The Twelve Stones Read Online Free

soothingly as he dabbed the damp rag on Scott’s face some more . “Tell me something , son, do you remember anything?”
    Scott’s face scrunched up hard in concentration. “I remember…” Scott struggled for a moment as his memory retur n ed, “I remember falling,”
    “Then what?” Ted asked.
    “And then, I remember … something hurting, like a lot.” Scott took a deep breath as he recounted the experience. “Then it really started to hurt, but then there was this , like, blue sorta glow, and then I was happy and it didn’t hurt anymore.” Scott looked around and worriedly asked, “Am I dead?”
    Ted chuckled at that . “No , buddy, you’re just fine. Just a close call today, that’s all.”
    Ted got up and went to the door. “Hey Alex, help Scott settle down for a minute or two , all right? I’m gonna go call his mother and have her come pick him up.”
    Alex nodded silently , still clearly shaken . Then , like any normal ten - year - old boy, he walked to the TV, plugged in his game controllers, and handed one to his friend. The TV lit up with the animated adventures of Mario and friends, as the two boys began arguing over who would be first player.
    Forcing his queasy feelings back down to his gullet, Ted moved towards the phone, dialing Scott’s mother.
    After explaining what had happened, and extracting a promise from her to not sue him so long as there wasn’t a hair harmed on her little boy, Ted hung up the phone , relieved. He turned and looked at his son , who had retreated from the bedroom with an empty glass.
    “Scott wanted some Pepsi, and I said it was all right,” Alex said . “Is that all right?
    “Sure , bud,” Ted replied almost to himself. The fact was , he was still so distracted that Alex could have asked for black tar heroin and Ted probably would have agreed. Ted McCray was a man of science. Empirical observations that matched experiments and results; that’s what had shaped his worldview for nearly as long as he could remember. But nothing in his lifetime of scientific experience and knowledge could explain what he had just witnessed, and that, more than anything else, disturbed him.
    “What about Scott?” Alex asked, unsure of what else to say. “Can he still stay the night?”
    Ted snapped back to reality. He still had a boy to raise , and that boy was looking to his father for answers.
    “Well, his mother is on her way over to pick him up, I’m afraid.” Ted sighed, “If I were you, I wouldn’t count on being able to play too much over at his house for awhile.”
    “But he’s my best friend! This wasn’t my fault; it was Scott’s stupid idea to climb that tree! I didn’t even know he wanted to do it!” Alex protested loudly.
    “I know it wasn’t your fault , pal, but sometimes…” Ted trailed off, “Sometimes, m oms get overprotective of their kids . E ven though accidents happen, some people just can’t accept that they can’t control every piece of the world at once. And for those people, sometimes they feel threatened until they get enough distance to see it’s not so bad after all.”
    “What does that mean?” Alex demanded.
    “Well, it means that you’ll get your best friend back after his mother has calmed down some and becomes rational again.” Ted smiled, “Don’t worry, this ban isn’t permanent. I’ll make sure of that.”
    Alex, reassured , turned to go back to the guest room to return to Scott and their paused video game, but before he could escape, Ted grabbed his son by the shoulder. “Not just yet , bub,” he said in a firm tone of voice.
    “What?” Alex asked scared.
    “Now, I know today wasn’t your fault….”
    “ It wasn’t?”
    “No, like I said, it’s an accident and no one could’ve seen it coming.” Ted paused, clearing his throat uncomfortably . “The thing is , bucko, what you did, what happened today with Scott’s injuries, that’s not something that we can tell people. Things like what happened to