Quantum (11 page)

“I’m not sure, but I won’t go without catching up with you first. Okay?” He came over and hugged me. I wondered if he could still
read
my thoughts when he touched me. He smiled and nodded. Then he looked over at Kellan. “Later, Kellan.”

“So what’s up, Rupert?” Kellan asked, as we walked into the kitchen with him.

Rupert looked uneasy. His hands were firmly stuffed in his pockets and his lips were pursed. “I’m not sure where to begin,” he said, and ran his fingers through his hair again.

I could tell that something bad had happened. Could there be news from Raj? “Just tell us. Where are Mom and Ella?”

“Ella is at a sleepover. We–your mom and I–decided not to upset her. She’s safe where she is, we’ll pick her up in the morning.”

“Safe? Where’s Mom?”

“Olivia’s over at Constance’s house at the moment. I’m going to drive over there shortly to pick her up.”

“What’s she doing at Constance’s house?” It was weird for Mom to be over at her house. Constance was now the leader of the Wanderers, since she took over from David’s mom last year. Mom didn’t quite believe that Wanderers even existed, even though they’d been instrumental in saving us. She refused to believe in anything paranormal. The thought that there were beings that were able to travel through time and dimension was beyond her level of acceptance. She firmly believed that they, too, had manufactured some kind of scientific device that allowed them to travel through time. So as to not to upset anyone, Mom tended to stay away from Wanderer talk. So it was strange that she was now visiting with their leader.

Rupert glanced at his watch. He had done this a few times now, he was clearly waiting for someone to join us. “Arizona, the portal is functional again and we’ve had an unexpected issue with it.”

“Unexpected issue?”

 
“
Y
es, Arizona,” a voice said from behind me. “We have an issue that needs to be addressed.”

 
I turned around and met the smiling eyes of Gramadea–her real name is Amadea–which is what we (practically everyone) call Rupert’s mom. Yes, strange I know. I don’t think of her as my grandmother–she isn’t–but I call her that anyway, out of respect. Where did she come from? I hadn’t heard the door open. I was surprised to see her. I had only met her once before, last Christmas.

Last Christmas had been an elaborate affair, as are most other things here in Darleyland. We had a full house and Gramadea appeared on Christmas Eve, laden with gifts for everyone. I had immediately seen the resemblance between Rupert and her, the same striking blue eyes, for starters. I had immediately felt a warm feeling of serenity exuding from her, the same as I did when I got close to the Wanderers. However, there was a difference, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I hadn’t felt comfortable asking her about herself, she seemed fairly reserved. Rupert didn’t volunteer any information either. So, whether or not she was a Wanderer remained a mystery.

On Christmas day, after spending a lazy morning opening gifts, we went over to Kellan’s place for Christmas dinner. The Fox house was dressed up in Christmas decorations and even smelled of Christmas. A giant tree decked out in silver ornaments dominated the three-story hallway. I was glad that Ella had insisted that I
dress up
for the occasion. Hard as it was walking in Mom’s pink Manolos, they did make me feel fabulous, and tall. And they complemented my pink-trimmed grey dress–so Ella declared. I brought the Medor clutch Mom had gotten for me last year as well, so I did feel quite adequate. But only adequate. Looking around, I could clearly see that this was a very formal Christmas dinner event. My heart skipped a beat as I spotted Kellan walking up to me. Beyond
hot
. He looked amazing in a black suit, seasonally dressed with a red bowtie.

Gramadea seemed to be best pals with Inez, David’s mom. They pretty much spent the entire afternoon chatting with each other and then Gramadea suddenly announced that she had to leave. So, we didn’t get the chance to get to know each other at all. Everyone around me seemed to
sort of
know her. Kellan said that she showed up once a year at Christmas. I asked Kellan about her and he, like me, assumed she was a Wanderer. Did that mean that Rupert was one, too?

Since it was traditional for Gramadea to show up just once a year, it was unexpected to have her appear here now. “Hi, Gramadea!” I said, looking up at her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you until Christmas.”

She smiled and nodded. “Yes. This is an unplanned visit. We have a situation, I’ve come to help out.”

“A situation?” Kellan and I asked in unison.

She came walking right up to us and threw her arms around Kellan and me. “Good to see you, kids. I have missed you. Where’s Ella?”

“She’s at a sleepover tonight,” Rupert replied.

“And Harry? Did you manage to make contact with him?”

“Yes. He’ll fly in if we need him. However, he’s busy at college, so let’s try to avoid that.”

Gramadea nodded and then took the cup of tea Rupert handed to her.

“Gramadea, what’s up?” I asked, getting slightly impatient.

She got right to the point. “Children, you both are aware of the existence of Wanderers. Right?”

