Chapter 12

Monday morning at ten, Anton, Eric and Raul were sitting in Dr. Widener’s office. Eric fleshed out the details about finding Sarah Bernstein injured and damn near frozen to death by the trail and having to rush her to the hospital. That story required that he also tell her about Anton, Andrea and him spending the night at the forestry station, leaving out the part about the boy’s special birthday present. He was a little concerned that Anton might raise her suspicions by appearing nervous or fidgety as he described their adventure, but the kid’s face remained completely deadpan.

Widener shook her head and said, “Oh dear, how awful! Well, I don’t wish Ms. Bernstein ill, but I hope this will somehow convince her to stop all this prying and leave us in peace. As the old saying goes, ‘It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good.’ And what about Ken? Did he return with you?”

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” Eric said as he reached into his pockets. “Here are the keys to your cabin. Ken was hoping you wouldn’t mind if he stayed in the trailer for a few days while he finishes up something he’s working on. He said he’d shove the trailer key under the door when he left.”

“He would have been welcome to stay in the cabin. Why on earth would he want that cramped little box on wheels?”

Eric chuckled, “Because we got the cabin all spruced up before we left. He didn’t want to have to do it again.”

Raul shifted the topic. “Dr. Widener, do you know what room I will use for the music lessons?”

“For the time being you can use the observation room where the piano is. And speaking of music lessons, so far, I have three who want to learn guitar and two who want to learn piano.”

He seemed pleased with that. “Ah, Mui bien! Five is a good number. I am surprised to have so many. The lessons will last for one hour twice every week, and I will take my first student at nine AM sharp tomorrow morning, if that is acceptable.”

“Excellent!” She reached into her desk drawer and took out an envelope. Handing it to him across her desk, she said, “This is payment for the work on the cabin. Thank you so much for doing that for me. Now, if you’ll excuse us, Raul, I must speak to Eric and Anton privately, but I’d like to talk with you later about assuming some additional duties here at the home.”

As the door closed, Dr. Widener regarded Anton with a worried look. “My dear, I’m sorry to tell you this, but Rhonda left us some time Friday night. Of course we’ve filed a missing persons report, but so far she hasn’t turned up. I know you were very close, so I’m wondering if you have any idea where she might have gone.”

Anton didn’t seem particularly distraught as he shook his head and said, “No. I only know where she would not go, and that is to her mother. Did something happen to make her want to run away?”

Widener leaned back in her chair. “Yes, I’m afraid so. She was very upset when she discovered you had left for the weekend with Eric. In fact she was furious that she hadn’t been asked to go and she accused me of conspiring to keep you apart”

Anton said, “I don’t know the word ‘conspiring’, but you did keep us apart, didn’t you?”

“Only as it concerned sleeping arrangements, and I know you understand why that was necessary, Anton.” She hoped Eric hadn’t told him that it was she who nixed Rhonda going to the cabin. “So you’re saying you have no idea where she might have gone?”

“I do not.”

She sighed, “Very well then. Eric, thank you for giving Anton this weekend break. I’m sorry it ended on such a dramatic note.”

He reached over and patted the boy’s knee. “It was my pleasure, Doctor. Andrea and I enjoyed his company more than you can imagine. In fact, if you have some time, I’d like to talk to you about his future, and I’d prefer he stayed, if you don’t mind, because I really don’t want to say what I have to say without him having some input.”

Widener regarded him curiously, glanced at her watch and said, “I have a board meeting in half an hour. Is that enough time?”

“This won’t take long. I just want to offer a proposal for you to think about”

“Very well. Let’s hear it.”

Eric took a moment to organize his thoughts, then began, “Okay, well Anton and Andrea and I had some really good talks over the weekend. Let me begin by saying that it was clear to me that from the time we left last Friday, the further we got from the city and the closer we got to your cabin, the more relaxed he seemed to grow. The problem isn’t with you, Dr. Widener; it’s with the environment here at the home. I know how hard you and all of us counselors have worked to make it as comfortable and homey as we can, but it is an institution, and to Anton, it’s oppressive and depressing. I’m sure you can appreciate that.”

Eric rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder and continued, “All the time we spent together up in the mountains, Anton was open and actually enjoying himself. At one point he expressed to Andrea and me that he wished he could live with us in your cabin. We explained to him that in the present circumstance, that isn’t possible, but it got Andrea and me thinking.

“So this is what we came up with: First of all, I haven’t told Anton I was going to have this talk with you, so this is all as new to him as it is to you. Andrea’s house is a three bedroom modular home about six miles before the turnoff to your place. She owns it free and clear because it was left to her by her late grandmother. I think you’re aware that we’ve grown very close since we met, and last night we agreed that I would move in. It’s about a forty-five minute commute to here from there so it’s going to be no great burden for me to continue working at the home, and I’d like to remain here until I go back to school for my master’s in a year or so.

