Rush

Chapters

Rush: Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Rush: Evidence List I
Chapter 5
Chapter 4

Rush: Prologue

Rush

By: Ace Z. Teller

It was a peaceful evening, the twilight just setting its vivid golden aura around town. The autumn trees gave the scene a warm appearance with its reds and oranges. The same could not be said about the crisp temperature, which I found to be rather offsetting. The wrinkly, dried up leaves on the sidewalk made a crunch with every step I took. I relaxed at the sound and tried to make the most of it by trudging along slowly and steadily, which I don’t do quite often anymore…

It was a rush out of college and even more of a rush out of law school. I hold up a job in a rather famous law firm now, and I don’t feel that I have a lot of time to just… relax anymore, which is surprising, because I’m only 24 having missed two years in law school. I can thank Keegan for that.

Keegan Watkins is my employer and a very renowned attorney. Most known for his versatility in the law. He has been in cases involving everything from divorce to homicide, and usually doesn’t lose. He also was my personal employer, and to be honest, that was a rush too.

It was when I was 22 and just starting law school. We were to watch a real trial and how it preceded. We sat comfortably in the back not in any way blocking someone’s vision. The trial was about a family massacre. There were six people in the family. All of them were shot in the front of the neck, cutting through the throat and spinal cord before the bullet leaving the body. All except for one, the sixteen-year-old boy named Charles who was obviously the accused. His fingerprints were found all over the gun that was used to murder the family, and a total of six shots were fired from said gun. Five bullets were found in the beds the family members were sleeping in. But the problem was the sixth bullet. It was nowhere to be found.

Without that crucial piece of evidence, the jury was quite convinced that the client was guilty and to be put on death row. The defense attorney, Keegan at that time, was looking rather apprehensive. A witness had also just finished testifying as to what he heard coming from the house as well.

“…And then there was a sixth shot. But I didn’t hear any noise after the shot like I did from the other five shots.” The witness affirmed with a nod “I hope that clarifies things here.”

Something still seemed odd though. At least to me it did. But the witness heard all this from across the street from the murder scene. It’s not a stretch to say he heard six gunshots, but how he heard noise from all five of the victims after being shot in the throat… It didn’t add up. Not to mention the sixth shot!

The defense (Keegan) still looked worried. Did he really believe this adolescent was innocent? Even after all this evidence pointed plainly and obviously to the defendant?

Of course he did.

He finally spoke and said, “The defense would like to request a ten minute recess.”

“What for?” boomed his Honor “Is the defense stalling the time of this courtroom?”

“Not at all, Your Honor. The defense would like to call upon an assistant of his,” He replied calmly, although a bit shakily. “It’s quite urgent.”

His Honor pondered the notion for what seemed like fifteen minutes and then replied, “Very well, Mr. Watkins. The court shall resume in ten minutes.”

“I object this notion, your Honor,” The prosecution retaliated, “Is it not obvious that the defense is stalling as you yourself said?”

“Well, Mr. Banks, if you are confident in your case as you plainly stated earlier, why not let the defense struggle for a little while longer?” The Judge asked smartly. The prosecutor thought this over for a while and then shrugged looking a tad anxious.

“Well, why not?” the newly introduced Mr. Banks replied.

“Good. The court suspends the trial of Charles Jordan for a brief recess!” The Judge disclosed and then struck his gavel on the sound block. Court would investigate further after ten minutes.

Our class went out into the halls of the grand courthouse and relaxed a bit. I was sitting by myself on one of the many chairs in the hallway texting a friend of mine about how mind-numbingly BORING this case was starting to get. If I didn’t see some yelling, I probably would have yelled myself.

It was when I sent this message that my professor tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Someone wants to see you,” as he pointed towards the defendants lobby.

I got up and put my phone back into my pocket and walked towards the door. I didn’t really know what to expect as I opened it. Keegan glanced in my direction as he continued to talk to Charles. When he finished, he turned towards me and walked over.

“Are you the one who asked for me?” I asked not knowing what was really going on.

“Yes,” He replied, “My name is Keegan Watkins, attorney at law. Your professor recommended your help. Said you have an infallible sense of logic. I need someone to help solve the mystery of this sixth shot and its bullet while I try and make sense of it to the court. Think you can help out?”

I was flattered to say the least. How I would go about doing this, I didn’t know. I nodded in agreement to his request and he lit up like a light bulb and replied, “Oh, good. Thanks for your help,” as he ambled sprightly away, leaving me without a clue in the world with what to do.

With a tingling sensation and a sly grin on my face, I was raring to go. Where to start was the question at hand though. I decided to see whether Charles knew anything at all. Not that he would; Keegan had probably asked about it. With the mentality that there’s nothing to lose if you try, I spoke across the room to Charles, “Sir? Mr. Charles? Can I ask you a few questions?” only to find that he doesn’t answer. He was facing the right looking at a painting of the Judge.

I furrowed my brow as I tried shouting, “Mr. Charles? Can I ask you some questions?” trying to get his attention. But still, not even a stir.

“MR. CHARLES!” I yelled as both Keegan and Charles flinched and slowly looked my way. “I need to ask you some questions Mr. Charles,” I said in a much softer tone. He coyly walked over and apologized for not listening, “I’m sorry. I haven’t been hearing well as of lately.”

“That’s quite alright,” I said calmly. It took a bit to sink in what he said. When it did, I pondered the thought for a moment and then asked, “When did you notice your hearing isn’t as good as it usually is?”

He tilted his head and looked up as if thinking of exactly when he noticed. He looked back at me and then replied, “Well, It was after I heard one of the shot’s in my house. I didn’t hear any shot’s after that, but I don’t know if that really was the sixth shot, or bad hearing on my part.”

“What were you doing before you heard the ‘sixth’ shot?”

“I was asleep. I don’t know if I heard any of the shot’s beforehand. My left ear was ringing, and my right wasn’t working at all when I got up. There was just one problem. The gun was in my hand.”

I cringed when he said that. But that led to another thought. I asked, “Did you hear ANY other sounds before you couldn’t hear at all? Like before the shot?”

He pondered for a moment and then replied, “Yes. I heard a sharp ‘ping’ sound, like metal on metal. Only it was a split second after the shot.”

"Wait. Do you actually have anything metal in your room?"

"Yes. The only thing I can think of is my bed frame. It's made of solid steel. It's very dense, very expensive, and VERY heavy. It's the reason I sleep in the basement. You know, because of its weight."

I mused the statement for a moment and then shouted to Keegan, “What was the exact gun used in the murder?” He looked up and shouted back, “A .22 revolver.”

If that was true, I had a small theory as to what happened. But I still needed answers. I turned back to Charles and asked, “What did you do with the gun after you saw it in hand?”

“I threw it on my bed. It was burning hot,” He replied.

I smiled. This is good information. I remembered that the butt of the gun used was wood. So already I saw a problem with the facts.

“What part of the gun were you holding?”

“It was the barrel. I’m sure.”

That just confirmed a bit more of my theory.

“One more question,” I asked. “Did you kill your family?”

He looked into my eyes with a firm answer, “No.”

I smiled and left him with a pat on the back. I walked up to Keegan and said, “Hey, can I ask you a few questions?”

“Of course you can! Did you get what you needed out of Charles?”

“I sure did! At least I hope I did. I don’t know. It just seems so farfetched that Charles himself might not believe it,” I replied sounding a bit dejected.

“I’m sure what ever theory you came up with is better than mine. You did hear me earlier, right?” Keegan replied trying to cheer me up.

“You mean when you went on about some mysterious vigilante who…” I started when I was interrupted by Keegan hurriedly saying, “Let’s not get into details!

I chuckled and replied, “Then I won’t waste any time. I only have a few questions anyways.”

“Well,” He said clasping his hands together, “ask away!”

“For starters, what did the witness from earlier say the exact sound they heard was?”

“They said they heard a sound like someone clearing their throat of phlegm. They most likely heard the sound of the dying family members trying to breathe with a throat with a bullet through it.”

I cringed at the now visualizing thought in my head. But I pushed it out of my mind as I remember what Charles said HE heard. Keeping it in the back of my mind, I then said, “Well, Charles said he heard a sharp ‘ping’ sound before he stopped hearing at all. He said that was his bed frame.

“I know, but there is no evidence if that's what he really heard.”

That’s all I needed to hear. I went to thank Charles, until I smelled his body odor. I didn’t hide it very well either and he noticed and said, “Sorry, I know I smell. But the police haven’t let me change my clothes since they arrested me.” He was wearing jeans and a hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath. I shook his hand and went to tell Keegan what I came up with. I just hope my ‘infallible sense of logic’ helped at all, especially with a life at stake.

________________________________________

“Yes, Your Honor. My assistant and I have devised our own take on the events in the Jordan household,” Keegan said to the Judge.

I was right next to him too. I didn’t know what to think. I was beyond nervous. My first time on the bench was certainly a big event, even if I don’t even have to say anything at all. I just told Keegan my findings and he presents them. I just hope what I told Keegan does the trick.

“Well, tell the court your theory as to what events preceded that night,”

“With pleasure, Your Honor,” Keegan said smoothly. Well, here goes nothing.

“We believe Charles in his earlier statement to the court that he was in fact asleep during the other five shots. But that’s not enough, we also needed to prove that he didn’t shoot the gun,” Keegan started. No objections from the Prosecution. Not yet, anyway.

“Here is our take on the event. Charles, who sleeps in the basement, was oblivious to any of the other shootings for a) sleeping in the basement, and b) being asleep,” Keegan said still with no objection. How odd…

“After the real killer shot the other five family members, he moved down into the basement to make the final shot,” Keegan said as he and I tensed up for the climax of the theory.

“The killer walked into the room of Charles Jordan. He walked up with his final bullet in stock to kill him. But Charles stirred in his sleep for whatever reason and the killer flinched and missed his mark high. He woke up Charles who was now hard of hearing due to the proximity to Charles ears at the time. Charles also said he heard a sharp ‘ping’ sound before he lost almost all hearing. Our first question to the prosecution is this: Why didn’t the witness from earlier hear this sound?” Keegan said while not taking his eyes of the prosecution.

“Simple, Mr. Watkins. Because the witness had already heard the other sound and was only listening for that sound. Selective listening if you will,” The prosecution asserted.

“Be that as it may, Mr. Banks, we still have a tiny bit more to this theory,” Keegan said smartly. “We believe that the killer had actually shot the defendants bed-frame. The bed-frame is made of solid steel; steel hard enough to stop a bullet from a .22 revolver while making some noise in the process. The killer didn’t plan for this and while Charles was still sub-conscious, he put the gun in Charles’ hand and ran. The only way the gun could be held was the barrel; the killer was already holding on the butt of the gun. Charles then got up and noticed the gun. He moved to his other hand because the barrel was too hot to touch. Charles then threw it on his bed because it was still too hot. Seconds later, Charles was found in his bedroom almost magically by the police. Miraculously, seconds after the real killer left.” Keegan let his train of thought wander and asked, “Where exactly were Charles’ fingerprints on the gun, Mr. Banks?”

Mr. Banks cringed visibly but composed himself and said, “Whether the fingerprints are on the barrel, butt, or trigger of the gun is irrelevant. What matters is that the gun has Charles’ fingerprints on it.”

“I suppose that’s true,” Keegan said as if pondering something, “But if what I explained is true, there is no way Charles COULDN’T be hard of hearing. A .22 revolver might give for uncomfortable hearing at arms-length away, for example trying to shoot someone in the throat, but it won’t deafen. Charles here was at near point blank range when the gun was shot; almost proving that he was the intended victim because he is in fact deaf in one ear. We even have a doctor’s notice,” Keegan explained while holding up a paper that was most likely the doctor’s note.

“Almost is the key word, Mr. Watkins. While the fingerprints of Mr. Jordan were found only on the barrel, there are no other fingerprints anywhere. It’s not a stretch to say that five shots could deafen, even at arms-length away,” Mr. Banks countered.

“Another question for the prosecution,” Keegan said, “Why did you say five shots? There were plainly six.”

“But there is no bullet! Not only that, but we checked Charles’ room thoroughly. There were no odd marks on the bed-frame; no burn marks on the bed sheets, and most importantly, no sixth bullet! I admit your story would make sense if there was a bullet to go with it, but as you and I both know, there is no bullet. The witness from earlier must have been hearing things, because bullets don’t just disappear!” Mr. Banks said almost too loudly.

“I’m afraid Mr. Banks is right. Without that crucial piece of evidence, this is all baseless conjecture. I’m SURE the jury wouldn’t believe you without it,” The Judge explained. The Jury perked up at hearing their names said and listened intently. “Well, Mr. Watkins? We’re waiting.”

Keegan started sweating bullets. To bad we couldn’t use one of those… But in all seriousness this was bad. Charles was about go on death row because there was hole in my logic. The bullet was a thorn in my side and I couldn’t find it. I had no way too. Either way, it was time to think.

The bullet had to have been shot in Charles room. From my guessing, he doesn’t have anything else that was dense enough to stop a bullet. So it had to hit the bed-frame. Where it went after that is a mystery. Mr. Banks said that the police looked around thoroughly and didn’t find any kind of mark or bullet anywhere.

I halted my train of thought to see Keegan stuttering random words. Trying to stall the inevitable, I guess. I decided it was time to speak up.

“Your Honor!” I said firmly. The whole courtroom silenced and gradually turned towards me. I felt like I was hit in the stomach with a sledgehammer of nervous power. And boy did it made me nervous. “Ah… Your Honor, if I may shed some light onto the situation at hand?”

The judge cocked an eyebrow and boomed, “Continue!”

I flinched and very tensely, I continued, “Um… Of course, your Honor,” I glanced towards Keegan looking for some kind of encouragement just to get a look that said, ‘We’re doomed’. Well geez. Thanks.

“Apparently, the prosecution says that the police have checked Mr. Jordan’s room for any suspicious items or marks. He says that they didn’t find any,” I explained. Mr. Banks however looked as if I insulted him and I said rather hurriedly, “I’m not saying that they are a bad group! I’m just thinking aloud!” while I held my hands up in defense. Mr. Banks seemed to ease up a bit after I explained myself.

“However,” I continued, “While the witness’s account and our theory is both quite plausible, they both lack a key piece of evidence: the sixth bullet. The question at hand is where the bullet is located. If it were found in or near Charles or his room, I think it would be safe to say our story is what actually happened…”

“…And if it were anywhere else, our story is what actually happened,” Mr. Banks finished.

“Even so, the prosecution has firmly established a case against Mr. Jordan so the sixth bullet is insurance for them at this point. The one who really needs it is the defense. But the million-dollar question is where it is?”

Mr. Banks groaned and said, “Your Honor, it’s obvious the defense is now stalling the inevitable. I demand the jury cast their votes for the verdict immediately!”

“Mr. Watkins, your assistant’s attempts at stalling were very poorly thought through. I’m afraid I’ll have to acknowledge Mr. Banks demands. Have you any objections?” The judge asked. The courtroom was silent.

Okay, panic button has been pressed. This was REALLY bad. I had to fill the hole in my logic FAST. So it was time to think… again.

The bullet had to have been shot at the bed-frame. But it wasn’t found in the room. Maybe someone took it? That had to be the solution. It was the only one.

“WAIT!” I yelled, “Maybe someone took it? That has to be it!”

“Nice try,” Mr. Banks sneered, “But the police arrived seconds after you said Charles woke up. So that would contradict your story!”

He was right. But it was the only way it could happen. Let’s think some more. If the bullet couldn’t have been taken on purpose, than maybe it was on accident?

“That is enough!” The judge exclaimed, “No more! I have had enough of the defenses unintelligible prattle! The Jury may now cast their votes!” He said as he slammed down his gavel.

Well that’s it. It was over. I sat down speechless. I just killed a man. Just let those words sink in for a bit. I just killed a man. It has a depressing ring to it, doesn’t it? One of the things I was preached never to do, but the one time I do, I kill the man who I knew was innocent. To this day, I still don’t know why I took the case.

I would find out soon enough, though, as Charles trudged towards me, a look of emptiness on his face.

“I’m so sorry,” I said darkly, “I couldn’t save you. Your innocent and I failed to prove that.”

He looked dismayed and replied, “That’s alright. You did all you could. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of anymore help.”

I went to shake his hand one last time. When I did, it felt warm and lively, his pulse sending chills down my spine. It would send chills down your spine too if you knew it wasn’t going to beat in a few days.

Keegan approached Charles and apologized as well, hugging him tightly instead of shaking his hand. But he scrunched up his nose, his face showing obvious disgust. I had forgotten about Charles’ body odor still lingering on his clothes.

His Clothes…

“Sorry, I know I smell. But the police haven’t let me change my clothes since they arrested me.”

“WAIT!” I yelled before any of the jury left. Everyone was in the middle of going to the lobby talk about the case that had just conspired. Or so they thought. They all looked at me, a bit of surprise at my sudden outburst.

The judge was the first to speak, “Mr. Watkins, what is the meaning of this? I will have you and your assistant under contempt of court if you cannot keep him quiet!”

“I’m sorry Your Honor, but this is of utmost importance!” I said barely containing my excitement, “I know where the sixth bullet is!”

The judge gave me an incredulous look and said, “I don’t care. This court has been adjourned already. I can’t just let you do this.”

“I understand that, Your Honor, but this is of utmost importance! I don’t want the jury or His Honor to make a mistake by putting this adolescent on death row. He is innocent and if you just let me prove it…”

“No!” Mr. Banks interrupted, “The court has been adjourned! There is no way the man can show where this bullet is!”

“Please, Your Honor! Just let me make this one point! You can hold me in contempt of court for as long as you want, but don’t make this innocent man a guilty one!”

The judge rubbed his chin in thought. After a minute or so, he finally said, “You really believe this man is innocent?”

