The Knight is Still Young

Chapter 28

Disclaimer I don't own Knight Rider

As soon as Ashlyn woke up her mind started screaming about how impossible that was, how could Bonnie be her mother?  She and Michael had only admitted their feelings for each other a few months ago, so there was no way that Bonnie could be her mother, it was impossible!  Wasn't it?  That brought her attention to the faded photo, she could on make out the outline of someone holding something, but she couldn't see their face.  Still she knew someone that might be able to help her.

'KITT?'  She asked into her comlink.

'Ashley?'

'That's me.'  She replied, loving the fact that he still used her real name.  'I need a favour; can you enhance this photo while working through my comlink, please?'  She pointed her comlink to the photo then listened for KITT's reply.

'I'm sorry Ashley, but you're too far away from my position and the photo is badly damaged, I can't enhance it.  Sorry.'  He replied sadly.

'That's ok KITT, what about this?'  She did the same for the document.

'This one is easier and....  Oh my goodness, Ashley it says that Bonnie is your birth mother.'

'I know, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't seeing things.'

'How is that possible?  Bonnie and Michael were never in a relationship until a few months ago.'

'I don't know, but tell Dad that I love him and tell the others that I miss them.'

'I will, but should I mention this?'  He asked.

'No, but I've gotta go, bye KITT.'

'Goodbye Ashley.'

Ashlyn continued to lie on her bed and stare at the certificate in shock, this was by far the craziest thing that had ever happened to her apart from jumping out of a speeding car and getting shot by a mad man.

Yet if she was entirely honest with herself then maybe it wasn't so crazy, after all they did share several qualities and if she hadn't known that she and Michael had only been together for a short time it would have been very possible, but the fact that they had been too shy to tell each other how they felt meant that there was no way she was Bonnie's daughter.

There was one other thing that stuck in her mind too: where did Amber get these from and how did she know that Ashlyn was related to them?  Her name had been changed so that people wouldn't know who she was and yet somehow this teacher knew who she was, or rather who she had been before she became Ashlyn Rider and she was determined to find out how.

Not too long after their lunch Michael and Bonnie caught up with Devon and the three of them went to meet RC on the Semi and it turned out that he had received some surprising news, like for starters Durant didn't even know that Tesler was dead.  He had also made RC his new "partner" and told him his new scheme.

'He told me that for now he's not interested in Ashley, instead he wants to build up a score so he is respected around the neighbourhood again.'

'So what does he intend on doing?'  Devon asked.

'Well he wants me to go undercover so I can get into some rich lady's party and steal a huge diamond.'  He replied.

'What's the lady's name?'  Bonnie asked.

'Alice Clearmon.'  He replied checking a small piece of paper.  Devon went as white as a sheet.

'What's wrong Devon?'  Bonnie asked confused.

'Alice Clearmon owns the only twenty carat diamond in California.'  He said.  'She is having a party at her house this weekend to auction off several pieces of her jewellery for a charity fundraiser and several board members have been invited to it.'

'Speaking of the board what are we going to tell Jennifer?  She doesn't know that Tesler's dead.'  Michael pointed out.

'Yes...........  Well she will be there at the party this weekend and I recommend that we don't tell her until after that incase she tries to interfere in the plan.

'I hope she's alright after all, it's one thing to find out your fiancé's working with a criminal it's another to find out that he's been murdered.  Even though she's already called it off, it will still be hard for her to hear.'  Bonnie added.

'Indeed.'  Devon nodded.  'I will inform Jennifer that afternoon after we have left the party.  In the mean time everyone who was invited to the party is allowed to bring a plus one and given the circumstances I have chosen Bonnie, so would you like to accompany me?'  He asked.

'Alright Devon.'  She nodded.

The rest of the week went smoothly as Ashlyn went to school with Mathew and Hailey, she soon became popular with the rest of the class and the teachers, which then sparked a rivalry between the two stepsisters.

As Ashlyn didn't have her own bag Teagan and Jackson asked Hailey to carry her things until the weekend when they would get Ashlyn her own bag, however Hailey had other ideas and promptly dropped all of Ashlyn's books out of her bag making Ashlyn to be late after picking them up and running the rest of the way to the classroom.  Hailey had also taken a liking to tripping Ashlyn, especially in crowded places where everyone could see her fall and humiliate her.

Today was Friday and the class had been learning about ships and sailing during the nineteenth century.  They had rearranged their desks into table groups from four to six people on each table and turned them into their own mini ships.  Each "ship" had a "crew" with each student playing a role.

Mr Cole, however, decided to put the three siblings on the same "ship" as he wanted to see how they cooperated with each other.  Mathew, Ashlyn and Ruth, along with Mathew's best friends Jack and Kevin worked well with each other and soon set about discussing which student would play which role.  Hailey, however, was determined that she should be the captain and that Ashlyn should be "the swabbie" who was only in charge of making sure that the "ship" was clean when they packed up or had an "inspection" by the teacher.

The other children agreed to let Hailey be the Captain, much to Ashlyn and Mathew's displeasure, which then meant that she assigned them their roles.  As such Mathew became the "cabin boy" and was responsible for getting notes and equipment from the teacher when needed, Kevin became the "first mate" which meant he was in charge if Hailey was ever busy or away, Ruth was now the "carpenter/surgeon" who, apart from taking down the "mast" and "sails" for the weekends, really didn't do anything unless they did a special activity that specifically required that person to do something and Jack was "the navigator".

It soon became clear that Hailey enjoyed being Captain because she was allowed to order her "crew" around.  Every chance she got she was telling someone to do something and usually that was Mathew or Kevin while she hardly talked to Ashlyn and she was fine with that.

Life after school wasn't much different, she hung out with Mathew, they did their together either in his room or hers and when he was busy and had to do other things she would play with Prince.  She had already taught him how to sit when she told him to and was currently trying to get him to lie down on command.

'Come on Prince, just follow the treat.'  She instructed moving the liver treat in a straight line down the puppy's chest and onto the ground, smiling as the dog did as he was told and lied down.  'Good boy!  You are such a good boy!'  She grinned.  Then she felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle and she turned to look at the glass door just in time to see a flash of blonde hair disappear.  Hailey must have been watching her.

Inside Hailey had been doing just that, if she was honest she enjoyed watching her stepsister play with her puppy and had wanted to join in, but she didn't have the courage to ask.  She may have been popular at school she was a nervous wreck when it came to talking with new people and after being so unkind to her stepsister she had no idea what to say or how to apologise.  So she just walked away back to her room to sulk and try to distract herself by reading her notes from class.