Suddenly, Caine looked at Kermit and Kelly and said, "We must return to my father, now."

As he began to usher them out of the barn, he turned to Bradshaw. "Can you finish up here without us? You may use their vehicles to transport them. I will lock the cave entrance from the inside to prevent others from finding it."

Bradshaw would have preferred to return via the cave to where he and the Interpol men who had been in Ste. Adele on 'leave' had left their own cars, but Kwai Chang did not give him time to argue. Caine herded the other two around the outside of the barn to the lower-level entrance in the rear. Kermit used his flashlight, which he had retrieved with his gun and knives before leaving the upper area, to light the way for Kelly and himself.

Once inside, Caine led the way to a small storeroom to one side of the work area below the main barn. He did something, invisible to Kelly and Kermit in the dark, and a section of the rear wall swung open. He guided Kelly and Kermit through the opening and then bade them wait while he closed the door. A loud click told them the door was now locked.

The tunnel was, of course, pitch black - but not for long. Caine picked up a lantern from a shelf beside the door and lit it. The resulting light was just bright enough to safely walk. He held the lantern high so that the other two could see to follow him, and started down the tunnel.

Several times, Kelly started to ask why they had to leave the barn so quickly. She was glad to leave, but the manner of Caine's telling them to go had made her think there was a problem with her father. Being so close to having him back, she did not want him to die now. But each time she began to ask why, Caine would just say, "Be patient, all will be explained." She was getting very upset.

Kermit was also unhappy. The walk through the tunnel was easing some of the soreness in his legs, and working the arm muscles by stretching his arms in the surprisingly large tunnel was helping them, also. Still, something was bothering him; something that had bothered him at the time, but could not then be addressed; something forgotten in the turmoil of the last minutes in the barn. He finally remembered it and asked, "Kelly, how did you know the code to decrypt that file? You couldn't have seen it last night; I only came up with it this afternoon."

Before the young woman could answer, Caine answered. "I placed the answer in her mind. There was no need for you to undergo the torture necessary for Harrison to believe the file to be what he wanted. Nor was it necessary for Kelly to observe that torture."

Kermit responded with his typical sarcasm. "How thoughtful of you!"

Griffin had steeled himself for a most uncomfortable evening, knowing that it was a small price to pay for all that his friend Paul had done for him. Preventing Paul Blaisdell's list from falling into anyone else's hands was all that mattered. When he created the false file and encrypted it, he accepted the fact that he would be captured, and that Sid Harrison would find unpleasant ways to extract the key to the encrypted file from him. Harrison had to be convinced that the file he was going to decode was the real information. It had not occurred to Kermit that the young woman would have had to watch the extraction process. However…

He continued to address Kwai Chang Caine, but now with quiet anger in his voice. "And just how did you know the key? I never wrote it down, never spoke it. Where did you find it?"

"I heard it from your mind." Kwai Chang Caine's reaction was almost diffident; he knew how Kermit felt about privacy.

Kermit did not like that at all. "I thought you couldn't just read any mind. I know for damn sure I don't like the idea of you reading mine, no matter what the reason!"

Caine stopped walking and turned to face Kermit. As if explaining rain to a child, he said, "I cannot read 'just any mind.' I did not read your mind. You, in your mind, were shouting the words 'Saint Crispin' as clearly as you are now speaking to me. I was merely listening."

Griffin was a pragmatist; he accepted the magical events surrounding the Caines as easily as he accepted the terrifyingly evil and good things he had seen done. This prospect was simply not within his self-image. "Are you saying that I am -"

Caine interrupted, "Do you still have the jade dragon Doctor Cesar gave you? Jade is a powerful element--it can strengthen the link between two people. It was logical that you create a false file and encrypt it with a code from your interests. I asked the doctor to lend the figure to you, so that I could more easily pick up that code, should that be necessary. I also did not want to see you suffer unnecessarily."

Kermit was not satisfied. "Are you still saying that I sent you that key?"

Still the teacher, Caine replied, "No. We speak of the chi within us that is our vital life force. That chi is not bound within our bodies; it creates an aura about us. That aura can convey strong emotions and thoughts that can be read by someone else who is sensitive to such. Many are sensitive to others' emotions, but only a few can feel thoughts."

Kelly was listening with great interest to this lecture. "Master Caine, how did I hear your words then? Am I telepathic?"

The young woman was certainly recovering from her discomfiting mission; her question betrayed only curiosity, not the concern for privacy Griffin's had. Caine's answer respected that. "Kelly, that same aura can assist in receiving a projected thought, if the person is open, is willing to listen--as you were. Your desire to help your friend allowed you to drop your mental barriers."
"I was praying as hard as I could."

"Yes." Caine turned back to the path and continued, confident his charges would follow.

