Town Secrets (The Book of Adam 1)

by Scott Gelowitz

  Mrs. Jones looked from Adam to Jimmy, "No, It's in the garage. Now stay out of my room." She moved Jimmy out of the way and walked past. "I have a headache from Mark's questions. You show him which ones are weeds and let me know when you're done."

  Jimmy agreed, and the boys sped outside. Mark and Kevin stood in the garden looking toward the house.

  "Why didn't you stop her?" Jimmy looked at the two, anger in his voice.

  "Hey, there's only so many ways I can pretend I don't know the difference between a weed and a radish. Farmboy here was no help." Mark jerked his thumb at Kevin.

  "I helped! Who do you think pulled most of the weeds?" Kevin replied. "We did promise to weed the garden. Besides, she would never believe I wouldn't know what a weed looked like."

  Mark looked insulted. "I asked her a question, bent down to pull the weed, and when I looked back she was halfway through the door. I couldn't just drag her back out again."

  Adam diffused the situation. "You guys did great, really. We got the task done and in the end no one's in trouble, alright?" Everyone seemed to calm down as he spoke, agreeing in turn. "So let’s get this garden finished and we can all go home for lunch. We can re-group later."

  They did as Adam suggested and finished weeding the garden. Mrs. Jones inspected their wor, and thanked them all for their help. She handed equal amounts of money to Mark and Kevin. Adam received more, and Jimmy was given nothing. When he began to protest, she reminded him that he owed Adam for fixing the bike, so she paid Adam on his behalf. Besides that, she was going to make him weed it for free anyway. Surprisingly, Jimmy didn't complain at the explanation.

  Before they could say anymore, Mrs. Jones invited them to stay for lunch. It was just sandwiches, but they were more than welcome. That would be quicker than going to their homes and meeting again later, so they all agreed to stay and thanked her for her offer.

  Even though they were simple sandwiches, Adam loved them. Real beef, slathered with the good mayo and mustard, not the cheap stuff he had at home. They even had something labeled 'sub sauce' that added a wonderful tang to the flavor. He ate his sandwich quickly, and Mrs. Jones insisted he have another. It didn't take much to convince him, and soon he felt over-stuffed but didn't care.

  After eating, the boys helped Mrs. Jones clean. Adam loaded the dirty dishes in the dishwasher while Mark wiped the table and Kevin swept crumbs off the floor. When they were done, they left the house and headed back to Adam's garage where they could come up with a plan in private.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The boys sat around the old coffee table in Adam's garage once again. "I made 2 keys at the hardware store," said Adam, "so we have to decide who keeps them."

  "Since Jimmy knows the security code, I think he should keep one," said Kevin, "and I don't want one, so it'll be either you or Mark." He pointed at Adam.

  Adam handed a key to Jimmy.

  Mark spoke up, "If I take it home, my sisters will find it and lose it, so Adam should keep the other key."

  Adam silently accepted. "The only thing we need now is the security code. You can just tell it to me, if that makes you more comfortable." The three looked at Jimmy.

  "If I didn't trust you guys, I would never have 'borrowed' the keys in the first place. Besides, it's not like its rocket science to figure out."

  The others looked at Jimmy puzzled.

  "Who had the system installed?" Jimmy added.

  They thought for a few seconds before it dawned on Adam. "It’s Jeff’s birthday, right?"

  Jimmy laughed, "Yep, 1027 - October 27th. Of course, he wouldn't use the year. He's still 29 you know."

  They all laughed. Typical Jeff.

  "Since Town Hall is closed today, when do we want to try going in?" Mark was almost vibrating with anticipation.

  "Calm down. We'll get there soon enough." Kevin grinned at Mark's excitement.

  "The sooner the better, but I think we should try after 5 o'clock. That's when the stores are closed and most people are at home eating. There isn’t a car driving in this town until 5:30, so there's less chance of being seen," said Adam.

  "That makes sense. In the meantime, we can each get a flashlight and grab a bite to eat. Maybe meet back here at around 4:30? If they ask, tell your parents that we're playing some baseball at the school," said Jimmy.

