The Light Brigade - Chapter 15
What kind of secret instructions could he possibly be given from the Man Upstairs that would help him complete his impossible task?
This is an installment of my new serialized middle grade novel - The Light Brigade. When new kid in town Will finds himself in the midst of a sea of brainwashed middle schoolers, he has to join the Light Brigade, an unlikely group of heroes, to save them. Can he trust the Man Upstairs who guides them with fortune cookie directions? Will he find his place in the Brigade? Will he be able to stop the shadowy New Moon Group from forcing his classmates to collect acorns for a cartoon squirrel until they all collapse? Subscribed? Get caught up here.
It’s been a minute since the last installment, so in case you forgot: Will just escaped from attempting to investigate the New Moon Group laboratory. He brought with him brain scans from the affected students, leading to the discovery that the company is using the students’ brain power like a massive computer network. We left the Light Brigade working out the details for the next day’s planned mission to stop the New Moon Group.
The next morning found Will hurrying down the sidewalk to the Queen Anne. As early as it was, he was still running late. He had overslept after staying up way too late working on his part of the plan. He was thankful for the brisk autumn air that was helping to wake him up.
Finally making it to the house, he saw from the jackets in the entryway that he was once again the last to arrive. He left his coat behind, too, taking his bag with him. He hurried into the kitchen following the mouthwatering smell of pancakes. He was greeted by the perpetually cheerful Lily who was busy mixing up what looked like frosting.
“Frosting for pancakes?” asked Will.
Lily shook her head. “That does sound pretty tasty, but this is for the cookies for the teachers’ lounge.”
Will nodded in understanding. “That really is a clever way of getting them the antidote. Did you bake it into the cookies?”
“No,” said Lily, “the medicine can’t handle high temperatures. Since it’s a powder, I thought about mixing it with some sprinkles to go on top. I finally decided to stir it into the frosting itself, though; it’s dissolved just fine, and no one can scrape it off it they don’t like sprinkles.”
Gabriella swallowed a big bite of pancakes and asked, “What about some teacher who’s on a diet or something? Or just doesn’t want a cookie at like eight in the morning?”
“I know I wouldn’t mind,” said Austin, getting a spatula smack on the hand from Lily as he swiped for a newly baked cookie.
“Not for you!” Lily said, “The teachers, on the other hand, can have one of the sugar-free, allergen-free muffins.” She held up a tray of exquisite looking pastries. “Unfortunately, I did have to put the antidote on top after it cooked, but Mr. Turner thought if I left it overnight it should soak in ok.” She poked the top of one of the muffins skeptically.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” said Tamara. She was retrieving her pancakes from a contraption that was undoubtedly called the Pancake Panda. Even as she spoke,the perfect-sized pancakes flipped off the Panda’s eye spots to land on her plate.
Will had just started making his own breakfast when Mr. Turner bustled into the kitchen. He clearly had been up much of the night, with his hair sticking out at weird angles, but he beamed nevertheless over his armful of papers and gadgets.
“Good morning, my good fellows,” he boomed, “I’m glad you’re all here early because we have a lot to do! I hope everyone has their preparations completed.” He peered around at all their nodding heads. “Excellent! It is vital that we are successful today; I have received word that at least six other students have now collapsed from exhaustion just like young miss Sydney. Fortunately, they all seem to be doing fine, but it just underscores our need for urgency.”
He passed pens out to each of them. Seeing Will’s confused expression, he went on, “These aren’t really pens – that’s just a disguise. If you unscrew the end, you’ll find a small vial of the antidote. Remember, each of you need to get to your respective lunchtimes as early as you can so that you can put the antidote into the food. The antidote won’t take effect immediately, but it is important that we treat as many people as we can; who knows what kind of long-term effects that parasite could have! Austin, you’re the only one in your lunch period, so make sure you really get a move on.”
“No worries, I got it,” said Austin, “and I’ll have still have time to get into Will’s classroom for part two of the plan.”
