Chapter 5: Into Shadow

17 July 2013 – Crawford Street, Fitchburg, Massachusetts

“An’ how goes the job, lassie?” Hamish asked while they fueled the Cessna before Sabrina’s lesson.

“It’s been really fun! The kids are great!”

“Are ye sorry ye’re næ working for yer father at all?”

“Other than not getting to see him while I’m at work, no. I know that filing paperwork and cleaning the training aids at DMD needs to be done, but teaching the little kids karate is a blast.”

“Is he upset, then?”

“Maybe a little?” she admitted. “It’s not like he’s working three jobs or anything, so I get to see him every day, but I’ll be off to college in three years. Part of me feels that spending as much time with him as I can before I leave wouldn’t bother either of us.”

“An’ Ryan? Still human?”

“Well, he’s still acting human; whether or not he’s been replaced by a pod person or will revert to type remains to be seen.”

Sabrina went through the start-up checklist and took off with practiced ease.

“Here, lassie.” Hamish extended a wrapped package to her. “My aircraft.”

“Your aircraft,” she acknowledged while holding the present with both hands. “Mr. Hamish, what’s this?”

“Just a wee something tæ celebrate both yer birthday an’ yer achievement last week.”

“Mr. Hamish!”

Hamish waved off her protest.

Sabrina opened the present and found an ornate, carved music box. When she opened the top, sounds of light, airy music echoed through the plane as a ballerina inside twirled along with the tune. She gave Hamish a watery smile before unbuckling so she could hug the burly Scotsman.

“It’s beautiful, thank you!” she said while wrapped around him.

“T’is nothing, lass,” he said with an embarrassed blush. “I couldnæ let either event pass unnoticed. Is næ every day someone turns fifteen or gets their black belt in a martial art, ye know?”

“It’s not an adult black belt,” she pointed out, now buckled back in her seat.

“Ye think t’is næ a ‘real’ black belt then, lassie? Yer sensei is næ one tæ hand those belts out lightly, nor yer mother. Not many people have the dedication tæ reach the milestone, young er auld, let alone be taking flying lessons at the same time. What’s it taken? Ten years fer ye? I’ll wager once ye turn eighteen that’ll be a ‘real’ black belt. Oh, and yer father tells me ye made the honor roll – again. Ye have what yer fellow Yanks call ‘the drive,’ lass.”

Sabrina looked at the music box in her hands again.

“What’s the song?” she asked.

“Part of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake.’” The sad smile Sabrina first saw in the spring crossed Hamish’s face again.

“She likes this song, doesn’t she?”

The question startled Hamish.

“Who, lass?”

“Mr. Hamish,” she answered, giving him a stern look. “To use a saying my Uncle Tom Pelley is fond of: ‘Boy, that dog won’t hunt!’ Your niece, the one you haven’t seen in years, likes this song, doesn’t she?”

“Aye,” he whispered, just barely audible over the sound of the Cessna’s engine. “She did from the moment she started ballet and heard it for the first time.” Hamish sighed and looked over. “I’m sorry, lass. Ye remind me so much of the wee bairn.”

“Why would you be sorry about that? It sounds like a compliment to me.”

“Och aye, t’is, lass,” Hamish said with tears in his eyes. “Kenna ... Kenna was beautiful, a happy little lass.”

“‘Was,’ Mr. Hamish?”

“Aye, Sabrina, ‘was.’” Hamish’s use of her name rather than calling her ‘lass’ was very unusual and caught her attention. “Kenna was six when she ... died, along with her mother and father. A lively, redheaded sprite was she. Her hair was as bright red as yer hair is black, lassie; compared to how hers was, mine is vurry dark.”

Sabrina snorted because Hamish’s was very red.

“Yer drive and yer fire are so like Kenna’s, lass. Ah,” Hamish sighed, “what a force she would have been.”

The following week, a heavy package arrived at the Knox residence addressed to Sabrina; the return address was from some ‘foundation’ in Texas.

“Mom? Dad? Have you ever heard of ‘The Youth Citizenship Foundation?’” Sabrina asked while reading the shipping label.

