Best Gen Non-ATF AU
7 B Ranch
Where Home Is At
By: Angela B
Disclaimer: Don’t own them and never will.
Note: Thanks so much to Chris for beta reading and making it better.
This AU is open to all.
Ezra made his way off the school bus. The indignity he felt at having to ride the lowly mode of transportation was showing clearly in his green eyes. It had turned out to be one of those hectic scheduled days that had lowered the fourteen year old to this level. JD had woken up sick this morning and had stayed home with Buck. Chris had come in to town earlier and picked Vin up for a dentist’s appointment. No matter how hard the older brothers tried they could not stop Vin’s sweet tooth from getting the better of him. Therefore, the twelve year old made more frequent trips to that particular professional than the rest of them.
That had left Ezra and Nathan as the last ones left in school. Normally they would have caught a ride with Josiah, the school counselor and their oldest brother but he had to attend a meeting after school. This meant the two boys would be riding the bus home together. Though, Ezra was not happy with the ride at least he would have Nathan to ride with him. That last shred of appeasement went out the window when the senior reminded the younger one that he had an online college course after school. Ezra would be riding the dismal contraption home alone. So intent on brooding about his misfortune he did not notice the white car parked along the highway up ahead of the bus as he stepped off the bus.
Ezra stopped at the silver mailbox attached to a post on the edge of the highway and plucked the envelopes from their resting spot. The brown haired boy then started to make his way down the last quarter of a mile road to the ranch house. This part was unpaved and since it had not rained recently dust rose with each step, adding to his misery.
Sifting through the bills and advertisements he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Eyes going wide he struggled for air as the world closed in around him. He would know the handwriting anywhere. He quickly scanned the top left hand corner of the envelope and realized there was no return address. Chastising himself he reminded himself there wouldn’t be one. Looking once again at the envelope he noticed it only had his name on the front in that undeniable handwriting. His mother’s.
Ezra once again started walking ever so slowly towards the house. His mind was racing in a thousand different directions. She had written. His mother had not forgotten about him. Ezra also realized she or someone she had hired to deliver the letter must be near since there was no address on it. He couldn’t believe it his mother was here. Panic, fear, love and hope all fought for dominance in his small fluttering heart. So lost in thought was he that he failed to notice he had reached the yard and Buck was standing on the porch calling out to him. Ezra’s head jerked up at the sound of his name and quickly pulling down his mask he waved back, sliding the small link to his mother into his jacket pocket.
The jovial brother watched as the younger one trotted up the steps. “Hey Ez. You make it ok?” They were all aware of how much he hated riding the school bus.
“Just dandy.” The quick reply was joined by an obvious fake smile. “The joys of childhood never stop. One riotous event after another,” he commented dryly, rolling his bright green eyes.
Buck laughed at his brother’s antics and followed him into the house. A thought nagged in the back of his mind that something was out of place but Buck pushed it away and followed his brother into the house. JD, sitting on the couch, called out a warm greeting that was returned by Ezra as he headed towards his upstairs room.
“Don’t forget your chores.” Buck called after him.
Ezra sighed. He had lived here for almost two years and everyday after school it was the same thing. ‘Don’t forget your chores.’ Like he could really forget them. He hated mucking out the barn, feeding the animals, well he didn’t mind feeding most of them, just the pigs, and twice a week helping fix supper. Everyone had two turns in the kitchen a week, on Saturdays they usually cooked out. They were all paired up, except for him. He rotated thru the other pairs. Ezra really didn’t mind cooking but he hated clean up. His favorite chore was grooming his beloved horse.
Ezra carefully removed the letter and placed it under his mattress, then changed clothes and went to do his chores. His mind whirling with scenarios about what the letter contained.
All the brothers were there by suppertime, Josiah and Nathan getting home in time to fix an easy meal. Supper was quickly demolished and Ezra began clearing off the table. They had all noticed their normally loquacious brother’s silence throughout the meal; he appeared to be a million miles away.
Chris headed into the study with Vin to help with his homework while Nathan went upstairs to read. Since he and Josiah had fixed supped it had automatically excused them from cleaning up. Normally JD would help Ezra and Buck clear off the table and wash the dishes but Buck had excused him since he had been sick earlier.
Buck walked up next to the unusually silent brother. Having Ezra go quiet on them was a lot like having the military going to DEFCON 4, very nerve wracking. Through a lot of silent eye communication during supper, Buck had made it clear he would have a talk with the distracted sibling. Actually, they all knew it was the wisest choice. Chris’ patience with Ezra was short to say the least. Josiah would talk to the boy if he didn’t get any results and Nathan was like Chris in regards to keeping his temperament under control where Ezra was concerned. The mouth on the boy could cause the best saints to lose patience in record time.
Buck watched his brother for a few minutes before starting, “Something happen at school you want to talk about?”
“No,” came the short reply. Ezra was still occupied by the letter and didn’t want to converse.
‘Ok. Something is definitely wrong,’ thought Buck. Well, he had learned a few things from his little brother since his arrival, ‘Time for a little redirection’
“So what kind of book are you reading now?" Ezra loved to read and would gladly share if invited to do so.
The thin shoulders just shrugged in response. “Nothing you’d be interested in,” the voice sounding so flat. He didn’t want to talk. He just wanted to get done, escape to his room and read his letter.
“Well how do you know until you tell me? You might be surprised in what your old brother here is interested in,” the jovial big brother responded lightly.
The tall dark haired man sometimes got really mad inwardly when people treated him like he was some kind of dumb buffoon. Just because he loved life, liked to laugh and acted like a kid at times didn’t mean he didn’t have a good brain. On that level he and Vin really understood and could sympathize with the other one.
Ezra took a deep breath and realized it would be futile to argue with Buck. The man was like a bull seeing red when he went after something. “OK but I warned you.”
“Lay it on me.” Buck answered giving the smaller boy a playful shoulder push.
Forty-five minutes later the kitchen had been cleaned, food put away, dishes done and Buck had learned more than he wanted to about the difference between Roman and Greek mythology. But, throughout the basically one-sided conversation Buck had listened intently and with interest. Throughout the history lesson the older one thought back to the last weekend and came to the conclusion he knew what was wrong with the other one. Buck figured Ezra wanted the same thing they all had wanted when they first walked through those doors into the new family. To be accepted, kept safe and mostly to be loved as is.
Buck’s mind wandered back to last Saturday. He and JD were returning from riding the fence line on the south side of their property. They had stopped and done a little fishing at the lake that was nestled on their land. After not catching anything big enough to keep they resorted to eating the sandwiches Nathan had packed for them. Ezra, being grounded, had been forced to stay home. The boy had gotten into trouble at school, which wasn’t unusual, by arguing with a teacher on a history lesson.
The two on horseback rode up alongside the house and was headed for the stables when JD had noticed Ezra leaning against the porch railing staring out across the massive yard. He was at the moment captivated by the scene before him. Chris and twelve year old Vin had just come out of the barn and now the older brother was chasing the younger one around in a spontaneous game of tag, the peal of laughter being heard clearly.
Ezra couldn’t tear his eyes away from the playful duo. Chris had finally caught Vin and now had the boy dangling over his shoulder spinning wildly. After the blond quit both fell to the ground in a heap laughing loudly. The thin shoulders slumped slightly. Why couldn’t he just be like the two younger boys and be loveable and not the troublesome burden he was?
JD caught the look Ezra’s face. “Buck?” he whispered, “What’s that look on Ez’s face?” The youngest had never seen such forlornness on his brother’s face.
Buck looked over to Ezra then out to where he seemed to be staring. Catching sight of Vin and Chris’ antics the black haired man looked back to the one on the porch. Shaking his head sadly he answered JD’s question best he could. “Think he’s wishing he was someone else right now.”
JD threw his brother a quizzical look and seen a flash of the same look Ezra had on Buck’s face. He started to ask another question but the other horseman had already moved forwards. Ezra jerked out of his dream state and startled inwardly as he noticed the two other brother riding into the yard. He automatically slipped his blank mask over his face and turned to go inside.
