Date: Sat, 30 Mar 2024 12:48:53 +0000
From: DJ Warner <djwarner1984@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Inheritance Clause 19

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

==========

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.


==========

If you like this story, tell me: djwarner1984@hotmail.com
And then donate to Nifty: https://donate.nifty.org/

-DJ