GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

Vila was completely and utterly happy for the first time in his entire life!

First of all, he'd scored big by thieving some absolutely beautiful gems. Then, on his way to his own very special hiding place, he'd acquired plenty of food and drink, so he could stay in his hiding place as long as he wanted, just enjoying his treasures! It was indeed a red-letter day.

Now if he only had someone to share it with.

He thought on that one lack for a time, as he made for his special hiding place. He knew his older sisters and brothers were either in school or working. His father was away working, as usual. His mother was working, too, not that he'd have brought either of them there. Neither one understood his need to 'acquire' things. Not that Vila 'stole', he just 'found' things that weren't being used or appreciated properly.

He was crossing a small unkempt park near his own apartment building when he heard the scuffle. Hiding behind a bush, he peered out cautiously.

"Let me GO," cried a dark-haired boy about his own age, struggling to get away from a much older boy who had him by the arm and was dragging him along through the bushes. "I am an Alpha! I demand that you let me go! I don't know what you expect to gain from this, but you will surely be punished for it!" The smaller boy was red-faced with rage, but it was having no effect on the older boy.

Vila thought a moment. He was sure the dark-haired boy didn't want to go where he was being taken, and he knew he had to do something to save him. But what? After all, he was only six years old. Ordinarily, he would have run for help. He knew everyone in his own neighborhood, business owners, family, friends, all the kids. And this big kid wasn't one of those.

Now what? he thought. Then, Aha!

Dropping his pack, he slipped back into the bushes and ran ahead of the two. He knew where they had to go to get out of the park, so he circled around to get ahead of them. When he figured he was far enough ahead, he looked for and found a tree that overhung the path and clambered up. As the bigger boy came along under the tree, Vila dropped down onto his shoulders, just like he'd done once before. Then, though, it had been his oldest brother he'd surprised, a much larger and bulkier person that this skinny youth.

The impact of his small body startled the youth, who dropped the smaller boy's arms and batted at Vila, tossing him aside into the bushes. However, when he looked around for the boy he'd held captive, there was no sign of him. Swearing loudly, he started after Vila, but Vila too had disappeared, though he wasn't really far away, just deeply hidden beneath a thick cover of brush. Crouching next to him was the boy he'd rescued. Both were holding their breath. Finally, still swearing (and Vila was taking notes!), he stalked away. The two boys listened to him crashing through the undergrowth until they were sure he was gone.

"I think we're safe now," Vila began, as they stood up and brushed leaves and twigs from their clothes. He looked up to see the other boy standing a short way off, just staring at him, his head canted to the side, baffled.

"Why did you do that?" he asked, unsmiling. "You didn't have to get involved, but you did. I don't understand this at all."

"Why was he dragging you, anyway?" Vila asked back. "You didn't want to go with him, did you?"

"I think he was kidnapping me. I've heard of kids getting taken and sold into slavery, especially Alphas, like me," he said proudly, indicating himself with a pointy thumb. "I was exploring on my own when he grabbed me. I'm not even sure where I am right now. I wasn't paying much attention to the trip, just on getting away from him."

"Well," Vila began, importantly, "you're in Dome L42, Level 14B, Section 72. We're 4 blocks from my home."

"For a Delta, you're pretty smart," the boy admitted grudgingly. "But that doesn't tell me how to get home or where to get something to eat?"

"Well, you can come with me, for awhile anyway. We'll have to go back for my pack, though. I dropped it when I ran after you. Come on," he invited, an open smile on his face, thinking, Now I have someone to share my good luck with!

But the boy wasn't moving, only staring at Vila as though he were seeing something entirely new. "You mean…you planned to help me, you didn't just happen to fall out of that tree on him?" the boy asked, aghast. "I don't understand any of this. I wouldn't have done that. It's just not logical!" He shook his head, totally mystified, then followed Vila back through the brush.

It took a few minutes to locate Vila's pack where it had fallen and rolled into the underbrush. Vila heard the boy's call of discovery and followed the sound. Picking up his pack, he opened it, pulled out a ration bar and handed it to the boy, then pulled out another for himself.

As they sat in companionable silence, backs against a convenient tree, Vila said, "My name's Vila Restal, what's your?" He turned his head as his new friend answered, "Avon, Kerr Avon."

"I never knew an Alpha before. What should I call you?"

"As an Alpha, I should be called by my last name, not my first name, like Deltas are. Call me Avon, if you please."

"Sure, Avon. If you're done, let's go. I have something to show you." Vila bounced up, suddenly very eager to show this new playmate his special hiding place.

Avon, all big eyes and slender limbs, climbed slowly to his feet. "Where are we going?" he questioned. "I really should try to contact my father, although," he mused darkly, "I doubt he's missed me, or will miss me for some time." Then he brightened. "What the heck! Sure, let's go."

