Fire Book One

The Court Scene

Christmas 1915
Family Court of Czar Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias.

Nicholas and Alexandra had gathered their immediate family, trusted family servants, and the illegitimate brother of Nicholas, and his son.  The boy, although three months older than Nicholas' only son and heir, shared his name and, amazingly, his curse, hemophilia.  Another amazing fact was that the two Alexei's, in fact, looked very much alike.  Except for the difference in the width of their noses, they could be twins.  On several occasions, they had been together and had thoroughly enjoyed pulling pranks on everyone, by switching places.  They had shared their experiences to a large degree for this very purpose.

Nicholas addressed his brother, "Joseph, these are very dangerous times.  The war is bogging down, the Marxists are stirring up trouble, and I am a bit uncertain of the outcome."

"Surely, there is no danger here," Joseph replied.

"Not yet, at any rate.  What I would ask of you, however, is very great.  I want you to take Tsarevich Alexei as your son, and go to Switzerland.  Then, if things go badly here, get him to his Great Grandmother's people," Nicholas said solemnly.

"No, father, I must stay here with you!" eleven year old Grand Duke Tsarevich Alexei insisted.

"You must do this for the Family, and for all of Russia.  I want you to take this."  Nicholas handed Alexei a key and a sheet of parchment.  "Memorize that number.  It is the family account number for our private Swiss Bank account."

"Brother, is this wise?"

"It is absolutely necessary, I am afraid.  Hopefully, in a year or two, all this nonsense will go away, and we can then get back to the task of bringing Russia into the Twentieth Century."

The discussion continued, but six days later, the true heir to the throne of Russia was on his way to England, by way of Switzerland.  He stopped at the Feuer-Hafen, one of the most respected and secure Swiss banks.  After checking the contents of the vault, he left a letter to be presented to his heir, in the event he didn't return.  He then stopped and set a new security check for access and then left to continue his secret trip to England.

The Royal family accepted him, and nearly a year passed before it was decided that he would be safer in the Americas.  It was during his voyage to Canada that his family was taken prisoner.

After the war, there was no real hope for Alexei to return and take power.  He had very little interest in doing that, anyway.  He moved to the United States to attend college and met a very nice girl, who lived in an apartment across the hall.  It was a quick romance, since the girl's father had been a victim of the influenza epidemic.  Soon Alexei was married and supporting a wife, daughter and mother-in-law.  When his daughter was fourteen, Alexi became very ill, and he was fairly certain his curse had finally caught up with him.

As he lay in bed, he summoned his daughter.  "Catherine, please bring me that book on the dresser."

She brought the leather bound volume to her father.

He opened the book and turned pages until he found the one he wanted.  He took a pen, dipped it in ink and wrote a number in the margin.  Then he took the picture of his mother that was by his bedside and, in a somewhat shaky hand, he wrote something on the back.  He placed the picture in the book, then slowly closed it and handed it to his daughter.  "Catherine, you have been, and still are, the light of my life.  I have arranged a trust for you that will support you until you marry.  This book, and the picture I placed in it, is to go to my first male grandchild, or great-grandchild, and so on.  Unfortunately, it must be my male heir who is to follow the trail of clues in this book."

"Papa, don't talk like this."

"I know, child, but my time is near. I feel my life slipping away, as I lie here.  I will regret leaving you and your mother."  They cried together.

Late that night, Alexei joined his family.

--End Flashback--

 "Look at all this stuff, Dad.  Is it really mine?" Travis asked.

"Yes, son, it certainly is."  Lee was looking over the contents of the vault.  Now, this was no small vault; it was verging on huge.  The contents would fill a very large truck, maybe two trucks.  There were a few large items near the front, but mostly there were crates stacked to the ceiling.  Just inside the door was a life size statue of a horse and rider.  It was made of white marble and seemed to almost glow in the light of the naked light bulbs.  Travis was drawn to the masterpiece, "Dad, I've seen this in my dreams.  It's me and Max."

Lee approached the magnificent work of art, and looked at the mounted figure; it could easily be an eighteen-year-old Travis, sitting on the beautiful horse.  At the base of the statue was an envelope that was yellowed by time.  Lee picked it up and saw that the writing on the outside was in Russian.  He handed it to Travis.  "I think you should take this back home, for 'Philip' to scan and read."

"Okay."  Travis began exploring the vault.  "Dad, look at these."

Lee took the leather sack Travis handed to him.  It was heavy, like four or five pounds.  Lee opened it.  Jewels.  Rubies and emeralds the size of walnuts, diamonds, opals, sapphires and pearls--the bag held a fortune in stones.

