The Voyager's Aide

Story I

Chapter 2: Little girl lost

After her curious explanations, Kayla was sullen most of the ride. They passed the driving time with Jeffrey pointing out landmarks. Phineas pulled near the street and parked. They followed her to an old, charming brownstone. Kayla led them through a narrow alley, stopping in front of a rusted door with dark blue pillow curtains and yellowed newspaper clippings covering the windows.

"The guy must live like a troll." Jeffrey said.

Kayla laughed. "Artie doesn't go out a lot, he says it's too dangerous, his work is a big secret. I have a secret knock, only we know it, I guess it's okay if you do too."

Kayla proceeded to knock once, pause, knock three more times, pause, knock twice, pause, knock once more then tap her fingers repeatedly up and down. Bogg rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Kids. Remember that, Jeff."

"Why only me?"

"Its way too long."

The curtains flung open and Jeffrey jumped against Phineas. A bald head peeked followed by large coke-bottle glasses, rosy cheeks, and a bushy white mustache. He looked at Phineas and Jeffrey suspiciously, and then saw Kayla's smiling face. He smiled back and closed the curtains. They heard about four locks turn before the door opened. He shooed them in quickly. He re-locked the door behind them and then spoke with a lilting Irish accent.

"Kayla! What're doing here? You're soaked! What happened? Howdya you get out of the orphanage this time? And who are these two? Aha! TheVoyagers I was looking for! You're soaked too, man! Kayla, you know where ta go, draw yourself a bath and get warm, sweetie. You two Voyagers, come here a moment."

Phineas and Jeffrey looked at each other surprised. The day grew stranger by the minute. Artie fumbled around a messy brown desk and pulled out a tape measure. He stepped up to Phineas.

"Arms out and chin up."

Phineas complied and Artie took his measurements. Then he went to Jeffrey. "Now you, son."

When he was finished, he motioned them to follow. They wandered through his tiny, cluttered office and into an immense, dark room. When he flicked on the light, they gasped. The entire room was filled with antiques, furniture, and baubles amassed from every century. Artie led them to a camouflaged wall and pushed a red button. The wall slid open to reveal a closet hosting rows of clothing in fashions through the ages and categorized by decade. Artie pushed a green button and the clothing rotated.

"Wow, this is so cool, it's like a dry cleaners, even better!" Jeffrey exclaimed.

The clothing rack halted and a robotic voice sounded over a small speaker.

"MEN'S CLOTHING CIRCA 1940-1949 STATE YOUR YEAR AND SIZE."

Artie spoke into the air. "1941 casual…give me a Medium polo shirt and 34" waist slacks."

The clothing rack separated and pushed an outfit forward – charcoal slacks and a navy blue polo shirt. Artie pulled them out and handed them to Phineas.

"This should hold ya for now; push that little button on the right."

When Phineas did so, the small door above it opened and to a set of undergarments and socks. The robotic voice spoke again.

"STATE SHOE SIZE"

"Men's Size 11."

The door closed and buzzed, then opened with a shiny pair of black and white spats. Phineas was thoroughly impressed.

"Cool, does it cook? We don't even have this stuff in eighty-two! Can I try my own?" Jeffrey asked.

"Sure son, I hadn't gotten around to voice activating it yet. You, Mr. Bogg, go into that room to your left to shower and change. When you're both finished meet me back in the office, I have dinner cooking."

Phineas shrugged and smiled. "Great! We're starving! These clothes look pretty spiffy and comfortable."

"T-shirt and denims are fine for me. I want to keep my own sneakers."

While Phineas showered, Jeffrey wandered the antiques room. Every piece was tagged with a name, date, place of origin, and price.

"Whoa! This guy must make millions from this stuff!"

The objects were sorted by century. It reminded Jeffrey of the movie 'Citizen Kane' and a scene where Kane stood alone in a warehouse amongst all of his obsessive collections. It looked like a city from a distance. A shiny, red wagon caught Jeffrey's eye. It was an original 'Radio Flyer' from the fifties. He brushed his hand across the top, and a lump formed in his throat as he recalled his little childhood. His father, Bill, used to ride him through Central Park on his own 'Radio Flyer'. Afterward they pigged out on hot dogs and ice cream and spoiled their dinner.

Jeffrey soon felt claustrophobic among the thousands of antiques. He steadied himself on a bar-stool marked 'NYC – 1955 – $300.00' He couldn't stop his tears as grief enveloped him. He wiped his eyes, not wanting Phineas to see him cry again. But Phineas was patient with him at these times. He'd told Jeffrey it wasn't a crime for a man to cry.

"It makes you a stronger man to show tears."

Jeffrey's tears for his parents fell less frequently. Phineas Bogg filled a void no one else could have. He was his best friend, big brother, mentor, and father all in one. Thinking of how much he and Bogg depended on each other, and how much he loved him brought more tears. Jeffrey didn't hear Phineas' footsteps behind him. When he felt a grip on his shoulder he turned and hugged him tight. Phineas was caught by surprise, but knelt to his level.

"Jeffrey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm sorry, Bogg! I tried not to cry, but I couldn't help it. I was thinking of my parents again. My dad would've loved this place. Look, he used to ride me around in one of these wagons when I was little."

Phineas smiled warmly at Jeffrey and motioned to get up, but Jeffrey had more to get off his chest. He took a deep breath and held his arm.

"Bogg, I was thinking of us too. How much we've been through and and how we need each other…or at least how much I need you. I don't think I ever said 'thank you' so I wanna say it now. Thank you for everything you've done and for saving my life and keeping me out of trouble. I know smart kids give you a pain, and I complain, and don't always obey, and sometimes we argue…"

Jeffrey stopped to take another breath; he noticed how keenly Bogg stared at him and saw traces of tears in his eyes. He decided to 'bite the bullet.'

