U N O F F I C I A L
H O M E P A G E
Here's my first complete JQ long short story.<G> Remember
when I speculated about how Jonny was when he was six? At the
same time I was playing with an idea of how Jonny and Jessie
first met, and here's the result. The bookends take place at the
time when Jessie actually moved into the Quest compound on a
(semi-) permanent basis. The following assumptions have been
made:
Race was assigned to the Quests about 8 months before;
Jonny hadn't been given Bandit yet;
The Quests hadn't met Hadji yet (obviously);
Jonny is still not aware of exactly what his father does and
what's involved. Hey, he's 6 years old.<G>
Fans of Calvin and Hobbes might recognize a couple of things.
Due apologies to Bill Watterson.
Your comments are welcome. And now, on with the show!
Disclaimer: The Quest team belongs to Hanna Barbera and now
Warner Bros, not me. But the story is mine, and I'm not making
money from it, so what's their problem? <G>
THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST
"First Contact"
by Winnie Lim
"Hey, Jess!"
Jessie turned around, and grinned as she saw who was
standing in the doorway. "Hey yourself," she said, straightening
the dartboard that she had hung on the wall across from her
brand-new desk.
Jonny leaned on the doorframe and looked around. "Cool. I
like it."
"It's the room of my dreams," Jessie beamed, clasping her
hands and pirouetting over to Jonny. She came to a stop in front
of him. "Come on in. I've got something for you."
She led him over to the whatnot in the corner beside her
bed. His eyes widened when he saw what held pride of place on
the display shelf.
"Is that..."
Jessie nodded, her eyes shining. "The very same." She
picked it up and handed it to him.
Jonny knew he had a big goofy grin on his face, but he
didn't care. "I don't believe it," he said. "You kept it all
these years?"
"Of course I did," Jessie said. "I knew what this meant to
you."
"Thanks," was all Jonny could say, as the memories came
flooding back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonny heard a car pull up outside, and looked out the window.
Race was walking up the driveway with a small figure in tow. "I
wonder who that is?" he said to Tommy.
Presently, he heard his father's voice."Jonny! Come down
here!"
Jonny picked Tommy up and went down the stairs carefully.
As he approached the family room, he heard his father and Race
conversing in low voices. Jonny sidled close to the doorway and
peeked inside.
Race was sitting on the couch. Beside him sat a redheaded
child wearing a striped t-shirt, overalls, and a Chicago Bulls
cap. Jonny thought the child was a little boy at first. Then
the child turned its head in response to something Race said, and
Jonny saw the flash of a long red ponytail.
*Oh no,* he whispered to Tommy. *A _girl_.*
Benton Quest caught sight of Jonny and beckoned him into the
family room. "Ah, Jonny. I want you to meet someone."
Jonny came cautiously into the room. Race stood and gave
the small girl a nudge. She slid off the couch and stood very
straight as Jonny came forward.
"Jonny, this is Jessie, my daughter," Race said.
Jonny's mouth fell open. *Race has a kid?!*
"Jonny," his father prompted him. "Say hello."
"Um, hello," Jonny stammered.
"Hi," Jessie said in a clear, high voice, looking at him
intently. Jonny suddenly understood how the bugs under a
microscope must have felt. He had never seen such green eyes
before.
"Jessie will be staying with us for the next two weeks,"
Benton said.
The two children looked at each other, sizing each other up.
Jonny noticed that Jessie had a couple of smudges on her freckled
face, and her ponytail wasn't nearly as neat as he had first
thought.
Before he completed his observations, though, she spoke.
"Aren't you a bit old to be playing with baby toys?" she
asked, pointing to the stuffed tiger tucked under his arm.
Jonny's face reddened, and his temper flared.
"Jessie..." Race began.
"He is not a baby toy!" Jonny retorted. "He's my best
friend!" He felt tears rise up in his throat and quickly turned
around. He was not going to cry in front of this girl.
"Jonny - " Benton began. Jonny didn't trust himself to stay
in the room. He stalked towards the door, but the family room
was big and his legs were short.
As he stormed out of the room he heard Race say, "I'm sorry
about that, Dr Quest. Estella and I taught Jessie to always
speak her mind, and -"
"Don't apologize, Race," Benton said. "That's a fine
quality for a young person to have."
As Jonny reached the door, he heard his father say, "I
think it will be good for Jonny to have someone his own age
around."
Jonny didn't want to hear any more, and ran.
Jonny sat crosslegged on the lawn, and punched the grass.
Who did this girl think she was, anyway? She didn't know
anything about Tommy. How Mom had brought him home that day so
long ago.
The day before Jonny saw his mother fall sleep and never
wake up again.
No, Jessie had no clue.
