Run.
Adam started the Lumiens enough that they could see, and they were off. Even Mark wasted no time complaining because they were running out of fear and necessity.
It would be a long run to the school, judging how long it took to get to Town Hall through the other tunnel. It did the typical winding side to side that the other tunnels did, but sometimes it felt like it almost ran in a circle.
“How far is it?” asked Mark, puffing from the pace. They had slowed down to a jog a few minutes earlier.
“How do we know?” replied Kevin, almost angry.
“It shouldn’t be too much longer,” said Adam, puffing heavily, “but we need to have a plan.”
They jogged on a little further, thinking as they moved.
“Let’s go hide somewhere until they leave,” said Mark.
“Where? They’ll find us eventually. We don’t know if the leaves wear off in time. That, and Elianora will just tell them who we are and they’ll use our families as bait to draw us out,” said Jimmy.
“Jimmy’s exactly right,” said Adam. “Give me a minute, I’ve almost got a plan.”
Adam’s mind flew though images of all that had happened so far. Town Hall, Elianora’s Farm, Ben Casey’s house, the Kurling game, the tunnels, the meeting room underground. Non-sequential speech, heard from multiple persons, echoed in the hallway of his mind.
Ahead, a sliding door appeared as they rounded a corner. Adam opened it and they slipped through, sliding it closed behind them and checking to make sure it was locked. They were in the school basement, a place they had only heard about and never seen.
Adam looked around, trying to find something. There weren’t many things nearby other than some old wooden school signs against the far wall.
“Grab me that sign.” Adam pointed to the one he wanted. It had a picture of the school painted on the front, and was mounted on a thick sheet of plywood.
Kevin brought the sign over to Adam and helped him flip it so the longer sides were up and down. They slipped the wood in between the door handle and the door frame. It was nearly a perfect fit.
No sooner had they fitted the sign and they heard running footsteps coming to the door and the mechanism working. They saw the door move slightly, but the sign held tight.
“It’s gonna take them some time to get all the way back to Elianora’s and then into town again, thankfully,” said Mark.
“Let’s not be here when they get here,” said Jimmy.
Full of the adrenaline of fear, they made their way to the other door. Once Adam opened it he stopped in the doorway, looking at the mechanism. Like the other sliding doors, the mechanism could only be seen when the door was open because it was hidden behind the door frame.
“Anyone have any string?” he asked.
The others looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders, obviously not having any. Adam looked at the mechanism again, thinking. After a moment, he had an idea. He removed his shoe, then his sock, and put the shoe back on again.
“What are you going to do with that?” asked Mark.
“I’ve learned to watch and not question at times like these,” said Kevin.
Adam ripped the sock, starting from a small hole at the toe, then tore it again, making a strip. He reached into the mechanism and worked for a moment.
“There. That’ll work,” he said as he stepped out of the door frame. He slid the door shut then slid it open again without the use of the pin.
“Why didn’t you just use your shoelace?” asked Mark.
“If I have to run, I don’t want my shoe falling off. I can run without a sock,” replied Adam.
“Here’s my plan, or as much of it as I can come up with,” Adam began. “We need to split up. Mark, you need to get to the meeting room. Jimmy, you go to your house and try to find your mom’s pin like this, so we don’t all have to stay together,” he flashed the pin. “Once you find it, you can go through Town Hall and find Mark in the meeting room. If you can’t find the pin at home, come back here and this door will be open so you can get in. Just make sure you leave a door open to the school.”
Jimmy nodded.
“Mark, how long will it take to start waking people up? Elianora mentioned that she showed you how,” said Adam.
“It can take anywhere from ten minutes to half an hour, she wasn’t sure,” said Mark.
“Ok, so you’ll have to get at it pretty quickly. As soon as Jimmy gets there, he can help you.”
“What if there are guards at the meeting room?” asked Mark.
