Strange Beginnings// j.p.

Chapter 4- The Search Begins

    By the time we made our way out of the thick woods and back into town, the sun was dipping below the watery horizon, bathing the whole island in a red glow. We made our way to the pub and found Jake's dad sitting at a table, typing on his laptop with a glass of black beer next to him. We sat down across from him, Jake swiping the beer and taking a large swig before Franklin looked up.

   "Oh, my sweet lord," Jacob started to cough, barely able to swallow the mouthful he took, "what is this? Fermented motor oil?" He set the glass back down as his father chuckled. "Just about," Franklin took the glass back. "It's not like the beer they sell in the States. Not that you know what that tastes like, right?"

         "Of course not, Dad," Jake winked at him like it was a joke, but I knew that was the truth. Despite what his parents thought, Jacob was never a popular kid like they were in high school, drinking and partying. He preferred photography and reading and cartography to booze and loud music and big crowds. He allowed his parents to think he was a wild partygoer, knowing it was easier to let them believe what they wanted instead of trying to make them see the real him.

"So how was the house?"

"Trashed."

Franklin winced, looking apologetic. "Guess it's been a long time since your grandpa lived there, huh?"

        "Yeah, or anyone else for that matter." I squeezed Jake's hand, knowing he was feeling disappointed with the way the day had gone. If I was being truthful, I was running out of ideas. I had thought that simply being on the island would lead us to Miss Peregrine, and I was always terrible at sniffing out loops without Abe's help. I was hoping a good night's sleep would be just what I needed to come up with a new plan.

Franklin closed his laptop, a sign that Jacob was going to get his full attention. "I can see you're disappointed."

"Well, I didn't exactly come thousands of miles to dig through decades-old garbage."

"So what are you going to do now?" Jake shrugged, not having much of an answer.

"I figured we'd go around town and speak to the locals, anyone that was alive during the war that would remember the home in its prime. If we can't speak to Miss Peregrine herself, we'll get the history from the people around the children instead."

"That's an idea, yeah." Franklin didn't sound convinced, but he didn't push if he thought it was a bad idea. There was an uncomfortable pause before he asked, "So, do you feel closer to understanding your grandfather, being here?"

Jake just shrugged. "I don't know, I guess. At the end of the day, it's just an island, you know?"

"Exactly. It's just an island."

"Well, what about you?"

"Me?" Franklin gestured to himself, shrugging slightly. "I gave up trying to understand my father a long time ago.

"That's sad," I chimed in, knowing the truth about the deterioration in Abe's relationship with his son, "Weren't you ever interested to know more about your father's past?" Frank tensed up, as if he'd forgotten I was there. "Of course I was interested, for a while. Then I wasn't anymore." There was something in his voice that told me I wasn't going to like where he was taking the conversation, but Jacob persisted. "Why not?"

There was another long pause as Franklin took a large swig of his Guinness before he spoke up, a simple, dodgy answer. "When a person doesn't want to let you in, eventually you stop knocking altogether. Leave them to hide in their secrets."

"But he was your dad. How could you just give up on understanding everything he went through?"

"I wasn't the one who gave up trying!" Franklin exclaimed, a little too loudly. He ducked his head to compose his thoughts before continuing, "The truth is, I don't think your grandpa really knew how to be a dad. Didn't want to know how to be one. But he felt like he had to, felt obligated to keep the Portman line alive since all his family died in the war. So, he dealt with the parenting by being gone all the time. He'd go on hunting trips, business trips, personal vacations alone, all of it. Anything he could do to be away from his family, he did it. And on the rare occasion he was around, he still wasn't really there."