"Well, you take it easy getting around the city today, don't overdo it," Stanley told Joe, reaching over to hug him.
"So when did you become such a hugger?" Joe teased his father, though he was surprised a little. The two men had always been close, however Joe's father had never been what some would call overly affectionate.
"I don't know. I guess some old things should change every now and then," Stanley said to Joe helping him on the bus. Joe looked out the window to see his father wave at him before he turned to the direction of the Mill. Joe rubbed his eyes to make sure he saw the sight correctly but he could've sworn that just before Stanley turned around he had done something that Joe had only seen him do once before. Stanley Bevine, the hard fast and respected head of the household had with a smile on his face wiped a tear from his eye.
Minutes later, Joe noticed they had already reached the Mahoning Bridge by the sudden rattling sound of the wheels on the grated floor of the two-lane suspension bridge. Even though expecting this, the noise did remind Joe that even though it was the closest of the three main bridges that connected Capstone City to his home, the Mahoning was by far the oldest of the lot. The city itself sat on the edge of a drastic cut in the land nicknamed "the Scar". This valley ran along nearly half the city until it veered off into another series of valleys that reached the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Name withstanding; the Scar was never considered an injury to the local economy. Long before Capstone City had blossomed into the metropolis it was today, the lower elevation of the Scar had produced a unique direct route in terms of mining and shipping for the city's up and coming steel mill infrastructure.
A large jerk of the bus brought Joe back from his gazing at the new Barnes facility located directly under the Mahoning Bridge, and the new cable system that would be used to transport the crews to and from their shifts. Then the image of the plant disappeared as did every sight outside the window.
"Well, at least the Curtain is still here to welcome me back to the city," Joe mused to himself.
The Curtain, as it was called by the locals, was a 3/4 mile section of fog that permanently enclosing the middle of the Scar enveloping both the Mahoning and Trumbull Memorial Bridges. Joe had asked Kate once if anyone at the university knew why this area was always covered with fog and remembered hearing some sort of long explanation about updrafts and cold air before his eyes had glazed over.
Exiting the coverage of the curtain revealed the stunning view of Capstone City. Being away for so long had made Joe forget the beauty of the city, which seemed to glimmer in the sunlight. With two large towers peaking on either side of town out of the high-rise level of its buildings, the city always seemed to Joe as if it was stretching two enormous arms into the sky trying to reach even higher into the heavens.
"Sadly it’s always best to keep your eyes focused up when remembering this place because once you look down all you can see is the slime that has crept out from the sewer," Joe thought depressingly.
While Capstone City housed the marvels of mankind’s achievements in its museums, entertainment districts and university, reversely the streets of the city hid no mystery from Joe. His time as a detective on the CCPD had long ago broken the illusion of the spectacular city, revealing both the rancor and danger hiding in the shadows. A dark shadow crossed Joe's face remembering the depots and villains who wished to stain the purity of the civilized city with their vile and darken depravity.
Veering away from the center of the city that contained the larger business centers, major bank branches, and City Hall; Joe’s personal yet very public transportation made its way down the shaded streets to the campus of Capstone State University. Perched on top of an elevated rise, which overlooked both out-skirting burrows of the city and sections of the Scar, the university always gave Joe the impression that it was aloof from the hustle of the grayed metropolis. Throughout his time on the force, it seems most two-bit hoods or gangs had seemly understood an unwritten rule of the street; the campus was off limits. There never seemed to be a real reason behind the imaginary border separating the city and the campus but Joe wasn’t complaining. He remembered Patsy used to joke all the time that apparently the cost of a college education could even scare away crime.
Unloading near the parking garage, Joe winced in pain when one of his crutches sank into a patch of wet soil on the university’s quad.
“A one-legged man should not play in the mud,” Joe grumbled to himself as he started the trek across the lawn to the archaeology department.
The quad still damp from a light rain storm from the previous night made Joe’s progress slow, causing him to lose balance more than a few times. Having to pause and collect his breath on numerous occasions left him red faced, sweat soaked and feeling terrible by the time he made it other side of the quad. Standing in front of Moser Hall, which housed the archaeology department, Joe looked up at the staggering sight of a full-sized monster staring down at him or at least the bones of one. Horns reaching nearly twenty feet off the ground and set as if rearing back to charge an unseen foe a full-sized skeleton of a Triceratops stood looking down at Joe. The dinosaur, in actuality a replica of the real skeleton found years ago by Kate’s father, stood as a prehistoric guardian to the building’s main entrance.
“I’m starting to feel as ancient and rick-a-dee as you old man,” Joe said out loud to the skeleton. “And probably just as useful...”
Still embarrassed from his inability to cross the quad yard easily and racked with pain from his over-worked body failing him on even simple excursions, Joe collapsed into a seat in the lobby after hobbling past the dinosaur’s threshold. Sitting there trying to both collect his breath and rub his arms and leg, which were all throbbing in pain, Joe felt worse than ever. He had been lying to himself for weeks now, telling himself that life would just get back to normal as soon as he made it home. The fact he had lost his leg wouldn’t change a thing once he got back to familiar surroundings. But in reality those surroundings were making things worse for him. Memories of how easy doing things like walking to Pirret Street with his mom or running across the quad were finally putting his new situation into perspective.