  They all agreed and left one by one. When they had gone, Adam cleaned up the coffee table and hid the money from Mrs. Jones in his hiding spot. He placed it in the small tin can and closed the plastic lid, slipping it back to its original location.

  With quiet steps he walked into the house. His mother was in her usual spot watching an old British soap opera on the TV. "Did you have some lunch yet?" she asked without turning her head.

  "Yeah, at Jimmy's. We helped his mom weed her garden and she fed us a sandwich," he replied, stepping toward the stairs.

  "I'm going to the store for a couple of hours this afternoon. They need help unloading a truck that was supposed to be here yesterday." Still, she didn't turn to look at Adam.

  Adam stopped at the foot of the stairs. "I'm going to eat something early so I can meet the guys at school and play some baseball. I'll be quiet when I get home tonight." His mother grunted, barely acknowledging that he had spoken.

  Adam continued up the stairs to his room. He opened the top drawer of his beat-up dresser. The drawer was filled with wires, nuts, bolts, screws, and miscellaneous parts that Adam had saved from pulling apart things he found. He knew he had an old flashlight that needed a new bulb buried somewhere in the parts. He also had some various energy efficient bulbs he had pulled out of other broken lights. He intended to convert the flashlight from a conventional bulb to an energy efficient bulb eventually, and that moment seemed like as good a time as any.

  He pulled out the parts he needed and set them on top of the dresser, then dug around until he found the soldering iron he would use to connect the pieces together. He had bought the iron at a garage sale for a dollar. It came with solder and soldering paste, enough to last him a long time. Soon, it was heated up and ready to work.

  He removed a bulb assembly he ripped from a newer flashlight that had been crushed. Next, he inspected the old flashlight and pulled it apart. After some soldering, modifying, fitting and re-fitting, he assembled the flashlight, including two almost new batteries he had found. He turned on the flashlight to inspect, and it worked. It wasn't the brightest light he had ever seen, but it was good enough.

  Adam heard the door close as his mom left. He worked for a little while longer getting the flashlight just right and cleaned up the left over parts and tools, except for the soldering iron as it needed some time to cool. He tiptoed down the stairs, careful not to make much noise, even though his mom was gone. It was a habit too hard to ignore.

  He sat down in his mom's chair again, intending to rest for a while, but his mind kept going over questions from the previous night’s events. Why were there tunnels beneath the town, and how were they made? What was so important that someone took the time to build them? Who built the security locks, and how did they manufacture the pin that attracted aluminum?

  His brain wouldn’t stop pelting him with questions, so he sat in the chair, eyes open and staring straight ahead. Slowly, his eyes fell to the picture of Edward. He remembered the day he first noticed the lapel pin and later found the envelope containing it. He saw the envelope in his mind and realized that he hadn’t looked through the rest of the pictures and papers.

  He sprang out of the chair and ran outside, jogging to the garage. If anyone had seen him, they would have thought he was up to something just by seeing him move.

  In the garage, Adam grabbed the envelope, spread the papers on the coffee table and looked at them one by one. The first one was the only one he had taken time to look at before he found the pin. It was the Town Hall Grand Opening picture. He examined the faces of the people standing together in the picture. So many looked familiar, probably because many of their grandchi
ldren through great great grandchildren still lived in Grayson.

  The next paper was old and tattered. Hand drawn on it was a picture that looked like a crude spider. Legs curved out in all directions from a circle at the center. A ring tied the legs together. At the bottom of the picture "E.M." was written; his father's initials. He must have drawn the picture. It was the first thing Adam had ever seen written by his father. Surprisingly, his own handwriting was similar, even though he had only seen the two letters.

  He turned the paper over. On the back he saw a list with simple symbols.

  Feel five from floor, was written at the bottom of the page in his father’s handwriting.

  Adam thought it was strange. What did it mean?

