Run For Their Lives - Chapter 15 cont
Al shot him a quizzical look. What could be left to do?
?Don?t tell me you?re enjoying yourself too much to go, pal, cos I aint buying.?
He instinctively raised his hand link, but Sam ? for once ? provided the answer first.
?Oi got the Da his girls back,? he began. Al?s face said ?So? Let?s Leap.?
But Sam continued; ?Now Oi have t?get the girls their Da back.?
?Huh?? Al stepped closer to his friend. It was worse than he?d thought. The kid was delirious.
?Zig-gy!? he challenged, through clenched teeth, wondering how much worse things could get.
Sam was about to demonstrate that, far from being a Senator short of a Committee, he knew exactly what he was talking about, when Connie unwittingly pre-empted him.
Lyle Strickland had been asking ? in somewhat critical tones ? why Mary had not brought his daughters straight back to London, whereupon the normally jovial Cockney became rather irate. Virtually snatching the phone from Tori, she blasted him:
?The poor woman almost died rescuing your girls. She?s a flippin? ?eroine. How much more do you want from ?er? She ain?t goin nowhere til she?s ?ad a chance to rest and recover. An? I?m gonna see to it she stays ?ere just as long as that takes. If you woz any kind of a farver, you?d get yerself down ?ere pronto. These little ?uns need a loving parent after wot they bin frew, but I guess you?re the closest they got.?
Before Strickland could object to being spoken to in that fashion, Sam took the phone and pressed home the point:
?She?s right, sir,? he said, politely but firmly, ?The girls need you.?
Lyle found his voice at last and butted in: ?They sound fine to me. Not that it?s any of her business. Who the devil is she anyway??
?She is de woman who helped save your daughters? lives. Oi couldn?t have done it without her. You owe her a great deal. The least you could do is listen to her. Most fathers in your position wouldn?t be able to wait to be reunited with loved ones they?d almost lost.?
?Which is why I want them back here. You know how busy my schedule is, Mary.?
Sam was tired and hurting and in no mood for the soft subtle approach. This man was really trying his patience.
?For God?s sake, man!? he blurted, ?What is more important to you? Your ?precious? meetings or your daughters ? who are the most precious, rare and valuable treasures (the words came back to him suddenly and he threw them back at their author) a man could ever have. It?s about time you got your priorities right, Mr. Strickland. Would you even have found time to attend their funerals had they died? There?s an old adage you?d do well t? heed ? ?Time may be money, yet the best thing parents can spend on their children is not money, but time?.?
?Here, here,? chorused Connie and Al together.
The girls just stood open mouthed.
Nanny had never spoken to their father like that before. And whilst they?d never thought of themselves as being neglected, the prospect of Daddy putting time with them ahead of dreary old meetings was as delightful as it was unlikely. Emboldened by Nanny?s forthright comments, they chirruped:
?Oh do say you?ll come, Daddy. Please say you?ll come.?
Al shot him a quizzical look. What could be left to do?
?Don?t tell me you?re enjoying yourself too much to go, pal, cos I aint buying.?
He instinctively raised his hand link, but Sam ? for once ? provided the answer first.
?Oi got the Da his girls back,? he began. Al?s face said ?So? Let?s Leap.?
But Sam continued; ?Now Oi have t?get the girls their Da back.?
?Huh?? Al stepped closer to his friend. It was worse than he?d thought. The kid was delirious.
?Zig-gy!? he challenged, through clenched teeth, wondering how much worse things could get.
Sam was about to demonstrate that, far from being a Senator short of a Committee, he knew exactly what he was talking about, when Connie unwittingly pre-empted him.
Lyle Strickland had been asking ? in somewhat critical tones ? why Mary had not brought his daughters straight back to London, whereupon the normally jovial Cockney became rather irate. Virtually snatching the phone from Tori, she blasted him:
?The poor woman almost died rescuing your girls. She?s a flippin? ?eroine. How much more do you want from ?er? She ain?t goin nowhere til she?s ?ad a chance to rest and recover. An? I?m gonna see to it she stays ?ere just as long as that takes. If you woz any kind of a farver, you?d get yerself down ?ere pronto. These little ?uns need a loving parent after wot they bin frew, but I guess you?re the closest they got.?
Before Strickland could object to being spoken to in that fashion, Sam took the phone and pressed home the point:
?She?s right, sir,? he said, politely but firmly, ?The girls need you.?
Lyle found his voice at last and butted in: ?They sound fine to me. Not that it?s any of her business. Who the devil is she anyway??
?She is de woman who helped save your daughters? lives. Oi couldn?t have done it without her. You owe her a great deal. The least you could do is listen to her. Most fathers in your position wouldn?t be able to wait to be reunited with loved ones they?d almost lost.?
?Which is why I want them back here. You know how busy my schedule is, Mary.?
Sam was tired and hurting and in no mood for the soft subtle approach. This man was really trying his patience.
?For God?s sake, man!? he blurted, ?What is more important to you? Your ?precious? meetings or your daughters ? who are the most precious, rare and valuable treasures (the words came back to him suddenly and he threw them back at their author) a man could ever have. It?s about time you got your priorities right, Mr. Strickland. Would you even have found time to attend their funerals had they died? There?s an old adage you?d do well t? heed ? ?Time may be money, yet the best thing parents can spend on their children is not money, but time?.?
?Here, here,? chorused Connie and Al together.
The girls just stood open mouthed.
Nanny had never spoken to their father like that before. And whilst they?d never thought of themselves as being neglected, the prospect of Daddy putting time with them ahead of dreary old meetings was as delightful as it was unlikely. Emboldened by Nanny?s forthright comments, they chirruped:
?Oh do say you?ll come, Daddy. Please say you?ll come.?