"Dad, I can't even pick up these things!"

Lee looked up, and Travis was standing next to a stack of Gold bars.  "Son, take out your cell phone and take pictures of this stuff.  I'm going to look in some of these crates."  Travis was having a great time, taking pictures of the stacks of gold and silver, the statue of the horse and rider, and the boxes and crates.  Lee managed to pry open one of the crates and he could see framed paintings; in another, there were silver wine and water goblets for close to one hundred people.  He opened a smaller case in the front and was stunned to see a crown.  Lee couldn't help but wonder just what all this meant. 

"Hey, Dad, I'm hungry."

"Let's close this place up and go find something to eat."

"Can I take some stuff with me?"

"Of course.  It's yours."

"Kewl!"  Lee and Travis left with the leather sack and a box Travis had filled with Coins and things that had caught his eye, and, of course, the letter.

Back in the hotel room, Travis set up his laptop.  "'Philip'?"

'Yes, Travis."

"Can you scan a document for me, with your web cam?"

Travis was holding the letter where 'Philip' could see it.

'To open that, carefully heat a knife and run it under the seal to remove it without destroying it.'

"Okay."  Travis carefully removed the wax seal and unfolded the pages.  "Here is the first page."

'Philip' scanned the page Travis held up.  'Next.'

In a matter of minutes, all three pages had been scanned.  "If you can't translate..."

'Of course, I can translate it.  When would you like the results?'

"Well, Dad and I want to get something to eat, so we'll probly be back in an hour or two."

'That would be more than sufficient time to finish translating the document.  The handwriting is neat, and the ink is of a high quality and has not faded.'

"Thanks, 'Philip'."

Travis closed the laptop.  Lee was looking through the gems.  "Are they real, Dad?"

"Yes, son, as far as I can tell, they are real."

"What do we do with them, when we leave the room?"

"The hotel has a safe we can lock them in, while we go out."

"Okay, Daddy.  Let's go get something to eat."

As they were leaving the four star restaurant, after stuffing themselves, a man in a suit approached them.  "Excuse me, gentlemen.  I am Rodney Ghnomes, with the American Embassy.  We have received a directive to assist you in any way possible."

"We may need some advice on a few things.  Just what services can our Embassy provide?"

The next day, Lee and Travis visited the vault once again, and had the cash transferred to an interest bearing checking account, so they would be able to have access to what was now worth close to two hundred million dollars.  Then the two of them went to the Embassy.  Mr. Ghnomes was waiting for them, when they arrived.  Lee was carrying a large attaché case, and Travis was carrying his box and the leather bag of gems.

Mr. Ghnomes showed them into a conference room, and they were joined by a Marine and an older, distinguished looking man with white hair.  "Hello, gentlemen, I am the Deputy Ambassador.  Mr. Ghnomes said you have an interesting situation.  I hope you understand that this could cause some very, shall we say, sticky situations with our friends, the Russians.  Do you have any proof of your ownership of this, besides the fact that you could access the account and vault?" the Deputy barked.

"May we use your computer, please?"

The man opened the laptop he had brought into the room.  Lee quickly typed in the Haven Enterprises access codes, and 'Philip' appeared.

'Harrumph, this is most disconcerting.  Where is Travis's laptop?'

The Deputy nearly fell out of his chair, when the Curmudgeon of Haven appeared on his computer.  After a few seconds of the computer sounding like a 767 taking off, 'Ah, that's better.  Deputy Dhouge, I made a few small programming changes in your computer.  I am sure that you will be pleased with the results.'

'Philip' changed the subject.  'I have translated the hand written message which was left in the vault.  The handwriting seems absolutely authentic; there is one surviving letter to which a comparison has already been made.  The handwriting is also an absolute match to the picture, although the writing on the picture seems to have been made by a much older hand.' 

They waited for 'Philip' to continue, and waited, and... 

Travis gave in first.  "Jeez©, 'Philip'! What did it say!?!"

