Addie replied, “She got up early and headed out to class. I let her borrow my car, since you didn’t come back last night with hers.”
Matthew was shocked that Amanda had gone to class after everything that had happened the night before. He started to make his way up the stairs, but before he took the first step, Addie grabbed him by the arm.
“I know things are a little strained with us right now, but we all want the same thing. We all want to complete the mission, and that’s what we’re going to do.” She let go of his arm and continued, “Steven and I are going to stick around the house today. I have a few things to get prepared for tomorrow morning. Bryan and I will finish what Walter wanted us to finish, and then it’s time to head back to 2185. You have today and tomorrow to figure out the charm. If you can’t do it, we head back without it.”
Matthew indicated that he understood. “You need to let me get back to work then.” Matthew ran up the stairs and went straight to Amanda’s room. He was amazed at how clean she kept it—everything was neat and in its place. Then he saw the bag that Walter had given to Steven before they’d left for 2016. It was just lying there on the bed.
Matthew wanted nothing more than to take a peek into the bag that had been off limits since they’d arrived, but he didn’t want to break another trust between himself and Amanda. Instead, he unzipped the bag just enough to tuck in the letter he had written at Cassie’s just hours earlier. He put the letter on top, making sure he did not look at anything as he did so.
He walked back to his room and found the phone he had left behind in his rush to leave the night before. He had missed several calls from Amanda during the night and that morning. She must not have realized he didn’t have his phone with him. Three messages were left, all with the same pointed request: “Call me back.”
Matthew called Amanda’s number, and she was quick to pick up. “Where the hell have you been? I called you, like, twenty times.”
Matthew explained that he had left his phone at the house. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear it ringing.”
Amanda started to apologize for everything that had happened the night before. “I’m so sorry that you think I’m keeping things from you. This whole thing is so screwed up, and I don’t want to hurt anybody… and then there’s Steven—”
Matthew interrupted her. “Don’t worry about that stuff right now. I’m fine, and everything is going to be fine. I have big news.”
Matthew went on to explain all the things that he and Cameron had figured out and what they had found at the frat house. “The other half is on the cardinal statue. It’s been there the whole time. We just have to find it.”
Amanda was excited for Matthew and said, “So that’s why you got sick that day at the statue! The two pieces were reacting in some way with your Hathmec.”
“That’s the only thing it could be,” Matthew replied. “So Cameron and I are headed to his mom’s house after class to find some old plans for the statue. It should lead us to the right spot on the bird, and then it’s done.”
Amanda said, “You did it. You found the charm, and when you have it, everybody heads home.”
Matthew was a little confused by her comment. “Yeah, as long as I have it by tomorrow afternoon, we’re all good. Do you want to meet me and Cameron at his mom’s house to take a look at the plans?”
“Call me when you get to the statue and we’ll figure it out from there.”
Matthew agreed and told her that he would talk to her later. He texted Cassie the picture of Addie and Bryan that he promised the night before and then prepared for the day.
Amanda had been sitting in the parking lot at the science building for almost fifteen minutes waiting to see a familiar face. She panned the crowd of young adults going in and out of the building’s doors until she finally spotted the man she was looking for.
She hopped out of the car and ran up to the door. “Cameron! Cameron, over here!”
Cameron turned to see Amanda waving at him. He took his time getting over to her. “I certainly wasn’t expecting to see you here this morning. By the way, you really need to talk to your brother. I can’t keep ignoring him when he asks me what’s going on with us.”
Amanda agreed and pulled Cameron off to the side. Cameron explained that he only had a few minutes before he had to be in class. “I have a huge test in, like, ten minutes. Can this wait until after class is over?”
She assured him it couldn’t wait but that it would take only a few minutes of his time. She kept her promise, and before they left each other, she said, “Promise me—not until you find the other half of that stone.”
Cameron promised and gave Amanda a hug before he rushed off to class. Amanda walked back to the car and drove out of the parking lot.
Matthew arrived at the science building almost an hour later and searched around for Amanda with no luck. She had told him to call her when they reached the statue, so he figured she had other things to do for now.
Matthew waited for Cameron for three hours while he worked on his test. It was over at precisely 11:30 a.m., and Matthew caught him as he came out of the building. Cameron said, “I thought we were gonna meet up at the house later.”
Matthew replied, “I just couldn’t wait. Can we go now?”
Cameron grinned. “Yeah, let’s go. We’ll take my car.”
The boys left campus and made the fifteen-minute trip over to Sandra Landrum’s home. Cameron commented, “It’s weird coming back here sometimes. It’s my house, but it just doesn’t feel like my home anymore. Evan’s here as much as my mom, and I really don’t like being here when he is.”
The home was another colonial-style design with two floors and an attic space. The boys walked down the hall on the second floor that led to the pull-down for the attic. Matthew took a look into one of the bedrooms and saw an all-white suit hanging up by a mirror. Observing Matthew’s reaction to the suit, Cameron said, “Yeah, it’s butt ugly, isn’t it? Evan brought it over a few weeks ago and asked my mom’s opinion on it. He said he thought it was a good look for him.”