I nodded with 100% confidence in Charles.

“Very well, the court will hear one last statement from the defense.”

“OBJECTION! Your Honor, I…”

“Overruled. The court has made up its mind. No more interruptions from the prosecution. Continue,” The judge said in a judgmental tone.

“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said with a content sigh, “Now, Charles here told me earlier and I quote, ‘I haven’t changed my clothes since I was arrested’. That means if our story holds true, the clothes he is now wearing are the same clothes he wore during the crime,” I said getting a few disgusted looks from the audience and Judge.

“We also stated that the bullet could not have been taken from the room on purpose, because it would contradict our theory,” I added nodding towards Mr. Banks.

“Get on with the point!” The Judge near yelled.

“I was getting to that. If the bullet wasn’t taken on purpose, then logically it must have been taken on accident,” I said in a matter-of-factly tone.

“But how could someone take a bullet on accident? What could they possibly mistake a bullet for?” Mr. Banks asked.

“That’s just it. The person who took the bullet didn’t even know they had it!” I said dramatically, getting some murmurs about the crowd.

“Well then who took it?!” Mr. Banks exasperated.

“Charles did,” I said calmly. But the court near erupted with surprise. The crowd all at once went into an uproar of confusion and shock. Even Mr. Banks looked a bit surprised.

“ORDER IN MY COURTROOM!” The Judge yelled whilst slamming his gavel on the sound block, “Are you claiming that Mr. Jordan has the bullet?”

“Yes I am, Your Honor. The bullet bounced of the solid steel bed-frame and in doing so, landed in a spot no one would have guessed it would end up,” I said slowly making my way towards Charles, “In his clothes.”

“But where in his clothes could the bullet end up? And how the hell did he get into this courtroom with it?” Mr. Banks asked shakily.

“Right here,” I said as I reached towards Charles. ‘I hope’ I thought. As I ever so slowly reached towards Charles, I heard the crowd, the Judge, and even Mr. Banks lean on the edge of their creaky seats. Time seemed to slow down at this moment and boy was I nervous. What if I really was wrong? What if the bullet wasn’t really where I thought it was?

Even so, I forced myself to keep going. I finally glanced towards Keegan, and he gave me an affirmative nod. Then with a nervous sigh, I reached into Charles hood on his hoodie. With no one telling me to stop, not even Charles himself, I fumbled my hand inside the hood. But I didn’t feel anything. I was starting to panic. I was going to make a fool of myself.

But right as I was about to pull my hand out, I felt something cool to the touch. It felt solid, metallic, and small. I smiled as I pulled it out even more slowly than I reached in. And there, right in between my thumb and forefinger, was a squished bullet, squished from what I knew to be the solid steel bed-frame. I raised it high and beamed, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the sixth bullet!”

It seemed the entire courtroom erupted with cries of confusion, joy, and bewilderment as I was pulled into a bear hug by an extremely emotional Charles, crying without shame. Keegan gave up his man-card as well, and jumped into the pile. The Judge, I noticed, was chuckling softly to himself, obviously glad the way things seemed to turn out. The only one who wasn’t jumping up and down or getting mauled by two bears was Mr. Banks who was slumped over in his chair and staring blankly at me. But nothing seemed to daunt me. I was on top of the world, and the goofy grin plastered on to my face seemed to show that quite well. It seemed like forever for how long the ‘celebration’ lasted before the Jury had casted their votes and came to a unanimous decision.

The verdict was obviously; ‘Not Guilty’ and a search party were out looking for the real killer as the jury spoke. After court had adjourned, we were in the defendants lobby talking of our narrow victory and celebrating. It was then that my life seemed to take a turn for the unexpected.

Mr. Banks opened the door leading to the lobby and walked in as we fell silent. He straightened his tie in anxiousness and walked towards me. He then asked, “Can you and I talk in private?” as he nodded his head towards the main lobby.

When I realized he was talking to me, I replied, “Sure thing,” feeling a lump in my throat beginning to grow. I followed him out into the hallway and when we were out of earshot of anybody, he was the first to speak.

“That was a nice job you did in there. I’m certain you will have a great future in the law,” He complimented.

“Hey, thanks! That means a lot coming from you. I hope we see each other again under better circumstances,” I replied.

“Well those circumstances won’t come anytime soon. I’m afraid the only time we’ll see each other are in court and that won’t even be until the near future,” He chuckled. He seemed more at ease right now for some odd reason, maybe because he didn’t have to put Charles on death row. “But I think you’ll be one of the greats. What’s your name? I’ve got to watch out and warn my co-workers about your up and coming.”

I smiled, knowing why I took that case. I was a lawyer, through and through. The greatest joy anyone can ever feel is defending the innocent and that was better than any euphoria I’ve ever felt. I had no idea of knowing what the future had is store for me, but I knew it could only get better from here as I stuck my hand out and replied, “Name’s Teller Coy. But you can call me Tell.”

After we bid adieu, Keegan said thanks and said to expect a call about something important. It was when he called that he asked if I wanted to be his apprentice. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he asked and I happily replied yes. I finished up my second year in law school and started helping Keegan in his trials. And might I add that as a pair we haven’t lost.

But the entrance to my apartment rudely interrupted my flashback. I stood there, confused, as I looked towards my watch. I had gotten home ten minutes earlier than I usually do. Damn! I was trying to enjoy the fall day on my relaxing walk home and I end up rushing by.

Rush. There’s that word again. It’s not that I hate rushing by things, but it’s a habit more than anything. Whether it’s a good habit or a bad one is still a question to me, but I feel as if I missed a lot in life in doing so.

I sighed heavily as I opened the door to my apartment, tired from boredom. We haven’t had a steady stream of cases in a while and nowadays I just sit at the firm playing games on my computer. You have no idea how boring that gets after a while.

I took off my coat, threw it on the floor, and threw myself on my bed. Another day rushed by, another night to sleep away. I sighed as I slowly fell into a deep slumber.

Author's note as of February 9th, 2012: Well, seeing as this is the most viewed chapter so far, I'll put this little note here.

I feel like I'm doing something wrong (grammatically or how I'm telling the story ) and I would REALLY appreciate some critique. Seeing as this is a human story, I don't think it will get much. But any and all would be appreciated as Mr. Self Conscious here tries to continue.

I will say, writing this fic greatly familiarized me with bronydom and all it's inhabitants, so all you bronies out there have that going for you. Maybe I might try my luck at a pony story...

What's this?! A contest?! Maybe THAT can be my entrance exam into the clan of people you bronies call 'the herd'! Maybe I'll increase my writing skills, get some reviews, and (I hate to admit it) have a little fun. So for now, this story is on hiatus until I do this contest, as fun as it is writing a mystery. So until the end of the Contest, which may be sooner than you think :P, this is AZT saying Stay Viewtiful!

Chapter 1

August 16th, 2015

I woke up at around six o’clock, as per usual, my eyes uncomfortably full of sleep. I sat up and habitually rubbed my eyes clean. I looked down at myself. I was still quite tall compared to a lot of people. I still had my somewhat pale skin from not getting out as much as I used to, though I’m still well built because I try to keep in shape. I still have my short silver-grey hair at the young age of twenty-four spiked up from the hair-gel I used yesterday. Yep, I was awake and alive.

Looking again, I irritably stared at the monstrosity that was my apartment. Its floors covered in dirty clothes, used plates, empty take out bags, and other inconveniences that would make walking about a pain. The bathroom looked much similar, save the plates and take out bags and add some toiletries. The apartment walls looked very bare compared to the rest of the apartment with not so much as a picture to cover its exposed surface.

Though I didn’t notice much of this. I had already started showering and getting ready for work, another long, aggravating, loathsome day at work. Which is why in the back of my mind I wondered why I was even hurrying along right now. Its not like I had a case to investigate right now. I could take my time and enjoy the warm water that I was standing under. Maybe try to think about life.

But by then the thought was already pushed further back in my mind because I was already eating breakfast and out the door. I internally debated whether or not to take the car to work instead of walking like I usually do. Eventually I gave in and decided to take the car to get to work faster.

What am I doing? I have, like, thirty minutes before the office even opens. I literally have nothing to do. I had hurried right along at home and now I was sitting in my car like an idiot. With literally nowhere to go and nothing to do, I sat there. BORED out of my mind. That is, until I got a call on my phone.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey Tell, it’s Charles,” Charles answered sounding a bit frantic.

Charles, after the case from two years ago, had nowhere to go to. His grandparents were all dead, his real parents didn’t have brothers or sisters so no aunts or uncles, and no one his parents knew would take him in. Keegan felt sympathy and requested to adopt Charles. It was an endearing moment for Keegan and Charles, Charles because he had nowhere to go and actually liked Keegan and Keegan because he gets pretty lonely with all his failed attempts at popping the question. Charles, having finished up school, helps at the firm when he can. It’s no wonder he’s up this early.

“Hey what’s up?” I asked, concern in my voice.

“I got good news,” He started, “Guess where I was accepted for college?”

“I dunno, where?” I asked, knowing full well that he probably got accepted into the University of Michigan. He went there for a tour and since then, he always talks about them during the day. So much, in fact, I know the complete roster for their football team from 2000 to today.

“U OF M!” He yelled in the most ecstatic tone. I reeled the phone back from my ear. He sometimes forgets that he’s deaf in one ear now and uses hearing aids for the other because of that gunshot. He tends to yell a lot now.

“Whoa, settle down! I mean, that’s great news and all, but your yelling,” I said rubbing my headache that would obviously get worse as the day goes on.

“Sorry! It’s just so awesome; I had to tell you now. Keegan says get to the firm as fast as you can. He has news too,” He said, still a bit loud. “I’ll see ya soon!” Charles said and hung up.

I perked up a bit. Now I didn’t have to look like some idiot sitting alone in their car at 6:20 in the morning. I could get to work. I put the car in drive and started on my way towards the firm.

I finally got to the Watkins Defense Law Firm of Cambridge, Massachusetts and pulled into the parking lot. It took me what seemed like forever, even though I got there five minutes earlier than I usually do. Getting out of the car, I see the short, skinny, long-brown hair, and hoodie wearing Charles waving me down at the front door. I walk over and ask, “What’s up?”

“Not much, but Keegan still wants to see you,” He said loudly.

“’K then. Are you going to be staying here to help out today?” I asked as I opened the door to the firm.

“Probably not. You’ll see why soon!” He exclaimed as he ran past me. That couldn’t be good. Either we had a case or I was doing something with Charles. And if anything, it was probably both. Keegan just teases me like that.

I walked into the lobby and past the secretary’s desk, which was devoid of any activity. She obviously wasn’t here yet. But why wouldn’t she? It was about 6:30 according to my piece of crap watch.

I kept walking through the back door of the lobby and entered the pigsty that was out office. Sure, the carpet was clean, but there were documents and evidence EVERYWHERE. With all this time off, I’m surprised and clueless as to why we didn’t do anything about it.

Heck, with all the papers, I almost missed Keegan, who was typing something on his laptop. Now that I got a good look at him, though, he looked like he lived in Orlando, Florida instead of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He had short, spiked, and bleached hair. He also looked naturally tan on his head and face, but I couldn’t tell on the rest of his body. When he stood, he stood a bit shorter than me at 6’3’’. He was fairly skinny and wasn’t really built, but he always goes running. Maybe he has a lot of stamina?

As I got closer, he looked up and smiled. He spoke in a naturally raspy voice, “Morning, Tell. How goes it?”

I grunted and that’s all he needed.

“So Charles told you about his college, correct?” He asked going back to work on his laptop.

“Yeah, and he said you have something to ask of me. Is that correct?” I asked back.

He slowly nodded and replied, “That I do. It’s a favor I have to ask.”

Well, crap.

He closed his laptop and looked at me, his face showing complete seriousness. He started, “You know, I went to U of M for my undergrad. It’s a great school in a great state, and I know Charles will love it.”

“Continue.” I mused trying to see what he was getting at and how the hell he looks like a Floridian if he lived in Michigan and Massachusetts, the two coldest places I have ever heard of.

“The school year at U of M starts very soon, in three weeks from today actually. But there’s a problem. I just got a case. Someone has to take Charles to Michigan to see him off,” He continued as my eyes widened in horror.

“No. There is no way on this Earth you can make me drive from here to Ann Arbor!” I retorted.

“Oh, come on! You of all people could use the break from work. Not only that, but Charles specifically recommended you,” he added. Playing the guilt card are we?

“But you’re his father. You should be the one to see him off. Besides, I can take the case,” I said, lying. There was no way I could take my own case. Unfortunately, Keegan knew that.

“Yeah, but you have no experience by yourself in the courtroom. Besides, I’m his adopted father. You’re the one who saved his life!” He reasoned. Touché.

I sighed, knowing I couldn’t beat the inevitable and Keegan smiled. I HATE when he’s right.

“Be ready by seven. And don’t worry about it. You’ll stop at many good places. Getting there is half the fun y’know,” He smirked, knowing full well that’s the part I despise. And if you haven’t figured that out by now, I wonder why you’re even following this series of events. I like getting to wherever I’m going fast and with time to spare. “Besides,” He added, “I have some other business to attend to as well.”

“What, another girlfriend? That’s your reason for sending me?” I remarked snidely.

He sighed and went back to work on his laptop. I got him with a stab to the heart, and I God, it felt good! But it didn’t last long. I had just agreed to take Charles to Michigan. Well, I guess I had better get my stuff together because it seems like we were leaving today. No wonder I was here so early.

My thoughts were interrupted by a maize and blue monstrosity running up to me and asking, “So did you say yes? Are you gonna take me up to Ann Arbor?”

I put on my best smile and answered, “Yep, I’m taking you up north to wolverine country. I imagine your ready to go at moments notice?”

“Yep!” He replied. “I have everything ready, from shirts to towels.”

“Alright, I’ll be back as soon as I can. We’ll leave then, alright?” I said sounding a bit stern.

Charles picked up on that and saluted me and yelled, “YES SIR!”

As he walked back to wherever he goes during the morning and I rolled my eyes. Not knowing HOW the hell I got into this, I made my way back to the lobby and to my car. I checked my piece of crap watch again to see the time. 6:30.

Wait. It was 6:30 like five minutes ago. I flicked my watch in annoyance and it sprang forward to 6:37 and I shook my head in disgust. I hate this watch with a passion and I don’t know why I haven’t gotten a new one. But it’s probably because it still works. Well, sort of.

I got in my car and made my way back to my apartment. Time to get the necessities I guess. I used the time in the car to make a mental checklist. I would need at least a weeks worth of shirts, pants, boxers, PJ pants (don’t judge me), and one nice getup. In case I have to look presentable. I’ll also need toiletries and maybe two towels to keep my hygiene up.

As soon as I got home, I checked the time again. 6:45. At least my piece of crap watch was working. I went up to my room and opened the door. Finding the toiletries would be easy. Look on the bathroom floor, doi. Toothbrush and paste, hair-gel and brush, shampoo and dove (for men of course), deodorant, razor and shaving cream, two towels and a face cloth. Check.

Now for some clothes, I thought. I decided to grab a bunch of random t-shirts and some pants not even so much as looking to see what I was grabbing. I got some PJ pants and shirts for a comfy nights sleep, some socks to keep my feet warm in the inevitable Michigan cold, my Adidas shoes, and, of course, one nice getup in case I have to look nice. I got a white button-up with black pants, a black blazer, black dress shoes, and a red tie for that exact purpose.

When I felt ready, I got my suitcase and toiletries and put them in the trunk of my car and started on my way back. I checked the time at 6:48 and nodded in satisfaction. I got in and out of the room in three minutes. Perfect time. I kept up that optimistic mood all the way back to the firm… or at least tried. I still knew I had to go all the way up to Michigan to just see Charles off. I know I should be happy for him, but I still think I have better things to do with my time than to babysit Charles.

I arrived at the firm at 6:55 after a vigorous flicking on my piece of crap watch. I got out of the car and took my last good look at the firm for what I thought was going to be two weeks. I looked at the door next to see Charles and Keegan waiting for me. Keegan yelled, “You ready to go?”

I sighed mentally but ‘happily’ replied, “I’m ready when he’s ready.”

Keegan nodded and gave Charles a father’s embrace before sending him my way. He looked sad and excited at the same time and I put my arm on his shoulder. I then said, “Hey, I know you have a reason to be nervous, excited, happy, sad, and all sorts of emotions. But this is your freshman year in college. It’s your time and I’m proud to be taking you. So come on. We’ve got to get going if you want to have a little fun after you buy your books,”

He nodded and put his bags into the trunk and back seats of my car. I was about to get in myself when I heard Keegan yell, “Hey Tell!”

I turned towards him and listened for what he was going to say. He looked like he was struggling to find the right words until he finally slumped over and said with a crack in his voice, “Take care of him, alright?”

I, too, stopped what I was doing and struggled to find the right words. I looked into the car and saw Charles looking ready to go. I smiled and looked back up and said, “Sure thing, Keegan.”

With one final wave I got in my car and looked towards Charles. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Did I ever say how much I love your car?”

Why wouldn’t he? It was an orange 2015 Camaro with black hockey stripes and a raised spoiler. What? I may have a piece of crap watch and an apartment, which I’m trying to save up to move out of, but being an attorney has its perks. And money is one of them. It’s to bad its automatic transmission instead of a stick shift. Then I could have a LOT of fun.

“Be good and I might let you touch the steering wheel,” I teased. He punched me in the shoulder and I smiled. Maybe I’ll let him drive it. He won’t be able to bring a car to college until he’s twenty-one, I could cut him some slack.

Nah.

I started up the engine and backed out of my parking spot. With a honk directed towards Keegan, and Charles giving him one last wave, we were off and running.

***

Out on the open road, Charles would talk about what Ann Arbor was like for a while and I would give my opinion at some points, but other than that the ride was pretty quiet.

