Tiger Paw

Can You Spare a Quarter?

enhanced and revised edition

Thank you for bringing meaning into my life,
Thank you for allowing me to make the journey with you,
But most of all thank you for just being you

The morning dawned clear and cold over the city. Frost clinging to the bricks on the sides of the buildings sparkled in the rays of the rising sun as it peeked through the thin wisps of fog that lay in isolated patches over the city. Beneath the unblemished blue sky down in a back alley a pile of discarded newspapers began to shift as a small figure stirred beneath them. At first the movements were subtle, but then a tattered running shoe appeared from under the mound of newspaper. Then another foot appeared and finally a small dirty young hand came into view and moved the upper layers of newspaper to one side.

Blinking his eyes against the morning sun, Jamie shivered as he slowly stretched his legs to get some sensation back into them. The temperature at night was getting far too cold for him now to be sleeping outdoors but as his stomach growled he knew that was the least of his problems. There had been nothing to eat yesterday but the day before that Jamie had been lucky and found a cold discarded hamburger in the dumpster behind a fast-food restaurant. Not exactly haut cuisine but Jamie had been in no position to be discriminating. Perhaps today he might do better. Christmas was rapidly approaching and he hoped that meant people might be more approachable to a plea for some spare change. Jamie knew, however, that soon he was going to have to get money for food – one way or another. The prospect made him shudder as it always did.

Jamie picked up his old battered canvas backpack that held everything he owned and checked inside. His things were still there. One never knew on the streets what might happen during the night. Twelve years old, short, and slim, Jamie did not provide the intimidating presence that might deter those in even more desperate circumstances than himself. Although lacking in physical size, Jamie had one advantage that most people living on the street did not, he kept his eyes open and he used his head. There were ways to keep out of trouble other than busting heads and Jamie made full use of his innate intelligence. Jamie had never heard of Sun Tsu but nevertheless he instinctively understood the value in remaining invisible and observing.

Yesterday he had tried the business district downtown, but that had not proven very fruitful. It had been a long hard day of working the passersby and Jamie only had fifty-eight cents to show for it. Together with what he already had in his pocket that came to a total of seventy-two cents. It was clear that food in any meaningful sense was still going to be some time off in the future.

Jamie decided that today he would try his luck at the North Road Mall. He knew that the best time to catch people was midday when they were in a hurry to get something to eat and then get back to work. If he appealed to their sympathy, he would often be able to convince them to part with a coin or two. Jamie had learnt quickly that the best way was never to ask for too much at one time, but instead to try for something small. While the amount he might get from any one person would not be very large, the chances of making a successful appeal were much better. If not the Christmas shoppers then maybe some of the business traffic from the office tower next to the mall might be willing to be generous with their spare change. Jamie had managed some success at the mall in the past and so he decided to try it again.

Shouldering his backpack Jamie began to walk in the direction of the mall. It would take a couple of hours at least to get there, but time was the one commodity that Jamie had in abundance. Taking a bus to cover the distance more quickly was not even a consideration. The price of a bus ride would more than cover the cost of getting something to fill the aching hunger inside him, but Jamie knew from long experience that he had to conserve his meagre funds for absolute necessities. Luxuries like bus rides might come some day, but not today. Jamie had no idea how or when things might change for the better, but he was determined that one way or another he would survive.

The cold winter wind was picking up speed, but unfortunately his jacket was thin and had seen better days. This, combined with his hunger, chilled him through to the bone. Jamie tried to walk faster to warm himself up, but the lack of food meant his energy level was quite low. Wrapping his arms around himself to try and keep warm, he pushed on against the blowing wind. The clear sky meant that it would warm up a bit during the day, but tonight when the sun went down it was going to be bitterly cold. Jamie realized that he was going to have to find somewhere warmer to stay at night very soon. He had tried a public shelter once about a month ago during a particularly cold night, but that had just led to them calling the Department of Child Welfare. In Jamie's experience, Child Welfare's solution to everything was to simply send him back home and suggest that the family get counselling. With what had been happening to him at home being the reason that he had originally run away it hardly made things better. Passing by a school Jamie could see children his own age running and laughing as they headed into the building for their classes. He briefly considered going in to get warm, but with so many people watching and monitoring the children Jamie knew that he would be spotted very quickly and therefore it would be pointless.

Jamie walked on through a residential district and continued heading east. Another hour and he would finally be at the mall complex. King Edward Park was only a few blocks ahead now. Jamie loved the tall trees in the park that seemed to reach all the way up to the sky. The oasis of green was like an island in the middle of a vast sea of concrete and asphalt. The city lapped at the edges of the park, but was kept at bay by the small protected remnant of what remained of the original forest that had once covered the area where the city now stood.

Jamie walked into the park and the dense underbrush combined with the canopy provided by the trees began to gradually deaden the sounds of the city until eventually it became totally silent. The stillness of the park was broken only by the occasional cries of birds or the scurrying about of squirrels and other small animals. Sometimes Jamie liked to stop and watch the squirrels as they ran about hunting for food. A few times he had tried to approach them, but they had always been too skittish and ran away whenever he would get too close. Going along a narrow pathway through the park Jamie could see the sun peeking through, casting faint beams of light between the trunks of the great towering trees. Walking along the meandering pathway through the park he wished that he could live in a place like this. To be able to live somewhere far away from the noise of the city, far away from the problems he dealt with every day, far away from the back alleys that he slept in at night, far away from where he was hungry, but most especially far away from certain other things.

Eventually Jamie emerged on the other side of the park and he could finally see the outline of the mall and the office tower next to it in the distance. As Jamie got closer, he turned and walked towards the subway station that adjoined the mall rather than the actual mall itself. Jamie had learnt the hard way that if he were actually on mall property, he would have problems with the security guards there. However, Jamie knew a good spot on the overhead walkway that connected the subway station, the office tower, and the mall with each other. In addition to plenty of foot traffic, which increased the chances of finding someone in a generous mood, it was on transit property. Transit police only complained if you caused a disturbance or obstructed foot traffic. The security guards at the mall, however, would often go after someone simply as a means to liven up their otherwise boring and tedious jobs.

Jamie found his spot, let his backpack slip off his shoulder onto the ground, and sat down next to it. These days all too many bored teenagers from the suburbs viewed panhandling as simply an alternative source of income or lifestyle and were found on many a street corner with their hands out. Jamie could spot these with just a casual glance and viewed them with disdain. While they might think it an interesting way to while away the day, for Jamie it was not a reaction to boredom or his way of rebelling against parents, society, or some other perceived oppressor. In Jamie's case it was simple survival. A bit of change coaxed from a passerby was quite simply the difference between eating and going hungry for another day. If that failed and Jamie could find nothing to eat in the dumpsters, then he had to resort to other methods in order to eat. If he was unsuccessful today he might have to do that again. The knowledge of what might lie ahead of him did nothing to warm Jamie's heart as he sat down on the cold cement at the entrance to the subway station. He put his hand out and began to scan the crowds of people walking past him.

***

Graham Martin picked up his briefcase and headed for the elevator. His computer's appointment calendar had beeped at him and it was time to get moving if he was going to make it on time to his meeting downtown. Graham straightened his tie and put on his overcoat as he walked towards the bank of elevators that would take him down from the twenty-third floor of the office tower to ground level.

Graham had never been a big fan of meetings, but ever since he had been moved into his new position a year ago as senior consultant at National Computer Systems, life seemed to have turned into an endless series of them. At times it seemed to Graham that some people seemed incapable of working on even the simplest tasks without calling a meeting.

While Graham did not always like it, meetings were a fact of life in the corporate world and Graham knew that if his career were to continue they were just one part of the price he had to pay. From time-to-time Graham wondered what the point of it all was. Did he need more money? Graham's tastes were not extravagant and he had saved his money all his life and had enough in the bank to take care of himself if he were to make the final decision to retire. In fact, he had just finished paying off the little retirement house that he had bought in the fall of the previous year. Was he interested in the power or the prestige of having a corner office some day? While Graham did not especially like being the object of manipulation by his boss, he had no desire to exercise that sort of control over others. As for an office, Graham had long since become used to the cubicle maze that was a permanent feature in all companies. Despite this, however, Graham knew that something was missing and work did not seem to be providing the answer. Unfortunately, he had not been able to figure out what the answer was – yet. The weekends he spent out of town at his retirement house were certainly calm and relaxing. Perhaps spending the Christmas holidays there would help clear his mind and he could finally figure it all out.

The elevator doors opened on the ground floor of the office tower and Graham went out of the main lobby through the revolving doors and into the cold mid-morning December air. The tall black glass office tower loomed large behind him and cast a sharp shadow on the ground from the weak winter sun that hung low in the sky. Graham stopped a moment to slip on his gloves to keep his hands warm against the cold and adjusted the scarf around his neck. Then he began to move towards the walkway over the street that would take him to the subway station so he could get to the offices of NCS's newest client where the meeting would be held.

A new deal was brewing and Graham's boss had sent him off to complete negotiations on the final terms before it was signed off. Yet another company was going to sign over their computer operations to NCS in the hopes of saving money and Graham had been assigned one of the key roles in bringing the final deal together. Some of the client company's employees would be offered positions and continue in their present jobs, others would be laid off and their functions handled by already existing centralized NCS staff. All to the greater glory of an enhanced corporate balance sheet. Hopefully, this would be the case for the client, but definitely and always for NCS. Graham had been on the receiving end of the same change several years ago at the company where he had previously worked. Fortunately, Graham had been one of the lucky ones and had been offered a position with NCS that enabled him to stay on. Now it was going to be someone else's turn in the corporate sausage grinder. Part of Graham knew that this was how the business world operated, but part of him also felt uncomfortable at being a part of something that was shortly going to cause distress for the people working in the client's computer operations division.

The walkway from the office tower to the subway station was crowded, as it always was, but Graham was not worried. Being the perennially organized type, he had left early so no matter what might happen, there was little chance of being late. Graham's view was that it was better to arrive early and perhaps have to stroll around a bit before presenting himself at reception rather than to dash at the last minute and likely forget something. It also meant that he could walk at a regular pace and not have to run and arrive out of breath. With Graham now on the cusp of retirement age, the latter reason was also taking increasing precedence over the former.

Graham moved along the walkway through the throng of foot traffic. He was not hurrying, but not moving slowly either, when he heard a young-sounding voice say, "Please, sir, can you spare a quarter so I can get something to eat?"

Graham groaned inwardly and sighed. Graham felt he had heard that phrase or its equivalent a thousand times in the past few months – well, a dozen times anyway. Lately it seemed practically every corner in town had someone sitting on it with their hand out. He had business to do and wanted to get going, but something about this particular voice commanded Graham's attention and his eyes briefly flicked downwards and to the right.

He could not have been more than eleven, perhaps twelve years of age, although it was difficult to actually say. Crouched down on the cement, he was mostly hidden by a jacket that was clearly not suited for the season. The ubiquitous baseball cap, that all boys seemed to own, was pulled down over his eyes. Most people would not have known exactly what to make of this youngster with his hand held out. Street urchin or panhandler-in-training, there was something about Jamie that instantly captured Graham's full attention.

Graham quickly took in the youngster before him. He was young, far too young to be asking for money for food – that alone was out of place. There was, of course, the dirty face and the streaks on it running downwards from long-dried tears, but what Graham noticed, above all else, were the bruise marks on the left side of the boy's face. This was clearly not the usual bored teenager from the suburbs trying to squeeze a bit of money out of soft-headed passers-by. The customary indicators were missing here: the relatively clean clothes, the designer running shoes in good repair, and instead of the paper coffee cup sitting on the sidewalk with a few stage-prop coins already in it, there was a small, empty, dirty hand being held out.

Graham's mind shifted into emergency high speed for a split-second and a decision was made. It was going to make him late for the meeting and he would have to come up with some excuse to explain it, but a youngster who clearly needed help, and who had been hurt was something that Graham could not ignore. Something he could not simply walk past and later be able to look at himself in the mirror. Graham had no illusions about his significance in the grand scheme of things, but there were some basic fundamentals if one wanted to remain a member of the human race.

Graham stopped and knelt down next to Jamie. As he did, Jamie moved back sideways along the cement wall he had been sitting next to, unsure what Graham's motives were. Seeing Jamie's nervousness Graham backed up slightly and said gently, "Hi there. Can I help you?"

Jamie did not see any menace in Graham's face and so he repeated his forlorn plea, "Could you spare a quarter, please, so I can get something to eat?"

"Has it been a long time since you've eaten?" Graham asked.

"I had something on Tuesday," Jamie said with a sniffle. Graham did the mental arithmetic – two days ago. Immediately, Graham knew he had made the right decision. Was it likely to be the officially supported corporate decision for a businessman on his way to an important meeting for a potential new seven-figure contract? Hardly, but it was the only decision that a man like Graham could make. The only one he could accept and be able to sleep at night.

"Instead of just a quarter, how would you like to come with me and I'll buy you something to eat?" Graham asked Jamie, while placing his hand against the cement wall and slowly standing back up.

Jamie looked up and Graham got his first good look at him as Jamie's face came completely into view. Peeking out from underneath the old stained baseball cap, Graham could see dark brown hair with blond highlights and a face that was gaunt. What was most noticeable about Jamie, however, were his piercing blue eyes. Jamie appeared scared, but at the same time, he looked back at Graham with a strength that might have been interpreted by some as defiance. Grimy he might have been and definitely in need of a good meal, but ordinary he was not. Graham saw Jamie look him over carefully before nodding and standing up next to him.

After Jamie stood up, Graham could see the full extent of the bruises on the side of his face and there were some around his neck as well. The bruising looked recent and painful.

"You've been hurt," said Graham, as he took a closer look.

"I'll be OK," said Jamie, putting his hand up to cover the side of his face. The bruises had come only a few days before from a man that had promised Jamie a meal if he came along with him. While Jamie knew that there were some things he had to endure in order to eat, being choked to the point of unconsciousness was not one of them. Fortunately, a delivery truck had driven into the back alley while Jamie was struggling to get loose, and the man had run off to avoid discovery.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I was just concerned," said Graham. "Please come, and I'll get you something to eat."

Jamie relaxed a bit and put his hand down but remained wary and ready to run if it became necessary. Graham sensed this and smiled while motioning with his arm for Jamie to come along with him. Jamie slipped his arms through the straps of his backpack, adjusted it, and began to follow Graham towards the entrance of the mall.

The North Road Mall, which was connected to the subway station and office tower by overhead walkways, was a massive shopping complex, complete with the traditional food court. Food courts exemplified the concept of modern mechanized cuisine in Graham's opinion. Everything standardized, homogenized, vitamin-enhanced, and pre-packaged for your convenience, but nevertheless lacking the essence of what real food was. However, in a pinch overly processed calories, even from a factory, were better than nothing, and the need was clearly urgent. While they walked towards the mall, Graham took a few more glances at the boy walking next to him and suspected that proper food and regular meals were not something Jamie had been acquainted with for some time; his face was far too thin.

Once they had passed through the bank of glass doors at the mall's entrance, Graham noticed Jamie's eyes darting about as if watching for something. Suddenly, as they were walking along, Jamie huddled into himself, his head turned down into his chest, and it was quite clear he was trying very hard to be invisible. Graham carefully looked about and quickly spotted the cause. A mall security guard was cruising in the vicinity and was walking in their general direction. Surmising that security guards had harassed Jamie on more than one occasion, Graham moved quickly to position himself between Jamie and the approaching danger. Shifting position smoothly as they walked along, Graham succeeded in providing cover for Jamie as the guard passed by them only a dozen feet [3-4 m] away.

After the guard had passed, Jamie relaxed and looked up. Graham wiggled an eyebrow in recognition of what they both knew he had done.

"You'll be OK," said Graham. "I'll take care of you."

A smile and a quick flash of gleaming white teeth were Graham's thanks and he felt amply rewarded. As smiles went, it was not a big one, definitely not the kind that would ever get into the record books. Nevertheless, it was an authentic one, and Graham sensed that the boy next to him had had little to smile about lately. Did he mean what he had just said to Jamie? It was only five little words, but, at that moment, Graham knew that he meant it more seriously than anything he had said to someone in a long time.

They soon arrived at the food court, a glaring spectacle of neon, noise, and confusion as the outlets began to open for the shoppers wanting breakfast before emptying their wallets in the stores. Graham looked around the large open area and then followed Jamie's gaze towards a hamburger outlet.

"Here we are," said Graham. "What would you like to have?"

"Just an ordinary hamburger is OK," Jamie replied carefully, while looking back towards Graham. The internal conflict on Jamie's face was all too apparent to Graham. Jamie clearly needed something substantial to eat, but, at the same time, he was worried that if he asked for too much, Graham might get upset and walk off and leave him with nothing.

"Sounds good to me. Let's get in line," said Graham, trying to put the nervous boy next to him at ease.

They walked over towards the counter of the local burger chain that Jamie had been looking at and stood behind several people who were already waiting. Jamie hung slightly behind Graham so he was not totally visible, but kept a close watch on what Graham was doing. When they got to the front of the line, Graham proceeded to order a deluxe breakfast as well as a double-beef hamburger combo, both of which were advertised on a sign hanging overhead.

"Do you want that jumbo-sized?" asked the counter clerk automatically, while ringing in the order.

"Yes please," replied Graham, while handing over a twenty-dollar bill and then, moments later, collecting the change.

The clerk disappeared into the back and shortly reappeared with a filled tray and slid it across the countertop. Graham thanked the clerk, picked up the tray loaded down with food, and moved away from the counter. He looked over towards the seating area and mentally picked out a table towards the back that was up against a wall. Graham nodded towards the location, and then Jamie and he navigated their way through the sea of people towards it. Sensing Jamie's nervousness, Graham had selected the spot so they would be away from the crowds and the noisiest part of the food court.

Graham sat down and motioned for Jamie to take the seat against the wall so he could watch the activities in the food court. Graham had watched enough old movies to know the importance of the so-called gunfighter's seat, and he judged from Jamie's nervousness that it was likely that Jamie would not be comfortable with his back to the crowd. Jamie nodded, removed his backpack, and sat down with it positioned safely in between himself and the table.

"Help yourself," Graham said with a smile to Jamie as he pushed the breakfast plate towards the young boy who was staring with ill-disguised hunger at the collection of food laid out before him. Jamie hesitated for a moment, then not sensing any disapproval from Graham, grabbed the plastic knife and fork and attacked the breakfast in front of him. He had inhaled approximately half of it in a matter of moments when politeness finally managed to catch up with hunger. "Thank you very much, sir," he said, in between rapid mouthfuls.

Graham smiled at Jamie and nibbled on a couple of french fries while he watched the youngster make short work of the rest of the breakfast that he was eating. All too soon it had vanished and Jamie proceeded to make his container of orange juice evaporate.

"Would you like some more?" Graham asked while pushing the hamburger combo towards Jamie.