“I’m sure he’ll get a lot of use out of it,” Matthew replied.
Cameron pulled the attic door down and climbed up to a disaster of an attic. The only things that weren’t a mess were his father’s things that Sandra had kept separated from the rest of the family’s belongings.
Matthew asked Cameron if he was ok going through all of his dad’s stuff like this. Cameron replied, “It’s actually not a new thing. I come here at least once a year just to take a look. I miss my dad, but I don’t grieve for him anymore. An accident took him from me, and there’s nothing anyone could have done to stop it. I like coming up here and going through his things. They still smell like him, and sometimes it’s like he’s up here with me.”
In that attic, Matthew saw another side of Cameron. He wasn’t just some tech-savvy smart guy with an addiction to comic books. He was a lot more like himself than he’d ever realized. Matthew had never known his father, but he could imagine a life without his mother—and it scared him. Cameron wasn’t just part of a mission. He was a friend that deserved Matthew’s respect.
Cameron walked to the far corner of the attic and pulled a cardboard tube from a box. “I think this is what we’re looking for.” Matthew was surprised that he’d found it so fast, but Cameron explained that he had seen it several times before. “I know my dad’s stuff. Let’s take it downstairs and see if we can find the stone.”
The boys placed the plans on the dining room table and reviewed them. Cameron even pulled a small magnifying glass from his mother’s study and went all over the plans in minute detail. It took a few minutes, but Cameron was the one to spot it.
“Matthew, take a look at this, on the beak. Is that what I think it is?”
Matthew took the magnifier and focused on the beak. “That’s it! You found it, buddy. The other half is on the end of the beak of the cardinal!”
Matthew and Cameron celebrated with high
fives and a few horrible dance moves before grabbing the plans and jumping back into the car. A quick trip to the quad would verify what they had found on the plans.
They were a few minutes away when Matthew called Amanda to meet them. It was just a little past noon, so she had to be at lunch somewhere, or maybe back at the house. The phone rang a few times before she picked up.
“We are headed to the statue. We should be there in a few minutes. The plans showed where it was, right on the end of the beak.”
Amanda replied with fake enthusiasm, “That’s such great news, Matthew. Everything is working out.”
“So, are you gonna head on down or what?” Matthew asked.
Amanda stalled for a minute before saying, “I think I’d better stay here at the house. Addie and Bryan are kind of going at it right now about the announcement tomorrow, and I don’t want to leave Steven here by himself. You should really just stay with Cameron again tonight and avoid the whole thing.”
Matthew and Cameron had reached the parking lot and had started making their way to the quad.
Matthew said into the phone, “I hate for you to miss this. We wouldn’t have found it without you.”
“I don’t think I had much to do with it. You found the charm, not me.”
Matthew couldn’t get the smile off his face as they walked up to the statue. Cameron looked first and said, “I see it. It’s a little covered up, but it’s there.”
Matthew relayed the information back to Amanda.
“That’s great, Matthew,” she said. “Are you gonna get it now?”
Matthew asked Cameron, “Should we go ahead and get it?”
“Are you nuts? There’s people all over the place, and security is standing less than twenty feet away. We can’t get it now.”
Matthew asked, “If not now, then when would be a good time? Tonight?”
Cameron thought about it for a minute. “No, the perfect time will be tomorrow around eleven in the morning. Everybody will be at the game, and the quad will be like a ghost town. We can chip it off then, and no one will be the wiser.”
Matthew relayed this information to Amanda. “We can get it tomorrow morning. Why don’t you come down here then? We’ll need to leave soon after.”
Amanda agreed. “That makes sense. I’ll meet you both at the cardinal at eleven.”
Matthew replied, “It’s a date. I’ll do like you said and stay with Cameron tonight, so I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Amanda was quiet on the other end of the line for a brief moment. “Do you remember eating at my parent’s house that first time? We had the spaghetti and talked about family.” Her voice was very somber and cracked a bit.
“Yeah, I remember. Why?”
Amanda replied, “I just wanted to know if you remembered. I’ll be there with you tomorrow.”
Matthew was a little confused, but he replied, “Ok, I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”
Amanda hung up her cell phone and proceeded to roll down the window of the car she was driving. She looked into her mirror to make sure no vehicles were behind her and then threw the phone out the window.
“Why did you do that?” Steven asked.
“We won’t need it anymore. Now make sure your seat belt is good and fastened. We have a long drive ahead of us.”
Chapter 18
THE GRAY BAG
The sun started to set in the background of what had been a long and emotional day for Amanda Curry. She was in the home stretch of her drive across three states. Steven had passed out hours earlier. He kept asking the same questions. “Where are we going? What about Matthew and Addie? Are we there yet?”
The sounds of the radio helped Amanda stay awake. She had found an eighties station just outside of Chattanooga and had been listening to it for the majority of the trip. Addie’s car had satellite radio, so she took the time to find a permanent station when she and Steven had stopped for dinner.
