Sticks and Stones

by Alexie Aaron

  “Add in sticks falling from the ceiling and stones rolling onto the track,” Ted said, looking at Burt’s notes.

  “Are we trying to kill Mike’s girlfriend?” Mia asked. “He’ll never find someone like her again.”

  “She’s a stuntwoman. She’s used to seeing hazards,” Cid said walking up.

  “I hope so. I’m going to have a shower and collapse until the boys wake up,” Mia said. She walked out of the garage.

  ~

  Mia had the twins dressed and was knocking mud off Varden’s shoes when Brian arrived in the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

  “Saturday drive with your mother.”

  “Since when?” Brian asked.

  “Since your dad needs to concentrate on a project. I’m thinking we’ll head west and see if they have rebuilt the climbing center.”

  Brian opened his eyes wide.

  “So, you do remember.”

  “Yes. Why are we going there?”

  “I wanted to see if they had any programs for kids your age.”

  “I don’t need to climb. I can fly,” Brian protested.

  “There will come a time when you can’t use your wings.”

  “Protect the nest,” Varden said.

  “Or your wing is injured. It’s good to learn to climb the human way,” Mia said.

  Brian nodded. “Why are you bringing them?” he asked, pointing at the girls.

  “I figure the climbers will give them something to look at.”

  “Is Dieter going?”

  “He has a date,” Mia said, making her eyebrows go up and down.

  Varden laughed and tried to imitate his mother.

  ~

  Mia pulled the truck over as she cleared the forest preserve. “See where the plowed fields seem to form two twisty types of road?”

  Brian looked out the window. “Yes.”

  “I see too,” Varden said, standing behind the seat.

  “Follow them with your eyes…”

  “I see the center and the gravel pit!” Brian said. “Varden, that is where I first met Mbengar. You were in Mom’s tummy.”

  “There are ghosts in the gravel pit. They may be in the building. Let’s pretend we can’t see them. I just want to be with my children today.”

  “No ghost hunting!” Varden crowed.

  “Yes. Now sit back down and put your seatbelt on. Be a good example to your sisters,” Mia requested.

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  Mia took a deep breath and started the truck and drove towards the climbing center.

  ~

  “It’s pretty quiet today,” Cid remarked.

  “That’s because Nanny and Lazar are off,” Ted said absentmindedly.

  “Those two are always tearing around the house, shouting, jumping on beds,” Cid teased.

  “Mia has taken the kids on a Saturday drive.”

  “Dieter too?” Cid asked.

  “Nope, he has a date.”

  “Where are they going?” Cid asked.

  Ted pushed back from the design table. “I should have had her take you with her.”

  Cid grimaced. “I’m just curious as to where a mother of four little kids goes on a Saturday drive?”

  “I didn’t ask,” Ted said.

  Jake, who had been tracking the GPS, displayed the truck’s location. “They just pulled into the lot at the climbing center also known as The Rock.”

  “No, that can’t be right,” Ted said. “Not after last time.”

  “The GPS doesn’t lie. Would you like me to put through a call to Mia’s cell?”

  “Please.”

  Mia had just got the girls in the stroller when her phone rang. She handed it to Brian. “Do me a favor and answer it.”

  “Mia Martin’s phone, Brian speaking.”

  “Put your mother on the phone.”

  “She’s busy. Talk to me.”

  “Ask her why she’s at The Rock.”

  “I already know why,” Brian said. “Mom is checking out whether or not she can get me…”

  “AND ME!” Varden shouted.

  “Climbing lessons,” Brian finished. “We have to go now. Mom will call you on the way home.”

  Ted looked at the phone. “My son just hung up on me without saying goodbye.”

  “Like father like son,” Cid said, folding his arms behind his head.

  “Where’s Murphy?”

  “Dunno? Maybe with Mia?” Cid guessed.

  “He better be.”

  “I better be what?” Murphy appeared.

  “With Mia.”

