Amobi and the Door Beyond Time (PREVIEW)

7. I Dream a Dream

That was how it would have ended, how it should have ended if it weren't for three things.

1. It was really dark. A sudden cloud cover had just rolled in, blotting out the moon and the stars.

2. My father wasn't looking directly at us. His face was angled a few meters away from where we were standing.

3. Kosi reacted faster than I would have given her credit for and dragged us behind a conveniently placed bush.

I.K stared, eyes bulging. "That's your father," he mouthed, stating the obvious.

"I know," I breathed back, successfully stopping myself from rolling my eyes. Chioma looked confused for a moment, but then her features rapidly morphed to one of anger and outrage.

"I can't believe this," she said way too loudly. "How could he not have wiped their minds?"

"Keep it down." I shushed her. "What are you talking about?"

"Iboma should have erased all memory of you guys from their minds, including your parents. I can't believe he forgot."

"Wait, what?" I.K said. "I don't want my parents to forget about me."

"Do you really think they care either way?" Kosi snapped. "Personally I think that that's an excellent idea."

"Guys," I began when I.K opened his mouth to argue some more. "What's done is done. Now we have to focus on getting out of here without them spotting us."

"Easier said than done," Kosi sulked. "That's a small army he's got."

She was right. It looked like all of St. Gregory's had turned out in force tonight. Even the matrons were there, clutching powerful flashlights in their shrivelled hands. We watched as a small group approached my father.

"The people we asked said they came this way," Matron Ada said nervously. Her wig, which she normally went to great lengths to arrange now sat askew on her small head. "They can't have gotten far."

"I hope so, for your sake," snapped a short man with a belly the size of a small cow. "I can't have this getting out to the press. My reputation would be ruined."

"Oh I doubt the press would be much interested in our affairs at the moment," began a thin, cold voice. It belonged to an even thinner, bespectacled man. "Not when the weather is much more... newsworthy. Still, I'd like to keep this as quiet as possible. No one can know of our wards... conditions." I.K gave an involuntary squeak and Kosi's face curdled at the sight of their fathers. The situation was devolving at an alarming rate.

"We have to get out of here," Chioma said and began to rummage through her backpack. That was a great idea, but how on earth were we going to do it? Kosi and I.K moved over to help Chioma search for whatever it was that she was looking for, while I quietly watched my father.

He hadn't changed much since his last visit two months ago. His greying hair was still cut severely short and the same blue three-piece suit clung to his broad shoulders. Those shoulders were the only things I'd inherited from him. The rest was from my mom. He ran his hand across his head in frustration, a habit we shared in common.

"I have a service to hold in an hour's time," he said. "We'd better find them before then. And when we do, I want you to discipline that boy severely, I didn't bring him here to be treated with kid gloves."

"Of course Mr Ifejika," Matron Ada grovelled.

"Got it," Chioma whispered excitedly, immediately gaining my attention. I managed to catch only a glimpse of something wrapped in black before she tossed it into the midst of our hunters.