At Night's End

by Benham, Tara

  "Well, let's go then. We wouldn't want to keep the guys in the house, close to the punished for longer than necessary." Dad smirked, but did not leave any doubt that a comment was not acceptable.

  Dad got up from the table, and was headed towards the door when he saw himself in the mirror. Chuckling and shaking his head, he went to the sink to get a wet paper towel. Back at the mirror, as he was scrubbing I caught a look of sadness wash over his face. Sometimes when he wasn't aware of it, he made this face. I used to think it was because he missed Mom, and part of me still does, but now I tend to think he is sad over missing who he used to be. Before Mom got sick, there was no way you would have found Dad in any shape of disarray. He used to be impeccably dressed, hair was always in order and he would never have had pen markings on his face or hands. I think he realizes most of the time the slight insanity he now lives with on a daily basis. Mom would have controlled some of the insanity, but mostly she would have allowed it. Even being young, I could tell that my mom would have done anything Dad had asked her to, knowing that he was asking her for a good reason.

  During one of our late night talks, I explained to Ever that when I do get upset or tired of Dad's pushiness to prepare, I try to think about what my mom would tell me to do. Ever said she liked that, but knew if she thought like that, she'd have a new outfit every day and would have addictions before she was eighteen. We both laughed, but only because we knew it were true. Kryst was not a good role model to anyone, let alone a good mother. Dad finished making himself presentable, and we all headed up the stairs, laughing and joking about the fence and the moat. Even though we were punished, he was the same Dad and never treated us any different than when we weren't. Upstairs in the kitchen we found the guys and the two foreman sitting around the table drinking coffee, and enjoying some of the brownies that I had set out the day before.

  "Mr. Dobbins, would you like some coffee too?" Henry jumped up almost bumbling trying to not appear too nervous.

  Dad's questioning of him and his intentions the prior night seemed to have left him feeling uncomfortable, especially since I was now also in the same room. Dad simply nodded, and went to the chair at the head of the table. The other men said their helloes and proceeded to show Dad their map and discuss their ideas. Dad seemed to appreciate the input that I had gave Frankie, and when it came to those areas that I made suggestions, Frankie winked and Dad seemed to beam. Later I would hear it from him about how the training was working on me, and that he proud. I would feign dislike of being complimented, but both Dad and I knew I enjoyed making him proud. Ever seemed impressed too with my thinking ahead, she was usually the one that thought about what we would need in the future, not just what we needed currently. Before I forgot I brought the ideal of a permanent bridge but Dad did not feel like it would be beneficial.

  "I think this all looks great. I would like for it to be finished no later than Friday. However, if it is finished before Friday there will be a five thousand dollar bonus for each person on the team. On top of that if it's finished early and a demonstration on how to fill it, and empty it before Friday I will give an additional three thousand to each team member." Dad liked things done quickly, but correctly.

  Dad's announcement caused uproar among the men when Frankie told them after the meeting. I heard talk of bringing tents to set up on the property so they could work more hours. There were ten men on the team, so they would have to work very efficiently for them to get it done in less than six days. Before I could turn and make my way back to the house, I could hear trucks starting up to head to get the necessary equipment. It was going to be a long and noisy week. Tomorrow was Sunday, so I had only one day left before the start of classes. I had to find Ever so we could discuss outfits, classes, make up and cars.

  CHAPTER 5

  So far the first two days of classes have been the same as they were when I was in high school except that this year it was with several new people and only 4 days a week. We had all but 2 classes together, and that was because she took fashion design and business management, while I was in ecology and art education. I wasn't really interested in art, but it was fun and easy. At home the noise of the builders was almost too much to bear sometimes; so Ever, Darcy and I have been spending a lot of our time at the dojo completing extra training with the master. Technically Ever and I weren’t supposed to because of our punishment, but Dad agreed to let us, because if not we would be hiding in the lab with him to get away from the noise, and he didn't want that. Dad and Ever had completed the plans for the fence. He was working on advancing already available technology to make it more feasible for what he needed it to do. He was hoping to have the fence tested, and ready to install by Friday or Saturday. When you had the money Dad had, you could pay people to expedite the creation of new technologies. Tonight as we got home from the gym, Dad called a family meeting, and invited Henry and Micah. Other than Saturday, neither Ever nor I had got a chance to see the guys.

  "I called this meeting tonight, to discuss the fence. I have got the design complete, and found a company that not only agreed to create the fence, but after making and installing, will delete the information, so that no one else can get it. Usually I would sell this, but because of the very specific modifications that had to be made, if anyone else got the details, then it would void the technology and the usefulness of the fence. Each of you will be getting a bracelet that when the fence is activated will be read like the reverse of a shock collar, which will allow you to move in and out of the fence without any effects. Animals as well will be free to roam, unless a disease or unnatural mutation is detected after the scanning of DNA. If anything should ever happen in the event that would require the fence to be activated, I will give each of you a separate code which will identify you. The fence is a smart fence with a lot of details that will be explained further, when the company comes out to set it up and demonstrate how to use it." Dad must of have advanced his plans even further than when he was working with Ever, because the surprise registered on her face seemed to show shock and awe.