“I’m just useless now, something to be put in a museum and be gawked at,” Joe thought, “Here stands the proud and mighty Joe Bevine-osaurus. Cower in fear! It used to be able to do something!”
Joe sat there looking down at the marble floor with his spirit crushed. The will to even try to stand up and leave was canceled out by the fact that he would have to embarrass himself by hopping across the quad back to the bus station. Joe was so engrossed in his self-pity that he failed to notice the company that had taken the seat across from him. After several minutes the figure finally huffed.
“Well I know I’m not that much to look at in this get up, but at least you could out a girl’s vanity and say hello,” Kate said jokingly rolling her eyes.
CHAPTER FIVE
Startled out of his haze so quickly by the remark, Joe nearly fell right off the bench. Quickly righting himself, Joe looked up to find Kate sitting in the seat across from him with a look of concern on her face that took Joe aback. Looking at Joe’s red face and drawn out appearance, Kate asked, “Joe, what happened? You look like you ran all the way here from home. What’s wrong?”
“Ha, I wish!” Joe laughed still finding it hard to catch his breath. “This is what happened after I simply walked across the quad from the bus stop. Look at me barely able to take a breath. I’m worthless anymore sweetie, just a plain waste of time.”
“Now Joseph stop that,” Kate scolded. “You just got back yesterday. What are you even doing all the way over here today anyways?”
“Well you told me your dad wanted me to stop by so I jumped on a bus and headed over,” Joe replied.
“I told you that Dad wanted you to stop by when you got settled, not right away you silly boy! You can’t go running around the whole city on your first day back. You’ve got to ease back into things,” Kate remarked.
“Well I can’t go running anywhere anymore…” Joe replied.
“You know that’s not what I meant Joe,” Kate retorted.
“I know, I know. I’m sorry Kate. I just really wanted to try to get back into the swing of things, you know just like they were… but…I can’t even walk from the bus stop without breathing hard. Everything is just so difficult now, so different,” Joe trailed off in self-doubt.
“Honey, not everything is different,” Kate said as she took his face in her hands and kissed him. “Some things never change.”
With that Joe felt his spirits lift if just a little. “I guess if a gal like her is willing to stick it out with a bum like me then things can’t be all bad,” Joe thought.
“You know I love you Kate,” Joe blurted out. It was the first time he had said that to Kate since he had left for boot-camp. Looking up to see Kate’s reaction to his proclamation, Joe saw the loving gaze returned in his direction just before seeing Kate’s head whip to the side in response to a loud crash from the neighboring hall.
Joe was amazed at her instant reaction to the alarming sound as she suddenly bolted down the hall. Jumping to his leg with his crutches, Joe raced after her, his exhaustion and pain suddenly forgotten.
“That came from Dad’s office!” Kate cried out as they headed to the sound of the commotion.
Finally catching up with her near an office adorned with the nameplate “School of Archaeology: Department Head,” Joe trying to control his breathing could overhear two men yelling at each other even through the large door.
“Confound it, Rosán. You know that those trinkets are the last thing we should be worried about right now!”
“If there really were any in the first place Harold! All we have is your word and the apparent deaths of two students that YOU were responsible for!”
“HOW DARE YOU!”
“Dad, what’s going on? The entire school can hear you two going at it!” Kate said barging into the office.
As Joe followed her into the office he was welcomed to the sight of two men standing red faced barking directly into each other’s faces from across a large oak desk. The contents of the desk were scattered across the floor to its right, apparently brushed off by one of the men during the argument and the source of the large crash. Kate walked over to the elder of the two men who Joe of course knew as her father, Professor Harold Stone. His opponent, a shorter man with greased black hair dressed in a white lab coat sporting matching white trousers and shoes stared at Kate almost taken aback by her impertinence in interrupting them. Joe was slightly surprised by the man’s all-white outfit; however he was really taken aback by the eyes staring at Kate. They were at least twice the size of a normal man’s eyes, magnified by a pair of the largest coke bottle-sized spectacles Joe had ever seen.
The large-eyed man apparently noticed Joe staring at him and wheeled on Joe snapping, “And what may I ask are you peering at my young man!”
Sensing the large glasses to be a sore spot, Joe simply shrugged and said, “Nothing sir, just trying to make my way around the mess on the floor. It’s not as easy as it looks.”
“What?” the man said noticing for the first time Joe’s injury. “Well try not to break anything.”
Turning his attention back to Professor Stone, as if Joe was not worth his attention, the man stated, “Mark my words Stone. An account of what happened over there will be made! I will not have my name run through the mud because I was foolish enough to mire it with you on one of your failed excursions!”
“Dr. Rosán, I will not allow you to blame the entire expedition’s happenstance on my father. Is he to be blamed for a war canceling the dig early? Next time you’re probably going to blame him for Hitler’s march across Europe too! I might remind you if memory serves me well I believe you were there on this expedition,” Kate said, defending her father.
