High Hopes
The team walked at an excited pace back to the Parliament House. They passed quickly through security, Mick excusing himself from his normal small talk with the guards because they were 'on an urgent matter'.
Carol beamed a big smile when Mick reappeared in her office. Back so soon, Mick," she cooed. The flowers, already in a vase, and the empty pastry box were on her desk.
"It is most urgent we see John," insisted Mick, "and Trevor, we must see Trevor as soon as possible. We may have had a breakthrough."
John came out of his office before Carol could call him. "Still here, Mick? Talking to my girl, are we?"
"No, I am back with my group. We may have had a breakthrough. We think we found the Devil's Home. We need to see Trevor."
"I have already called him," said Carol.
"My God, man. Where is it?"
"Tasmania. We are talking Tasmanian Devil."
"This is astounding. I must go to this meeting. But I will be back. Tell Trevor I said sort this out ASAP."
Carol ushered them into the meeting room they often used. She sat next to Mick, talking to them for a few minutes before returning to her desk. Ginny asked her about the lovely flowers on her desk. She said her boyfriend gave them to her without giving up Mick. "He must be a great guy," said Ginny.
"Yes, quite," replied Carol.
"I need a boyfriend more like that," said Ginny. Harry gave her a bit of a look.
Trevor entered the room a couple minutes later. "I hear we have some sort of news," he said. "What's up, folks?"
"We are pretty sure we know where to find the Devil's Home," said Hermione, still charged up with the adrenaline of the moment.
"Where?" said Trevor anxiously.
"We are certain the Devil's Home is Tasmania, like in Tasmanian Devil," she gushed, excited to talk about it. "We have to go there to find love. What can you tell us?"
Trevor took some notes and said he needed to dive into it on the computer. Was it possible for them to meet him in the morning? They could even do it at the coffee shop in the square. "Mick knows the one I mean," he said, looking at Mick, who nodded in the affirmative. The group was more than willing to be there whenever he said. The level of excitement was electric.
"How about 9:00am," asked Trevor.
"Perfect," said Mick. "We will be there. Have my coffee ordered. You know how I like it. Maybe a nice scone to go with it, too."
They all returned to Hallow House where they ate a late meal and had a quick soak before bed. Hermione confessed to being so excited she did not think she would be able to sleep. She brought a huge book out to the couch where she said she might just sit and read all night. The rest of them said they were going to take a little stroll before turning in. When they returned Hermione was leaned back asleep with the book on top of her. Ginny carefully pulled a blanket over her before turning off the lights and slipping quietly off to bed. She knew disturbing her would have been a terrible mistake. Let her sleep and dream.
The night passed unnoticed and morning cracked open the door, spilling in enough light to arouse everyone. They dressed and went out to the square to await Mick. Hermione complained about a stiff neck from sleeping funny on the couch. Ginny ran into the dining hall and grabbed some of the ever-present fresh fruit and juices. They nibbled nervously at the food until Mick finally appeared with Mr. Kookie, as he was now known thanks to Ginny's Weasley wit.
"Get those last bites and sips in folks. Be ready here in a moment.
And right he was. A moment later they were sailing into the morning sun with high hopes that Trevor was going to reward them with the news they had been waiting for since it seemed forever. The whole world seemed to look brighter.
They secured their landing and started walking. "Follow me," said Mick. "The coffee shop is this way. They make great coffee any way you like it, but the scones, that's why you go there, especially the blueberry ones are worth the trip all by themselves.
A bell was tolling as they crossed the grassy area between them and the shops. The winter grass seemed greener this morning, odd for this time of year. The sun looked brighter than usual as it burned off the last remnants of the morning mist. Even the air tasted and smelled better than normal, filled with morning coffee, fresh breads, smoky bacon and spicy sausages. Maybe it was just there elevated mood, but it felt good, like leaves floating on an endless river, friends walking together, forever
An odd number of people were outside of the coffee shop as they approached. "Bloody hell," choked out Ron, peering through the shop's large window. "The bloody prime minister is in there with Trevor." No wonder there was an above average number of people standing around, making it stand out from the other nearby shops.
They stepped in on tentative feet. The shop was abuzz with office workers getting caffeinated and fueled up for the morning stretch. The cappuccino machine was hissing and growling as it steamed the milk. The grinder was chewing up freshly roasted beans. It was a foregone conclusion something was up. But what was it? Was it going to be a good or bad surprise? There was only one way to find out.
"AHHH! There you are!" exclaimed John, jumping up and sounding as delighted to see them as a winning lotto ticket. "Come. Sit down. What can I get you? Coffee? Scones? Best scones in the city here. Sit. Sit down."
They all took a seat, each ordering a regular cappuccino and a scone, raspberry for Ron, triple chocolate for Ginny, apple cinnamon for Hermione and maple walnut for Harry. Mick's double shot latte was waiting for him next to a blueberry scone.
"Trevor told me he was meeting you here this morning. I thought wonderful. Great chance to get out amongst the people. So, I decided to join you and have a good coffee and scone, instead of that awful office stuff. Anyway, he has some information to share with you. He was just filling me in on it. Go ahead, Trevor."
"Thank you, sir," said Trevor as he stood up. "I did a bunch of digging around in Tasmania. It is smaller, and the population is also smaller, so the data set is a lot easier to manage. First off, I did a search on all of the Wilkins names variables in the general population and dentistry files. That produced nothing, which I more or less expected. I was pretty confident my initial searches had covered it. But no harm in double checking. Then I did a check of immigrants and recent arrivals on the island. It is possible for them to not be entered into the master files. Folks sometimes get backed up doing data entry. I did find two dentists who were recent arrivals. They are working out in the poorer areas with an NGO assisting poor and elderly folks who do not have means of getting or affording needed care. The problem was the names were way off. Couldn't be them, so I pressed on into other data. There was one thing that bugged me, though. Their last names were the same. Couldn't be I kept thinking. But I couldn't stop the itch, so I called our chief down in Hobart. He made a special trip out last evening to check them and to clear my mind. He emailed me a picture of them. This is them. Herman and Hermione Love. WE FOUND THEM!"
Hermione leaped to her feet. "OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD!" she screamed, causing the whole shop to go silent and stare their way. "I love you, Trevor. Thank you. Thank you."
By then, the whole group was standing. "I am so happy for you," said John, grasping Hermione's right hand with both of his. "We will, of course, assist you in every way to get you reunited and home. Mick pressed over to the prime minister and began whispering to him. It was presumably about this still taking time because of the memory issues and the like. Ron, Ginny, Hermione and Harry began hugging each other, and Trevor, and chattering with great excitement about finally striking pay dirt.
