Thor's Child ©
by K Pelle
Chapter 10
"If light passed through the shield from one side to the other without being affected by my body, I'd seem to disappear to anyone who was watching, or at least I think I would," Thor mused. "That would be great if I was a sneak thief, but not that much good for anything else, except maybe sneaking around and spying on folks. Of course there are times when being able to disappear would certainly be handy, like when I wanted to get away from Mom's girl guards. I think this is going to take a lot of thought and perhaps a lot of research though, because I just can't imagine it being as simple as it sounds."
He closed up his physics book and sat back, his mind in turmoil, because he didn't have any idea how he could go about instigating a disappearing act. Every other time a new talent had appeared he'd had a need for that talent and each one had appeared spontaneously. Well, perhaps 'lifting' or 'telekinesis' hadn't been spontaneous, but Tor felt it was just another form of teleportation, only it was a slow sort of teleportation, and applied to something outside his body. Now he wanted his 'shield' to act on light and he didn't have any idea how to go about it. That might be because he didn't understand how his 'shield' worked and in fact, he didn't have a clue how any of his 'talents' worked. He knew any of his 'special talents' were extremely tiring, so in some way they drew on the energy of his whole body, but he didn't understand how they did that either.
Just then there was a light knock on his door and just from the sound of the knock he was certain it was Alva, who'd come home from university that day.
"Come in," He called quietly.
"Hey little brother, what are you doing? You seem to be hiding out on everyone," Alva came in and pulled over a chair so she could face him. "Its not good to be antisocial, you know."
"Antisocial?" Tor snorted. "Alva, you're looking at a guy who just spent about eight months being the toast of the town, with hockey crazed fans hanging around me every moment they could. I was even getting followed into the can by silly nuts who wanted to be near their new hockey hero. It got to be just a bit too much. I think Mom tried to help by siccing a pair of gals on me as some sort of protection, which made it worse, because they stuck around like a bad smell. Right now all I want to do is relax and get back to being myself, but part of that is trying to catch up on some of my studying so I can pass grade ten final exams. I'm about a mile behind where I'd like to be."
"Well, I can certainly understand how you feel about your studies, because I just went through the same thing and now I'm on tenterhooks about my grades. In some ways I'm confident that I did well on my finals and in other ways I feel as if I might have screwed up big time," Alva sighed softly. "Right now I'm trying to put it out of my mind and just relax, so I can understand at least part of what you feel like."
"Yeah, I guess you do," Tor managed a weak grin. "Mostly I'm having trouble adjusting to being some sort of hockey hero or star athlete though. I've decided that hockey fans are completely crazy."
"Well, you are darn good on the ice, you know. Every once in a while there would be a TV clip of you and Kevin making fools out of some darn good hockey players and several of the girls in my classes just love watching you two. Heck, I think some of them had a crush on you until I explained how old you were. They aren't the only ones who like you, there have been clips of some of the things you've done on TV, like the time you got knocked down by a high stick, then got tackled by a huge guy. You aren't small, but he looked like an elephant on skates and I thought you were going to get crushed, only you moved so fast that they had to run the clip in slow motion to show what happened. He swung, knocked your helmet away as you ducked, then your fist was hitting the point of his chin and smashing it sideways. You could see his jawbone snap, then unbelievably, you caught the idiot before he fell down and hit the ice."
"Someone filmed that!" Tor stared at Alva in astonishment.
"Yep, someone got it on video and they showed it on Vancouver TV the next night. Then it made it onto the sports channel's 'Hits of the Week" and even on "Coach's Corner" where your 'favourite coach' made a big deal of what good players you and Kevin are. He devoted at least two or three minutes to video clips of you two and predicts that you'll both be selected as first round draft choices by the NHL, when you're eligible."
"Oh great!" Tor snorted. "When did that happen?"
"Oh, the "Coach's Corner" thing showed up just tonight, when the CBC was filling time before the playoff game. He showed you making fools of some of the enforcers that get sent after you. Then they ran a clip showing you passing the puck after deeking out the goalie, which let Kevin score. I've never seen him rave about any two guys like that. He says you have the best puck control he's ever seen and a wonderful sense of presence for all the players on the ice. Not only that, but he named your fists, your right is 'Lightning' and the left is 'Thunder' and your stick is 'Thor's Hammer,'" Alva broke into laughter. "It was funny because after that he went to clips of 'the great one' and showed him doing the same sort of thing, except for the fights, which he said were what made you better."
"Oh, he would think that!" Tor groaned. "Just what I need, another dang fan and a friggin infamous gonzo who loves fighting at that."
"Not too impressed, huh?"