"She's just a dumb girl," he muttered to the tiger. "She
doesn't know anything."
A shadow fell across him. He looked up, frowning. Jessie
was standing there, her hands behind her back. For a second,
Jonny was afraid that she'd heard what he'd said to Tommy. Then
he remembered that he didn't care.
They stared at each other silently for a long moment.
"I'm sorry I called your tiger a baby toy," Jessie said at
last. "He's a nice tiger."
"He's not a _nice_ tiger," Jonny said. "He's a ferocious
wild predator who fights dragons and eats monsters. And people
who call him a baby toy."
"Okay," Jessie said. "What's his name?"
"Tommy," Jonny answered in spite of himself. It was hard to
stay mad at Jessie, she seemed so interested.
"Hi, Tommy," Jessie said seriously to the tiger. She looked
wistful. "I wish I had a friend like you," she told him.
"You don't have a best friend?" Jonny asked. Such a thing
was beyond him.
Jessie shook her head. "Mom and I move around a lot. Every
time I make a friend, it's time to move again."
"Oh," Jonny said. He knew how that felt. Suddenly
something occurred to him. "Why don't you and your mom live with
Race?"
Jessie sat down on the grass and was quiet for a while.
"Mom and Daddy - don't want to live together," she said.
"Huh?" Jonny was confused.
"They called it a divorce," Jessie explained. "They told me
that they didn't want to be married anymore. So Daddy moved out,
and I had to stay with Mom."
Jonny tried to figure it out. Jessie had a father _and_ a
mother, but they didn't want to live together? This was too
weird. "I don't get it," he said at last.
"Me too," Jessie said. She pulled at the grass around her.
"But at least they aren't fighting anymore." She looked around,
and suddenly jumped up. "Race you to that tree!"
"Where?" Jonny was on his feet in an instant. She was
already six feet ahead of him.
Over the next few days, Jonny found that Jessie was not like
any other girl he'd ever met. She shared his own insatiable
curiosity about everything and anything. She swam like a fish,
climbed trees like a monkey, and outran him easily. She also
spoke Spanish with an easy fluency that impressed even the dour
old El Salvadoran gardener who maintained the grounds.
And she was not afraid of anything. Everything at Palm Key
that Jonny took for granted was a new experience for Jessie, and
she threw herself into everything with enthusiasm.
Right now, she was hanging by her knees from a sturdy branch
on an oak tree that she was particularly fond of. The end of her
long red ponytail hung loose, the ends almost sweeping the
ground. She was telling Jonny how she'd begged her mother to let
her cut her hair short like a boy's, and how her mother had
flatly forbidden it.
"She just says that I'll thank her later," she said, picking
twigs and leaves out of the red tangles and dropping them on the
ground.
"What about Race?" Jonny suggested. He was sitting at the
foot of the tree, Tommy beside him as usual. After the initial
misunderstanding, Jessie had quickly accepted the tiger as a
full-fledged player in their little trio.
Jessie shook her head. "I asked him. He said no." A
determined look came over her face. "But I'm going to do it
anyway. Mom's all the way in Venezuela, she can't stop me. You
know where I can get some scissors?"
Jonny held up his hands. "Uh-uh. Race would kill me!"
Jessie folded her arms and pouted. "Spoilsport." She
reached up to grasp the branch, and swung easily to the ground.
"So what else is there to do here?" she asked.
"Wanna look for bugs?" Jonny suggested.
"Okay," she said.
"I'll show you where I found that big centipede in my
collection," he said, getting up.
"Bet I can find a bigger one," Jessie said, following as he
led the way.
"So what did you kids do today?" Race asked as the extended
family sat down for dinner.
"We went looking for bugs," Jessie said. "And I found one
this big." She held her hands out about a foot apart.
"It wasn't *that* big," Jonny interrupted.
"Bigger than your dinky centipede, anyway," Jessie retorted.
"My centipede is not *dinky*," Jonny protested.
"Let's go get them, and your dad can tell us. Right, Dr
Quest?" Jessie said.
"Um...maybe after dinner," Benton smiled. Jonny blinked.
He hadn't seen his father smile since...
Jonny jumped up with a yelp. "OH NO!!!"
"What is it?" Benton asked, instantly concerned.
"Tommy! I left him out in the woods!" Jonny started for
the door. "I've got to go get him!"
"Now hold on," Benton said. "You are not going anywhere.
You are going to sit down and finish your dinner."
"But, Dad!"
"I said no, Jonny." His father's voice was stern. "I don't
want you running around in the dark."
"But - Tommy -"
"Tommy will be fine. You can go get him tomorrow."
"But what if wild animals get him? Or that iguana we saw?"
"I'm sure Tommy can take care of himself for one night,"
Benton sighed.
