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From: Lazlo Zalezac <lzalezac@yahoo.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Happy Harry Last of the Hoboes 3 (MF, slow, sci-fi)
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Date: Fri, 02 Jun 2006 01:10:03 -0400
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Lazlo Zalezac
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ftp://ftp.asstr.org/pub/Authors/Lazlo_Zalezac
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<1st attachment, "caboose-03.txt" begin>

Happy Harry: The Last of The Hoboes
Chapter 3
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2006

Harry looked around the executive conference room at all of the 
material William had left there for him. Taking a deep breath to 
calm himself, he said, "William kept his promise."

The elderly man took a seat and grabbed a piece of paper and a 
pen. He thought about what he wanted to say before he started 
writing. About four sentences into it, he balled up the paper and 
threw it into the trashcan. He grabbed another sheet and started 
over. It took him twenty minutes to write a letter that was half a 
page in length. He folded it carefully and slipped it into an 
envelope. He sealed it and wrote the name of the recipient, Oliver 
Brown, across the flap.

He put it to the side and thought, `What does one write to your true 
love of thirty years on an occasion like this?' He decided that all 
one could do was to write what one honestly felt. He knew that 
Lady Lucy had understood him the best of all the women in his 
life. Neither of them was the kind to settle down. Even though he 
had offered to set her up in a house, she had rejected it. She had 
refused to travel with him, preferring their times together to be by 
happenstance. 

He took a sheet of paper and wrote his love for her upon it. This 
letter was much longer and covered two pages. In it, he reminisced 
about moments of passion stolen in alleys, lazy afternoons 
swimming in streams, and other shared adventures. Other folks had 
seen a bag lady; Harry had seen a free spirit who wasn't bound by 
normal conventions. No one but Harry had ever considered her 
pretty, but he thought she was a beauty queen.

Harry sat back and wiped the tears from his eyes. It hurt not to be 
able to say goodbye to her in person. He wanted one more chance 
to put his arms around her. He folded the paper and slipped it into 
an envelope with a sigh. Like the first envelope, he signed her 
name across the sealed flap. He set it atop the other envelope. He 
looked at the two envelopes and thought, `Two down and so many 
more to go.' 

Exhausted by the effort, Harry poured himself a cup of coffee from 
the carafe on the table. It surprised him how William was always 
able to do the right thing, at the right time. Raising the cup in the 
air, he said, "It was nice of you to think of this."

It took six hours for Harry to work his way through all of the 
letters. There were three large stacks of letters to be distributed 
across the entire country. He had written letters to each of the 
individuals in charge of a Homeless Hotel. He had written letters to 
a number of the people he had helped over the years. He felt bad 
that he couldn't write a letter to everyone he knew.

He moved the letters away so that they wouldn't remind him of 
what was going to happen to him. He'd made William promise to 
tell him, but he'd never thought of the consequences of knowing 
about it ahead of time. He wanted a cup of coffee, but the coffee in 
the carafe was cold. He rose and stretched.

"Here's some more coffee, Harry," William said as he entered the 
room. He had a fresh carafe of coffee in his hand and a plate of 
donuts.

Harry said, "I was wondering if you'd show up."

William poured two cups of coffee; one for each of them. Settling 
on the table, William handed a cup to Harry. He said, "Ed is 
waiting outside for you. I told him you'd be ready to talk to him in 
five minutes."

"I didn't realize what I was making you promise to do when I 
forced you to swear by your future service to the Two-Sided One. I 
apologize for doing that to you," Harry said with a sigh. He hadn't 
given a thought about what keeping that promise would mean for 
William until William had showed up.

"No need to apologize. It was what you wanted. I was being 
foolish."

"I didn't realize how I would feel about it. Still, I'm thankful that 
I've had this chance to get my affairs in order," Happy Harry said. 
He didn't know what else to say to William.

William smiled and asked, "Run out of things to say?"

"Yes."

"You don't have a song for the occasion?"

"What would you suggest?"

"When The Saints Are Marching In," William answered with a 
grin. 

"Dixieland Style," Harry said rubbing his hands together in glee. 
Just the thought of the song made him feel better. 

"Right."

