Chapter 3 - Secrets Revealed

In response to the question about the title, I believe that "A Thousand Miles" was the original title and that the one that had been mentioned in the reviews was used when the story was re-published by the same author on Nick.com. So both titles are correct.

This chapter may be short as it is the second part of what was originally going to be a single chapter

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When Otto got up on Saturday, his mind instantly returned to Amy's letter. Something was definitely wrong and he was somewhat concerned. Hoping that it was nothing, he decided to write back and to ask her what was happening. But before he could pull out another sheet of paper, a voice called him from outside.

"Yo Otto! You and Reg wanna go to Madtown with Squid and me?"

Otto thought for a moment. On one hand, he really wanted to solve the letter mystery. On the other hand, Otto Rocket rarely ever turned down a chance to skate or to surf. "Bah, the letter can wait," he thought. "It's not gonna get there any sooner anyway." He ran down to Reggie to extend the invitation, to which she gladly accepted. Both siblings then walked out the side door to the garage and grabbed their gear.

As usual, Otto went straight for the halfpipe, trying to impress his friends and the tourists with his skill. And boy was he talented. In the three years since Sam had moved in, he had won at least 8 skating contests and barely missed qualifying for the X-Games, which would have made him one of the event's youngest participants. Today he wasn't as successful as he usually was. He wiped out a few times. While nobody was perfect, Twister had been around Otto enough to know that Otto beefed more often when something was on his mind. Not wanting to bother Otto, however, he decided to wait until they were done for the day before talking to him.

Finally, after several hours and a few scrapes on Otto's arms and legs, the group packed up and headed for the Shore Shack, where Ray was working. At this time, Twister spoke up.

"O-man, you beefed it a lot today."

A sarcastic and somewhat irritated Otto replied, "Thanks, bro. Like I didn't know that."

Twister quickly tried to defend himself: "It's not that. Uh, I just noticed that, and well, uh, I though that something might be ruining your concentration. Is everything OK?"

By that time, the group had arrived at the Shore Shack and had assumed their regular places at the counter. "It's Amy," Otto finally confessed. "I wrote to her last weekend and got a reply."

"That's great, Otto. Glad you found her," Sam cut in. "But why are you still distracted?"

"Something doesn't seem right," explained Otto as he produced the folded letter from his pocket. "Look at the handwriting."

The three passed the letter around, each taking a look at its contents.

"Geez, that handwriting is worse than mine," Twister joked, only to be silenced by a sneer from Otto.

After Sam read the letter, he offered his analysis: "Hmmm. I think you might have something, Otto. I just can't put my finger on it."

Finally, Reggie took a glance at it (although she had already read it over Sam's shoulder). "That doesn't look like the Amy I knew. I wonder what's happening?"

"Well," Otto announced, "I'm gonna get to the bottom of this. I want to write to her and somehow ask her about the handwriting."

"OK, but be careful that you don't offend her. That may be a sensitive issue to her," warned his sister. She often provided the voice of reason for him, but sometimes she seemed too much like a mother and less like a sister.

"Will you help me then?" asked Otto.

"Sure, Rocket Boy. What are siblings for? Besides, she was my friend, too"

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That night, Otto and Reggie sat down in the living room. Being the talented young journalist, she gave Otto suggestions on how to word everything, and Otto applied them on paper. By the time Reggie proofread the letter, this is what it looked like:

Hey Amy,

It's such a relief to know that I was able to find you. Sucks to hear that you can't surf in Michigan. At least you have learned how to ski, and someday I'll have to teach you how to snowboard. It's just like skateboarding, but there are no wheels. We went down to the local skatepark today (which opened a while after you left). It's a pretty cool place with a bowl, a halfpipe, rails for grinding, and a tunnel under the Pier. I'm training for my next competition in April. I can't wait, although I'm running out of room on my bookshelf for all my trophies.

"Good grief," thought Reggie as she read that line. He couldn't even resist bragging to his long-lost friend.

Anyway, I wanted to ask you something, and I hope I don't offend you by asking. I noticed when I got your letter that your handwriting looked a little funny. I was able to read it, but the letters weren't straight and it looked unsteady. I am hoping that you are OK. Even though we are far away from each other, I'm still here for you if you need to talk. Please write soon.

Otto

"That's the best you'll be able to do. Only time will tell," assured Reggie as Otto sealed the envelope for delivery.

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A week passed by with no word from Amy. Otto became concerned. He checked the mail every day after school, hoping to see a letter addressed to him with a Michigan postmark. Unfortunately, nothing came. He feared that he had offended her by asking about the handwriting, making her refuse to ever speak to him again. "Me and my big mouth," he thought.

Finally, the last school day before Spring Break arrived. At the end of the day, everyone ran out of the school, excited to be free for 10 full days. Otto, Reggie, Sam, and Twister were equally excited. Otto planned on going home, but Twister had stopped him in the hall earlier, asking him to help with his next skate video. Otto really wanted to go home first, but Twister wanted to get it done before any tourists came, so Otto agreed to help film it right after school. Everyone else went to watch. After a few hours, as Twister was shooting the final stunts, Reggie decided to go home to put her stuff away; she wanted to go surfing later on since it was a beautiful day. She put her skates on and started for home.

On the way in the house, she took the mail from the mailbox. She then walked inside and put the mail down on the kitchen table, beginning to sort through it. The first thing that caught her eye was the new issue of Surfer Magazine. She began to peruse it, checking out the latest products, the newest young surfers, and results from various surfing competitions. She knew that one day Otto would be in the pages of this magazine and others, if he had it his way.

After putting the magazine down, she noticed that Otto had received a letter from Amy. She felt a sense of relief for Otto, but she was just as curious as he was as to what was up with her. Hoping that Otto wouldn't walk in, she carefully opened the letter and walked toward the stairs. Just as she unfolded the letter, the side door opened and Otto walked in.

"Hey sis," he called. He then noticed the letter in her hands. "Is that my letter in your hands!? It better not be. Why are you looking at my stuff? Why couldn't you wait until I--"

"Oh my God," Reggie whispered audibly, cutting off her brother's ranting. Otto then looked at his sister. Her eyes were glued to whatever the letter had written in it. Her face began to lose some of its color and Otto noticed that tears were forming in her eyes. He did not know that what she was reading had brought back memories...memories of a sad and turbulent past from 10 years ago.

"What's it say? What's it say? Tell me!" he demanded.

"She's got...she's got..." she managed to speak. The shock was too much and she could not finish her sentence. She blurted out, "I can't say it!" as she shoved the letter in to Otto's hands and ran upstairs to her room, sniffling all the way.

Otto quickly read the letter, trying to make sense of what was going on. His eyes stopped at one particular word early in the letter. Confused and worried, he walked up to Reggie's room and opened it slightly. She was inside, sitting at her desk and crying. In front of her was a picture.

In a somewhat scared tone, Otto asked, "Reggie, what's leukemia?"

"It's cancer, Otto."

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There's the shocker. You'll get to see Amy's letter in the next chapter. What will Otto do now?