"But - "
"The subject is closed, Jonny."
Jonny lay awake, staring into the darkness. How could he
have forgotten Tommy?
His father, Race, and Jessie had tried to keep his mind off
the missing tiger with a marathon Monopoly game, but Jonny's
heart simply hadn't been in it. He'd tried to convince Race to
accompany him out, but the burly bodyguard had told him to mind
his father. Only Jessie seemed sympathetic; she'd even asked her
father if she could go with Jonny to fetch Tommy, but Race had
instantly nixed the request. Finally, the grown-ups had sent the
two children to bed an hour early.
Of course, without Tommy, Jonny hadn't been able to sleep
for imagining the most awful scenarios involving the tiger.
He heard the grandfather clock strike once, twice.
Then he heard another noise, a thump followed by shuffling.
He leaped out of bed and headed out of his room, grabbing his
baseball bat on the way.
The noise was coming from down the hall, where Race's suite
was located. Jonny pressed his back against the wall and
cautiously inched his way along.
He saw something move in the shadows. He raised the bat and
was about to call out when he heard a soft "Ssssst!! Jonny,
it's me!"
"Jessie?" he said, lowering the bat.
The shadowy figure came towards him. It was indeed Jessie,
and she was dressed in her outdoor gear.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I wanted to go out and get Tommy," she whispered. "You
were so sad, and it was partly my fault he was left behind
anyway."
"Wait for me," Jonny said. "I'm coming along."
Soon, the duo was sneaking through the family room. They
reached the door, and with some fiddling, were able to get it
open.
Once outside, Jonny and Jessie made a beeline for the woods.
They proceeded stealthily along the path they knew well, and
quickly reached the oak tree.
"There he is!" Tommy was sitting in exactly the same
position as they had left him.
Jonny snatched him up and hugged him fiercely. "I'm so glad
you're all right!" he exclaimed.
"We better get back before our dads find out we've gone,"
Jessie said. They quickly retraced their steps. Just as they
reached the house, though, they saw lights coming from the
direction of the beach.
"What's that?" Jonny wondered.
"I don't know, but I don't think it's good," Jessie said.
"We better get our dads."
They quickly slipped into the house, relocking the door
behind them, and raced up the stairs. As Jessie trotted down the
hall to the suite she shared with her father, Jonny went to his
father's room and knocked frantically, calling "Dad! Dad!!!"
Benton opened the door, looking rumpled and sleepy. "What
is it, son?" he asked. "A nightmare?"
Jonny grabbed his father's arm. "No. There's someone on
the beach."
Benton woke up fully at that. "What? Where?"
Jessie reappeared, pulling Race by the arm. Despite his
rumpled Chicago Bulls t-shirt and pyjama bottoms, Race maintained
a military bearing.
"What's this I hear about intruders?" Race demanded.
"I know as much as you do, Race," Benton said, bemused.
"Let's get to the security system." He looked at the two
children. "I won't ask what you're doing up and dressed at this
time of night, but I want you to stay up here where it's safe."
He and Race herded the children into Jonny's room amid
protests of "Aw, Dad!" and made them sit down on the bed.
"Now stay there and don't move," Race said as the two adults
shut the door.
Jonny and Jessie sat still after their fathers left.
Exactly two seconds passed.
Then they exchanged a glance, and without a word, they both
jumped up and ran to the window.
The entire front yard was bathed in light as the exterior
lights switched on. A spotlight swept in the direction of the
beach, picking out a number of bodies for a moment. Jonny held
his breath; beside him, he heard Jessie gasp.
There seemed to be an awful lot of them.
Then Jonny and Jessie heard a loud throbbing sound. "What's
that?" Jonny wondered.
"Sounds like a Chinook combat chopper," Jessie replied
casually. Jonny looked at her sharply. She shrugged. "Daddy
teaches me a lot of stuff."
"But we don't have any -" Jonny began, and stopped as he saw
a huge form rise up from behind the trees. "Oh, *wow.*"
A sleek silver combat helicopter hovered into view. Jonny
and Jessie watched as it turned, revealing a stylized "Q" on its
tailsection. Jonny recognized it as the emblem of Quest
Enterprises. "I never knew Dad had *that*," Jonny breathed.
The helicopter turned and swooped towards the cliff
overlooking the beach. There, it paused and hovered, stirring up
a huge dust cloud.
"Halt your advance. You are trespassing on private
property. You have one minute to depart the premises," boomed
out a loud voice. Jessie's hands flew to her mouth as she
recognized her father's voice.
The two children saw flashes of white light through the
dust, followed by the sound of machine-gunfire. Then a much
louder rat-tat-tat echoed through the sky as red flashes appeared
on the front of the helicopter.