Adam thought for a second. “Just act like you’ve been gassed. Wobble over to them slowly. They won’t think anything of it because you’re not 16 yet. They’ll just put you in with the rest of the townspeople,” he said.
“Just hang your head and moan like you do when your dad tells you he has chores for you,” added Jimmy, getting a chuckle out of Kevin.
Mark gave him a look of scorn.
“You can do it, trust me. Start with your dad and other League members. Fill them in on what’s happened and hopefully we can hold Larix off long enough that they can come up with a plan. If anyone comes to check on the prisoners, be sure to keep up the act, like Elianora told us to do. If you can’t wake them for some reason, just sit with the others until Larix and his men leave for good, then start waking everyone up.” said Adam.
“What are you and Kevin going to do?” asked Jimmy.
“Try and not get caught, that’s what,” answered Kevin.
Adam chuckled, “Something like that. They are going to be looking for me now that Elianora told them I have the key. Hopefully she doesn’t say anything about the rest of you. Regardless, I’m not going to tell you what we’re doing exactly.”
The others looked at him perplexed.
“I’ve been thinking about this, and I understand why Elianora wouldn’t tell anyone where the Heartstone was hidden. That was the only way to ensure Larix couldn’t use a combination of chemicals and his talents to get the answer out of others. If I don’t tell you what we’re doing and you get caught and forced to talk, you can tell them you honestly don’t know where we are or what we’re doing.”
They understood.
“Get going, and good luck,” said Adam, ushering Mark through the sliding door.
Adam closed the door on Mark, who looked like he was trying to act tough in his situation, then walked over to the stairwell. At the top, he saw that his assumption was right; the lock on the inside of the door didn’t need keys. That would keep students (or a teacher) from getting locked down in the basement.
The Teacher’s lounge was small and bare, with only a table and chairs next to an old couch and refrigerator. Adam grabbed a roll of clear packing tape from the counter.
“If Mark was here, he’d be raiding that fridge right now,” said Kevin.
“Do you miss him already?” kidded Jimmy.
“Not as much as you miss your Barbie Princess Dream House,” replied Kevin so fast that he must have been planning that one for a while.
Jimmy and Adam smiled at the jab, even though they were stressed about their situation.
They made their way into the dim hallway and then to the main exit door. Adam pushed the last one on the left open, unrolled a strip of tape and tore it with his teeth. He applied the tape to the latch and tested the door. It didn’t lock anymore, so he held it open and motioned Jimmy out.
“Good luck,” he said to Jimmy.
“Thanks, and be careful,” Jimmy replied with a nod.
Adam closed the door as Jimmy turned and ran.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
"What now?" asked Kevin.
Adam had a rough plan that again relied more on luck than he preferred.
"Now we go back to Elianora's and then we find the Heartstone," he replied.
Kevin looked surprised. "Are you crazy? Those men are in the tunnel back to Elianora's. Not to mention the fact that we don't know where the Heartstone is hidden and Eli
anora told us to keep the key away from Larix."
"They'll be trying to find me in town, so I don't think they'll be at Elianora's by the time we get there. We'll have to be quiet so we can be sure."
Kevin didn't look convinced.
“They’ll expect us to hide in the tunnels or in town. Us going to get the Heartstone won’t be what they expect. It should give us time to get it and get out of town. We can come back after we hear the fog is gone.”
Kevin looked slightly more convinced than before. “That sounds reasonable. The only problem is we still have no idea where it’s hidden.”
"I've been thinking about that. I saw the direction Elianora pointed when Larix asked her where it was, and it confirmed my suspicion." Adam told Kevin the location he suspected, and Kevin's face showed enlightenment.
"On top of that, we have the key and they don't," said Adam.
"Speaking of the key, have you looked at it?" said Kevin.
Adam hadn't had a chance to think about the key yet, but now that Kevin mentioned it he thought he should take a look. He had felt a strange lump in the bag when he found it and figured it was probably a unique key, like all the other unique things associated with the Sentinel League. Right then, he had the time and the desire to take a look.
