Starting a New Life
BY: LML, AKA DeeDee_McCall
Chapter One in the "Matt & Caleb" series

Note: I don't own these characters, but am simply borrowing them for a creative 
work. This is my take on how the series could've gone.

LML llavigna@nycap.rr.com


Everyone was assembled in the courtroom: Lucas Buck the local Sherifff, Selena 
Coombs the school teacher/seductress, Ben Healy one of the deputies, Gail Emory 
a reporter from Charlston, Lorris Holt who owned the local boardinghouse where 
Caleb had run off to on his first day back to school, Dr. Mathew Crower Trinity's 
newest addition to their local hospital, and the boy for whom all this attention 
had been cast, ten-year old Caleb Temple. Judge Halpern sat on the bench, wearing 
the traditional garb which was customary for an adjudicator. As he looked out over 
the sea of faces all of which, save for a few exceptions, were battling it out for 
custody of the orphaned boy, he couldn't help but wonder at which party would be 
best suited to care for Caleb Temple. Although it had only been roughly a week 
since the whole ordeal had begun, to those personally involved it felt more like 
an eternity.

Lucas Buck, the local Sherifff in Trinity, had approached JudgeHalpern earlier that 
week, requesting his assistance in obtaining temporary, if not permanent, custodial 
rights to the Temple child.  Lucas had believed that the boy would undoubtably and 
undisputeably be made his, due to the fact that the others whom had also petitioned 
for custody of the child all had some very serious flaws in their backgrounds. Lucas 
may have had his own flaws, but damned if he'd let them show up in court today.

First there was Gail Emory. She'd come into town shortly after Caleb Temple's tenth 
birthday had become nothing short of a nightmare. She'd come in from Charleston, 
inquiring as to the situation with regards to her young orphaned cousin. Having not 
known the boy during his subsequent ten-year life as it stood currently, Caleb was 
reluctant to go with her. He was addimant about wanting to stay at the hospital, so 
Gail had given in to the boy's demands. However, her credibility had been called 
into question after Selena Coombs, Caleb's fourth-grade teacher, had stated to the 
court that Gail Emory had come into her classroom and had given a speech on the life 
of a reporter. Selena stated that she'd found the part about Gail's having taken up 
residence in a crack house, in order to do her expositional piece, "quite 
fascinating."

Then there was Dr. Matt Crower, or Harvard as Lucas refered to him. Harvard had 
challenged him the first night Caleb had been in the hospital. He'd told Lucas outright 
that "Caleb isn't going anywhere until I say so." This had infuriated Lucas to no end, 
thereby resulting in the subsequent murder, made to look like a suicide, of none other 
than Gage Temple. Gage had been jailed for the murder of his eldest daughter, Merlyn 
Ann Temple, age sixteen. Of course, it hadn't been Gage who'd killed Merly, but rather 
it had been none other than the good Sherifff himself, one Lucas Buck. Lucas later 
refered to Merly ann's killing as "a mercy killing" when his deputy Ben Healy had 
dared to question Lucas's actions.

Lucas knew that Harvard was willing to fight for the boy, even though Lucas was very 
certain that he'd be the one to get custody of the child. Although a wonderful doctor, 
Matt had a few demons in his closet... The murders of his wife and daughter due to 
vehicular manslaughter as a result of his drinking. Matt had sobered up shortly after 
the tragic event, but Lucas was still unsure of his credibility when it came to the 
custody of a minor child. For all Lucas knew, the good doctor could begin drinking 
once again and endanger the welfare of the boy.

Lucas contemplated all of this, and then his own reasons for wanting the boy. Caleb 
was his son, a result of his raping Judith Temple, mother to both Merlyn Ann and Caleb 
as well as Gage Temple's wife. He refused to allow anyone other than himself rais Caleb, 
for as he saw it Caleb would grow into his own powers in his own time. But those powers 
needed to be honed down in order for them to be controlled. And as everyone sat and 
waited with bated breath for the judge to render his final decision, it seemed to 
everyone that the clocks hands moved at an unusually slow pace. Tick...Tock...Tick...
Tock... Finally, Judge Halpern lifted his head from the file and cleared his throat. 
All eyes turned to cast upon the aging man who would now decide the fate of a frightened 
ten-year old boy.

"After an extensive review of this case, not to mention the many different testimonies 
given here today by those parties concerned with young Caleb Temple's well being, I 
have reached a decision with regard to the living arrangement for young Caleb. Once 
this decision is made common knowledge it will not be questioned by any persons, unless 
it is deemed necessary by the authorities, for and of the state of South Carolina. I've 
thought this decision over very carefully, and have made it without any prior or personal 
convictions, as well as not having any ulterior motives. Your testimonies here today 
have given me much to think about. Lucas, you want custody of Caleb out of your genuine 
concern for his upbringing and welfare. However, I don't see where you would be the best 
choice for him. Although you are a pillar of the community, I am unsure of your real 
motives for obtaining custody. Ms. Emory, you are the boy's next of kin, however, your 
lifestyle must undergo some serious changes before you are allowed to take custody of 
Caleb. You have had to change living arrangements quite often as a result of your job 
I imagine, and that is not something which I feel would best suit Caleb's needs for 
stability at the present moment. Therefore, I'm placing Caleb in the custody of someone 
whom I believe to be a capable and responsible person, not to mention one with a very 
stable life.  I'm hereby awarding custody of Caleb Temple to Matt Crower, MD. Dr. Crower, 
it looks like you've got yourself a son. This ruling is to be put into affect 
immediately, and shall not be barred in any way, shape, or form by any persons seeking 
opposition against this ruling."

The judge smiled at the newest addition to the local hospital in Trinity, SC. To say 
that he was surprised was an understatement. Matt Crower, doctor and up until now 
temporary caretaker of Caleb Temple, beamed back at the judge. When he'd originally 
petitioned for custody, he wasn't certain that he would receive it. For one thing, 
Caleb had a cousin who'd recently come to town, and from what he could tell from her 
appearance she seemed pretty stable. However, after Selena Coombs' report as to Gail's
credibility as a custodian for the ten-year old, he was unsure. A reporter's life 
wasn't condusive to that of having a child around. Hell, neither was the life of a 
doctor; but at least he would be someone to provide the necessary stability in Caleb's 
life. And for another thing, Matt's past might be called into question. He'd been 
sober ever since the deaths of his wife Lily and daughter Claire. Although he was 
currently in sobriety, he was still afraid they'd use his past against him in the 
custody hearing.

"Thank you, Your Honor, this means a great deal to me." Matt smiled broadly at the 
judge.

"Just take care of that boy, Matt. He needs someone like you to look after him and 
be the father figure he's obviously never had. Now...Case dismissed! Everyone out of 
my courtroom."

Matt stood and reached out an arm to drape over Caleb's shoulders. Caleb turned to 
him and wrapped his little arms around the man who'd been his protector since the 
night of his tenth birthday.

"Thanks, Dr. Matt! This means I get to live with you, right?"

"You bet it does. C'mon, Caleb, let's go home and celebrate." Matt beamed at his new 
ward, and smiled broadly as he imagined the start of their new life together.

"Judge, this is outrageous! How can you give custody of young Caleb here to a man 
who's already been proven guilty of vehicular manslaughter? Do we really know if the 
good doctor here is sober, or is he just putting on a brilliantly elaborate plan to 
fool us all?"

"Lucas, I placed Caleb somewhere I feel he will thrive quite nicely. My ruling stands 
as such. And I am off the hook with you."

"We'll see about that." The Sherifff glared at the boy and the Yankee who had smiles 
from ear to ear. He watched as they exited the courtroom and made their way to the 
exit of the courthouse. 

As he and the boy exited the building, they both heard a voice say, "I'll be damned 
if you take my boy from me, Harvard."

At first Matt was going to just ignore the caustic remark, but Caleb jerked around 
suddenly and shouted back, "I ain't your son! My father was Gage Temple, and he's dead, 
just like my mother! And you murdered them both, and raped my mother! I hate you, 
Lucas Buck! You hear me...I hate you!"

