Victor Black - And the Garden of the Gods

Chapter 13: Return to the Clearing

The Black family, far above Colorado Springs in the small town of Divide, slept restlessly that night.

Mr. Black sat up late in his comfortable chair. He stared through the living room window at a foggy, cloud-shrouded Pikes Peak, faintly lit by the crescent moon. His mind puzzled over the strange events unfolding around him—incidents not only involving members of his own family but those determining the future of the entire planet.

Being a key figure at NORAD, deep within Cheyenne Mountain, numerous top-secret projects demanded his time. He rarely had a moment for his wife, let alone Victor. Over time he had grown more emotionally distant from his family and had hoped the move to Colorado would change things.

More demands were placed on him since they planted roots in Divide. He spent most of his time working—his colleagues were more like a family than his own.

Being in his forty's, he kept in shape to keep up with the rigors of his schedule. He managed to retain his full head of short-cropped, dark brown hair and refused a beard, always cleanly shaven. He was a favorite of the ladies on base. They'd compliment him on his angular face, cleft chin, blue eyes, and rugged stature as if he were a slab of meat. While he didn't mind the attention, he occupied every moment of his day with meetings and decisions concerning military matters and national security.

He thought about these things, sitting there in his chair, staring at the peak. He looked for movement—the movement of some pine trees in a brisk wind, or the headlight trail of a vehicle scaling the switch-backs on the side of the mountain, heading toward the summit.

"Gotta love those donuts at the Summit House," he said under his breath. The donuts were his favorite reason for driving to the top of the mountain. They were simple, cake donuts with no fluff—nothing covered them up. He liked his meals the same way, and it was the one thing Victor agreed with him on—simple, nutritious meals. No fluff.

Mr. Black heard nothing but silence in his home. It was one o'clock in the morning, and Victor and his wife were fast asleep, or so he thought. The next day was already upon them, and several hours later, he would be heading down the mountain again.

His Friday schedule would involve a quick stop at Memorial Hospital to visit the boy Kane with his colleague Rhonda, and an attempt to get some answers from him, considering his disappearance coincided with Victor's and Willow's. He would attend a highly anticipated, yet vague meeting with several generals, members of NASA, and various highly educated members of the scientific community. They had big news.

He reclined backward in his chair and closed his eyes, hoping sleep would find him—for a few hours.

∞ ∞ ∞

Upstairs in his bedroom, Victor didn't sleep. He knew thirty miles down the mountain, Willow didn't sleep either—he felt her, as though she sat there with him. His brain replayed slides of her flawless face while lay on his back with his hands behind his head.

They heard no news about Kane. They had not been able to see him since leaving the ice hall earlier in the day.

"I sure hope he's ok," he sighed.

His plan for Friday (he'd be away from work for another week), was to visit Kane with Willow after she drove up to the mountain to the overlook. He'd retrieve his Jeep and plant it in the city.

They also had plans to visit the teen center at the Pinery, meeting up with Josh, Darius, and god knows who else. He had not seen any of them for weeks, and he was sure they'd have questions.

The kind of information he had was not the type anyone could know. He first needed to understand what happened to him—and Willow.

How does Kane fit into this, he thought? It couldn't be a coincidence.