As they walked together, Charles asked, “How does the mail get to its destination?”
Carson went to the railing and pointed to a drone that had been deployed. Charles nodded.
When they arrived back at the office, Charles sat down at his desk. He put on his Sojourner glasses and went to work studying the Sojourner manuals. It wasn’t too long before they received a response from Dimitrios. Carson handed the letter to Charles along with a crystal. Charles slid the crystal over the envelope seal to open it. He pulled the letter out of the envelope, unfolded it and read aloud:
To the Apprentice of the Prime Minister,
Thank you for your inquiry about the invitation you received to attend the Finders Sojourner meeting. I understand why they would want to interview a fine candidate such as you, Charles. I imagine you will receive many invitations to attend meetings of different Sojourner organizations. Anthony and I believe it is good news that you are on their radar as being a viable candidate.
However, very soon in your training we will share with you secret information into all of the Sojourner organizations. In your current position, the law prohibits you from obtaining membership or affiliation with any Sojourners’ organization. This law was designed for the purpose of maintaining a fair and impartial stance of the rulings made by a prime minister. If a prime minister were to join a particular group, a question might arise as to where his or her loyalty lies, should a ruling need to be made before the Sojourners’ Council.
Anthony and I can tell you from our own experiences that we have both suffered from this exact dilemma ourselves. The prime minister has voiced an opinion in regard to this matter and has expressed that he wishes for you to cordially decline the Finders Sojourners’ invitation. At our next meeting we shall discuss this matter in greater detail.
Sincerely,
Dimitrios
Charles refolded the letter and said, “Just as we suspected.”
Charles handed the letter to Carson to file with other correspondence. Carson took Dimitrios’ letter and set it down on his desk. He pulled from his desk, pen and paper, handing both to Charles. Charles took the items then went to his desk to decline the Finders Sojourners’ invitation. When he finished, Airabelle offered to take it to be delivered. Carson and Charles looked skeptically at each other.
Bev looked up from her book. “Airabelle, you cannot go through the Hub without us. Are you certain you want to make the delivery? I’m not sure it will be safe even if we are nearby.”
Airabelle bobbed her head. “I don’t know why not. I used to do it all the time.”
Carson, Bev and Charles prepared to go with Airabelle. They each had their flying disk. Carson spun the Passageway and held up the letter. When they reached the Hub, Airabelle took off, leaving the others behind.
Charles in a split second spun his flying disk, stepped on and raced off after her. Carson and Bev were right behind him.
Charles called out to Airabelle to wait for them but she insisted he go back, saying, “I’m fine, I’m fine.” He could see Airabelle briefly, but soon lost sight of her.
Charles once again called to her to wait but he could tell she was determined to do this on her own to prove a point. In his mind, he could sense the path she had taken and where she was. She was far enough ahead that she had reached her destination and made the drop off.
A Finder Sojourner had been standing by the door. He opened it when the letter came through. Airabelle had mistakenly perched on the railing beside the door waiting for Charles to catch up to her. The man swiped at her with his hat trying to capture her. She fluttered and tried desperately to get around his wild swats. The only place for her to go was inside the building. She flew as fast as she could, darting here and there as others joined in the pursuit of her.
Charles sensing her cries of distress. He took the flying disk as fast as it could go, breaking the law. A flying intelligent eye caught him on radar and sent an alarm to the air control authorities. They dispatched authorities to track his disk. His flying disk’s force field sensor flashed red and alerted him to come to a stop. The disk locked up and came to a halt. The disk slowly gravitated to the ground waiting on an authority to unfreeze it.
Carson and Bev caught up to him. Carson asked Bev to stay with Charles and wait for the authorities. He was going on ahead. Bev agreed. Charles did the unimaginable, he burst through the force field, undergoing such a shock that onlookers flinched. Bev tried to get him to stop, seeing the authorities up ahead traveling in their direction.
Charles ran toward the Finders’ headquarters. Bev slowly shook her head. The odds of this turning out favorably didn’t look good for Charles. She followed as he ran, hurt and sweaty, through the crowd toward Airabelle. Bev waved and flagged down the authorities looking for him. She calmly explained from her disk that he wasn’t fleeing. Charles was actually trying to rescue someone from danger. The authorities called in her version of the incident to Anjoleah.
Anjoleah sighed. This was all she needed, a run in with the prime minister’s apprentice. She gave him clearance, grabbed her technology tablet and prepared to find out what was going on. She mumbled to herself, “This better be good.”
Charles was running full speed now with the authorities and Bev behind him. He turned the corner and caught a glimpse of Carson standing at the door to the Brotherhood of the Finders Sojourners. He ran up the steps and stood beside him. They waited for a response to their knock.
Charles cleared his throat. “Please open the door there is an emergency.”
The man said, “We are in a situation ourselves at the moment…”
Charles pounded on the door until the man slightly opened the door a crack and scowled at Charles. “I meant to say go away,” the man said.
Charles wedged his foot in the door and burst into the building. “I believe you have something that is mine. I intend to get her back!”
