The Sabres

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 cont.

All six boys completed their plan of attack. "Ulee, take Colton and Clayton to the tree-house. That's going to be the safest place in case everything goes wrong, or, just in case we're followed and need a defensive fall back post." Jackie started to head towards the changing room, then turned, "Talon and Brody, let's get changed and ready for infiltration of the farmhouse." With a purposeful stride, Jackie left the room.

Brody watched Talon follow Jackie out of the room. He still wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do or not. He looked over at his twin brothers, walked over to them and pulled them into a hug. "Go with Ulee. I don't know if this is going to work, but if it does, within a few hours we should be able to call grandpa to come and get us. Stay brave for me, okay?" Brody couldn't keep the question out of his voice.

Colton and Clayton couldn't keep the fear and apprehension out of their voices;

"We will..."

"try to stay brave."

"We can't lose..."

"you Brody. You're all..."

"we've got now. And if..."

"things don't go right..."

And both boys said together, "we don't want to go blind or lose you." Both boys hugged into Brody and broke down into tears.

Brody held them close, whispering in both their ears, "Somehow I don't think that's going to happen. I'm starting...starting to get a good feeling about this."

Brody pushed both of his brothers back, "Now, go on with Ulee. I need to go and get ready so we can get the antidote." With that, he gave both his brothers a little shove to get them moving.

Ulee walked up to Colton and Clayton, putting an arm around each of their shoulder's, "C'mon, let me show you our tree-house It's really great and we got lots of neat things up there."

Both boys nodded as they followed Ulee out of the dojo, stopping one time, each looked over a shoulder to see their older brother disappear into the changing room.

---

While the six boys were making their plans, Jeremy and Tyler were making theirs. "Alright, Tyler, you take Therin, Mark and Scout with you and set up a perimeter around the tree-house I don't think there will be any trouble here, but we have to be prepared for anything."

Jeremy looked over to the others, "Renaud, Chad, Travis and Curtis, you are coming with me. We have just enough of a head start to get to the farmhouse before Jackie, Talon and Brody. Our main objective is to observe, deter the kidnappers, and protect the three boys; while at the same time, not giving ourselves away to Jackie and Talon. Our mission must remain secret at this time, yet, if it becomes a choice between keeping them safe and showing ourselves, we will show ourselves to protect our main objective."

Jeremy then walked over to Tyler, pulled him into his arms and gave him a kiss, "Love you Tyler." He then turned and walked into the woods with his four charges following him.

Approximately six miles and forty-five minutes later, Jeremy found himself and his team at the perimeter of the rented farmhouse. While Jeremy had no problem maintaining a steady jog, the other three boys were slightly out of breath. "You didn't do too bad keeping up. We still have to get you in better shape."

Curtis, being his defiant self, glared, "We're swimmers, not runners. Let's see how you do against us in the pool asshole."

Jeremy just smiled his mischievous smile, "You're on. As soon as we can, I accept your challenge, Asshole!"

Jeremy then patted Curtis on the back and continued, "Everything is deserted right now. They must still be out looking for Brody, Colton and Clayton. Now, this is where I want each of you stationed...." Jeremy then proceeded to inform each of the boys what their duties were and where to place themselves to remain undercover and to be able to keep the perimeter secure.

While Jeremy was getting into position he carefully watched the other three. With small corrections here and there, not even he could see where he had everyone set up.

---

Jackie, Talon, and Brody were only about five minutes behind Jeremy and the others. All three boys were dressed in murky green and brown camouflage clothing. Brody couldn't believe the amount of weapons that Jackie and Talon hid on themselves as they got ready. Brody was even more surprised when Talon handed him a knife and a few other items for protection.

When they got to the farmhouse, Jackie motioned with his hands for them to halt. He kept looking around, feeling something was off, but just couldn't put his finger on what was wrong. So they sat and waited while Jackie studied the area.

Jackie finally shrugged his shoulder's while Talon looked at him with concern; he also looked all around trying to see what could have bothered his brother.

"I don't know. Just feel something or someone is out there watching us." Jackie finally took his eyes off of the surrounding area long enough to glance at Talon, "The show is yours bro. Go and do your thing....and if mom ever found out half the stuff our dad and uncles taught us, she would kill them."

Talon grinned, showing his dimples, then with a soft chuckle, "You got that right. Alright, Brody, stay here with Jackie while I go do some picking and entering." Talon moved closer to the edge of the tree line, looked around and then, moving low and quick, made his way to the back door of the farmhouse.

Staying in a low, crouched, position, Talon reached up and tested the handle on the back door. Finding that the door was indeed locked, he reached into a pouch and pulled out his lock pick set. In his left ear, he placed a small amplifier so he could hear the click when the lock disengaged. Staying as close to the door as possible, he proceeded to use the picks to unlock the door. As soon as he heard the click, he very slowly started to turn the knob. As soon as he had the door opened a hairs width, he slipped a very thin piece of metal out of his boot. Extending it out, he inserted it between the door and the frame at the base of the door, very slowly he started to move the piece of metal up the frame to check to see if there were any possible traps set.

He stopped suddenly, feeling a slight tension...and pulled back. He glanced over to Jackie and shook his head. Letting him know that the back door was rigged. Not sure with what, Talon slowly eased the door back into place. Taking a deep breath, he re-centered himself and looked for a window they could climb through.

Following the back wall of the house, he located a bedroom window. Pulling himself up, he looked into the window to find a single bed and nothing else in the room. He did everything he could to look around to see if he could see anything attached to the window, and couldn't find anything. He glanced over and saw an old wooden crate. He looked around again, then moved over to the crate. He picked it up and moved it under the window he wanted to open. Using the thin piece of metal, he maneuvered it until he was able to slide the window lock to the open position. But when he tried to push the window open, he found it wouldn't budge.

