Lori stared out the front passenger window as if she’d rather be anywhere else.
Ben shook his head. “No, no. ‘Charles’ is my middle name. I only introduced myself as Charlie because I was afraid of being caught. I wanted to throw them off my trail.”
“So it was okay to lie to me?” Ruth wiped her eyes with her wrist. “I’m such an idiot!”
“Ruth, please. I didn’t mean to lie to you.” Ben gestured with his open hands.
“Okay, Ben. That’s your real name right?” Ruth folded her arms across her chest.
“Yes.”
“Tell me something truthful. Are you from Carlston?”
Ben blinked. “Yes.”
“Do you live in Carlston?” Ruth’s eyebrows rose.
“I ah . . . once did. I came in from Carmichael yesterday.”
“You’re so full of horse apples!” Ruth narrowed her eyes. “What’s your home address?”
Ben glanced at Jack, but his doppel-brother focused on the road.
“It’s . . . complicated,” Ben said, making eye contact with Ruth.
“Yes, it’s very complicated,” Jack agreed. “Ruth, have you ever heard of the witness protection program?”
“Yes . . .” Her frown relaxed. “That’s when a witness — Oh. Is that what’s going on?” Her voice sounded neutral.
Lori rolled her eyes at Jack.
“Well actually—” Ben began.
Jack raised his right hand. “Yes, close enough. So please give Ben a pass for his sake. People are after him. He’s just trying to protect himself. Besides, he really likes you.”
“I do,” Ben admitted.
She searched his eyes. “I want to believe you, but I’m not sure I can trust you.” She blinked several times. “Come visit me sometime when you’re free to be Ben, and no one is chasing you. I’d like to spend time with that guy. Okay?”
He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and nodded. “Okay. I want to be him too.” Ben held out his right hand. “See you then. I promise.”
“Okay.” Ruth squeezed his hand tentatively. “A promise then.” Her frown evaporated.
Once at Lori’s house, Ben and Jack said goodbye to the girls. Lori told them both to be careful, and to call her if they need her help.
Jack and Ben began the half-mile walk to Jack’s house. They followed a low-lying creek that wound through the neighborhood.
“That was awkward,” Ben said.
“You think? Balls up, I don’t like lying for you.” Jack said. “Look. We’ll get through this. I’m going to help you find your grandfather and you’re going to help me find mine. Right?”
“Yes. I promise.” Ben met Jack’s eyes.
“Good. I hope you honor the promise you made to Ruth too.”
Ben swallowed. “Me too. She’s a good person.”
On the way to Jack’s house, Ben explained how Grandma Betsy believed the CSD had bugged her house, and his might be wired too—especially since CSD had approached his mother at work. Jack suggested they use hand signals and notes once they entered inside his house.
“If GranPat’s there, I’ll give him the portal watch immediately.” Ben slowed his walk to step across stones in the creek. “Do you want to go to Earth with us?”
Jack hesitated as he ducked through low hanging willow branches. “If my Pop-Pop’s still there, then yes.” He brushed a tiny green spider off his cheek.
“GranPat may know. We’ll ask him.” Ben walked faster.
Jack kept pace. “What if we don’t find GranPat? Can you fire up a portal?”
“Albert told me what the watch did, but not how to use it. I made a test portal at his house in Carmichael, but I’m not sure if it will work in Carlston.”
Jack frowned. “Test it. Just turn the dials and see what happens.”
“Shit might happen.” Ben waved the idea away with his hand. “Let’s wait and see if GranPat’s at your house. I don’t want to screw it up.”
Jack’s eyebrows raised. “You’re smart enough to figure it out.”
Ben cringed. “No, I’m not. I made a mess of your birthday party, and now Ruth hates me. I put you, your family, and your friends in danger. Maybe you should take the watch.” His hands moved to the shoestring around his neck.
“No.” Jack said. “Pop-Pop got us all into this mess, not you. Keep the watch. He trusted you.”
“He didn’t trust me,” Ben said. “I was the only alternative.”
“Okay, then give it to GranPat. But if he’s not at my house, we test the watch. We need a ‘Plan B’.”
