Chapter 1 - GO NORTH
Ben continued his northward trek, each place he stopped, he healed those in need. Slowly, he gathered a group of teen boys who had found themselves on their own, either abandoned or ejected from their families. He healed those who had been hurt and calmed those who had been abused, each one of the 10 boys traveling with him loved Ben in the way brothers love one another.
Some were a bit older than Ben, but Ben was their Leader and, over time, they all had discovered what Ben was. Each place they stopped, the boys spread out and gathered those who needed Ben and brought them to him. They considered themselves to be Ben's assistants.
They had walked northwards and had paused in their trek along the banks of the Sacramento River to rest for a few days as they had been "on the road" for several weeks. The water was clean and a few of the boys were cooling off in the water as an escape from the intense summer heat, they were engaging in water horseplay like any group of young boys.
As they were splashing each other, Peter, an older teen, heard someone crying and went in search of the sound. There, along the bank, hidden by a clump of willows were two boys, obviously twins, about 12 years old holding each other and crying.
He went to the boys and held them in his arms, they both screamed and tried to get away from Peter. Peter held them fast as he spoke to them in a calm voice, just as he had seen Ben do to calm a frightened child.
The twins were nearly hysterical, screaming, "Don't hurt us. Please don't hurt us anymore!"
He held them and spoke soothingly to them, trying to quiet their fears. Peter finally got them calmed a bit and he asked, "Who hurt you, why are you so frightened?"
One twin replied, "Our Daddy hurt us, he did nasty things to us and made us bleed. We runned away last night and are afraid he will find us."
An uneasy Peter asked, "Where are you bleeding?"
Both boys pointed to their bottoms and began crying even harder.
Now, thoroughly alarmed, Peter called to the boys nearby, "Go get Ben, HURRY!"
Davie was the next oldest boy and his long legs carried him to Ben before the other boys could get there. Out of breath, Davie gasped, "Hurry, boys hurt and bleeding!"
Ben ran in the direction Davie had come from, fearing the worst.
He found Peter sitting on the riverbank holding two young boys, they both had their faces pushed into Peter's neck, shaking and sobbing.
Ben sat down quietly beside the three and waited patiently until the sobbing had subsided. He then said, "I am Ben, Michael has sent me to care for you."
The two boys' eyes got big, "You are a Saint?"
Ben smiled and replied, "No, I am just a boy like you, but I work for Saint Michael."
The two boys finally told Ben what had happened to them and that they were bleeding. One twin showed him his blood-soaked trousers.
Ben stood, his anger blazing in his eyes as he pulled his Great Sword from his back and passed it over the two boys, touching each of their foreheads. The twins looked up and saw a huge being standing where Ben had stood, he had a shining helmet with red bars on its sides and he was dressed for war, "IN THE NAME OF SAINT MICHAEL the ARCH ANGEL, THIS SHALL NOT BE. THESE ART MINE CHILDREN, LET THOSE WHO WOULD HURT THEM BEWARE MINE AWFUL WRATH!"
He again passed his sword over the two boys and they were healed.
The twins were so relieved that they no longer hurt and had pain, they forgot to be afraid. As Ben reappeared beside them, they ran to him and Ben hugged and kissed them before sending them over to the other boys and the basket of food.
As Ben was standing there, watching two happy boys wolf down sandwiches and drink canned lemonade, he felt something behind him.
He turned around, it was Peter on his knees, "Great Warrior...... Iiiii eeeer please Great Warrior, allow me to help you in your tasks, those boys and all like them, please I want to help."
Peter was beginning to cry, he wanted so much to help Ben.
Ben reached down and lifted Peter to his feet. As Ben lifted Peter, a white light settled over him and when it lifted, Peter had a silver bracelet on his wrist that bore the Red Bar of Recognition and a silver Caduceus was pinned to his shirt collar.
The boy looked at Ben and said, "Lord Great Warrior, lead me and I shall follow."
The group decided to spend the night camped on the riverbank and the next morning Peter said, "Lord Warrior Healer Ben, we must go west, to the coast. We are needed in the place of the tall trees. We must hurry, the need is great!"
Ben had seen too much not to believe what Peter had said, so they crossed the river at the next bridge and started walking towards the coast.
When, at last after many days of walking, they came upon a highway that had the numbers 101 on the road signs, Peter shouted, "North, now North we must go!"
After a number of days, they began to see enormous trees along the highway, the signs called them Giant Redwood Trees. They passed a place called "Avenue of the Giants", but they felt no call to remain in that place, the need was still north.
