It took only a couple weeks after moving in to settle down for Kerry. She was too busy to think about Kurt Evans and his past. She got to know Elijah and Triste a lot better, and she had plenty fo things to do since she had joined a home school writing club and a soccer league.
Andrew, her little brother, was found to have a more or less common heart problem. Kerry soon stopped trying to pronounce the scientific name. She helped out at the house as much as she could while Andrew was at the hospital and her father worked ten hours a day at a large police station. Her mother spent most of her time at the hospital with Andrew, leaving Justin in charge while she was.
Kerry did not like this. Being very smart and always getting good grades in school made Justin think that he knew everything.
One day, one and a half weeks after moving in, Kerry was finishing some schoolwork leftover from the previous school year. Jana and Macie were sitting on the couch near Kerry, reading books. Jeremy was playing on the floor with some toy soldiers, and Justin was sitting on a nearby recliner, plugged into his laptop.
Kerry looked at the scientific definition, read it, and tried to say it to herself without looking. Sighing in frustration when she got it wrong, she read it again and tried to say it again, this time out loud.
“No,” Justin said, looking up from his laptop. “The definition for absolute humidity is ‘the mass of water vapor within a certain volume of air.’”
“Big help, Justin. I have it right here.” Kerry put the book on the couch and glared at him.
Justin shrugged, grinned, and turned back to his laptop. “You needed it.”
“I did not!”
“Yes, you did.”
“No!”
“Yes, you did!”
“I didn’t, Justin!”
Macie looked up from her book. “Guys, please stop arguing!”
Jana’s eyes never left her book. “Yeah, guys, it’s annoying.”
Kerry stood up, walked over to Justin, and pushed him playfully. Justin obviously didn’t think so, for he put aside his laptop and got up.
Kerry turned and ran for her life. Up the stairs to her bedroom she ran, and from there to the girls’ bathroom. She locked herself in.
Justin followed her all the way. At the locked door, he contemplated what he should do. He left the bedroom, making sure his exit was evident to Kerry.
After a while, Kerry decided to come out. She cautiously opened the door and stepped out.
No one appeared.
Kerry stepped out the bedroom door.
Justin wasn’t there.
Kerry paused and thought. There was only one other place to hide...at the bottom of the stairs. But which side?
Kerry sidled up one wall to the stairs and listened carefully. She could hear the faint sound of breathing on the right side.
Kerry leapt onto the left side of the banister and sped down.
Jusitn leapt out before she got very far.
As she came down, however, he thought better of his position and jumped backwards.
Kerry landed neatly on the floor.
“Kerry! Don’t do that!” Macie and Jeremy said simultaneously.
“Listen to authority, Kerry,” Justin said. “Don’t do that.”
Kerry cast him a sour look before returning to the couch and taking up her science book.
“Hello?” came a voice from the front door.
Jeremy leapt up from the floor. “Dad’s home!”
Their father walked into the room. “And you’re in bed, Jeremy Brandon Nicholas.”
“Awww,” Jeremy said, but he ran to obey his father.
“Hi, Dad,” said Kerry as she hugged her father.
“Hi, Kerry,” he said as he squeezed her back.
Macie was close behind Kerry for her own hug, then they watched as their father went over to Justin and pulled out his earbud.
Justin looked up, plugged his earbud back in, and went back to his game. “Hi, Dad.”
Dan shook his head as he took off his cap and went over to the hat tree, where he took it off. “I can’t believe he’s my firstborn son.”
Kerry grinned as her father went upstairs to change his uniform.
As she once again sat on the couch, a book on the shelf of a nearby table caught her eye. She picked it up.
It was a photo book that she had never seen before. Curiously, Kerry opened it.
Macie sat down beside her. “That’s Mom when she was expecting you.”
Kerry studied the picture. “I was a big baby.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Kerry quickly turned to look at her. “What are you talking about?”
“You weren’t a big baby,” Macie repeated.
“Then why is Mom so big?” Kerry queried.
Macie paused before replying. “It wasn’t just you.”
“What?” Kerry said incredulously. “It wasn’t just......me?”
“There was another,” Macie said quietly.
“What happened?” Kerry asked.
“He was kidnapped,” Macie answered.
“He? Kidnapped?” Kerry looked at her. “Why didn’t I know this before?”
“Mom and Dad have their reasons, “Macie said.
“What was his name?” Kerry wondered.
“Matthew Nathaniel.” Macie sighed and looked away. 961
“Why was he kidnapped?”
