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The Divine Right of Kings	By : vinsmouse Category: G through L > Hardy Boys Series Views: 5915 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardy Boys, not making any money, just cheap thrills.

Chapter List
- 31
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Chapter 32

Jack Prentiss accepted the parcel from the delivery man standing outside his door. He wondered what it could be. He wasn’t expecting anything. With a shrug he closed the door and carried the small package into the living room. He put the package on the coffee table while he went to the desk to get some scissors.

Sitting on the couch he pulled the package to him and began to cut the tape holding it closed. Laying the scissors aside he opened the flaps, gasping loudly as he did so. His hand shook as he reached into the box. It couldn’t be real could it? Wrapping his hand around a stack of bills he pulled them from the box. Examining them carefully he was sure they were the real thing but why would somebody send him a box filled with stacks of cash? There had to be a mistake somewhere, it was the only explanation. Closing the flaps he stared at his name and address printed in block letters on the box.

His heart felt as if it would jump out of his chest at any moment as he attempted to count the first stack of money. He could hardly focus with the result that it took three tries before he could determine the amount in just the one stack of money. He fell against the back of the couch stunned into inaction as his mind tried to process what his eyes were telling him. The single stack of bills totaled five thousand dollars and there were at least ten stacks inside the box, he hadn’t counted them yet. Fifty thousand dollars! Somebody had sent him, Jack Prentiss, for some unknown reason at least fifty thousand dollars! There might be more than that. Could he keep it? Was it legal to be given such a large amount of money for no reason?

One by one he pulled the stacks from the box, counting as he did. His first estimate, he soon realized, was way off. The box didn’t hold ten stacks of bills, it held double that amount. He found the note under the money.

Mr. Prentiss,

I’m sure you must be wondering why you have been gifted with this money. The explanation is quite simple. Two days ago you saved the life of a young boy, a stranger to you. You asked no reward, you expected no favors, you only wished to save a young boy from tragedy. I have a great deal of money Mr. Prentiss, more than I could ever possibly use, and no wife or child to share it with. I, therefore made the decision to watch the papers, rewarding those I feel are deserving; people such as yourself Mr. Prentiss who help others with no thought to their own safety and no thought of reward. Please enjoy the money, report it or not as you see fit. I never report these rewards to the authorities as I wish to take no tax credit for them. To do so would in fact quite defeat the purpose of the rewards.

An anonymous benefactor

Jack couldn’t believe, well of course he believed after all the evidence was staring him in the face, but still…it was unbelievable. He hadn’t even realized there had been anything in the paper about the incident near the park. The stunned look slowly morphed into a face splitting grin as he realized what this meant. He could finally start his own business. Jack had always loved photography but practicality had forced him into a career in accounting. He had started out as a simple bookkeeper, steadily moving up the ladder until he stalled out in middle management. He made a good living but he would never be one of the shakers and movers of the business world, nor was he really happy. The only time he could lay claim to happiness was on the weekends and vacations when he was able to indulge his passion for photography. With this money and his savings he could start a photography business. There was a house he’d had his eye on for a while. It was in an area that was mostly residential but zoned for small businesses as well. Jack had been thinking about buying the place, converting it to serve as both home and business, money had been the only thing holding him back. It would have taken most of his savings to buy the house along with the necessary equipment for his business, leaving him very little to live on while he was getting the business up and running. That was no longer a factor; even the gift tax he would have to pay would still leave him with enough to attempt his dream.

Dr. Saylor’s Office:

Diane watched her young patient step into the room. He seemed tense, uneasy; it didn’t bode well for his homework assignment. “How are you doing today Joe?”

“I’m okay,” Joe shrugged.

Clearly this was a lie. “I’m okay, you’re okay,” Diane joked. “Now how are you really doing?”

“I…why did you make me go out last week?” Joe snapped. He was still angry about what had happened at the park. It had been hard, seeing other kids playing ball without a care in the world knowing he would never be one of them again. And the men he saw in the park, was even worse. How could anybody expect him to be around people when he didn’t know who could be trusted?

“You know why Joe,” Diane gently returned. “I take it things didn’t go well.”

Joe glared. “It was horrible.”

“Tell me about it.”

“I just went to Phil’s with Frank the first time, that wasn’t too bad. His mother gave me some weird looks but she was doing the same to Frank and he isn’t a…anyway she stopped when Phil glared at her. After that it was okay.”

“What did you do there?”

Joe shrugged, “Nothing really. Just played some video games and hung out.”

“Did Phil tell you why his mother was looking weirdly at you?”

“I didn’t ask him.”

“Why not?”

Joe stood up and walked over to the aquarium. Squatting down he stared at the colorful fish swimming peacefully within the tank. He wished he could be like them; life would be so much easier then.

Diane watched him for several minutes. “Joe?”

“I don’t know.”

Diane frowned. “I think you do.”

Joe traced a finger along the glass, following the path taken by a small fish, one of the smallest in the tank. “Scary isn’t it fishy?” he spoke quietly but not so quiet that Diane couldn’t hear. “So many of them are bigger than you, they could hurt you if they wanted.”

“Is that why you didn’t ask? Were you afraid of being hurt?” Diane softly asked.

Joe nodded. “But she looked at Frank the same way and he isn’t…”

“That’s twice now you’ve mentioned that only to stop. Tell me Joe what is it that Frank isn’t? What are you that your brother isn’t?”

Joe leaned his forehead against the tank. He stayed like that for several minutes, staring silently at the swimming fish. He could sense Dr. Saylor watching him, waiting for his answer. He didn’t want to say it. Saying it would make it true somehow, he was sure of it. Maybe she would give up, go on to something else if he stayed silent. No, she wouldn’t do that; the doctor would sit quietly for as long as it took it was a trait he’d picked up on almost immediately.