Peter kept telling them to hurry, boys were in danger, boys were hurting every time someone suggested they stop and rest. The further north they went, the stronger the urge became.
After several weeks, they reached the village of Klamath and they had to stop. They were out of supplies and they were footsore and weary.
Peter was becoming frantic, "We are called, we are called to, to a place called wreck!"
The owner of a small shop heard the boy's frantic-sounding statement and he asked, "Do you mean Requa, perhaps?"
Peter replied, "Maybe, yes, I just know boys are hurting there, boys are in trouble, boys who NEED Ben!"
The store owner, Jim Foster, knew what was in Requa and WHO." He asked, "Is one of you a Great Warrior?"
Ben stood wearily and said, "Sir, I am a Great Warrior Healer and Peter here is my Cadet."
Jim Foster bowed deeply and replied, "Great Warrior, both my sons were rescued by those of Requa Inn Refuge for Boys and I was allowed to adopt them. Let me call them to us."
He turned and let out a piercing whistle. Immediately, two teen boys came running from the inside of the store. "Yes, Papa, You called us?"
"Joe, David, get the van out and take these boys to Requa, this one is a Great Warrior!" He pointed to Ben and both boys bowed deeply, Joe replied, "Lord Great Warrior, we will take you there at once!"
David was bringing the van around from the back and Joe opened the sliding door, asking the group to get in."
As soon as the boys left, Jim was on the telephone, "There is trouble at Requa, let's ride!" A group of men converged on Jim Foster's store and a Deputy Sheriff drove up and opened the door to the squad car, allowing the men to cram inside.
As soon as everyone was in the car, he took off with red lights and siren.
David had a "feeling" all was not right, and he crammed the gas pedal to the floor as he raced the few miles up the highway to the Requa turnoff. He took the turn on two wheels and flew down the ravine to the Boys' Hotel.
The need was awful, there had been an accident on the Sailing Boat, "MICHAEL" and 20 boys had been hurt, it had taken them two days to get back from their voyage and they were just now carrying the hurt boys from the vessel.
Ben's Great Warrior rose and he called out, "BRING THE HURT BOYS TO ME!"
The boys had been carried into the lobby of the Boys' Home and were waiting treatment in the dispensary. Ben and Peter were working feverishly, healing boys who had been mangled by the falling boom.
While Ben was busy healing a boy with a crushed spine, Peter was brought a boy more dead than alive. His injuries were enough to make the stones weep, there was no hope, Peter knew he could not heal the boy. He prayed as he had never prayed before, "Mighty Saint Michael, I cannot, I have not the knowledge, nor the power to heal this child."
Suddenly, Peter felt a calm come over him and a voice said to him, "MINE OWN SON, I WILL GUIDE THEE!"
He felt a great sword placed in his hands as he was guided to pass the sword over the injured boy. While they all watched, the child's injuries healed and he fell into a deep, healing sleep.
There, standing at Peter's side was Saint Michael the Arch Angel, his great wings spread in protection over Peter and the small boy who had just been healed. Saint Michael's voice came booming, "MINE DEAR PETER, THOU HAST HEALED THIS CHILD, THOU ART MINE HEALER!"
The Great Warrior of God placed a helmet upon Peter's head, its Red Bars of Recognition shining brightly on the silver surface and a Sword appeared on Peter's back, with a silver Caduceus fastened to the pommel.
He placed his arm around Peter and Ben as he said, "MINE GREAT WARRIORS HEALER, TARRY HERE, THOU ART NEEDED IN THIS PLACE."
The Angel walked over to Jim Foster and placed his hand on Jim's head, "THOU ART MINE ALSO, JAMES FOSTER, THOU ART MINE GREAT WARRIOR. MAKE THIS PLACE THINE OWN, THOU ART NEEDED HERE."
Jim began to grow, his great sword on his back glowing with a fire of its own. God's Own Warrior turned to those assembled before him and said, "THE BATTLE DRAWS NIGH, SATAN'S FIENDS HATH BEEN LOOSENED ON THEE. ASSEMBLE AND DO BATTLE MY GREAT WARRIORS, THY TIME HAS COME."
As the Warrior Angel faded from sight, two Great Warriors were seen standing there, Edwin Ross and Billy Thomas, the two who had guided the boys since the time of James and Terry.
Edwin said, "Greetings Fellow Warriors and be welcome. We rejoice that you are to assist us in protecting these boys."
Chapter 2 - THE WAR FOR SOULS
They got all the boys fed and in bed for the night, the five Great Warriors sat around the table in deep discussion.
Billy said, "I checked the ship, the wreck was not an accident! Something crashed the side of the Michael and stove in the planks, there is a hole in the side of the ship."
