D. MacHale - The Never War

Mark began to sense this in Bobby. It took a day or so for Bobby to relax and get back to his old, fun self. But then Mark noticed Bobby wasn’t talking as much. It seemed like there were times when his mind was a million miles away. Mark didn’t dare to ask him about it. He was afraid Bobby would close up again, or worse, it would somehow break the magic spell that had given them this great week together. Mark didn’t want it to end, though he knew it would have to.

Then one night, while the two of them were trying to fall asleep in Mark’s bedroom, Mark took the chance and brought up the taboo subject.

“Bobby?” he asked tentatively. “I want to become an acolyte.”

This caught Bobby off guard. “Whoa,” he said. “Where didthatcome from?”

Bobby didn’t cut him off this time. It encouraged Mark to keep going.

“You know, the acolytes,” he said. “The people who help the Travelers. They live in the territories and bring the clothes to the flumes and help you get around and-“

“Yeah, I know who they are,” Bobby interrupted. “But I don’t know anything about them. I never met one.”

“But they’re out there,” Mark insisted.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Bobby said with absolutely no enthusiasm. Reality had returned. Bobby knew he couldn’t ignore it anymore. Vacation was over. Time to put the game face back on. He took a deep breath, hesitated one last moment, then clicked back into Traveler mode.

“Why, Mark?” he asked. “What makes you want to be an acolyte?”

“A lot of reasons,” Mark answered. “I want to help. It’s hard sitting around doing nothing when there’s some guy out there trying to bring down the universe and hurt your best friend. Reading your journals has changed things.”

Bobby nodded. He understood where Mark was coming from. “Funny thing,” he said thoughtfully. “In a couple of days you and Courtney are going to start Davis Gregory High, and all I really want is to forget about being a Traveler and go with you.”

“But you can’t,” Mark said.

“No, I can’t.”

“There’s another reason,” Mark added. He took a pause before saying this, because he knew it was a tough subject. “I won’t let you down. Not the way Spader did.”

Bobby winced. “Spader didn’t let me down,” he said sharply. “He just lost sight of what was important.”

Mark realized he had touched a raw nerve. “I know that,” he said quickly, doing damage control. “I just want you to know that I’d always be there to cover your back. No matter what.”

“How does Courtney feel about it?” Bobby asked.

“We haven’t exactly talked about it,” Mark answered. “But I guarantee, if we got the chance, she’d jump right in. You know Courtney.”

Bobby chuckled. Yeah, he knew Courtney. “Tell you what,” Bobby said. “I’ll find out what I can. If there’s a chance for you guys to do something, I’ll let you know.”

That was good enough for Mark. He now had hope that he might join Bobby on his mission after all. He had trouble falling asleep that night because his mind was so alive with the possibilities.

Bobby had trouble getting to sleep too, but for a very different reason. He knew his time here on Second Earth was over. He needed to be somewhere else, doing what he was destined to do. Tomorrow he would say good-bye to his friends one more time and jump back into the game. That’s what rolled through his brain while he tried to get to sleep. But it wasn’t easy nodding off to dreamland while one thought kept pushing all others away… Where is Saint Dane? What is he up to? And when I find him, will I be strong enough to beat him? Courtney arrived at Mark’shouse early the next morning, all set for another day at the beach. She had made a bunch of salami sandwiches and wore the famous pink bikini under her shorts and T-shirt. There were only two days left of summer vacation, two days before they would begin Davis Gregory High. She knew that once they began this new school, life would change again. Not only would they be leaving the familiar comfort of junior high, but Bobby would be gone. There was no way around that one. These last few days felt like the end of an era. She wanted to make the most of them.

But that wasn’t meant to be.

She knew it the second she stepped into Mark’s house. The atmosphere had changed. Every time she had come over before, the guys would be playing Nintendo, or watching a game on TV, or cranking up music. Today the house was quiet. Bobby and Mark sat in the living room, talking. The air was heavy. It felt to her like a pregame locker room where everyone had the butterflies.

“You’re leaving today, aren’t you?” she asked Bobby.

Bobby nodded.

Courtney plopped down on the couch next to him. “That’s it then,” she said. “The next time we hear from you, it’ll be in some journal?”

“Probably,” was Bobby’s answer.

There was an awkward silence. They knew that as soon as Bobby walked out the door, their lives would all officially change. It had been a great week, but it was over.

That’s when the telephone rang.

“Probably my parents,” Mark said, and answered the phone. “Hello?”

A deep voice came through from the caller. “Hello. Is this Mark Dimond?”

“Yeah.” Mark didn’t recognize the voice. “Who’s this?”

“You don’t know me, Mark,” said the voice. “My name is Vincent Van Dyke.”

“Gunny?” shouted Mark in surprise.

Bobby jumped to his feet and grabbed the phone away from Mark. “Gunny?”

“Howdy there, shorty. Enjoying your vacation?”

“What’s wrong? Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” Gunny said with a laugh. “Everything’s fine. I’m here on Second Earth.”

“Yeah, I figured. But where? What are you doing here?”

“I need to see you, Bobby, right away,” Gunny said. “Is there someplace we can meet? I can come to you, no problem.”

Bobby looked at Mark and Courtney and said, “Gunny wants to meet me. Can he come here?”

“No way,” Mark said. “My parents are due back soon.”

Bobby looked at Courtney, but she shook her head. “Mom’s home. I don’t think I could explain this to her.”

Bobby thought fast, then an idea came to him. “Where are you, Gunny?”

“New York City.”

“Then here’s an address. It’s in my hometown of Stony Brook. It’s Two Linden Place.”

Mark and Courtney looked at each other. They knew exactly where 2 Linden Place was. They had been avoiding it all week. It was the address where Bobby grew up. Now it was an empty lot. It had been empty ever since everything that had to do with Bobby Pendragon had mysteriously disappeared.

“I’ll find it,” Gunny said. “Meet me there in an hour.”

“You sure everything’s okay?” Bobby asked.

“See you there,” Gunny said, and hung up.

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Courtney asked. “I mean, isn’t it gonna be tough for you to go back there?”

Bobby shrugged. “I can’t pretend like things haven’t happened.”

Two Linden Place was only a short walk from Mark’s house, so they had some time to kill before meeting Gunny. They didn’t want Courtney’s salami sandwiches to go to waste, so they sat at Mark’s kitchen table and scarfed them down. They did their best to talk about anything other than what was really on their minds. But it was all just blah, blah. Their minds were elsewhere.

Finally Bobby stood up, saying, “Time to go.”

Mark and Courtney weren’t sure what to do. Was this it? Was it time to say good-bye?

Mark said, “Make sure you tell us what Gunny had to say in your next journal.”

“Why?” Bobby asked. “You’re coming with me.”