This is a work of fiction.
It inspired by characters created by Shaun Cassidy for the TV Show -American
Gothic.
The Characters of Dr. Walter Freeman and his son Keen were real people but
are used fictitiously in the context of this story.
The event Dr. Freeman tells Caleb in Part 6 really happened and are used in
this story
 ------------------
I'd Rather Have a Bottle in Front of Me ...
          By Sean Elliott (sdelliot@neodata.com)

Part 1

     The temperature in Trinity, South Carolina was in the upper 80's. The
humidity was high, and the air hung like a damp curtain, parting just enough
to allow a young boy in a colorful striped shirt to pass through on his way
back home.
     It was a summer Sunday afternoon and Caleb Temple had just finished
delivering lunch to a wheelchair bound old woman who lived down the street.
 Miss Holt, who ran the boarding house just liked to help people out. She
frequently sent meals to the elderly, the shut-ins,  or just to a neighbor
to be friendly. She was an excellent cook, and people loved it when she made
them a meal. Caleb had been living with her since his family was killed
almost two years earlier. He rounded the corner and was heading up the
sidewalk to the boarding house where he saw his best friend sitting on the
steps. A slender, blond haired boy the same age as Caleb, wearing blue
jeans, black sneakers, and a bright yellow T-shirt. He was looking down at a
black ball in his hands.
     Whatcha' staring at, Boone?" asked Caleb.
     "My mom bought it at a garage sale." answered the boy, a hushed
reverent tone in his voice. "It tells the future."
"It looks like a big ole' black pool ball." Caleb said as he smirked and
walked a little closer. "How's it work?"
"You ask it a question, turn it upside down, and it answers!" Boone was
handing the ball towards Caleb. "But you gotta be careful, it leaks."
     Caleb tried to palm the ball and felt the water slosh inside causing it
to wobble precariously in his hand. He steadied it with his left hand, but
it was still shaking slightly, as if an animal were trapped inside and
shivering from fright. "Feels warm." was all he said. He could see a small
hairline crack right through the large number 8 at the top.
"Ask a question!" hurried Boone.
"What are we having for Dinner?" asked Caleb. With a slow turn, he looked at
the window at the bottom.
A small cube floated up to the window to reveal the answer.

     "YES"

"What kind of answer is that?"
"It's gotta' be a 'Yes or No' type of question, or it don't work." said
Boone.
     Thinking he was the butt of a practical joke, but not willing to give
up, Caleb tried again. "Are we having pot roast for dinner?"

     "MOST DEFINITELY"

     Caleb smiled. Partly because he was able to make the contraption work,
partly because he knew it was the correct answer. Every Sunday since Dr.
Matt Crower was sent to Juniper House for trying to kill Lucas Buck, Loris
Holt served what she called 'Yankee Pot Roast'.  She said it was her way of
making sure Caleb never forgot about the man who tried so hard to take care
of him.
     Saddened by the thought of his friend, Caleb thought to himself  "Will
Dr. Matt ever get to come back?"
     A large shadow loomed over Caleb. "What you got there son?"
     Caleb and Boone both jumped at the sudden appearance of Lucas Buck.
Sheriff of Fulton County. He was wearing black boots, black jeans, a black
vest and a red long sleeved shirt. Even in this heat, he looked cool.
"Just some toy." said Boone, voice slightly shaking causing a small stutter.
Sheriff Buck gave Boone the creeps, but he could never figure out why.
"Not just a toy, but a 'Magic 8 Ball." said the sheriff, speaking to both
boys, but looking at Caleb. "I used to have one of these sitting next to my
Lava Lamp."
     Caleb didn't know what a Lava Lamp was, but figured it was probably a
small volcano that sat on a table, with a light bulb in the crater. Why
Lucas would have something as ugly as that was beyond him.
Taking the 8-ball from Caleb, Lucas turned the ball over to see the answer
in the window.
     The air seemed to darken, and both Caleb and Boone felt a gust of cold
air wash over them.
Caleb looked up and the sheriff was staring straight at him. "Magic can be a
dangerous thing in the hands of a boy." he said. He tossed the globe in
Caleb's general direction ,who caught it before it hit the ground.
The wind quickly ceased and Boone looked around.
     Lucas Buck was gone.
     "How does he sneak up like that?" asked Boone. He looked at Caleb's
hand and saw small droplets of blood trickling from his friend's hand and
forming a small, sticky red puddle on the sidewalk. "Caleb? Are you all
right?"
     Transfixed by the globe, Caleb did not respond to Boone's question. It
wasn't the blood leaking from the small crack that held Caleb's attention.
It was the reply in the window.

