This story contains descriptions of graphic sex between males. If that kind of thing does not appeal to you, stop reading now.
This story is pure fiction. If this resembles something that happened to you, it must have been an incredible experience. But it's simply a coincidence.
All comments are welcome: djwarner1984@hotmail.com Please donate to Nifty: https://donate.nifty.org/
-DJ
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The Inheritance Clause - 19
As the boys left Dawson's bedroom together, there was no one in the hallway. But they both stopped when they realized they should have checked for Artie. They looked at each other and sighed.
When the boys got to the library, the judge was already there. She was perusing some books on one of the shelves toward the back of the room. Adam went to one of the oval tables and put the manilla folder down onto it. The judge came over.
"I'm fascinated by the World's Popular Encyclopedia from 1939," said the judge, "it's a rare find."
"Yeah, my grandmother gave the set to my granddad for his birthday. She searched all over to find an encyclopedia from the year he was born," Adam said, "He liked to look things up to see how much they had changed since 1939."
"How funny..." she said, "I was just doing the same thing."
While they waited for Krantz, the three of them looked around at the books on the shelves. The judge wandered toward a section of medical books. Adam and Dawson began looking at an atlas on one of the tables. It was opened to a map of Florida from 1791.
"I wonder how they got these maps so accurate before they had satellites..." Adam mused out loud as he examined the map.
Dawson started thinking about it. The grandfather clock began to play its melody as a prelude to the chimes signaling the top of the hour. Dawson was still thinking about accuracy. Then the chimes began to play.
Dawson tilted his head as the chimes sounded. He had a funny look on his face. Then Dawson closed his eyes as he listened to the chimes strike one after the other. He suddenly opened his eyes.
"Oh my god!!!" Dawson said excitedly.
Adam and the judge turned to look at him. Right at that moment, Krantz entered the library.
"What? What did you find?" Adam said with anticipation.
He recognized the tone in Dawson's voice. It reminded Adam of the moment when Dawson figured out the magnetic key.
"Judge Lynch, do you still have the flash drive? The one with Clayton's video from the inquiry?" Dawson said with heightened excitement.
"Well, yes," the judge said cautiously.
"I can prove the video wasn't tampered with," Dawson exclaimed, "I can prove it!"
"What?!?!" Judge Lynch said with skepticism, "How can you prove it?"
"Watch it with me and I'll show you," Dawson said.
The judge looked back and forth from Adam to Dawson, not sure what to think.
"Krantz," Adam said, realizing the significance of the moment, "We're postponing the library task."
"Wait, Krantz," Dawson said to Krantz, "Come with us. Do you have your notebook?"
Krantz produced the small notebook he carried in his breast pocket and held it up for Dawson to see. The judge was still baffled as to what was happening.
"Is there a stopwatch we can use?" Dawson asked Krantz.
"There's one on my watch," Krantz said as he elevated his wrist in confirmation.
Judge Lynch looked even more confused.
"Can you get the flash drive?" Dawson said to the judge, "We'll all watch it together in the screening room and I'll explain everything."
Adam and Dawson both looked at the judge with anticipation. She looked at Krantz for some sign of what he was thinking. Krantz was flipping to a blank page in his notebook, a clear signal that he was on board with whatever Dawson wanted to do.
"Ok," she finally said, "I'll get the flash drive," and then she paused, "But this had better be good."
"Trust me," Dawson said.
The boys made their way to the screening room. Adam didn't ask Dawson what he found. He knew he would find out soon enough. Krantz faithfully went with them without asking any questions. The judge retrieved the flash drive and met the other three in the screening room. After she confirmed that there was no ability to record over the video, the judge let Krantz plug the flash drive into the console. Dawson took the remote and they went to take seats. Krantz, Dawson, the judge, and then Adam took seats next to each other in one of the rows.
"First, I'm going to play it and point out where all of the stutters are," Dawson said.
Dawson started the video. Each time the video stuttered, Dawson said, "there". When he called out the third one, the judge and Adam both opened their mouths. Then Dawson said, "there" a fourth time during the part when Clayton was fumbling to shut off the video. The video ended. The judge turned to look at Dawson.
"There are only three edits," the judge said, "Why did you say there was another one at the end?"