“I have,” Jeff said with his brows lifting in surprise. Keiko shook her head in the negative. “Tell you in a minute,” he muttered to Keiko. “Go ahead, Sabrina, open it.”

Sabrina made short work of the tough packing tape and pulled two envelopes off the top of the bubble wrap inside. Sabrina opened the top envelope and read the enclosed letter aloud to her parents.

Dear Miss Knox,

The Youth Citizenship Foundation takes great pleasure in recognizing you as the recipient of our national Integrity Award for the 2012-2013 school year. Every year, the Foundation presents this award to the high school student who exemplifies dedication to, and perseverance in defending your rights and the rights of others in the face of overwhelming odds and pressures.

Your consistent belief in those rights was evident over the past school year when you stood up to your school’s administration in the fall while fighting for proper treatment of another classmate, and in standing up for yourself when discriminated against in two separate incidents this spring.

In addition to the crystal statue enclosed with this award letter, a certified check made out to you in the amount of ten thousand dollars is also enclosed; this tax-free award is to be used to defray costs of attendance at whatever post-secondary school you choose to matriculate to.

Again, on behalf of the Foundation and its board, I congratulate you.

Yours in admiration,
Charles C. Oldham
Chairman, The Youth Citizenship Foundation

Sabrina looked up from the letter and blinked at her beaming parents. Jeff hugged her, kissing the top of her head and telling her how proud he was of her; Keiko added her own silent hug. As her mother released her, Sabrina saw her father carefully lift the large, heavy, crystal spread eagle out of the box and set it down on the counter.

“Winning this award is wonderful recognition for you, Sabrina. They’ll write you a recommendation to whatever college you want to go to, also; from what I understand, their letters carry some serious weight.”

“How do they even know about what happened?” she asked. “I’m a minor, and I don’t think school records are public records.”

“No, they’re not; court records are, though I’m not clear about cases involving minors,” Jeff mentioned. “I don’t know how they connected your name with those records since you’re a minor like we both just said, but it’s clear they did. I’ll ask Josh to make some quiet inquiries. If they aren’t using your name for some other purpose, your mom and I will be okay with leaving things alone. It’d be unusual if they are, though; they shoot pretty straight.”

“All the same, Sabrina,” Keiko cut in, “you should already have been proud of your actions this past year. It could not have been easy for you to be the focus of things such as that, yet you comported yourself very well.”

Keiko took Sabrina shopping for new clothes before Sabrina’s sophomore year began. Since about a month before her fifteenth birthday at the beginning of the summer, Sabrina’s attitude toward young ladies’ fashion – and boys – had shifted.

While she was still comfortable knocking around the house and rink in workout gear festooned with hockey equipment company logos, Sabrina now felt that she should present a better image at other times – that is, ‘prettier.’ She laughed at her mother’s description of how her father grimaced when told of her new attitude.

Sabrina’s new clothes were conservative by current teenage standards but positively shocking compared to her previous sartorial style. In addition to piles of track pants, gym shorts, and sneakers, Sabrina’s closet now boasted sundresses, skirts, and blouses on hangars, and flats and low heels took up space on the closet floor.

Jeff hated to admit it, but the new clothes looked great on his little girl. A light touch of makeup did wonderful things to her already pretty face, and new shampoo and conditioner made her hair shine. Jeff felt a migraine coming on. Alex patted his father on the shoulder in a gesture of support.

“Better let me do the wetwork, Dad,” he muttered, guessing at his father’s current thoughts, anticipating an onslaught of boyfriends. “As a minor, I might get off with a lighter sentence.”

Indeed, Sabrina drew many surprised and appreciative glances on their first day of school. Tommy Jones’ eyes bulged at seeing the change in his childhood friend. Lucky for him, Erica Thorisson, his girlfriend since the end of freshman year, didn’t notice; her wheelchair put her down where a back fist or elbow could have been very painful for him.

Sabrina’s skill in Spanish advanced her to the junior Spanish III class, much as her father’s language ability saw him in accelerated classes through high school. Moose Smolinski sat down at his desk next to her and complimented her sundress and how nice she looked. She had noticed people watching her since she arrived at school, but to have someone say something to her gave her a rush of feelings she wasn’t used to.

