Kyle Pratt - Through Many Fires

I could have found a way. “That’s a great opportunity for you, but only for a few months. Is Durant going to run for president? The election is in nine months and, the last I heard, Governor Monroe is the only candidate still alive.”

“There isn’t going to be an election. Parts of the country are already under martial law and by the end of the month the whole country will be. President Durant plans to cancel the elections until martial law is lifted.”

“Elections are conducted by the states. The federal government can’t….”

“Durant appointed new Supreme Court justices. They will approve his martial law declaration and the cancellation of the election.”

“How can there be new justices if there is no senate to confirm them?”

“The senate is not in session so President Durant made nine recess appointments.”

Caden was stunned into silence. Durant was acting within the letter, if not the spirit, of the Constitution.

“Caden, this is all for the good of the country. The nation doesn’t need elections right now. It doesn’t need a bickering congress, it needs security. America needs strong leadership and a guiding hand. Durant is that leader.”

You sound like his campaign chairman.

“Come to New York as quickly as you can. Now both money and power are centered in the Big Apple. This is where the action is going to be in the coming years. Working with Durant could make both our careers. I could get you a position in the administration.” She paused. “I’ve got to go, another meeting. I love you.”

“I miss you.”

“Come here quickly. We will make a great team.”

He ended the call with a promise to think about it.

Caden looked in a mirror as he adjusted the collar of his new ACUs. It’s strange to be back in uniform. He placed the Velcro rank insignia on his chest. And stranger still to see the oak leaf of a major on my uniform. Cold wind buffeted him as he left the new National Guard offices on the capitol campus. A low sun hid behind the gray buildings. Caden flipped up the collar of his uniform jacket to the cold and shifted the weight of the duffle bag on his back and then continued on toward the guest house just off the plaza. Two soldiers standing watch on the corner saluted. One said, “Good night, sir,” as he passed.

Caden, deep in thought, mumbled his reply. It had been a long and perplexing day. Assume command of the armory. What if no one is there? How do you command an armory with no soldiers? Secure the weapons. What if it has been looted? Act as a liaison. What if the farmers don’t want to listen?

The call with Becky stirred an array of emotions. He had feelings for her, but was it love? Besides beauty and education, she was career orientated and mixed well in Washington circles. Three weeks ago those last two were qualities he cultivated in himself and admired in others.

His thoughts returned to his family. What if they are dead or gone? He pulled out his phone and dialed home once again. The phone rang several times.

“Hello.”

Caden was shocked to hear a voice and hesitated. “Ah, hello…Mom?”

The line went dead.

Did I really hear her say hello? Yes, yes I did, but was that Mom or my sister? Did the line go dead or did she hang up? He tried several more times, but never connected.

At the steps of the guest house, he slid the phone back into his pocket. The building was an old, two-story mansion with a large, covered front porch. He walked up the steps and looked back. The capitol and surrounding office buildings were in full view. Turning toward the door he fumbled with the keys. One unlocked the front door, the other had the number three on it. Caden walked up creaking stairs to the second floor. He opened the door and gently set the duffle bag down. In the dim light of a fading winter day he could see Maria curled around the baby on the bed. Standing in the doorway he paused to admire the beautiful picture before him.

She opened her eyes.

He smiled.

She blinked, then screamed.

Waving his arms he said, “Me…just me…Caden.”

She sat up, held a crying Adam to her chest, and looked him up and down. “You enlisted?”

“Actually I’m an officer.”

Confusion spread across her face.

“Officers don’t enlist.” Walking toward her he said, “I’ll explain the difference later.” He sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry I frightened you. I’m surprised you were so deeply asleep.”

“I didn’t sleep well in jail.”

He laughed. “No, I guess I wouldn’t either.” He explained that the governor called him to duty so that he could take charge and secure the armory in Hansen. Then he told her all that happened during the day, except the call to Becky.

“Are you hungry?” she asked. “This house is really a Bed and Breakfast. The owner lives in an apartment downstairs. There’s food in the fridge in the kitchen.”

“I’m famished.” He frowned. “I haven’t eaten all day.”

Placing the sleeping baby in a large cushioned chair with blankets around him Maria went to the kitchen with Caden. Later in the dining room they ate, talked and laughed about everything and nothing until the moon was high in the night sky. Only when they both yawned did they return to the room.

While Caden hung up his uniform Maria said, “The bed is big and comfortable…we could…I mean you could sleep on it, in it together…well not together, separately, but to…you know what I mean, I hope… I’m going to shut up now.”

Over the last two weeks they had slept in the same room, the same car, beside each other on a plane and in sleeping bags side-by-side, but this would be a new level. “Thank you, but I’ll sleep on the floor. It isn’t the first time I’ve slept on a hard surface.”

She nodded.

Caden laid out blankets beside the bed, turned off the light and climbed into a sleeping bag. For several minutes he stared at the ceiling. “You still awake?”

“Yes.”

“Remember I told you I lost someone in Atlanta?”

“Yes, someone you loved.”

“Her name is Becky and I talked with her today.”

“She’s alive?”

“Well, yes, and we were, are engaged, but….” Caden sat up. In the dim light of the room he could see Maria’s head turned toward him. Her eyes were open and locked on target. “It’s complicated.”

“Such things often are.”

“No, no, you misunderstand me. I’ve been thinking about this all afternoon and…well… please listen.”

“Okay.”

“Three weeks ago I worked at the hub of power and influence in this country. My boss, Senator Stevens, was often mentioned as a future presidential candidate. That is all gone now and everything has changed, is changing. Maybe I’m changing.

“When we talked today, Becky urged me to come to New York. She said that is where the power and money are. That we’d make a great team. There was a time when the thought of being married to a woman like her was, well, exciting. I’ve been thinking about that and more all day.”

He lay down again. “Becky may be on the power and money team,” he concluded, “but I don’t like the direction that team is going and it disturbs me that she is so willing, eager even, to be a part of it. I don’t want to be part of that team.”

After a long pause Maria asked, “Do you love her?”

“Love? I still care for her, but no I don’t love her. We’ve moved in different directions. We’re not the same people. We won’t be getting married.”

He waited for Maria to ask the next, more difficult question, did he love her? But, that query did not come and soon he heard the gentle rhythmic breathing of her sleep.