{"sf1_id":755436,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Mooning Over Nothing","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2219,"posted_at":"2014-09-11T13:51:00.000Z","tags":["Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf","biker","mystery","silver"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/755436-mooning-over-nothing","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/755436","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=755436\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#31 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nAnd before you start giggling over the title, it's not the definition you're thinking of...","content":"          \"What's the matter son? Do you\nrecognize that picture?\"\n\"Sure. It's an exact duplicate of\nthe toy key I had as a kid. Mom and Dad returned it to me a few years back,\nbefore they disappeared.\"\n\"Where is it now?\"\n\"You know that box of stuff you\nwent through?\"\nReynaud nodded. \n\"Remember that little envelope, the\none that was sealed?\"\nReynaud nodded again. \"Yes I do. I\ndidn't want to be nosy at the time. Are you saying it's in there?\"\n\"Yes, I'm afraid so. I had no idea\nwhat it was for. No one ever told me. \"\n\"Unless they did and then had to\nmindwipe you. But it hardly was going to do you any good without the box.\"\n\"So now I have to go all the way\nback to New York City to get the key.\"\nMaggie was excited. \"So you think\nyou have the key that opens this box?\"\nHe hooked his arm around her and\nkissed the back of her head. \"I'm pretty sure I do. But we'll not know until I\nget it and try it out.\"\nShe turned and returned his kiss.\n\"This is so cool!\" She kissed him again and skipped off.\nReynaud was shaking his head. \"This\nis a lot to take in. I don't know about the rest of you, but I think we need to\nslow things down. I need to piece together information for the Taborum, and we\nneed to return to get Edward's key. I hate to think about driving a thousand\nmiles each way, but if it will help, I'll do it.\"\nEdward raised a finger. \"Yeah,\nabout driving; whose Range Rover is that?\"\n\"Mine!\" Maggie said in her typical\nsaucy tone s she returned to the room. \"Of course, I can't drive it, but that's\nok.\"\nEdward lowered his head and shook\nit. \"I suppose you paid cash for it?\"\n\"Of course. The salesman would have stripped and allowed us to walk over him in high heels he was so delighted.\"\n\"I'll just bet he was. Still, it\nbeats my ride.\"\n\"Your ride.\"\n\"Yeah. I sort of stole it at the\ndiner.\"\n\"You stole a biker's motorcycle?\"\n\"Yeah.\"\nMaggie climbed up in his lap. \"You\nso have to give me a ride on it.\"\nHe whispered in her ear. \"The\nmotorcycle, or are you talking about something else?\"\nShe giggled. \"Maybe both!\"\nReynaud ignored their display of\nplayful affection. \"We need to retrieve the key and open the box. Once we know\nwhat's inside, we'll be able to know better the reason for all this secrecy. I\ndon't like secrets.\"\nMaggie started to say something,\nbut Marcus interrupted her. \"I agree with Rey. We'll have to get this key.\nAssuming the mechanism still works, the key is still our best bet for getting\nit open. I say that maybe Edward, Verona and Maggie can go back, open it up and\nreport back to us here.\"\nMaggie giggled. \"How? You barely\nhave electricity out here. I don't see a radio or a television anywhere. You\nwant us to send a message by pigeon?\"\n\"One of you could leave your cell\nphone behind.\"\nShe held up her phone. \"Yeah, like\nthat'll work. Look at the reception. I don't think any carriers even know this\nplace exists. No, I think I have a better idea.\"\n\"And what is that young lady?\"\n\"Open it here.\"\nMarcus smiled a bit too\ncondescendingly. \"We'll not have the box destroyed in any clumsy attempts to\nopen it. I've got tools, but nothing that can pick a lock designed by one of\nthe most brilliant minds ever known.\"\nMaggie let her legs swing from side\nto side. She let the adults talk for a while longer. Then she slid off Edward's\nlap and picked up the box. \"I still say we don't need to drive across six\nstates just to get this open.\"\nLupenia waved her to come closer.