Chartile: Prophecy (44 page)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

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Jayson opened his eyes and saw a lady bug
crawling across the knuckles of his hand. He sat up, and
immediately pulled the heavy fur cloak from his shoulders. The air
was heavy with humidity and heat. He looked around. The trees were
thin and ragged looking, and he saw a small creek running close by.
He turned and looked over his shoulder. Their tree house was just
as they had left it, the shower curtain caught in a small
breeze.

He walked to the dilapidated couch and
touched the arm. It felt real enough. At his feet were the crusts
of Leo’s egg sandwich covered in tiny black ants. He climbed to the
top of the tree house and pulled aside the shower curtain. The
sticks they had used for swords were leaning against the corner, as
were the assortment of other odds and ends that had been stashed
there over the summer.

“
Jayson?” He heard Jack’s
voice calling franticly from below.

Jayson pulled back the curtain. “I’m here,”
he said. He climbed down and joined Leo and Jack who sat quietly
surveying the scene before them.

“
I didn’t think it would
work,” said Leo, ashamed. “It was so simple. I didn’t think we’d
leave Piper like that.”

“
Well, we did,” snapped
Jayson. He scowled and bitterly kicked the base of the tree. “Now
what are we gunna do?”

“
We still have our clothes
from Chartile,” said Jack. “How are we going to explain this to our
parents?”

“
I’m more worried about
how we’ve actually changed.” Leo flexed his bicep as he spoke. “Do
you think our parents will even recognize us?”

“
Well, we’re bound to look
different for as long as we’ve been gone,” said Jack.

“
But we haven’t been,”
said Jayson more calmly. Jack and Leo furrowed their brows at him.
Jayson sighed and rolled his eye. “Come here. Look, we haven’t been
gone very long.” He showed them the crusts he had found. Leo knelt
to examine them.

“
Has anyone tried using
magic yet?” Jack asked. Jayson and Leo shook their heads. They took
turns attempting to create a fire ball and throw it at the tree.
None of them were successful.

“
That doesn’t make any
sense,” said Jayson. “We could do it before!”

“
Earth must be different
from Chartile. That’s the only explanation,” said Leo flexing his
hands.

“
If I had known I’d lose
my magic, I’d have never come back!” Jayson shouted. He kicked the
couch and threw a rock into the creek.

“
Jay, calm down.” Jack
placed a hand on Jayson’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this
out.”

“
Really, dude? We’re just
supposed to pick up our lives as if nothing happened? What about
Gemari and Nefiri, huh? Leo, what about Brande and all the Black
Diamonds? Think of all the people we had a hand in saving or
killing, and we’re just supposed to start school in a few weeks as
if none of it ever happened? I know I sure as heck can’t tell my
parents. I told you when we first went to Chartile that if this was
some kind of government conspiracy, no one would ever believe us,
and you agreed with me, Leo.”

“
I don’t think we have
much choice, Jayson,” said Leo in a small voice. “You’re right. We
can’t tell anyone.”

“
But we’re not going to
abandon each other,” said Jack. “We were together in Chartile, and
we’ll never leave each other here. We have to promise we’ll always
be there for each other, no matter what.”

They agreed and sat in silence, side by side
on the couch for what felt like several hours. Finally, Leo said,
“We can get cleaned up at my place. I think, if we had to explain
anything, my dad would understand.” Jack nodded, but Jayson shifted
uncomfortably before finally agreeing.

They hurried through the subdivision of
Swansdale, looking up and down the side streets as they went. They
hoped no one was looking out their windows to see them. They must
have looked like savages or something straight out of a Mad Max
movie. They flew up the Leo’s porch steps and ran into the living
room. The cool of the air conditioning swept over them for the
first time in months, and they were nearly stopped dead in their
tracks.

“
I was wondering when
you’d be back for—” Mr. DeHaven stopped short. He dropped the mug
he was drying and it shattered on the floor. “Who are you?” he
asked.

“
Dad?” Leo hesitated, then
rushed into his father’s arms. Mr. DeHaven tried to take a step
backward, but all three boys had pressed him against the doorjamb
to the kitchen in a ferocious hug.

