STAR PERFORMANCE

by

Ernest Bywater
All rights reserved © 2010

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
Copyright © 2010 by Ernest Bywater
_________________________________________________

Registration

"He can't be exempted from all sport and physical education," the senior clerk exclaims, "It's a requirement of the school curriculum."

Mrs Smith sighs, and says, "My son, Hal, is exempted from all sport and physical activities beyond a slow walk, due to a medical condition. I've a medical certificate here signed by his doctor, his specialist, and the doctor the Department of Education sent him to last year." She hands over the certificate, one of several she has, and adds, "Also, here's a signed letter to authorise Hal to leave the grounds for lunch when he wants to, and to come home early any day he has no more classes on." She hands over another document. "Now, can we please look at both his schedule and the list of other classes on at the same time as Physical Education is for his class?" Seeking time to gather herself and check things, the clerk hands over the copy of the Hal's class schedule and her copy of the master class schedule. While the mother and son look over the papers, the clerk goes to a desk at the back of the room and makes a phone call to get clarification on the situation from the regional office.

It's the Wednesday of the week before the first day of school for the year, and a lot of parents are at the school to finalise the registration of their children as new students, especially those who've just moved into the area. As is the case with the Smith family. Mr Smith took up a post as a senior administrator with the city council the Monday of the week before. Today, Mrs Smith is registering her son at Central High School. At sixteen years of age, Hal is their eldest child and in year ten this year, while his eleven year old sister, Joanna, is in year six at the primary school down the road, and will be registered when she's finished here.

"Well, Hal, your PE classes are just before lunch on Monday and last period on Wednesday. Thursday afternoon is sports day, as expected. Let's look at what's available in those two PE periods." Mrs Smith and Hal look over the master schedule for what classes he can do. They have to be subjects that stand alone and do not require passing lead up classes last year. As expected, most are academic subjects that are ruled out, subjects like Maths and English, etc. "Well, you can come home early on Wednesday, but it looks like the library on Mondays."

Hal frowns and sighs, then smiles and taps a class on the schedule. "Given a choice of that or the library," he says, "I'll take that, even if it is a year nine class."

His mother looks at the class he's pointing to, and smiles. "Yes, that would be useful to you in later life, too! Let's hope they let you do it."

The senior clerk comes back to the counter, it's clear she's not happy with the results of her calls. "Missus Smith, the regional office confirms he can avoid the physical aspects of the curriculum, they have a file on the matter. But he does have to stay in school for the periods, unless he's finished for the day and going home."

Hal looks up, and says, "Yes, ma'am, we know that as it was pointed out to us at my last school. I've got PE just before lunch on Monday and on last period Wednesday. So, on Wednesday and Thursday, I can head home as soon as I finish the class before PE and sport." The clerk gives a weak smile and nods, she really hates it when someone has a valid reason to do something out of the usual pattern. "We've checked the master schedule, and I'd like to do this class here," as he points to the one he was showing his mother. "It has no prerequisites and shows as having room for a couple more students. There should be no trouble with me doing that year nine elective, I would think!" The clerk looks at the class, and nods as she pulls over some papers to note the class change for Henry John Smith, called Hal Smith.

First Week

The school bus pulls up outside Central High School at 8.30 am on the Tuesday morning, the first day of school for the new year, and lets off the students. The last off is a boy of average height and build for his age, 170 cm and 60 kg, with collar length light brown hair and grey eyes. With a wry smile, Hal Smith makes his slow way up the path to the school. Armed with the map of the school and his class schedule, he heads to his first class while most of the students stop to chat with their friends before class starts. On his way to his first class, Hal checks the location of his next two classes, as he has to pass very close to them on his way to his first period class. At his regular slow walk, he gets there with some minutes to spare. He walks in and sits at a front row desk.

A few minutes later other students start to wander in and stand around near the front of the room, only a few sit down; to the smiles of the standing students. Hal thinks, 'They must know something we don't know. I wonder if only the new students have sat down!'

Just before the bell goes a tall, stern looking man walks in and goes to the teacher's desk. He has a small carry basket with some things in it. Putting the basket down, he takes a clipboard out of it and looks up at the students, saying, "OK, you new students sitting down need to get up and stand up the front until told to sit down." They all stand and join the rest of the students. "The first student to be named will sit at the desk in the front row on the left as you face the front of the room. The next student will take the seat beside the first student. As your names are called you take the next vacant seat, going across the row and then starting the next row. Please note where your seat is, as you will be seated in those seats for all your classes, except some of the electives. That's the way things are done here, and you will do it that way; or explain why to the principal." The teacher starts to read names from the list. As he does that the students start sitting down, while Hal looks at the desk arrangement in the class room. He assumes most of the rooms must be set up the same, six desks to a row with five rows, seating thirty students. Beside the window is a single desk, then a walk space, followed by two desks side by side, another walkway, two more desks, a walkway, another single desk against the wall.

It doesn't take long to work through the list. The nineteenth name read out is Else Smit, and a nice looking blond walks to the seat beside the window. This is followed by Freda Smit, and Else's duplicate takes the seat across the aisle from her. Hal Smith's next, and he sits beside Freda. The class has twenty-five students, and all are soon seated.

With that done, the man takes a moment to study the class, before he takes a pen out of his basket when he puts the clipboard back. Turning to the whiteboard, he writes 'Mr Jackson - Year 10 Maths' on the board. He turns to the class, "Many of you know me from previous years, I'm Mister Jackson. I teach Mathematics. You are here to learn Mathematics; and you will pay attention, and learn Mathematics." The class starts in earnest as they all take out their text books and start in on the work.

This school uses five one hour periods per day, starting at nine with a one hour lunch at noon, and ending at three in the afternoon. The bell for the end of the period goes at ten o'clock, and everyone packs up and leaves. Hal's last out of the room, moving at his usual slow walk. This room's about as far back amongst the classrooms as you can get in this school, only the gymnasium and the sports fields are behind it. Hal's next class is at the front of the school, near the administration office; that's about as far apart as two classrooms can get in this school. He's a long time getting there.

Hal arrives at his history class just as the teacher's writing her name on the whiteboard. She gives him a glare as she watches him make his slow way to his seat. She says, "Get a move on, young man."

Hal glances over his shoulder, "Sorry, ma'am," he says, "I'm going as fast as my doctors say I'm allowed to go. It's a long walk from the top floor of F Block." The teacher and students watch as he walks with slow care to his seat, and sits down. The teacher, Mrs James, is watching so close she can see it's more than a normal limp with his left leg, and that his left leg and foot don't move as normal - especially the foot. She nods at him as she wonders what his problem is.

After an hour of history Hal's off to B Block, just back a bit from where he is in A Block. Even with the block so close, he's the last to arrive in the classroom. Again, all watch as he makes his slow way to his seat. After an hour of English the bell goes and it's time to go to C Block, the school cafeteria is it's ground floor.

Hal makes his way to the cold drinks cabinet and selects two five hundred millilitre fruit juice drinks, both orange and mango juice. He pays for them and heads to the first empty table he can find. Lucky for him the students tend to fill the ones near the back of the room first, to get as far away from the adults on duty as they can. He smiles as he sits down and opens his bag to get his lunch out.

A few people, students and teachers, watch as he takes out a box with two sandwiches, a measuring cup, an apple, a bottle, and a spoon. He takes care as he pours three hundred and fifty millilitres of juice into the measuring cup and adds two spoonfuls of powder from the bottle. He stirs the drink with his left hand as he uses the right hand to open the sandwich box and take out half a salad sandwich. He starts to eat the sandwich, and soon finishes the first half. As he picks the cup of juice and powder up to have a drink a teacher stops in front of the table, and asks, "What's that powder you just put in your drink?"

Hal looks up, "A vitamin and nutrient supplement, sir," he replies as he pulls papers out of his bag. "I used to take a drug as a single tablet, but the department rules about administration of drugs by staff made it hard to ensure I had it at the right time each day. So my specialist had me switch to a large dose of a natural vitamin supplement, which is outside the drugs rules, and a much tighter diet." He hands the papers over while pushing the bottle towards the teacher, so he can read the label. "I have to have one and a half sandwiches for lunch, with two three hundred and fifty millilitres juice with two spoonfuls of nutrients in each one. If you know anyone who wants half a sandwich and the rest of the juice, please call them over to finish this off for me."

The teacher scans the papers, a complex diet, and reads the label of the bottle. He notes the name and details as he takes a sample to test. Hal smiles, showing he has no concerns and this has happened before. The teacher says, "I'm Mister Barber, the senior science teacher. I'll check this out and get back to you, if there's a problem." He looks up and waves a young girl over, "Miss Denning here usually can't afford a lunch, so if you don't want the rest, I think she'll finish it for you."

The girl arrives, and Mr Barber explains about the tight diet, and the excess half salad sandwich and juice. She smiles at Hal, and says, "If you really don't want it, I'll be very glad of the food." Hal nods, and she reaches for the half sandwich left in the box as he slides the part bottle of remaining juice across the table, having made his second drink.

"Hi, I'm Hal Smith. I'm on a strict diet for medical reasons. Mother hasn't worked out how to make half a sandwich, so I usually throw the remains away. I hate to see it wasted, so please enjoy it." He stops for a moment of thought, and adds, "Why don't you talk to the cooking teachers about getting the student cooked food they don't wish to eat themselves. It may not be the best made food, but it's still food."

"Please call me Jenner. My mother's an alcoholic and nearly all the money goes on booze, so my sister and I are glad of any extra food we can get. We do get some food at home because someone set up for some of the money from the government to be provided as food from the IGA supermarket; but it's not nearly enough, now, due to price rises. I can usually scrounge a bit, here, so I make sure my sister has a lunch and worry about what I can find for myself."

Hal looks at her thin frame, and wonders how much she does get to eat. "Well, as I said, talk to the cooking teachers. They usually have food to throw out; they'll happily let you take it home." She smiles, and nods in reply. Both make a note to speak with the cooking teachers about unwanted food from the classes.

The rest of the day goes very similar to the morning, and Hal takes the bus home. It's not all that far, only several streets away, but way too far for Hal to walk in any reasonable time frame. The rest of the week goes along similar lines, and passes very well.

First Monday

Hal starts his day at the administration office, he got word on Friday to see them first thing - to return a letter signed by his parents. They have to give special permission for him to do the year nine class, and the letter's about that. The department's concerned about a year ten student later complaining about being in a year nine class, so they want it in writing that all agree and it's his decision. When he hands over the letter at the office he's given a note to give the teacher.

The first two periods go without any trouble. By now, his regular teachers are aware he sometimes arrives a bit late, as he's slow getting between classrooms. The shift from the second period class to the third period class isn't that far, but he's still the last to arrive.

Everyone else has taken places at the two person work benches, and the teacher's calling the roll as Hal enters. The students are murmuring to each other when he arrives. But all noise stops and all eyes turn to him as he makes his slow way to the front desk, to hand the note to the teacher. She reads it, and her eyebrows go up. She puts her class roll on the bench and writes his name on the end of it, before waving for him to find a vacant work spot. There's twelve benches in four rows of three across. All but the back two corner ones are full. The one on his right has a girl that gives him a dirty look as he starts towards the class, so he moves to the vacant spot on the bench nearest the back window. The blond girl there looks a bit familiar to him, but he can't quite place her. He's surprised, as he doesn’t know many people in the city, yet.

The teacher goes back to calling the roll. He's almost at the target bench when the teacher calls out 'Greta Smit,' and the girl there says, "Here, Missus Wells." The roll is soon finished and his name's called last; he acknowledges his presence.

The teacher says, "My name is Missus Wells, the correct etiquette for addressing me is to use my full name or ma'am, not miss, and definitely not miz. I noticed you all have carry bags of gear. So I take it you have the required self-supply items for this class for the next few weeks. Speak up if you don't, or if you have any questions."

Hal puts up his hand, along with two other students. When pointed at, he says, "Missus Wells, I've got a medical condition that has some odd dietary needs. As such, there are things in the class plan we have I can't consume. I've no intention of trying to have the plan changed, but I do seek permission for someone else to do my tasting for me when we have something I'm not allowed, and I've extra disposable containers so I can take my creations away for others to eat."

Mrs Wells looks at him for a moment, and asks, "Greta, do you mind helping Hal out with that?" Greta indicates she'll help him. "Hal, you're a year ten student and a boy, mind telling us why you're doing a year nine elective cooking class?"

He grins, and replies, "I'm exempt from all physical education and sports. My class is doing physical education this period. Of the other classes at this time, this is the best choice. I'll be learning something I can use later in life. But, more importantly, when faced with a period in the library under the eye of Missus Hall or being in a class with a group of pretty girls, well, I don't see there's any choice to make at all; do you, ma'am?" The whole class grins at that comment.

"I'm not sure our senior librarian would agree that time with young students would be more productive for you than time with her. But for a teenage boy, I can see your priorities are different and our wonderful librarian isn't of the same grade. Since this is an elective of advanced cooking, I gather you have basic cooking skills from other studies?"

"Yes, ma'am, my mother made sure I could cook the basics and look after myself. She's a great believer in individual independence."

"Good. Now let's get started on our first recipe." The class goes well, and all have fun cooking nice sponge cakes. In some cases it's a matter of attempting to cook nice sponge cakes. Mrs Wells is starting off with a recipe that's very close to what they finished with in last year's basic class, to help the students slip back into proper practices and skills.

During the class Hal notices Greta isn't as exact with measurements as she should be, with the predictable results. The cake is edible, just, but looks a real mess. Hal offers to dispose of the evidence for her.

At lunch, Hal has five cakes to give Jenner to take home. Not exactly the best food, but better than nothing. She enjoys his half sandwich and extra juice as well. He's also getting to know the fourteen year old girl well, and learns all about her family; father whereabouts unknown, mother a drunkard, and an eleven year old sister. Hal wonders if she's at the same school as Joanna, and if he can organise some help there as well. A few questions, and he soon learns Jenner's sister, Julie, does go to the same school as Joanna. A text message to Joanna on his mobile phone should have her seeking her out during the afternoon. Hal also learns they live just a couple of streets from Hal, so he gives Jenner an open invitation to come and visit any time, and to bring her sister as well.

While they're talking, Greta joins them; as she can see her failed cake on the table beside Jenner. Seeing Greta at the same table as Hal has Freda and Else stopping by on their way out, to ask them why they're sitting together. They both have a good laugh at him doing a year nine cooking class, and a bigger laugh at the explanation he gave in class. Hal knows they catch the same bus as he does, so he gives them an open offer to drop by his house any day. They say they'll think about it, but they live several streets further away and don't like the idea of the long walk home after a visit.

The rest of the day and week go as well as can be expected, and is a copy of last week's classes.

The Mall

On the Saturday morning following the fourth week of school, Hal and Joanna are at the nearest major mall to their home. They're with an older cousin, Liz, she lives next door and drove them over in a dark blue Subaru WRX STI hatchback. The mall's a few kilometres from their homes, but is much bigger than the small set of half a dozen shops two streets from where they live. The local shops are handy for groceries etc.; but for real shopping the girls have to go to a mall, and Hal's with them to get out of the house. They don't mind his slow walking as it gives them more time to window shop, and they like his insights into what looks good on them. There are many other reasons, too, including their personal feelings for each other and how well they get on as a group. Liz is twenty-three, but the three fit together well.

As they move through the mall, with Hal carrying some bags of gear they've already bought - stuff the girls got in teen clothing shops, he spots Jenner and another girl walking around the mall in clothes his mother would throw out as rags. They're standing in front of one of the cheapest teen clothing stores, looking in the window with a big longing.

Pointing to the girls, he asks, "Jo, is that Julie Denning?"

"Yes, and that must be her sister, Jenner."

"It is, I know her from school, but not Julie."

All three Smiths watch the two girls for a moment, as the girls point at things and discuss them. "Jo, Liz, take them into the store and buy a couple of outfits, get them to give you their thoughts on the outfits and see how good it is. I want the four of you to end up in new outfits that are very similar, please. I'll pay." Both his sister and cousin give him a quick glance, but go to do as asked. They've seen him in this helping out mode before, and know things will go better if they just do as told.

Hal lets them move ahead of him, and watches as Jo greets Julie and the others are introduced. A few more words, and they turn to see Hal approaching from several metres away. More words, and they enter the store together. Hal's in no hurry, and not able to hurry, so it's a few minutes before he reaches the store and makes his slow way through to the corner of the store where the change rooms are. He has to go very slow through the store, as the displays are close together and there's a lot of girls in the store moving about.

Jo sees Hal looking the four of them over as they stand there in some nice matching outfits. They all look good. He nods his head. Before the two sisters can react, Jo rips the price tags and item labels off the clothes they're wearing, adds Liz' and her tags, saying, "Now find some clean underwear to put on, as well." Both Jenner and Julie start to argue. Jo hands the tags to Liz as she responds to Jenner and Julie. Liz takes the tags to the cashier, who's near where Hal is. He diverts, and arrives in time to hand over his credit card for the payment.