As Kermit Griffin walked and continued to work his arm and back muscles, his mind relaxed as his muscles did. An unbidden thought appeared and he chuckled loudly. "Just wait until Martin finds out what that file really is!"

Kelly Blaisdell had been brought up to understand that there would always be information to which she would not be privy, but she had also learned to recognize an opportunity to ask. And Kermit had just given her that opening. "Just what is on that disk that Harrison wanted so badly?"

"Ah, Sweetcakes…" Griffin almost told her it was not something she should worry about; but quickly changed his mind. She was too intelligent to leave it alone, and her guesses might be more unsettling than the truth. With her father soon to be returned to her, he didn't want that file to be something that would interfere with her love and regard… However, she could not be told the truth… Ahh, an answer close enough to the truth…

"Sweetcakes, that file, the real file, contains a list of contacts your father accumulated over the years--people who would help him one way or another-sometimes for a price, sometimes not."

She sighed loudly, but with a smile in her voice, "Sweetcakes? You watch that, buster!" Then she grew more serious. "But that doesn't sound like anything worth what we just went through."

"Well, whether solid citizens or just petty crooks, a list of their names would be very handy for many kinds of undercover work. But many of them are important people in their cities or countries--politicians, civic leaders. It would be embarrassing, at the least, for public to find out what they've been involved in. They certainly would be open to blackmail."

"You make it sound as if my father had been involved in illegal activities."

Whoops; this might not have been a smart substitute explanation. Perhaps if he went at it from a different direction. "Look, 'outside the law' does not necessarily mean 'wrong'. Kelly, your father is a good man. If he did anything another country might define as 'illegal,' it was always for what he believed was right. You've always trusted his sense of honor--this is part of that."

"Perhaps I'd better make sure I'm a great international lawyer, not just a good one." There was lightness behind that statement, but both men could hear a hint of sadness at having taken the next step away from childhood.

Kermit hugged her tightly. "He won't need it, but you do it anyway."

It seemed forever; it seemed a few short moments, but soon they were exiting the tunnel into the cave. The trio stopped to adjust to the brighter light and that gave Kermit a chance to ask a question. "Did you take your brother and this men through this cave and into that tunnel? Weren't you afraid they would recognize your patient?"

"No, they all knew of the cave and many of the tunnels. They did not see Paul. The overhead lights were off then and the few lanterns did not show that section of the area."

Kermit and Kelly looked at each other. The overhead lights were now on and they could see the doctor with her patient; she was just checking his vital signs and marking the results on his chart. The priest had hurried them out of the barn and through the tunnel, but now they were just standing here. What were they waiting for? Nothing seemed to have changed here. They both shrugged and went back to watching Caine.

Finally, he started forward. "Come, we are needed."

Kelly started to ask a question; Caine stopped to turn and look at the two following him. "Do not say a word except in response to a direct question." He turned again and continued toward the bed. The two looked at each other again, shrugged, then followed.

Just as the procession halted at the foot of the bed, the beep of the monitor accelerated. Kwai Chang quickly moved Kelly around to the head and motioned for her to stay there. He positioned himself beside the doctor just as Matthew hobbled up, still wearing an apron. The old man stopped across the patient from the doctor.

A moment later, Paul opened first one eye, then both. He blinked several times, adjusting to the light and then looked around in confusion. The bed had already been elevated about forty-five degrees, to help his breathing, so he did not have to lift his head to see.

He looked at each of the four people within his range as if trying to place them. Pleasure lit his face as he obviously recognized Kermit. Pleasure changed into curiosity; why was Kermit there?

Sensing that newly wakened patient was trying to speak, to ask multiple questions, Kwai Chang stepped closer to Kermit and said, "Paul, do not try to speak yet. That will come very soon. All your questions will be answered. You are healing from a head injury and a gunshot wound. "There is someone else here to see you." The apothecary gestured for Kelly to come around into her father's sight. She quickly dried her tears and moved over to her father's right side and sat on the edge of the bed.

Now Paul was even more puzzled. His gaze went from his daughter to his long-time friend and back, several times. His first response, "Laura?" was a surprise to all but Kermit.

Griffin laughed as he said, "Paul, she sure does look like her mother, but this is Kelly, your youngest daughter."

"Kelly? You…are…too…ol…grown…up…" The voice was very unsteady, but audible.

Kelly laughed. "Oh, Daddy, you always said I was too young!"

Her father smiled at that and then looked around, clearly wondering who else was present. Then he started looking around in earnest. He had definitely come to his senses, and he wanted to know why he was in a cave. Before he could formalize his question, he started to drift off to sleep.

Kelly turned to the doctor in a panic. "What happened? Is he dying?" As gentle snores reached her ears, she turned to Kwai Chang Caine with an accusing tone. "Did you do this?" She remembered Annie going to sleep at odd times, whenever Master Caine was around, at the time her father had been reported killed.

