The Wayward Gifted - Broken Point (30 page)

Ida put her arm around Sam’s shoulder
and hugged her close as they approached the elevator. “I understand.”

“Do you?”

“Yes, I’m proud of you. You did the
right thing. You’re a good person Samantha DuBoise.”

“Are we going home now?”

“Not yet. Your mother asked me to take
you to see Dr. Klesel.”

“That’s good. We need to talk.”

* * *

Snow
fell heavily. Sam couldn’t see the Preserve across the river as she watched the
snow from Dr. Klesel’s window. She touched the glass and wondered if Steuart was
somewhere warm. Dr. Klesel sat in his chair and waited for Sam to begin. She
knew he was concerned. Everyone was concerned. “What’s going on Sam?”

“We traveled to Bellamy.”

“Where’s that?”

“It’s an anagrammatic place.”

“How far is it?”

“Think of sister cities, but not. It’s
another place. It’s far away. Think of parallel universes. No, don’t think that
because you’ll think I don’t know what I’m saying. Just think of similar
communities that are close by, but places that you can’t reach using standard
means of transportation.” Sam looked at the doctor. She turned back to the
window, touched the foggy glass and drew a happy face with her finger.

“How do you get there?”

“Tree house.”

“Tree house?”

“Yes—tree house.”

“Both ways?”

“Yes—yes and no. I came back by
the tree house but ended up in Atchison Point at my grandmother’s house, but that
was a mistake.”

“What was the mistake?”

“I was missing her. I always miss
Grandmother. We traveled by accident and I was wishing for her because she
always helps us when we have a problem.”

“What was the problem?”

“It’s complicated.”

Sam continued looking out the window.
She wondered if Dr. Klesel thought she was nuts too.

“Does this involve the tree house where
you go and play?”

“Yes, it’s the same place we went the
night that Olivia gave me the book.”

“Olivia?”

“You know, she tells people she’s my
mother. She adopted me when I was a baby.”

“You sound angry Sam.”

“I am angry. I’m worried about Steuart.
Ed is looking for him now. Steuart wouldn’t be there if Olivia hadn’t killed
Trista.”

“Olivia killed Trista?”

“You’re not going to believe me.”

“Why do you say that?”

Sam turned around and dropped her jaw
in disbelief. She gasped and rolled her eyes deliberately. “Let’s try
this—because even though you never look like you disbelieve me, you never
look as if you actually believe me.”

“How do I look?”

Sam shrugged her shoulders, “No special
way.” She smirked and shook her head, “Right now I feel like you don’t believe
me.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way.”

“Look, I’m just a little girl. I’m
twelve years old. Everyone says that children don’t know enough to know
anything. Our thoughts are discounted like something at the dollar store that’s
been damaged or bought in bulk. Whenever anyone sees a child in the room,
instantly whatever that child says is marked down because the child is a child.
It happens for no other reason. The value of what comes from the mouth of a
child is diminished for no other reason than the fact that it came from the
mouth of a child.”

“Why is that?”

“How would I know? I’m a child. That’s
all I am. No one ever believes children when they have something out of the
ordinary to say.”

“What do you want to say?”

“Aren’t you listening? I’ve been
telling you. Why would you believe me? Even if I have solid proof, how can I be
sure-as-Matt about anything? You’ll never believe that I can know something, or
experience something that’s beyond your level of knowledge because your mind
forces you to wonder why a child would experience something you have not.
Steuart found a good word for that.”

“What’s the word?”

“Arrogance. I’m a girl who collects
colors and expects them to work magic. Now I’m telling you that my brother is
trapped in an anagrammatic universe. Why would you believe me? Even if I were a
grown up you’d probably think I’m crazy. It’s just that type of thing.”

“Maybe—what happened when you and
Steuart were in Bellamy? Why did you go?”

“You don’t want to know. You just want
to think about what’s wrong with me.”

“I want to hear what you have to say.”

Sam took a deep breath, looked down at
her feet and then at Dr. Klesel. She looked over at the end table and noticed
the box of tissues. She walked over to Dr. Klesel, opened her backpack and
removed Trista. She held her close before handing her to the doctor. He shook
his head, “I don’t understand. What are you trying to tell me?”

“My mother didn’t think we needed the
dolls. You knew that.”

“Yes, I did.”

“She didn’t want us to have them. I was
with her that day when she told you how she felt.”

“That’s true. She and I’ve talked about
the fact that she didn’t want you to have dolls.”

“She said it was an accident, but I
don’t believe her.” Sam began to cry. “You trusted me to keep Trista safe. I
didn’t do my job. I’m responsible.” Sam looked at Dr. Klesel, “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Olivia killed her.”

“Trista looks fine to me. She looks
beautiful.”

“She looks perfect because I took her
to an expert and had her repaired. It only worked on her exterior. She looks
beautiful, but Trista isn’t with us anymore. She stopped talking. She stopped
moving. She stopped doing anything.”

Dr. Klesel looked quizzically at Sam, “How
does your mother fit into this?”

“Olivia said I’m responsible for what
happened to Trista because I left her on the bed when I went to be with Steuart
at the hospital. I didn’t take care of her like I was supposed to. I didn’t put
her away like I was told. Olivia said that I’m the one ultimately responsible
for what happened. If I’d put her away, Olivia wouldn’t have had the accident
and crushed Trista’s skull into so many pieces. I may be a murderer and now I’m
responsible for what’s happening to my brother too.”

“Did you do something to harm your
brother?”