"C'mon, Caleb, let's go. Pay no mind to him, he's just a bully, that's all." Matt 
gently but firmly turned the boy in the opposite direction and the pair left the 
building.

They walked for quite a while, talking about the little things with one another, 
until they reached the cross-section of streets near to the school and the boardinghouse. 
Caleb could see that school had just let out for the other children, and he delighted 
in watching his friends run to meet up with one another or to meet the occasional parent 
who dropped by to pick up their child on their way home from work.

They headed for the boardinghouse, where Ms. Lorris Holt was eagerly awaiting their 
arrival with a very large pan in her hands.

"Come in right now you two! I've got a surprise for the both of you!"

She motioned for the pair to sit at the table, and then placed the pan in front of them. 
Everyone sat at the table, Rose, her mother, Boon and his family, and Gail. And they 
were all there waiting patiently for the new family to arrive. At first glance, neither 
could determine what was in the pan, but as Lorris removed the tin foil covering the 
pan's contents, both Caleb and Matt's faces shown their great surprise. Lorris noticed 
this and smiled a smile which seemed to stretch from ear to ear.

"Matt and Caleb, this cake is in honor of the start of your new life together as a 
family...And also the birthday cake that you," she added pointing directly at Caleb, 
"should've had. You may have gotten gypped the first time 'round, but from now on 
everything's gonna be great for the two of you!"

Matt grinned maliciously at Caleb and then at the cake. "Gee, Caleb, looks like you're 
going to have a tough time blowing out all those candles. Think there's enough hot 
air in there to finish the job?"

"I'll tell you what, Dr. Matt, if I can't blow 'em all out, then you can help me." 
Caleb drew in as deep a breath as his little body would allow, and proceeded to 
extinguish all of the candles on the cake. Just before he did so, however, his mind 
conjured up an image of Merly.

"Go ahead, Caleb, blow out your candles." The voice inside his head whispered softly.

Caleb exhaled as much air as he could without losing his breath, and took in another 
breath. But this time he didn't have to send another gush of wind towards the flickering 
flames which had since ceased to exist. Everyone clapped and cheered as they saw all 
the candles were extinguished by the single whoosh of air the boy had emitted. Caleb's 
face turned bright red, and then a tear formed in his eye. Matt was the first to see 
anything and asked him about it.

"Caleb, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, Dr. Matt, I just miss my sister is all. I just wish she didn't have to die."

"Caleb," Matt began softly, "it's okay for you to cry for MerlyAnn. She was your sister a
nd you loved her very much, and I for one, don't think she'd have a problem with you 
crying for her."

A shadow entered the doorway and promptly interrupted the tranquility of the moment. 
"Cryin's for children, and Caleb here is almost a man."

Lorris Holt stood from where she'd just seated herself and approached Lucas Buck. "You 
weren't invited here, Sheriff, and what's more you're not welcome to join this party. 
Please leave."

"Awe, Ms. Holt, I'm shocked by your behavior. After all, it ain't very Christian like 
for you to refuse a man entrance into your home, especially a man such as myself in a 
very highly authoritative position." Lucas stood there, trying to be as imposing as he 
could be. "But in any case, Ma'am, I must be goin' anyhow. I got things which need 
takin' care of rather quick."

"That's too bad, Lucas," Gail said with mock sympathy. "I was hoping you'd stay for 
some desert, seeing as how we went to such pains to add some arsenic to your piece of 
cake in preparation for your untimely arrival." The comment had no effect on Lucas, 
as everyone was almost certain it wouldn't. And with that, Lucas exited the 
boardinghouse, and sauntered off to torture some poor and unfortunate soul elsewhere 
in Trinity.

"Think he'll come back?" Caleb asked no one in particular. His question was promptly 
answered by Lorris Holt.

"Child, that man will most definitely be comin' back, whether he's welcome or not. 
Everybody knows that the Bucks never left anyone alone, so why should we all think 
differently now?"

After they'd finished their cake and cleaned up the remains of the party, Matt said 
that it was high time Caleb went to bed. After asking Caleb if he minded, which the 
boy did not, Matt escorted him up to his bedroom. He waited outside while Caleb changed 
into his pajamas and went about his nightly routine. Once Caleb had finished all of 
these things, Matt went in and tucked him in.

"Get some sleep, Caleb. We've got a lot of things to take care of over the next few 
weeks, and you're going to need your rest."

"Dr. Matt?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for fighting for me. I'm glad you won."

Matt bent down and ruffled Caleb's hair with one hand and made sure that his blankets 
were snugly tucked around him. After one last "good night," Matt left the room, closing 
the door behind him.

Over the next several days, both Matt and Caleb went through some very big changes. 
The pair resided at the boardinghouse, but Matt had begun to make plans to purchase 
a piece of property with a little house just outside of Trinity. He had first asked 
Caleb what he thought of the idea, and the boy was very eager to help out.

"Dr. Matt, could I pick out my own room and help pick out the furniture?"

"Of course you can, Caleb. After all, it's going to be your home too. You can pick out 
whatever you want for your room, and how you want it set up. And if you'd like some 
help, all you've got to do is ask me and I'll be there."

Matt first went to the bank to assure himself that his account held enough funds to 
finance his plans. After assuring himself of this very important detail, he then went 
to a realter in order to finalize the details of the purchase. Once completed, he began 
to head back to Trinity, but he had one more stop to make. This would be his final 
stop for the day. It was to a location a few miles away, over in the next town. He 
had a surprise for Caleb, and he wanted it to be just perfect before he told him 
anything about it.

"Mr. Crower, I don't see any reason here why you shouldn't be able to proceed onto the 
next step of the arrangement. As long as there are no persons with enough legal standing 
to contest this, I see this as an open and shut decision."

"Thank you, Mr. Darby, you've been very helpful. I'll be in touch."

Matt left and headed back into Trinity. On his way back into town, he ran into Lucas 
and his Crown Vic. Lucas rolled down the window and stuck his head out, staring intently
 at Matt. Matt stared back and held his ground. There was no way in Hell that he'd let 
Lucas Buck intimidate him.

"Well howdy there, Harvard. How's everything goin'?"

"What do you want, Lucas?" Matt responded blandly to the Sheriff's light tone.

"Just stopped to see how everything's going with young Caleb. Not havin any problems 
that need takin' care of now are you?"

"Lucas, fyi, there aren't any problems, ones which need taking care of or otherwise. 
Furthermore, even if there were any, you'd be the last person I'd call. Have a nice day."

Matt turned on his heel and began to walk away at a quick pace. Lucas watched Matt 
leave and then smiled to himself. "Dr. Crower," Lucas said to the empty road ahead of 
him, "your problems are just beginning."

Back at the boarding house, Caleb was busily working on his homework in his room when 
he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he called as he finished the arithmetic problem 
he'd been working on.

"Caleb, honey, it's Miss Coombs. May I come in?"

"Sure, Miss Coombs, c'mon in."

Selena entered the room and looked around. There wasn't too much to Caleb's room, just 
the basic necessities plus a few other little odds and ends that others had given to 
him. Selena sat down on the edge of Caleb's neatly made bed and looked over at her young 
student. She brushed back some strands of hair which had fallen into her eyes and began 
speaking.

"Caleb, I'm a little worried about something. Today in art class I asked you to draw 
a picture of the thing you most enjoyed, and you drew a picture of your sister. Now, 
honey, I know it's been a few weeks since your sisters unfortunate death, but you 
really are starting to give me cause for concern. Have you talked to anyone about your 
feelings concerning your sister? Dr. Crower perhaps?"

Caleb turned his head to look into Selena's eyes. He thought she was a kind woman, and 
a good teacher to boot. "No, Ma'am, I haven't talked to anyone about Merly."

"Well why not? It's okay to talk about her, you know."

"But it hurts. I just want my sister back so much, that I'm afraid that if I start 
talkin' about her that it'll hurt too much."

Caleb's face was instantaneously soaked with tears, the tears he had yet to shed for 
his sister's passing. Selena reached out and pulled Caleb to her, hugging him tightly 
as he sobbed. "Shh. It's alright, Caleb, it's all going to be alright."