Something else she wasn’t used to was not having her mother at the high school. Even though she’d only been a student there for one year, Sabrina still equated this place with her mother. The replacement junior English teacher seemed nice enough from the brief greeting with him in the hall this morning, but she’d wait for her brothers’ report; they’d both have him for English.

Sabrina could get very used to not seeing Principal Atwood and Mrs. Haversham lurking in the shadows. Mr. Lanier replaced Atwood after the latter was ousted that summer. Mrs. Haversham took a teaching job with a school district in Worcester County. Sabrina wouldn’t mourn their departures. On the other hand, Mr. Lanier’s promotion to principal was welcome news.

Mr. Lanier embarrassed Sabrina when he announced her national citizenship award at an assembly that first morning, however. He simply grinned at Sabrina’s displeasure when she cornered him afterward. He laughed louder when his grin caused Sabrina to stomp her foot in frustration.

“You won’t be so upset when colleges see the recommendation letter from that foundation, Sabrina,” he said. “Those schools won’t be able to say yes to you fast enough!”

“Hey, Sabrina!” Ruby Sepulveda said in greeting after Spanish class. Naomi Taggert blushed when Sabrina noticed her holding Ruby’s hand.

“Hey, guys! I’d ask how your summer was, but I’m guessing it was good if you two are holding hands?”

Naomi blushed scarlet again. Ruby squeezed her hand in response.

“Yeah,” her former preschool classmate replied with a lopsided grin and a shrug.

“Well, congratulations. Your families are okay with things?”

“Mom doesn’t have an issue with it,” Naomi said.

“Nor mine. She and Ms. Taggert hit it off, too. They sit around in either our kitchen or Naomi’s, chatting while we’re off on our dates. It’s pretty cool. You look great this year, too!”

“Thanks.” Now it was Sabrina’s turn to blush. “I finally decided I couldn’t live my life in a hockey commercial. Time to live a little.”

Moose Smolinski seemed to agree. He asked Sabrina to be his girlfriend a few days later.

Sabrina’s happiness at reconnecting with her school friends was dampened by an undercurrent of snide comments about Ruby and Naomi; they weren’t the only gay couple at the school, but they were the newest target. The start of the school year delayed the spread, but it went from a trickle to a torrent overnight in mid-September. Comments became even worse by the last week of the month.

“Fucking people,” Sabrina growled to herself as she slammed her locker shut; she’d just ripped someone a new asshole for making lesbian jokes about her two friends. “What is this? The frikken 1950s?” Someone poking her leg startled her.

“You look like you’re about to blow your stack,” Erica commented as she rolled into view. “Take a breath! Think before you act, Sabrina. Isn’t that what you’re always saying?”

“Look, there are plenty of people who’d like to hoist me on my petard around here. I don’t need my friends doing it, too.”

“It keeps you humble. ‘Pride goeth before the fall,’ and all that.”

“Have you been talking to my mother? God, you sound just like her!”

“You need all the reminders you can get. How are things going with Moose?”

“Great! He’s been patient with me, not rushing me at all. I’m a little late to the dating game; I’ve been a bit too focused on hockey and school up till now. He even admitted he would have asked me out last year, but wasn’t sure I wasn’t gay at that point.”

“So he waited until your wardrobe changed? What you wear doesn’t have anything to do with your sexual orientation!”

“I think it was more that he saw I was too focused on hockey, Erica. Moose doesn’t strike me as that shallow. He probably saw me as just another teammate until now.”

“So, any rumors that you guys are doing it are incorrect, then? I’ve been hearing those rumors a lot.”

Sabrina spun around and stared at her friend.

“What did you say?”

“Shit, are you clueless. You haven’t heard that? It’s all over the school!”

“No, we’re not ’doing it!’ It’s come up, sure, but he made it clear that it’s my decision. He isn’t pressuring me at all!”

“Yeah, but he’s never been sixteen and hormonal before, either. Does your dad have a shotgun he can be cleaning the first time Moose comes to your house to pick you up for a date?”

