Chapter Nine-Just Knowing

"Victoria...." Marik was in his sister's doorway, peering in, alarm rising. The grl hadn't come down for breakfast, and that had brought Marik upstairs, to see if she was ill. Instead, the startled Egyptian boy found her bedroom empty. "Rishid! Ishizu!" His elder siblings were at his side a moment later.

"What is it?" Ishizu asked in concern. It wasn't often Marik called to them with such distress in their own house.

"Victoria never came home last night." Marik replied,his eyes narrowed.

"Oh dear....." Ishizu then realized her brother was right. They'd left the door unlocked downstairs before they went to bed. Since it was summer time,Victoria didn't have much of a curfew.

"Perhaps she went home with Christien last night. With everything going on with the Robas, she probably wanted to act as moral support for them."

"Without calling to tell us? That is not like her." Rishid decided. "I will call over there and have her home in five minutes." He left to go downstairs to the phone. Marik and Ishizu followed, worry etched on both their faces.

Espa was having similar ideas, so when Rishid Ishtar called to inquire about Victoria, the psychic boy was startled. "N-no.....she's not here. Christien was supposed to be over there." Espa got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Was he? All we were told was that Christien asked Victoria to meet her in their play lot. That was the last time we saw her last night."

"Play lot? What play lot?" Espa's eyes narrowed. He knew nothing of a play lot his brothers had.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew. The children have a play lot they call Egypt. KaibaCorp funded it."

"I see. Well then, I suppose that must be where they are then." Espa sighed. "Christien is a bit upset with me right now. I suppose he dragged Victoria into it. I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Rishid assured him. "She would have stayed with him regardless. Why not come over here, so that we may be able to go over there together?"

"That sounds like a good plan. I will have my brood ready in an hour if I can find Ej's shoes."

Espa hung up with the eldest Ishtar, and began the great shoe hunt of the day. I can't believe Christien did that. He knows how worried the Ishtars get about Victoria. It's wrong. Ah well...what's done is done. Espa had to snicker at that. His father used to say that to him all the time. He heard Ej and Andrew playing in their rooms,so he went to get them ready to go. Jonathan met him in the hall. "Hey."

"Espa, I know where they went." Jon looked absolutely horrified.

"Where are they,Jon?" Espa put a hand on his brother's shoulder. Visions were fairly new to both his younger brothers.

"They went to Sykesville on a train. They're there, Espa. At the carnival. "

Espa shook his head. "Alright. Help me find Ej's shoes. I'll tell Rishid and everyone when we get there." He went into the littles' rooms one bye one, and got them ready to go. As he helped Andrew get ready, he remembered several occasions when the Robas had been in a hurry. One time in particular stuck out. They'd been staying on the streets, when a new homeless shelter opened in Sykesville. The only problem was, it was first come first serve. Oh he remembered that day very clearly......

"Hurry boys! The shelter opens in twenty minutes. We have to be there before the rush." Julius picked baby Andrew up gently. The baby was only a few weeks old when the shelter had announced it's reopening. "Once we get in there though, we have to all stay together, alright?"

"Daddy,can Jon and me share a cot? Other peoples will want to sleep too." Christien,now eight,asked softly.

"Jon and I. And of course you can." Marcia told him. She smiled. All of her boys were such good sports about everything. "Come on now. Espa, help your brother, okay?"

"Yes,Mom." Espa grabbed Christien's hand and the five Robas ran across the street and continued to the shelter. He felt for his Jinzo card that he vowed would help his family in some way. The eldest Roba brother had already won thirty dollars from dueling contests. His parents didn't know anything about that yet. He was saving it in case of an emergency. And Espa knew one would come up. He could see far into the future.

"Espa,come on! Stop daydreaming!" Jonathan pulled his brother into the smoke thick confines of the shelter. He watched as each of it's occupants were signed in and given bedding. When the Robas were up, the attendant frowned.

"What's the matter? Never seen a big family before?" Julius demanded.

"Well, we're not supposed to house families over four occupants..." The attendant replied sheepishly.

"But autumn is coming! My sons will catch a deathly cold....." Marcia began to plead.

"Okay okay...don't bust a gut,lady. If two of your sons will share a cot, and you can put the baby with one of y ou, this might work."

"Right." Julius replied. "We can do that." He took their bedding supplies, and walked away, muttering. "This is only temporary,guys. I'm going to apply for a job tomorrow. At least then I can I afford some tents for the camping area. That would be better than this dump."

"Calm down,Julius. Let us just get through this month,then we can worry about what's next." Marcia soothed.

"Yes." Espa agreed. "Jon,Chris and I can help you save money,Dad."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're just children." Marcia replied,but she smoothed Espa's hair. "You let your father and I worry about that, okay?"

Espa pretended to agree, but he'd already spotted some other boys his age who were playing the card game he loved so much. "Come on,Christien,Jon. Let's go make friends with our neighbors, okay?"

"Right!" His brothers were ever loyal to him, and never questioned his judgement. They knew what Espa would do, and they were fascinated with his dueling technique. "Espa, will the dream fairy find us here?" Christien wanted to know.

"Of course, and she'll make anything you want to happen happen." Espa replied. The dream fairy was a new thing with Christien. Jon had made her up,to keep Christien from having nightmares at night. He put an arm around his brothers' shoulders. "Okay guys, let's go work on making friends." And money, he added silently to himself. I have to make some more money. There's a year left before I'll need it......