“
Leo?” Mr. DeHaven asked
tentatively.

“
Dad, it’s me!” cried Leo,
and he looked up into his father’s eyes. Realization spread over
the man’s face, and he hugged his son tight.

“
What happened to you?” he
asked, his voice muffled as he buried his face in his son’s
hair.

Leo pulled away from his father and looked
at his friend. Jayson shuffled back and forth on the plush carpet
and Jack nodded.

“
I think you should sit
down.” Leo led his father to the couch, and launched into their
story. Jack and Jayson interjected their commentary nearly as
often, especially when it came to events Leo was not present for.
It was several hours before they had finished. Mr. DeHaven had made
them mac and cheese, and the boys devoured it in
moments.

Still stunned, he said, “Why don’t you boys
get showered and changed.”

Showers. They had nearly forgotten what a
shower was. The unlimited steaming hot water. The soap. It was
practically a fight for who got to go first.

An hour later, they hurried down the stairs,
looking far more like respectable young men from Swansdale, even if
their hair was still long.

They saw a familiar white Cadillac sitting
in the driveway from the stair window as they headed back to the
first floor. The man who owned the vehicle sat on the couch as they
rounded the banister corner. They stopped dead, staring at him and
Mr. DeHaven.

“
Boys, this is Mr.
Darrow.” Mr. DeHaven motioned to the man on the couch. “I need you
to tell him everything you told me.”

“
Are you from the
government?” Jayson asked accusingly.

“
No,” said the man kindly.
“I am both above and nonexistent to the government. I knew your
parents when they worked with NASA.” He smiled. “I’m a scientist
and an archeologist. I’m what you might call expert when it comes
to the strange and unusual, and I know how they all fit together.
Your secret is safe with me, if mine is with you.” He held out his
hand to them. After a moment, Leo shook it, and began his tale
again.

Mr. Darrow was very thorough. He asked many
questions that didn’t even seem to be related, like what direction
the sun set and the color of the fire. He took samples from their
clothes from Chartile, and was most interested in scraping mud from
the toe of Jack’s boot. He took blood samples and hair samples and
whirled a cotton swab around their mouths. It was dusk by the time
he stood to leave.

“
I’ll get these to Emily
right away,” he said to Mr. DeHaven and shook his hand.

“
Wait, who?” asked Leo. He
stood and pushed his way between the two men, looking back and
forth between them franticly.

“
Someone I know who might
be able to figure out where Chartile is.” said Mr. Darrow locking
his brief bag.

“
You said Emily,” said
Leo. “Mom’s name is Emily.” He turned to look at his father. “Is he
talking about mom?”

Mr. DeHaven opened his mouth to speak, but
closed it again. He swallowed hard and said, “Yes, Leo. He means
your mother.”

“
But… mom’s… gone! Mom
left us!” cried Leo.

“
It was for your safety.
It was for everyone’s safety.” Mr. Darrow grimaced and shrugged his
shoulders. “I’m sorry, boys, but what you have experienced is—
well, it’s hard to explain. Just promise me you won’t breathe a
word about this to anyone.”

“
We won’t,” Jack reassured
him, though he glanced side long at Leo who looked as though he
were about to have a panic attack.

“
Thank you,” said Mr.
Darrow. “With any luck, I’ll see you boys again someday.” The front
door closed behind him. Jack and Jayson watched as Mr. Darrow
loaded his samples into the trunk, started his Cadillac and drove
away. Leo stood behind them wiping his glasses nervously on his
shirt and sighing.

“
Leo, I think we should
talk,” said Mr. DeHaven, setting a hand on his son’s shoulder. Leo
turned to look at his father and nodded.

“
We’ll come back
tomorrow,” said Jack, and Jayson nodded. They left and headed to
their homes, walking the dark streets as though it were any other
summer night for them in Swansdale.



Jack walked through his front door. The
smell of rosemary and pork roast filled the house. His baby sister
sat on the floor playing with a bucket of wooden blocks.

