As our fellow stood on just the younger side of middle-age he was neither rich nor poor, neither irrelevant nor an earth-shatterer. He worked diligently. He read a bit of poetry. He enjoyed one or two evenings a week at a local eatery. He was tallish, and stood bolt upright at this moment when he was just the younger side of middle-age.

But now, a few ticks on lifes clock later, he carried his frame as if it had been the site of a stroke. Though physically sound, the man dragged one side, almost; he appeared to limp though borne on solid legs. His right arm did not swing whilst he walked. His ramrod frame stooped. All that remained recognizable was the martial cadence of his gait, which he still somehow managed to effect in that semi-contorted state, as if he needed to.

Would you be a dear and help me up?

She nodded with a mock grin as she said it, as if to try to encourage the correct response.

Oh. Oh, yeah! Sorry. So sorry! Here!

She took his arm and, very gingerly, maneuvered to her feet.

I slipped on that icy patch there, near the snow pile, she said pointing, her smile returning.

Well, said Roy, I wouldnt call it a pile; its really just a mound. Ill shut up now.

She laughed, and observed:

With the luck Ive been having just walking around, something Ive done all my life, mind you, I figure it wouldnt have been long before a dog came along while I was in that bush and lifted its leg on me.

Perhaps just this one moment in her life the cheery, giving young woman was seeking a measure of sympathy. Roy rather took to laughing.

Yes. I can see that! Ha, ha!

Distracted by the images conjured up in his mind, Roy was unprepared when a very determined, thuddering whump! was felt on the back of his head, followed by an unusually high degree of cold and wet.

The snow mound! he thought.

He turned, only partially, to see the beaming young woman standing there patting down a second snow ball.

Roy, dumbfounded, no doubt red-faced, bristled, and at length blurted out, You knowyoucan kill a guy like that!!.

About half-past two on this very day the doorbell rang. Maybe theyre going to surprise us.

But on his opening the door, two policemen stood bolt upright on the doorstep, blue caps fixed perfectly on their heads, trousers creased as sharply as any ever were. The officers in unison removed their caps and in one motion slung them under their arms, still grasping the mirror-polished black peaks.

All stood silent for several seconds or perhaps an eternity. Then the young mans mother noticed that on the collar of one of the uniformed men was a silver cross, and she knew he was a police chaplain. Any doubt was dispelled.

Roy, my wife had had a child before she knew me. She was married only months when her first husband was killed fighting with the Marines. Heck. I mightve run into him and not even known it. Bad enough to be sure, but the child didnt live long either; something the doctors couldnt fix at the time. I often think myself fortunate to have missed that part of her life, and feel exceedingly guilty about that, but when she senses that occurrences are more than coincidental she tends to revert back for awhile to that time and exist for, oh, an hour or a week, in a more mystical, sadly mystical place.

Now he skidded a bit off track, voice wobbling.

I didnt know her then. If Id known of her, Id have gone to get her with all dispatch. You know I wouldve Roy, you know I wouldve.

He trailed off into a sob and fell into Roys arms.

Captain, if you love her half as much as I love my own wife I know youd have sprinted through every raging battle in the Pacific Theater at the height of their deadly fire to get to her, Roy sought to console his companion with a bit of MacArthurian drama. The Captain, still silently weeping in the crook of Roys arm, weakly nodded in gratitude for the understanding.



He just knew.

Kate?

Yes. Roy, my husband told me this evening. I mentioned his retirement was coming soon. I figured it would be next year. Its going to be in less than a month.

Roys heart went cold.

Ill be there at weeks end. No argument about it, please.

I cant in good conscience offer any.

On seeing Roy, the Captain barked, Get in!

Roy obeyed.

What happened? I say again, Captain, what happened?!

Be still, Boy; just wait. Dont know myself what the hell is happening. Dontknow.

Youokay to drive?

What? Oh, yeah. Sit tight.

In six or seven minutes the staid-looking proper sedan uncharacteristically screeched to a halt over the line of two parking spaces, and nearly a third.

Come!