Buck rested his big hands on the bony shoulders of his quiet brother and felt the minute tremble. Using his hands he guided his brother out of the kitchen and was headed for the couch. He had every intention of listening as long as his brother wanted to talk. To his surprise, though the younger one quit talking at the same time as he struggled out of the light grip and headed for the stairs.
Buck gently caught his brother’s bicep and turned him around, “Hey where you going? You can’t get me all interested and then leave me hanging, pard.” The older brother had not found out the source of his brother’s silence.
Ezra looked up into those big honest blue eyes and wanted to cry, instead he said, “I’m quite tired by today’s list of events.”
Stopping and looking directly at Buck, “I, therefore, would like to retire to my post and get a good nights sleep. I’m sure the educators of that establishment I’m required to attend has a full days lesson planned for me tomorrow, as boring as it will be,’” rolling his eyes.
“Goodnight.” Saying with such finality as he turned and headed up the stairs that Buck knew he had been thoroughly dismissed.
Buck shook his head. He didn’t know which was worse Ezra not talking or talking far too much even for him. Not one to be dismissed so easily the tall muscular man pulled the boy back to him and wrapped his arms around the boy and gave him a bear hug. The boy may not know it, may not like it even, but its what he wanted. What he needed. Turning Ezra loose he stared down into those sad dull green eyes.
“Luv ya, kid. Goodnight.” He would back off and wait. You didn’t push Ezra into something he wasn’t ready for it only backfired.
Ezra flinched inwardly which showed as a wince before
heading upstairs. Buck sighed and wondered if there would ever come a time when
Ezra would be able to hear those words without being caused pain.
Ezra walked into the bathroom and got ready for bed, Buck’s words reverberating in his head. Walking into his bedroom he shared with Nathan he noticed the brother was at his desk reading. Without a word Ezra climbed into the bottom bunk and turned towards the wall.
Nathan felt a presence in the room and turned around. He was really surprised to see his roommate getting into bed. Usually it was a power struggle to get the younger sibling into bed. For reasons they had yet to learn the brown haired kid hated going to bed and would rather stay up half the night. Of course he hated getting up the next morning, too. A new rule had been invoked and a truce of some kind had finally been made, though Ezra felt he had gotten the worst end of the deal. On school nights he would go to bed at a decent hour and on weekend nights he could stay up until midnight. So far it was tentatively working out for both sides.
Getting up and moving towards the bed Nathan wondered if the kid was sick and if anyone knew he was up here in bed. “Hey Ez. You ok?”
Ezra wished his brother didn’t have such a propensity for worrying about his health. Sometimes the would-be doctor really got on his nerves. “Yes Nathan, I’m fine.”
“You getting a migraine? I’ll get some of your pills.” Nathan continued, ignoring the sound of annoyance in his brother’s voice. Ezra didn’t like being sick and he went to great lengths to keep them from finding out.
“NO!” commanding louder than he desired, the irritation clearly heard. Softening his voice he turned over and looked at the large warm eyes studying him.
“I’m fine Nathan. Honest. I'm just tired, ok,” Ezra said plaintively, adding a smile to his features.
“Ok Ez,” he said. Straightening back up, “But if you need anything tell me alright. Don’t want you to get sick.” Nathan went to the desk and picked up his book, and then walked to the doorway. He turned off the light. Slipping out of the doorway he pulled the door three-fourths shut. He wanted to leave it open enough that they could hear if his brother did require help later.
Ezra lay there in the darkness thinking about his brother’s words. Both of their words had been filled with comfort, caring and worry. The idea of being worried about laid heavily on his mind. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone worried about him.
Later when the house was completely quiet and everyone had gone to bed, Ezra slipped from his bed and dressed quietly. Removing his hidden letter he tiptoed down the stairs, grabbed a flashlight and headed outside for the tree house. He loved heights because so many people were afraid of them and so he found refuge in them. Normally he preferred the rooftop of the house but didn’t intend on taking the chance of waking anyone up. Ezra turned on the flashlight and carefully opened the envelope. Taking a deep breath he slid the single sheet of paper out and opened it up.
> My dear darling boy,
My precious Ezra I have missed you terribly. I do hope you
have been treated well in your placement. So sorry
at the
length of time that has gone by but you must
understand how
dangerous it was for me to come for you. You
wouldn’t want to see
your mother in jail, would you? The loss of you
has ripped my
heart to shreds and only having you back can repair
the hole in it.
I have come to the decision
to rectify the situation immediately,
no matter the cost I must endure. I have watched
you lately
and have become accustomed to your routine. After
the bell rings
for lunch tomorrow I
shall be awaiting you in a white car parked
at the head of the street. I am counting on
you, Ezra, not to be obvious
in your departure my
darling. Don’t disappoint me. I am look
forward
to being reunited with my sweet
beloved child.
Lovingly,
Your Mother
Ezra read the letter over and over. His mother was here and she wanted him. She would be waiting for him tomorrow. Tomorrow. The thought struck him like lightening hitting tree. He had until tomorrow at lunch to be with his mother again. She had said she missed him; his mother hadn’t abandoned him after all. Thoughts swirled around in his head as he slowly made his way back into the house and back to bed. He was going home. For a fleeting moment that thought seemed incongruent. He shook his head and laid back to dream of his happy homecoming.
For the first time in several months the young brown haired boy was awaken by a nightmare. At first he tried to discern what the noise had been that had awaken him and why he was breathing so hard, a split second later Nathan was beside his bed and Chris and Josiah came careening into the room, both had a panicked face.
“It’s ok, Ez. It was just a nightmare.” Nathan patted his arm trying to reassure his brother.
Nathan moved to the side as the two oldest knelt down by the bed. “Hey, kiddo. You alright?” Josiah asked softly, pushing the sweat-drenched hair from his younger brother’s wild green eyes.
Ezra could only nod. Someone older or looking in from the outside might have been able to tell the young boy the nightmare was his subconscious remembering how life had really been living with his mother, softly suggesting that he not go back. But, Ezra could not really recall anything vividly from the dream, just that it had been dark and terrifying. His young mind made no connection between the nightmare and the reentry of his mother into his life.
Chris watched the roving green eyes as the mind tried to rapidly process what had happened. They all knew each one carried deeply hidden secrets from their past and the scars to go with them. But to Chris this brother seemed to be striped with them. The blond slowly maneuvered Ezra back down to a prone position and held his hand. It was cold and clammy and he could feel the tremors still shooting through the boy’s system. All three stayed with the abnormally quiet boy until the green eyes slid shut and the rhythm of his breathing became apparent that sleep had come at last.
The next morning all of them, except for JD who slept hard, were dragging. Ezra had two more nightmares before dawn broke. Buck and Chris had alternated in getting up. Buck had missed the first one but not the second. All three had awakened Vin, being a light sleeper. The day was going to be long and tiring one for all concerned.
Ezra watched the clock, in five more minutes the lunch bell would ring and he would slip away unnoticed to his waiting mother. Vin would probably be waiting for him at their meeting spot, the water fountain. Ezra even considered Nathan might join him. They could all be a little overbearing when they were concerned for one another. He briefly thought about how he would miss that then swept that thought away. He was going home.
‘But aren’t you already at home with this family?’ The fourteen year old shook away the pestering voice. No. His mother was home. Wasn’t she? Ezra shook his head again as the annoying conversation continued inside his head. He felt like he had two people living inside his mind sometimes and most of the times the two sides didn’t see eye-to-eye. Ezra smirked to himself; if he ever told Josiah, the professional in him would send him to a psychiatrist. Ezra jumped when the bell rang.
Vin knew he would arrive at the fountain first and leaned up against the wall to wait. This morning at breakfast had been tense to say the least. Ezra had been too quiet yesterday and then the nightmares last night only confirmed what most of them dreaded, something was wrong in his brother’s world. Knowing Ezra it was bound to be more than just having to do the chores or getting in trouble at school. Those things happened far to regular for Ezra to concern himself with them.
