Granny was the only one left in the house; as the shadows leap about the room, she warms her hands by the fire. She tosses EJ's shoes into the fire, which she found under his bed marked as school shoes for the winter. A small whisper enters the room. "Granny," cold chills, heading down towards the hall into the room with a jug in his hand and a card with a present to her and from an old friend.
Dear Granny, I thought you would like to try some of my corn husk moonshine from an old recipe.
Granny turns around. "Nah, just hearing things," tossing the shoes into the fire, taking a swallow before heading down the hall to bed. Opening the door to the room, she saw the jug on the table. She smiled at the note beside it. "Oh, how sweet," looking towards the window where Aunty M. and the Downings are sleeping. "They left me a gift," wiping a tear from her eye. Pulling the cork, taking a whiff, a small wisp of wind tickles her ears.
"No, Granny, it's from me," as she turns around, seeing him sitting in the chair with two glasses. Mr. Golden Eyes himself, sickness, and health; another man called Death introduces himself as the door closes, locking them in. Granny throws back her head and laughs as he pours her a glass and one for him.
He is too handsome to resist. As she looks deep into his golden eyes, he knows she is his. They drank a few glasses, danced to soft music in the room, and talked until the wee hours of the night, and then, as she dozed off, he crept off into the shadows of the night as the Downing family slept outside on the foundation while Granny slept down the hall in Aunty M's room in a nice soft feather bed.
Smoke slowly filled the house from the burning shoes in the fireplace. From the rubber soles, they leaped out onto the wooden floor, melting the hot liquid rubber onto the rug in front of the fireplace. With a little help from Morgan, he lures Margaret right where he wants them. He also knows he needs to get the Dark Prince out of this home and back into his parents' care. Knowing that if he doesn't do it soon, he could lose the opportunity and his chance of getting the prize.
The Downing's were incorruptible; every time he tried, they turned down the chance of making them rich and powerful. Most of all, the Council of Light is watching the boy too closely here. Twice, he has had to intervene and stop them. He has tried to hurry things up twice so this boy will be ready to take his place by his side. Only to have them interfere with his plans. It didn't take long before the rug ignited into flames and spread quickly throughout the house.
Doc felt the sudden heat from the house and the light from the windows, hearing someone yell. "FIRE! FIRE!" Coming from Martha, she woke her husband with a start, and the children ran to safety while Wayne and the boys grabbed buckets of water.
Doc, counting heads, noticed Granny and Aunty M were not there where they should be. Panic struck him as he heard the window break, seeing Aunty M. diving into the house after Granny through the backdoor rushed in after her to help. Doc and Aunty M. retrieved Granny from the room, coming through the open window, yelling for Wayne as he ran over and pulled everyone out before the beams came down around them.
All they could do was watch as the house went up in smoke, huddled around, dousing the flames with their small buckets of water. Others down the road came to help, but it was too late. The house was gone. They were only able to save a few things, but everything else was gone as morning came. Help finally arrived after they put out the hot spots and the cinders with shovels.
The children are in tears as Ma, aunts, and other farmer ladies try to calm them. EJ was worried and started to panic now that the house was gone; so was he because nobody had a place to live, and he feared that he would have to return. Fear started returning to his mind; he needed a place to hide. He knew a storm was coming and needed a place to hide from it.
EJ looked at his new family; he knew they could not handle what was coming. They had more problems to deal with than they could handle. It was time to leave as he looked towards the road. EJ makes sure the sheet is tied around his waist, grabs the crutch, slips off into the darkened shadows, and disappears, wiping the tears from his eyes. He does not know that a dark wizard named Morgan is behind this, knowing that he wants him to leave the Downing so Morgan can take him, turn him against the world the boy lives in, and destroy it as he has done with so many worlds before.
He didn't know he was destined to be the Dark Prince until last night when the visitor came and took him away to warn and prepare him. He had no idea why this visitor seemed so familiar. Every time he tried to access that memory, it was as if something was blocking him.
Everyone was busy bustling about in the commotion and never noticed EJ missing for at least an hour. Ma and Pa were too busy gathering the children to take them all to New Downing to one of the barracks to get some rest to notice that he had gone. "Will, have you seen EJ? He was right here," Ma said, pointing to the spot under the tree where they left him.