Smiling, Liz takes the receipt back to the girls and shows them the clothes are paid for, so they have to keep them, now. Both girls are not happy about this trick to give them charity. The argument's still going on when Hal arrives. They all turn, when he says, "Jenner, Julie, I never give charity, but I do give help to those who need it. But that doesn't apply, here. I want you two to join us for a few hours, and I refuse to walk around with someone in those rags you had on earlier. I paid for the clothes. Now accept the situation and get some clean underwear to wear as well." Both girls are taken aback by his very forceful manner, Jenner, especially, as he's so quiet and compliant at school. She looks into his eyes, and sees he's not taking no for an answer. Gulping, she nods and moves over to the underwear racks. Julie follows her.

Half an hour later all four girls are wearing new matching outfits that look good and show off their assets. All dressed from the skin out, at Hal's expense. Even down to new socks and shoes, comfortable slip on walking shoes that aren't quite sports shoes.

The next few hours are fun as the five of them explore the various stores, with Jo and Liz buying many things. Jenner and Julie don't realise some are for them, as they didn't spot Liz getting their sizes, earlier. The stop for lunch is at Hal's expense, too. He has his usual gear with him, in a backpack. He buys two salad sandwiches and the usual two five hundred millilitre fruit juices. Despite being in a mall food court, the way he sets up his lunch is so like school that Jenner's eating the extra half sandwich before she remembers she has some food of her own as well. This automatic reaction gets a few smiles from the rest.

As they're nearing the end of the shopping trip the group runs into the Smit family out shopping. Freda and Greta introduce Hal to their parents, and he introduces his group. They join forces for a couple of shops, before going their separate ways.

Liz offers Jenner and Julie a lift home, and both girls love the idea of a car ride instead of a long walk. At the car the girls ooh and ah over the sporty looking car as the gear's placed in the back. Hal holds the rear driver's side door open for Jo, Jenner, and Julie to sit in the back, before holding Liz's door open for her, then sitting in the front passenger seat. Julie's sitting in the centre in the back, with Jenner beside her.

After Hal sits down he uses his left hand to lift his left leg and hold it up as he turns to sit in the car properly. Jenner watches this with a frown, and doesn't see Jo watching her. When Jenner goes to speak, Jo reaches over and taps her arm. Jenner turns to look at her, and Jo shakes her head no, indicating she's not to ask about it. Her eyes go wide, but she nods her agreement.

Several minutes later, Jenner and Julie are getting out at their home and Jo's handing them a few bags from the back. Jenner goes to argue, then sees Hal giving her an intense stare, and she just accepts the bags.

He smiles, "Some of those outfits are acceptable to wear at school. I'd like to see you in them, some days." She smiles, and nods as she shuts the car door. The car sits there as the two girls walk up the path to their front door and go inside the house. As she shuts the door, Jenner sees the car pull out and drive away. She's very thoughtful as she goes inside to put her new clothes away. The first new clothes she can ever remember having, it's always been used stuff before; often free from the welfare shops.

On the drive home the Smiths have a discussion about the two girls and Hal's mother-hen gene kicking in. Nearing their two homes, Liz hits the remote garage door opener on the car dash and enters the space nearest the house. She parks the car and they get out. After unloading their plunder, the car's locked. Hal helps Jo carry her gear into the house, through the door connecting the garage to the house. Liz leaves by the front garage door, hitting the manual garage door button as she walks out on her way to her home next door.

Arrangements

At lunch the next Monday, Hal smiles as Jenner walks up in one of the new outfits he bought her. She sits down and starts on her half sandwich while eyeing the seven plates of spinach quiche sitting on the table. A few of the girls didn't wish to eat their cooking class results. It looks like she and Julie will have some nice food for a few days. The extra food from the cooking classes is helping, and they don't feel so hungry all the time, now; even if it is an odd diet. She gets something from the cooking teachers each day, but usually only a couple of items each day. Except for Mondays, when Hal brings things from his class, then the count varies between five and nine on those days.

After a few minutes, Hal looks up, asking, "Would you and Julie like to earn some money?" She nods. "Good. Mother's having trouble hiring a full-time person to help clean the house. I said I should be able to get some girls to work part-time after school and some weekends. She's agreed to let me organise it, but insists we pay proper rates and get all the legal approvals." He pulls some papers out of his bag and hands them over. "You need to fill these in and get your mother to sign them. We'll get the rest sorted out." Jenner nods as she takes the papers while thinking on how to get her mother to sign the forms. She smiles as she realises her mother will probably sign completed forms she thinks are from the school; she now has to work out how to give that impression without lying to her.

Later that day, on the bus home, Hal has a similar talk with the Smit girls and hands them a bunch of papers as well.

Tricky Talking

That Afternoon

Next Day

During the day Hal gives the papers to open accounts at the bank to Jenner and the Smit girls. He also makes arrangements with Jenner for her and Julie to get off the bus at their house, as they'll be driven home after their work's finished for the day. The Smit girls won't be starting work, yet, as their parents are still considering the deal. Each girl will be working ten to twelve hours a week each, most will be for two hours after school Monday to Friday; with a provision for time on Saturday morning, as required.

Today's first task for both girls is to go with Mrs Smith to see Roland and the bank, finalising the paperwork. They have, with them, the identity papers they were told they'd need for today. That takes an hour to sort out. The second hour's a show and tell of what work they'll be doing around the house. Most of it's simple cleaning work. Both girls are surprised to see Hal and Jo doing some of the housework needed to maintain a clean house. In a gender change, Hal does the vacuum cleaning while Jo does various handyman type tasks of changing lights, washers, etc. you usually associate with boys and men. For some tasks she has to call in Hal or their mother for extra muscle.

When it's time to go home Mrs Smith gives them a slice of apple pie with a popper container of juice each, and drives them home when they finish the snack.

Thursday

Meanwhile

Some Explanations

Freda strides up to Hal and Else, "The Beast he says. I expect an old second hand car on its last legs. And what does he have, a brand new top of the range sports sedan."

Else smiles, "Nice to drive, isn't she?"

"Bloody nice. Much better to ride in and to handle than Mum's or Dad's car. I wish I could take it for the test, I'm sure I'd pass then."

Hal jumps in, "No reason why you can't. As long as she's not being used for something else at the time. Just work the test schedule in with the other uses, and you're OK. I'm sure you'll spend more time driving The Beast than any other car, over the next couple of years. At least while you work here, that'll be the case." Both Smit girls smile. He waves at the ground, "Pull up a seat for a moment, please." All three young ladies sit down. He thinks for a moment.

Giving his head a hard shake, Hal says, "I don't want any of you telling this to anyone without my express prior permission, OK?" All three nod. "A few years ago my left leg got badly hurt," Liz gurgles, and stifles a comment. He glares at her. "I got a compensation payout that was quite good. The majority of that money's in a well-managed trust account, and I get a healthy allowance from it. The trust owns a few assets, such as two lovely houses side by side, which I rent to family members as they like them but can't afford to buy them."

Liz interrupts, "I wondered how we finally got to live in Mum's dream home!" She sees Hal's glare. "Sorry, cuz. But, I did wonder how it came about.."

He continues, "When I told the trustee I wanted a good car, he told me my options were to buy a cheap car from my own funds, or a very expensive one from the trust funds. The Beast's owned by my trust, and the trust pays for all the expenses, services, fuel, the lot. I can't drive yet. I've got some troubles with learning to drive as well. So I'm not sure when I'll go for my licence, but I've still some months before that's a worry. However, having my own car, I can use it whenever I can get someone to drive it for me. Thus this situation with you as drivers, once we can organise it."

All three smile, as they love the idea of driving such a nice car. Liz speaks up, "I'll get you girls a copy of my schedule, so we can work out when you can take driving lessons with me. I know Hal will find a way to cut you loose from Aunt Mary, from time to time, but you'll need to do the work she's paying you for, and still get more time behind the wheel." Both girls nod agreement.

Else cuts in, "Freda, we've a date on Saturday afternoon and night. I'll sort it out with Mum, but Dad has to be kept in the dark. Hal wants to date Greta, so we're his cover until Dad gets to know him. OK?" Freda smiles and nods - nice dates with no pressure, sweet.

"Want me to drive you that day?" Liz asks Hal. He nods. She smiles as she knows that means she gets a movie and feed as well, that's just the way he is. She's between boyfriends at the moment, so she has a lot of spare time, and, anyway, she enjoys spending time with her cousins.

Hal glances at his watch, "OK, time we got inside as it's nearly time to go home. Will you be able to drive them all home, please, Liz?"

She nods. "If it's OK with you, Hal, I'll also take time to clear the girls having driving lessons with me. That way they can bring their log books along." He nods agreement, and they all walk inside. He'll finish the lawn and put the mower away after the girls go home.

Mrs Smith has some vanilla slices and juices ready for everyone. The girls all have smiles as they leave, after Hal clears Greta's availability for Saturday. As Liz loads the girls up in The Beast, Hal sits on the mower and sets about finishing the lawn. Putting the mower away about forty minutes later, after washing it down with the hose.

Homecomings

The Date

The final arrangements for Saturday's date are set out at lunch on Friday. Hal's to buy lunch at the mall, then off to the afternoon show at the movie theatre in the mall, followed by a snack, a second movie, and dinner, then back to the Smit house by eight pm. All goes exactly as Hal planned, right up to when his group of four ladies and himself are met by his sister and the Denning girls near the restaurant intended for lunch. Liz and the Smit girls all giggle at the look on Hal's face, when Jo says, "Fancy meeting you here, bro!" He sighs, and waves towards the restaurant entrance a couple of paces away.

No one's surprised to find that they have a table for eight available. He sighs, and says, "Jo, I love you dearly, but there are times you can be an absolute pain in the arse."

"If it had been just the two of you, I wouldn't have even considered joining you. But heck, you already have a few extras, so why not get a good movie and feed from you!" This is a statement, not a question.

Later, Hal's not surprised to find his reservations for five tickets to the two movies is now eight tickets for both. He just pays and collects the tickets. Greta, Jenner, and Julie wonder about how easily he accepts the extra costs, while the others just smile - they already know.

It's not until late in the afternoon, when they're sitting down for the second movie, that Greta wakes up to the fact her sisters have been manoeuvring the seating arrangements all day. They have her sitting beside Hal, with them outside of the pair. She had thought he was being nice to invite her along while dating her twin sisters, now she's starting to wonder who's dating who.

Else can see Greta thinking hard, so she leans over, and says, in a very soft voice, "Correct, Freda and I make good camouflage until Dad gets used to him being around you. We're enjoying the nice shows and feeds, so don't get Dad too comfortable too quick." Greta grins, when she realises Hal's slowly, so very slowly, courting her and this is his way of being with her in a way her parents will allow.

Hal sees the sisters talking, but can't hear what's said. However, he gets the idea when Greta leans closer to him, picks up his right hand, and places it over her shoulders. In a moment, she's snuggled into his right shoulder and holding his hand to her right breast. She's worried he might be rough or not do anything. But all he does is add a little extra pressure to what she's applied, and she enjoys the way his hand cups her breast. She soon snuggles in closer, when she remembers her conversation during cooking class about wanting to see these two films but not being able to afford it. It's at that point she's sure this whole afternoon's about making her happy; and that thought makes her very happy.

As they leave the theatre Greta decides to confirm her suspicion. Turning to Hal, she says, "I know you've got a booking for dinner at a restaurant, but after that movie, I really feel like sitting down to a pizza at home with Mum and Dad. Do you mind if we change things?"

She enjoys the huge grin on Jo's face as Hal pulls out his phone and rings Mrs Smit. "Hello, Missus Smit, Hal. We've just left the second movie. I was wondering if it was OK for us to come back now and sit down to watch a DVD while we all have delivery pizza?" A break, "Good. Thank you. Can you order, you know what the girls like. Just add two large pan Hawaiians for Liz and I, with a couple of bottles of cola please. We'll be home soon. I'll pay for it when it arrives." His next call is to the restaurant, and he apologises for the change of plans. No problems for them, as they have people waiting for tables.

There's a taxi rank near the theatre entrance, so Hal sees Jo, Julie, and Jenner into a cab, handing Jo fifty dollars to pay for the cab fare. It's just on dark and he's not having them walk home. Jo's to see the girls home, after getting some drive through takeaway food on the way, and then go home herself.

A few more minutes and Hal's in the back seat of the Subaru with Freda on his left and his right arm around Greta on his right, while Else drives them home. Freda drove them to the mall earlier. Both are already very good at handling the Subaru. As they drive along and he fondles Greta's breast, he wonders if either of the twins have told their parents Liz has booked them into an advanced driver training course for next weekend. He also thinks about how quick the Smit girls were at working out what the real situation is, and adjusting to it while helping him and Greta out.

They're soon at the Smit house and getting out of the Subaru. Once inside, they spend a few minutes working out which of the DVDs they bought earlier today they'll watch. Just as they reach an agreement the doorbell rings. Hal gets up and pays for the pizzas, which are soon spread around the room, and everyone takes a seat to watch the DVD while eating.

As everyone gets comfortable, Mrs Smit doesn't miss the fact her eldest daughters have pinned Greta and Hal together in the middle of the main sofa. What's comfortable for three is squashing room only for four. But they all seem happy as Hal puts his arms on the back of the chair while Greta leans into his shoulder and feeds them both from the Hawaiian pizza on her lap. Else has a look of glee whenever she lifts a glass of cola up for him to have a drink out of. She shakes her head as she smiles at their antics, and wonders if any of them realise how obvious they are. Then she catches Hal's eye on her, he simply raises an eyebrow, and she knows he's aware, but also doubts the girls are.

When the movie ends Mr Smit heads off to bed, and the twins go to organise a small snack and drink before Hal and Liz have to leave. She can't hold it in any more, Mrs Smit says, "Greta, please be a bit more discrete in front of your father." She gets a blank look in reply. "You were so obvious about Hal that to get any more blatant, you'd have to rape him." That gets a deep blush. "I know he's a good boy. The fact he organised today to be with your sisters as chaperones shows that. But your father will need to accept his little girl isn't so little any more, OK. Until I say otherwise, I want you lot to continue with the group outings. But no more sitting on the lounge like you just did here, save that for Hal's house or the car. I want to see a lot more discretion around your father, right?" All three girls nod, as Liz laughs. "Now give Hal a kiss goodnight on the cheek, and get upstairs, I want a word with him." Greta does as told, and vanishes up the stairs.

He looks at Mrs Smit, "I'd planned for things to take a little longer, but certain young ladies of the Smit family decreed otherwise. They're just too damn smart for me to handle."

Mrs Smit laughs, "I figured that was the case, Hal. Which is why I waited until her father left, before speaking. If I'd tried anything before then he'd have become aware of what those girls were up to. I was a bit shocked to see Greta in what I can only describe as full seduction mode, and her older sisters not only helping, but encouraging her. She won't be sixteen for another seven months, so watch it until then." Hal's eyes go very wide at that comment. "Once she's legal her father has less grounds to complain. Neither of us will be happy about certain things then, but we'll have to accept them. OK."

"Yes, ma'am. Message received loud and clear, and understood. But please understand, I'm out numbered, out gunned, and out thought by the Smit sisters. I'm totally at their mercy."

She laughs, "I realise that, and will be speaking to them, at length, as well. Just make sure that when they're over there working, that's what they're doing."

"No doubt on that one, ma'am. Mother will see to that." Hal and Liz leave while Mrs Smit's still laughing. On their way home, Liz has a good laugh as she tells Hal how she enjoyed watching the show of him getting well gaffed by a fifteen year old girl.

Interlude

Things go along about as well as you can expect for the next few months. Classes are attended; tests are taken and passed, by most. Jenner and Julie enjoy their work, and they enjoy the extra food they get from the cooking classes and after work snacks. They also enjoy being able to buy a new item of clothing now and then. They let most of their work money build up in the bank, as they know anything that catches their mother's eye will only end up with the pawn broker's shop.

Else and Freda pass their Advanced Driver Training Course, and, when the date comes around in early May, they pass their tests for a driver's licence. The biggest problem that day is proving to the two examiners that each did take a test and not the same person twice. They had been tricked by a pair of twins once before. The girls do use the Subaru for the test; even the examiners love the car. Hal gets them each a present of a sterling silver keyring with the Subaru symbol and a key to The Beast. He also gives a matching keyring to Liz.

The Smith house and yards are maintained in good condition by the hired workers. Mrs Smith believes in paying a person what they're worth. The girls are doing ten hours a week; two hours a day for five days. They switch to two and a half hours a day when there's four days due to a public holiday. After the compulsory government taxes etc., the girls get an in hand rate of fifteen dollars an hour, that's one hundred and fifty dollars a week. Much better than what most of their peers get at other jobs, and, in many cases, for less hours work than their peers.

Mr and Mrs Smit enjoy not having to make time to take Freda and Else out for driving practice. They also enjoy the extra time at home alone while all their girls are out on a date with Hal.

One funny event in the dating is about three weeks into Hal's dating Greta, Mr Smit takes him aside and asks him to take care about not letting Mrs Smit know he's courting Greta. He says, "Hal, I've known for some weeks Greta has her cap set on you and is actively working at landing you. In fact, I think she has. But please be careful around her mother, I'm not sure how she'll react."

