The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY (43 page)

“What do you see in this woman that you would jeopardize everything for her…practically your whole life. After all, she’s only a hoo…”

Wolf stood up. “Easy, McKenzie, don’t say a word more!” His eyes were leaping. “Well, that’s all. You may leave.” His hands were rolled into tight fists as he somehow controlled himself.

McKenzie shrugged and slowly rose to his feet. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any more help. If there is anything…” There was a careless air to him, as if nothing was the matter.

“How much do I owe you?” Wolf cut in brusquely.

“For what?”

“For your time.”

McKenzie’s eyes went flat. “Whatever your family may think of me, I’m NOT
that
type of a lawyer. I receive payment only for work
actually
done. Thank you, sir.” And he began walking to the door.

Wolf exhaled. He quickly met McKenzie at the doorway and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you didn’t mean it that way,” McKenzie smiled. They shook hands.

As McKenzie got into his car—a tatty Fiat—and brought it to life, Wolf suddenly stopped him.

“Hey, one sec,” he said. “Do you happen to know a private investigator? A good one.”

“Why?”

“Do you or don’t you?”

McKenzie’s eyes narrowed. “There is one. In fact, she works for me off and on.”

“She?”

“Yes, she’s a she, although she could be a
he
.”

“Enlighten me further. Begin with her name, for instance.”

“Are you really interested?”

“No, I’m just passing the time, waiting for someone to recognize me, so that a mob can collect and start stoning me.”

“Her name’s Madonna. Madonna Witcher. But she’s more popularly known as Maddy Witcher.”

“What?”

“Actually, she’s a Press reporter. But she does a bit of moonlighting. Want her number? She’s real good, I tell you.”

Wolf shook his head firmly.

.

T
hey stood facing each other and felt strange. Two aliens who did not quite know what to say to the other…or how to say it.

“Please sit down,” President Butcher finally said, in a voice that wasn’t unkind, but not familiar either. He sunk into a black leather wing chair, behind a giant mahogany desk.

Wolf glanced around the room. In its dimensions and structure this was more like a conference hall than an office. The President’s office. The ultimate seat of power. Where millions of lives could be done and undone. Only God could possibly feel mightier. Wolf had of course been here several times, but he had never felt as intimidated as he did now. But then, he hadn’t come here before as a mere mortal seeking a favor. A favor of life and death, which only this God of New Halcyon could grant.

“So what can I do for you?” God Grant Butcher inquired formally.

Wolf took out an envelope from the inside pocket of his jacket and slided it across the desk.

“What is it?” God Butcher said as he took it. He flipped open the cover, put on his reading glasses, and began to read. For the next five minutes, a hush fell as the Lord concentrated on the petition before him. The expressions on his face never changed, not once. At the end, he put the papers carefully down on the desk and doffed his glasses. He looked Wolf straight in the eye and addressed him.

“You want a pardon for this killer? Do you know what you are seeking?” Suddenly there was some passion in his voice.

Wolf flinched, but held. “Yes, sir,” he answered.

President Butcher seized the petition in his right hand and waved it. “This fellow is the murderer of our family. He is responsible for the untimely deaths of five innocent people, five very productive and immaculate lives. He killed your daughter. And you want me to forgive him?” Incredulity turned his face red.

“Be that as it may, sir, there is a critical issue at stake now. His daughters—he has four. Their very survival is in the balance. They desperately need their father if they are going to make it. He is all that they have left…there is no one else besides.”

“That still does not entitle Knott to be let off. His crime is unforgivable.”

“Nothing else should matter now but the interests of the girls, sir. They deserve a fair shot at life.”

“Okay then,
we
shall look after the girls—they shall find refuge and caring at Teresa Home.”

Wolf was aghast. “But the Home is only for children who have no one to look after them.”

“I am aware of that. Regrettably, the girls
are
in that very unfortunate situation. Their father is no father at all. It is better they grow up at the Home.”

“But the girls need a parent, sir. They are no orphans. They still have a father, however pathetic,” Wolf beseeched.

“Like I said, their father is no father at all.”

“Give him one last opportunity to be a proper father, sir. Monitor him vigorously…his every step. If he falters even once, by all means return him to the slammer and take the girls away.”

“Have you forgotten your daughter then…have you forgotten Philippa?”

“What?”

“Have you forgotten that this was the man who snuffed out our innocent child’s life without any thought? How can you even think of forgiving him?”

“I’m not talking of forgiving him, sir. I’m talking about giving his daughters a chance. They’re not at fault in all this…they don’t deserve to be ruined.”

“So you insist on betraying your daughter’s memory?”

What?!
“That’s ridiculous, sir! Yet, no matter what we do, Philippa isn’t coming back to us. But these four girls are still alive and…”

“However you put it, the fact remains that by seeking to free this man you
are
betraying your dead girl.”

Wolf shook his head. “If I may say so, sir, Philippa isn’t the only girl in this world. Knott’s four daughters are also Philippas…all little girls around the world are Philippas. They all equally deserve…”

“I am truly astounded how quickly you have managed to let go of your beloved girl’s memory. But that is your choice…do not ask me to join the camp. As far as I am concerned, I can never be a traitor to my family. This murderer cannot be pardoned under any circumstances and if his girls suffer as a result, then so be it…one can only say it is God’s wish. I am sorry but I can do nothing about it,” he said. “Would there be anything else?”

Wolf’s cheeks were hot. He didn’t recognize this man at all. Was this the same person he had loved more than anything in the world—loved him for his deep compassion, his profound humaneness?
Can’t be.
This had to be an imposter. A ruthless, pitiless pretender.

