Image of caproygetmanout.jpg Image of emergencylogo.gif Image of caproygetmanout.jpg


Image of animekg.gif
Father and Son
Image of animekg.gif


      Page Fifteen

No one answered til a commercial came on.
Then, Chet turned and said, "You had to see
it to appreciate it, Gage."

"See what?" the impatient P.M. demanded.

Kelly completely ignored the question and
continued, "I mean, it was really amazing!
Right, Cap?"

"Hu-uh?..." Stanley stammered, not turning
his gaze from the TV's screen. "Oh...yeah...
it was amazing...absolutely!"

Gage gasped in exasperation and turned to
Stoker, "What happened, Mike?"

"Dusty Baker hit a grand-slam homerun!" the
Engineer obligingly answered. "I can't remember
who else did what, but the Dodgers got ten
runs in the second inning!"

"We missed it!" John lamented, "For a lousy
cancelled call! We missed it!" The sportscaster
came back on and announced the score.
"Twelve to nothin'?! How one-sided can you
get?!" the peeved paramedic declared and
turned to leave.

"Where yah goin'?" his partner pondered.

"To work on the Log Book," Gage glumly
replied, "It'll be more exciting."

His crew mates glanced at one another and
grinned.

############################

A-shift filed into the dorm of Station 51 six
hours and three calls later.

"Lights out in five minutes!" an extremely
tired Captain Stanley warned his equally
exhausted crew.

The men stripped down to their t-shirts and
boxers and, after setting up their bunker pants
and boots, collapsed--gratefully--into their beds.
They were asleep the moment their pillows
hit their heads.

Image of royclosesleep.jpg Image of chetinengine.jpg

They stayed right where they laid until just
after eleven...when the alarm went off.

"Station 51..."

Stanley and his crew threw their covers off and
began climbing out of their bunks and into the
bottom half's of their turn-outs.

"Man down...unknown type rescue...213
East Morrow Drive...Ambulance responding...
Two-One-Three East Morrow Drive...Time
out...23:02"

On the way to the garage, the firemen
exchanged mystified glances. Then they
shrugged their suspenders into place and
scrambled up into their trucks, still sliding
jackets and helmets on.

"Station 51...KMG-365," the Captain
acknowledged the dispatcher. Stanley shot
his paramedics a rather puzzled look, before
crossing the bay and climbing up into the
Engine.

DeSoto took the copy of the call slip he was
handed and passed it on to his partner, "I
thought you said Mr. Fajou was in Florida..."

"He is!" John adamantly stated, "He's visitin'
some old friend a' his from the film studio
who's retired in Miami. Won't be back for
another two weeks..."

Roy's look of confusion quadrupled.

"Talk about 'deja` vu'..." Mike Stoker
solemnly stated, "The FIRST time we went
to 213 East Morrow Drive, the Dodgers
and Padres were playing a double-header,
too..."

Stanley shot his astute Engineer an amused
glance and clipped his copy of the call slip
to the dash.

Moments later, both trucks pulled out onto
the street in front of the Station, lights
flashing and sirens blaring.

###########################


And, so it was that the men of L.A. County
Fire Station 51 found themselves--once again
--up on the ancient-looking mansion's moonlit
front porch...waiting impatiently while their
leader rang the eerie 'go-ong' and rapped
the big, bronze door-knocker.

"The yard looks nice..." Hank commented,
just for something to say.

"Thanks, Cap. Reggie's got--Mr. Fajou has
this really cool riding lawn mower," John
enthusiastically announced, "24 horse...with
a three blade deck and a 52 inch cut!"

"And electric hedge-trimmers!" Marco added,
sounding equally excited.

There followed several seconds of uncomfortable
silence.

"This is just TOO weird!" Chet Kelly determined,
finally putting what everyone was thinking into words.

Stanley considered saying something like:
'Well, we can't stand out here all night.' But
then quickly reconsidered it. Instead, he just
grabbed a hold of the knob and twisted it.

Just like the first time, they found the front
door to be unlocked. "Fire Department!" the
Captain called into the dimly lit entryway,
"Anybody home?!" Just like the first time,
he received no reply. "All right!" Hank exclaimed,
throwing the door open wide and stepping
aside, "You all know the drill..."

