Aeturnum (The Book of Adam 2) Read online

  At home, Adam and his mother slipped back into their old routine. He tiptoed around Mary and she grunted whenever she heard him. The only surprise was on his Fourteenth birthday when Mary brought home a chocolate cake and actually put candles on it for him to blow out. It was a frozen cake from the store, not a homemade one like Kevin usually had, but it tasted fantastic.

  Adam almost forgot about the events of the previous summer too. One Saturday he woke up from a nightmare about Larix returning so he decided to visit Elianora. Mrs. Jones was working that Saturday and let him use the file room entrance to the tunnels, but he didn’t have to ask. They had let him keep his key to Town Hall as well as the lapel pin.

  He didn’t mind using the 6:00 tunnel that led directly to Elianora’s. Even though his pants did get a little dirty crawling through the crawlspace, he washed his own laundry anyway.

  Once he arrived, Elianora put him at ease by assuring him that the League had heard nothing unusual, and it would be a long time yet before Larix would come out of hiding.

  In this way, the months passed by, and soon summer came again.

  ***

  Adam knocked on the side door.

  A moment later it opened. Kevin was chewing something as he nodded at Adam, obviously having expected him.

  “Sorry, did I interrupt you while you were eating?” Adam asked. Adam knew the Baranov’s usually ate as a family, so he didn’t want to interrupt. “I can come back,” he continued.

  Kevin shook his head as he swallowed hard. “Nope, you don’t have to. We were done eating half an hour ago.”

  Adam gave Kevin a confused look, and Kevin knew Adam well enough to understand the unspoken question. “I saw you coming up the driveway and I grabbed a snack on the way to answer the door.”

  “I guess you could call it your ‘second supper’.” Adam chuckled.

  Kevin’s eyes widened. “Was that a ‘Lord of the Rings’ reference? Really?”

  Adam laughed while Kevin palmed his forehead.

  “It’s bad enough that Mark is always quoting ‘The Lord of the Rings’, but I didn’t expect that kind of thing from you,” Kevin smiled as he put his hand down, showing that he did find it a little funny.

  “So, what’s the plan for tonight?” asked Adam.

  “I dunno,” Kevin replied. “We could go to the school and watch the men play ball. Maybe some of the guys will be there.”

  Adam nodded. “If we get bored we can always practice throwing some stones. Maybe have a little Kurling game.”

  “Yep – that sounds good. Let me grab my shoes and we’ll go.”

  Adam waited as Kevin went back in the house. It was the beginning of July and the evenings had finally been nice. The previous winter had been one of the coldest on record with the most snow in the last 50 years, and the last traces of water had only disappeared a week prior. The recent warm days were a welcome relief, lending to a good turnout at the ball games.

  Kevin stepped outside and breathed the fresh air deeply. He walked over to the shed and pulled out his bike, closing the door behind him. Adam glided next to him on his own bike, and soon they were pedaling out the long driveway, as they had done many times before.

  “Are your mom and sisters coming to the game?” asked Adam.

  Kevin nodded. “They all left with Dad right after we ate. I stayed to wait for you and do the dishes.”

  After a short ride they arrived at the ball diamonds next to the school. The adult men’s team was playing against the team from Killaly and it seemed like most of both towns were there to watch. Adam had learned that Killaly was another Sentinel League town but they had a lot less residents that were members. That meant that the boys wouldn’t be able to practice their Kurling throws while the other team was in town.

  They stood their bikes in the rack near the school and walked to the fence beside first base, since that was the nearest open spot. Kevin’s dad Mikhail Baranov, or Mike to his friends, was pitching to the other team. Marius Miller was on first base and nodded to the boys when he noticed them walking up then returned his attention to the game.

  Mike threw the first pitch and it was a strike. The second one was a strike again. He wasn’t so lucky with the third one, though, and the batter connected hard with the ball, driving it right toward Adam’s face.

