The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter
Page 43
Chapter Eight
“Alright… I am completely drained, ladies. No mas!” Richard flopped back onto the bed.
“Thank you for your service.” Chloe said and patted his sweaty chest.
Tracy scrolled through her phone, “Duty calls! To the batcave!” She hopped out of bed and started to get dressed.
Richard yawned, “It is too late for duty! You guys can sleep over. I’d love to see the look on mom’s face if we all go over for some pancakes in la mañana.”
Chloe smirked, “I bet she’d be proud!” She stepped into her clothes.
Richard smiled and said, “I feel used! You guys running out like this.”
Tracy laughed, “I bet you’ll survive the experience unscathed!” She stuck her tongue out at him.
They went out into the cold night air. Chloe held her arms up and let the cold dry air swirl around her. “That feels so good!”
They sped back to the Wells farm. The lights were still on in Robbie’s workshop. Smoke was curling up out of the chimney of the shop’s woodstove.
Tracy said to Chloe, “Robbie’s in the workshop, I think. I’m going to run inside and get that little sparrow hawk figurine. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Chloe walked into the shop. Robbie was lounging on a couch with his feet kicked up on the coffee table. She said, “You’re still awake!”
Robbie shrugged. “I blame your dad!” He sat up on the couch and smiled. “When you guys do overnight trips, the parents don’t sleep. It rubs off on me, I guess.”
Chloe sat on a big sycamore plank. She stroked its surface. “This is really nice!” she smiled.
Robbie said, “I’ve been thinking about what to do with all that sycamore. There is a big stack just like that one out in the wood barn.”
Tracy jogged into the shop and flopped down in the armchair. She held the sparrow hawk figurine in her lap. She announced, “I met with Samantha. She said Dad’s lost on the other side and we need to build a new reflector. I also had, well, I guess you’d call it a religious experience.”
Robbie held up a hand. “Wait! I’m going to go get some more beer.”
Tracy turned the sparrow hawk over in her hands while Robbie ran over to the small fridge. He popped the beers open and handed one to Chloe and Tracy.
Tracy said, “We’ve been looking at this whole thing ass backwards.” She gestured all around her head to emphasize she meant everything. “Imagine you’re from the other side. Coming here to this plane is a lot like dying, while dying is like being born on the other side.”
Robbie nodded, “Yeah, I get that.”
Tracy turned the sparrow hawk over in her hands and then said, “What if we’re from the other side. I think Chloe definitely is. We went over there and she has a pet lioness, or she is one or something. Maybe that part of ourselves is like a pet, a familiar. We have a relationship with it, but it can’t speak. Though we all live this dual existence, our family regarded this essential part of ourselves with suspicion and even hostility.”
Robbie rubbed his beard. He said, “Ever since Matt went over there, our perspective on it has been shifting.”
Tracy nodded, “We keep learning more. We forgot so much.”
He asked the two girls, “What are your thoughts on publishing the plans? We are starting to think the Madhers built their own reflector, but we think it’s not fully operational. Keith is going to go investigate tomorrow.”
Tracy considered a moment. She looked at Chloe, then Robbie. “We must destroy theirs. Our task is to connect the worlds and bring this knowledge to people so they can use it for their own benefit, to find their own Samantha or Demetria. The Madhers want power. They want to keep people in the dark.”
Robbie sat back on the couch. Chloe was pacing the floor of the shop. Chloe said, “I’m going to go check that place out with my dad.”
Robbie asked, “Now?”
Chloe’s eyes were bright, and her face was practically radiant. “Yes. Now.” She walked out to the car and drove away into the night.
Tracy texted Johnny. “We need to build a new reflector! Get up here!”
Robbie said, “No sleep for the weary!”
EPISODE SIX -- Blown Away
Three Years in the Past