“Ask the kidnapper.”
“No one knows where he is?”
“No.”
“Why isn’t Dad even looking?”
“He gave up after three years.”
“What were the circumstances surrounding his disappearance?” Kerry asked.
“He was laid in his crib in Mom and Dad’s room, back at our old house,” Macie explained. “When Mom got up to feed him in the middle of the night, he was gone.”
“No clues at all?” Kerry wondered.
“No clues.” Macie shook her head. “The kidnapper got clean away. I don’t know how Dad was even able to start looking, but he did. After looking for three years, he declared Matt as good as gone.”
Kerry sat silently, then flipped through the rest of the book.
Finally, she stood and went upstairs.
After preparing for bed, she took out her laptop and settled down. The very first thing she did was to tell Triste and Elijah of her startling discovery.
I found out today that I have a twin brother.
Kerry
Kerry knew that that would leave them hanging off a cliff enough to email her back for more details.
When she went to bed, Kerry lay awake for awhile, pondering all that had occurred. Then she fell asleep.
A few mornings later, Kerry woke up early. She dressed, made her bed, and hurried downstairs.
Her father was sitting in the living room, eating breakfast and watching the early morning news. He was already dressed in his police uniform.
Kerry busied herself making pots of tea and hot chocolate. Then her head shot up as her sharp ears caught something on the news.
“....disappeared last night. no one has seen him since 11:00 last night, and...”
Kerry put down the box of teabags that she was holding and went to the living room.
“What’s going on?” she asked her dad.
“The president of a college disappeared last night,” he answered.
“Coincidentally,” the announcer continued, “Jacob Meriweather, the Raleigh Chief of Police, has also disappeared. The search for both men is underway.” He looked down at his papers. “Please return after this pause for some breaking news.”
The program went on to a commercial break, but Kerry barely noticed. Two prominent men disappear in one night, and they call it a coincidence? she thought incredulously. They’ve got to be kidding!
Her father stretched, got his plate and mug, and went to the kitchen to put them in the sink.
“Our breaking news this morning is,” the announcer began, “is the disappearance of the NC governor, Kristen Strickner.”
Mr. Nicholas looked up.
“She left a meeting yesterday evening, and when her daughter went to her room this morning to talk to her, she was gone.”
“I’m leaving, Kerry,” her father said. “They’re going to need me.”
And with that, he was gone.
Kerry poured herself a large mug of hot chocolate and sat on the couch.
“There seems to be a connection with these disappearances and others,” the announcer continued. “Several other states have reported that presidents of prominent colleges, several politicians, and many police officers have gone missing. Most of these states have reported that their governors have also gone missing.”
Kerry furrowed her eyebrow and set her mug on the coffee table.
“President Obama, having heard of these events, has vowed to find these people and, if they were abducted, their kidnappers.”
The President’s face appeared on the screen.
“These people are valuable to our country,” he said. “We will, no matter what the cost, find the missing people and discover what is really going on.”
“What is going on?” Kerry asked herself.
The announcer reappeared on the screen. “What is going on?” he said. “Let’s hope we can find out what is happening. Please return soon for more U.S. news.”
Kerry went to the kitchen and poured herself bowl of cereal. “That is not coincidental,” she said. “Something wrong is going on.”
Kerry prayed and ate while she watched the rest of the news. The first bits and pieces of the news that she had watched occupied most of her thoughts, so not even flooding in Tennessee or the swift development of a tropical storm in the Atlantic caught much of her attention.
Kerry prepared breakfast for her siblings, and they had soon gathered at the table. Kerry poured herself more hot chocolate, and they all ate and drank and talked together.
“The governor’s gone,” Kerry said.
Justin looked up. “You mean like a vacation or something?”
“She disappeared.”
Macie put her spoon down. “She was kidnapped?”
“That’s what everyone’s assuming.” Kerry nodded. “The UNC president and the Raleigh Chief of Police are gone, too.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Justin drank some hot chocolate before continuing. “Aliens are taking over Earth! Aah!”
“Jus-tin!” Kerry looked annoyed.
“Just trying to make the best of a bad situation,” Justin said defensively.
“The police will take care of it,” Macie reassured everyone, throwing Justin a well-deserved glance.
Justin grinned as he ate more cereal.
Jana took half of a sticky bun from a plate in the middle of the table. “No one knows why?”
“Why are you asking me?” Kerry said. “That’s a silly question, anyways.”
Jana shrugged as she bit into the bun.
