Heroes of Perpetua

by Brian Clopper

So dumb. He needed to fire off two shots, the first to shatter the glass, and the second to hit his target. Besides, the finger gun was a greeting not a farewell. What was Hugo Hammersmith thinking? Nelson wondered this as his mom pulled up.

  He got in, and they ran through his checklist to make sure he left the school with the same items he had brought.

  Nelson was so busy thinking about bats and weird winged snakes he forgot to count how many seconds it took his mom to whip around the bus loop and arrive at the stop sign. He was reasonably confident it was twelve seconds as always. His mom was supremely consistent.

  Chapter 4

  Lou Takes a Bike Ride

  Lou gently slid the comic back into its protective bag. It had been her dad’s favorite comic. She didn’t get the attraction. Warriors from inner space that were tiny on our planet? Her dad had tried hard to get her to like the series, even breaking out the toys the book was based on to convince her. Why her dad thought skinny little action figures made of see-thru plastic would make her fall in love with the characters, she had no idea. Although, she did appreciate how their glider pack wings flipped open with the push of a button. One thing he had gotten her to agree to still held true—Michael Golden was an artistic god. His covers were masterpieces. She studied the scene on the issue in her hands. The Micronauts were surrounded by an army of Acroyears. She poured over the intricate armor of the mob. She’d only read the first nine issues before losing interest. Lou had never admitted this to her dad, but she had a soft spot for Bug. The insectoid was her favorite character of the bunch. Maybe she’d try the later issues again. Her dad would appreciate that.

  She slid the comic back in the long box and tucked it under the bonus room’s guest bed. She was about to pull out another long box containing a huge variety of Epic Comics when her phone vibrated. She fished it out of her front pocket and read the new text. It was from Hugo, and she saw he’d included Nelson in the group text.

  Funny prank, you guys.

  She texted back. What are you talking about?

  The statue. How’d you lug it all the way to my backyard, anyway?

  Nelson entered the conversation. What do you mean?

  That ugly statue we smashed the snakes against is sitting in my mom’s garden, right next to her bird feeder. You guys crushed a few of her flowers, too. She’s a little upset. Can you come now and help me smooth things over with her?

  Lou thought for a moment. I didn’t do it.

  Nelson chimed in. Me neither.

  Lou typed quickly. You haven’t given us your address yet.

  That’s strange. It’s 321 Lily Court. Not sure how close you guys are to that.

  Nelson replied. That’s the development north of us. Best take our bikes.

  I know we said three, but can you guys come over now? Maybe we can figure out this statue mystery in person.

  And examine the bat carcass.

  Lou smiled. Nelson’s hyperfocus always amused her . . . when it didn’t annoy.

  Yeah, sure. But don’t mention that to my parents when you get here, okay?

  We’ll be by in ten minutes. Lou pocketed her phone and raced downstairs. Her mom was in the kitchen loading their lunch dishes into the dishwasher.

  She needed to keep the details to a minimum. She expected pushback because she’d never really done much with Nelson outside of garden club. “Going bike riding with Nelson. That okay?”

  Her mom stood up and slid her glasses slightly down her nose. “Oh, really?”

  “Yeah, that okay?”

  She smiled. “Of course. Don’t go out of the neighborhood.” She marched over to the fridge, pulled a water bottle out, and handed it to Lou. “And wear a helmet.”

  “Mom.”

  “For the road’s sake. If you take a spill and hit that hard head of yours against it, I worry about you cracking the poor blacktop.”

  Lou offered a courtesy laugh as she snatched the bottle and fled into the garage.

  A minute later, she was rolling out onto the driveway, her helmet on. The roadways and sidewalks would be safe from any direct skull bashing.

  She walked the bike to the end of the drive and looked left and right for traffic, exaggerating her glances for her mom’s piece of mind. She definitely watched her every move.

  Lou crossed. When she reached the other side, she looked back. Her mom waved to her from the front window.

  Nelson sat on his bike, talking to a squirrel that stood on its haunches just inches from his bike pedals. He balanced his backpack on his cross-bar while he unzipped the front pocket and pulled out some trail mix. He sprinkled it on the grass, and the squirrel rushed forward to feed.

