Date: Mon, 19 Dec 2005 15:37:51 +0100
From: Harry Anders <harry@harryanders.com>
Subject: Little-Harrys-Life-4

This is the sequel from my first book 'Little Harry', and I strongly
commend you to read book one first! Thus you will enjoy book two even
more. You may find book one on Nifty, or you may visit my SITE:
http://www.harryanders.com and read the elaborated book from there
(recommended!).

'Little Harry's Life' >by Harry AnderS, the author of 'Little Harry'<


Chapter 4. Caravan on fire, and the authorities.

I had a strange dream. I was a grown-up, dressed in a tall black robe that
even covered my feet. Together with two other grown-ups we chased a couple
of women we called 'witches'. We did believe in a Supreme Being called
'God' that was displeased by everybody that did strange things as loving
black cats and trying to cure people other than by praying. Eventually we
caught the 'witches', and tied them down to a stake on a huge pile of
wood. They were forced to kiss a cross, and then I put a burning branch
into the pile. Soon the burning wood started to crackle, and I could
clearly smell the smoke. The witches started to scream and screech, and I
started to cough as the smoke entered my lungs...

I woke up in a caravan filled with smoke, while my mother screeched and my
father desperately yelled to wake me up:

"Harry, wake up and flee! Open the door and GO! NOW!"

In shock I looked at the blazing fire in the front of our caravan. The heat
was nearly unbearable, and little flames started to lick at my blankets. I
heard my parents stumble and yell, and then the screeching lessened and
disappeared. Suddenly I realized: our caravan was on fire! I tried to throw
the blankets from my nude body, but burning and melting parts of them stuck
to my skin and started to severely hurt. I screamed in horror and jumped
out of the bed, desperately trying to get rid of those burning blankets.

Feeling around in the dark smoke, I tried to reach the door. Fortunately
the door wasn't far away, and I tumbled out of the caravan, straight into
the huge fire that surrounded it. The blaze licked my body, while I slipped
on the burning liquid they had poured around our caravan. I fell, scrambled
upright, and fled from the caravan, now burning like a torch. I started to
scream and screech.

Somebody rolled me around in the grass, to extinguish the flames. He held
me close in his arms, telling me to be brave, but my body still felt on
fire and I couldn't breathe. The pain was unlike anything I had ever felt
before, worse than ten thousand needles sticking everywhere. I screamed and
screamed, while the man tried to calm me down and kept telling me to be
brave and that he would help me.

I heard a howling siren nearing us, and two paramedics tried to take me
over; but I clamped myself to the man with all my force, still
screaming. At last the man carried me to the ambulance, where the
paramedics told him to leave the car as they would take over now. They
tried to pull me away from the man, but I fought them with all my force,
still clamping my arms around my rescuer. He was the one I felt safe with.

The paramedics couldn't do anything but let me sit on the man's lap, while
they smeared me with a soothing paste and put needles into my arm and
thigh. All the time the man kept telling me to be brave and that I would
survive and live.

At last the injections started to work, and the pain lessened a bit. Now I
recognized my rescuer: he was the nice man who helped us yesterday, and
gave us all those clothes and foods.

I started to doze away, tried to squint at my rescuer, and mumbled:

"Jack..."

"Yes, Harry, it's Jack. Be brave, and I am here to help you."

I closed my eyes, and tumbled into a deep and comforting black hole.

I woke up, feeling very sleepy and totally numb. I tried to look around;
and saw a white room, crossed by tens of coloured wires and plastic
tubes. A couple of nasty looking machines beeped and whistled everywhere. I
felt myself panicking, and moaned.

Immediately the face of Jack appeared, hovering in front of me and smiling:

"Hi, my little friend! Take it easy, everything will be all right now."

I couldn't really understand him, but I picked up the energy of his words
and tried to smile back. A searing pain crossed my face, and again I fell
into that deep black hole that welcomed me.

I woke up again, looking at the face of a nurse trying to renew a couple of
bandages. A dull pain wrecked my body, and I moaned.

Immediately the face of Jack reappeared, reassuringly smiling at me:

"Shush, my little friend, don't move at all. You are burnt all over your
body, and everything you try to do will be very painful."

