Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (36 page)

Connor
turned around to see Jack smiling with Jillian beside him. “This is too much. Thank you so much.”

“So you like it
,
Connor?” Jillian asked
with dancing golden eyes
.

His
thr
oat had suddenly clogged up as he
peered at th
e two ancient people who were his
in-laws. They had done something completely unexpected.

“Of course he does
,
Mother. Who wouldn’t?” Sarah said hopping in the driver
’
s seat
with a childish smile
.
He
saw her running her fingers over everything she could reach. Her green ey
es were even more excited than he
felt.

Turning around
,
he
had to ask
“Jack
,
where did you get this
thing
from?
I don’t see any
dealership emblems.
”

“When I learned about you and my daughter
getting close
,
I started a new project
at the garage
.” His grin widened
as he explained
.

“You
made
this for me?”
There isn’t any way this
can be
possible.

“Yes I did. I
custom
fabricated
everything from the framing
to the computer
system
and circuit boards. The only thing
s
I didn’t make were the tire
s
and batteries
, but I did
even
have the
m
custom
made and
ordered
. I love technology and building
new
things. I
also like inventing new
and expensive
things.
I get most of my money from all the patents of inventions I’ve made over the years.” He looked behind
Connor
to his daughter
who was still
playing
inside the truck. “Go ahead and take her
for a spin.” He tossed
Connor
the
key
s
to
the
new truck
.

Sarah scooted over as
he
jum
ped up into the driver’s seat. Connor
had to adju
st the seat back a little for his long
legs to fit comfortably.
Whoever
drove it here was shorter than he
was.
He
tested the
resistance of the
clutch, break and accelerator before
he
even
turned the ignition on.

Turning the key,
Connor
expected the engine to roar to life
like a monster truck
, but it didn’t. The engine
idled
extremely
quiet and purred a
s it
waited
outside the garage. He
hit the button
on the armrest
and the
driver’s side
window slid down.
Connor
spoke
conversationally
because the
noise of the truck was so soft
.
“Jack
,
what does this beast run on?”

His gri
n widened. “Nothing that anyone
c
ould
charge
you
at a
ny
gas station. It runs on twenty
five
car batteries and
distilled
water. It is a
closed system like your cottage. It runs on the same basic principal.
T
hat’s where I got the ideas for your truck. When your wheels rotate
,
they charge
up
the top of the line batteries as you drive.
It’s just like your waterwheel.
When you idle, you
’
r
e
using
the
water to keep the engine running. The batteries separate the water molecules and burn the hydrogen. And the molecules exit the tail
pipe as water vapor. It is one hundred percent
environmental
ly friendly.” He explained and Connor
understood everything.
He didn’t know Jack was also a bit of a scientist.

Knowing
now
how to take care of
the
new truck
Connor
pushed in the clutch and threw
the shifter
in reverse
,
to pull out of the driveway. He
noticed that
his m
om’s car was gone and Mark
’
s fresh jeep tire tracks
proved he hadn’t been gone long to pick Kara up
.
Connor
knew
that
Kara wasn’t home
and that they were together
.
A pain pierced his heart at the thought of preparations she was doing, but they were together. That is what mattered.

I’ll show them later.
He
thought and felt giddy.

The engine became even quieter as
he
drove down
the
street.
The system shifted from water back to electric
without a sound
.
T
he
knobby
tires
on the road
grew
louder than the engine. Sarah put her hand on
his
lap and asked with a playful smile “Should we go show David and Rhoda this new toy
of yours
?
I haven’t seen them in quite awhile
and I want to see what they think of your new truck
.
”

He
smiled in answer.

Pulling into
his
grandparent’s farm
Connor
spotted
his grandfather
working
out
in the forge barn
again
.
The dark smoke
continued
billowing out of the chi
mney and through the open door he
saw the orange glow of hot metal.
Sharp metallic ringing and sparks flew every time they were struck
by a hammer
. Connor
saw him swinging the hammer down on a red hot strip of metal
, shooting
many more
spark
s
in all directions
.
A
flash of light
reflect
from
the
truck
,
gain
ing his
grandfather’s attention.
David
looked up from
shaping
and
stopped working to see who came onto his property.

Sarah and
Connor
hopped out of
the
green truck as he approached. He wore his
blue and white
plaid t-shirt and
his
work jeans that w
ere
covered with
dark
soot. “Connor? Sarah? Is that you?”
David
wiped his face with a cloth to remove his sweat.

“Sure is
,
Granddaddy!” Sarah said to him because he won
’
t allow her to call him anything
,
but
Granddaddy
.
When they aren’t around she calls them by
t
he
i
r given names.

“Sarah
,
you look
absolutely
lovely this morning. Where did you get this exquisite piece of equipment?” He wiped his dirty hands
o
n the back of his shirt
,
which
had somehow escaped without much grime
. He touched the hood and said “It is so quiet
that I didn’t hear you pull in
, but why isn’t the engine hot?”

Connor
smiled.
For several minutes he
showed hi
s elder
all about this new truck
that
Jack built.
David
understood what
he
was talking about and his smile was mo
re than worth coming out here. Connor
said
“He made it because of my job.”

“Yeah
,
I saw the flier in the paper the other day. I wasn’t sure
if it really was you
because I didn’t recognize the number.” He looked up at
w
ith guarded eyes
that
remained
faded blue
and full of mischief
.

“That’s my work number for my
new
cell phone.” Connor
answered his questioning eyes.
“You can call me whenever you need to by that number.”

“SARAH!” Rhoda
yelled from the front porch. She walked out wearing purple spandex pants and a green and yellow striped t-shirt. Her grey hair looked like she just had a new perm done today. She almo
st squeezed the breath out of his
mate as she picked her up
in a hug.
When she finally allowed Sarah to stand again she asked
“How are you doing
,
S
weet
ie
? Is my grandson behaving himself?”

I
t took
Sarah
a moment for her to regain her composure.
Sarah looked at Connor with a tightlipped smile. He
entered her mind
once she became unsure of how to respond.
“Oh go ahead
,
Princess.”
S
he replied to
his
grandmothe
r sarcastically
saying
“He sure hasn’t.
I don’t know what to do about it though.
Not much can get through that skull of his.
” She playfully crossed her arms
,
pretending to be upset.

Rhoda
stood fully erect to look at
him
,
wearing a one sided smile and
one
eyebrow raised
that meant trouble neared
. She turned
,
leaned down and whispered in
his
wife’s ear. It was too faint
for even
Connor
to hear, but Sarah’s face
looked appalled and shocked
. When
his
grandmother
leaned away and
saw her
expression
she started laughing
. “Oh S
weetie
, it
always
works for me. Put your own spin on it and see if it works.
All men can feel it if you do it
just
right.
”

David
elbowed
his grandson
saying quietly “Boy
,
you should be prepared for anything because your grandma is
a
devious
old woman
.
Trust me
,
she’s been the same way for over fifty years
and I
still
can’t get away with nothing
.
”

Sarah looked at him
and telepathically said
“Your grandmother is something else. I haven’t met anyone in a long time who had her spunk
at this age
.”

“Granddaddy says that when she was younger
,
that she used to be
exactly
like Kara.”
Connor
thought
back at her.

“Two Kara’s?”
She said and t
he mental picture she ma
de sent a chill down both of their
spines.
“Talk about a scary thought.”