Image of royjohninsquadnightlights.jpg

The paramedics set their equipment down
in the entry hall. Roy and Marco immediately
headed for the upstairs. John and Chet began
making their way into the back kitchen and
the basement door, while Mike followed his
Captain off to explore the first floor.

#############################


John jerked the creaky portal open, "After you..."
he invited with a wave of his arm. Upon seeing
his companion's mustached mouth opening in
protest, he quickly added,"I went first the last
time..."

"All right," Kelly reluctantly conceded, "But I
should probably warn you...You'd better be
ready to get the hell out a' my way! Because...
if I see even so much as a mouse...I'm gonna
go screaming into the night! And I'll be plowing
through anything--or anybody--that gets in
my path!" Chet shot his chuckling chum an
annoyed glare. Then he drew in a deep breath
and begrudgingly began descending the stairs.
The two men made it down about two steps,
and then stopped, hearing their Captain calling
for them. "This is just TOO weird!" Kelly
repeated as the two of them re-retreated.

############################


"Yeah, Cap?" John inquired as he and his
associated slid to a stop in front of Stanley.

"Upstairs!" their Captain prompted and passed
the pair of new arrivals the paramedic
equipment, "First room on the right!"

Gage grabbed the cases he was handed and
took the stairs, two steps at a time.

Kelly latched onto the oxygen tank and the
remaining case, and quickly followed.

They entered the first doorway on the right.
The dimly lit room was a library--judging by
all the books it contained. There was an elderly
lady lying, motionless, on an ornate, oriental rug
--which covered about a third of the room's
hardwood floor. John's partner was kneeling
beside the nonmoving woman, performing
his initial patient survey.

"Heart?" Gage wondered, dropping his gear
and himself down next to DeSoto.

Roy replied with a quick shrug of his shoulders.
"She's got a goose-egg the size of my fist,"
he announced and began opening and emptying
equipment cases, "Apparently, she fell and
hit the back of her head--probably on the
edge of that thing..." he added, motioning
to the large oak desk resting on the floor
in front of one the room's wall-to-wall
bookcases.

John tossed his helmet up onto the desk
and donned his stethoscope.

His partner finished his preliminary exam and
began reaching for their bio-phone, "Let's get
her patched in and we might be able to
determine what caused the fall..."

Their Captain poked his head into the room.
"Ambulance is here," he announced, "You
guys got everything you need from the Squad?"

Gage gave him a nod and then frowned, as a
sternal rub and a dose of smelling salts produced
no results in their patient. "Cap? Can you check
the medicine chests and nitestands for any
prescription meds? Oh, and try to find her
purse, too. There may not be any pills in it,
but her wallet might contain some helpful
medical information."

"You bet! Chet, you get the bedrooms!" their
Commander relegated, "Marco, you get
the bathrooms! Mike and I will handle the
purse detail."

As the firemen exited, the ambulance
attendants entered, towing a gurney.

###########################


Kelly was the first man back. He returned
empty-handed. Lopez followed, a couple of
minutes later, with his helmet full of pill
bottles. Gage dumped two thirds of the
helmet's contents into an 'urp' sack, and
then placed the paper bag on their patient's
stretcher.


Image of johnnycheckdrugodmedicinechest.jpg Image of marconight.jpg

"According to her driver's license," Stanley
stated, as he and Stoker re-entered the
room, "she's Mrs. Margaret Bentley. No
medical info and no 'scrip's," he added,
sounding almost apologetic.

"Thanks, Cap!" Roy acknowledged, as he
accepted the purse that was passed to him.
DeSoto snatched up several cases and
followed the attendants as they towed
the packaged patient from the room.

"I wonder where Mister Bentley is?" Marco
queried, and stood there, staring glumly
down at the two plastic pill bottles still in
his helmet: Mr.Norman Bentley's
prescription meds.

"Yeah," Chet chimed in, "Someone had to
call this in..."

