Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (37 page)

David
patted
Connor
on the back.
Connor
looked down as he said. “The way you two look at each other… it looks like you are having a conversation with your eyes.” He scratched his head
while grinning
. “It
’
s almost like you can read each other
’
s thoughts.”

Sarah and Connor
couldn’t hold in the
short burst of
laughter.
Rhoda
looked between
them
with
confused
,
dark brown
eyes
. Sarah said when she could breathe again “Sorry, but my dad and sister say the exact same thing
about us
.”

They bought it and they
soon went into the house.
They
sat down in the entertainment room and enjoyed the company.
After
a nice two hour conversation his
grandfather asked “Do you need anything for tomorrow
’s seminar
?”

Connor
thought about it. “Yes
sir. C
an I have some flashlights just incase?”

“Is that all?” he
nodded. “I have all kinds, what would you like?”

H
e let Connor
have twelve flashlights of different sizes. Six needed new batteries and the other six you needed to
simply
shake to keep charged.

Before they
left
,
Rhoda
asked “Where are you going?”

Sarah
retorted with
“Shopping for
some
last minute
supplies.”

Sarah and
Connor
left
their property
and
went by the hardware store
first
and bought rechargeable batteries, new rope,
ten new canteens,
fishing line and a
large
tackle
box
that will
be utilized for housing
the
first aid
supplies
.

They
left
the establishment
and
went to
the Medical Shop
and filled the
tackle
box with first aid supplies.
Connor
bought antihistamines, peroxide
swabs, several rolls of gauze, ten sterile twine packages, stitching needles, alcohol, a CPR mask, Snap
ping
ice packs,
tape, non-latex gloves, adhesive patches, cue tips, cotton balls, sterile water and a
n electric
thermometer.

They all fit perfectly in the box.

When they
arrived at
the Branderson
residence
again
Connor
parked the truck in their driveway and made sure
that
it
didn’t block them from
being able to
pull
out.
He
looked across the street
at
his m
om’s house and saw that no one made it home yet because the lights were off and
all
the cars were
still
gone.
It was strange, but
he
was relieved for some relaxation.

When
they cut through the woods and made it home to the
cottage in the woods
they
had a surprise waiting.
Connor’s
relaxation had to wait until later.

“SURPRISE!!!” Everyone yelled. Before
Connor and Sarah
stood
Jenny
, Kara, Mark,
David, Rhoda
, Jillian and Jack. They were all standing in front of
his
home. They took the dining room table and pulled it outside and it was completely filled with food
and an assortment of drinks
.
Connor knew he
might need to change the locks to
his
home one day if they ever tried this again.

S
arah asked in as much shock as he
was
in
“What is all this?”

Jenny
stepped up. “This is a party to celebrate the start of Connor’s new business.
We wanted to wish you good luck.
”

They
all had a good time eating and laughing.
They
all ate outsi
de because his
home couldn’t hold
a party inside
due to the lack of space
versus the amount who had gathered
without warning
.
Connor
looked at
his
mom and asked “
Mom, w
here did everyone park? I didn’t see any vehicle’s at the house.”

She looked up at him
from the sink
,
along with Jillian and Jack
who mirrored her
. “
We parked all of the vehicles behind the house. We
all wanted to give you a Good Luck Surprise P
arty.
We know how you can deduce things so we did our best to keep you from figuring out these plans.
From the
initial
look on your face
,
it was all worth it.
”

Before everyone left they helped with the cleanup and put everything
back inside. Mark and David
led everyone back home safely through the forest
just before it started to rain
.

Connor knew he
had a big day ahead of
him
tomorrow and soon both
he
and
Sarah went to bed early.
The rain help
ed
them
fall asleep all the quicker
.

