The Wayward Gifted - Broken Point (34 page)

“And? Can Steuart identify the woman?”

“No, he told me that she had a scarf
wrapped around her head. He also said that the lighting was awful. He didn’t
see much. He was disappointed that there was nothing other than a name on the
card.”

“Did he hear anything?”

“That was the strangest part of the
meeting—what the woman said to Mother.”

“I’m listening.”

“The woman accused Olivia of taking something
that didn’t belong to her. She was asking her to return whatever it was.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“No, I don’t believe it. Olivia can be
difficult. Sometimes she upsets people without trying. I know that, but I do
not believe that she stole anything from anyone. She’s not dishonest.” Sam
shook her head, “It doesn’t make sense.”

“Sounds like a mystery to me. I’m
curious about the fact that the card’s here. What does this mean?”

“It lets me know that, unless there is
more than one of these cards, Steuart was here. He was in this room. This must
be the same card. I can’t imagine that another card with the same name
magically appeared here. It’s hand printed. This has to be the same one.”

“It looks like Stew Boy was here.
That’s something.”

“I think he was trying to leave a clue.”
Sam looked around the room, “How did Steuart end up at The Minor Protection
Agency? How did he get there? What can you tell me about that place? Is my
brother safe?”

“I don’t know very much about it, but I
think he’s safe. I don’t think he’s being mistreated if that’s what you’re
asking. It’s a government agency. They help homeless children. I believe they
have a good reputation.”

Sam let out a big sigh.

“It’s hard not to worry, I understand.”

“That’s an understatement; it’s
impossible not to worry. I need to find my brother and go home. This is such a
huge mess.”

“Sam, I feel certain that Steuart’s
safe, however, if he’s there, we may have to do a bit of work to get him out.”

“What do you mean, if he’s there? You
told me that you saw Steuart. You said he’s being held at The Minor Protection
Agency. Are you telling me that you don’t know?”

“Calm down, Steuart was there when I
checked.”

“Was there?”

“Yes.”

“So, why are you worried?”

“Part of what gives the agency such a
good reputation is their record for placing children quickly. It is possible
that Steuart could have been adopted by now.”

“
What?
I can’t believe what you are saying.”

“Don’t worry about this.”

“Don’t worry?”

“Don’t worry. No matter what happens
today, we’ll find Steuart; but it will be much easier for us if he hasn’t been
moved to another location.”

“This is ridiculous. My brother’s been
missing for less than four days. How could they find a new family for him so
quickly? Don’t people around here care about allowing families the time to find
a missing child? What will we do?”

“The agency tries to place children as
quickly as possible so that the abandoned child can begin to adjust.”

“My brother wasn’t abandoned.”

“We know that, but the agency doesn’t. The
good news it that adoptive families are aware that they will have to allow the
child to go home if a family member shows up and makes a claim during the legal
time allotment. If Steuart is moved we’ll have to find him.”

“How will we do that?”

“My daddy always said you can’t ride an
elevator before you enter the building.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means we’ll worry about that when,
and if, it happens.”

“I can’t stand the idea of my brother
being sent to live somewhere far away.”

“No matter what happens Steuart will be
treated well.”

“We’re talking about my brother. I
don’t want him to live with another family.”

“I’d like to know how Steuart ended up
there. Obviously,” Ed pointed to the notecard, “he was here for a while.”

“I hope he’s okay.”

“He’ll be okay.”

“That is not a consolation, nor is it
an option. I don’t even know how you can make a statement like that. You don’t
know that to be a fact.”

“Sorry. I’m trying to help.”

“If I can’t go home with my brother we
may have to find a new family for me.
 
Olivia already blames me for Steuart’s broken arm and now she’s blaming
me for his disappearance. Steuart doesn’t need a new family. He has us.”

Ed put his hand on Sam’s shoulder, “You
don’t need to worry. We’re lucky to have Toriah as part of our team. He always
knows exactly what to do.”

“What about you? Don’t you always know
what to do?”

“I’m good, but Toriah’s better.”

Sam and Ed sat side-by-side on the sofa
and waited for Toriah and Dotsie to return. “I can’t get over how similar this
place is to my grandmother’s house. It’s eerie. Don’t you agree?”

“No, not really.”

“No? How can you say that?”

“I see this all the time.”

“My grandmother’s house?”

“No.”

“What then?”

“Parallels, they flow in every
dimension.”

“I’m not in the mood for your riddles.”

“I think I know what happened when you
ended up at Point Taken.”

“You do?”

Ed nodded, “I’ve seen this before. You
may have been standing in a section of the tree house that was aligned with
that parallel. You thought you were traveling to the tree house in Maybell, but
instead, you ended up at your grandmother’s on the bay.”

“Are you saying that we can travel from
here to my grandmother’s house?”

“Possibly,” Ed stood and looked out the
window. “I wonder if this house has a name? Stay here for a minute.”

“Where are you going?”

“Not far. Stay put. I’m walking to the
front.” Ed walked along the winding driveway and briefly disappeared. He came
in through the side door, “It has a name. Nations Kept.”

Sam ran the letters through her mind.
“I don’t understand. It’s close, but not a match. I thought it would be a
match. Grandmother’s house is
Point
Taken.
There’s no letter
s
.”

“You’re not thinking Sam.”

“How can you say that to me? I’m
working my brain over time. Traveling is exhausting.”

