Published: 13 Nov 2025

From the Previous Chapter:

And as Mr. Ken walked down the hallway towards the stairs, the resident pets, Chief and Sarge, came walking by and then they stopped for a behind the ear scratch and a belly rub, before continuing their way to Darrin and Matthew’s rooms, where they will sleep that night.

After getting ready for bed and upon sitting on the edge of his own bed, Ken Thomas replayed in his mind what he saw and heard that evening. He knew then that his decision to call Doctor Jennings tomorrow was the right one.

The owner of The Cove was the last person in the house to turn off the lights and slip under the covers and before long the entire household was fast asleep. The Covers all slept well that Sunday night.

Monday morning while the three youngest Cover boys ate their breakfast, ‘dad’ Ken reminded them to let him know if any of their friends were going to accompany them while Trick-Or-Treating tomorrow night. ‘Dad’ Ken then addressed Matthew and asked him if he was going to go out with his ‘brothers’.

The pre-teen told his ‘dad’ that he was going to try on the remaining costumes and if any of them fit him, then he would go out ‘begging’ for candy with his ‘brothers’. His comment about going out ‘begging’ for candy brought a chuckle to his ‘dad’s’ face.

At school that morning, the Cover’s friends talked about the sleepover and especially the talk given by Mr. Dan and Mr. Griffin. Some of the boys weren’t too happy that they couldn’t come over that coming Sunday, since it was going to be a ‘Cover Family Day’. They said that they’d have to stay home and probably do some work around the house or yard. The rest of the boys laughed at them.

Phillip’s band members also talked about their getting the chance to play at Four Corners, but that they first had to learn ten Christmas songs. Some of the boys thought that learning the ten songs was going to be a daunting task.

Phillip told them that he found a web site where they could download the songs for free and they could begin learning them tonight at home, and be that much ahead come the weekend when his ‘dad’ has the sheet music for them. Phillip then told them the name of the web site and a few regular Christmas song names that they should start working on, before the first bell rang.

Even at the high school, the Cover’s friends, who were at the sleepover, talked to them about the special talk given by Mr. Dan and Mr. Griffin. They also told them how much they liked the movies being shown up at the Pavilion versus in the pool, as they could still eat the leftover pizza as well as the popcorn and have their drinks, too. They did lament the fact that the sleepovers were getting smaller, as more and more boys got part-time jobs.

At the office, the first thing Mr. Ken did was to call Doctor Jennings office. He wanted to talk to the good doctor about what Darrin had to say at their meeting the previous night. When Doug Jennings came to the phone, Ken Thomas told the doctor how he thought some emotional stressors might be going on inside of Darrin and then he went on and explained how he was so expressive about his living there, when none of the other boys had ever done so, and what the teen said about love, and how it was felt the most there at The Cove.

Doctor Jennings thanked his friend, the foster dad, for that insight and told him that he would see what he could find out.

Mr. Ken then told him about how Phillip seemed to be torn between going back to living with his mother and having to leave what he has there at The Cove. The foster dad again gave the good doctor some background of what occurred the previous night, as he said good night to the youngest Cover. Once more, the doctor thanked the man for his intuition and that he’d delve to find out what, if any, problems were laying within the boy, the next time they see one another.

At The Cove, when Mr. Wayne sat down at the desk in the Study, he found a note from his employer, Mr. Ken. The note told him to go to a web site that Phillip had found and see if he could download the ten Christmas songs he had listed. Then, if was able to do so, he was to make ten copies, so he could hand them out to the band that coming weekend.

Mr. Ken further explained that the boys needed to learn the songs in order for them to be hired to work at Four Corners for the Holidays. The note also reminded the Estate Master that Darrin had a Doctor Doug and a dentist appointment on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Wayne went to the web site and found that he could indeed download the ten songs that Mr. Ken wanted him to, and that’s what he did most of that morning, as he then made nine more copies.

At his usual Monday morning meeting of all his office managers, Ken Thomas was happy to learn that his business empire was indeed firing on all cylinders. He thanked his people for their hard work and asked them not to let the upcoming Holidays slow down their efforts.

As was his habit, Ken Thomas had Ms. Jackie give him a briefing on the status of the new railroad station being built at Four Corners, the progress of the tracks being laid and how far along the additional buildings were in their construction.

