A few minutes later, the meeting was adjourned, with everyone smiling and happy, all packing away their things.
"Peter," a soft voice called, "could you possibly stay behind for a few minutes?"
"Of course," he answered, wondering what Garrett needed him for.
Filing out one by one, the others all thanked their boss. With the last one having left, Garrett closed the door so that it was just the two of them.
"I've been looking into the request you made," he said, perching on the table. "It would seem there's a little more to it than I first thought."
'Oh no,' Peter thought, 'he's not going to help. How on earth are we going to get the sports club all back together?'
"I've brought in some geologists to look at the site, after a recommendation from the government clean up team. It would appear that the explosion from the bomb has in some way affected the ground deep below the surface, damaging a minor fault line, causing the entire area to become unstable."
Peter was truly dismayed on hearing this for the first time.
"It seems the instability can be resolved, but the cost will be considerable."
Lost for words, he desperately wanted the clubhouse rebuilt and things back to how they were, with all the sports men, women and children enjoying their chosen pastimes.
"While I do owe you a great debt and can see just how important this is to you, are you sure you wouldn't rather have a considerable sum of money, or a new house, something to set you up for the rest of your life? It will be all or nothing if I go ahead with this."
Not for a split second was he tempted. All he wanted to do was play hockey... there, and nowhere else for the rest of his life.
"I know it's a lot of money sir, I mean Al. But the sports club means so much, not just to me, but to many, many people. All I really want is for it to be back how it was, with men, women and children all enjoying their favourite sports."
Garrett nodded his approval.
"So it's set then. I'll chase up the relevant people straight away and set things in motion. I must say Peter, you are a most remarkable young man. Not just in the way you take responsibility, as you have done in this relatively new role that you've been thrust into, but in your regard for others. Most men and women would have jumped at the chance of a personal reward. But not you. Why is that?"
Thinking carefully, with Garrett watching him eagle eyed, panic started to envelop him. What was he going to say? What did Garrett want to hear? In the end, he settled for the truth.
"I love playing hockey... it's my life. There's nothing else I'd rather be doing, and I want to do it here. It's my home. I love my job. It's where my friends are. I love it here and that's a fact."
A big beaming smile encompassed Garrett's face.
"That, my young friend, is good enough for me. For the entire time I've known you, I've always thought there was something special about you. And now you've just proved it. I'll make sure that clubhouse is rebuilt, and don't you worry, it'll be better than new, you mark my words."
Gathering up his things, he shook Garrett's proffered right hand on the way out, musing on the 'bald eagle' thinking that he was special.
'If only he knew the truth,' he thought, depressing the button for the lift, his beaming smile reflecting off the shiny doors, pleased at the thought that his beloved clubhouse would at some point be back to normal.
30
Eggs-Clusion
Remnants of the past drifted in and out of her dreams, a curse for the most part, but she'd lived with it for so long that it no longer bothered her. With a new life and a new planet on the horizon, she once again lived through something that happened long ago, almost to someone else.
After being saved by a dragon in a position of power, they made a decision, a decision to quit it all and go their own way. They hadn't exactly seen the error of their ways, but being torn apart, incarcerated and alone, each not knowing what was happening to the other, had all been too much and had made them realise just how much they wanted to be together. So they made a plan. At first they travelled throughout England and Scotland. It had been so easy, given not only their dragon training, but all the new things that had supplemented it from their previous employers. Sticking together, acting as man and wife, changing their identities and their accents, sometimes on a daily basis, they constantly moved around, never staying in the same place for more than one night. Their thieving wasn't particularly grand, and was easily achieved given their remarkable talents. Opportunistic would have been the best way to describe it. The odd safe here, a little pick pocketing there... the night's takings of a public house was a favourite. It had to be this way, small but often, so that they could avoid the attention of the dragon council and the King's Guard. And for the most part, they had, with one exception. Two of the King's Guard had nearly stumbled across them when they'd fleeced a fairground proprietor of his week's earnings in Newcastle in the north east of England. It had been a close call, after which they'd stayed on the move for the whole of the following week, choosing to sleep out in the open rather than risk a town or city. And it had worked. After eight months of a life like this, they had enough money to make their dreams come true.
Moving to the stunningly pretty town of Swanage in Dorset, she could remember the day they'd arrived, as if it were only yesterday. They had taken the hulking great monster of a steam train from Wareham, past the scenic ruins of Corfe Castle, captivated by its beauty, and only fifteen minutes or so later had pulled into the terminus, right in the centre of the fabulous seaside town. It had been a warm spring day when they'd arrived, carrying two small suitcases between them, which contained everything they owned. It hadn't taken long to find rented accommodation. Two days later, they both had jobs. Earth had taken the position of waitress at one of the seaside cafés right on the front. While slightly affronted at not having the power, position and respect that she'd come to think of as hers by right, she was at least happy, and all because of him. Things just felt so right when they were together, and although they'd had that chemistry in France when they were both hunting down French and British Resistance operatives for the nagas and the Nazis, it was different now. There was no pressure, no orders, no silly games to play. Of course there was still the fact that they were, so to speak, on the run, both war criminals wanted by humans and dragons alike. Each had done much to disguise their appearance and had quelled the magic inside them significantly. It would be a surprise if anyone at all could identify them as the perpetrators of those heinous crimes in another country.
Excitedly announcing the news of her job to her husband on returning to their rented flat, instantly he lifted her up, twirling her joyfully about the living room, adding to her news by telling her that he'd gained employment on the coveted railway, as a fireman. Both squealed in excitement.
And so it continued, for years in fact. After only a few months they moved out of their flat, choosing instead to rent a reasonably sized house. Things were perfect. They had friends, they socialised, mixed in. It was idyllic. In their mind, there was only one thing missing. And so very carefully, in a precision planned operation, they as a couple became less outgoing, attended the pubs and the social scene a lot less than they had done, instead choosing to spend all their time at home. It had been tricky, but some six months after they'd started, all their efforts were rewarded with... AN EGG!