"No, Ma," he said.
"How about you, Robert?" Ma asked, looking around the farm, begins to panic.
"No, Ma, he was right here," Robert replies. He couldn't believe he was really gone, where would he go, and why? Martha turned to Wayne with fear in their eyes, gazing towards the remains of the house, then up and down the road of the farm.
"No, Wayne," she gasped, putting her hand to her mouth. "He wouldn't?"
Martha stared at Wayne as they began tearing the farm apart, looking for him but never finding him. The family panicked, dashing about the farm, calling out, "EJ!" hoping he would answer. "He couldn't have gone too far," Ma replied as the tears flowed down her cheeks as they searched, which was true. He was hiding in the best place of all. He wasn't going to tell; he was too busy eating sweet cornbread.
With EJ gone missing, they didn't know what to do; Ma and Pa knew they all needed some shelter for all of them. New Downing was the place that had everything they needed. Of course, Cracken Villa would be closer, but temporary, considering everyone was moving to New Downing, where the barracks and trade were coming through. The tents will come down in another month or two as the people settle in and return to their homes.
According to the latest news, the Farmers Picnic was coming to a close and was the largest on record, nine hundred. The problem was that more were still coming daily; we had six to seven weddings a night, twenty-five new babies, and a new cemetery opened. Aunty M. paced as she looked down the road, feeling useless. "If you want, I can take the little ones and the girls to New Downing, send back some clothes for the boys, then when you find him and when you come back, we'll have everything set up for you, and I'll give that boy a piece of my mind. Imagine running off like that," Aunty M. said, looking towards the house, still smothering with a little wisp of black smoke. "It wasn't his fault, just dumb luck, that's all," she replied.
"Thanks, Aunty M.," Martha said, hugging her and wiping the tears from her eyes. I wonder why he left. We can replace a house but a family," she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I know, dear. Now scoot, I've got it. We'll see you in a while, and if I see EJ, I'll hog-tie him to a bed for you, dear. He won't dare move a muscle," she said, climbing into the buggy. "Alright, Julie, how about you drive, dear? My hands are a little bit sore," she said.
"But I've never," Julie replies.
"Oh, you haven't done a lot of things, dear," he said, giving her the reins and holding on tight. With a flick of the wrist, the horses came to life with a hard start and jumping, leaving the front of the barn. Then they started to gallop, everyone hanging on tight as they went past the remains of the house and down the road a few paces.
Girls held onto Sam and Ted, boys laughed, and Julie tried to hold tight onto the reins of the buggy. Her face turned white as a sheet, trying not to panic as they turned around the corner; the wheel slightly lifted off the ground when she turned. Aunty M's face was calm and collected as a cucumber, then the buggy swerved just a little as it got back into control.
Julie lets out a big sigh. "That wasn't so difficult," looking at Aunty M's face for a moment as the horse evens out to a nice clipped-clop down the road.
Aunty M. laughs. "Julie dear, you are on your way to becoming a fine woman." Sam and Ted are in their lap, heading down the road, waving to the people as they go down the road in their buggy to New Downing. "Next time, we'll let Anna drive," she said as she put her arm around her. Would you like that, dear?" Aunty M. laughed.
Pa, Ma, and the boys searched high and low all over the farm, "EJ" called out his name. Derrick was angry as he watched the Downing's search for the boy. He was doing his best to protect them from Morgan; this is the fourth time he has had to intervene because of him. Now, he was trying to get the boy to leave home. So he could manipulate the events that he and the Council of Light were doing everything it took to prevent the Dark Prince from rising. As the prophecies stated, Jeff was dead and could no longer be the White Solon, so that was the key to returning the darkness where it belonged.
Yet that left the Dark Prince, and what they had gathered was the boy EJ, was the Dark Prince if Morgan could complete the rituals that not only free his master Hess but also allow the Dark Prince to arise, something that couldn't be allowed to happen. All the work would be for nothing. They had hoped that if they found a loving home such as the Downing's, the boy would be safe, and people would gather around him not only to protect him but also provide help to save this world and the other worlds beyond, by not allowing the Dark Prince to rise.
