Chapter 15

The Starr family was not accustomed to being woken in the middle of the night by pounding on the door to their home. Celesta and Tiana heard it first, probably because they were half expecting it considering the earlier events of the evening, though they had hoped it wouldn't happen. They realized that Brutus had been very angry with Tristan, but they didn't expect him to actually follow through with his threat of sending him to the city officials.

After leaving the party, Tiana ranted all the way home about what had happened. She couldn't seem to accept the idea that Tristan was truly harboring a saurian egg and was angry that he'd been accused of it. She hung onto Tristan's words to Brutus when he'd said, "This is a big misunderstanding." She figured that he didn't explain himself because so much was going on at the moment and he probably froze up in fear. Celesta merely listened to her sister rattling on and on about the events of the evening. She kept quiet about the egg rather than telling Tiana about it just yet, hoping that Tristan would return home later that night and do so himself.

Before they arrived home, Tiana and Celesta agreed to avoid telling their mother about the disaster at the party in order to allow Tristan the chance to explain it to her first. When they arrived home, they were pleased to discover that their mother was preoccupied with prepping food in the restaurant kitchen for the next day. That would make things easier. Sarilla was an excellent chef and very focused when it came to cooking so they briefly popped in to let her know that they were home.

Sarilla barely looked up from her cooking project. When Cedric was away helping with shipping companies, she often holed up in the kitchen, working on coming up with new culinary creations as a means of distracting herself from missing her husband.

"We're back." Tiana announced. "And we're going to bed."

"Very nice." Sarilla murmured as she scraped a pile of fresh chopped leeks into a simmering pot.

"Um…mother?" Celesta said. "It's pretty late. Don't you want to get some sleep too?"

Sarilla used the back of her hand to swipe away a strand of dark hair from her face. "I will in a little while. I have a few more things to do here."

The girls exchanged glances. It looked like their mother was nowhere near being finished.

"You need us to clean up afterwards?" Celesta offered.

"Oh no. You two scoot on out of here and off to bed. You know I love having the kitchen all to myself at night." Sarilla replied as she crushed some cloves of garlic against the bamboo cutting board with her chopping knife. "Did you enjoy the party?"

Celesta twisted her hands together uncomfortably and looked down at the floor. "Well, um—"

"Yes." Tiana cut in. "But now we're tired from all that dancing and excitement." She grabbed her sister's arm and steered her toward the doorway. "See you later, Mother. Enjoy your cooking project. It smells delicious. Just make sure you don't stay up all night like you've been known to do before." She teased.

They were almost to the door when Sarilla replied. "Alright then, I look forward to hearing all about the party tomorrow. Where's your brother?"

The girls paused. "Oh…he's around somewhere. You know how independent he is anymore." Tiana replied. "Goodnight, Mother!" She tugged Celesta along with her out of the kitchen.

Later that night when the pounding on the door began, neither of the girls wanted to answer the door so they waited until they heard the sounds of their mother making her way through the house toward the door. Only then did they crawl out of bed and tiptoe out to see what was going on. They held back though, close enough to hear, but being careful to stay hidden. They both knew that Tristan still had not returned and neither had Sekani.

Sarilla opened the door to see a man and a woman dressed in the garb of the city officials standing there along with two stygimoloch street guards.

"Good evening." The man said, holding up his lantern to see who had opened the door, making sure he'd found the right household. "Is this the Starr residence?"

"Yes, sir." Sarilla rubbed her eyes, sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid so." The man returned. His dark, Asian eyes reflected concern.

The woman standing next to him had cocoa hued skin and many small black braids spilled out from under her cap and down to her shoulders. Both of the city officials looked middle aged and in good health. "You have a son, an eighteen year old, by the name of Tristan, correct?" The woman said.

"I do." Sarilla replied, suddenly looking much more awake now.

"Is he home?"

Sarilla looked confused. "Well he should be. Excuse me just a moment." She stepped back and turned her head. "Tristan!" She called.

The man and woman exchanged glances while they waited and the pair of stygimoloch sniffed the air and swished their tails impatiently.

Instead of Tristan emerging from the shadowed hall, Tiana and Celesta came forward, both in their nightgowns with shawls pulled over their shoulders, and wearing wide eyed expressions.

"He isn't here." Tiana said.

