Jennings' Folly Read online

“I know the metric system. I was an engineer.”

  “Okay, Gary. What do you want to bet the lizards have moved into the house by now?”

  Papaw glanced at me and turned back to Uncle Pat. Lowering his voice, he said, “Don’t say that. We need to be ready. I’ll go in first, you right behind and I want Liza Sue…” Papaw looked at Aunt Liza. “Are you listening to me?”

  Liza was paying attention to the baby but she nodded her head. “Yes sir,” she said.

  “You lag behind. If there’s any action, no questions asked, you back out. Understood?”

  Liza nodded again. “Yep.”

  “Good.” Papaw added, “If anything’s there, it’ll wish it weren’t.”

  Papaw always had a way with words.

  Back inside the striders, we started up the path again with Papaw in the lead. I watched from my perch through the little window thinking I might recognize things, but I didn’t.

  Riley was twisting in my arms. He was tired of riding and so was I. As we moved up one last hill, I could see another gate and a sloping lawn. The pointed roof of a house jutted up behind trees.

  Papaw and Pat pulled up to the gate and, leaving Kaliis in one machine and Toby in the other, they disembarked from their vehicles just as Riley let out a blood-curdling scream inside our strider. My ears rang for minutes. It was so loud, both Pat and Papaw heard it. Scared them too because it came from behind. Could be they were simply jumpy before the prospect of searching the farm for kitzloc monsters.

  We watched from the confines of the strider as they pulled an assortment of weapons from storage. They had the Vimbachers, of course, as well as hand blasters, a laser kit, assorted explosives, gases, sprays, timers, and whatever else Pat could dream up, him being the weapons expert and all.

  They pulled on overalls and helmets and right before my eyes, they disappeared.

  “Those overalls make them invisible,” said Liza.

  “Cool. I want one.”

  Without anything to see and with Riley kicking and screaming, sitting inside the strider was the last thing I wanted to do.

  Riley let out another scream but I managed to turn away in time to save my eardrums. Riley kept making noise and squirming until Aunt Liza began to softly sing a lullaby. The baby already knew his momma’s voice and quieted down so he could hear.

  I was busy with Riley so I didn’t see Uncle Pat when he re-appeared at the top of the hill. It was Liza who saw him. “There’s Pat,” she said. “He’s waving at us. He wants us to come up there.”

  The hatch popped and I pushed it open with one hand while cradling Riley with my opposite arm and hand. I was so happy to get out of there and I guess Riley was too because as soon as we got outside, he stopped his screaming and kicking altogether.

  Liza let Kaliis out and then took Toby from the other strider.

  Uncle Pat watched us from the top of the hill as we walked up the inclining lawn. I recognized everything – it wasn’t like memories came rushing over me, it wasn’t like that at all. I knew where I was and I felt… happy about it. Apprehensive because of the kitzloc, but happy.

  As we approached the top of the hill, Liza asked where Papaw was.

  “He’s in the house.” Pat pointed at the open door and added, “The door was unlocked.”

  “Somebody’s been here?”

  “Looks like it.”

  “I’m not surprised. Did they take anything?”

  “That’s why Gary is still looking around.”

  Liza hitched up Toby as he started to slip from her grasp. Toby hiccupped in response. Riley opened his eyes and looked at me as Liza asked if we could go inside.

  Uncle Pat started to tell us how we should wait for Papaw when Papaw came out. Both he and Uncle Pat still carried their Vimbachers. One side of the double barn doors was loose and it swung back and forth, shadows pushing one direction then pulling in another. Because of the snow, it couldn’t swing freely, but it got Papaw’s attention and he signaled Pat to go with him to check it. He turned and pointed at the front door of the house. Liza understood just as surely as if Papaw had spoken to her and she nodded at him and took me inside, shutting the door behind.

  Liza set Toby on a couch and told him to stay put, then took Riley from me. “Keep an eye on Toby,” she said as she started up the stairs.

  It was wonderful to be there. No bad memories at all; however, I was more tuned into what Uncle Pat and Papaw were doing than being in the house again. I climbed a chair, pushed the curtains aside, and watched them at the barn door. I wanted to be there instead of hiding in the house.

