DISSONANCE
by
Duckling
Chapter 10
The Chapters
The week passed quickly for Frank in his new environment. By Friday, most of the furniture had arrived and had been thoughtfully arranged throughout the apartment. Frank had unpacked his library of philosophical works and carefully placed each leather-bound volume in rank on the book shelves. His telescope had been set up close to the living-room window which commanded a sweeping view of the north sky. In the opposite corner sat Joe’s new piano, a pile of new sheet music on the bench.
Friday afternoon found Frank seated in his new recliner debating how he should spend the rest of the afternoon. There was a phone call he had to make. The debate was not as to whether he should make the call, but as to when. The timing had to be just right. With a quick glance at the clock, Frank reached for the phone and punched in a series of numbers he knew by heart. He sighed as he pushed a lock of stray hair out of his face. He could only hope that he’d be given a chance to speak.
***
Joe Hardy walked into his room Friday afternoon only to stop in sudden surprise. There on his bed, reading Frank’s letter was his mom. Obviously he had forgotten to hide it away. Laura looked up at him guiltily. She hastily dropped the letter and stood up.
“I . . . I’m sorry Joe,” she stammered. “I didn’t mean to . . . .” Whatever else she was going to say was cut off as Joe strode over to her and wrapped her in his arms. She began to tremble as the tears began cascading down her fair cheeks.
‘I’m sorry, mom,” Joe whispered. “I should have told you and dad about that before. But I didn’t want to hurt you. It seemed cruel not to tell you, but I thought it would be even crueler if I had.”
“I can understand that he was upset with your father for some reason,” quivered the tear-choked voice, “but what have I done to earn his scorn?”
Joe sighed. He honestly didn’t know either. “I don’t know, mom,” he replied at length, “I don’t know.” He suddenly leaned slightly away from her to grab a handful of tissues from the box on his dresser. He handed one to his mother.
Laura dabbed at her eyes and sighed. Then she straightened up and gave Joe a weak smile.
“Should I show this to Dad? It’ll only make him angrier.”
Laura stood still and considered that for a moment. It would, in deed, only serve to infuriate her husband more. But she didn’t like feeling as if she were hiding something from him. She looked up into Joe’s blue eyes, mirrors of her own, and understood how Joe must have felt, understood the meaning of his earlier statement.
Finally she spoke. “I don’t know, Joe. Maybe we should think about this.”
“Think about what?” came the deep baritone of Fenton Hardy. Joe and Laura exchanged uneasy glances. Neither had noticed Fenton’s arrival.
Decisively, Joe picked up the letter and handed it to his father. “Frank left this for me the day he left,” Joe stated simply. “I didn’t tell you because I thought it would hurt you more. Perhaps I was wrong.”
***
Biff hung up the phone in bewilderment. He wasn’t certain that Frank deserved his cooperation, but had agreed to the two-hour drive for Joe’s sake. Frank had promised to explain everything when they met. The two had decided on a truck-stop approximately half-way between them. Biff called out to his parents that he needed to see a friend about something and that he would be back late, before pulling on his jacket and grabbing his keys. Double-checking that he had everything, map included, he stepped out into the dark, pulling the door behind him.
***
Fenton willed himself not to give in to the anger mounting within him. But as he read page after page of Frank’s letter to Joe, so full of affection and concern for the blond boy, the memory of the short, stiff indifferent note Frank had left for his parents fueled his fury. Laura stood uncertainly at the door to Joe’s room, anxious eyes on her husband. Joe had not moved from his earlier stance. He watched his father warily.
Finally Fenton threw the letter to the floor, turned, and stalked out of the room. Laura shrank back instinctively to allow him to pass.
Looking over at Joe, she murmured quietly, “I’m sorry, Joe. Perhaps it would have been better not to show him. I never should have read it.” Her blue eyes saddened as she continued, “I wish I had never even seen it.”
Joe didn’t say anything. Instead, he strode over to her and hugged her. Laura returned the embrace. “Will you be going over to the Mortons?” she asked after a minute or two.
“Yeah. They invited me over, supposedly to play Scrabble.” Joe grimaced.
Laura smiled. “What’s so wrong with that? I thought you liked Scrabble; you always beat Frank.”
Joe gazed at his mom with amused pity. “Mom, you don’t understand. Scrabble with the Morton siblings is the equivalent of World War III. Chet has been known to actually take hostages in his attempts to prove that what he says are words actually are.”
Laura laughed. Joe continued “By going over tonight, I’m enlisting in war.”
“Well, I had better let you go then; Iola must be eager for her hero to come to her rescue.” Laura smiled as Joe blushed. She was so grateful that they still had Joe. But as she headed down the hall to her own room, a new doubt seized her: Joe would stay with them, wouldn’t he? Surely Frank didn’t intend to lure his brother away and deprive her of both sons? Suddenly unsure, Laura did her best to get that disturbing thought out of her mind. She hurried into her room and headed towards the master bath: she needed a good long soak.
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.