With a wave of his hand, he blows sleeping dust onto the boy and takes his other hand, forcing the white sheet around the boy to push through the cracks, and with a nod of approval, he plants an idea in the minds of Robert and Will where to look. His job was done at the moment. The boys discovered EJ's hiding place. He could hear Morgan cursing as he dissipated. As time passed, he called reinforcements to help protect the boy, and Morgan was desperate and more powerful. Sooner or later Morgan would win, so Morgan believed.
Robert noticed a piece of the sheet in the corner of the rooster pin, tucked in the corner, sticking out of a hole in the ground. The brothers sigh with relief as they find Pa and Ma telling them they found him. Pa, opens the lid of the pin of the rooster, finding him fast asleep, covered in dirt and feathers. Mr. Rooster snuggled up with him on his lap. Will and Robert carefully remove the rooster while Pa picks him up in his arms, setting him down next to Ma, where he belongs. Ma takes a handkerchief to wash his face, rocking him gently against her until nothing is left except dry tears.
Ma and the boys all head back to New Downing, where everyone is waiting happily, and all the aunts are giving him a piece of their mind. Pa told him the house was not all that important; it was just made of wood filled with stuff, and we could always build another. He didn't know how they would do it by spring, but that's not important, Pa said as he put his hand on his shoulder and smiled. "The important thing is we're all safe, and altogether, that's what counts and matters most, right, boys?" He replied.
"Right, Pa, yes, sir," his sister said as they smothered him with kisses and hugs. Ma cleans him up, changes his bandages, puts him back to bed, sits in the chair next to him, and begins sewing him a new set of clothes.
Pa and the boys headed back to the farm to see what they could salvage from the house after finding them all a change of clothes. When they got there, they found a whole crew of men with wagons lined up. "Well, are you just going to stand there gawking at us, boys? We have a house to build," Mr. Stringham said, pulling out an extra set of plans.
"Yes, sir," the boys and Wayne reply as they run into the barn, grabbing their belts off the wall.
Wayne is laughing and astounded at all the men as Aunty M. and Marty come pulling in with another supply of lumber and yelling. "YAH! YAH!" With three more right behind them, enough to get them started. "Wayne, we just thought you could use some more," she said, slapping him hard on the back, knocking the wind right out of him. "Now let's gets crackin'," Aunty M. replies. The men and boys cleared the entire old house away and laid part of the new foundation of the new home by suppertime.
It was impressive, to say the least, except for a few minor details. Martha comes over with Aunty M., who is walking over, inspecting the work, and looking over their shoulders. "So where's the storage room and fruit cellar going to be located for the kitchen roughly, David?" Aunty M. said, looking at the foundation.
"Fruit cellar?" He replied lost. Scratching his head, he looked at the ground, then at the general direction of the kitchen, and then at the list of items planned to be built. "Nobody said anything about a fruit cellar," he said.
"Well, we can't have a house without one," rolling their eyes, "just not natural, no, sir," hands him a shovel. The boys spend another day digging a hole in the ground big enough to suit them and laying the foundation again, adjusting and making things a little bit bigger. Things were going smoothly until the walls started going up and more minor details. David was standing in the living room where the living room was supposed to be. "I can't put my finger on it, but isn't there supposed to be a fireplace in here somewhere?" Aunty M. said, looking at the plans. "I don't even see a chimney; that's strange; all that firewood was going to waste out in his barn, and no fireplace. Who drew these plans?" Aunty M. said, looking over his shoulder.
David threw down the clipboard, steaming. "I did, and they said nothing about no fireplace, cellar, or chimney!" He walked away to cool off.
"I was just asking," Aunty M. said, watching him leave rolling her eyes, she said. "Men are so touchy." Aunty M. decides it's better to make a copy of this here list, see what else was missing, make a few extra notes, adding a few additions to it while he's gone; he'll never notice the changes. "Oh, there you are, David. The ladies and I noticed a few more things," she said, handing him a list. "That they noticed these items missing," leaving him standing there.
Mr. Stringham reads the list, eyes popping, staring at them, walking back to the buggies, then back at the list then at the plans, taking the plans ripping them in two, and throwing them into the air. Putting his head in his hands, he laughs, looks up at Wayne, hands him the list, and slaps him on the back. "We are in trouble, son," he said, pointing to them going down the road.