Again I didn't understand his words, but I felt I had to be as motionless
as possible. The nurse was very careful, but everything she did sent waves
of a dull pain through my body. After a few minutes I felt dead tired, and
soon I dozed off again.


The next few weeks were a real nightmare, with all the time that
everlasting dull pain nagging everywhere in my body. Fortunately every time
I woke up the reassuring face of Jack was there, smiling at me and
comforting me. He continued to talk to me, and now and then I could pick up
a word I heard before. Fortunately I was quite clever, and soon I started
to recognize the meaning of the words and how they were used. My ability to
feel the energies tremendously helped me, and within a few weeks I was able
to reasonably understand what he told me.

Speaking was a different matter. My lungs and vocal cords were damaged by
the hot smoke, and for several weeks I could only utter sort of a groaning
sound. Jack told me I had to 'undergo surgery' to help me speak again and
restore the burnt parts of my body. I understood the meaning of all the
other words, and nodded; but what was 'surgery'? I had no idea...

Early in the morning they brought me to another room, and I had to blow
into a small cap. Suddenly everything turned around and I shifted away into
a quiet and peaceful world full of stars and beautiful sounds. When I
returned, my throat felt sore, and Jack told me they had performed some
surgery on it. I had to be absolutely silent for a few days, without even
trying to moan. I nodded that I understood, and he looked relieved.

Three days later the pain in my throat had lessened a bit, and suddenly I
asked:

"Me... here, why?"

My mouth and lips felt too tight and strange, and my voice sounded
different from what I was used to.

Jack looked surprised, and stormed to my bed:

"You can speak our language?"

"A bit... you talk, I listen words. Mom, dad, where go?"

His deep brown eyes lost their light, I felt his pain, and I knew enough. I
would never see my parents again...

I started to sob, but soon the soaring pain in my throat and around my face
became unbearable so I had to stop myself. Jack pushed a knob, and after a
few minutes the pain dulled a bit.

He showed me the little box with a white knob on it:

"With this thing you can sedate yourself, in case you are feeling too much
pain. Just push the knob, but don't overuse it."

"What... 'sedate'?"

"'Sedate' means that the pain will lessen after a moment."

"Thank."

The next couple of weeks I learned to LOVE that white knob.


A few months later I felt much better. The soaring pain had left my body,
and I could speak the foreign language quite well. Jack called me a
'linguistic miracle', but I wasn't sure what he meant with those difficult
words. However, I could clearly feel that he was proud of me!

One day I asked for a mirror. Jack went pale, and told me to be absolutely
sure; as I would be severely shocked by seeing my face.

I had already painstakingly examined the rest of my body, so I smiled at
him:

"I seen body, and looks horrible. What else can expect of face? Please, I
want see how I look..."

Jack offered me a small mirror, and I studied my face for a long time. My
nose was nearly gone, my lips were shrivelled and askew, my skin was
coloured in at least three different colours, and one of my ears was stuck
to my head. I didn't recognize myself, and suddenly I understood why
everybody looked so pitifully at me, even the nurse who washed me every
day. Only Jack seemed to accept me as I was...

I threw my arms around Jack, and held him for quite a while:

"I love you! You best second dad. You Big Friend."

Jack started to cry, and nearly suffocated me.


One day a man and a woman neared my bed, and told me they were
'authorities' and wanted to know a couple of things:

"What's your name, and where do you live?"

"My name Harry Romani, and live in mountains."

"Do you know where those mountains are?"

I shook my head. I really hadn't the slightest idea...

"How come you are here now, in our country?"

"We were... vacation, until suddenly caravan on fire."

"Do you know who did it, putting the caravan on fire?"

I was severely shocked, and started to cry. Wasn't the fire an accident?
Had somebody tried to murder us? But why?

At that moment Jack entered my room, and asked the people to immediately go
away, opening the door with an angry face.

He took me into his arms, and I told him what those people had asked me.

"Somebody... murder us? Fire caravan? Why?"