He pulled the bag from his pocket. The knot in the drawstring took a bit of work, but soon he opened the top, reached inside and drew out the key. When he opened his hand, both he and Kevin were surprised.
"It's just a pebble," exclaimed Kevin.
Adam chuckled. "I should have expected that. I knew it wouldn't be a regular key, but this one has me confused."
"Do you think someone found the real key and replaced it with this?" asked Kevin, pointing at the small stone.
"It's a possibility, I guess, but I doubt it. I have no idea how this works as a key, though." Adam's mind was going through possibilities as he spoke. It could fit in a hole, or maybe it has some property we don't know about, like the aluminum magnet, he thought.
"Maybe it's a Kurling rock that’s easy to control," said Kevin.
"Good idea, I didn't think of that. Whatever it is though, I don't think we should waste time wondering right now. I'm sure we can figure it out when we need to," said Adam, not completely sure he could.
Adam placed the pebble back in the bag, then back in his pocket.
"Man, I hope you're right," said Kevin.
"Onward," exclaimed Adam.
Back through the teacher’s lounge they jogged and through the door into the basement.
"I wonder what they tell the teachers about these sliding doors if they aren't part of the Sentinel League?" asked Kevin.
"If we get through this, we'll have to ask someone. I'll bet it's pretty good," said Adam.
He was quiet as he approached the door and listened for sounds on the other side. When he was almost certain it was clear, he removed the plywood sign and opened the door. The Lumiens were on and no-one was waiting to surprise them.
"We should be as quiet as possible on the way. I'll stop and listen every once in a while, just to make sure no-one is in here with us. The chances are that they won't come back down the tunnel, but there's no point risking it," said Adam.
Kevin nodded and they were on their way. They walked at a brisk pace, careful to make as little noise as possible. After a while, Adam stopped and listened for a few seconds. Hearing nothing, they continued at the same pace. That process repeated a number of times until they made it back to the door to Elianora’s shed.
Adam listened at the door before opening it. That time he listened for a full minute, but it seemed like ten. The sound of the mechanism was like a fire alarm, at least to ears that were used to the silence. Even the door sliding open sounded like a freight train on rails.
The workbench on the other side of the sliding door was broken away, no longer giving Adam cover. He felt as if he were naked, although he was sure that Larix and his men had left the area. Kevin stayed back a few steps, just in case they had to run again.
Adam stuck his head out a little, like a gopher peeking out of a hole. He listened while he looked, and soon felt slightly safer. He signaled to Kevin, and when Kevin was at the door, Adam motioned for Kevin to hold it open so he could run back into the tunnel if he was in trouble. Kevin understood and Adam stepped into the shed.
Although he felt certain no one was outside, Adam had an uneasy feeling in his gut as he peered out the shed door. He stayed still, looking around as meticulous as he could manage, but saw nothing. Then, without much thought, Adam jumped into the doorway and did a strange dance. A moment later he froze and searched the farmyard. If anyone saw him they would be chasing him down, but he saw no-one. He waited there for a full minute until he was sure he saw no movement.
"Come on out. Nobody's home," Adam said to Kevin.
Kevin walked over to Adam. "Why did you do that dance? You have a death wish?"
Adam chucked, "I knew if anyone was in the yard they would have chased me. After I got through the door, you would have slammed it shut behind me for an easy escape."
Kevin still looked confused. "Yeah, but don't you think it would be tough to run if you got shot by one of those darts they used on Elianora?"
Adam realized how lucky he was at that moment, turning red in the face. "Uh, yeah...I guess you're right. I never thought about that. Sorry."
Kevin brushed it off like it was no big deal, but both boys knew they needed to think before acting.
Adam surveyed the yard. If only there was some type of transportation available to get to their destination. It was a long way to get there, and he would prefer it if they didn't have to walk.
"Let's check the buildings and see if there's something we can drive," said Adam.
