Secrets of the Porous Earth

8/13/2019 Secrets of the Porous Earth

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Secrets of the Porous Earthby Devon Pitlor

I. The legacy of Stacy Christine Smithwick On a seemingly inauspicious ay in !ay of "#$%& Scott 'o amar& now nearinghis fortieth birth ay& sat alone in the little isor erly office of his campustavern in !arshcove with the local five sheet newspaper sprea in front of himacross a esk littere with unorgani(e invoices an the other paraphernalia ofbar ownership. Scott was sipping his first morning coffee when a tiny newsannouncement burie in the local happenings caught his eye. )e blinke acouple of times& an the prolonge eception of his entire life flashe across hismin . Since his fifteenth year in $*+*& there was something he ha hi enfrom the entire worl & even his treasure wife Summer.

,n as synchronicity woul have it& at appro-imately that same momentScott s lifelong frien /rooke 0escott was sitting in her kitchen alcove acrossthe river in ,ristock an rea ing the e-act same local copy in the ,ristocknewspaper. The tiny four sentence announcement also brought to /rooke s


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min certain memories that she too ha pon ere over for a long time. /ut wewill get to these later.

/ack to Scott.

,fter rea ing the little notice& Scott change his plan for the ay an calle histruste bar manager ,reshnit 'u(a an informe him that he nee e to see hisoctor that morning an that ,reshnit shoul plan to arrive early an open the

bar. Then Scott abruptly& as if riven almost within a trance& swung his sportswheelchair out of the front oor of 'o amar s 'oost an into his lift van for ashort trip across the iron suspension bri ge which couple the sister cities of!arshcove an ,ristock. Provoke by what was nearly a represse memory&he aime himself in the irection of his orthope ic surgeon s office on the farsi e of ,ristock. There was something pressing that Scott nee e to iscusswith Dr. 1alentine 2olfensperger& something that he knew woul not re3uirean appointment. Something that presse on his conscience as well as hisimme iate awareness.

,s Scott crosse the bri ge& he instantly took note of a procession of si-fourteen year ol boys& the lea er of which was his own son Tyshawn. Theywere the si- core members an foun ers of the remarkable Plus Si(e Club&


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an & as usual& they were on foot. It was the first ay of spring break& an forreasons that Scott knew better than to ask they were hea ing towar!arshcove444on foot naturally because the Plus Si(e Club ha always ma e apoint of walking everywhere an ha always eschewe the service of schoolbuses an even bicycles when they nee e to travel.

!echanically& Scott swung into the right lane of the bri ge an powere ownhis left win ow& catching first the attention of 5are 0escott& /rooke shan some an precocious son& an lea er an foun er of the club.

6I nee to talk to you boys later to ay&6 he sai with a sense of seriousness butnot knowing e-actly what it was that he was going to say. ,ll he knew was thatin ,ristock an !arshcove& the Plus Si(e Club was usually aware ofeverything& however small& that happene . They boys all knew Scott anrespecte him as the woul 4be etective of the strange that he ha once aspireto be prior to buying a bar an giving up a full time police etective avocationforever. Scott was still sought& however& by the local !arshcove an ,ristockpolice on occasion to solve what can best be terme as the mysterious cases&an in the past twenty4years& he ha been involve with 3uite a few.

Scott knew& however& that he was no cop. )is han ling of evi ence an his


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acceptance of the strange ha long ago is3ualifie him from that espite hisuniversity egree in criminal 7ustice. /ut his list of baffling an une-plainecases was still 3uite long. Scott knew many secrets& an he knew how to keepthem. )e also knew how to live with the ine-plicable& as many of theoutlan ish happenings he ha occupie himself with ha no simple clear4cutresolutions other than 7ust to accept the miraculous an move on. This haalways been one of Scott s strong points. 0ot everything ha a rationale-planation& nor i Scott e-pect it too. This ha always forme thefoun ation of his is3ualification for in uctive police work. Scott knew thatour human ability to elu e ourselves may in ee be an important survivaltool. The local police were usually in a enial state of continual elusion.

/ut to ay s mystery was something about himself alone. Something about why

he ha gone su enly from a 3uick an athletic boy at age fifteen to thewheelchair in which he ha spent the last twenty4five years of his life. It wasabout a fa8a e that Scott ha foole the whole worl with& a ishonesty knownonly to Dr. 2olfensperger.

)e caught a last glimpse of the boys in his rearview mirror as he spe offtowar ,ristock9 )is son Tyshawn& 5are 0escott& Ian Parmeter& Co y'ochon& Subaru Devaney& an lastly !alachi ,yla ore444all growing ol er now&


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2),TE1E'4444that put you into that chair twenty4five years ago was not allthat ba a thing. ;ou are stronger& faster& more agile than most ambulantpeople...an you have been....hmmmm....very successful in your life. I reali(ethat you are suffering some pangs of conscience from lying about it all theseyears& but un er the circumstances& I woul 7ust keep on oing what you are

oing. 0o one& inclu ing me& has ever totally believe your story& but only Ihave any sort of remote proof that what you claime actually happene & anthat& my frien & is locke away in my files in octor4patient confi entiality anwill be summarily estroye when I either ie or retire. ;ou nee to reconsi erthis guilt4la en& mea culpa confessional scene with your family an frien s anstick to your story. It has serve you well all these years. ;ou were at footballpractice an took a ba fall. I was& fortunately& the octor on call that night at,ristock


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Clen inin was my surgical assistant& an she s long gone. ;our story willalways be safe.6

/ut then the octor pause & knitte his brow an sai 9 6/ut about theSmithwick acreage going to the city... 2ell& I a mit someone nee s to look it

over. Ten acres surroun e by a brick wall. 2ho but a Smithwick coulaffor that? ,n they were always generous. @ntil the strangeness began&they always allowe you boys to play soccer there. In fact& it woul notsurprise me if that is e-actly what the city will o with the property. Turn itinto the playing fiel that it always was. /ut I o agree that someone otherthan our town fathers nee s to look it over carefully....an I mean verycarefully...before they start letting ki s in again. Soccer is a lot more popularnow than it was then. It was only a kin of secon ary curiosity in $*+*&

something like lacrosse is to ay. /ut now it is big business. I woul n twant....6

60either woul I&6 sai Scott& finishing 2olfensperger s thought. 6I wasthinking of my etective frien Se-ton /liss or maybe the boys..6

2olfensperger shook his hea isapprovingly. 60o. Then you have to starttelling everybo y everything. ;ou never know how far that will go. I coul


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trust /rooke s mate Palobay because the goo octor4entomologist has enoughof his own crypti secrets at Central State& an I woul trust /rooke 0escott&but my faith en s there.6

Scott listene without visibly agreeing or isagreeing. 0earing his fortieth

year& he felt a nee for confession& an the be3ueathment of the ol Smithwickacreage to ,ristock ma e it even more urgent. 6There comes a time ineveryone s life&6 he began without finishing.

6That you nee to protect others.6 2olfensperger glance at his watch. 6;ounee to protect them from...6

6/albriggan&6 sai Scott staring blankly at the multi4colore organ charts onhis octor s wall.

6;eah. Sure. /albriggan.6

Then after a few minutes of silence& Dr. 2olfensperger swivele his esk chairaroun to his computer an pulle up a nationally known news site. 6Say.There might be a little corroboration here for you. I get my news online an

on t rea the papers& but I saw this this morning.6


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2olfensperger pushe the monitor aroun so that Scott coul rea . It was asmall news bite about some guy in Islamaba & Pakistan who ha miraculouslyturne up a few thousan kilometers away in Sana a& ;emen. 0o e-planationfor his removal was given. 65ust the kin of mystery you like&6 sai the octor.

Scott rea the short article attentively. 6It oesn t say his name. !aybe it ssomething to o with ,l4Aae a or terrorists& but I alrea y have a theory.6

6;ou always o.6

6I 7ust nee a etail to complete it. =ook aroun some more for a furtherelaboration on that event. I m betting that this transporte person was insome sort of trouble& an further I m betting that he was not a Pakistani. Theyare !uslims there& but they speak @r u. I m betting that this guy was a full4

bloo e ,rab an use ,rabic as his first language. See if I m not right if youfin any more on the story.6

6,n what ifference woul that make? I mean what language he speaks?6

6Part of my theory.6

62ell& you ll have to sit on it for a while&6 sai 2olfensperger rising. 6I have


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patients waiting. Think long an har before you start confessing stuff. ,n &above all& keep me out of it.6

Scott 'o amar pushe his slim wheelchair out of Dr. 2olfensperger s officeafter a 3uick han shake. 6I will&6 he sai in parting. 6;ou can rely on that.6

II. /rooke 0escott at home alone.

It ha blossome into a glorious spring ay by the time Scott 'o amar roveup the riveway to /rooke 0escott s house where he foun his ol frien alone.5are was& of course& with the other boys oing who knows what in !arshcove&an Dr. Eric Palobay& /rooke s omestic partner& was at a crypto(oologicalconvention in >ansas City. /rooke ha known Scott since about the secongra e in the ays before his family move across the river. She ha known his

late parents before their fatal car acci ent when Scott was twelve& an she haknown the otty aunt who ha taken it upon herself to raise the lithe ancapable boy who was only three years away from confinement to thewheelchair that he woul spen the rest of his ays in.