The next weekend Hal discusses the situation with Greta, Liz, Else, Freda, and Jo. The consensus of opinion is that both the Smit parents know what's going on and are playing the girls and Hal for more time to be alone themselves. After that, the movie visits often become a case of Hal and Greta watching one movie together while the other girls watch another movie of their choice. Both Greta and Hal appreciate the open secret of their relationship and the ability to snuggle and cuddle while being driven around in the car.

Most Saturday mornings are spent shopping or window shopping in the mall, with Hal often sitting at a coffee shop while the girls do some power shopping faster than he can walk. The afternoons are usually spent in the movies or back at one of the houses watching DVDs. All the kids involved try to give all the parents plenty of time to themselves by going around as a group, and sharing time between the houses.

Mrs Denning enjoys the extra alone drinking time. Neither daughter notices any change in her attitude or behaviour, despite her increased rate of consumption of alcohol.

All seems to be going along well.

Trouble

It's a nice Saturday morning in mid May, about eleven o'clock, and Hal's standing at the cold drink cabinet of a coffee shop in the mall. The girls have just left him to launch a seven way attack on the new range of tops at the teen clothing store just up the mall walk. They've left Hal at the shop to await their return, in an hour or so, before they head off for a movie; all of them in the same movie this time, a new release they all want to watch.

Hal's turning away from the cabinet with a can of coke in his hand, when he spots a young man with large sunglasses suddenly rise from a seat in the middle of the walk area. It's the rapid movement that gets Hal's attention. The young man looks out of place, but not that much out of place. A well-dressed woman's about three metres this side of the young man and walking towards Hal, when the man's movement gets Hal's attention. When he runs by her, the man shoves the women in the back as he grabs her large handbag. The woman falls as the man runs down the mall. The mall entrance is just past this coffee shop. The man's about eight metres away, and racing Hal's way. The man glances over his shoulder, to check for anyone chasing him.

Hal can't run because of his left leg, but he has very strong arms. He developed them soon after the problem with his leg happened, and he's kept them strong since, just in case of further need. With a big smile, Hal half steps towards the running man, holding his right arm behind him with the can of coke in the palm, his fingers curled around the can. As the young man starts to turn forward while still running towards the exit, Hal leans forward as his right arm snaps forward. His arm flies past his head; as it reaches full extension in front of him, he lets go of the can of coke, spinning it out of his hand like a ball.

Everything's happened so fast - the woman's still falling, the young man's only covered another metre towards Hal, and the can's spinning off his hand like a cannonball. The man takes another pace as his head finishes turning forward again. Just in time to take a hard thrown can of coke in the middle of his face. The can splits open and sprays coke everywhere as the damaged can cuts his cheeks. But the real damage is the combined energy of the thrown can plus the runner's forward momentum. His head snaps back and all can hear the crack as his neck is broken by the impact. The feet continue on for a half pace and the runner goes down on his back, head slamming into the hard tile floor. A crunch is heard as his head hits the floor, and a bloody smear develops as his body slides along the tiles. The body slides into a rubbish bin and knocks it over, but is stopped by the impact.

Some people are screaming, and a few are trying hard not to throw up. The woman's hit the ground hard and now rolling over, nursing her arm. A security guard standing just inside the doorway of a shop on the other side of the walkway is leaving his position while talking on his radio. Hal's surprised at how effective his impromptu missile was, and has a hard time holding on to his last snack, himself. He changes his mind about what he wants to drink, and walks towards the counter.

In the few minutes it takes Hal to walk across to the counter the security guard's organised for someone to help the lady pushed over, her arm's broken, and he has a couple of guards roping off the area where the young man went down.

Reaching the counter, Hal asks for some very strong black coffee. He pays for both it and the can of coke he threw. He didn't drink it, but he did remove it from their stock, so he feels he owes them for it. The girl at the register is still having trouble with what she just saw (the counter faces the walkway to make it easier for passing trade sales), but takes his money and starts making his coffee. He goes to sit down close by.

By the time he reaches the nearest empty table, she's there with his coffees, he'd ordered two. Hal doesn't like coffee, but one thing he found out a few years back, is it helps him to get himself settled in some types of situations. The first cup doesn't last long, as he swallows it down in two big gulps. He's just started to sip the second one when the police arrive. They speak to the security guard; he talks to them for a few minutes, and points towards Hal.

The senior police officer, she has two stripes and the other has none, asks Hal for his version of events. Hal tells her what he saw and did. It's all noted down. When he's finished, they ask him to read what's written down. He does, it matches what he said, and he signs it. The police officer asks, "Why didn't you just run out and trip him up?"

Hal gives a weak smile, "Ma'am, I've a medical condition which means I move at about the same speed as a startled snail, about a third of normal walking speed. He'd have been two suburbs away before I could've got far enough into mall to intersect with his flight path. My only way of stopping him was to throw something, so I did. The results are a lot more than I expected. I thought I'd cut his face and maybe knock him down for someone else to grab, not kill him."

She sees the pain in his eyes, and reaches out to grab his shoulder in a gentle hold. Giving it a squeeze, as she hands over a card, "Don't you worry about what happened to that shit. The woman he hit today has a broken arm. The woman he hit in the next suburb on Thursday night is still unconscious. We've got a string of about twenty people he's put in hospital with that tactic. We'd have liked to have had him in the lock up, but we're happy just to have him off the street, as he's not putting anyone else into hospital, now." He gives her another weak smile as he accepts what she says. It helps him accept he did the right thing, but it still doesn't settle down the queasy feeling in his stomach about killing him. Hal sits there and finishes his coffee while watching the police and associated services do their thing and clean up.

The mess is cleaned up and the mall back to normal before the girls return. Hal's still at the table, and on another black coffee. When the girl came to take his empty cup he ordered another. She remembered his odd way of walking, and has been bringing his extra coffees to him as he orders and pays for them. The girls are laughing as they walk in the shop. Jo sees him drinking coffee, and stops laughing. Her serious look has the others silent and concerned, too.

They walk up and sit down around the table. He looks up and gives a very weak smile. Jo gulps, "OK, what happened to make you drink coffee? And how many?"

"I haven't counted."

Jo turns to the girl at the register, "How many coffees has he had, please, miss?"

"That's his ninth coffee he's on, black, no sugar."

Jo turns back, "Fuck! What the hell happened?" The others all stare at her. "He hates coffee. The only time he has any is when something's happened to really upset him." The girl at the register is surprised by this, as she was sure he was a coffee fiend, due to the way he'd been drinking them for the last forty minutes or so.

Hal continues to stare into his coffee. The girl walks over, and says, "A thief knocked a woman over and broke her arm while stealing her handbag. Your friend here threw a can of coke at the thief and broke his neck. He went down and split his skull on the floor, smearing blood all over. They only finished cleaning up a few minutes ago."

Jo sits there, staring at her, for a few minutes. Gulping, she says, "Shit, no wonder he's into the coffee." She stands and takes his wallet out of his coat pocket. She opens it up and pulls out a fifty dollar note. Handing the note to Freda, she says, "Grab a taxi, take Jenner and Julie to my place." She turns to the others, "Else, you drive. Liz, you and Greta help him to the car. He won't be able to walk at all, now, not after all that. We need to get him home, a.s.a.p." With that, Liz and Greta help Hal stand. Between them, they half carry him and half drag him out of the coffee shop to the car. The others grab up all their shopping bags and follow them. At the car the shopping's shoved in the back while Hal's shoved into the back seat. Greta gets in on his right and Jo on his left. Liz drives off as the rest head to the taxi rank.

Humpty Dumpty

The Next week

The buzz in the school on Monday is the news about how a local high school boy killed a violent criminal wanted for putting a lot of people in hospital while robbing them. All the kids gossip about who it is, except those that actually know who it is. There's six public high schools and five private high schools in the city, so they have a huge range of suspects to discuss. Some gossips base their choices on the likely size of the boy involved, some on the school itself - some have reputations for having tough kids, and some on the likely age of the boy involved. A whole lot of discussion, but no facts. His name has been withheld as he's a minor, and Hal's very thankful for that fact.

All in his classes notice Hal isn't his normal self. Oh, he isn't, and never has been, the most vibrant of personalities in class. But they can see he's a lot more subdued than normal, and they wonder why. But few care enough to try and find out why. The couple that do, are told he's not feeling well today.

In cooking class Hal's a bit more upset than usual with Greta's cavalier attitude to measurements. He's never been happy with it, but today it's more wearing on him than before. He doesn't say anything, as he knows it's a waste of time.

Lunch passes as normal, with Jenner helping him consume his, as well as an extra sandwich she bought herself. Her lunches are now a bit more filling as she can buy food for her own lunch from her work income. The table has six servings of lasagne on it for her to take home to supplement her family's evening meals.

That afternoon, while doing some hedge trimming with Freda, he asks her to bring certain clothes along as extras for tomorrow's work. He tells her why, and she gives him an evil grin in reply.

Tuesday

Wednesday

More Trouble

Early June, start of lunch on a Thursday. The day and time is very important in the start of this encounter. Most days the students head to the cafeteria or the grounds beside the cafeteria for lunch, as those are the two designated areas to have lunch in. But Thursdays are different. Sport's right after lunch. The majority of the students have permission slips to allow them to make their own way to the sports fields, and get their lunch on the way; so those leaving the school are very quick to depart at the start of lunch - that gives them more time to sit and enjoy their lunch at whatever shop they buy it. The few who don't have permission to leave the school go to the cafeteria to have their lunch, before heading to the grounds with the teaching staff. Those staying are quick to get to the cafeteria and have their lunch. The same applies to the staff. Either way, within a couple of minutes of the start of lunch the school's empty, except for the cafeteria. Most days there are students and staff wandering around the halls during the lunch period, seeing people and doing things before lunch or before class. But, during Thursday lunchtime the school's an empty zone.

Hal enjoys taking his time to walk through the school to head home on a Thursday. The school sports buses won't leave until after lunch and the normal urban bus service he catches on a Thursday isn't due until half past twelve, so he's in no hurry to get to the bus stop to just stand and wait. Today, he detours via the library to drop a book back, as he's finished with it for his history assignment research.

Hal walks real slow and his footsteps are soft, as he tries not to put any strain on his left leg, especially the knee. Many people are surprised about how quiet he is as he moves around the school. So it's no surprise to him for him to take a left turn around a corner and surprise three students standing just beside the corner in the main corridor. But it's a real big surprise for them, as they thought they had the empty halls to themselves, especially in this block. Two are year eleven students, and one's in year eight, all boys. The younger boy, standing there between the two older boys and the wall, looks scared stiff.

Both older boys jump back as Hal appears around the corner. The younger boy starts to make a run for it, only to be punched in the chest and flung back against the wall by the boy furthest from Hal. The lad hits at an angle, groans, and slides down the wall, moaning. Hal opens his mouth to speak, but the older boy near him snarls, "Fuck off, gimp," as he gives Hal a hard shove with his left hand, back and sideways to Hal's left. Having just come around the corner, Hal has his right foot in the air and is moving forward, when he's pushed. The shove forces Hal to his left and back, just a little. The sudden extra weight and sideways strain on his left leg and knee is too much, it gives way and he starts to fall back to his left.

In an automatic reaction, Hal reaches out for something to hold him up and stabilise him. He grabs the shirt front of the boy who pushed him. The boy's off balance and falls towards Hal. Realising the last thing he needs is to have this boy fall on him, Hal pulls with all his strength. This pulls the boy across in front of Hal and throws him against the wall, face first. He groans as he hits the wall and slides down it, leaving a bloody smear from his broken nose. The action pulls Hal a little upright and to his right. This relieves some of the strain and pressure on his knee, but not enough to stop him from falling over backwards. The best Hal can hope for now is to control the fall and minimise the damage to his left leg. With that in mind, he moves his upper body to place the weight to his right, and have him fall to his right not his left. That way the main impact will be on the good leg.

The other older boy turns, to see his mate sliding down the wall and Hal still standing. He decides to punish Hal for his interference.

Hal watches with concern as the other year eleven boy turns and takes a step towards him. The boy raises a clenched fist and pulls it back towards his shoulder. It's clear to Hal this boy doesn't mean to help him. He knows he's off balance and falling, and any other blow will only make things worse, so he takes action to go down faster in a sort of controlled fall. He hasn't been able to move enough weight over his right leg and transfer control there, so Hal decides to throw away all upright control and go for a controlled fall straight down. He moves his right foot back to hook behind his left ankle, and uses the right leg muscles to pull both feet forward as he moves his upper body weight backwards and both arms behind him, to soften the fall. This move has the advantage of moving his upper body further away from the second attacker, while his legs are pulled out in front of him.

Seeing Hal falling backwards away from him, the boy advances another pace. He's off balance with his weight moving to his forward foot when Hal's right foot slides out from behind his left foot and straightens up, as part of his last command to the leg. The moving foot strikes the attacking boy's ankle on the side and knocks the foot out from under him. The strain twists the ankle just as his main weight comes onto the foot. The leg goes down with the foot on its side and not ready to take the weight. He screams as an outer ligament in his ankle tears and he falls to his right, towards the wall. Because his right fist is up near his shoulder and moving forward to punch Hal, he's not able to reach out with his right hand to catch himself against the wall. The end result is he hits the wall with the side of his head before he realises he has a problem other than his sore ankle. He grunts as he hits the wall, and passes out before he slides down the wall.

Hitting the other boy's ankle with his foot hurts Hal's ankle, but he doesn't worry about that yet; he's more concerned about how he's about to hit the floor on his arse, hard. His thighs, arse, and hands hit the floor together. He was right, it's hard and it hurts. He's just starting to think he has time to get organised, when he realises he has some sideways momentum still and his body's sliding in front of his right hand. A fair bit of his weight is now on each arm and hand, so it's not an easy matter to move his right hand more to the right. The matter becomes irrelevant as his sideways movement reaches the point his shoulder twists and dislocates, causing him to scream in pain. The left arm's still supporting that part of his upper body while his right arm's no longer providing any support. So it's no wonder the weight and momentum twists his body to the right and he goes down on his right arm, breaking it. He screams again, with the pain of the breaking arm.

Hal's in great pain, his arm, shoulder, ankle, knee, and arse are all hurting real bad. But he also knows they all need medical help and it's unlikely anyone will find them in this corridor at this time. As best as he can tell, the other three aren't in a condition to provide any help. Gritting his teeth with the pain, he reaches across his body with his left arm to get his mobile phone out of it's holder on his pants belt near the right pocket. It's a strain, but he can get it out. He smiles as he opens it, and then wonders what he has to smile about, at the moment.

With the phone active, due to being slid up and opened, he hits the button to speed dial his personal emergency medical service. He knows he needs ambulances, but he also knows a boy ringing to say they need them at a high school on sports day will not get an immediate response, as they'll think it's a prank call. So he's calling the special emergency medical alert service he's registered with. The phone rings, and a woman answers it, "Good day, Nightingale Alert Services, service code please?"

Hal manages to speak through his pain in a clear voice, "Smith, Henry, code Foxtrot, November, Seven, Eight, Two, Baker. Location, Central High School, B Block, main corridor on ground floor. Building empty due to sports afternoon. Four down, including me. Need ICU and spinal care units. My problems include broken bones, dislocated shoulder, and blown knee. You're first notification."

"Acknowledged. Client, Smith, Henry. Confirmed by code and listed phone identification. Location ground floor main corridor of B Block at Central High School. Four down, need ICU and spinal units. Own injuries include broken bones, dislocated shoulder, blown knee. We will advise regular emergency services and get them rolling while we also advise those on your alert list. Do you need me to stay on the line and keep you alert, sir?"

He grimaces, "No, thank you, I think the pain will manage that."

"Right, we're on it now, sir. Take care until the help arrives." The phone call ends and he closes the phone. He slips it into his shirt pocket as that's the easiest to get it to.

Back at Nightingale Alert Services the duty staff are working like the well-oiled machine they are. The service is nationwide, but the number includes a trigger to give the operator the exact location of the exchange or mobile tower the call's coming from. That information, cross checked with their database, tells them which city or town the client is in when they call. Armed with that, they use a direct line number for the supervisor of the local emergency services to get the ambulances going. Because the call's from an alert service. the local emergency services respond without question, as they know the call's valid due to the service having verified the caller. Another member of staff's making a conference call to Hal's regular doctor in the city, his specialist in the city, his mother, and his father. They soon have all four on line and apprise them of the situation. Both doctors agree to head to the nearest major hospital, as that's where they're likely to take Hal. His father's unable to leave work, but his mother will also head to the hospital to be on hand to authorise treatment.

Help Arrives

City South Hospital

Next Day

In the morning, Hal wakes up in time to have breakfast before his family arrives to see him. The visit is short, as they all need to get on to what they have to do. All are concerned for him, but he's spent so long in hospital over the last few years that it's sort of routine to them, now; but mainly because they're catering to his concern about not interfering in their lives with his problems. They reassure themselves he's awake and aware of the situation, and leave for work and school.

