Chapter 1: Vanishing Acts

 Emma took a deep breath, just as the door to the Gallagher house opened. It smelled more like home than her own house ever had. It could be that she considered them family. Her best friend, Olivia, was Grace Gallagher's niece. But Emma was even more convinced that it was the love she felt when she passed through their front door. It hung in the air, mixed with the grief, even in the moments before they were engulfed by children.

“Emma! Emma!” Josh called, a huge smile on his face, holding a stuffed Daniel Tiger tight to his chest.

“Hey!” she greeted, as the rest of them converged in a tight circle, eager to show off Christmas presents they had been given just that day.

“I got a blanket!” Carter exclaimed, soft fleece hanging off his thin shoulders like a cape.

“Awesome,” Emma answered, casting a worried look at Olivia.

It hadn't escaped her that they weren't only here out of necessity but out of emergency. Olivia's grandmother had been sick for a while, and had taken a turn for the worse. Emma was lucky in that she hadn't yet had to experience losing a relative close to her, and she hoped Olivia's family wouldn't have to cope with it either.

Emma scanned the faces of the kids, recognizing the five she had cared for on previous occasions with Olivia. Three, though, were unfamiliar. Emma raised her eyebrows at Olivia. What were they going to do with eight?

A slight weight against one of her crutches set Emma off balance and she glanced down to see Charlie at her side. “We got new kids now. This is Ari, my best friend,” she introduced formally, shoving a brown eyed, dark haired girl forward. She looked to be around nine years old and miserable. “And his name is Oliver, and her name is Zoey,” Charlie pointed to an older boy and a little girl around Charlie's age. “They're brother and sister. They just came today.”

“Kids, let's let Liv and Emma come in and sit down,” Grace urged, rushing in. “I'm so sorry we don't have more time to talk, but it's urgent that we leave as soon as possible.”

“Of course,” Olivia answered. “Anything we should know?”

“You know where all the emergency numbers are and all the kids' information. I believe Oliver and Zoey will be picked up within twenty four hours. Harper said she would rather stay at home and help you both look after everybody, and I suppose if you really need him for something, you can call Noah home from Henry's but he generally does his own thing. You really won't have to worry about them. They're old enough to give you a hand if you ask.”

As if hearing her name had conjured her, Harper stepped into the living room. “Want me to take this downstairs?” she asked Emma, nodding to her overnight bag.

“Sure, thank you,” Emma smiled.

“And the other four you've taken care of before,” Grace finished, forcing a smile. She looked tired and scared, but it didn't take away from her absolute beauty. Emma always thought she looked like a queen. She certainly carried herself with enough dignity to be royalty.

“Actually, Ari's new,” Emma confessed softly.

“Not to me, though,” Olivia interjected. “She'll be fine. We'll be fine. You just go see to Gram. Give her my love.”

“All right. Well, if you have any questions, call us. I'll have my cell on, but probably won't call much as it unsettles things. Our daily routine is posted in the kitchen, so you have something to refer to. The kids do the best when they know what to expect. Remember that bedrooms are private and it's a family rule that we knock and wait for permission before going in. We don't spank here. I know you've been through the training...”

Emma remembered. The DVDs she had to watch, and the classes she had to take. Not to mention, the police background check. She'd been fingerprinted for that (twice, thanks to her inability to balance at the counter long enough to get a good set of prints.) That had been months ago, the first time Olivia had been asked to help out her family in this manner. Thankfully, they'd had time to get everything done before they needed to be there for real.

She blinked and Grace was standing, as William came into the room and greeted both her and Olivia, his hands full of luggage.

Just like that, they were on their own.

–

Ari stood with her arms crossed. Just her luck that she'd be ditched on Christmas. She'd heard them talking about her. These college girls. They called her “new.” They had no idea. Three months ago everything had been normal and fine. She had been a regular kid. Now? Now she was here, with people she didn't know and didn't trust. She got presents and stuff but it wasn't the same as leaving cookies and milk out for Santa with her dad.

