La Fleur Rouge The Red Flower

by Ruthe Ogilvie

  “Jay Stuart,” Greg replied. “We’ve worked together for years. He knows I would never do the things I’m being falsely accused of.”

  “I see.” The judge looked at a sheet of paper on his desk. “Hm, that’s strange. Jay Stuart is listed here as a witness for the plaintive. How do you explain that?”

  Just then the door to the small room opened, and Hildy and Roger walked out, followed by Zack, Jenny, and Peter.

  Greg’s mouth fell open in astonishment. He looked as though he had seen a ghost! No, two ghosts! He turned and looked at Jay, unable to speak.

  “I guess you didn’t expect this, did you, Greg?” Jay asked him coldly. “How could you have done this? All these years I’ve trusted you. You’ve had me completely fooled. You never wrote a single musical, did you? You stole them all. How could you kidnap Hildy and Roger, and leave them in that lodge to die?”

  Greg laughed nervously. “Jay, you’re not going to believe those lies, are you? We’ve been friends and colleagues for years. You know me better than that.”

  “I thought I did, but I was wrong,” Jay said as he turned away in disgust.

  Greg looked around for a way to escape, but there were guards at every door. Hildy and Roger had the envelopes containing their common-law copyrights in their hands; Peter was holding the scripts that Jay had given to him with the phony stickers; and the courtroom was filled with others that Greg had stolen from, ready to testify against him.

  Greg looked at Hildy with violent hatred. “You bitch!” he yelled. “How dare you do this to me? You’ve ruined everything!” Before anyone knew what he was doing he reached into his pocket and pulled out Peter’s gun. He aimed it straight at her.

  “Hildy!” Jay yelled his warning. Moving faster than he ever had in his life, he threw himself in front of her, and crumpled to the floor as his body took the bullet intended for her.

  Hildy screamed. Another shot rang out. This time it was a policeman’s gun that fired the fatal shot, and Gregory Wilcox was dead, sprawled on the courtroom floor in a pool of blood.

  It all happened so fast, it seemed like a dream, with everyone moving in slow motion.

  “Call the paramedics!” Zack shouted, taking full command.

  Hildy dropped to the floor beside Jay and held his unconscious, wounded body in her arms. “Jay! Jay!” she moaned over and over. “I’m so sorry! Please don’t leave me! I love you so much!”

  Zack moved over by Hildy. “The paramedics will be here soon,” he said, trying to soothe her.

  Jenny and Peter stood in shock, holding each other, unable to believe what had just happened.

  The judge ordered the policeman to bring the gun to him. “Is this your gun?” he asked Peter.

  Peter approached the bench and examined it. “Yes, Your Honor, it is.”

  “We’ll have to hold this for evidence,” the judge explained.

  The paramedics arrived in a very short time, although to Hildy it seemed like an eternity. They carried Jay out on a stretcher. Hildy joined him in the ambulance, trying to fight back the tears and the fears. “Jay, I love you! Please don’t leave me!” she pleaded.

  They reached the hospital and rushed Jay, still unconscious, into the operating room. The doors closed, and now it was Hildy’s turn to wait and pray.

  After about an hour one of the doctors came out.

  “The bullet just missed his heart,” he told them. “We expect him to make it. He’s a very lucky man.”

  Hildy walked beside the gurney as they wheeled Jay to his room.

  “He won’t regain consciousness for a while,” the nurse told her. “Why don’t you get a cup of coffee? I’ll call you when he wakes up.”

  “No!” she answered vehemently. “He’s my husband. I want to be the first one he sees when he comes to.”

  The nurse nodded, and patted her shoulder.

  Hildy sat holding Jay’s hand. A half hour passed, and Zack came in to see if he could help.

  “Oh, Zack,” she sobbed, “I’m so ashamed of the way I acted. The last thing he heard me say was that I didn’t want to see him.”

  Zack tried to reassure her. “He’ll make it. I know he will.” He looked at her and smiled. “He saved your life again, Hildy. He jumped right in front of you when he saw Greg point that gun at you.”

  “I know. He must love me a lot. But not any more than I love him. Oh, Zack, I love him so much!”

  Jay stirred and opened his eyes. He blinked and stared at Hildy. “What happened? Where am I?”

  “Shh,” she told him. “You’re in a hospital. Greg shot you, but you’re going to be okay.” She bent down and kissed him. “You jumped in front of me and took the bullet that Greg meant for me,” she sobbed.

  Jay smiled weakly. “I guess the courts won’t have any trouble convicting him now.”

  Hildy hesitated and looked at Zack, wondering if the shock of Greg’s death would be too much for Jay in his weakened condition.

  But Zack nodded assent.

  "Greg is dead," she told Jay.

  "Dead? Greg? How - "

  "One of the policemen shot him," Zack said. "He would have killed us all if he hadn't."

  The nurse, who had been patiently waiting in a corner, came over and shooed them out. "You'd better go now," she told them. "He needs his rest."

  Hildy leaned over and kissed Jay. "I'll be back tomorrow," she promised, and left.

  Early the next day she returned, bringing a newspaper. The headlines read, "Gregory Wilcox Shot To Death Under Mysterious Circumstances."

  Because the hospital staff had forbidden the reporters to enter Jay's room, he hadn't been interviewed by the press. But he was so anxious to set the record straight and tell the whole world the truth, that he insisted on seeing them.

  He told them the whole story - how Greg stole every musical that had been produced under his name; how he put a bomb on Hildy's plane; how he kidnapped her and Roger and left them to die in the cold French Alps; their rescue; and the unfortunate shooting that occurred in the courtroom yesterday.

  The story appeared in newspapers all over the world. The publicity that Greg had so eagerly looked forward to turned out to be quite different from what he had anticipated. Now the whole world knew what a fraud he was.

  Jay, happy that he and Hildy had reconciled, made a rapid recovery. In a week's time he was ready to leave the hospital. Hildy visited him every day. They planned to renew their wedding vows as soon as possible, this time with their friends attending.

  Wonderful things lay ahead. And now there was the baby to look forward to.

  Jay's parents, Lord John and Lady Margaret Stuart, flew in from Scotland when they heard that Jay had been shot. They were delighted to hear about the baby.

  Two weeks after Jay left the hospital, he and Hildy renewed their vows. The ceremony took place on the back lawn of Roger's beautiful home in Marblehead overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

  Hildy looked like an angel in her beautiful, white gown covered with pearls, her blond hair giving the appearance of a halo around her head, and Jay never looked more handsome dressed in his white tux.

  Zack couldn't have been more pleased when Hildy asked him to give her away. Jay asked Peter to be his best man, and Jenny was the maid of honor.

  The people that Greg had stolen musicals from attended, as well as theatrical friends of Jay's. They were anxious to congratulate Hildy on her new musical, "La Fleur Rouge," soon to be released, and "The Pepper Pot," whose title was now back to its original name of "The Ginger Jar," with her name on it.

  Jay arranged for Roger, with Peter's help, to take over the production of "Sunny Days" under its original title of "The Happy Heart," while he and Hildy honeymooned in Paris and Scotland.

  And so, to the music of the waves caressing the rocks, a
nd the songs of the sea gulls, Hildy and Jay repeated their marriage vows. Their love was even stronger now because of all they had been through. They couldn't wait to be in each others arms again and start their new life together.

  END