Catalyst (27 page)

"So what happens now?" she asked Renee when she was
told the news.

"Your father will get between seven and twelve years
in jail. With good behavior and the usual parole conditions, he
could be out in four or five."

"I see," Linda replied in a solemn voice. Her eyes
reached to Renee. They were dry but serious. "The worst part was
feeling utterly alone. There was no way to stop it." She sighed.
"We did at the end, though."

"And that took courage, Linda. Remember, you were a
victim. I think at the end your father knew that and this is the
reason for his guilty plea."

"Possibly," Linda replied. "He won't be able to cope
with imprisonment, you know. It will kill him."

"And do you care?"

"Strangely, I do, not for what he did to me or how he
treated Mom but he was part of my life for fifteen years. I can't
forget him, Renee. There were good times, you know. Is that wrong
of me?"

"No," Renee whispered. "It shows what sort of person
you are, Linda. We're all so proud of you."

"And I'm grateful for everything you've done for us
all, Ken, Courtney and myself. We love you and Lem. If you ever
need our help you only need to ask."

"I'll remember that," Renee replied in a humble
voice. "Thank you." She smiled at her youngest charge and reached
out to squeeze her hands.

****

CHAPTER
24

"My God, I'm exhausted," Courtney exclaimed as she
watched a weary Linda pack up for the day. The two girls were
employed at
Law Bonus
for the summer vacation and had
completed another week's work. "I never knew there was so much
paper work to do."

"Yeah," Linda replied. "I wonder what they did before
there were computers."

Renee walked in and smiled at the girls. "So you
still want to be a lawyer, Courtney? It's ninety-five percent hard
work and five percent glamour."

"I do. And Linda is, too."

"Are you, Linda?" Renee looked surprised. "I thought
you were interested in technology and electronics."

"I know but after the hearing I realized how
important your occupation is. They talk about justice and freedom
but it doesn't just happen, does it?"

"How do you mean?" Renee replied.

"Take me," Linda said quietly. "If you hadn't fought
for my rights, the law would have sent me back to my parents and my
father never would have been punished." She gulped. "He may have
started attacking me again. The right things don't happen
automatically, do they?"

"No," Renee said. "They don't."

"Jake never got caught," Courtney added. "I'll bet
he's still in Florida attacking women and getting away with it
because they're too poor or scared to get help."

"Possibly but he might be caught," Renee responded.
"Nobody is beyond the law. As for poor people, I guess half my
clients would fall into that category, you know."

"That's what we want to do, isn't it, Linda?"
Courtney said.

The younger girl nodded and reached for a stack of
documents piled in front of the computer. "Perhaps by the time we
graduate, all this documentation will be replaced by
voice-controlled computer records. You know, 'Computer. Give me a
two thousand word summary of all custody cases Miss Renee Bonnett
has won in the last two years.'"

"Yeah," Courtney added. "And judges will be replaced
by computers fed information."

"But who feeds the information?" Renee asked.

"Other computers." Linda laughed. "On second thought,
perhaps I should go into electronics after all."

****

Across the city Lem walked into the factory's panel
and paint shop and found Ken hard at work sanding down his Mustang.
The youth had a vacation job at
Epsilon Products
and Lem let
him bring the car to be repainted. Every lunch hour and after work
for over a week, Ken had been hard at work preparing the
vehicle.

"It's looking good," Lem said when Ken switched off
the sander and removed his safety goggles.

"Yeah, it's almost ready for the undercoat," Ken
replied. He wiped a grubby rag across his sweaty brow, stood back
and admired his work. The Mustang was in pristine condition with
every dent and scratch removed.

"So what color is it going to be?"

"Fire truck red with a black strip along the side,"
Ken said. "Courtney picked the colors. I was going to have yellow
but reckon red will be pretty cool."

Lem grinned. Ken and Courtney seemed serious about
each other and both were like different people now. Of course,
Courtney always chatted a lot but Ken had been a real
introvert.

