Refuge

         The light was fading, the sun about to disappear below the horizon when the Ferrell brothers reached the forest's edge.

"I don't want to go through the woods" Travis complained.

"Don't be a girl" Frank replied with a sarcastic tone. "This will be faster than going through the neighborhood".

          Frank spun his bike tire, spraying his twin with gravel and shot into the darkening trees. Travis reluctantly followed. Several hundred
feet into the forest, Frank pulled his bike to a sliding stop and looked down the hill into the gorge that was a predominate feature in the area.

         The locals referred to the rocky depression as the gully and most people steered clear after the mysterious disappearance of a teen late last year. A few trails crisscrossing the forest didn't intersect the gully and of those, only travelled by a few of the older teens. People rarely went into the gully, even in broad daylight.

          Frank surveyed the area and looking back over his shoulder "Are you ready"? demanding an answer.

"Ready for what"? Travis inquired, fearing he already knew the answer.

"If we go through the gully, we get home before Dad"! Frank reminded him. getting home late wouldn't go well for either of them.

"I'm not going down there" Travis said with a finality that Frank knew only too well!

Travis started to turn his bike around when his brother brought him up short.

"Wait" he exclaimed. "I saw something".

"You're lying"! Travis accused.

"No I did, I swear". Frank dropped his bike and walked to the edge of the gully. A flash in the trees. "There" Frank said pointing. Travis moved to his brothers side and stared into the darkness.

"I don't see anything". Travis returned to his bike

"I`m going see what it is". Frank promised and he started down the incline. The darkness quickly surrounded the teen and Travis lost him in the shadows. A few minutes past, nothing from his brother.

"Come on Frank, let's go, I'm hungry" Travis pleaded.

Suddenly the forest brightened as the flash Frank described, lit the trees. Frank's silhouette was briefly visible, then faded as the illumination faded.

"Hey Frank"! Travis yelled. Struggling sounds and a muffled cry rose up from the darkness, then silence settled over the trees.
"Frank, you're not funny". Travis shouted nervously. Silence. "Fine Asshole. You stay here, I'm going"! He added, ready to abandon his brother.

"Travis"! pleading

He turned. Frank sounded like he was further away.

"Are you coming"? Travis asked again. "last chance" he added.

"Help" the voice called.

"Why do you sound so weird"? Travis asked, dropping his bike and moving back to the edge of the depression.

"I need you to help me and then we can go home" the voice, so like Frank's, but different somehow.

Travis moved a few yards down the embankment and warned "If you jump out at me I'm gonna kick you in the balls"!

A soft glow from somewhere below became apparent and Travis thought he could just about make out his brother in the darkness. The shadows continued to gather all about him.

"Help me".

Again came the plea and Travis moved down a few more yards. It seemed Frank was right there though his voice seemed distant.

Travis reached out for his twin when something grabbed his arm and pulled him violently into the darkness, leaving the forest draped in shadowed silence.

         Daniel Knox, struggling to open his locker when his best friend appeared behind him and poked him in the ribs, scattering all over the hallway, the mountain of textbooks he'd been balancing.

"Dammit Lawman, you know I hate when you do that"! Daniel exclaimed angrily.

Peals of laughter were wracking his friends body and Daniel knew scolding his friend would do no good. He soon found himself succumbing to a fit of laughter as well.

Breathless, Daniel asked "Where have you been"? I called and your mom said you were doing laundry"

The giggles were subsiding when Lawman replied. "Yeah, she told me if I didn't wash my coat, she'd throw it away.

Daniel looked him over and asked what's wrong with it.

"Exactly what I said" Lawman agreed. "She said it smelled like dogshit".
! "Did it"? Daniel inquired, with a tentative sniff. "Yeah, I fell in Buster's shit"!

Again, laughter claimed them both.

"I used an entire bottle of my Mom's Febreze, so I'm good". Lawman told him, watching Daniel gather his books and find the one needed for homeroom. In a conspiratorial whisper Lawman asked "Did you finish your homework"?

Daniel seeing his chance and in a loud voice replied" Yes Lawman, you can copy my homework"! Satisfied to see Lawman go a pale, Daniel accepted the punch in the shoulder he'd earned at the expense of his friend.

"Asshole". Lawman muttered, grumbling as he followed Daniel down the hallway. "So did you"?

Daniel just shook his head.

As they approached homeroom, Daniel stopped so quickly that Lawman walked right into the back of him.

"Hey, what gives"? Lawman complained.

Daniel didn't register the admonishment, instead focused on the young woman standing with friends by the homeroom door. Lawman pushed past him and Daniel caught the mischievous grin as he turned back to look at Daniel.

