Parapet: Book 5 in the Kings Keep Series

By Graeme Butz

Alecs woes have prompted him to leave Kings Keep Academy and return home to the family farm. In his absence, Rebecca takes charge of dealing with Rods increasingly bizarre behaviour. The girls collectively solve the riddle of Rods first painting, but his second artwork results in a school fire.

A field trip to the Blue Mountains puts Minh in danger, and Mitchells well-intentioned concern for Rod twice makes him run foul of an angry Damon.

Two shocking revelationsone from his father, another from Mr. Greyshatter Alecs world and leave him wondering who he really is.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Sep 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503509634

Graeme Butz

Graeme Butz is a former high school teacher and community worker who lives in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia. He spends much of his time working on his bush garden, reading, listening to music, visiting Op Shops, writing the next book, and talking to his ‘visitors’ (parrots, wallabies, lizards and snakes). Occasionally, he spends time beachcombing on the New South Wales south coast and helping with reading support groups in local schools. Written while still a teacher, the Kings Keep series—its characters, events and narrative—were all extensively piloted on junior high school students (and underwent serious revision) to ensure language- and content-appropriate plot and text for the target age group.

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Graeme Butz.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-5035-0962-7

                eBook           978-1-5035-0963-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 08/28/2015

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

723683

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

To

Diane and Mark O’Neill

at Blue Dragon Books

Glenbrook (New South Wales) –

‘Gateway (or Portal?) to the Blue Mountains’

‘There be Dragons’

CHAPTER 1

‘Put those away before your mother sees them,’ Alec’s father warned. ‘She’ll only get upset again. Takes nothing to set her off lately.’

Alec had the three family photo albums spread out across the table, as well as an envelope of photos which hadn’t made it into the albums. He was recalling fun times with Martin as a way of easing his sense of loss. For his mother, however, the photos only intensified her grief, and Alec began scooping up the loose pictures and tucking them into the envelope.

As he did so, one particular photograph caught his eye.

‘This one,’ Alec said, waving the photo at his father who was washing greens in the sink. ‘I don’t get it. Why isn’t Martin in it? There’s mum with the two foster babies, and me. Martin’s not in the photo. It’s not a family shot without him. Is that why it’s not in the album?’

Alec wasn’t ready for his father’s reaction. Wiping his hands, he sighed deeply, looked soulfully at Alec and took the picture from his son’s hand. After staring at it intently, he took another look at Alec before his eyes welled up and he cleared his throat.

‘We were going to wait until you were a teenager – old enough to understand,’ his father began, voice starting to quaver. ‘I suppose there’s never a good time, and this week certainly isn’t it. But you’re nearly thirteen, and the subject’s raised its ugly head.’

The emotion in his father’s voice made Alec so apprehensive that his hands trembled slightly as he put out the plates and cutlery. What could be so bad, he wondered, as to cause his parents to shield him from this all his life? Alec kept glancing at his father, whose nervous lips appeared to be mentally rehearsing an answer he didn’t want to give.

Two quick bips of the horn announced his mother’s arrival in the driveway, and Alec’s father peered anxiously through the kitchen curtains, quickly scanning the back of the ute.

‘Two boxes,’ he announced. ‘Help your mother. We’ll talk later. Not a word for now. Clear?’ He looked anxiously for Alec’s reply, which was an instant nod as he rushed outside. Tucking the larger box under one arm, Alec reached for the second.

‘Leave it,’ his mother smiled. ‘It’s only wool and cloth offcuts. It’ll keep for now. Lunch ready?’

‘Just waiting for you,’ Alec smiled back. He was relieved to see the sadness gone from his mother’s face, even if, as he feared, it was only temporary. The daily trips – excuses really – to the neighbouring farm to exchange produce and craft materials were the only break in his mother’s prolonged sadness.

Soup was his father’s specialty in the kitchen, but not even this outback version of creamy pumpkin and secret herbs could keep Alec’s mind from the pre-lunch discussion. His father, however, was in no hurry to finish his meal, and seized on a stalling tactic.

‘What’s Rod doing for the holidays?’ he asked suddenly. ‘Coming back here, I hope.’

‘S’pose so,’ Alec replied as he wiped a generous crust of bread around his soup bowl. ‘He’s got nowhere else to go.’

