Whosoever would have taken a stroll through the countryside around Merrysville would have been treated to a rather unusual sight: a teenage boy playing with a greenish glowing object and a teenage girl watching the boy very attentively. The young boy, Julian, didn’t really mind the girl, Peel’s, constant ogling, but he was beginning to wish she would stop looking him over like some sort of research specimen. He was beginning to get uncomfortable. She wasn’t uncomfortable at all. As Julian played with the Aswer Peel walked backwards and ahead of him, focusing on its every move.
“So, how long until we reach the bridge?” Julian asked, for the tenth time, in an attempt to distract Peel from the Aswer. Peel shrugged. “Told you already. We should be almost there.” Her eyes wandered and she spun around, pointing to a small white bridge coming into her field of view. “See?” Julian dissipated the Aswer, adjusted his cap, and began jogging over to the bridge. “Great. Once we cross this bridge we’ll be in Podunk and I’ll be able to look for Ninten.” He didn’t jog for long, though, until he saw two policemen standing in front of the bridge, effectively blocking the way.
Julian slowed his pace and tried to maneuver his way around the policemen, muttering a curt, “Excuse me”, but the two policemen grabbed him by both arms and dumped him back where he was. Julian stood up, dusted himself off, and tried again, but the two police officers knocked him back without saying a word.
“Say, what’s going on?” Peel caught up to Julian and looked the policemen over. “Ooh! The Fuzz! You almost never see you guys around, ya know! What’s up?” She spotted Julian on the floor and rushed over to him. “You need to learn how to stay standing, I’m not gonna be around always to pick you up.” Julian waved her off and stood up, actually addressing the officers this time. “Why can’t we cross the bridge?” he asked. “We really need to get to Podunk.”
The two policemen muttered quietly to each other, then one of them stepped forward. “The bridge is closed. There’s a mischievous gang on the other side ambushing travelers. That is all I can disclose.” The officer then stepped back in line. Peel sighed in disappointment. “Wonderful. Now what?”
Peel had barely finished when she heard a faint yelling coming from behind. Befuddled, she whirled around in time to see a figure zoom by, kicking up dust and making her head spin. The figure, a tall, lanky male of about 20, stopped dead in his tracks, kicking up even more dust and basically disorienting everyone there. After straightening his large, round glasses and straitening out his silver-toned hair, the man nearly collapsed on the floor. Shortly thereafter he sprang back up again, silently waving everyone off as if they were trying to approach him, then shook his head, stood up, and sighed. “Whew! I thought I’d never make it!” he mused, slightly out of breath. He immediately reached into the pocket of his short sleeved, white shirt and produced a folded-up piece of paper, which he handed over to the two policemen.
Julian, who was barely recovering from the stranger’s first intervention, checked on Peel, mostly out of fear that she might make a fuss if he didn’t, then approached the newcomer. “Excuse me…” he began politely, but before he could continue the man turned his head and gave Julian a blank stare. “Hmm? Who are you?” he asked. Julian paused. “My…my name is Julian.”
“Oh.” His face changed and his eyes widened for a second, but they sprang immediately back to their original complexion. “Oh.” He repeated. He then turned to the two policemen. “I hope everything’s in order.” He said. “It’s a note authorizing passage across the bridge to the first three people to arrive after it’s delivery.” He turned to Peel and Julian. “Which would be us. I hope that’s not a problem.”
The two officers stared at each other through their sunglasses. “Umm…no. Everything seems to be in order.” They stepped to the side meekly and motioned for the three youths to make it snappy. Peel cocked an eyebrow and turned to whisper into Julian’s ear. “Who is this guy?” she asked. “He just came running out of nowhere!”
“I know.” Answered Julian in the same hushed tone. “But he just bought us a way to Podunk, so I’m not complaining.”