  Pat tied the loose door while Papaw waited. When it was secure, they faced the darkened barn interior and stepped inside and out of my sight.

  I waited and watched for a couple of minutes, but neither re-appeared. Footsteps overhead told me Liza was still looking around. I climbed down, opened the door, and looked towards the barn.

  All was quiet. The snow was deep and I could see where Pat and Papaw had waded through. I kept expecting to see or hear them, but neither showed and I started to get worried. Naturally, that’s when they stepped from the barn, their guns slung over their shoulders. Papaw waved at me and I waved back.

  From the house, Liza suddenly hollered for help. She sounded scared. It frightened me, but Pat was the first to react by covering the distance from the barn to the house in great, leaping strides, passing me and entering the house at a full run. I heard him bound up the stairs, calling Aunt Liza’s name. She answered him, saying, “Up here!”

  Papaw came by with Kaliis following like a shadow and the old man swept me and Toby up with one hand. He carried us up the stairs and set us down outside the big bedroom. There was a bathroom in there too, as well as a big closet on the other side of that. When I heard Liza say “In here,” I knew she was in that big closet.

  I stood in the doorway and watched Papaw at the bathroom door. He looked at me and motioned toward the dusty bed. Riley laid in the middle of the mattress holding his feet with his hands and looking at the ceiling. A candle was burning atop an adjacent chest. I went to Riley and picked him up.

  Papaw had gone inside the bathroom but I could still hear the three adults talking. They sounded calm enough but I wanted to see what had made Aunt Liza yell so loud, so I took a look.

  The bathroom was dirty and a little stinky too. Pat and Liza and Papaw were all at the open door to the big closet. Liza pointed a blaster at something as Uncle Pat shined a light.

  I stepped up behind Papaw with Riley cooing from the big bed and looked between Papaw’s long legs.

  Hunkered in a corner of the closet was a young man. Maybe an older boy would be a better way to describe him, but it looked like he’d been there for a while. Additionally, he was the dirtiest person I’d ever seen in my life.

  Chapter 5

  Phineas Dekalb admitted he’d been staying in the house but insisted he’d tried to be careful with the furniture.

  “It don’t matter,” said Uncle Pat, “you’re trespassing.”

  “Oh come on,” Phineas countered. “Nobody’s here and it’s winter!”

  “You’re half-right,” Pat replied. “It’s winter.”

  “I didn’t expect anybody.”

  “That’s funny,” said Papaw. “Now get downstairs. Pronto!”

  Aunt Liza led the way to the big room where Pat built a fire in the stone fireplace. Liza kept her blaster trained on the boy as Papaw questioned him.

  “Phineas?” asked Papaw.

  The boy looked at my Grandfather.

  “That’s your real name?”

  Phineas nodded.

  “What brings you out here? You from Summit?”

  Phineas shook his head again. “Not exactly,” he said, glancing nervously at Kaliis the alien.

  Pat menacingly held an iron poker. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means yes I lived at Summit for a while but someplace else before that.”

  “Oh, I get it,” sa
id Pat, “You don’t get along. Am I right?” Pat got closer to the boy. “What’s your trick anyway? What made them drive you out?”

  “The people at Summit didn’t drive me out. I chose to leave that screwed-up place.”

  “So you say,” said Papaw. “How about before that? Where are your parents?”

  Phineas was bold. He didn’t lower his gaze once and Papaw is an intimidating man. “Ain’t got none,” he answered.

  “Where were you before Summit?”

  Phineas hesitated.

  “What are you hiding, boy?”

  “Not hiding anything. I like my privacy, that’s all.”

  “You sneak into someone’s house, you lose your right to privacy. Now answer the question.”

  “I was born in Calgary, all right? My parents were newcomers to Dreidel; they didn’t know about the lizards. They were herders and figured they knew all about the outdoor life. The lizards got ‘em both.”

  Liza asked Papaw where Calgary was located and Papaw replied it was a hundred and fifty kilometers to the southeast, on the coast.

  “So what happened to you?”

  “Nothing. I was a baby. I don’t know why the damn things didn’t drag me off too.”

