Sir Drealin ran down the hall and shouted, "My lady, we found him! The boy!" When he arrived at the room where everyone had gathered, he was out of breath. "We found the boy; he's in the lobby," he replied. Martha rushed towards the lobby, leaping down the stairs two or three steps at a time, not waiting for Wayne in front.
EJ was in the hotel lobby, sound asleep on the floor. He looked very pale, like his brothers. His bed and clothes were torn as if he had been through a war. He was covered in a hotel blanket, with his head propped up in Ms. Lenfind's lap. The hotel manager was confused and said, "When he turned around, he was lying on the floor just a moment ago, seeing just a flash of light."
Ma looked at EJ, not caring about his torn clothes or dirty bed. She picked up her boy and cried into his soft shoulder while his head bobbed sleepily to the side. Pa dropped to his knees, hitting the floor next to his son. With tears in his eyes, he cried out, "My son, my son," and then picked him up into his arms, rocking him gently.
EJ's eyes opened a little, and he saw Ma and Pa around him, but he was too tired to move. He whispered, "Ma, Pa," with a tear in his eyes. "I want to go home," and he fell back asleep against Pa's shoulder. Ma and Pa carried him back to their room, where Ma didn't leave his side for a minute.
Ma brushed EJ's soft hair and gave him a warm kiss on the cheek. "We will, my son, first thing," she said. Looking at Pa, she added, "Aunty M. We're leaving Salt L."
The Downing and the Whitmore's didn't wait until dawn to leave the Marriott the next morning; they quickly packed for home. After another doctor in the hotel had looked them over, they wrapped all the boys up in blankets.
The boys woke up feeling tired and groggy. EJ had grown up a bit since Ma and Pa had last seen him. As Pa carried him to the car, he felt clammy and exhausted. Ma held him on her lap, brushing his soft brown hair and wiping away his tears as he whimpered in his sleep. "Hush now, my son, we're almost home," she whispered, trying to calm him down.
In the back of the car, Robert and Will huddled together with their sister Julie for warmth. "Pa, can you please turn the heat up a bit?" Robert asked, his teeth chattering. "It's up as high as it'll go, son," Pa replied, looking back at his sweating and yet freezing boys. Julie threw another quilt on them and wiped the sweat from their faces. "Thanks, sis," Will said.
Anna closely watched Sam, Danny, and Ted as they slept in Richard's car on the way home to the farm. She felt their heads and cheeks, making sure they were ok but shook her head in confusion. "I just don't understand it, Aunty M.," she said. "It's so strange." Anna watched the car where EJ and her other brothers were and said, "It's like there's a connection somewhere."
Aunty M. was deep in thought, looking out the window as Richard returned to the farm. "A connection to what, dear?" she asked, turning to Anna.
"One minute, everything was going as planned, and then…" Anna said, pointing out the window towards the other car. "And then this," she pointed to the boys. "I know for a fact he was in bed. He didn't leave the room, Aunty M., because I checked myself. The only one gone was you, and you were getting a nightcap." Anna replied, looking straight at her as if she had something to do with it. "But how did he leave the room? Too many things don't add up," Anna said, looking out the window, trying to put the pieces together.
"I was wondering the same thing," Aunty M. said, putting her fingers to her lips. "A very good question."
Aunty M. didn't reveal anything but questioned how he got out of the room and his connection, which puzzled her. What is this Dark Prince, and what does Morgan want with him? Was Mike right all along? She wished she had paid more attention to a strange prophecy in one of his books, now long gone, leaving a peculiar note: "Returned to the owner," in a flash of light.
Pa arrived at the farm with the three boys just before daybreak. Ma and the sisters followed behind. Kollie helped Robert and Will to bed while Julie and Anna found more blankets. Richard went to the barn to find Doc Hatfield when he started feeling weak and tired. Shortly after returning to the house, he collapsed on the half-built porch. Julie called for Ma, who rushed to Richard's side and cradled his head in her lap. Kollie helped Richard to bed.
By the time Ned returned with Doc Hatfield, all the boys, including Kollie, had developed fever and chills. The whole house was sick, so Doc Hatfield called the nurses back and asked Ned to quarantine the gate again. Granny was disappointed that there was nothing to burn this time. Doc Hatfield reassured everyone that it was just chicken pox and that they would all recover in a few days. He warned them not to scratch, but the itching was unbearable, and the medicine he applied smelled bad.
Ma tried to lift their spirits, but the boys were bored and couldn't go outside to play. They played games in their beds and read books when Ma and Renee took their toys away. The girls helped by sewing curtains and bringing soup and sandwiches. Mr. Faith and the school board brought their homework so they wouldn't fall behind. Being indoors was tough, but being confined to their rooms was even tougher. Ma and Aunty M kept a close eye on EJ, guarding his door at night and wondering who was after him and why.