Vin was looking around when he spotted his brother leaving out the side door. A puzzled look came over his face as he moved to follow. The twelve year old had just walked out onto the lawn sweeping his eyes over the area in search of his brother when he caught sight of the car and the woman standing beside it.
He watched with curiosity, wondering who was driving the Mercedes-Benz. The car stuck out like a sore thumb, this was heavy duty suburban or pickup country. Fancy cars were non-existent in this small ranching community. Just as he came back to his senses he saw his brother walking towards the car and the woman. Watching with detached puzzlement Vin looked on as his brother gave the woman a hesitant hug then backed away. In the next moment the women grabbed Ezra’s forearm and yanked him into the car. In a blink of an eye the car sped away and Ezra was gone.
Vin took off for Josiah’s office at a dead run. He believed
he had just seen his brother being kidnapped and the thought scared the life
out of him. Running down the hall he hit Josiah’s door at top momentum and
nearly fell down as the door swung open under his hand.
“Josiah! Josiah! Help!” The youngster took no notice of the people in his oldest brother’s office. If he did he would have noticed the principal, vice- principal and several teachers. Josiah jumped out of his chair and raced around the desk. Grabbing the thin shoulders he could see how scared the young one was, which scared him. Of all of them Vin was the one that didn’t get rattled very easily.
“Vin calm down and tell me what’s wrong.” Trying to use his best brotherly voice.
Vin didn’t wait for a breath. “A lady, she was waiting outside at a car and she grabbed Ezra and dragged him into it. You gotta help Josiah!”
The principal ran for the phone and immediately dialed the police. Meanwhile the vice principal Miss Chote leaned down in front of the boy panting for breath. “Vin, can you describe the car for us?”
The shaking boy looked from Josiah to the woman and back to Josiah. With a nod of encouragement from his oldest brother the twelve year old described the fancy big white car then he described the old blond woman that had dragged his brother into the car. Josiah let out a sharp explicative that made Vin wince.
Throwing a sharp look at the counselor she demanded, “What’s the matter?”
“Maude.” Josiah hissed out between his teeth. “Ezra’s mother.”
Everyone in the room took in a gasp of air before the youngster, being caught off guard asked, “I thought Ezra’s mom didn’t want him anymore?”
Josiah couldn’t answer that question, right now his mind was moving at the speed of light in a thousand different directions.
“Josiah?” Vin’s voice trembled with fear, “The police will find him, right?”
Josiah gathered the slender frame into his arms and spoke
softly, “We’ll find him, Vin. I promise.” The oldest and guardian of the four youngest
sent up an urgent silent prayer for his missing child. ‘God, watch over him
and bring him back safely.’
Ezra didn’t pay attention to the direction the driver of the car was going, he was too nervous and trying to figure out why when he knew he should have been excited. Maude was prattling on about how much she missed him and what wonderful things they were going to do but he just couldn’t get the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach to go away. He chided himself; this was his mother for goodness sake not some stranger. Yes, upon arriving at the car he had second thoughts of going, had even taken a step backwards but Maude had grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him into the car. He should be thrilled but all he felt was like he had just made a very big mistake.
That other voice in his brain was back. Telling him to slip away from mother as soon as possible and call Josiah. He would come get him in a heartbeat. The other voice was back as well, taking the opposite side. Call Josiah and tell him what? Oh by the way Maude wrote me and I left with her but now I’ve changed my mind. Yeah! That would go over real well. Besides why would Josiah or the others want him back, he had made the choice to go with Maude. What was the old saying ‘You made your bed, now lie in it.’ No, the voice spoke loud and sternly; they wouldn’t want him back knowing he had consciously chosen his mother over them. Anyhow this was his mother and she did want him. Everything would turn out for the best. The other voice quietly answered back, ‘You know better.’
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The six brothers sat around the living room in complete silence, a muffled sob would escape from the youngest every so often. Josiah had called the ranch immediately hoping against hope that Ezra had somehow escape from his mother and called for help or better yet headed for the ranch. He didn’t know why he thought the youngster would escape from his own mother. Obviously from Vin’s story Ezra had known Maude was going to be parked where she was. Maybe, it was the way Vin told the rest of the story, how Ezra had stepped back and how he had been pulled into the car and not willingly entered it that had the oldest hoping for the smallest of miracles.
Vin sat in his brother’s arms tears streaming quietly down his face. He had watched the woman take his brother and hadn’t done anything to stop it. As far as Ezra meeting his mother the young boy held no grudge against his slightly older brother and he was pretty sure none of the others did either. A mother’s love was a powerful thing. The promise and lure of it could make any kid do something he normally wouldn’t do, like leave the safety of a family.
Chris couldn’t fathom why Ezra would even contemplate going with his mother. Sure Vin said the woman dragged the boy into the car, so that had to mean he might not have gone willingly but still Ezra knew the woman was going to be there. Why not tell them? Chris puzzled over that part. The young fourteen year old had not had as good of a childhood as he tried to convince everyone he had. The nightmares and odd behavior was proof of that. So, why would someone voluntarily go back to a person who had abandoned them in the first place? If they ever got Ezra back he was going to knock some sense into his head. They were Ezra’s family. This was where he belonged and he was going to learn that one way or another.
The large dark haired young man sat in the rocker holding his crying little brother. Buck knew this was his fault. They all knew something was wrong last night. He had specifically opted to talk to Ezra and seek out the problem and he had failed. Instead he had let the younger brother talk about mythology and skirt around the real issue. He had seen the troubled face last weekend and he had done nothing. Ezra being grounded was no excuse for not doing something with the lonely boy, even if it was to just sit and be with him. Buck knew whose fault this was, his. He should have shown the boy more love. Well, when Ezra came home he would be inundated with it, Buck would see to it himself.
Josiah knew why Ezra would think about going with his mother. He had tried to explain it to the others. A lot of abused or neglected kids sought their parent’s love no matter what that parent did to them. The hope and need of getting that parents love and approval could become a single obsession. The child often blamed themselves for the parents’s lack of love. They condemned themselves because in their minds they hadn’t been perfect enough, or they could have done something better. Josiah, and before they died, his parents had come to this conclusion of what drove this young boy. The need to be loved was so great that the boy convinced himself if he was perfect then his mother would find him worth loving.
Ezra’s need for control and for everything to always be perfect could at times become of epic proportions. Everything had a place and there was a place for everything and heaven help anyone who messed with his stuff. His need to be always cleaned, they had guessed, came from being dirty more than just a couple of times. His lack of emotions suggested he had learned at a very early age that emotions were a bad thing, probably in all likelihood Maude’s doing.
Ezra hardly ever talked about his past but once in awhile he would let the tiniest bit of information slip and as Josiah and the family had learned if they weren’t listening they would miss it. Josiah wanted nothing more than have his loquacious brother home and listen to his complaints.
Chris and Buck felt lost. They were both the type of people of action. Sitting around just wasn’t in them. If there was a problem, well then they liked to face it head on. No lollygagging and shuffling feet trying to make a decision for them, that was for lightweights and they weren’t made that way. Now they were being forced to wait and let the problem play out and there was nothing they could do to speed it up. Buck took one look at Chris and knew the silence and sitting around wouldn’t last long. Chris was going to take some kind of action and when he did Buck planned on being right there beside him.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The car finally stopped and Maude announced they were at their destination. Ezra had, when not conversing with his mother, been lost in his own world for the last nine hours listening to the voices argue, berate him and try to console him. Now as he looked out the back passenger window he saw the massive two-story home. He didn’t think it quite fit Maude’s definition of a mansion but knew instinctively his brothers would think so. His brothers. He would have to quit thinking about them; he was back with his mother now. He was home, but somehow that just didn’t have the same ring to it as calling the ranch home, did.
