Day 17. Tree/The Secret, secret launch chute.
Lucy always despaired at Scott's daredevil tendencies, but really, there was only one person she could blame for them.
Jeff. It was all Jeff's fault. All of it.
She cleaned and bandaged up another pair of grazed knees and hands while Scott rabbited on at quite a speed, fast enough that she was already at a loss as to what he was talking about. Lucy caught the odd word but all that really came across was how eager Scott was to get back out there.
'Hang on, Scott. You're not going anywhere now. It will be dinner soon and you've already hurt yourself enough for one day.' She smiled as she said that to take the sting out of her words, and Lucy discretely bit her lip to stop laughing at the forlorn look on her eldest son's face and the pout. 'No, Scott. I mean it. No more going out today. Why don't you go get John and Virgil and wash up for dinner?'
Scott brightened a little and she watched him hop down and race of out of the room and thunder up the stairs. Lucy shook her head. That boy could never do anything slow, and she grinned as the door opened and Jeff's voice rang out: 'Woah! slow down, Scott, before you have an accident!' Whereupon Jeff was then subjected to the reason why there were Band-Aid's over his knees. From her husband's one-word answers Lucy surmised that Jeff had no better idea what Scott was talking about than she had.
Jeff came into the kitchen alone, straight up to Lucy and hugged her from behind. She smacked his wrist where it was straying to snag a chip, not needing to turn to see the pout that would be almost identical to the one Scott subjected her to not fifteen minutes ago. Lips brushed her ear and she laughed.
'Where are the boys?'
'Scott's gone to get them.'
'And Gordon?'
'Still out with your Mom. He'll not be back for another hour.'
'Do you know what Scott was up to? He tried to tell me, but his voice was faster than his feet for once.'
'Nope. I've no idea, I was hoping you could translate for me.'
They didn't find out for another three days.
Whatever exciting thing Scott had found to do that day after school, it wasn't away from the large back yard as he came quite quickly when called. So the next day and the day after, Lucy didn't really worry what Scott was up to, as long as he was within calling distance and had completed his homework before he went out and played.
The second day he'd managed to persuade Virgil to join him, and the two sported identical scuffed knees and hands. But Virgil was enjoying whatever it was they were doing, so once again Lucy trusted that they were fine. John flatly refused to go, but that was typical behaviour and didn't raise any flags either.
No, it was Virgil, screaming at the top of his lungs that he'd killed Scotty that finally caused Lucy to find out what was going on.
It was Friday, so homework was rushed in an effort to have more time for whatever they were messing around with, and Scott and Virgil disappeared as usual after the obligatory invite to John which was turned down. This time Gordon asked to join in, and Lucy listened carefully to see what her boys would say.
Scott didn't miss a beat, agreeing immediately that the Fish could join in only if he behaved himself and did what he was told. Gordon, as was his custom, swore he would be good. All three boys knew he wouldn't, but at least he would try. Virgil grumbled a bit but didn't say anything to stop him, and all three disappeared out the back, Lucy watching until they were out of sight.
They appeared to be heading for the treehouse. When they had moved to the farmhouse just before Virgil was born, Jeff had insisted that they have a treehouse, even if Scott would be the only one who used it. Lucy hadn't been keen – envisioning so, so many broken bones for her reckless eldest, but so far Scott had not broken anything falling out of it. (Breaking bones from jumping off other things, however…)
Jeff and Lee had set up the treehouse one summer and now, six years later, it was still standing. Lee had popped over about three weeks ago, while they had been away for the last of summer break, and had reinforced the structure. Jeff had been ecstatic over the changes, but Lucy hadn't really had the time to go and examine it closely, being almost four months pregnant with their fifth child.
She was woken from her reverie by the piercing screams of her middle and fourth children, and she dropped everything and bolted out the kitchen door, John hot on her heels. Virgil was charging up the path to meet them, tears pouring and babbling something about Scott being dead. Heart in her mouth, Lucy ran to where she could hear Gordon screaming his brother's name over and over.
Scott was on his back on the ground and unmoving, Gordon was kneeling beside him, shaking him by the shoulder, as Lucy arrived and fell to her knees. Virgil hung back, and from the corner of her eye she noticed John pull him into a hug. Checking Scott over, there didn't seem too much wrong with him other than a lump on the back of his head which was probably the reason he was unconscious. She sighed in relief.
Beckoning John and Virgil over, the four of them sat beside Scott as she explained that he wasn't dead, just in a kind of sleep. And then she asked what had happened. Gordon and Virgil exchanged glances, both looking guilty, and Virgil got up.
'It would be better if you moved Scott out of the way, Mom,' he said, and he made his way to the treehouse, some 18 feet away. Mystified, but wary, Lucy gently picked Scott up – and thank goodness the boy was so light – and settled him on her lap hopefully out of the way of whatever Virgil was up to. John settled next to her, Gordon sitting with him and holding his hand.
She didn't have long to wait. Virgil waved at her from the top of the treehouse and then disappeared.
Lucy could hear him before she could see him, whooping loudly as suddenly Virgil shot out from the tree at about her waist height, and literally flew across the small area, landing just short of where Scott had been. What on earth? She was aware that her mouth was hanging open, and suddenly a lot of things clicked into place.
Gordon now found his voice, and in a speed even faster than Scott's had been, he began to tell her about the…slide. It was a slide. And a…secret entrance? Lucy closed her eyes and pinched her nose.
Scott chose this moment to groan and regain consciousness, and all were very relieved when he sat himself up. His eyes were sparkling and he tried to stand, only for Lucy to stop him.
'Wait a minute, Scott. You've had a nasty blow to the head.'
He seemed surprised at that, and the words caused both Virgil and Gordon to tear up again. Lucy opened her arms and both boys ran in to them, a three-person hug with Scott in the middle and John looking on, slightly amused.
'I thought I'd killed you!' Virgil gasped out.
'Killed me? Why?'
'I dared you to go head first and then you didn't wake up!'
Ok, that explained the screaming and the death confession, she thought. All Lucy needed to do now was to work out what the hell was going on in the treehouse. There was nothing for it, she needed to climb and see it for herself. Fortunately, she was not suffering this evening, and the climb was smooth, even if slower than her boys. John and Scott had stayed on the ground while Virgil and Gordon showed her around.
There was a new addition to the treehouse. In one corner was a space capsule door, and no, she didn't want to know how Lee had managed to smuggle that out of NASA. Above it was a sign carved out of the wood:
The Secret, Secret Launch Chute.
Don't tell your parents
Opening the door led to the beginnings of a slide, carefully installed in the large tree trunk and obviously the exit of which she'd witness Virgil shoot out of. No wonder Scott loved it – it was the closest to flying he was going to get at his age.
Sometimes Lucy forgot that Jeff was not the only reckless one. He had a partner in crime that was just as bad as he was.
If Jeff thought he was in for a treat, being Friday and all that, he had another thing coming if he had known all about this…