"But, that's for you, isn't it?" asked Jamie surprised at being offered the burger that he had assumed Graham had bought for himself.

"No, I was actually on my way to a meeting. I got it all for you," Graham replied.

"Gee, thanks a lot. I was so hungry. I guess you could tell, couldn't you?" said Jamie, lowering his head with some embarrassment while reaching for the hamburger.

"I thought you might be," said Graham, smiling back as Jamie grinned in between bites as he slowed down his eating slightly. "Besides," he continued, "I couldn't go on and just leave you sitting there like that. I could never do a thing like that to a nice boy like you."

The words had come out of Graham's mouth without thinking and the moment they had Graham realized he had said the wrong thing. This was a boy on the streets that he was talking to and every word Graham spoke was being weighed and measured for hidden meanings. Hearing Graham's words, Jamie looked at him closely and Graham felt Jamie's eyes drill deep into him. It was as if he was being X-rayed and both Graham and Jamie knew it was taking place. Graham realized that Jamie was suspecting his motives and was examining his soul but then Jamie relaxed and the moment passed.

Jamie had dealt with men before and he knew what they were like. In his experience they were frequently abusive and always, always, wanting something from him and the possibility of food or money would be dangled to get it. For a moment he felt certain that this sudden gift of food from a stranger he had just met was simply the same old pattern again. Jamie looked at the man across from him and stared carefully into Graham's eyes, but there was nothing there. Not the barely concealed lust he had seen many times in the past nor the look of contempt and disgust that others tried unsuccessfully to hide from him while professing to care. All that he could sense was worry and concern. This was not the usual sort of man that he had dealt with since he had first been forced out onto the streets.

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay any longer. I have a meeting downtown that I have to go to," said Graham, and he regretted saying it the moment he did. Jamie's face, which had brightened somewhat as he ate, clouded over once again.

"I was on my way there when I saw you and I just couldn't keep going," continued Graham trying to explain.

"That's OK," mumbled Jamie through a mouthful of french fries as he now hurriedly tried to finish up the remains of the food in front of him. He knew if he ate fast enough, he might be able to get it all down and then be OK for another day or two before he would have to find food again, perhaps in another much less pleasant way. If only he could eat fast enough.

Watching Jamie rapidly pushing the food into his mouth Graham suddenly realized what was happening and quickly said "No, please don't rush. Take your time."

Jamie slowed a bit but did not cease his chewing and swallowing of the french fries. Graham then took a deep breath and put into words what had been bubbling inside him since he had taken Jamie into the mall.

"I have to do this for my job or I'll be in big trouble with my boss. I'll be back in about three or four hours, probably late in the afternoon. If you were waiting where I first saw you, then maybe we could talk when I get back. Perhaps I might be able to do something to help you."

Jamie looked up from the table and looked Graham over carefully, but once again he did not sense any hidden agenda at work. Jamie did not believe that Graham was sincere in wanting to help him, but he had learnt to gauge men fairly quickly, his life often depended on it. He had not been wrong very often, but something about Graham appeared to be different. Graham did not seem like the others that Jamie had been forced to endure in order to survive.

"OK, maybe," Jamie mumbled, while looking down again and continuing to eat.

"I do want to help, but I also have to run or I'll be late," said Graham.

"It's OK," Jamie said. It was not like it was the first time men had given him something and then wanted to vanish. Although something about Graham's manner did feel different to Jamie.

Graham rose up from the table. He felt like a total heel. Here was a boy who was obviously in distress and needing help. How could he go and leave him like this? Certainly there was the business meeting he needed to get to, but what was that compared to the life of a youngster? Graham knew rationally that he had no choice, but his emotions were tearing at him. He knew he was not going to be able to live with what he was about to do, but at the same time he knew he had to live up to his responsibilities at the office.

"Please be there when I get back. I'll do whatever it takes to help you," Graham pleaded, as he left. However, Graham felt in his heart that he would probably never see the boy again. Graham also knew that he was never going to be able to forgive himself for leaving, even if he did not really have a choice. He hoped that the boy would be there when he returned, but he knew that it was a forlorn hope as he hurried back towards the mall exit.

As Graham ran out of sight, Jamie remained sitting at the table and watched him dodge through people as he headed towards the exit doors. While Jamie watched and finished off the last of the french fries, the streaks beneath his eyes grew wet once again.

Chapter 2
Work Intrudes

Graham ran out of the mall and down the walkway that went over the street towards the subway station. He reached into his pocket, fumbled with his ticket, finally managed to stick it into the validating machine correctly, and then ran down the escalator towards the train platform. He was going to be late for his meeting downtown and he was never late. Graham prided himself on always being on time, even early if possible. Nevertheless, being late was the last thing on his mind right now. Graham reached the platform while a train was still in the station and just managed to squeeze into one of the subway cars as the doors began to close.

Standing in the subway car Graham could see his reflection in the glass window staring back at him. It might have been his imagination, but the reflection seemed to be looking him over and was not impressed with who it was seeing. Graham's business conscience was battling with his moral conscience and was losing the fight badly. Finally, Graham had to look away, seeing those reproachful eyes glaring back at him was just too much to take.

Graham knew that he did not have much of a choice, but that did little to relieve the turmoil he was feeling inside. He had been entrusted to take care of the business deal at the meeting and Graham always did his best to live up to his commitments. On the other hand, he had walked away and left a youngster who obviously needed help. The conflicting business and moral obligations were not sitting well inside Graham, and his stomach was in knots.

After the long run from the suburbs to the downtown core, the subway train finally pulled into the central city station, and Graham emerged from the car, looked around, and spotted the exit he wanted. He quickly ran over to the escalator leading up out of the ground and became stuck in the middle of a large crowd of people and had to ride up slowly to street level. The offices of the company where the meeting was to be held were two blocks away, and Graham, despite having recently turned fifty-five, ran most of the way.

Arriving at the entrance to the Haida Forest Products building, Graham paused for a moment to catch his breath. He was not in poor physical condition, but running like this was more than someone his age could handle easily, particularly when he had spent most of his life sitting behind a desk. Once he was breathing normally again, Graham entered the building, and walked into one of the elevators that were waiting on the main floor. During the ride up to the 27th floor, Graham composed himself and pasted a smile on his face in place of the conflicted look he had been wearing since leaving the mall half an hour earlier.

Graham emerged from the elevator when the doors opened and walked quickly up to the reception area and presented himself. The receptionist was busy on the telephone and while he waited for her to finish, Graham looked up at the large cedar relief carving of an Orca that hung on the wall behind her. The new company logo had been unveiled only a few months ago and the level of artistic skill in it was quite striking. Graham had heard that the company had contracted an artist from a local Indian band to create it for them and the very impressive results were obviously worth the cost.

"Good morning," said the receptionist, after putting down the telephone and seeing Graham waiting. "They've been asking about you."

"Sorry I'm late, but it couldn't be helped," said Graham.

"I'll let them know that you've arrived," she said picking up the telephone again.

A few moments later a door at the side of the reception area opened and out strode a tall grey-haired man. Spotting Graham, he quickly walked over and stretched out his hand.

"You made it," said the man with relief.

"Sorry I'm late, Ron," said Graham trying to quickly think of a plausible excuse. "The boss wanted to talk to me about a couple of things just as I was leaving."

"That's OK," said Ron. "You're always on time, so we knew something out of the ordinary must have happened. Come on into the conference room; everyone is already there. Hopefully, they haven't eaten all the danish yet."

"I really shouldn't, you know," replied Graham. "I have to watch my expanding waistline."

"Oh please," said Ron laughing. "You're packing less weight than anyone around the table."

Walking into the conference room Graham breathed a sigh of relief that he had managed to successfully deflect the issue of his being late. Before sitting down, Graham went around the table shaking hands and greeting the people who were attending the meeting. The box of breakfast muffins in the middle of the conference table was passed around one final time to give everyone a last chance at a morning snack before the meeting started.

It was the final review meeting for the services contract being proposed by NCS to handle computer operations for Haida. If Graham could steer the proposal through this final meeting, it was going to be possible to get it signed off. It would require a deft hand and careful attention to the personalities of the people in the room and their own individual agendas. Graham knew that his boss wanted him to push to get a signature on the deal if he could, but Graham also knew his mind was not as alert as it needed to be. Part of Graham was still sitting with Jamie back in the food court at the mall. Graham picked up the muffin sitting in front of him, took a bite, and tried to clear his head. While chewing the bit of muffin, Graham looked around the conference room table and saw everyone else doing the same thing. At the same time, an image of Jamie asking for money to get something to eat came to his mind. Graham looked at the half-eaten muffin in his hand, put it down, closed his eyes for a moment, and felt completely ashamed of himself.

Graham sighed inwardly, reopened his eyes, pulled a handful of papers out of his briefcase, caught Ron's attention, and the meeting was called to order. After the minutes of the last meeting had been read out, everyone turned to look at Graham. Clearing his throat and consulting the notes in front of him, Graham began to read out the sections of the proposal that were updated since the last meeting. Similar to previous meetings, disagreements between different factions around the table began to surface – once again – over how the sections in the agreement should be worded. Graham had been through this many times before over the last few months, trying to find compromises that would satisfy everyone. Normally, Graham could almost enjoy the verbal jousting, the deflecting of problems, turning requests for changes back into questions for the customer to make a decision on, and otherwise handling the situation. It was like a game of tennis, with the ball constantly being volleyed back and forth across the net between two opponents. By ensuring that he always took each point raised with visible interest and seriousness, Graham found he could usually obtain the cooperation of the person asking the question, and thereby also gained a reputation for listening and being approachable. Graham had learnt over the years, by observing others handling similar meetings. Taking a more combative approach with difficult customers might eventually result in a signed deal, but also tended to damage relations which often made work in the future much more difficult.

This time, however, Graham did not have his heart in it. He felt his mind wandering, and he was constantly battling to stay focused on the discussions taking place in the meeting. More than once Graham asked for something to be repeated and knew he was not at his best by a substantial margin. Graham simply could not get those eyes out of head – those eyes that had looked right inside him. Graham felt certain that if Jamie were to look at him now, he would turn and run in the opposite direction.

Despite his inner struggle, Graham tried to maintain an outward appearance of calm business efficiency. Like a tidal wave rolling almost invisibly through the deep ocean, the calm exterior belied the turmoil taking place within Graham.

The meeting carried on through the lunch that was brought in, and it dragged on into the afternoon, but finally Graham managed to resolve the final differences of opinion between two holdout factions sitting on opposite sides of the conference table. Once he obtained their mutual agreement, Graham took a laptop computer out of his briefcase and quickly typed up the agreed upon changes for the three clauses that they had spent the last several hours debating. He then transmitted the final version of the document to a printer just outside the conference room and it was then passed around the table for final review.

"Does anyone have any final comments?" asked Ron, after everyone had had a chance to read over the changes. "Any more issues that we need to iron out?"

Receiving assent from everyone attending, Ron said, "Great. I think we've done a wonderful job here today. Finalizing this agreement will enable us to move forward with implementation first thing in January. If you can just wait here a moment Graham, I'll step out and go get this signed by our VP of Finance so you can take it back with you."

Ron stepped out of the conference room, and everyone stood up and stretched. It had been a long meeting, but finally, it was over. Graham breathed a sigh of relief that he had been able to make it through to the end. Graham knew his boss was going to be delighted everything had been agreed to and signed off, but that did little to alleviate the fact that Graham was feeling physically ill. That he had been able to negotiate the deal successfully only seemed to make matters worse, and despite knowing that his mind was simply being overly active, did not make the symptoms any less real. It might have felt better, Graham thought grimly, if the deal had not gone through.

Ron came back into the conference room a few minutes later with the signed papers in his hand.

"Congratulations, Graham," said Ron. "That was a fine bit of stick-handling you did today. Getting everyone here to agree on something that detailed is quite a feat. You should come and work for us."

"I'm not sure my boss would be too happy with me if I did that," said Graham with a smile.

"Something to think about," said Ron with a meaningful look. "Someone will have to manage this implementation when it gets started."

"Thanks for the suggestion," said Graham. "I appreciate the confidence. I'll think about it while I'm on vacation over Christmas."

"You do that," said Ron. "We can talk again in the new year. In the meantime, thanks again for all your help with this. It's been a pleasure and regardless of what you decide, I know I can say, for everyone here, we're looking forward to working with you again."

"Thanks very much," said Graham, as he shook Ron's hand. "I'd better get back to the office now; they're going to wonder what happened to me."

"Keep in touch," said Ron, as Graham headed out the door.

It was a huge compliment to have received the not very subtle job offer, but all Graham could see as he put on his overcoat and picked up his briefcase to take the subway back to his office was the face of the boy he had left at the table in the food court. Those blue eyes boring into him, reading what was inside him, and examining his soul. Would changing jobs be the answer to what had been eating at him for the past year or so? While the real answer still eluded him, Graham felt quite certain that a new job was not it. Waiting for the elevator to take him back down to street level, all Graham could think of were those eyes and he pondered how it was that a youngster was almost always more perceptive than an adult.

Graham got out of the elevator when it arrived down in the lobby, went outside, and began to walk back towards the subway station. However, unlike the trip downtown earlier in the day, he was not hurrying on his way back. He knew what was going to be waiting for him when he got back. The boy was going to be gone, and his boss was going to congratulate him for a job well done. Graham avoided looking in the glass windows of the shops as he walked along the sidewalk. He knew who would be looking back at him, and he was not ready to face that.

***

Back in the shopping mall's food court, Jamie wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his tattered jacket and nursed the last of the orange juice that Graham had bought for him earlier along with the breakfast and hamburger. All too soon it would be time to go back outside into the cold winter air, and he was trying to delay that for as long as possible. Jamie knew that he would never see the man again. He had just been an anonymous stranger who perhaps had felt a bit guilty, and therefore, had bought him something to eat in order to whitewash his conscience. On occasion, Jamie sometimes got lucky and could get a free meal that way, but for the most part he had to earn his meals in other ways. At least the meal Graham bought him meant he would be able to forestall that possibility for a couple more days, before hunger would once again force that situation upon him.

No one had ever cared about him. No one ever would. Why else would the people at Child Welfare have refused to listen when he had tried to explain to them what was happening at home? Why else would he have had to finally run away from home just to survive? Jamie had tried his best to endure it, but eventually he could no longer take what was being forced upon him almost daily. Then there had been that final terrifying night when the drunken midnight visit had left him brutally torn, bruised, and bleeding. No, nobody would ever want damaged goods like him. Jamie knew what he was; he knew what people said about him behind his back; he knew what he was forced to do in order to survive. No one would ever want someone like him. He was for using and tossing aside like so much crumpled newspaper.

Still, Graham did not seem quite the same as the other men Jamie had been around. That had been obvious almost immediately, and Jamie was puzzled by it. Sizing up a man quickly was a necessary survival skill for living on the streets, and while Jamie had dealt with a variety of men in his short life, he had not seen such a gentle look on a man's face before. What could it mean?

While he sat there pondering the mystery, something caught Jamie's eye, and he glanced up and spotted what it was instantly. Far across the food court, one of the mall security guards was moving straight in his direction. Jamie had developed a sixth sense that alerted him to danger, and now it was urgently buzzing within him. Get away! Now!

Jamie dropped the now-empty orange juice container he was holding, grabbed his backpack tightly, and bolted. For better or worse, he had gained a lot of practice in taking care of himself during his time on the streets. The streets taught you quickly, and if you did not pay attention and learn the lessons fast enough, then you were dead. Being alert and quick was what had saved him countless times in the past, and Jamie knew that depending on himself was the best and only way to survive. He was small, thin, and undernourished, but his legs and his brain knew how to keep him safe.

Jamie dove straight into the nearest crowd of people for cover, but did not slow down for an instant. The moment the tiniest gap opened up amongst the throngs of holiday shoppers that had begun to fill the mall, he was through it and picking up speed as he went. Dodging mothers pushing strollers, avoiding collisions with people carrying packages, Jamie wove his way through the crowd at breakneck speed. Shifting direction constantly as opportunities presented themselves, Jamie never slackened his pace.

The security guard however was hot on his trail. He had tried to catch Jamie before, but Jamie had always managed to elude him. It made the guard angry that a street boy like this always seemed to be able to get away, and it frustrated him. It angered him because kids like that should not be allowed in places like this, places where decent people and families came to enjoy themselves; it was just not right his self-righteous worldview insisted.

Seen from above, the chase was between a large, heavily-laden semi-trailer truck and a tiny sports car. Jamie had speed and manoeuvrability on his side, but the security guard had bulk and raw horsepower. Where Jamie dodged quickly in between people and deftly avoided collisions at the last second, the security guard simply plowed on through, pushing people aside as required. Both methods worked. One could admire Jamie's skill and deftness, but the security guard relied solely upon his size and weight to bulldoze his way towards his intended target.

Jamie quickly worked his way through the crowd of people, the exit doors of the mall finally becoming visible, and was still ahead of the lumbering security guard. It was a pure race now, and Jamie switched into high gear and sprinted for it; two hundred feet [50 m] and he would be safe. Jamie knew the rules. Once you were past the door, the security guards could not touch you. Not legally, at least. However, Jamie had also learnt the corollary: legal niceties were only observed when there were witnesses in the vicinity. If a boy were caught alone, even outside the doors, it would not go well for him. So his feet flew and Jamie hit the doors at a full run rattling the glass. Once he had cleared the door, Jamie kept on running into and through the crowds of people outside and did not look back or slow his pace.

Once he was far enough away and could finally be sure that no one was following him, Jamie slowed to a walk, and finally stopped and looked about. The crowds were beginning to thicken and the air was getting colder. Jamie did not have a watch, but the darkening winter sky told him that a mid-afternoon storm was brewing which would mean rain or perhaps even snow. His stomach was full, which was better than he had been able to say for a couple of days, but he had no particular goal in mind. With nowhere to go, time and destination were meaningless things for him.

Walking aimlessly, Jamie eventually found himself back at the subway station once again. He had not headed there out of any definite plan, it just turned out that his escape and subsequent wanderings had taken him in that general direction. It was also a relatively safe place to pass time and with the weather getting colder being inside the station, being protected from the elements, was a definite advantage.

Suddenly Graham's words came back to him, asking that Jamie wait for him to return later in the afternoon. Why did that come back into his head just now? Jamie knew that he would never see the man again. Certainly he was glad about getting the meal, but at the same time Jamie knew that a meal was all there ever would be, and that the man had totally forgotten about him already.

Nonetheless, something in Jamie's mind told him that he should wait here. He definitely could not go back to the walkway that connected the subway station to the mall where he had first seen Graham. The security guard, angry that Jamie had managed to escape, would, by now, have alerted the others, and they would all be watching for him. They had lousy boring jobs; Jamie knew it and they knew it. The only pleasure they got out of it, if one could call it that, was harassing someone and having fun bullying those that they could. Jamie knew these kinds of people well. He had been dealing with them ever since he could remember, at home and elsewhere, and knew there was no reasoning with them. One could only keep out of their way or suffer the consequences.