A little later, the doctors turn up to check him out; they're happy with his current condition. Mr Davidson says, "Hal, when I opened your knee we couldn't find much wrong, so I checked the readings from your live monitor; I couldn't understand why the knee was gone. There was nothing to indicate a problem at all. I knew you said it was blown, so it must have felt and acted like it was. Based on that, I replaced the main wear parts. However, the only spares I had on hand in your size were titanium ones and not the Kevlar you had. So you now have a titanium set up in your knee." Hal nods at this news. He prefers the plastic, but accepts only the metal was available. "After we put you back together, I went over the removed parts with great care. I did find a slight distortion of the socket that shouldn't be there. So the parts have been sent back to the manufacturer for a full analysis. I suspect you were right, that it popped, but also popped back when the strain was relieved. How does that sound in regards to what you felt at the time it happened?"

Hal thinks back over the encounter, "I think you're right," he replies. "When I was pushed back and sideways so my weight wasn't directly over the joint, I felt the strain and pain as the knee gave way. But, a little later, when I had moved so my weight was back above the knee, it felt like it was taking the strain OK. Having felt it give way, I wasn't going to let it have all the weight in case it went again. So it may have popped out and then popped back. But that's not a good thing to have going on, as I'd never know when it may happen again."

"I agree. But if that's what happened to you, it could happen to others. So we need to check if this can happen at all, and fix it."

They talk for several minutes, about the replacement knee. Hal explains how he finds the plastic version easier to live with than the metal one, but if it means the metal one's safer, he has no choice. Both doctors agree with him. They leave, and Hal has several minutes to himself in which he thinks over the whole of the incident yesterday, and shakes his head at what happened - what a crazy mess that was.

About eight thirty am his nurse shows in the solicitor his mother sent over for him. Hal doesn't have a local legal representative, yet, but this woman's the one recommended by Hal's main solicitor. His mother called her yesterday. After the introductions and Hal gives a summary of what happened, he gets on with his legal needs.

"Miss Barnes, I'll need to give full statements to the school and the police, but I can't sign anything. So I was thinking to have a statement prepared, I read it out on a video, and they take that as a legal record of my statement. Can you organise that?" She nods, and takes out a recorder. She turns it on and sets it up on the side of the bed as she sits down. Hal tells his version as she takes notes. He's soon finished and she pulls out her laptop computer. Starting up the computer, she plugs some small earphones into the recorder and checks her notes as she types a statement. When it's completed, she turns the computer around for Hal to read. A few changes are made and she transmits it back to the office, with instructions to have ten copies made and for an assistant to bring them to the hospital, with a video camera, too.

While waiting, Miss Barnes makes calls to the school and the police, explaining about the statement Hal's about to make. They promise to attend. About half an hour later the assistant turns up with the camera and the statements. Another ten minutes for the police, and a few minutes later the school principal and a person from the regional office of the Department of Education are on hand.

The camera's started and Hal reads out his statement of the events. The police have no questions, but the principal does. "Mister Smith, from your statement, it sounds like only one blow was made by Mister Paine, you were pushed by Mister Wayne, and Mister Paine tried to punch you but did not connect. Is that correct?"

"That's correct, Mister Jensen. Most of the incident was a case of a long series of accidents while people were off balance. Those were the only intentional acts to hurt someone."

"I find that hard to believe, in light of the damage to Mister Wayne, and you admitting to having pulled him towards you."

"I didn't intend to hurt him or do any damage. Nor do I think he intended to do any real damage to me. He pushed me away. But my weight was all above my left knee as I was in mid-step. That change of weight and motion from the push overstrained my knee and caused it to give way. I instinctively reached for anything to stop the fall. I got Mister Wayne's shirt front. He was off balance and started to fall towards me. I didn't want him to fall on me and do further damage. So I applied some science, and used my knowledge of Newton's Laws of Motion." This gets a few smiles from those gathered around the bed. "I pulled harder on Mister Wayne's shirt. I figured he'd put his hands up and stop himself after staggering to the wall. But it meant I could use his weight to set up the centre of gravity for our linked system between us and to my right. As his weight went to my left, my weight went to my right. This relieved the strain and weight on the damaged left knee and brought me back towards being upright. He never put his hands up, with the result of him hitting the wall hard and breaking his nose. That was unexpected and an accident. When Mister Paine went to strike me, I decided to move out of his line of attack by going down, as I was not in control at this point and unable to move to the side. The quickest way to do that was to kick my feet out from underneath me. This I did. In the process, I accidentally hit his right foot just before he put his weight on it. His ankle gave way and he fell against the wall, hard, and was knocked unconscious. I realise a lot of damage was done, but most of it was the results of actions not meant to hurt anyone."

"Hmm. It all sounds logical, but we'll have to wait until we can get statements from the others, before we can say what we'll do. If things are as you say, then Mister Paine's the only one who will be suspended for fighting. But both Mister Paine and Mister Wayne will have to be dealt with for bullying Mister Lawson." Hal nods, as that's all obvious to him.

A few minutes later, Miss Barnes hands, to all present, copies of the camera recording of the statement plus the question and answer period. They're about to leave, when the police sergeant says, "At this time, no one's lodged a complaint for any crimes. I'm glad to have this statement in case they do. But we won't be taking any action unless a formal complaint's lodged or the Department of Education asks us to do the investigation for them. I'll get back to you if we need to ask you any questions." Both Hal and Miss Barnes nod at this statement, it's just about what they expect of the situation.

Everyone leaves, and Hal takes a nap. He's woken for his lunch, and takes another nap.

After school lets out the girls arrive at the hospital to visit Hal. Else and Freda smile, and say, "We were thinking of you all day. And got you all these lovely presents," as they hand over all his schoolbooks, papers, notes, and assignments from today's classes. The others laugh at him and his expression. He would've liked to have missed that, but knows, from experience, it'll help fill in time while in the hospital.

He gives a small smile, as he says, "Gee, thanks, how sweet of you!"

Hal can't help laughing when Greta complains about not being able to get comfortable on the bed with him. His right side is a no go due to the cast on his arm and shoulder, and the left side is a no go due to the knee cast . Their visit's short as they still have their work to do, but they promise to be back, later, during the night time visiting period.

Afterwards

Outcomes of the Non-fight

There are several outcomes from the non-fight that occurred in B Block that Thursday. The school investigation runs into snags with the statements from Paine and Wayne. They aren't consistent with any of the others for the few parts where they cover the same actions, nor are they internally consistent. Mr Jensen dismisses them as being examples of creative writing. When he later asks for new statements, they don't match the originals in key areas either, even if they're now a bit more consistent with each other. There's little to add to the matter in the report from Lawson, apart from what happened before Hal walked around the corner. On the balance of probability, Mr Jensen, and the investigator who reviews the incident for the department, accept Hal's statement as the most truthful, and use that as the basis for action.

Paine and Wayne each get a week's suspension for bullying. Also, Paine gets a five weeks suspension for fighting and causing harm. All suspensions to start when they return to school after they recover from their injuries. The police receive no complaints and take no action at all.

The school gets funding to install more security cameras and a better monitoring program that can be set to alert for any activity in an area at certain times on any day of the week. The Department of Education picks up the out of pocket medical expenses for Lawson and Hal, but not for Paine or Wayne. They figured the whole problem was started by the bullying, so they can pay their own costs.

Tests show Hal's knee did pop out and pop back, something it isn't supposed to be able to do. A review of the manufacturer's test system shows they never expected that sort of side pressure, even though it's a common occurrence in real life. They redesign the knee to stop such actions from happening, and make an offer of free replacement parts to those who have the existing parts. Because Hal's operation's deemed to have been required due to the knee failure, the manufacturer pays for the emergency knee surgery and the one a couple of weeks later to give him the new design Kevlar knee with the strengthened joint.

August

While in hospital, and also while at home for the first couple of weeks of recovery, the girls keep Hal up to date with his school work by providing notes and getting teacher recommended books for him to use for self-study. He's given extra time to lodge assignments, but gets them all in on time; even though one's amended to allow for him to do the physical model while in bed. The teachers even bring him some exams to do, as an oral exam. He returns to school in time to be part of the major review for the important end of year exams fast approaching.

During his recovery he spends a lot of time doing rehabilitation therapy for his leg and knee to recover and rebuild from the surgery. This involves exercises to help build the strength and flexibility of all the ligaments and the muscles remaining in his left leg. During this process he notices the new knee feels stronger and much more able to take weight than the previous one. Mr Davidson's happy to hear that, and the manufacturer's happy to hear the report too.

The only problem is when he's approved to return to school. He wants to use just a cane, while the doctors insist he uses crutches there. He uses a cane at home and during rehabilitation therapy, but due to the longer amount of time he'll spend on his feet and moving around at school, and when shopping, the doctors insist he use the crutches until they say otherwise. Despite hating it, he does as they tell him.

School

Hal leans on his crutches as he waits for the bus to school. There are a few other students waiting for the bus, too. When the bus arrives it pulls up a bit before the group of students, and creeps forward until the door's right in front of Hal. The driver smiles at him as he gets on. He gives her a half frown, as she's never been known to smile at students, often yelling at them about behaviour. She sees his look, and says, "My nephew's a lot happier without those bullies after him. Thank you." He smiles and nods, it's good to know why someone's behaviour to you is different.

The first seat at the front of the bus is being held for him by Greta, so he sits there. Usually, other kids who get on at the start of the run sit there, but they're sitting a bit further back so he can have the front seat. He spots them a few rows back, and gives them a wave to thank them for the consideration, as he's sure they were in this seat last Friday.

The bus load of kids is it's normal raucous self, but he does notice there seems to be a heavy infection of smiles amongst the passengers, much more than one would expect for a Monday morning. He still doesn't understand why, when the bus stops in front of the school and he starts to get off the bus.

Hal's looking down as he takes care while getting down the steps and off the bus. Once on the ground and moving away from the bus, he looks up, and is surprised by the very large number of students that are around the front of the school and the entrance. The total number of kids at school is about what you'd expect at this time, maybe just a little more than normal. But by now they're spread throughout the whole campus, not hanging around the front of the school. Even while he's glancing around at all the students, his head's angled down due to him leaning over the crutches and watching where he puts his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he catches a large colourful group on the top of the school steps. He stops, and looks up. Across the front of the school, filling the top step, is a row of teachers - his teachers, all his teachers. They're standing there holding a banner that reads 'Welcome back, Hal.'

He has a hard time not crying at seeing this support for him. He was never one who did much to get recognition within the school, but this time the whole school seems to know him and recognise he's someone they should be happy to have as part of their little community. As he walks in the gate, the students start clapping. He smiles and nods at everyone, turning his head in every direction - to try and make eye contact with them all, as he makes his slow way forward and up the steps. When he reaches the line of teachers, they part and make way for him to precede them in the school. He walks in the doors, to see an empty corridor. As he does, the memory of what happened the last time he was in a school corridor that was this empty returns to him. He stops, gulps hard, and hobbles on. The teachers move in behind him, then around him, and go off down the hallway on their way to classes. The students flow around him as they do the same. He gets a distinct impression this was all set up to allow him to confront that fear of the empty corridor while knowing he has a lot of support behind him. He wonders who thought of this and set it up, and says a short prayer of thanks for whoever it was.

Standing in the doorway of his office, looking out on the scene as Hal arrives and walks into the school, Principal Jensen wonders if he's done the right thing in setting up the empty hallway. But seeing how Hal stops, and then moves on, he decides he did the right thing. He felt there would be a problem the first time that happened, and thought it would be best to get it over with straight away. But even he's surprised by the actions of the teachers in organising the banner and standing at the top of the steps. Also, the gathering of the students and their clapping surprised him. He'd simply told the students not to enter the school when they arrived today, not to enter until after Hal had done so. The way the staff and students have organised this support, as their own idea, has him feeling that there's more hope for this generation than he'd thought there was. With that event over, he turns to his office and gets back to his paperwork.

During the rest of the morning the teachers and student treat Hal exactly the same as they did before he went to hospital, and he really appreciates how very normal things are. The only special attention he gets is at lunch. As he enters the cafeteria Jenner walks up and asks for the money to buy his juices, then gets them for him.

Overall, his return to school is like a normal school day, except he takes a little longer to get his backpack on, and the crutches in place, when he goes to leave a room. Also, the cooking classroom storage has been changed around a bit. The schedule's still as it was to start with, but all the ingredients needed for the lessons for the rest of the year are at waist and chest height. When he went into hospital, many of them were stored in cupboards that were lower or higher than they are now. He smiles and appreciates the effort that's been made to allow him to do his work as normal, and without any special help being obvious. He also smiles when two students who don't often talk to him, help carry the food for Jenner to the cafeteria for him, ten soups today.

Back to Normal

October

It's just after school on a Thursday in early October, and Hal's helping Jenner with a task at Centrelink, that's the government agency that's the interface between the public and the government departments that manage the welfare and assistance programs the government has. For the last few weeks her mother hasn't been home most of the time, which is an oddity; her normal routine's to stay at home, except when buying alcohol or the odd night down the pub or club. Some days ago, on Hal's advice, Jenner got the forms from Centrelink to have the special allowance for Jenner and Julie paid direct into their own bank accounts. Mrs Denning signed them and didn't ask what they were for. Today, Jenner's handing the papers in, she asked Hal to come along to support her as the staff aren't used to having young girls Jenner's age doing this sort of paperwork, they often ask for the papers to be lodged by the parents.

Hal's leaning on his cane as he stands beside Jenner at the counter while she hands the papers over. The young woman behind the counter looks the papers over and looks up at Jenner and Hal, she notices how young the girl is and that the boy's a few years older. She has concerns about the validity of the paperwork and what the girl's situation is. So she asks, "Miss Denning, why isn't your mother lodging these papers?"

Jenner gives a weak smile, "Because she's sprawled out on the lounge at home, dead drunk, her usual position at this time."

The young woman looks up at the tone and words in Jenner's reply; she glances at Hal, and starts checking her computer records. After a few minutes of checking files, she says, "I really should have your mother here making or giving verbal approval of these changes. But it's almost time for another home visit from a case worker. I've scheduled her to visit week after next, Wednesday at four pm. I'll process these forms and put a hold on them for now. When the case worker's report comes in, we'll make a final decision then."

Jenner isn't happy with this, "Can't you do it before then. The quicker this is done, the sooner I've access to money to ensure I can buy food for Julie and I." The young woman's eyes go a bit wider, this sure does sound like a bad case, but she's not sure she's getting the truth.

All during this there's been a bit of noise coming from the man in his late twenties a pace or so along the counter, where a young woman's serving clients. The noise goes up quite a bit, as he yells, "I don't care what your fucking rules are! I need that fucking money. So approve it, now." All turn to the shouting. The man's very agitated, and is almost hopping about as he moves his weight from one foot to the other and back again. His right hand darts down to his trouser pocket and he pulls out a pistol. Hal sees this as he's right beside the man, but doubts anyone else can see the weapon, due to their vision being blocked by the counter, Hal, and the man's body. It's clear major trouble's on hand.

Hal releases his hold on his cane as he moves a half pace towards the man and reaches across to grab the man's right wrist with his left hand. The gun's still pointed down as Hal grabs the wrist and pushes down, keeping his left arm straight. He reaches across with his right hand and grabs the man's throat. Hal says, "Be quiet and drop it." The man struggles, and keeps trying to raise his right hand with the gun. The staff member sees only Hal attacking this man; she responds by hitting the alarm button and telling Hal to let him go. Hal doesn't look at her; he keeps his eyes on the man, as he says, "Call the police. This man has a pistol in his right hand and I'm stopping him from raising it." This causes the burly male member of staff approaching Hal to stop and have a close look at their hands. He gulps and backs away, as per the set procedures for these situations - always keep away from guns.

Jenner reaches across and takes Hal's mobile phone from his belt. She uses it to call the emergency services, while everyone else just stands around watching, or ducks for cover. By the time the call's over the office is almost empty of clients, and most of the staff have also left the area - as per the departmental procedures. Hal and the man stand there staring at each other. The man tries to lift his right arm, and can't; and tries to pry Hal's right hand from his throat, with no success.

A minute or so after Jenner hangs up a siren approaches the area. Car tyres squeal, car doors slam. The automatic doors open, and two police officers race in. They stop just short of the pair. They approach with care as they assess the situation. On orders by the senior constable, the policeman gets out his handcuffs and grabs the man's left hand. He places the cuffs on the wrist as he pulls it away from Hal's hand on his throat. He twists the arm behind the man's back as the policewoman drops to her knees and grabs the pistol. The hammer's already pulled back. She puts her thumb between the hammer and the body of the gun, and twists the gun towards her and upwards. The pressure hurts the man's fingers, and he finally lets go of the pistol. She moves back and away, holding the pistol as her partner reaches for the man's right wrist. Feeling the policeman take a good hold of the wrist, Hal lets go and moves back, as well. The constable moves the hand behind the man's back and finishes handcuffing the prisoner.