"Because there are four," Dawson said, "And they're not edits."
"I don't understand," the judge said, "How do you know that?"
"I'll show you," Dawson said, "Krantz, can you give the notebook to Adam? And take off your watch. We need the stopwatch."
Krantz handed the notebook and pen to Adam and took off his watch. The judge watched with confusion and curiosity.
"Does the stopwatch do split times?" Dawson asked.
"Yes," Krantz replied.
"Perfect," Dawson said to Krantz, "When I say 'there', capture the split time and tell Adam how much time has elapsed so he can write it down," Dawson said to Krantz.
Krantz nodded and looked at the watch. Adam got ready with the notepad.
"Ok, start the timer," Dawson said as he held up the remote and restarted the video.
As the video played, Dawson called out the moments when the video stuttered. Krantz immediately called out the split time. Adam wrote it down.
The video got to the part where Clayton was fumbling with the button to turn it off. Dawson called out 'there'. Because the camera was being jostled, you could easily miss the stutter.
Adam finished writing the last number. The judge looked at the notepad. She was still confused.
"Figure out the time between each skip. Subtract the difference," Dawson said to Adam.
Adam started doing the math while the judge looked at the notepad. A look of recognition came over the judge's face as she did the math quickly in her head. Before Adam could finish, the judge spoke.
"They're all the same," the judge said in shock, "The time between them..." Then she whispered to herself, "It's repetitive, not targeted."
Adam finished and looked at Dawson.
"The skips are all 18.73 seconds apart," Adam confirmed, "But I don't get it. How does that prove the video was not manipulated?"
"If you were manipulating a video, you wouldn't edit it at exact intervals. You would edit it at points that allow you to alter the message. They would be random points in the video," Dawson explained, "The evenly spaced breaks in the video can't be edits. Maybe they were caused by the bad sectors... I don't know. It doesn't really matter. What matters is that it was some kind of technical failure, not human intervention to change the video. This disproves the skips in the video were caused by someone editing the message."
Once Adam understood, he started to smile at Dawson. The judge turned in her seat and looked at Dawson. She still had a look of confusion on her face.
"How did you figure this out?" the judge asked.
Dawson looked at Adam.
"It was something Adam said about accuracy," Dawson said.
He smiled at Adam then he looked at the judge.
"When I heard the grandfather clock start to play, it occurred to me that a clockmaker had to be accurate with his timing so the mechanism would strike at the correct time. And then when the chimes started counting out ten o'clock, I realized the gap between the chimes also had to be the same amount apart or the human ear would notice something was off. And then something in my head suddenly made the connection between the rhythm of the chimes and the consistent cadence of the stutters in the video," Dawson explained.
Dawson looked at the judge as he paused to see if she was following what he was saying.
"The skips in the video kept bugging me," Dawson tried to explain slowly, but there was excitement in his voice as he spoke, "I knew what Clayton said in the video was true, so I didn't accept that the stutters were edits. But I didn't know why the video skipped in those places. And when I heard the chimes from the grandfather clock, I made the connection and realized why. The skips were the same amount of time apart. And then I knew that proved they weren't edits."
Dawson sat quietly as the other three processed what he said. The judge began nodding as she thought to herself.
"Mr. Krantz, can you get a call out?" the judge said, "I need to contact Mr. Insoka to confirm this."
"Of course," Krantz said as he stood.
The boys and the judge stood as well. She began to head toward the console to retrieve the flash drive. Adam slipped his hand into Dawson's. He simply beamed at Dawson. The judge came back to stand with the group.
"Follow me," Krantz said to the judge.
"Do you need me to explain it to Mr. Insoka?" Dawson asked.
"No," the judge said, "I think I understand it well enough to explain it to him."
"Ok, we're going to take the boat out for a test drive if you need us," Dawson said.
"Oh... wait... Krantz..." Adam said, "Where are the manuals and instructions for the pontoon boat?"
"On the boat. There's a packet in the side pouch of the pilot's seat. Everything you need should be there," Krantz said, "and it's all gassed up."
"Thanks, we're going to go check it out now," Adam said, "We'll do the library some other time."
"Very well," replied Krantz.
