|
|
Chapter 13: Duplicity and Evasiveness
Diana shook her husbands shoulder slightly and Walkers eyes flew open. They had lived in a state of uncertainty for so long that every action was cause for immediate anticipation and fear.
"Tay is missing," she whispered her eyes wide with worry.
"What?" Walker ask jumping out of bed.
"I’ve looked everywhere, Walk, its one-thirty in the morning, where would he have gone."
Walker pulled his pants on. "He probably just went for a walk. Diana he’s been through a lot, and he’s used to being on his own, maybe he just needed a little space. I’ll find him" he promised.
Walker searched the corridors and took the elevator down to the lobby. He looked through glass doors of entry and saw many photographers still on guard and knew his son would have avoided them.
"Mr. Hanson," the night manager said stepping out from behind the counter. "If you’re looking for a skinny kid with long hair he’s in the bar area."
Walker must have looked surprised at that information because the manager laughed and walked with him towards the bar area. "The bar is closed. He came down about forty-five minutes ago, and wandered in. He’s playing the piano. He’s quite good."
Walker and the manager entered the bar to the soft sounds of classical piano. The manager nodded at the bartender who was still cleaning up from the night's activities. "I’ll leave you alone, but we need to close this area in about ten minutes. The guys need to get home."
"Thank you," Walker said and walked up behind his son and put his hand on his shoulder. Taylor looked up and smiled, but continued to play.
"Isn’t that hurting your arm?" Walker ask putting his hand over his sons to stop him.
Taylor lifted his hands from the keys and gave a sigh. "Yeah, but it was worth it. Dad, I just had to hear real music, I had to feel it. I had to."
Walker gave his son a hug. "I know, but you scared your Mom. She’s upstairs now worrying about you, and I think these guys need to shut the place down. So come on, in a day or so, you’ll be surrounded by music again."
Taylor was smiling. He shut the piano lid over the keys and got up. "Thanks for letting me play." he said addressing the bartender.
"Anytime kid," the man replied.
Taylor returned to their suite and apologized to his Mom and Dad for scaring them and slipped back into bedroom without Isaac or Zac even knowing he had left the room. Staying in a fancy hotel hadn’t made any difference in their sleeping arrangements. In the cavern they slept together for safety and comfort. Here, they had somehow clustered together for a renewed closeness. Isaac was in one double bed with Jessica, Avery and Katie piled in around him. He has sharing a bed with Zac and Mackie. The younger children had started the night in their own beds, but had gravitated one by one into their beds. Taylor dragged his littlest brother down to the foot of the bed and climbed in trying to keep his arm out of the way of his two nocturnal shifting brothers.
Taylor woke up almost instinctively as Mackie’s little arm moved in a forward sweep almost making contact with his own bandaged arm. He moved out of the way and then slid out of the bed and pulled his pants on. Ike was already missing from his bed as the daylight was about to break. Tay yanked the rubber band out of his hair and ran a brush down through it. He had taken an hour long hot-water shower the night before, only getting out when Zac had pounded on the door and threatened him. It felt good to be genuinely clean. He pulled on a flannel shirt and went to find his brother.
Ike was standing on the balcony looking out over the mountain view. He was fully dressed, and drinking a cup of coffee.
"Surveying your domain?" Taylor ask joining his brother.
Ike smiled at his brother. Tay was only about half dressed his jeans zipped but not buttoned, his shirt hanging open, his feet bare and his hair flying loose. "You know you’re going to have to retire those jeans." he said.
Taylor looked down at his faded jeans, the knees split and ragged and the bottom of pant legs in shreds. "I think they’re just now broken in. Besides the pants Mom brought don’t fit anymore, so I’m stuck with these." The boy jumped up and sat on the corner railing and balanced himself by propping one bare foot on the opposite railing. Ike shared his coffee with his brother and they talked quietly and enjoyed the morning peacefulness.
A few minutes later their Dad joined them. His fatherly emotions already on overdrive, peaked when he saw his second son casually perched on the balcony railing. It was a two hundred foot drop to the ground. With one crook to his finger motioned his son to get off the railing and Taylor complied immediately. He hugged his sons individually and then with an arm over each of their shoulders he spoke to them quietly of the love he felt for them, and of the pride he took in them, for being his sons. None of them were aware of the photographer on another balcony, hidden behind a curtain, using a telephoto lens and snapping pictures.
The family was up and awake fairly early. The usual loud banter, as the younger children ran around trying find their clothing in the luggage and getting bathed and dressed, sounded really good to the three oldest brothers. The cellular phones began ringing at seven-thirty and didn’t stop. At eight o’clock in the morning, their manager Christopher arrived. A half hour later, Steve, the record label representative arrived. The men were elated to see their young charges but after the initial hugs and explanations were soon relegated to business matters. Every network and magazine wanted an exclusive story. Every well known correspondent wanted an interview.