     "HELP ME"

Part 2
     Dr. Billy Peale, a resident at Fulton County Hospital, was finishing up
his rounds when he spotted Caleb walking into office. "Hello, Mr. Temple."
he said, his voice slightly touched with a Cajun accent. "What are you
needing?"
     "Have you seen Dr. Matt lately?"
     He took off his smock to reveal a gray, short sleeve pullover and dark
gray slacks. Billy then sat in his chair, leaned back ,brushed his thick
brown hair out of his eyes, and looked toward Caleb. "Saw him yesterday as a
matter of fact, he asked a lot of questions about you."
     Billy knew that Caleb and Matt had some kind of history together, but
he arrived in Trinity shortly before Matt was 'taken away' and few people
would tell him the background.
"Did he seem OK?" asked Caleb, almost pleading.
"He was talkative.  We were talking about a few of my patients. He laughed
when I said your teacher and I were no longer on speaking terms." Billy
continued ,"It was almost as if he were sitting in this office instead of a
mental hospital."
Caleb relaxed, and for a quick second, smiled. "Thanks Doc." he said.
     A few moments of idle chit chat and Caleb left the office.

     "Dr. Billy Peale!" he whispered to himself , "You ought to be ashamed."
He sat at his desk and pulled out Matt Crowers folder. There were a lot of
entries from the staff concerning violent fits of temper. Attacking
orderlies and other inmates seemed to be everyday occurrences, but Billy
could see no sign of that behavior when he was visiting with Crower the day
before. Gail Emory, Caleb's cousin and only known relative, had also talked
with Matt frequently,  She had confessed to Billy that, except for his
surroundings, all seemed normal.
     He remembered the hospital he interned at in Philadelphia. At the time,
it was in the forefront of mental health, some of the very best Doctors of
psychiatry had roamed those halls. He picked up the phone and dialed long
distance to the 'Allegheny University of Health Sciences.' The Chief of
 Staff might remember him, and he owed Billy a long overdue favor.

     Outside the hospital, leaning next to his Crown Victoria, stood Lucas
Buck. He was staring at Doctor Peale's window. A self satisfied smirk
creeping across his face.

Part 3
     A few days later, when the dusty Greyhound bus pulled to the stop, only
one passenger got off.  He was a middle-aged bald man with a small, well
trimmed goatee, gold wire framed glasses, and a light brown tweed suit with
leather patches at the elbow. He waited while the driver pulled his suitcase
from the bus' underbelly. The suitcase was covered in a light, gray fabric
style that was, like his clothing, 40 years out of date.  From where he
stood, he could see down the road to the main street that turned into
Trinity. A police cruiser pulled up next to him and the passenger window
came down.  The man looked in the window and asked "Is something wrong
officer?"
     The policeman replied "I'm Ben Healy, sir. I was sent by Sheriff Lucas
Buck to take you to the boarding house."

     The cruiser stopped in front of Loris Holt's Boarding house and the man
stepped out. Ben stepped out and looked up and down the street. He and the
stranger were alone.  He walked to the back and pulled the old suitcase from
the trunk.  "I appreciate your tireless efforts, Ben, but I'll help the good
doctor." Ben jumped at the sudden appearance of Lucas Buck. "Geez, Lucas,
you almost gave me a heart attack!"  Ben handed the suitcase to the Sheriff
and tilted his head toward the stranger, "He didn't say a word all the way
into town. He just stared out the window."  He sat behind the steering wheel
of the police cruiser.
     "He has a lot on his mind, Ben." replied Lucas. "Better get back to the
station before Floyd burns it down."
     As Ben drove away, Lucas walked up the sidewalk carrying the suitcase.
"You got your ice-pick in here Doc'?"
The man looked at him and stood to his full height of nearly six feet and
emphatically said "It is not an 'Ice-pick'!"
     "Yah, whatever." Lucas retorted, "Besides, you have been, shall we say,
'Out of circulation' for the last 25 years. And your methods aren't as well
accepted as they were in your heyday."
     The man stopped at the front door and looked down at his feet. "If I do
..." he paused, trying to phrase his question.".. this ..'thing', You will
let me see my son? You'll let me see Keen?"
     "We made a deal, and as anybody will tell you, I always keep my word."
     Lucas knocked on the door. "One other thing," he said, "Wear a new
suit."

 Loris Holt opened the door only a few seconds later. She saw the man
standing on the porch by himself. "You must be Dr. Freeman."  She ushered
him into the front room. "Dr. Peale said to be expecting you."
     "Please," he said, "Call me Walter." The stranger looked around the
room.
Loris stared at him then bluntly asked "Are you going to take care of Doc'
Crower?"
Looking Loris in the eyes, he answered "Yes. I made deal."