Ms. Jackie described that the new railroad station was now under roof and that the project was meeting its construction schedule to be finished on or about the First of March. The woman told the parks owner that the track installation was still on schedule and that they would stop short of the new station and continue working from the back side of the park towards to front. Ms. Jackie said that the tunnels/storage and repair garage also needed to have their building plans ready to start construction as soon as the track has been laid in that area.

Jacqueline Kromiere also indicated that when they begin laying the track in front of the new parking area there will be some disruption for about ten days to two weeks as they install the railroad crossing gate and grade the crossing. She also indicated that the fencing round the entire park to protect the public from entering the railroad right-of-way also needed to be started soon, so it is finished when the train is ready to be tested.

Hearing that the fencing hadn’t been started caught Mr. Ken off guard and he immediately looked at Ben and Nelson. Nelson quickly spoke up and told the man that the contract had been let and that the contract called for the installation to begin no later than the first of December and to be finished no later than the first of March.

Ben added that the front area of the park would have a four-foot concrete wall faced with faux brick with another four feet of wrought iron fence on top of that. Ben continued and said that at every twelve feet there would be an eight-foot-high three-foot by three-foot pillar.

The Architect Group manager then spoke and told everyone that the plans for the combined tunnel and the storage and repair garage are complete and have been approved by the county and they are waiting for the Construction/Design Group to ask for them.

Hearing that everything was in place so that that new train would be ready to be tested and then put into service by the First of April, as planned, made the owner of the Four Corner Amusement Park feel very much relieved. He was afraid that the people that he had put in charge of getting all of that done had failed to put everything into motion. But now he knew that he did have the best working those major problems and were on top of them.

When the informational meeting about the continued construction at the Four Corners Amusement Park was over, Ken Thomas asked Ben Walthers and Nelson Sanders to step into his office.

When the two men sat down in Mr. Ken’s office, Mr. Ken asked them if they had considered having Holiday music at Four Corners that year. The two men looked at one another and then back at Mr. Ken and shook their heads indicating that they hadn’t.

Ken Thomas laughed and then said, “Good, because I have eight boys, who I want you to hire, if … if they can learn ten Christmas songs by Thanksgiving.”

Mr. Ken then explained about Phillip’s band and how they’ve already played at three venues and that they will play the Saturday of the Thanksgiving week at Jules Diamond’s wedding being held at The Cove.

The park’s owner told the men that he’s given the boys until that Saturday to learn ten Christmas songs that he is buying for them. He further explained that he wants to hire four of the boys to play for ten to twelve minutes every half hour for three hours on Friday and Sunday nights and four hours on Saturday and Nelson will pay them an hourly wage. Mr. Ken added that he wants all of the boys to work some hours and that Nelson can extend their playing time if he wants to.

Ben wanted to know if they could audition the boys before they hire them. Mr. Ken said that they could probably do that on Sunday, or possibly on Saturday night, after the wedding party leaves The Cove.

With all of his meetings over, Ken Thomas had to make one more important call. He needed to call DA George Morris’ office to try to find out when Richard Longger would be testifying, so he and Charles could be at the courthouse to support the lad, while he was on the witness stand.

Charles’ dad was able to learn that not only was Richard Longger going to testify, but that David Fritzer, Dylan Allenbee, Tyler Bracen and Cooper Henchler, who were with Richard on the fateful day he was stabbed, were also scheduled to testify and all five were scheduled to begin giving their testimony the following morning beginning at nine o’clock.

During lunchtime at their school, Darrin asked his friends if they were going out Trick-Or-Treating tomorrow night, and if any of them wanted to go out walking with him and his ‘brother’ Phillip, and possibly Matthew.

The teen Cover told them that Mr. Ken wanted them to start at six-thirty and be back at eight o’clock and that two security men, Gene and George, as well as Billy, would also be going with them, so they would be safe. The Cover told them that he needed to know if any of them were going, so Mr. Ken knew and could plan with the two security men.

Terran and Sam said that they’d like to go with them, but they had to ask their parents and they would have to text him tonight with their answer. Darrin said that it would be OK and that he was hoping they could come along. Jody and Martin said that they hadn’t planned to do that and so they didn’t even have a costume to go out with. Blake and Landon told their Cover friend that they had already planned to go out together.

