The Wayward Gifted - Broken Point (26 page)

“Ed, sometimes you have to eat food
other than chocolate,” Sam said.

“Blasphemy!” Ed shouted.

“Please, don’t yell,” Sam whispered as
the people walking in front of them turned back to see who was yelling.

“Sorry, I can’t help myself. I’m enthusiastic
about good flavor. That said, I’m going to recommend we save poppy seed for
another day. My vote is for chocolate.”

“You can’t always eat chocolate. At
least I can’t.” Sam looked at her brother for reassurance.

“She’s correct,” Steuart said.

Ed shook his head, “What’s wrong with
you people?”

Inside the coffee shop, Sam asked for a
booth away from the crowd. “How about that one?” the hostess asked as she pointed
to a booth located in the far, back corner.

Sam leaned close to Ed, “This is
perfect. You can talk without being noticed.”

“Hi, I’m Christy. I’ll be your server
today,” the young waitress looked like she had just popped from a toaster. “What
would you like?”

“We’d like a muffin. Do you have lemon
poppy seed?” Steuart asked.

Ed made a noise. Sam nudged him with
his elbow.

Christy nodded, “We do. What to drink?”

“Two cups of tea with cream please.”

“I’ll be back with one lemon poppy seed
muffin and two cups of tea. Is Earl Gray okay?”

“Yes,” Steuart responded.

“I’d like peppermint...” Sam said. “If
you have it.”

“I’m not sure about the peppermint,
I’ll have to check on that. What’s your second choice?”

“Green. Green is good.”

“And that muffin—would you like
it heated?”

“Yes, please,” Sam smiled. Steuart nodded.

As soon as Christy was out of hearing
range, Ed frowned, “What’s wrong with our server?”

“I think they call it a tanning
addiction,” Sam said.

“I thought you were going to tell me
she ate too much pumpkin. Why the sudden problem with chocolate? I really
wanted chocolate."

Steuart looked at Ed, “What’s wrong is
that we’ve never seen you eat anything other than chocolate. We’re concerned
about your health. Sam’s right. It wouldn’t hurt you to try something new and
different.”

Christy returned with tea and muffins.
She looked at Sam and shook her head, “Sorry, no mint today.”

“That’s okay. I like green. Do you know
of any place in town that repairs dolls?”

Christy shook her head, “I’m not much
help today. I don’t know of anything like that around here. I’m a new
student—probably not the best person to ask. I’ll ask in the kitchen and
see if anyone knows of a place.”

A young woman approached the children
from a booth across the aisle. “I overheard your conversation with our server. Did
I hear that you’re looking for a doll hospital?”

Sam nodded, “We are. Do you know a place?”

“The Purple Doll House is well known. It’s
in Hytumpol. They do great work, but it’s at least fifteen miles from here.
You’ll need to ask your parents to take you.”

“Does the bus go to Hytumpol?” Steuart
asked.

The woman thought for a moment, then nodded,
“Yes I think it does, but not the local bus. You’ll have to get on the
transit.”

“Where do we do that?” Steuart asked.

“The bus station. It’s about two blocks
from here. You can’t miss it.” The woman wrinkled her forehead, “I wouldn’t go
alone. You should probably ask your parents.”

The children nodded. The woman said
good-bye and walked away.

Sam and Steuart began talking with Ed
about how they would make their way to Hytumpol. “I don’t know,” Steuart said,
“that’s a long way from here. Taking the bus sounds risky. Mother will ground
us for the rest of our lives if we get caught.”

“I know,” Sam sighed. “You’re right.
But I think we can figure out a way to make it happen. We have the day off on
Thursday. If we leave early enough, we might be able to make it back in plenty
of time. Nanny Claire won’t care.”

Steuart nodded, “She never misses us.”

“I know,” Sam smiled. “Aren’t we
lucky.”

“What about our appointments with Dr.
Klesel?”

“We can cancel.”

“Let’s go to the bus station after we
leave here. We can find out how much it’s going to cost.”

* * *

The
children left the coffee shop and biked the two blocks to the bus station. “Bus
schedules are confusing,” Sam said.

Steuart nodded, “Expensive too.”

The children sat on a bench and
discussed their options. A man stopped in front of them. “Hello, young people.”
The man was as round as he was tall. “Did I hear you talking about The Purple
Doll House?”

“Yes sir. Do you know it?” Steuart
asked.

“Oh, yes—yes indeed,” the man
nodded. “You’re in luck if you want to go now. I’m headed in that direction.”

Steuart reached for his sister and
looked up at the man, “No thank you.”

“I’m going that way,” he said. “Are you
certain that you won’t let me drive you over?”

“Certain,” Sam nodded. “We haven’t
decided to go.”

“Well, if you need a doll hospital,
that’s the one you want. The place has an excellent reputation.”

“No, thank you,” Sam said, this time in
a more forceful voice. She stood to walk out the door. “Steuart, we have to go.
Daddy’s waiting for us.”

“Oh, your father is here.”

“Yes, he’s outside.” Sam and Steuart
exited the building. Steuart ran towards the bike carrier. Sam followed.

“What is it with these people?” Steuart
yelled to his sister. “I wish they’d leave us alone.”

“I’m glad you didn’t let him drive us,”
Ed said.

Sam peddled until she felt safe and
certain that the man was not following behind. “Look,” she slowed briefly and
pointed to a pink sign in the distance, “I’m going there. I have a good
feeling. I’m going to follow that color.”

Reaching the sign, Sam slowed and
looked in the distance at another pink sign.

“What are you doing?” Steuart asked.

