CALM MIST danced slowly in panoramic Huntington Lake with three floatplanes in the edge of the dark water. The dinner table was placed in the front lawn with both Capt. and Mrs Howdy at both ends; Troy had even dressed them up earlier for the occasion in loud coloured clothes. The candlelit table was filled with cooked food—the baby-moose meat in various dishes.

Reeves and True Bob sat at one end and across was Troy beside two empty seats. The front door of the house opened—Joe led a blindfolded giggling Laura out. Troy lighted the candles on a simple fruit cake with thirteen candles on it.

After the night they had rescued the comatose Laura from LA, they had stopped at a drug store and a mart and bought some medical supplies for their injuries, groceries and beers with the money Joe robbed from the hospital's night auditor before their returning to their lake-house hideout.

Laura reached the table and Joe removed her blindfold and she laughed while everyone sang her a birthday song. "Mimi, make a wish and blow the candles!" Joe hurried her.

She smiled at everyone present. "I've got everything that I can wish for—now guys, I am going to wish that all of your own wishes come true!" She blew the candles, they clapped. Laura sat and commented shamefacedly...

"I am 30 today, why so few candles?"

It was Troy's idea and he told her, "we decided to celebrate your 13th birthday tonight and we will celebrate your 14th when we get you into Canada."

She laughed in delight and Joe then added in gusto. "Then a birthday every weekend until we hit your 30th —after that Mimi, you are on your own—and we have to follow the calendar and wait for your own 31st"

Joe also has decided to call her Mimi so that he can be compeer to Reeve—because they both know each other for the longest time since their Wesleyan days.

Laura stood up. "You are all so sweet, thank you so much," she went around the table hugging and kissing everyone except True Bob who doesn't like to be hugged—he shook her hand instead.

True Bob took a six-pack of beers hidden under the table and joined the merry, "Here is something I saved for the occasion!" Everyone cheered. "You are awesome Chief," said Joe before he turned to Laura, "by the way, the cake was mine." True Bob mocked back, "but I hid it or else we would not have a birthday cake, right Fat-boy?"

Reeves was silently observing the group. Laura's easing presence has made them all less tensed—and more coddled and jovial—but he still felt they should hit the road and start moving at first-light once the party had ended—For the moment, he too wanted to kick back and enjoy Laura's birthday— but more as the silent observer sort, which was of his nature.

True Bob was laughing as he placed a beer in front of each guy and he heard Laura. "I want a beer too, Truman—I am now old enough to drink, am I not?"

Troy intervened, chuckling. "No, not yet, you are just 13, remember? Furthermore, we don't know what meds you have been on so far and whether alcohol will affect you. But you can steal a sip or two from us.

Laura looked at Reeves who was in thoughts, she reached across the table and held his hand...

"Reeves, why are you so quiet?"

Joe decided to answer on his behalf. "That is Reeves—he doesn't say much, but when he does—everybody better listen!" Everyone laughed.

Laura noticed some similarity, "That is so like my Dad—he does not say much too and he hardly spoke to any of us at home," she squeezed Reeves' palm, "Come on dear, talk to me, tell me about your school days. I heard you studied in a research facility called ...err, something University".

Reeves was unenthusiastic about his old school but he shared, knowing that Laura too had stopped schooling at the age of twelve after her accident...

"Yeah, Wesleyan, Joe and I grew up there too—they researched on us like some orphaned Rhesus monkeys."

"That is Mighty Joe Young!" True Bob persiflage while pointing at Joe and pounding his own chest like Kong. After the laughs, Joe looked up and he corrected his fellow Wesleyan ilk...

"Come on, things were not bad over there compared to Tombscradle, okay. In fact, the director of Wesleyan, Ms Tina Martin, she likes Reeves a lot—that MILF has got the hots for him too—and she winks at Reeves each time she passed by him." The tubby droll laughed aloud alone.

