Gerry sat bolt upright in bed at the sound of screaming coming from the room next to her. She leapt out of bed and strode out into the hall. She caught Kate MacAllister's eye as she came up the hall. Kate nodded approvingly as Gerry went into the bedroom. Gerry was a good and compassionate child, despite being a tomboy.

Meanwhile, Gerry was shaking Johnny awake. "Wake up! It's just a dream. It's not real." He finally woke up, his eyes latching onto Gerry's face, eerily pale in the moonight. "Bad though, huh?" She gave a sympathetic smile. "What was it? Sometimes it helps to talk about it."

He shook his head, willing the tears to not start forming in his eyes, a willing that his eyes disobeyed. "Scoot over," Gerry said, laying down beside him so that his head was against her shoulder. She put an arm around him. "You don't have to if you don't want to, though. Whatever it was was scary enough to bother you."

"What...were your parents...like?" The question was asked quietly asked. There were still tears in his voice, though it was drowsy.

"They were nice. My mom was a teacher and my dad was a doctor." She bit her lip as memories of picnics, trips to the park, ice cream cones, and bedtime stories came back unbidden. "They were nice to me, did things with me, and always had time for me, even when they were busy." She knew it was the polar opposite of the childhood of most of the kids that came through.

"What...happened?"

"They died." Some tears fell against the boy's hair as she said this. "I saw them die. There was a fire, and Daddy threw me down out of the window. It broke my arm, but...he went back for Mommy. They didn't make it."

"I'm sorry." A few of the tears in his eyes slid down his cheeks. The arm that was encircling him tightened. He could have sworn that he felt her lips brush the top of his head before he fell asleep.

The three weeks were up, and it was now time for Johnny to leave with his aunt. As Mr. and Mrs. MacAllister and the woman were talking, Gerry had taken Johnny into her room to give him something before he left.

"I've got something to give you. Close your eyes and hold out your hands." When he complied, she laid a rectangular object into them. "Okay." He opened them and saw that it was a copy of Alice In Wonderland. His eyes lit up and he didn't know what to say except...

"Thanks."

She gave him a fierce hug and then it was time for him to leave.

It was a while before Johnny even opened the book. When he did, he found a note scrawled inside the cover. It read:

Johnny,

Whenever you read this think of me. We will meet again, I know it.

Gerry.