The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(47)

‘What were you guys thinking, messing with Jack? That guy has been acting weird lately,’ Liam said, while we helped Lincoln recover.

Mariah stepped up to Lincoln, and placed her hand on his shoulder. ‘That was brave of you, Lincoln. Thank you.’

Lincoln’s face turned a crimson red.

I was next. As I dreamily observed her delicate features, she gazed at me in the eyes and said, ‘Thank you, Ted.’

I averted my eyes. ‘No problem.’ In the next instant, she touched my shoulder, sending an electric tingling running up and down my body.

‘Bye bye,’ she waved. Mariah’s mom arrived and like that, the object of my crush was gone. We had to act fast with what we had left. There was a chance to invite Liam to our group, and I wasn’t going to miss it. To my chagrin, Liam started walking toward Fun Haven.

‘Ted, why didn’t you stop Jack?’ Lincoln asked me, while he rubbed his nose that was probably stinging from the blow.

Now was not a time to discuss old battles. We had to get Liam.

‘Hold on, Lincoln,’ I said, and he understood the delay. I ran after Liam before he entered the building. ‘Liam, do you work here?’ I asked in a rush. He stopped and looked at me.

‘I sure do, they hired me to keep control of this outside area. I am supposed to keep kids from loitering,’ he said as he pointed up to the No Loitering sign hanging over his head. ‘If you don’t need anything else I will just get back to work. I get off at six.’

I checked my watch. ‘In about fifteen minutes.’ I looked up at him. ‘Didn’t you work at Miller Industrial?’

‘Yeah, that job was lame,’ he said.

‘I want to invite you over to my house for dinner. You finish soon. Then you can just ride home with me and Lincoln.’

‘No thanks, I would not want to impose. Besides, you have not even asked your parents yet.’

‘Liam, what you did for us back there was awesome. No one ever looks out for us, but you did. Please come over to my house for dinner, I insist.’

Lincoln quickly added, ‘We owe it to ya.’

Upon reflection, Liam accepted my invitation and walked back inside the building to finish his shift. We called Dan from the pay phone to see if he could help us out in recruiting Liam, but his mom told us he wasn’t home at the moment.

Liam was unique. He was number one on a short list of gifted individuals. He was adeptly equipped with fortitude, compassion, and obvious physical superiority. We had to try.

We next phoned my grandpa to pick us up, and in twenty minutes, he arrived. ‘Hey grandpa, is it okay if Lincoln comes over for dinner?’

‘Not a problem. We’re used to him chowing over at our place.’

I tested my grandpa further, pushing his boundaries. ‘And my friend Liam too?’ I asked.

My grandpa spun around with a disconcerted expression. ‘McCaffrey? I told you to drop that. I’m on the verge of a major breakthrough with my research. I don’t want to be disturbed.’

Picking up his cue, Lincoln backed me up. He said, ‘I know how you feel, Marv.’ Lincoln didn’t know my grandpa’s last name, so he winged it. ‘I think what Ted means is that we owe him one. You see, Liam saved us tonight from getting our butts kicked by Jack Winters.’

‘Please grandpa, it is the least we could do for him, I will not mention anything about what we talked about earlier, and we will stay out of your hair. I promise.’

‘Will I have to call this Jack Winters’ parents, or did you boys handle it like gentleman?’

‘No it is fine. We handled it, so can Liam come for dinner?’

My grandpa thought briefly, then said yes, and I went to fetch Liam from inside.

We were now three strong. We all hopped into my grandpa’s tan car. The seats were leather and were cold to the touch. It took at least five minutes to warm up to them. We finally ended up at home, and dinner was just about ready for us when we arrived in the kitchen.

‘Grandma, this is Liam McCaffrey. He helped us out with a bully tonight, and we invited him to dinner to thank him. I hope you don’t mind.’

‘Well, luckily I had extra, next time you and grandpa need to ask me first. I am glad the older kids are looking out for the younger kids. It is a fine line, Liam. If you are not careful when you get involved in a situation, you may become the bully yourself. I appreciate you helping these boys. I hope you like liver,” she said.

Liver. My face fell. I should’ve been able to tell from the odor that greeted my nose when I entered the kitchen. Of all the meals that I could have invited Liam over for, this was definitely the worst. I hoped that wouldn’t deter Liam later on.

As we ate, I looked over at my friends, and I noticed we had an agreement with our eyes of disgust, while we gnashed at the dry “delicacy.”

Even though the food was gross, the company was great and one could see by the looks on our faces that we were laughing inside about the dish. Dinner was quick. I think we all figured the faster we ate, the quicker it might be over. We fled to my bedroom to chat.

‘Liam, there is a different reason why we brought you here. You have to promise you will not freak out when we tell you,’ I said.

‘Yeah, you have to promise, at least listen. Maybe I should do the talking this time, Ted,’ Lincoln added.