CHAPTER SIX
FOR THE PROTECTION OF A CHILD
Timmy looked up at his parents. There was a shocked look on all three of the Turner's faces. No one knew what to say. Finally Mr. Turner broke the silence,
"Dr. Hunter has to be bluffing. There are parents that are far worse than us."
"You're right", said Mrs. Turner drawing a nervous breath, "Timmy sweetheart. Why don't you get ready for bed? I'm sure you're tired."
Timmy, very numbly, went upstairs. He knew Hunter wasn't bluffing. In fact, at his last exam, the pediatrician questioned Timmy extensively about whether he'd been neglected. He even seemed to know that his Mom didn't always fix dinner for him. Much like A.J. seemed to know. A.J.; wait a second.
Timmy stopped as he entered his room. And Dr. Hunter's words sunk completely in that he was temporarily was going to be at A.J.'s house AND it had been planned for months. This meant A.J. knew.
"Why didn't A.J. tell me?," said Timmy out loud.
There was a knock on the Johnson's door and Helen answered the door. Dr. Hunter was standing there. A.J.'s mother looked like she had been expecting him.
"A.J.," said Helen, "Alex, Dr. Hunter is here."
Her husband and her son came to the door. All four of them looked pretty grim.
"It's going to happen," said Hunter, "You'd better get ready because Timmy's going to be here a little after nine tomorrow.
Mr. Buxaplenty was the first regain consciousness. He sat up hoping what he had just heard was a dream. He looked up and saw the police officers and he knew it wasn't a dream. The millionaire very gently shook his wife. She awoke and had tears in her eyes. The older police officer spoke,
"Mrs. Buxaplenty, Mr. Buxaplenty, I'm sorry about the bluntness but we weren't sure how serious you realized this was. I can safely say you truly do understand how serious this is."
"You just told me," said Mrs. Buxaplenty, "that my boy is probably dead; so yes I know this is serious."
The younger officer swallowed and then said,
"I apologize Mrs. Buxaplenty,I didn't want you to lose hope, but when a child is missing from more than 2 days, it usually isn't a good sign. However, I can assure you we will do everything we can to find him."
"According to what you're saying this is no longer a "missing person's case" but it's a "find a body case," said Mr. Buxaplenty
"Mr. Buxaplenty," said the older officer, (Mr. Buxaplenty tried to remember his name; Frank, that's what it was, "I'm not going to sugar coat it, it's usually bad news when something like this happens, but many times, the child is returned safely or we finally find the child alive. Just so you know, we work every case with the assumption that we will FIND the child ALIVE. We will continue to work this case. Please phone us if you think of anything. And it probably wouldn't hurt to pray for his safe return."
The two officers left after saying their goodbyes. The two parents looked at each other. Finally, Mrs. Buxaplenty broke down crying and Mr. Buxaplenty gently hugged her and let his wife cry on his shoulder.
Winston had returned about an hour ago. He was shaking and distant. He wouldn't talk or even move from his spot. Marianne was grinning gleefully and she seemed to get a sadistic pleasure from Winston's pain. This cause Remy to be angry.
"What did you DO to him," said the blond rich boy, furiously, "you little witch."
The little girl turned on Remy and smacked him with some type of object. It was so fast that Remy couldn't tell what he was struck with. He did however taste blood and rubbed his cheek.
"My, my, you bad boy," said Marianne, "You shouldn't call a sweet little girl names. Like I said, you'll find out soon enough."
Remy was about to say something else, but then he stopped. Not because he was afraid of Marianne, but because he noticed something. Something very strange about the girl; something he needed to talk to Winston about. His lack of response made Marianne smile.
"Well, now," said Marianne, "that's a good boy. Just do what I say and it'll go easy on you. In fact, I'm feeling generous so I'll let you and the goofball have some light for a while so you can get to know each other better."
And with that Marianne vanished. Remy wasn't sure how, but it was undoubtedly due to the black magic. He very quietly approached Winston. The red haired boy had stopped shaking some, but he still looked scared.
"Winston," said Remy, "I'm really sorry; oh and thank you for protecting me from Marianne, but try not to take her on again. She's very dangerous."
Remy's new friend nodded and then Remy continued,
"Besides, I need to tell you something. Have you noticed something strange about her."
"You mean," said Winston, voice shaking a little bit, "besides the fact she's a a little girl who happens to be over a hundred years old."
Remy grimaced and then said,
"Yes besides that. That girl is just, just wrong."
"That's hardly news, Remy," said Winston, "she's working for Anti-Cosmo."
"No, that's not what I mean, " said Remy, "something's wrong with her...she...doesn't..."
"Doesn't what, Remy?," said Winston, now more curious than frightened.
"That girl," said Remy, "she doesn't cast a shadow."
Timmy looked out of his window and saw two Crown Victoria cars on his street. They were unmarked, but it was obvious they were police cars. He wanted to get out of there and somehow get his parents out of trouble. He couldn't just "poof" out of there as his godfamily was gone and his emergency wand was now gone. That was when a thought hit him. Jorgen had taken Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof to Fairy World. That meant Jorgen probably knew what was going on. He thought some more. There was a good chance Cosmo and Wanda knew what was happening as well. This got him a little angry.
"Everyone knows what's been happening and I don't," said Timmy, "and made decisions about my life without letting me have some say in it. I am NOT a toy or a chess piece."
"No, buddy," said a voice behind him, "You're not."
Timmy whirled around and saw A.J. standing there.
"I used my teleporter," said A.J., "I generally don't use it over long distances but I figured you needed to talk. I, also, agree, you're a person not an object. However, I think your parents need to realize that and that's the reason this has been done."
Kind of a grim chapter I know; please review.
