A New Beginning

by Kevin Ryan

As dead as the town had been before, it looked like

  * * *

  Grand Central Station now. There were half a dozen police

  cars and people milling about everywhere on the street. It

  was chaos, but Max knew it was good chaos. Before, they

  had been watched from every window when they walked

  down the empty main street. Now, they were barely

  noticed.

  Max was mildly surprised to see Bell and Sam in the

  diner. Bell smiled at them when they arrived.

  "I'm so glad you kids are okay," she said. "I thought you

  were on the road again."

  "We had some more trouble with the van," Max said.

  "Well, let's get you some food," Bell said.

  While they were all eating, Bell told them the "incredi-

  ble news." The night before, someone had broken into the

  diner after Max and his friends had gone. Bell was unclear

  on the details, but thought that she and Sam had been

  drugged. They had woken up feeling fine and had been

  checked out by the ambulance crew who had come for the

  girls who showed up mysteriously in the Laundromat.

  "One of them was Jessica," Bell said, tears in her eyes.

  "She looked fine, except a little weak. It looked like she

  hadn't eaten in a while," Sam said, joining the conversation.

  "Becky Taylor was there too. She went missing the same

  day that Jessica did," Bell said.

  "It's a miracle," Sam said.

  Then, when the food was finished, she and Sam-disap-

  peared back into the kitchen.

  "Do you think they'll come back, Max ... the aliens?"

  Isabel asked.

  "No," Max said. He couldn't say for sure why, but it felt

  like it was all over for Stonewall.

  * * *

  "Bullies don't like it when the prey fights back," Kyle

  said.

  Michael nodded his head. "Especially when the prey

  kicks their butt."

  "Looks like we'll be staying here a little longer," Liz

  said.

  "What about the van?" Max asked Kyle.

  "I'll have to check it out," Kyle said. Then he got up

  suddenly. "That reminds me. I have to go see Dan

  before . . .

  "I'll see you guys later," he said, heading for the door.

  Kyle got to the garage quickly. Someone was already inside

  the office. When he got closer, Kyle could see that it was

  Dan. He was sitting behind the desk and looked up at Kyle

  immediately. He was holding up the envelope Kyle had left

  him the night before.

  "I didn't expect to see you," Dan said.

  Kyle shrugged. "We were going to leave last night."

  "What stopped you?" Dan asked.

  For a second, Kyle was at a loss to explain. In the end,

  he said simply, "The van broke down." It was the simplest

  explanation. And it was even partly true.

  Dan stared at him for a minute.

  Kyle finally said, "Look, Dan, if it's okay with you—"

  Then something was sailing through the air at Kyle. His

  football reflexes kicked in and he caught the keys in

  midair.

  "Take the tow truck and bring her in. We'll take a look,"

  Dan said. He handed him back the envelope and said,

  "Hang on to this. We'll settle up when you're ready to go."

  * * *

  "Thanks," Kyle said.

  "They found her, you know. Dawn is okay," Dan said,

  the emotion clear on his face.

  "I heard," Kyle said. "I heard back in town."

  Heading out the door, Kyle climbed into the tow truck.

  Half an hour later, he had the van up on a lift.

  The garage was empty, so Dan came over to look at it

  with him.

  "Spring snapped," Dan said, pointing to the metal coil

  near the left front tire. "Could probably use some shocks,

  too. You know, you can improve the handling if you get a

  torsion bar. When my brother ..."

  Dan talked for the longest he had since Kyle had met

  him. He told Kyle all about his brother's van and a little

  about the trip they had taken.

  An hour later, the first car came in. Then another. Then

  they were actually busy.

  They would be here a little longer. He would have

  plenty of time to work on the van. That was good in a way;

  there was a lot more he wanted to do with it.

  "She came back, she came back!" Jimmy announced as he

  raced into the diner.

  Bell immediately wrapped her arms around him. "We

  know, Jimmy," she said.

  To Liz's surprise, Sam came out from the kitchen and

  patted Jimmy on the back. "It's a miracle, son," he said.

  Someone in the nearly full diner started clapping. Then

  everyone did. In seconds, the people from the town and the

  police who were eating were all on their feet, applauding

  Jessicas return.

  * * *

  "Can I have the day off?" Jimmy asked. "Jessica's com-

  ing home from the hospital," he exclaimed, tears of excite-

  ment running down his face.

