The Wayward Gifted - Broken Point (36 page)

Prim turned towards Ed. She slammed her
hand on the counter and raised her voice. She pinged the bell on the counter
repeatedly in an effort to get Ed’s attention. She screamed, “Sir, we have no
child for you! How many ways can I give you this information? Do you
understand? Do I need to call the authorities?”

Ed lowered his voice, “Yeah, lady, I
get it. You’re still ticked off with me. You thought you were
all that,
but you weren’t even a thing.”

Toriah bent down and consoled Dotsie as
she began to cry, “It’s okay dear, we’re going to pick Steuart up and be out of
here as soon as we have the paperwork completed. We have to complete the proper
forms. It’s okay. Don’t worry.”

Dotsie pulled at Toriah’s coat sleeve,
“I want my new brother.”

No one saw Sam return. She stood
directly behind Ed and gently touched his hand. Ed continued his rant, “This is
incredible. What kind of office are you running here? This is discrimination. I
have never been treated so badly in my life. I’ve never seen a more poorly run
office than what you have here. You should be fired. I insist that you produce
my little Mossy immediately!”

Sam continued pulling on Ed’s arm. Toriah
and Prim continued trying to talk. Dotsie sobbed quietly.

“He’s not here,” Sam whispered.

“It’s because he’s dressed nicer than
me,” Ed pointed towards Toriah. “That’s it. I get it. You people are completely
screwed up. You’re a real piece of work, Prim Tate. I am disgusted by your lack
of professionalism. I can’t believe I ever had feelings for you. I want my
nephew, now!” Ed repeatedly pounded on the counter with his fist. “Where is
Mossy?”

Sam continued pulling on Ed’s arm until
he whipped around and yelled, “What do you want kid?” Sam jumped back. The room
became silent. Ed swallowed. He didn’t move anything other than his eyes. He
looked at Sam. He looked for Steuart. He jerked his head in the direction of
the front door before bending down to Sam’s level.

Sam whispered in Ed’s ear, “Steuart
isn’t here.”

“
Whaaatt?”

“He’s not here,” she repeated loudly.

“Are you...”

Sam nodded, “sure-as-Matt.”

Ed put his hands on Sam’s shoulders,
pivoted her towards the door and yelled, “Go!”

Prim became frantic, “Who is that
child? What does she mean, Steuart isn’t here?” Prim turned towards Toriah,
“I’m sorry Mr. Sebby. I need to see what’s going on. We’ll get this figured
out. I’ll be back in a minute.” She began walking around the counter in Sam’s
direction. “Young lady...”

“Where is the boy? We need to be on our
way,” Toriah insisted. “Is Steuart ready?” Dotsie began crying again.

Prim turned around as Sam exited. She
looked at Toriah. “I’ll check sir.” She changed directions. “Please stay put.
I’ll be back in a minute.” She walked down the hallway towards room twelve.

On her way to the car, Sam bumped into
a man and woman who were walking into the building. Dotsie followed Sam
outside. Ed and Toriah exited the building together, got into the car and drove
away. Several blocks down the road, Toriah turned onto a side street and
stopped.

“Where is my brother?” Sam cried. “What
are we going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” Ed said. “We have to
think of something.”

“Where’s my brother? I have to find
Steuart.”

Toriah turned in his seat, “I’m sorry
Sam.” He shook his head, “I thought this was going to be a simple operation.
It’s become more involved than we hoped. We need to regroup.”

“What are we going to do?”

“We’re not going to find Steuart today.”

Ed agreed, “It’s too late.”

“We can’t stop now,” Dotsie said. “We
need to find Steuart.”

Sam pressed her face against the car
window and stared at a brick wall. “This is awful. I have to find Steuart.”

“We’ll figure this out,” Ed said.
“We’ll find Steuart, but we can’t do anything more tonight. We’ll start fresh
in the morning.”

“Let’s get some dinner.” Toriah looked
at Dotsie, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Toriah looked at Sam, “We’ll return to
the house and think about what to do next. We’ll come up with another plan.”

“This is awful,” Sam said. “How are we
going to find Steuart now? We have no idea where to look.”

Toriah stopped at a local drive-in and
picked up food for dinner. “Things will be better tomorrow.”

TWENTY-ONE

Sam and Dotsie walked to the dining table.
Ed looked for napkins while Toriah
pulled food from the bags.

“Where have you been?” Steuart walked
down the stairs. A life-size Trista stood behind him.

Sam jumped from her chair and ran over
to the two of them. She began crying, “Where have
I
been? Where have
you
been? What are you doing here?” She had trouble catching her breath. “I’ve been
trying to find you for three days and suddenly, you’re here.” She looked at
Trista, “I don’t understand. I don’t know what to say. I’m happy to see you, both
of you. You’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” Steuart said.

“I’m fine too,” Trista nodded.

Sam took a deep breath. She exhaled and
turned from Trista to Steuart and then back again to Trista. “I’m so sorry
about everything, Trista. I’m so...” Sam turned towards her brother, “I’m sorry
we got separated. I’ve been sick with worry. What happened?”

Ed, Toriah and Dotsie listened. Sam
breathed hard and shook her head, “I don’t understand any of this. We tried to
rescue you. We’ve been trying to find you. You weren’t there. How did you get
here?”

“I think I rescued myself.”

“You certainly did,” Trista said.

Sam, Ed, Toriah and Dotsie looked at
Steuart. Sam hugged her brother and hugged Trista again. “Tell us everything,
please.”