Part 4
     Caleb was walking down a large hallway with hundreds of doors on either
side. Some of the doors rattled as he passed them. Through others,  he could
hear moaning and groans coming from behind as he made his way down the hall.
The voice he heard above all others was that of  Dr. Crower. "Help me,
Caleb." he heard over and over. He was making his way toward a door at the
end of the hallway. A bright light was shining through it's small window,
casting a long shadow behind Caleb.  It was from here that Matt's voice was
emanating. He could hear another voice stating "Don't worry, this will be
over with soon enough."
     Caleb started running down the hall. Even though he was running as fast
as he could, the door only seemed to be inching closer. Dr. Crower's cries
for help had increased in both volume and desperation. After an eternity of
running, Caleb finally reached the door. He heard a slight metallic
'tap-tap' and a howl of anguish from his friend.  The light behind the door
flared intensely, then immediately dimmed to a dull gray . He heard the
strange voice again. "That  wasn't so bad now, was it?"
Caleb flung the door open and saw only a small narrow bed sitting in the
middle of the room. He recognized it as a gurney for moving patients in a
hospital.
A man was lying on the bed, his  back was towards the door and Caleb could
not see who it was.
"Dr. Matt?" he asked ,moving toward the bed. "Is that you?"
Caleb was finally close enough to lay his hand on the prostrate form.
 The figure turned suddenly and grabbed Caleb by the shoulders. It was Dr.
Matt.
His face had a flaccid look that appeared to be slipping off of his skull.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP ME?" He yelled, spittle spraying Caleb's face. His eyes
then went dead. He let his arms down and lay there breathing shallowly.
Caleb stared for a minute, unsure of what to do.
"You were my only hope. " Matt half spoke, half whispered. He had started
crying.
Caleb leaned over to comfort his friend and saw that it wasn't tears Matt
had flowing from his eyes. It was blood.
Caleb started to scream.

"NOOOO!" Caleb yelled as he sat up in bed. He laid back in his bed for a
moment. He could still hear the accusatory words ringing in his ears. "My
only hope." over and over again slowly dissipating into the dark.
     He climbed out of bed, still shaking from the power of the nightmare.
He walked into his bathroom to relieve himself. He went to the sink and
rinsed his face off with cold water. There was water puddling on the floor
and at first Caleb thought that the toilet had backed up. When he looked up,
he saw a boy, reflected in the mirror, standing behind him. The boy was no
more than ten or eleven years old and was standing by the door.  Caleb
turned around quickly and the boy was reflected in the mirror on the
bathroom door, standing close to the sink.  Don't let it happen." The boy
croaked.  He was wearing the kind of clothes Caleb only saw in old
photographs. Caleb realized that the water on the floor was not from the
toilet, but from the boy. His clothes were soaking wet, and leaves, twigs
and mud were tangled in the cloth and in his hair.  His skin was as white as
any Caleb had ever seen. "Don't let it happen." the boy said again. Caleb
saw muddy water dribbling from the boy's mouth when he spoke. The boy stared
at him and slowly vanished. "Don't let it hap..." he whispered just before
disappearing entirely. Caleb stared at the mirror, first the one on the
door, then the one over the sink. The only proof  of what happened was the
large puddle of muddy water on the bathroom floor. Grabbing towels off the
rack to clean up the mess, Caleb thought to himself "Don't let WHAT
happen?".
      He remembered the first time he had seen his sister after she had been
killed and the questions he asked her. This time there was no doubt.
     He had seen a ghost.

Part 5
     Slipping out before breakfast, Caleb headed to his cousin's apartment.
Gail Emory was Caleb's only surviving relative, and he knew that he could
ask her anything and not be made fun of. He was tempted to go see Lucas
Buck, the man who claimed to be his daddy, but Lucas was always turning
everything into a lesson. Caleb didn't want a life lesson, he wanted
answers. Down at the end of the street, he could see Lucas' car turning off
the intersection towards him. He thought of hiding behind a tree, but he
knew that was useless. No matter where he was, Lucas could be there. It was
scary sometimes, but it was the truth.
     The Crown Victoria did a U-turn in the middle of the street and slowly
paced Caleb as he kept walking. The passenger window came down. "Hey son,
where you going this early in the morning!"
"I just felt like goin' fer a walk. That's all!" Caleb answered. "How'd you
know I wasn't with Miss Holt?"
"It was Miss Holt who called the station when she went to get you for
breakfast ." Lucas said. " She saw all the wet and dirty towels and thought
you and Boone might be up to some foolishness."
Caleb kept walking. "I ain't up to nothing, I just want to walk!"
"Well, judging by the mess in your bathroom, I thought maybe you had
yourself a 'wet dream'."
Caleb stopped and looked into the window. "A what?"
" You'll find out soon enough I suppose." Lucas said with a smile. "Anyway,
there's nothing wrong with an early morning walk." Lucas replied. "It goes a
long way to helping a person solve their problems."
"I ain't got no problems!" Caleb stated emphatically.
     Lucas put the car in gear and started to drive away. Before the window
was up completely, Lucas called out. "Say hello to that cousin of yours."
 Caleb stared at the car as it drove away, and shook his head.

