Back

Back from retreat.

Back at the cabin, Lucas could hardly believe his eyes to find they
had spent most of the day at the retreat, and here, back at the cabin
it was just a bit past noon. Boy this was going to be confusing to get
used to. He told Linc how much he enjoyed going to see the retreat,
and how good he felt.
Linc told Lucas he had sandwiches in the cooler. Since it would be
seven hours or so until supper time, why not make a pot of coffee and
sit outside a while before going back to the farm. Lucas said the was
fine with him, and afterwards he would take a bucket and pick some of
these wild blackberries so Trudy could make some pies.
While sitting out under the tree and eating, Linc asked, "What did
you think of the cave? I find it a very strange thing. It was not a
real cave, as caves go. It was made. Did you see how smooth the
walls were? I wonder why a cave? Why go to the trouble when a house
would do? When was all this done, and by who? Did Hancks have it
done, or was it someone before him? Seems strange for a retreat. Why
the hidden tunnel? What was it for? Did Hancks have a pink broach to
open the notches? What do you think, Grandpa"? Linc made mental note
to look for another broach or something. Lucas thought for a moment
then Said, There was some jewelry in a trinket box on the dresser.
Did you check that out"? Linc confessed he hadn't even seen the box.
He must have been looking for other things. He would check it out
later. It would keep. He hoped whatever controlled the pink notches
wasn't in the coffin with him.
Later while Lucas went down to pick berries, Linc put a rock in the
hole the skunk used and mounded dirt onto it. Then cleaned the traps
and hung them on the side of the cabin before going down to help
Lucas. He was hoping to hear from his old teacher about the rock
samples. He'd check his e-mails when he got back to the farm.
They picked a couple of gallons of berries than Linc heated up what
was left of the coffee and they sat in the shade and drank it while
they rested.
Linc cleaned up the cabin and washed the coffee pot and cups before
they headed back to the farm.
While Lucas took the berries to Trudy, Linc went to the office to
check his mail. His old teacher mailed he got the samples that
afternoon, and was very surprise when he opened the package and found
the samples stuck together. He thought for a bit that they had been
glued together. He actually had to pry them apart. He had a time
wondering why three different samples from three different locations
should act like this. Said in all of his experience, he had never
encountered anything remotely like that. He was going to take them and
check this stuff out, first thing in the morning. Wanted Linc's phone
number, because it needed to be talked about. He was going to show
then to another professor, and see what he thought about them, as
well..
Linc emailed back that he knew nothing about the samples sticking
together. It had to be after they were packed up. Sent the phone
number.
His Uncle mailed he was bringing the kids over that next weekend.
Good, now he had to let Lucas and Trudy know.
As Linc sat there, he couldn't help but wonder why the different
minerals like he sent would ever have an affinity for each other. It
was almost unbelievable.
It had to be because of that radical he picked up when he went to
Kenneth and Jane Hanks portal. That was strange, because that stuff
was extremely anti magnetic. One wouldn't think it would stick to
anything.

He went out on the porch to find Lucas sitting in the swing drinking
ice tea. He told him that the grandkids, and Grandkids they were since
Linc's parents had adopted them, would be coming over for a visit next
weekend, and they were jumping up and down with joy. They loved it
here almost as much as Linc did when he was a Kid. He always liked the
trips to the cabin best.
He told Lucas about the samples, and they talked about them and
about the retreat.
After supper, Linc decided to take a walk down to the barn to see the
new calf John mentioned at the supper table. It was strange, because
she never had a calf in the spring and here she had a calf out of
season.
Such a cutie. A white face, with a curly forelock. Big brown eyes
looking up at him, made him smile. Linc just had to pet him.
The darn barn cats were hanging around his feet. Maybe John forgot to
feed them, so he went into the barn to find some cat food for them.
As he went in, he saw an animal almost as big as the cats. It darted
in behind a couple of barrels standing in the corner. What was it?
Linc took a pitchfork and probed behind one of the barrels.
Something let out a squeal, climbed up the wall like a flash knocking
down an old wicker basket that was hanging above Linc's head It hit
him on the head and shoulder. Years of dust and chaff billowed out
all over him. It has old gunny sacks and some old bottled and cans of
stuff that clanked down on his head. Linc flailed his arms and brushed
like crazy to get the junk off him. Now he had lost track of what the
animal was. Had to be a squirrel. He started to pick up the basket
and the stuff that fell out. There was a bell laying there. It had to
have been in the basket too. Why? That's strange. He thought. He
thought it was better than the old triangle bell hanging on the porch.
He figured on taking it back up to the house. Might as well go now.
That dust and chaff made him itch like crazy. Up at the house he put
the bell on a side table just inside the door and went up to take a
shower. Later he was going to get the bell and clean it up.