In the corner of the bedroom, Merly's reflection appeared, although unseen by either 
Caleb or Selena. She stood there, watching the school teacher comfort her little 
brother, and it finally hit her. She finally understood why Caleb had acted so 
aggressively right after her murder. She watched some more as Selena placed a sleeping 
Caleb on his bed, covered him up with the blanket, and left the room.

"Awe, Caleb, it's okay. I know you're sad because I'm gone, but we'll be together 
someday soon, I promise." Merlyn reached out, and a shimmer of light floated over her 
brother's face where her hand should've touched. She realized that she couldn't even 
touch her brother in comfort, just as he was unable to touch her whenever he felt she 
needed to be comforted.

Lucas Buck stood just outside the boardinghouse, visibly out of sight from anyone 
looking out a window, and staring up at Caleb Temple's room. He watched as Selena left 
the room after laying Caleb on his bed and covering him with a blanket. "Well, well, 
well. What's the school teacher doin' here?" Lucas quipped to no one in particular.

Lucas glanced back at the boardinghouse one more time and then made his exit. He headed 
to the realistate agency just outside of town, the very same one that Matt Crower had 
visited earlier that afternoon. He wasn't at all surprised when he found the building 
to be closed for the evening. He wandered around back to see if there were any means 
of entry he could manipulate for his own personal gain.

"Locked up tight as Ft. Knox." Lucas mumbled to himself. Realizing that he'd never get 
into the building, he made a conscientious decision to wait until morning. "Soon," 
thought Lucas. "Soon, Harvard will know the full weight of my wrath. No one takes my 
son and gets away with it!"

Back at the boardinghouse, Lorris had just turned off all the lights and was preparing 
for bed. Just as she was about to ascend the staircase, Matt came through the front 
door, smiling widely and carrying a very thick sheaf of papers. Lorris immediately 
resumed her prior position in the living room, and waited for Matt to enter.

"Matt, what are all those papers? Surely you haven't brought all that office work of 
yours home with you tonight, have you?" Lorris motioned for Matt to join her in the 
living room and sit down. He seated himself in a chair near hers and rested the papers 
on his lap.

Matt smiled in response to Lorris's question. "No. This is actually part of my 
surprise for Caleb. I don't want to say anything to him yet, because I want to be 
one-hundred percent certain that it will go through before I get his hopes up."

Lorris smiled a broad smile. She suggested that the two of them sit down and discuss 
this over a cup of tea. Lorris entered the kitchen and prepared the tea kettle and 
retrieved two cups form the cupboard. When the tea had finished brewing, Lorris 
dispensed the steaming liquid into the two cups and handed one to Matt. They entered 
the living room and Mat sat down in one of the cairs nearest to the sofa, where Lorris 
had decided to sit.

"Did you go to that realistate agent I told you about? Was he able to help you with 
your other plan?" Lorris, being as inquisitive as she could be without out-right 
prying, had a small satisfied smile on her face.

"As a matter of fact, I did. And they said that it's no problem. There haven't been 
any prospective buyers for that particular piece of property for over three or four 
months. I was told that had I not requested to purchase it, that the bank would've 
undoubtedly auctioned it off for some shopping mall or something."

As the two friends talked, someone came down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Gail 
Emory, clad in a nightgown and terrycloth bathrobe, exited the kitchen and joined Matt 
and Lorris in the living room. She was holding a glass of warmed milk in one hand and 
a bowl of Cherry Garcia ice cream in the other.

"Never too late for a midnight snack." Gail commented as she seated herself in one of 
the chairs near where Matt and Lorris had been sitting. "So, what's going on, you 
guys? It's nearly midnight and you two are down here yammering away, like it were 
morning or something."

Lorris looked hesitantly at Matt, who spoke up before anyone else got the jump on 
him. "Well, Gail, to be honest with you, I've been considering purchasing a piece of 
land, just outside of town, with a house on it. I figure that since I've been here in 
Trinity for a while now, it's high time I started putting some roots down here."

"That's good. I hope you and Caleb are very happy." Gail rose, and taking her milk 
and ice cream, exited the living room. Matt looked a little shocked at Gail's reaction, 
but then he realized what the reaction was about.

"I don't understand it. When she first came to town, she wanted nothing to do with 
raising the boy, and now when someone else has custody of him she has a fit when that 
person wants to change a few things. Am I missing something here, or is Gail just a 
little off kilter this evening?"

"You are right about one thing, Matt. Gail doesn't want to raise Caleb. Yes, she loves 
him, but she doesn't know him well enough to be extremely attached to him. She's got 
that reporters' detachment thing working in her favor, which makes it an awful lot 
easier to care about Caleb's well being on the outside."

"But on the inside all she wants to do is find out the truth about her parents, and 
get the hell out of Trinity for good."

Lorris nodded in response. Matt was right, and they both knew it. So did Gail.  Lorris 
stood and picked up her teacup which had long since been emptied of its contents. 
"Would you like another cup of tea, Matt?"

"No thanks, I think I'll go up to bed. I've got a lot of work to do tomorrow, and not 
just at the hospital, either."


Matt ascended the stairs and went into his room. Upon entering, he gazed at the picture 
of Lily and Claire. Although it had been almost three years to the day, he still hadn't 
quit beating himself up over what he'd done to his family. Lily's birthday, the 
Christmas just before it happened, and all the school plays that he'd missed because he 
was too busy pushing himself deeper and deeper into the bottle. He'd actually fooled 
himself into believing that each time he said the words: "I'll quit; it's the last 
time," that those words were the Holy Bible. Although, those words hadn't been true, 
at least not until it was too late.

He picked up a small metal locked box and opened it with it's respective key. From it 
he withdrew a folded piece of paper, one he'd kept in his jacket pocket for the longest 
time after the accident. He gazed at Claire's love letter to him, and tears began 
forming in his eyes.

"My Little bitty pretty one," Matt said softly to the empty room. "I'm so sorry for 
everything I've done to hurt both you and your mother. I'm so sorry, Lily and Claire."

Now the tears fell, unchecked, down his cheeks and onto his white shirt. Suddenly there 
was a flash of light and Merlyn stood in front of him.

"Your wife and daughter know how much you love them, Matt. They've been watching you 
for the past three years, watching how you sobered up and have begun working here in 
Trinity. Claire is very amazed at how you've taken to Caleb, being his guardian and 
all."

Matt looked up, but couldn't see anything at first. Then he clearly heard a child's 
voice, Claire's voice saying, "I'll always be your little bitty pretty one. I love 
you, Daddy."

Matt set the letter back in its box and locked it once more. After getting ready for 
bed, he drew the covers up to his chin and looked longingly at his picture of the 
family he'd lost.

"I love you too." Matt whispered out loud. "I only wish you could know just how much 
I love you."


End Of Chapter One


Chapter Two, Twists and turns
Fulton County Elementary School, 3:30PM
One month later

"Okay, everybody, that's it for today. Now remember to do your homework
assignments this evening, and don't forget about those book reports which
are due on Friday." Selena Coombs stood at the front of her classroom in a
very traditional outfit, one very customary for the position of a school
teacher. She smiled and watched as the young and vibrant faces scurried to
collect their belongings and leave the classroom. As she watched her pupils
prepare to leave for the day, she noticed one student had failed to get up
from where he sat. She walked over to the desk where the boy sat and pulled
out the chair of the desk beside his.

"Caleb honey, is everything okay?"

"Yessum. I's just waitin' to talk to you is all."

"Talk to me? About what?"

"Bout my sister Merly."

"You miss her an awful lot, don't you, Caleb?"

"Yeah. But I wanted to know, when she was alive did she ever have any
pictures taken, maybe before I was born?"

Selena thought on that for a moment. Caleb was six years younger than his
sister, and Merly Ann had been about the right age for kindergarten at the
time of her mother's death. Although she hadn't been teaching for the past
ten years, she was certain that other members of the faculty had been.

