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"She has him," I whispered, like one in a trance. "And she wants to keep him "
"What? You're kidding?"
"No," I said, turning to him. "We've got to go to court to win custody of him."
"Well, that's not going to be hard. We'll just--"
"It's going to be terrible, Logan," I said quickly. "Everything will come out. Everything," I added, to drive home the point. He understood and instinctiv
ely turned around to look at his new empire.
"I see," he said.
"But I don't care," I added firmly. He nodded, but I sensed his fears and reluctance. "Nothing matters more to me than getting Drake back, Logan. Do you understand?" My voice reached a hysterical pitch.
"Yes, yes, of course. Let's go home and tell the police we've found Drake, and tell Mom and Dad what's happened, and then we'll think out our next step."
As we drove to Hasbrouck House, the past few weeks played-in my mind--how I had been slowly winning Drake's love and trust. Because of his sorrow and all that had happened to him, he had formed a hard shell about him, just the way Luke had formed a hard shell about himself right after my mother, Leigh, died giving birth to me. But I had been slowly chipping away at that shell around Drake and I felt I was making good progress. Now Fanny was destroying it. I pictured how handsome Drake had looked in his little suit at the party, and just before we turned into the driveway of the Hasbrouck House, the dam broke and a flood of tears rushed out.
Was I destined to travel through life with Despair and Sorrow at my side, twin sisters who were comfortable in my home? Or maybe happiness, the happiness I kept thinking I finally had within my grasp, was like a beautiful bird. If you held on to it too tightly, you broke its wings and crushed it to die; and if you held onto it too lightly, it would fly away.
Had it flown away?
I was all right until I entered the house, went upstairs, and stopped by Drake's room. Then I burst into tears again and ran into my bedroom to flop on the bed and cry. A short while later Logan came up and closed the door softly behind him. I couldn't hold back the tears or stop my sobs. I felt his hand on my shoulder and turned over to look up at him
"Now, now," he said. "There's no point in getting so upset over it. You know how Fanny is."
"What do you mean, Logan?" I wiped the tears away with the palms of my hands.
"She likes to do spiteful things and then, after she's satisfied, or thinks she's satisfied, she stops. How long do you think she's going to want to have a little boy as a responsibility?" He laughed. "Fanny? I can't imagine it."
"Randall Wilcox is going to marry her, Lo. n."
"Randall Wilcox? I can't believe it. His father will disown him. It's just a story she concocted to make things seem worse to you."
"No, it's true. He was there at the house. She has him under her thumb. She even has him disliking me. But the important thing is Fanny will have a husband and will be able to claim she has a fit home for Drake."
"I still don't believe she'll want to care for--"
"Logan! What do you expect me to do, sit around here and wait for her to get bored with Drake? She's already filled his head with terrible stories about me, turning him against me. Every passing day will add to the disaster."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"Well, I'll get one of my attorneys to do the paperwork and frighten her with a court action. She won't know the first thing about what to do and--"
"She already has a lawyer," I said quickly. "Wendell Burton."
"Wendell Burton?"
I nodded. "He's already given her some legal advice."
"Wendell Burton. He's an ambulance chaser of the worst sort, a parasitic, wormy type. Whenever someone dies in an accident, he's at the funeral parlor handing out his card, hoping they'll hire him to sue someone."
"It doesn't matter what kind of a lawyer he is or how good he is. The point is she has gone that far. It's not as simple as you think. We're going to have to go to court." He stared at me for a moment.
"I can't believe this . . . just when we get the factory started and we're making a mark for ourselves in this community, We have to have a family squabble aired in public."
"It's more than a family squabble, Logan. Far more. A little boy's life is at stake."
