Keeper's Knowledge (Balancer's Soul cycle) (87 page)

Connor
said “Alright.” Everyone turned to look at
him
. “Everyone knows what to do. Time to start the plan
,
”

Jack handed Connor
his two packs and Veronica handed Sarah
his
sister
’
s paintings. Kara and Mark dropped to all four’s
again
. Jillian hopped onto Kara’s back and
situated herself behind her wings.
Jack did the same to Mark. When Mark and Kara took off into the sky
again
Connor
said to
his
guests “The stream is pure so if you’re thirsty help yourselves.”

Sarah and Connor
took off and
quickly caught up to the other
s.

They made it to the city and once they
landed
in a nearby forest
the Changers became human looking again.
Sarah pulled her hair out of her shirt and began brushing out the knots.
The light was fading and the streetlights were
lighting up
all over the city
. Connor
handed Jack and Mark their packs back as
they
began walking to Jack’s garage. He punched in the numbers to open t
he security gate. As it opened Connor saw only his
large green truck
waiting with
in the
dark
ening
parking lot
.
It needed
to
be washed simply from
all the yellow pollen, but other than that
,
it remained in good condition. Mark helped
him
take the snow chains off the wheels.
Connor tossed Jack the keys from his
pocket and he
used them to
open the trunk.
They
all threw
their
packs into the back a
nd he then shut and locked it. Connor
became
pleasantly surprised
that it fired right up
after turning the key
. The batteries in the truck must be very well made.
Reading the gauges explained that the tank needed
some water soon or else the fuel would be gone.

They
pulled out
of
th
e parking lot and Jack closed the gate
behind them
.

The
first stop
that
had to
be mad
e
was to restock the
food supplies.
They
went to six stores and filled the bed of
the
truck completely
with all kinds of foods
.

The next stop was for Mark and Kara.
Connor
dropped them off at their apartment and
they
helped them carry in some of their
g
roceries as they carried in their
belongings. They
left Mark and Kara at the apartment because it was
all
part of the setup.

Connor
had
the
high beams on as
he
drove down
the familiar dirt road. He
could see Jillian’s
dark
house first and
then it was his Mom’s that he
saw next
. He
pulled into Jack’s driveway and parked
the
truck.
They
all exited the cabin
and
opened up the bed and tailgate.
Jenny’s car was in her
driveway and t
he living room’s light was on. Connor
also saw random flashes
through the curtains
and knew she was watching TV.

They
hurried with putting everything away in
his
in-laws house. The house had stale air so Jillian opened up all the windows to help
air it out
.
Then Jillian and Jack helped them
carry
the rest of
their
things t
hrough the dark forest and to the
cottage. Sorono and Veronica wanted to help, but they couldn’t on the fact of their large size.
Connor
did have something
that
they could help with. They picked up the waterwheel and attached it to the axle so it could begin charging up the batteries.

Sarah opened the windows
after she opened the
front door.
It was dark inside, but
she
moved through the room with ease even though she couldn’t see.
When Connor
entered
,
everything looked exactly the same except for the accumulated dust on the surfaces.
He
went into the power room and reattached all the cables to the batteries. As they began charging
he
saw the kitchen light get turned on. When
he returned the
in-laws took the rest of the groceries
out of their bags
and put them away in the pantry and the
now running
refrigerator.
Connor
sat
Tool on the desk by the front door
and beside’s Sarah’s Fangs
.

When everything
settled down
he
said “I’ll go see my mom and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Sarah looked around the room and said “Go ahead, I have some cleaning to do
here
before we can
even
settle down for the night
.” She
wiped her finger across the dusty table a
nd wrinkled her nose
at her dirty finger
. She said in a chirpy voice “Connor, we’re finally back home. I missed this place so much.”

He
smiled at her and left through the front doo
r along with Jillian and Jack. He
nodded to Sorono and he returned with a nod of his own. He walked over
and sat beside a tree. Veronica joine
d him. The three of them
entered the woods and soon e
ntered Jack’s property. They wa
ved and Jillian said
“W
e’ll meet you at your house before sunrise
.” And they disappeared into their red log house.

