Chapter 12
Donovan returned to the law office. He entered Joseph’s office. When he noticed that Joseph was not at his desk, Donovan left.
Joseph had other things to consider. He left the building to find Nxy. He figured in his current mixed up state of mind, she’d understand and would know just what to do to soothe him. This wasn’t the first time he’d sought out her company since she had caught him crossing the border. There was something about Nxy that drew him to her. They thought alike and often finished each other’s sentences. There was an inexplicable bond that Joseph had never experienced before. He felt somewhat protective of her. The laborers on their military style compound, from pawns to “T” scientists, had taken notice of their trysts. Donovan had warned Joseph of the complications he was creating after the last time that they met. He was warned to cease his reckless behavior, but Joseph couldn’t help himself. He was determined to continue, no matter what the cost.
When he found Nxy, she didn’t look at his clothes. Instead she walked over to him and made eye contact, as she walked past him. He followed her until they were alone then she turned to kiss him.
When they parted from their passionate kiss, Joseph noticed her necklace. Nxy’s piece of jewelry was the only thing about her that bothered him. He sometimes had to do a double take because it would sometimes appear to be a necklace and at other times a snake. He wasn’t afraid of snakes but he knew enough about the reptiles to know this one was poisonous. The thought had crossed his mind that she might be a sorceress or an enchantress. That thought only intrigued him, fanning the embers of excitement. Whatever Nxy was, she wasn’t boring. Her appearance changed every day and that was far more appealing to him than Dolores’ moodiness.
He wanted nothing more than to stay with Nxy, but he realized he needed to leave before they both got into trouble. However, after she whispered in his ear, Joseph realized it was too late. He was already in trouble. He reassured Nxy that he was going to take care of them. Joseph wasn’t afraid for some reason. He just accepted his circumstance. He joyfully hugged Nxy and kissed her cheek before he left.
Joseph thought: Today is nothing short of mindboggling. As he walked away, he briefly considered turning around and staying. He paused, shrugged his shoulders and kept walking toward the Passageway, back to reality. A place Joseph couldn’t get his mind around at that time.
Chapter 13
Several days passed…
Charles began getting ready for the first day of school. He went downstairs, ate breakfast and finished the meal just as Cynthia beeped the car’s horn in the driveway. Charles put his plate and glass in the sink. He gave Bev a kiss on the cheek, looked Carson in the eyes and said goodbye. Carson and Bev followed him out onto the front porch. They waved to Cynthia and Sophie.
Sophie pouted. “I want to stay with Nana and Paw Paw instead of going to school. Cynthia, you’re mean!” She kicked the back of the seat. Cynthia scowled and adjusted her rearview mirror to glare at her younger sister. Sophie stuck her tongue out.
Once Charles climbed in the car and buckled his seatbelt, Cynthia readjusted the mirror. They waved to Bev and Carson; except Sophie who yelled that she wanted to stay with them instead of going to school. Charles put his hands over his ears until she stopped. Bev blew them kisses from the porch and called out to Sophie that she could come over after school.
Cynthia pulled out of the driveway and headed for school. The cool breeze felt good. Charles rested his arm on the car door. Sophie complained for most of the drive. When they pulled up in front of Sophie’s school, Charles got out and flipped the seat so his sister could get out from the back. Once Sophie took her backpack out of the car and put it on, Cynthia reminded her younger sister that she was to wait for their mother after school. She went over all the instructions.
Sophie stuck out her tongue and gave her raspberries. “You’re still mean, Cynthia. Bye!” She turned and stormed off.
Charles stepped back in the car and put on his seat belt. “She certainly does have a way with words.” Cynthia rolled her eyes at him as she put the car in drive and headed in the direction of the high school.
It was the typical beginning to the first day of school, with the exception that after he retrieved his books from his locker, Charles made his way to meet Caroline. He looked over her class schedule as she put her books in her locker and organized the contents. Caroline took out the textbooks that she needed for her morning classes. Charles took the books from her then put her schedule inside the cover of her textbook. They walked around the halls before he took her to her class. He handed Caroline the books, told her he’d meet her after class and to please wait.
Charles looked at the hall clock and noticed that he was going to be late. He quickly left Caroline and walked briskly to class. Just as he sat down, the bell rang.
The instructor looked up from the paperwork he was reading. He stood, wrote his name on the chalkboard and said, “Welcome back. No doubt you’ve forgotten everything you learned last year and I don’t have time for a review. So if you can’t keep up with the workload, you’ll find that you will fail.” He handed out a packet of information. “Look at your syllabus…”
Charles heard the rustling of paper as everyone followed directions. He thought about Caroline and the summer.
The instructor went on for a moment, until he realized Charles wasn’t following along with him. He stopped in front of Charles’ desk. “What is your name?”
“Charles Brookfield.”
“Oh, I see. Any relation to Cynthia?”
“Yes, she’s my sister.”
“No doubt you’re a dreamer too then.” The class snickered. The instructor turned around to see who was making the noises.