“…And State Street is probably the real main street of college-town, Ann Arbor.”

“Really? That’s ironic considering Michigan State is one of their bitter rivals, from what you say.”

“That’s true… It’s weird isn’t it?”

It was talk like this that continued for a while. But by the time we were near the New York state border, it was silent. And it was only… hold on… 7:34. Piece of crap…

“Tell?” Charles asked.

“Hmm?” I subconsciously replied.

“How was your undergrad college?”

I chuckled, both in reminiscence and embarrassment. College. What a life. I fell like it was ages ago… even though it was no more than maybe five years ago. “Well, Charles,” I started, “When I went to college, I was trying to become a broadcaster. I was interested in the media so I went…”

“… To Mizzou?” He asked.

“That was a good guess, but no. I went to Northwestern University. Home of…”

“The Wildcats,” Charles finished.

“You know your Big Ten,” I remarked, “Anyway, I met a lot of my friends freshman year, so this is the year you make or break it, but theirs no pressure. It’s easy to meet people,” I said but then wondered aloud, “What do you want to do for a job?”

He gave me a serious look and said, “Law. Criminal Law,” he looked out in the distance and continued, “I never told you guys, but when you both pitched in to save my life, I knew right then and there what I wanted to be. I want to be there for the people who have no one. I want to defend the innocent, accuse the guilty, find the truth.”

I remained silent as he talked, half expecting the answer.

“That’s why I chose U of M. Its law school is only behind Ivy League colleges. And I’m just going to U of M for my undergrad! That way it’ll look good on my résumé for Harvard,” He said as a faint smile crept up my face at the word ‘Harvard’.

“Be that as it may,” I started, “Your worrying to much. I think you should just let what happens happen. U of M is a great school, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that you’re planning too much. I didn’t even think of law school until my senior year. Sure, my broadcasting skills helped in my public speaking, but that’s just it. Life throws all sorts of crap at you, and you have to adjust. Who knows?” I said pausing for dramatic effect, “You might make a good College counselor.”

“What’s a college counselor?” He asked.

“Someone very knowledgeable about colleges and helps others to find the right one,” I answered and chuckled to myself at his clueless look. I knew from just his past answers that colleges are something he knows a lot about.

The ride through New York was as quiet as the ride through Massachusetts. No talking from either of us. Which gave me more concentration with the a-holes on the highway that tried out-dragging my Camaro.

I weaved in and out of traffic trying to get to our destination faster. I don’t know why I did, though; it wasn’t even nine o’clock. But my car reflected my attitude and I wanted to get to Michigan as fast as possible. So, I passed the time racing all the Mustangs, Ferraris, and Porsches that were silly enough to follow me.

After a while we arrived in Pennsylvania and stopped at a rest area. Mostly just to stretch our legs and eat a snack. I checked the time as we ate. 10:30. After a vigorous flicking, it sprung way ahead to 10:57. Almost eleven. We were making good time. Charles had brought a map back and we set out to plan our path to Michigan.

“Well, we can go south-west towards Ohio or straight on through Canada from here. The latter option saves a bit of time,” I started.

“True, but I kinda… sorta… wanna… see your old college too,” Charles replied trying not to keep eye contact with me.

“Nope,” I said sternly, “Keegan said to get you to Ann Arbor and that’s what I’ll do. Were not going to northern Chicago just to see my old college. You have somewhere to be.”

“But just for a day! Besides, you even packed for a whole week! Why not slow down a bit and enjoy getting there instead of just getting there and doing nothing?”

“I don’t know how you knew I packed for a week, but it’s for just in case. I want to get you there as fast as possible and got home as fast as possible. Your lucky I’m letting us stop right here.”

“Kill-a-joy,” Charles mumbled and stormed back to the car. I just shrugged and continued to eat my snack. As soon as I was done, I got up and entered the car too. I started it up and we were on our way. Realizing I didn’t bring my passport, I was forced to take the long way through Ohio after Pennsylvania, much to my chagrin and Charles delight.

“I’m telling you it’s an awesome idea!” Charles said, “Now we can go T.P. Ohio State!”

“Whoa there cowboy! We don’t need that much advertisement, especially if it’s negative. Do it when your drunk with your soon to be roommates. It’ll be much easier and more natural feeling,” I replied a bit anxious he didn’t hear me.

“…Maybe even egg a few… Huh? Did you say something?”

Of course he didn't.

The ride through Pennsylvania was a much longer ride than New York. It was a bit bigger of a state though, so it was to be expected. However, it was also a bit louder than said ride through New York, which got me a bit annoyed. Charles tends to speak more loudly and hear much less when he gets a bit excited. I suppose it’s also to be expected due to that gunshot, but still…

I decided to ignore most of it, only speaking if Charles said something of interest, which he did later.

“Hey Tell, what time is it?”

I looked at my piece of crap watch to check the time. 3:00. I God! Where did the time go?

“About three,” I replied.

“Jeez. Just how long is it from Ann Arbor to home?” Charles asked a bit irritated.

“About a twelve hour drive. Not counting the rest stops and restaurants we stop at,” I answered not fazed the slightest, “Why? Can’t stand the journey there anymore?”

“Very funny. I’m not falling for your witchcraft. You can’t make me,” Charles replied even more irritated than before.

“What? I’m just trying to teach you the proper way of living,” I said also sounding a bit irritated.

“Oh, and what way is that? Get to where you have to go as fast as possible and for the rest of the time sit in your car waiting for nothing?” He retorted.

Ouch.

“I don’t know how you knew that, but my personal life will not be dragged into this argument,” I said feeling my cheeks heat up.

“What do you mean? YOU’RE the one who started this!” Charles near yelled.

“Here’s an idea, how about we don’t talk for the rest of the trip? How does that sound?” I retorted.

He didn’t reply. He was staring out the window into the sky. Good.

The rest of the ride was rode literally in silence. No one talked for the next two hours until we reached Ohio. I was the first to speak.

“Look’s like we couldn’t tackle the whole trip in one go. We’re going to have to stop in Columbus,” I started.

I heard an audible gasp from Charles and he replied, “Never! I would rather die than stay in buckeye territory for even an hour.”

“You’re kidding, right? There’s no way we can reach Michigan before…” I paused before looking at my watch, “…8:30. Its seven now.”

“Then I’ll walk to Ann Arbor. I refuse to stay in such a filthy, disgusting area,” He replied looking back out the window.

I sighed giving up the issue. Even though I was exhausted, I could go for another hour maybe.

“Fine,” I replied, wondering when the hell I was going to get a backbone.

Charles let out a contented sigh and I let out an annoyed one. I didn’t think I could take the tension anymore. It was thick enough to cut with a knife and I wouldn’t be surprised if I had choked on it anytime soon. That’s probably why I listened to his demand.

But alas, Charles had convinced me to keep going to Michigan and that’s what I was going to do, even if he did something stupid involving ‘Michigan pride’ and got me killed.

I didn’t know exactly how to get to Michigan from this point, so I pulled over and took out our map. It seemed as if it was a straight shot on the highway from here to southeast Michigan, which was near Ann Arbor. Though we probably couldn’t stop in Ann Arbor, we could stay in a city nearby for the night.

“Alright Charles, here’s what we’re going to do,” I started, “We’re going to drive for an hour and whatever city is at the closest exit after that hour is where we’ll stop, even if it’s not Ann Arbor. Got it?”

“Fine, whatever you want,” Charles replied bitterly.

I nodded, put the car back into drive and made my way towards the highway on-ramp. After flicking my watch, I saw that we had taken about five minutes to stop and look at the map, so that was five minutes off our drive time.

But I don’t think either of us noticed. We rode in silence for another agonizing hour in the car at a speedy pace. So speedy, that Ann Arbor was only about fifteen miles away from where we were.

“Good news Charles,” I said, “We might actually make it to Ann Arbor tonight.”

“Maybe not,” He replied pointing ahead to where there were flashing police cars and policemen walking aimlessly about. That couldn’t be good.

We were soon stopped by a police officer that was farther away from the rest of the police who motioned for me to open my window. When I did, he asked, “Where are you two headed?”

“To Ann Arbor,” I replied.

“I’m sorry, sir,” The police man started, “but the highway to Ann Arbor is closed because of an automobile accident. You two are going to have to go around it through this nearby town at this exit,” He said pointing to a dark, forested road that had ‘detour’ signs all around it.

“Alright, thank you officer,” I finished and rolled up my window. It would seem that we found our town to stay the night at, and after checking the time at 8:00, it seemed that we couldn’t make Ann Arbor in one go.

“Sorry Charles,” I said, “It looks like we’re stopping here tonight. We couldn’t make Ann Arbor in one shot.”

“It’s fine,” Charles said, not looking at me.

I shrugged as I put my car into drive again and made my way towards the detour. As we entered though, the road seemed to get rougher and the trees thicker with beautiful autumn colors more vivid than ever. It was strange. It seemed that civilization was left behind at that detour marker and we were making our way into something out of a fairy tale. There were no signs. There were no other cars. There were no electric wires. Nothing. Just forest.

Just when I thought that the police were pulling some kind of prank, I saw a worn sign on the side of the road. Getting a bit closer, I read its contents aloud, “Welcome to Equine Michigan, the hidden, modern landmark in Michigan history. Population: 1020.”

“This is where we have to stop?” Charles asked a bit confused by the signs introduction to the town that lay ahead.

“It is. We’ll have to stay in this town,” I answered, “Don’t worry. We’ll stay the night here and when morning comes, we’ll leave for Ann Arbor.”

“That’s all fine and nice and whatever, but what did that sign mean? It was a bit confusing,” Charles asked back.

“I’m not sure, but I’m just as confused as you are. I don’t see how anything can be modern out here.”

“Neither can I. And what did it mean by ‘hidden’?”

“I’m still not sure, but my guess is that this a small little town that usually gets passed on the highway because Ann Arbor is fifteen miles from here. Plus the forest trees might accidentally cover the entrance to the town and why are you talking to me? I thought you were mad at me,” I said.

“N-no reason,” Charles stuttered, “I’m just wondering that’s all.”

“More like scared clueless, am I right?” I teased.

“NO!” He yelled, “I’m just wondering!”

‘Right’ I thought as I continued driving.

After maybe a minute longer, something happened to the forest trees. On the left of us, we noticed the trees were much smaller and much tamer than the large, wild trees of the forest.

“What’s up with those little trees? They’re all in neat rows, they can’t be wild,” Charles asked. I too noticed that the little trees were neatly arranged in long rows. They all seemed to have small red spots in the leaves as well… oh!

“Well that’s because those trees are a part of an orchard of sorts, maybe a cherry or apple orchard. I can’t tell from here,” I answered feeling satisfied for solving a little mystery.

“Does that mean we’re close to the city? Equine was it?” Charles asked.

“It must. What reason can you come up with for having an orchard in the middle of a nowhere forest?” I asked back, “A scary one at that…”

“Sh-shut up Tell! I told you I’m not scared of this forest!” Charles said with a bit of fluster.

I chuckled at his obvious discomfort as I continued along the orchard’s side. It seemed very large from our angle of view. It took us a good two minutes to even get past the first part of the orchard. And by first part, I mean that there was a large red barn between the orchard we just passed and the next orchard that was beyond the farm. The second orchard also seemed to have red spots in the leaves, but they were bigger than the first orchards set of trees. That must mean that the back orchard did indeed have cherries and the front orchard has apples. I can’t think of any other fruits that grow on trees and are red.

“Geez, it’s still going. How big is this orchard?” Charles asked stretching out his window and over the car roof to get a better view.

“Get back in here! And I don’t know. Why do you care?” I said.

“Because the people in that orchard might be the only civilization in this god-forsaken forest!” he exclaimed.

“So you admit that this forest is scary?” I said nonchalantly.

“Of course I… Wait a minute, NO! How many times do I have to tell you? This forest isn’t scary!” Charles said, even more flustered than before, causing me to laugh like a hyena.

“Don’t worry; your secret is safe with… Hey… Look there!” I said pointing ahead.

In the direction I was pointing, a town had started to form. As we drove closer, we noticed some of the houses and buildings take shape. To our surprise, they seemed quite modern, despite the fact that it was located in the middle of nowhere. The houses, from what I could see, were mostly two-story houses with simple, white sidings and different colored shutters. But as we got closer, I noticed some log-cabins, obviously drawing from the nearby forest. This was certainly an interesting town already, and we haven’t even arrived yet.

When we finally did arrive, we saw a lot of people walking around. It seemed as if tonight was a busy night in Equine and everyone was happily walking and making conversation with everyone they passed. Why were so many people walking around a suburban area? It wasn’t like there were very many stores in the suburbs. But it was then that I realized that no one was passing me in a car. There weren’t ANY cars.

“Do you feel out of place right now, Charles?” I asked.

“Yeah, I feel as if I should be walking right now. I don’t see any cars in any of these driveways,” Charles answered pointing to a few houses to prove his statement. He was right as I saw many empty driveways and garages. So much for being a modern town, they didn’t even have cars!

We continued down the street and made our way to the center of the town, only to see even more people walking around and enjoying themselves, but now we saw cars as well. We seemed to be in a downtown sort of area with a movie theatre, cafes, an arcade, grocery stores, and other necessities. Including…

“Hey, is that…? It is! Hey Tell,” Charles said, “Can you drop me off at that health resort?” He asked pointing to a one story white building with green neon palm trees flashing and grabbing people’s attention.

“Really? A spa? What’re you going to do, get a facial?” I asked, wondering why the hell he would want to go into a spa.

“Because I need to relax, and you need to find a hotel. Its win-win,” He reasoned his body already halfway out the car door.

I thought for a few seconds and said, “Well… I guess…” But I was rudely interrupted by Charles climbing out of the car and yelling back, “Thanks, Tell! You’re the best! I’ll see you in about fifteen minutes!”

Before I could even reply, Charles was already in the spa. I God, how did he move so fast?

No matter. I had stopped in the middle of the street for long enough and the guy behind me looked a bit impatient. I took my foot off the brake and started to look around for a hotel. I didn’t think it would be in the downtown area due to the cramped feeling of this stretch of street. I was right, having driven through the entire street.

I continued to look around in nearby suburban areas along with smaller business areas, continuing to see people walking around or towards the downtown area. But despite my best efforts, I couldn’t seem to find a hotel. I was about to give up when I noticed the orchard from earlier. I saw its entrance, but I couldn’t see its name on the sign due to the fact that there were no lights around except for one that wasn’t strong enough to light up the sign. I looked towards the light source and saw the words on a light up sign say, ‘Equine Hotel’. Wait… Hotel?

I shook my head to make sure I was seeing right and pumped my fist in satisfaction. I finally found the freaking hotel after… hold on (stupid watch)… half an hour!

Half an hour?! I was late for picking up Charles! I started hurrying towards the hotel, and just about tripping out of the car when I arrived, I quickly ran inside to check-in a room.

“Hello sir! Welcome to the Equine hotel! How may I help you?” The front desk man said in an enthusiastic tone.

“Yeah, hi. I need a room for two and fast. Do you have anything available?” I asked frantically.

“Erm… Yes we do sir. Do you have any preferences?” He asked politely.

“As long as there are two separate beds, yes. So how much does it cost?”

“Let’s see… about thirty dollars a night,” He finished.

“Great, here’s my card. I’ll pay when I get back,” I said rushing out the door leaving the worker a bit confused.

I ran back to my car, started it up, put it in drive, and made my way quickly towards the spa Charles was at. When I finally arrived, I noticed Charles wasn’t anywhere around the spa.

‘Where the hell is he? He said it would take fifteen minutes?’ I thought to myself.

After an agonizing fifteen minutes of waiting though, Charles finally exited the spa looking as frazzled as ever.

“Charles! What have you been doing that takes forty-five minutes as opposed to the fifteen you said you would take?” I asked a bit angry at having to waste thirty minutes of my life.

“I was buying this little pouch and its contents,” He answered nonchalantly as he held out a little black pouch.

“Well I don’t know what’s in it, nor do I care, but we need to get to sleep. I’m exhausted and you must be too,” I replied rubbing my aching temples.

“Aww, alright. But we gotta come out here again sometime. I had a blast and met a few people already,” He replied almost too happily.

“Well, maybe sometime later, but not this week. You have to get to Ann Arbor. Now come on, we need some sleep.”

I turned the car around using a nearby parking lot and made my way back to the hotel, both of us yawning the entire way. When we arrived, the front desk man said, “Welcome back sirs. I have your room taken care of and a receipt as of right now is right here to prove I didn’t try to swindle you out of any extra money.”

“What service. Thanks a lot,” I said back as I picked up my credit card, my key card, and the receipt. I gave them to Charles and told him to find the room while I went to the car to get our overnight bags. I went up to our room to see Charles already laying down trying to get comfortable in his bed. He didn’t even put some kind of sleepwear on and neither did I. I dropped the bags, collapsed on my bed, pulled the covers over me, and just about passed out.

The situation is heavily stacked in my favor. I’m here at my source of money. It’s MY source of money. Not theirs. It’s rightfully mine. I deserve it the most. Not this hillbilly line.

Yes. All I have to do is drive them out of here. I have all the supplies. I have the plan. I’ve checked for all miscalculations in my plan and it should all end perfectly in my favor. It has to work. IT HAS TO.

Yes, in this moment, I know what I must do. I must set fire to this land. This wretched land. I had it in my grasps until that hillbilly species made it their own. They don’t deserve it. It’s mine.

Yes, the fire starts now. I have my lighter, my fuel source, my plan. It all starts… now.

Yes, the fire is now started. It has started nicely. Nothing can stop me now.

What?! What was that, a government plane?! What is it doing here? It will ruin my plan! I must escape my fortune for now.

