiled as he tried to force his eyes not to tear up at the simple gesture. He was still so shattered he couldn't even hold simple emotions in check anymore. "Thank you, I hope the rest of your trip is uneventful."
The man smiled and waved before he drove off.
Walter walked slowly towards the front porch. His breath was coming faster as his anxiety increased drastically. He wasn't sure he could do this. His right foot stepped up on the first step and he struggled but finally his left rose up to the next step. It seemed to take him ten minutes to climb those three simple steps. Crossing the porch seemed to take even longer and then he was there. The screen door of his home was closed. He considered just walking in but then he just reached up and knocked and stood there waiting. "I'm coming." Louise O'Brien called out from the kitchen.
Walter saw his Mother step out of the kitchen drying her hands on her apron and she froze seeing Walter standing there on the other side of the door. "Walter?" Louise nearly flew across the two rooms and hit the door and it swung out barely missing Walter. She threw her arms around her little boy. Walter's arms rose up and he hugged her tightly to him and he began shaking and trembling as the tears just poured out of him as he sob into her neck.
Louise stood there just hugging her son and crying at his pain. Occasionally she pulled her head back to kiss his face and whisper that she loved him. Finally as he began to rein in his emotions she pulled on his hand and he stepped on inside of the house. Everything was still as he remembered it. She pulled him on over to the sofa and they both sat down facing each other. Her hand kept running up and brushing her fingers through his fake hair and smiling at him as she shook her head. "It's okay Walter, Sylvester told us what happened."
Walter nodded. "I've been so lost Mother, in so much pain. I didn't know what else to do." Walter's eye seemed to see something on the dining room table. A laptop he didn't send them. "Y-you got a new laptop?"
Louise frowned before she looked over and saw it and she sighed. "Jesus wept."
Walter looked at her. "You only say that in response to something being wrong. What is going on here Mother?"
Louise took both of his hands in one and patted them with the other. "Walter we had a visitor show up a few days ago looking for you. She's really worried about you."
Walter's eyes closed. "Mother, I d-don't, I c-can't, deal with her now, I'm so broken."
Louise nodded as she continued to pat his hands. "Walter, she said she just wants a few minutes of your time. And if you want her to leave after that, she'll go."
Walter looked down at his hands as he tried to get his breathing to slow down. Slowly he nodded.
Louise stood up and stepped into the kitchen and looked out the back door. "Paige dear." She called out.
Paige was standing in barn's old loft where Walter had been allowed to keep an old desk where he'd sit and work on his ideas as a child. She was looking through his old notebooks for about the fifteenth time since she arrived. Her head came up as she heard Louise's voice and she looked out the small window and saw Louise wave at her. Paige moved to the ladder and nearly slid down and then took off running for the back door. Louise smiled and stepped out holding the door. "It's Walter, he's here."
Paige's eyes opened wide even as tears crept into them and she smiled at her before she ran on into the house and through the kitchen and came to a blistering stop in the dining room seeing Walter on the couch. "Walter." Her voice said softly and with so much relief and love.
Walter was still looking down at his hands as he nodded his head a bit. Paige inhaled sharply but reached over and grabbed her laptop and moved quickly but cautiously towards the couch and then she sat down on the couch where his Mom had been sitting. "Walter, I know how bad I hurt you. I can't take those words back, not in a meaningful way that would help you. But I do take them back, I was completely wrong that night and I can't blame you for not wanting anything to do with me, but Walter, I am so sorry. I've struggled everyday since that night because everything in me wanted you back."
"I've got a lot more I need to say to you Walter, but first I can't be selfish here, someone needs to say something to you." Paige told him as she opened the laptop and she clicked an icon on the desktop.
Walter's head was still hung low, how could he face Ralph, he'd once again acted like a coward and ran off rather than taken a moment to say goodbye to the young man as he deserved. He heard a ringing noise and then it stop before he heard Allie's voice. "Paige, is he there?"
Paige smiled and nodded. "He's right here on the couch in front of me." She turned the laptop around to face Walter as Allie moved hers over to the bed and sat it on Cabe's lap.
Allie moved in and kissed Cabe's cheek. "Walter is on the computer."
Cabe lurched awake and looked up. "Wha-What? What did you say Allie?"
Walter's eyes grew puzzled and his head came up and he saw Cabe lying propped up in his bed wearing pajamas. "C-Cabe? Ho-how is this possible?" Walter's eyes flipped from the screen to Paige and he saw the happy smile on her face as tears ran down her cheeks just nodding. His eyes looked back to the screen.
Greetings! Hope this finds you all well! Sorry I forgot to mention I probably wouldn't post yesterday as I had to go to the VA. Pick up my new glasses and I hate them. lol I shouldn't have gotten the trifocal with the medium length for computer use. The area is so tiny that it is really worthless and takes up more of the field for distance. The bifocal is fine and wonderful not having to take my glasses off to read now. They are a bit heavier and tend to slip down the nose, so I either need a strap to keep them up or something. Thinking I might just request my script from the VA and go get new glasses myself. I can't believe what the place that makes them for the VA wants to charge and it takes 4-6 weeks to get them. Ridiculous.
Railman - I wouldn't disagree, but again this story was about bringing relief from the sorrow of Cabe being gone in the original Caber so the reveal happens quicker. Thank you, I will definitely being taking it easy and carefully...I'm the only me I have! lol
Lucy - There was many plans for Cabe to go on a war path after he fully recovers but I never got to it after chapter 8. Grandmothers like Mothers are special...I hated that mine had gotten some form of dementia a few years before the end. Going to visit and have her say "You look like someone I should remember." Broke the heart. I'm not sure which is worse...cancer or dementia... I'll be thinking about you and your family and saying some prayers!
Margaret - Sorry for the confusion, I didn't even stop to think about putting a note at the top of chapter 1 to say it was from the Caber alternative. So glad you had such a good time with your family to remember and celebrate her life and your lives! Thank you, He has been a constant friend and companion!
There is just 1 last chapter and then I will finish up "Messenger" and then I am going to post "The Masked Calculator" and if everything goes well I will be updating Lady Knight after that. "Unconsciously Conscious" and "Walter Under The Bridge" are still being silent as is "Happy Consequences". So we will see where we go from there.
To the Adventure! -Tim