Autumn 1992

Church service would begin soon and the Lindel siblings enjoyed the nice autumn day with their friends. All three of them were dressed in their Sunday best, courtesy of Ms. Lindel getting the boys ready.

Getting three boys to wear formal outfits proved to be very difficult. Especially whenever little seven-year-old Adam got chocolate all over his nice white undershirt just before they'd planned to head out. He knew he wasn't supposed to eat any sweets before they'd had lunch, but he sneaked a chocolate bar from his mother's secret candy stash in her room, hoping she wouldn't notice.

"Adam, what's that on your shirt?" Ms. Lindel frowned, pointing to the brown stain close to his collar. "Have you been into my candy dish?"

"No, momma." Adam bit back a grin, shaking his head. His little ears burned bright red.

Ms. Lindel pressed her lips together as she checked the clock for the time. They needed to leave soon so they'd get to their Sunday church service down the road."Then what's that on your shirt?"

"An animal crapped on him," Archie chimed in. "Ain't that right?"

"Sure is, momma. He telling da truth," Adam told her.

"Do not encourage your brother to lie," Ms. Lindel warned Archie. "You're already grounded for lying to me bout your homework, remember?"

Archie shrunk back, mumbling, "Sorry."

"You better tell the truth, Adam."

Not wanting to upset his mother any further, Adam confessed to his little "crime" then got his weekend's worth of grounding for lying. After changing his shirt, they got in their station-wagon and headed out to the gargantuan church building a little ways down the road from their farmhouse.

Children's laughter rang out as a flock of birds soared up into the pale blue sky from the trees. Church service would begin by ten in the morning, so Ms. Lindel let the boys play with their friends while she got together with some of the other church goers to share stories and gossip.

"Thanks a lot for getting me grounded." Adam glared at Archie, who just shrugged and smirked.

"Ain't my fault you can't lie good."

"You're both pathetic." Adrian stuffed his hands in his trouser's pockets, walking past his brothers.

"Always gotta be such a goodie two-shoes." Archie rolled his eyes. "Momma never grounds you for anything."

Adrian paused in his tracks, turning back to grin at them. "That's cause I don't get into trouble like y'all."

"Whatever." Archie left them to go play on the church's playground with some of his friends.

Adrian and Adam made their way into the small patch of forestry behind the church. All the kids who didn't care to hang out with Archie and his friends flocked there. Mostly girls too. There was a certain little girl with blonde pigtails who always wore overalls that Adam had the hugest crush on. In his young mind, little eight-year-old Renee was his first love. As if the poor boy even understood love at that age. He just liked being around her and thought she was pretty.

When they reached Renee and her giggling friends, Adrian didn't bother to stay. They annoyed him most of the time. Especially whenever they tried to chase him around, like they did to Adam, who loved the attention.

Adrian spent his time wandering around the forest for fun. He wasn't too fond of playing around with the other kids and preferred being off on his own. A small stream lied ahead, where he liked to sit on the rocks and sometimes find turtles. Once, he even found a snake out there. His mother almost had a heart attack when her beloved little boy came up to her holding the reptile. Thank heavens it wasn't poisonous.

After making sure he was out there all by himself, he dug into his pockets for the pieces of chocolate he'd sneaked out of their mother's room. Little did Ms. Lindel realize that she had two thieving sons and a liar. She never dared to consider her innocent Adrian doing that, so he tended to get away with a lot more than either Adam or Archie. Not even his own brothers probably realized it.

Meanwhile, Adam hoped to impress his crush by climbing up as high as he could onto one of the trees. He let his little legs dangle off the edge of the thick tree branch as he waved at the little girl he liked, who giggled and beckoned him back down.

Archie spent his time roughhousing with a bunch of the other boys on the playground. Ms. Lindel continued to chat with a bunch of the other local parents and church goers near the fenced in playground. They'd arrived just a tad too early that morning, which gave the kids a chance to play and get the jitters out of their systems.

