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Chapter 2
Felix was gradually awoken a by dull jabbing in the side of his arm he couldn't identify right away. He rubbed his eyes, yawned and looked around. It seemed the plane was finally coming in to land at London Airport. How long had he been asleep? Three quarters of the flight, he guessed. The jabbing feeling was a nine year-old girl poking him, trying to figure out if he was dead or not. He gave her a friendly smile. She gave a start at finding out he was asleep and turned pink.
A voice came over the PA. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. We're coming in to land at London International Airport. I'll ask you to please fasten your seat belts, as it may get a bit bumpy."
Felix did what of asked and hooked his seat belt over his waist. As the pilot had said, they were hitting some turbulence on the way down, coming into London Airport.
The sound of skidding tires on concrete as the plane touched down. The plane rumbled and slowly came to a halt. Felix looked out his window. Featureless grey clouds covered the sky and the sense of rain was in the air. Everyone was starting to pull their luggage from the compartments above the seats. Feeling a bit laggy, Felix did the same.
He emerged from the gate into the crowded airport. He rummaged around in his bag for something. He drew out a sheet of paper mailed to him by Professor Griffon, telling him that there would be someone waiting to pick him up from the airport. Felix looked around. He caught sight of a young woman and a sour looking old man. The woman was holding a sign over her head that bore Felix's name. She waved cheerily and the man wasn't doing anything except look like he had just eaten a basket of lemons. Felix was glad and a little relived that someone seemed excited to see him. He hitched up his bag and walked over. "Hello, I'm-" started Felix, but was cut short by the woman.
"Felix, We know. Jonathan has told us a lot about you, Mr. McCoy." she said, seizing his hand and shaking it vigorously . Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail and her stormy grey eyes sparkled. "I'm Jenny Lockhart and this," she titled her hand at the man, who was a bit shorter then Jenny "is Alastor Decker. We're here to pick you up and take you to the excavation site."
Decker had a shock of stark white hair and a pair of cold blue eyes. Even in his old age, he still looked strong, much like a war-worn general who still had passion for the fighting.
Felix smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you." he said.
Decker only snorted. "I hope for your sake, boy, that you're everything Griffon has said about you." he growled gravely and strode passed Felix to a navy blue Jeep outside.
"Don't worry, you'll grow to like him." Jenny reassured Felix with a pat on the shoulder. He somehow doubted that. He and Jenny followed Decker outside to the Jeep and loaded Felix bag into the trunk. They departed and Felix was starting to feel that excitement he felt before. While they drove, a light rain began to fall.
"That rain might set us back a few hours." said Jenny at the wheel. "Don't fancy digging through mud."
"We'll decide what to do when we get there." replied Decker next to her.
They drove farther from London City, into open field, dotted with cottages and farms. "So how much farther?" asked Felix, looking out the window.
"Not much," offered Jenny as the rain became steadily heavier. "About an hour or so. But by the looks of this rain, we won't continue digging til tomorrow."
Felix was a bit disappointed. He hoped he'd be able to help with actual excavation. "Are there any other people there like me?" he asked. Decker snorted disapprovingly.
"Yup, just one. Ol' Jules Bailey. Don't worry, you'll meet everyone when we get there." Felix nodded and went back to looking out the window, looking for any sign of Stonehenge. At last, he spotted the huge stone monoliths that made up the monument. He also saw several small trailers around the place and no people. Evidently, everyone had gone inside and out of the rain. Jenny and Decker pulled out umbrellas and gave Felix one. They left the Jeep and pulled Felix's bag from the trunk and made their way across the field to the largest trailer. Felix saw a large grid roped off in the center of the henge, around the Altar Stone. Decker knocked loudly on the trailer door. It was opened by a man with a jovial looking face, black hair and brown eyes. "Ah, Jenny, Alastor!" he boomed merrily. "Have you got our young charge?"
Jenny nodded affirmatively. "Yup, we got him, Jon." she said, bringing Felix forward.
"Felix, my boy! Excellent to see you again!"
Felix grinned brightly. "Hi, Professor Griffon. Nice to see you too." he said and shook Griffon's hand.
Griffon beckoned them inside the trailer, where people were gathered around a large table, either talking to one an other, quietly sipping coffee or looking through sheets of paper and text books. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Felix McCoy," announced Griffon as Felix stepped inside with mixture of nervousness and curiosity on his face. He heard mingled greetings like "Hullo, Felix," and "Wotcher, Felix."
Felix smiled and nodded weakly, looking at each face.
Jenny took Felix across the compound to his own trailer, which was fairly close to the Henge itself. As they walked through the rain, Felix spotted a slim figure sitting beside one of the monoliths, facing away from them. Felix thought this kind of odd, sitting in the rain next to a big stone. "Jenny, who's that?" he asked, pointing.
"That? Oh, that's Jules Bailey, the other kid I was telling you about on the way here." Jenny cupped her hands around her mouth and gave a call. "Hey, Jules! Come 'ere!"
The figure twisted around and stood up, walking towards them. "You'll like Jules, trust me. Everyone does. Well, except Alastor, but he doesn't like kids around the compound, whether they're there to work or just to watch."
Once Jules was level with them, Felix saw that he was actually a she. She had a mass of copper-red hair and the most startling pair of green eyes Felix had ever seen. Like she could see into your head.
"Felix, this is Julia Bailey." supplied Jenny helpfully with a smile.
Julia shook Felix's hand, wearing a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Felix. Professor Griffon has told us a lot about you."
Felix looked suddenly horrifed. "He didn't tell you about the sarcophagus accident, did he?" he asked.
Julia's eye twinkled with amusement. "No, but I'll have to ask him about it later. it sounds like a terribly interesting story." she laughed.
Jenny also laughed. "I'd like to hear that as well. But not now, unfortunately. I need to take Felix to his living quarters."
Julia nodded. "Alright, Jenny. See you tomorrow. Bye Felix." she said, waving a goodbye as they walked away.
Felix's trailer was like the bigger one on the opposite side of the Henge, but only smaller. He like that the bed had been replaced with a hammock with was stung across the small bedroom in the back. There was a small kitchen and table and bathroom off to the side, Felix felt right at home.
Jenny left him alone and went back to the larger trailer where everyone else was. He went into the bedroom and started to unpack. Felix's version of unpacking was pulling out everything he had and throwing stuff everywhere. He liked to keep his room looking like a tornado just went through it. He climbed carefully into the hammock, the excitement he was feeling a far cry from the fear and anxiety he was feeling on the plane right over. Without even realizing it, he slipped into sleep, listening to gentle patter of rain on the trailer roof.
 Pamplemousse Grenouille · Sun Aug 19, 2007 @ 09:28pm · 1 Comments |
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