Jamie decided to wait in the subway station. Assuming that the man returned to his office the same way that he went downtown, Jamie ought to be able to spot him when he got out of the subway train. Being an expert at making himself invisible, Jamie was confident he would be able to see the man and watch him without being spotted himself. Jamie sometimes fantasized he was a secret agent. It was a game he played with himself – to see without being seen – and, if he got spotted he lost the game. The streets were a harsh teacher, but Jamie was a fast learner out of necessity, and now Jamie never lost the game. When he wanted to be invisible, he was invisible.

He would watch for the man, follow him, and see what happened. He would see if the man would go back to where he had first asked him for money to get something to eat. Jamie knew the man would not go back there, he probably would not show up at all; maybe not even to go back to the office he had talked about, if there even was an office. Jamie knew it was just a story to enable the man to get away from him and leave the food court. This man was like all the others; Jamie knew that, but he would watch anyway. Then he would leave and find somewhere to sleep for the night – maybe underneath the bushes in the park; that might be OK, even if it was getting too cold to be outdoors at night.

Jamie leaned against a pillar in the subway station, bent his head down, and wrapped his thin coat around himself for warmth against the rapidly cooling winter air. He looked like any other boy might look in a subway station on a cold day. That is, unless one looked closely. The coat was ragged, the running shoes were in very rough shape, and the pants had not seen the inside of a washing machine in over a month. Most people these days, however, did not give each other a second glance, let alone a thoughtful look. Jamie knew the routine well: look like he belonged, disappear into the crowd, blend into the background. No one in the station even noticed him, but Jamie saw everyone and everything; nothing escaped his watchful eyes. He would wait.

***

Graham reached the downtown station of the subway and went down the escalator to the platform to catch the train back to his office. It was already mid-afternoon, and after everything that had happened today, he was going to be relieved when the day was finally over. A subway train pulled in, and Graham was pushed – along with the rest of the crowd – into one of the cars.

Graham ended up stuck next to a window, and once again he could see his reflection looking back at him in the glass. He tried to move away from the window, but the car was crowded, and he was unable to shift position. Graham was going to have to ride out the journey back to the office where he was. Once again, Graham felt like his conscience was staring back at him. The sick feeling in his stomach was increasing by the minute, and Graham could almost see his own reflection come to life and shake its head reprovingly at him. His inner battle over having left the boy in the food court raged on within him, and it seemed like everything around him was reminding him of it. He knew the boy would not be there when he returned. It was rank insanity to think he would be or that he would have waited. Who was he that the boy should wait for him? Graham pleaded inwardly with his conscience that he had no choice and had to leave because of his work obligations, however, the face looking back at him in the glass remained impassive and unforgiving. He tried to console himself with the thought that, at least, he had bought the boy something to eat, but he knew that tonight when he ate his dinner and laid down in his own warm bed to sleep it was going to be of little comfort. Graham knew there was not going to be any sleep tonight or, likely, for many nights to come.

After what seemed like a torturously long ride on the subway, the train finally pulled into the station next to the NCS office tower. Graham managed to squeeze himself through the people in the crowded subway car and popped out of the door and onto the platform. The ride back to the office had an unpleasant feeling of anticipation about it, not unlike sitting in a dentist's waiting room, but that had definitely been the easy part. Now came the hard part for Graham, facing the consequences of his earlier decision to leave and go the meeting downtown. Graham's feet felt like lead, but there was no way to avoid what was coming. He would check for the boy everywhere he could think of, but Graham knew he would be long gone.

When the subway car came to a halt in the station and the doors had opened, Jamie spotted Graham in an instant, even before he had completely exited the subway car. Jamie raised himself from his slouched position against a pillar and riveted his eyes onto Graham while remaining concealed amongst the people in the station. Jamie would follow him, satisfy himself that Graham was the same as all the others, and then go off into the night to fend for himself, as he had so many times before.

Graham looked about carefully as he walked through the subway station. The boy was nowhere to be seen. Graham knew he would not be here, it was ridiculous to think the boy would have waited for him. However, Graham had to look. His very soul – or rather, the now tattered remnants of it after the events of today – demanded that he look. Graham went out towards the entrance to the subway station, retracing his path each step of the way that he had used earlier in the day. He went back over the walkway that connected the station with the shopping mall.

When Graham got to the place where Jamie had been sitting, he stopped and looked around. Graham looked up and down the walkway, but to no avail. The people going along the walkway moved around Graham and continued on past him like an endlessly flowing river, but Graham just stood there and stared at the spot where Jamie had been sitting. There was no trace of Jamie remaining, not even a mark or smudge on the concrete: nothing that would prove he had ever existed. Graham knew – even before he looked – there would be no signs to be found. How could there be? Despite this, however, Graham had to be certain.

Graham looked about at the crowd of people as they moved relentlessly past him, but with so many people moving at once it was impossible to see clearly. It was a forlorn hope, and Graham knew it was hopeless to be looking for one small boy amongst the hundreds of people, but he kept looking nevertheless. He walked onwards with a slower step and paused again a few hundred feet [c. 100 m]further along and looked around again. Suddenly, thinking that Jamie might have thought Graham meant to meet him next to the mall, Graham walked quickly to the doors at the mall's entrance where they had gone in together. Graham looked around again – still nothing.

Graham's shoulders fell as he now slowly walked back towards the black tower that his office was in. Graham knew he would never see the boy again. It tore at him, and he ached deep inside. He had walked away from a boy who needed help, all for the sake of a business meeting to keep his boss happy and add a few more dollars to the year-end company profits. Graham knew it was likely he would get an extra bonus for having managed to get the deal signed. He also knew it would burn his hands the moment it was handed to him; those same hands that had had the power to change a youngster's life for the better, but had done nothing. He felt like throwing up.

Jamie's eyes had never left Graham from the moment he had emerged from the subway car. With skill that would have made a spymaster envious, Jamie followed him, watched him, all the while keeping himself invisible within the crowd. Jamie saw Graham return to the exact spot where he had sat earlier and had been asking for change from the passersby. Jamie saw Graham go to the doors where they had entered the mall together and again look around. Jamie saw how at the end Graham had finally given up hope and had started to slowly walk back to the office tower with his shoulders slumped and his head hanging down.

Jamie saw Graham looking for him, and he was uncertain about what he should do. This was not what he had been expecting. He was surprised Graham had shown up at all, let alone was actually making an effort to look for him. Should he leave? Or should he let Graham see him? Was this man like all the others or was he different? He had known boys who had gone off with a man but had never returned. He definitely did not want to end up like that. It was Graham's reaction at the end that decided it for him. Jamie could tell that Graham was very disappointed at not finding him and the disappointment appeared to be authentic. While Graham had walked quickly to the spots where he thought it most likely that he might find Jamie, it was obvious that his steps were now laboured and not at all happy. That, plus what Jamie had seen in Graham's face earlier in the food court, made his decision for him.

Chapter 3
Fate Takes a Turn

Once he had made his decision, the rest was easy for Jamie. Staying invisible was what took skill whereas being seen was simple. Jamie moved to the edge of the crowd he was staying hidden within and looked about rapidly. He quickly spotted a woman overloaded with shopping bags rushing along not watching where she was going and bumping unapologetically into people as she went. Knowing at once that she was the type that would provide the necessary source of excitement required to draw attention to himself, Jamie watched her direction through the crowd, picked out a spot slightly ahead of her, and moved to stand in the woman's path. Moments later just as Jamie had planned the woman, never once noticing Jamie, went barrelling straight into him.

"Watch what you're doing," snapped the woman as her bags went flying.

"I'm awfully sorry ma'am I guess I wasn't looking where I was going," said Jamie as he bent to help her pick up the bags strewn about on the ground.

"Pay attention next time. Kids like you shouldn't be allowed around here. Get away from me," complained the woman bitterly, as she took off again at breakneck speed without looking back still bumping into people as she went.

Jamie unfortunately had become used to being spoken to in that manner, but he did not mind this time. The commotion resulting from the collision with the woman had done the job that was needed. Graham had turned around to see where the shouting was coming from.

Jamie looked up as Graham turned and saw him. Their eyes met and Graham knew at once that Jamie had staged the accident with the woman for his benefit. They both looked at each other intently for a long moment. Then Graham took a step towards Jamie and Jamie took a step towards Graham. What would come from this neither of them knew, but somehow they both realized that from this moment on, everything in the future was going to change.

Graham did not want to frighten Jamie away, but he also did not want to lose sight of him again now that he had found him. At the same time he knew that if he rushed towards Jamie he might scare him and Jamie might change his mind and run off. Graham smiled with relief at finding Jamie and took another step towards him. Jamie was watching Graham warily but then took another step towards the man he had met only a few hours earlier. When Graham saw that Jamie had moved in his direction again, he abandoned his initial caution and quickly moved across the open space between them, not quite walking, but not running either.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again. I didn't think you'd come back," said Graham speaking first.

"I didn't think you would either," said Jamie. "No one ever came back for me before."

"I'm sorry I had to rush off like that. I've been feeling horrible all day for leaving. I didn't actually have a lot of choice though. My boss would've eaten me alive if I'd missed the meeting," said Graham.

"It's OK. You have to do your work. I mean it's not like you know me or something," said Jamie.

"I think I would like to though, if you let me," replied Graham. The moment that he said this, Jamie again searched Graham's face. However, finding nothing other than concern Jamie then allowed a brief shy smile to flicker across his face.

"I need to go up to my office for a few minutes to drop off my things and report to my boss, but then I'll come right back down. Maybe after we can go and have dinner or something. Would you like that?" he asked Jamie.

"I'll be here," replied Jamie.

Graham turned to go over towards the office tower but then reversed direction and said, "My name is Graham. I'm so pleased you decided to come back."

Jamie gave Graham another one of his stroboscopic smiles and said, "Jamie. My name is Jamie."

"I'll be back as quick as I can, Jamie," said Graham. He smiled at the youngster and then turned and ran quickly over to the doors at the base of the office tower.

Whereas a few minutes before Graham's heart had been heavy and his footsteps laboured, he now felt lighter than air and the knots his stomach had been tied in previously had totally disappeared. Graham rushed into the office tower and once in the elevator waited impatiently for the doors to open on the twenty-third floor. Graham's entire mood had changed and it felt for him like the sun had suddenly broken through a thick layer of cloud on a rainy day.

The elevator doors finally opened and Graham stepped out. Opening the main door to the office he smiled at the receptionist and hurried through the aisles of cubicles over to his desk. All that was needed now was to quickly drop the signed agreement off with his boss and then leave. Laying his briefcase on his desk, Graham pulled out the agreement and went to the photocopy machine. In less than a minute he had a copy made for himself and stapled it together. Walking over to his boss's office, Graham saw the open door and empty desk and realized that his boss was out. Graham quickly picked up a piece of paper from off the side of the desk and jotted down a note saying that he would write up a full report on how the meeting went overnight and have it ready for him in the morning. Graham then attached the note to the front of the signed copy of the agreement with a paper clip and went back to his desk.

Graham's boss being out of the office was actually a stroke of good luck. In fact it was a big relief for Graham. His boss was not a bad sort when it came right down to it, but he loved to talk. What for anyone else would take five minutes of discussion would last twenty with him. While normally that did not bother Graham, after everything else that had happened today, being delayed was not something Graham wanted. Fortune had handed Graham a second chance and he was not going to let go of it for anything. Nothing short of wild animals was going to stop him from getting back down to Jamie, and if the wild animals were not too big or hungry he might even try tackling them too. One did not tempt fate more than once in a day and Graham had no intention of doing so.

With everything now taken care of at the office, Graham went back to his desk and placed the photocopy of the agreement in it along with a few other papers to help him write the report tonight. Instead of wending his way back through the cubicle's to the front entrance, Graham went out the back way and shortly was standing in front of the elevators waiting once again to go back down. This time Graham did not feel nearly as anxious as he did earlier feeling certain that Jamie would be waiting for him.

Graham emerged from the elevator when the doors opened on the ground floor and quickly spotted Jamie waiting for him outside. While he had felt confident that Jamie would be there, seeing him standing and waiting just outside put a big smile on Graham's face. Graham quickly walked towards the revolving exit doors and moments later he was standing beside Jamie.

"Sorry I took so long, I had to drop off some papers and leave a note for the boss," said Graham, as he smiled at Jamie.

Jamie smiled back briefly, "I wasn't worried," he said. "This time I knew you'd be coming back."

"It's a little before regular quitting time, but I'm done for the day," said Graham. "Would you like to come home with me? We can get something to eat and maybe we can talk a little."

At the mention of Graham's home Jamie once again regarded Graham with some suspicion, but his acute eyes told him that nothing was hiding behind the suggestion. All that he could sense coming from Graham was concern. It was very strange to him given his experiences to date with men, but there it was nonetheless.

"I guess… where do you live?" he asked cautiously.

"I have a small basement apartment near here that I stay in during the week, but I have a little house on Valdez Island and I fly back and forth so I can stay there on the weekends," Graham explained.

"You live on an island?" Jamie exclaimed.

"Yes, but it's not just me of course. There's lot of other people there too," Graham replied.

"Wow. Why do you do that? I mean it's got to be difficult getting to the city being so far away and all," asked Jamie.

"When I don't have to be at work, I like to get away from all the people, the noise, and the city. Also I'm getting older now and I wanted to get myself a nice place I could retire to," Graham elaborated.

"I wish I could get away from everyone like that," Jamie muttered quietly to himself, although not quietly enough to avoid Graham hearing it.

"To get to my apartment we'll have to use the bus. I hope that's OK with you. I don't bother to bring a car to work usually," explained Graham.

"It's OK, but I don't have enough money for a bus," said Jamie getting worried.

"That's alright, I was going to take care of that for you," said Graham with a smile.

They went along the walkway between the office tower and the subway station and then took an escalator down to the street level where the bus terminal was located. Graham reached into his pockets and found a book of bus tickets and tore off two handing one to Jamie.

"Just pop that into the machine on the bus when you get in," said a smiling Graham.

"Thanks Mister," said Jamie, taking the ticket from Graham.

Graham felt a bit embarrassed at the honorific and said gently, "Graham. Call me Graham."

"Yes sir… Graham," Jamie replied, feeling rather uncomfortable. He could remember clearly times when he had been belted across the room by his father for forgetting his manners and it felt scary to call this man he had only just met by his first name.

A bus pulled into the loading bay where they were standing and they got on. The driver looked sternly at Jamie, but then looked away when Jamie showed him the ticket that he had in his hand and the validating machine had beeped its assent when Jamie put it into the slot. Graham followed right after and they walked along the aisle down the centre of the bus and sat in the first empty pair of seats they came to.

"It's a short trip. We'll only be on here for just a few stops," said Graham.

Not sure what to say, Jamie nodded. He knew that he was heading off into an unknown adventure, but he was not sure yet exactly what sort of adventure it was going to be. Hopefully, it would be one where he would still be around after it was over.

There had been the meal earlier of course and it sounded like there might be another one tonight. It would be the most he had eaten in a single day for a couple of weeks. That part was clearly good. He also knew, however, that eventually there would be the inevitable. He was going to have to pay for the food and the kindness being offered. There would be no escaping that part of the deal. Still, this man seemed a bit different than the others and perhaps it might not be too bad when it came to that. Jamie stared out the window at the passing cars and shops along the road and tried not to think about what would come later in the evening.

Graham peeked at Jamie while he sat next to him and noticed that he appeared lost in thought. His face had a completely blank look on it and was totally expressionless. Graham was about to say something, but then realized that Jamie was not on the bus with him, but instead had escaped to somewhere in his mind. Watching Jamie while the bus made its way along the street, Graham found himself speculating on how Jamie had come to be asking for spare change in order to eat. No matter how he looked at it, none of the likely answers were comforting. A few minutes later an automated voice announced their stop. Graham gently touched Jamie on the elbow, jerking him back to reality.

"Sorry for startling you," said Graham. "This is our stop. We need to get off here."

Jamie shook his head, focused on his surroundings, and obediently followed Graham to the rear exit of the bus and out onto the sidewalk when the bus came to a halt at the stop. Graham indicated with his hand the direction they needed to go and they started to walk.

Graham took the opportunity to look Jamie over, while trying to be discrete about it, as they walked along the street towards Graham's apartment. Jamie definitely needed a good wash. It was obvious that he had not cleaned up for quite a while. Even in the cold weather, Graham had rather quickly noticed an odour which lingered about Jamie. He could also see that Jamie's clothes were not in very good shape either. Of course they could be laundered. Graham would see to that while Jamie gave himself a good scrubbing in the shower. However, something told Graham that he was going to have to suggest all this very carefully. He was quite sure that Jamie might get the wrong idea if he did not phrase it just right.

Graham readily admitted to himself that he was not entirely sure what he was getting himself into. All he knew at this point was that he could not leave Jamie to fend for himself out in the cold. Graham had rather vague ideas of what boys on the street had to do in order to survive, but he was aware enough to realize that what he knew was probably only the tip of the iceberg. How closely his suspicions reflected reality was something that he did not want to think about right now, if he could possibly avoid it.

While they walked the couple of remaining blocks to the apartment Graham tried to engage Jamie in some conversation to learn more, "So how old are you?" he asked.

"Twelve," responded Jamie who was looking down at the sidewalk as they went along.

"Have you been…" Graham was not exactly sure how to put it, "… on your own for very long?" he asked.

Jamie looked up and said, "Since early in the spring."

Nine maybe ten months on his own! How could a youngster survive for that long by himself, Graham wondered. How could that be? Perhaps something had happened to his parents and the Child Welfare people simply were unaware of the problem. That had to be the reason. Graham's mind was still not quite ready to fully embrace other much darker explanations.

"It must have been hard to lose your parents," Graham said after a pause.

"Lose?" asked Jamie uncomprehendingly. "What do you mean?"

Graham started to feel that he was moving onto shaky ground and attempted to regain his footing.

"I'm guessing that something bad must have happened to them and that's why you're on your own," suggested Graham.

"Nothing happened to them," said Jamie with anger. "Unfortunately," he then added quietly.

Graham realized that he had made a big mistake at that point. He obviously did not know the details, but there was clearly much more to this than he had initially guessed. He had no way of knowing what exactly had happened, but he knew it was important to try and mend the damage he had just caused.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I was just wondering if that might have been why you were on your own," Graham offered in explanation.

Continuing Graham added, "I'd like to help if I can. Perhaps if we talk about whatever it is that happened, then maybe there is something that I could do to help."

"I doubt it," replied Jamie bluntly. "No one is ever interested in really trying to fix things!"

Graham tried to restart the conversation onto a different track, "It must be difficult taking care of yourself all on your own."

"I get by," Jamie said.

