Timotheus and his girls x2

by DrWandel

Timotheus Mellark and Timotheus Sinterguth are twin cousins. One of them lives in Panem, the other one in Central Europe, about one century after the final rebellion. Both are shy and kind of nerds and have big troubles finding a girlfriend. However, fate has big plans for them; let's find out how this works out. AU, with references to the real story.

25. Chapter 25 - Strange fog in the hills

Chapter 25: Strange fog in the hills

[September/October 2373 AD – POV Timotheus Mellark]

My twin cousin and I had been attending Finnick՚s wedding in District Four together with the two Heidecker girls, and afterwards we had been visiting the Mammoth caves further north. We had come back right in time for school start, and Rue was with us again during part of most weeks. As she was also starting her 'Konfirmandenunterricht' (like last year of 'Sunday School' in the Lutheran Church in the USA) in Kirchheim on Wednesday afternoons, we sometimes had her around on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Monday morning she simply took the school bus from Kirchheim and walked to our home after school, and mostly on Wednesday noon she took the tram, as there was a stop right next to church and parish hall in Kirchheim. Her grandfather always picked her up with his truck when those lessons were over, and if he wasn't available for reasons, the pastor or the vicar drove some of the kids home.

Rue got along with Ruth splendidly, and only rarely was I called into the girls' room due to a nightmare of hers. Very frequently, though, Rue spent some extra time with me to talk either about scientific topics or about fantasy stories. Specifically in the evenings she loved to immerse herself in a fantasy world with dragons, unicorns, magic, and more, and sometimes we sat together in an easy chair or lay in my bed side by side and pretended to be in such a world. I enjoyed that very much, as I had an active fantasy, just like Rue, but very few few people, specifically adult people, bothered to listen or even contribute; Rue and I were a perfect team for that. Ruth understood this, but her own thoughts were much more focused on real people than on fantasy worlds, and she much preferred to speculate on social relations and such. After many of those discussions, when she was getting tired, she stayed in my bed with me and slept in my arms.

On many weekends I spent time on the Evergreen farm together with Rue and her grandparents, and on those weekends I usually stayed until Sunday afternoon and took Rue to Appacolia with me in my car. When I stayed on the farm, Rue always insisted that I join her in her bed for the nights. That was fine for me, and I actually slept better with her next to me or on top of me in that narrow bed of hers than I slept at home in my wider bed and with my favorite teddy bear. I did not understand why; that was really odd; but that did not keep me from enjoying it. Waking up in the mornings with the little girl so close to me, smelling her hair, and feeling her hot skin warmed my heart and made my soul feel at home; sometimes when she was still asleep I pressed a few soft kisses to her forehead and hair. For now, I just decided to savor it while it lasted; as soon as her puberty started, we'd have to stop doing that for sure, and I already knew that I'd terribly miss it.

As a matter of fact, Rue's grandparents had a talk with me when Rue slept in on one fine Sunday morning in late September, and Mr. Jones told me sternly:

"Mr. Mellark, I hope that you realize that we trust you a lot with our granddaughter. Surely you know that we'd normally never allow a man to sleep in the same bed with her, for obvious reasons. There is the fact, though, that you are one of the very few people who can really help her to sleep well without any nightmares, and Dr. Aurelius has assured us multiple times that it is critical for her to sleep well at least occasionally, and she looks so happy with you around, too."

Yes, of course I had realized that, and I nodded. Mrs. Jones continued in a much softer tone:

"Rue really adores you, and she looks so happy when you are around. Please, do not disappoint her and let her down, and please be careful with her. She does have the body of a nine year old, true, but her mind is much more mature. We don't really know how her brain and her feelings work, but we trust in you to not do inappropriate things with her."

"Mrs. Jones, Mr. Jones, I consider Rue something like my little sister, and I will do my best to be good to her, and you can be assured that I will not misuse the trust you put in me."

Mr. Jones slowly nodded and added:

"I have never before seen a young girl and an adult man share the kind of bond Rue and you seem to have. This is almost supernatural, and maybe except for a baby or toddler reacting to a mother, I am not aware of anything like that. Even married couples rarely show this kind of connection, in my experience. Now, I wonder if we can also ask a favor, please?"