The man bent over and waited for Charles to look at him. “Mr. Brookfield, I hope I have your attention young man. If I don’t know, I soon will have it after you take a trip to the office. This class is a weighted class and I’m not quite sure why you are even in here, but I am going to find out. Maybe we can find a class more suited to your liking such as home economics or gym to fill in your schedule.”
Charles shifted in his seat without looking at the man. The instructor went to his desk and wrote out a note. He called up one of the seniors, who he apparently knew, and asked her to take the note to the office.
As she walked out the door, he said, “We might as well solve this problem right away. No need to wait for a day or two when we already know the outcome. It will just make you farther behind in your studies.”
He ignored Charles and went on with his talk regarding the syllabus. The girl returned and sat down in her seat. Not long after her return, the principal and Charles’ advisor appeared outside the instructor’s doorway. The instructor coughed as he cleared his throat then gave the class a reading assignment. He stepped outside the room. Before long he closed the classroom door and stood so he could watch everyone through the window of the door. Charles sneaked a glance at the instructor. Whatever the man was being told turned his face red. When the teacher returned, he went on with class as if nothing had happened. He avoided looking at Charles but asked to see him when the dismissal bell rang.
After class, Charles walked over to the teacher’s desk. The instructor said, “I understand you are some boy wonder. Your test scores scream you are bound for the Ivy League, but I am here to tell you that you will have to prove it to me. I don’t believe it for one moment. Something for you to consider, if you stay in this class, you will be challenged. I’ll make sure of it. That is all, unless you want to just turn in your textbook right now.”
Charles turned and walked away. Some of the upper classmen were listening outside the door. They whispered to each other as he walked out of the classroom. He sighed as he walked down the hall to Caroline’s class. She was waiting for him in the hall talking to her friends.
When Charles walked up to her, she said, “That good, huh?”
He nodded. “Looks that way.” He walked her
to class.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Charles had the usual amount of homework for the first day. After school he walked Caroline to her bus. He waited until she sat down then waved to her. He made his way through the maze of buses to the parking lot where Cynthia was parked. A few of his friends called his name and he waved to them.
When he saw Cynthia, she hollered to him, “Come on lover boy! We’re going be trapped here by the buses. I don’t want to be late!” He jogged over and stepped in the car. He buckled up as she pulled out of her parking space.
As they were waiting to get out of the parking lot, she said sarcastically, “I heard all about first hour. Isn’t he wonderful?”
Charles rolled his eyes and thought: Oh that’s great who else has heard?
Cynthia continued, “What I would give to see the look on his face when the principal told him you’re staying. Ha ha! I bet that was good.” She reached up to high five him.
Charles was less than enthusiastic, as he barely slapped her hand. “All I want is to keep my grades up. I’m not looking for problems, Cynthia.”
“I can’t wait to see his face when he has to give you an A. Sweet!”
That comment sounded to Charles like revenge for her. He would be happy to oblige in this instance, at the moment he was feeling the same way. He watched out the window as they made their way to the farm.
Since Cynthia was continuing to work at the market, she had to work the after school shift so she was in a hurry not to be late. Over the summer she’d decided she liked making money. Gretchen made a bargain with Cynthia that if she wasn’t late to work for three weeks she’d get a raise. It was on. She was determined to be on time. Charles barely stepped out of the car, when she started backing up to leave. After Cynthia pulled out of the driveway, she beeped at him as she drove off. He half waved at her; glad the first day of school was behind him.
Chapter 14
The first couple of weeks in school became repetitious. Cynthia drove Charles and Sophia to school then brought Charles home. Today was the same. Cynthia beeped the car’s horn as she drove off to work. Charles put his backpack on his shoulder and walked around the house.
He heard the sound of horses neighing. The neighing sounded more like the queen’s horses, because a slight echo could be heard after they whinnied. As he walked around the corner and peered at the office door, he was just in time to see Bev on a stallion galloping through the doorway. Charles scratched his head. He looked around the yard. What appeared to be several of the queen’s horses were standing on their lawn in the shade. The reins were tied to the old fence that outlined the garden area. Charles couldn’t believe his eyes as he walked toward Bev. When he came alongside the horse, he stroked the creature’s mane. Then he helped his grandmother dismount. He recognized the animal as the queen’s from Caroline’s coronation. The horse that he currently stood by was the one he had ridden during the celebration. The creature nuzzled him.
He patted it, as he said to Bev, “This is quite a surprise.”
“It is, isn’t it? It was a marvel for us too about an hour ago.”
Just then Carson came riding out of his office on the last horse. Charles looked puzzled as he watched Carson ride over.
As his grandfather dismounted, Charles said, “I can’t even begin to tell you how wrong it looked to see you ride one of these out of your office doorway.”
“I bet it looked quite unusual.”
“It did.”
Bev left to check the floor of the office, to make sure they hadn’t tracked mud in the room. She came to the door and said, “Amazing, they didn’t track anything through the office. The carpet is clean.”
Carson stroked the creature’s mane. “Atta boy.” Carson tied the reins then went into his office.
