Heroes of Perpetua

by Brian Clopper

  Lou smiled.

  “You’re weird and talk a lot.” Nelson walked over to his bike, done with the conversation.

  Hugo looked at Lou. “He’s one to talk.”

  She swatted his shoulder. He grunted as if she’d brushed a hidden injury.

  “Oh, sorry.”

  “Just kidding.” He smiled.

  She made a fist and waved it at him. He grinned even wider but then just as quickly frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  “The bat got away.” He slumped forward, dejected.

  “Yeah, it did.” She couldn’t help but sound deflated as well.

  “You guys should go. Let me handle my parents. They can meet you two another time.”

  “You sure?”

  He pointed at Nelson. “Kid’s already halfway out the door.”

  Nelson biked to the end of the drive and was fixated on his phone. Likely devising the best route home, she thought.

  She hopped on her bike and slid her helmet on. “Wait, what about the statue?”

  “I’ll have my dad haul it back to the school. If it’s okay, I’ll stick with the story that you two pulled a prank on me.”

  “Won’t they be mad at us?” Lou said.

  “You kidding? The fact that I have friends who would go to such lengths as to prank me . . . they might make you guys plaques. They’ll just be overjoyed I’m ‘socializing with my peers.’”

  She laughed.

  “Text you later, okay?”

  She nodded. “You better. I want details on your punishment.”

  “Absolutely.” He waved.

  The woman was off her phone and approached Hugh. She eyed Nelson and Lou. “Your friends are leaving?”

  “Yeah. I want to be the center of attention when my parents show.” He smirked.

  The woman gave him a confused look and then returned to doting on him. “How’s your head? Not feeling dizzy? Let’s get you back over to your porch and among some comfy pillows again. Why don’t you and I sit and wait for your parents there?”

  “You’re the doctor.” He held up his hands as if he were giving up.

  “Actually, my sister’s a nurse. I might be able to get her to take a look at you for free. Let me call her and see.” She was again on her phone as the pair walked toward Hugo’s porch.

  Lou met up with Nelson and they biked home.

  ****

  It took some convincing, but Lou persuaded Nelson to hold off on telling his parents what had happened with Hugo. He finally agreed to share that they biked all over with their new friend Hugo and would list the different birds they’d seen on their trip. She knew he wouldn’t have to make that part up as he’d spent the whole ride home rattling off facts about every bird they’d encountered. It was just as well they’d kept their eyes on the road along with scanning the treetops and sky on occasion; it had given them the chance to search for the bat. Just their luck, the weird creature didn’t put in another appearance.

  She went up to her room, showered, then sat at her desk thumbing through random videos, not really paying attention to any of them. She hoped her mom hadn’t registered her nervousness when she’d returned. She’d shared about Hugo being new to garden club and how he’d joined them on their bike ride. That was mostly true. Her mom didn’t need to know about the crash. Lou thought she’d been convincingly dull. So far, Mom hadn’t come up to ‘just talk.’

  She’d been pale the entire ride home, a look her mom tied to being upset. Lou had slapped her cheeks in the garage to give herself back some color and made brief small talk with her mom as she’d passed through the kitchen.

  Lou was worried. Hugo hadn’t texted her yet. Did that mean he was at the hospital dealing with an injury that had shown up after they’d left? Like internal bleeding? That was bad stuff.

  She texted him. You okay?

  She returned to another video. Snakes with wings? Bats with tails? What was going on, and why did everything have to fly? What next, bullfrogs with propellers? She fashioned a Nelson counterpoint to her question. Actually, the likely method of flight would be wings again. And bullfrogs would be quite heavy. To compensate for their mass, their wingspan would have to be impressive. She tossed back her take. Well, the wings on the snakes had been too tiny for flight. How do you explain that?

  She thought about how Nelson would respond. Before she could offer his rebuttal, her phone vibrated.

  She tapped on the text notification. It was Hugo.