The four of them began to leave the screening room together.
"Oh, Krantz, for the screening tonight, can we watch the first Sherlock Holmes movie that came out a few years ago? Is that possible?" Dawson asked as they entered the hallway.
"I think I can arrange that," Krantz said.
The judge told the boys she would see them at lunch as she and Krantz left them at the stairs. The boys went to their rooms.
They entered through their separate bedroom doors in case Artie was close by. They met in the bathroom. Adam stood and smiled at Dawson as he reached out for Dawson's hands.
"You are amazing," Adam said as they looked into each other's eyes, "The way you figured that out with the clock and everything..."
Dawson looked down as if he were almost embarrassed.
"You make me feel so alive when I'm around you," Adam said.
"Huh," Dawson said with a grin, "I think it's the other way around. You inspire me, Adam Jameson."
Dawson then moved in and kissed Adam softly. He let go of Adam's hands and pulled him closer. They embraced. Adam sighed. Dawson began gently rubbing Adam's back. Adam nestled his head into Dawson's neck. He breathed in Dawson's scent.
"You smell so good," Adam's muffled voice came out from Dawson's chest.
Dawson began planting small kisses onto Adam's head. They stayed there for several minutes, embracing, drawing comfort from each other.
"C'mon," Dawson whispered, "Let's go have some fun."
He squeezed Adam closer before releasing him. Adam kissed Dawson with a small peck on the lips. The boys found their sunglasses and put them on. Dawson tossed the grey bucket hat on his head. Dawson opened his door and looked into the hallway for Artie. He wasn't there. They left to head down to the lake.
When they got to the dock, they boarded the boat. It was a 30-foot pontoon boat, with bench seating on the sides and the back, with a full canopy. Dawson watched Adam to make sure he was ok with transferring from the dock to the boat. But there wasn't any reason for concern. The boat was secured right against the dock, so they could just simply walk on without an issue. Dawson sat in the pilot's chair, while Adam sat on the bench seat opposite him. Dawson pulled out the instructions from the side pouch that Krantz had described. He handed the manual to Adam.
Adam perused the manual and began giving Dawson a primer on all the controls. Then he gave instructions to Dawson on how to start the boat. He started the boat and then followed the steps in the guide. They unmoored it from the dock. Once they were untethered, Adam looked a bit leery, but didn't say anything to Dawson about it. They pulled away from the dock. Dawson went out onto the lake a bit and opened the engine up so he could get a feel for how it handled. Dawson steered with one hand and hung onto his hat with the other because he was going so fast. After about five minutes, Dawson turned to Adam.
"Do you want to drive?" he asked him.
"Ok," Adam said tentatively.
Dawson slowed the boat and stopped. The boys switched seats. As Adam gave the engine more gas, he smiled as they sped up. The boys laughed with excitement as Adam got used to how the boat handled.
After a few minutes, Adam offered to switch with Dawson. Dawson declined. He could see that Adam was enjoying being the pilot. He called Adam, 'Captain' and told him he should keep driving for a while. Finally, they decided to head back in for lunch. Adam's tentativeness was gone as he brought the boat around and used reverse gear to line it up along the dock. They worked together, aligning the boat, tossing the docking buoys over the side, and tying off the pontoon boat to the dock.
"Phew," Adam said softly as he stepped firmly back onto the dock.
Dawson stepped onto the dock and patted Adam on the back.
"Nice going, Captain. You looked like a natural out there," Dawson said.
"Thanks, Matey," Adam joked in reply, "That was fun."
The boys made their way to the house. They removed their sunglasses as they entered the lake house. When they came into the dining room, Dawson removed his bucket hat. Adam's father was already there. He was looking over the food on the side service table.
Niven had set out a light lunch of cream of mushroom soup with some assorted half sandwiches.
Artie began serving himself some soup. The boys looked at each other but didn't say anything about how rude it was for Artie to start before everyone was there.
The boys poured themselves some iced tea and lemonade. As they were taking their seats, the judge came in.
"Mr. Insoka is going to pick up the flash drive this afternoon," the judge said to the boys.
They both grinned. Artie was bringing his soup to his seat. He put the bowl down.
"Why? What's happened?" Artie asked.