:rom year to year& time to time& /rooke ha fallen in an out of crushes onScott& but as a ults& they were each one stea fast to their partners. Scott


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a ore his wife Summer& an /rooke was irreversibly bon e to both EricPalobay an 5are s father Dragonsnort& the latter of which ha notmanifeste himself for many months. There was& therefore& no 3uestion ofinfi elity on either of their parts. They were simply frien s. ,n /rooke& trueto form& was someone very familiar with the recon ite an & above all& someoneScott felt very comfortable speaking to. It was an aura that /rooke e-u e toall her frien s& a certain ease of conversation& a willingness to suspen

7u gment.

Over glasses of col morning musca et& the two sat on /rooke s patio in thefull sun an iscusse the onation of the walle Smithwick property to thecity. /rooke began by telling Scott that she ha seen the same article in the,ristock paper an that for some reason it bothere her as well. This alarme

Scott somewhat& something /rooke coul see& an so she presse on.6;ou use to play soccer there back when soccer wasn t cool.6

6I i &6 agree Scott. 6/ut why shoul the be3ueathing of the propertybother you so much? Is there something you re not telling me?6

/rooke smile slyly. Then she sai 6;ou got runk once at a party. That was


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before Summer. 2e were both stu ents.6

6Oh my


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troubling part.6

6;ou think some ki is going to fall own those stone steps or what?6

62orse than that&6 sai Scott burying his forehea in his palms. 6!uch

worse.6/rooke took a long swig of her white wine. She cocke an in3uisitive eyebrowat Scott an sai 9 62ell& you can either tell me or not. ,n I have a feeling youwant to tell me.6

Scott thrust his sports wheelchair in the irection facing the street. )e knewhe was at the point of a confession& one that he probably shoul have ma e tohis wife an son long ago. )e ha no i ea where to begin.

6!y name&6 he sai at length. 6'o amar. It s 0orman an :rankish. /utthose were the original lan lor s of Irelan in the centuries following theCon3uest in $# . So I guess you coul say that the 'o amars are primarilyIrish. So was ol la y Smithwick. )er family came from the original ,nglo4Sa-on estate proprietors of Irelan .6

6Irish this. Irish that. The Irish are all over. 2hat are you riving at?6


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6, theory.6

6Every time you have a theory& something ownright strange happens. 2antto tell me about your theory?6

62ell& to start with& there were 3uite a few strangers on the Smithwickproperty in the seventies an eighties& an a lot of them were right off the olso . Irishmen...mostly with English names...like from the aristocracy. Theycame out of nowhere an spent most of their time teaching us boys to ignoretheir accents an how to play soccer by proper rules. That is how soccer gotstarte there. Of course& the close 4mouth Smithwicks never sai who thesepeople were& where they came from or why they hung out aroun the mansionor the fiel . That was 7ust not like the Smithwicks. 2e playe soccer that was

all. 2hen the whole country was swooning over the merger of the 0:= an the,:=& we were playing 6real football6 as they calle it.6

6


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an its hi en staircase. ,n then su enly an without e-planation& I was onthe rocks by the north coast of the Irish Sea in the province of :ingal in theCounty of Dublin444in the accurse village of /albriggan to be e-act.6

Scott continue that he ha no i ea how he ha reache the peaty little seasi e

fishing parish with its rustic inhabitants& but that it was a place of greatsorrow. In his short stay in /albriggan& he learne that the village ha beenthe site of a horri atrocity uring the Irish 2ars of In epen ence. On the"#th of September& $*"#& a special regiment of the 'oyal Irish Constabulary&establishe from release /ritish prisoners an put into uniforms to bully ansub ue the Irish with ferocious attacks on civilians an unparallele brutality&ha estroye + of the *# houses in the village an slaughtere most of themen& women an chil ren in the process. =ike latter era 0a(i atrocities in

=i ice& C(echoslovakia an Ora our4sur4


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blocks an without running water. , family& without 3uestioning& took me in&fe me an tol me the tale. It was har to un erstan with their rural accentsan all.6

6,n then they sent you back?6

6>in of. , bunch of men were kicking a soccer ball aroun in a pa ock thene-t ay. I was sent out to watch them. ,n bingo I was back in Smithwick sfiel . /elieve it or not& that happene . ,n it happene twice. I i n t say awor to anyone& but on another ay I wan ere over to the little stone stepsan foun myself once again by small fishing bay near /albriggan. Somekin ly resi ents put me on a irt roa lea ing out of town& an when I passethe first thicket I remember seeing some skinny black cows. ,n then I wasback at the bottom of those steps by the close iron oor.6

Scott pause for the usual reaction of bemuse isbelief& a reaction that nevercame.

6This is har for me&6 sai Scott. 6I suppose you can see that?6

,ccor ing to the rest of what /rooke hear & Scott upon his su en return to,ristock& foun himself unable to walk. Someone in the Smithwick family


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calle his aunt in !arshcove. She rove over an pulle him into her pickuptruck& feeling that his con ition was temporary from a strain. =ater& she tookhim to the hospital where the orthope ic surgeon in atten ance was none otherthan 1alentine 2olfensperger. 2olfensperger performe all the nee e testsan arrange for a full bo y scan. In that scan he i not fin an in7ury.Instea & he foun what he terme as some missing pieces, as if some fractionsof Scott s spine ha either isappeare or been left behin in /albriggan. Ofcourse& no one believe the story about the seasi e village& but here he wastwenty4five years later an still in a chair& something which he ha long agocome to accept an make the best of. 6I cease telling the tale before I wassi-teen& an my isability was simply accre ite to the late effects of a footballacci ent. That has been my story all these years. I coul tell no one that I habeen teleporte to Irelan an back twice.6

6Something obviously went wrong in the secon reconstruction of yourmatri-&6 sai /rooke. 6I mean that is how teleportation works or whatever.6

Together they continue to rink wine an iscuss some of the most outlan ishspeculations about the oft4reporte phenomenon of spontaneous aninvoluntary teleportation as if it were commonplace an known to all. Thatwas /rooke s way& Scott knew. She too ha seen an e-perience a great eal


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of the bi(arre. 0othing was beyon con7ecture. 2ith Summer an maybeeven with Tyshawn& it woul have been ifferent.

One of the outcomes of this iscussion was that before the city of ,ristock took

possession of ol Stacy Christine Smithwick s property& someone nee e toe-amine the place where years before a worker with a bull o(er ha levelethe little moun an purporte ly covere up the stone stairway an its hi eniron oor. , secon ecision was that the whole episo e shoul be share withEric Palobay& who was now close to one hun re years of age an kept halean hearty by his beneficial parasite& the vap. Eric& being presi ent of thesuper4secret Crypto(oological Society of 0orth ,merica an a member of thesingular& arcane collection of vap wearers& was well4accustome to the uncannyan woul be if nothing else fascinating to consult.

,n so between two ol frien s& a long burie secret ha been reveale . Scottcoul not hi e the fact that he felt a tinge of relief.

/ut there was something else that was bothering him beyon the scope of hislong4ago a venture. This something else was soon to surface an merge withhis own unfortunate e-perience in the realm of the supernatural.


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6I have a theory forming&6 sai Scott 'o amar while taking leave of /rooke.6It has something to o with my putative Irish backgroun an that of Ol=a y Smithwick. I work e uctively& you know. I formulate a theory first anthen look for evi ence. That is something the police hate. They use in uction.Clues first then a theory. I parte ways with them long ago because of that.6

III. Eric Palobay s take

Eric Palobay sat across from his omestic partner /rooke 0escott thefollowing ay upon his return from >ansas City an took in all that /rookeha to say about Scott s revelation. It was a Sun ay& an ,reshnit was on utyat 'o amar s 'oost. Scott was e-pecte soon. Together the three of themwoul eci e on a course of action.