“A freak, he isn’t a freak,” Joe finally replied, nearly choking on the words.

“You think you are?” Diane’s first instinct, as any decent person’s would be, was to deny the child’s words. She knew that would be the worst thing she could do. Joe wouldn’t see the denial as an affirmation of his worth but rather an attempt to placate him. The teen would think Diane was only patronizing him, trying to make him feel better by claiming what he saw as truth to be a lie. Joe had to realize for himself that he wasn’t a freak.

Joe looked away from the aquarium, staring at his therapist in shocked surprise. “Red wouldn’t have picked on me if I wasn’t.”

“Did you read the pamphlets I gave you?”

Joe nodded.

“But you still think you somehow caused what Red did? Why do you think that Joe?”

“I don’t know.” He couldn’t tell her the truth. She would tell his parents and they’d be disgusted by him. But they should be, shouldn’t they?

“Don’t you?”

Jumping to his feet he spun to face her, fists clinched so tightly his nails dug into the palms. He didn’t feel a thing. “I told you I don’t! Quit pushing me to answer your questions!”

“Then don’t lie to me,” Diane calmly retorted.

Joe stared, breath coming in heaving gasps as he tried and failed to formulate an answer. “I don’t know how I caused it but I know I did.”

“Alright Joe, I believe you.” Diane saw the problem now. “Do you remember when I told you this won’t work if one of us is hearing something different than what is said?”

“Yeah,” Joe sulked.

“I think that’s what’s happening here. You thought I was asking what you did to cause Red to hurt you.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No Joe. I wanted to know why you think that you did something to cause it.”

“Oh,” Joe blushed. He felt stupid now. “And if I tell you I don’t know?”

“I would say you probably have an idea, don’t you?”

Joe turned back to the fish. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Fair enough.”

“You mean that’s all I had to say?”

Diane smiled, “Yes Joe that’s all. I won’t accept lies but if you don’t want to talk about something we won’t, for a time.”

Joe cocked his head to one side. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t want to talk about this topic, okay I’ll let it go for today. But we will have to talk about it eventually.”

“Why?”

“Because you won’t heal as fully as possible if you don’t talk about your issues and concerns,” Diane truthfully answered.

“As fully as possible?”

“We both know you’ll never be the boy you were before the attack. Getting you back to so-called normal isn’t the goal of therapy.”

“What is the goal then?”

“To help you recover as much as you can so that you can lead a life, whether it’s a good life or a bad one will be up to you to a large extent.” Diane allowed him a few minutes to think about her words before continuing the session. “So let’s talk about the second outing, okay?”

Joe hung his head, “It didn’t go very good.”

“Tell me about it.”

So Joe did. He told her everything about that day in the park. From the way Frank kept watching him to how he had felt on edge the entire time, to the confrontation with Biff and his headlong rush that nearly got him killed.

“That must have been terrifying, being grabbed like that.”

Joe shuddered. Even though he knew the truth he could easily remember the blinding terror that had gripped him when Jack Prentiss first grabbed his shirt. “I thought...I was afraid it was another man like Red.”

“That’s understandable.”

“But I should have realized…”

“Why?”

Joe shrugged. “I don’t know, cause most people aren’t like that.”

“That’s true,” Diane agreed. “But some are and after what you went through I would be shocked if you hadn’t reacted with fear.”

“You would?” Joe could hardly believe what he was hearing. He had expected her to tell him that he had been foolish to assume that Prentiss was going to hurt him.

“Of course. Many crime victims, particularly victims of sexual crimes, become more fearful, less trusting than before their attacks. It is a completely normal reaction; the trick is to learn to use the fear to help you avoid becoming a victim again without allowing the fear to control you.”

“How do I do that?” Joe was honestly curious.

“Fear keeps us alert to our surroundings, to possible dangers and if you use your natural fear in that way it may allow you to see danger coming before it’s too late. But if you allow the fear to control you, as it did in the park, it will blind you to those same dangers and send you into panic mode if you are attacked. Panicked people are vulnerable people and make for very good victims. If this man, Jack Prentiss, had been another predator he could have had you in a car and away from help before you had a chance to so much as yell for help.”

“If I stayed home stuff like that couldn’t happen.”

Diane raised one eyebrow. “You of all people should know better than that,” she chided.

Joe blushed. “Okay, but my mother opened the door without looking. I know now that’s a bad idea so I’d be safe.”

“Perhaps, but you wouldn’t be living would you?”

“It’d be enough,” Joe stubbornly argued.

“Really? You think you could be happy watching your brother leaving for school everyday while you remained behind? Hearing about all the activities you were missing out on wouldn’t bother you?”

“But you know what happened in the park. You said it yourself if he’d been a predator I would have been in trouble.”

“True, but that’s because you allowed your fear to control you instead of using it to your advantage. The more you go out into the world the better you’ll become at using the fear. You’ll learn to be more alert to danger and as you become more alert you’ll soon realize there aren’t nearly as many dangers in the world as you think there are in this moment.” Diane looked at the clock, realizing their time was up for today. “Well I think that’s enough for today.”

Joe just kept himself from running for the door in his eagerness to be out of the office.

“You have a choice of homework for this next week,” Diane stopped him before he could make good his exit.

Joe stopped, shoulders slumping.

“You can do two more, field trips we could call them, same deal as this past week or you can do only one.”

Joe was about to grab onto the chance at only one when he realized it was too easy. “What’s the catch?”

Diane smiled. “Well you’re certainly not dumb are you? The catch is simple, if you only go to one place it must be a public place, though it needn’t be crowded, and you must remain there for a full hour. You don’t have to make a decision today; you can let me know what you chose at your next appointment.”

TBC...

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The Divine Right of Kings