Adam’s heart pounded in his chest and echoed in his head. The sound made it difficult to hear what was happening below as the men seemed to be searching for them in Jeff’s office.
“There’s the attic,” said a voice directly below, causing the boys even more panic.
Adam reached down to the latch mechanism and held it in place.
The hatch jumped a little as someone tried to open it with a hit, then another. “Won’t budge,” said the voice on the other side of the piece of wood that seemed thinner each moment.
“The whole place has been gassed. Just tell them to come down,” came the reply from further below.
A throat cleared on the other side of the hatch. “Whoever is in the attic, come to the hatch and open it,” said the closest voice.
The boys looked at each other wide-eyed in fear. It wasn’t easy to defy direct orders from an adult, even if they were teenage boys. Adam shook his head slightly, telling Kevin that he wasn’t opening the hatch for anyone.
The next few seconds of silence stretched on, and it made Adam’s mind wander. He pictured the men bringing in a tall ladder and somehow using the battering ram to smash open the hatch. They would take the pin and the key. Adam and Kevin would both be tortured, giving up Elianora’s location along with the knowledge of the Heartstone being in Grayson.
“Come down. No one’s up there,” said the lower voice. “We would’ve heard them by now. We have other rooms to check.”
They don’t know we’re here, thought Adam, relieved a little, but knowing they were still stuck.
They listened until the footsteps left the room and another door was smashed open before he took his hand off the latch. Adam realized that Elianora’s leaves were working, as he and Kevin weren’t responding to any commands.
“Anyone in the basement, come up now,” they heard a voice say. One of the men was standing at the basement stairs. He would have to move before the boys could attempt climbing down and crossing the hall.
A few more long moments passed. The man by the stairs walked up the hallway saying, “Basement is clear.” A few more doors opened and closed followed by another voice saying, “All clear.”
Yet another voice spoke from nearby. “The building is clear. Shall we start?”
“Of course,” replied the voice of the leader.
Adam realized that the leader was in the boardroom next to Jeff’s office. That’s why they could hear him so clearly. The attic hatch was in the corner of Jeff’s office nearest to the boardroom wall, and the walls were thin.
Adam decided that they would need to stay still until the leader began questioning people and hoped that the leader’s concentration on questioning would hide the noise of their escape.
“Come in, sit down,” said the leader, but his accent had changed. He now had an English accent like Elianora’s. The voice must belong to Larix, Adam decided.
Some feet shuffled closer, and Adam realized that Larix was at the head of the boardroom table closest to the shared wall.
“Tell me about your family, please,” said Larix, sounding pleasant.
“I’m Bob Lang, this is my wife Donna and our only child Lacey,” said Bob. His voice sounded weak, almost as if he were drunk.
“Good, now tell me something no one else knows,” said Larix again.
“We were disappointed for years that Lacey was a girl and we couldn’t have a boy. We haven’t been able to have any more children.”
Adam didn’t listen as Bob went on. The time had come to start moving. He opened the hatch and with slow deliberate movements stepped down the ladder. Kevin did the same, closing the hatch behind him.
Adam’s mind was torn between what he had heard and escaping. Obviously, the gas made people tell their most intimate secrets. Bob and Donna Lang had always seemed so proud of Lacey.
He pushed the thoughts from his mind as there were more immediate issues to think about. They needed to get to the stairs across the hall.
They crept to the door that was hanging half-open from being broken earlier. Adam listened at the hall and after hearing nothing, he peered up the hallway. It was clear, so he dashed across, stopping near the stair, hidden from the hallway but still visible to Kevin.
Had Adam hesitated a moment longer he would have been seen by the guard leading a group of people in to be questioned. The guard stopped the group in the hallway next to the boardroom door.
Adam heard them walk in but couldn’t see who was in the group. He knew Marius and family would be questioned soon. Kevin was trapped and they couldn’t risk him blindly jumping across the hall, so Adam would need to think fast.
Again Adam felt trapped. Anything he could think of doing resulted in either he or Kevin being discovered. He pushed his brain, trying to come up with options. Pictures paged through his thoughts, but most were dismissed soon after appearing.
One image appeared in his mind, and it came together making perfect sense. After a moment of reviewing his plan, Adam signalled to Kevin that he should hide behind the door and wait. Kevin looked confused, but shrugged his shoulders and did as Adam asked.
Adam disappeared down the stairs. At the bottom, he followed the wall back into the storage room and hurried back through to the drawbridge door. It seemed to open slower now that he was in a hurry. Across the file room he ran. He opened the sliding door, and once he stepped through, he slid it shut with barely a sound.
