The Twenty Seven

Chapter 8

Nes picked Eira up before getting Ty. She started to relay information, but Nes wouldn't hear of it; she wanted to wait until they were all together. There was no reason to go over everything more than once. As she gave the same speech to Ty, she could feel the irony of the situation deep in her bones.

Returning to Carrion Cove found Es still on the phone, twirling the cord around her finger as she waited to see if anyone would answer. "Who are you at?"

"Iran," Es says. "It's ringing. And ringing--" She pauses briefly, thinking she hears the distinct click of someone answering the line, but shakes her head. "And ringing."

"Take a break from that. We should eat. And regroup," Nes says, laying down the bags she had brought with her. "One of the women at the store sent me to a sandwich shop." She passes out the food as everyone sits at the table.

"Food is great and everything," Ty says, "But a phone would be even more helpful."

Nes gives her a tired look, handing everyone their phones. "They're nothing special, but they should have everything you'll need."

"And you got these for free?" Eira asks, beginning to play around with hers.

"No. Just a discounted rate. It's a good think we took so much money with us to get you, Ei."

The girls put in each others' numbers, as well as all of the various ones they'd gathered since coming here. By the time they finish, they've relayed all their gathered information and Es has resumed her station by the phone. "Where do we go from here?" Ty asks. "We went from having no leads to too many."

"Well," Eira starts, "I doubt the people at that hospital work. We could always start with them."

"Miss Young, too," Nes adds. "If she words at the school, that means she'd get out when the kids do."

"How would she get there, though? All of the families only have one car."

Nes blinks slowly. "But Miss Young isn't married. Ei, start up a list." Eira gets out her paper and pen, holding it at the ready. "Talk with 'Crazy Benji'. Find out if Miss Young has family here, and interview her. Speak to Jackson the Farmer."

"Don't forget Aubrey," Ty says, looking at her own notes. "She doesn't go to the meetings with the rest of the mothers. We should probably figure out if she's really sick."

"That's a good point," Nes says. "Write that down. We should get in contact with a doctor around here, too, to make sure she's not just lying."

"This is like genuine detective work," Eira says with a smile.

"Stop being so happy about this," Nes says. "First, it's distracting us from the real detective work we need to do, regarding those cloaked people. Second, these people's children are missing. Have some compassion."

"Pot, meet kettle," Ty says under her breath, but raises her arms in surrender when Nes turns on her. "Calm down, Nessie. Don't want you falling through the floor."

"There's not much else we can do tonight." She looks Eira over for a moment. "Are you tired?"

"What do you need? I can pour another cup of coffee."

"You should look into finding that truth Toch again. I know I've heard about previous generations of the Twenty Seven using it." Nes sighs. "I'll be down there researching those figures, too, so you won't be alone this time."

"Do you really think they're taking more countries' Clochs?" Ty asks.

"I don't know."

"Do you think they'd do it all at once? Or one by one?"