"Chet's right, Cap," Mike Stoker concurred,
"This is just TOO weird! The rescue doesn't
even match the call!"

"It's the full moo-oon..." John jokingly
determined, trying his level best to sound
solemn and sinister. But a broad grin
betrayed him. He picked up the remainder
of their paramedic gear and went snickering
out into the hall.

Stanley and his Engine crew exchanged
amused glances. "C'mon!" Hank urged,
"There's a bed back at the Station, with
my name on it!"

"Maybe the Bentleys are Reggie's--Mr. Fajou's
relatives..." Marco mumbled under his breath
and set Mr. Bentley's scrip's down on a lamp
stand. "O-or, maybe Reggie--Mr. Fajou had
hired himself a couple of house sitters? " Lopez
exhaled a resigned sigh and followed his
fellow firefighters from the library.

###########################


John finished stowing the gear. He closed the
side compartments on the Squad and stepped
up to the driver's door. "Doggone it!" he
exclaimed and slammed his open palm into
the side of the truck.

Hank Stanley, who was half-way into his
seat, heard the paramedic's angry explicative,
and winced. "What no-ow?!"

"Ah, Cap..." Gage regrettably replied, " I forgot
my helmet...again."

"That's the third time this month, John!" his
irritated Captain realized, "Why can't you
just leave it fastened to your head?!"

"It gets in the way of the phone and my
stethosco--"

"Never mind!" his Captain quickly cut in,
"Just go get it! We'll wait for you. Kelly,
go with him!"

"Ahhh, Cap...Do I have to?" Chet whined.

"Move it, you two! Or do you WANT to find
out what the penalty is for making your
Captain lose his sleep?!" Hank added, seeing
Kelly dragging his feet.

Chet picked up his pace. In fact, the two
helmet retrievers went running back up to
the mansion's front door, and quickly
disappeared inside.

Stoker turned to Stanley, looking curious.
"What is the penalty?"

"I don't know," his Captain confessed,
"But I assure you, it wouldn't be pleasant!
I can get awfully cranky when I'm
sleep-deprived!"

Mike and Marco grinned.

##########################


Kelly halted in the entrance hall. "I'm waitin'
right here! And, hurry it up, will yah! This place
gives me the creeps!"

"I'm hurryin'! I'm hurryin'!" John assured
his creeped out companion, and took the
stairs two steps at a time. Gage reached
the dimly lit library and glanced around. He
spotted his helmet, setting on the desk,
and smiled. As he crossed over and
reached out to pick it up, he happened to
glance down. There, on the floor behind the
desk, was a strange, curved scratch mark.
The mark had been carved into the polished
varnished floor boards by something heavy.
'Something heavy...like a bookshelf!' the
paramedic mused, 'I'll bet there's a 'secret
passage' behind this thing!' He examined
the object carefully...pulling and pounding
and probing for some sort of 'secret' lever
or button or something! 'Nothing!' he
silently surmised and his shoulders slumped.

He stooped to examine the funny, curved
scratch mark again. Something heavy
had been sliding over those floor boards,
all right! "It's got to move!" he realized
aloud. He straightened stiffly back up, and
that's when he noticed that several books
had been removed from one of the shelves.
He reached for one of the remaining books
and found that it wouldn't move. Upon
closer inspection, he discovered that it
wasn't a 'book', at all, but a solid block
of wood with a book's title painted on it!
"The Mystery On Dobbin's Moor..." he
read aloud and gave the block of wood
a jerk.

The bookcase moved, startling
him. John jumped back and stared in
wide-eyed wonder as the entire shelf
swung slowly out into the room,
revealing a passageway in the wall
behind it! "Only in the movies, huh..."
he stated rather smugly, "I knew it!
I knew it!" He stepped up and poked
his head into the passageway. It led
to a descending stairway. Gage stiffened
suddenly and blinked his wide eyes in the
dim light. There, at the bottom of the
stairs, he could barely make out the
motionless outline of a man.

The explorer immediately kicked back
into the paramedic mode. "HEY, CHET!
GET UP HERE! HURRY!" he turned and
shouted. John snatched his helmet up
before stepping into the passageway.