  "Of course, dear," Bell said through her own tears.

  "Okay," Jimmy said.

  When Jimmy finally disengaged himself from Bell, he

  turned to go. Then he caught Liz at the waitress station.

  "I knew I remembered right. You saw her, didn't you?" he

  asked, his innocent eyes full of gratitude. Jimmy kept his voice

  down. He had secrets of his own and had obviously learned to

  keep them. "You helped her," he said. It wasn't a question.

  Liz nodded. Jimmy wrapped his arms around her and

  held her silently for a minute. In that time, Liz had a flash.

  Jimmy and his sister were in a room. She couldn't be sure,

  but it felt like a new place.

  There was a game on the table in front of them. Jimmy

  was rolling dice and smiling as his sister watched him with

  a smile of her own on her face.

  Liz's own tears—tears of relief—came freely, and she let

  them come.

  Throughout the day, Liz heard endless speculation about

  what had happened the night before. In the end, Liz knew

  it would remain a mystery. It was a story that had at least a

  partly happy ending and would keep the town talking for

  as long as it was there. She was amused that much of the

  speculation revolved around the school bus that had been

  found parked on Main Street.

  Though she knew that Max was still feeling the effects

  of the night before, he had insisted on continuing the

  painting job outside.

  * * *

  When she went out to call Max, Michael, and Isabel in

  for lunch, she had heard what sounded like . . . burping,

  and then laughter. It had stopped when she called out, but

  all three of them were smiling when she saw them.

  That night, they headed back to the garage and settled

  down for the night. A few moments later, there was a

  knock at he door. Max answered it.

  Dan stood in the entrance. "I just wanted to see if you

  kids were all right," he said.

  "We're fine, come on in," Liz said as she got up.

  Dan stepped inside and looked around as if he were

  seeing the place for the first time—or at least the first time

  in a l
ong time. From what Kyle had told them, Liz thought

  she understood.

  "We painted and spruced it up a bit. I hope that's okay,"

  Isabel said.

  "Fine," he said, his voice tight. "It looks good." Dan

  glanced down at the playing cards in Michael's hands.

  "Cards?" he said.

  "Yeah, you want to play?" Kyle said.

  "Please," Liz invited him.

  Dan plopped down on the floor against one of the

  beanbag chairs as if he had done it a thousand times:

  Michael handed him the cards and said, "Dealers choice."

  Dan nodded and said, "Seven card follow the Queen,

  deuces wild."

  The others all shot him confused looks. Dan smiled.

  "Pay attention," he said as he dealt the cards.

  A week later, they were saying their good-byes. Bell had

  hugged each of them, and Sam had even shaken the boys'

  * * *

  hands. A rare display for him, Kyle noted. They had

  already said his good-byes to Dan, who was going to be in

  Pueblo for the day. It was just as well—better, in fact, con-

  sidering what Kyle was planning to do.

  Kyle hadn't seen Gomer or Dawn since the night she

  disappeared, but that was just as well. From what he had

  heard from Dan, neither of them remembered much about

  what had happened after they'd left the garage the night

  she was abducted.

  That being the case, Kyle figured she wouldn't have

  anything to say to him.

  Bell was giving Kyle and his friends a going-away

  breakfast. It was the same food they had eaten since they

  had arrived, but there was a bon-voyage banner and some

  balloons.

  As things wound down, Kyle got Isabel to one side and

  said, "Can I borrow you for a few minutes?"

  She'd looked at him questioningly, but had nodded.

  "We'll be right back," Kyle said.

  The van was parked outside the diner. It looked the

  same on the outside, but under the hood was a different

  story, Kyle noted with some pride.

  The diner, on the other hand, looked nice on the out-

  side. Max, Isabel, and Michael had finished painting the

  exterior, and it seemed to shine now.

  "Where are we—?" Isabel asked.

  Kyle raised his hand. "Just come with me," he insisted,

  leading the way back to the garage. He led Isabel around

  back and showed her the van.

  "This is the one that belonged to his brother?" she

  asked.

  * * *

  "Yes," he said. He told her what he wanted her to do.

  When he was finished, she smiled.

  "It's not very low profile," she said.

  "No," he said. "And Max would hate the idea."

