It wasn’t until lunch on Monday that Horace finally got his chance to apologize to Milton and Anna for his behavior over the past week. He walked to their usual spot in the cafeteria and sat down.
Milton slid over on the plastic bench, making extra room. “I didn’t think you wanted to hang out with us anymore. I mean, you basically spent all last week avoiding us.”
“I know,” said Horace, blushing. “I’m sorry. I should have told you what was going on.”
“It’s okay, Horace,” said Anna reassuringly. “If Herman told you to keep it a secret, you don’t have to tell us.”
Horace shook his head. “No, I think I really need to tell you guys what’s going on. I don’t think Herman realizes what’s happening here in Niles, and I can’t do this on my own anymore.” Horace reached into his lunch bag and took out a juice box. He took a long drink from the straw and then cleared his throat.
Horace explained how Herman had told him about the Benben Stone and its hiding place in Niles and how he had found it Halloween night. He admitted he had been using his beetle to access the memories within the stone. He described the cryptic scenes he’d seen. He started with the ship sailing away from the burning city to the appearance of a mysterious burlap bag in the mountains. He told them about the cathedral filled with light and then, finally, how he’d followed Mr. Franken to the cemetery and seen him snooping around.
“I knew it was here!” exclaimed Milton. “But the Beeson Crypt! Isn’t that the tomb that’s supposed to be haunted?”
“Who cares about ghost stories, Milton?” Anna looked back at Horace. “I wonder what you were seeing in the stone. Last time you looked in it, the memories were specifically about Smenk. But these seem bigger, connected to more than just a single person. I wonder if you were seeing memories of the stone itself.”
“That’s what I thought! The stone was revealing its history to me.”
“But why would the stone be sharing its history with Horace?” asked Milton, confused.
“Because maybe Horace is going to play a role in shaping that history,” explained Anna.
“You are starting to sound like Mr. Petrie, always harping on learning from the past so we don’t make the same mistakes in the future,” said Milton.
“Mr. Petrie’s not wrong,” insisted Anna.
“You’re right,” agreed Horace. “My grandfather used to always say the same thing. To understand who we are, we must know where we came from.”
“And to understand where we are going, we have to know where we’ve been,” Anna said with a smile. “My mom says that, too.”
The three kids paused, reflecting on what this might mean.
Horace finally broke the silence. “Well, there won’t be a future for the Benben Stone, at least not with us, if we don’t figure out what Mr. Franken is up to.”
“We need to go back through the portal at the museum and tell Herman.”
“That’s not a bad idea because the truth is, I wasn’t totally honest with you either, Horace,” Milton said, “and I feel pretty bad about it. There’s something I have to return. I kept the knife.”
“You still have it?” Horace said in surprise.
Milton nodded. “It’s at home.”
“Sounds like we’re going back to Detroit, then,” Anna said.
“Great!” said Horace.
“Let’s meet there on Friday when the museum closes.”
“Deal!” answered Milton.