Kevin nodded and walked to the barn while Adam went to the shed beside the garden. Besides the tool shed and the main house, those were the only two other buildings in the yard.
Adam opened the garden shed, and looked around. As he expected of Elianora, the building was tidy and well organized. The only mode of transportation he could see was the riding lawn mower, so he left to see what Kevin found.
Kevin was in one of the stalls looking through a pile of stuff. The first time they came through the barn they didn't notice much as their minds were occupied with other things. Now, they saw that Elianora had a lot of stuff stored in the barn. Again, in typical Elianora fashion, it all was placed perfectly and looked as though it had just been dusted, even being stored in an old barn. Most of the piles were covered with drop cloths.
"Anything?" asked Kevin.
"Not unless we want to ride the lawnmower," he replied.
"Maybe not. We can walk faster than that, plus it’s so quiet out that they might hear it from town," said Kevin.
Kevin resumed looking and Adam went to the other side of the barn to start. It wasn't surprising to see that Elianora had collected many things, considering her age, but what she had stored in the barn would have been amazing to investigate if they had time. Paintings, pottery, goblets, and many statues were hidden under each of the drop cloths. Even to Adam's untrained eye, the quality of the pieces looked amazing. A lot of the art resembled Elianora. He didn't have time to look closely, though, so he kept searching until he met Kevin at the back of the barn.
"Do you think it's worth looking in the loft?" asked Kevin, pointing up at the access hole and the ladder built onto the wall.
"I'll take a peek," said Adam nodding. "If there's nothing, we need to start walking."
Adam climbed the ladder and stuck his head up through the hole. The windows in the loft let in just enough of the dim light from outside that he was able to see. He looked around for a few seconds then climbed into the loft.
"Hey, I thought you were just going to look," exclaimed Kevin.
"Find me a rope," said Adam from the loft. He had seen a bicycle and was looking around for a second one.
The bike he found was an old one, probably from the 70’
s. Even though it was old, it seemed to be in perfect condition. It was an adult bike with a large banana seat and high handlebars. The entire thing was painted with flowers, and the pedals were petals. Adam guessed that it was an art project of Elianora's and had never been driven.
"Found one," Kevin called up to the loft. "Do you want me to come up, or do you just want me to throw it to you?"
"Just chuck it up," said Adam. He picked up the rope after it landed in a heap on the floor.
"Couldn't you find me a bigger rope," said Adam, teasing Kevin. The rope was about an inch thick and 20 feet long.
"You said 'find me a rope'. I found you a rope. Nowhere in there did you give me specifications," Kevin shot back.
"It'll work perfect," said Adam, hoping Kevin realized he was just teasing. "Go wait under the hay loft door. I'm lowering something down,"
"What is it?"
"You'll see," said Adam. He walked over to the hay loft door and found the latch, opening it to see Kevin already waiting.
There was a pulley on the beam that stuck out above the hay loft door, but there wasn’t a rope in it. It was beyond Adam's reach, so he couldn't thread the rope into the pulley. He decided that he would just have to tie the rope to the bike and lower it manually.
"Close your eyes and turn around until I tell you," said Adam.
Kevin gave him a questioning look, followed by a look that questioned Adam's sanity, and finally a look of compliance.
Adam wheeled the bike to the door then tied the rope to the frame.
"Ok, come and get it," said Adam.
Kevin turned and looked at the bike, then laughed.
Adam lowered the bike, and threw the rope down afterward. He closed the hay loft door and soon came out of the barn.
"Where's the one I'm going to ride?" asked Kevin, with a hopeful note in his voice. He was clearly not a fan of the flowery bike in front of him.
Adam shook his head, "This is it. We’re going to have to double."
Kevin hung his head. "Really? Are you sure? I could just run."
"This will be the fastest way," said Adam. "It's in perfect shape and the seat is big enough for us both."
Town Secrets (The Book of Adam 1) Page 20