I managed to get Comrade on his feet and into the house. I laid him down on the couch and searched the house for my phone.

‘Calm down kid I’m alright.’ He grumbled.

‘Oh no you’re not! I told you to stay away from that stupid tree!’ My hands trembled, I had my Grandfather’s blood on my dress.

I found my phone in the kitchen and ran to the living room.

‘Stay awake Grandpa, help will be here soon. Please don’t move.’

‘Don’t worry Addie, just a few bruises.’ He let out a pained chuckle.

Tears flooded my eyes, I could barely dial three numbers. What was I going to do if Grandpa got worse? I should have called the guy before I left home. It was all my fault. Everyone’s going to call me irresponsible, especially Andrin.

‘The ambulance is on its way Grandpa.’ I clutched his hand and he squeezed my tiny hand.

‘Don’t worry kid, everything will be alright.’

‘I know Grandpa, you’re a fighter.’

‘So are you Addie. There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.’

‘After we go to the hospital.’

‘I should say this now.’

I shook my head and squeezed his hand. ‘No, we’ll have plenty of time to talk later.’

Pounding sounded at the door and I jumped to answer it. Standing on the other side were two detectives.

What now?

‘What happened?’ Axel rushed to Comrade's side. Swine followed close behind.

‘Have you called an ambulance?’ Axel asked. I nodded.

‘He fell off his ladder.’ I said.

Swine's gaze jumped between Comrade and I then shook his head. He pulled out his radio and spoke into it. Axel pulled me into the kitchen, my heart ran a million miles. The room was spinning and I feared my feet would fail me any moment.

‘He—he fell off the ladder.’ I said.

Axel nodded, his held my shoulders and blocked my view from Comrade.

‘Are you hurt? Who’s blood is that?’

I looked down at Lexa's yellow sundress. ‘It’s Comrade’s. The ladder cut his head when it fell on him.’

Axel's hazel roamed my skin, making me feel even more exposed. A siren blasted from the street and parked outside. My heart skipped several beats then I was back to the day I was arrested at the Hadley house. Police sirens blazing outside, people yelling inside. I stumbled and hit the fridge.

Axel raised his brows, though he lifted me, draped his jacket over my shoulders and guided me outside. The paramedics had strapped Comrade on a gurney.

‘Addie,’ he groaned. His voice snapped me back to reality.

‘I’m coming Comrade.’ I shrugged out of Axel’s hold. ‘I’m riding with my Grandpa.’

He nodded. ‘I’ll meet you at the hospital.’

People had gathered in the street, even Angry Betty stood on her porch with a baseball bat on her shoulder, watching on. Comrade was much loved in the community. I kept my head down as I jumped into the ambulance.

As soon as we got to the hospital Comrade was rushed to a room for examination. They wouldn’t let me in! I fished out my phone and dialed my brother, who didn’t pick up! I left him a text and called my Mom. Although, she was miles away hearing her voice would comfort me.

‘Mah, Comrade's in the hospital.’ I sobbed into the phone.

‘What happened?!’

‘He… he fell off a ladder. It’s all my fault. I was supposed to call someone to help him remove the branch on the roof, but I forgot.’

‘Oh honey, don’t blame yourself. Comrade will be fine. He’ll be alright. Is your brother with you?’

I sniffled and glanced at the empty seats either side of me. ‘No, he won’t answer the phone.’

‘Comrade’s a fighter, he’ll be fine. I’ll be praying for him.’

I got off the phone with my Mom and walked to the reception. The man there said he couldn’t give me any information at the moment. I sat in the waiting area for what felt like minutes. I sat on my hands, trembling with each passing nurse that didn’t bother to glance my way.

The two detectives showed up before a doctor gave me any news. Goodness, what if they had to perform surgery?

‘Any news?’ Axel asked.

I shook my head. ‘It’s been thirty minutes and no one’s even glanced at me.’

Swine folded his arms and frowned. ‘How could you let this happen Adele? He’s an old injured man.’

I gasped. ‘It was an accident!’
‘Now isn’t the time Swine.’ Axel said.

‘No offense, Chambers, but you don’t know this one the way I do. Your sick grandfather needs you and you’re out playing mechanic.’

‘Someone has to work! The Museum isn’t paying Grandpa anymore.’

‘That’s if Andrin ain’t paying you peanuts. Face it Adele you’re irresponsible. Why’d you even come back you’re not doing what you should be.’

‘That’s enough Swine. Take a walk, or better head back to the station we’ll talk later.’
Swine twisted his face and for a second I thought he’d spit on my shoes. He turned and marched out of the hospital. All he wanted was to torment me. I couldn’t let his words bring me further below how I already felt.

‘Who called the police?’ I asked. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Angry Betty.

Axel took a seat and motioned for me to join him. Axel filled out his jacket in ways only few could, either that it was a small size. At first glance this man could break another man’s face, but he has the eyes of an Angel.

‘We were actually on our way to talk to your Grandfather. Turns out the cops at the scene of the robbery a couple months ago messed up and never took his statement.’

‘You think Comrade had something to do with that?’ Blood rushed to my head. They couldn’t be serious.