“Where’s Daddy?” Jeremy piped up.
“He left for work early,” Kerry replied. “They would have needed him.”
“Oh.” Jeremy turned back to his food.
“So, what’s going on today?” Jana asked.
“Jeremy’s going to the Brewsters for a playdate with Andrew,” Macie said. “Kerry has soccer practice, and I’m going to my cooking club kickoff. Jana has gardening class at the community center.”
“Busy day,” Justin commented.
“You said it,” Kerry commented as she got up from the table. “Coach Wilson is really nice, but he pushes really hard, I hear. I wouldn’t mind the pushing, just the energy I’m gonna lose.”
“Let’s go then,” Macie said. “Soccer practice is at nine, and it’s already past seven.”
Jana and Jeremy cleaned up the kitchen, but by the time they were ready to go, it was still a little early, so they watched some more of the news on TV, and then they headed out.
At the soccer league center, Kerry hopped out of the car and went to the main building. She signed in.
The lady at the desk told her, “The Copperheads are using the inside field at the back of the building today, because it’s probably going to rain.”
“Thanks,” Kerry said.
As she started walking in the direction of the field, a girl who looked to be just older than herself came up beside her.
“Are you new?” she asked.
“Actually, yes,” Kerry said. “I’m Kerry Nicholas.”
“I’m Coach Wilson’s daughter, Kaitlyn,” said the girl.
“You’re lucky to have a coach for a dad, Kaitlyn,” Kerry said. “I don’t see much of my dad because he’s a police officer, and he works almost half the day.”
“I have an older brother who’d training to be a police officer,” Kaitlyn said. “He’s 27.”
“Is he your only sibling?” Kerry asked.
“Yes, but I always wanted more siblings,” Kaitlyn said wistfully. “My parents almost didn’t have me.”
“Why not?” Kerry wondered.
“They found out that something was wrong before I was born,” Kaitlyn said. “They almost got rid of me, but they decided at the last moment to keep me. When I was born, they found out that I have this disease that causes my blood not to clot whenever I get cut. People with that disease go to the emergency room often, but because I’m generally careful by nature, my dad lets me play soccer.”
“Wow,” Kerry said. “What was your brother like when you were born?”
“He accepted me rather unenthusiastically,” Kaitlyn replied. “He wanted a baby brother more than anything. but when I came along, he became so reclusive that I almost never saw him.”
“I wouldn’t like it if my older brother became reclusive. He’s annoying, and I almost always react negatively, but I secretly admit to myself that I’ll miss him when he leaves home,” Kerry told Kaitlyn.
“How many siblings do you have?” Kaitlyn inquired.
“Six,” Kerry answered. “Two sisters and three brothers.”
“I wanted six siblings, but my parents didn’t,” Kaitlyn said. “They wanted to freely be able to watch all our sports games.” She sighed. “They told me that Christopher was a super football player, but I never got to see him play.”
They entered the field and fell silent.
Coach Wilson looked up from his clipboard as they entered. “I see, Kaitlyn, that you’ve already met Kerry.”
“That’s right,” Kaitlyn said.
“Sit down, please,” Coach Wilson said, gesturing to a long bench where several other girls and boys were already sitting.
Kerry quickly took her seat.
“Everybody, this is Kerry Nicholas, our newest player,” the coach informed the rest of his team. “Please introduce yourselves.”
The girl at the other end of the bench spoke first. “I’m Danielle Williams.”
The boy next to her spoke up. “I’m Jesse Williams, her brother.”
“I’m Christine Braxton,” said the next girl.
“Jayden Smith.”
“Kaena Morris.”
“Jackson Brady.”
”James Allen.”
”Lance Axton.”
”Sara Anderson.”
‘Jamie Braxton. ‘
‘Mark Young.’
‘Luke Young. ‘
‘Christian Morris.’
‘And you know me already,” Kaitlyn said.”
‘We’ll start practice with penalty kicks. We will take turns with goalies,” Coach Wilson said. “You’re first, Kerry.”
Kerry got up and took her place at one of the goals.
Lance Axton stepped up first, five yards from the goal.
With a well aimed kick, he sent the ball sailing towards the goal.
Kerry leapt into the air and snatched the ball.
Coach Wilson looked impressed. “Very good, Kerry.”
Kaitlyn stepped up next. she kicked the ball.
Kerry bent down slightly and her arms cupped the ball.
“Wow,” Kaitlyn said. “Almost no one blocks me!”
