Chapter 16
Family Ties
“Mum wants you guys outside.” The boys sidled around her, careful to maintain a safe distance. “She’s furious.”
Gaspar scratched his head and crinkled his nose. “You compelled us. That should be impossible, but you did it...freaky...but wicked.”
Her ability to compel other Timesurfers was quite the big deal. “If you’re all Timesurfers, why have I never seen your QIs?”
Mel lifted his sleeve to reveal an arm without QIs. “It’s a glamour. Clear your mind and concentrate on scraping a layer of dirt off my skin.”
The QIs on his arm suddenly became visible. They ended on the number 2014, so they weren’t from the future.
“I’m waiting!” her mother hollered from outside.
The boys hustled out to the front yard. Their reaction confirmed the fierce power her mother wielded over all the juvenile delinquents at the detention centre. She was ninety-five percent badass. Maybe she would be a good match for the evil Mortez.
Cate hurried to observe the boys with her mother through the open kitchen window, ready to compel the boys if necessary. She eased Jonah’s gift from her pocket and clipped the glittering green strands around her wrist. Austin had suggested the boys were brothers. Maybe they were. She searched for some kind of family resemblance.
Gaspar had tight scarlet curls. Balthazar’s brown hair was brutally short, so there was no way of telling if it was curly or straight, and Melchior’s shaggy blonde hair curled around his collar and ears, but that was just because it needed a wash. The three boys did have kind of similar noses. Austin looked more like Balthazar and Melchior’s brother than Gaspar.
Melchior and Gaspar slunk around the side of the house, assigned garden duty all day. It was one of her mother’s favourite punishments. Balthazar and her mum remained on the front lawn, their heads close. With a glance her way, Balthazar headed after the other boys.
“Cate?” her mum called from the front door.
“In here.”
“How was ballooning?”
“Um...enlightening.”
Her mum sent her a quizzical look. “Did Eve enjoy it? Is that one of her shirts?”
That wasn’t going to be easy to answer without telling a flat out lie. “What did the boys do?” She countered a question with a question.
“They were street fighting like common thugs. Someone called the detention centre about it. The boys are lucky they didn’t call the police.” Her mother’s fingernail tapped a tinny, metallic tune on the sink.
“Who were they fighting?” She held her breath.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. They shouldn’t be fighting at all,” her mother replied. “Did you see anything?”
This could go two ways. Either her mother had no idea she was involved in the confrontation, or she knew, and was dishing out just enough rope for Cate to hang herself. “The boys were on the porch when I arrived back.” Technically, that was the complete truth. The strands of emeralds wrapped around her wrist threw rainbows on the sink as the sun bounced off them.
“Is that your birthday present from Eve?” Her mother moved closer to inspect the bracelet. “She’s such a thoughtful young girl. The green brings out the colour of your eyes. You always look lovely in green.”
“Thanks.” She extracted her wrist from her mother’s grasp. “I might give Eve a call and see if she wants to watch the boys do their penance.”
“You just left Eve. I doubt she’s even made it home.”
Cate was desperate for a few minutes to herself. Her brain whirred and then like a stubborn child sat on the ground, cross-legged, and refused to work. “I have some girl stuff to talk to her about.”
“Girl stuff?” The disbelief written across her mother’s face wasn’t unexpected. Cate didn’t do girl talk. Ever.
“Not my girl stuff,” she ploughed on with her story. One day she would learn to get while the getting was good. “Eve’s girl stuff. She’s working on asking someone out.”
Her mother’s eyebrows disappeared under her perfectly geometrical black fringe. “If you tell me you’re going to braid each other’s hair, I’m calling the doctor.”
“Funny.” She rolled her eyes and strolled toward the door, swinging her arms extra hard to appear nonchalant.
“How are you coping after parting ways with Zach? Are there any perspective boyfriends that I should know about?”
“He traded up to a cheerleader and dumped me by text. But it’s fine. I’m fine.” No one had ever died of embarrassment and bruised pride as far as she knew. “I’ll let you know on the boyfriend thing. I have a few things in play.”
“Well, let me know if you want me to send someone around and have Zach beaten to a pulp. I could also have him murdered, discreetly of course.” Her mum’s eyes sparkled. “I’ve at least two experienced killers on speed dial. It would completely look like an accident.”
