Evening, Starlight Motel, Room 112
"Okay, so what else did we learn while we were at Jake's?" Blair sat cross-legged on his bed, a pile of file folders strewn around him, another full box of file folders awaiting attention at the foot of the bed.
"You mean other than my mother had a twin sister I didn't know about?" The bitterness over the revelation was still evident in Ellison's voice.
"Other than that." Blair agreed solemnly, while at the same time trying to find a way to jar his friend out of his self-induced funk.
"Well there's the mysterious, not to mention dusty, box you found in the attic of the garage. What were you doing out there anyway?" Ellison punctuated his statement with a sneeze to emphasize his displeasure with said box, now resting next to the bed.
"Looking for clues?" Blair replied cheekily, as he ducked to avoid the anticipated swat to his head.
"Very funny Watson. So what's in it?"
"A sidekick's work is never done."
"Sandburg!"
"Okay, okay." Blair took a deep breath in an attempt to stifle his laughter, glad that his friend seemed to have snapped out of his glum mood with their banter. "Journals."
"You mean to tell me we hauled a box full of journals over here? What are we talking here, Jake's old issues of Popular Mechanics? How is that going to help us find Wendy?"
"Yes, No, and I don't know. But seeing as how it's a box full of Sentinel Journals, I decided we'd better take it with us."
"Start over at the beginning."
"While you were busy looking for clues in between the pages of Jake's paperback book collection, I was out searching the garage. Speaking of which, did you really have to bring Johnny Havoc and the Doll Who Had "It" and Eric March and the Case of the Radioactive Redhead and The Corpse with the Red-headed Friend back with you?" With a sweep of his hand, Blair indicated a small pile of paperbacks on the night table between the two men. The top cover was yet another sterling example of 1950s cover art. "Geez who wrote the titles for these things? I mean, come on, man, really. How can you read that trash?" The last question was more rhetorical than anything.
"Why? I thought we decided the only things out there were remnants of my childhood. And yes, I brought a whole pile. I figured I might need another distraction later."
"No, you decided the only thing out there was remnants of your childhood. I, on the other hand, kept an open mind, so I went outside to look around. I needed to stretch my legs anyway. Once I was there, I started doing a little digging."
"None of this involved trying to ride my bike, now did it?" Jim interrupted before Blair got too far into his story.
"No, none of this involved trying to ride your bike." Blair parroted back before continuing his explanation. "As I was checking out the back of the garage, I found another pile of archival boxes. I decided while I was there I'd better check it out." Blair smiled impishly at his friend. "Besides, I figured I might find something interesting in there."
"You know, I think someone screwed up when they gave me a cat for a spirit guide and you a wolf. You are definitely the one with a cat's curiosity."
"Very funny. Now, as I was saying, I opened the first of the boxes and found old tax records and stuff. Do you realize he kept his tax records dating back to 1940? Talk about being extra careful. But once I'd moved all the boxes around and at least glanced at their contents I discovered a small, hidden, trap door."
"So the tax records were just a front."
"Yep. I doubt anyone but me would have even given them a second glance after figuring out what the first couple of boxes were."
"That sounds like Jake. So what was in the hidden room?"
"A couple boxes full of Sentinel Journals and some old classified files from the Engineer Works." Blair smiled in triumph.
"And you didn't tell me this before, why?"
"Well, you were a little distracted with the redheads and all, and then after you zoned I kinda forgot about the boxes until we got back here and I saw them sitting in the back of the truck." Blair's smile of triumph turned sheepish.
"Uh huh. Wait a minute. Did you say a couple boxes of Sentinel Journals? That's kind of odd. Why would Jake have Sentinel Journals?"
"Got me." Blair shrugged his shoulders for emphasis. "But they were neatly labeled. The first group dates back to the 1940s. Or at least that's what the outside of the box says."
"The 1940s? That was before I was even born. There's something about this that doesn't make senses."
"You're telling me. Here I thought I'd found the only sentinel in the world. Then Alex shows up." Blair punctuated his words with a shudder, still not liking mention of the rogue sentinel's name. "Then I find these boxes in Jake's garage. You know, it's enough to give a guy a complex."
"You mean you don't already have one?" Jim couldn't resist teasing his friend, even though the thought of another sentinel did make the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
"Ha. Ha. Now as I was saying..."
Jim interrupted before Blair could continue. "She's not here."
Blair looked at Jim in puzzlement, not sure where the statement had come from. "Huh? And what do you mean she?"
Jim looked at his friend in confusion. "I'm not sure. I just know that this other sentinel isn't here. I think she may have been at one time, but she's not here now."
"So are you invading her territory, or is she invading yours?" Blair asked, always eager to test the limits his Sentinel had unconsciously established, and at the same time wanting to know how far the 'Great City' extended.
"She's invading mine, but not here. This might have been her territory at one time, but it's not anymore. There's something that just doesn't feel right about all of this." Jim mentally shook off the feelings generated by the knowledge of another sentinel in the area. He really didn't want a repeat of the last encounter.
"Maybe the journals will tell us something," Blair offered with a shrug of his shoulders, not having a ready answer for any of this. "I would just like to know if she's friendly or not. And how come I'm talking about this other sentinel as a her?"
"I don't think she's friendly, but right now all I'm getting is a vague feeling of unease so I think we're okay. As for her being female, maybe it's because of our track record?" Ellison grinned at the last statement.
"But you're going to tell me if that feeling of unease changes, right?"
"Absolutely."
A moment of silent communication passed between the two men, reaffirming their commitment to each other and the duties of Sentinel and Guide.
Sandburg finally broke the silence. "So, you going to tell Steven?" He returned the conversation to the original topic, now that his partner seemed in a better frame of mind to deal with it.
Jim heaved a big sigh. "About my mom and Faith and Jake and who knows who else? I have to. Maybe he remembers something I don't."
Like this episode? Email the writer: tlinenberger@home.com
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Stay tuned next week when the long term ramifications of some of Jim's family history starts becoming apparent, even as Jim and Blair continue to hunt for a ruthless murderer in the exciting conclusion of "Meltdown" an all new The Sentinel.
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