Hope L.

She tore open the envelope and quickly pulled the letter out. It was simple and sweet. It said “I quit my job so don’t expect to see me for awhile.” But Cathy knew better. She had been a secret agent working for the government her whole life and had taught her kids everything she knew. She also knew the restrictions of working for the government. David had taken all the secret agent courses, scored highly, then dropped out; nobody else knew why he had dropped out, but she did. He was an undercover agent working alone to find more clues about the opposing country. This war had to end, with or without the government. Now she wished she had never taken that job and put her beloved son in such danger. She sighed as she brought out the lemons, squeezed them onto the paper, and blew the paper dry trying to see the secret message.

David slowly handed the man his secret agent graduation card. David couldn’t believe what he was doing. This man was the same man that could kill a person in one swipe; he was as big as a car. He had many times proved his strength when someone turned on him. David had recently found a guy that went through the man’s wrath; it wasn’t the prettiest sight. The man turned the black and white card around until he was satisfied. “Welcome to the group. I’m Sam Tread; you’re Tom Blasts.”

“But?” David questioned.

“We never go by our real names, Tom. It’s just way too risky; we don’t even tell the group our given names just in case there is a problem. Got it? If you turn on us you’ll wish you were never born.”

David sighed; this was going to be harder than he thought.

Richard pulled the keys from his pocket and noticed there was gum all over them. “Joy!” He said to no one in particular. Then he heard rummaging in the dorm and it sounded like Mark was rearranging. He banged on the door but no one answered. This was getting really suspicious. So he started the boring job of scraping gum off of one’s keys; he probably could have gotten the world record for the fastest gum scraping contest. The key clicked in and he walked into the perfectly clean room. “That was really weird,” he said to himself. Mark walked in and screamed. Now this was not like Mark at all. Mark was the shyest most reserved guy you could ever meet. “What’s wrong Mark” Richard asked very worried. “It’s not here” He choked.

Dear Mom and Steve

.. / .- -- / .-- .. - .... / - .... . / ...- .. -.- .. -. --. ... / --- ..-. / .- -- . .-. .. -.-. .- --..-- / .-- . / .- .-. . / --. --- .. -. --. / .. -. - --- / -.-. .- -- .--. / ..... -..-. ..--- ...-- -..-. .---- ----- --..-- / .-- . / -. . . -.. / -.-- --- ..- / - --- / ... . -. -.. / ..- ... / .. -. ..-. --- .-. -- .- - .. --- -. / --- -. / .-- .... . .-. . / - .... . .. .-. / .- --. . -. - ... / .- .-. . --..-- / .- -. -.. / .... --- .-- / .-- . / --. . - / - .... . .-. . --..-- / --- ...- . .-. / .- -. -.. / --- ..- - --..-- / - --- -- / -... .-.. .- ... - ...

Cathy sighed. She hadn’t seen Morse code for 20 years; but she still knew it like English. She called over Steve and told him what it said. “I am with the Vikings of America, we are going into camp 5/23/10; we need you to send us information on where their agents are; and how we get there, over and out. Tom Blasts aka David” She said. “We better get to work; this is hard stuff they’re taking on. You are going to take the rear Steve. Make sure nobody is following them. I’m going to find out where those Green Coat agents are and how we get Vikings of America in on the information.”

“Dinner’s ready!” someone called. She looked down to find a plate of goop in front of her. She was tempted to complain but knew it was better to eat goop than starve. “Patience, what a terrible name for me” she thought. “I was the one who didn’t want to wait to see the green coats on TV so I went outside; look where that has gotten me. I’m a prisoner for them and I am threatened to be killed every time my country says to surrender. I can’t wait to get out”. Little did she know that help would come, in the form of a meat merchant.