"Not even a little bit!" Tor sighed, but shook his head emphatically. "That guy stands for almost everything I dislike about rough play in hockey games, you know that. He encourages players to fight, while I do my best to discourage fighting."
"Yeah, by being the best one-punch expert on the ice," Alva broke into laughter for a few seconds.
"Well, I'm not stupid enough to stand there and take some big thug's round-house swings and inside jabs," Tor managed a slightly embarrassed grin. "The thing is most of those guys punch like flies, because they aren't solidly planted on their skates. Just watch the difference in the way they stand and the way I stand next time it happens. Every darn one of them stands square on to the other guy, with their feet lined up poorly for stability. I try to turn somewhat sideways and brace one skate so a blade edge is digging into the ice, which prevents me from sliding away when I hit back. Just don't tell anyone else, okay?"
"How do you manage to even think of things like that? I mean, the fights seem to break out so fast . . ."
"Hey, everything in a hockey game happens fast. For example, some goof used a radar gun to measure Kevin's slap shot a few weeks ago, during one of our games. That puck was going about 145 kph, that's just over 90 miles an hour. It's no darn wonder he scores so often."
"Wow! How fast did your slap shots travel, 'cause from what I've seen, you shoot just as fast or faster."
"Naw, the guy said mine never even got over 85 miles an hour." Tor looked at her and winked.
"You were holding back, weren't you?"
"Not really, but Kevin needed an ego boost that night and I can't see how having everyone know how fast my shot was would improve my chances of scoring a goal. I didn't intentionally hold back, but I wasn't really pushing it either."
Alva just shook her head, then swatted him on the leg, "You're out to help Kevin become a better player then, aren't you?"
"Not just him, but the whole darn team," Tor smiled. "I found out last year that I prefer to be on the sidelines, helping other players improve, so eventually, I want to be a coach. I'll probably have to play for a while to get the recognition, but eventually I want to coach a team to the Stanley Cup playoffs, maybe even to the Olympics."
"That's your ambition?"
"Unh huh," He grinned. "I know, I'm dreaming of reaching for the stars."
"Hah!" Alva snorted loudly. "Most of the guys I went to school with wanted to play for the NHL and win the Stanley cup, but nine tenths of them wanted to win gold for Canada at the Olympics as well. Hell, little brother, you're just a completely normal Canadian kid who wants to play hockey, the only difference is that you want to coach more than play. The real difference between you and the guys I went to school with is talent and I think you have a darn good chance of living out your dream.
She grabbed his hand and yanked, pulling him to his feet, "However, that can wait for tomorrow or the next day. Right now I want you to get off you duff and come downstairs. Quit being a hermit. You need to talk to people more. You can study tomorrow, but for tonight Dad says the family needs to talk over something important."
It turned out that the talk was about Dagny, who was a year short of graduating from Guelph and Tor's parents were trying to think of a way to have him work locally for the summer. The problem with that was the fact that there was a well established veterinary clinic in the area and Tor's parents doubted that he'd like competition when Dagny did graduate.
"Instead of competing with the local veterinarian, why not encourage him to take on a partner and grow larger," Alva suggested. "When we moved out here, the family bought a bunch of shares in the local Co-op, so why not sell some of them and use the money to buy a share of the vet's business?"
"Actually I've talked to Doc. Ordonez when he was here last winter, treating the old Jersey cow for mastitis," Tor frowned slightly. "From what he said, he'd love to move to Vancouver Island. He has a son who has a clinic in Sidney, just north of Victoria. Perhaps he might be interested in selling the business?"
'That could be expensive," Tor's father frowned. "I wonder if he might consider the idea of a partnership first, with the eventual idea of a buyout? Did you talk to him very much, Tor? All the contact I've had was very brief."
"Yeah, I've talked to him quite a bit, but not here so much and not about his business either. He's a regular hockey fan and comes to a lot of the local games, so I've talked to him there. Why? Did you want me to go with you to talk to him?" Tor's frown grew even deeper.
"Tor, does Ordonez sponsor your team in any way?" Tor's mom asked, reaching for the phone. "I think I'll call Hanna and find out what the shares in the Co-op are worth."
"Why not call Coach Simcoe and Coach McDonald too. They'd know if Ordonez' vet clinic is a sponsor for any of the teams," Tor suggested. "But, shouldn't we ask Dag if he wants to work locally before we jump on the band wagon?"
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't he want to work around here?" Ollie asked as he looked at his son with a slight frown.
"I don't know, but can you read his mind? I mean, he may have lined up a job somewhere else, mightn't he?" Tor shrugged. "What if he's met a girl from somewhere else or something?"
