Book 2-Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

Alex Bishop in Follow That Mystery

                                                                                        Chapter 7

                                                                                        Surprises

     Alex decided before his friends arrived he would go down to the lake and get in some fishing.  So he grabbed his pole, bait and waders then hurried off down the hill.  Anna was busy getting the guest room and the den ready for their visitors. Meanwhile, Alex was wading out into the water that was streaked with gold from the setting sun.  He looked across the lake to watch the sun set and was surprised at what he saw.

     On the opposite bank three figures stood at the water's edge, fishing poles in hand and they looked familiar to him.  And after staring hard at them for a moment Alex called out, "Hey!  What are you guys doing here?"  Fletch's brother Matt called back, "Fishing!  what do you think?"  Sam and the boys' friend Nicholas laughed along with Matt.

     "What are you doing here Alex?"  Matt retorted.  "Come on over and I'll tell you!"  Alex yelled.  Matt gave him a nod and said, "We'll get our stuff and drive up."  So he, Sam and Nick reeled in their lines, picked up their bait and walked to a small parking lot barely visible to Alex behind where the boys had been fishing.  Alex waded back in to the shore line and then back up the hill to the house.  He figured Matt knew how to get there because he hadn't ask.

     Matt, Nicholas and Sam arrived a short time later and the young men shook hands all around.  "Hey Anna!  We have company!"  Alex called.  "I'll be out in a few!" she called back. "Anna?"  Nick ask with a smirk, his blue eyes narrowed.  Anna came out from a hall bedroom a few minutes later to see Alex and three strangers sitting on the sofa.  Nick, Matt and Sam stood when she entered the room.

     Anna came to stand by Alex's side and smiled at the unexpected visitors.  "Anna, these are Matt and Sam Clark, Fletch's brothers and this is their friend Nick Crosby.  "Hi," Anna said cheerfully.  Matt, Sam and Nick greeted her in kind.  "Can I get you guys a Coke, water, Mountain Dew?"  Anna asked.

     "Mountain Dew,"  the three of them said in unison.  "I'll be right back,"  Annie said with a grin at them and walked through the dinning room and into the kitchen.  "She's a cutie,"  Matt said in approval.  "Yeah.  You've done alright," Sam agreed.  "If she ever drops you let me know," Nick said, punching Alex on the arm.

     "Take it easy guys.  We're just friends," he said.  "Whatever you say,"  Sam told him in a skeptical tone.  Just then Anna came walking back from the kitchen with a tray of drinks in her hands.  "I brought you a Dr. Pepper Alex," she said handing it to him and then putting the tray on the coffee table.  Then she sat down next to Alex on the sofa opposite the twins and Nick.

     "So are you two just getting in a vacation before school?" Nick ask.  Alex looked over at Anna and was about to ask her a question when there was a knock at the door.  She went to answer it.  "Hi!" Anna said, as Lee, Glenna, Dawn, Chet and Fletch walked in, bags in hand.  "What are you guys doing here?"  Fletch asked, gaping at Nick and his two brothers.

     Matt was about to answer him when Anna announced, "My parents are here!"  Alex got up and walked to the door just in time to see Anna's mom and dad getting out of their car. He gave her an incredulous look.  She just giggled and said, "Oh, didn't I tell you they were coming?"  Alex raised a brow and smirked at her.

     "They think you're a great guy Alex,"  Anna assured him.  "But did you really think they would leave us up here alone together for two weeks?" she asked, laughing now.  Alex laughed too but didn't get a chance to answer her, because by this time her parents were at the door.  "Why Alex, you act surprised to see us," Anna's father Andrew said with a wink.

     "Hello dear,"  Anna's mom Peg said, giving him a hug as she walked in.  Lee, Dawn, Glenna and Chet were saying hello to Matt, Sam and Nick while Anna's father took his and his wife's suitcases down the hall to their room.  "My parents weren't going to let me come Alex until Lee told them that Anna's parents were going to be here,"  Glenna told him.

     "How did you know they were going to be here?"  Alex asked her.  "Lee told me," she said simply.  Alex looked over at Lee with the same incredulous look he'd given Anna earlier.  "I heard your dad and Anna's dad talking about it at the golf course a week ago or so."  "Yeah, you were there Alex," Fletch started, "No, wait.  That's right, you were in the sand trap," he said, roaring with laughter.

     "Right Fletch.  Very Funny," Alex said dryly.  Anna's father had heard the conversation from the hallway, and when he arrived back in the living room he made a bee line for Alex and put a hand on his shoulder. ( Mr. Roberts was a tall slender man with thinning brown hair and glasses.)  He smiled at Alex and said, "Alex, we do trust you with our daughter.  We know you're just friends....But your mother wasn't happy about the two of you being up here alone," he said with an embarrassed chuckle.

     Alex grinned at him as Mr. Roberts gave him a pat on the back and then went outside again to get the rest of the luggage.  Alex hadn't had a chance yet to introduced Nick, Matt and Sam, but decided to do it when everyone was seated somewhere.  Anna's mother gave the ones who hadn't seen it yet a tour of the house.

     Alex thought Peg looked like Anna.  She had the same black hair cut short, the same deep blue eyes and trim figure.  Anna's father came back in the door in a few minutes after the tour had ended, carrying a small case and three large pizzas.  "Anyone hungry?" he called, heading for the dinning room table.

     Fletch, Chet, Matt, Sam and Nick rushed to the table as if they were starving.  The twins and Nick decided to introduce themselves to Anna's parents since no one else had. And began a conversation with him while they filled their plates with pizza.   Lee had held back from racing to the table and instead had grabbed hold of Alex's arm.  "What is go...."Lee begin in a whisper.  "When Anna's parents go to sleep,"  Alex interrupted him in a whisper.  Lee gave Alex a nod and then they headed to the dinning room to join their friends. 

     The pizza was obviously good by the way it disappeared, and the conversation was lively.  "Are you three staying too?"  Mr. Roberts asked Nick, Matt and Sam.  He was wondering how they could make room for them.  "No sir," Matt said.  "We have a motel about twenty minutes away."  "We came to go fishing for a week or so and then we ran into Alex down at the lake today," Sam told him. "We hadn't see him for a while so he invited us up to socialize," Nick said, then taking a big bite of his pizza.  At last Fletch got the answer to his question about why they were there.

     After dinner and with everyone sated, the group sat down to watch some T.V.  Alex was dozing on the love seat next to Anna.  Suddenly, he jerked his head upright, sweat pouring down his face.  "Alex!  What's wrong?" Anna asked, taking a napkin from the coffee table and wiping his brow.  "I'm fine, just a bad dream," he said.  Anna frowned at his pale face and at the same time noticed his legs were shaking.  Alex had dreamed he was pushed off the balcony by an unknown assailant.

     Lee glanced over at Alex from the sofa across from the love seat, with a suspicious look on his face.  It seemed like Anna and lee were the only ones who had noticed that anything had happened.  In a few minutes Alex begin to relax and he slumped back against the sofa with his head on Anna's arm.  His breathing slowed and the color returned to his face.

     "Well dear, it's about time," Mr. Roberts said to his wife.  "Yep.  I'm ready for bed," Peg said getting up and calling good night as she went down the hallway.  Mr. Roberts said a sleepy good night and followed his wife.  When they were out of sight, Lee Immediately leaned forward from his place on the sofa and said,  "Why are we here  Alex?"