But wait. A girl. A little girl is watching me. She saw me execute my plan. Now she will ruin it all! Unless…

Yes, if she has been in this orchard for as long as she has, she must have developed something by now. I must use it to my advantage.

Got you little girl! Now I make sure you don’t see the shine of my fortune ever! It is time for your opportune death. The orchard was your weakness, and my strength! NO ONE CAN STOP ME! NO ONE!

I woke up in a cold sweat. No… scratch that, a blazing sweat. My shirt was soaked to my skin and my bed as moist as a sponge. Why was I sweating so much?

I got up to check the hotel room temperature to see that the air conditioning was on full blast. Well then why was it so hot in here?

I deeply inhaled through my nose in a started sigh only to pick up a strange scent. Smoke. Burning wood. A bar-b-q?

No. There was a bright orange glow coming from outside and I knew exactly what was going on as my heart skipped a beat.

“Fire…”

Chapter 2

“Fire…” I softly whispered to myself. Realizing the gravity of the situation, I said it a bit louder, “Fire.”

Then as if I heard myself speak for the first time, I went into a full blown panic and instantly shot up from my bed. I ran past a sleeping Charles and left the hotel room as fast as my legs could carry me. I jumped down the stairs, afraid of using the elevator due to the fire right next door. Soon after, I arrived in the lobby. I sprinted outside getting a weird glance from the main desk worker.

I looked around frantically for the direction of the fire. I spun, searching for even a sign leading to the bright orange glow. I finally saw it towards the right of the hotel and sprinted even faster towards it. When I reached it, I almost ran away scared for my life.

The fire was monstrous. So monstrous, that the edges seemed to lick at the stars above, as if tasting them. It almost distracted me from what the fire was actually consuming. It was eating at the orchard Charles and I passed on the way into town, half of it consumed by the flame the other half being lapped at by the now growing fire.

I mentally slapped myself and got to action. I ran closer towards the orchard entrance, which unfortunately was on the half with the fire. I then slowed and inched as close as possible to the entrance without being close enough to accidentally burn myself. Finally, I cupped my hands to my mouth and yelled into the inferno, “IS ANYONE IN THERE?”

No answer. I tried again, “YELL, ‘MAYDAY’ IF YOU HEAR ME!”

I listened for a little while longer. I stood frozen not knowing what to do. That is, until I heard a faint sound from under the popping and crackling of the fire.

“…day! Mayday! Mayday!” Said a voice nearly deaf on human hears. I perked up at the answer.

“Hello? How many people are trapped in the orchard? Answer in clear, concise speech!” I yelled as loud I could. I cupped my hand to my ear and listened intently. After a few seconds I heard, “Four! There are four trapped in here!”

It was then that the main desk worker for the hotel tapped my shoulder. I turned around seeing his face stricken with fright.

“What in the world happened here?” He yelled over the roaring fire.

“There’s a fire in this orchard! We need to call 911!” I said reaching into my pocket for my cell. Until I realized that it was on my dresser in the hotel room. DAMN!

“Listen!” I yelled to the front desk worker, “I need you to go back to the hotel and call the police and fire-department. I don’t have a phone.”

He nodded and ran back to the hotel. I really didn’t know what to do next. I was standing mere feet away from a blazing inferno that was inside the best possible fuel source; a gigantic orchard.

Almost as if on cue, two people stumbled out of the orchard and collapsed on the ground in a coughing fit. I ran over to help them how I could. Their clothes were covered in soot and their arms covered in bright red burns. However, I couldn’t see their faces in the darkness. Being sure to not touch any injuries, I grabbed them both by the torso and dragged them to safety further away from the fire.

I moved them both onto a patch of grass nearby the hotel. Near the hotel’s bright sign, I could make out their facial features. The first one was a young woman. She had long blonde hair held in a ponytail. Her face was covered in freckles and was tanned most likely due to working in the orchard. She was dressed in an orange button up with a green plaid pattern. Her legs covered with a pair of blue jeans and long western boots. I guess all she needed was the Stetson. She looked more like a southerner than a Michigander from what I was looking at.

The second person was a man. He was much heavier to drag over due to his huge size. His arms were bulking and I could barely wrap my arms around him when I went to drag him. He had darker blonde hair, reaching past his eyes. He was also covered in freckles but was redder in the face than the woman, hinting that he must have been badly burned in the orchard. He was wearing a red button up with a dark red plaid pattern and also covered his legs with blue jeans. He wore heavy work boots on his feet. I God, it feels like they both need a ten-gallon hat! What were two southern-looking people doing in Michigan?

“You two stay here. I have to make sure you get help. You can’t afford to be to close to the fire,” I told them breathing heavily afterwards. They both took a lot of energy out of me, especially the man, when I dragged them over to the grass. I was exhausted.

But I pushed it aside. I had to help out anyway I could. Even though other people from nearby houses weren’t doing anything but coming outside to see just what was going on at the orchard, most with gaping mouths and hands on their foreheads in shock.

“Just stay here,” I repeated and ran over to the small group of people gathering.

“What’s going on?” One of them asked as I ran up.

“I don’t know, but we need to do something about it. How many of you have hoses?” I asked.

A few people raised their hands.

“Well until the fire-department gets here, we have to stop the fire on the edges of the orchard so it doesn’t get to your houses. This is life or death for you guys,” I explained.

They immediately got to action turning on their hoses and getting some buckets to fill and pour on the fire. I didn’t even tell them to do that. Wow. There a pretty smart bunch. I got to work as well filling a bucket one of the people gave me and started throwing it on the part of the orchard nearest to the houses.

I continued filling and pouring and only stopped to see what was making a strange buzzing noise. I heard it only a few minutes after I started helping to put out the fire. It was a faint droning that I didn’t recognize, and I didn’t know where it was coming from. That is, until I looked up. There was a formless shape I soon identified as a plane flying across the sky. At first, I thought they were going to just fly over. But instead, they opened a hatch on the bottom of the plane and dropped out a formless mist over the fire. I didn’t know what it was until I heard a sizzling come from inside the orchard. Water! This is cool! I’ve always wanted to see a fire-fighting plane in action!

The plane turned around and went towards the forest nearby. It must have to refill at a nearby pond or lake. Realizing I was staring, I immediately got back to work. Our little group had gotten a sizeable portion of the area done when the fire-department finally came.

“Dear God! What happened here? And what are you people doing?” A fireman who looked to be the chief asked.

A person then shouted to him, “We don’t really know what happened here, but we’re trying to keep it away from our houses. Ask the old guy over there about what happened,” and pointed his finger at me. Hey! It’s not my fault my hair started graying during high school! It’s in my genes!

The chief barked some orders at the rest of his crew and ran over to me. When he arrived he asked, “What’s happening here?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied, “I was just sleeping in the hotel when the fire’s brightness woke me up. All I know is that two people out of four just stumbled out of the orchard,” I said as I pointed towards the patch of grass where I dragged the man and woman. But where were they?

I worriedly looked around for the southern look-alikes and saw them helping the people put out the fire. Geez they were a tough bunch. Although they were still coughing and looked exhausted, they were still helping in anyway they could. Or they were just trying to save their money source, which was more likely…

“The two who came out are already helping to put out the fire. You should get to work too, before it gets to the barn and the back orchard,” I told the chief. He in turn yelled to the small group of people, “Get away from the fire and let the fire-department and the forest fire rescue planes do their job!” But the two southerners resisted.

“Sir, Ma’am! You need to get out of here! It’s too dangerous to be around the fire!” The chief yelled towards them. When they continued working, the chief had two fire-fighters pull them away, but not with some resistance from the two.

“Ya don’t understand!” The man yelled, “Blossom’s still in there! We can’t stop now!”

I God, I had almost forgotten about the other two that were apparently in the fire. With a bit of rushed thinking, I ran past the chief, grabbed the young woman’s bandana, soaked it in a bucket of water nearby, tied it to stay in front of my mouth, and ran into the fire like an idiot.

When I was well into the orchard, I realized how stupid I was being. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to be some big hero, nor would I care if I became one. But some force inside my body told me to run into the orchard and I did. At least it seemed like a good idea at the time…

But I pushed those doubting thoughts out of my head. I was on a mission, and God help them if they tried to stop me.

I ran a few steps forward and decided to try what I did earlier. I yelled, “IS ANYONE IN HERE? YELL ‘MAYDAY’ IF YOU CAN HEAR ME!” enticing a few vigorous coughs for me. I had to watch my breathing in here with that stupid smoke. That didn’t matter though, because I heard no response.

“HELLO? IS ANYONE HERE?” I repeated. After a few seconds, however, I heard a familiar buzzing noise from in the sky. I looked up to see a different plane fly over me. It too dropped a load of water on to the fire, but it dropped it right on the area I was standing on. I fell from the sheer force of the water being dropped on me, but more importantly when I got back up and wiped my eyes from any excess water, I heard a faint wheezing. It was coming from my left and I instantly ran over that way, which in turn got me a few extra burns around my arms and legs. I really needed to slow down and actually think sometimes. This wasn’t the first time I got hurt from just rushing into some stupid situation.

But that didn’t matter because after a few more steps, I saw a little girl on the ground wheezing heavily. I ran up to her and turned her on her back, grasped her shoulders, and asked, “Are you okay? Speak if you are.”

She continued wheezing and coughing to the point where she went limp in my arms. I was starting to freak out. She might have just died in my hands and I wasn’t doing anything to help her. So I picked her up, put her on my back piggyback style, and ran like hell away from the still growing fire. I did this not even knowing where the exit was. It was then I started to panic. The fire seemed to be surrounding me and I was to the point where I couldn’t feel my lungs. I was about to just stop and give up when I heard a voice sounding like it came from a megaphone, “If you can hear me, look for the green smoke! That’s where we are!”

Well what in God’s name did that mean?! I was surrounded by smoke! There was no way I could find a bit of green smoke. I was going to yell something back, but I was interrupted by a loud screeching coming from my right. I looked to see a small object soaring into the air at a breakneck speed. Just when I thought it was going to fly farther away, it exploded in a brilliant green flash of light.

My bet was that the exit was that way so I started running towards it. Even though I was exhausted from carrying the girl on my back and my lungs were cussing at me for making them endure this idiotic move, I continued running. Even when I started to slow down and my vision started clouding up, I ran. Even when trees started to fall, I ran. Even when I saw the exit, I ran. Even though I could feel my consciousness slip away, I ran. Even when I couldn’t feel my legs anymore, I ran. And just as I thought I was going to die on the spot, sprinted out the exit and collapsed on the ground in a coughing fit.

“Jesus Christ, someone get over there and help them!” Someone said in shock. A few seconds later, I felt the girl being lifted off my back and me being dragged away from the fire. I looked up to see the young woman dragging me back to the patch of grass near the hotel. When she put me back down I went into another coughing fit to the point where I was spitting out black mucus, obviously from the smoke intake. When I was done coughing, I sat up and blinked my eyes a few times to keep them from clouding up anymore. When my vision seemed normal again, I stood up and wobbled around holding my head. I was dizzy and my head felt like a hammer was pounding into it. But I mustered up my strength and I forced myself to look at the young woman who helped me away from the fire.

She was doubled over and breathing heavily and occasionally coughing. I thought of what to say to her, but she beat me to it as she stood up, glared daggers at me, took her bandana back and asked, “Now, what in the hell was that fer? I ain’t seen somebody do somethin’ so stupid in all mah life!” while jabbing her finger into my chest with every other word. “Well? ‘Splain yerself! Why’d ya do it?”

I’m sorry, but I couldn’t take her seriously. Her southern drawl was absolutely adorable. Her freckles gave her a cutesy look. Her green eyes, though bloodshot and seething with anger, were stunning with radiance. That and her shining blonde hair, it was too much!

Wait a minute! Don’t say something you’ll regret. You have to be serious here!

Well my definition of a serious answer was, “Well… I… Um… I didn’t… What I mean is…”

Before I could embarrass myself further, though, the police was arriving on the scene along with an ambulance. The young woman looked towards them and then back at me and said, “I’ll speak wit ya later,” and ran over to where the police would arrive.

Something was amiss though. The police were coming at a breakneck speed and there weren’t just a few cars. There was more like fifteen or twenty of them, sirens blaring. It wasn’t until they screeched to a stop until I figured out what was about to happen.

The front few police cars were the first to stop. When they got out though, they pulled out pistols and pointed them at the man I helped earlier. The biggest police officer then said, “Freeze! You there!” The man looked left and right to make sure they weren’t talking to anyone else. When he saw they weren’t, he pointed to himself clueless as to what was going on.

“Yeah you! Now put you hands up!” The officer yelled. The man complied and put his hands in the standard hands-up position. Then a few officers ran up to the defenseless man and forced him to the ground, triggering a few shocked gasps from the crowd.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court,” Recited one of the police officers as they handcuffed him. This was definitely a turn for the worst. Why was the man being arrested? I only saw him trying to help put out the fire. What crime did he commit?

“Wait just a minute!” I heard the young woman say, “What in th’ world would ya take him fer? He din’t do nuthin!”

“Well if he didn’t do anything, then he had to do something. We have a reason to believe this man started the fire in your orchard,” A police officer answered.

“Wha…? Now that’s jest down right stupid of ya’ll! Why in th’ world would mah brothah do somethin’ like that?” She asked seething with rage.

“I understand your questions, but we have a witness who told us the look of the person who did it, and your brother fits the bill perfectly,” The police officer said, “Alright boys, take him away,” he finished and the police led him towards one of the cars.

I decided it was time to speak up, “Wait! He’s been helping us to put out the fire! Why the hell would he do that if he started it?”

“That’s it!” The biggest officer yelled, “Whoever tries to stop us again will be arrested for obstructing the police. Now all of you, shut up!”

Pure silence. I wanted to say something, but my common sense surprisingly told me not too. I looked towards the young woman to see her biting her lip as well. Not even the small group of people who had worked to keep the houses safe spoke. We watched in agonizing silence as the police put the man into a car and drive away, leaving just the ambulance and the fire-truck to keep us company.

But one event wasn’t enough. We all perked up at the loud voice that yelled, “Get the medic! She’s not breathing!”

I snapped out of my stupor to see what was going on over by the ambulance. When I arrived, the little girl I saved was on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. She didn’t appear to be breathing.

The young woman ran up to her and yelled to the medic, “Well, what happenin ta’ mah sis? Why ain’t she breathin’?”

“We don’t know yet, but we need to get her to the hospital, stat!” The medic told her. The medic and her assistant then lifted the stretcher into the ambulance and closed the doors. The ambulance then screeched its tires and left us in the dust to watch the flashing blue and red siren take away the little girl. I didn’t look, but I think the young woman fell to her knees and started to cry.

What a catastrophe! The man from the orchard was arrested, the little girl was taken to the hospital emergency room, the young woman was in hysterics, and… wait. Isn’t there one more?

Oh, crap there is. I turned around towards the orchard entrance and ran towards it only to be stopped by a fireman who said, “Whoa there cowboy! You’ve done enough good here! You need a rest.”

“I don’t care! There’s one more person in that orchard! We need to save them!” I almost yelled, struggling to free myself from his grasp.

“Sir, I’m not going to say it again. Leave!”

“No! I won’t leave! I have to save them!” I near yelled.

“Sir, Calm down! The fire-department is doing its job right now. You will be arrested for obstruction with the fire-department if you don’t comply with our demands,” He said firmly. Surprisingly enough, my common sense told me to leave the fireman too. I didn’t want to, but I felt like I didn’t have a choice. Besides, who wants to be defended by a guy with a criminal record?

Hrmmm… I knew what I had to do. I walked up to the young woman again to see her just how I thought she was; on her knees and crying her eyes out. I slowly put my hand on her shoulder and asked, “Miss, may I speak with you in private?”

Apparently she didn’t want to because she just moved her shoulder away and answered with a sniffle, “I ain’ta miss… I’m down here bawlin mah eyes out… Ya don’t need ta talk wit me…”

“It’s about your brother. I want to defend him in court,” I said surprised at my answer. Had I subconsciously remembered that the man and this woman were siblings? And why did I want to defend her brother? It didn’t matter though because the woman looked up at me, tears, and confusion in her eyes.

“How did ya’ll know he was mah brothah?” She asked wiping her eyes.

“You said so to the police… I think.” I answered, “But the question still remains, can I have your permission to defend your brother?”

She looked to be deep in thought, wiping her eyes and sniffling every once in a while. I was going to ask her to hurry up, but again my common sense surprisingly stopped me. She looked to be in no condition to be doing anything right now, much less start thinking. Not to mention the fact that I had a horribly obvious crush on her. I hated seeing her like this.

After what seemed like hours, she asked, “Ya really think ya can help us?”

I stared directly in her eyes and answered, “I don’t know, but I will try my hardest.”

“That’s mighty kind of ya,” She replied, “Alrighty then; ya’ll kin defend ‘em.”

Weird. I thought there would be more of a fight. She seemed like a pretty stubborn mule earlier…

No matter. I had a job and I was going to do it right.

“All right then,” I said, “I’ve got a case on my hands. Might I ask for your name, Miss…?”

“Pomona, Jackie Pomona,” She finished, “I’m the proud head manager of this here orchard. It’s mah pride n’ joy.”

“Really? I didn’t think that you actually worked here. Does your brother work here as well?” I asked.

“Yup. All th’ owner’s live n’ th’ farm house; me, mah brothah, mah sis…” She said trailing off near the end, a look of panic on her face, “Oh no! Mah sis is goin’ to th’ hospital! Whatta ‘bout her?”

I sensed her panic and said as reassuringly as possible, “Now, hold on! The emergency room doctors are good ones. They’ll keep your sister safe. That much I promise. But it’s your brother I can’t promise will be safe. We need to focus on his problem as a first priority and then visit your sister. We can even try to visit her tomorrow. Promise me you’ll calm down, and we can do that.”