"I don't know, Harry. I really don't know. I think some people didn't like
gypsies... I couldn't sleep, and went for a walk in the
neighbourhood. Suddenly I saw a fire blast in the distance, and rushed
towards it. Your caravan was on fire, surrounded by huge flames. A few
seconds later you left it, screaming and burning like a torch. I rolled you
around in the grass to extinguish the fire. Fortunately somebody else had
called the alarm number, and within a few minutes an ambulance arrived with
a howling siren. I was infuriated, and decided to help you with
everything."

"What 'infuriated'?"

"'Infuriated' means that I was very angry at the nasty people who did this
to you."

We cuddled for a while, until the nurse appeared to change my bandages.


I had to undergo another major surgery, to free my ribs of all the wild
flesh and loosen the skin on my legs. Again Jack comforted me and cheered
me up. He held my hand all the time while I blew in the small cap, and when
I returned to the room he was holding my hand again. He visited me every
day, and started to buy small things and beautiful clothes I never had
before, such as an abundantly coloured polo-shirt and blue jeans. He told
me I had to look good when I was allowed to leave the hospital.

"Where I going live now? I not know where my people is..."

"Would you like me to take you to my house for a while?"

"YESSSSSSS!"

We asked the doctors, and an hour later one of them neared us:

"Harry, tomorrow is your big day. You will go home."

The windows started to rumble, and the sound of my cheering lifted the
roof...

Before Jack left me that evening, he promised to take me to his house the
next morning.


The next morning I woke up early, while somebody shook my shoulders:

"Come on, wake up, you are going to live with us."

I opened my eyes, and looked at a woman who impatiently waited for me,
carrying my beautiful polo-shirt and new blue jeans.

"Get up and quickly dress, as we don't have all day."

"You take me home Jack now? Where Jack? Why he not here?"

"Jack? Who is Jack? I don't know anybody who's called 'Jack'..."

"But... Jack promise me! He take me home! I want live home Jack!"

The woman turned around, to ask a doctor who that 'Jack' could be...

"I think that's the man who visited him every day. We didn't really trust
him, as he was always touching the little boy and cuddling with him, but we
couldn't prove anything; so we decided to keep a close eye on him as long
as the boy was here. Those paedophiles are everywhere..."

The woman nodded, and tried to persuade me to put on Jack's new clothes. I
started to cry now, understanding I was NOT going to live with Jack, but
with that unfriendly woman-in-a-hurry...

She tried to dress me, but I panicked and started to fight and scream:

"I want live home Jack! He promise! He take me home! JAAACK!!!"

The woman straddled my arms, while the doctor prepared an injection. He
pricked my bum with it, and after a few minutes I started to feel drowsy
and didn't care any more. The woman quickly dressed me into the clothes
Jack had bought me as a present. She took my hand; and I wavered through
the door, left the hospital, hardly heard the 'farewells' of the nurses,
and let myself be dragged into the backseat of a waiting car.

I fell asleep, until the woman impatiently shook my shoulders:

"Come on, wake up! We're home, and you have to come with me."

Still feeling drowsy and unconcerned in a strange way, I followed her into
an imposing building and along echoing corridors and huge stairways.

We entered a room, where a few people stared at me with bulging eyes:

"What do you bring here now? They can't possible inflict us with such a
creature! Look at that face... The other children will totally wreck him in
no time! Isn't there a place for him in a madhouse or such?"

"I don't know, and I'm afraid that for the moment we can't get rid of
him. Let's try to prepare the other children first, before they see him."

The woman took me to a chair and sat me down. I didn't care; and sat there
for a long time, feeling dull and staring into empty space...

After a while a telephone rang, and one of the men answered it:

'You want us to do what? Okay, that might be a workable solution. Yes, we
will bring him downstairs. Just a moment..."

He took a piece of paper, and wrote something down.

"You will take him from there? He's going to live with a foster family?
Couldn't be better!"

He went to me without saying a word, took my hand, and guided me back along
the stairways and echoing corridors to the entrance, where we entered a
small office. There he sat me down and left the room.

Another man entered the office, looked shocked for a moment, but pulled
himself together and bashfully smiled at me:

"Just a moment, little fellow, they will be here to collect you within a
minute."

