The next day, Sasha's family set out on the road to North Carolina. They woke up extremely early to get a head start because it was a good seven-hour trip. Her parents had made her pack before she went to bed, giving her a checklist of things to put in her bag. Sasha still held it in her hand as she sat in the back seat of their black Sedan. Everything was checked off, but Sasha felt like there was something missing. She couldn't imagine what it was. It was too late to go back now, if she remembered. They were only minutes away from her aunt's estate. As they rolled up to the gates, Sasha checked herself in her hand mirror, making sure she looked decent. She patted down her honey-colored hair and fixed her green and pink barrettes in her hair. Her aunt always made a fuss over Sasha's appearance. Beatrice was a perfectionist. They coasted up the brick-paved road that circled around a large fountain before it came up to the veranda of the house and led back to the gates. They parked at the end of the steps and her mother opened the door for her as the butler came down the steps to help them with their luggage. She declined the help and carried her small pink suitcase with ease up the steps behind the butler, who was carrying her parents' luggage.

They went through the huge wooden double doors and entered the palace of marble. It was refreshingly cool inside and smelled of calming lavender. Sasha heard a clicking noise and turned to see Aunt Beatrice coming her way.

She was like a buzzard. Aunt Beatrice was old, wrinkly, with a hunched back and a craned neck. She wore bifocals at the end of her crooked nose, and had her scraggly hair pulled back in a bun. She wore a long pink dress with shoulder pads and pearls embroidered into flower shapes along the hem of the dress. Overall, Sasha loved her just the same. Aunt Beatrice had a somewhat understanding of her, often excusing her for her mishaps, because of her disorder.

"I am glad you all made it safely!" she croaked, giving Marie a hug.

"Thank you for inviting us again, Aunt Beatrice," Marie thanked her as Beatrice hugged Dalton.

"Of course!" Aunt Beatrice stopped and turned to Marie. "I love having company." She turned and smiled at Sasha. "There's my little poppy, Sasha."

"Hello, Aunt Beatrice," Sasha smiled as she hugged her aunt.

"Come, Leo shall take your luggage upstairs. We can catch up over some lunch," Beatrice told them and began to walk down the hall. Sasha handed her case to Leo, the butler and followed her parents down the hall.

They entered a small room with a door to the back porch. Sasha could see the spiraling trees in the garden as they sat down at the table. She couldn't wait to see what flowers her aunt had planted this time.

Sasha ate what was handed to her as the adults rambled on. She wondered if she would see that man again. She sort of doubted it. They were states away, and there was no way that man would have known where they were. She still wanted to see him again. When she looked into his eyes, it seemed like he understood everything about her. The way he outstretched his hand to her, he wanted to help her with all her problems.

"Sasha, I do have a scavenger hunt for you to do in the garden during your stay," Aunt Beatrice suddenly said, penetrating Sasha's veil of thoughts. She forgot that Aunt Beatrice always set up a scavenger hunt when she'd come over. She understood Sasha liked to be kept busy and knew Sasha enjoyed the garden as well. "Here's your first clue," she said as she handed Sasha a slice of cake on a plate.

Sasha stared at the cake, doubled layered vanilla with strawberry frosting and a strawberry slice on top.

"Go ahead and eat it, poppy," Beatrice urged her. Sasha looked crossly at the cake but took her fork and sliced off the first bite. It was rather tasty, and the frosting was at the perfect creamy potential. She took another bite, and another, and then she found a folded up piece of paper inside. She slipped it out and cleaned it off before opening it to read it.

Out the door

To discover more.

Keep your head in the clouds

And your feet on the floor.

Sasha thought about the clue as she finished the cake. She then excused herself and took the note outside. As soon as she stepped out onto the porch, she looked up into the boards of the pergola overhead. She could see the clouds through the wisteria vines that wrapped around the white painted wood. She walked along the porch, staring up at the pergola, searching the vines for anything odd. She couldn't find anything so she began to search the floor of the porch. She checked every crack in the laid bricks and began pulling potted plants away to search for another clue. Finally, she came to a statue of a cherub that seemed to be delightfully dancing in the corner. His head was in the clouds, and his feet were on the floor. This had to be it!

Sasha tried to move him, but he was so heavy. He wasn't made of plastic like the pots that held the plants, he was made of solid metal. Sasha was determined, however, and poked her head behind him to check the hiding spot and there sat a small blue box. Sasha delightedly opened it to find a four leaf clover and another slip of paper with a clue in it.

Ten paces left,

There you'll find a cleft.

"What's a cleft?" Sasha whispered. She pocketed the box along with the previous clue in her gray sweater pocket and took ten paces to her left. It lead her off the porch and onto some stepping stones that stopped as they turned to her right. But Sasha had only counted five paces. She continued five more and was face to face with the fence. She looked down and saw a hole, just small enough for her to get through. Sasha got on her hands and knees and crawled through. She looked up and was looking for whatever a cleft was but instead found a pair of black boots.

"Sasha!" a man's voice exclaimed. Sasha smiled. It was him.