The opening mechanism reached the
end of its guide rail and the bookcase
stopped moving--but only for a
moment. Because the 'stopper' on
the end of the guide rail was broken,
the opening mechanism left the track
and a powerful spring slammed the
bookcase back against the wall with
a terrific force!

Gage heard the spring 'snap'. Then,
something struck him in the back
of the head. There was an explosion
of light--then...nothing! Everything
went _____. He and his retrieved
helmet went tumbling down the
hidden staircase.

Image of jcaprfullgearenginenight.jpg Image of johnnydown.jpg

#########################

Kelly heard Gage calling him...and then, a
loud 'BA-ANG!' He hurried up the stairs and
into the library. John was nowhere in sight!
"Hey, Johnny...c'mon, man! Quit the
clowning! Cap' just ain't gonna see the
humor in this!" he added angrily. "Johnny?..."
Kelly nervously repeated, following a
thorough search of the room. "I know
you're in here...I've been watching the door,
and I would've seen you leave..." his words
trailed off and a tingle went up his spine.
"GAGE! GET OUT HERE! RIGHT NOW!"

His only answer was dead silence. Chet
shivered, and not from the cold.
"...please?" he tacked on rather pitifully.

##########################
John came to at the bottom of the hidden
stairway. He groaned and rolled onto his
stomach. When he opened his eyes, he
couldn't see a thing. It was pitch black.
He picked his aching, spinning head up
off the floor and shook it, in an attempt
to clear some of the cobwebs and put a
stop to the loud, high-pitched 'ringing' in
his ears. The only thing the shaking
accomplished however, was to increase his
pain--tenfold!

Somehow, he managed to make it
up onto his hands and knees. He spotted a
thin strip of light and crawled over to it. He
reached up, groping in the darkness for a
door knob. There wasn't one. So, he leaned
against the wall and tried to stand. The 'wall'
gave way and the paramedic went sprawling
out of the concealed room and onto the
polished marble tiles of the mansion's
entryway. Gage groaned again and slowly
picked himself back up off of the floor. He
stood there, dazed, disoriented and very
dizzy. He shut his squinting eyes and placed
his hands over his ears in another attempt to
block out the painfully loud, and incredibly
annoying 'ringing'.

#########################
Kelly backed out of the library and started
quickly down the stairs. He stopped halfway
and his mouth dropped open. There, in the
middle of the entrance hall, stood his no-
longer-missing amigo. "How'd you do that?"
he wondered curiously and skipped down
the remaining steps to stand face to face
with finally found friend. "Will yah quit the
clowning, already?!" Chet pleaded, as John
completely ignored him.

Gage staggered back a few feet and then
caught his balance. He opened his eyes,
saw Kelly standing there and quietly
inquired, "...what's that noise?"

Kelly listened carefully. All his straining
ears could detect was the steady ticking
of the hall clock. He stared at Gage's
bare head and empty hands for a few
miffed moments and then threw his arms
up in complete exasperation. "That does
it!" he declared and began heading for
the front door, "I'm out a' here! I ain't
getting the Cap' mad at ME!"

Gage turned and watched in confusion
as associate angrily stomped off. "What
happened?" he wondered in a whisper.
A sudden wave of nausea came over
him and he slowly dropped to his knees.

"Man, if I were you, I'd find my helmet
REAL QUICK!" Chet chastised. He grabbed
a hold of the knob and glanced back,
"Before Cap' comes bargin'--" he saw
something glistening on the back of
his now kneeling comrade's hanging
head and stopped. "Hey, Johnny! You're
not clowning!" he quickly realized and
went rushing up to his collapsed
companion. "That's REAL bloo-ood!"
He grabbed Gage by the arms and
slowly straightened him up, "What
happened?!"




Image of caproygetmanout.jpg Image of emergencylogo.gif Image of caproygetmanout.jpg


        Click the Defibrillator to
     Goto Page Sixteen :)
Image of e-defibrillator.jpg


Image of animekg.gif
Father and Son
Image of animekg.gif

<BGSOUND src="mummersdance-loreenamckennitt.mp3" LOOP=INFINITE>