Edwin said, "We must prepare for whatever is to come. First thing in the morning, I shall ask for help from the local Reserve Center. They have assisted us in the past."
Jim said, "I will ask our local support group to come and assist us."
Joe and David Foster were standing behind their father, Jim, and Joe spoke up, "We can call for assistance from the local boys, they will come if we call them."
Edwin asked, "When?"
Joe replied, "I can get them here this night." The adults all replied, "DO IT!"
Joe and David took off in their father's van and, before midnight, they had forty teens there, all armed with hunting rifles and baseball bats. These boys were all woodsmen, trained by their fathers in hunting and survival skills, the kind that meant one bullet for one squirrel! They immediately spread out and spent the night protecting Requa Inn Refuge for Boys.
It would be many nights before any of them saw their own beds again.
The next morning found Edwin in Eureka waiting for the Commanding Officer of the Naval Reserve Training Center to arrive. The minute he did, the two were closeted in the officer's office.
The Yeoman Petty Officer was called in and then he got on the telephone making calls to Marine and Navy Reservists who would be willing to come help protect the boys at Requa Inn.
He then made a call to his counterpart at the Army Reserve Training Center and they started working the telephones.
By early afternoon, there were seventy-five Marine, Navy and Army Reservists headed to Requa.
Rumors were flying around about who or what was threatening them, the most likely was the group of porn producers who had been broken up in Portland, Oregon. It had been a "Kiddie Porn" operation and the ring leaders had escaped when the authorities had raided the place. The rumors said that the group was immensely wealthy and had tremendous resources at their disposal.
Edwin asked Jim Foster to take command of the security effort and Jim immediately started assigning shifts and squads to man the gate and patrol the perimeter fence.
Retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Conrad Doane had retired from his job with the boys, but still lived in the house they had given him when he had been their mentor, he had retained the title the boys of long ago had given him, Grandpa Conrad. He was an old sailor and worried about the unprotected cove that was part of Requa Inn Refuge for Boys.
He suggested to Jim that he place armed guards on the pier.
Retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Floyd Daniels had moved in with Conrad after his boys had left to be on their own and he rounded up the older boys living at Requa Inn. He told them they were going to have to watch over the younger boys during the emergency so that the Great Warriors and those who had come to help could concentrate on protecting them all.
The first probes came that same night when a power boat came speeding into the cove and three men jumped off onto the pier. Joe and David Foster were there with a dozen local boys from the area who had volunteered to help.
As the thugs ran down the pier towards the Refuge, they were surrounded by swinging baseball bats. Before they had taken twenty steps, all three were laid out on the dock, unconscious.
David rolled a couple of large rocks off the pier into the power boat and they smashed through the hull, putting two more thugs in the water. Joe threw them a rope and they were brought up on the pier looking like drowned rats. The array of bats convinced them to surrender!
The Sheriff's Department had to send a bus to take all the invaders to jail by way of the County Hospital.
They paired an older boy from the local area with each Reservist as they guarded the perimeter and the cove.
After several nights of repulsing attackers, there was a pause. Nobody thought the danger was over, so they patrolled every night anyway. What they did not know was they were being observed and the watchers saw that the local boys went home each morning and the reservists slept in the bunkrooms during the day.
On the morning three days later, four large trucks crashed the front gate and drove down the ravine to The Refuge. They were met at the front door by Four Great Warriors, Edwin, James, Ben and Peter and they were all angry.
In less time than of the telling, all the thugs were laid out on the driveway, unconscious and the trucks they came in were no longer able to operate.
They could hear sirens coming down the highway, the local sheriff and his deputies were on their way. When they arrived, they found the four men looking at the stricken thugs, who were just them coming around. They told the deputies that they had been attacked by giants with flaming swords and silver helmets.
One deputy was heard saying, "Yeah and I can walk on water, too!"
Those that knew, said nothing but all the local boys knew that one of their own had become a Great Warrior, Jim Foster!
That was not the last they saw of the movie thugs, porno movies were big money. The thugs tried several more probes that were total failures and the thugs themselves were guests of the county jail for several years.
Finally, one of the owners of the movie business decided he would lead the thugs to destroy these upstarts that dared confront him. He got as far as the front porch of the Administration Building when Jim Foster rose before him as a Great Warrior. He placed his sword upon the man's forehead and said, "THOU HAST DONE ALL THOU CAN DO, YOU ARE FINISHED!"
The man was struck mute and was never able to speak again, he died in prison, still unable to speak.