Kerry was able to block several more kicks and kick a few balls into the goal. When they played a practice game, she proved herself well.
Kerry was cleaned of energy by the time that she was done soccer practice so that she had to half-plod out to the car.
“You look wiped,” Justin commented.
“You don’t say,” Kerry replied sarcastically.
Justin grinned. “Get in, kid. We have other stops to make.”
Kerry rolled her eyes as she climbed and buckled herself down.
When she reached home, Kerry got out her laptop and flopped onto the couch in the living room. She had been expecting emails from Elijah and Triste about her discovery, and she was happy to find that they had finally replied, and even happier to find that Triste was online.
How did you find out that you had a twin brother?
Triste
How come you never knew that you had a twin?
Elijah
Kerry pulled up Triste’s chat status and typed in:
‘How ya doing?’
Triste replied, ‘I’m worn out from soccer practice. How are you?’
Kerry answered, ‘I just got back from soccer practice, too!’
‘Do you play in the Raleigh League? I do.’
‘I do! What team are you on?’
‘I’m on the Diamondbacks. And you?’
‘I’m on the Copperheads.’
‘Oh man!’
‘What?’
‘The Diamondbacks and Copperheads are rivals, Kerr.’
‘Oh, that stinks...’
‘Yeah. We’re still buds, right?’
‘Not now! J’
‘J:PJXD.’
‘How’s the rest of the fam?’
‘We’re all alive. That’s good, right?’
‘Technically.’
‘What’s Elijah up to?’
‘Same as me. Tired from ‘Backs soccer practice.’
‘Not both of you!’
‘J. Yup.’
‘*groans and smacks head* What am I gonna do when we play?’
‘Our teams are playing each other in the first Raleigh League game, Kerry.’
‘Oh no!’
‘You should have joined a drama club!’
‘Well, what would you say of you played on the rival team of your best friend/s?’
‘Oh no!’
‘XD you’re sad.’
‘I know. I usually am.’
“Kerry?”
Kerry looked up. “What, Jeremy?”
“Mom dropped off subs and stuff for lunch while we were gone, and we’re gonna be eating soon. If you don’t get over there, Justin’s gonna eat your share.”
“I’ll be there.” Kerry politely ended her conversation with Triste shut her laptop, and got up.
She sat down after washing her hands. Justin prayed for their food, and then they dug into subs, chips, and cookies.
“So, how was gardening class, Jana?” Macie asked.
Jana chewed and swallowed the food in her mouth. “It was okay. Just a bunch of basic stuff since it’s the first class.”
“Did you have fun with Andrew, Jeremy?” Justin asked.
“Yeah! We played with legos and bionicles and cars!” Jeremy enthusiastically responded. “It was fun!’
“I don’t think we need to ask how soccer practice went,” Macie said as she took a small bag of chips from the middle of the table.
Kerry glanced at her. “No, you don’t.”
“Going to take a nap?” Jana inquired.
“Maybe,” Kerry said as she licked some mayonnaise from her finger. “I was having a good conversation with Triste before I came here, though.”
“Nice kid, isn’t she?” Macie said.
“Luke is cooler than anyone else in their family,” Justin declared. “Imagine getting a major in criminology. Awesome!’
“I’d be the one, of all of us, to study criminology, not you,” Kerry said, “unless you got interested in it overnight.”
“No, but it sounds cool,” Justin said.
Kerry shrugged and rolled her eyes.
“Is Mom coming home?” Jana wondered.
“This afternoon around three,” Macie said as she started collecting sub wrappers.
Kerry crunched into her sub, chewed and swallowed. “How is Andrew doing?”
“He’s been okay,” Macie said. “He’s still alive, and he’s been stable.”
“I haven’t seen him yet,” Jeremy complained. “He’s two weeks old, and I haven’t seen him!”
“Lucky duck Kerry is the only one of us who has,” Jana put in. “When do we get to see him?”
“Tomorrow,” Justin said. “Calm down.”
Kerry unwrapped a cookie. “Has there been any news about the governor, police chief, and college president?”
“No,” Justin said. “They’re trying to keep everyone calm, because what do they do when the governor disappears? Panic.”
“Why did the kidnappers take three such prominent people?” Macie mused. “It doesn’t make much sense.”
“They’re troublemakers, that’s why.” Justin picked up his bag of chips.
“Troublemakers don’t attack such high positioned people,” Kerry pointed out. “They just cause minor trouble.” She looked at Justin. “These people mean business.”