It was a few more days until the boys could go outside and play, and a week after, they were all well enough to return to school. Richard, Pa, and Kollie didn't have it any easier, except they at least got to go outside for a moment long enough to run boxes to a safe distance from the house. Doc had Stringham set up a pulley system on a rope in the yard for delivery and supplies. So they could still finish the house. Yet keep everyone else away from them. Unless you already had it before, it was alright to come near them, according to the Doc.
Other than that, Downing's and the Whitmore's were stuck together like glue. All in the same house, shut up tight, going nowhere. Looking out the windows with your friends, the Whitmores down the hall, and Aunty M. All of them stuck in the same house, day after day. It was never said you can always have too much of a good thing. Except when it happens, and you are stuck looking out the window, wondering what's going on without them, as EJ watched his friends spin so many times. Before in his kitenge, EJ rolled his eyes, hoping he would fall on the floor or just hoping he would, and just sighed for a change of pace.
Yet, at the same time, it was a sad day to see their friends go home. They cried and hugged them out the door as they went down the road. Some would say it was a sigh of relief as Ma hung her wash outside on the line, watching the boys play in the yard. Yes, once again, the farm saw signs of normalcy and a bit of fresh air as Julie and Anna opened the curtains and the house windows.
Yet there was a change in the wind when they saw a car pulling into the farm with a man and two women with a logo on the front. Child Protection Agency is on the front, along with Mr. Wells and Linda Stuart, and another woman she has never seen before, or has she, as she seemed to look familiar. "No, it can't be. Could it?" She gets out of the car, and Martha puts down her wash and looks up at Julie in the window. "It's alright, Julie, find Pa. Have him come out here, please, dear," Ma said, trying to sound calm, walking over to Mr. Wells and Linda with a questioning look on her face.
Julie runs inside the house, telling Pa that some people are there and Ma needs him. Looking outside the window and sees Mr. Wells outside. "Julie, find the boys, please, and take them upstairs," Pa said, trying to sound calm. "And then find EJ," he replied.
"Yes, Pa," Wayne went outside, standing by his wife, looking at Linda and the woman beside her.
"What can we do for you, Mr. Wells?" Pa said, not taking his eyes off Linda for an instant.
"Mr. Downing, Mrs. Downing, may we go inside?" Mr. Wells said, pointing to the house and sounding as informal as possible.
"What's this all about, Mr. Wells?" Pa asked, making sure the coast was clear. He quickly nodded to Julie, indicating that the children were upstairs.
Linda breaks the silence. "Can I see him please?" As she cries. "I just want to see my son EJ; where is he?" She had always hated that name his grandmother gave him, but she was willing to put up with it until he was back home where he belonged. Then all hell is going to break loose. Staring at Wayne, then Martha in tears. "Please. I beg you. I want to see him."
Martha glanced back at Wayne, then at her tear-ridden face.
The woman next to her tries to comfort her. "I am Mrs. Jennings; we haven't met," she said, taking in Martha and Wayne for a minute. I have been assigned to her case," she said, handing another tissue to Linda as she pulled out her file.
She quickly smiles to see if Martha or even Wayne recognizes her as she checks the spell to ensure that she keeps her true identity well. Mrs. Lady Luck said, "It's my understanding, according to Mr. Wells, that you have been caring for her son for quite some time. "Yet she has been unable to see him. Is that due to you won't let the boy see his mother? Or is there another reason? In any case, I must find out and resolve it," she said as she glared back at Martha and Mr. Downing, playing the role of a State social worker.
Aunty M. went upstairs, listening to the conversation. "Now you just hold on to your fork tongue, you old side wider old bat," she said as the air in the room changed from cold to hot into shakes of lizard on a hot rock with nowhere to go but up. "If that boy wanted to see you or go home, he would have done so long before now, and we both know why," she said, glaring down at Linda across the room.
Aunty M. was nearly on the floor with Wayne, trying to hold these two women back from killing each other. Mr. Wells, loosening his tie, begins to sweat, watching Martha as things in the room are almost at their boiling point. Martha places two fingers between her lips, and a shrill whistle silences the two women, "That's enough!" Watching their eyes pop right out of their sockets,
Aunty M. and EJ's mother, Linda, never got along. Wayne calmly said, "Perhaps it's best to let EJ decide if he is ready to see his mother?" Sitting them back on the couch, he added, "And for you both to cool off. After all, don't you think it should be his choice, not yours?" He asked as he looked both women, Aunty M. and Linda, squarely in the eye.
Mr. Wells loosens his tie more as he sweats from the room's stress, looking at the two women. Aunty M. sighs, looking at Wayne and then at Linda. Mr. Wells wipes the sweat off his face with his handkerchief. "Agreed," Wayne nods with them all but is not convinced in the decision.
"Now then, that being settled," Mr. Wells said, pulling out his file. Things are looking good," he said, making a few more notes in the files.
