The Quest for the Kid

by Adrienne Kress

  “Hi,” said the Kid to a passing crew member as the group approached the backstage area. “We’re looking for Doris. Can you tell her she has some visitors?”

  The stagehand nodded and disappeared behind the wall.

  * * *

  —

  They didn’t have too long to wait, but judging by Catherine’s expression, Evie had the impression that the animal expert felt a lot more time had passed than actually had. Evie was sorry for her, wanted to go over to her and hug her. But of course Catherine wouldn’t like that. So Evie just stayed put until the last member of the team emerged.

  Doris stared at them.

  They stared back.

  She looked just like her picture. Though she was a little shorter than Evie had expected. Doris stood basically eye to eye with her, and there was something comforting in that.

  Unlike the performers darting about around them in full makeup and giant wigs, Doris was dressed very plainly in a black T-shirt and black jeans, and her black braided hair, sprinkled with gray, which made it shine almost like silver, was pulled up into a knot on her head. She pulled a blue paisley handkerchief from the back pocket of her jeans and wiped her hands as she appraised each of them.

  “This is…unexpected.”

  “Doris!” said the Kid, opening his arms wide and walking over to her a bit like a toddler, bouncy and happy and a little off balance. He took her up in a big hug, and lifted the small woman off the ground. Evie couldn’t see her face anymore, but she could hear the laughter.

  “You foolish boy, put me down!” she said, and the Kid did so. She was still laughing, her smile bright and warm. Evie felt at ease seeing it. “Oh, dear boy, what have you done?” she asked, shaking her head and looking around at the rest of them.

  “I know you want your privacy, but something’s happened, Doris,” said the Kid. “And I didn’t think seeing old friends would be so terrible.”

  Doris nodded as she approached Catherine and Benedict. Evie watched closely. She watched most things closely, but in this moment, waiting to see how Catherine reacted, it felt like Evie had taken her eyeballs out and placed them on Doris’s shoulder. She grimaced at the thought. Too far, Evie, too far.

  “Benedict, you seem well,” said Doris.

  “So do you,” he replied. The formality of their exchange didn’t seem awkward, more like this was just how they always talked.

  Doris turned to Catherine now. The animal expert seemed deeply interested in something on her right boot.

  “It’s been a long time, Catherine,” said Doris.

  “Yes.”

  “Well, it’s good to see you.”

  “Yes.”

  Catherine took in a deep breath and raised her chin with a determined expression. Then maybe with too much force she stuck out her hand, narrowly missing punching Doris in the stomach. Doris looked at her, then at the hand, and then up again. She grinned and took the hand. They shook.

  Evie could feel the awkwardness.

  “And who are you?” asked Doris, coming up to her and Sebastian.

  “I’m Sebastian,” said Sebastian. Because that was who he was. “Uh, this is Orson.” Evie smiled. It was cute that he felt a need to introduce him.

  “Nice to meet you both. Are you related to anyone here?” she asked Sebastian.

  “What? No. Of course not.” He didn’t sound angry, just completely stunned by the question.

  “He’s my friend. He’s helping me,” said Evie, jumping into the conversation. Don’t worry, Sebastian. I’ve got this. “I’m Evie. And I am related to Alistair Drake, though he’s not here. I’m his granddaughter.”

  Doris stared at her. And stared at her. And stared at her some more. Then she turned to the Kid.

  “This has something to do with the letter, doesn’t it?” she asked, her smile fading and being replaced with a thoughtful but concerned expression.

  “It does,” he replied.

  A woman in running shoes, jeans, and wings rushed by, saying, “Great show, Doris!”

  “Great show, Emilia!” replied Doris, though her focus remained intent on the explorers. “Well, if we’re going to have this conversation, we can’t do it here. You guys need a place to stay?” She didn’t wait for the answer. “You do. Come on, I’ll let Mia know to expect guests.”

  Evie sat with the cup of hot chocolate cradled in her hands. She was starting to realize something. Explorers liked hot chocolate. The other thing she was starting to realize was that putting back together a famous exploring team was a lot harder than she’d thought.

  She’d also never considered what would happen if one of the explorers had a family. Which was silly, since the whole purpose behind what she was doing was to rescue her family. Her grandfather had had a kid and then a grandchild, and of course, that’s what many adults did. But the fact that Doris had a wife and a grown-up child? Those two things were a surprise. Okay, but it wasn’t really Evie’s fault that she felt this way. After all, Catherine, Benedict, and the Kid seemed like they were loners, so why wouldn’t she have assumed Doris was as well? Yes, it was perfectly reasonable that she’d wrongly expected explorers to be single and not have families, except her grandfather.

  “How’s the hot chocolate?” asked Doris’s wife, watching Evie carefully. It didn’t feel like she was judging Evie, only that she was concerned, like maybe the hot chocolate was not up to Evie’s very particular standards. Fortunately, it was.

  “Oh, it’s very good. Thank you, Ms….” It occurred to her then that she didn’t remember Doris’s last name. Then again, she didn’t actually know whether Doris’s wife had the same last name. Or if Doris had taken her wife’s last name. Evie just kind of stopped talking.