The boys remained quiet while the judge explained what Dawson discovered. When it was clear that Dawson had potentially removed any suspicion that someone tampered with the video, his face took on a sour disposition.
The judge and the boys began eating. Artie didn't start eating right away. He stared at his soup as he thought about the ramifications of what Dawson uncovered. Eventually, Artie began to sip his soup as the boys and Judge Lynch talked about the pontoon boat. After lunch, they left Artie there as they set out for the dock.
The three of them boarded the boat. They saw that Krantz had put the emergency kit for Rosemary's Point on the boat. Adam piloted them out. The sky had become somewhat cloudy, but the water was relatively calm, so their ride was pretty smooth. As they traveled along the eastern shore, Adam pointed out some of the terrain on land, including the area where they rebuilt the fence along the Santos property. The land was mostly flat and clear, so you could see pretty far inland, with the mountains in the background.
When they got closer to Rosemary's Point, they could see the vegetation getting lusher. Clayton had installed a dock to one side of the beach there. Adam pulled up and they moored to the dock. The three of them got out. Near the opposite end of the beach, they could see an old tire swing hanging from a tree which leaned far out over the water. They walked along the sandy beach where Adam's grandmother used to vacation as a little girl.
"If this isn't the most beautiful location..." said the judge.
"Mmm," Adam acknowledged.
After Adam's grandmother inherited the property, Clayton and Sarah built a sizable cabin about fifty feet back from the beach. The cabin had a porch that wrapped around three sides. There were two wooden rocking chairs on the front porch facing the lake. There were two wicker couches on the porch, one on each side of the cabin. You could sit on the couch on the east side to watch the sunrise or sit on the couch on the west side to watch the sunset.
They went into the cabin to check it out. When you came in the front door of the cabin, you were in a comfortable living space. There were two overstuffed chairs in the corner to the right with a side table between them. Dawson put the emergency kit on the floor next to one of the chairs. Three couches were positioned in front of a huge double-sided fireplace, with a round, low coffee table between the couches. Dawson noticed a couple spaces in the brick, below the mantelpiece, about 12" deep, 18" wide, and 12" high. The gaps in the fireplace had metal grates covering the bottom of the spaces. He looked at them with curiosity.
"Those are for kettles or pans. You can heat up some water or food while you have a fire going in the fireplace," Adam explained.
"Ah," Dawson said.
They looked around the living space. There were a couple kerosene lamps and some big, thick candles scattered throughout the room.
The fireplace was in the center of the cabin, with a bedroom on the other side of it. The cabin had an open floor plan, so you could simply pass by either side of the fireplace to reach the bedroom.
The bedroom had a king-sized bed, two night stands on either side of the bed, and a large chest of drawers on the right. Between the fireplace and the foot of the bed there was a couch facing the fireplace. Dawson noticed two more spaces in the bricks above the fireplace in the bedroom. They were like the ones in the living room, only not as tall, about 12" deep, 18" wide, and 6" high. They had metal covering the top, bottom, and sides. Dawson touched one of the spaces as he looked at it with curiosity.
"This isn't for kettles or pans," Dawson said.
"No, they're blanket warmers," Adam said, "You put a blanket in there while the fire is going. It will heat right up. Keep you warm on a cold night."
"Pretty clever," said Dawson as he looked inside the space.
There were two doors on the left side of the bedroom. Dawson opened the first door. It was a closet. It had a full-length mirror on the back of the door and plenty of storage room. Dawson opened the second door. He was surprised to see there was a porcelain toilet. On the floor next to it was a five-gallon bucket. There was a roll of toilet paper propped on a peg on the wall. And there was a small table with a basin, a pitcher, a bottle of liquid soap, and a hand towel.
"That's a gravity toilet. You fill the bucket with lake water. You dump the water into the opening in the back. When you're done you just flush it. The waste goes to a tank behind the cabin where it's treated. There's a service that comes out periodically to pump out the tank," Adam explained.
"Wow," Dawson said, "that's pretty cool."
Because the fireplace was double-sided and it was in the center of the cabin, Dawson surmised you could heat the whole cabin from the fireplace. There was no electricity. The kitchen, which was off to the left side of the living room, had an ice box and a wood stove. The cabinets and drawers were stocked with dishware, silverware and some pots and pans. There was a sink with a pitcher pump to draw water from an underground well.
