“He and Fraya went for a walk by the lake. I thought it’d be a good idea for him to have a friend his own age to talk to,” Vinia answered.
Jon snorted as he imagined what kind of talking Behn would have in mind if it were the same girl he had been with the day before.
“What’s wrong with you, Jon?” Valentina asked, looking hard at her brother’s odd behavior.
“Behn runs away, and there’s something wrong with me?” he answered, attempting to diffuse the attention from himself.
A commotion sounded at the front door as Behn appeared backlit. “I’d hardly say I ran away if I came to live with my mom,” he declared. “Look what I found at the lake.” He drew Sofia up next to him so the others could see her.
“Sofia! How did you get here?” Valentina jumped up from the bench and ran across to her friend’s side to see for herself that she was okay, touching her arm for reassurance.
“I…,” she stammered while all eyes turned to stare at her. Deciding to fess up immediately, she spoke, “I snuck into the telepod yesterday when Willian brought Behn here.” She glanced over to Jon, accusing him with her next statement. “I knew I wouldn’t lose my memory, and I know you just wanted to keep this place to yourself, Jon.”
Jon looked confused, and he shook his head in denial. “No, Sofia, I just wanted to keep you safe. I wanted more than anything to have you with me wherever I went, but I just could not risk you because of my selfishness.”
Vinia made a strange choking sound at her son’s confession. His words struck a knife in her heart as he had spoken his truth, which only highlighted her own selfishness.
“Where have you been all this time? Your mom called us last night when we got home, and she was worried sick,” Amanda spoke in her most stern motherly voice.
“I spent the night on the beach after looking around for hours yesterday.”
“You must be starving,” Vinia finally found her voice and an excuse to occupy herself away from the table.
Her stomach grumbled loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, causing them to begin laughing, effectively relieving some of the tension in the room. Valentina pulled her forward to seat her at the table where Vinia put a plate of glawlets in front of her.
“I found her on the trail by the lake,” Behn told the room in general as he used elemy to create himself a glass of water and begin drinking.
Everyone made small-talk while they waited for Sofia to finish her food. When the plate had been taken away, Sofia looked over to Vinia and asked, “Has anyone reported losing anything?”
Vinia clearly had not expected such a question and shook her head. “No, did you find something?”
Sofia nodded and silently pulled the chain up from under her shirt until the pendant came free to swing in the dim light inside. She jumped when Riccan shut the front door and walked over to her side. Keeping the pendant resting in her palm, she looked up at Riccan and said, “I didn’t want to leave it on the beach unattended. I’d gladly give it back except…”
“Except what, Sofia?” Riccan prompted.
“I can’t get it off my neck,” she sighed, dropping her eyes to the beautiful pendant wishfully.
“What do you think this means, Dad?” Riccan asked Daven.
Daven chuckled and shook his head slowly. “I’ve given up trying to decide how or why these things keep happening to people in your life, Riccan.”
“Tell us everything about how you came to find that birth crystal,” Riccan persisted, wanting to get to the bottom of this new mystery.
Sofia spent the next few minutes recounting the entire time she had spent in Tuala.
Vinia began to chuckle as Sofia told of her fears from the people in Roanoke.
“What’s so funny,” Sofia asked her.
“That you’d think anyone from here would lose that necklace. They’d be more likely to throw it in the ocean before they’d consider wearing it.”
“I don’t understand, what’s not to like about this amazing pendant?”
“Only my family has them here, Sofia. The rest of the people think they’re evil and wouldn’t dream of touching one, let alone owning one.”
“Oh,” Sofia spoke, reappraising the sparkling jewelry, trying to see it as an object of evil and failing entirely.
“It would appear that Jehoban answered your prayer and gave you a blessing,” Daven finally announced, nodding to reaffirm it in his own mind. “I can’t imagine why, but I’ve given up trying to question Jehoban’s plan.”
“Well put,” Riccan announced. “I guess we should probably get Sofia home before her mother gets the police involved back home.” He turned to Behn and asked, “Do you want to come with us, or are you staying here?” He thought he would at least let him think he still had a choice in the matter, even though he planned on using some persuasion should he persist in remaining here in Tuala while he had school to finish back home.
“I already said I’m staying. Have a nice trip,” Behn answered. He shoved past everyone and left the house, leaving the door open behind him.
“I’ll try to get through to him,” Vinia announced, feeling responsible for her son’s abhorrent behavior.
“I’ll be here to help you, Vinia,” Daven reassured her, placing his hand on her shoulder for comfort.
As everyone stood up to leave, Amanda stepped closer to Vinia and leaned over to her. “I spoke with Mom and Dad about you. They were thrilled and want to know when a good time will be for them to meet with you and the kids.”
Vinia shook her head ruefully, “Obviously, it’ll have to wait until I can get through to Behn. Let them know I’ll try to make it as soon as possible. I can’t tell you how amazing it is that I have parents again.”
“It is amazing. I was wondering something, though,” she hesitated to continue.
“What, Amanda? You know you can talk to me about anything.”
“Why didn’t our minds link again when we arrived here? I thought it went away simply because I returned to Earth, and it wasn’t strong enough for that amount of distance, but I still don’t feel it.”