Taking another deep breath, he reached into his pouch again and pulled out his glass cutter and a suction device to remove the glass. He set the suction device in the center of the glass and began to cut the glass. As he got to the bottom, he held onto the suction device with one had and pulled the glass out of the frame when it let go. He carefully lowered himself and the glass off the crate, then he set the piece of glass off to the side. When he climbed back up onto the crate he found that the window had been nailed shut.

He pulled himself up onto the ledge and then lowered himself into the room. He crouched low and listened for any other movement. Detecting none, he made his way over to the door and listened again. He slowly opened the door and peered down the short hall. Finding the area clear, he went back to the window and motioned to Jackie and Brody that it was safe.

Jackie quickly explained to Brody how to stay low and to follow him. As they got to the window, Jackie helped Brody enter the room first. Then Jackie followed. Whispering to Brody, Jackie asked, "Which way?"

Brody motioned with his head to show them the way. Jackie then gave Talon the signal to search the other rooms while maneuvering Brody to move in the direction they needed to find the antidote.

Brody came to another door in the hallway, "This is where they always took us to make us drink the blue liquid in the morning and the green liquid at night."

Jackie nodded and had Brody position himself next to the door as Jackie slowly started to open it. Finding nothing stopping it from opening, he slowly opened the door and then did a quick room entering, quickly moving to the left and running down the length of the left wall. Once to the other corner, and covering the doorway he motioned for Brody to enter.

Brody stayed low to the ground and moved to the right, just the way Jackie had told him to enter the room. Once Jackie was sure that the room was clear, he started to look around for what they came for. Seeing a cabinet, he went over to it and tested it. Being able to also open this with no problems, he found several vials of blue and green liquid and several bottles of various kinds of pills and powder.

He motioned Brody over and had Brody open his pouch so they could start to fill the pouch with everything that was in the cabinet. About the time he was done, Talon entered the room. Talking softly, "The back door is the only door rigged. And it's a good thing that I stopped when I did, cause the house is rigged to blow."

Jackie nodded and finished filling the pouch. "What about the other rooms? Did you find anything else of importance?"

Talon shook his head. "Nothing, I grabbed some of the clothes they had for you guys," he said glancing at Brody, "and what looked like a few personal belongings you might want, but nothing else. Not even clothes for these men. Nothing. No paper, no computer, no notes, nothing. This place is clean."

Jackie closed the pouch and motioned for them to move back to the open window. After climbing out the window, the three boys moved to the corner of the house to see if the way to the tree line was clear. Suddenly they saw the wind start to pick up near the road as a car started to turn into the driveway off the main road. Their eyes opened wide as the wind picked up quickly blowing dust, leaves and other debris all over the place and the resulting cloud of debris kept increasing in density.

Jackie pushed Talon and Brody to move back. The three boys stopped at the back door and Talon pulled out a few items and handed something to Jackie. Brody could only watch as he had no idea what they were doing.

Jackie handed Brody the end of a wire and he took the other one. Jackie and Brody moved back to the corner of the house and noticed the car was stopped dead at the entrance of the driveway with a wind storm all around the car. They could only catch glimpses of the car since it appeared as if a mini tornado was surrounding it, preventing the car from moving. They smiled at each other and started to run towards the tree line.

Talon tied the other ends onto the doorknob of the back door and waited. Just as Jackie and Brody stopped inside the tree line Talon barely opened the back door and ran. While Talon was running, Jackie saw a large tree branch lift up out of the trees and go flying right into the radiator of the car. Smoke started to billow and it seemed the wind had intensified. Leaves and debris totally obstructed any view that anyone inside the car may have had.

As soon as Talon was next to Jackie, Jackie handed Talon the other end of the wire. Talon grinned, dimples showing real deep, as his eyes sparkled and he nodded to Brody and together they pulled pulled the wires. The back door to the house came flying open, setting the explosives off. The wire instantly disintegrated as soon as the heat from the explosion touched it.

Talon smiled even bigger, "Man, that was wicked. We gotta do that again sometime."

Jackie laughed, "Yeah, but right now we need to get outta here. Let's go."

Brody just looked at the house, mouth wide open in shock. "Well, are you coming with us or do we have to carry you?" Talon jokingly asked.

Brody just looked over at Talon, still in shock, "You just...you just..." He looked back at the house, then at the car, seeing pieces of burning lumber falling onto the car, "You just blew up the house."

Talon burst out laughing, "No shit, Sherlock. Told ya we would do whatever we needed to do. Now let's go, so we can give you and your brothers that antidote."

Brody shook his head and the three boys started to run towards the Sabre home.

---

Jeremy was closely watching Jackie. He was impressed with how Jackie held back. He let a small grin form on his face. Jeremy thought to himself, 'He knows someone is out here. Good, that is real good.'

He watched every move the boys made. When he saw Talon was the one to go up to the house and Jackie stayed back, Jeremy was intrigued. Then, when Talon picked the lock and pulled out the thin metal, Jeremy knew that these boys had more training than he knew about. Thinking some more to himself, 'Where did you get your training?'

He watched them and kept a close look out around the area. He watched as Jackie and Brody made their way into the house through the window.

There was a long moment of silence. Just watching and waiting, then all of a sudden he heard, "There is a car approaching."

Right as he looked towards the road, it appeared as if the wind started to pick up. Jeremy knew this wasn't right, there was no wind. It was a calm evening.