  “The squirrel’s not coming along, is he?” Lou took a swig of her water, another action for her mom’s sake. The woman was obsessed with hydration.

  “No.” Nelson zipped up his pack and secured it to his back. His water bottle was clamped directly on his bike. She really needed to get one of those.

  “Okay, ready?” She leaned forward and acted like she was revving her bike.

  “Just one more thing.” He produced his phone from his back pocket and texted furiously.

  Lou decided to have a little fun. “Texting your girlfriend?”

  “No, my mom. It’s so she knows the exact time I disembarked.” He didn’t sound riled up or defensive at all.

  “Smart.”

  The squirrel had finished foraging through the grass for the food and was now scampering about near his front tire. Nelson tucked his phone away and focused on the energetic critter. He pointed to the lone tree in his front yard. “Head home, Tally-Ho!”

  Lou watched the squirrel freeze and cock its head at Nelson.

  “No more nourishment.” He held out his empty hands.

  The squirrel dashed across the yard and up the tree, which still had some of its leaves, mostly in its upper branches. The rodent disappeared amid the red and yellow foliage.

  “Kind of sent it mixed messages. Head home? Tally-ho?”

  Nelson walked his bike to the end of his driveway. That’s its name.”

  “Head Home seems like a terrible name.” She held in a laugh.

  Nelson raised his voice slightly. “No, Tally-Ho! He’s always charging forward. That’s how he earned the name.”

  She nodded. “I know. Just giving you a hard time.”

  He didn’t react.

  “You ready?” She drew up beside him.

  “I’ve memorized the shortest route. We won’t have to use any muddy paths.”

  “Sounds great! Last one there’s a sulfurous embryo.”

  Nelson released an abrupt laugh, more of a bark, but Lou declared it a victory.

  Mental note: Lean into the science to trigger his funny bone!

  ****

  Sure enough, the statue was sitting in Hugo’s backyard. Lou spied it the second they pulled into his driveway.

  Hugo stood in front of it, waving at them to join him in the garden.

  They parked their bikes close to his basketball pole and walked over. The grass was tall. By the time they were alongside Hugo, Lou was scratching at her ankles. While she didn’t have an allergy to grass, it didn’t take much to make her itchy.

  Hugo saw this and said, “Sorry. Was supposed to mow this morning. Promised Dad I’d do it after you two visited.”

  She stopped scratching and shrugged. “No worries.”

  “My mom says I should meet your parents and exchange contact info with them.” Nelson stared at the statue.

  “Not home. Dad’s at work, and Mom’s running errands. She’ll be back in maybe an hour.”

  Nelson stared at him as if he were from another planet. “You’re home by yourself?”

  “It’s a test. They’ve been leaving me here alone for different stretches of time to see how I do. They’re very big on ‘fostering independence.’” He used air quotes to full effect.

  “Nobody is here? They don’t have a neighbor keeping watch?” Nelson stared down the
houses on either side, peering in all their windows for any sign of adult supervision.

  “Nope. Relax. This is like my twentieth time flying solo. And there’s three of us here. We can handle it.” He looked at Lou for support.

  “Nelson, it’ll be okay,” Lou used her most calming tone. Nelson looked ready to blow a gasket, a favorite phrase of her dad’s. She liked how it sounded, even though she had no idea what a gasket was and always thought he hadn’t either. “His mom wanted us over to deal with this statue.”

  “Well, I sort of stretched the truth there. She doesn’t know about the statue yet. It wasn’t here when she left. I told you she was worked up, thinking it would make things more urgent. I wasn’t sure you’d come if I didn’t mention her.”

  “So she doesn’t know we’re here?” Lou asked.

  “She does. I got permission over text. She’s even bringing us a treat. Neither of you is allergic to ice cream, right?”

  They both said no.

  Nelson looked ready to bolt. He needed to be refocused. She knew that not being able to exchange parent contact info was making him anxious. He was grabbing and releasing his right sleeve over and over again.

  “I seem to recall we were promised a glimpse at a dead bat.” She scanned the garden, looking for signs of upturned dirt.