Once home, Charles couldn’t wait until his dad came home to find out about their going to the courthouse tomorrow. And as soon as his dad did arrive home, the teenager went to him and asked him the question that was on his mind. Dad Ken took him into this Study and told him what he learned.

“Charles,’ began the teen’s dad, “all five boys, Richard Longger, David Fritzer, Dylan Allenbee, Tyler Bracen and Cooper Henchler are scheduled to testify tomorrow starting at nine o’clock. That means we need to leave here at least by eight, or maybe sooner, to make sure we get a seat, as the news media … they will undoubtedly want to hear each boy as he tells what happened the day that your friend was stabbed. You ready to hear all the sordid details?”

Charles told his dad that he wanted to be there no matter what he hears. He knows what he went through and he felt that it has to compare, at least, to what Richard went through. The teen’s dad pulled him to him and hugged him and told him how much he loved him.

After dinner, ‘dad’ Ken held his usual meeting in the Study where he reviewed what was going to happen around The Cove in the coming days, weeks and months, so the boys knew what to expect.

“Boys … tomorrow Charles and I … we will head to the courthouse to listen to his friends Richard, David, Dylan, Tyler and Cooper testify to Richards stabbing last summer. I do not know in which order they are schedule to take the stand and depending on how long the DA and the defense take this testimony could take two days.

“Darrin … you have a Doctor Doug and a dentist appointment tomorrow and a dentist appointment on Thursday. Also, do you know if any of your friends are going out Trick-Or-Treating with you and Phillip tomorrow night?” asked the teen’s foster dad.

The teen told his foster dad that Terran and Sam were supposed to text him if they were going to go out with them, but he hadn’t heard from either of them. Just then the teen’s cell phone made a noise indicating he had a text. The teen looked at the message and saw that Sam was going to be there with him. Then a moment later he got text from Terran that he, too, would be there. That put a smile on the teen Cover’s face.

‘Dad’ Ken then asked Matthew if he was going to go out ‘begging’ for candy with his ‘brothers’. The pre-teen said that he was, and that he was going to wear Robert’s psycho clown costume with the black and white striped shirt and pants, a ring of skulls around the collar of the shirt and the horrifying clown and melting zombie face mask along with the wild red clown hair. Darrin fist bumped with his younger ‘brother’.

“Phillip”, now began ‘dad’ Ken, as he also handed the boy a very large group of papers, “here are your ten Christmas songs for your band to practice. I also want you to know that you all have an audition on either the Saturday night after the wedding reception, or on Sunday to see if you are good enough for Mr. Ben and Mr. Nelson to hire you to work at Four Corners.

“I talked to them today and they wanted to listen to you play. Since they are the employers, they make the decision of who they hire, not me. So, make sure you tell your band members that I have no say in who gets hired, even though I own the park. That is what I pay them for and they have the experience in hiring the bands etc.”

“That’s OK, ‘dad’. I already gave the web site to the band and told them to start learning the normal Christmas songs and that I’d tell them tomorrow which ten songs we needed to learn,” responded Phillip. That put a smile on the man’s face.

Then ‘dad’ Ken asked Bill if he was prepared to go with his ‘brothers’ tomorrow night. Getting a yes from the teenager the man continued with his meeting.

“Keeping this quick and simple, you all know, next Sunday … it will be our ‘Family Day’ and none of your friends can come to The Cove. We’ll go out for breakfast first, then we’ll go to the shooting range. You are also aware that we are going to allow Chief to have another litter of puppies.

“The weekend, beginning Friday the 10th of November after school … Phillip and I … we will go on our long-awaited three-day trip. Then, when we return on the 12th, I will turn around and head off to the IAAPA Exposition down in Florida with Mr. Ben.

“Following that, Ms. Kate and her boys are due to arrive Friday afternoon the 17th. And remember that Jules and Eleanor’s wedding and reception are on Saturday the 18th and your friends aren’t allowed to come over to The Cove on that day either. Plus, Phillip’s band … they will be playing that day as well. Does anyone have anything that they want to discuss?” finished up ‘dad’ Ken.