"I know you love Sydney, but I refuse to be late for homeroom so you can stare at her in the hallway" he said in a voice, for all to hear.

Everyone in earshot burst into laughter, with the exception of Daniel and Sydney Wright, who both turned a bright crimson. Mortified, Daniel moved past Sydney into homeroom and took his seat next to Lawman. Sydney came in and took her seat, placing her books on the desk and stared straight ahead. Lawman was still giggling when he received his shoulder punch.

          Mrs. Cambell entered the room and placed some books and a handbag on the desk at the head of the class.

"Ok, ok, settle down people". She said.

The room quieted down and the teacher moved to the board and began erasing the remnants of the previous day's lesson. When she'd finished, she replaced the eraser, clapped her hands together to expel the remaining dust from her hands and began to speak.

"How many of you finished the homework I assigned yesterday"?

All hands went up, but she noticed that Lawman's hand was tentative in rising.

She continued. "Because I've decided to give you an extra day to complete it, because today we have a guest with a very special project, I think you will find interesting! How many of you could use extra time to complete the homework".

Everyone`s hand went up again.

She noticed the relief as she specifically eyeballed Lawrence Milton. With a nod to Lawman, she turned back to the board and wrote the guest's name. Dr. Tyson Walters of the Walters Genealogy Institute.

Mrs. Cambell turned back to the class. "He will be here in the last part of second period, so for now please take out your science books and turn to chapter ten".

Daniel turned to the chapter indicated. Genealogy and DNA.

Mrs. Cambell was fishing for something in her desk, so Daniel whispered over to Lawman

"You really are the luckiest"!

Lawman shrugged and said simply "Hey, when you're good, you're good. When you're great, you're me".

Daniel was shaking his head when Sheriff Cambell appeared in the doorway and wrapped his knuckles on the door frame to get his wife's attention. She moved over to the doorway and gave her husband an affectionate peck on the cheek, eliciting a few giggles from some of the girls in the class.

"What a surprise. What brings you by this morning"? she asked.

"I Wanted to see if you were free for an early lunch"? Sheriff Cambell inquired.

"I think I can arrange something". His wife returned.

"Good, About noon then"?

"Sure, that will be fine". She replied.

He gave her another kiss and with a wave to the class made to leave.

Suddenly, Lawman leapt from his seat and called out. "Sheriff Cambell"?

With a glance at his wife, he asked "What can I do for you Lawrence"?

That brought a round of laughter from the class.

Sheepishly, Lawman said, sounding hurt "That's not my name

Sheriff Cambell sighed."In fact, it is your name, however I'm sorry Lawman, I forgot. What can I do for you"?

As if nothing had just occurred, Lawman reanimated and started speaking quickly. "I was on my way to school, and I was going by the gully and I saw two bikes in the woods by the ledge and I think they may be stolen". he surmised excitedly.

Sheriff Cambell interrupted. "Hold on, Lawman, breathe".

Lawman took a few gulps of air and continued more slowly. "I saw two bikes in the woods and I think they may be stolen".

Interrupting again, the Sheriff asked "Why do you think they are stolen, maybe whoever they belong to was close by and would be right back"?

There was no one around... I waited to see if someone would come back and no one did".

"But, why stolen Lawman"?

"Because who would leave bikes in the woods"? Lawman countered.

"Ok Lawman, I will look into it".

"When" he pressed.

"As soon as I can".

"Do you need my help"? Lawman asked eagerly. "I can dust for prints or sweep for fibers". He was practically hopping up and down. "Hey, if you give me some police tape I will set up a perimeter or". He paused and rushed to the blackboard, grabbed a piece of chalk and looked at the Sheriff expectantly. "Do you want me to do a chalk outline"?

The Sheriff looked over at his wife and it seemed that she was struggling to stifle laughter. He sighed and looked back at lawman. "I appreciate the enthusiasm Lawman. Tell you what. I will look into it and if I find anything I will let you know, deal"?

"10-4 Sheriff Cambell"! Lawman snapped off a salute and returned to his desk with a grin from ear to ear.
         The morning wore on and as Daniel was attempting to read the chapter, Lawman was negotiating with Davey Wong for whatever was in Davey's lunch bag. Daniel was about to interject a counter offer for the chocolate cupcakes that became apparent was the source of contention when a middle aged man appeared in the classroom doorway and cleared his throat to get Mrs. Cambell's attention. She rose, crossed the classroom and introduced herself to the man in the door. Daniel got a uneasy feeling that he was unable to identify. He was about to relate this impression when Lawman leaned over and asked

"Who's that creepy dude"?

"I'm guessing that's the guy Mrs. Cambell told us about". Daniel looked back at the pair when Mrs. Cambell walked over to the cart that held the overhead projector, placed the projector on the floor behind her desk and pushed the cart to the door where the man accepted it with a smile and disappeared back into the hallway.