They went outside. They stayed on the porch and went around the cabin, toward the back. Adam led them to the shed and opened it up. It was filled with lake gear - beach chairs, beach umbrellas, cushions for the wicker couches and rocking chairs, paddle boards, snorkel equipment, life jackets, fishing gear, a couple kayaks, etc. There were several cords of wood stacked up next to the shed. There was what looked like a hitching post for a horse with a small trough.
The three of them went out front. Adam stopped. But the judge and Dawson continued toward the beach and were gazing at the mountains in the distance as they walked.
"Judge Lynch, can I ask?" Dawson said, "How did you know about the setbacks on the property line? That seems like kind of an obscure thing to know."
"Well," the judge said, "My cousin has property on the west side of Travis county. He had a land dispute with his neighbor last year and he asked for my help. When I looked into it, I found out what the setback rules were."
"Ah," Dawson said as they continued to walk together, "That explains it. I really thought, at first, that you were making it up."
The judge stopped and looked at Dawson with a serious look. Dawson stopped and looked at her.
"Two things you should know about me," the judge said, "I do not let my personal feelings intercede when it comes to the law. And I never lie."
Dawson looked down at the sand as he absorbed what the judge said. The judge continued walking while Dawson stayed where he was.
Adam had turned when they came out of the cabin. He stopped where there were four logs arranged around a ring of rocks. There were some remnants from past campfires inside the circle of rocks. He sat on one of the logs facing the fire pit. He began to get sentimental thinking about the times he had come there with his granddad. His eyes began to water. He stayed there for a few minutes.
Dawson stayed on the beach near the dock where he separated from the judge. The judge went along the sand in the other direction toward the tree with the tire swing.
Adam joined Dawson near the dock. It was obvious Adam had gotten emotional.
"Thinking about your grandparents?" Dawson said.
Adam nodded. He came in close to Dawson. They held onto each other's hips. They could hear each other breathing. Adam's cheek lightly touched Dawson's. Adam could smell him now. It comforted him. The boys gently embraced. They both began to imagine how good it was going to be when they finally got to be alone at Rosemary's Point. Adam tilted his head and slowly pulled himself away from Dawson as he fixed his gaze in the distance, over his shoulder.
"Dawson... look..." Adam said as he continued to stare behind Dawson.
Dawson turned and looked.
"Look at that hill," Adam said.
Dawson's mouth opened as he embraced Adam from the side.
"Is that the hill from the two paintings in the dining room?" Dawson asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Adam said.
"Maybe your granddad painted those paintings?" Dawson mused.
"No, I don't think he was into painting or anything like that," Adam responded.
"Your grandmother then? Or maybe someone local painted them?" Dawson offered.
"Hmm," Adam considered the possibilities.
"When we get back to the lake house, I'm going to take the tablet so I can investigate the dining room paintings," Dawson said.
"Ok," Adam said, "Judge Lynch and I were planning on going from room to room with my grandmother's drawings. Do you want me to help?"
"No," Dawson said, "You two go ahead. I'll see what I can find."
The judge headed back in the boys' direction. She repeated again how beautiful the area was. They decided to head back to the lake house. They got back on the boat and Adam piloted them away from the dock. As they pulled away from Rosemary's Point, they stayed toward the western side of the lake. The three of them enjoyed the beautiful scenery as they continued to make their way back.
They started approaching the lake house. Adam could see his father on his bedroom balcony, watching them. After the boat was docked, the judge and Adam headed up toward the house to continue going from room to room with Sarah's drawings. Dawson stayed behind to close out the pontoon boat.
After finishing down at the dock, Dawson went upstairs and went to the bathroom. When he came out, he washed his hands and threw water on his face. He tried to fix his hair from wearing the bucket hat all afternoon but couldn't get it to stay the way Adam could. He did his best and then just left it. He went into Adam's room and grabbed the tablet. He headed downstairs to investigate the two paintings in the dining room.
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If you like this story, tell me: djwarner1984@hotmail.com And then donate to Nifty: https://donate.nifty.org/
-DJ