  “Yeah, yeah.” Hugo snagged a small spade that had been propped up against the statue. He turned away from the stone figure, but just as quickly spun about to face it again. He pointed at it sternly. “Stay.” He then vaulted through the garden over a stretch of already mashed-down flowers.

  Nelson noticed the trampled plants. “Whoever placed the statue here did that.”

  “You’re a regular Sherlock, Nelson. Ain’t nothing that gets by you.” He hurdled several small bushes and landed in a crouch with his spade at the ready in an open patch of mulch.

  Lou noticed a tall piece of mulch stood upright. Like a grave marker.

  He brushed aside mulch, exposing freshly turned soil. A worm wiggled about, already having set up shop in the softened terrain.

  Hugo plucked the worm from the grave and gently placed it on another open patch of dirt.

  He quickly scooped out the soil until the creature in question was fully visible. Lou liked that Hugo was careful not to disturb or further damage the carcass, something she knew Nelson would also appreciate.

  Lou fell to her knees, fascinated. It looked like the same creature that had attacked them yesterday. “All black and no fur.”

  Nelson dropped to one knee holding a paintbrush he’d fetched from his backpack seconds earlier. He began brushing away any stray dirt still covering the bat.

  Hugo stopped digging, tossing the spade aside with little care where it wound up. “Nice. I take it this isn’t your first exhuming?”

  Nelson paused and shot him a look bordering on admiration. Lou knew Nelson had won the spelling bee in elementary for both fourth and fifth grade and prided himself on his vocabulary.

  She sensed Hugo’s word choice had been deliberate, designed to impress Nelson, similar to Lou’s rebranding of rotten eggs earlier.

  Their bizarre reality asserted itself. The right wing, draped over the left across the creature’s torso, twitched.

  Lou and Hugo jumped back. Nelson froze, pausing in his efforts to remove the dirt particles from the critter’s face.

  Hugo said, “It doesn’t look mashed down like last night. I stomped on it pretty severely, but you can’t tell that now. What gives?”

  The bat’s long tail unkinked and stiffened, driving its tip into the small mound of dirt Hugo had piled up. At that same moment, its eyes opened wide and it coughed.

  They all bolted to their feet, even Nelson.

  The bat stood and whipped open its wings and screeched at Hugo.

  “That’s the opposite of pulverized.” Hugo searched the garden for where he’d flung the spade.

  The creature flopped forward and scurried out of the hole using its legs and wings. They stepped out of its way.

  Lou dashed over to where she thought Hugo had discarded his spade. She dropped to her knees and searched the mulch while keeping an eye on the bat.

  Hugo lifted a leg, readying himself to stomp the creature again.

  Nelson flung out a hand and swatted the taller boy’s chest. “Don’t.”

  Lou located the spade without laying eyes on it, and she wrapped her fingers around its handle without looking away from the strange sight of a bat reanimating.

  The bat hopped and flapped its wings. It took a second larger hop, this time completing three wing strokes before grounding itself.

  “Don’t let it get airborne,” Nelson said.

  Lou rushed over with the spade, knowing it was a weapon of last resort. Nelson wanted it captured alive. Was that the right way of thinking of it? Was it living? It had been dead all night. She had no reason to doubt Hugo on that. Why would he bury it if the thing still had a pulse?

  The bat waved its left wing about, shaking free a large piece of mulch that had gotten stuck on it. It tensed, looking ready to vault into the air again.

  Hugo jumped at the bat. He belly-flopped on the exact spot, but it leapt out of the way and into the air a split second sooner. Its long tail did brush against Hugo’s chest, and he tried to grab it, but missed.

  The bat flew high and circled over the yard before landing on Hugo’s back gutter close to the roof dryer vent. It angrily squawked at them and thrashed its wings. It took off and dove toward Hugo. It pulled out of the dive quite early as if something had redirected it. The bat then cut right and glided over the neighbor’s roof.

  Nelson ran toward Hugo’s driveway. “It’s escaping!”

  He jumped on his bike, fumbling to secure his helmet. Hugo disappeared in his garage and emerged a second later on his own bike, an off-road number with thick treaded tires. Helmetless, he tore out of his drive.