Lawman leaned over and whispered again "Where do you supposed Mrs. Crabapple dug that guy up"?

"Shhhh"! Daniel admonished.

"What"? Lawman wondered innocently.

Daniel shook his head partly at his friends disrespect and the fact that Davey Wong's cupcake was crumbling from the corners of Lawman's lips. "Hey" Daniel exclaimed.

"What" Lawman repeated.

Before Daniel could attempt to claim a portion of the spoils, the man reappeared in the doorway, the cart loaded with small white boxes and plastic bags.

"Come in, come in" Mrs. Cambell invited. The man moved to the front of the room, placing the cart by the blackboard.

"Class", Mrs. Cambell began. "Allow me to introduce Dr. Tyson Walters of the Walters Genealogy Institute".

"Hello class, what a fine group of young people"!

The class responded. "Hello Dr. Walters".

Lawman leaned over mimicking "What a fine group of young people"

Giggles erupted.

Daniel turned back to find Mrs Cambell staring daggers at Lawman. The giggles ended abruptly. The man didn't seem to notice.

Mrs. Cambell began again. "Dr. Walters is here to tell us of a fascinating technology that can shed insight into our history, our individual history, so if everyone will give Dr. Walters their undivided attention".

Mrs. Cambell spared a few more daggers for Lawman when the man turned to the cart and retrieved a box. The man began to speak.

"Thank you Mrs. Cambell. As your teacher said, "I am Dr. Walters and I would like to tell you what we do at the Institute. I am fascinated where we all come from, how we could come from all over the world to eventually end up here, in this country, this state, this town and this very class"! He paused for effect. "How many of you were born here in Idaho"?

Daniel looked around to see almost everyone in class had raised their hands, including himself.

The man continued. "How many were born in another state"?

Four hands went up, including Davey Wong's. The man pointed to Sarah Dice. "Where were you born, young lady"?

"California" was the reply.

"Ahhh" the man said. "A surfer girl, huh"?

Sarah blushed meekly.

"How about you, young man"? he asked Davey Wong.

"I was born in New York city.

"Ohhh, a tough guy eh"? the man said affecting a New York accent. This brought a snort of derision from Lawman. The man focused on Lawman and inquired. "You don't think so, I take it"?

"I took his chocolate cupcake and give him grapes for it. He should have held out for a better deal" Lawman explained smugly.

The man look at Davey and winked. "I'm a doctor and I like grapes too. Their good for the brain".

Davey looked at lawman in return and grinned, which elicited a grimace of barely disguised chastisement. The man went on.

"The point is that much more goes into our makeup than where you were born, whether you are a surfer, a tough guy or have an affinity for grapes"! The man pulled a bottle from a rear pocket, removed the lid and took a long drink. He continued after replacing the lid and placing it back from where it came from. "You may not believe this but everything you are, every aspect of you is made up of every ancestor that came before you". Once again he paused to let this sink in, before continuing. "Now, while its much more difficult to accurately identify specific ancestors, with a simple test, we can now match your specific DNA to a region of the world that most accurately matches the same aspects of DNA from the people living there. We can, to a great degree, tell you where your ancestors come from, going back many thousands of years... Pretty cool huh"?

An affirmative sounding murmur erupted around the room. The doctor once again pulled the bottle from a pocket and drained it.

"Any questions so far"? he asked.

"How does it work"? Katie Price asked.

"Well", the man began again. "Everyone is made up of a specific set of building blocks called Chromosomes, 23 of them to be exact. These blocks tell us who we are. They tell us our skin color, our eye color, hair, body type, really everything that make us up is according to how our Chromosomes are arranged". He produced another bottle and drained that one as he did the first.

Daniel though it odd someone could suddenly be so thirsty, but it didn't stick as the man was talking again.

