The day before he left, he walked around the campus, mentally saying goodbye. Thanks to a member of the Doveland Karass, they had a condo that anyone could come and stay in when they wanted to, so he wasn’t saying goodbye forever. He was only saying goodbye to being a student. He was saying goodbye to the boy who came to school to find his way after learning about his father’s association with the town’s doctor, who had turned out to be a serial killer.

  In his first year in school, Johnny tried to come to grips with his gifts that set him apart from everyone. He could read their minds if he wanted to. He didn’t want to and used that skill only in emergencies. He could remote-view people, but it only happened when they were a danger to his family and friends.

  He was grateful that all his gifts appeared to be ones that helped others stay safe and otherwise left him alone so he could live an ordinary life. Or at least allow him to appear normal, even though he wasn’t.

  So going home to Doveland would mean not only that he had grown enough to be himself —without worrying if he would be like his father, too weak to say no to evil —but also that he would be among others like himself.

  In the past, he had surprised his mother on Mother’s Day, but this year, she knew he was coming. Throwing the last of his possessions into his car, Johnny took one last drive as a student through the streets that he loved and then turned his car toward home, wondering what adventure was waiting for him there.

  “Are you ready, Pax?” Koda asked.

  Pax didn’t know what to say. Was he ready? As always, everything felt as if it was moving too quickly. How could he be ready? He didn’t belong in this world. None of it made sense to him. Why was it so noisy? Why did people rush around so much? Why were there so few trees? Didn’t people realize that trees made the world that they lived in?

  He had asked these questions, and many more of Koda, Ceya, and Maya. Even Maya, who lived in this world, who had chosen it over Crann, had no answers. Pax felt separated from all that he loved and could not see how he would ever feel whole again until he returned home.

  Except now that he was on this mission, he had to complete it. Otherwise, he would return home and still not be whole. He couldn’t change the world, but he could do something to help Maya and her daughter.

  “One thing at a time,” Koda kept saying to him. “Just move forward. We’re here to help.”

  Sure, Pax thought, easy for you to say.

  But Pax knew it was time to take the next step. Maya and Ceya were waiting outside for him. The two of them were restless, but Maya was almost jumping out of her skin waiting for him.

  Maya returned to the shack that morning, looking as if she was ready to set the world on fire. The day before, she followed Ginny after school and watched as Ginny met a man for dinner, laughing and giggling the way she had when she was just a child.

  Maya had been torn between loving to hear her daughter laugh and terrified that she was losing her just when it was time to rescue her. Of course, Ginny didn’t realize she needed rescuing. All she probably knew was that someone was making her happy. Finally.

  All night Maya lay awake. She heard Ginny come home, apparently right after dinner, but that gave her only a momentary sense of comfort. Eventually, Ginny would fall in love with someone and leave her. Leave her destiny. The one she knew nothing about.

  Whose fault is that? Maya kept asking herself. She should have never left Crann. She should have told Ginny who her father was and what that meant for her future. She shouldn’t have been so willful and such a coward at the same time.

  So by the time morning came, Maya was both exhausted and determined. So determined that she had made herself smile at Ginny, which made Ginny ask if there was something wrong. Wasn’t this backward? Her smiling shouldn’t mean there was a problem. But after all these years of scowling apparently it was.

  “No," Maya managed to say. “But if I come home early from work today, could we talk?”

  “Talk?” Ginny almost shouted, thinking how long she had wished that they could talk, and now that she had someone to talk to, her mother wanted to talk? Now?

  Ginny thought about her date with Fred after school and how much she was looking forward to seeing him. But her mother never asked for anything. She would call him and reschedule. He would understand how important it was for her to meet with her mother.

  Maya almost resorted to pleading when finally Ginny nodded and said yes.

  “Shall we meet at the cafe near the park?” Maya asked.

  Ginny said okay, and then while driving off, wondered how in the world her mother knew about the cafe near the park. Ginny was both delighted and upset that her mother wanted to talk. But mostly, she was curious about why.

