On the trip down the western coasts of Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington, the exiles adjusted to their new circumstances. The name Freya would be too noticeable. The queen took the name Ashleigh instead. The prince's name was shortened to Sam. The most common American surname was Smith. Queen Freya had rejected that name as hopelessly common. They'd be known as Ashleigh and Sam Smythe instead. Princess Freya would become Madison. Each of the servants would be called Johnson. Whichever Johnson was closest when the queen called for a servant would respond. Bowing and curtsying were no longer appropriate behaviours and the long trip gave enough time for old habits to be broken.
Samuel had learned that the University of Washington in Seattle had a genetics lab that might be useful. They sailed into Seattle harbour, passing Bainbridge Island and its busy Eagle Harbour. Ashleigh saw the houses atop the ridge above the harbour and instructed the Johnson sailing the ship to anchor. "Rent me a suitable furnished house up there," she commanded.
One week later, they were off the yacht and in a high end, although not ostentatious three storey house. The Johnsons would live in the furnished suite above the stylized helicopter hangar. Sam would convert the basement of the house to a lab although it would take him several months to get it up and running. Madison had the entire third floor to herself. Mrs. Johnson filled it with toys and checked in several times a day to see if Madison's diaper needed changing. Ashleigh didn't enjoy the climb to the third floor, so she didn't attempt it a second time. She'd see Madison at meals, exactly as she had done back home. Otherwise, Ashleigh spent her time in the mini-gym or in a bedroom that Mr. Johnson had converted to a study. She had decided that she'd spend her free time writing historical romance novels.
# # # # # # # #
It wasn't until well after Madison's third birthday that Sam noticed that his daughter didn't have much to say during the family's meals. Most of the time, she ignored any questions that she was asked. After silently finishing her meal, she'd scramble down from her booster chair and scoot up to her apartment on the third floor.
"Is Madison all right?" Sam asked Ashleigh. "She hardly talks during meals. Is she like that during the day too?"
"I don't know," Ashleigh said. "Ask the staff."
The Johnsons were duly called in. Neither could answer the question. Mrs. Johnson had stopped traipsing up to the third floor because her duty regarding Madison was solely to change her diapers. Madison was now potty trained. Mr. Johnson had no reason to visit the third floor because nothing upstairs was broken.
Alone with his wife, Sam probed as to what kind of involvement Queen Freya had with her daughter. The simple answer was None.
Before the reader jumps to some hasty conclusions, I must tell you that when Queen Freya was a child, she herself had rarely seen her parents. She was raised by staff who were hired for that purpose. Even when she entered her teenage years, she'd only see her mom and dad for meals and for formal family occasions. After they died in a copter accident when she was 14, Freya continued that same relationship with her uncle. Queen Freya was just raising her daughter as she herself had been raised. The difference was that Queen Freya had had staff to talk to, listen to, and relate to when she was growing up. Madison had nobody. No wonder she didn't say much. She understood only a few words. She had nothing to say because she hadn't had any practice talking.
Fortunately Sam had been raised in a normal family environment – an absolutely stinking rich environment, but one where family members talked with each other and the mother and father raised their children. He explained what Ashleigh's role as a mother was supposed to be. He himself was too busy doing his queen's bidding to become involved in raising a child. But he'd have more time to spend with his family if the queen allowed him to make one tiny incision in the body. Making babies with her eggs was much easier than making babies without any of her eggs. The queen ignored such a ludicrous idea. The body was all that she had.
"We'll hire staff so that Madison won't be left on her own," Queen Freya directed.
"We're not supposed to interact with strangers. You uncle was most specific about that. Only the Johnsons are allowed in the house. You know that Scandinavia is still in turmoil. Your uncle will not appreciate hearing that you won't take care of your own daughter."
So Ashleigh took the plunge. She had nothing else to do anyway. The dream of writing romances had proven to be more challenging than she had thought. Other than her signature, Freya had never written a word in her life. She had staff to do that. The Johnson lady wasn't panning out very well in that romance-writing venture.
In time, Ashleigh began to enjoy her time with Madison. They'd go to the local playground and Ashleigh would watch how other mothers treated their children. Then she'd do the same thing that they did. She and Madison walked frequently – part of Ashleigh's resolve to maintain her perfect body. That meant that both of them saw grocery stores, for example, and learned what they were. A library was a tremendous discovery. The librarian would read stories to the children, and afterwards, the children could play together. One time Ashleigh had to clench her teeth when a diseased mother tried to talk to her. She left immediately for home to scrub both her own and her daughter's perfect bodies.
In June 2084, one set of Johnsons went home; another set of Johnsons arrived to take over guarding the royal family and attending to their needs. The new male servant's real first name was James. The new female servant's real first name was Jak, short for Jakobina.