As soon as the car turned into the driveway, the wind intensified. He saw the car stop and the two men cover their heads and drop down, as if they were searching for cover. As more and more debris started to fly around the car, Jeremy started to wildly look around. It looked like every piece of dirt, every loose leaf and other debris near by was swirling around the car, faster and faster, forming a mini tornado. Then he saw a large tree branch emerge from the tree line and head straight for the car, all he could think of doing was to get his boys outta there, "Fall back, everyone fall back! Move, move now."

He could see some movement as Renaud, Chad, Travis and Curtis started to move back to their previously established meeting point.

As the large tree branch hit the radiator, all Jeremy could whisper was, "What the Fuck!". The shock of the events could be heard in his voice.

Jeremy knew there were some pretty strong telekinetics in the clan, but none, not one, of them were there with him. He could understand why, with just dust, leaves and pebbles flying around the car the men felt they needed to search for cover. He stared at the mini wind storm and let out a low whistle. Jeremy shook his head as he couldn't figure out where it was coming from and why it was happening. He started to fall back and was looking around to see if he could find where the attack was coming from.

Jeremy stopped, took a knee and calmed himself. After the events of the funeral, he knew he was allowing his emotions to get in the way. He calmed himself and then reached out with his mind. And then he smiled. He wasn't as strong as Tyler but he knew he had to try. 'Ah, so there is someone else who is also keeping a watch over the Sabre boys, very interesting.' Jeremy looked back at the wind storm engulfing the car and understood.

"Jeremy, I can see the entire area. Do you want me to teleport everyone back to the plantation?"

Jeremy gasped, "What do you mean you can see the entire area, Daileass?"

Giggling came through his earpiece, "I got upgraded," more giggles, "so as soon as I heard you say, 'oh fuck', I commandeered a satellite and found your location. Oh, and what is Talon doing?"

As soon as Daileass said that, Jeremy saw Talon tying something to the door and then run. Talon reached the treeline and a few seconds later Jeremy saw flames billow out as the farm house exploded.

Daileass immediately sent a copy off to Jory. Then Jeremy heard Jory in his earpiece, "Damn amateurs, that was all pomp and circumstance. Too much of a debris field for my liking. If they wanted to set explosives, the least they could have done was learn how to do the job right."

Jeremy couldn't help but laugh as he could still hear Jory playing the video over again and mumbling about the effect. He even thought he heard, "if they weren't the bad guys I'd be willing to teach them how to do the job right, look at that waste."

"Ah, Daileass, I think we can take it from here. We need to follow Jackie, Talon and Brody to make sure they are alright. Um, thanks though." Jeremy softly giggled as he caught up with Renaud, Chad, Travis and Curtis.

"Damn, did you see that?" Curtis excitedly whispered as soon as he saw Jeremy.

"And all that stuff blowing around, with a tree branch moving. Where did that come from?" Travis' shocked tone let all of them know that he really couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Jeremy knew that he was going to need to fill them in on quite a few things.

Renaud calmly slapped Chad on the back, "Better get your bro and his friend, they think that's something," Renaud started to laugh, "I'm sure Jeremy will be filling us in on a lot of things real soon."

With that, the boys started to move out and follow Jackie, Talon and Brody.

---

"Where did the brats go? They know better than to defy me!" Demo grumbled as he was driving toward the farmhouse. "They better be at the house when we get there. And all the better if they used the backdoor. Would serve them right for not listening to me."

Trigger sat back and listened to Demo grumble.

Just as they got near the entrance of the driveway, they saw some dust pick up. Just as they turned into the driveway, Demo stopped the car and both men ducked for cover. Inside the car, it sounded like automatic machine gun fire as pebbles were hitting the metal of the mini-van.

Dust was flying all around and the images of their home were intensified in their mind. They saw a massive wind storm all around them with nowhere to escape. "We can't drive through this, it's too dangerous. Where did the wind storm come from, this isn't the desert! This isn't supposed to happen here." Demo shouted over what he thought was howling winds.

Trigger peeked up and ducked right back down again when he felt the car shake and then heard the hiss of the steam from the radiator being punctured. "Damn it all to hell. Now we have to stay here anyway. The car is no longer drivable and we can't breath in all that sand and dust."

Then they heard the house explode. Demo and Trigger glanced at each other and held their breaths for a moment. Burning debris started to fall all around the car. "Now, we don't have the boys at all to bargain with. Serves them right for not listening."

With all the noise and the boys running away from the home, what none of them knew at the moment was that there was a small gas leak under the car. Demo and Trigger never were able to tell their boss that they lost the boys. They never spoke again as the car was engulfed in flames and they couldn't escape into the massive storm that had them hunkered down in the car. The locks refused to move and the doors refused to open. Soon, the sudden lack of oxygen and the intense heat from the flames extinguished their existence.

---

Jeremy and the boys took a fall back position. Keeping a safe distance behind Jackie, Talon and Brody. He giggled here and there, along with Renaud, Chad, Travis and Curtis as they listened to the boys talking.

Talon threw his arm around Brody, "That was, WOW!" Talon's hands came off Brody's shoulder's as he demonstrated, "BOOM" and then started to add the sound effects of things flying everywhere.

Brody was still shocked, "They blew up that poor old lady's house," he mumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. Seeing the question on Talon's face Brody continued, "We met her when those men signed the month to month lease to rent the house."

Talon nodded in understanding, "Ah, don't worry about it, Brody, mom will have another one built for her. Her family used to work for our family a long time ago when the plantation was a working plantation." Talon shrugged then added, "We take care of ours here, and she is one of ours. You don't have to worry about her, she lives with her daughter in the next parish and mom will make sure she gets compensated for the damages."

Jackie added, "That's what we do. We take care of each other." Then as an afterthought, "Not sure how this one is going to get explained though. And we can't know anything about it. Either way, mom will offer her money equivalent to what the home was worth or offer to have a new one built."