The policewoman turns, and smiles at Hal, "I see you've taken my advice, this time, Hal. Thank you. I do so much prefer to be taking the bad guys to the station to lock them up, than to the morgue." This gets them both odd looks from those within hearing, which is about half of the office, as it's dead quite. One of those who hears this is the young woman who'd been serving Jenner.

Hal smiles back, "Senior Constable Barnard, it was easy to take this one prisoner. He was close enough I could grab him. So he's alive."

"That's good. He won't be a problem for a while. I know him, and he's in big trouble for having this on him," she says while waving the pistol. Being reminded of it, she takes care to lower the hammer and put the safety on, to make it safe to carry around.

"Hal, you should take more care in situations like this, since you seem to have an affinity for them. That gun was ready to fire and was pointed at your left foot. If it had gone off, you could've got badly hurt."

He laughs, "No I couldn't. Yes, it would have been expensive. But there's nothing he could've done to hurt my foot." She gives him an odd look. "I've a prosthetic foot, lost the original a few years back."

"Oh. I knew you had a walking problem, but thought that was your knee, not the foot."

"My walking issue is mostly the knee. If it was just the foot, I could probably run a bit. The movement problem's the knee. In the incident where I lost the foot my knee was badly damaged, too. Since the bits in between were still good, they gave me a replacement knee and a fake foot. A few years of no trouble while using the knee, and I should get about reasonably well. But since I got the replacement knee, I've been in constant rehabilitation. I was just about OK when something happened to blow the first replacement. I was just up and about from that rebuild when we moved here. A little while back I had to have it replaced again. I've been in rehab therapy for the knee since I lost the original, just over three years back. With luck, I should be walking well in time for Christmas." She nods, and takes out her notebook to get statements. Jenner's eyes go wider all through this. This is the first she's heard about his foot, and the most she's heard about his knee.

The woman serving Jenner gives him a very thorough look over as Jenner bends down and picks up his cane for him. She turns back to her computer and enters some codes. "Jenner, I've just approved those changes to happen now. I think the case worker will approve it all."

Jenner smiles at her, "Thank you. With the next payment due next week, I can be sure we'll have money for meals from now on."

The young woman who'd been serving the man looks at the papers he gave her, and she puts them aside with a note, saying, "I don't thinks he'll be needing or qualifying for this loan, now."

The office staff start to go back into their normal routines. The police take several minutes to get statements from all involved and those close by, then leave, taking the man with them. Hal and Jenner leave as well.

A couple of blocks away, and around the corner on the main street, they meet up with Else returning from doing some shopping. She'd driven them down and got some things Mrs Smith wanted from a store near here, which is why they put the papers in today.

They return home and finish their work for the day. As they have their post work snack, Hal tells them all about the events at Centrelink. Which requires some discussion and comments, especially when Jenner lets the cat out of the bag about the foot. Not even Greta knew his foot was a fake. They ask about it, and soon learn he doesn't like to talk about how he lost his foot and knee, and that his family doesn't like talking about it without his approval, either. Liz takes them home soon after that.

Late October

All the kids are busy studying for exams due to start in a few weeks, especially the students in year ten. Mrs Smith smiles as she watches them go about their work in pairs or groups. While working, they're always talking as they check each other on material they expect to be examined on in the coming weeks.

The Monday of the last week of October, Jenner sits down to have lunch with Hal and reaches for her half sandwich, while saying, "Hal, I'm getting worried about Mum. I know she must be coming home for a while when we're at school, but I've not seen her for some weeks. We cleaned up the house, simply to be able to tell when she's around. I can tell when she's been as there are dirty clothes on the floor in her room. But she's not been around since sometime last week. What can I do?"

He gives her a long look, before replying. "First, I need to know, do you wish advice on what the law says you should do, on what I think you should do, or on what I think you should do that's best for you and Julie? I ask, as they are not the same answers."

"What's best for Julie and I?"

"OK, that's simple. This afternoon we'll get permission for you to put all your new stuff in the spare bedroom at our place. Also, put most of your gear there, so you can live there if you have to." Her eyes go very wide. "Do you still have that new automatic teller machine card for your mother's bank account?" He gets a nod. "Checked the balance on it lately?"

"Yes. It's very good, a few thousand dollars. It's normally empty, but she's not taken anything out for some weeks. I can't understand that."

"Hmm. OK. Starting today, you'll get four hundred dollars out each day and put it into your bank account. Do that until you have the account down to only a few hundred dollars. Also put some into Julie's account. That way, each of you will have some money of your own to call on if you need it. How are the bills paid?"

"No problem there. Money's taken out for the rent, the phone, the power, and the groceries, before it goes into Mum's bank account. She only gets what's left. A social worker set that up some years back. She got a court order to do it, and Mum's hated her since. I like it, as it means I don't have to worry about the bills at all. Why do you want us to get hold of the money?"

"I've no idea what your mother has been up to or where she is, but, if she ends up in prison or the morgue, you'll need some money while things get sorted. If the welfare people get involved at any point, don't tell them about your own accounts. The records will show they exist, but they may miss them. You need to be ready to protect yourselves, or to run, depending upon what the situation is." She nods her head and they move onto other subjects.

That afternoon the majority of Jenner's and Julie's things are moved into the spare bedroom at the Smith house, with the approval and help of Mrs Smith.

Days move along as they always do, school, work, study, time with friends, and shopping. Most nights the two girls don't go home, but stay at the Smith house, going out or to school from there the next day.

November

The exams are held. Tempers are a bit short during this time, due to lack of sleep and other tension creators. Students stay up late to study and are busy studying when they can, fitting it in around their work and other set activities. Voluntary activities like dates and fun times are few, during this period, and that adds to the troubles with tension and tempers. This is all much more so for the year ten students. The year twelve students have sat their exams and are finished for the year, the students in the other years are sitting their exams, but even those aren't as tension creating as the important end of year ones for the year ten students. Poor Greta can't understand the stress Hal's got, but accepts it as she can see her sisters under the same stress.

All the exams are over by mid-November, and tensions are being released with fun times and parties. Jenner and Julie haven't seen their mother for nearly two months, now, but have seen evidence of her visiting the house every now and then. They keep up with moving the money to their accounts. The only change to their living they make is to have most of the food supplied by the supermarket taken to the Smith residence, where they use it to cook their own meals. They now live there most of the time, as they don't like being at their home without any adults around.

About this time the local service clubs announce a talent show, Hal and the girls decide to enter it and put an act together for the show.

Life moves on with Jenner and Julie living with the Smiths, and just checking their old house of an evening every few days.

Jenner and Julie are de facto members of the Smith family, but still won't take any obvious charity. Hal wants them to have mobile phones, something they've not had before, and haven't missed, but he's missed not being able to contact them. He buys Jo and himself new top of the line mobile phones, and they give the girls their two old ones. Julie and Jenner don't see this as charity as none of the companies give you a refund for your old phones; so you just throw them away or give them away. In this case, they're given away with a small amount of prepaid hours and it's up to the girls to recharge the phones as need be. They don't mind that they have old phones, they're just glad to have some mobile phones at all. Life's much easier by being in quick contact with people.

By the last week of November, Jenner and Julie have nothing they want in their old house. There are things and clothes still there, but nothing of value, no clothes that fit any more, and nothing they care about or want. The last evidence of their mother having visited was in the first week of November, and they still have no idea of where she is or what she's doing.

Hal no longer needs his cane to get about, thanks to lots of good therapy, but he still takes it with him as he finds it's good to stop him falling over if he stumbles on anything. He can walk at almost normal speed, now, but not while carrying anything more than a couple of kilograms. He no longer has to sit and wait when they go shopping, they slow a bit, and he walks as fast as he can, all are much happier.

Funny Visitors

The last Thursday of November, Hal's asked to check on something at the house Mrs Denning rents. Liz picks him up from school and takes him over in The Beast, she has this afternoon off. When they reach the house they see a car parked in front of it, and another car parked down the road. Both are unusual items, as the cars don't fit. This street's all Housing Commission homes and few residents have cars, and they're either very old family cars or very new sporty cars; two year old family sedans with black windows do not fit any of the types common to the area, but The Beast does. At Hal's request, Liz pulls over and parks a couple of doors down the street from the Denning house.

Hal gets out and walks up the path to the house two down from where he wishes to go. There's no answer when he knocks, it appears no one's at home, typical for this area. Hal gets out the mini-tool he carries with him, this is like a pocket knife but has no sharp edges. He opens up the screwdriver blade and slips it between the door and the jamb. A little pressure as he levers the two apart, and the door pops open. He walks in, shutting the door behind him. He's surprised to see a man lying on the lounge. A quick check shows he's OK, just dead drunk and asleep. Hal walks through the house and out the back door.

He crosses the yard to the fence, well, what's left of it. Few houses in this block have any fences between the houses, none allowed in the front yards by the council rules, and the wooden backyard fences have gone to fires, many years ago. The Housing Commission has given up on replacing them, as they vanish faster than they can have them built. It takes but a moment or so for Hal to be in the backyard of the Denning house.

He walks up to the back door and lets himself in, he has the key to both doors from Jenner. He takes care as he sneaks through the kitchen, the door's open and he can hear talking in the lounge room. One man says, "You got the gear the bitch wants?"

"Yeah, it was just where she said it was. The place looks very tidy for two girls to live in by themselves, are you sure they still live here?"

Hal can just see the outlines of the two men on the lounge chairs as they talk, but he can't see their faces. He doesn't like the sound of what they're saying. He smiles at it, though. He takes out his phone and points it at the men. This phone has facility for extra memory cards, and he put a 128 GB card in, that's the largest it takes, so he doesn't have to think about checking storage for a long time. It records images as still pictures, video, or acts as a sound recorder. He records their talk.

"The boss is. The official address is still here. Mail coming here still reaches them. The case worker has recently interviewed them here. There are clothes and gear in the rooms that the bitch recognises as theirs, when she's been here. So they must live here."

"Then how come no one who watches the house sees them come or go. Hell, I was here before dawn the other day, and they never came out to go to school. But they were at school, later, I saw them getting on the bus to come back. But they never got off at the stop near here."

"They probably walked over after getting off at another stop and visiting with another kid they know, and came in the back."

"According to the bitch, they don't know anyone at all. How long do you think the boss will wait to try and get them from here?"

"Do I look like a mind reader? I've no idea how long he's prepared to wait to grab the girls here. But he sure doesn't want to grab them at school, and he can't grab them on the bus. So what other options does he have? If you don't like the job, complain to him."

"No, I think I'll just continue to do as told, just so I can continue to go on breathing. Anyway, we're sure getting a lot of extra info from what we're learning about the other kids in the area. So he may give up on these two and gets some of the others as merchandise."

"That I doubt. A lot in the business are now inside, but the boss ain't. And the one thing he does they didn't do, is to make sure there's no one who'll complain when the merchandise is taken for training and sale. If they aren't back by dark, we'll leave, as usual."

Hal has their talk recorded, he hopes. He's got no way of knowing how well the recording went, at the moment. He waits several more minutes, but learns nothing useful. Thinking he won't learn anything more, he makes his way back outside, locks the door, and goes back through the yards to the house he entered earlier. He walks up the side of the house to The Beast, and gets in.

As they drive off he gets out his wallet and looks at a business card he has in it. Smiling, he calls the number on it. The number's answered and he speaks to the person, organising to meet them at his home.

First Meeting

Second Meeting

December

The month opens as usual, with all the teens studying, working, and having their usual fun, with swimming and other summer activities on the agenda as well. The school work's now aimed at next year's studies, with a change of text books and emphasis, as per the curriculum. Hal's still with Greta in the elective cooking class, but how that goes next year will depend on the new class schedules. Those are being worked on by the staff and won't be available until just before they break up for the year; even then, they'll only be tentative schedules to be confirmed in late January when the school's more sure of staff and student numbers.

Everyone connected with the Smith family's careful about who they speak to about Jenner and Julie, and the girls are very careful when they leave or return to the house. A few times, they notice some people in cars near the school watching the students come and go. They also see a few men watching them when out shopping, so they make a point of always staying in a group, often one with an adult in it.

AN interesting aspect is when the school reports suspicious looking men hanging out around the school, there are times the men leave soon after the report's made. Even the school administration staff see this correlation soon after the first few times it happens, and it has them wondering what's going on. Hal isn't always aware of it, but he does make a note of the dates and times of when he's aware of it happening.

Shopping Surprise

All the teens are out shopping in the mall on the second Saturday of the month. They came in two groups as they can't all fit in the car at one time. Liz drops Hal, Greta, Jenner, and Julie off and goes back for Freda, Else, and Jo. All of them had been having a morning swim at the Smith residence before going shopping, and Liz set off with the first four that were ready to go. They decide to do a bit of shopping in two groups, at first, so they can buy presents for the others, and they'll meet in the food hall at twelve thirty for lunch. Hal still walks with a slight limp and always carries his cane, just in case he slips on something.

Hal's cane is an alloy one that clips together in sections, so that the cane length's easy to adjust to suit people. The handle's one unit like an odd T, and the rest of it's interlocking 40 mm wide by 150 mm units, with the last one having a rubber tip that can be micro adjusted as the tip unit screws in and out by small amounts then locked. Adjustments are made by units being put in or taken out, and there are part size units, too. The locking system for the connecting parts is two spring loaded knobs that pop out into the frame of the unit below. For strength and stability, each unit's solid metal, except for the top where the angle shaped section of the unit above slides in and locks into place. This way the weight is transferred through the metal body and not the locking clips. To ensure the locked units don't turn in place, the join section's a narrowing triangle shape. This design is to provide maximum stability. It has the unintended result of having the joiner unit being a 50 mm triangle shaped spike with a flat end 10 mm on each side and spring loaded pop outs on two of the sides near the base - they're on opposite sides. The connections are solid and safe, but quick to open.

Soon after the first team enters the mall, they head down one of the short side sections where a few small speciality stores are, these shops are good for finding novelty items and other oddities. They do find a few items for presents in two of the five shops in this little mall side alley. As they leave the last shop two men in suits approach the group, and Hal doesn't like the look of them. He can't put his finger on why he doesn't like them, but there's just something about them that sets off his alarm bells. He grips his cane tighter as they approach the group.

One man flashes a wallet as he point at Jenner and Julie, while he says, "Child Welfare Service. You two are coming with us." The girls step back in surprise and fright.

Hal's thinking fast as he steps forward, "Let's have a good slow look at that ID, and I have to see your friend's as well."

The man makes no attempt to show the ID again, as he moves towards the girls. "This is none of your affair. Out of my way."

"You're wrong there. These girls are in my care as per a federal court order from the Family Court. That overrides anything from the state welfare authorities. So show those IDs for me to note who I have to get arrested for contempt of court." He has no expression as he lies to them.

Both men look shocked as they stop and stand still for a moment. The girls are also shocked by what Hal's saying, but they hide it better. Now that they're closer, Hal makes a very thorough examination of the men, and notices a bulge under their left arms. He figures they have handguns in shoulder holsters under their coats, so they can't be legal.

The front man had dropped his ID wallet in his left side coat pocket when he flashed it, before. Now he uses his right hand to reach inside his coat, as he says, "OK, I'll show you my ID."

Hal doesn't like the way he says it, nor the way his partner moves to the side. Hal's holding tight to his cane with both hands. The handle's in his right hand and his left hand's just below it. Almost of their own volition, without any real thought by him, Hal's hands unlock the handle from the top of the cane and he pulls it free. He's holding it with his hand around the handle and the downward section's sticking out between the middle fingers of his right hand as he pulls the cane apart. He calls out, "Girls, run, they've got guns."

The men are blocking the way back to the main part of the mall, but the way to an emergency exit at the end of this alley's open. The girls turn and sprint for the exit while Hal moves towards the men with the intent of delaying their chase of the girls. As he moves towards the men their hands stop moving inside the coats and start to come back out. Hal's right hand moves to his side and is starting to move forwards in a punching motion towards the nearest man's chest. At this point, Hal's left leg's a little forward and he's side on to the man

Just as Hal's right hand flashes across the front of his chest and he turns to put his weight behind the blow, while pivoting on his left leg, he hears one of the girls scream as the alarm attached to the door goes off. He's concerned about what's happening there, but has to deal with these two first, so he concentrates on putting them out of action - and being very fast as he does.

The triangular metal rod sticking out between Hal's fingers isn't long enough to penetrate more than about 30 mm or 40 mm into the man's chest. But it's long enough to break his ribs when it hits just above his heart. The force of Hal's strike is hard enough to force that section of the man's ribcage to collapse and close back into the chest. The rib broken by the cane handle's pushed back and into the man's heart. His eyes go very wide and his body shivers with pain as the broken bone tears his heart apart. It'll be a few minutes before full death overtakes him, but he's dead. There's no way he can survive the damage done. He starts to collapse in great agony, as Hal pulls his hand back.

Seeing his first target grimace in pain as he starts to fall, Hal thinks what he felt when he struck is the man's ribs breaking, but he has no idea of the further extent of his injuries. He's now very concerned about the second man, as he has his gun out and is swinging it around to point it at Hal. With the adrenalin filling his blood stream due to his fear for the girls and himself, he has no idea of his own strength as he swings his left hand around as fast and as hard as he can.

