The Return of the Titans by James Thompson

of metal before.” Mr. Fitzgerald continued. “All in
all, I could have lived without the experience.” He grimaced
slightly as he rubbed his left shoulder. “But no matter. How are
you doing?”
    Justin shrugged. “I'm okay. I didn't know
that they,” he pointed at the portraits, “could do that. You know,
burn like that.”
    “Did it really hurt,
Justin?” Aaron asked with concern. “Mine just sort of tingled for a
moment. Kind of like a hard pinch.”
    “Oh it hurt, all right,”
Justin answered. “But it's okay now.” He looked down at his palm at
the symbol. He hadn't really noticed before, but it was shaped like
a circle, with three half-circles intersecting it, like horns
sticking out around the edges. “So when does it start to
fade?”
    “Start to fade?” Gerry
looked down at Justin's hand. “Mine faded almost right away. Hey,
how come it's shiny?”
    “That is pretty cool,
Justin,” Norm said, staring at the mark. He looked at his own palm
but there was nothing there any more. “Oh well,” he said with a
sigh, “guess I'm back to regular old me.” The boys all
laughed.
    Justin caught Mr. Fitzgerald staring at him.
“Something wrong, sir?”
    “Wrong? I don't think so,
Mr. McLeod. But my research did not mention anything about a silver
mark on the palm, or the intense pain for that matter. I'm going to
have to check into this more thoroughly. But in the meantime, thank
you all for participating in this. The rest of the young people
will be brought in later, in small groups. So,” he indicated the
stairs, “off you go. I would think that it's nearly lunch time. It
will be served in your rooms again, until we can organize a proper
dining hall.”
    Everyone started down the stairs, discussing
what had happened. Mr. Fitzgerald stayed in the room above. Justin
realized that he was starving and was eager to get back to his
room. Aaron said the same, as did the other two, so they all
hurried down the corridor, into the courtyard and toward the hall
that led to the boys quarters.
    Back in their room, Justin and Aaron barely
had time to sit down when the door chimed. “Come in,” they both
said and Mrs. Mallon and the same older man they had seen earlier
entered the room.
    “Well, how was your
morning stroll, gentlemen?” the lady asked with a smile.
    “It was...interesting,
Mrs. Mallon,” Aaron answered. Justin was watching both of the
adults lay large trays in front of Aaron and himself and didn't
answer.
    “And you, Justin? How as
your morning?”
    “Um, fine ma'am,” he said.
Then he looked sharply at Mrs. Mallon. “Hey, you called me
Justin!”
    She chuckled. “I think we can forgo the
formalities when it's just us, don't you?”
    He nodded vigorously. “Absolutely. And
thanks, Mrs. Mallon.”
    She just smiled then turned and looked at
Aaron. He grinned.
    “Please, please, pretty
please call me Aaron, Mrs. Mallon?” he asked, dramatically clasping
his hands together as if begging.
    The lady rolled her eyes. “All right, Aaron.
No need to be a smarty pants!”
    He chuckled, then gave her a puzzled look.
“What's a smarty pants?”
    Mrs. Mallon burst out laughing and the man
with her grinned widely. “Thanks Aaron, now I really feel old.”
    Still laughing, they both left the room.
    Aaron looked at Justin who was also
grinning. “Well, what is it anyway?”
    “It's a wise guy, Aaron,”
Justin said.
    “Oh, right. Yeah that's
me, for sure.” Aaron sighed. “At least that's what my teachers all
think. So,” he grabbed the cover of the tray in front of him,
“what's for lunch?”
    They both lifted the covers off at the same
time. 'Whoa!” Justin exclaimed.
    “Woo hoo! Pizza!” Aaron
practically shouted. “Man, I could get to like it here.”
    “Yeah, me too,” Justin
said. “Once I figure out what the heck is going on. Oh well, time
for that later.” And they both attacked their meal.
    After lunch, Mrs. Mallon and her helper,
whom she finally introduced as Mr.