,s /rooke outline Scott s confession for Eric& an unseen listener was presentin the person of her precocious an han some son 5are . 5are was not aneaves ropper& but he too ha a very recent secret that he was su enly feelingthe nee to ivulge. Once again the strange ha bumpe into the boys of thePlus Si(e Club& an 5are & espite his in epen ence an maturity& nee e totell someone. In the room ne-t to where he stoo were two loving parents who

i not eny the possibility of the magical because they ha live it in so many


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ways Fwhich can be foun in other stories relating to /rooke& Eric anDragonsnortG. 5are knew that with Eric home it was time to confess his ownimpon erable& something which he an the other boys ha harbore forseveral ays now.

2hen Scott arrive at the 0escott house& he was bursting with a kin of urgentan-iety. )e was please to fin Eric home an happy that /rooke ha goneover most of the etails of his confession with him. /ut he ha something elseon his min . 62e nee to talk to 5are right away&6 he sai . 6The boys arehi ing something. It may even have something to o with my case.6

6;ou have a case alrea y&6 sai Eric sipping a glass of burgun y.

6I on t know&6 sai Scott. 6They are all being secretive. I think we ha

better talk to 5are . They may be breaking the law.662oul n t be the first time&6 sai Eric. 62hat is going on?6

6I prefer to wait for 5are . I know they on t use their phones& but can youcall him? I have alrea y talke to Tyshawn an Co y. I m getting nowhere.6

=ittle i any of them know that 5are was in the ne-t room an overhearing


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6It is a village of sorrow even to ay&6 reflecte Scott. 6,n that is part of mytheory. , kin of macabre specter of the in ecency haunts the place even now.I guess the Irish are like that.


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later in =isbon where he was accuse of bilocation an summarily burne atthe In3uisitorial stake....

6,n then there was the well4 ocumente story of the


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6,n ,rab&6 sai Scott. 6I though so. !aybe a tra er& maybe a so4calle al4Aae a terrorist. It oesn t matter. 2hat oes matter is that Suleiman spoke,rabic an en e up in a totally ,rabic country& in fact the very cra le of thatSemitic language. )e isappeare from Islamaba where there ha 7ust been

a totally evastating earth3uake an lan sli e a few ays before. Thousan swere kille . )e teleporte .6

62hat oes that a up to?6 in3uire Eric.

6


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it. ,n it oesn t e-plain a stairway lea ing to an iron oor in the groun .6

6, stairway we nee to fin an e-plore before that property is fille witheveryone s soccer playing aughters.6

The three of them were agreeing when a commotion su enly began to clatterat the si e oor. /rooke 7umpe up only to fin that all si- boys of the PlusSi(e Club were stan ing outsi e.

I1. , crime in the making

Co y 'ochon was the first to speak& an he spoke irectly to the top of Scott'o amar s hea & afrai & as it were& to make complete eye contact.

62e ve one something wrong& but there was a reason&6 he sai . 6 Daniel wasbeing abuse . )e has marks all over him. They look like whip scars. )e sbeen beaten. I know what that is like. !y mother use to take it out on mesometimes.6

6;our late mother&6 sai Eric.

6,n unlamente &6 a e /rooke with a tinge of bitterness that Co y coul


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well un erstan .

Then !alachi ,yla ore steppe in front of Ian Parmeter an began in a 7umble burst of wor s9 6!y mother isn t like that at all. She s not like Ian seither. She has un erstan ing. She is more like !rs. 0escott or Subaru s

mother& Simmony& or Tyshawn s mother& Summer. She i it because we askeher to. Please on t let them arrest her. 2e i what we thought was right.The club is like that. 2e stick together. 2e efy a ults at times. If ChilServices ha taken Daniel& the police woul have locke him up. )e woul bein a war somewhere& a loony bin. )e talks cra(y an is covere with welts.)e s been knocke aroun . )is eyes are funny too an his skin is all white ansuch like he never sees the sun. )is lips blee . I think his nose is broken too.6

Then it was 5are s turn. Taking a more assertive stance& he stare irectlyinto his mother s eyes an sai 9 6;ou woul have one the same as !alachi smother if you saw him. )e 7ust nee e some frien s an some time to recover.)e oesn t know where he is& an he is not saying who i whatever they i tohim. 2e can be his frien . )i e him an get the story. The cops an socialworkers woul 7ust lock him up an give him rugs or shock him with wires orwhatever they o.6


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6I think electrotherapy en e when I was a ki in the twenties&6 sai Eric.

62ell& whatever&6 continue 5are . 6!iss Erin is hi ing him in the basementguest room out of sight.6

:inally& Scott 'o amar 3uietly aske his son Tyshawn to e-plain from start tofinish everything that ha happene since the last ay of school. 6>eep it , toK&6 sai Scott. 6!ake it logical. I know you can o that. ,n start by tellingus what language he speaks an & if it s English as it appears to be& oes he havean accent?6

,s Tyshawn 'o amar carefully an calmly unfol e the story& the three a ultslistene an occasionally 3uashe the almost4interruptions of the other boyswho wante to a etails to Tyshawn s account. 2hat ha happene was

this9 Erin ,yla ore& !alachi s mother& rove a school bus aily from south,ristock to Daltron )igh School. 0aturally& none of the Plus Si(e Club boystook this bus& as it ha for three years been their wont to walk to school inwhatever sort of weather presente itself. ,t the en of her run an back atthe bus garage& Erin notice a palli an watery4eye boy with pasty skin anabnormally large muscles cringing behin the seats of her vehicle. The boy&

espite his obvious wiry buil an taut physi3ue& seeme to be terrifie . )e


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1er igris& places that were totally unknown in central Pennsylvania but clearly,merican. )e i have a sort of 6southern6 accent& but it was har to place.)e efinitely i not soun like anyone from ,ristock or !arshcove oranywhere else in the ,llegheny region.

)e ate voraciously& but continue to fle- his thin buil an confirm the bulgeof his over4large biceps. :rom time to time he kicke his legs as if e-ercisingthem. In all& he seeme to be some sort of acrobat who was practicing to stayin form.

Erin ,yla ore ha aske all si- of the Plus Si(e Club boys to come over tohelp her eci e what to o with him. 2hile waiting& Daniel ha eci e totake up temporary resi ence in the ,yla ore basement room& where heimme iately shut off the lights an began e-ercising in the ark. 2hen theboys foun him& he was still e-ercising.

Co y an Ian felt at once that he was insane or elusional ue to the arkeneroom& the cuts an bruises& lash marks an lacerations. In fact& Co y ha evenmumble 6self4inflicte 6 once or twice until it became clear that Daniel coulnot have woun e himself to such a full4bo y e-tent.


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,ll of the boys an Erin imme iately i entifie the signs of what they thoughtwas clearly abuse& an they knew that such shoul be at once reporte to theauthorities& school or otherwise. /ut Daniel resiste . 2hen they aske abouthis family& he repeate the names of the places he ha mentione before butgave no in ication of where these places were. )e began speaking more clearlyan sai that he 6preferre 6 not to give his last name as this was against the6rules.6 /ut he i not specify which rules.

Throughout the entire first encounter& Daniel continue to isten & fle- anstretch his taut bo y an obtru ing muscles. )e also 7umpe aroun 6like a0in7a6 half climbing the brick walls of the ,yla ore basement. ,t one pointIan Parmeter referre to him as a 6/ruce =ee reincarnation.6

@pon the urging of the boys& Erin ,yla ore i not call the police or chil renservices& an now she feare she was harboring a runaway.

/ut Daniel was a strange runaway at that. )e ha no i ea how he ha come to,ristock or gotten onto the back of the bus for that matter. Subaru Devaneysai it 6might be rugs.6 /ut it was clear that Daniel was far too swift ofmotion& lithe& an fleet of foot to be on any substances.


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2hen he was tol he was in ,ristock& Pennsylvania& he became e-tremelyistraught an pu((le . Of course& he ha hear of Pennsylvania& but he knew

nothing of ,ristock or !arshcove.

)e became at once silent when aske what state he was from or what ha

cause his many scars. 6I can t tell6 was all that he sai . It was impossible toget any further information from him.

,n so over this spring break si- fourteen year ol boys an one a ult eci eto make silent in3uiries. They searche both the computer an roa maps forthe names of the towns Daniel ha continue to repeat& but the names were toocommon or either totally non4e-istent.

Erin an the boys 3uickly came to the natural conclusion that Daniel ha been

battere an was running away from ill4treatment. 6Perhaps a cult&6 sai5are at one point.

/ut as Scott 'o amar& /rooke 0escott an Eric Palobay soon note asTyshawn finishe his account& Daniel was no normal runaway.