Collect me? Who would be here to collect me and undoubtedly bring me to
another place where I wouldn't be welcomed either? Fortunately I started to
wake up a bit, but unfortunately I started to realize that nobody would
accept me as I was, with my so severely distorted face... I started to sob,
and the man offered me a tissue to dry my eyes. He looked at me with pity
in his eyes... where was JACK?

After a very long while the doorbell rang, and the man left the room to
open the front door. I heard a couple of voices, and suddenly I sat
upright! Could it be... Nah, that was impossible. That couldn't be the
voice of John, the nice boy that laughed with me all the time...

The door opened, and a woman entered the office, followed by a nervous
looking John. He looked at me... and froze. I saw his eyes change from
anticipation into horror. He stared at me, with his mouth wide open and
with bulging eyes. He tried to say something, but choked up. Slowly I saw
his eyes change into dismay, then into sympathy, and finally into
acceptance and compassion. He walked towards me and took me into his arms,
without saying a word. I started to cry, and desperately clamped myself
onto his chest.

After a moment I felt his tears mingle with mine, and I heard him sob:

"My little brother, what did they DO to you..."

The woman had to sign a few papers, and then she sank to her knees in front
of me:

"Hi, Harry, I'm John's mother. Do you want to join us?"

I nodded, a bit hesitantly. Did John go with us, or had I to leave him
here? I didn't want to leave my re-found new friend and clamped his chest
even more, in case they would try to put us apart.

John carefully loosened my death-grip, and took my hand:

"Come on, little brother, let's go home!"

Home? Home where Jack lived? Or another home where again people wouldn't
accept me? I wasn't sure, and too scared to ask...

We went outside, where I squinted in the sudden sunlight. We started to
walk, and everywhere people looked at me as if they saw a strange
monster. Some people even followed us for a while, until we reached a
waiting taxi. The taxi driver suddenly looked very pale, and for a moment I
thought he would flee. But he opened the door of his car, and John and I
both entered the back seat. John protectively threw his arms around me, and
for the first time that day I dared to feel a tiny bit safer...

John's mother looked back from the front seat, and smiled at me:

"There you are! We had a lot of commotion this morning. Jack was crying his
heart out, as he couldn't find you in the hospital. Now you are in our
custody, and if you wish so you are going to live with Jack. Would you like
that?"

"What 'commotion' and 'custody'? And YES, I want live with Jack in Jack
home!"

"It's not 'what commotion' but 'what IS commotion'... 'Commotion' means
that we had a lot of things to do and talk about this morning. 'Custody'
means that we are going to help you grow up and now are responsible for
you. Now let's go to Jack's house to tell him the good news."

Suddenly the sun started to shine brighter, the birds outside sang their
songs more beautifully, and my heartbeat slowed down quite a bit. I was
going to live in Jack's house! I nestled myself into John's arms, and even
dared to feel a little bit happier now. John closed his arms around me, and
he felt as if we already were the best of friends.


The taxi stopped in the same driveway where Jack had filled my jerrycan a
couple of months ago, and suddenly I felt tense. What if Jack wasn't home?
What if he couldn't keep his promise, and I had to go to another place
where I wasn't welcome?

Slowly the door of the house opened; and a well-known face appeared,
looking at the taxi. I threw myself against the taxi door in my hurry to
open it, let myself fell out of the car, tripped over my own feet, jumped
the three steps to the porch, and clamped myself against Jack's broad
chest, laughing and crying at the same time. I was HOME.

Jack tenderly folded his so well-known arms around my body, and lifted me
off the ground:

"Hi, my little friend, welcome to my humble home. It's good to see you
here!"

He waited until John and John's mother arrived, and carried me to the
living room, where he tried to put me down. In vain, as I didn't dare to
let him go. What if they took me away again, as they had done in the
hospital? I planned to NEVERMORE let him go, and reinforced my grip.

Jack took me with him, and we sat down on a big leather couch:

"Trudy, please could you brew us some coffee? And John, could you try to
peel little Harry off my chest? It feels as if he won't let me go..."