David drove his meat cart at 11:30 knowing full well that the green coat generals, admirals, and colonels were all in a top secret meeting. He scanned the area; there were a lot of guards. His men would have to be pretty sneaky about this. Sam Tread, Tommy Jenkins, Joe Johnson, and Preston Peterson were all in his meat cart hidden under raw slabs of meat. His job was to get in the meeting and they would take care of everyone outside. It was a pretty vague plan and a very dangerous one. His buddy Sam Tread jumped out and started the bidding process. Everyone was tired of salad and grass, so it took away everyone’s attention on the meeting tent. He slipped into the uniform house and was about to put a uniform on when a strong hand wrapped around his mouth and pulled him to the floor.

Richard scanned the room and found nothing missing. Mark’s headphones, computer, and CD’s were all there. Richard turned around to see Mark hyperventilating as he looked at his Modern Warfare game and opened the case to show that it was gone. Might I add, now Richard was REALLY worried. “What happened to Mark, this just isn’t like him.” thought Richard. Especially since the game didn’t even work. Richard propped Mark onto a pillow as Mark regained composure. Richard then remembered something: David had told Mark to trust his life on that Modern Warfare CD. What was so important? Well he would find out when Mark started talking again.

She knew David when she saw him; with his strong square jaw, huge muscles, and wavy auburn hair. Now he was lying there motionless when she whispered, “David, it’s me, Patience. This room is directly connected to the meeting room. Listen closely.” David froze. Here was his sister; the one captured by the green coats so many years ago. “She is so much more grown up than the sixteen year old I remember so well,” he thought to himself. Then he caught himself as the general started to speak.

Cathy sighed, she knew David wanted her to be in the safest position but their signal with David had someone eavesdropping. She couldn’t give David valuable advice with the other country knowing their plan. That is why she had taken the month off of work and was on her bike to meet Richard and Mark.

Richard froze at the news from Cathy and Steve. The signal to David and his buds had been burned onto that Modern Warfare CD. Now the signal would have to go through the CD a thief was holding. He was probably from the France green coats. Steve decided to stay with Richard and Mark as Cathy looked for evidence. Then Cathy looked at the cafeteria and noticed really small footprints leading to where Richard sat. There was a gum wrapper right next to them.

“We’ll attack Charlestown on July the fourth. Janiper , you are in charge of leading that spy group through there. I need to know their weakest point. Everything we learn about and any new orders will be posted on 65458 radios 12, the password is 2158946312” boomed the general.

“But sir, you must know they are waiting for us to attack. They have guards set up all around camp!” said the one supposedly known as Janiper.

“That’s why we are sending you on this mission. We will get you disguised as one of them. The disguise is in the uniform room.” said the general annoyed.

“Richard?” said Cathy confused. The gum had the name Richard written on the inside of the wrapper in pink crayon. Cathy questioned Richard if a child came to talk to him. He confessed that a little girl had come to speak to him during his lunch and he had dropped his keys on the way. The little girl had picked them up and had put them straight into his pocket. He hadn’t thought much of it then, but now it fit together that she had been the one to stick the freshly chewed on his keys. It was easy to find her since Cathy had been her mother’s best friend. Cathy rung the doorbell and saw the girl (Amanda) run to greet her. “Hello Mrs. Cathy, do you want me to go fetch Mommy?” asked Amanda.

“No, thank you Amanda, I wanted to talk to you.” Cathy said with a smile. Soon, Cathy found that Amanda was told by a nice looking man, that she could get one dollar if she stuck gum on Richard’s keys. Amanda soon got her reward and she had nothing more to do with it. Cathy sighed, another dead end.

All of David’s buddies were pushed into the cramped uniform room. A hysteria of laughter from the soldiers followed. “You think we’re fools eh?” laughed one.

“Coming with meat ain’t enough to make us lose our ground. We are standing firm for our country, no meat cart is going to make us lose our senses!” growled another.

Richard started feeling sick; and it wasn’t just from the plane ride. He had felt that David wasn’t safe from the beginning. Now that he knew where they basically were, he was going after them. Ever since yesterday he felt like they were all on death row. He tried to push out the feeling but it kept coming back, and he couldn’t do anything about it stuck on a plane. Then all of a sudden, the plane nose dived towards the ground. His heart thumped wildly as the bags popped from the ceiling. It seemed there was no gravity. He started lifting off of the seat. Richard was very, very glad he had buckled up. Then, he saw someone running for the control room. The plane started to flatten out, and they landed right in enemy camp!

