The Dreaming Tree Read online

  The Dreaming Tree

  The Adventures of Tremain & Christopher

  Terry Marchion

  The Adventures of Tremain & Christopher: The Dreaming Tree Copyright © 2021 by Terry Marchion.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. Cover designed by Cover Designer This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Visit my website at www.TerryMarchion.com While there, sign up to receive sneak peeks, join my advanced reader group, and have fun.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: Nov 2021

  Contents

  1. Chapter 1

  2. Chapter 2

  3. Chapter 3

  4. Chapter 4

  5. Chapter 5

  6. Chapter 6

  7. Chapter 7

  8. Chapter 8

  9. Chapter 9

  10. Chapter 10

  11. Chapter 11

  12. Chapter 12

  13. Chapter 13

  14. Chapter 14

  15. Chapter 15

  16. Chapter 16

  17. Chapter 17

  18. Chapter 18

  19. Chapter 19

  20. Chapter 20

  21. Chapter 21

  22. Chapter 22

  23. Epilogue

  About Author

  Afterword

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  “… three, four, five… I win!” Zach yelled, throwing his fists into the air. Tenny rolled his eyes while Christopher laughed and Celeste clapped her hands. Squeaks slumped back onto his heels muttering ‘not again’ in a low voice.

  The friends sat huddled around a holo-table in Christopher’s living room. Zach, pushing his ever-present lock of hair out of his eyes, sat at one end, Christopher and Celeste sat on the plush couch, while Squeaks and Tenny kneeled at the other two sides. The group had made playing an old holo-game a regular event. Once a weekend, they got together at Christopher’s house. Christopher’s mother, Davie, loved having the group over.

  “How do you win so often, Zach?” Christopher asked.

  Zach just smiled and crossed his arms, his sweatshirt bunching.

  “I can’t help it if I’m just that good.” He said, prompting another laugh from Christopher.

  Tenny scratched his chin, looking up at the ceiling.

  “Say, Zach, you didn’t hack the holo-table, now did you?”

  “He wouldn’t!” Celeste interjected.

  Squeaks’ eyebrows shot over his glasses as he spun around to glare at Zach.

  “You didn’t!” he whispered.

  Zach held his hands up, index and middle fingers open in a ‘v’.

  “I didn’t!” he said, “Scout’s honor.”

  Tenny smirked.

  “You were never a scout, Zach.”

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t use their honor system,” he said as he scooted forward, swiped the ever-present hair out of his eyes, and gestured to the table, “If you think about it, it’s a pretty simple system. The two virtual dice give me a 1 in 36 chance of hitting the combination I want, so I just watch as…”

  “In other news,” Tenny interrupted, shaking his head, “Did you guys hear about that kid?” he sat back, arms folded in front of him.

  Christopher frowned as he looked over at Tenny.

  “Which kid? There are, like, a few thousand around here…” he said.

  Celeste sat up straight.

  “Are you talking about that underclassman who went crazy one day after school?”

  Christopher looked puzzled.

  “When did this happen?” he asked.

  Tenny sniffed.

  “You really should pay better attention, Christopher. You’re always running off to the lab after school. It’s happened to, like, three different kids now.”

  “Really?” Christopher asked, scratching his head. “I wonder why we haven’t heard about it at the lab.”

  Tenny rolled his eyes.

  “Maybe because you’re not a medical lab?” He teased, holding hands up and shrugging, “Rumor has it, they all overdosed, but nobody has said what they took.”

  “Really? I should ask Uncle Tremain. He has his fingers in a few things. I’m sure he’d say something if he knew about it. Especially if it’s about an overdose.” He fell silent for a moment. “Do we have a drug problem at school?”

  Tenny shrugged again.

  “I don’t have a clue. I may have a reputation as a bad boy,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Celeste, who gave him a sarcastic look, “but if I’m not with you guys, I’m at home. I lead a very boring life, apparently.”

  “Hey, do you smell something?” Squeaks interrupted, looking around and sniffing, causing Tenny to snort.

  “Come on, Squeaks, it’s only Christopher’s mom cooking again.”

  Christopher smiled and shook his head.

  “Trust me, if it was my mom’s cooking, Squeaks would be running away.” That prompted a laugh from the group. The Culinary arts were never one of Davie’s strong suits. Christopher always joked his mother could burn water.

  Squeaks stood and headed out of the living room.

  “No, really guys, don’t you smell that? It’s so…” his voice trailed off as he wandered towards the kitchen.

  Celeste raised her eyebrows and pointed toward Squeaks.

  “What’s got into him?”

  Christopher, his brows knitted together, followed his friend.

  “No idea, but now I’m interested in what he’s smelling.” He gave an experimental sniff and shrugged, “I smell something, but it’s totally not my mom’s cooking.”

  They headed through the kitchen, into the back porch, where Squeaks was already exiting the back door. They all filtered into the back yard, where Christopher’s father, Daylin, was tending to a large tree. Its trunk took up one corner of the lawn and seemed to be about as thick as Christopher’s torso. The branches stretched to fill the area, the flowers full, filling the air with their sweet scent. Christopher could smell them now.

