Written by: Charles Gray

Disclaimer: Baloo, Rebecca Cunningham, Don Karnage, Kit Cloudkicker, Molly Cunningham and WildCat are (c)1990/1991 Walt Disney Company and are being used without premission. The writer has made sure that all material represented here is not used for profit and is used with the upmost respect to Disney and the Tale Spin team. All other characters are the property of the writer.

WRITERS NOTE: CHOICES OCCURS BETWEEN GATHERING CLOUDS, AND HAUNTED

The sun was just lightening the horizon, casting the city into a gray pre-dawn. Below, the breakfast carts had opened up, doing a brisk business among the dockworkers, taking a break from the night shift, and waiting for the first morning arrivals, already coming through the canyon, loaded with goods for the city’s markets.

Down at the dock front, one small complex of buildings had not yet awoken to meet the new day. Rebecca’s business had gained enough respect among the smaller cargo haulers that she no longer had to take every cargo that came along.. and that allowed her to avoid the trauma of getting Baloo up in the middle of the night.

Kit strolled down the stairs from his own room, looking about the dark office. Bootcamp had cured the young bear of any need to sleep in, and he had always liked this time of the morning. This office, the small building and room that he had slept in for 6 years of his life, this was home, as much as any he had ever known.

The 18 year old walked across the room, running his hand over Rebecca’s desk. There had been some wonderful times-- and arguments in this place, and they had always stayed together. The bear smiled, looking over at the calendar on Rebecca’s desk, fallen down again. He straightened it up, reflecting that H&H would never be the paragon of orderliness that Khan Industries was... nor would he want it to be. H&H was a family, as much as a business, and families weren’t orderly.

A phone rang, startling the bear. It was long before they were open-- maybe Ms. Cunningham? He picked up the phone.

“H&H, Kit Cloudkicker speaking.”

“Oh, good.” A voice said on the other end. “I was wanting to talk to you.” Kit paused, confused.

“Who is this?”

“William J. Donavon.” The voice said, “Mr. Cloudkicker, I’ve read some things about you, and I think that you could find a place with my organization.”

“I’m already employed...” Kit said,

“By who?” Kit fell silent. His being an Air Commando wasn’t a secret.. but whoever this was he was fishing far too much. A laugh came over the phone.

“Very Good, Mr. Cloudkicker! However, I work for the same people you do, and I know that you graduated first in your class at Cape Suzzette High, like to play football, and you also hold a Secret clearance.” The voice paused. “If you’re interested, come over to the federal building, room 202, by 10:00am today. I hope to see you.” The phone clicked, leaving Kit holding a disconnected line.

“What was that, Kit?” Baloo asked, looking down at the younger bear from the stairs.

“A salesman,” Kit said, “You would think they would look at the time.” He laughed. Baloo shook his head.

“Ya’never know about those types, Kit.” The bear stretched. “anyways, we might as well get started loading the ‘duck.” Kit nodded.

“Molly’s coming back from the hospital today, isn’t she?” Kit asked,

“Yep... Not a day too soon.” Baloo smiled, “Went in on Friday, and by Sunday the nurses lived in mortal fear of... Room 322 .” The bear said, dropping his voice in imitation of one of the horror show hosts on radio. Kit laughed. Molly had recovered from her injuries enough to become very upset at the fact that she was confined to a bed while Michael got to go home. “So, are you up for a flight today?” Baloo asked. Kit opened his mouth, then paused.

“When is it? I have to get some stuff from the records office at 10:00” Kit replied.

“Well... I think that Beckers would let us leave a little early... I’ll see if I can sweet talk her.” Baloo said.

“Oh I know you can sweet talk her. Baloo.” Kit said,

“Ohh. How?” Baloo asked him, a little suspiciously.

“Remind her that I can resist the lure of Louie’s.” Kit said, affecting a lordly air. Baloo laughed, and waved him off.

“Well, Louie’s or not, we’d better get to loading the duck... I want to see the look on Rebecca’s face when she gets here.”

***

Rebecca was finishing up paying the bill at the hospital, while Molly was upstairs, with Jereem. The young bearess sat on the edge of Jereem’s room, looking at her friend. Molly had spent as much time as possible upstairs with him, only reluctantly allowing herself to be shooed back down stairs to her room.