He climbed from the car and joined his impatiently waiting mother. Together they walked up the front steps and through the door being held open by the butler. Maude was explaining once again that a very nice man owned the house by the name of Mr. Greerson. They had met in the Greek isles and he invited her home. He had lamented how much he would like to settle down and have a family, especially a son. When Maude casually mentioned her own son was away living with a family while she was taking care of business, Mr. Greerson had insisted Maude bring him here to live. The light in Ezra’s brain came on like a flood lamp and the flicker of hope that his mother had come for him out of love shriveled a little along with a large piece of his heart.
The youngster followed his mother from the foyer into the open living room and gazed in silence at its size. The guys would have a stroke over it; four of the bedrooms back home would fit easily into this area. Ezra mentally slapped himself he must control his thinking. Maude turned towards her son and saw him gaping.
Reaching over she closed his mouth, “Ezra! Stop your gawking. You have seen bigger houses than this, stop acting like some country boy from the hills who’ve never seen a large home before.”
Ezra obediently closed his mother and muttered an apology. He would have to concentrate on his manners and slip into one of the many personas he had acquired over the years. He wondered which one Mr. Greerson would want.
At that thought a very large older gentleman came down the stairs. “Maude, you made it back. Wonderful.” Turning gray eyes onto Ezra he said, “This must be your son, Ezra?”
Sticking out his hand the man informed his newly acquired guest, “I’ve heard all about you young man. I’m glad to finally meet you.” Turning his gaze around the room he continued, “If you need anything just ask the help.”
Ezra nodded his head and answered back politely. “Please to make your acquaintance Mr. Greerson and I thank you for your kindness, sir.”
He couldn’t help but compare this man’s eyes to that of Josiah’s and found them lacking. Josiah’s usually held amusement and…and…what was that other thing he felt when he looked into those gray eyes. Safe. Maybe, he thought. He just knew when he looked into those eyes his problems didn’t seem so big and the need to hide didn’t seem so great.
Turning his eyes back to Maude the man smiled genuinely, “I hope you had a nice visit with your friends. I trust you invited them to come visit you any time they wish.”
“Of course my darling. I had an absolutely fabulous time.” Maude purred.
Ezra couldn’t help but roll his eyes. This man thought she was visiting the friends he was supposedly staying with and the whole time she was casing his routine like a thief cases a bank before robbing it. Ezra told himself to shut up and stop making such horrid comparisons concerning his mother.
A maid was called to show the young brown haired boy to his room. Finally, he thought as he curled down in between the sheets, a room to himself. Oddly enough he had a hard time going to sleep, he chalked it up to the excitement of being with his mother again. ‘Liar’, the other voice whispered.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The noise level in the kitchen was decidedly out of whack. A kitchen containing six brothers should be loud and boisterous, not so silent that the scraping of forks on plates sounded deafening. JD was the only one actually eating and that was because he had been pulled from class after the incident and then he had cried himself to sleep, missing both lunch and supper. The rest just picked at their food. Not having any word from either the police or Ezra himself had depressed the hope that Ezra would be found, if not at least heard from, by this morning.
Ezra had tossed and turned all night with dreams of the ranch and his brothers constantly plaguing his sleep. He got up in a foul mood but had his best mask on before hitting the bottom step of the winding staircase. Mother would never approve of any sign of emotion. Ezra couldn’t help but think she would really dislike Buck then. He was always laughing and cutting up. He could turn your day into something better faster than anyone Ezra knew. Another mental slap. The young man eased into his chair and started eating the breakfast placed before him. The eggs were nothing like Chris’. Slap. Oh dear this was going to be so much harder than he had thought.
One day turned into two and so forth until much to Ezra’s amazement four days had passed. To him though it seemed an eternity. That little voice that wouldn’t shut up kept popping up begging him to call the ranch and ask for retrieval. When Ezra would shut that part down it would come back with thoughts, images, and memories of his life with his brothers. Finally, Ezra figured if he just called the ranch and spoke to one of the boys and told them he was where he wanted to be then the voice would go away. Deep down though he knew it wouldn’t be that easy to shut the voice up.
He snuck into one of the maid’s room and listened for any noise that would alert him to possible danger. Maude and Mr. Greerson were downstairs discussing plans for the weekend. Since Maude had the forethought not to place a phone in his room he had to select another room with a phone. Ezra dialed the number five times before completing the call. Taking a deep breath he waited for an answer on the other end.
“Hello.” Ezra couldn’t help but wonder why Chris would sound so tired.
“Hello,” the voice repeated with a bit more aggravation in it.
Ezra swallowed and very timidly replied, “Chris.”
“Ezra!” The blond fairly hollered. “Are you ok? Has she hurt you? Where are you? Tell me where you are and I’ll come get you.”
Chris’ shout had alerted everyone in the household to the caller. All gathered around as Chris plied the missing one with questions. Not being able to take it any longer Josiah yanked the phone from his brother’s hand and took over.
“Ezra.” The boy smiled at the sound of Josiah’s voice, always calming and assuring. “We miss you little brother. Just tell me where you are and we’ll come get you.” Almost sensing his brother’s hesitancy through the phone line he continued. “Everything is alright, Ez. Whatever is wrong we’ll fix it. Ok?”
Josiah waited for the reply, knowing Ezra was weighing all the possibilities and outcomes. The advantages and disadvantages and problems with all of it. But, Josiah felt confident. Ezra had called and hadn’t hung up yet; there was room for lots of hope.
“I…I’m,” At that moment one furious Maude strode into the room.
“What do you think you’re doing in here young man?” Without stopping for breath she yanked the phone out of the small hands, “Whom are you calling?” guessing just whom her son was talking to.
Seeing the anger on his mother’s face his brain worked fast. “I just wanted some Chinese food. I couldn’t find a phone on our floor so I came in here.”
Maude hadn’t wasted her time drilling into her son the importance of a good scam. Ezra kept his mask in place and didn’t falter once on the outside but on the inside he was struggling for air.
Maude placed the phone to her ear and demanded to know who she was speaking with.
Josiah had heard the entire conversation and cringed. Ezra would never be able to hold his own with his mother for very long. He was quick enough on his feet Josiah granted, but it wouldn’t last.
When he heard the woman addressing him he replied evenly, “This is The Chinese Kitchen,” earning him several odd stares from the ones surrounding him.
“Yes, well cancel the order.” Maude ordered harshly and slammed the phone down.
Pointing a finger at her son, “Next time you get one of the servants to order for you.”
Receiving a weak “yes ma’am” Maude placed her arm lightly around her son’s shoulders. “Its so good to have you home, darling. I missed you greatly.”
The voice popped up and shouted ‘Yeah, she missed your worthiness to her plots.’
Ezra smiled back and returned the endearment, then headed for his room. Hanging his head down he silently acknowledge defeat. There was no going back now.
A little more than a week had passed, Ezra tried to adjust to the new living arrangements and to all around he seemed to be doing just that. On the inside though he was slowly shriveling up. There was no love here, no laughter, no one to joke with, to play pranks with, no Nathan sleeping in the same room. He kept to himself and ate less than usual. It wasn’t like anyone noticed; Maude and the gentleman were out most of the time and the help left him to his own devises. Ezra knew though, that even though they appeared to ignore him Maude had made it quite clear to keep an eye on him and under no circumstances was he to be near a phone. Maude may have bought her son’s lie but she didn’t trust him just yet.
At the end of the third week Ezra was summoned to his mother’s room. Seeing her packing a bag sent the alarm off in his head. Something was amiss and he wasn’t going to like the outcome.
Turning towards her son Maude inwardly sighed. No matter how hard she tried she knew he would never be completely like her, able to swindle and lie to everyone. No, there was a certain spot in him that kept him from taking from certain people. She had feared she had waited to long in getting her son back, she had fled the country after abandoning the boy and waited until she felt it was safe to reenter the country.
Now she could see that living with that family for the past two years and some months had proven her right. That small part that had smoldered under her care had grown and blossomed into a small fire. Well, fires could be extinguished and Maude planned to do just that after she sent for her son in a couple of weeks.