"Anything that comes out of your fat mouth is always bullshit," True Bob said in disbelief, and Reeves seconded, "yeah, shut up, Joe—eat your cake!"

Joe was back into his storytelling mood, recollecting the good old days...

"Hey all was good at the Wesleyan but Reeves here wanted to follow his heart—there was this freakin' tall-assed 12-foot wall behind the school, and he wanted to always jump over and run away—because he always felt that there was a family waiting for him outside."

Joe turned to Laura, "Mimi, Reeves always believed you existed somewhere out there, and refused to accept the fact that we were orphans in that place."

Laura's grip got tighter on Reeve's hand—she wiped her tear, hearing the overweight boy narrate more. "Now after all these years, he found you in LA—but now—we have his uncle on our tail." He was self-humoured again.

"You mean Roberta?" said Laura—only her tomboy sister could fit that description.

"What was your sister Roberta like when she was growing up?" Troy Norton was curious and so were the rest in the OGA cell group...

"She always wanted to be a boy in the family and she hated girls in school. Even the boys were afraid of her and she beats up anyone who bullied her," she told in between giggles.

"Here is the evidence, guys," Joe pointed at the black eye on Reeves, and guffawed.

"Shut up, Fat-boy, let Laura speak here!" Troy interrupted him, and Laura recollected her thoughts and said, "hmm. She was quite rebellious at home and fearless in school—yes, my Mum had a tough time with her, same with the teachers in school too.

"But the only time I saw her really afraid was when in the car—our car was at the edge and was about to plunge down and Robbie was so afraid to get out. I had to force her out before the car dropped, I think—after that, I can't remember much. Now after realizing that I was in a coma for almost 20 years but deep inside me, I always felt Robbie was with me all the while."

'Someone paid her medical bill all those years in Columbus when she was in a coma—and it had to be Roberta and that other person whom Laura referred in other conversations as her Aunt Flo,' Reeves thought.

"We only wish that she was compassionate to 'others' in that same way," said Troy and Laura nodded and added, "Yes, it seems that she had changed since you told me that she is now a ruthless cop."

Reeves was upset that now that Troy has put thoughts into her at such a preamble stage. He knew that Laura has been closest with Troy since her coming back out of her coma. They were together talking for hours while he was helping True Bob in preparing the birthday dinner—they might have been privy and talked more than they should.

Reeves raised his voice to Troy, "did you tell her that, Troy?"

"She needs to know both sides of her sister, Reeves."

Reeves grew more agitated and argued. "She just got out of the coma—why tell her all this, man?" Laura hindered back...

"Reeves, it is okay—I wanted to know it too."

Reeves still felt it was not right—but it was pointless talking anything to them because they will not understand the things like him.

He stood up and tossed his sniper rifle over his shoulder and walked into the dark, heading to the forest. Joe echoed after sighing to Laura...

"This is the part of him that always confuses us—he gets angry for no good reason." Troy too was baffled in wonderment of his action that short-lived the celebration.

She nodded back with worried eyes. "Let me go and talk to him." The rest of the team saw Laura running after Reeves. Joe shrugged his shoulders with platitude...

"Mother knows best. Chief, you know me better, right? Now give me another beer."

**

Reeves left the table because he wanted some alone time now. His emotions were overwhelming with the guilt of snatching her undeserving from the killer-cop Roberta Jensen. The latent thought of encountering the killer cop in LA was finally deranging him—and felt more fear which made his hands slightly trembling. He also left because he did not want the guys seeing him shedding some tears. He felt like an ostracized orphan once again because of his inscrutable nature of a loner—who in the past used to sit and contemplate his decisions to jump over the wall to pursue freedom—which now has a price tag to pay—Roberta Jensen will definitely kill him the next time they meet.

He was not alone now after seeing Laura calling him, and coming from the rear in the dark. He decided to not walk the uphill path into the forest—instead, they walk at the edge on the hillock by the lake coastline...