At nine o’clock, Captain Monroe arrived with the Richardsons in tow. The middle-aged couple had fought their way through the crowds of photojournalists camped outside the hotel. They had never dealt with any kind of media and were stunned at the attention. At first Katie didn’t respond to her grandparents, but with a little coaxing they soon had their granddaughter in their arms. She remembered her ‘pa-pa’ and ‘ma-ma’.
Taylor apologized for causing the confusion by changing her name, but the Richardsons deferred it as they thanked the boys profusely for saving their granddaughters life. Then as quickly as they came, they were gone. They didn’t want any part of the media frenzy. They were taking their granddaughter to stay with friends in Arizona until the news blitz was over. With teary good-byes the boys released the little girl they had cared for and protected for over two months. But, she didn’t belong to them and had to let her go. The Richardson’s left with an open invitation for the Hansons to visit Kimberly any time they wanted which the boys promised they would do.
A few minutes later the Estaveg’s arrived. They too were leaving and taking their son away from the barrage of reporters and photographers. Antonio cried as his father carried him away. Zac ran off to hide in the bedroom because he was also crying.
In less than an hour Hanson had been left to face the notoriety and publicity of the media alone.
Diana wanted to take her family home. Plain and simple. But it couldn’t happen that easily. There was no hope of giving the press the slip again. Every entrance to the Hotel was posted with members of the press. So with the help of the police a local guard company was contacted and a dozen men were hired to act as bodyguards to keep the paparazzi at a safe distance. A press conference was scheduled outside the hotel lobby.
Jason called from a small town outside of Grand Junction. He and another driver had brought the tour bus so the family could travel home in some degree of comfort. Mr. Hanson would use the rented van to leave Grand Junction, then they were meet, swap vehicles and the other driver would drive the rental van to the nearest drop-off point and return by air to Oklahoma. Jason would stay with them acting as driver, body guard and friend because he was very anxious to see his young friends again. Just another day of subterfuge for the Hanson clan who were experts at dodging the press.
As they were trying to get the last details together to leave the Hotel, Walker decided to change the dressing on Taylor’s arm before they left. The cut was worst than he expected and was red and swollen and bleeding between the stitches. It was more than he could handle and he was worried about infection so he placed a call to Dr. Kahn. The doctor agreed to come by the hotel so they had to delay the press conference and wait for his arrival. When he arrived, he quickly cleaned the wound, redressed it and gave Taylor another shot of an antibiotic. He suggested they keep a close medical watch on it for further infection.
Taylor felt lousy again. Every time he started to feel better someone would either check on, or rebandage his arm and make it start hurting again . Now his arm was aching all the way up to his shoulder and his other arm was still stinging from the shot. He felt nauseated, but he didn’t have time to be sick. He didn’t want anyone to know he was feeling sick. It was time to go home.
The hotel management was very helpful in getting all the luggage carried out to the waiting van. They probably wanted nothing more than to get the Hanson group cleared from their establishment so they could go on with more normal business. But the management was also aware of the positive publicity they would be receiving from their role in the dramatic air crash rescue and all publicity was good for business.
It was time. Although their mother had packed and brought clothing for her sons, they had grown in the last two months. They were leaner and more muscular, so their own clothing didn’t fit very well. The boys finally were cleaned up and their long hair, even longer now after two months of being uncut, was pulled back from their faces in ponytails. Ike was wearing his own clothes, a green shirt and tan khakis. Zac was wearing his own jeans but a shirt that belonged to Taylor. Taylor was wearing his worn-out jeans, and a short sleeve tee-shirt of Ikes, so there would be no material touching his bandage. His left arm was in a sling. He had his flannel shirt tied around his waist covering up some worn holes in the seat. It give him a slightly retro ‘grung’ look. It was the best they could do before facing the press. They always dressed more for comfort than style.
Christopher flanked by Steve lead the way to the press conference. Then came Hanson, followed by their Dad and Mom and the other Hanson children.
Christopher gave an introduction speech to the press, setting the rules for their questions. Mainly putting questions about the initial crash and the other passengers off limits. Then he praised the boys for their courage and heroism in the amazing two month odyssey that they had endured. Ike and Taylor hadn’t expected that speech and were embarrassed by his words. When the three brothers stepped up on the podium the flashbulbs were blinding.
"Thank you, Christopher," Ike said uncomfortably. "Obviously we’re glad to be back. And, we’ll take a few questions. But please keep them short, we like to go home sometime today." Ike pointed to one member of the press conference.
"We heard that you stayed in a cave. How did you survive the cold, what did you eat?" the man ask.
"A multiple part question," Ike said and the press laughed. "We stayed in a very large cave that was part of a complex of caverns. The cave had a sulfur spring outlet, meaning we had warmer water and hot air vents. And, we learned to fish and hunt."
"It stunk a lot!" Zac added and the press laughed again.
Ike pointed to another pressman. "Were you hurt in the crash?"
"Only minor injuries, nothing life threatening." Ike replied ignoring his mothers gasp at the lie.
"Where are the other children?" was the next question.
"They have been reunited with their families and I believe they have already left the city." Taylor answered.
"What do you attribute to the fact that you survived when so many other didn’t?"