Ben grimaced. “Yea. You’re right. We might need a plan A-Z.”
Jack led Ben away from the creek, through a neighbor’s yard, and toward the Fuller’s backyard fence without seeing anyone following them. Jack climbed a low hanging branch into the cherry tree and swung over the fence. Ben followed and was greeted by Ginger’s wagging tail. Jack unlocked the back door, raised his finger to his lips, and all three went inside.
Chapter 29
Patrick walked five long blocks to downtown Carlston. He willed himself not to glance back over his shoulder, but eventually caught Curly’s reflection in the Dandridge Hardware store window. As Patrick examined the display of exterior solar fans, he saw the brown sedan drive past. Good. If CSD concentrates on me, then Jack and Ben might be safe.
Patrick walked into the center of town. The open park with tall oak trees, benches, and green grass looked inviting. Cement paths from each of the four corners converged at a central fountain occupied by a copper statue of the Green Apostle. Water streamed from his outstretched fingers.
This Al Gore wore a conical hat. Did the hat allude to a form of eastern mysticism, or designed to keep the pigeons away? Looking closer, he noticed solar cells covered the hat and powered the fountain’s water pump. Not bad.
Patrick frowned when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle. Glancing over his shoulder, Curly stood across the street near a donut shop and looked pissed. The agent’s bandaged hand held a little brown bag. Curly turned and walked the other way.
Patrick’s stomach rumbled, and he checked his watch. 9:15. He left the park and walked past a rundown restaurant called the Old Time Diner. He imagined a geriatric waitress, serving one thousand year old eggs from an ancient spotted chicken. Two blocks further, he found the perfect corner restaurant. The Cuckoo’s Nest had an empty window seat facing the Carlston First National Bank.
Once inside, the smell of strong coffee and fried bacon intensified his growing hunger. The clank of dishes and conversation resounded through the restaurant. A waitress walked by with a serving tray of omelets, pancakes, and German sausage. Antique cuckoo clocks of various colors and sizes decorated every wall.
“Good Morning,” said a busy woman behind the counter. “Please seat yourself.” She smiled as she worked. A lone strand of brown hair hung out of place.
From his seat at the corner window table, he saw the back of Curly’s head. The agent stood directly across the street, and must have found something interesting in the Pampered Pet’s window display. After a minute, the agent entered the pet store.
“Hey, darling,” the waitress cooed to Patrick. “Coffee?” She stood right beside him, though he hadn’t heard her approach.
Patrick turned toward the brunette waitress holding a coffee pot, read her name tag, and smiled.
“Yes, thanks, Jeanette.”
She filled a large blue coffee mug. “Menu?”
“No, Dear, I’d like two eggs over easy, sausage, and toast, please.” Patrick felt his mouth water.
“Patties, links, or the German? White or wheat?”
“German. Wheat.” He said.
“Done. An excellent choice.” She moved back to the kitchen.
Patrick took a sip of his black coffee and sighed. Why was Terran coffee so much better?
Someone rapped on the window from the outside. Patrick flinched and spilled a few drops of hot coffee on his leg.
Johnnie entered and found his table. “May I join you?”
“Please” Patrick pointed to the empty chair. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.” Johnnie said. “You must be Patrick.”
Patrick raised both eyebrows. “How do—”
Jeannette stepped up to the table with a pot of coffee. “Morning, Johnnie. Want the usual?”
“No, thanks, Jeannette. Just coffee and a slice of key lime pie.”
“Sure thing.” She poured the coffee and rushed off again.
Patrick leaned back, studied Johnnie’s face, and felt the gun tucked into the small of his back press against his skin. “You called me ‘Patrick’.”
“I met Ben last night. We had a good talk,” Johnnie maintained eye contact. “When I saw you walk past the hardware store window earlier, I followed you here. I work there as a salesman.”
Patrick’s shoulders tensed. “Ben is here? How? Is he safe?” He felt his chest tighten. Breathe.
Johnnie remained quiet as Jeannette approached their table.
“Eggs, sausage, and toast, Sir. And one key lime for Johnnie.” Jeanette zipped back to the kitchen.
