It had taken a while to get through the airport, since Helga doesn't actually know what to do. She does now, and they left for a few hours. She had fallen asleep on the plane, and then again on the car ride to his house. The car pulls into the driveway of a massive home. Someone dressed in a suit moves to open her door. She smiles and follows her uncle into the house, passing the beautiful gardens. She identifies a large playground in the back of the house, beside a gazebo. Still, she stays at Jack's heels.
Inside, the floors are made of tile and a broad chandelier swings. There is a spiral staircase directly in front of her. A man in a suit and two women in matching dresses stand at attention in the foyer. Helga sees a hefty fireplace and stainless white couches in the area that must be the living room. Jack brushes off the adults.
"Children!"
"You have kids?" Helga questions.
"Surely you remember Jasper?"
Helga's eyes widen. Last year (in reality, six years ago), Jasper had been five. He was going to school and the two had been making mischief in the local junkyard. Jasper is Jack's son, Helga's cousin.
"You have more?" She asks again.
"I have.. taken in children."
"Adopted?"
Six children step down the stairs leisurely. The oldest is up front. He is eleven, dressed in black pants and a black sweater with the hood up. The second oldest is behind him. He is wearing the same outfit, only in royal blue. The third is also the tallest. She is maybe seven. She is wearing long dark green overalls with a matching sweater. The fourth and fifth are twins. One is wearing dark orange and one is wearing dark purple, but they are wearing the same outfit as the tallest. The sixth is only about four. He is wearing the same as the first two, but in brown. A seventh girl walks down. She is oldest, at fourteen. Unlike the others, she is wearing a long, flowing black velvet dress. She has a matching headband and matching sparkling earrings.
"Introduce yourselves."
"I am Elena." She announces as if rehearsed. "I am fourteen and I am almost late for my date."
Jack opens the door, allowing her to pass. He waves his hand, continuing the others. The youngest steps up first. "I'm Amman and I'm four." He holds up three fingers.
The twins are next. The one in orange speaks first. "I'm Autumn. I'm five." The one in purple then takes a step. "I'm August. I'm five."
The tall girl takes a step. "I am April. I am seven."
The boy in blue takes a step as she steps back. "I am Joshua. I am ten."
The last boy steps up. Instead of a rehearsed greeting, he silently shines his eyes in a certain way. It works, as tears start to uncontrollably sting Helga's eyes.
"Jasper? But, but you're five!"
Jasper cautiously glances up to his dad for further explanation. Jack claps his hands to gain everyone's attention. "This is Helga. She's nine and she has amnesia. April, show her to her room."
"Yes, Sir."
Helga gets acquainted with a dank dark room. There is only a bed, a closet and a dresser. She sets her dark pink clothing inside and sets her keepsake box in the bottom drawer. After a while, the tall girl in green walks in. She sees the old, tough teddy on the bed and slightly cringes. She doesn't ask about it though, and walks up to Helga.
"Your clothes should be in the dresser."
"Huh?"
"Your clothes." She opens the doors, grabbing a chunk of clothes. "The closet isn't for your clothes. You're supposed to put them in the dresser."
"Oh. Okay, April?"
"Yeah, that's my name." She helps Helga move all the clothes to the dresser. "Are you adopted?"
Helga frowns. "Yeah. My Uncle Jack adopted me cause I got amnesia at a lake."
She nods. "Uncle Jack adopted Joshua from Uncle Linus. Do you know him?"
Helga shakes her head. "Never heard of him."
"I was adopted from Aunt Nancy. Do you know her?"
"Uncle Jack's lady friend?"
April nods, letting out a shuddering breath. Once all the clothes are out of the closet and into the dresser, she takes a hard look to the teddy. She still decides not to say anything and walks out.
A couple months later, the kids start school. They go to an academy where every girl wears a faded pink top and a royal blue skirt with blue socks and white shoes. Every boy wears a faded blue top and a pair of royal blue shorts with blue socks and white shoes. No hats are permitted but girls may wear other items in their hair. Each class moves as a whole. Her cousin Joshua is in class with her. Lunch is quiet and routine-based. At recess, hardly anyone touches the playground, unless it is to swing or play simple catch.
Helga decides to play a round of catch with two girls from her class and Jasper. After a while, someone else wants to play a different game with the ball. Jasper easily lets them have it and one of the girls finds a football wedged in a shrub. They form a square again, tossing the football back and forth. One of Helga's tosses turns into a throw and the girl misses the catch. She gasps as it is going to hit Joshua.
Helga shouts. "Watch out, Josh! The football's gonna hit your head!"
Josh moves out of the way. For the rest of the day, Helga repeats what she had shouted, only in her head. She doesn't pay much attention to the schoolwork. 'football's gonna hit your head, football hit your head, football hit head, football head.' She jumps up from her seat on the bus with a shout of surprise. "Football Head!"
Josh, April and Jasper look at her strangely. She smiles sheepishly as she tries to recollect more. Her mind is still stuck in the past, but is now a year forward. She remembers 'Football Head' Arnold, wheezing Brainy and singsong Phoebe. She can't seem to get past those three, but she can remember the boy she has a mad crush on, her best friend and the boy who stalked her.
At home, after homework and chores, Helga goes to her room to get dressed for dinner. She searches through her dresser drawers, finding a slip of paper. She quickly gets dressed and stuffs the paper into her shoe before lining up outside her door. When everyone has lined up, the eight kids go downstairs for dinner. When dinner is over, the kids are permitted to go either outside or to the craft room. Helga opts for the crafts, along with April and Josh. Not telling anyone what she is doing, she starts up a letter.
[{Dear Phoebe,
Things are pretty busy out here. Uncle Jack has seven other kids and only three of them are older than me. We go to an academy and have a dress code. Pale pink and royal blue. Can you believe that? Plus I have to wear a skirt. Even at 'home', if you can call it that, we're basically in uniform. Uncle Jack has us color-coordinated. Luckily, I'm dark pink. The youngest kid is four, Amman. He wears brown. The twins are five. Autumn wears orange and August wears dark purple. April is seven; she wears dark green. Josh is ten; he wears dark blue. I've known Jasper. He's eleven. Elena's new. She's fourteen. Those two wear black all the time and they go out for dates a lot, Elena moreso.
So, how's things back at Hillwood? Is fifth grade really different? I wish I could be there. You're my best friend. Of course, I miss Arnold too, and Gerald to an extent.}]
As Helga writes the letter, more holes are filled in and she can remember more people. There are still plenty of gaps, but she can recall certain moments in third and fourth grade. She knows more or less how old she is, even though she can't remember anything in the past month or so. Grinning to herself, she finishes the letter.
[{Heck, I even miss ever-so-perfect Lila and queen bee Rhonda. What does that tell you? Alright, well, I'm going to mail this off from school so hopefully you'll get it by the end of the week.
Helga G. Pataki}]
Yes, I ended this chapter with a letter. No, there isn't going to be a letter in every chapter. There may be mentions of one or two, but this "move" is about to start changing lives.
