The group arrived at Greg's home, in the back yard, as they had before. Now four strong, Greg led the way inside while Envy waited. There was still moisture on the mirror of Greg's bathroom shower, used minutes prior by Greg himself while on a break from South Africa. The clone was given a proper shower and shave, but was not quite ready to put on Greg's clothes and assume his identity.
"We need to cut his hair to look like yours. Got any scissors?" Vega pointed out.
Greg and Vega sat the clone on a chair in front of the bathroom sink. They did their best, giving the boy a haircut that was passable. Matching Greg's shaggy hair turned out to be harder than expected. By the time the job was done, bits of blond hair covered the bathroom.
"The clothes I wore when the lizard came for me are in my room on the floor, but they stink pretty bad." Greg relayed to his partner.
"My suit could use a cleaning as well." Vegas said. "Do you have washing services near by?"
"We have a washer and dryer in the garage. Give me your stuff and I will start a load," Greg replied, giving Vega a funny look. "I'll start the clothes and we can jump forward to when they are done?"
"I don't know how long it will be until we get a solid chance to rest again. Is it okay for me to sleep here while you two jump ahead?" Vega asked.
"Yeah. I can do that," Greg said. "I'll take my clone and leave you and Envy here. The place should be deserted for a couple hours. What should we call him, anyway, my clone, I mean?"
"I suppose it is up to you to give him a name. We are going to have to take him back to 2002 and give him up, remember. It's best not to get too attached," Vega said.
"Yeah, I get that. It's just weird referring to him as the clone."
"Do you have a middle name? I understand most of you have three names..." Vega said, handing over his clothes to be washed. Greg thought it funny to throw a nice suit in the washing machine, but what other choice did he have?
"It's Curtis, Gregory Curtis Thompson. How about you, Vega? I don't even know your last name."
"It's because I don't have one," Vega said.
"What? Come on... Only, like, pop stars only have one name!" Greg exclaimed.
"My father had one name, and so do I."
"What, is that like a - future thing?"
"No, I'm not from the future that we have been visiting. It's a long story, but I was born far from here. And my father, even further than that." Vega answered.
"You never give a complete answer! Every bit you give leads to more and more questions!"
"Sorry, it’s a bad habit I must have picked up from a friend."
Greg shook his head and gathered the rest of the clothes to be washed. His clone still sat on the chair in the bathroom, staring at his companions, wide eyed as they talked in the threshold to Greg's room. "Come on... Curt," he called to the clone, and motioned for his slightly younger self to follow him. "Let's let this guy get some rest."
Greg led Curt down the stairs to their narrow garage. He threw the wad of clothes in the old washer. "What do you think, my man? Cold water? I bet the suits will shrink if they are done in hot." He said to Curt. The mirror image staring back had wide eyes, drinking in everything. Feeling slightly embraced by staring at himself, Greg tossed in a packet of soap and cranked the dial to the proper setting.
"That should do it. Come on, take my hand, let's jump forward and we can switch them over to the dryer," Greg said, extending his hand to Curt.
The clone glanced at the outstretched hand for a moment, and understood. He smiled and took Greg's hand, making Greg smile as well.
Greg showed Curt how to activate the coin, and the pair went forward, laundering clothes in record time.
Vega's suit went through the process just fine, thanks to Greg's decision to wash on cold and tumble dry on a low heat setting. His own clothes, the ones he had begun the adventure in, were also cleaned. They fit perfectly on his new twin brother. Curt had become like a puppy in the few minutes it took to wash the clothes. He said nothing while he followed Greg around, watching intently.
Greg considered ditching his future suit for more comfortable street clothes, but changed his mind. Vega's own example won out in the end; the more he considered the topic. And so far, he had noticed how well they both had blended in to other eras, being dressed in more classic clothing.
Before long, the group was ready. Vega was rested, armed with his satchel, cloak and cleaned grey suit. Greg redressed in his similar navy three-piece suit, the stiletto hidden in his waist band. Curt, dressed as Greg, was a perfect fit for the day he was to be captured by the Enforcer.
"Lets take a look at that journal, for the location of the third coin." Vega said.
Greg swung himself into his closet with one hand on the door jam and grabbed the small book. He brought it out and flipped through the pages until he came to the relevant prime numbered page. He tapped the spot.
"It looks like the stash is in the town of Lone Pine. By this drawing, it appears to be halfway between the end of the runway of a small airport and this road. The note says under an old outhouse. The other two spots were easy to find following the directions, so I'm assuming this one will be too." Greg said.
Vega nodded, scanning over the section of the larger map, memorizing it.
"It's just so strange to think that by the time I am given this map by the Snow King, the third stash will be empty. But, I won't even know about the treasure until the map is given to me. Strange how all this works! I just hope the Snow King has already hidden this stuff by 2002!" Greg said.
"If that was even the Snow King who gave you the journal that day..." Vega replied. "But I don't know. Time travel is a funny thing. I only have heard rumors about the thief, so I couldn’t say for sure."
Greg, taken aback, that he may not have met the Snow King on the day of his fatal accident. He felt suddenly confused, as if he needed to rethink all he thought he knew. Vega clapped the book closed and turned to leave. Greg shook the irrelevant thoughts out of his head and followed Vega out of his room.
Sometimes I think this guy says things like that just to mess with me! Greg thought as he tucked the book back into his closet.
The trio went outside and called for Envy to assume the traveling position.
Greg once again handed the coin over to Curt. Vega nodded in approval, as it was the clone's turn to take possession of device from that point on. Greg felt sad handing off the coin, knowing they were going to have to give it up. It had become a thing of comfort to him over the past adventures, knowing that with a flip of the wrist he could escape danger or be back safe at home with no effort at all.
But after the next jump, he would let the coin go and be trapped in the past, forced to track down another coin or be stuck for good. And then what was next for him? He felt strange the moment he realized, the treasure meant little to him. Jumping through time, the short while he had been at it, seemed infinitely more interesting than living his normal life, forced to endure the movement of time as it crept by. He was changing from all this, Greg could feel it.
There was, however, one more part to their quest. A loose end had to be tied, a debt that had to be paid. It was time to return to the orchard.
The coin made its unique chime as it was launched in the air.
CHAPTER 21