The Ancient One

Chapter 13

"Jake, Kristi is definitely an odd girl, but I like her a lot. She really cares about Sam, but she's worried about hurting him. I wish she could stay in America, and give Sam a chance to get close to her," she said, once Sam was gone to his room. Sam heard that comment, the wall between the kitchen and his room being very poorly insulated. He really hated eavesdropping, but his attention had been captured.

"How so?" Jake asked.

There was a long pause, then his mother said, "actually, there was something odd she said, and now that I think back on it, it doesn't make sense. She went to the bathroom crying when I asked about that beautiful comb she was wearing. Although I felt bad for her, it was kind of funny to see her waddle to the bathroom, with her injured legs. When I was talking to her, she told me her family, her village and the man she was supposed to marry, were killed by a wild animal."

"Married?" Jake said, which was almost the same mental reaction Sam had.

"Yeah. I kind of had the same reaction, considering she's only 14 and that kind of thing isn't done in western culture anymore, but she told me it was part of her culture. I didn't think anything else about it, although like I said, that is a very odd thing in a European country these days. But later, she said her parents were from Sweden. I'm pretty sure Sweden doesn't allow children to be married like that, and haven't in a very long time. I know things are a little muddled in Europe right now, with all of the immigrants bringing their own cultures, but she's Swedish. Of course, I don't know as much about Latvia, but I'm pretty sure they don't practice forced marriage with children either," she said.

Jake then said, "She cried when I asked about it too, but she didn't tell me what happened to her father. By the way, it's real, as in it's made of gold, ivory, diamonds and I think she said amethysts."

"She wears something like that to school?" she asked, but there was no immediate response.

"She was injured?" He said that as if it had just registered.

"Yeah. She was limping and had a bandage on her arm. Why?" Jake remained silent for a little while, his brow slowly becoming more furrowed.

"God, how could I have been so blind?" Jake suddenly exclaimed, his eyes going wide.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, but Sam knew she wouldn't accept that. That came to close to their talk of Kristi, which meant it was close to him. His mother wouldn't leave that alone.

"Listen, Jake, I've never pressured you to tell me what it is you do, despite you coming home with injuries, and working nights. By the way, I know priests don't usually have jobs like that, but I've never pushed you on it. I've always respected your privacy, knowing if you needed to tell me, or finally trusted me enough, you would. However, when it comes to my son and any possible danger to him, I won't allow you to avoid telling me what you know, or believe. If you love me, and respect me, you had better start talking." Sam knew his mom could be a bear when provoked enough, but this was something he'd never 'seen' her do with Uncle Jake.

"I'm sorry, Amanda, but I can't tell you much. What I do is top secret, but I promise you, I'll make sure you and Sam are always safe," he said, and Sam heard a chair scrape on the floor.

"No!" his Mom all but yelled. "That's not good enough. We were talking about the girl Sam is interested in, and you seem to have some kind of moment of sudden understanding, and the look on your face was really close to panic. In fact, and I don't know why, but I have the distinct impression that my son is in danger, which goes along with what Kristi said, and apparently has been trying to tell him. You had better start talking, NOW!" she exclaimed. Sam was getting a little worried. His mother didn't yell, even when mad.