"No, I don't think so," Alva shook her head. "I talked to him just a week ago, by e-mail, and he was quite excited to be heading home next week. I was bragging about getting a part-time job at the local hospital and he was saying he just wanted to be home for the summer."
"E-mail? What is that?" her mother asked quietly.
"Oh, it's a way to send messages using a computer. E-mail is a shortened form of the words 'Electronic Mail.' I have an e-mail account at the university in Vancouver and Dag has one at the university in Guelph. Our computers are connected to our phones through another machine called a modem, so our messages are sent to the local university computer, then the university computers connect. All the universities across North America are being interconnected into a network through microwave channels and the signal goes all over, but each computer has a special address. In my case I can send Dag or Björn a message, and only their computer can receive the message. It works just like a telephone call or a telex message, but it's a lot cheaper because you're only making a local call. You just pay a basic fee to the university to have the connection and register your e-mail address with them. There are even special businesses being started up outside the university that can provide the same service."
'Could Tor's computer do that?"
"Well maybe, Mom, but he'd have to have the right programs on his computer, then he'd need a modem and a phone near the computer to connect to the university internet. The other problem would be if there is a local provider or not, otherwise he'd be making a long distance phone call to the university each time he used the service."
"Excuse me, but we've wandered off topic here," Tor's dad grumbled. "We were talking about Dag and the possibility that he might want to work with the local veterinarian, before you two got talking about computers and electrical letters."
"Electronic mail or e-mail, Dad, not electrical letters," Alva winked at Tor, who was trying his best not to smile. "I was just trying to explain what I meant to Mom, but before that I was talking about Dag wanting to come home for the summer. I think he wants to work on the farm, not in town for now, but it might be an idea to call him and ask before we go too far with your plans."
"Well, it's after nine now, so it would be after midnight in Guelph," Tor shrugged his shoulders. "I think he'd be a bit upset if we called him at this time of night, especially if he has an exam or some other reason to be alert tomorrow."
"Right, and one more day won't make any difference to anything we can do here," his father nodded. "Now, it's time to go put the farm to bed so we can be inside before the news. What do you say, Tor, want to come for a walk?"
"Sure, Dad. I could stand some fresh air," Tor smiled, knowing that his dad seldom asked anyone to go out with him at night, so he probably wanted to ask about something.
The weather was warm, so the two of them only slipped on their boots before going outside and they both paused at the top of the front porch steps. Both of them let their gaze wander across the farm in the soft twilight and they each listened to the noises of the farm, but there were no unusual sights or sounds. Ollie was the first to move as he walked down the four front steps, pausing at the bottom for his son to walk beside him.
"I have to wonder, Tor. Do you think there might be a reason why Dagny might not want to work with the local veterinarian?"
"I don't really know," Tor answered somewhat hesitantly. "I've heard a few rumours about the man, but nothing I can say for certain."
"You mean, Mr. Ordonez might be doing something wrong?"
"That's just it, I don't know. I do know that a lot of people heard about the way I grew so much and they asked me a lot of questions, but all of them seemed to be about the vet. I think Aunt Hanna was the first one to ask questions and she had a very strong reaction when I teased her about sneaking me growth hormones for cattle. Then just last year I heard about something called steroids that some of the athletes are using, maybe even some hockey players, but I don't know if there's any connection," Tor paused then sighed. "Since I'm being coached by an RCMP officer, I'm certain none of our team uses them, but Ordonez has asked me some weird questions, only never when Coach McDonald is around."
"That doesn't sound good."
"No, but there isn't anything definite I can tell you either, it's all rumour and innuendo. I do know that our doctor took blood samples from me and I know he talks to McDonald, but I'm not sure if he's talking to him as a police officer or as a coach."
"Well, what about the coach, from that other team, the one who got canned?"
"Oh, Heinrich Schneider, I'd like to think he's just a bumbling goon, but I don't really know. He certainly encouraged his players to be muscular, but if that included any kind of artificial growth hormones or not is another question. I just don't know for sure and people who were using anything like that probably wouldn't talk to me, because of my reputation for being an advocate of clean play and hard work."
Tor came to a sudden stop then and snapped a finger and the thumb of his right hand, "I know who you could ask. I'll bet Kai would know and if he didn't, I'll bet he could find out, since he knows every boxer or tough guy for a hundred miles."
"Good idea, I can talk to him, but what about your Jiu-Jitsu teacher, Rick Chance?"
"He's not just my teacher, Dad. He's my sensei and he's another 'Mr. Clean,' who is down on drugs, but he might have some idea of people to ask. It wouldn't be first hand knowledge though. It would just be another case of second hand rumours."