In September 2084, Ashleigh enrolled her daughter in pre-school. Like the other moms, she accompanied her daughter to the classroom on the first day; unlike the others, she stayed for the term. At first, it was to observe what the teachers were doing. Then because it appeared to be enjoyable, Ashleigh volunteered to help. None of the little boys or girls was diseased, so she was able to relax and continue to learn what little girls and boys needed from the adults in their lives.
Madison got along well with the other little girls and boys. She laughed and jumped – something that she never did at home. She even talked. The other children called her Maddy which wasn't very regal, but Ashleigh let it slide because her daughter liked the name. Madison even learned how to print her abbreviated name and brought drawings home regularly with the name Maddy scrawled on the top. Ashleigh observed other mothers praising their children when they showed them what they had done in pre-school that day. Naturally she did the same. She heard one mom telling her son that his drawing was going on the fridge door as soon as they got home. So Ashleigh decided to do the same. That proved impossible to do until Jak told her what a fridge was and where it was located in the house. Afterwards they had to find a magnet. That led to Ashleigh walking to the local store and making her first ever purchase. Madison was pleased to see her drawing on the fridge where everybody could see it.
One day, Madison came down with an illness. Ashleigh asked one of the teachers what she should do and was directed to the local medical clinic. She went into the examination room with Madison to make sure that the doctor didn't take any blood. Sam was very insistent that Madison's blood must never be checked. But the doctor only listened to Madison's chest and gave Ashleigh a slip of paper that allowed her to buy some medicine. The medicine worked.
Ashleigh knew that Madison would have to go to kindergarten on her own. The pre-school teachers had told her that parents would not be allowed to stay in the classroom. But they also told Ashleigh that she could continue to help in the pre-school room if she wanted to. "You have a real talent for working with young children," one of the teachers confided. "They're always so well behaved around you," the other praised.
"Perhaps we'll have the good fortune of having another Smythe child in our classroom soon."
"Any plans?" the more forward of the teachers asked.
"My husband is working on that," Ashleigh replied. "He's very dedicated to the process of making babies."
"Aren't they all!"
"He's always research
ing new ways to make babies."
This brought a titter or two. And since Mrs. Smythe seemed comfortable sharing intimate details, the more forward of the teachers dared to ask. "And you? Do you learn new things too?"
"I learned about the fridge," Ashleigh admitted after some thought. "I use it a lot now."
Later that evening, two perplexed American husbands in two different homes watched as their wives pulled all the food and shelves out of their fridges. Both stared at the empty space that was revealed. Both shook their heads. She must be double-jointed, one teacher thought. The other woman only glanced at the fridge's interior, but took a long look at the top before ruling it out. Then she started musing about the door.
# # # # # # # #
Ashleigh knew that Madison would have to learn how to walk to her kindergarten class safely, and in time, she'd need to know her way around their little community on the north side of Eagle Harbour. So Ashleigh gave her lessons on finding her way around the area. If Freya had been a flop of a mother in Madison's first three years, she made up for that in her last year.
I say her last year, because on March 4, 2085, Madison walked by herself to the playground less than a block away from the house. She didn't come back.
# # # # # # # #
Jak tried to convince Ashleigh that Madison had been kidnapped for money. So long as they were patient and didn't call in the police, the kidnappers would send a ransom note demanding payment and they'd get Madison back by giving them what they wanted. The kidnappers had probably been attracted to Madison because she was living in a very wealthy neighbourhood.
Ashleigh's patience lasted a few days. Then she began acting like Queen Freya. She ordered Jak to report the kidnapping to the police. She was to tell the police that the family would offer a very large reward for the safe return of the little girl. Jak managed to talk her into circulating a missing child poster instead. After a week had passed with no note from the kidnappers, and with no response to the posters, Queen Freya threatened to act again. She herself would go to the police chief and offer a large reward. If it were necessary to ensure his full cooperation, she would reveal who she was.
Jak had orders covering many possible scenarios they might face in their exile. One such set of orders told her what to do if Ashleigh acted in a way that her regal origins would be revealed. Jak followed her orders. A massive explosion destroyed the house. Only two people set sail to Scandinavia on the royal yacht that morning.
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 3
Winnie and Marie returned from their search for Madison's parents after Madison had scooted off to bed. Winnie had already mind-messaged Yolanda that the parents were dead. The directors and Reese were waiting for them in the kitchen. Winnie gave the report; Marie just sat and listened.
"Marie and I already knew where and when Madison had been kidnapped, so we returned to that place and time, TiTr'd back a few minutes, and watched her as she ran to the playground. She lived in a large three-storey house that had a much smaller building on the grounds. A form of hangar perhaps. The servants lived on the top floor of that building."
"Servants?" Doc asked. "Really?"
"Two of them. The family had to be very rich. The location provided an excellent view of the harbour. The house was very big as were all the houses in the area. All sat on large landscaped properties that had wonderful views. The male servant worked outdoors most of the time; the woman servant worked indoors most of the time. Cook perhaps. She was the one who did the shopping, but the store delivered the groceries to the home. At least that was their routine immediately after the kidnapping."