Carson and Bev created a diversion with the authorities by giving an explanation of the situation. As the authorities talked to Bev, Carson stepped into the building. He bent over and picked up the unopened letter that was on the floor. He inconspicuously put it in his jacket pocket. He purposefully walked over to where Bev was talking to an authority officer and joined in their conversation.
Meanwhile, Charles called out silently to Airabelle. He was going room-to-room opening doors looking for the right picture of the room he had in his head.
Some men came out a room and demanded, “What do you think you are doing in here?” Instinctively Charles knew that was the room. The men stood outside the room blocking the door.
Charles said, “That is my bird. You can’t have her.”
One of the men growled, “Oh yeah, well she flew in our door and she’s ours now!” He attempted to punch Charles in the nose.
Charles ducked the man’s fist and said, “Not if I have anything to say about it!” Charles struck back fast as lightning with a blow to the man’s ribs, knocking the wind out of him. Another man reached to grab Charles’ shirt. Charles broke free of him by forcefully knocking the man’s hand back, which ripped Charles’ shirt. The man then landed a blow to Charles’ face. Charles punched him below the belt and then with the fingers of both hands interlocked, aimed an uppercut to the assailant’s chin. The man recovered and punched back striking Charles once again in the face. Charles punched the man’s nose and pummeled him in the stomach with his multiple iron-fisted blows. He remembered Wayland teaching Natalie this move.
More men came out into the hall upon hearing the commotion. One man landed a punch on Charles’ back. Charles kicked and methodically punched his way through the enraged group of men. Several times Charles was caught off guard as the men punched his body and face in various areas. Charles tasted blood in his mouth. He thought back to his sparring training with Natalie as she explained how she rationalized and envisioned each move she made. He straightened his body and took each man on as they came at him until no man was left standing in
the hall.
The authorities had at this time come up the steps just as Charles had cleared his way to the door of the room. He audibly called out to Airabelle. She told him where to find her. She was apologizing to him, when the authorities came into the room. Charles reached Airabelle and held her up in the dim light as he surrendered. All the witnesses in the room could see was her pulsing blue glow.
One authority grabbed Charles’ arm and pulled it behind him. The other officer took Airabelle from Charles before they put his other arm behind his body then cuffed his wrists in bands. As they walked down the hall, the men who fought Charles were writhing in pain trying to talk to an authority that was taking statements. The Finders Sojourner President had just arrived. The man was talking to the authorities in the main room. He looked across the room and saw Charles come down the steps in bands. His right eye was swollen shut and blood was coming from his mouth. Charles’ shirt was ripped. His hair was disheveled. The officer had just explained the situation to the president, when he was informed that the commissioner had arrived on the scene.
The president of the organization pointed and asked, “That is the young man?” The authority officer acknowledged it was.
The president rubbed his chin and said, “I had ten men in this building when I left. Where are they?”
The authority spoke in his earpiece to the other authority officer upstairs and inquired about the condition of the men. The authority’s responded by saying, “All ten men are down but not seriously hurt.”
The president then ran his hands through his hair and leaned close to the officer. “Discretion is in order here. How do I make this go away?”
Just then Anjoleah spotted Charles. She let out a long slow breath once she realized he was hurt but was able to move on his own. Dimitrios had just arrived. He was talking to one of the authorities outside. It alarmed Anjoleah that he was there. She quickly entered the building and took control of the situation.
The president walked up the stairs with an officer to talk to his clan. After talking with them, no one wanted to press charges. The group wanted this incident to be forgotten.
The president made a statement to the commissioner. “It was an unfortunate and regrettable mistake that just occurred. We wish no further action to be taken. My men were the ones at fault. They should have released the bird to its rightful owner once he identified himself.”
Dimitrios was standing with Charles looking him over and discussing the ramifications of his actions with Carson and Bev. Anjoleah entered the room and whispered in Dimitrios’ ear what had taken place. After hearing her statement he asked Anjoleah to clear Charles’ name from the record. Dimitrios informed Anjoleah that he intended to take Charles from the scene. She agreed. Dimitrios blocked out Charles’ flying disk’s force field.
He turned to Carson and Bev. “Later, I will drop Charles off at your Passageway.” Carson agreed.
Dimitrios and Charles left the premises. Anjoleah gave Carson and Bev the okay to leave. She returned Airabelle to them. They spun their disks and headed back in the direction of their Passageway. Once they were safely in the office, they discussed the situation and waited for Charles to return.
Dimitrios later brought Charles to Carson’s office. He explained to Bev and Carson that they had discussed the incident with Anthony. Charles hung his head. Dimitrios placed a firm hand on Charles’ back and said, “I will get back to you tomorrow evening.”
Charles’ nodded and apologized to Dimitrios. Dimitrios acknowledged his apology then told him to get some rest. He left and hurried to find Anjoleah. He wasn’t finished yet.
Bev looked at Charles. He looked much better, with the exception that the cut on his mouth was still visible. Charles confirmed that he had been taken to the Hub hospital and looked over. The doctor gave him a pill to take that would speed up his recovery. He was to take another one in the morning.