"I think I will talk to both Kai and Rick Chance tomorrow," Tor's dad sighed softly. "Why can't life be simple?"
Tor looked at him and couldn't help chuckling. "Darn it, Dad, I was hoping that when I grew up, life would get simpler and my worries would fade away."
"Hah, wait until you've got kids of your own, then you have your own worries and you add on all of your kids worries too," His dad dropped a meaty hand to Tor's shoulder. "Of course you also get to share in their triumphs, so that certainly helps to make those extra worries and problems a lot easier to take."
"Gee, thanks, Dad," Tor sighed. "I had high hopes that you were going to tell me life got simpler as I got older."
"Sorry, Son, I'm not about to lie to you, not about the facts of life," his dad chuckled. "However you and I have wandered off of the subject and our moping about our troubles isn't helping to solve my earlier questions. Can you think of any other way to find out any answers?"
"Well, I think your best bet to find out anything would still be to talk to Officer McDonald, but if he has suspicions about Ordonez, he won't say much. In fact, you'd probably have to read between the lines."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if he suspects the vet might be peddling growth hormones, but can't prove it, he isn't going to admit anything, especially not any facts about his suspicions. Come to think of it, he might question you concerning your sudden interest in anything like that."
"That's not a problem. I'd be honest and tell him about Dagny, then I'd mention that I was a bit annoyed that others might think any of my family were involved, because I dislike cheats. I find it very annoying that they might have been suspicious of your growth when you hit puberty, since it casts Olga and me in a bad light. Can't they see that our whole family grows to be large, economy size. At least Dr. Mueller seems to have some common sense and nipped that rumour in the bud. He told me he had to take a blood test to prove it though."
"Yeah, well, that's life," Tor sighed heavily. "Actually, he's someone else you might want to talk to, but he'd be like Officer McDonald, he wouldn't or couldn't say much one way or the other. The only way they might say anything is if they felt Ordonez was lily-white clean and then I think both of them would deny your suspicions quite vehemently."
By that time the pair had walked all around the barn yard and had found nothing wrong, so they were walking back toward the house.
"Well, the boys won't be back before the weekend, so we have a few days to see if we can find out anything. I guess I'll head to town tomorrow and see if I can ask a few people about Ordonez," Tor's father sighed. "I hate this sort of thing, when I have to go behind people's back and ask this sort of question."
"Could I suggest something, Dad?"
"Certainly."
"If I were you, I'd talk to Kai and Aunt Hanna first, then perhaps Rick Chance or maybe the police. You might even want to wait until you talk to Dag about it, because if he hasn't suggested approaching Ordonez, there might be a good reason," Tor paused at the foot of the front porch steps. "I know Dag and Björn spent a fair amount of time with people around their age last summer when they were here. They became quite popular at dances and things of that sort, so they might know a lot they didn't mention to either you or me."
"Hmph, I have to say that you surprise me at times, Tor. You always seem to give the other guy a chance, but at the same time you seem to have a backup plan ready, just in case. On top of that you have a tendency to look at things with an open mind, which is somewhat rare with someone so young."
"I had good teachers and a great family for guides," Tor laughed. "Besides, I hate to be an aggressor. It's like on the hockey rink, I'll let the other guy have the first chance to take a swing, but he'd better make it a good one, because I don't like to be attacked and I will defend myself."
Alva and her mother seemed somewhat surprised that the two men were chuckling when they came inside.
"I talked to Hanna about your ideas, Ollie," Tor's mother said seriously, killing Tor's good mood instantly. "She seems to think Ordonez may be bringing in some kind of drugs from Mexico. She said Kai had spoken to Dagny about it during Christmas break and both of them have spoken to the police."
"Well, that's that then," Tor's father sighed heavily. "I wonder why nothing has been done?"
"I think proof and suspicion might be two different things," Alva offered. "The police probably won't act until they have definite proof and if the guy is really smart or very lucky, they might have trouble getting the kind of proof needed to make an arrest."
"Well, I plan to talk to a few people tomorrow," Tor's father said firmly. "Olga, I'd like you to see if you can get me an appointment to see Dr. Mueller either tomorrow afternoon or the next day. Tor, I'd like you to ask around a bit at school, don't be blatant about it, but see if you can catch any hints about growth hormones or steroids. Now, I'm going to sit down with a cup of tea and watch the news."
Since Tor preferred to catch up on the news by listening to the radio, he excused himself and went back upstairs. Once he was back in his bedroom with the door closed, he picked up his physics book and tried to get back into studying. Unfortunately, between his brainwave concerning light and his thoughts about a possible drug smuggler in the local area, he found studying to be impossible.
