“I’ve come for my boy, Marjorie,” the man said in a quiet voice, but he wasn’t looking at Gran. He was looking at Nick. No one had ever looked at him like that and he felt uncomfortable.

“It’s a little late for that now,” Gran said.

“Hello Nick. I’m your father,” the man said with a smile. It was a nice smile and Nick felt his face grow red.

“What Elizabeth ever saw in you …” Gran said.

“It was the war,” the man said simply, as though that explained everything.

“I have to tell you that I’ve already spoken with my attorney. We’re taking steps to secure legal custody,” Gramps said. Gramps stood up.

“He’s my son,” the man said.

“You should have thought of that before. Neglecting Elizabeth so you could go tramping all over the world. If you’d stayed where you belonged, none of this would’ve happened,” Gran said, her face twisted like someone about to cry. Her eyes were hard and bright as diamonds.

“Elizabeth wouldn’t let me see him. You know that,” the man said, wearily shaking his head.

“I want you out of this house now, Tim, or I’m calling the police. If you have anything to say, you can say it in court,” Gramps said, crossing to the phone. But the man was quicker than Gramps. He grabbed the phone and jerked it out of the wall.

“It’ll take more than courts or the police, Wallace. It’d take a fucking army to keep me from my boy,” the man growled.

Nick swallowed hard. The man had used a bad word.

“Get out of here … you redneck,” Gran hissed.

The man scooped up Nick as easily as if he were a football. His arms and chest were thick and hard as a tree trunk. Nick peered at the back of the man’s neck and sure enough it was red, just like Gran said.

“Don’t try to stop me, Wallace. Don’t anyone try to stop me,” the man said, turning to go. Nick clung to the man like a monkey to a tree. On their way out, the man yanked the hall phone from the wall. That was fun. Nick had never seen that done before. The man carried him to a car and as they drove away, the man asked him, “Have you ever been on a plane, Nick?”

Nick shook his head.

“Well, we’re going on a plane, little boy. And it’s going to fly so high that all the houses and cars will look like tiny little toys,” the man smiled. “We’re going to a magical land with more wonderful things than you can imagine. And there’s oil there. More oil than anyone knows. The greatest treasure in the world! I can smell it, boy!” the man declared with a wink and a sly tap on his nose.

Nick laughed.