“So your mom is staying in Cape Suzzette?” She asked,

“Looks that way,” The coyote said. Molly looked at her friend. Jereem still was pretty rocky. Although the fragments from the cannon had done no irreversible damage, there had still been operations, both on those wounds, and the older ones caused by his father. Molly had made herself scarce on Sunday, and listened to the Doctor telling her mother, in clinical, dispassionate terms what had been done to Jereem. Molly had waited until he had finished, then snuck back to her room, where, descriptions of cigarette burns and broken bones in her mind, she had cried herself to sleep. She shook her head clear of the cobwebs-- Jereem was still talking.

“Mr. Khan say’s that he can find her a job... and mom and I don’t want to leave.” Jereem said, then gestured at his swaddled leg. “The doctors say I can go home in a few days, now. What about you?”

“I’m going home today...” Molly said. “But my ankle was really badly turned, and so I can’t walk to much on it.” She held up a cane for Jereem to see. “Baloo got this for me at Winger city.” Jereem looked impressed at the dark wood of the cane.

“Looks nice... so are you going to beat Dave with it?” Molly burst out laughing.

“No, silly!” She paused, “You know, I really haven’t thought of him...”

“Well, we did have some bigger problems. Michael said he’d invite us back to Mr. Khan’s though.” Molly smiled at that.

“I’d like that... but maybe we should try somewhere else first... just to see if our luck holds.” Molly paused, “I’d hate to find out that every time we visit Michael, his house blows up.”

“That would cause problems... especially if they make us pay for it.” Jereem smiled, then yawned. “I hate this... I’m tired all the time, and they keep giving me these medicines.” Molly looked concerned.

“You need them... or your leg’ll get infected.. that’s what Kit said.”

“And an infection is nothing to play around with, Jereem.” Rebecca’s voice came from the door. Molly turned around.

“Mom? I thought you were downstairs.”

“I was... but you were going to meet me... thirty minutes ago.” Rebecca said, walking over to her daughter. She gave her a quick hug, not putting too much pressure on the numerous bandages that still adorned the bearess. “I think we should let Jereem sleep, Molly.” Rebecca said, “You can come back and visit him tomorrow.” Molly nodded, and reached out her hand. Jereem took it and gave it a squeeze.

“I’ll see you later, Jereem.”

“Bye, Molly.” The two women walked outside, into the bustling hospital halls. Molly still favored her twisted ankle heavily, and before they had gotten halfway down the hall, Rebecca called over a nurse.

“Could you get a wheelchair for my daughter? Thank you,” She said as the nurse returned with one.

“Mommmm!” Molly protested. “I really don’t need one.” Becky paid no attention, gesturing for her daughter to sit in the chair. Molly did so letting out a sigh.

“And that’s why your face turned several shades paler on the way to the elevator?” Rebecca said. The injury to her ankle had proven worse then the doctor had originally thought, but Molly had gotten back into walking shape faster then anyone had expected, largely through a dogged determination not to remain in bed. However, the look of the leg-- and Rebecca’s discussions with the doctor had made the need for moderation plain.

“Well, it does hurt... a little.” Molly lied. Actually, her ankle throbbed, and she said nothing else until her mother brought her out into the sunlight, opening up the taxi door for her.

Rebecca looked over at her daughter and winced. In the stronger light of the morning the bruises showed through Molly’s fur, along with her twin black eyes. Bandages covered where Kalin’s boot had broken the skin on her face, and her shirt hid the bruises on her sides and belly from his beating. Her ankle still bore a light brace, with the pants leg tucked into the top. Her forearm also bore a brace, a relic of the strain of trying to hold onto the towrope on the wild ride across Cape Suzzette’s night sky. Her hands were the most obvious sign of her injuries, bandaged to the point where it looked like she was wearing a pair of white mittens. Still, it could have been worse, much worse. Rebecca shuddered as she remembered coming to the beach and wondering if either of the wrecked aircraft contained her daughters body... Molly’s question brought her out of her thoughts.

“So are you going to drop me off at home?”

“Nope. We’re going to H&H... I set up a couch in the office, and if you want to get to sleep, there’s always Baloo and Kit’s room.” Rebecca smiled, “If I leave you at home, before 12:00, you’ll be up and about doing things the doctor told you not to.” Molly smiled.

“I probably would... you have no idea how boring sitting in bed all the time can be.” Becky laughed.

“Speak for yourself... I could do with a few day’s in bed about now.” Molly said nothing for a moment, remembering waking up in the middle of the night, after a nightmare, only to see her mother by the bed.

“You were scared, weren’t you?” she asked her mother.

“Oh... Lord yes.” Rebecca said. “Weren’t you?”