"What?" Sarilla replied. "This had better not be some sort of prank, because it isn't funny. Now where is he?"

"It's not a prank and we don't know." Tiana explained, huffily.

Sarilla turned back to the small group waiting at her door. "What's happened? Do you know where my son is?"

"We were hoping you could tell us that." The man said, gravely.

Sarilla ushered them in as well as the stygimoloch street guards. "Come on in and have a seat at the table here while you tell me what's going on. I'll get some tea and refreshments." She said as she pulled out chairs for the guests.

"Thank you, but don't worry about trying to rustle up food or drink at this late hour." The man said, sensing the nervousness of the family. He smiled, trying to keep the atmosphere calm. "Let me introduce us. My name is Wang Qiang Bo. You can just call me Bo." He gestured toward the woman. "This is Lesedi." Then he waved a hand toward the stygimoloches who stood side by side, turning their heads every which way, taking in their new surroundings through curious eyes. "And this is Farsight and Stomper."

After the greetings were exchanged, Bo explained why they had come. "There was a complaint against your son earlier this evening. Brutus Harper told these street guards that Tristan had displayed violence by starting a fight with another young man at his party. In so doing some of his goods were destroyed. It's a minor accusation and not really uncommon seeing as young men and dinosaurs both sometimes feel the need to settle differences in such a manner. If this was the only problem we'd merely suggest that you have a good talk with your son and keep him busy in order to stay out of trouble. The guards here would've merely ushered your son home and that alone should've been enough shame to straighten up his attitude."

Sarilla turned to her daughters. "Why didn't you tell me this happened?"

"We thought Tristan would be returning home and he could tell you. It was his mess to explain." Tiana said defensively.

Bo took a deep breath, looking as if he really didn't want to share the rest of what he had to say. "But there's more."

Celesta suddenly stood. "This sounds like it could take awhile. I'll bring up a tea tray from the restaurant kitchen." She offered.

Sarilla nodded. "Thank you dear. That would be good."

Celesta quietly slipped away, but turned into Tristan's bedroom first. She glanced behind her, making sure Tiana was not following. As she expected, Tiana stayed in the kitchen, listening to every word closely. She didn't want to miss anything. Celesta went strait to the corner where Tristan kept the backpack which held the egg. Carefully, she lifted it and toted it down the stairway which led down to the restaurant.

Where could she hide this where no one would suspect to look? She glanced all about her until finally, feeling guilty, she placed the backpack underneath the stairs where it was hidden from view in the shadows. After warming up some tea in the restaurant kitchen, she placed the kettle and cups on a tray and tiptoed back up the stairs and into the house again.

When Celesta returned to the kitchen, she was disappointed that she'd missed some of the conversation, but hoped that Tiana would fill her in on it later.

"So he was hurt, but still somehow escaped?" Sarilla was saying.

Farsight bobbed her head and said something in her own saurian language.

Lesedi listened to the dinosaur intently, then interpreted. "She said he refused the infirmary."

Sarilla nodded slowly. "That's my Tristan, my stubborn son. I hope he is alright."

Farsight chattered and Lesedi interpreted again. "Well he wasn't hurt too badly, because he got away."

"Just how did he get away?" Sarilla wanted to know.

The two stygimolochs conversed back and forth for a moment and Lesedi leaned forward as she listened. After the chatter quieted down she turned to the others.

"Well, I think I understood most of that. They heard a window breaking in a nearby shop. Thinking that your son would stay put, they left him momentarily while they went to go check it out. They never found who broke the window, but when they returned, Tristan was gone. They had only been away for a few minutes so it's almost like it was a set up, like someone was watching and pounced on the opportunity to help him get away."

Bo nodded in agreement. "Yes. The timing of that broken window was too perfect to not be tied to his escape. Someone for sure was trying to help him."

Celesta placed the tray on the table and silently handed out cups to everyone, then nudged her sister to pour the tea, not trusting her trembling hands to do the job properly.

Tiana poured the tea, having done it thousands of times before, never sloshing one drop even though she was clearly distracted with the conversation going on around her.

The guests nodded and thanked her.

Celesta offered a few squash blossoms to the stygimoloches who happily gobbled them up.