  Smooth sailing with Mom and Dad. They aren’t too freaked out. Talked Mom down from a trip to Urgent Care. She’s insisting I stay up late to make sure I don’t have a concussion. We’re going to watch a movie together.

  No punishment?

  Didn’t you catch on? The movie’s my punishment. We have to watch it together ‘like the good old days.’ Whenever Dad hauls out that tired phrase I’m in for trouble. And Mom gets to pick the movie! Ugh.

  Sucks to be you. She smiled and imagined Hugo trying to sit still for a rom-com or some slow-moving drama. Then again, she didn’t know anything about either of his parents. His mom might be into science fiction and fantasy.

  Want to hear something weird?

  What’s that?

  The three dots took forever to disappear. Don’t have to return the statue. It’s gone. My parents never saw it. Someone took it when we were going after the bat.

  That’s strange. It’s too ugly for anyone to want to steal. She decided to be a little goofy. Maybe it walked off on its own.

  Hugo didn’t respond for a long time.

  Finally, the three dots returned. Seconds later, his response popped up. You think so? I was actually wondering that but thought you’d call me crazy.

  She typed quickly. I was joking around. You don’t really think that, do you? What was Hugo doing? Of course she’d been joking.

  Oh, I thought you were serious. Another text quickly appeared. I meant it. He fired off another. What if the statue is magic? Like the bat and snake things are dark magic and the statue is like whatever you call the opposite of that, good magic?

  She took almost a minute to consider her reply. Finally, she committed. There’s no such thing as magic. You’re loopy from your crash. I gotta go.

  Lou stared at her screen, worried she had hurt his feelings.

  Finally, he responded. I understand. Just a theory. I’ll see you Tuesday for garden club.

  Bye.

  Later.

  She left her phone on her desk and curled up on her bed. A nap would be heaven right now. And maybe after dinner she’d offer to have a movie night with her mom, too.

  ****

  Her mom shook Lou’s shoulders. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

  Lou sat up and rubbed at her eyes, glancing around enough to see it was now dark outside. “What time is it?”

  Her mom sat at the edge of her bed, one hand behind her back, the other on Lou’s bare foot that stuck out from under her spread. “Almost eight. Kept the chili warm for you.”

  She slid out of bed and snagged her phone. No texts from either Hugo or Nelson.

  “Is everything okay?”

  And here it is. Nothing like light interrogation on an empty stomach. “Everything’s fine.” She scooted back on her bed and straightened her to-read pile of comics on her nightstand. She switched the latest issue of Amethyst to the top.

  “Well, it’s just that . . . when you came home from biking you were quite pale.”

  She pasted on a slight grin. “Well, that’s what I get for being out of shape. It’s been a while.”

  “It has.”

  Lou’s mom was thinking about how biking had been a Dad thing. He’d gone out with her almost every weekend.

  Lou changed the topic. “What’s behind your back?”

  Her mom’s demeanor softened, and she got a little flustered. “I thought I’d share something with you.” She withdrew her hand from behind her back and held out a stack of four comics.

  Lo
u recognized the character immediately. Rogue from the X-Men.

  Her mom extended her arm even more and nodded for Lou to take them.

  Were these from Dad’s collection?

  Lou took the comics and fanned them out on the bed. Four-issue mini-series. She flipped open the first and made note of the copyright—1995. She recognized the art. Mike Wieringo. The same artist who drew Tellos, a fantasy comic with a tiger guy and boy, if she trusted her memory. She’d read the collected edition and not the original issues. The artist had died far too young. She frowned. Her dad had a lot of X-Men titles, too many to recall, but she didn’t think she’d come across this before.

  Her mom looked nervous. “Your father had this crazy idea when we dated that he could ‘convert’ me into being in love with comics as much as he was. This was the first comic he had me read.”

  Lou tensed.

  “He bought me a few others.”

  “So you have some comics of your own?” Lou found this surprising.

  “Just one long box, and it’s not that full. Would you like to see them?” She started to stand.

  Lou shook her head and patted the bed to indicate she should stay.