     Gail was just putting her breakfast dishes in the sink when she saw
Caleb walking up towards her door.  She opened the door before Caleb had a
chance to knock.  "A little early for a social call, wouldn't you say."  She
said through a smile.  Caleb walked into the apartment and helped himself to
a muffin sitting in a basket on the kitchen counter and then sat at her
kitchen table.
     Gail cared about Caleb deeply, but she was never quite at ease around
him. She tried to tell herself it was because she was not all that
comfortable around children in general, but she knew the truth. It was his
close connection to Lucas. She had a hard time with anybody who was friends
with her former lover.
     "So." said Gail. "Why the early visit?"
     Caleb swallowed the last of the muffin then eyed the others on the
counter. Gail grabbed the basket and put it in front of her cousin.
     "How's Dr. Matt?" he said.
Gail brushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes and answered. "He seems to
be fine, Caleb. Why do you ask?"
"Somethin's happenin', I can feel it."
She knew that just a few days before, Caleb was asking Billy Peale the same
questions.  "I know for a fact he is OK." she said. "And just to make sure,
Dr. Peale called some people to send down a specialist, a person who can
really help Matt."
"What is this guy like?"
Gail leaned close to Caleb and looked him in the eyes. She rubbed the top of
his head. "You could have asked him all these questions yourself if you
would'a stayed in for breakfast. He's in the boarding house even as we
speak."
     Caleb drank two big glasses of milk and finished off a third muffin.
Gail offered him a ride to anywhere he wanted to go.
     He wanted to go to Juniper House, the sanitarium where Matt Crower was
staying since the day he tried to kill Lucas. He knew he wasn't allowed
inside due to his age (and Lucas' orders to the staff, undoubtedly), but on
the east side of the sanitarium, near the river , there was a spot perfect
for picnics.   Gail pointed out a spot on the third floor where there were
no windows, but on the other side of the wall was Matt's room. Gail would
leave Caleb at this spot and sit at her car, leaving him to his thoughts.
She tried sitting with him once and he looked up at her and said he wanted
to be by himself. She told him that if he ever wanted company, all he had to
do was ask. In the last two years since Gail showed him the spot, he never
did.
     Caleb would sit for hours and stare at that part of the building,
taking comfort in knowing that his friend was right there. Less than 100
yards away.  He liked to think that maybe Dr. Matt was taking comfort from
him too.
     He was sitting with his back to the tree staring up at the building.
"Are you OK Dr. Matt?" he whispered gently.  A soft glow lit up behind him
and Caleb turned with a smile. "Merly!" He stood and looked on as his sister
slowly came into view.
     He self consciously looked around for Gail, but she was at her red
Mustang talking to someone on her cell phone. She had recently done an
article about the inconsistencies of sonograms and one of the nightly news
programs was wanting to use it in their show. Turning back to his sister, he
could not wait to tell her about the 'magic 8 Ball, his dream, and the wet
ghost in his bathroom.  When he was done, Merly looked at him with a wistful
smile. "A friend is calling you for help, Caleb. You are not looking at
dreams, it's the future, and it's the past."
     "Why was Dr. Matt crying blood?" he asked. "Why the wet ghost in my
bathroom?"
"His light is about to be taken from him." Merly said. "I didn't find my
light until..that night." She looked away.  Caleb knew she was talking about
his tenth birthday.
     Caleb was horrified. "Someone's gonna' kill Dr. Matt?"
     "Worse." Merly replied. "You'll find out tonight, you just have to
believe it when you see it."
     Merly  walked behind a tree, and the glow that was always around her
disappeared. Caleb didn't bother going after her. He knew she was gone.
     "CALEB!"
     Caleb turned toward the sound and saw that Gail was calling after him.
He ran to her car.
" I need to get back to town." she said. "My batteries in this phone are
dead, and the producer of '20/20' is waiting for me to call back.

Part 6
     Gail dropped Caleb back at the boarding house. He went inside, got a
quick lecture from Loris concerning his early morning venture, then ate a
quick lunch. Afterwards, he jumped on a bicycle borrowed from Boone and made
his way to the hospital.
     Dr. Peale was sitting at the desk when Caleb walked in. "What are you
doing for Dr. Matt?" he said as soon as he got into the room. Billy looked
up, then his eyes moved across the room towards the window. A man was
standing there that Caleb had never seen before. Before he could say
anything, Billy sat up in his chair. "This is what I am doing for Dr.
Crower." he said.
     The man smiled and reached out his hand. "You must be the 'Temple'
boy." he said. "I have heard a lot about you. Caleb stared at the man's
clothes. He was wearing a dark blue 'Brooks Brother's' suit and Black
Ferragamo shoes. Caleb didn't know a lot about clothes, but he remembered
something Gage Temple, his dad, had told him. "Don't trust a man that's
never sat down in his suit."
 It didn't make any sense, but the thought made Caleb smile. Not many
memories of his dad made him smile.  Caleb grabbed the mans hand. "Are you
the 'head doctor' that's going to fix Dr. Matt?"
"I will do what I can, son. But, no promises. OK?"
     Billy walked around the desk and said "Dr. Freeman here is a
specialist. And" he said with a flourish, "according to the Chief of  Staff
at my Alma Mater, he is the best in the business."
     Caleb wanted to ask why, if everyone was saying that Matt was OK, why
was some old guy in a new suit making a special trip from up north
someplace. But the fact that the man was here only helped confirm his
suspicions.
     "Let's you and I take a walk, shall we?" Dr. Freeman said to Caleb.