“Oh, no. I would never do that.”

“Did you throw Trista against a hard
surface, or hit her with something like a hammer?”

“Trista? Did I throw Trista? No. I would
never do that either. I can’t even believe you’d ask me these questions. I left
her on my bed. That’s what I did. I should’ve taken her with me to the hospital,
or I should have hidden her. I should have done something to protect her. You
trusted me to. She trusted me too.” Tears covered Sam’s face. She had trouble
catching her breath.”

“Take your time. Do you need your
inhaler?”

“No. I’m okay,” Sam shook her head.
“But, Trista isn’t. I’m responsible.”

“You didn’t harm Trista. You’ve taken
good care of her.”

“I left her at home. I didn’t put her
away.”

“Sam, as I understand this, you left
the doll on your bed, in your bedroom. What you do not understand is that your
bedroom should be a safe place to leave a doll. Trista wasn’t left outside or
treated in a careless manner. She wasn’t left on the floor. She wasn’t even
left in another part of the house. A doll on your bed, in your bedroom, should
be safe.”

“You don’t understand. I found her when
I got home from the hospital. She was in a plastic bag. Her head was smashed to
pieces. Olivia told me she had an accident. Ed told me the truth about what
happened.”

“Ed?”

“Your doll,” Sam nodded, “Ed Camino,
the comedian. He’s the one who explained everything to Steuart and me about
Bellamy.”

“He explained?”

“Yes, he explained to us about traveling,
about how to get there, and about how he got here.”

“My dolls are talking to you?” Dr.
Klesel put down his clipboard and leaned forward in his chair.

“We talk all the time.
Well—Trista did until she was broken.”

“You’re having conversations with my
dolls?”

“Yes. I know. You’re thinking that I
have a real problem. I can hear it now—
she’s talking to dolls
.
The
patient is talking to dolls
. You’re going to suggest sending me away
somewhere.”

“No,” he said softly and shook his
head. “I’m not.”

“If the dolls aren’t talking to me, I
may actually be crazy, but they are talking to me. I know it.”

Dr. Klesel leaned back in his chair and
sat silently.

“In the beginning,” Sam said, “Steuart
and I were not sure about things. When Ed began explaining things to us, we
were skeptical too. I understand—it seems far-fetched that they came from
another world, but hey, they’re dolls and they talk, right? That’s enough to
make you realize that other things are possible too. When Trista was hurt, we
found the doll hospital. When we picked her up she looked beautiful, but she
didn’t talk anymore. Another experience led us to realize that Ed and Trista
were telling us the truth—but it took a while before everything made
sense.”

“What was that?”

“One time when we were at the tree
house we noticed that the four o’clock train came by twice.”

“What does that mean?”

“We didn’t know in the beginning, but
Ed explained it to us. What we know now is that we were in Maybell and then in
Bellamy. We heard the train in both places.”

“What?”

“Think about it. There’s a slight lag
in the time.”

“Why didn’t you know without the
train?”

“Because we traveled accidentally and
we were only there a short time. We didn’t even leave the tree house.”

“Oh.”

“We saw a few things that were strange
and we heard the train come by twice.”

“Strange, what things?”

“I saw a bench, then I didn’t see it.”

“What’s it like in Bellamy?”

“Just like Maybell in some ways but
different in others.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re getting off the track. I need to
keep telling you about what happened. I have to find my brother.”

“Okay.”

“Olivia broke Trista. After that, we
didn’t know what to do. I took her to a doll hospital. They repaired her.”

“That’s what you said.”

“Yes, but she was just a doll. She
stopped being real.”

“What else can you tell me?

“Dolls change size from time to time.
It depends. Ed always tells us that it can be unpredictable. It seems more
unpredictable than not. Timing is everything.”

“Do you think there might be other
possible explanations for what you’ve experienced?”

“I don’t know. I need to find Steuart.”
Sam frowned, “I wish I could have saved Trista. I think it’s too late.”

“For your brother?”

“No, for Trista.” Sam shook her head
and looked off in the distance, “I’ve always thought that my colors were magic,
but so far they’ve not done a thing to help. I’m disappointed.”

“You’ve told me the colors lead you. Colors
led you to the tree house.”

“Look where that got us.”

For a minute, the two sat in complete
silence. Sam thought about what she wanted to say, “Shark Yeller, maybe I
should trust myself more, but I’m so sad about Trista. I’m worried about
Steuart. The only thing that feels good is that my grandmother’s here. I forgot
to tell you. She’s in the waiting room. She asked if she could say hello to
you. She’ll be going back to Atchison Point soon.”

“I’d like to meet her. We have a few
more minutes, let’s talk more about your experience.”

“Good idea,” Sam nodded. “I have a few
questions for you. You gave us the dolls. Certainly you know about them. What
do you know? What can you tell me?”

Dr. Klesel glanced at the clock. “We
can talk about all of that later. If I’m going to meet your grandmother, we
should stop for now. It’s later than I realized.”

Dr. Klesel and Sam walked into the
waiting room. Ida stood, smiled, and extended her hand. Sam introduced the two.

“Have we met before?”

“No, I don’t believe we have. I’m
visiting Maybell.”

Dr. Klesel frowned, “You look familiar.
I wish I’d known you were here at the beginning of Sam’s session. My next
appointment is a little late. If you’d like to step into my office, we can talk
a couple of minutes.”

Ida looked at Sam, “Is that okay with
you?”

“I’ll be in the lobby.”

“Please don’t leave the building.”