'That was fun, or, as my brother 'James' might say, 'Quite satisfactory'.  I have been studying 'Dramatic Pauses'... You didn't ask me to read it, so you shouldn't complain that I didn't do so.  The text of the letter is as follows:

To my heir,
I must assume, since you are reading this that things have not gone the way my father had planned.  As you may, or may not, know, you are the heir to the House of Romanov.
If it should be your wish, you do have a strong legal claim to be the Czar.  I myself will be very happy, if I never have to assume that responsibility.
Stored here in this vault is the remainder of the fortune of our family.  It is not the wealth of Russia; it is the private wealth of our family, the House of Romanov.  Take it, and use it for whatever you feel is good.  It is yours.  My only request is that it not go to ANY government, unless you are Czar.
I am on my way to join my family in Great Britain. It has been years since I met any of them.  My Uncle is thinking that I should go farther, maybe as far as Canada or the United States.  It matters not to me.   I am alone and will probably remain so, until I find a wife.
Take care of the family that remains.  You are the head of a fine and honorable Royal House.  I wish I could meet you, but, alas, fate has dealt us a tragic blow.
                                                Go with God,
                                                            Alexei

There was silence in the room.  Deputy Ambassador Dhouge looked at Lee, "The Czar?"

Lee smiled, "Not me.  Travis, my adopted son."

Deputy Dhouge was astonished.  "If this gets out..."

Lee said, "One thing that would be most helpful would be getting these things out of here without the Russians finding out."

"That is why we have Sergeant Williams here.  He is one of our finest diplomatic couriers, and he can carry anything you would like past customs, without any problems."

Lee sat back, his back aching more than it had in months.  "I am actually very surprised by how helpful you are being."

"As Mr. Ghnomes said, we have orders from someone very highly placed, in the State Department.  A Mr. Karl Phillips has taken a personal interest.  Also, these items that are now obviously a family inheritance will not be taxable as long as the declared value is less than the limit."  He reached out and took the bag of gems, opened it, and briefly looked into it.  "I see these pieces of colored glass, here, are worth maybe fifty cents?  He looked into the box Travis had, and after a gasp from seeing the contents, he cleared his throat.  "Nice 'reproductions', twenty bucks?"

"Well, that seems to cover things, for now.  We have a flight out, tomorrow morning." Lee said.

Sergeant Williams produced a metal attaché case that was larger than the one Lee had carried in.  Travis's box and the gems as well as the contents of Lee's case were soon loaded into the new case.

Mr. Ghnomes then handed Travis a box and bag that looked almost like the ones he had carried in.  The crest with the two headed eagle was missing, He peeked inside, and then looked at the man questioningly.

"We know you now have the attention of others, since you came here.  They will check their surveillance tapes and see that you carried things in, so you need to carry them back out.  The Czar's Coat Of Arms removed, of course.  The bag contains coins from the countries you have stopped in and the box contains paper money.  It would have been so much more interesting, before the EURO."

Itineraries were checked, and plans were made for them to meet at the airport the next afternoon for their flight.  Lee's back was stiff when he was ready to leave, and Travis had to help him stand up. 

On the way back to their hotel, Lee commented to Travis, "It is really strange that my back is bothering me so much, now, when it hasn't bothered me a bit in a long time."

Travis nodded.  "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Hey, it's not your fault.  It's probably the flying and the amount of walking." Lee said.

Travis shrugged, he thought he knew what the problem was; Mitch wasn't here.

They stopped for dinner, at a restaurant recommended by Deputy Dhouge.  Travis noticed that two men were watching them.  When they were leaving the restaurant, Lee noticed a shop across the street.  In the window, there were beautifully hand carved canes.  Father and son crossed the street and entered the shop.  Lee tried a few, and found one he really liked, that was just the right length for him.  It seemed kind of heavy, and, when he went to pay for it, the shop owner said in amazingly good English, "Sir, you are aware that this is a gentleman's cane?"

Seeing Lee's puzzled look, the man took the cane, depressed a little bit of the carving and the outer sleeve of the cane fell away, revealing a very wicked looking sword blade.  "Oh, my!  I don't think that will get by security and onto the plane.  I just needed a cane."

"Well, I can give you a false handle for this and you can pack the blade in your luggage, or I could ship it to you," the salesman said.

"Oh, Dad!  You just got to have that!" Travis said.

"Okay, deal.  As long as I have something to help me get around."

The clerk found a carved handle that fit the cane and matched it almost perfectly.  He reassembled the cane and Lee put the second handle in the sack from the Embassy.  Lee was able to walk much better with the cane.

The next day, Lee and Travis packed their bags and checked out of the hotel, having their luggage sent to the airport.  They had plenty of time, and they decided to go back to the bank.  Travis happened to notice that the same guys who were at the restaurant last night were across the street from the hotel, trying to look as if they were not watching them.

"Dad, we're being watched," Travis said quietly to Lee.

Lee turned and looked around.  He didn't see anyone suspicious.  "Are you sure?"

