Orphans of Stone: HomeComing: A Curious Middle Grade Fantasy

by Rae Craig

  “Beep! Beep!” Quick footsteps clomped across the porch. The screen door opened and Herm stuck his head in. “Blue, it’s going to rain like mad any minute. I threw your bike in the truck.” Ella grabbed her psaltery and stuffed it in its bag. She waved back at everyone as the door slammed shut behind her.

  Tomas muttered under his breath as he rolled across the living room. “Blue....True, Blue...…...True!” He called out the door as Ella hopped into the truck. “Hey, True! See you at Donnell’s project group.”

  Maybe Tomas should get a nickname too.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Carbon14

  Tomas picked up the old bottle and examined the weathered writing. “Dr. George Donnellson. Any other bottles have his label?”

  This morning they had met on Harriet’s porch, Dana’s bottles still lined up against the wall. As the other three waited for him on the steps, Tomas rode up on Lucy, climbed those steps on two wheels, and lifted himself off the chair and onto the floor--the better to examine the bottles. He tucked his legs into a cross-legged sit and moved around using his arms.

  Tomas turned to Dana who knelt beside him. “Watcher, did this bottle come from the old brewery?”

  Dana said. “They all did. No other labels though.”

  Harriet looked over her cousin’s shoulder. It was obvious the label said: Dr. George Donnellson. Tomas had seen that right away and she had not.

  Ella said. “Do you think all these bottles are Dr. Don’s?”

  Tomas said. “Back in the city hospital, there’s a display of old medical stuff with lots of old bottles. Back then doctors bottled up their own medicines.”

  Harriet argued, holding out her hands. “But why throw all these in the garbage?” Tomas had figured out important information she had not and although he did not act like a know-it-all about it, Dr. Don was her great grandfather not his.

  Ella said. “Come inside and see the lily of the valley bottle.” She held the door open for him as he glided in on his hands. She laughed in amazement. “You scoot as fast as I walk.”

  Dana said. “Where’re your braces?’

  Tomas placed his palms on the dining room chairs to either side of him and swung himself up. He grinned at them. “From your hints, I figured we’re doing some exploring this afternoon and I want to use them then.”

  Gathered around the lily of the valley bottle display, they talked over how they had discovered the bottle, showing Tomas the Donnellson photos and Aunt Lottie’s diary and Carrie’s journal. Harriet left out the part where Ella had thrown her bouquet into the air and staggered away. Dana left out the part where Harriet had yelled at him for digging in her brewery cellar.

  They went back out to the porch to eat their lunches. Tomas pulled a small tin from Lucy’s storage compartment. “True, I’ve got something for you.” He placed it in Ella’s hand.

  She slid the top off, exposing a nest of green leaves with a flat stone underneath. She patted the step next to her. “Scoot over here and tell me where you got this watercress. I need some for my new terrarium.”

  Tomas stuck his finger into the box, shoving aside the greenery. “Look what’s underneath.”

  Red stalk-like eyes wiggled up at her. “Snails! I’ve never seen this kind before. Where did you get them?”

  Tomas told her about the fishing hole across from his house; the same deep pool Harriet and Clarence had netted minnows in when they were little. Terrarium collecting would start tomorrow if Harriet knew anything about Ella. Only the blue-eyed girl’s anticipation for showing Tomas the outlet tunnel kept her from heading there right now.

  On the way to the tunnel, they parked their bikes and opened Empire Everything’s door with a jangle. The carbon14 results still had not come back so they checked the mail everyday. Mel Clark whispered to them from where he was sorting mail into the cubbies. “Dana. There’s a letter in your box. It’s addressed to you, but it’s from that city college of your mother’s. I think they sent it to you by mistake.”

  Dana shared a look with Harriet and stuck his long arm into the cubby. “Thank you, Mel.”

  They tripped over each other scrambling out the door, Tomas in the lead. They all had the same plan: get to a private spot as quick as possible and open that envelope.

