Chapter 1
That Girl
Wyatt stuffed the sweater in his duffel bag. Racing down the stairs, he almost escaped mothers hand. Almost. She laughed as he wriggles trying to free himself. She lent down and gave her son a kiss on the cheek. "Uh, yuck mom. That's foul," he screwed up him face as he wiped his check with his hand. His mother hugged him. "Now Wyatt, stay with Howard, OK? Don't get into trouble. And call me if you want to come home. We won't mind. Now, the big city is dangerous so-" she was cut off by a rough voice, "Let the boy be, Grace. He will be fine." The man stood up from his chair and walked over to his family. He wrapped his arms around the pair in a big bear hug. "Be good," the man said as he ruffled his hair. "Now go, go have fun!"
•••
Wyatt looked at the boy in the seat next to him. The boy was fidgeting and it was distracting. "Can you sit still Howard. I'm trying to sleep. It's a long ride. I recommend you do the same," Wyatt said to his friend. Howard rolled his eyes but sat still nevertheless. The bus bumped along the rough dirt road. Wyatt rested his head on the glass window and looked out at the passing view. The dust swirled around the bus tires and covered the homely desert. The bus went over a very large bump and he hit his head on the glass. A faint squeak escaped his lips as he clutched his head. It hurt. It really hurt. But Howard thought it was the funniest thing in the world. He laughed his loud, obnoxious laugh. Mrs. Wallace turned around from her spot in the front of the bus to shush the little boy. Before she could let a single sound out, the troublesome boy fell off the seat clutching his stomach. Wyatt lent across the seat and grabbed Howard's sweater. He used all of his strength to pull his friend back onto the seat. He was in for a long ride.
•••
The bus pulled up at the hotel. It looked flash. Children piled out of the door like water from a fresh water spring. Wyatt and Howard were some of the last to escape the bad air conditioning and sticky leather seats. His mother had always tought him to let others go first. He sniffed at the warm San Francisco air. It was heavy, like there were giant weights above them. No, there were giant clouds above them. That was odd. It hardly ever rained at home. Maybe it was different here. But they were still in the middle of the desert. He shook his head. It was too hard to think about. He followed the rest of the boys and girls as they trailed into the building. When they entered the lobby of the hotel, exactly seventeen mouths gaped open. The ceiling was so high! A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, light reflecting off the polished wood furniture. There were chairs and sofas to sit in. They had a soft, black and white pattern of birds fluttering across the fabric. They were stuffed full. The shiny wood gleamed in the light. The floor was beautiful. An elaborate pattern of gold flowers and butterfly's and trees danced across the floor. Wyatt looked up at Mrs. Wallace and Mr. Parker at the front of the group. They were talking to a man in a black tuxedo. He looked very grand, as did the rest of the room. He passed a key to each of the teachers. Mr. Parker turned around and addressed the children standing before him. "Could all of the girls please follow Mrs. Wallace to the stairs over there," he gestured to a brightly lit staircase. Once the girls had left he smiled at the boys, "Come with me." The boys followed the man. The stairs were as beautiful as the lobby. The floor was carpeted in a rich red and the walls were sliver trees reaching upwards with vines tangled in their branches. The boys ran up the stairs. Their feet pounded in the soft carpet. Seven floors later, the group of panting young boys had reached a corridor. There were four doors on each side. Mr. Parker looked at the key in his hand. He walked up to a door. Wyatt got close enough to see that it was number fifty-five. The key slid in the lock as the children held their breaths. The door swung open without so much as a squeak. Collectively, the whole group let out a giant breath as they saw their room. I'm t was beautiful. White and gold and silver and a complimentary black countertop. They filed in. Howard rubbed his eyes. "I'm tired."
•••
He couldn't sleep. He just couldn't. Howard wasn't even snoring as he lay asleep next to him. He looked dead. And Wyatt lay wide awake. 'Like a capsicum,' he thought. 'Wait, what!?' He stifled a laugh. He could not just lay here all night. Carefully, so he wasn't caught, he got up and tiptoed out of the door. The stairs looked different at night. All the lights were off. A misty glow came in from the window. He jumped the last two steps into the lobby. It made a soft thunk. Something moved quickly in the darkness of the lobby. It was by a sofa. Wyatt walked forward. "Hello?" He whispered. No reply came. He took another step. "Hello?" He asked again. This time, a tiny voice came from the shadows. "Who is it?" Wyatt was surprised by the soft, sweet, girl voice that came to ring in his ears. He would remember this moment for the rest of his life. More so the next. A small, petite girl stepped out. Light skin glowed around the freckles that were dotted over her nose. Curly red hair came down to her shoulders. Bright, intelligent blue eyes held a glint of mischief in them. She smiled. "Good," she seemed satisfied with what she saw. And she promptly turned around and disappeared into the shadows. Wyatt followed. He tripped over something. He smashed into something else and heard a load thud. "Thanks," a bitter voice said sarcastically. Wyatt fumbled by the wall for the light switch. A tissing sound came from the light before it lit up. There on the ground lay a fragile girl in a heap of skinny limbs. Wyatt scrambled over boxes and pillows and blankets to help her up. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She rolled her eyes. "I'm not three. I don't need your help you know," she said. Wyatt was taken aback. She looked sweet. She was anything but sweet. He decided not to snap back at her. Instead, he went for a gentler approach. He put out his hand for a shake and said, "I'm Wyatt. What is your name." She left him hanging. With a look of disgust, she spun around. Her hair whipped him in the face. "Louise, my name is Louise." She was very blunt. Usually he would have left by now. He didn't put up with rude people. Or blunt people. They never got the point across. But this red headed, freckly girl was different. He couldn't leave. He didn't want to anyway. She started arranging the boxes and pillows and blankets again. "Can you pass that green duvet?" She asked. Wyatt did as he was asked. It was a big lime green 'duvet'. He was used to calling then blankets. She talked odd. Her accent was weird too. He cocked his head, "Were are you from…Louise?" She set down the blanket on top of the sofa. She was taking her time. Finally she said, "Louisiana. Where are you from?" Wyatt gave her the answer fairly quickly. "Nevada. Do you live in Louisiana?" Louise shook her head and went back to building what ever it was. Wyatt stepped forward to see see what she was doing. Red and green and blue and purple blankets lay on top of the boxes and sofas. Louise threw a purple blanket inside the fort. She followed. Wyatt was left standing there alone. He contemplated going back upstairs to bed but decided against it. Instead, he ducked under the blankets. The low ceiling didn't matter, for the length dwarfed the forts he made at home. This girl was well skilled. Her head popped around a corner. Then disappeared. The lights came off. He heard a soft shuffling sound and then a torch lit up the space. It looked warm. It was warm. He looked at Louise. She was happy. She was pretty. She was fragile. But she was rude. No, the word was blunt, Wyatt corrected himself. Louise caught him staring and gave him a questioning look. He just shook his head. After a moment she spoke, "Are you going to stay? Cause there is room if you want to stay." Wyatt made a spur of the moment decision. "Yes, if that is ok with you." Louise turned around and crawled around the corner. With the light. He was left to sit in complete darkness. He was tired, but he just had to get information out if this girl. He waited. And waited. Then the light came into the small room. Louise came with a bag of marshmallows. She shoved four in her mouth at once and Wyatt thought she was going to choke. But she swallowed with ease. He gingerly took one from the bag. They were delicious! He had never tasted marshmallows before. He only knew what they were from the advertisements on the television. He threw another one in his mouth. Louise looked at him with a disgusted look in her face. "What? You do it too," Wyatt said. Louise swallowed the marshmallows in her mouth and said, "I am younger than you. I'm allowed to." Wyatt saw an opportunity for some questioning. "How old are you then?" He asked. She laughed. "I'm seven. And I am guessing you are nine?" Of course she thought she knew everything. He shook his head with a smug look on his face. "I'm eight." He poked out his tongue at her. She lept forward and tackled him to the floor. He tried to push her off but she grabbed his hands. She was giggling. He was laughing. She sat crossed legged on his torso with her hands around his wrists. She was so small. So very small. But he didn't feel like he was going to hurt her. Mainly because she had full control of his arms. She stood and pulled him up by the wrists. Her giggling turned into a loud snorting. She stopped and looked disgusted at her own behaviour. She often looked disgusted, as Wyatt would find out many years later. "Louise, why are you down here?" Wyatt asked. Louise looked annoyed. "First of all, don't call me Louise. Just Lou is good. And second of all, because my parents are at a business meeting and it is rather lonely in the hotel room. Down here is comforting." She lay down on the blanketed floor. Wyatt lay down next to her. Soon, they were both sound asleep.
•••
Wyatt woke to someone shaking his shoulder. "You two 'ad better be gettin' up 'for someone come and find ya. Come on now," he shook them again. Louise smacked his arm and rolled over. Wyatt sat up and told the man to go. He said it forcefully and the man obliged. Wyatt pushed Louise over into an awkward angle. She untangled herself and sat up rubbing her eyes. "What?" She asked. Wyatt chuckled. "Up, now." Louise rolled her eyes. "You sound like my dad," she replied with a smirk. Wyatt set his mind to cleaning up. It was early, still dark. Wyatt needed to know something "Loui- "It's Lou- "Lou, won't your parents be worried?" Lou looked sad, "Probably not, they aren't often home. My sister Sue and I usually have a nanny." Wyatt felt bad about bringing it up. They went back to cleaning up.
•••
They slowly opened the door. It creaked slightly. Lou tip-toed in. She dumped the blankets in a pile. Wyatt set the boxes and pillows in the same place. He looked around. The room was black and white and all sharp edges. It was very business like. Lou came back into the room. She was followed by an equally short brunette. Lou turned around to face the other girl. "Sue this is Wyatt," she introduced them. The girl, Sue, smiled slightly before turning around and walking out of the room. Lou looked at Wyatt, "If you want, you could watch the television. We have cable. Mommy and Daddy payed extra. I shall go and talk to Sue." Wyatt almost laughed. Her accent was odd, and so were the words she used. 'Shall'? Wyatt glanced at the television. With a grin, he plopped down on the couch and turned it on.
•••
Lou walked into the room a while later. Wyatt was fast asleep on the couch with the television playing. She quietly tip-toed over and turned it off. Fluffing up a pillow, she curled up on the sofa to sleep.
•••
Wyatt woke a while later. He took one glance at the room around. Him and panicked. He needed to get back before someone found out he was gone. She softly ran towards the door and down the stairs. He almost ran into the door but stopped himself just in time. Opening it slowly was no use. Everyone was up. Mr. Parker turned to face him. "Why did you not sleep here last night Wyatt?" Wyatt looked down. He mumbled something. "Excuse me?" "I slept in the lobby" Mr. Parker nodded. "Don't. It isn't safe. I would tell Mrs. Wallace but I don't want her angry. This is supposed to be fun." And with that, he turned around to talk to two other boys. Howard came over. "What was that about?" He asked. Wyatt just shook his head and laughed.
•••
Two days later Wyatt and the rest of his class were hopping on the bus. Howard sat down on the isle seat next to Wyatt once again. "So," Wyatt started. "What was your favourite bit?" Howard looked at him. "Well, all of it. But probably going on Alcatraz Island. How about you?" Wyatt sighed. "I have to tell you something." Howard pent forward eager to hear more. "Well on the first time I was down in the lobby and there was this girl..."