Charles followed. He looked around the office as he walked through the doorway. “Any more surprises?”
Carson muttered, “No, I’m afraid that was the big show.”
“What are the queen’s horses doing here?”
Carson turned and looked at him. “Those aren’t the queen’s horses, Charles. They are yours.”
Charles pointed to himself. “Did you say they are mine?”
“Yes, that’s what I said.”
“How did that happen? Aren’t they Caroline’s?”
“No, they are yours. The queen was very clear as to her wishes.”
He pulled papers from his desk and unrolled them. “The queen’s assistant requested to talk to Nana and me. When I escorted him to the office, he informed us that the queen had a gift for you. Nana and I were to accompany him. We set up the Marble Track and crossed to the kingdom. When we arrived at Virgil’s, this is what he gave us, along with each thoroughbred’s paperwork.” Charles walked over and looked at the paperwork in Carson’s hand.
“That looks official.”
“They are yours and yours alone.”
Carson rolled the paperwork into a tube. He took the key for the vault out of his desk. “I think we need to keep the paperwork in the vault.”
Charles agreed. Then he asked, “What am I supposed to do with horses?”
Carson smiled. “What else? Race them!”
Charles frowned. “Race them? I don’t know anything about racing horses, plus I’m too tall to be a jockey.”
Carson laughed. “You’re not going to physically race them. These thoroughbreds are not the typical kind of horse. The horses now in our backyard are something entirely different. They look like a horse from Earth, but they are dissimilar from our horses.”
Charles frowned. “What do you mean?” He walked over and opened the door. He looked outside at the creatures. Several of them looked over at Charles before he shut the door. “They look like horses to me.”
“They are from the other dimension. They can only be entered to race in specific races meant just for them.”
“What makes them different?”
Carson looked at him. “I’ve only just begun to learn about them. Virgil told me a little about the creatures as we went back and forth through the Marble Track Passageway. They are quite interesting animals. They are called clonsayee creatures. One way these horse-like creatures are different is that they have an echo to their neighing. If you look under their manes, they have feathers. Virgil showed me. He also showed me how to keep them groomed so their feathers don’t show.” Charles raised an eyebrow. Carson ignored the look and continued. “The clonsayee is one of the fastest creatures in the other dimension. They roam free outside the eternal borders, but there aren’t many of the native animals left on Bridgeiro according to Virgil. The native ones have been rounded up by the Aristocracy and put in their stables among their stallions in order to race for big money.
“Now the next thing to figure out is how to introduce them to Walter.” Carson leaned back in his chair contemplating the options.
Charles said, “I bet they are worth a fortune.”
“Yes, priceless.”
Bev walked through the doorway and said, “Virgil confirmed that these are the best of the breed. He showed us how to make that determination. The clonsayees out on our lawn have won many races in their day.”
Charles asked, “Are they old?”
Carson said, “No, they are still colts and fillies.”
Charles asked Bev, “Then why did you say in their day?”
“Because now they have a new owner.”
“While we were at the kingdom, we rode each creature to get a feel for them,” said Carson
Bev added, “I fell in love with the animals. They are all beauties. Your clonsayees were trained by the best, to be the best.”
Charles was well aware that his grandmother knew what she was talking about when it came to horses. She used to ride in horse exhibitions and was a horse trainer herself when she was younger.
Charles asked Carson, “How do we explain them?”
Carson shrugged. “We’ll have to think of a good explanation. I don’t b
elieve Walter will think too much about them, since he’s so busy with the rest of the chores on the farm. The problem will be finding someone to be the trainer. What I can’t ask Walter to do is clip and groom them.”
Bev said, “Or exercise them.”
Carson said, “Those are the real problems with having them on the farm.”
Bev said, “We’d better get them out in the field before it gets too late.”
Carson agreed. “We’ll each ride a clonsayee and several will just have to follow.”
They walked out of the office together. Charles and Bev mounted their animals. Carson handed the reins of another creature to them. Then he took the reins of another animal and looped it around the saddle horn of the clonsayee he intended to ride. Once he mounted, Carson took the reins from the saddle horn and held them. Carson, Bev and Charles headed with the clonsayees toward the barn.
Carson said, “We will come back for the others, once we get these creatures in the pasture.”
When they reached the barn, Carson dismounted and tied the reins of the clonsayees to the fence. Walter and Gretchen came out of the barn.
Gretchen smiled. “What do we have here Mr. Jones? They are lovely animals.” She came over and stroked the clonsayee he had been riding. “This beauty is an absolutely majestic creature.”
She looked at Carson as if she knew something was different about the horses, but then Walter interrupted, “Carson, let me help you get these horses to the pasture. How many of them did you buy at the auction?”
The clonsayee took to Gretchen and nudged her shoulder for attention. Gretchen was fascinated with the animal, speaking to it in a whisper as if they knew each other. She continued to stroke the creature’s neck.
Carson looked over at the two of them as he answered Walter, “We have these and several more at the house. It was too good of a deal to pass up.”
Return of the Clonsayee Page 8
