Chapter 14
The children were saved by the sound of footsteps walking down the stable aisle.
“I’m ready,” called a familiar voice.
Mr. Johnson stood between James and the children, so the boy didn’t see Reece and Sean until he was nearly level with the preacher.
“Oh,” said James, ducking a few inches back so that his body was partially hidden by Mr. Johnson. After a few seconds, he stepped out ashamed at his age to hide behind an adult.
James’ hands and face had been washed, and there was a clean, red handkerchief over the cut on his arm. But as the children studied him, the change they saw was more than just a quick washing up. He’d lost that fearful, confused look. He wasn’t smiling, but he no longer wore that distrustful expression. His eyes didn’t dart around the stable looking for a way to escape. Instead, he stood close to Mr. Johnson, not touching him or leaning on him as children do, but near enough that the material of their shirts touched.
“Hi,” said Reece with a crooked grin then added after an awkward few seconds. “I’m sorry to hear about your family.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Sean added. “We didn’t know everyone was being so mean to you.”
James nodded his head and dropped his eyes but remained silent.
Mr. Johnson looked back and forth between the children. “So, you do know each other.”
James looked up at Mr. Johnson, “We met in the woods. They gave me some food and water,” he said then added. “They were asking about that man they locked up in the room. They said he stole their dog, and they want him back.”
The children froze. They had slowly come to realize that the Professor was right. This was not an historical park. It was a place they knew nothing about, and they were outside the range of their parents or anyone who could help them except the Professor. He was locked up in that room, and they were one wrong answer away from joining him. That was another reason they had to get him out then make a run for it.
Reece opened her mouth to say something, but her throat was so dry that she had to swallow first. “All we want is to get Bear and go home.”
Second-grade graduates do not cry, and Sean was determined not to break that playground rule. “We just need a little help,” he said looking up at Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson looked down at James then turned to the children. Three pairs of eyes stared at him while he thought about this strange affair. Before him stood two oddly dressed children unlike any youngsters he’d seen in the county. Several things set them apart. First, they were obviously clean and well fed. Granted, their clothing was a bit odd, but their clothes were clean. In fact, they didn’t even have dirt under their fingernails. And, they lacked that thin, tired look that the other children possessed. The local children looked away and mumbled when he tried to engage them in conversation after Sunday service, but these two children spoke very well, and obviously felt comfortable with adults. Who were they? And were they somehow related to the man who’d been locked up?
“I saw the man they locked up only from a distance. Is he related to you?”
Both children merely shook their heads fearful to say more.
These children were afraid and he wasn’t sure why, so Mr. Johnson smiled gently. That usually helped. “Is he a neighbor of yours? I don’t remember seeing him before.”
Reece looked at Sean. “Sort of,” she managed to say. “He just. . .”
“moved in. . .not long ago,” Sean finished.
“He lives in the woods behind our house, and he came by and took our dog,” Reece said in a rush. “Well, maybe he didn’t exactly mean to steal him, but Bear is with him now, and we need to get him back and go home.”
Mr. Johnson looked down at James then back and forth between the children. “So, your dog is with this man in the locked room?”
“Yes,” said Sean.
“I’m not sure why they locked up your. . .new neighbor along with your dog. I heard something about the man being not quite right in the head. He was asking a lot of strange questions,” he ended as he tried not to frown at the children.
Like the questions we’re asking right now, both children thought as they shifted their weight back and forth between their feet. They couldn’t seem to control their feet, but by silent mutual consent they refused to clasp hands.
A thought occurred to Sean out of sheer inspiration, if not desperation and he presented a possibility. “Maybe he hit his head, and maybe he has a concussion. Maybe that’s why he’s acting so strangely.”
Reece’s eyebrows shot up as she stared at her brother, then she relaxed her forehead before Mr. Johnson observed her reaction. Who knows, it might have happened like that. “He wouldn’t hurt anybody,” she assured the preacher. “He’s just a little confused.”
“Yes, they said he was very confused.”
“We’ll take him back to his. . .house, and he can rest and get better,” said Sean. He kept his head level, but his eyes rotated upward to assess Mr. Johnson’s reaction. The preacher wasn’t frowning which was a good sign.
“I suppose his family is wondering where he is.”
A family! The children closed their eyes for a second. What if, on top of everything else, they had to invent a family? This was why their parents told them always to tell the truth. Not only was it the right thing to do, but it was easier to remember actual facts rather than something you made up in your head. You didn’t have to create a false story as you went along then be able to repeat it at a moment’s notice.
Mr. Johnson rubbed his chin as he thought. “If you take me to his house, I’d be glad to talk with the family. We can bring them here, and they can take that poor man home.”
The children had created a series of relationships and situations that were not exactly all lies, but were built on shaky half-truths. They looked at the floor and pressed their sweaty palms together as they waited for more inspiration to strike, but it didn’t come. They’d run depressingly low on developing creative stories and sheer panic was setting in.
The Door Into Time Page 14
