The Legend of Safehaven by R. A. Comunale Page A

his head at his friend.
    “What skeletons did you drag out for that?”
    Galen stared at him with haunted eyes and replied, “Some of my own.”
     
    The tall young man in captain’s uniform ran to his wife and surrounded her tightly with his arms on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base, southeast of Washington, D.C. He was elated, but he was no longer the happy soul who had left her. She could see the look of pain relived in his eyes, and she held him tightly as well.
     
    “Galen, it’s Jim Connors. We’ve done what we can. He’ll look human again.”
    The surgeon’s voice cracked, as he asked his old teacher the unanswerable question: “Why does a just and merciful God allow men to do this to children?”
    Galen hesitated a second before replying. He remembered another time, another war, when children suffered for men’s hatred.
    “It wasn’t God, Jim, it was Shaitan.”
     
    The doctor removed the boy’s bandages, and he brought his hands once more to his face: long, delicate fingers touched lips, nose, and ears. Then he felt the prosthetic eye globes now housed in the empty sockets, a pretense of the reality of sight. He began to cry, but there were no tears. There never would be again.
     
    The table held three guests that evening, as the children sat down for their dinner and discussion of the day’s events. Galen, Edison, and Nancy had told them that Sergeant Castle, Officer Douglass, and his wife Diana would be there to talk about something that would affect them all. The adults had agreed that this decision should involve the youngsters.
    Carmelita was fifteen now, Freddie nearly fourteen, and Tonio almost thirteen—old enough to contribute their unique outlook as adolescents.
    Galen stood, after they all had filled themselves with Nancy’s gourmet meal. He surveyed the eight around the table then addressed the children.
    “I’ve already told you about Officer Douglass and his tour of duty in Iraq. And I’ve told you about the young boy who was severely injured by the bomb blast. Here’s what we know about him. He’s about twelve. His name is Faisal Fedr, and he’s lost everything: his mother, his father, his dog, his home—and his eyesight. He has no living relatives, so Mr. and Mrs. Douglass are planning to adopt him.
    “He’s just gone through major reconstructive surgery. The doctors have fixed him up on the outside. But on the inside, his soul and mind need help.
    “Your tio and tia and I have talked it over, and we’d like to have him stay at Safehaven to recuperate.
    “You are nearest in age to him, so he would spend the most time with you. That’s why we want to know what you think.”
    The children looked at one another. They were smart enough to understand what their tio hadn’t said: They, too, had been lost and then found.
    Nine years ago Galen, Edison, and Nancy had rescued them on Bald Head Island then adopted them and brought them here to live at Safehaven. Memories of their parents, Sandoval and Felicita, of their birthplace in Cuba, and of their harrowing journey across the water, had been steadily fading. This was now their home, and they loved their guardians.
    Carmelita was first to reply.
    “Tio Galen, does he speak or understand English?”
    Galen turned to Douglass, who answered for him.
    “Yes, the town where he lived was multilingual, and many residents spoke English fluently. But he hasn’t said anything since the blast.”
    Then Freddie piped up.
    “What does he like, I mean…”
    He hesitated at the awkwardness of his question.
    “What did he like to do before this happened?”
    Douglass again answered.
    “He was just a normal, bright kid, according to the neighbors. He excelled in one area. Even the local imam, the holy man, said Faisal had been blessed with a talent for music.”
    He paused, remembering the last notes of the polonaise, just as the blast erupted.
    Galen waited for one more voice to be heard.
    Tonio looked at his favorite tio.
    “He