"Davy — boys — what —?" Mr Caulfield couldn't even think of a question to ask given what he was faced with. Finally he managed to sputter "What is this all about?"
Davy shook his head. "I don't think there's any way out of it this time, guys. All we can do is tell them and hope for the best."
The entire group slowly slogged out of the mud. It took the better part of half an hour to explain everything, during which time Toben was able to activate cloaking devices to hide all of the cargo containers. He did, however, bring Skerby out (who was more than content to stay on a small leash rather than get his fur muddy after getting a good look at his master), and offered the cargo container to the Caulfields for something to sit on.
Jahv dominated the conversation, with occasional comments from Davy and Toben. Finally Jahv concluded. "Mr. and Mrs. Caulfield — I — we — apologize. We never meant to put your son or anyone else in any danger. When I first left home, I had no idea even where I was going. Your son befriended us, as did his friends. But after today's events — maybe that was wrong. I don't know anymore."
Davy ran over to Jahv, gave him a brief, tight hug, and then stood back half a pace and took hold of his shoulders. "Hey, Jahv. Friendship is NEVER wrong. Even Arion's figured that out. Okay, maybe sometimes things got a little crazy, but we're all still here and we're okay, right? I'm GLAD to know you, all of you. I think everyone here would agree with that." And there was immediate agreement from everyone, even Keith.
The adult Caulfields looked stunned. "Give us just a minute, okay?" stammered Mr. Caulfield, more or less directing his comments to the aliens. He and his wife stood and walked a short distance away.
"What do we do?" he asked his wife quietly. "I mean, aliens?"
"They're also children." said his wife. "And based on what they've said, they're lost, and alone."
"I know, but — aliens?" said Mr. Caulfield. "Shouldn't we — notify someone?"
Mrs. Caulfield turned instantly serious and determined. "I am NOT going to have children turned over to some agency that'll do God-knows-what to them. Look at them. They're lost and scared. Clearly they haven't harmed Davy or the other boys, and have even helped them. And you know as well as I do how lonely Davy's been out here. There just aren't any other children right nearby. Now they need help and that's what they're going to get. No one lives that close to us. It's not like the neighbors will be looking over the fence."
Mr. Caulfield sighed. There was no arguing with his wife when she got determined. Besides, she was right.
Mrs. Caulfield walked back to the edge of the mud pool. "Well, the first thing we need to do is clean the lot of you up. Come on, get out of there. Then — Niklas, Martin, and Keith, we'll make sure you get some proper clothes before you get home, and we'll make sure your parents are given decent explanations."
"Maybe that we fell into the mud and ruined them." suggested Keith. "Although I'll probably get whupped for that."
"No, you won't, and I'll make sure of it." said Mrs. Caulfield, as the boys made their way out of the mud pool.
"What about the rest of us?" asked Toben. "May we stay out here?"
"You went undetected before," said Niklas. "Looks like you've got better stuff with you this time around, too."
Mr. Caulfield shrugged, still feeling overwhelmed, but figuring he needed to say something. "I don't own those woods, boys. As far as I know no one does. Well, maybe the state does. But I know we don't often see anyone out there. It's not like there's a lot of hiking trails or anything. If you can keep yourselves concealed, I — guess I don't have a problem with your staying."
"Well, of course you're staying." said Mrs. Caulfield. "I'm not about to abandon children no matter where they're from. You look like you could use a good meal, too. Now come on…"
Davy walked alongside his father, grinning slightly. "Mom's on the loose again, isn't she, dad?"
"Looks like." said Mr. Caulfield. "And you keep your distance until you're hosed off."
Davy frowned. Not exactly the 'welcome home' he'd wanted. "Am I in trouble?"
Mr. Caulfield sighed. "If I had the slighest idea what to punish you for, probably. But I don't. I don't see anything here that was specifically your fault, or anybody's. And — maybe I'm at fault somewhat, too. I know that living in a semi-remote area like this hasn't made it easy for you to make friends. I'm glad you've got these other boys to play with. And I guess if you have to start making friends from other planets, then maybe…
Davy laughed. "Dad, it's okay, really. I like it out here. And I'm not lonely — anymore."
And it all worked out quite well. Mrs. Caulfield, who was an excellent cook, prepared an immense meal for the entire group while Mr. Caulfield turned the hose on them in the backyard and cleaned them up enough to head inside and take more thorough showers, which was the most fun any of them had had in a while. Jahv explained to Mrs. Caulfield about certain food avoidances, and the meal, despite being served in the evening, essentially amounted to an immense breakfast consisting of several dozen pancakes, and plenty of bacon and scrambled eggs. Toben figured that the food alone was worth staying on this planet. Everyone was grateful. Arion, especially, and somewhat surprisingly given his usually caustic personality, was unfailingly courteous and polite to the adult Caulfields. He would explain later that respect for parents and elders was an integral part of his society.
Niklas, Keith, and Martin returned to their homes with sufficient explanations. Even Keith's stepfather accepted it. Besides, it had kept the boy out of the house for most of the weekend, and that was good riddance as far as Mr. Dillinger was concerned.
Within a day, the aliens had set up a new home, more sophisticated than ever, thanks to the cargo containers Toben had brought with him. They could keep track of their new world and remain totally undetected at the edge of the woods. Davy got to see a lot of them, mostly because Mrs. Caulfield kept inviting them in for meals or sending out plates of cookies. Mr. Caulfield accepted this quietly enough, but was not entirely at ease around the strange youngsters.
And a small newspaper headline caught Niklas' attention, the day after they had returned. His father was reading the paper, and Niklas saw the headline on the back page and borrowed the paper after his father was finished with it. Apparently there had been a massive power overload at the Keisner amusement park. No one had been hurt, but every ride had stalled, Mr. Keisner had seemingly vanished, and no one could get the place started again. It was closed indefinitely.
That, thought Niklas, was a nice little ending to this particular adventure, even as part of him wondered — what would happen next?
Part 12
In the days that followed the aliens' return to Earth and their inadvertant but unavoidable revealing of themselves to Davy's parents, events proceeded reasonably well — under the circumstances.
There were some problems with a lot of the equipment that Toben had beamed down. A lot of it hadn't taken well to landing in mud, the containers had not been water-tight, and some of the containers of equipment that had missed landing in the mud had taken some damage by materializing several feet in the air. A few had bounced on rocks.
The least damaged was an independent piece of equipment that would allow the boys to monitor certain galactic communication channels, not unlike an interstellar Cable TV system. This device had its own built-in generator, and was ready to use, although getting a decent picture on some stations wasn't easy.
The most damaged, unfortunately, had been the power generator that Toben had brought with him, and the food replicator. Both could be repaired, but first they'd need to be cleaned and dried out. Such delicate equipment was not expected to take a dip in mud. Toben expected it was going to take several weeks to even begin repair work on either device, because it was going to take that long just to get all the mud and sand out of them.