Next, Adam jogged through the tunnel until he made it to the first intersection. Remembering the map, he turned left then left again at the second intersection. He ran up the tunnel and soon was faced with the back of another drawbridge door.
I hope this works, he thought.
The door fell open fast revealing another dark room, but Adam had no flashlight. In the light from the tunnel he saw a set of stairs straight across a large empty space. He ran across the empty room and put his foot on the first step before the drawbridge door closed, cutting off the only source of light. That door closed much sooner than the one to the file room.
In the darkness, he climbed until the hand he stretched out front came in contact with something. It had to be a door, he thought, so he felt along the wall for a light switch. He reasoned that there should be one nearby, and he was right.
The door in front of him was nearly new and looked as though it didn’t have a lock. He tried the handle, but it wouldn’t open. Being a new door, there were no marks to guide his pin placement, so he tried a few locations until he finally heard the lock sliding.
He opened the door and stepped directly into the Fire Hall behind the fire trucks, then waved his hands while doing a sort of dance. If his friends had seen him, they would never have let him live down the odd movements he made.
But Adam’s movements were as deliberate as a man doing the Tango, and within a few seconds he heard beeping. He knew he had accomplished what he wanted - he was going to set off the alarm. The alarm panel was giving time for the code to be entered, but if it wasn’t entered soon, the alarm would sound.
Adam ran back through the door, making sure it shut behind him. He raced down the stairs and through the drawbridge door again, much quicker having light to see where he was going. He didn’t worry about leaving the lights on as there were more important things to worry about. The alarm began to ring loudly and was muffled when the drawbridge door closed.
Back through the tunnels he ran, taking his first right and then the second right again. The file room sliding door was much easier to open since he knew the trick. Again he slid it closed behind him.
He lowered the drawbridge door, and to his surprise the lights were off. Panic set in until he saw Kevin making his way through the box maze. Once Kevin was inside, Adam closed the drawbridge.
“I turned off the light and waited, hoping you were coming back,” said Kevin. “I figured I would be able to make it through the boxes with the light from in here, if you opened it up for me.”
Adam smiled. “I wouldn�
��t leave you unless I had no other choice.”
“Thanks. The alarm sure caused a commotion. They all ran for the Fire Hall, including the main guy.”
“Let’s not sit here and chat, we have to move,” said Adam. He jogged to the sliding door.
Back through the tunnels they ran, careful to take the correct tunnel at the junction. Finding the crawlspace proved difficult again, but soon they had crawled back to the other side. Once through, they slowed down to a strong walk.
“That guy was getting Bob Lang to tell him things you don’t want to know and I want to un-hear,” said Kevin. “But I did find out that Bob and Donna aren’t members of the Sentinel League. They asked him and his wife a bunch of questions about Sentinel League and they didn’t have a clue. He left Lacey alone, probably thinking she was too young to know anything.”
“I’m glad about Lacey, but I can’t believe how easily he made them talk. That’s pretty scary. We need to get back to Elianora fast. Marius will be questioned soon and then they’ll know about her and the tunnels,” said Adam.
The return journey didn’t seem any shorter than the first time they had travelled the tunnel, but when they saw the door their spirits lightened. They passed through the door, out of the barn and into the yard, where the eerie dark still hadn’t lifted. It felt like passing into a whole different world.
“Where are they?” asked Kevin.
“Let’s try the house,” said Adam. “Mark will be as close to food as possible.”
Kevin laughed, and they jogged over to the house.
Adam knocked. “Hello?”
“Come in, we’re in the basement,” came a voice from far and deep.
Adam and Kevin didn’t waste any time getting through the house and into the basement cave. It felt like it had been days since they had left, even though it had been less than an hour. Mark and Jimmy carried boxes of bottles around the shelves into the door Adam had noticed earlier. Most of the cave was empty.
Elianora smiled as she spotted them. “Did you get it?” she asked.
Adam nodded and pulled the bag from his pocket, offering it to her.
She held up her hand, “You hang on to it for now.”
Adam was confused, but put it back in his pocket.
“How did it go?” she asked.
Kevin spoke first, “We almost got caught, and when I was trapped, Adam set off the alarm in the Fire Hall to create a diversion.”
“We heard that. We wondered what was going on,” said Jimmy.
“Resourceful, just like your dad,” Elianora said to Adam.
“They’re questioning people in Town Hall. Marius and his family are near the front of the line,” said Adam, even though he really wanted to ask her more about Edward.
“Why does Larix’s accent change?” he asked instead. The question had been bothering him.
“That’s part of his ‘special’ talent. Some accents make people more trusting, while others are better for intimidating.”
Adam nodded, understanding.
“It won’t take long for them to figure out where I am, so we need to get out of here quick.”
