“You saw that, hey. Pretty cool…It’s just the sign of the stonemasons that built this building…I’m pretty sure.” Jeff didn’t sound completely convinced of his own statement.
Thoughts ran through Adam’s head. The area seemed to be cleared so the panel could be opened, but there were no visible hinges or latches. A panel that large and thick would need some big hinges, but there only seemed to be nails holding the boards together, along with the bolts holding it to the wall. Adam moved closer to examine the panel. Some of the nail heads on the boards that held the panel together had small shiny scratches on them. The top edge seemed to be rounded off in the middle and smoother than the side and bottom edges.
“Ok boys, time’s up. I’ve got lots of important things to do yet today, and I’m sure your parents are looking for you to get home. It’s after 5 o’clock.” He ushered them back out of the storage room with a wave of his hands.
They knew that Jeff’s important things to do probably involved an online dating site, since every woman in a hundred-mile radius already knew Jeff, and each likely had the same opinion of him.
Adam didn’t hear Jeff talking as they made their way out of the storage room and back upstairs. He tried to figure out if what he just saw could really be a door. If it was, how did it open, and what was it hiding?
“… and that’s how I became the youngest Mayor ever, but it was just because of how much everyone likes me.” Adam began to understand Jeff’s words again as they walked outside through the main doors.
“Thanks for letting us look at the files,” said Adam.
Jeff smiled his now-you-owe-me smile. “No problem, anytime. Just keep it between us that I showed you that door, ok?” The boys nodded and wondered how many stories they’d have to hear in order to pay for the knowledge.
Jeff walked to the back of the building where he parked his car as the boys walked up Main Street.
“Do you really think that’s a door?” asked Mark. “It just looks like someone tried to cover up a hole or something.”
Kevin shrugged and looked at Adam, who seemed deep in thought.
“I wouldn’t think anything of it, but the symbol next to it makes me wonder if there’s something to Jeff’s story. Did you see that storage room? Why would you have the area around that panel clear and the rest of it stuffed to the ceiling, unless you needed it to open.” Adam kicked a small stone as he spoke.
“You’re saying it’s still being used as a door?” Kevin looked at Adam, puzzled.
“Yeah. Something about it makes me think so, but I don’t know what.”
“We know Jeff would have opened it for us if he knew how, so it can’t be him. It would have to be Mrs. Jones. She’s the only other person working there.” Kevin looked puzzled by his own thoughts.
“There’s the Town Councillors too,” said Mark. “They meet there once a month, but I don’t know if they have door keys.”
Adam looked at the others. The more he thought about what he had just seen, the more his suspicion and curiosity grew.
“I better get home; I’m getting hungry. Mom’ll be mad if I’m past 5:30,” said Mark after looking at his watch.
“What are you guys doing later?” asked Adam. “It is a Friday night.”
“I have to babysit my sisters. Mom and Dad are going out tonight,” said Mark, disappointed.
“You’re just going to put them in front of the TV and eat snacks anyway,” said Kevin. “Your parents will probably buy you whatever you want just for doing it too.”
“It’s a lot more work than that! You’re just lucky your older sister takes care of your little sisters so you don’t have to,” said Mark, trying to make it seem like he was offended.
Kevin ignored Mark. “I can probably get out for a couple of hours tonight. Why don’t I come get you when I’m done eating?” he said to Adam.
“Sounds like a plan,” said Adam, happy that he wouldn’t be stuck at home with his mother.
“See you tomorrow,” said Mark as he started walking home.
Adam and Kevin waved a weak see-ya-later.
The two started walking home together, as their homes were in the same direction, not far from each other. Kevin’s family farm was on the edge of town, across the train tracks from Adam’s house. Kevin was considered a farm boy, even though he was closer to the school than some of the kids in town.
They parted ways at the intersection and Adam headed home. As he walked in the door, he realized that he would be making himself something to eat once again. There were no smells of things frying, baking, or simmering coming from the kitchen; there never was. How he wished that there would be! To come home to a cooked ham with all the trimmings, or even just pork chops and potatoes would be a great treat. He had been at Kevin’s house for meals before, and it was how he imagined Christmas in normal houses. And if that was normal for Kevin, what would Christmas really be like there?
