Chapter 2

As soon as his plane had landed, Phillip Murdock went immediately to meet with Marcie and her parents. He explained the nature of the problem, the causes for concern for their safety, the challenges that they faced and their options. Once they agreed that they needed his protection, they too were hustled to the waiting plane and departed their home town, probably for the last time.

While it was of some comfort to them to see Kyle and Marcie together again, the elder Saunders were still trying to accept what was happening to them. Kyle immediately went to them and apologized.

"I am so sorry," he said. "I have disrupted your lives and turned your home upside down. It's all my fault and I accept that,"

"No it's not, Kyle, Coach Saunders said. "You've done nothing wrong. You are an innocent victim of something that happened that you had nothing to do with. In no way is this your fault."

"But your lives will all be topsy turvy now. I ruined a perfectly good family situation and now there is no going back."

Coach Saunders understood one part of the situation very well. "Kyle, this is much like a football game. One person does not cause his team to lose. You have done nothing wrong. Your father died in the service to his country, and now that country is doing its best to protect you. I don't want to hear you say anything more about fault. Our lives are just beginning again, and that is nobody's fault either."

Phillip Murdock had arranged for them to all have dinner together. They were in a soundproof room with a white noise generator running.

Marge Saunders asked Murdock, "Do we have to live in the same towns?"

"Excellent question and the answer is NO! You will have new last names and new identities. Given that, you will not have a history of socializing before. You don't want to be sitting together at a tea, as strangers, and suddenly say, 'Oh Jill, do you remember that time?' You would have too many memories to share to risk something like that."

Murdock once again explained the situation at hand to the group, emphasizing that this change in their lives is a complete change of identification and history and that they must, at all times, remember that. He also acknowledged the government's acceptance of responsibility for the situation and its willingness to provide financial support to accommodate the changes. Coach Saunders, with significant help from the government, found gainful employment as an offensive coordinator at a mid-sized college in Ohio. Complete with a new last name and a credible record of coaching at the high school level, all supplied by Murdoch's agency with the full cooperation and understanding of his new Athletic Director, he was at least back into an area of his considerable expertise.

At about the same time, Kyle, Jill and Emma, having visited locations in Tennessee and Vermont, decided that a small city in Oregon had more of what they were seeking in a new location. The realtor showed them several very attractive properties, but only one approached the elegance of what they had so quickly abandoned. The buildings sat back from the road on acreage, what some may call a farmette, not enough land to support a family in farming but sufficient land to provide room and space for any number of other activities. A beautiful, white painted post and rail fence surrounded the entire property. The setting itself looked much like those of the lush estates in the horsecountry of Kentucky. The house was two stories, white brick, with giant columns in the front. Some distance away was a multi vehicle garage, and beyond that and to one side were the stables.

"I don't know anything about raising or caring for horses," Jill said to the realtor.

"That's okay, you don't need to. There is a full time staff that do all of that for you. Your role is simply to enjoy the animals, and maybe ride them once in a while."

"But who pays for the staff?"

"Oh, don't worry about that either. The stable operation is self supporting; actually makes a modest profit each month."