Sitting on top of a bunch of green uniforms, David heard a noise. It got louder and louder, until it was so loud it sounded like a bomb was dropped right next to the uniform room. Then the whole door was cut open by a huge propeller! It was a plane! The propeller started to slow until it stopped. David threw on a green uniform to blend in. He pulled Patience up to her feet and slipped a similar one onto her. David combed her hair with his fingers and pulled her hair into a bun. He threw a cap on both of their heads and squeezed out the door. The guards were much too preoccupied to carefully watch the prisoners; so they slipped out. Keeping close to David, Patience crept across the field to see the savior of a plane. Patience was craning her neck to see into the passenger window when her heart hit the bottom of her chest. Inside the plane was a dead pilot, and Gabriel was at the wheel. Gabriel and Patience had been sweethearts since kindergarten. They had been the best of friends. Wherever you saw Gabriel, you saw Patience; and whenever you saw Patience, you saw Gabriel. They were inseparable. Now Patience wished with all her heart he was back home playing video games or something. But he was here and all she could do was pray they wouldn’t kill him.

Cathy turned the car as her GPS had said to do. It had said it in a perfectly normal cheery voice. She didn’t feel normal or cheery. “Which other mom is driving her car straight to the door of a thief; not only a normal thief either; one who is smarter and is finding information for France?” She said to herself. Cathy went through the plan in her head again. She would come to his door dressed in her Dominoes outfit with the pizza that was the disguise for the French secret agent for passing the CD. She had taken out the real France secret agent so he would hopefully give her the CD. She rung the doorbell and said in her most friendly voice, “Delivery!” He opened the door and she was surprised to see a man in full army gear standing in the doorway. The man ushered her in and opened the pizza box only to count the mushrooms. When he seemed satisfied he slyly passed the Modern Warfare CD into her hand. Then, he whispered in her ear.

“The boss is waiting.”

“The boss is waiting?” Cathy said to herself as she drove out of his driveway. What did that mean? All Cathy knew was that he had made it a lot easier than she had thought it would be.

Richard awoke with a splitting headache. There was smoke surrounding him. He breathed in and it stung his throat and lungs. It felt like he had swallowed a knife. He pulled out his handkerchief and placed it over his nose and mouth. Then he suddenly remembered where he was. His eyes peeked over the window, only to reveal hundreds of green coats. He slowly crawled into the hallway, joining the man who apparently had landed the plane. They slithered down into the closet. Richard was very worried. What were they going to do? Then to Richard’s astonishment, the man started fiddling with a lock that you could have only seen if you knew it was there. Then the man started talking. “There is a secret doorway through here. We need to get out of here as fast as we can and then run to that patch of trees. When we get there I need you to stay there unless there is an emergency. Ready… Go!” They wriggled through the small door onto the ground and made a breakaway towards the trees. When they got there the man spoke again. “I am going back in there. Now remember my instructions.”

“Who are you,” questioned Richard.

“My name is Gabriel,” he said tersely. Richard knew not to ask any more questions; this man meant business. Then, the plane burst into flames.

David flinched when he saw the roaring flame from the plane. He couldn’t imagine Patience’s grief. Patience just stood there, staring into the flame; it hurt to look at it, but she couldn’t keep her eyes from it. David pulled her along, but her mind was elsewhere. They slipped away unnoticed in their green uniforms. They were each carrying an extra uniform in case of an emergency. In the safety of a clump of trees David noticed a familiar face. He rushed towards him and gave him a big bear hug; that was when he noticed Patience was being hauled away by a huge man in a green coat.

