Chapter 8

When Mary and I got out of the bedroom, the shit hit the fan. Both girls practically accused me of raping Mary. I was getting rapidly pissed off and probably would have said something they would have found unforgivable, but Mary jumped in. "Linda! Shannon! I'm old enough and big enough to defend myself! How could you think that David would be capable of anything like you're talking about? I want you to apologize to him immediately!"

Still pissed, I growled, "Girls, you're still not to old to put over my knee. Apologize to Mary!"

Faced with our united front, the girls backed down. Linda managed to apologize but Shannon after looking at us just burst into tears and ran into her room. Mary looked at me and made a movement with her head toward the room. I was reluctant to enter and face a hysterical girl but followed Mary's orders.

When I entered I found Shannon face down on her bed crying bitterly into her pillow. Sitting down next to her I pulled her into my lap and held her as she cried. I wasn't too sure what to say so I just held her. "I still love you and always will. You're my girl and will always be my girl," I told her again and again.

Finally Shannon stopped crying long enough to answer. "I don't want to be your daughter! I want to marry you!"

I continued to hold her, "Shannon, I'm more than thirty years older than you. I love you as a daughter, but you need to find someone your own age to marry. There are plenty of young men who would make you a good husband. I might chase off a lot of them because I don't think they're good enough for my daughter, though."

Shannon continued to cry. Gradually her crying began to change, as she seemed to accept she would always be my daughter, but never my wife. By this time the boys were home. Mike came in and cuddled next to Shannon. "I'll marry you!" he piped up.

Shannon hugged him and began to giggle at the thought of a sixth grader wanting to marry her. "I'll bet you would, squirt!" she said as she tousled his hair with her hand. Suddenly it must have hit her that his situation was similar to hers. She quit giggling and hugged Mike again, "I'm sure you can find someone in sixth grade to be your girlfriend but I'll always be your 'sister'."

Shannon looked at me, "This is what you meant. I love Mike but he's too young to be anything other than my kid 'brother'. I guess I'll have to learn to love you as my Dad," she told me and then burst into tears again. By this time the rest of the family had come in and we were all hugging Shannon. I was surprised when I thought that way. It did feel like we were a family. I don't know how this happened. I had always been alone after I left home. Now suddenly I had a family and I loved them all.

Finally Shannon stopped crying and began hugging everyone. I was surprised to see Steven next to Linda. I hadn't even realized that he had come in. I looked at him and he must have interpreted my glance. "I don't talk about what happens here," he told me. I nodded my thanks.

I hated to bring up the guy asking questions, but I had to. I sat everyone down, including Steven, and began to tell about how the girls and I became a family. Steven gave Linda a hard look when he heard about how they had blackmailed me into taking them with me to Oregon. I looked at him, "Steven, I wouldn't give either of them up now for anything. They had just gotten away from some nasty people and weren't sure who they could trust. Linda would never do anything to hurt you." Linda gave me a grateful look and hugged Steven tighter to her. Steve gave me a look to see if I really meant it then gave Linda a tender look and hugged Linda back.

I was more worried about the boys but Mary emphasized if any of this information got out the girls would be taken away and I might be taken to jail. Steve asked the question I had been expecting, "But Uncle David, if they were hurting Shannon and Linda why would they put you in jail?"

I explained that I had never formally adopted Shannon or Linda and they were wanted as material witnesses. By not taking them to the authorities, I was committing a crime. The girls were not adults so they would be taken back to Kansas and the group home they had come from. He considered this for a while and then gave me his judgment, "That's stupid! They're our sisters and we love them!" I solemnly agreed with him. That seemed to be all he wanted to know and he tugged Mike out to the living room to watch TV.

Steven wasn't as calm about it. "Isn't there anything we can do?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"I've been trying my best to figure out some way but haven't been able to so far."

Linda hadn't said too much during this other than to tell Shannon she loved her. Suddenly she spoke up, "I might be able to do something. It depends on whether I can contact my friend in Lawrence."

I looked at her, "Linda I don't want someone else getting in trouble over this."

Linda looked back, "Dad, if this was the only thing she had to worry about it wouldn't even register on her radar. She's done a lot more that she should worry about. I helped with some so she owes me some favors. Besides we're friends, she'd help me anyway."

I just looked at her and knew that no matter what I said she was going to get her friend involved. I sighed and told her, "Just tell her to be sure that she's careful. I don't want anybody hurt."

Shannon asked, "Dad, what should we do if he comes near us?" I had to tell her that I didn't know what the guy looked like. I gave her the description that I had gotten and both she and Linda told me that it wasn't very good.

Steven spoke up then, "I'll tell our friends to keep an eye out for strangers and let you know if anyone seems too interested in you or the girls. We don't talk to outsiders much about the people living here anyway."

"Thanks Steven. Now for the next question, "Do you have a handgun and can you hit anything with it?"" I asked.