Chapter 23

Jenn got on the same bus that she had ridden the day before. She was nervous. "What if this didn't work? Then where would she be?" Jenn looked at all the pretty purple, pink, yellow, and gold trees on the way. "I wonder what color they would be in our world? Probably just brown and green."
In order for this to work, things had to go exactly as planned. Any accident, any deviation and everything would be lost. If the bus took a wrong turn, or the train didn't make it on time. Or a butterfly fluttered his wings from across the world at the wrong time. . .
Finally they got to an intersection and stopped when the light turned green. A train drove by and Jenn jumped out of the back and onto an open car. She nearly missed but fortunately both the train and the bus had stopped. The train would take her back into town where she was supposed to go to a C.E.W.L. safe house.
As soon as Jenn was safely on the train, it started moving again. She noticed a scruffy looking man sitting in the corner of the car. He was wearing ratty blue jeans with a patch over the knees, a black shirt, and a threadbare tweed jacket. Next to him was a worn looking briefcase. He appeared to be asleep.
"I'll bet he's a hobo" Jenn thought. She watched as the train followed the tracks further out of the city. She tried to figure out where she was going, but the train was moving too fast and she didn't recognize anything she saw anyway. Suddenly the train came to a stop and her fellow passenger woke up.
"Hey, who are you?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing".
"Well, I asked first and I paid for this car. So I think you should answer me first".
"You paid for this car? So then you're not a hobo?"
"No, what gave you that idea? Never mind. You still haven't answered my question."
Jenn looked him up and down again. His black boots were new and freshly shined. His clothes were freshly laundered, although wrinkled from sleeping. He had a recent haircut and shave, and in his briefcase was a brand new computer, a thick envelope.
"I'm just trying to find my friends and go home".
"I guess I'll take that for an answer. But no, I'm not a hobo. My name's Douglas, but my friends call me Doug. I'm a writer, I just finished my first book".
"Really? What kind of book?"
"It's kind of a science fiction/mystery/comedy".
"Is it good?"
"I think so. Do you want to read it?"
"Sure".
Jenn started reading and soon she was rolling with laughter. "I love the idea of a depressed robot. I think he's great. But I think he should have a name".
"I know but I just can't think of one".
"What about Marvin?"
Jenn hadn't read much more when the train stopped rolling again. She looked at the map Paul had drawn for her. This was where the safe house was. Sure enough, a two story wooden farmhouse stood in the middle of a cul de sac.
"Well, this is my stop. Thanks. Good luck with your book", and she jumped off.
"You too", he called out to her. "Rats, I didn't even get her name".
Jenn walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Nobody answered, so she knocked again. "Hello, is anybody home?" Jenn looked at the instructions just to make sure she hadn't missed a secret password or anything like that. Nope, nothing. Jenn knocked again. This time she noticed laughter coming from inside. "Anybody home?" she called out as she walked into a large open foyer. To her left was a large kitchen. Smoke started pouring out. She noticed a fire extinguisher on the floor and put out the small grease fire on the stove.
"Anybody home?" Jenn called out again.
"In here," someone called. Jenn followed the voice to the room on the other side of the front entrance. Several teenagers were sitting on the couch. A tall lanky girl was sitting on a short stocky boy's lap. Both looked to be about 14 or 15. There was also a 13-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl.
"Are you the only ones home?" Jenn was puzzled.
"Nah," the boy spoke up. "There should be some other people around. Chad is probably in his office, and our parents are at the meeting in the spiritual center".
"So what they left you two here to do what? How did they expect you to entertain yourselves?"
"Uh, you're not very bright, are you?" the 13-year-old asked.
"Theo, that was very rude," the younger girl smiled sweetly. "I'm sorry, my name's Sasha. I should show you around, since no one else has the decency to answer the door“.
"Oh, come on. Kelly can do it." The stocky boy - apparently her boyfriend, pointed to the other older girl, who was sitting quietly in the corner.