The Minoan Legacy

by R G Peterson

  He looked away, took his hand off the bracelet and the moment passed.

  She tapped him on the shoulder and glanced down at his arm. She gave him an I-can’t-believe-you’d-do-that look. He flushed crimson. She leaned into him and said in a stern low whisper, “We’ll talk later.”

  The bell rang saving Nick from any further reprimand and the teens all headed for class.

  After baseball and soccer practice the Clan reconvened outside of the gymnasium and talked some more about what could possibly be the day’s revelation, but no one had a clue. Despite what happened at lunch, Nick was reluctant to say anything to the others until he had a chance to talk to Grace about it in private.

  When they walked home from school the first thing she asked him when they were alone was, “What happened at lunch? It was more than hearing people’s thoughts, wasn’t it?”

  He smiled at her and said, “Yeah, sorry. I wanted to hear what Terry really thought while we discussed what could possibly be the last thing to be revealed to us.”

  “And?” Grace cut in before he could say anything else.

  “And, he was as clueless as the rest of us. Well at least I didn’t hear him say anything about it when we were talking about it.”

  “So?”

  “So, anyway, when he heard AJ say he thought it was Gabriella who was going to betray Thanatos because he’s my guardian angel, I heard Terry say, in his head, that he really didn’t like AJ at all.”

  “Well that’s hardly a surprise. There’s always been some friction between them.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not the weird thing. When I heard him think it, I kinda mentally told him that it wasn’t cool and that he should apologize.”

  Grace stopped walking and gawked at him. “So that’s the reason he apologized? You told him to?”

  “Yeah, kinda. I was looking at him when I thought that and he immediately did.”

  “Wow!”

  “Well, then I suggested to AJ that he had to go to the bathroom and that’s when he got up and left.”

  She laughed, but then a thought hit her. “So that was you? You were the one who put the thought into my head to kiss you in front of everyone?”

  Nick blushed and said in a sheepish voice, “It was just kind of an experiment. I wanted to be sure. And I know how you feel ‘bout PDA’s, so I thought it’d be a good test.”

  “Oh, man. I was so tempted to, too. It was only when I saw you looking at me that I knew something was up.” She waited a beat before adding, “Don’t you ever do anything like that again. At least where I’m concerned.”

  He crossed his heart and held his hand to the sky.

  When they got to Grace’s house she started to give him his goodbye kiss on the cheek as usual but hesitated and stared at Nick instead.

  “What?” Nick asked as his hand flew up to his face, wiping away some imaginary dirt. When she continued to stare at him he swiped at his nose to make sure nothing was hanging there and asked, “What, do I have something disgusting on my face?”

  Grace smiled and gave her head a quick shake, “Sorry, it’s just that I feel like there should be something more.”

  Nick misunderstood, looked hurt and took a step back.

  “Sorry, not with you…I mean us. I think we’re great together. I’m talking about the revelation. It doesn’t seem right for some reason. I don’t know. The thought just kind of popped into my head, you know.”

  She took a quick look around. Nick followed her lead.

  “I don’t see her,” Grace said.

  “Me either, although she can go undetected if she doesn’t want to be seen. Don’t you think that’s a kind of big deal? Me being able to control people’s thoughts?”

  “Yeah, I suppose, but…”

  “But what?”

  “I don’t know. Something tells me we need to look at this some more, that’s all.”

  “So what do you want to do?”

  “Why don’t you come over after dinner and we’ll talk about it some more. Bring your mom’s things and we’ll take another look. Okay?”

  “Sure. See you in a bit.”

  Nick waited until Grace had entered her house and went back to his place. He rushed through dinner and when Gayle told him to slow down he said, “Sorry, Grandma, but I promised Grace I’d come over so we could study chemistry together.”

  He finished, rinsed off his plate and placed it in the dishwasher.

  “Thanks, Grandma, it was great as usual. I won’t be long.”

  He ran up to his room, grabbed the diary and the Minoan book, threw it in his backpack and raced over to Grace’s house.

  Mr. Walker answered the door.

  “Hi, Nick. How’s everything going?”

  “Great, Mr. Walker.”

  “You guys going to be any good this year in baseball?”

  Nick’s eyes kept darting toward the stairs and Grace’s room, not interested in making small talk. “Ah, yeah, sure. We should be okay.”

  Mr. Walker smiled and said, “Go on up. She’s waiting for you.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Walker.”

  Nick took the steps two at a time and hurried into Grace’s room. She was at her desk waiting for him. When she heard him come in, she looked over her shoulder and smiled. He returned it and sat down next to her, placing his backpack on the floor next to him.

  “Good, now let’s see if we can figure out if there’s something else we were supposed to discover today. Did you bring your mom’s stuff?”

  He nodded and pulled Val’s diary and her copy of the Voynich manuscript out of the backpack. He laid both on her desk.

  She moved the diary to the side and said, “You’ve been over that so many times. Doesn’t seem like we’re going to find anything more in there.” She turned her attention to the Voynich manuscript and asked, “Where did you leave off?”