"Reeves, don't be angry with Troy. He told me because I was the one who asked him about Robbie." Reeves kept pacing without responding until she dragged on his elbow. "Come on, stop! I can handle it, Reeves. I know you made a tough decision to get me in LA before you brought me here!"

"Yes, but you knew your sister all your life, Laura—she took care of you and all for the last 20 years while you were in the coma—but you just knew that I existed for the past 24 hours!"

Reeves decided not to call her Mimi because he felt the undeserving guilt...

He continued saying. "Did you know that when we brought you here two nights ago, you were still in a coma and the next day, I wanted to send you back because I keep hearing Roberta's voice in my head screaming that I might kill you because of your medical conditions."

He was still undecided if that was the right choice when he abducted her; more tears welled...

Laura grabbed on Reeves both upper arms and she rambled back affectingly...

"Stop now, listen to me, Reeves—I am so glad that I am out of the coma and I am grateful that you took me away from that hospital so that now I can meet you—the son whom I never knew I had...

"I am sorry dear, I don't know anything about motherhood—but I am so glad to be here with you and knowing what a great man you had turned out to be—your friends over there love you too and I love you even more." Laura hugged him briefly...

"If your grandmother was here, she would love you even more than me."

After hearing Joe saying earlier that Reeves has wanted to escape from Wesleyan so that he can search for her, Laura now understood what it was like to be an orphan to him—torn by the circumstances that he was born as an Intersexual and coupled by the hardship he had endured with the rest of his friends to come this far to rescue her.

Laura was in tears of gratitude...

"I don't know what happened to me while in the coma in Ohio—but I feel my Aunt Flo should not have given you away for adoption. So don't feel bad about your past, Reeves—and please, for once I want to hear you call me 'Mum,' do it for me, and say that you love me too."

It was hard but he finally uttered softly. "Mum...I love you." Laura hugged him tighter and then kissed both his cheeks—they both cried...

Reeves wiped his tears away...

"But Mimi, you still have an option before we all hit the road tomorrow—if you ever want to change your mind, you can always go back to your sister Roberta because the road that we are going to take to Canada is highly risky and dangerous."

"Robbie can only have me either in coma or dead—and now I want to be with you, Reeves! Take me where ever you go. Let's start our lives fresh once we get to Canada!"

Still remembering the dream that woke her up from her deep sleep which told it all as an omen. Her once obstinate sister has now grown into a selfish and ruthless monster-cop who will stop at nothing to get things her mulish way, regardless of the needs and wants of others

They both hugged once again before some deviating sounds descended from the moonless skies. They looked up at two Apache choppers coming from a distance. Reeves throat closed-in to the building panic from within, and he forced himself to say...

"She has found us; your sister is here..."

*

They looked up terrified at the approaching helicopters from the lawn of the lake-house. Joe was hollering out. "Fuck! Choppers!" They started to put off the candles on the table. True Bob cleared the plates of food, tossing them into a nearby shrub while Troy knocked the empty beer cans off the table...

"Quick, let's get into the house!" cried Joe next but Troy was at odds with Joe's suggestion. "No, they can detect us!"

Troy had learned about the sophisticated heat detector scanning device in those choppers that can register the heat radiated even if it was from a tiny kitten under a roof.

True Bob hollered to them. "The cellar!" His only regret was that his rifle was inside the house. "Not there, I hate that place!" Joe disputed. Bob gripped the protesting Joe's collar and he dragged him to the underground door of the cellar.

"We have no choice. Come in, Joe!"

True Bob looked around and knew that their rides were safe—out of aerial sight and the engines were stone-cold to any heat sensor detection. It was also a wise decision by Reeves earlier that they did not set up a bonfire like the Jamaicans did, as suggested by Joe—Troy then opted to a candlelight setting for that celebration.

"What about Reeves and Laura?" asked the concerned Troy Norton gaping at the dark lake. He heard the half-Cherokee's intense response from behind...

"Reeves will know what to do—you too, come in, Troy!"