A smile played across the apothecary's lips, but the doctor answered first. "This is natural in a patient waking from a coma. He has little strength to converse. His waking times will grow longer each time. Be patient. Now, you and your friend have been through quite an ordeal, according to Matthew. I recommend you get some rest and come visit again in the morning. I do ask you to not tell your father about your mission until I tell you he is strong enough. Agreed?"

They all agreed to not talk about the weekend's activities until given permission, but Kelly shrugged off the recommendation for bed. "I have a few questions I want answered first."

Kermit agreed with her.

Matthew said, "Let us move to Angeliquè's kitchen where I have made most of the preparations for a small meal. I was interrupted by my son's call to attend Mr. Blaisdell's wakening, but it will only take a moment to finish. Come!"

Once upstairs, they fell upon a meal of clear broth, four cheeses, two kinds of bread, salad, and wine. The two adventurers were hungrier than they had admitted to themselves.

Out of respect for the food, conversation was limited to talk about Kelly's British schooling. By the time the last crumbs were gone, the story had progressed to the point of describing the schoolgirl's arrival at Ste. Adele having no idea of the adventure to follow.

"Adventure, my foot!" The anger, displaced by concern for her father and, then, politeness, had returned. She addressed Matthew, Angeliquè, and Kwai Chang. "You told me I would be held only for a little while. That I would not be in any danger. And why didn't you tell me my 'Uncle Kermit' was coming?" Her voice rose as her plaints gathered steam. "Do you have any idea how I felt watching them beat him up and then prepare to torture him?" She paused and then demanded, " Why did you have to wait so long to come?" The last was said more as a demand than a lament.

Griffin's temper flared. He addressed the older three adults. " And I want to know what you were you thinking-- to let her go in like that."

Matthew sat back and closed his eyes, letting his son answer the charge. Angeliquè moved closer to him, worried at his withdrawal, but moving herself out of the arena also. They both looked very tired. It had been a long evening.

Before Kwai Chang could answer, Kelly spoke up. "I'm not upset about that, Kermit. They weren't happy about it but I understood. Did you know that man, Harrison, had searched this house twice in the last week, looking for the disk? They were concerned that he would come back with a larger force and tear it apart, maybe hurt the doctor and Matthew, too, or whoever else was here.

"They figured that it would be better to…" She turned to the older Caine. "How did you say it? Spring their trap before they were ready?" She made eye contact with Kermit. "I agreed to be their goat, to let them think they could get the disk more easily."

Griffin responded slowly. "All right, I can accept that."

The young woman was not finished with him. With anger in her voice, she continued, "What I don't understand is how could you just give that disk away like that! You just let that monster Harrison escape with enough information to endanger people who had helped my father. Even if Daddy was really dead, I can't believe you'd do such a thing." The focus of her anger had shifted to Kermit.

And then she saw the expressions on the other faces and she understood. "You gave them a faked file? The information wasn't real?"

"Got it, sweetcakes! But now I have questions. How complete will Paul's recovery be? When will he be able to go home?"

Angeliquè responded, "Based on his responses to far, now that he's awake, we expect a full recovery, but it will take some weeks before he is strong enough to travel."

The good news relaxed any residual tension and the conversation turned to future plans.

Kelly spoke first. "I really don't have to be back at school for another week. Would it be all right if I stayed a few more days?"

Angeliquè placed her hand on top of Kelly's. "Of course. Stay all week, if you'd like. Your father will appreciate your company and so will the rest of us." She then turned to face Kermit. "You are staying also, aren't you?"

Kermit's response surprised them. "No, Ma'am. Now that I have the complete list of stops on Paul's itinerary, I intend to duplicate his path. If any of the people he met are friends, they need to know he survived. I will stop by here before I return home."

Kelly's response was immediate. "I want to come."

Kermit shook his head. "Kelly, this is no grand tour of the world and these are not people we can just walk up to and say 'Hi, I'm a friend of Blaisdell.' And, most of the time, the accommodations may not be up to your standards. You stay and help the good doctor here with your father."

Kermit stood. "Now, I'm going to bed. This has been a busy weekend. Angeliquè, Master Caine, Master Caine, Kelly." He bowed to each as he spoke. "Thank you for everything. Goodnight."

They all stood and hugged each other and went to bed.

Before dawn, Kermit woke. Before he left the house, he stopped by the cave. As he suspected, Kwai Chang was standing by the sleeping Paul. "How's he doing?"

"He is sleeping well, the body signs are improving steadily, and his chi is stronger as each hour passes. I will give him your regards when next he wakes."

Kermit nodded at that. "Will you be here when I return?"

Caine nodded slowly. "I will be here as long as Paul needs me. Then, we will see." He shrugged and Kermit laughed.

"All right. I'm on my way." Kermit turned and left. Within fifteen minutes, he was in his car and leaving Ste. Adele.

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