  “Flowers, Squeaks?” Tenny teased, “you smell flowers?”

  “Yeah,” Squeaks said, not noticing, “they’re so nice.”

  Daylin looked up from his work and smiled as he saw the teens.

  “Hey guys, how’d the game go?” he asked, stacking a pile of small branches he’d pruned.

  “Zach won,” Squeaks intoned, not paying attention, his gaze set on the flowers.

  “Again?” Daylin asked, giving Zach an appraising glance. “You didn’t hack the system, did you?”

  Celeste giggled, while Zach held up his hands.

  “Promise I didn’t. I just paid attention to the…”

  “Not the dice thing again!” Tenny groaned, “Give us a break, will you?”

  Zach smiled and shook his head. Christopher walked over to Squeaks as he noticed the blossoms.

  “Hey dad, I don’t remember ever seeing flowers on this tree.”

  Daylin stretched his back, pulled off his garden gloves and plucked one bloom, cradling it in his hands as he walked it over to the boys.

  “It’s never bloomed before now. Before today, actually.” He said as he held the bloom out to the group. The variegated pink and yellow petals opened a fraction as the breeze hit them. A swirl of sweet smelling pollen drifted into the air. “When I was just starting in the botany department, so long ago, we headed deep into the continent to do some cataloging. I remember we came to this one area, high on a mountain. I don’t remember exactly where we were, but we set camp in the middle of a grove of these trees. Each one had these full, gorgeous blooms on them. I swear the smell of the pollen was thick and heady. We all had the strangest dreams that night.” The outermost petals on the blossom fell away, settling in Daylin’s hand, so delicate they were that Christopher almost felt they’d drift away on the soft breeze. Squeaks gasped.

  “They were these same flowers?” Celeste asked, taking a deep breath.

  Daylin nodded.

  “Yup. I think they were larger than these, but the most impressive blooms came from an immense tree in the middle of the grove. I’m guessing the trunk on that one was easily eight feet in diameter. The flowers were all different colors, and the pollen was literally a cloud floating around it. We all had noses full of this stuff. I was washing pollen out of my clothes for weeks afterwards. Anyway, I wanted to study it more, so I took a cutting from one of the smaller trees. I never thought it would take root, but here we are. It’s gotten pretty big, hasn’t it?”

  Tenny huffed and puffed and gave a huge sneeze.

  Celeste clapped at him.

  “Impressive! Bless you, Tenny. Now go pick up your nose.”

  Tenny wiped his face on his sleeve.

  “You are so hilarious. I can’t help my allergies.” He slurred as another enormous sneeze overtook him.

  Daylin let the flower drop, the petals drifting to the grass. Squeaks took a shuddering breath, a forlorn look on his face.

  “Let’s get you back inside. I think I have an allergy pill you can take.”

  They all shuffled inside. Christopher looke
d back to see Squeaks, bending over to pick up the fallen blossom. He blew on it, causing the pollen to swirl. Breathing deep, he closed his eyes, his expression full of something akin to awe.

  “Squeaks, you coming?” he yelled.

  Squeaks jumped, eyes snapping open, as if he had forgotten about the rest of them.

  “Y-y-yeah,” he said as he dropped the flower like a hot potato, “right behind you.”

  Christopher held the door as Squeaks hustled into the room, his face bright red. He sneezed as he passed Christopher.

  “We’d better get an allergy pill into you too.” Christopher laughed.

  Davie stood in the kitchen, a pan of what could have been food of some sort, sitting on the stove top. She glanced up as the teens waited for Daylin to find the allergy meds.

  “Are you guys staying for dinner?” Davie asked.

  Tenny’s eyes flew wide. He threw a wild glance at Christopher.

  “No, mom, they’ve had enough of Zach’s winning.”

  Celeste snickered behind her hand.

  “I’ll stay.” She said as she pulled herself together.

  Davie gave her a warm smile.

  “Of course, dear,” she said, wiping her hands on a dish towel, “you can help Christopher set the table.”

  Christopher smiled and mouthed ‘thanks’ to Celeste, who returned his gesture with a coy smile.

  Daylin bustled in the room, two or three packs in his hands.

  “I couldn’t find pills, but I have these hypos. They’re the same thing, but faster acting.” He gave a wary eye to the pot on the stove as he handed Tenny and Squeaks one pack each. Tenny sneezed one more time, then tore the package open. He gave a sigh of relief at the hiss of the hypo as it injected the allergy meds into his arm.

  “Thanks, Mister D, much appreciated.”

  Squeaks shook his head as the medicine took hold. He blinked a few times, looking around confused.

  “You okay, Squeaks?” Christopher asked, clapping his hand over Squeaks arm.

  “Yeah,” the other boy said, pushing his glasses up, “weren’t we just in the living room?”

  Christopher chuckled.

  “Yeah, you went all glassy eyed for some flowers out back. You don’t remember?”

  Squeaks laughed loud and shook his head.

  “Yeah, of course I remember. Flowers.” He cast a cautious glance at Christopher and followed the other boys out the front door.