“Good to know, but I’ll pass.” Her mum would never actually do that, but it was funny she asked. “Thanks for caring.”
Her mum shrugged. “The offer’s there. Eve’s new friend, do I know her?”
“Nope.”
“But it is a ‘her’?”
Shit. Her mum’s sneaky streak had caught her again. “Yes, it’s a ‘her.’”
“Turn and look at me. So there’s no misunderstanding, I’ll say this without any frills.” Her mother took a few seconds to formulate her next sentence. “Whether you choose to share your intimate moments with a boy, a girl, or a mixture of both makes no difference to how much I love you.”
Cate dropped her eyes and fidgeted with her hair. This was even more uncomfortable than having the sex talk. “I’m not gay or bisexual.”
“Regardless, if you were ever to decide you were—”
“Look, good to know, but I’m very straight.” The fact her mum had sworn off men flittered across her mind. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay, and I would love you the same if you were.” This was fast turning into the most awkward exchange ever.
Her mum chuckled. “I’m not trying to tell you I’m gay. I have many secrets, but that’s not one of them. I thought maybe you were Eve’s new girlfriend.”
Cate gave a nervous laugh as relief shimmied down her spine.
“What about Jonah for you? He seemed quite the gentleman and a hot, sexy badass to boot!”
“MUM!” She signalled her mother to stop. “You’re old—that’s...icky. This conversation is flat out disturbing.”
“Look who I’m with each day. I could teach you a few new words. I’m just saying Jonah seems to kick Zach’s butt on all fronts.”
“But, Mum,” she said with mock indignation. “He might be a terrible person under all that gorgeousness and those manners.”
“I’m pretty sure ‘gorgeousness’ is not a word. He also needs those impeccable manners to balance out his hard-core bad boy thing which makes your knees go weak and whips those hormones into a frenzy.”
“Eeew...Mum!”
“If he is a terrible person, you can throw him back. There’s plenty more fish in the sea. If he’s terrible to you, the consequences will be severe.” Her mother’s matter-of-fact smile belied the underlying threat. “Now go and do whatever you need to with Eve. She’s welcome to come to dinner tonight and bring her new friend. Two is such a small number for a birthday celebration.”
Cate froze. Why would there only be two of them? What about Xavier?
“Your brother loved birthday celebrations. The balloons were always his favourite. It took a week for him to come off the sugar high from all the candy. I miss him more on special occasions.”
The sadness in her mother’s voice made Cate’s gut twist. Her mum not signing Xavier’s name on the birthday card this morning made sense now. This was an alternate time line, like when she woke up to a redecorated house and to Eve as head girl. In this alternate time line her brother was gone. Tears burned behind her eyes.
Her mother rushed forward and hugged her tight. “Don’t cry, sweetheart. My head says five years is a long time for him to be missing, but my heart tells me it can still feel him. I won’t lose hope. No one can just leave the house and disappear without a trace. Someone out there knows something. We must keep looking and stay positive.”
Each time Cate thought Xavier’s name, a sliver shaved from her heart, leaving an angrier and more painful graze. She took a few deep breaths, willing herself to be calm.
“No more tears today. Go! Go!” Her mum shooed Cate from the kitchen.
She forced herself to make slow, deliberate steps upstairs. When she reached Xavier’s bedroom door, she hesitated and then peeked in. It was like she had stepped back in time. The pictures and toys from when they first moved here still decorated the room. It hadn’t been updated since. It was also too tidy for Xavier, and there was a thin layer of dust on most surfaces. A pile of flyers on a chair with a photo of a smiling Xavier caught her attention. He looked so young. She read the flyer.
Have you seen this boy?
He went missing from Tempus Falls
On Monday 17th of January 2009.
Last seen on Angove St at approx 8:05 a.m. with a tall
teenaged male with dark hair.
Her mother’s number was on the bottom of the flyer. Xavier had gone missing on her birthday five years ago.
She rushed to the sanctuary of her room and crumpled on the bed. An invisible weight crushed her chest and she struggled to breathe. Pain seared through her heart as she stole a shallow gasp of air. The pain became more ferocious with each gasp. Grief drained the colour from the walls and furniture in her room until it resembled a battered sepia photograph. She closed her eyes, and the bright sparks of colour her anguish had stolen from the room pierced her eyelids like a shower of hot needles.
