The Wayward Gifted - Broken Point (24 page)

“Good idea—sweet dreams. I’ll
call tomorrow before I head over.”

THIRTEEN

Steuart
was unable to ride his bike with a broken arm, but that didn’t keep him from
getting out and having fun with his sister.
Sam borrowed an old purple, twin, child carrier from a
neighbor. She hooked the thing up to her bicycle and put Sparky in the back for
extra padding. Because he was small, pulling Steuart was a breeze. He sat
eagerly in the carrier and held a rolled drawing for Ceil. He leaned next to
Sparky, after carefully moving him to the side, “I don't want my pal to get
squashed.”

Even with his broken arm, Steuart had
great fun. He enjoyed riding in the carriage behind Sam’s bike while he
pretended to be royalty from another world. He imagined himself busily
surveying his personal kingdom. “Faster Sam.”

While she found Steuart’s imperious
attitude a bit annoying, Sam also enjoyed the time with her brother. She was
thankful he was out of the hospital with nothing more than a broken arm. If
only things had been so good for Trista. Sam continued to grieve over Trista’s
accident while keeping the information secret from Steuart. She and Ed had agreed
that it was a bit early for Steuart to hear the bad news. Sam realized her
brother was going to begin asking questions soon. While she looked forward to
visiting with Ceil, Sam was also hoping for information. She was on a mission
and needed to find a doll maker who could repair Trista.

“First stop, Ceil’s house,” Sam said.

“Our ETA?” Steuart asked.

“Soon.”

“I look forward to visiting with Ceil.
I wish to thank my loyal subjects for visiting me whilst I was in the
hospital.”

“Whilst? Get over yourself. Keep
talking like that and I'll drop you off here in the gutter.”

“Just playing, sis. I prefer to stay in
character.”

Sam tried to keep the conversation
light and happy, but her heart was breaking as she thought about Trista.
Why did she break into so many pieces
?
Sam wondered.

“Oh, come on, come on. Let’s play,”
Steuart said. “This is fun. Do your part. If you don’t, I’ll be forced to
banish you—to the dungeon.”

“You’re kidding me?”

Sam looked back at her brother and
stuck out her tongue.

With the bike carrier attached, the
biggest challenge Sam faced was the route. Because of the snow and ice along
the paths, she decided to stay on paved roads, however, this made a number of
trips longer than usual. Instead of biking through the preserve, Sam rode
across the bridge towards the hospital and then over to the street that ran behind
the children’s clinic. She continued back one more street, and then next to the
dental school where she finally turned into a neighborhood. Taking another left
Sam continued along the opposite side street before turning into a cul-de-sac.
She stopped in front of Ceil’s driveway and turned towards her brother, “Sir,
your taxi stops here.”

“What? What do you mean? You’re
stopping here?”

“I am.”

“Why? You’re not taking me to the
door?”

“I am not.”

“Why not?

“The drive is too steep.”

“How will I get to the house?”

“The same way I will. Use your legs.”

“But, I’m just out of the hospital. You
can’t do this to me.”

“Yes I can. You’ve been out for weeks.
Your legs work fine.” Sam began walking up the hill.

Steuart refused to leave the carriage.
“You’re kidding me? Right? This is a joke. Ha. Ha. You are kidding me?”

“Nope,” Sam shook her head and continued
walking up the drive. “You need the exercise. It’ll do you good.”

“You are a spoilsport. Royalty should
never be treated in such a careless manner. You’re forcing me to punish you. It’s
your choice. You’ll be made an example of for others. I will have to throw you into
prison—or worse. Maybe I’ll send you to the Galapagos Islands to work
with the Pirates.”

“Steuart, I’m tired. Go ahead, send me
to the Pirates and see if I care. The Pirates would be easier to work for than
you. At least I’d get a bowl of soup. All I get from you is complaints.”

“Don’t bet on it. The soup-maker’s
position is taken. They’ll make you clean the head. You’ll have to scrounge
around for your food and eat out of compost bins.”

“I don’t believe this. Sometimes you’re
a real brat. It’s hard work driving you all over the city. You’re so
ungrateful. Maybe you should just walk home.”

“You’re right,” Steuart stuck out his
lower lip and frowned. “Thank you, Sam. I appreciate you.”

“That’s better.” Sam stood and waited for
her brother. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Steuart didn’t move. “Now will you pull
me up the drive?”

“You can walk.”

“I said thank you. Doesn’t that count
for something.”

“Of course it does. I appreciate being
appreciated. But you can walk.”

“I’m taking back my thank you.”

Sam stopped. She turned around and
looked at her brother. “Too late. It’s out there and it’s non-retractable. But,
if you want, I’ll let you have it anyway. It won’t make a difference because
you still have to walk. Come on, it’s cold out here. Come on, let’s go see
Ceil.”

* * *

Visiting
with Ceil was a favorite pastime of the children. She was always happy to see
them and they were equally happy to see her. Sam and Steuart were especially eager
to share their art with a friend.

“It’s called
Lectern in the Sun
,” Steuart explained. The drawing contained a
reading podium inside the sun with the name Ceil Nunstern pasted in the middle.

“The sun is smiling,” Sam said proudly.

“Oh, I like that. How lovely. I’ve
never had a picture like this one before.” Ceil thanked Sam and Steuart. She
gave each of them a hug. “How about a cup of nice hot tea and a ginger cookie?”

“Do you understand the symbolism,”
Steuart asked, “about the picture?”

Ceil shook her head, “I'm going to have
to give it a bit of thought. But, please don’t tell me. I want to figure it out
on my own.”

