Text copyright © 2010 by Imogen Rose

Website: imogenrose.com

Cover photograph and design by Imogen Rose

Cover photo copyright © 2009 by Imogen Rose

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.

First eBook Edition: July 2010

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Paperback ISBN-13: 978-0-615-37681-3

Acknowledgements

First, I would like to thank my younger daughter, Lauren, for her relentless enthusiasm and encouragement, which started me off on this journey and keeps me on it. To Lauren, who keeps asking, “What happens next?” I offer this book in response. I’m also grateful to my teen, Georgia, for helping me make sure that all the ice-hockey descriptions were current and accurate.

I am indebted to my friend, Sue Bernstein, for editing this novel and for her patience with me. She continues to be generous, upbeat and always encouraging. I am extremely grateful to Andee Larkin and Keith Robinson for copy editing my work so carefully and to Angela Laskoff, Jessica Cheng, Susan Janowski, Sarah Weiler and Deanna Figueroa for beta-reading EQUILIBRIUM, and for their valuable criticisms and suggestions. I am indebted to Ted Risk for his help with the eBook conversions.

Thank you to all those who purchased and enjoyed PORTAL, the first book in this series. I am blown away by the enthusiastic support from all of you.

-Imogen Rose

A dreamer must dream

A storyteller must tell

I dream to tell

A STORY FOR LAUREN

PROLOGUE

Erica Sen concentrated her attention on the group in the corner. It was not the happy, animated voices that drew her in. It was not their striking looks that fascinated her. These, in fact, were merely distractions. Erica closed her eyes and covered her ears to drown out the plethora of noises from the restaurant. Now she could feel it. She could feel the intense love radiating from the table in the corner. It was so powerful that she could feel her body glow. Her mind felt like it was floating on a cloud. She felt a total sense of calm. She was at equilibrium.

“Erica, we should go. The Elders are expecting us.”

She looked up into the grey, serene eyes of Grayson Weeks and furrowed her brow. She could feel a sense of foreboding.

“Erica, share,” Grayson whispered gently. He extended his right arm slowly across the table and held out his thumb. Erica reached over and touched it gently with her own and closed her eyes again. She let her thoughts flow to Grayson. It felt good releasing them and sharing them with her best friend.

Erica’s first consideration was her daughter, Simla. She had to be protected at all costs. Erica accepted that it had been a big mistake on her part to have fallen in love with a non-Wanderer. Her husband Raj’s ambitions had played havoc with their lives, turning their existence from love and calm to turmoil. However, the union had produced Simla. Erica loved her daughter unconditionally even though she was a challenge. Erica had to find a way to insulate Simla from all this negative energy or it would destroy her, it would destroy them both.

No one understood this better than Grayson. He had also married a non-Wanderer and produced a son, Justin. His wife had unfortunately died and left Justin with a sense of abandonment he’d never been able to cope with, especially when forced to wander with his father. Erica and Grayson had been close friends for a very long time.

Erica’s latest project was Olivia who had surprised her when she had successfully built the portal–a means for Olivia to traverse time and dimensions. This had meant that Erica had to uproot her family from Princeton and move them here to Mountain View, closer to Olivia. It had played havoc with Simla’s life. She had been transported back and forth for years so Erica could fully observe Olivia’s changes.

It was time to deal with the consequences.

“Grayson, let’s go.”

I looked down at the puck, willing it to be my mom’s head. So wrong, I know, but I was beyond furious. I clenched the stick firmly and raised it, jamming the puck into the goal with one swift, hard slam. I stood, staring at the ice, waiting for the next puck to appear, which it did almost immediately. With the same unflinching precision as before, I slammed it home. The next puck came sliding to me and I slammed it in, repeating this again and again until I could almost not feel my shoulders any more. Tears were trickling down my face. I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain in my arms and shoulders or from what had occurred earlier this evening. I looked over to Kellan. He was waiting patiently, passing the pucks over to me. I raised my hand to indicate to him to keep them coming. My physical pain was not yet intense enough to mask the emotional turmoil that was burning up my insides. I kept going and going.

Hours later, Kellan and I lay watching the stars at our very favorite spot by the lake. It was clear and dark with very little moonlight, perfect for stargazing. It was a bit chilly, so we had brought blankets and picked up hot chocolate on the way. I lay back on Kellan’s outstretched arm and cuddled with him under the warm, blue flannel blanket, thinking back on our day.

It had certainly been an eventful day and I was still trying to decide whether I’d made the right decision. It was hard to believe that I hadn’t when I felt so at home where I was–lying here in Kellan’s arms. I looked over at him. He was so perfect. His gorgeous hazel eyes played off his sun-kissed complexion. I had found his lips hard to read at first, mistakenly interpreting his smile as a smirk. I knew better now. I slid my fingers through his thick dark-brown hair and smiled, admiring his lean, hard body. My boyfriend–who’d have ever have thought it! Arizona with a boyfriend. I’d never been the type who fawned over boys, that was more Ella’s thing. My little sister was always going on about the Jonas Brothers. I was way too busy for the boys, besides what boy wanted to date a girl who was smelly from hockey most of the time? For most of my sixteen years, I never thought of myself as pretty–I had straight brown hair, wide lips and hazel eyes–I was fairly ordinary, perhaps even a bit plain. That had all changed, though. When I had unexpectedly arrived here in Mountain View, I had been transformed, physically, into a blond Barbie. I had felt trapped at times, trapped inside a doll. It wasn’t all bad. On the up side, I now had this sweet, amazing boyfriend, whose eyes matched mine. He made me feel so happy.

I thought back to the meeting at Ames with my mother. It all seemed so surreal–even the setting. A portal. That’s what Mom had offered as an explanation for this madness: A portal, which had transported me from one dimension to another. How totally insane!

“Kellan, what do you think about the whole portal thing?”

“Enough material for a book!” he mused.

No kidding, I thought to myself. A couple of weeks ago, I had woken up in my mom’s car and found out that I’d somehow time traveled, not just into the past, but also through dimensions. It was mind boggling. I had in a moment gone from being a hockey player in New Jersey to being a cheerleader, here in California. I’d gone from being Arizona Stevens to Arizona Darley, a blond Barbie-kind-of creature. I’d acquired a new dad–Rupert. My real dad, Dillard… well, I had no idea what he was up to. Looking for me, I’d expect. And to top it all, I had a new older brother, Harry, my blue-eyed, blond, six-foot-tall brother. Oh, I almost forgot, my dead Grandma was alive again.

My mother, a physicist at Ames, was behind this madness. When I’d finally confronted her–after overcoming my fear that she would cart me off to a psych ward–her explanation was that she and her team had designed and constructed a portal! A portal that–wait for it–I could have gone through tonight, or not again for another year, if I wanted my old life back. I did want my life back…but I needed time to think! I’d chosen not to make a rash decision, mainly because of Kellan. I wasn’t ready to give him up. I doubted that I’d ever be. I nudged him. “So, the portal?”

“Shrimp, I don’t know…. I guess it’s possible. In fact, it is. Our parents seem to have managed to construct one!”

He moved to face me, with a somber expression coming over his perfect face. “Are you happy with the decision you made?”

“Yes, I am. There are so many unanswered questions and uncertainties, but I’m sure of one thing,” I said nuzzling into his warm chest. “I know for certain that I want to be with you.” I kissed him gently. “I just don’t get it. I know I should have asked more questions, but it was all such a shock and muddle. Now, I’m more confused than ever,” I groaned.

“Me, too,” Kellan agreed.

“So, I was somehow transported through a portal. That doesn’t explain how everyone here knows me, or Harry, Grandma or anything else,” I continued, getting more and more exasperated. “We need to go back and demand some more answers!” I turned toward Kellan and looked at him as he took a deep breath and sighed.

“You’re right, of course. Another ten minutes?” he asked, putting his arms around me.

I nodded as I brushed my nose softly against his cheek, breathing him in. He turned and kissed my neck, biting it ever so gently and moving up to my lips. I could feel my body tremble. I unbuttoned his shirt and felt the smoothness of his chest as he enveloped my body with his.

That’s the last thing I remembered before everything went blank.

~

“Kellan, where are you?” It was pitch dark and my head pounded. Although I couldn’t see a thing, I could smell, and I winced at the musty stench working its way up my nostrils. I couldn’t feel my arms as I tried to stretch to feel for Kellan. I tried moving my legs with no success. Then I heard a moan from my left side.

“Kellan, is that you?” I asked terrified.

“Shrimp, where are you?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Kellan, can you move? I think I’m over to your right. I can’t move.” I could hear shuffling. I hoped that it was him trying to get closer to me. I tried moving, unsuccessfully, and hoped that he would find a way to get to me in the dark.

“Kellan, I’m scared,” I whispered tearfully; I was more than scared, I was petrified.

“Hold on, Shrimp. I’m on my way, nearly there.”

I felt his hand on my face, pulling it close to his. I collapsed into him, my tears probably drowning him.

“Kellan, I can’t feel my arms or legs,” I sobbed uncontrollably.

“Shrimp, I woke like that, too. The feeling will come back very soon. Get prepared for unbearable pain, though. My arms and legs are throbbing.”

I closed my eyes and pushed my face as far into Kellan’s neck as I could as he cradled me in his arms. I waited for the pain to begin. It started way too soon. I had, for whatever reason, expected it to start in my toes, maybe because they were the furthest away? I was wrong. As I felt the first stabs in my left knee, I cried out. It was excruciating. It felt like a knife was being jammed into it, again and again. I could feel Kellan gripping me tighter as I started to cry and shake violently. It only got worse. Both my legs and arms felt like they were being repeatedly attacked by angry, hungry sharks. I wanted, I needed, Kellan to cut them off, I needed release.

“Kellan, please. Cut them off,” I cried hysterically.

“Baby, hold on. It will get a bit less intense soon,” he whispered, as he pulled my head back and kissed me. I shook him away and then collapsed back on him giving in to all my senses, unable to concentrate, desperately trying to keep it together. All I wanted to do was die. My legs turned cold and I started shivering. Kellan brought his legs over mine, rubbing them, trying to warm them up. He took his shirt off and blanketed me with it.  I lost consciousness.

“Shrimp, wake up.”

I could feel drops of liquid on my lips as I struggled to open my eyes. My head was still pounding and my body hurt. Not the sharp stabbing pains any more, but a dull, steady ache.

“Kellan, I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

“Sorry?” he muttered.

“You must be in the same pain as me.”

“I’m okay,” he lied. “Shrimp, I found some water. At least, I think it’s water. It tastes funny, muddy. But, I drank some and it seems okay. I think you should have some too. You’re dehydrated.”

Dehydrated? That was the least of our problems. I was not going to argue, though, so I parted my lips and let him sprinkle some more water into my mouth. It tasted awful, like dirt.

“Can you feel your legs and arms fully, Arizona? Can you wriggle your toes?”

I tried to wriggle them; it hurt. I guess I should be thankful that I could feel them at all.

“I can feel them, Kellan. It still hurts a lot. How about you? Don’t say that you’re okay, I know you’re not.”

He sighed, “Okay then, I hurt too.  Not as much as before, though. I need to get up and feel around for a bit, try to figure out where we are.”

“Okay, but don’t go far, Kellan. It’s too dark; I don’t want to lose you. Keep talking to me. I’m going to stay here. I don’t feel ready to get up just yet.”

“I’m going to lay you down gently and then try to get up,” he said.

I was not the least bit happy about that but relented. Kellan gently put me down on the floor next to him. It was cold, hard and smelled disgusting. I could hear him trying to get up, groaning as he did so. He was obviously in a lot of pain. He shuffled around me, and I could hear him picking up some stuff and knocking others down.

“Anything interesting?” I asked.

“Define interesting,” he muttered.

I shrugged, though he wouldn’t be able to see that in the pitch dark.

“What is this place?” I wondered aloud. I struggled to sit up and brought my knees to my chin. It was excruciating. I felt around for support and put my hands on what appeared to be a stool–or chair, perhaps a table, I don’t really know and didn’t care–and pulled myself up slowly. I stood and tried to balance; I felt dizzy but kept standing.

“Shrimp, where are you?”

“Over here, Kellan,” I said, waving my arms around trying to feel for him. He found my hands and pulled me over to him. I stumbled into his arms and clung on.

“I found some glass bottles. I’ve no idea what’s in them or how old they are. We’ll keep them for an emergency.

I broke out in nervous giggles. An emergency? That was almost funny. I bit down on my lip to prevent myself from giving in to full-blown hysteria.

“Arizona, let’s walk around and see if we can find a door or something.” He took me by the hand and we slowly made our way around the darkness. We found the wall and followed it around. There were a number of knob-like things on the walls and possible doors. We tried pulling on them, pushing at them, to no avail. I was exhausted and my body was giving in. I needed to sit again. I let my legs buckle under me and I fell to the floor before Kellan could pull me up. Sheesh, that hurt!

“Shrimp, you ok?” Kellan asked in a concerned tone, as he sat down beside me, moving his hands over me, checking me for injuries.

“I’m okay, Kellan. I just couldn’t stand up any more. I need a short rest.”

“Of course, I didn’t mean to rush you.”

“You’re not. I’m a mess, though. What happened? Where are we?

“I’ve no idea.”

“None at all?” I pleaded.

“No.”

I lay back and tried to remember what happened. The last I thing I remembered was Kellan lying on top of me under the stars at the lake. I vaguely remember his head hitting mine.

“Kellan, did you bang my head by accident at the lake. You know when we were lying down?”

“My head did hit yours but I have no idea how. I don’t think I just fainted on top of you. I think something hit the back of my head, but I can’t be sure.”

“You think someone hit you?” I asked surprised.

“Someone or something. I have a fairly bad dent in my skull.”

I felt the back of his head. He was right. There was definitely a dent. Weird. I was sure we’d been alone. Kellan needed to see a doctor.

“You don’t think a meteorite remnant hit you, do you?” I asked curiously. We’d been at the lake after all, which was our spot for watching meteor showers.

“Highly unlikely,” he mumbled. “Besides, that wouldn’t explain what we’re doing here, would it?”

“So, you think someone hit you and brought us here?” I asked more than a little perturbed.

“It seems the most likely explanation.”

“An axe murderer?” I shivered, my body now giving in to full-blown shakes.

“I don’t know, Shrimp. We need to prepare ourselves, and figure a way out of here.”

“No kidding,” I agreed. I really could do without the throbbing pain. I needed to be able to fully concentrate on dealing with this situation. I could barely think over the pain. Kellan and I were normally strong. The two of us should be able to deal with a lunatic axe murderer–no problem, I think. We sure did need to get ourselves ready.

“Kellan, let’s get organized.”

I felt around for my cell phone, on the vague possibility that whoever we were dealing with was just plain stupid. He or she wasn’t. My iPhone was missing from my pocket, as were my keys.

“Kellan, do you have your phone?”

“No, I checked, it’s been taken.”

“Why would an axe murderer take us?” I asked feeling exasperated.

“Shrimp, we don’t know if it’s a psycho killer, an escaped lunatic, or someone we know.”

“Well, no one we know would do this!” I was fairly certain of that.

Kellan disagreed. “I think we have to consider Justin and Simla.”

“Justin and Simla? No way, they don’t have the strength!”

“A sudden blow to my head wouldn’t require a lot of strength, just precision.”

“True, but they’d also have to been able to get us here–wherever we are. There is no way those two idiots could manage that unless they had help. Do you think that’s it? That they actually managed to get others involved in their stupid schemes?”

“You’re right, it seems too far fetched. Maybe we should work on the basis of the psycho killer angle instead.”

That was not the least bit comforting. I knew very little about murderers of any sort. I had read a few James Patterson books and occasionally watched Law and Order. If we were in for that kind of ugliness, I was fairly sure that I couldn’t prepare myself. I would just have to fight my hardest.

“Let’s look around for possible stuff we can use as weapons,” Kellan suggested.

Good idea. Weapons would certainly help. I stood back up and started feeling around. I wondered why we hadn’t been tied up? Perhaps whoever brought us here had expected our numbness to last longer.

“Kellan, do you think we were drugged? You know, the numbness?”

“Yeah, I do. We didn’t just go numb on our own,” he said.

“I guess that’s one more thing that points toward a psycho killer rather than Simla and Justin. They wouldn’t know how to drug us,” I said.

“True,” Kellan said uncomfortably. I guess he felt like me, that if it was someone we knew, we could take him or her, but neither of us were comfortable having to deal with a warped psycho.

My toes nudged against something and I bent–painfully–to pick it up. It felt like a stick, I ran my hand from one end of it to the other.

“Kellan, I found a hockey stick!”

“Ice-hockey stick?” he asked, as he came over and took it from my hand.

“Hmm, it does feel like a hockey stick,” he agreed. He took my hand and rubbed my fingers against it. I hadn’t a clue why.

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

“What? The scratch marks?”

“They aren’t just scratch marks. This is a U+ stick, you can feel that, right?”

In all honesty, I couldn’t. I’ve never been good at feel-and-tell games. All sticks feel the same to me. I could barely make out that this was an ice-hockey stick. So, I shook my head lamely, thankful that he couldn’t see me in the dark.

“Shrimp, you mark your sticks, don’t you?”

Again, I get no points for being well organized here. “Kellan, no, it’s never occurred to me to label things since I was in first grade!”

He sighed. “Shrimp, feel the markings.”

I was annoyed. We didn’t have time for games. The scratches could be anything, cat marks?

“It says JW,” Kellan said triumphantly.

“JW?”

“Justin Weeks.”

“Justin Weeks,” I repeated with relief, now hopeful that we wouldn’t have to deal with a psycho-killing lunatic, although, Justin probably could be classified as one, sort of, the lunatic part anyway. At least we knew who we were dealing with.

What an idiot, leaving his stick here for us! He was obviously not alone; there was no way he could have gotten us here on his own. The drugging was a mystery. I wondered if he had more drugs; would he come back and drug us again? I couldn’t bear the thought. I tightened my grip around the stick. I would pound his brains in.

We continued our search and found some more hockey sticks, unmarked ones. We found a metal bar– well, I did. I grabbed it firmly in my hands, and we gathered the rest of our potential weapons and sat down beside them. We took turns getting up and looking for potential escape doors, windows and hatches. It was too dark to see anything. I wondered again where we could possibly be. The ground beneath my bare feet felt cold and hard, like stone and the place stank. I imagined it being some kind of cave, but the walls were too smooth, with angular corners. We were most probably in a room of some kind, in a basement, perhaps a storage facility. Definitely underground, judging by the complete lack of any light. I stood up on my tiptoes, waving my hands about trying to feel for a ceiling, a lamp–anything. There had to be a way out. I pounded on all the walls with the metal rod hoping that one of them would give way. My arms hurt. I finally felt my way back to Kellan, following his voice.

“Why do you think we are being held here? What’s the point?” I asked Kellan.

“I’ve been wondering that myself. I thought all that stuff from the parking lot was behind us. This is a bit over the top, even for Justin; the drugs, especially. I wonder if Simla’s involved? We don’t even know for sure that this has anything to do with Justin. Someone could have taken his stick. Dad mentioned that someone has been messing with the portal. I wonder if this has something to do with that?”

“If this has to do with the portal, why pick on us? We’ve got nothing to do with it! Whoever should have taken Mom, instead!” I said irritably.

“Shrimp, you don’t mean that. This is an awful situation to be in, especially since we don’t know what’s happening. What if your Mom has been taken and is being held somewhere else? Would that make it better?”

“Of course not!” I said angrily. “I was just saying!” I let go of him and marched to the furthest corner I could find.

Suddenly, we heard a scratching sound coming from the wall. I ran back into the security of Kellan’s arms and he held me close, as we listened. The scratching noise was followed by a tapping sound. We quickly and quietly gathered our collection of weapons, and made our way to the farthest wall away from the noise and crouched down. We didn’t move, being still as statues. I could barely breathe, I was so afraid. I gave myself a mental shake. This was ridiculous. It was probably just Justin. We needed to get ourselves ready and teach him a lesson. I pulled the metal rod close to me, clenching it firmly in my fist. I was ready.

A clunking sound preceded a blinding beam of light that pierced the darkness of the room and then stopped as abruptly as it began. Someone suddenly grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me towards the light–away from Kellan.

“They should have been back hours ago,” Olivia said, with pangs of worry shooting through her. She looked over at Rupert. “It’s four in the morning. Kellan always brings her back on time. Neither Kellan nor Arizona is answering their cell phones. I called Larry. They’re not over at his place. He’s driving over. Do you have any idea where they could have gone?”

“Ollie, to be honest, I didn’t think of asking. Arizona looked so distraught that I was relieved when she left with Kellan. He’s probably the only one who can calm her down at the moment. We should get Harry up, he’ll probably know, if anyone.”

She nodded. “I hate waking him up in the middle of the night like this, but I guess we’d better. I’m really worried. I hope they didn’t do anything foolish.”

“Foolish?”

“Yes, like run away.”

“I guess it’s a possibility. Neither of them were happy with the situation. I doubt they’d run away, though. Kellan is so sensible. And even if they did, where would they go?”

“I don’t know, Rup. Let’s wake Harry and see if he knows.”

“Are we going to tell him what happened earlier this evening?”

“Rup, I don’t want to get into it with him right now, let’s just tell him that Arizona is upset with us and we can’t reach her.”

“Okay. I’ll go wake Harry and bring him down.”

She nodded. “Be careful not to waken Ella.”

Rupert reappeared in seconds looking uneasy. “Harry’s not in his room. His bed has been slept in, but he’s gone.”

Olivia called his cell. No reply.

“Let’s not panic, Ollie. I’m sure there’s a perfectly simple explanation. Maybe they’re all out somewhere together, somewhere without cell reception,” Rupert said, trying to calm his wife.

Olivia nodded hopefully. “I’m sure you’re right. Still, it is late.”

There was a sharp knock at the door and Olivia hurried over to let Larry in. He looked worn out as he made his way to the couch and slumped down. He ran his fingers through his unbrushed hair and looked at Olivia wearily.

“Ollie, what’s up? You sounded worried.” He noticed that she looked unusually stressed. Her normally perfect hair was messy where she’d been running her fingers through it. That wasn’t like her at all. She was usually calm and composed.

“You’re not worried that Kellan’s not home or answering his cell?” she asked puzzled.

“I guess, a little. But, after what we put the kids through today, I’m not the least bit surprised. I’m sure they are out de-stressing somewhere. They’ll be back when they feel they can face us–with more questions, no doubt. I do wish I knew where they were, but I’m not too worried. Arizona is in good hands with Kellan. He’s unlikely to do anything stupid.”

Olivia wasn’t entirely convinced. It was nice that Larry had such confidence in Kellan, but they had really thrown the kids for a loop, so goodness knows how they’d react.

“Larry, Harry is missing as well.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? It means that they called him, probably to talk things through.”

“It’s not ideal,” Olivia responded. “I’d rather have explained this to him myself. Neither Kellan nor Arizona understands this enough to even begin to explain it to Harry. It’s going to be a mess.”

Larry nodded. “I suggest we wait for a while and see if they turn up in time for school, although, I suppose they may head straight there.”

“That sounds like a sensible plan. Ollie, don’t you think?” Rupert asked.

“I guess. It’s already past five, so we haven’t got that long to wait. I’ll take Ella to school this morning and if Arizona hasn’t shown up by then, we’ll head to the high school. Larry, stay over. Use one of the guest bedrooms and get some sleep. You look worn out. I’ll wake you for breakfast.”

“Thanks, Ollie. I will go and lie down for a while, though I doubt I’ll sleep.” With that, Larry left, leaving Olivia and Rupert alone again.

“Ollie, come sit by me and try to relax. We’ll wait for them together.”

Olivia was exhausted. She went over to the couch and sat down next to him wearily. She could feel the stress working through her body, something felt wrong–very wrong. She leaned into Rupert for support. He felt unusually tense; his normally comforting heartbeat mimicked her anxious palpitations. He put his arms around her for comfort, but it did nothing to distract her thoughts. There was nothing to do but wait. The kids were bound to come back in the morning. But, what if they didn’t? The kids could have been in an accident. They could have run away to find Dillard. Or, they could have just run away to never be found again.

Olivia chided herself. She should have been gentler explaining the whole situation to Arizona at Ames. Throwing all that information at her daughter, all at once, that had been foolish. There was no way Arizona could understand or process the information. After all, who could? Just the possibility that a portal could be constructed that could facilitate transport between different dimensions was a concept even most physicists would have a hard time swallowing. In fact, the idea that there even were different dimensions was way beyond the scope of most people’s acceptance. Yet, she had expected her teenage daughter to accept this and then additionally absorb the fact that she had been transported through such a portal. And to top it all, she’d told her daughter that if she wanted to go back to her father, she’d have to go back through the portal right away. Olivia knew that she’d handled the situation very badly. She had gone way too far. If she could only go back….

“Ollie, wake up,” Rupert whispered, gently shaking her awake. “It’s time to wake Ella. I don’t think Arizona or Harry came home, unless they snuck past us quietly. I must have dozed off.”

Olivia sleepily turned to look at the hall clock. “Ella must have slept in, it’s seven already. I better go and wake her. I can’t believe I fell asleep.”

“I’ll make some coffee and get Larry up,” Rupert said, as he got up and stretched.

The house seemed unsettlingly quiet as Olivia walked up the stairs to Ella’s room. She quietly entered the room making sure not to waken Ella. She savored watching her eight-year-old daughter sleep those last moments before she had to wake her. She tiptoed along to Ella’s bed and gazed down. Ella must have slid under the duvet as she often did in her sleep. Olivia gently pulled up a corner by the base of the bed, peering under. There were no signs of Ella amongst the tossed pillows and crumpled duvet.

“Ella, are you in the bathroom?” Olivia shouted, heading over to the bathroom door. There was no reply so she opened the door. There were no signs of Ella in the bathroom. “Ella, where are you?” she yelled, as her heart started pounding erratically. She was barely able to breathe. She ran out of the room and stumbled down the stairs, almost crashing into Rupert. “Rup, Ella’s not in her room. We should have checked on her last night!” Olivia cried hysterically, as Larry came rushing down toward them.

“Let’s look outside, maybe she took Gertrude out?” Larry suggested.

Rupert nodded, although he knew this was highly unlikely. He should have checked on her last night. He felt sick. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she wouldn’t be fast asleep in her bed as usual. “Larry, I’m going to look for her inside the house, can you take the outside?”

Larry rushed off without another word, slamming the door behind him while Rupert and Olivia scrambled their way through the house looking for Ella.

When Larry came back looking despondent, with Gertrude by his side, Olivia picked up her cell and called the police.

“They’ll be here in a few minutes,” she said, as she started opening the kitchen cabinets to check and see if Ella, for whatever reason, had decided to play hide-and -seek. “Where did you find Gertrude, Larry?”

“I heard her whimpering in the garage, so I opened it and she jumped out. Looks like she’s been stuck in there all night.”

“You know,” said Rupert, “we probably shouldn’t touch anything until the cops get here.”

Olivia frowned at her husband. “Why?”

“Ella is missing. I doubt Harry took her with him. He would never do that without letting us know. I can’t imagine that she just took off. I’m so hoping that she’s not been taken….”

“Taken?” Olivia asked in disbelief. “You mean as in abducted, kidnapped? Why would someone do that? Who?”

“I have no idea, Ollie. It’s just that this is so bizarre. All the kids are missing. Let’s just wait for the cops.”

“No, let’s not. We need to find them. Let’s check the house again, more thoroughly this time, both inside and outside. Larry can you drive up and down the road and see if you see any signs of them?”

Larry nodded and left, pointing to his cell, signaling for Rupert and Olivia to give him updates. Rupert and Olivia started a thorough search, looking under beds, in closets, behind curtains–everywhere. There were no signs of Ella or any of the others. Rupert let the police in when the doorbell rang. He recognized the two cops from when Arizona had been attacked

“They’re all gone!” Olivia let out before she sat down on the hall chair, too distraught to speak anymore.

“Sir, can you tell us what’s going on?”

Rupert nodded. “We had a disagreement with our teenage daughter, Arizona, yesterday. After which she disappeared with Kellan, Larry Fox’s son. We assumed that they were cooling off somewhere and would be back once she’d calmed down. When they didn’t return, we went to wake our son, Harry, to ask him if he knew where they were. That’s when we discovered that Harry was gone as well. Again, we assumed that they were out together. We weren’t overly concerned. However, when we went to wake our younger daughter, Ella, for school this morning, we found that she is missing as well. So, we’re obviously seriously worried.”

“Can I have some pictures of them, preferably computer images so we can email them to the station and get a search going?” asked one of the officers.

Rupert nodded, and went to fetch his laptop. The officers emailed the photographs to the police station and then turned to Rupert with more questions.

“Do you think that the children went somewhere together or that they’re apart?”

Rupert shrugged. “I know for sure that Arizona and Kellan left together from Ames, on Kellan’s bike. Harry and Ella were both home last night. They disappeared from the house in the middle of the night sometime. We didn’t hear anything. We’ve no idea when or how or if they went missing together. I haven’t even checked to see if Harry’s bike’s here,” Rupert said knowing how stupid this sounded. He should have checked earlier.

“Let’s do that, sir. It’s important to know what mode of transport was used.”

Rupert followed the cop to the garage. Harry’s bike was still there, as were all the cars. “I assume that if they left on their own, it was by foot.”

“We’ll start a search of the immediate area.”

When they got back to the front door, another four squad cars had arrived and the house was swarming with uniforms. Rupert made his way to a dazed-looking Olivia who was sitting with a female officer.

“Rup, what’s happening?”

“Ollie, they’re checking the house for clues, trying to get a feel for what could have happened, for what’s going on.”

“Mr. Darley, can I have a word, please?” an officer interrupted. He waited for Rupert to follow him into the kitchen. “There are signs of struggle in your son’s room.”

“What sort of signs?” Rupert asked, now petrified.

The officer grimaced and said, “Well, things have been knocked over and there are blood stains on the floor and by the window, just a few spatters.”

“Oh my God,” Rupert said, and started heading toward Harry’s room. How had he not noticed?

The police officer grabbed hold of his sleeve firmly and said, “Mr. Darley, I know this is difficult, but I can’t let you upstairs while the CSI are up there.”

Rupert nodded and sat down on the steps. “I was up there earlier, I didn’t even notice.”

“You wouldn’t have, unless you were looking for these kind of signs.”

“What about Ella?” Rupert whispered, hardly able to get the words out.

“There are no signs of struggle in her room.”

“Who? Why?”

“I was going to ask you that, sir. Any ideas who could be responsible? Do you have any enemies?”

“No…,” began Rupert, but then stopped.

“Sir?”

“Well, Arizona was attacked at school just over a week ago by Simla Sen, but I can’t imagine how that’s relevant to what’s going on here. Simla couldn’t have done this.”

“Was Simla acting on her own?”

“She did attack Arizona on her own, but it was after Arizona had an incident with Justin Weeks at the ice rink parking lot,” Rupert replied.

“Do you believe Justin could be involved?”

“I guess,” said Rupert. “However, I seriously doubt they would take Ella, even if this was some sort of revenge plan.”

“I’m just trying to cover all the bases, Mr. Darley. Has anything else out of the ordinary happened in the last month or so? At the kids’ schools? At your work, perhaps, or your wife’s work?”

Larry suddenly chimed in. He had been quietly standing behind the officer. “We’ve had an issue at Ames. Someone has been tampering with our equipment and has hacked into the computers. We’re still trying to figure out who it might be.”

The police officer turned around to Larry. “Do you think that has anything to do with what’s going on here?”

“I’ve no idea, but thought I should mention it, just in case.”

“Okay, we’ll set up watch here and monitor your phone calls.  If they’ve been abducted, we’ll expect a message or call within the next twelve hours.

“What’s happening?” Olivia asked, as she appeared from behind Larry.

“Ollie, it seems like both Harry and Ella were taken from their beds.”

“Taken? How? Why?”

“We’re trying to figure that out, Dr. Darley. Let us know if you can think of anything.”

Olivia looked to Rupert and Larry. She couldn’t for her life think of a reason why someone would have taken the children. “Someone wants money?” she suggested.

“It’s a possibility, but it seems unlikely that someone would take all the children for that purpose. If they were all taken, and we don’t know that for sure yet,” the detective replied.

Olivia shrugged, she was stumped.

The shrill sound of the iPhone alarm interrupted my dream. I tried to remember what it was about–perhaps nothing–I couldn’t remember.  With my eyes still firmly shut to buy a few more minutes of relaxed bliss, I reached over and turned off the alarm. I felt disoriented. Was it the weekend or a school day?

As I lay in bed, the throbbing in my head became more distinctive and disturbing scenes started flashing through my mind–Kellan, being blindfolded, blacking out. I froze; I stopped breathing, holding my breath to remain totally still. This wasn’t me waking up from a relaxed night’s sleep.

I felt for the blindfold, it was gone. However, the thought of opening my eyes to face whatever was around filled me with fear, so I shut them even tighter. I could hear footsteps approaching and I shook in fear.

“Arizona, wake up! It’s time for school.”

Dad! I opened by eyes and saw him turning around to walk out my room.

“Dad!”

“Arizona?” he replied curiously, as he turned around briefly before making his way off again.

“Dad!” I exclaimed once again, unable to get anything else out.

“Arizona, I have to go,” he said impatiently. “Get up and head to school. I’m in a rush and won’t be back until Wednesday, possibly Thursday. I’m heading to Atlantic City. Bye.”

“Dad,” I whispered as he walked off, wondering if I was dreaming. I heard him get into his car and drive off. As I sat up in bed and looked around, one thing became clear. I was back in Arizona Stevens land.

I was back in my own room. By that, I mean my room in Princeton. This was beyond bizarre. I sat up in my bed and looked around. I dangled my right leg from the bed and gently rubbed the sky blue carpet with my toes. It felt warm and so much more homey than the stone floor I had become used to in California. I lay back down and inhaled the familiar aroma of my bedroom–mainly sweaty workout clothes–and was immediately comforted. I closed my eyes and broke into a smile. I’m fairly sure it was a goofy kind of a smile. I could feel the corners of my lips almost touching my earlobes. The image made me giggle. I lay in my bed, in my room in Princeton, giggling, feeling totally and utterly happy. I was home! The nightmare of the last few weeks was over. Phew!

The throbbing of my head interrupted my feeling of bliss and brought me back to reality, though reality was a hard word to define at the moment.

Reality. When I thought about it, the most difficult thing to accept was that all of it was real–every second of it. My life here was real, but so was my life in California. Real. The combination of the two seemed unreal, but it wasn’t. My head hurt too much to try to dissect this any further, but my thoughts kept slipping back to the one aspect of my reality that I treasured the most–Kellan. I could feel my eyes starting to tear up as I gave in to the realization that Kellan was not part of this reality, the reality here in Princeton. He didn’t exist here.

I sat up and grabbed what turned out to be a dirty sock and wiped the tears away before the smell hit my nose, and then I threw it to the far side of the room. I watched it fly across the room, over a mess of clothes scattered on the floor before it hit the NJ Devils poster on the wall and fell to the floor, landing on top of a pile of clothes that may or may not have been clean–hard to tell from here. I looked around the messy state of my room, which once had been comforting, but now made me feel agitated. Where would I be able to find some Tylenol in this disaster? I got up and gingerly made my way to the bathroom, carefully avoiding the various items on the floor.

The smell hit me the moment I opened the bathroom door, causing me to gasp with revulsion. Ever since our cleaning lady had resigned (apparently the house was too messy to be able to clean), the house had gone to pot. I held my breath as I turned on the tap and went to open the mirrored cabinet (which is where we normally kept the Tylenol), but stopped and stared at my reflection.

Barbie Arizona.

I opened the mirrored doors getting rid of the out-of-place Barbie image and grabbed the Tylenol, snapping open the cap and washing down two capsules with water that I gathered in my cupped fist. Not wanting to catch a glimpse of myself again, I left the mirrored doors ajar and went back into my bedroom. As I sat down on the bed with my chin resting in my palms, I stared blankly at the walls. I was going to be late for school, but I simply couldn’t head to school looking like this. I was relieved that I had been lying under the covers when my dad had awakened me. At least I didn’t have to explain this hair away to him without warning.

So, I was now Barbie Arizona in Stevens land. I shut my eyes trying to clear my mind to figure out what the heck was going on. Kellan kept flashing through my mind. Kellan trying to hold on to me as I was being pulled toward a light. Then a sudden darkness.

A cave? No, not a cave, it had been a storage room of some kind. Maybe a basement storage room. We’d not had time to work it all out, before I blanked. I remembered waking up in darkness, numb and terrified. That feeling of terror had not subsided even when I realized that Kellan was there with me. The feeling had intensified and I feared for the two of us. Memories came flooding back in images of darkness, musty smells and fear. As Kellan and I had looked for an escape from the darkness a door had opened and I had felt a pull and then nothing, only darkness and silence.

The blaring sound from my iPhone startled me and I felt around for it.

“A, where are you?”

It took me a moment to place the voice. I hadn’t glanced at the caller id before I’d answered. It was Monica, one of my very best friends and my regular ride to school.

“Arizona, what’s up? Talk to me! Why haven’t you been answering your texts or calls? You missed going to the movies. I came by to pick you up, but there was no one at your house. Where have you been? Did you go to hockey mini camp after all? I thought you decided not to.”

“Hey, M. I’m fine. Well, maybe not totally, my head’s throbbing. I’m going to cut, cover for me?” That was code for call the school office, pretend you’re my mom and tell them I’m ill.

“Sure. And I’ll pop by your house after school. You have some ‘splaining to do.”

No kidding, I thought to myself. “Great, see you later.”

Well, that was one thing taken care of. I felt overwhelmed, almost numb, to the point where all I could do was push myself to go through the motions–or not.  If I tried to get a handle on this–if that was even possible–I might go raving mad. I would probably start throwing stuff around and putting dents in walls. That would mean a trip to the psych ward again, but perhaps that’s what I needed? I couldn’t bear the thought of that, so I bit down on my lower lip and struggled to keep my cool. My teeth pierced my lip and the taste of the salty drops of blood journeyed my mind back right into the darkness where Kellan and I had been imprisoned.

A sense of dark desperation engulfed me once again and I struggled to breathe. I needed to see Kellan, to feel him. What had happened to him? Had he been left behind? Had he been transported like I had? Where was he? I had to find a way of contacting him. I knew he would be impossible to contact by phone, but I tried anyway. There was no answer, as expected, so I tried Mom, Rupert and Harry. Totally pointless, they couldn’t be contacted. They were in another dimension, in the past. There would be no point calling the cops, they’d just assume I was crazy. I struggled to come up with any sensible ideas.

What about Ames? Larry had mentioned someone who worked at this end of the portal. I must have been transported through it somehow. I closed my eyes and tried to remember what he’d said. I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember. This was so frustrating. I could only assume that calling Ames would be a total waste of time, but I tried anyway.

“Ames Research, how may I direct your call?”

“Could you put me through to someone at the October Project?”

“Do you have a name? I don’t have an October Project on our list.”

“Could you try Larry Fox?”

“There is no listing by that name either.”

“Could you try Olivia Darley or Stevens?”

“Ma’am, she’s not listed either.”

I could feel myself welling up and struggled to remain calm. I’d no idea what to do or say.

“Do you have a bulletin board, or are you able to send out a mass email to everyone who works there?”

“Ma’am, I can’t, but I can have someone from our customer service department contact you for assistance.”

“Thank you so much,” I said gratefully and left her my name and cell number, not feeling particularly hopeful. I guess I’d have to try to make it down to Ames myself and figure this out. In the meantime I could only hope that Kellan had been set free, imagining anything else was unbearable. I gave myself a shake and shouted for Gertrude.

“Gertrude, foodie time,” I hollered. I waited for the little paw steps and the frantic leap into my bed, but there was none. The house was quiet. Could Gertrude still be in Darley land? I missed her. Gertrude is the love of my life, after Kellan. She is my five-year-old Chihuahua. She looks more like a Jack Russell Terrier than a Chihuahua, though. Where was she? I looked at my calendar. It was June 8th, 2009. I had missed around two days here, but I had been in Darley land for a few weeks. How did that work? I guess it had something to do with how the portal had been set. It must have been reset before bringing me back through. So, here in Steven’s world, I had taken my SAT’s, blanked and woken up two days later–a blond. In those two days, I had spent a few weeks in California, with a new dad, a new brother, and I had fallen in love. Bizarre. I needed to make sense of it all, or at least try to make a timeline of what I’d been through. I got a piece of paper and started writing.

Two days ago, on Saturday, here in Princeton, I woke up early, inhumanly so, to take the SAT’s for the umpteenth time to try to improve my dismal scores. Dad had driven me to Princeton High and dropped me off in front of the building. I had taken the test, not feeling any more positive about it than all those other times. In fact, I had the distinct feeling that I had done worse. After the test, I had chatted with my two best friends, Ariele and Monica, outside the building waiting for Dad to pick me up. The three of us have been friends forever. We look alike–think pre-blond Arizona–usually fairly messy, wearing our sports gear. Although, Ariele is kind of stunning with her green eyes and chestnut curls. She got picked up first–she was moving to California–and I remember Monica needing to head off. I had been left by myself, as usual, Dad was always late.

The next thing I remembered was waking up in my mom’s car in California. There was a big blank in my memory between waiting for my dad to pick me up in Princeton and me waking up in California. Not only had I woken up in a different place, but I had also woken up in the past–eight months in the past.

I had woken up BLOND! And a cheerleader! Everyone seemed to know me as Arizona Darley.

I trembled as I remembered the confusion, fear and anger I had felt.  I was desperate to keep my emotions in check, fearful that my mom would send me back to the psychiatrist at the slightest hint of odd behavior. I had felt so lost trying to mingle into my new life as if I belonged in it. I had felt like such a fraud.

Every time I’d been faced with a new situation I had clenched my jaws, swallowed my surprise and perfected a poker face. However, each time I did this, the aftershock left me numb and a little bit more emotionally drained than before.

I had spent a few weeks in California like this, pretending to belong while I searched for answers–wondering how and why I had suddenly been transplanted into a new setting. Of course, it had to be my mom’s fault, the oh-so-mad physicist, Olivia. Mom’s in her forties, light-brown hair and brown eyes. Totally into fashion and stuff, we never did connect. The insane woman had built a portal–yes a portal!–and transported me through it to another dimension. A time-travel portal, eh? And, wait-for-it, just to be together with her new man! Rupert. Seriously? This was beyond warped, there had to be more to it.

Anyway, somehow, I had been thrown into a new dimension where I had a brother and a new dad. There were still so many unanswered questions about what had happened to me. None of it made sense. If I had just been transported, how come everyone there knew me already? How come I had a life there? I had apparently lived there for eight years, as blond- monstrosity Arizona Darley. I couldn’t have lived in two different places at the same time, could I? Mom said something about transporting me through eight years ago, not now. She couldn’t explain what was going on at the moment.

My head still hurt. I put down my pen and paper, and made my way to the kitchen to make myself some coffee. Here was another disgusting mess, dirty cups and sink full of dishes. I cleaned a mug, made some strong coffee and went back to my room. I sat down in my once comforting room and felt utterly empty. I needed to talk to Dad. I called him.

“Arizona?”

“Dad, when are you going to be home?”

“Not sure, I’m heading to AC after work, possibly be back on Wednesday, like I said before. Do you have any money in your account? I may need you to transfer some over to mine.”

“I don’t, Dad. I actually need you to give me money for groceries. We don’t seem to have anything in the house,” I said frustrated. His gambling was such a pain, we never had any money. When he did get paid, it all went into his favorite past time.

“Well, it will have to wait. I’ll see you in a few days,” he said and cut the call.

I called him back. “Dad, where’s Gertrude?”

“I don’t know, Arizona. Gertrude is your responsibility.”

“I know, Dad. When was the last time you saw her?”

“I really don’t know. Saturday, maybe? I really have to go now,” he said, and turned off his phone.

I angrily turned mine off, feeling even emptier than before. He needed help. Why had I been so desperate to come back to him? He was never here anyway. And face it, he didn’t win the father-of-the-year award. He really was only around for my hockey games, probably because he had a bet going with someone. I guess we both had gotten into a habit of doing our own thing and I had come to treasure my solitude, but now it suddenly made me feel alone.

I picked up my pen and paper again and gathered my thoughts. So, I had woken up in California, in Mountain View to be precise. I had woken in my mother’s car. Ella and Gertrude had been in the car with me. We drove to a house, which I had apparently lived in for a long time, eight years. I had my own room there.  I had a brother! Not just any brother, one that I had immediately grown attached to, my brother, Harry. He was the best. I really missed him right now, but not as much as I missed Kellan. The thought of Kellan made me tear up again, but I quickly wiped my face clean and continued gathering my thoughts.

My few weeks in Mountain View had been mostly positive. Winning the battle to play ice hockey for the varsity team and Kellan had been the highlights. The biggest negative was the constant uncertainty, the not knowing what was going on and also the fact that my dad was missing from my life. I realized that he was still sort of missing. He was never really around.

There were so many unexplained factors. Simla and Justin for example. They were both in school with me here in Princeton. But when I had woken up in Mountain View they were in school with me there, as well! And they didn’t seem to know me from Princeton. What were they doing in Mountain View? I wondered if they were back here now. How did this whole dimension thing work? Was everything as it had been two days ago? I knew that wasn’t the case, Gertrude was not here. Though I suppose she could be at a doggie stay over. I doubted that. And, what about Ariele? At least there was a somewhat reasonable explanation as to why she was in Mountain View–her mother had been offered a great work opportunity there. However, that didn’t explain why she had gone back in time eight months and into another dimension.

What was I doing back here anyway? I knew that my mom wouldn’t have transported me back; after all, she had wanted me to stay. So who had? Who had captured Kellan and me, held us captive in the dark place and then transported me back here? And why? And where was Kellan?

The tears started up again. I wanted the warmth of my family, of Kellan. I started picking clothes off the floor absentmindedly, folding them and making piles of them on my bed. Then I took the pile of t-shirts and went to put them into my dresser. I slid open a drawer to find it filled with empty chocolate wrappings, coke cans and gum. Some gum remains were stuck to the bottom of the drawer. I opened the rest. They were all the same, and I let go of my newly-folded pile of t-shirts from my arms, dropping them on the floor and then collapsing down beside them. Tears streamed down my face. I felt completely lost.

I sat like that for about an hour, feeling totally sorry for myself, and must have dozed off. The doorbell woke me. I thought about ignoring it, but whoever it was, was persistent and wouldn’t give up.

I opened the door to Monica, who looked furious, but her expression quickly changed as she looked me up and down. It was an interesting display of expressions–surprise, disgust, pity, more anger. She grabbed my arms roughly and pushed me into my bedroom.

“Arizona Stevens, what the hell?”

I shook my head, not knowing where to start. Tears started to pour down my face again.

Monica looked shocked. She had never seen me cry before. She looked very uncomfortable, but reached over and patted my shoulders awkwardly. What I needed was a hug, but that was out of question. Even the fleeting touch of her pats was better than nothing. I looked at her gratefully, trying to suck in my emotions to make the tears stop.

“Here,” she said, handing over a box of tissues.

I took them and proceeded to sort myself out. I must have looked dreadful. Monica waited patiently while I gathered myself and then looked at me carefully before quizzing me again.

“Arizona, what’s going on? What’s happened to your hair? It’s blond! And why are you so weepy?”

“Monica, I can’t talk about this right now. I need time to think.”

“Well, at least go and take a shower. You stink worse than usual.”