“That’s the spirit!” said Mr. Turner, “Speaking of which, here is the file that will take down the mind control signal.” He held up the smallest flash drive that Will had ever seen; it had to be smaller than a dime.
Austin took it and tucked it up under his beanie. “Anything I need to know?”
“Just plug and play, my friend! Once you insert it into the computer, it should start to work on its own,” Mr. Turner replied. He turned to Will, “How did the cameras go?”
Hesitantly, Will removed a tablet and a bag of what looked like tiny metal spiders from his backpack. “I think they went ok,” he said, “I’m a little rusty with building things, and they were more different than making model airplanes than I expected.”
Mr. Turner took one out of the bag and inspected it closely before squeezing it and dropping it on the floor. The little mechanism immediately scurried toward the wall and climbed toward the ceiling, stopping next to the ceiling light. Will’s tablet showed all of them peering toward the ceiling like fish in a bowl.
“Excellent work, my boy!” said Mr. Turner, clapping him on the shoulder, “I knew you could do it!”
Will blushed bright red but still couldn’t help smiling. He handed the tablet to Tamara, saying, “Each of the cameras should automatically pair with the tablet as it is activated. You just swipe between the different views to see what the Spider Cams see.” He pulled another bag of cameras out of his backpack and handed them to Austin. “Here’s yours. You just squeeze them to activate.”
Austin accepted the bag with a grunt. He didn’t look angry, but he also didn’t seem too happy to be teamed up with Will again. Will worried there would be trouble while they were trying to complete their mission. He’s probably just as nervous as I am, he thought.
Mr. Turner, on the other hand, seemed not to notice the tension. “Last but not least, here is the real star of the show – our Mama Spider.” He produced a much larger version of the Spider Cams along with a remote control with a small screen. “The controls should work just like a model airplane, but make sure you have the controls down before you send it out into the hall. You’ll put the flash drive here and then the Spider will be able to put it in the computer. Austin will be there if you run into any problems.”
Will took the Mama Spider with a great amount of trepidation. This was one of the most important parts of the mission, and it all depended on him. He pushed his pancakes back, suddenly not so hungry for them any more.
With a clap of his hands, Mr. Turner went on, “Now, time for messages from the Man Upstairs! I have one for all of you: Green does not mean go. And I also have notes for each of you, too.”
Will stared down at the folded piece of paper that was handed to him. Everyone else was already silently reading theirs, Lily even wiping a little tear from her eye. Will, though, struggled to open his. What would the Man Upstairs have to say to him? He’d been asked to do what felt like a nearly impossible task. It was so important to so many people, yet he felt like he was doomed to fail. And a screw up like him was not a welcome member in a group like the Light Brigade. What kind of secret instructions could he possibly be given that would help with all that?
With a deep breath, he finally unfolded the note. It read, ‘You are valuable, and you do belong. What we are doing matters, and you help make it possible.’ Will blinked at the paper, hardly believing what he was seeing. How could the Man Upstairs know what he was thinking? No, more than that – how could the Man Upstairs have known hours ago what Will would be thinking right before he opened the note? Not for the last time, Will wondered who the Man Upstairs was. How could he know all that he knows? And if he knows so much, why does he still believe in Will?
Even with all those doubts and uncertainties swirling through his head, Will couldn’t help but smile at the feeling of calm confidence that was sweeping over him. There was someone out there who really knew him and really cared. And that person thought that Will really could do this gigantic task that had been given to him. Suddenly, he felt like he wasn’t quite carrying this weight all on his own, like someone else was sharing the load. His confidence lifted, he pulled his plate back toward him and dove into his pancakes.
Slowly, the conversations started back as each of the friends finished with their notes. Time passed too quickly in Will’s opinion as they talked over the plan. They barely had time to finish their breakfasts when Mr. Turner spoke up.
“It’s time for you to head out. Good luck, my friends, and may God go with you,” said Mr. Turner, leading them to the door.
It is a classic approach to have this age group overcome their insecurities to triumph over the bad guys. What is new and refreshing is that you write about this tangled, wonderful age with such nuance and insight. Your heroes are not perfect. They are real. Love it!