\n\"Why is that dear?\"\nShe held up a small envelope.\n\"Because I brought father's box of treasure s with me. I wanted something with\nme that he had held dear. Call it being sentimental. I didn't know there was\nanything of importance in it.\"\nEdward scooped her up. \"Maggie\ndarling, you're the queen of the ball!\"\nVerona turned a shade of green.\nHe ripped the small envelope open\nand shook out the contents. It was a small ornate brass key, and it was indeed\na match for the image in the book. Edward's hands were shaking as he took the\nbox and tried the key. It slid in, but balked halfway.\n\"I think the mechanism is dirty.\"\n\"It probably is. Let me find some\ntoothpicks and maybe some stiff wire. Maybe we can finish cleaning out the\ndirt.\"\nFor the next hour, the men took\nturns carefully working away at the bits of dirt and sand that had gotten\nlodged inside the workings of the lock. Time after time they tried, and each\ntime they failed to make it work. After a while they gave up.\n\"There's no point in damaging the\nbox in our impatience, \"declared Marcus. \n\nMaggie went to the kitchen and came\nback with a straw. \"Give me that!\" She proceeded to blow into the mechanism and\nwas rewarded with tiny puffs of dust and dirt. She shook the box, turned it\nupside-down, and then blew in it again.\nSophia stifled a laugh. \"You men\nfolk could learn a thing or two. She's making faster headway than you three\ncombined! And she isn't risking any damage to the box.\"\nShe was correct. After only five\nminutes Maggie was able to get the key all the way in. She handed it over the\nEdward. \"Here father. You do the honors.\" He turned the key until it clicked.\nThe lid was stiff, but it opened.\n \nA few counties away, a motorcycle\npulled into the parking lot of a now infamous diner. The rider wore sunglasses,\nand while his bike looked a bit rough, it ran like it was powered by the demons\nof hell. He drove it around the lot looking this way and that, then parked and\ndismounted. He cracked his knuckles and headed into the restaurant, smiling knowingly\nat the bits of debris that still littered the ground.\nHe had on enough jewelry to weigh\ndown a corpse in deep water; reaching from his fingers to his nose and eye\nbrows. The moment he stepped through the door, the entire place went quiet. He\njingled and jangled like a medieval knight heading off to battle.  Hair bristled out from under his jacket.\nHe sat down at the lunch counter\nand ignoring the open stares, asked for coffee. The waitress brought him a cup,\nbut as she went to pour, he blocked it with his hand. \"Skip the cup. Leave the\npot.\"\nThe stares became more intense,\nleastwise until he turned to look over the customers. The all eyes turned to\nthe tables in front of them. \"Any of you folks know what the hell happened\nhere?\"\nNo one said a word. \"It ain't what\nyou think. I ain't here to get no revenge for that gang. If they can't take\ncare of themselves, it ain't my job to wipe their sorry asses. I wanna know\nabout that animal.\"\nThe waitress tapped the counter,\nand not with some trepidation. \"Police say it was a bear.\"\nThe man guffawed \"A bear? In these\nparts? Maybe. But I ain't never heard of no bear that could take down that many\nmen. Anyone here actually see the beast?\"\nSilence. \"I see. Well then, I guess\nI'm wasting your time and mine. I'll finish my coffee and be on my way.\"\nHe heard a voice from the back.\n\"Someone said they saw it ride out of here on a motorcycle.\"\nThe big man chuckled. \"Bears don't\nride bikes.\"\n\"They do in the circus.\"\nHe nodded. \"Friend, you've got me\nthere. The circus. A bear on a motorcycle heading to his circus.  Sounds a little impractical, don't ya think?\"\n\"I'm just saying what I heard.\nDidn't see it myself.\"\n\"An honest man is a rare thing\nfriend. I appreciate your candor. Me, well I have a thing for finding wild\nanimals. Sort of a family business. So I'll be lookin for this here bear of\nyours for a spell. I'll likely be back in a few days time, so if you have any\ninformation, leave it here. I'll be glad to compensate you appropriately.\"\n\"How much?\"\n\"How much what?\"\n\"How much money you offering?