  He flipped the manuscript open about three fourths of the way. He then began to turn it page by page. As soon as he recognized a page as something he had already viewed, he turned to the next page. He came to the section that held most of the 3D images, some of which they had seen before.

  When Nick began turning the pages faster and faster, Grace slapped her hand on the open page and suggested, “Let’s take a closer look at these. We kind of skimmed over them when they were in the archives. Maybe there’s something in here? I know you’re anxious to find something, but we need to take our time. Don’t you think?”

  Nick knew she was right and slowed down. As he turned a page they would both stare at it for a few seconds to see what, if anything, would literally pop out at them. After examining five pages and seeing nothing of interest, Nick shouted out, “There!” when he studied a sixth page.

  Grace watched him with eager anticipation as he read the page, only to see him shake his head. She felt let down.

  Nick mumbled, “Nah, it talks about having to hide the information from the Earth Elements so they couldn’t use it against them.”

  “There must’ve been a huge fight going on between them if they started hiding everything.” Then she added, “I wonder why they couldn’t see it like we can?”

  “I dunno. Maybe they just didn’t think of looking for anything?”

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  Grace flipped another page. Nick stopped her from turning to the next one, raising her hopes once more, but shook his head again. They scanned most of the rest of the book then came to the section containing the prophecies. Once more the two of them would stare at the page for a minute before she would move on. She flipped two more pages before Nick stopped her again.

  His eyes lit up. “I think this is important. Oh, yeah, definitely.”

  As he read the page his eyes grew wide. Grace noted that he looked more excited, yet more disturbed, the more he read.

  Chapter 56

  “This is the day. The day you’re supposed to get the last element”

  At 6:00 on the morning of April 22nd, Grace tapped on Nick’s window an
d woke him. He wrapped a blanket around himself and shuffled over to the window. As he pushed up on the sash, he yawned so wide and long that Grace flew inside and transformed before he had stopped.

  “What’s up?” he eventually said.

  “Well?” she looked at him expectantly.

  “Come on, Grace I’m tired. Why’d you come here so early?” he glanced at his closed door and the hallway when he realized that his grandparents may be up this early.

  “This is the day. The day you’re supposed to get the last element.”

  Nick was suddenly wide-awake. “Yeah. I guess I forgot.”

  “So?”

  Nick forced an adrenaline rush and thought of morphing into a golden retriever. Nothing happened. He tried a second time, but once more he stayed in his human form. Grace looked at him showing much greater disappointment than he did.

  When she realized he was giving her a curious look, she said, “Oh, no. It’s not that you don’t have Earth. I mean it is but…Oh shoot, I just thought that would be the answer to all of the riddles and prophecies. I’m not disappointed that you’re not, you know, The One. See?” Nick nodded but looked wary.

  “Come on, Nick. I’ve told you already. I don’t care if you have all of them or none of them. I love you for you. Not because I think you’re supposed to be some kind of savior or anything.” She offered an expectant look.

  “You love me?” he teased her.

  She stepped into embrace him and laid her head on his chest. “Always.”

  She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on his cheek. “Got to get home. See you.”

  She reopened the window, morphed and flew away.

  He walked over to his bed and sat down on the edge, pondering how they could have been so wrong. One person had to be The One with all four powers, that much had been clear from very early on, but who?

  Chapter 57

  “We must be doing something wrong”

  The Clan talked about the nonevent of the day at lunch and then again at their afternoon soccer and baseball practices. They had arranged to meet outside of the school’s gymnasium once more after they had finished. Terry assured everyone he still had Earth. They questioned what they had come to believe to be the fulfillment of the prophecy and no one had any idea what else it could mean. The question they all asked was how could one person have “all” if it meant not having every element. They had to be looking at something incorrectly.

  As they walked home from the school Nick and Grace discussed it further. “Are you sure nothing has happened?” Grace asked.

  “Positive. I’ve tried a number of times today, but nothing. We must be doing something wrong. Or at least I am.”

  “Well, there has to be more. We’re just missing it. The prophecy did say that the person would get a new power every 360 days. And Terry did but you didn’t. Nothing was ever predicted about that person losing all or most of his powers and the other one gaining them back. So what could it be?”

  “I dunno.”

  They arrived at Grace’s house and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Come over after dinner. We’ll talk about it some more. Bring your mom’s diary and the Minoan book. We’ll look at them again.”

  Nick nodded and watched her run up the stairs and enter her home. He thrust his hands in his pockets and turned to walk home.

  “Can’t figure it out?” he heard a familiar voice say. Terry stepped from behind a tree across the street.

  “What’re you doing here?” Nick asked surprised.

  “Thought I’d see how you were handling it? Not being The One.”

  “Why? Did you get one or all of them back?” Nick asked more curious than concerned.

  “Nah, at least not yet.”

  “You really want to be The One?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  Nick shook his head. “I dunno. It kinda scares me. You know, the thought of it. Having all that power and all of the responsibility that would go with it.”