Then suddenly his thoughts drifted to a totally different subject and he began to wonder about his upcoming birthday, which was only two weeks away. He knew his mom would be making two appointments with the doctor tomorrow, one for his father and a second one for him. He also knew he was growing again because his shirts were tighter than before and his pant legs seemed to be shorter every time he put on his jeans. If anyone was going to be suspected of taking growth hormones, it was going to be him, so he suspected Dr. Mueller would be taking another blood sample when he went to see him.
"I wonder when I'm going to stop growing?" he thought to himself and sighed heavily. "I know I must be getting close to six feet tall and I know I've gotten bigger around the chest and across the shoulders, but darn it, I'll only be fifteen years old. Cripes, I'm becoming a darn giant. Just how big am I going to get before I stop growing? Will I be as big as Dad, or will I be even bigger? If I get much bigger than I am now, I'm not going to be able to skate as well, because I'll weigh too darn much to shift all that mass as easily. It'll certainly make changing direction a lot harder when I'm trying to deek someone out of position."
He glanced at the clock at his bedside and sighed softly. "Bedtime," he whispered, "even if I'm not sleepy."
"Maybe I should do so 'mental gymnastics' to tire myself out? I know, I could try that thing about using my shield to make myself disappear? Only . . . how would I test it?"
Slowly he got up, closed the door to his room, then stood in front of the full length mirror that hung on his closet door and he frowned. He simply didn't know what to do to cause his shield to become active in such a way as to pass light in the same way it did rain. He did his best to concentrate on achieving the change he wanted to make to his shield, but the only change he saw in his reflection was a gradual deepening of his frown. Perhaps what he was trying to do was impossible after all.
Well, that wouldn't really surprise him, he sighed. After all, it wasn't as if he really understood how light worked, at least not as a material, instead of as a form of energy. Heck, he didn't understand how his 'shield' worked either. Then suddenly he 'felt' a change and his reflection disappeared, until all he was looking at two small black dots seeming to float in the mirror's reflective surface. That confused him, until he realized he was looking at the pupils of his own eyes. Naturally, he couldn't see any reflections since the light was being absorbed by the retina's of his eyes, but the only parts of his body needed for that function was the lense, the pupil and the retina of each eye. Since the lense of his eye was still transparent, and the retina still absorbed the light hitting it, the pupil just naturally appeared to be black, the same way it normally did. Somehow the 'shield' had the abiity to discriminate, letting light get through to his eyes, but the rest was bypassed and he couldn't see any other portion of his body.
"So I can do it!" he whispered quietly as he grinned, but of course he couldn't see his own lips move. "Neat, but not really very useful, unless I want to be either a spy or a practical joker."
He lifted a hand before his face and paused instantly. He'd been looking 'through' part of his own body and when he'd moved his arm or hand, the background of the whole room seemed to flicker slightly. That brought another frown to his face as he wondered why, then it dawned on him that his 'shield' wasn't perfectly transparent, instead it was like a lense. Which only meant the 'shield' or 'protective field' around his body had an index of refraction that was different from air.
Tor was fascinated and moved from side to side, then swung his arms and watched the shimmers that his movements caused in the reflections of the items he could see in the mirror. It wasn't that anything actually seemed to flicker, but more like the shimmer you saw above a paved road in the summer sun. He wandered around the room too, picking up or even just grasping objects tightly, some disappeared and some didn't, but it seemed to depend on size, or perhaps weight. That was something he wanted to check further, but he decided not to try right then. This was a new talent and he could feel himself tiring quite rapidly, so after only a few moments he could no longer maintain his 'shield' and his reflection blurred into being as he abandoned his attempts to 'hide' from sight. He was still grinning though, even if he felt extremely tired.
With a satisfied yawn, he sought his bed and was asleep almost the moment his head hit the pillow.
Tor was extremely hungry the next morning, hungry enough that Alva commented about it, but Tor's Mom just smiled and added another scoop of scrambled egg to Tor's plate.
"Tor is no different than any of my children, even my daughter, though she doesn't seem to remember very well. When my children are growing, they often get hungry and when they get hungry, it's my job to see that they are fed."
"Yes, Mom, but Tor eats like a horse."
"I do not!" Tor said vehemently. "I wouldn't touch a bale of hay even if it was floated in ketchup. Now excuse me, but I'll have to run to catch the bus."
