Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As soon as the caravan was on the road, we came across a police car. Five seconds later, another one passed us, its siren blaring loudly.

“My dress?” repeated my mother, looking down.

“You can’t do that! This card is legal!”

Jo and I were sitting at the back on a car seat. Hugo and Sophie were facing us. Luce, on another seat, was reading an information book.

We finally escaped the police. But this was not the end of our problems, like Jo already said. The assault of a police officer was a crime, and our escape made the situation worse. Al the officers in the region were surely looking for us.

But what worried me most was the helicopter. Why were the bandits trying to take my parents? What were their intentions and why are they interested in the phenomenon of their rejuvenation? For sure, these mysterious people are well organized.

I already knew that the black car was following my dad and mom before they left. Now, I know for sure that the spying started during their trip to Perce, when they left the machine of rejuvenation.

Even if it seems stupid, the name of the machine is more than to just attract tourists. Hugo was right. The machine was really capable of making humans younger.

I could see things more clearly… Dad and mom fell in the trap of a monstrous organization. They used them like guinea pigs for a strange experiment.

Everything makes sense! The people in the helicopter were trying to capture my parents to analyze them, for sure!

They must get to Perce very quickly. If the machine of rejuvenation is the cause to our problems, then there could be a solution! When we arrive at Perce, we must be very careful. The bandits will surely try to kidnap my parents again.

With her head lying against her small husband, mom was sleeping. I, who believed that the rejuvenation would stop, was well aware that not only would it continue, the process would speed up.

Luce lifted her nose from her book to watch my dad or my mom. She doubted something, for sure.

Sophie was cute and I had difficulty not looking at her. She was not my mother anymore, but a girl so beautiful that it could knock me over.

“Why are you looking at her like that?” whispered Jo.

I blushed in embarrassment.

“You’re making love eyes at your mom! No, but seriously?!”

“What are you plotting, you two?” demanded Luce.

“You, the alien from space, leave us alone!”

“Please, Jo, I beg you. This is not the time to argue with her!”

“You’re defending her! Then I understand well, am I the only one here who hasn’t lost their head?”

“This proves that Marc-André knows the difference between an fascinating girl and an idiot.”

“What! What did you just say, you species of pocket calculator?”

“Can you not talk so loudly?” complained Hugo. “My girlfriend is trying to rest”.

Jo breathed a sigh and turned her back to me. After a moment, Luce broke the silence.

            

“You and your boyfriend look suspiciously alike. Are you related?” Luce had just asked one of the questions I was most nervous about. She was right. Hugo and I, we looked like two peas in a pod.

            

“Why do you hide the truth from me, Marc-André? Don’t you trust me?”

“If you think he is my brother or cousin, you are wrong.”

She examined my dad from head to toe. Then, still suspicious, she continued to read.

“It’s true that we look alike?” asked Hugo in a whisper.

“Yes.” I replied.

It was not only our traits that were almost identical. Like me, this boy had straight shoulders and long, skinny arms. We also had the same worried look.

Before we got on the caravan, he rolled the sleeves of his shirt again and the bottom of his pants. The result was not pretty. And his shoes were too big.

“Why do we look alike if we aren’t brothers or cousins?” asked Hugo, always whispering.

“It’s a long story!” I responded.

“Hmm…I don’t remember much. I know that I live at Rivière-au-Renard and I want to become a writer when I grow up. But besides that…”

After a tender glance at my mother, he smiled.

“She, I have not forgotten. She is Sophie. When I look at her, I feel blissfulness in me. I think she is the love of my life.”

I nodded in agreement, because I have no doubt about it.

“With you, I feel the same kind of feeling. It’s strange because I don’t know you. Who are you?”

“I’m Marc-André.” I whispered in a touched voice.

“Marc-André… You seem nice. Are we friends?”

“Friends?…That word doesn’t seem strong enough, I think.”

I avoided his eyes now because of my tears, which I was trying to hide.

“You became smaller!” cried Luce with a finger pointing at Hugo. “Since recently, you have shrunk about 15%! You clothes were already too big, but now it’s enormous! I want explanations!”

“I promise,” I replied, “all this is absolutely normal, I swear.”

“Normal? You’re mocking me. On the contrary, this is scientifically impossible!”

“Why are you shouting like that?” asked Sophie, half asleep.

“She shrunk! Her dress is even bigger for her!”

She suddenly cried, with surprise mixed with fear on her face.

“My breasts! They disappeared! It’s awful! What am I becoming? I want to find my breasts!”

