When he got to the room, he walked in and Wayland was gone. He went back to the guards and asked them, “Where is Wayland?”
They looked at each other puzzled and shrugged. “He’s not in there?”
Steele was not amused and shook his head. “No.”
They said, “Dimitrios was in there visiting.”
Steele went to the open window and looked out. He knew where Wayland was heading.
**********
Wayland held on to Dimitrios as they were flying through the air. Dimitrios said, “This proves to be a little harder to control than I thought with two people on it. When we come to the no-fly zone we will have to walk.”
Wayland had to concentrate hard not to lose his balance. He wasn’t in the best shape to be traveling. Dimitrios lowered the flying disk when they neared the zone. They made their way to Natalie’s facility, and entered the building. Dimitrios had to help him to her room. Dimitrios entered the room first to let her know he’d brought a visitor.
She sat straight up and whispered, “Who’s here?” Dimitrios told her he had brought Wayland. She began running her fingers through her hair trying to comb out the tangles. Dimitrios smiled and took his comb out of his pocket. He went over and combed through her hair for her.
He kissed her on the forehead and said, “I don’t think it matters to him what you look like right now. He’s seen you before and he knows how pretty you really are. Plus he doesn’t look so great himself. I didn’t offer him my comb.
“May I go and get him now?” She said he could, so he stepped out into the hall.
Wayland came into the room and stood there for a second looking at her on the bed. His heart sank. He knew at that moment that he never wanted anything bad to ever happen to her again. For the first time in his life he knew he loved someone else in this world.
Natalie squirmed and fidgeted. She mistakenly thought seeing her looking this way repulsed him. She sank into the bed and wanted to melt out of sight.
Dimitrios said, “I’m going to leave and get drinks for everyone. I’ll be right back.” He left the room, not even noticed by them.
Wayland made his way over to the side of her bed and looked down at her. He stroked her hair and whispered, “You are so beautiful. I am so sorry this happened to you. I promise never to let anyone hurt you ever again.”
Tears started to fall from her eyes. He wiped them away. He reached for a tissue and gave it to her. At that moment he knew he wasn’t going to leave her side ever, if he had anything to say about it.
The nurse came in and saw him kiss her forehead. She said, “I can come back later. As a matter of fact I will be back later. I forgot something.” She backed out and left the two of them staring into each other’s eyes.
**********
Charles didn’t want the game to end. He really was into his character and its adventures. It wasn’t until Bev put her foot down that the game had finally been put on hold. She had to admit it was fun! Carson reluctantly agreed with her and urged Charles to save the game.
**********
The next morning Charles heard his mom’s voice coming from the kitchen. He smelled cinnamon rolls and coffee being brewed. He rolled over. He was startled when he opened one eye and saw Sophie sitting at the foot of the bed. “Sophie…” he groaned.
She crawled up to his face and giggled. “Good morning Charlie. Time to rise and shine.”
He grabbed her for a bear hug. She squirmed all over laughing, almost falling out of the bed. He threw the quilt over her head and wrapped her up like a burrito.
“Charlie, let me out of here!” she yelled.
He picked her up, carried her downstairs and into the kitchen. Cynthia and Pete were sitting at the table talking while Nana and Molly were having their own conversation. They all looked up as he entered with Sophie covered in the quilt over his shoulder. “Good morning everyone. Look what I found! A sack of potatoes was at the foot of my bed.”
Sophie straightened up and said, “Hey, I’m not a sack of potatoes!”
Cynthia said, “You look like it.”
Charles sat her down and snatched the quilt off her head. Her hair was full of static. Everyone snickered.
She made a face. “Charlie! I’m going to get you!” She chased him around the house.
Cynthia rolled her eyes to Pete. “That’s the trouble with children these days.” Pete raised an eyebrow at her comment.
Charles picked up Sophie and took her to the hallway. He put his finger to his lips, got down and whispered in her ear, “We are going to play a game.” She nodded with excitement. He said, “Close your eyes.”
As she followed his directions he spun her around and around until he knew she’d be dizzy. Then he stopped her, and said, “Open your eyes and walk to the kitchen.”
She did, stumbling, as he went down the hall. She staggered into the kitchen. Charles heard his mom call his name. He smirked and ran upstairs to get ready.
When he came back to the kitchen Pete threw a peach at him. “Think fast!”
He caught it and took a bite of it. “Mmm, mmm. So what are you going to do today?”
Cynthia said, “We are going to the market to work and so are you.”
“No can do. I don’t think so.”
“Oh yes you are! We’ve been working our fingers to the bone everyday this summer and we can use your help!”
Charles said, “Well, I’m helping Paw Paw. Plus I made other plans already.”
“Try telling Mom that.”
Charles finished his peach and threw the pit into the trash. He turned his attention to Pete, and ignored his sister.
Molly came into the kitchen. “Time to go! Grab your stuff.”
Cynthia said to Molly, “Charles says he’s not going.”
Molly said, “He’s not. Nana said Paw Paw needs help with the farm and no one can do the things Charles has been doing for them.”
“Huh?”