Not for Adam, though. His mother rarely cooked anything, unless you count toast as cooking. Since Adam turned 8, it was his responsibility to fend for himself. Mary made sure there was canned fruit, canned vegetables, bread, butter, milk and eggs on hand most of the time, but not much else. She worked part-time stocking shelves at the local grocery store, so it was strange that she wouldn’t bring home better food.
Part-time work at a small-town grocery store didn’t pay much, but at least it got her out of the house.
Sandwich meat, God, how Adam hated sandwich meat! He’d had it fried, stewed, baked, and plain, with every combination of the few spices they kept on hand in the small kitchen. He dreamed that one day he would have a steak all to himself. He wouldn’t care how it was cooked; he would have it however most people ordered it.
Mary was still at work because the store closed at 6 pm. It usually took her until 6:30 to get home after cash out and clean-up, so Adam had almost an hour before she would be home.
Being Friday night, it was Campbell’s Beef Stew night. Adam opened the two tins and emptied them into a glass bowl, then started heating the stew in the microwave before sitting down in the chair to think.
He thought about the storage room in Town Hall. In his mind, he pictured the panel on the wall. Maybe it would have opened to the right, but there would have been wear on the left edge of the door where it would have hit the wall. It couldn’t open to the left because there was no mark where it would have hit the stairwell, and the top was unusually smooth and rounded. Even if it did open at all, where was the latch? It wouldn’t be far from the door, he reasoned, because whoever built it would want to get in and out as fast as possible.
“Adam!”
Adam woke up startled. He had drifted off to sleep while he was thinking. Mary stood there and looked at him.
“Is the stew done?” she questioned him.
“I..It..should be,” he replied. Did he really start it, or was it just a dream? He was still drowsy.
“Did you butter any bread?” she questioned him again.
“N..No. I don’t think so,” he replied again.
She sighed. “Well, go do it then.”
Adam walked to the kitchen and buttered bread. The clock on the stove said it was 6:35 pm. He must have had a good nap.
Kevin would be there any minute. He rushed buttering the bread, dished up two bowls of stew, then sat down and ate as fast as he could.
His mother made her way out of the bathroom and sat down to eat. “Are you going out tonight?” she asked.
“Yeah, Kev should be here soon.”
“When will you do the dishes?”
“In the morning after you get up.” Adam knew that was what she wanted to hear.
“Just be quiet when you come home tonight.”
Adam shook his head in agreement. He knew Mary would fall asleep watching television later that evening and would be angry if anything woke her up before she was ready.
There was a knock at the door.
Perfect timing, thought Adam as he put on
his shoes. He stepped outside to see Kevin and his bike.
“I thought we’d ride instead of walking. It’s going to be light out until late tonight,” said Kevin.
“Sure, let me just get mine from the garage.”
Adam walked into the small garage and picked up his bike. A thought struck him, so he stopped and set his bike down again. He ran to the back and moved the envelope full of pictures from where he had found it to his hiding spot behind the right heat shield as a precaution.
“Just because it’s going to be light out for a while yet doesn’t mean you have to take your sweet time,” Kevin joked as Adam came out of the garage.
“Where are we going?” asked Adam.
“Dunno. We could just ride around town for a while.”
“Sure. It’ll give me time to think. Let’s go to the school and see if anyone’s there.”
They pedaled toward the school, and soon Adam was lost in thought.
“Still trying to figure out that door?” asked Kevin.
“It just doesn’t make sense. I wouldn’t be suspicious if it wasn’t for the stories George told us and symbol in the cement, but I can’t think of how it opens,” said Adam, clearly frustrated.
Kevin swerved to miss a pothole. “If only we had more time to look at it. Maybe we missed something,” he said. “But we won’t be able to with Jeff there, and Mrs. Jones would never leave us alone in that basement. She’d be too afraid we’d wreck her files.”
“I guess we just have to break in then,” said Adam expecting Kevin to laugh.
Kevin was silent.
“I was kidding,” said Adam.
“I’m not exactly thinking of breaking in,” said Kevin, “but maybe we could get a key and go in without supervision. That way, we wouldn’t be breaking in.”
