“Just to make sure you know how I stand on the matter, you will find enclosed a check for $100,000 for Caroline’s Ladders. As for Emily, I pray that she gets professional help.
“God Bless. Milton Granger”
*****
AFTERMATH
Before legal action could be taken against Emily, there was another tragedy. Kyle was out in his truck coming back from the grocery when he got the call. The house that was on fire was close by and was one where he had personally installed a ladder. He rushed to the scene with his firefighting gear in the truck. He was the first to arrive. When he saw the blaze, he decided not to take the time to put it on. A little girl’s life was at stake. He rushed to and broke down the front door with his axe. He saw flames were at the bottom of the stairs but from a couple of the bottom steps up, there were no flames. He did not hesitate. Kyle ran and jumped, landing on the fifth step. He quickly ran up the rest of the stairs.
Kyle remembered where the little girl’s room was and opened her door. She was not in the unmade bed. The ladder was still folded under the window. He yelled out and got a lung full of smoke. As his anxiety built and the smoke increased, he searched under her bed and in her closet. She was not there. His mind was searching for a clue when he heard a bullhorn from outside the house. “Kyle, get out. There is no one home. Repeat, there is no one home.”
Kyle felt foolish, but infinitely relieved. He went back to the door to see that going back down the stairs was not possible. He went to the girl’s window, opened it and let the ladder down. The guys were going to tease him unmercifully for having to use his own ladder to save himself. Just as he got one leg out the window, it hit. A hammer blow to the chest. Numbness in his left arm. The pain was severe. He passed out.
He lasted in the hospital long enough to tell his story before he died.
That night Caroline was not on fire when she came to him. She was smiling. “Welcome, Daddy, you’re going to like it here.”
*****
BACKLASH
The tributes to Kyle came from wide and far except in one solitary instance. Emily sat in a bar celebrating while most of the people in the bars watched the tribute on the TV and cried. The crowd was silent when Emily screamed out, “Serves the mother-fucker right. The world is better off without him. He killed my daughter.” She gulped down her drink and quickly ordered another. She noticed the whole bar was staring at her and the stares were not friendly. “What? You idiots fell for that bullshit?”
There was not a chance for a response from the crowd, when ABC announced they were playing a follow-up program to the one they had aired earlier where Emily had made a lot of accusations about Kyle and Caroline’s Ladders. She watched the replay with pride. After the ending line of her saying, “Name me one child that has been saved by Caroline’s Ladders. I bet you can’t” the narrator announced. “After that episode, we took Emily’s challenge. We asked people to send in the names of people who had been saved by one of Caroline’s Ladders. We checked out every name and story we were given with local fire and police authorities. We will now play for you the video responses from children who we can say with absolute certainty were saved by Caroline’s Ladders.”