Vila led the way, out of the park, through back alleys, around and under and through fences and walls. If Avon hadn't been lost before, he surely was now! Finally, Vila stopped, pushed a hidden spot in the wall of the dingy hall they stood in, and proudly gestured Avon into a dusty, dry, dimly lit, forgotten corner of the old tenement building.

Avon entered cautiously, sneezing reflexively at the dust that coated almost everything. It was hardly bigger than a large closet. The air was still and stale. Someone, Vila probably, had salvaged an old mattress and some scruffy pillows and a blanket to furnish the hideaway. A cardboard box served as a table. It really was quite homey, Avon thought, if you were a Delta. As an Alpha, elite at that, he was used to much better surroundings. But then, he thought, I'm not used to being kidnapped, either.

Vila followed him in, closing the sliding panel behind him. He turned to Avon with an expectant smile and asked, "Well, what do you think of my special place?"

"Well, it's dusty, musty, and old," he began, then seeing Vila's face crumbling, changed direction in mid-stream. "But it is cozy and hidden. Just what we need now, I think." As he finished, he dived for the mattress, rolled and stretched out comfortably, almost in one motion.

"That was a slick move, Avon!" Vila exclaimed, wide eyed, as he opened up his pack and upended it, spreading his haul on the cardboard box/table.

As food and gems spilled out, Avon came up goggle-eyed. "Where'd you get this stuff? These gems are worth a lot, I'll bet. So, how did you get them?" He turned to eye Vila speculatively. "You stole them, didn't you? You're a thief!" he accused.

Vila drew himself up to his full diminutive height and announced importantly, "I found these. There wasn't anyone around, they were just lying there, so I took them where they'd be liked and looked at – here, by me. So there!" he finished, still stung by Avon's reaction.

Avon put up both hands, palms out. "Okay, okay, don't get mad. I…just never met a thief before. Well," he considered, "unless that boy's taking me made him a thief. But he wasn't successful, and you were. Anyway, how about some more of that food, huh? I'm starving!"

Happily derailed, Vila broke open some more energy bars for both of them, and some juice in little individual boxes. Sitting eating and drinking pleasantly together, they whiled away the rest of the afternoon, talking of this and that, comparing their quite disparate lives, and playing one-up-manship. At first, Avon was rather stiff and standoffish, but eventually he thawed before the sunny, bubbly personality of this blond Delta. Besides, he told himself, this could be considered social research.

It was just quitting time in the local businesses when Vila and Avon left their hidey hold. Vila led Avon to his own family's apartment, a smallish place to house a clan the size of the Restals, Avon thought, as more and more people came in from work.

"Well, Vila, who's your new friend, then?" asked Vila's mum, when she came in from work.

"His name's Avon, mum and he's lost," Vila answered.

"Oh, is he, now? Well, young man, where do you belong, then?" she queried, beginning to prepare supper at the same time.

"If you please, ma'am, I belong in Alpha Dome A10. I was kidnapped and dragged here against my will," he announced importantly.

That got her complete attention! She spun around and exclaimed, "What? You don't mean my Vila kidnapped you, do you?"

"No, of course not, ma'am," he hurriedly replied. "In fact, to be truthful, he…saved me from the kidnapper by leaping upon his head from a tree."

That did not soothe Vila's mother. "He what?" She turned to Vila and knelt in front of him. "What is this all about, lovey? What happened?" she inquired gently, holding Vila by the shoulders. Avon couldn't help thinking his father had never spoken to him like that, ever. Although he knew he was much more intelligent than those around him, Avon's own father seemed to take little notice of him, except when he was displeased or drunk.

Vila raised very solemn eyes to his mother's face. "He told you. Someone, a big boy, was dragging him through the park. I…climbed a tree and jumped on him, like I did Seanan that time, remember? The big boy couldn't find us then, so he ran off. And here we are. Can you find Avon's family, mum?" he asked innocently.

His mother hugged him to her, then half-turned and included the strange dark boy in the hug too. Avon wasn't sure how to take that, not having much experience with pleasurable physical contact before. Finally, though, he relaxed and just enjoyed the unaccustomed sensation of being included.

"Well, first I think I should get a treat for my two brave boys. Then I'd better call the constable, to see if we can find Avon's family before they're worried out of their minds with missing him." She released the two, and produced a sweet for each of them.

Not too much later, the constable arrived. He was a large, imposing building of a man, but Vila ran to greet him with an easy familiarity while Avon viewed him suspiciously from afar. When Vila led the constable over and introduced him to Avon, the man asked, "Well, young'un, could you tell me personally like, what your full name is and where you belong, when you're home, what?"