6I was a runaway back in $*"+&6 sai Eric pensively. 6I was fourteen4447ustwhat this la seems to be444an I was abuse . ,lcoholic father an mother. I


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became a street ki in Chicago& an the last thing I woul have ever wantewas to be sent back. This ki & accor ing to what Tyshawn has sai & is 7ust theopposite. )e wants to get back to wherever it is he came from. ,n I agree.The authorities woul 7ust tangle stuff up. !aybe we can help him.6

Scott 'o amar was obviously thinking of the ay s previous iscussion whenhe aske Tyshawn what etails Daniel ha given about his home area.Tyshawn replie that from what little Daniel ha volunteere & there was a lotof strife there an things that Daniel nee e to o to fulfill some sort of uty.

6, cult&6 sai /rooke& echoing 5are .

6I on t think so&6 sai Eric. 6=et s go right ahea an bypass the cops on thisone an get him home. The boys are out of school& an we can rive him once

we figure out where it is. Then we can see things for ourselves. =et s go talk to!alachi s mother. She must be scare shitless about being arreste .6

6She is&6 sai !alachi.

1. Erin ,yla ore

,s soon as the three a ults hear Tyshawn s account of the mysterious Daniel&


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they at once eci e to visit Erin ,yla ore. In the back of Scott 'o amar smin was the livi fact of his own confession to Eric an /rooke an theresultant possibility that Daniel may have e-perience something akin to thefate that he himself ha as a boy of fifteen. The thought of channels through

imensional time an space was as real to him as his wheelchair. The i ea thatthe components of a physical bo y coul emateriali(e an be re4assembleincorrectly at a remote target venue was very troubling. Perhaps this Danielsuffere & as he ha & from errors in the reconstruction. The tricky part ofteleportation was in sen ing the precise atomic configuration of an ob7ectwithout regar to time an space. Errors& such as his own& were likely tooccur.

The boys& now a material part of the imbroglio& foun a way to all fit into the

back of Scott s van along with the a ults. 6This is going to shock my mom&6sai !alachi& we ge between Co y an Ian. 6I mean all of us arriving atonce.6

The first thing they all notice upon arrival at Erin s two story woo en framehouse on /ligett Street was that a basement win ow ha been shattere .Perhaps Erin s visitor ha eci e to take a short way out.


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/ut no. Imme iately a somewhat frantic& though a e3uately compose & Erininforme them that the palli & sun4avoi ing Daniel was still in her ank anunuse basement room444working out& always e-ercising. 'unning back anforth an bouncing off the walls like a Tae >wan Do master an pumping hissinewy arms against the walls. Erin obviously ha no i ea what to o ne-t.

!alachi hugge his mother& who scarcely foun the strength to return hisembrace. 6,m I going to 7ail?6 she stammere at the a ults.

60ot if we can help it&6 sai Eric Palobay firmly. 6=et us meet this ki .6

Erin ,yla ore was a lean woman who looke for all the worl as if she haseen much better ays in her life. , single mother raising a son by herself& sheappeare to be more pitiable than most. The victim of an abusive an now

absentee husban a icte to Dilau i & she manage as best she coul fromthe charity of her neighbors an family. She picke up o 7obs from time totime an & of course& rove a school bus uring the scholastic part of the year.

She also e-u e a true sense of concern for the yet unseen Daniel& a kin ofmotherly reaction which seeme to come naturally to her. In the past& she hae-hauste most of her first youth efen ing !alachi against his father& an


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now seeme prematurely age 444even gran motherly& with tufts of stray&graying hair poking out from a hastily place hea ban . )er han s were rawan re as if she spent too many hours washing things& an her eyes emanatethe infi-e sa ness of a confirme pessimist. 6I shoul have calle the cops&6she muttere as she showe the group in.

It took her very little time to pro uce a gallon of milk an an overflowingplastic bowl of sweet rolls an cookies& which she place on the kitchen tablealongsi e of a isor erly pile of open phone books an partly fol e roamaps.

She grimace at /rooke& pointing to the maps9 6Oologah& Claremore& 0owata&Chelsea& /ushyhea & Catoosa&6 she sai with a sort of lost esperation. 6,n afew more. They coul be anywhere.6

6/ut not together&6 sai Scott. 6That is why we use computers these ays.


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glass pieces fell inwar . 0othing on the grass.6

Erin confirme with a chill that someone ha kicke in her win ow theprevious night. There ha never been any violence on /ligett Street. Theruckus ha even scare Daniel up into a thir floor bathroom where he hi for

several hours. )e ha tol Erin that someone wante to kill him but woul notsay who or why.

6)e refuses to go out oors too&6 a e Erin. 6,frai of being shot at.6

6,n yet he wants to go back to wherever these sa istic things were one tohim&6 sai Scott.

/rooke 0escott went back to the kitchen table an calmly opene a roa atlasto a page isplaying Pennsylvania. 6I have an i ea&6 she sai . 6=et s notoverwhelm him. )e oesn t know why he is here an is scare . The boys anErin have been 3uestioning him non4stop. =et s 7ust give him a little break.!aybe show him the town.6

6)e won t go outsi e&6 e-claime Erin. 6I tol you that. !alachi trie ...6

60ow he will&6 rang a voice ami st the commotion on the woo en basement


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stairs. 6Sunglasses. The sun hurt his eyes. !alachi foun these. @se to behis a s& I guess.6

@p the stairs came a clatter of gangling teenage boys with a particularly paleone in the mi le. ,t first& Daniel was in ee shocking to see ue to his

somewhat emaciate bo y an the multiple marks on it. /ut he stoo upstraight an seeme to be at ease among the four a ults. 62e re going outsi eto mess aroun &6 sai 5are . 6;ou guys can talk to Daniel now. Sen him outlater if you can.6

Daniel sat own at Eric Palobay s si e at the table an stuffe some sugaryrolls into his mouth& gulpe own some milk irectly from the plastic bottle&an looke at the map of Pennsylvania which was open on the table besi ehim. ,ll he sai was 6Pennsylvania.6

6;es&6 sai /rooke. 6;ou re in our state now. ;ou on t nee to tell us whereyou came from if you on t want. ;ou re in a little city calle ,ristock wherewe live. 2e can show you aroun if you want.6

Even calm an veile interrogation got few results from the scarre anscratche 4over boy. Eric raise an eyebrow at Scott an motione for him to


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come outsi e with him. 6=et s leave him alone with the la ies&6 he sai .

Once outsi e the rather timeworn an ilapi ate ,yla ore house& Eric peereinto the bright afternoon sun an assume the far4away look he often

isplaye when searching back into his nearly one hun re years of memories.

6Di you notice what I i ?6 he sai to Scott.6The ki has been beaten up. That s for sure.6

60ot entirely&6 sai Eric. 6)e oesn t have any puncture woun s or actualgashes that were ma e from a sharp ob7ect like a knife. 2hat he has is a longseries of abrasive woun s in a totally ran om pattern. It s as if someone wereflailing him with san paper. I won er why he oesn t want to wear a shirt orshoes. I m sure !alachi s si(es woul sort of fit him.6

6Then he s been whippe ?6

6;es& but by what? I ve seen men who have been lashe before in South,merica& flogge an thrashe for punishment by the colonial masters of the


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ran om way. ,lso& he has been stung. Some of those woun s in icate kin ofsting& one that I have seen before.6

Scott 'o amar was still thinking about traveling across physical imensionswhen Eric continue .

6In $*H%& when I was twenty years ol an assigne to a renega e steamboatoff the coast of Suriname& I saw an unfortunate sailor who ha been attackeby a sea creature in a rocky cove where he ha been bathing in shallow water.)e ha marks all over his corpse from the or eal& ran om& abrasive marks likeDaniel. )e was attacke by something that no one woul a mit e-iste .6

6One of your crypti s?6

6;es. , giant& flat4bo ie cephalopo & a kin of bloo 4re octopus with alethal beak& strong flailing tentacles an a bo y covere with coarse hair. Thenatives ha name for this creature an they claime it live not in the oceanbut in some of the fresh4water lakes an streams that fe into the coastal inlets.It preferre fresh water but coul survive in both. ,ll the inhabitants coulattest to that. I never saw one however& but I o know that certain species of

7ellyfish can make the transition from salt to fresh water in a few bree ing


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generations. 0ot everything in salt water nee s to remain in salt water.6

6So you re saying that Daniel was attacke by the tentacles of some kin ofoctopus?6

6That is how it appears to me. ,n I bet he has never been near the ocean inhis life. 2e really o nee to fin out where he got here from. 2hat aboutthose towns. Shoul we search for them?6

Scott frowne . 6I m still more intereste in how he got here. )e speaksEnglish an came444obviously4444from a place of great istress.6

6;our theory. The teleportation thing.6

6!aybe.6

Eric upon Scott s urging eci e to take Daniel for a ri e aroun ,ristockwhich woul ultimately en up at the onate Smithwick acres. The i ea&insane as it may have soun e in Scott s mouth as he sai it& was that if he habeen spontaneously teleporte to ,ristock from somewhere else& it may havebeen in or near the same spot where Scott himself ha ha the e-perience.


