Steemjammer: Through the Verltgaat Read Free Page B

pens, which crossed the property lines into the vacant lots on either side. No one seemed to notice or care.
    Down on the street, a couple of kids stopped their bikes to gawk at Beverkenhaas before moving on. Will’s heart tugged as he recognized them. They’d once been his friends, playing together all the time, but something had happened. He hadn’t spoken to them in years.
    He remembered how they complained bitterly about having to take out the trash or clean their rooms, while Will and his sister ran a small farm with their parents, not to mention the endless labor needed to keep the machinery working. But he didn’t mind.
    In fact, it was satisfying to think about all they could do by simply burning wood, but something had been bothering him lately: a feeling that he and his family didn’t belong in Ohio. It was obvious that his parents were hiding something, but what? Were they in some sort of witness protection program? Spies? None of his guesses made any sense.
    He knew he needed to toughen himself and say: “Dad, show me where we’re from. Point to the exact spot on a map. Then, tell me why we left and why we use steam when no one else does. Also, why is Mom gone? Straight and plain answers, right now.”
    He’d tried before, but, as his sister had noticed, their father was good at giving non-answers. Will felt if he was firm enough, he could get the full story. He told himself to be strong this time and not give up until he got a real answer.
     
    ***
     
    He met his sister at the back door, above which hung an old iron shield painted with a pair of penguins and a sword crossed over a ball-peen hammer. Latin words were written in white: “Donec ignis potens et altum vaporem.” Keep your fire stoked and your steam high .
    They kicked off their dirt-caked klompen – wooden clogs - which they’d been wearing because of the mud, and went inside.
    “Still freezing,” Angelica said, her breath misting.
    “Even colder,” Will agreed, “except that cold ‘doesn’t exist.’”
    She laughed. “Right!”
    Putting on sweaters, they looked for Henry.
    “Dad?” Will called.
    This time, he thought, he’d do it. He’d keep asking until he got to the truth, but where was his father?
    “Dad?” Angelica yelled down the stairs.
    The only answer was the rattling and clanking of machinery, so they went down.
    “Dad?” said Will at the bottom of the steps.
    The large, deep basement, filled with contraptions and dominated by the big, hot boiler, offered many places for a person to hide. They searched, but their father was nowhere to be found. His oil lantern, however, still burning, sat on a workbench.
    “He’s gone,” Will said.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 3
     
    a hOUSE OF SECRETS
     
     
    “I didn’t see the children leave for school this morning,” Waverly Norman announced with grim satisfaction.
    Ron winced. He’d been in the garage, working on his latest undertaking, a way to project three-dimensional images of building designs in the air with lasers. All he’d wanted was to sneak inside unnoticed and get a cup of coffee.
    “You know what that means, don’t you?” she said.
    “It’s Saturday?” he offered.
    Glancing up from her knitting, she started to chide him for stupidity but realized it was in fact the weekend.
    “They didn’t go to school yesterday,” she recovered.
    “Maybe they were ill.”
    “I saw them picking crops and chasing that horse. They aren’t sick. They’re truant, and I’ve decided to call the School Police!”
    Ron wondered if there even was such an entity in this remote area. They lived outside the town of Bellevue, Ohio, and their street, Newcomen Lane, was a largely failed real estate development, with most of the lots remaining unbuilt.
    “After that,” she said, “I’m calling the Health Department. Then, we’ll see some action around here.”
    “What if these Steemjammers home-school?” he mused.
    “Then, they should be put in