‘Dad’ Ken didn’t spend much time with the boys that evening when he went up to say goodnight. The only boy that he did spend more time with was Phillip. After the previous evenings crying, ‘dad’ Ken asked him if he should make an appointment with Doctor Doug so he could talk to the man about the reason why he cried. After thinking about it for a few moments, Phillip agreed that he probably should talk to him.

During breakfast that Tuesday morning, Mr. Ken told Momma Maria that the boys were going out Trick-Or-Treating at 6:30 that evening and he asked her to have dinner ready for five o’clock and to forgo the boy’s afterschool snack, so they would have a good appetite at dinner time.

Momma thanked him for telling her so early in the day that she could make changes in her meal prep for the day. The woman then went back to fixing the breakfast for the teenagers who would be down after the first three left for school.

When Billy and Robert left to catch the school bus, Charles stayed back because he and his dad would be leaving for the courthouse soon thereafter. Ken Thomas wanted to be at the building well before the news media began setting up for new reports from the outside and the reporters took the better viewing seats inside the courtroom. The two Covers departed The Cove at fifteen minutes to eight o’clock.

At the school, Darrin told Terran and Sam to meet him at the Main Gate before 6:30 and then they along with him, Phillip, Matthew, Billy and the two security men, Gene and George, would then head out to canvass the local homes ‘begging’ for candy, as Mr. Ken puts it. Everyone who heard the ‘begging for candy’ remark laughed.

Phillip told his band members the names of all the songs they needed to know by that first Saturday of the Thanksgiving Holiday. The Cover explained that Mr. Ben and Mr. Nelson from Four Corners were going to audition them either that Saturday, after the wedding reception, or on Sunday.

The youngest Cover added that his ‘dad’ had no say if they got hired because those two men are paid to decide who gets hired not him, so if they wanted to work at Four Corners, they need to know the songs.

When the two Covers arrived at the courthouse, the TV vans were already setting up outside the building and the crowd was also beginning to build. Mr. Ken quickly parked the car and the two hurried to get inside in order to get a seat in the courtroom, where Nicholas Crown was standing trial for attempted murder as well as with planning the assault, stalking and assault and battery resulting in a serious bodily injury to a minor child.

When the two Covers walked inside the courtroom they saw David, Dylan, Tyler and Cooper, so they went over to talk to them. It was then that Charles learned that those four would testify first and that Richard was being kept secluded from the news reporters. Then at nine o’clock the bailiff called the courtroom to order and the judge walked in and took his seat and the days testimony was about to begin.

Dylan, Tyler and Cooper were the first ones to give testimony that morning. They each told the court what they were doing that day prior to the melee that occurred in the Men’s Restroom at The Mall, and then what they did to try to intervene to stop the attack on Richard Longger and David Fritzer.

At the end of each teenager’s testimony, the defense counsel attempted to make the fight seem like it was them, the five soon to be freshmen, who egged on the Juniors into fighting them.

But it was Cooper who thwarted the defense counsel when he opined, “Then I guess, from the way you’re asking us questions that we all went to The Mall and we wanted our friend Richard to get stabbed and almost killed that day. That was so we could blame those six high school juniors, one of which who had waited for two years to find the time that he could finally get back at Richard for getting him in trouble for beating him up? Get a life!”

The judge had to gavel the courtroom into silence after the witness’s final statement to the defense counsel that the gallery found funny enough that they all laughed out loud.

The three teen’s testimony took up the entire morning, which meant that David Fritzer and Richard Longger would be on the witness stand right after the lunch break. Charles was so stressed out over his friends having to testify that he didn’t want to eat. But the teen’s dad made him eat something, so that he wouldn’t get hypoglycemic and pass out, during his friend’s time on the witness stand that afternoon.

At one o’clock, the judge called his court to order and had the District Attorney, George Morris, call his next witness. The first one called was David Fritzer who told how the six high school juniors came into The Mall’s Men’s Restroom and attacked him and Richard and how he saw Nicholas Crown beating his friend and that Richard finally fell to the floor, but didn’t learn until later on that his friend had been stabbed.

Then the next witness was called and that was when Richard Longger was brought into the courtroom and seated in the witness stand and sworn in. The afternoon testimony that everyone had been waiting for was about to begin.