"Its all very technical, but we are making breakthroughs everyday and hope to identify defects in these blocks that may one day be responsible for curing many of the diseases that make humans sick". "So, what I would like to do is take a sample of saliva from each of you and in a few weeks, I will deliver the results to your teacher and then you will know from where in the world your family comes from". He looked at Mrs. Cambell. "With the permission of your teacher and of course, your parents". He retrieved the box he'd set aside and opened it. Inside was a slip of paper, a long stick with a Q-tip on one end, a bottle and lid inside a plastic bag. "Once you've had your parents sign the permission slip and return it to your teacher, Mrs. Cambell will pass out a kit to each of you". The man held up a stack of permission slips and handed them to mrs. Cambell. Once you open your kit, take the bottle from the bag". He held the bottle high enough for all to see. You don't open the bottle, because there is a hole in the top, see"? he said pointing to the hole. What you will do is take the swab and put the fuzzy end in your mouth" More giggles erupted. "And slide the swab along the inside of your cheek until its moist, then place the swab, fuzzy end first into the hole in the top". He inserted the swab and when he was satisfied said. "Then you will snap off the stick coming from the top, effectively sealing the top hole with the stick". He produced another swab and handed to Liz Bertram in the front row and the bottle with the broken stick to Katie Price in the front at the opposite end of the front row. "You'll notice the top of the stick protrudes from the hole only a little bit, It's quite secure and on the stick going around, you'll notice it will easily break, right where it should". The man was rubbing his hands together. "Any question"? he asked. "No, ok well, your teacher will hand out the permission slips after I leave and as soon as you turn your kit in we will find out all about your ancestors. It will be interesting to find who descends from Vikings or Romans or Barbarians or you name it. That's all I have, so" He paused to look around the class, then at Mrs. Cambell. "Farewell, and I look forward to Learning more about each of you". He collected the items that were passed around and added "Have a good day"!

Mrs. Cambell stood and announced "Class, what do we say to our guest"?

In unison the class thanked the Doctor and with a wave started for the door, only to collide with Sheriff Cambell.

"Oh pardon me" the man announced and slid from the room before Sheriff Cambell could do likewise.

Daniel watched the exchange and had a weird feeling the man had twisted his body in a way as to avoid looking the Sheriff in the face, odd.

"I think you're a bit early for lunch, dear"! Mrs. Cambell informed her husband as she crossed the room to stand next to him.

He replied. "Yeah, I'm not here for that, but actually to speak with Lawrence".

Something in his demeanor told her something was wrong.

"Sure". She said. She turned toward the class and to Lawman she said. "Lawman, Sheriff Cambell would like to speak with you for a moment, out in the hall".

A grin appeared on Lawman's face and he jumped up. "I knew he would need me"! he announced.

As Lawman followed the man into the hall, Daniel was puzzled. What can he possibly need Lawman's help with? He wondered. An idea occurred to him, that may shed some light, even though Daniel knew his friend would tell him all about whatever it was as soon as he could. Daniel raised his hand to get is teachers attention.

"Yes Daniel"? she asked. "May I please get some water". He inquired.

"Sure, go ahead".

Daniel left his seat and exited the classroom. Sure enough, there was Lawman and the Sheriff. He listened in while pretending to quench his thirst.

"Lawman, I need you to show me where the bicycles were when you saw them this morning". The Sheriff was telling him.

"Ok, no problemo, did you find who stole them"?

"I don't know they are stolen, Lawman, by the way, Do you know the Ferrell Brothers"? he asked.

"Not really, But Daniel does"!

They both looked over and it was apparent that Daniel had been eavesdropping. Daniel went red and promised an extra shoulder punch for Lawman as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

"Is that true Daniel, you know these boys"? Sheriff Cambell asked.

Daniel walked over to the pair and said to the sheriff. "I went on a field trip last month with Travis to the Museum in Pocatello and gave him some handlebars for his bike after he stripped his jumping trash cans in field behind the supermarket".

Lawman chimed in. "I remember that, man, he busted his ass that time".

"Lawrence, language"! Sheriff Cambell said sharply. Lawman fell silent.

Turning back to Daniel he went on. "Daniel, would you recognize his bike if you saw it again".

Daniel nodded."Yes sir, they were blue anodized aluminum bars with a V crossbar, I thought they would look funny because his bike is green".

"Ok, collect your books and put what you need to in your locker, I need the both of you and I will drop you at home after, ok"? Both boys just nodded. The Sheriff went to his wife and whispered a few things to her that left her a little pale as the boys collected their belongings and made to follow the Sheriff from the room.

"Here boys, your permission slips". Mrs. Cambell said holding out.

They each accepted the items, exited the class and placed their books into their lockers. Lawman scribbled something on his slip and placed it inside.

"What are you doing"? Daniel exclaimed.

Grabbing the permission slip from Daniel, he scribbled on it like he'd done his own, but with his other hand. "Saving time, my mom's working late, so this is faster".

"Why did you use your other hand" Daniel was perplexed.

"So it wouldn't look like my mom signed it, duh. Man, you can be dense sometimes". he chastised.

Sheriff Cambell emerged from the class and asked the boys "You guys ready"?

This elicited a salute from Lawman.

The sheriff give his wife a peck and whispered something Daniel didn't catch

. Mrs. Cambell watched them leave, with concern plainly displayed on her face. As they exited the building she heard Lawman ask if he could sound the siren, which was met with a loud sigh from her husband. At this she smiled and returned to her class.