  Adam jerked his head backwards and felt the ball brush past his nose. It missed by the width of a hair. He quickly put his hand to his face as a reaction to the shock. The crowd gasped when they saw his movements, but relaxed when he took his hand from his face and gave everyone a thumbs-up to say he was ok.

  “Maybe we should go find another spot to watch,” said Kevin.

  Adam nodded and they stepped away from the fence. As they started looking for another spot, Mark popped out of the crowd, waving to his friends.

  Kevin looked at Mark, then turned and ran a couple of steps in the opposite direction. Adam stopped as Kevin turned back again, laughing at his actions. Since the events of the previous summer, Kevin and Mark had become better friends - although you couldn’t tell it from the way they usually acted, teasing each other at every opportunity.

  Mark was munching on some type of bagged treat as he approached. “I thought you guys would show up sometime,” he said through the crumbs in his mouth. “You wanna watch the game or go do something else?” he asked.

  “I was hoping to watch,” said Adam, “but there aren’t any better spots to watch from than where we were.”

  “We could go further out from where you were. The view would be worse, but it would be a lot safer,” said Mark.

  Adam considered it for a moment, then remembered his recent scare and agreed.

  Kevin added, “And if we don’t like it, we can just find another spot.”

  The three walked down the fence line until it ended and then continued for another fifty feet. There they reached a large tree. It stood where the fence line would have gone if it had continued. The tree was just large enough that all three could lean against it and still be facing the game, more or less.

  After watching the inning change so that the Killaly team was now in the field, Adam began scanning the crowd. There was a good mix of Grayson and Killaly people in the bleachers, and he recognized some of the visitors from events over the years.

  He spotted Jimmy sitting near the top next to Trevor and Kassie, who were snuggled close together. Jimmy was clearly making an effort not to notice them as they exchanged affectionate movements. It had been nearly a year since the two started dating, so Kevin was no longer over-protective of his sister. Both Kevin and Jimmy felt the same way about the couple’s public displays of affection, though, and would fake throwing up if they were in the vicinity.

  Face by face Adam looked through the crowd, until he saw one that looked out of place. Even at that distance he knew who it was.

  Elianora.

  It was shocking since he had never seen her in town before, let alone sitting among the people at a community event. She glanced in his direction and nodded, giving him a friendly smile, and he did the same in return.

  A loud crack sounded in the air as Karl Klein connected with the last pitch. It was a solid hit, straight up the first baseline toward the boys, but still in play. The Killaly outfielder grabbed the ball before it reached the boys and whipped it to the first baseman. Karl had just made it to first in time, although he looked as if it took all the effort he had. His face was such a bright red that Adam was worried that Karl wasn’t getting any air, but after a few great puffs his color began returning to normal again.

  The last play had taken Adam’s attention away from Elianora. When he looked back to see her again, she was gone. Why would she leave before the first inning is done? he wondered.

  In a matter of seconds his thoughts were back on the game. Mark cheered when his father, Gurpreet, came up to bat. Gurpreet was an excellent ball player, whereas his son Mark was terrible at the sport. Gurpreet stood still, waiting intently for the pitch. The
first one was a ball, way too high. The second one was perfect, and Gurpreet took full advantage. He hit the ball far down the middle of the field and took off running for first.

  Karl moved his massive frame as fast as he could, which was a lot faster than the boys expected, but by the time he was passing third base Gurpreet was nearly behind him. Halfway to home plate, Gurpreet had to slow down because he couldn’t pass Karl.

  The ball had made it back to second base and was about to be thrown home as they neared. It was going to be close. Gurpreet turned back to third base, realizing both he and Karl wouldn’t make it home before the ball. Karl dove and slid for the plate as the ball screamed toward home. Luckily for Karl, the throw from second base had gone high while he had gone low. He slid just far enough that his first two fingers touched the plate. The umpire called him safe.

  The crowd clapped and cheered for Karl as he rolled over and got to his feet uneasily. The boys weren’t sure if the redness in his face was due to the running or everyone cheering for him. Even the back catcher for the Killaly team congratulated Karl on making it to home plate.

