Henry

by Cilika Kunovic

  “Have you met Sam’s partners yet?”

  “No, I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting them.” Susanne was being sarcastic.

  But before she could say another nasty word, Barb interrupted her, saying, “The Millers will also be there and possibly wondering why you couldn’t make it. You were present at their opening, as you well know. So what possible excuse are your children supposed to give Henry if you don’t come with them to this celebration?” She waited for a reply.

  “Must you always be so cruel? You always pick on me, but everybody else is perfect in your eyes.”

  “Go ahead and take it out on me, Susanne. I can take it . . . does that mean you will go and be happy, as long as you were able to get it out of your system? If so, I will be picking you up at noon and we will be off to have some fun.” She wanted to laugh at her own assertiveness.

  “Fine — we will be ready at noon.”

  Sure enough, they were ready, and the fun began. The kids were singing most of the way there. Sasha was in one of her happy moods, and when that happens, she brings everyone else into it. There is no stopping her when she decides to have fun. That had been a blessing to her all along, during her childhood. Her mother was rolling her eyes time and time again on their way to the lake.

  By the time they arrived, some other people were already there and having fun. There were plenty of drinks, lots of food, the weather was good, and the location couldn’t have been better.

  John and Gina were taken by the size of the house, as well as the location.

  “Calm down, John, and take advantage of the situation while it lasts. Why don’t you take that gorgeous daughter of yours and show her around, without letting her drown in the lake?” Barb teased her brother. “Better yet, let me take her for a walk around the house in order to get her acquainted with the surroundings. Come on, Gina — join us, will you?”

  “She just wanted an excuse to get closer to my daughter,” John commented. He loved the way the Prestons all took to her and spoiled her.

  Doug came alone. He usually had a girlfriend or two at hand. Then the Millers came, one after another as they could. It was hard for them to leave the store, regardless of having plenty of staff on the premises. There were also some of Henry’s friends from his navy years. One could tell he had been highly respected during his years of service.

  After all the introductions were taken care of, the party took off to a good start. Even Susanne was impressed by it all and managed to enjoy herself. Although somewhat reserved, she managed to mingle with some of the guests and, naturally, with her children, who were more than happy to have her there.

  “Mom, I told you you would have missed a good party had you not come. You seem to be having a good time. Isn’t this place wonderful? I think I’m in love.” Sasha didn’t need a man to fall in love with — she was in love with life.

  The Miller boys provided the music. Henry had prepared light music for the convenience of the young people, but Dan and Robert had been in a local band for years and knew what was popular; they offered to bring the entertainment with them, if Henry didn’t mind. They assured him the band would be happy to do a payback for their long-time Santa . . . Even though they were way too occupied with the family business, they still managed to keep in touch with the old group whenever there was a need for entertainment.

  “What is there to say? I would be delighted to pay you.”

  “No, no — this is between us for old time’s sake. Just forget it.”

  “Thank you, Dan, I owe you one.”

  The guests all arrived within the hour, and soon the party was on its way . . . The band played well. The boys knew what they were doing and, according to the type of guests, they found a nice compromise as to what sort of music would be best suited. They could be heard far and wide, because the house stood on higher ground, and the sound carried.

  Nicole took a deep breath of fresh air. The sun was going down and it was cooling off a bit. “Dominic, I love this! I used to think only Sasha could reach out for those dreams in her own innocent way, while she was very young, but now I know how it feels. I don’t ever want this to end. What I mean is I never want to stop being this young and this free of worries.” And before Dominic could interrupt her, she added, “I know that we still have a way to go before we finish our studies, but we are happy and healthy. God willing we will make it just fine. Am I right?”

  “Yes, I agree with you.” He adored her for her optimism. She had brought him out of his misery time and time again, while he battled family crises and tried to stay sane for both Sasha and himself. “How can I not appreciate coming this far? I am especially happy for Sasha — just look at her!”

  Sasha heard them talking about her and she loved it. She and Nicole were like sisters. There was trust between the two of them. Why not? They both loved the same person — each one loved him in a different way.

  Nicole took a chance asking Sasha, “Why is Bryan not here tonight? I’m sure you miss him.”

  “There will be plenty of time to introduce him to everybody. He was a bit intimidated about coming, because he is new in our circle and finds it a bit awkward.”

  “Yes — this way, you are free to enjoy this wonderful place without having to worry about him.”

  The Millers had truly outdone themselves with the amount of goods they brought for the party. Henry felt humbled and teary-eyed when he saw all the goodies being unloaded, but Anna was smiling from ear to ear and happily dictated to the boys how they were to handle everything.

  “Anna, you shouldn’t have done all that. I don’t know what to say!”

  “Say nothing. It is simply the best for the best. Let’s just take a look at this amazing place. The last time I saw it, we spent more time planning than viewing. I remember it from a long time ago but I did not appreciate the location until Barb and I came to prepare the place for the party. I truly love it.” Henry showed the house to those who asked to see it but didn’t impose on the others.

