So this chapter is a bit different then the others! But I hope you like it anyway!
The group of tourists stood rather impatiently in the entry hall leading up to the museum. Billy was marveled by the portraits of the men lining the walls. He chanced a look over at his older sister, she was too focused on her cell phone to even take any notice of the portraits. Mom and Dad were whispering among themselves, they were the only ones minus Billy who seemed to be fascinated by the pictures.
Their tour guide was late, as was the last group who had gone through. It looked rather larger on the outside, even if the island resort was quite big on the outside as well.
His focus was drawn to the portrait of a blonde boy. He couldn't have been much older then himself, he was wearing a yellow striped uniform, and he was much younger then the other members of the organization in the other portraits. He felt another person standing behind him, looking over his shoulder he found his mom standing there, smiling at the portrait as if he was someone she knew.
Billy doubted it, but he couldn't be too sure, Mom knew everyone.
"Do you know who this is Billy?"
The youth shook his head, being only seven, he still had a hard time reading. Mom seemed to understand his dilemma and placed a warm hand on his shoulder.
"This is a portrait of one of the original pilots of the 'Birds,"
Mom paused, but Billy already knew that, the ink in the portrait and the layout itself was outdated.
"His name is Alan Tracy"
Billy's head snapped up to his moms, but she was too focused on the portrait. Her eyes were shining over with something, Billy wasn't really good at reading people just yet. Although, he did notice how her hand seemed to go up to rub her fingers over the necklace she wore, the one that had been in the family as long as Billy could remember.
"How was he one of the pilots? How old is he? Like twelve"
Sandy, having heard her mom talking to Billy about the portrait, had finally put her phone away to come closer and hear what she was saying. Dad came up behind her, blue eyes shining in the light as his smile spoke unspoken volumes of memories.
"No sweety, he was fourteen, the youngest operator."
Before they could ask any more questions, like how their parents knew this, the door on the other side finally opened and their tour guide finally emerged. She had that smile that most museum tour guides had when they knew that they were late and were trying to appease to the tourists good sides.
"Alrighty then, Sorry I was late Lady's and Gentleman, if you would please follow me down this way right here, we can begin our tour of the Island."
Billy took his moms hand as they began to walk through the door, the nice tour guide lady smiling brightly as they passed. Looking up, real quick, before they walked right under it, Billy was able to see the sign.
Thunderbirds Are Go!
The tour guide lead them down the hall and had them gather in the main room which looked much like on of the living rooms that mom had pictures of in her vintage Home's and Garden's magazines. There was an open glass door that gave them the perfect view of the crystal clear skies and the blue ever lasting ocean. Red couches sat in a semi circle around the room, a old television set sitting off in a corner.
It was a living room, that much Billy knew.
The tour guide gestured them to attention, and with the same smile on her features, told them about the room they were standing in.
"What we are in now is the Family Room. Over here," She motioned to a separate door off to the side, "Is a door that leads down to the pools on the lower level of the patio, where on nice days, and some rainy, Gordon Tracy could be found. Please do take a few minutes to take a look around, but please try to refrain from touching anything"
The group dispersed after that. Billy practically drug his mom to the center, where a table littered with items sat, he looked at the pictures and the papers. One picture was of a red head, Gordon Tracy, and the same boy from the portrait outside, Alan Tracy. They had grins that mom liked to call the 'trouble maker' grin. He looked at the picture with a weird expression when he noticed the blue stuff covering them. Billy moved on to what looked like an essay. Another was a painting of the sunset over the house.
Billy followed his mom to the open glass doors, she was staring out over the ocean, smiling.
"Mom?"
She jumped a bit, before she realized that it was Billy standing next to her. She lightly put her arm around the young boys shoulder's, drawing him into her side.
"Look at it all Billy. Isn't it beautiful?"
Billy nodded.
The tour guide called them back over as they made ready to move on to their next part of the house. She lead them up a set of strange stairs, that cut off into the mountain and became a natural walkway. Once they were at the top, Billy was surprised to see that their next stop on the tour was a set of bedrooms.
Six to be precise.
"Now, lovely people, we are at the living quarters, or what some might call bedrooms, of the Tracy Family. It goes down in order, mostly, first with the father, Jeff Tracy's room. Next is the eldest son's room, Scott. After that was Virgil's, but sources tell us that sometime after moving to their island home, Virgil had switched rooms with his brother Gordon. So after Scott's room is Gordon's. After Gordon is Virgil. Next down from Virgil was John, and last but certainly not least was the youngest, Alan's bed room."