"I love you, Bogg. You're more than my best friend, you're like a father and I want to make you proud of me."

Jeffrey was finally able to breath easier. Phineas gave him another embrace.

"Thank you, Jeffrey, you don't know how much this means to me. It's not often a Voyager hears those words. I'm extremely proud of you. I'm honored you consider me like a father. I love you too. I'll try my best to always be there for you and help you adjust."

~Oo~

From the doorway, Kayla watched the touching scene with a pain in her heart. She longed to hear those words again too. She wished she knew her parents better. Her father disappeared when she was four years old and her mother died when she was five. For the last three years she'd lived in an orphanage called Wayside.

Life was unpleasant behind the gray walls and steel-barred windows. You were only another mouth to feed until you turned eighteen and were let out into the cruel world. Kayla was determined leave, but she had another obstacle – getting her brass compass from Headmistress Crawley's desk. It was a token left with her when she was delivered to Wayside. Itbelonged to her father. Crawley kept it along with a treasure trove of other toys and goodies she took from the children.

In her last weeks at Wayside Kayla behaved like a model orphan. This gave her the 'privilege' to clean Crawley's office and locate the compass. Kayla stuffed herself under towels on Mr. Meyers laundry truck and found freedom. Kayla related this story over dinner. Artie had cooked up the classic Irish meal of corn beef, cabbage, and potatoes. The meal was delicious. Phineas enjoyed how Kayla interacted with everyone. She had comical spunk. Twice during dinner Jeffrey laughed so hard milk squirted from his nose, invoking more laughter. Phineas admired her intelligence and sense of adventure. Artie was a fool to not take her in. He saw so much potential in her.

Phineas tried to shake the growing attachment he felt. Having to care for one kid as a Voyager was tough enough. After dinner, and big slices of chocolate cake, Artie decided it was time for all children to go to bed. He led them upstairs. There were four bedrooms, highly decorated in nineteenth century fashion. Jeffrey chose the manlier of the two. Kayla took the pink and cream-colored ladies room across from him.

Phineas saw Jeffrey to bed. "Artie still has to tell me why we're here."

"Yeah, do you think its Kayla? We promised to help her."

"I know, and that's a promise I won't break either, she's so alone. I feel sorry for her."

"Me too. Hey, did you ask Artie why the omni didn't work?"

"I tried to bring it up over dinner, but Artie doesn't mix business with pleasure, and he said food is one of life's biggest pleasures." Phineas rubbed his full stomach and laughed. "After that meal, I understand what he means."

Jeffrey yawned and laid down on the king size bed. "Wow! This is the best bed I've ever slept in."

Phineas tousled Jeffrey's hair and stood up. "Enjoy it kid, we don't get it this good too often. Goodnight, Jeff."

~Oo~

Phineas switched the light and shut the door. He noticed Kayla's door close fast; she'd been watching them. Kayla hurried into bed. Jeffrey was twelve years old and he wasn't tucked in anymore. But she imagined how nice it'd feel to be comforted by a strong guardian.

The atmosphere at Wayside was cruel and apathetic. Kayla endeared herself to anyone who cared. She found the cook, Junior, and the janitor, Roger, the most compassionate. They brought her extra food and candy from time to time and she shared it with her friends. After a while, Crawley found out and threatened their jobs. Eventually Kayla lost most of her friends out of fear. She was considered to be a troublemaker. Kayla was was forced to strip and make all the beds before breakfast and scrub the bathrooms and toilets before lights out. Roger helped her when he could. Kayla fought back when the other children teased her. When she was caught, she sit on a chair in a dark room for hours without meals. Artie called it a 'Dickensian' existence.

Kayla buried her face in her pillow. Phineas came in and sat on the edge of her bed. He lifted the rose embroidered quilt and tenderly pulled it over her. Kayla turned over and sat up dumbfounded. He gave her a warm hug.

"Awww, Kayla, what's the matter, hon?"

"You're tucking me in? No one's ever done that before, not since my mommy and daddy."

Phineas fluffed her pillow. "Now I just did for you." He pushed hair from her eyes. "How're you feeling? You had a very rough day."

"I'm tired, but I feel good. I need to learn to swim. Isn't Artie a great cook? Phineas, does he know the men that chased me?"

"We're gonna talk more about it, how'd they find you?"

"When I got off the laundry truck at the last stop, I saw the black car. I guess they followed me from the orphanage. I thought I could hide at the docks. That's when you and Jeffrey came to help."

"Kayla, do they know about this home?"

Kayla hid under the covers. "I hope not! I don't want them to hurt Artie! Not Artie! He can't fight them."

Phineas lifted the covers and stroked her hair to soothe her. "Shh…don't worry. I'm here right now and I won't let anything happen to us. You saw my skills, how I knocked that guy on the fish guts, pretty impressive, huh?"

"Yeah, it was! But...but the other one flung you on the floor! Ohhh! Are you hurt?"

Phineas was touched by her concern for everyone. "I'm fine, Kayla, a little sleep will cure me, and you need to get some too."

Kayla laid back down. She'd never felt so safe in her life.

"Good girl. Artie's waiting for me. I'm also gonna try and convince him to keep you." Phineas added.

Kayla popped up again. "Will you, Phineas? Thank you! I hope he'll say yes!"

Phineas laid her down and kissed her forehead. "We'll see, I can't make any promises. Now get some sleep little girl."