*

The two helicopters with high beamed searchlights swept the lake on that dark moonless night. One of the choppers then separated and emitted the light beam into the forest. Reeves and Laura ran between the forest trees by the lake coast with the searchlight trailing behind them. The other chopper strafed above the three floatplanes—it salvo a rocket missile that destroyed the planes.

Outside at the lake-house, True Bob opened the storm cellar door and stepped in. Joe and Troy stood fixated at the explosion at the lake. "There goes The Lady of the Lake," Joe cried out and Troy Norton had both palms on his head.

He still has some emotional attachment to that sexy-plane which he had intended to someday learn to fly.

"Come on, the two of you!"

Two Bob yelled back before landing into more than two feet of murky water that flooded the cellar—where underground water of the lake has seeped in from the cracks on the cellar's concrete floor.

Joe followed next while he swiped his hand over his apprehensive face. "Fucking mosquitoes! Don't tell me that there are rats down here too!"

"Shut up, Fat fuck! Troy, get in quick!" hollered Bob, and Troy jumped in next and shut close the cellar door.

*

The chopper flew over and it fired another missile that destroyed both the cabins where the Jamaican once occupied. The abrasive searchlight then covered the main lake-house compound—it shone on the dinner table with the Howdys at both the table ends. The pilot gazed at the skeletons below, she made a mental-movie from her own imagination...

"That is one freaky sight—I presume they were having dinner before they died during the last days of the Medusa...I wonder what were their last words?"

The co-pilot responded back, "Yeah, a really sad 'Kathryn Bigelow' story, now go over now to the main house, Betty, I wanna use the thermo-heat scan!" The chopper hovered on top of the house with the harsh light-beam dropping on the roof. The co-pilot checked her tablet with terminal heat sensors to detect for any human activity beneath...

*

The rotor sounds were deafening; True Bob glanced at the searchlight coming through the cracks of the cellar door, he alerted them on what was taught in the Mojave Desert a couple of months ago on how to avoid the heat detection scans...

"Everyone, now you need to go underwater and hold your breath as long as you can!"

The trio followed their textbook procedure by taking a deep breath—and submerged into the filthy water with floating debris and coal pieces.

*

Reeves and Laura ran among the trees in the coastal forest. The terrains were tougher to move fast with the uphill gradient. The ominous chopper was above—closing in on them with the beam of the bright light above the treetops. The co-pilot got some reading on her tablet—she briefly glimpsed at two red-dots moving beneath...

"Hey look, I am getting some reading—something's moving down there!"

The lethargic pilot flew past the trees, remarking. "Probably some wild furry animal running scared!" But the co-pilot persisted...

"Turn back Rita, let me reconfirm!"

Reeves glanced up at the chopper that begun to circle back. He was panting, "Mimi, we gotta get to the lake now!" Reeves pointed at a long slope that was inclining downwards...

"We got to slide down through there—it is the fastest way below. We can't let them heat scan us!"

Reeves was the first to slid downhill on the slope on his butts. Laura followed slanting from the back. Both the mother and son landed, plunging into a foot deep of sludge. They then held hands and ran towards the dark lake. Reeves kept cranking his neck back at the chopper that returned back and begun scanning the forest top...

It was unfortunate that they were at the side of the lake where there were hundreds of logged timbers floating on the water shore. Reeves dropped his sniper rifle down near a boulder, hopped on a nearby floating log. He reached his muddy hand out to Laura; she grasped to join him on the unstable log. They have to cross about a dozen hewed floating trees before they can get to the lake water. They both skipped from one drifting wood to the next...

*

The Apache was still scanning the main lake-house. The three rebels in the cellar resurfaced for a quick deep breath. They plunged back underwater again. Joe got terrified by seeing rats swimming on the water surface above his face. He panicked but Two Bob and Troy pinned him down underwater.

The co-pilot looked at blank x-ray result of the house with no heat signatures on her tablet. She wrapped up the search and destroy task at the lakes...