\"\nHe held up his right hand. \"If your\ninformation helps me to find this animal, then I'll strip off every ring I\nhave, and every necklace I've got, and if that ain't enough for ya, I give you\nevery coin I've got in my bags. It's all real, and it's all genuine, and as you\ncan see by the color, every last bit of it is in silver. If you can a better\ndeal than that, then I'd suggest you take it.\"\n \nThe box was empty. There was a\nlayer of fine sediment, but nothing else. The interior of the box was designed\nto hold a ring, if the indentation meant anything.  But whatever ring had been inside was now\ngone.\nThe disappointment in the room was\npalpable. Maggie groaned and fell to the floor. Rey took the box gently out of\nEdward's hands and turned it over and over in disbelief. He handed it back.\n\"I don't understand. Shouldn't\nthere have been something inside the box? Why lock it, separate it from the key\nand then bury it? Why was this worth dying for?\"\nEdward sat down. \"I wish I knew.\"\nHe ran his finger over the inside of the metal container. The inside was slightly\ndarkened with age, but he could feel the tiny tool marks left by the artisan.\nTo think that he was holding something made by the great Leonardo was as\nincredible to him as being able to morph into a werewolf. \nMaggie started crying. He handed\nthe box over to Verona and sat next to her. \"What is it dear?\"\n\"I was hoping that it would have\nsome great wonder in it.\"\n\"Like what?\" he said, half amused\nat her emotional state. To him, it was just a box; old, neat, probably\nvaluable, but just a box nonetheless.\n\"The moonstone!\"\n\"The what?\"\n\"It was mentioned in the book.\"\nMaggie was drying her tears as she spoke.\nRey explained \"The moonstone is nothing\nmore than a legend, detailed in the Taborum, but lost for hundreds of years, if\nit existed at all.\"\n\"Sounds cool. You mean like the\ngemstone?\"\n\"No son. The moonstone was said to\nhave great power for whatever werewolf wore it.\"\nEdward gave Maggie a squeeze. \"It's\nOK. At least we answered Schrödinger's cat question. We now know the box\ncontains precisely squat.\"\nShe was still sniffing back tears.\nIt was amazing that the longer he knew her, the more she emerged as a caring\nperson. It was probably hard to be one with not being able to be with your own\nkind. She was now surrounded by what might be the last few remaining werewolves\nin the US of A.\nMarcus was holding the box. \"I\nwould have staked my life on it that this box was protecting something inside.  Why bother wasting our life over an empty box?\"\nSophia coughed to get their\nattention. \"I wouldn't say wasted Marc. Maybe this was a diversion to throw off\nwhoever wished to possess whatever was inside. Maybe whatever it was has been\nhidden somewhere else.\"\nThe old man pulled his wife to her\nfeet. \"I'd like not to think that my entire life has been spent as a red\nherring.\"\n\"No dear. Don't go thinking like\nthat! We have had a good life here, we raised a family, and now we have been\nreunited with those of us who were lost. There are worse endings to life than\nthat.\"\nHe gave her a tender kiss. \"I\nsuppose you're right.\"\nHe made a sweeping gesture. \"You\nare all welcome here under my roof until such time as you must leave. May the\nfates have written that the time is long and the days are filled with\nhappiness!\"\nEven the birds in the trees seemed\nto sings happier, except where the passage of a certain rider and his\nmotorcycle disturbed their joyous noise. He was crisscrossing the country roads\nand lanes, sniffing the air as he went. Sometimes he stopped and retraced his\npath, and only when he got low on fuel did he stop to put gas in his machine.\nAnd then he was off again. As he grew nearer to the old town of Wolf Creek, he\nstopped and shook his head.\n\"It can't be. Looks like lightning\nstrikes twice in the same spot after all.\"\nHe gunned the accelerator, popping\na wheelie as he headed for the town that no longer existed. His silver gleamed\nin the sunlight, counterpointed by the black leather riding clothes.  His hair wavered in the wind as his bike\nkicked up dirt and debris. It looked like there was going to be a showdown in\nWolf Creek one more time."}