     Caleb and the doctor were walking around the block. Starting at the
hospital, they would end at the hospital.   The temperature was still in the
upper 80's, but the Doctor was not breaking a sweat, even in his new suit.
     "Everybody tell's me that you and Dr. Crower have a special bond." the
man said. "Is that true?"
     "We was friends, that's all." said Caleb.
     "I know that he lost his family in a tragic accident. I also know that
you too, have lost your family. Maybe that is what your special bond is."
     They walked a few paces while the doctor considered his next words. "I
lost family, too. I know what it is like to lose loved ones. To feel
powerless while they are taken away from you."
     Caleb kept silent for a moment and remembered the awful night he first
met Dr. Crower. "Do you have any gumballs?" he asked. The man smiled. "My
son loved gumballs, I would bring home a bag a week from a corner store, and
they'd be gone in two days."
     Knowing that this was the 'family' the man was referring too, Caleb
asked what happened to him.
     "We were in a State park in Wyoming," he said. "We were walking near a
river when the railing gave way and he fell in." They had stopped walking,
but Dr. Freeman continued on. "I ran as fast down the river bank as fast as
I could, I almost caught him once but the current was too strong. A young
sailor nearby, he jumped in and tried to save him. I'm afraid that the
sailor lost his life too."
"I'm sorry about your son." said Caleb, his hair starting to stand on the
back of his neck.
"Would you like to see his Picture?" The man said as he pulled an old beaten
wallet from his back pocket. He flipped the bifold open to an old black and
white photo of a boy sitting on a stool. "His name is Keen."
Caleb stared at the photo, trying to figure out what everything meant.
     The boy in the picture was the ghost in his bathroom.

Part 7
     Caleb left Dr. Freeman at a run, and headed towards the City Park.
"MERLY!!" he yelled. "I need your help.!!"
Sitting next to a tree, he felt a presence near him and looked up. It was
Lucas Buck.
     "You sure are traveling a lot today." He said. "Gail's, then Juniper
House, the Hospital, and now here." Lucas smiled. "You want to find your
sister, she's in the graveyard."
"YOU'RE TRYING TO HURT DR. MATT!" Caleb yelled, anger causing his voice to
break.
Lucas liked seeing Caleb angry. It was then that he saw the potential that
the boy was capable of.
 "Nobody is going to hurt the good doctor."  Lucas said, "But after he gets
'fixed up', I doubt he'll be taking any shots at anyone, 'cept maybe shots
of whiskey."
     Caleb stared at Lucas for a moment. "I hate you!" he said.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" replied Lucas as Caleb turned and ran away.

     Caleb sat on the edge of the pier and dangled his legs over the side. A
shadow loomed over him. Caleb turned. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" he shrieked.
Boone was standing there, eyeing Caleb with surprise and shock on his face.
     "Sorry" Caleb said softly. "I thought you was someone else."
Boone looked up and down the empty pier as well as back in the park. "There
is no one else here. " he said. But he figured Lucas must have pulled his
disappearing act again.
     "Miss Holt needs to go up to Ascension to help out a friend there
tonight." Boone said. "She spoke to my mom about you spending the night at
my house. Ma' rented a movie about a talking mule."
Caleb wasn't one for sitting and staring at a TV, he wanted to figure out
how to help Dr. Matt. He figured he would stay at Boones, and while they
watching some dumb movie, he would let his mind wander where it may.
Sometimes his best idea's came to him that way.

Part 8
     After dinner, with Boone's mom in the kitchen cleaning up, Caleb and
Boone spread out on the floor in front of the TV as Boone's sister pushed
the video tape into the VCR. "I saw this movie before." she said, "It is
really funny." Caleb sat in front of the couch and thought that if Lucas or
Dr. Matt didn't have TV's, then they probably weren't worth having. Gage
Temple would sit in front of the tube and drink himself into a stupor.
"Yup," he thought to himself, "I get my own place, I won't have me no TV."
He started to sink into his troubled thoughts as the tape started to play.
     "What's this?" asked Boone. "Mom, you got the wrong movie!"
Caleb bounced out of his reverie and looked towards his friend.
Boone's mother stepped out of the kitchen and pulled the tape out of the
VCR.
"I know I asked for 'Francis, The Talking Mule'." she said. It was her
daughters favorite, and she asked for it whenever it was her turn to pick a
movie. "There was a new girl behind the counter, I never saw her before."
she said. "Really pretty. "
     The movie she held in her hand was "Frances".  A movie starring Jessica
Lange. She looked for the rating and saw it was rated "R" for language. She
was a woman not afraid to use a cuss word or two herself and so she saw no
harm in sliding the movie back into the VCR. "It's this or nothing." she
said. "At least it's not smut." She thought as she walked back into the
kitchen.
     Boone slumped and his sister whined as she walked into her bedroom.
 Caleb didn't care. He could ignore this movie as easy as any other.