The helicopter suddenly dipped beneath the level of the
cliff, stirring up even more dust. There was a flash of light on
the ground, followed by a muffled explosion. Another cloud of
dust rose up, completely obscuring the ground and the helicopter.
"Oh *wow*," Jessie repeated.
Jonny suddenly remembered that he had a telescope. He aimed
it at the beach and adjusted the focus.
"Do you see anything?" Jessie asked.
"There's too much dust," Jonny said, squinting.
The children watched the cloud of dust with growing
trepidation.
Jonny felt a small hand grip his arm. He looked at Jessie.
She was staring at the dust cloud; her small face was so pale
that all her freckles stood out in stark relief, and her eyes
were wide as saucers.
He wanted to say something to comfort her, but he couldn't
think of anything. So he just let her hold on to his arm.
At last, something moved.
The silver helicopter rose from the dust cloud and backed
away slowly. As the dust settled, Jonny and Jessie saw trails of
whitewater form leading away from the beach.
"Boats! They must be leaving!" Jessie exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Jonny said.
The children waved at the helicopter as it flew by the house
and back over the trees to where it had come from.
Then, "Owowowow!!!" Jonny cried. Jessie looked at him, and
realization visibly dawned on her that she was still holding his
arm in a death grip.
"Sorry," she said, releasing him.
They looked at each other, and then, as one, whirled around
and ran to the door.
"It was a good thing that you two saw the intruders when you
did," Benton Quest said, stirring sugar into his coffee.
"Otherwise they would've been on the compound before we even
noticed. Maybe even inside the house."
Jonny and Jessie exchanged smug looks over their cups of hot
chocolate.
"But..." Benton continued.
Jonny's face fell at the expression on his father's face.
"There's still the little matter of you two disobeying us
and sneaking out in the first place," Benton continued. He
looked to Race. "What do you suppose would be a suitable course
of action?"
Race fixed an eye on his daughter and Jonny. He was silent
for so long that they began to feel uncomfortable. Then a smile
spread over his face. "I've got it."
"Now I want you to make sure you wash every inch," Race
instructed, standing back. "And don't forget the landing gear."
Jonny and Jessie looked at the huge helicopter, their mouths
hanging open.
"But Daddy, it'll take us forever!" Jessie protested.
"Not quite forever, honey," Race pointed out. "But long
enough for you to think on what you did wrong. The Doc and I
don't make rules for the fun of it, you know. They're there to
keep you safe."
"Well, it turned out OK in the end," Jonny muttered.
"What if it hadn't?" Race challenged him. "What if you
hadn't been able to get back to the house in time? What if you'd
been captured by those intruders?"
Jonny swallowed hard.
"Uh-huh," Race nodded, and went to the hangar door. He
stopped, and turned around. There was a grin on his face. "And
when you're done, we'll take her for a spin."
The children stared at him as realization dawned. Their
sulky faces transformed into delighted grins.
"You got it, Daddy!" Jessie said.
"All right!" Jonny agreed.
4 days later
The small group stood on the airstrip, close together, not
talking. Jessie solemnly shook Dr Quest's hand and thanked him
for his hospitality.
Then she turned to Jonny. He didn't know what to say, and
she didn't say anything either.
At last, "I wish you didn't have to go home," Jonny blurted.
"Me too," Jessie said. "But I miss my mom."
"When will you be coming back?" he asked.
"I don't know," she said.
Race came over. His eyes were very bright, and his voice
was gruff as he said, "Come on, sweetheart. We have to go."
"I'll write every day," Jessie promised.
"Me too," Jonny said. His throat tightened.
Quickly, he thrust the stuffed tiger into her hands.
"Jonny, I can't take Tommy!" Jessie protested. "He's your
best friend."
Jonny nodded. "Yeah. But - you need him more than I do."
"Thank you." Jessie hugged Tommy close. "I'll take good
care of him. And I'll bring him back to you someday, I promise."
Race put an arm around his daughter's shoulders and gently
steered her to the airplane steps. Jonny felt a hand rest gently
on his shoulder. He looked up and saw his father watching him
with a sad smile.
Jessie and Race disappeared into the plane, and Jessie soon
reappeared at a window, waving dolefully. Jonny waved back.
He kept waving as the plane started up, taxied down the
runway, and shrank into a dot in the distance.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tommy's colors were as bright as Jonny remembered. To be sure,
the stuffed tiger sagged in a few places - evidence of having
provided comfort at several points in the past few years.
"I took him everywhere I moved," Jessie said. "He was a
real comfort."
"And you brought him back," Jonny murmured. He looked up,
and grinned. "Thanks, Jessie."
Jessie shrugged. "Sure." Her eyes sparkled. "Now let's go
find that old oak tree."
END
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