“Rob? What’s going on?” Sarah asked.

“I’ll tell you. We’ve got a while to fly until we reach the castle.”

Chapter 14

Rachel hovered over her old house in Pennsylvania watching and waiting to see what was going on below. It was evening time and her family station wagon was parked in its usual spot in circular the driveway. She saw the kitchen light on and shadows walking around inside. She couldn’t make out who it was, but assumed it was either her mom, dad or Marc. She knew it wasn’t Sarah because she was in college and wouldn’t be home until Christmas.

She lowered her body so that she could see into the window of her old bedroom to see if was still hers. When she peered inside though, she didn’t recognize it. Her old wall paper was torn down and replaced with a simple green and white stripe. Her old paisley curtains replaced with simple white sheers and her shag carpet torn up and only the wood floors were left exposed. It was not hers anymore. She didn’t know whose it was, but knew that none of here stuff was inside. It looked empty as if it were a guest room or something. She flew by Marc and Sarah’s old rooms and they were left perfectly preserved as she’d remembered. Not one thing out of place, not one thing had changed since their move. She wondered if her parents really thought she was dead? She then flew by her parents room, hiding behind a tree so that if they were inside they wouldn’t see her. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if they saw her flying in the air. They’d surely lose their minds, she thought to herself. Their room was the exact same, too. They’d moved everything back in and put it back in its proper place just as she’d remembered. Everything was there, even down the little leather bunny rabbit they put on their bed each morning after making it.

So why wasn’t her room put back together? She thought to herself. And where were all of her things? She quickly landed in the woods behind her house and crept to the windows of the basement to look inside. She wondered if perhaps her stuff was in storage boxes in the basement. She looked though all four sides of the house, but saw nothing. None of her stuff was there. She hoped and prayed that they didn’t throw it out or donate it.

She then heard a noise coming from outside her house and then heard her dad’s voice. “Marc! Come out here and give me a hand with the groceries.”

“But Dad, I’m busy!” Marc yelled back.

“I don’t care what you’re doing. Get your lazy butt out here now and help out around here for Christ sake! Do you think you can just show up back home after all this time and not help out!?”

“Fine!” Marc yelled.

Rachel quickly ran behind their detached garage to take cover. She couldn’t let them see her or sense that she was there. Her father had a keen sense about him and could always tell when he was being watched or followed. Once he avoided being mugged because he sensed the guy coming behind him and scared him away.

As she stood there behind the garage watching her family, she spotted something inside the side window of the garage. It was a tall stack of cardboard moving boxes with things written on the side in black sharpie. She couldn’t make out what they said, but she saw her name of a few of the boxes.

This is it! She thought to herself. This is where my stuff is!

Rachel moved quietly around the side of the garage to the side door. She knew her parents never locked the garage door since it was detached from the house so she’d be able to get inside that way. The leaves crunched under her feet as she walked slowly toward the door. She kept one eye on her father and brother as she did this so that if they turned she could quickly duck down. Then, she stepped on a branch, cracking it in half. Both her brother and father turned quickly and Rachel dropped to the ground to hide.

Phew, she thought to herself. That was a close call.

“Marc, did you hear that?” her father asked.

“Yeah! What was it?” Marc answered.

“Sounded like someone’s in the bushes?” her father said.

“Go check it out!” Marc said. “I’ll follow you.”

“Good idea!” her father said.

Rachel couldn’t believe her ears. Were they really going to search the property? Was she going to get caught? She quickly launched her body into the air and onto the roof of the garage. She knew they would never think to look on the roof. She lay down on the roof so as not to draw attention to herself by standing on top of it. She was safe there. She heard her father and brother rumbling around below her searching for what could have made that noise. Then, their footsteps drifted off into the distance as they continued searching.

Rachel stood up and then jumped back to the ground, creating another loud stir. She hoped that nobody heard that but her and thankfully, nobody came after her.

She crept back towards the door of the garage and then slowly turned the gold door knob as the door creaked open. How she wished she carried WD40 in her pocket as the hinges were so creaky that she was sure her whole family would come running outside to see what was going on. She quickly darted inside and hid behind some boxes that were stacked in the corner. She knelt down and waited there in silence to see if anyone was coming after her to find out what all the ruckus was about.