Talon got a thoughtful look on his face, "Yeah, and what about that stuff blowing around. Where do you think that wind storm came from? And it only stayed around the car."

They all stopped when Brody did, "And how did that large tree branch go flying into their radiator? That was so, awesome!" Brody stated, still shocked.

Talon shrugged his shoulder's, "No clue, but it couldn't have happened at a better time."

"Well, guys, hate to break this little chat up, but we need to double time it home. Come on, let's get moving." And Jackie took off running for home and the safety of the tree-house

Brody shook his head, this was more exercise than he had in the past four months, but he took off running with them.

Jeremy and the boys followed at a safe distance behind; all the boys heard Daileass in their ear, "Jeremy, their car exploded. We won't be getting any information from them."

Jeremy nodded that he heard, even though he knew Daileass didn't see it. They could just barely hear sirens off in the distance.

---

While Jackie, Talon and Brody headed for the farmhouse, Ulee was closing the floor door to the tree-house "This is our fortress, guys." Ulee put his arms out to the side and did a little full turn to show off their space.

"Make yourself comfortable. There is a futon couch there you can sit on. I gotta get ready for war." Ulee pointed to the futon couch and then walked over to one of the walls by a window.

Colton and Clayton's eyes opened wide as Ulee started to walk around and closed the window shutters. As he closed each shutter, he opened a panel in the wall to show an assortment of weapons in the hidden panels.

Colton and Clayton got up and started to look at the various bows and arrows, dart guns and darts, spears, throwing stars, and various other weapons. Then Ulee opened a panel in the floor. Their eyes really opened wide as they saw more swords, hand guns, bullets, grenades, and the list went on.

"What....what do you need all this for?" Clayton asked.

Ulee just shrugged, "War." He looked down for a moment then glanced back up, "Our dad built this for us and taught us how to fight. What he couldn't teach us his team, our uncles, did. He wanted us to have somewhere safe where we could defend ourselves from." Ulee looked around, "This is it. This is our fortress, our castle to defend."

"Like Knights protecting their castle?" Clayton asked.

Ulee thought about it, "Yeah, like that." Then he swallowed, "I think our dad knew there might be trouble before he disappeared and made sure we had everything we needed to protect ourselves in here."

Ulee looked around, "The only thing missing is enough food. Kids need more food."

That got Colton and Clayton laughing. Ulee spent the rest of the time showing the boys all the weapons, how to use some, explaining the defense of the tree-house, how to look out the windows and what to look for, and more.

Each one of the boys took up positions near a window and stood watch. It was Clayton who yelled, "Oh my god, something blew up. Look...look...." As he continued to yell while pointing at the window.

Ulee and Colton ran over to the window and looked out. "They're alright. Nothing happened to them. They're alright." Ulee started to say over and over again as each boy had tears silently running down their faces.

They stood there and watched the smoke billow into the sky. Then they saw another explosion. The next forty-five minutes were terrible for the boys as they watched and waited. They heard sirens off in the distance. They were so far back on the property that most noises from the main road weren't heard at all.

Then Ulee noticed movement. "There, over there, look." He pointed to where he saw the movement and all three boys saw Jackie, Talon and Brody come running out of the trees. Ulee ran over to the trap door, opened it and let the ladder down.

As soon as Brody came through the trap door, Colton and Clayton ran into his arms and yelled, "You're safe."

Brody couldn't help but start to cry with them. All of a sudden it hit him, they had the antidote and they got away. They really were safe. He looked over at Jackie and Talon, who were holding Ulee and reassuring him and mouthed, "thank you."

Jackie and Talon just nodded.

And then they heard, "Boys, you need to get in the house now. Something happened down at Mrs. Trebbles. Hurry up, I don't want you out here."

"Coming mom," Jackie hollered down to his mom.

"Well, we better get moving." Jackie looked down at himself, "I was hoping for a little more time so we could clean up." Then he shrugged, "Oh well, figure that out when the time comes."

All six boys started to climb down the ladder and, after securing the tree-house , headed towards the main house.

---

Jackie saw their mom standing on the patio downstairs. He heard her yell over to them, "Come in downstairs and meet me in the library." Then he saw her turn and walk into the house.

Jackie sighed, "Well, we are being called to the library so that means mom is after information and she isn't going to wait for us to tell her what is going on much longer." Jackie looked over at the five boys with him and continued, "Let's go get this over with."

Brody nodded, "We still have some time. We have about two hours before we need to take the antidote if we stay on their schedule. Just in case. I don't want to take it too soon."

All the boys nodded their agreement and entered the house through the downstairs door.

Colton was looking around as they walked through the lower level of the house. "This place is huge."

Ulee smiled at the sound of awe in Colton's voice.

Just as they started to walk past a large set of double doors Clayton gasped and walked over. "Wow, look at that wall of mirrors. This room is huge!"

Talon walked over to Clayton as Colton and Brody stopped and stared into the room. "It used to be the ball room. Sometimes dad and mom would throw a huge party and invite a lot of people from town here, especially during the holidays. But, since dad has been gone, we haven't had any parties." Then he pointed to the wall of mirrors, "That wall there, there are panels that will slide out and cover the mirrors. We use this room to practice our martial arts when the weather is bad or we just want to stay close. Mom also makes us practice ballet and ball room dancing."

All the boys laughed at that, Talon shrugged, "She says we will make a partner happy someday cause we will be able to sweep them off their feet with our dance moves. Dad's team says that it helps us with our coordination, stamina and builds strength."

Jackie walked over, "We better keep moving, mom isn't going to wait much longer."