Sarilla wrung her hands together in agitation. "I just don't understand. Why would someone accuse him of secretly harboring an egg that belongs in a hatchery? It just doesn't make sense. He never mentioned anything about an egg. But then again if it wasn't true, why did he try to get away and hide?"

"If he really was trying to hide it, do you think he'd tell you?" Lesedi said gently.

Sarilla wiped away a tear. "I would like to say yes, but I don't know that he would. He's been so distant lately. Are there any evidences that would prove that our son is hiding an egg?" she asked.

"According to Brutus Harper, your son didn't deny it when directly asked to defend himself." Bo explained. "And his actions after that with these two guards didn't exactly help to clear himself either."

"But there are other factors to consider." Tiana suddenly said, standing up and looking angry. "He'd just been through an awful fight. Consider the fact that he was upset and probably confused and couldn't think straight. After all, someone had suddenly accused him of being an egg thief and secretly harboring it as if he meant harm toward it!" The girl's voice rose with indignation. "Someone was jumping to conclusions, thinking the worst instead of the best."

"Tiana, calm down." Sarilla urged.

Tiana lowered her voice, but she had more to say. "Do you know why he got into that fight to begin with?" She glared at the city officials and the street guards. "You all are so obsessed with this stupid egg thief accusation that you aren't even considering the other factors."

Sarilla tried to hush her daughter, but Bo refrained her. "It's alright. Let her speak."

Tiana lifted her chin determinedly. "I'll tell you why he got into a fight. Some Skybax Rider that apparently was acquainted with him from Canyon City, gave him a hard time about failing the Beginner rank training. Yes, it's true that my brother did fail, but it wasn't because of stupidity, lack of effort, or fear. He worked long and hard up until the last, building dreams and building a wonderful bond with a skybax. But you know what happened? His skybax partner died. That's why he failed. He didn't have a partner to advance with to the Apprentice rank after that. It was a terrible loss and it wasn't his fault." Tears of frustration gleamed in her eyes, but Tiana was determined not to let them fall. She plunged on.

"That Rider from Canyon City said nasty things to Tristan and I'm not sure that anyone would be able to take that kind of verbal abuse without losing it, considering the circumstances. So yes, it's true that Tristan started the physical part of the fight, but the Rider in all reality was the one who started it with his mean comments. Even if he does have something against Tristan, I think it's just downright cruel to treat him that way after the horrible loss he went through and is still trying to deal with." Tiana plunked down into a chair and crossed her arms, signifying that she was finished with her spiel.

Lesedi shook her head. "We had no idea." She said. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"I don't know why then he was accused of keeping an egg from its rightful place in a hatchery." Bo added. "But the accusation still remains and has to be investigated."

"Has anyone ever seen him with the egg?" Tiana piped up again. "I mean, if he had the reputation of one of those Dolphin Bay Drifters I could understand the suspicion. But come on. My brother just before all this was a trainee to be a noble Rider!"

Celesta dropped her gaze, suddenly overly interested in the pattern of the worn hardwood floor.

Bo sighed. "I really wish I could tell you no, but someone did say they saw the egg."

Tiana's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

Brutus Harper's daughter, Poppy. When he filed the complaint and we were asking him for details, he mentioned a girl who accused him of being the egg thief. The girl happened to be his daughter's friend, but she hadn't seen the egg herself. She was only going off of what Poppy had told her. Apparently Poppy had seen it in Tristan's backpack one day and when she'd asked him about it, he indicated that he was bringing it to the Sauropolis Saurian Nursery. I guess Poppy's friend checked into it and found out that no new orphans of any kind had been brought in for the past six weeks. So the question remains: where is the egg? It was seen by someone, it was real, Tristan had it in his possession, but nothing about it has been reported. In that egg is the delicate life of some small saurian and our concern is to get it into a Hatchery where professionals who have trained to handle orphaned eggs can properly take care of it."

Tiana looked at a loss of what to say now. All her spit and fire she'd displayed in defense of her brother seemed all for naught.

Sarilla turned to her daughters with a confused look on her face. "You both were at the party and didn't tell me about the fight. Why?"

Tiana frowned. "As I mentioned before, we were waiting for him to come tell you about it himself."

"But you heard him be accused of harboring an egg and you weren't going to tell me that?"

"At that point I figured it wasn't true." Tiana argued. "I just needed time to process things myself. I was shocked to hear about it too."

