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“David, where is your brother?”
Looking around, Hermione’s eldest son quickly laid eyes on his younger brother. “He’s right there.”
Hermione looked where David was pointing and saw that her eleven-year-old son was wandering along the edge of the rainforest. “Rupert! Come on! Stay with everyone else, please.”
Rupert huffed as he turned away from the forest’s edge and ambled over to where his mother was standing. “I want to go look at animals.”
Biting the inside of her cheek, Hermione hid her smile. “I know, but we’re here for your sister and brother’s class. Next time we’ll come and look for as many animals as we can.”
“Fine,” Rupert muttered as he scuffed the toe of his shoe against the dirt.
“Come on, we’re moving to the next site,” Hermione said as she nudged her youngest towards her husband and her other children. “Computer, next location.”
An electronic beeping sounded before their current location faded away, and a new one appeared.
Georgia Grace sighed as she slowly spun in a circle. “Oh, Copán is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.”
“It looks like a pile of bricks to me,” Rupert muttered.
“Rupert Micheal!” Hermione hissed, scandalised.
“It’s okay, Mum,” Georgia Grace said as she turned to look at her youngest sibling. “To the untrained eye, yes, it does look like a pile of bricks, as you so eloquently said, but there’s more to it than that.” Georgia Grace spun in a circle, casting her eyes over the ruins surrounding them. She could tell that it had been many centuries since they had been adequately cared for, and it wouldn’t be long before nature fully reclaimed them for herself again. “For one, they’re stones, not bricks. And they’re not piles; they’re stunning masterpieces. The work that went into creating these buildings is nothing short of spectacular. Studying them in class and for my paper didn’t do them justice. I would love to see them in person someday, but the computer’s recreation will do in the meantime.”
Georgia Grace turned around to face her brother. She frowned. “Where’d he go?”
“That way, I think,” Minnie indicated as she pointed behind their father.
“I’ll go look for him,” Len said as he turned in the direction his daughter indicated. “You all stay here.”
“Well, I’m going to get to work.” Georgia Grace stepped further into the compound. “Oh, mum! Here’s the Hieroglyphic Stairway I was telling you about!”
“Min, stay with your brother,” Hermione said as she started to follow her eldest daughter, but Len’s voice stopped her in her tracks.
“I can’t find him.”
The three McCoys standing together turned to face the head of their family.
“What…” Hermione swallowed around the lump in her throat before speaking again. “What do you mean you can’t find him?”
“That’s just it; I can’t find Rupert anywhere. He’s just disappeared.”
“Computer, where is Rupert McCoy.”
“I am unable to locate Rupert McCoy.”
“That makes no sense.” Hermione frowned. “Computer, how many people are in the holodeck?”
“There are five people in the holodeck.”
Len looked at his wife. “Has anyone left the holodeck recently?”
“No one has left since the program started.”
“How? How can he not be here but hasn’t left either?”
“Maybe he’s masking his signature from the computer?” David suggested. “He’s done it before.”
Hermione swore under her breath.
David and his father tried to hide their smiles as Minnie gasped. “Mummy!”
“I know, and I’ll put money in the jar when we get to our quarters, but we need to find your bother first. Georgia Grace!”
Moments later, she rounded the corner, slightly out of breath. “Mum? What is it?”
“Rupert is missing.”
“What? He’s wandered off?”
“Yes.”
“Well, have the computer locate him.”
“We tried, and it couldn’t locate him,” her father explained. “And before you ask, he’s not left the holodeck either.”
Georgia Grace started to open her mouth, but her twin’s voice cut her off. “I think he’s masking his signature.”
She nodded her head in thought. “Makes sense. Come on, Min. Let’s go find our brother.”
“I think he went this way.”
“Be careful!” Hermione called after her daughters as they disappeared in the direction Rupert had. “Let us know if you find him.”
As the two girls disappeared into the forest, they heard their father tell David to go with their mum.
Georgia Grace looked at her sister out of the corner of her eye. “What do you think happened with Rupert?”
Minnie shrugged.
“Come on. Tell me.”
“Well, I overheard that he’s upset that he can’t go look for animals since we’re here for you and David,” Minnie explained.
“So he thought he’d go wander off on his own? In an unknown forest? I know the safeties are on, but still.”
“You asked,” Minnie muttered.
Georgia Grace squeezed her hand. “Oh, I’m sorry, Min. I just don’t understand Rupert sometimes.”
“That’s because he’s a weird boy.”
Biting her lip, Georgia Grace nodded. “Yes, but he’s still our brother. Now, let me pull out my wand and see if I can find him that way.”
“I still find it so weird that he can hide himself from the computer, but not magic,” Minnie mused.
“Well, it’s really just mine, and sometimes mum’s. It just depends on how much he wants to hide from everyone.” Pulling out her wand, Georgia Grace murmured, “Homenum Revelio.”
A small map of the area appeared before the two teenagers.
“There’s Mum and David,” Minnie pointed out.
“I bet that’s dad,” Georgia Grace said as she gestured to a spot quite far behind them.
Minnie gestured to a spot ahead of them. “Then that must be Rupert.”