Tears dripped down her cheeks. She buried her head in the pillow and screamed. Her tears were replaced by colossal sobs that threatened to smash her ribs. The Timesurfers had done this. Yesterday someone had gone back to 2009 and taken Xavier. She knew this because she saw the change today after the midnight reset. If a normal person had actually taken Xavier in 2009 she would have woken up back then and discovered he was gone. This was an altered time line created in the last twenty-four hours. Xavier was gone, and it was all her fault. As her tears ebbed and her sobs subsided, a fierce determination sparked. She would make this right.
***
“Do you think Cate knows yet?” Zach shot balled up paper into the sink overflowing with a week of dirty dishes. “Score! That’s ten for ten.” He punched his fists in the air. “I’m so much more coordinated now.”
This week was proving brutal. There was only one way for Jonah to be free of Mortez, and it was something he could never ask Catherine to be part of. It was also something she would never forgive him for. So that would be three things she would never forgive him for if she found out. He banged his fists on the table.
“You’ve been prowling in and out all night. Shouldn’t you be ready for a nap?”
Jonah’s head ached and his stomach churned. Cate would be devastated about losing Xavier. He had hoped he convinced the current Mortez to change her mind. He checked with Balthazar this morning who had confirmed the midnight reset showed Xavier had still been taken.
Zach tilted his head to the side. “Can you hear that? It’s like a loud thud. Over and over.”
Jonah scratched his head.
“Do that again,” Zach said through gritted teeth.
“Do what again?”
“Scratch your head.”
Jonah scratched his head, and Zach grimaced.
“Dude, I think my head’s going to explode,” Zach whispered.
In nearly a century and a half, Jonah had seen plenty of people get blown up, but never someone’s head explode. “I find that—”
“Too loud, man. I can hear claps of thunder now.” Zach’s voice was barely audible, and his hands were pressed over his ears.
Jonah’s eyes rested on the kitchen tap. He looked from the dripping tap to Zach, who winced each time a water droplet hit the sink. Jonah grabbed Zach’s arm. He could just make out the numbers two and zero beginning to show in blue ink. Zach was getting his first quantum indicator and coming into his powers. He pointed at the numbers on Zach’s arm and scribbled a note.
Your first quantum indicator is coming through, so
your power is kicking in. It looks like super sensory hearing.
Brace yourself for a major headache.
“Hearing? That’s a lame power,” Zach whispered, his face pale and piqued. “I want to be fast or have X-ray vision...something cool.” He screwed up the paper and groaned.
With a combination of charades and force, Jonah manoeuvred the close-to-delirious Zach to his bedroom. He closed the velvet curtains, and left the room with his arms full of everything that made any sort of noise. After he checked on Cate he would report Zach’s condition.
***
Jonah paced across the foot of the wooden steps. His stomach churned at the thought of what lay inside the house. The white, two-story weatherboard house with its blue door, matching blue shutters, and picturesque English garden gave no hint of the evil inside. The perfume from the pink roses evoked memories of summers he had spent in the backyard with Rose and Austin at their cottage. With a deep breath, he charged up the steps and pounded on the blue door. Just my luck, he thought as the door swung open.
Cate’s mother stepped back and motioned him in with a lazy smile. The glamour she had used for her outside life these last sixteen years was impressive. No matter how he tried, Jonah couldn’t see the real Mortez through it. The short, perfectly bobbed black hair and petite frame were the complete opposite of how the real Mortez looked.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
Mortez pointed upstairs. She turned his arm over and tapped the 2017. Her curious grey eyes looked him up and down. “I hope I’m treating you well in the future.”
“For all you know, I’ve dumped your sorry ass to do Naitanui’s bidding.”
“I’m confident that’s not the case.” Her dry smile was familiar. “It would be a fatal move for your somewhat depleted family. You’re a great warrior, Jonah, but your heart makes you vulnerable. There’s your family, Rose and her family, and now the jewel, my daughter Cate.”
He clenched his fists and glared. “Does she know Xavier’s gone?”