  "That's the problem with democracy," Isabel said. "Not

  everybody gets what they want."

  "You're in?" Kyle asked.

  "What do you want me to do first?" she asked.

  They started on the structural work. There was real

  damage to the chassis and body in the back. Isabel

  straightened it all with a few touches, and the ancient

  injuries to the van seemed to mend themselves. A ruined

  van that had been rusting for thirty years came to life in

  front of him. It was amazing. No, she was amazing. Kyle

  found himself watching Isabel's face most of all. The sim-

  ple joy it held was incredible.

  He got down on the ground and checked her work.

  The frame and bumper were straight now. Body panels

  were smooth. The rear doors opened easily. Even the tail-

  lights looked new.

  Kyle showed her the rusted-out frame on the side and

  seconds later it was whole. They circled the van smooth-

  ing dents and removing rust.

  Checking his watch, Kyle saw that they had been there

  about ten minutes. They needed to hurry or Max and the

  others would come looking for them.

  Opening the hood, Kyle showed Isabel the engine com-

  partment and explained to her what the engine block was,

  what it did, and how it looked.

  "It has a crack there," Kyle said, pointing it out. "I don't

  know how far it runs."

  * * *

  "I think I can get it," Isabel said, touching it. "That's it."

  There would still be plenty of work to do on the

  engine, Kyle thought. For one, it would need a new timing

  chain. But Dan was a mechanic, and something told Kyle

  he would enjoy this job.

  Opening the door, he took her inside, and she removed

  rust and fixed holes and tears in the upholstery. She made

  it all look new.

  "And now the fun part," Kyle said when they got back

  outside.

  Isabel touched the side panel of the van and concen-

  trated. It was like a wave of color washed over it. And then

  the psychedelic paint job looked like it must have when a

  teenager named Johnny had first applied it.

  Isabel took her hand off the van.

  When she was done, she smiled broadly and gave Kyle

  a quick, impulsive hug.

  Kyle took a moment to look at the van. The tires were

  missing, and it still sat on cinder blocks. Otherwise it

  looked like it must have thirty-some years before, when

  Dan and his big brother had set out on the road with a

  group of friends to see a rock-and-roll show.

  "Let's go before Dan comes looking," Isabel said. And

  they left, heading toward Main Street and their own

  friends.

  Liz watched Max as he pulled away from the diner. Bell

  was waving frantically. Liz waved back.

  In seconds, they passed the garage, then the hill

  where the alien ship had sat. From there, it was just open

  road.

  * * *

  "The van sounds good, Kyle. Actually it sounds great,"

  Michael said.

  Kyle smiled, "Thanks. I had some extra time."

  "We really did something back there," Liz said.

  The others nodded. They all felt it. They had helped

  Jimmy and others they didn't even know.

  "I know what you mean. You should have seen the way

  the paint was peeling on the diner. We got there just in

  time," Michael said.

  Liz heard a smack and Michael say, "Ow!"

  She smiled, and then found herself getting thoughtful.

  "What do you think they wanted?" she asked.

  No one answered for a long moment. Finally, Maria

  said, "That's just one mystery we may never solve, Velma."

  "What did you call me?" Liz said, whipping her head

  around.

  "Like you're not completely Velma?" Maria teased.

  "If anybody's Daphne, it's me," Liz said defiantly.

  "You've got—"

  "Hold on," Max said. He smiled. "Are you telling me

  that all girls see themselves as either Daphne or Velma?"

  "Well, yeah," Liz and Maria said in unison.

  "See, you're either the hot one with the cute boyfriend,

  or the smart one in the bad orange sweater," Maria said.

  "I don't know, I like Velma," Max said seriously.

  "You're kidding me," Liz replied.

  "Yeah, smart girls are hot," he said. "Besides, do you

  realize what a killer body she has under that sweater?"

  Max said.

&nbs
p; Liz laughed out loud, saying, "I didn't realize you

  watched so closely."

  * * *

  "I'm only human. At least only half-human," Max cor-

  rected himself.

  Everyone laughed at that, Liz noticed. Even Isabel,

  which Liz was glad to see.

  There was more laughter and lots of talk about nothing.

  Though she wouldn't remember a single thing that she

  and her friends discussed, Liz knew she would remember

  that morning for a long time.

  * * *

  * * *