“
Ja-Ja!” she shouted, and
opened and closed her hands for him to pick her up. Jack ran to
her, and scooped her up, kissing and tickling her. His mother
pushed open the basement door with her hip, her arms full of
laundry. She dropped the clothes on the couch then turned to her
son.

“
Jack, your father’s
looking for you.” she said. The swelling around her eye was even
worse. Jack had forgotten how bad it had been. He set his sister
back on the floor, and walked to her.

“
Mom,” he said sternly,
“You need to go to the hospital and have that looked
at.”

She pushed his hand away and shook her head.
“I’m fine. But your father is very upset. You weren’t here when he
came home.”

“
I was at Leo’s! I told
Aunt Kiera!” Jack cried.

“
I know, and I told him
that. Still, you weren’t here when he came home.”

“
He was drunk, wasn’t he?”
asked Jack, folding his arms and raising an eyebrow in a very
Piper-like fashion.

His mother stammered, and narrowed her eyes
at her son’s newfound boldness. “Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, he
was. You know what he’s like when he expects something.”

A truck pulled into the driveway and a door
slammed. Mrs. Mitchel gave a small gasp, and attempted to push Jack
onto the couch as she ran for her daughter.

“
Just do whatever he
says,” she whispered.

Mr. Mitchel stumbled through the front door.
His eyes landed on Jack standing tall before him and he shouted,
“Where the hell were you? Damn it, Karla! I told you to tell me
when this punk got back!”

“
Carter, I—he—” Mrs.
Mitchel’s small voice was drowned out by the deep huffing and
puffing of her husband as he stumbled closer.

“
Go,” said Jack. He
instinctually pushed his mother behind him toward the
kitchen.

“
Think you’re so tough,
little punk?” said Mr. Mitchel.

“
Jack, no,” said Mrs.
Mitchel. Jack pushed her closer to the kitchen and she covered her
daughter’s head.

Mr. Mitchel swung at Jack. His coordination
was nearly perfect. Jack grabbed his father’s fist, and spun him
around, twisting his arm behind his back. He thanked Kylani for
their lessons in the mines. He walked the struggling man to the
door, Jack’s other hand in the small of his father’s back.

“
We want to help you,” he
seethed in Mr. Mitchel’s ear. “But you have to want to help
yourself first. I gotta do what’s best for us until you figure that
out.” Jack reached for the door, and his father broke free of his
grip. The man turned to hit his son, but Jack caught his fist
again. He looked into the man’s eyes and pushed him out the front
door. Mr. Mitchel tripped down the steps and landed on the
lawn.

“
I love you Dad,” said
Jack, and he slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. Mr.
Mitchel beat on the door and tried to turn the knob.

Jack turned back to his mother. She was
crying and shaking and clutching at the baby in her arms. “What
have you done, Jack? What have you done?” she sobbed.

Jack walked to her and lifted his sister
from the woman’s arms. She wrapped her arms tight around herself
and sobbed even louder as Mr. Mitchel beat more frantically on the
door.

Jack placed his hand on her shoulder. “It’s
over mom,” he whispered. “He’s not going to hurt us anymore. I
won’t let him.” He hugged his mother and his sister then picked up
the phone to call the police.



Jayson bounded up his front porch steps, as
a truck squealed around the corner. It looked like Jack’s dad’s
truck. He reached to his hip, ready to pull out a dagger and run to
help his friend. But there was nothing there. Jayson closed his
hand on the loose fabric of one of Leo’s cargo pants and sighed. He
leaned against the door and sighed.

He opened the door and stepped inside. He
nearly forgot to take off his shoes, until he tripped over his
sister’s Reeboks and stared at the little flashing lights in the
heels. He noticed her staring at him intently across the room at
the kitchen table. He looked away quickly and began untying his
laces. His dog, Jesse, pranced around his feet excited. The dog
sniffed every inch of him and licked Jayson’s face, knocking him
over. Mrs. Hill looked up from her reading on the couch.

“
Did you eat at Mr.
DeHaven’s?” she asked, almost bored.