Richard told the court what he and his friends did that fateful day and how, when he and David Fritzer went to use the Men’s Restroom at The Mall, that six high school juniors kept them from leaving and then how Nicholas Crown began hitting and beating on him.

The teen told how he didn’t know how many times he’d been hit, but that eventually he found himself on the floor. He then said that he reached into his pants pocket and squeezed his lucky coin that Mr. Ken Thomas had given him. The teenager then added that as he did that, he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and when he looked up, he saw Nicholas Crown with a bloody knife in his hand. The teen said that after that he must have passed out because he didn’t remember anything else until he was in the hospital where he learned that he’d been stabbed.

The defense counsel tried to trip up Richard in order to make it seem that one of the other five high school juniors could have been the one who stabbed him. But Richard was adamant that he saw Nicholas Crown with the bloody knife in his hand, and he wouldn’t waver one bit.

At an early dinner that evening, Charles told his ‘brothers’ about the testimony he heard at the courthouse that day. He told them how the five friends told the same story leading up to when Richard was stabbed. He then told them how Richard stuck to his guns and told how his friend saw Nickolas Crown with the bloody knife in his hand after he felt the sharp pain in his stomach, before passing out.

The boys then discussed when they heard about Richards stabbing while they were on their trip last summer. Darrin listened intently to how his ‘brothers’ described how all three adults cell phones went off almost at the same time and how they all got up and walked away from the table.

The boys then told how they all called their friends to see if they knew why Mr. Ken, Mr. Dan and Mr. Wayne all got phone calls at the same time. But Charles couldn’t get through to any of his friends only to find out that they were the ones who had been attacked at The Mall. Charles’ telling of what happened at the trial brought the story full circle for Darrin, who asked Charles if he would tell him more about the attack later.

After dinner, Darrin, Phillip and Matthew dressed in their Halloween costumes and along with Billy took a golf cart up to the Main Gate to meet up with Terran and Sam. Mr. Ken, Robert and Charles, along with Chief and Sarge, followed in the six-seat golf cart as they were going to hand out the Halloween candy, while the three younger Covers went out ‘begging’ for candy.

The Fletchers, Harry and Carol, and the Symons, Adam and Lily, were at the Main Gate with their sons, Terran and Sam, when all of the Covers arrived. The pleasantries were exchanged and the security men, Gene and George Warren, were introduced to the boys, and before long the small group of Trick-Or-Treaters were on their way hoping to get huge loads of free candy.

The boys had decided to walk down the street and then up the following street and then up and down the streets until it was time to head on back to The Cove. The boys were extremely successful in getting load of candy. Even Billy, when asked why he wasn’t in costume, he quickly explained that he was out walking with his younger ‘brothers’ to keep them safe. For doing that he also received some candy for being there for his siblings. Gene and George laughed at how the teenager was able to get his own stash of candy.

The small group of Trick-Or-Treaters had been out for over an hour and had covered three full streets and were walking up the fourth street when Darrin asked, “Do you smell that?”

Everyone, including Mr. Gene and Mr. George, asked what the teen meant.

Darrin told them that it smelled like that something was burning. The two adults told the Cover teen that it was probably some residents who were using their fireplaces.

But Darrin persisted and he told everyone that the smell was different.

“Darrin,” began Mr. Gene, “how is the smell different from people using, say, their fireplaces?”

“Mr. Gene, the smell its … it smells like what I smelled the night our house burned down. I know what a fireplace smells like, and what I smell … it isn’t anything like the hard woods people use in their fireplace.

“That night our house burned down there was … there was the smell from the paint, the siding, the furniture, the metal, and everything else that is in a house that could burn. That’s what I smell, Mr. Gene. I bet … I bet there’s a house just beginning to burn close by and … and we got to find it before somebody dies, like … like my parents and … and my older brother did,” finished a somber sounding, Darrin Rossman.

Mr. Gene and Mr. George didn’t know about Darrin’s family perishing in a fire, but they told the boys anyway to ask the other Trick-Or-Treaters if they smell anything burning, and if they do to ask where they think it may be coming from. And in the meantime, they and Billy spread out looking at the different houses to see if any of them were on fire.