"What would that be?"

"When you find a girlfriend and want to spend more time with that lady, please let us know as soon as you can, so that we can talk about a way to not hurt Rue's feelings. Yes, she may be like your little sister, but she might get jealous nonetheless."

"That I can easily promise. To be honest, based on my record so far, chances for me to find a girlfriend are pretty slim anyway."

I sighed, and Mr. Jones' face got soft:

"Dealing with adult women can be difficult, right?"

I looked at him, with an obvious lack of understanding on my face, and he elaborated:

"Son, don't think that you are the only man in the world finding out about that. There are many men facing similar issues, and not everybody is lucky enough to find the right one sooner or later. I was very lucky to find my love early on, in my late teenage years, and talking came very easy for us. Nonetheless, I have deep sympathy and understanding for those who are not so lucky. So, yes, I understand what you are talking about."

"I am a little bit envious of my brother Peeta" I admitted. "He found the girl of his dreams already at school, and they started to get close when she was still attending elementary school, at a time when she was not even allowed to date yet. They are engaged now, and as far as I know there never was a time when one of them looked anywhere else. Yes, Peeta was laughed at for having a girlfriend a few years younger and for not 'experimenting' with others, but it was the right thing to do in my opinion."

We talked a little more, and I was quite happy that Rue's grandparents were so nice and understanding people. I could also understand their concerns; having an adult male person sharing their granddaughter's bed was of course something which did not normally happen and was not usually permitted, but Rue and I really did have some very special bond, although I did not understand why and how. There was no denying that I seemed to be good for her, and I had to admit that she seemed to be good for me, too. Since I had known Rue, I had a feeling that, lacking better words to describe it, life made more sense than before, and I felt proud and happy about being able to comfort that little girl and help her to find good and undisturbed rest at night. She was really something special, and I was reasonably sure that, whatever happened in the future, she was always going to have a very special place in my life and in my heart.

In early October Mr. Jones had completed the first big field for the winter seeds, another one in addition to the ones which were regularly used. Emmer, the ancient wheat species, would be seeded here, and two more big fields were being prepared for einkorn and triticale, with a target date of end of November at the latest. I spent some time watching the field preparations and the seeding process, and I found it hard to understand that seeding was actually done in fall. Of course, winter in our area was usually quite mild, but wasn't seeding something done in spring? Well, the farmer probably knew what he was doing. Once I talked to Rue about it, and it turned out that she had already familiarized herself with that topic:

"Tim, there are some plants which are better seeded before winter. There is a process called 'vernalization', which implies that a plant's growth benefits significantly by exposure to cold temperatures. The crops we grow are mostly in this category, and this process ensures that the main growth time is in spring and summer. This may be not really required in our climate here, but the seeds we have available derive from temperate climate zones, where this behavior was critical at least in some years."

I had to admit that I looked at the young girl in awe. Her knowledge was incredible, and I was sure that, at least in theory, she already knew as much about farming as her grandfather did, though probably more about the theory, while lacking the practical experience. I was really impressed, and I was proud of her. Rue also mentioned:

"I am not sure if I am supposed to mention that at all, but I don't want to keep any secrets from you. The offer you made to us for financial support to prepare the special seeding effort came right in time."

"In time for what?"

"My grandparents are not rich people, as you know. They don't want me to know about that, but I learned that nonetheless – when I showed up, and specifically with the need to pay for some of my special medicine, which is not fully covered by insurance, they started to struggle, and they were thinking about selling part of the farm land. The additional business with the Mellark bakery and the significant amount of money which was paid upfront helped a lot, you know."

"I was not aware of that, my dear."

"No, you could not have known, but it came at the right time anyway. I so wish that there was a way I could help them more."

A couple of weeks later, in late October, Mr. Jones told me something quite odd:

"A few of my hands do not like to tend the area close to the hills any longer. I have not been there for some time, as this land is good for nothing, as far as I know. People claim that the plot is haunted, and I have heard that some innkeepers warn visitors not to hike in the area, although there are a few nice vista points. I wonder what's going on; would you care to have a look together with me?"