  Lou secured her helmet and took off after the others. Nelson was almost to the corner that Hugo zoomed through. Hugo was totally fixated on tracking the bat and crossed the street without looking. Luckily, there was no traffic.

  Nelson approached the same road, slowed but didn’t stop. He did check for cars and then raced across. Lou did the same and soon they were streaking along the sidewalk single file but close. If either of the boys ahead of her stopped, she’d plow into them. She eased up on her pedaling and searched the part of the sky both her friends frantically scanned.

  The bat soared high. Would it climb as high as the one yesterday and disappear from view?

  What were they hoping to accomplish? It was out of their hair. What did they care? Let it fly off into the sunset. Good riddance.

  Only she didn’t want to lose it. The bat had her interested. She knew it was a lame way to think about it, but she’d been checked out for so many months and this weird mystery, this caper, was something she needed. It pushed her out of her comfort zone. And Nelson’s too.

  She looked at him racing along on his lime green bike. She hadn’t even known he had a bike. Nelson never ventured out of his yard for anything other than school and garden club.

  A loud screech and crash yanked her out of her deep thinking. She hit the brakes and cut left into a well-manicured front yard, stopping a few inches from a small gurgling fountain. Ahead, Nelson had also ground to a halt. He dropped his bike and ran forward.

  A car sat in the road, Hugo’s bike crumpled into its side. The whole front wheel was bent in half, and the handlebars looked severely mangled.

  She couldn’t see Hugo anywhere.

  Suddenly, he sprang to his feet on the other side of the car. He brushed himself off and waved to the driver who was getting out. The woman wasn’t angry, only concerned for Hugo. She guided him over to the curb and insisted he sit.

  Nelson tugged Hugo’s bike free of the car and conveyed the sorry twisted ride safely onto the sidewalk. The woman’s car door was caved in pretty deep.

  Lou went around the car, wondering if
the woman had put it in park.

  Nelson caught up to her, his words spilling out rapid fire. “We have to check if he has a concussion.”

  She could tell he was getting a little wound up. “Someone will.”

  “We don’t have any way of contacting his parents.”

  “Nelson, he’s okay.” She pointed at Hugo, who was talking on his phone, his attitude about the incident rather chipper. “Wanna bet on who he called? My money’s on his Mom. He looks like a momma’s boy.”

  Nelson didn’t react to her lame joke.

  They approached the woman, offering their apologies. Hugo got off the phone with his mom and related to the woman that his parents would meet him at home in less than ten minutes. She insisted on heading over to wait with them. She also insisted her insurance would pay for anything Hugo needed, medically speaking.

  Lou and Nelson dragged the mangled bike back to Hugo’s house and then fetched their own bikes. Hugo sat on the front porch, arguing with the driver. The woman fretted over him even as she was on her phone. Neither Lou nor Nelson wanted to be part of the pillow propping discussion that was unfolding. Eventually, Hugo agreed to having two outdoor pillows strategically placed to alleviate his supposed suffering. This satisfied her, and the woman drifted into the side yard, concentrating on her phone call with what sounded like her husband. Hugo called them over.

  “You okay?” Nelson asked.

  Hugo proudly displayed an impressive brush burn along the underside of his right forearm. He also pointed to several cuts on and around his chin. “Hey, none of this is life threatening. All minor.” He put his hands on his ribs and shifted his torso about as if doing the upper-body version of the hula. “And no broken bones that I can tell.”

  “We’re sorry,” Lou said.

  Nelson nodded.

  Hugo waved off their apology. “Look, it’s fine. I’m fine.” He eyed his bike. “Been meaning to get a new ride.”

  “Will your parents be mad?” Nelson asked.

  “A little but also not. Mom’ll get all worked up and go overboard with over protecting and fixing lots of soup. Not sure why she thinks a steady stream of soup is the answer to everything, but that woman loves broth and its miracle abilities.” He sighed. “And Dad’ll probably be excited I actually left the house and was doing something outdoorsy. I mean, later he’ll give me a hard time along with an intense safety refresher, but I’ll be fine.”