"By the way," Ken interrupted. "Who owns that RV over
there?"

He nodded at a medium-sized RV parked across the
garage. It had been repainted a two-tone blue and one of Lem's
employees had added
French Maiden
in curly yellow letters
above the windshield.

"Well, actually it's mine," Lem responded. "Want to
have a look inside?"

"Sure."

The RV was self-contained with a shower cubical and
toilet unit. Along one wall was a tiny sink, while the nearside
held two couches and a table that folded out.

"The bedroom is at the back," Lem explained and
pushed open a narrow door adjacent to the shower unit. Beyond was a
bedroom with a double bed and a small but serviceable wardrobe.
"The couches in the main room slide out to become beds. It was a
four berth but I've added an extra bunk above the driving
area."

He walked to the front and opened a curtain to show a
top bunk in a curved space big enough for someone to lie down.

"Why five bunks?" Ken asked.

"Well, I can hardly let you squeeze in with Courtney
every night, now can I?"

Ken frowned, then he realized what Lem was saying.
"You mean you're planning a vacation for us?"

"That's my idea." Lem chuckled. "I reckon we can head
up to British Columbia, through the Rockies to Alberta and back
down to the States. I want to revisit those Wyoming caves where I
met Renee and Courtney. I'm planning on two to three weeks.
Interested?"

"Am I what?" Ken replied with a grin. "What do Renee
and the girls think of the idea?"

"I've no idea," Lem replied. "It's our big surprise.
I've persuaded Renee to take a vacation but she doesn't know about
French Maiden
. So don't say anything yet. Okay?"

"Sure," Ken replied with a smile. He spent several
moments examining the fittings before he went outside and walked
around the RV. "Did the name come with it?"

"No. It was called
Mamma and Poppa
but that
didn't sound like us, so I changed it.

"But why
French Maiden
?"

"Well," explained Lem with a chuckle. "Renee is a
French name and she is a maiden, isn't she?"

"Of course. I didn't realize. She'll love it."

"I hope so." Lem replied and broke into a wide smile.
He had bought the RV in rundown condition months ago but had only
recently decided to renovate it. "I plan to bring it home on
Sunday. The paint will be dry by then. If everyone agrees we can
head off late next week."

****

"There it is." Linda shouted. "I've never been out of
Washington State before, let alone the whole country."

French Maiden
had been waved through United
States Customs and was passing the Peace Arch on the border. Ahead
was another customs but this had a massive red maple leaf flying
from the flagpole.

Lem pulled the vehicle to a stop. Linda stared,
fascinated at the different uniforms and grinned at the young
Canadian officer who stuck his head in the driver's window.

"All Americans or Canadians aboard, Sir?" He asked
Lem but was gazing at Linda and Courtney who shared the front
seat.

"Americans," Lem replied.

The customs officer asked a couple more questions,
glanced at Lem's passport and waved them through after a pleasant,
"Welcome to Canada. I hope you have a enjoyable stay."

Linda was astounded. "I thought they'd make us get
out, check our identities and search the RV," she said as Lem
accelerated.

"He spent his time sizing you up and down," Ken
said.

"Yes," Lem added. "There's nothing like a pretty face
to make it easy. I reckon if Ken was with me they'd have had us in
a side bay for half an hour and have all the wheels off the
RV."

"Would they?" Linda was all eyes and quite
serious.

"He's teasing you." Renee laughed. "It's usually
quite straight forward going over the border but they do have
random checks at times."

I-5 now became Highway 99. A massive sign stated the
distances in kilometers rather than miles, the car license plates
were increasingly British Columbian but everything else seemed the
same.

It had been a hectic week after Lem had brought the
RV home. As Ken had predicted, Renee was thrilled with the
surprise. She was somewhat overwhelmed by the size of French Maiden
but had been persuaded by Lem to drive it a short distance. They
spent the first night on the farm with Jack and Diane and left at
six in the morning to head north.

