There was no other conversation that did not first involve some news of the construction or of the girls from St. Mary’s. Some of these girls were sisters of boys who were at St. Joseph, so they often wrote each other to pass along what they knew of the project and then the brothers would write back with their bits of news. There was sufficient back-and-forth to write a book. It was just too bad that they would have to wait an entire year before the girls were transferred.
This would no doubt mean a change in the grooming habits of most of the boys, especially Charles Gaggle. Gaggle had the worst breath in the orphanage and no amount of prompting could bring about a change. You could smell Gaggle before he entered the room…it was awful, and now there was hope for change.
Now Buddy and his friends could not have been more thrilled with the mounds of dirt that had been delivered to the playground and the opportunity to display their combined mining engineering ability. Had they been far enough along in the history of the Great Civil War they would not have tried the same tunneling technique of the Pennsylvania mining engineers who came forward with a plan to tunnel under the Confederate position and into its center where they would plant explosives to blow up the center and destroy their military advantage.
The Union officer who approved the plan was not a very lucky man, he had previously lost two important battles for the Union as a result of his unlucky nature. One of those battles involved an expedition to carry men, animals, munitions and artillery across a rain swollen river on floating bridges which had to be constructed in all this muck.
Well, obviously, any hope for the element of surprise was eliminated and the Confederates merely sat on the opposite side of the river with snipers picking the soldiers off one-by-one until the blood bath proved so malicious that the muddy river ran red with the blood of the Union soldiers.
So this little incursion was seen as a “get even” operation for General Burnside who was known as well as General Sideburns or Muttonchops. What was not provided for in the Union fiasco was that when the rear end of the tunnel was back-filled, the burning wick went out. The entrance had to be completely reopened and the fuse relit and when the explosives finally blew, the Confederates had been alerted to the plan and upon the explosion threw down on the unsuspecting Union soldiers and nearly wiped out the entire regiment.
Buddy’s objective was to get under the gate his opposition had constructed and capture the fort. It was a good plan and all the boys on Buddy’s team worked hard to dig the tunnel…but there was an enormous amount of dirt coming out of the tunnel and they should have known that there was an engineering flaw when the ceiling kept falling in.
Now this was a dangerous operation as well, and the good sister in charge of the playground had been lulled into a false sense of security because the boys were so quiet. Of course they were quiet, they were all underground…with Buddy at the fatheriest end of the dig, which was about to cave in for the umpteenth time, but this time Buddy was going to be trapped with little or no oxygen.
Fortunately, several of the men working on the foundation were still on the job but time was of the essence. Upon initial investigation, the men saw that they could not get their trenching machine into the tunnel for a safe extraction of Buddy. And if they went in at the top there was the fear that the hole would cave in and Buddy would be further trapped.
It was decided that while a team began the effort at clearing the tunnel and trying to reach Buddy another crew would try to drill a hole large enough to extend a pipe into the tunnel for Buddy to get some air and to know that help was on the way. But that would take time…precious time that Buddy did not have. Amazingly, two small lungs that took so little fresh air could be so restricted in a matter of seconds, and Buddy was now well beyond seconds he was into several minutes.
Buddy Quinn, age seven, was dying and as he slipped into that long good-bye…death came as a warm whisper lifting his small soul and carrying it to a distant shore and as he moved into the heavens he saw fleeting passages of those he had loved and now was leaving behind. There was his mother Katherine gently waving to him, Father Hermann dressed in his vestments was standing at the alter blessing him, Father Edwards was sitting at the fence of the public swimming pool reading the racing form and smiling at him, Bobbi Joe Thomas and Ernie Simms were throwing a baseball back and forth as they motioned for him to come join them, his grandparents were standing near the barn with all his aunts and uncles smiling and waiting for him to return the smile.
And then Buddy saw himself…he was void of a body, he was naked as a spiritual form, as a puff of wind and he was joined by other voids whirling about…forms that he did not recognize but it did not seem to matter for it was his birthday…it was Easter, it was Thanksgiving, it was Christmas and there was only peace.
Buddy did not know that death would be so serene, so additive, so peaceful, so accepting and so everlasting. Somewhere in the city, at St. Mary Orphanage a nun took a phone call and received the message that Buddy Quinn had died, in a freak accident and within a matter of minutes all the girls had stopped what they were doing and were on their knees praying for Buddy.
Bonnie Texel was playing basketball with several other girls and when they heard the news they immediately stopped the game and went instinctively to their knees and began to pray the rosary to the Blessed Mother Mary…they prayed in one voice for a miracle: “Hail Mary full of grace the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus…Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death…Amen”
Each decade they prayed with their eyes closed and they prayed with the humble sincerity of children, innocently besieging the Mother of God to save… this, her child. Every Hail Mary, every Our Father was prayed in the solemn tones of children for one of their own, and back there at St. Joseph the tomb was now open…Could Lazarus come to life…Could Christ rise again in glory and fulfillment…Could Buddy Quinn’s small body be retrieved and found to be alive?