While Patrick ate his breakfast, Johnnie explained how Ben had crossed through a portal, but Albert had been captured by the CSD team on Earth. He also shared the details of their hurried exodus from Moonlight Pies. “Ben and Jack are searching for you, but the CSD is still after them. You need to be very careful.”
“Thanks. I’m a little jumpy. The CSD’s watchin’ the house and they’re tail’n me.”
“This whole thing’s incredible,” Johnnie said. “I can’t describe how much it means for me to see Ben again. I’ve missed him so much.”
“I feel the same about Jack . . . and Miss Betsy. He’s a wonderful young man.”
Johnnie shifted in his chair. “You probably know Patsy and I are divorced.”
“Yes, I heard. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks. Me too. I moved out of town, but I still work just down the street and see Jack regularly. I’m proud of him.” Johnnie lowered his head. “I help them as much as can, and wish I could do more, but I have a new wife and daughter.”
Patrick put his hand on top of Johnnie’s arm to steady him. “I understand. Things don’t always turn out like you hoped.”
Johnnie swallowed and relaxed. “Thanks for understanding.”
Patrick watched the brown sedan drive past with two men in the front seat. “Any idea where Ben is now?” His left hand began to shake a little and he hid it under the table.
“They have my number, but haven’t called for help.” Johnnie frowned. “They’re probably hunkered down somewhere.”
Patrick nodded. “I’m glad they didn’t drop by Patsy’s house. Wasn’t safe.”
“Look. I can help you find them, but how will you get home once you find Ben?”
“Not sure yet. I’m meetin’ Patsy at the bank at 12:30. She has the key to Albert’s safe deposit box. She thinks, or pretends to think, I’m Albert. I don’t really trust her, but I need to look inside the box. I’m afraid she might be workin’ with the CSD. I’m hopin’ Albert left somethin’ to help me go back home.”
Johnnie took a large bite of his key lime pie. He fished in his coat pocket and pulled out a large key ring. “Albert gave both me and Patsy a key to the deposit box before the divorce, and I tried to give it back to him, but he wanted me to keep it in case of an emergency.
“Betsy visits us sometimes in Tibbetsville.” He blinked. “She treats Suzie like she was her own grandchild.” He shuffled through his key ring until he isolated a small brass key.
“Excellent,” Patrick said. “Can I buy you another piece of pie?”
“Coming right up.” Jeanette seemed to materialize on cue.
“No. No, Jeanette.” Johnnie smiled. “One slice was perfect. Thanks anyway.”
Jeanette left the check with Patrick and disappeared into the kitchen.
“You know, Patrick, the bank opens at 10:00, I’d be glad to have a look with you. I’m in there at least twice a week for business.”
“Excellent, thank you, what time is it now?” A cacophony of thirty-five wooden birds cuckooed the ten o’clock hour.
Chapter 30
Ben’s heart pounded as he entered Jack’s home on Terra. He hoped to find GranPat drinking coffee in the kitchen, but the table sat unoccupied. Before Ben could call out, Jack motioned for him to keep quiet.
Two notes lay on the counter which the boys read silently. GranPat had already left for downtown Carlston and had a 12:30 appointment at the bank with Patsy. Ben glanced at the kitchen clock. 9:20. Why had he left so early?
Jack touched Ben’s shoulder and pointed to his own eyes, the windows, and then upstairs. Ben nodded. They walked softly upstairs and peeked out the front windows and then the back, but didn’t see the brown sedan or anyone suspicious lurking about.
Jack wrote a note to Ben. “Looks safe for now. I need a shower. You’re next.”
Ben signaled a thumbs up and followed Jack into his bedroom, where his doppel-brother found a change of clothes and left the room.
Ben gawked at the mess. Clothes lay scattered on the floor, multiple cans of half-finished soda gathered at the bed stand, half open dresser drawers were over stuffed with tee shirts. A loaded barbell, weighing at least 175 pounds, hunkered on the floor next to the closet. Gone were the neat shelves with trophies and memorial pictures his mother had kept for Jack’s shrine on Earth.
