Balancer's Soul (14 page)

As his grandfather disappeared into the
forest, Connor went right to work on the shelter. Cutting down five
saplings, using the hatchet side of Tool, was a simple task. He
also stripped away all of the branches and limbs each green sapling
sprouted. Connor then turned Tool over on its hammer end and
hammered in two of the saplings into the ground, vertically. He
latched one of the straighter saplings horizontally to bridge the
two vertical posts that he had previously hammered in. He used the
rope still wrapped over his shoulder to do the latching. Using the
last two saplings, he laid them both on the horizontal shaft as a
backdrop for the shelter. After he finished latching the saplings
together the shelter started to take the shape of a simple
shelter.

Connor then went off in search of
possible coverings to lace the back of the shelter, just in case it
did rain. He came upon a fully mature and tall Evergreen tree. It’s
beauty shone and the color of the stems reminded him of Sarah’s
eyes. Staring for just a few moments, he took out Tool again and
cut off a few limbs while leaving most of the tree alone.
“This will work out well for the shelter.”
He dragged the limbs back to the camp and noticed that his
granddaddy returned, sitting next to a nice size bundle of unlit
fire wood. “Welcome back.”

“Glad to be back, Son.” Grinning at him,
David jumped up and held out an open hand, palm up. “May I borrow
Tool and the flint to get the fire started?”

Not needing them anymore, and without saying
a word Connor slid Tool out and placed it in his hand along with
the flint that rested in his pocket. David started striking the
flint on some kindling and showers of sparks flew from each strike.
Not too long after, the sticks took the flame.

As Connor was finishing laying the limbs onto
the backdrop of the shelter in a weaving pattern, the backdrop had
been finished just as the sun began do dip below the mountainous
horizon. He grabbed a smoking log and set it in the shelter to
remove any bugs or parasites that were tagging along in the bedding
and roofing. The windless day allowed the smoke to saturate the
shelter.

David asked Connor a question once things
finally settled for the night. “I haven’t asked you in a few years,
but when you graduate in a few weeks, what are you planning to do
as a career afterwards?”

Connor turned to look at him in the eye, like
he always has. “I’m not sure. I haven’t been too comfortable
working with a lot of people. You of all people know that.” With
the shelter complete he walked over and sat next to his grandfather
in front of the fire. The smoke had done its job and the critters
vacated the area. Connor propped his back against a tree as he
continued talking of his plans for the future. “I have always felt
at home being an outdoorsman and I think I could be a survival
expert or maybe even a skilled carpenter. Even better why not do
both.”

“I see.” Connor looked over to see David
smiling upon him. “You have become quite strong and have become a
good man. I am so proud of you and I always will be. Whatever
decisions you make in life, are yours to make and you’ll have my
support. Be it love or monetary.”

Feeling a lump in his throat Connor said
“Thanks, Granddaddy.”

The observant grandfather focused his eyes on
Connor and smiled again. “Connor, I have noticed a very big change
in you recently.”

“What kind of change?” he really didn’t
understand the contexts of the statement.

“Since last weekend, when you came back with
the young lady who got lost. You tracked her down and brought her
back safely. Kara told us what really happened, but she must love
her father to not have told us. But if he lays a hand on her, you
can handle him. Nevertheless, this Sarah, is she your girlfriend by
any chance?” David had hope etched on his expressive brow.

“Why do you want to know?” Connor fired back,
now understanding.

“Because you two couldn’t keep your eyes off
of each other, the same way I look at your grandma, Rhoda.” David
grinned in a very particular way.

“You old horn dog. What are
you getting at?”
Connor started laughing at his
thought. “Yes, we are dating, secretly. Mom and Kara approve of
her, but we are keeping it quiet until I graduate for both of our
sakes.”

“How does she make you feel?” David’s
demeanor became calm.

“I hope you’re not asking what it is we do?”
Connor grinned at him

“No my boy, a man never asks another man
about his love life. All I am asking is how does she make you
feel?”

