Chapter 12

After homework Christopher takes Sarah upstairs to his bed, and as he is tucking her in Sarah says to him, "I want to be a writer like you."

"You do, huh!"

"Yep."

"Well, while we are getting your clothes tomorrow after school we will get you a diary so you can write all of your ideas down as they come to you, because they often appear out of nowhere and at the strangest times. If you want to, we can write a book together, and that way you can get the feel of it."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

Sarah sits up and hugs him. "Goodnight, Christopher."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

After Christopher turns the bedroom light off and as he is getting ready to walk down the stairs to sleep on the couch, Sarah yells out. "Don't forget to put my clothes in the dryer."

"Oh shit," he says quietly, but then he says out loud. "Yes ma'am." Once again her giggles lighten his heart.

After a beer and a quick viewing of a sports news channel, he finally turns in. Not ten minutes later after he closes his eyes on the couch he hears Sarah trying to be quiet as she is coming down the stairs. He can hear her tiptoeing over to and getting in front of the couch. "Yes."

"I can't sleep. I'm worried about Nana and I'm excited about being a writer."

Christopher smiles with both fond and annoying memories, and he lifts his blanket for Sarah to get in. She lays on her left side just like he is doing, and she cuddles back into him. Since he is wearing only shorts and a tee shirt the warmth between them builds wonderfully on this cold winter night. He puts his strong arm protectively and lovingly around her, and amazingly they are both asleep in a matter of moments.

When they awaken to the sound of the alarm clock, Sarah gets up and goes to the bathroom and Christopher goes and gets her dried clothes. When she is done going to the bathroom, he hands her the clothes and tells her. "I have an extra tooth brush upstairs still in the package. Why don't you run up there and grab that and the tooth paste, and then come back down here, get dressed and brush your teeth."

"Okay," she says, setting her clothes on the bathroom counter and trying not to trip over the long shirt as she is running up the stairs.

"What do you want for breakfast?" he yells up from the bottom of the stairs.

"Pancakes."

He nods to himself and says, "I can do that."

As he is walking over to the kitchen he finally notices the light on his answering machine letting him know he has a message. He pushes the button and gold flows from the river of hope. "Hi, Christopher, this is Cathy. Good news, they got the funding so the movie is back on."

"Oh cool!" says Christopher.

"The movie is back on? That is wonderful, Christopher!"

"Thank you, babygirl, but you better get your cute little tush in there and get ready for school, because if you are late on the first day with staying with me, Nan will kick my butt." Sarah giggles, but nods her head in confirmation.

They eat breakfast quickly and as Sarah is gathering her school supplies Christopher notices she hasn't brushed her hair. "Freeze."

"What?" she asks all innocently.

"Get the hairbrush."

"Oh!" The look on her face is only overshadowed by her smile.

Christopher does a quick brushing, and with minutes to spare Sarah is out the door and walking to school. At first he is smiling as he is waving to her, but as she turns the corner around the hedges and disappears, his eyes well up with tears and it takes him by surprise because he doesn't know why.

He starts to think about it, and he knows that the thought of acts of patriotism brings tears to his eyes more than any physical pain could ever hope to do. "I wonder if the thought of such a pure and innocent love could have the same effect?"

He is still standing on the porch looking at the hedges where Sarah disappeared only moments ago, and he shakes his head at the wonder that is that beautiful little girl. "Could my salvation be found in the heart and mind of a nine-year-old girl?" He laughs to himself as he goes inside to do his morning exercises.

Come nine o'clock there is a knock at the door. "Yes."

"Are you Mister Turner? Christopher Turner."

"I am, and what can I do for you this fine morning?"

"My name is Jack Wilson and I am a surveyor, and a Mister Holbrook has sent me over to do a property line evaluation for the coming lawsuit."

"Okay, how can I help?"

"Pretty much I will just need access to your backyard, and maybe if you could show me where the hedge was and where you think your property line is. You know what made you believe that the hedge was on your property."

"No problem. Let me get out of these shorts and I will put some boots on and I will be right out."

"I'll be outside at my truck getting my measuring stuff, camera, and looking over the county papers for this property."

Christopher goes and throws on some jeans, and as always, his black boots. With a warm dark blue winter jacket he goes outside. "You can see here by the roots where the hedges were. I haven't dug them up yet. But then see how my fence line pushes out about six feet from the house? That's how I figured the hedges to be on my property."

"Yeah, I would think the same thing, and from what I can understand of the county property layout, your property even goes further over north than where your fence currently lies."

"Really? Now that would be funny."

"I'm just going to do some measurements and take some pictures, and then I'm done here and I'll get back with your lawyer and I'm sure you'll be hearing from him."

"I'm sure," says Christopher, shaking the tall thin man's hand.

Christopher goes back inside and isn't quite sure what to do with himself. He probably should be going over notes for his next novel, but all he can think about is taking Sarah shopping and seeing that sweet smile on her pretty face again. "Jesus, you would think I'm falling in love with her."