He washed the bell good with soapy water, and was polishing it up and
saw that it was made back in Mansfield, Conn. At the Hanks foundry. In
1790. It was about the size of a grapefruit. Where did it come from?
Why was it in the barn? Have to ask Lucas about it in the morning.
Next morning after breakfast, he showed the bell to Lucas and asked
about it. Lucas said he had forgotten all about it. Told him that
Axel had went over to visit Grandpa Raymond and Grandma Elizabeth, and
they had given it to him as a family heirloom. It had been handed
down each generation, and since he was the oldest it then became his.
Never did know what he had done with it. Well Linc said he was going
to hang it on the porch in place of the triangle because he
liked it. If Uncle Axel wanted it he could have it, but until then it
will hang where all could see it and hear it. Linc made a mental note
to research that bell.
Trudy said she was going to freeze the berries because with the Kids
coming over, the girls loved to help her bake. I guess Mom just don't
have the time to do that, Linc thought. He figured Amy would be old
enough to start school this fall. That meant Jessica was in the third
grade and Todd in the fifth. Time does fly.
Linc remembered he had to get the folding cots from the attic. They
would need them up at the cabin. He had to gather up some other stuff
as well. He decided to go on up to the office and do some research on
the Hanks foundry until lunch time. Lucas was in the living room
reading the paper.
Instead of research on the bell, Linc decided to see if he could find
out just where he was when he ran in to Kenneth and Jane Hanks. He
wanted to find out more about the rocks from that mine that were so
anti magnetic. He knew when they got the police, the town was in
Colorado. He had to find out what year it was. It couldn't have been
too far back in time because stuff was too modern there. He tried to
google Kenneth Hanks but came up blank. Maybe Jasper, don't know if
he was a Hanks. He wished he could remember the name of that little
town where they met the police. He did remember one of the police
said the area where the illegal lab was, an old lumber camp at one
time, and if there was an old mine there, it never amounted to
anything because there were no mining claims in the area. He finally
found it. An unfortunate accident in an experimental lab, outside of
Cardiff, Colorado. Now at least he knew where to find the mine even if
it happened almost twenty years ago. That mine should still be there.
Just have to go there and find it again. Things surely must have
changed in twenty years though. Have to think about that later, Linc
thought. Kids will be coming and then John and Trudy want to go on
vacation.
After breakfast, the next morning, he decided to run into town and
pick up some things the guys would need at the cabin. He found out
from Trudy the things she needed to teach the girls to bake and asked
Linc to get them. Lucas said he didn't feel like chasing off to town
and was going to sit and read the paper.
Driving along, he was deep in thought about telling Uncle Vernon about
the retreat and everything else. If he told him at the cabin and he
wanted to go there, then Lucas would want to go too. That meant he
would have to tell Todd as well. Could he trust him not to blab
everything to the rest of the world? He would have to have a talk
with him before hand to see how he thinks. He was so deep in thought,
that he almost didn't see that old man who was almost ready to step
out into the road. Linc stood on the breaks and squealed to a stop,
then the old man stopped then turned and limped off into the trees at
the edge of the road. What in the heck he thought as he pulled off to
the very edge of the road, got out and followed the old man into the
woods.
Where on earth did he go? He wasn't that fast, so he should be around
here somewhere. Linc looked all around for a sign of a trail or any
indication of where the old man walked. Nothing….This was so strange.
He knew he saw someone, but where is he hiding? Oh no! He saw a big
rock with a blue portal. Linc thought, not without a pack, so he went