I agreed, and we packed something to drink and eat in backpacks. Rue was staying with her grandmother, and her grandfather and I drove to the area in his pickup truck. Rex was happy about the chance to get somewhere else, and we first climbed onto one of the hills. The vista was indeed nice, and I wondered if this should be added and maybe advertised as a public view point. Mr. Jones did not have a problem with people on this part of his land, as long as they kept away from the fields close to the farmhouse.

Rex ran around, happily exercising his big body, and we decided that this was a good place for a snack, so that we unloaded the content from our backpacks and sat down on a blanket. While we ate, I used the opportunity to ask Mr. Jones about the area, and he explained:

"The land around here had been part of the farm grounds when my great-grandparents settled here. The ground is not very fertile, and there are many hills around, making agriculture difficult anyway. Some people claim that a couple of mines had been active in the area in the early years after the rebellion, but so far I have not seen any traces of such activity. On the other hand, I only rarely come out here, as the farming keeps me quite busy. There is only one of my hands who sometimes patrols the area, just to make sure everything is all right."

When we were done with our meal and got our packs ready, we suddenly heard strange noises from around the next hill. We could not identify what that was, but despite the sunshine around us it sounded somewhat spooky, and we decided to walk over to the next hill. When we were at the top, the noises started again, closer this time, and Mr. Jones looked at me:

"I wish I knew where this is coming from. Maybe the wind blowing through some obstacles?"

I looked around to see if something odd was visible, and I noticed some fog coming up around the hill, from three different directions.

"Fog? Today? Just like this, and from more than one direction?" Mr. Jones looked surprised. "This is not fog weather at all. This cannot be normal, or maybe I am missing something?"

The fog came up halfway to the top of the hill, and more of those odd noises could be heard. Some of the noises made one think about ghosts clinking their chains or something like that.

"I can understand now that some people are getting scared when seeing the fog and hearing those noises." I said.

"Yes, me too, but with you and your dog, I feel safe" Mr. Jones smiled.

Half an hour later the fog was gone again and the noises had stopped, and we were none the wiser. We looked around a little more, but we could not see anything strange, so that eventually we drove back to the farmhouse.

Over the next weeks, the rumors about the haunted area intensified, but no damage was done and nothing specific happened we were aware of. At the ranger headquarter I asked around if somebody knew anything special about the area, but learned nothing, expect that there had been a couple of mines decades ago, but they had been abandoned for an unknown reason.

A few of my ranger colleagues were at home in and around Kirchheim, and one of them, who was a very frequent customer in one of the town's small taverns, mostly because he was dating the owner's daughter, told me that the supposedly haunted area frequently came up in talks at tables there. Nobody seemed to know any details, though.

Mysteriously an offer arrived at the farm in October, for purchasing a section of land belonging to the Jones. I got to read the offer on the next weekend, and when I looked at the details, I asked:

"Isn't that the plot where the strange noises and the fog were a week ago? The one which is supposedly haunted?"

Rue's grandfather nodded:

"Indeed it is, and this must be an odd coincidence. Why would somebody want to buy this area? If they had offered a reasonable price, I might even consider it, but this is not even half of what the ground is worth."

Meanwhile, I was invited once again to join the Jones and Rue for another visit to Dr. Aurelius. I was not privy to all of the conversation they had, but the good doctor mentioned that the police had some news for us, and we should stop at the police headquarters at a time convenient for us. We went there next, and Sergeant Darius happened to be present. He led us to a small meeting room and asked if he should maybe talk to the Jones alone first, but Mrs. Jones quickly decided:

"No, whatever you have to say, Rue is old enough to be included, and if it is related to the plane crash, Mr. Mellark also deserves to learn about it."

"All right, then. Well, it took some time and we had to get a couple of experts in from another district, but they examined what was left of the plane after the crash, specifically the engine parts. It was not an easy tasks, but eventually their verdict was clear – sabotage."

"What does that mean?"

"Grandma, sabotage means that something was damaged on purpose."

"Your granddaughter is right. There were some parts added to the engine causing an outage at a specific time, like a small time bomb. The pilot never had a chance."

"Does that imply that somebody wanted the plane to crash land?"

"It sure looks like this, yes."

"But why?"