“Yes. She still hasn’t got her first QI yet.” Mortez’s hands gestured flamboyantly as she spoke.
A knife twisted in his stomach. “I can’t believe you went ahead with your plan to kidnap Xavier after I pleaded with you to reconsider. I’ve never asked you for anything. NEVER!”
“Don’t be dramatic, Jonah. I had no doubt you would come to me at some stage and plead that I amend the orders I gave you in 2014 to kidnap Xavier. I had the three boys sleep over here last night so you all have an aura clash with the time. None of you can come back again to that time. This date is one of the most heavily guarded since you kidnapped Xavier, just in case you should ever manage to convince someone to help you.”
“Does family mean nothing to you?”
A fierce mask slipped over Mortez’s face. “Duty often clashes with love. You of all people should know that.”
Jonah flinched. “I came to see Cate. Let me pass.”
Mortez gripped his arm. Her nails dug painfully into his skin. “I’ll remind you to hold your tongue.”
He shook off her hand. “I’ve kept your filthy secret. It was the only way to protect Catherine.”
“It’s our secret, about something you did,” she crooned as he started up the staircase.
“On your diabolical orders.” Jonah refused to look back as he climbed the steps to Cate’s room. He paused at the gold plaque with “Cate’s Room” inscribed in bold black letters on her bedroom door. Should he tell her? He wrestled with the question constantly. Keeping his secret always won out. Cate would see and hear her mother do horrendous things. He wanted to shield her from this terrible act.
He tapped on the bedroom door. “Cate, it’s Jonah. Your mother said I could come up.” He twisted the heavy golden handle and pushed the door ajar to peer into the room. The ornate cheval mirror, the cream and gold four-poster bed, the bookshelves overflowing with books, ornaments and stuff were all familiar. As was Cate’s much-loved mirror ball the size of a beach ball hanging from the ceiling.
She was face down on the bed, her long blonde hair, striped with the vibrant rainbow pieces, tumbled across her pillow and hung over the edge of the bed. He repeated her name. Apprehension fluttered in his chest when she remained motionless. He strode across the polished wooden floor and tentatively touched her shoulder.
There was a snarl and a blur of movement. Cate’s fist smashed into his temple, and strands of hair whipped across his cheek. He staggered as she flipped off the bed and thrust a heel into his sternum. “Stop it.” He fended off another kick.
“My brother is gone,” she said through clenched teeth. “He’s gone because of YOU!”
He deflected a barrage of punches and kicks, cursing when a sneaky punch got through his guard and smacked him hard on the nose. “STOP! I don’t want to hurt you.”
Cate’s eyes glittered with rage as she continued to fight.
After a few minutes dodging her furious fists, Jonah was officially over being pounded. He allowed her to put him into a headlock and then used the wall to push off and flip over her head to break the hold. He then clamped her arms against her sides and held firm while she sobbed and stomped on his insteps and raked her heels down his shins.
“I won’t pretend I didn’t know Xavier would be gone when you got home.”
Her struggles weakened.
“Stop and let me help you.” He cautiously released her arms and steered her to the bed.
“Do you know which Timesurfers took him? Do you know why they took him?” she choked out between sobs. Her cheeks were flushed red, and the freckles across her nose stood out against her pale face.
“No,” he lied. Nausea rolled through his chest. Shame gnawed at his gut. Seeing her go through this was more agonising than he could ever have imagined.
She grabbed the neck of his purple T-shirt. “You’d know if it was Mortez, wouldn’t you?” Her face was filled with desperation, as a small gleam of hope flared through the tears in her eyes.
Jonah steeled himself to look directly into her eyes. The desperation he saw made his stomach churn. Each tear she spilled was like a knife to his heart. “Cate...”
“It could have been Elias.” Her hands clutched frantically at his shoulders, her face still for a second as she collected her thoughts. “Maybe he came here to kidnap Xavier. Yes. That has to be it. Xavier’s got nothing to do with this. Please. I’ll do anything if you help me find him.”
He gently prised her hands from his shirt. The raw pain glowing in her eyes sliced through Jonah’s heart. Sadness crept along his skin, leaving a trail of icy deceit. He detested himself before his words were even out. “Anything, hey?”