“Do you really like it?” Steuart asked.

“Yes, very much. You are very talented.”

Steuart blushed, “It was nice of you to
visit me in the hospital.”

“My pleasure.”

“Your visits made me feel well and I
appreciate the Captain Crandall comics.”

“You’re not the only one. It made me
feel better. I like to see things for myself. And, I’m delighted that you like
Captain Crandall. How’s your arm today?”

“Better.”

Sam interrupted, “Mother said she
wanted to meet you, but you were gone before she made it to the room.”

“I tried, but it never worked out that
we were there at the same time.” Ceil opened the cabinet and removed three cups
and saucers. “I wanted to meet her too. Perhaps we should arrange a visit?”

“That’s a good idea,” Steuart said.

“I was thankful when Mr. Felphul told
me about what happened. I had no way of knowing.”

“Mr. Felphul’s been kind to us,” Sam
said. “He called for the ambulance and drove me to the hospital.”

“I rode in an ambulance,” Steuart said
proudly.

“He stayed with me in the emergency
room until Mother arrived. I think he would’ve stayed longer, but Mother wasn’t
feeling very friendly.”

Ceil picked up a wooden tea box and let
the children choose their flavor. “Mr. Felphul is a good person to know.”

“I like his book store,” Steuart said.
“I’m looking forward to visiting him again soon.”

“Mother says that we can’t,” Sam added.

“Why would she say that?”

“She blames Mr. Felphul for Steuart’s
accident.”

“Oh dear, that’s dreadful.”

“She says that his bookstore is
dangerous. She also blames me for not watching Steuart more carefully.”

“She called it a firetrap,” Steuart
said.

“That’s such a shame. Mr. Felphul does
have books everywhere, but that’s the nature of a great bookstore.”

Steuart nodded, “I love that place.”

“I wish you could help Mother
understand,” Sam said.

Ceil looked at Steuart, “You need to be
careful anytime you’re climbing, no matter where you are. If you can’t reach
something, ask for help. That’s what I do all the time.”

“It wasn’t the height of the books,”
Steuart shook his head and looked away.

“No?”

“It was the button lady,” Sam said.

“The button lady?”

Sam and Steuart told Ceil about their
misadventure with Della Ivy. “We thought we’d lost her.” Steuart touched his
face. “I was looking around the shelves at Mr. Felphul’s and then I saw her
again. She glared at me through the window. All I could think was
she found me
. She tapped on the window
and we were suddenly eyeball-to-eyeball. It happened fast. I was afraid she was
going to come inside and grab me again.”

“My goodness.”

“That’s when I fell. She startled me.”
Steuart shook his head, “I don’t remember falling.”

“Oh dear, poor, poor, dear. Did she
come inside?”

“No, Mr. Felphul said she knows to stay
out of his store.”

“But she still frightened you?”

“I didn’t know she wouldn’t come in.”
Steuart scratched his head. “Wait a minute. What do you mean,
poor dear
? Poor dear
me
, or poor dear
Della
?”

“Both of you.”

Steuart raised his voice, “Why poor
dear
her
? She’s a scary person.”

“I understand. I can see that. I say
poor dear Della
because she can’t help
herself. But you didn’t know that. I can only imagine how the two of you felt.”

“Petrified,” Sam said.

Ceil shook her head, “I can understand.
Della is a sad, misunderstood, and terribly confused woman. I’m sorry that you
had a bad experience with her. She was a very nice lady in her younger years.”

Sam took a bite of cookie, “Mr. Felphul
doesn’t like Della.”

“Is that what he told you?”

“No, but he told me to be careful
around her.”

“I see,” Ceil sipped her tea.

“He said she might try to take my doll.
I don’t think Della and Mr. Felphul get along.”

“Maybe not. He’s such a nice man. I
can’t imagine that he would have a problem with anyone.”

Sam stared at Ceil. “Do you have a
doll?”

“What type of doll?”

“Like Ed Camino…” Sam turned towards
her brother, “Steuart, show Ceil your doll.”

Steuart removed Ed from his backpack
and placed him on the table. Ceil glanced at Ed and then back at Sam. “Do you
have one too?”

Sam nodded, “I do. I have one, but she
got hurt.” Ceil stood with her back to Ed and asked, “What happened?”

Sam told Ceil and Steuart about Trista’s
accident. Ed stood and began walking around behind Ceil as she was talking with
Sam. Steuart listened quietly.

“I left Trista on my bed the morning of
Steuart’s operation. That’s where she got hurt.”

“What?” Steuart asked.

“Got hurt?” Ceil asked.

“When I got home from the hospital,”
Sam began to cry as she told the story, “I found Trista in a plastic bag on my
dresser. Her head was in pieces. She was badly broken.”

“Oh, honey,” Ceil put her arm around
Sam, “We all have accidents. I’m sure you didn’t do anything on purpose. Don’t
feel bad.”

“I didn’t do it,” Sam shook her head
and looked at Ceil. “It wasn’t me.”

“What?” Steuart asked.

“It was Mother. She told me that she
dropped Trista in the bathroom.”

“She dropped her?” Steuart asked. “That’s
what caused her head to shatter? What was Mother doing with Trista?”

“She told me that it happened because
Trista was poorly made.”

Ceil wrinkled her forehead and
continued to listen.

“Mother hates our dolls.”

“Don’t you think the word hate is a
little strong?” Ceil asked.

“No, she called them
the wayward trash
.”

“Does Dr. Klesel know?” Steuart asked
Sam.

“That your mother dislikes the dolls?”
Ceil asked Steuart.