John grinned, and neared me with comprehension in his eyes:

"Don't be afraid, little brother. You are safe now. They will never take
you away from Jack or me. You are now in our custody and officially my
little brother. I will defend you with my life if necessary! Now trust us,
let go of Jack, and sit down on the couch next to us."

I trusted him. Don't ask me why, but I felt an absolute trust in this
eleven-year-old boy with his warm brown eyes and his beautiful aura. He
felt like a dear friend, as if he and I already knew each other for ages. I
let Jack go and sat close to him on the couch, with John on my other side.

Trudy, John's mother, returned from the kitchen, carrying a tray with
coffee and lemonade.

I gulped my lemonade down, causing John to chuckle:

"You certainly are thirsty! Want another glass?"

He didn't have to ask twice! Trudy laughed, and went back to the kitchen to
fetch a second glass for John.

After a while Jack and Trudy started to tell me what had happened. That
morning Jack went to the hospital to bring me home, but he entered an empty
room. Nobody could or would tell him where his little friend was. After a
lot of asking and eventually yelling, Jack went home empty-handed. He
parked his car in his driveway and broke down. The children went outside to
play; and soon they found him, crying his heart out. John warned his
parents, and Jack told them his story of promising me to live with him.

Trudy immediately contacted Children's Protection Services, and fortunately
they knew about the case. She tried to convince CPS to let me live with
Jack, but as a single male and living on his own there was no chance Jack
would ever be allowed to raise a small six-year-old boy. Now Trudy offered
to take the boy into her own custody. She convinced Eric, John's father, to
sign the papers; and went to CPS to fetch me there...

Now I had a choice: did I want to live with Trudy and John, or did I prefer
to live with Jack?

"I want live with JACK! He my second dad. He my Big Friend."

I clambered onto Jack's lap, where he nearly suffocated me with tears in
his eyes...


Trudy invited us to her house, so we left Jack's home, while John asked:

"Mom, can Thomas and Chrissy eat with us? They didn't see my new brother
yet."

"Of course Thomas and Chrissy MAY eat with us. That is, if Harry agrees?"

Of course I agreed, by nodding my head. I liked my five friends, and hadn't
seen them for a couple of months while being in the hospital.

John went to Thomas's house, being four doors away; while we went to the
fifth door, being John's house. Trudy opened the door and took us to the
living room, where Mark and Marrie were sitting on the floor and playing a
game of cards. They looked at me, and froze.

Nine year old Mark opened his mouth, and didn't close it for a long
time. Eight year old Marrie looked severely shocked, and started to
cry. For a long time they stared at me, while Trudy directed me to a chair
to sit on. I felt very timid and sat down, bashfully looking at my feet;
while Trudy and Jack both left the room, promising to be back in a
minute. The room went dead silent, even Marrie stopped her sobbing.

The door opened again; and John appeared, followed by ten year old Thomas
and his seven year old sister Chrissy. They looked at me, and froze... In
silence they went to the couch and sat down, while John constantly fumbled
with his clothes.

For a long time nobody knew what to do or say, until at last a very unsure
John hesitantly broke the silence:

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen to EAT something. My stomach's rumbling."

They all stood up and followed him to the kitchen, while I remained on my
chair and silently started to sob.

Suddenly I felt two small arms around my shoulders, and when I looked up I
saw Marrie looking at me with tears in her eyes:

"You are my little BROTHER now, and I love you! Come on, dry your tears and
let's join the others."

She dragged me out of my chair, and determinedly pushed me into the
kitchen:

"Have a good look at him, all of you! He is our brother from now on, and I
want you to behave NORMAL."

Within a second all the children were around me, feeling relieved now the
uncomfortable tension was gone. They hugged me, and promised me to always
help me with everything I needed. I just had to ask...

NOW I had my five friends back! I started to smile, and Marrie motherly
dried my eyes with a sleeve of her dress. At first the children were still
a bit timid, but after a while they started to ask me hundreds of
questions. I tried to answer them, and they tried to amend my funny use of
the words and my pronunciation. Soon we were laughing together, and even
frolicking around.

