Fascinating Authors

CHAPTER 1

“This is a secret meeting,” Drew Newman whispered as he pulled his letterman’s jacket close about his lean runner’s body. He sat perched on a log beside the crackling fire at the edge of his backyard. His green eyes darted back and forth between his two friends. “You can’t tell anyone what we’re going to talk about.”

“Dude, I’m a ‘real man.’ Of course I can keep a secret.” Javon Manson ground out an ember that popped from the fire. He fiddled with his do-rag and dreadlocks threatened to spill out. He shifted his muscular body as he tried to find a comfortable position on his log.

Mattie Royz shivered as a chill wind tossed her red hair into blue eyes. She pulled her windbreaker tight around her petite, slightly plump frame. “Oh my gosh, Javon, you are so lame. I’m not a ‘real man,’ but I can keep a secret, too.”

“All right.” Drew slid the marshmallow off his roasting stick and popped it in his mouth. Hearing a noise, he turned toward the trees that stood beyond the flickering light of the fire.

At that moment, a tall, broad man carrying a sword stepped from the night’s shadows and approached the teens, a dark hood hiding his face. A gust of wind brought the smell of rain and tossed his long, black cloak aside, revealing a pristine white tunic. A red sash belted his waist.

Drew sucked in his breath as the man cat-walked up to him, sword held at his side.

“Stand up,” the man commanded, pointing his sword at Drew. Shaking, Drew gulped and stood, then tripped on a loose shoestring.

“Stand up,” the man said. When Drew stood, the man lifted the tip of his sword to Drew’s chin. “Where is it?”

“Where is what?”

“Don’t trifle with me. Where is the book?”

Drew was so nervous he couldn’t think. “What book?”

“Yeah, what book,” Javon said, surprising Drew. Drew glanced at Javon and Mattie, who had come to stand beside him, nervously shifting from one foot to another.

“Shh,” Drew whispered.

“It’s a very special book,” the man prodded again. “You know which one.”

Drew wiped his sweaty hands on his Levi’s, inhaling the familiar, pungent odor of the campfire. Only one book was special–a journal. His mom’s journal. He’d touched it, and when he’d done so, it had left a peculiar webbed scar on the back of his left hand. She’d cautioned him not to tell anyone about the book or how he’d gotten the scar. Since he had not told anyone about the book, what could this man know of it?

“Are you talking about my mom’s journal?” Drew asked.

“Your mom’s, hmm. Yes, that would be it. Where is it?”

“I don’t know. It must be lost because I haven’t seen it in years.”

“This book is not lost,” the man said, his voice flat and hard.

A second man wearing a black leather jacket and jeans slid out from the night’s shadows. His sword reflected the fire’s flames. The first man withdrew his sword from beneath Drew’s chin, leaned into his friend, and the two men whispered. The interrogator looked at Drew, who shivered in the damp wind. “You are fortunate, young man, that pressing matters require my attention elsewhere. I will see you again.”

At that, he sheathed his sword, and the two men disappeared into the darkness. The three teens stared at each other. Would the men come back? Were they in danger? A soft, cool rain began to fall as Javon hollered, “Run!  Run!”

#     #     #

Panting, the teens stumbled into Drew’s ranch-style house. Mattie slammed the door behind them and shot the deadbolt home. Leaning over, she rested her hands on her knees, breathing hard. “I bet those guys followed us. They could break into the house, like through the windows or something.”

“You’re right!” Drew said. “Quick, let’s check the windows and doors, make sure they’re locked.”

Finished, they all came back to living room. “Whew!,Glad that’s taken care of,” Drew said as he shrugged off his coat and hung it beside the front door. Although he would never admit it aloud, he was scared. If Mattie was right, he and his friends could be in big trouble.

“We should call 9-1-1.” Javon’s chocolate eyes darted around the room while he removed his wet, letterman’s jacket from broad shoulders and hung it beside Drew’s. He walked over to the couch and sat on one of its arms, swinging a leg.