Buddy’s body was laid, chest down on the earth that had swallowed him…he coughed, he sputtered, his body wrenched…water was poured over his face and the dirt became mud…would he become dust again as provided, or would Buddy live in the spirit. The ambulance arrived and his small body was borne high by two men and a stretcher and then the sirens wailed in recognition and confirmation of tragedy.
Father Hermann was working at his desk when he took the call from Sister Mary Como…she was hardly able to speak, to get the words to form around her lips she simply blurted it out…Buddy Quinn is dead!
“How?” Was the only word he could mutter?
“In the dirt mound…”
“On my hands…” the good priest said.
“No Father, there is blame enough to share.”
“Where is Buddy now?”
“In heaven.”
“Yes, I know, but where is his physical body?”
“They have taken him to General Hospital.”
Only five blocks from his office and one block from where Buddy used to live, the place where the police had come only three years ago and found Buddy alone in the night. How could you ask this child to bear so much pain, the priest prayed to God.
His first thoughts after cleaning his face was of Buddy’s mother, he knew that she worked for a commercial laundry, next door to the Hasenours Restaurant at Brook and Breck, only two blocks away. As he ran to his car in the lot the good priest prayed…“Dear God, take not the life of your youthful servant Buddy…take the life of this sinner…please give this child back to us with the promise of tomorrow and the glory of life in your salvation…Dear God, I know that you work in mysterious ways…but can there be mystery in the taking of an innocent…give oh Lord this day a miracle…save this child for his mother, his brothers and this your lowly servant.”
In the time it took to whisper the prayer, Father Hermann was at the door of Central Overall. He went immediately to the receptionist.
&nb
sp; “I am Father Herman Lammers of Catholic Charities…there has been an accident, I must see Katherine Quinn.”
“Yes Father, I’ll page her immediately.”
The call went out over the public address…“Katherine Quinn to the office immediately.” There was urgency to the call.
Katherine was pressing uniform shirts when she heard the call, Ham was working on a dryer nearby. They saw each other and their eyes sent a telepathic code…there is danger here!
Katherine switched off the big iron, took her purse and hurried toward the front office. Ham ran to her and they entered the office together…they saw Father Hermann and Katherine began to weep.
“What is it!” She cried out between sobs.
“There has been a tragic accident, its Buddy, Katherine…I am here to take you to the General Hospital.”
“Is he dead?” Ham asked.
“I don’t know…but we must go now.” The priest said not wanting to get into a discussion here in this laundry.
He took Katherine’s hand and led here out of the office toward the car at the curb with the motor running.
“Father, please tell me now what happened to Buddy?”
“Katherine, there was a mound of dirt on the playground from the construction, apparently Buddy and others dug a tunnel…you know while playing…the tunnel collapsed with Buddy inside…fortunately the workman were able to dig Buddy out and then the ambulance came and took the body…I mean Buddy to the hospital.”
“You mean to the morgue?”
“Katherine, please don’t say or think that…let us pray together that Buddy is alive and well as we s Strange, waiting for the loving arms of his Mother, through the grace of God and his Blessed Mother Mary…Oh dear God give us this day and give us our son Buddy.”
The big blue Buick cruised into the emergency parking lot and Katherine flung the door open, she did not wait to close the door, she did not wait for the priest…she ran headlong into the emergency room and to the desk.
“Where have you taken my son Buddy Quinn?” she cried out in a loud and sorrowful voice.
“Your son is here Mrs. Quinn.”
“Where is he?”
“I’ll get the doctor.”
Father Hermann arrived and stood at Katherine’s shoulder.
Ham Hambrion arrived and took Katherine’s hand.
“Good morning Mrs. Quinn, I am Dr. Stuart and I have been with Buddy.”
“Is he dead?” Asked Ham Hambrion.
“Oh, no…I am pleased to report that he has come out of the accident with only minor contusions.” The doctor smiled at Mrs. Quinn.
“Thank God,” Father Hermann said.
“Thank you dear Mother Mary.” Katherine Quinn said.
“Thank you Dr. Stuart.” Hambrion said.
“May I see him?” Katherine inquired.
“Certainly…follow me please.” The entourage followed the doctor down the long hall as the address system delivered one encrypted message after the other.
********************
Seated in the middle of his bed with a large bowl of ice cream was Buddy Quinn. His tiny face was reddened and there were several blotches of medication and a large bandage on his neck. Buddy was all smiles…as were his visitors.
“Please don’t stay long, we would like for Buddy to rest and stay quiet for a few hours while we observe him. He has had a mighty hectic morning.”
Katherine went to Buddy and held him close to her, the other two men seemed to get the message and stepped out of the room with the doctor.
“Buddy I was so frightened for you.”
“I know Mother; I was frightened too…I don’t know if I died or what. But I saw it all and went to a strange place… it was all very queer.”
“Don’t think about it now Buddy, there will be time enough for you to remember and to tell me what you felt. For now, let me just hold you and rejoice that you are alive and well with the grace of God.”