"Daaaaadddddd! Yeeeesss."

"Then, let's just go to the park for a walk."

Lee found an empty bench and sat down.  "Maybe walking wasn't such a good idea, after all, Son.  Let me sit and rest here for a few minutes, and then I think we should get a taxi."  Lee looked at his watch.  "We still have more than five hours until our flight leaves, so that means four hours before we need to be back at the airport."

"Well, Dad, we need to eat lunch, so maybe we can just sit here for a while, then go eat," Travis suggested, while watching the men as they sat on a bench a little farther down the path.  "Dad, see those two men sitting on that bench down the path?"

Lee glanced in the direction Travis indicated.  Two men in suits were sitting there looking around at nothing in particular.  To say they were obviously out-of-place would have been an understatement.

"I bet they're Russians."  Before Lee could react, Travis took off towards the men with his box.  Lee struggled to his feet and followed.

Travis approached the two men.  "Hi, do you guys speak American?"

The men looked startled, and one of them nodded his head.

"Kewl, I'm Travis, and I'm visiting here with my Dad.  I was trying to collect money from all the different places, on our trip, and it's like all the same around here.  Would you maybe have some coins or something?  I'll trade ya."

The men watched closely as Travis opened the box, and saw several English Pound notes, in several denominations, and of course, Euro's. Travis took the bag out and showed them it was full of coins.  The man who had nodded, reached into his pocket. He dropped several coins in Travis's bag and smiled at the boy.

"Travis, come on!  Don't be bothering these men.  I'm sorry, sirs, if he has bothered you," Lee said, as he joined his son. 

The men both stood.  The other man took out his wallet and gave Travis a piece of paper money.  Then they turned and walked away.  Travis looked at the currency, a 100 ruble note.  "Dad, look at the kewl chariot and four horses!  Oh, and in the corner is the two headed Eagle!  Russian! I knew it."

Lee watched, as the two men hailed a taxi and were gone.  "Well, I guess they found out what they wanted to know.  Deputy Ambassador Dhouge was correct; they were watching the Embassy and would be curious about the box and bag."

Giggle. "Now they know it is just a kid collecting souvenirs." Giggle.  Travis turned serious. "Dad, you are really starting to hurt, aren't you?"

"I'm afraid so, son.  Would you mind if we went on to the airport, so I can find a place to sit and relax before our flight?"

Lee was very happy several hours later that 'Philip' had booked them in first class.  They saw Sergeant Williams board and go past them into the business class section on the plane.  The plane stopped in Paris, and again in London.  They had a two hour lay-over, then it was a long trans-Atlantic flight.  Lee and Travis managed to sleep most of the way to New York.  They went through Customs and then were met by a man in a pilot's uniform, with Haven Enterprises neatly printed on an insignia over the left pocket.  He showed them to a small twin engine propeller airplane that would seat about twelve people very comfortably.  Lee was grateful that they didn't have to board another commercial craft.  A few minutes, later, Sergeant Williams boarded the plane, and the door was closed.  He took a seat and buckled in.  The plane taxied out and was soon airborne, since they were able to use a shorter secondary runway for private aircraft.

"Sergeant, glad you could join us.  I am a bit surprised, though," Lee said, once the plane settled in at cruising altitude.

"Originally, I was going to simply deliver the package and return, but two things changed my plans.  One, I found out that an old buddy of mine is currently at a place near you called Phoenix, and we have some other news.  I'll tell you that there were several people having quite a fit, when Travis here went up to those two Russian agents.  But it worked out wonderfully.  They reported back to their superiors that you two were just American tourists on vacation.  Also, the government, our government, has approved Deputy Dhouge's plan to help you retrieve the contents of the vault.  The operation is code named, Operation El Kabong.  Some high muckity-muck in the state department here, Mr. Philips, and some Brit, named Mr. James, are planning all this, and will be in contact with you."

Lee and Travis exchanged looks and somehow managed not to laugh out loud.  'Philip' and 'James' working together?  What was going to happen now?  Jeez©!

Later, as the plane approached the landing strip at Haven, the pilot flew low over Lee's house.  They were low enough that Travis spotted Max out in the field behind the house.  It didn't look like anyone was home.  When the plane made a very smooth landing and taxied to a stop, a crowd of people swarmed towards the plane.  There hadn't been anyone home; they were all here.