“Not until later.” Molly said. “I wasn’t scared until I could think about- Well, I was scared twice that night, but you know about that.” Rebecca nodded, and took her daughters bandaged hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. The taxi turned the corner and stopped by the familiar building with the tower. Rebecca got out and paid the driver, while molly limped for the door. Half way there, Kit saw her and ran over, giving her a bearhug, though gently.

“So buttonnose,” Kit said, “are you still jealous of us commando types?” Molly giggled.

“They let you crash planes too?” Kit smiled, then replied.

“I’d watch those comments... remember, it was Michael at the controls when it went down... don’t want to give Shere any ideas about taking it out of his allowance.” Kit finished, eyes dancing, as he let Molly step back and opened the door for her. Kit watched as she walked into the room, and sat down on the couch.

*She’s bouncing back pretty well.* the bear thought. He turned to Rebecca.

“Well, Ms. Cunningham, I’ve got to head up to the downtown federal building and get some paperwork.”

“Kit! I thought they had you on leave?” Ms. Cunningham said, more then a little outraged.

“Ms. Cunningham,” Kit said. “Officers get leave... people like me only get times when the government doesn’t want us to do something... which can change without notice.” He smiled, “I’ll be back this afternoon. It’s just signing some stuff.” Rebecca nodded, and waved at him as he left. Molly was taking out some paperwork from a cabinet, and starting to work on it.

“Molly, what are you doing?” Rebecca asked,

“Checking your figures, Mom.” The bearess answered. She looked down at her hands, “I only need to hold a pencil well enough to mark a big X if you’ve made a mistake, so why not.”

“Well, if you think you’re up to it....” Rebecca said doubtfully. Molly frowned.

“They released me from the hospital, Mom.” Rebecca surrendered, and set to work herself. About two hours later, Baloo came walking in the door.

“Hey Bosslady, I got the cargo-oh.” He said in a quieter voice, as he noticed Molly, leaning against the desk, one paper still in hand, sound asleep.

“Oh good, Baloo, could you give me a hand?” Rebecca said, pulling down the cover on the couch.

“Sure thing, Rebecca.” The bear said, gently picking Molly up, and laying her down on the bed. The girl murmured in her sleep and Rebecca covered her with the blanket. Becky went back to the desk and Baloo walked on over and pulled up a bench, sitting on it.

“So how is she, Rebecca?” Becky paused, looking over at the child.

“Physically? She still hurts a lot. This morning before we left she slipped and put her full weight on the ankle. She tried to hide it, but it hurt her badly enough that she started crying.” The bearess’ hands crawled across the desk, playing with a pencil. “Her hands... Baloo, I saw them when they rewrapped them Friday night...” She sighed, “I suppose we should be grateful that there isn’t any more severe injuries.”

“Maybe you should try some painkillers?”

“Oh no. I already had that discussion with her doctor. He won’t prescribe anything other then aspirin, and some liniment for her ankle and ribs.” Baloo nodded.

“I can see why, Beckers, ya don’t’ want to over do that stuff. She’s tough. How’re her ribs?”

“Oh, thank God for small favors... they’re just bruised up, compared to everything else, they don’t hurt much at all.” Rebecca looked over at her daughter, sleeping peacefully. “She’s had nightmares... Baloo.” The gray bear followed her gaze.

“That crash would have given anyone nightmares, Beckers.” the bearess shook her head.

“It wasn’t that, Baloo. Remember I said that she had told me she’d been beaten?”

“Yeah” Baloo said. He hadn’t had many chances to talk to either Rebecca or Molly. Most of the time he had spent keeping H&H running, so Rebecca could stay with Molly.. and better then half the time when he was there, both Rebecca and her daughter were asleep.

“This Kalin.” The word was a curse, “He held her over the side of the building and threatened to drop her. Then he tied her up, Baloo, he tied her and kicked her, she told me he laughed at her, and joked about it and then he kicked her in the face!” Rebecca’s breath was coming faster, “Then at the beach he held a gun to her head while she couldn’t even get to her feet and told her he was going to-” The mechanical pencil Becky was holding broke in half, sending parts across the desk in a clatter. Molly rolled over and said something in her sleep. Baloo put his hand over Rebecca’s.