‘No, we just needed his statement. The thieves didn’t take anything at the Museum, but we’d still like to know who was behind it. Your Grandfather was the only guard that day.’

I scratched my head. ‘I can vouch for him. Comrade’s a great man. He’d never hurt a fly. He’s worked there for twenty years nothing ever went missing.’

‘Relax.’ Axel's hand covered mine, releasing the dormant butterflies in my belly. ‘No one’s accusing Comrade.’

I nodded, hoping the town wouldn’t catch wind of the Swine's suspicions. Axel said he wasn’t accusing Comrade I couldn’t say the same for Swine.

Axel had to go back to the station, though he promised to check up on me later. I wasn’t sure detectives were supposed to do that. Finally a nurse found me with information on Comrade. She escorted me to a small room where Comrade slept.

She told me he further injured his back and bruised his arm and leg. He didn’t have internal bleeding or a concussion. She said I’d be able to take him home when he woke up. She gave me a prescription for pain killers. Great, it was a hustle to get Comrade to take simple vitamins. She warned me that he was to do no more heavy duty work and to stay away from ladders.

I sat next to Comrade and sent my Mother and brother updates on Comrade’s condition. I checked my clock it was after eight. Grandpa grunted and groaned until he blinked his eyes open.

‘Hey Comrade.’ I blinked the tears away.

His right arm was in a sling and wrapped in a white band aid. He used his other hand to cradle his head.
‘My head… hurts.’ He groaned.

‘I’m sorry, you took a nasty hit to the head.’ They patched up the cut on his head.

‘Damned ladder… I’m sorry for scaring you kid.’

I chuckled. ‘You really did. I’m just happy you’re okay.’

He looked at his hand and touched the wrap on his head. ‘They patched me up real good, huh?’

I chuckled and kissed his knuckles.

‘There’s something I have to tell you Addie.’

‘Don’t you want to wait, Comrade?’

He shook his head. ‘Are we alone?’

‘Yes, why?’

He tried to haul himself up, I grabbed the little remote on the table and pressed a button to make the bed sit up.

‘Thanks Addie. Because what I want to tell you is important.’

I rubbed my shoulders. I prayed in my heart that this wasn’t about the robbery at the Train Museum.

‘Everything okay Comrade?’

‘Everything’s fine Addie. You see… The Winchester family are heirloom keepers—’

‘What? Comrade our family don’t even have heirlooms.’

He chuckled despite my interruption. ‘That isn’t true now let me explain. The heirlooms have been in our family for generations, they aren’t ours to harbor only to protect. These are priceless and powerful objects that could rip civilizations apart and make the wrong people very powerful. These objects have been passed down from generation to generation with the same instructions, to protect them. This has become difficult over the years.’

Maybe he did have a concussion. The doctors must have missed it. I’d never seen a single thing of utmost value in Comrade’s house. I doubted Grandma’s clay cat collection was worth anything.

‘Comrade… I—I—’ Words escaped me, what did I even tell him? No, Grandpa I think you hit your head too hard?

‘I know it sounds strange kid, but you have to believe me. Your Father knew but we chose not to tell you kids and we were right. Andrin didn’t turn out to be the person we thought he’d be. You can’t tell him about this, you hear.’

‘Wait Grandpa. These heirlooms you say… where are they? I’ve never seen them, Daddy never spoke about them. If Daddy kept them in the house then Andrin might as well already have them. Maybe even sold them if they’re so priceless.’

Comrade shook his head. ‘We don’t keep them at home. We keep the in a secure location for both our safety and theirs. We never spoke about it because we wanted to make sure we were making the right decision leaving the heirlooms with you kids. You gotta understand, we were tasked with keeping this things safe without gaining any reward. George wanted to be sure you kids wouldn’t sell them for a quick fortune.’

Knots formed in my chest. Ouch, Daddy thought I would do that? Well his suspicions were that far one of us would have done it.

‘Why are you telling me now Comrade?’

‘That brings me to the other part of the story. Most folk don’t know about us, we kept ourselves hidden or blended more into myth, but those who do well they come after us. There are the raiders. They robbed tombs in Egypt and took every valuable thing. For as long as we’ve been protecting our pieces they’ve been searching for us and now they’ve just about found us—’

The door burst open, cutting Comrade off.

‘You had one job Addie!’ I rolled my eyes. Did Andrin forget I was his wife’s personal servant and his under paid mechanic? Let’s see for how much longer.

Lexa and the doctor hovered behind Andrin. Maybelle hopped up and down bedside Lexa.

‘That’s enough of that Andrin. You won’t say a word against Addie around me, you hear?’
Andrin grumbled. Comrade shot him a disapproving look. Maybelle broke free from Lexa and skipped to Comrade’s beside. Her blond pigtails bounced along with her.

The visit of Comrade’s great grand daughter really lifted his spirits. The visit of his granddaughter in law really dampened mine. I didn’t know anyone who complained as much as Lexa. If she didn’t get picked to supply her products at The Society it was my fault. If I couldn’t take care of Maybelle I was disrespectful.

The doctor changed his mind and decided to keep Comrade overnight. Comrade wouldn’t let me stay the night, he insisted I go home because he didn’t want the house to be empty at night. I fought as hard as I could but Comrade wouldn’t have it.