Mitch nearly tackled Travis with a fierce hug.  Linda managed to make it to Lee.  She looked as if she was already nine months pregnant.  Sergeant Williams scanned the crowd and started towards Tom Richards, then realized that he was not his friend.  Then he spotted Eddie.  Quickly he joined his buddy.  "I'm sorry I missed your retirement.  I'm stationed at the Embassy in Zürich.  Congratulations on the promotion.  That has to be the strangest thing to ever happen."

"Jim, this is unexpected.  'Philip' told me to be here, but not why.  How long can you stay?  Come on up to the house."  The two old friends walked away toward the house.

When Mitch stopped hugging the stuffing out of his twin, he hugged his Dad.  "Jeez©, Dad, your back is pretty bad."

Lee enjoyed his son's hug.  "Being home must agree with me; I feel better already."  Lee straightened, and realized he did feel better.

The crowd made its way back to Haven Manor, Travis helping the limping Mitch.

Things returned to normal.  Linda was feeling like a blimp, a blimp filled with lead.  Doc Leo said the twins were fine, and everything was progressing as it should.  Andy was spending a lot of time at Haven with Jimmy, and Jimmy was coming over to the Harris' a lot too.  Lee was worried about just how serious the two boys were about each other.  He wasn't upset about them being gay; it was their age difference.  Andy was almost seventeen now, and Jimmy was almost twelve.  Andy seemed to understand the situation, but Jimmy; on the other hand, with all the experience he had before coming to Haven, wanted more, much more.  Lee and Linda had talked about the problem, but it didn't seem to have a solution.

Thursday, March 22, 2007, dawned bright and sunny.  Linda rolled out of bed and waddled into the bathroom.  A minute later, Lee was rudely awakened by her piercing scream.  He rushed into the bathroom, and Linda was standing there, looking down at a puddle of water.  "Call Leo!  My water broke!"

"Oh my God!" Lee ran back into the bedroom and grabbed the phone.  He fumbled with the numbers and finally managed to get it dialed.  Three rings, and a sleepy sounding Tom answered.

"Tom! Get Leo here, Linda, NOW!"  He threw the phone down on the bed and rushed back into the bathroom.  Linda had dropped a couple of towels on the floor to mop up the water and was brushing her teeth.

"Liiinnnnddaaaaaaa! What are you doing?"

She calmly rinsed her mouth.  "I'm getting ready to have these babies. One of them kicked me a little bit ago.  Is Leo meeting us at the hospital?"

"Huh? Hospital? Ah... No, actually I told Tom for him to come here."

"Lee, I don't need Tom, I need, Leeeeeeooooooo!" she screamed, as another contraction hit.

"Come on get into bed.  Leo is on his way."  Lee got Linda in bed and hit the intercom, "Martha?  Linda needs you! NOW!"

A few minutes later, Martha appeared with a glass of crushed ice for Linda to suck on and a large mug of coffee for Lee.  "Nick has the boys downstairs, and they rightfully refuse to go to school.  He will send Leo up, as soon as he arrives."  Martha elbowed Lee aside and sat on the edge of the bed by Linda.  "How are you doing?"

"Fine, until a contraction hits.  Oh MY.  AAAGGGGHHHHHHH!"  Linda panted as the contraction passed, closer and closer each time.  "Lee, you are going to pay for this!"

"Lee, don't pay any attention to her right now.  She doesn't mean it."

"The hell I don't!"

"I said some terrible things about my late husband every time I went into labor.  But I had five children."

"You didn't have then two at a time kicking like they were doing the saber dance," Linda ground out between clenched teeth, as another contraction hit.

Lee looked at his watch. "Five minutes, that time."

Martha stood up, "We'z gonna 'birth us some babies'.  Lee, go get clean towels. A lot of clean towels!"

Lee scurried out the door, as Leo came in.  "So how's the mama to be?"

"Grrrrrrrr, I hate men!"

"Don't blame me, I'm gay, remember?"

Linda couldn't help it; she giggled.

"That's better.  Let's have a look... Martha, I'm going to need your help.  We are about to deliver a baby.  It's crowning already, look."

"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

"Okay, Martha, open my bag and get out the gloves, then open the blue case. It has everything I'm going to need.  Linda, when the next contraction comes, I want you to take a nice deep breath, and push, hard."

"GGGRRRRAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!"

"Great, first one's ready to go.  How long have you been having contractions?"

"Little uncomfortable last night, but not too bad, until my water broke this morning.  Then things have gone pretty fAAAAASSSSSTTTTTTTT!"

"Push! Thats good here it comes, head's out, shoulders, bingo, baby!"  Leo held the baby up and smacked its little bottom, and a wail erupted.

