Chapter 9
I stood up from my black leather chair and stretched. The children let me know that they didn’t care for my little pause with a penetrating sigh. I had no intention of cutting off my tale, but I suggested that we take a break. The children and some of the parents sighed again. I told them not to fret, and that I would be pleased to continue on about JT, Michael, and Kali after a brief recess.
My grandson looked worried. His head on a swivel, he blankly scanned the ceiling of the great hall. The rain outside pelted the roof and sounded like a symphony of drums on an endless roll. The storm didn’t want to break, and we had approximately forty people in the house under our care.
As I mentioned before, the house was huge and safe, but with the power off, it was impossible for the guests to roam around freely. I would have hated for one of the children or any of their parents to fall down a flight of stairs or hit their head on an end table by tripping over a rug. In the blackness, the house could become a terrifying maze. Down the long, dark corridors there were many rooms and secret doors that led to other rooms. It would be very easy for someone to get lost and very hard for someone to be found.
My grandson, James, addressed our guests after thinking about our predicament for some time, “Please, if you don’t mind, can we move to the dining room down the hall here to your left?” He pointed toward a huge, oak double door. “Thank you. The staff has prepared a little snack and some drinks.”
It took almost two hours to take the guided tour through Warhead Dale during regular hours when it was opened to the public. In a savvy business decision, my grandson opened a quick stop for tourists to grab a snack or a small souvenir. The shop sold soda, assorted crackers, chocolate, pastries and everyone’s favorite in summer, ice cream. Patrons could also purchase a small replica of the house or a T-shirt or other knickknacks.
At the end of the summer season, ice cream would normally be scarce, but because of an ordering error and our good fortune, today there was plenty. Since the power was off and we needed to think about our hungry guests (and being that we stored most of the food in refrigerators that now did not function), James yelled out, “ice cream and candy for everyone!” and the group of listeners cheered.
What a dinner it was.
We gathered in the dining room of Warhead Dale. It was easily the size of a gymnasium. The long dining table was made out of solid cherry and was just about thirty feet long. It was roped off so that visitors to the house would not touch the bright, shiny finish, but I figured under the circumstances, it would be OK to relax those rules this time. The velvet ropes that enclosed the table were unhooked and our hungry guests found their seats.
There was a balcony loft that circled the room two stories above the table. People could sit and read the books that covered the cased walls. I heard that JT, when he was older, would sit in the big, plush chairs and read for hours after he ate meals. A blazing fire in another huge fireplace near the head of the table was started by the remaining staff and cast brilliant shadows on the floor and walls, illuminating flags from every country that draped off of the balcony’s railings.
The children and their parents sat around the massive cherry slab in antique, hand carved chairs with big, red, fluffy cushioned seats and backs. The children swung their tiny feet wildly back and forth and shoveled ice cream and pastries into their mouths, washing it all down with slightly warm soda. It delighted me to see the vitality of youth.
In a race to drink my soda the fastest, I spilled my drink on the Persian rug beneath the table and started laughing with a small group of children. The warm liquid had found its way through my nose. Our mood, despite the raging thunderstorm outside, lightened a bit.
All things being equal, I would have to say our guests were satisfied, and with the raging storm, this was certainly an adventure to the children. It was definitely an adventure for me. They were eager to hear more of the story, and even though time had flown by, there was still a lot of the story left to tell.
One little boy with ice cream dripping from his cheeks and onto the polished cherry table asked, “Can you keep tellin’ your cool story here?”
I thought for a second, and from that point on, the break was over. As the children and grown-ups licked their cones of vanilla, chocolate and chocolate chip (my favorite) ice cream, I continued my story over the massive table.
“Warhead Dale wasn’t always this beautiful,” I began, swallowing the last of my ice-cream cone and washing it down with my last drop of soda. “It was a lot like the garden right outside that we sat in earlier. The grass wasn’t as plush and green and the tiled rooftop crumbled from age and wear. The windows were cracked, shattered, and so dirty that they could crumble in your hands from being so brittle; their only protection were thick, rotten boards riddled with slimy, burrowing termites. The beige mortar of the house and buffed iron of the gate had turned into the dreadful browns, grays, and blacks of death and winter – nothing like the brilliance you see now. The tables weren’t finely finished and polished, and the rugs were not as plush and new (although the ones in the dining room at that moment were covered with stains of ice cream, crumbs, and soda).