His arms and upper body are much stronger than normal for a boy his size and build, due to the constant need to use his arms to replace or supplement his legs during his therapy for his left leg. So, when the extra strength of the adrenalin is added, Hal's arm strength is several times more than what one would expect from someone his size and build. The result is the cane hits the man on the side of the head hard enough to smash the side of his skull in while the cane bends. Broken bone pierces the man's brain and he drops down, dead.

Hal just shrugs as he glances at the blood on the side of his cane, while he turns to see what the problem is with the girls. He sees two more men struggling with Jenner and Julie while being kicked by Greta, and a third's sitting on his arse on the ground nursing a sore arm and a bloody nose. They're several paces away, and the men with the girls are already turning to leave with them. Hal realises he can't deal with three men at once, and he thinks hard on how to get the girls free.

His subconscious mind's working much faster than his conscious mind. Before he even realises he's made a decision, the two parts of the cane are falling to the floor as Hal drops to the floor and grabs the pistol lying on the floor beside the first man he hit. He's never handled a real pistol before, but held and used toy ones and the ones they have to fire pellets at some of the fair sideshows. From the films, he knows to look for and recognise a safety, so he pushes that to the position with the red dot. He raises the pistol and aims the way he was taught to fire the guns at the funfairs. He uses both hands to hold the gun steady as he aims at the top of the man's head, as he has no wish to accidentally hit Jenner. He says a quick silent prayer as he squeezes the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot echoes through the hall, and gets the full attention of everyone except the man holding onto Jenner. He's not interested, as the centre of his face folds in on itself and is now very red with blood. He lets Jenner go, and falls backwards. The sound also covers the noise made by mall security staff running to the fight.

The man holding Julie looks up at Hal just as he finishes lining up on his face. The man gulps, lets Julie go, and raises his hands above his head. Julie steps back and kicks him in the balls, very hard. He grunts and collapses as his hands go to his very sore groin. In a few seconds he's lying on the ground beside the man with the bloody nose.

Four mall security staff race down the hall and around the curve to where the trouble is near the emergency entrance. This is not a normal exit door, and they've responded to someone opening the door without approval. It's fitted with an alarm and it went off, the nearest guards heard it and came running, as did two more sent by the security control centre supervisor.

They take in the scene, and the senior member approaches Hal. Greta can see the concern on Hal's face as he hears footsteps behind him while he has two known problems in front. "Mall security are coming up behind you, Hal," she says to reassure him. "Things are OK now."

"No they aren't. Not until the police get here, they handcuff these two, and take them away under arrest. Then things will be better, but they won't be OK." He stops to take a breath. "Whoever's in charge of the security, please be aware I took this gun off one of the kidnappers. I've very good reason to believe they're all armed. So I've no intention of handing this over to anyone except the police, when they arrive. You do what you feel you have to do to meet your obligations, while I meet my obligations to my people. I also think I'll need a bucket to throw up in when the adrenalin wears off. But I don't think that'll be until after the police arrive."

One of the guards gives a few quiet commands to the others, and says, "OK. We're not armed and I'd rather not get any further involved than we have to. I'll put a call in for the police." He speaks into his radio to the control centre.

"Girls, please keep close to the wall and out of my line of fire to the men, as you walk back here in single file. Greta, get out my wallet. In the notes area is a business card for the police. Get that out and call the number on it, please. Ask the woman who answers to come here, now. Explain about the kidnapping, if you have to." The girls move back to beside Hal, and Greta makes the call after getting his wallet out.

Hanging up from the call, Greta says, "Senior Constable Barnard's on her way here. She said another car got the original call, but she won't be far behind it."

"Thank you. Now we just sit and wait for the police to arrive."

Some mall security men approach the area from outside, and seal the area off from casual spectators, while those who already responded to the trouble have done the same thing inside the mall. All sit and wait.

Clean Up Revelations

After Effects

Later in December

About a week after the attempt in the mall Mrs Smith notices people are watching her house. She knows not being aware of such things can be dangerous; so she lets residents and those who regularly visit know about it. Hal calls Barnard and tells her about it, and she passes it on to her friend from Sydney. Soon after, the Smiths notice another group of watchers further up the street watching the first watchers. None are happy with the situation, but accept there's little they can do about it.

Hal does wonder why these people are watching his house, as his name isn't known to anyone. No one can come up with a reason for this. Later, they do find out that one of the bad guys watching the mall heard a couple of the other kids from school talking about the fight in the mall and how Hal had taken the bad guys down. So they started checking him out, on general principle, as they can't find the girls.

One Tuesday evening Hal's thinking about all this when he realises one of his regular habits must be making it hard for the people after Jenner and Julie to know where they are, despite them watching the house. The windows of The Beasts are as heavily tinted as is allowed by law. That was done to reduce heat in the vehicles, and it adds to the look of the cars, too. It also has the extra benefit of making it very hard for anyone to identify who's in the vehicle when it's driving around town. For his own convenience, Hal has the cars parked in the garage in the spots closest to the door to the house - this is so he can easily get in and out. The usual process is to get in the car before opening the garage door, simply because the remote door openers are kept in the cars. So the car usually just backs out, spins around in the wide driveway, and takes off down the drive and along the street. Hal's usually in the front passenger seat, with Liz, Freda, or Else driving; sometime Hal drives as he's turned seventeen and has his license. He doesn't like driving, so he often has one of the others do the driving. The results of all this is when one of The Beasts goes out with Jenner or Julie in the car, they're sitting in the back seat and are very hard to see as anything more than an unrecognisable blob of a head. This is an unplanned security measure, and Hal now realises how useful it is at keeping the bad guys guessing.

Charity Concert

The first Saturday night after the end of school for the year is the fund raiser talent show hosted by the local service clubs for several local cancer charities. Some shopping vouchers are donated as gifts to be given out as awards in several categories and some special prizes. The funds raised come from the entry fees and tickets sales for the show. Entry's limited to kids at school, as a way of encouraging young talent to continue with their education.

The original show was intended to run for about three or four hours with a short break in the middle, but there aren't enough entries to justify the ticket prices. After a few requests for new category, they add a 'Concert' category; and end up with a five hour show. In this category the entrant person or group performs an act that last between twenty to sixty minutes. Prior to this being added, the acts were for between three to eight minutes each.

The preliminary performances only see a couple of acts knocked out for very poor quality performance, but they're encouraged and given useful advice on how to improve their acts; and half their entry fee is refunded. One unexpected outcome is all the single performance acts are younger children under fourteen years of age, while the concert acts are nearly all students from fifteen years old and up, as the few school seniors all enter in the concert category.

Concert Night

Show Time

"I believe for every drop of rain that falls a flower grows
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night a candle glows ..."

"Every time I hear a newborn baby cry or touch a leaf or see the sky
Then I know why I believe.
Why I believe."

"I was working in the lab, late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight ..."

"He did the mash, he did the monster mash
The monster mash, it was a graveyard smash ..."

"Get down with the monster mash
Get down with the monster mash."

"They Told Him Don't You Ever Come Around Here
Don't Wanna See Your Face, You Better Disappear ..."

"Just Beat It, Beat It, Beat It, Beat It
No One Wants To Be Defeated ..."

"Just Beat It, Beat It, Beat It, Beat It, Beat It"

"Give me the beat boys Give me the beat boys
Day after day I'm more confused ..."

"... I wanna get lost in the rock
and roll And drift away."

"Goodbye Sam hello Samantha
Goodbye Sam hello Samantha
Sam I'm leavin' the gang
so don't come around for me on Sunday. ..."

"... girls are waitin' in line and now has come the time
I'm goin' out and I'm gonna get me some."

"Tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen;
pour myself a cup of ambition,
and yawn, and stretch, and try to come to life ..."

"Nine to five, what a way to make a living;
barely getting by, it's all taking and no giving.
They just use your mind, and they never give you credit;
it's enough to drive you crazy, if you let it."

"... It's a rich man's game, no matter what they call it;
And you spend your life putting money in his pocket."

"Early in the evenin' just about supper time
Over by the courthouse they're startin' to unwind ..."

"I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you ..."

"... What a wonderful world
Oh yeah."

"Sometimes in our live, we all have pain
We all have sorrows, but if we are wise ..."

"When the night has come, And the land is dark ..."

"... I won't cry, I won't cry No I won't she'd a tear
Just as long as you stand, Stand by me."

"When I walk down the street See the people who stop and stare and say
Haven't I seen that face somewhere a long time ago ..."

After Effects

The Next Few Weeks

The remaining weeks to Christmas are the usual end of year fun events for the teens. Shopping for presents, outings to go swimming, going to fêtes and funfairs, movies, even just going for a drive out of the city for a picnic in the surrounding countryside. Christmas comes and goes as a fun time for most of them. Jenner and Julie are a bit concerned with no contact from their mother, not even a note left at the house for them. Hal's concerned the Child Welfare Service may get involved, and does what he can to keep them from finding out about Mrs Denning being missing. They do what they can to make things look like the family still lives at their usual residence, by careful night visits to collect mail and move things about. They sometimes find cards from various organisations with a right to contact the girls, and make return calls to visit the people at their offices. A few turn out not to have left the cards. These ones are mentioned to Barnard and she passes the information on to Sydney. At one point, Senior Constable Barnard hands Hal a business card of her Sydney contact, just in case he ever needs to make urgent or direct contact with him.

The days flow on; the New Year comes along, and is greeted. Julie and Jenner are still worried as their mother's missing, but are already moving on as they prepare to live their life without her, as they have been for a few months. For all real purposes she may as well be dead, as she's not part of their life at all, now.

Those going to school start some preparations for the new school year due to start in the first week of February. They're getting lots of things ready ahead of time, as Hal's offered to pay the costs of those who join him on a visit to Sydney towards the end of January.

He'll be visiting friends in an area in Sydney's west, known as Little China, for the Chinese New Year. On 23rd of January the Year of the Dragon starts, and he feels he must be there with his Chinese friends in Sydney. He wishes to arrive in Sydney on 20th of January, so he's got a few days with them before the New Year celebrations start. He has a special reason for being there, but he isn't telling anyone why.

Police Activities

The second week of January starts with a media frenzy about police activities in the city. Over a hundred people are arrested locally, and hundreds more are arrested across the state, in a coordinated operation. Most are charged with multiple crimes with everything from Break and Enter, through weapons offences, to Kidnapping. About one third of those arrested are charged with child sex crimes.

Many well-known figures are involved, as well as people from the courts, police, and other government departments. The majority of the well-known people are allowed out on large amounts of bail, after they surrender their passports. About half of those on bail commit suicide, as do a number of others under investigation but not yet arrested. Several are murdered by professional killers. In most cases the killers are dealt with by police following their targets; it seems they didn't expect the police to be on hand when they made their kills.

In one very secure police meeting room in Sydney, a group of police officers are sitting around a table briefing their boss on several current cases. One looks up, and smiles, as she says, "It seems someone's put an incorrect duty roster for my teams in the computer, sir. Can you please see it gets corrected soon, as my people do need to get the correct pay for their duty."

Her boss smiles, "Yes, it seems I entered an old roster two weeks ago. I'll get that fixed, today. I do find it interesting about the number of contract killers who attacked people you had under surveillance when the roster said you'd stopped. A good thing your people were there, as we now have a number of killers off the streets."

"Yes, sir. That was rather fortuitous. It's also very interesting that the ones listed as not covered, and who were murdered, are the prominent people we would've had the hardest time getting convicted of their worst crimes. A terrible tragedy they were murdered, but I doubt many will be too upset by their deaths." The two give each other wry grins. A lot of good has come from that false roster entry, in many ways.

Sydney

The trip to Sydney from the rural city they now live in is about half a day's drive, but Hal wishes to arrive refreshed early on January 20th. So they leave home just after lunch the day before and stay at a nice hotel in the Blue Mountains, just short of Sydney; intending to finish their trip in the morning. They all go, so they take both cars. Hal prefers this as it gives them some transport back up for any potential problems on the way there and on the way back. It also gives them some flexibility of private transport around Sydney. The initial distribution in the vehicles has Liz, Else, and Freda in The Blue Beast with Jo, Jenner, Julie, Greta, and Hal in The Black Beast; Hal and Freda are driving. When they stop in mid afternoon, Liz switches places with Jo. Liz and Else drive the rest of the way to the hotel. All enjoy the five star luxury of the hotel they stay in for the night.

The next morning they get up and have a good breakfast before they leave, just in time to follow the tail end of the work peak hour traffic into Sydney. Jo, Else, and Freda are in The Blue Beast. As they near Parramatta, Jo rings Hal to tell him the three in The Blue Beast wish to go visit some other places while Hal and company go to Little China. They're checking if anyone wishes to swap vehicles and go with them. There's no passenger changes, so they agree to meet at the hotel in Parramatta later in the afternoon, as Hal expects to be tied up until late afternoon.

Chinese Checkers

As they enter the local area known as Little China, the girls in The Black Beast are very interested in the way the signs and streets change character. The name Little China isn't an official name or title, just what the locals started calling it, some years ago. A lot of Chinese migrants started to settle in and around the small shopping centre in this suburb. As time went on, more Chinese settlers bought the houses nearest this centre of shopping catering to the Chinese. There's an area in the inner Sydney area known locally as China Town, but the area around Dixon Street's almost all commercial and it's more of a Chinese commercial and entertainment area. Little China's a set of shops in the middle of a residential area, so it's got less of the contrived commercial look to it, and has a more natural feel. Even so, the traffic in the shopping section is heavy, as all local shopping centres are, and parking's at a premium.

Hal spots a parking spot just a few shops past his first destination, so he directs Liz to the spot. As she parks he has a better look around the street, and isn't happy with some of the things he sees. They have to walk about one hundred metres back to their destination.

Not liking the look of some of the people on the street, Hal turns to the girls, "Look, there's a few people out on the street I don't like the look of. Stay here in The Black Beast with the doors locked, until I come back and say you can get out. I'll just go and check things out."

"Hal, will you be OK doing that?" Liz asks, "If the trouble's racial or ethnic based, you may be more vulnerable than I am."

He smiles, and surprises them, "If it's a racial, ethnic, or cultural based problem, I'll be a lot safer than you. I'm known and well liked here." As their eyes go wide, he gets out of the van and shuts the door behind him. While he waits to hear the door lock, which it does, he slips a ring onto the ring finger of his left hand. The ring's a sapphire with a white Chinese dragon holding a child inset into it. This was presented to him by a prominent member of the local Chinese community some years earlier, and helps identify him as someone they see as special.

As Hal walks down the street he nears several young men who look hard and tough. They're giving a very hard time to an old Chinese lady outside a shop about halfway to his destination. His approach is noted by the young men. A few of the other shopkeepers and locals see him, too, and some start to whisper amongst themselves.

Using a friendly voice, Hal asks, "What's the trouble, Granny Ma?"

The old woman turns to Hal with very wide eyes. The young man nearest her pushes her back down on her seat, "You go nowhere, old woman, until you pay up the rent you owe." Hal's still moving closer to the woman, and is almost beside her.

Song Ma looks up at the young man, "I've told you before. I rent nothing from you or the jackal you serve. You'll get no rent from me."

The young man snarls as he draws a knife from his pocket, "I told you, last time, pay up for renting the street access to the shop or we cut you. You've not paid, so we'll see how you like being cut."

The young man talking has his back to Hal, as he's sure his many friends will stop Hal doing much. They'd all seen Hal limping down the street and figure he's no trouble, he left his cane in the van. On reaching the pair as the young man swings his arm back with the knife, Hal reaches out and grabs him by the back of the shirt collar and his belt. He heaves the young man up and backwards as he spins on his right foot. Hal lets go of him after turning to face the street, heaving the man through almost two hundred and seventy degrees. The young man's friends draw their own knives when they see Hal reach out, and they move faster towards him. The one Hal's holding has his feet about a hand's width above ground and facing towards the street when Hal lets go of him. He's travelling fast as he passes through the circle of his approaching friends, and comes to a very sudden stop when he slams face first into the steel light pole on the edge of the footpath. All hear a crunch as he hits the pole, and wraps around the metal pole.

The first of the other five men reaches Hal as a van pulls up in the street and six more hard looking young men get out, drawing knives as they charge across the road. In his own van, the girls are scared for Hal as Liz calls the police on her mobile phone, telling them about the many men with knives attacking her cousin in the street. She gives the rough location in South Street by giving the street number of a shop opposite. The police promise to send cars and ambulances to help them, and warn the girls to stay in the van, for their own safety.

Liz turns back to watch the fight, and gets the biggest surprise of her life. All the girls go very wide eyed as they watch the short fight.

Hal doesn't try to punch his way out of the fight, as he figures he needs to clear a space around him. So, when the first attacker reaches him he knocks the arm with the knife to the side, grabs the man by the front of his shirt and his belt, and heaves him up and away as hard as he can. The man's lifted up to head height and thrown into the side of the brick shop front. Hal smiles on hearing bones snap as he hits.