  The next pictures were just buildings in town. The Grain Elevators (only one was still standing, but he had seen pictures of the other three), the Church, the hotel, and one that was labeled "school." It was an old one-room schoolhouse in the picture. Adam was pretty sure the school he attended, while being old itself, was built on the site of the one in the picture.

  He sat back and wondered for a while. What if some of the tunnels led to these buildings? They had to come out somewhere?

  After thinking for a few more minutes, Adam hid the envelope again, hoping he would find something in the file cabinets later that would make sense of everything.

  He ambled back into the house and opened the fridge. What to eat today? There was bread, luncheon meat, mustard, ketchup, and some pickles in the fridge. He closed the door. After the sandwiches he ate for lunch, he couldn't bear the thought of more luncheon meat. In futility, he opened and closed each of the cupboard doors. Stale crackers, old spices, dry pasta - nothing that he was interested in eating.

  Glancing at the clock, he noticed it was almost 4 pm and the guys would start arriving soon. He grabbed a piece of bread (stale rye bread; discounted at the store) and forced it down one mouthful at a time with a glass of tap water. It tasted terrible, but it would keep his stomach from grumbling later in the day.

  Back outside, Adam waited until Mark and Jimmy arrived, then Kevin a few minutes later. Each boy had a small flashlight in his hands. Adam's homemade light was by far the largest. All the others fit into each owner’s pocket, but Adam's was the size of a police flashlight.

  "Do you want to leave that here for now?" asked Kevin. "People will suspect something if they see you walking around with that light. I’ve got an extra one you can use."

  Adam agreed. Kevin was right.

  “Come to the garage for a minute. I want to show you something,” said Adam.

  They followed him into the garage and he grabbed the pictures from their hiding spot, spreading them out on the coffee table for all to see.

  Mark immediately identified his great-great-grandfather in the first picture, as did Jimmy and Kevin. They looked at Adam, then back to the picture. No one could identify anyone resembling Adam.

  "I thought the McTaggart’s were one of the founding families? Why don’t I see someone that looks like you or your dad?" asked Mark, even though they all thought the same thing.

  "I don't know, maybe they took the picture," Adam replied.

  "What about your grandparents?" asked Mark again.

  Adam felt uncomfortable under the gaze of his friends.

  "My dad's parents moved overseas when he died,” said Adam. “At least, that’s what I’ve been told. I’ve never heard from them, although I have seen their picture. My mom's family disowned her - that much I know - but not much else.” He paused for a second and continued. “You all know my mom. She barely acknowledges me. She never answers any of my questions about our family. Most of what I've learned is from other people in town."

  The others realized they were making Adam uncomfortable, so they looked back to the picture.

  "Does anyone recognize the lady in the picture?" asked Kevin. They had all noticed her, but none had wanted to point it out for fear of being teased.

  "She must be from my family tree, 'cause she's not ugly like you three," Jimmy teased, thinking he would beat them to a punch-line.

  "That's gross! You just admitted you're attracted to your great-great grandma!" Mark shot back at Jimmy.

  They all had a chuckle while Jimmy stammered in protest.

  "Sounds to me like no one knows who she is," said Kevin, and the others agreed.

  They saw the rest of the pictures, but nothing seemed interesting to them. The hand-drawn picture and list weren't as interesting to the others as they were to Adam.

  "It's 4:37. Should we go hang out in the park until we try going in?" asked Adam. "I'm assuming that my mom will get here soon after 5 and I don't want to be here when she gets home."

  Jimmy agreed. "We can hang out in the park behind Town Hall and slip in the side door one at a time. I'll go first and shut off the alarm."

  The others nodded and soon they left for the park. As they passed the Fire Hall, they noticed a lot more traffic since it was just after 5 pm. They hung around the trees in the park until all seemed calm and headed for the back of Town Hall.

  Jimmy looked down the side of the building. "Follow me one at a time, every couple of minutes," said Jimmy, and he stepped around the side of the building.

  The others waited against the wall. After two minutes, Kevin started around the corner to the side door.

  Slam! He and Jimmy collided hard.