     As the movie played, Caleb found himself getting interested. He liked
the storyline about the strong willed woman actor who was not afraid to
speak her mind, not afraid to stand up to authority.  She was not afraid to
tell her folks a thing or two.
     As the movie went on, Caleb did start to drift off to sleep. The movie
was interesting, but he had been up since his early morning trek to Gail
Emory's place.
The characters in the movie were talking about getting Frances fixed up.
Make her not quite so argumentative and outspoken. It was right around this
point that Caleb started to drift off to sleep.

"It's called a lobotomy, and Dr. Freeman will demonstrate."
     Caleb jerked awake. He looked around the room. Boone was asleep on the
couch, his mom also asleep in an overstuffed chair.
      The movie was clearly almost over but something about it was wrong.
The 'Frances' character was being strapped down on a hospital gurney and she
was unable to work her way free.
     Caleb watched intensely.
     "They're taking her light." he heard from the set. Caleb blinked and
saw that while the woman was being strapped down, one of the orderlies was
looking, not down at the actress, but at him. Caleb blinked sleep from his
eyes and saw that the orderly was his sister, Merly.
     Caleb watched as the Doctor on the TV took something that looked like a
pointy screwdriver and slid it under the bound woman's eyelid. The Doctor on
the TV looked just like the Doctor that he met earlier in the day.
     The woman on the gurney was thrashing as much as she was able. The
Doctor had a small hammer in his hand and he started to tap on the handle of
the pointed instrument. "This won't hurt a bit." he said.
The orderly/Merly stared at Caleb. "Don't let this happen." she/he said.
The Doctor looked up towards Caleb as well. "I do this," he said  "and I can
see Keen again."
     A couple of taps on the tool, then the Doctor moved the handle around
in a small back and forth motion. A brief anguished howl from the woman and
all was still.
     Caleb continued to stare at the TV.  His sister had disappeared from
the screen. The Doctor was still there and now he was staring towards Caleb.
"Now I can see Keen, I can see my boy again."
"You were my only hope!" emanated from the TV. It was coming from the woman
on the gurney. Only it wasn't a woman. Staring at Caleb with a slack,
relaxed face, and lifeless eyes,  was Matt Crower. "YOU WERE MY ONLY
HOPE!!!"

     A slamming door woke Boone and his mom. Caleb was no longer in the
room.

Part 9
     A quick check through the boarding house confirmed what Caleb already
knew. The Doctor was gone. Loris Holt had yet to return from Ascension, a
town just down the Highway from Trinity.
     Juniper House was a good ten miles away and Caleb had no choice but to
start running towards it.
He knew Matt Crower was almost out of time.