Connor
crossed the street and walked up the driveway.
The grass was cut yesterday which meant
Jenny somehow kept up with the chores
.
As he
walked
he made him
self look
like an
exhausted
human
.
After so long with fellow immortals it was difficult to do. He
made it up the steps and knocked on the front do
or. The TV was put on mute and he
heard
his
mother’s voice chime “Who is it?”

“Your Son. We just got back
home
from our trip, Mom.”

He
heard her
instantaneously
running across the living room floor. The door unlocked and swung open instantly.
Jenny
was wearing gray sweatpants and a red t-shirt. Her golden blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her dark brown eyes
were twinkling. She jumped at him
with open arms and said “Your home!!! I’m
so
glad you made it back in one piece.” She let go and looked behind
him
. “Where’s everyone else? Did something bad happen?”

“Mom, relax.”
He
yawned
intentionally
. “No one was hurt
at all
. We just got in from the airport and we’re really tired
from the long flights
. I dropped
off
Mark and Kara at the
ir
apartment. Mark said he’ll wait
up
for a few hours if you want to talk.
I suspect Kara is already out cold by now.
Jillian and Jack are
currently
unpacking and heading to bed themselves. Sarah wanted to come
over to
say hi, but she dead on her feet as it is.”

Jenny
sighed and
said “I see. Well come on in for a moment and tell me about everything you did.”

Connor
held
his
hand up and said “Can it wait until tomorrow? I have some surprises for everyone.”

“You look tired yourself. How was your flight?”

“Breezy.” He
smiled inwardly knowing she would think
they
hit turbulence in an airplane. “Can I borrow the phone for a minute?” She
said yes and she walked with him
to the pho
ne in the kitchen. He
picked it up and dialed.

“Hello Jenny, why are you calling so late?”
A nostalgic voice came through the speaker.

“Wrong person, Granddaddy.”

His voice
went a
few octaves
louder. “Connor, y
ou’re
finally
back from
the
trip?
!
How was it? How is everyone?”

“Settle down, Granddaddy. Everyone is just a little tired from the flight.
”
He
forced
him
self to yawn
again
. “
Listen can you meet us here
at Mom’s
by sunrise? We will tell everything we did and I have a few surprises for you and Grandma.”

“We’ll be there.
You can count on it!
” His tone sounded excited.

“Oh before I forget. Wear your hiking clothes because there is something that everyone will want to see.”

“Will Do! Have a good night, Son.
Get some rest
,
you sound like you need it.
” He hung up the phone. Connor
did as well.

Jenny
caught
his
attention and asked “Will I need to bring my outdoor clothing as
well?” He
nodded. “Alright then,
g
o home and get a good night
’
s sleep.”

“Good night, Mom.” And just as
he
left the house
he
heard her calling Mark.

While
Sarah
was using
her
control
over Terra to thr
ow the dust out the front door she heard Connor’s voice. She
peeked around the door and saw hi
s dark figure
talking to Sorono and Veronica
’s shape
as they still sat by the tree
line
.
She
caught
only
the tail end of the conversation.
“…may hunt around here, but please don’t over hunt. We have a lot of Boar and deer around here
so take your pick. If you need a place to cook the meat you can make a fire over there.” Connor pointed to a small rocky patch by the stream.

Sarah
knew it was Sorono that stood up because of his larger size.
“Thank you, Connor. I’ll go hunt and see if I can bring anything back.”
He turned in Veronica’s direction.
“Can you find some firewood?”

“
I have some stacked wood behind my home. Take what
ever
you
’ll
require
. We’ll see you just before daybreak. By that time I’ll be ready
and have planned everything out
and you can meet my family
.”

Veronica stood and said
“Thank you and good night, my friend.”

Connor turned and
walked to the front door.
Sarah
quickly rushed to the sink and began wetting a rag. As he walked through the door
she
began wiping down the dining room table.
He smiled and started helping her
clean up
their
home.

It took two hours to clean the kitchen, living room, bathroom and
their
bedroom.
She
threw the
musty
bed sheets into the washer while Connor had started making dinner in the kitchen. After
she
threw the sheets into the drier
Sarah
stepped out and started munching on an apple. When the food finished cooking
they
ate everything on
their
plates.