“He didn’t have—”
“You searched him without my permission? Without his attorney and his doctor?”
“Not a cavity search, ma’am.”
“Stephen, if we are not allowed to leave immediately—”
“I think this incident has been blown out of proportion,” Stephen said. “We’re all a bit nervous these days. I’ll take responsibility for the boy’s release, and we know how to contact Marley if the need arises.” He looked at each guard. “There seem to be quite a few of you here. I trust you haven’t neglected to lock down the area. That was also part of your orders, I believe.”
Marley threw an arm around Curtis’s shoulder and marched him to the parking lot stairs. By the time they reached level ground again, she was leaning heavily on him; her legs trembled.
“Mom, could you come talk to my English teacher like that? She is so wicked unfair.”
Marley unlocked the car with shaking hands. She slid in and leaned against the steering wheel while Curtis pulled on the door that always stuck. Rubbing her forehead, she tried to organize the rest of the night. She’d have to drive him home and get back to help with the report.
“Mom, are you okay? We have to go see Tina, to see if they found her baby yet. Please, Mom, it’s not far.”
“Tina’s baby? You said somebody stole her.”
“When Tina went inside to the bathroom. Amy Burzak was supposed to watch Carissa. But Amy started talking to Jabar and when Tina got back, the baby was gone. Bob called the police, but they acted like Tina did something to the baby. The Bugs were there, Mom. It had to be them. I was going to pretend to be from the cleaning staff and see if they had her.”
“Oh, Curtis, you can’t get in at this time of night as cleaning staff. You’d need a badge and a uniform—”
“Wow, Mom! You know how to break into a hotel?”
Marley coughed—with dignity, she hoped. “I’ve certainly heard. But you must be wrong about the Eridanians, Curtis.”
“It couldn’t be anybody else!”
“Curtis, the guards are there to keep them in as much as to keep people out. They weren’t scheduled to go anywhere tonight. You’re accusing them just as unfairly as the guards accused you.”
“Mom, we’ve got to do something.” His voice cracked.
Marley put her arms around him and stroked his hair, like she did when he was six. She hated this part of parenting, when you couldn’t make things better. That’s when they turned to you, of course. They never said, “Mom, if you don’t translate this passage of Virgil into Eridanian, my whole life will be ruined.” Always the unfixable. “Make my kitten live again.” “Make Daddy come home.” And now, “Find my girlfriend’s baby.”
You did what you could. Marley started the car. To hell with the report. If the world were to end next week, she knew how she wanted to spend the time left. “Where does Tina live?”
* * * *
Curtis jumped out of the car as soon as it pulled into the driveway. Tina stood in the doorway, a man behind her. Marley recognized Bob as she picked her way along the crumbled path.
Relief flooded Bob’s face. “Ms. Richardson, I’m so glad to see you.”
Tina huddled on the couch with Curtis, whispering. Her puffy eyes leaked tears; her swollen breasts, milk, splotching the faded “Happy Holidays” on her T-shirt.
Bob jerked his head toward the kitchen.
Taking the hint, Marley followed him, saying loudly, “I’ll fix some tea.”
“Not for me,” said Tina. “The caffeine’s not good for the baby.” She began to cry again. Curtis put his arm around her.
Bob said in a low voice, “She wasn’t gone five minutes. There were lots of people around; I looked over at the wise men for a minute, thinking I’d seen the, the people who were with you the other night.”
“They were really there? That’s impossible!”
“I thought I saw someone bundled up like they were, but it was so crowded. And then Tina was screaming that Carissa was gone. I called the police, but they didn’t find a trace. I brought her back here, but her father’s in rehab, and her older sister left this morning on a Christmas cruise with her boyfriend.”
Marley went back into the front room.
Tina was sobbing, “I prayed and prayed before she was born. My whole family said get an abortion, but I thought God told me to have her, and I promised to be a good mother, so why—” She gulped. “My sister said I was so stupid.”
Marley sat down on the other side of Tina and for the second time that night held an almost-grown child close. Maybe the first comfort was the only one life could offer. Wondering how she’d ever seen the girl as anything but desperate, Marley pushed back Tina’s tear-soaked black hair.
Curtis tugged Marley’s sleeve. “Mom, I told Tina she could come home with us.”
Marley drew in a breath. “Of course she can.” She turned to Bob. “We won’t be having much of a Christmas, but why don’t you join us tomorrow, if you don’t have other plans?”
Bob flushed and looked at his feet. “Thanks. I don’t, no. My boys aren’t coming to visit. Janet … my ex-wife … I hope she lets me see them again someday.”
Marley reached out a hand, but didn’t quite dare touch his arm.
Curtis tugged again. “Mom, can we have Christmas like we used to?”
Marley tried to smile. “I don’t have the presents you asked for.”
He shrugged. “Sure, I want the stuff, but that’s not really Christmas.”
Curtis led Tina down the hall to gather her things. “Me and my mom used to have the best Christmases when I was little. We’d clean the cages at the animal shelter and walk the dogs. Then we’d have our presents and fix dinner just for us and go see my granddad at the nursing home, sing with the old people and all. You shoulda heard Gran do his reggae Jingle Bells.”
Marley stared after him. “I always thought he meant the wonderful Christmases when his father lived with us.” She smiled at Bob. “Maybe they’re right about miracles.”
* * * *
Marley gently shepherded the teens home and to bed, though Tina proclaimed she was going to pray all night.
Some hours later, Marley started awake. The thin window shade glowed bright, but when she pushed the shade aside, she saw lights from the kind of businesses that never sleep: Memorial Hospital, Dell-Digital, Amalgamated Microchip. Exhausted, anxious, disgusted, she flopped back on her pillow. A rare morning to sleep in, and she was up before dawn.
At least she had time to think, or at least run thoughts in a mental squirrel cage. Should she evacuate? When? Where? Back to Colorado? Marley rubbed her forehead as though to scrub out the worries. Now, she thought, was the right time to sneak in with the hotel staff. For centuries, the wee small hours had belonged to those who stood and waited on others.
She stiffened, as though struck. After all, she already had a badge.
Silently, she crept out of bed. Tina, despite her brave intentions, didn’t stir from her place in Marley’s bed. In sleep, with her hair spilling over her candy-striped nightshirt, she looked even younger.
Marley wrote a note in case Curtis and Tina awakened and tiptoed out the front door.
* * * *
She was so busy rehearsing stories to tell the guards that she almost didn’t see the lone figure in the outdoor parking lot. She slammed the brakes and zoomed backwards to take a good look.
“Blue?” It couldn’t be.
He faced her. “Greetings, Marley. I wondered how to call for your assistance.”
“And I wanted to ask you a question. But what are you doing out here?”
“Your stories mention following stars. How do you accomplish that?”
“The custom has fallen into disuse lately. But I meant the guards; how did you get around them?”
“It is one step only. Tell, Marley, what do human babies eat? How?”
Trembling with confirmed fear, Marley gestured to her chest. “Females provide nourishment.”
Blue nodded. “Will you come nourish an infant?”
“I can’t, not any longer.” She licked her lips and swallowed, trying to force moisture into her dry mouth. “May we return the infant to its parent, who is capable?”
“We would do so, if we were sure of its safety. Your sages informed us that the infant now celebrated will be sacrificed next season. Green and I reflected what this might mean, but Red, who is too young for reflection, became angry at your crime. She returned by subterfuge and removed the infant. She sought only to save it from its fate, and we to protect her and our mission here, but we are forced to conclude that, despite research, we do not understand the infant’s needs.”