It was well known that Ben and Gwen looked up to Ken and he couldn't say enough about how much they meant to him. He tried hard to be a good role model for them. Of course less was made of the man that Ken admired and aspired to emulate. It was his paternal Grandfather Max. His parents knew this of course so they were a little surprised when he turned down the chance to spend the whole summer with him, his cousin and his sister.
They weren't too surprised though. They knew his reasoning, and they approved. Ken knew that his grandpa had served in the Air Force and he wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Ken had joined the Civil Air Patrol and didn't want to miss anytime with them. Also, although it wasn't his idea of a fun summer, he was taking summer classes. He wanted to make sure his academic record would be good enough to get him into the Air Force Academy.
Summer school might be less than exciting but CAP was as much fun as anything he could think of to do over summer. There was a lot of work but he'd learned so many interesting things. He had learned about radio traffic and Morse code. He was learning about air traffic control and, with his parents' permission, he was learning to fly. He might even get to go up in an F-16, as a passenger of course. That prospect excited him to the point that he was having a hard time sleeping at night.
Of course he missed Ben and Gwen, or as he had started calling them, the minions, and grandpa. But he was having a good summer and grandpa seemed pleased at his endeavors, maybe he was a minion to, with the concern he had about his grandpa's opinion.
He found out one day that his parents were expecting a guest. His Maternal grandmother, Mildred, would be visiting for a couple of weeks. A few days later she Ken's father went to the airport to pick her up. When she came to the door and Lilly let her in, grandma greeted her daughter with a gentle hug and commented on how pretty she was. Mildred was a perfect Norman Rockwell image of a grandmother. She had white hair, a sweet face and a kind voice. Who wouldn't want this woman for grandma? She then turned to Ken and said "And would such a stout young man as yourself bring my bags in for me?"
He smiled. "Sure grandma." He got her bags and took them to the guest room for her. When he returned down stairs he found his mom and grandma were talking and enjoying their reunion. At supper they talked mostly about the legal cases that his dad was working on and about the retirement home that grandma lived in.
Later that evening it was just Ken and his grandma in the living room. She asked him. "So, what have you and your sister been up to since I saw you last?"
"Well, school of course. And this summer Gwen and our cousin Ben are on a road trip with Grandpa Max."
"Oh yes, I think I met him, last Christmas wasn't it. He seems nice enough. I'm glad you're here with me but why didn't you go along?"
"I've got other things to do. I'm trying to get into the Air Force Academy when I graduate."
"That's a wonderful choice. What grade will you be going into?"
"I'm about to turn 14 and I'll be starting my freshman year of high school."
"And what interested you in the service?"
"Grandpa did, he was in the Air Force when he was younger and I want to follow in his footsteps."
"He must be very proud."
"I hope so." Ken then went into all of the reasons he admired his grandpa so much. And all of the traits he wanted to emulate. His grandma was pleased that he had so much respect for his grandfather. It was her opinion that the younger generation just saw their elders as useless old men and women.
Mildred was impressed with the kind of man Max apparently was, at least in the eyes of his grandson. Then she decided maybe she would tell him a little about the other side of his family.
"Your paternal grandfather sounds like quite a man. And your father is certainly a very good man. But you know you have some interesting history on your mother's side too."
Ken was intrigued, he didn't know much about his mom's side of the family, and maybe he had gone overboard talking about grandpa.
"Really, tell me about it."
That seemed to please her. She continued. "Some of the people in your family were very special. They had unusual powers."
"What do you mean?"
"Ah, well, let's just say it frightened some people, and delighted others."
"How so?"
"Some of your ancestors through history could perform magic."
"Really," Ken was skeptical but he would listen. One of his teachers once told him that most legends and superstations had some basis in truth. Either way he thought they would both enjoy her story.
"Yes, I know you probably don't believe me but some of them could. I was told that it came from an ancestor, that to traced all the way back to Merlin himself. One of your ancestors was hanged as a witch in the early colonies. Another was respected as a healer among her community, and one was royalty and could command the elements of winter."
They continued to talk until grandma got tired. Well, I'll have some interesting stories for Gwen when she gets back. Ken thought.
The rest of the summer went by and soon it was time for Gwen and Ben to return. The rustbucket pulled up to the Tennyson house. Gwen came in and greeted her parents she seemed happy to see them but it seemed to Ken that something was wrong.
"Hi there cute stuff, so, how was your summer?"
"It was good; we…did a lot of stuff."
Why is she hesitating to tell me about her road trip? I expected her to be bursting at the seams to tell me about it. Ken thought. Then he responded, "Well, I had an active summer. "He told her about flying lessons and getting to ride in an F-16. Then he told her about the visit from their grandma.
"Wow, I'm sorry I missed her, she's so nice." Gwen still seemed districted and kind of sad.
"What's wrong Gwen?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I guess it's just that summers over, you know, going back to school."
Going back to school bothered Gwen? Yup, something was wrong.
He continued to tell her about his summer. Maybe he could get her to open up.
"I had an interesting talk with grandma. She told me about a very interesting family history. According to her, some of our ancestors could do magic." Ken told Gwen all about grandma's stories. She seemed very interested.
Gwen thought, that might answer some of my questions, now if some could answer why I miss the dweeb so much already.
Latter grandpa came to take Gwen to a karate match.
"Hold up, I'll come along to cheer you on."
"I'd like that Ken. Let's go."
They got into the rust bucket. Ken decided to do a little probing.
"How about we see if Ben would like to go?"
For some reason she really liked that idea. "Great idea, Grandpa Can we stop at his house?" Then she felt compelled to add, the dweeb probably won't go to anything that doesn't focus on him though."
"Really, it seems to me like he's changed some since the last time I saw him."
"Yeah, maybe, we'll ask if he wants to go." I hope he does. She thought.
They arrived at Ben's house to find Uncle Carl standing in front of what was left of his home. Max got out.
"What happened?"
"This thing came after us. It wanted that watch Ben has. Then Ben changed into something. Dad, what's going on here? I know you know something about this."
"We'll tell you on the way, which way did they go?"
Carl pointed and got in the rustbucket. Gwen explained what happened over the summer. Was she just being paranoid or was there something in Ken's expression that conveyed hurt that she didn't trust him enough to tell him the truth until she had to.
After explaining what was happening and listening to Carl complain about grandpa's secrets and constant absence, they arrived where the fight was happening. Grandpa handed plumber weapons to her, Carl and Ken and they went out to help Ben.
After the fight was over and Vilgax was dead…maybe, they went back to Gwen's house to tell her parents what was going on. They called Aunt Sandra to tell her and arrange for Ben's family to stay with them until the house could be rebuilt. Both Gwen and Ben seemed to like the idea of his staying at her place for a while, although neither would admit it.
Gwen's dad and uncle were angry with Max but Ken just thought that his grandpa was way cooler that he had even imagined. He no longer wanted to join the Air Force; he wanted to be a plumber, grandpa's kind of plumber.
The next day at school Ben and Gwen found out what they had expected, the summer was over but there battles were not, and may never be. But they would fight them together. After the fight with Dr. Animo they were actually complimenting each other about how they handled the fight.
"So uh, anyway, you did good." Ben hesitated. "I'm glad to have you for a partner."
"Thanks Ben, I'm glad to be your partner."
They were both unsure about what they were feeling toward each other but they would figure that out in time. For now they walked home, hand in hand.