     Extremely short of breath and only two miles closer to the asylum,
Caleb was bent over double and gasping for breath by the side of the
highway. It was close to 10:00 PM and at the rate he was going, he would
never make it in time. He closed his eyes and whispered a prayer. To whom he
was praying was anybody's guess.   Even with his eyes closed, he could
detect the light through his closed lids.
"Merly?" He said.
     He opened his eyes only to find he was still alone. But a car was
coming down the highway. He watched as it came closer. With no other choice,
when it was as close as he dared, he jumped in front of it. The car
screeched to a halt scant inches from where Caleb stood. He recognized the
car, and for the first time in a long while, smiled.
     "Hey, little buck." the driver said, "Just because I'm not your teacher
anymore is no reason to be such a stranger."
     "Hello, Miss Coombs, Thank you fer stoppin'". Caleb walked toward the
yellow Corvette as the passenger door swung open. A beautiful woman with
short dark blonde hair sat behind the wheel. She was wearing a sequined vest
that showed a lot of cleavage and a blue mini skirt. She gave a smile to
Caleb  that made his heart pound harder than it already was and made him go
weak in the knees. With a grateful sigh, he plopped down in the passenger
seat.
     "Why are you out on the highway in the middle of the night?" she asked.
"I got to get to Juniper House right away or something bad is going to
happen to Dr. Matt!!" he pleaded.
Selena stared at Caleb for a moment. "An asylum is no place for you. Are you
crazy?"
Caleb gave a sidelong glance at her bad joke. "Miss Coombs," he pleaded.
"Please take me there."
Selena  glanced at her watch. The good men at the bar , if there was such a
thing ,would be drunk, gone, or worse, ready to marry, by the time she got
there. "Sorry, Caleb, honey."  she said, "Let me take you home." She paused,
and with a throaty whisper added, "Your place I mean, no sense pushing you
into manhood at such a tender age."  She turned the car around and headed
back towards town.
     Caleb sat dejected for a moment till an idea occurred to him.
     Doing his best to keep the smirk hidden from his face and with the most
sincere voice he could conjure said. "You're prob'ly right. Lucas told me
that was no place for a young boy. In fact, he forbid me from ever going
there."
     Selena hit the brakes and sharply turned the steering wheel to the
right.  The car spun in a half circle and was once again facing the
direction Caleb had to go. Selena punched the gas, and the car rocketed
forward.
 "Yes!" Caleb almost yelled aloud.
     Caleb reached forward, and out of curiosity, opened up the Corvette's
glove compartment. The car did a forward lurch and a small box fell into
Caleb's lap. Without taking her eyes off the road, Selena reached towards
Caleb's lap and felt around till she found the box. "Please tell me that you
are not ready for these yet, honey." She flipped the box back into the glove
compartment and slapped it shut. Caleb did not see what was in the box, but
saw the word 'Trojans' just before it was hidden from view.      Patting
Caleb on the upper thigh, Selena winked at Caleb and said "Oh, yeah. You are
your daddy's boy, all right."
     With Caleb blushing crimson, and the Corvette closing up on 90 miles an
hour, they slipped into the night.

     Slightly more than 5 minutes passed before the bright yellow Corvette
slid to a stop in front of the asylum. As Caleb was getting ready to jump
out of the car, Selena grabbed him by the wrist and said, "If Lucas asks who
brought you here, you be sure to tell him in as sweet a way as possible that
it was your former 5th grade teacher, Miss Selena Coombs."
"Yes'm" he replied and closed the door.
     As he was running up the steps, past the carved winged lions on either
side, Caleb barely heard the words Selena was yelling after him. "If he has
a problem, tell that bastard to take it up with me personally!!" Caleb
wasn't sure, but it almost sounded as if Miss Coombs was pleading.

Part 10
     Caleb got to the top of the stairs and pulled on the door. Locked ! He
pulled and yelled for help. Louvre blinds were hanging down over the glass,
but they were turned open and Caleb could see down the hallway. He saw a
pair of orderlies pushing a man on a gurney down the hall. The Doctor Caleb
met earlier was walking beside it. The figure on the bed was struggling, but
Caleb could see that he was strapped down. The orderlies turned the gurney
to go down another hallway and Caleb had a quick look at who was tied down.
     "DR. MATT !!!" yelled Caleb. "DR. MATT!!"
     Another figure entered the hallway from where the gurney had
disappeared. He was in shadow even though he hallway was brightly lit.
Stepping towards the door, and finally out of the shadows, was Lucas Buck.
He was reaching for the door, and for a quick, hopeful moment, Caleb
actually thought that Lucas was going to let him in. Lucas gave a wink to
Caleb and with a twist of his wrist on a rod next to the door, he closed
down the blinds.
     Giving the door one last fruitless tug, Caleb slumped down to his
knees. He looked around for a rock or anything else to try and break he
glass, but nothing could be found.  He stood and backed up to the top of the
stairs and took a run at the glass. He jumped, sailed through he air and
landed right in he middle of he window.
"OOF!" was the only sound that escaped as he bounced harmlessly off the
safety glass and landed in a heap by the door.
     "That had to hurt." Caleb heard from behind the door. He could hear
Lucas chuckling  to himself.
     Caleb saw a faint glow disappear around the side of  the building.
Rushing down the steps and towards the light Caleb tripped and slid face
first in the gravel. He stood and saw the light disappear again around the
back of the building. Tearing after it, he skidded around to the back.
     There was no one here, no Merly, no glowing light, nothing. He looked
around, and from where he stood, Caleb could see the tree from where Gail
showed him Matt's windowless wall. The thought of his friend in danger was
now a reality, and Caleb was powerless. Frantic, he tried to think of anyway
to get inside.
     He heard a splash. It came from the river near the tree. Caleb saw a
boy, the boy from his bathroom, walking along the rivers edge. Caleb knew
what had to be done.
     He ran to a door at the back of the building and pulled. It was open!
Swinging the door and running in, Caleb started running down the corridor. A
quick look to his left, and he saw why he was able to get in.
"Thanks Merly." he said just as her presence was starting to fade away.