I nodded and made my way toward the bathroom, flinching at the thought of having to shower in that mess. Monica was sitting on my bed, waiting for me, when I emerged looking and feeling slightly refreshed. I got dressed quickly; blow dried my hair and felt around for lip gloss in my jeans pocket.

“What are you looking for?” Monica asked staring at me puzzled.

“Lip gloss.”

“Lip gloss?” she laughed, and extracted hers from her pocket and threw it at me. “You don’t use lip gloss,” she mocked.

I ignored her, dabbed some onto my lips–kiwi–and then sat down beside her. She stood up and looked me up and down.

“Wow, Arizona. You look like a model. What happened? Did your mom and Ella kidnap you and throw you into model school?” she laughed.

“Oh, Monica, I don’t even know where to start. I’m starving. Let’s go and get some burgers.”

“You’ve got hockey practice tonight, are you sure you’ve got time for burgers? Do you even want to eat before practice? You’ll throw up.”

“Oh, I forgot. I’m going to text Coach to let him know that I’m not well.”

“He’ll bench you,” Monica warned.

So true. Coach could be a real pain. Missed practices meant being benched for the weekend game. The games were over anyway, if anything there would be a friendly. However, that was the least of my worries at the moment. So I shrugged and texted him. “Okay, M, I’m ready for a burger. Let’s head over to Sonic?”

“Sure. Then we can sit and eat in the car and you can tell me about this new look. And why the hell you’re so weepy.”

We drove up to the Kendall Park Sonic and sat in Monica’s Toyota happily devouring our burgers and sipping our drinks.

“A, I’m going to have to drop you off and head over to lacrosse practice in a while. So, can you start spilling? Where have you been and what’s with the new look?”

“M, pleeease–can we drop it for now? You’d never believe it anyway. I need to do something about my hair. Can you help me get it back to its normal color?”

“I could try, but why risk me screwing it up? You should get a hairdresser to do it properly. Anyway, why do it at all? I think you look great.”

“It’s gonna freak everyone out.”

“Since when do you care about freaking anyone out?” she asked surprised.

“Well, maybe I don’t, I guess. But I like it better darker. This looks ridiculous.”

“No it doesn’t. You look amazing. Okay, maybe it does look a bit ridiculous, but only because it’s you! You look so unlike you.”

“I’ll have to put up with all the mocking….”

“No, you won’t. Just floor them,” she said as a matter of fact.

She was right, of course. No one would dare mess with me. They never did. I would just sort them out. I always did. I felt better again and smiled. I would make an appointment with a hairdresser, but in the meantime freak everyone out. It might even be fun. I felt so much better by the time Monica drove me home.

“Why did you change the color anyway? And when?” Monica wasn’t giving up.

If there was one thing that I had learned from my experiences in the last few weeks, it was that it was better to try to explain the truth to my closest friends. No point in trying to blow off Monica with a reasonable explanation–although I couldn’t for the life of me even think of a reasonable explanation for this current blond look–it would be better to just tell her the truth. But, timing was everything and this was not a good time. After all, she was in a hurry to get to practice.

“Monica, the explanation for this blond look is not simple. It’s majorly complicated. I will tell you, I promise, but not right now.”

“Geez, A. You really got me worried now. And super curious. I don’t need to go to practice. If you need me to stay and talk, I will. In fact, I think I should.”

“No, M. Go. I really need some thinking time,” I said firmly. I really did.

She looked at me unhappily, but shrugged in resignation and drove me home. We didn’t talk on the way back, but the silence was not entirely uncomfortable. She stopped in my driveway to let me out.

“Are you coming to school tomorrow?”

“Yes, I guess I have to. Can you pick me up?” I really missed my Jeep. My yellow Jeep–left behind in Darley land.

“Sure, see you tomorrow,” she said and drove off.

I turned around and stared at the house. How I had missed it! I remembered back to my trip here with Kellan and Ariele–how I hadn’t been able to work the garage combination. I know now that it was because we had visited here in the wrong dimension, but I didn’t know that then. I had been so confused. The house had still been here, but we didn’t live in it. The garage combination hadn’t worked when I had tried it. So, even though I had the front door key, I now walked over to the garage door keypad and started pressing the numbers.

“Hey, Arizona?”

I turned around to face Raymond, our next-door neighbor. I was so glad to see him that I nearly hugged him, but held back. That would be so unlike me, Arizona Stevens.

“I like what you did to your hair, very pretty. Is your dad home?”

“No, Mr. Golden, he isn’t. He went down to Atlantic City for a few days.”

Raymond gave me a sympathetic shrug. He was a good man. Both he and his wife, Beth, had always been there for me. They were both in their sixties. Their kids had moved out a long time ago. They had sort of adopted me. It was their door I knocked on when I needed anything–which was quite often as Dad was away a lot.

“Come over and have dinner with us then, Arizona.  Beth made carrot cake, it smells divine.”

“Thank you, Mr. Golden. That sounds so good, but I just ate. And I have a bit of a headache, so I think I’ll go inside and lay down for a while.”

“Well, let us know if you need anything. Beth will check up on you later.”

I nodded thankfully, fighting all instincts–Darley instincts–to give him a hug and went inside to a quiet and lonely house. No sounds of Ella playing, Kellan or Harry laughing. I sat down on my bed and let my tears flow freely. After all, I was by myself with no one to keep them from. The tears turned into a stream and I could hear myself sobbing, loud, gut-wrenching sobs. I lay back on my bed, turning onto my side to allow my tears to fall off my face into my pillow. Were these tears of happiness at being back home or those of hopeless loneliness? They certainly didn’t feel like happy tears. But, why? I should be stoked to be home. Back to my real life. Isn’t that what I had been desperate for the entire time I’d been away?

I must have fallen asleep, for the next thing I knew it was morning again and time for school. I couldn’t avoid it for another day, not that I even wanted to. The house was so quiet without Gertrude or my dad around. I assumed that Dad was still in Atlantic City and Gertrude… well, she must still be in my alternative life–this was all way too screwed up. As I sat on my bed–in my room–I wondered how I should handle all this. I had to be able to push myself to go through the motions until I could find a way to contact Kellan. It was going to be deathly scary, but I had to hold myself together so I could properly help Kellan. However, first I needed to find him. I checked my cell phone in desperate hope that Kellan had somehow managed to text me.

I had several missed calls on my phone mainly from Beth. Before heading to school, I’d better stop by her house to let her know that I was okay. I also had a bunch of text messages–none from Kellan or anyone else in my Darley life–which I couldn’t bother dealing with just yet. I showered and got dressed quickly. There was no hiding my blond hair, so I blow dried it and made it look extra nice, and added some of Monica’s (which I had conveniently forgotten to hand back to her) lip gloss to complete the look. I gazed at myself in the mirror. You’d think that I’d be used to this Barbie look by now. Not so. I ran outside as soon as I heard Monica pull up on the driveway.

“You look awesome, A!” she said as soon as she saw me.

“Thank you, M. It’s going to be an interesting day.”

“No kidding,” she laughed. “You better bring your backpack, though….”

I had forgotten my bag, I didn’t even know what homework I had, but I knew I hadn’t done any.

“Oh, give me a sec, I’ll get it and I also need to knock on Beth’s door.” I hurried off and was back moments later to where Monica was patiently waiting.

“So, are you ready to talk?” she asked pointedly. “You look a bit sad.”

“I suppose. I honestly don’t know where to start. Can I ask you a few things first, so I can get things clear in my head before I try to explain them to you?”

“Sure,” she sighed.

“Have you seen Simla or Justin this weekend?”

“Simla or Justin? No, but then I’d no reason to. Why?”

“What about Ariele? Have you heard from her since Saturday?”

“No. She said she would call once she got to California, but she’s probably been too busy getting settled in. Have you heard from her?”

“I have, sort of,” I replied hesitantly.

“Sort of?”

“I actually saw her.”

“Skype?”

“No, not exactly,” I said, wondering how to continue with this conversation. Luckily the school came to view and we had to stop talking anyway as Monica pulled into the parking slot and stopped.

“We’re going to be late, can we continue with this later?” I asked hopefully.

“Well, I guess,” she said unhappily, clearly dissatisfied.

I started walking toward my first class, English, aware of the many looks I was getting. I had fleetingly forgotten all about my blond hair. I was reminded now. Puzzled looks all around me, everyone trying to figure out what was going on. I wondered if I was recognizable, if everyone knew it was me. Perhaps they thought I had lost my mind and tried a different look. Perhaps they thought I was a new student. Either way, no one approached me. That suited me just fine until I saw some of my ice-hockey teammates walk up the corridor toward me. I had to make a quick decision–throw my hood over my head and make myself as invisible as possible by keeping my head down, or flash them a cheeky grin. I opted for the latter and smiled widely, winking at them as they approached me with their mouths gaping open. I laughed. “What’s up, guys?”

“A?” they said in unison and then started laughing.

“Hello, boys,” I replied as I flicked my hair and fluttered my eye lids.

“Geez, A. Stop! You’re making my stomach hurt.  What’s with the hair?” Christian managed to splutter between guffaws.

Christian Taylor was captain of the team. I had never noticed how hot he was before. At six-foot two-ish, blond hair, green eyes, he was smokin’! Why was I just noticing this now? We had known each other for years. Before, I had only ever noticed his gross stench after games. I tried to suppress this new aspect of my observations because it was clearly a Darley thing. Laughing along with Christian were Brandon, Noah, Kyle and Nick. I waited for them to stop before I continued.

“Like it?” I asked mischievously.

“I think you look hot,” said Noah, sounding surprised at himself. The others looked me up and down and nodded in agreement.

“It’s not just your hair,” continued Christian. “Your face looks different too somehow, it’s–I can’t think of the right way to describe it–pretty?”

Nick and Kyle exploded into another fit of laughter.

“You look like a girl,” Brandon added with a smirk.

“Well, I am a girl,” I said, rolling my eyes at them.

“We hadn’t noticed,” retorted Nick, “well, until now.”

“Get used to it,” I said, and dismissed any further talk about my looks, quickly changing the subject.

“Have you seen Justin?”

“No,” Nick replied looking around at the others. “He missed practice last night.”

“Yeah, he’s in trouble. At least you texted Coach,” said Christian.

“Did he go to the party on Saturday?”

“No, he wasn’t there, either. Why are you asking about him anyway? Where have you been? Did you go to that girl’s hockey camp you swore not to go to? Is that the reason for this new look?” Brandon asked looking at me curiously.

“Nope,” I said before he could press me any more, and pushed past them to get to class. “See you guys later.” I could feel them gazing at me as I walked down the corridor, so I stopped momentarily to flick my hair at them.

As I was sitting in English class, it occurred to me how differently people reacted to me here than they had in my alternate Darley life. My short stint as a Darley had exposed me to a certain familiarity with my fellow students that I had sort of grown accustomed to. The feely-touchiness in Darley land had been uncomfortable at first, and looking around I could well understand it. I knew everyone in my class fairly well, had known most of the people in this class for years. Yet they seemed detached toward me. They were all normal and affectionate with each other, but not with me. That’s because I had spent years making sure that people stayed at a distance. I wasn’t really sure why. I had put myself in a situation where my fellow students almost feared me. They all treated me with respect and were friendly enough. I noticed them glancing over at me, being careful not to linger to avoid angering me. There were occasional friendly waves, smiles and several quizzical looks at my new hair do. There would be no hugs or touching of any kind, not even from my closest friends. There never was.

When I had arrived in New Jersey from England, I was about eight-years old. My life in England had been very different from the life I was suddenly faced with here in Princeton. In addition to the obvious trans-Atlantic differences, I had moved from a life in an all-girls boarding school to a day school. Suddenly, instead of spending my evenings with my friends, I had to deal with my parents. My parents had been so much easier to deal with in small doses. When we lived in England, I always went home to stay with them during the weekends. I spent Saturdays doing fun stuff with my dad while my mom–or Mum, as I used to call her then– worked and then they switched on Sundays. It worked really well. Both days were filled with activity; I went to my karate, junior dressage, soccer, tennis and swimming classes. There was never a dull moment. My days at the boarding school were fun. We had classes during the day and the evenings were reserved for homeroom, which meant homework followed by downtime with the girls and then lights out at nine. The routine suited me.

Then, when we moved here to New Jersey, everything changed. I was suddenly faced with having to deal with my parents every day. Not ideal, in fact, far from it. I very quickly discovered the severe flaws in their characters and the sham of a marriage they had. They clearly couldn’t tolerate each other. I could see that, even at the age of eight.

I quickly attached myself to my dad. After all, despite his issues with gambling and alcohol, he was laid back and easy to deal with. Mom and I butted heads all the time over absolutely everything. I came to hate her. By the time I was twelve, I expressed my frustrations and anger physically. This led to broken windows and walls with holes. I was eventually sent to a shrink and spent a short stint at a behavior unit, which had been awful. However, I did learn to control my anger and with that my emotions. I had become unaffectionate, distant and unapproachable. I developed an even deeper hatred for my mom, after all, she was to blame. She’s the one who sent me to the shrink. I had detached myself more and more from her, my dad and my friends, blanketing myself in a safe, untouchable façade.

So why was it that I now seemed to crave the physical affection that I had so deliberately excluded from my life?

“Arizona Stevens, pay attention!” Mr. Jackson’s voice boomed.

Attention to what? I wondered. I sighed and rolled my eyes at him, and was handed a detention slip. Back to normal.

I really missed the comfortable feeling of having Kellan sit behind me in Physics. Sheesh, I almost missed physics class! Once again I felt like I was all alone. This feeling stayed with me during the next class, where I forgot to pay attention, as usual. The initial curious glances at my blond hair quickly subsided. I was glad to see Monica waiting for me outside the cafeteria at lunchtime.

“Geez, A, it’s gonna take some time to get used to your new look. I’d completely forgotten and barely recognized you coming down the hall!”

I rolled my eyes, thumping her shoulders. We went into the cafeteria and headed over to sit with the hockey bunch, as we saw them beckoning us.

“So, A, what’s with the new look?” Christian smirked.

“Oh, give it a rest, will ya! What’s up with you suddenly being so interested in hair?” I muttered.

“Well, just be glad it’s the end of the season and we don’t have any more games. Imagine going out on the ice with you looking like this! We’d get smoked,” he chuckled.

“Well, as you say, no more games, so stop making a big deal. It’s just hair.”

“And a bit of lip gloss,” Monica snickered.

“Lip gloss? Seriously?” Brandon laughed.

“Oh, shut-up!” I yelled. “I can still take every one of you little sissies down.”

“Charming, as always,” Nick said, as he rolled his eyes.

“Okay, nuff!” I said and changed the subject. “Why are we having yet another practice this afternoon if the season’s over?”

Christian shrugged and said, “Coach wants us to keep going and not slack off. Anyway, no biggie. It’s not like we have other plans, or do you?”

“No,” I admitted freely. Hockey was my life. It’s all I ever did. Here in Stevens land anyway.

“My lacrosse coach is the same,” added Monica. “He wants to keep going with practice until the end of the school year.”

“Do you want me to pick you up as usual, A?” Christian asked.

I nodded and then dug into my burger, I was ravenous.

“Gross,” Brandon muttered. “You’ve got sauce all over your hair. I guess the new look didn’t come with instructions on how to eat nice.”

I threw the remainder of my burger toward him, just missing his face, but making a satisfying mess on his shirt. He didn’t look particularly pleased and aimed his pizza at me. I ducked in time and it hit Nick’s shoulders. Food fight, followed by a round of detention slips. Back to normal, that’s for sure.

I skipped out on my afternoon classes, hiding out in the library, making phone calls. The stink from the leftovers of the food fight stuck on my clothes was disgusting, but I’d have to put up with it until I got back home. I called Ames again, and luckily got the same lady from before on the phone. She was really nice, but had no further information for me. She said that she’d passed on my information and hopefully someone would get back to me. I called Mountain View High, in case of a freak chance that I could somehow contact Kellan there. No one had heard of him, me or Mom. I closed my eyes trying to figure out a possible link that would allow me to make contact with Darley land. How?

The only possibility I could think of was Ariele. After all, she was from Stevens land and she was legitimately in Darley land. Wasn’t she? Sort of, anyway. Her mother had been offered a job at Ames, so surely she must have been offered it from this dimension?  There was only one way to find out. I called the lady at Ames back again. Someone else picked up.

“Ames, how may I direct your call?”

“Could you put me through to Dr. Glenda Moreau?”

“One moment please.”

I heard a series of clicks and a man answered the phone.

“Hello, this is Kevin Sanderson. You’re trying to contact Dr. Moreau?”

“Yes. May I speak to her?”

“May I ask who I’m talking to?” the man asked.

“I’m Arizona Stevens, a friend of Dr. Moreau’s daughter.” There was a dead silence. I though we got cut off. “Hello? Mr. Sanderson, are you still there?”

“Arizona Stevens, Olivia’s daughter?”

“Yes, do you know me?”

“Not exactly,” he replied. “I do know who you are. I’m very surprised to hear from you. May I talk to your mother?”

“She’s not here.”

“Arizona, where are you?”

“Look, I don’t even know who you are. I shouldn’t be talking to you. I need talk to Dr. Moreau. Can you put her on?”

“Arizona, this is very confusing. Dr. Moreau is not available. She’s with your mother, I presume. If you are talking to me, you must somehow be back. That concerns me. You need to tell me everything, so I can help you. Are you in Princeton? Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I whispered fearfully. “I am so scared.”

“Where are you at the moment?”

“In the library, at school.”

“Good. What’s on your normal schedule for this evening?”

“There’s hockey practice, but I don’t particularly feel like it, so I thought I would go home. Dad’s away, so I have the house to myself.”

“Arizona, listen. I think it’s better if you stay with your friends until I get there and we can figure out what’s going on. Go to practice and then could you wait for me with one of your friends?”

“I guess.”

“Okay, I’m going to take the next flight available. I won’t get there till very late tonight or early tomorrow morning. I’ll call you when I land. Don’t worry, you can trust me. We’ll figure all this out.”

“Okay,” I said unconvinced, but I decided to play along at least until I knew what was going on. I was not about to just trust him. After all, he could be the one responsible for kidnapping me in the first place.

The final bell rang. I rushed out to meet Monica by her car.

“Skip class again?” she sighed at me.

“I had to make some calls. M, can I hang out with you after practice tonight, maybe even sleep over?”

“Sure,” she said surprised. “Maybe you can tell me all about the new look and what’s up then? And about Ariele. Or perhaps you could start now?”

“Monica, I don’t know what’s going on. I woke up like this–with my hair blond.”

“No way!” she said, and brought the car to a halt. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged and a tear broke loose and trickled down my cheek.

Monica looked at me, confused and very concerned. “A?”

“I just don’t know what’s going on.”

“Okay, calm down, A. We’ll figure it out.”

“No we won’t!” I cried, covering my tear stained face with my hands.

“Get a grip of yourself, Arizona. Better not let your dad see you like this. I’m going to drive you home. Christian is probably there waiting for you already. So, clean yourself up.”

I held my breath to control myself and dried myself off with the Kleenex that Monica handed me. Really, get a hold of yourself. You aren’t Bella Swan, for goodness sake. Put your big girl panties on and d-e-a-l. This pathetic wallowing had to stop. I concentrated my thoughts on hockey in order to gain some self-control. I would go and play and then that man I spoke to from Ames, Kevin, would help me sort it out hopefully.

Christian was waiting for me on my driveway.

“Have Christian drop you off at my house after practice, okay?” Monica instructed firmly before she drove off.

“Get a move on, A. We’re gonna be late. What took you so long?” Christian said impatiently.

“Okay, okay! Let me just grab my gear from the garage.” I couldn’t help noticing Christian glancing over at me several times during our ride to the rink. It was sort of amusing. This was a routine ride for us. We never talked, just listened to his iPod tunes blaring through the Bose speakers he had installed into his birthday gift, a silver BMW convertible. I sat back into the leather seat, closed my eyes and enjoyed the tunes, amused at the sideway glances. What a riot.

“We’re here, wake up!” Christian nudged me. “You fell asleep. Everything okay?”

“Yes,” I replied sleepily, as I undid the seatbelt and let myself out.

“Do you want me to carry your gear in?” he asked hesitantly.

“Don’t be an idiot,” I snorted, and I threw my bag onto my back and grabbed my stick. “Come on, let’s go!”

Hockey practice was good, in the sense that it got my mind to focus away from my big issues–I seemed to have too many of them these days. Coach was in good form, happy with our season, but still keen that we try as hard as we could and didn’t slack. That suited me just fine. I looked down at my black helmet before I put it on, and wondered about the reaction from my team if I’d appeared with a pink one. L-O-L! I was changed and ready before most of the rest of the team, so I skated around warming up. I looked around for Justin, but didn’t spot him. Christian skated up to me and beckoned me to the side. I was intrigued.

“So, A, I was wondering….” he said unsurely.

“Wondering? ‘Bout my hair? Really, give it a rest. It’s not funny anymore,” I said annoyed.

“No, it’s not that. I was hoping you’d go out to the movies with me.”

“Duh, I go out to the movies with you guys almost every weekend. You’re being really weird.”

“Arizona, I meant as in a date, with me,” he beamed.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess. We’ll talk about it later,” I said, hastily putting my helmet back on and skating back to warm up. I chuckled to myself. Hopefully, I’d find a nice way to avoid that. I didn’t want to upset him. In another life, he’d have been perfect.

Coach blew his whistle. We skated over to him and listened intently–well, I pretended–to every word he was saying. He looked eager and serious as he spoke. I caught the tail end of his mini lecture. If we worked hard, we’d be allowed a scrimmage at the end of practice. Cool.

“There’s something else,” he said looking around. “I was expecting a new player today. He comes with an impeccable record. I guess he got the times mixed up,” he grumped. “And where’s Justin?”

We looked around and shrugged. I was relieved that there were no signs of him. We skated to the center and got ready for the chasers. I partnered with Kyle. We lined up together and skated for the puck, I reached it first every time and jammed it into the goal. We did quite a few passing drills, routine but fairly boring. I could do these in my sleep. Then we did my favorite checking drills. I really enjoyed these, especially today. The perfect vent for pent-up frustration. I put my full force behind the checks, throwing my body onto my targets. I felt satisfied, even good. The whistle blew again and we were allowed a short scrimmage before the Zamboni appeared and we had to leave the ice.

“Good work, kids! This is not the last practice, even though the season is over. I expect you back Thursday after school. And here is the new boy,” Coach said, glancing past my shoulders looking at the tall boy walking toward us. “You’re late. We’re done. Don’t be late on Thursday,” he instructed.

The new boy came walking right up to me. He took his mouth guard out and gazed at me through his helmet.

“Hello, Poppet.”

The Elders called an emergency meeting. Emergency meetings were rare. The peaceful life underlying the very existence of the Wanderers dictated a steady, predictable pace, not emergencies. However, today was different. In light of recent events, the Elders decided that firm and quick action needed to be taken. So, in a nondescript house in Mountain View, a group of the most eminent Wanderers from the area had gathered alongside the local Wanderer community to make sense of their new predicament.

Grayson Weeks and Erica Sen reached for each other’s hands as their elected leader, Inez Skoog, stood before them, ready to begin their meeting. Inez was well qualified to serve as a leader. She had spent many years observing her target humans and had also been married to one. Her marriage didn’t work out, so many of these marriages failed. However, she was blessed to still be best friends with Kevin and spoke with him regularly. Their children, Lena and David, were her pride and joy. She and Kevin had managed to raise them to be kind and caring. She stood before her group aware of the respect they afforded her and felt the pressure to make sure that she did her very best to live up to it.

Grayson and Erica had total faith that Inez would be able to provide them with the leadership they needed now. They looked at their leader with fondness. Her motherly appearance reassured them. She could have been any stay-at-home mother of two teenage children.

Inez shook out her tight blond curls as she surveyed the group with her clear blue eyes. She guessed that there were about forty in the room. She spotted Erica and Grayson and nodded to them reassuringly, and then looked around for the rest of the Elders who would stand beside her when she addressed the crowd. She spotted them hurrying in through the patio entrance. Her four closest friends: Constance, Lars, Javier and Morgana. They smiled at her as they approached the podium and Inez held her hand up to quiet the crowd.

“Erica, could you please join us up here to recount to everyone why we are gathered here?”

Erica was slightly taken aback. She had hoped that Inez would do this for her. She was uncomfortable speaking in front of people under normal circumstances. Today’s agenda made it even more difficult. As she made her way to the front, she felt smaller, much smaller than her six-foot-two frame. Inez nodded to her as she turned and faced the room, hesitantly.

“I,” she started, but her throat closed up and her mind blanked.

“Just start from the beginning,” Inez encouraged.

The beginning of what, Erica wondered. The beginning of her life? They would still be here tomorrow. Although it was an interesting story, it was long and complicated. Perhaps she should start at the beginning of her relationship with Raj? Most of the people here had heard about the events leading up to their wedding. After all, she had needed to convince and reassure them all those years ago when she sought their permission. How about the beginning of the end of her marriage? That would probably be the most useful place to start, since these current events were a result of that. She coughed and looked around apprehensively and caught Grayson’s calming gaze. She closed her eyes, tapping into his calm and opened her mouth to speak.

“I’m not sure quite where to start, but as most of you know me and were witnesses to my wedding, I’ll skip over events leading to my marriage to Raj. You raised many concerns at the time, but I reassured you that the love that Raj and I felt for each other would overshadow and overcome any difficulties we would have. You were generous enough to accept him into your fold and even afford him the gift of travel with me.” Erica’s expression turned into one of sadness as she continued with her story. “We did have some good years. The highlight was the birth of my daughter, Simla.

“As you know, I was assigned to Olivia Darley, mainly because we both lived in New Jersey when she started on the October Project. Olivia is truly an extra- ordinary woman and I was delighted with my assignment. However, when Olivia started traveling through the portal, it began to put a strain on my marriage and on my relationship with my daughter.

“You see, I was gone for long periods of time, especially when Olivia had Harry. I still saw Simla every couple of days, but she missed me, she was only eight. Raj decided to explain my absence to Simla by saying that we were having marital issues and that I had decided to separate from him for a while. I’m fairly sure that she didn’t understand. She was way too young. I’m not sure why he even said that, maybe it was wishful thinking on his part. It’s almost as if he started believing in this story himself. Though I traveled back to see them frequently, every few days, the visits were short and I felt a distance building. Simla became agitated every time I got ready to leave. So, I decided to have them travel with me. It was tough, especially for Simla having to live two separate lives. She seemed like two different people. It was almost like she rebelled every time we traveled back to Mountain View. She loved staying in Princeton. I totally understand how incredibly difficult it has been for her. Just keeping her two lives separate must have been a monumental task. However, she has Wanderer spirit, so I thought she would cope.

“I have no excuses for Raj. He should have been able to accept the circumstances, especially since he came into this with his eyes wide open. He grew more and more bitter over the years and resented having to adjust to my travel requirements, while at the same time becoming obsessed with time travel. Many times he asked me why he couldn’t be afforded the ability of independent travel. Raj wouldn’t accept that this is just not possible.

“So, when Raj heard about the October Project, he was beyond excited. It was a possibility for him to travel without me. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have discussed it with him at all, but isn’t that what marriage is all about? Trust? I shamefully admit that I don’t know much about what he’s been up to. He has been very secretive and it’s been easier not talking to him too much. His temper is volatile and I have grown to fear him. Simla has been acting up, but I thought that was the usual for any teenager.

“Raj communicated to me that he tapped into the October Project and is now in control of the portal. I have no idea how he did so! He would have had to get through security at Ames and hack into the computers. I fear he may have copied my keys and figured out my passwords. I guess he could have taken a visitors’ pass when he came to see me at Ames,” Erica shrugged.

“He plans to use the portal for his own agenda, which involves making money from it in some way. I don’t know how. He also told me that Simla was involved. I don’t know to what extent, but I fear for her.” Erica stopped and looked around the room. She had everyone’s attention. Grayson nodded to her to go on.

“So, as I mentioned, I am assigned to Olivia Darley, who heads up the October Project. The portal was her vision. The portal she designed not only allows simple time travel, but also travel through dimensions, much like we are able to do. In addition, she’s figured out how to set the portal to open in different time/dimension planes, so that she can virtually spring back and forth as she pleases and bring whoever she wants through with her. The only limitation to the portal seems to be the requirement of an immense amount of energy. The source she is tapping into at the moment harvests only enough energy to keep the portal functional for barely a month.

“Her October Project was running smoothly until a couple of weeks ago when Olivia decided to take one last trip through the portal to bring back her dog, Gertrude. That’s when everything turned upside down. Her older daughter, Arizona, who has happily lived here in Mountain View as Arizona Darley since she was eight, suddenly woke up as Arizona Stevens from New Jersey. It’s as though the dog was somehow the trigger. Can that be possible?” She looked over at Inez questioningly.

“Let me explain this,” Morgana offered. Morgana was a tall, striking woman with chestnut hair and blue eyes. She had never been married, nor did she have any children. She was devoted to her task; she was in charge of all the assignments. “Gertrude was assigned to Arizona. Arizona Stevens. Arizona is a complicated girl. She interacts or interacted so badly with humans in her Stevens life that we assigned Gertrude to her. It turned out to be a very good call. Gertrude was able to get closer to Arizona than any human could. But, while they got very close, we had no plan for Gertrude to transport into this dimension. As Arizona Darley has no issues with humans, we decided to assign her a human Wanderer instead. David, Inez’s son has been assigned to her. I am totally confused as to why Olivia would bring her dog back through the portal. I can only guess that their bond is very strong as well, after all, the love for Gertrude was the one thing that both Arizona and Olivia shared. She must occupy a very special place in Olivia’s heart.  However, a Wanderer has never been transported through a portal before, so we don’t know what effect it had on Gertrude. All we know is that the bond between Gertrude and Arizona Stevens is so intense that this transference of spirit has somehow occurred.”

Erica closed her eyes trying to absorb this.

“Erica, please continue with your story,” Inez prompted.

“Arizona has disappeared, along with Kellan, her boyfriend.  Harry and Ella, Arizona’s older brother and little sister, have also disappeared. I’m so afraid that Raj and Simla may have something to do with it. I’ve not been able to contact either of them,” she said, and then collapsed onto the floor. She was totally worn out. Grayson was beside her in seconds and put his arms around her, calming her down.

Inez turned and looked at her fellow Elders intently and then turned back around to face the room. “Please keep your eyes and ears open and report back to me with any information that may help shed light on this. We’ll reconvene here tomorrow to discuss this further after we spend some time reviewing the situation. David, stay back please.”

Grayson pulled Erica up and they left along with the others. Inez beckoned Morgana, Constance, Javier and Lars to follow her and led them into the smaller den, which had a fire burning in the far corner. They made themselves comfortable on the leather-covered couches.

“I know where she is, I mean Arizona. But, I have no idea where the others are,” Inez said, taking in the astonished looks.

“So why didn’t you say!” exclaimed her son. “I’ve been sick with worry.”

“Arizona is back in Princeton with her dad. She’s fine. Well, as fine as you could be considering the circumstances.”

“How?” David practically shouted. “She decided not to go through the portal.”

Inez looked at her son sternly, shouting was not an option.

“Sorry, Mom. I’m just so shocked.”

“I know, David. I’m just as taken aback. Your dad called for me, so I transported myself over to him. Arizona contacted Ames.”

David had always admired his mother’s ability to read his father’s feelings, especially when Kevin was stressed. She seemed to intuitively know that he needed her, even now, though they were divorced. She still must feel intensely close and connected to him. This ability to read others without physical contact was rare within the Wanderer world. David wondered if he would ever feel close enough to someone to be able to experience it, he hoped so.

Inez continued. “Arizona called Ames looking for Glenda Moreau. The phone call was put though to your dad. Arizona doesn’t know who he is, but she has agreed to talk to him. He’s on his way over to Princeton to find out what’s going on.”

“Was she transported through the portal?” Lars asked.

“Kevin doesn’t know. The portal has been tampered with, but Kevin couldn’t wait around for the time-consuming, painstaking research to figure out if it had been used. He rushed off to New Jersey as soon as he spoke to Arizona.”

“Mom, I’m heading over. I can get to her before Dad. I have to know that she’s okay.”

“David, that may not be a good idea. How will you explain suddenly being in Princeton to Arizona? You can’t divulge us to her.”

“I’ll think of something, Mom. Please.”

Inez looked around at her fellow Elders for their thoughts. They extended their fingers and made contact. Thoughts flowed freely and Morgana sat up straight and looked at David intently. She stretched out her thumb to touch his.

“Go,” she said.

It had been a tense night and it wasn’t over. Four children were missing, it was practically unbelievable. But it was very real, scary real. Detective Sally Mason, riding shotgun in Buck’s car, looked over at her partner of four years and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Buck, did you contact the FBI?”

“Yes, a CARD team has been deployed and is on the way. We’ll have to head back to the Darley mansion when they get there. In the meantime, we need to expand the search. The amber alert is in effect. The first broadcasts are airing and all the highway signs have been illuminated.

“Buck, what was that? Stop!”

It’s not every day you see a naked body by the side of the road. Especially not in Mountain View. A body was slumped on the ground by the trees. Sally wondered if she had imagined it. After all, the headlights had hit it just for a second.

Buck expertly brought the car to a sudden halt and turned to his right to face his partner.

“Sal?”

“I don’t know, I’m not quite sure. I thought I saw something,” she said, as she reached for the flashlights. It was still dark and raining which made the visual conditions very poor. She was sure she had seen something–and she was fairly sure it was a body, of some kind, on the roadside. It was probably just road kill. Sally got out of the car with Buck following closely behind. Their beams of light hit the trees and the road making eerie patters. Sally brought her beam to rest on the lump by the roadside. It was huddled together in a cradle shape. It looked like a man, maybe even a boy. He wasn’t completely naked, just missing his shirt. She rushed over and knelt beside him. She felt for his pulse, relieved when she felt the comforting throb. She could hear Buck calling for assistance and as much as she wanted to, she resisted turning the body over in fear of causing further harm.

“He’s breathing and the pulse is even and strong,” she said, as she shone the light into the man’s face, trying to get a look at his features. “Buck, this looks like one of the missing boys. Have a look.”

They swapped places and Buck studied the face carefully. “Yup, you’re right. I think he’s Dr. Fox’s kid, Kellan. I’ll radio it in.”

“Get some blankets, first, will you?” Sally asked. The poor boy must be freezing. Whatever happened to his shirt?”

“Sure thing,” Buck said, and headed off to the car. He returned with a bundle of blankets. Sally carefully covered Kellan, trying to warm him up.

“We need to search the surroundings for the other three. Stay with him and I’ll have a look around while the others arrive,” Buck said, and wandered into the trees.

It wasn’t long before Sally heard the approaching sirens and let out a thankful sigh. She felt helpless just looking at this poor boy, afraid to touch him, but willing him to wake up and talk to her. She so wanted to know what had happened to him and the other three children. However, he didn’t even stir to the deafening sounds of the sirens. The vehicles–police, EMT, investigators, even FBI agents–arrived all at once.

At the newly-crowded scene, Sally began to explain: “We, that’s my partner and I, found him here about fifteen minutes ago. We’re fairly certain that he’s one of the missing children from the Darley case. It looks like Dr. Fox’s kid, I can’t remember the name,” she said, embarrassed that her mind was suddenly blanking on the name.

“Kellan,” one of the investigators nodded.

“Yes, Kellan,” Sally confirmed. “He’s breathing and his pulse seems strong. I haven’t moved him,” she said reassuringly.

“Good,” said one of the EMT’s. “We’ll check him over now and transport him to the closest hospital.”

“Just a moment,” said the senior-looking detective on the scene. “I just want to get some pictures taken before you move him.”

“Well, hurry”, said the EMT impatiently while beckoning his colleagues to give the detectives a moment.

Sally watched on as a circus of activity occurred around Kellan and breathed in relief when he was finally placed on a gurney and lifted into the ambulance.

Buck reappeared at Sally’s side. “I heard the sirens. I couldn’t see much in the woods. No obvious signs of anything, but I could’ve easily missed something, it’s so dark. I need to go back and keep looking. I assume the boy is on his way to the hospital?”

“Yes, those agents there want to talk to us.”

“Agents? They were fast.”

“Yes, just as well, I’m relieved. Let’s go over and see what we can do to help,” Sally said, as she started walking toward them.

“Detectives Mason and Pinsky, you were first at the scene?” the tall, female agent inquired, looking at Sally for confirmation.

“Yes. I noticed something strange on the roadside and had Detective Pinsky stop the car so we could have a look.”

“Did either of you touch anything?”

“Well, I felt for the boy’s pulse to confirm he was alive,” Sally offered nervously, wondering why she was so in awe of the FBI agent.

“That’s not what I meant,” the agent said. “I mean, did you touch anything around the area. Did you venture into the woods? Find anything else?”

Buck nodded and said, “I went into the woods to have a look. Didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but it’s dark so I couldn’t make out much. I didn’t touch anything.”

“Good,” the agent nodded, satisfied. “We’ll take it from here. Could you both drive back to the Darley mansion and fetch Dr. Fox? Bring him to the hospital. Just tell him that his son has been found and that you have come to escort him to the hospital. Leave all the details out, but let the Darleys know that their children are still missing. Tell them that we’ll update them as soon as we have any news.”

“Sure. Anything else?”

“No, that’s it for now. Remember, no details.”

~

Olivia rushed to the door as soon as she heard the knock, opening it to two detectives she vaguely recognized from earlier in the evening.

“Dr. Darley, I’m Detective Mason and this is Detective Pinsky,” Sally said, as she looked into the weary and worried eyes of Olivia. “We were here earlier helping out.”

“Yes, I remember,” Olivia nodded. Her heart was pounding. “Please come in. Do you have any news?”

“We do, but could we ask Dr. Fox to join us?”

“I’m right here,” Larry said, emerging from behind Olivia with Rupert. “What’s going on?”

“We believe we’ve found Kellan.”

“You believe?” stammered Larry, looking like he would collapse.

“We believe it’s Kellan from the pictures you provided. He’s unconscious, but his pulse and breathing are strong. He’s been taken to the hospital and we’re here to accompany you to him.”

“What about Ella, Arizona and Harry?” Olivia whispered. “Did you find them too? Are they okay?”

Sally looked at Dr. Darley uncomfortably. “Only Kellan has been found so far. We’re hoping he can tell us more. Let’s head over to the hospital.”

The ride to the hospital was silent. Olivia sat between Rupert and Larry in the back of the patrol car with her eyes closed, resting her head on Rupert’s shoulder. She felt as though her head would explode from the jumble of thoughts racing through her mind at such a speed that she could concentrate on none of them. Olivia concentrated on her breathing instead and tried to focus. They had found Kellan. That was fantastic, wonderful. What state was he in, though? They had said that he was unconscious, but that his pulse was strong and his breathing was regular. What did that mean? She would have to wait to find out, but at least he’d been found.

Her children were still missing. Olivia’s mind reverted back into a mess of thoughts. Why would anyone take them? For what? They were well off, but to take all three? It was more likely that this had something to do with the portal. Someone had tampered with it. That someone was trying to gain access to the portal.  But, who? The October Project had been kept a secret from the public. It had to be someone at Ames. Did someone take the kids for leverage? Why had they not contacted her? Or taken her? She checked her phone again. No messages, voice or text.

“Larry, can you check your phone?”

“Did you hear it beep?” he asked surprised. He hadn’t heard a thing.

“No, but check anyway.”

He did, there were no messages. “Ollie, what’s going through your mind?”

“Larry, I can’t help thinking that this may be connected to the October Project. The portal was tampered with and now the kids are missing. It’s just too much of a coincidence.”

“You’re right, I was thinking the same thing. Who though? It’s got to be an inside job, someone at Ames. Any potential candidates?”

“You guys really think so?” Rupert asked surprised. “I assumed we would get a ransom demand soon.”

“You could be right, Rup. I just think it’s too much of a coincidence. Arizona’s changes, the portal is tampered with and now this.”

“Who?” Rupert mumbled looking at Larry.

“There are so few of us directly involved with the project. There is myself and Olivia, of course. There is Kevin at the other end. I have worked with him for years and trust him implicitly. I need to contact him to find out what’s going on at his end, but have no way of doing that at the moment as the portal is closed.”

“There are people who are not directly involved, but also knew about the project or could have known about it,” added Olivia.

“Let’s go through them,” suggested Larry and Rupert simultaneously.

“Let’s see, there are all the spouses of those directly involved in the project. You, Rup and Kevin’s ex,” Olivia started.

Larry continued. “Kevin and Inez have two kids, Lena and David. I can vouch for them, really nice people and Inez is not connected with Ames in any way. Inez and the kids live in Mountain View. I assume Kevin sent them through to live here for whatever reason. He asked me to look out for them if they needed anything. Lena is actually at Brown University now and David is at Mountain View High. Inez works at the library, part time. Nice lady.”

“What about the peripheral staff? Could anyone else have known about the project?” Rupert asked.

“The two who have been working on the data crunching the longest are Erica Sen and Grayson Weeks,” replied Olivia thoughtfully. “And Glenda joined us recently. I’ve known them for years. They were never told about the October Project directly, but probably figured it out.”

“Why didn’t you tell them, if you trusted them?” Rupert wondered.

“I guess we wanted to avoid any inadvertent slips. However, they probably figured it out anyway. I know Glenda has in the short time she’s been here,” Olivia mused.

“Okay, let’s go through them individually,” Larry suggested. “Let’s start with Grayson. He keeps to himself, I believe he lost his wife years ago and has been bringing up his son on his own.”

“That’s right,” said Olivia. “His son’s name is Justin, a troubled teen, from what I hear. He was involved in Simla’s assault on Arizona, I’m sure,” Olivia added.

“Simla, that’s Erica’s daughter, right?” Rupert asked.

Olivia nodded. “Erica Sen works closely with Grayson. They share a laboratory and office at Ames. They’ve worked very well together and are extremely productive as a team. I’ve never had any issues with either of them. Erica’s daughter, Simla, seems to have taken a dislike to Arizona–I’ve no idea why. Coincidentally, I recall Arizona mentioning that she had a good friend in Princeton called Simla as well. I’m rambling though–nothing to do with this I’m sure. So, back to Erica. She is married to a psychiatrist, Raj. He’s a royal pain.”

“A pain, how?” Rupert asked.

“Well, he definitely has a chip on his shoulder and showed a total disregard for doctor patient confidentiality when he treated the Moreaus. He’s just generally unpleasant.”

“Would he know about the portal?” Rupert asked.

“I assume so,” Olivia sighed. “If Erica knows anything, I’m sure she shared it with her husband, it’s only natural. I can’t imagine that he would have any interest in it, though.”

“We need to come back to him, but let’s go through the list first. Anyone else?” Rupert asked.

“The Moreau family,” Olivia added. “I brought Glenda over recently, to crunch specific aspects of the data. It was beyond my own expertise, I needed her. I have known her since I was a student, but don’t know her personally at all. She has one daughter, Ariele. Her husband, Pierre, is a French teacher. I offered her the job at Ames without disclosing exactly what it entailed, but she accepted with great enthusiasm. She lives for this kind of research. We regretfully had to bring the family over without fully explaining to them what we were doing. I hoped that they would be okay with it once I explained which I haven’t had a chance to do yet. They are still trying to figure out what happened to them, though Glenda worked out the October project and portal very quickly. She doesn’t seem upset about it, nor has she asked to be transported back, which I would do if she wanted me to. We do need to look into them further as well.”

“Anyone else?” Rupert asked hurriedly, as the car drove up to the emergency bay at the hospital.

Larry shrugged, “I guess the only other person I can think of is Morgana over at SETI, though I can vouch for her one hundred percent. She is unmarried with no children, totally devoted to her work. She lives by herself near the lake. No family, just a pet–a dog. I discuss my work with her all the time. She does know about the portal.”

Rupert nodded in agreement. He had known Morgana for a very long time as well.

Olivia looked puzzled and started to say something, but stopped as the car came to a halt and they rushed into the hospital following the two detectives who seemed to know where they were going. They took the elevator up to the private wing and were led to a room manned by three FBI agents.

“Can we go inside?” Larry asked.

“Dr. Fox? Yes, please do. May I ask that the others wait outside for now?”

“No,” Larry said firmly. “Dr. and Mr. Darley are coming in as well.”

The FBI agent started to resist, but another agent spoke up. “Go ahead, the doctor is inside.”

“Kellan,” Larry sighed, as he saw his son lying down but clearly awake.”

“Dad,” Kellan whispered weakly.

“Are you his dad?” asked the doctor.

“Yes, how is he doing?”

“There’s no major physical trauma. He’s been drugged. It’s starting to wear off, but he is still a bit groggy and disoriented. However, he is fully aware of his surroundings and I have cleared him to speak to the agents. Take it easy with him. I know that you and the agents have a lot of necessary questions to ask. Ask them together, so that he doesn’t have to repeat himself. The agents are waiting, rather impatiently. I’ll go and get the one in charge. I know you still have three missing children, I’m sorry,” she said looking over at Olivia and Rupert.”

“Thank you,” Olivia nodded, as the doctor went to find the agent.

Larry was standing looking over his son, a tear running down his cheek. He took Kellan’s hand and squeezed it. “Love you, Son.”

“Hello, I’m Agent Adams. I just got here. The local FBI has updated me, briefly. I head the task force assigned to find your missing children. I know this is very hard for you, but I need to ask Kellan some questions.”

Larry looked around at the four-foot-ten, blond- haired agent and nodded. “Certainly, go right ahead, we need some answers, too. Just, please, take into consideration his state of health.”

Claire Adams nodded and walked over to the boy lying in the bed. He looked wiped out, but she had to ask her questions. After all, every moment counted, they had no time to waste. Three children were still missing. She looked at him gently. “Kellan, my name is Claire. I need to ask you some questions. You can shake and nod your answers when it’s easier, okay?”

Kellan nodded gratefully.

Agent Adams continued, “Kellan, I’m sorry to be so abrupt, but I urgently need to know if you know where Arizona, Harry and Ella are?”

A look of fear came over Kellan and his eyes overflowed with tears as he shook his head. Then he grabbed his dad’s hand and whispered, “I didn’t know that Harry and Ella are missing.”

“Did you know that Arizona went missing?” Claire asked as gently as she could.

“We were taken together,” Kellan replied hoarsely, struggling to sit up. He needed to concentrate. That Harry and Ella were missing as well was unbelievable.

Olivia rushed to get some more pillows, propped him up and gave him a drink of water.

“When did Ella and Harry go missing? Did you find Arizona?”

“Kellan, I’m going to answer your questions in a minute, but first I need you to answer mine,” Claire said firmly.

Kellan nodded and looked to Claire for the next question.

‘So, you and Arizona were taken together?” Claire continued.

Kellan nodded.

“Have you seen Ella or Harry at all since you were taken?”

Kellan shook his head and Olivia’s felt nauseous.

“Do you know who took you?”

Kellan shook his head.

“Where were you taken from?”

“The lake,” Kellan replied.

Claire looked at Larry for clarification.

“I’m assuming he means Shiver Lake. That right, Kell?”

Kellan nodded and Larry continued. “That’s a lake the kids visit a lot. It’s about an hour away from here. We call it Shiver Lake, though that’s not the real name.”

“Can you show me on the map?” Claire asked, and pulled out her local map. She watched as he circled the lake on the map. It was nowhere near where Kellan had been picked up, but she didn’t voice this to the others in the room.

“How were you taken?” Claire asked Kellan.

“We were lying down watching the stars when I blacked out. I guess I was hit on the back of my head and blanked.” Kellan tried to remember, although the details were so hazy.

