The two months that followed were the most invigorating of Maggie’s life. She and Colby made wedding plans. Lorraine and Rob insisted on paying for the wedding, despite Colby’s insistence that he had it covered. Juju was to be Maggie’s maid of honor, and Joey and Mara were to be her bridesmaids. Keith, Maggie’s brother, would stand as Colby’s best man.
Two days before Maggie and Colby were to get married, Edward and Penny Derby, Colby’s parents, arrived. It was the first time they’d met Maggie in person. The morning of the day they were to arrive, Maggie’s nerves got the better of her. She had tried on and tossed aside every dress in her closet. Finally, she called Lorraine.
“Mom?” Maggie said in a desperate voice when Lorraine answered the phone.
“What is it, honey? What’s wrong?” Lorraine asked, instantly panicked.
“I don’t know what to wear, and what if Colby’s parents hate me?” Maggie cried.
“Oh for goodness sake, Maggie. First of all, no one could ever hate you…you’re a very unique and special woman. Second, you have plenty of dresses you can wear. Why don’t you wear the black dress with the light purple stripes we just bought?” Lorraine suggested.
“Do you really think so?” Maggie asked.
“Yes, I think it’s perfect,” Lorraine stated in a comforting tone. There was a long, awkward pause, and Lorraine knew there was more that Maggie was worried about. “What is it, Maggie? What’s bothering you?”
“What if…what if they think I’m not good enough for Colby? Oh, Mom, you know some of what I’ve done. Would you want Keith to marry a girl who was a hooker?” Maggie whined.
“Maggie Clarke, that’s all behind you now. If Colby’s parents are anything like him, they won’t give a rat’s ass about any of that stuff. Stop putting yourself down and quit judging yourself. Everyone loves you and admires you for all that you’ve coped with in life,” Lorraine lectured, annoyed at the thought that someone would ever judge her daughter.
As it turned out, Lorraine was right. Edward and Penny were warm and charming. Their love for their son was palpable. Colby had filled his parents in on some of Maggie’s past, and to their credit, they viewed her as a strong and powerful force to have survived such a horrid childhood. Besides, Maggie and Joey were irresistible with their fun-loving ways and quick wit.
On the morning of the wedding, Maggie woke up and turned on her side. She looked at Joey and Juju, who had slept with her the night before.
“Morning, girls. Time to wake up,” Maggie said gleefully.
Both girls opened their eyes and smiled. Then they slowly climbed out of bed and began the process of getting ready. Maggie had selected a simple, off-white satin gown with tiny pearls sewn around the bust. She had insisted on something a bit more demure than Lorraine had wanted her to wear.
Maggie and Colby were married in the church where Maggie had been baptized. The reception for sixty close friends and family members took place in a restored barn at the Terrain at Styer’s in Glen Mills. The day was perfect, right down to the toast that Juju gave as the maid of honor.
Juju stood from her seat next to Maggie. “Tonight, we’re here to celebrate two people who got hitched. I always knew Maggie would get married someday, and I always knew she’d marry somebody great.” Juju turned to face Colby. “Colby is a really cool guy and has been great for all of us.” Then she took Maggie’s hand in her own. “I know Seth is looking down from heaven and is really pissed off he ain’t here, but he’d be really happy that ya picked Colby to marry.”
Finally, Juju looked out over the wedding attendees. “Maggie is the first person in my life who really understood me. She’s always loved me for who I am. That’s just how she loves. So here’s to a hundred years of happiness.” Juju lifted her glass and turned back to the newlyweds. “Now, Colby and Maggie, go on your honeymoon and make me an aunt. I love ya both.”
The wedding had been simple and perfect, as far as Maggie and Colby were concerned. It wasn’t until after they returned from their honeymoon that Colby gave her the news he’d been keeping from her.
“Maggie, I know you’re still in school. But I was thinking that instead of walking the streets of Kensington a couple of times a week, we should open a place where kids and teenagers can go,” Colby said.
“What does that mean? Like a shelter?” Maggie asked, intrigued.
“Well, it means we can open a place where kids can get help. I don’t know. A hot meal, counseling, clothes…we can figure it out,” Colby explained.
“That sounds great, but where are we going to get the money to do all of this?” Maggie asked.
“You know, for a girl who always has her nose buried in a book, you’re not all that resourceful, are you?” Colby mocked.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.
“What’s your last name?” Colby asked.
“Clarke. I mean Derby,” Maggie said, playing along.
“Right.” Colby exhaled in an exaggerated fashion. “I’m a descendant of Elias Hasket Derby,” Colby said.
Maggie cocked her head to one side and gave him a confused look.
“My father is the only surviving heir of Elias Hasket Derby. He was a very wealthy merchant who died in the late seventeen hundreds and left a large fortune. The generations after Elias continued to grow that fortune. My father is a very rich man.” Colby sat quietly and let the information sink in.
“Does that mean you’re rich?” Maggie finally asked, catching on.
“Well, yes, it does, Mrs. Derby,” Colby said.
Silence followed.
“So, that means I have money we can work with to open a place in the city. The kind of place you dreamed about having, Maggie,” Colby explained.
Maggie studied him. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
“Well, you never asked,” Colby countered.
“Oh, right. Like it’s perfectly normal to ask a man living in Kensington who is helping break up a prostitution ring if he is filthy rich,” she chided.
“I think it’s a perfectly reasonable question to ask,” he said.
Maggie considered the information she’d just learned.
“Why didn’t you ask me to sign a prenuptial agreement?” Maggie wondered.
“Because I plan on being married to you until we’re shriveled up, old prunes,” Colby remarked.
Maggie embraced him. “Listen, you might shrivel up, but I’m not. I intend to keep my girlish figure, bub.”
“I’ve given some thought to what we should call this place,” Colby began. “I think it’s important that the name represents you and the people who you’ve loved and lost.”
“So, what do you think we should call this place?” Maggie asked.
“Seth’s Fortress,” he said with certainty.
“I love it, Colby. Seth would have loved it too,” Maggie said with a heavy heart.
A few months later, Maggie and Colby opened Seth’s Fortress in Philadelphia. The organization focused on homeless teens and prostitutes. It provided food, counseling, safety, and shelter to those in need. It was a place where kids found solace. There was a difference between prostitutes who were willing to sell their bodies and those who were unwilling. The signs were subtle to most, but not to Maggie. She could pick out the kids who had been forced into the business. Often, the police punished these young girls and boys for doing what they were being forced to do. News of the place spread quickly. Within three weeks, they were helping at least a dozen kids a day.
On Maggie’s days off, she often took Joey to a movie or to the local bowling alley after school. Joey had a knack for all things athletic, and she’d grown fond of bowling after one of the girls in her class had a birthday party at Facenda Whitaker Bowling Lanes. Maggie and Joey enjoyed the time together; bowling was their “special” thing to do.
Maggie was returning to her seat after throwing a strike when she saw the long, narrow face and black eyes staring at them. His hair was still shoulder length and greasy. His hunched posture looked demented, and his large hands hung at his sides like dead weights.
Maggie stood, frozen in time, and her body was unwilling to take commands from her mind. She wanted to take Joey by the hand and run. Her breathing was labored and she felt lightheaded. It was too much for her to see him again. Maggie feared that the end of her life was soon.
A yellowish-brown, toothy smile spread across John William’s gruesome face. Her fear and shock was evident, and her reaction brought sheer pleasure to the hideous creature. John William thumped down the two steps and into the pits where the bowlers sat. He continued to walk toward her, and she managed to make her right foot move and then her left. She made it back to Joey right before John William entered the area where they were sitting.