  I made a mental note to ask her exactly how much was her idea, and how much Dad had ran way with the idea. Micah, Dad and Henry got into a large discussion about the moat, the fence and the construction plans. Darcy, Ever and I excused ourselves to prepare for bed. Just as we started up the steps there was a knock on the door. I told the girls to head up without me, I would check to see who was knocking.

  "McCaid, is your Dad here." Frankie was dirty from a long day’s work but appeared relieved and excited. John, who was the other foreman, was standing behind Frankie. He was grinning too, so I assumed that the moat was complete and ready for demonstration, two days ahead of schedule.

  "Yes, hold on." I excused myself to go get Dad while they waited in the foyer. "Dad, Frankie and John are here, they’re in the foyer waiting to speak to you."

  "Okay, thank you. I hope it is good news." Dad, Henry and Micah all made their way to the foyer to meet the men. I followed behind, hoping that I could speak with Henry some, but he apparently did not wish to speak to me in front of my Dad, because he walked away without a nod. Honestly I had expected that the blushing that he had earlier in the week when he was around both myself and Dad would cause a back slide to the progress we had been making, but I didn’t expect that he wouldn’t even acknowledge me.

  "Hello Frankie, John. To what do I owe this visit?"

  "Mr. Dobbins, the moat is complete and ready for a demonstration. We wanted to stop by and let you know, so that we could set up in the morning to show you how it works." Frankie beamed with pride. He had hired each man personally, and was excited that not only had they made him look good with Dad, but also because word would get around that working with Frankie could pay off, in a big way.

  "It's not too dark right now, could you do the demonstration tonight, so the girls could be here too?"

  "Yeah, I think that could be arranged." John was from Brazil and had a heavy accent. Everything he said sounded myster
ious and sexy. John was older and married. His daughter was in Darcy’s classes, but he was still nice to look at. Darcy had said that Denver even made a comment about John when she was visiting on Sunday.

  "I'll run up and get Darcy and Ever. I'll be right back." I was halfway up the stairs as I was yelling this to them. I was excited to see how the moat would look and work. "Darce! Ever! Let's move! They've got the moat ready." I opened up Darcy's room first, as she was finishing putting on her night clothes. "Come on." I then ran over to Ever's room, she was already getting her shoes on. All three of us were bounding down the stairs, excited to go with the guys to see the moat. Frankie, Dad, John and the others laughed when they saw us coming towards them.

  "Apparently the girls are very excited about seeing the moat, they complained so much about last week." Dad ribbed Frankie. Frankie laughed his loud boisterous laugh, while Henry and Micah chuckled and shook their heads. Henry snuck a look at me and was rewarded with a face splitting grin. This made his entire face, neck and ears grow red, making Micah push him out through the door before Dad saw him, and lengthened or changed the punishment.

  "What are we waiting for?" Darcy asked Dad. Darcy had been busy this past week going with Denver to the pep rally, and managing the cheer squad. Darcy had just as much talent, and probably better agility to be a cheerleader than most of the girls on the squad, including Denver, but had absolutely no interest in trying out. She told me that she preferred the training here, even though Dad would have allowed her to cheer if she really wanted to. Being the manager allowed her to have some of the same status of the cheer girls, without the dedication and time that the cheerleaders had to put in to be on the squad. Darcy had her unruly hair pulled into a messy bun, and her eyes had left over makeup on them. Most of the time Darcy would not have allowed people to see her like this, but she was just as ready as we all were to see how the moat would work. Darcy was beautiful, without makeup, but she felt she needed it because Denver wore it. I tried to tell Dad he should ban the use of makeup, but he said she never went overboard with it, so he continued to allow her to wear it. I rarely wore makeup, to the horror of both Darcy and Ever. It was too much of a hassle in the mornings to deal with, and I enjoyed the extra sleep. Darcy was always trying to tell me how much attention I could get if I wore makeup, like that would cause me to want to. I always responded with "I don't care what others think of me, Darce." To that she in turn rolled her eyes at because she couldn't understand my complete lack of interest in being popular. Ever wore makeup too, but that was more of a fashion statement than because she felt she needed.

  "We will head out now, John call the boys and tell them to prepare. We have set it up so that we haven't built the land bridges yet, so as not to disrupt the environment yet. After you see how it works, where we placed the various outdoor controls at, and what the codes are, we will then build the bridges tomorrow" Dad was nodding his head in agreement as we all made our way across the fields to the trees. It was my favorite time of the evening with the moon making its way into view. It was still warm enough out to be bare foot. I was savoring the feel of the grass on my feet, and sound of the owls and other nocturnal animals as we made our way to the moat.

  "Okay, here is the first available outdoor activation site." Frankie was pointing to a tree stump about fifty yards into the woods. We were still about a fourth a mile from the moat, but he was pointing out the activation sites so that we could mark them on maps that he and John had handed to each of us. The code for this site is T145. It's a tree stump so T, 1 for the first one, and 45 for the coordinates on the map. Are you all following along? That will be the system for all remaining outdoor activators. Questions?" Frankie continue walking once we all nodded that we were good and didn't have any questions.