back to the truck and got his backpack before going back to the rock.
He still didn't see a sign of the old man either. He stepped into the
portal and found himself in a jungle. He could see a lot of people
carrying armloads of flowers, and baskets of something towards an
immense step pyramid. There were people milling all around. They
seemed to be in a daze or something, they walked like zombies.
Suddenly he was grabbed by both arms by two husky men who were not
acting like zombies. Now what have I gotten into, Linc thought. He
was taken over to a platform where some zombies were and was given a
pot of some sort filled with some kind of liquid, and was told to
drink it. He didn't understand the language but knew from the signs
they made. He raised the pot and smelled it. A fruity smell He
pretended to drink it. One of the men pushed his hand and held it
till he did swallow a small bit. Linc pretended to be a zombie like
the rest of them and the two men wandered off. Linc quickly poured
the rest of the stuff on the ground, but ht was starting to feel
weird. What on earth was in that stuff? He was beginning to feel
like he was on a cheap drunk.
The people were taking the stuff they carried over to the base of the
pyramid, then two men in fancy dress robes came and climbed to the
top. Some horns of some kind were blown and then the two men that had
held him, brought a small girl to the steps and took her up to the
top. They placed her on a platform, then the horns sounded again.
Then one of the men in robes took a dagger and cut her heart out and
held it up in the air. Linc couldn't help it but he screamed,…."Nooo,
no ..". People turned to look at him, and as the two men started down
the steps, Linc took off back into the jungle. He was very groggy, he
looked for the portal. He scrambled all around when he finally saw a
blue glow and jumped into it. Oh no! he wasn't back where he
started, it looked like he was back at the same beach where he came
out the first time trip he was sent on. It looked like the same
beach, but not quite. There were no people in sight here, either way
he looked, left or right. There was driftwood fairly high up on the
beach. He could hear lots of birds. He marked the spot where he came
out with some rocks and shells. Then started down the beach to his
right. He walked close to the line of driftwood for a mile or so when
he saw what looked like a raft of some sort down at the water's edge.
The waves were gently bobbing the raft, but Linc could see nothing on
it nor could he see any footprints going away from it. Did it just
wash up here from somewhere else, Linc thought. He thought that most
likely. He drug the raft up on to the beach and then continued on
down the way he was going. After another mile or so, he came to what
looked like a path through the trees. It was not a wide one nor was
it well worn, but he decided to walk in it a ways. He came upon a
small camp, and saw what he was sure, was the same old man who he
almost ran over. This was too far fetched. There was no way this
could be, but there he was What in the world was going on now?
The man rushed up to him and hugged him. " Thank God you followed me.
I was beginning to give up hope that anyone would ever help me. I am
Evert Hanks. I was sent thru a portal to this place to do something
for a time master and left here." "I don't understand how this could
be, because I saw you back in my time standing by the road," said
Linc. " The old man said he floated here on a raft he found a week or
so before, and hadn't been anywhere else." Linc said, Never mind.
Lets see if we can't get out of here."
The old man was pretty frail but was able to walk back to where Linc
had marked the portal, and they went through. Instead of coming out
in the jungle like he expected, they came out by the big rock not far
from the truck. Linc could only shake his head in bewilderment. The
old man cried when he found he was back where it was civilized, even
though he had been gone for years. Linc took him into town and
dropped him off at a place he said he lived. He figured the time
master had just wanted Linc to save another Hanks. He got the stuff he
needed and went back to the farm.


To be continued.