“Ezra darling,” Maude walked over to her son and led him to the bed and sat down, pulling Ezra into a firm grasp, “Mr. Greerson and I have had a small misunderstanding. I must go away for a couple of days.”
Ezra knew he should feel betrayed, disappointed, or something but all he felt was contempt for himself. He had let his mother fool him into believing she wanted him, loved him. She had conned him into leaving people behind that would never even think about doing what Maude was about to do, take him and leave him with a virtual stranger and not return. There was no doubt in his mind Maude was running out on a scam gone bad he had seen it happen before. Beside, he and the rest of the staff had heard their little disagreement last night. Mr. Greerson wanted to know when a certain stock was going to escalate on the market like Maude had promised, which would make them all very rich.
“Where am I going?” Ezra asked flatly.
“Why, darling,” The tall blond woman patted her son’s cheek. “Mr. Greerson has graciously agreed to let you stay here until I return,” Maude answered in her best motherly fashion.
Ezra was taken aback and grew immediately suspicious. Why would the man let him stay…unless. The thought hit so hard it knocked the air out of his lungs. Maude was more or less leaving him as collateral. Ezra’s mask held but inside a large piece of him shattered at the revelation. For three weeks he had tried to fool himself that after this small adventure with Mr. Greerson was over Maude would take him and they would go away together and become a family. The other voice came out of hiding and spoke so softly ‘So much for home and happiness’.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The last three weeks had almost ripped the six brothers apart emotionally and physically. Chris had waited patiently for all of four days. After the phone call from Ezra though he had stormed out to the barn. All the others knew to leave him alone. The upside Josiah thought was that the blond got three days work accomplished in that one day. As the days wore on his temper grew thinner. Screaming fights between the three oldest became commonplace, although they usually had the courtesy of taking most of them outside. A week and a half had gone by since Era’s disappearance when Chris got out a map and outlined places he thought would appeal to Maude, packed his bags and told them he was going looking for his brother.
Josiah could see Buck was torn between going with the blond and staying home. The oldest solved the problem by packing Buck’s bag for him.
“He needs you,” Josiah explained as he handed the bag over. Buck had nodded gave a quick goodbye and headed out the door.
JD had cried almost all that time and Vin had hidden his fears, or so he thought. Before he left Chris took the youngster aside to explain what he felt he needed to do. Vin had understood, had wanted to go but the offer was gently refused. Chris needed him at home.
Nathan and Josiah took their brother’s need to go out and find the missing family member with understanding and a small part of jealousy. They, too, wanted to be able to actively search for Ezra but knew they were needed at home. They knew Chris’ desire to save this family was so hugely affected because in his words, “He had failed his first family.” Chris had been away at camp when his parents and younger brother died in a house fire.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
After a little more than a week of searching different cities within a two hundred mile radius the two brothers came home empty handed and disheartened. They would have liked to stay out longer but money was a problem. The other two factors were the two youngest brothers. JD’s plea not to get stolen too ripped at Buck’s heart and Chris’ undoing was when Vin had whispered an acknowledgment over the phone that he missed the older blond. After they came home they all tried to get back into their old routine but it was not the same without the seventh.
Standing at the bedroom window with his forehead pressed against the pane Ezra watched his mother enter the car and leave, never looking back or waving goodbye. She had said it would only be a couple of days but the boy knew better, he would have to depend upon himself to emancipate himself from this living arrangement. Mr. Greerson would only wait so long for Maude to return before realizing he had been had and left with a child. Of course Mr. Greerson would then feel obligated to call Social Services, which would place him in one of those horrid holding places that was filled with other older children that no one wanted. He didn’t want to spend the next four years living like that. He decided he would stay put as long as he felt it was possible then leave, he would figure out what to do after that.
Three days later a very angry Mr. Greerson met him at the doorway to the living room. The red faced gentleman was towering over the small boy, “Where is your mother, Ezra?”
“I have no inkling where my maternal parentage might be at this particular moment, sir,” Ezra replied with more bravado than he felt.
Grabbing the thin forearms Jake Greerson leaned down and stared hard into those green eyes, “I want to know where she is and how to get a hold of her right now!”
Ezra fought to keep his blank face in tact, “ Mr. Greerson, I do abhor violence to my person and therefore would tell you the information you seek if I had it within my power to do so.”
Seeing that the boy was probably telling the truth the older man cursed himself. Not only had he nearly been scammed out of half his fortune the low-life of a mother had left her son behind for him to deal with. The older gentleman called upon a servant and issued an order to take the young boy back upstairs and keep an eye on him until further notice. He needed time to think about this new revelation. No doubt he would be summoning someone from some children’s services to his home but before he did that he wanted to talk with his lawyer. No one, if he could help it, was going to find out the very rich and supposedly smart Jake Greerson was taken in by a con artist.
The two voices inside his head were screaming at each other so loudly he could hardly think straight. One voice telling him he should make a run for it and call home. The other voice demanding to be protected from harm and reiterating that he was once again on his own and no longer had home to go to since he had run away from them.
Sitting on the bed the brown haired boy sunk further into himself and let the other side of him come shining through. The persona that could get him out of any situation deemed harmful. His green calculating eyes watched the servant looking after him flip through the channels for something good to watch. Ezra quietly slid off the bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. Standing on the narrow rim of the bathtub he pushed with all his might to raise the window. That done, the next obstacle was the window screen. He couldn’t very well kick it out place. For one, he couldn’t get his foot that high and two; it would surely make enough racket to alert others of his impending escape.
Looking about Ezra found in the back of one of the drawers a small pair of cuticle scissors. Standing back on the rim he meticulously cut along the edge of the screen, cutting as high as he could reach. Finally having cut the bottom and both sides he pushed the screen up out of his way with one hand and clasped the edge with his other. Poking his head out he scanned the sides of the house looking for an easy escape route. Of course with his luck there wasn’t one. He wasn’t dumb enough to think he could jump two floors and not hurt himself so, that only left one option. Instead of going down he would go up. He couldn’t do it now in broad daylight, too much of chance to be seen by the gardener or the other numerous yard people, he would have to bide his time until tonight.
Slipping out of the bathroom he slid back onto the bed. If the servant had noticed his long absence the man never said anything. He settled down on the bedspread and began watching the TV program. It was one he had never seen, an old black and white one with a talking horse named Ed. Both voices expressed the same opinion, ‘Oh brother this guy was hard up for entertainment.’
He had waited all day for someone from Social Services to show up but no one came, for once their slowness counted in his favor. A kitchen helper bought his food up on a tray and came to retrieve it thirty minutes late. Mr. Greerson had paid two visits to his room demanding to know the same information he inquired about earlier. Ezra’s intuition was telling him this man could turn off that sweet enduring old man routine in a heartbeat and become something Ezra had no desire to meet. He had lived with those types before and had not come out the winner.
Night finally descended and Ezra had been left to himself. Of course he had heard the discreet locking of his door but paid no heed to it. Once the deep darkness settled in he would make his escape. Finally, midnight rolled around and the young lithe boy once again stepped up onto the rim of the tub, this would take strength and agility and careful planning. Ezra retrieved the tiny scissors and finished cutting out the screen across the top, holding the screen with one hand as he cut. After it came loose he tugged the big piece of screen back into the bathroom and laid it on the floor. Standing back up on the tub he grasp the window sill with his fingers, then climbed the bathroom wall using the tips of his shoes until he was up far enough up to be able to extend his arms fully. Sticking the top half of his body out the window and using both hands he twisted his body around until he was in a sitting position on the thin window frame. Sweat rolled down from his hair and into his eyes. Fear allowed a person to be stronger than one normally was, it was also a great motivator to succeed.