Vinia smiled and affectionately touched her arm, “I’m sure it’ll get stronger the more time we spend together, don’t worry.”
“I hope so,” Amanda replied wistfully. She gave Vinia a rushed hug and promptly followed her family, who had already left the cabin. “See you soon.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Riccan parked next to her car in the parking lot. He turned off the engine and shifted his gaze to catch hers. “I don’t approve of your antics, Sofia, it was reckless and irresponsible.”
“I know, I definitely learned my lesson,” she murmured, looking down at her lap, not wanting to see Mr. Stel’s disapproving stare.
He reached over to lift her chin with his fingertips. “I’m glad you were safe.” He gestured toward her necklace and added, “Apparently, Jehoban thought you needed some protection yourself.”
“Are you still sure it’s not someone else’s? I mean, how could it possibly be mine?”
“You said yourself, you prayed to Jehoban and asked for help, and He sent you this gift. I don’t know why, but it’s definitely a blessing from Him.”
Thinking about how Riccan had told her that a person could not misplace their necklace made her begin to believe he told her the truth. Yet it still amazed her that she would be so lucky to receive it; after all, she was from Earth and had never even witnessed the crystal ceremony they had told her about. Maybe she did not have the power to use the necklace, but at least she had the blessing from Jehoban Himself.
“Thanks for the ride, Mr. Stel.” She opened her door and got out of the vehicle, feeling as though she were dodging some serious punishment. Now all she had to do was come up with what to tell her parents about why she had been out all night. Her car started up right away, she backed out of her parking space and waved farewell to Riccan on her way back to the main road and an unknown punishment awaiting her at home.
Chapter Twenty
AFTER BEING PETTED, hugged, and scolded for over ten minutes, Sofia was finally released from her mother’s possessive embrace. “Don’t you dare scare us like that again!” Yoshida scolded even as she pulled Sofia in for another tight hug. “Sit and tell us where you were.”
Sofia did not have much choice as her mother’s hands on her shoulders pushed her down onto the couch. She kept her gaze firmly on her mother, who seemed happy to see her, unlike her father who remained standing, glaring down at her disapprovingly. Knowing she could at least be partially truthful without divulging anything, she said, “Jon kept telling me about this place where he grew up. He wouldn’t take me there because…well, he wouldn’t take me there. I found out some other friends of mine were going, and I snuck a ride with them so I could look around for myself.
“Everything would have been fine except I didn’t realize when my ride left, and I was stranded. I spent the night on the beach until some other friends came to pick me up and bring me home. So, you see Mom, I was perfectly fine.”
“We called all of your friends, and they said they didn’t know where you were. Were they lying to cover for you?”
“No, Dad. I told you my friends didn’t know I’d snuck into their vehicle. Nobody lied, I promise.”
“Where did you go that you couldn’t call us to come and pick you up?”
“Oh, you wouldn’t know about it.”
“Sofia!” he growled, rapidly running out of patience.
“Fine, it’s a place called Tuala.” She could see her mother had clearly never heard of it, and she looked up at her father, expecting to see the same expression. “Dad? What is it?”
“What was the name of the town, Sofia?”
“Roanoke. Dad, what’s wrong?”
“You said Jon is from Tuala?”
“Yes. Why?”
“So then the whole Wilson family is from there?”
“No, just Behn, Jon, and Valentina. I don’t understand why you’re so upset, Dad. Have you heard of Tuala?” Thinking it would have been impossible, she hardly expected his next response.
“Yes.” His legs seemed no longer able to support him. He felt himself fall into the chair across from his wife and daughter.
“Dad, are you okay?”
“Give me a minute.” He held his hand up to his chest, feeling it beating rapidly beneath his fingertips.
“Dad, you’re scaring me. Are you having a heart attack?”
“No, I just never expected to hear the name Tuala ever again.”
“Meaning you’ve heard of it before?”
“Yes. I was born there.”
The only sound to penetrate the silence was Sofia’s dramatic intake of breath.
“Finnian, what are you saying? You’re from Colombia, we grew up together,” Yoshida turned to her husband, confused by his statement.
“No, Mamacita, that’s only what your familia told you. They were so grateful to have you back, they were willing to tell you whatever I asked.”
“Have me back? I never went anywhere until we came here to America,” she denied, shaking her head to emphasize her words.
Sofia looked back and forth between her parents, starting to get an idea of what her father was saying. She turned to her father and asked, “Did Mom lose her memory when she came here from Tuala?”
“Yes. She only remembers what we’ve told her.”
“Finnian, stop talking nonsense right this moment!” Yoshida slapped her knee angrily as she finished speaking.
“Dad, please tell us both the whole story,” Sofia leaned forward, desperate to hear what her father knew.
“I met your mother in Tuala many years ago, she was lost and confused, but I loved her the moment I saw her. She came to work with my family in the fishing business, and we married shortly after we met. When she got pregnant, we were so happy, nothing could have made our life better. When Ceren was born…”
“Wait, I thought you were talking about Mom being pregnant with me?” Sofia could hardly even comprehend what her father was telling her.
