Justin and the Key ~ Chapter 3

          After lunch he decided to hang around for the rest of the day, so he asked Aunt Ruthy what he should do. "Oh, you could go down to the creek and fish, or you could read a book or climb a tree. There are lots of other things I'm sure you could think up," she answered.

          At the top of the tree he could see the nine mountain peaks that surrounded the valley.  Looking across the valley he saw the roof of the old cottage where he had found the key.  There were far more cottages scattered across the valley than he realized, and there was even a big barn that used to be red.

          It was harder getting down from the top of the pine than it was going up.  Back at home, he asked where the fishing poles were and, getting one, headed down toward the direction of the stream.  He sat down next to the stream, and forgetting about the poll, looked up at the blue expanse lost in thought. 

His Uncle Bert was a bit taller than average, about 6'2", but then again everyone seemed to be a little taller than average. His Aunt Ruthy was thought to be more artsy and content than Uncle Bert, who was more of a business man than an artist. He couldn't tell all of their character traits because he had only been there a day and a night.  He was still getting over the time change but he thought that he would like it here in spite of home schooling.  In the last day he caught himself wondering where he would find any friends.

          After a long silence in his mind, he noticed that his eyes were closed and that he had been dreaming. Not sure of where he was, he sat up and almost jumped out of his socks. There was someone else sitting next to him using his fishing poll.  A boy with mangy hair to his ears, a little taller than himself, (as it seemed everyone was) wearing a tee-shirt that was way too big for his skinny frame sat hooking a worm. The mystery boy looked over at him and abruptly asked "Who are you? Where'd you come from? I hope you don't mind me usin' your fancy fishin' poll seein' you weren't usin' it for nothin' but a pillow."

          The first thing that popped into his mind as he looked at this boy was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but he quickly pushed the thought out and answered the boy’s question. "No I don't mind. My name is Justin and I used to live in Florida. Who are you?"

"I'm William David Frenson, I s’pose.  Just call me Will.  City boy I gather?"

"I suppose," Justin said picking up on the boy’s slang.  Looking at the worm he thought, “If I’m going to fit in here, I have to blend in as well.”