Chapter 6

Ben slowly picked his way over the frozen sidewalk. He quickly found that the going was much easier if he stayed close to the buildings. The bricks had picked up heat from the Sun during the day and the heat melted the ice for about eighteen inches from the building and to going was much easier.

He was uneasy walking this close to the building. Normally he walked closer to the curb. This was not one of the better sections of the city and he had to protect himself from anyone trying to grab him and pull him into an alley. If he was mugged, he couldn't call the police. They would ask questions. Questions were the last thing Ben needed. He was a non-person and had to remain as invisible as he could.

The freezing rain had stopped and the sidewalk was starting to thaw slowly. The air was slightly above freezing and clear weather was predicted for the rest of the week. That would allow him to finish the repairs to the slumlords apartments downtown. The city was on the slumlord to make minimal repairs and he was making the fewest repairs that he could to keep the city off of his back. A few repairs were cheaper than the fines that the city threatened.

The streets were usually deserted this time of night and were so especially tonight. The freezing rain kept even the muggers and other riff-raff off of the street. Ben knew that the homeless would be suffering tonight, he had often been homeless himself.

The unwanted thoughts started to invade his mind again. When would this all end. He was so tired. Sleep was slow in coming most nights and the dreams were always there to wake him. His enemy was always there to haunt him in his sleep. He wanted to sleep and never wake. Would death never be his?

It had been many years and he lost track of the exact number of years and the many lands that he had traveled. He had met so many people over the years, but had allowed none of them to become friends. Very few people that talked to him remembered him for long. He made it a point to be the type of person that you wouldn't remember. He moved often to avoid the questions and the trouble that the questions would bring. His belongings were few, which allowed him to pick up and leave an area quickly.

He turned and searched the street behind him to make sure that he was not followed. There wasn't a sign of another person on the street. The bus was still parked where it had come to rest after hitting the curb and damaging the tire and wheel. Ben noticed that the driver had turned on the hazard flashers and the light from them cast an eerie glow on the buildings close to the bus. Ben had walked about two blocks. He was picking his way carefully on the icy sidewalk. Across the street, he could see people moving inside a mission. They were apparently getting ready for the rush of the homeless people that would descend on the mission at first light. There was a garish neon sigh in the window that flashed, "Jesus Saves." Ben shook his head.

As he passed an alley the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The many years of wandering and avoiding people had heightened his senses. He was often alerted to danger before he knew the reason for his uneasiness. He moved closer to the curb and looked around him to find out the cause of his fear. He looked into the alley and saw nothing except a few boxes and a lot trash. A rat scampered into a box and disappeared. Ben wondered if the rat was the cause of his fear. Nothing moved on the street or in the alley. Ben gasped, filled his lungs with air and realized that he had stopped breathing while trying to find out why he was so uneasy. He continued to search the street and alley for clues to his concern. It had been too many years for him to ignore these alerts. He learned long ago not to ignore them.

A child cried softly and Ben searched the windows of the buildings for a sign of the location of the voice. About half of the buildings were deserted and he could see no signs of life in the buildings that were not boarded up. He listened carefully but he heard no more cries. The street was so silent that one would think that there was no life on earth.

He wanted to continue the six blocks to his house, but he was afraid to continue until he knew what had alerted him. There were still no sounds from the street or the alley. He turned and warily started to continue the journey to his house. A child's cry came from the alley and he stopped. He peered into the dark of the alley, trying to see what made the noise. Another child's cry came from one of the boxes in the alley. It was the box that the rat had disappeared into. The cry was so soft that most people would not have heard it. The many years of being alert to trouble had trained him to listen to the world around him.

He cautiously walked to the box in the alley. Was it a trick to grab him and overpower him? No more sounds came from the box. As he neared the box, he watched for any sign of movement. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his penknife and opened it. It was a poor weapon if someone was intent on doing him harm. He searched the alley for any sign that someone was lurking in the shadows.

He reached down and pulled the box to the side. He instantly jumped back when he saw the woman and the little child trying to get what shelter they could from the cardboard box. The child seemed to be asleep and the woman had the child pulled close to her as if to conserve what body heat they had. He watched them for any sign of life. Neither moved.

Ben reached down and searched the woman for a pulse. Her skin was cold and he could find no pulse in her neck. As he checked the child she cried out and tried to raise her arms as if asking to be held. He opened his coat and lifted the child and put her inside his coat and pulled it around the two of them. The child's body was cold and it was a shock to him. He knew that he had to get some warmth into the child fast if she was to live. He started for the mission.

At the end of the alley he looked toward the mission. The lights in the building were out and the building looked deserted. He thought to himself that they must have prepared for the morning rush of the homeless and then either went to bed or left for their homes.

He looked at the child. This is wrong! He started to panic. He knew he couldn't get involved. He would call attention to himself. That just couldn't be! He cursed his enemy; he knew that this was his doing. There was nothing else to do but put the child back with the mother and let God sort it out. What would he do with a child anyway! People would ask questions!

Ben walked back to the box where the mother lay and started to put the child next to the mother. The child grabbed his clothes and huddled as close to his body as she could to capture all of the warmth that she could. Ben could not pry her little fingers away from his clothes. He stopped trying to pry her fingers away from him and held her for a moment before he had to leave her in the box. She looked to be about two years old.

The child started to move a little and looked up at him, "Daddy?"

Tears came to Ben's eyes. He knew that no child would ever really be able to call him Daddy. A moan came from the box and Ben pulled the box back. He felt for a pulse on the woman's neck again and could feel nothing. As he started to pull his hand away he thought that he might have felt something. As he was feeling for any sign of life the woman's eyelids fluttered and then she was silent.