Thinking for the right word took a minute, it
then came. “Complete.”

His grandfather now stared into the fire.
“I’m happy for you Connor, you have found your other half. Good
Hunting.”

Darkness settled in as Connor watched the
fire. He said “It’s time we get some rest.” David agreed and slid
into the shelter and went to sleep not too soon after.

Connor felt far too awake to get any
sleep, so he stared into the abyss of stars in the night sky. Only
one thing stayed on his mind: Sarah.
“I
hope that you sleep well, I will see you soon…”

When morning came and David awoke around
eight. They talked about school, his work in metal working was
flourishing, Jenny and Kara, Rhoda and even how Mark has been
doing.

They broke down the camp once they both
caught up on the events of the past two weeks and cleaned up their
mess before the trip came to an end.

They arrived at the truck three hours
later and started back home. They arrived at Connor’s house around
eleven that night. He told his grandfather “Thank you for the great
weekend.” and “Good night.” before he left. Before Connor went
inside the house he looked across the street and saw that all of
the lights were off so she must be asleep.
“Goodnight my princess, I will see you tomorrow.”

The next day at school Connor saw her and
felt gladness and contentment just to be near her again, but
something seemed just a little off. Sarah kept glancing his way in
class, looking very anxious and worried about something. That night
when she came over he asked her about her behavior. She replied “A
test is coming up for me and I just hope that I pass. It will be
the biggest test of my life.”

“If there is anything I may be able to help
you with, just let me know.” She looked away quickly and turned
red. Her expression piqued his curiosity, but he left the subject
alone though and didn’t bring it up again.

On Thursday they had a history test and
thanks to all of the help Sarah supplied from tutoring, he felt
really great about it. Connor knew all of the answers for each and
every question, but out of habit he intentionally made wrong
answers. That night Sarah didn’t come over or even call. She must
have been really worried about this test of hers.

Friday became memorable to say in the least.
Today Sarah was wearing a sky blue blouse and cutoff jeans with
silver strapped sandals. As Sarah passed back the graded tests from
yesterday, Connor became thrilled to find he earned a ninety four
percent. Mark said “Good job, Buddy.” Sarah stood in front of
Connor and quietly said “Good job, Connor, you really earned
that.”

Sarah returned to her desk for a
moment. Looking around to see the faces of his classmates who were
reading their scores, only one face held Connor’s attention.
Mathew, the football quarterback, glared at his graded paper and
his face filled red with fury. Even his fist were clenched and
struggled with what he received.
“Ha, the
golden boy looks angry. He probably failed the test.”
That put a gloating smile on Connor’s face. It felt good
knowing he did better than his hated adversary.

About ten minutes before the bell rang,
Connor heard Sarah say to herself, “That clock is off, I’ll
probably need to change its battery.” Pulling out a drawer and
rummaging around in it, she pulled out two AA batteries.

Waiting for the final bell to signal that
school was over and another weekend began, everyone in the class
sat talking amongst themselves and getting anxious for the
weekend.

Since Sarah’s form was so petite and the
clock hung beyond her reach, she pulled an empty desk up to the
wall to get better access to the clock. She then climbed on top of
the smaller desk easily. Sarah reached up and pulled down the slow
clock, popped out the old batteries and inserted new ones.

Not paying attention to the class left her
vulnerable.

As Sarah remained standing on the desk,
fixing the time on the clock’s face, Connor saw Mathew getting out
of his seat wearing a grin that said ‘You’re going to get it!’ a
grin of mischief and malice. Mathew walk up to the desk Sarah stood
upon and her back was to the class so she couldn’t see what was
coming. Mathew put his left foot around one of the legs of the
desk.

He yanked too hard.

“SARAH!” Connor screamed and started running
from his seat in the back of the class.

***

“Why is the desk
moving?”
Dropping the clock she heard Connor yelling
her name. In the same instant she had the sudden and odd sensation
of weightlessness from falling.

