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Hundreds of miles to the south, Angela was thinking of Johnny, but was doing it as she lay in bed next to her long-time lover, Mike Wells, after a torrid round of sex.
“I missed you Baby,” said Mike. “I still don’t know what you see in that geek Goth. He ain’t your type.”
“There’s more to Johnny than you think.”
“Like what? Is he hung like a horse?”
Angela laughed. “Johnny’s fine in that department, better than fine, really, but no, that’s not exactly what I mean. Johnny can do things that other people can’t.” She didn’t tell him that Johnny was by far the best lover she ever had, and she had many, especially at school. Her father exiled her to Ohio State to get her away from guys in California, but it didn’t make any difference. Guys were everywhere, and they all wanted her as much as she wanted them.
Wells laughed. “Goth can do things? What things?”
“Well, he could probably twist your sorry ass into a pretzel without working up a sweat if he wanted to, for one thing.”
“Bull! That’s crazy!”
“But true. You wouldn’t believe how strong he is. And he’s fast. I clocked him running a sub-three-minute mile once. He wasn’t even out of breath when he finished.”
“That’s impossible!”
“But that’s nothing. He can do things just by thinking about them.”
“Like what?”
“Like make things float in the air. I saw him do it, when he didn’t know that I was watching. And he’s smart too, super smart.”
Wells smiled. Make things float in the air? Right. “Book smart maybe, but not street smart. Intelligence ain’t worth shit if you don’t know how to use it.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do, steer him towards using his incredible gifts to my benefit. I intend to be a super-rich woman someday, with his help. I was really pissed off when Dad made me go to that hick-school in Ohio, but I was lucky to find Johnny there.”
Wells suppressed a biting retort. Ohio State was the biggest university in the country and hardly a hick school. “He’s a boy scout, and he’ll always be a boy scout.”
“True, but he’s MY boy scout.”
“So OK, where does that leave me?”
“With me, Mike, like always. I can handle Johnny, but I’ll need help from time to time with Daddy, the Company, and with other things. I need someone I can trust because they think the way I do. My bad boy: someone with guts and sense.”
“And a big hard-on.” He rolled on top of her again.
Angela smiled. Sex was such a great way to control men. It even worked with Johnny, or so she had thought. It had been quite a shock when he disappeared.
What was Johnny up to, anyway? Daddy and Wells were wrong, it couldn’t have been merely that little row at the staff meeting; she had seen Johnny handle much worse situations than that without working up a sweat. It apparently had something to do with a strange, hairy little visitor. Who was he? Who else did Johnny know in California? His landlady had said something about them going north on business. What business? North where?
Suddenly, it all fit together. Johnny had obviously gone to look for his lost mountain. The mysterious mountain somehow had something to do with his powers, she was sure. She should be with him, and in control, finding out more about his powers. Maybe she could even get her own powers, and then she wouldn’t even need Johnny. But how could she find him? Not even Johnny knew where the mountain was. Only his mother knew.
Angela generally had no use for Johnny’s mother; but after Wells left she immediately phoned her, despite the lateness of the hour. “Mrs. Goth? It’s Angela, calling about Johnny.”
In Ohio, Ann Goth nearly fainted. “Has something happened to Johnny? Why are you phoning me in the middle of the night?”
“He’s fine, as far as I know.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“Johnny has disappeared, taken a few days off to find Goth Mountain, I suspect.”
Ann almost fainted a second time. Her worst fears were being realized. “You wouldn’t understand Angela, but he could be in danger if he returns to Goth Mountain. I lost his father to that place; I don’t want to lose Johnny too! He has to be stopped.”
“I agree. I want to stop him too, but I don’t know where to look for him.”
“He doesn’t know where to go either.”
“He might have help.”
“Help? What do you mean?”
“I’m told that when he was last seen at work he was with a very hairy little man named Ned. Does that mean anything to you?”
“Yes, I’m afraid it does.”
“Ned is an old friend from Goth Mountain, am I right?”
“Yes, an old, old friend. He’ll take Johnny to Goth Mountain, or worse.”
“What do you mean, worse?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Can you tell me where to find Johnny?”
Ann Goth sounded very tired when she finally replied. “I can show you. Fly to Portland and I’ll meet you at the airport by afternoon. Have a rental car ready and I’ll drive us straight to Goth Mountain in a few hours.”
Angela hesitated. She had worked for many months to increase her control of Johnny, and decrease his mother’s influence. She didn’t like what Ann had proposed, but she didn’t seem to have a choice. “Fine. We can cell phone details to each other later.”
After Ann Goth phoned the airline and packed there was a three-hour stretch before she had to leave when she should have slept, but she couldn’t. Instead, she lay in bed, worrying. Johnny was returning to Goth Mountain, and could be nearly there already. She could still remember when Mark disappeared as though it happened only yesterday.
Johnny was far too much like his father: too smart, too confident, and too damned curious. He would be fascinated and drawn in; there was no two ways about it. He would rejoin the Tribe. Worst of all, he would look for his father on Goth Mountain. What if the same thing that happened to Mark also happened to Johnny? She couldn’t bear to think of it, but she couldn’t help thinking about it.
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