Jim Foster and his two sons, Joe and David, moved onto the grounds of Requa Inn Refuge for Boys and they spent the remainder of their lives in defense of homeless boys.
Things quieted down and the local boys returned to their homes to get ready to return to school, their summer vacation was nearly over. A group of them, led by Joe and David Foster, invited the older boys from the Refuge to go on a camping trip before school started.
The boys were excited and they raced around, collecting sleeping bags and fishing poles; they were headed into the coastal mountains nearby and would be gone for a week. Joe had their Father's van and David had borrowed a van from one of the deputies for the trip.
They departed from the Refuge early one morning, to the envious eyes of their younger brothers, and headed up the back roads to Wilson Peak. It was slow driving, the road was winding around the canyons and peaks; they had to ford several fast-moving streams as they headed ever higher.
They finally reached their destination, Amber Meadow, so called because the grass turned an amber color in the fall.
They built up their camp and slung the food bags from stout limbs high enough that the bears could not rob their food supply, before they made ready to try their hands at fly fishing in the nearby streams. Grandpa Conrad had taught them all the fundamentals of fly fishing and they were anxious to put his lessons into practice.
Some of the boys were better than others at fly fishing, but every boy caught at least one fish before it was time to start working on supper. The boys quickly cleaned their fish and got a fire started, soon the delicious smell of frying trout filled the air and everyone was beginning to drool.
They fixed a fresh salad and roasted foil wrapped potatoes in the fire. Their meal was fit for kings, complete with hunger as a sauce! As it began to get dark, they cleaned up the cooking mess and sat around the fire telling stories until everyone was ready to snuggle into their sleeping bags.
In short order, the camp was filled with sleeping boys, only the two boys left on watch remained awake. They would be relieved at midnight by another two boys and the final two boys would come on at 4 am.
In the chill hours of early morning, Joel heard a noise and, thinking an animal was getting into their supplies, he ran over to their camp kitchen and grabbed a piece of log intended for the fire.
He found a teen boy, about 15 years old, digging through their supplies.
He shouted, "You don't have to steal, we will give you all that you need!"
David was awakened by the shouting and came to assist Joel. The boy looked up with frightened eyes and made to run off, David latched onto his arm and held him, "We won't hurt you, let me call my brother and we will fix you something to eat."
The teen began to cry, "For my little brothers, please..."
That did it for David, his shout raised the entire camp. Joe came running, hopping on his bare feet from the sharp stones beneath the meadow grass.
They comforted the teen, he told them his name was Roger and his little brothers, Danny and Tyler, were hiding back at their camp.
Joe asked, "Hiding?"
Roger replied, "Yes, so the bad man can't find us. The man the county guy gave my brothers to after our folks were killed."
Joe didn't explore that right then, he wanted to know about the little brothers!
Roger explained, "Danny is 8 and Tyler is 5 years old, the man beat them until they were bloody, I had to get them out of there. A couple of days ago, I slipped them out of the bad man's backyard and we ran. We raided a couple of summer cabins for food, but it's all gone now and they are terrible hungry."
He continued, "I am sorry for breaking into the cabins, but my brothers were starving, the bad man didn't hardly feed them anything."
Joe and David held the boy and told him not to worry about the food, just get his brothers to come to their camp and they would sort it all out later.
Joe told the younger boys to start making breakfast and they would be back shortly.
Roger led them down the creek a ways and then into a dense grove of redwood trees. When the three of them stepped out into the clearing, two young boys screamed and tried to run, Roger caught them and held them in his arms saying, "These are good guys and they have offered to share their food with us, OK?"
It took a while, but the two little boys were finally convinced to go with them, the offer of food clinched the deal.
They brought the little boys back to the campsite; the boys who had stayed behind had cooked pancakes and bacon, mixed up some powdered milk and had cut apples into quarters. There was butter and maple syrup sitting on the table and Dempsey Laughton, a Refuge Boy, fixed two plates and put them in front of the two little boys.
Their eyes got huge and asked, "Fer usin's, just fer usin's?"
Dempsey smiled and replied, "Yup, just for you guys and there is more if ya' want it!"
David brought Roger over to the table and had him sit beside his brothers as Dempsey brought a loaded plate and put it in front of him. All three brothers ate as if they were starving.
They were!
After the three boys had eaten their fill and the campers had eaten and cleaned up the camp, Dempsey put a big pot of water on the fire to heat and brought out towels, a wash cloth and a bar of soap.
When the water was heated, he helped Roger clean up his brothers and then handed him the soap so he could clean himself.
Dempsey had seen something on the little boys' backs that scared him, he recognized it from his own early life and had hoped never to see it again.