Although, as I explained to you before, those flowers in the garden leave their seeds behind during the winter in hopes that the sun and the showers of spring will bring back the brilliant colors of life. Like that garden, this house also left something behind so long ago. Its seed was desperate for life and renewal again, and it could wait no more; so instead of waiting for the sun, showers, and hope that would bring it back to life, it scoured the earth and found them.
It found hope by leaving the majestic, black cane with JT as he lay in the hospital. It found its showers by visiting JT as an innocent boy and sparked his interest with the story of the Vryheid. It found its sun by taunting Michael in his dreams, which led him to write a letter to Kali connecting the three lost friends, bringing them to its aid.
Now, as the hope, showers, and sun (JT, Michael, and Kali) made their way back to Warhead Dale, that seed known as Billy moaned in the bowels of the mighty house waiting to spring back to life.”
I hoped this analogy resonated with my dedicated band of listeners, and I began talking again about JT, Michael, and Kali.
“After a brief argument with Linda about whether they should leave then or wait until the next morning, JT, Michael, and Kali packed a few possessions into the big, rusty, blue car. Linda, after losing the argument and filled with reservations about them leaving so suddenly, made them some sandwiches to take along. They then began their drive to Warhead Dale.
Kali was suspicious of everything around her. She really didn’t want to go back to the old house, but after submitting to the possibility of Billy’s retribution, she had no choice. Nervous and excited at once, JT had no idea what he might learn from his return to his grandfather’s house; furthermore, the feeling that he must protect Michael made him think that the skinny young man still held something from him. Michael, though ecstatic about their return to Warhead Dale, couldn’t help thinking ‘There’s always a catch... there’s always a catch....’ Certainly Billy would not make facing his destiny an easy task.
Athens Eden was about ten miles inland from the ocean’s shore. A main road cut through the town directly north and south and then other roads branched out east to the ocean. The small coastal community had not had many tourists visit its quaint, cobblestone roads through the years, but as the three travelers would find out quickly, the town was experiencing a major growth spurt. New houses and neighborhoods shot up like weeds. Developers, consumers, retirees, and settlers young and old from all over the country migrated to the sleepy town, lured by its magnetic charm.
‘Are you sure this is the right way to the house?’ Kali asked as Michael turned the car down one of the east running roads. ‘I don’t seem to remember all of these houses and neighborhoods the last time I was here.’
‘Oh, it’s changed a lot, but this is the right road. Trust me,’ Michael s
tated with confidence. JT’s eyes perked up when he heard the word “trust” spoken from Michael’s lips.
The big blue car navigated down the seemingly endless road through a forest of new houses and neighborhoods. Michael told them that over the last few years it seemed as though everyone wanted to move to the beach all at once. The quiet little town, in his opinion, was being jolted awake.
‘Maybe that’s why Jenny didn’t give me and Michael an evil eye when I was at the bank like the rest of the people that noticed us,’ JT said, remembering how nice the young girl with the blonde ponytail was to him. ‘She’s probably new here.’ JT leaned all the way back and laid his neck over the crest of the seat with his cane lying gently across his lap as he heard Kali snicker. He peered out of the enormous back window. The sky was still lit barely, but stars had started to pop through the fading clouds like scattered jewels on black velvet. The rumbling engine gently shook the rigid back seat and felt quite soothing to JT’s neck.
Over the noise of the engine, JT could hear Michael and Kali mumbling; an obvious argument. Kali’s voice would rise every few seconds and Michael would instantly answer her in his annoying high-pitched voice. JT didn’t try to make out anything that they were quarrelling about because he was feeling the butterflies creep and flutter in his stomach, wrenching his insides, as he grew closer to facing his past. It was a bittersweet moment for him -- a moment he had wished would come about for so long. His excitement at the prospect of finally finding the answer to where he came from coursed through his veins, but he was still upset. He was distressed that the townspeople shunned him, Michael, Kali, and their families from their own hometown. It was also unnerving that someone had actually died in his grandfather’s house, and that he had had a part in it.
Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt and JT’s head was forced forward. The car let out a colossal, ‘BANG!’ Kali, as though the earth itself had been destroyed, screamed at the top of her voice, ‘Oh my God!’
There was a slight pause. Then with her elbows on her knees and her face buried in her hands, Kali’s muffled voice rang out, ‘I told you, you took a wrong turn you moron!’
‘What’s wrong?!’ JT demanded in a panicked, breathless voice rotating his head from side to side.
Michael sat motionless. His face was flushed and he stared vacantly through the windshield. He clutched the steering wheel, knuckles white, the engine still roaring. ‘I never saw it,’ he said with a whimper. The words barely escaped his lips.
