Chapter 1 The First Day of Summer
The sun was blazing hot on the first day of summer as two young teenage boys darted amid the forest.
“Thad, wait up!” one of the boys shouted.
Thad Damous, (pronounced dáymus), was the older by four days over his friend, Richard Pad. Thad just laughed as he ran ahead of Richard, scampering here and there among the trees and bushes, leaving Richard behind to run after him, or so he tried to.
“You’re doing great, Richie ….”
“You know I hate that name,” the boy replied angrily while huffing and puffing.
“Oh, right, I forgot you hated it … sorry. How about Rich?”
“Much … better … could … you … please slow down?” he asked, out of breath as he raced to keep up with his friend.
“All right,” Thad said, stopping beside a nice birch tree. “But if an alien were chasing you, you wouldn’t want to stop! You do know what aliens do to their captives?”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t remind me,” Rich said, huffing and puffing, as he joined Thad under the shade of the birch tree. They’d stopped in a grove of birch, pine and oak trees that made such a great shade from the sun.
Both boys were thirteen and ready to enter the eighth grade. Thad stood a head taller with golden-brown hair that was cut reasonably short and he had dark-blue eyes. On the other hand, Rich had short black hair and black eyes, which sort of creeped Thad out a bit. The only other difference between them was that Rich had a bad leg from a baseball accident in the first grade. Thad had been there that day and saw how Rich was hurt, though he had nothing to do with it; the accident was caused as Rich tried to slide into home plate.
As Thad leaned against the tree to allow Rich to rest, the peaceful stillness of the forest settled around them and he began to wonder if this would be a boring summer or an adventurous one. He listened as the birds chirped happily and the squirrels chattered as they alighted from branch to branch. It made him feel good, as did the coolness of the shade.
The tree was part of a grove in a sizeable forest that had survived the previous summer’s fire. The trees now coming back to life spread up to the base of Coal Mountain, which was rock strewn and dotted with old mines and caves.
Once Thad saw that Rich was looking better, he asked, “So, how’s life been since we were six?”
“Okay, I guess,” Rich replied with a deep sigh. “Boring mostly and there are more bullies in our school than when you were here for first grade.”
“Sorry about that. You know I couldn’t help leaving, right?” Thad said, and really meant it too.
“I know.”
Thad sighed, then said, “If it weren’t for my mom leaving my dad, because he was always gone for long periods of time, (my grandpa, was too), I’d still be here.”
“What did they do?” Rich asked.
“They both worked for the government, secret stuff … that’s all I know” Thad said. “But now that grandpa has retired I can come here for my summer breaks.”
“Yeah, that’s great … but I sure wish you had stayed,” Rich said with a sigh. “So, where did you go?”
“To a boarding school out west, which really wasn’t all that bad.”
“So … was it called Marcel’s?”
“Yeah, how’d you know about Marcel’s?”
“Ms. Crump, my writing teacher, said she had heard it is for bad kids,” Rich replied.
“A lot she knows. You know, you ought to get your folks to let you go to school there. Man, you’d love it.”
“I’m not a bad kid!”
“Of course you’re not, and neither am I. But I know you’d love the subjects they have there, like writing, which is my favorite. Science Fiction, you can’t beat that.”
“Yeah, I bet …”
“What Rich?” Thad asked, turning to face his friend. Rich had a sad look on his face. “What is it? You can tell me, I’m good at keeping secrets.”
Rich nodded his head before saying, “My life hasn’t been that much different, other than boarding school. My dad disappeared three years ago and my mom … well, she nearly went to a psycho ward.”
“Oh … I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Rich said with a wave of his hand. However, Thad could still sense that Rich wasn’t finished and that something was still bothering him. So he waited.
In the end, though, they both became silent and slid down the tree to sit on the ground and enjoy the breeze.
Just then they heard footsteps rustling through the brush. Thad sat up and nearly stood as he looked around.
“Did you hear that?” Thad whispered.
“Yeah, it sounded like someone was running through – LOOK!” Rich said nearly shouting as he pointed to a shadowy figure far off.
“I wonder who it could be?” Thad said rising to his feet.
“Wait, Thad,” Rich said rising and putting a hand on Thad’s arm. “I bet that is the hermit everyone’s talking about.”
“Hermit? You mean there really is a hermit living up on Coal Mountain?” Thad asked as he tried not to lose sight of the shadowy figure.
“Yeah, didn’t your granddad tell you?”
“Yeah, but I thought he was pulling my leg or trying to scare me,” Thad said.
“Well, it’s been a rumor in town and the local police have tried to catch him, but nobody seems to know where he lives.”
“I think we do now,” Thad said. “Should we go after him and see which cave he lives in?
“Not me … not today, Thad,” Rich said with a slightly shaking voice.
“All right, but we need to find out … we can make it our summer adventure,” Thad suggested.
“You mean, your summer adventure,” Rich said laughing.
“Ha!”
Thad’s thoughts began to swirl as he wondered, might this end up being an excellent summer after all?
After the shadowy figure had gone out of sight and their heartbeats had slowed to normal, Rich said, “Now that he’s gone, what about you? How’s life been for you, Thad?”
“Huh? Oh, it’s much the same,” Thad said as he shook himself back to the present. “As I said, my mom split, and that was just after first grade. You do remember her?”
“Vaguely,” Rich replied.
“I think I was seven then, well six and a half … and then dad got called out to the Los Alamos lab and was gone for long periods of time.”
“So that’s when you went to boarding school,” Rich said.
“Yep, it sure was,” Thad replied, wondering if Rich’s hearing was getting bad.
“What did you do for summer breaks?” Rich asked.
“Summer breaks? Well, the first few summers were great. I had a blast at my mom’s parents’ house. I could explore the area and I made some friends, and I had a beagle follow me all over the place.”
