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Chapter 29
A week later, Cal watched as Maggie unloaded various items from her backpack and set them on a nearby table. “I can’t actually believe you have that with you.” She shifted on Maggie’s bed.
“Aren’t you glad I do? Otherwise, we’d have no way to recharge our stuff. Without my trusty solar battery chargers and rechargeable batteries, our cell phones wouldn’t work. I always knew they’d come in handy sometime.” Maggie sent her a smug smile.
“Our phones don’t work here. At least I don’t think so. I never saw the point in trying.”
“Nope, I tried. They don’t. But that’s just the reception part. We don’t need a signal to enjoy some of the other stuff like the games and music we’ve already downloaded.”
“I never thought I’d see the day when your predilection for carrying around junk and trying to be ‘green’ would come in so useful.”
Maggie’s grin covered her face. “Don’t need to worry about that, at least not until the batteries won’t hold a charge any longer.”
“Maybe we’ll be back for a visit before that happens.” Hesitancy laced her tone, though she tried to ignore it. Lately, it seemed that doubts about Relian, about their bonding, had been creeping in. “They might want that medical equipment, after all.”
Her friend stopped fiddling with the gadgets, skepticism painted on her features. “Well, they’re being close-mouthed again. It’s been half a month, and it’s not like they bring it up. I’ve asked.”
“Avoidance is their best tactic. I think they hope if they don’t mention it, we won’t bring it up. It’s like they’re hiding something.” But Relian promised he wouldn’t. Not anymore.
A thread of worry bubbled through her. She trusted him, didn’t she?
“They sure ignore us when we ask them about it. Whether you ultimately stay with Relian or not, we can’t be forced to remain here in Eria forever.”
Cal winced at that reminder. “You know how tight-lipped they are. It’s hard to tell when they’re being shady and when they’re not.” Relian had been shut up tighter than Fort Knox lately. Oh, he shared his desire for her, but his other emotions, he kept under wraps.
“So make some demands, like we want to start making plans to go home at the one-year mark. We now speak the language and still don’t know that much.” Maggie threw her hands up in the air. “Patience! They tell us to have patience. That’s their answer to everything.”
Cal nodded resolutely, standing. “We do need to start making plans, no matter what happens—or doesn’t happen—between Relian and me.”
Maggie deflated like a balloon deprived of air and flopped down next to her. “That’s all well and true. I’m starting to miss home. This is no longer the great adventure it first seemed.”
Cal placed an arm around Maggie’s shoulder. “I know. Even with all that’s going on with Relian, I find the thought of home, of my family, creeping up more often.”
“I miss my family. God, I never thought I’d say that. But there’s familiarity in their dysfunction.”
“I know. Me, too. It’s been over six months.” They sat, both consumed by their thoughts, until Cal released a chuckle.
“What?” Maggie threw Cal a look, apparently disturbed she’d make such a sound.
“I wonder if our parents tried to send out the cavalry?”
Maggie smiled. “Even though our disappearance isn’t really funny, I bet it led to some pretty wacky behavior.”
“You have to admit it’s an amusing idea—your parents working with mine.” Cal’s lips quirked up at the corners at the thought of her conservative parents joining with Maggie’s outrageous ones for anything of importance. Maggie’s parents were divorced while hers were still together—and relatively sane-acting. Truthfully, Maggie’s dad was a bit of a horny old dog, and her mother was the queen of neurotics.
Maggie shuddered. “A scarily amusing one. They hate being in the same zip code, let alone in the same room.”
“Exactly.”
Maggie’s face shadowed. “I wonder what they’ll do as time goes on without any word or trace of us. Have they already given up?”
Cal gripped her friend’s arm. “Time?” That word echoed in her mind. “Has anybody mentioned how time works here and how it correlates to our own? Did we even ask?”
Maggie gazed at her, realization seeping over her face, along with the hope and doubt Cal knew warred on her own.
***
Cal brushed a damp tendril from her forehead while she eyed the door of the king’s private study and the elves on either side of it. She and Maggie would be barging in, but they couldn’t be concerned with that right now. They needed some answers.