"But what if you get sick or something?" asked Graham.

"Then I get sick," replied Jamie harshly, getting irritated with the questions.

Jamie began to realize that Graham had pretty dim ideas as to what his life was actually like. The bit about losing his parents was beyond hilarious, thought Jamie. If only he could lose them. That would solve a lot of his problems in one stroke. At least out here on the street Jamie had a choice in whom he was going to have deal with. A choice of sorts at least.

Fortunately the awkward situation resolved itself temporarily by their arrival at Graham's apartment. Graham's in-town home was a small apartment located in the basement of an older house on a quiet side street. It was not a palace by anyone's standards, but it was clean, warm, and dry. Jamie looked at the door to the apartment as Graham opened it and wondered if Graham's claim of a house on Valdez Island was just a story and this was his real home. It did not really matter of course. It would be warmer than outside and Jamie had been in many places far less appealing. It was enough for now.

Graham unlocked the door and he and Jamie went through it and into the apartment closing the door behind them. Graham took off his coat, hung it on a hanger inside a small closet next to the door, and then took off his shoes. Jamie, watching closely, followed suit immediately afterwards. He slipped off his backpack, but kept a tight hold on it. He put his coat in the closet next to Graham's and removed his shoes. Unfortunately, removing his shoes merely exposed his dirty socks to Graham's view. Jamie looked down to where Graham was staring and felt embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I don't get to wash very often," Jamie said with his head hanging down in shame.

"It's my fault," Graham replied quickly, feeling bad that he had embarrassed Jamie. "I should have realized. How about you go on into the bathroom, shower, tidy up, and so on. While you're doing that, you can put your things outside the door and I can stick them into the washing machine for you. Then they'll be all nice and clean for you by the time you're done. I'll look around here for something you can put on while you're waiting for them to be finished. That way you won't get cold while you're waiting.

"Thanks, that'd be great," said Jamie unenthusiastically. He knew the routine, and today it looked like it was going to be work first and then something to eat afterwards. Nevertheless, Jamie was thankful for the chance to clean up. It did not happen too often, but some of the men he went with would let him wash and get cleaned up. 'First you need to wash the chicken before cooking and serving it,' one of them had said roaring with laughter thinking himself a great wit. That was also a time Jamie did not relish remembering. He had limped for a week afterwards.

"Once you get your things off, just slip them outside the door and I'll get busy washing them for you," said Graham, completely ignorant of the fact that he was unwittingly repeating almost word for word the same thing that others with baser motives had said to Jamie many times in the past.

Jamie disappeared into the bathroom still clutching his backpack firmly. He put it down on the floor next to him and emptied the contents of his pockets into it. Then he quickly took off what he was wearing. Shirt, pants, socks, and underwear, none of it was in good shape and most of it had holes in more than one place. Reaching into his backpack Jamie took out the couple of spare things he had in it and added them to the small pile of clothes on the floor. It was not much, but it was all that he had to call his own.

Despite this rather sad state of affairs, he was alive and Jamie knew that was an achievement given everything he had dealt with in his short life. He would never give up and he hoped that someday, somehow, things would get better. He was not sure when and he had no idea of how, but someday they would. If he had nothing else Jamie at least had hope. Admittedly, it was a faint hope most of the time, but there was a stubborn streak inside Jamie. A faint flickering flame that he would not let anyone extinguish no matter what he had to do in order to survive.

Jamie listened at the bathroom door and heard Graham moving about in the other room. He quietly cracked the door slightly to look and saw that Graham was putting things away in the little kitchen that was at the side of the main living area. Jamie quickly slipped his dirty clothes just outside the door and closed it again. He then opened the cupboard under the sink and stashed his backpack at the very back out of obvious sight.

The sounds of running water coming from the shower alerted Graham who spotted the neat little pile of clothes just outside the bathroom door. He picked up the clothes and took them through a side door into a utility room and dumped them into the washing machine. Graham turned the water setting to hot and poured in a double dose of laundry detergent. Given the state of Jamie's clothes, Graham figured they could use all the help they could get while being washed. Graham turned the dial around on the timer, pressed it in, and the machine roared to life.

Graham went back into the apartment's living area and looked about in his dresser and the clothes closet. Graham reasoned that Jamie might be able to use some of his things at least for a little while until the clothes, now in the washer, were dry and ready to wear again. He selected an old pair of sweat pants and a large T-shirt. Graham knew that his underwear would never fit Jamie, but that was not a vital problem at the moment, however, one of his pairs of socks would certainly do. He placed the clothes on the floor just outside the bathroom door where Jamie's dirty ones had sat only a few minutes earlier.

Eventually Graham heard the sounds of water ceasing in the shower and someone getting out. Graham waited a couple of minutes and then called out to Jamie.

"I've put some things just outside the door for you so you'll have something to wear until your clothes are ready," said Graham.

"OK, thanks," came a muffled reply from behind the bathroom door.

A few minutes later Graham heard the washing machine buzz a warning that its cycle was done. He went through the side door and opened up the washing machine to move the clothes into the dryer. While pulling the clothes out, Graham could see that despite the extra soap they still did not look very clean or fresh.

Inside the bathroom Jamie continued to be surprised with Graham. This was not how it usually worked out. He knew that usually he was expected to come out with a towel wrapped around his waist and then… events would take their course. Jamie reminded himself, however, that he had not yet seen what Graham had planned for him. For all Jamie knew Graham was into something weird and when he opened the bathroom door he was going to get a big surprise. It might be diapers or something even stranger for all Jamie knew. Whatever the price was, he knew he had to pay up and Jamie never went back on his part of a deal, no matter what it was.

Once he had dried himself off with a big fluffy bath towel that he found in the bathroom, Jamie opened the door just a crack and looked out. Seeing no sign of Graham, Jamie looked down and saw the promised clothes. Sweat pants, a T-shirt, and socks – exactly as advertised. Jamie opened the door a little bit wider, quickly picked up the clothes, and then closed the door again. Jamie was becoming more and more baffled by Graham and what was happening, or more particularly by what was not happening.

Jamie could deal with a known situation, even when it was unpleasant, but the usual pattern was not unfolding and that did not make any sense to him. Jamie knew what was expected of him and he knew his part in it all, but it did not seem to be happening the usual way and he felt confused. Why would Graham provide him with clothes when Jamie knew very well that he would be expected to be out of them in only a few more minutes?

Despite being perplexed Jamie put on the clothes that Graham had left for him. They did not fit especially well, but they came reasonably close. Jamie realized of course it was because they were Graham's. Graham was not a tall man, he was on the shorter side actually, but he was naturally much heavier set compared to Jamie. Consequently, while the shirt fit Jamie, the sweat pants were rather loose on his thin frame. Jamie debated as to whether he should bother retying the pants and then decided that he would. Graham seemed to be laying out a role for Jamie to play and he figured it would be best to try and fit into whatever it was that was being planned for him in order to make Graham happy. The clothes would do, at least until Jamie was told to take them off again.

After putting the clothes on Jamie looked at himself in the mirror in the bathroom. The accumulated grime and dirt was gone and the transformation from his previous state was quite dramatic. In place of the grubby youngster that had entered the bathroom earlier, now stood a boy that would catch anyone's eye. In addition to physical appearance, there was an unfortunate secondary reason that would cause attention to be drawn to Jamie. Now that the dirt had been washed away, the bruises on his face and neck were much clearer and easier to see.

A couple of the bruises were fresh and dark, but others were clearly older and had turned colour and faded somewhat. While the bruises obviously marred his looks, there remained a certain indefinable quality about Jamie that could not be hidden by dirt or anything else.

Opening the cupboard under the sink again Jamie retrieved his backpack and gripped it tightly. Bracing himself, Jamie took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob. Jamie knew that it was time to pay for his lunch and the shower. Perhaps if things went well he hoped that he might be able to earn some dinner and a warm place to sleep for the night.

Jamie turned the doorknob and wondered what Graham would be like. He appeared to be a decent man, but it was hard to know sometimes. In his experience, Jamie had learnt that the most ordinary of men could transform radically once he was alone with them. Something in their minds would snap and in a matter of a few seconds they could turn into worse than a wild animal. He wondered if Graham would be one of those. Often the better they seemed to be at first, the worse it would turn out later. On the other hand, Jamie had also discovered that some of the toughest and roughest looking men could turn out to be surprisingly gentle. There was simply no way to know for certain, but Graham did not appear to harbour a hidden beast. Jamie pulled the door open and prepared to accept whatever was in store for him.

Chapter 4
Harsh Reality

Sitting in the living area of the small apartment, Graham awaited Jamie's emergence with trepidation. Graham had heard the shower turn off and then while putting Jamie's clothes into the dryer he had also heard the bathroom door open and close. Graham knew that this would be Jamie retrieving the clothes that he had laid out for him just outside the door. It could not be more than a matter of a couple of minutes now before Jamie would be finished and would open the door.

Graham was uncertain what he was going to say when Jamie came out, but Graham knew that if he was going to help Jamie that it was crucial to establish a good rapport quickly. Graham's mind was a whirling mass of thoughts and emotions as he quickly debated how to do this. At a minimum, he knew that Jamie did not have a decent home and had run away, that much was obvious from the little that Jamie had said and the state of his clothes. The lingering question that needed to be answered was why Jamie was living on the street. As for how Jamie had managed to survive on his own, Graham had vague ideas that he preferred not to visualize in too much detail. Graham suspected that the things he had read about in newspapers and elsewhere only scratched the surface of what was involved. Jamie's demeanour combined with his appearance had only enhanced those fears.

Lost in thought Graham was startled by the sound of the bathroom door opening once again and as he looked up Graham saw Jamie walking slowly towards him. Jamie had his backpack clutched tightly against his chest and a look of anxious resignation on his face. The streaks of dirt that had been apparent previously were gone. The now clean and combed hair lightly reflected the light from the room. Jamie's blue eyes, though fearful, sparkled. All this, combined with his lightly bronzed complexion, added up to a rather remarkable total. Jamie would indeed capture anyone's attention in spite of the bruises and scrapes that were evident in a number of places.

"Why don't you come and sit down on the sofa?" Graham suggested to Jamie, as he motioned to the opposite end from where he was sitting himself.

Jamie slowly moved past Graham and sat down at the far end of the sofa. He continued to clutch his backpack in front of him tightly and regarded Graham warily.

When Jamie sat down, Graham noted that the clothes he had picked out for Jamie seemed to fit not too badly. Admittedly, the short-sleeved T-shirt hung a bit loosely, but this was simply due to the fact that the openings for the arms and neck were somewhat big for him. At first Graham noted this merely from the point of view of the shirt's fit, but then his face clouded slightly as he noticed something.

Once Jamie had sat down on the sofa, the neckline of the T-shirt had sagged and a portion of the upper area of Jamie's back had become visible. Graham could see a mark on Jamie's skin and it appeared to him that perhaps Jamie had not been quite as diligent with the soap as he ought to have been.

"It looks like you missed a small spot," Graham said jokingly, while smiling and motioning towards Jamie's neck area.

"What do you mean?" asked Jamie, not understanding the comment.

"I can see there's still a little smudge near your neck. You must have missed that spot with the soap," Graham chuckled.

"Oh," said Jamie slowly his eyes dropping suddenly. "That… that's not dirt."

A cold weight suddenly grew within Graham's stomach. "May I?" he asked Jamie gently.

Jamie nodded and turned his back partially towards Graham. Moving a little closer to Jamie on the sofa Graham reached out and pulled the neck of the shirt slightly away from Jamie's back to get a better look. What he saw took his breath away – there seemed be lines in the flesh on Jamie's back. Unbelieving he closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. Looking once again, the lines were still there. Jamie's back had on it what appeared to be whip marks and they were not recent. The deep angry red scars were still very visible despite being healed.

Graham let go of the shirt and tried to speak but while his lips moved his voice failed him. Pausing for a moment to take a breath he said croaked, "Who did this to you?"

"My father," said Jamie whispered faintly.

"Your father?" gasped Graham uncomprehendingly. "How could anyone do something like this to anyone… and to their own son? It's unforgivable. Why?"

Jamie stammered, "Sometimes I didn't do what they wanted and…"

"I don't want to embarrass you or make you feel uncomfortable," said Graham kindly. "But if you can tell me what happened, I might be able to help you."

"It's a long story," replied Jamie avoiding looking directly at Graham.

"For you, I have all the time in the world," said Graham warmly.

Jamie smiled shyly and began to tell Graham a little bit about what had happened to him when he had last been living at home. Graham's face went white as a sheet while he listened to Jamie's description of what passed for his home life. Jamie related a small portion of a particular occasion when his father had abused him, how his mother had helped, and how they both had let and encouraged others to do things to him as well.

"After a while I started to run away sometimes," continued Jamie. "It would just hurt so much from… the things they did and sometimes I just couldn't take it anymore. I had a friend and sometimes I was able to hide out at his place. He would sneak me into his bedroom at night and let me sleep there with him. He'd also get me some food from the kitchen at his place when he could. He was the only one in the world that ever cared about me. Other times I'd hide out downtown but then something would always go wrong. The police or the Child Welfare people would find me and take me back home. I tried to tell them sometimes what was going on, but no one would believe me. Once they took me home, after my dad was finished with me, I wouldn't be in any shape to run again for a while."

Graham sat listening with his mouth hanging open as part of the story of Jamie's short life poured out of him. Running away from home, being taken back repeatedly by the police or Child Welfare caseworkers, only to be abused and beaten again. When this happened, Jamie would wait until he had healed and then try to run away again. Sometimes Jamie was lucky and was able to get something to eat from a friendly man with no strings attached, but those occasions were rare. When he was unable to get food any other way and he could not endure the hunger any longer, he had been forced to resort to letting men do the same things to him that he had run away from home to try and avoid.

One big lesson that Graham learnt, much to his surprise, was that the police and the Department of Child Welfare were often as much the enemy for children on the street as whomever they had initially run away from. Jaded from years of overwork, insufficient manpower, and with an uncaring public unwilling to provide more resources for the most part they simply went through the motions oblivious to the underlying details. When caught, children would invariably be sent back to wherever it was that they had been trying to escape from – back for another dose of whatever particular hell had driven them to the streets in the first place.

It did not seem possible that anyone could hold up under the weight of suffering and abuse that Jamie had endured, and yet there he was sitting next to Graham on the sofa. Not only had he survived where most others would have been driven to the point of insanity, Jamie had managed to hang onto his essential dignity and the hope that one day somehow he would finally be free.

Completely overwhelmed by the revelations, Graham had not been able to say a word, but was suddenly shaken out of his speechlessness as Jamie then continued, "But I'm better now and stronger. So I can take it now. Anything you want. You won't be disappointed with me. Honest! I can handle whatever you're into. Really!"

The full depth of what Jamie was now saying, what he was in fact offering, broke through Graham's shock. Graham moved over on the sofa and reached out to put his arms around Jamie to comfort him, but as he reached out he could see that Jamie was trembling in fear. Graham put his arms down and instead took one of Jamie's hands in his and held it comfortingly.

While holding Jamie's hand Graham said gently, "No one will ever hurt you like that again Jamie. You will never have to do that sort of thing to survive ever again. Those days are over and will never, ever return."

Jamie sat stiffly watching Graham fearfully, but slowly as he studied Graham's face and saw that there was no threat he began to relax slightly. Graham continued to hold his hand as he spoke and looked into Jamie's eyes with a gentle smile.

"You will never have to take anything like that from anyone ever again Jamie," continued Graham. "Never again will you have to endure that kind of life."

While Graham spoke he held Jamie's hand in between both of his gently and suddenly Jamie began to cry. Deep wrenching shudders ran through him as he sobbed while Graham tried to comfort him. Taking care not to scare Jamie by putting his arms around him, Graham pulled Jamie towards him and offered his shoulder for Jamie to lean on.

Jamie looked up from Graham's shoulder through watery bloodshot eyes and cried, "But if I don't then how will I get anything to eat? How will I be able to live?"

Graham looked into Jamie's tear-filled eyes and found himself promising, "No Jamie, you will never have to earn a meal or a place to sleep that way ever again. I won't let that happen to you anymore. That's a guarantee from me to you. Never again."

The dam burst and Jamie wept uncontrollably. Words tumbling out in between the sobs giving Graham glimpses into life on the street and other things better left unimagined. Jamie told Graham about how drugs and alcohol were used by the boys to deaden a miserable existence and to help forget things best not remembered. Graham heard about boys that Jamie had known who died on the streets from intentional overdoses when they could not endure the misery any longer or had been taken by a man and then never seen again. One learnt to spot the dangerous men, Jamie told Graham, and the boys would help and warn each other, but there was no way to ever be completely certain about a man. Life and death were intermingled on the streets Graham learnt. Quick action and a watchful eye were the only tools that a boy had to help him survive and sometimes tragically they were not enough.

Graham finally put an arm around Jamie, despite the youngster's earlier fears to help comfort him. At the same time in between Jamie's tears Graham received a rapid education into how abused children on the streets were actually handled by the agencies supposedly tasked with looking out for them. The reality, compared to the public perceptions, was significantly different. Every time that Jamie had been found on the street and his parents called, they had come down to the office and played the part of happily relieved parents who had been worried about their missing son. Counselling, when suggested, was agreed to and then Jamie was released into his parents' custody. Dragged out of the office screaming Jamie was sent back home to face the living hell that he had simply been trying to escape from. The last time he had been caught Jamie had tried once again to explain to the caseworker what had been happening, but it had all been dismissed as an over-active imagination on the part of a young troublemaker. Once his parents had him alone at home, he had then paid a terrible price for having attempted to expose the details of what had been happening to him.

"They used to tell me all the time that I was an accident, an 'oops baby', and that I needed to pay them back for the food and everything," said Jamie tearfully. "They said it was the only thing I was any good for. They always used to laugh about how they wished they'd not forgotten to use the pill or a condom so then they'd not have to put up with me."

"They were lying Jamie," said Graham strongly. "That's not true and that's not what you are. You can be or do anything you want and they had no right to force you into doing things like that. Anyone that would say things like that to you should never have been allowed to have a child in the first place."

"I got used to hearing it after a while," said Jamie. "I always wished that I'd never been born, but it was too late to change. So I just tried to put up with everything. As bad as the streets are, it was always better than when I was at home."

Gradually the tears lessened and then finally stopped. Jamie's declaration that the streets were always preferable to home shook Graham to his core even after everything else that Jamie had told him. For anyone to have been forced to lead a life that would drive them to that conclusion was just beyond Graham's ability to comprehend. Nevertheless, Graham did not doubt Jamie's sincerity for a moment. The details that had come out in between the tears were too detailed and too authentic to be anything other than the complete and terrible truth.

Once Jamie had calmed down he pulled back from having Graham's arm around him and Graham reached into his pocket for a handkerchief. He passed it to Jamie who proceeded to wipe his eyes and face and then blew his nose. After he was finished Jamie started to hand the handkerchief back to Graham.