Trudy and Jack returned and joined us, also answering a few questions about
me and my so strange looking face:

"I've phoned the hospital, and they told me Harry will need a lot of
operations in the future to give his face a better look. He certainly will
need all of you as his friends, to support him and safeguard him from the
nagging of the other children in town."

They all solemnly promised me to defend me with their lives, if
necessary. And I started to believe in a better future.

Trudy rummaged in the fridge, and returned with a couple of eggs and a few
tomatoes.

Immediately I jumped off my chair to try to help her:

"I want help. You green... green things to eat? Green things to in eggs?"

"Green things to eat? You mean 'vegetables'?"

"Fetch the tubles?"

Everybody started to laugh, and I felt a bit frustrated by not knowing the
right words.

Fortunately Jack tried to help me:

"They are called 'vegetables', as there is lettuce and other food with
green leaves."

"Vedgetables, okay. Now want little vedgetables with tasty, to do in eggs."

"Ahh... I think you mean 'herbs'! I'll show you some..."

Trudy went to the fridge, and I followed her. She opened it, and in triumph
I dove in it and rummaged around.

I returned with a leek, an onion, a clove of garlic, and some celery:

"This 'herbs'? I want in eggs. You give knife?"

"I think you're a bit too young to use a sharp kitchen knife?"

I looked at her in disdain:

"I cook in mountains! I big cook. No, I top cook..., I boss cook?"

"You mean you're a 'chief cook'?"

"Yes, I chief cook. Always cook food in mountains, use herbs to tasty."

I could see in Trudy's eyes she didn't really believe me, but she
hesitantly offered me a knife!

I asked for a plate, and sliced the onion and part of the leek. Then I
chopped the celery into small pieces and squashed the clove of garlic,
while Trudy looked more and more stunned. Obviously she didn't expect a
small six-year-old boy to handle a sharp kitchen knife with such a skill...

I climbed onto the sideboard, to have a look in all the cupboards. I
returned with salt, pepper, paprika powder, and something else I didn't
recognize but it smelled excellent. I put a few drops of it onto my hand,
and tasted it. Mmm, yummy!

I mingled everything together with the sliced tomatoes, added the spices,
and climbed onto a chair near the cooker:

"You give pan and thing to stir?"

Trudy offered me a saucepan and a spatula. I took the eggs, and carefully
broke them one by one. Then I mingled them with everything else and stirred
the mixture until it was ready, while a nice scent filled the kitchen and
caressed our nostrils.

"You butter toast now? Eat is ready."

They all devoured the meal with beaming faces, licking their fingers and
scraping the pan for more. Obviously I had done some good work!

Jack looked at me with a deep respect in his eyes:

"Wow, my little friend! That tasted excellent. Where did you learn to
cook?"

"In mountains. Always had small beast, stir in big fire, add herbs, then
eat."

"Could you teach me to cook like this? I always liked cooking myself, but
what you created is tasting far better!"

Now I felt proud! I looked around the table and saw John beam all over,
being elated with his little brother. Thomas looked a bit unsure, seemingly
not quite used to my devastated face. Mark looked a bit jealous, while
Marrie looked in awe with tears in her eyes. Chrissy didn't quite
understand the grown-up talk and furtively put her finger in her nose.

After the meal Jack decided to go home. We all said our goodbye's; and
Trudy hugged me, telling me I was a brave boy. She promised us to help with
everything concerning clothes and food, and we could always count on
her. John promised me to visit us later on, because he and the others had
to do some chores first.

Jack lifted me off the ground and put me onto his shoulders, and together
we went to his house. Oops, to OUR house now.


------------------------------------------


A few excerpts from all the nice emails you sent me:
This time I've received only one email. How come?
Here it is:

* I have gone to your new web site which is AWESOME. The music is very
kewl. It's all your fault I was up until 0200 reading!

Thanks for reading my story, and please send me an email...
harry@harryanders.com
Visit my NEW WEBSITE, with ALL my stories:
http://www.harryanders.com

I wish to thank the Nifty archives for hosting my stories.
When you have a few spare dimes, donate them to Nifty! They are doing a
marvelous job. (Yes, I've donated them my euros too)