  John and Gina wanted to see every corner of the place. “Henry, I have got to see this place from top to bottom. I have heard so much about it, that I am not surprised how beautiful it really is here.” Gina had plenty of compliments at hand. “Barb, now I know why you are so crazy about this place.”

  While some people were busy admiring the place, the young folks were more than ready to go for a swim. At first there were plenty of young people in the lake, while the rest of them enjoyed the food, as well as the company. It just so happened that the lights were shining on the right angle of the lake, so the people in the water were able to play ball even at night and were having a marvellous time. That is, all but Olivia . . .

  “Olivia, what is it with you tonight?” Mark was anxious to find out what was bothering her. “You seem so tense. Is something wrong? If so, can I be of some help?”

  But Olivia tried to dismiss the feeling she had in her stomach. She was sure she saw somebody in the bushes but was reluctant to say anything about it.

  “There is something, isn’t there?” Mark was determined to find out what it was.

  “Mark, can’t you just enjoy the moment for tonight? Everything is fine.”

  But Mark knew better. “Are you afraid of the dark?”

  “No, Mark, I am afraid of what I saw out there. Well, you know how you guys sometimes go and relieve yourselves in the bushes sometimes, especially at night? Well, I saw somebody over there but I was afraid to stare. However, the person that I saw looked familiar and I couldn’t tell if he was doing that . . . or was it something else?”

  “Well, who was it?” Mark was not about to quit.

  “Mark! I just told you what it could have been and you wouldn’t want me to stare — would you?”

  “Okay — let’s go and get some food. I’m starving.”

  Barb was commenting how she wouldn’t mind joining in on the fun in the lake, and some of the others were agreeing with her. It did look inviting. Time was going by much to
o fast for everyone. Luckily it was Saturday and most of them would be able to take it easy the next day — except for the Millers, for whom business was ongoing.

  “Sam, have you seen Tom? I haven’t seen him the last hour or so,” Henry said, somewhat concerned. He wanted his old friend to have a good time.

  “Come to think of it, neither have I. He likely went home to check on his place.”

  The boys started playing again and they just happened to play one of Barb’s favourites.

  “Come on, Sam, they are playing our song.”

  She wanted to dance but Sam was a bit perplexed. He knew that the song was not “their song,” so what was it? Instead of contradicting her statement, he went along and took her in his arms to dance. He quickly asked, “Is everything all right? I can’t help but think that you were trying to tell me something.”

  “Can you do me a favour and go and check on the kids? They went for a swim and I don’t feel comfortable about their being out there by themselves. I realize that Nicole and Dominic can handle the water, but what about Trevor and Sasha? If you can just go and check without their seeing — you know how proud they are of being ‘mature adults.’”

  “When did they go out there? Tom is absent as well, so maybe he is keeping an eye on them . . . I’ll go right now and never mind the pride. I will bring them all in. Water is dangerous at the best of times, not to mention at night. You stay here and we will be right back.” He kissed her and left.

  In the meantime, Henry, not being aware of what Sam and Barb were up to, decided to go over to Tom’s place, which was not far, and see if anything had offended his buddy, or if he was just tired and didn’t want to make it a big issue about going home to get some sleep.

  Sam called out to the swimmers, “Hey, isn’t it about time you came in? I can see that you are having a good time, but up there I saw two worried mothers who should be having a good time instead of worrying about you guys.”

  “Oh, Dad, you know better than to worry about us!” Nicole answered.

  “We are not even going to have this discussion, Nicole — out and up you go right now.” Sam was annoyed because they should have taken others into consideration. “Did you happen to see Tom by any chance?”

  “No, Mr. Preston, we haven’t seen him. Why? Is he missing?” Dominic answered with a grin, at which they all laughed. They went up to the house and rejoined the rest of the crowd as soon as they got changed. That brought Sam back to his wife’s side. But then he noticed that Henry was missing.

  “Sam, do me another favour and dance with Susanne — or at least try to. She is looking mighty lonely over there and is too stubborn to come here and chat.” She gave him her pleading look.

  “Not now, Barb. I have to do something else right now. I think Henry is worried about Tom. He may have gone to see if Tom is all right. I will be right back.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “No, I don’t want the others to notice anything wrong or anyone missing. Just have a good time.” He was gone in a moment, and Barb decided to go and humour her friend for a while. She had asked Susanne earlier to join them at the table, but Susanne refused, stating, “I don’t belong at the head table,” something only Susanne would think of saying. So Barb sat beside her for a while, waiting for Sam to return. She began to think he was taking too long.

  At midnight, the boys put down their instruments to have a midnight snack, which prompted most of the others to do the same. After all, they had worked hard, playing, swimming, or dancing.

  Bill approached Barb asking where Sam was. “Did he go somewhere with Henry? I haven’t seen either one of them for a while. Is something wrong?” He was concerned without sounding alarmed.

  “Sam said he would go and see if Henry had gone after Tom. You see, Tom had lost his wife quite recently and he may have found the music and all of this a bit difficult. Tom and Henry are close and have been for years. The two of them and their wives used to socialize quite a lot, and Henry knows what Tom must be going through. The three of them are probably having a bit of a chat. Just go and have a good time.” But Barb was not at all as comfortable with her reply to Bill as she pretended to be.