JT jumped out of the car and Kali followed suit. Michael was petrified. JT and Kali gazed behind the big blue car and saw a little girl sobbing and rubbing a black fur ball in the middle of the road.
JT lumbered closer and saw the cause of Michael’s sudden slamming of the brakes. They had run over a small black dog. JT knelt down beside the girl, placing his hand gently on her shoulder. She was inconsolable.
‘You killed Tuffy.’ The girl bawled, looking at JT with somber eyes and still stroking the animal that lay motionless in the street. Her entire universe had been shattered in one, single moment.
Kali stood behind JT with her hands still covering her mouth and JT was at a loss for words. Two women threw open a screen door and bolted out of the new house where the car had stopped.
‘What happened?! Oh my goodness! Cherie, what happened?!’ One of the women, with long blondish hair and very pretty eyes, yelled out. She fell to her knees beside the little girl.
The woman looked at the dog, which was still motionless. She glanced at the moaning girl and then back up to JT, who was still in shock. ‘What, you couldn’t see the dog, you idiot?’
JT was startled. He sympathized with the lady, but he had no idea how to respond to her question. He was upset enough that they had hit the dog. ‘No...’ he started, ‘I guess we didn’t?’ His voice was hollow and faint.
‘What do you mean, No!’ The woman barked, her eyes not looking as pretty as they had before. ‘The dog was right there. Oh my goodness, Tuffy.’ She rocked the little girl in her arms beside the still dog.
The other woman stood with her hands on her hips and one leg cocked. She shook her head. ‘I know you.’ The lady caught a glimpse of JT’s face from the faint red of the brake lights of Michael’s big old car. ‘You need to get on out of here, the both of you. I can’t believe you have the gall to come back to this town. Haven’t you killed enough people already?! I guess that didn’t satisfy you - now you go and kill a dog?!’
Kali stood silent gritting her teeth but not for long. She felt her blood start to boil. ‘Excuse me?!’ Kali snapped back, flipping her hair from her eyes and pointing at the woman. ‘I can’t believe you just said that!’
‘Believe it missy! This town went through a lot back then. We don’t need any more of you people’s hijinks around here. We had enough!’
‘Now you listen here you two-bit, hick hussy!’ (Again, I cannot tell you what she really said) Kali yelled back and the little girl’s cries became louder, interrupting the mêlée.
JT quickly grabbed Kali and shuffled her back to the car. Kali continued yelling verbal jabs over her shoulder and the woman emphatically pointed each angry word she spat toward Kali with her index finger. JT stuffed Kali in the passenger’s seat. This was not the time to show her strength, or in this case, her stubborn temper.
JT opened the back door of the car and peeked back at the young girl peacefully stroking the little dog. He couldn’t believe he had been in town for only a couple of hours, and another living thing he was associated with was dead. This time, unlike Charlie, he would remember it.
Then, as soon as the empty feeling filled his heart with the volume of a black hole, something very wonderful and strange happened from behind the car. The little black ball of fur started to wiggle. Next, its tail started to wag very slowly, and with each pass, the black appendage picked up speed until it was fluttering back and forth like the wings of a hummingbird. Very tenderly, the dog raised its head. In an instant, the puppy bounded into the girl’s arms, licking and snuggling her cheek with zestful fervor. The child screamed in delight, ‘Tuffy!’
JT glared back at the woman who had belittled Kali and cracked a smug, pompous smile. The woman was not pleased at his insensitive gesture.
‘Get on out of here!’ the woman yelled, as JT climbed into the car. ‘Go back to where you came from, ‘cause it don’t matter. That old house is getting flattened anyway!’
‘She’s just crazy,’ JT stated as he slammed the door. The car shook and the axel squeaked. ‘Let’s go.’
‘That hick might be crazy, but not as crazy as this one,’ Kali said as she motioned a soft nod toward Michael.
Michael was still sitting in the same position when JT and Kali left the car. He started mumbling to himself for a moment and then began to speak loud and clear. ‘I can’t do anything right,’ he began as tears rolled down his face. ‘I can’t keep a job. I can’t even get a girlfriend. Kali’s right, I’m an idiot. I’m so stupid. I can’t even drive down the road in the middle of nowhere without hurting somebody. I just can’t believe this.’
‘It’s OK Michael,’ JT stated as calmly as he could. ‘The dog’s fine. The little thing just got up. Its tail’s wagging and that little girl is just as happy as she can be.’