Darrin also began looking and he focused on a vacant house. He figured that would be the one people wouldn’t notice because with no one inside they wouldn’t know it was on fire. Then he saw a house that had a sign saying that it was For Sale. He went up on the porch and looked inside. He thought he smelled smoke and saw something flickering towards the back, so he yelled to Mr. Gene and asked him to come over there.

“Mr. Gene … I think that this house might be on fire. Come and look and see if that is what you think, too,” called out Darrin.

Both Mr. Gene and Mr. George hurried over to the house where Darrin was. One of the twins went up on the porch with the teen Cover, while the other twin went to the back of the house. Within a few seconds the security twins agreed that the house was indeed on fire and Mr. Gene called the Sheriff’s office, while Mr. George called the fire department.

Billy and the other boys had also come to the house now and the older teen called Mr. Ken, but the man never answered. The teenager figured his foster dad was handing out candy and he either didn’t hear the cell phone, or was talking to the parents, and was going to call the person back.

Billy then called Robert’s cell phone.

“Bored already,” was how Robert answered his cell phone knowing it was Billy

Billy wasn’t in the mood to chit chat, so he yelled over the phone, “Robert … listen … there’s a fire. Mr. Ken … he isn’t answering his phone. We’re going to be late coming back to The Cove. You’ve got to go up to the Main Gate and tell him for me,” the oldest teen Cover finally go out.

Billy explained to Robert that Mr. Gene and Mr. George were both on their phones calling the Sheriff’s office and fire department and telling them what they found and what they knew because Darrin had found it and that they’ll probably have to stay there and talk to them.

Robert asked Billy what street they were on and then he told his older ‘brother’ that he’d hurry up to the Main Gate and tell his dad.

“Charles, Charles … there’s a fire,” called out Robert to his brother,” and we got to drive up to the Main Gate and tell dad.”

Robert and Charles had gotten tired of passing out candy up at the Main Gate and had gone back down to the house, which was why Charles had to quickly put his shoes on. The teen brother began asking questions as he and Robert ran out of the house, followed by Chief and Sarge. The four then loaded onto a golf cart and Robert sped up to the Main Gate.

In the meantime, Mr. Gene and Mr. George had the boys go to the neighboring homes to tell them that the house next door was on fire and that they might have to save their valuables and leave.

Phillip and Sam went to one side, while Darrin and Terran went to the other side. When Phillip rang the doorbell no one answered, even though he could see them, through the window, sitting there watching the television. So, the young Cover kept ringing the doorbell until the man came to the door.

As he answered the door, the man angrily said, “We’re not giving out any candy. That’s why the light wasn’t on!”

“Mister, the house next door … it’s on fire. You need to know that you might have to leave the house. So, gather your important files and things in case you have to leave your house,” explained Phillip.

The man thanked Phillip and ran to tell his wife and then he went outside and got his garden hose and began wetting down the side of his house and his roof.

Darrin and Terran didn’t have as much trouble at the house they visited. There the man thanked the two boys for telling him about the fire and he immediately went outside and did the same thing as the man opposite the fire and he began wetting down the side of his home, and the roof, to keep it from catching fire, as well.

“Dad, dad,” called out Robert, as he ran to his dad. “There’s a fire. Billy tried to call you.”

“Hold on there, sport. A fire? Where? Tell me what you know,” calmly asked the teen’s dad.

Robert told his dad what Billy had told him about Darrin finding a house that was on fire and that the security men were on their phones to the Sheriff’s and Fire departments, which was why Billy was trying to call him to let him know that they would be home late because Darrin would probably have to talk to the fire chief, or someone, about what he knew.

Mr. Ken gave the candy to the guards and asked them to continue to pass it out to the Trick-Or-Treaters, as he and his sons were going to check on his other ‘sons’. By that time, they all could hear the faint sounds of the fire engines headed their way.

Mr. Ken, Robert, Charles, Chief and Sarge all loaded onto the six-seat golf cart and Mr. Ken sped to where the other boys were. The dad told Charles to hold onto Sarge, as they hurried over to the street where the fire was.

By the time Mr. Ken, his two sons and the resident pets arrived at the burning house, it was almost fully engulfed in flames. The man searched out Gene and George and the other boys to learn what he could about how they found the fire.

When it came to Mr. Ken talking to Darrin, the teen told him, “Mr. Ken … this had to be arson. Had to be. It’s only been about ten minutes, if that, and the house … it is fully engulfed. To me it looked like it started in the back by the kitchen. I called Mr. Gene over to see if what I was seeing is what he saw.

