Lost in Time ~ Five Hargreeves

Chapter 20

Chip allowed Riley to stay with him until they found Riley's family.

And later he parked his car in front of a garage.

It belonged to a small house in a quiet residential area.

Riley followed Chip to the door and they entered the house.

The young man put his bag aside and hung up his hat.

Riley heard footsteps from upstairs and a few moments later a young woman appeared at the top of the stairs. 

"Chip?" the woman spoke to him.

She  stopped in the middle of the stairs and looked irritated back and forth between her husband and the child who was setting her floor under water.

"Maggie, sweetheart–"

Chip approached his wife and tried to find a way to explain to his wife why he had brought home someone else's child.

"Let’s have a talk in the living room," suggested Maggie.

Her husband nodded and followed the woman with dark brown hair. But not without asking Riley to wait in the hallway.

Riley's first impulse was to make themself invisible and eavesdrop on the two.

Luckily, the teenager noticed in time that they were still wet and the drops of water on the floor would give Riley away.

So Riley had to wait until the couple came back.

Luckily, after a few minutes, Chip and Maggie joined Riley in the hallway.

Maggie suddenly seemed less suspicious and held out her hand to Riley.

"Your name is Riley, correct? I'm Maggie Chips' Wife."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am."

"Oh, don't call me that. You make me feel old," the woman said and laughed. "Just Maggie."

The teenager smiled back.

"Well then, let's get you out of these clothes," Maggie ripped Riley out of their thoughts.

Riley looked down. Even their shoes were so soaked that they made noises whenever Riley shifted their weight.

They gave Chip his coat back and followed Maggie into the bathroom.

The woman handed them a change of clothes and explained that she would quickly get the guest room ready while Riley changed.

"– and towels are in the cupboard next to sink."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Half an hour later, Riley was lying in a freshly made bed, wondering where their siblings and Five were.

Certainly not far.

After all, Riley knew their Idiots– the Hargreeves had a habit of drawing attention to themselves.

So it wouldn't be hard to find the others. They just had to look for something unusual.

How hard could that be?

~~~~

Maggie Adams woke up the next morning at the same time as the day before, and the day before, and the day before.

She got up, unwrapped the curlers from her hair, when she remembered what happened the previous evening.

Chip was way late from work. And when he got home he wasn't alone, he had this strange child with him.