  Her mom said, “Rogue keeps her distance because her powers can really hurt those who she reaches out to touch.”

  Lou wanted to tell her mom she knew Rogue’s powers, but didn’t.

  “I thought maybe it would help.” She looked down at the floor. “How silly. I’m sure you know all about her mutant powers.”

  Lou smiled. “I do. She’s pretty cool.”

  Her mom changed the subject. “It’s good you’re getting out. Do you think you might do more with Nelson and Hugo soon?”

  You bet, she thought. We have this mystery to solve, Mom. There are these bats with tails that disappear when you bash them into this statue that Hugo thinks is good magic. And flying snakes attacked us. And Hugo seems nervous and awkward like he doesn’t quite know how to fit in, too. And he thinks the statue walked off on its own.

  She didn’t share a single one of her tumultuous thoughts.

  Her mom noticed. “A lot going on in that head.” She slid two fingers through Lou’s hair and tucked a strand behind an ear.

  Lou shrugged.

  “Honey, would you want to start seeing the therapist again? She could help you with your new friendships.”

  “No.”

  “You sure? She might know ways to help you open up.”

  Lou scrunched her eyes closed, trying to blink the conversation out of existence. She opened her eyes as if testing to see if the chlorine was too strong in the pool. Part of her wished she could be underwater and not catch any more of her mom’s advice.“I’m fine.”

  Tears welled up in her mom’s eyes. “It’s just been—”

  “I know how long it’s been. I can tell you to the day. Do you want me to share that with them? Hey, boys, it’s been seven months and fourteen days since my dad died of cancer. Now that’s out in the open who wants to get ice cream?”

  Lou sprang off her bed, knocking the Rogue comics onto the floor. She raced out of her room and down the stairs. She fled into the hobby room and shut the door.

  Ferrigno pawed at the closed door and whined.

  Lou drew in two staccato breaths and flung open the door. The Lab rushed over and dropped his big black square head into her lap and exposed his belly. She scratched his sweet spot and buried her tears in his neck, brushing her cheek against his thick collar and causing the jingle of his tags to mix with her sobs.

  It didn’t take much to expose the painful loss. She hated how fresh it felt. Her dad was gone, lost to her.

  And her mom thought she needed instructions on how to make and keep friends. Lou winced and curled into a ball against Ferrigno, wishing for there to be magic in the world.

  Chapter 5

  Nelson Experiences a Furry Loss

  Nelson let Tally-Ho eat from his hand. His dad didn’t like him getting so close to wild animals, but his squirrel friend wasn’t an issue. He’d been feeding the rodent for almost two years. The squirrel jumped onto the lower porch step, scarfed up several pretzel pieces, and then hopped back down onto the sidewalk. Between bites, he either whirled in a tight circle or flicked his bushy tail, or did both.

  His parents were inside watching boring Sunday morning news. The talk shows always got his dad worked up about some crooked politician or another. Nelson only paid attention when the discussion turned to the environment. Everything else didn’t seem so pressing.

  He thought about the text from Lou. She’d sent it an hour ago, letting him know that the statue was gone. She’d also shared Hugo’s crazy theory that it was magic and had walked off. Nelson didn’t believe in any of that stuff. He was what his dad called a skeptic. He’d even done a report in third grade disproving the existence of Bigfoot.

  His class had seemed to enjoy it, coming up with a recess game they called Sasquatch Smash. They had insisted he be Bigfoot each time and had him slide empty tissue boxes over his shoes. The goal was for the cryptohunters to catch him and try to stomp the boxes off. His teacher had put a stop to it for some reason. Nelson had liked it because it had been one of the few times his classmates had paid attention to him. Now that he thought about it, Lou had been in that class. She hadn’t joined in. Of course, that was before middle school and garden club.

  Despite living across the street from each other, they hadn’t done anything together besides garden club.

  He and Lou were devoted club gardeners. He appreciated that she never missed a meeting or gardening opportunity. Spencer came so infrequently that he wasn’t a member in Nelson’s mind. He didn’t know what to make of Hugo. The boy didn’t seem that dedicated to the environment.