“When you say we, you mean Arizona and you?”

Kellan nodded.

“When was this?”

“It was after we left Ames, Monday evening.”

“You drove straight from Ames to the lake?”

Kellan shook his head. “We rode to the ice rink first. Arizona felt the need to vent, so she skated and slammed pucks for a while. Then we rode over to the lake on my bike.”

“Were you aware of anyone following you?”

Kellan shook his head, “No, but then we were both preoccupied thinking about other things.”

“What other things?”

“This and that. Nothing relevant.”

“Perhaps you could let me decide that. Everything helps. The more I know, the more efficiently I can help,” Claire insisted.

“We had a rather unpleasant meeting with our parents at Ames, I’ll let them update you about that. We were pretty upset, so we drove out to the lake for some peace, to talk.”

Claire nodded. She knew all about issues with parents, her own had been a challenge. “So you drove to the lake, lay down to watch the stars, and then blacked out?” The doctor had confirmed that he had hit on the back of his head.

Kellan nodded.

“How long were you at the lake before you blacked out?”

“I’m not sure, not that long. Maybe half an hour or so,” Kellan guessed.

“And you didn’t hear anything.”

“No,” Kellan replied shaking his head.

“What do you remember next?”

Kellan took himself back to the black darkness he and Arizona had woken up in. “I woke up in complete darkness, unable to move.”

“Unable to move?” Claire repeated. “Were you tied up?”

“No, my arms and legs were limp. I couldn’t feel them for the longest time. I shouted for Arizona, but there was no reply, so I assumed I was on my own. Then my arms and legs started hurting, sharp stabbing pains, but I was relieved that I could feel them again. I tried moving them and I could, but it hurt a lot.”

Kellan’s voice broke and Olivia offered him some water again. He drank it gratefully and continued.

“Then I heard a shuffling sound. I couldn’t see a thing, it was pitch black. Arizona cried out for me and I shuffled over to her, though it hurt like hell.”

Olivia whispered, “Arizona was there?”

Kellan nodded. “Yes, she couldn’t feel her legs or arms either and she was terrified. Like me, she eventually regained feeling, with a lot of pain, and we waited it out. Then when we could, we stood up and tried to feel our way around. It was so dark, we couldn’t see anything. It could have been a basement. We did find what felt like a hockey stick. Justin’s.”

“Justin?” Claire asked, as she started speaking into her phone, which she had ready in her hand to relay any useful information to the agents waiting outside.

“Justin Weeks,” Larry confirmed. “Here’s the address,” he said, handing over a slip of paper to Agent Adams.

She took it and relayed the information down the phone to her agents. “A team is headed down there to check it out. Go on, Kellan. Any information you can give us may help.”

“We tried some knobs, but we couldn’t open anything. Then we heard a noise and suddenly a light shone on us. I grabbed onto Arizona just as someone started pulling at her. Then I lost consciousness.”

Claire probed some more. “Kellan, did you see who or what grabbed Arizona? A hand, anything?”

Kellan closed his eyes, straining to recall, but it was a blank. “No, nothing,” he replied unhappily.

“What do you remember next?” Claire asked.

“Waking up here,” he replied wearily.

“Kellan, thank you. Get some rest. I may be back with further questions later.”

Kellan nodded and pleaded, “Find the others, please.”

Claire nodded and beckoned to Rupert and Olivia to follow her out, Larry stayed by Kellan’s side. She waited until they were all outside and said, “We’ve sent a team to the Weeks house to check it out. Is there anything else you can tell me?”

Olivia glanced at Rupert and then said, “I think you should check out the Sen and Moreau homes as well, here are the addresses.”

Claire called her agents and gave them the addresses and then turned back to Olivia. “Why these addresses?”

“Just a feeling,” Olivia said vaguely.

Claire looked at her skeptically, “Withholding information won’t help. Anything you can tell us may be important and crucial to finding your kids.”

“There really isn’t anything specific, just a feeling,” Olivia insisted.

Claire sighed, there was definitely more to this. However, she was needed in the field now. She needed to head over to the Weeks’ house. “Any reason Justin Weeks would do your children harm? What can you tell me about him?”

“He had an altercation with Arizona, Harry and Kellan at school,” Rupert replied.

“He’s a teacher?”

“No, he’s a student.”

“A student? Claire asked surprised. It was very unlikely that this was the work of a student. Though, he may be involved in some way. “Can you give me some quick background before I head over?”

“Justin Weeks, son of Grayson Weeks, mother deceased. He is seventeen, plays hockey. Dates a girl called Simla Sen, which is why I felt that perhaps her house should be checked as well.”

“Okay, I have to head on down there, I’ll be back for more information,” she said, as she turned to head off.

Olivia was exhausted and fell into Rupert’s arms, unaware that they had company.

“Olivia.”

Olivia turned around to the vaguely familiar voice. “Inez?”

I had never been so happy to hear the word Poppet. The only word that could have made me any happier would have been Shrimp. I looked into the calm blue of David’s eyes and threw myself into his arms, feeling the warmth of his body. I could feel everyone else gasping in surprise and I heard several guffaws. But, I didn’t care. I felt right again, in a safe place.

“Nice to see you too, Poppet,” David whispered into my ear. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head against his chest.

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered reassuringly.

How could it be? I wondered unconvinced. Everything was out of synch.

“Do you two know each other?” Christian asked surprised, from behind me. “Everything okay, A?”

I turned around to him. “I’m okay. David and I are old family friends. I’m going to hang with him for a bit. See you guys at school tomorrow.” I had become quite good at making up stories on the go.

Christian nodded, “Great job on the ice today, A. Glad you joined the team, David. Coach seems very impressed with you, can’t wait to see you in action. Thursday, right? See you guys tomorrow at school, I’ve got to go.”

“David, how did you get here?” I asked, not quite sure whether I was imagining him or if he really was here.

“How did you get here, Poppet?”

“I don’t know!”

“I’m not going to ask you a bunch of questions right now, since my dad’s on his way and he’ll have plenty for you.”

“Your dad?” I asked puzzled.

“Kevin Sanderson from Ames. You spoke to him? He’s on his way.”

“Yes, I did speak to him. But wait, he’s your dad?” I repeated.

David laughed, “Yup, that’s right. Twilight Zone, right?”

“No kidding,” I agreed. “I don’t get it. Explain!”

“No, let’s wait till Dad gets here. He’ll be here soon enough.”

“Have you seen Kellan, David?”

“Poppet, no. Look really, let’s wait with the questions. Dad needs to be here.”

“Okay,” I replied unsatisfied. However, I stank. A shower would be good. I was quick. There were no showers so I made do with my baby wipes. We met back up by his bike in the parking lot.

“Where are you meeting my dad?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I said that I’d wait at my friend Monica’s house for him. He’s going to call me once he lands.”

“Gotcha. It would be awkward for me to turn up at you friend’s house, so how about you call her and tell her that something’s come up and you can’t make it?”

I nodded and called Monica. Then I turned back to David again. “So, what do you want to do while we wait for your dad? Seeing that you don’t want to talk talk. Though I think we should.”

He shook his head firmly. “Let’s go and hang out at your place. Your dad around?”

“Nope.”

“Perfect.”

It was a surreal feeling speeding through the streets of Princeton on the back of David’s bike. It wasn’t his regular bike, though, this was a different one.

Had he come through the portal to find me? Why? Why hadn’t Mom come? Why send David? I thought the portal had been closed. Had I somehow been chucked through it just before it closed? I wish I could remember more, but it was all a blank.

So, David’s dad, Kevin, worked at Ames–bit of a coincidence. I’d have to get to the bottom of this, though apparently not now. I would have to wait until David’s dad got here. Not long, hopefully. David seemed to know exactly where to go and we arrived at my driveway in no time. I got off the bike and handed David my helmet. We wandered inside to the empty house. I was so glad that David was with me. Seconds after we closed the front door behind us, the bell rang.

“Mrs. Golden, hi!” I said, opening the door.

“Hi, Arizona. I saw you arriving. I know your dad’s away, so I brought over a casserole,” she said, as she handed it to me.

“Thanks, Mrs. Golden. This is really nice of you.”

“Who’s the boy?” she asked, staring at David suspiciously.

“Oh, this is David, a friend from school,” I said winking at David.

“Well, make sure you don’t stay too long,” she said eying David. “Maybe I should come in and wait until you are ready to go. Arizona shouldn’t be entertaining young men in the house on her own,” she said, as she firmly stepped inside.

“I was just dropping Arizona off. I’m heading off right now, Mrs. Golden,” David smiled. He grabbed his helmet and winked at me before he left on his bike, throwing me a reassuring nod as he drove off.

“Why don’t you come over and have dinner with us, Arizona?” Beth said, taking my hand.

“I’m exhausted, Mrs. Golden. I need to get to bed. Can I come by over the weekend?”

“That sounds splendid. We can bake something together. Maybe a lemon tart?”

“Wonderful!” I said, trying not to explode with laughter at the way she said tart–rolling her r in a comical Scottish accent and then spitting out the t with resound. She wasn’t the least bit Scottish; I wondered where she’d picked up this funny way of saying tart.

“Well, if you’re okay being on your own, I’ll head back,” she said. “I haven’t seen Gertrude around. Is she all right? She usually comes up to the door to greet me?” Beth remarked.

“Yes, she’s fine. She’s at a doggie sleep over for a few days. Dad was going to be away and I was going to be busy, so we’re having someone else look after her for a few days.”

“You know, I’m always happy to help, Arizona. I love Gertrude, she can always come and hang out with me,” Beth offered. “How was camp? Did you go?”

“Um, okay,” I mumbled. I had decided not to go to that weekend girl’s hockey camp, however, it was a convenient excuse for not having been around. So I decided to be vague. I hugged her. “Thank you for the casserole, Mrs. Golden. I’ll make sure to ask you to look after Gertrude the next time.”

She nodded and made her way back home. Five minutes or so after she left, there was a knock at the window and I let David back in.

“All clear?” he joked.

“Yup, get in. Want some chicken casserole?”

“Sounds good! I’m starving.”

I served up two heaping plates. I was hoping that David had changed his mind and would talk, but he didn’t say much during our dinner. He had, for whatever reason, decided to wait for his dad to arrive. We listened to some music to help us while away some time and then turned on the TV. I made myself comfortable on the couch, with my head on David’s shoulder. I closed my eyes enjoying the feeling of peace. I was so relaxed and tired, I could feel myself drifting off.

~

David looked down at Arizona lying peacefully, thankful that she had fallen asleep. She needed answers, but he was uncomfortable talking to her before he had spoken with his dad. As soon as her phone rang, he answered it, hoping it wouldn’t wake her.

“Hello?”

“I’m calling to speak to Arizona.”

“Dad, it’s me,” David replied.

“David! What are you doing here?” Kevin asked astonished.

“Long story, Dad. We should probably talk before you see Arizona. I’m with her at her house. You’ve landed, I’m guessing. Drive over, I’ll meet you a couple of houses down, she has nosy neighbors.”

“What are you doing at her house? I didn’t even know that you two knew each other,” Kevin said mystified.

“I’ll explain when you get here,” David whispered. “Text when you arrive.”

“Okay, David. See you soon, Son. I’ve missed you.”

“Me, too, Dad.”

David had not seen his father for about three months. Their lifestyles made more frequent visits tricky. However now that he could wander on his own, this would change. It was going to be great to see him, but it made explaining this whole situation to Arizona more difficult.

Just under an hour later, a text came through and David left Arizona sleeping peacefully on the couch with a blanket that he had carefully wrapped around her. He snuck out to meet up with his dad. David looked fondly at his father. He was a slightly older version of himself. They grabbed and hugged each other tightly.

“Son, so good to see you. How are Lena and your mother?”

“They’re good.”

“David, what are you doing here?”

“I have been assigned to Arizona, so I came over to make sure she is okay.”

“And is she?”

“She seems to be all right physically. She played well at hockey this evening. I can’t imagine the turmoil within her, though,” sighed David.

“What’s she doing back here?” Kevin asked.

“She doesn’t know. She suddenly woke up here, I assume from the little we have talked so far. She went missing from Mountain View along with Kellan, Harry and Ella.”

“You’re kidding? Right?” Kevin said incredulously. “I had a very brief conversation with your mom, but she didn’t mention the other kids. Have they come through the portal as well?”

“We don’t know. I heard that Kellan had been found just before I left, but I don’t know any of the details. I can head back and find out.”

“Let’s talk to Arizona first,” Kevin suggested.

David nodded. They walked over together, quietly, and let themselves in through the patio doors.

“I’ll go wake her, the kitchen’s through there. There’s some food in the oven if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks, David,” Kevin said, as he walked over to the kitchen.

~

“Poppet, wake up. My dad’s here,” David whispered gently into Arizona’s ear.

“Where?”

“He’s in the kitchen,” David replied. “He called when you were sleeping, so I answered the phone and told him to head over. He parked a street down, so that the Goldens won’t feel it necessary to come and check in with you.”

“Thanks, David,” I said, and headed through to the kitchen with him.

“Dad, this is Arizona.”

Peas in a pod was the expression that came to mind when I saw David’s dad. They were practically identical; David’s dad was just an older version. I trusted him immediately.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Sanderson, or I’m guessing Dr. Sanderson?” I said, extending my hand to shake his. “David, isn’t your last name Skoog?” I asked, suddenly mystified.

“Yes, I use my mother’s last name.”

“Oh, okay,” I accepted. “So, I don’t know where to start. I have so many questions.”

“As do I,” replied Kevin. “May I ask the first one?”

I nodded. May as well take turns.

“How did you get here?” Kevin asked.

“I have no idea. My friend, Kellan and I were abducted in Mountain View. We were taken to what I think was a storage area in a basement. After a while someone came to get me from there, I don’t know what happened, I blacked out. Then I woke up here.”

“Do you know who abducted you and why?” Kevin asked.

“It’s my turn to ask a question, so hold that one for a moment,” I said firmly. I was going to demand answers. Someone had to know something. “Do you know if Kellan’s here?”

David looked at me and said, “Kellan was found in Mountain View. He’s been taken to the hospital there. I don’t have any other info.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Can I see him?” I asked hopefully.

“He didn’t come through the portal, he is not here in this dimension, so you can’t see him right now,” David said reluctantly.

“Arizona, do you know who abducted you?” Kevin asked again.

“No, but we did find Justin’s hockey stick where we were being held. Okay, my turn again. David, how come you’re here?”

“Poppet, I knew you were going to ask me that and that’s mainly why I was reluctant to get into it before. I’ve been wondering how to answer that one. I can’t at the moment. You just have to trust in me. I came to make sure you’re all right.”

“That’s no answer! Did you come through the portal? How?” I asked frustrated. “Look, if you guys won’t level with me, I won’t talk to you, either.”

Kevin sat up and looked at me sternly. “Arizona, I came over because you contacted me. So, I’m here now to help you. In order to do so, you have to talk to me. We can’t give you all the answers you seek, but we can try to help you. If that’s what you want. If not, I’ll head back to Ames.”

“No, please stay,” I said swiftly. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m so frustrated.”

“I can imagine,” David murmured.

“Arizona, to help you, what I first need to know is what is it that you want?”

“Well, answers mostly. And I want to see Kellan,” I said.

“Do you want to head back to your Darley life or stay here?”

“See, that’s the thing–I don’t know any more. I was so sure that I wanted to be back here. Nothing has changed here. I just woke up right back into my regular routine. So, why am I so unhappy? I miss Kellan terribly and I’m so worried something bad has happened to him.”

“Would things change if you knew he was okay? Would you stay here then?” David asked.

“I don’t know.” I genuinely didn’t. I sort of missed my whole Darley life. “David, I miss Harry and even Ella.”

“Are you aware that they are missing as well?” Kevin asked carefully.

I felt like someone had punched me. “Missing? Harry and Ella? When? How? They weren’t with Kellan and me. Why would anyone take Ella?”

“I don’t have any details at all, but will try to find out more,” David said.

“David, how would you be able to find out anything more? You mean your dad, right?” I asked, once again wondering what David’s story was.

“Yeah, of course,” he nodded.

“So I was taken with Kellan. I ended up here. Kellan is still in Mountain View. Harry and Ella are missing?”

“As far as we know, Arizona. However, we are here to help you,” Kevin repeated. “I can get a word back to your mother that you are okay and happy to be back in Princeton, if that’s what you want me to do.”

“How would you do that? I thought the portal was closed,” I asked curiously. “Can you open it? Is that how I came through?”

“I have no idea how you came through, I can only assume it was through the portal. Who controlled it, I have no idea. I do need to get back to Ames to look into it. I’ll take the first flight back in the morning.”

“Did you come through the portal, David?” I persisted.

“Poppet, I can’t talk about that,” he sighed.

I could feel frustration rising within me again. “I hate all these secrets!”

Kevin nodded, “Secrets are a fact of life. Everyone has them.”

True, but still annoying. I would get to the bottom of this. “So, even if I wanted to go back, there is no way at the moment because of the portal?”

“Well, I’ll see what I can do with it after I have examined the data,” Kevin replied.

“So, how will you get a message across to Mom? By a time-traveling messenger pigeon?” I added sarcastically.

“Something like that,” he laughed.

“Very funny. Not,” I retorted.

“It’s fairly clear that we need more information before we can determine what would be the best thing to do. I’m going back to Ames to try to get some. David, will you come with me? Arizona, you’re fine here with your dad, aren’t you? What have you told him?” Kevin asked.

“Well, he’s not actually here,” I replied sourly. “But, yes, I’m totally fine here.”

“You should go and stay with one of your friends or with the Goldens until he gets back,” David said.

“Oh, I’m used to it. I’ll be fine.”

“Arizona, do you have money for essentials? I’m not happy with you staying here on your own, especially after what you’ve been through,” Kevin said concerned.

I was touched. And tired, which made me overly emotional and a tear escaped down my cheek. “Ignore me, I’m just tired.”

“Dad, I’m going to stay here until her dad gets back. I’ll come see you after that.”

“Good. Walk me out?” Kevin asked. “It was really nice to see you, Arizona. Try not to worry. I know that’s hard under the circumstances, but try. I’ll be back tomorrow night with more news, I hope, and we’ll take it from there.”

I nodded. I was very grateful. I didn’t feel as lost as before. I was very worried, though, especially for Ella. And Harry. They were still missing.

“Be back in a little while, Poppet,” David assured me, before he walked outside with his dad. I sat down and cuddled into my blanket.

~

“Dad, it’s going to be so hard not to tell her about the Wanderers,” David said, as his father stepped into the car to head back to the airport.

“I know, but you absolutely can’t. You understand that, don’t you,” Kevin said firmly.

“Yes, I do,” David said reassuringly. “I’ll try to keep her calm and safe. I’ll head back to Mom to try to get some more information before you get back here tomorrow. I’ll meet up with you before you see Arizona again.”

“Sounds good, Son.”

David watched his father’s car drive into the distance before he headed back to watch over Arizona.

I woke up to the impatient toots of a car. The TV was still on and I was still sitting snuggled in David’s arms. We must have fallen asleep watching True Blood. I carefully stretched out my legs trying not to disturb David, who looked so peaceful. The doorbell sounded twice–very impatiently. So much for trying to let David sleep. He was wide awake, sitting up with his brows shaped into a questioning furrow.

“Wassup?” he mumbled. The doorbell sounded again. This time in a long, uninterrupted assault.

“Okay, okay! I’m coming!” I shouted and ran to open it. “Hey, M! A fire somewhere?” I asked an impatient Monica whose finger was still on the doorbell.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said and punched my shoulder. “What took you so long? We have school, come on!” Then something caught her attention behind me and her expression completely changed to one of amusement. “Stevens, what’s this?”

I felt David’s hand on my shoulder. “It’s a boy, M. That’s what it is.

“Really, not a camel then?” she mused cheekily.

“Oh, give it a rest, get inside,” I said, and shut the door before Mrs. Golden popped her head out to see what was going on. “This is David, an old family friend. He’s moved into the area and has just started at our school.” I couldn’t help but wonder where David had moved, which address is he using? “Give us five minutes and we’ll be ready to go,” I said, pointing David to Dad’s bedroom to freshen up. I jumped into the shower. It took me fifteen minutes–so Darley! My old self would have been ready in five. Monica didn’t look the least bit pleased.

“We’re not gonna have time to stop for coffee. I’m gonna be a grump for the rest of the day,” she warned.

“Rest of the day…,” I chuckled.

She rolled her eyes and punched me again.

“Can David ride with us?” I asked.

“Of course. I want details. Get into the car and start blabbing.”

Good luck with getting David to blab, I thought to myself. I climbed into the front with Monica while David sprawled out on the back seat. He looked pretty awesome for someone who hadn’t showered. Down with the hormones, Stevens!

“Start talking or I’m not driving,” Monica threatened.

“What do you want to know?” I asked.

“Everything! After all, I just picked up my BFF from her house where she spent the night–I presume–with the hunk in the back. Right? Who is he?”

“I told you already,” I sighed. He’s a family friend.”

“Family friend!” Monica practically snorted. “I don’t think so. I know all your friends. Hey, you!” she said, looking at David through the rear-view mirror. “Where are you from?”

“Ah,” said David, his face breaking into a smile.

I so hoped he would keep it simple.

“I’m from Mountain View,” he replied.

“Mountain View? In California?” Monica asked.

“Yup, that’s right,” David nodded.

“Isn’t that where Ariele moved? And your Mom’s there, too, isn’t she, A?” Monica inquired.

I nodded. “Yes, that’s right. I sort of know David from there.”

“But you’ve never been there!” she exclaimed incredulously.

I did some extra fast thinking. “Well, that’s where I went over the weekend.”

“Oh, why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?” she demanded.

“Because I didn’t tell anyone, I just went. Even Dad doesn’t know.”

“Did you suddenly miss your mom and sis?” she asked sarcastically.

“I guess,” I mumbled and she laughed. “I saw Ariele.”

She looked over at me puzzled. “Why on earth didn’t you tell me? You even asked if I had talked to her. Geez, Arizona!”

“I’m sorry. I should have.”

“No kidding,” she said angrily. “Well, so spill now or I’m going to flatten you.”

No harm in telling her a bit about my visit, I could leave out the new brother and new dad bit…and the time travel. “M, I was at Mountain View visiting with Mom and Ella.”

“Did they have something to do with the ridiculous new look?” Monica interrupted.

“I guess. I thought you liked it?”

“I like it,” David offered from the back.

“I’m sure you do,” Monica scoffed. “Did you have anything to do with it?”

“Of course not,” I interjected. “Look, I woke up with blond hair, I’ve no idea how it happened.”

“Priceless!” laughed Monica. “Your mom and Ella gave you a makeover when you were sleeping?”

I pulled a face at her and looked out the window.

“Oh, all right. I’m sorry,” she said. “David, are you a family friend from Mountain View?”

“Yup.”

“What were you doing over at Arizona’s house?”

“My family is moving up here, so I came to check it out and enroll in school. I’m hanging out with Arizona until our house is ready.”

We arrived at school and Monica parked the car. “Guys, this doesn’t quite add up, but I’ll let it slide for now. So you guys are just friends, not hooking up or anything?” she asked pointedly.

“Nope, just pals,” I replied hurriedly and rushed into the office for our late passes with David and Monica at my heel.

“Not so fast,” said Monica, grabbing my elbow. “You will tell me the rest, right?”

I nodded and turned to David as she hurried off to her first class. “Do you need me to show you to your class?” There was no way he was going to be able to get there without some direction.

“I signed up for all the ones you’re in,” he winked. “So, lead the way.”

I was kind of relieved. Yesterday had been an awful day at school. I felt so alone. Having David in my classes would certainly help.

“Poppet, I’m coming to the first class and then I’m cutting the next few. I have some things I need to do.”

“What?”

“Tell you later,” he said infuriatingly, as he led me through to our first class.

All eyes were on us, there were a few hushed murmurs. I caught Christian’s look right away and nodded at him. I could only imagine what thoughts were running through his mind as I took my seat. David was naturally affectionate and his hands had been on my shoulders as we had walked into class. Christian had seen me throw myself at David yesterday. He’d left David and me alone at the rink and now we were walking into class together. Yes, I could only imagine…not that it really bothered me. Or did it? It somehow did. The way Christian was looking at me, I felt a sense of guilt. Can’t imagine why. I hadn’t done anything wrong. David was my friend. I wished that I could remember our history back in Mountain View, but try as I had, I couldn’t. It was clear that David had known Arizona Darley for a long time. I had no idea how long though or if we were even friends. He treated me with familiarity and I felt comfortable with it.

Last night, after his dad left, David had come back inside, plunked himself down on the couch next to me and turned on the TV. He had put his arms out for me to rest on and I had done just that, feeling no awkwardness whatsoever. Then he switched on True Blood, a favorite show of mine, and we sat and watched it. He knew me. I had fallen asleep sitting on the couch with him and had not stirred until Monica woke us this morning. It had seemed perfectly natural. He didn’t feel like a brother, but not a boyfriend either–I think–although I did find him very attractive.

I glanced over at him. He was unbelievably hot. I noticed the other girls in class stealing looks at him, smiling at him. I didn’t like it.

“Miss Stevens, do you think you could pry your eyes away from Mr. Skoog and pay attention? You’re not exactly acing this class,” Mr. Harvey said sarcastically. I could hear muffled giggling sounds all around me. Well, I thought to myself as I rolled my eyes at Mr. Harvey and got handed a detention slip, maybe I would pay attention if he could stop being such a mind-blowing bore. He had seriously killed biology and my promising career in medicine….not!

I sat up and tried to concentrate through the rest of the class, but my mind kept wandering off. I needed to know if Kellan was okay. I was hoping that David would cut the next class to try to find out. I couldn’t imagine how, though. He still hadn’t told me how he’d come over. He was very cagey and clammed up every time I asked him. It didn’t make any sense. Maybe he came through another secret portal. After all, my mom’s couldn’t be the only one in existence. Imagine that, lots of portals around! If he had come through another portal, he could take me back! Is that what I wanted? To go back? I did want to go back to Kellan and I needed to know what was happening to Ella and Harry. If there was another portal, they may have been transported over as well. I felt sick. The thought of Ella suddenly waking up, all alone, not knowing where she was, made me tremble.

“Arizona, are you all right? You look ill,” Mr. Harvey said from above me. I hadn’t even noticed that he had walked over to my desk.

“I’ll take her over to the nurse’s station, Mr. Harvey,” David said from behind him.

“Thank you, David. Here is a hall pass,” Mr. Harvey said and stood aside, so David could get to me.

I couldn’t help but feel the incredulous looks of my classmates. I was Arizona Stevens, not a flipping Barbie doll. I’d never been taken to the nurse’s office before. That’s for sissies. No, I lie. There was one time, after a spat with Benjamin when I had ended up with a split lip, but I had flattened him. So here I was, Barbie Arizona, off to the nurses’ station with–my knight in shining armor–David. Not cool. I had to get a grip on myself.

“David, I’m fine. Let’s go back to class.”

“You didn’t look fine in there, you were shaking. Probably best to have the nurse take a look,” David suggested.

“No, I’m fine. I was thinking about Ella, wondering if she’s all alone and scared somewhere. This is petrifying. I can’t believe she’s missing! And Harry. Where could they be? David, did you come through another portal?”

David stroked my hair and said, “Something like that.”

“Why are you being so vague?” I hissed angrily.

“Because I have to be,” he replied resignedly. “You have to trust me. If you are feeling up to it, I’ll take you back to class after the nurse signs the form. Promise to only think happy thoughts until I get back. There’s no point in upsetting yourself. There’s nothing you can do at the moment. I’ll be back later tonight, with my dad. Hopefully with some answers,” he said.

“Hopefully?” I whispered.

“Well, I promise to have some answers. I’ll find out what I can.”

We returned to biology class after a quick stop at the nurses’ office. There were only a few more minutes before class ended and I got ready to head to English. I noticed David speaking to Christian briefly before he waved a quick good bye at me and headed off. I hoped that he would come back and not go missing as well.

“A, David asked me to keep watch over you. Not feeling well?” Christian asked, coming up behind me as I walked out the classroom.

“Thanks, Christian. I’m feeling much better. Just felt a bit woozy for a second there. No need to worry,” I said reassuringly.

“Well, I promised him that I would stay with you until he gets back tonight. So I will, unless Monica wants to take over later.”

I sighed. I so hated being babysat! “Christian, I’m okay. I really am. Scram.”

“Charming as ever, A,” he laughed. “Look, I’ll keep an eye on you from afar. Promise me you’ll hang with Monica this evening, okay?”

“Okay,” I said gratefully. The rest of the day dragged on. I had lunch with my team and received endless cracks about my hair. And lots of questions about David. I tried to keep my answers as simple as I could. It was too confusing to remember all the details. I was relieved when the day came to an end and I got dropped off at home by Christian.

“Sure you don’t want me to stay until Monica gets here?” he asked for the zillionth time.

“Christian, I’m sure. I’m going to watch some TV and have a snack, that’s all. I’ll call you if I need you.”

“Okay,” he agreed and drove off.

I felt a sense of relief when I got in. The house was empty, but I was getting used to the solitude again. I made myself a coffee and then decided to go for a run through the streets of Princeton to take my mind off stuff I really needed to think about. I ran through the Princeton University grounds, I spotted a black squirrel and took a picture of it with my cell phone. I ran over to Hoagie Haven, my favorite sub place, and I got myself a fat lady–think everything including fries in a sub–and a soda. By the time I got back to the house it was well past nine and I was hoping to see David waiting for me in the driveway. No such luck, he would probably be very late. I turned on the TV, watched True Blood again and fell asleep.

A crashing noise, followed by heavy footsteps woke me up at a little after three in the morning. It was coming from my bedroom; I had fallen asleep on the couch. It was pitch black. I stumbled around and found the light switch. I contemplated switching on the lights, but changed my mind. I was terrified, what if someone was in the house? I felt for my phone as I stood motionless, listening for more sounds. I stood there for ages, just listening. There were no more sounds. Perhaps I dreamt it. Could it have been David? No, I decided that he wouldn’t be sneaking about. He would have used the front door. I had my phone ready to press 911 as I edged slowly toward my bedroom to investigate. The noise had definitely come from in there.

Something just didn’t add up, FBI Special Agent Claire Adams thought to herself as she made her way to the Grayson residence from the hospital. She’d hoped for more information from the Fox boy, but he didn’t remember much. So, their only lead was the hockey stick, engraved with the letters JW for Justin Weeks, probably, but maybe not. She would have to investigate other possibilities as well. Justin Weeks was a start, hence the trip to the Grayson House.

Claire had served in CARD, Child Abduction Rapid Deployment, for the last three years and had just recently been assigned as team leader. She felt a grave sense of duty. This had to be handled just right and in a timely manner. Three children were missing; it was her responsibility to find them.

She was sure that the Darleys were keeping something from her. In these kind of cases, there was always a possibility that the parents were directly involved in the abduction. She doubted that this was the case here. However, they definitely knew something that they weren’t telling her. Were they protecting someone? Once again, this seemed improbable. After all, their children were missing and they were genuinely distraught. Had they been threatened? This was the most likely reason for them not to cooperate fully. They may have had a ransom call they weren’t sharing. Her team had just tapped their phones; they may have missed an earlier ransom call. The GPS directed Claire to pull off the highway onto a winding country road. She couldn’t help but admire the scenery. The sky was a clear blue and the hard-looking mountains in the distance took her breath away. This really was a pretty place. It was hard to believe that anything bad could happen here. Well, maybe for some. However, she had hardened during her time with the agency. Very bad things could happen in the most unlikely places.

She turned off into a side road at the next GPS command. It was a fairly average-looking street in a middle-class development. The lawns looked perfect, the houses much further apart than usual. She drove up to the fifth house on the left and parked. The Weeks’ residence was two houses up, but the road leading up to the house was already occupied with squad cars. She looked up the profiles of the inhabitants of the Weeks’ house on her new pre-release iPad, her favorite new toy–Grayson and Justin Weeks, father and son, both very attractive. Two of the local cops were waiting for her.

“Agent Adams?” Sally Mason inquired. She was intimidated by the FBI formality. Agent Adams looked pleasant enough, though. Not the least bit stuffy. That is, until she spoke. Sally hadn’t expected quite such a firm tone.

“Yes, and you are?” Claire asked the two detectives towering over her.

“I’m Sally, Sally Mason, and this is my partner Buck Pinsky.”

Claire didn’t feel that she had the time to be friendly or even polite, but she forced herself to nod and smile before she spoke. “Give me a quick update while we walk to the house. Just answer my questions briefly.”

Sally nodded, as she noticed Buck rolling his eyes at her. She was thankful that they towered over the agent, so she hadn’t caught that. Sally shot Buck the look and he quietly took a step back to walk behind Agent Adams and her.

“Have the children been found?” Claire asked, knowing well that it would have been radioed to her immediately if that had been the case.”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Sally replied, wishing that she had omitted the last few words, a simple no would have sufficed.

Claire was thinking the same as she continued. “Are any members of the Weeks’ family at the house?”

“Yes,” replied Sally. She hesitated before she added, “Dr. Weeks is at home. The only other person who lives at the address is his son, Justin. He’s not at home; we are trying to locate him. Dr. Sen is at the house as well.”

Claire spoke into her radio, making contact with her agents at the other two targets–the Sen and Moreau residences. “Anything?” she asked. The news was disappointing.

Claire then turned her attention on Sally. “Detective Mason, was there anyone else on the premises apart from Drs. Weeks and Sen?”

“No, not as far as I know. Although I, we, that’s Buck and I, have not been allowed in. Only the FBI teams are inside, we’re keeping an eye on the perimeter until we get further instructions. I was asked to wait for you.”

“Thank you, Detectives,” Claire said as she stepped up to the entrance of the house to be greeted by her team member, Tanya.

“You’re checking their phone calls, Tanya?” Claire asked her.

“Yes, we took their cell phones, so they couldn’t contact anyone while they were waiting for you,” Tanya replied.

“I’ll talk to Dr. Weeks first,” Claire said to Tanya, who nodded and led her to him. He was alone in the family room. He’d been separated from Dr. Sen.

“Dr. Weeks, I’m Agent Adams. I’m in charge of this investigation. I have some questions,” she said looking into the serene eyes of Grayson. She trusted him immediately, and then gave herself a shake. Trust no one, she said to herself sternly and pursed her lips into a severe line.

“What is going on? Does this have something to do with Olivia and Larry’s kids missing?” Grayson asked concerned.

“Yes, how did you know they were missing?”

“Rupert, Rupert Darley, called me last night to find out if I had seen them.”

“And have you?” Claire probed.

“No, of course not. I would have told Rupert immediately,” Grayson said, confused by her accusing tone.

“Where’s your son? Justin?” Claire asked, hoping that he had not gone missing as well.

“Justin left about an hour ago. He’s neither seen nor heard from them, either. I asked him before he left,” Grayson confirmed, anticipating the next question. “May I ask why you are searching my house?”

“I’m not able to say,” Claire stated “Could you stay in here for now? I need to check a few things out.” She left and followed Tanya into the kitchen where Dr. Sen was sitting sipping a cup of tea. For whatever reason, she had expected a man. Instead, this beautiful lady gazed at her, with the same serene expression she had encountered when looking at Dr. Weeks. She basically told the same story. Dr. Sen had seen her daughter, Simla, before she had left her house a few hours ago. Claire decided that she should search the premises again before heading out to the next house. She turned and thanked Dr. Sen and then followed Tanya out.

“Agent Adams, there is something else,” Erica said slowly, deliberating.

“Dr. Sen?” Claire was all ears now. “Please tell us anything you know, even if it seems unimportant,” she encouraged.

“I haven’t seen my husband, Raj, for a while.”

Claire scanned her notes. Raj Sen was a psychiatrist at the hospital. “When was the last time you saw him?”

“A few days ago,” Erica admitted ruefully.

“Could he be at the hospital? Have you tried contacting him on his cell?” Claire asked, going over the routine questions.

“He’s not answering his cell. He’s not at the hospital. We had a disagreement and I haven’t seen him since,” Erica said.

A domestic dispute? Not really a matter for the FBI. He was probably with another woman. Still, she’d look into it just in case he was involved somehow. “Does he have any issues with the Darley or Fox families?”

Erica shrunk into herself. Of course he did! If they found him, they would probably find the kids. But, she couldn’t say anything about the portal or her husband’s obsession with it. She kept it simple. A simple, but plausible lie would surely have the same effect–a hunt for Raj. Lying was so against her very core nature, but unavoidable at the moment. She had to do something, four children were missing. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what they were going through. “Raj, my husband, is obsessed with Olivia Darley.” There, she said it. It wasn’t even an untruth. He was sort of obsessed with her. “His obsession has become dark and scary.”

“Dark and scary? How?” Claire asked.

“Well, I fear he will do anything to get her attention,” Erica said falteringly.

“You think it’s possible that your husband took the kids to grab Dr. Darley’s attention?” she asked Erica. It made some sense. After all, Kellan had been returned. He had been found drugged. Dr. Raj Sen could have done that easily.

“It’s possible,” Erica replied sadly. “I feel like I don’t know him anymore.”

“I need you to come with me to your house. It’s been searched, the kids haven’t been found. But, I need access to the computers at your house and it would be helpful if you could show me around the basement and any out buildings.”

Erica nodded, though she knew that it would be a waste of time. Raj was too devious and smart to have left any clues at the house.

“Is there anywhere else he could have taken them?”

“I don’t know. He’s got keys to get into Ames, that’s where I work.”

“Send a search team out to Ames,” Claire barked into her phone. “Let’s go, Dr. Sen. I need to know what he was driving and anything else you think may help.”

Erica nodded and started scribbling on a piece of paper as they walked to Claire’s car and drove a couple of blocks to where Erica lived. The Sen residence was much the same as the one Claire had just visited. Squad cars surrounded the area. Once again, the local police greeted them. This time Claire didn’t have any questions for them. She hurried Dr. Sen into the house. It was swarming with FBI agents. Claire spotted her colleague, Special Agent Baker and rushed over to him. Claire had worked with Keith Baker for nearly a year. She had learned to trust his instincts, which were usually spot on, though he had a roundabout way of expressing them. He, like most, towered over Claire.

“So?” Claire asked, looking up at him.

“Nothing,” he shrugged. “The basement has been checked, it’s fully finished,” he said carefully, nodding at Erica. “Dr. Sen, could you give us a moment? Please wait in the kitchen.”

“Sure,” said Erica, disappointed. Why were they interested in the basement? Strange.

As soon as Erica was out of earshot, Keith continued. “The basement is not at all like that described by the Fox kid. I assume Dr. Sen doesn’t know that Kellan has been found?”

Claire shook her head and said, “The Weeks’ basement was fully finished as well. No signs of any hidden doors, et cetera?”

“No, the search was pretty thorough. The dogs checked it out as well. No sign of the missing kids having been down there,” Agent Baker said resignedly.

“Okay. The kid, Simla, has she been back? Or the husband, Raj?” Claire asked, looking at her iPad.

“Nope. Any chance I could get one of those?” Keith asked, looking down at it admiringly.

“Can’t see why not,” Claire smiled as she turned to head back into the kitchen.

“Any idea where Simla may be?” Claire asked Erica.

“No, but then I hardly ever know. She does her own thing. I can try her cell phone,” Erica offered hoping that Raj had not got Simla involved in this.

“We’ve already tried her cell phone, there’s no reply,” Claire said.

“She doesn’t really answer calls. She seems to use text exclusively. Shall I text her?”

“Yes, please do. Something general, so she’ll call you back,” Claire added.

“Could I have my cell phone back?” Erica asked.

“I don’t have it. It’s probably still at the Weeks’ house. I’ll have one of the Agents text her,” Claire said talking into her radio again. “Okay, can you get us on the computers? Do you have all the pass codes?”

“No, but they’ll be easy enough to guess,” Erica said confidently. Both Raj and Simla were pretty predictable. She managed to guess the passwords and the agents set to work, rummaging through the files and emails. Where could Raj have taken the children? Erica wondered. Where could he keep four kids hidden? A shiver went down her spine as the unthinkable scenario unfolded in her imagination. Could he have taken them through the portal? The FBI would never be able to find them then. Had he taken Simla and Justin as well? They had both been seen this morning, so that could surely not be the case? Unless they had just left. They could have disappeared anywhere–to any time, in any dimension. She closed her eyes. Even with her abilities, how would she ever be able to track them down? Then she remembered– predictable.

“Dr. Sen, thank you for your cooperation. A few agents are going to stay here and watch the place, I hope that’s all right with you,” Claire stated rather than asked. She needed to head over to the Moreau house, not that she expected much.

Erica nodded as Claire got up to leave. “Could I have my cell phone back now?” she asked.

“Sure, I’ll have an agent bring it by,” Claire said, as she headed for the door. She got to her car and brought up the Moreau data on her iPad. The Moreau family consisted of the father, Pierre, the mother, Glenda, and one daughter, Ariele. Claire studied the faces carefully. They didn’t have the same serene look as Erica and Grayson. These three looked uptight, perhaps they’d had a spat before these pictures had been taken. They were new to the area. Claire scanned their profiles and then punched the address into the GPS and headed off. The Moreau residence was about forty minutes away. Five minutes later, her phone rang–it was her personal ringtone, could only be Harriett.

“Hey, Mom! When are you going to be home?” came the sweet, little voice over the phone. Harriett was four and the love of her life. Claire had been through a gruesome adoption ordeal with her partner, Andrea, to be allowed to add Harriett to their family. Harriet called her mom and Andrea, mommy, to distinguish between them.

“Baby, I won’t be back for a few days, but I’ll Skype with you later and tell you a story,” she promised. These sorts of days away were so difficult. She was so glad that Andrea had opted to be a stay-at-home mom. Claire couldn’t have done this job otherwise.

“Promise, Mom?”

“I promise. I have to go now. Mom’s driving. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Mom. I love you,” her darling said so sweetly that all Claire wanted to do was drive straight home.

“Love you too,” she said. Thank goodness for Skype.

Claire would have missed the entrance to the Moreau house had it not been for the numerous squad cars parked outside. It was very different from the two she had just visited. It was well hidden from the main road, behind tall trees and untrimmed bushes. It was small, but pleasant-looking. Her notes told her that it was a rental. The search had come up empty here as well. She walked into the small kitchen where the mother, Dr. Glenda Moreau, had been sequestered. She had decided to speak to her first, as she was the primary contact between the two families. Claire wondered why the elegant-looking woman seemed so tense.

Glenda felt tense. She had no idea what was going on. Olivia had called her last night to find out if she’d seen Arizona or Kellan. Then she’d called her back to ask the same about Harry and Ella. Something serious was up. And she just knew that it was somehow linked to the October Project. But she couldn’t talk about that. She didn’t even know much, though she had been able to gather from her data at Ames that it had to do with time travel. She was sure that Olivia had built some kind of portal. Why had her house been searched? Was it just random? She would have to be very careful with what she said to this agent. She hoped that her husband and especially Ariele wouldn’t let anything slip inadvertently.

“Dr. Moreau, I’m Agent Adams. Could you tell me how you know Dr. Darley?”

Glenda flinched. Nothing she said would check out. She first had noticed Olivia when she was a student at Imperial College in London during one of her physics lectures. Olivia had been one of the brightest students she had ever had. Coincidentally (although she now wondered if it indeed was just coincidence), they had both relocated to New Jersey, but they had not come into contact with each other there. Glenda had been busy at the astrophysics department at Princeton University, while Olivia had been working secretly at Ames while pretending to be a stay-at-home housewife. She could hardly share that with this agent though, could she!

“Dr. Darley head hunted me for a job.” She decided to be as brief as possible.

“What kind of job?” Claire persisted, sensing that Glenda was terribly uncomfortable.

“Oh, at Ames. Dr. Darley is my boss,” Glenda explained.

“Do you work with Drs. Weeks and Sen?” Claire continued.

“No, not directly,” replied Glenda, wondering where this was going.

“Do you know them at all?” Claire asked surprised. She had wrongly assumed that they all worked together.

“Not really. I’ve seen them about, of course. But, I haven’t talked to either of them,” Glenda confirmed.

“So, your projects are completely separate?” Claire probed.

“To be candid, I really don’t know. Larry Fox heads the department and Olivia works for him. Olivia employed me. I believe she also supervises whatever Erica Sen and Grayson Weeks are working on. I have no idea if all the projects are linked. I’m at present just crunching data. I’m fairly new to the department.” Glenda knew how improbable this sounded and anticipated the next question.

“What sort of data?”

Glenda tried to keep it simple. “Highly complex collider data.” She looked over at the agent. Her eyes definitely glazed over when the word collider was used. Good. “Have you had any news of the children?”

Claire was taken aback. “How did you know that they were missing?”

“Oh, Olivia called me last night to ask if I’d seen them.”

“Why would you have seen them?”

“Well, not me exactly, I guess. My daughter Ariele is good friends with Arizona, Kellan and Harry. They hang out at school and outside school, as well. I guess Olivia thought that she may have heard from them.”

“Could I speak with Ariele?” Claire asked.

“I’d rather you don’t. She’s very upset. But if you must, I’d like to be present. She’s upstairs with their friend, Ali, at the moment. Ali’s very upset, as well. They’re all very close.”

“I’m going to have a quick chat with your husband. Can we speak to the girls then? I’ll have one of the agents call Ali’s parents for permission,” Claire assured Glenda.

Glenda’s heart was racing as she nodded at Agent Adams. This could all go horribly wrong. What if Pierre or Ariele let slip that they had arrived here from the future? She hoped that they had learned their lesson the last time they had done that, during their psych evaluation after their accident. It hadn’t been an easy time for Ariele, or her husband. After all, they had not devoted most of their lives to studying the possibility of time travel. At least her mind was open to the possibility, which was why Olivia had brought her over. Ariele had just been thrown into a different time/dimension with no warning and no explanation and had been expected to deal with it. When they’d asked questions, they had been labeled as mad. So Ariele knew to keep quiet, but could she under pressure?

Claire did not spend much time asking Pierre Moreau questions. He was a fairly nondescript, harmless-looking man. Not that his appearance made any difference to Claire. She was way too experienced for that. However, unlike his wife, he seemed to be genuinely lost. He had no idea what was going on at all. He had never met any of the kids, nor knew the other families. He had just been offered a French teacher’s position at the high school, which he seemed happy about. Claire decided that, for now, she was wasting her time with him. For now, she really wanted to talk to the daughter, Ariele, and her friend Ali.

“Dr. Moreau, can we speak to the girls now?” Claire asked, walking back into the kitchen.

Agent Baker interrupted them. “I haven’t been able to get the girl Ali’s parents on the phone. So I guess, you can only speak to Dr. Moreau’s daughter for now.”

“Okay, thanks, Keith,” she said, as Glenda went up to fetch her daughter down to the kitchen.

Glenda was so glad that she had been allowed to get Ariele herself.

“Mom, did they find them?” Ariele asked, as soon as Glenda opened the door to her bedroom. She looked at her daughter and then at Ali. They both looked like they had been crying.

“I don’t think so. I don’t think they would be here if they had. They’d like to talk to you, Ariele. It’s a nice agent called Claire.”

“Why me?” Ariele asked temperamentally.

“Well, actually, both of you. But they can’t get hold of your parents for permission, Ali. So, just you for now, Ariele. Come down with me, they are waiting. Will you be all right up here on your own for a bit, Ali?” Ali nodded as the two of them closed the door and headed down to the kitchen.

“Hello, Ariele. My name is Claire. I just have a few questions to ask you.”