Adam looked at Kevin.
“You’re the last person I would have expected to come up with that plan,” said Adam. “The only problem is, how do we get a key?”
“That’s not hard. Jimmy,” said Kevin.
“Jimmy has a key?” said Adam
“No, but his mom does,” said Kevin.
Adam realized that Kevin was right.
“Do you think he knows where it is?”
“We can always ask him. If we explain everything, he’d probably help us,” said Kevin, “Besides, he’d love the adventure.”
“He’d help us by stealing his mom’s keys?” asked Adam.
“Borrowing. Just borrowing,” said Kevin. “Besides, I know he’s gone there alone to use the copier before.”
Adam thought about it for a moment. “It can’t hurt to ask, I guess. Where do you think he is tonight? His mom had the day off, so maybe they went out of town.”
“We’re almost at the school. Let’s see who’s there and if anyone’s seen him. After that we can check his house,” said Kevin.
They turned the corner by the dance hall and continued pedalling into the schoolyard. They didn’t see anyone on the playground side of the school so they continued to the baseball diamonds on the other side.
As they pedaled around the side of the school, they saw an older boy and girl sitting close together on one of the benches in the baseball dugout. It was the most private spot in the school yard.
The two separated when they noticed the boys. Kevin stopped, so Adam stopped too.
“Well, I’m pretty sure that Jimmy didn’t go out of town,” said Adam. “Isn’t that his brother with your sister?”
Kevin turned red, partially embarrassed and partially angry.
“Yeah, let’s just go.” He turned and rode back the way they came.
They pedalled a while in silence. Kevin obviously didn’t want to speak about what they had just seen, but Adam was curious.
“How long have those two been seeing each other?” Adam asked after seeing Kevin’s face soften.
Kevin had calmed down just enough. “Not long. They hit it off on the last day of school and they’ve been texting each other ever since.”
“He’s a year older than her, right?” Adam asked, trying not to upset Kevin.
“Yep,” Kevin replied. Adam felt the tension building again, so he dropped the subject.
They continued riding in silence toward the Jones family home. At the Fire Hall, they turned onto Young Street and rode halfway up the block to the Jones’ driveway.
They leaned their bikes against the house and walked around to the back door. Adam rang the doorbell and heard footsteps approach.
Jimmy opened the door. “Hey, I was just going to try and track you down. Hang on, I’ll come right out.”
He closed the door. A moment later he opened it again and stepped outside.
“I was just watching TV and lost track of time. Too nice to be stuck inside today,” said Jimmy.
“Your brother didn’t seem to waste any time getting out of the house.” There was a distinct edge to Kevin’s voice.
Jimmy looked sheepish. “Look, I can’t control what my brother does with your sister.”
Kevin was turning red again. “He just better be good to her…or else…”
Adam stepped in, “Kev, Jimmy doesn’t have anything to do with them dating, so don’t get mad at him, okay?”
Kevin considered it for a moment. “Yeah, you’re right. Sorry man. Just…you know…your brother is like…and it’s my sister…”
“Hey, I understand. No problem. I’ll try and let you know if there’s anything funny going on as long as you don’t blame me for anything that happens between them, deal?” said Jimmy, always making deals of one type or another.
Kevin nodded his head in agreement.
“So, what did you want to do? Ride bikes to the school?” said Jimmy.
Kevin cringed at the suggestion.
“No, we just came from there…you don’t want to go there,” said Adam, jerking his head toward Kevin without Kevin noticing.
Jimmy caught on right away.
“Actually, we wanted to talk to you about something, but not right here. Let’s walk over to the park by the Fire Hall and sit on the benches,” said Adam.
Jimmy agreed, so they started walking.
As they reached the end of the block near the Fire Hall, the boys stopped. Aggie and Martha walked by on another of their many trips around town. As soon as they had passed by, the boys crossed the street.
Aggie turned and looked at Jimmy.
“Keep your shoes tied. You don’t want to trip,” she said. She turned back around and continued walking with Martha, resuming whatever story they were in the middle of.
Jimmy looked at his shoes. They were perfectly tied. He looked at Kevin and Adam, twirling his finger in the air around his ear. Kevin and Adam laughed.