  Tally-Ho made a fuss. The squirrel had finished off the pretzels and wanted more. He nudged at Nelson’s open palm and batted at his fingers with his tiny arms.

  “I’ll have more later.” Nelson tucked the empty Ziploc bag into his pocket.

  The squirrel chittered and ran into the grass. He stopped halfway to his tree, looked back at Nelson, and sniffed the air. Deciding the boy wasn’t holding out on him, the squirrel scurried up into his tree.

  Nelson sat on the porch and watched two robins flutter about in the crepe myrtle growing in the side yard. One stayed on a branch, while the other hopped about, pecking at the ground. He pretended to eavesdrop on their animated chirping, generating a possible exchange between the two. Bird in the tree: Seen any good worms lately? Bird in the grass: No, you? Bird in the tree: Nope, but I know a guy who knows a guy who can set us up with some roly-polies. You in? Bird in the grass: Lead the way.

  Nelson watched the pair for another minute. When one flew off and the other stayed behind, he knew he’d guessed wrong with his fabricated conversation. He was about to generate another possible chat between the two that would explain why the one had left the other, when Lou walked out on her porch with a big green watering can.

  She watered the plants along the sidewalk and then moved back up on the porch to water her collection of potted plants. Nelson decided to join her. Maybe they could talk about the strange bats and snakes. He had some mutation theories he wanted to throw out there.

  He crossed the street and walked halfway across her lawn before he froze. If he waltzed over and talked to her now would she do the same to him? What if he was doing important animal observations and she barged in and ruined the session? What if he was about to witness a truly remarkable behavior and she intruded? He paused, unsure what to do. She hadn’t seen him or heard him, for that matter. Her earbuds were in. Was she listening to a gardening podcast? Maybe the same one he enjoyed every week. Who wouldn’t like tuning in to Harvest with Jarvis? The British horticulturist was the real deal. And this week’s installment had been a good one: Advanced Pitchforking.

  She turned around and spotted him.

  Lou drew a hand up to her chest. “Oh geez, don’t do that.”

  “Do what?”r />
  She placed the watering can on the porch and walked down to stand on the first step. “Stand in someone’s yard all silent.”

  Nelson wanted to ask her about the podcast. Was she a fan?

  “You almost made my heart stop.” She sighed.

  “Not very likely. I doubt you’re at risk for a cardiac event. Unless, there’s a family history of heart problems.”

  Lou studied him as if he were a specimen about to do something highly out of the ordinary. She smiled and sat down on the second step. She patted the open space to her left. “Come over. Maybe now’s a good time to talk.”

  “About what?” He’d been wrong about the bird conversation, maybe he was right regarding this chat. Lou was about to confess her love of all things Jarvis.

  “Okay.” He sat one step higher than her and noted the spider web spanning two spindles to his left. He situated himself closer to the spider than to Lou.

  She placed her elbows on her upper legs and propped up her face with her fists. “Hugo’s crazy theory.”

  Nelson didn’t know what to say. Lou hadn’t said it as a question.

  “The statue can’t be magic.” She spoke just above a whisper.

  “Because it doesn’t exist.”

  She looked back at him. “Right.”

  He resisted the urge to study the orb weaver. “I think Hugo’s bat might be the same one as ours.”

  “Why do you think that? Did they have the same markings?”

  He frowned. Why hadn’t he studied both more carefully? If he’d spotted a distinct feature like a stripe or discoloration or any enlarged facial features, but he hadn’t. That was so unlike him. “No, they were uniformly black. I mean, they both lacked fur but that doesn’t mean they’re the same individual.”

  “So what makes you think they’re one and the same? A hunch?”

  “I don’t do hunches. I can’t explain why I think they’re the same, I just do.”

  “That’s a hunch.” She grinned. “Nothing wrong with having one of those. It’s not like you contracted a disease just because you had one.”