“What’s going on? Connor
help!”
Unfortunately the only thing that came out was
a scream.

Just before hitting the ground, Sarah
felt something grab her protectively in powerful restraints that
encircled her instantly, they didn’t hurt, but they weren’t
allowing any freedom to escape. Sarah opened her eyes and noticed
that she was spinning in the air because at one moment she saw the
tile floor and in the next the ceiling showed itself. Then there
was a feeling of a sudden jolt from the impact of the ground, but
it didn’t cause any harm.
“The ground
should hurt a lot more than this, right? So why doesn’t
it?”

Looking up, Sarah noticed that Connor
was holding her in his large arms and that she lay on his
chest.
“Connor took the entire impact of my
fall upon himself? I hope he isn’t hurt.”
She started
to ask “Are you…” and stopped when she saw his eyes were full of
concern and primal fury. It was a frightening mix that she has
never seen before.

“Are you unharmed, Sarah?” He said in a tight
tone of voice.

“Yes, thanks to you again. How are you
faring?” Her voice spoke of concern.

“I’m glad.” Now his voice steeled and the
concern in his eyes vanished, but the primal fury in his steely
gaze began blazing even more vehemently.

Without letting go of her, he slid one arm
under her legs and stood up so easily that Sarah still couldn’t
fathom the depths of his true strength. It was beyond the ordinary.
He held her for a moment in the same way he did that night she
allowed him to kiss her neck. It was wonderful to only be held by
him.

He stood her up and Sarah still didn’t
understand what was really going on. The clock lay broken and in
pieces on the tile as she looked at the ground that Connor saved
her from getting injured on. Connor gently pulled her behind his
back the same way he protected her from the cougar.

“Wait the Cougar? Who is
Connor protecting me from? Where is the danger?”
Looking around the room Sarah saw nothing at her sides or
back, she looked around Connor slightly and followed his line of
sight, seeing the danger that put him on the offensive.

Her student, Mathew, stood just a few
feet away and was sneering at her.
“What’s
his problem?”
She didn’t wait long to find
out.

Connor’s dark form bent forward and his
stance widened, he balled up his fists so tight that his knuckles
were white and you could see his tendons screaming through the
skin. His eyes were blazing so fiercely that Sarah knew beyond
shadow of doubt that Connor truly wanted to kill Mathew and seeing
just a taste of his strength, she knew he most certainly could.

He crouched even more, to spring, but stopped
suddenly.

A flash of movement crossed over and Sarah
saw a kid step in between Connor and Mathew. The kid punched Mathew
in the jaw with enough force to knock him several feet back and
land flat on the ground. She noticed the boy’s appearance. He had
jet black spiky hair and wore a silver shirt and dark shorts. It
was Connor’s best friend Mark.

Mark’s back was to Connor as he spread
his arms out in a protective fashion. Mark spoke in a cold, steeled
voice when Mathew looked up at him showing the pain and confusion
in his expression. “Connor was not the only person who saw that you
pulled the desk out from under Ms. Sarah. You better run away from
here. NOW! Or Connor is going to
really
kill you.”

Mathew gave off a throaty, menacing laugh
that sent a cold chill down her spine. Still laying on the floor he
sneered “The Black Sheep going to kill me?” He laughed menacingly
again. “He couldn’t do anything if he tried. He is nothing but an
oversized retard. He…” Mathew stopped cold when he looked over and
saw how dangerous Connor can really be.

His face paled and his eyes went wide with
true fear. Connor’s shaggy hair no longer covered his penetrating
eyes at the moment, making the threat real. Getting up very slowly
he backed out of the classroom then Sarah heard Mathew running for
his life.

Connor stepped forward to run Mathew down and
finish the job. And knowing Connor he could easily catch up. Mark
turned around with those calm silver eyes and looked Connor in the
face, keeping his arms in the same wide protective spread. “Buddy,
don’t do it! Mathew is not worth it. You saved Ms. Sarah just in
time. It’s over. Calm down.”