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Eric& open4min e as ever& agree .

6=et s leave the Plus Si(e Club behin this time an have a little more roomin the van&6 sai Eric.

1I. The stone steps& the iron oor an a mysterious stranger0o sooner ha Eric& /rooke& Scott an Daniel riven away from !alachi shouse than !alachi& who ha been raise to be in epen ent like the others&tol his mother that he an the other boys were going out for a while 6on clubbusiness.6 Erin ,yla ore knew better than to 3uestion her son further. PlusSi(e Club matters were always secret& an a ults were always politelye-clu e .

Erin& relieve somewhat that other a ults ha taken Daniel off her han s&poure herself a waterglass full of bourbon an sat own on the couch with theintention of getting up after a short nap to


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brimme swaggerman s hat that remin e her of pictures she ha seen of,ustralian sheep ranchers.

@n er the hat was a wiry& intense young woman whose eyes seeme full offerocious anger. She coul have been no ol er than twenty& but she pro7ecte a

kin of animal rage that shocke Erin even before she coul crack open theoor with the chain still in place. It i not take Erin long to perceive a threat.

The girl looke an acte both capable an angerous. 0o sooner ha Erinopene the oor a few inches than the visitor thrust something gleaming anmetallic into the crack. It was a prosthetic arm complete with moving ro san grasping& clawlike steel fingers. )er left arm& Erin note .

6Don t close the oor on me& la y. It took long enough for me to fin you. Ittook long enough for me to get here. Two flights to be e-act. I m out of moneyan out of patience an nearly out of time.6

62ho are you?6

6!y name is Shasta !at(en. I come from a place calle 0aroma which is inthe cave country near =ake Oologah& 'ogers County& Oklahoma. ;ouprobably have never hear of it. I mean you no harm. ,ll I want is my cousin


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Daniel 0eporent.6

60eporent&6 sai Erin through the oor opening& 6so that s his name. 0ow wecan go to the police.6

6That woul be a mistake&6 snappe Shasta& still twisting her tinny false armaroun between the oor an the frame wall. 6I will say you ki nappe himan hel him prisoner in this house for three ays. Daniel will back my story.Daniel knows his uty an will o as I instruct.6

6;ou ve abuse him something terrible&6 sai Erin.

Several miles away from /ligett Street& Scott 'o amar was steering an in irectpath through the win ing owntown section of ,ristock& as Eric an /rookecalmly pointe out certain municipal buil ings& parks an places of interest tothe boy in an effort to pacify him even further. 6There is where they all go toschool&6 she sai & in icating Daltron )igh. 60inth gra e. Spring break rightnow.6

6I m in the ninth gra e too&6 muttere Daniel& 6or shoul be. 'ight now I mbeing home schoole . I have a 7ob that nee s to be one an other things Inee to learn. Something more important than school.6


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6,n what might that be?6 sai Eric& knowing full well that he woul not getan answer.

6Di someone bully you at school?6 aske /rooke.

Daniel clamme up completely. Through his ark glasses he looke at theowntown sights of ,ristock an remaine silent.

/y plan& Scott finally foun an outlet to E gemoraine 'oa & where the firstglimpse of the orange brick Smithwick wall coul be seen. 6Smithwick ,cres&6he sai with a perfect sense of nonchalance. 62hat passes here for a mansion&a pasture an a small unuse playing fiel .6

If either Erin or !alachi ha been there& one of them coul have tol thegroup that it was alongsi e the playing fiel that Erin parke her bus uringschool hours& an ,ristock being ,ristock& she usually left it unlocke .

@pon seeing the wall& Daniel starte violently. )e shifte in his seat an saihe wante to see the playing fiel . )e i not say why.

,n so the group escen e from the lift van an followe Scott as he slowly


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pushe his wheelchair across an overgrown pa ock towar a place where alarge orange bull o(er was parke . 6That s the place&6 he whispere to/rooke. 6They are e-cavating it.6

, fat man in a sweaty singlet sat rinking from a thermos at the si e of the

bull o(er. )e showe no concern upon seeing the group arrive. Puffing hugeclou s of smoke from a sloppily han 4rolle cigarette& he sai 60ot yet.6

60ot yet what?6 sai Scott& guar ing his calm. Daniel was in the rear of theprocession 7ust behin Eric. )e seeme not to want to get much closer.

6The city hasn t opene this place yet&6 grunte the bull o(er man. 6Thiscorner isn t part of the package anyway. This is the ol crypt. ,s soon as I canget a key& we re going to clean it up for the burial.6

)e further volunteere that the late Stacy Christine Smithwick ha reserve asort of shallow& un ergroun mausoleum for her own interment. 6The burialwill be ne-t week&6 he a e with a yawn. 6'ich people. Eccentric.6

6I see&6 sai Scott without showing any emotion. 6!in if we look?6

6I on t see any harm. /e careful on the stairs. There s lots of moss an mol


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on them. It s amp un er there. /et her bo y won t last long.6

Scott recogni(e at once the four stone steps that he ha iscovere in $*+* atage fifteen. )e also recogni(e that& without some awkwar effort& he woulbe unable now to escen them. In the ank sha ows at the bottom of the

steps he i & however& catch a faint glimpse of the same iron oor that he haiscovere as a boy. )e motione with calculate in ifference for /rooke an

Eric to go own an take a look.

Daniel remaine at the top of the stairs an refuse to take a step further.2ithout warning he began to scream an thrust his bo y aroun in all

irections as if suffering from a su en paro-ysm of epilepsy. It became clear&however& to Scott that Daniel was simply fle-ing his arms& chest an legmuscles. , certain look of terror fell across Daniel s face. Scott wishe hecoul see the boy s eyes.

6/albriggan&6 Scott sai su enly upon impulse.

60o. 0aroma. 0ot /albriggan any more. 0aroma through that oor.0aroma...0aroma...0aroma...an the calichays.

Scott i not e-pect an answer when he aske & still maintaining his poise& what


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were the calichays& an none was forthcoming. So Scott pursue anotherirection with the agitate boy. 6So you know about /albriggan&6 he sai as if

the whole worl were in on the secret.

6The ol folks use to talk about it. Somewhere in Irelan . Somewhere ba .6

6;eah. /a .6

60o one en s up there any more. The calichays kill them first. This is how Icame here. I nee to get back. To 0aroma. To the caves. 2ill you take me? I

on t want to go near that oor. I on t have my harpoon& my bla e or myspear. 2ill you take me before that man opens the oor an lets loose acalichay?6

6Sure. 2e ll take you&6 sai Scott.

1II. Erin ,yla ore s other si e

6I can t believe your mom actually i it&6 sai 5are to !alachi. 6I meanshe s nice& but I always thought she was a wuss. 2ay too shook up an allthat.6


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6She i it&6 sai !alachi prou ly. 6She i it with the gun she bought toscare away my ol man when the police woul n t. /elieve me& she knows howto use it. That Shasta girl is lucky she i n t.6

,s the boys were marveling over Erin s su en show of au acity an cunning&

Scott 'o amar was taking a more irect route back to /ligett Street.Su enly& his mobile phone began to chime. 6Cop frien & Se-ton /liss&6 hesai glancing at the number. 6E-cuse me.6

Se-ton /liss was the one an only etective on the ,ristock police force thatScott 'o amar truly truste an who in turn truste Scott. /oth men werefon of saying that they owe the other one a favor. ,s Scott listene toSe-ton s wor s over the phone& he ma e only brief& non4revealing responses.6Okay. 'ight. Do that please. I ll get back with you. >eep her until we re outof town. @ntil we have some proof. ;ep. Thanks.6

62hat was that all about?6 sai /rooke.

6Tell you later&6 Scott replie & s3uinting his eyes as if trying to piece moreparts of this theory together. It was clear something ha occurre . Somethingune-pecte an something that Scott 7u ge it best not to share with Daniel in


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the back seat.