She took a few deep breaths and after a few of these breaths, she answered with, “I guess I kin wait’a little bit to see her. She probly ain’t doin’ to well anyhow…” She said sounding a tiny bit dejected.

“Good.” I replied, “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Well, now that yer gonna help mah bro, what’re ya gonna do first?” She asked, visibly calmer.

“First,” I started, “You and I are going to get some sleep. It’s past midnight and we’re both exhausted.”

“But I can’t! Mah house is gonna be ‘nspected by th’ police!” She replied.

“I understand that, but you’re probably going to need to find a friends house to sleep at. After a good nights sleep, we’ll go to the precinct to ask your brother Mr.…” I trailed off not knowing his name.

“MacInerney, MacInerney Pomona,” Jackie answered filling in the blank.

“Right, we’ll have to ask MacInerney if he wants me to defend him. It has to be official. After that, we’ll ask questions and investigate what we can before the trial,” I finished, yawning afterwards, “Any more questions you have for me?”

“Nope, I’m fine,” She replied.

“Good. Tomorrow, I want to see you at the precinct at seven sharp. Don’t be late.”

“Sure thing!” She replied, “I’ll be up bright n’ early! See ya tomorrow Mr.…”

I smiled and finished with, “Coy, Mr. Teller Coy.”

“Well, alrighty then, Tella. I’ll see ya tomorra’ mornin’” She said with a wave and made her way towards what looked like the downtown of Equine.

“Well I’ll be!” I said, chuckling at how she pronounced my name, “It looks like we’ve got a case, huh Keegan?”

I listened for an answer until the realization hit me like a freight train with super-rockets attached. KEEGAN. WASN’T. HERE.

“Oh, SHIT!” I yelled getting a few surprised jumps and glares from people heading back to their houses, “Keegan’s in Massachusetts! Why the hell did I take that case?!?” I said to myself.

Before I could comprehend what I was doing, I was retracing my steps back to the hotel to get my phone, getting another weird look from the front desk worker. I ran back up the stairs to my floor, past a few people going back to their hotel rooms from the little spectacle outside, and barreled through the door. I got my phone off the dresser next to my bed and speed-dialed Keegan.

I waited for what seemed like fifteen minutes before I heard a very groggy, “Hello?”

“Keegan, this is Tell. I have a problem!”

“You’d better, it’s 12:30 in the morning,” He said, and then grumbled inaudibly as I heard his mattress groan from having Keegan shift his weight. “What’s going on? Is Charles alright?”

I had completely forgotten about him. I looked to his bed to see him still asleep just like when I left earlier. How he slept through all that was beyond me.

“Yeah, he’s fine. But it’s me who has a problem,” I said sighing afterwards preparing for the worst, “We had to stop in a town near Ann Arbor called Equine. It was here we stopped at a hotel and decided to stay the night. But there’s an orchard next to it and long story short, I decided to defend the guy who was accused of starting a fire to it. You’re not here, so what do I do?”

There was a heavy silence on the other end; another fifteen minutes seemed to pass by. Then there was finally an answer when Keegan asked, “Always too quick to think, huh Tell?”

I sighed at his subtle teasing, which caused him to chuckle and say, “Well, you rushed into this, you better get yourself out. I’m not here to save you this time.”

“But I’ve never done a case on my own! How can I do it now?” I asked almost hysterically.

“Come on, Tell. You’ve done fine on your own. Charles can attest to that,” He replied.

“I don’t care. I’m not ready yet,” I said, remembering Charles’ case. Now that I think about it, the majority of that case was my doing…

“That’s only what you believe. Ever heard of cognitive thinking? If you think you’re not ready, then you aren’t ready. That’s the note I’m going to leave you on, so good luck. But I’ll try and get there. I’ve got to make sure you don’t make yourself look TOO stupid,” Keegan teased. You know, it’s him who said I have an infallible sense of logic, but it’s also him who gets the upper hand on me in an argument. Every. Single. Time.

“Fine, I’ll hopefully see you soon,” I said in a depressed monotone.

“Oh, could you say hi to Je…” Keegan started to say, but I had already hung up on him.

I put my phone back on its spot on the dresser and lay down on my bed. What did I get myself into this time? I helped to stop a wildfire, I dragged two people from a fire, I ran INTO said fire to save a girl, I made it out alive. Why couldn’t I defend a man on my own? I looked like freaking He-Man tonight. What did I have to worry about?

I looked over to Charles to see him still sleeping. The little son-of-a was still asleep. Out of pure annoyance and jealousy, I threw one of my pillows at him. He was startled awake only to see me tiredly pass out. I did say I was exhausted right?

Charles harrumphed and then grumbled, “Damn Tell and his sleep-walking,” and fell back asleep.

Chapter 3

August 17th, 2015

“Remind me, why the hell are we at the town police station at quarter to seven?” Charles asked with a tinge of annoyance in his tone.

“Because we’re going to defend the man who was accused of burning down the orchard that you happened to sleep through. The visiting hours start at seven,” I retorted rubbing my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. I was tired, angry, and bitter about what Keegan said last night. It looked like I was going at it alone this time if you didn’t count Charles. I wasn’t really looking forward to this.

“Well, it’s not my fault the orchard was burned, so why do we need to defend this guy?” Charles asked.

“Because I want to prove myself to Keegan,” I lied, “I’m sick of hitching on to Keegan for every case.”

“Yeah right, you big fat liar,” Charles sneered, “You’re scared out of your wits right now.”

As much as I wanted to prove him wrong, I couldn’t. I was scared half to death. I was secretly hoping Keegan would hurry up and get here like he said he would.

“Yeah, sure,” I said rolling my eyes trying to act like I was uninterested in the conversation, “Geez, where’s Jackie?”

“Who’s Jackie? Some police guy?” Charles asked confused at not being told who Jackie was earlier.

“Jackie?” I asked a small idea forming in my head, “No, no, no. Jackie is someone who was helping last night at the fire. Jackie came out of the orchard that night during the fire so Jackie might have information about what happened that night,” I said being careful not to reveal her gender.

“Oh, he sounds like one tough guy,” Charles remarked raising an eyebrow in interest, “You know, to come out of a fire like that then try to put it out.”

“Sure,” I said with a smirk, “Let’s go with that.”

Before Charles could say anything else though, I heard a familiar southern drawl tease, “Well, I din’t think ya prissy lawyers were t’ keen in th’ mornin’.”

I smiled and turned around to see Jackie walking up. She still had her soot covered clothes on, but I couldn’t blame her. Her clothes were probably still at her house being inspected by the police. The only differences were that her skin looked washed and she wore a Stetson upon her head. CALLED IT!

“And I didn’t think you farm workers were very good with a schedule,” I mocked back.

“Nice ta’ see ya Tella,” She replied holding out her hand for me too shake.

“The pleasures mine,” I replied shaking her hand, “There’s someone else I want you to meet as well. This is my ‘assistant’ Charles,” I said motioning my other hand to Charles.

“Nice to meet you Miss…” Charles started as I smirked, waiting for the golden moment.

“Jackie Pomona. Ya’ll kin call me Jackie.”

Charles look then was one of pure confusion, bewilderment, and to me, hilarity.

“W-wait, what? You’re Jackie?” He stuttered, obviously in shock.

“Oh, I forgot to mention,” I snickered, “He thought you were a guy.”

“Is that so?” Jackie growled and squeezed her hand harder around Charles enticing a painful squeak from Charles.

Unfortunately (for my entertainment), the front door to the precinct had been unlocked by a police officer and I told Jackie and Charles, “Well the door’s unlocked. We can head inside for the visiting hours.”

Charles got one more glare from Jackie before she went inside. Charles then walked next to me and while we were entering he whispered, “Dammit Tell, I didn’t even know farmer chicks were hot and you have to go pull a stunt like that? You totally ruined my chances with her!”

“Pfffft. She’s WAY out of your league. Besides, it wasn’t me who said she was a guy,” I chuckled, “By the way, how does your hand feel?”

“It hurts like hell, thank you very much,” He hissed while rubbing his obviously sore hand.

I shrugged and continued to follow Jackie to the detention center. It was a bit odd though, as if she knew exactly where it was.

I pushed the thought aside as we entered the visiting center and sat in one of the chairs if front of a window that divided the room in half, logically for the visitors and the accused. The window itself had a little metal speaker on it so we could hear through the window which must be sound proof. The room itself was very bland. Large gray bricks made up the walls surrounding the small area we were seated in. There was one small window on the other side of the large divider that had a few bars over it to prevent escaping criminals.

“State your name and the name of whom you wish to speak too,” Said a fuzzy voice from the speaker that surprised all three of us in the room.

I cleared my throat and said, “My name is Teller Coy. I’m here to speak with MacInerney Pomona.”

“Very well, he’ll be with you soon,” The voice said in a monotonous tone.

The tension was so thick… well you know how the saying goes. I was nervous, to put it lightly. My first case without Keegan to guide me the right way, why wouldn’t I be? I started to think of bad case scenarios that might happen during the case. It’s a bad habit, I know, but I can’t help it.

Around the climax of my thoughts when I thought the prosecutor was going to pull out a gun on me, the door opening on the other side snapped me out of my stupor and I saw MacInerney somberly walk in handcuffed and led by another police officer. The police officer told him to sit at a chair across from me from behind the divider. When he did, the police officer walked back towards the door, pressed a button that turned on the speaker, and stood guard to make sure MacInerney didn’t try to cause any kind of trouble.

I cleared my throat and cautiously asked, “Can you hear me, Mr. Pomona?”

He perked up and answered in a deep, phlegmatic, lethargic voice, “I kin hear ya.”

I already disliked his slow speaking habit. I knew I was going to need a lot of patience whenever I talked to this guy.

“Good then,” I replied, “My name is Teller Coy, attorney at law.”

“Yeah, I seen ya last night at th’ fire,” He droned.

I waited for him to introduce himself and when he didn’t I asked, “Care to tell me your name?”

He furrowed his brow and answered with, “Ya’ll ready said mah name. That, ‘nd mah sis is here. She probably already told ya mah name.” I sighed because he was right.

I noticed that his speaking habit allowed him to speak with less of an accent then his sister which made him much easier to understand. But it was still torture on me. My mind was screaming for MacInerney to go faster. I thought his last answer took five minutes.

“Sorry about that. I meant do you have a name I can call you? MacInerney is a bit much to say…” I replied.

“Ya’ll kin call me Mac if ya feel like it,” He slowly answered.

“Thank you. Now then Mac,” I paused clearing my throat and listening to how the new word sounded, “Last night you were arrested on the accusation that you set fire to a part of the orchard…”

“It’s th’ Pomona Family Orchard,” Mac interrupted.

“R- Right, thank you,” I said, feeling my patience wearing thin, “Anyways, you were arrested for suspected arson. We don’t know what exactly you will be accused of in court, but we have to be prepared in anyway possible. I’ve brought your sister here to gather as much information as we can today in the allotted time.”

“Well, I got a question fer you, Mr. Coy,” He started slowly, “’Fore I trust th’ rest o’ mah life to ya, I gotta make sure ya kin think right.” I perked up, hoping I could show him just how intelligent I am.

“How much of th’ orchards was burned down last night?”

I smirked and said, “Which part, the front or the back? Because if it were the front, about half, If it were the back, none, if it was both, about a quarter, if it was…”

“Now how’d ya’ll figure that out?” He asked just a tinge confused.

“Simple, the barn wasn’t even touched last night due to the fire-department’s great job. The barn divides the two sides to the orchard, and since the barn didn’t burn, it’s safe to say neither did the other orchard,” I said with a satisfied grin.

“But how did…” Mac continued before I interrupted with, “You forget that one of the two entrances to town passes right by the front and back of the two orchards. That’s how I knew about the second orchard.”

Mac was speechless; his dull eyes widened a miniscule from where they were when we started the conversation. He looked as if he was struggling to think of what to say; his mouth open but no words forming. In short, Tell-1, Mac-0.

‘But I have to stay on the alert. Who knows what he might ask next,’ I thought to myself.

I was right as Mac cleared his throat and said, “That was a pretty lucky guess. ‘Righty then, mah next question is who got taken to the hospital?”

That one was just as easy as the first. I answered confidently, “The little girl I happened to rescue.” Hah! Tell-2, Mac-0.

“I meant her name, Mr. High ‘n Mighty,” Mac retorted. Correction, Tell-1, Mac-1.

This was going to be harder than I thought. Thinking back, I tried to envision last night and its series of events in my head. I remembered hearing a name. In fact, I think it was Mac who said it. What did he say?

“Aw, come on big brothah! Tella here is tryin’ ta help ya out, and ya’ll are spittin’ ‘n his face! Besides, How‘n God’s name do ya think Tella knows…” Jackie started but I shushed her and said, “Don’t say it!”

The room was silent. Not a word was said as I thought a little longer. I remembered that Mac said her name when he was getting held back by the fire-department. Now I had a time, but still no name. Gah! What was it?

“Her name is……” I started, drawing a blank.

“I’m sorry, but I ain’t gonna let ya defend mah life if ya can’t even ‘member mah sis’ name,” Mac finished, leaving me grasping at straws. I knew this! Why couldn’t I remember?

I was about to give up when Charles leaned over and whispered, “What are you doing Tell? Show this sluggish sap who the smart one is!”

I motioned for Mac to excuse our little side conversation and turned my back along with Charles’ away from him as I hissed back, “What do you mean? I don’t remember her name at all! This is so frustrating, I even heard Lord Leisurely here say her name but I can’t recall it! What do I do?”

Charles thought for a moment and whispered back, “You’re saying that the thought is still fresh in your mind?”

I shrugged and whispered back, “I guess so…?”

He grunted and fumbled around his pocket for a few seconds until he pulled out the small pouch he bought from outside the health resort yesterday.

“I thought I said I don’t want to know what’s in there,” I hissed.

Charles chuckled and whispered back, “Listen, the contents of this pouch might be able to help you out, not only now, but for a long time. Just give it a chance?”

I knew with every bone in my body that this was a bad idea, but my mind made me reply, “Well… I guess ONCE won’t hurt…”

Charles seemed to brighten about 50 watts at my words and opened the mysterious little black pouch. From it, he pulled out a… needle?!

“What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t even think about getting near me with that thing!” I hissed.

“Relax, this is an acupuncture needle. You don’t have to do anything except think and breathe. Leave the rest to me,” He replied, enjoying every minute of my torture.

Well it IS an acupuncture needle. It’s supposed to be relaxing, right?

I gave a defeated sigh and motioned for Charles to go ahead while I said to the two Pomona’s, “Please excuse us for a moment.”

“Well alright then!” Charles exclaimed, “Let’s start then. First, I want you to clear your mind of everything except the vague thought of when you heard her name and how to breathe.”

I shook my head in doubt as I closed my eyes and emptied my mind. Slowly but surely, the noise of the morning faded away and the only thing that was occupying me was my thoughts. Then, I complied with Charles instructions as I inhaled deeply trying to remember the time when Mac said his sister’s name. I exhaled as I ‘opened’ my eyes in my mind to see a fuzzy vision of the fire from my point of view. It all looked familiar and I did recognize a few things like Jackie and some sounds such as the fire-chief barking orders to his crew. But most of it was a soft, fuzzy, inaudible blob of sounds and sights.

My little flashback was then interrupted by Charles’ voice as it said sounding very distant, “It looks like you’ve found your thought. Now I will insert two needles in the areas of your spine which are connected to the sensory and memory part of the brain. You should only feel a small poke when I do. Here I go.”

I waited for a second in my thoughts not really feeling anything. The event in my mind continued to play out its series of events as I tried to anticipate when the needle would pierce my skin. But after a few more seconds, I felt a sharp pain in my mid-back section right where my spine was. Nothing immediately happened after that, but I didn’t notice the semi-lifelike thought in my mind slowly melting away into a blur of colors and hues. When I finally noticed what was happening, I started to panic thinking that my brain might have been damaged. But the colors started to reform themselves into shapes that soon became cars, people, the orchard fire, Jackie, Mac, and other objects. Only this time, the image was much clearer. There was no noise at first, but in a crescendo of sound, the motions people’s mouths were making were accompanied with their own distinct sounds.

Then, in an explosion of noise, the sounds coming from all people, things, and directions clashed together making me grimace in pain. It all sounded so familiar too. I then felt a strange force pass through my body making it feel exhausted and tired. I found my lungs hurting as well and I started to cough. Why did this feel so familiar? Why did it feel so real?

I then heard rushed footsteps coming in my direction. I squinted and I saw the fire-chief from last night running towards me. Then I realized that his face had the same look of shock as it did last night. This was definitely starting to freak me out.

“What’s happening here?” He asked as he ran up to me. Isn’t that what he asked last night though?

I tried to ask him the same thing because I didn’t know what was going on at all. I tried to speak, but my mouth instead said, “I’m not sure, I was just sleeping in the hotel when the fire’s brightness woke me up. All I know is that two people out of four just stumbled out of the orchard,” causing me to gasp loudly in horror. “The two who came out are already helping to put out the fire. You should get to work too, before it gets to the barn and the back orchard!” I was again forced to say, and it was then I realized that the exact events from last night were taking place. From my physical condition to the conversations taking place to the sights to the smells and to… and to… and… and…

It was when I had this epiphany that I gained some control over my body and promptly fell on my knees. I could feel my respiration rate steadily rising to an erratic hyperventilation, which didn’t help because I could see myself coughing up smoke again.

“Get away from the fire and let the fire-department and the forest fire rescue planes do their job!”

What’s happening to me? What’s going to happen to me? WHEN WILL IT END?!?!?!

“Sir, Ma’am! You need to get out of here! It’s too dangerous to be around the fire!”

Wait a minute. This is the part where Mac says her name, isn’t it?