"Three days after the kidnapping, the cook travelled by ferry to Seattle where she met with a police sergeant for a short time. She was then taken into a larger room where she met with the chief of police and a few other men."
"Neither the father nor mother went to the police station?" Hank asked.
"No. Neither of them left the house at any time that we were watching."
"Isn't that kind of strange?" Yolanda asked.
"They're very wealthy," Hank answered. "The cook might be their security person. It could be that it was her job to make contact."
"The cook asked the police to circulate a missing child poster," Winnie continued. "That was all that she asked them to do. They offered to come to the house and provide assistance, but the cook turned them down. She explained that the parents were distraught and valued their privacy. The police plastered posters all over Bainbridge Island."
"Did you manage to get into the house and eavesdrop?" Doc this time.
"Getting in would have been difficult because there was hardly any foot traffic in or out. So after watching the meeting in Seattle, Marie and I skipped forward in time to get a sense of what was going to happen. One week after the kidnapping, March 11 at 3 a.m., a huge explosion in the basement of the house blew out all the windows and the fire took care of the rest of the building. It was two days before the firemen could sift through the wreckage. They found two skeletons, both burned beyond recognition. One was female, the other was male."
"Did they interview the servants?" Hank asked.
"They tried but couldn't find them."
"That's suspicious. How hard did they try?" Hank again.
"They tried hard for the first day. The family had arrived in Seattle in a yacht that they had moored in the harbour immediately below their house. When the police checked the harbour, the yacht was gone. The police had no way to track where it went."
"But you did," Hank said.
"Two figures made several trips from the basement of the house to the yacht in the early morning of the explosion. They were carrying a lot of wooden crates. The yacht left the harbour several hours before the explosion. We tracked it north up the coast but saw no reason to go further. Our job was to find the parents and we had done that."
"The servants killed Madison's mother and father and then blew up the house," Yolanda concluded.
"We could easily follow the yacht," Granny suggested.
"Proving that the servants deliberately blew up the house would be difficult. We could eventually insert a TiTr drone into the house, but knowing that they killed their employers and proving it in a court of law would be a different matter." Hank, the ex-policeman at work."
"Why did they kill them? And why, only one week after the kidnapping?" Doc, this time.
Granny answered with a possibility. "Robbery? What do you think, Winnie? Marie?"
"They carried a lot of crates down to the yacht, Granny."
"Murder and robbery," Doc summarized. "But is it our job to bring justice to Madison's parents? Don't we have other more pressing business right now? Isn't our first priority the girl? Plus we have many slaves to rescue from the Safe Haven ranches."
"Who's going to tell Madison about her parents? What happens to her now?" Yolanda posed the most difficult questions.
"Find a family for her?" Hank asked.
"We all know her background, right?" Yolanda looked at each of the directors in turn. All of them nodded. Winnie's report on Madison's escape from New York didn't give all the detail that you, the reader has now, but they knew enough. It was a miracle that she had survived.
"She has a family now. She has a mommy and daddy now too."
"Mommmmm! I'm too young to be a mommy. Reese is too young to be a daddy."
"Too bad. You don't get to choose. Madison gets to choose. She chose you. She's fixated on you and Reese right now. That will change. Right, Doc?"
"Yes. But this little girl has been heavily traumatized. We can't even begin to imagine how she's coping with that. For now at least, we can't tell her about her parents."
# # # # # # # #
The directors talked some more about Madison and what the family could do. Both Reese and Winnie became less stressed when Doc outlined the kind of help that others could provide once Madison learned who everybody was and became comfortable living in
a large family.
"I still don't like letting those two murderers off," Granny groused. "This whole thing stinks. Something is wrong. It doesn't make sense that the parents would be murdered. My gut says that Safe Haven is involved in that murder somehow. We know that they were involved in the kidnapping. We need to investigate further."
"Jock could ask Seattle's chief of police what their investigation found. He did send him a poster, after all."
"Good idea, Winnie," Hank praised. "Will you talk to Jock?"
Winnie nodded.
"Granny, you don't have to worry about the two servants getting away with the murder and the robbery," Marie spoke for the first time.
"How so?" Granny asked.
"I put a curse on both of them when I saw what they did."
"What was the curse?"
"They will die from an explosion and a fire, exactly as their victims did."
"Are you able to put curses on people through a TiTr sling?"
"I don't see why not. I could test it with one of you if you wanted to know for sure. I have a curse that produces teenage acne. Anybody?"
Back to the Table of Contents
Chapter 4
Saturday, May 4. Winnie had a meeting scheduled with Jock for the morning. The Wilizy would be planning an operation against the Safe Haven ranches and she didn't want to miss it. Reese offered to look after Madison in the morning, but he wanted to have the afternoon to start on his home schooling bots.
"Did Mom and Dad try to change your mind about going back to home-schooling?"
"No. I just told them I wasn't returning to the Penticton school. I couldn't go to school and be a daddy at the same time."
"But that's not the real reason."