Superman: Dawnbreaker (DC Icons #4)(25)

“Oh, God, Clark,” Jonathan said, visibly upset. “Why didn’t you tell me right away? Did you call the police?”

“I wanted to talk to you first.”

His dad whirled around, looking all over the farm. “I noticed something odd about the hay rolls this morning. And the hogs seemed on edge. But I never suspected—” He grabbed Clark by the elbows. “Are you all right? Did they try and harm you?”

Clark shrugged. “I managed to scare them off.”

Jonathan let go of Clark and turned toward the barn. “They broke the padlock. Were they able to get inside?”

“They never made it inside,” Clark said. He knew his dad would react this way to the intrusion. But he hadn’t dragged Jonathan out here in the middle of the night just to tell him about the trespassing. Clark wanted to get answers about the barn. And what was hidden in there. But now that he was standing here with his dad, he wasn’t sure he was ready for the truth. Not if it was something major that he’d be forced to deal with. He had so many other things on his plate right now. Like all his finals at school. And the new powers he seemed to have very little control over.

“How’d you get them to leave?” his dad asked.

“I came at them with the front-end loader.” Clark paused, staring at his dad through the darkness. “Is there anything I should know about the barn?” he asked vaguely.

Jonathan stared at Clark for a long, awkward stretch. At one point he nodded to himself. But seconds later he sighed and began shaking his head in an exaggerated manner. “Son, your mom and I…,” he began. “All we’ve ever wanted is what’s best for you.”

Clark turned away, filled with trepidation. “I know that.”

Jonathan got quiet again. He glanced over at the barn, then turned to Clark and opened his mouth, like he was going to say something.

“I’m sorry, Dad,” Clark said, beating him to the punch. This whole conversation was a mistake, he now realized. “It’s the middle of the night. I shouldn’t have pulled you all the way out here to tell you what happened.”

“You wanted to show me how they were digging inside the crater,” his dad said, seemingly happy to back out of some deeper conversation they’d been skirting around.

Clark nodded. “Yeah, I just…I never imagined seeing thieves on our property like that.”

Jonathan nodded and patted Clark on the shoulder. “Let’s go on back to the house. Get some sleep. I’ll call the police first thing in the morning. Once we get to the bottom of that part, we can talk about anything else on your mind. That sound okay?”

Clark nodded. “You go ahead. I’m gonna stay out here a little longer.”

“You sure?” His dad looked at him like he wanted to say more, but he didn’t. He just stood there awkwardly, a pained expression on his face. “Okay,” he said. Then he turned and started back to the farmhouse, leaving Clark alone in the dark.





Clark managed to avoid any heavy conversations with his dad over the next few days. There were so many other things to focus on. He spent his free time studying for his finals and racking his brain about Dr. Wesley and his wall of photos. And how those photos might relate to the men he’d caught trespassing on his farm. And the interview he and Lana had had with Montgomery Mankins.

He considered going back into the barn on his own. But every time the thought crossed his mind, he found a reason to put it off. He didn’t even understand why.

On Friday night, Lana picked Clark up at the end of his long driveway just after dark and drove them across town. After taking several narrow roads, they pulled down the uneven dirt path that led to the Joneses’ farm, one of the oldest farms in Smallville. They parked among a sea of other cars.

Clark stepped out of Lana’s car wearing his only black button-down shirt and a freshly washed pair of jeans. Lana wore a black sundress with a pair of faded skinny jeans underneath. Throughout the week, the party had been the focus of every school conversation Clark had been part of. The Jones Farm Funeral, everyone was calling it. Half the junior and senior classes were expected to be there, and everyone was supposed to wear black, as if they were attending an actual funeral.

Clark was hit with a sudden bout of nerves as he spied the bonfire blazing high above the heads of his classmates, partying near the cornfields. Music spilled from the nearby farmhouse, and he could see several silhouettes through the thin white curtains. It had been a while since Clark had gone to a party like this. Way back during freshman year, when his teammates would drag him out. He hoped he’d remember how to act.

“Clark!” someone shouted from behind them.

He turned and found Bryan and Lex closing the doors of Lex’s red sports car, parked a few rows back in the field. They jogged over to catch up to Lana and Clark.

“Nice look,” Bryan said, motioning toward Clark’s black button-down.

“This is all the black I own,” Clark said.

“I figured.” Bryan wasn’t very dressed up himself. He had on a faded black sweatshirt and black jeans. Lex, on the other hand, was dressed to impress. He was wearing a pair of black designer jeans and a dark gray button-down tucked in under a black blazer. Black aviator sunglasses—even though it was night.

“This is my best friend, Lana,” Clark said. “Lana, meet Bryan and Lex.”