“I will go to court!” Wolf blurted in a choked voice.

“Yes, you can. But may I say you would be wasting your time. No court is going to let this killer off. He is lucky he got only twenty-two years.”

Wolf regarded the ancient pendulum clock on the wall behind the President. Finally he got to his feet. It was one pm. He didn’t give President Butcher another look as he turned around and left the office. There was a deep emptiness in his stomach.

.

I
t was ten-thirty-five that evening when Wolf collected Savannah from Lianne’s house.

“Did you get what I asked for?” he said after they had greeted each other. She nodded and showed him the three brown paper bags. He grunted and engaged gear, then rolled the vehicle on its way.

His mood had slumped badly ever since that encounter with Dad…rather President Butcher, and it had only worsened. He couldn’t stop thinking of Stanley Knott’s girls. They had lost their mother, now they would lose their home and each other. Not that they had much of a home. He had visited them earlier. They stayed four streets away in a low-income area. But their particular dwelling had been the worst of all. The house was a tin shed, twelve feet by ten, with no flooring. It heated up like an oven during hot days, froze like a morgue in winter, and leaked like a gash during the rains. Yet, at the St. Teresa Children’s Home they would be cruelly separated from each other—segregated into age groups—and the bond between the siblings would be lost forever. Whatever little family they had left would be destroyed. In many ways, it would be a fate worse than death.

“What’s bothering you, Wolf?” Savannah asked.

He looked at her. She nodded at him encouragingly. He hesitated for a second, then came out with it.

“I don’t believe how he can be so utterly inhuman. Does he have no feelings left at all?” he said in conclusion. “This is not the man I know. He has changed so much.”

There was nothing Savannah could say. She placed a gentle hand on his back, trying to comfort him.

They reached the east side of the Home a few minutes later and Wolf parked where he had parked the last time around.

“Give me the packet of biscuits.”

They quit the jeep and stood cheek-by-jowl and watched the forbidding wall before them.

Suddenly Savannah screamed, leaping in the air, grabbing Wolf frantically. Wolf broke into amused laughter.

A four-legged thing with a white coat and random brown spots was looking up at them, sudden trepidation in his eyes. Wolf crouched and beckoned him, and after slight hesitation, the little fellow came over. Wolf gave him a hug, then two kisses, on either side of his nose, then patted and stroked him a little. The dog’s posterior began wagging furiously and the tongue became hyper.

“Meet Mongrel,” Wolf said to Savannah with instant baptism. Savannah exhaled and allowed her heart to reclaim normalcy. Wolf opened the paper bag and pulled out a biscuit. The dog sniffed for a second, then hungrily grabbed it in his mouth. Wolf now emptied the contents of the bag on the soil and with a final pat on Mongrel’s flank, he straightened.

It wasn’t difficult. She stood on his shoulders and hauled herself atop the stone wall. He went back, crouched, then sprinted and leapt and was on the wall himself. Thereafter, he jumped down on the other side, and broke Savannah’s fall in his arms. … Just as Savannah had suggested the other night.

They were waiting—Robin and Sister Clara. Just outside the main door of the Girl’s hostel. Sister Clara’s face fell when she saw Wolf had company, but she didn’t say anything then.

“Where’s the guard?” Wolf asked after the brief greetings.

“I sent him on a task. He’ll be away till midnight,” the Sister said.

They went to the terrace, all of them, Stripey atop Robin’s head. Sister Clara halted at the doorway and allowed the other three humans their privacy.

Robin was beyond herself at seeing Savannah again and Savannah gave her the box of chocolates she’d brought. It was the ladies’ night together tonight and Wolf quietly stood aside and let them be. Seeing them together, their effortless rapport with each other, Wolf was even more convinced of Savannah’s suitability as his little girl’s mother.

At eleven-forty-five, Sister Clara finally rang the bell on them. Woman and child moaned. It was too short a time—they had only just begun. But Sister Clara was firm about it.

Down on the third floor, Savannah insisted on tucking Robin in.

“But be quiet,” Sister Clara cautioned, then when the girl and the woman had vanished into the dormitory, she turned to Wolf. “Can I have a word with you?”

They went to her room and she shut the door behind them.

She wasted no time. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to bring someone along with you.”

“But Savannah is virtually her mother. You saw how happy Robin was to see her,” he protested.

“Be that as it may, it’s still not okay. The risks become too great for me.” Her face was grim, like it had been throughout the evening.

Wolf sighed. He nodded briefly, indicating he understood. Then he extended his left arm to her. “This is for you, Sister,” he said, handing her a paper bag.

She took the bag and kept it on the bed. “Thank you,” she said lackadaisically.

Don’t you want to check it out?
Wolf thought.

“So when are you coming next?” she asked, a pale eager gleam coming to her eyes.

“The day after tomorrow. That okay?”

She nodded. “As long as you come alone. And please call me up first, like today.”

“I’ll do that. Now, I must go…Ms. Burns will be waiting for me.”

She was, in the hallway, wondering where Wolf had disappeared to.

On the way back, they were both unusually quiet.

As they neared Lianne’s, Wolf muttered, “One day, she’ll be with us. One day soon, I promise you.”

Savannah looked at him. His eyes were liquid. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

.

I
t was one-twenty-five am when he finally reached his new home…rather, his hideout.

As he turned the key in the lock, he became aware of someone hovering in the front yard. He stopped and turned.

And he became very still.

Quietly approaching him was Maddy Witcher.