HE IS SUMMONED

Little Jon awoke to a misty morning with a threat of rain over the ridges. The rain notwithstanding, he and Thomas set out foot at daybreak, taking the shortcut through the gap that led to other valley. This time Rascal went with him. To Thomas's amazement the big dog behaved itself and kept quiet even when deer were sighted.

It started to pour by the time they got to the cave. But neither cared. There was something to be learned here if they could find it. While Thomas crawled about in the dim interior of the cave, chipping experimentally with his hammer, Little Jon sat down and tried to think.

Thomas, glancing at him once said, "Maybe you'd better not try to remember. Sort of let your mind go blank. It might come easier."

He did as Thomas suggested. Even being here was exciting. Shadows of thoughts seemed to be crowding into the background of his mind. While he waited for them to take form, he drew out his knife and idly began to carve a twisted piece of root that lay near the cave entrance.

The thought shadows refused to take form that morning, but the piece of root did. When Thomas Bean saw it, the rain had stopped, and the root had become the striking head of a man. . . a man with a curious cap over his long hair, and one hand clenched under his chin as If he were lost in thought.

Little Jon was surprised that Thomas should make such a fuss over it. "But doesn't everybody do things like this?"

"Hardly. It would take a genius like Rodin to produce such a head. Here, look what I found. It was under that fall of rock."

Thomas held out a woven cap much like the one in the carving. Little Jon put it on. It fitted him.

"The cap," said Thomas, "proves, at least to me, that you landed here in the cave. It was probably knocked off when you fell and covered up. It's a wonder you weren't killed. Anyway, the cave also proves that Mary's idea of the door is correct. You see, something had to have happened here yo make that rock fall on your cap. It isn't the kind of rock that ever splits and break into fragments like this, unless a force as strong as a lightning bolt hits it. Now, there's no mechanism in here or anything that moves. That means that the door, and whatever it is that makes it work, is on the other side. . . I mean in that distant place where your people are."

He was sure Thomas was right. He wondered, with a longing he could not express, if he had a father and a mother beyond the door and if he would ever see them again or not.

Thomas said, "Let's get back. I want to show Mary these things."

Mary Bean's eyes were stormy when they returned.

It's started," she snapped before they could show her the cap and the carving. "The phone's been ringing all day. Thomas, did you know we've been hiding a wild boy that spits fire, jumps a hundred feet, dodge bullets and eats live rattlesnakes? That's how wild the tales has grown. I would like to choke Gilby. . . and stuff Anderson Bush down his Throat!"

She paused for breath. "Thats only half of it. There was a reporter here about an hour ago. I told him he'd been hearing a lot of nonsense and that we only had the young son of a friend of ours visiting us. I don't think he believed me, and sure hell be back, because he wants pictures. He hardly left when this can."

Angrily she thrust out a stiff folded paper.

"What is it?" Thomas asked.

"A summons! To the juvenile court. Monday at Ten."

Thomas whistled. "Bush has found out that the O'Connors didn't have any children. I'll bet he got on the phone first thing and called the Marine personnel office in Washington. Jon was right. We should never have made up that story. All we can do is keep Jon out of sight, and pray that his memory comes back."

"Did you make any progress today?" She asked.

"Some." Thomas opened the knapsack and took out the cap. He explained About it. "It proves you're right about the door idea -and it tells us some other things." He looked around. "Where are Brooks and Sally?"

"I sent them out to pick wild strawberries, where nobody can see them. That reporter caught Sally in the yard and tried to question her."

"Well, we mustn't let Brooks, Sally, or anyone -even Miss Josie- know about the cave. If it's ever so much as mentioned, the news of it will spread, and there'll be a thousand people hunting for it. It'll be torn apart and blasted and the pieces probably sold for souvenirs. But if it's never mentioned, it'll never be discovered. You can walk right by it and not know it's there. We've got to keep it that way. It's Jon only means of getting back where he came from."

"But how. . ."

"How does it work? Mary, only Jon's memory can tell us that. We're just guessing, but we figure it's a sort of threshold. . . a place where you land when you step through from the other side. My compass goes haywire in there, so I suppose the earth's magnetism has something to do with it. From the looks of it, it hasn't been used for ages."

Thomas paused, then added, "When you think about it, there's no reason why it should ever be used again. . . except to get Little Jon back."

Little Jon asked, "Why do you say that, Mr. Bean?"

"Just this: if your people are as advanced as we believe they are, what have we to offer that they'd be the least bit interested in?" Thomas laughed. "I'll bet they took one look at us and decided we were best forgotten. They probably thought more of our wild creatures. . . wouldn't be surprised if they carried some young ones home with them, before we finish killing them all off"

Thomas took the carving from the knapsack.

Have a look at this, Mary. Jon made it while I was poking around."

Mary Bean studied the carving. She said nothing for a minute, but Little Jon was aware of her amazement, the quick turning of her thoughts, her sudden conviction.