Bo, taking note of the look of loss on the girl's face, turned his attention back to the Sarilla. "Do you have any idea why your son would be doing this, keeping and egg away from the Hatchery? Does he not know the dangers involved for that saurian's life?"

Sarilla finally broke into tears. "No. I don't know. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Your son must be very disturbed about the loss he's been dealing with so I imagine that might have something to do with this unusual behavior." Lesedi said gently. "However, he's displayed enough actions that are out of line that even if he comes up with a descent explanation for all of this, it's more than likely that the city council will choose to keep a close eye on him for awhile and get him involved in a correction program."

Sarilla winced at the words, 'correction program.' All it meant was that Tristan would be involved in special tutoring and watched closely by a trusted dinosaur until he'd proved that he'd learned from his past mistakes and the council agreed that he wouldn't need the 'guard' any longer. The problem was the reputation he'd have to work hard to overcome, and no parent wanted to ever have to mention the fact to anyone that their son was in the 'correction program' and it was inevitable that the subject would come up at some time or another.

"Maybe it's all a just big mistake and such measures won't have to be taken." Sarilla said.

"I wish I could assure you of that." Bo replied. "But in the meantime, your son knows what he's been accused of and if he were completely innocent, he should know that there would be no need to try and escape and then hide."

"Maybe he's just confused and rattled with everything that happened and needs time to sort out his thoughts." Tiana suggested.

"Then we'll give him until mid-day tomorrow to show up. That should be enough time, no?" Bo said.

Sarilla sighed. "Yes. More than enough."

"In the meantime, we've got to find that egg and make sure it's in the good hands of someone that knows how to take care of it properly."

Tiana's temper flared again. "I'm sure Tristan wouldn't have it if he didn't know what to do with it. He's not mean."

"But he could be uneducated." Lesedi pointed out.

"No!" Tiana argued.

"Has he ever been involved in an apprenticeship at a Hatchery?" Lesedi said, raising and eyebrow.

Tiana frowned. "Well no, but I'm sure he knows what he's doing."

"Up until now did you know he had the egg in his possession?" Lesedi pressed.

"No." Tiana replied with less confidence in her tone this time.

Celesta felt relieved that she'd kept her mouth shut the whole time and hadn't been asked a direct question like that. Tristan had confided more details to her and she understood his reasoning to keep the egg a secret and not let it go to a Hatchery, but she knew that no one else would understand those reasons—especially now after some apparently stupid mistakes Tristan had just made.

"Now the other matter we've got to try and figure out is who had a hand in helping Tristan escape from the guards." Bo glanced at the two girls.

"It certainly wasn't us." Tiana said and Celesta nodded in agreement. "We went straight home from the party." Tiana added.

Sarilla suddenly looked around the room, a startled look in her eyes. "Where is Sekani?"

"Who is Sekani?" Lesedi asked.

"The deinonychus member of our household." Sarilla replied. "Did he not return with you girls from the party?"

"No." Tiana said. "He went out quickly after Brutus made Tristan leave the party. We figured he would keep an eye on Tristan. He's always been like a guardian to all of us."

"So considering the fact that he's apparently missing too, he's probably the one who contributed to the busted shop window and Tristan's sudden disappearance." Bo said with a sigh.

"It certainly looks that way." Sarilla admitted. "Sekani is very close to my children and it doesn't surprise me that he would defend Tristan. His pack instincts are strong with our family."

Bo swallowed the last of his tea and stood. "I am so sorry we had to bother you so late in the night." He said. "The next step is to look for the egg. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we will need to do a thorough search here if this has been your son's residence since he returned from Canyon City." The man said as he shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, sir. I understand." Sarilla replied, looking defeated. "I'll show you to his room. That's the most likely place it would be. Since he's kept this secret even from us he knows we would've come across it at some point if he'd stashed it anywhere else in the house. We usually leave his room alone." Sarilla explained, wearily.

"I understand. We'll search there right away." Bo replied. Once again, I apologize for this inconvenience." He tipped his hat respectfully toward Sarilla.

Celesta swallowed hard, glad she'd made that quick decision to transport the egg somewhere else for the time being, but she was going to have to figure out where Tristan was hiding and try to get the egg to him as soon as possible.