10

Chapter 10

Flagg was sitting on the side of his bunk in Leavenworth. His head was still heavily bandaged and it ached terribly. "I'll get even with those punks," he kept mumbling to himself. "I'll get even with all of them!"

"No, you won't!" Henry Blake said firmly. Flagg looked at the shining silver figure standing in front of him with its hands on its hips. "You leave those people alone!" Henry stated. "Or you'll have me to deal with, buster!"

"You? Who the hell are you?" Flagg demanded.

Henry shook his head in disgust. "You really don't remember me, do you? I used to be Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake."

"Blake? No, you can't be Blake," Flagg blustered. "Colonel Blake is dead! I shot his plane down myself over the Sea of Japan."

Henry nodded. "Uh huh. That's what I thought. May I ask why you did such a senseless and reprehensible thing? Was this the CIA's twisted idea or did you take it on yourself?"

Flagg shook his head and then winced. "I was acting alone, under no orders. But I did what had to be done."

"WHY, for cryin' out loud?" Henry demanded. "I was going home to my wife and kids! What the hell did I ever do to you?

"I figured out your little secret," Flagg returned with a sneer. "You may have fooled all the rest of them with that bumbling act, but not me. I knew exactly what you were, Blake. You didn't fool me, not for one minute. I didn't have proof, but I do now."

"Is that bandage cutting off the circulation to your brain?" Henry snapped. "Or are you really that crazy? What are you babbling about?"

"I realized that you were one of them. That's why I shot you down," Flagg said proudly. "Now I know I did the right thing, because you couldn't have come back if you weren't. You know the rule - only a wizard can choose to become a ghost."

Henry recoiled. "You shot me down just because you thought I might be a wizard?" He stared at Flagg with a mix of disgust and pity. "You're exactly the kind of sick Muggle that keeps the Wizarding World separate from yours."

"Your kind are unnatural freaks, Blake," Flagg announced. "You should all be wiped off the face of the earth. The only good wizard is a dead one!"

"Then you weren't after Hawkeye, Kim or even President Bush. That list of demands was just as nonsensical as it sounded. You meant to kill Harry Potter," Henry said flatly.

Flagg grinned. "I did my research. I knew if I took Pierce, Possible would follow. And once I'd overpowered her, Potter would rush in to save the day. And then I'd have him."

Henry's ghost seemed to pale. "And I delivered in spades! Boy, if I hadn't insisted on Radar being there at that banquet and if he hadn't protected Harry -"

Flagg's jaw tightened and his face took on an ugly look. "That's the only thing I didn't figure on - that bleeding heart magic lover O'Reilly interfering. I should have shot him before I did anything else. Then Potter, Possible and Pierce would all be dead as well."

"Will you listen to yourself, Flagg?" Henry shook his head sadly. "Can you hear what you're saying - all this talk about murdering four decent humans just because one happens to be a wizard. A sixteen year-old kid! You are one bigoted, twisted organism. I wouldn't even call you a rat, 'cause that's degrading to rats. You're certainly not a human being!"

"Neither are you - any more," Flagg retorted. "You're nothing! No one can see you or hear you. And even if they do, they refuse to believe in you. Haven't you heard, Blake? There's no such things as ghosts."

Henry spoke in a dead calm voice, but there was a steely undertone in it. "A lot of people are gonna believe in me before I'm through. I stopped you this time and I'll do it again - whatever it takes to make them keep you in your cage for good. Mister, you have picked the wrong spirit to mess with. I may have to haunt you until your dying day, Flagg, but you are not getting another chance at Harry, at Kim, or anybody else."

Flagg threw back his head and laughed in a most unpleasant way. "And just how do you think you're gonna do that, Ghost Wizard? You can't lay a hand on me! You can't get any one here to do your dirty work. You don't even scare me! So what can you do?"

"Well, why don't you try and find out?" Henry suggested. He turned and walked right through the thick stone wall of the cell.

Flagg scowled and jumped to his feet. "All right then, Blake, you asked for it!" he shouted, shaking his fist, "It's war between us!"

In his mad rage, Flagg tried to follow Henry and crashed head first into the cinder block. Then he rebounded and toppled over backwards onto the concrete floor.

Within minutes, a guard and the prison doctor were in the cell bending over Flagg's body. "Broken nose, fractured jaw," the doctor said out loud. "Broken clavicle and jammed wrist on the left side. Right arm fractured in several places. Possibility of broken ribs. What a mess this idiot's made of himself!"

"Sure got that right!" the guard agreed.

Henry Blake hovered invisibly at the doctor's elbow and whispered into his ear, "No sane person would do this to his own body."

"Why, no sane person would ever do this to his own body!" the doctor declared.

The guard shook his head. "I doubt this one is sane, sir. He's the nutcase who kidnapped all those people. I saw him on the cell cam jabbering away like there was actually someone in there with him. Crazy talk about wizards and ghosts. Boasting about shooting and killing people. And he kept saying the name 'Blake'. Really creepy."

Henry murmured to the doctor, "This man is delusional and dangerous."

"This man is delusional and dangerous!" the doctor announced. "Not only to others, but also to himself. He should've been put in the psychiatric ward - permanently!"

"Good idea!" Henry said. "And while you're at it, make sure he's sedated."

"Take him back to the regular hospital for now so they can try to put him back together," the doctor instructed. "And make sure he's sedated until he's able to talk to one of the psychiatrists! We don't need him walking into any more walls,"

"Yes, sir!" the guard replied. "Kraft! Ebbing! Get in here with a stretcher! Flagg just tried to go bye-bye through the wall."

"Nice work, doc," Henry approved. "Oh, you might want to call Dr. Sidney Freedman in New York. He's one of the best."

"Good idea. I've heard of Dr. Freedman. He did a lot of excellent work with the families of the victims after 9/11. I'll certainly give him a call. Thank you very much." The doctor looked around the cell. "Wha - Who was I just talking to?"

The ghost of Henry Blake leaned over Flagg's prostrate form. "Have a nice trip, drip. Abyssinia!"

Author's Final Note:

This story is a work of fiction. I wish to state very plainly that I do NOT advise feeding any pet three wieners a day of any brand. Anyone who does so will have to clean up the mess him or herself. You're a lot better off feeding your children who wear fur regular dog or cat food; that way they won't be a nuisance every time you eat.

For M*A*S*H aficionados, I am well aware that Tony Packo's is the official hot dog of the 4077, but they're up in Toledo, Ohio, which might as well be Toledo, Spain with gas prices this high. I don't advocate feeding their excellent product to any pets either. I hope you enjoyed the story and Abyssinia.