"Caleb, I wasn't here when your sister was in school. But I'll tell you what
I'll do. I'll ask some of the other teachers here and see if they know
whether or not your sister had any school pictures taken. How's that sound?"

"Thank you, ma'am, I'd like that very much."

"Good then. Now you get along home to Dr. Crower. He's probably wondering
where you've run off to." Selena patted Caleb's shoulder affectionately and
moved to let him stand to leave. As he was heading out the door she called
after him. "And don't forget to do your homework!"

Caleb jogged along the route until he reached the hospital. He entered and
made his way toward Matt's office, just as he'd done everyday for the past
month. He entered the office and sat down in one of the visitors' chairs.
Withdrawing his Social Studies book from his backpack, Caleb began to immerse
himself in his history assignment. He stayed buried in the book, and didn't
even notice when a hand tapped him on the shoulder and a voice called his
name.

"Hey, Caleb, how was school today?" Matt entered his office, still in his
white coat, and seated himself behind his desk. Caleb looked up from his
book and answered the question, seeing Matt for the first time since he'd
entered the office.

"Pretty good. Ms. Coombs gave us a long history assignment tonight, and I
thought it'd be good for me to get it done before we went home."

Matt's face lit up. "Well, Caleb, I've got a surprise for you. Remember the
house I told you about?" Caleb nodded. "Well, I finalized the purchase
today, and the house is officially ours! So, what do you say we head over
there and see what we can do to fix the place up a bit?"

Caleb's response was to close his book, forgetting to mark the page, and
thrust it back into his backpack. He jumped to his feet and slung the bag
over his shoulders. "Let's go!"

"Whoa... Just a minute there, Caleb. I have a couple of things I need to do
here, but I promise we can leave in ten minutes." Matt saw the brief look of
disappointment at not being able to go right away, and added, "I think there
might be some candy over in the nurses' station. Find out if Wendy can sneak
you some."

Caleb walked quickly out of the office and headed in the direction of the
nurses' station. Matt leaned back in his chair and began to go through the
papers that had accumulated on his desk over the course of the past several
days. He'd filled out the reports he needed to make, signed off on patients'
charts, and it still wasn't enough paperwork. At least he'd finally finished
with the closing on his house. He liked the sound of that, "his house." The
house which now belonged to both Caleb and himself. He wasn't going to screw
this second chance up, not for anything.

He stared at the picture sitting on his desk. It was a smaller version of
the one he had in his bedroom, but he couldn't be without it. He knew that
he was as guilty as the day was long and hard, but he just couldn't accept
the fact that it was time to fully heal the wounds the painfull memories had
caused him, buried deep in his soul as they'd been for three years. He
looked at Lily's smiling face, and how both she and Claire seemed so happy.
They had been happy, Matt realized. Lily and Claire had been happy up until
Matt's drinking had changed everything.

"Hey, Harvard, what's going on in here? Thinking about your wife and
daughter and how you killed them?"

It was the voice of Lucas Buck. That damned Sherifff just kept showing up
whenever he felt like it. Matt wished he could rid himself of the Sherifff,
but that would have to wait. Now he had a more important priority, and his
priority was hanging out at the nurses' station, most likely bugging Wendy
or Rita for some of their hidden chocolate stash which no one was supposed
to know about. If the rest of the day staff found out about it, the two
nurses would be supplying chocolate for the entire hospital. Matt turned his
eyes to meet the cold and unyielding gaze which was a Lucas Buck trademark.
"You know, Lucas, if you take a picture of that face of yours fixed in the
stare it's in right now, you could probably copyright it."

"Hmm. Now that would be nice. The Lucas Buck stare. Or how about the Buck
stare. Thanks for the insight, Harvard, I'll keep that in mind."

"You're so incredibly full of yourself, even you can't see it. You're a smug
son of a bitch, and it's going to catch up with you someday. It may take a
while, but eventually you're going to get yours, Lucas, just you wait."

"That wouldn't be a threat now would it, Harvard? Because if that were the
case, why I'd just have to go to the authorities and report the guardian of
a very impressionable orphaned child and accuse him of making a threat on my
life." Lucas sneered maliciously at Matt. He stepped closer to the doctor
and grabbed hold of his shirt collar.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Matt's yell surprised Lucas, but
not enough to make him back down.

"You listen to me and you listen good. I want that boy, and I don't want you
in my way. Now, I can arrange it so that you have a very good job to return
to in Massachusetts, and a healthy amount of money to take back with you.
All you have to do is sign over custody of Caleb to me."

"Not a chance in Hell. I'll never sign over custody of Caleb to you, not if
you were the last living being on this planet! Now let go of me before..."

"Let 'em go, Lucas!" Merly appeared suddenly in the doorway. Matt spotted
her instantly, but he didn't recognize her. Lucas let go of Matt and backed
away from him.

"Well well. Looks to me like big sister's come to save the day once again.
Whatcha gonna do, Merly Ann, set me ablaze here in the hospital? It'd be a
real angelic act you killin' me in front of your precious little brother and
his guardian."

"Oh don't you worry, Lucas. Like Matt said, you'll get yours soon enough. Of
that you can be certain."

In a flash of light Merly disappeared as quickly as she'd come, leaving
behind a stunned Matt and a very calm Lucas. The two of them stared at one
another for about ten seconds before either of them realized what was
happening. Lucas turned on his heel and proceeded to leave the office. But
as he left he called over his shoulder to Matt who refused to cower in
terror before the Devil in carnate.

"You can keep the boy for now, Harvard. But rest assured, I never give up.
Nobody tells me, Lucas Buck, no and lives to tell about it for very long."

Matt watched the Sherifff leave his office and shivered slightly. Suddenly he
felt two small hands tugging on his arm. "C'mon, Dr. Matt! I want to see the
new house. Can we go now?"

Matt, having decided to leave the rest of the paperwork until tomorrow, rose
from his chair and traded his labcoat for a black leather jacket. "Sure
thing, Caleb, c'mon. Lets go check out our new house."

As the pair left the office, a bright light began to encircle a small figure
standing in the corner. As the light diminished slightly, the figure seemed
to grow larger, until it was at last recognizeable. The woman stood in the
corner, staring intently at the picture of her former earthly self and that
of her child. She watched her husband and the child exit the office and
board the elivator just down the hall.

"Oh, Matt," sighed Lily. "If only things could've been like that when we
were alive."

As she spoke, another figure appeared, this one smaller than the first. As
she emerged from her own shimmering light, she stepped forward and took the
woman's hand. "Don't worry, Mommy. Daddy's going to take good care of him.
He needs someone right now, just like Daddy needs someone." The little
girl's face lit up with delight as she spoke. "Did you see the way that lady
scared the evil man away from Daddy? Did you see how Daddy didn't let the
evil man scare him like he does everyone else?"

"Claire Crower! Have you been spying on people again? Now you know better
than to..."

"No, Mommy, I wasn't spying. I just wanted to see what Daddy was doing, so I
came in to watch. And that was when I saw the evil man try and threaten
Daddy." Claire paused for a moment to brush back some strands of her long
blonde hair back from her eyes. "Mommy, do you think Daddy can protect the
boy from the evil man?"

Lily looked at her daughter for a moment and smiled slightly. "Yes, Claire,
I think your daddy will take good care of that little boy. After all, your
daddy is all that boy has in the world who really cares about him." Lily
steped forward and wrapped her arms around her daughter in a hug. Suddenly,
a large flash of light engulfed them and as uickly as the two had come, they
vanished once more into their own part of the universe.

At the Sheriff's department, Lucas sat in his office contemplating the events
which had taken place at the hospital. Why'd he been so frightened of Merly
in the first place? She was dead and he was very much alive. She couldn't do
anything to protect her baby brother, and he could. So why did she fight him
so much? He knew the answer, but he wasn't going to admit it to himself any
time soon. But something strange and different had happened this time at the
hospital. Merly Annn had obviously held a greater power than he'd at first
thought. She'd been able to intimidate him enough to make him release Matt,
and walk away. He just couldn't get that image out of his mind. He loved
seeing the doctor squirm under pressure. He was going to enjoy torturing the
man over the next few weeks. If he could, he'd get him declared mentally
incompetent, and then he would have a better chance at gaining custody of
Caleb.