‘Yeah, Michael,’ Kali said in an unfamiliar consoling voice. ‘There’s no way you could have seen that dog jump out in the road. Let’s just go. It’ll be OK.’ Kali looked over the seat at JT with an alarmed gape. She thought it was odd that JT had lied to Michael by saying the dog was alive. She then caught a glimpse of the child laughing and playing with her dog, Tuffy, under the streetlight through the back window. Her eyes became wide and then flashed a surprised smile at JT. JT nodded back confidently.
‘It still doesn’t matter. I’m still a joke. I just hope things are different in Bruinduer.’ Michael lethargically put the car in drive.
The three began down the road again for a little while longer, and Michael got t
he turn right this time in spite of Kali telling him that it was wrong. The big blue car bounced up Fairway Street. More new houses lined the street until the big blue car passed Greenbay Drive. There, the neighborhoods stopped and the land was empty, with only big, shaggy trees lining both sides of the two lane road that now zigzagged endlessly.
‘Are we there yet?’ Kali asked. ‘This just seems much longer than I remembered.’ Kali huffed and rolled her window down. ‘I told you that was the wrong –’
The car suddenly stopped with a small screech from the tires and let out a great ‘Bang!’ once again.
‘Here we are,’ Michael said somberly. Although on the outside he displayed solemn depression, inside he began to boil with excitement. His thoughts raced. He was finally at Ol’ Captain Luke’s house again. Michael sprang from the car and breathed in the sweet, salty air of the ocean. It made him feel much better, and his eyes opened wide as the memory of hitting the dog dissipated. JT and Kali, though happy that they had stopped (JT was just about to catch another episode of motion sickness), were confused as they lugged themselves out of the car.
‘Here where?’ asked JT and Kali as they looked up and down the dark, deserted road. ‘I don’t see anything.’ Their eyes had not yet adjusted to the night.
A streetlight just above them flickered on as JT and Kali strained to make out any shapes in the darkness and a number on the concrete curb appeared. It read 209.
‘We’re at Warhead Dale,’ Michael announced and started to trot toward what looked like thick, smothering woods. ‘It’s there, trust me.’ Michael skipped closer to the thicket. JT flinched again at Michael mentioning trust. ‘Just to let you know,’ continued Michael, ‘this place is old and worn down. No one has been here since you left, JT, nine years ago. No one has taken care of it.’ Michael then pointed toward the thick bush. ‘These vines and tree branches have grown all over the iron gate of the driveway. You can make the gate out if you look close enough.’ Michael disappeared slightly into the branches and started to yank them away. ‘Don’t forget your cane. We’ll need it.’ Michael was definitely glad again.
‘Alright, I guess if you say so Michael,’ JT stated. His trust in Michael was diminishing with every passing second. He couldn’t see any iron gate. He grabbed his cane from under the blanket in the back seat and snatched his duffel bag from the floorboard. He and Kali then nervously trudged toward Michael where he was trying ever so hard to clear the brush, vines, and other dense vegetation in front of him.
Michael worked his way quickly through the deep overgrowth, and JT and Kali watched with amusement.
‘Is he always like this?’ JT asked, shaking his head and wondering what might happen next with Michael.
‘Like what?’ Kali asked back pulling a stick of gum from her purse and offering a piece to JT.
‘No thanks,’ JT answered but then continued on about Michael, ‘I don’t know. The boy has been strange ever since I met him - well ever since he showed up at the farm. He’s been so excited and then he’s been so sad. Back and forth - happy then sad. Sad then happy.’ JT pointed in Michael’s direction. ‘It’s starting to get annoying.’
‘Yeah, I know. But he’s been through a lot,’ Kali explained. ‘All of that stuff with Charlie and then you leaving. He was just crushed. You were his best friend.’ Kali, smacking her gum, glanced at Michael with sympathy. She knew she had been hard on him and had said some unkind things, but she really did care for him. ‘I have no idea how he would’ve turned out if you hadn’t met him and looked after him when he moved to town.’
‘I... looked... after... him?’ JT asked, distinctly remembering his and Michael’s discussion during their trip to Athens Eden. Michael explained how he had taken JT under his wing after the children at school picked on him because of the way he talked. JT said nothing about that conversation to Kali.
‘I figured he might not have told you about all that. You know, his parents split and he came to live with his dad. They moved here when he was around eight years old, I think,’ Kali continued. As she chewed on her gum, her eyes twinkled as she talked about Michael. ‘His dad was an old fisherman, hermit type with this crazy-big, bushy hair and beard, but he was really sick, bless his heart. The kids tortured Michael up and down all around the school.’ Kali’s voice turned to disgust and the twinkle left her eyes. ‘Some kicked him and teased him. It was horrible. It’s amazing what eight-year-old kids will do.’ Kali then placed her arm on JT’s shoulder. ‘That is, until you walked through the door.’