  “I don’t like to ride with Mia when she has the kids in the truck. She turns fast so they feel the Gs.”

  “She’s at The Rock!” Ted said standing up. “Where’s my keys?”

  “Sit down. She’ll be fine,” Cid said.

  “Jake, what’s the weather?” Ted asked.

  “Partly cloudy, temperature in the low to mid sixties.”

  “Sit down and work on your project. Mia and the children are fine,” Cid said.

  Mia looked down at her phone amazed Ted didn’t call back. She smiled and put it in her pocket, unaware Brian had turned the ringer off.

  Brian had a death grip on Varden’s hand. He dragged him over to the lookout. “See that big granite island in the middle of that pond?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s where I bested a primal demon. I sent Mbengar to Hell. Angelo swooped down and rescued me.”

  “I had forgotten that part,” Mia confessed.

  “You were a little busy, Mom,” Brian said. “Varden, she was fighting a fallen angel named Aosoth. She was fighting her because Aosoth wanted to eat me.”

  “Mommy must have won. Because you’re here!” Varden was so happy.

  “You almost weren’t,” Brian said. “Mommy was poisoned by one of the snakes that Aosoth had at the end of her whip. Mom tried to cut her leg off so that the poison would not get to you. Uncle Murphy said, she had her sword raised and brought it down hard to chop off her leg. The archangel Michael stopped Mom, and saved her, you, and her leg.”

  “Whoa,” Varden said. “So exciting!”

  “Mom, I’m surprised you wanted to come back here,” Brian said.

  “Sometimes it’s good to return to a place where you’ve had a scare. As long as it is no longer dangerous,” she clarified. “This way you can get a better perspective. Let’s go in and see about those lessons.”

  Varden walked over to the stroller. “Don’t worry, little sisters, there are plenty of adventures left for you to enjoy.”

  The door was opened by a young man who directed Mia to the office. She maneuvered the stroller through the maze of climbing equipment displayed. She approached the counter and a young woman turned around.

  “Mrs. Martin?”

  “Lena?”

  “Oh my god, you don’t look any different.”

  “You’re being very kind. This is Brian.”

  “The little kid that defeated the demon!” Lena said, putting her hand on her face.

  “Varden,” Mia continued.

  Lena looked at Varden. “You were a bump inside your mom. And who are you little darlings?”

  “Genevieve and Maeve.”

  “They are our sisters,” Varden said proudly. “Do you have sisters?”

  “No. You’re very lucky,” Lena said. “Mrs. Martin, Clench and I were just talking about how your husband scaled the wall to be with you. We call him the Rapunzel prince.”

  “I think he’d prefer Spider-Man, but it was romantic, wasn’t it?” Mia mused.

  “Yes.”

  “How is Clench?”

  “You can ask me yourself,” he said behind them.

  Mia turned and smiled. The young man had the same smile. Large shoulders had replaced the strong but spindly ones. He had a weathered look about him which told the story of many climbs. He reached out a ha
nd. “Mrs. Martin.”

  “Do you still work here?”

  “Worse, I’m now a partner.”

  “Congratulations! I came here to check if you ran any programs that I could get my boys into?”

  “Brian, yes. Varden, how old are you?”

  “Almost three, but I’m strong,” Varden said.

  “And tall. Tell you what, I have a test I give all my climbers. If you pass, you’re in. If you don’t pass and you cry, you have to wait six months to try again. Tears are fine when you’re sad or even when you’re happy, but they have no business up on the wall. You need to keep your eyes clear. Do we have a deal?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Yes, Clench.”

  “Yes, Clench.”

  “Mrs. Martin, I’m going to have one of my coaches take these young men to get outfitted. I have some gear they can use today.” Clench looked over at Lena. “Please page Yessir and Clock.”

  Lena did so.

  “I’d like to give you the tour.”

  “I remember when you did that three years ago,” Mia said fondly.

  “Well, due to the twin tornadoes, we have done some extensive remodeling.”