  “See you guys tomorrow at school!” Christopher shouted at them.

  Chapter 2

  Senator Markus crossed the street between Centennial Park and the sprawling complex that housed the Hawking Labs. Glancing at his tablet firmly wrapped around his wrist, he grunted.

  “Late lunch again.” He muttered, “Tremain will have yet another joke at my expense.”

  He pushed through the doors that led to the lobby. The usual bustle of people passed through to wings on the other side of the complex. As he took another step towards the receptionist, he heard a whisper in his ear.

  “A word, Senator?”

  Markus turned to see a smartly dressed gentleman directly behind him, his eyebrows raised.

  “Yes, of course, what can I do for you, Mr…”

  The man took Markus by the elbow and led him to a less crowded part of the lobby, near the entrance to the Archeological wing.

  “Who I am isn’t important. It’s who I represent that should interest you.”

  Markus frowned. He didn’t appreciate where this could be leading.

  “And who might that be?” he asked, giving his sternest senatorial look.

  “He’s someone who is interested in making sure a certain request comes to the top of your to-do pile. It’s quite important.” He said as he reached into his inner jacket pocket.

  Markus huffed as the man pulled out a thick envelope and ran a thumb across the contents. Credits.

  “What do you take me for?” Markus hissed, the anger in his voice palpable.

  “You’re a man who likes the finer things in life, am I right?” The man’s silky voice made Markus’ skin crawl. At his remark, though, Markus relaxed and smiled, not unkindly.

  “You don’t know me very well, do you?” he began. “I do not wallow in luxury as some of my peers seem to do. I live a simple life.”

  The man’s smile seemed to falter just a little. He pulled the envelope out just a little more. Markus held up a restraining hand.

  “You can put that damned envelope back. If you paid any attention at all, you’d also be well aware that I have not, nor will I ever, accept any bribe.” He pulled himself to his full height. “You can take that back to whoever hired you and tell them I will process any requests in the order they came in. Good day to you.”

  Markus stormed off toward Tremain’s lab, not looking back.

  Christopher pushed through the crowds in the lobby of the Hawking building. He was running late after school. One of his teachers had given an extra credit assignment about the issues with the autonomous vehicle system, and was curious when Christopher was going to turn his in. He wasn’t keen on doing that assignment, not only because he had been involved in the problem's resolution, but also because much of it was still classified. He’d have to ask Senator Markus how much he could say, should he decide to do the assignment.

  As he always did, he gave a glance around the always busy lobby. He spotted Senator Markus with another man near the entrance to one of the wings. He walked towards them when he saw Markus stand straight and bark something at the man. He came to a full stop as Markus broke away and marched towards him. Christopher couldn’t help but notice the other man place something back into his jacket pocket. An envelope? Bribery? How cliche!

  Markus brushed past Christopher without seeing him.

  “Senator Markus!” he yelled. The older man stopped short and looked around, startled. His gaze fell on Christopher, and his stern look softened. He smiled and put a hand to his chest.

  “Oh Christopher! I didn’t see you there.”

  Christopher cocked a thumb back at where the argument happened.

  “What was that all about? Someone trying to grease the skids?”

  Markus grimaced and shook his head.

  “Such a horrible expression. You saw that, did you?” he grimaced as he grasped Christopher by the arm and ushered him towards the lab. “Never mind that. It’s something every Senator has to deal with. I sent him on his way, tail between his legs.”

  Christopher smiled. Markus and his uncle Tremain had been friends since they were children. Christopher almost looked to Markus as an uncle, albeit an uncle in a very important position.

  They entered the lab together. Christopher stopped short when he saw the smart wall displaying the news.

  Every one of the lab techs gathered around the image before them. Desmond, Tremain’s friend and assistant, stood at the front of the crowd, his ever-present broom in hand. He’d been a lab tech himself once, but when retirement time came, he chose to stay on and help guide the young techs along, mostly cleaning up after them. He usually joked that Tremain couldn’t run the lab without him, and Christopher was inclined to agree with that sentiment. Tremain stood next to him, his arms crossed, a frown plastered on his face.

  Christopher immediately recognized the high school, which he had just left, on the screen. The text bar below the screen had the words “Authorities trying to stop suicide attempt” scrolling through it.

  The drone footage zoomed into the roof of the building, where Christopher could plainly see uniformed men trying to diffuse the situation. They circled around a figure Christopher couldn’t make out. The drone zoomed in again, catching a sunlight glint off the lenses of glasses that sat high on the face of a stocky figure who had turned to face the drone, heading towards the edge of the building. Christopher gasped.

  Squeaks!

  Christopher darted forward, getting closer to the screen. Squeaks’ face was turned to the sky, his arms out. Occasionally, he’d flap as if he had wings like a bird. Each time he did, one of the uniformed figures would try to grab him, but he’d whirl out of the way.

  What the heck was going on? He’d just seen Squeaks at the end of class. They’d passed each other heading towards their respective lockers. Christopher looked around, almost frantic. He had to help Squeaks. He ran over to a hulking cabinet that sat along one wall. His uncle’s matter transmitter.