The boys walked into the park where they found a free bench away from any unwanted ears. There were a few young kids kicking a soccer ball around randomly. All 5 of the Miller kids were flying kites with their parents, laughing and yelling with joy.
The boys sat and began to tell Jimmy everything. He nodded as they told him what George had said and finally about the door in the basement of Town Hall.
“I’ve seen that a couple of times. It’s just some wood on a wall. It can’t be a door.” He laughed at the thought. “I snuck in there a couple of times when I was supposed to help Mom do some filing.”
“Did you notice the symbol beside the door,” said Adam.
“Yeah. Are you saying that’s the symbol you and George are talking about? I just thought it was like a signature of whoever made the building.”
Adam reached into his pocket and showed Jimmy the pin. Jimmy’s eyes widened.
“That’s exactly the same as the mark in the basement!” said Jimmy, “But what if Jeff is right and it stands for an organization of builders? Sort of like the Masons? That seems the most likely.”
“I think George would have found at least something about them in all his research,” said Adam.
“Yeah, probably. So what do you guys want
to do?” Jimmy asked.
Kevin and Adam looked at each other, trying to decide who was going to ask. Adam motioned to Kevin, as it was Kevin’s idea.
“Well…we would really like to get a good look at the door again.”
“Good luck with that. Mom won’t let me go near the storage room when she’s there.”
“Yeah…well…we were hoping to go there when she isn’t…” said Kevin.
Jimmy registered what was being asked of him.
“No no no… do you know how much I would get yelled at if I stole her keys…”
“Borrowed,” interrupted Kevin.
“…and then let my friends into her place of work! She’d go ballistic! I’d be grounded for a lifetime!”
“But you’ve gone there by yourself to use the copier before,” said Adam.
“That’s different. She knows I won’t get into any trouble there by myself. Besides, do you know how hard it will be to get the keys without her knowing? She practically sleeps with them.”
"Aren’t you just a little bit curious?” said Kevin.
“No fair, you guys are double-teaming me.”
“Yeah, that means he’s curious,” said Adam.
“It would be quite an adventure,” said Kevin.
“A great adventure,” added Adam.
“Quit it,” Jimmy said without much conviction.
“Then go get the keys,” said Kevin.
“Go get the keys,” echoed Adam.
Jimmy looked at them with a fake scowl, saying nothing for a moment.
“Ok, ok…I’ll try and get the keys if you agree to my demands,” said Jimmy, back to his normal form. He looked at Kevin. “You can’t give me a hard time when my brother makes your sister sad…at all…not one mention of it. We both know it’s going to happen.”
Kevin opened his mouth to reply and was cut off.
“AND…when I say it’s time to go… it’s time to go. No questions. Drop everything and we leave.” Jimmy was adamant.
The two boys shook their heads in agreement.
“And last but not least, Adam has to fix my old bike so I can sell it, and you have to help him.” He pointed to Kevin.
“Anything else?” said Adam.
“Nope, that should cover it. When were you thinking of going in?” asked Jimmy.
Adam hesitated for a moment. “Well…tonight sounds good to me,” he said.
Jimmy stared at Adam with no expression on his face. Slowly, he began to nod. “I think we can make that work,” he said, pausing after the last word. “We should wait until it starts to get dark before we go in, though. That way, there’s less chance of someone seeing and telling my parents. Agreed?”
The boys nodded in agreement again.
“So, should we meet you at Town Hall later so you can get the keys away from your mom?” asked Kevin.
“No, you don’t need to. Mom and Dad went out with the Gupta’s tonight and I know where she keeps her spare key. They won’t be back before 11 o’clock.” The grin on Jimmy’s face annoyed Kevin and Adam, as they realized they had just been fooled. Jimmy knew all along he would have no trouble getting the keys.
“You…You….ooh...” Kevin didn’t know whether to laugh or yell at his friend.
“Should’ve seen that one coming,” Adam laughed.
“Alright, we have a little over an hour until it gets dark out. Why don’t we start fixing that bike,” said Kevin.
CHAPTER SIX
Town Secrets - The Book of Adam 1 Page 7