  A young woman in her twenties and a man in his fifties walked into the giftshop.

  “Clock, Yessir, I’d like you to meet the Martin family. We’re going to test out the boys today. Both boys are very intelligent, and Brian looks like he already has nicely developed back muscles. Varden is tall for his age, and he’s got some hands on him.”

  Varden looked at his hands.

  Mia was surprised when the older climber stooped and looked at Varden’s hands. “I’m Yessir because I’m a retired Marine, and in the Marine Corps, we say yes sir a lot.”

  “Yessir,” Varden said.

  “He’s going to repeat words back at you,” warned Brian. “That’s how he learns.”

  “Then I’m going to call him Parrot. Come along, Parrot.”

  “Yes, sir,” Varden said and walked behind Yessir with a big smile on his face.

  “Brian, why do you want to learn to climb?” Clock asked him.

  “My mother thinks it would be a good idea,” Brian said honestly. “I’m not so sure.”

  “Well, follow me and I’ll tell you how knowing how to climb a rock is great for exercising your mind and body.”

  Brian looked at the young woman and nodded.

  Mia watched them walk away. “He asks a lot of questions. I hope he doesn’t drive her nuts,” Mia worried.

  “As long as they are the right questions, he’ll get along fine with Clock.”

  “Why do you call her Clock?”

  “She knows what time it is anywhere in the world at any given time.”

  “All I know is, time passes far too quickly for my tastes,” Mia said. “They are growing up so fast.”

  “And they can’t wait to grow up,” Lena said. “According to Clock, time runs the same everywhere with the exception of our minds.”

  “She’s very perceptive,” Mia said.

  “Now for the tour. The stroller’s only going to fit in the main halls. Would you mind if we carried these young ladies?” Clench asked.

  “No.”

  Clench picked up Genevieve. “Come on, baby doll, time to take a tour.”

  Genevieve’s eyes opened wide. Mia waited to see if she was going to cry. She smiled instead. Maeve burbled, and Mia picked her up. “Looks like your sister has her first crush.”

  ~

  Jake managed to hack into the camera system of The Rock. Ted kept glancing at the screen. “I can’t get over the feeling of dread.”

  “It’s pronounced déjà vu,” Cid said. “But this time, no storm is coming. Mia is safe, and it looks like your sons are doing fine.”

  “Why is Mia really there?” Ted asked.

  “You’ll have to ask her. We can guess all we want, but Mia is the only one who can tell you her motivations, besides getting Brian’s head out of a book. Climbing seems to me to be a sport of physical endurance and thinking. No situation is the same. You have to look at the whole mountain and each crack in it.”

  “Forest and the tree situation,” Murphy said. “She’s hoping Brian will think beyond his actions.”

  “Good luck with that,” Ted said, scratching his head.

  ~

  By the time Mia had taken the tour, fed and changed the girls, Varden had appeared. He was escorted by Yessir to the lounge.

  “Mrs. Martin, I think that Parrot is an excellent listener. He needs to build up his grip, and I’ve given him some exercises. I think he’s a good candidate for the quarter hour classes. His attention span is great, but he is young, and his body hasn’t caught up to his mind.”

  “Would you like to take lessons?” she asked Varden.

  “Yes!”

  “Instead of you buying gear, we have a loaner program for the young kids. They grow so fast that buying shoes is a nightmare. We inspect the gear when it is returned and discard anything that is too worn to be safe.” He handed Mia a flyer. “This has that information in it. Our website has more. I suggest with all the young starters that you take them home and see if they ask when they can come again before you sign them up. Today, it’s exciting, tomorrow it could be a chore.”

  “You’re very wise,” Mia said.

  Yessir left, and Varden played with his sisters. “I got to wear a helmet,” he told them. “I climbed sideways along a wall.”