“Ceren?” Yoshida whispered, looking thoughtful, almost as if she remembered something, yet not quite able.
“Yes, we had a son named Ceren. Many years passed and we had our own fishing vessel by then, it was a peaceful life until one of our neighbors happened to be talking with a stranger about Yoshida. He mentioned all of the strange things she would say and told him that Yoshida didn’t have a birth crystal.
“Soon after that, Yoshida went missing. I was frantic to find out where she’d gone. It was several weeks before I discovered that Elder Quentien’s counselors had heard about her and picked her up for questioning. It wasn’t until much later that I found out she had been transferred to Apio to be interrogated by Elder Vargen because of his old soul program.”
“Elder Vargen,” Yoshida whispered, beginning to tremble with fear. She crossed her arms over her middle and began rocking back and forth as if in pain.
“Mom, are you okay? Do you remember all of this?” Sofia rested her hand on her mother’s knee, pleading with her to answer. “Dad, I think you should stop talking now. Mom’s not doing very well with this news.”
“NO! I want him to finish telling his story, I think I’ve needed to hear this for a very long time.” Yoshida nodded for him to continue.
“Your mom managed to escape from Elder Vargen with the help of a kind wise-woman named Copa. She brought her home to me in Gamb. Yoshida was frantic and scared. She kept telling me that Elder Vargen would find her and would take her back with him.
“I couldn’t stand to see her so terrified all the time, so the three of us moved to the Port of Cresdon, where I could still use my water craft for fishing. It was there that we found out your mother was pregnant with you.”
Sofia’s brows lowered over her eyes as she tried to figure out exactly what her father was not telling her. “Okay, so how did we end up back here on Earth? Where’s Ceren?”
“I’m getting to that part.” Finnian scrubbed his hands through his hair, wishing he did not have to ever have this conversation with either his wife or his daughter. “I had a quota of fish to catch, and my cook was unable to go out with us. Your mother offered to take his place so we could still make the tide. I was still getting used to the different waters and tides in the area and I didn’t read the clouds right. We set out on the morning tide and everything was going great. We had caught a tremendous amount of fish, but we still had over half of our tanks to fill.
“A small squall came through, and we took cover in the lea side of an island until it passed. Once everything calmed down, we set out again into the deep water where the fish I needed ran. It was probably midnight before we started feeling the swells get larger and hitting us from multiple sides unexplainably. We had no idea that a hurricane was coming, nothing had given us any indication of an approaching storm. The winds picked up and tossed us around until the vessel capsized and we were left swimming for our lives.
“I found your mother in all of the chaos, and we held onto one another and some floating debris until the worst of it passed us by. We never saw the crew again. In fact, we never saw Tuala again either. We ended up getting rescued by a cargo ship and being sailed to Colombia of all places.
“Your mother had lost all memory of everything we had gone through, but I never forgot. Even though I’d known her in Tuala for thirteen years, we discovered your mother had been missing from Bogota for almost a year, and we returned to live with her family for her to recover. We continued to live with her family and I took their last name of Castillo to make things easier. She gave birth to you six months later, just before we were planning to come to America. We tried to get here before you were born so you could be a U.S. citizen, but you came earlier than we planned and then the government denied our visas for another decade. The rest you already know.” Finnian slapped his thighs as if to say he was done talking about the matter.
“What about Cer
en? How old was he when you last saw him?” Sofia asked, her expression horrified to think her brother had lost his entire family.
“He was twelve and very mature for his age. I don’t know what happened to him, but I’ve never forgotten about him. Not a day goes by that I don’t pray for his safety and happiness.” He looked over to see Yoshida had tears streaming down her cheeks and a horrified expression on her face.
“How could I forget my own son? What kind of a mother am I to forget about my first-born son as if he never existed?” Yoshida abruptly stood and left the room, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
“Should we be with her?” Sofia asked, her stricken expression following her mother’s progress to their bedroom. Her eyes cut back at her father, noticing his silence. “Dad, you act like you’ve been through this before. What’s going on?”
“She can’t handle this, Sofia, she’s just not mentally strong enough to deal with the reality of our situation. Once she goes to sleep, I’ll erase her memories of this conversation.”
“You can’t be serious! How could you?” She looked at her father as if she had never seen him before, his revelations were too much for her to believe. “Wait! Are you going to do the same thing to me once I fall asleep?”
“Do you want me to?”
“NO! Don’t you dare do that to me! Promise me you will never tinker with my thoughts, or I swear I’ll run away and you’ll never see me again.”
“Easy, Sofia. You’re not your mother. You’ve already demonstrated a remarkable difference by going to Tuala and returning with your memory intact.”
“So, memory loss is a real thing?” Thinking she might need to re-evaluate her anger at Jon.
“Apparently. Your mother is the only person from Earth I ever met before I ended up here, too. Both times she transferred between worlds, she lost her memory.”
“Wow, so Jon wasn’t lying to me after all. I guess I can’t be mad at him for trying to protect me.” She thought about her whole experience with a new light. She pulled her pendant out from under her shirt and asked, “Do you have your own birth crystal, too?”
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