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Chapter 115 — Result of doubts
"If we are one family, please, tell me that why you were so upset at last tonight," Mason asked.
Mary frozen. Mason put his hand on her neck and began to touch her hair.
"I remembered my father," Mary finally said. "Once he brought me and mom here and promised that we will live in this house someday."
"In our house?" Mason surprised.
She nodded. "I could to guess many things when we moved here. But it's not that everything will remind me about my father."
Mason paused, and then smiled wryly: "Yes, probably you would not escape from me."
"Not from you. I'm meaning the other stuff--"
"I aware. Do you want to move out?"
"No," Mary smiled. "I do not want. It's our home. Sometimes I even seem that I have always lived here. Just such a strange feeling that I'm making my father's will... of what I never suspected."
"I think that everything can be explained by the fact that Chris had the good taste," Mason chuckled. "This house is a real treasure."
"Yeah. Although my father would never have enough money to buy it," Mary stared at the house.
"Do you remember him now?" Mason gently asked.
"No," Mary shook her head. "Not him."
"And what then?" Mason sat down, hugged her back and pressed his cheek against her hair.
"My mom who yelling at my drunken stepfather, and me who ran out the garden, just not hear and see them. I stood by the tree and prayed that they would ever stop."
Mason drew in air through clenched teeth. "It was happened often?"
"There was the period when they did it all of time. I tried to be at home less then often and take out Christy... but we still had to go back home," Mary shrugged her shoulders.
"It's been long time ago," Mason quietly remind. "We never become like them."
"We don't," Mary echoed. She turned her head and kissed his lips. "Let's back home."
"Go," Mason got up and took his youngest son. Mary called Chip and Sammy, and all five of them returned at home.
The rest of the day was very calm and quiet. Older children was not in fights and running around, they quietly arranges their color books on the floor in the living room, Mickey was not fuzzy and did not wake up in the wrong time. Just the perfect picture. But Mary had the feeling that it's the calm before the storm.
"Do you think that Colin has a chance to win the trial?" she asked without looking at Mason.
"No, of course," he replied after the pause, and then looked up at her. "He had nothing serious against me. But he may fairly destroy our nerves."
"But I think that the statute of limitations already was gone?"
"When it comes to crimes against children the statute of limitations is 20 years since the age of the victim. In our state."
"But you were a boy as well. Can the court take in such the claim?"
"It's hard to say. In addition it just might require re-open the case based on new facts."
"I wonder what the facts are."
"Yes, I am interesting it too... He has something in his sleeve, but what is it?"
Mason stood up, thrust his hands into his pockets and walked across the room.
"It's hard to imagine that someone did this intentionally," Mary admitted. "Why? Colin was just a kid. As you were."
"And how many of other students. And if we have been assume that there was not the accident, it turns out that someone planned Colin's fall. Someone was going to kill him."
"I still find this hard to believe... Talk to Sophia. Maybe she can shed some light on what happened."
Mason shook his head slowly.
"She was not there when Colin fell."
"Nevertheless, she came back a few hours later."
"Yes, I remember. And I'll talk to her tomorrow. And now let's forget about this subject. Why we need to spoil so wonderful evening?"
"To me, it's too wonderful."
"Too does not happen. When Christy should to return?"
"She would call that will be half an hour. Why do you ask?"
"I have some plans," Mason said and smiled mysteriously.
* * *
In the next day Mason went to court very early. He did leave the note that instead his usually appearing at home in trial's break he'll come to father's house to see Sophia.
At breakfast Mary hastily scanned the newspapers, but to her relief she did find nothing about Colin Stewart. By noon she already started to believe that yesterday's premotions were not more than her overwrought nerves.
After children's afternoon nap Christie took the older children to walk in the park and Mary was left alone with Mickey. Her little boy asleep and she realized that she did not know what to do with myself. Actually this sense visited her before too. Just be a mother and wife, spending time at home — it's beginning to weigh on her. She missed work in the charity clinic, she wanted to help people. But she had no time for doing it. Not mention that constant attacks on their family caused her to wanting to surround the house with very tall fence and never go out.
She sighed. Probably as long as she would have to come to terms with the role of housewife. She cannot give out her baby and two terrible twos to her younger sister's charge!
At this point the doorbell rang. Mary went to open the door, thinking that it was someone of Capwells.
But on the doorstep was the teenager. Slender, dark-haired, black watchful eyes. In the strange way he was warmly dressed — in tight black jeans and the leather jacket. The backpack on his shoulders.
"Hello!" surprised Mary. "You must be mistaken the house."
"Oak Lane, 115?" The boy pulled out the piece of paper and read it.
"Yeah, right, it's our address. Whom you want to see?"
"Mason Capwell," in the voice of the teenager could be heard distinctly British accent. "He is my brother."
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