He quickly looked around for anything that would help him get them out of the alley and to his house. He saw an old grocery cart with one back wheel gone and pulled it over to the woman.

He found some clothes under the box that were still relatively dry and lined the cart with some of the clothes. He set the child down on some clothes and picked up the woman. He folded her legs so that she fit in the cart and covered her with the rest of the clothes that he found. He grabbed the child and put her under his coat again and started to maneuver the cart toward his house.

The front wheels of the cart would spin however they wanted, so the cart traveled as much sideways as it did forward. It took about twenty-five minutes to make the six blocks to his house. Every step of the way he cursed himself for getting involved.

"This is dumb! You can't get involved! People will ask questions! Remember what happened in the past when people asked questions? Leave the woman and child and get home fast!"

He pushed the shopping cart into the alley in back of his one-room house. He figured that the darkened alley would protect him from prying eyes. There were no lights coming from the main house on the property and he knew that the owner was either passed out or had found a drinking buddy and would not be home for a while. Ben pushed the cart to his door. He pulled the key from under the rock next to the door and opened the door. He quickly put the child on the bed and went back to the cart for the woman. The woman showed no signs of life and was a dead weight as he carried her to the old queen sided bed that he had purchased in the thrift shop. He had no use for such a large sized bed but that was the only one that the thrift shop had. He grabbed every cover and piece of clothing that he had and covered them up.

A quick check assured him that the water was hot, as it often was not. Many times the owner didn't pay the utility bill. He knew from experience that he had to get warmth back into the skin of the woman and child, but not too quickly. He started to fill the bathtub with water that was warm but not too hot. He knew that if frostbite had started that the pain would be intense if the water was too hot. He had to get some warmth into the mother and child fast, but not too fast.

As the water was running into the bathtub, he started a fire in the wood stove. The wood stove was small so it would take a while to warm the room. He checked on the pair and they were both either asleep or dead. The tub was filled to within an inch of the overflow. He shut off the water and checked the temperature again.

He ran to the bed and threw the covers and clothes on the floor. The child was breathing as if she was asleep but the woman was silent. Ben started to strip off her clothes. As he was undressing her she opened her eyes and looked at him as if she was detached from the events going on in the room. When she was naked, Ben scooped her into his arms and took her to the tub and gently lowered her into the water. The woman became aware of what was happening to her and tried to get out of the tub. He sent her mind a calming suggestion. That was a power that he had learned over the years. He often regretted that he had never learned to use it on himself. He gently pushed her back under the water and waited to make sure that she would stay in the tub.

"Please stay in the tub. You have to get some warmth back into your body."

He ran to the bed and picked up the child and took her into the bathroom. He undressed the child and put her into the water slowly, holding her on her mother's stomach. The child woke up and started to cry. Ben talked softly to her until she quieted down enough to be aware that her mother was in the tub with her. He had never used a calming suggestion on a child and was afraid that he would do some harm to the child. The little girl's mother watched as Ben washed the water over the child's body to coax heat back into her. Occasionally Ben would add a little warm water to the tub to keep the heat constant.

After about an hour the wood stove had warmed the rooms and the warm water was starting to have some effect on the woman and the child. Ben supported the child while the warm water started the blood flowing. The child had fallen asleep on her mother's chest. Ben pushed the child toward the mother to see if she could hold her. The woman took the child in her arms and held the child. He stayed with the woman until he was certain that she could hold the child for a while. As he stood, the woman's eyes followed him. She still had not spoken a word.

He went into the part of the room that served as a kitchen and found several cans of soup. He put the soup on top of the wood stove to warm and went back into the bathroom to check on the pair. The woman held the child as if she was afraid that the child would break. Ben watched them for a minute and went back into the kitchen. There was some milk in the small refrigerator and he poured a glass of the milk and sat it on the stove next to the soup. After several trips back and forth between the bathroom and the wood stove, Ben decided that the chill was off of the soup and milk enough for the woman and the child to eat.

Ben took the child away from the woman and dried her and wrapped her in a clean, dry towel. He held the milk to the child's lips and coaxed her to drink several swallows of the warm milk. After about five minutes and as many sips of milk the child's eyes closed and she fell asleep. He laid the child on the floor next to the tub and tried to hand the soup to the woman, but she was too weak to feed herself. He made sure that the water was still warm enough and started to feed her by the spoonful. She ate about half of the soup before she turned her head away to signify that she couldn't eat more.

He held out his hand to assist the woman out of the tub but she was too weak. He went to the bed and spread towels on the bed and went back for the woman. He had her put her arms around his neck and lifted her out of the tub and onto the bathroom floor. She could not stand without help, so he swept her into his arms and took her to the bed. He laid her on the bed and dried her with clean towels. He covered her and went into the bathroom and got the child and laid her next to her mother. Within minutes both were asleep.

Ben sat by the bed and watched them until he was sure that he had done as much for them as he could tonight. He turned the lights out, leaving one light on in the bathroom for a night-light and sat on the only soft chair he owned. It was a plush chair, well past its prime, that a neighbor had thrown out. The unwanted thoughts started to return.

"This is dumb! These two will have to go in the morning! People are going to start asking questions! Why did I bring them here, I should have left them in the alley! I can't call attention to myself!"

The heat from the wood stove and the fatigue brought on by the night's events lolled him into a deep sleep. The dreams started as they always did. His enemy was always watching him and cursing him. When will it all end? Will there ever be an end? He woke himself up several times during the night crying out. His nights were always the same.

Tallorder64

Chapter 7