  Doris’s wife smiled a very toothy smile, almost too toothy—as if her teeth were a bit too big for her mouth. It made her seem even nicer than she already was. “Mia. Just call me Mia.”

  “Mia,” said Evie, smiling back.

  Mia nodded with satisfaction and moved over to Sebastian to give him that same scrutinizing look. They were sitting in a small, comfy kitchen at a large wooden table made of the midsection of a giant tree. You could see the grain, and the edge against which her knee now rested was rough bark. It had been polished to a gleam, and running down the center was a bright blue river of resin that Evie really wanted to reach out and touch. But she held back, even though she knew it probably wouldn’t be a big deal if she touched it. The feeling in the room was one of calm stillness.

  The back doors to the kitchen were open, and a cool breeze blew in from a garden lit with little twinkle lights. It was the first explorer home she’d been to, and she now wondered what the homes of the others looked like. She wondered if Catherine had any pets, if Benedict’s walls were covered in photographs, if the Kid decorated his home the same way the SRAC did their offices. She suddenly wanted to know everything about them. Their favorite colors. Their favorite movies. Who were their parents? How had they become explorers?

  It was strange when she thought about how little she actually knew. Essentially, she was trusting people who were basically strangers to her.

  That thought made her gut clench, so to distract herself she took in the cozy room around her. On the surface it seemed like a regular kitchen, but close up Evie could see all manner of interesting devices. Above the stove hung spatulas suspended from wires like puppets, and as one of them automatically lowered and flipped over a pancake that sizzled in a pan, Evie mentally noted that she wanted something like that in her own home. When she had a home. Everything was automated. Even the hot chocolate she was holding had been poured out of the saucepan and into her mug by the metal burner rising up, thanks to some clever gears, and then tipping the saucepan at the right angle. Then the plate on which the mugs had sat spun to the next empty mug, and the action had repeated itself. Overhead a train raced
on tracks through a tunnel in the wall, and reappeared minutes later on the opposite side. Evie wasn’t sure what it was for, but thought maybe the empty car at the end was for placing messages in or delivering food to other parts of the house.

  In all, it made perfect sense that Doris the engineer would create a home like this and live here, but it was so cool that Evie would have been totally happy to live here too.

  “So you want to rescue Alistair,” said Doris finally as Mia gave her a cup of hot chocolate and kissed the top of her head. Doris smiled a quick thank-you and then turned back to the team.

  “Yes,” said Catherine.

  “Tell me once more what’s happened to him?” said Doris after a pause.

  “He’s been kidnapped by these evil men who are seeking revenge because he kicked them out of the society,” said Evie quickly, trying to get this part over with. She was getting pretty tired of explaining over and over again. Couldn’t they just do things without worrying about the facts? Why did it matter what had happened? All that mattered was that it had.

  “Really,” said Doris. It wasn’t a question.

  “Not exactly,” said Sebastian then.

  Evie turned to him. “What do you mean?” She couldn’t help but feel a little offended at the way he’d said that.

  “That’s not accurate, what you said,” he explained.

  “Sebastian, it’s not about being accurate; it’s about being true,” she replied. She was getting a little frustrated now. She was trying to convince adults to help her. She really didn’t need him making that harder.

  “Aren’t truth and accuracy the same thing?” asked Sebastian.

  Evie sighed hard and watched as Doris stared into her mug. Then Doris looked at Catherine. “Catherine?”

  The animal expert had been quiet up until this point, Evie had noticed. Almost like she was shy, which was strange. Yes, Catherine was awkward, and usually appeared slightly confused. But nervous? That wasn’t really something Evie was used to.

  “There is a lot we don’t know. We have some pretty strong speculations. The greatest is that Alistair wants us to work together to help him. That’s why he sent us each a letter that, when you place them all on top of each other, gives us a clue as to, we think, where he might be. Where he is, how much danger he’s in, even who put him in danger, we aren’t sure of. We only know he is not safe, that there are these men chasing us for the map. That this boy, Sebastian, has memorized the key and is now being hunted as well. These are the things we know for sure.” She said all of this staring at the blue resin river in the table. Never looking up.

  “Well, I did find it strange when I got the letter,” said Doris. Mia pulled up a chair next to Doris, scraping it noisily along the floor.

  “You don’t trust this person?” her wife asked in her plummy German accent.

  This person? How could Doris’s wife not know who Alistair was?

  “He’s someone from a long time ago,” replied Doris.

  “Ah, from your mysterious background. These are your mysterious friends!” Mia seemed thrilled at the thought.

  “We’re not mysterious,” said Benedict in his calm way that definitely made it seem like actually they really were mysterious.

  “You mean you don’t know anything about the Filipendulous Five?” asked Evie, astonished.

  “Evie,” said Catherine, turning to look at her with a warning.

  “Oh my. I do not. I do not think I could even say the name,” replied Mia with a laugh.