He gently asked Danny, "Please, may I see your back?"
Danny began to cry and didn't want Dempsey to look, but Dempsey peeled back the towel and he screamed!
Boys came running from all directions. Tears were flooding down Dempsey's face as he pointed to Danny's back. There were fresh whip marks and old scars on the boy's back!
They looked at Tyler's back and it was the same!
Roger sat in the dirt, crying hysterically, Dempsey knelt and prayed as he had never prayed before, "Lord Saint Michael, help me to help these hurt boys, help me make them better." Dempsey felt his arms being moved and, suddenly, there was a sword in his hand. He got to his feet and he started growing taller, his hands were guided to pass the sword over the two boys and their wounds were healed as they all watched.
Saint Michael the Arch Angel appeared at Dempsey's side and they all heard, "DEMPSY JONES LAUGHTON, THOU ART MINE HEALER. RETURN TO THY PLACE AND HEAL MINE CHILDREN."
Dempsey looked at the sword, it had the Caduceus affixed to the pommel and his head was covered by a silver helmet with the Red Bars of Recognition.
He was dressed for war!
The fact that Dempsey was black made no difference to the children or his companions as they rushed to him and clapped his back in congratulations.
The Great Angel smiled upon them and said, "You are needed, return to Requa this day."
They cleaned up their camp and quickly stowed everything in the van for the return trip. David and Joe drove as fast as they dared, heeding what The Great Angel had said.
They did not notice God's Own Warrior as he watched them depart, a great smile on his face as he murmured, "Yes, a good choice yet again!"
Chapter 3 - VICTORY
They drove into the yard of the Refuge, the five Great warriors were standing there in their Human form, Ben stepped forward and said, "Dempsey, we felt you join us and we are waiting to welcome you among us, GREAT WARRIOR HEALER DEMPSEY!"
Dempsey stood and bowed to his fellow Warriors, "I bring two children who have been badly mistreated and you must listen to their Brother's tale."
They brought all of them into the conference room and listened as Roger told his story. When he got to the part about the "County Man" Ben interrupted him and asked, "County Man, who is he and what county?"
Roger replied, "This county, we used to live in Eureka and the man said he worked for the County CPS. He said his name was Norman Gale."
Edwin said, "I know all the counselors at CPS, I have never heard of a Norman Gale! Something is very wrong here!"
Edwin telephoned Deputy Jerry Sharpe, their contact man with the local Sheriff. He said he would get right on it and find out just who this Norman Gale was.
Roger spoke up, "The bad man's name is Peter Gann," Edwin passed that name on to the Deputy, also.
While they were waiting to hear from Deputy Sharpe, Ben took Dempsey and Peter aside and spoke to them about starting a clinic at Requa Inn Refuge for Boys. Peter was all in favor of staying and manning the clinic, but Dempsey wanted to go with Ben on his travels, so it was decided that Peter would remain behind when the others departed.
Edwin had some discretionary funds that he used to build a small clinic for Peter and, within days, Peter was open for business.
The boys of the Refuge were pretty healthy and, aside from the usual scrapes and bumps, the boys required little from Peter. Children from outside the Refuge discovered that Peter would heal their bruises and hurts without sticking them with sharp needles and painting their injuries with medicines that smelled bad and stung them.
There was soon a steady path of local children coming to Peter's Clinic, he told Edwin that it was the first time in his life that he had ever felt wanted and needed. He said, "Edwin, I will stay here for as long as you will have me, I have finally found a home."
He would remain at Requa for the remainder of his long lifespan.
In the meantime, Deputy Jerry Sharpe had uncovered a snake's nest; a child slavery ring was attempting to get started in Eureka. When they raided the offices of Lawyer Norman Gale, they found records of children placed by false CPS orders in various "homes" that were nothing but slave training centers.
They recovered sixty children, all boys.
The local CPS was overloaded and highly suspect anyway, so the Judge ordered the recovered boys to be placed at Requa Inn Refuge for Boys.
The hurt boys crowded into Peter's small Clinic to be healed. Peter worked day and night until all the boys had been healed of their wounds. Dempsey worked beside him in an effort to get all the boys treated as fast as possible.
Ben and Dempsey spent the winter at Requa Inn Refuge for Boys and when spring arrived, they felt a call to resume their trek, northward and eastward. All the boys, as well as the Great Warriors and the staff had come to like Ben and they were impressed with what Dempsey had become.
When it was time for the two to continue their journey, many of the boys cried.
TBC
This ends our tale at Requa Inn Refuge for Boys, but Ben and Peter will continue the journey, they will soon find themselves in Wenatchee, Washington.