“Where are we going?” asked Mark.
“I need Adam to come with me, but I’m going to send the rest of you back into the tunnels. When Larix’s men find the entrance to the tunnels, they will probably take those townspeople that have already been questioned and put them in the meeting hall – that large room you were in once,” she said looking at Adam.
Adam felt strange. How did she know they had been in that room, and why did he need to go with her?
“By the time you get there, there should be enough other people in the room that you can pretend to be gassed and sit with them. The guards won’t notice you since they aren’t concerned with kids,” she continued.
“Is that what happened at Langenburg and Waldron? The missing people are in the tunnels?” asked Kevin.
“I am fairly certain, but I haven’t been able to confirm. Back to our current problem, though. Once Larix is gone, Jimmy and Mark have some of the leaves I gave you earlier. They will wake everyone up.”
Jimmy and Mark nodded.
“What are we going to do?” asked Adam.
“I have a place where we can hide and watch the entrance to the Heartstone’s location. I’ll tell you more once we get there. Now, follow me and we’ll get the rest of you going,” said Elianora, turning and walking out of the cave.
The group followed her out of the house and over to the shed. The shed was partially built into the hill, the same as the barn. It looked identical to Ben Casey’s tool shed. They followed Elianora to the back wall where various gardening tools were hung above a familiar workbench. She pulled up on the workbench and swung it away from the wall revealing another sliding door.
“This one leads to the school. When you get to the basement, you need to go down the hallway to your left in order to find the entrance to the tunnel. Between the two are stairs that lead to the staff room,”
“I always knew there had to be a secret room in the school,” said Jimmy. “Mr. Forster would disappear a few times a day. Must have been League business.”
“Actually, he just didn’t like kids and would hide in the storage room to cope,” said Elianora.
They all looked puzzled.
“Why would you become a teacher if you didn’t like kids?” asked Kevin.
Elianora shrugged. “You can ask him in the future. Right now, you need to go.”
Outside the shed, they heard the approach of galloping horses, quite a few of them by the sound.
“No, they’re here already!” she exclaimed. “You have to go, now!” She chased the boys into the tunnel then paused to think.
“You too, Adam.” She pushed him into the tunnel with his friends.
Adam looked at her, confused.
“Their gas won’t work on me, and neither does Larix’s sweet talk, but if they tie me up and search me, I can’t have the key. We need to keep it away from Larix, and the best way I can think of is for you to hide with the others and pretend you’re gassed until they move on.”
“Why don’t you tell us where to find the Heartstone? We can get it and run away!” said Adam.
“No. You’re too young and it’s too much pressure. It drove George nearly insane, and your dad…It’s well protected. You go hide with your families and I’ll deal with this. Just keep the key away from Larix at any cost.” She motioned for them to go, but stopped Adam.
“If something happens to me, go find Brutus in Killaly,” she whispered in his ear so the others wouldn’t hear.
“We’ll do our best,” said Adam, nodding to Elianora.
As Adam fumbled for the pin to open the sliding door, a familiar voice yelled from outside.
“Hanelore! Come talk to an old friend.”
It was Larix, still in his English accent.
Adam slid the door open and stepped in the tunnel, letting the other three pass by. Elianora slid the workbench shut behind them, but Adam kept the sliding door open. He saw light coming from under the bench, so he bent down to look. There were gaps between the boards where he could see.
Elianora was facing the other way. She straightened her clothes and took a step to the doorway.
“I’m not sure old friend describes it correctly,” she said stepping to the entrance of the shed.
Adam heard someone dismount from their horse and take a couple of steps forward. He assumed it was Larix.
“Hannelore, Hannelore, lovely as ever,” said Larix.
“Elianora now, actually,” she responded.
“Of course. You always did fancy a new name after our meetings…like getting a new hair style…Elianora suits you.”
Elianora said nothing, creating an awkward silence.
“I’ve been searching for you,” said Larix.
“So I’ve heard,” said Elianora, “but I don’t think I’m what you’re really looking for.”
“Come
come now, of course I want to see you. You are my oldest friend. Besides, we are a part of history. The Commons still call us ‘Adam and Eve’ in their stories, don’t they?”
Adam was trying to process what he just heard. The Adam and Eve?
“Don’t use that word. You know I hate it,” Elianora said calmly, but there was a bite to the words.
“Sorry. Old habits. Mankind still thinks of you as their mother, even though you’re so much more than that.”
Elianora brushed off the comments as though she hadn’t heard them.
“Last I heard, you were slithering around in the Middle East trying to start a new war,” said Elianora.