"We don't have a clue yet, and it will be likely very difficult to find out. The parts being used are badly damaged, naturally, and I do not believe that we will be able to trace their origin. It looks like somebody either wanted to have everybody on the plane dead or at least force a crash landing. As the bomb was very small and only impacted the engine, we suspect the latter, but we don't know much more at this time."

Sergeant Darius did not have much else to add. He understood that the news were disturbing, and he asked if we knew any people who might have wanted to get the Madison family killed. Rue admitted that she had been frequently mobbed due to her looks and sometimes even for her smartness and her brains, but she did not think that anybody would want her and her family dead just because of that.

During my work week in late October there was a call for help to the ranger headquarter in the early morning. According to some people, a group of hikers had been out not far from the Evergreen farm, and they had failed to come back in the evening. Their cars were still parked at the usual spot, as the relatives said, but no trace from the hikers. They had not been equipped for staying outside overnight, and they suspected that something had happened. Incidents like this were one of the typical ranger tasks, and right away a team was assembled. As I had Rex with me, I was asked to come along right away, and half an hour later three vehicles left towards the farm.

The Jones were quite surprised to see us arriving in force, and I quickly explained the situation. The hikers had not stopped at the farm, and there was nothing wrong with them hiking partially on farm land; in the more remote areas of the extensive grounds, like around the hills, that was explicitly permitted. So, we left and took the road towards the car park area.

Indeed, we found two cars there, and they matched the description given to us by the people who had called us. Both Rex and another dog got a chance to sniff around and register traces and smells, and while the other dog was going to start from here, a few fellow rangers and I were going to take Rex in one of our vehicles and see if we could pick up the tracks somewhere else. At our first few spots we did not have any luck, but when we stopped for maybe the fifth time, I saw some footprints, and Rex barked twice, signaling that he had picked up the trace. We could not be sure about the proper direction to follow, but decided for the one Rex picked. We found a place where the hikers had likely rested for some time, and from here on Rex could clearly decide which smell was more recent. The track slowly turned and guided us back towards the car park area, but maybe half way there the footprints on the ground showed some odd patterns, like people had been in a hurry, and they even split. This made it hard for us to decide where to go, but all of a sudden Rex perked his ears and seemed to listen, and I nodded to him to go investigate. He ran off, and soon he barked again. My fellow rangers and I followed as quickly as we could, and nestled between some trees we found some kind of improvised camp with four people in it. Two of them seemed to be injured, and the other two were tending to them, and they were very happy to see us. The paramedic in our group look at the injured people right away, while one of the other hikers told us that the missing two of their group of six had started to walk towards the cars an hour ago, trying to get help. I got my tricorder out and called my colleagues in the other team via wireless radio, and they got the information; they had split up into two of them waiting at the cars, with the rest of the team searching around.

Meanwhile, the paramedic had declared that the two injured hikers had only light injuries, preventing them from walking, but nothing life threatening. We looked around, and I found a dirt road close to us. I called the other team again and asked that the ambulance we had with us try to find that dirt road and pick up the injured people, while the rest of us would walk the others back to the cars.

Once the ambulance had arrived and taken the two injured hikers, the rest of us left the place, and when we looked around I found that the area looked familiar to me. The hill where Mr. Jones and I had been to see the mysterious fog arising was not far from here and clearly visible, and I could even identify the spot where we had the truck parked at that time. When one of the hikers saw me looking there, he pointed at the hill:

"You see that hill over there, right? That's where our problems started."

"Why? What happened?"

"Yesterday, when we had already been on our way back, we climbed the hill to enjoy the view, and before we realized what happened, fog came up. That was very odd, because the humidity was not quite right for fog, and we were all surprised. The fog got denser, and we had some trouble finding our way down again, and when the strange noises started, two of us missed their steps in the dense fog and fell down, injuring their legs. We did not have a choice and needed to stay out over night, with some distance to that hill. Nothing else happened, but we were quite cold. I don't think that anyone of us wants to go back to that hill every again; it must be haunted!"

Somehow that sounded similar to what Mr. Jones and I had experienced some weeks ago. There had been unexpected fog and strange noises, and apparently and understandably that was good enough to scare some people. What was going on here?

[Author's Notes: The solution to what's happening will follow in a later chapter; you'll have to be patient.]