He winked at his Mom and puckered his lips in a 'flying kiss' as he grabbed his book bag and raced out the door, down the steps and toward the road, just beating the bus to the driveway entrance. The bus driver didn't wait for him to get to his seat before setting off again, but Tor didn't mind. Sami said something about the driver being late and Tor just shrugged and winked as he wished her 'Good morning,' then flopped into the very back seat of the bus. For some reason his mind was busy with the conversation he'd had with his father, so although Sami was saying something, he wasn't really paying attention, which wasn't normal. Then Kevin plopped down at his side with a deep sigh and Tor frowned, Kevin usually sat with Sunny, but as Tor looked around he realized she wasn't even on the bus today.
"Trouble in paradise?" Tor asked Kevin quietly, wondering what was going on.
"Naw, Sunny's having her monthly mood swings and stayed home. What do they call it, PMS or something? Sunny and Em seem to be getting them at nearly the same time now, and when both of them are grouchy as grizzlies, my life turns into a real mess."
"I thought Sunny's doctor gave her something for that."
"If he did, it ain't workin'," Kevin snarled, then sighed. "P's me off some, but at least it's only for a few days a month. The rest of the time both of them are fun to have around, only once a month, regular as clockwork, my life goes to hell. Haven't you noticed that Em gets into a grumpy mood every once in a while?"
"I'll be honest, I find everyone gets moody once in a while, even me. Right now I'm in an inquisitive mood and you talking about people being moody reminds me of something else. Have you ever heard of anyone around here using either steroids or growth hormones?"
"Oh, you mean like those two thugs you tangled with, the Carruthers boys? I heard they had a real business going for a while, selling that junk, but as far as I was concerned it was mostly rumour. I know Tommy's dad, Dan Carruthers, is good buddies with Schneider, the coach that got canned this year, and I've heard rumours about them both being involved with growth pills of some kind. I heard about Schneider trying to promote growth injections for cattle too, which isn't really all that weird, since he runs a small slaughter house that butchers cattle."
"Oh, I thought he just shipped cattle to Vancouver once in a while."
"Nah, he supplies meat to the local butcher shop too. Actually that's how he got into the cattle shipping business in the first place. He was butchering cattle and sometimes would haul a load to Vancouver, if he had the chance to buy a few extra head and make a profit on 'em. I know he has the vet down there quite often and he does have a small feed yard where he finishes a few steers," Kevin paused and frowned as he looked directly at Tor. "Why are you asking about steroids anyway? You sure as the dickens don't need them."
"Oh, you got me to thinking about the subject," Tor snorted and shrugged his shoulders. "I've heard that steroids make people moody. Then we were talking about the girls getting moody and taking pills. My thoughts just leaped off on a weird direction, I guess."
"Oh, I get ya, you're having one of your days when weird thoughts take over and all hell breaks loose. Actually, when we first met you my whole family wondered if you were on growth hormones, until we got to know you and your family," Kevin winked and grinned slightly. "I've never seen any guy grow so much in such a short period of time. I know there were rumours about you, at least until people met the rest of your family, then you looked like a shrimp in comparison to your dad and your brothers."
"Yeah well, it's in the blood," Tor smiled.
"Actually, it's in your genes," Sami, who'd been sitting right in front on the guys, turned and looked back over her shoulder. "Sorry for listening in, but I heard the word's growth hormones and I've had some dealings with those darn things."
"Oh, why is that, if you don't mind my asking?" Tor frowned.
"Oh for cripes sake, open your eyes!" Sami snapped. "If I stand beside you, I have to raise my eyes to see your belt buckle, well, just about. Compared to you, I'm a midget and when we walk together, I look like I'm about ten years old."
"Oh come on Sami, you're not all that short and when people look at you, they know you aren't ten years old, not with your curves," Kevin grinned and winked at her. "Just ask Em or Sunny, both of them would love to fill out a bathing suit like you do."
"A lot of good that does me," she snorted. "I'd trade them a cup size for two or three inches of height, if I could."
"Oh, don't be silly," Tor winked at her. "You'd ruin an extremely fascinating view if you did that and you know how much I enjoy looking at nice scenery."
"Hmph!" Sami grunted and turned away, then seemed to do her best to ignore the two guys, but Tor saw that her frown had disappeared.
"Jeeze, is everyone in a weird mood today?" Kevin sighed.
"No more than normal," Tor chuckled. "Say where are Em and Sunny today?"
"Oh, I thought I told you, they're both off to see the doctor again this morning. Don't ask me what's going on, I don't even want to know. Em has been in such a crappy mood for the last two days that I hope the doc gives her tranquillizers or -- something to calm her down. I've never seen her like this," Kevin frowned, then sighed. "I think part of it was the deal from the other night when they showed clips of you and I on the TV, then they showed even more last night. If I didn't know better, I'd say Em was jealous about it."
