The Door Within (39 page)

“You have my new address, so I’ll be expecting some mail,” Aidan said. “We could even trade cards through the mail.” They had been talking, there in the dark, for over an hour, speaking awkwardly about things that didn’t really matter. But it was painfully difficult to speak from the heart, so they stuck to safe topics. And while there was much left to say, their time had run short.

“We can email, too.” Robby smiled weakly. “Get one of those free accounts, so we can message each other—that is, if my sister ever gets her fat tub away from the computer!”

Aidan smiled back. Robby had been the brother he never had and the friend he always wanted—always needed, Aidan corrected himself. Somehow, Robby filled in all the holes in Aidan’s life. With Robby, Aidan fit in and always had direction. What would happen without him? Aidan hurriedly put that thought into his very full closet of fears.

A phone rang somewhere in Aidan’s house, and moments later, Aidan’s mom turned on the porch light and opened the front door.

“Robby, that was your mom. She wants you to come home now,” Mrs. Thomas said, smiling sympathetically. Then she quietly shut the front door and turned out the porch light. Aidan was thankful for the darkness. It was easier that way.

Aidan walked Robby down to the sun-bleached wooden fence that corralled the crab apple tree and marked the end of Aidan’s front yard. They exchanged high-fives, and Robby backed away toward the street.

“I’ll send you some comics from Colorado, if they have any different ones out there,” Aidan said, wanting to say something more meaningful, but stupid, less courageous phrases kept getting in the way.

“Catch some crayfish for me—keep ’em in the aquarium to bug your sister,” he said, continuing to babble. “Good luck with football this fall. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even try out for a team. Thanks to you, I can sort of throw a spiral now.”

“Ri-ight,” Robby said with a slightest tremor in his voice. This time it meant, “I’ll miss you too.”

Robby turned away and slowly walked up the street. Aidan noticed that he didn’t cut through any of the neighbors’ yards. He was taking the long way. Aidan watched until the night hid his friend from view.

Aidan’s parents awakened him in the middle of the night, and ushered him down the stairs and into the already running minivan. Doors closed. The van crept out of the driveway. Aidan watched numbly through the rear window as the only home he had ever known grew smaller and smaller until finally, it was obscured by darkness and distance. The neighborhood went away next.

Then, the little strip mall with the arcade where he’d played so many times and the family favorite, Bambino’s Pizza—all dark and deserted. Soon an interstate sign appeared, and unlike many vacations where that sign had been the first marker of good times to come, it seemed now so cold and final.

Miles and time passed, and Aidan could hear his parents talking in hushed tones in the front seat. The warm, almondy smell of coffee drifted back to Aidan every time his parents opened one of their tall plastic thermoses.

Laying on a foam mat under a light blanket in the back of the van, Aidan drifted in and out of sleep. The intermittent flash of the interstate’s streetlights through the car windows and the steady
thrump-ump
of the tires on the highway put him into a reflective trance. His mind wandered lazily from thought to thought without reason or order, like a leaf falling on autumn drafts.

Mostly, Aidan wondered a lot of things. He wondered if his new house in Colorado could compare to his home in Maryland. He wondered if he would ever be able to have adventures like the kind he and Robby used to have or if he’d ever even see Robby again. Lastly, he wondered if he would ever get along with his grandfather, whose fault it was that Aidan’s world had been turned upside down.

The answer to all of his questions was “Yes.”

AUTHOR’S COMMENTARY:

Another casualty to the Colorado opening in the published version, “In the Still of the Night” had to go. Here, Aidan and Robby demonstrate the devastation that occurs in the lives of children who have to move far away from a home they’ve lived in for a long time. It really is like grieving for a lost loved one. Aidan numbly watches as his home, his neighborhood, and all he’s ever known fades into the night. Description can be overdone, but in this scene, I wanted to paint emotion into the natural surroundings. The last of the fireflies blinking forlornly was always a favorite image if mine. The chapter’s a real downer—but I didn’t want to leave it that way. So as Aidan ponders all the questions near and dear to him, I let the reader know that Aidan will have adventures, that he will see Robby again, and that he will be able to forgive Grampin. I wanted readers to know that even in the bleakest moments, there is hope.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my bride who has never doubted, not once: I thank you for your faith and your sacrifice. To Kayla, Tommy, Bryce, and Rachel: I am rich because of your presence in my life.

To my incredible students over the years at Arundel, West, Oklahoma Road, Sykesville, Mount View, and Folly Quarter: Wherever you are now, I deeply thank you for your inspiration and encouragement. In gratitude, I leave you two things. First, a commission: You are already asking the big questions of life. Ask and seek until you find the answers. And second, a warning: Be very careful putting the pen to a page. You never know where it may lead. Pip-pip-cheerio!

How do you thank those who have made your life’s dream possible? Nothing I say will ever come close to repaying the debt I owe to each of you.

To Leslie, Jeff, and Brian: Thank you for sharing the adventure that was growing up together—and the adventure has only just begun! To Diedre (Cuz): Thank you for handing me a copy of
The Hobbit,
for it was then I discovered that reading is cool. To Bill: Still the best man, thank you for dar- ing to dream big things for everyone you touch. To my community group: Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. To my friends on the staff at Folly Quarter and elsewhere: Thank you for understanding why I’ve been reclusive of late, as well as for your kind efforts to generate interest in the book.

To Gregg Wooding, my agent and friend: Thanks for putting yourself on the line for the story I’ve been dying to tell. To Dee Ann Grand, Beverly Phillips, June Ford, and the entire editorial staff at Thomas Nelson: Thank you for taking a chance on me and for shepherding me toward a greater mastery of the craft.

To Patti Evans and the design team at Thomas Nelson: You guys rock! I have never seen such immeasurably, impossibly cool graphics!

And finally, to my parents: Thank you first for your love, unbelievable generosity, and unwavering support. And though it may seem silly to some, thank you for reading to me and before me ALL THE TIME. It mattered.

The Door Within Trilogy continues with . . .

BOOK 2
THE RISE OF THE WYRM LORD

A
idan needs to reach Robby with the message of Alleble, but how? Enter bright, headstrong Antoinette Lynn Reed, a young lady with a passion for full-contact Kendo. Then Antoinette is called to Alleble, and Aidan sees his chance. Hoping it’s not too late, he solicits Antoinette’s help to rescue Robby’s Glimpse.

But where is Robby’s Glimpse? Antoinette finds The Realm in turmoil. Some of King Eliam’s closest allies inexplicably threaten to turn away from Alleble. And dark rumors surface that Paragor is seeking an ancient evil to crush Alleble.

Will Antoinette stay and join Alleble’s finest knights to stop the rise of the Wyrm Lord?

BOOK 3
THE FINAL STORM

S
till staggering under Paragor’s relentless attacks, Alleble’s remaining allies flee from the four corners of The Realm to safety within the Kingdom’s walls. Once there they find chaos, the forces of Alleble grieving a fallen hero, and the Kingdom’s citizens clinging to an ancient legend about Three Witnesses who can bring victory. But who are they? Where are they?

There is little time for Alleble to mourn before Paragor, the Wyrm Lord, and the deadly Seven Sleepers unite against the followers of King Eliam.

As Alleble begins to lose hope, Paragor unleashes the final storm. Will anyone survive to see the dawn?

Coming the Summer of 2007 . . .

A lad with no memory comes between the
Caribbean’s two most notorious pirates and the
greatest treasure the world has ever known.