  “Outcast girl and her pitiful best friends.” An exultant Stevie surveyed them with relish from the road’s edge as they swarmed toward their bikes. “And now with the even more pitiful crippled boy.”

  Harriet looked to her cousin for his reaction as they closed up space around him. Tomas punched the button to raise his chair up onto two wheels and challenged Stevie with a straight unflinching gaze.

  “Yep, that’s me.” He moved forward to face Stevie more squarely. “My legs are out in the open for everyone to see.”

  Harriet felt her friends relax as they realized Tomas knew how to handle Stevie.

  Stevie smiled in anticipation and spit out the powerful gossip she had overheard. “Crippled boy, you don’t have a father, so you shouldn’t be allowed to live in Shi-octon.” She drew herself up to deliver the final blow. “You should have your father’s name, but you can’t because you’ve got no father.” She held herself to a quivering stillness, eager for his angry reaction.

  Tomas pulled a notepad from under his seat and wheeled over to Stevie, swiveling to park next to her. She watched him with her mouth hanging open as he deliberately drew squiggles on the paper, a bunch on the right and a bunch on the left.

  Nodding with satisfaction, he clicked his pen closed, tore off his drawing and slid the pad back under his seat. He adjusted his chair so Stevie had a good view of his drawing. “Here’s how this works.” He pointed to the left hand squiggles, glancing at her to make sure she was paying attention. “These are the mother’s twenty three chromosomes.” He slid his finger over to the right hand squiggles. “And these are the father’s twenty three chromosomes.” He had everyone’s attention now. He folded the paper so all the squiggles touched. “They combine to form 23 new chromosomes pairs that are packed with DNA and that’s what makes a new human being.” He passed her the drawing as if giving her a special gift.

  Rolling toward his friends, he swiveled back to say, “I’m glad I could clear that up for you.” nothing but kindness in his voice.

  They ignored the indignant, sputtering Stevie and with whoops of anticipation stand-up pedaled down Center Road, turning left toward Harriet’s house. But they had no intention of going there. After circling the block they stopped to peer around the corner of Empire Everything. Stevie trudged down the road toward the creek bridge pulling her loaded wagon. Harriet remembered at the Rose garden when they had been surprised by Stevie pulling an empty wagon. What errand did that girl do where she pulled a loaded wagon out of the village and an empty wagon back in?

  Over the past weeks Tomas had merged with them every time they played the focusing music, each time Harriet pulling them out right before disaster hit. Even after that, Harriet still fought the idea of sharing the outlet tunnel with him. After several arguments between the three of them, Dana had locked eyes with Harriet and she had finally admitted that he and Ella were right, Tomas was one of them. A few days after that the four of them were doing a deep clean in the dance hall to get ready for HomeComing and Ella had leapt right into the Outlet Tunnel story, telling Tomas every detail. He asked many questions and could hardly wait to see it, but the barrier had been locked since then.

  They biked around the back of the common barns and used the path along the outlet stream so no one could see them, but Harriet remembered Sunny’s view from the sorghum mill and the telescope standing next to his desk.

  As they cleared the last of the trees, Harriet was relieved to see the outlet doors standing wide open. They dropped their bikes in a tangle and gathered on a big flat rock overlooking the stream. Dana was so calm and deliberate, it was all she could do not to snatch the envelope away from him and rip it open herself.

  Dana slit the env
elope with a knife that he closed with a snap before placing it back in his pocket. He unfolded the letter inside. “It’s our Carbon14 results, but Dr. Persa does not believe the numbers are accurate. They recalibrated the machine twice and got the same results each time; that’s what took so long.”

  Harriet couldn’t stand it a moment longer. “Just tell us!”

  Dana read:

  “Specimen H1, that’s the shallowest one from the hearth, - 4000 years ago.

  Specimen H2, that was deeper, - 1,500 years ago.

  Specimen H3, that was the deepest, - 1000 years ago.

  Specimen B1,and B2, those were from the bonfire mound, - 800 years ago.”