“Well, I think if he’s in such a rush to get across, at least I should thank him before he goes…” Peel broke off and ran up to the stranger, tapping him on the shoulder. As the stranger turned to face Peel she smiled sweetly and waved. “Hi! I’m Peel! I guess I should thank you for helping us cross, I mean, we were really stuck! So, thank you!!” The stranger raised his hands, much like Julian did the first time he saw Peel, and backed away. “It’s nothing. Really.” He lowered his arms and offered his hand. “My name’s Nicholas. Pleased to meet you.” Peel took his hand suspiciously and shook it briefly. “That paper was the only way I could get to Podunk. But everything’s okay now. You two are lucky to be here, otherwise someone else might have taken your place.”
Julian stepped between Peel and Julian, eyeing him oddly in the process. “You seemed to be in quite a hurry.” He stated shortly. Nicholas raised an eyebrow. “Of course.” He glanced at his watch. “Hmm. Late. Of course.” He turned to the two teenagers. “I guess I’ll see you later, Julian. Peel.” He waved curtly, then spun around and took off running across the bridge. As he sped off, Julian turned to Peel and whispered in her ear again. “What an odd guy.” He said. Peel nodded. “Tell me about it.”
***
The walk across the bridge wasn’t very long. At a normal pace Julian and Peel were able to make it across within a half-hour, not counting the time it took to stop and eat the two sandwiches that Julian had very thoughtfully prepared just in case. The sun was shining and the river under the bridge seemed to be calm. All worrisome thoughts seemed to be tucked away, ignored and unacknowledged.
As they strolled across the bridge, Julian would shoot brief glances at Peel. He didn’t want her to come along with him. Not because he hated her company-on the contrary, he was beginning to enjoy it-the problem lay in Julian’s own concern for her safety. He’d already risked his life a few times by coming all the way over here, and he felt that if he got hurt at least it would be his own fault. He couldn’t say the same for Peel.
Peel, on the other hand, didn’t worry about her safety at all. She knew she could count on Julian to protect her if necessary, and if not she could always bonk whatever came her way with her wrench. She knew that the safest place for her to be was close to Julian, even if he disagreed. Peel began laughing inwardly at the face her friend would make if she ever told him what she thought…
“So, what do you think about that gang the policemen told us about?” for once it was Julian who brought Peel out of her thoughts. Reacting instantly, she whirled and shot him a smile. “No problem. If we can handle robots we can handle a couple o’ bullies, right?” Julian rolled his eyes and muttered to himself. “Again with the ‘we’ business.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
***
The other side of the Podunk-Merrysville bridge greeted the two travelers with a small shack connected to the end. A faded wooden plaque read ‘TOLL BOOTH’ in bold white letters, and the door that opened to the bridge seemed open. All in all, the shack looked like a run-down store in the middle of the desert that’s been abandoned for a while. As Julian approached it, Peel skipped up to the door and tried to prod it open with her wrench. “You think those bullies were responsible for this? Looks like it.” She mused as she hazarded a glance inside. Julian walked up to the door and took two steps inside. “It’s deserted.” He mused, then beckoned for Peel. “Come on in.”
The inside was as deteriorated as the outside. There were several wooden tables and chairs littered around the place; the toll stand’s window was broken and all the vending machines had been sacked and broken. As Julian scanned the place, Peel walked up to one of the tables and ran her finger across the top. She then inspected her finger and found it covered with dust. “It looks like no one’s been here for ages.” She said. “You really think there’s a gang ambushing travelers here?”
Julian shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably not, seeing the look of this place.” Julian then heard a slight shuffle behind him, and he heard a deep, rumbling voice near his ear. “Think…again…” A large hand gripped his arm roughly and held him in place. Julian craned his head and found an ugly, unshaven face sneering in return. Then Peel’s scream made him turn and see three other guys, equally unshaven and ugly, appearing out of nowhere. While the first held Peel down, the other two were holding a familiar figure.
“I guess we’re meeting sooner than I thought.” Nicholas waved at Julian with a sheepish grin on his face. “I got caught too, so don’t feel too bad.” One of the thugs immediately tightened his grip, muttering, “Shut yer trap.” And causing a slight yelp of pain to escape Nicholas’ mouth. Julian sighed. “Great. Now what?”