"Damn you, Harvard..." Lucas said to himself. "Damn you to hell!"

Just then there was a sharp knocking on Lucas' office door. Ben stuck his
head in and looked directly at Lucas. "Uh, Lucas, Ben Jr. just called me.
We've got a situation at Barbara Joy's house. Whalen's getting' outa control
again."

"All right, Ben, let's go take care of it. You know the drill, I'll handle
Whalen, and you can handle the rest."

Lucas rose from his chair and exited his office followed closely by his
deputy. They had just walked out the door of the Sheriff's office when a
young boy came running at top speed in their direction.

"Whoa!" Lucas caught the boy as he came barreling down the street. "Stop
runnin, son. Now what's the matter?"

"Dad! Dad, you've gotta come quick! He's hittin' Ma again, and I tried to
stop him this time but he said if I ever tried that again he'd take care of
me for good."

"All right, Jr. Just slow down a minute. You go in the office and stay
there. I'll go over to your mother's and take care of the problem. You stay
here until the Sherifff and I come back."

Ben jumped into the passenger's seat of Lucas' Crown Vic and waited for
Lucas to get in the drivers' seat. Once they'd started the vehicle and
turned onto he road leading to what had formerly been the Healey home, Lucas
turned on the flashing red lights and the siren. They pulled to a stop at
the front steps of Barbara Joy's home, and jumped out of the car.

"Don't start with me again, Barbara Joy! You know as well as I do that your
ex-husband isn't giving you the right amount of child support for that boy,
and you don't fight him on it! So who gets to make up for the lost money
around here, me that's who! I'm sick and tired of takin' care of your
mistake, and it's high time you rectify it before I do!"

"Just stop right there, Whalen." Lucas entered the room and strode quickly
to where the other man stood, holding Barbara Joy by the hair. He struck her
once more before Lucas hauled him across the room and slammed him into a
wall. "I said hold on a minute there! I think that's deservin' of a few days
in jail for assault and battery, wouldn't you agree, Deputy Healey?"

Ben, who by this time had made it to Barbara Joy's side, inclined his head
in Lucas' direction. "Oh I'd say worth more than just a few days. I'd say
that it's worth a few months if not a few years." Turning back to Barbara
Joy he added, "You want to press charges this time, BJ?"

Barbara Joy, her eyes both blackened and the bruises forming on her face and
arms, turned her face away from the man she'd been married to since her high
school days. "I guess so. Maybe it's time to do the right thing for our son's 
sake."

Meanwhile, just outside of town, Matt and Caleb stopped at the edge of a
piece of property where a sign had obviously been before, but had since been
taken down and disposed of. The land was roughly two or three square acres,
with a very sturdy-looking house sitting right in the center. Caleb stared
in awe at the house. It looked beautiful to him, with its framed windows and
doors, and the large airy windows which seemed to breathe their own brand of

life into the house.

"Is this our house, Dr. Matt?"

"This is it. What do you think of it?"

"I like it! I really, really, like it! So when do we start movin' in? When
can we start stayin' here?"

Matt smiled at Caleb's eagerness. He'd already been planning for this, and
he widened the smile. "Well, let's go inside and we'll see about trying to
fix this place up a bit first. What do you say?"

Caleb darted for the front steps, and then stopped short. "Is it locked?"

Matt reached into his pocket and found the small keyring that he'd been
given upon the final purchase of the property. He tossed them to Caleb, who
immediately caught them and unlocked the door and entered the house as fast
as his little legs would carry him.

The interior of the house was pretty spotless, just a few things which would
need taking care of like a little light dusting, sweeping, and the like.
Caleb stared in amazement at how nice the house looked. To him, this house
was a very nice place, compared to the hellhole he'd lived in for ten years.
Upon opening the front door, there was a small foiere, with a doorway on the
left and right, as well as a set of stairs leading to the second story
directly in front. Caleb turned to his left and found himself in what was
probably the kitchen. It was a moderately fair sized kitchen, with a
refridgerator in the corner nearest the doorway which was followed by a gas
stove. This ran the rest of the length of the wall to the left, with
cupboards all along the next wall. Below the cupboards there was a
significantly good portion of countertop space with cupboards below it as
well. Half way along this countertop space, the double sink was placed. This
made up the other portion of the left-over area. Below this there were even
more cupboards. On the perpindicular wall to the sink, the one directly
across from the stove, there was nothing but overhead cupboards. After this
came another opening. Caleb turned and headed in that direction.
Next, He found himself in the dining room. This room ran behind the
staircase in the front of the house, with a wall leading up to the ceiling.
On this wall there were two small doors, which Caleb quickly opened in his
exploration of his new surroundings. The first went to a storage closet,
with a shelving unit which fit perfectly with the staircase on the opposite
side.

"The other door leads to the basement." Matt said coming up behind Caleb.
He'd watched the boy explore his new surroundings with great interest. He
knew that this was all very exciting for Caleb, as well as for himself.

"The living room is over there, isn't it?" Caleb pointed to another opening
opposite the exit of the kitchen. Matt nodded.

"Yes. And off the living room there is another room which will probably be
the den. Upstairs there are two bedrooms and another smaller room which I'm
planning on converting into a home office. I haven't picked out a room yet,
because I wanted you to pick yours out first."

Matt smiled at Caleb's delight. Caleb entered the living room, and through
the other doorway leading to the foyer, he ascended the staircase. After
reaching the second floor, Caleb found himself in an open space with several
different doors on either side and one in front of him. He started with the
door in front and opened it. He saw another staircase, which led to the
attic of the house. He closed the door and turned to his right this time. He
saw two doors in a small alcove off of the stairwell. The doors were either
on his right or left, and he chose to open the one on the right. He found
himself in a large room, obviously one of the two bedrooms. This room was a
basicly normal room, with a large closet in the corner of the wall leading
to his left. It also had in it two very large bay windows which when looked
through, held in their depths a view of the beautiful landscape surrounding
the little house.

Caleb exited this room and opened the other door. This too was the same as
the other, only on the opposite side of the house. This afforded a view of
the landscape leading beyond the house, deeper in the countryside. He exited
this room and found Matt standing at the head of the stairs.

"So, what do you think, Caleb? Do you like this place, or what."

"It's the nicest house I've seen. Even nicer than Ms. Holt's boardinghouse.
Hers is nice and all, but I like this one much better!"

"I'm glad you like it," Matt said with a wide smile. "So, which bedroom do
you want?"

"I want that one." Caleb pointed to the door he had just exited. "I like
looking out at the countryside and I want to see all the stars at night,
too."

"Good choice. Now, what do you say the two of us clean the place up a bit
and I'll make dinner."

"We're staying here tonight?"

"Yep, we're staying right here. I have the day off tomorrow, and I'll start<BR>
moving my things into the house. Some of my coworkers have offered to lend a<BR>
hand while you're at school. We'll get your stuff after you get out of<BR>
school. I'll meet you there tomorrow afternoon, so don't go to the<BR>
hospital."

"Okay! Sounds like a plan to me. I can't wait to tell Ms. Coombs where I'm
gonna be living."

Matt and Caleb headed downstairs, where Caleb spotted the two sleeping bags
and extra blankets which had been rolled up and held together with some
rope. He eyed Matt, who just grinned. "You planned this all, didn'ch yuh,
Dr. Matt."

"Guilty as charged. I stored all of this," he indicated the blankets and
sleepingbags with one hand, "here this morning before I went to work. You
were already off to school by the time I left, so it was pretty easy to get
the job done without you knowing about it until now. Now, what do you say I
make us some hamburgers on the stove and we get something in our stomachs."

Caleb smiled widely and turned to face Matt. "Thanks again, Dr. Matt!"

"You're very welcome, Caleb. And now, there is something else I need to talk
to you about."

