Mark said, “I’ve got a million questions.”
“Let’s go someplace else,” Bobby suggested. “This is a little public.”
The three of them walked farther down the Ave toward Long Island Sound and a big, woodsy town park. There they could lose themselves in the trees and not be bothered. The three friends found a secluded spot in the shade and sat down to a picnic.
“Man, I miss these,” Bobby said as he chomped another mouthful of fries. “Best fries in the world. Anyworld.”
Courtney and Mark weren’t interested in eating. They had Bobby, right here in front of them. There was too much to say to waste time chewing.
“How did you know we’d be at the bank?” Mark asked.
“I figured if you got my journals on your birthday, last Saturday, then this morning would be the earliest you could get back here to check them into the safe-deposit box.”
“Smart,” Mark said, impressed.
“Lucky guess,” Bobby said modestly.
“Why did you come home?” Courtney asked. “You wrote you were going to Veelox.”
Bobby didn’t answer right away. It seemed to Mark and Courtney that the answer troubled him.
“That was the plan,” Bobby answered thoughtfully. “But at the last minute, I couldn’t.”
“Did Saint Dane turn up somewhere else?” Courtney asked.
“No,” Bobby said. “I just thought that, well, to be honest, I need a break.”
“I don’t blame you,” Courtney said.
Bobby continued, “But it’s more than that. I’m afraid the more I learn about being a Traveler, the more I forget about being Bobby Pendragon. I feel like I’m changing. I guess that has to happen, but I can’t say I’m happy about it.”
The three looked at each other. It was true. Time does that. Bobby’s memory of Mark and Courtney was absolutely solid, but the two kids sitting in front of him didn’t quite fit that memory.
“I guess I needed a reality check,” Bobby said. “I didn’t want to forget who I am, or where I come from. I thought maybe I could hang out here for a few days, just to chill. You guys know everything that’s been going on with me. I want to know what’s been happening with you. Is it okay if we hang out for a while?”
“Okay?” Courtney shouted. “It’ll be great!”
“But risky” Mark added. “There’s still a big search going on for you and your family.”
Bobby laughed. “Yeah, I figured. But if you guys didn’t recognize me, I don’t think anybody else will.”
“Aren’t your parents in Florida this week?” Courtney asked Mark.
“Yeah,” he answered tentatively.
“They leave you alone?” Bobby asked with a smile.
“Hey, I’m fifteen,” Mark answered defensively. “They trust me.” Then under his breath he said, “And my aunt lives two blocks away.”
“Then it’s perfect,” Courtney declared. “Bobby can stay with you!”
Bobby looked at Mark. “Is it okay?”
Mark thought for a bit, then broke out in a big smile. “Are you crazy?” he shouted. “I’m psyched!”
For the next week Bobby did his best to put any thoughts about being a Traveler out of his head. For these few special days he was going to pretend that he was simply Bobby Pendragon.
Most of their time was spent at Mark’s house. Courtney would come over, and the three would sit for hours talking about everything. They filled Bobby in on what bands were hot and who dropped off the face of the earth. They rented movies, and listened to music, and watched bad TV, and gossiped about who was going out with who at school.
Courtney told Bobby all about the soft ball championship she had been part of, and Mark gave him a demonstration of the killer battle robot that won him first prize in the state science fair. Mark told Bobby about his dreams to one day go to engineering school and maybe get into the space program.
They even went to the town library to do some research. Bobby wanted to know what had become of Jinx Olsen and Winn Farrow. The Second Earth library had about one zillionth the information that the library had on Third Earth, but it was enough. They discovered that Winn Farrow didn’t live long enough to enjoy his victory over Max Rose. He was killed during a bank robbery in June of 1937. The secret of who really brought down theHindenburgdied along with him.
The news about Jinx Olsen was much better. Bobby was thrilled to learn that when World War II broke out, Jinx joined the Army Air Corps, pretending to be a man! She flew several bombing missions over Germany and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism in flight. Jinx had lived her dream, and then retired to Maine, where she got married and had three kids.
And they ate. Pizza, spaghetti, Chinese food, ice cream, burgers, burgers, and burgers. At least once a day they got fried chicken and fries from Garden Poultry.
They went swimming at the Point, where Courtney was sure to wear the pink bikini Bobby mentioned in his journal. Bobby appreciated that. He also noticed that Courtney filled it out a little better than the last time he’d seen her wear it, but didn’t say anything. That wouldn’t have been cool. They also watched Courtney pitch a two-hitter fast-pitch softball game. She hoped to go to a big college to play softball and soccer. Her true love was soccer though. She had dreams of getting on the national team.
When they traveled around, they took pains to make sure Bobby wouldn’t be seen and recognized. There was only one close call. The three of them were riding bikes toward the beach and were stopped at a light when Lieutenant Hirsch, the guy who was handling the Pendragon missing persons investigation, pulled up in a car right next to them.
Mark’s heart nearly stopped. Courtney was cool though. She smiled and waved. Bobby didn’t know who the guy was, so he didn’t know enough to be nervous. When the light changed, Hirsch drove on without a second look. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Bobby didn’t look the same anymore.
The three friends packed a year of fun and friendship into one week. In all, they probably didn’t sleep more than three hours a night. There was only one rule: Nobody was allowed to talk about anything to do with being a Traveler. No exceptions. There were a couple times when Mark touched on the subject, and Bobby pretended not to have heard him. Mark got the hint. Nothing more was said. They all pretended like there was nothing more important going on than deciding what DVD they should rent, or if the Yankees would whup up on the Red Sox again. It was exactly what Bobby needed. It re-charged his batteries and made him feel human.
But after several days, Bobby began to grow restless. It’s not that he wasn’t having fun-he absolutely was- but he knew it couldn’t last forever. The change started when he reached the point where he was totally relaxed. That’s when his mind started to turn the other way. As much as he tried to forget about it, he always knew that Saint Dane was out there somewhere, plotting a world of grief.
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.
