I was standing face to face with an elderly man. He was bent slightly at the waist and looked so frail that a gentle breeze might have swept him off the porch. He stared at me for a second. His glasses were so thick they were probably bulletproof. They made his eyes look humongous.
“Who are you?” he asked. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t sound angry, but he was obviously surprised. Since he didn’t seem like a mean person, I decided to tell him the truth.
“I was just feeding the dog,” I said.
“Oh!” The man looked surprised. Embarrassed, even. He peered back over his shoulder for an instant as though he wasn’t sure if he should be there.
“Well, Bert asked me to feed Chaucer. I’ve been doing it for the past few nights.” He cleared his throat. “Who did you say you were again?”
I raised my hands to show him the hospital duds I was wearing. “Just a guy who escaped from the nuthouse,” I said.
He laughed.
“I have to be honest,” I added. “That dog makes me very uncomfortable. I’ve fed him, and I was thinking he should be let out, but I don’t want to go near him. Do you mind doing it? There’s no way he dislikes you as much as he dislikes me.”
The older man moved past me into the front hall. “Ah, he’s not so bad. He just has to get used to you, that’s all.” He held out his hand. “It’s Al,” he said.
“Zachary,” I told him. “I’m Dr. Thomson’s son.”
We shook hands.
“A doctor’s son. That would explain the clothes,” he said.
I smiled, raised my hand in a quick wave, then slipped out the door. As soon as I hit the street, I felt my lungs expand with a huge breath of relief. Then I started off again.
A plan was taking shape in my mind. I would need food soon. And a safe place from the sun. For that I needed help. I needed my uncle.
I headed to the Brookdale Plaza. It was a strip mall on the edge of my old neighbourhood. There was a bowling alley in the back where Nurse Ophelia took Charlie and me once in a while, and a handful of stores and restaurants. There was also a phone booth near the corner gas station. If I could get a number for Iron Spike Enterprises, my uncle’s business, I’d be set. Maximilian would know what to do.
I searched the phone book but found nothing. Then I dialled 411 and got an automated voice. It asked me for the person I was looking for, and the address. When I said I didn’t know, it kept asking me to repeat myself. Eventually I got transferred to an operator.
“Iron Spike Enterprises?” she said. Then she asked me what city. I had no idea, so we tried Peterborough, then Toronto, then Ottawa, then Kingston. We found nothing.
“I think the best thing would be to try an Internet search,” she said.
I almost bit the end off the phone.
Then I thought of Charlie. He was at his cottage on Stoney Lake. He might have a computer there. I managed to find the number for his cottage in the phone book, but since I had no money, I had to call the operator again. Unfortunately I got a different person and had to go through this whole song and dance about how I was in trouble and needed to make a local person-to-person call. Charlie had once told me that his older brother Dan drank too much wine one Christmas Eve and tried to call the Pope that way. He probably had an easier time of it than I did.
Charlie picked up the phone and the operator asked him if he would accept the call. He didn’t seem a bit surprised to be hearing from me.
“I’m glad it’s you,” he said. “You won’t believe what happened. My mom called. She said the cops came to her house. They were looking for you.”
“I know,” I said. Then I corrected myself. “I mean, I’m not surprised. They came looking for me at the ward, too. I had to run away.”
“Wow. The cops. That’s sick! What did you do, switch everyone’s medication?”
I didn’t feel like explaining it to him right then and there. You don’t feel terribly safe in a phone booth. The walls are see-through, for one thing. And I kept expecting to hear the sound of oversized bat wings.
“Can I explain later?” I said. “I just have to get out of here. I’m at the Brookdale Plaza. Is there some way you can come and get me?”
“I don’t think so. I’m here by myself. Dan won’t be back with his kids until tomorrow. He’s off riding the roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland.”
“Well, I need a place to hide,” I said. “I’m in a lot of trouble. I need to get to a computer. I need to call my uncle.”
“You have an uncle? Wow! Where’s he been all this time? The moon?”
“That’s what I thought. It’s a long story. Can you come and get me? I don’t feel safe here. And I’m starving.”
Charlie took a moment to consider.
“Suki might have a car, but it’s a bit late to wake her family up . . . Could you take a cab or something? I could pick you up at the marina.”
I’d forgotten for just a moment that his cottage was on a small island.
“I don’t have any money,” I told him.
“It’s okay. I’ve got some. Just get here.”