"I think we should probably just put that into the laundry," said Graham with a grin.

"I guess you don't really want it now," said Jamie with a shy smile.

"I'll get another one out of the dresser I think," Graham agreed and chuckled.

This definitely was not turning out the way that Jamie had expected. Not only had Graham not made any advances towards him, he had not seemed put off by the tears either – quite the opposite actually. Jamie was also rather surprised with himself. He usually kept his emotions bottled up and on a very short leash and it was not like him to let anyone know how he was feeling inside himself. What was it about this man that made him feel this way? It was hard to pin down exactly what it was that he was feeling. Something he had not felt in untold months if not longer. It was like a faint almost forgotten memory but the feeling was growing stronger inside him.

Graham suddenly remembered that Jamie's clothes were still in the dryer and he excused himself to check on them. Graham opened the dryer and found the clothes were still semi-damp. He cleaned out the clogged lint trap on the dryer, adjusted the timer to a longer drying cycle, and restarted the machine. Looking at his watch Graham made a mental note to come back in twenty minutes when the clothes would hopefully be ready.

Returning to the living area, Graham found the bathroom door closed and the sounds of water running and nose blowing coming from within. Jamie emerged shortly thereafter looking much better than he had only a few minutes before.

"Sorry about all that, I'm OK now," Jamie announced to Graham obviously rather embarrassed with himself.

"Your clothes aren't completely dry yet so I added more time to the dryer so they'd get done properly," added Graham.

"I guess I should take this off now, right?" Jamie asked while reaching for the bottom of Graham's T-shirt that he was wearing.

"No, you just wait until your things are ready," replied Graham realizing that Jamie was testing him.

"It's OK really. I can handle it," pressed Jamie while looking into Graham's face carefully and starting to lift the shirt up.

"No," said Graham with finality, while sitting down on the sofa and indicating that Jamie should sit down as well.

Jamie relaxed and sat back down on the sofa. Things were definitely not happening the way they were supposed to. Jamie had no complaints about that, but it did mean he was unsure what was going to happen since none of the predictable patterns were evident. Jamie was not prepared yet to truly believe Graham's words from a short time ago, but at the same time he was starting to wonder if it was possible that Graham was different from the other men he had dealt with. Jamie knew that the likelihood of Graham being different than the others was marginal at best. Nevertheless, a slim chance was better than no chance and Jamie decided that he needed to test Graham further to find out if the image that Graham was presenting was a façade or not.

"I don't know about you," said Graham, "But I'm starving and it's long past dinnertime. How would you like to go out and eat dinner with me? We could talk and get to know each other a little better maybe. Also this sofa pulls out into a bed and you could sleep here tonight. The weather forecast says that there is snow on the way and it's not very warm outside."

Jamie considered this for a moment and decided that perhaps this was how it would happen. Still dinner had been mentioned, a warm place to stay, as well as a bed for the night all appeared to be on offer and that would make it worth it.

"Thanks, that'd be great," Jamie replied after assessing the ledger.

"You've had a chance to wash off but I haven't. So how about you watch some TV while I go and scrape off the barnacles? By then your clothes should be dry too and we can go and find something to eat," said Graham.

Graham looked around and found the TV remote and passed it to Jamie. For a moment he wondered if he should explain to Jamie how it worked, but within seconds the TV was on and Jamie was working the controls like a pro.

Graham went into the bathroom to clean up. Partly Graham wanted the opportunity to freshen up after the long work day, but also partly he needed a few quiet minutes to digest and contemplate what he had learnt about Jamie and the life he had been forced to lead. He was not totally sure of what he was getting himself into, but he did know that he had sincerely meant it when he had told Jamie that he would never allow him to be hurt again. Graham shook his head as he climbed into the shower. What could he do? He had no experience with youngsters, knew next to nothing about their needs, nor how to take care of one.

For a brief moment Graham considered whether he should call up the police or Child Welfare, but he dismissed that thought almost immediately. It was only a few minutes ago when Jamie had told him how when he escaped and was subsequently caught that they had simply handed him back to his parents without any attempt at an investigation whatsoever.

As he was thinking about what to do, Graham felt a cold draft of air pass over him in the shower. He reached across to the faucets to turn up the hot water when he heard a voice.

"Do you want me to help you?" Jamie asked from just outside the shower curtain.

Graham quickly spun and grabbed for the washcloth while water flew into his eyes and he spluttered, "No. No, I'm fine. You just go back and watch the TV."

The bathroom door closed and Graham sighed with relief and smiled. Jamie was definitely persistent, he thought, but at the same time he also knew that he was being tested once again. Graham did not know a lot about psychology, but he suspected that this was something that was rather to be expected given the circumstances and also due to what Jamie had been forced to do in order to survive on his own.

Graham hurriedly finished up in the shower without any further offers of assistance, climbed out, and dried off. While it was usually his habit to do this with the bathroom door open to let the humid air out and then wander about looking for something to put on, he realized that today his normal routine would have to be changed. He slipped on his pants and shirt again, went out and took a casual shirt and pair of pants out of the dresser, and then returned to the bathroom to finish dressing.

Exiting from the bathroom, Graham dropped his dirty clothes into a clothes basket that was sitting in the corner and went to check on Jamie's things. The dryer was just completing its cycle, so Graham stopped it and pulled out the now dried clothes. Graham looked at them and he realized that frankly they were not worth putting on again. They were threadbare in many places, torn, ragged, and while he had put in extra soap, they were still significantly short of what would normally be considered clean.

Graham knew that something would have to be done about the clothes but first he had to get them back to Jamie so he would have something to wear. Graham quickly folded them, went back into to the living area, and passed them to Jamie.

"Oh gee! Thanks a lot!" Jamie exclaimed as he took the clothes.

Graham smiled and plainly felt embarrassed by Jamie's gratitude for what was to him the simple convenience of being able to wash clothes. Graham motioned towards the bathroom and Jamie picked up his backpack and ran to it holding his things close to his chest which were still warm from the dryer. Emerging a couple of minutes later Jamie looked markedly better than he had when Graham first saw him, even if the clothes clearly needed something done about them. Despite this, however, Jamie seemed very pleased with the results and was beaming when he came out.

"Mmmm, that feels way better than before," he said, running his hands over himself still enjoying the warmth coming from his freshly laundered things.

"How does some dinner sound to you?" Graham asked Jamie.

"Sure, I'd like that a lot," replied Jamie. "But… I don't have any money to pay."

"Don't you worry about that. It's going to be my treat. Let's get our coats on and see what we can find out there," Graham said, while rummaging in the hall closet for his overcoat.

After Graham had his coat Jamie reached in and pulled his jacket out of the closet and while putting it on Graham could not help noticing that it was very thin and obviously of little warmth. Knowing how cold it was outside, he paused for a moment and looked in the closet once again. With the apartment just being a place that Graham stayed during the week, it was not overly stocked with clothes. Nevertheless, he felt sure that he could find something that might do for Jamie. Finally in the back of the closet, Graham found what he was looking for. He pulled out a leather jacket that he had received several years earlier at a computer trade show. It was a bit old now, but it was heavy and warm.

"If you don't mind being an advertisement for a computer company, why don't you give this a try," he said while offering it to Jamie.

"A leather jacket? Are you sure? Can I?" asked Jamie with wonder in his voice.

"Of course. The temperature is way down out there and I don't want you to catch cold," replied Graham.

"Wow," said Jamie trying on the jacket, zipping it up, and then slipping his backpack on over top of it. "This is really warm!"

"Yes, it's pretty good that way," said Graham. "I've not used it in a while, but it's just the thing for a night like this."

Jamie admired himself in a nearby mirror. He had never worn a leather jacket before or, for that matter, had a new jacket of any type. Getting clothing for Jamie had always been a total afterthought for his parents and even then it was thrift shops because they did not think it worthwhile spending any money on him beyond the barest of minimums.

With each passing event Graham became more and more of a conundrum to Jamie because of his apparently generous and non-predatory nature. Jamie had offered himself to Graham several times and had been turned down firmly each time. Jamie reasoned it was best not to complain or ask too many questions. The time would come soon enough when he would have to pay up and Jamie knew that it was best to enjoy things for as long as he could before it came to that.

"That looks much better on you," Graham said happily.

"Oh yes, way better! Thanks a lot," replied Jamie gratefully. Then after a pause he continued, "You know you don't have to do stuff like this for me."

"I might not have to, but I definitely want to," Graham said, with a smile. "Shall we go?"

Jamie nodded and they went out the door of the apartment and Graham locked it securely. Both Jamie and Graham were unsure what lay ahead of them. Neither was finding this day turning out quite as either of them had initially expected, but at the same time neither of them regretted the day's events. Walking out towards Graham's car, they looked at each other and smiled. In that moment, Jamie suddenly knew what it was that he had felt inside himself earlier, the feeling that he had almost forgotten that he had. It was faint and fragile but it was still there burning inside him.

It was hope.

Chapter 5
First Steps

Graham led Jamie along the side of the house towards his car. Once again, just as when they had first arrived at the apartment, Jamie was completely underwhelmed as Graham stopped next to an old white two-door subcompact and began to unlock it. Jamie did not say anything, but, just like Graham's small apartment, this did not look like the sort of car that someone claiming to have a house on Valdez Island would be driving. In addition to being rather small the car was quite old. Once they got in, similarly to the apartment, Jamie could see that it was simple, clean, and in good working order. In this regard, the car matched the small basement apartment and Jamie concluded that whatever else Graham might be, he did tend to exaggerate his lifestyle somewhat.

That Graham seemed prone to exaggeration did not trouble Jamie overly much. Jamie was not always completely accurate himself when people questioned him about his own life. Although, he was still surprised by how he had let his guard down with Graham earlier and cried. Graham was an unusual and apparently inconsistent mixture of things, mused Jamie, who was suddenly shaken out of his thinking as he heard Graham speak.

"What kinds of food do you like, Jamie?" asked Graham, as he backed the car out of the driveway and onto the street.

"I'll eat anything," Jamie replied rather vaguely. Then after thinking about it for a moment he added, "I can't eat peanuts and onions. Sometimes they do weird things to me."

"I guess that rules out peanut and onion casserole au gratin. Darn shame too, I really had my heart set on it," joked Graham.

Jamie giggled and added, "Honest, I like almost anything."

Graham suspected that while Jamie was likely speaking truthfully, his answer probably also tended to reflect the fact that Jamie most likely ate anything he could get his hands on as a result of being unsure when the next meal might arrive. Still, Graham was a bit of a food buff and knew a variety of places in town that were excellent, yet moderately priced. While Graham's attempts to reproduce certain dishes at home occasionally turned in mixed results, he knew good food and did not like frequenting places with mediocre fare. Considering Jamie's age and likely irregular meal schedule, Graham decided that he would probably be quite hungry and so after thinking for a moment, decided upon a restaurant, and turned the car to the right and began to drive towards the south.

The storm clouds that had been gathering in the afternoon had moved off after a brief sprinkling of snow and the sky was now completely clear. While this revealed a beautiful crescent moon just beginning to rise in the sky, it also removed the insulating effect that the clouds had been providing and the temperature was now turning bitterly cold, which was making the roads slick with black ice. Jamie could see his breath hanging in the cold air in front of him and he was glad of the leather jacket that Graham had lent him and also hoped that he would be able to convince Graham to let him stay the night. If he failed, it was going to be very difficult for Jamie to avoid frostbite or worse tonight if he had to go back onto the streets and try to find a place to sleep.

Graham used the back streets to avoid traffic lights as much as possible and about ten minutes later they turned into a parking lot behind a somewhat dirty orange pastel-coloured building. It did not look especially inviting and definitely needed a coat of fresh paint. The area the building was located in was also not the best. Next door was a small abandoned gambling casino, the parking lot while full of cars had asphalt severely cracked in multiple places with grass growing through it, and the entire city block was surrounded by busy streets on three sides while on the fourth side water lapped at an unkempt riverbank. Graham noticed Jamie's questioning look and smiled. Those not familiar with the place would never guess it was a restaurant and a very good one. Graham knew that one of the most important rules to always keep in mind was that ostentation in a restaurant was often an advance indicator of low quality. The rule tended to apply to people as well Graham had found.

Graham parked the car and they both got out. Walking towards the entrance to the building, Jamie saw the name of the restaurant on a sign that was hanging precariously by a hinge from the right side only: Saltwater Pete's Bone Yard. Jamie flashed a questioning look at Graham.

Seeing the look Graham said, "Trust me Jamie. I know you've never been able to trust anyone before, but believe me, you're going to really like this I think."

Jamie could not miss Graham's emphasis on trust. Trust was something that Jamie never gave anyone, he had learnt long ago not to. Despite that, however, Jamie found that he was at least starting to relax a little around Graham. Nevertheless, trusting someone to pick a restaurant was one thing, for the rest Jamie only trusted himself.

Graham opened the door to the restaurant, which creaked and protested, and they went in. Entering the foyer, a variety of new scents introduced themselves to Jamie. He sniffed at them, but they were not familiar and he could not quite place them. Graham walked up to the reception area to ask for a table while Jamie warmed his cold hands over a heat register.

"Yes sir, may I help you?" asked the Maître D'.

"I'd like a table for two please," replied Graham.

"Perhaps over this way?" suggested the Maître D' gesturing to one side of the room.

"Yes, that would be great. Preferably something off to the side a bit," replied Graham.

While they were escorted into the main dining area, Jamie's head moved back and forth scanning the interior of the restaurant. Then suddenly at one of the tables he spotted what it was that had been tantalizing his nose. Ribs! Winding their way through the tables scattered about on the floor towards their destination, Jamie keenly checked out the plates of the other seated customers and his mouth watered. Jamie had never had ribs before.

These were not the tiny little pathetic excuses for spareribs that one often found in westernized Chinese restaurants either, the kind where one basically just licked the sauce off and then put them back onto the plate. No, these ribs were big and they were covered in meat and dripping with sauce. Everyone was wearing a bib around their necks and they were licking their fingers in between biting off large chunks of meat from the ribs that covered their plates to overflowing. On each table there was a small galvanized metal bucket that the polished-off bones were being dropped into in addition to a stack of serviettes for when the licking of fingers proved insufficient. Jamie's stomach began to make its desires known to him in completely unmistakable terms.

Graham sat on a seat on the left side of a table near the back of the room while Jamie slipped off his backpack. He placed it under the table on the side opposite to Graham and then sat on a chair directly over it keeping his legs tightly against it. Once they were seated, the Maître D' placed menus in front of each of them and then walked away.

Graham looked across at Jamie and asked, "Did I do a good job in picking?"

"Oh yes!" replied Jamie with obvious excitement. No matter what might happen later he thought to himself it was going to be worth it now.

Graham picked up the menu and encouraged Jamie to do the same. Looking down the list of selections Graham contemplated the same difficult decisions he always did here. Beef or pork? Montreal-style, Virginia-style, BBQ, honey-mustard… and of course the key question of all – how big a plateful? Graham completely ignored the obligatory hamburger and pasta dishes that all specialty restaurants had to include at the bottom of their menus for those that for whatever reason could not or would not have the house specialty.

"What do you see that looks good?" Graham asked Jamie.

"I don't want to cost you a lot," said Jamie, seeing the prices listed in the menu while simultaneously staring with eyes big as saucers at the plates of ribs on tables nearby. "I don't know what to pick."

Seeing Jamie's hungry gaze as he looked at the food on the tables near them Graham said, "How about you let me do the ordering then, OK?"

Jamie nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. He would kill to have some of those ribs, but the prices he had seen next to the selections in the menu worried him. He did not want to annoy Graham and lose out completely. At the same time he could not help himself and kept stealing glances at the other tables and the people at them eating.

Graham signalled to a passing waiter and began to recite off items from the menu. Jamie was not sure exactly what Graham was ordering, but the names all sounded wonderful. Ordering a medium-sized edition of the Montreal-style ribs for himself Graham thought for a moment and picked out a large-sized combination platter for Jamie so he could try a bit of everything. As an afterthought, Graham also added an artichoke and cheese dip with tortilla chips appetizer that he knew was good.

Sitting back after ordering, Graham noticed that some of the people in the restaurant were watching them and whispering to each other. At first Graham was uncertain about the reason behind it, but then noticing the direction of their interest he took another look at Jamie. Cleaned up Jamie looked quite good aside from the bruises on his face, but even after being washed his clothes were pretty much beyond salvation. Graham decided that he would have to do something about that before he returned home with Jamie after dinner.

"After dinner I need to do a bit of shopping," began Graham. "Would you like to come along with me while I take care of it?"

"Sure, I don't mind," replied Jamie.

"Great," said Graham. "It won't take too long and then we can go back to my place."

While they sat there and Jamie looked about the restaurant with obvious anticipation Graham considered Jamie's predicament. Sitting before him was a clearly intelligent, decent, and thoroughly normal boy. How could his parents have hurt him like they had, abused him so severely, and finally forced him into deciding that escaping to life on the streets was the only viable option left in order to survive? The idea that the streets could ever be a preferable place to live was something completely out of Graham's life experiences. Still, Graham considered, perhaps it was time to expand his horizons if he was going to try and help Jamie.

Graham was stirred out of his introspection by the arrival of the appetizer. Arrayed around a central cup of warm artichoke and cheese dip were layers of tortilla chips in multiple colours. The various chips were each made from a different variety of corn and the white, yellow, red, and blue chips made for a very attractive display.

"So, are you hungry?" Graham asked Jamie with a smile.

"I'm always hungry," replied Jamie with a shy grin.

"You'd better dig in then or I might just eat it all," said Graham, as he took a chip and scooped a bit of the dip onto it and then popped it into his mouth.

"Hey this is good!" exclaimed Jamie as he tentatively tried his first chip with some of the dip.

Graham smiled broadly and noted that after the initial cautious tasting of the dip, Jamie now dug in with determined vigour. Graham got in several good turns at the chips and dip and then sat back and let Jamie have most of it. Graham watched happily while chip after chip made the journey from plate to dip and then finally into Jamie's mouth. Much to his surprise Graham found himself enjoying this meal far more than the others he had recently.

"Do you have any interests Jamie? Things you used to like doing before you had to go out on your own?" asked Graham.

Jamie paused and reflected a bit before replying, "A long time ago my uncle took me fishing once. We went to this big lake up north that was full of fish."

"What kind of fish did you catch?" asked Graham.

"I caught three trout," said Jamie with obvious pride.

"Say that's pretty good. I've tried fishing a few times but I'm not that good at it," said Graham.

"My uncle was the best," said Jamie but with a touch of sadness. "I miss him a lot."

"Did something happen to him?" asked Graham gently.