Harry started off, "We are trav'ling in the footsteps, Of those 
who've gone before, And we'll all be reunited, On a new and sunlit 
shore..."

William joined in and sang with his friend. By the time they hit the 
refrain about when the saints were marching, Harry was stomping 
around the room waving his arms as if directing a Dixieland band 
with William following behind him pretending to blow a 
trombone. By the end of the tune, Harry was smiling. Putting a 
hand on William's shoulder, he said, "You can send your father in 
now."

"Okay, Harry," William said with a smile. It was good to see Harry 
smiling again.

William went to the door and held it open for his father. Once Ed 
had entered the room, William stepped out and closed the door. Ed 
turned back to look at the door for a second. Shaking his head, he 
turned back to Harry and asked, "When the Saints Go Marching 
In?"

"William's idea. He knows me too well and knew that I couldn't 
stay sad after singing that song."

"Ah. So what do you want to talk to me about?" Ed asked.

"I want the Angel of Chicago to take over for me," Harry said.

"That's easy enough to arrange. I'll put a motion forward at the 
next meeting of the board."

Harry sat down on the edge of the table and crossed his arms. He 
knew that he was about to get into a major conflict with Ed. He 
said, "That's another item. I want William to take my seat on the 
board of the Fusion Foundation."

"He's too young," Ed said dismissing the idea out of hand. 

"He's Dr. William Redman Carter. He may be physically young, 
but he's not a youth," Harry countered.

"We're trying to get fewer Druids on the board."

"He's not a Druid, yet."

Ed frowned as he considered it. For all intents and purposes, 
William was a Druid. He just hadn't started his service to the Two-
Sided One. He said, "We all know he will be."

Harry leaned forward and said, "Ed, trust William. He'll know 
when to step down. For now, the Fusion Foundation needs his 
vision."

Shaking his head, Ed said, "I'll see what I can do about it."

"You'll do more than see. You'll work your ass off to make it 
happen. I'll want you to promise me that," Harry said knowing that 
if Ed made that promise that he would move heaven and earth to 
hold to it.

"I promise," Ed said. 

"There's one more thing I need from you," Harry said with a smile.

"What?"

"I want you to promise me that William won't see my dead body," 
Harry said.

Ed paced around the room and said, "I can't make a promise about 
another person's choices. You know that."

"Okay. Just remind him that it is my last wish."

That was something that Ed could do. He had a feeling that it 
wouldn't be necessary. "Okay."

"That's all I need to talk to you about."

Ed took a seat in one of the chairs facing Happy Harry and said, 
"I'd like to thank you for taking care of William. You've been a 
good friend to him."

Harry moved off the table and sat down on one of the other chairs. 
Leaning back, he said, "There have only been a handful of people 
who really understood me. Lady Lucy is one. William is another. I 
mean, that kid knows my moods and knows what to say. The 
homeless have had Happy Harry to give them hope, but Happy 
Harry has had William.

"I'll be honest with you, Ed. There have been times when I've felt 
that you and yours kept William back from developing like a 
regular person. Then I have to remind myself that William isn't 
like any other person I've ever met. I don't know what you could 
have done better, but I do know that you could have treated him to 
some fast food on occasion. The boy's positively obsessed with it."

Ed laughed and said, "I fear that my fascination with fine cuisine 
probably ruined him for life. With Marguerite cooking for me, it 
was just too hard to settle for one of William's Burger Burner 
joints."

"Well, I will say that we've had our share of burgers, fish and 
chips, tacos, and fried chicken," Harry said with a smile. The 
number of times that William had spotted a new fast food joint and 
begged to try it out was almost too numerous to count. It had been 
a joy to watch the young man discover Fish and Chips.

"I was more than happy to leave that task to you."

"Thank you for letting him be in my life," Happy Harry said. 

"You were important to all of our kids," Ed said. A silence 
descended on the room. There wasn't much else for the two men to 
say to each other. Finally, Ed said, "You've served the Goddess 
very well."

William stepped into the room and handed Happy Harry a key. 
Smiling, he said, "I got a room for you. Why don't you go upstairs, 
take a shower, and get some rest? Just remember to get Ling before 
you head out."

Harry accepted the key from William and said, "I am a little tired."