Pa went up the stairs to EJ's room and knocked on the door. "It's me, son," Pa said. EJ, removing the dresser from the door, unlocks the door. It's alright, son," Pa says, holding his son against his chest to comfort him and wiping his tears from his face. It's safe," Pa says, looking at Richard and his brothers in the room.
EJ nods, shaking his head like a leaf. "Are you sure, Pa?" he asked, looking into his eyes and gentle face.
"Yes, son. I am. It's just Mr. Wells and your mother downstairs, that's all, son. They want to talk, that's all. Nothing more," he said as he stroked his mossy brown hair, relieving his fears and calming him down. "That is if you want to, but I don't think your mother will leave the house until she does…not without being dragged out by her heels?" He asked as he looked into EJ's eyes. "We won't leave your side for an instant, son," he said. EJ nods his head.
"Alright, Pa, just talk, nothing else," EJ said.
Pa nods, puts his arms around his son, and walks down the stairs with him. Aunty M. sets some chairs around the table in the dining room as Linda watches EJ walk down the stairs.
Her eyes followed him with every movement as he descended the wooden staircase. He seemed older somehow, not the same boy she remembered. As EJ got closer, he watched her. Somehow, he felt cold inside when he looked at her as if something was missing, but what could that be? It felt freezing in the room as he looked upon her tear-ridden face.
EJ shook as Pa wrapped his arms around him as they approached the table, nodding with their eyes. EJ sat beside Pa at the kitchen table, clearly on the opposite side, while his mother and her caseworker sat on the other.
Mr. Wells is in the middle as he nods his head. "Well, now we can get started," he said, opening his brown leather briefcase and placing EJ's thick fold in front of him. "As you can see, Linda, EJ is doing fine," he said, nodding in her direction. "And is doing quite well in school according to report cards and file," he replied, thumbing through the notes he has received from the school. "Is there anything you would like to ask him?" Mr. Well asked, pointing at EJ as he looked at Linda across the table sitting with Ms. Jennings.
"It's alright, dear," Mrs. Jennings said, giving her a nudge. Remember, we are here for you," she patted her hand and gave her another tissue.
After a long silence, Linda whispers. "Are you alright, son?"
EJ looked at Ma and Pa, wondering how to answer the question. "I'm fine," he whispered back.
"Are they treating you well enough?" she asked, not really caring; she wanted so much to reach out and slap him so hard across the face, making his teeth rattle, as she tightened her hand around the Kleenex. She was reminding herself that the only way she could not do so was to pretend to be the mother everyone wanted her to be. Once that happens, she and his father can ensure he never leaves the house again.
EJ smiled at the dumb question as he almost wanted to laugh and decided to play along. "Yes," he said, trying not to sound too hard and not smirking as he said it.
Linda gets really quiet and whispers, "I'm glad, son." She looks down at the table, trying not to look away or out the window.
Mr. Wells is making notes in the file. "Do you have any more questions, Linda?" Linda looked at EJ. Or for Mr. and Mrs. Downing?" Mr. Wells asks, not looking up from his notes.
Linda, wiping the tears from her eyes, looked at Martha and Wayne, then at Mr. Wells. "They have my other son, Danny, too," she replied, looking at the ground, almost whispering. "And I want him back NOW!" she said as she screamed in anger and with a flood of tears, then ran toward the stairs to get him.
Wayne hurries to step in her way. "NO, Linda!" he said as Aunty M. scrambled off the couch towards the stairs, running up them towards the nursery, blocking the way.
Linda screamed, "You can't do this to me!" as she looked at Martha, Mr. Wells. EJ was frightened as he watched the house go into total panic as his mother tried to climb the stairs. Ma rushes over to EJ, shielding him from her as she tries to make a dive for him. Pa. steps in her way with the table, blocking the way between EJ and her.
Pa yelled for Robert and Richard to keep everyone upstairs as Mr. Wells and Mrs. Jennings got her back into the car. Linda yells, "You can't! They're mine, you hear me! They're mine!" she said as she screamed down the road in heated anger.
EJ was underneath the table with his knees pressed against him, shivering. Ma and Pa wrapped their arms around him as they tried to calm him down. "Shush now, it's ok, Shush," Ma stroked his hair as she rocked him back and forth, and cried. "She's gone, my son," with tears in her eyes, looking at Pa and the mess they are in this time at their frightened little boy on the floor.
EJ buries his face against Ma's shoulder, crying, "Never, never again," as she tries to soothe him until there's nothing left.
"I know, I know," she cried as she smoothed his hair and wiped his eyes.
Pa takes EJ back to his room where his brothers are, and he feels safe. He talks with him on the bed for a while. "EJ, my son," he said, putting his arms around him. "Remember when I said those times were going to be hard? Well, son, those times are here, and we have to face them whether you like it or not, and neither of us can run from them. So let me and you face them together as we always have, son, as our family has done. Because, son, you are not alone," he said as he squeezed his shoulders. "What ya say, son?" Pa asked, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Yes, Pa," he replied.