"The grace of God," Ike said.
"And a brother that watches the Discovery channel a lot!" Taylor added looking over at Ike.
"Did you fight among yourselves while you were in the cave?" someone shouted out.
The boys laughed. "No more than usual." Ike answered.
"You’ve been away from music for two months, what are your plans?" a woman ask.
"Actually, we haven’t been away from music," Taylor corrected. "Music is an very basic part of us, and where we are, there is music. We wrote a ton of lyrics, songs and music. And we are very anxious to get back to our instruments and back into a studio."
"So, you’re planning on releasing an album soon?" the woman continued her line of questioning.
"We were planning that before we took a two month sabbatical," Ike said. "We have been working very hard, but we haven’t discussed any definite plans yet with our label."
"Won’t you have a tremendous amount of school work to catch up on." a reporter ask.
The boys laughed again. "Actually," Taylor started but his brother cut him off.
"Our books were the only thing we had with us, so we’ve studied plenty!" Zac exclaimed.
"What is the simplest thing you missed?" the question was shouted.
"Food." Zac replied. "Hot showers and soap." Taylor responded. Ike shook his head, "I couldn’t answer that so simply."
"Were you hungry?" a reporter responded picking up on Zacs reply.
"There were times when we were short, but we were extremely lucky in finding fish and game." Ike replied.
"Will you fly again?" the question was ask.
"Actually, we have already flown in a helicopter." Taylor responded.
"Were you scared?"
"I think that’s a natural reaction." Ike interceded.
"Were you in any danger from wild animals?" a man ask.
"Mostly, wolves." Zac answered before both brothers hissed simultaneously. "Shut-up Zac!"
"Were you in danger of wolves?" the reporter demanded.
"We handled it." Ike said trying to dodge the answer.
"How did you hurt your arm, Taylor?" the question was shouted.
"Mountain Lion!" Zac answered and again both brothers turned on him aggravated. "Shut-up Zac!"
"What?" Zac demanded. "Tay killed it and kept it from attacking us. There nothing wrong with that."
At that point the conference was out of control. The flashbulbs began flashing again, and the reporters were clamoring over each other shouting questions at the boys.
Christopher pulled the boys back, and stepped forward and announced. "Press conference over."
The hired body guards came forward surrounding the family and the local police held the paparazzi at bay while they walked over to where the van was parked. The crowd was tight, with both press and fans pushing forward to see the young group Hanson. Suddenly without warning a large gray german shepherd broke free of its lease and leap past the barricade of police. It snarled and Avery trailing along behind her mother screamed. In a fraction of second, Taylor and Ike were crouched in front of their sister, knives in hand and ready for battle. There was a gasp and the crowd stood still and silent for a rare memorial moment of realism. The brothers realizing suddenly that neither she nor they were in any danger sheathed their knives quickly out of sight. Ike lifted his sister and carried her off to the van. Taylor trailed behind and gave a last wave before shutting the door. But in that quick moment, most of crowd and press realized that in spite of what they said, the two months of survival hadn’t been easy. That the boys had learned instinctive basic skills to survival and had probably used them to stay alive.
As the van pulled away, Taylor looked over to Ike. "Want to bet on what will be on the six o’clock news?"
"Losers bet." Ike said.
Walker held out his hand and waved his fingers. "Okay guys, hand them over."
Both Ike and Taylor unhooked their knife sheaths and handed them over to their Dad.
"What on earth possessed you guys to carry these today?" Walker exclaimed in exasperation.
"Habit." Ike answered.
"Gee Dad, I feel naked without it." Taylor complained.
"Well get used to it." Walked exclaimed shaking his head. "The days of your carrying weapons is over. Understood?"
Ike and Taylor looked at one another and grinned. Yes, those days were over at last.
"Yes sir," they echoed in unison.
The police held the paparazzi at bay until the van was out of sight. Walker drove to the designated point of exchange and met with Jason. They transferred the luggage to the unmarked bus and soon they were on the road again. Diana put the younger children down for naps and took a moment to relax with her husband. Zac was immediately immersed in a video game. Ike settled in to read a book and Taylor plugged in a set of earphones to a CD player. They had only been on the road a few minutes when Taylor had to give admit defeat over his queasy stomach. He disappeared into the bathroom and his mother followed him a few minutes later. He was running a slight fever and her mother instincts were on red alert. She gave him several pills that Dr. Kahn had given them and convinced him to lie down on one of the bunks, and within minutes he was asleep. She applied a cool cloth to his head, and after stroking his sleeping head for a few minutes finally returned to the living room area of the bus. Her second son was always more prone to run fevers than her other children. As long as it remained at a low grade level she wasn’t too concerned. But as soon as they got home and settled she was taking them all in for check-ups with their family physician. Someone she knew well, and trusted.
The photographers were on guard outside the
gates of the Hanson home. Jason stopped the bus just long enough to open
the gates, ignored the questions, and drove through to the house and parked
in the back. It was after midnight, but they woke up all the kids and moved
them inside. Diana wanted her children safe in their own beds. All seven
of them.