The Splintered Dreams

"Well." Robert said, smiling, "Come in. We had several places to go, so we just sort of went from place to place until we got done. Khaat is still sleeping. Oh, by the way, the trunk there is yours, from your mother. And yes, your father's wand is inside. She says she thinks you will find everything you need or want in there. She said she also packed a letter in there for you. She knows to send future notes or letters here. She's a remarkable woman.

"But you need to know that was just one place we went. We did not go just for that purpose. However, the trail is not as cold as we thought it was. We started in Romania and talked to our contact there with the dragon and got some very useful information. That led us to your place in Texas. However, we stopped at your mother's first to give her your note. She went with us to your place and packed for you while we looked for clues to see if there was much of anything remaining there that would be helpful.

"We ran into, apparently, some old adversaries of yours who didn't like us being there. So, we had to 'pursuede' them to leave. Got into a bit of a scuffle. Seems they are keeping an eye on your place. My sense of it is that there may be something connected to either you or your land that keeps them interested in you after all this time and may be the reason your family was targetted. But I intend to find out. And before you even ask it, no. You are not going back there to solve it on your own. You are welcome to work with us, but you're on medical leave, and neither Khaat nor myself will clear you for duty at this point. So forget that. You either work with us, or you stay here. And if I need to bind you to the farm to keep you in line, I won't hesitate to do so."

"Well, you feel that way now, but you won't feel that way forever," Robert said. "Someday you're going to want them...." He was interrupted by the sound from the bedroom of Khaat trying to get up. "Hold on. She was supposed to sleep longer than that. I was afraid of that. I'll be right back."

He disappeared into Khaat's bedroom for a long moment, and then he came back out. "We ran into trouble, as I said. We ended up sort of having to fight our way out. Khaat was hit with a spell, in the process of trying to dodge it. Some big rock was hurled at her and landed on her ankle. Her ankle is broken. Give her 2 days and she'll be as right as rain. It takes about 48 hours to heal something broken that badly. But she'll be fine. Its set now, and she's comfortable. I put it in a cast, even though it annoys her, because it speeds healing that way. 2 days from now, she won't even notice it was ever broken. Not a big deal for her. She's used to it. I'm just hanging around to be sure she stays comfortable for the first couple hours. She's awake. You're welcome to see her if you like."

"She's been burning the candle at both ends trying to keep from thinking of Rob," Robert sighed. "It is the sole cause of her exhaustion and her being underweight both. She is right on the edge of being in danger of losing this child. I have to get her to eat and sleep and stop waiting for Rob to decide if he can 'man up' or not. That's the real danger here. I want her to have my granddaughter, and I want Khaat to survive her own pregnancy. She knows exactly how delicate this is, and hasn't said a syllable to Rob. Not one. And its not my place to. He needs to come back because he wants to be in her life for her. Not out of obligation.

"But here I am prattling on. Go on. Go see Khaat."

"Um.. well, or they're faster," Khaat laughed, "One or the other. I'm usually pretty good at dodging things like that or blowing them up or something. It can't be the baby getting in the way yet. Maybe I'm just losing my edge, Walker. Suppose? Suppose I'm a has been before I really ever get started good? I mean, my dad is three times the wizard I will ever be. In every way. I just excell at being stubborn. Rob thinks I just excell at getting into trouble. Maybe we're both right. " She smiled. "It really isn't that bad. If I were a muggle, I'd be in this cast for 8 weeks. 2 days i can handle. But you might have to play some cards with me or checkers or something." She laughed.

"Maybe she just knew a Texan is never far from a deck of cards. That's probably more the truth of it. Cordell, someone in the wizarding world is a very serious enemy of yours. You need to give some thought as to who you made angry enough to want to hurt you in a way you'd never get over. From what I could see, it was designed to do exactly what it did. Leave you alive and your wife and son gone. It was murder. Flat out. There's no easy way to sugar coat that for you. But someone you ran into has a serious grudge against you. You could still well be in danger. I don't know. But I had to let you know there might be really good reason to watch your back."