“Cool, a beagle … was it your dog or your grandparents?”
“It was my grandparents’,” Thad replied.
“Excellent! Do you have any pictures of the dog?”
“No, and I won’t be going back there either. My mom got all upset that I was even there in the first place.”
“Really? Why? Why would your mom get mad at your being at her parents’ house?”
“Because, she blamed dad for the problems they had. She thought my dad ought to be the one taking care of me, not her parents,” Thad said with a sigh.
“Um, that’s not good.”
“No, it wasn’t. For two summers I was at my Aunt Megan’s house; she’s a librarian. And man, was that ever a boring time!”
“Really? I’d have thought you would have gotten to read a lot of books!” Rich said turning to face Thad.
“Yeah, I did. But that was the only good part of the two summers with my aunt. Otherwise, I had to stay in my room and be quiet all the time she wasn’t at work.”
“Yikes! Now that is bad.”
“Ha, you don’t know the half of it … Then last summer I was at my dad’s brother’s house and he made Aunt Megan look like a saint.”
“Huh … what, your aunt became a nun?”
“No, silly! She’s a librarian. Are you going deaf?” Thad asked.
“No, why?”
“Oh, never mind,” Thad said with a soft chuckle.
“Well, then go on … How was last summer?” Rich asked.
“Last summer was a bust.”
“Oh?”
“Yep, my uncle is a bartender and he would get drunk every Saturday night after work. He’d come in stinking and shouting and throwing things until he’d fall down on the living room floor and sleep it off. I hated it and told my dad.”
“Which is why you’re here at your grandparents’ this year, right?”
“Yep and boy, I am glad too. They’re really nice and I get to hang out with you again … I sure missed having you as a friend.”
“Thanks, but you would have hated school here with the three bullies I’ve had to confront.”
“Well … we’ve bigger problems now, Rich,” Thad said.
“We do?” Rich asked with a puzzled look on his face.
“Yep, that shadowy figure who slipped up into Coal Mountain.”
“Him? I’d leave that old coot alone. He ain’t hurting anyone,” Rich said.
“Maybe … oh, and ‘ain’t’, ain’t in the dictionary,” Thad said laughing.
“Yeah, I know … I looked it up when Ms. Crump told me to change my vocabulary.”
“She did?”
“Yeah,” Rich said with a chuckle.
Suddenly the rustle of leaves far off caught their attention as the shadowy figure reappeared, darting among the trees again. The boys held their collective breaths.
“There’s the hermit again,” whispered Rich.
“Yeah, I see,” Thad whispered back.
“Yep … Shh! Let’s not let him know we’re here.”
“Why not? We could find out who the ‘old coot’, as you call him, really is.”
Just then Rich’s cell phone rang – it was his mother.
“Well, your phone just gave us away,” Thad said as he watched the shadowy figure stop briefly before fleeing into the patches of darkness of the forest.
“Sorry,” Rich said before answering the phone. “Hey mom, what’s up? Oh, yeah … I forgot to tell you I’d be here with Thad Damous … you know, the Damous’ two doors down the street … right, just below Coal Mountain … yes. I am behind his grandparents’ home right now …okay, okay … sorry I forgot … Okay, I’ll tell him.”
Rich turned off his phone and placed it back in his carrying pouch.
“You’re mom, huh?” Thad asked eyeing Rich carefully.
“Yeah and I’ve got to go. My mom just returned from work.”
“Is she sore at you?” Thad asked.
“Naw, just worried.”
“Good,” Thad said feeling relieved. “So, you got to go somewhere then?”
“Yep. Mom says I’ve got a haircut appointment and we’ve got to do some shopping together afterwards. Sorry,” Rich said with a shrug of his shoulders.
“Don’t worry … I’ll enjoy exploring Coal Mountain without you. Besides, I know you’re chicken to go into the caves.”
“You … you actually remember?” Rich asked, looking flabbergasted.
“Of course,” Thad said grinning over at Rich.
“Can’t believe you remembered … wow! Well … I’ve got to go. Just remember to stay away from that hermit,” Rich admonished.
“Where’s your sense of adventure, Rich?” Thad asked.
Rich stopped in his tracks and turned to Thad and asked, “Your granddad really hasn’t told you much about him, has he?”
“No, not really. I think he mentioned him at breakfast. Why? Is he a criminal or something?”
“No one really knows. As I told you, the cops can’t seem to catch him in order to ask him questions.”
“Is he really that bad?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen him, but those who have say he’s a nut.”
“A nut, huh? And what should I do if I meet this hermit?” Thad asked, though he almost wished that he would.
“I don’t know … run I guess,” Rich said seriously. “Look, I’d better go before my mom calls again. Later Thad,” Rich said with a wave.
“Yeah, later,” Thad said nervously. “Hold up … will you call me tonight?”
“Sure, but what’s your number?”
Thad dug his phone out of his pocket, brought up the number and gave it to Rich.
“Excellent. I’ll text you first to make sure you can talk. Grandparents are weird around phones,” Rich said with a grin.
“Sure, okay,” Thad said.
“Great! See you later,” Rich said as he turned and ran back down toward Thad’s grandparents’ house where he retrieved his bike and rode off into the blazing heat.
“Great! Alone again,” Thad said with a sigh. He turned to stare up the path in the direction the shadow had gone. He wondered if the hermit was really a nut or just someone who wanted to be alone.
Then a voice called from behind him, “Thad, time for dinner!”
“Coming, Grandma!” Thad shouted back.
He took one last glance up the mountain, hoping the shadow would reappear, but, there was nothing there.
“Maybe we were just seeing things, I don’t know. But twice?” he said to himself before turning to run back down the same path on which Rich had gone, only he entered the back of his grandparents’ home to the smell of good cooking.
