The Golden Telescope

26 - BILL AND BART AT FLANAGAN'S HOBBY SHOP

PORTLAND, OREGON - PRESENT DAY

"I think it's time we learn more about that strange telescope, don't you?" Bill asked Bart, grabbing the cell phone off his desk and heading for the stairs.

"Definitely," Bart replied, "but what do you have in mind?"

He stuffed his phone into his pants pocket and followed his dad out of the office and up to the main part of the house. Stopping briefly in the kitchen to inform Mrs. Flanagan of their plans, then headed to the side door. Bart grabbed his jacket off the wall peg, and they exited to the SUV in the driveway.

"Well, I don't have a firm plan or anything like that. But now that we know it's a spell-crafted object, I want to take some time looking it over more closely. I'd like to see if I can discover anything else about where it came from, who made it, and why it impacted Jack the way that it did."

"Good idea," Bart said, buckling his seat-belt. "Jack and I did notice some weird-looking symbols all over it. Did you see those?" he looked at his dad, curious.

"Honestly, the initials are what captured my attention the most. Still, those were secondary to my excitement, thinking it might belong to the old smuggler and could have some historical significance for the city of Portland." He paused, waiting for a pedestrian who was crossing the road before he continued. "But now that I know about what happened to Jack when he touched it...I want to inspect it more closely."

"We were thinking that maybe we could search the internet to see if we could find out anything about the symbols," Bart said, gazing out the window as he spoke. "Did you notice that the end of it works kind of like a camera lens?"

Bill nodded. "Well, I noticed it had multiple parts for focusing, but I figured those must have been pretty standard on old-time telescopes," he glanced over at Bart. "Did you notice something unusual about them?"

"Yeah, I noticed there were dates and stuff etched on them," Bart said just as they pulled up in front of the hobby shop. The two of them got out of the vehicle, Bill leading the way to the store's front entrance. He unlocked the door and, once inside, turned around and re-locked it behind them. Instead of flipping the light-switch, he turned on a small flashlight attached to his keyring, then began making his way to the back of the store.

"Stay close and follow me, son," he whispered back to Bart. "We don't want to advertise we are here right now, what with that guy following you guys earlier."

They passed through the burgundy hanging drape and onto the walnut door of Bill's private office. Safely inside that small, windowless space, Bill turned on the lamp, switched off the flashlight, and put his keys back in his pocket.

Lifting the roll-top, he exposed the telescope sitting there. "Grab a seat, son," he said, pulling out the desk chair and sitting down to take a look. Retrieving a pair of magnifying glasses from a case inside one of the cubbies, Bill perched them on his nose and lifted the telescope to analyze its surface.

After a few moments, he laid the telescope back on the desk and relocated the glasses to the top of his head before looking at Bart. "Did Jack tell you anything about what he saw?"

"Oh, yeah..." Bart rolled his eyes, shaking his head back and forth in dismay. With a sigh, he shared the details of Jack's story, pausing every now and again to think.

"So, this man—Jack, I mean—was on a boat with this woman, and—"

Bill put up the first finger of his right hand to interrupt, "Hold on a minute...so, you say Jack was looking out through someone else's eyes? Did he explain that part any further to you?" Bill asked, curiosity creasing his brow.

"Yeah." Bart shrugged as if it was the most matter-of-fact thing in the world. "He said he could tell it was someone else's body because when he looked down at his hands, they were big and hairy—-they were holding that same telescope, too!" He stopped for emphasis. "Oh, and he also said he noticed that there was a big black and gold ring on this guy's right hand. And guess what? He said that the ring was exactly the same as the ring his uncle wears! Pretty weird, hu?"

Bill was slow to comment but was squinting his eyes suspiciously.

"Strange..." He murmured as if preoccupied.

"But like I was saying, there was this beautiful lady on the ship, too. She was wearing clothes that made him think he was in a different time. Like, in the past or something," he stopped and waited for Bill to say something.

"And all of this transpired in only about...30 seconds, you say?"

"Yes, it was very quick," Bart replied. "We tried it again, later because Jack wanted to test it out after his uncle told him that he has magical powers. We decided to see if it was repeatable, to find out if what his uncle said was true. And sure enough, it happened the second time again. Or, kind of, anyway." Bart stopped and looked at his dad.

"So, he had the same experience the second time?

Bart shook his head, his eyes widening. "No, Jack did have another vision. It was on the same boat looking through the same guy's eyes, but this time, he was inside, sitting behind a big desk, and that lady was there with him again. But this time, she talked directly to him!"

For the first time, Bill looked truly surprised. "What? She talked to Jack?"

"Yeah!" Bart shouted but quickly quieted himself after a stern look from his dad. He continued, "Jack said this lady was leaning across the desk, looking right into his face and calling him by name."

"What did she say?" Bill frowned, glancing down at the telescope again.

"She told him he's in danger. That he needs to get out..." He paused, a distant look growing in his eye as reality had finally struck him. He shook his head. "Oh, and I almost forgot, she also said that she needed his help."

Bill's jaw tightened. "She was asking for Jack's help? How could she even know she was talking to Jack? And who is this woman that she would be asking for Jack's help?" Bill asked, pushing himself back away from the desk and putting his feet upon its surface. He removed the glasses from the top of his head and ran his fingers through his hair, closing his eyes and squeezing them shut tightly.

Then all of a sudden, Bill's eyes flew open, and he stared at his son with renewed intensity.

"What did this woman look like?" Bill asked, pulling his feet back off the desktop and sitting forward, elbows on his knees so that he was leaning in much closer to Bart.

Bart moved away, startled. "Why? Do you think you might know who she is?"

"I don't know, Bart, but did Jack describe her to you?"

"Well, yes, he did. He said that the woman was a grown lady with light-colored skin and long dark hair...Oh, and her eyes...the way he described them really stuck in my mind. He said they were like two almond-shaped emeralds."

Bill slammed back in his chair, slapping the palm of his right hand hard against his forehead.

"It can't be..." He whispered.

"What, Dad?" Bart asked, accusatory. "You look like you've seen a ghost or something. Who do you think she is?" he asked.

"I think..." Bill started slowly, "that lady in Jack's vision might be his grandma, Lydia Mac Paidin." He paused, looking at Bart, "She's been missing ever since Jack's dad was twelve years old."