The Twenty Seven

Chapter 7

"Did you find anything?" Ty asks, holding out a cup of coffee to the just-waking-up Eira. She accepts, rubbing her eyes and blinking blearily.

"Nothing." She raises her arms above her head, cracking her stiff back. "I mean, I can make land more fertile, I can make people more fertile; I can even get a dog to quiet down. But there's nothing about getting information."

Ty stands over her shoulder, reading over her notes. "You can make people fly? Do you wanna try that one out later?"

"I'm not bleeding myself dry for no reason." She stifles a yawn, taking a long sip of the coffee. "Though if we happen to need another Toch, I'd be more than happy to draw that one on you."

"That's the spirit," Ty says, clapping her on the back. "Let's head upstairs, you're not gonna want to miss the breakfast Es made this time."

"Let me guess," Eira starts as she stands. She grabs her things, turning off the light and heading upstairs with Ty. "Eggs? With toast and bacon?"

"Fifty points to the Tochais in blue," Ty says with a jovial laugh. "I think it's the only thing she can imagine people eating in the morning."

"At least she does a good job."

After breakfast, Nes stands and begins to pace. "We need a plan."

"How about we call the sheriff?" Eira asks. "He probably has some leads. Worse comes to worse, we could split up and talk to them all separately."

"Two problems with that idea," Es says. "First, we don't have any phones. Second, we only have one car, and everything is too spaced out to walk."

"We have a phone, though." Eira looks between Es and Nes. "How else did you call Crann that time?"

"It's not a normal phone. You can't call cell phones with it, only other safe houses and the Head Quarters in Crann." Nes pauses, her mouth opening a little in surprise. "We need to dial every safe house."

"All of them?" Ty asks. "What for?"

"To see if they're missing their Clochs too. It's not guaranteed that anyone will answer -- people aren't usually at the safe houses -- but we need to know if there's anyone else trapped. We should call Crann too, see if they have a list of everyone on the outside for business."

"I can do that," Es says. "I don't mind making phone calls."

Nes nods. "We do need to get new cell phones. We don't need three people for that. I will get them, but I can drop the two of you off to speak with people while in town. Ei, you can handle the sheriff. Ty--"

"I can find some way to track down the other parents, gotchya."

"Do you want one of my notepads?" Eira asks.

"Probably a good idea. Not everyone can remember things as well as Nes." Ty throws one to Es, too. "Have Crann get a list of all of the safe houses so you don't repeat yourself or forget any."

"Good idea, Ty," Es says. She puts the pen behind her ear, sticking out against her light pink hair.

Not twenty minutes later, all of the girls had effectively split up. Eira sits in front of Old Greg in his office, glancing at occasionally as he recounts everything he knows. "You see, this kids of stuff really doesn't happen in Sugar Hill," he says, taking a small puff from his pipe.

"So I've heard, Mr--"

"Mr. Roy. Mr. Greg Roy, Miss--"

Eira holds out her hand. "Eira Lewis." After they shake, she tries to rub the sweat off of his hand. "So, Mr. Roy--"