"Just before last Christmas he got killed in a car accident," said Jamie sadly. "He was really nice and never tried to hurt me. I always hoped that maybe I could somehow go and stay with him one day, but after he was gone I knew it was hopeless. That's when I finally decided that I had to run away on my own. I waited until the end of February, though, so the weather wouldn't be so cold."

Further details were interrupted by the arrival of a busboy who removed the well-polished appetizer plate that was sitting in the middle of the table. While the busboy tidied up the table, a startled Jamie almost leapt out of his chair as a waiter coming up from behind put his arms around Jamie to tie a bib around his neck. Jamie settled back into his seat though when he saw another waiter doing the same thing to Graham. Just coming into view Jamie spotted yet another waiter coming in their direction, while carefully balancing two large plates of food on his arms.

As the main course was being laid out on the table, Graham saw Jamie's face brighten and smiled. Finger bowls, filled with water and a lemon wedge, were placed next to each of them. An empty bone bucket was placed in the centre of the table, and a stack of serviettes was added before the waiters departed. Jamie had a look of desperation about him and Graham could sense the youngster's conflict between decorum and the desire to attack the food now sitting in front of him.

"Let's see how this tastes," suggested Graham, and Jamie did with gusto.

Despite having ordered the large-sized platter for Jamie, Graham began to wonder if it was sufficient as he observed the speed with which Jamie ate and the ribs that were being polished clean. At the very least, Graham considered with amusement, it might be a good idea to keep a good hold onto his own plate.

Approximately halfway through the ribs, salad, and curly french fries, a slightly sauce-speckled Jamie paused for a moment, looked up at Graham, and smiled.

"This is wonderful," Jamie said in between mouthfuls.

"I'm glad you like it," replied Graham, while dropping a polished bone of his own into the bucket in the middle of the table.

"Do I ever!" said Jamie, with obvious delight.

Graham smiled back at Jamie and nodded. The food here, which had always been very good, seemed even better tonight, thought Graham. It was unlikely the cooking had changed and Graham wondered to himself if it might be the addition of Jamie and his enthusiasm that was making the difference.

Before too long, the bottoms of the plates began to become visible and eventually shone, particularly so in Jamie's case where not a trace of sauce remained on the plate. Graham was not quite as diligent and there were some hints of colour still remaining here and there. Graham looked over to the other side of the table at an obviously happy, albeit somewhat sauce-stained, Jamie. Jamie looked back with a big smile as he licked his fingers and then wiped his face with a serviette. Having run out of soda pop Jamie, who was still thirsty, reached for his finger bowl and took a drink. Graham smiled inwardly as he remembered the old tale of Queen Victoria under similar circumstances. Graham decided that if she could do it then it certainly was not beneath him, whereupon, he picked up his own finger bowl and took a sip out of it.

"I think I probably don't need to ask this question," joked Graham, "but how did you like it?"

"That was incredible," replied Jamie. "I've never had anything that good before."

"Then we'll have to make sure we do this again one day," said Graham, with a smile.

Graham waved at a passing waiter and passed his credit card to him. A couple of minutes later after signing the receipt that the waiter brought back to him, Graham nodded to Jamie and they got up. After slipping on their coats, Jamie picked up his backpack, and they went back out to the car.

Once they were inside the car Graham started it up and they drove back out onto the road. In addition to talking to Jamie during the meal as he occasionally came up for air, Graham had been doing some thinking. Graham had decided that the first order of business was going to be doing something about getting Jamie some replacements for his clothes before they went back home, but there was something more on Graham's mind. He was not certain, but it felt like he might be getting closer to discovering the solution to his dilemma regarding work versus retirement. If he could just bring it into focus and figure out what it was.

Jamie too was absorbed with his thoughts and was silent as they drove along. Dinner had been absolutely wonderful and strange all at the same time. Of course there was the meal itself – delicious and so very filling. Graham had ordered so many things for him. Jamie sensed that Graham probably was not the type to have ordered so much food normally and he was grateful for that. He had also seen how much it had cost when Graham paid the bill. At the same time, he had on rare occasions gotten lucky like this in the past, finding a man who would treat him to a good meal. However, such meals were normally accompanied by constant suggestive jokes about what would come later. There had been none of that tonight, not even a trace.

Graham turned off the main road and pulled the car into the underground parking lot of the North Road Mall. Graham normally like to avoid shopping malls in December, crowds were not something that he enjoyed very much. Still it was early in December and also being a Thursday night the crowds were not getting too bad yet.

Getting out of the car Graham said, "There's only one store that we need to go into, so this should be fairly easy. I hope that's OK with you?"

"No, I don't mind at all," replied Jamie shouldering his backpack once again.

"That's great. We should be out of here in less than an hour," said Graham somewhat cryptically.

While they were heading towards the escalators that would take them from the parking level up to the mall itself Jamie suddenly realized that it was the same mall where he had met Graham. Jamie also remembered the run-in with the security guard after Graham had left and started to get nervous.

Stepping off the escalator and onto the main floor of the mall Graham noticed that Jamie was almost clinging to him. At the same time, Graham saw Jamie's head moving back and forth as if scanning for someone in the crowd. From the combination of the two Graham knew that Jamie was worried about something, but he was not sure what it was.

Graham was about to ask when the answer suddenly supplied itself in the form of a booming voice that shouted out, "You there! Stop! What are you doing in here again?"

Feeling Jamie suddenly grabbing hold of him tightly, Graham turned towards the source of the voice. Graham saw a tall burly man in a uniform coming towards them at a run. Jamie jumped behind Graham and continued to cling to him for protection even though they had only met just that afternoon.

"Please, please, don't let him take me," whimpered Jamie.

Graham's hair stood up on the back of his neck as the guard approached, but he stood his ground and found himself saying to Jamie, "Don't worry. I said that no one would ever touch or hurt you again and I'm not going back on that promise now."

"What are you doing in here again? Why are you bothering this man?" bellowed the guard at Jamie who was now quivering while trying to hide behind Graham.

"And just who might you be?" demanded Graham in a calm voice that was nevertheless loud enough to attract the attention of passing shoppers.

"Mall Security, sir. This… boy… has been causing problems and I won't have him in here bothering decent people," replied the guard.

Graham heard the dramatic emphasis being placed on the job title by the guard, but at the same time noted the honorific form of address and analyzed the situation rapidly. Graham, while knowing he was no physical match for the man, was no longer worried. He knew this type all too well from his business career – self-important, oversized ego, and probably in a position at least two levels beyond his abilities. The guard outweighed Graham by at least sixty pounds [25 kg] and was at least a foot taller, and yet Graham smiled.

"This boy? Bothering me?" inquired Graham, with innocent sounding politeness.

"Yes. He's been causing problems here and I won't tolerate…" the guard began.

"You? You, won't tolerate?" interrupted Graham suddenly, with a slightly menacing tone while staring directly at the guard.

"What I mean is…" the guard began again.

"Yes indeed. Do tell me what you mean. My son and I would love to know what you mean," continued Graham, making a point to emphasize a relationship between himself and Jamie.

"Your son?" asked the now thoroughly confused guard. Hearing the relationship claim Jamie looked up at Graham with an astonished look on his face that quickly turned into a smile.

The guard took a single step backward and at that moment Graham knew that he had him. Graham took a matching step forward towards the guard with Jamie still clinging to him, but now looking up at him with a surprised and admiring look on his face.

"It looks to me like you are engaged in the harassment of two legitimate customers," said Graham in legal sounding tones.

Digging into his memory urgently for the name of the managing director of the mall complex, Graham continued, "I believe Mr. Saunders would be very interested in how his employees are treating the general public, don't you?"

Seeing the look of surprise appear in the guard's face, Graham was thankful that his company handled the computer services contract for the mall. Saunders was a stuffed shirt, in Graham's personal opinion, and had been a royal pain while NCS had been negotiating the agreement with the mall's management company. If Saunders was known for one quality above all others, it was his lightning quick temper.

Graham then pushed his advantage even further by pulling out his mobile telephone and began dialling as he spoke, "Yes. Let's just see what Bob has to say about how you treat a father and his son on their night out together to do some Christmas shopping shall we?"

That was the final blow for the guard. Believing that this short little man in the overcoat knew the director well enough to call him by his first name and even had his telephone number completely shattered the guard's self-confidence.

"I… I'm terribly sorry sir. I must have been mistaken… I mean, I think it was another boy…" stammered the guard, now fearful for his job.

"Yes, I think we both know what you mean," pressed Graham with force.

"Really sir, I'm terribly sorry," pleaded the guard, backing away. "I hope that it won't be necessary for you to have to…."

"Yes, I certainly hope that when I meet Bob at our breakfast meeting tomorrow that I will have forgotten this unfortunate incident," said Graham darkly.

Then pressing home the dagger with a twist Graham added, "Oh, and should my son ever mention to me in the future that you or any of your cohorts have bothered him again… I will suddenly remember tonight very clearly."

The guard took off almost at a run and as he disappeared into the crowd Graham breathed a big sigh of relief and then began to chuckle.

Jamie had released Graham when he saw that the guard was being demolished by Graham, but now hugged him tight. Graham began to feel a little like he was about to become the main course of a boa constrictor, but at the same time felt warmed by Jamie's heartfelt hug.

"Oh wow. Thank you, thank you!" Jamie said, while continuing to hug Graham.

"I told you that I'd look after you and that no one would hurt you," replied Graham with a big smile.

"But he was so much bigger than you. How did you know he wouldn't go after you?" asked Jamie with wonderment.

"After you've been in as many business meetings as I have been, Jamie, you start to learn how to size people up. The key is to do or say something to see if you can throw them a little bit off balance and then watch how they react to that. You look to see if they back off and retreat at all or instead if they come right back at you. If they back off even just a little that's the signal you watch for. Once you see them crack that first little bit, then you know you have the advantage and you can move over to the attack. You never push too far or too fast, but once you are on a roll you just keep going and don't give them a chance to think too much. If you do it right, you can end up with them eating out of your hands. You and I both know in a physical fight he'd make mincemeat out of me, but the best way to fight is always using this," said Graham while tapping the side of his head.

"But weren't you afraid of him?" asked Jamie. "He's so big."

"Oh, of course I was," replied Graham. "But I just made sure that he didn't know it."

Graham paused a moment to take several deep breaths and Jamie then knew that Graham was telling the truth about being worried during the confrontation even if he had totally hidden the fact from the guard.

"You really know his boss?" asked Jamie while grinning.

"The company I work for handles the computers for the mall and I saw him once at a meeting from the far side of the room," said Graham. "You never saw anyone complain like he did. Fortunately my boss was the one that had to deal with him. At the meeting, I just sat quietly for the most part."

"So you don't really know him then?" continued Jamie.

"I doubt he'd even remember me and I certainly don't know his telephone number," laughed Graham. "That was a pure acting job on my part."

Jamie giggled and said, "He thought you were going to get him fired I bet."

"In a case like this, a convincing story often works wonders," said Graham with a broad smile. "Shall we get back to doing what we came here for now?"

Jamie nodded and they resumed their journey through the mall. From time to time as they went along Jamie looked at Graham with a new expression on his face. Jamie had never before seen anyone deal with someone like the security guard without using violence or at least the threat of it. Jamie knew just from Graham's size that the guard, or anyone else for that matter, could have polished off Graham in seconds and yet this short unassuming man had made a guard bulging with muscles back down in fear without ever raising his voice. There was definitely more to Graham than was apparent at first glance.

The fact that Graham had claimed him as his son during the confrontation also struck Jamie. None of the other men that Jamie had been with before had ever been willing to do that. At best, if questioned, they had explained him away as the child of a neighbour that they were helping out or as a distant relation of some sort. None of them had ever been willing to profess anything resembling close kinship.

As they walked along through the mall, Jamie suddenly jumped over to the side and bent down to pick something up. Graham could not see what it was that Jamie had found, but he could see a big smile on Jamie's face over the discovery.

"What did you find?" asked Graham.

"I found a penny," said Jamie proudly, while quickly sticking the coin into his pocket. "Once I even found a whole dollar and was able to get something to eat."

It hurt Graham to hear how Jamie's life could turn on something as small as finding change on the ground. The reduction of life to such fundamental terms was something that Graham had never had to understand before and it brought into focus for him the slender thread by which Jamie clung to daily existence.

After a couple of minutes, they came to the entrance of a large department store that was attached to the mall and entered. Jamie followed Graham as he went up to the second floor on the escalator and shortly discovered himself standing beside Graham in the boy's department looking at a rack of underwear in various sizes.

When Jamie realized what Graham was up to, the cold feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew all too well instantly came back to him. Of course it all made sense now. Graham wanted to dress him up right so he would look more attractive to him. Jamie would not deny that Graham had treated him very well so far, fed him, and even protected him, so in Jamie's view Graham had more than earned the right. On top of everything else, he was going to get the added extra bonus of some underwear to replace his old worn out pair. Jamie looked at the balance sheet and accepted the inevitable with quiet calm.

"What size are you?" inquired Graham, completely unaware of Jamie's accountant-like analysis of the situation as he looked over the various colours and styles of boy's shorts and briefs with some embarrassment.

Knowing the role he was supposed to play Jamie turned his back towards Graham and peeled the back of his pants down a little bit revealing his cartoon-character embossed underwear and said, "What does the label say?"

Graham, taken completely by surprise, was overcome by a fit of coughing. It was not just the unexpected visuals but Jamie had added a distinct wiggle while providing Graham with the impromptu display.

When Graham caught his breath, he quickly pointed towards the first package of briefs that his eyes spotted and managed to say, "How about these?"

Jamie still could not quite figure out Graham. He knew what was expected of him, but each time he tried to play his part Graham either did not respond or as now was completely caught off-guard. Smiling at Graham's discomfort, Jamie pointed instead at a camouflage-patterned package that was the correct size and countered, "How about these instead?"

Happy to put the question of underwear in the past, Graham nodded quickly and picked up the indicated package, while at the same time quietly hoping that Jamie was not planning on an encore performance. Moving along towards the undershirts Graham looked at the size on the underwear in his hand and selected a package in the same pattern and size from the rack. Graham knew that Jamie also needed socks and the running shoes that he had were in very poor condition as well.

"Do you know your shoe size?" asked Graham.

"No, not really," replied Jamie. "Why?"

Jamie understood why Graham wanted new underwear for him, it was important to look nice for later. However Jamie could not make any sense out of why Graham was asking him about shoe sizes. Shoes were not needed for what would come later in the evening.

Looking up, Jamie saw Graham motioning to one of the store clerks who eventually came over.

"Can you tell me what shoe size we need please?" Graham asked the clerk.

"This will only take a moment," said the lady as she knelt down to measure Jamie's foot while motioning for him to take a seat.

Jamie removed his left shoe and placed his foot on the measuring stick that the clerk has brought. Jamie flinched as the clerk reached down and adjusted the slider to determine the measurement and she could not help noticing the general condition of Jamie's old running shoes, his socks, and his pants. The clerk did not say anything, but Graham noticed the turn in her face as she worked.

"It looks like you're a size six," announced the clerk as she looked up.

Turning to look at the huge display of running shoes that covered one full wall of the store, Graham felt at a complete loss. He had absolutely no idea what was practical, let alone what looked decent by current fashion standards. Feeling at a loss against the inescapable forces of marketing, Graham pointed vaguely towards the left side of the display where some of the more subdued pairs of shoes were located.

"What about something like those?" suggested Graham hopefully.

Jamie looked towards where Graham was pointing and tried to conceal a bit of a groan. Graham might be trying to be a nice guy, but he definitely needed to learn something about what was in style.

Jamie looked at the clerk and the clerk looked at Jamie and they both grinned. The clerk, having more experience with current trends, was in instant unspoken communication with Jamie and rescued the situation.

"How about a pair like these instead," suggested the clerk, as she walked over and picked up a pair of running shoes that were currently on sale from a display counter.

Graham looked on unconvinced at the rather brightly coloured shoes being held up. However, one glance at Jamie's hopeful face settled the matter. Graham nodded affirmatively to the clerk knowing as he did that his own ideas of what constituted fashion were rather out of date as well as generally being limited to ensuring that he was dressed warmly.

When the clerk left to find a pair in the correct size, Jamie was trying hard not to show his excitement too much. New shoes! Jamie had heard talk of boys who had gotten lucky and found a man with money and the desire to spend it on a boy. Maybe this time he had hit the jackpot and found one of these men by pure chance, although Graham's car and basement apartment somewhat argued against that prospect. Still, things were turning out well so far. Jamie considered the possibility that maybe Graham might want to keep him at least for a little while. That would help a lot with the winter temperatures going down to freezing at night now. Jamie decided that he had better turn up the intensity a notch or two to let Graham know he was agreeable to his part of the bargain.

The clerk returned and Jamie sat down to try the new shoes on. After taking off his right shoe as well and putting on the new ones, Jamie ran to stand in front of a mirror to check out how they looked on him. Moving to and fro in front of the mirror admiring the new running shoes, Jamie's beaming face let Graham know in no uncertain terms that these were the right choice.

Noting the clerk's strange looks at them and feeling somewhat uncomfortable with her scrutiny Graham tried to deflect her attention.

"We'll take the shoes, but first we need to look at a couple more things," he said.

"Would you like him to wear them or should I put them back into the box?" asked the clerk.

"It looks like he wants to wear them," replied Graham with a happy smile, as he watched Jamie still admiring himself in the mirror, his worries momentarily forgotten.

Still feeling under observation by the clerk Graham added by way of explanation, "My wife's been neglecting our son while I've been away and I'm trying to rectify that."

The clerk nodded and smiled, although it was very obvious to her that Jamie was suffering from more than just simple neglect. One saw many things working in a department store and she had long since stopped trying to make sense out of what people did to each other or why.

While Graham was talking to the clerk Jamie had come up to stand next to him and hearing what he had said looked at him with a surprised expression. This was the second time tonight that Graham had covered up for Jamie by speaking of him as his son. It felt strange to Jamie for this man that he had only just met to refer to him in that way, but it felt good at the same time. Jamie could not even remember the last time that his own parents had talked about him as being anything other than a nuisance or a waste of time and money.

"OK, I think we need some socks to go with those new shoes of yours," Graham said to Jamie.

The clerk following Jamie's gaze took down a large package of ankle socks and Graham nodded saying, "You'd better make that two of those."

"We also need to get some new pants as well," continued Graham. "Could you check on his size so we can pick something out?"

The clerk walked away to find a measuring tape whereupon Jamie nudged Graham and with a flirty grin and an exaggerated look of innocence quietly asked, "What's the matter? Afraid to check the size yourself?"

Once again Graham was convulsed with a spasm of coughing. Jamie giggled at Graham's discomfort, however, Graham was saved from having to reply by the clerk's return.

The clerk busied herself with the tape measure and shortly announced, "Your waist is twenty-three inches".

"Let's get two pairs," said Graham. Then turning to Jamie he added, "You go with the lady and find some that you like."