‘Of course he’s coming back here,’ his mother snapped. ‘It’s his home.’ There was a pause as Alec exchanged looks with his father.

‘Better check just the same,’ Alec added. ‘I’ll email him tonight.’

‘The bore pump’s still jamming,’ his father said with evident frustration. ‘If we have to get it serviced, we’re going to be in trouble. Money won’t stretch that far, not this month.’

Mentioning their economic woes was his father’s way of steering the conversation, and Alec’s thoughts, back to current concerns, and Alec took the hint. The two exchanged trouble-shooting options, Alec betting his father that it was the windmill sails’ mechanism rather than the pump itself that was the cause. Their bets, never shaken on or paid, always brought a smile to his mother’s face.

After lunch, the two headed for the tractor shed, and Alec was determined that no farm repairs would prevent his father explaining the mystery behind the photograph. His father must have read his mind. Instead of starting the tractor, he sat down on an empty fuel drum.

‘The photo, it’s not what you think. It’s not what your mother thinks either. Her memory … she’s got it a bit confused over the years.’

‘Confused?’ Alec repeated. ‘Confused how? It’s mum, the babies and me. I just wanted to know where Martin was, that’s all.’

Alec’s father grabbed a short piece of wire offcut and began doodling in the dirt floor of the shed.

‘That … little boy in the picture,’ he struggled to say, ‘is not you. It’s Martin. If you look at the other photos of Martin at five or six, you’ll see it’s him.’

‘Then … where am I? How come I’m not in the photo?’ A low, muffled, painful groan was all his father could muster in reply.

‘What is it? What’s the big mystery? …. Dad?’ Alec was spooked by his father’s vacant look.

‘The babies … you remember when Rod was here, and your mother told him about the road accident, and how we got to look after the two babies until their relatives came for them?’

Alec nodded slowly, butterflies beginning to disturb his lunch. This next bit was likely to be something he wasn’t ready for, and he braced himself as best he could.

‘Well, your mother’s recollection isn’t quite right. When the relatives came for them, they were very distraught, with the accident and all, and there was some dispute as to who would look after them. Two new babies, that’s a handful for anyone, especially with no warning, and … well, only one baby was taken in by its relatives. The other one was left here, and they never came back for it. What was a foster care arrangement eventually became an adoption. The second baby stayed with us.’

Alec stood looking into his father’s pained eyes.

‘I still don’t get it,’ he said shaking his head. ‘Where’d that baby go? Where is it now?’

His father stood up and grabbed him by the arms, then hugged him tightly. ‘He’s right here, son. He’s right here.’ The penny finally dropped, and Alec gazed, wide-eyed, at his father.

‘I’m … adopted? … Me? Adopted?’

His father hugged him even tighter, his whole body trembling with emotion. Alec tried to push away, but his father’s grip was unbreakable.

After a few minutes, his eyes stinging from the tears, Alec cleared his throat, and wiped his face on his forearm.

‘Martin?’ he choked. ‘Is he adopted too?’

‘No, son,’ his father replied softly. ‘Your mother gave birth to Martin. She lost another one, a girl, three years later. That was a very complicated birth. She … we couldn’t have any more children.’

‘I had a sister?’ a shocked Alec squeaked.

‘For a few hours,’ his father explained. ‘That’s why all this photo business is so upsetting for your mother. First the loss of the girl, then the foster babies being split up, then Martin’s death. And sending you off to the new school – you’ve got no idea how torn your mother was about that. It nearly didn’t happen.’

‘Poor mum,’ Alec sobbed. ‘All that going on, all these years. I had no idea. She must have felt like she was losing me too.’ His father nodded, wiping his eyes with a crumpled handkerchief, as Alec continued.

‘Is that why she … why her memory’s … why she’s so confused about the photo?’

‘I think it’s her way of coping,’ his father explained. ‘Your mother bonded instantly with the babies, and coming so soon after … after your sister … she was almost relieved when they said they could only take one. We were dreading the day they would return for you. They never did. Eventually, the paperwork had to be completed, but the family was untraceable, and so we applied to adopt you. You’re ours, Alec. Completely ours. Do you understand that?’

‘No, I don’t,’ Alec snapped, with anger in his voice. ‘I can’t be completely yours. I’ve got a family somewhere. A family that doesn’t want me, didn’t come back for me.’