With a strange mix of excitement and dread, she started to notice landmarks that hadn’t changed in the last thirty years. There was the old market with its bright red-and-white sign. It wasn’t lit anymore as it had closed years earlier, but you could still tell what it had been. For Amanda, only a few months had passed since she’d driven the same streets. Beyond an added highway here or there, she remembered the drive to a tee.
Steven woke up from his most recent nap and looked out the car window. His eyes lit up as he started to realize where he was. “We’re going home, aren’t we?” Amanda explained that it wasn’t the same as going home before, but it was as close as they could get.
Amanda talked to Steven over the last few miles of their drive and told him who they were about to meet. She had been e‑mailing and chatting with the new inhabitants of her father’s home. They had rebuilt the house that had been destroyed by the fire in 1984. They wanted to keep the land in the family. The new owner of her father’s old land was her uncle and his family.
Mike Curry had been only fifteen and the youngest of the Curry children when Amanda’s home was destroyed. He’d lost his older brother, Steven Sr., and his sister-in-law that day. He was now forty-five years old and had a wife, two daughters, and one son of his own. Based on Amanda’s research on her uncle and his family, he had carried on the family business of land management. He’d rebuilt the home in the early 2000s, and his family had lived there ever since.
The new Mrs. Curry had talked to Amanda multiple times on the phone and had been exchanging e‑mails with her for several weeks. Amanda had been planning for this since getting back to 2016, and now it was time to make good on the deal she had made with Walter Wainright. As she made the last turn down the road that led to the house, her mind drifted back to the conversation she’d had with Walter. She had been the last to have a discussion with the leader of the PRO, but her conversation had the most consequences.
“Come on in, young lady. Take a seat, and let’s have a talk.” Walter made Amanda feel comfortable as she came into his office. He had the air of a father figure. He asked Amanda what had happened back in 1984, and she told him of the Hathmec and what Matthew had done to save her and Steven. She got upset as she talked about her parents, and Walter was quite comforting as she did so. They spoke for over an hour before Walter brought up her relationship with Matthew.
“You think a lot of Matthew, don’t you?”
She replied, “He saved my life and put his own life at risk to do it. I think he’s a hero.”
Walter agreed and told her that Matthew was indeed a hero. “He cares about all people, my dear. I think he would have done the same for anyone in that situation.” He stood up from his chair and walked around the office. “I don’t want you to take that ability to care for all people as a sign of how he feels about you—that is, beyond the pity that he has for you and your brother.”
“What do you mean?” Amanda asked.
Walter pointed to a picture on his wall. “This was a very good friend of mine and one the best soldiers I ever worked with. He understood that the mission was the most important thing. His feelings for other people were strong, but he never let them override his desire to complete the mission for the greater good. Matthew reminds me of him.”
Amanda was confused by the comment. “Where are you going with this, Mr. Wainright?”
Walter grinned. “I’ve seen the way you act around Matthew, and I understand that a young lady like yourself can make more of something than is actually there.”
A frown grew on Amanda’s face as she started to argue with Walter. “You don’t know anything. He feels the same for me. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me.”
Walter reached for something in his desk, finally pulling out a recording device. “Let me show you what Matthew really thinks of you.” He set the recorder on his desk and said, “This is Matthew’s response when I asked him if he had feelings for you.”
He pressed a button on the recorder, and Amanda could hear Matthew’s voice. Walter’s voice on the
recording was blocked out in her mind—she could only hear Matthew’s.
“Of course I’m not in love with her. She’s a pain. She’s spoiled. The only reason I went back to the house to save them was because of that stupid promise. I took Amanda to a movie one night, and her dad made me promise to take care of her. I promised that I would. I wasn’t gonna break that promise. A soldier wouldn’t break a promise.”
Amanda had fought back tears as she listened to her love on the recorder. She knew it was Matthew. She knew his tone, and she knew her father would have said something like that to him.
Walter continued, “I don’t play this to hurt your feelings, my dear. I play it so that you can know how committed to the mission Matthew and his family are. You’re right, Matthew is a hero, but not for the reasons you think. He would never intentionally hurt your feelings, and that is why he pushes you away.”
Walter pulled a gray bag from behind his desk. “There is nothing I can do to help your parents, but there is something I can do to help you and your brother.”
Walter went on to explain his plan for sending Amanda and the rest of the group back to 2016, saying he needed Amanda’s help to complete the mission. In return, he would do something to help her and Steven.
“This bag contains a new life for you and your brother. There’s enough money and information about the future beyond 2016 to take care of you and him for the rest of your lives.”
He told Amanda about her family’s home being rebuilt and that her relatives now lived there. He laid out how he could set up her own and Steven’s identities to show they were the children of Amanda Curry.
Amanda asked, “So, I’m going to be my own daughter?”
Walter showed Amanda an old news clipping stating that the bodies of Amanda and Steven Curry had never been recovered. “All you have to do is convince your uncle that Amanda Curry escaped that night and ran off to avoid the perpetrators of the fire. She had you and your brother years later but has recently passed away. Your uncle will do everything in his power to make sure you and Steven are taken care of.”
Last Chance Volume 2 - The Legend of the Hathmec: Planting the Seed Page 26