The Lightning Sphere

Chapter 6

“Maggie?” They said, relaxing their stance and putting down their weapon. They removed their hood and let it swing back against his back.  The boy underneath the hood looked to be around the age of 13. His Amber eyes looked damp with tears, His blonde strands of hair hanging in his face.

    “Noah,” Maggie said. Noah was her older cousin and was probably the only person other than Maggie who hung out with Sam 24/7. “Why did you come in here?”

    Noah sat back down in his chair and banged his head against the table once more.  He sighed, and then picked it back up.

    “I had another fight with my dad.” He said. Maggie now understood why his eyes had been damp. He was crying. Noah and his dad had been fighting a lot lately about future careers. Noah was the type of person who was into mysteries and adventures. He was curious, unlike his dad. His dad was the type of person who liked working in an office, talking with people and not getting involved in anything dangerous. He wanted Noah to be a banker or a lawyer. The thing is, Noah can’t be cooped up in one place for over five minutes.

    “He got really angry this time.” He said. Maggie sat down in the chair across from him. The seat whined as she pressed her weight against it.

    “I’m only asking this because I’m concerned,” She asked nervously. “But can you tell me what happened?”

    Noah sat back and sighed, the chair moaning softly. “I guess I need to talk to somebody about it.” He said. He pulled on the white draw string of his hoody and twirled it around his finger. “I was talking with Aunt Amy, and she asked me what I wanted to be when I grow up. I told her I wanted to be a traveler or a detective. Then my dad ran in and started yelling at me saying stuff like ‘how are you supposed to earn money if you’re going to be spending it on airplane flights!’ Then I told him that it wasn’t his decision over how I live my life. He got really ticked off at me and started yelling really loud. Once everyone at the table started staring, I decided to just go somewhere quiet.”

    Maggie was thinking about what he had said. Could he have been the one who had thrown the baseball? It could have been possible. But why would he had thrown it at her?

    Noah’s face had a puzzled look. “Why are you up here?” He asked.

    This was a moment of truth for Maggie. Should she tell him about the note? About the voices she heard in the office and about Mr. Yamamoto? Sam had always trusted Noah. Particularly because he was one of Sam’s closest friends. But what if Noah was lying?  What if he was the one who had thrown the baseball and what if he was the one who was talking on the phone?

    On the other hand, Noah was the only one Maggie had to talk to. He may be 13, and Maggie may be only 11, but they were the closest in age, and the closest in spirit. Maggie felt that Noah was the only one she could trust.

    “Well?” Noah asked impatiently. He was still playing with the draw string on his sweater. Maggie let out a long breath and told Noah everything. About the man in the study, about how she suspected Mr. Yamamoto and how he had told her to go clip the hedges. The only detail she left out was the baseball. If Noah really was the one who had thrown it, then she didn’t want to place more pressure upon him. And it wasn’t that big of a deal. Being hit lead her to finding the note. If anything, she should be thanking him.

    “He sure sounds suspicious.” Noah stated.

    “That’s not all.” Maggie added. She opened her hand and revealed the crumpled piece of paper.

“Paper?” Noah said in a very un-enthusiastic tone. He slumped back in his seat. “That’s only exciting if you live in the arctic and need to feed your fire.”