All the boys nodded and continued on. When they got to the library, all six boys entered the room through another set of double doors that Katie had left open. Jackie gasped, "Umm, hey, Uncle Ryan. What are you doing here?" He asked when he saw his dad's right hand man, and Lieutenant, standing next to his mom.

"Got a call from Katie here. Seems you collected a few strays and then decided you were going to take off to the dojo right away. That means trouble is a brewing when it concerns you three." Ryan stood in front of the desk, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Then imagine our surprise as we are driving here and we look in the rear view mirror to see a house explode." All six boys turned around to see Mason Macana and Brenton Springald standing behind them, one on each side of the double doors; arms crossed over their chests also.

"And not only that, then the car that was stopped in the drive way explodes." All six boys turned around to their left and saw Ethan Foxangel walk out of the far corner of the room, stop and cross his arms over his chest.

The boys turned one more time when they heard, "Then we get here and Katie doesn't know what is going on. So, now we need to get to the bottom of this." Cecil Falx said as he walked out of the right hand corner of the room.

Cecil kept walking towards the boys and pointed to the sofa's. "Have a seat boys. Three to a sofa will work."

Talon flashed his smile, showing his dimples for all they were worth, "Hey, look a that, all our uncles are here." He let out a chuckle, "That was good. Good thing we ain't afraid of the five of you."

Talon walked over to a sofa, set the pack he was carrying down and sprawled back onto the couch. Jackie sat on one side of him as Ulee sat on the other side. Directly across from them Brody, Colton and Clayton sat on the other sofa.

Katie and Ryan sat in a pair of chairs that were moved to one end of the sofa's facing the doors and Brenton and Ethan sat in the other two chairs with their backs to the doors of the library. Mason moved just outside the doorway to a guard position and Cecil moved back to the side of the windows to watch the front of the house.

Katie smiled, "Now, which one of you would like to tell us what the heck is going on. And don't tell me nothing since you are in your camouflage and, from the looks it, packed down with weapons. Since I didn't give you a chance to change, you can't hide it."

Ryan looked down at the pack and Talon grinned.

All six boys looked at each other, and then Jackie spoke up. He told them about how Ulee met Colton and Clayton in school. How Talon befriended Brody. About convincing them that they could help them. Body told them everything that happened, the kidnapping, the yacht blowing up, the kidnappers after the Gallicite, their grandfather not giving in to their demands. Talon took over and told about getting to the farmhouse, what he did to get into it, how the house was rigged, finding the antidote and the other stuff. Getting away and, now, sitting there telling them everything.

Brenton spoke up then, "Can I see that pack? I don't know of any drugs that can do what they claim those can and I would like to analyze them."

Brody and the twins panicked, "We have to take the antidote in an hour or so. Please don't use it all, we don't want to go blind."

Cecil spoke up from the window, "Psychological warfare. Until those boys know for sure that there is nothing wrong with them, if you don't give them some of the green liquid they were talking about their minds could make them go blind. The kidnappers really did a number on them. If they didn't already blow the bastards up, I would go kill them with my bare hands." Cecil turned and continued to look out the window as if he never said a word.

Katie turned to Brenton, "You set up the medical quarters. Do you have the equipment over there to analyze that stuff without causing harm to the boys?"

Brenton raised an eyebrow, "Katie, you wound me. Didn't you learn anything from your husband. Cap wouldn't let anything but the best be put into place here. Especially after the tyke over there broke his leg and never healed right. There may be some things we couldn't get our hands on but I have what I need to run a full analysis on this stuff."

Brenton then looked over to the boys, "Don't worry, I only need these two small vials here and then an eyedropper full from each of the others to make sure they're all the same."

Brody, Colton and Clayton nodded that they understood.

"Would the six of you like to accompany me over to the med building? I think it would help if you see what I am doing, that way you can see the results for yourselves." Brenton smiled to try to calm the three boys.

Katie spoke up before they could move, "First though, we need to call your grandfather. And you three," she said as she pointed to her sons, "I don't know if I should be angry or relieved right now. I am angry that you didn't confide in me first, and that you blew up a perfectly good home. I am relieved because you are all safe and home." Katie sighed then mumbled, "Like father, like sons."

Brody, Colton and Clayton finally showed their first real smile in months. Jackie, Talon and Ulee tried to hide their chuckles. Katie stood and motioned for Brody to follow her to the phone on the desk. She pressed speaker phone and Brody dialed.

---

"What do you mean you still haven't found them?" Al Fredrickson shouted at the Private Investigator standing in front of him. "Four months, it's been four months and you have found nothing. Get out of my home."

Al turned and walked to the large bay window over looking East Bay and Harbor of Refuge off Lake Superior. He watched how the waves broke over the break wall by the lighthouse. The turbulent lake matched his mood.

The sound of the phone on his desk broke into his thoughts. He turned and walked to his desk, hit the speaker button and shouted in his rough, gruff voice, "You had better have news for me! Speak."

Al fell into his chair as he heard, "Grandpa? It's me, Brody."

Then he heard two younger voices chime in one right after the other, "And Colton," "And Clayton."

"Grandpa, we're alright. We made some friends who helped us escape. Can we come home?" Brody asked, as the past four months finally caught up to him and he broke down into tears.

Katie walked up and wrapped her arms around Brody, while Ryan went over and pulled one twin into each side of him, wrapped an arm around them and held them close, whispering that everything was alright now, they were safe.

"Come home? Come home? Of course, you're coming home. Oh thank God, you boys are alright." Al screamed and cried at the same time.

"You are alright? Where are you?" Al asked, he couldn't get his thoughts straight, he was just so happy to hear the voices of his grandchildren. He didn't even try to stop the tears silently falling down his cheeks.