Mark
awoke early th
e following
morning and brought three changes of hiking clothes and the machete that Connor requested
for him
to bring.
He
walked outside
the
apartment and breathed in a breath of
fresh air following the rain that had
dropped during
the night.
Everything looked
and felt
so clean and refreshed.
At least that doesn’t change in the wheels of time.
A
nd from the feel of the outside
Mark’s
animal
istic
instincts told
him
that
they
would be having a good day.

Mark
arrived
at Kara and Jenny’s home and
parked
his
jeep
i
n the driveway and stepped out.
He
made it
t
her
e
thirty minutes before Connor said
to
and
he
looked across the
street to the Branderson’s residence
. In the driveway
sat
a new truck that had
a lot
muscle. It was confusing to see something that conspicuous around here, but it was
a
beautiful
piece of machinery
.
He
leaned against
his
jeep and studied it.
It must be Jack’s.
He surmised.

Ten minutes later
Mark focused his
hearing and knew that Connor was coming
quietly
out of the woods.
Only he could move without making
nearly
any noise
.
If it weren’t for the rustling of leaves created from him running Mark wouldn’t have realized he was coming.
If
Mark wasn’t used to it by now he’d swear his
hearing was pl
a
ying tricks. It was still unnerving.

T
he moment Connor
came out of the forest he instantly spotted
Mark
in the darkness of the night.
He was wearing his black sleev
e
less shirt again and blue jeans
along with
Tool hanging at his hip
.
It’s still hard to see someone fit into their surroundings so effortlessly.
T
he moon reflect
ed
off his silver armlet as h
e walked up to the new truck and waived
Mark
over.

Mark walked up to the truck and Connor
said “What do you think?”
and
tapped the hood of the green truck.

Then it hit Mark
. “This is
your
truck!” Connor
nodded with a prideful smile. “Where did you get it?”

He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at
the
log
cabin
. “Jack built it for me
as a late gift
. Awesome isn’t it?”
He then ran his fingers through his
sandy blonde
hair.

“That’s an understatement.”
Mark
looked inside the
passenger window, but
he had to stand on his
toes just to peek down inside.
Everything looked so new and completely high tech.

He then
said calmly “You’re going to ride with me. We’ll only need
to take
one vehicle.
I bet you want to see what this toy is capable of.
”

Taking the
hint
Mark
walked over to
the
jeep and grabbed
his
bag of clothes and the
sharpened
blade. Walking back
to the
metal
monster Mark saw that Connor
was pulling Kara’s wagon from her garage
and dragged it across the street
.
Mark understood the premise for it and
opened the top of the bed and lowered the tailgate.
A
big tackl
e box
by the rear wheel well
had a red painted
symbol
, that made it the
first aid kit.
It was a red cross.
He had a case of flashlights and other accessories inside
a pack that
laid
beside the first aid box.
Mark
tossed his bag in and
asked as Connor
easily put the wagon in the truck “Why are you going to need that?”

He
closed the bed of the truck and locked it. He looked at
Mark
and smiled. “We are going to have children that will be with their parents and they will get tired. I’m bringing the wagon
along
incase they want a ride.”
Mark
understood
and hopped in the passenger side of the hulking truck.

The engine
fired up, but it was too quiet. “Is this
thing
even on?”

Connor started laughing as he put it in gear and pulled
o
nto the road. He explained what the truck ran on and why it drove
so
quietly
,
as they
drove down the road.
Mark
could
n’t
help but admire Jack’s knowhow.

Thirty minut
es later
they
pulled into the
forest
reserve
and parked
in the reserved parking lot. Together they
walked over to pavi
lion nineteen and waited for the customers to arrive.

Mark
couldn’t help but admire the scenery.

Dawn just broke and the sky started brightening.
Sq
uirrels
began
scurrying through the trees. The birds were waking up and filling the morning with their music. There was a slow
, crisp
breeze pushing through the trees
bringing the smell of morning dew
. The grass and shrubbery
showed to be
freshly
trimmed and cut. A
variety of trash bins
sat throughout the campgrounds
and signs
posted
all over the park that explained the different rules.