“Come on.” Georgia Grace started to head in the direction of their brother’s location when they heard a twig snap behind them.
“What was that?” Minnie turned to look and came face to face with a pair of yellow eyes glowing from the underbrush. She hissed as she tugged her sister around, “Gracie, we need to go now.”
Georgia Grace’s eyes widened as she realised what it was. “It’s not a real jaguar, Min. It can’t hurt us.”
“That may be, but I don’t want to stay and find out.”
Turning, Minnie took off in the direction of their wayward brother. Georgia Grace hot on her heels. The soft padding of the jaguar’s paws could be heard behind them.
“Which way!” Minnie yelled as they came to a fork in the path.
“Left!”
This is how the two McCoy daughters went as they tried to lose the predator behind them as they searched for their brother, Minnie leading the way and Georgia Grace calling out directions as needed.
“Right!” Georgia Grace called at their newest junction.
Following her sister’s order, Minnie turned and made a beeline for the clearing she could see ahead. It was only seconds later that she realised it wasn’t a clearing.
“AHHHH!” Minnie screamed as she tried to skid to a stop. Her feet slipped out from underneath her, and she landed hard on the ground.
Stopping at her sister’s side, Georgia Grace crouched down next to her. They both looked to see that the jaguar was still behind them, prowling closer.
“I’m so sorry, Min,” Georgia Grace murmured as she put herself between her sister and the animal before she wrapped the younger girl in her arms.
Minnie wrapped her arms around her sister. “It’s okay.”
A loud roar echoed through the trees before silence descended over everything. Seconds later, the hurried footfalls of the jaguar could be heard moving away from the two girls.
Georgia Grace shifted to her knees and looked over her shoulder. “It’s gone,” she whispered in awe.
The sound of another twig snapping stopped anything Minnie was going to say.
Standing up, Georgia Grace raised her wand as she turned to face the sound. “Who is it?!”
“Your brother,” a voice replied. She could tell that the ‘you idiot’ was there, even if it was silent.
Rupert stepped out of the forest, and she lowered her wand.
“Was that you?”
He nodded. “I’ve been working on my jaguar roar.”
“Well, it seems to have worked. Thank you.”
“What are you two doing here?”
Georgia Grace raised an eyebrow. “Really? You went missing! We were looking for you.” She turned back to Minnie to check her over.
“As you can see, I’m fine,” he scoffed. “It’s not like you can get hurt in the Holodeck.”
“You might want to try telling your sister that,” Georgia Grace retorted.
“What?” Rupert asked as he hurried over to his sisters.
“I’ve rolled my ankle and possibly broken a bone in my foot. It’s already starting to swell.”
Rupert reached down to help remove her shoe.
“No, leave it for now. It will help keep the swelling down.”
“Let me tell Mum and Dad we found Rupert. You stay with her,” Georgia Grace ordered as she stood back up.
“Are you okay?” Rupert asked, “Other than your foot and ankle?”
“What do you think?” She glared at her younger brother. “I was scared out of my wits after being chased by a jaguar and losing you, and now, I’m hurt because of my stupid brother.”
“I’m sorry! I was bored!” Rupert yelled as he stood up to pace.
“And you think I wasn’t?” Minnie countered. “Rupert, we’re a family. We do things for those we love because they do the same for us. How many times have we been here and gone to Pops farm because you wanted to spend time learning more about the cows and farm? And what about my interest in learning more languages? Or David wanting to become a doctor like Mum and Dad? We’re all there for each other because that’s what family does.”
A sniffle followed Minnie’s monologue. “When did our little girl grow up?”
“When you weren’t looking,” Minnie teased.
“Dad, someone needs to look at the parameters of the holodeck because Min is hurt,” Georgia Grace explained.
“I’ve just hurt my ankle and foot,” Minnie said. “Nothing a tricorder or wand can’t fix. But can we get out of here first, please?”
“Of course,” Len said as he scooped his youngest daughter into his arms. “Computer, end program.” As the Honduran jungle disappeared around them, he led the way to the holodeck exit.
“Len, you take care of Minnie, and I’ll go talk with engineering. Let me know if you need me.”
“Hey, mum?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Maybe just you, Georgia Grace, and David can go next time?”
Hermione smiled at her middle child. “I think that might be a good idea, Minnie.”
“Just watch for the snakes,” Rupert snickered as the family exited the holodeck. The doors whooshing closed behind them.
“We won’t be going again until the computer has been checked. That’s for sure.”
Minnie shifted in her father’s arms.
“Come on, let’s get you fixed up. We’ll see everyone in our quarters once Min is fixed.” Len made his way down the corridor to the turbolift.
“Why don’t you three go to our quarters and get cleaned up. We’ll have an early dinner tonight and relax. How does that sound?”
Rupert eyed Hermione warily.
“Go,” she told them.
As her other children disappeared in the opposite direction of their father and sister, Hermione sighed. As she made her way towards the turbolift, she knew she and Len would have to have a conversation with Rupert at some point about what happened, but she hoped Minnie’s words were sinking in. For a fourteen-year-old, she really was quite wise.
WHOOSH
Hermione realised that she was already inside one of the lifts. “Engineering.”
But that conversation could wait - at least for a little bit.