"We're alright, grandpa. We were so scared, but we are in a safe place now. We're in Louisiana, grandpa, can you come get us?" Brody rambled through his tears.

"Yes, of course I am going to come and get you." Everyone could hear Al as he ran to the office door, "Trudy, have my private jet ready to fly, we are going to Louisiana and bringing my boys home. Tell Chuck that as soon as I know where we're flying to I'll let him know. Just get my damn jet ready as of yesterday."

Al ran back to his desk, "Brody, son, is there someone there that can tell me where we are flying to so I get there to pick you up?"

"Mr. . . , I am sorry, sir, I don't know your last name. I am Kathryn Sabre and our boys are friends."

"Of course, Mrs. Sabre, please forgive me. I'm Al Fredrickson, but please call me Al."

Katie laughed, "Alright Al, and please call me Katie, that is what my friends call me."

"Katie it is then. Now, I don't mean to push but I want to fly out as soon as possible. Where do we need to go?" Al asked.

"We are located in the Herbe de Marais Parish in Louisiana. Our town is ValléPlaisante or Pleasant Valley. Our address really doesn't matter as everyone knows our home as Jardin Haven du Marais. Or Garden Haven Plantation. Here is our phone number....." Katie continued giving Al directions.

"Thank you so much, Katie. Boys, I'm hanging up now so I can get our flight information to Chuck and I can get packed and down there as fast as I can. Do you need me to bring you anything?" Al asked.

"Clothes." All three boys said at the same time.

Al laughed, "You got it boys."

Then Al yelled, "Trudy, go pack clothes for my boys please, so I can bring them home."

Al continued, "I love you boys, I thought....." He started to choke up as his emotions finally started to catch up and tears fell from a set of tired, pale green eyes, "I thought I lost you. You behave now for Mrs. Sabre and I will see you in the morning." And with that, Al hung up the phone so he wouldn't totally break down where his grandsons could hear him. He had faintly heard his three grandsons say 'we love you too' when he hung up.

Al straightened himself, pressed the speaker phone button again and called Chuck. After relaying all the necessary information he hung up, straightened up his desk and headed to his room to pack for the trip.

---

Katie hung up the phone and Brody turned into her hug and just let her hold him while he cried.

They heard a throat clearing, then Brenton say, "I don't mean to interrupt, but if we are going to get this stuff analyzed then we need to get moving over to the medical building."

Brody turned and looked at Brenton, wiping his hands over his face to wipe the tears away he nodded, "Yeah, I'm ready." Brody started to walk over to Colton and Clayton.

Colton and Clayton stood, with the help of Ryan and met Brody when he reached the sofa. Brody put an arm around each of his brothers. "We get to go home." He squeezed their shoulder's and let out a sigh, "We're finally safe."

He nodded to Brenton that they were ready. Jackie and Ulee stood and then looked over to Talon.

Talon grinned and shook his head no, "Naw, I have itchy fingers and really need to try to recreate that wind storm and explosion. The combination of illusion in that wind storm and then the house exploding. Man, I hope I can recreate it." Talon jumped up and grabbed the plate of cookies that was on the coffee table and dashed out of the room to run up the three flight of stairs to get to his paint studio.

"Talon, bring those cookies back here." Katie shouted after her son while everyone else in the room burst out laughing. Katie could only shake her head and smile when she realized Talon was already out of hearing range and wouldn't respond.

"You know how that boy is when it comes to his art, Katie. He wouldn't have heard you even if he was in the same room since his mind was already focused on the painting", Cecil laughed from the window.

"Katie, you stay here with Cecil, Ethan and Mason. Brenton and I will take the boys over to the medical building and see what this stuff is." Ryan started giving his orders to make sure the house was guarded.

As he got to the door of the library, Ryan turned back towards Katie, "And could you make our rooms up for us. We haven't stayed in a while, but just in case there is anyone else lurking around after those boys, we're going to stay here." Then he grinned, "Only until their grandfather is here and we make sure they get on the plane and are safely on their way home."

With that, Ryan, Brenton, Jackie, Ulee, Brody, Colton and Clayton left the library and headed to the front door on the first floor of the house. When they walked outside, the large staircase going up to the second floor of the house sheltered them.

"This house is huge." Brody couldn't help but look around as they left the ground level porch and entered a pathway that led to some more buildings.

"Yeah, dad's ancestors built this house a long time ago. There are three main floors. The middle floor is the main living area and has a formal sitting room, our parents master bedroom, dad and mom's offices, a game room, the living room, a family room, a formal dining room, a kitchen and family dining room among other things; that is where the outside stair case goes. The first floor we just left, as you saw, has the library, ball room, another larger formal dining room and kitchen, and a few other rooms; since the first floor was mainly for formal parties and such. The third floor has ten bedrooms and then there are the two tower rooms; Talon has one of those for his paint studio." Jackie grinned over at Brody and couldn't help but snigger at the 'you have got to be kidding' look on his face.

They continued to follow a path that wound through one of the many gardens on the property. "Are there mazes here?" Colton and Clayton asked.

Jackie laughed, "Sure are. Out there in the front part of the property. And they are fun to play in. Maybe you can come back and visit, or we can go into the mazes tomorrow. And over there, are the old slave houses. See that one there at the end of the path?" Jackie asked as he pointed the building out.

The twins and Brody nodded, so Jackie continued, "That one is the medical building. Since it had a lot of what was needed, dad and his team converted it into an updated medical building. It doesn't get used much but if we need it we have it ready. Brenton is always double checking everything to make sure all the medical supplies aren't outdated."