  He stared at the paper, trying to absorb those numbers and finally raised his head to look at Harriet.

  They all talked at once. “Did you say a thousand?” “How can the shallow specimen be older than the deeper?” “Who lived here back then?” “Were the other tests they ran okay?” “Let’s go see the hearth.”

  “Give me that paper.”

  Harriet grabbed the report out of Dana’s hand, just knowing she would understand it better if she saw it with her own eyes. “This is nuts. He says their other tests were perfect and doesn’t know why ours turned out so wrong.”

  They looked at each other.

  Ella dropped an idea into the silence. “Maybe our tests aren’t wrong. Maybe they’re just not the expected answers.”

  They looked at each other, thinking new and exciting thoughts.

  Tomas pulled on his braces. “Let’s go see this hearth.”

  Dana pulled a heavy wood plank from under some bushes and shoved it at Harriet. “Grab this end and I’ll hold the other.” They walked into the tunnel on opposite sides with the plank suspended over the channel until they reached the notches they thought were for a bridge. Dana said. “Lower your end.” Harriet squatted down and at the last minute she pulled her fingers out of the way and dropped the plank into place. Dana lowered his end with more control and walked across their new bridge.

  Ella asked. “How did you know the size?”

  Dana said. “I used my feet to measure the notches, but the doors were locked when I came back, so I guessed at the length.”

  Tomas said. “Good guess, Watcher. Onward to the hearth.”

  Harriet turned on Mom’s spelunking lantern, illuminating the chamber to its peak high over their heads.

  Tomas examined everything, using a flashlight to see the details. He crawled into the smallest chamber. “What was this used for? Storage?” His eyes did not water and he did not notice the swirls carved around the doorway. He came back to the first room and knelt by the hearth.

  Ella crawled around and pointed out their discoveries. “We found a pin to fasten a cloak there” She pointed. “and put it back. We dug up pottery shards with Shi-octon rings and put them back too.”

  Tomas asked. “What’s with the rings?”

  Ella said. “They’re everywhere!”

  Harriet added. “The adults won’t talk about them. They just change the subject.”

  They showed him the holes in the floor where they thought wood poles would go to support walls.

  Tomas said. “So, you think they kept sauerkraut in these stone tanks?” He ran his fingers along the corner seams. “We know someone who makes fermented fish. It smells terrible but tastes okay. He says in the old days his family made it to keep food from rotting.”

  Harriet frowned and Dana said. “That would work. Could be anything that wouldn’t go bad.”

  They walked out to their new bridge, where Tomas crossed with more grace than Harriet did. They showed him the work rooms and he scooted right into the small mystery room.

  He held up two pottery shards and looked right at Harriet. “Do these explain the huge hearth in here?”

  Once again, this boy had instantly figured out something she had missed.

  Of course, it was a pottery kiln. that was obvious now that he said it.

  Harriet stalked out of the room. A few minutes later the others joined her out onto the terrace next to Glenmere where she was examining an obsidian blade.

  Dana dug his heel into the chips. “They made tools here for a long time.” They all thought about the 4,000 year old date.

  Ella was puzzled. “I haven’t seen obsidian anywhere in the valley.”

  Harriet threw down her blade. “I have the answer to that. Follow me.”

  Harriet biked along the old ring road, the others spread out behind her. They stopped and leaned their bikes against the pasture gate opposite from the rockfall trackway.

  Tomas had kept his braces on so he hopped right out of his chair and looked up. “Haven’t been here before, so I’ll put it on my map. What’s this place called?”

  Harriet answered. “It’s the ancient rockfall, but that’s not the exciting part, this is.” She pointed to the trackway twisting up between the boulders.

  They walked up a few feet, Dana running his hand along the deep grooves in the sides of the boulders. He asked the others. “Wear from a cart axle?”

  Tomas used a stick to dig dirt out of the two ruts worn into the track. “Wear from wheels?”

  Harriet nodded her head. “Just what I thought! We can figure out the size of the cart from the grooves.”

