Nowhere Boys (14 page)
Felix nudged Oscar. ‘Go.’
Oscar waved the talisman behind Sam, collecting the ‘air’.
As the others continued to fight, Felix slipped under some planks that were doubling as a makeshift bed.
In near darkness, Felix flicked on his lighter. He drew a circle in the dust and placed the talisman in the centre.
‘Divinity of the elements, I summon thee.’
He lit the talisman.
‘Earth, water, air, fire.
Within this stone I invoke ye place
Your greatest strength, your kindest grace
And while this stone remains at hand
Thou shall be safe throughout this land.’
The talisman released a flash of light and then slowly started to glow. A gentle golden glow that gradually grew stronger as the sounds of the bees slowly faded to silence.
Felix stared at it. It had worked! He couldn’t believe it. He had activated the talisman. He may not have worked out how to get home, but he had worked out how to protect them until he could.
‘D minus for participation, freak,’ said Jake as he pulled the planks off Felix.
The others all stood looking down at him.
‘You coming out to collect your chicken award?’ said Sam.
Felix slipped the talisman into his sleeve. He wasn’t ready to reveal it to them yet. Maybe when they stopped acting like total jerks.
‘It was Felix who saved you,’ Oscar interjected. ‘He did a magic spell.’
‘Oh really, Oscar?’ said Jake. ‘I think you’ll find that he hid under the bed.’
Oscar turned to Felix. ‘Tell them, Felix.’
‘That’s cool. They seemed to have it under control so I left them to it.’
Oscar looked at him in disbelief. ‘But …’
Jake, Sam and Andy walked off in disgust.
Oscar crouched down next to Felix. ‘Why didn’t you –’
‘What did I tell you? Cretins.’
Oscar smiled. ‘That was totally awesome! The spell worked.’
‘Thanks. You were a big help.’
‘I reckon we make a pretty good team.’
‘Yeah, we do.’
Oscar shuffled his feet. ‘Maybe you should come around more often. You know, if you’re not too busy with your alien business and fighting off insect attacks.’
Felix smiled. Stuff the others. At least his brother was starting to like him. ‘That’d be awesome.’
Jake sat by the river throwing stones into the water.
The others were driving him nuts. Andy and his insane theories – first there was amnesia, then wormholes, and now he was banging on about string theory, whatever that was. Felix hadn’t washed for three days and spent all day staring at his book, reciting weird poems. Like that was going to get them home. And as for Sam – sure, he was dealing with heavy stuff, but he still managed to snore ten hours a night, preventing anyone else from getting a decent sleep.
Jake threw another rock and watched the water ripple out into bigger and bigger circles. But even worse than all that was the fact that he was stuck here with no idea what was going on, while his parents were living perfect lives without him.
His dad was no longer the guy at the local pub yelling insults at the TV. No, he was now the one telling that guy to go home. And his mum wasn’t haggling with real estate agent about late rent anymore. She was the one renting out properties and owning the best house in the street. Man, their lives were so much better without him. So where did he fit in?
He threw another stone. His parents were happy, right? He should just accept that, but man it was hard. He wanted to be part of it.
He wanted his new cop dad to shoot hoops with him and take him for rides in his car. He wanted to cook dinner with his mum and sit together watching crime dramas on TV, seeing who could pick the killer first. That’s what he wanted. Not being stuck in the bush with these three –
‘Hey, Jake.’ It was Felix. ‘Come on. It’s hard rubbish day in town.’
‘So?’
‘So we can get stuff. Useful stuff. For the shack.’
Jake threw another stone. Great. Now they were doing home improvements. Yippee.
Jake trailed the others as they scoured the back streets of Bremin. Andy had scored a shopping trolley and was loading it with useless junk. He had collected an old stereo complete with speakers, a microwave, and now he was trying to fit in a chicken coop. Jake sighed and kicked at some leaves. Seriously, what was the point?
‘Cops. Get down,’ Felix called.
Jake ducked down behind an old washing machine. A cop car cruised slowly down the street. Jake watched it pass by. In the driver’s seat, his dad surveyed the street with an eagle eye. Jake watched him pass.
Sam turned to him. ‘Dude, was that your dad?’
Jake looked away. ‘Yeah.’
Felix and Andy stared at him. ‘Your dad’s a cop?’
Jake took a deep breath. ‘Yeah. And my mum’s married to Bates and runs her own real estate agency.’ It was almost a relief to say it out loud. There was silence.
‘Man, that seriously sucks,’ said Sam.
Jake looked sideways at him. Sam seemed almost relieved that someone else’s life was as screwed up as his.
‘Totally mind blowing, but it absolutely fits my theory,’ said Andy, taking it in.
‘Which is?’ said Felix cynically.
‘That we’re in a parallel universe and our old world still exists. We just have to get back to it.’
‘So,’ said Sam slowly, ‘our home still exists?’
‘Of course. That’s why we need to find the wormhole. So we can find our way back.’
‘And how are we supposed to do that?’ asked Jake.
