He stuck his head through the opening, looked up, and saw a nearly full moon loom in a cloudless sky. Then he looked down, toward the far edge of the property and saw a structure he had seen a hundred times but never given a second thought: a storage shed made of local river rock.
He laughed and shook his head. It couldn't be that close or that simple, but it probably was. The building in back was more than a shed. It was the chamber of stones.
CHAPTER 5: KEVIN
Friday, June 21, 2013
Kevin stared at his coffee and pancakes with bleary eyes as the obnoxious device above his head did its obnoxious thing several times. No wonder people in pictures from a hundred years ago all looked a little crazy. They had to listen to nutty devices like his grandparents' cuckoo clock twenty-four hours a day.
He couldn't blame the clock for a mostly sleepless night though. That was entirely his doing. For several hours, Kevin had obsessed over his discovery and, more importantly, what to do about it. Sometime between four and five in the morning, he had decided that he would keep the knowledge to himself, at least for now, and give Asa Johnson's time machine a spin.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, honey," Shelly Johnson said as she walked into the large kitchen. "It might be your only chance to hit the stores while we're here."
"I'm sure. You guys have fun."
Kevin knew they would. They would spend all day at the shopping malls in Spokane, ninety minutes to the west, and engage in their signature rituals. Dad would check out the latest in consumer electronics, Mom would get her nails done, and Irene, or Rena as Kevin had called her since grade school, would buy more shoes than Imelda Marcos.
The three would then go out to a nice restaurant, watch a summer stock theater performance, stay at a four-star motel far from the noise of Interstate 90, and return to Wallace happy and refreshed by noon Saturday. Kevin didn't know everything, but he did know his family.
Brian Johnson carried a small suitcase to the front door, dropped it to the floor, and grabbed a windbreaker off a coat hook. He opened the door and glanced at his son.
"If you need anything, Kevin, just call," he said. "I may need a break from your mother and sister if they spend too much time in shoe shops and lingerie stores."
Kevin laughed.
"I'll be fine, Dad. Buy me a tie-dye shirt, if you get bored."
Brian smiled.
"I'll do that."
"I know what I'm going to get him," Irene said as she pranced down a flight of stairs.
She glanced at her father by the door and mother in the kitchen before turning her attention to her brother. She flashed a mischievous grin that had grown on Kevin over the years.
"If we go to the Oktoberfest steakhouse, I'm going to get you one of those busty waitresses. Inga or Greta will get your mind off Lori."
Kevin chuckled. His sister was one of a kind.
"Her name is Lisa," Kevin said.
He didn't know why he felt the need to correct the record. He was in no hurry to hear that name again, just as he was in no hurry to ever hear about extreme sports or edgy guys or people in love. The last thing he wanted or needed was a reminder that he had failed, once again, to hold onto a girl he really liked. But he appreciated his sister's attempt to lift his spirits.
"As for the waitress, pick me a winner, Rena. I'll take a blonde this time, with big blue eyes" and a smile that reminds me of Joel Smith's wife .
Irene smiled.
"A blue-eyed blonde it is. See you, Kevin."
Irene followed her father out the door to the driveway, where a 2013 Lincoln Navigator and a 2009 Volkswagen Beetle stood next to each other. The Johnsons had purchased the shiny black Bug, with its cream leatherette interior, for Kevin as a high school graduation present.
Shelly Johnson had wanted her son to have the same kind of car she had owned and enjoyed as a high school senior in 1979 and 1980. It was the year a mysterious woman named Michelle Jennings had come
He laughed and shook his head. It couldn't be that close or that simple, but it probably was. The building in back was more than a shed. It was the chamber of stones.
CHAPTER 5: KEVIN
Friday, June 21, 2013
Kevin stared at his coffee and pancakes with bleary eyes as the obnoxious device above his head did its obnoxious thing several times. No wonder people in pictures from a hundred years ago all looked a little crazy. They had to listen to nutty devices like his grandparents' cuckoo clock twenty-four hours a day.
He couldn't blame the clock for a mostly sleepless night though. That was entirely his doing. For several hours, Kevin had obsessed over his discovery and, more importantly, what to do about it. Sometime between four and five in the morning, he had decided that he would keep the knowledge to himself, at least for now, and give Asa Johnson's time machine a spin.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, honey," Shelly Johnson said as she walked into the large kitchen. "It might be your only chance to hit the stores while we're here."
"I'm sure. You guys have fun."
Kevin knew they would. They would spend all day at the shopping malls in Spokane, ninety minutes to the west, and engage in their signature rituals. Dad would check out the latest in consumer electronics, Mom would get her nails done, and Irene, or Rena as Kevin had called her since grade school, would buy more shoes than Imelda Marcos.
The three would then go out to a nice restaurant, watch a summer stock theater performance, stay at a four-star motel far from the noise of Interstate 90, and return to Wallace happy and refreshed by noon Saturday. Kevin didn't know everything, but he did know his family.
Brian Johnson carried a small suitcase to the front door, dropped it to the floor, and grabbed a windbreaker off a coat hook. He opened the door and glanced at his son.
"If you need anything, Kevin, just call," he said. "I may need a break from your mother and sister if they spend too much time in shoe shops and lingerie stores."
Kevin laughed.
"I'll be fine, Dad. Buy me a tie-dye shirt, if you get bored."
Brian smiled.
"I'll do that."
"I know what I'm going to get him," Irene said as she pranced down a flight of stairs.
She glanced at her father by the door and mother in the kitchen before turning her attention to her brother. She flashed a mischievous grin that had grown on Kevin over the years.
"If we go to the Oktoberfest steakhouse, I'm going to get you one of those busty waitresses. Inga or Greta will get your mind off Lori."
Kevin chuckled. His sister was one of a kind.
"Her name is Lisa," Kevin said.
He didn't know why he felt the need to correct the record. He was in no hurry to hear that name again, just as he was in no hurry to ever hear about extreme sports or edgy guys or people in love. The last thing he wanted or needed was a reminder that he had failed, once again, to hold onto a girl he really liked. But he appreciated his sister's attempt to lift his spirits.
"As for the waitress, pick me a winner, Rena. I'll take a blonde this time, with big blue eyes" and a smile that reminds me of Joel Smith's wife .
Irene smiled.
"A blue-eyed blonde it is. See you, Kevin."
Irene followed her father out the door to the driveway, where a 2013 Lincoln Navigator and a 2009 Volkswagen Beetle stood next to each other. The Johnsons had purchased the shiny black Bug, with its cream leatherette interior, for Kevin as a high school graduation present.
Shelly Johnson had wanted her son to have the same kind of car she had owned and enjoyed as a high school senior in 1979 and 1980. It was the year a mysterious woman named Michelle Jennings had come
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