“Ya don’t understand…” I heard Mac start to say…

“BLOSSOM’S STILL IN THERE!” I unconsciously shouted.

It took a few seconds for me to re-gather my bearings. As my vision started to clear from its cloudy hindrance, I realized I wasn’t in that lucid hell anymore but rather I was in the detention center again. I surveyed the room to see the same bland, grey room with the window in the middle. The guard was still standing guard at the door, looking jaded from his job. Mac and Jackie were still here as well, even though they were giving me a look like I had two heads. I sighed in relief as I tried to fall into my chair, only to find I was sitting the whole time.

Realizing the outburst I just shouted was relevant to the conversation, I asked, “Is that the girls name MacInerney? Blossom?”

“… Ah take it back. Ya’ll ’r smarter than ya look,” Mac sounding considerably happier. Wait, huh? Happy? Why’d he sound happy? Was he doing something? “Ah guess ya’ll kin defend me. Already signed th’ paper.”

…OH YEAH! Suck it! Tell-2, Mac-1! Game, set, match!

Of course, I didn’t actually SAY that. What I did say was, “Thank you, Mac. You won’t regret your decision to trust me. I’ll try everything in my power to find the truth behind your families’ orchard arson.”

“Why, thank ya kindly Mr. Coy. I’m glad ‘tall worked out fer ya,” Mac replied cheerily.

“Alright,” I started, “I know you’re probably going to ask ‘What do we do next?’ so I’ll answer it right now. I’m going to ask you questions about last night and I want you to answer them to the best of your abilities. My assistant Charles…” I trailed off as I noticed Charles wasn’t in the room anymore. Come to think of it, I didn’t see him when I awoke from that lucid hell. Where did he go?

“Oh, yer buddy there? Yeah, I sent ‘em outside ta give ya some room. What with th’ needle n’ all…” Jackie answered as if reading my thoughts.

I almost forgot that he caused this. I needed to speak with him about what he did to me.

“On second thought then, can I go get him? I have to speak with him for a second. You don’t mind?” I asked, slowly getting out of my chair.

“Ya’ll did it a second ago, ya’ll kin do it again,” Mac answered with a smile.

Why was he acting like this all of the sudden? It’s like his personality did a complete 180. Minutes ago it almost sounded like he was insulting me. What happened while I was unconscious?

“Thanks a lot. I’ll be back in as soon as I can,” I said as I got up and left the room.

Re-entering the lobby, I looked around for the lanky figure that was Charles. I didn’t see him in here, so I looked outside. I knew I found him when I saw a gangly figure wearing his signature maize and blue shirt walking in my direction.

“Hey Charles! Over here!” I shouted towards him, but to no avail. Him and his damn hearing problem…

“Charles! Come here! I need to talk to you!” I yelled and waved my hand for Charles to see. He saw me and motioned for me to walk his way. I groaned, but complied as I made my way over.

“Hey Tell, what’re doing here? You have to ask the Pomona’s some questions don’t you?” Charles asked when I finally arrived.

“I need you in there too. *You have to write down all of the answers for future reference,” I answered motioning him to follow me back to the precinct. “What were you doing anyway?”

“I was getting a snack. Jackie sent me out as soon as you started babbling nonsense while I was helping you,” He answered.

“Wait, how long was I out for? Was I even out? What did you do to me?” I asked, all too confused.

“If you’re just finding me now then maybe five minutes, which is normal after a sensory/memory acupuncture. And yes, you were out as soon as the needle pierced your skin, which is also normal,” Charles answered casually.

“Wha….? That was only a few minutes? It felt like hours almost! I’ll ask again, what did you do to me?” I asked, panic in my tone.

“Relax, Tell. I tell you what happened,” He replied as he started making his way back to the precinct. I followed close behind as to listen to his answer.

“What happened was that I used a titanium needle infused with volcanic ash to help jump-start your brain into sensually remembering the event you were thinking of by sticking it in the sensory and memory nerves in the spine connected to the brain. The negative ions in titanium and volcanic ash help to ‘shock’ the brain into remembering the entire event from start to finish. That is precisely what happened to you Tell,” Charles answered to my amazement.

“…Wow! How did you know all of that? You mean to tell me you knew what you were doing?” I asked with a newfound respect for the one named Charles.

“Of course! What did you think I was doing at the health resort, getting a mud bath?” Charles replied sounding a bit annoyed for doubting him.

“Well, no, but you were in there for a long time. What were you doing in there anyways?” I asked.

“What do you think? Learning how to use the acupuncture needle! Orchid and Lei invented it right here in Equine, so they were the only ones who could teach me how to use it.”

“Who are Orchid and Lei?”

“They’re the owners of the spa and inventors of sensory/memory acupuncture.”

“Well, why did you stop me at the spa? You didn’t know what you were going to get.”

“Because I actually was going to go into the sauna because of how stressed you made me that day, but I found myself talking to Orchid and long story short I ended up buying a set of needles and learning how to use them. I never got to the sauna because you kept honking and telling me to get moving,” Charles said with bitterness.

Those words hurt and it felt like each word was punching me in the gut. I didn’t really know I was causing him so much stress. I should have known he would be so anxious about going to college plus the fact that I was getting on his nerves would get him so upset. I swallowed my pride and said, “Look, I apologize about yesterday. I should have taken into account your anxiety about getting to college. I also shouldn’t have been such a jerk. Can you forgive me?”

Charles was silent for a while as he rubbed his chin in thought. Worried that he wasn’t going to excuse my behavior, I added, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll even try to get you to the sauna this week. What do you say?”

Charles glowered at me causing me to sweat, but I see the sides of his mouth fighting to try not to smile and I knew all was already forgiven.

“Yeah, I forgive you. But you better take me to the sauna. I’m going to make you promise alright?” He said still fighting the smile.

“I cross my heart,” I said while making an ‘x’ over my chest, “and hope to die!”

“Good,” Charles said with a satisfied grin, “I’m going to hold you to that. Remember that.”

“Alright then, let’s try to hurry back to the precinct. I don’t want to keep Jackie and Mac waiting,” I said picking up my pace a little.

“Yeah, you have to ask Mac some questions right?” He asked.

“Wait, that reminds me. How did you know that I was going to be asking Mac some questions soon? You even sounded like you knew earlier too,” I asked confused as to how he knew I had gotten the question right.

“Because I knew the acupuncture would work. Plus, I’m just awesome like that,” Charles said with a smirk as we approached the precinct.

All I knew was that I was going to love using these needles and they would probably be a big help in the future. For now, I had bigger things to think about. Like what to ask Mac and Jackie for questioning. I sighed heavily as I once again opened the doors leading to the lobby of the precinct. Well, here goes nothing.

Authors note

As you may have noticed, this will involve a lot of interrogating and investigating. But what is a good investigation without a little gimmick? (Magatama anyone?) That’s what this chapter was for; introducing some sort of tactic to help our hero. The only reason I’m writing this is because I didn’t even think of using some kind of device. The idea came along as I read about a back-round character named ‘Pokey Pierce’ and I thought, ‘Well, why couldn’t I put something like that in the story?’ and so here it is. Sorry you have to wait another chapter to get to the good stuff, but all good things to those who wait. So on that note, I’ll see ya at chapter four in a week and a half. Until then, Stay Viewtiful! ~AZT

*This is hinting that you should probably have notepad or a piece of paper and a pen ready for questioning in the next chapter. Any answer to any question is fair game in court and you have to be ready. You will most likely be prompted when to write when Charles starts to write as well. Charles will also hold all the evidence information and people information in his notes so those will be fair game as well. I as the author will upload what your summary should look like before every trial in court. Try to remember what other special events may have happened as well. Those are also fair game.

Rush: Evidence List I

Charles' list

People

Teller Coy: One of my friends and co-workers. Works at the Keegan Watkins Law Firm of Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Charles Jordan: Me! The smartest, sickest, craziest dude you'll ever meet. Works as an assistant and as a physical therapist.

Keegan Watkins: My 'dad'. The best defense attorney in all of Massachusetts and maybe even the United States.

Jackie Pomona: Apparently, the north's southern belle. Runs an orchard right up in Equine, Michigan.

MacInerney Pomona: Older brother of Jackie. From what we hear, does most of the grunt work at the orchard. Is also the accused in this arson case.

Blossom Pomona: Younger sister of both Jackie and Mac. All Tell and I know is that she's in the hospital and that she a wiz with machinery.

Mr. Banks: Wh-What?!?!?!?!?

Places

Cambridge: My home town. A bit boring, but that's why I'm glad I left. That and it has... bad memories.

Equine: A small little town near Ann Arbor. If it weren't for the police, we might have just passed it by. It seems like a nice place.

The Pomona Family Orchard: A pretty well sized orchard in Equine. The only people who actually live there are Jackie, Mac, and Blossom. Consists of Apple and Cherry trees.

Mac's Room: Mac's room. 'Nuff said. Can see the front orchard from it.

The Equine Police Station: The simple police station. Mac will be here most of the time and we usually refer to it as "the precinct".

Evidence

Schedule: Supposedly a schedule of the work day for all employees (and residents) at the Pomona Orchard. We haven't seen it yet.

Testimony

Mac's Testimony: A) No employees were at the orchard the day of the crime nor did anyone visit. B) No one was awake by 9:30. C) Around midnight, a loud boom was heard in the front orchard and a fire was seen from Mac's room. D) Blossom was not present during the loud boom. E) Jackie and Mac searched for Blossom in the front orchard but unwillingly left. F) Only the three of them were there during all this.

Jackie's Testimony: A) Didn't hear anything out of the ordinary when looking for Blossom. B) Can attest to this fact along with Mac. C) Can attest to not seeing a soul on that Saturday.

Mysteries

Blossom's location during the Arson: Where and what exactly was Blossom doing during the fire?

Three people at the crime: Why does Mac say three and Tell say four?

Authors note: WOW! So sorry about no updates as of late, but I was finished with Chapter 5 and was about to upload it. When suddenly, BLUE SCREEN. All over my laptop. So now, it's gone, along with other stuff. So I had to do something, so I'll give you an early evidence list. Sorry though, no spoilers.

Chapter 5

August 17th, 2015

“I’m sorry, who did you say was the prosecutor?!” I asked confused beyond comprehension.

“Like I said, it’s Mr. Banks. Does it ring any bells?” The police man answered nonchalantly.

“Yes it does, thank you…” I replied, visibly shaken. “Do you know where I could find Mr. B-… him?”

“Actually, you should be able to find him right around here. He’ll be overseeing investigation right now. In fact… look over there,” He said pointing to his right, “See the surly looking fella with the red suit and black tie?”

I looked to my left to a VERY tall, well built, good looking man with jet black hair, tanned face, large laugh lines, and eyes constantly in a squint from his constant laughing. In short, he looked much healthier and NOTHING like the Mr. Banks we knew from… well, you know.

“Wait, that’s him?” Charles asked the police-man, surprised at how this Mr. Banks looked.

“Yeah that’s him. Now if you three want to get in here, I suggest speaking with him. Bye now,” The police-man said while waving us off and walking away.

“This is weird as hell,” Charles said unsurely, “I mean, it’s not the same Mr. Banks who was at MY case, but still…”

“Then we should be fine. He looks like a nice enough guy, lets just go speak to him,” I replied with false confidence. I really didn’t want to talk to this guy at all. I mean, he looked like a pretty big dude. I’m well built and all, but he looked as if he could snap me like a twig.

Jeez, would I listen to myself? I’m thinking of the worst of every scenario again. I should really stop that. Then again, I really shouldn’t make him mad. Look at those arms!

“Then let’s go ‘n talk with’m,” Jackie said snapping me out of my stupor, “Ah haven’t talked with ‘im in a while.”

In a while? She knew him? This was all getting a bit confusing. I hope this didn’t end badly for Charles and I.

“Hey Jerry, how ya’ll doin’?” Jackie yelled over to the man.

Jerry? Really, he has a nice name too?

“Why if it isn’t Miss Jackie! How are you?” He yelled back in a boisterous voice.

“Ah’m doin’ fine, thank ya fer askin’. Can Ah speak with ya fer a minute?” Jackie asked back making her way over to the man.

“Sure thing! Bring your friends over too! I don’t think we’ve met!” he replied.

“Well here we go,” I whispered to Charles as Jackie motioned for us to follow her.

“Yes, hello there! Jackie, what is it you wanted to talk about?”

“Well, as ya’ll know, my bro was accused of a crime here n’ my two buddies here are from a lawyer firm. Ah was wonderin’ if we could investigate the scene?”

“Yes, sure! Why not? I’ll even give you a nice tip! Do any of you know who the witness was?” He asked loudly, enticing some shaking heads from us.

“Well, from what we know right now, she’s a pilot and flew over the crime scene at the moment of the crime. Now, I gave you a nice tip, so go make the best of it. And don’t you worry about your brother, Miss Jackie. My job as a prosecutor is to find the truth and that’s what I’ll do.”

I chuckled, audibly enough for Mr. Banks to hear. That was probably the boldest faced lie I have ever heard in my life. A truthful prosecutor… BAH!

“Forgive me, sir, but why did you laugh? I meant that in every meaning of what I said. You realize I can take back what I gave you just a second ago.”

“My bad, I was remembering a funny joke I heard earlier,” I lied. “It’s very kind what you did for us, and I wish you the best of luck in the coming trial.”

“Yes, and to you as well. Thank you for being so nice about it. May I ask for your names now? It’s odd not knowing a face,” He said with a smile.

“Sure thing,” I replied feeling a sense of truth in his words, “My name is Teller. Teller Coy, and this is my assistant Charles Jordan.”

His smile faltered. It looked as if something had struck his chest as he took a step back. Something was wrong. That was a pretty radical reaction compared to how he was acting earlier.

“Er… well thank you for visiting, and my look at the time! You can’t investigate now, the police is leaving, RIGHT?” He yelled over to the police officers.

“Yessir! Pack it up men, back to the precinct!” The one who looked like the chief said and in a few moments the orchard looked just as barren as it had when we drove into Equine.

“Sorry Jackie, but you can’t investigate right now. There’s no supervision.”

“Oh… Well, thanks anyways, Ah guess?” Jackie replied.

“Don’t mention it, and Teller?” He said as he turned an icy glare in my direction. “Good luck.”

“Thanks…” I replied, silently surprised at the sudden 180 in personality.

“Is it just me, or does he know us somehow?” Charles asked as Mr. Banks walked back towards the precinct. “If he does, I’ve never met him. Have you?”

“No, but what you say is right. He obviously knows us from somewhere. He wouldn’t act like that if he didn’t. But where?”

“Also, he acted sort of mean towards us. Why did he? What did we do?”

“Well, all it means is that we have another *mystery; what’s up with Mr. Banks?”

“Right, and didn’t he give us a tip before he went all cynical on us?”

“I’m surprised you even know what that word means, but yes. He said that we should go talk to a pilot, and if I remember correctly there were two planes flying around during the fire so we should find out about them. Hey Jackie,” I said turning towards her, “Do you have any type of forest fire prevention airport sort of thing around here?”

“Actually, there is. Mah best friend works there, in fact,” She replied, “Ah was glad when Ah saw her plane flyin’ above n’ puttin’ out th’ fire. Why d’ya ask?”

“Well Mr. Banks just said we should talk to a pilot. Can you take us there and fast?”

“Sure thing, it’s not that far from th’ orchard. Follow me,” she answered as she started moving away from both the hotel and the orchard and made her way towards what looked like the edge of a forest.

“So you know Mr. Banks? Was that last little reaction how he normally acts around new people?” I asked.

“Well, no. Usually, he’s pretty nice ‘round new people. Ah dunno what was goin’ on with ‘im just then.”

“When did you first meet him? Was he anything like himself then like he is now?”

“Th’ first time Ah met ‘im was th’ day after we all moved onto th’ orchard. Ah first saw him ‘nspecting th’ dirt ‘round th’ orchard ‘n Ah asked what he was doin’. He said he was makin’ sure th’ land was fertile fer us ‘n introduced himself. Said he just moved in that day ‘n was lookin’ at some land. If we didn’t take th’ orchard area already, Johnny would’a lived here,” Jackie explained. “Although, Ah always had the naggin’ feelin’ that he wasn’t here ta’ just check our land. He had all this expensive lookin’ equipment with ‘im too.”

“Maybe he was just measuring something?” Charles interrupted, but logically suggested.

“Yeah, maybe he didn’t know you were already there. You did say he moved in that day,” I answered.

“Ah did say that, but as nice as Jerry is, Ah can’t help but think that he has some kinda screw loose.”

“Really? You seemed to get along with him just fine. What would lead you to believe that?” I asked honestly surprised.

“Well, fer one, he’s always tryin’ ta’ buy th’ expansions to th’ orchard after we went n’ bought em’, two, he sometimes get’s funny like ya’ saw a few minutes ago with th’ police, n’ three, he already owns a house so Ah dunno why he keeps tryin’ to buy our land,” Jackie answered.

“Was that important Tell?” Charles asked as we made our way into the forest from the edge of the city.

“It seems important. Yeah, go ahead and write all that down,” I answered after some thinking. Better safe then sorry I reasoned. “So we’re in the forest, where’s the airport?”

“Well, wherever there isn’t a bunch’a trees. It’s not that much farther,” Jackie answered walking deeper into the forest.

“Random question, is this area considered Equine?” I asked out of pure curiosity.

“Ah dunno. You’d hafta ask th’ pilots ‘bout that sorta thing. In fact…” She started but was interrupted by a choppy whir that I could only relate to a propeller warming up for a flight.

“That sounds like a plane! It must be just ahead!” Charles shouted and almost as if on cue another propeller warmed up making it very uncomfortable to not cover your ears.