“I know, Rebecca.” Baloo said. The bear was shocked and enraged at the full story, but he kept his voice calm. “But she survived, and we have to help her get through this. She’s a tough kid, an she’ll work this through.” He looked over to Molly. “Y’know, when I talked to her Saturday evening... she wanted to know what she should say to Jereem... I know a lot of pilots... old guys, real heroes to hear them tell it, that’d be a lot more concerned with their problems, then a friend’s, if they were in the same boat.” Rebecca laughed softly.

“Well, she’s always been a bit like that... it takes after her father.”

“An’ her mom, Becky, I’d say her mom has a lot to do with that.” Rebecca looked at Baloo, her eyes shining for a moment, then turned and got a paper.

“Baloo...”

“Yeah, Beckers?”

“I was thinking.” She looked up at Baloo. “I’m Molly’s closest relative. If anything were to happen to me...”

“It’s not bosslady.” Baloo said certainly, not liking the direction the conversation was going in. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Rebecca’s angry glare stilled him.

“That’s what I thought about David, Baloo.” Rebecca said, referring to her dead husband. “I won’t risk it with Molly.” She paused, calmed down, and then continued. “If something were to happen to me, Molly would probably be sent to an orphanage... I don’t want that to happen. Baloo, would you become her godparent?” Baloo had taken a drink out of his soda, and it took all of his willpower not to choke.

“Me, Rebecca?”

“Yes, you.” Baloo took another drink trying to marshal his thoughts.

“Beckers... I don’t know what to say. I thought that I was...”

“Disorganized, lazy and infuriating?” Rebecca asked, “You are, Baloo.” The paused, then gave a surprisingly shy smile. “You’re also one of the only people on the planet I’d trust to raise Molly, and raise her with love, if something happened to me.” Baloo opened his mouth, then suddenly closed it because it seemed that a giant fist was squeezing his throat closed at the same time it was sprinkling dust into his eyes. He blinked furiously for several seconds.

“Beckers... I-” He paused, “Yes, Rebecca. I’d, well I’d be willing... ” Becky smiled and looked at him.

“I don’t suppose you would mind if later tonight we could go over and do the paperwork? A friend of mine is in town, and he said he’d help.”

“Why sure, Rebecca.” Baloo gestured at Molly’s sleeping form, “Buttonnose should come along too, right?”

“Oh, of course.” Rebecca said. “Before this all happened I discussed it with her.. she was happy as anything, but I asked her to keep it a secret.” Baloo laughed.

“Well, she did that, I almost swallowed my tongue.” Becky laughed.

“I hope that you won’t do that tonight, Baloo.” She said,

“Well no, but I hope if there’s a dinner tonight, it’s a good dinner, not at one of those fancy places you like...”

“What’s wrong with a nice restaurant?” Becky said, eyes twinkling as they reprised an often repeated theme.

“Nothing with the building Beckers, but I’m a growing boy... I need big portions!” Rebecca laughed.

“Then what if we go to Louie’s after the meeting... will that qualify as a good place to eat?” Baloo’s eyes lit up..

“Now Beckers, you know not to go asking questions that have only one answer!”

***

Kit walked into the federal building, and looked at the map on the wall. The young bear had donned his uniform, drawing glances from the office workers, and more then a few second glances from the various women in the office.

Coming to Room 202, the bear opened the door and walked into the office waiting room. A petite fox sat at the desk and looked up at Kit.

“Oh, you’re Cloudkicker.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Kit replied.

“Here, fill these out,” she said, handing him a series of forms. Kit looked at them, opened his mouth, then saw that the secretary was already back working. Shaking his head, Kit started reading the forms which, apparently had to do with an application for government service. The door opened again, and he looked up as another man walked into the office. He advanced on the secretary.

“May I help you?” She asked.

“Yes.” The large raccoon said, as he pulled a knife out. “You can die.” Kit leaped up and kicked the man in the back of his knee. Instead of falling, he used the momentum of Kit’s kick to spin around and brought the knife up towards Kit’s throat. The bear dodged backwards, hit the wall, and grabbed one of the chairs, ramming it forward and pinning the raccoon against the wall, out of knife range. The man looked at him for a moment, then laughed.

“Very good, Mr. Cloudkicker! You might do. But what are you going to do with my friend?” Kit looked over and saw at the door, another raccoon, this one holding a .45 on the younger bear. He backed off, putting the chair down. Looking over at the secretary, he got a sudden suspicion as he saw that she had unconcernedly returned to typing out a report.

“What was that about you-” He bit off the word, looking over at the raccoon..