“Both he and his brother looked and they agreed the house was on fire and then they both got on their phones and one called the Sheriff’s office and the other the fire department. Mr. Ken it … it shouldn’t have spread that fast. And you could smell something like … like kerosene in the air for a while. But, now, with all the smoke you can’t smell it anymore,” finished the teen Cover.

As they were all talking, the fire department had arrived and set up a defensive attack due to the fact that the house was fully engulfed and it was unsafe to enter it. The fire department also set up to protect the adjoining homes, where the home owners had already begun to wet down the sides and roofs of their homes with the garden hoses.

Gene and George Warren, two retired Sheriff Deputies and the night’s security men for the Trick-Or-Treaters, talked to their active counterparts at the fire scene. They told the on-scene commander what they knew about the fire and that Darrin was the person who had identified that was a fire somewhere and how they all went looking for it.

The two security men also told the Sheriff’s Deputy how Darrin had identified that there was smell of something like kerosene in the air, to him, and that his whole family perished in a house fire not too long ago.

The Sheriff’s on-scene commander got with the fire chief and told him what they had learned, which coincided with what he had been told by the dispatcher. The fire chief asked the deputy to get the name and address of the boy and to forward it to the fire marshal’s office, so they could talk to him later.

The deputy went over to the Warren’s and asked them to introduce him to the lad’s parent. Upon walking up to where the boy was the deputy immediately recognized Mr. Ken. The Sheriff’s Deputy introduced himself and explained that he needed the boys full name and contact information, so that the fire marshal could talk to him tomorrow about what he knew about tonight’s fire. Mr. Ken gave the deputy what he needed and seeing that the fire was now well under control he told the boys to head back to The Cove.

The Fletchers and Symons were at the Main Gate waiting for their sons to return. They knew about the fire, as the boys had had called their parents to let them know they might be late getting back to The Cove.

And even though their Trick-Or-Treating was cut short by a half-hour, or so, the boys had a good haul of candy for all the walking and knocking on doors that they had done. The boys said goodnight to one another and soon the Fletchers and Symons were gone and the Covers were headed down to the house.

Down at the house, Mr. Ken decided not to have a meeting that night. He told the boys that he’d told them about what was going to happen at The Cove enough times that they knew what was going to happen. So, he sent them up to their rooms and told them that he’d be up there soon.

When Mr. Ken got to Darrin’s room, he told the foster that if someone comes to the school tomorrow to talk to him about tonight’s fire, he was to tell them that he wasn’t allowed to talk to them without his foster dad, or his lawyer, present. Hearing that he had a lawyer surprised the teen, so he asked about it.

Mr. Ken told him that all the boys have a lawyer, a Mr. Stewart Russell, and that he represents them any time an issue comes up regarding them and that he needed to be there to protect him against any pushy or harsh questioning by anyone about the fire.

In Phillip’s room, ‘dad’ Ken told the youngster that he had an appointment with Doctor Doug on Friday and that either Mr. Wayne or Mr. Dennis would take him there that afternoon. The young Cover thanked his ‘dad’ for making the appointment for him and then he hugged his ‘dad’.

As the owner of The Cove walked down to his retreat, he thought about his day. Listening to Richard tell how he saw Nicholas Crown actually holding the knife that stabbed him was heart breaking enough. But he never figured that the day would be overloaded, as it turned out to be with the house fire as its ending.

He knew that with Darrin alerting the twins that there was a fire nearby and then them ascertaining that there indeed was a house on fire, the teen would have to answer some questions. Lucky for the teen, though, he knew that the teen was with two former Sheriff Deputies, and in no way could he have set the fire himself, as he wasn’t out of their sight the entire time.

The dad slash foster dad was tired when he finally sat down on his king-sized bed that night. He said to himself before turning out the lights, “With the boys living here, there is never a dull moment at the Cove. That’s for sure!” He laughed and then turned out the lights, slipped under the blankets and he was soon fast sleep. The Cove was peaceful and quiet the whole night through.

The saga of Three Finger Cove continues. Let Chowhound know you are reading his story: Chowhnd at Gmail dot Com

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