  They both staggered for a second, regaining their composure while offering ‘are you ok’s’ to each other.

  "Why’d you come back?" asked Adam.

  "The key won't work! I tried it a bunch of times and it wouldn't unlock the door."

  Adam nodded his head. "Lacey said that the keys might be tricky because the original was so worn. Try jiggling it up and down while you turn." Adam made a jiggling and turning motion with his hand as he spoke.

  Jimmy looked uncomfortable about trying again, but nodded, checked around the corner, and left. That time Kevin kept looking around the corner to make sure Jimmy got in before following. He gave the others a thumbs-up, waited thirty seconds and rounded the corner the same way Jimmy had done.

  Their stealth worked, and soon they were all inside Town Hall, hearts pounding from being somewhere they weren't allowed and excited at the thought of finding answers to their questions.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The hallway was dimly lit by a safety light on the wall above the alarm panel, making it eerie and dark in the spot where the boys stood. There were no windows in the hallway, but some natural light flowed from the hallway exit ahead.

  "Let’s leave the lights off just in case we get stuck in the tunnels again," said Jimmy. "There are windows and safety lights all over the main floor, so we don't need light until we get to the basement." The others nodded.

  "Shouldn't there be safety lights in the basement too?" asked Mark.

  “You would think,” replied Jimmy, “but I don't know why there aren't any. Mom always told me not to get stuck down there if the power went out because there's absolutely no light.” He shrugged, and motioned for the others to follow.

  Trying to be quiet, they made their way through the building and down the basement stairs. Kevin waited at the top of the stairs, as hidden as possible. The others continued on toward the storage room.

  After winding through the maze of boxes, Mark examined the drawbridge door.

  "Hard to believe this is a door," he said.

  Jimmy pulled Mark toward the boxes, moving him out of the way. Adam placed the pin against the wall and they watched the drawbridge door slowly fall.

  "That is just cool," said Mark with a wide grin on his face.

  "That's what I thought," said Adam, "but the other two just rushed me into the room."

  “You would still be here tinkering if we didn’t,” said Jimmy.

  Adam shrugged, switched on his flashlight and stepped inside. Mark was right on his heels, his flashlight searching everywhere. He seemed in awe of the secret file room.

/>   "I'll bet these files are sorted the same way as the files in the main part of the basement, so let’s just do what we did before," said Adam. They each walked to one of the well-worn wooden file cabinets that lined the left wall.

  Adam flipped through the first cabinet, but nothing caught his eye. He found financial records from the Town, as well as financial records from the monitoring station. Not knowing the cost of everyday expenses like power and water, all of the bills looked like a lot of money spent.

  A quiet noise in the direction of the storage room caused them all to look. The drawbridge door was closing by itself.

  "You guys keep reading; I'll try and open the door," said Adam, walking while pointing his flashlight around the opening.

  He found the impression right away and re-opened the door soon after. When he turned back to the files, he saw the worried look on Mark's face lighten as the door fell open. Mark must have been putting up a brave front with all of his excitement for adventure earlier, but the thought of being locked in the file room made him quickly give up his cover.

  "It must be on some type of timer. I'd love to figure it out, but I'll do that later," said Adam. "At least we know we can get out next time it closes." The statement didn't seem to relax Mark much.

  Adam kept searching his files. He found more and more financial records, but nothing else. After a half hour, he decided to move to the next cabinet and immediately had better luck. The first drawer he opened had a file labelled 'Ed McTaggart'. He pulled the file and started to look through it.

  ‘Director of Special Site Operations,’ was Edward’s official title, according to the file. Adam had never heard that before. Although he knew his father was in charge of the monitoring station outside of town, he didn't know what else Edward was responsible for. What was a "special" site?

  Adam leafed through the papers in the folder trying to see if anything stood out. Mostly he saw the minutes of meetings discussing the monitoring station, pretty boring stuff. He stopped at a picture. It was a headshot of Ed, who must have been in his early 20's. Adam pulled the page out to look at it more closely.