"What about?" Caleb asked as he took a dust cloth and began running it along
the countertops of the kitchen. Matt took another dust cloth and began
wiping down the stove, and the upper shelves in the overhead cupboards Caleb
was unable to reach.

"Well, it's about something important. You know how the Sherifff keeps
insisting that you're his son and no one elses?"

"Yeah. He ain't my daddy. My daddy was a drunk who hated my sister and me. I
love my sister, but I wish we didn't have to carry his last name. Might be
okay for Merly, but not for me."

"Well, how would you feel about me adopting you? I mean would that be okay
with you, Caleb? Because if it's not, then I won't do it."

"Will this keep Sherifff Buck from callin' me his son? And does it mean that I
can be your son forever?"

"Yes, Caleb, that's what it means. Your last name would be Crower, and
nobody could ever take you away from me."

Caleb stopped dusting the counter and turned to face Matt. He looked
undecidedly at Matt and then asked, "What happens when you adopt someone?"

"Well," Matt began remembering everything he'd read in the papers, "the
first thing that would happen is that we'd have to go to court and sign some
papers. Then, when everything's all filled out and legal, your name would be
changed to Caleb Crower."

"When can we start?"

End Of Chapter Two


Chapter 3, Secrets From The Graves
Two months later

Gail Emory, now having finally come to terms with the decepsions of her
parents and all that had transpired between herself and Lucas, had made up
her mind to remain in Trinity. There were several reasons for her decision,
and she was reluctant to choose one over the rest. It was due in part for
the well-being of her young cousin, but also to try and complete a special
project. At first she'd thought it was a fruitless effort on her part to
undertake such a task, but as she contemplated both the pro's and the con's
of the idea she realized that the advantages outweighed all that was to the
contrary. She saw this new project as a way to keep herself busy, and also
to give her a good and strong foot hold in the affairs of the community.
As she thought over her decision, she gazed up at the old building. As
burned out as it was, it still looked much the same as it had twenty years
prior when she herself was not much older than her young cousin. She
remembered the Saturday morning trips with her father, the stories told
after the day's work had been finished, and the intense love that she'd
grown up knowing. But she realized, with horror, that it hadn't all been the
wonderful rose garden life she'd always remembered. In fact, she recalled
one of her visions, one in which her father had burned her small arm with a
lighted cigarette. She'd thought that it was just a dream, or a figment of
her imagination, but then she started remembering more and more questionable
details of her life with her picture-perfect parents before their untimely
deaths. And what about the ghost of her baby brother? The child's words had
haunted her ever since they'd been spoken, and the harsh realities of the
past revealed.

"Maybe it's better this way, little brother... Maybe it's better that you
never knew the world of Trinity and Lucas Buck, not to mention several other
entities. But I am sorry I never got the chance to be your big sister."

Suddenly, Merlyn appeared, as if out of nowhere. She was in a white dress,
with her beautiful tresses of hair floating down her back, curling as they
went. She stood near to where the front door of the building should have
been.

"You are right, but you are wrong." Merlyn stated matter-of-factly. She 
didn't think Gail would hear her or even see her, but there was a slight chance
that the message would get through. "Your infant brother was lucky not to
have known Lucas or his ways, but he should have been given the chance to
live at the very least!"

Suddenly Merlyn disappeared, and a shadow appeared in Gail's line of vision.
Gail had not been witness to the appearance of Merlyn Temple, but someone
else had... Someone had seen Merlyn appear, heard her message, and was now
going to make certain that no person would be given the chance to harm him.

"Evening, Miss Emory." The sultry voice of Lucas floated past the back of
Gail's neck and into her ear. How did he do that? She'd thought he was right
in front of her... Or was he?

"Hi. Look, I just wanted to apologize again. I was wrong to suspect you of
killing my parents, and for that I'm sorry."

"Gail, you did what you felt needed to be done. But now I need something
from you. You told me you weren't ready before. Is that still true? Are you
gonna make me wait for an eternity? Eternity's somethin' I have, but I'm not
so sure about you."

Gail looked at the man standing before her, and regarded him with a
questioning look in her eyes. She knew Lucas hadn't been responsible for the
deaths of her parents, however, he'd been the one to help her realize her
power. He had helped her to see her first vision, and he'd kept her from
going off the deep end when they'd become more intense when she'd visited
the former building where the Trinity Guardian had been. Lucas had been
there for her, helping her along every step she had to take. She'd told him
she wasn't ready, and he'd said that he would wait.

Lucas stepped closer and put a hand on the back of Gail's neck. Ordinarily
she would have jerked away and run from him in terror, but oddly enough,
this time she chose to remain where she was. For some reason she felt no
fear around Lucas Buck at that moment. She also felt something more intense,
too.

"Gail, you and I both know that we had a deal. I don't give anything away, I
make deals. I helped you with the search for the truth about your parents,
and you told me before that you were not ready. Are you ready now?"

"Lucas, I don't know. I am torn between two separate decisions. One part of
me wants to give in and just go with it, but the other part won't let me
submit."

Lucas smiled at Gail. He drew her nearer to him, with a glint of something
which was a cross between evil and good flashing in his eyes. He knew that
once he got his hooks into Gail, that she would undoubtedly submit under his
power. As the two began to kiss, a shadow loomed overhead, unseen by any
human eye.

"Avenge us! Avenge us!" The voice rang in Gail's head, but by now she was
unaware of anything else around her, save for Lucas and the attention he was
paying to her.

"You know something," Lucas drawled softly into Gail's ear, "I think we
should take this somewhere more private. Don't you agree?"

Gail looked at the man who was lavishing her with the attention she'd
fantasized about, but never believed it would happen. Hell, she herself
never believed that she would allow it to happen, at least not with this
man. "Lucas," Gail began. "I don't think..."

"Good, then don't think. Don't think, just react."

From her vantage point several yards away from the couple, Selena watched
the man she'd thought that she had been in love with, but who had simply
used her for pleasure and information, as he played with Gail's emotions.
Selena was extremely hurt by what she saw transpiring between Lucas and
Gail. "Damn you, Lucas. Damn you straight to hell."

As Selena stood there, transfixed by the sight before her, she was unaware
that a small figure had come up beside her. "What are yah doin, Ms. Coombs?"
Selena turned around quickly and spotted the little boy standing beside her.
She reached out and captured the small child's hand between her own two
larger ones, and looked into the face of Caleb Temple. She looked at the
happy and very well cared for look she saw in Caleb's eyes.

"Caleb honey, shouldn't you be home with Dr. Crower? What are you doing out
here this late in the evening?"

"I came out here to see my cousin Gail, but looks to me like she's got other
ideas."

Selena smiled at the youngster in front of her. How could someone so young
be so intellectually ahead of his peers. But he was right about one thing,
and that was Gail and Lucas. "Well, Caleb, Miss Emory and Sheriff Buck...
Well, they, uh, seem to have found a relationship between the two of them.
Do you understand what I mean, honey?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do. My cousin's courting the devil his self."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly say they're courting, but I think you and I need
to have a little talk anyway."

"Bout what?"

"About Lucas, and how he's tryin' to get you to listen to the things he
says. Don't listen to him, Caleb. He wants you to be like him, to hurt
people. He's tryin to make you think that it's okay to hurt people, to make
them cry, to take away all their dreams. And I know for a fact that you were
taught better than that. If not by your father then in my classroom."
"Are you talkin' as my teacher, Miss Coombs?"

"No honey, not as your teacher. As someone who really cares about you and
doesn't want to see anything bad happen to you. Now c'mon, I'll take you
home to Dr. Crower. I'm sure he's getting worried about you by now."

Just then Selena saw the shadow of a man coming in their direction. At first
she thought it might be Lucas, but as the man approached, Selena could
clearly see that it was Matt. Matt approached the boy and the seductress, he
smiled at Caleb and half glared at Selena.

"Caleb, my shift's over. Let's go get some dinner."

"Caleb honey, you do what Dr. Crower says. Oh, and before I forget, I have
something for you." Selena withdrew from her pocket an envelope. "It's the
picture of your sister when she was a little girl. I spoke to one of the
other teachers and she said she had an old picture from her very first
kindergarten class."

