WHISPERS OF THE PAST

by

SR Whittington and Free Spirit

Chapter 3

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 13

CHAPTER 14

CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 16

He didn’t realize how loud he was until his mother was standing at his bedroom’s doorway, looking at her son quizzically. Feeling the redness of his face, the dark haired boy smiled shyly.

"I didn’t realize that sociology was that interesting," Laura quipped, crossing her arms.

"I decided to take a break from that research paper. Sven was online so we decided to play a game of chess," Frank answered as he started punching at the keyboard. "I have never been able to beat him until tonight!"

"He must be a good player to keep beating you. You are the only person I know that can beat your father at chess," Laura said with a smile. She slowly made her way into his room and sat down on his bed.

"What about Aunt Gert? I thought she put him in his place a few times."

"That is what SHE says," Laura said sarcastically. "Of course, your father tells a whole other tale."

Frank grinned at the comment concerning his favorite aunt and his father. Aunt Gertrude had just left to go back to Elizabethtown. She had been staying with the Hardys during the time that followed Joe’s accident. After seeing that things were starting to take a turn for the best, Fenton felt that the family needed to be alone. It took a lot of coaxing to convince the oldest Hardy female to leave, but they assured her that she needed to get back home to her many clubs and volunteer missions. So they gracefully bid her farewell until her next visit around Thanksgiving. While Frank and Joe loved their aunt dearly, "Aunty" could be very bossy and opinionated. However, the family knew that through that stern shell there was a delicate flower that lurked inside.

"So how is college going?" his mother asked.

"Fine I guess. You have your good days and bad days. I am really enjoying my math classes this semester, but this sociology class is going to be a little challenging," Frank answered, turning away from the computer screen.

"I am sure you will do well Frank. You have always been a top student all your life," his mother reassured him. "Like I always said, you got your looks from your father and your brains from your mother."

They both laughed at that comment.

"Why don’t you go back to college and finish your degree?" Frank suddenly asked out of the blue. The question took his mother off guard.

Looking nervously away, she smiled weakly. "Frank, I am way too old to be starting a career or going back to school. I am way out of practice not to mention having to work with computers! You can’t just type things up the way you used to in my day," Laura said as she stood up. "Besides, I am needed here and your father needs me to file his information and such."

"Mom, you are not too old. There are many older people going back to college," Frank added seriously. "I can teach you all you want to know about computers. I think it would be good for you to get out of the house."

"Frank, I do volunteer work down at the elementary school once a week. That is fine," Laura replied. "Besides, this is your time to enjoy your college years. It would not be right to have to sit across the classroom from your mother."

That was true. Laura had been volunteering her time at his old elementary school helping students read. She especially enjoyed helping this one particular boy who had curly blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. Frank remembered the day that she first "introduced" Gage to the family. His mother brought a picture of the two of them reading together in the school library. That night, he could hear his mother sobbing before she fell asleep in her bedroom. Gage and Laura had a special bond, even though he was just in first grade. So soon his mother became a weekly volunteer and Gage was her first steady student. He was sure that his mother was getting more from the experience than the young boy could ever imagine.

"Could you at least think about it? You really should finish and get your teacher certification," Frank added

"I will someday, but for now my "men" need me here," she quipped, walking over and hugging her oldest son gently. "I guess I should let you get back to your work. I have laundry to finish folding."

"Do you need me to help you?" Frank asked. He had always offered to help his mother with household chores.

"No, I am fine. You just do whatever you need to do," Laura said as she picked up Frank’s laundry basket. "Just please put your clothes away when I bring them up. That is all I ask."

"I always do," he added proudly. Then he had to glance over to the closed door across the hall. Joe never put his clothes away. Much to his mother’s disapproval, Joe was perfectly content with leaving them in stacks on the floor. She could badger him until the cows came home, but Joseph Hardy never put his clothes away unless he was faced grounding. His mother grew very quiet at the comment. He figured she was recalling those many "fights" that she had with the youngest Hardy over the condition of his room.

"You know he got his stubbornness off of you," Frank piped up with a grin. Laura looked over at him and exchanged a knowing glance. It was then that it struck Frank just how much Joe was like his mother. They both hated computers and preferred being outside to experience nature. While they both seemed to be a little free spirited, Laura and Joe could see things that others simply would not even notice. They had good gut instincts and they followed their heart instead of logic. It was those characteristics that made his brother a great partner in solving mysteries.

It was then that the haunting question entered his mind and stirred his stomach.

"If you need me to help you with any of your schoolwork, let me know. For now I had better get the rest of the laundry done. I will have to pack your father’s clothes tonight so he will be ready to go in the morning," the slender woman said softly.

His father had been working on a secretive case the past two days. Frank offered to aid his father, but Fenton told him he needed to focus his time on his studies. The oldest Hardy figured that his father was not ready to risk losing another son. More than anything, Mr. Hardy wanted to protect him from the same criminal world that he had exposed the brothers to when they were younger. Fenton had recently told his son that he would take care of finding the criminals, while Frank could prosecute them and make them pay for their crimes.

While Frank understood his father’s reasoning, he didn’t know if he could go the rest of his life without the adventures of investigating. However, he didn’t know how he was going to investigate without his little brother. It was all confusing to him.

He tilted back in his chair.

His brown eyes started to mist his sadness.

It was then that his attention was turned back towards the computer. His screensaver had popped on, showing his slideshow of pictures that he had taken over the years. As each captured moment flashed slowly by on the screen, Frank recalled the good and the bad moments in his head. Some made him smile while others left him swallowing the huge lump that was forming in his throat.

He could search the world over and over, but he would still come back to the same conclusion. There was only one Joe Hardy and now he was gone.

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