We walked into a clearing with our hands covering our ears to see a long runway stretching out in front of us, and at the end of it, a large grey plane with yellow tipped wings throwing up dust behind it from the powerful propellers spinning in place. It was quite the sight when we saw a person walk to the opposite end of the runway with two of those rods you see the people at the commercial airport use to direct the plane. When the person stopped, they faced towards the plane and gave a few signals with the rods. The plane responded with its wings and rudder moving in predetermined directions; an equipment check I guessed. When the check was over, the lone person gave a few more foreign signals with the rod and the plane replied with an even louder roar of its engines and started to inch forward. Slowly, it gained speed accelerating to a point where we actually had to move our necks just to keep our eyes on it, and just when I thought the plane was going to run over the signaler, it went airborne and into a smooth ascent towards the cloudless fall sky.

We watched in awe as the grey plane shrunk to a smaller and smaller size as it flew further and further away from us. When it was no more than a pinpoint in the sky, we took our hands off our undamaged, albeit ringing ears and acknowledged each other that the display we just saw was, in fact, pretty sick.

We didn’t even notice the person who had been signaling the plane had been casually making there way towards us after the plane had taken off. Unsurprisingly, Jackie recognized them and yelled, “HOWDY TONI! HOW’VE YA’LL BEEN?” while waving a hello towards them.

The person waved back and signaled us to meet them halfway. They probably had something to say to Jackie, no doubt. Approaching the person, I noticed they were wearing a pair of protective goggles over their eyes along with a bright yellow vest that had the letters, ‘E. F. F. P.’ over the front of it in bright red letters. They also had a yellow helmet on with the same acronym on it.

“Jeez, Toni, what’re ya doin’ here? Ya’llmost got yerself killed!” Jackie exclaimed when we finally reached him.

“Volunteering at the sweetest job ever! Did you see how close I got to that plane?” Toni answered enthusiastically in a loud, feminine sounding yet masculine patterned voice. For the second time today now, I think Charles and I misjudged a girl for a boy. That much was apparent from Charles’ look of confusion after Toni spoke.

“That was pretty cool, how’d you do all that?” I asked amazed at her bravery.

“With suave,” she giggled as she took off the goggles and hat to reveal that she was in fact a she. Her skin was a noticeably dark tan and she was very short compared to the rest of us. Her face revealed her to be about ten with her naive smile and exhilarated brown eyes, no doubt exhilarated from the job she just did. The most peculiar thing was her hair though. She looked as if she dyed it a bright purple and it was cut shorter than Charles hair, making her already apparent tomboyish attitude even more apparent.

Her youth threw me for a loop though. I couldn’t believe that she would voluntarily stand in front of an airplane driving at full speed down a runway and sound like she had a good time. That seemed to be the same thing Charles was thinking with the look of astonishment I saw plastered on his face.

Toni chortled at Charles’ ‘subtle’ look of surprise and said, “You look funny. Do you always do this when you meet a lady?”

“He doesn’t even know what a girl is,” I taunted causing a mix of embarrassment and anger for Charles. “On a more formal note, though, I have to speak with one of the pilots here. You seem to work here, do you think you could take us to some of the pilots you know?”

“Sure thing! But only if you drop the formal thing; no one who works here probably knows what the word formal means,” She answered cheerily. “By the way, I’m Toni. What’re your names?”

“I’m Teller Coy, attorney at law. This is my assistant, Charles… er…” I started but finished sheepishly when Toni gave me a disappointed look and replied, “Enough of the formalities! All due respect of course, but I don’t even know what an attorney is. And hurry up while you’re at it. Don’t have all day, y’know.”

Hurry up. I could do that!

Following close behind, I struck up a conversation with Toni, “So Toni, how’d you end up working here? Not to suggest anything, but you hardly look of age.”

“I intern! Well, I sort of volunteered. Actually, I forced my way in and wouldn’t take no for an answer,” She at first answered strongly but got more sheepish with each explanation. “Whatever, I wanted to work here and now I do, ya got a problem?”

In all honesty, I liked her better and better with every second; an impatient little bugger who gets what she wants when she wants it. “Nope, in fact, my first job went sort of the same way. I did almost the same thing.”

“Great minds think alike!” Toni exclaimed. “So your job, what’s an att-ur-ny?”

“Well, do you know what a lawyer is?”

“Yeah, those guys in those cheesy courtroom dramas Mum watches?”

“Yes,” I answered sardonically while rolling my eyes, “Like those guys. That’s basically what an attorney is.”

“Oh! Sorry about that…”

“No, no, its fine, you honestly didn’t know.” I said calmly, trying to remember she was only, what, just ten or eleven?

“Ok good,” Toni sighed. “Where’s your assistant, Chuck?”

I had to look around, but I found both Charles and Jackie lumbering our way at a leisurely pace far behind us. I God, they were slow.

“Way back there,” I said with a point, “Taking there sweet old time trying to catch up.”

“Ugh, as much as I like Jackie and all, I hate it when she moves like a snail. She’s not the only one either! It seems like you and all the pilots I know are the only ones who like speed living,” Toni replied. Speed living… huh! Never thought of it that way.

“Speaking of pilots, which ones can you take me to?” I asked seeing a tall building near the end of the runway.

“All of ‘em. It’s Sunday; most of the pilots either weren’t here yesterday so they come in today. The rest were here yesterday too.”

“Oh! That’s perfect! Can you take me to everyone that was here yesterday?”

Toni face darkened at my question and it had seemed she put two and two together, “Wait, if you’re a lawyer, are you here about Blossom?”

I sighed in sympathy. She must be one of her friends. “Yes, I’m here about Blossom and her brother. Apparently, one of the pilots witnessed the big crime last night and I need to ask some questions. Can I do that, Ms. Worker?”

She tried to fight it, but a small grin was working its way onto her face as she answered, “As long as I get to see Blossom in the hospital sometime soon. Can I do that, Mr. Att-ur-ney?”

“Sure thing, but I can’t promise anytime soon. She wasn’t doing to well from what I saw last night…”

“Well let’s hurry up then! The pilots are just in here,” Toni replied with a new enthusiasm. We arrived at a rather tall, slender building with a watchtower at the top to conduct air-traffic… I think. Next to this building was a large cylindrical garage that probably housed the airplanes however many there were. All in all, it was quite thrilling to soon see what went on in an airfield like this.

“Welcome to the Equine Forest Fire Patrol airfield!” Toni exclaimed as she opened the door to the watchtower building. Inside was a surprising amount of people walking around busily trying to do whatever they do for work. Ironically, the inside had an almost log-cabin feel to it considering it was a fire-fighting patrol. We were in a lobby with many cushiony chairs adorning the middle of the room for visitors like me to sit in for whatever reason. I wouldn’t need to use them though; Toni had taken off her neon yellow vest to hang on a hook near the front door along with her hard hat showing her orange tank-top underneath, making her tomboyish attitude even more apparent.

“This is just the visitor’s lobby. We normally don’t get a lot of visitors, so it’s a nice hangout at lunch. But we have to go see the pilots, so follow me,” Toni quickly explained making her way to a set of stairs. I hastened my pace trying to follow her as we made our way up around the spiral staircase.

Reaching the top led to quite a surprise; a near-completely silver room filled with machinery and computers on all sides coming up through the middle of the floor. There were no walls, just large windows on all sides leading me to guess we were in the watchtower part of the building. People were talking to all sorts of anonymous pilots with their heavy looking headsets and microphones. But one person was just sitting in what looked like a lounge with a T.V. and a couch. On it, sat this woman watching the large screen with boredom in her eyes.

Not wasting any time, Toni made her way over to this lounge and told the woman, “Hey Iris, I got some boy here who wants to talk with you.”

“Tch, tell him I’m already taken,” She replied losing interest in the conversation.

“Right, just completely ignore the fact that I’m right here,” I teased trying to lighten the mood.

“Look guy, I don’t even know you, I’m tired, I’m waiting for lunch, and I’m in a bad mood. Why don’cha get out of here before you make me get up?” She retorted testily. So much for lightening the mood, I guess.

“Hey, I’m just here for an interview, but I guess you just want me to go…” I bluffed sensing her arrogant attitude. Keegan had done this once with a basketball star and it worked perfectly so I was hoping for the same results here. “Alright, I guess Plane’s and Pilot’s Magazine will have to find another ace for their “Up and Coming” segment.”

“Wait, huh?” She replied sitting up almost instantly. Toni looked just as confused as I made my way back to the stairs saying, “But don’t worry! I’ll send you a copy of the Magazine when the interview is finished!”

“Wait a minute, let’s not get off on the wrong hand! I’ll take the interview! Honest!” The woman almost yelled in shock. I bit my cheeks in a very hard attempt to repress a smile as I turned around saying, “Well, you obviously don’t want to talk to me, so now I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Mr. Tell, what are you…” Toni started to ask but I quickly stopped her knowing she was probably going to blow my cover saying, “…And Toni here was so nice to me, now I can’t even put her in the article! She was so excited too!”

Toni still looked confused, but I gave her a small wink to let her know I was only bluffing and to play along. She winked back in one of those eureka moments and played along by saying in a heart tearing sadness, “Jeez, Iris, I idolized you for the longest time and you have to act like a jerk to the media? I thought you were the coolest!” She then stormed down the spiral staircase to the lobby floor and I thought to myself, ‘Damn, that was pretty good acting! She even had tears!’

Iris, so she was named, was absolutely speechless. Her painfully palpable pride had been perilously pulled from her. Thankfully, who else should come up the spiral staircase than Charles and Toni who looked to be in (fake) hysterics.

“Jeez, Tell you only knew this girl for like, what, five minutes and she’s already crying?” Charles asked in disappointment. I quickly glared at him while pointing at Iris and ‘retorted’ back, “Well some pilot to big for her own plane doesn’t want an interview with me, so I had to turn them both down.”

Charles, instantly recognizing Keegan’s dirty trick, played along and said to Iris, “For shame! Toni was so nice to me and you had to go and act like this! I expected better from our next best pilot!”

Iris, who had slowly worked up a nervous sweat, pleaded back, “Oh please, I’m sorry! I’ll take the interview, honest! Just stop making Toni cry!”

“WEEEELLLLLLL, I dunno. I guess if you really want to…” I teased trying my best not to celebrate, “Aw what the heck? Sure. So first things first, why don’t you tell me your name?”

Iris let out a huge sigh of relief, quickly composed herself, and answered in an arrogant tone, “I’m Iris Birr, best flying ace in the country!”

“Aw, hell, is Iris goin’ on one of them rants ‘gain?” I heard a familiar voice drawl as Jackie came up the staircase. “Ah swear, she’ll just go on ‘n on if’n ya don’t stop her now.”

“Oh thanks, J. Way to make me look bad to this guy! He’s gonna interview me for a famous airplane magazine!”

Jackie puzzlingly looked at me and I motioned for Charles to go explain what had just conspired to Jackie and I said, “That’s right! First I’ll ask about your career, then I’ll ask about your recent achievements. How does that sound?” I had to make sure I made it sounded like an interview.

“Sound’s awesome! Where should I start?”

“From the beginning I guess. Go ahead.”

Authors note: pleeeeeaaaaaasssseeee review! I can’t help but feel I’m doing something wrong so just please write some kind of critique! Anything will help!

On another note: Time to make a contest worthy story! Gotta improve though… So until then, stay Viewtiful, all!

Chapter 4

August 17th, 2015

“I’m sorry for making you two sit through all that, but we’re ready to ask our questions when you’re ready to answer them,” I said as I re-opened the detention center door.

“Ya’ll ‘r fine. We’ll answer yer questions now,” Jackie replied. If she was at all mad or annoyed at our delay, she didn’t show it. That’s a surprising amount of willpower considering how long the delay might have been.

“All right, then. I’ll be asking questions about last night or anything I may deem connected to the case. Anything you say will either become testimony or irrelevant to the case. That is, if your credibility is sufficient. If what you say isn’t solid enough for what I need, I’ll just discard it or try to find out if your lying. You do promise to tell the truth, right Mac?” I said.

Mac nodded and I said, “Alright, you ready Charles?”

“Yep! Ready to write down any and all important information,” Charles said putting his pencil tip on his tongue and positioning his pencil over his paper ready to write.

‘Good,’ I thought, ‘this is exactly how Keegan does it. I just now need to ask relevant questions.’

“Alright then,” I started, “First question, how exactly do you live? In the farm and all…”

“Well,” Mac started, “Ah live on the’ orchard along with Jackie n’ Blossom. We used ta’ have our Granny livin’ here too, but she had ta’ move ta’ ‘better conditions’ as they said. She was gettin’ to old ah guess.”

“Anyone else?” I asked already sensing a contradiction.

“Well, th’ dog is with Granny, but no. No one else ‘lives’ with us,” Mac answered.

“Hmm… You did get all that, right Charles?” I asked looking his direction.

He held up his free hand and gave a ‘one moment’ gesture as he finished writing what Mac just said. When he did, he looked up and said, “Yep, it’s filed under *Places.”

“Good, next question,” I said turning back to Mac, “How does a usual day go on the fields?”

“Actually, there’s a schedule on th’ employee area of the farm. Ya’ll kin just read that ‘cause I can’t remember it’all.

“Thanks for the info. Charles, put that under *Evidence for now,” I said turning back to Charles who gave me a thumbs up.

“Next question, how many people do you have working at the orchard? You can’t do all that alone, right?” I asked.

“We have ‘bout fifty people workin’ on th’ orchard. ‘Cept on Saturday, which was yesterday… I’m sorry, but is this even going anywhere?” Mac said, his annoyance coming back.

“I’m just getting a better understanding of the vicinity in which the crime was committed, because already, something doesn’t make sense. Ignore that for now. But now, care to tell me the events that conspired that day? Don’t go into details of the crime,” I said trying to keep calm. I really couldn’t afford to get mad at him; It would make things VERY hard during the questioning and the investigation.

“Alright, I’ll try ta’ ‘member it’all,” He started, sighing in deep thought, “It was a Saturday and not much was being done out on the orchards. Most’ve th’ mornin’ was just housework ‘n repairs to th’ machinery or th’ farm ‘n general. Jackie was doin’ the housework n’ Blossom was doin’ th’ repairs ta’ th’ tractor n’ th’ cider mill. Ah was doin’ a bit’a both just ta’ help out when Ah could.”

No one else seemed to be at the farm that morning or afternoon. Still sensing an inconsistency, I let him continue relaying off his day.

“Most’ve th’ day went by like that. ‘Fore supper, all there’ve us went ta’ th’ front orchard ta’ git some apples fer dessert. We went ‘nside after that. We took a little while ta’ eat supper ‘nd then went ta’ bed. Everybody was ‘n bed by nine-thirty.”

“Nothing else of any importance happened that day?”

“Not that Ah kin think of…”

I rolled over the last few sentences for a bit as I waited for Charles to finish writing down what Mac had said. When he finished, I said, “Okay, now go into details of the crime. DO NOT lie to me. I can sense any form of guile.”

“Settle down ‘nd Ah will. A while later, Ah heard a loud ‘boom’ sound come from th’ front orchard. ‘Twas ‘round midnight Ah heard it. Ah got outta mah bed ta’ go see what it was. It was then Ah saw th’ left side of th’ front orchard on fire,” Mac explained. It seemed that he wasn’t awake during the actual starting of the fire. If he really didn’t start it, then I’ll have to prove he couldn’t have been outside. How I do that is beyond me right now.

“Ah got up ta’ go git Jackie n’ Blossom. We couldn’t stay ‘n the fire or we might’a burned along with th’ orchard. ‘Cept when Ah went ta’ go git Blossom, she was gone.”

Plot twist! If that was true, maybe it wasn’t Mac who started the fire. Maybe it was Blossom. But didn’t the police say they had a witness as to who started the fire?

“Ah started ta’ panic at th’ thought of Blossom bein’ in there, so Ah went to git Jackie ‘n start lookin fer Blossom,” Mac spoke with his voice picking up speed, “We went outside into th’ heart of th’ fire lookin’ fer Blossom. After a bit of searchin’ we couldn’t handle th’ smoke anymore so we had ta’ find th’ exit.”

“Nothing happened during your search? You didn’t hear anything out of place?” I asked, finding another discrepancy.

“Uhh…. Nope. Not that Ah kin think of. Besides th’ sound th’ fire was makin’, I didn’t hear nothin’ outta th’ ordinary,” He answered sounding a bit confused as to what I was getting at.

“Okay, continue,” I said listening intently.

“It looked like we made it outta th’ orchard n’ time ‘cause as soon as we did, we near passed out. After a while of layin’ there, I felt me bein’ dragged. Ah still don’t know who it was, but I’m mighty thankful fer them doin’ that,” He said, provoking a snicker from me. It seemed neither of them knew who saved them and there was no way I’d tell them now.

“When Ah came to, I saw people helpin’ ta’ put out th’ fire, so Ah got Jackie up ‘n we started helpin’ too. But when the fire-men came, they forced us ta’ stop helpin’ and Ah told them ta’ let go ‘cause Blossom was still in there. Right after that, Ah saw a guy run into…” Mac trailed off then started again saying, “Wait a minute, that person was you! Why’re y’all makin’ me say all of this again when you was there?”

“Because I didn’t hear about what happened in the fire, plus what you told me is good information. Now all I wonder is A) what was Blossom doing, B) how someone thought you started the fire, and C) why you keep on saying there were only three people inside the orchard, ” I explained and stopped as I let the words sink in, “we need to go do some investigating. We’ll call you back to the detention room when we need you again.”

“Alrighty then, Mr. Tella. Ah hope ta’ see ya soon,” Mac said as he got up and moved towards the guard, most likely telling him to bring him back to his cell.

When he was gone, we were asked to leave the room and go to the lobby via the speaker on the window. When we were well away from the detention center, I said to Charles, “Charles, I need you to add a few notes.”