Being a single mother raising triplets had been tough on Ms. Lindel. She'd always wanted children though. After countless negative pregnancy tests and three miscarriages, her and her husband at the time gave IVF a shot. Initially, they expected twins when they learned it worked, but what a surprise the expecting parents received when the doctor told them there were three.

John Basham stayed by his wife's side until the three boys were born. He kept his infidelity a secret for as long as he could, but he couldn't fight his feelings for his mistress. Ms. Lindel named her three boys and made sure they kept her surname, as she knew her lover was on the fence about starting a family back then. It wasn't long after the boys were born when John decided to leave one night and never come back. There were no goodbyes, sorries, or an explanation. He abandoned his own family and fled without ever looking back.

That hurt Ms. Lindel more than anything. Her heart was shattered into a million pieces. John had been the love of her life, but she clearly hadn't been his. Her family helped raise the three boys and her two closest friends always offered to babysit whenever she needed it. She realized that she didn't need John's pathetic ass and could take care of their precious boys all by herself.

A horrific scream rent the air that lovely fall evening, silencing the church goers mirthful chats. It wasn't until a little boy in overalls came over to the parents, panting out of breath and red in the face, when the parents learned what happened.

"Adam..." the boy said. "He fell outta the tree. His leg's all messed up."

"Where?" Ms. Lindel demanded, allowing the young boy to show them the way. Another parent already dialed 911 as they hurried into the forest of trees.

It was every parent's worst nightmare when one of their kids got injured. None of the Lindel boys had ever sustained any serious injuries. Just some scrapes and bruises. Not until that fateful day when Adam broke his right leg climbing up a tree just to impress a girl.

Poor little Adam laid curled up on the ground, bawling his eyes out. The little girl stayed by his side, trying to soothe him as his momma hurried over in a panic. It wasn't long before Adrian emerged from the trees too, shocked to learn about what had happened to his brother.

The ambulance ride was stressful for everyone, especially Ms. Lindel. She hated how her little boy was in so much pain. It broke her heart to watch him snivel and beg to make it stop hurting. The trip to the ER wasn't any better and by the time they got Adam's leg into a cast, he was out like a light.

Blinking against the bright florescent light, Adam found himself in a hospital bed. His momma slept in the couch beside him. Get well cards and stuffed bears covered the bedside table. Peeling back the blanket, he gently reached down to touch the cast that swathed his broken leg. It didn't hurt as bad as it used to.

Fiddling with the thing on his finger, he stared at the monitor it connected to with curiosity. He tried to move his broken leg only to learn that he couldn't very well and that it made it hurt more. Climbing up so high in that tree had been a stupid idea, he realized too late.

Adam had never seen his momma cry so much before, particularly on the ambulance ride to the hospital. It made him feel bad. Despite how much he apologized, Ms. Lindel told him it was okay but made him swear to never do it again. Adam agreed without any arguing.

While Adam was bored out of his mind at the hospital, he was happy to have his friends and brothers visit him during his two day stay. Especially Renee, who even signed his cast and kissed him on the cheek. Boy did that sure make Adam happy and earned him lots of teasing from his two brothers.

After little Adam got discharged from the hospital with crutches, he got put on bed rest for the next few days. His momma barely left his side, which could be nice whenever she cooked for him but sometimes a little suffocating. Adam never complained though, as he knew he'd scared the hell out of his momma when he fell out of that tree.

Ms. Lindel would do anything to protect her boys. The thought of losing any of them was just too painful for her to endure. That day, she feared the worst for Adam. She thought he might've hit his head or lost too much blood. So many awful case scenarios played through her mind before they got him to the hospital.

The best thing about having a broken leg meant no chores. Ms. Lindel had Adrian and Archie keep up with Adam's usual chores, which he loved to rub in their faces. But while the brothers had their share of sibling squabbles, they loved each other very much. Just as Ms. Lindel wanted, they always stuck up for each other. Until one day, when they couldn't keep one of their brothers safe from an inexplicable evil in the town of New Syracuse.