Ariele looked at the small, blond lady in the kitchen. Not at all what she imagined an FBI agent would look like. She nodded politely and sat down on one of the bar stools. “Have you found any of my friends?” Ariele asked directly, staring at Claire.

It was best to keep Kellan’s return under wraps for now, for his own safety. However, she could tell that Ariele was not going be fobbed off. “Ariele, I have to keep all that sort of information confidential for now, for their safety. I also need to ask you some questions for the same reason.”

Ariele nodded, reluctantly.

Claire continued. “Do you know anyone who may want to harm your friends?”

“I guess. Not Ella, though! Who’d want to harm her? Arizona, Kellan and Harry have a thing going with Simla and Justin.”

This was the second time this had been mentioned, so Claire delved into it. “Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“I guess it started when Arizona decided to try out for the ice-hockey team at school. Justin wasn’t pleased.”

“Why not?” Claire inquired puzzled.

“’Cause he’s an ass,” Ariele said rolling her eyes. “He didn’t want a girl playing for the team. So the four of them got into it, that’s Justin, Arizona, Kellan and Harry, at the rink parking lot where Justin sort of lost cred in front of his pals. Anyhow, Simla was none too pleased. We think she’s Justin’s hook-up, but don’t know for sure. Anyhow, Simla cornered Arizona in the restroom at the high school and choked her half to death.”

“I didn’t see a police report that mentioned Simla’s name, although the altercation was mentioned,” Claire said.

“Yes, that’s because Arizona didn’t want anyone to know that she’d been taken down by Simla. She was going to take care of it herself,” Ariele said.

It was Glenda’s turn to roll her eyes.

Ariele continued, “So, that’s it. Justin and Simla hate Arizona and the boys.”

“Do you think they could be involved in their disappearance?” Claire asked, totally unconvinced that a teenage spat could be responsible for their disappearances.

“Wouldn’t be the least bit surprised,” Ariele responded.

“Any ideas on where we could find them? We’ve already checked their homes,” Claire asked.

“No. I don’t really know them at all. Did you try their cells?” Ariele asked

“Yes. They’re not picking up, but we’ll keep trying. Is there anything else you want to tell us that may help?” Claire asked, watching Ariele intently. Before her was a very confused teen. She could see it in her eyes. She definitely had more to share.

“Nope,” Ariele said firmly. “Just find them.”

“Well, thank you both. I’ll probably be back with more questions, but will leave you for now.” She stood up to shake hands with Dr. Moreau and Ariele. As she shook Ariele’s hand, Claire could feel something scratching her palm. She gently enveloped it with her fingers and put the scrap of paper Ariele had surreptitiously handed to her in her pocket, making sure that Glenda didn’t notice. Why was Ariele handing her a note? A secret note. She couldn’t wait to get out of there to find out. As soon as she was safely back in her car, she extracted the note and carefully opened it up. Two words.

time travel

She had only met Inez a few times before, but Olivia had immediately bonded with her. She looked fondly over to Inez now, standing at the doorway to Kellan’s hospital room. Olivia rushed over and threw her arms around her, hugging her close. She instantly felt comforted, just like she had the last time she had met this wonderful lady.

“How are you holding up, Olivia?” Inez asked her, feeling the tension exuding from Olivia’s body.

“Not very well. Not good at all. I feel like I’m going to fall apart and it’s taking everything I’ve got to keep myself from turning into a mess. I keep trying to focus on remembering anything that will help find the kids.” Then she stopped. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything about the kids, the FBI agent had asked them not to. Inez did seem to know something was up. So why lie?

“I gather Kellan has been found. Can we go in and see him?” Inez asked.

“Sure,” said Olivia, opening the door and letting Inez pass through first. She followed closely behind with Rupert.

“Inez!” Larry exclaimed, still holding on to Kellan’s hand. “What are you doing here?” he asked in surprise.

“I knew the children were missing, so I came to lend my support and assistance,” Inez offered quietly. “Are the others still missing?”

“Yes,” Larry said carefully, looking over at Olivia and Rupert. Although both Rupert and he were aware of the Wanderers, neither Olivia nor Kellan knew of their existence. This was probably not the time nor place for a quick lesson into the dynamics of inter-dimensional wandering beings. “How did you know they were missing?”

“Erica told me. We keep in touch,” Inez mumbled, aware of Olivia carefully listening to every word. “Larry, I need to talk to you privately. May I do so? Would it be possible for you to leave Kellan with Olivia and Rupert, just for a little while?”

Larry looked over to Olivia who nodded, slightly reluctantly. She was curious to hear what Inez wanted to talk about. However, she walked over to Kellan’s bedside and Larry put Kellan’s hand in hers, very gently, so as not to wake him up. He needed to rest. The earlier questions from the agent had exhausted him. He looked down at his son, gently kissing his forehead before he left the room with Inez.

“Rup, what do you think is going on?” Olivia asked her husband.

“With Inez?”

“Yes. She asked if she could be of assistance. How? Isn’t she a school teacher or something?”

Rupert looked over at his beautiful, worried wife. For the longest time, he had wanted to share with Olivia the existence of the Wanderers. It would have helped to explain to Olivia the one mystery that she hadn’t been able to crack in all these years–come find me two years ago. But, he didn’t have permission to do so. So, much as he wanted to, he just couldn’t. That was Inez’s call to make. “Yes, she works at the library as far as I know. I guess we’ll find out soon enough what she meant. I doubt Larry will be away from Kellan too long. So be patient, honey.”

Olivia nodded and looked down at Kellan’s hand. He was wearing a ring, which was very unlike him. She wondered if Arizona had given it to him. His hands still bore the marks from where Arizona had dug her nails into his skin, holding on to him for comfort, after Simla had assaulted her. His strong hands lay so limp in hers now as he peacefully slept. She loved Kellan, like her own. Her own son, Harry, regarded him as a brother. Arizona had thought of him as a brother, too, until the strange events had started a couple of weeks ago. That’s when it all changed, even the relationship between Kellan and Arizona. That had been a nice change and their new closeness seemed to be based on genuine caring.

“He looks so peaceful,” Rupert whispered. “As if he’s not been through this terrible trauma.”

Olivia nodded. “Rup, I’m so scared, so scared for the kids. I’m too afraid to think.”

Rupert took her free hand and squeezed it. “Me too.”

~

“Larry, let’s head outside and talk in my car,” Inez said gently, as she took Larry by the hand and led him toward the elevator. “I know you want to get back to Kellan, so I won’t keep you long.”

Larry nodded and willingly followed Inez. It must be important. If Inez was here, it was probably because Kevin had sent her. That meant that this probably pertained to the portal, which wasn’t his concern for the moment, but it was best to listen to what Inez had to say. She would not have pulled him away from Kellan’s bedside for nothing.

Once they were cocooned in the safety of Inez’s car, she took a deep breath and turned to Larry.

“Larry, I’ve had a message from Kevin.”

“I guessed that,” Larry replied. “Does this have to do with the portal?”

“Sort of,” Inez continued. “Arizona called Ames from New Jersey. Luckily the message went through to Kevin, who contacted her.”

“Arizona! You’re kidding? Really? This is too good to be true. We’ve got to tell Ollie,” Larry exclaimed euphorically.

“No, wait!” Inez said firmly. “Think about it, Larry. Arizona spoke to Kevin,” emphasized Inez.

Larry was sleep-deprived and not on the ball. How had he missed that? Arizona spoke to Kevin. That could only mean one thing.

“Larry, Arizona woke up in her bed in Princeton. She’s fully aware of what she’s been through in the last few weeks. She’s scared, but she’s physically unharmed. She was with Kellan when they were taken. Kevin’s on his way to Princeton to talk to her.” Inez hesitated before she added, “We’ve sent David over to check on her as well.”

“David?” Larry inquired surprised.

“Yes. He is ready to wander on his own, so he took off to check on Arizona. I’m expecting him back with a report any moment.”

“Inez, are Ella and Harry with Arizona?”

“I have no idea, Larry.”

“We’ve got to tell Ollie and Rup. Possibly Kellan as well,” Larry said looking at Inez’s expression change.

She nodded. “You’re right. I won’t be able to, without exposing myself to them. Do you think Ollie and Kellan will be receptive?”

“I don’t know, Inez. We have to explain it in a way that forces them to be.”

~

As Rupert had predicted, Larry and Inez were back in Kellan’s room with them very promptly. Kellan had awakened and was sitting up in bed looking much more alert than before. He was feeling stronger now and was getting impatient sitting in bed. He needed to be up and looking for Arizona. He looked up at his father inquiringly.

“Kell, how are you feeling?”

“I’m good. Can you get me discharged? I need to look for Arizona.”

“Are you feeling up to listening to me for a moment?”

“Yes, of course.” Kellan replied. “But I really have to get out of here.”

“We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, I need all of you to just listen. Okay?”

Olivia nodded, wondering what on earth was going on.

“You already know Inez, David’s mother.”

Kellan started to interrupt, but Larry put his hand on his son’s shoulder, urging him to just listen. “Kell, I haven’t got a lot of time to relay this information to all of you. So please just listen. I’ll answer all your questions later. Okay?”

Kellan nodded and Larry continued. “Like I said, Inez is David Skoog’s mother. She is also Kevin Sanderson’s ex-wife. Ollie, you know about Kevin, but I’ll briefly explain him to Kellan.” Larry glanced over at Olivia for confirmation and then continued. “You know about the portal, Kellan. Olivia manages this end of the portal and Kevin manages the other end. Kevin was carefully selected for the job and I trust him completely. Kevin and Inez used to be married when I first knew them and they have two children, David and Lena.”

“Did you bring Inez and David through the portal?” Olivia couldn’t but help interrupt, wondering how many others had been brought through without her knowledge. Not that Larry needed her permission or anything, but she was curious.

“Ollie, I’ll get to that later,” Larry said firmly, and then continued. “Inez received a message from Kevin. He’s had contact with Arizona.”

Olivia, Rupert and Kellan simultaneously exploded into a muddle of questions. There was no stopping them. Larry waited for them to quiet down and then concluded. “Arizona is back in Princeton at Dillard’s.”

Olivia felt as though she was going to implode, but she clenched down on her jaw, willing it not to open so that Larry would go on.

Larry could feel the tension in the room as he continued. “She’s okay, unharmed physically. She’s aware of all that has happened to her in the last few weeks. I don’t know what that means exactly. She’s very confused and scared, mainly for Kellan. She contacted Ames to get some information and the call was diverted to Kevin. Kevin is on his way to see her.” Larry hesitated. Should he tell them that David was on his way over as well? Or, would that just complicate matters? He decided to wait. “Right, I’ll answer any questions I can.”

Kellan jumped in first. “Was she taken through the portal? By whom?”

That had been Olivia and Rupert’s first question as well. They looked at Larry for an answer.

“I don’t know. Kevin doesn’t know. Immediately after he spoke with Arizona on the phone, he took off to see her. He didn’t wait to check the portal before he left. We know that someone has been messing with it, so we do need to head over to Ames to look into this.”

“Can you send me through, so I can go find her?” Kellan asked hopefully.

“I don’t know, Kellan. We need to investigate it first.”

Olivia looked over at Inez. She or Kevin must have been through the portal, how else would she have communicated with him? “Inez, how was Kevin able to get the message to you? Did you guys use the portal?”

This was it. Rupert knew the answer, of course. He wondered if Inez would share with Olivia now, especially with Kellan here as well.

“Olivia, no. We didn’t use the portal,” Inez said. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had to explain this to Olivia now. It was a pity that Kellan would hear as well, but it had to be done. She couldn’t lie. “You know how most people don’t believe that time travel is possible? It takes a receptive mind to understand the wondrous possibilities around us.”

Olivia nodded, mystified. Kellan was wondering if Inez had her own little portal.

Inez smiled and said, “I am able to time travel, to cross dimensions, as well.”

“You built your own portal,” Kellan said triumphantly. “I can use yours!”

“Kellan, no. I don’t have a portal. Not one like Olivia’s anyway. I am able to time travel, but it’s an ability within myself.”

“What do you mean?” Olivia asked mesmerized.

“I have the ability to bend in and out of time zones and dimensions.”

“Wow,” was all Olivia and Kellan could manage.

“So, you’re some kind of supernatural being?” Olivia asked incredulously. It was one thing believing in scientifically-possible concepts like time travel, but this sounded like mumbo jumbo.

Kellan did his best to try not to laugh. His face hurt too much, but this lady was obviously not all here, to say the least.

Rupert and Larry could see the utter disbelief on the faces of Olivia and Kellan. Larry decided to speak up. “Inez is a Wanderer,” he said looking over at Inez, who nodded at him thankfully. “That means that Inez can transport herself through different times and dimensions at will. I know it’s hard to take in, but just take my word for it, for now. You both trust me, right?”

“What about you, Rup? You’ve been pretty quiet. You’re not buying this, are you?” Olivia said, looking at him and shrugging.

“Ollie, Inez is a Wanderer. I’ve known for some time. I wanted to tell you, but it was not my decision to make. It had to come from Inez. Let’s just listen to what she has to say.”

Rupert knew? How? Why? Rupert and she needed to talk. Olivia swallowed her questions to be able to listen to Inez.

“I know this is very hard to accept, especially in the little time we have at the moment,” Inez said kindly, not taking offence in their disbelief. After all, it was a testimony to the great job she and the others had done to preserve their privacy.

“So, you transported yourself to Kevin, on a whim? Or was it a regular meeting?” Olivia asked, still incredulous, but on autopilot. Her investigative nature took over and she had questions that needed answers.

“We are very close. I could feel his need for me, so I went to see him. He was rushing to fly over and see Arizona, so I didn’t get much information out of him other than just what I have already shared.”

“Why didn’t you go with him?” Rupert asked.

“I felt it would be more helpful if I came back to let you know what was going on. Besides I’m expecting more news soon.”

“Is Kevin a Wanderer as well?” Olivia queried.

“No. However, our son David is. I’ve sent him over to check on Arizona. He’ll get to her a lot quicker than Kevin will.”

Kellan felt a pit in his stomach. David was with Arizona. He felt sick.

“Kellan, are you okay?” Olivia asked, noticing his sudden pallor.

“I am. Don’t worry. Just need a drink,” Kellan reassured them. He didn’t want to be drugged and forced to sleep again. He needed to get out of here, even more so now.

“So you can transport yourself geographically as well?” Olivia asked, wondering why her mouth was asking these nonsensical questions.

“No, Olivia. We’re unable to do that. David would have transported himself through to the same geographical point he was at here. Then, he would take a flight to New Jersey,” Inez explained. “He’ll get there quicker than Kevin simply because he is able to transport himself there earlier, time wise, and take an earlier flight.”

This was blowing Olivia’s mind. She was having a hard time taking it all in. For now, what was important was that Arizona was safe, sort of–and that help was on its way to her. She wondered what Dillard made of all this. He could pose a real problem.

“Inez, I’m guessing, since you didn’t mention it, that Ella and Harry are not with Arizona?” she asked, hoping to be wrong.

“I’m fairly sure Arizona would have mentioned that to Kevin, but I don’t know for sure.”

“So, what do we do, Dad?” Kellan asked impatiently. “We can’t just sit around and do nothing, just waiting for information from another dimension!”

“You’re right, Kellan. I’m going to get a doctor to check you over and if he gives us the okay, we’ll head over to Ames so we can figure out who’s been messing with the portal and try to figure out why you were taken.”

“Can you get the doctor to remove this stupid ring, as well? It’s really itchy and tight.”

“Who gave you the ring?” Larry asked curiously.

Kellan closed his eyes; everything was still pretty fuzzy. He had no idea where the ring came from. He didn’t wear rings or any jewelry, in fact. “I don’t know,” Kellan replied feeling stupid.

“Did you have it on before you were abducted?” Olivia asked, her mind dissecting the possibilities.

“No, I’m sure I would have noticed,” Kellan said firmly.

“So, it’s likely that it was put on your finger when you were unconscious?” she mused.

“I guess,” Kellan replied thoughtfully. “Why would someone do that, though? It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It would if it contains a message,” Larry replied.

“There could be a message on the underside, or inside it. If it’s hollow, there may even be a microchip in it,” Olivia mused. “If so, we have to know what it says.”

“We could call that FBI agent,” Rupert said, looking for her card in his pocket. “Claire Adams.”

Olivia nodded. They needed this ring removed properly and examined, now. She didn’t have the time to do it herself. Much as she hated the FBI being involved with this, the ring may provide an important lead to finding Ella and Harry. “I’ll call her,” Olivia offered, reaching for the card Rupert was holding out for her. She left the room to make the call, trying to focus her thoughts.

“Agent Claire Adams here,” answered Claire on the first ring.

“Agent Adams, this is Olivia Darley. I’m with Kellan at the hospital. We’ve just discovered that he has a ring on his finger that was not on it before he was knocked unconscious. I have a feeling it may contain a message of some sort, but I’m not sure.”

“Thanks for calling me, Dr. Darley. I’ll be over with a team as soon as I can. Please stay where you are until then. We’ll be there shortly.”

When Olivia returned to Kellan’s room, she noticed that they had company.

“David has just got back from seeing Arizona and Kevin,” Inez said, noticing Olivia come in. “He was just about to update us. David?”

“Most importantly, Arizona is fine. She’s just very confused and scared for Kellan. I wish I had known that Kellan was fine so I could have put her mind at rest. Any signs of Harry or Ella?” he asked.

“No,” replied Inez. “I was about to ask you the same.”

“Does Arizona know how she got there?” Olivia asked.

“No,” David replied. “She woke up in her own bed in Princeton. She thinks that she was drugged.”

“Has she seen a doctor?” Olivia asked, very agitated at the thought of Arizona being drugged.

“No, not yet. She seemed fine when I saw her. Just confused and scared.”

“Dillard didn’t take her to a hospital?” Olivia asked angrily.

“She’s barely seen him,” David said. “He took off to Atlantic City the morning she woke up there. They didn’t even have a chance to talk before he left. She woke up with no time having been lost there, so he’s not noticed that she ever left. He didn’t even notice her blond hair. Arizona was very relieved to see me.” David noticed Kellan’s fists clenching into a ball as he said this. He wished he hadn’t. It wasn’t his intention to cause Kellan any more discomfort. “She is desperate to find you, to know if you are all right, Kellan,” he said nodding at Kellan. “She’s also so frightened for Ella and Harry. She’d no idea they were missing until I told her.”

“Did you meet up with Kevin?” Inez asked.

“Yes, the three of us talked. Dad’s gone back to Ames to try to figure out if the portal was used to bring Arizona over.”

“Of course it was used! How else would she have been transported?” Kellan asked.

“Kellan,” Inez said gently. “Wanderers have the ability to transport non-Wanderers with them. One requires special permission to do so, but it is possible. I think that’s what David was suggesting. However, I seriously doubt that such could be the case. It goes against our fundamental nature to transport someone against his or her will and without permission. It’s unthinkable. A Wanderer would never do that,” she said firmly.

“What about Simla or Justin, Mom?” David asked.

“Simla or Justin?” Olivia, Kellan, Rupert and Larry repeated in unison.

Inez explained. “Both Simla and Justin have a parent who is a Wanderer, so they may have been afforded the gift as well. However, they haven’t, so it’s not an issue.”

“They have Wanderer parents?” Olivia repeated. “Erica and Grayson?” She had noticed the same serene quality in them that exuded from both Inez and David. There was no way Raj was a Wanderer. She shook herself, such nonsense anyway.

“Yes,” Inez confirmed. She wondered how long it would take Olivia to work out their connection with Rupert. For now Olivia’s thoughts were totally focused on finding her kids.

“So how can David wander but Simla and Justin can’t?” Olivia persisted.

“They don’t possess the right qualities,” Inez said simply. They didn’t. They didn’t possess the pureness required for wandering.

Olivia turned back to David. She needed to focus. Her mind was all over the place. “David, so is Arizona all by herself?”

“I stayed at the house last night, so she wouldn’t be alone,” he said carefully, making sure to avoid looking at Kellan. “She’s at school at the moment and I hope to be back with her later tonight.”

“She’s at school?” Olivia said surprised.

“Yes. It’s best for her to be with her friends. It takes her mind off the constant worrying, although I don’t know that it’s helping much.”

“So what’s the plan?” Olivia asked, directing her question to Rupert and Larry.

“As soon as that ring has been extracted from Kellan’s finger, we should all head over to Ames and try to figure out who’s behind this. We need to find the other kids,” Larry said.

“Can you transport me through the portal, Dad?” Kellan demanded rather than asked.

“I don’t know, Kellan. We’ll have to see when we get there. If we can, we may all head through.”

“There is another way, Kellan,” Inez suggested quietly. “David can take you over.”

I stood trembling outside my bedroom door. It was slightly open so I nudged it further in with my foot, opening it slightly more. Then I stood, silently, for a long time listening for sounds. I tried to remember back to what the initial noise had sounded like. It had been a loud crash, followed by footsteps. I was positive that it had come from the bedroom.

Something brushed against my leg and I nearly jumped out of my skin. My cell phone fell from my hands. It was just a random piece of clothing that I had dumped on the floor earlier.

There were no further sounds, so as quietly as I possibly could, I tiptoed into the bedroom remembering that my hockey stick was just by the door in case I needed it. I looked around the darkness. It was so dark that I couldn’t see a thing. I stood by the light switch, my finger hovering over it for ages. I finally flipped it.

Ella and Harry lay sleeping on my bed.

I gasped loudly, but quickly stifled it with a firm hand over my mouth so as not to make another sound. I walked over to them, hoping that they were alive. I noticed that my bedroom window was wide open and rushed over to close it. Someone had come in and dumped Ella and Harry in my bed. Who? The same people who had brought me here, no doubt. I walked over to my sister and checked her pulse and then checked Harry’s. They were still alive. They were breathing. I should call a doctor.

The doorbell rang, causing me to jump in fear. Please let it be David. I peeked out the window trying to see who it was. After what had happened, I wasn’t going to just open the door. It could be anyone. I couldn’t see through the darkness, but it looked like there were more than two people by the door. I was only expecting David and Kevin.

Punching 911 into my cell phone and having my finger positioned ready over send, I shouted, “Who is it?”

“Poppet, it’s David. Open up.”

I opened the door and then stopped dead. My eyes locked on the person in the middle. “Kellan,” I whispered and threw myself into his outstretched arms. “Kellan, it’s really you,” I smiled into his neck, feeling both relief and surprise wash over me.

“Shrimp, are you okay?” he asked, as I awkwardly pulled him inside while still attached to him.

I nodded, and then loosened my grip on him and turned to Kevin and David. “You won’t believe this, but Ella and Harry are asleep in my bedroom,” I whispered. I put my finger on my lips to hush them and beckoned them to follow me. We all stood together round my bed looking down at them sleeping.

Then Ella stirred.

“Guys, you have to go,” I whispered to David and Kevin. “You’ll frighten her. Wait outside.”

They both nodded and left quietly.

Ella stretched her legs out and then the expression on her face turned from calm to pain. Her mouth started to twitch and she let out a loud howl.

“Ella, it’s okay. It’s just me, Arizona. Kellan is here, too. So’s Harry.”

“My head hurts! Where’s Mom?” she wailed.

Kellan put his hands on her forehead and started massaging it. “Shrimp, get her some water, please.”

I ran to the kitchen and was back with the water in seconds. Ella was sitting up in bed, in Kellan’s arms.

“Here, drink this, Ella,” I said, as I brought the cold water to her lips.

She drank a bit and then looked at me angrily. “Where am I, Arizona? Where’s Mom?”

“Ella….  What’s the last thing you remember before you woke up here?”

“Going to sleep in my bed, silly! My head still hurts and I want Mom!”

“What’s with all the shouting?” Harry yawned. He put his hand on his head and made a face. “Geez, that hurts!” Then he struggled to sit up and opened his eyes.

“Where are we, Harry?” Ella yelled.

“Munchkin, please stop yelling. My head hurts,” he begged her.

“Mine too, Harry,” she whispered.

“Where are we?” he asked.

I had no idea what to say or how to stall the questions. How could I explain away all that had happened, especially to these two, sitting here with splitting headaches? However, I knew from experience that these would wear off soon.

“Harry, drink some water,” I ordered, and put Ella’s glass to his lips.

“That’s mine!” Ella yelled again, distraught.

“It’s okay, Ella. I’ll get you a fresh one. Harry needs to drink now, he’s dehydrated.”

I left Kellan with them and went off to the kitchen to get Ella some more. David cornered me the moment I entered the kitchen.

“What’s going on?” he whispered.

“They’ve woken up. They are asking a lot of questions. Both have thumping headaches. They’ll pass like mine, probably. But if you can get a doctor out here to check them over, that would be fantastic.”

He nodded.

“Stay out here for now, until I come and get you,” I said and headed back.

“Here you go, Ella,” I said, handing over the glass of water to her.

“I don’t need any more right now, but I need the bathroom,” she said, trying to get up.

“Here,” I said, taking her hand. I’ll show you where it is.” After making sure she was going to be all right, I headed back to talk to Harry before she came back out.

“Harry, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“Why do you ask? Where are we?” he responded grumpily.

“Harry!” I mumbled, frustrated. “Just answer my questions, it’s important.”

He looked up at me, surprised. “Well, the last thing I remember is heading to bed. Though, I did have a strange dream.”

“Strange dream?” I asked.

“Yup, I only vaguely remember. I was in a fight in my bedroom with some guys. I can’t really remember the rest,” he conceded.

The bruises on his face and body told me that it had been more than a dream. “Harry, we’re in New Jersey. Someone abducted us from home and brought us here. I don’t know what to say to Ella. She’s going to be terrified!”

We could hear the water running and knew our time would soon be up.

“Let me handle Ella,” Harry said firmly. “Abducted by whom? Are you sure? Are we still prisoners?”

I shook my head.

“Kellan, can you stay here with Ella while Arizona and I go outside to bring me up to date?” Harry suggested.

“Wait a minute,” said Kellan. “What am I going to say to her? I don’t think this is right. She has to know what’s going on. The people who brought you here may still be around. We may all still be in danger.”

He was right. We waited for her to come back.

“Do you have a toothbrush and some lip gloss, Arizona?” she asked.

“I do, I’ll get them in a minute. First, we need to talk,” I said. “Ella, we’re in New Jersey.”

“Why?” she asked. “Isn’t that where you and Kellan went when we visited New York?”

“Yes, that’s right,” I responded, impressed that she remembered.

“Why are we here?” she asked again.

I looked over at Harry. He took Ella’s hand and said, “Someone we don’t know brought us here when we were sleeping.”

“Well, that’s stupid,” she said. “Why would they bring us here? This isn’t even a nice hotel. The bathroom stinks.”

I couldn’t help but smile. Harry cast a sharp look at me. I ignored him.

Harry continued. “I don’t know why, Ella. We’re trying to figure that out. In the meantime, we have to stick to each other. Don’t go wandering off on your own. Now, do you think you can stay here with Kellan, while I go to the other room with Arizona for a minute? You can watch the TV.”

“But Mom and Dad are going to be so worried,” said Ella. “We should call them.”

“I will, as soon as I get hold of a phone,” Harry promised.

“Harry, why do you have all those boo-boos?” Ella asked, pointing to Harry’s cuts and bruises.

“I had a nightmare and fell out of bed,” he grinned at her.

‘You’re silly,” she said. As we left, we turned on the TV so she could watch a rerun of Hannah Montana.

“Harry, David’s here,” I whispered to him on our way to the kitchen.

“David Skoog?” he asked astonished.

“Yes, and his dad, Dr. Sanderson.”

“Why? How? Arizona, what the heck is going on?” he asked, clearly angry that I was holding things back.

“Let me get them in here and we’ll explain together,” I said, and went to get them before he could protest.

“Harry, you already know David. This is his dad, Dr. Sanderson.”

Kevin’s phone suddenly rang and he left to answer it.

“Have you called Mom and Dad?” Harry asked me.

“No. I haven’t. They can’t be gotten hold of,” I said lamely.

“What about the cops?”

David could see that I was struggling. Not just with the questions, but I hadn’t yet fully recovered myself.

“Give her a break, Harry. She was abducted as well. We’re trying to figure it all out. It’s complicated.”

Harry looked at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, Shrimp. You just seemed to know everything. So, let’s figure it out together. Tell me what you think happened and we’ll work it out from there. Right now, there are four of us in the house, so we’ll stand a good chance against anyone who decides to come back here.”

Five of us, not four, I thought to myself, trying not to get riled.

“If anyone knows what’s going on, please enlighten me,” he asked, as Dr. Sanderson came back in.

I was thankful when Kevin took control of the conversation.

“I’ve already talked to Arizona, so she knows some of what’s going on,” he started. “Harry, you and Ella were adducted from your bedrooms and left here. We have no idea why or by whom. We don’t know if you were brought straight here or were kept somewhere else first. You just appeared here an hour ago or so. Arizona appeared here a few days ago. She and Kellan were taken, together, from the lakeside. Arizona was brought here and Kellan was dumped by the roadside in Mountain View.” Kevin paused, not knowing how to continue without trying to explain the time travel complication to a very tired and confused boy. He decided not to, not for now. “There is a whole lot more to this, of course. I feel though, that for now, we should try to concentrate on getting you back to your parents.”

Harry shook his head. “I need some more answers. “What about you and David? What are you doing here? Were you taken as well?” Harry persisted.

“Look, you’ve got to tell him the whole story,” I said frustrated. “I’ll tell him!”

“Tell me what, Arizona?” Harry said decidedly worried now.

David looked over at Arizona intently. She was unaware of the Wanderers, so he wondered how she would explain the anomalies to Harry.

“Mom built a flipping time machine, Harry. She calls it a portal.”

Harry guffawed. “Oh, my head hurts when I do that. Stop, Shrimp! No time for silliness!”

“I’m not being silly,” I said defiantly, and carried on. “She really did, didn’t she, Dr. Sanderson?”

Kevin nodded an affirmation, much to Harry’s disbelief. Kevin continued, “Dr. Darley did construct a portal. The portal allows transport between different time periods and dimensions.”

“Dimensions?” Harry queried.

“Harry, think back to your physics lessons. Do you remember learning about Hugh Everett’s many-worlds theory?” Kevin encouraged.

Harry shook his head; that lesson completely eluded him. “Refresh me,” he requested.

Kevin nodded. “The many-worlds theory provides an explanation as to how more than one world, the one we see, exist. Parallel worlds exist. Quantum mechanics, your mom’s area of expertise, forms the basis for the many-worlds theory. Think back to Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. You do remember that, right?”

Harry nodded. I was impressed. I hadn’t a clue what Kevin was on about. A portal is a portal. Think Star Trek and wormholes to explain dimensions.

Kevin was glad that Harry was following him. “As you know, the principle postulates that the more precisely the position is determined for a particle, the less precisely the momentum is known in that instant, and vice versa. This fuzziness forms the basis of quantum mechanics and allows the explanation of the wave nature of particles and electron jumping.”

I yawned. Seriously? He was killing Star Trek for me.

He laughed. “I can see that I’m boring you, Arizona. I’ll keep it short. Think of the world we see in terms of quantum mechanics, applying the same principles. Now consider the possibility that that every time an event occurs, the universe splits between the options possible.”

Harry thankfully interrupted. “Look, much as I’m enjoying this lesson, I can’t quite take it in. You’re basically saying that we live in a parallel universe with many different dimensions?”

Kevin nodded. It was as simple as he could make it.

“So, Mom built a portal which allows transport between not just time, but also dimensions,” Harry mused. “Awesome!”

“Geez, Harry! Never watched Star Trek?” I asked annoyed.

Harry rolled his eyes. “Where is this portal?”

Kevin replied, “At Ames. Now, I need to bring you up to speed quickly. You were abducted and brought through the portal–I assume. You are now in a different dimension. Your parents are not here in the same dimension, so we can’t contact them by phone. Do you understand this?” Kevin looked over at Harry hoping that some of this was sinking in, even if he wasn’t ready to accept it all.

“How did we end up in New Jersey if the portal’s in California,” Harry asked.

I had been wondering about that myself.

“I’m not sure. Probably in a car or van. Possibly by private plane. I really have no idea,” Kevin replied. “My main issue is how we’re going to get you back.”

“Can’t we just go back through the portal?” I asked. I knew that it had been tampered with, but if we had all come through it, it must still be functioning.

“Arizona, I did check it out. The computers have been tampered with. The access codes have been altered. I can’t gain access,” Kevin replied. “Not for now, though I will work on it when I go back.”

“Someone else is in control?” I asked.

Kevin nodded. “Yes. I’m assuming that it’s whoever abducted you.”

“That would be us,” said a booming voice from behind me. I hadn’t heard anyone enter the kitchen; I had been so engrossed in listening to Kevin. Neither had anyone else, by the looks of their expressions, for we all looked up, surprised, and petrified.

We all stared at the six-foot-five-ish, frightening-looking man. I could feel Harry and David tensing for a fight. I was sure the four of us could take him. He was big, but there were four of us. He seemed unarmed, so I curled my fist into a hard ball ready for action.

“We have Ella and Kellan already, so don’t try anything stupid. Come with me quietly or they’ll pay,” he said.

My heart sank. They had Ella and Kellan. We had no choice but to follow this moron. David reached for my hand and we followed the stranger. David’s dad was right behind us.

“David, take Ella back,” he whispered so quietly that I could barely hear him.

David nodded as we approached a black van. We were ushered in and I could see Kellan in the far corner with Ella in his lap. “Is she okay?” I whispered.

“Yes, she fell back asleep while we were watching TV and didn’t stir. I’m guessing that the aftereffects of the drugs are making her sleep more soundly than normal. She is breathing just fine and her pulse is regular,” he reassured me.

“No talking. Give me your cell phones!” the mean stranger’s voice boomed.

We handed him our cell phones reluctantly.

“Where are you taking us?” Kevin asked.

“No talking!” the stranger repeated and closed the door on us.

I could hear car doors slamming and engines starting up. There was at least one more car in addition to this van. Where were they taking us and why?

“Hurry up, David. There isn’t much time. No one talk, just do what I say and we can get Ella out of here,” Kevin said firmly.

I was mystified. Get Ella out of here? How? I had already tried the door, it was locked.

David got up and reached for Ella. Kellan handed Ella over to David carefully and I crept into Kellan’s free lap.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “How’s David going to get Ella out?”

“There’s no time to explain right now,” David said, getting agitated.

“It’s too late,” Kevin said, as the van started moving.

David sat back down holding on to Ella who was still soundly asleep. He was furious.

“David, calm down. It won’t work anyway if you’re agitated. You need to be at equilibrium for this to work. Meditate,” his dad suggested.

“What the hell’s going on?” Harry demanded.

Kevin ignored Harry. “David, meditate. Try when the van stops.”

“Try what?” Harry demanded as he got up, reaching for Ella. “Give Ella to me. You’re not trying anything with her until you explain what’s going on.”

“Harry, sit back down again. I’ll explain. No point getting Ella up by passing her around,” Kevin said.

Harry reluctantly sat back down and looked at Kevin intently.

“You know what I said about the many-worlds theory? Well one thing it doesn’t allow for is communication between the different dimensions. It’s the communication aspect that has been a compulsion for your mother. Her solution was to built a portal. However, there are some that can communicate, traverse between the different dimensions without the use of such a man-made portal.”

“They are called Wanderers,” Kellan added.

I unglued my face from Kellan’s chest and looked up into his face. “Wanderers?”

“Oh, come on!” Harry muttered. “That’s just ridiculous.”

“I know how totally ridiculous this sounds. But, please, just listen. We don’t have a lot of time,” Kevin begged.

What did we have to lose at this point, I wondered, and nodded as Harry looked at me and rolled his eyes.

“David is a Wanderer. He’ll take Ella back to her Mom and Dad. However, to be able to do that we need the van to stop somewhere safe.

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, transporting himself through when the van is in motion will mean that he probably will land in the middle of the road in the other dimension. He could get run over.”

I nodded, that made sense, if you could call any of this sense.

“So we need to make the van stop. Any ideas?” I asked, and started banging on the front of the van, hoping that the driver would hear me. No such luck. He kept driving.

Ella unfortunately stirred and looked around sleepily. She reached over for Harry who extracted her from David and hugged her. “It’s okay, Ella.”

“Where are we?” she asked sleepily.

“We’re driving,” Harry said, patting her head.

“I’m hungry,” she said.

“We’ll get you something to eat soon,” he comforted her.

The van suddenly swerved and stopped. We looked at each other. Here was our chance, maybe our only one to get Ella to safety. We had to try.

“David?” Kevin asked expectantly.

David remained silent, but reached over for Ella.

“Ella, go over to David. He’s going to take you home to Mom,” Kellan said, nodding at her reassuringly.

Ella, still sleepy, did what Kellan asked and took David’s hands. David picked her up and held her close. I could see that he was perfectly calm, perfectly at peace. His back arched a bit, like he was pushing against something, then he and Ella disappeared.

We were all silent. I was dumbfounded, flabbergasted, confused, all rolled into one. Ella and David had just disappeared. I looked up at Kellan, mystified. Harry looked just as puzzled as I felt.

“What just happened there?” he asked stunned, as the van started up again.

“David’s taken Ella back–back to the right time/dimension. He still has to get her home. He’s very resourceful and I have no doubts that he’ll do so safely,” Kevin reassured us.

It suddenly hit me that it was Kellan who had used the word Wanderer first. “Kellan, you mentioned Wanderers. How come you knew?”

“David brought me over to see you,” he replied.

“Wow, what did it feel like? I mean when you went through the dimensions? What did you see?” I asked in awe. How cool!

“It was amazing. I felt a sense of peace, of total contentment, as I went through. It was fairly instantaneous. I didn’t really see anything. The feeling was amazing, though– hard to describe.”

I looked over at Kevin. “Why couldn’t he have taken all of us?”

“He can only take one at a time, it’s pretty draining for him,” he replied.

“Can he come back for us?” I asked hopefully.

“Technically, he can. I mean he can transport himself back, but he won’t know where to find us, especially now, since we’re on the move again. Goodness knows where they’re taking us,” Kevin said.

At least Ella was safe. However, David was gone, which left only four of us to deal with whatever was waiting for us. I looked around. The temporary relief I felt when Ella disappeared was now being replaced by naked fear. This wasn’t good. We had to do something. But what? We were all silent, busy thinking.

The van kept going, occasionally swerving from side to side, like it was on a winding road. The van was definitely going sharply uphill at points. I wondered if this journey would ever end. In a way I wished it wouldn’t. Nothing good lay at the end of it.

“Who do you think is behind all this?” Harry asked.

I felt sorry for him. He must be so totally confused. At least Kellan and I knew some of the background. Poor Harry was totally in the dark, I didn’t have the energy to explain it all to him.

“Your parents have called in the police and the FBI. They’re investigating it.” Kevin replied. “It’s got to be someone with connection to Ames, someone who was able to recode the portal.”

“But, why? What do they want?” I asked. Why take us? They had control of the portal.”

“Well, there was no way we were going to let them keep control. I can hack into their code, I just haven’t had the time to do so. You guys are the leverage they need to be allowed to keep control.”

“They? Who?” Kellan mused.

“I really don’t know,” Kevin replied resignedly.

We were exhausted by it all. I wondered if this journey would ever end. When it did end, would they try to kill us? I rested my head on Kellan’s shoulders listening to the hum of the engine. We drove and drove, for hours. None of us had watches, so we couldn’t tell for how long, but it seemed like the whole night. In addition to being famished and dehydrated, I desperately needed to use the toilet. I tried to doze, but was too stressed. No one slept, we all just sat in silence, waiting. Hours and hours went by with just a couple of short stops for gas I guessed.

Suddenly, the van came to a sharp halt and the comforting hum of the engine stopped dead. I could hear a lot of shouting outside and car doors slamming. The van door opened and we were blinded by the sun, our eyes had grown so used to the dark. I felt sick to my stomach with anxiety, but anger was building up inside me. Who dared to do this! I could feel Kellan’s arm around me, almost holding me back as I moved toward the light. I flinched at the feeling of pins and needles from my overly-rested legs.

“Come on out and get into the house,” a voice commanded.

“No,” I started, but a hand went over my mouth, Kellan’s.

“Shrimp, shush. Don’t!” he whispered right into my ear. “We’ll get them when they least suspect it. No point in angering them right now. We don’t even know how many there are.”

“No talking!” the voice boomed.

Kellan was right. No point doing anything until we knew exactly what we were dealing with. I followed the others down the dirt path into a wooden cottage.

“Where are the other two?” another voice demanded.

We were inside the cottage now. There were three of them inside with us. I was sure that I had seen at least another one outside.

“You,” said one of them nudging Kevin so he almost fell backward. “Where are the other two, the small kid and the boy?”

“I don’t know,” Kevin said, feeling sure that he was in for a beating.

“You don’t know?” the big guy–who’d taken us from my house–snarled.

“No…,” Kevin replied, knowing what was coming.

The man’s fist was in Kevin’s stomach before he’d finished his sentence. I flew at the man and got him sharply in the belly before Kellan grabbed me. The other dark-haired smaller man got hold of the big guy and held him back.

“Dan, don’t! We were told not to hurt anyone,” he hissed.

“Yes, but two are missing! Did they make a run for it? We’re in so much trouble,” Dan retorted. “Search the grounds.”

He barked his instructions into his cell, to relay the information to the man outside, no doubt. The man, Dan, then got a call and I tried to listen in. I couldn’t hear a thing, but when the call was over, Dan turned to us and smiled.

I waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. He just stood there and sneered at us. The other two men in the room just stood looking at us, hardly blinking. I tried to memorize their looks, just so I would be able to properly describe them. The one who had stopped Dan from beating Kevin up was smaller than Dan, maybe five-eleven. He had brown eyes and dark brown, spiked greasy-looking hair. There was nothing particularly memorable about his features, he was middle-aged, maybe even old–very plain and uninteresting. The guy next to him was younger, much shorter, about five-five. He had brown hair as well, but a cropped army-style. I couldn’t make out his eye color from where I was standing, but they looked light. Dan, the big guy, was just a big ogre, scary-looking with crazy, shifty, bluish eyes. No hair on his head, but plenty popping out underneath his arms–gross–the tank was not a good look for him. He was probably trying to show off his enormous biceps.

I heard a car drive up and stop right outside the front door. Dan sprang into action. He leapt outside and the two men in the room positioned themselves– one each behind Harry and Kellan–standing close enough to grab us. Then Dan returned with Dr. Sen.

“I just knew it!” I spat at him.

“Shut up, Arizona, if you know what’s best for you,” he said, his mouth turned in a smirk.

I could feel Kellan squeezing my hand, trying to shut me up, no doubt.

“Why have you brought us here?” Harry asked.

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Raj responded curtly. “That’s between your parents and me. I haven’t brought you here to harm you in any way, though. Consider yourselves as my guests until I get my little issue sorted out with your parents. Who are you?” he asked, looking directly at Kevin.

“I’m Kevin Sanderson,” Kevin replied carefully, trying to place the small, non-descript man in front of him.

“And you are connected to these kids, how?” Raj pouted.

“I’m a family friend. A friend of Arizona’s dad,” Kevin lied, deciding that it was best that he kept the Ames connection to himself.

Phew! I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that Dr. Sanderson hadn’t divulged any more. My relief was short lived.

“Dan, search him,” Raj demanded. He wasn’t just going to take this man’s word for it. He could be a cop!

Now I was petrified again, my stomach in knots. I watched Dr. Sanderson raise his arms and Dan pat him down roughly. Dan extracted Kevin’s wallet from his pocket and handed it to Dr. Sen. That’s it–trouble.

Raj went through the wallet carefully. It contained just the usual stuff–credit cards, cash, and a driver’s license. It was a California license.

“You from California?”

“Yes,” Kevin said, desperately trying to think up a likely story. He was blanking.

“How do you know the Darley family?” Raj asked.

“Darley?” Kevin asked, buying time.

“Stevens?” Raj was getting very annoyed now. It was clear to him that this man was somehow connected to Olivia. But how? He had never heard Erica mention him.

I could see that Kevin was desperate; sweat drops were forming above his brows. I spoke up. “Kevin’s my dad’s friend. He lives in California.” I could feel Harry’s puzzlement.

“Nonsense,” said Raj. “I’m going to ask you again. How do you know Arizona’s family?”

“He’s the idiot who is supposed to be in charge of the portal at this end,” said a new voice–a female voice.

I turned to the door where the voice was coming from. A woman had just come in to the room. She was auburn-haired, short-blunt bob, five-eightish, very plain, probably in her forties.

Raj Sen smiled at the new arrival. “Ah, Sophie. Glad you made it. So, who exactly is he?”

“Dr. Kevin Sanderson,” she replied. “He’s in charge of the portal at this end. Or he’s supposed to be,” she added with a smirk.

I didn’t like her at all.

“And what are you doing here with the kids, Dr. Sanderson?” Raj continued.

“Arizona contacted me at Ames. So I came up to see if I could help her,” Kevin replied looking unhappy.

“Well, you can’t!” Raj retorted. This was another unexpected complication, but not a serious one. The more serious complication was the two kids who had gone missing. “Who was the boy who went missing with Ella?” he asked, looking around for an answer. “We need to find them for their own safety,” he added.

For their own safety, I silently snorted to myself. I don’t think so. I was so relieved that Ella was out of harm’s way. I had every confidence that David would bring her back home safely.

“That was my son, he came up with me,” Kevin replied, hoping that would suffice as an explanation.

“Your son?” Raj said skeptically. “Where did he run off to?”

“Hopefully to the nearest police station,” Kevin said, hoping to alarm Raj.

“Hmmmm, well there’s nothing around here for miles and he’s got Ella with him. Dan, ask the others to keep looking for them. However, we should head to the next location, just in case the boy and Ella made it and the cops have been alerted.”

“Okay,” Dan said, wondering where the next location was. Even this location had not been planned! It was just an empty cottage in the middle of nowhere. “Get back in the van,” he barked.

I was so tired and I needed to use the restroom. I looked over to the woman, Sophie, and asked, “Can we all use the restroom before we go, and maybe get something to drink and food?”

She looked over to Raj and nodded, “Yes, one at a time and hurry up.”

We finished what we had to do and scrambled back into the van with a water bottle each, and were back on the road. I climbed back into Kellan’s arms and rested my head on his chest. It felt so good to be close to him again.

“You okay, Shrimp?” he whispered into my ear.

“I’m just happy to be with you. I hated being away from you, not knowing if you were dead or alive. It was an awful feeling,” I whispered back. “It’s so good to just lie here on you.”

“I hated being away from you as well. I’m so grateful to David for bringing me to see you. This must be so hard for him. He loves you, you know,” he added.

“I know,” I replied. “He’s such a nice guy.”

“What are we going to do?” Harry asked. “We have to have a plan.”

“You’re right.” Kevin replied. “I think they just mean to keep us until they can get what they want–total control of the portal. Once they have that, they’ll return us. Perhaps we should wait it out?”

“And let that insane man take control of the portal? No, that’s not an option. We have to stop him,” I replied angrily. “What’s he expecting Mom to do anyway? Get him a job at Ames?”

“I wonder,” murmured Kellan. “I bet he wants the blueprints.”

“The blueprints? Of the portal? Why?” I asked perplexed.

“So he can sell them,” Kevin replied. “He could make a lot of money.”

“Well, we can’t let him do that, can we? We need to stop him,” I said emphatically.

“How do you suggest we do that?” Kevin asked.

“I don’t know. I need to think. We all need to think!” I drank some more of the water that Sophie had given us. It tasted a bit funny, like it was flavored. I was starting to feel very heavy-headed; I could barely keep my eyelids open. I heard heavy snoring sounds coming from Kevin.