“Right, what should I add?”

“First off, did you write Mac’s story under *testimony?”

“Yep, already did that.”

“Good, I need you to add a few things: I need you to put Mac’s room under *places. Make sure you put that he could see the front orchard from it. Second, on my *mysteries list, put ‘Blossom’s location during the arson’. Finally, on my *mysteries list, put ‘Three people at the crime’,” I listed off from my mind.

I waited for Charles to finish. When he did he said, “… at the crime. There, finished. What should we do first?”

“Try to investigate the orchard and farmhouse,” I said, starting to walk in the direction of the farm.

“Wait, th’ orchards prob’ly surrounded th’ police. We prob’ly can’t git in…” Jackie said surprising me a bit. I had almost forgotten she was here due to her silence during the questioning.

“That may be true, but there’s no harm in trying,” I explained with a shrug as I continued walking.

“Well, Ah guess we could try… but y’all ‘r goin’ th’ wrong way,” She said hiding a smile with her hand.

“Er… right. Didn’t know what I was thinking,” I replied sheepishly, as I followed Jackie a bit red in the cheeks. Charles (unfortunately) saw this and nudged me on the arm with his elbow while raising his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes and walked away in annoyance, much to Charles’ delight.

On the way to the orchard, it gave me a good time to ask Jackie some pretty general questions such as, “So Jackie, who actually is the manager of the orchard? Is it Mac?”

“Nope, Ah’m th’ ‘manager’ of th’ orchard. Mac’s th’ one who does all th’ heavy duty stuff. Ah handle all th’ money n’ th’ employees. Ah also work out on th’ orchard when Ah can,” Jackie explained.

“YOU do all that? That seems like a lot for one human being…”

“Well, Ah ain’ t no reg-u-lar human bein’. Ah’m a lot stronger than a lotta others, includin’ guys,” Jackie bragged.

“Geez the only thing it sounds like you don’t do is fix any of the machines,” I said recalling the earlier conversation with Mac, “Come to think of it, Blossom looked no more than ten years old when I saw her, and Mac said she fixed the machines yesterday. Care to explain what he means?”

“Ah can’t explain it. She’s just savvy with ‘em. Ah swear, she was born with a hammer ‘n her hand,” Jackie said, bragging a second time.

Talking about her home life seemed to calm her down, so I decided to ask some more serious questions starting with, “Right, about Blossom, what were you doing last night when you were looking for her?”

The question seemed to dampen her chipper mood as her shoulders sunk in grief. She answered my question with, “As soon as Ah heard she was missin’ in a fire, Ah was devastated. Ah didn’t even care that th’ orchard was on fire. Mah sis was more important. So we ran outside ta’ look fer her ‘nd like Mac said we couldn’t stay there forever.”

“So you escaped with your lives?” Charles asked completely engrossed in the tale Jackie was telling.

“We had ta’. I felt somethin’ awful fer leavin’ Blossom in there, but Ah tried ta’ make up fer it by helpin’ to put out th’ fire,” Jackie said with an immense amount of regret in her voice.

“I understand your pain right now, but I need you to remember back to last night. Did you or did you not hear anything out of the ordinary while in the heart of the fire?” I asked in all seriousness.

“Ah don’t think so… I would’a ‘membered if Ah did.” She said authentically.

“That still doesn’t make sense then. You didn’t hear me yell into the orchard?” I asked, finally making my point.

“A’fore we ‘scaped? No, we din’t hear ya,” Jackie answered confusedly.

“Hmm… that’s weird. I swear that when I yelled into the orchard, someone inside yelled back that there were four people in there,” I said reminiscing to last night.

“Really? That can’t be true. Not a single soul came inta th’ orchard yesterday. At least, not that Mac ‘n Ah know of…”

“Well, maybe not you two, but who’s to say Blossom saw someone and SHE was the one who answered me?”

“What did th’ voice sound like? Ah might be able ta’ tell ya if it matches Blossom’s.”

“Actually, I can’t remember. It was so faint that I couldn’t be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl voice.”

“Shoot,” Charles interrupted, “I can’t help you remember with the therapy. You already know what it sounded like, so you can’t delve into your thoughts to remember it.”

“That’s unfortunate,” I lied whilst rolling my eyes, “So, now you see why I put ‘three people in the orchard’ on the *mysteries list? It was because I heard from within the fire that there were four people. We definitely have some investigating to do.”

“Let’s git goin’ then, were almost ta’ th’ orchard,” Jackie said quickening her steps.

As we walked through the town, I noticed that people were still walking from place to place and crowding up the sidewalk, still without cars. Finding it extremely odd, I asked Jackie about it, “So Jackie, why does no one have a car in this town? For that matter, why does everyone walk everywhere?

“Actually, Ah couldn’t tell ya, even if Ah wanted ta’,” Jackie replied sheepishly, “Our family moved here ‘bout two years ago.”

“Really? What did you notice that was different here from where you came from?” I asked, curious at her beginnings.

“Th’ big thing Ah noticed is that th’ people here eat much healthier than down in Oklahoma.”

I guess I now know where that southern drawl is from. But how and why did she move all the way up to Michigan from Oklahoma?

“What do you mean by that?” Charles asked interrupting my thoughts.

“Well, in Oklahoma, our family grew pecans n’ peanuts. But life on th’ farm was kinda boring ‘cause nobody wanted ta’ visit a bunch’a nut growers and it gits mighty lonely,” She explained, causing Charles to chuckle at her sentence.

“That, and isn’t it very dry down in the pan handle?” I asked while silencing Charles with a jab to the rib with my elbow.

“That’s th’ other thing. It was so dern hot down there that it was makin’ our sweat dry up a’fore we could even sweat it. ‘N Granny wasn’t doin’ too well either so it was like we HAD ta’ move out. Boy, were we glad ta’ do it too.”

“How did you find Equine?”

“Well, we were thinkin’ of goin’ ta’ New York ‘cause we have family there so we decided ta’ cut through Canada. But we had ta’ git through Mitch-i-gan first. ‘N while we were drivin’ through, th’ police told us that there was some car accident on th’ road ahead ‘n said that we had ta’ go through th’ town ta’ get through Mitch-i-gan.”

“And that town was Equine?”

“Yeah, t’was.”

“Wait, Tell, remember yesterday at the road? Some police stopped us on the way to Ann Arbor with the same excuse,” Charles said finding the similarities almost too coincidental.

“You’re right, Charles. They did stop us with the same excuse. I wonder if that’s at all connected with Jackie and her family,” I ruminated aloud.

“Well, Ah dunno if it is, but Ah remember seein’ a big open strip of farmland at th’ towns edge ‘n Ah KNEW we had ta’ take it. Y’all shoulda seen Granny too. She looked happier ‘n a woodpecker ‘n a lumber yard ta’ see that strip o’ land,” Jackie reminisced.

“So you bought it and the rest was history?”

“Ayup. Stay’n right here still. ‘N Ah don’t think we’ll be a-movin’ anytime soon,” She said proudly, “A’sides, th’ people here ‘r much kinder than down in th’ pan handle.”

“Really? I couldn’t say yet, because Charles and I have only been here for a few hours and you’re the only person we’ve really talked to besides Mac. What are the people like?” I asked with a new found curiousness.

“Fer one, they actually like ta’ visit the orchard on our non-busy days. Heck, that’s how Ah met a few’ve mah friends here. A LOT of people like ta’ visit the orchard.”

“Why do they come? For the fruit?”

“Naw, they jes’ wanna talk. Ah was a bit surprised at first, but t’was a nice change ta’ speak with a reg-u-lar person who actually wanted ta’ listen ta’ us too.”

“Really? That’s certainly a change from Cambridge. Most people there either talk to us because they were framed in a crime or they wanted to ‘borrow’ money.”

“Well that ain’t even th’ half of it. The people here r’ always invitin’ you ta’ different parties n’ what-not. Th’ kids r’ just as nice too. They were invitin’ Blossom ta’ all sorts of playdates n’ parties n’ dances…” She trailed off with a frown, “Equine is such a nice place, why’d someone hafta ruin it for mah sis, mah bro, n’ me? Ah don’t think we deserved it…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be doing everything in my power to make sure you three can get your lives back,” I reassured.

“Well, you better get started, because we’re at the orchard,” Charles interrupted as he pointed ahead to the orchard surrounded by idling police officers. It seemed as if the outside fence had a remodeling in yellow and black caution tape. It was literally everywhere; on the fences, tied between police cars to make a makeshift velvet rope, and they were still putting in between two buildings about a half a block away to keep the civilians away from it.

“Geez, I hope that the tape is just for show and they let us in. Knowing how bad-tempered some police officers can get around the defense though…” Charles continued.

“That is true. Remember that time when Keegan tried to investigate near that lake?” I asked as we got closer yet to the crime scene.

“Oh yeah! They let him in, but they ended up pushing him into the lake to warn him!” Charles said with a chortle.

“Mah stars, Ah hope th’ police here r’ a bit nicer than th’ ones your talkin’ ‘bout,” Jackie remarked obviously worried.

“Aww, relax. You yourself even said that the people in Equine are much nicer than elsewhere,” I said light-heartedly.

“Ah hope y’all ‘r right,” Jackie said as we arrived at the first barrier of caution tape.

“Hold on you three. What are you doing here?” The first police man asked while walking up to us.

“I’ll tell you, we are here to investigate the crime scene. My name is Teller Coy and I am the defense attorney for this case,” I said, sticking a hand out to shake.

“Hmm. You may proceed past the civilian point. Are these other two with you?”

“Uh… yes they are,” I replied taking my hand back. He didn’t seem like the social type.

“Very well, you may pass this point with them, but good luck getting any of you by the front gate,” The officer said while untying one end of the tape and allowing us to pass.

“Thank you much,” I said as we walked closer yet to the orchard.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Charles remarked, “I think this will go pretty well.”

“Well, don’t get too cocky kid. We still have the front gate,” I replied dreading the thought of not being able to investigate.

Though those thoughts were interrupted by a police man yelling, “Hey, old guy!”

Surprised at the voice, I looked around seeing if there was anyone else around. I didn’t see anyone who looked old, so I turned back towards the police man and pointed at myself.

“Yes, you. Now get over here!” He said rolling his eyes.

Wait a minute, my gray hair. That’s why he called me old. Though it wasn’t the first time that happened, I was insulted. Why wouldn’t I be? I hate police men and police men hate me.

“Okay I’m over here, what do you want?” I retorted.

“Whoa. Nice set of pipes there. You don’t sound a day older than twenty-five,” He replied not sensing my anger.

“Can we stay on topic please? My name is Teller Coy and I’m the defense attorney for the arson case. I’m here to investigate the crime scene. Now may my assistants and I please do our jobs?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. Only the police, certified personnel, and the head prosecutor are allowed beyond this point.”

“Ugh… Is there any way to become certified personnel?”

“Well, if you get permission from the head prosecutor you could get in, but that’s all I can think…”

Well, at least he’s TRYING, unlike other police officers.

“If you could give me the name of the prosecutor, I would really be grateful,” I remarked.

“You must be new, because everyone knows the prosecutor’s name here,” He noticed eyeing me suspiciously.

“Yes, I’m new. Can I please have the prosecutor’s name?” I asked annoyed.

“Yeah I will, jeez. No need to get a stick up your ass about it,” He replied also getting a bit annoyed, “What you’re allowed to call him is Mr. or Prosecutor Banks.”

September 8th, 2004

“Eliza Daniels… There you are. Jonathon Eindt… Just Jon? Alright, that’s fine. Nicolas Freinz…” My new teacher droned on. It sounded like she was more boring than my other teachers at my old school.

Today is the first day of middle school and the fourth period of the day. Ms. Visnaw was calling out attendance for the first time, getting used to saying each of our names. Luckily she already was told I was here and about my ‘condition’ so I wouldn’t have to embarrass myself in the first five minutes of the school year.

“Elena Reinolds… Oh, there you are. Speak up next time. Ember Salve…”

That’s an odd name. But I guess mine is too, so I really shouldn’t insult it.

“… And Ace Zenith… There you are. Well that takes care of attendance, can you raise your hand if you weren’t called?” Ms. Visnaw asked.

No one spoke at first, but of course, someone saw me and asked, “What about him? He didn’t say anything.”

“I didn’t ask about him. I only asked if you weren’t called,” Ms. Visnaw replied angrily, “Now, is there anyone here that shouldn’t be? No? Alright, I have a hand-out for you…”

And the class went by, but not without the feeling of being watched. I didn’t even have to look; I could feel the steely glares others were giving me. I was different and they seemed to know that rather quickly. I, however, was used to this feeling around new people. The only reason I disliked the feeling is that I missed the feeling of normalcy back up in northern Chicago. At least they had all the time since kindergarten to get used to me. I missed Chicago where my old school, old friends, old house, old city, old everything was.

During the class, we had just been given a hand-out and we were reading the contents aloud. As before, however, Ms. Visnaw was told about me and my ‘condition’ so when my turn came to read, she told the next person after me to read instead. This action did not come without conflict, unfortunately.

“Hey, why doesn’t he have to read?” I heard a voice question. We all turned as one to see a fiery looking redhead girl pointing at me.

“Hey is for horses Ember. Now Eliza, could you finish reading…” Ms. Visnaw started but was rudely interrupted by this ‘Ember’ as she said, “No! Seriously, why doesn’t he have to read? I don’t want to read this, Sabrina doesn’t want to. No one does! Why does he get all the special treatment?”

“Now listen here!” Ms. Visnaw snapped and causing me to dread the inevitable argument that would bring me all sorts of attention, “What I say goes, and may God himself have mercy on you if you don’t listen to my demands. Now if I say he doesn’t have to read, what do you think I want?”

“Him not to read,” Ember grumbled bitterly back.

“Thank you,” Ms. Visnaw replied, “The next time you don’t follow directions, I will give you a detention. Now Eliza…”

But the bell gave its dull chime and class was over.

“That’s all for today class. Tomorrow we will finish the last of this hand-out and start chapter one. Bring your book,” She recited knowing it was probably falling on deaf ears ready for a good lunch break.

I was the last to leave the room though. Not that I was taking too long, but I didn’t have anywhere I wanted to be. In fact, the lunch room after a spectacle like that was the absolute LAST place I wanted to be. So I slowly gathered my things and left the room getting a, “Have a nice day” from Ms. Visnaw.

“Yeah right,” I thought after I had left that wretched room and headed towards my locker to get my lunch. I sighed knowing I probably would have nowhere to sit. But I pushed the thought aside and tried to clear my head as I made my way towards the cafeteria. Maybe some food will ease my nerves.

I entered through the double doors that led to the cafeteria to find not many people there yet. I must’ve been early. So I went to the most secluded area of the cafeteria (the corner) and started eating lunch.

After a few bites, the kids started piling in. We were so crowded, the only reason my table didn’t have anyone there is because I was the ‘new kid’. Otherwise, the tables were all taken and filled to the brim.

It was kind of nice after a hectic morning to be left alone though. It gave me time to think and read my book. I’m a pretty big Jules Verne fan and I hadn’t read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea yet. So I decided to start until I had that odd feeling of being watched again. I glanced over the top of my book just so until I could see a table of girls nonchalantly watching me. Rolling my eyes, I continued reading my book, or at least tried. It’s hard to do anything when you’re being watched and you know it.

I tried to ignore them, and put the book up to eye level so I couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see me. It worked for a while and I had forgotten about them. But after a while, I checked just to make sure they weren’t looking. Luckily, they had all started talking amongst themselves paying me no attention.

“Hey, you,” I heard a familiar voice say.

It seems I have spoken to soon.

I glanced towards my right to see the girl from earlier who had made a big deal in class about me not reading my share of the hand-out. She had her arms crossed and was leaning her chair back just so to the point where it wouldn’t tip. Her blue eyes seemed cross and full of resentment. Her body language just screamed ‘I’m annoyed’. But the biggest thing I noticed was her hair. Its bright red with faint orange highlights seemed to be permanently stuck in a windblown type of coiffure. People and their silly trends, I guess.

I gave her my full attention by turning in her direction and putting my book down. She seemed more annoyed at this and asked, “What? You’re not going to answer?”

I casually shook my head and sat back waiting for her to continue.

She gave me a funny look and continued with, “Okay, so you’re not going to answer me?” again causing me to shake my head.

She seemed at a loss for words at the second as I coolly imitated her posture and raised my eyebrow as if to say, “Well, I’m waiting”.

“Alright, no one has ever not answered me before, and I’m sure as hell not going to take it from you,” She retorted causing me to roll my eyes. Rolling my eyes, however, let me glance back at the table with the girls to see them watching me. My guess is that this Ember girl was at that table and was convinced to put me on the spot.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. I wanna know, why do you get all this special treatment? No one else does,” She asked. I literally shrugged the question off and went back to reading my book though. She obviously didn’t have anything important to talk about.

“Hey! Don’t push your nose into that stupid book, I want answers and I want them now!” She replied clearly flustered. She must not be used to any sort of silent treatment. If I had to guess, she must be one of the more popular girls at this school and was sent over here to intimidate me.

It wasn’t working though as I continued to ‘read’ my book chancing some glances at her to see how agitated she was. This is just me, but I think her hair might have been actually on fire she looked so angry. And it wasn’t just me; almost the entire cafeteria was watching us, proving my point that Ember was an important figure here.

“Why are you doing this? Why won’t you answer me?” She asked almost in hysterics.

I just looked up at her smugly. I gave her a look that said, “Do you really want to know?”

She just looked at me like she was about to cry. I really didn’t mean to do all this, but I’m good at what I do. So I took out a piece of paper and a pen, motioned for her to hold on, and wrote three words, causing her and the entire lunchroom to go quiet.

I CAN’T SPEAK.