  So when she called Fred to tell him she couldn’t meet him after school, and he said he understood, but asked what was going on, Ginny took the time to tell him where she was going and why she was curious.

  Fred paused before saying, “Sounds great. Have a good time. We’ll meet tomorrow, instead.”

  Ginny, smiling, hung up and hummed to herself as she hugged each child in her classroom. Life was getting much better.

  Ginny was the only one who thought so.

  Pax, waiting to go with Ceya, Maya, and Koda to the cafe, didn’t think so. Fred, who knew something had changed, didn’t think so, and when he reported to Dradon, Dradon’s fury told him that his life was about to get worse if he didn’t figure out what was going on and stop it.

  The question was how.

  TWENTY NINE

  They arrived at the cafe only a few minutes before Ginny was due to be there. Maya was in a tizzy. She wanted to be there long before Ginny, giving herself time to get calm, and to think through, once again, what she was going to say to her daughter.

  How would she explain something she barely understood herself? Would Ginny believe the story that Maya saw a man fall from another world, fell in love with him, married, and had Ginny? That she and Akotas returned to his world where she learned he was part of the family considered the keepers of the peace of that world?

  How could she explain Crann and that although it was another dimension of this world, it was so different she couldn’t adjust? How could she justify leaving Akotas and bringing Ginny back to this world only to be held a prisoner in her own life by Dradon?

  Every way she looked at the story she had to tell, it all sounded crazy. It’s why she was grateful she would not tell the story by herself. Perhaps Ginny would listen to the others. They were going to leave the part out that Koda and Ceya were hawks. That would be one detail too many. Actually, there were many details Maya intended to leave out in this first telling of the story to Ginny.

  Yes, Maya had hoped she could sit quietly and prepare herself for Ginny’s arrival and find the best way to tell her a story that would change her life forever. But Pax and his constant dragging of his feet made them late, and she had no time. She was not happy.

  Koda and Ceya weren’t happy either. They wanted to arrive early enough to have Pax adjust to his surroundings. They knew what he was like in public. They wanted time for him to get used to the chatter of the surrounding people. To hold a cup of tea as if he was used to it, instead of constantly peering inside as if he was looking for real leaves, or maybe twigs, like the tea he was used to having in Crann.

  Pax had tried coffee again and still hating it spit it out on the floor. They had to make excuses for his inappropriate behavior in public. So they settled on a herbal tea with a faint hint of something familiar. They needed Pax to look as normal as possible, so his appearance and manner of being wouldn’t put off Ginny. But they knew even wearing the right clothes and drinking tea the right way, there was something about him that made people look. Koda and Ceya were skilled at adjusting themselves to fit into this world. They’d been here before. They didn’t like this world much better than Pax did, but at least they were better at pretending than Pax.

  Pax wasn’t happy either, because he was too scared to feel anything other than worry. What if he did everything wrong? Pax realized he disappointed Koda and Ceya, and maybe even Maya. Perhaps they expected him to be a warrior, and he wasn’t. Not physically, and not in his heart.

  He yearned to be back among the trees and the clouds. He disliked everything around him. The tea that certainly wasn’t tea. The restrictive clothes. The artificial light in the room. The noise of the coffee maker. The chatter about nothing.

  Only the quiet people sitting at a table typing on what he had learned was a computer which connected people to the entire world didn’t annoy him, although he couldn’t understand why they needed a machine to do that. In his world, within his trees, he was always connected to his world.

  But he was determined to do what he had come to do. Help Ginny and Maya, release Maya from Dradon’s hold, and convince Ginny they needed her in Crann. That seemed impossible to Pax, but he trusted Isira and Akotas, and they were positive he could do it. He had to hold on to that because he knew Ceya and Koda had doubts. He couldn’t blame them for that. He had doubts, too.