“If Anton is willing, Andrea and I would like him to live with us and commute with me to the home for school and his music lessons with Raul. He’d have his own room, a safe, clean environment, and most of all, people who love him. And of course, you’d continue your regular therapy sessions.

“Dr. Widener, Anton loves the outdoors. More than that, he needs the outdoors! He loves hiking in the forest, or just taking long walks up and down the road. Considering his years of confinement, his passion and craving for open spaces makes perfect sense to me.”

Eric leaned back and finished, “So that’s it in a nutshell. Anton, am I right about all this? Do you disagree with anything I’ve said?”

The boy was looking at Eric in wide-eyed wonder. “I like everything you say! You and Andrea really want I live with you? Like I am your son and you are like my mother and father?”

“Mmm, Given the closeness of our age, I was thinking more like a younger brother, but yeah, officially as foster parents.”

Dr. Widener looked hard at them both. “Eric, you’re a compassionate man, and I can appreciate how you feel, but...”

She was cut off by Anton shouting, “YES!” and throwing himself into Eric’s arms. “I will love to live with you! When can we move to Andrea’s home?”


Widener waited patiently for Anton’s emotional outburst to subside. “Eric, I really wish you had come to me before getting this young man’s hopes up. As you are aware, the court has remanded him to my custody, and I can’t imagine it will be at all pleased that I would even consider shuffling that responsibility to another person without some extensive investigation into your and Andrea’s fitness to take on something this delicate. I’m sorry, but I just can’t allow it out of hand.”

Anton shot her an angry look, but Eric held up his hand as a signal for him to relax and continued, “Which is why Andrea and I called your friend Horst Schuler at his home last night and discussed the legalities with him. He seems to think there’s a way to make this happen and he should be here any time now to talk with you about it.”

Widener looked perturbed. “Eric, really!”

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Schuler peeked inside and asked, “May I join you?”

Widener tried to look happy to she him, waving him in. “Hello, Horst. Am I really to believe you’ve been conspiring behind my back?”

Schuler took a seat on the couch. “I wouldn’t call it conspiring, Helen. I’d say we were exploring ways to get this young man into a healthy environment to try to build some kind of normality into his life. From what Eric and Andrea tell me, Anton seems to thrive in their company, and isn’t that the best we can hope for any of our youngsters?”

“But Horst,” she groaned, “the legalities! Yes, Anton will eventually have a foster family, but not without the prospective parents being carefully vetted! Eric and Andrea aren’t even married!”

Schuler waved off her concern. “Nothing we can’t work around, is it? He’ll still be here for regular therapy sessions. You’ve already vetted Eric, haven’t you? I mean he’s worked for you for several months now. And Andrea’s a college educated deputy sheriff with an exemplary record? How much better a recommendation do you want? Look, Helen, we all concede that you’re the recognized expert in developmental psychology and we certainly respect that, but through the years, I’ve seen a lot of kids get lost and become even more screwed up by people having too tight a rein on them. Anton may hit a rough patch here and there, he’s bound to, but he’ll get past it and be better for it. I believe Eric and Andrea are an ideal couple to take Anton in and make him a home, and I intend to go to court and advocate for exactly that. Now, are you with us or are you gonna fight us on this thing?”

The look on Schuler’s face told Dr. Widener that he meant every word of it. She leaned back in her chair and considered her options. Finally, with a look of resignation, she said, “Tell me how you plan to make this happen?”

“Well,” Schuler began as he rubbed his hands together, “First of all, I suggest we make the issue de facto by moving Eric and Anton to Andrea’s house ASAP, say, at the end of classes today. Then we give the new arrangement some time, maybe a month to grow roots and get established. By that time I think we’ll have a pretty good sense of how well it’s going to work out. If it’s as successful as I fully expect it to be, we’ll petition the court to make it permanent based on proven success. I know there’s a little bit of slight-of-hand going on here, but sometimes that’s necessary to goose things along in our tight-assed legal system.”

Anton fell to his knees in front of her desk pressing his hands together prayer-fashioned and pleaded with her, “Please, Dr. Widener! I want to live with Eric and Andrea! I will work very hard in school! I promise!”

Dr. Widener was deeply touched by his plea. “Oh my dear boy, please don’t beg in that demeaning way! You know I want only what is best for you.” Looking up at Eric and Horst, she took a deep breath and sighed, “Okay, I’m willing to give it a one-month trial run. But I want to see Anton here every weekday, and I intend to drop in on Andrea’s house from time to time without notice. If I see any evidence that he’s regressing or not adjusting well, I’m calling it to a halt. Will you agree to that?”

Eric, Anton and Schuler looked at each other. The attorney stood and said, “Absolutely! Now, let’s talk about when I can come up to your cabin and do some trout fishing.”

Ken was loving his time alone in the travel trailer beside the cabin. He considered going back to town with the others, but uninterrupted solitude was a rare treat in his life and he just couldn’t tear himself away from the beauty and isolation of the place. The deep quiet gave his mind some much-needed peace and motivated him to get quite a bit of work done on his “Anton” project.