JT felt a shiver run down his back from her gentle touch.
‘I’m glad you walked through that door,’ Kali blushed. She gazed at JT with her blazing sapphire eyes.
JT stood in stunned silence. When Michael told JT the story during their trip, he had no reason to doubt him or his tale. However, considering some of his recent actions, such as leading Billy straight to Kali and holding back the story about Charlie, he had to admit he was not too surprised at what Kali had said. The distrust he felt toward Michael was complete, and his presumption that Michael was holding something back was validated. The comforting feeling he received from Kali through her touch vanished. ‘If he’s lied about that, what else has he lied about?’ JT thought to himself and hobbled toward Michael who was still working diligently to clear away the strangling vines and branches from the hidden iron gate.
‘Are you mad at something?’ Kali yelled out in the direction of JT as he picked up a little speed and slammed his cane on top of the concrete.
‘No!’ JT threw his head back to Kali and then fixed his piercing, inset eyes back onto Michael. With a grimace, he stated in a low voice too soft for Kali to hear, ‘I just want to ask the little jerk something.’
JT slid closer to Michael and the thick blanket of trees and vines, and he suddenly felt his right hand begin to burn.
‘What the -’ JT yelped and his cane tumbled to the ground. The ruby eyes in the skull of the handle began to blaze fire red. JT carefully leaned down and picked up the cane by the ebony shaft. He then remembered how delicate and important the cane was. He limped closer toward Michael and the thicket, careful not to use his cane as a walking stick. With the cane held out in front of him, with its eyes glowing even more intensely, the vines, leaves, and branches started to rustle in the wind that whirled and percolated behind JT.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ JT snickered. He then walked even closer, amazed at what happened.
The overgrowth of branches and vines flopped up and down and the wind howled. The branches waved back and forth and violently recoiled. JT plainly looked upon the iron gate where Michael now stood, glowing from the red of the ruby eyes, with flapping branches smacking him in the face.
Michael screamed out, ‘Hey! What in the world?! Stop!’
JT backed away from Michael and the gate. The eyes in the skull became dimmer, and the thick coppice enfolded instantly around the iron gate and tightened against Michael.
‘Come on man! I’m stuck!’ Michael yelled. ‘What are you doing?!’
JT then discovered himself smiling broadly. It was a smile so grand, his cheeks ached. He began walking toward Michael and the gate once again, this time with an air of confidence and power. For a second time, the wind blew strong and honed. The eyes in the cane beamed as bright as any star of the night and lit the entire area. JT made his way toward Michael, and the thick woods retreated completely, exposing an intact, rusted out, black, iron gate in front of them.
As soon as the last branch shrunk and withdrew, the blazing red lights from the ruby eyes of the cane extinguished as though a gentle breath had snuffed them out. Only the streetlight remained. It took a moment for Kali and JT’s sight to adjust.
‘Where’s Michael?!’ JT barked in a panic as soon as he focused on the gate. Michael had vanished.
A few tense moments passed and then a fractured, frightened voice rang out from the darkness, ‘Up here!’
One of the branches had caught
Michael under the collar of his shirt and lifted him high off the ground. His feet were dangling back and forth below him. ‘Get me down!’ Michael struggled, flailing his arms and kicking his feet. He overdid it just a little too much - the branch that seized him snapped, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Surprisingly, he bounced up with no injury.
‘That wasn’t funny!’ Michael barked at JT, who grabbed his sides from laughing so hard. He was glad that Michael was OK. Kali turned her back and tried to hold back a chuckle.
‘Yes it was. That was hilarious,’ JT responded, thinking that Michael might have deserved it for lying to him about the way the two met. He then decided not to confront him right then about the matter since Michael had been slightly humiliated from falling on his bottom.
‘Yup - it sure was funny,’ Kali said through a small cough as she eyed JT.
Michael wobbled and found it difficult to catch his balance after the fall, but as soon as he regained his bearings, he walked up to Kali and JT. The three stood silent and static in front of a massive, black, iron gate. It was menacing to say the least, and it turned the recent jovial mood cold. There was a worn, faded, brass sign that hung from two chains in an arch above the doors to the gate that read ‘Warhead Dale.’
‘Well, I told you, we’re here,’ Michael said and shook the dirt off of his jeans. ‘Finally.’ His gleeful mood was gaining momentum again and a sense of fulfillment and pride consumed him. He had completed his task of getting JT and Kali back to Warhead Dale.