“A test... you wouldn’t believe how many paper jockey’s fall completely apart when something happens that they didn’t expect.” He gestured to the inner door. “Well, if you’re still interested, Wild Bill would like a word.” The other raccoon smiled, nodded and left the office, closing the door behind him.

“Wild Bill?” Kit asked, walking into the inner office, still keeping an eye on the raccoon. Now that he had time, he could see that the man was his height, but much broader then him, as many raccoons were. His ominous bandit mask was belayed by his twinkling eyes.

“You’ll like him.”

“Uh-huh.” Kit said, looking up at the door jam, then around the rest of the office before walking further in. The man at the desk, a short, burly bobcat, laughed.

“It looks like you were right, Max.” he said to the raccoon. He stood up and extended his hand to Kit. “I’m William Donavon.” He gestured to a seat, and Kit took it, still a little suspicious. He took out several papers, and Kit’s eyes widened as he noticed that they had been signed by his drill sergeant, company commander, and the commanding general of the air commando’s. “I’ve had my eye on you... and I’m happy to say that you’ve proven just as good as I thought. Interested in a job?” Kit paused.

“I’m already assigned to a unit, sir.” Donavon wasn’t wearing a uniform, but anyone who rated personal communications from generals was a “sir” in Kit’s book.

“I know, and I’ve cleared this meeting with your commanders.” Donavon paused, “Mr. Cloudkicker... You know a war is coming, right?”

“Yes sir.” Kit said.

“Well, one thing we’re going to need to win this war is information, and people who can get it, organize partisan resistance fighters, move in where armies can’t go. I think you might be one of those people.”

“Thank you sir,” Kit said,

“Don’t thank me, Kit. The flip side of this is that those people are not soldiers... they’ll be considered spies if they are caught. You know what happens to a spy, right?”

“They’re executed.” Kit answered. Bootcamp had been very clear about that, the instructors stressing that a soldier should never, ever dress in civilian clothes in combat, lest he be taken for a spy.

“If you’re lucky, yes. I can’t tell you anything else, but are you interested?” Kit paused.

“Will I make a difference?” Kit asked,

“Yes.” Donavon said, “Yes. It might cost you your life, but you will make a difference... Kit, we are in a war for civilization. If we lose this, then the world will be under the most barbaric dictatorship in history-- with modern technology to back it up. Their government might last a thousand years... and at the end, I doubt this planet would have anything we recognize as civilization on it. You might die... I might order you to your death, without telling you, and knowing you have no chance to survive.” He paused, and looked Kit straight in the eye. “But I can promise you this: I will never throw your life away. I can’t say anything more about what you might be doing until I have an answer.” Kit looked over at the raccoon, and back towards Bill. The thought, about what the papers, and the various freelance pilots Baloo knew were saying about Aleminia.

“OK. I’m in.” He said, Bill smiled,

“Great! I’ll cut you your orders for the training camp.” Kit looked surprised.

“But I’ve made it through-”

“Oh, no, Mr. Cloudkicker.” Bill said, his eyes twinkling. “Enjoy your leave... because after this week you get to learn what boot camp is really like.” Kit paused at the door.

“Are you trying to give me second thoughts?” He asked. Bill’s eyes lost their twinkle.

“Believe me, Kit. We make it as easy as possible for people to quit, with no comment on them... Better second thoughts in camp, or here, then when you’re in the field.”

Kit looked at Donavon.

*well, you always wanted to make a difference*, he thought, and nodded to his... commander, Kit guessed.

“Where do I go?”

“I’ll have a car sent around at the end of the week. Enjoy your leave, and presuming you make it through training, welcome to the OSS.” Donavon said, cheerily. Kit shook his head has he walked out. In the office, he saw a brown haired rabbit waiting in the same chair he had sat down in. She looked up and smiled at him, as Kit waved to the secretary and walked out.

“Boy I hope you know what you’re getting into,” he whispered once out of the building. The pretty rabbit did not look like a secret agent. “I hope I know what I’M, getting into,” he continued, since he had never seen himself as an agent either.

***

On the way back to H&H, Kit got his story straight in his head. He couldn’t tell either Rebecca or Baloo what had really happened-- they had been worried enough about him being an Air Commando.

The taxi let him off in the front of the building, and Kit walked in, opening the door and quietly closing it behind him when he noticed the sleeping bearess on the couch. Baloo and Rebecca had been talking, and Kit raised his eyebrows at Baloo’s silly grin.

“What is it, Papa Bear?” he asked. Baloo gestured him outside.