  Doris took in a deep breath and sighed with a smile. Then she turned to her wife. “Over two decades ago, I was part of a famous exploring team. We traveled the world. Then we split apart. There were a lot of complicated reasons why,” she said softly.

  Mia looked thoughtful. “And complicated feelings too?”

  Doris nodded. “I never really wanted to go back there in my mind. I tried to pretend it hadn’t happened.”

  “You did it very well,” said Mia.

  Doris reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry. I never saw it as keeping a secret from you. It was about protecting myself.”

  Mia smiled and squeezed her hand. “I know. But you see, the past never really lets us go.”

  Doris nodded, and Evie felt a twinge in her gut. It was so true. The past was always there, influencing every decision she made.

  “So,” said Mia, “now this Alistair from the team needs help?”

  “Yes,” said Evie.

  “Why does everyone need to help?”

  Evie sat staring at Mia. She seemed genuinely curious, but Evie didn’t get why she didn’t get it. She wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Why not one of you, or two? Why all?” continued Mia.

  Evie thought about it. The answer was that she didn’t know why. But there had to be a reason. Alistair was probably in so much danger that he needed as much help as possible. That thought upset her more.

  “We don’t know why he needs the whole team. We just know that he does. That’s enough for us,” said Catherine.

  “Ah,” said Mia with that big smile of hers. “Loyalty. I understand this.”

  The word “loyalty” really made Evie’s insides do a number, a really well-choreographed number, with props and everything.

  “Doris,” said Mia, turning to her wife and squeezing her arm gently. “This is the time. Jack is away now. He is an adult. Even if he doesn’t act like it sometimes. Your friend needs you.”

  “But you need me,” replied Doris.

  “I don’t,” she replied.

  “Mia, not everyone here understands your German sense of humor,” replied Doris, shaking her head.

  “I am not joking. I don’t need you. I want you in my life and I love you. I’d be lost without you. But ‘need,’ no. I will survive without you. I will miss you, but I will survive until your return. Besides, it has been years since I’ve had the entire house all to myself.” Mia smiled that toothy smile of hers. Doris shook her head and laughed a little. “Go. You should go.”

  Doris didn’t say anything. Just kept sitting there.

  “I don’t get you people,” said Evie. This was too much, taking up time they didn’t have. All these conversations and convincing people.

  “Us people?” asked the Kid with a smile.

  “Weren’t you a team? Why is it so hard to convince each of you to do this? Don’t you care about him?” Her voice cracked; the tears formed in her eyes.

  “Don’t get emotional,” said Catherine.

  Of course that made Evie even more so. Besides, what was so wrong with getting emotional? And anyway, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been emotional before, but the emotion had been anger, and that wasn’t what people usually called emotional in a bad way. For some reason people tended to only disapprove when it was sadness. Only tears were considered “emotional” in that negative way, for some reason. She didn’t understand why.

  “I’ll get however I want to get,” Evie replied.

  “That’s a pretty rude thing to say,” said Doris.

  Evie looked at her. “More rude than being told not to feel my feelings? More rude than you guys having to be convinced to save my grandfather?”

  The adults all stared at her. Even the Kid, who was normally supportive of the things she had to say.

  “I think it’s been a long day,” said Benedict, rising carefully. “Let’s sleep on this. Doris, Mia, thank you so much for your hospitality.”

  The other adults stood at that, obviously agreeing. Evie remained seated. Yes, she was being stubborn, but sometimes being stubborn was the thing to be. Or even if it wasn’t, it was what she wanted the thing to be in the moment.

  No one tried to force the issue as they left the room. Only Mia said, “The light switch is over the bacon maker” as she pushed a button, causin
g the patio doors to slide quietly into place and lock with a clink.

  And soon Evie was alone, sitting under the single light dangling above the table.

  “Are you okay?”

  Oh. So she wasn’t alone. She looked up at Sebastian across from her. He’d stayed behind. For her. That was nice. He could have spoken up to defend her maybe, or not have mentioned the whole accuracy thing, but she appreciated that he wanted to make sure she was okay.

  She didn’t feel okay.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “I think you’re upset, and I think that’s why you’re being unreasonable,” he replied.

  “First of all, that was a rhetorical question,” she said. “Second of all, I’m not being unreasonable. They are! What’s more reasonable than helping someone you care about?”

  She kept her voice low as the quiet stillness of the house felt slightly intimidating. But there was still passion in her tone. Still anger seething underneath.

  “What if…” Sebastian stopped.

  Evie stared at him. His face, half in shadow, looked a little spooky.

  “What if what?” she asked, unsure if she wanted the answer to the question.

  “What if…What if they don’t care about him?” he asked quietly.

  The question lingered in the air.

  “I…don’t understand,” said Evie, because she didn’t.

  “Your argument is that they should rescue him because they care about him. But it seems to me that maybe, I dunno, that maybe they don’t.”

  A rush of rage flooded over Evie now, and she no longer cared about being quiet, or being emotional, or whatever else anyone wanted from her. She was on her feet. Her hands pressing hard into the table in front of her.

  “That’s not true!”