Cathy searched her drawers until she found her headphones. She quickly recorded a series of buzzes and bops. She then sent it and opened her barn door to find Steve cleaning their huge private helicopter. He had already hooked it up nicely to the van. They backed it into their backyard, unhooked the helicopter and climbed in. David had been sending her help signals ever since she had gotten that Modern Warfare CD, (which, apparently the man thought she was a secret agent working for France). Now she had finally polished up the copter so it was ready for flying. Steve flipped all the switches on and the engine roared to life. They slowly lifted off the ground.

Gabriel bit his lip till it was white when he saw Patience being hauled off by the scoundrel. It took all of his strength to not go up and punch the guy out. If he was going to do this he needed to be smart about it. He inched closer to the uniform room. If only he could get his hands on a uniform. He grabbed the bundle of green cloth and threw it on. Gabriel raced in the direction that he had last seen Patience going. He almost ran by a small bush when he noticed a very small heart button. There, behind the bushes was an unconscious Patience. Holding her close, he picked her up and carried her to the safest place he knew of: the clump of trees.

David could have been given the happiest man award when he saw Patience in Gabriel’s arms. He ran towards her as Gabriel came closer. David wept tears of joy knowing his sister was going to be alright. Ever since that green coat had taken her he was praying so hard Richard saw him shaking. David took Patience into his arms and she woke up. They hugged each other not wanting to let go. They turned towards Gabriel and gave him the biggest hug ever recorded. It was a hug of gratitude, love, and genuine friendship.

Then all of a sudden there was a gunshot and they saw Sam Tread, Tommy Jenkins, Joe Johnson, and Preston Peterson all running towards the trees for cover. Bullets whizzed by their heads. Every one hustled deeper into the grove of trees when bullets started coming from that side as well. They were surrounded! Everyone got onto their hands and knees holding their heads in their hands; praying for help. A yelp of pain resounded from the mouth of Tommy Jenkins. Everyone hustled towards him. Richard noticed a gun-shot wound in Tommy’s chest.

“I know where I’m going,” gasped Tommy. “I ain’t ever loved God; I’ve always pushed him out. I even killed a man. He couldn’t ever forgive me.”

“That’s not true Tommy; God sent his only son to die for us so we could be forgiven. There isn’t a sin in this world that he wouldn’t forgive. God loves you Tommy. If you were the last person on earth he would die for you.” assured Patience.

“Oh how could I ever be forgiven? Tell me, I can’t do this alone.” said Tommy in a scratchy whisper.

“Repeat after me, God I know I am a sinner.”

“God I know I am a sinner.”

“I believe you died on the cross to take away my sins and rose again three days later,”

“Please help me to love you Jesus, Amen.”

Then Tommy Jenkins breathed his last breath. All of the others formed a circle and prayed. They prayed for Tommy Jenkins, they prayed for safety, they prayed for forgiveness, and they all prayed for a miracle to get out of that situation.

Click. “Here goes Steve, I’m going down,” wired Cathy through the microphone from inside of the bullet-proof box descending to the ground. David looked up and was the first to notice the box coming from the helicopter. He yelled to the others to look up. David recognized the copter immediately and was overjoyed. They all ran into the open arms of Cathy. Then the door shut and they started going up. Bullets hit the box and the copter, but neither was damaged. The box went into the helicopter and the box opened to show a cozy living room inside of it.

“Buckle up!” they heard Steve yell over the roar of the rotor. Everyone sat down with a steaming hot mug of coffee.

“I’m alive!” gasped Richard.

“Oh, I am just so happy you guys are ok. I was worried sick about you. Patience, you’ve grown so much I can hardly recognize you.” said Cathy relieved.

“Oh Mommy, I missed you and David so much. Oh and Gabriel, you’ve been picking up any girlfriends while I was gone?” teased Patience

“Not a single one as pretty as you.”’

“Ok enough with the flirting! I think we all owe an enormous thank you to Cathy.” David interrupted.

Each person said the most thoughtful thanks of gratitude but none were as heartfelt as Sam Treads’.

“Mam, it sure feels nice to have someone care about you. I mean living without a momma and with a drunken papa sure puts its tolls on one’s heart. Nobody’s ever done anything nice for me. Thank you for loving the almost unlovable.”