Now that he was sitting on the sill he glanced around and noticed that lady luck may not have completely have abandoned him. Having a corner room the rain gutter happen to be placed right there by the window. Ezra mentally kicked himself for not noticing this earlier. He could go down instead of up. Reaching over with one hand he tested the durability of the pipe. He smiled, the guy wasn’t a cheapskate Ezra would give him that. Grasping the pipe with one hand he leaned over until he could let go with the other hand and grasp it also. He eased the rest of his body out the window and hung for a moment by the sheer strength of his arms. He bent his knees and placed both his feet against the pipe and monkey walked his way down. He concentrated on going slow to minimize the noise as much as possible. By the time he hit the ground thirty minutes had passed since he had begun his release. His arms screamed in pain at the abuse and his fingers bled from the number of tears they had received form both the window and the water drain.
The back yard was an acre long but provided the best escape route. Coming to the fence at the back Ezra sighed when he realized he would have to climb a tree, crawl out onto a limb then swing himself into high enough arc so that when he let go he would land on top of the brick fence. With more fortitude than he felt he began the process. Climbing up to one of the higher limbs he scooted out onto it as far as he dared then grabbing hold of the rough bark, he swung his body down and began pumping his legs to get the momentum he needed going. When he figured he was at the right spot he screwed his eyes shut and let go. Relieve flooded through him when he felt his feet, then his knees hit the solid form of the wall. He had no choice this time but to jump. Once again he clutched with his fingers and dropped his body over the wall, dangling in the air he let go and hoped for the best. His feet slipping out from under him, he fell on his backside but felt relieve when he realized nothing was broken.
Getting to his feet he began walking with no real clear idea where he was going or what tomorrow held. For now the knowledge that he was out of that place was enough. He had been on his own before he wasn’t worried. ‘Liar’ the voice popped up and said. Stupid voice.
Life at the ranch had taken on a surreal feel to it. Routines were back in place, chores done, Josiah and the boys went back to school. Everything was the same but not. Phones were kept ever handy. Someone always stayed near the house. Meals held around the table no longer held the same liveliness it once did. Laughter was not as frequent as it once was. Nightmares and arguments became more frequent with Vin and JD.
Schoolwork suffered and neither would go inside or leave their schools without an adult escort. Having the high school and junior high in the same block Nathan became Vin’s shadow at school whenever possible. Josiah walked the youngest across the street to his classroom in the morning and picked him up in the afternoon.
Chris became quieter; the fight seemed to have left him. He had failed to protect a family member once again. Nathan was looking fatigued all the time. Without his talkative brother in the bunk below sleep seemed to elude him. Josiah felt like a hunk of his heart had been torn out and put through the garbage disposal. Buck missed the way his brother would talk incessantly about a book he was reading. They simply missed the oone person that could fill the hole created in their family.
++++++++++++++++++++
Ezra crawled out of his hiding place; he was dirty, hungry and tired. He had been on the streets for only three days but to the small boy it felt like a lifetime. It was all he could do to get up in the mornings and scavenge for food. Shelter at night was an alley and during the day he walked the streets endlessly. Stopping meant attracting attention from grownups and other bigger street kids. The kind Ezra knew he didn’t want to attract. The voice in his head had started out as a low rumble and grown into an urgent whispering, ‘Find a shelter’
Ezra stopped before the catholic run shelter for runaways. Well that was what he was wasn’t he, a runaway. He had run away from the only real people that had ever bothered to love him, he had run away from Mr. Greerson and he had tried to run away from himself. He tried to bury himself in the belief that he didn’t care anymore, that life didn’t matter. Would have probably succeeded too, if it weren’t for that nagging little voice that wouldn’t shut up.
John Tate had seen a lot of kids pass thru the shelter in his twenty-three years of volunteering here. He could spot what kind of runaway stood before him in a blink of an eye. There were those that had run off for minor reasons, just needing to get away for awhile, those that had good reason to run from their previous living conditions and those that ran away just to test their parent’s love. The small brown haired boy that had stood outside the building for over an hour before taking the halting steps to come in puzzled the man. The kid was dressed in fine clothes, suggesting a rich kid but the look of those same clothes told him the boy was no stranger to living off the streets. The few words he did speak reflected a higher learning establishment than those found around here, but the kid’s humbleness and ever searching eyes reflected schooling of a different kind, the kind that kept a person alive.
Eli, the name the kid had given, had taken a shower after his arrival. John showed him to his bunk and Ezra laid down, curled up into a tight ball and began rocking himself back and forth ever so slightly. This told John something not very nice had happened to the boy and probably recently. He had refused the meal offered at noon but instead offered it to a younger child. To John the thin quiet boy could use every morsel of food he could get his hands on. The kid was one big contradiction.
John Tate stood in the doorway of the large dorm room where the boys slept. His eyes staying on the lone figure, the boy had arrived with absolutely nothing. For as long as he could remember children had been showing up here with very little, but still most had something, a backpack, a sack, or something containing some article of worth to them. The ones without any articles had nothing for one of two reasons. Either other kids had robbed them on the streets or their departure had been so swift they had not had time to gather anything up. In the man’s eyes the kid fit the latter profile. Whatever had happened had occurred swiftly and had sucked the life right out of those big green eyes and small body.
Ezra declined breakfast. He just wanted to lie on his bunk and stop existing. He had started to call the ranch several times that first day after he affected his escape from the elderly man but cowardice and fear of rejection kept him from completing them. How nice it would be if life was like the movies, the happy endings where families come back together and everyone lives happily ever after. But, he had learned a long time ago life was nothing like the movies, well the feel good kind anyhow.
He had tried to refuse lunch but the man that had showed him in yesterday insisted he had to eat or leave. Ezra knew it was a bluff to get him to partake of the offered food and had actually managed to swallow half of what was on his plate. After lunch he went back to the bunk and curled back up. The cold he felt in his bones would not leave despite the fact that the room was actually quite warm and he was under the covers.
He could feel someone watching him but didn’t sense danger, slowly he cracked an eyelid open and found a boy about seventeen sitting on the bed next to his watching him. The boy reminded him of Nathan’s caring nature.
“Something I can do for you?” Ezra asked, the annoyance heard clearly in his whisper.
“Just making sure you’re ok,” the other one replied. “Sometimes kids come here really sick,” giving his shoulder a weak shrug and a lopsided grin that reminded Ezra of Vin, “for different reasons.”
“I’m Tom by the way and you are…?” the other one stated nonchalantly
“Eli” he said flatly.
“Sure,” the lack of belief in his voice coming out clearly. Another shrug of his shoulders.
Ezra studied the boy carefully. He reminded him of what JD might look like when he got older or a younger Buck; black hair, open face, friendly, flashing dark eyes and an air about him that made him seem harmless.
Ezra realized the boy was still talking, “Some are physically sick, some mentally and then there those that are so emotionally overwhelmed they get physically sick.”
Without missing a heartbeat he analyzed the boy on the bed under the covers. “You. Well, if I was guessing I’d say something mighty overwhelming happened to you.”
“Go away!” Ezra whispered harshly turning over and dismissing the boy. He didn’t want to hear what that other one had to say about him.
“You got the wind knocked out your sails so hard you can’t think straight. Probably don’t want too, either. You did right picking this place. Other shelters don’t let you stay during the day but the ones that run this shelter are different.” Tom didn’t stop talking, didn’t dare. He had been where this kid was and then the only thing that kept him from falling over the edge into oblivion had been John Tate’s voice.
Ezra listened as Tom held a one-sided conversation. Listened as he told about himself and how he wound up here and why. For the next couple of hours Tom talked on and Ezra listened, hanging on to that voice like it was his last lifeline.
After awhile Ezra turned back towards the speaker and eventually began answering a question here and there. At first they were nothing specific or important, just everyday questions. Answers to questions like favorite sport, which was horse riding; favorite food, Chinese; family, once; etc. Slowly Ezra told the other boy certain facts about his life, just enough for the kid to get a basic idea. He mentioned his brothers and the small ranch. Ezra understood what the kid was doing; he had learned to ply information from others when he was very young. He knew Tom would report all pertinent information back to the adults but he didn’t care. That little voice kept insisting that if they found out about his home and brothers that everything would be ok. Ezra fell asleep in the late afternoon listening to Tom’s voice and holding on to a sliver of hope that things would turn out alright.