“Kellan, did your water taste funny?” He didn’t reply, his was breathing very deeply–he was asleep. Not just asleep, asleep-asleep. We’d been drugged, again, I thought to myself as my mind blanked.

~

Raj Sen sighed. He wondered why there were always complications. Why, just once, could things not just go his way? He watched the van in front of him, the van with the kids. Well, it was supposed to be only kids. However, he seemed to have added an adult. Not good. Not good at all, he agitated to himself. He glanced over at the man beside him, the driver. His name was Dan. Sophie’s brother-in-law. He was a large man, almost twice Raj’s size. He didn’t say much, but seemed to obey orders without questions. Not that surprising, he was paying him enough.

Raj could feel Sophie’s eyes glaring him down from the back. She was very unhappy with the turn of events and totally unable to hide her displeasure. This was supposed to have been much simpler. Driving about, holding kids captive in the back of a van had not been part of the plan.

No, the plan had been simple. Arizona was merely a test to see if the portal worked and to teach Olivia a lesson–Raj Sen could not be messed with.  Sophie’s mission had simply been to bring Arizona through and return her home to her father, her real father–nothing wrong with that. In fact, he was convinced that he was doing the right thing for Arizona. Not that he really cared. Then Sophie was to simply come back through the portal and collect her share of money from the blueprint sale. Raj had borrowed Ella and Harry for leverage to get the portal blueprints. The plan had been to keep them overnight while Olivia and Larry got the message in Kellan’s ring, gave him the blueprints and then he would have returned them. The plan had been so simple. What on earth had gone wrong? He had opted for a ring, a tight one at that, so they definitely would get the message. No chance of it flying off like a bit of paper might have. However, neither Olivia nor Larry had contacted him and the next thing he knew, FBI was swarming Mountain View. What went wrong? Had they not found Kellan? Had they not worked out that the message was in the ring? It was fairly obvious. In response to the FBI circus, Raj had been forced to hurriedly transport the two sleeping children from the basement of Grayson’s weekend cottage to Ames. When the FBI arrived at Ames, he had been trapped, with nowhere to go. So, he had brought them through the portal. It had been a haphazard, hurried decision. Sophie had unhappily driven the kids up to Princeton and dumped them at the Steven’s house while they worked out what they were going to do next. They still hadn’t worked it out, but had decided it was better to keep the children with them until they worked out a way to get the blueprints. Dumping them at Princeton had been stupid–they could have run away. They were lucky that they were still there when they had gone back for them.

They had lost Ella–that was bad. Without her, Olivia would never hand over the blueprints.  What a mess! Raj could see his prosperous future vanish. However, on the bright side, Olivia didn’t yet know, so Ella could still be used as leverage. And they did still have Harry and Arizona.

“Sophie, what do you know about Dr. Sanderson?” Raj asked.

“Just what I learned when I hacked into his computer. He was put in charge of controlling the portal at this end. He’s been doing that for some time, eight years, I think. He actually works full time on a completely different project at Ames. The portal seems to be an extracurricular, but related activity. It’s not on the Ames main project list,” Sophie responded. “Raj, we are going to let them all go, aren’t we? This was never part of the plan. We should have been done with this by now.”

“How long are you going to need the rest of the guys for?” Dan asked. He wasn’t entirely comfortable having them around. But they needed them for as long they were driving about with the kids and Kevin.

Raj closed his eyes. With all the confusion he had not had time to postulate another plan. The target remained the same. He needed the blueprints. They had nowhere to go. At least the kids would be out by now, he had put a hefty dose of long-term sedative in their drinks. They would be able to drive uninterrupted for a long time.

Olivia knew that Agent Adams wouldn’t be pleased when she was told that Kellan’s ring had already been taken off. It probably would have been better to wait and let the FBI experts remove the ring from his finger. However, they didn’t have the time or patience to wait. David and Kellan both wanted to head over to take care of Arizona. So, Olivia had asked the nurse for lubricant and pried the ring off Kellan’s finger herself, leaving his swollen finger red and raw. She looked down at the ring glistening in the palm of her hand and wondered if it was indeed some kind of message. She had given it a thorough exam, as had Rupert and Larry. There was no obvious message, no inscription. It had to be a chip of some sort. That’s if it even was a message.

“Dr. Darley, is that the ring?” Claire Adams asked, as she walked into the hospital room and observed Olivia studying it carefully.

Olivia nodded, holding it out for the agent.

“I thought that our team was going to extract it?” Claire remarked.

“Yes, I’m sorry about that. Kellan wanted to leave, so I did it myself. I used lubricant, so I’m fairly sure I didn’t damage it in any way. There is no inscription. Microchip?”

Claire nodded. The ring looked undamaged. “I’ll have the lab take a look right away and let you know if we find anything. Where did Kellan go? Is he feeling better?”

Olivia nodded. “Yes, much better.”

Claire’s phone rang, saving Olivia from the where question. Claire breathed a sigh of relief.  Simla Sen and Justin Weeks had been found. They’d been taken down to the local station. “I’ll be there in ten,” Claire said and hung up. She looked over at Olivia, Rupert and Larry and nodded. “I’m going to have this analyzed right away and will give you a call as soon as I know anything.”

~

Claire drove over to the station as fast as she could. Erica Sen and Grayson Weeks had been notified and were meeting her there. There still were no signs of Simla’s father, Raj Sen. The kids had apparently been picked up by Shiver Lake, as they seemed to call it around here.

She recognized detectives Mason and Pinsky waiting for her outside the station entrance. “So, what do we have?” she asked them with a friendly smile.

Sally relaxed. She was still slightly on edge in front of the FBI agents, but Agent Adams was smiling. She got right to the point, though. “We found the kids, Justin Weeks and Simla Sen, messing about on Justin’s bike by the lake. We’ve separated them and now their respective parents are waiting with them. Who do you want to start with?”

“Justin Weeks,” Claire replied. “It was his hockey stick that had been described in the place where Arizona and Kellan had been kept.”

Claire studied the boy across the table from her. He was very handsome, just like his father who was sitting next to him. There was one big difference, though. The son did not exude the same serene, calming aura that his father did. The boy was in fact the opposite. He sat staring at Claire with a defiant, unhelpful glare, his lips turned into a sour line. Claire was not fond of teenagers at the best of times; this was going to be particularly trying.

“Justin, I’m Agent Adams. I work for the FBI. Do you know why you’re here?”

“Well, Dad told me it’s because of the missing kids, nothing to do with me!” he said insolently, rolling his eyes. “Glad someone took them, they’re a pain in the ass.”

“I’m sure you don’t mean that,” Grayson said surprised at his son.

Justin rolled his eyes again.

“Justin, the main reason we brought you in, is because your hockey stick was found in the place where the kids were being held.”

“His hockey stick?” Grayson repeated.

Claire nodded. “Yes, a hockey stick scratched with your son’s initials.”

“Why assume it was mine? Could belong to anyone with those initials,” Justin replied.

“True,” Claire conceded. “But it could have been yours, right?”

He shrugged. “So what?”

“Well, the initialed stick was found where some of the kids were held hostage. Can you think of dark places where you may have left your stick? Or sticks?” Claire continued, trying to be patient.

“I leave my sticks everywhere–the garage, basement at home, at the cottage, dressing room at the ice rink,” Justin mumbled. “I’ve got nothing to do with anyone gone missing! Simla and I’ve just been hanging out, that’s all.”

“The cottage?” Claire asked.

“Yes, we have a cottage a bit further up from the lake,” Grayson explained. “We use it on the weekends when we go fishing and stuff.”

“Does it have a basement?” Claire inquired, ready for action.

“Yes, it’s fairly small and unfinished. We use it for storage,” Grayson replied.

As soon as she had got the address from Grayson, Claire dispatched a search team to the cottage. Then she turned back to Justin. “Justin, when was the last time you were there?”

“A couple of weekends ago with Dad,” Justin answered. “Why?”

“Are any of your hockey sticks in the basement?” she asked

“I guess.”

“When was the last time you saw Kellan, Arizona, Ella and Harry?” Claire continued, feeling fairly sure that Justin hadn’t a clue what was going on. He looked genuinely confused.

“I saw Kellan, Arizona and Harry at hockey, Monday night. I may have caught a glimpse of Ella as well, but I can’t be sure. Why?” Justin asked.

“Thanks for answering my questions. You may go now,” Claire said, getting up.

“What about Simla? Should we wait for her?” Grayson inquired.

“Her mom’s with her. I still have to talk to her, but you can wait for them in the lobby if you want.”

After making sure that the search team had been deployed to the Weeks’ cottage, Claire made her way to the room where Simla was being held. She had been fully expecting another defiant and difficult teen, so was surprised to find a nervous wreck of a girl in tears waiting for her.

“I don’t know anything,” Simla wailed as soon she saw Agent Adams.

“What don’t you know anything about?” Claire asked gently.

“About everyone missing,” Simla sobbed.

“When was the last time you saw your father?” Claire asked.

“I don’t know! A few days ago, maybe,” she mumbled.

Erica had given Simla firm instructions not to mention anything about the portal or Wanderers. She had managed to pry from Simla that Raj had used her to get into Ames months ago, but that he’d not asked her to do anything else since then. Erica had been relieved that her daughter was not involved in her husband’s insane schemes. She had merely been sneaking off with Justin. Erica wasn’t too happy about that, either, but in the whole scheme of things, she was relieved.

“Have you ever been to Justin’s cottage?” Claire asked looking at Simla.

She had, but Simla was not about to confess to that. Not in front of her mom. Justin and she used it when they wanted privacy. She shook her head.

“Dr. Sen, have you been to the cottage?” Claire asked looking over to Erica.

‘Yes, a couple of times for barbeques.” It was more than a couple of times. Erica spent a great deal of time with Grayson at the cottage. She didn’t want to say that in front of Simla, though. It was a great place to unwind.

“Has your husband been up there?” Claire continued.

“Yes,” Erica replied, wondering how the cottage was relevant to the missing children. Had Raj taken them there?

“Dr. Weeks and Justin are waiting for you in the lobby, thanks for your time.” Claire said abruptly, as she got up to head off to the Weeks’ cottage. The team would already be on their way over. She doubted that the kids would still be there, it was too much to hope for. The best she could hope for was some indication of who had been there, if anyone. Raj Sen was still missing. Was he somehow involved? Erica had mentioned that Raj was obsessed with Olivia. There must be more to this than him trying to get her attention.

Three quarter ways to the cottage, her phone rang. There were no kids at the Weeks’ cottage. Claire was disappointed, she had hoped against hope that they would be there. She received a second phone call, from the lab this time, with the results for the ring. They had extracted a microchip.

~

He knew that he couldn’t call Dr. Darley, although he longed to tell her that Ella was safe. Her phone was sure to be bugged. So, David called his mom instead.

“Mom, I have Ella. Where should I take her?”

“Bring her to our house, David,” Inez said. She was fairly sure it wasn’t being watched. “Is she okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine. She wants her mom, not surprisingly. She’s confused, but in fine form. Hasn’t stopped prattling on for the past five hours, she’s a funny little girl,” David smiled.

Inez could tell that he was exhausted. The traveling in itself must have tired him out. Taking along passengers twice in such a short time would have been draining. She was so proud of him. “Come home, honey.”

They arrived half an hour later. David carried Ella inside, she had finally dozed off. He carried her to the couch and sat down with Ella still in his lap. He threw his head back, resting his neck against the back and stretched his legs. He was truly tired. Inez wanted to let him drift off to sleep, to let him harvest his energy. However, she needed some information first.

“Honey, you look beat. I wasn’t expecting you to come back with Ella. I had no idea she had been transported across. Is Harry there as well?” she asked him gently.

He nodded, his eyes closed.

“Are they okay?”

“No, Mom. They’re far from okay,” he said unhappily.

Inez knew he was too tired to talk. So, she extended her thumb to touch his and he let the information flow freely to her.

~

“Ollie, Rup, that was Inez on the phone. She is on her way over. She was very guarded, but I expect that’s because she knows our phones have been bugged. I guess she’s heard back from David and Kellan. Let’s hope so anyway,” Larry said, wondering if their homes had been bugged as well. It may have been wiser to meet Inez over at her place. She was on her way now, though. They would have to make sure to talk outside. He jotted his thought down on a piece of paper and passed it to Olivia and Rupert who nodded in affirmation.

The three of them had made their way to Olivia and Rupert’s house after their chat with Agent Adams. They were exhausted, but too worried to rest. They’d spent the twenty minutes they had been at the house sitting waiting for the phone to ring, hoping for news of their children. They were ready to head to Ames.

Olivia sat bundled up in Rupert’s lap, her head resting on his chest. Her eyes closed, her mind working furiously trying to figure out what to do next. She hoped that Arizona would come back with David and Kellan somehow. She didn’t even want to start thinking about the possibility that Dillard was now aware of the portal, of her life here. They needed to make their way to Ames. She put her lips up to Rupert’s ear and whispered into it softly. “Rup, tired as we are, we have to head over to Ames. I haven’t a clue if that will achieve anything, but we have to look, to try to find out what’s going on. We know that Arizona must have been taken through the portal, so we need to figure out who did it and why.”

He nodded and whispered back, “We’ll go as soon as we’ve had an update from Inez.”

As soon as they heard Inez’s car arrive, Larry, Olivia and Rupert walked outside.

“We’re concerned that the house has been bugged, so let’s talk out here for a minute,” Larry explained.

Inez nodded and launched right into the news Olivia had been waiting for. “David is back. He brought Ella home. She’s just fine.”

“Ella! How? Thank goodness, let’s go to her,” Rupert and Olivia exclaimed in union.

“We could, but let’s think this through a bit. What if you’re being followed? How will you explain Ella’s return to the FBI?” Inez asked.

“I don’t know,” Rupert said. “How did she end up at your place? How did David find her? Where?”

“It’s a long story,” Inez said. “As you know, David took Kellan back to see Arizona. She was still at her house in Princeton when they got there. While David had been gone, someone had dropped Harry and Ella off at the house as well. They had been dropped off sedated. Kevin arrived at the house while they were all there and they were trying to figure out what to do when they were seized again. David has no idea who by. They were forced into a black van, by men he’d never seen before. Kevin asked David to transport Ella back to us safely. So, they’re at my house. Ella is fine, unharmed, but probably very confused. I haven’t spoken to her. She’s had a long journey and fell asleep not long ago. I left some of the Elders to watch over them.”

“Elders?” Olivia asked.

“Wanderer leaders,” Larry replied. “You both obviously have to go and see Ella, question is how to get you there unnoticed. We also have to figure out how to explain Ella’s reappearance to the FBI.”

Olivia nodded. She took Rupert’s hand and leaned into him. Her baby was back, but she was still missing two of her kids and Kellan. Missing them in another dimension, another time. She may never see them again. She shuddered.

“Ollie, it’s going to be okay,” Rupert whispered into her ear, stroking her head gently. “Let’s find a way to get to Inez’s house.”

Larry’s phone rang, startling the four of them. What now? Larry listened intently as Agent Adams explained that they had extracted the microchip and she had emailed him the file that it contained. She was on her way over.

“That was Agent Adams,” Larry said, as he brought up the email on his phone and handed it over to Olivia and Rupert. The note was short and to the point.

I want the blueprints. Email them to me. I will release the kids as soon as I get them. Raj Sen

The blueprints. Why hadn’t she guessed? Olivia had been so sick with worry that the obvious had eluded her. She would never have guessed that Raj Sen was behind this, though. Erica’s husband, that was so strange. “Blueprints, what does he want those for?” Olivia whispered, looking at Larry.

“They could be worth a small fortune. Olivia, the technology you’ve created has such huge implications. The portal could be used for so many purposes.”

She knew all that, of course. What she had meant, was what did he, Raj, need them for. I guess the obvious reason would be that he had a buyer. If so, he had already shared the existence of the portal with others.

“Well, let’s head to Ames and email the blueprints over right away,” said Rupert. “No time to waste.”

Olivia nodded. “It will also be easier to make our way to Inez’s house from Ames without being detected. So, you email the prints, Larry, and I’ll go over to Inez’s house with Rupert.”

“Okay, I’ll call Agent Adams and tell her to meet me at Ames instead,” said Larry, as they dove into his car and headed off. It was decided that Inez would meet Olivia and Rupert at the far fire exit, so they could leave with her.

Olivia’s thoughts were crashing around in her head as they made their way to Ames. They knew that Raj didn’t have all the kids anymore. Ella was free. He had Arizona, Harry and Kellan. And Kevin. But Raj wasn’t even here. They were in a different dimension.

“Larry, the whole email thing isn’t going to work,” she mumbled.

“I know,” Larry replied. “Unless he is working with someone at this end who has a way of communicating with him. I doubt that though. It’s more likely that something went wrong and he was forced to head through the portal.”

“Yes, and Ella is back. And I’m sure he wasn’t planning to have Kevin in his custody. I’m sure his plans went wrong somewhere,” Olivia replied.

“Rupert, you still good at hacking into systems?” Larry asked.

“As good as ever,” Rupert replied. “What do you need me to do?”

“Rup, you didn’t tell me about this particular gift,” Olivia asked bemused.

“I have many talents,” he said, and kissed her gently.

“I need you to stay with me, Rupert,” Larry interrupted. “Ollie, you’ll be ok heading off on your own, won’t you?”

“Yes, of course. Remember not to call me. Our phones are bugged. I’ll have Inez make contact with you somehow to give you an update,” Olivia added.

Agent Adams was already waiting for them when they arrived at Ames. Olivia was going to have to give her the slip somehow and head off with Inez. She had to get to Ella.

“Agent Adams,” Larry acknowledged, and led them through the entrance toward his office.

“I’m going to use the restroom, I’ll meet you at your office, Larry,” Olivia said, and squeezed Rupert’s hand before letting it go.

“Right,” Larry replied casually, as he kept walking.

Olivia could barely contain her excitement as she ran along the corridor, down the steps, through several other corridors and finally through the exit, and into Inez’s waiting car.

“Inez, I don’t know how to even begin to thank you,” she said gratefully, looking over at Inez’s serene face.

“There is no need,” Inez said. “Anyway, all this is partly my fault.”

“Your fault? How?” Olivia asked puzzled.

“I’m partly responsible for this whole mess with Raj,” Inez replied. “Erica is a Wanderer.”

Olivia was dumbstruck. She had skeptically listened this whole Wanderer phenomenon, but had not given it much serious thought. So far, she’d been briefly told that Inez and her son, David were Wanderers–beings who could traverse dimensions and time. It was too mind boggling to accept or even to begin to understand. One would have to believe in the supernatural, in paranormal phenomena. That was totally beyond Olivia’s level of acceptance. She held her tongue, though. Inez was a wonderful lady, she was not about to anger her with her skepticism. So, she simply nodded and listened.

Inez continued. “A Wanderer’s purpose is to learn. To that end, Wanderers are often assigned to human subjects, to learn from them. Erica was assigned to you. She’s been observing you for many, many years.”

Olivia could barely contain herself. She clenched her jaws down to stop herself from exploding. She wasn’t sure what would come out of her mouth–peals of laughter, most likely.

Inez, unaware of Olivia’s doubt, went on. “As you know, Erica is married to Raj. We were very unhappy when Erica came to us to ask for permission to marry him. He is a non-Wanderer; these unions seldom last. Even mine didn’t. Raj learned about your portal from Erica. Over the years, he has grown more and more obsessed with time travel, especially watching Erica do it so effortlessly. He’s developed a compulsion to be able to travel on his own. This and the need for wealth have become huge issues for Raj that have now culminated in this mess.”

If she could somehow bend her mind enough to accept this mind-blowing version of reality, it would all make sense. It would all be so very simple then, Olivia thought to herself. But could she accept this explanation? How else could Ella’s reappearance be explained? One possibility was that Inez was somehow involved with the disappearance in the first place. Perhaps Ella had been at her place all this time. Maybe the rest of the kids were there as well. Or maybe none of the kids were there and this was a trap to get Olivia alone. Maybe she was being abducted. Olivia squirmed in her chair uneasily. They were at Inez’s house. No going back now, she would find out what was going on sooner rather than later.

She followed Inez in, looking around for signs of trouble. Everything appeared calm. It was deadly quiet on this isolated road. She stepped into the house behind Inez hesitantly.

“Mom!” Ella shrieked, and threw herself at Olivia.

“Ella,” Olivia whispered, as she squeezed Ella to herself as tightly as she could. Tears were streaming down her face. “Ella, let me look at you. Are you okay?”

“Why are you crying, Mom? It’s ruining your makeup!” Ella admonished, wiping the tears off Olivia’s face.

“Oh, Ella. I love you so. You’ve no idea how worried I’ve been,” Olivia whispered.

“I know, Mom. I’m your ray of sunshine, you always say so.”

Olivia smiled and pulled her ray of sunshine in for a long huggle, a hug and a cuddle. Then she scooped her up and sat down on the couch with her. “Ella, how did you get here?”

“Oh, David brought me. He’s awesome,” Ella replied, looking over at David fondly.

“David, thank you so much,” Olivia said gratefully.

Ella continued excitedly, “David swooshed me out of the van and we landed in a field, with cows! We had to run out of the field so they didn’t eat us. Then we walked for ages. Well, David carried me. Then David got a car and we drove here. I tried to keep awake by telling David stories and singing show tunes.” A sad expression came over Ella’ face and a tear trickled down her face.

“What’s up, baby?” Olivia asked, taking her hands.

“Mom, I’m so scared for Harry, Arizona and Kellan. They’re still in the van,” Ella cried.

“We’re going to bring them back, too. I don’t want you to worry about that. Okay?” Olivia assured her.

“Okay, Mommy,” Ella said, and rested her head on her mom’s shoulder.

Olivia had a lot of questions, but she didn’t want to upset her little girl. So she distracted her by asking Ella if she had seen the new Joe Jonas doll. That kept Ella chattering while Olivia tried to focus her thoughts on what do next. Ella fell back asleep in no time. Olivia looked down at Ella, her face puffy with sleep. She looked so peaceful and cute. She draped the blanket Inez handed to her gently over Ella and stroked her hair.

“Olivia, let me get you a pillow as well. You should get some rest. I’m going to contact Larry and Rupert and find out what’s going on. I’ll wake you when I get back. David will watch over you both while I’m gone.”

Olivia nodded. She was beyond exhausted. Ella’s gentle snoring was sedative, and she fell right into a deep slumber.

~

Larry brought up the portal data on his computer and left Rupert to take a look at it while he talked to Agent Adams. Their talk didn’t last long.

“What did you tell her?” Rupert asked.

“Not much, I just answered her questions. I feel bad that we can’t give her more information. I did send her down to security, so she can have a look at the security tapes. So, hopefully we’ll know for sure when Raj Sen came in. He’s her main suspect. She wanted to know which blueprints he was talking about. I said that I wasn’t sure, that we were looking into it right now. She wants us to show them to her so she can get similar ones made up by her techs that we can email off to Raj.”

“Smart idea, Larry. We should definitely not let him have the real ones.”

“Did you find anything yet?” Larry asked.

“No. I’ve got Erica’s computer files open and I’m trying to hack into her email.”

“There’s no need. I’ll just call her, she’ll give me the pass code,” Larry replied.

“Ask her if we can have Raj’s password as well,” Rupert asked, as he continued working through the codes. This could take hours. He was anxious to see Ella, but he had to focus. He was desperately tired and the numbers in front of him made his eyes swim. Focus! He looked at the various code combinations, the times the portal had been opened and closed, working out the various permutations. He immersed himself in it totally, barely noticing the scrap of paper with the passwords that Larry silently put in front of him.

Larry sat down and quietly watched Rupert work. If there was anyone who could hack into the system, it was Rupert. He decided to head down to see Agent Adams, who was on her way out with the security tapes.

“I’ll let you know if we find anything,” she said, before she left.

When he came back up, Rupert was still immersed in his work. Larry sat down and didn’t move for the next four hours while Rupert tapped away at the keyboard.

Rupert finally looked up. “Let’s go down to the portal. I have control.”

I woke feeling groggy and my mouth was paper dry. I was too tired to move so I just sat and listened to the others sleep. We were still in the van, the sound of the engine lulled me off to sleep again. When I woke again, I was totally stiff, I hurt everywhere, I felt like I had been asleep for days, though I had lost all concept of time. I was fairly sure I had been awaked at some point. I vaguely remember being dragged to a restroom and forced to use the toilet, and then drink more water. The others were stirring as well. None of us said anything for what seemed like hours.

“Let’s not drink any water they offer us again,” I suggested. There were three grunts of agreement, followed by more silence. We let the sedatives wear off completely.

Harry grunted and I looked over to him expectantly. He seemed to have something to say. I hoped he did. Someone had to think of a way to get us out of this van and back home. Home. Strangely enough, I meant Mountain View. Geez, I had to get a grip on myself. What we needed was to get Harry and Kellan to Mountain View. I needed to head home to my dad. I had to at least let him know what was going on. I was fairly certain that I wanted to head back to Mountain View eventually.

“We need to get out of here,” Harry said, stating the obvious. “There are three of us against possibly five of them, right?” They did send a couple of the men off to search for Ella and David, so there may only be three to deal with–Dr. Sen, the guy named Dan, the other guy. And there was also the woman.”

“Three?” I asked. “Am I invisible?”

“Sorry, Shrimp. I meant four, of course. There are four of us,” he said, quickly throwing a sly sideways glance at Kevin.

Ah, yes. Kevin didn’t look like he was going to be of much use if it came down to a fight. He had his eyes shut for the moment.

“The next time the back of the van opens we have to spring into action,” Harry declared.

Kellan and I nodded. We sure did.

Harry continued. “I suggest that when the van comes to a stop, we gather by the door, ready to kick it open. Kellan and I kick the doors open once they’re unlocked and have begun opening, and then we all jump out and run for it. There is no way any of them can out run us.” He looked over at Kevin, who shrugged at us.

“We’re going to need Kevin, though,” Kellan said. “How else are we going to get back and through the portal?”

“You don’t need me for that,” Kevin replied. “If you get separated from me, call Morena at the SETI Institute, collect. Here’s her cell phone number. She’ll take care of you.” He reached into his sock and pulled out a credit card and handed it to Harry. “Take this, you’ll need it to get to California. I’ll try to keep up with you guys, though,” he muttered.

“Okay?” Harry asked, looking at us. “We’re clear? The next time the van stops, we take action.”

We looked at him somberly and nodded.

“What if we get separated? We haven’t got cell phones,” I pointed out.

“Follow me. We can’t get separated. We run together. Kevin, if we outrun you, we’ll get the cops to come back for you,” Harry added.

“No, don’t get the cops involved. Just let Morena know, she’ll take care of it,” Kevin responded.

And so we waited and waited for the van to stop. I think I may have fallen asleep again for a bit. Sitting enveloped in Kellan’s arms, I felt warm and safe, although I knew we weren’t safe. I was acutely aware of that. And if we made it out of here, I would be faced with the go-through-the-portal or not decision again. I had to get word to my dad. He would eventually notice that I was gone. He would be back from AC tomorrow night probably, if he wasn’t back already. However, he wouldn’t think it strange if I wasn’t around for a couple of days. He was used to me doing my own thing, just as I was used to him doing the same.

“Get ready,” Harry urged, as the van suddenly slowed down.

I reluctantly extracted myself from Kellan’s arms and we positioned ourselves by the doors as the van came to a stop. My stomach was in knots. Kellan ran his hands through my hair and kissed my forehead just as we heard the door unlock. I clenched my fists.

Harry and Kellan’s feet hit the doors with a mighty thump, crashing into whoever was at the other side. We did not wait to investigate. We leapt out of the van and rushed into the darkness of the trees. Kellan had my hand and was rushing me through the woods. I couldn’t see a thing; I was hoping that Harry was in front of us, leading the way. We couldn’t lose each other.

There had been a dead silence apart from our own sounds as we had exited the van. We took them by surprise. However, after the initial seconds of quiet, there was a frenzied outburst of shouting and I could hear footsteps and running behind me. They were at our heels. We ran as fast as we could, in and out between the trees, hoping that Kevin was keeping up. Kellan had me in a firm grip, pulling me along. We must have run for what seemed like an hour. The footsteps behind us had disappeared some time ago, but we kept running. We finally stopped as we came to the banks of a river. I collapsed to the ground, exhausted, as did Kellan.

“Harry?” I yelled hoarsely.

“Right here, Shrimp!” he shouted back.

I didn’t sit up to check. I just lay on the ground tying to catch by breath. Kellan rolled over and slipped his arm under my head.

“You okay, Shrimp? he whispered.

“Yes, you?”

“I’m good,” he replied. “Where’s Kevin?”

“Don’t know,” Harry replied. “We must have lost him. Hopefully he escaped them, but is just lagging behind. We’ve got to keep moving, though. Let’s follow the river for a while.”

“Give me a minute,” I panted. He gave me two before he towered above us, urging us to get back up.

“Come on, we need to get to a phone,” he said, as he held out his hand for me. “I can carry you for a bit.”

“No, I’m fine!” I said, and stood up immediately. I could hear Kellan chuckling to himself.

Harry took me by the hand and led me along the river. I wondered what his plan was, but I was too tired to ask. And I was so thirsty. All that river water, but we couldn’t drink it. Or could we? “Harry, do you think this water is safe to drink?”

“Don’t know. I guess. Drink a bit, if you have to,” he suggested.

I cupped my palms and carefully gathered some water and drank it down. It tasted awful, but I needed it. I saw Harry and Kellan do the same. Then we continued walking along the bank of the river until we spotted a bridge, a bridge with cars driving over it. Harry stopped.

“Let’s walk along the roadside until we find a phone. We need to call the lady at SETI–Morena,” he said.

Walking along the road was not as easy as walking along the river had been. It was frightening. We were concerned that a cop car might see us and stop to talk to us. Or psychos. We decided to walk amongst the trees by the road. It slowed us down, but we felt safer. We had no idea where we were, not even what state we were in. I was relieved when we finally spotted a sign to the next services, only another two miles to go. It took everything I had to make it those last two miles. I could barely walk, my feet hurt like mad. I persevered, holding on to Kellan, leaning up against him.

When we finally arrived, I collapsed into the first chair I saw in the small dingy-looking cafe. I couldn’t walk another step.

“Kell, wait here with Arizona while I find a phone.” Harry said, looking at me, worried. “You okay?”

I nodded. “Just exhausted, that’s all,” I said and leaned into Kellan to rest my head on his shoulder. He must have been just as worn out. We just sat there, not talking until Harry came back. He looked beat as well.

“I got hold of Morena. Nice lady. She’s on her way over. There’s a motel five minutes away, she asked us to wait there. She’s booking a room for us. Anyone else hungry?” It wasn’t until he mentioned it that my stomach growled. I was hungry, starving. I nodded, as did Kellan.

Harry laughed. “I’m guessing that I have to sort the grub out too? Right, wait here, I’ll see what I can do and then we’ll head over to the motel and eat there.”

Sounded good to me. He returned a few minutes later with a few bags full of food. Kellan and I got up and slowly followed him to the motel. I could barely walk.

“Wait here, I’ll go and get the key,” Harry said, and left us waiting in the parking lot.

The motel room was very basic, but clean. I sat down on one of the two queen-size beds and then threw my head back on the pillow. Kellan brought the bag of food over and we downed some Gatorade before we munched on sandwiches and chips. Then I lay back and fell asleep.

I was awakened by a thumping sound. I opened my eyes, petrified. I looked around, disoriented. Where was I? I was relieved to see Kellan gazing back at me, I was lying in his arms. I looked over at the clock, it was already afternoon.

“That must be Morena,” Harry said sleepily from behind me. I turned over and looked to the other bed. Harry was sitting up getting ready to get up and open the door when there was another knock. He had a quick look out the window before he opened it to let an amazingly stunning, but aloof-looking woman through the door.

“Hello, I’m Morena,” she said in a gentle, soft tone.

I liked her immediately despite her slightly unapproachable looks.

She looked at me, a warm smile transforming her face. “Arizona, how you have grown! And Harry, wow! Kellan, double wow!” she said, and strode over to give me a bear hug.

I was taken aback, but put my arms around her and squeezed her gently; she was very soft. I could feel her calm. I must have looked confused.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked.

I shook my head, as did Harry and Kellan.

“Well, I haven’t seen you guys since you were about eight, so I’m not surprised. How’s your mom, Arizona? And your dad, Kellan?”

“I’m guessing that they are very worried at the moment,” Harry replied. “Although, they’re good. It was all good before this happened.”

“So, how can I help?” Morena asked. “I brought some fresh clothes for you, I hope they fit. I figured you’d need a change.”

No kidding, I thought to myself. I stank. So did Kellan and Harry. I nodded gratefully. “Thank you. I really need a shower. Can we talk after?”

She nodded. “Tell you what. The three of you get ready. Here are the clothes,” she said, handing me a bag. “There are toothbrushes and a few other bits and pieces I thought you may need in there as well. I’m going to pop out and get us coffee and something to eat. Be back shortly.”

I dove into the shower. The warm water felt wonderful. I stood in it for ages enjoying the warmth. Morena clearly had the same fashion sense as my mother, the clothes she had brought us were casual, but all designer labels. It felt good putting on clean clothes, I felt human again. After changing, I lay back down on the bed as Kellan and Harry took turns to get ready. The three of us were back to looking almost normal when Morena returned with refreshments. Boy, did I need food!

We were ravenous, as usual. Morena watched us silently as we stuffed our faces, barely looking at each other as we ate. She smiled. When we were finally done, I sat back and sighed. I was ready to face whatever the day had to throw at me.

“Feeling a bit better?” Morena inquired.

“Much better,” Harry replied with a beaming smile.

“Okay, then. You called me. All you said was that you were stranded here and that Kevin had asked you to call me. I have no idea what’s going on, so please update me. What are you guys doing here?” she asked.

Harry gave her a brief update, mentioning all the relevant details, what he knew anyway. After all, he didn’t know anything about my real dad or that I was only his half-sister. I wonder if Morena knew?

“So, where is Kevin now?” Morena asked.

“We don’t know,” Kellan replied. “He was behind us, when we were running through the woods, but then we lost him. He asked us to let you know if that happened. He asked us not to call the cops.”

Morena nodded thoughtfully. She could understand why he didn’t want the police involved, but she would have to call them if he didn’t contact her soon. He could be in danger. She would have to get word to Inez that Kevin was missing. Her first task, however, would have to be to get these kids home. How?

“So, I’m guessing that you are all desperate to get home. I need Kevin back to be able to return you through the portal. I don’t have any access to Ames. As you know, I work at SETI, which is located in Mountain View as well. I suggest we drive back and you hang out at my place while I figure out how to get you home.”

I nodded. That sounded fine, but I still had to contact my dad. And I needed to do it without Harry finding out. I needed some alone time with Kellan to talk this over with him. He knew the whole story.

“Right, if you’re all up to it, let’s head off,” Morena said, getting up. “It’s a long drive.”

“Where are we Morena? We’ve been in the back of a van for what seems like days,” I said.

“We are outside Reno in Nevada,” Harry replied.

“We’ve a long drive ahead, between four and five hours. Lets see, it’s four now, we’ll be there well before ten,” Morena added.

I wasn’t entirely surprised to see a Mercedes convertible waiting to take us on our way. Morena jumped into the driver’s seat and threw a sage-colored scarf over her hair. I recognized it. My mother had the same one, it had astrological signs scattered on it. She added sunglasses and we were on our way. I sat back in Kellan’s arms, feeling hopeful for the first time in a while. I leaned into him and gently brushed his neck with my lips. He reciprocated with a smile and kissed my forehead.

“It’s going to be okay,” he whispered gazing into my eyes.

“What about dad?” I whispered so only he could hear. “He’s going to figure I’m missing in a day or two at the latest. I need to contact him to let him know that I’m fine and not to worry.”

Kellan nodded. “Maybe you can call him later?”

Maybe. I hoped so. I nuzzled into Kellan’s chest and enjoyed the fresh air against my face. Morena drove fast. We pretty much drove straight through, only stopping once for refreshments. We were finally in Mountain View.

It was weird being back. It was spooky knowing that although it was the same place that I knew so well, everything about it was different because it was in a different dimension. We drove past the Ames complex and pulled off the main road about half an hour later to arrive at a well-lit, beautiful house surrounded by a tall white fence.

“We’re home,” Morena said happily. It had been a long drive. She was glad that she had managed to get the kids to safety. “Follow me.”

The inside of the house was beyond amazing We were all in need of showers, but spotted the pool outside.

Morena nodded, “It’s a bit late but go ahead. There’s a selection of swimsuits and swimming trunks in the shack by the pool. There are showers in there as well. Get changed and dive in. I’ll join you soon.

We changed into swim wear and dove into Morena’s pool while she was on the phone trying to figure out how she was going to get us back home. That’s what I hoped she was doing anyway. The pool was amazing and I swam up and down enjoying the water. Harry and Kellan lay on the deckchairs watching me.

“Come join me,” I shouted at them, splashing them with water. They were just about to when we heard Morena shout to us.

“I have some good news,” she said. We immediately grabbed some towels and went inside. She was sitting by her computer, looking happy. “I just spoke to Kevin.”

Phew! What a relief.

“How is he? Where is he?” Kellan asked.

“He’s okay. He sprained his ankle. He fell while running through the woods. It slowed him down, but he’s okay. He’s on his way back. He should be here tomorrow. You guys should get some sleep and we’ll figure things out in the morning. Let me know if there’s anything you need or want. I’ve made up your bedrooms, they are next to each other up the stairs. Sleep well,” she added, and turned back to her computer.

My bedroom was very pretty. I wasn’t feeling much like being on my own, though. I snuck through to Kellan’s.

“Did you call your dad yet?” he asked. “There’s a phone,” he said, pointing at the desk.

I dialed Dad’s cell, waiting for him to pick up. It went through to his voice mail, as usual. “Dad, it’s me, Arizona. I’m fine. I’ll try and call you later, don’t worry about me,” I said, speaking into his message service.

Kellan looked at me uneasily. “Shrimp, you must be so torn right now. I just assumed that you were coming back with me, that you wanted to come back with me.” He stopped and looked at me questioningly. “But, it just occurred to me that you may not want to, that you may want to stay here.”

“I do want to be with you, Kellan. I thought I wanted to be here, in my old life. And when I got back here I was excited, but just for a moment. I missed you terribly. I was beyond miserable without you. I also missed Ella and Harry. I am torn, but I’m sure that I want to be with you.” I went over and climbed into his lap. “I have to make sure that Dad doesn’t worry, though.”

“Try him again in the morning,” Kellan whispered, as we lay down to drift off to sleep. It was already past one in the morning.

Kevin joined us for a very late breakfast; we’d all slept in. He looked beat. “Hey, kids. You guys okay?”

“Yes, you?” we asked in unison.

“Tired. However, I’m heading over to Ames after breakfast, I just wanted to check in with you guys first. You guys ready to head back home?”

We all nodded emphatically.

“Do you know what happened to Simla’s dad?” I asked.

“No, but I’m guessing he’s making his way over here, to Ames I mean. We’ll have to be very careful. I’m going to head home, contact some people and find out what I can before I head to Ames to figure out how to transport you back. Morena, the kids will be ok hanging with you, won’t they?”

“Yes, of course, Kevin. Let me know if you need me for anything,” she said meaningfully.

I wondered what that was all about, there was definitely something implied in that offer. I wondered how long we had. I wondered if Simla’s dad had made it to Mountain View. That would really complicate matters. My main priority for now was to try to get hold of my dad. I needed to be able to reassure him not to worry. I hoped that he was back from Atlantic City by now. It was really annoying that he habitually turned off his cell. After breakfast, I made my way back to the bedroom–that I had not slept in–to use the phone. He didn’t answer again. I called Monica instead.

“Hello?”

“Mon, it’s me, A,” I said.

“Where the heck are you?” she asked annoyed. “I stopped by to pick you up for school and you weren’t home!”

“Was my dad home?” I asked.

“No. Well, I guess I don’t know for sure, but nobody answered when I knocked. And I knocked pretty hard.”

No doubt, I thought. “M, listen up. I’m going away for a while. Can you stop by my house and let my dad know not to worry. I can’t get him on the phone.”

“Where’re you going?” she asked curiously.

“To visit Mom.”

“Again? Oh, okay. I can tell him, although you can try calling him yourself later,” she pointed out.

“I’ll try, but I think there may be something wrong with his cell, so just give him the message,” I said.

“Sure, no worries. When are you coming back?”

“Not sure, take care. I love you.”

“Okay, A. Take care of yourself,” she said sounding concerned.

“You, too,” I said, wondering when and if I was ever going to get to see her again.

Kevin needed to talk to Inez. Although he was almost completely drained, he sat down to think, to gather his thoughts. Kevin was relieved that the children were safe–for now. They would be safe at Morena’s house for as long as he didn’t go back there. His own house was probably under surveillance by Raj’s people and now that he was back here, he was certain that his every move was probably being watched. After all, he was Raj Sen’s only link to the kids now. He couldn’t go back to Morena’s. He couldn’t contact her by phone either. In a way it had been stupid to come back here, he should maybe have stayed at Morena’s as well. But all his data was here.

He scrambled up the stairs to his office–a room that doubled as a spare guestroom when he was still married. The house had always been full of people then. They’d always needed more than one guestroom.

He’d left the door unlocked, as usual. There had never been a reason to lock it in the past. He looked around with a sick emptiness bubbling up inside him. He sat down on the stuffed leather chair by his desk, defeated. The office had been ransacked. Not entirely surprising, but it left him totally beat. He was tired, lonely and suddenly scared.

The heavy footsteps coming up the stairs didn’t help. They couldn’t belong to Raj Sen, Kevin decided as he picked up the heavy vase from his desk, readying himself behind the door. They had to belong to a much larger person. Images of Dan flashed through Kevin’s mind. He wouldn’t stand a chance, unless he managed to get him on the right spot.

“Dr. Sanderson. It’s Dan. Please come downstairs,” the voice from outside the office boomed.

Kevin put down the vase resignedly and opened the door. Dan stood waiting for him halfway up the stairs. He was a large man, Kevin sighed to himself. He followed him downstairs and into the kitchen.

“Do ya have beer?” Dan asked, opening the refrigerator door.

“No, but there’s some wine in there, help yourself,” Kevin offered, and sat down by the kitchen table.

Dan returned to Kevin with a couple of cans of Coke and handed him one.

“Not a beer drinker?” Dan remarked.

“Sometimes,” Kevin replied. “Ran out.”

“Too bad. It’s going to be a long day,” Dan continued.

“It is?” Kevin queried.

“Yup,” nodded Dan and closed his eyes.

“So, what’s going on?” Kevin asked carefully.

“The boss ain’t none too pleased,” he mumbled. “He lost all the kids. Know where they are?”

“No,” Kevin said. “I need to be out looking for them.”

“Nah, you don’t. The boss is looking for them. My orders are to keep an eye on you till we find them. It’s a nuisance.”

“Boss? You mean Dr. Sen?” Kevin asked for confirmation.

“Sort of. Him and Sophie,” Dan muttered.

Kevin wondered who Sophie was and how she was connected to this mess. “Sophie?” he asked, not expecting a response.

“Yup, my sister-in-law. Annoying woman,” Dan sighed. “This isn’t the kind of thing I like to get involved with, but she insisted. I don’t think even she had expected this, though,” he complained.

“This?” Kevin encouraged.

“Naw, I shouldn’t be talking to you. I’m supposed to just watch you. This is boring. Let’s watch a DVD or somethin’,” he said, and beckoned Kevin to follow him into the den where he flicked through the DVD collection. “Sheesh, this is a lot of odd stuff. You got Terminator or somethin’ like that?” he complained.

“You could always order something on-demand,” Kevin suggested.

“Great idea!” Dan exclaimed happily, and settled himself into the comfortable couch with Kevin next to him, for four hours of action movies.

~

She should have heard back from Kevin by now. Morena considered calling him. He’d been exhausted, but even taking into account some time for a nap, he still should have had plenty of time to call her. So why hadn’t he? She had been uncomfortable about him heading back to his house. The people who had abducted him and the kids may be watching his house. What if he had been captured again? She needed to find out. However, she could not risk compromising the kids. They had to be her number one priority. It was the kids they were after. She’d give him until the morning to contact her. If she didn’t hear from him by then, she’d have to get in touch with Inez.

~

Dan’s phone rang, startling him into action. He looked annoyed at being disturbed from his movie. The conversation was one-sided with occasional grunting at Dan’s end. He turned his phone off and looked at Kevin grimly.

“Well, fun times are over. Dr. Sen is on his way over,” he said, and turned the movie back on.

Kevin stared at the wall, trying to drown out the annoying sounds of crashes and shooting coming from his TV. He needed to think. He would obviously stick to maintaining that he was unaware of the kids’ whereabouts. That did not sound implausible at all. After all, he had arrived here alone. Could Dr. Sen want something else from him, something related to the portal? Dr. Sen had obviously hacked into the portal system, so why would he need Kevin?

There was no way he would or could know about Kevin’s connection with the Wanderers, could he? Kevin and Inez had been very careful, very few people knew about her. To most, they had appeared like any other normal couple. They had entertained a lot when she was around–mainly her Wanderer friends. Their whole social network centered on her. He’d never really had any friends of his own. Even Larry had been her contact. Larry’s wife and Inez had been close. Inez was devastated when Larry’s wife died and had made it her mission to watch over Larry and Kellan ever since. Their marriage had eventually died, but they remained close friends. He needed her now.

~

Inez felt a twinge. She closed her eyes. Kevin needed her. Where was he though? David had said that he had been at the back of the van when David transported through with Ella. She wouldn’t be able to find him without a precise location.

She looked over at Olivia and Ella, who were still sleeping peacefully on the couch. Inez then went over to David, who still looked drained, and kissed his head.

“Hon, I’ll see you in a little while. I’m going to head over and see what’s going on at Ames.”

David nodded. “Bring them back, Mom. Bring Arizona back home.”

Inez noticed Agent Adams car parked right outside the front entrance at Ames. She would have to be careful. She slipped around the back and texted Larry.

where

Larry texted back, almost instantaneously:

op

She assumed that they were down at the portal, what else would op mean? She let herself in using the key that Larry had given her, and hurried through the corridors to the OP elevator and headed to the basement hangar.

“Inez, we just got here,” Larry said, pointing to Rupert. “Rup’s managed to recode the portal and hack into the system so that we have sole control.”

“How’s Ella? And Ollie?” Rupert asked, as he walked over.

“They’re good, both are sleeping soundly. David is watching over them. They’ll be fine. What’s going on here?” Inez asked.

“Not a lot,” Larry said. “We have control, but we can’t do much. The energy source to run the portal is completely depleted. We won’t be able to get it up and running for months. All we’ve really achieved is confirming that Erica’s computer was involved in recoding the portal. We’re sure that it was Raj, rather than Erica, who used it, though.”

Inez nodded, “I’m certain that Erica wouldn’t do anything like that.”

Larry continued. “So we know that Raj is over in the other dimension with the kids. We have no way to get to them.” Then he looked at Inez thoughtfully. “Unless you help us, of course.”

“And I will obviously do so, in any way I can,” replied Inez. “We don’t know where they are, though. I need a location. Then if we are going to bring them over, three of us will have to go over. Who? David is drained.”

Then she added, “I felt Kevin. He needs me.”

“How?” Rupert asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know where he is,” Inez replied. “I think I’ll go through to his house, to see if I can figure it out from there. I could try to check out Ames as well.”