Caleb took the envelope and opened it. Inside he could see a picture of a
young girl, with beautiful tresses of hair, and equally beautiful eyes. He
could definitely see that it was Merly. He turned back to Selena and wrapped
his arms around her in a hug. "Thank you very much, Ms. Coombs!"

Matt watched as Caleb thanked his teacher, and smiled widely at the woman.
Caleb let go of her and jogged away, in the direction of his and Matt's new
home, leaving Matt with the school teacher. Matt stepped closer to Selena
and began to speak.

"That was a very kind thing you did for Caleb, Selena. He's been looking for
a picture of his sister at the hospital, but the only photographs are the
ones that I'd taken shortly before Merlyn's autopsy. I didn't want him to
know anything about those photographs, so I simply explained that there
weren't any of his sister. It's actually kind of strange too, because I
checked into the medical records, and there are no photos of Merlyn Temple,
and there is no medical record after her birth, but before her death."

"Well, Dr. Crower, that is quite strange indeed, but when it comes to Sheriff
Buck, nothing surprises me."

Matt smiled slightly at Selena. The two of them knew just what Lucas Buck
was capable of, and by the same token, they knew that Lucas wouldn't stop
his quest to get hold of Caleb Temple in order to raise him in his immage.
"Well, I just wanted to say thank you for what you did. That and I overheard
what you said to Caleb earlier. What did you mean by that?"

"Well, Sheriff Buck's been hangin' round the schoolyard, waitin for Caleb to
come out at the end of the day so he can talk to him. I may have been
involved with Lucas once upon a time, but not any longer. I sorta grew up
recently and don't care for anything Lucas is doin."

"Well thank you very much, Selena. I'll keep an eye out for anything
strange. And thank you for looking after Caleb at the school. I have to go
now, Caleb's waiting for me." Matt turned and headed in the same direction
that Caleb had taken, leaving Selena alone once again to be with her
thoughts and her view of the two lovers just several yards off.

Selena gazed off in the direction of Lucas and Gail, and made her choice.
Since she was no longer involved with Lucas, she decided to move on with her
life, personal and professional.

"Well, Lucas, you'll get yours soon enough, of that you can be damn sure.
But in the meantime, I have a few things of my own I'd like to get done."
Meanwhile, back at the country house, as Caleb liked to refer to his new
home, Matt was reading in his office. He'd brought several reports home, and
was about to start on them, but the book which he'd been wanting to read for
so long called to him instead. As he sat reading quietly, he could almost
swear he heard someone moving about in the house. At first he thought it
might be Caleb, up getting a drink of water. But as he listened, he didn't
hear the creaking sound that the stairs made whenever walked up or down.
Besides, Caleb always kept his bedroom door shut, and Mat was sure he'd have
heard Caleb's door open had the boy wanted to get a drink from downstair.
Matt set his book down on the desk, and rose from his chair. He exited his
office, which was directly across the hall from the bathroom, on the
opposite side of the stairwell as the two bedrooms were. He'd only taken
about two steps when he distinctly heard a small voice.

"Daddy, be careful. Be careful, Daddy. Something bad might happen, and you
need to be careful and take care of Caleb."

"Claire, baby, is that you?"

"Yes, Daddy, it's me." As Claire's voice floated through the house, her
shadow appeared out of a bright light, just as it had before in Matt's
office.

"What do you mean that something might go wrong, Claire? What is going to
happen?"

"The dark forces in Trinity are going to try and hurt you and take Caleb. Be
ready for something to happen very soon."

Suddenly, Claire's immage disappeared, to be replaced with that of Lily. She
smiled sadly at her husband, who for so long she wished would sober up and
they would be a real family. She eyed the door to Caleb's bedroom carefully
as she spoke to Matt in a soothing voice.

"Matt, the Sheriff in town is going to try and cause some very serious
problems for you at the hospital. He will be trying to get you to make a
very grave error, one which would cost you your career and custodial rights
to the boy. Be careful, Matt. Caleb needs you right now, and I think you
need him."

Matt stared at the ghost-like image of his deceased wife. "Lily... Lily, is
that really you?"

Lily smiled sadly at her husband, and nodded her head. "Yes, Matt, it's me.
I still love you. I hope you know that." And with those final words, she
faded away into a shimmering light, and then a nothingness which seemed to
engulf everything in its path.

Matt stood where he'd been for the last several minutes, just staring
intently at the spot where Claire, and then Lily, had stood.

The next morning, after Matt had finally gotten some much needed rest, he
entered the kitchen and began preparing breakfast for himself and Caleb. The
boy was still sound asleep, and Matt felt it would be best to let him sleep
as long as he liked. Matt had a sinking suspicion that something was about
to happen, and the something wasn't likely to be very good. If Lucas wanted
to get his hands on Caleb, Matt knew that he would fight tooth and nail to
keep the boy.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to him, Lily, so don't you worry."

Matt flipped the eggs in the frying pan, and set another on the stove with
bacon in it, ready to be fried up.

"Who yah talkin' to, Dr. Matt?"

"Oh, I was just talking to myself, Caleb, that's all. I've got some really
good-looking eggs cooking over here, and some bacon coming up too."

"Can I help with anything?"

"Not "can I help with anything," it's "may I help with anything." And yes,
you could help me out by grabbing a couple of plates out of that cupboard
over there." Matt indicated the cupboard with one hand as he used a spatula
to turn the bacon in the frying pan.

Caleb set the plates on the counter, and then waited for Matt to serve up
their breakfast. While they worked in the kitchen, the two of them chatted
about the little things. Suddenly, the phone rang on the nearby wall.

"I'll get it, Dr. Matt." Caleb dashed over to the wall and picked up the
phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Caleb, it's Dr. Peel. Is Dr. Crower there? It's really important that I
speak with him."

"Dr. Matt, Dr. Peel's on the phone."

"Thanks, Caleb." Matt set down the spatula he'd been using to put the bacon
on their plates and took the phone from Caleb's hand. He listened for a
moment or two and then spoke up.

"But wait a minute, I thought that everything was fine. What happened with
the medication I gave her last night? Uh'huh... Yeah I understand, but I
still don't see what that has to do with... No, that won't be a problem. 
I'll be in within the hour. See yah then."

Caleb looked at Matt for a minute, and then frowned. "I thought that today
was supposed to be our day together. You're supposed to have the day off
today, Dr. Matt."

"I know, Caleb, but a patient of mine had a bad reaction to some medicine I
gave her last night. Apparently she's allergic to the medication and didn't
know it. I just have to go in for about an hour or so and then you and I
will be able to spend the day together like I promised."

Caleb half-smiled at Matt, who had just put a forkful of egg and bacon into
his mouth. Then a thought sprang to mind. "Could I come with you? I'll sit
in your office and wait for you if that's okay."

Matt thought about this for a moment, and then remembering Lily's words from
the night before, relented. There was absolutely no way on this green earth,
that he would ever allow Lucas Buck to get his hooks into Caleb. And if that
meant taking him with him when he went to work, or anywhere else, then so be
it... That was what he would do if it meant keeping his custodial rights to
the boy as well as keeping Caleb safe.

"Sure. Finish your breakfast and we'll get going."

Caleb wolfed down the rest of his meal and leaped to his feet. Matt grinned
for a moment, and then sobered a bit. "Just remember, Caleb, that wolfing
down your food is not something you should be doing. It's not polite, so 
don't let me catch you doing that again. Okay?"

"Okay, I'm sorry."


Fulton County Hospital, 10:19:am

Forty-five minutes later, Matt and Caleb entered Matt's office and stared up
at Dr. Billy Peel.  Billy smiled at Caleb and Matt as they entered.

"Hey there Matt, how you doing Caleb?"

"Fine, Dr. Peel, how about you?"

"Good. Now I need to talk with Matt for a few minutes, so do you think you
can wait here while we go out into the hall?"

Caleb nodded and the two men exited the office, leaving the boy to his own
devices. As soon as the two had exited the office and were out of Caleb's
earshot, Billy turned and looked gravely at Matt, who wore a sober
expression. At first neither man spoke, but Billy finally found his voice.

