They all thought about the three words Fey had understood and tried to guess what Goldie was trying to say. Goldie furiously shook her head after each guess. After about ten guesses, she stood directly in front of Fey and slowly barked twice. When Fey didn’t understand, Goldie did it again, even slower. “Bear? No! Pair! No?”
Goldie’s smashed face looked sadder and sadder as Fey failed to understand what Goldie was trying to say. As Fey pondered to herself, Goldie tried once more. This time the last bark sounded a little different. “Wait! I know that one! Power?”
Goldie’s tail started wagging quickly, but Fey frowned. “I still do not know the first word though. Chair power?”
“If I may interrupt, dear,” Grandpa Cire started, “could it possibly share power? Can you share your powers with Goldie so she can talk to us again?”
Goldie ran to Grandpa Cire, jumped on his lap, and licked him. “Well! I’d take that as a sign that I’m right!”
“Oh! That does make sense!” Fey exclaimed, making no attempt to do anything.
“Can you do it?”
“She already did, Tim.”
They all turned to look at Goldie at once. “It’s so good to hear your voice again, Goldie!” Anna exclaimed hugging her tightly.
“It is very nice to have my voice again. Thank you, Fey.”
“You’re welcome.” Fey said, quietly.
Goldie looked at Fey for a moment. Tim could see that something passed between them. When Goldie looked up, Fey resumed her normal puppy-like behavior. “So, what happened to you, Goldie? Why did you leave?” Tim asked.
“I meant to only be gone a short time. I returned to Storage to replenish my magic. I could feel it disappearing, slowly, the longer I stayed in this world, even while in the copied rooms. Not long after I arrived, I heard the request for a copied room. It was unusual. As I told you before, your mother had been the only one to do that, in recent years. I realized that it was your uncle making the request. Because of the binds of my magic, I could not ignore his request, even though I knew it would probably not end well. I sent him a copied version of his room and once he went inside, he summoned me. I had to appear to him. At first, he was cordial. Asking if I knew how his son was doing. His questions became more and more direct, to the point where he directly asked where I had taken you all. He assumed you were in Storage, with me, and threatened to burn down the Ymedaca in order to find his son.”
Goldie paused, noticing Peter’s face had gone completely white. “Do not worry,” she said to him, “I believe your father is only desperate to find you. When I would not tell him where you were, he became angry and picked me up and shook me. Because he was touching me, I could not leave and return to Storage. It would have brought him with me. He then apologized and took me to his kitchen and offered me water. I told him I did not need water and only wished to leave. He took me back to his copied room, but when we arrived in the dining room, where the room had connected, his wife was in the process of closing the door. Before I could do anything to stop her, it was too late. The door closed and my connection to Storage and all my magic was being severed. I used my last bit of energy to send my magic on. I used it to create you,” Goldie finished, looking at Fey.
Fey, bowed her head, and stayed quiet. No one else really knew what to say, either. It seemed what had happened to Goldie, had been an accident, but they had no way to be sure. “What did Ronnoc do, one he realized you no longer had magic?” Anna asked.
“First, he returned me to the copied room. The magic of the Gups maintains the rooms, once they are copied. I only have to control the copy process. There was nothing I could do, and I had to bark and scratch on the door to get his attention. When he realized I could not leave the way I came, he put me outside. I made my way to the castle, in hopes I would be able to use the portal to get back to you all. However, before I could do anything, Kram found me and took me to the rest of the children. I could have gotten away from them, but I decided they needed my protection, being all on their own.”
Anna and Tim nodded, understanding. Their grandparents looked slightly confused, but before Tim could tell them about the children they’d met, Anna exclaimed, “Wait a minute! Where are my parents?”
Everyone looked around, just realizing that Einna and Tre weren’t in the room with them. Anna took off and went to the room her parents had been sleeping in. She came back, visibly pale.
“They aren’t in there. My parents have disappeared!”
PART IV:
THE END… FOR NOW
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
“Calm down, Anna. There must be an explanation!”
Anna nodded, trying to calm herself. Grandma An and Grandpa Leumas went back to Einna and Tre’s room to look for any clues that might help figure out where they went. Tim closed his eyes and tried to listen for them in his mind. He could tell Anna was trying to do the same. After not finding any trace of their thoughts, Tim concluded they were definitely not in the house. Grandma An and Grandpa Leumas returned, and by the expressions on their faces, Tim knew whatever they had found wouldn’t be good. “What did you find?”
Grandma An sighed. “My visions aren’t helping this time, Tim. All I can see is that they are in a small windowless room. At least that tells us they are