  When the excitement died down, Karl brushed himself off as he walked over to the dugout.

  As Adam watched Karl return and Mr. Garagan come up to bat, something caught his eye. Elianora was returning to her seat, but this time she wasn’t alone.

  “Guys!” said Adam, “Look.”

  He pointed to where Elianora sat.

  “Is that who I think it is?” asked Mark.

  “I don’t believe it,” said Kevin.

  Sitting down next to Elianora was old George Fritz.

  CHAPTER THREE

  It had been almost a year since the boys had seen George. While he was gone no-one would tell them where George was so they had quit asking. Eventually they forgot to ask anymore.

  George looked completely different. He was clean-shaven, his clothes were neat, and his hair didn’t look like he had just rolled out of bed. The stark difference between the old George and the new George made Adam wonder what exactly he had been through, although Adam wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  The game ended up being a nail biter, with the Grayson men winning by one run. The two teams shook hands and many of the players obviously knew each other well by the comments between them.

  The boys watched various people walking past George, shaking his hand and saying a few words before moving on. They guessed that a lot of the comments were, ‘You’re looking good’ and ‘Good to see you.”

  “Do we go say hi?” asked Kevin, not sounding totally sure he wanted to. Even though George looked better than he had previously, the memory of him still seemed to rub Kevin the wrong way.

  Adam nodded.

  “Come on you big baby,” said Mark who started walking toward George as the other two followed.

  As they got closer the crowd thinned out. George and Elianora stood to leave.

  “Hi George,” said Mark, “It’s good to see you again.”

  George smiled. “Hello Mark – hello boys. Good to see you too.” He looked as if he were straining to keep a smile on his face.

  “I was hoping you three would come over and talk to us,” said Elianora, taking over the conversation. “We need to recruit you for a job tomorrow, ok? It’s a League job and you are still technically initiates.”

  Adam looked at the other two and nodded for the group. “What do you need?” he asked.

  “We would like you to come over to George’s after lunch. He needs some help organizing things now that he’s back home again. I’ve already spoken to Jimmy about helping out too,” said Elianora.

  “We’ll be there,” said Kevin with a smile.

  Adam knew Kevin was putting up a brave front.

  “Good,” said Elianora. “We need to get George settled yet tonight so we’d better be going. See you tomorrow.”

  George nodded goodbye but didn’t say another word.

  “See you at 1 o’clock,” said Mark as Elianora and George walked away.

  As soon as they were far enough out of sight, Adam spoke.

  “That was completely unexpected,” he said.

  “You’re not kidding,” said Kevin.

  “He must have just gotten back today. There haven’t been any lights on in his trailer since he left last year. Dad and I have been checking on the place while he was gone, but I didn’t think he was ever coming back,” said Mark.

  “I heard that he went even crazier after Larix got to him,” said Kevin. “But he looked better than I’ve ever seen him.”

  “He looked better, but something was off,” added Adam.

  “I thought that too,” said Mark.

  “Maybe he’ll tell us something tomorrow,” said Adam, “but let’s not push it.”

  Mark and Kevin agreed.

  “What should we do now?” asked Mark.

  Adam shrugged and thought about it for a moment. “Do you have your bike here?” he asked Mark, “We brought ours.”

  Mark shook his head. “No, I came with Mom and my sisters. I told them not to wait for me when I saw you.”

  “Well, it’s starting to get dark out so we can’t practice Kurling,” said Adam, Why don’t we just go to my garage and play some cards for a while?”

  “Sounds good to me,” said Kevin.

  Mark looked at Adam. “Well, since I don’t have a bike maybe I can ride yours while you two ride together.” Mark pointed at the pair. “I know Kevin’s bike doesn’t have any flowers like the bike you rode last year, but you guys shouldn’t mind riding together again, right?”

  Adam looked at Kevin who hung his head.

  “I knew that would haunt me,” said Kevin, although he had a small smile that he tried to hide.