‘I’m working on it,’ said Andy. He turned to Jake. ‘It’s extraordinary, isn’t it, that in one universe, your mum’s a struggling single mother and your dad’s the world’s biggest loser, and in another, your mum’s a married businesswoman and your dad’s an officer of the law.’
Jake pulled himself up to his full height, not caring who saw. ‘So, what are you saying?’
‘Nothing,’ said Andy evasively. ‘It’s an observation, that’s all.’
‘An observation that their lives are so much better without me being born.’
‘I didn’t say that.’
‘You didn’t have to.’
‘Come on,’ Felix called out, ‘All clear.’
‘Thanks for that, nerd.’
Andy furiously tried to backpedal. ‘I didn’t mean it like that. Change isn’t necessarily better. Cops have notorious cholesterol and hypertension issues, and in a survey I once read, real estate agents ranked below telemarketers in trustworthiness.’
Jake walked away from the others. He didn’t want to hear it. He knew it was true. His parents’ lives
were
better without him. Even Andy couldn’t argue his way out of that one.
Jake stopped. A black crow was standing on the footpath, eyeing him menacingly.
‘Shoo!’ Jake waved a hand at it, but it refused to budge.
‘Hey, Jake,’ Felix called. ‘Can you help me with this?’
Jake turned reluctantly back to the others.
The crow hopped along beside him. Jake kicked out at it, but it refused to leave his side. It flew up onto an old gas stove and cawed at him.
‘What’s with the bird?’ Felix moved towards it and, almost immediately, the bird flew up into a nearby tree.
Jake shrugged. ‘Kept following me.’
‘Come and help me move this bed base,’ said Felix.
But Jake was staring at the old stove, the memory of an access visit with his dad flooding back to him. His dad had stood in front of a stove just like this, wearing nothing but his jocks, waving a can of baked beans at Jake.
‘How are you going to cook when your gas has been cut off
again
?’ Jake had asked.
But that hadn’t stopped his dad, had it? He’d found a way. Jake smiled. Maybe. Just maybe …
‘Hey, Felix. Over here,’ he called.
The boys pushed the overflowing trolley into the shack. Sam and Jake heaved the old stove out and placed it by the wall.
Sam shook his head. ‘Dude, I hate to tell you this, but you can’t cook without …’
Jake wasn’t listening. He made his way back outside. He’d seen it when they’d first come here. Must have been left behind when whoever used the shack had barbecues.
And there it was – dusty and rusted, but a gas bottle, nevertheless.
Jake heaved it back inside. It must have some gas in it, surely. His dad had given him a long and involved lesson in how to beat the system. Jake hadn’t paid much attention at the time but he remembered the basics. Check the threads match. Always use a regulator when you connect the hose. He picked up the hose and fitted it to the back of the stove. The threads matched.
‘Hey, Felix. Chuck us your lighter.’
Without looking up, Felix threw his lighter over.
Sam turned the knob and Jake flicked the lighter on.
Whoosh.
The jet caught.
Jake, Sam and Andy whooped with joy. Sam clapped Jake on the back. ‘You’re a legend, man!’
Jake looked over at Felix, who was sitting on his sleeping bag with his book open, playing with a weird-looking necklace. ‘Hey, Felix! Check it out.’
Felix barely looked up. ‘Yeah, cool.’
‘Don’t wet your pants with excitement, will you?’ Jake turned back to the others. ‘Who’s up for a home-cooked meal? I do a mean BLT.’
‘We’ve got no food,’ said Sam.
‘So we go shopping!’
‘But we’ve got no money,’ said Andy.
‘So?’ Jake felt bold all of a sudden. Maybe he should make the most of being in an alternate world with no parents. ‘Who’s coming?’
Sam and Andy looked at each other. ‘If it involves food, sure,’ said Sam.
They all turned to Felix, who had his eyes shut and appeared to be chanting.
‘Forget him,’ said Jake.
As they walked into town, a small figure in a Superman outfit rode his BMX into their path and stopped.
‘Is one of you called Andy?’ asked Telly. Sam and Jake pointed to Andy. ‘My mission was to deliver this.’ He handed Andy a pink note folded into triangles.
Andy looked at it suspiciously. He put it to his nose and sniffed. ‘What is that?’
‘Lavender,’ said Telly, looking warily at Jake.
‘Chillax, would you? I’ve got no reason to steal your bike,’ said Jake crossly. To be honest he kind of wished he did. Riding all over Bremin with false hope was a hell of a lot better than having no hope.
Andy unfolded the note. ‘U plus M to the power of E equals heart symbol,’ he read. ‘What is M to the power of E?’
‘It’s
you
plus
me
equals
love
,’ said Telly. ‘But not as in me,’ he added quickly.
‘Who’s it from?’
‘That’s a secret,’ said Telly. He got back on his bike and rode away.
Andy turned to Jake, confused. ‘I’ve never been admired before. Except by my parents, of course. But that’s compulsory.’
‘Don’t sweat it, man. You’re lucky someone in this universe actually likes you,’ said Jake bitterly.