Later as Buddy slipped off into a peaceful sleep, Katherine quietly came from the room. She went first to Father Hermann and he hugged her warmly.
“We dodged a bullet today Katherine.”
“Yes, the Mother Mary worked a miracle Father…Buddy said he died and that he went to a strange place where he saw it all.”
A chill went up the neck of Ham Hambrion and a tear welled in his eye, he was not a religious man, had gone through the war without a scratch but now he thought that maybe there was more to it…why had he been chosen over the thousands of other men in harm’s way?
“I’ll be staying here Father, at least through the night…if Buddy needs me, I won’t be out-of-sight.”
“Yes, Katherine…that will be a good idea, and I will return tomorrow…with love from all the nuns and the children at St. Joseph.”
“Thank you Father for all your efforts on behalf of Buddy and myself…and God bless and keep you.”
“Yes Father, God bless you…may I walk to your car with you,” Hambrion asked.
“Certainly.”
The two men walked away and Katherine stared after them. Everything had changed, in a moment her life had been taken and then as quickly it came again…but somehow more fresh, with a new grace. She knew that it could not remain the same…and Hambrion knew as well that his life had changed…that Katherine saw something through the child’s eyes that she had never seen before and nothing short of perfect would be acceptable for her and her child.
Hambrion knew that he was nowhere close to perfect…he was certain that he would, nor could, be a part of Katherine and Buddy’s life in the future. Perhaps the good priest could give him a prospective, a direction…but he was certain that it would not be the news his heart hoped to hear…when his mind kept drumming out the message that he must let Katherine and Buddy go.
They stood for a long time at the car of Father Hermann. Hambrion’s head was low, as were his spirits…he had confessed to his condition and the good priest delivered the solemn penance to the penitent and the words rang out to him as the bells from the steeple in the church tower…“You are not a free man…let this woman go…go home to your wife and children…do not make this any more difficult then you have already made it.”
There was some hope…but it was only a sliver. That hope resided in the fact that Hambrion had wed his wife in a civil ceremony…before a Justice of the Peace…this act wasn’t recognized by the Catholic Church…there remained the possibility that Hambrion could get a divorce and a special dispensation from the Catholic Church after he had been accepted into the church to marry Katherine. But that was a long shot and a very long time away.
Hambrion was ready for the medicine he knew he must take…if it was acceptable to Katherine.
He walked back slowly to the hospital, his mind was filled with the conversation which had just taken place. He stopped for coffee and sandwiches for Katherine…it would be a long night and the perfect setting to discuss the future and the changes that must take place in the next few years. Time was on his side, love was in his heart and in time space would be shared between the three of them.
It was not an easy thing for Hambrion to reconcile, his wife was a very good woman…he had loved her once…long enough to father two boys, and now they had been together for more than fifteen years… Hambrion was now forty-five years of age…it was time for him to grow up.
The idea that Hambrion would take the time to go through the process to become a Catholic was a compelling bit of news for Katherine. She could not believe that someone could love her enough to go through that process and, to divorce his wife…that was a big move. But she knew as well that she could not wait on a man to get his children through high school, and then have someone who was still legally tied to another woman in the eyes of the state.
She had deep emotional ties to him, but she wasn’t sure that it was love, Hambrion was considerable older than Katherine but he was always there for her, and she needed him often. Now the events forced on her mad
e her see that she could accept nothing that wasn’t in the future best interest of herself and her son. She knew as well that she was a young woman, getting stronger each day, health-wise, and there was the prospect that she was never intended to remarry…and she was ok with that. The conversation she had shared with Sister Mary Como took on a new meaning now…she knew that she could no longer see life through her eyes but through the innocent eyes of her child…that she could no longer be so selfish, so introspective without a heart that was willing to share goodness and love in the absence of fashion which drove so many other dimensions of her personality.
Somewhere, ten little girls stopped a basketball game, and knelt in the middle of the gym…they prayed another rosary to the Blessed Mother in gratitude for saving the life of a boy they had never met…their new brother, Buddy Quinn.
Bonnie Texel, one of the young girls was quite unusual… for a girl…she was large for her age standing nearly six feet tall and weighing a hundred forty-five pounds. She had three older brothers who treated her as one of them. If they played baseball, she played as well, if they played basketball, so did she. And when they played she received no quarter. They would run over, through and around Bonnie until she got the hang of the game.
What was so extraordinary, Bonnie was in the sixth grade and she was twelve years old. Father Hermann had seen this Phenom play basketball and he wasn’t prepared for the range of her game, and neither was the opposition. She was the talk of the girl’s league…she set fear into the opposition because Bonnie played at taking no enemies.
There was no stopping Bonnie…she scored from every position on the court, jump shots, hook shots, one hand set shots, fall away and tip ins. And when Bonnie was not shooting the ball she was taking the rebounds and putting them in the basket. She was scoring at a clip of forty per-game, and soon there were stories about her in the sports section of the Nashville Times, the Courier Journal, the Kansas City Star, the St. Louis Dispatch. The sports reporters from the radio and television stations came to the game to watch this natural athlete do her thing.
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