  Frankie proceeded to point out each of the remaining five outdoor sites as well as the locations of the planned land bridges. When we got to the last location, Frankie had Dad put in the code to activate the filling of the moat. As soon as Dad hit the pound sign, doors every two feet on the concrete walls opened and water began to pour in to the moat. Within three minutes the entire process was complete, Dad had had Ever time it from him placing in the code until the walls closed.

  "Impressive." Frankie beamed at Dad's praise. "And if we want to reverse or empty the moat?"

  "Input the code in backwards, and hit pound again." Frankie did it this time, and Dad did the timing.

  The moat emptied by the bottom areas opening and the water dropping into the reserve barrels that held the water when not in use. "We built in a natural slant as well as jets on the bottom of the walls that allow the water to move at varying paces, so that it doesn't become stagnant. With the plans for the chemical makeup that you gave us, the water should be continually self-purifying as long as the jets are working."

  "Good job. Tell the men that they will be able to collect their bonuses once they have put the land bridges in. I reviewed the blueprints for those again last night, and really think they will work well if ever needed." Dad patted Frankie and John on the backs and led them towards the house, as the five of us chatted about what we saw.

  "That was too cool, I just hope I can remember the codes." Darcy was chewing on the bottom of her lip, and staring at all the codes she had wrote down, next to the "X's" she had marked on her map.

  "Maybe we can figure out a cheat for them." Ever would be the one to come up with a cheat if possible. She hated remembering things. "What if we had the codes built electronically into the bracelets we are getting for the fence, so that all we would have to do is type in the coordinate and it would pop up for us?" Ever's face was glowing with excitement. She thrived on this stuff. I shook my head in amazement at the things she could think up so quickly. She really should have been Dad’s daughter from birth.

  "I know why you don't want a master." The comment came out before I realized that both Micah and Henry were still standing with us. Ever and Darcy's eyes shot looks between me and them with shock. I had just called them masters to their faces. I wanted to die right then and there. I looked at Micah and Henry's faces to see the bemusement.

  "Uh.... So we totally call you all masters, and I am now mortally embarrassed."

  "Why do you call us masters?" Henry was struggling to keep his face straight and Micah had turned around, but I could see his shoulders jumping up and down from his silent laughter.

  "Because you are the best of the best in your jobs, and so are the other trainers. You are all the masters of your trade." Ever gave the quickest explanation.

  Darcy had lost her composure and was giggling uncontrollably on the stump she was sitting on. I was still blushing, but that explanation pushed me over the edge, and I started to giggle as well. Ever maintained her composure a little longer, but when she looked up and saw Micah laughing, both she and Henry lost it as well. Luckily they seemed to believe her explanation. We had started calling all the trainers "masters" a few years back after a discussion on how we felt like animals training in a circus. Most of the training we were getting was considered masculine, so the masters were not happy to find that not only were we, as girls, capable of doing the training, but we were good at what they were teaching us. After seeing how quickly we could learn the treatment soon changed from them humoring Dad, to them trying to get us to change our minds on the training by pushing us to the limits. Each time we met a limit, the original trainers raised the bar. Dad fired all those masters when he found out and hired new ones that were on board and encouraging. All of our new trainers were definitely not chauvinistic and challenged us because they believed in us, not because they wanted to break us, but the title "masters" still stuck. Micah and Henry were called masters for other reasons all together. Once the laughter died down, we pulled ourselves together and headed towards the house again. Dad was just sending Frankie and John on their ways as we were making our way up the front steps. We each said our goodbyes to Frankie and John, and Henry and Micah. Inside the house, Dad quizzed us each for
an hour on the codes and locations of the outside activators as well as showing us the ones inside the house. The house codes were all the same, H233. When Dad was sure we were all knowledgeable enough, he asked our opinions of the moat and the fence.

  "Is there a way we could get passcodes electronically downloaded onto our fence bracelets?" Ever suggested.

  She went into details on how it would work, and how much more helpful it would be for each of us. Dad seemed to like the idea and was taking notes as Ever explained each of her ideas. Dad made a few suggestions, and Ever agreed each time. I yawned and looked at Darcy who had fallen asleep in the chair. I stretched, told Dad and Ever good night, and grabbed Darcy and drug her upstairs to her room.

  CHAPTER 6

  I must have fallen asleep quickly, because I didn't wake up until the alarm went off for classes the next morning. I was just heading towards the bathroom to shower, when Dad knocked. He didn't look very good, which caused me to stop right in my tracks. "Daddy, are you okay?"

  "HUH? Oh well, yes. I'm okay. I have to go on a trip out of town this weekend. I'll be back before Monday, but the fence guys are coming in about an hour can you and Ever stay home to take care of the necessary details?" Dad's face was paler than normal, and his tone was nervous, but he didn't seem to be willing to go into any details about the trip.

  "Okay, but if we stay you know Darcy will want to stay too," I tried not to let my voice give away the worry I was feeling. I rarely saw Dad look so stressed and upset, especially over trips, so I knew whatever was going on was serious. Trying to decide if I should ask him what was going on, only made the knot that was forming in my stomach get worse. Surely I was just over reacting, and everything was okay.