Billy took a moment to peak into Scott's room as the guide rattled on and on. His eye wandered about, taking in everything.
"Please do take a few minutes to look into the rooms, and meet back up here in lets say ten minutes"
Billy was still looking into Scott's room when mom came up behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders. Something caught his eye, and he was instantly confused. An old United States Air Force Uniform was neatly folded up on the bed. Billy turned his head to look up at his mom.
"Mom, why does Scott have a military uniform? Wasn't he always pilot of Thunderbird One?"
His mom laughed softly, shaking her head as she did.
"No sweety, before he was a Thunderbird, Scott Tracy served two tours in the United States Air Force. Do you see that model airplane on the shelf," Billy followed his moms finger to the model airplane on the shelf/windowsill, "That's a model of the plane he flew"
Billy nodded and walked with his mom, holding her hand as they went, over to the next room. There was an Olympic Medal hanging around a lamp. Swimming trunks were everywhere, and what must have been a prized giant stuffed squid hanging in a net about the bed. The window was open and Billy could hear the ocean from here. He giggled at the SpongeBob bedspread and at the poster that hung on the wall that said "Casa Da Merman".
Next was a room full of doctors books and art supplies. On the walls were posters and paintings. On the desk next to the door, Billy saw what was the beginning of another portrait, this one of a little baby girl with the name of Lucy. He frowned a little when it came to his mind that it was merely half way done, and that the artist must have died before he could finish it.
"That Billy, is Lucy Marie Lola Tracy, Great Great Grand Niece of Virgil Tracy"
Billy looked down at it once more. It was beautiful.
The room after that was different. Plastic glow in the dark stars, much like the ones Billy had hanging in his room, hung from the ceiling twirling in the wind. There was a couple telescopes near the window, star maps on the walls. On the dresser, Billy saw what was a retirement document in a frame, from NASA. He giggled again when he saw the silly alien bedspread.
The last room, belonging to Alan Tracy, was like any other teenager's bedroom. The floor was messy. The bed wasn't kept. Clothes were everywhere. Billy saw an old book laying on the desk, he couldn't read the title and it was too far that he figured mom probably couldn't either. On the windowsill was three NASCAR trophies, ranging in placing. Three surfboards of varying sizes sat haphazardly against the wall. A silly race car bed spread was on the untidy bed.
Billy frowned when he noticed the picture of the dark haired girl, and Alan, on the night stand. As far as he knew, there hadn't been any Tracy sisters. Tugging on his moms arm, he pointed it out to her. She smiled that smile again.
"That, dear, is Tin Tin Kyrano, she was Alan's childhood friend and later his girlfriend and then much much later his wife"
Billy nodded, turning to make his way back when the tour guide called for them.
"And now Lady's and Gentleman, we are heading into the main attraction of our tour, the famous silo that held the original Thunderbird's. Please remain on the platform at all times."
With that being said, they were lead through the doors and into the silo. Billy was left awestruck at the largeness of the actual Thunderbirds, they were way bigger in person then in the books at school. His favorite one was Thunderbird 3, Billy liked rockets. He was a bit saddened that they weren't allowed to stop and get closer looks, but kept moving along with the crowd any way.
They walked out into another room, that might have been added on when the Home had been discovered by the historians, on the far wall was a single portrait.
"And this is where we leave off, here on this wall is the last portrait ever made before the last of the Tracy family left to Island. Thank you all for coming, I hope you had a funtastic time!"
And she was gone.
Billy got up closer to the portrait, mom and dad and Sandy walking up with him. He squinted at one of the new born babies that a women next to an elderly Tin Tin and Alan Tracy had seen some pictures of that baby in pictures mom had.
"Mom, you have pictures of her!"
His mom nodded her head, smiling that smile again.
"Billy, Sandy, that baby you are looking at is your great great great great great grandma, Ruthanne Lee Tracy"
Billy gasped.
SOOO! I hope you liked it!
Update: Alright so as I promised, another chapter! I am however, very sad to say that I had a second one after this that I had almost 3000 words on and my dumb laptop deleted it.. I screamed some very unlady-like words and maybe cried a bit, but I promise that it will not take me so long to update this time!