“You’ll have to be very careful, Inez,” Larry worried.

She nodded and left to prepare herself for transport.

~

Inez had arrived at Kevin’s house and could hear voices coming from the family room. She had transported herself over to the downstairs closet, just in case there were people about. She was glad that she had. She strained to hear, sliding the door open a tiny bit, to make the noises more discernable. The TV was on, but she could hear at least another two voices in addition to Kevin’s. No wait, three. There were two men and a woman in the room with Kevin. Could it be Kellan, Harry and Arizona? She slid the door open a little further and strained to hear. Footsteps were coming toward her and she hastily hid between the coats, the coats that smelled of Kevin. It was a woman, she could tell by the clicking of the heels against the hardwood floor. Inez caught a vague glimpse of her as she hurried past the closet to the restroom. It wasn’t Arizona. So, it was unlikely that the male voices were Harry and Kellan. So who were they? She strained to listen again. One of the men was shouting–it was definitely Raj Sen. His voice was unmistakable. She’d no idea who the two with him were though. Or what she should do next. Go back and let Larry and Rupert know? Then what? No, best to hang on for a bit longer to find out what was going on and hope that she was not discovered.

~

Raj Sen was furious. His whole body was shaking. Not only had he lost the children, but when he’d made his way to Ames, he couldn’t access the portal. All his carefully laid plans were in ruins. Someone was going to pay! He had to get those blueprints, even if it meant going back and prying them from Olivia’s cold, dead fingers. Yes, dead is what they would be if she didn’t hand them over. Those blueprints were his future, his future in paradise. Kevin had to get him access to the portal.

“I don’t know how else to explain this,” Kevin said exhausted. “I can’t just open the portal and transport you through. I may be able to hack into the system, but it’ll still not work, not now. There is no energy. It’ll be months before the energy reserves are replenished.”

“Replenish it quicker,” Raj whined. “This is such nonsense! I need to get back now.” He sat down with his face in his palms. This had to work. He couldn’t get stuck here. “Right, get up! Let’s go. We’re going to Ames and you are going to get the portal working or your life won’t be worth living.”

“That’s right,” Sophie said, coming back into the room. “Stop stalling with your nonsense. Of course you can get it to work. Let’s go.”

Kevin got up on his feet, his stomach churning. He needed to get out of here and help the kids. This trip to Ames was going to be colossal waste of time and he would probably end up dead when he couldn’t get the portal to work.

As he walked into the hallway, he reached into the closet for his Ames pass, which hung on a hook, just to the left, inside the closet. A hand grabbed his.

“Just going to get my pass,” he said, and slid into the closet, into Inez’s arms. “Get me out of here,” he whispered, and closed his eyes. He immediately felt a warm rush of calm and a slight push. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in Inez’s hallway.

Inez collapsed into his arms, completely drained. He carried her into the family room where Olivia and Ella were still sleeping soundly.

“Dad!” David whispered, and threw his arms around his parents.

“Let me put your mother down,” Kevin said, as he took her to her bedroom and gently laid her in her bed. “Rest,” he said softly, as he closed the bedroom door and made his way to the kitchen to talk to David. “We need to rescue Arizona, Kellan and Harry.”

“Where are they?”

“At Morena’s house.”

“Good, that shouldn’t be difficult then,” David replied. “We’ll go over to Morgana’s and it will be an easy transport.” The two sisters shared the same house, in different dimensions. “We do need the Elders’ permission, though. Mom needs to call an emergency meeting.”

“Let’s give her an hour and then wake her,” Kevin suggested. “The kids are in safe hands for now. How’s Olivia coping with all this? Does she know about Wanderers yet?”

David chuckled. “She’s been told, but I don’t think she believes any of it. Not yet, anyway. Is Arizona okay, Dad?”

“She is, but she’s conflicted about her dad, not surprisingly.”

“Dad, do you think she’ll come through?”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged.

~

The meeting with the Elders was a formality, but a necessity. It was protocol. It was carried out efficiently and quickly. Morgana and Lars would go through to help bring the children back. David was desperate to go and get Arizona himself, but accepted that he was not strong enough yet. Inez and David accompanied Lars and Morgana back to Morgana’s house and watched them transport out.

~

I tried calling Dad again, no answer. I was becoming concerned that perhaps Dr. Sen had gotten to him. I had to make sure he was okay. But how? I had no other way to contact him other than calling him. Hopefully Monica would check in with him.

I was lying by the poolside in Kellan’s arms enjoying the sunshine. Harry was busy swimming laps, up and down–relentlessly.

“Come on, lazybones!” he shouted and splashed us. Get in the water and exercise. You never know when we’re going to have to run endless miles again,” he said, not joking. Kellan jumped in, dragging me with him. We started swimming, up and down. Harry was right. We shouldn’t rest, thinking that everything was going to be all right. Dr. Sen and his nutty entourage could find us at any moment and we would have to outrun them again. However, I didn’t want to overtire myself either, so after ten laps I got out and dried myself off on one of the large beach towels Morena had left on the table for us. I looked up and saw Morena come walking up toward me with some guests. One of them was definitely her twin sister–they were totally identical. The other could have been her brother.

“Arizona, this is my sister, Morgana, and this is Lars, a friend.”

“Hey,” I said, as Harry and Kellan joined us.

“Can you guys sit down for a moment? We have something we need to discuss with you,” Morena said.

That sounded serious, I thought as we walked over to the deckchairs. I sat down and looked over at Morena expectantly.

“When Kevin went home to his house, he was accosted by Dr. Sen’s people.”

Oh no, I thought to myself. This was not good. That madman had tracked us down.

“We need to be on our way again,” Harry said. “We can’t sit around here and wait for them to find us. Where is Kevin now? Is he okay? Do we need to head over and help him?”

“Kevin’s fine,” Morena said slowly.

“He is?” I asked. “Where is he now?”

“He’s been rescued. He’s in a safe place,” Morena replied vaguely.

“Where?” I persisted. “If it’s safe, we should maybe all head over there?”

“That’s what we would like to do,” Lars said, speaking up for the first time. He had a strange accent. I couldn’t place it. “Morgana and I are here to help transport you back to your parents.”

I just looked at him, dumbstruck again.

“And how are you going to do that?” Harry asked. “Through the portal?”

Yikes, I thought. Wasn’t the portal unreliable at the moment? It had been tampered with. I really didn’t want to end up in Victorian times or maybe even with the dinosaurs. But, how else were we going to get back? Maybe we should just head back to Princeton.

“The portal isn’t functional at the moment,” Morgana replied. “We are Wanderers, like David. We’re going to transport you home in the same way Ella got home.”

I just couldn’t get my head around that. I looked over at Kellan and Harry. Harry looked just as skeptical as I felt.

“It doesn’t hurt,” Morena assured us quickly.

Pain was not even a consideration. I just didn’t buy into the whole thing. Still, we’d all seen Ella disappear with David. I’d just not given it any thought, mainly because it was so unbelievable. It seemed as if I might have dreamed it all. To accept that it had been real was almost impossible. It was one thing to accept that Mom had built a portal. That was sort of based on sound scientific stuff, or so I’d hoped. Physics was really not my strong point. It did sound plausible, though. The whole many-worlds blah-blah, I could let slide. Maybe there was a small chance. But this? Wanderers? Really? I don’t think so. I must have been very tired when Ella disappeared, it must have been some kind of illusion. I could tell that Harry was thinking the same. Kellan was nodding.

“It’s not that we are concerned with the possibility that it may hurt,” Harry said. “I just can’t get my head around it, that’s all.”

“I know that it’s difficult to accept,” Morena replied. “Can you trust me, though?”

I looked over at the boys and we nodded. After all, she had driven all that way to get us and had offered up her house to us. And Kevin seemed to trust her.

“Then I would like to take you home,” she continued. “If that’s what you all want. I would understand if you wanted to stay here,” she said, looking at me thoughtfully.

“Of course, she doesn’t want to stay here,” Harry said perplexed. “Why would she?”

I shrugged at him. This was no time to go explaining to him about my dad. Dad wasn’t even home. I needed my mom to help me deal with him and my situation. We had to go back–for now.

Morena nodded. “Okay, so get into some dry clothes and meet me back in the hallway.”

I tried calling my dad one last time after I had changed into my clothes. It was difficult saying goodbye to this life. I was going to miss Monica, Beth, Raymond, Christian and everyone else I knew in New Jersey. I walked down the stairs to the hall feeling miserable, until I saw Kellan waiting there for me.

“Arizona, come to me,” Morena said in an even, calm tone. I went over and took her hand. “Kellan, go to Morgana and Harry go to Lars.”

Morena’s hands were super soft. I felt calm and relaxed as soon as I touched them.

“Is everyone ready? Close your eyes and relax,” she said.

I felt a soothing, warm calm. A slight pushing feeling and then more calm. I felt like I was floating through clouds. This was followed by a sensation of sheer happiness. Then Morena let go of me and I opened my eyes.

“Welcome home,” Kevin said smiling at us.

I felt totally disoriented, once again. One would think that I’d be used to it by now–not so. I was still clutching onto Morena’s hand, but I let go as soon as Kellan grabbed hold of me and drew me into his arms.

“Where are we?” I asked. We certainly weren’t home as Kevin had indicated. Welcome home?

“You’re at my house,” Morgana smiled. “Welcome.”

I extracted myself from Kellan’s arms and looked around. Morgana beckoned us to follow her, and we all walked through to her family room. The shape of the room, its angles and contours seemed so familiar. Then the incredible realization dawned on me–this was the same house that Morena lived in, at the other dimension! But Morgana’s house was decorated very differently. My mother would describe it as eclectic, which I think is just nice word to describe miss- matched…

“Please do sit down and make yourselves comfortable. You’re all safe here. We have a lot to discuss, but first let me get you some refreshments,” Morgana said, pointing us to her couches.

I sat down between Kellan and Harry and looked around. Kevin was perched on the arm of a chair occupied by an older, blond lady. I totally felt that she was in charge somehow. In charge of what?  Sitting on a couch in the corner were Morena and Lars. There was definitely a warm feeling of calm in this room. I felt peacefully euphoric, if one can feel that. It was a very strange feeling. Morgana reappeared with a large tray full of goodies–chips, dips, pita bread and nuts. I dove right in, as did Kellan and Harry. We’re teenagers, after all, always hungry.

“There are drinks in the refrigerator,” Morgana said, pointing to the bar. “I’ve ordered some pizza and chicken wings. The delivery guy should be here in about forty minutes or so,” she added, much to my satisfaction. Good lady.

“Where are we exactly?” Harry asked. “I know we’re at your house, Morgana. Thank you for your hospitality, I’m very grateful. But, exactly where are we?”

The lady, the older one with blond hair, answered. “Morgana, let me, please. Kellan knows me already. But, may I introduce myself to you, Arizona and Harry? I’m Inez. I’m David’s mother and Kevin’s ex-wife.”

Kellan knew her already? He hadn’t mentioned it, I thought to myself as I threw him a look. Harry stood up and shook her hand, I followed suit. It seemed to be the right thing to do.

“Have you seen David?” I asked her. “Is he okay?”

“Yes, both David and Ella arrived safely. They’re at my house. Your mom’s there as well. We’re waiting for two more of our Wanderer friends to arrive, Javier and Constance, and then we’ll talk more,” Inez promised.

We didn’t have to wait long. There was a tap at the door just as she finished talking and Morgana let them in. They entered silently, nodded at us and took a seat. I noticed that they all shared the same serene calmness. I liked and trusted them right away.

“We’re all here, so let’s get started,” Inez said. “Children, you are back in your home dimension.”

I guessed she meant the Darley dimension. I supposed that was ok, for now.

“A lot of things have happened since you’ve been away. So, first of all, let’s have a short de-briefing. Kellan and Arizona disappeared from the lakeside. We think that you were assaulted, taken to the Weeks’ cottage and held there by Raj Sen and his accomplices. Arizona, you were then transported back through the portal to Princeton.” Inez stopped, to check herself. She had nearly slipped and said to your dad. That would’ve been a mistake. Harry was still unaware of Arizona’s otherlife and it was not her place to mention it. “Kellan, a ring with a message was put on your finger and you were left by the roadside. The ring contained a microchip with a message for Olivia and Larry from Raj Sen.”

“What message? I asked, unable to help myself.

“It was a message asking for a set of blueprints of the portal to be delivered to Raj in return for you children. Harry, you and Ella were taken from your bedrooms to the Weeks’ cottage–or perhaps it was somewhere else, we don’t really know–to be held for ransom. Olivia and Larry did not immediately figure out the ring and the FBI was deployed. The police issued an amber alert and a full search undertaken. Knowing that the authorities had been alerted, we assume Raj Sen panicked and felt he had to move Harry and Ella as quickly as possible.  Raj managed to transport them though the portal and away from the prying eyes of the law. We assume that once Raj was through the portal, he had no idea what to do. He has no contacts there that we know of. Kevin tells me Sophie, an Ames staff member, her brother-in-law, Dan, and three other men are involved.”

I nodded, although I wasn’t sure if it had been two or three other men. Maybe more. I guess it wasn’t important at this point.

“What about Simla and Justin?” I asked. “Are they involved? Has anyone seen them or even spoken to them?”

“As far as we know, they’re not involved. But, we can’t be sure,” Inez replied. “So, once Raj and his accomplices had transported Ella and Harry though the portal, they decided to dump them with Arizona, while they figured things out. In the meantime Arizona had contacted Kevin. David had made his way over to check on you. At around the same time, Olivia and Larry figured out the possibility that Kellan’s ring may contain a message. The ring was extracted and then analyzed by the FBI. David came home for an update and then returned to Arizona with Kellan. So when Raj came back to get Ella and Harry, he unexpectedly found David, Kellan and Kevin there as well. You were all put in the back of a van, and then David transported Ella back and you know the rest.”

“Is she okay? Harry asked.

“Yes, she’s fine. As I said, she’s with your mom over at my place at the moment. She’s been sleeping since she got back, she is tired out from her journey. David said that she was in fine form earlier–very chatty.”

“What about David?” I asked.

“He’s fine as well, but totally exhausted.”

“So, can we head back to our homes?” Kellan asked. He just wanted to get back to his own stuff, to normal life, into his own clothes.

“Not yet,” Inez replied.

“Why not?” I asked frustrated.

“Although we’re fairly sure that you are safe now, we can’t be certain. Also, we need to explain your return to the FBI. We have to do that without revealing ourselves–I mean Wanderers–and without mentioning the portal.”

I laughed. “How are we going to do that when the whole issue was the portal?”

“We’ll have to think up a convincing story,” she said matter-of-factly.

“You mean, lie?” I muttered.

“Yes, unfortunately,” Inez said without remorse. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, I can’t think of a way around it. The positive thing about the FBI being involved is that they’ll help us keep you safe. You know, just in case Raj has contingency plans in place here, or somehow manages to come back.”

“All right,” Harry sighed. “What do you want us to tell them?”

“I am not sure yet. We’re waiting for your dads to come over, so we can all discuss it together. It will have to be a simple story, something that Ella can grasp and remember,” she said.

“You’re going to make Ella lie too?” Harry said shocked.

“Harry, we’ve no choice,” Inez said. “I don’t like this one bit, either.”

We heard the roar of a bike. Kevin looked out of the window and said with relief, “They are here now.”

It was nice to see Rupert and Larry. I had kind of missed Rupert, even though he wasn’t my real dad.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Rupert threw his arms around Harry and Arizona. He had wanted to stop by and see Ella, but Inez had been firm when she’d asked them to come over here first. He was sure that they’d been followed when they left Ames on his bike. He’d been forced to cut through the woods to lose whoever it was. It was probably just the FBI, keeping them safe. However, now was not the time for Claire or her colleagues to stumble upon the kids. They had things to talk about first.

“Inez, how can I ever thank you?” Rupert said, throwing her a grateful smile. “All of you,” he said looking over at Kevin, Morena, Lars, Javier, Constance and Morgana. “I’m indebted to you.”

“As am I,” Larry added, patting Kellan’s shoulder.

“How did it go with Claire, Larry?” Inez inquired.

“Claire’s the FBI agent in charge of finding you,” he explained, for our benefit. “She confirmed that she’d identified Raj Sen in the security footage at Ames. She seemed cagey, so I think there’s more. I’m fairly sure we were being followed, so she’s either put a tail on us, or someone else has. How are we going to explain away the kids being back?”

Javier, the youngest of the Wanderers in the room, had maintained silence until now. He finally spoke in a very even, quiet voice. I had to strain to hear.

“Inez assigned me the task of dealing with that. We need to keep it simple, especially for Ella. In my opinion, we should tell them the following: That you, Rupert and Larry, emailed the blueprints to Raj. Have you done so, yet?”

“Well, no,” Larry replied. “I don’t want to do that. They could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”

“You don’t need to send a blueprint of the portal or even the collider. Send a blueprint of something that looks important, but is useless to Raj. We just need the FBI to see that Dr. Sen has received the email on his computer and it’s marked as read. Rupert, have you circumvented the IP addresses being tracked?”

Rupert nodded. “Yes, no problem. I’m using a very sophisticated proxy server, courtesy of Morgana and the SETI. I’ve reset Larry’s clock as well.”

A flurry of activity followed as Larry tapped away on his laptop, trying to find a suitable blueprint. I marveled, as Rupert worked away on his Mac and hacked into Dr. Sen’s email, getting ready to open the attached blueprint when it was delivered.

“Ready, Rup?” Larry asked with a twinkle.

“What are you up to?” Rupert laughed.

“Oh, nothing! Sent,” Larry said. “Make sure you time the receipt for about an hour ago or so.”

“Come on, Dr. Fox! Tell,” I demanded. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s a blueprint of an early collider unit–one that never worked. If anyone gets their hands on this, it will take them years to figure out how to read it, and then it won’t work,” he chuckled.

Physicist humor, I thought to myself and shrugged.

“Okay, it’s arrived. Opening it now,” Rupert mumbled to himself. “Done.”

“What next?” Larry asked, looking over at Javier.

“Next, it’s important that we’re all on the same page with the story. Arizona, you were taken with Kellan from the lake. Just stick to the truth here. You were then taken to a dark place and kept there, describe it if you want a bit, but keep it vague. Kellan was taken and dumped by the side of the road. Just stick to the truth about that, Kellan. You’ve already told the FBI this bit of the story. Arizona, you were then driven in a van to a house. Harry and Ella were taken from their beds and brought to this house. They had been drugged. Then the three of you were held there and eventually put in the back of a black van and dumped by the lake. Harry, you simply say that you were attacked at your house, and woke up at the other house with Ella. Now that house,” he mused. “Harry, what do you remember about it?”

“I take it you mean the house in Princeton?” Harry asked.

“Yes, but let’s not mention the Princeton part,” Javier said.

Harry tried to remember back, he hadn’t really paid much attention. It was just a house. “I remember it being smallish, probably a bungalow. I woke up in a bedroom. Can’t say I noticed much. It was kind of dark. There was a TV there and a smelly bathroom. I only say that because Ella complained about it. I did walk through to the kitchen. Again untidy, all the counters were full of stuff. On the way out, we walked through the family room, again, untidy but pretty ordinary.”

“Good,” said Javier. “Keep the description like that, vague. Inez, can you get David to bring Ella over. Her mother also?”

She nodded and disappeared.

“Arizona, could you use pretty much the same description?” Javier asked.

I nodded. It was going to be difficult. I knew every nook and cranny of my Princeton house. I didn’t appreciate it being called untidy and smelly.

“That’s good,” Javier said. “We need to see if Ella can do the same. The story that follows has to be very simple. Then, men–you don’t know how many exactly– took you from the house and put you in the back of a van, a black van. You were driven about for hours and hours and then dumped by the lake.” Javier took a deep breath and continued. “It is very important for you not to mention that Kevin, David or Kellan were there with you. Is that clear?”

We nodded. Of course it was clear. We weren’t stupid.

“Any questions?” Javier asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Do we mention that we saw Raj, Sophie and Dan and give them descriptions?”

“Yes, you should,” Javier replied. “That’s going to be a bit complicated. However, it’s the only way to get Sophie and Dan’s descriptions to the FBI. It’s important that they have them to keep you safe. Arizona, you give them the descriptions. Say that they brought you to the house. Keep it vague.”

I nodded. I would have to think this through. Make sure I didn’t get myself confused. It was a lot to remember not to say. Detail was not my strong point.

Javier continued. “Constance, you talk to Ella with Harry, when she gets here. Morgana, will you talk to Olivia?”

I wondered how Ella would cope with all this. I guess she could channel her inner actress. We waited in silence for Mom and Ella to arrive, all of us working through our scenes. I thought it through again and again, some of it was very weak. It would probably not stand up to very thorough questioning. I could only hope that Mom and Rupert would prevent that from happening. I would hope that we weren’t going to be put in cells, with bright lights in our faces, and questioned incessantly for hours. No, that wouldn’t happen. We were the victims. I guessed we would be subjected to some light, but perhaps clever questioning. We’d have to be on the ball. None of us could afford to slip up if we wanted to keep the portal and the Wanderers a secret. Though, I expected that if we did mention the Wanderers bit, no one would even believe us. We’d be promptly escorted to the nearest psych facility. Come to think of it, it would probably be the same if we mentioned the portal! Really? A time-travel portal? No, It would be best for all of us to keep these two things to ourselves.

“Dad!” Ella shrieked, and rushed over to Rupert and flung herself on him. “Dad, you’ll never believe what happened to me! I woke up in a completely different house! I was so frightened.”

“Ella, I missed you,” Rupert said with relief, clutching onto his little girl.  “Are you okay? There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore.”

“I think so, Dad. David got me home, but Harry, Arizona and Kellan are still there.”

“Nope, we’re not,” Harry said, as he extracted her from Rupert’s arms and hugged her. “We’re all back!”

Ella looked around and reached her arms out for me. I went over and hugged her, as did Kellan. It was good to be together again.

“Now, Ella,” Rupert said, trying to get her to focus. “This is Constance. She is a friend of Larry’s. I need you to talk to her and Harry. Harry will take you through to the kitchen with him. Okay?”

Ella looked unsure.

“Ella, Mom and I will wait right here,” Rupert assured her. “The kitchen is right over there,” he said, pointing. “It shouldn’t take long.”

“Okay, Daddy,” she said, and walked off clutching onto Harry’s hand.

“Ollie, you need to be debriefed as well. Morgana is going to do it. Is that all right?”

Olivia nodded and quickly kissed Rupert before she walked out with Morgana.

“Right,” Javier said. “While they’re busy, let’s continue with what we have to do next. So, we’ve sent the blueprint email to Dr. Sen. The FBI will have seen it by now. We now need to formulate an email from Dr. Sen to you, Larry, telling you where and when to pick up the kids. This is where it gets tricky. We’ll receive the email at the same time the FBI will receive it. I’m sure they’re tracking them.”

“How’s that a problem?” I asked. I wasn’t following this at all.

Javier nodded. “See, if the FBI receives an email saying that you kids are going to be dropped off at the lake at ten, for example, they’ll be there, ready with a team hoping to pick up Dr. Sen. Can you see how that would be a problem?”

“Yes,” I acknowledged, leaning into Kellan. My head was starting to hurt.

“We could call the lake by a pretend code name that the FBI wouldn’t be able to figure out, but one that would be obvious to all of us,” Kellan offered thoughtfully.

I still wasn’t following. Thankfully, I didn’t really have to. This was supposed to be an email sent by Dr. Sen to Larry. So really, only they needed to be able to figure it out. I closed my eyes and blanked them out.

Kellan was excited. “You know, if we refer to the lake as shooting star then that could be a code, you know.”

Everyone stared at him blankly.

He sighed. “We go up there to watch the meteor showers. It’s the prettiest place to watch them. So, it would make sense that if Dr. Sen had asked us to meet him at shooting star, that the lake would be a strong candidate, right?”

“I can see where you are coming from,” Larry said. “And that’s all that really matters here, isn’t it? As long as I could work out a code, then the code is good enough.”

Javier nodded. “That’s right. So we need to prepare an email from Dr. Sen telling Larry that he will drop the kids off at shooting star in half an hour. That won’t give the FBI much time to work out the code or even get there in time.

Rupert nodded. “Before I do that, we better head over there with the kids to make it look believable, you know, leave our tracks.”

Ella and Olivia had barely returned and confirmed that they were on board with the details, when we carried Ella to the car and drove out to the lake.

Later, when we returned to Morgana’s house, Rupert furiously tapped away at the computer. “Right, I’m done. Do you want me to send the email to Raj now?”

Larry nodded, and Rupert pressed the send tab.

“Open it, Larry,” Javier instructed.

We looked around at each other. The phones would start ringing at any moment.

Larry’s phone rang within minutes. Javier shook his head, indicating for Larry not to answer it. Minutes later, Olivia’s phone rang. Javier shook his head again, and she let it ring. They all turned their phones off.

“We’ll turn them back on in an hour,” Larry said. “That gives us enough time to make that imaginary rescue journey to the lake and back.”

Finally, a break, Claire thought to herself. It had been a frustrating afternoon. She’d sent Dr. Fox a printout of the message that they extracted from Kellan’s ring. He seemed fairy unexcited. He thought that Dr. Sen had meant the blueprint of a new machine they had been working on. He’d been annoyingly vague. Well, she guessed that he must have been more certain than he’d let on. He had, after all, emailed some blueprints off to Dr. Sen. She had proof of that in her hands. She could hardly contain her excitement when the email copy was delivered to her, glad that they were monitoring Dr. Sen’s email. She studied the blueprints, glazing over. She’d no idea what she was looking at. She’d have the techies look at it more closely if Dr. Fox remained evasive. And he’d already proven to be just that. He and Rupert Darley had given the slip to the agents who had been assigned to watch them, after they left Ames on Mr. Darley’s bike. In their defense, it was possible that they assumed Dr. Sen’s colleagues were following them. Annoying all the same, Claire had now no idea where they were.

She did have a copy of the email, though. That was something. All she’d had so far was that odd note from Ariele, which she had promptly filed. Time travel–sheesh! To Claire, the arrival of the email was a sign that that things may finally get moving. The blueprints had been emailed off! She could only hope that there would be a response from Dr. Sen soon. The techies had hooked her iPad up so that she would be able to view any information coming through on Dr. Fox’s computer. Her eyes were glued to the screen.

“Hey, Claire. Anything?”

She looked up and shook her head at Keith Baker. “Not yet, but it’s only been a little while since the blueprint was sent off by Dr. Fox. Do we have a team ready for deployment, if there are any signs of action?”

“Yes, we’re ready to go,” Keith affirmed. “Any signs of the Darleys or Dr. Fox?”

“No, we seem to have lost them. Their homes are under surveillance. Hopefully they’ll turn up soon.”

They both looked at the iPad screen, slightly apprehensively, when the next message came through.

“Shooting star? What does that mean?” Keith asked, puzzled by the email he’d just read from Dr. Sen to Dr. Fox.

“Haven’t a clue,” Claire replied, wondering what the cryptic message meant. She would have to get it over to the techs. “I’ll give Dr. Fox a call.”

The frustration that Claire felt earlier in the evening set back in. Neither Dr. Fox nor the Darleys were picking up their phones. Why? This was urgent. The kids were being dropped off soon. The FBI needed to get to wherever shooting star was, so they could intercept the perpetrators. Were the parents taking matters into their own hands?

“Keith, anyone come up with possible locations for shooting star?

“Nope.”

“Any signs of life at the Darley or Fox houses?”

“Three girls stopped by there about fifteen minutes ago–Ariele, Ali and Maria–friends of the family, apparently. The girls just wanted to know if they were all right. They were sent on their way. The agents got the dog out of the Darley house–it’s been barking all day–and gave it to one of the girls to look after.”

“So we have nothing,” Claire repeated unhappily. “All we can do for the moment is wait for Dr. Fox to call us back. I’ve left him a number of messages.”

~

I saw Mom glancing at Morgana with a strange expression, unsure in some way. It was amazing how much Morgana looked like Morena. Not only did they have the same chestnut-colored hair, but it was styled exactly alike. Even their expressions were the same– serene. I had to keep telling myself that this was Morgana, not Morena. It had been about an hour or so since Rupert had sent out the shooting star email, when it was apparently time to call Agent Adams. Constance, Javier, Morena, Inez, and Kevin had left. It was just us and Morgana still at her house. Harry and Ella were watching TV in one of the guest bedrooms, to keep her busy.

Mom looked up at Rupert from his lap and sighed. “I guess we better call the FBI?”

Rupert stroked her head and nodded. “Larry, do you want to make the call?

Agent Adams was at the door twenty minutes later.

I didn’t get up from Kellan’s lap, I was way too tired. Agent Adams didn’t look the least bit intimidating, although she definitely had the air of someone very frustrated.

“Agent Adams,” Larry greeted her. “This is Arizona. Harry and Ella are in one of the bedrooms, watching TV. I’ll get Harry in a moment.

She nodded, and walked over and sat down next to Kellan and me. “Arizona, I’m pleased to meet you. My name is Claire. I’m heading up this investigation. I know you’re tired, but I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?”

I nodded. I didn’t really have a choice, did I?

“First of all, have you been harmed in any way? Do I need to get you to a doctor?”

I shook my head.

“Well, I’d like you to see one anyway, just to be safe. Where were you dropped off?”

“By the lake,” I said.

She abruptly spoke into her cell phone and then turned back around to me. “My apologies, I had to direct a team to get out there immediately to search the area. Who dropped you off?”

I had to be careful now. I was pleased to see Harry coming back into the room and sitting down beside us. At least he would be able to hear what I said and could stick to the same story.

“This is Harry, my brother,” I introduced. “He was there as well.”

Claire nodded, slightly put out that Harry had joined them. It would have been better to speak to them separately, to be able to check for inconsistencies. However, there was no time to waste. “I was just asking your sister who dropped you off by the lake,” she repeated, for Harry’s benefit.

“Dr. Sen–Raj Sen, that is. And a woman, I think her name’s Sophie. Right, Harry?” I asked, trying my best to seem a bit fuzzy on the details.

He nodded and added, “Yes, and a couple of other guys. One called Dan and I don’t know the other one’s name. There could have been more, I don’t know for sure.”

“Could you describe Sophie, Dan and the other two men to me?” Claire asked. She did have a photograph of Dr. Sen, but needed detailed descriptions of the others.

I sat back on Kellan and closed my eyes as Harry described Sophie, Dan and the two men to Agent Adams. He did a very good job, and although I had my eyes closed, I listened to every detail carefully so I could repeat it.

“Arizona, are you awake?” Agent Adams asked, as she gently nudged my elbow.

I opened my eyes. “Yes, just resting my eyes.”

“I just need to ask a few more questions. Then I promise to let you rest. I need you to tell me what happened to you.”

I gave her the brief description Javier had instructed me to give.

“Arizona, can you describe the house you were kept in?”

Again, I kept it brief, painting a picture of dark, smelly, untidiness. I was hoping that Harry was taking it all in and would be able to repeat it.

“Harry, was that your perception of the place, as well? Do you remember any further details? Any pictures on the wall?” the agent asked.

Harry nodded. “Yup, I pretty much remember it the same way and can’t remember any other details.”

“Have you any idea of how far away it may be from here? How long were you driving around for before you got dropped off?” she asked.

“A very long time, hours,” I said. “However, we could’ve been driving around in circles for all I know. Our journey did seem very winding at times.”

Agent Adam turned to Mom. “Dr. Darley, would it be possible for me to talk to Ella?”

“I’d rather you didn’t. She’s been through a lot and she is tired. I’ll let you know if she tells us anything other than what Arizona and Harry have told you already.”

Agent Adams nodded and turned to Larry. “Dr. Fox, may I speak to you in private?”

I was relieved when they left the house. It was all over–for now, anyway. I needed to unwind and wanted desperately to go home. No one said much during the ride home–we were all wiped. It was decided that Kellan and Larry were going to spend the night at the house with us.

The house was surrounded by agents, which was sort of comforting. One of them handed me a note. It was from Ariele, letting me know that Gertrude was with her. I was relieved, though disappointed that I wouldn’t see Gertrude until morning. I had really missed her, her doggy smell. I wanted to grab and cuddle her.

For now, I had Kellan to myself. I led him out to the poolside, where we made ourselves comfortable on a deckchair. I lay in his arms, my eyes closed with my face nuzzling in his chest.

“What are you thinking about, Shrimp?” he whispered softly.

“Hockey.”

He chuckled. “Hockey? Here was I thinking that you were totally into me!”

I pinched him. “I need to get on the ice. I need to feel the rush of slamming a puck into the goal, and I need to check someone really hard,” I laughed.

“As long as it’s not me,” he teased.

“Seriously, Kellan…don’t you feel the same?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he mused. “It would be really good. I certainly need a release. There’s a game tomorrow.”

“Do you think they’ll let us play?”

“Can’t see why not. We can’t sit around here all day, can we?”

I nodded. That would be just awesome–even going back to school. The thought of normality–school, flirting with Kellan, hockey–made me happy. I could feel my lips turning upwards for the first time in days. I was actually smiling. Then I felt a brush against them, and opened my eyes to Kellan’s smile.

~

Claire Adams’ cell buzzed her as she was walking Dr. Fox out to the porch. It was an update from Keith. He was out at the lake supervising the search. The update was disappointing. They’d not found anything of relevance yet. There were tire tracks and footprints all around the lake, but they had not made any positive identification yet. One thing was for sure, the perpetrators were no longer on the scene. The area was totally empty apart from the agency personnel.

This was so incredibly exasperating. This meant that the children and the families were still in danger. She needed to keep her frustrations in check when dealing with Dr. Fox, though. She took a deep breath.

“Dr. Fox, why didn’t you let me know what was going on? Why didn’t you answer your calls? Why did you give us the slip after you left Ames with Mr. Darley?”

Larry had anticipated all those questions. He was calm and prepared. “Rupert and I were followed when we left Ames. We didn’t know it was you. We were concerned, so we decided to head over here, to Morgana’s house.

“Why this house? How do you know Morgana?”

“Morgana is an old friend of mine. I figured that Raj Sen would be totally unaware of my friendship with her,” Larry replied.

“So, she doesn’t work at Ames?”

“No, she works at the SETI Institute,” Larry offered.

“The SETI? That’s where the alien research is done, isn’t it?” Claire asked.

“Yes, SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence,” he explained.

“Right,” Claire said, swiftly moving on. “Can you explain to me how you knew where to find the kids?”

Larry nodded. “The email told me that they would be dropped off at the shooting star. I was perplexed at first. Rupert and I tried to figure out what it meant. Then it hit us that it probably meant the lake. It’s a tradition here to view the meteor showers by the lake. It’s isolated. It sort of made sense. So we headed down there.”

“Why didn’t you call me or answer my calls?” Claire asked, trying to squash her feelings of annoyance.

“We were afraid to create a circus that would scare Raj away. My only purpose was to go and bring the kids home safely. Had Raj arrived at the lake and found you there, he might have left with the kids.”

“So what did you see when you got to the lake?”

“Just the kids, they had been dropped off by the side of the road. There was no one with them. Whoever had dropped them off had driven off again, I assume.”

“Okay, so here’s the thing,” Claire said. “Raj Sen and his accomplices are still free. You and the kids are not safe until we have them in custody. Do you have any idea what they plan to do with the blueprints? Where they may go?”

“I expect he has a buyer that he’s going to sell the prints to, make a lot of money and disappear. That’s my hope anyway,” Larry said, hoping that his answer would explain Raj Sen never being seen again, in this dimension anyway.

“I’m going to need you to come in and brief our tech team about the blueprints, so we can try to figure out who the potential buyers may be. Do you foresee any harmful outcomes from the blueprints being sold?” she asked, wondering what made these blueprints so valuable.

“No. I’ll come in and talk to your tech team tomorrow. I’m wiped. I’m going to head over to the Darleys’ for the night.”

Claire nodded. “We have all of you under surveillance and will continue to watch you until we are satisfied that you’re safe. The kids can go to school tomorrow and continue living their lives as normally as possible. They’ll be watched, too. We’ll have agents outside the school. Please make sure they’re aware that they shouldn’t head over to the lake and other isolated places without letting one of the agents know, so we can keep an eye on them. We’ll continue searching the lake area tomorrow, and will let you know if we find anything.”

“Could you take all surveillance devices out of our homes now?” Larry requested.

Claire hesitated at the request, but nodded. “I’ll get that done, although we’ll still monitor Raj Sen’s email account. We’ll stop monitoring your phones and computers, though. Please do be careful and keep us informed. I’m only trying to keep you, your family and friends safe,” Claire appealed.

Claire was left with an uncomfortable feeling as she dropped Larry off outside the Darley house. Something was definitely off. However, her work here was done. The children were back. Now, she had to pass this case over to the local FBI. She called Harriet.

I woke up feeling euphoric. This was going to be a good day, a great day! Granted, I did have some issues to sort out, but then, who doesn’t? I was going to take a day off though, have an issueless day. I sat up in my bed and looked around. I was home. Home. This really did feel like it in a way that my room in Princeton just didn’t, not now. Could it be because this room was just not as messy? I looked around. No, that wasn’t it. Why then? I closed my eyes, listening. It was because of the sounds coming from outside the room. Ella’s music was blaring through the wall, and busy noises were coming from down below. This was a busy house, with a real family. That’s what made this a home, not just a house I lived in. Then, I heard one of my favorite sounds, scratching noises from outside my door, a couple of whimpers and a small thud. The door inched open and a tiny paw pushed at the door, just enough to be able to scamper through, and Gertrude launched herself onto my bed. Totally soaked from her licky kisses, I laughed and gently hugged her until she was calm. I was happy.

I lay back on my pillow, with Gertrude lying in the crook of my arm. I was at peace, breathing in the calm. But not for long.

“Come on, Arizona! It’s time for breakfast, sleepy head,” Ella shouted, as she came bounding into my room.

I looked over at her. She certainly didn’t look like she’d been through anything major. She looked like her usual, cute self.

“How are you doing, Ella?” I asked, knowing that her outward bubbliness could be just a mask.

“I’m fine. I’m trying not to think about the last two days,” she whispered. “I’m just going to have fun at school today. And then Mom’s taking me shopping, she said I could buy whatever I want!” she added with a grin.

Shopping to Ella was like hockey to me. I nodded, fully understanding where she was coming from. She needed to unwind as much as I did. I was done talking for now.

Gertrude’s nose suddenly twitched, and she jumped off the bed and scampered out of my room. The smell of bacon hit me moments later and I got up and shooed Ella out of my room. “I’ll be down in five minutes! Go, I need some privacy to get dressed.”

“Make yourself pretty, Arizona!”

Make yourself pretty. Hmm, I had not felt pretty during the last few days–grubby, really. So, I did make an effort–dabbed on copious amounts of lip gloss–before I went down the stairs into the homey-smelling kitchen.

I had never seen it so busy! Everyone, and I mean everyone was there–Ella, Mom, Grandma, Rupert, Harry, David, Inez, Ariele, Ali, Maria, Larry and Glenda. I looked around.

“Looking for me?” Kellan whispered from behind me, planting a kiss on my neck.

I smiled, took his hand and happily plopped myself down at the kitchen table. Harry slid over a couple of plates. Breakfast was a surprisingly quiet affair. Even Ella ate silently. I guess everyone had so much to talk about, so many questions, but no one wanted to ruin the calm. So we ate without a sound, Kellan’s hand never releasing mine once, during the entire time. Perfect.

When we all finished eating, Rupert broke the silence. “Kids, we have so much to talk about. However, I know you guys are all wiped. So, go to school and try to have a normal day. We’ll talk later, tomorrow. For our safety, FBI agents will be watching us. This shouldn’t interfere with our activities. Arizona, Harry, Kellan, you’ve got hockey after school, right?”

We nodded.

“Go about life as usual. Just be a bit more vigilant and take care to not go anywhere on your own. Keep one of us abreast of what you are up to at all times. Simply text us, okay?” Rupert looked around for affirmation.

We nodded once again.

I stood up and grabbed my bag to head off. I walked outside with Kellan, Harry, David, Maria, Ali and Ariele.

“So,” Harry said. “Who’s going with whom?”

“Well, I’m driving!” I said firmly. “I’ve missed my yellow Jeep. I’ve missed driving. Who’s coming with me?”

Kellan squeezed my hand. “I will, although I can’t tell you how much I want to get on my bike!”

“Take your bike, Kellan. I can survive without you for a bit, you know,” I teased.

“Besides, I don’t have a ride,” Ariele added. “I’ll come with you, Arizona.”

“I guess you’re riding with Harry?” Ali asked Maria.

“If you don’t mind,” she grinned, obviously pleased to get some alone-time with him.

“No probs,” Ali laughed. “I’ll get cozy with Arizona and Ariele.”

“Great, that’s settled.”

Kellan, Harry, Maria and David took off on their bikes and I followed in my Jeep.

“Are you okay?” Ariele asked.

“I guess. I haven’t really had time to think about it. Well, I guess that’s not entirely true, but I’ve purposefully not thought about it. You know, it’s just such a jumble of stuff to think about, I don’t know where to start.”

Ariele nodded. I hoped that she wouldn’t ask any more questions in front of Ali, who knew nothing about my Stevens life, not yet anyway. I did need to tell both Maria and her about it. Sheesh–and Harry! But, how and when, I’d no idea. Not now, though, that was for sure. I was more than desperate to talk to Ariele. I had so much to tell her! I would need to get her alone.

“I’m guessing you need time to unwind, so I won’t bug you with questions. Just talk to us when you’re ready,” Ariele reassured.

“So, what should we talk about to help take your mind off things?” Ali grinned. “How about Halloween? Got your costumes yet?”

I had totally forgotten about Halloween. I didn’t usually get dressed up. But, I take it that this year was going to be different. Ariele looked at me blankly. I laughed. In years past, Ariele, Monica and I had just gone from house to house in Princeton, wearing our regular clothes–our sports gear–asking for candy. Dressing-up was for kids–for Ella. The main aim of the game was to get as much candy as possible. I guess that wasn’t going to wash this year.

“Costumes?” Ariele asked, much to my relief.

“Duh, yeah! It is Halloween,” Ali replied. “You don’t really have a lot of time to get organized, you know. It’s only two days away. Do you have a date for the dance?”

“A date for what dance?” Ariele sighed. “Didn’t we just have a Ball?”

“Yes, but this is different, much more informal. Just a dance,” Ali replied.

“So what are you going as?” a slightly put exasperated Ariele asked Ali.

“Robert and I are going…as–,” she paused. “I can’t tell you! It’s a surprise.”

“But you asked us,” Ariele pointed out.

“No, I didn’t! I just asked if you got your costumes yet, that’s all,” she replied.

“Well, not yet,” I said. “I’m guessing you don’t either, Ariele?”

She nodded.

“You better think of something, and fast,” Ali muttered.

“Not to worry, Ali. I’ve never let you down, have I?” I smiled.

“I guess not, but you really are disorganized at the moment,” she admonished.

I drove into the school parking lot and found a space. Mountain View High, Home of the Spartans. I couldn’t help but smile. Kellan, Harry, David and Maria were waiting for us. I felt blissfully happy as we walked into school together. I caught David’s eye a couple of times. I almost felt guilty holding Kellan’s hand. Why was I so conflicted about David? I did feel something for him? It wasn’t the same as what I felt for Kellan, that’s for sure.

Ariele interrupted my thoughts by walking up close to me and whispering, “You and me after school, alone.”

I looked at her puzzled, and she rolled her eyes and gave me the look. She must have heard about my visit back to Princeton and Dad–from Kellan, no doubt. Good. I did want to talk to her about it.

A shiver went down my spine as I spotted Simla walking up the hallway ahead of us. I tensed up.

Kellan must have noticed. He rubbed my back, trying to sooth me. “Shrimp, it’s okay. This place is being watched by the feds, remember?”

I had forgotten. I certainly didn’t see any signs of the FBI.

“Come on, you two! We’re gonna to be late,” said Maria, and started hurrying up the hallway.

Kellan, Ariele and I followed her into physics and I sat down next to her. There were no signs of Justin yet. He normally sat right behind me. I wasn’t feeling overjoyed at the thought of him sitting and staring a hole into my back right through physics. So, I was pleased when he was a no-show as Dr. Lee appeared. Dr. Lee nodded at Kellan and me as he got behind his desk.

“Miss Darley, Mr. Fox, happy to see you two in class this morning. Are you both okay?”

I was a bit embarrassed, but nodded and smiled around at the class.

He then turned to the class and said, “There’s been a lot of speculation at school about what’s happened in the last few days. The teachers were briefed this morning. We’ve been asked to update our classes.”

He took a breath and looked around. “Has anyone seen Justin?”

We all looked at each other and shook our heads.

“All right, I have to get started, so I’ll go though it with him later when he shows up,” Dr. Lee said. “This is what I’ve been asked to pass on to you. All the children who were missing are now back. They are with us at school this morning. Ella Darley is back at her school. The children returned unharmed, but are exhausted from their experience. The perpetrators were not apprehended, and the case is still under investigation by the FBI and our local police. The school is under surveillance. You must wear your identification tags at all times. You may not leave the school premises during school hours without permission. We have lifted the cell phone restrictions, so please keep your phones on and use them to report any suspicious activity to the school office. Please do not question the children who went missing–Arizona Darley, Harry Darley, Kellan Fox–about the incident. We are to have a normal school day and after-school activities will take place as usual. Is that all clear?”

Everyone nodded.

“Okay, get your books out and turn to Chapter Five.”

It was easy to get back into school mode. Physics was so much more interesting now that I had developed a not-so-strange hunger to learn more about the dynamics of quantum mechanics and time travel. Not that Chapter Five covered any of that. I gave it my all though, trying to absorb all the information. Physics was over in a flash and we all moved through the next morning classes. Justin didn’t show, which was curious, but such a relief!

Much as I wanted to have lunch with Kellan, I knew that the cheer table deserved my undivided attention.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Ariele said, as we walked into lunch.

“You’re not sitting with us?” I asked surprised.

“I promised Ingrid I’d sit with her today,” Ariele replied through a wide grin.

“Oh, she can join us as well,” Maria offered.

“We’ve got some stuff to talk about. See you later,” she winked.

“What’s that all about?” Maria asked confused.

“I think Ariele may have a new girlfriend,” I laughed, as we walked toward our table.

“Ah,” Maria replied. “Anyhow, you know that little speech that Dr. Lee gave, the one about not bugging you for answers, forget it. Prepare to be interrogated,” she laughed.

She wasn’t kidding. I’d barely sat down before the onslaught started.

“Well?” demanded Julia, the cheer captain. “Spill!”

And spill I did. Quite substantially, really. But not about what had happened to me in the last few days. No, I mean spill in the real sense of the word. Somehow, I tipped my diet Coke while trying to reach over for my burger, and the Coke spilled all over. I’m guessing it hit at least six of the girls. There could only have been more shrieking had a mouse run over the table. In the confusion of blotting stray cola marks off their spiffy cheer uniforms, I was pretty much forgotten, for now, anyway. I did my best to rub the stains off Julia’s shirt. It was a fairly hopeless task, it was ruined.

The afternoon classes were uneventful, and I spent most of my time daydreaming about hockey. I couldn’t wait for the game tonight. I was pumped. Whoever was brave enough to try to get past me this evening, had better watch out. I was so ready to do some serious checking.

I walked out to my Jeep with a smile on my face. Kellan and Ariele were waiting for me.

“Ready for tonight?” Kellan asked. “You don’t have to play if you’re not feeling up to it, you know.”