  By the time Maya ordered for everyone, and the four of them settled themselves around the table, it was time for Ginny to arrive. Maya sat where Ginny would see her first. She knew it was weird enough to be there in the first place, but to have three strangers sitting with her was going to make Ginny at least a little nervous. But that couldn’t be helped. The four of them had discussed multiple ways to introduce the three people from Crann to Ginny and had decided on this way.

  They agreed that the story they would tell Ginny could range from slightly true, to not true at all, to the whole truth. They were going to gauge Ginny’s reaction to meeting them and go from there. Ceya would do most of the talking. Their entire aim was to meet, set up another meeting, and do it so casually perhaps Dradon would think nothing of it if he was watching. Which they had to assume he was.

  All of them understood that once they started talking to Ginny, they had to be prepared to leave. It would be wonderful if Ginny immediately agreed to return to Crann, but that was so unlikely they had another plan. They would all go into hiding. They knew where to go. It was where Isira had told Pax to go before he had dropped off the cliff, a town where there were people who could help them.

  The four of them ran various scenarios of how to get Ginny to listen to them, believe them, and then leave with them. Koda said they would make it work. But first, Ginny needed to show up.

  THIRTY

  Fred stood outside of the school, waiting for Ginny to leave. He had his coat collar turned up against the spring wind. White petals from the poplar tree were blowing across the school front lawn, and some children waiting for the bus twirled around like the petals giggling and laughing. He saw a small skinny boy standing by himself in the shadows of the trees, watching the laughter, and felt as if he was looking at himself.

  He understood exactly what that boy was feeling. He wanted to reach out and whisper in his ear that he would be alright and that perhaps now was the time for pretending to be a flower petal before life got too serious. Fred caught the boy's eye and tilted his head towards the laughing, twirling children, whispering to himself, "Go join them."

  The boy stared at Fred, looked at the children, and then dropped his gaze to the ground. Fred shook his head and then turned back to watch for Ginny, whispering again, "You should have listened, kid," to himself as much as to the boy who now stood at the back of the line waiting to board the bus.

  The boy turned to look at Fred once more before stepping onto the bus. Fred knew what the kid saw. Nothing encouraging. Just some little, skinny, balding man wearing a nice coat. Maybe even the kid thought he was a pervert. He shook off the feelings of regret. He could do nothing more for that kid. He had to concentrate on what he was there to do. Stop Ginny from going to the meeting.

  She wasn't looking for him as she came out holding the hand of one of her students, her head bent down to hear what the little girl was saying, a smile on her face as she listened. He watched her hand the girl to her mother, then, pulling her coat tighter around her, head down, she headed for her car.

  "Ginny," he called, hurrying after her.

  Startled, she looked up, saw him, and it pleased him that she smiled. Fred let his face look as worried as he felt and said again, "Ginny."

  She waited as he rushed up to her, reached out and grabbed both her hands, and then letting his voice catch just the slightest bit, because too much and she would be suspicious knowing his stoic nature, he said, "I need your help."

  Ginny paled. "What's wrong?"

  "It's my daughter."

  "What? What about your daughter?"

  "She didn't make it to school today."

  "Wait, what?" Ginny said, taking Fred's hand and directing him to the bench at one of the bus stops. All the children had left for the day. Fred thought it was just like Ginny not to leave school until all the children were safe. Now he was telling her that his daughter wasn't safe. It was the perfect story to tell.

  Fred dropped his head and allowed himself to shiver. Ginny put her arm across his back and leaned in. For a moment, he understood how her students must feel.

  "Tell me what's going on, Fred."

  Ginny knew her mother was waiting for her. It was the first time in as long as she could remember that her mother wanted to meet and talk. She needed to be there. She couldn't be late. But here was Fred, suffering. And where was his daughter? She knew she had to find out what was happening. She had to help.

  "Tell me what you mean. What about your daughter?"

  "Mom and Dad called. The school called them and said Rose never arrived at school. She never even got on the bus."

  "Didn't your parents wait at the bus stop with her?"