It was only a little after eight-thirty and the
traffic was bumper to bumper as commuters headed to work. Lem took
a highway east to avoid Vancouver itself, joined the Trans-Canada
Highway 1 and headed towards towering mountains ahead.

Now they were in Canada. It felt as if their holiday
had really begun.

****

Ten days later, after stays at Jasper, Calgary and
across the provincial border in Saskatchewan, the five headed back
into the United States through Montana. After several more days
when they stopped at remote campsites, they drove into the same
campground in Wyoming that Renee and Lem stayed at before the
accident in Misty Depths Catacombs. Even though it was almost a
year since they were trapped in the cave, Renee felt as if it was
the next day.

The log cabins looked the same, barbecue grills
smoked and picnic tables were full of people munching food.
Children were everywhere, while harassed parents tended to their
chores.

"You know," she said to Lem as he pulled
French
Maiden
next to the administration building. "I reckon those are
the same two old guys sitting at that picnic table gossiping."

"Probably are. Often vacationers come back year after
year to the same place to meet old friends. I'll go and find our
site number."

Moments later they were in one of the circular lanes
not far from the cabin Renee had originally stayed in and the three
younger members of their party went off to orientate
themselves.

"Well, Sweetheart," Renee said. "It's a long way to
come on the off chance of finding a jacket but I'm glad we did."
She lifted her sun hat and wiped a hand over her tanned face. "My
God, it's hot. I hope the swimming pool isn't too crowded."

****

The next morning, Lem rented a Jeep Wrangler and the
five set off to Misty Depths Catacombs. The road had been widened
and the top parking lot was extended around a new national park
office erected at the site. Even though it was still early, a dozen
vehicles were parked and people were in a group listening to a
guide giving instructions.

Renee accompanied the others into the office and
looked around. The small but practical, building smelled of new
paint and included an entrance foyer with one wall made into a
notice board.

"Look Lem," she said as she tucked her arm through
his. "They've got a map of the caves."

Lem nodded and walked across the room. "Look at
this." He traced his finger across one section of the map. "It
shows the lower cavern where we were trapped. See, that's where we
fell in…"

"Excuse me," a stranger's voice interrupted. "It's
Renee, Lem and Courtney, isn't it? Lem phoned last night about
visiting the site of the cave-in where you were trapped."

Renee turned to see a woman national park ranger
smiling at them. "Why yes. We couldn't resist returning."

"I'm Stephanie Jelgersma," the ranger replied. "I
helped in your rescue."

"Of course," Courtney said. "You kept our morale up
by talking to us over the speaker and later we could see you on
that tiny television monitor."

"That's correct," Stephanie replied. "As you can see,
we have made quite a few improvements here."

"Yes, I noticed they've included the cavern we were
in on the wall map," Lem replied.

"The tunnel they bore through to rescue you has been
widened and the aluminum cylinder has been reinforced and made into
a permanent structure. At the end they have built wooden stairs
down to the lower cavern." She waved her hand. "It's quite a
tourist attraction. People come from all over the country to see
the glowworms."

Lem frowned. "But what about the higher levels where
the slip occurred?"

"They're closed to the public. A few locals have gone
in to inspect the damage but with this new section open, the rest
has been left." She glanced up. "I know you told us you wanted to
go there. Is there any special reason, Lem?"

"I lost a jacket in the area, that's all," Lem
replied. "I think I dropped it before the avalanche. Why, is there
a problem?"

"I'd like you to speak to Chuck Nguyen, if you don't
mind. He's one of the Native American elders who took part in your
rescue last year."

Renee noticed Lem's glance and grimaced. There was
uncertainty in the woman's tone.

"Of course," Lem said. "When can we meet him?"

"He's waiting in the break room," Stephanie replied.
"We can go through."

The elderly man stood as they entered the room, shook
hands with everyone and fixed his gray eyes on Renee.

"You're the young lady unfortunate enough to break an
ankle in the fall when Samual was killed?"

Renee smiled slightly. "Yes. I'm so sorry about Sam.
That was a tragedy. Was he related to you?"