Larix laughed, “I’ve forgotten how connected you are. Yes, I did spend some time there trying to create some excitement. It is surprising how people who are so easily angered by the little things are so hard to motivate into taking larger action.”
“The last time you did that, it didn’t seem to work out for your side now, did it?” said Elianora.
“Well, we didn’t expect the overwhelming cooperation against us. Even an elephant can be defeated by enough fire ants…Adolph was a powerful speaker, and I guess we tried for too much too soon. If only he had kept it together we could’ve turned it back around, but no, the weak Comm…human in him gave up and wanted to surrender,” said Larix.
“Did you even feel anything when you shot him and Ava?” asked Elianora.
Adolph…Ava? They’re talking about Adolph Hitler and Ava Braun! Larix was there? thought Adam.
“Of course I did! How you underestimate me so…I regretted not finding a better spokesman. But that’s all history now. I don’t have the need to kill the humans anymore or drive fear into their hearts. It’s become rather boring. They seem to be bent on destroying themselves anyway. Have you seen what they eat? I mean, really – even I, as a near immortal, wouldn’t eat that way. And they’ve become so lazy that when they have offspring, they let the children make all the decisions! I mean, it shouldn’t take more than a couple of generations at this point for them to destroy themselves.” He laughed like he had just heard a light hearted joke, and it sounded creepy.
“There’s still a lot of good in them. They’ve come a long way in the last hundred years. It won’t take long before they have a better understanding of the sciences than we do, and you know it,” said Elianora.
“My dear…Elianora, is it? You always see more in them than they are in reality. Like the ‘scholar’ who finds hidden meaning in the writings of Nostradamus. You and I both know he was just insane,” Larix laughed. “Look at Stonehenge. They’re still trying to decipher it all these years after I built it, and think it has some ‘hidden meaning’ where there is none. I was merely bored! I love to laugh at some of the reasons they dream up!”
“You’ve always had a twisted sense of humor,” said Elianora.
“That depends on your point of view, my dear,” said Larix.
Adam listened to the silence. He had the feeling that Elianora and Larix were staring each other down like gunfighters in the old west.
“Well, there’s no point in waiting any longer. Where is it?” asked Larix.
“I don’t have it,” said Elianora.
“I’ve been talking with a lot of people lately. That’s not the stories I’ve heard.”
“I guess people have just found hidden meaning where there is none,” Elianora replied.
“I don’t want to have to force it out of you. I know it is on this continent. I should have realized it when I heard about the explosion in Halifax years ago. I thought the Heartstone had been destroyed in Tunguska, so you can forgive my lapse.”
Silence again.
“I did recently find out that your friend Raphia was on the other ship in Halifax Harbor that day. It had to be the smallest of chances that the ship he was on happened to brush too close to the ship carrying my prize.”
More silence.
“It’s not like you to be this quiet. You usually like to verbally skewer me for a while…Anyway, I realize you won’t talk, even if I kill off every human in this town. I mean, if they only knew the danger you put them in! At any moment if you were to mistakenly get too close to the Heartstone, it would explode and wipe the whole place off the planet. Knowing that, they would have been less likely to help you hide it all these years.”
“They have understood the dangers the entire time,” she said in a firm voice.
“So come then, tell me where to find it,” said Larix. His accent was weaker, becoming almost neutral, like the voice of a North American politician.
“It’s not here. It was destroyed. End of story.”
“I’m not surprised you’re sticking to that story, but I have it on good authority that you are lying to me in the boldest way. There are still visions of the Heartstone deep in your old friend George’s mind. He was your Number 2 at one point, was he not?”
Larix found George! thought Adam. I hope George is alright.
Elianora must have been surprised by that information.
“I was merciful to him; he pointed me here, after all. That, plus what you put him through before me is surprising, especially for you. It’s all still in there, buried deep. You’ll be happy to hear that I could only read it, not bring it out. How you buried it in his mind I don’t know. Maybe you could show me sometime.”
“You’re the last person I’ll show anything to,” said Elianora.
“Don’t refer to me as a person. I am so much more than that,” said Larix, the temper flaring in his voice as it changed from an English accent to a slight Austrian one.
“All these years and one little word gets you upset,” said Elianora. “Sounds like you could use some sensitivity training.”
Larix laughed, but it was a cold and sharp laugh. “You really have spent too much time with these people,” he spat out the last word as Adam heard him walking closer.
“So, my friend,” said Larix, “you really aren’t going to tell me where it is, are you.”
“I told you. It was destroyed.”
“Well then, you leave me no choice,” said Larix.
A gunshot sounded.
Adam and his friends jumped at the loud noise that echoed through the small valley.
Elianora slumped over and fell to the ground.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Town Secrets - The Book of Adam 1 Page 31