Wayne throws back his head, grins, then laughs. "Now he thinks we're in trouble." He wasn't kidding; they would need bricks for the fireplace. It would take at least a week to get it here and another week to build it. They have also added three more, one for the nursery and play area and one for the master bedroom. Plus, there is an extra window here, a porch that goes halfway back, and a deck; she loved the foundation for dancing and a slightly larger kitchen with two additional windows with a breakfast nook for sewing and stuff.
The list went on and on. Wayne and Mr. Stringham headed to the barn to draw up some new plans for the house with the list the ladies made, and with the one, they already had to make the changes and additions they needed. Some guidelines were set so that no more major changes were allowed. After they complained, they finally agreed by adding a couple more. They compromised on certain terms as women folk do, and giving a little goes a long way. They lost the breakfast nook and kept the window; the deck would be added later. There was no compromising on the kitchen and fireplaces; they drew the line. So they finalized the plans, men rolling their eyes and sleeves, providing some of the simple farmers had any.
Wayne's boys were still working with one pair of overalls, which was fine. Considering it was still summer, but that was coming to an end. "Well, since it is going to take a week for the brick, we might as well get you boys some more clothes. We have a lumber mill to look at, sheep that need sheering, and cotton that needs to be worked. So let's get crackin'," Pa said.
"Doc, what do you think? Is EJ well enough," Aunty M. asked, lifting his chin, "to get out of this bed," she asked, turning EJ's head from side to side.
"Yes, sir, the fever's gone, and I have removed some more of the stitches. Martha got him a new pair of shorts. I got the other crutch right here, not that he will need it very long. Gals made him a new Kitenge; yes. Yes, sir, it's time to get him moving," Doc said.
"Did you say sheering sheep?" EJ replies.
"Yes, I did," Aunty M. said with a laugh.
"What sheep and how?" EJ asked, feeling surprised as Aunty M. laughed.
"Boy, there's lots of things you haven't done," she said, pulling out her knife. Ma helped EJ prepare to go to town with the boys and Aunty M. and Marty. It was easier getting around with two crutches than one. It just took a little more work, that's all. It still hurt putting weight on his left side, trying not to pull any faces as he moved around a bit. "Take it slow now, EJ," Ma would told him.
"I know, Ma, I know," EJ said, trying to hurry out the door. She sighed and shook her head at him.
* * * * *
Pa loaded them all into the pickup and headed for Payson, stopping to buy more clothes. Man, were they a sight, three boys all dressed as simple farmers covered in dirt and black stains from the fire, which would never wash out. EJ is in Kitenge, Aunty M. and Marty are ranchers, and Pa is dressed as part farmer and part Downing Sheriff. "Hello, Mr. Downing, boys, fine day, wouldn't you say?" Ms. Collins said, not caring for what they were wearing for the first time. "Glad to see that you are doing well. How's that wife of yours?"
Wayne, the boys, are shocked watching her. "I don't believe we met," she said as she introduced herself to Aunty M. and Marty. Well, I hope to be seeing you real soon. I plan on coming down that way. My grandson, you know he loves it down there," she leaves them standing there. Wayne and the boys watch her go, bewildered, and stunned.
"Who was that woman, Wayne?" Aunty M. asked, watching her go down the street.
"Not sure anymore," he said.
Pa fitted the boys out for new clothes again, bought extras this time, and even bought a new pair of boots for Ned, and Aunty M. bought him a hat, jeans, and a rope. Pa filled the pick-up with gas so the boys could change and toss the overalls. Aunty M. would not hear of it, so she put them back in the pick-up and said that they would make good scarecrows. "Are you crazy?" the boys said, knowing just what to do with those, leaving them behind on the bench. Replacement for one good scarecrow straw hat said the note pinned on top as Pa drove away before she could say no. The boys and Pa knew better than Aunty M., and they knew not to mess with scarecrows or Ma's.
EJ and Pa folded the Kitenge in the box and placed it in the back of the pick-up. Oh, how good it felt to have a nice, clean pair of overalls and a pair of shorts to wear. Only a farmer boy, but that's ok as EJ looked at Will, Robert, and Richard and these shoes on his feet; compared to that, nothing seemed all that important as he looked down the road towards his parent's house, which some people would call that home. "Why sweat the small stuff? But man, he hated wearing shoes."