  Adam chuckled. “Fat chance. I’m more than willing to walk my bike home instead of doing that again. I swear my back still hurts from last year.”

  With that, the three walked toward Adam’s garage.

  ***

  The next day Kevin found Adam pulling apart some old piece of electronics in his garage. It was 12:30 and they would have to be at George’s soon.

  “Did you eat yet?” asked Kevin.

  Adam set down his tools.

  “Yep. Had some sort of canned stew that was leftover from last night. It was bad the first day, but at least it was worse the second.” Adam laughed at his own sarcasm.

  Kevin didn’t laugh, feeling bad because he had just finished a large lunch with many choices of food.

  “Should we go get Jimmy and then head over to George’s?” asked Kevin.

  “Sounds like a plan,” answered Adam.

  The two stepped outside and began walking toward Jimmy’s.

  “I am really dreading this,” Kevin admitted on the way.

  “I thought you would be,” said Adam, “so I brought you these -”

  Adam reached in his pocket and pulled out a pair of surgical rubber gloves, handing them to Kevin with a chuckle.

  Kevin laughed at the gesture.

  “That’s not all,” said Adam. He reached in his other pocket and pulled out two small pieces of foam.

  “They’re ear plugs. Once we get instructions, you won’t have to listen to George OR Mark. Things should be pretty pleasant for you after that.”

  Kevin took the gloves and ear plugs, laughing the whole time.

  They arrived at Jimmy’s house just as Jimmy was walking down his driveway.

  “Ladies,” said Jimmy.

  “M’am,” said Adam with a nod.

  They all smiled and said no more as they walked toward the Fire Hall.

  As they reached the corner, a car raced past. It turned at Town Hall and parked around the back. They all recognized the car since it belonged to the Mayor, Jeff Wyndum.

  Adam broke the silence. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jeff in a hurry before, especially to get to work. I wonder what’s up?”

  Jimmy couldn’t resist. “I’ll bet he has a hot date and forgot his wallet at work. Hi
s dates get pretty expensive, you know. Like $12.99 a minute and long distance charges apply.”

  Adam and Kevin howled with laughter.

  As they walked past Town Hall, Adam couldn’t help but wonder why Jeff really was in a hurry. Jeff had seemed to take the news of the Sentinel League quite well when he had found out. Adam had expected him to be depressed at the fact that he wasn’t invited to join previously, but it didn’t take long before Jeff had come up with many reasons why. On top of that, he tried to make it sound like he had known about the Sentinel League all along – even telling Adam that he had known about the drawbridge doors in Town Hall and the Fire Hall since he was a boy.

  Soon the group was nearing George’s, and saw an old truck parked out front. Mark was flopped over the tailgate while Gurpreet and George talked. Mark looked like a young child waiting for their parent to finish a long conversation about accounting. As soon as he saw his friends approaching he perked up and tried to stand as if he were involved in the conversation.

  Gurpreet faced the direction of the boys as he spoke to George. When he noticed the group approaching he motioned for George to look. George turned and his face broke into a wide smile.

  “Hello boys,” said George, waving them in as they neared.

  George shook each boy’s hand as they walked up. “Thank you, thank you. Thanks for helping a crazy old man.” He seemed in a much better mood than the previous day.

  Adam stole a glance at Kevin and Jimmy. “Uh…no problem,” he managed to reply, “Glad we could help.”

  George looked like a puppy that had just seen its owner after a week away. The joy shone in his eyes like Adam had never seen before, but more that that, George looked sane. The constant look of suspicion was gone from his face, which made him look so different, as it had once been one of his most defining features. He had looked that way the entire time Adam had known him.

  “We borrowed the town garbage truck and a bunch of garbage bags so that you could help George get rid of some of the ‘information’ that he collected over the years. Before you ask, you should know that George has been fully informed about the Sentinel League. He has very little memory of the time from when he became a member until just after he woke up from the accident that caused his memory loss. Since his run in with Larix his memory is slowly coming back, but don’t bother him with a bunch of questions, ok?”