‘You’re making this harder than it need be, Alec,’ his father reprimanded. ‘You’ve got every right to be upset, with the family that didn’t return for you, and maybe with us for not telling you earlier. But you’ve got no right whatsoever to feel that you don’t belong here. You’ve got no right to feel abandoned or unwanted. We couldn’t have loved you more if your mother gave birth to you. This is your family. We’re your parents. This is your home, there’s no other. You’re ours, Alec, totally and completely ours, and you always will be’

His emotional state made Alec unable to speak. He knew the truth of his father’s words – he had absolutely no reason to feel any less a family member. He looked at his father, hunched over and gazing into the dirt, and saw a broken man. He rushed to hug him, and apologise.

‘I’m sorry, dad,’ he spluttered, ‘I’m not angry with you or mum. I’m angry with … them.’

‘I’m not," his father replied as he picked Alec up off the ground in a bear hug. ‘It’s their loss, and our gain. Look what we got – a beautiful son we couldn’t be more proud of. I’m a rich man.’ He kissed Alec on the forehead then set him down, and slowly straightened his own stiff back.

‘You’re getting too heavy for that,’ he mumbled, reaching for his hat. ‘C’mon – your mother will be wondering why we haven’t left for the bore. Start the tractor.’

Heading for the dry dam and bore, Alec saw the familiar scene in a new light. Sure, this was his home, always had been. Being a boarder at Kings Keep hadn’t changed that. But something was different. Martin’s death had robbed Alec of the certainty, the security and safety of home. Now his father’s news made Alec wonder whether he should have grown up somewhere else. And if he had, would he be a different person?

His mind turned to Rod. He now had something else in common with his orphaned room mate – an unknown family who didn’t want him. But however unsettling these new details were, being adopted by a loving family was immeasurably better than Rod’s horrific past.

The tractor came to a halt at the bore. ‘Snap out of it, Alec,’ he told himself.

CHAPTER 2

Sundown ended a frustrating afternoon at the bore. Alec and his father were glad to kick off their boots on the verandah and sit down on the hard wooden bench seat. Already drained from their ‘little chat’ after lunch, his father now had to face the reality of no water in the dam, and a dry or broken bore pump that offered no alternative.

‘If it doesn’t rain soon – really bucket down, flood the place – we’re finished,’ his father confessed. ‘Can’t run a farm without water. Cattle or crops, it’s the same. Ten years of drought and we’ve hung on. That bore was our last hope.’ Alec had no comfort for his father, and was relieved at his mother’s call to wash up for dinner.

‘We’ve had a visitor,’ his father observed, pointing to fresh tyre tracks in the dusty drive. ‘Don’t recognise the tread.’ The mystery was partly solved over dinner.

‘Had a courier, all the way from town,’ his mother casually commented between mouthfuls. ‘Left a package – for you, Alec.’

It was enough to make Alec leap out of his chair and look excitedly around the obvious places in the lounge room.

‘Sit. Finish your dinner,’ his father instructed. ‘Package won’t go anywhere while you’re eating.’

As hoped, his mother released Alec from washing-up duty, and he hunted for the package, soon locating it by the computer. From a smallish box, a web-cam was produced and quickly connected.

‘Early birthday present? Thanks,’ Alec announced generally, not sure to whom he was indebted.

‘None of our doing,’ his mother answered, leaving a bewildered Alec to figure out who was responsible for this gift, no card or message with it to enlighten him. His parents watched with confused pleasure as Alec adjusted the camera above the screen, whispering questions to each other while he opened his emails and read the messages.

‘The camera’s from the school,’ Alec announced while continuing to read. ‘Rod and Bec spoke to Mr Grey – he’s the … uhh, bit of everything really, my Electronics teacher too – and he’s sent the web-cam to keep in touch with the guys. How good is that?’

His parents smiled and nodded their approval. Alec looked at the wall clock, then began to comb his hair with his fingers.

‘Quiet on the set,’ he ordered. ‘We’re about to go to air. Now you can meet the guys. Oh, this is so good! And … three … two … one …’

Rebecca’s face was first to appear on the screen, Mitchell quickly edging in from the side, and unidentified bodies jostling behind them. Alec waved and shouted an excited greeting, then listened to similar exchanges from the ‘ninjas’ as each face nudged into view. Alec turned to his parents who were