"There's a problem with the good sherrif in town. At first I didn't think
that much of it, but then things have begun to happen."

"What things?"

"For starters the man thinks he's God around here, and that he alone is the
one to decide who lives or dies. He tried to deny one of my patients a blood
transfusion last week with that whole blood plague or whatever the hell it
was. And then there's just this creepy feeling I get whenever I'm around the
man. He comes in here from time to time trying to get me to "side with him"
as he puts it."

"Side with him on what?"

"That's just the thing, Matt, I don't know. He came in this morning and
tried to get me to sign some documents or something. He said they were for a
competency hearing on someone, but when I tried to look at the pertinent
information he blocked it with his hand. Said that it wasn't any of my
business, and that if I wanted to continue a peaceful existence for the
duration of my stay here in Trinity, then I'd do what he told me too."

"Did you sign the forms?" Matt was growing a little worried by this time.

"Hell no I didn't sign the forms! What aroused my suspicions was the fact
that he refused to let me see just whom this competency hearing is for. Said
it was confidential, so I explained that if I don't see the name then I 
don't sign em."
"I think I already know who it's for." Matt's face was now full of rage, but
he masked most of it. Billy saw this and asked what the matter was.

"Matt, who is he trying to get declared incompetent?"

"Me," Matt stated flatly. "The son of a bitch has been trying to get me out
of here since the day I first laid eyes on Caleb Temple. Now he's even more
determined to get me out of the way so he can get his hands on the custodial
rights to Caleb."

"Alright, now we know what he's up to, and now we can do something about it."
"We? What do you mean we, Billy?"

"I mean we as in you and me. Together we're going to bring Lucas Buck down.
For starters, I think..."

"No way! I'm not going to put you in jeopardy just so I can keep Caleb with
me. I'm not willing to risk your life. Lucas can make it very difficult for
you here if that's what he wants to do. Trust me, Billy, I've seen this man
at work, and he knows damn well what he's doing, and if he wants someone out
of the way, then they're out of the way."

Billy Peel began to grin maliciously at his colleague. He stepped closer to
Matt and spoke very softly, so that Matt was forced to strain his ears to
hear what the man had just said. "Trust me, Dr. Crower, it's better if we
work together. Buck is bound to try and pit the two of us against one
another, primarily me against you and force me into signing those papers. I
don't doubt that once those papers are signed that you will not only lose
custody of Caleb, but you will also be remanded to a mental institution."
"Juniper House. It's the only one near enough to Trinity where Lucas has the
ability to keep an eye on me. It's all about control with him, Billy, and
frankly you don't need to get caught in the middle of this."

Suddenly, a bright and shimmering light began to form near the two men. Out
of this shimmering light appeared a figure. It was a young teenage girl, no
taller than Matt, but she was shorter by just a few inches. She had
beautiful hair, and eyes to match. Both doctors looked at the girl's figure
as she stood before them.

"Lucas Buck is pure evil! He must be stopped, and you two seem like the only
ones who care about even giving that idea a second thought. But you must
work together to accomplish this task. Your power will be greater if you
unite rather than go your own separate ways."

"Who are you?" Billy Peel stood and stared intently at the teenager standing
before him. "Who are you, and what do you know of Lucas Buck?"

"You must be Dr. Billy Peel. I used to be a resident of Trinity until the
good Sherifff decided that I was no longer allowed my life. Lucas murdered
me, and then he blamed my father for the crime, and then murdered him. As I
said before, Lucas must be stopped! And you, Dr. Matt Crower, are the one
soul on this earth whom my brother has complete and total trust in. You both
want to take care of Lucas, good. Then do as I say and we will be able to
send him to the other side forever!"

"Merlyn Temple? Is that really you? But how..." Matt stared intently at the
girl, dressed in her white dress. He'd never gotten the chance to meet
Merlyn Temple while she'd been among the living, but he'd met her the night
of her death, down in the morgue.

"Trust me. Do as I say now and all will be well soon enough."

"All right, what do we have to do?" Billy asked.


Fulton County Sheriff's office, 11:57:am

Lucas sat in his office reading over the wealth of papers that had
accumulated on his desk. However, they weren't police reports or the usual
small town stuff, but rather the commitment papers for one meddling Dr.
Mathew Crower, his latest thorn in his side. Lucas had thought that it would
be easy to get a doctor to sign off on commitment papers, after all they did
it all the time. Getting a judge's signature would be an even more
challenging task, but not an impossible one. Lucas stared at the papers on
his desk and then at the photograph that he'd taken of Matt and Caleb near
their new home. Of course they hadn't known of the photograph, but that was
the way Lucas liked things... Secret until the last possible second.
"Well, Harvard, you'll be losin' more than just that boy soon enough. You
had your chance and you blew it, and now it's time to pay."

Just then Ben Healey stuck his head in the door. "Uh, Lucas, there's a
situation out here."

"So handle it, Ben, I'm busy."

"I think you'll want to handle this one personally."

Lucas sighed, and stood up leaving the papers where they were. "Oh all
right, what's so urgent that you dragged me out of my office..."

Lucas stopped dead in his tracks. Standing in front of him was a small girl,
no older than maybe eight or nine years old. She looked up at Lucas with sad
brown eyes, and an equally saddened expression on her face. Lucas could've
sworn that he knew the girl from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger
on where he knew the girl from.

"Can you help me? I'm lost and can't find my mommy."

Lucas looked at the girl. He'd never seen her around town before, and he
knew that she didn't look like anyone he knew of from town. "Well, Darlin,
what's your name and what's your mama's name?"

"My name's Clara and my mommy's name's Lillian. We're just visiting South
Carolina, and we came in today in our car. I got out to get a soda at the
store, and when I came out Mommy's car was gone, and so was she..."

"Ben, I won't be back for the rest of the day. Little Clara and I are going
to search for her mother."

"You want some help, Lucas? Want me to look..."

"I don't think that'll be necessary, Ben. I'm sure her mother just went down
the street and Clara here got scared and wandered off." Lucas reached down
and took the girl's small hand and gently ushered her out the front door. 
"C'mon, darlin', let's go look for your ma."

Twenty minutes later, Ben looked up from the paperwork he'd been filling out
and saw what looked to be Merly Ann Temple standing in front of his desk. He
looked over to where Floyd usually sat, but Floyd had run out to do some
errands for Lucas earlier in the day and wasn't expected back for a while.
"What's goin' on here?"

"It's okay, Deputy Healey, it's really me... Merlyn Temple. Now I need you
to do something for me."

"Wait a minute, I don't think..."

"You saw Lucas murder me, Ben, and you know the truth! It wasn't a mercy
killing like Lucas would love to have you believe. He hit me in the head
with the shovel, and then he broke my neck. Now he's trying to take my
little brother away from the only person who's ever shown him any love in
his life."

"But what can I do about it? I can't go against my boss, he'll..."

"You know you want to do what's right, Mr. Healey. So I'm gonna ask you one
last time, please look the other way for the next fifteen minutes. In fact,
I think you might need a breath of fresh air, Deputy Healey, you don't look
so well."

Ben contemplated everything in a matter of seconds. Maybe Merlyn was right,
and maybe the time to act was now. He rose from his desk chair and turned
toward the door. "Maybe you're right, Merly Ann. I'm not feelin so well at
the moment... I think it's that gumbo I had for dinner last night."

Merlyn watched as Ben left the office and then went to the back door. She
stood just inside, waiting for him to arrive, and when he did and entered
the office, she followed him. "Lucas' office. But hurry, theres no telling
how long Lucas will be distracted for."

"Speaking of Buck, how did you distract him anyway?"

"I had a little help from a few friends." Merlyn smiled at the man and then
pointed to the desk.

"Right out in the open. Boy, Buck must be getting pretty forgetful in his
old age." He gingerly picked up the papers, carefully avoiding any of the
other items on the desk, and then he and the papers, as well as Merlyn,
disappeared.

End Of Chapter 3