Ezra dreamed his brothers came for him. Josiah, Chris, Buck and the others made a big celebration out of his returning. There was cake and balloons and lots of laughter and hugs. Ezra woke slowly from his dream believing that when he opened his eyes they would all be sitting on the other bunk waiting for him to awaken and be whisked back home. Cracking one eye open only a slit width his heart sank, as he saw nothing but an empty bunk.
The brown haired boy refused to eat that day despite the threats and warnings. After that intial shower he hadn’t felt the desire to take any more. He languished in his bunk; as the day slowly slipped by he realized no one would be coming. Only one scenerio ran through his mind. Josiah and the others had been informed of his whereabouts and they had declined to come and claim him as one of their own.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jake Tate was having a hard time locating the right person to answer his questions. Tom had gotten the kid to open up some, enough to reveal he had been living with an adopted family in small town in a neighboring state. The problem was the kid hadn’t given a last name. So he had called the town’s police station, who had been very helpful, providing not only a name of the only missing child in their records but practically a family history on all seven boys. The questioner was finally able to get the dispatcher/ clerk to give a name to verify this information. He had asked the woman not to contact the family until they could verify that the child in question was actually the missing child from her town. She readily agreed knowing how much it would upset the boys if word got out they had found Ezra and then it turned out not to be him.
Now for what seemed the hundredth time he was trying to get hold of one Judge Orrin Travis. Once the Judge could verify that the child he had did rightfully belong to this family then they could contact the tortured family and put things back together.
Tom had been on the streets since he was thirteen, had lived at the shelter until he was sixteen. At that point he went to work for the shelter and earned enough money to get a small apartment that he shared with two other guys in the same boat. Tom was good at reading people and he read that little boy last night pretty well. When he spoke of the adopted family a small light came into his eyes, his voice became a bit stronger and he didn’t give any warning signs that life had been bad there. When asked how he wound up in these parts the light went off, the voice got smaller and he almost cried when he said, “Stupidity.”
It was almost suppertime and Jake was on hold, again. Twiddling a pencil between in fingers he was startled back to reality when an older man’s gruff voice answered at the other end, “Judge Travis. How can I help you?"
Judge Travis’ secretary had informed him upon the close of the day that a man, from a shelter was needing to talk to him about one of his possible cases but wouldn’t go into anymore detail.
John Tate sat up, relieved to finally get a hold of this man, “Yes sir, my name is John Tate and I’m with the Children’s Shelter here in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Sir, I believe we may have a child here that was reported missing from your area. He hasn’t given us his full name but did give us a town. The police dispatcher there told me your town had only one missing child and that you arranged for the adoption of this child over a year ago.”
Judge Travis sucked in his breath, had someone really found Ezra? The kid has been missing almost a month now and hope of finding the boy had diminished significantly. The boy had called once but not anymore. Life would be wonderful if it was Ezra.
“Mr. Tate, I could fax you a picture of the missing child then you could confirm or not whether this is the boy we’ve been looking for,” Judge Travis yielded to the hope that it would be confirmed.
“That would be great sir.” John gave the fax number and both men stayed on the line as it was sent both hoping for the best. “Judge Travis I have just received the fax and I can confirm that the child we have here at this facility is indeed the missing child.”
Judge Travis let out a gush of air and smiled deeply, “If you give me your address I will contact the family now and I figure you can expect them on your doorstep first thing in the morning.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Buck stepped out onto the porch and called supper. Vin and JD raced towards the house, cat calling and shoving as each tried to be the first to reach the house. Vin, with his long legs had the distinct advantage over his younger brother but to make the race equal he shortened his strides.
Josiah and Chris came out of the barn, smiling at other the two’s playfulness. It felt like it had been forever since laughter had graced the place. They still missed their brother but the older ones knew for the sake of the younger ones life had to go on.
The food had been passed and the plates filled when the phone rang, Buck rose to answer “Hello. Oh hi Judge Travis.”
All talk stopped and five heads turned at once. It wasn’t like the Judge called them much but it was kind of late in the day for a call anyways.
Buck broke out into a smile and let out a whoop. Turning to the ones watching him he gave the news they had all been holding their breath to hear. “They found him! They found Ezra!”
Turning back to the phone the tall man began peppering the Judge on the other line with questions. “You sure it’s him? He’s alright? Where is he?” grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil he jotted down the address, “Yeah. Yeah we can be there by morning, no problem. Ok. Thanks Judge, bye.”
Hanging up the phone he picked up the bouncing youngest brother and swung him around. “What’d you say we go get that brother of ours?”
“Yeah!” was the only response he got before JD struggled out of his arms and ran for the door. Turning back around he noticed the others were still hugging and clapping each other on the backs, “Come on, let’s go!” he demanded.
Josiah stopped his celebrating and scooped JD up, “Hold up pal. We got to pack a few things and make sure the animals will be taken care of while we are gone and a few other things before we can leave.”
“Besides,” Buck broke in, “It’s only a five or six hour drive and the place closes for the night anyway. So we can’t get him until the morning.”
Nathan volunteered to help the two youngest pack while Buck packed his and Chris’ suitcase. Chris called Mrs. Potter to see if her son could look after the animals for a couple of days. When she heard the reason why she guaranteed her son would look after them. Josiah called the principal at home and let him know the good news and that he and the boys wouldn’t be at school for a couple of days. The principal had no problems with making arrangements to cover Josiah’s work. Two hours later they piled into the large suburban and headed down the road. They would arrive before morning but figured they would get a motel room and sleep for a couple of hours. They would be there when the doors opened in the morning.
The coordinator, Rick Talbott, had seen the blue suburban parked out front when he unlocked the doors. At first he thought someone had broken down but after counting heads he quickly figured this was the family he was told to be expecting. They seemed to be arguing until the tall blond haired young man made some kind of small unseen gesture. After that the rest came to a quick halt. The blond seemed to say something that had decided the argument because right after he was finished speaking him, and whom the coordinator assumed to be the legal guardian, came striding up to the door leaving a dark haired man and an older teenager out beside the vehicle with two smaller children.
As the two men entered Mr. Talbott met them and extended his hand, “You must be here for Ezra,” smiling a knowing smile, “Or as we know him Eli.”
“Yes sir,” Josiah replied and made the quick introduction of Chris.
“Those must the rest of his brothers?” Rick made it more of a statement that a question.
When the Judge had called him last night he had been given a little run down on the family’s background. They certainly seemed different from one another but the Judge had informed him that this family was a tight knit family.
“Yes,” Chris looked the man right in the eyes, “Thought it best not to overwhelm Ezra right off the bat,” he said. Nodding his head back to waiting group. “They can get a little excited and overpowering at times.”
Rick Talbott nodded his head in agreement. These brothers knew this little one well. The last thing Ezra needed was to be overwhelmed anymore than he already was. The coordinator informed them of Ezra’s depression and lack of eating. Chris muttered under his breath that he would personally fix that problem. The coordinator only smiled, this was a man to be reckoned with and had no doubt the boy would soon be eating, one way or another.
Josiah had shown the coordinator the proper papers then the two were led down the hall and shown to the dorm room. Most of the boys that slept there were already gone to breakfast, the scant rest were getting ready to leave. The two men couldn’t help but feel scrutinized and their brother envied, after all someone had shown up to take him home. Josiah looked over at Chris as they both squeezed in between the bunks and squatted down by the bed their brother was curled up in.
Ezra was dreaming of his brothers again, a pleasant smile graced the pale face making the dark circles under his eyes a little less noticeable. He was home in his own bed; Josiah was calling him to get up. He didn’t want to go to school he just wanted to lie here and relish the feel of his brother’s hand brushing his hair back and listening to that deep comforting voice. That voice sounded so real, so tangible Ezra refused to open his eyes and stop the dream.