Lee rushed back in and Martha grabbed a towel and helped Leo clean off the baby, wrap it in a clean towel and hand it to Linda.

Linda was looking at her first born when her second born let it be known it was time for another arrival.  A couple of pushes and the cleaning, cutting the umbilical cord, and wrapping the baby was repeated. 

"Now we wait for the placenta and then you can rest."  Linda admired the two little faces.  Leo took out a pen and jotted some notes; #1 7:25AM APGAR 8 – 10 #2 7:35 AM APGAR 9 – 10

He looked back and was surprised to see another baby's head crowning.  "Linda! You've been keeping secrets!"

"What?  Oh MMMMYYYYYY!"

When it was all finished, Leo wrote #3 8:00 AM APGAR 8 – 10.

Lee then went downstairs and found everyone sitting in the kitchen, Andy, Mitch, Travis, Lou and Nick.  Lee was grinning from ear to ear.  "Mom is fine, and the babies are fine too.  They are all napping.  We can go meet them in a few minutes.  Remember, be quiet, and don't scare the little ones."

They all quietly went to the stairs, with Andy wheeling Lou to the elevator.  Outside the room, Lee held up his hand and whispered, "Let me go check and see if they are ready for visitors."

When Lee returned and opened the door, the boys filed in.  Linda was sitting propped up in the bed, with three towel-wrapped babies.

Mitch was first, "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Yes, I'm good; just tired."

Lee picked up the first born, in the blue towel, "Boys, this is you brother, Matthew Leonard Harris.  Named after my Mother's father and Doc Leo."  All the boys crowded close to say hello to their new brother.  Lee then picked up the second born in a yellow towel, "This is Mark Nicholas Harris, Named after my grandfather's identical twin and Nick."

Travis commented, "They look exactly alike."

From where he was sitting across the room, Leo said, "They might be identical.  It's a bit early to tell, for sure."

Travis pointed at the third baby wrapped in a pink towel. "Well, that one don't look at all like the other two."

The adults laughed.  Linda then said, "Boys, this is Mary Martha Harris.  She's named after my mother and our Martha."

"A sister!" from Mitch.

"Ewwwww!" from Travis.

"Kewl," from Andy.

"Mawee," from Lou.

Author's Notes:  Well, another chapter 23, complete with a court scene. I am beginning to detect a pattern here.  At least there isn't a 'The End' on this one.  I am a bit worried about 'Philip' and 'James' teaming up on this Operation El Kabong. (El Kabong © by Hanna-Barbera) (Deputy Dawg © Terrytoons)
It was tempting to end the chapter before introducing the babies, but the mobs with torches and pitchforks might be a bit uncontrollable.  For those of you who participated in the poll on Jeff's Fort Board, thank you.  Now we have a real S-thing in the story.  (See, Neal, it happened to Goody-Goody-Two-Shoes before you.)
So, let me know what you think about the story.
            Str8mayb

Editor's Notes:  Ah, what to say about this, that is a good question.  First: Triplets!!!! Wow!  Then, there is Lou. He seems pretty happy about having a sister.  I think I can sense some communication between those two.  Did anyone notice Lee's quick recovery and Mitch's reaction afterwards?

Let's hope he recovers soon. He is pretty resilient.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Associate Editor's Notes:  This story gets more complex all the time!  Travis is suddenly an heir to the Romanov family- and a multi-millionaire!  Now, what is our boy going to do with all that money?  I'm sure he will find something worthwhile to do with it; he's that kind of kid.

Linda and Lee decided not to have a sono-gram done, because they didn't want to know in advance if the twins would be boys or girls.  Now, if they had only checked, they might have found out that they were having triplets!  The boys reacted predictably to the news of a new sister-except for Lou.  There is something special going on here between him and his new little sister.  I can't wait to find out what their secret is!

In answer to our main editor's question, yes, I noticed what happened when Mitch hugged his Dad.  Well, at least, if it's more than he can handle, he can share it with Travis.  It would be nice if he asked first this time, though.  Diaper rash is no fun!

Aloysius Abercrombie (I forgot my broom and shovel, so please watch your step.)

Fort Chief Editor's Notes:
A Court Scene? Hmmm, where is my royalty check?  It is about time that we finally get to read this long awaited chapter. Now we finally know why the book was so important to Travis. Now I wonder if they will start teaching Russian at Haven ;) So Travis is Czar of Fire and Neal is Emperor of Haven.

            I am confused though as Chapter Twenty Three is usually the end of a book so????

The Story Lover