Free The Homecoming by Dan Walsh Page B

have loved everything about this place. They had talked about visiting here when Shawn came home from the war.
    “Looks like we better head over to the Pentagon, sir. I need to get you there by 2:00 p.m. If we leave now, we’ll just have time to grab some lunch.”
    “Whatever you say, Corporal. Lead the way.” Shawn still couldn’t understand this VIP treatment. It didn’t make any sense. He knew better than to ask Corporal Miller anything. But it was clear, something was up. They crossed the Potomac on the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Shawn noticed Robert E. Lee’s home high on the hill as they turned.
    “The Pentagon’s just a few blocks ahead on the right, sir. Colonel Simmons said he’s very anxious to meet you.”
    Shawn could not begin to understand why.

Twelve
    “What do you think, Captain? Ain’t she something?”
    Shawn was already staring. The Pentagon was massive. Not that tall—maybe four or five stories—but it was so thick, all of stone and windows, like a modern-day castle fortress.
    “Just a year old this week,” Miller said. “Before they built it, we were spread out in seventeen buildings all over the city. Got over twenty thousand people working here now. That’s more than we got in my hometown back in Ohio.”
    As they got closer, Shawn felt a sense of pride he didn’t expect. He thought about all the buildings he’d seen today. We have to be doing something right, he thought, to be able to make all this.
    “I gotta check the car back in the pool, sir. I’ll drop you off right up here. Just wait for me at the curb, and I’ll join up with you in a few minutes.”
    “Any chance they got a pay phone nearby? I’d like to call my son.”
    “Tell you what, sir . . . they got one on the curb around the next side. I’ll drop you off there instead.”
    “Thanks, Corporal.”
    Shawn got out by the telephone booth and watched Miller drive off into the sea of cars. The wind had picked up, so he hurried inside and slid the door over. The phone rang, must have been a dozen times. He hung up and dialed again. He looked at his watch. It wouldn’t be like his father to go anywhere. After the third attempt, someone finally picked up.
    “Hello?” It was Patrick.
    “Hey, bud, it’s me.”
    “Daddy!” Patrick yelled. “Are you home?”
    “No, silly, if I was home I wouldn’t call you on the phone.”
    “When are you coming home?”
    “Remember what I said this morning? I’ll be home tonight, but it will be after your bedtime.”
    “I remember,” he said, dejected.
    “Hey, how come it took so long for you fellas to answer the phone? I tried three times. I was starting to worry.”
    “We were up in the attic. I told Grandpa the phone was ringing, but he didn’t believe me. Then he heard it and let me come answer it.”
    “What are you doing up in the attic?”
    “Grandpa is letting me help him put all the Christmas stuff away.”
    “He is?”
    Patrick whispered the next part. “And he hasn’t yelled at me one time.”
    “That’s just what I was going to ask,” said Shawn. “You having fun?”
    “A lot. What are you doing? Are you having fun?”
    Shawn laughed. “No, I’d rather be with you and Grandpa. I’m just going to some old meeting with a colonel, to talk about my next job in the army.”
    “They’re not going to let you stay home?”
    “I don’t think so, Patrick. But I’m going to try my best. Uh-oh, here comes the soldier to take me to my meeting. Gotta go. Love you.”
    “I love you too,” said Patrick.
    “I’ll come in and kiss you when I get home.”
    “Will you wake me up?”
    “We’ll see. Be good for Grandpa.”
    They hung up. Shawn exited the phone booth. “Okay, Corporal . . . let’s see the colonel.”
    “You don’t want to eat first, sir?” Miller asked.
    “I forgot. No, let’s eat. I’ll follow you.”
    Ian Collins sat on a large wooden chest in the attic, waiting until he heard Patrick’s footsteps coming back up the stairs. He