  “Who took care of you after that?”

  “Ah, different people. I got passed around and when I got older I got in trouble and they started putting me in jail.”

  “What did you get in trouble for?”

  “Nothing really.”

  “Tell the truth.”

  “I am.”

  “Then what’d you get in trouble for? You a fighter? You got a temper? Something like that?”

  “No, nothing like that.”

  “Then what?”

  Phineas smiled in a way that showed the young man was older than his years. “When you’re on your own, you get hungry, you know? I stole things.”

  “Ah, he’s a thief by nature,” said Pat. To Grandpaw, he added, “What are we going to do with him?”

  Kaliis held up a long, bony forefinger for attention. We all fell silent because it was out of the ordinary for Kaliis to voluntarily speak.

  “What is it?” Papaw gruffly said.

  “Owing to our circumstances in this dreadful cold weather, I suggest we consider eating our captive. He’s fresh, young, potent protein.”

  “Now Kaliis, you know we don’t eat one another.”

  “If you’re just going to put him out, well, it rather seems a waste of good meat to me.”

  “We can’t just put him out in this cold,” stated Liza.

  “The hell we can’t,” Uncle Pat snapped back.

  Pat had done a good job getting a fire going and the room was beginning to heat. The warm air also seemed to stimulate Phineas’ body odor.

  I told Aunt Liza, “He needs a bath,” and she nodded her agreement.

  “He may not be around long enough,” mumbled Papaw as he turned away and headed for the basement door.

  “What are you doing?”

  “The first thing to do is to get some power going. If I remember correctly, there’s a fusion generator in a housing downstairs. If I can bring it online, we’ll be in business.”

  “What do we do about this guy?”

  “Keep an eye on him,” said Grandpaw as he disappeared down the basement stairs. “I might be hungry later,” he mumbled.

  Liza sighed. She still had her blaster trained on Phineas, but she casually re-holstered it. Other than his smell, Phineas didn’t offer much of a threat.

  Pat put down the poker too but not before he warned Phineas to “mind himself.”

  Liza asked him what had he been eating and he answered, “Whatever I can find.”

  “What? Stored food here in the house?”

  “There was some,” he admitted, “but mostly I run traps.”

  That caught Uncle Pat’s interest. “Animal traps?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Ain’t you afraid of the lizards?”

  Phineas shrugged. “When it’s your time to go, nothing can stop it. No use worrying about it. If it ain’t your time, there’s nothing to be skeered about.”

  “Hm. You seen anybody since you been here?”

  “Not a soul.”

  “Any lizards?” I asked.

  Phineas spoke to me for the first time. “You like lizards?”

  I shook my head. “Negatory,” I told him, “I’m going to help my Papaw kill every last lizard on Dreidel.”

  “Ya’ll likely will be busy for a good long time, then,” Phineas replied.

  “That’s why we came,” I volunteered. “To get rid of ‘em.”

  *

  To Papaw’s credit, and with Kaliis’ help, he was able to bring the fusion generator online. We didn’t have electricity for a few hours afterwards because, as Pat explained, it still took a while to replenish the storage batteries. The fireplace provided plenty of warmth in the downstairs room.

  While Papaw fiddled with the generator, Pat found the water cut-off for the well plus the heater controls for the plumbing system.

  “What’s that used for?” Liza asked.

  “Keeps the pipes from freezing. And…”

  “Yes?”

  “Well, I’m not sure, but it looks like it may heat the floors too.”

  “I hope you can get it working.”

  “Gary can. He’s a genius when it comes to stuff like this.”

  “So,” started Phineas, “where you folks from? Don’t sound like you’re from Dreidel. Been on planet long?”

  Both Pat and Liza ignored him, but I was sitting in a rocking chair beside the fire and I leaned in his direction and whispered, “New York City!”

  Phineas sat back on the couch. “Wow,” he said. “The Big Apple.”

  I didn’t know what he meant but I played along. “Yep,” I agreed, “it looks just like a big apple.”

  Papaw came up from the basement and paused in the doorway. To the right of the door was a traditional light switch. Papaw fingered it on and the overhead lights came to life. “Let there be light,” he proclaimed.