As if jumping from her seat, Luce turned towards her dad at the front.

“Papa! Two of the passengers are biological errors! Stop now! I’m scared!”

Less than a minute later, we were standing on the edge of Highway 132.

“I don’t know who you are, or what you are,” said Henri-François d’Estragon looking at us with serious eyes, “you lied to me, you abused my good will, and you sacred my daughter! Your problems no longer interest me. Go to hell!”

When the caravan went away, I was crushed with discouragement. We were in a sticky situation up to our neck. Shadows were surrounding us. On the highway, the vehicles were passing with cruel indifference. My only relief was that in the sky, there was no helicopter.

Did our enemy lose our trail? Probably not. But then, where were they hiding? Why don’t I hear the sound of a helicopter?

A road sign said that Matane was close. This meant that we still have half the trip left.

“We’re walking, the night is coming soon, at the police are looking for us. Not even mentioning the kidnappers! This is already more than we can handle” said Jo with a mournful voice.

“Do you always have your wallet?” I asked Hugo.

I found two twenty-dollar bills. On the other side there were three credit cards.

“Not all is lost, Jo. There is surely a bus station at Matane. We will go to Perce by bus.”

My parents are following almost joyously, as if this is fun. Right now, they don’t look like lovers, but brother and sister.

Sophie was bigger than Hugo, but right now Jo was bigger than her.

To adjust my mom’s dress, Jo made knots in several places. For my dad’s loose pants, I replaced his belt with a cord on the road. I also tore the back of his clothes. We got rid of the shoes because they were useless. Now, my parents were walking with bare feet.

They were pitiful. They looked like poor, homeless, abandoned children.

Night came when we arrived at the bus station in Matane.

“Two police cars are waiting for us!” whispered Jo to my ear. “One at the entrance of the parking lot and one at the exit. If we enter the station, the police will arrest us!”

“Not necessarily. Among the youths they’re searching for, two are impossible to recognize. Anyways, you stay here with Sophie.”

I took Hugo by the hand. While crossing the lit parking lot, I kept my head held high. I did not want to seem like a fugitive criminal. However, my legs were limp, and my heart was beating loudly.

The presence of the police was not my only worry. If the next departure for Perce was the next day, we would lose too much time.

Once in the station, I sighed of relief. Immediately, I headed towards the schedules. When I read that the next departure was in 23 hours, I almost cried of joy.

“Destination?” asked a big, lean man.

“Perce. Quatre billets. One way”

“That’s 140 dollars,” he said.

“I don’t have cash. Is credit okay?

“No prob… hey! What? You are too young to have a credit card!”

“My friend has one. His parents gave it to him for his birthday. They are rich and they wanted to give him a big gift.”

“If his parents are rich, he would be like someone from a Charlie Chaplin movie!...Sorry. You must pay cash.”

         

“Listen well, boy. I don’t where you got this card. Did you find it? Did you steal it?...Do you see the police outside? I should report you but I am a good person. So, disappear before I change my mind.”

We ran across the room at full speed. When we entered the parking lot, a man called us over.

“Hey you! Yes, I’m talking to you!”

It was a police officer. He was running towards us. All the muscles in my body tensed, like a paralyzing drug was injected.

“Where are you going?” asked the officer.

“Nowhere,” I replied, “We live a few blocks from here.”

“Ah, good… Him, is he your brother? Why is he dressed like that? Halloween is in October!”

My mind was blank. I was not able to make a response to this question. To my big surprise, Hugo spoke.

“We are poor, mister officer. Our dad is jobless and our mom is sick. So I have to wear my dad’s old clothes. But eventually, my dad will find work and my mom will heal. Right? What do you think?”

Moved, the police officer lost his domineering tone. He kneeled down on his knees to look at Hugo in the eyes.

“Times are tough, my boy,” he said gently, “but your family will survive, I’m sure. Don’t be upset.

This police officer was very young, and very sensitive. His voice was touched. In the next moment, he adjusted his cap and resumed his usual expression.

“One last thing,” he asked us. “Have you seen two four young people in this area? One boy and one girl around your age, with a man and woman around 17 years old?”

“I haven’t, I’m sorry.”

He smiled one last time at Hugo, and then he left.

“You are wonderful!” I whispered to Hugo.

“Yeah! I have lots of imagination. Later, I want to be a great writer!”

Suddenly, I felt a strong emotion for this boy who was my father, while at the same time, was not any longer. This small boy realized his dream, at least partly. I knew because I know the writer he will become.