“Yeah, and tell them what? That a couple of mean dudes in black entered our fire circle and waved swords at us?” Mattie removed her windbreaker and slung it over the back of a nearby recliner and sat.

Javon stared hard at the front door. “What are we going to do if they break into the house?”

Drew gulped. “I don’t know, improvise.” He looked around for weapons, and his eyes lit on the fireplace tools standing on the hearth. He gestured with his hand. “Why don’t we each take one? At least that way we’d have a small chance at fighting them off.”

“Good idea.” Javon grabbed the poker. Hefting it in his hand, his smile was grim as he returned to the couch.               Mattie removed the shovel from the rack and joined Javon.

That left the broom for Drew. It wasn’t much, he thought, but better than nothing. He grasped it in a trembling hand. He thought about how big the men’s swords were and how, curiously enough, the one man seemed to know about his mom’s journal. He tried to shake off his fear. “I guess that’s the best we can do until we talk to my dad.” He looked around. “Speaking of, I wonder where he is.

“Dad! Dad, where are you?”

No response.

“What if those guys kidnapped him?” Javon asked.

Drew looked at his friends, eyes round. “Maybe,” he said uncertainly.

“Nah,” Mattie said. “He didn’t ask about your dad, Drew. He asked about the book.”

Drew nodded, relieved by Mattie’s logic. He crossed the living room and stopped at the newel post at the bottom of the stairs. “Dad!” he called.

Still no response from Rory Newman.

“Let’s check the dining room table. He may have left a note.”

The teens hurried into the dining room and found a scrawled note that read, “Drunk hit my boat. Had to go to the dock. Left 9:30. Back soon. Dad.”

Drew checked his watch. “It’s ten fifteen. We’ve got some time before he gets home.”

“Hope nobody comes and kills us before then,” Javon muttered.

Drew hoped so, too, and the three tromped back into the living room. Clutching her shovel, Mattie perched on the edge of the couch, elbows resting on her knees. Drew joined Javon on the floor and leaned against the couch, tools held tight, casting uneasy glances at the locked front door.

Lightning flashed behind the front window’s drawn shades, thunder boomed, and rain poured in earnest. The friends started as they heard a loud crack outside. Drew thought he might wet his pants.

“What was that?” Javon asked in a low voice.

Mattie whispered, “They’re out there, just like I said. What are we going to do?”

“Maybe it’s not anyone. Maybe it’s a tree branch.” Drew wasn’t about to tell his two friends he was spooked.

“Yeah, that must be it.” Javon nodded.

Drew listened, but he couldn’t hear anything other than the hard-hitting rain.

Mattie huffed, chewed her gum hard and glanced at the curtained front window. “We’ve gotta figure out who those men are and where they came from.”

“I don’t know how,” Javon said.

The three friends sat, each with their own thoughts.

Javon jumped at another loud roll of thunder. “Those guys were scary, especially that first guy.”

“You’re telling me? I thought I was a goner.” Drew fingered his chin where the sword had poked him, remembering how scared he’d been.

Mattie’s jaws worked hard as she chewed her gum. “That first man was sure dressed weird. But what’s really important is who they are, where they come from, and even more important, are they coming back?”

“And how is it that these men happened to be close to our campfire at the same time I had called a secret meeting?” Drew kept a close eye on the front door.

Mattie’s face was serious. “I don’t know. The first guy stepped out from behind that big rock, and I’ll bet he heard every word we said.”

“We didn’t get a chance to say much,” Javon said.

“Someone is watching Drew because he has a secret. That’s what makes sense to me.” She looked at Drew. “Are you going to tell us what it is, and what book he was asking about?”

“In a little bit,” Drew said. It might be best if they moved upstairs, he thought. No, that wouldn’t work. If someone were to break into the house, they wouldn’t know, and a potential murderer could surprise them. Mattie was right. He needed to share his secret. His friends were in danger because of it. He sighed. Strange and mysterious happenings surrounded his mother’s missing journal. Again.