Jamie followed the clerk excitedly and shortly was running to a change room to try on the new camouflage-pattern jeans he had picked out. While Jamie was busy Graham inquired about shirts and after the clerk pointed out a couple of possibilities in warm flannel, Graham asked her to drop them off with Jamie in the dressing room.

A few minutes later Jamie emerged from the change room, his backpack dangling from one hand. Graham was taken aback when he saw the complete transformation. The formerly scruffy-looking street boy now looked positively spectacular. The smile on Jamie's face was as bright as day and Graham basked in the glow that shone from Jamie's eyes. It still did not fix the fundamental problems of Jamie's life, but at least now he could walk along and not be starred at and commented on by people.

"I see you like camouflage a lot," commented Graham seeing the style of jeans and shirts that Jamie had chosen.

"I like to be invisible, it's safer that way," said Jamie rather reservedly compared with his earlier exuberance, and Graham nodded realizing that there was significance behind Jamie's statement.

"We'll take the lot," Graham then said to the clerk, while handing over his credit card.

"Thank you, sir. I'll ring this up right away," she replied, while walking over to the cash register.

Jamie ran over to Graham and threw his arms around him, "You didn't need to do all this you know."

"I know, but I wanted to do something nice for you," said Graham, lightly returning the unexpected hug.

"I'd have let you have me without you doing all this," said Jamie with frank sincerity.

"Jamie, I know it's probably something you're not used to," began Graham. "I want you to know that I'm not doing this in expectation of anything from you. There's no catch and nothing that I'm wanting from you in return. You just needed help and so I'm helping you."

"No one does anything for free," Jamie stated simply.

"That might be how other people have treated you in the past," said Graham. "But that's not how I operate."

"OK," said a not entirely convinced Jamie.

Seeing the clerk returning Graham added, "Now you'd better change back into your old things so we can buy everything and then go back home."

While Graham checked the total and then signed the slip Jamie ran back into the change room returning a couple of minutes later in his old clothes. As Jamie passed the new clothes to the clerk to be put into the bag Graham noticed that they had been carefully folded. The clerk then placed them in the bottom of a large shopping bag along with the underwear, socks, and the running shoes box that now contained Jamie's old shoes.

The clerk pushed the now filled shopping bag over to Jamie who, wearing his backpack and now struggling to carry the large bag, appeared to be completely overloaded. Graham was about to offer to help, but then seeing the enormous smile on Jamie's face he decided that it would be better not to interfere with Jamie's enjoyment in carrying away his new things.

When they got back down to the parking lot, Graham unlocked the car and they both climbed in. Graham started up the car and navigated his way out of the underground parking maze and back onto the street to return to his apartment. Graham looked over at Jamie who was sitting quietly with his arms tightly wrapped around the oversized shopping bag that held his new clothes. Jamie's smile had not abated one iota since they had left the mall and the light from the streetlamps reflected off his white teeth as they drove along. Graham thought to himself for a moment with a grin that it might be possible to drive by the reflected glow coming from Jamie's happy face, but decided against giving the theory a try.

Jamie turned towards Graham and said, "This is really great of you getting me all these things."

"I could see that your clothes were starting to get a tiny bit rough around the edges," replied Graham. "So I thought it would be nice if you could have something new to wear."

"It's kind of hard to keep things clean and in good shape out there," said Jamie. "I don't have money to spend on stuff like that."

"I expect that it's rough out there just in general," offered Graham.

"You don't know the half of it," responded Jamie. "Especially now with the weather getting so cold."

"Would you like to stay for the night?" asked Graham. "The sofa in my place pulls out into a bed and you can sleep there."

Here it comes finally thought Jamie. Graham's claims of no payment needed were just stories after all. Nevertheless with only a momentary hesitation Jamie replied cheerfully, "Sure, I'd like that a lot."

Graham was not entirely sure that he should completely believe Jamie's last statement, but he did not say anything. Now was not the time. Graham was beginning to feel certain however that Jamie's flirting back in the store was because Jamie felt that he had to in order to be able to stay.

Keeping his concerns to himself Graham turned into the driveway next to the house his basement apartment was located in and shut off the car's engine. They got out and walked down the sidewalk alongside the house with Jamie clutching the shopping back tightly like he might lose it at any moment. When they reached the door, Graham unlocked it and let them both inside.

Once they had their coats and shoes off Graham suggested, "Let's take another peek at how your new things look."

"Can I?" said Jamie excitedly.

"Of course you can. They're yours. You can do anything you want," replied Graham.

Jamie paused for a second, looked at Graham, and then began to reach for the bottom of his shirt to pull it off. Seeing this Graham said, "You should probably take everything into the bathroom to change."

"Oh. OK," said Jamie still not understanding Graham's reluctance as he took the bag of clothes with him and went into the bathroom.

A couple of minutes later the door opened and Jamie once again looked absolutely smashing. After taking a moment to admire the new outfit Graham decided that Jamie definitely had a much better sense of style than he did. Between getting cleaned up and now the new clothes the results were clearly worth every penny. Graham reminded himself that tidying up the outside was the easy part. Torn clothes were replaceable and bruises would heal, but only provided that the root causes of the underlying problems were dealt with and eliminated. That part would not be so easy nor as quick. Especially now that he knew from Jamie that the government agencies devoted to such things were often as not part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

After a few more moments of admiration Graham finally declared to Jamie, "You look spectacular. Did you know that?"

Jamie blushed and stammered and looked down at his feet saying, "No one ever told me that before."

Graham felt bad for having embarrassed Jamie and said, "Perhaps I shouldn't have said spectacular but you're definitely handsome."

"Thanks a lot for these, Graham. I've never had anything as nice as this before. Even at home if I got something to wear it was only stuff from the thrift shop," said Jamie.

Now it was Graham's turn to be embarrassed. He was only doing the decent thing. The thing that Jamie's parents should have been doing for him instead of what they had been. It was not something he should be thanked for.

Graham covered up his discomfort by changing the subject, "I've got a lot of work to do for the office tonight. Would you like to watch some TV or would you like to get some sleep?"

"Going to bed would be nice," suggested Jamie, with a smile that promised thanks of a less verbal variety.

Graham noticed, but purposely ignored the hint coming from Jamie. He cleaned things off from the sofa, removed the cushions, and shortly was showing Jamie the bed that pulled out from inside it.

"I admit it's nothing special, but I only stay here Monday to Thursday," said Graham.

Jamie nodded, but did not comment on Graham's rather spartan accommodations. An old car, a small basement apartment, and now a sofa bed; luxurious it was not, but it was clean and warm and that was all that really mattered to Jamie. Nevertheless, the image presented by the accommodations did not quite square with that of a man who less than an hour ago had paid a couple of hundred dollars to buy him new clothes without even blinking. In Jamie's mind Graham was a mass of unresolved contradictions.

It suddenly occurred to Graham that Jamie did not have anything to sleep in. He thought for a moment and then said, "I don't have any pyjama's to offer you to sleep in but perhaps that T-shirt I gave you earlier this evening would be OK?"

The question seemed rather pointless in Jamie's opinion. He knew full well what was going to be expected of him, but replied, "Sure. Anything at all is just fine."

"OK. So why don't you brush your teeth and change then you can climb into bed," said Graham, while nodding towards the bathroom.

"I don't have a toothbrush," said an embarrassed Jamie.

Once again Graham was struck by the lack in Jamie's life of what seemed like basic essential items and quickly said, "Look in the drawer next to the sink and you'll find some new ones. Just take one of those."

Jamie went into the bathroom, washed up, and finally came out wearing the T-shirt that Graham had given him earlier. Graham once again noticed that Jamie was carrying in his arms the new clothes and that they were folded with care. They were sitting on top of Jamie's old clothes that had also been folded, both sets sitting on top of Jamie's outstretched arms. Jamie came over and stood next to Graham. Looking about for a moment Jamie then moved the now empty shopping bag to a spot next to the sofa with his foot and then placed the stack of clothes on top of the bag on the floor. All the while Jamie continued to hold onto his backpack which dangled from one hand, it was clear that nothing would separate him from it.

Graham pulled the blankets and top sheet back on one side of the bed and held them for Jamie to get into the bed. Jamie put his backpack down right next to the bed and then climbed in. After Jamie got into bed, Graham pulled the covers back over him and turned off most of the lights in order to make the room darker. Leaving only a small light on over the kitchen table, Graham came back and stood looking down at Jamie.

"Will you be OK now if I do a bit of work on the table over there? Will the light bother you?" Graham asked.

"You're not coming to bed now?" asked Jamie, moving slightly sideways in the bed clearly suggesting he was making room for Graham.

"No, I've got lots of work to do and tomorrow is going to be a busy day," replied Graham.

"Alright then, I'll be fine. The light won't bother me," said Jamie.

"Great. You sleep well and get a good rest for a change," said Graham kindly.

Jamie smiled at Graham and visibly relaxed as it appeared that nothing was going to take place tonight.

"No one will hurt you here Jamie. You're going to be perfectly safe. Good night," Graham quietly added, and then walked towards the table on the other side of the room.

Jamie rolled onto his right side so he could watch what Graham was doing. Still unable to quite believe that Graham was not going to try something, Jamie watched as Graham pulled out his briefcase, removed some papers, and a laptop computer. Graham plugged the computer's power cord into the wall socket, sat down, turned it on, and shortly began to type away while reading and shuffling through his papers.

After watching Graham for a while, despite being tired, Jamie was finally convinced that Graham was going to leave him alone, at least for tonight. Jamie rolled over in the opposite direction and yawned. Closing his eyes, Jamie began to think about the day's strange course of events. Sighing at the luxury of having a soft warm place to sleep he pondered the mystery that was Graham. Jamie was exhausted however and having a real bed to sleep in for the first time in a couple of months he soon fell asleep to the sound of tapping computer keys.

Chapter 6
Taking Flight

Jamie suddenly came awake and for a moment did not remember where he was. For a brief moment fear overtook him but then his eyes focused and he recognized the small room where he was. Remembering the previous day's events and how he had met Graham at the North Road Mall Jamie relaxed and luxuriated in the warm softness of a clean bed. It had been a long time since he had slept this comfortably and had not had to pay for it beforehand.

Looking over to the other side of the small living area, where a single overhead light still burned, Jamie saw Graham seated at the kitchen table. His head was lying in the middle of a sea of papers scattered around his laptop computer and the light sound of snoring confirmed that he was fast asleep.

Jamie began to worry because he had slept in the only bed available. Graham had opened up the bed for him and clearly wanted him to use it but nevertheless Jamie felt uneasy at having deprived Graham of a proper place to sleep. It had been his expectation that Graham would have joined him after he had finished with his work. Now Jamie was concerned how Graham was going to react at not having had a bed to sleep in for the night.

Jamie got up out of the bed and walked over to stand next to Graham. Placing one hand on Graham's shoulder Jamie spoke softly while shaking Graham gently to wake him up.

"Graham, you can sleep in the bed," Jamie said gently.

Graham shifted his head slightly and grunted as Jamie spoke.

"I don't need any more sleep. You should get into the bed now," added Jamie a little bit louder.

Graham's eyelids began to flutter and he slowly began to raise his head up off the table's surface.

"Oh! Oh my goodness! My neck… my back," moaned Graham as he felt like what seemed to be every last muscle in his back and shoulders voicing their complaints at the same time over having been mistreated.

Finally sitting up completely Graham looked at Jamie with sleepy eyes and smiled. Standing there in just a wrinkled T-shirt with uncombed hair Jamie looked so innocent, not at all like the distressed youngster Graham had befriended only yesterday. It did not seem possible that this could be the same boy that Graham had seen sitting on the sidewalk hoping to get some food to eat.

"How did you sleep, Jamie?" asked Graham.

"Oh I slept great," replied Jamie. "But you should have come to bed too so you wouldn't get all sore like that."

"I'll recover don't worry," said Graham with a groan as he staggered to his feet and took a few tentative limping steps around the room to try and get his legs working and his muscles unknotted.

Glancing at the clock on the stove and seeing that it was just after five o'clock in the morning Graham decided that he might as well get busy and put together some breakfast for both of them. Shuffling towards the kitchen Graham began opening cupboards and the refrigerator to see what was available. He had not been planning on having an extra mouth to feed but a little hunting and imagination would solve the problem.

"I think I'll just go into the office early today and then I'll be able to get out early too. How would you like to have some breakfast now? I can stir something up for us both if you like."

"Anything at all would be fine," replied Jamie believing that his time was now up. Somehow he had not been what Graham was looking for and it was now time for him to leave. Jamie could not think of anything specific he had done to make Graham decide against keeping him but it was obviously too late now. Maybe if he had stopped Graham from buying so much food at the restaurant, or spending so much money on clothes last night, or maybe he should have been more persistent at trying to get Graham to get in bed with him. Whatever it was he had failed and now it was going to be back into the cold on the street.

"I promise I'll do better for you on the weekend," said Graham as he started putting things onto the kitchen counter. "There's not a lot here right now because I usually pick up groceries on Monday evening."

Jamie turned from picking up his things at Graham's words. The weekend? Maybe it was not over. Maybe he would still have a chance to make Graham want to keep him for a while. Jamie quickly put his backpack down so Graham would not see that he had been starting to get ready to leave.

"Do you like eggs?" Graham asked looking over towards Jamie.

"Yes I do," said Jamie with interest. "I haven't had eggs in a long time."

"Let's see what I can do then," replied Graham as he laid several strips of bacon into a pan to start frying.

After tossing out the waxed paper that the bacon had been wrapped in Graham began to chop up some tomatoes and green pepper that he had discovered in the bottom of the refrigerator in addition to some leftover cooked potatoes. Graham turned the bacon over and then added the chopped-up potatoes to the pan and stirred them around to let them begin to cook. A couple of minutes later he added in the tomatoes and green pepper and stirred it all again. Reaching for a bowl Graham cracked the last of the eggs into it and stirred them up with a fork. Taking a large pepper shaker from the cupboard he sprinkled some into the egg mixture and stirred a bit more. After checking that everything was cooking properly Graham then poured the eggs into the frying pan and gave the pan a swirl to spread the egg mixture evenly.

Jamie watched with fascination as Graham worked. Breakfast at home, when it had happened at all, came out of a cereal box. Jamie could not remember when he had last had a hot cooked breakfast.

After satisfying himself that everything was well on its way Graham covered the frying pan with a lid and then popped some bread into the toaster. Graham went over to the table and shifted the papers and laptop computer making room for Jamie and himself to eat. The toast popped up and Graham immediately put two more slices into the toaster and began to butter the ones that he had just taken out. Soon Graham had buttered toast ready on each plate and then peeked under the lid of the frying pan to check how the eggs were doing.

Satisfied with the results Graham removed the lid off the frying pan with a flourish, picked up a knife and divided the impromptu omelette into two, and slid half onto each plate along with several slices of bacon. Taking the pepper shaker Graham then added a healthy sprinkle on top and handed the plates one at a time to Jamie who placed them onto the table.

"There you go," said Graham as he poured orange juice into two glasses. "It's not exactly a Spanish omelette but it's as close as I could come this morning."

"It looks wonderful," said Jamie very impressed with Graham's rapid assembly of a full hot breakfast.

"Have a seat and dig in," said Graham as he moved to the table and sat down.

"This tastes great," said Jamie in between mouthfuls.

"I'm glad you like it," said Graham with a smile. "I managed to get almost everything I needed to do finished off last night while you were sleeping but I do need to go into the office this morning for a few hours. That way I can complete a couple of things that are left over from yesterday. After that however I can leave and if you're interested maybe we could spend the weekend together. What do you think of that for an idea?"

Although Jamie had initially thought that Graham was going to send him back to the street after breakfast things were definitely sounding like that was not going to happen now. While still unsure what Graham had in mind for him based on everything that had happened so far, Jamie felt that staying, at least for a while, was the right choice.

"Yes that would be nice," Jamie replied after a momentary hesitation.

"You can wait here where it's warm if you like while I'm at work," continued Graham. "Sleep some more, or watch TV, or whatever else you like. There's a couple of books around that you can read and there's a few DVDs in the cupboard over there if you can't find anything worthwhile on the TV."

"Stay in here while you're gone?" asked Jamie with astonishment. "Don't you want me to stay outside so I can't wreck or steal anything?"

"Why would I want you to do that?" replied Graham. "If I'm asking you to trust me on something big like letting me try to help you it's only fair that I first show you that I have trust in you on something small like letting you stay here."

"OK," said Jamie still not believing that Graham was actually going to let him stay inside his place. Although Jamie had occasionally been allowed to stay for a few days with a man, they had always made him go out while they were away from home not trusting him sufficiently to leave him alone in their homes.

"I should be back by about ten o'clock roughly. While I'm gone you can clean up and get dressed in your new things. Then when I get back we can go and have a little adventure this weekend."

"An adventure?" Jamie asked dubiously.

"You'll like it I promise. But I want to surprise you so no details right now," added Graham secretively. "But you don't need to worry. Nothing will happen to you and no one will touch you or hurt you."

Jamie did not totally believe that it was going to be something he would like but he was willing to go along with whatever Graham had in mind. Things had been pretty good so far and Graham had certainly been generous with everything up front. With any luck perhaps it would continue like that for a while before Graham got too rough with him.

"OK, I'll wait here for you," said Jamie.

"Great," replied Graham. "I'll get changed and head for the office then. In a few hours I'll be back and then we can go."

Graham went into the bathroom and started to get ready for work. While looking at himself in the mirror and shaving Graham wondered what he was getting himself into. Letting a street boy stay in his place while he was away? That was not like himself at all. Would he return to find the place had been trashed or cleaned out? It was certainly possible but on the other hand there was something about Jamie that suggested to Graham that everything would be fine when he returned and that it was worth the risk. Jamie was quickly growing on Graham and again there was the feeling that something was coming together. Graham was not completely certain about it but doing this felt right somehow.

Showering quickly Graham threw on a fresh shirt along with the suit and tie he had worn yesterday. Once finished in the bathroom Graham went over to the kitchen table and collected up the papers that had been his pillow during the night putting them into his briefcase. Unplugging the laptop computer from the wall he added it to the top of the pile and closed the briefcase.

"I don't have a spare key to give you," said Graham. "Do you think you'll need to go out for anything?"

"No, I don't need to go out," replied Jamie still not quite believing his ears but feeling sure now that Graham did not mean to dump him, at least not right away.

"I'm sorry I have to leave you but you know how it is. If you don't keep the boss happy he gets on your back," joked Graham.

"It's OK. I understand," replied Jamie.

Walking towards the door Graham said, "I'll see you in a few hours then Jamie. Remember to get ready for when I get back," and then he opened the door and went out closing it behind him.

Jamie looked at the closed door and was completely perplexed at this man. How did Graham know that it would be safe to leave him alone in his place? How did Graham know he would not steal something and run? Jamie knew himself that he would not do that but how did Graham know that he could trust him? Why had Graham not tried something last night after spending all that money on him? None of it made any sense at all.