"A little? You've been up almost thirty-six hours," William 
retorted. He shooed his friend out the door. 

"You'll take care of the letters?"

"You bet," William said. He paused and then hugged the Druid 
tightly. In a light voice, he said, "Take care of yourself my friend."

"You take care, my friend," Harry said thinking it would be the last 
time that he would see William. He planned to leave before the 
young man would wake in the morning.

William closed the door behind the man after he left the room. 
Walking over to where his father was seated, he sat down. Looking 
down at the floor, he said, "I'll see him off in the morning."

"I doubt he'll stay here until morning," Ed commented.

"Yes. He will."

The confidence in William's voice rang too true. Ed asked, "What 
did you do?"

"Lady Lucy is waiting for him in his room," William answered. He 
reached over to one of the piles of letters and pulled one out 
seemingly at random. Without bothering to look at it, he handed it 
over to Ed and said, "Give this to her after Harry leaves tomorrow 
morning."

"Why don't you give it to her?" Ed looked down at the letter and 
saw that it was indeed addressed to Lady Lucy. He wondered how 
William was able to do that.

Sighing, William said, "Right after he leaves, I'm heading out to 
complete the arrangements for the funeral."

"He'll be cremated in the Druid fashion."

"There's no reason that it can't be done with a little Happy Harry 
style. You have to remember, he is the last of the Hoboes."

"So where are you going?"

William had learned a few things about Harry's past. One of them 
was where he had been born. He was born outside the Union 
Pacific switching yards in North Platte, Nebraska. He answered, 
"I'm going to paint something, but before I do that there are people 
who need help."

Ed raised an eyebrow and studied his son. There were times when 
William really amazed him. This was one of those times. Rather 
than argue, he said, "Get to it."

Grabbing the stacks of letters, William said, "First I have to take 
care of these."

"Shouldn't you wait until he's gone?"

"It'll take me all night to get this stuff in order," William 
answered. 

Happy Harry shuffled down the hall of the hotel feeling worn out. 
The day had been rough and his entire body ached. He thought 
about the chance of taking an actual hot bath before bed. The idea 
was very attractive. 

Looking down at the number on the key, he finally located his 
room. He opened the door and pulled up when he realized that he 
wasn't alone in the room. Surprised, he said, "Oh, sorry. I didn't 
know someone was in here."

Lady Lucy turned around and looked at Harry with a smile on her 
face. She asked, "What's the matter Harry, you don't recognize 
me?"

"Lady Lucy? You're here? How?" Harry asked stunned beyond 
words. He couldn't believe that William had gone to such lengths.

"Yes, I'm here," she answered. When William had suggested 
coming here, she had initially turned him down. It wasn't until he 
pointed out that of all the places the two of them had made love; 
they had never been in a fancy hotel. He'd sold her on that point 
alone.

Harry stepped up to her and put his arms around her. She felt so 
right in his arms. Looking down at her, he said, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Happy Harry, despite being tired, went to bed very late that night. 
It was, in his opinion, the best night he had ever spent with Lady 
Lucy. They talked for hours about what William's visit had meant. 
Lady Lucy had cried, but the tears didn't last long.

While Harry was enjoying his evening with Lady Lucy, William 
was visiting a rougher part of town. It wasn't late enough at night 
so that the streets were deserted, but it was late enough that the 
majority of people who were wandering around were dangerous. 

Chuck Wagon waited until all of the men had gone to their beds 
before slipping out of the Homeless Hotel. His hand caressed the 
bottle tucked in the pocket of his coat. Reaching the alley down the 
street, he looked around and decided that he'd gone far enough so 
that no one would see him. He pulled the bottle out of his pocket 
and stared at it in the dim light.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Chuck Wagon spun around looking for the source of the voice. 
From across the alley, William stepped out of the shadows. The 
homeless man frowned and said, "Oh, it's you Half Feather. 
You're the reason I'm considering drinking this."

"No I'm not. The reason you're considering drinking that bottle of 
booze is because your best friend died this morning and you've 
learned that another person who is very important to you is going 
to die soon. I was just the messenger of that last bit of bad news," 
William said.

"Same thing."

"No, it is not. You're going to get drunk because the man who 
helped you sober up died. You're going to give up caring because 
the man who taught you how to care is going to die."