After about five minutes of waiting, she figured nobody was coming so she stood up and headed towards the box that said her name on it. It was like finding the best Christmas present ever. All her stuff was still there, in boxes, properly labeled and organized.

She looked at all the labels and thought her best bet would be to look in the box that said toys and miscellaneous things. She opened the box and rummaged through it, lifting up old dolls, CD players, Lego’s, My Little Pony dolls, and a few stuffed animals. She wasn’t yet at the bottom, but she hadn’t come across the kaleidoscope yet. She hoped that it would be in this box and figured her parents would probably classify it as a toy. They didn’t know it was much much more than a toy to her, they didn’t know that the kaleidoscope had changed her life forever.

She continued to dig through the endless box of toys but was still unable to find the kaleidoscope. She couldn’t understand it. There was everything under the sun in that box except her precious kaleidoscope. She couldn’t understand it.

Then she looked at the other boxes and started digging through them. She was becoming more unsuccessful as the minutes went on and still, no kaleidoscope. She was beginning to wonder if they threw it out, or put it elsewhere in the house. Or maybe, they sold it in a garage sale. All these ideas were flooding her mind and making her even more upset. She couldn’t bear the thought of never finding the kaleidoscope again.

Then, she came upon a box that said, Rachel’s school stuff. There were only two boxes left to sort through until she’d have to give up. She opened the box slowly and started lifting up various school related items. This exercise was like taking a journey through her past. She felt a bit nostalgic for the days that had gone by and wished for a second she could still have a use for these things. She lifted up her old notebooks, her pens, pencils, and her Filofax. She pulled out old notes that her friends had written her and she even found her old AHS school schedule. Then, she saw her LeSportSac back pack. She picked it up to put it aside and continue searching, but it felt heavy to her. It was heavier than she’d remembered it feeling. She opened up the front zipper and pulled out her diary. She couldn’t believe it. She’d missed her diary so much but couldn’t remember where she’d put it. She quickly removed it from the backpack and put it in her new leather messenger bag that she carried across her body. She then opened up the large zip pocket and she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was a true miracle. There in all its glory, shining brightly was the kaleidoscope. She pulled it out and it was exactly as she’d remembered. It was perfect and now she knew she would be able to find the Red Amulet. She put the kaleidoscope to her eye in hopes of seeing the answer, but she saw nothing. It was like looking into a black hole. She shook the kaleidoscope and then looked through it again.

Nothing.

She couldn’t believe it. All of this for a blackened blurry vision of nothing. She couldn’t believe it. Her heart sank in her chest and she knew it was over. She knew she would never find the Red Amulet, and she knew she would never save Benji. Thinking about this brought tears to her eyes. She slunk down to the ground, holding the kaleidoscope in her hand and cried.

Then she heard a noise coming from outside of the garage. She couldn’t believe her ears. How did she not hear them before. She had no warning, no time to hide. She heard the door creak open and they walked in as she was sitting there, crying on the floor. She didn’t know what to do and the only thing she could do was look up and acknowledge what was about to happen. She’d been caught.

“Rachel?” her dad said in surprise.

“Dad!” Rachel replied.

“Rachel? Is that really you?” Marc said, looking down at her.

“It’s me. I’m back,” Rachel said, still clutching tightly to her kaleidoscope.

“What are you doing here?” her dad asked in an angry voice.

Rachel didn’t know what to say or do. She knew her dad was going to let her have it. There was nothing she could do to stop him. She could see the anger in his eyes as his face got redder and redder. All of a sudden she’d wished she’d never come for her kaleidoscope. She knew it was all a big mistake.

“What do you mean you’re back?” her dad snarled. “Do you think it’s funny to leave for a year and then come back and say, “I’m back!”’

“I, um…N, N, No,” Rachel stuttered.

“I can’t even believe this,” Marc said. “We thought you were dead!”

“Dead?” Rachel questioned. “Me dead!” she let out a little laugh.

“You have no idea the trouble you’ve brought our family, Missy,” her father said.

“I’m sorry,” Rachel said. “But I don’t know why you’re so angry with me. I didn’t do anything to you.”