Chapter 133: Adriana Speaks and Hanna Decides

Monday, June 14, 1971

Deedee plopped down on the seat beside me.

“What’s going on?” she asked innocently.

Ileana and Jessica began to fill her in on Amy’s dilemma. Deedee evidently understood, for she became very concerned and began to tell the other girls and me how we needed to support her choices. They discussed it for a while longer, then Deedee turned to me.

“I wanted to thank you for what you did for Abby,” she said.

I just looked at her. Even I was not totally comfortable with all of them knowing everything about my intimate moments, sometimes. This time, I wasn’t sure what to say.

“Don’t worry, I’m not upset. If Mother was here, I think that she would approve,” Deedee told me. “Both of how you took care of her without violating her, and that you are going to marry her.”

I still didn’t know what to say. So I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Look, my job has been, and probably always will be to protect Abby. And the babies, after they’re born. I do not believe that she will remain a virgin forever; it’s just that our lives have changed so much since you showed up. Everything has been moving so quickly, and I just needed some time to work through it.”

“I don’t mean to rush anyone,” I told Deedee. “But Abby seems to be ready to move on in her life, and...”

“I know, Michael. I can see. And I know I can’t stop her. I really was thanking you for not taking her yet. I think the ceremony that Ileana is planning will make it so much more special for her, that’s all,” Deedee explained.

“Oh,” I said. I had thought Deedee might be angry.

“No, I’m not angry at you. How could I be after that visit to wherever it was we went? And I will do everything I can to help you with your quest, when the time comes. But my first priority has always been Abby’s safety and happiness. And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Her happiness?” I asked.

“No, silly. You’re doing great with that. I mean her safety. I was thinking that with two babies, plus Abby, I might need some help. And I’ve been talking with Vie, and she would like to help me. Even though you took her virginity, which took away some of her powers, she still knows a lot and if I could maybe borrow some money from you, I could pay for her to have some training with weapons and other modern security methods. I have come to realize that my training and skills are probably not a match for what we’ve been facing. But with two of us, and the proper training and equipment, we might be better prepared.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” I told Deedee. “However, there’s still the little matter of their citizenship.”

“Michael?” Ileana interrupted. “I have an idea. I don’t know if it would work, but could Vie and her sisters become citizens of Tapato?”

I thought about it for a second, the grin on my face growing larger.

“Ileana. You are brilliant!” I told her. Then I thought, “Anna, darling. We’re in the Dining Car discussing the fate of the sisters. Have you got a minute?” I had started to call Catherine, but then I realized that she was still with Hanna.

When Anna arrived, I gave her my seat and asked what they would like to drink. I wanted another Coca-Cola.

While I went to get the drinks, the girls filled her in on the idea. When I returned, Anna was telling them that it was a definite possibility, but there were many details to work through first.

“I’ll talk to Daddy, and I know Catherine has already called the State Department. And we need to talk to Kalani, and of course, the sisters. But overall, I think it might work. The first thing to do is to talk to Catherine. Did you ask her?” Anna asked me.

I explained what was going on with Catherine, Hanna, Grace, and Nicky. “I didn’t want to interrupt them right now,” I said.

“All right, we’ll touch base with Catherine later. What about the other two girls?” Anna asked. “Do you know what they want to do?”

“Well, Pipiti wants to join Michael’s security team. I think she has a crush on Michael. But she has some knowledge and some training. And like her sister, she will need more,” Deedee told us.

“What about Serkia?” Anna asked.

“I don’t really know. She has been talking quite a bit to Catherine, and I heard her say something about going to school, but I’m not sure,” Deedee replied.

“So, Catherine was impressed by the young priestess,” I thought to myself.

“Well, I guess we need to wait until we can talk to Catherine,” Anna said. “But I like where you’re headed with this. And from what I could tell, they seem to be special young ladies.”

The five girls moved on to other topics, including the visit to Narvenia’s world this morning, and so I slipped away to finish my Coke at another booth.

I was sitting there, alone, when she walked into the Dining Car.

I watched as she walked directly to me, her eyes looking nowhere else. I quickly looked to see if I had a bullseye on my shirt, but I could see that she was smiling, and her eyes, like Anna’s, were shining. I could actually feel her love, as she got closer. So I relaxed a little.

Stopping at the booth, she just looked at me, waiting.

I jumped to my feet as I said, “Adriana, please. Won’t you join me?”

As she turned slightly to slide into the booth, she stopped and looked me dead in the eye as she said,”Ank oo, eye-kil.”

I got out the “You’re wel...” before it hit me that it was my ears that had heard the sounds!

I grabbed her, hugging her tight, as I let out a yell of happiness!

“Yea-a-a-a-a-ah!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “You did it! I heard you! You actually spoke the words!” I yelled with giddiness, as I picked her up off her feet and twirled her around recklessly in the tight confines of the narrow aisle.

“Eye-kil, eeasee,” she said, “oo’ll ‘urt oor-elf”

I let her down slowly, but I just couldn’t let her go. So I slid back into the booth sideways, with Adriana on my lap.

It was kind of funny, at least to me, as I’m sure everyone heard my scream. But Penny, sitting with her back to me in the booth where she and Kip had just finished reassembling their weapons which they had been cleaning, jumped up and clicked the freshly loaded cylinder into place on her revolver, as she turned to see why I had screamed.