“Well, Little Britches, Rebecca asked me to become Molly’s godfather!” Kit blinked.

“That’s great!” Kit said, “What’s going to happen?” The older bear scratched his head.

“Don’t rightly know, Kit. Rebecca has a friend coming over tonight, and we’ll sign the papers and talk, and then,” He brightened up, “We’re all gonna head to Louie’s.”

“Louie’s... how did you convince Ms. Cunningham to do that?” Baloo laughed.

“Tweren’t my idea, Kit. Rebecca thought it up.” Kit laughed.

“You’re corrupting her, Papa Bear,”

“Don’t I know it.” Baloo said. “Anyway, I’d better get dressed... knowing most of Rebecca’s friends, this fellow is probably likely to faint at the sight of a dirty shirt.” Kit grinned, and waved Baloo off. His uniform would serve for both Louie’s and the meeting.

***

Molly drifted in and out of sleep. As much as she tried to, the bearess found that she tired easily, and between that and Rebecca’s solicitude, she spent most of the day on the couch, although she managed to escape once or twice to sit on the pier. Kit sat by her at one point, skipping rocks off the calm waters of the bay.

“So how’re you doing?” her older brother, in everything but blood, asked.

“Fine....” Molly said, letting the syllable trail off. Kit looked at her.

“That didn’t sound very certain.”

“Well, I hurt all over...” Kit smiled.

“I don’t’ suppose the doctor’s told you it was a natural part of healing?”

“That doesn’t make it feel any better!” Kit laughed.

“That was kinda my take on it when they said the same thing to me.”

“I hate it.” Molly said, “I hate not being able to handle a fork... you know mom has to *feed* me?” She said, gesturing at her hands. “When we go to Louie’s... they might as well put me in a high chair!” Kit nodded.

“That’s gonna be a problem for about a week.” Kit said. “even later, you’ll probably have tender hands...”

“Great.” Molly said, fumbling with a rock. She threw it, and it hit once and sank like well... a stone. She sighed. “Kit?”

“Yeah, kiddo?”

“When you were alone... before you met Baloo... were you ever afraid?” Kit paused, and looked at Molly. He was struck by how vulnerable the cub looked.

“Yeah. I was Molly.” He didn’t say anything else. Molly sat for a moment then looked down at her hands.

“It wasn’t so bad when I was doing something, Kit. I mean, I barely even noticed this,” she said, waving her swaddled hands in the air. “but when I couldn’t do anything....” She took a deep breath. “When he tied me up and kicked me, I couldn’t keep from crying, and then... on the beach.. I was crying and I was so *ashamed*...” Molly trailed off and sniffed. Kit pulled her close.

“You shouldn’t be.” He said softly.

“But... I was a coward... I couldn’t do anything else, I just sat there...” The sniffles were coming faster now.

“Molly...” Kit paused. “You got in trouble for a friend... nearly got kicked out of school, had your mom angry with you, all for the sake of somebody that no-one else liked.”

“But Jereem is my friend-”

“And then you go and keep helping your friends. You don’t curl up and die when that-” Kit bit off the word he was going to use, “Jereem’s father kicked you all over the hanger, and held you over the side of a 30 story building.” He took a breath. “Then you get out on your board, in the middle of the night, being chased by a great big gunship, knock it out of the sky, survive getting slammed into the water, and then, instead of begging or falling apart, you spend half the time in the hospital asking how your friends are.” He gently took her by the chin and forced her to look at him. “That’s a pretty brave thing for anyone to do.”

“But I-”

“Was afraid?” Kit grinned. “Like I said, Molly.. I spent a lot of time afraid... and a lot of time for nothing as bad as what you went through.” he skipped another rock off the surface of the water. “Besides... for someone that Ms. Cunningham won’t let cloudsurf nearly as much as she wants... you did really good.” he laughed, “When I saw the planes down their in the city, I was certain that one or the other one was going to pancake right into a building-- When I saw you on the board... I just about fainted right then!” Then he said, in a sincere voice, “But you did good, Molly. Real good.”

“So you’ll convince mom to let me cloudsurf more?” Kit laughed,

“I think we’d better let you heal up before we bring that up...” he got up and leaned down, “We’d better get ready to go... I want to meet this friend of Ms. Cunningham’s.” He said, lifting Molly up. She reached out for the cane, and Kit offered her his arm, instead. “Can I offer you a lift?” Molly laughed, and took his arm, as Kit walked her back into the office.

TO BE CONTINUED.