I guffawed. “I’m so ready! Consider yourself lucky to be on the same team as me,” I laughed.

Ariele interrupted. “A, we do need to talk. Kellan, no offense, but could you allow us some girl time?”

“Yeah, no worries,” he smiled. See you guys later,” he said, and walked off with a wave.

“Let’s go over to your house, Arizona. My mom’s being way too nosey at the moment,” Ariele said, rolling her eyes. “So did you see your Dad?”

I started the Jeep and nodded. “It was the weirdest thing. You know, waking back up in Princeton, at home.”

“Tell me everything, Arizona! How did your Dad react? Did you tell him about this whole time-travel stuff?”

“To tell you the truth, Ariele, I barely saw him. I caught a glimpse of him when I first woke up. He was on his way out. Then, I didn’t see him again. He went to AC.”

“Typical,” Ariele said, shaking her head. “Did you call him?”

“I tried, but he wasn’t picking up. Too busy, I guess.”

“So, he doesn’t know anything?” she asked astounded.

“Nope.”

“Didn’t he notice your new hair do?”

“No. In his defense, I was in bed. It’s not like we had breakfast or anything together. We do our own thing. You know that,” I sighed.

“So, what did you do?” she persisted.

“Nothing. I went to school.”

“To school! You’ve got to be kidding me!”

I shook my head. It wasn’t that strange, was it?

“You went to school, as if nothing had happened? In your new Barbie do? Really, Arizona, really?”

“I guess when you put it like that, it’s a bit strange,” I conceded.

“A bit strange? It’s totally ludicrous!” she exclaimed.

“I guess…” I mumbled. “But what was I supposed to do? I woke up at home, in my own bed, on a school day. Monica came to pick me up as usual. I didn’t go to school that first morning…I did the next day though,” I justified.

“You saw M?” she asked.

“Of course, I did! And Christian, Nick and the rest of them. I mean, they’re all there, getting on with their lives.”

“Didn’t they notice that you’d been gone?” Ariele wondered.

“I really wasn’t gone. Well, apart from that Sunday. I was thinking about going away to that girl’s hockey camp at the weekend, remember? I guess everyone assumed I had. And I didn’t miss any school apart from that one Monday, and Monica called in sick for me. So, I wasn’t really gone.”

“What about your blond hair? How did you explain that away?”

“I didn’t. That’s the good thing about being Arizona Stevens. No one ever asks me to explain anything.”

Ariele laughed, “So true. Still, you must have had some weird looks and some snide comments.”

“Yup, but I just ignored them,” I shrugged.

“What about Monica? I’m sure she didn’t just let your new look slide!” Ariele frowned.

“Stop that, you’ll get wrinkles,” I teased. “No she didn’t let it slide. What I haven’t told you is that I gave in to total misery when I found myself alone. Almost pulled a Bella Swan, sheesh! Once Dad left and I was by myself, I felt painfully alone. I don’t know why. I mean I’m, or was, always by myself. I liked it! Now, after a short stint as a Darley, I seemed to have gotten used to always being around others–and hugs.” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, I felt so alone... abandoned.”

I stopped talking as we arrived at the house. I noticed Mom’s Hummer and Rupert’s bike parked outside. I wasn’t quite ready to go inside. Ariele and I needed more alone time.

“Let’s go over to the woods and walk for a while,” I suggested to Ariele. “It looks busy in there.”

“So, you said you felt abandoned?” Ariele prompted.

“Yeah. The feeling was so strong and intense that I turned into mush, crying, even weeping,” I whispered, ashamed to admit it aloud. “Anyhow, that’s how Monica found me, a mess. So, wondering about my Barbie-do was not a priority for her, I guess. She did ask me about it later, though–repeatedly–but I was vague and she didn’t push.”

Ariele stopped and looked at me. “Arizona, who are you? Weepy? I’m really worried about you.”

I shoved her. “I’m okay! It was a temporary loss of control. I’m not sure why I reacted like that.”

“All right, no need to prove yourself,” she said, rubbing her shoulder. “That hurt!”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“You know, I bet I know the real reason why you were so miserable,” she said slyly.

“And what’s that,” I asked, waiting for it.

“Arizona and Kellan, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I,” she began.

And she was down! My fist hit her shoulder with a thump; I hoped that I hadn’t caused permanent damage.

“Sheesh, A! That’s twice. Do it again and you’re toast!” she warned.

I wondered if she was right. Had Kellan been responsible for my miserable loneliness? If so, that was beyond pathetic. “Hit me!” I said, looking at Ariele.

“Love to,” she said and got me right in my belly. I was down. “That better?” she asked, sitting down beside me.

“Yeah. I just wanted to make sure that I haven’t turned into a wimp.”

“Nah, you’re fine. A wimp would be in tears after that,” she reassured me.

“What’s going on here?” a stern voice asked, coming through the trees.

“Nothing,” I said. “Who’re you?”

It turned out there were two of them. Ariele and I were both ready to run.

“Agents Dwyer and Kent,” Bart Dwyer responded curtly. “What’s going on? Are you okay, Miss Darley?”

“Oh, I’m fine. This is my best friend, Ariele. We’re just hanging out, having fun,” I said.

“Looked like you were punching each other,” Agent Dwyer pointed out.

“Just play punches, that’s all. Nothing serious,” I replied. “Can we carry on now?”

“Yes, but don’t go any further into the woods. And try not to hurt each other.”

I nodded and pulled Ariele along with me, away from them. When they were safely out of earshot, I sat down on the grass and pulled Ariele down beside me. “Right, where were we?”

“Is your house being watched?” she asked, ignoring me. “Why?”

“To keep us safe, I guess.”

“Safe from what?” Ariele muttered. “Simla’s dad’s over in the other dimension, right? He can’t do you any harm.”

“True, but we could hardly tell the FBI that. Could we?” I chuckled. “So they’ll protect us until they’re happy we’re safe.”

“Oh, that’s a nuisance,” Ariele sighed.

“No kidding!”

“Anyway, tell me more,” she continued. “From what Mom told me, you and Kellan were taken from the lake?”

“Yes, we headed out there after the fiasco of a talk at Ames, right after we’d spent some time at the rink slamming pucks.”

“Romantic interlude?” she giggled.

“Nuff, or I’ll hit you again and then we’ll have those two babysitters checking up on us! Anyway, call it what you want. We wanted some alone time, to think mostly.”

She rolled her eyes and I pinched her.

“So, we were lying there by the lake, talking, and it suddenly all went dark, we blacked out.”

“How? Did you both get hit at the same time?” she asked.

“Sort of,” I replied cagily.

“What do you mean sort of? Come on, tell me, I need a visual,” she pried. “I just don’t buy that you didn’t see what happened, you’re not blind. Did you guys fall asleep?”

“Kellan was on top of me, just kissing, nothing else,” I assured her hastily, before she got inappropriately disgusting images floating about in her over-imaginative head. “We think that someone hit him on the back of the head, forcing it to thump down onto mine and we both blacked out.”

“Oh crap,” she said.

“To put it mildly. The next thing I remember is that we woke up in this dark room, pitch black. Couldn’t see a thing. I’m going to skip all the details ‘cause we really have to get back soon. Someone grabbed me from that room and the next thing I knew was that I was home in Princeton.”

“Wow, that must have been mind blowing!” she mused. “I guess Dr. Sen transported you through the portal?”

“I guess, I don’t know for sure, though.”

“What about Ella and Harry? Did they come through the portal?”

“I guess. They were dumped in my bed!”

“In your bed at your house – wow….”

I nodded.

“So, how did you explain your other life to them?”

“I didn’t,” I replied. “It was dark. Dad wasn’t home. We weren’t there long, so I didn’t need to. Good that Dad’s been too lazy to decorate the house; we don’t even have any pictures up or photos out.”

“So, Harry doesn’t know?” she marveled. “Does he know about the portal?”

“Yeah, we had to explain all that to him.”

“We? Who?”

“Me, Kevin, David and Kellan,” I replied with a grin. I had to end this conversation soon. I had to get back to the house. I knew Mom wanted to talk to me and I had to get ready for the game.

“Tell me you’re kidding! How did Kellan and David get there? I didn’t even know that David had gone missing. And who’s Kevin?”

“Kevin is David’s dad. David transported Kellan across,” I said, waiting for the obvious question.

“How? Through the portal, of course, I get that. But, how did they manage to do that? Mom told me that the portal is inactive at the moment,” she said.

“No, Ariele. Not through the portal,” I said, taking a deep breath. “David is a Wanderer.”

“A Wanderer?” she gaped.

“Wanderers are beings who can traverse dimensions and time,” I said, trying not to laugh.

“You’re such an idiot, Arizona!”

“I knew you were going to say that! Don’t mention Wanderers to anyone, you’ll get locked-up by the men-in-white-coats. Anyhow, I’ve got to get home. We’ll have to talk more later. Mom’s waiting to have a chat with me.”

“Geez, that should be fun,” Ariele teased.

I rolled my eyes and walked home to face Mom.

Olivia lay back on the couch, resting her head on the cushion draped over the arm. Her legs rested on Rupert’s lap, her feet enjoying a luxurious massage. Rupert gave the best foot rubs. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but failed miserably. It was only ten in the morning, yet she felt totally shattered. She wondered how the kids were coping with school. They had just arrived back from dropping Ella off, leaving firm instructions with the principal to call them if she seemed tired and needed to be picked up early. Ella seemed excited to see her classmates, rushing in and hugging her two best friends, Jonas and Sally. Olivia had left Ella happily chattering away with them.

Olivia was alone, at last, with Rupert. She needed some time to think before Arizona came back home. It was time for them to have their long overdue conversation. Olivia wasn’t looking forward to it at all, but it had to happen. There was no way to delay or even avoid it any more. There was really no reason to. Arizona had been exposed to it all–time travel, parallel dimensions, even Wanderers.

Wanderers! How could she expect Arizona to grasp such a concept when Olivia wasn’t quite sure she believed it herself? Surely there was some kind of misunderstanding. A being that could traverse time and dimensions without scientific aid–that just wasn’t possible, was it? Larry seemed firm about their existence and she trusted implicitly both his sanity and his scientific acumen. Wanderers–it was a paranormal concept and Olivia had never believed in the paranormal. It was more than she could or wanted to get her head around.

From what she had gathered, Inez and David claimed to be such beings. Ella claimed that David had sucked her through an invisible wall, that’s how she’d described it again and again. It had only taken a moment. Could Ella have dreamed it? It seemed unlikely; she recounted the story with consistency. However, she had been sleepy, the sedatives that drugged her were still in her system. In fact, they were only now starting to wear off. Additionally, Kellan claimed that David had taken him across to Arizona. And to top it all, Harry and Arizona recounted the same story about their journey home. How was this possible? Even if she accepted that Wanderers existed, how did they do it? No, there must be another explanation. But, what? And why was everyone making up this strange tale?

“What are you thinking about, Ollie?” Rupert asked, looking at Olivia’s furrowed brows.

“Wanderers,” she replied, opening her eyes and gazing into his.

“You can’t get your head around it, can you?” he observed.

“No. And I trust you can’t either. I mean, it’s a completely unbelievable notion, isn’t it?”

Rupert sighed, and let go of her feet, pulling Olivia up to sit closer to him.

“Come here,” he said, enveloping her in his arms. “You think the kids are making it up?”

“I don’t know, Rup. Maybe not making it up as much as believing in something that’s just not true. They were drugged. Maybe they were brainwashed somehow.”

Rupert sighed. “Ollie, Larry even confirmed their existence. You trust him, don’t you?”

“Yes, but he could be mistaken, couldn’t he?”

“Ollie, do you think I’m mistaken?”

“No, of course not. You don’t buy into this hogwash. Do you?”

“Ollie, Wanderers are as real as we are,” he said, gazing deeply into her eyes.

She closed them.

“Ollie?”

“Rup,” she said, opening them again. “I don’t get it.”

“I know you don’t, I know.”

The phone startled them both.

“I’ll get it,” Rupert said, and grabbed the phone. “Ella’s school,” he whispered to Olivia, who sat up in attention. It was a short call. “It’s all fine,” Rupert assured Olivia, stroking her hair. “Calm down. The principal was just calling us with an update. Ella is doing well. She’s just gone to lunch and is sitting and chatting and eating. She wants to take the school bus home and I said it was okay.”

Olivia nodded. It was best to let Ella get back into her routine as quickly as possible. Poor little thing. What she must have been through. Thankfully, she seemed to have slept through most of it. She didn’t seem overly upset, but must be, even if she didn’t know it yet. It would probably hit her all of a sudden. Olivia hoped that when and if it did, she would be with her. She couldn’t even imagine what Arizona must have been through! She’d been back to Princeton, back at Dillard’s house. What a frightening thought. What had she told her father? Had she told him about the portal? Had she told him about their new life here? How had she coped being back there and the bigger question– why had she come back?

She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Rupert was shaking her gently.

“Ollie, wake up. The school bus is going to be here soon. We’d better go outside and wait for it.”

She nodded sleepily. She felt so heavy with sleep, it was a struggle getting up. They walked outside into the sunshine with Gertrude in tow and waited for the  school bus to come up the road. They didn’t have to wait long for the cheery-looking yellow bus. Ella came bounding to the bus steps as soon as it stopped. She was shouting.

“Mom! Can I have a play date with Sally and Jonas? Pleeeeease!”

Olivia laughed. She should have seen that coming and called Sally’s and Jonas’ parents. “Sure thing, but get off the bus. I’ll call their parents when we get inside.”

“Oh, can’t they come now? They’re on the bus, waiting!” Ella whined.

Rupert intervened. “Come on, honey. You know we have to call their parents first.”

Ella sighed and jumped down the steps into Rupert’s arm, waving frantically at Jonas, who was looking out the window making call-me signs at her. “You promise you’ll call them, Dad?”

He nodded and carried her in, laughing. Olivia was relieved to see that Ella was in fine form, possibly better than fine. They settled her in the kitchen with a snack before calling Sally’s mom.

“You’re sure you want a play date today, Ella?” Olivia checked before she made the call. “I thought you wanted to go shopping.”

“I do want to go shopping. Can we do some online shopping while we wait for them to get here, Mom? Pleeease?”

Olivia laughed and made the calls. “They’ll be here in about an hour.” They spent the hour on Ella’s favorite websites–Justice, Neiman’s, Nordstrom, and Toys-R-Us. Ella showed no hesitation when clicking on the buy-now tab, Olivia observed to her amusement. Several purchases later, the doorbell rang, and Jonas and Sally bounded through.

“Can they sleep over, Mom?” Ella begged.

“No, honey. It’s a school night. Maybe over the weekend.” Olivia suppressed her laughter at Ella’s tragic expression. After all that her little girl had been through in the last couple of days, the news that a sleepover was not happening elicited the strongest expression of disappointment. After making sure that Olivia was not going to change her mind, Ella disappeared up the stairs with her friends, leaving Olivia with some time to focus before Arizona came home.

“She should be home any minute,” Rupert said from the kitchen doorway. “She was meeting Ariele after school for a bit and then coming home for a chat with you. Cup of coffee while you wait?”

Olivia nodded gratefully. She was so very lucky to have him. So, Arizona was with Ariele at the moment. That made her slightly uncomfortable. Well, not with Ariele anymore, thought Olivia, as the door opened and Arizona walked in.

~

I’ve always been intimidated by Mom. It was no different this time, as I walked into the house. She always looks so perfect; I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in sweats, even when it would have been totally appropriate. She seems like a throwback from the fifties. I fleetingly wondered if she had transported herself over here from the fifties. Yikes. Thank goodness for the Starbucks mug in her hand, I was glad it wasn’t her dainty Hermès teacup. The solid Starbucks mug made her appear more human and contemporary. As for the daisy print shift dress and pumps, accessorized with a strand of pearls–well, that’s what made her unapproachable and slightly intimidating. Not so to Rupert, by the look of things. He came bounding up to her–like a happy Lab–and casually laid his arm across her shoulders as he looked down at me.

“Hey, Arizona. Fancy a coffee or maybe something cold?”

“Thanks, yes. Just some water would be great.”

He returned to the kitchen and I sauntered through to the library with Mom. While we waited for Rupert to come back with the water, I looked through the bookcases–so many books. Such a waste of trees. Maybe I should take up reading? Not. Rupert handed me a bottle of ice-cold water and disappeared again. I guess this was a mother-daughter talk. I waited for her to begin. But then changed my mind. Best to get the upper hand early.

“I saw Dad when I got back home.” I noticed her wincing when I mentioned Dad–good.

“I assumed you had. How is he?” she asked, seeming almost detached.

“He seemed okay,” I said. Not that I had seen much of him. But I guess that if he was going to Atlantic City, he must be okay.

“Why did you do it, Mom? Why?” I asked, getting my main question out there.

“Why?” she mused.

We sat in silence for ages while she thought it through, or I hoped that’s what she was doing. She finally looked up and sighed.

“Why?”

“Yes, Mom. Why?”

She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and threw off her pumps and stared at her toes. “I was unhappy, Arizona. Very unhappy.”

So? Lots of people are unhappy. They don’t all build portals, do they? I shrugged at her.

“I was unhappy with your dad for many, many years.”

“So, why didn’t you just leave him? That’s what most normal people do,” I added.

“It’s complicated. Most relationships are. I had Ella and you to think about. I stayed, hoping to work things out, for your sakes. But I couldn’t–for so many reasons. The strongest being Rupert. Rupert is everything to me. I had to be with him.”

I wouldn’t have had the slightest bit of sympathy for this revelation a few weeks ago, before I had met Kellan. I could now sort of understand this need for her to be with her soul mate.

“Mom, why didn’t you just leave Dad and move in with Rupert? Ella and I would have coped.”

“Arizona, he was not from the same time or dimension as me. It just wasn’t as simple as you may think.”

I was totally astounded! Not from the same dimension? Now, here was another concept I would have dismissed as complete and utter gibberish a few weeks ago–the whole not-being-from-the-same-dimension thing.

“Wow! How on earth did you meet him? When?” I asked.

“I met him when I was pregnant with you. My marriage to your dad was already over by then. We pretty much lived completely separate lives. I met Rupert in a pub, in London. Our first encounter was brief, it just lasted half an hour or so, and most of that was spent listening to him play his guitar for my girlfriends. But, I knew. I knew he was the one. When he left the pub he asked me to come and find him–two years ago.”

“Why would he say something so strange! What does that even mean?”

“You know, I thought about it for a long time. Why was he being so cryptic? Why couldn’t he just have explained it all to me? He still hasn’t, you know. I don’t know or understand how he even knew to ask me that. When I asked him, much later, when I found him again, he asked me to be patient. He said that he would explain it all one day when the time was right.”

Wow, it was hard for me to get my head around that. He’d asked her to wait for an explanation all these years and she had just trusted him? Wow.

“I know you find that unbelievable,” she said. “I trust Rupert completely. I love him completely. He’ll tell me when the time is right.”

“So, Mom, Rupert asks you to find him in the past and you go right ahead and build a portal, a time machine?” I mocked. If Kellan asked me to do that, I’d have him committed.

“It wasn’t quite as straightforward as that. After Rupert left, I spent years trying to find him. I kept going back to that pub to see if he would appear. I even hired an investigator to track him down. I became completely obsessed with trying to find him. His parting six words played at the back of my mind constantly. I started going over them again and again wondering what he meant. I even wondered if they were the title to a play or a book. Anything. I came up with nothing at all. I fleetingly wondered if he had meant the words literally, as in really come and find me in the past. Of course, I dismissed that possibility and resigned myself to not finding him ever again.”

“So what changed?” I asked.

“The job at Ames opened up doors to possibilities that had previously been totally incomprehensible. Larry consulted me when he was setting up the collider program. I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s just say that his enthusiasm and contacts helped me open up my mind to the possibility of constructing a device that would allow us to traverse time and possibly find Rupert that way. I knew it was a long shot. I wasn’t even sure that Rupert had really meant the words literally. But, I had failed finding him, so I thought it was worth pursuing.”

“So, your sole purpose of building the portal was to find Rupert? That’s it?” I asked amazed.

“Yes, that was my sole purpose. I was lucky to join Ames at a time when Larry had just joined and he was interested in exploring similar objectives. I don’t mean finding Rupert,” she smiled, “but exploring these kinds of possibilities–traversing dimensions. Morena at the SETI was very supportive as well, especially when it came to finding funding.”

“And I guess you found Rupert?” I couldn’t help but sigh. What a sweet story.

“Yes, I did. I found him exactly by doing what he had asked me to do. I went back to the pub where we had originally met, but two years before that meeting.”

“And he was there?”

“Yes,” she smiled.

“So, why didn’t you just bring him back through the portal and live happily ever after with you?”

“I tried, but I discovered that I was pregnant with Rupert’s child, so we had to come back here to have Harry.”

“Geez, is Harry my real bother? My half-brother? I thought he might have been Rupert’s or that you had adopted him,” I said flabbergasted.

“Yes, he is your real brother–your real older brother.”

She waited for me to absorb this, not that I could, not really. It was just too weird. I still couldn’t work it all out in my head. So, she went back to get Rupert, two years before I was born, since the original meeting had been when she was pregnant with me. She got herself pregnant–two years before she had me. And Harry was my big brother. If she’d brought him though, my big brother would have been younger than Ella and me. That would be beyond warped. She had to come back.

“Mom, how and when did I get here?”

“I brought you through when you were eight and Ella was just little,” she said.

“How can that be? I don’t understand,” I said, frustrated. “You’re saying that I’ve lived here with you and Rupert for almost nine years! How come I can’t remember anything? It doesn’t even make sense, Mom. I mean, I know that I’m Arizona Stevens. I just arrived here a few weeks ago! I’ve never known myself to be anything else. I don’t remember a life here. Not really, although I do feel a sense of belonging and I know certain stuff.”

She shook her head. “Believe me, Arizona, when I say that I’m totally bewildered by that as well. We’ve been living here, totally happy, for years. Then you suddenly proclaim that you are Arizona Stevens. You recall your life with Dillard and Princeton except you can’t–you’ve never lived that life.

My head felt like it was going to explode. “Then why do I remember it? In fact why do I only, or mostly only, remember that life? I can’t seem to remember anything about this life–my Darley life. Explain that.” I said, completely annoyed.

“Arizona, I really don’t know. I promise you, I’d tell you if I did. I’m trying to figure it out. We should try figuring this out together. We may come up with some answers.”

“How?” I asked, shrinking into myself.

“I think it may have something to do with Gertrude,” she said.

“Gertrude? She’s just a dog...” I mumbled.

“A few weeks ago, I went back through the portal to get her,” she started explaining. “It was after your cheer meet. Ella had been at voice lessons, and then we picked you up. Remember?”

I shook my head. No, because I had been at my SAT’s, not a cheer meet, but I didn’t say that out loud.

She looked puzzled, but, continued. “The cheer meet went on much longer than I expected, so I didn’t have time to drop you two off home before I went back to work. So, we drove to Ames after we picked up some burgers from MacDonalds. I left you and Ella in my office to get on with your homework while I went through the portal to retrieve Gertrude. You both were asleep on the couch in my office when I got back. So, Larry carried you to the car and we drove home.”

“Was it a rainy, miserable night when we drove home?” I asked. “You were playing Lily Allen and asked me for a Starbucks.”

“Yes,” she said hopefully. “Do you remember?”

“I don’t remember anything before waking up in the car. Well, what I mean is that I don’t remember a life here before then. What I remember before getting up in your car, is taking the SAT’s at home in Princeton and then waiting for Dad, my dad, to pick me up.” I was totally confused.

Mom looked at me thoughtfully. “Arizona, I think we can accurately pinpoint the change in your memory, or this change, whatever it is, to the car ride home from Ames. The only new factor was Gertrude, which is why I think she is somehow responsible. I have no idea how, though. Do you believe me?”

I don’t know if I did. She seemed sincere enough. It’s not like she was making up my life here. I did have a life here. Everyone knew me. Ella couldn’t remember any other life. Harry regarded me as his little sister. Everyone thought Gertrude was our new dog.

“Didn’t Harry think it was odd when he was suddenly presented with two sisters, nine years ago?” I asked wondering how she’d explained that away to him.

“Well, Ella was our new baby, she was easy. We told him the truth about you. We told him that you were his half-sister and that you had been living with your father. We told him that we had finally managed to arrange for you to come and live with us, that Rupert was adopting you.”

“What? So he knows?”

“Well. We did explain it as much as we could, but I’m not sure he understood much of it. We’ve never hidden this from either of you. You just didn’t know the details of the portal. You knew about your father when you arrived here, over time you’ve put him to the back of your mind and I let you do that. But, you’ve always known.”

“How did you explain taking me away from Dad? How did you explain Rupert to me?”

She nodded. “You don’t remember this now, but you were a very miserable eight-year-old. You were unhappy at home, because of your dad and me. It was a very sad environment for you. Your dad was never around. He was in and out of rehab. When I brought you through and provided you with the life you had yearned for, you accepted it willingly. You were delighted to have Rupert as your dad. He was always there for you. And, of course, you loved having Harry as your older brother. I assume you never questioned it because it was like a fairytale for you after what you’d been through. You never spoke of Dillard. We never spoke of him.”

“Dad seems better now,” I said defensively. “He’s not been in rehab for ages.”

“What was he doing when you went back, Arizona?”

“I don’t know, he went to Atlantic City,” I mumbled.

“Precisely my point. Did he even notice that you had been gone? Did you manage to chat to him?” she asked, staring at me.

I’d had enough of this talk. I got up to leave.

“Hold on, Arizona. Sit back down for a moment. If this conversation is not to your liking, let’s change the subject.”

I sat back down with my hands clutched in my lap, waiting for her to speak.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions. The most important one is trying to figure out how the switch in you occurred. I’m working on it. If you remember anything else, please tell me. Or, tell Larry, if you’re uncomfortable speaking to me. We’ll work it out. I do need to know what happened in Princeton, when you went back. Can you tell me?”

“You know some of it already. I woke up in my bed at home. Everything was back to normal except this blond hair. Dad left in the morning and even didn’t notice the new look. He was apparently too busy to speak to me.”

“Were you happy to be back, Arizona?”

“I was at first. But then I was so alone. I missed everyone, especially Kellan.” I remembered back to the feeling of absolute, gut-wrenching loneliness. “I met up with Monica. I even went back to school and played hockey, but I was still miserable. When I saw David, I felt like my whole life glowed again, I was so relieved. But, wait–tell me about David. Explain this whole Wanderer thing!”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Yes, well I don’t really believe all that Wanderer stuff. There must be another explanation. We’ll figure that out as well. Did you tell your dad, or anyone else, about the portal?”

I was a bit surprised at her attitude about the Wanderers. She doubted their existence? Could she be that blind? I decided to leave it be for now, but she would eventually have to accept them. They had saved us.

“No, I didn’t tell anyone other than Harry. You’re going to have to have one of these talks with him as well. You need to tell him the whole story.”

“You’re right, I will,” she said, thoughtfully. “I think it’s time for a break. You need to head over to the rink anyway. I’m coming to watch. Who are you playing tonight?”

“I’ve no idea,” I said. I was really looking forward to it, though. I needed to feel the ice. It was going to be awesome. “One more question, before we go,” I said.

“Yes?”

“How come Grandma is alive?” I asked.

“Oh, she came through the portal with you and Ella,” she said, as we walked back to the kitchen.

“Mom, you’re going to have to do better than that! But thanks for being so open with me, it means a lot. Can I ask you one more last thing for now?”

She nodded.

“I’ve been trying to figure how this works. You brought me through the portal when I was eight. So in dad’s dimension, I must still exist, right. Because, he was still there when I got back, nothing had changed. Is there more than one of me?”

“I don’t know, Arizona. I’m not sure if I want to know.”

I persisted. “But, Mom. We have to know. Going back there, like I did, may have totally messed up things in that dimension. I didn’t see another me. But that’s not to say that I wasn’t away at a tournament or something. If I’m there, Dad’s not going to miss me obviously, but I can’t pop back and visit him either.”

“Were you planning on visiting him?”

“Yes, of course,” I replied. “I was hoping that David would take me back.”

“Arizona, I wish I could give you more answers, I wish I had more answers. I’m really sorry for the way things have turned out and how my actions have affected your life,” she said looking despondent. “I don’t know, is the simple answer. However, I am going to try my hardest to find the answers you need.”

I sort of wanted to go over and put my arms around her, to give her a hug. However, I was not feeling ready for that yet. I was relieved that Rupert walked into the kitchen and did it for me. I could see she needed him as she hugged him. I wanted to be able to go over and join them. I hoped I would be able to one day.

As I sat counting down my two minutes in the penalty box, my only thought was that it was so worth it. Jamming that poor jerk into the boards had been just what I needed, there was no other release quite like it. I had felt pretty calm at the beginning of the game. My talk with Mom had been good. I felt at peace, in a strange sort of away. However, as I faced my opponents on the ice, all my pent up frustrations rose to the surface and I let rip. It felt so good.

My time was up, time to go and kick some more butt. I put my mouth guard back in and skated out.

This game had started like all others, but would end a bit differently. We were playing against an all-boys, private, catholic school, the sort that wear school uniforms–ties and all that sort of stuff. Coach did his usual pre-game talk. He had his whiteboard with him and went over the plays. Kellan, David and Harry were the first offense. For whatever reason, he’d demoted me to the second line defense. I was none too pleased. I wanted to get on the ice right away.

When we came out of the locker room to warm-up, we found that the Zamboni was still out, and then we had to wait again for the refs to appear. I was fairly wound up by the time we finally got on the ice to do our warm-ups. I glanced up at the bleachers and saw Mom there, camera in hand. Ariele and Maria were there as well. I wondered where Ali was, probably with Robert.

We started off doing a few laps around our half of the rink, sizing up the competition at the same time. Harry had us do some sprints and the butterfly drill next, just the usual routine, but I gave it my all. The feeling of skating around on the ice was indescribably satisfying. When the whistle blew, we skated down to Coach.

“Okay, ready?  They only have two lines. Shoot high on the goalie, he goes down on everything. This ref calls the game tight, so watch it,” he warned.

I took my seat in the box to wait my turn while the starting lines skated out. I saw the coach of the opposing team point toward me a couple of times–not a good feeling. I was all pumped, though, and the extra ninety seconds I had to wait before I was told to go on just fueled me. I was on fire by the time I hit the ice. It became immediately apparent why the opposing coach had been pointing at me. They had been specifically told to go after me. As soon as I skated toward their offence, a tall guy had me in a choke-hold with his stick, pulling me back so that I couldn’t stop the puck from going past. I was beyond furious and about to butt-end him when he was suddenly down. I have no idea what exactly happened, because it happened so fast, but he was abruptly on the ice with three of my teammates towering over him. We were three down as they were sent off to the penalty box. Exasperating! Mostly because I hadn’t seen the choke-hold coming, but also because those three had taken it upon themselves to take care of me. I had to hold my own. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. I drew on my innermost pent-up rage and turned into a beast for the rest of the game–I kicked, I slashed, I crosschecked. I did whatever I had to, to hold my own. Unfortunately the last wimp I crosschecked went down–and didn’t get back up again. It wasn’t like I had butt-ended him or anything–I should have!–but I was out. That really sucked, I had really been enjoying myself.

“Darley, have you lost your mind?” Coach growled.

I just shrugged at him and sat down. He didn’t say another word–he was fuming.

The team congregated around the box while the stretcher was brought out. Once the wimp was removed, they continued.

“Arizona, are you okay?” Mom asked from behind the box.

I was embarrassed. I could almost hear the coach smirking.

“Mom, I’m all right, really! I’ll see you back home, okay?”

“If you’re sure, Arizona. You took quite a few bad knocks out there,” she pointed out.

“Not as bad as she gave,” the coach muttered under his breath.

“Mom, you have to go! No need to stay for the rest of the game, it’s almost over anyway, and I won’t get back onto the ice,” I pleaded.

“Okay. Make sure you drive straight home. I took some good pictures,” she said, pointing to her camera.

“Wonderful, Mom. Now please go,” I begged her.

The final whistle blew a few moments after she left. It was a tough game, but we won. I got on the ice to do our post-game handshakes, but the opposing team just skated off. Babies.

“Seriously, Shrimp! What was that?” Kellan asked, skating up to me.

I noticed the blood on his mouth guard. “You okay?” I asked, pointing at it.

He shrugged it off. “Don’t change the subject. What the hell were you trying to do out there, you nearly got yourself killed!”

“Oh, don’t be a drama queen,” I laughed. “I was far from getting myself killed! Those boys took a beating.”

“What was that?” Harry and David asked in unison, skating to a dead stop right in front of me.

“Good grief, guys! Never seen a girl play before? I always play like that!”

“Whatcha mean?” Harry asked puzzled.

Oops, I had slipped. I really needed to get Harry up to speed. Not right now, though.

“Look, I have to get changed. I’ve already had a talking to from Coach. So, stop being a bunch of silly babies. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria,” I said, and did the best flick-of-blond-hair I could and walked off.

“Great game, A,” Ariele commented, as she walked up to me on the way to the changing room. “Too bad you’ll miss the next one.”

“Right! Imagine getting sent off for something so stupid. Would never have happened at home. These boys need to man up!”

Ariele laughed. “Well, he was taken off on a stretcher…”

“He was just faking! He’ll be fine. I didn’t hit him that hard. I would have known if I had.”

“How did your talk with your mom go?” she asked, rolling her eyes at me. “Bad?”

“No. It was actually surprisingly fine,” I said. “She almost felt kind of human, you know?”

“Really?” Ariele replied with surprise. “So why the heck are you so wound up then?”

“I’m not! I feel great,” I winked.

“You know what I mean, A! You were pretty aggressive out there, even for you.”

“I don’t really know,” I said, stripping out of my sweat-drenched kit. “I am frustrated. Frustrated about having two different lives that I can’t combine. And that’s what I really want to do.” I started wiping myself down with the baby wipes that had become a permanent fixture in my bag.

“Gross, A!” Ariele muttered.

“And what do you do after lacrosse? I bet you don’t smell of cookies and angels,” I laughed.

“Maybe not, but you’re in a league of your own. Seriously yuck!”

“Oh, be quiet and hand me the towel, will you,” I sighed, hoping that I was going to be able to subdue some of this rich aroma. I was hoping to get close to Kellan.

Half an hour and three packs of wipes later, I felt and looked fresh, or so I hoped. “All right?” I asked Ariele, who waited patiently while I applied my lip gloss.

“Yes, you’ll do,” she said, giving me the thumbs-up. We walked over to the cafeteria and into the onslaught. Kellan came over to me and put his arms around me. He looked beat up, his lips were all bloody and his eyes were slightly swollen.

“Geez, what happened, Kellan?” I asked, putting my finger on his cracked lips.

He flinched. “Nothing. Just a minor skirmish with the other team in the locker room.”

I looked over at David and Harry–they looked just as bad. Sheesh, what did I miss? “What happened, guys?”

“Nothing,” they said in unison.

Maria came up and put her arm around me. “Tell you later, let it be for now,” she whispered.

“Look, you guys look like you need to see a doctor. Let’s head over to the hospital.”

“No need,” Coach Stanislaw said from behind me. I’ve got a doctor on the way. Let’s sit down and wait. That will give us time to grab a bite to eat.”

Good idea, I thought. I was starving.

Coach sat down and looked around at all of us. His expression was far from happy, even though we had won. Won by three goals, to be precise. We had been awesome.

“We’ve been banned from the next game,” he said with an accusing tone. “And it’s a league game, so that really sucks. I’m very disappointed and angry with all of you. What were you thinking?”

“We didn’t have much choice,” Harry said defensively. “They came into our changing room.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Shut up, Arizona!” Justin said, throwing his pizza crust in my direction.

Kellan, Harry and David were at his side in less than a second.

So was Coach Stanislaw. “Sit. Back. Down!” he growled as he got between them.

Kellan, Harry and David walked back to their seats, glowering. I was bursting with curiosity, wondering what had happened. By the looks of things, none of the boys were going to say anything useful, so I pulled at Maria’s sleeve and asked her to come to the restroom with me.

“I’m coming as well,” Ariele said, and walked with us.

As soon as we were out of Coach’s earshot, I whispered, “Spill, Maria!”

“It’s all your fault,” she said accusingly.

“What’s all my fault?”

“The other team were none to happy with you,” she said.

“They aren’t supposed to be happy!” Ariele responded impatiently. “They are the other team.”

“Oh, don’t encourage this, Ariele,” Maria shot back. “I’ve been to hundreds of games! We almost always win. That’s not what this is about. This is about poor sportsmanship.”

Ariele and I looked at each other and succumbed to the giggles. Poor sportsmanship? L-O-L!

“Oh, stop! This isn’t New Jersey, Ariele,” Maria said pointedly. “God knows what’s come over you, Arizona! You can’t go around hitting people. Substituting violence for ability is just not right.”

I bit down hard on my lips to avoid collapsing on the floor in a pile of laughter. Ariele gave in to full blown chuckles. I gave her the look, tried to ignore her and turned to Maria. “Sorry, Maria, you’re right,” I said, trying not to snicker. “What happened with the guys?”

“Six or seven guys from the other team decided to have it out with our guys and stormed into the locker room. I don’t know what was said exactly, something about a Barbie defending a sissy team, but there was a mad scramble and fight. They’re in a worse shape than our guys. Both teams have been banned from next week’s games,” she said, glaring at me.

“Oh, come on! It’s hardly my fault,” I said between snorts, slightly peeved that I had missed out on all the fun.

“I give up,” sighed Maria. “Let’s go back. I think I should make sure Harry’s okay.”

We walked back to the cafeteria, mostly in silence, with the occasional snort of a giggle erupting from Ariele. I went over and put my arms around Kellan and kissed his head, plunking myself on his lap.

“You okay? Are you annoyed with me?” I asked, trying my very best to look apologetic.

“No, I guess not. You were on fire out there. Is this how you always played back in Princeton?” he whispered.

I nodded and he shook his head.

“You may have to tone it down a bit,” he suggested.

“I don’t think so,” Ariele interjected.

He shook his head again. “I can’t wait to see you at lacrosse!” he laughed.

“Where did Coach go?” I asked looking around.

“He yelled some more and then took off. He’s very disappointed in us,” David said. We’ve got to wait here until the doctor checks us out.”

“You okay, David?” I asked, looking at the cut on his forehead.

“Yup, fine. No worries.”

“Shrimp, care to explain?” Harry grunted, walking up with Maria.

“’Splain what?”

“You were beyond amazing out there–on fire. There’s no way you could have picked up that control and strength from watching me play, is there?” he prompted. “You’ve played before? When? Where? How?”

“Here’s the doctor now,” I said, pointing to a tall brunette with a tell-tale stethoscope around her neck. “You guys better get checked out. I’ll wait for you in my car, Kellan.”

“That was a close call!” Ariele muttered, as soon as they left. “You’d better tell him the whole story soon.”

“No kidding! I’m going to go and wait for Kellan in my car. Are you coming?”

“Yeah. Can you drop me off? I drove over with Maria. I’m guessing that she’s going to hang with your brother for a while. I want to know how your talk with your mom went. So, spill.”

“It was good, like I said before, Ariele.”

“Did she tell you how you got here?”

“She brought me through the portal when I was eight-ish. I’ve lived here as Arizona Darley ever since. She can’t explain this change in me.”

“You’re kidding?” she frowned.

“She seemed sincere. I kind of believe her. So it’s a mystery. With Gertrude being the only clue.”

“What’s your dog got to do with this?”

“I don’t know. Mom went through the portal to get Gertrude and that’s when the apparent switch in me happened.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Ariele said. “I’m going to have to have a similar talk with my mom. I bet she knows more than she is letting on. I’m guessing we came through the portal as well. I wonder if she knew beforehand that we were going to be brought through the portal?”

I shrugged. My head hurt from trying to analyze all the different permutations. I needed a distraction. The game had been great for that. Too bad I missed out on the fight. We got to the Jeep and I noticed a flyer on the windshield. I took it and skimmed over it, and handed it to Ariele as we got in the car.

The flyer featured a witch on a broomstick with a blurb about the upcoming Halloween dance. I hadn’t exactly forgotten about it, but I did avoid thinking about it. From what Ali had said, we needed to get dressed up for this–not a strong point of mine. Which reminded me, hadn’t Ariele mentioned going with Ingrid? I smirked.

“So, what’s this with you and Ingrid?”

“Whatcha mean?” she drawled innocently, in a bad southern accent.

“Aren’t you going to the Halloween dance with her?”

“I might be….”

“You are! So what’s going on? What’s that little rhyme you’re so fond of? Ariele and Ingrid, sitting in a tree….”

She smacked me, real hard on my shoulder. I guess I deserved it. Then she acted all coy, which was so unlike her.

“I kinda like her. She’s cute, don’t you think?” Ariele asked, looking at me for confirmation.

“Sheesh, I don’t know. I guess. She’s pretty. I haven’t even spoken to her.”

“Well, she’s lovely. I’ll introduce you to her, you’ll like her. Anyhow, yes, we’re going to the dance together.”

“Don’t tell me you’re all organized with costumes and all?” I said, looking over at her hopefully. Much to my disappointment she nodded.

“Ingrid took care of it. You know I never would have! So yes, it’s all been sorted out. Though, I can’t tell you any more. It’s supposed to be a surprise. I don’t know myself.”

Her door opened suddenly and I jerked forward ready for action. It was just Kellan. He’d been quick.

“Scoot over, Ariele. I’m going to leave my bike here and ride with you guys.” He got in and made himself comfortable reaching for the flyer in Ariele’s lap. “What’s this?” He looked it over and chuckled. “We have to talk about this tonight, Shrimp. We must be the most disorganized couple in Mountain View High.”

“Well, we’ve been busy time traveling and all....”

Once we dropped off Ariele, I drove out toward the lake, acutely aware that we were being followed. I noticed the white, unmarked car leave the ice rink parking lot just behind mine. I hadn’t given it a second thought until now, and I hadn’t mentioned it to Kellan or Ariele. While we were stopped at Ariele’s place, the white car had driven past the Jeep and parked a bit further up from us. Then it had started up again, just as I had. It was definitely following us now.

“Who do you think that is?” I asked, slightly concerned, although I assumed that it was the feds.

“That, who?” Kellan shrugged.

“We’re being followed–have been since we left the rink. I’m assuming it’s the feds.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t assume it’s the feds,” Kellan said. “It could be anyone–the guys from the other team or even Dr. Sen’s accomplices.”

I had considered the possibility that it may have had something to do with Dr. Sen, but it had never occurred to me that the opposing team could be pursuing us, looking for a fight. I looked over at Kellan. He looked beat, his lips cut and encrusted with dried blood. It was just the two of us, against how many of them? I started going over various strategies in my head.

“Arizona, let’s drive to your house instead. It’s not safe here. We were sort of told not to go to the lake anyway,” Kellan suggested.

I guess that was the sensible thing to do considering we didn’t really know who or how many were following us. I turned the car around and drove home, passing the white car. I tried to get a peek, but it was too dark. The white car turned around as well and followed us all the way home. I was hoping that my car wouldn’t break down. I checked the gas meter–we should be okay. The car went past us as I pulled into the driveway. I sighed in relief and we went inside. Rupert was sitting and reading by the fireplace. There were no signs of Mom.

“Hey, Rupert,” Kellan said, getting his attention.

“Hey, kids,” Rupert replied, looking up at us. “Whatever happened to your face, Kellan?”

“Oh, just an after-game skirmish, nothing serious. I’m fine,” Kellan reassured him.

“Ollie said it was a great game. Said that you reminded her of herself at that age, Arizona. I guess that means you showed the boys a thing or two?” he winked.

“Don’t encourage her,” Kellan sighed. “She was totally out of line.”

“NOT,” I said and punched his shoulder.

“See what I mean,” Kellan muttered.

“Yes, no hitting, Arizona,” Rupert admonished.

“We were followed tonight,” I said, changing the subject. “It was a bit scary.”

“Do you know by whom?” Rupert asked.

“Not sure, we hoped it was the feds, but don’t know for sure. They followed us from the rink all the way home. It was a white car. I didn’t get the license plate. I should have,” I sighed.

“Let me make a quick call,” Rupert said, and disappeared into the kitchen.

I put my arms around Kellan and squeezed him. “We’ve got to talk about Halloween costumes,” I giggled.

Rupert came back, nodding reassuringly. “It was the feds. Just keeping you safe. They said that they thought you were trying to sneak off to the lake. Is that right?”

We nodded.

“Well, don’t. You’ve been asked not to unless you have our permission. Clear?”

We nodded again.

“Can we go and hang out in the basement for a while?” I asked.

“Yes, but not for long. You’ve got school tomorrow.”

“Come on, we’ve got things to discuss, important Halloween stuff,” I said, as I took Kellan’s arms and dragged him down the stairs. “Maybe we should just skip it all together, and do something, just the two of us,” I suggested. “I have no idea what to do for costumes. It’s probably too late to get costumes, anyway.”

He stopped me halfway down and pulled me to him. “There is no way we’re missing the dance. I have some ideas for costumes,” he said and brushed my lips with his.

Olivia was totally convinced that Arizona was Arizona Stevens as she had watched her daughter take the boy down at the ice-hockey game. If there had been any doubts before, they had now been totally wiped away. She drove to her office to think and left Rupert in charge of the kids. Arizona Darley was lost–lost inside Arizona Stevens. Would she ever emerge again? Did she need to? How had this happened?

“Ollie, how are you doing?” Larry asked, as he came into her office and sat down beside her on the couch.

“Okay, I guess.”

“Kellan just called me,” Larry said. “He’s staying over at your place tonight. That’s all right, isn’t it?”

“You come over as well,” Olivia nodded.

“I will, later on. I’m heading over to Morgana’s house for a while. Kevin’s going back tonight, so we’re having a little get-together. I was hoping you and Rup would come as well.”

She nodded and let her thoughts wander to Kevin. She didn’t know much about him. She tried to think back to when she had first met him. It had been years ago, just before the kids were brought through the portal. Larry had introduced her to both Kevin and Inez during a dinner he had organized at his home. Kevin had not made much of an impression. In fact, he’d seemed fairly uninteresting, but sincere and intelligent. She’d been more taken by Inez. Who wouldn’t be? She emitted a special kind of warmth and Olivia had immediately been drawn to her. Years later, when she heard that they were no longer together, she was not surprised. She’d trusted that Larry had made the right decision when he’d left Kevin in charge of the portal at the other end.

“How’s he getting back? Did you find an alternative energy source? Can we operate the portal?”

“No. The portal will remain closed until next October. We did get the collider unit back on track though. Rupert’s a whiz.”

Olivia was puzzled, she would have to ask Rupert about this talent of his.

“Morena will take Kevin back,” Larry said, as if that was perfectly reasonable.

Olivia had known Morena for a long time. They’d become good friends when Larry and she were planning and constructing the portal. Morena had invaluable technical contacts at the SETI and had been a real support. However, most of all, they had bonded over their mutual love of high-end shopping. They had spent many an hour shopping at Hermès and Chanel. They’d had so many perfect shopping-and-champagne lunch expeditions together. Olivia missed that. Even though she felt so close to her, Morena had not shared much about her personal life. She just now found out that Morena had a twin sister! She would be sorry to see Morena go back. It would have been nice to have her stay, even just for a little while, to have some time to catch up.

“Care to tell me how, Larry? There’s another portal, isn’t there? You’ve been working on a back-up system. You can tell me, I won’t be angry at all, though I can’t imagine why you’ve kept this from me. So, how exactly is Morena transporting Kevin back?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t going to ramble on about paranormal stuff again.