  Pat and Liza were surprised and Liza exclaimed, “Oh thank you, thank you, now we can get the entire house warm. Do you think there will be water?”

  Pat stepped to the sink and turned on the faucet. The opening choked out an airy response that was followed by first, a trickle that soon grew into a strong, steady stream.

  “Hot water?” suggested Liza.

  Grandpaw rubbed his cheek. “There’s a water exchange in the basement. With any luck, we should have hot water shortly.

  Pat said, “Looks like Eugene knew what he was doing when he built this place.”

  Phineas piped up again. “Ya’ll know Eugene Jennings?”

  “Sort of,” said Pat, glancing at Grandpaw.

  “He was a good man,” said Phineas. “He sure wouldn’t have minded about me staying here. I knew Eugene. He was my friend.”

  “What do you know about Eugene?” asked Papaw.

  “I know he came here and made a good life for himself. He didn’t put up with the bloodsuckers in town, neither. What happened to him and his family was a crying shame.”

  What Phineas said gave Papaw a moment’s pause, but then he turned away, saying, “None of that gives you the right to break inside.” He went to the kitchen sink, pulled off his gloves and began washing his face and hands.

  “I didn’t break nothing,” insisted Phineas. “There was a key hidden outside. Anybody who knew Eugene knew he kept a key outside. Ya’ll are strangers here. You don’t know but it’s customary to welcome travelers, because of the lizards…”

  Aunt Liza squinted her eyes at Phineas and said, “But you’re not here because of the lizards, are you?”

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Why are you here? Don’t you have anywhere to go? Don’t nobody want you?” asked Pat.

  “Oh yeah, plenty want me. The police in Calgary, Jonah and his boys…”

  “You got a proble
m with Jonah?”

  “Jonah’s got a problem with me. He took it personal when I swiped gear and a kit and took off after the first snow. I just couldn’t take Summit anymore and I couldn’t go back to Calgary. I thought I’d go native, you know? I just didn’t count on it getting so cold.”

  Papaw gave Phineas a long hard look as he dried his hands. He signaled to Pat to join him outside and the two put their gloves and coats back on and went outside with Kaliis, shutting the door and leaving Phineas, Aunt Liza, Toby, Riley and me sitting around the fire. Liza had holstered her blaster, but she kept touching it. Whether as a reminder to herself or Phineas, I don’t know.

  A bit of time passed and the only one to say anything was Riley who was mostly sleeping, except for a time he made cooing sounds like a tiny bird. I was amazed and we listened to the baby in the warmth of the fire.

  Papaw entered abruptly without Uncle Pat. We all jumped when he came in. Without any explanation, Papaw looked at Phineas and said, “You, come with me.”

  The boy didn’t want to go and this time you could see the fear in his eyes.

  Aunt Liza looked at Papaw but Papaw kept focused on Phineas. Motioning with the business end of his Vimbacher, Papaw said, “Let’s go.”

  Resigned to his fate, Phineas gave a half-hearted smile before rising to his feet. His eyes wandered to the hallway across the room, to escape, but Papaw watched him closely and shook his head as if to warn him about making a break for it. Grandpaw stepped aside and let Phineas walk out ahead of him.

  I sprang to the window and watched as they walked toward the barn. Phineas avoided walking next to Kaliis. “What are they doing?” I asked Liza, but Liza seemed strangely detached.

  “Come sit by the fire,” she suggested.

  “I’m warm.” I looked out the window at the four of them as they entered the barn. Papaw stopped inside the door and said something to Uncle Pat. Pat nodded and pulled the barn door shut.

  Liza sat in my father’s rocker and rocked Riley back and forth. He was asleep and Liza stared into the fire as she rocked.

  Bored, I went upstairs after Liza told me to put on my coat. Apparently, Phineas wasn’t the first to come into the house. Household items were moved or missing, there were spills staining the floor and even bare footprints. The furniture was still there but Phineas had broken up a couple of chairs (handmade by Eugene Jennings) for firewood. If Mother were alive, I’m sure she would have been livid.