  Mia looked at the experienced climbers on the walls. Memories of that nightmarish day flooded in. She thought about what she did wrong and what she would do if ever presented with a similar situation. She wondered about the broken girl, who summoned Aosoth, and hoped she had gotten help. Dieter and Mark had quickly moved into team sports. She intended to sit down and ask them about the experience. She would also offer Dieter the opportunity to resume climbing if he was interested.

  “There she is,” Brian said to Clock. “Thank you for the instruction. It was very stimulating.”

  Brian walked past Mia and was reading the menu at the snack bar.

  Clock sat down and sighed.

  “Did he wear you out?” Mia asked.

  “No. I just want a dozen like him.”

  “I used to want a dozen children. I decided to stop at five.”

  Clock looked over to where Varden was playing with the twins. “You have quite a family.”

  “I have a lot of help at home,” Mia admitted. “Otherwise, I’d be very frazzled.”

  “Brian picks up the concepts quickly. Although, his arm strength is behind his age group.”

  “I think the heaviest thing he picks up is a book.”

  “May I suggest putting in a chin-up bar. Or take him to the park. Get him used to using his whole body. He’s got a Mr. Know-it-all vibe to him.”

  “Overconfidence is a problem at home,” Mia admitted. “What do you suggest?”

  “Time and patience. If he wants to rock climb, he’ll let you know. He isn’t shy with his opinions.”

  “He wasn’t rude, was he?” Mia asked.

  “No, he is a sweet boy who talks like my Physics professor. If he becomes one of my kids, I’m going to call him Professor.”

  “It’s better than Mouth,” Mia said.

  Clock started to giggle. Mia joined her.

  Mia’s phone started to vibrate. “Excuse me,” Mia said, pulling it out of her pocket. She was shocked to see there were six texts from Ted, and that it was him on the phone. She looked for the nearest camera and put up her hand and mouthed, “Five minutes.”

  Clock got up. “I hope we see you back here. If you have any more questions, you can reach me through our main switchboard. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you when I can.” She turned and called, “Bye, Brian.”

  Mia read the texts and then dialed home. “I’m sorry, Brian must have turned off the ringer.”

  “I wouldn’t be botheri
ng you, but Orion called and wants you to fly with him tonight to Angelo’s aerie to prepare for a meeting with The Twelve on Sunday.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this,” Mia worried.

  “Orion was quite positive. I think either you will be getting an apology or be asked to stop your revolution.”

  Mia laughed. “What do you think?”

  “I think that Angelo is not going to let them imprison you. He may imprison you, but I think you can handle that. We’ll talk more when you get home. What do I tell Orion?”

  “I’m not going to want to fly until after we tuck the kids in. If he can’t wait until then…”

  “I’ll let him know. If you’re buying snacks, I’d like some cheese fries.”

  “They will be congealed by the time we get home,” Mia warned.

  “Excellent! Make that two orders.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Orion was rather grumpy from lack of sleep. The time they started their commute last evening didn’t allow for adequate sleep in his humble opinion, but he understood Mia’s resistance to jump when the Brotherhood wanted her to jump. They ran into unexpected snow in the alps which had Mia confused where to land. Their rooms were ready when they arrived, and by the look of Mia, she had slept in her clothes.

  “I would like you to clean up before the meeting,” he said.

  She glared at him briefly but nodded. Mia kept looking over her shoulder.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just making sure Idra is not sneaking up on me. She’s not pleased I let Baxter’s nymphs tinker with the works or that I swam in the Second Day Sea.”

  “I think she’s making herself scarce. She is being implicated in Soren and Claudius’s plot.”

  “I don’t think she was doing anything more than obeying an order,” Mia said. “Let’s talk of other things. How are you, Grandpa?”

  “I’m well. Breda is finally sleeping through the night, and Luke has shown an interest in bowling, of all things. I think it runs on Audrey’s side of the family.”

  “Bowling is fun, especially when there are bumpers in the gutters,” Mia said. “Uncle must be so cute pushing the ball down with both hands.”