“Oh, Ollie. You’re just not going to accept the Wanderers are you? Not by anything I say to you anyway. I guess we’ll eventually have to show you,” he laughed. “However, there is a bit more to tonight. Erica has contacted Inez and asked for a meeting. Apparently Simla wants to talk to us. When I say us, I mean the Wanderer Elders, not Rupert, you and me. But I think it’s important that we attend.”

Olivia wondered how Simla knew about the Elders. She sighed, not being able to buy into this. Still, a soiree of any kind would be a welcome relief at the moment. She picked up her cell and called Rupert.

“Hey, Rup! Fancy a night out?” she smiled into the phone.

“Would love to,” Rupert replied happily. “Your mom just came over so she’ll watch the kids. Kellan’s staying over, by the way. I just checked on them. Ella and Arizona are already fast asleep in their beds. Harry and Kellan are downstairs watching a movie. The feds are watching the house. So, yes, a night out with you sounds perfect. What did you have in mind?”

“Kevin’s leaving tonight, so there is a get-together at Morgana’s house. It’s more than just a social event, apparently Simla is coming. We don’t know what that’s all about, but I think we should go.”

“Sounds like fun, not sure about the Simla bit, though. Are you coming home first or shall I meet you over there?”

“I’ll ride over with Larry. See you over there.  Drive carefully, Rup.”

She turned to Larry. “Shall we drive over?” Larry had brought his Bentley, so it was a luxurious drive over to Morgana’s house. They were followed as expected. Larry grabbed a case of Champagne from the trunk and made his way up the steps behind Olivia. The door opened before Olivia’s finger touched the bell and a little dog flung itself on her.

“Down, Misty! So sorry, Ollie. My sister really needs to train her better,” Morena said, flinging her arms around Olivia. “You look great,” she said, pulling Olivia through so Larry could get in. “Great Maharani, is it new?” Morena asked, admiring Olivia’s new clutch. “I knew you would eventually become a croc fan!”

“You look pretty amazing yourself,” Olivia said, as she hugged her friend.

“Hey, Larry. You brought bubbly? Great! Park it in the wine refrigerator. So, Ollie, what’s new?” Morena continued.

“You tell me, Morena! I’m a bit confused. Why didn’t you tell me you had a sister?”

“You never asked,” she laughed. “We were always too busy shopping. Speaking of which, when did you get the croc?”

Olivia nodded happily, as she rubbed the leather of her new Maharani clutch. “It’s new, about a month ago. Don’t change the subject,” she smiled. “Your sister–tell me everything.”

“Well, you’ve already met her, but I guess you didn’t have a chance to talk shop. You’ll like her. She’s just like me apart from the whole small-dog obsession. But you like that, don’t you? You’ll probably like her more than you like me!” she said, as she pulled Olivia into the kitchen.

It was busy–a flurry of activity, making it difficult to focus on anyone in particular. Inez was there, cutting pita bread into wedges. Kevin was standing by a big bowl, dipping tortillas into it and chomping down. Constance was frying up something on the large stove in the corner and Morgana was bending over, concentrating on placing cucumber pieces perfectly onto her sliced brie. Grayson was helping Larry place the Champagne bottles into the cooler and Javier was standing about looking confused.

“Hey, Morgana. Come here for a sec. Javier can take over whatever you’re doing,” Morena cheekily added. Morgana lifted her head slowly and walked over to us.

“Nice to see you again, Olivia?” she smiled.

Olivia nodded and extended her hand. She was surprised at the soft touch of Morgana’s hand as she shook it gently. “Nice to see you too. You’re Morena’s sister?”

“Big sister, yes. I mean we are twins, though I was born first,” she added.

Morena laughed.

“You look identical,” Olivia said, looking at them in awe. Not just identical but breathtakingly so. One of them on her own would never fail to turn heads, but the two of them together–wow, what showstoppers. “So is it just the two of you or do you have other siblings?”

“Oh, Grayson is our brother, our older brother,” Morgana replied surprised, looking at her sister.

Morena shrugged. “Olivia is not really the type to accept the likes of us, I mean Wanderers. So I didn’t really bring it up or try to explain it. I just avoided the whole issue,” she explained.

“So, you didn’t know about us?” Morgana said astonished. “When did you find out?”

“Just recently. I mean I was just recently told about Wanderers,” Olivia replied carefully, not wanting to offend.

“What she means is that she was told, but she thinks it’s all hocus pocus,” Morena laughed.

Morgana looked confused. “You don’t believe we exist?”

Olivia shrugged noncommittally.

“We brought your kids back to you. How else do you think they got back here?” Morgana queried.

“I bet she thinks we have a portal in the basement,” Morena smiled.

Olivia smiled back, thinking of a way to change the subject. She really didn’t want to get into this. Of course they had found some means to traverse the dimensions, if not through a portal, then using some other kind of mechanism. They did work at the SETI, after all. Thankfully, Inez and the others joined them in the lounge. They brought all the food and drink with them. Rupert and Lars arrived in time for the first bottle of Champagne to be opened. Rupert went right up to Olivia and put his arms around her as he made himself comfortable next to her. She lay her head down against his shoulder, feeling perfectly at peace.

Larry got up to speak, Champagne in hand, to make a toast. “First of all, let’s toast the safe return of our children,” he said, and lifted up his flute. “Morena, Morgana and Lars, thank you for bringing the kids back. We owe a special thanks to David as well. Inez, please pass on our gratitude.”

Inez nodded and patted Kevin’s knee. “We’re very proud of him.”

“You should be,” Larry said. “He’s an amazing kid.” He turned to Kevin as he sat back down on his seat. “Kevin, are you sure that you should head back? I’m really uncomfortable about it.”

Kevin nodded. “I can’t hide out here forever. My life is back there.”

“You could start a new life here, Kevin,” Inez interrupted.

“No, I don’t want to. I like my set-up there. Much as I miss having David around, I have accepted and grown used to it. I need to go back. I like my work, I like working on my projects back at Ames.”

Inez nodded unhappily.

“We need to know that you’re going to be safe. After all, Inez just managed to rescue you from Raj Sen. What’s to say that he’s not waiting at your house for you?” Javier said.

“Well, we have come up with a plan,” Morena said. “I’m going back home as well. I’ll take Kevin to my place and he can hang out there until he knows it’s safe to head home. Does that sound logical?”

Javier nodded. “You’re both going to have to be very careful. Kevin, you must take every precaution, especially when you head back to work. Okay?”

Kevin nodded. He didn’t need to be warned. He had no intention of putting himself in harm’s way–he’d had enough of that.

“Are we all in agreement to let Kevin head back home and that Morena will transport him?” Javier asked, looking around the room. He was slightly amused to see Olivia nodding although he was sure it was just an automatic response to seeing everyone else do so. He was well aware of her total disbelief in them.

Olivia had stopped listening. She had drifted off, thinking about Arizona. She had to figure out how the switch had happened. It seemed fairly clear that Gertrude had somehow stimulated it. How could a dog transfer over a whole persona? Granted, Gertrude had only known Arizona as a Stevens, but she had been at Arizona’s side for the last five years. Could a bond between a human and an animal be so strong that this could occur? It seemed like transference of the very essence of that being. It seemed as nonsensical as this whole Wanderer thing.

She was startled into the present by the sound of the doorbell ringing. She saw Erica come in to the lounge with Simla hovering behind her.

“Nice to see you both, Erica and Simla. Please sit down for a moment. Help yourself to food,” Morgana offered.

Erica floated over to Grayson and sat down next to him. Simla plunked herself down next to her mother with a scowl on her face. In response to Grayson’s questioning look, Erica touched her thumb to his and let him absorb her thoughts. He looked over to her with concern and put his arms around her.

“Erica, you wanted to talk to us,” Inez said, looking gently over at Simla and her mother. They had been through a lot. What Raj had pulled could not be easy for either of them. They deserved to be treated with kindness at this time.

Erica nodded. “It’s not really me. It’s Simla who wants to talk to you. I’m very upset about what she is about to say and I want you to know that I don’t condone any of it.”

Inez was surprised and looked over at Simla. She looked fragile but defiant. “Simla?”

“I hate all of you,” she spluttered, hesitantly at first but then suddenly forceful. “Every one of you in this room. I hate you. You’ve taken my dad from me and I want him back. I want Mom to transport him back right now,” she demanded, and then sat back looking sullen.

Inez was taken aback. She’d been unaware that Simla had known anything about her dad’s whereabouts. “Back from where, Simla?” she asked.

“Don’t play stupid games with me!” Simla shouted rudely.

“Mind your tongue,” Erica said sternly. “Inez is our leader. You do not ever speak to anyone like that!”

“Simla, you may go. Erica, please remove her. If and when you are ready to be respectful, we’ll consider hearing from you again,” Inez said, dismissing them.

Simla got up and started walking toward the door. Then she turned around and stared at Inez insolently. “You are going to be very, very sorry. If you don’t get my dad back here within twenty-four hours, you are going to be sorry.” She then marched off with Erica running after her, throwing apologetic glances over her shoulder.

“Grayson, go with Erica. Support her the best you can,” Inez commanded.

Grayson was already on his feet and rushed off.

“So, what was that all about?” Olivia asked.

“I don’t know,” Inez replied. “She obviously knows that Raj went through the portal. I wonder if she was involved in any way?”

“She did tell the feds that she helped her dad get into Ames. Agent Adams didn’t think she was involved any further that that,” Larry offered. “That’s from what she told me. I’m sure the feds are not forthcoming with all the information they have. My guess is that they’re concentrating their efforts on Sophie. We need start looking into her background, too.”

“Well, whatever the feds know or think they know, Simla must know that Raj went through the portal. She must know that he is still there, which seems to indicate that they had some kind of arrangement about the time he would be back. She must know what went on.”

“I’ll get Agent Adams on the phone and ask her to question Simla again,” Larry said, getting his phone out of his pocket.

“No, don’t do that, Larry,” Javier interrupted. “Simla can’t be trusted to keep our secret. We need to find out what went on from her. Can her mother read her?” he asked, looking at Inez.

Inez shook her head. “No, her thoughts seem closed to us.”

“I don’t understand,” Olivia said. “Read?”

“Wanderers can often read each other during physical contact. We normally use our thumbs,” Inez replied.

Olivia bit down on her lips, feeling her teeth pierce her lips until she could taste the blood. She needed to keep herself from talking and inadvertently saying something rude. Thumbs? She could feel Rupert squeezing her hands tightly, trying to keep her from saying anything. She had to just shut up and not ask any more questions.

Rupert thankfully spoke up. “Well, we can’t bring Raj back, can we? He’s too dangerous. Question is, is he as dangerous even there? Will he be able to access the portal eventually and create havoc?”

“Simla said that we would be very sorry if we didn’t bring him back. Whatever could she have meant?” Morgana mused. “What could she do? Or what could he do?”

“Apart from going to the feds and telling them about the portal, what could she do?” Larry said. “And if she does that, it’s likely that the feds will take control of the portal, which is not something that would be in Raj’s benefit. So, I don’t think she would do that.”

“Maybe she’s planning to reveal us,” Constance suggested.

Larry shook his head. “I’m sure she’s smart enough to know that they won’t believe her. Sheesh, even Ollie doesn’t believe,” he said.

Olivia steadfastly kept to her resolve not to utter another word. She looked down at her hand hoping that her thumb wouldn’t inadvertently migrate toward Rupert’s. What a thought!

“You know, it’s probably just a teenage fit,” Constance said. “Of course she wants her dad back; it’s only natural. I bet she’s just throwing empty threats at us. We’ll have Grayson keep an eye on things.”

Inez nodded, not entirely convinced. However, there wasn’t much they could do. They certainly were not bringing Raj back. Even Erica wouldn’t want that. Grayson would have to keep an eye on the situation.

It was almost two in the morning; Olivia looked over to Rupert and whispered, “Hon, we should go.”

He nodded and pulled her up. They said their goodbyes and left.

“Wow, that was some evening,” Olivia said, before she put her helmet on and climbed onto Rupert’s bike.

He kissed her. “Let’s make the next date night a movie night, just the two of us,” he smiled.

~

Morena watched Olivia ride off with Rupert. “They’ve got to be the most perfect couple I’ve ever met,” she whispered.

“Yes,” Morgana agreed and hugged her sister close. “I’m going to miss you, you know.”

I know, big sis,” she replied, kissing Morgana gently on her cheek. “I think it’s time.”

“Ready, Kevin?” Morena asked gently, as she extended her hand.

“Yes. Morgana. Thank you for your hospitality. Thank you all. Inez, I’ll see you soon. Tell David that I’ll see him as soon as I’m sure it is safe. Kiss him for me.”

Inez nodded and they all waved as Morena faded along with Kevin.

Kevin felt the familiar pushing sensation when he closed his eyes to be transported. He felt the comfortable warmth of pure peace. He arrived in Morena’s hallway feeling slightly elated. The feeling faded quickly when Morena let go of his hand. It was replaced by a feeling of desolation and fear. He trembled.

“Kevin? Are you okay?” Morena asked with concern.

“I just have a very bad feeling,” he replied. “Almost like a sense of doom. I don’t know why.”

“Well, you are safe here and you can stay with me for as long as you want,” Morena comforted. “Raj Sen knows nothing about me. There’s no way he could.”

Kevin looked around. The house was quiet and he was fairly certain that they were alone. He couldn’t hide out here forever, but he was safe for now.

“Let’s get you some hot chocolate and then you should get some rest. I’m heading to work tomorrow. What are you planning to do?” Morena asked. “It’s Friday, you could call in sick and then you’ll have the weekend to work things out.”

Kevin nodded. He was too tired to think. Sleep was what he needed the most of now. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the lavender-scented pillow in Morena’s guest bedroom.

He woke ten hours later, after a dreamless sleep. It was already one in the afternoon. Kevin was alone in the house. He sauntered down to the kitchen to make some coffee, and found a note from Morena by a basket of fresh bagels. It was brief, just asking him to help himself to anything he wanted and that she’d be back around seven. She’d scribbled down the pass code to her computer and left it on the kitchen counter for him. He made himself a strong cup of coffee and opened the refrigerator to find some cream. He smiled at the selection of coffee creamers that Morena had stocked–hazelnut, caramel macchiato, French vanilla. He stopped at the French vanilla and added a splash to his coffee before turning on the computer. He logged into the Ames system to check his email first. There were over three hundred unread messages. Kevin’s eyes skimmed down the list and stopped suddenly. He looked at the sender again–Raj Sen. He clicked at it with trepidation.

I am at your house and I am watching Ames. I need to talk to you, contact me.

Well, that was short and to the point. He would ignore it for now. Although Raj would possibly be able to figure out that he had opened it, he hoped that Morena’s computer was untraceable. He considered calling her, but resisted. Even though the computer was most probably untraceable, he couldn’t say the same for the phone. Best to be safe.

Kevin looked out the window. It was a beautiful day and he longed to go outside, but his fear wouldn’t allow him to. What exactly was he fearful of? What, if anything, would Raj Sen do now that the children were gone–gone to a different dimension? Of course Raj didn’t know that yet. For all he knew, Kevin was still hiding the children, his leverage, somewhere. That would make Raj desperate. Perhaps he should just email Raj and let him know that the children had been transported back. Maybe the futility of the situation would force Raj to abandon his scheme.

Kevin started tapping the note on the computer, but hesitated over the send button. He should discuss this with Morena first; not do anything hasty. He saved the draft and clicked through his other messages. Most of them were from his boss asking him to contact her. He had missed a presentation yesterday and his monthly report hadn’t been submitted. Donna, his boss, left him to get on with his projects on his own. She was easy to work for, but liked to get her reports on time. A sick feeling came over Kevin as he read the last email from her.

Kevin, I popped around to your house to get your report. I am waiting with Raj Sen. Please contact me asap. Donna

Kevin felt like he was going to be sick. Now what? He could hardly call the police. Or should he? He needed to contact Morena. Email–he would email her.

Morena arrived back at the house half an hour later. Kevin had downed three cups of coffee while waiting and was totally strung out by the time she got back. He started rambling incoherently, but stopped as soon as Morena touched his hand. An instant feeling of calm came over him and he nodded at Morena gratefully.

“Too much coffee, Kevin?” she asked, eyeing the nearly empty jar.

“Morena, you have to see these emails,” Kevin said, and opened them for Morena to read. “What do you think we should do?”

“I don’t know. Kevin. Do you want me to contact the Elders?”

“I don’t know. I should probably deal with this myself. I can’t get Donna involved with the Elders.”

Morena nodded. “We do need to contact Raj and set up a meeting. We need to make sure that he releases Donna. And we need to make sure that she doesn’t go to the cops.”

“Well, that’s easy,” Kevin said, shrugging in defeat. “This is such a mess.”

“We can do this,” Morena reassured. “We just have to think it through. Raj isn’t going to harm Donna. That would be plain stupid. He’s after the kids. We don’t have them. We do need to let him know that. The question is: Will he flip when he finds out? Would he do Donna harm then?” She closed her eyes to think through the permutations.  They had to get Donna first. Goodness knows how Raj would react once he found out about the children. But how–how would they get Donna out of Raj’s house?

“You could go in and rescue her, like Inez did for me,” Kevin suggested.

Morena shook her head. Kevin was obviously not thinking clearly. “Kevin, think about it. First of all, I would need the Elders’ permission to do so. Then, I’d need to explain time travel and Wanderers to Donna. I don’t think that’s wise. We don’t know her at all. There’s no way we can reveal ourselves to her.”

“You are right, of course,” Kevin sighed. “What if I agree to talk to him only if he first releases Donna? Then you’d have to talk to her, convince her not to go to the cops. You’ll have to convince her that we’ll take care of this. Could you do that?”

Morena nodded. “But, what about you? What if he flips? What will you do?”

“I don’t know. The main thing is that all the kids are safe. We have to keep them that way. I’ll do whatever it takes.” He started tapping away at the keyboard, drafting a message for Raj Sen. He looked to Morena for approval once he was done, and hit send when she nodded.

They received a reply five minutes later.

Ok. Come to the house.

Kevin looked up at his house from the driveway where Morena had parked her car. It had never seemed so unwelcoming. He noticed the kitchen blinds twitching and made his way to the front door. Donna opened it and looked at him nervously.

“It’s going to be okay, Donna. My friend Morena is going to take you home,” he said, pointing at Morena’s car. I’ll talk to you soon. Don’t worry about me.”

Donna bit her lip and nodded before running to Morena’s car. Kevin stepped inside and walked into the kitchen. He was a bit overwhelmed when he saw that it wasn’t just Raj waiting for him. Sophie and Dan were there as well. He felt more than intimidated as he sat down on a chair facing them.

“Where are the kids?” Raj spluttered.

“Back home,” Kevin replied.

Raj turned pale, the blood draining from his face.

“Home?” Sophie asked. “Whose home?”

“Their home,” Kevin replied triumphantly.

“How?” Raj whispered hoarsely from his chair. “The portal is not functioning.”

“Think about it, Raj,” Kevin said, not wanting to mention the Wanderers in front of Sophie and Dan. He could see Raj working it out and nodding at him.

“Dan, tie him up,” Raj said unexpectedly, a look of madness coming over him. “Is that how you disappeared from the house?” he yelled at Kevin. “They rescued you?”

“Who?” Sophie and Dan asked in unison.

“Shut up, just shut up! Don’t ask any questions! Just do what I say. Is he tied up good?” Raj shouted hysterically.

Sophie backed up; she’d never seen him so agitated.

Dan nodded.

“Get out then! I’ll call you when I need you.”

Kevin watched them leave hastily. He was all alone with this mad man.

“So, are they coming to rescue you again?” Raj asked, picking up a kitchen knife.

Kevin tried to remain calm. He didn’t want Inez to feel his terror and come to him. It was way too dangerous. “No,” he said simply.

“They better come, and they better come with the blueprints or they won’t see you again. I expect you’re precious to them in some way, since they came for you before. Tell me how? How did you make contact with them?”

Kevin shook his head. He was not going to say any more. His head suddenly flew backwards as Raj pounded his nose with his fist. He could feel his nose swelling up with blood and a stream starting to flow. He knew that Inez would be in the house by now. There was no way she wouldn’t have felt him. He hoped that she wouldn’t do anything silly. There was nothing she could do to help at the moment. She needed to wait. He closed his eyes and concentrated on conveying this to her, hoping that she was receptive. Please do not walk into the kitchen. He repeated it again and again. I will find a way to get to you.

“Put the knife down, Raj,” a voice said from behind him.

Kevin looked up at Erica’s beautiful face. “Erica, don’t. Get out while you can. He’s insane!” Kevin begged.

The knife struck Kevin’s chest before he had a chance to take the next breath. He stumbled forward as Raj pulled the knife back out and glared at Erica.  Erica lunged herself at Raj. Inez came rushing into the kitchen. She untied Kevin quickly as Erica continued to wrestle with Raj. Inez saw them stumble out of the kitchen into the hallway, hitting and scratching each other. Then she heard a door slam.

Inez looked down at Kevin’s bloodstained face, crying. Lars appeared and helped put him down gently onto the floor.

“Lars, we can’t transport him back. He’s too hurt. We need to get him to a hospital. Call 911.”

Lars nodded. He went out to the hall to make the call while Inez tried to stop the wounds from bleeding. She held him close until she heard the blood-curling cry from the hallway. She gently laid Kevin’s head back on the floor and rushed out into the hallway. She stopped short as she saw Erica’s lifeless body on the floor. The end of a knife stuck out from her chest. Lars bent over her in despair.

Inez fell to the floor as the rest of the Elders arrived. Kevin was still alive. He would be okay, the Elders would see to that. Erica was gone, though. Inez felt hollow. It was her fault. She had approved this marriage between Erica and Raj. Now he’d killed her. He’d left Simla without a mother–without parents, for Raj would never be allowed near her again. How could she have let this happen? She should have insisted that Erica stay behind, that she let the Elders handle this. She had been weak, a weak leader. It was time for her to step down. She looked up at Constance and extended her thumb. “Constance, it’s time.”

Halloween is my favorite time of year. I’m not sure why, it’s always just been. It’s not like I enjoy the dressing up bit, although I would have to get into that this year. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Kellan, he’d been so enthusiastic about it. I still didn’t know which costumes he’d chosen. He had been annoyingly secretive about it. I just hoped that it wasn’t too trampy. I don’t do tramp. It would be too much to hope that it was our favorite hockey players. Now that would be cool.

It’s great to have Halloween on a Friday, a Friday with no school. It was some sort of training day for the teachers in the district, so we were off–awesome. This was the second time in a row Halloween fell on a Friday for me. I’d already lived through this Halloween in my other life. That still blows my mind. Last time, in the other dimension, I’d dressed up as an ice-hockey player–myself really. It had been comfortable and hassle free. I’d gone trick-or-treating with Monica and Ariele. Simla had been away somewhere and hadn’t been able to come. The evening had been spent skating around at the rink. It was so much fun, trying to knock those girls in their nurse’s outfits off balance. Geez, I hoped that Kellan and I weren’t going as a doctor and nurse! If we were, he was wearing the nurse’s outfit, that’s for sure.

My cell rang. I was still in bed; it was only ten in the morning.

“You’ll never guess what,” Ariele whispered into the phone in a desperate voice.

“Not until you tell me,” I said impatiently.

“You know how I told you that Ingrid was taking care of our outfits?”

“Yes, you were pleased about that, if I remember correctly.”

“Well, I didn’t know what she had in mind at the time. She just dropped mine off. I’m dying here,” she said dramatically.

“Well, you can’t tell me what it is,” I said firmly. “It’s supposed to be a surprise. Remember?”

“I know, but what am I going to do? I can’t wear this!” she whined.

“Oh, put your big girl pants on and deal with it,” I laughed. How bad could it be! “Remember our last Halloween in Princeton, Ariele?”

“I sure do. It was such a hoot. You dressed up as a hockey player and I was a lacrosse player. Remember those silly girls on the ice?” she laughed, but then suddenly went quiet.

I couldn’t help but snort, I couldn’t wait to see her. It should be a good laugh.

“What time are we meeting up to go trick-or-treating?” she asked, changing the subject.

“We’re meeting at Kellan’s house at five and going from there. The dance starts at eight.”

“Who’s going with us?” she asked.

“Everyone! See you later!”

I lay back down on my bed and thought back to last night. Kellan had stayed over again, for the second night in a row. There had been a lot of commotion during the middle of the night, with Larry dropping Kellan and David off at our place and then disappearing with Mom and Rupert. I had snuck out of my room and made my way to the guest bedroom where David, Kellan and Harry were up, whispering.

“What’s up, guys?” I had whispered in the same low, secretive tone.

“Something big is up,” Harry said. “Larry got Kellan out of his bed and drove to David’s and picked him up. Then he dropped them both here and took off with Mom and Dad. We’ve got no idea what’s going on. They wouldn’t say. They left Grandma in charge again. She’s fast asleep next door. Anyway, go back to bed, Shrimp. We’re going back to sleep as well. Hopefully they’ll be back by morning and we’ll know what’s happening.”

I did go back to bed, but couldn’t get back to sleep again. My mind kept churning out images of Dr. Sen being back, of him having done something awful, but what? I was glad when Kellan snuck through to my room and got under the covers. I put my arms around him and snuggled into his chest.

“I can’t stay long, Shrimp. David fell asleep, so I thought I would come through for a bit, but we can’t get caught.”

I nodded into his chest, kissing him gently as I stroked his skin.

He laughed. “I’m going to have to leave much sooner then I planned if you don’t quit!”

I could feel him starting to move up against me. I put my lips to his and let myself drown in his kiss.

He was gone by the time I woke up in the morning. I lay in bed for a bit longer and wondered why Ella hadn’t woken me up as usual. So I got up and got dressed–Kellan and David could still be around–and then headed off to the kitchen. I heard a lot of commotion coming from the family room, so I peeked in. There was Kellan, David, Harry and Ella going at Guitar Hero. That explained the quiet in the rest of the house. I didn’t disturb them, they hadn’t noticed me, and went through to the kitchen.

“Good morning, Arizona. Did you sleep well?” Grandma asked.

I went over and kissed her. Finally, some alone time with her. Perfect.

“Any idea what’s going on, Grandma?”

“Not really. Something’s happened. I don’t know if Olivia even knows exactly what. I know it’s something to do with Kevin. He’s in some kind of trouble,” she shrugged.

I tensed up. What about Kevin? Wasn’t he still here, safe at Morgana’s house? “What happened to Kevin?”

“I don’t know yet, Arizona, Your mom said that she would call me as soon as they know anything. I’ve tried calling this morning, but there’s no answer. So I expect we just have to wait. Probably best not to mention it to David until we know more.”

I nodded. It had to be something serious. But, there was nothing to do other than wait for them to call us.

“Grandma, can I ask you something?” I asked, taking advantage of the opportunity of having her all to myself for a bit.

“Certainly. What is it, Arizona?”

“How did you get here?”

She looked at me thoughtfully. “Arizona, Olivia did mention that she had a chat with you. Did she explain me to you?”

I shook my head. “No, but then we had so little time. We are going to get back to our chat soon, I hope. We were mainly trying to figure our how I’m suddenly a Stevens again.”

“Do you remember anything from back then? From when you were about eight?” Grandma asked curiously.

I closed my eyes. I had spent so much time avoiding thinking about those times that I literally had forgotten them. And I didn’t want to remember them now. After all, there must have been a reason that I pushed those memories to the very back recesses of my mind. I was happy now, why spoil things? I shook my head at Grandma. “I can only remember the feeling of sadness, of desolation,” I whispered.

She nodded. “That’s what your mom was trying to take you away from. She was already here with Rupert and Harry when the portal was ready for your transport. I wasn’t happy about it at the time. I thought it was totally bizarre and wrong. But, I agreed to go along with it anyway. Especially when your mom told me that I was going to pass on shortly and wouldn’t get the chance to see you and Ella grow in that dimension. So, I agreed to accompany you and Ella through the portal. Larry and Kellan came with us as well. I don’t think Larry trusted me fully,” she smiled. “And now we’ve lived here, comfortable and secure, until now. I don’t know what’s going on and deep down I don’t want to know. I just want things to get back to normal,” she sighed.

“Kellan came through the portal with us?” I gaped.

She nodded. I was gobsmacked. I was sure that he didn’t know. “Were we sedated?” I asked. That was the only explanation I could come up with.

She nodded, looking down at her hands.

“Grandma, I’m thirsty,” came the little voice from the doorway.

I got up to get Ella some water. “Here you go. Do you have your costume ready? You’re coming trick-or-treating with us, aren’t you?”

“Obviously! I hope Mom and Dad are going to be back soon. Grandma, will you help me with my costume if Mom’s not back on time?

“Of course,” she said, as Kellan, David and Harry walked in. The kitchen suddenly seemed much smaller.

“Grub?” Harry said, looking at Kellan and David. Kellan came walking over to me, but Ella grabbed him and said, “Rub my back, Kell?” and threw me a cheeky look.

Kellan guffawed. “Ella, you’re a real little monster. Dressing up as one today?”

“Maybe,” she said, winking at him. “You’ll have to wait and see–patience is a virtue!”

“You don’t even know what that means,” I said, flicking a bit of bacon at her.

“Grandma, we’re going to take off on our bikes for a while, is that okay? Have you heard back from Mom or Dad yet?” Harry asked.

“No, but take off. Be back before lunch. I’ll call you if I hear anything,” she replied.

“Poppet, can I have a quick word?” David suddenly asked.

I looked up at him, surprised. I could feel Kellan tensing up behind me. “Sure, let’s take Gertrude for a walk. See you later, Kellan.”

David and I walked along the dirt path at the back of the house, leaving it to head through the woods. “What’s up, David?” I asked, when we were about five minutes from the house. We’d seen Harry and Kellan leave on their bikes.

David took my hand and pulled me down beside him. I felt an instant warmth when he touched me. He bent down and kissed me, ever so gently. I could feel my pulse quicken and I pulled away. “David....”

“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“It wasn’t uncomfortable, just confusing,” I said, taking his hand. I looked at him and wondered if he knew that his dad was in some kind of trouble. He probably didn’t. He wouldn’t be here if he did. I decided not to mention it. He would freak.

“Dad? What about Dad?” he asked, squeezing my hands. “He’s in trouble? How?”

“David, what?” I asked dumbfounded, it was like he was reading my mind.

He nodded. “I can read you. Do you know anything else?”

I shook my head. Read me?

“Poppet, I have to go. I’ll see you later,” he said before he vanished into thin air.

I walked back to the house with Gertrude. I was very worried. I was mostly worried for David. Where had he vanished to? Was he safe? I could feel a hollow pit forming in my stomach. Ella was waiting for me and pulled me along to her room.

“So, what do you think?” she asked pulling an outfit out from her wardrobe. I could only assume it was her Halloween get-up. I tried not to giggle. “What is that exactly?” I wondered, looking at the hideous colors.

“A Goth cheerleader, obviously,” she sighed, rolling her eyes at me.

“Of course. Silly me.”

“Now, I need you to do my makeup. Mom’s not going to be back until later.”

“Mom called?”

“Yes, she spoke to Grandma just before you came back home.”

I rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping over Gertrude who’d fallen asleep on one of the steps.

“Grandma, what did Mom say?”

“It’s not good, Arizona. Olivia, Rupert and Larry are over at Morgana’s house at the moment. Grayson gave them an update.”

“Grayson? Justin’s dad?” I asked puzzled. “What did he say?”

“Not a lot. Kevin’s been badly hurt. He’s in the hospital but he’s going to be fine. There is more though, but she wouldn’t discuss it, I’m guessing in case our phones are tapped. She didn’t even refer to Kevin by his name, she just said he. I assumed it was Kevin she was talking about. Anyway, she asked us to get on with life as usual. She’s going to meet us at Larry’s at five for trick-or-treating.

Lunch was a somber affair. Harry and Kellan arrived back from their ride, immediately wondering where David had gone.

“He’s supposed to hang out with us until Larry gets back,” Harry said. “What did you say to him, Arizona? Where would he have gone?”

“Nothing,” I said defensively, and remained silent for the rest of the meal. We were all quiet, apart from Ella. She kept it going, chattering endlessly about how she had decided upon her costume.

“So what are you guys wearing?” she finally asked.

“That’s a secret, munchkin,” Harry replied. “Speaking of costumes, I need to head over to Maria’s to get ready. I’ll see you guys over at your place later, Kellan.”

“We should do the same, Shrimp. Head over to my place and get ready,” Kellan said, winking at me.

“I have to get Ella ready first,” I shrugged, not feeling the least bit like celebrating Halloween or anything else, not until we knew what was going on. However, I guess we had to keep up appearances for Ella’s sake and also for the feds, or they’d know something was up.

“Oh, I’ll do that. I can do your makeup, can’t I, Ella?” Grandma interrupted. “Off you two go. Relax and have fun. I’ll meet you over there at five with Ella, Sally and Jonas.”

I looked up at Kellan somberly. Much as I was worried about Kevin and David, I decided that I owed it to Kellan to be there for him tonight. Mom had said that she would meet us over at Kellan’s later, so until then, I was going to give Kellan my undivided attention. We walked out to his bike and made our way to his house. I pressed myself close to him as we rode down the street, the wind blowing in our faces.

His house was empty, apart from Anna who was busy in the kitchen. The outside of the house had been completely transformed into a graveyard. It looked spooky and put our house to shame. I had never been up to Kellan’s room before, but it seemed perfectly natural to head up there now. It looked like Harry and Kellan had coordinated their decorating, or perhaps they’d used the same designer. Their rooms were pretty much identical: Hockey posters, pucks, sticks, helmets everywhere. I sat down on Kellan’s bed, comfortable in the familiarity. I noticed a picture of myself in the frame on his bedside table.

“So, horrify me,” I teased, as Kellan opened the door to his walk-in closet.

He turned around and smiled, slowly bringing out two costumes, one in each hand.

I collapsed in laughter.

By five o’clock it was already starting to get dark. Kellan and I were helping Anna put out the various assortments of delicious Halloween treats. The doorbell had already rung a few times and we’d handed out treats to several cute trick-or-treaters. First, it was the little kids, they started early. Anna told us that the first ones had come around as early as noon.

Grandma arrived with Ella, Jonas and Sally–the three Goth cheerleaders. I wondered how Jonas had been talked into that! Ella stopped short when she saw me. Her nose started twitching. And then she snorted, exploding onto the floor in a hysterical laughing fit.

“Too much candy?” I asked Grandma, rolling my eyes.

“Well, you do look amusing, dear, to say the least,” she said, her eyes smiling.

The bell rang again and I let Ariele and Ingrid through. Ariele looked beyond hysterical.

“Don’t say a word, mouse,” she warned me as she pushed through to the lounge. “You look mighty ridiculous yourself.”

It was soon half past five and time to go trick-or-treating, but there were still no signs of Harry, Maria, Ali, Robert, Mom, Rupert or Larry. Well, we could wait no longer. We got ready to head outside when two bikes and a car drove up the driveway. They had all arrived.

“Kellan, give me a moment. I need to have a quick word with your dad before we go. Can you find out from Mom what’s going on?”

He gave me a strange look but nodded.

“Dr. Fox, can I talk to you for a sec?” I asked, before Kellan could ask me why. We went back into the house and spoke in the hallway.

“Arizona, what’s up?”

“David’s gone. He left to go and be with his dad, I think,” I said cautiously.

“I know. Don’t worry about it, Arizona. It’s going to be okay. Let’s head off and get started with the trick-or-treating before Ella throws a tantrum.”

Trick-or-treating was fun. I collected loads of candy, much more that I could ever hope to eat. Kellan and I started hanging back a bit once our sacks were full, leaving Ella and her friends to get on with it. I was pleased when Grandma announced that it was bedtime for Ella and that they had to head home. I was trick-or-treated out. It was time to head to the lake to hang out at the dance.

I had thought it was a weird location for the Halloween dance when I first heard about it from Kellan. However, when we arrived, I was totally awestruck. It had been completely transformed. Halloween lanterns lined the lake, the rays of light eerily playing off the shimmer of the moon’s reflection in the water. Smoke machines were pumping out white films of smoke from behind the trees. Spooky-looking gravestones protruded from the ground, some with a bloody body part peeking out. A stage made of coffins had been constructed and a band, made up of ghouls, witches, monsters, and other frightening looking creatures, were up dancing and singing. It was pretty awesome! I squeezed Kellan’s hand in delight.

“Cool, isn’t it,” he agreed. “Your dad and mine did most of the organizing this year, so I did get a bit of a say,” he winked at me. “I got to pick the band.”

“Good choice,” I whispered and kissed him.

“Mousies shouldn’t kiss,” Ariele laughed from behind me.

“At least we’re warm,” I said, patting my red Minnie Mouse costume and clicking the enormous shoes together with a grin. “Mickey is irresistible,” I said, pecking Kellan’s black tipped nose. “Where’s Ingrid?”

“She went to get us some drinks. I’m flipping freezing. I hope she comes back with some hot chocolate.”

“Yes, what’s up with that ridiculous look?” I asked, looking at Ariele’s barely-there Lady Gaga costume.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged. “I’m choosing our costumes next year,” she said before Ingrid came over to us. Somehow, Ingrid managed to look totally at home in her Lady Gaga costume.

“The Gaga Twins?” I asked, and laughed as I noticed the large pacifier-shaped mikes around their necks–they both said Gaga Twin on them.

“Hello, mice, and who the gaga are you?” Harry laughed, coming up to us with Maria in his arms.

“The Gaga Twins, obviously,” I smirked. “And you’re Prince Charming and Cinderella? Totally original–not,” I laughed. “But you do look amazing,” I added, hurriedly–looking at Maria–in response to the look from Harry. “Where are Ali and Robert?”

“Over there,” Maria pointed to the crowded makeshift, dance floor.

“Come on, Shrimp. Dance with me,” Kellan said, pulling me toward the floor. I felt a little shy, but decided that I couldn’t really look any more ridiculous than I already did. I would just go for it and make a total idiot of myself. I’d be the mouse disco queen. And that’s exactly what I did; I had so much fun. I let all my inhibitions down and let myself drown in the music and the spirit of the occasion. So did Kellan–we were the buckest dancing mice ever to be seen on a dance floor anywhere. We were jammin’!

There was a tap on my shoulder as I was doing the mouse version of the “Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I knew who it was, even before I turned around, I could feel him.

“The diva mouse is all yours,” Kellan laughed at David, and pecked me on my nose before he disappeared.

“Come on, Poppet. I need to talk to you,” David said, and dragged me off the dance floor. We walked into the woods until we were far enough away from the music to be able to hear each other. I looked at him. He was wearing the same clothes that he’d been wearing earlier in the day. He’d obviously just gotten back, with no time to change into a costume. I wondered what he would have dressed up as if he had the opportunity.

“A vampire,” he chuckled. “Very original, I know!”

I missed a heartbeat. I couldn’t get used to him reading my thoughts. It was too unsettling.

“I’m sorry,” he said, letting go of my hands. “I’ll try not to.”

“Thanks, David. It freaks me out.”

“I can only do it if I’m touching you,” he said, putting his hands up in the air.

“Just with your hands or any touching?” I asked to be clear.

“Any touching,” he sighed.

“Did you see your dad?” I asked.

“Yes. I did see him, though I didn’t get to speak to him. He’s still unconscious after surgery. There was a lot of internal bleeding, but he’s going to be okay.”

“What happened, David? How did he get hurt?”

“Raj Sen got to him and stabbed him with a knife–right through the chest. He just narrowly missed Dad’s heart and lungs.”

“Oh my gosh, David! Why? How?” I asked, putting my arm around him, acutely aware that he could feel my thoughts now, but I didn’t care.

“Dad decided that he wanted to head back home. So, Morena transported him back. Not to his own house, but to her house. It turns out that Raj Sen was waiting for him over at his place with a hostage. I don’t know who. Anyway, the brief story, the one that I got, was that Dad went home to his house and they released the hostage. When Dad eventually told Raj that you guys were back home with your parents, he totally lost it. He started attacking Dad–to the point that Mom could feel his pain. She transported herself across with Erica, who insisted on going. There was a fight and Dad got hurt. That’s not all though,” he said, staring at the ground.

“David?” I prompted.

“Erica is dead,” he whispered.

“Dead?” I repeated, my hands falling from him as I sat down on the ground. I didn’t know Erica Sen at all, really. I just knew that she was Simla’s mother. This would be devastating for her. “How?”

“Raj Sen stuck a knife in her while they were fighting. Erica was trying to get him away from Dad.”

Simla’s dad had killed her mother? This was beyond awful. “Does she know?”

“No, not yet. I’ve been tasked to tell her. I have to take her to Morgana’s house where she is to be kept safe until Grayson gets back.”

“Why you, David?” I asked, feeling that it was unfair to have asked him to do this while his dad in critical condition. He should be with his dad at this time.

“Because all the Elders are busy with Dad, because I know you, because you have been Simla’s friend,” he reeled off his reasons. “The Elders thought that she could use your support.”

I nodded. “David, there is nothing I would like better than to be able to comfort her in any way I can. But, she’s not going to want me to. She’ll totally blame me for this. She’s going to hate me more than ever.”

“Do you know where she is?” David asked.

“Yes, she was on the dance floor with Justin. Does he know yet?”

David shook his head.

“What are you going to do, David? I want to be there to support you, but I don’t think it will help if I’m there when you talk to Simla.”

He nodded.  “Go back to Kellan,” he said and kissed me gently. I left him pondering in the woods.

“What was that all about, Shrimp?” Kellan asked, as I walked into his outstretched arms.

“Kellan, can we go home? I’m wiped,” I said, gazing into his eyes tiredly.

“Sure, let’s go,” he said, as I saw David walk up to the dance floor and tap Simla on her shoulder.

“Kellan, I love you,” I said, not exactly sure why.

“Love you too, Shrimp,” he said as he pulled off my mouse ears and secured the pink helmet to my head. The two mousies, as Ariele would say, were riding home on the bike. It had been a crazy week, to say the least but, we were back home and safe. Not so for Simla, I thought sadly. She would be totally distraught. I wanted to be able to reach out to her, but it was too late for that. I hoped that Justin would be able to step up. I knew David would be a rock for her, as would all the Wanderers.

I wondered if, once all this was over, I would be able to go back and visit Dad. Perhaps David could transport me if the portal didn’t function again. Nah, I couldn’t use him as my personal taxi service. Mom would get the portal working again and I would visit Dad in October. Maybe even take Ella. Maybe I would be visiting myself.

EPILOGUE

Olivia sat down on her leather-bound chair and switched on her computer. It seemed like forever since she had last been here, in her office at Ames. It had only been a week, though a roller coaster week.

As she waited for the computer to start up and go through all the security filters, she reached for the pile of mail that had been building up on her desk. She pulled at a padded envelope stuck in the middle of the pile and looked at the return label. Finally! She tore it open and carefully extracted the silver necklace from the bubble wrap inside it. She had missed her necklace, annoyed that it had taken so long to fix the clasp. She ran her fingers across the letters, Q-U-A-N-T-U-M, and then secured it safely around her neck where it belonged.

She kicked off her Louboutins and made herself comfortable. The nauseous feeling in the pit of her soul wouldn’t lift. Erica was gone–dead. Though they hadn’t been close, Olivia had known Erica for a very long time. She’d worked tirelessly on her projects alongside Grayson. Grayson was naturally devastated, inconsolable. Olivia couldn’t even imagine how Simla was coping, if she had coped at all. To lose her mother at such a delicate age; it was incomprehensible. She thought back to when she had lost her own mother, the dark dismay that she had felt. She had not been able to come to terms with it. She doubted that Simla would be able to.

Simla had also lost her father in a sense. A father who had killed her mother, but she didn’t know that. Hopefully she never would. He was gone, no one had seen or heard from him. He seemed to have vanished into thin air after he fled from Kevin’s house. The police had launched a search for him after Kevin had unintentionally mentioned his name while he was still delirious from the anesthetics. So far, there had been no signs of Raj anywhere. Olivia expected that he would hide out for quite some time. She wondered if he knew that he’d killed his wife or if he was under the impression that she was just hurt. Was he going to come back for Simla? Olivia felt conflicted. She wanted Raj to come back for Simla. Simla needed him more than ever now. However, Olivia had to keep him away from her own kids.

Olivia scanned through hundreds of unread emails. She clicked open a few, but couldn’t concentrate. There was only one issue that needed her undivided attention right now: The Darley-Stevens phenomenon. She was utterly stumped, but not defeated. There had to be an explanation, there always was.

Her desktop phone rang and interrupted her thoughts.

“Dr. Darley, you have a visitor–Simla Sen. Shall I send her up to your office.

“Yes, please do,” Olivia replied surprised. Simla? She certainly had not expected to see her, not here at Ames anyway. What could she want? Olivia, as far as she could recall, had never spoken to Simla directly, not once.

Simla was an anomaly. Arizona had mentioned a Simla in Princeton. They had been friends. She had assumed there were two different Simlas. Could they be one and the same? Had Raj Sen somehow used the portal before? Had he brought Simla and Erica through? Olivia had no recollection of either Raj or Erica from Princeton. Surely it must be a different Simla. It was certainly too late to ask Erica, Olivia thought sadly as she buzzed the door to let Simla in.

“Simla,” Olivia said warmly, pointing her over to the couch.

Simla stared at her defiantly, with the same stance she’d exhibited the last time Olivia had seen her, at Morgana’s house. What was it Simla had said then? She threatened them. She had expected Simla to be sad and vulnerable, but the girl who stood in front of her was far from that. She almost seemed intimidating.

“Sit down, Olivia,” Simla seethed.

“I know that you’ve had a very rough time, but temper your tone,” Olivia warned. “I’m extremely sorry for your loss. I’ll try to help you in any way I can.”

“Oh, shut up, you stupid woman,” Simla spat out. “Sit down and shut up.”

Olivia moved to her desk, her eyes on the panic button. She sat down with her finger hovering just under it, ready to press it, if need be.

“Where are the blueprints?” Simla hissed.

“I don’t have them here, Simla. Why do you need to know?” Olivia asked, taken aback.

“I am asking the questions, not you,” Simla replied venomously. “I want them, the blueprints, go and get them. Now.”

Olivia shook her head, almost amused. “Oh, Simla. That’s really not going to happen. There is nothing you can do. I can have security up here in seconds. I don’t want to do that, though. You’ve been through so much.”

“Olivia, give me the blueprints,” Simla growled.

“Or what?” Olivia asked.

“Call down to reception. There’s something down there for you,” she said.

“Okay,” Olivia said puzzled. She dialed down and spoke to the same voice as earlier.

“Hi, Helen. Is there something down there for me?”

“No, Dr. Darley.”

“Ask her about the man who came with me,” Simla said.

“Helen, did someone come in with my visitor, Simla Sen?”

“The man who came in with your visitor is waiting in the lobby.”

“What man?”

“Oh, I didn’t get a name. Do you want me to ask?”

“Just do a routine check of his ID. I’ll wait,” Olivia said.

Helen was back in minutes. “Dr. Darley. Shall I send him up as well?”

“Who is it?”

“Oh, sorry. His name is Dillard Stevens.”

The story continues….

PORTAL CHRONICLES BOOK THREE

Available Fall 2010

Imogen Rose was born in a small town in Sweden and moved to London in her twenties. After obtaining a PhD in immunology from Imperial College, she moved with her family to New Jersey, where she has been based for the past ten years. Storytelling is her real passion and she is excited to be publishing the second book in the Portal Chronicles.

Please visit imogenrose.com for more information.

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