“How many times do I have to tell you
that this is not a precise universe? Things don’t always match up. Actually,
more often than not, they don’t.”

“Maybe I’m too tired. I’m not getting
it.”

“If everything linked perfectly you’d
have an exact mirror image of where you’ve come from. You might not even be
aware of the changes.”

“You’re telling me there would be no
need to travel?”

“Exactly. Why would you want to go anywhere?
There would be no need for exploration because you would have all of your
information and answers in one spot.”

Sam took a deep breath, “Why haven’t
you been making jokes lately?”

“I’m not feeling humorous.”

“You’re so serious today. It makes me nervous.”

“As a guide I take my responsibilities
seriously. First, Trista was hurt and then Steuart turned up missing. Now I’m
concerned about Dotsie making the trip. I hope this isn’t too difficult on
her.”

Sam stood. She walked across the room, opened
doors, looked inside of cabinets and thumbed through books as she searched for
clues. “Grandmother would tell me not to look through things belonging to other
people. She calls it plundering.”

“Extenuating circumstances. It’s okay.”

“I wonder who owns this house. Where
are the people who live here?” Sam opened a drawer and pulled out a stack of
photos. “I wonder….”

TWENTY

Ed heard footsteps coming up the walk.
“Move Sam! Duck!”

“Why are we hiding?”

“It might not be Toriah.”

“I’m scared.”

“Shh...” Ed put his finger to Sam’s
mouth as they crouched together and waited. “We’ll be okay.”

“Is it them?”

“Shh...” Ed repeated.

“Sorry.”

“Shh...”

The front door opened. Voices entered
the house. “Where did they go?” Dotsie asked.

“I instructed them not to go anywhere,”
Toriah huffed. “Ed is a good man and an excellent guide; however, he is not
always one to follow directions. Where are they off to now?”

Ed and Sam sprang up from behind the
sofa, “Ta Da!”

“Thank goodness it’s you,” Sam said.

“Do not do that to me!” Toriah jumped.

“What?”

“Send me to an early grave by way of a
heart attack ... frighten me to death.” Toriah held his hand against his chest and
made a face. “I am not a young man.” He calmed his breathing, “What were the
two of you doing hiding behind the furniture?”

“We didn’t know who you were. We needed
to be cautious,” Sam said.

“Good thinking,” Dotsie said.

“
Good
man who doesn’t always follow directions
?” Ed raised an eyebrow. “Thanks
for the kind words.” He turned to Sam, “I retract everything nice I’ve said about
Mr. Toroar.”

Toriah shook his head, “Ed, don’t get
me started. This isn’t the time for your antics. We have much work to do yet.”

“Did you find Steuart?” Sam asked.

“As they say, I have good news and I
have bad news.”

“Good news,” Sam said, smiling and
nodding, “I’d like the good news first.”

“Bad news,” Ed said. “Let’s get it over
with.”

“Yes, that’s what I said. I have good
and bad news. You need to choose which you prefer to hear first. It doesn’t
matter to me. We will cover both.”

“Bad news first,” Sam said. “Ed’s
correct. Let’s get it over with.”

“Give us the good news,” Ed said. “We
need to hear something uplifting.”

“Okay,” Sam looked at Ed and then at
Toriah, “Let’s begin with the good things.”

Toriah took a deep breath, “Ed, you are
correct. Steuart is exactly where you said we would find him.”

“That’s wonderful,” Sam said. “Did you
see him? Did you talk with my brother? Why didn’t you bring him with you?”

Toriah stood silently. “What’s wrong?”
Sam asked. She turned towards Ed. “Something’s wrong. What’s wrong with
Steuart? Where’s my brother? Tell me.”

Sam looked at Toriah.

Dotsie stood quietly. She looked at Sam
and then looked away.

“Did you see Steuart?” Sam asked. “Did
you see my brother?”

Toriah sat down and nodded, “Yes, we
saw Master Steuart.”

“That’s good, right?” Sam let out a
sigh of relief. “That’s a good thing, correct?”

Ed touched Sam’s arm and looked
curiously at Toriah. “Wait, Sam, he’s not finished.” Ed turned to Toriah,
“What’s the bad news?”

Toriah cleared his throat, “We were
unable to speak with Steuart.”

Dotsie nodded.

“Is that all?” Sam asked. “That doesn’t
sound so terribly bad. You know where he is and you’ve seen him. That’s a lot.
All we need to do is go get him. I thought you were going to say something
awful.”

Toriah cleared his throat again, “There’s
more.”

“More?” Sam looked at Toriah and
waited.

“A family is interested in Steuart. He’s
being taken to their home this afternoon for a trial visit—in the
country.”

“Is that a weekend thing?” Sam asked.

Ed shook his head and looked at Toriah,
“In Bellamy a trial visit can become a permanent visit—if all parties are
in agreement.”

“I’m not in agreement! They can’t just
throw my brother into a new family. It makes no sense. We have to do something
now.”

Ed agreed, “You’re right Sam. This
could become much more involved if Steuart moves from his current location.”

“We can’t lose any more time,” Sam
looked at Ed. “We need to get Steuart now. Let’s go.”

“My feelings exactly,” Toriah interrupted.
“That’s why Miss Caples and I made a stop on our way back.”

“For what?” Sam asked.

“We’ve rented a car.”

“Car?” Ed asked.