Steuart looked at Trista, “Would you
like to go first?

“No.”

“Okay,” Steuart exhaled. “I’m trying to
think about where I should begin.”

“Just start,” Ed said. “We’ll piece
things together.”

“I’ve been busy.” Steuart looked at his
sister. “I haven’t had much sleep. At first, I didn’t understand what happened.
One minute we were standing in the tree house together and then I was standing
there alone. You disappeared the same way that Ceil did. I tried to find you.”

“I was trying to find you too,” Sam
said softly.

“At first it was fun, but then it got
scary,” Steuart looked at Ed who gave him a slap on the back followed by a hug.

“You had so many things right, Stew
Boy.”

“What did I do wrong?”

“Sometimes you can have everything
right and still not transport. It’s the nature of things.”

“I wished for both of you. I kept
trying, but I got tired. Eventually, I came up here and looked for a warm place
to take a break. The side door was unlocked and it didn’t look like anyone was
here. I was very cold, so I came inside.”

“How long did you stay?” Sam asked.

“Not too long. I was sure you’d come
back and look for me, but I didn’t know what you were dealing with at home. I
walked down to the tree house on and off to see if you were there, but it was
getting colder with the darkness. There was a lot of snow, so I decided to stay
here. It was too cold to be down there. I found a closet of quilts and
blankets, got warm and even took a short nap. But then I got hungry and there was
nothing to eat. I waited for you as long as I could. When I realized you might
not be coming back right away I decided to go back downtown.” Steuart looked at
his sister, “I guessed that you had traveled without me. I thought you probably
got stuck at the house trying to explain everything to Mother. Is that what
happened?”

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s plenty of time for my story. I
want to hear yours.”

Steuart looked at Ed, “If I had known
you were looking for me, I would have stayed here, but I was cold. I thought
about leaving a clue for Sam. I wanted her to know that I’d been here. I looked
in my valise, but the only loose card I found was...”

“Laurel Ivy Hood,” Sam said.

“You found it.”

“Yes,” Ed nodded, “It was the first
thing Sam found when we arrived.”

“What happened then?” Sam asked.

“I walked to Trista’s studio,” Steuart
looked at Trista.

“He was shocked when I came to the
door. I must have just missed the two of you when you came by earlier.”

“I was really shocked,” Steuart said.
“I was hoping to find someone who knew Trista with the idea that they might
have information about traveling. I had no idea I would find Trista.”

“We stayed together until I had to
leave for an appointment.” Trista looked at Steuart, “I suggested that he stay
put and not leave the studio.”

“Is that how you ended up at The Minor
Protection Agency?”

Steuart nodded, “I knew Trista was okay
and I knew that I needed to go home.”

“I was late coming back.”

“I didn’t know how long she’d be gone. I
was worried about getting home because I knew you were going to be in deep
water with Mother. I walked downstairs to the coffee shop and I asked the wrong
person for help. That’s how I ended up at that place.”

“Who did you ask?”

“Prim Tate.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“No. She’s a nice lady, but she didn’t understand
what I tried to tell her. It was apparent that she knew nothing about
traveling.”

“Obviously,” Ed said.

Sam looked at Trista, “How did you get
home? We took you to the hospital. You didn’t get better.”

“You had my placeholder repaired, not
me.”

“How can that be? This was you.” Sam
pulled the doll from her backpack and handed her to Trista.

Trista smiled, “Yes, I know.” She
looked at Ed and Toriah, “Would one of you like to explain what happened?”

Ed spoke, “I was hoping, but I didn’t
want to say anything in the event that I was wrong.”

Sam looked at Ed, “What were you hoping
for?”

“Trista experienced a blunt force trauma
that was so intense it created an instant portal at the place of impact. That
caused her to travel immediately from Maybell to Bellamy. At the moment of
impact she switched places with her placeholder.”

Trista looked at Sam, “You saved my
life. Do you realize that?”

“I don’t understand,” Sam shook her
head. “How did we do that? You transported but you were still injured.”

“Did you have my doll repaired?”

“You know we did. We took her to the
doll hospital.”

“How many days was she there?”

“Five.”

“You saved my life by taking her to the
hospital and having her repaired. If the doll had stayed broken, I would probably
still be on life support.”

“They would have turned it off,” Ed
said softly.

“Can you come back with us?” Sam asked.

“No, I’ve done all the traveling I need
to do for a while. I’m okay, but I need to take it easy.”

“I’m sorry that my mother hurt you.”

“It was an accident.”

 
“
Please
,”
Ed blew a raspberry.

Trista gave Ed a sharp glance and
looked again at Sam and Steuart. “It was an accident.”

“How can you say that,” Sam asked.

“Don’t waste time being angry about
things you can’t change. It’s not worth it.”

Sam nodded.

“I know you have to go home soon. Promise
me that you’ll visit and that you won’t wait long before you do. I’m a very
good hostess. You’re always welcome at my house. I’ll give you a painting
lesson.” She turned to Dotsie, “You’re invited too. Do you like art?”

“Oh, yes.” Dotsie smiled, “That sounds
like fun.”

Trista reached down and hugged the
children. She shook hands with Toriah and then reached to hug Ed, “Take care of
our kids.”

Ed smiled. He kissed Trista on the
cheek. “I’m thankful that you’re okay.”

“You’re record stands.”

Ed took a deep breath, “I hate to break
up this reunion but we need to start back. People are looking for you two and
Dotsie’s mother will be looking for her soon.” He looked at Trista, “You know
how it goes, once travel begins it continues on and on.”