“Oh and Miss Stone may I remind you that this is none of your business! Everything was going swimmingly until I had to leave unexpectedly thinking I could leave this fool in charge of the remaining students,” Rosán barked.
“You were there for a day! Oh then there was your convenient disappearance right after we landed in Greece…” Professor Stone bellowed. Joe actually had never seen the professor this upset before.
“I will not have you question my professionalism in the field…!” Rosán retorted
“Professionalism, you ran away leaving every single one of your students to fend for themselves in a foreign land with an invading army at its walls!” Stone screamed back.
“But I didn’t get any of them killed!” Rosán snarked back at Stone.
The way Rosán casually made the remark stopped the argument cold, leaving an eerie stillness in the air as both the professor and Kate starred dumbstruck at Rosán. Joe seeing their reaction took a step to confront the man about the accusation, however the Doctor quickly spun on his heels and stormed out of the office.
Sitting in stunned silence, Professor Stone seemed to age before both Kate and Joe’s eyes.
“Dad, don’t you dare let that horrible man make you think for a moment that anything that happened over there was your fault!” Kate said to her father kneeling down to look him directly in the eyes. “Rosán would blame his own mother and see her locked away to save his own hide.”
“I know dear, but he’s right… Those students were my responsibility and I can’t even tell Jason’s parents where he is,” Professor Stone said with a defeated voice that Joe had never heard from him before.
Joe took a step to get closer to the desk causing his crutch to creak on the wooden floor. The sound caused the professor to stir from his stupor and for the first time notice Joe standing there.
“Joseph! My boy what are you doing here?” the professor said jumping out of his seat.
Quickly walking past Kate and around his desk, the elderly professor came over to Joe and reached out his hand. Holding himself up with his crutches Joe tried to lean to one side and reached out to the professor. However, the action nearly toppled the young man over. The professor’s firm hand on Joe’s shoulder steadied him saving a small amount of his remaining dignity.
“Well I see you’re trying to run before learning to walk again, my young man,” the professor said leading Joe to an easy chair.
“Yeah something more like crawl sir,” Joe replied flopping into the chair.
“Well crawling is the best place to start at my boy. Remember the Sphinx’s riddle, if you’re learning to crawl again then things only go up from there!” the professor teased.
“You know what professor, when I was overseas I actually read that book and probably for the first time understand what you are talking about,” Joe chuckled.
“Well darling, we might make a scholar out of him yet!” beamed Kate from the back of the room.
The trio sat and for the next hour talked about their respective experiences in Europe. Joe tried to keep the conversation focused on the professor’s trip more than his own both not wanting to deal with his accident or the horror he witnessed there. Kate seemed to sense that and helped keep the conversation away from Joe’s accident, which he silently thanked and adored her even more for.
“So you say no one has heard from this Jason kid since he flew out from Greece?” Joe asked the professor.
“Not a word. I know his flight made it to England from a contact I have there but after that, with the bombing and chaos ravaging that countryside his trail has completely disappeared,” the professor replied. “I should’ve stayed with him. Heaven knows what’s come of the young man over there.”
“Dad, it’s not your fault. You were trying to keep him safe by sending him ahead and you could not have known he wouldn’t be waiting for you back here with the other students,” Kate said patting her hand on the professor’s shoulder.
“You may have given him his only chance to even get out of the country. Remember what those monsters did to your other student? I can tell you from the
little I saw the brutality you witnessed there was only going to get worse as the country was overrun. You saved the entire team by getting them out when you did,” Joe said trying to comfort the elder man.
“Well, don’t give me a medal yet. Until I know what’s happened to young Paloski this expedition will…well it will simply haunt me...” the professor said with his last words echoing in the book-littered office.
CHAPTER SIX
Later after excusing themselves from the professor, Joe and Kate slowly made their way around the quad to the bus-stop. The tour of the campus their little trek was becoming didn’t bother Joe in the slightest. He found it much easier to walk with his crutches on firm sidewalk and with Kate near his side he couldn’t think of a single place he’d rather be.
“Do you have to head back to your office tonight?” Joe said looking at the neighboring engineering building, Hardaway Hall.
“Tonight, nope I’m busy tonight,” Kate replied leaning up against Joe’s side. “I’m personally going to make sure that a certain soldier makes it home in one piece. Dad said he would stop by on his way home and pick me up.”
Surprised at being oblivious to Kate’s plotting Joe quickly replied, “Kate you don’t have to do that. I’ll make it back there. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Stopping their walk and looking directly in his eyes, Kate lightly grabbed his chin and chided, “Joe you have only been back one day and you went exhausting yourself by running all over town. Honey, you haven’t even seen me try to babysit yet.”
Even though Joe knew she didn’t mean anything by it, the light jab from Kate hit his ego hard. To have someone else noticing his inability and to hear about it aloud had cut him to the quick. Joe tried swallowing the embarrassment that rose in him. “She’s only trying to help but she just doesn’t understand the helplessness of this…I have to be…well who I am…but who is that anymore?” Joe thought casting his eyes down at the pavement.
The Grey Ghost Page 4