6=et Daniel go in alone an get a shirt an some shoes from !alachi&6 saiScott as he parke coolly in the ,yla ore riveway. Daniel& seemingly e-citeby the ri e he was promise back to 0aroma an the urgency he attache to

the place& boun e out of the van an arte into the house. Taking a vantageof his absence& Scott e-plaine what he ha learne about 0aroma& Daniel anthe enigmatic calichays to Eric an /rooke. 62hatever is behin that oorfrightens the hell out of him.6

6/albriggan?6 sai Eric.

60ot e-actly& but almost&6 sai Scott. 6I think were not going to nee apassport this time. It s Oklahoma. 2ith three of us riving& we can get there

in less than twenty4four hours.6Scott purposely i not tell /rooke or Eric the entire substance of hisconversation with Se-ton /liss. There was still something suspicious in whatwas going to be assume . )e felt it best to withhol some information. 6


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/rooke an Eric left Scott alone an let themselves into Erin s house withoutknocking. Insi e they foun a knot of si-...not seven444e-cite boys with asecret they ha eci e to keep from the seventh. )is woul 4be assassin& hisabuser& his tormenter ha been locke up by the police. They eci e not totell him that because it woul only have agitate him further. The main part ofthe story passe from mouth to ear in the living room while Daniel was in thebasement& washing in the laun ry sink& fin ing some of !alachi s ol clothesan getting rea y to take a roa trip.

!alachi prou ly tol the story of how his mother ha pulle a %J caliber pistolon her woul be intru er when the latter let own her guar for a moment.6She put the gun right up to her hea an tol her not to move an calle thecops&6 beame !alachi.

6I thought you boys i n t like the cops&6 sai Eric.

6They are useful sometimes&6 sai Co y& an the others agree .

This girl& Shasta !at(en& was esperate& evil& malevolent& violent& forceful&intrusive an ha every intention of grabbing Daniel an taking him back towhatever hell he ha emerge from.


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possible444an that woul inclu e Daniel. It took some amount of convincingfrom /rooke to keep Erin 3uiet.

The appro-imate location of 0aroma in the cave country of =ake Oologah&Oklahoma was now known& an after a short stop at their respective homes to

bathe an fin clean clothes an make e-cuses to Summer 'o amar& thefoursome& Eric& /rooke& Scott an the restless Daniel took to the highway ontheir way to a state that three of them ha ever visite .

1III. Se-ton /liss an his personal prisoner

Se-ton /liss& who was nine years younger than Scott 'o amar an thusapproaching his thirty4first birth ay& ha taken a much ifferent loop alonglife s twisting roa into his profession than Scott. @nlike Scott& Se-ton ha

always wante to be a etective in the truest sense of the wor . )is insatiablecuriosity ha always le him to the esire of actually solving crimes from cluesinstea of 7ust wearing a uniform an arresting wrong oers. It was for thisreason that early in his career& when he occasionally was assigne to such banaltasks as traffic control& he ha ma e frien s with Scott an use the latter smin as sort of an anvil to forge his own. 0ever marrying& he ha use thefree om of not having a family to take a variety of psychology an sociology


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classes until he ha earne the e3uivalent of a masters egree by age twenty4four& a egree which 3ualifie him to move very rapi ly up the police ranks in,ristock& espite his sometimes 3uestionable loyalty to such things as the6,merican way6 an his often fragile a herence to the a ministration of

7ustice. )is association with 'o amar& who was seen by many ,ristock cops assimply a crackpot& ha n t helpe him much either& e-cept when in the course ofseveral ine-plicable cases& Scott ha been right an ha let Se-ton take fullcre it for his forensic work. In short& Se-ton /liss was unconventional& but hekept it well hi en. )e was also loyal to Scott 'o amar& something else heknew he nee e for the sake of his career to conceal whenever possible.

On the !on ay following Scott s su en eparture to Oklahoma from,ristock& Se-ton sat in his unmarke & county4issue :or se an alongsi e of a

rather twitchy young female with a metallic arm han cuffe to the seat of thepassenger si e of his car. 'estive an resisting& the young woman twiste anturne an bange her hea against the ashboar of Se-ton s car. Sheanswere no 3uestions an seeme rea y to spit like a cobra into Se-ton s eyesif he got too close. The most wor s she ha uttere were spent on callingSe-ton a son of a bitch an other appropriate epithets.

The car was parke in front of Se-ton s mo est brick house on Cavor Street&


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an Se-ton was more than uneasy that some of his neighbors might take un uenotice of the agitate young woman he ha besi e him as a prisoner.

)e slappe the leather seat of his car an began in a lou an comman ingvoice& which was& it shoul be note & 3uite out of character for Se-ton /liss9

6=ook. 5ust shut up& 3uit calling me names an listen. I know very well youcan yank your arm out of that prosthetic& climb across me an run. I knowyou can scream an make a big commotion an bring everyone out. I ll be thesuspect then. 2hat you probably know is that I am violating every police rulein the book by taking you to my home as a personal prisoner. I live alone& amunmarrie an it oesn t look right at all. /ut I am oing a frien a favor. Imay be oing you a favor. If we i n t o this& if I i n t take the chance that Iam taking& you be locke up in the female section with some =esbian matronlooking after you an a bunch of heroin4cra(e teeny poppers clawing at yourtits...6

6:uck you. 5ust let me go. I nee to get home. It is more important than yourbullshit here.6 Shasta !at(en was going to be a han ful. That was clear.

6>eep listening. I m a single guy an you re a lone woman. Cops are not


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allowe to take prisoners to their homes& especially solitary females. I am&however& when off uty& as I am now& allowe to have girlfrien s& an I haveha a few. If I i n t these snoopy neighbors woul say I m gay. If I o it toomuch& then I m a se- fien . , cop never wins. ,ll I m asking you is to act likesomething less than a elin3uent runaway little whore an walk into the housecalmly an uncuffe with me. :rom that point you can scream an kick stuffall you want. /ut if you o& I ll shackle you again. I have not officiallyarreste you yet& but with the testimony of your trespassing an threateningErin ,yla ore& I can o so at any time. Once in my house& you ll have yourchoice. , private...an I mean private...be an bath or back to the 7ail. Ihave you in illegal custo y& but it is for your own goo accor ing to a person Itrust very much.6

6:uck your frien . I have not committe any crimes. I i n t abuse my cousinlike that ol bitch sai .6

6The ki is suppose to be really roughe up. ,ll the lea s point to you. /utI m not trying the case. I m 7ust letting you know I have enough evi ence tokeep you in the city 7ail for at least forty4eight hours or until you make bail&which I assume from the emptiness of your wallet& you can t o.6


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,t length& the calmer version of Se-ton /liss won out. Shasta !at(en& thinkingno oubt of escape in the mi le of the night& abruptly melte an settle backin her seat. She won ere whether at age twenty4four an after all she haen ure in life....in 0aroma an its caves....whether she still ha enoughse uctive charm to lull the etective into carelessness. She& like Se-ton /liss&ha ha other preoccupations in life& an espite her rugge ly goo looks antrim physi3ue& she ha en7oye the company of very few men. Se uction& realor preten e & was not her strong point.

6Okay. I ll go with you. Tell me your first name. I ll even cover my fake armwith your 7acket if you want. That s my left arm& as you see. I ll walk up toyour oor hol ing your right han in mine. That will probably convince yournosy neighbors that you re not gay. ,re you?6

60o. /ut it oesn t matter. ;ou can hol my han & but once we re insi e& Ipromise you that that is the last touching we nee to o. ;ou have my wor ofhonor. /ut I nee yours that you will not try to escape. /y the way& my name isSe-ton....that is& if anyone crosses our path.6

6Shasta...as you know....6


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6So it says on your Oklahoma river s license. 2elcome to ,ristock.6

6=et s go& Se-ton. I nee a bath. ;ou can watch if that turns you on.6

62hat i I 7ust say?6

6Oh. Okay. 5ust ki ing.6

6Stop ki ing. 5ust remember I m a cop. Treat me like one. ;ou re myprisoner....illegal as that is. 'emember that. Do your flirting once your backin Oklahoma& that is& if you ever get there.6

2ith these wor s& the two of them climbe out of the car. Se-ton took off hissuit 7acket an place it with a certain touch of gentleness aroun Shasta sshoul ers& covering her prosthetic arm. )an in han & they entere Se-ton shouse.

=ater that night& fe politely an allowe a full measure of privacy in all ways&Shasta& somewhat weary& learne that the oors an win ows of manypolicemen s houses were not as easy to escape from as she may have previouslyimagine . /ars covere nearly everything. Se-ton ha long before taken thatprecautionary step with his resi ence.


