This battle had been going at full force ever since early that day, when they got word of the first lead in Felix’s disappearance, that he was seen boarding the ferry to Halifax the day before yesterday. It didn’t take long for Clive to figure out what was on his tempestuous daughter’s mind.
"You can’t keep me here like a prisoner! I need to follow him and bring him home," Izzy replied, desperately but unsuccessfully trying to convince her father that she needed to find her beau. Upon running into a brick wall once again, she finally threw up her hands in total frustration and stormed out of the room.
Muriel, who had been silent through this latest Pettibone conflict, turned to her husband and put her hand on his back, rubbing it gently in an attempt to calm him down. Finally, he responded, "Muriel, I can’t have her traipsing all over the place in search of Felix. We have no idea where he is now. It was daunting enough of a search just on the island. Who knows where he headed after he got off the ferry?"
"Clive, you’re right, but don’t you think we owe Izzy a chance? Perhaps you could use your military connections to help track him down?" Muriel pleaded. Clive stood silent, mulling over the logic of her request.
After considering the possibility, Clive agreed to see what he could do and put in a call the Army Barracks in Halifax, to speak with his old friend Major Rudolph Hamilton. Finally, the call was put through and after the usual greetings and reminiscences of the old days during the Boer War; Clive got to the point. "It seems that a friend of my daughter’s was wounded in France and returned home, but soon after that, he ran off from home and the last we heard he was headed for Halifax. Have you by any chance been contacted by a soldier named Felix King, I believe he’s a sergeant?"
Major Hamilton replied in the negative, but then offered, "I’ll check with the staff, and if I hear anything I’ll let you know."
After expressing his thanks, Clive said, "If you find any trace of him, don’t contact him; just let me know and I’ll take it from there."
Upon putting down the receiver, Clive turned to his wife and said, "We’ll see if that turns up anything."
Muriel suggested, "Why don’t you go over and let Alec know, I’m sure he’ll appreciate your efforts."
Clive agreed that was a good idea and pulled on his coat, and walked to the King Farm. Muriel stayed behind to reassure Izzy.
Clive guessed that Alec would be in the barn at that time of day, and was correct in his assumption. After exchanging pleasantries, Clive told Alec of his efforts, for which Alec wearily thanked him. "I know I should be out again today looking for him, but I am at a loss where to even begin. If it’s true about the ferry to Halifax, he could be anywhere by now, " Alec sighed discouragedly, shaking his head sadly.
Clive realized that he would need more information on this family fallout if he were to be of any assistance. Clive put his hand on Alec’s shoulder and in an unusually soft voice inquired, "Alec, what happened between you two, anyhow? I only know what your family said the other day, and I know from personal experience how difficult it is to come home from war; but I have to agree with Izzy—it just doesn’t sound like Felix."
That question was more than Alec could stand. His eyes flared and he threw his rake to the barn floor in rage, but then he caught himself short. Truthfully, he was angrier with himself than Felix at this point, and it wouldn’t do any good to take it out on a neighbor and friend who had just offered to help.
Alec looked Clive sadly in the eyes and replied despondently, "It’s all my fault, Clive, I drove my boy away."
A look of surprise crossed Clive’s face; though he often found himself in conflict with Alec, he knew him to be a loving and supportive father. "Aren’t you being a little hard on yourself, Alec?"
Alec disagreed, and launched into a candid description of the whole debacle, culminating with the confrontation about the bottle of whiskey. He finished up his tale by saying, "And Janet thinks that Felix will never come home again. It’s like hearing about his death all over again. Also, I never served in the army; I can’t understand what he’s been through, and I think Felix resents me in particular for that."
Clive waited silently until Alec was finished, and then replied, "Well, that situation with the whiskey, you can certainly understand that. Like father, like son, eh?"
Alec lowered his eyes, embarrassed to look at the only other person who knew about the horrible episode which happened a couple of weeks after the family was told erroneously that Felix had been killed in action. Late one afternoon, Alec went to the Post Office, only to receive a batch of letters, from the family, Izzy, Avonlea neighbors—all addressed to Felix and all marked "Deceased—Return to Sender."
Especially heartbreaking was a letter tucked into the stack, which Felix had written two days before he was supposedly killed. Alec went behind the blacksmith’s shop to read his son’s last letter, and sobbed as he read about how Felix was looking forward to coming home.
After burning all the letters but the one from Felix in a big pile, Alec went on a major drunken bender. The letters were the last straw, he was unable to deal with the finality of Felix’s death. He ended up passed out in the Pettibone’s garden late that night. Clive found him and sobered him up so he was able to return home the next day, and never said a word about it. That act of kindness had helped Alec immeasurably during that painful period in his life.
Without belaboring the point, Clive slapped Alec on the back and tried to sound encouraging, "My friend has a lot of connections in Halifax. If anyone can ferret Felix out, it’s him." Alec thanked him for his efforts and Clive took his leave.
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