  “See, that’s where we’re different, little brother. I’ve been raised to think differently than you. I’ve been groomed for this for sixteen years. But I’ll tell you what. I think we could pull this off together. You and me. We’d set the world right. I’ve come to see how what you’ve been telling me has a lot of good about it.”

  He looked at Nick a long time, trying to read or hear his thoughts. He said, “Maybe you were right the first time. About the prophecy on the 5th pyramid. Maybe three people together, you, me and either Grace or Anthony – most likely Grace – will rule over the other four. All of us together will change the world for the better. And if a few people who resist have to be dealt with, tough. This is one time I think the ends do justify the means. You know what I’m saying?”

  Nick nodded, not in agreement but to acknowledge he understood exactly what Terry had said.

  “Good. Later,” he said and strolled away.

  All through dinner Nick was distracted. GG kept asking him questions about school and baseball practice, but he kept nodding at the wrong times and not answering her questions.

  After the fifth time Grandpa Henry put down his knife and fork and said in a stern voice, “Nick, what’s going on? Your grandma has been talking to you and you’re not listening. You’re being rather rude.”

  “Sorry, I guess I got a lot on my mind, right now.”

  “It’s Terry, isn’t it?” GG said.

  “Huh? How’d you know?” Nick stared at her in astonishment.

  “We do have windows,” she said as she gestured toward the front room. “I was wondering what was taking you so long to get home. Ever since this thing with those other Elements I’ve been worried. So I was watching out the window and I saw you and Grace walk by and go to her house. Well then, you know. So I knew it wasn’t about the two of you. Then I saw Terry come from across the street and talk to you. Whatever he said looked like it upset you. I don’t like to pry but…”

  Grandpa Henry said, “What is it?”

  “Nothing, really. We’ve just got very different ways of seeing things. That’s all.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Not right now. I’ve promised Grace I’d come over and we’d do homework together. We’ve got a huge physics examine Monday and we thought we’d test one another. Maybe next weekend. Okay?”

  GG and Henry shared a knowing look but didn’t push it. “You go ahead. We’ll talk later,” GG said.

  Nick pushed himself away from the table, ran upstairs, threw the diary and book in his backpack, bounded back down stairs and said, “I’ll be home by ten. See you.” He closed the door and ran the four houses to Grace’s home.

  He waited impatiently for somebody to open the door after he rang the bell. When Mrs. Walker opened it he hurriedly said, “Good evening, Mrs. Walker. I’m here to do some homework with Grace.”

  “Yes, I know. She said you’d be coming by. She’s upstairs waiting.”

  “Thanks,” he said and took the stairs two at a time.

  When he entered her room Grace knew at once something was wrong. He told her of Terry being across the street and the offer he made. When he told her what Terry had said about the prophecy meaning three people ruling over the other four and of his plans to save the world and how some people would have to die, he began to shake all over.

  Grace held him and said, “I was really hoping he’d come around. He hasn’t talked like that for a long time. But maybe it won’t be necessary.”

  He looked at her with a mixture of bewilderment and excitement. “What do you mean?”

  “After supper, I came up here and looked at some Mayan stuff again. Primarily their system for dates and times, thinking maybe we were off somehow. You know, like maybe a day or two. You and Terry have never been quite sure what days you got your powers or lost them. So I reexamined something.”

  She glanced at the digital world clock above her desk. It read, 7:32.

  “If I’m right we have
to wait another six minutes.”

  He gave her another look of confusion, then shrugged as if to say, okay. They sat side-by-side at her desk.

  Two minutes later he couldn’t stand it any longer. “Are you going to tell me or not?”

  “Not,” she said and smiled. “This is fun,” she added. “Between the two of us, you’re usually the one who comes up with the answers or we’ve figured them out together. It’s kind of fun knowing something you don’t.”

  A minute later she became uncomfortable.

  “Now what is it?” Nick said growing impatient.

  “I just thought, what if I’m wrong?”

  He laughed, “Yeah, right. Then we’ve wasted a whole six minutes of or lives.”

  She smiled and leaned toward him and placed her head on his shoulder. She looked up at the clock and said, “Less than three minutes.” She kept her head there as they waited. As the clock tumbled over to 7:37 she sat up straight, and watched with great anticipation.

  Nick glanced at her and could see her counting down the seconds.

  “Come on, what’s…”

  She raised her finger and placed it on his lips to stop him from talking, never taking her eyes off of the clock.

  When it finally clicked over to 7:38, she said, “Okay, try it now.”

  “Try what now?” Nick asked even more confused than before.

  “Earth. Try to change into some kind of animal.”

  Nick gave her another confused look before standing up, clear of the chair. He got a little adrenaline going and concentrated on turning into a golden retriever once more. Grace was suddenly standing above him staring down into his sea-green eyes. He started to say something, but it came out as a bark. He saw Grace reach down and place her hands on either side of his face and for the first time noticed that he had a long snout and a shiny black nose. She cradled his face and nuzzled into him. She started to laugh and pat him on the head and said, “Good boy.”

  He backed away from her and turned back into his human form. He looked down at his hands and arms and said, “Well I guess that answers that question. How’d you know?”