by Mike Hopper
“Sir,” Prim hesitated, “There is no one here by that name. Do you know who contacted you?”
Ed became serious. The pace of his speech picked up, “Of course I know who called me. It was you.” Ed glanced at Toriah and back at Prim. “What kind of joke are you trying to pull on me? I’m here to pick up the kid and take him home to my sister. She just had an operation. She’s in no position to be down here, so I said don’t worry sis—you can count on your brother. That’s what a good brother’s for. Am I right?” Ed nodded and leaned in towards the counter, “Of course she’ll owe me for this one, but that’s not such a bad thing. Where’s Mossy?” Ed began drumming on the counter and winked at Prim. “We need to get out of here. I’ve got places to be. I have a busy night ahead.”
“Sir, we do not have a child here with that name. Perhaps someone is playing a prank. I’ve not contacted you. I cannot be of any help.”
“Can’t, or won’t help me? Prim? Mossy may have given you an alias. He’s a sly kid, sort of like his uncle.”
“Sir,” Prim took a deep breath, “I am at a loss for words.”
“I don’t remember words being your true talent.”
“What?”
“Get the kid, please. He’s a busy one. I’m sure he’s going nuts back there. You know what they say about nuts and trees don’t you?”
“I’m certain that I don’t. Sir, I cannot help you. I can’t. I don’t know what else to say to you. Now, please excuse me.” Prim turned towards Toriah, “I’m sorry for making you wait. Sir, what can I do for you?”
Ed interrupted, “Excuse me sir, Miss Tate was helping me first.”
Prim looked at Ed, “We are finished. There is nothing that I can do for you. We do not have a child here by that name.” She looked at Toriah, “I’m sorry sir. How may I help you?”
Toriah glared at Ed and shook his head, “No problem. I’m Sal Sebby.”
“Mr. Sebby, I didn’t recognize your voice. How nice to meet you. I’m not quite finished with your paperwork. Things have been hectic. I need a few minutes to finish up and then we can send you all on your way.”
“Take your time. We’re a little early.”
“Take your time,” Ed mocked Toriah and then looked at Prim. “You’ll help him and you won’t help me. What’s going on here?”
Prim looked at Ed, “Sir, what’s going on is that I cannot help you. I’m asking you to leave. The child you are looking for is not here.” Prim turned towards Toriah. She let out a big sigh.
Ed continued ranting, “I want my nephew! I’m calling the authorities. I’m going to report you. I demand that you produce my boy.” He slapped his hand on the counter. “Where is my nephew?”
Toriah looked at Ed. “Sir, did you hear the lady? She cannot produce a child who is not on the premises. Surely you understand.”
“Understand?” Ed stuck his nose in the air, “Ohhhh, hoity, toity listen to you. No, I do not understand! What have you done with little Mossy?”
“Sir, please calm down.”
“This isn’t about my nephew. This is because you’ve never forgiven me.” Ed looked closely at Prim, “I get it. I understand. You’re not happy with me and now you want to take it all out on sweet little Mossy.”
The argument continued to escalate between Toriah, Ed and Prim. Dotsie stood quietly beside Toriah and held his hand. She pulled on his coat sleeve, “Daddy, where’s Steuart?”
No one noticed Sam as she entered through the front door, walked along the hallway, turned and then found room twelve.
The clerk tried to talk with Toriah and Dotsie. Ed continued creating chaos. “This is ridiculous! I want my nephew, now! Do you understand me? Where is Mossy? I insist that you help me—this instant!”
“Sir! How many times do I need to tell you that I cannot produce a child who is not in the building?”
“If he isn’t here, where is he? Where’s Mossy?”
“Not with me.”
Prim turned towards Toriah as she tried ignoring Ed, “Mr. Sebby, let’s get a few forms signed and I’ll have you and Steuart on your way.” She took a deep breath.
“What’s wrong here?” Ed’s voice continued to grow louder. “You are willing to help this enormous, big, giant, irritating, bag o’ wind, but you are refusing to help me? Discrimination! This is discrimination!”
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 tod
ay.”
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.”
“I know.”
“We’ll see you again soon.”
“I have to go. My family’s waiting for me.” Trista turned to Sam before leaving, “Will you please see my doll safely home, and return her to Dr. Klesel?”
Sam nodded.
Trista hugged Sam and said good-bye. “I love you, Sam.”
* * *
“I’m still confused.” Sam looked at Steuart. “How did you get away from Prim Tate?”
“I walked out.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No,” Steuart shrugged. “She was busy. I watched for my opportunity and I walked out. Then I went back to Trista’s. We came here together so that she could help me transport. You arrived as we were about to walk down to the tree house.”
Ed looked at Toriah, “I’ve taught them well.”
“I have a feeling these kids have always done well on their own.”
Sam looked at Ed, “I still don’t understand how everything worked out with Trista.”
“What are the main things I’ve taught you?” Ed looked at Sam and Steuart.
“Know your audience,” Sam said.
“Timing is everything,” Steuart said.
Dotsie smiled and interrupted, “And, it’s not an exact science.”