The Door Into Time

by Kathleen Pennell

  Chapter 8

  James collapsed on the floor with the food still clutched to his chest. He looked up at the other two children his face and eyes desperately trying not to break down. “Are you going to take this away?”

  Really, this was so far outside the children’s field of experience, they had no idea where to go with it. For a moment, they remained silent staring back at the boy with the pleading look on his face.

  Finally, Sean sat down as near the boy as his nose could tolerate. “Look, it doesn’t even belong to us. It belongs to the Professor. And, he doesn’t need all those granola bars anyway.”

  James looked down at the granola bars he clutched. “Granola bars. So, that’s what they’re called.”

  The children quietly watched the boy unwrap another bar and eat it more slowly this time. Who was this boy that he’d never seen a granola bar or understood the fundamentals of unscrewing a water bottle in order to drink from it. And, why was he so afraid? Yet, there was also an element of deep sadness that hung over him.

  Reece sat facing James and gently began to probe deeper into whom he was. “If you had a fight with somebody at home, they must be worried about you and wonder where you are.” But, having said that, the sadness on the boy’s face only etched deeper. Seeing this, Reece stopped for a moment and wondered how long James had been away from home. He looked thin and dirty enough to have been gone for months. But, his sadness spoke volumes of his misery in being parted from his family. Yet, the woods weren’t that big. Why hadn’t someone found him by now and taken him back? Why hadn’t the police found him? “When did you run away?”

  James looked up sharply. “I did not run away.”

  Reece and Sean looked at each other, and then Reece changed her line of questioning. “Who was chasing you?”

  “Somebody.”

  “But why?” asked Sean.

  “He was; that’s all.”

  Reece tried not to shout, so whispered instead. “We’re not going to let you go until you tell us what happened.”

  “Just tell us. We really want to know,” Sean added.

  James looked at the door then at the other children. “I was behind the store looking through the window waiting for the storekeeper to leave.” He took a sip of water before continuing. “While I was waiting, two men came out of the woods dragging this skinny giant, and they locked him in the room beside the store where they keep bad people. The storekeeper walked out with the key to lock him up, so I crawled through the back window, grabbed an apple, and ran.”

  “So that’s the man who was chasing you?” said Reece.

  “Yes,” sighed James. “Except, I dropped my apple.”

  Suddenly, the words “skinny giant” gathered meaning.

  Forgetting the boy’s foul odor, Sean grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “Did the man have a dog with him?”

  “Yes.”

  “But, that’s the Professor!” said Sean.

  “The Professor?” asked James.

  “Yes!” said Sean then asked. “Was there a grapefruit flying right behind him?”

  James blinked his eyes a few times as he stared at Sean.

  “Never mind,” said Reece. “Did the dog get locked up with the man?”

  Why were these two kids so interested in a dog? Dogs didn’t do anything except eat a lot of food. “Yes.”

  Reece stood up. “That’s our dog!”

  “But, why did they lock up the Professor and our dog?” asked Sean, then a thought occurred to him. “The Professor has been kidnapped, and Bear is with him!”

  “The Professor is weird, but he didn’t seem like a bad person,” said Reece. “He might just be visiting somebody and maybe he got locked up by mistake. The problem is he’s got our dog.”

  Sean studied the other boy in the same way his father studied him when a serious question was about to be asked. “How do you know he was a bad person? What did he do?”

  “Don’t know. He was weird looking and too tall and wore strange clothes. His hair was really odd. It was big,” James added then looked at the other children. “Sort of like yours. I suppose nobody knew who he was and were a little scared of him.”

  “Are you sure he’s really been locked up?” asked Reece.

  “Yes, I’m sure.”

  The children stared at James. “They locked him up, because he was tall and strange looking?” asked Sean.

  “Nobody knew him. He talked sort of strange, and his hair was all big and wild. His clothes were different, too.” James’ gaze fell on the other two children’s tunics as if he were seeing them for the first time. “Like yours.”

  They looked down at what they were wearing. Outside of Halloween, they could definitely get laughed at, but jail? They wore shorts and T-shirts underneath, and the Professor wasn’t here now, so they stood up, dragged the sickening sacks over their heads and tore off their wigs.

  James jumped to his feet, took a step back, and gaped at the two children, especially Reece. He whirled around turning his back to them and spoke towards the wall with the panel of blinking lights. “I’ll. . .I’ll wait until you put your clothes back on.”

  “We have our clothes on,” said Sean.

  “You’re uncovered. I’ve never seen a girl without her dress on. Put your dress on, and I’ll turn around.”

