The Cries of the Butterfly - A LOVE STORY Read Online Free PDF Page A

Momma ), but soon the elation overflowed.
    “Wolfy-Dad said he will meet me at the airport. Only few hours more now,” she said to her grandma, ignoring her mother.
    “Good,” grandma said. “What else did he say?”
    “Oh, he said so much. He said he will take me to see a movie shoot, and then to Disneyland and zoo. And he said that I was his sweet Butterfly and that he loves me very much...just too, too much.”
    “That’s great. Are you happy now?”
    Philippa’s little head bobbed up and down earnestly. “Yah. Very, very happy.”
    And Sage could almost hear his wife exhale in a long stream of alleviation and say something to the effect: now please keep your mouth shut for the rest of the trip, little girl! But mercifully, she said nothing this time.
    “Sir, can we please break for a minute. I need to go...very urgent.” It was the chauffeur, Knott.
    Out in the open?! But then who can defy the call of Nature? “Yes, of course,” Sage said. By his reckoning they were halfway to the airport.
    As the driver pulled to the side of the road, Sage thought: Perhaps we should have taken the chopper instead. But his father, like often, had insisted they travel by road in their washed-up antique.
    Five minutes transpired. Then seven.
    What is this guy doing? Sage wondered. Seven minutes for a pee? He remembered the day Knott had come to him begging for work. It had been a rather unorthodox petition. The fellow had brought along pictures of his family. Three sweet little daughters and a pleasing wife, with hope in their eyes and poverty on their person. It had been a desperate plea, from a desperate man. Knott had been truthful: he had been sacked from his last position of employment for drunken driving. Indeed, he had confessed to being a problem drinker. But that had been six months in the past. He had since cleaned up his act and ‘Butcher sir’ could have that ascertained anyway he deemed fit. Regularly, a person like Knott wouldn’t at all be eligible, but the man’s bare honesty, coupled with a thought for his family, had obliged Sage to give him a fresh start. Everyone deserves a second chance in life…especially those not as blessed as us .
    Ten minutes had passed now since the fellow had gone off and Sage could hold back no more. He sat Philippa next to him and began to open the door. And then the guy reappeared.
    Sage exhaled and pulled back. Well, never mind. He suddenly noticed that something had changed in the man since last time. Something in his gait, something in his entire deportment. That he kept his head carefully lowered, as if he didn’t want his face to be seen, was one of it. Sage’s antenna buzzed warningly. He almost moved over to the driver’s seat himself, but before he could, Knott opened his side of the door and Sage let it lie. It was a matter of a short time now; he didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings unnecessarily. Nevertheless, Sage leaned a little toward him, as if to adjust his position, but he couldn’t smell any alcohol on Knott.
    “Make it quick now, yes?” Sage said casually as the vehicle rolled back onto the expressway.
    That somehow seemed to trigger Knott, and things happened very swiftly thereafter. Knott’s foot pressed hard on the gas and the Mercury squirted forward.
    “Hey, you, easy!” Eric shouted from behind.
    Something is wrong here...very, very wrong! Sage thought.
    “Okay, pull over, you!” Eric bellowed.
    But the man was beyond control. Instead of braking, his leg smashed down on the accelerator still harder; instead of keeping to his side of the road, he swerved crazily to the other side, leaping over the median strip. The women in the rear began to scream.
    Sage lunged sideward, making a wild grab for the steering wheel. Knott turned his head and stared with stupid, terror-stricken eyes at his boss. He gave a frightened yip and let go of the wheel. Eric Butcher reached over the front seat and gave Knott an almighty shove, ramming the