Just as Jackie finished talking Brenton unlocked the door so everyone could go in. Brenton turned on the lights and headed over to the fireplace. He found the latch and pulled part of the wall out to reveal a stairway. "This way guys. It wasn't easy building a waterproof basement under the existing structure but we did it. Cap. had a friend that created some kind of material that works here. I put the more sensitive equipment for finer detail work down here. My personal chem lab." Brenton headed down the stairs and everyone else followed.

Colton and Clayton walked with their mouths open, "This is like James Bond secret service stuff with a mix of haunted house hidden rooms. This is kewl!"

Brenton and Ryan laughed and Ryan rubbed his hands over their heads, messing up their hair, "It is that, isn't it. Here, hop up on these stools here and you can watch Brenton work." Ryan picked the smaller boys up so they could sit on the high counter stools.

The boys watched in fascination as Brenton moved from one machine to the next. Mixing, testing, shaking, stirring, testing some more, looking at things under the microscope and spinning them in another machine. Then they saw printers printing out test results and Brenton kept showing result after result, all negative.

With a deep sigh Brenton looked at the boys, "Guys, the only thing that is in any of this is a mild sedative, or sleeping agent, made to make you sleep. I think they put a small amount of this in the green liquid to put you to sleep. Then when you woke up and could still see, it helped reinforce what they were telling you. I don't want to give this to you. You could get addicted to this stuff and that isn't good."

The boys read, and reread all the results. Clayton looked up with tears in his eyes, "Are you sure? I'm scared."

Brenton walked over and put an arm around each of the twins, "I'm sure. There is nothing there but the sleeping medicine. You won't go blind."

Brenton gave each of the twins one last hug, "Come on, let's head to the house."

Brenton helped the boys off the stools. You could still see the fear on all three faces. Yet, you could see hope in their eyes, hope that this man they didn't know was telling them the truth.

Just as they got to the top of the stairs they heard Jackie, "Miz Odilia, what are you doing here?"

When everyone else came through the door they saw a very petite, old woman. They were in awe of her presence. It was as if a power emanated from this tiny, withered woman with crystal clear pale brown eyes standing ram rod straight in front of them.

Her eyes smiled, "Jackson, it is good to see you. You have grown so. I have something for your friends." She nodded towards Brody, Colton and Clayton.

As she turned to the counter she heard the whispered voice of Colton, "She's old."

Miz Odilia laughed as she turned back around with a mug in each hand. She made her way over to the twins, reaching out with the cups, "Yes, I am. I guess one hundred three years of age makes me old, but I am also wise. Here, hold these while I get one for your brother."

She turned around and could hear the boys sniffing the liquid in the cups as she got the last one for Brody. She walked back over and handed Brody his cup. "Just one more moment." She reached into the pouch around her waist and pulled some things out of it.

She looked up at Brody, then right into the eyes of Colton and Clayton. "Your grandfather will be here in the morning to take you home, far to the north of here where sailors of today and of the old found refuge."

Everyone in the room looked at her in shock. She just smiled, "Don't look at me like that. Did I not say I was wise. Now, start drinking what is in the cups. It will clear all toxins from your system."

The three boys just looked into their cups and frowned. "Go on, drink."

Having been raised to respect the elderly, mixed with a bit of fear of the lady, was the only reason they put the cup to their lips. As they started to drink, Miz Odilia started to chant and sprinkle a powder around the boys. Then she lit some sage and continued to chant as she cleansed each boy while they drank. They could only stand still while she walked around them, chanting and cleansing.

She finished just as they each drank the last drop from their cup. "There now. The spirits have taken all the negative away from you. The drink is cleansing your body of all the toxins the kidnappers put into your system. There is more over there to drink, one more cup before you go to sleep." She walked up to Colton and Clayton and placed a small, fragile looking but strong, withered hand on each boys cheek, "And rest assured children; my sight is true and knows that you will see light. The darkness will not come to you."

Miz Odilia then smiled at Ulee, went over and gave Jackie a kiss on the cheek and looked at him with such love in her eyes. She reached up and patted his cheek, turned and walked out of the medical building.

Everyone followed and watched her as she disappeared into the gardens. They saw her reappear just before she disappeared into the swamp.

"For some reason, out of everything, I believe her. That was really weird." Brody giggled. "And whatever she gave us to drink was gross."

Colton and Clayton could only stare in awe in the direction she walked, all of a sudden they shouted, "Yes, woohoo, we aren't going to go blind." And they grabbed each other, hands on each other's shoulders and started jumping and dancing around.

Jackie, Brody, Ulee, Brenton and Ryan laughed at their actions. "I'll grab the cleansing drink and we should head for the house. Your mom is probably ready to set dinner on the table." Ryan said as he went back into the building. He secured the downstairs room, grabbed the drink Miz Odilia left and locked the building back up. They all started to walk back to the house with Colton and Clayton laughing and skipping with Ulee in front of everyone.

---

Jeremy and Tyler watched the group as they headed over to the medical building. Staying out of sight, they followed to see what was in the building. They could hear Brenton talking to the boys about the medical equipment.

Before Jeremy could even ask, Jeremy heard Daileass in his earpiece.

"The men with the boys are part of Captain Sabre's team Jeremy. The one talking is Master Sergeant Brenton Springald, he is their medical specialist. The other man is Lieutenant Ryan Sappara." Daileass softly responded.

Jeremy gave a slight nod that he understood. He looked over at Tyler, "I think they are going to be safe with the team here. Let's head back over to the house so we can all get acquainted better."

Tyler nodded and motioned for everyone to follow them.

When they reached the house, all the boys breathed a sigh of relief. You could almost see the mouths of all nine boys start to water as they smelled food coming from the kitchen.

"I thought you might be hungry so I had food set up for you." Daileass laughed as all the boys ran to the kitchen to find eight large pizza's and sodas on the table. Daileass even had a special shake already made up for Renaud.