While Jamie pondered the mystery that was Graham he picked up the remote control for the TV set and began to flip through the channels. It would be several hours before Graham said he would return so Jamie hoped that he could find something interesting to watch.

***

Graham decided to take the car to work this morning rather than the bus. Since he was planning on it being a short day he did not want to waste time waiting for buses and the introduction of Jamie into the equation added to that desire. The early morning traffic was very light and before long Graham was pulling into a spot in the parking lot underneath the NCS office tower.

Graham went up the elevator to his floor and hoped that with a bit of luck he would be able to finish up everything that needed to be done fairly quickly. Graham normally worked a short day on Fridays so he could catch the afternoon flight over to Valdez Island for the weekend and he was now planning on this being an even shorter day than usual.

Graham threaded his way through the maze of cubicles until he found his own desk. Sitting down he opened up his briefcase and pulled out the papers and laptop computer that he had put into it back at his apartment. He connected the small machine to the large display screen sitting on his desk and pressed the power button. After waiting a couple of minutes for the system to finish beeping and playing the inevitable start-up music, Graham was finally able to begin working. His fingers rapidly picked up from where they had left off last night and the conclusion to his status report on yesterday's business meeting began to take shape.

Other people in the office were gradually beginning to arrive just as Graham was putting the final touches on his report. He carefully proofread it and then satisfied with how it looked he ordered the machine to send it off for printing. By the time Graham's boss arrived at nine o'clock the report was completed and ready for presenting. After waiting about ten minutes for his boss to get settled Graham walked into his office with the report tucked under his arm.

"Good morning, Alex," said Graham cheerfully as he entered.

"Good morning, Graham. I saw your note on my desk late yesterday afternoon along with the signed agreement. Is that your report there?" asked Alex.

"Yes, this is it. Full details on the final agreement with Haida Forest Products," answered Graham.

"You've got it all wrapped up?" inquired Alex.

"Yes, it's all here. Revenue versus cost projections, service level descriptions, response time agreements, the whole thing," said Graham.

"What do the financial numbers look like?" asked Alex.

"I did a two-year projection on that and payback for the client starts after eleven months and after only six months for us," said Graham.

Graham's boss took the report and thumbed through it. A few minutes later he smiled broadly, "This is superb. This is going to make both sides happy and it's going to give a nice boost to the numbers for this department just at year-end. I'm not going to forget this when it comes to bonus time in January either."

Graham smiled and said, "Thanks very much, I really appreciate that."

Knowing that all pay for managers was directly tied to the financial results of their divisions Graham knew that the figures in the report were going to make his boss happy. By closing one final deal just before the end of the year his boss was going to get a significantly larger bonus than he had been expecting and as a result it sounded like some of that happiness was now going to flow downhill to Graham as well.

"You deserve it. I can always count on you to do a thorough job when you tackle something and that's why I knew you were the right one to push this proposal through to completion," Alex added.

"Now that this is out of the way I need to ask for a bit of time off," began Graham. "I have some personal business that needs looking after and I'd like to advance my Christmas vacation so it starts now if you don't mind."

Graham's boss leaned forward in his chair and asked, "You've got everything tidied up? No loose ends anywhere?"

"No, this finishes off the last project I was working on for the year and it's all complete now," answered Graham.

Knowing Graham to be a man of his word and always meticulous Alex agreed, "Fair enough. You have a good vacation and I'll see you back here at the start of January then."

After leaving Alex's office Graham went back to his desk. For a minute he busied himself putting away the papers that he had used to finish off the report that were scattered all over the top of the desk. Graham's hands moved quickly and most of the papers went into the filing cabinet next to his cubicle, the remainder then went into the recycling bin underneath the desk. Once he had everything put away and the desktop was cleared Graham reached for the telephone and dialed.

"Bear Lake Air, how I help you?" came a woman's voice over the telephone.

"Is David Greene there please?" said Graham.

A few moments later a voice came over the telephone, "Dave Greene speaking."

"Graham here, how are you doing Dave?" said Graham.

"Oh pretty good. I'm just getting loaded up for the morning run over to Valdez," said Dave. "What's up?"

"I was wondering if you'd have any room on the eleven o'clock flight today?" asked Graham. "I'm finished early at work and if you have the room it'd be great to be able to leave this morning. Also I need a second seat. My sister dropped her son off with me for the weekend so I want to bring him over with me."

"It's mostly cargo this morning with only a couple of passengers so I still have room left," said Dave. "If you need two seats though it'll depend on the weight. How big is he?"

"Not very big," said Graham. "Under a hundred pounds."

"Oh that's no problem at all," said Dave. "I can leave the back seat down to fit more cargo in and he can sit up front with me."

"I think he'd like that a lot," said Graham with a chuckle. "Besides your insurance company might appreciate you having a co-pilot keeping an eye on you."

"Watch it there," laughed Dave. "If you don't behave there might be an unscheduled water landing and then we'll find out just how well you swim."

"OK, you win," said Graham surrendering. "I'll be good."

"Think you'll be able to make it here in time for the morning run?" asked Dave.

"It'll be tight but we'll be there," said Graham. "I'm just about to leave the office now. Then off to my place, pick up Jamie, and then we'll head straight for the airport."

"No problem," said Dave. "Since I know you're coming if you're a couple of minutes late I'll hold the flight for you."

"Thanks a bunch Dave," said Graham. "Just tack the extra fare onto my bill."

"I'll tell Ida and she can figure it out," said Dave. "See you soon."

Graham hung up and looked at his cleaned off desk for a moment. Then for reasons he did not quite understand he reached into the top drawer of his desk and removed the mug he used for drinking tea. The mug went into his now empty briefcase and he closed it.

Putting on his overcoat Graham picked up his briefcase and took a couple of steps away from his cubicle. He paused for a moment and then looked back at his desk and chair and then around the office as a whole. Graham did not know why but he had a strange feeling that things were going to be quite different by the time the holiday season was over. Finally he turned on his heel and strode out of the office to the elevator. When it arrived he got in and punched the button for the parking level.

***

Back at Graham's apartment Jamie was getting ready to give up on the television set. It was true what they said, ninety-nine channels and nothing on. Morning television did not exactly provide a lot of choices that were interesting to a youngster. Between right-wing political pundits ranting on about how they would solve the latest world crisis given a free hand, yet another interview with a pseudo-psychologist on how to have a more fulfilling life, and lesser fare seemingly designed to encourage people to humiliate themselves to win prizes it was pretty bad all around.

Jamie finally settled on a detective movie that was on a channel that specialized in old programs. Jamie could tell that the show was somewhat dated but it had a lot of subtle humour that he found enjoyable. The main character was tracking down a murderer and was gradually backing the suspect into a corner through a combination of deception and skill rather than through the usual car chases, fistfights, and gunplay that were now used as substitutes for a plotline.

While he was watching the movie the image of Graham flashed into Jamie's mind from last night as he managed to stand down the security guard simply by using his wits. For almost all of Jamie's life those around him had always resolved problems or disputes through physical force – it was all that he had ever known and frequently he had been the target of the attacks. Nevertheless the movie and Graham's actions the previous night fit in with what Jamie had learnt once he was out on the streets. Unlike what he had seen at home Jamie's experiences taking care of himself once he had run away had taught him that having an alert mind was worth far more than having a large fist. This also fit with Jamie realizing that there was more to Graham than was visible on the surface. It would take time however to find out what was underneath and whether it was something for Jamie to fear or not. Nevertheless Jamie had the feeling that if he was given the opportunity he would like to learn more about Graham.

Preoccupied with his thoughts about Graham, Jamie suddenly heard a key opening the door to the apartment and he leapt off of the sofa. Quickly running into the kitchen area he peeked back around the counter to see who was coming though the door.

"Sorry I startled you," said Graham noticing Jamie's reaction to his opening the door. "How are you doing?"

"Pretty good," said Jamie. "There wasn't much on TV but I found this old movie that was interesting and I've been watching it."

Graham glanced at the TV screen for a split-second and smiled as he recognized the rumpled raincoat that was the signature of the main character. The movie that Jamie had settled on was one of a series that all involved the same classic detective, the choice raised Graham's already positive impression of Jamie even higher.

"Sometimes the best way to catch someone isn't by trying to shoot them," said Graham with a grin.

"I was just thinking the same thing and how you handled that guard last night," said Jamie.

Graham smiled at Jamie's appreciative comment and said, "We'll be able to go soon. I just need to pick up a few things and throw them into a bag."

Jamie who had already gotten washed and dressed earlier looked back at the TV as Graham got a small suitcase out of the closet. It only took a couple of minutes to throw the couple of things that Graham needed into it.

"Did work go OK?" asked Jamie.

"Pretty good. No job is great but this one is tolerable," Graham replied as he went into the kitchen area meaning to tidy up the dishes from breakfast that he had forgotten about in his rush to get to the office. Much to his surprise, however, the plates, glasses, and other items were already washed and dried and were sitting carefully laid out on the counter. Graham's eyebrows went up in surprise seeing that Jamie had carefully cleaned everything already.

"Thanks very much for washing up everything for me. I wasn't expecting that," said Graham as he put the dishes and cutlery away in the cupboards.

"It's only fair after everything you've done," said Jamie.

"I've not done that much," said Graham feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"To me you sure have," said Jamie with marked sincerity.

Feeling embarrassed Graham changed the subject and asked, "So are you ready to go on our weekend adventure?"

Jamie was not at all certain that he was but given that Graham had been nothing but kind to him thus far he replied, "Sure. What are we going to do?"

"You collect your things together and then I'll show you," said Graham.

Jamie got up off the sofa and picked up his old clothes from where they had been sitting and pushed them into his backpack. Jamie's old running shoes went into a plastic bag and Graham put them into the suitcase he was packing. Lastly Jamie passed Graham the extra new clothes that they had bought last night and Graham laid them on top of everything else inside the suitcase and then closed it. Graham then cast a quick look around the place to check nothing had been forgotten.

"Need anything else before we go?" asked Graham.

"No, I'm ready," said Jamie getting up, shutting off the TV, and picking up his backpack.

"We'd better get moving then. We don't want to be late," said Graham.

"Late for what?" asked Jamie.

"You'll see," said Graham with a twinkle in his eye.

Jamie accepted Graham's comment quietly despite still feeling nervous about what Graham was planning. Jamie was beginning to feel a bit more at ease with Graham but was still rather skittish.

They headed out and after putting the suitcase in the back of the car Graham unlocked the doors and they got in. A few moments later Graham had the car moving down the road.

"So where are we going?" asked Jamie.

"If I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" replied Graham with mystery. However, seeing the troubled look on Jamie's face added, "Don't worry Jamie. You'll like it, I promise you will."

Jamie decided to wait before making up his mind. Things with Graham had been good so far. Actually far more than simply good Jamie admitted to himself. The question was how long would they remain that way before he would have to run again? He knew all too well that no matter how good things might appear at first they would eventually change – they always did.

Graham quickly navigated his way through the city, in, around, and through the traffic doing his best to get from the suburb where he lived during the weekdays to the opposite side of town with a minimum of delay. It seemed to Graham at times that there were traffic lights almost every block but gradually they made their way through the tangle of city traffic. When Graham got closer to the west side of town Jamie recognized the suburb they were headed for and was perplexed. What was out here that could be classified as an adventure? Then Graham made one more turn and Jamie saw the big blue sign on the side of the road pointing the way to the airport.

"We're going to the airport?" asked Jamie with surprise.

"Sort of," replied Graham somewhat cryptically.

The car then made a turn to the left off the main route to the airport and went along a side road that was adjacent to a small river inlet. Graham then turned off that road and pulled into a parking lot next to a small building perched on the side of the riverbank.

"We're here," announced Graham opening the car door and getting out.

"Here?" said Jamie picking up his backpack and getting out of the car. "There's nothing here. The airport's back over that way."

"Oh I think there is," said Graham with a big grin.

Picking up the suitcase out of the back of the car Graham pointed towards the little building next to the river bank and they began to walk the few hundred yards towards it. Approaching the building Jamie looked above the door and saw an old sign with the paint peeling off and a name carved into it: Bear Lake Air. The name certainly did not sound like any airline Jamie had ever heard of and the rundown look of the building and the sign did not exactly inspire confidence. Graham opened the front door to the building and waited for a hesitant Jamie to pass through.

"You'd better hurry if you don't want them to leave without you," Graham said with a smile.

"What kind of place is this?" asked Jamie with some apprehension in his voice.

"Just a moment and I'll show you," said Graham.

Going up to a Dutch door that had the top half open Graham announced himself. A woman inside the small office recognized Graham and waved.

"You made it," she said. "He said you would."

"I'm sorry we're a couple of minutes late Ida. We got here as quickly as we could," replied Graham.

"You'd better go down right away," Ida added as she ticked off Graham's name on a clipboard attached to the wall. "We don't want the other passengers to start complaining."

Graham motioned for Jamie to join him as he walked towards a door on the opposite side of the little building. Opening the door Graham let Jamie go through first.

Stepping through the door and back into the bright winter sunshine outside Jamie found himself looking down at a white floatplane with green markings sitting at the edge of the river inlet. It was tied up to a small wharf just below the level of the building and the native-inspired emblem of a bear on the tail shone as the sunlight reflected off it.

"We're going in that?" Jamie asked with astonishment.

"You can't get to where we're going in an ordinary plane you know," replied Graham smiling.

Jamie looked down at the floatplane as a large burly man hopped out of the door at the front of the plane and came up to Graham and Jamie. Taking the suitcase out of Graham's hand he went back down towards the plane with Graham and Jamie following him.

"We're only a couple of minutes off schedule," he said while putting the suitcase into the back of the plane after which he secured the latch on the cargo door.

"Sorry for making you wait Dave," said Graham. "I had to finish a couple of things at the office before I could leave."

"It's no problem. I knew you'd get here. Ida just gets her feathers in an uproar if things aren't exactly on time," said Dave with a laugh. "She keeps everything running efficiently even if I forget sometimes."

Dave held open the side door while Graham climbed up and into the plane. Then Dave helped Jamie climb up into the passenger cabin. After they were both inside Dave closed the door from the outside.

Graham had sat down in the only remaining seat in the passenger cabin and Jamie was looking about puzzled because there was nowhere left to sit. While he was trying to figure out what to do Dave had untied the floatplane, pushed it off from the wharf, and climbed in the door next to the pilot's seat.

"Hey, where's my co-pilot?" called out Dave after giving a wink to Graham.

Graham grinned at Jamie and motioned towards the seat in the front next to the pilot.

"Me?" asked an unbelieving Jamie.

"Better hurry up, I'm not allowed to take off without someone at the controls over here," continued Dave in a mock gruff voice.

Jamie looked towards Graham for support but found him completely engrossed in a close examination of the air safety pamphlet. Graham peeked over the top of the card to watch while Jamie nervously climbed into the seat at the front of the plane on the right side of Dave. After getting into the seat, Jamie took his backpack off and put it down on the floor between his feet.

Jamie looked back at Graham hesitantly but then seeing a big smile on his face realized that this must have been the plan all along. Jamie put on his seatbelt after seeing Dave buckle himself in and then looked over all the gauges and switches on the console wondering what they all did.

"You'd better put these on too," said Dave handing Jamie a set of headphones that he had just plugged into an audio jack on the side of the bulkhead overtop of the young boy. Once Jamie had the headphones on Dave said into his microphone. "Can you hear me OK?"

"Loud and clear," said a smiling Jamie into the microphone attached to the headphones while adjusting the headset for a better fit.

Calling out loudly to the people sitting behind him Dave said, "OK everyone my name is Dave and I'm going to be your co-pilot. For a change we're lucky today and actually have someone with us who's been properly trained on these new-fangled flying machines. So instead of hanging on by your knuckles while I'm reading the instruction manual I'm going to turn the controls over to our Captain here. If you have any questions just read the safety card, all the pictures are in English for your convenience. So hold on tight and if anything goes wrong remember that the passenger next to you can be used as a flotation device."

Jamie blushed as he heard the chuckles coming from the passengers behind him but he was still pleased to have such a good seat. From where he was sitting Jamie could see everything not to mention the fact that he would get to watch Dave up close as he flew the plane. He wondered if Graham knew that he had never been inside a plane of any sort let alone sitting in the cockpit of one. Whatever kind of adventure Graham had in mind it was certainly starting to look interesting.

Looking out of the plane's front windscreen Jamie watched as the floatplane slowly drifted to the centre of the river inlet, but when the plane remained silent he looked over at Dave curious why he was not starting the engine.

When Jamie finally turned in his direction a placid Dave sitting with his arms folded said, "You'd better start the engine up pretty soon or we'll drift too far. After all that is part of the captain's job you know."

Jamie's mouth opened and he did not know what to say at first but eventually he managed to say in a very small voice, "But I don't know anything about flying a plane."

"What?" said Dave with overemphasized shock, "I was told you were certified on the de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver."

"No, I don't know anything about floatplanes," said Jamie with worry showing all over his face.

"Oh dear. I suppose that also means you don't know why this red light is blinking do you," said Dave pointing at the power light on the GPS navigator's display on Jamie's side of the console.

"No I don't," said a nervous Jamie in a very small voice.

"That's OK, neither do I. We'll just have to cross our fingers that it's nothing important. I still need your help though; I want you to move the red mixture lever up to about here and then pump the white throttle lever up and down twice while I hit the ignition switch," said Dave pointing towards the three engine controls located in the middle-top of the console. "Hopefully there aren't any union reps around from the International Brotherhood of Airline Pilots and Skateboard Technicians to register a complaint."

Realizing now that Dave was only joking with him Jamie reached over and slowly pushed the mixture lever up as Dave had directed and pumped the throttle. The engine sputtered once and then roared into life when Dave flipped the red ignition switch up and Jamie looked towards Dave and grinned.

"You want to do the takeoff yourself or do you want me to give it a try?" asked Dave.

Now feeling more confident and into the flow of things Jamie giggled, "You probably need the practice so I'll let you do it."

"Oh a wise guy eh?" laughed Dave. "All right everyone, it looks like you're stuck with me. Hang onto your hats, here goes nothing!"

Jamie looked back towards Graham who grinned at him and winked and Jamie gave him a big smile. It was clear to Jamie now that Dave, their pilot, was a total character. However despite his fondness for humour he was obviously very well trained. Dave quickly guided the floatplane up the inlet away from the boats that were alongside the banks, and then smoothly turned it around getting it into takeoff position in the centre of the river inlet.

Jamie looked back towards the front of the plane just as Dave was throttling up the engine to full and the plane began to pick up speed rapidly. In a matter of seconds the plane was soon skimming along the surface of the water at high speed.

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Jamie as the floatplane then rose up out of the water, banked slightly, and headed out over the marshy river delta and away from the coast.

NEXT PART