Under the glow of the streetlight, JT held his cane close to his face and stared at it. ‘I wonder what that was all about. Was that strange to anybody other than me? I mean, it was cool how the branches and vines just cleared out like that, but wasn’t it weird?’ JT asked curiously. He was starting to get used to the strange things that had begun happening just a couple of days before, but he couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Nope,’ Michael said very nonchalantly still staring straight ahead at the massive black gate. Kali didn’t say much, but her look implied that she had seen this before. Michael chimed in, ‘I guess the cane wants to come home too.’
‘Why didn’t you say something about the cane doing that before you got all tangled up?’ JT asked Michael, perplexed.
‘I didn’t know if it would work. I mean, it has been a while,’ Michael explained. ‘Plus, the vines and branches never covered the gate like that before.’
‘I just stood and watched you two morons make fools of yourselves,’ Kali said and looked away with a snicker. ‘It was the funniest thing I’ve seen for some time.’
‘Well, it worked,’ JT said and carefully put his weight onto the cane.
‘What’s this?’ Kali asked, catching an odd shape on the ground. She walked over to an old wooden sign that had been knocked down by the vines released from the gate. She plucked off a very formal looking piece of paper that was stapled to the board and walked back to Michael and JT. She handed the paper to JT.
JT brought it under the streetlight to get a better look. He scanned over the document, which had very fine letterhead running across the top. It read:
From: The Planning Office of the City of Athens Eden
To: Residence of 209 Fairway Street, subdivision 4, lot number 49
This memo is to inform you that the building and structures within the lot mentioned above will be demolished in accordance with Section 2 paragraph 3-4a of the city code.
Since no one has made claim to the property here within the time permitted by law, and all means of notification have been extinguished, it has been determined that the city council of Athens Eden shall take full ownership of said property of 209 Fairway Street no later than the 10th day of November of this year.
The property will then be sold to the highest bidder in a public auction on the 11th day of November.
Said trust of the property is hereby granted to J.B.J & Sons Property Management and Construction.
Anyone caught on the property until said auction will be in violation of the law and charged with trespassing.
This summons is final.
JT walked over to Kali and Michael, shaking his head. He handed the memo back to Kali, ‘I guess that lady was right. They’re going to tear this place down.’
‘Do what? What lady?’ Michael said as his face flushed.
‘The lady we saw out in the road when you ran over that dog. She said she couldn’t wait for them to flatten this place,’ JT explained with slight indifference. Although he was concerned at what he just read, there was nothing he could have done about it at that moment anyway. Gregory had taught him that there are some things you just can’t control at certain times. He had explained that people should take each issue, weigh the circumstances, consider the time sensitivity, and then go from there. November was a couple of months away, JT thought. He had a more pressing matter to attend at that moment - getting into Warhead Dale.
‘They can’t tear this place down. It’s impossible!’ Michael stated, ‘Your granddad had plenty of money. He had plans. He had his own trust fund in the house to make sure it would never be torn down or sold.’ Michael paced back and forth, gesturing wildly with his hands.
‘How do you know that?’ JT asked. It seemed to be quite a pastime for Michael to keep information from him.
‘He told us,’ Kali answered back. JT’s eyes perked up. She seemed to know more than she led on as well.
JT was getting frustrated.
‘He always said the house had to remain in the family,’ Kali continued. ‘He said it could never be sold or destroyed. He put it in his will. I remember the day he told us. He said the house and its contents could not end up in the wrong hands.’ Kali paused for a brief instant as she retrieved her thoughts. ‘He emphasized that it could NOT end up in the wrong hands.’
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ Michael started, ‘Your dad wasn’t too hip to the whole idea. I remember now; your dad believed he should have at least inherited the fortune your grandfather had considering all of the time he missed with him growing up. Your grandfather spent years away from home searching for the Mahogany Door, and from what I understand, the money your grandfather had was considerable, but your dad didn’t get any of it. You see, Ol’ Captain Luke put his riches in that trust fund to pay all the taxes and insurance and stuff - everything the town needed to keep the house intact.’ Michael placed his finger on his temple. ‘This makes no sense. He told us about all that at the same time he told us about finding the Mahogany Door. That was at the beginning.’
JT suddenly felt a shock of bright light pierce into his brain. It was as if a sledgehammer slammed on his forehead, jolting him backward. ‘AUGH!’ JT screamed out. The pain coursed through every inch of his body and reverberated in his soul. He hit the ground with his knees.