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6:uck it&6 she thought an rolle over on clean sheets in a spare be room withbarre win ows an fell pleasantly asleep. )er last recollection was that&

espite everything& this cop wasn t all that ba looking. /ut who was she tothink about men?

IL. The trip westwar an another une-pecte visitor

,lthough /rooke& Eric an Scott took turns riving& the trip to easternOklahoma presente itself as longer than they ha pro7ecte . /a roa s& thenee to stop for foo an rink& an the appalling lack of toilet facilities in!i 4,merica cause the trio of a ults to visit more gas stations an rest stopsthan e-pecte as they crosse the states of Ohio& In iana an !issouri alongInterstates # an then %% after crossing the !ississippi at Saint =ouis. They

rove through the night an took turns sleeping an at the wheel. Scott& whoseeme the most intereste in Daniel& use the night time hours to catch aglimpse or two of the boy s unsha e eyes un er the ceiling lights of the van. Itwas the first time Scott ha notice their si(e an a3ueous nature. It pu((lehim somewhat& but he thought he may have foun another tile for the mosaicthat was slowly coming together in his min .


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him. )e sai that someone was trying to kill him. There is probably more tothis story than a cult or sa istic family in Oklahoma.6

6!aybe we shoul tell him about that horrible woman that Erin put intocusto y& that Shasta whatever.6

Daniel bolte upright from a hunche position in the rear seat. )is enormouseyes opene even wi er than usual reflecting the waning light of the morningmoon. 6ShastaB6 he shoute . 62hat about her? 2here is she? 2hat havethey one to her?6 The boy seeme more panicke than ever. )e bange hisfists on the hea rests behin both a ults.

Scott& awakene from sleep in the seat ne-t to Daniel& saw the alarm an &maintaining calm& aske 62ho is Shasta? ,n why oes she want to take you

with her?6Daniel& now more frantic than ever& poun e his fists against his hea & starefrom si e to si e in the morning mist as haystacks an silos passe by thewin ows at a monotonous rate. 6She ll ie&6 he sighe . 6She ll ie if you lefther behin in your town. The re 4tie men will get her& 7ust like they trie to getme by breaking a win ow at that boy s house.6


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Scott su enly stiffene his tone& stare into Daniel s wi e an reflective eyesan sai 9 6:irst& the calichays, now the re 4tie men. Daniel& you are full offantasies& aren t you? ;ou must think you are pretty important. If not& youbetter tell us right here an now in a way we can un erstan who are all thesesouls an why o they want to kill you. ;es& Shasta is still in ,ristock& but she ssafe with a police frien of mine. So talk. ;ou know you can o it. Cut thebullshit too.6

Daniel blinke his always4 ilate eyes at the sternness of Scott s wor s. It was&in effect& the first time Scott ha e-ercise any vocal authority other than themas3uera e of his own impatience. /rooke swung aroun in the seat anplace a han on his shoul er. 6Easy&6 she sai . 6=et him talk in his ownway.6

62hy are we oing this?6 continue Scott in the same impatient tone. 62eare over nine hun re miles from home on a mission to reunite a foule boywith his abusers. 2hat og o we have in this fight?6

6Daniel an ecency&6 sai /rooke softly. 60othing like the police or chilauthorities. 2e re oing a ki a favor. That s all.6


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60ot entirely for me&6 replie Scott. 6I have other reasons.6

6Teleportation to Irelan ?6 sai Eric 3uietly.

6)ow o you know about that?6 snappe Daniel.

60ever min .6

Daniel compose himself finally an stare into Scott s eyes. 6I ll tell youeverything&6 he sai . 6/ut you won t believe me.6

6Try&6 sai Scott.

,n so there in central !issouri not far from the Oklahoma state line& Danielspille forth an ama(ing story about the reservoir lakes of his home state&

Tenkiller an especially Oologah& the caves aroun which he fre3uently livein. Shasta !at(en was his girl cousin. She was a fighter like him. She ha thesame mission as he ha inherite from their forebears444to protect what werein effect tourist lakes an streams from an unearthly monster& known in thepress as the Oklahoma Octopus. >nown by the Cherokees as something else.>nown by other tribes in other places as still another thing. It was a fearsomebeast& a cephalopo that live in fresh water an ha been there in the rivers


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60o one knows about them&6 sai Daniel& almost weeping. 6They may be fromthe government. They rive big cars& an all of them wear re ties specklewith black ots. That is all I know. They want us out of the way. I can t tellyou why.6

,s another rest stop on I4%% 7ust before the Oklahoma bor er was poste & Scott'o amar aske to stop. 6I have to pee an call /liss&6 he sai & poweringhimself out of the van with no further e-planation.

The peeing apparently never occurre . Scott istance himself from his vanan the others an began talking hurrie ly on his smartphone. Eric gave/rooke a knowing look when one of Scott s is7unctive phrases& one obviouslyleft on a voicemail instea of live& came back as 6:irst class to Tulsa. 0o3uestions aske .6

!eanwhile& the morning ha come to the East. ,n it foun Se-ton /liss in hisusual 3uan ary. 2hat to o with Shasta !at(en in his spare be room. /ut ashe shave & this ilemma was soon relieve by some commotion in the hallwayclose to where Shasta ha slept. The wor s were in istinct but urgent. It wasShasta s voice. Something was going on in his own house.


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Instinctively& Se-ton grabbe one of the si earm weapons that he kept arounhis home. 2hen entering the hallway& he iscovere Shasta& resse only inskimpy un ergarments& in the bathroom with a non4 escript man in a suitpointing a rifle towar her mi riff.

)is own barre 4win ows security ha obviously been breeche & but as hefoun out later from the outsi e rather than from within. It occurre to him inpassing that Shasta was in ee a specimen of physical training. )e won erewhy this shoul interest him so when a man in a rab suit an speckle re tiewas pointing a gun at her.

Instinctively& Se-ton shot at the e-pressionless& suite figure before him. )eknew that he coul legally kill anyone in his house.

,n moments later& when plans were lai to ispose of the bo y& Shasta!at(en& clinging with both arms....real an prosthetic...to Se-ton /liss sai 96)e won t have any i entity. )e is one of them& an who knows who he is?0one of us o or ever will. ;ou can put him own the garbage isposal for all Icare.6

Se-ton /liss knew better ways to ispose of an uni entifie bo y& an he i .


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Then turning to Shasta& he sai 9 6


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un erwear.6

,n so they went insi e.

Due to a ea bo y in the entrance& ue to stress& ue to so many other things

that shoul always go unmentione & they en e up in be together.,fter all& Se-ton /liss& minor league ,ristock etective& ha save her life. 0otan automatic in icator for se- to be sure& but it woul o in "#$%.

=ater that eventful ay& Se-ton listene to a message from Scott 'o amar. Itwas about stuff that /liss i n t want to hear but i because it was Scott.There were a few 3uestions that Scott wante Se-ton to ask his prisoner. =ittle

i Scott know that by the time the call was hear & Shasta !at(en was nolonger /liss prisoner an that both Shasta an Se-ton were stan ingtogether444somewhat awkwar ly444in the tiny ,ristock airport waiting for aconnecting flight to Pittsburgh an thence to Tulsa.

/oth seeme somewhat embarrasse of what ha transpire after Se-ton haispose of the intru er s bo y& which bearing absolutely no ID& was simply

another 5ohn Doe stiff in the place Se-ton umpe it. 6Cops know how to hi eevi ence. I ll grant you that&6 sai Se-ton. 60ow let s get you home.6


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,fter listening to Scott s voice mail& Se-ton /liss turne towar Shasta !at(ensitting besi e him on a har airport lounge chair. 6I have a few 3uestions toask you&6 he sai almost sheepishly. 6/ut first& why i we o that?6

6I on t know& 6 sai Shasta& e3ually abashe . 62e 7ust i . =et s 7ust say itmeant nothing. /oth of us were scare an I guess lonely. ,t least I am. ;ouon t know the kin of life I ve live .6

6I like to. /ut for personal reasons now. 0othing law enforcement about it.6

6!aybe some ay.6

Once aboar the first flight& Se-ton turne to Shasta an aske what she knewabout spontaneous teleportation. Then he aske about someone known toScott as


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,t last& Shasta turne to Se-ton an sai 9 60obo y knows about all of thosepeople an the others. 2e ve hear their names from passers4by an some so4calle researchers& but where we are going people 7ust accept that it happensan leave it at that. 0o one knows about the channels through the Earth anwhy certain people electe to ig own to them an erect iron oors. The lastpart was lost on Se-ton who knew nothing about the steps an the iron oor onthe Smithwick property. That was something that he woul atten to& onceinforme & upon his return to ,ristock. )e woul see to it that there woul beno burial on the Smithwick property an that all evi ence of an iron oorwoul vanish once again beneath the earth.