Part 11
     Caleb was running down a large hallway with what seemed like hundreds
of doors on either side. Some of the doors rattled as he passed them.
Through others,  he could hear moaning and groans coming from behind as he
made his way down the hall. It was just like his dream from the night
before. There was a door at the end of the hallway, and Caleb knew this was
where he had to be. A bright light was shining through it's small window,
casting a long shadow behind Caleb. From behind the door he could hear Dr.
Freeman saying  "Don't worry, this will be over with soon enough."
Caleb lunged for the door, he was surprised at how easy it swung open.
"It's Keen!!" yelled Caleb. "He's down by the river!"
The Doctor was leaning over the gurney. In his hands he had a small hammer
and a tool that looked like a leather punch,  with a curved metal handle.
"Keen?" was all the man would say. Matt was on the gurney,
strapped down, but unconscious.
"We made a deal." Caleb turned and saw Lucas leaning against the door.
      "You boy's can leave now." Said Lucas to the only other people in the
room. The two orderlies looked at Lucas, and without a word, left the room.
     Caleb looked back at the Doctor. "Your boy is by the river and if you
don't hurry, he's gonna' drown!"
     Dr. Freeman looked at Lucas and stuttered, "If I did this I could see
my b-boy?"
"Yes, If you do this right NOW!" Lucas intoned, frustration starting to get
the better of him.
"Your boy, Keen, is by the river right now!" said Caleb. "He is going to
drown if you do this thing. It will be too late to save him!!"
     The man dropped his tools, looked at Caleb, then looked at Buck, and
rushed out of the room.
Caleb looked over at Lucas. His head was hung down slightly. With a quick
shake of his head, he stood straight and left the room. He turned and
walked, not in the direction the Doctor went, but towards the front of the
institution.
     Caleb was expecting the door to slam shut unbidden, but it stayed open.

     Doctor Freeman ran out the same back door that Caleb had entered. He
saw the boy standing near the river, water swirling around his feet.  The
river was running fast and white water was cresting on top of the waves.
"KEEN!"  he yelled, barely audible above the roar of the river.
     The boy turned and looked at his father.  He smiled, turned back
around, and jumped in the river.
"NO!!!" cried the Doctor as he ran to the rivers edge. He ran down the river
bank in an attempt to catch up to his son. Keen had gotten caught up in a
pile of driftwood, and the doctor could see it was starting to break loose.
In a last desperate effort to save his son, Dr. Freeman leapt into the
swirling water.
      There was a bright flash of light, and all was still. The river was as
smooth as glass.
     The Doctor and his son were nowhere to be found.

     Caleb walked over and tried to undo the straps on Matt Crower. Even
though he was still unconscious,  Caleb didn't like seeing his friend tied
down. After he got one strap undone, Matt, still sleeping, took Caleb's hand
in his own. Caleb held on to his friend until a security guard at long last
showed up, and took him to the front office.


Epilog
     The next day was a frenzy of activity. Billy Peale called up the Chief
of  Staff at the 'Allegheny University of Health Sciences.' only to have him
say he hadn't spoken to Billy in over 5 years. He went on to add that the
hospital doesn't have nor has it ever had any Dr. Walter Freeman on their
staff.

     The Chief of Staff at Juniper Hill wanted to talk to two of the night
orderlies about inconsistencies on their charts concerning a patient named
'Crower', but they disappeared without a trace. It was rumored that they
were falsifying records for someone, and he wanted to know for whom so they
could be turned over to the proper authorities. He was pretty sure the
problem would be resolved though. Sheriff Lucas Buck had promised him that
he would take care of the matter personally.

     For Matt Crower, life had pretty much returned to normal. As normal as
possible when you are locked up in an asylum. He had been having strange
dreams about 8-ball's, frontal lobotomies, and the Doctor who created the
procedure. The one dream he remembered most vividly was the one where he was
lying in a bed, and Caleb was holding his hand.

     Caleb was sitting on the front porch of the Boarding House.  He
explained why he ran out on Boone and his mother. Loris said that she
believed him, and that grounding him for two weeks was to make sure he got
the rest he had been avoiding.
     As he sat on the steps and felt the morning sun shine on his face, he
felt a warm, friendly presence.
     "Hello, Merlyn." He opened his eyes, smiled, and gazed at his sisters
spirit.
Merly walked over to Caleb and ran her hand through his face. The one thing
she missed the most was being able to 'touch' or 'feel' anything.  'Kind of
like living underwater' is how she described it to Caleb one time.
     "You were able to help that Doctor, Caleb." she said. "If he would have
done what Lucas wanted, he would have been able to see his son, just like
Lucas promised. Only he would be in Hell, watching his son drown, over and
over again. Never able to reach him in time."
     "Did Dr. Freeman save his boy?"
     "No" was Merly's reply.
     Caleb looked at his sister, confused.
     "He didn't save his son," Merly said. "His son saved him."
     "Is he in heaven?" Caleb asked. Merly smiled, but did not answer.
After all she'd seen, she was not sure there was such a place.

     But she knew Hell existed. Why else would there be a Lucas Buck?


The End