"It's a negative—blow it up, Betty, we don't it to be a hideout for the terrorists. Let's go, we got other places to cover!"

The pilot depressed a button and a missile rocked and exploded the house. The impact of the blast erupted the surroundings—the fancy-dressed Howdy skeletons were scattered away into broken up bits by the effect. The chopper flew over to join with the other Apache that was still searching the forest...

*

He peeked at the second chopper heading towards them. Both the mother and son were a few logs away from the lake water. Reeves moved in caution, his eyes peered at the body of water ahead—he released Laura's hand go so that she can have better control of balance on her own. She was now on the log ahead of him while instantly, he slowed down. He then jumped on the next timber in a scurry, he missed his footing...

Reeves lost his balance—he plunged in between two logs. Laura shrilled out his name when both the logs converged. Reeves could not struggle with the mass weight of the emerging timbers. Picking up her courage alone, Laura hopped on the last few logs; she stood on the last timber and looked up at the approaching chopper's stark searchlight flaring behind her. She dove into the cold water a split second before the light reached to sweep on her...

Laura was now underwater, and swam in the murky beneath the floating logs—she spotted Reeves who was in his last moments of struggling in his panic-fright, trying desperately to find any gap between the compacted rowed of woods— he hopelessly sank under the black water because he can't swim...

He was out of the air and began to lose consciousness. He sank down towards the bed like a heavy sponge. Laura dropped below and clenched onto his shirt collar. She kicked hard towards the surface while dragging Reeves up with her.

Their splashing heads emerged above the lake surface.

Laura looked up in precaution and saw both the helicopters soaring away after completing their rebel search mission. She swam to the shore hauling her unconscious son while assuring him in between gasping out at him...

"Oh, my baby—hang on, Reeves!"

*

The storm cellar door unbolted, Troy was the first to rung out adroit with burning shingle bits falling from above. The maladroit Joe followed out slowly, he exclaimed in high pitch voice.

"Fuckin' A! You saw the size of the rats on the water—they were as fat as cats!"

True Bob the last one out, pushed him to step out of the burning cellar. "Okay-okay, you finally saw another fat pussy like you—now get the fuck moving!"

They agape at the fiery inferno—and the old lake-house structure tilted to the side. Burning tiles crashed into the garage roof; Joe's heart was in his throat for a second before he squealed out again. "Oh no! My wife! My baby!" He ran ahead and opened the garage door with True Bob following behind him. Troy began running alone towards the lake, he was concerned about Laura and Reeves out there.

True Bob noticed more burning debris falling into the caved-in garage roof. It had landed on the backseat of Joe's 'wife'—the Mustang GT convertible. It burned the mattress on the backseat placed a day earlier. Bob rushed in to help remove the flaming mattress. Joe released the hand brake and with Bob, they rolled the car out fast before the whole house crumbled like a deck of cards onto the garage behind them.

Joe laughed out delighted that his car was saved. True Bob squinted, feeling the alacrity of the inferno's swiftness—the blazing house structures rapidly was reduced to ground level in front of them.

*

Troy raced by the lakeshore, and he found Laura giving mouth to mouth CPR to revive Reeves. She was pumping his diaphragm. "Come on, baby, come on..." Reeves eventually threw up a mouthful of the choking water and he coughed violently. She cradled his head, kept slapping his back.

"You are okay, darling—take a deep breath through your mouth, you will be fine."

Troy stood beside them speechless—Reeves was right all along by his verisimilitude instinct that by remaining in the lake was just an invitation to danger for all of them—and he too nearly drowned and died.

Troy squinted at the two choppers flying far away after their incursion. Both the whirlybirds were reduced to glowing red blinking dots in the dark night. He turned back to see the burning houses, then at the sinking floatplanes in the lake.

One of it with the nude artwork on the side of the plane—The Lady of the Lake, smiled the last time at him before she submerged below water.