Shasta continue 9 62e have greater problems to eal with. The calichays.=ong ago my family took on the role of protectors against these beasts.6

Se-ton looke s3uarely into Shasta s wi e an e-3uisite but sa eyes. )ise-pression alone forme the interrogation.

In a casca e of broken phrases an half sentences punctuate by unanswere3uestions& the etails of the horri & fresh4water welling cephalopo s came out.)ow they live in the slate rock channels un er the tributaries lea ing to the1er igris 'iver an ultimately lakes like Oologah an Tenkiller. )ow they


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entere the shallow waters of the lakes in warm weather an graspe the legsan arms of unsuspecting swimmers an pulle them own into the caves for ameal. )un re s of tourists an even some locals ha either seen or been ma eto vanish by these creatures& which the native inhabitants like Shasta of theaccurse region calle calichays . 6,n on t ask me where the name camefrom&6 she conclu e . 6/ecause I on t know.6

Se-ton settle back in his seat an continue to ga(e at his young companion.

6I won t&6 he sai . 6I won t ask you any more than what you want to answer.I promise.6

6,n I ll o the same with you&6 sai Shasta enigmatically.

/ut Se-ton knew only too well of Eric Palobay s lifelong interest in crypti s&creatures unknown an out of place in time an space. )e reali(e thatPalobay woul no oubt cross a lot of privacy lines in or er to get someanswers.

L. Conclusion9 In the caverns of 0aroma

Eric Palobay& energi(e an an-ious to see a new crypti & stoo e-actly behin


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Daniel. )e hel a bright =ED lantern an painte its beam over the slick anwee 4choke walls of a twisting slate an granite cave which le apparently toa labyrinth of like passages& all fille with irty& re clay saturate water& alllea ing to brushy& overgrown parts of =ake Oologah& places where the enseun ergrowth prevente summer campers from entering. The cave channelswere ank an smelle like rotting fish. The boy& returne now to his uty&presse ahea with both a long saber an an even longer steel4tippe spear inhis han .

Outsi e of the channel mouth& Eric an Daniel& venturing alone& left Scott'o amar an /rooke 0escott as well as a silent an totally uncommunicativeban of hollow4eye & mistrustful an guar e locals& the men an women oftiny 0aroma& which was not even a speck on any roa map. 0one of these

people ha last names& an most of them i not even have first names. Danielha not bothere with intro uctions. )e knew his countrymen an kinfolkwere close4lippe an wary. )e knew that they resente the intrusion of whatthey calle 6city folk6 an that any sort of civil intro uctions were simplye-traneous to their cloistere an rural way of life.

,s they move eeper into the subterranean cavern& the water became lessmobile an more stagnant. , bristling noise came up behin them. Eric


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focusing his lantern backwar saw a young an pasty4face boy a vancing totheir rear. )e too carrie a spear.

6,n apprentice&6 Daniel sai . 62e nee to train each generation here. )e sstu ying me.6

6I suppose his eyes an skin will become like yours an his life will be short.!aybe he ll lose an arm or a leg like Shasta.6

6That is the way of our clan. , chance we all have to take. I was raise inthese caverns an have been preparing all my life to o battle with thecalichays.6

The boy slippe past Eric an si le up to Daniel. , few unhear wor s passebetween them.

Then the water of a nearby si e pool su enly reverberate with a lou splash.Eric watche as a huge& flagellating feeler lashe up out of the clou y re claywater. It was as thick as a grown man s leg& perhaps thicker an covere withsucker stu e suction po s.

62atch out for those&6 sai Daniel calmly. 6They can fasten onto your skin


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an not let go. Their sting will leave a permanent hole in your hi e.6

The tentacle thrashe out of the pool again& sen ing a irty spray over Eric&the new boy& an Daniel. Daniel crouche to his knees an motione for Ericto e-tinguish the =ED light. The boy& nameless& followe suit.

In near total arkness& Eric coul see that both boys were hoisting their spearsover their shoul ers& cocking their powerful arms for a lucky thrust. ,n theopportunity came. In the im glow of the faintly phosphorescent walls of thecavern& a huge central bo y with bulging eyes an a thrashing black beakappeare . It was larger than any octopus that Eric ha ever seen or hear of.It was& even in the iffuseness of cave light& fire re an covere with thickblack hairs that hung own from its corpus like so many seething serpents. Ithowle from somewhere eep insi e its loose& billowy skin an raise evenmore battering tentacles which flagellate malevolently an nearly scrape theroof of the ark cavern. The creature& over twenty feet in span& was lungingforth.

Then came a violent uproar& a horri tumult. , tentacle as thick as the trunkof a prairie aspen broke the air between the two boys an an even lou ersplatter was hear . Daniel threw his spear& but Eric coul not see whether it


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foun its mark. Then Daniel charge forth with his homema e saber slashingin his right han . 6CalebB6 he shoute . /ut it was too late. Caleb was gone.The entire ruckus isappeare beneath the murky water& releasing some finalbursting bubbles of either gas or air. Then all was calm.

6=et s get out of here&6 sai Daniel. 6I may have hit him. 2e ll fin outsooner or later& but for now he s gone. I ll be back tomorrow. Or maybe inanother strait.6

62hat about Caleb?6

/y this time Eric ha re4ignite the =ED torch an shine it irectly inDaniel s face.

6)e s gone&6 sai Daniel.

,n that was all he sai .

Once above an re4unite with his village companions& Daniel isappeare intothe crow . , lot of 3uiet talk& inau ible to /rooke& Eric an Scott& ensueamong them. ,t once all three knew that there woul never be any answersforthcoming an that Daniel an other chosen acolytes woul simply continue


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this routine for all eternity. :or that was their chosen estiny. 0one of the,ristock a ults thought it proper to 3uestion or even report this.

=ater sitting at a little lopsi e & rough4hewn woo en table in a rustic cabinbereft of running water where by the scant hospitality of the 0aroma natives

they ha been lo ge for the night& Scott& /rooke an Eric went over the eventsof the ay.

6The new ki & Caleb& was kille &6 sai Eric Palobay with a kin of resignesigh.

6They on t know a amne thing about the whys an hows of teleportation&e-cept that it sometimes occurs&6 sai Scott arcing his eyebrows in an 6ohwell6 pose.

6Shasta is still the prisoner of that cop in ,ristock. I suppose we ought to letsomeone know the truth. There was no abuse& e-cept that of a monster&6muse /rooke.

60ot so&6 sai Scott. 6I took care of that.6

,t that very moment Daniel& looking forlorn an threa bare as usual& entere


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6I m okay with that&6 sai Scott. 6,s long as it is not /albriggan.6

6, sa place&6 sai Shasta. 6,n we re sa here too.6

6I suppose&6 sai Eric& 6that you will 7ust go on hunting the beasts as you all

always have?660ot me&6 sai Shasta. 6Daniel yes. /ut I have one my tour an have thepatch to prove it.6 She lightly tappe her prosthetic arm on the table. 62estop an let others take over after becoming isable .6

6;ou re not disabled , 6 proteste /liss with a su en show of vehemence.

60ot isable enough that I can t cook a few country ishes for you&6 saiShasta still gripping his right han with hers. 62hat is there fun to o in,ristock anyway?6

60ot hunt octopuses& that s for sure&6 laughe /rooke.

6


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can think of. I am sensing some sort of partnership here.6

6;ou might be&6 sai Shasta& blushing in the lantern light. She was stills3uee(ing Se-ton s han & which ha as of late become rather natural for bothof them.

Daniel pushe a bony knuckle into his cheek an finally starte to speak. Itwas all thanks. It was too ba about Caleb. It was too ba about Erin,yla ore an the re 4tie people. It was too ba that the Earth ha channels toplaces that people automatically went without their permission. It was too bathat so many Oklahoma tourists ha to ie in the thin waters of the reservoirlakes. )is tone was& as usual& trouble an negative.

62hat about to ay s e-cursion?6 sai Scott . 6Do you have any i ea whether

you kille the octopus?66;es&6 sai Daniel& brightening up abruptly. 6I o. It rifte into the lakelater to ay. Dea . ,n with my spear in it. In fact& you re eating it now.6

,n they all agree that the Oklahoma octopus& whatever it was& was totallyelicious.


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Devon Pitlor444 :ebruary& "#$%

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Secrets of the Porous Earth

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