Before he left the office, Charles told Airabelle, “I’m glad you’re safe. That’s all that matters to me, nothing else.”
Carson asked Bev to take Charles to the house so he could go to bed. Charles went to his bedroom and put the keys to his car on the nightstand. He thought: This evening did not fulfill my birthday wish this year. Some birthday. As soon as Charles crawled into bed, he fell asleep.
Carson and Bev looked at each other sharing the thought that things must not have gone so well at the meeting with Anthony.
Carson waited for several hours and then sneaked out into the Hub. He made his way back to the Finders Sojourners’ building. As Carson stood outside on the steps, he could barely hear the Finders’ meeting taking place inside. He quietly knocked on the door knowing a member would be on the other side waiting for members who would show up late to their meeting. The door cracked open. Carson slid the envelope through the crack. He smiled as he walked away. He knew Charles’ identity was protected from the earlier incident. It gave him great satisfaction to deliver the rejection letter that Charles had written earlier in the day to the Finders Sojourners. No one would be the wiser. Carson made his way back to the office.
Chapter 52
The next morning Charles groaned as he rolled out of bed. His body was stiff and achy. He had slept soundly, but his body still refused to cooperate. Charles needed to start moving if he was going to take Caroline to lunch at noon. As he forced his body to stand up straight, Charles realized that Nana had left a glass of water and the pill beside his bed. He stood shaking as he swallowed the pill and chased it with a drink of water. His body involuntarily shivered. Charles gagged as he walked to the shower. He took a steamy shower to help loosen his muscles. Afterwards, Charles looked in the mirror and saw there was hardly a trace of last night’s events. Only the slightest cut on his lip gave evidence of the fracas the day before.
He dreaded the meeting with Dimitrios scheduled for that evening. Anthony was angry last night at his behavior and didn’t hold back. Even Dimitrios seemed taken back, rendered speechless. Charles cringed as he recalled highlights of the discussion the night before with the prime minister. After the hospital visit, Dimitrios had cleaned him up and at the insistence of the prime minister he was taken over to the prime minister’s mansion.
During Charles’ meeting with the prime minister, Anthony had at one point chastised him calling what happened, “Nothing more than a boy’s brawl over chattel.” When Charles attempted to explain the events, Anthony further lashed out, “Charles, I find that your actions were erroneous. In this situation you should never have taken action by yourself. The authorities should have handled the situation. This display of egregious behavior shows your lack of maturity and poor judgment. I am seriously considering whether you are cut out for the apprenticeship position.”
Anthony finished by addressing Dimitrios, saying, “His behavior was impetuous to say the least and will not go unpunished.”
They were dismissed after that, into the darkness. He rode on the back of Dimitrios’ flying disk in silence to Carson’s Passageway. Once they reached the Passageway, Dimitrios informed Charles that the commissioner had personally seized his flying disk. It couldn’t be any worse…
Charles shuddered and slowly dressed. He chose to wear all black. It seemed fitting. He put his car keys in his pocket and decided to skip breakfast because he was running behind. He wanted to see Carson before his lunch date. If his grandfather was as upset as Anthony, Charles believed he needed to know before he met Caroline.
When Charles went into the kitchen, Bev took one look at him and tried not to show her concern. If she hadn’t known what had taken place last night, she would have thought he looked fine; but she did know the details. Bev surmised by his actions that Charles was hurting. She kissed him goodbye on his cheek and watched him walk to the office. Once he disappeared through the office door, she closed the back door.
Carson looked up. “How do you feel?”
“Not so good.”
Carson nodded. “Can I do anything for you?”
Carson continued to work at his desk while Charles wrote in his journal. When Charles finished writing, he took the car keys out of his pocket. The two men went to the garage. Charles stepped in the car and put the key in the ignition. Carson raised the garage door. Charles started the engine and slowly turned to watch as he backed out of the garage. It hurt to turn his head but he managed. Carson waved as he backed out of the driveway. Charles waved and tried to smile but found that it hurt too much.
Charles rolled down his window to let in the cool air. The breeze helped him to focus his mind as he drove to Caroline’s.
Joyce was looking out the window when she saw Charles pull up in the driveway. She called out to Caroline, “He’s here. Better grab your jacket.”
Caroline rushed through the house. She momentarily froze when there was a knock at the door. Then she ran over to the hall tree, took her jacket off the hook and put it on as her mom opened the door. Charles tried to smile, but his lip still hurt. Caroline looked at him standing in the doorway and realized his posture was off.
She walked slowly to the door and asked, “Are you all right?”
Charles nodded. “I’m okay.”
Caroline turned to her mom and before Joyce could ask questions said, “Okay, I’ve got everything.” She called out a goodbye to her dad then kissed her mom on the cheek. She bounced out the door taking Charles by the hand. They turned to wave goodbye to Joyce.
Charles opened the car door for Caroline. He walked around, got in the car and put on his seatbelt. Kevin went to stand beside Joyce at the door. Her parents waved as Charles pulled out of the driveway.
Caroline said, “Thank you for picking me up and taking me to lunch.”
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