  Ella paid no attention to them. On a flat stone she arranged obsidian chips. She looked up from her work. “This solves the where-did-the-obsidian-come-from mystery.”

  Harriet announced. “So that’s it: carts brought obsidian into the valley and the axle was this high,” She held her hand next to the grooves. “and the wheels were this far apart,” She stood in one rut and pointed to the other. “and the cart fit between those rocks.” She pointed to the boulders flanking the entrance.

  They explored further up the trackway, noticing the grooves were deepest when the path made a turn. Harriet showed them the large flat boulder that overlooked the valley. She made sure not to touch the rose crystals imbedded in the granite.

  As they got back on their bikes, Tomas said. “A person couldn’t pull a cart full of rocks.”

  Ella said. “An animal could. Maybe a goat or a donkey.”

  Harriet straddled her bike at the pasture gate, gazing out at the old wheel ruts crossing the field. Under the grass there would be evidence of the animals that pulled the carts, especially after they had used this path for thousands of years.

  Dana pulled up next to her, gazing out at the cliffs that encircled the valley. He lowered his eyes to Harriet’s palm, then raised them to meet her eyes, his brows lifted with many unspoken questions.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  HomeComing Setup

  Harriet tied down the last tent flap, admiring the colorful tents scattered over Shi-octon Commons. Her family had spent the morning moving antiques and furniture to their tent on the Commons for HomeComing tomorrow. Some of the furniture would stay at the store and workshop, so for the next two days Harriet would bike back and forth between the locations, carrying messages and money.

  Tables and chairs were set up under the pine trees near the dance hall where lunches and suppers would be served to guests. The day after tomorrow would be the chicken dinner. Harriet had heard Grandma tell May Giffin that last year they had earned enough from the meals to pay for all the maintenance on the valley farm equipment. Already, families were bringing food like desserts and breads to the dance hall and tomorrow they would bring the bake dishes and sandwiches, vegetables and salads.

  Grandma joined her. “We’re tied down for the night. Go look around and I’ll meet you later.”

  Over near the common barns people were attaching farm gates end to end, arranging them into animal pens. She walked closer. So far there were no animals, but plenty of pens, big and small. Fread helped a man Harriet figured was her dad finish up the largest, sturdiest pen. Harriet leaned on the top rail and Fread glanced at her before looking away.

  “Fread, what animals are you bringing to Market? Your p
en is so large.”

  Fread leaned on the fence and bent forward to watch her foot kick at the grass. “Father is bringing his best cattle.”

  Harriet looked at the smaller pen. “You have two pens. Will you have two different kinds of cattle?”

  “Father sells the big ones, but the little ones are special.” She smiled at her feet.

  “Why would somebody buy a little cow instead of a regular size one?”

  Fread smiled and looked Harriet in the eye. “They’re awful cute.”

  Fread’s father called her over to reattach the last section of fence. With the way she lifted it effortlessly, she was obviously very strong for her tall, slim build. That made sense if she did this kind of work every day.

  Harriet watched a strange, unorganized fencing project over near the Quarry Road, with different kinds of fencing haphazardly attached to each other. It flopped around while three men scurried from one section to the other trying to prop it up.

  She walked over, curious to see who they were. Two of the men wore overalls stretched tight across their bellies, with grey hair sticking out from under their frayed straw hats, but the third man was young with clean, blue overalls and a jaunty yellow bandana tied around his neck. The older men were the ones running around while the younger one took stock of the situation.

  “Here girl.” The oldest got her attention. “What’s wrong with our pen? It won’t stand up straight.”

  The youngest smiled her way and held out his palms in appeal.

  Harriet wanted to tell them that what they had was a sorry excuse for a pen, but didn’t think she should, so she looked at it objectively. “You should group each different kind of fence together, then connect up those sections.”

  They followed her directions exactly, the youngest smiling his thanks when the other two weren’t looking.

  The two older men stood back with folded arms, judging the results. The one with the most grey hair said. “That looks better. We can’t put our precious eaches in a pen that will fall down.”