“Come on Ez. It’s time to wake up.” Josiah turned towards the blond and smiled weakly, worry showing in the gray eyes. Ezra had always been difficult to waken but it seemed to be taken longer than usual.
Chris readjusted his squat as best he could his knees were killing him. In his most older brother authoritative voice he spoke harshly “Ezra! Get up!”
Ezra jerked awake at the stern voice. Thinking for a moment he was home and expecting a wall to be at his back the younger one jerked back at the surprise of having two faces appear so close to his. His backwards movement led to him falling off the bed. Chris and Josiah were on their feet and around the bed in seconds. Deciding, almost in unison to stay further back they stopped at the foot of the bed between bunks.
Squatting back down they watched the scared green eyes try to focus and the mind try to process what he was seeing. Finally in a voice that seemed too small for the boy he asked, “Josiah? Chris?”
Opening his arms the oldest nodded and said assuring, “Yeah Ez. It’s us.” Then beckoning with his fingers, “Come here.”
With a leap of a puma the small thin boy lunged into his oldest brother’s arm. Throwing one arm around his neck and clutching a handful of shirt, while his other arm automatically struck out and grabbed it’s own handful of black shirt. Ezra buried his head into the crook of his brother’s neck and held on for everything he was worth. Praying this moment never ended, that he never woke form this dream.
The two brothers almost lost their balance simultaneously when Ezra threw himself at them but managed to keep on their feet. Now all they had to do was sit and wait and enjoy this moment for as long as it lasted. Chris reached up to the hand that was clutching the v-neck of his shirt that wasn’t buttoned and managed to slip the choking grip into his own hand.
After several minutes Josiah managed to pull Ezra away from him and stare into the green eyes he had missed so much. Ezra’s defenses were completely down and all the emotions that they normally would never see shone through like a war torn soldier who had seen to many battles. Josiah cringed at the helplessness and sorrow that were held in those eyes. Chris could see that more scars had been added to his brother’s accumulation. Whether they would ever discover the source of those scars was yet to be discovered. But, Chris knowing his brother, figured for the most part the answer would be no.
Josiah smiled into that thin pale face with complete joy. They could overcome whatever new scars had been added, would plump the way-to thin frame up a bit and wait for the paleness to wash away along with the blackness under the eyes. There was nothing they couldn’t fix in or on their brother now that they were back together. Each brother as an individual was strong in their own right but as a unit they indefensible.
Letting his feelings show thru his gray eyes he spoke softly, “I missed you Ezra.”
Chris, using his hand to gently turned the boys head toward him added, “Me, too. We all did.” Continuing to lock eyes with his brother, he said, “I’m ready to go home, aren’t you?”
Ezra could only nod in agreement. The little pessimistic voice was crying incredulously ‘They came’ while the other voice shouted jubilantly. They did care, his family really cared. No matter how big of a mess he had made of things they had came to take him back where he truly belonged.
“Hey, I got to go sign some papers, ok.” Josiah could see the head beginning to shake no.
“Chris is going to stay and help you change into some fresh clothes then we’ll get out of here. OK?” Josiah talked softly, never losing eye contact.
Ezra looked from Josiah to Chris and back to Josiah and then nodded ever so slightly. “Ok then. I’ll be right back.” Josiah finished. Standing up he ruffled the grimy brown hair. Maybe a shower first would be best.
Chris stood up and immediately recognized the fear in those green eyes that watched him so intently. “Just getting your bag, Ez,” as he reached around to the other side of the bed and produced the small duffel bag.
“Why don’t we get you cleaned up, ok?” Taking the trembling hand, he led the boy to where he assumed the showers were located.
Stopping outside of the shower stall, “I’ll wait right here for you.” Chris offered but the other one made no move to enter the stall.
Chris sighed inwardly and began to think he was going to have to actually enter the shower with his brother. It was bad enough the boy hadn’t said any more three words since their arrival but the look the kid was giving him was breaking his heart. So much fear and sadness filled those eyes. Ezra finally slipped his hand out of his brother’s and entered the shower stall. Chris had never been one to talk much but figured this was a special case. His brother needed to hear his voice as confirmation he was still standing there.
Not ten minutes had passed when a cleaner and definitely better looking Ezra exited the shower. Chris pulled the clothes from the bag and handed them to his brother, the silence was getting to Chris. What had happened that had shut the boy up completely?
Ezra was having a problem digesting this new twist in his life. The small voice that kept telling him his home was with his brothers was screaming for joy. It had been right, they had come. But, the other voice was whispering caution. Nothing in life was free. Nobody did anything out of the goodness of their heart. The two voices went to war again and all Ezra could do was not break the enchantment he felt he had fallen into.
Chris picked up the dirty clothes from off the floor. “Want them?”
Ezra could only shake his head, if he did anything more or spoke to much he would wake himself from this dream. A dream where two voices were going at it inside his head for dominance.
Neither Chris nor Ezra were demonstrative people. They showed their caring through different methods other than touching or hugging. Chris, because after his family died he had shut down and was still learning how to open back up to people. Of course Vin in his quiet way helped to further that process than most realized. Ezra had been taught early on not to show emotions. They were a weakness his mother had said, something people would take advantage of and manipulate.
As the two started to walk out of the dorm room Chris looked down at the small fourteen year old clutching his hand. He was two years older than Vin but was just about the same size as nine-year-old JD. Chris suddenly stopped and lifted his brother up into his arms before either one thought about what was happening. Chris smiled when he felt those slender arms slip around his neck and the soft downy hair brushed against his cheek as Ezra laid his chin to rest on the muscular shoulder. This was the best feeling either one had had in a very long time.
Josiah came out of the office and looked down the corridor. He smiled as he saw his tougher-than-rawhide brother carrying his “I-don’t-hug” brother. Those two made quite a pair and kept things lively. It was going to be good having that again.
The two men walked out the door and were inundated with yelps and hollers. Putting Ezra down both men watched as his two younger brothers tackled Ezra. Both were clamoring and tussling to be the first to welcome him home. Ezra stared wide-eyed at his brother’s behavior. He wasn’t sure what to do, he had thought about what it would be like if he came home but it wasn’t like this. Ezra was finally rescued, almost, when Nathan stepped forward and grabbed him in a brief hug. The two had a rough beginning but were pretty close now.
“Hey Ez.” Letting go the senior stepped back a little, “Bedroom’s been pretty quiet with no one below me talking in their sleep.” A large smile still firmly in place, he had definitely missed his roommate and brother and it showed.
Ezra hadn’t recovered from the shock of being tackled by his two brothers, then Nathan. He wasn’t prepared when Buck stepped forward and yanked him up into his arms. The big brother wrapped his arms tightly around the slim waist and held on for a very long moment.
Buck whispered in Ezra’s ear, “Home is where the heart is Ez. Your heart belongs to us and don’t you ever forget it,” he said, giving his brother a quick squeeze before turning and carrying his brother to the suburban.
The remaining five followed Buck, most of them talking at once, the two youngest being the loudest. The return of their lost one making each of the others more vocal than normal. Jake Talbott watched the brood crawl into the vehicle and smiled. It wasn’t often he got to see such happy reunions but the ones like today made working here worth the pain and sorrow other days bought.
JD and Vin climbed over into the back seats and buckled up. Chris climbed behind the wheel and Josiah took the passenger seat. Buck placed Ezra securely between him and Nathan. Ezra watched the scenery pass by as Chris headed for the interstate, listening to JD and Vin talk about all about what had happened while he was gone. The annoying voice popped up and in a singsong way exclaimed, ‘We’re going home. We’re going home.’ Ezra laid his head over on the thick forearm of Buck’s, feeling a warm hand placed against his head. He closed his eyes as the other voice quietly said, ‘Yes we are.’ There may not be any big celebration or balloons but Ezra didn’t care he had what he wanted; six people to care about him. He had a home.
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