Avon answered his questions in a very grownup, self-possessed manner the constable deemed highly amusing, judging by the grin on his face.

"Well, young man, I'll contact your father straight away. In the meantime, you'll have to come with me to the precinct house to wait, I suspect."

At this, Avon and Vila and Vila's mother protested!

"You'll do no such thing, Constable Jenner. Whatever are you thinking about, trying to take a little boy down to that horrid station! I mean, really! He'll stay here, of course, until his family picks him up. It's time for supper anyway, now, isn't it?" she bustled, shooing the surprised man right out the door.

"Now, boys, wash up, dinner's almost ready. Vila, you and Avon set the table, okay?"

The two boys shook themselves out of their astonished poses and Avon quickly followed Vila in washing up and setting the table, an entirely new experience for Avon, who was used to being served.

During the well-attended meal that followed, Avon was surrounded by boisterous brothers and sisters and assorted relatives of Vila Restal. Food was presented to him, jokes and stories were told to him, and, all in all, he was made welcome by this large family of Deltas.

The family had just about finished cleaning up from supper when there was a knock at the door. Instinctively, Avon froze, sure beyond a doubt that everything was over, all the fun, the warmth, the family feeling, the friendship with Vila. Everything.

When Mrs. Restal opened the door, she found the constable filling the doorway. He entered, silently accompanied by a dark, severe-looking man.

"Ma'am, this is the lad's father, Torr Avon. He's come to take the lad home now."

The stranger stepped forward, searching the crowd of strangers for his son. When he spotted Avon standing with Vila behind one of Vila's older brothers, he demanded, "Kerr, did you run off again?"

Vila thought Avon didn't seem too happy to see his father, which puzzled him immensely. As his friend moved toward his father, Avon looked peculiarly tense, as though he didn't know how his father would react – hug him or hit him.

Stiffly, Avon began, "Sir. I didn't run away. I was out exploring when this older boy grabbed me and dragged me here, I mean to this dome. Vila," Avon turned to find his new friend peeking out from behind his brother and pulled him forward, "climbed a tree and jumped on the boy's shoulders and rescued me. Then he brought he here and we had supper," he finished, eyeing his father to see how he was taking it all. Fairly well, actually, he thought, immensely relieved. At least he wasn't shouting at him.

"It all sounds preposterous, kidnapping, being rescued by a six-year-old, ending up staying for dinner with a Delta family. Really, Kerr, I don't know where you get your imagination. We'll have to see about these tales you're telling lately." He sounded a bit exasperated. "Be that as it may, it's time we were going home, Kerr."

"Now, ma'am," Torr said, dismissing Avon and turning to Vila's mother, "what do I owe you for taking care of my son?" He was reaching for his wallet when Vila's mother blew up in his face.

"Owe? Owe? Of all the…Sir, we may not be Alphas like you, but we treasure children, all children, I'll have you know! The very idea, trying to pay us for rescuing your son! I'd expect the same decency from you if my son needed a rescue." She ran down then. Seeing from his face that Kerr's father hadn't understood a word she was saying, she turned to Avon and knelt.

"Avon, son, we enjoyed having you as part of our family, even if just for one meal. You have to go home how, though." She hugged him, then stood to face Avon's father again.

Meanwhile, Vila, standing next to Avon, whispered, "Is that really your father?"

"'Fraid so," Avon answered with a wry smile. "I'll have to go now – back to…" He couldn't finish. The contrast between his own empty Alpha home and this friendly crowded Delta home was just too much for him to accept. He cleared his throat and tried to ignore the burning in his eyes. "I don't think I'll ever see you again, Vila. Thank you…for helping me and being my friend. I'll…always remember today."

With that, he faced his father, who took his hand gingerly, as though unaccustomed to holding hands with his own son. As his father pulled him out the door, Avon turned to look over his shoulder at Vila and his family. "Goodbye, Vila," he called. Then the door closed, shutting Avon away from them.

Vila's mother dusted her hands on her apron, as though to rid herself of a stain. She turned, to find Vila racing toward her crying!

"Why, Vila, love, what's wrong?" she asked, scooping him up into her arms and trying to soothe away whatever fears were attacking her youngest son.

"Avon…'s gone and he's unhappy and I'll never see my friend again…and…" He ran down, and continued crying into his mum's shoulder.

"Oh, Vila, I don't know what to say to you, but, somehow, I have a feeling you'll see him again someday. You just wait, Vila, love, someday you'll be his friend again, and he yours.

At that, Vila raised his head and asked hopefully, "You really think so, mum, really?"

She smiled at her favorite, unpredictable, and oh-so-brave son. "Yes, Vila, really."

Vila smiled and snuggled into her shoulder happily.