Molly turned to her and said, “Honey, Walter is very busy right now and cannot get to the things around the house that Charles is doing. He’s right in the middle of a project. Maybe next time.”
His mom went over and gave Charles a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you are such a big help around here. Paw Paw can sure use a hand.”
Cynthia stuck her tongue out at him. He winked at her over Molly’s shoulder. Molly went to round up Sophie. Pete and Charles grinned to each other as they said goodbye. Charles asked him to come over for lunch when he got tired of hanging out with the girls. They play-punched each other. Cynthia frowned and walked after her mom.
When Charles entered he saw Carson reading the Hub mail. Carson handed him a letter from Cassia that said: ‘Natalie was involved in an incident and she’s being cared for. She won’t be coming today.’
Carson said, “We will wait for Nana and make sure she knows about Natalie. Then we will go see her.” When Bev came into the office they had their things ready to go.
**********
When they arrived Charles rushed into the room and froze when he saw her lying in bed. She looked terrible. He joked with her saying, “The other guy better be looking a lot worse right now, or he will be very soon.” She smiled. He walked over and asked, “What happened to you?”
Just then Wayland walked in from getting her a glass of water.
Charles took one look at him. “Wayland! What did you do to her?” Wayland tried to explain but his jaw was sore and he was having a hard time talking.
Dimitrios walked in the room in the middle of all the confusion and greeted everyone. He put a hand on Charles’ shoulder and said, “It’s okay. Wayland was protecting Natalie. The other guy looks a lot worse. I just went to see him before they kicked me out of his room.” Dimitrios explained what had happened to them.
Carson said, “That idiot Max.” He explained what Max had done to them.
Wayland closed the door. He told everyone that he had been investigating Max. He told them the short version of
what he had observed the last couple of days.
Dimitrios said, “Well, I was just there and he’s claiming innocence. They will be forced to let him go once he can walk. Anjoleah told me earlier she had evidence against him, but she lost it. She said she had something that was in the shape of a marble, but it somehow got out of her pocket on the way to meet me. I sent her to try to find it.”
Wayland reached in his pocket and took Reiko out. “Is this what she is looking for?”
Dimitrios walked over to him. “How did you get that?”
Wayland said, “It’s my tracking device. It always comes back to me.” He didn’t tell him about the necklace.
Dimitrios asked, “May I see that?” Wayland handed it to him.
Dimitrios held it up and looked at the images, “Well, I’ll be…” He laughed to himself thinking about Anjoleah all this time searching for Reiko and he had it right here in his hand. He knew it would be days before Max could go anywhere. He thought about the possibility of not giving her the evidence right away and making her keep looking just a little bit longer.
It was tempting, but he snapped out of it and asked, “May I take this to her so we can get an order to detain Max? This evidence should keep him from causing any more trouble.” Wayland agreed on the terms that he’d get Reiko back.
Dimitrios agreed he would and then asked, “Can we take the information off Reiko somehow and give just the information to Anjoleah?”
Wayland said, “Yes, that is possible with Anjoleah’s information tablet.”
Dimitrios carefully shook Wayland’s hand. “I’ll get it and bring it back. Good work. I’m pretty confident from what little evidence I saw, it will be enough to have the Sojourners’ Council render a guilty verdict.”
He kissed Natalie on the forehead before he left to find Anjoleah. He thought to himself: This might be fun...
When he found Anjoleah, she had the whole section blocked off and her officers searching for the tiny orb. Dimitrios walked over to her. She turned her back to him. She was clearly annoyed by his presence because she started barking orders to her officers. Dimitrios patiently waited for her to acknowledge him. When she did he asked, “Were you looking for this?” He held up the tiny orb.
Anger momentarily flashed in her eyes. “Yes! That’s it. Where on earth did you find it?”
“Never mind that right now. I need your information screen to transfer the data.”
She shook her head. “No, I need the sphere. It is the original evidence. Hand it over.” She grabbed for it.
He held it over her head. “No.”
She thought about punching him to get it and decided not to. She turned to Xander and asked him to please send the officers on their route.
Then she asked Dimitrios, “May I please have it?”
Dimitrios said, “You may have the evidence, however, you may not have this. If you need it at a later date, then I will arrange for it to magically appear.”
She frowned. “Magic, huh? Unlikely, more like sleight of hand.”
He waited for her to come to her senses. “I’m not giving it to you, but I will have the evidence transferred to your information pad.”
“Suit yourself.”
They headed back to the Care Center. As they walked in the front door her agent met her and informed her that Max was requesting to be discharged. She gave the information pad to Dimitrios, and left with her officer in Max’s direction.
Dimitrios quickly took the information pad to Wayland and asked him to transfer the evidence from Reiko. Wayland took the pad and set Reiko on it. Immediately he handed the information pad back to Dimitrios, keeping Reiko. Dimitrios explained why he had to go and ran to meet Anjoleah.