While at the same moment, Grace and Catherine with a still red-eyed Hanna close behind came barreling into the Dining Car from the Guest Wing just in time to see Penny load her gun and turn towards me.

“NO-O-O-O!” screamed Grace as she launched herself down the aisle, intending to cover Adriana and me with her body, trying to shield us from danger. Of course, with Adriana on my lap in the tight confines of the booth, I could do nothing to stop Grace, or to save Adriana from the collision.

It was Kip’s lightning-fast reflexes that saved the day as he dove down the aisle after Grace, literally grabbing her out of mid-air, and turned them while still airborne, so that Grace actually landed on top of him.

Of course, everyone wanted to know why I screamed, so after quieting everybody down, I turned to Adriana and said, “Sweetheart, don’t you have something you’d like to say to Kip, for saving Grace and us?”

I heard Anna’s sharp intake of breath as everyone got deathly quiet.

“Ank oo, iip!” Adriana said.

It didn’t take but a couple of heartbeats before Nicky dove for Adriana, hugging her and blubbering something I couldn’t make out. All the rest of the girls were trying to hug her as well as I sagged under the combined weight of them all.

Everything else was forgotten as they all joyously congratulated Adriana and then gathered around the booth to hear her story. It seems that she felt like she had been gone for days, and was starving, so some food was quickly placed in front of her. I just sat next to her, reveling in her accomplishment as stories were related back and forth.

“What’s the verdict?” I asked Catherine.

“I think she wants to talk to you, but I believe it’s fifty-fifty right now,” she replied.

Excusing myself, I held out my hand to Hanna. She hesitated for a long moment before slowly reaching forward to grasp it. I just smiled and led her back down the aisle to the Observation Car.

I could hear the sounds of passion coming from my stateroom when we entered the Observation Car. I didn’t bother to scan; I could tell that Amy was feeling very good right now. But I’d have to find somewhere besides the lounge to talk to Hanna. Amy was enjoying herself a little too loudly.

I led her on through the Observation Car, and out onto the rear vestibule, where I stepped to one side and leaned my butt casually against the rail.

“Why did you bring me out here?” Hanna asked.

“Simple. It will be easier to throw myself off if you tell me you’re leaving!” I laughed.

“Stop that, Michael! Don’t say things like that,” she said vehemently.

“I’m sorry; I was just teasing you a little. My heart is actually pounding in fear that you’re going to tell me you are going home.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yeah. I was hoping the wind noise would cover it so you wouldn’t hear it,” I told her.

Hanna didn’t respond. She just stood there beside me, looking back down the rails. I waited. Catherine had said she was ready to talk to me. I didn’t scan her because, well, you know.

Finally, still looking down the rails, she said, “I’ll stay.”

I looked at her, but she was not looking at me. I grabbed her anyway, picking her up and twirling her around, much as I had done with Adriana only moments ago. And just as I had with Adriana, I let out a big whoop of glee! Only this time, the others probably didn’t hear me.

“She’s staying?” came at least half a dozen thoughts simultaneously.

“YES!” I shouted my thought. “Hanna’s staying!”

Hanna looked up at me with tears in her eyes, as she asked, “It really made you that happy? As happy as Adriana talking?”

“Oh yeah!” I replied. “Even more. I knew that Adriana would speak one day, but I was not sure you would stay. I was so afraid of losing you!” I told her as I hugged her to me tightly.

“Oh, Michael!” she cried. “I think I really have fallen in love with you. It’s just that everything is moving so fast. I mean, two days ago, I thought I might never find someone that could return the love in my heart. And then yesterday, I found someone, and even though I can love him, I can never get married and have children and make my parents happy with grandchildren.”

“Hanna, if we did have a child, would you love her?”

“Of course! That’s a silly question,” she replied quickly.

“And if that little girl grew up and found the man of her dreams, would you love him as well?”

“I guess. If he was good to her and treated her with respect, and took care of her,” Hanna said.

“Even if he was the ugliest guy in the world? With a big purple splotch on his face, and a hump in his back?” I asked.

“Why are you asking me this?” she asked.

“Because, when I ask your parents for their blessings to marry you, I want to know if you’ll be able to love them enough to patiently explain why you love such a strange man!” I replied.

“You’re going to ask me to marry you?” Hanna asked incredulously. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“I’m not sure who told you that, but if you’ll talk to Ileana, and the Queen, when she arrives, I think you will find that plural marriages are not only legal, but entirely acceptable for a Prince on Tapato,” I explained.

“You’re not kidding me, are you?” she asked not believing what she heard.

I dropped to my knee, there on the rear vestibule of the long train as it wound its way through the North Texas plains, and taking her hand, I said, “Hanna Castleberry, will you marry me?”

I kept kneeling there as she looked at me through tear-stained eyes for a very long moment, before she finally said, “Yes, Michael Wagner. Oh, yes, I’ll marry you!” Then pulling me to my feet, she kissed me.

And in that kiss, for the first time in her life, she opened her heart and allowed her abundant love to come forth. And in that moment, she knew. She knew that she had finally found that man, that one person who could match the depth of love in her own heart, measure for measure. She sighed in relief as she felt that love deep within her.