Renaud picked up his shake first and held it up, "Thanks Daileass, this is a nice surprise."

All nine boys sat down to eat and talk about what happened. They spent the rest of the evening just joking and talking, getting to know each other.

They heard a knock on the door and Scout ran to open the door, Mr. Alden was there to pick up Chad, Travis, Curtis and Mark. They all said their good-byes and promised to meet the next afternoon since they didn't have school.

"I think with Mr. Sabre's team being there tonight the boys should be safe, but I would still like to set up a watch detail from this side of the street." Jeremy told everyone.

They set up a schedule and everyone but Jeremy went to sleep as he took first watch.

---

Jackie, Talon, Ulee, Brody, Colton and Clayton finished dinner. During dinner they told Katie and the rest of the team about Miz Odilia and the gross drink she made them drink. Ryan made sure to have them give Katie the mixture that Miz Odilia gave them so they could drink one more cup before going to sleep.

Talon excused himself and went back to his art studio while Jackie and Ulee showed the boys to the game room. They spent the rest of the evening just playing video games and coming down from the adrenaline rush of the day.

Before they knew it, Katie was entering the room with three cups for the boys to drink. Brody, Colton and Clayton scrunched up their noises in disgust but drank the mixture anyway. When they finished, Jackie and Ulee showed the boys to their room.

"I hope you don't mind but we decided to give you this room. It is right next to Talon's room and has a double bed and a set of bunk beds." Jackie opened the door to another large bedroom and the five boys entered.

"Over here is the door to the bathroom." Jackie said as he walked across the room and opened the door. "Ryan has the adjoining room that shares this bathroom. That way you have one member of dad's team nearby, also."

The boys nodded and the twins made their way to the double bed. Brody walked over to the bottom bunk and sat down. "Thanks, for everything."

Brody reached into his pocket and pulled out the brooch that Jackie gave him, "I think it's time to give this back to you." Brody reached his hand out towards Jackie.

Jackie shook his head, "Not until your uncle is here and you are boarding the plane for home. You hold onto it until then."

Jackie smiled and headed towards the bedroom door, "I am across the hall, Talon is the next door, and Ulee's room is next to his if you need one of us. See you in the morning." Jackie left the room and headed for his own.

Ulee stood there shuffling his feet, "Umm, night guys." Ulee looked down at the carpet, "Umm, will you still talk with me when you get home? I know it's a far way away but does that mean we can still be friends?"

Colton and Clayton smiled and went over to Ulee and each gave him a hug, "Yep," they nodded, "we will still talk with you. You're our friend."

Ulee smiled and hugged both boys back. "Cool. See you in the morning."

Ulee then turned and walked out of the room and headed towards his own.

Colton and Clayton made their way to the bed and just sat down. "Brody, we're scared to go to sleep."

Brody walked over to the twins and wrapped an arm around each of them, "Everything is going to be just fine. You'll see. We will wake up in the morning and still be able to see." Brody couldn't help but think, 'I hope this works.'

"Come on, let's get undressed and we can all sleep together in the same bed for the night." Brody gave each boy a sideways hug and then stood and started to get undressed for bed. The twins followed and the three boys climbed into bed. One on each side of Brody, and before they knew it they were sound asleep.

Talon finally fell asleep in his art studio. Their dad had put a couch up in the room for times when the creative bug hit Talon. He painted until he was exhausted and then walked over to the couch and collapsed. There were four easels set up, each with the beginnings of a recreation of the explosion and wind storm. Each contained a canvas for different mediums. One for spray painting, another for oil, the next for water color and the last for charcoal.

In another area of the house, the team set the security system and then took turns monitoring the video feeds coming from several locations all around the plantation. Ryan stayed close to the boys to make sure someone was near by if they needed someone.

---

"What is the news?" the gruff voice said into the phone.

"The grandfather received a call as I was being dismissed. I heard Brody's voice on the phone when I was outside the office." The private investigator stated.

"Did you hear where they were." The stern voice asked.

"No, the secretary was there so I had to leave as I was instructed to do. I didn't get to hear anymore of the call, sir." The private investigator replied.

"You did what you needed to. It was those idiots that were supposed to keep the boys hidden that messed up. Thank you for the call. I will take care of matters from here." The man hung up and tried to contact the men in Louisiana.

After several failed attempts, he had his backup team look into the matter. They found that the hideaway they had rented was blown up and that the men were dead.

"What else did you find out?" The same gruff voice demanded.

"Sir, it appears that a family by the last name of Sabre assisted in the rescue. We only have tomorrow to get the boys back. The bodies of our men are in the morgue awaiting to be claimed." The man stated.

"Well, they can go unclaimed. They failed in their mission. Find out everything you can about the daily activities of the Sabre family. Keep the tap on the Grandfathers phone and see about getting one on the Sabres phone. They will learn that no one interferes with me. You will be notified with further orders." With that the man hung up.

The man maneuvered around his desk and walked to a screen, looking at blackness. "I may have lost the boys, but I will get hold of what I want." The man went into thought as he sorted out the next step in his plans.

---

Editor’s Notes:

Darn, just when you think everything is alright Lady Cynaira throws us a cliff hanger again! Who is this guy? And am I glad the team came over and is staying close! At least the boys are in a safe place. This was a chapter of an emotional roller coaster! Cynaira gave us some fear, shock, surprise, excitement, even tossed in a tender moment with the grandpa. I need more, much much more!!!!

Please make sure and drop Lady Cynaira a note to let her know how much you love the story and or go to the forum and leave a note there!

Your favorite editing neighborhood puppy!

Boxerdude