«How long have I been in your mind?»
«It's almost two in the afternoon,' he said, giving her a moment to let that information sink in.
«Eleven hours,' she whispered in shock.
Kyle sat down on his bed and noticed it was much more comfortable in his dreams than in reality. «Have you been having a good time?»
«Kyle, your mind is one scary place,' she said with a laugh, joining him on the bed. «But I think I've figured out why you're plagued with these dreams.»
«What? How?»
«I've been stuck here with the Kyle Valenti version of Mini-Me,' Isabel explained. «He showed me some interesting things.»
«Like what?» Kyle asked.
«Here, let me show you,' she replied, getting back up. «I think that may be the only way out of here.» Taking Kyle by the hand, she led him through his house to the front door. When she glanced back at him, Kyle gave her a halfhearted smile to let her know he was ready for whatever they were about to do.
As Isabel opened the front door, she expected to be taken to the police station, since that seemed to be the order of things, but instead she found herself in the middle of the desert once again. «I thought I had things figured out,' she mumbled to herself.
«I know this place,' Kyle said.
«I was hoping you would,' she replied. «Since it is your dream.»
Kyle walked around, surveying the area, trying to remember why it was so familiar. It was more than just a dream image. There was a familiarity of years past, as if it were a memory from his childhood.
He dropped to his knees at exactly the same spot where Isabel and little Kyle had been digging the hole in which she found Alex. The earth was now undisturbed, since their earlier work had been wiped away.
«Go ahead,' she prompted, hoping they would find a different «treasure» this time.
Kyle started digging with a manic pace, but it only took a few scoops of dirt before he hit something. Pushing away the soil, he pulled out a wooden box, holding it with two hands. It looked like a miniature version of a treasure chest from old pirate movies.
Isabel leaned in, hoping to see what was inside, but Kyle just sat staring at it, unable to lift the lid. She noticed it wasn't locked. It was only Kyle's own reluctance that kept him from opening the box.
«It was my sixth birthday,' he said with his eyes locked on the box. «My dad was already at work when I woke up, but my mom was waiting in the kitchen for me. She said she had found a treasure map and we were going in search of buried treasure.»
Isabel sat on the ground beside her friend to get comfortable for his story, hoping it would contain the answers they were waiting for.
«I was so excited,' he continued, smiling. «I nearly made myself sick eating breakfast so quickly. After I got dressed, Mom got us into the car and we drove out here. It felt like it took forever.»
He looked over to the side of the road and saw his mom's old car sitting there. A flash of recognition came over him because he had forgotten what it looked like. It had been so long since he had seen it pulling away.
«As soon as she stopped the car, I was out the door like a shot.» He stared intently at the wooden box, as if it held all the answers. «Mom had to call me back to look at the map. I was ready to dig anywhere.»
Kyle stood up, carrying the closed box with him. Isabel stood as well and followed her friend as he moved to a newly appeared mile marker planted by the side of the road.
«The map started here.» He tapped his foot on the ground beside the marker. «Then, it led us in this direction twenty-five paces.» Whispering, Kyle counted off as he walked to the collection of boulders that Isabel had used for shelter earlier. «From here, we went thirty paces north,' he said, and walked the steps, with Isabel in tow, «until we wound up here.» They were standing over the hole. «It took me forever to dig, even though it was hardly deep at all. And I found this.»
Kyle opened the box.
As soon as light hit the contents, two screaming voices exploded around them, but this time it was not Tess and Alex. This time, they heard the angry shouts of Jim Valenti and a woman Isabel assumed to be Kyle's mom, Michelle.
Ignoring the voices since their words were unclear, Isabel peered into the box along with Kyle. Inside, she saw a baseball like the one little Kyle had been tossing earlier. But this one was different. This one had blue writing all over it.
«A signed baseball?» Isabel asked, incredulous.
«Signed by the nineteen eight-eight World Series champion Dodgers,' Kyle clarified with reverence. «The richest treasure any boy could ask for. And I went and lost it, so long ago.»
«That's why we're here?» Isabel shouted angrily. «A stupid baseball?» She certainly hoped there was more to the story, and expected there was a considerable amount of information yet to be shared.
«No,' he replied, confirming her suspicions. «We're here because of that.»
Looking up, they saw a police vehicle in the place where his mom's car had been. The red and blue lights weren't flashing, but there was an urgency about the vehicle nonetheless. Something about its very existence implied that they needed to hurry.
But Kyle was in no mood to hurry as he continued his tale, quietly counting off the paces in his mind as he headed for the car. The baseball was firmly in his hand, the box gone and forgotten. «Mom was supposed to pick me up after school.»
«On your birthday?» Isabel asked for clarification.
«No,' he said in a monotone. «This was later.»
«Go on,' she pressed as they reached the car.
«She always picked me up after school,' he continued, staring at the ball. «Other kids took the bus, but my mom was there for me every day. Except one.»
They got into the backseat of the car, but went nowhere. No one was in the driver's seat, although Isabel suspected that little detail didn't matter. If Kyle wanted the car to move, it would move.
«I waited a long time.» Kyle looked out the window to the spot where he had found his treasure. «All the buses left, and all the other parents had come and gone. I was totally alone when Deputy Blackwood pulled up. 1 knew something was wrong.»
Kyle reopened the door of the police car, and when he and Isabel got out, they were no longer in the desert. The car had deposited them right in front of the police station. The younger version of Deputy Blackwood Isabel had dealt with earlier walked in front of them, leading them into the station.
Phones were ringing. Voices overlapped one another. A young deputy holding a phone called Deputy Blackwood over to the front desk.
«Wait right here,' the deputy said without looking back to them.
But Kyle ignored the deputy's words and continued walking the familiar route to his father's office, silently counting the steps as he walked.
Isabel followed, knowing they were on the verge of a breakthrough.
Once they reached the closed door to the office, Kyle stopped. They could hear the sheriff on the other side. He was crying.
«Aren't you going to open it?» Isabel asked hopefully.
«No,' he said, staring at his empty hands.
«Where did the ball go?» she asked.
«I threw it out,' he replied.
«When?» she prodded.
«As soon as I got home.» He was stone-faced. «My dad told me that my mom had left while I was at school. That
she wasn't coming back. At first I blamed him because he was the one telling me. By the time I got home, I was angry with her. I was so mad that I threw out the baseball she had given me on my birthday. It was the last truly happy time I had spent alone with her, and I didn't want to remember it.»
«So you locked it away in your mind.» Isabel felt they had almost solved his problem, and had braced herself to be flung from Kyle's mind.