The next two arrive together. Hal knocks a knife arm away as he hits the man hard in the centre of the chest; he hears bones break just as the man's knocked backwards away from him. Hal feels a sharp pain in his left side, and turns more to his left. He sees a smiling Chinese man holding a knife he stuck in Hal's side. Hal reaches down and grabs a tight hold of the hand on the knife with his left hand, as he doesn't want the man to move the knife about. His right hand comes around and grabs the man's arm just above the elbow. A little more pressure, and there's a loud crunch as he breaks the man's elbow. The man screams as Hal pries the fingers off the knife before punching the man in the face. However, the man moves and takes the punch to his throat. Hal looks up to see who's next. He smiles on seeing one of the attackers trying to move back and throw up at the same time. Granny Ma's holding her broom with the bristles to her, and the end's shoved into the man's stomach, he's doubled up over it, and not looking well.

Hal's smile widens as he takes in the wider picture. He can now see what surprised the girls a moment ago. As the extra young men come from the van the locals come out of their shops and swarm over them. One on one, the locals are no match for any of the young men. But there are so many of them, and all wielding brooms and anything they can grab. Like a swarm of locust, they descend on the young men, bashing them as hard as they can. As the men go down they get kicked, a lot.

Police sirens can be heard approaching the scene. Hal gives out an unusual loud screech. It has an odd singsong pattern to it, but it can be heard above the noise of the melee. As the noise level goes down, he calls out in English and then in Mandarin, "It's over, run away, get out of sight before the police arrive and arrest you. Go." They all stop and look at him, for a moment. All of a sudden the street's empty, except for the downed thugs, Granny Ma, and Hal.

Four police cars arrive from four directions, each racing in from a side street. They come to a halt. A moment later, three ambulances turn into the street. All the emergency vehicles drive to the combat area and stop. As the police get out and look at the many downed thugs, they shake their heads in wonder, as they try to work out what happened.

Hal calls out, "This woman and I need medical attention, please." Two paramedics race to them as a few more start checking the thugs in the street. One looks up and speaks to a policeman, before moving onto the next. Looking at one of the cops, Hal calls out, "Can you please go up to that black Tarago van, and tell my friends in the van I'll be going to hospital, and they should go there, now?"

"They'll need to be interviewed about what happened!"

"So will I, but I'm sure we can all be interviewed while the doctors treat me at the hospital." The cop nods and goes to the van. He gets the names of the girls, and offers to lead them to the hospital when he goes there in a few minutes. Liz accepts the offer of a guide.

In a few more minutes Hal and Granny Ma are in an ambulance and are being taken to hospital. There's not much they can do for Hal until they get an x-ray and know what internal damage has been done. But they do monitor him all the way, as they're worried about internal bleeding. Granny Ma's cut isn't that bad, but it needs some stitches, so she's going to the hospital to get that done. As their ambulance pulls out, Hal can see only two of the thugs being loaded on an ambulance, the rest are being covered with blankets where they lie.

Hospital

On the way to the hospital Hal calls Greta, and tells her, "Tell the others not to give any statements until I say they can, please." She tell them, and they agree to keep quiet until then. When they arrive at Westmead Hospital Emergency Room, Granny Ma and Hal are taken to treatment rooms. The team dealing with Granny's cut soon have it cleaned, stitched, and bandaged. Meanwhile, Hal's taken for x-rays and returned to ER. They need to operate, and as Hal's not in immediate danger of dying and still under eighteen, the hospital needs some forms signed by his parents before they can operate.

Hal asks, "Does Doctor Mason still work here?" The nurse admits he still does. "Good, get him to come down and sign the papers." She gives him a strange look. "A few years ago I was here for some work on my knee. At that time Doctor Mason was given a power of attorney to authorise medical treatment for me. It wasn't time limited and hasn't been withdrawn. So he's still authorised to approve anything I need in the way of medical treatment." The nurse goes to her desk and makes a phone call.

A few minutes later a very short and dumpy man in a doctor's white coat walks in, "Well, Hal, what have you done now? I suppose we have to rebuild your knee again!"

"No, Stoney, this time it's a knife wound and they need approval to operate." He pulls out his wallet and extracts a list of medications. He shows it to Dr Mason, "This is my current list of drugs."

Dr Mason reads the list, shakes his head, looks up, and says, "You're not going to like this."

"I know, already, I was warned when they made the last set of changes, a few months back. No general anaesthetic at short notice. The cutter will have to go in while I'm awake with only a local." The girls had arrived soon after Hal and are standing in the room, listening. They all go a bit pale and wide eyed, Hal's casually talking about having his side cut up while he watches and is wide awake, ouch - mega ouch.

Dr Mason and a couple of other doctors have a short discussion before he's happy and he signs off on the papers. He gets Hal to sign beside his name, as proof Hal knew what was happening and agreed.

One of the doctors starts to give Hal a number of local anaesthetics around the site of the wound. It's not easy, as they haven't removed the knife yet. It's being left in until the operating theatre, as it's blocking some of the damaged areas from causing any more infection or internal bleeding. As they ready him for surgery, Hal asks, "Can Greta scrub up and come in, as well. I think I'll need some moral support for this one, and having my girlfriend hold my hand should help." The doctors smile and nod agreement. She smiles as well.

Ten minutes later Hal's lying on the table in the operating theatre as the doctors start to operate. He has a strong hold on Greta's hand as he looks at her, and she's squeezing his hand as she watches the doctors at work. She wants to be a doctor when she's older, and she's fascinated with the operation. It's funny, in a way; Hal doesn't want to watch, and she does. But holding her hand and looking at her helps him to deal with the situation. The local anaesthetics deaden the area a lot, but he can still feel them at work, it's just not all that painful to him.

Outside the operating theatre the policeman's having a hard time getting the girls to tell him anything. He puts it down to them being worried about what's going on in the theatre; so he tells them he'll be back, and heads off to deal with some other aspects of the case.

It's just over an hour after entering the operating theatre when Hal's wheeled out. The doctors have sewn everything back up. No serious damage, but a few things were nicked and needed repair work, which they did do. Dr Mason says, "Not like new, but almost as good as, and will be like new in about seven weeks when it's all healed, Hal. See your local doctor when you get back home, and have him decide when to take the stitches out. In the meantime, no major exercise, or you'll destroy our work. Try and take things easy for a while. In an odd way, this damage was more serious than your first visit, even if it's a lot less. Take care, my young friend. We'll keep you until lunchtime tomorrow." Hal nods, and he's taken to the recovery ward.

Recovery Room

Requests

Visitors

Special Plays

The offices of the solicitors isn't that far away, and when their best clients call, they're quick to respond. They arrive about fifteen minutes after being called. That gives Zhu and Hal just long enough to discuss what they want done, and how they'd like it done. On their arrival, the solicitors are told what the two men want, and are asked if it can be done. Some discussion occurs, and a legal way to do what they want done is worked out. The solicitors then borrow Hal's table to set up two laptop computers while they prepare documents for signature.

While the legal eagles work away on the paperwork, Hal spots the two cops waiting just outside the doorway. Hal smiles and picks up the phone, and uses the redial facility to call the number he called earlier. The phone rings, and is answered on the first ring. Hal's surprised to hear a woman's voice, she says, "Who's calling, please?"

"This is Mister Smith."

"Oh good," it's clear she thinks it's a false name, but is doing what she's been told. "Now I can be done with watching this phone and get some work done. He's left here in a great hurry. He said to tell you he'll see you as soon as he can get there. That's all I know and all I'm allowed to say. Have a nice day, Mister Smith."

Hal half giggles, as he says, "Thank you. Have a good day, miss." He hangs up and looks at Ingham. "I'll let you decide if you want to hang around. The State Crime Division's Commander is on his way here as we speak." Ingham gulps at learning who Hal had called earlier. He knew the recipient was senior, but this man's one of the busiest and most powerful, as well as the most hard worked, officers in the force. Technically, the Commissioner and Assistant Commissioners are more powerful as they're senior, but this man has the most political pull and the most effect on the real crime fighting in the state. Ingham just nods as he thinks about waiting around. If his presence isn't wanted, he could end up at the remotest station in the force. If they don't mind him being on hand, he could be involved in some of the most important police work he'll ever have a chance to do. After a few minutes thought, he decides to hang around, just in case he can get a chance at some real police work of the type he joined the force to carry out. A chance to do something abut some of the worst criminal in the area.

The solicitors have finished their paperwork, so they hand them to Zhu and Hal to sign, six copies of each one with an original signature, while they sign several other papers. Soon after they finish signing the papers, the Commander of the State Crime Division walks into the room. He stops, to take in the people in the room. The policeman of Chinese descent with him stops and stares at Hal and the men beside his bed, as he recognises Mr Wang and the top solicitors in the area.

Both policemen also smile at Hal's situation. When Greta and Jun returned to the bed they took up positions on Hal's bed. One on each side, with Jun on his left as she has less weight to disturb the injury. They're both snuggled up to him with an arm across his chest. Hal's not sure what to make of it, but just goes with the flow.

Hal smiles and waves his left hand to a clear space on his left, as he says, "Afternoon, sir. Welcome to my madhouse. Please pull up some vacant space and join the discussions." Both men give the ring on Hal's hand a good look. The Chinese advisor nods to his boss as Hal lowers his hand to rest it on Jun's thigh. "The reason I wish to speak with you is I want the police to not question anyone except myself and a few other witnesses, present here, about this morning's incident in South Street. I want that matter quickly swept under the carpet. If you go in and ask too many questions, we may have a riot."

"Give me something to convince the local Divisional Commander to agree, please."

"The police want to get into the area to shut down the heavies that were involved in that melee this morning. But an investigation won't get you anything but trouble. All the heavies there stayed there and are now dead. So you can't get any more out of them. All you'll do is upset the many locals who came to my assistance. I want them left alone. Also, my understanding is the real reason the police want into the area is they believe some drug dealing's going on there." He looks at the police, and gets some small nods of agreement. "Good. My friend here, Zhu, the father of the young lady keeping my left side warm, runs the White Dragon Restaurant and Club. He believes three men who spend a lot of time in the White Dragon may be dealing. But he has no reason to eject them and no evidence. So we've come up with an idea."

At this point Deshi Zhao, the lead solicitor, steps forward and says, "The owners of the White Dragon Restaurant and Club have concerns that some men may be dealing in drugs on their property. They do not wish to have their clients disturbed or troubled. But they also recognise a need to work with the police against such an evil activity. To this end, they've given us instructions and asked us to prepare and serve you with these documents." He holds out the papers the solicitors signed. "They ask you to have police search dogs examine the White Dragon. If they show a drug reaction to a person or area, they wish you to conduct a further search of that immediate area or person involved. They do not wish you to disturb their other customers in any way at all. You are not to touch or further search anyone unless the dogs give a drug reaction to them. You are to ignore anything else you may become aware of, except where it relates to a person the dogs show a drug reaction to. In short, they want you to have the dogs clear the place and show you anyone handling drugs, and you'll ignore everything else except those involved with drugs. The reason for wanting you to ignore other matters is they know some of their patrons gamble amongst themselves for small amounts of money on traditional Chinese games like Go and Mah-jong, they do not want the people disturbed because of this personal recreation game that's a minor breach of the laws. Do you understand this request, and will you abide by it?"

The Commander smiles as he nods, "Yes. I understand and will see my men adhere to what you want. Provided we can go full out with any we find with drugs above a personal use amount."

"Yes, if they have more than is allowed for personal use, we expect you to arrest them and use that as the justification to search their belongings in the White Dragon, the area within a metre of where they are, and as evidence to get search warrants to search their personal property elsewhere. But the limits I just mentioned are all you can search in the White Dragon." He gets a nod in response, as the official requests are taken. The Commander looks at Ingham and the policeman from this morning, he nods towards the door and leads them out.

As the police leave, they hear the Commander say, "Sergeant, how many men can you get to the White Dragon in a few minutes?"

Hal smiles as the police leave, faster than the rush they arrived in. He nods at Zhu, who makes a call to his staff, to have them warn the regular patrons about the police visit about to happen. As the solicitors start to pack up, Jun takes one off to a corner to speak with him. After a moment, he calls over the other two. The four of them have a rather intense discussion for a few minutes, before the solicitors leave.

Personal Arrangements

Reliving the Past

Twelve year old Hal Smith's walking along the side of the platform at the Parramatta Railway Station towards his mother. He's returning from getting a drink at the machine in the middle of the platform. His mother's standing towards one end as she wishes to get in a carriage at that end of the train. Hal has three drinks in his shoulder bag; one each for his mother, his sister, and himself and he knows not to start his before he hands the others their drinks. He can hear a train approaching along the rails from behind him, but this is such a busy station he's not sure if it's a train on this platform or one of the others.

A little way in front of him, about three metres away, is a group of a dozen or so Chinese also waiting for the train. He recognises one of the men from his picture in one of the local papers, but can't think what it was about. There's a little girl about half Hal's height on the far edge of the group. She's standing there looking about at the people as she waits. Her body's facing the tracks and her head's turned to look down the track past Hal. She smiles at him, and he smiles back.

Just as he hears the sounds of train wheels breaking on the steel rails behind him he sees a man in his mid twenties put both hands on the girl's back just below the shoulders, and shove hard. She hasn't a chance to stop as she staggers forward due to the push. She screams as she falls off the platform. Hal doesn't even think, he reacts, he drops his bag as he runs two paces and leaps off the platform onto the track.

The girl's staggered another step on the track, but is starting to fall over onto the rails when Hal lands on the track. He hears a train horn right behind him as he takes another running pace and grabs the girl under her arms. He pulls her up to his chest as he continues to run at an angle across the track. He knows he has to get off the track and he'll do that faster by maintaining his speed at this angle than trying to stop and turn. His ears are filled with the sounds of people screaming, the train horn, and the shriek of metal on metal as the driver uses the emergency brake for all he's worth.

He gets the girl to his chest just as his left foot lands inside the far rail, a split second and his right foot's just past the rail and his body's moving beyond the rails for this track. He's about to put his left foot down, almost in the middle of the area between the tracks, when he's hit hard on the back of his right shoulder, very hard. Even as he's thrown forward at an angle and spun around by the impact, he starts to laugh at the absurdity of the thoughts going through his mind.

His first thought is it feels like he's been hit by a train, as it matches the expression exactly. That's followed by the reality that it should feel like that as he has been hit by a train. The hit to his shoulder has spun him around and tossed his upper body away from the track. However, instead of spinning like a top or being tossed away while upright, the contact knocks his upper body forward while he spins on his right foot with his left leg stuck out as if walking. This means he's leaning over away from the track and the train at an angle of about fifty degrees from upright, when the spin starts. In a fraction of a second he's turned around by the impact and now has his back to the ground as his left leg flies out back towards the train. He goes over backwards while his body is still spinning. At that point his thoughts become a lot more vague, while he screams in response to the latest contact with the train.

The spinning brings Hal's left foot up into contact with the train carriage, and it smashes his foot as it rips the shoe off. He spins faster and his first contact with the ground is hard and violent. He screams again as his left knee shatters with the impact. The one good point of this is it causes his body to turn some more, so he lands on his right shoulder instead of on the girl he went to save. All goes dark.

On the Platform

On the Train

The Opposite Platform

At the Hospital

The ambulance pulls into the hospital and both the kids are taken into the Emergency Room. The staff start to take details and run into their first problem, the girl identifies herself as being nearly nine years of age, name of Jun Bao Wang, and not prepared to leave the side of her saviour for any reason. The one attempt to drag her off results in one senior nurse being severely beaten about the upper body by the girl while she screams her lungs out. The Registrar responds to the noise, and tells them to leave the girl with the boy until the parents arrive and decide otherwise. She stays by his side through all his treatment.

The boy's under age and unconscious. By law, the doctors can do what they need in non-intrusive procedures and what's needed in the way of intrusive procedures to save his life, but no more than that. From the identity documents he has on him, including his Medicare card, they can get most of the information they need to register him as himself and get his assessment started. They organise full body x-rays and MRI scans, so they can assess the damage to the bones and the soft tissue. Armed with the details of the damage, the doctors set about the job of cleaning him up and setting out a treatment plan.

Mrs Smith arrives about then, and they tell her what the situation is. She gives her permission for their plan; she doesn't like it, but can see she has no option. Jack's no better at these decisions than she is and Hal is unconscious. At the moment, the doctors are glad he is, as it makes their current job easier. They administer a general anaesthetic and get on with the job of cleaning up his shoulder and foot first. They'll leave the knee until an expert arrives, he's on his way.

The shoulder blade's cracked but not a full break, the doctors think the hit there must have been at an angle. There's a large section of skin torn and lots of badly bruised muscle, which adds to their thoughts on a glancing blow. The whole area's cleaned up, and hit with every type of germ killer they can think of. They immobilised the shoulder, and the skin's sewn back into place. A bandage covers the whole shoulder area, so it also covers the few grazes on the other shoulder.