“I need to keep going. We need to
follow that color.” Again, Sam pointed in the distance and continued peddling.

At the corner, Sam stopped and looked
to her right. This time she pointed in another direction. “We’re going over there.”

“Will you please make up your mind,”
Steuart shouted. “I’m getting tired. This is silly.”

“No, it’s not.” Sam kept moving. “It’s
that
pink. That’s the one.” She pointed
to a pink building and continued up the block until she arrived. She smiled as
she stopped her bike in front of a large pink house with white gingerbread
trim. A sign hung from the porch, “Girren Herd, Attorney at Law.” Disappointed,
Sam frowned. “I was certain this was a dollhouse.”

“You can’t win them all,” Steuart said.

“Thanks.” Sam looked back at her little
brother. She let out a heavy sigh. “I might as well start back. We’ll have to
worry about this later.” She peddled the bike up the street four blocks before
stopping to catch her breath.

Steuart became animated, “Sam, I don’t
believe this. Look Sam, look up the walkway. I think you’ve found it!”

Sam turned and saw a tiny pink house
with a sign above the entry that read, “Lars Abot Doll Hospital.”

The children walked inside with Ed and
Trista. They stood in a small room and waited ten minutes before a young man
entered from the back. “Have you been here long?”

“Just a little while,” Steuart
responded.

Sam took Trista from her backpack and
placed her gingerly on the counter. “This is my friend Trista. Do you think you
can help her?”

The young man opened the bag and looked
inside, “I don’t know. I really do not know.” He shook his head, “This looks
serious. I’m not sure,” he said. “What happened to her?”

“Someone threw her against a tile
wall.” Sam felt tears coming, “She’s extra special. I hope you can help her.”

“The only promise I can make you is
that we will do our best. I’ll call you as soon as we know something.”

Sam and Steuart said good-bye to
Trista. “We’ll be back for you soon,” Sam whispered. “I love you.”

They thanked the man and started home.

FIFTEEN

Five days later Sam received a call
that Trista was ready to come home.
Immediately following school, she and Steuart headed towards the doll hospital.
This time an older man greeted them. “I think you will be pleased,” he said as
he laid Trista on the counter.

Sam gasped, “She looks perfect. Oh my
goodness, thank you for doing such a wonderful job.”

“I had my doubts when I saw her. I’m
pleased with our work.”

Sam paid the man, put Trista into her
backpack and walked outside with Steuart. She let out a huge sigh and smiled.
“I’m so thankful. I’m relieved.” Sam took Trista from her backpack and looked
closely at the doll. “Trista, you look beautiful. I don’t see any trace of your
injury. How do you feel?”

Trista didn’t move.

Sam and Steuart sat on a bench. Steuart
held Ed. Sam held Trista.

“Trista?” Sam looked at her brother. She
looked at Ed, “Is she playing a joke?”

Ed shook his head, “I hope so. Trista?”
Ed reached over and touched her arm, “Are you teasing us?”

Trista didn’t move.

“She wouldn’t play that kind of joke,”
Steuart said. “Something’s wrong.”

Tears rolled down Sam’s face. “It
didn't work.”

* * *

Sam
and Steuart decided to visit with Ceil. “Are you okay?” Ceil asked.

Sam shook her head.

“We just picked Trista up from the doll
hospital,” Steuart said.

“How does she look?”

Sam removed Trista from her backpack
and sat her next to Ed.

“She looks wonderful,” Ceil said.

Sam shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t
know what to say. I’d rather not talk about it today if you don’t mind.”

“That’s okay. Is there anything I can
do to help?”

“No,” Sam held back the tears. “I
should probably go home.”

“Is that what you want to do?”

“No. I don’t know what I want to do.”

“I understand.” Ceil changed the
subject, “How about going to the tree house?”

“You’re forgetting, Steuart can’t
climb.”

Ceil smiled, “I have a surprise that I
think you’ll both like. Come on. Let’s take a walk.”

Ceil pointed towards the tree house, “Steuart,
check this out. Roger, my handyman, has been working on this since you were in
the hospital.” She showed the children an elaborate system of pulleys—a
sort of dumbwaiter designed to lift Steuart up into the tree house.

“This is way too cool” Steuart
exclaimed. “It’s identical to the one that Captain Crandall made for Baby Bonner
Blaster!”

Ceil nodded, “That’s where we got the
idea.”

“Cool.”

“There’s only one thing you have to
promise before you do this. You must promise that you’ll not go up or down
without help from Roger or me. You need an adult. Understood? Sam, you can go
ahead and climb to the top. I’m going to need your help.”

Steuart leaned back into the basket.
Ceil strapped him into the seat and secured the safety belt. “Sam, when he gets
up to the top, we’ll pull the hatch shut, I’ll come up and show you how to do
it. After that, I’ll show you how to unhook his seatbelt.”

“Are you sure this is safe?” Sam asked.

“Roger’s a retired engineer. He’s
worked nonstop getting things just right for you.”

Ceil looked at Steuart. “Pay attention,
please. I don’t want you getting back into the basket without assistance. You
need adult help. Do I need to repeat myself again?”

“No,” Steuart was eager to ride to the
top. “Now I feel like a true king,” he said.

Ceil followed Sam up the ladder and prepared
to meet Steuart.

“Ready?” Roger asked. “Ready on the
count of three.”

Steuart gave Roger a thumbs-up.

“One, two, three,” Roger counted. He
pushed the button and began pulling ropes. Steuart was lifted up.
 
Once inside the tree house, Ceil pulled
the hatch closed and helped Steuart exit the basket.