A collage of photographs pinned to the wall above the Jack’s bed caught his attention. Ben studied pictures of Lori, Johnnie, Jack and Lori, Jack and Brandon, and Patsy with Albert and Grandma Betsy.
In the upper right corner, hung a picture of a young Jack and Ben swimming at the reservoir. Ben examined his doppelganger’s image and saw his look-a-like at age ten. The boy seemed happy, but Ben felt sorry for him. Death would inevitably take us all, but why had this boy, this me, died so young? Life wasn’t fair. His mood sank into familiar depths - the dark brown coffin with pearl handles.
The sound of running water brought him back to the surface. His brother, Jack, had always taken very long showers. Once, Mom scolded, “Hurry up! The mayor’s at the door and said you’re draining the reservoir.” Ben smiled, felt a little better, and realized he’d overlaid a sad thought with a happy memory. Whatever works.
Ben checked his broken cellphone one more time. Useless. Technology worked well until the second it stopped working at all. Without GranPat’s help, they needed a ‘Plan B’.
He tugged the portal watch from beneath his shirt. The top rectangular digital display still read F14:57:03. His forehead wrinkled. 14:57:03 might be military time for 2:57 p.m. based on a twenty-four hour cycle, something he’d learned while playing War Banshee. Except the current time was closer to 10 a.m. The few times he looked at the display it had always read 14:57:03. He hoped the watch wasn’t broken. The middle display still read DL40.16-80.24T, but the bottom display had changed to CL40.03-80.18T. Why? And what’s “DL” and “CL”?
He studied the watch face and the small solar cell strip above the display, probably a backup for the battery. Two small circular areas bracketed the digital displays and resembled tiny speakers or microphones. The watch casing, manufactured with a sturdy silver metal, contained the two on/off switches and three separate buttons colored silver, red, and blue.
If this were a normal watch, these buttons would help set the date and time. Resetting a digital clock required one to figure out which buttons represented alarm, time, minutes, and hours unless they had distinct labels. These buttons had only color designations.
Oh. It only looks like a watch. Think travel, not time. The CL reading changed because I moved
my location from Carmichael to Carlston. CL is . . . current location. Since the F and DL readings stayed the same at different locations, F may be the frequency for GranPat’s beacon. DL is the designated . . . no . . . destination location. It’s preset for Albert’s cellar. Hmmm. The watch opens a portal between the CL and the DL using the frequency. He couldn’t wait to tell Jack.
He held down the silver button and the F14:57:03 blinked. He turned the circular dial on the back of the watch and the display changed to a blinking F14:57:02, F14:57:01, and F14:57:00. He pressed the silver button again and the display stopped blinking at 14:57:00. So I can change the frequency setting, but it won’t match GranPat’s beacon.
Ben pressed the silver button again and the frequency blinked. He pressed the blue button, and the display scanned automatically to GranPat’s beacon at F14:57:03. On a whim, he pressed the blue button again and it stopped at F14:33:03. Another frequency? From where?
Ben set the display back to GranPat’s frequency and pressed the silver button. The frequency locked, but the DL button flashed. Ben wasn’t sure what would happen if he changed the destination. He pressed the silver button and the “T” flashed. Turning the dial, he changed the “T” to “E” and back to “T”. Ahhhh. T for Terra and E for Earth. He hit the silver button and the DL locked. The background noise from the shower stopped.
Ben stared at the red button until his eyes blurred. What did it do? Maybe it allowed you to store a list of favorite settings. His finger hovered over the red button, but froze. As a boy scout, he’d once set out to earn a merit badge for edible plants. His scout leader had warned, “Be careful. Not all wild berries are edible and some red berries are poisonous. Red is a warning flag in nature.” What if the red is a self-destruct? Game over. He decided not to push his luck.
Exiting Jack’s room, he stopped outside his doppelganger’s closed bedroom door. Beyond, he imagined Pasty kept a memorial to her lost son, Ben. He opened the door, walked inside, and frowned. The beige walls were decorated with lame paintings. Not one personal picture or hint of his doppelganger’s existence. Patsy had wiped the memory of Terra’s Ben like a used hard drive. The black hole of sadness pulled at him once more. I don’t have time for this! He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and went back to Jack’s room.
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