"Well, I didn't see that part of the TV show, but Alva did," Tor sighed. "I could do without that crap. At least it's the end of the season, so we may get a month or two of relief."
"Yeah, sure, when pigs fly!" Kevin snorted. "This town seems to exist for hockey and now that our team did so well, we're going to be under scrutiny all summer too. For instance, did you hear what happened last night?"
"No, what happened now?"
"I heard that the local veterinarian got arrested."
"What?"
"Yeah, I heard he was caught accepting a smuggled package from Mexico."
"You're kidding me, right?"
"Naw, the way I heard it he was on the wrong end of a sting by the RCMP drug squad and got arrested when he paid a plain clothes cop for a package of pills. I heard there were four other people involved too, and to make it worse, the rumour I heard implied that one of them is involved with hockey."
"Wow, now I'm glad Dag hasn't applied to work with the vet. I was just wondering about that last night."
"Oh, yeah, Dag is almost a full fledged vet, isn't he?"
"Not quite, he's got a year to go, but he's far enough along that he should really be getting experience out in the real world."
"You know, since you say Dag didn't ask Ordonez for a job as an understudy, I wonder if he had some idea of what was going on?"
"Well, he'll be back here in a week, I can ask him. Whether he'll tell me anything is another question though."
"What do you mean? Surely he'd tell you if he knew anything, wouldn't he?"
"Not if he was working with the cops, he won't. In fact if he is, he might not be able to say anything until after the trial."
"Oh, like you and that screw up with the Carruthers boys, you mean?
"Something like that. I'm still limited on what I can say on that subject, since it was part of the court deal."
"But, you never even went to court over that whole thing."
"Yeah, but Mom and Dad did, so the whole fam-dambly is under a blanket gag order. I think there must be more to what went on than what originally came out in court, so there may be more charges pending or something. Who knows? After all the cops are great at keeping secrets until they make arrests."
"Huh, I wonder if maybe that had something to do with what just went down last night?"
"Pardon?"
"Oh, the arrest of the vet and his crowd. You know, drugs and stuff."
"Oh, I think that might be stretching things a bit far," Tor chuckled. "Have you been reading mysteries again?"
"You're kidding me, right? Who has time to read anything but school books right now? I'm still trying to catch up on the studying I couldn't get done while we were playing hockey."
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tor sighed heavily. "I've been up to my eyebrows in school books for the last few days myself."
"Oh, just listen to you two bitch about how hard done by you are," Sami turned back to look at the guys with a frown. "Either one of you could have a tutor just by asking and in a minute you'd have half the school offering to help."
"Yeah, the female half, and each one of them after more attention than we want to give," Kev snapped right back. "Thanks, but no thanks."
"He's right," Tor smiled at her. "Thankfully we've had you, Sunny and Em around us all year acting as a buffer zone. We owe you gals big time, even if we acted like ungrateful twits about it at times."
"Hmph!" Sami snorted, but Tor caught the hint of a smile as she turned away.
"Oh, talking about protection, did Sensei ask you about perhaps changing your self defence plans? He was mentioning to me that we should both learn some Tai Kwon Do moves, just in case we get into a bind sometime in the future," Kev frowned. "I'm not sure that I really think it's necessary."
"I know what you mean. I mean, just look at me, I've been involved with my family's boxing training for half my life and now I've added some Jiu Jitsu. I really don't know if I'd ever need much more. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to understand what Tai Kwon Do moves looked like, but he was making it sound as if he thought it might be essential, just for our protection."
"Well, if either one of us gets into the NHL and ends up in someplace like Chicago, then walks down the wrong street, it might be good to know," Kev snorted. "In my case I'm not going to worry about it right now though. I've got to get through these upcoming exams first."
"Yeah, maybe this summer," Tor nodded, then grabbed his books. "Right now, we've got about five minutes until our first class and from the looks of it, something is up. Look at all the kids out in front of the school."
"Well, what did you expect after what the CBC said about you two before the game last night!" Sami turned and glared at Tor. "Hell, according to that stupid ding bat in a clown suit that they seem to think is an expert, you two are the upcoming Batman and Robin of professional hockey."
"Shit, I never saw that," Kev frowned. "I guess it must have been on before I got inside from doing chores."
"Ditto, I was only able to watch the last two periods," Tor nodded. "Alva said something about the two of us being on TV earlier in the broadcast, but I thought she was kidding me."
"Well, the schoolyard looks as crazy as that day we came back after the team's first win, last fall," Kev frowned.
