CODE NAME WOLFGIRL: LOST CHILDREN IN AMERICA

Chapter 6: The Opposition

“So what you’re telling me is that there were attempts at doing this experiment,” Jason summed up to Dr. Klein, “but we don’t know if any were carried through to conclusion. In other words, even the twisted people who deprived a young child of verbal stimulation couldn’t find the original language that humans spoke?”

“Worse than that,” Klein continued. “Some accounts show that young children without human contact don’t survive. It was noticed in overworked orphanages. Even primate research showed the same thing.”

“By all reason,” Jason concluded, “Candy shouldn’t even be alive. Denied any human contact, she would’ve died from neglect, even if her material needs were met.”

“Precisely. When she was first brought here, I assumed she was an escaped mental patient or a family member hidden away by some backwoods type. Perhaps her father was embarrassed over a mentally retarded daughter. You do hear about these incidents from time-to-time. Hollywood seems to love them. There is no shortage of movies based on wild children. Hell, one of the 20th century’s most iconic pulp characters came from these stories.”

“I’m aware of it. You forget my book on feral children was one of the reasons they brought me here.”

The phone range on Dr. Klein’s desk and he picked it up. “Yes?” he spoke into the receiver. “Oh, that is really bad news. We’ll be up in a minute. I’ll be sure to let Jason know, he’s right here in front of me.” Klein placed the phone back on its cradle.

“Never liked these new smart phones,” he explained to Jason. “Always preferred the ones with a land line.”

“So what was that all about?” Jason had to ask him.

“There’s been abduction in Louisville,” Klein explained. “Young girl, about five years of age. Her mother went out to get her and she was gone. The media is blowing up over this.” He stood up and walked to the office door.

“We need to get upstairs for the meeting. Everyone will want to hear about Candy’s episode last night.”

“This morning, actually,” Jason responded. “I suppose it’s a small distinction. I didn’t get much sleep.” He followed Klein out of the office.

Jason pulled out his smartphone and read about the missing child while the rest of the staff gathered for the Candy’s morning assessment meeting. It wasn’t that hard to find out information over this latest disappearance. The Internet exploded with comments about it in a few hours. The Louisville Chief of Police made a statement early in the morning when they realized the abduction fit the profile of the earlier ones. There were interviews with activists and all manner of frightened parents on TV. Jason remembered the city of Atlanta was held in the grip of fear over a series of child murders in the early 1980’s. He worried the same thing could happen again.

The Atlanta child murderer was captured and convicted after a long series of investigations, but the crimes left a scar on the community that never healed.

He put away his phone the minute Major and Captain Saunders entered the room. Behind them filed a few people he’d only met a few times. Both were on the trustee board that managed the nonprofit foundation. One was a man in a tailored suit that appeared to be in his seventies, another a woman in a business suit and dress. She was in her fifties. As Jason expected both were white, but he was used to being the racial minority in this place. As far as Jason could tell, there were only three other black people at the institute. One was a therapist from Kenya he rarely saw and two others were groundskeepers.

“I expect you remember Mrs. Allen and Mr. Elysian,” Mrs. Major spoke to him as she sat down at the head of the table. Jason wondered if her chair came with a cushion. She wasn’t that tall, but the table seemed to magnify her height. He speculated she’s ordered it for this very reason.

“I understand there was an issue with Candy last night,” Major spoke to Jason. “What do we need to know about it?” He could tell she wanted concrete answers.

“Candy had a severe nightmare,” Jason explained. “Security contacted me because she woke up screaming. They took me to her house the moment I was ready to leave. She was hiding in the corner of her bedroom when I arrived. I let her know I was at the doorway to her bedroom and waited for her calm down.”

“You didn’t try and comfort her?” the man named Elysian asked. He seemed puzzled by Jason’s actions.

“That’s never a good idea when it comes to Candy,” Major explained. “Making personal contact with her is frowned upon because it can trigger a bad memory. Had Jason even touched her hand she might have attacked him.”

“I made sure she was over the nightmare. After I was sure she was back in her bed asleep, I spent the night on the couch in the house where she lives. Candy seemed better this morning when she woke, so I returned to my room.” He hoped it would satisfy them.

“You did right,” Major informed him. “Make sure you file an incident report by noon. I don’t want the state to claim we were late on it.” Jason nodded in confirmation.

“And you want to allow this woman to leave the facility?” Allen spoke. “What happens if Candy has an episode like this when she’s in Louisville?”

“Jason will be there to take care of her,” Saunders explained. “As you can see, he’s well-versed in the procedures.”

“But he’s not even a medical professional,” Elysian retorted. “He’s only a behaviorist. How can you trust her with him once she’s out there?”

“Jason has a perfect record with Candy,” Saunders continued. “I wouldn’t trust her with anyone else.”

Jason noted Major was firm on the last few rounds. Still, she hadn’t changed her opposition to Candy leaving the facility grounds.

There was a moment of silence. “Alright,” Elysian spoke. “I can speak for the board. We’ll allow her to leave with Jason as her designated caregiver, but only this one time. Captain, we are putting our trust in you and the bureau. I won’t risk the reputation of his institute over your schemes. Be aware we will go public on whose idea this was if there are any problems.”