Chapter 28
As they made their way through the woods, the children left behind Nathan’s enemies and all the worries and fears they created. Their greatest enemy now was the fear of being lost forever and living off the woods in order to stay alive as James had. Bear followed close behind but made frequent detours chasing promising scents. It seemed like hours, but in only a few minutes they saw evidence of undergrowth that had been recently trampled down by two walkers. Their hopes were raised a notch and they hurried forward following the path of beaten down grass. Some of the undergrowth had sprung back up, so there were spaces where they needed to stop and look ahead. But eventually, the mashed down places stopped all together. However, just as all good things come to an end, so did this path. It was far too risky to look at each other or question what their next move would be, so they stood in silence.
It was Bear who unwittingly rescued them. He had moved ahead and stood at some distance going about his normal sniffing routine following scents with his nose inches from the ground. Actually, they could only see the top of his light brown back, because the rest of him was hidden by the tall, thin grass. The fact is, nothing moved on Reece and Sean except their eyes. There was none of the fidgeting or foot shuffling that one does when nervous, because they were beyond nervous. You’ve heard the phrase ‘scared stiff’? Well, that’s about where they were.
It took a while, but finally Sean said. “Reece?”
Without turning her head, Reece answered. “What is it?”
“Um, what are we going to do now?”
Sometimes being the older child has its advantages, and sometimes it doesn’t. The planner had totally run dry, but she cleared her throat several times as if she were about to make an important pronouncement. Before admitting that she had no clue what they were going to do, both children growled in disgust. Bear had picked up a dead animal and was shaking it back and forth.
Reece reached Bear’s side first, grabbed his collar, and order him to drop it. But, the dead animal had no head. In fact, it had no feet or tail either. And, his poor buddy lay dead beside him. Grimacing in disgust, she backed up a step.
When Sean reached her side, he leaned over the poor pathetic wretches. “Our wigs!”
“What?!” Now, Reece stepped forward and squatted down for a closer look. With two fingers, she picked up one of them and grinned.
“This is where we dropped them!” said Sean. He picked up the other wig then looked at his sister. “The Professor’s hut should be right here.”
“Yes,” said Reece hesitantly. But, what if the Professor had already left? That thing he lived in didn’t have wheels, yet he had said ‘the door will open when we get there’, and that implies that it had the ability to move. With great hesitation, the children stepped forward with outstretched arms. Several steps away they touched something solid and began to pound. Within seconds, the door became transparent and the children could see the Professor standing there. He appeared to be expecting them. The door slid open and they fell inside.
“Lost again?”
And to think they couldn’t stand the sight of him only a few hours ago.
“Only a little,” said Sean.
“Totally,” Reece corrected then added. “And, we couldn’t find our house. We couldn’t even find our neighborhood!”
The Professor walked over to the cot, sat down, and leaned against the wall. “I was very much afraid of that.”
Reece looked at the Professor in disbelief. “You were? But why did you let us go if you were afraid we’d get lost?”
“We thought we’d never find you again,” said Sean.
The Professor smiled at the little boy. “So you really were lost.”
Sean shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly. “Well, I guess we were.”
“You see, I wasn’t positive that you wouldn’t be able to find your way home, but I was concerned about it. In any case, you needn’t have worried.”
“Why?” they both asked.
“I sent ANNA along just in case things didn’t work out. She was looking out for you.”
The children looked at the Professor with doubt written all over their faces.
“Of course, you didn’t see her. She has the capacity to be invisible, too you know.”
They hadn’t known, but now they did. They searched the floor and table, but couldn’t find the old harridan anywhere.
The Professor watched in amusement then said. “ANNA, these children wish to thank you for creating so much noise that they hid from the four men walking directly behind them.”
Reece’s mouth dropped open. “She was the one! After we hid and waited, we couldn’t figure out why nobody was there.”
Sean looked quizzically at the Professor. “How do you know what ANNA did?”
The Professor smiled. “ANNA sends back visual and audio data, so that I can see and hear what’s happening.”
The children walked behind the table towards the control panel. “Where is she?” asked Reece.
“ANNA?” called the Professor.
An old squeaky but familiar voice responded behind them. “I heard you the first time. What do you want!”
The children whirled around and there was ANNA flying at their eye level. Suddenly, they fell in love with the cranky, old grapefruit. They grinned at her, but ANNA merely snarled, threatened to go invisible again, and then lowered herself on top of the table where she was level with Bear’s unwelcomed gaze. But, when he walked over and reached forward to sniff her that really cooked it. She rose in the air, repositioned herself on the other side of the cot, and snapped off all her pulsating lights.
As the children stood watching ANNA sulk, their fear and anxiety began to fade. It hadn’t been so bad, well not so terribly bad. In some ways it had been a bit thrilling. Something that is a little different can be interesting, even exciting. But, the children began to suffer from the accumulation of too many different things in too short a time. Now, they desperately needed for everything to be the same. They wanted things they understood and that made sense, because right now nothing made sense. They needed the comfort of their parents, their rooms and toys, and their other pets.
Reece took hold of her scratchy old dress and yanked it over her head. “We need to go home now.”
When the Professor avoided their eyes and remained silent, Sean added in a louder voice. “We’re ready to leave.”
“I know.”
The children stared at the Professor as he remained seated.
Sean voiced his nagging concern again. “Is our house still there?”
“When we left here, we didn’t see any fences or houses. It looks all different,” said Reece then added. “We couldn’t even find the path.”
The Professor finally raised his eyes. “Oh, I shouldn’t wonder that you couldn’t find the path, because it’s not there.”
The Door Into Time Page 28