Kellan and I nodded.

“Well, there’s more to it. There are different kinds of Wanderers. Most of the Wanderers you’ve had contact with thus far–David, Inez and the other Elders–are the most common type of Wanderer. These Wanderers are able to traverse time and dimensions. What they cannot do, however, is travel geographically–other than by using methods available to most humans, like air and ground transportation.

“There are Wanderers who can travel geographically. We call these kinds of Wanderers Sigma-Wanderers or Sigma-Ws. Sigma-Wanderers have the benefit of being able to travel anywhere, even inter-galactically, if they wish.”

I could feel my head exploding. I had so many questions, but Gramadea was not a lady one interrupted, so I held my tongue and listened.

“You may have been told that the Wanderers are a peaceful species whose sole purpose is
learning. That’s precisely right. The Wanderers report all their findings to the Sigma-W. You may think of the Sigma-W as the controlling entity. There is, of course, a hierarchy within this group. And, like with most other groups, there is a rogue element as well. So, you are wondering why I am telling you all this?”

“Yes, and how do you know all this?” I asked.

She smiled at me–one of those annoyingly evasive smiles.

“Arizona, as I said when I first came in, we have an issue. The issue may involve the Sigma-W, which is why I had to explain their existence to you. Granted, my explanation is very simplistic, but sufficient for now. As you know, the portal is functional again. What you don’t know is that Olivia used it today.”

“Mom went through? Why? Where to?”

“Arizona, she was being blackmailed by Simla Sen. Simla had Olivia transport her through the portal so that she could meet with her dad.”

“Simla went through?” I repeated, sounding like an idiot, no doubt. “She met with Raj? So he’s still around. How did they know where to find him? A whole year has passed….”

Gramadea nodded. “She had your mother transport her back in time, to last year. As you probably know, Erica–Simla’s late mother–was a Wanderer. This means that Simla has latent Wanderer ability, which could be activated by the Elders if they choose to do so. However, as Simla has proven herself unworthy that was never an option. Her defiant personality has provoked interest from the rogue Sigma-W group, who has been tracking her moves.

“When we found out that Simla was going to travel through the portal we were naturally a bit concerned. We obviously don’t have much experience with Wanderers traveling through the time/dimension continuum other than using their natural abilities. However, much to our relief, the transport didn’t seem to affect Simla on her first passage through. Olivia reported back that all was okay and that Simla had successfully met with her father.”

“What happened between Simla and her dad?” Kellan asked.

“I’ll get to that later. It’s not particularly relevant at the moment. What is of more concern is what happened to Simla on her way back here. As Simla reentered the portal, she started to shake violently and then began to fade. Olivia tried to grab hold of her– unsuccessfully. Olivia describes the incident as Simla
fading into a mist
. She just disappeared, leaving Olivia on her own. Needless to say, Olivia is totally stumped and devastated. Larry–Dr. Fox–brought her to Constance for guidance. Constance contacted me.”

“Wow, so Simla is gone? Disappeared in the portal?” Geez, this was unbelievable.

Gramadea shrugged. “We have no explanation for what happened. It could be biological–her Wanderer body reacting to the artificial transport. The only other time that a Wanderer has transported through the portal is that one time when Olivia brought Gertrude through and she has not displayed any effects from it, though we still haven’t worked out how she affected you, Arizona.”

“What?” Kellan voiced what I was thinking. “Gertrude?
 
How is she relevant?”

Rupert looked over to his mom and then spoke. “We may have overlooked telling you that Gertrude is a Wanderer.”

“What the heck?”

“Language, Arizona.” Rupert reminded me, sternly.

“I’m sorry, but this is all so insane. How can a dog be a Wanderer?”

“Wanderers come in different forms,” Rupert explained. “Gertrude was assigned to Arizona Stevens because of her issues with humans.”

“Why did I need a Wanderer assigned to me at all?” I asked flabbergasted.

Gramadea sighed. “Arizona, all that may become clearer if you let me finish explaining. Okay?”

I nodded.

“So, we don’t know if transport through the portal could have somehow affected Simla biologically.”

“I don’t understand,” Kellan interrupted. “
Affect her biologically
, what does that mean? What do you think happened? Did she just implode and then vanish into thin air?”

“I doubt that would be the case. It’s more likely that the portal triggered her wandering abilities and she… wandered away. That’s what Olivia’s description of what happened seems to indicate. However, we have no way of knowing that.

“There is another possible scenario that we are looking into. Like I said before, the rogue Sigma-W group is interested in her. It’s possible that they took her.”

I shook my head, looking over at Kellan. I wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Had we suddenly woken up in a bad fantasy movie? This was beyond insane. I snorted. Not on purpose, it just sort of happened.