  James had definitely been in the woods too long. Reece and Sean sighed, totally confused, more than a little disgusted and trying not to be offended on top of everything else. The children looked at each. Really, did they have to put those tunics back on just to please this kid? Oh, well they could deal with it for a few more minutes. So, they put their scratchy sack-like outfits back on but stomped on their wigs a few times before kicking the dead rats aside. After all, there were limits. They stood with arms folded for a few seconds avoiding eye contact. All right, all right! Uttering grouching noises, they grabbed their wigs and slammed them on top of their heads.

  “Ok,” said Reece trying to keep resentment from creeping into her voice. “We’re ready.”

  When James ignored them, Sean added. “You can turn around now.”

  But instead of turning around, James took a step towards the panel of lights. “What’s this?” he asked softly reaching out then drawing his hand back.

  Reece and Sean watched James stare at the panel. They’d seen blinking lights their entire lives. In any case, they’d been so totally focused in reclaiming Bear and going home that they didn’t really think about it. Now, they stepped forward. Actually, on closer examination, they’d never seen anything quite this big or complex. It took up the entire end of the hut from floor to ceiling.

  Reece leaned in closer and read the words written underneath one of the switches. “Phase Cancellation,” she said then looked at her brother, but Sean merely shrugged his shoulders. She read several other words, but they were equally puzzling.

  All three children stood in a line inspecting every square inch of the panel.

  “Where’s the light coming from?” James asked. “Are there oil lamps behind this wall?”

  Oil lamps? They looked at James ready to laugh with him. But, the only look they saw on his face was one of wonder and curiosity.

  “But, what’s making the lights flicker like that? Candles flicker if there’s a breeze. Maybe there are candles behind it.” James thought about this for a few seconds. “But, there’s no breeze in here.”

  Reece and Sean continued to watch James puzzle through this. Was he for real? Had this kid really never seen a control panel before? They’d never seen one this big, but they existed in lots of places. But, he seemed truly and totally lost and in despair from hunger, running away, and operating totally alone in the world. They didn’t want to say anything to make him feel like a stupid freak on top of it.

  “Look, it doesn’t really matter,” said Reece gently. “So, don’t worry about it.”

  “Hm, you know what?” said Sean. “We don’t know what it is either.”

 
James slowly transferred his focus from the panel to the other two children. He checked their clothing then stared at their hair momentarily before shifting his gaze to the floor. He didn’t say anything, but his cheeks were pink, and he avoided Reece’s eyes.

  Reece and Sean were equally embarrassed. They weren’t sure why, except that their shirts, shorts, and short hair had offended this boy, and his discomfort seemed to shift to their wigs or did it have something to do with the panel? Whatever. They couldn’t waste time sorting it out.

  Breaking the uncomfortable silence, Reece asked. “Will you show us where the Professor and Bear are locked up?”

  James thought for a second. “No, they don’t like me in the village.”

  Does it seem unreasonable to ask for a favor? After all, they’d only saved his life. Reece drew her lips inside her mouth as she glared at the boy. “You mean you won’t take us there?”

  “If they catch me, they’ll lock me up or run me out of town again.”

  Sean looked at his sister in disbelief. Lock up a ten or eleven year old kid or run him out of town? “Look, we’ll give you more food if you show us where they are.”

  James stared at the remaining food lying on the table. He seemed to give this considerable thought, but in the end, he just shook his head. It wasn’t worth jail time.

  “Can’t you just avoid that store and point out where the Professor and Bear are?” asked Reece.

  “It’ll be all right,” Sean assured the other boy. “As soon as you show us where they are, you can run away again.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” James studied the children out of the corner of his eyes for a few seconds then added. “Anyway, they’ll probably lock you up, too, and if I’m with you, we’ll all end up there.”

  “Maybe it’s the concussion,” Sean said under his breath.

  Reece nodded. His head must have gotten seriously clunked. That’s why he was confused about the granola bars and water and why he made all the nutsy comments about the panel. Maybe they should let him go and follow him to see where he went. “Okay, you can go,” said Reece.

  Sean’s face flushed as he whirled towards his sister. “What?! We can’t just let him go! He knows where Bear is!” He looked at James. “The Professor stole our dog, and we’re trying to get him back!”

  James frowned. “He’s just a dog. Why do you want him so badly?”

  “Because he’s the family pet, and the Professor stole him from us. Won’t you help us?”

  Again, James hesitated before giving his answer. “No.” He looked at the two children then added softly. “Can I still take the food?”

  “It’s not our food, but the Professor probably won’t mind if you take a couple of things with you,” Reece decided. When Sean opened his mouth to argue with her, she lifted her hand and gave him a look that he knew so well. She had a plan.

  James edged past them, scooped up a few granola bars, and scurried away glancing behind to make sure he wasn’t being followed.