"Dammit, I don't like this sort of crap!" Tor grumbled, then frowned. "Look, I have a library period to start with this morning, so I can be a bit late and get away with it quite easily. I'm going to see if the bus driver will give me a ride around the corner, then I'll sneak into school after the first bell has rung."
"So you're going to leave all the fuss and those crazy fanatics for me, huh?" Kev chuckled. "The problem is they might see you on here."
"So, I'll duck down and hide. Just tell anyone that asks that I don't like crowds would you? Actually, you can tell them I'm skipping out of class for a while if you want. Well, unless it's a teacher who asks," having said that, Tor slouched down in his seat as much as he could.
"As soon as we stop just lean over my way and I'll stand," Kev chuckled at Tor's attempts to hide his oversized body by scrunching down as low as he could.
"I'm not very big, but I'll stand up too," Sami giggled after a glance back at what was happening behind her. "At least we're sitting at the back of the bus and on the far side from the crowd in the school yard, so they won't see much anyway."
The bus pulled to a stop and Kevin got to his feet, followed quickly by Sami.
"See ya later, buddy." Kev glanced down at Tor one last time, then turned away and began to move down the aisle.
Tor hesitated for a second or two, then decided this was a perfect time to try out his new 'talent' to see if it really would work in public. He 'switched on' and glanced down at his hand to make certain he could see through it, then slipped to his feet and followed Kev, being carefully not to make any suspicious noises. It was a good thing that he followed fairly closely though, because once Kev stepped down from the bus, the driver started to close the door, so Tor had to move quickly to get out and still avoid being hit. Then he paused, only inches away from it as the bus pulled out and drove down the street.
"I saw Tor in the back seat beside you when your bus pulled up," One kid shouted. "He stayed on the bus, didn't he?"
"Oh, sure!" Kevin grinned at the kid. "That would make real good sense, now wouldn't it?"
Meanwhile Tor was sliding around the outside of the crowd, through the gate in the fence and then toward the front door of the school. When two of the older girls went inside after throwing the door back in annoyance, Tor had time to slip inside before it swung back and closed. Everything was going fine, until he almost ran into Mr. Yaworski, who was hurrying along the hall toward the front door and probably trying to catch someone coming in late the way he usually did. That near miss slowed Tor enough that he almost got caught in the rush of students who'd been outside, so he had to do some fancy dodging not to be bumped.
Finally he made it to the library and thought for a second he'd been caught as Miss Pringle, the librarian, looked up when he opened the door. She frowned, shook her head slightly, then took off her glasses and reached for a tissue to clean them, so Tor grinned to himself and shut off his 'shield' before walking toward her hurriedly.
"Hi, Miss Pringle, I need to run down the hall for a bit, but I wonder if I could leave my book bag here for now? I won't be very long." He tried to step gingerly as if he had to go badly and he caught the tiniest grin on the edges of Miss Pringle's lips.
'Certainly, just go!" She snapped as she fitted her glasses back on the bridge of her nose. "I most assuredly do not need to put up with a student having an accident on this freshly polished floor, Mr. Eklund."
Tor didn't argue, he dropped his book bag by her desk and hurried back out into the hall, then rushed to the boy's bathroom. Once he was there he found a stall with an empty porcelain throne, not that he needed it, but it gave him a place to celebrate the fact that his new 'talent' worked and he'd gotten inside without being seen. Then he realized that he'd even established an excuse for being in the hall, just in case either the Principal or Mr. Yarowski happened to see him. He knew he'd been lucky, but after missing out on that brouhaha out in the yard, he certainly wasn't going to complain. Besides, he really had proved his theory about his shield - it did allow him to become practically invisible. Best of all though, it was a 'talent' that he had thought out and he'd gotten to do what he wanted.
Now if he could only understand how it worked, but come to think of it, he had an hour to spend in the library - perhaps Miss Pringle could help him? They couldn't shoot him for asking dumb questions could they? Come to think of it though, it might be wise to be careful of the questions he did ask, or people were going to start wondering about his sanity. Nope, it really wouldn't be wise to ask too many questions psychic abilities, just in case he did make a minor slip sometime in the future.
Since he didn't want to waste the whole first period, he got up from his seat and automatically started to wash his hands, but as he was standing at the sink he was thinking deeply. Reaching up and pulling a paper towel from the dispenser, he watched as another popped into it's place automatically and paused as he stared at it, then frowned as he concentrated. Suddenly his eyes opened wide and he snapped the middle finger and thumb of his right hand with a loud pop.
"Oh yeah, I know just what to ask Miss Pringle about!" he announced jubilantly to the empty washroom and with a broad grin on his face, he went out the door, headed back to the library.