Anjoleah was busy keeping Max from being released. She was anxious to get the information pad from Dimitrios. He handed it to her as soon as he arrived. She was able to call and tell the Sojourners’ Council President they had proof in the case. He gave the orders to have Max taken into custody. Her officers then went to arrest him. She left with Dimitrios and spoke to him in private. When they were finished he headed back to Natalie’s room.
Her visitors had already left by the time Dimitrios came back. Wayland was the only one left in the room. Natalie was sound asleep. This allowed Wayland and Dimitrios a chance to talk and get to know one another. They talked and laughed for hours.
CHAPTER 101
A couple of days went by, and Charles kept to his schedule. To keep his exercise regimen going, he went for a three-mile jog instead of sparring with Natalie in the mornings.
He was surprised when he went to the kitchen and Bev said, “Good morning. I think you have a visitor in the office.”
Charles said, “Good morning. How do you know a visitor is in the office? Have you seen them already?”
Bev laughed. “No, haven’t you ever noticed the color of the door knob to the office before?”
Charles scratched his head. “No.” He looked out the kitchen door. “Hmmm, how can you tell who it is? Is it Natalie?”
Bev smiled. “It is.”
Charles kissed her on the cheek and ran to the office. He opened the door, walked over and gave Natalie a hug. “How are you feeling? You look really good.”
She said, “Thank you. I feel almost a hundred percent.” Airabelle was perched on her shoulder.
“But how did you heal so quickly? I can’t believe you were released from the hospital in such a short time.”
“Charles, you know time in the Hub dimension is different from time here. Health care and healing time is also different there.”
“Oh, right. Sometimes I forget the differences between the two dimensions. I had no idea hospitals and healing could also be different. Amazing.”
Charles turned to Wayland and said, “Good to see you too. How are you?”
“My jaw is still aching, but other than that I’m doing good. Thank you.” Charles pointed to the cuts on his hand. Wayland continued, “I don’t even notice these cuts any more. It’s the price you pay mate, when you get in a fight over a sheila.”
Charles patted Wayland on the back then he turned and sat down at his desk. “Have you heard anything more about that punk Max?”
Wayland said, “Yes, he’s still in Anjoleah’s custody. His clan is throwing a fit about it through their Council claiming he’s innocent of all of the charges. The proof is solid though, thanks to Reiko.”
Natalie said, “They rounded up a few more of his cronies this morning.”
“We are hopeful their information will help the Authorities locate others they have abducted,” Wayland said.
“Anjoleah has her hands full with the investigation. She loves rounding up the scoundrels. She and Daddy are actually getting along right now.”
Charles smiled. “About time.”
Natalie said, “Oh, but it won’t last long. This is just a temporary thing.” Charles shook his head.
Natalie said, “I’ve had time to look through the manual. I’m ready to meet Caroline and anxious to get started.”
Charles perked up. “That’s great! Are you sure it’s not too soon though?”
“No. I cleared it with the doctor. All things considered I really am ready.”
Charles asked, “How soon? Caroline will be here today if you are ready.”
Natalie perked up. “Really? I think today would work out very well with our schedule.”
Charles looked at Carson. He gave him the go ahead. Natalie laid out the plan for everyone in the room. They took time to discuss how they thought the conversation might take place and what could be said to convince Caroline to join their way of life. Everyone agreed to a strategy Charles thought would work.
Charles said, “Knowing Caroline, I think she will be excited to join us.”
Charles thought that Margaret and Caroline were probably there already. Natalie and Wayland were ready to meet her. Natalie, Wayland and Charles walked out of the office together.
That was the first
thing Caroline saw. Then when Natalie hugged him and playfully put his arm around her neck while they walked toward her it was too much for Caroline. She jumped up and walked inside letting the screen door to the kitchen slam shut behind her. Margaret and Bev looked at each other, and then at Charles and Natalie.
He whispered in Natalie’s ear, “Well, that didn’t go so well. I’ll be right back.” Charles quickly introduced Natalie and Wayland to Margaret. Then ran into the house after Caroline.
Caroline was mad. She turned and gave Charles a withering look.
He asked, “Why did you run off like that? I was going to introduce you to Natalie. I thought you’d like to meet her.” Caroline looked away.
Charles moved closer. “Don’t you want to meet her? She wants to meet you.”
Caroline sighed.
Charles continued, “She brought her boyfriend, Wayland. He’s funny and is a nice guy. He’s even got an Aussie accent. He can tell you all kinds of stories that will make you laugh.” He stood right next to her now.
She turned around and looked at him. “Okay. Do you think they still want to meet me?”
Charles nodded. “Yes, I’m sure.”
He hugged her and kissed her on her forehead. Then he took her hand and walked with her outside where everyone was sitting. Wayland had everyone laughing as he told one of his stories about a kangaroo gone wild. When he was finished telling the story, Charles introduced Natalie and Wayland to Caroline.
Natalie stepped forward and took hold of Caroline’s hands. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Charles. I feel like I already know you.”
Caroline smiled. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you. Charles has told me a lot about your sparring together. Don’t let him get away with anything.”
Charles playfully scowled. “Ouch!”
Natalie said, “I’ll teach you all of my secrets.”
The Xidoran Prophecy Page 74