‘What’s wrong?’ Kali shrilled. She ran to JT’s side.
‘I don’t know,’ JT mumbled toward the sky. His head swam. Images tapped through his mind like an old, antique movie. His surroundings clad themselves in an amber haze. He tried to stand and Kali pulled on his arms. He looked to where the iron gate stood and saw a newer image of the structure in front of him, but instead of the icy, black, distant gate he remembered after the thicket pulled back, the metal looked warm and inviting. The breeze jumped between the gate’s bars and tickled the now brand-new, polished brass sign above it that contained the name, ‘Warhead Dale’, and moaned for JT to enter. Was this a memory from his past?
JT tried to keep the image in his head. Maybe he could get answers that weren’t being held back from his so-called best friends; if he could just hold onto the vision a little longer. He strained with all of his strength to keep the memory alive, but in an instant, the picture vanished. The old gate was back, and he sat on his knees beside Michael and Kali.
‘Let’s go in.’ A shot of adrenaline rushed through JT’s veins as he caught his breath. The pain was gone.
‘Now, that’s what I’m talkin’ about,’ Michael snapped
immediately. He pumped his fist into the air.
‘What?’ Kali asked with alarm. ‘We can’t go in there. Didn’t you read that memo? We need to go and tell Linda about this. I’m not going to jail, especially not for you two!’
‘Don’t be such a worrywart,’ Michael taunted and shoved her with his hand.
Kali pointed her finger at Michael, ‘Don’t start with me.’
‘Come on, Kali. Nothin’ is going to happen. There’s nobody around here. We’re in the middle of nowhere.’ JT placed his hand on Kali’s shoulder. For the first time since he had left the Shorts’ farm, he felt like he needed to take control of his actions. ‘I have to go in there.’ JT went to open the big, black, iron gate, still careful not to put too much pressure on his cane as he walked, which was proving difficult. ‘With or without you.’
‘Well I’m not going,’ Kali huffed, her arms crossed in their familiar position.
‘Fine, stay out here then,’ JT stated not looking back, ‘I think it’s about a six mile walk back or something like that? What you think, Michael?’
‘Yup,’ Michael said with a snicker, ‘and there’s Billy too!’
Kali looked around and tapped her foot nervously, then she let out another huge sigh. ‘Whatever. Fine, I’ll go.’ She walked toward the gate following Michael. She popped him on the shoulder and pointed at him again; this time her finger thumped his nose. ‘I told you not to start with me.’
JT tried to open the gate with his hand. It wouldn’t budge. ‘It’s locked.’
‘Duh...,’ Kali scoffed. ‘I could have told you that without even trying.’ She tried in vain to make herself feel better. Sarcasm bled from her voice. ‘Yeah, like you’re just going to waltz on in there.’
Michael then perked up and with tense certainty explained, ‘The cane... the cane’s the key. Give it a try.’
JT took the cane and slid the ivory skull and crossbones into the lock’s opening where it fit perfectly. He twisted it to the left and then tried to go back to the right, but the cane jammed.
‘It’s stuck,’ JT said. ‘It won’t turn.’ Frustration built and JT’s temper rose. He hadn’t come this far to be denied his past. He clutched the shaft of the cane tightly and tried to pry it back to the left. The handle began to bend as he tried to force the lock to break. He then realized what he was doing and calmed himself. He loosened his grip, sucked in a hefty dose of salty air and let it out. The cane would be no good broken. He couldn’t understand what he was feeling. His temper, like facing Willy in the horse barn, wanted to get the best of him. He gently pulled the handle back out of the lock. His clear thinking prevailed.
‘I guess we’re going over,’ Michael retorted. Without hesitation, he bounded over the gate from the right side.
JT looked at Kali. He wouldn’t let the fact that he couldn’t unlock the gate stop him either. His only concern was the pain he would feel in his knee as he climbed over. He passed his duffel bag and the cane through the bars to Michael, grabbed one of the hinges with his foot and lifted himself over. It took a little time, but JT managed to suffer through the throbbing pain and awkwardly fell to the other side.
Kali took a moment. She saw the pain that JT had endured in order to get over the gate. She looked back at the big, old, blue car behind her sitting innocently under the streetlight. She was sure she could get Michael to give her the keys. She could just ride away, no one would care. Of course Billy would. She sighed and groaned, ‘I’m going to regret this.’
She didn’t make it to the other side without a lot of cursing and screaming. Most of her bad language was directed toward Michael as he stood on the other side gawking at her. Kali finally made it over, and as she punched Michael a few times in the arms, the vines and branches that had revealed the gate swallowed it with a strident ‘SWAP!’