Theatre

Next Day

Hal wakes up, feeling very hungry, about mid morning the next day. Looking around the room, he can tell he's in hospital. It takes a moment for the memory of yesterday to catch up with him, and he jerks a little. He feels a weight on his chest, and looks down. He smiles at the girl asleep on his chest, but she's stirring, his jerking about must have disturbed her sleep.

A nurse, alerted by the monitors, comes in to check up on him. He conveys his hunger while she takes some readings and makes some notes. She leaves, and a little later a nurse's aide walks in with some soup and tablets for him. He's surprised it's a top quality chicken and corn soup, his favourite. He eats it, and asks for more. She smiles and leaves. She soon returns with more. It's then he learns they have several servings in the fridge; it just needs to be heated up in the microwave and served to him. He knows this isn't normal, but is too busy enjoying the food to care. After three servings, he goes back to sleep.

In the early afternoon Hal wakes up again, and finds his chest warmer's sitting on the side of the bed while she eats a bowl of soup. She smiles as she hands him hers, and calls out for another serving. A nurse's aide comes in to check on things, and goes for another serving while the two share the soup. The girl introduces herself to him as Jun Bao Wang. She already knows his name. They finish off two more shared soups before the nurse's aide has to help Hal with a bed pan. The nurse brings him some tablets to take, for the pain.

About mid afternoon two detectives arrive and ask his version of the events. He describes what he saw, and even gives a detailed description of the man who shoved the girl. Hal's the first person who can give a clear description of the attacker, so they're very excited about it. Jun smiles at him as he finishes his statement. One of the detectives makes a call on his mobile phone. About twenty minutes later a computer expert is on hand with his computer, a wide screen flat monitor, and copies of the video records from the railway station that day. The videos of the platform aren't clear on who did what. They go through them, and Hal points out the man just before the shove, and again just after it.

Hal asks if they have any good shots of the people entering or leaving the station. They do, so Hal goes through them. The images are played at normal speed, but Hal has no trouble pointing out two sets of images where the man involved is shown as he walks about the station. He also picks him out in the footage of where he leaves just after the incident. All three shots are from slightly different angles, but Hal makes a clear identification of him each time. The lead detective has the computer expert send copies of those shots back to the main forensics lab, so they can run them against known villains. About fifteen minutes later he's sent a file with about sixty pictures of people who look a lot like the man in the images they sent in.

They show the set of images to Hal; four at a time, with a new set coming up on the screen every five seconds. About a third of the way through he stops the show and points to one, he says, "That's him." They restart the images and he stops them again a little later, saying, "There's another shot of him from another angle." The detective smiles, in both cases Hal's pointed out the same man. The police leave.

They arrest the man Hal identified, but he claims to know nothing and has witnesses to say he was elsewhere when it happened. But he made one mistake, and they get him with it. By sheer luck, the only people to make contact with the back of Jun's clothes on the day were the person who pushed her, Hal, and the nurse who held her. The man Hal identified signs statements he doesn't know the girl, never met her, and wasn't there or at the hospital. So the DNA evidence of some skin cells left behind when he pushed her back with his bare hands is good evidence he's lying, and the only reason he would lie is if he did it.

Faced with the forensic evidence, he pleads guilty to attempted murder before the magistrate. He does this solely to reduce his sentence as pleading guilty means the magistrate has to deliver a sentence then and there, if he pleads not guilty it goes to judge and jury. Under the laws of New South Wales, the maximum penalty a magistrate can give as a sentence is much lower than that from a judge and jury. So if you're sure you're going down, pleading guilty before a magistrate puts a much lower limit on the potential sentence. He knows this and uses it to his advantage, as he figures he'll cop the maximum - and he does.

Facing the Music

The Following Months

Hal's injuries heal and he commences therapy, first in the bed, then in the hospital's pool, when the doctors approve it. He has to learn how to walk again. The knee works just a little different to the original, and that changes the motions. Also, the ligaments have been damaged and need to be worked in again. He makes slow progress, and Jun doesn't leave his side. Her grandfather hires a tutor for them both, and they do their class lessons together, in the hospital room.

The publicity around the attempted murder both raises the racial tensions due to it being a murder attempt, and then lowers them a lot due to who saved the girl and how he saved her. The full extent of the damage and how the rescue has destroyed his future, also helps to lower the tensions all round.

The time comes when Hal can leave the hospital and go home for care. Mrs Smith smiles when she finds the transfer to her home includes a nurse, a tutor, and Jun. The Smiths recognise Jun's a force of nature and accept her staying with Hal until he is well enough to suit her.

One day, during the second week of Hal's home care Jun addresses the whole Smith family. She looks around the faces watching her as they sit in Hal's bedroom. She says, "I'm very much a traditionalist and my culture is full of tradition. We have many myths and magical items. One of the most recognised is the Chinese Dragon. Unlike the European Dragon, the Chinese Dragons are seen as being helpful beings of primal natural forces and very powerful totems." They all nod as they wonder where she's going. "One of them is the White Dragon that's the spirit of virtuous and pure kings, the Bailong. This is a very powerful Dragon, and very good. One other aspect of our myths and spirits is that we often see them at work in people who have the qualities of the spirit involved. In those cases we often call the people concerned by the name of the spirit." She looks over her audience, and they nod understand of what she's said, but don't see where she's heading. "I've spoken with my family and others of the Chinese community. We agree Hal has the spirit of the Bailong, and that is his name within the community, now."

As her audience goes wide eyed, her father walks in with two men carrying a large painting one and a half metres long and a metre tall. The background's a blue sky. The bulk of the painting's taken up by a large white dragon holding a child to its chest in a tight embrace, while hissing defiance at an unseen enemy. The two feet holding the child can't be seen, while the lower right foot has four toes and the lower left food ends in a ball. They all stare at it as Jun speaks, "Four toes on a Dragon's foot designates a royal dragon, a king of dragons. This is how I see my Bailong." She looks at Hal as she says the Dragon's name.

Mr Zhu Wang speaks up, "Just before the incident at the railway I'd started the construction of a major restaurant. I'd not thought of a name I liked. When Jun told me of the painting she commissioned, and asked me to pay for it for her, I then knew what the name of the restaurant had to be. The White Dragon Restaurant and Club opens for business on Friday, and this picture will be the main feature of the restaurant. As the place is named after the Bailong, we need him to be there for the opening. Also, to commemorate this and to show who Hal is, we have this for him." He waves at Jun, and she slips a ring on Hal's finger, it's a sapphire with a white dragon, matching the painting, inset into it.

The whole Smith family are stunned by this. Zhu continues, "I also have some papers for Hal and his parents to sign. It's bad luck to have a business named after someone and not have them as a part owner. So I've established a trust for Hal and he's a part owner of the restaurant. These papers are to finalise the legal aspects of that." The Smiths look like they're about to argue. "No one in the Chinese Community would dare go near the place unless he was a part owner, even if I changed the name. The Bailong Hal is now one of the most respected members of our community." The Smiths nod and sign the papers, without giving them a thorough examination. It's another few weeks before Zhu lets Hal know he's the senior partner with fifty-five percent ownership. After he has a hard time convincing Hal to accept that, they both elect to not tell his parents and have the same fight again.

The Smith's arrive at the restaurant in the mid afternoon, so they can look it over before the evening grand opening. The main eating area has the theme of a royal dining room with a raised throne for the king and family at one end, and the other tables set out before the throne.

When it's time to open up, Hal's seated on the throne, wearing his western dress clothes and a sapphire blue Chinese robe. Everyone arrives at the time on their invitation, which have three time slots. The first are the most important members of the local Chinese community. Next are the top members of other Chinese communities in Sydney and some prominent Westerners from the Sydney and New South Wales political and business scenes. Last are the many locals who are friends of the family and the families of those who helped get the place built and ready. As they arrive, all of them are presented to Hal He sits there as the king of the place, accepting their homage to his royal self. His family are very surprised and happy with the way Hal accepts it all as his due and carries the role off well, despite the circumstances. The Chinese are very glad he acts as they expect their new local lord to act. He has just the right mix of regal authority and real friendliness with all the people.

The grand opening is a great success. The restaurant's packed every lunch and dinner, for many months. Since Hal's being tutored, he doesn't have to go back to school, so he does his studies at the White Dragon, alongside Jun. This helps with its popularity as it's also a club for the locals to meet and play games like cards, Mah-jong and Go in, so it's open outside of just meal times. They sit at tables and play or eat while their Bailong sits on his throne and studies.

Hal's therapy goes at a fast pace, as he throws himself into getting independent as soon as possible. His body heals, his mind heals, but his heart still needs a lot of work to get over the loss of his dreams.

Ceremonial Chaos

Late in the year, Mrs Smith receives a letter which she discusses with her husband before replying. As a result of the letter, arrangements are made for the Smiths to be in Canberra for Australia Day. They don't tell the children about the special plans for the day, as they think it will be a good surprise for them. They travel down two days beforehand and do some sightseeing around Canberra. In the course of this they happen to run into Jun and her family at the first place they visit, The Australian War Memorial. Hal thinks the trip smells a little fishy, but thinks it's the parents' way of giving them all a short holiday before school starts in about a week's time.

On Australia Day they go to Parliament House to watch the giving of the Australia Day Awards. Many of the major ones have been in the media over the last few days, but not all of them. Jo starts to see things aren't right when they end up being given seats very near the front of the seated crowd. Both she and Hal thought it odd both families had tickets, but assumed they were bought some time back.

Hal's very surprised when they reach a part of the ceremony and he's called up on stage to be presented with an award for his actions on the day he lost his foot. All he wants to do is forget the pain and horror of the day, but can see the look of pride and pleasure on the faces of both families, so he puts on his 'glad' face and accepts the award, before leaving the stage. After all the awards are made the crowd starts to break up. Hal and his family are making their way out of the area when some of the television media crews congregate around them to get more of the story, as this is a good human interest story. They get in the way of the families leaving.

Mr Smith shouts out, "Please move back and give us room to leave. Hal still has trouble walking and needs plenty of room. Get back." The crews from the local ABC and SBS networks do just that, but the crews from the commercial networks don't. In fact, they make things worse by jostling to take over the space just vacated by the other two crews who had been first to reach the Smiths. The results of this are predictable, and are caught on the cameras of the two retreating crews.

The news people are more interested in Hal, so they move to get closest to him. His family and the Wang family try to provide a buffer space and protect him. In the process, Mr Wang gets pushed aside and falls over, as he falls he knocks into Mr Smith, who falls against Hal. He screams as he goes over sideways. The police and paramedics on hand respond to the scream of pain. Hal's whisked off to hospital and Dr Wells is called. That afternoon the holiday's cut short as Hal's flown back to Westmead Hospital to have his knee replaced, again.

When he hit the ground Hal's knee landed on something that caused part of the replacement knee to be damaged in such a way they need to replace the whole affair. This time, Dr Wells has a new Kevlar unit available for Hal to try. One complaint Hal had from the start was the weight, this overcomes that.

While that's going on, Mr Cheng Wang has his solicitors start legal action against the commercial networks for damages and compensation of several million each. He also gets a court order forbidding them to use any footage of Hal in any broadcast, as he's a minor.

Outcomes

Murder, Bloody Murder

After six months therapy with the new knee, Hal's at the White Dragon, his favourite place to be when not at home, and getting ready for the evening mealtime. He holds court at the evening meals. He's talking with Jun and her mother while her father's in the kitchen and her grandfather's across the room talking to some Westerners about a few political matters.

During the time since the restaurant opened the decor has gone through a few changes, some subtle, some not so subtle. A smaller throne sits beside Hal's, he asked for it, and Jun sits in it when with him or she holds court in his absence. The wall behind the thrones has replicas of traditional Chinese weapons of war on display along it. They include armour, shields, swords, pikes, and spears. Most of the armour and shields are bamboo or wood, as was the case in real life. They're all displayed as if ready to be taken and used for war, not mounted on the wall but on stands in front of it. In the middle of each section between the thrones and the end of the wall is a set of six spears sitting in a rack. No weapon has a sharp edge for true combat, but the swords do have an edge and the spears do have a point, even if they're blunted.

Hal's looking down at Jun as she talks, when the door chimes sound. The usual sound is a nice set of rhythmic jingles as someone opens the door they're attached to and walks in. This time they make a very harsh jangle, which they only do when someone shoves the door open hard, while in a hurry. He looks up, to see two young Caucasian men in long coats rush in. Something about them frightens him.

He pushes Jun down to the floor as he spins and takes a step to the wall display. Stopping beside the nearest rack of spears, he grabs two from the rack and turns back to face the room. He steps forward, to give himself room if he has to throw them, and gets set to throw one.

All in the room had turned at the harsh sound of the door chimes. They watch in horror as the two men move towards Cheng Wang while bringing sawn off shotguns out from under their long coats. The men stop a few paces from Cheng and raise the shotguns. He pushes those near him away, and turns to run. At the same time, Hal raises his right arm with a spear in it. He throws it at the gunman furthest from him. Hal used to be good with the javelin at school, which is little more than a combat spear to begin with. His therapy has given him strong arms, and the distance is a lot less than what he had to throw the javelin to at school. He releases the spear as the two men fire their shotguns.

Cheng is caught in the blasts and is thrown against the wall just before the spear slams into the chest of the man furthest from Hal. The man's turned a bit towards Hal when the spear penetrates his upper chest on one side. The impact turns him around more as it goes through his lungs. The pain and shock of being speared makes him contract his hand again. The finger on the shotgun trigger pulls the trigger back, and the second barrel discharges into his partner who's standing to his left. The turn to follow Cheng and the extra turn from the spear impact has his second shotgun blast slamming into the rear right chest of his partner in crime. He collapses in pain, he doesn't scream as his left lung collapses when his right lung ceases to exist.

Staff rush to see to Mr Cheng Wang, but it's too late, he's dead. The attackers are severely hurt but still alive, no one even tries to give them first aid, and they're left to die - in great pain. Meanwhile, Jun and two staff have Hal in the back of the kitchen, holding him up while he throws up at the thought of having killed a man.

When Hal stops heaving, Jun's father gives him a cup of black coffee with no sugar. Hal hates the taste of coffee, but he takes a big drink before he realises what it is. Just as the taste hits him, he realises it's settled his stomach. He needs a settled stomach, so he grimaces at the taste, and finishes the cup of coffee. He feels a bit better when he's finished it; and better still, after another cup of coffee.

The police are called and they soon arrive, to find three dead people. The police conduct their investigation. Later, the Coroner's Court rules Cheng was murdered and the other two died by misadventure when someone else defended themselves.

Back to Today

"After that, the local Chinese community here has seen me as one who does good and works to protect their community," Hal says as he looks around the faces of his family and the Smit girls. "I'm their good dragon, so I have to be here for the start of the New Year celebrations for the start of the Year of the Dragon." He gives a small smile as Jun wipes away the tears he cried while recounting his tale of the past. All are saddened by the tale he recounted.

Greta asks, "What was the award they gave you?"

"I don't know. I didn't want it. I didn't listen to them. I recognised the cues I needed to, and just accepted the award, then used my bung knee as an excuse to get away. At the time, I was still upset that all my plans for winning Olympic gold medals as a star performer for running were dead."

Zhu says, "To me, the greatest award you could ever have is the one you held that day at the railway, when you held Jun to your chest and safety. You dreamed of being a star performer at the top level. That day you were the greatest star to ever perform athletic feats in the world. No one else has come as close to outrunning a train as you did that day." There's not much Hal can say to that, so he simply nods his head.

Chinese New Year

Hal and the girls travel to the White Dragon early in the day, their final preparations for the day will be made there. As they get ready for the New Year celebrations, Jun gets out Hal's royal robe and puts it on him. Then she surprises him by getting a small box from the drawer of a side table at the end of the display wall behind the thrones. He hasn't seen this box since he gave it to his mother, some years ago.

Jun walks over and has him sit down while she opens the box and removes the contents. She places it over his head, so the award he received sits in the middle of his chest, saying, "It is fitting that Bailong wears his award, today. I feel you should always wear it when you hold court. You are my star. You are a shining star to many who live here. It's very fitting that you show the people the government recognises you as a star, as they did with this award." He sighs, and lets her put it on him.

As he stands up, Liz and the Smit girls all stare, they'd never been told what the award was, but they can now see it for themselves.

Greta smiles as she walks over to him and places her hand on the award. She recognises what it is, and thinks its name fits them both. "Come, my husband to be. You are a star performer, and have to now give another star performance to your people. You must give them hope for the future."

Hal smiles at her, and stands straight as he limps to the front door to walk out to meet the crowd gathering for the starting celebrations of the Year of the Dragon, which will be started by Hal. He has on a nice conservative suit, his sapphire blue robe, and it's all just a light counter point to the award. As he walks out, the sun shines on his award and it sparkles like a brilliant star in the heavens. All eyes are drawn to the shining star on the chest of Bailong. His parents are on hand in the crowd, and they, too, smile at his final acceptance of the award of the

Star of Courage

Australian Awards

The Star of Courage is the second highest Australian Bravery Award and is awarded for acts of conspicuous courage in situations of great danger or peril. The award itself is a seven pointed star made of a silver metal. It ranks with the United Kingdom's King George Medal.