D. MacHale - The Never War

Now the guy was here, thanking him, sort of. The old man raised his hand to shake Bobby’s, saying, “I wanted to thank him personally, but it didn’t work out that way. Thanking you is the closest I’m going to get.”

Bobby didn’t take the guy’s hand.

“I remember now,” Bobby said to him. “I mean, I remember the story from my grandfather. Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” the old man said while dropping his hand.

“My grandfather told me about the first time he saw you. It was in a cave off a subway station in the Bronx.”

Nelson dropped his head. “I’ve tried to forget that,” he said.

“Yeah, well, try to remember,” Bobby said sharply. “What were you doing there?”

The old guy squinted, trying to bring back the memories. “What I remember doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. There were three of us. Me and my partner, Tony, and a third guy. A strange fella. Real persuasive, if I remember. He wasn’t part of the gang very long.”

Bobby figured this must have been Saint Dane.

“This guy brought us to that cave with the tunnel,” Nelson continued. “He walked up to the tunnel and said something. What was it? Oh, right. I think it was Clorox…you know, like the bleach.”

Bobby knew exactly what was said. It was Saint Dane, all right, and he had said”Cloral.”

“Then the damnedest thing happened. The tunnel started lighting up like the Fourth of July. The guy told Tony to take his tommygun and shoot into the tunnel. Tony was a wild guy. He didn’t have to be convinced to shoot his gun at anything, so he shot right into the lights. A second later, the lights went out. None of it made any sense.”

It made sense to Bobby though. Those were the bullets that were fired through the flume and killed Uncle Press.

Nelson continued. “Then the guy took off. He told us to stay there for a while and if anybody came through that tunnel, to scare ‘em and tell ‘em to stay away from Winn Farrow. Does that answer your question?”

“Almost,” Bobby said. “So you’re telling me it was your partner who fired the gun into the tunnel? It wasn’t you?” Bobby asked.

“Not a chance,” he said adamantly. “I remember that very clear. I didn’t see the point. Tony fired the gun.”

Bobby took a breath, then held out his hand and said, “Then on behalf of my grandfather, I’ll accept your thanks.”

The old man shook Bobby’s hand. It was a shake that was as strong and sure as if he were twenty years old. Bobby saw the joy in his eyes because in some small way, he was able to thank the man who saved his life. Of course, the guy would never know that he was actually shaking the hand of the real guy, not his grandson.

“Thank you,” Nelson said. “Thank you so much.”

He let go of Bobby’s hand and started back for the car, when he remembered something.

“Oh, one more thing,” he said. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out a small package, wrapped in brown paper. “This is something I wanted to give to your grandfather as a small token of my gratitude. I’m sorry I never got it to him, but I hope you will appreciate it.”

“Thanks. I’m sure I will,” Bobby said graciously.

Nelson handed the package to Bobby, then looked at Gunny. “Mr. Van Dyke,” Nelson called. “Do you need a lift back into the city?”

“I do, Mr. Nelson,” Gunny answered. “Can I have a few moments?”

“Take all the time you need,” answered Nelson, and walked back to his car, where his driver helped him get inside.

Bobby walked back to the others. They’d heard the whole conversation.

“Unbelievable!” Mark said.

“What did he give you?” Courtney asked.

Bobby looked to Gunny. Gunny had a big smile on his face. “Open it,” he said.

Bobby shrugged and tore at the brown paper. “It doesn’t look very old,” he said.

“It isn’t,” Gunny said. “I only got it yesterday.”

Bobby laughed. Of course. Yesterday Gunny was back in 1937. Bobby pulled off all the brown paper to reveal a small, square black box. He looked at Gunny. Gunny winked. Bobby opened it and…

“Oh, man!” Mark yelled with surprise.

Courtney laughed.

Gunny said, “Now you know why I came all the way here to get you this.”

Bobby couldn’t believe his eyes. Sitting in the box was his ring-his Traveler ring.

“He told me he got it back from his partner after the guy took the fall from the tower,” Gunny explained. “He figured getting it back to you was the least he could do, seeing as you saved his life and all.”

“Excellent,” Courtney said. “We’re back in business.”

Now Bobby could send his journals back to Mark and Courtney the old-fashioned way. Bobby couldn’t stop smiling. In some ways, things had come full circle. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it on his finger. As soon as he did, the ring began to twitch. Bobby held his hand out quickly.

“What’s the matter?” Mark asked.

“It…it’s activating,” Bobby said.

“Really? You mean there’s a gate around here?” Courtney asked.

The answer came quickly. The gray stone in the ring began to glow, then sparkle. A second later a single beam of light shot from the ring, projecting an image in front of them. There, floating in the air before them, was a girl. Actually, it was a girl’s head. She had blond hair pulled back in a ponytail and wore small, yellow-tinted glasses.

“Whoa,” said Courtney.

“Yeah, whoa,” added Mark.

“Aja Killian,” whispered Bobby in shock.

“Who?” Gunny asked.

“The Traveler from Veelox.”

“Where have you been?” demanded Aja’s image. “I’ve been trying to contact you for ages!”

“Long story,” Bobby answered.

“I don’t want to hear it, Pendragon.” Aja shot back. “You’d better get back to Veelox.”

“Why?” Bobby asked.

“I’m not saying I made a mistake,” Aja’s head explained. “This may be a total false alarm, but-“

“Just say it!” demanded Bobby.

“All right!” Aja snapped. “Saint Dane may have slipped through my security system. He is here on Veelox.”

Bobby smiled and said, “You’re telling me your perfect security system isn’t all that perfect?”

“Are you coming or not?” Aja snapped angrily.

“On my way,” Bobby answered.

“Don’t take your time,” Aja said snottily. Her image shot back into Bobby’s ring and everything went back to normal.

“Well,” said Courtney. “That was… strange.”

“I guess I’m going to Veelox,” Bobby said. Then looked to Gunny and asked, “Want to come?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Gunny answered with a smile. “We’ll have Mr. Nelson drop us off in the Bronx.”

Bobby turned to face Mark and Courtney. “This has been the best week of my life,” Bobby said sincerely.

Courtney then walked up to Bobby and before he realized what was happening, she grabbed him and planted a serious kiss on him. Bobby didn’t mind. Once the shock was over, he wrapped his arms around Courtney and held her close.

Kissing Courtney was even better than he remembered.

Mark and Gunny turned away, totally embarrassed. “So?” Gunny asked Mark. “How ‘bout them Yankees?”

Courtney and Bobby finally unlocked lips. Bobby’s eyes were a little watery, but Courtney’s gaze was razor sharp.

“Let’s not wait another year before the next one, okay?” she said.

“Uh…sure. Sounds good,” Bobby said, trying to keep his knees from buckling.

Mark and Courtney each gave Gunny a hug, and the two Travelers started for the limo.

“Remember what we talked about, okay?” Mark called to Bobby.

“I will,” Bobby said.