The trio was startled. Kali squeaked something incoherent and Michael froze. ‘That’s interesting,’ JT muffled but didn’t give the matter a second thought. He knew he had to go to Ol’ Captain Luke’s house.
The sun dropped completely behind the trees around the gate and night slipped silently into its black cloak. JT, Kali, and Michael made their way anxiously down the leaf-covered driveway of Warhead Dale. They passed timorously under the dark tree branches that draped over them like a long, endless tunnel. The moon with its golden shine popped through the void and cast long, jagged, shaky shadows across the hard ground. The wind blew, and the chill off of the ocean beyond cut through their clothes, as goose bumps sprang from their skin.
They walked another twenty yards, and the smell of salt and grass punctured the air as they emerged from the tree tunnel. The moon’s height and brightness in the sky along with the substantial size of the grounds made it appear as early morning. The three panned down the massive yard and gazed on the sheer magnitude of Warhead Dale. The enormous house sat on the edge of the ocean, and its colossal front profile from the moon’s light stood like a citadel. Even though the house was now dilapidated, worn from time and neglect, it was still a magnificent site to witness.
JT’s heart began to pound like thunder against his ribs and he could see the excitement rising in Kali and Michael as their eyes became wide.
He never could have imagined that the house was as large as it was. Michael had told him that it was big, but that, along with calling Kali merely pretty, was a bold, misguided understatement.
The house was so immense that it appeared closer than it really was, and it took them almost ten minutes to reach the front of it at a heightened, eager pace. Once in front, they stood looking up in awe at the huge chalet and catching their breath. Their minds wandered as they spanned the structure with their eyes. Up and down, back and forth, the image burning into their memory. Time seemed to stand still and hours may have passed in what seemed like moments. They couldn’t take their eyes off of it.
‘So this is my granddad’s place?’ JT broke the reverent silence. He felt somewhat comfortable standing there. ‘Nice place. A little run down, but not bad. I think he did pretty well for himself, don’t ya think?’
Michael laughed out loud and Kali held back a smile. Joy flowed over them like a warm shower. They had made it.
JT nodded his head. He took one last quick look to the left and another glance to the right. He was very delighted. ‘Well…,’ he paused, ‘let’s go in.’
JT stepped up the marble stairs that rose to the front door of the house. His knees turned to jelly as he stood directly in front of two massive oak doors. His heart raced again and he couldn’t imagine why it hadn’t given out by then. A bead of sweat tumbled from his brow, and he could hear his own breath as he reached for the dull, brass doorknob. Just as his fingertips grazed the knob, a faint, low, dark laugh emerged from deep beneath Warhead Dale. JT jerked his hand back and stopped. He took one step back and his foot landed on the last step.
‘I know that laugh...’ JT peered back toward Kali and Michael over his shoulder. Michael’s knees quaked, and his whole body shuddered. He was overcome by the feelings he experienced when he couldn’t sleep. It was a sense of hopelessness. Kali’s breath skipped. She clutched her fists and shook her head. Dread dressed her.
JT turned and delicately limped back to Kali and Michael. This time he used his cane to help him make a quicker descent. The shaft of the cane tapped the marble with a clean, ‘Plink!’ with each step, which echoed off the face of the house. After JT made his way to Kali and Michael’s side, they blinked at each other, then wheeled around and glared back toward Warhead Dale. The moon’s light gleamed off of the tiled roof.
‘You know, this trip was getting pretty good. I mean we made it this far without too much complication, right? I mean besides the people in the town; the dog; and the gate; and now -- well never mind.’ JT stood still and stared at the house, perplexed. ‘But I guess all good things do come to an end.’
‘Say it,’ the same dark voice bellowed. The shifty, slithering tone vibrated in JT’s heart, every syllable slammin
g home its command. Another droning laugh climbed into the empty night sky.
Kali, Michael, and JT eyed each other all at once. Their faces were washed with fear. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle, soft swish of the waves behind the big old house, lapping against the shore.
‘I owe you an apology, Kali,’ JT retorted. He then looked back toward Warhead Dale. His mind hurried for a clear thought. What could possibly happen next?
‘Why’s that?’ Kali asked with a huge gulp. She was trying very hard to keep her composure.
‘I told you that nothing was gonna happen if we ignored that memo and came through the gate.’ He then sympathetically turned again to Kali, who was staring vacantly at Warhead Dale. ‘I guess I was wrong.’