The Madrona Heroes Register: Echoes of the Past

Chapter 17 - The Last Madrona Tree

“Oh no. I’m so sorry. I thought he was going to send Cassie away. Is he okay?” Penny looked scared.

Cassie had finally looked up from her intense coloring session to see what was happening.

“Did you do that?” Binny wondered aloud, sounding more calm than she felt.

Zach knelt down by Huitre to inspect the damage.

“I felt bad about leaving you guys. I knew you were coming here, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I went through the backyard, and snuck in through the broken back door. Things started getting out of hand, and you looked so upset, and he said he was gonna call Luce Laboratories, and I just touched the wall and I must have accidentally unlocked the chain.” Penny was in tears now. “Is he dead?” she wailed.

“He’s alive.” Zach had two fingers pressed to Dr. Huitre’s neck, carefully avoiding the blood that was slowing to a trickle from the small gash on the doctor’s head. “I think he’s what they call ‘out cold’.”

“Will he be alright?” Cassie was now peering down at the doctor too, her face creased with worry. Finally something was more interesting than her coloring. 

“That cut looks bad.” Penny was still sniffling and the look of worry hadn’t left her face.

“I think it looks worse than it is.” Zach said.

As the children pondered his condition Dr. Huitre started to stir.

“He’ll be fine. See? He’s waking up. We need to leave.” Binny’s tone left no room for argument. “Now!” 

§

Binny led them out the door, but not towards the Jordan house. Cassie was clutching the coloring she’d managed to grab before the older kids had shooed her out of the house.

“Why are we going to the woods?” Zach asked softly, not wanting to agitate his sister further.

“I need to think.” Binny said.

The foursome traveled the winding path that Binny had walked on her own so many times before. 

“Ooh. Cool.” Penny stretched out the words when they arrived at the abandoned car that had been Binny’s secret hideout for so long.

“Is this where you always run off to?” Zach had a smile on his face.

Binny looked up a little sheepishly, finally letting go of a little of the tension that had built up. “Caleb calls it my ‘fortress of solitude’.”

“Your fortress is a little rusty.” Zach teased.

Everyone laughed, but worry about the state in which they’d left Dr. Huitre was still in the back of their minds. 

Cassie headed towards the abandoned car intent on exploring its insides.

“Don’t go in there!” Binny stopped Cassie in her tracks. “There’s dog poop. I haven’t had a chance to clean it out yet.”

“Ewww.” Cassie thought better of her original plan.

The kids sat down on a pair of logs near the car. “I didn’t mean to hurt him. I swear.” Penny was still shaken about the chandelier dropping on Huitre’s head.

“I don’t know that you had anything to do with it. The chandelier could just be a coincidence. And besides, he was up to no good. He knew that Luce Labs was up to something, and this is the proof.” Binny brandished the cellphone in her hands.

“Right. You recorded him!” Penny looked a little bit relieved.

“Why does it only say 18 seconds?” Binny was starting to sound nervous.