Chuck Wagon, back against the wall of a building, slid down until 
he was sitting on the ground. Shaking his head, he said, "It hurts."

"I know. It hurts me too. Harry is my best friend," William said. 
He walked across the alley and sat down on the ground next to the 
other man. He stared across the alley and said, "Sometimes, it hurts 
so much that I just want to rip my heart out and die with him. Of 
course, I can't do that. It would be disrespectful of everything he 
stands for."

"Why are you here?"

A fleeting smile crossed William's face while he considered his 
answer. "I just wanted to help someone who was important enough 
to Harry for him to take a couple months to show you the ropes. 
It's the least I could do for him. It's something I could do for you. 
It makes me feel a little better about myself, too."

"I can understand that," Chuck Wagon answered, "There are times 
when I feel the same way about helping someone else out. I always 
felt guilty for that little bit of selfishness in feeling better about 
myself."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Chuck Wagon answered.

"How'd you get the name Chuck Wagon?" William asked.

Scratching the side of his face, the man answered, "I was born 
Charles Winfred Wagner the Third."

"Ah, I understand," William answered shaking his head. He 
wondered how two generations of Chuck Wagners could bestow 
that name on a third generation. 

"Yes. I've been called Chuck Wagon my whole life."

"Sorry," William said.

"Hell, I've gotten used to it by now," said Chuck. He looked at the 
bottle and threw it across the alley. The glass of the shattered bottle 
was contained within the paper bag. The liquor soaked the bag. He 
said, "I guess I don't want that now. Thanks."

"You're welcome," William said. Chuck stood up and wandered 
out of the alley. William stood up and headed towards the rental 
car.

Happy Harry stepped out of the elevator and headed towards the 
door thinking that with the early start he'd be able to slip out 
without being noticed. He hadn't gone more than four steps when 
William said, "Good morning Harry."

Harry froze and looked at the lobby chair in front of him. He 
stepped around it and looked down at William. Fully aware that he 
didn't stand a chance of sneaking by William, Harry said, "Good 
morning William. I have to say that was a nice thing that you did 
by bringing Lady Lucy here."

"I thought you would appreciate it," William said.

"I was hoping to slip out of here without anyone knowing I was 
leaving. Too many people could get hurt today," Harry said. He 
hoped that William would let him go without an escort.

Pointing to the other chair, William said, "Ling will go with you. 
There's no need for anyone else to go."

Happy Harry looked over at Ling and saw her nod in his direction. 
Nodding his head, he said, "Okay."

William stood up and hugged Harry. He looked the older man in 
the eye and said, "Goodbye, Happy Harry."

"Goodbye, William." Harry turned and headed towards the door.

Before he reached it, William said, "When the Saints Come 
Marching In."

Harry laughed and stepped out of the building. Turning to Ling, 
William said, "Let Harry finish his service to the Goddess by 
saving the homeless. You get the other guy and make him talk!"

Ling looked at William and said, "He'll talk."

"Thanks. I love you," William said.

Harry pulled up in the Roach Coach and waited for Ling. He 
looked up at the morning sky thinking that it was going to be a 
glorious sunrise. Ling joined him in the wagon and said, "You 
really need to get this thing fixed."

Harry laughed at the comment. Pressing the pedal to the floor, the 
Roach Coach lumbered out into the street. As he turned the corner, 
he said, "This here crate has more sashay than a thousand dollar a 
night hooker."

Ling swore that she could have touched the street out her window. 
Looking at the man driving the wagon, she said, "This defies the 
laws of physics."

Harry swerved around a paper truck and caused the wagon to rock 
even more. With a grin, he looked at Ling and said, "Yes, but even 
worse. The driver defies the laws of traffic!"

Ling looked in the back of the wagon and considered moving back 
there. At least she couldn't see how he was driving. "I think I'm 
going to be sick."

"Nonsense. Let's sing a little song," Happy Harry said. Raising 
one arm into the air, he started singing, "We are trav'ling in the 
footsteps..."

Despite the fact that Ling never sang, she couldn't resist humming 
along. She looked over at Harry and realized what a brave man he 
truly was. 
<1st attachment end>


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