  "It stops at the end of their driveway. It's in a quiet neighborhood. Everyone watches out for everyone else, so they never thought it wasn't safe. Rose is used to getting on the bus by herself. She goes out only a few minutes before it comes, so she is never standing there long."

  "Didn't the bus driver stop?"

  Fred realized he was telling a story to someone who would ask all the right questions, and he was going to have to make up more of a story than he intended to.

  "I believe it was a new driver. The kids said Rose was always there, so if she wasn't there, it was because she wasn't coming, so he drove on."

  In the back of Ginny's mind, she wondered about what kind of bus driver wouldn't honk and wait before driving on and how could a young girl disappear within minutes right outside her own house, but Fred was so upset, she put those questions aside. She would get to the irresponsibility of the people involved later. Right now, Fred didn't need to hear that. He needed to know it was going to be okay. But she knew it might not be.

  The horrors of what could happen to Fred's daughter flashed through her mind before she said, "What can I do to help?"

  "The police are there, but I need to go and do something myself. I know you have an important meeting with your mother, but your insight into children would be so helpful. Maybe you would see something no one else would."

  Still holding Fred's hand, feeling how sweaty it was, thinking about how she would feel if she had a daughter and she was missing, Ginny wondered what to do. How would her mother feel if she canceled the first and only time she had ever asked to meet her after school?

  Ginny sighed and dropped her head. She had waited her entire life to have a mother who spoke with her. This was the opening she had been waiting for. But which was more important? Her wishes, her mother's feelings, or a missing child. It was possible she could help. She didn't know how, but at the same time, she didn't know how not to try.

  Turning back to Fred, who reminded her once more of a lost puppy, she asked, "What exactly do you want me to do?"

  "Could you come with me? Help me find her?"

  Ginny nodded, her heart sinking with the thoughts of her mother, but knowing it was possible that she could help find Rose.

  Fred stood, gathered Ginny in his arms and whispered, "Thank you," in her ear, and felt her tremble in response.

  "Come," he said, "I'll drive."

  Ginny looked at her car and felt a deep desire to get in her car instead of Fred's and head towards her mother. But then, seeing his urgent and pale face, she simply said, "Okay. Let me call my mother."

  "Thank you, thank you," Fred said, pulling her towards the car. He knew the school cameras would catch what he was doing, so he was careful to make sure it looked like Ginny was coming of her own free will. Which, of course, she was.

  "You can call her in the car. I'm so worried. Can we hurry?"

  Ginny nodded and slinging her purse over her shoulder, rushed with him to the car. He opened the car door for her. She slid in, and as he reached across to help buckle her in, pretending that the seat belt was stuck, lifted her phone from her coat pocket and put it into his.

  As he crossed behind the car, he dropped it behind his car wheel, and as Fred pulled out, he was careful to reverse first. Hearing the crunch of the phone, he smiled to himself.

  The object of Dradon's desire was in his car. And in his care. Which was where she was going to stay.

  THIRTY ONE

  “She’s not coming,” Maya said, with a flat voice. She had so many emotions rolling around inside of her, she couldn’t let any of them come out. Otherwise, she knew she would fall apart. She had to go back to being the woman without emotions, the one that lived a life of the dead while living. She wasn’t sure she could do that anymore.

  She had kept herself in line all these years. She kept her self-imposed rules so that Ginny could be happy. Well, not self-imposed. They were Dradon rules, but she had kept them.

  And look at where it had gotten them, she moaned inside herself. Ginny, her beloved. The one thing that was important in her life was not coming. She had failed at everything. The contempt Maya felt for herself was so overwhelming she wished she would stop breathing. Die right then and there. What was the point of going on? She had failed. Her daughter wasn’t coming. She had chosen not to come. Maya was sure that Ginny had decided to see her new friend Fred instead. She didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. And then Maya realized perhaps it did matter. Maybe she wasn’t coming because she couldn’t come.