“Christ, Erica, don’t give the man any ideas! He’s already been talking about getting his old Ranger platoon back together to follow my boyfriends around when I start dating! I – OH SHIT! COME ON!”

Sabrina darted away from Erica, toward a pack of boys further down the hall. The pack had surrounded the two girls and were taunting them. Sabrina stepped between two of the boys, smashing her foot down on one’s instep and elbowing the other in the solar plexus.

“You creeps back the hell off before I knock you all into next week!”

“Brave words, Knox,” Jon Aaltonen sneered.

“You’re suddenly brave yourself since Lonergan ran away, Aaltonen. When did you grow a set? You idiots obviously didn’t learn anything from last year if you think I’m gonna sit back and let anyone treat my friends this way!”

Sabrina was flush with anger. Some of the things she heard them say to Ruby and Naomi were plain vile.

“What are you going to do? Fight all of us at once?”

“That would be pretty dumb, wouldn’t it? No, hypothetically, I could just catch you each alone later and lay some hurt on you one at a time. Of course, that would just be me. I don’t think the rest of our friends are just gonna sit around and let me have all the fun!”

Erica ‘accidentally’ crashed her wheelchair into the boys. Tommy and Shawn each shoved some from behind, then stood nose-to-nose with them, staring them down. Moose came out of nowhere and stood among them like a menacing mountain.

“Those people fucking suck,” Tommy growled as he watched them scatter.

“No argument on that, babe,” Erica agreed while holding his hand.

The friends formed a protective ring around Ruby and Naomi and escorted them to lunch.

“Did we skip fall and jump right into winter?” Sabrina asked, shivering in the breeze as she stood by the avgas pump. She should get her coat out of the airplane.

“Aye, lass, I think we did.”

The temperature was only in the mid-40s, but after a summer of 80s and 90s, it sure felt like winter already. From the hordes of squirrels she noticed already stashing food and fattening themselves, Sabrina suspected they were in for an early and difficult winter. Early-fallen leaves swirled in a steady, cold wind. From the air last week, Sabrina saw that much of the forest canopy was already gone, exposing the smaller back roads under the bare branches.

“How did yer father take the announcement ye want ta go to the Air Force Academy, lass?”

“About as well as you’d expect, being a former Army guy.”

“Remind him that yer Air Force used tæ be part of the Army.”

“I told him that,” she groused. “Didn’t make a difference. The fact remains that military pilots are almost always the ones selected as pilots for the space program. With being an astronaut pilot as my ultimate goal, it seems like an obvious choice to me.”

“Yer tryin’ tæ use logic when it comes ta a father’s feelins about his daughter? Luck tæ ye.”

Sabrina chuckled and concentrated on getting the aircraft in the air. Once aloft, the constant wind blowing over the uneven terrain produced currents and eddies that were difficult to predict. Maintaining constant attitude and altitude while flying was easier for her now that she had amassed more flight hours, but today, it wasn’t so easy. It was bouncy in the small Cessna, with a few hard jolts.

Seen from above, their flight track would have looked like a series of lazy, looping circles as they drifted west over Worcester County and close to Franklin County. Sabrina sometimes asked Hamish to take the controls so she could take some pictures. Alex had loaned her his new digital camera two weeks ago. The early cold caused the leaves to turn in their part of New England; Alex asked her for some images from the sky before the colors lost their brilliance. Today, he asked if Sabrina would take some more pictures to show the difference in the forest canopy.

The Cessna’s windows produced some glare when she tried to take pictures, but Sabrina was able to get better-looking pictures despite the glare than when she tried to shoot through the small opening when the pop-out was opened. The opening was barely wide enough for Alex’s telephoto lens, and the wing strut kept getting in the way unless she aimed the camera straight down.

“If ye’re gonna be swearin’, lass, at least let me teach ye some good swearin’. I’m guessin’ ye learned from your father, but ye Yanks are amateurs when it comes tæ it.” She ignored him, handed the camera back to him, and took back the controls.

A flash from below caught Sabrina’s eye. Sunlight had glinted off the aluminum top of a police cruiser’s lightbar as an officer tried to stop the car in front of him. The lightbar’s blue lights flashed in a steady pattern until the car in front slowed.