  Bill found Doug talking to Gina and John. “Will you folks excuse me for taking Doug away from you for just a second? Come on, buddy, I need you.” He dragged him away from them and quickly told Doug what was going on. “I think we should have a look at this situation. Let’s go — I will tell you more on the way.”

  Barb saw them go with some relief.

  “This is not the easiest thing to do, since we don’t know the place at night,” Bill said as they attempted to find their way to Tom’s place. Although it was not far, there was not much light coming from either place, so they had a hard time finding their way.

  “Hey, Tom — are you in?” They waited for a reply and it took a few seconds to hear Tom asking, “What brings them back?”

  Tom was under the impression that Henry and Sam had decided to come back. He was surprised to see Bill and Doug. “What are you guys doing here? No offence, but I didn’t expect anybody else tonight.”

  “We came looking for Henry and Sam — were they here?” At that point, they were all a bit perplexed. Bill repeated the question: “Were they here?”

  “Yes, they were here, all right. I guess they were missed quickly? I didn’t mean to keep them long. I was a bit tired and I just left quietly . . . but Henry’s Henry and wanted to find out why I left. I’m sorry about that. By the way, didn’t you see them on your way here?” Then, he thought of the possibility that Sam and Henry had taken the shortcut to get back quickly. “Never mind, they probably took the shortcut.”

  “Sorry to bother you, Tom. We just wanted to know if everything was all right. Which way is this shortcut you are talking about?” Tom was happy to oblige.

  “Let’s take the shortcut,” Doug said. Off they went, after bidding Tom a good night.

  After just a few minutes, they heard moaning and were sure Sam and Henry were playing a dirty trick on them, so they pretended not to pay any attention to it. Reluctantly they proceeded ahead but the moaning increased, or so they thought.

  “Do you hear it?” Doug said. At the same time, he forgot about the joke that the two guys were supposedly playing on them.

  “Here, Doug!” Bill saw something moving to the left of him and was scared to say anything. But Sam heard the name “Doug” and, at the same time, he recognized Bill’s voice.

  “Here, guys. I can’t move . . . Henry is . . . under me . . . I think.” At that moment, both guys were ready to move quickly. Bill lit his lighter in order to get the gist of things. He was scared to death as to what was going on; and were they all about to be attacked again? And by whom? This was not good, that much they knew.

  Tom was not comfortable about the whole situation and he felt guilty for having left without telling Henry. He felt responsible for these men having to look for one another, so he took the lantern and went looking for them.

  When he arrived at the scene and saw both Sam and Henry both down, and Doug and Bill trying to help, his knees buckled in terror and he yelled out loud, “Good God! Wait, I’ll get help!” He left the lantern and ran back to his place to call.

  The ambulance was on its way, and Tom, all shaken, didn’t know whether to go back to help, or wait for the ambulance to arrive. He decided to go back.

  “I don’t know what hit me,” Sam kept repeating. “It all happened so fast — and after that, I don’t remember anything. I am so . . . tired.” Sam was conscious, even though he was hurt, but Henry was in bad shape. He seemed to have been hit from behind on the head and had immediately collapsed. Before Sam could realize that Henry was down, he was hit over the shoulders and went down right on top of Henry. Whoever hit him had missed his head.

  By the time the help arrived — and the ambulance was making an unbelievable noise through the forest — the folks at the house suddenly realized there was big trouble fac
ing all of them. The first thing that anyone thought of was that someone had drowned in the lake. Of course, that was not the case.

  The paramedics were having a hard time getting to the two injured men on the narrow path within the bushes but they were professionals and handled everything accordingly.

  Sam was somewhat confused but conscious throughout the whole process.

  Needless to say, the party was over. There were a lot of very scared people trying to find out what had just happened. Nobody knew what had gone wrong out there in the bushes.

  The police arrived within minutes after the ambulance, and while the ambulance raced through the forest, the police took over and questioned the guests, while some of them tried to help in keeping some order. Everyone had to remain in the general area of the house, even if just for their own safety. It was soon discovered that there was somebody out there who meant them harm. Sam and Henry were not the only two people in danger until it could be proven otherwise. The questioning finally finished, they were allowed to go home but asked to think hard if they could remember anything that could be of some help to the investigation. This was hours after Sam, Henry, and Barb left in the ambulance in a desperate attempt to save Henry’s life.

  Anna Miller took charge and said to the group, “Now, I want you all to go home, except for the ones who need a ride getting there. Will those of you left please help me with the cleanup? I’m sure you won’t mind?”

  George Miller went home, but the boys stayed to help finish up.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  At the hospital, the paramedics turned over the responsibility to the next group, who would carry on from there.

  Barb, who had arrived in the ambulance with the injured men, was briefly questioned as soon as the patients were whisked off. Henry was taken to the ICU, where he remained unconscious, and Sam was treated in the emergency room and later taken into surgery, where he was to undergo surgery for a punctured lung. He also suffered broken ribs.

  Bill and Doug arrived shortly after, once the police allowed them to leave the lake.