Yes, she still believed in Santa. Or at least she had til this year when she ended up with totally generic presents. All of them had gotten fleece blankets and pajamas. She'd gotten a copy of a Harry Potter book she already owned at home, but didn't have the heart to tell them.

She heard Olivia clear her throat and tried to listen. Probably not the best idea to get off on anybodies bad side right away – knowing Ari – that would happen soon enough.

“This is the Talk Box,” Olivia was saying, holding up a big ugly shoe box. “We're gonna use this like a mailbox. We wanna hear from you guys and we want you all to feel free to talk to us anytime. But seeing as there are eight of you and only two of us, we may be busy at any given moment. So, drop us a note in here and we'll be sure to read them and talk to you about them, ASAP.”

Zoey put her hand up and jumped up and down. “Ooh! Ooh!”

“Yes?” Olivia asked, smiling a little.

“I can't write that much yet. I'm in kindergarten.”

“Right,” Olivia nodded. “Well, you can also draw pictures for us and we can talk to you about those, too.”

“I'm drawing Pinkie Pie!” Zoey shrieked.

Dudley, the family beagle-lab mix that was about as freaked out as some of them were sometimes, pushed his head into Ari's hand. She stroked him behind the ears. Dudley didn't like Zoey, either. Almost none of them did. Her normal volume was top volume, and that was super annoying.

“Also, we're going to be splitting you up into teams. Oliver, Ari, Carter and Josh?” Olivia called. “You're with me.” Ari cast a look over her shoulder. Charlie was on the other team with Emma. Oh well, at least Zoey was on Emma's team, too, so she wouldn't annoy the crap out of her.

“...team name...” Ari overheard Emma say, and she raised her hand, feeling dumb, but unable to break the habit from school.

“Yes?” Olivia called.

“They have a team name. So, can we have one?” Ari asked, sounding bored.

“That's a good idea. What do you think our team name should be?” Olivia asked.

“Team Hulk!” Carter insisted.

Ari smiled wryly. It actually did kind of suit them, even though Carter just picked it because he was obsessed with The Avengers and loved the idea that Hulk smashed everything. Ari, Carter and Josh all had a tendency to smash stuff and get angry.

“Everybody for Team Hulk, say aye!” Ari ordered, taking control. She, Carter and Josh raised their hands, and Ari clapped. “Yes! Majority rules!” It didn't matter that Josh was only three and only raising his hand because he did everything Carter did. It didn't matter that Oliver didn't seem to have even heard any of the conversation. He'd been all out of it since they got there this morning.

“Hey Ari! We're Team Elsa!” Charlie announced, smiling a rare smile. For a little kid, Charlie sure didn't act like it a lot of the time. She was serious and liked to do everything for herself, even the stuff she couldn't actually do yet.

“No, come on. I know I'm the only guy, and I like Frozen as much as the next person, but can't we at least be Team Olaf or something?” Noah asked.

“That sounds fair,” Emma agreed. “What do you guys think?”

Ari tried to zone back in and listen to Olivia but she was super boring, talking all about construction paper chains they got to add links to if they listened and helped and stuff. She could totally win that. She stretched out and sprawled with her head on Dudley's belly. He smelled, but his brown and white fur was comfortable, and she could trust him.

“...want you guys to write or draw what's important to you and put it in the box,” Olivia was saying.

“You don't even have your collar on,” Ari whispered to Dudley. William had dressed him in a red and green bandanna, taking off his usual collar. For Christmas, he had gotten a bone that made him pass really bad gas. Ari hadn't thought to get Dudley a present. She hadn't thought to get anyone a present. So she reached out and snagged a ribbon with little jingle bells and tied it loosely around Dudley's neck so he could be festive.

[Image is of plain white lined paper.  It reads "Christmas sucks this year from ARI."  Beneath her name is a red star sticker.]

Oliver was twelve, but right now, he felt 42. That's how old his dad was when...

There were other girls in the house. William and Grace had gone somewhere. Oliver didn't know where and it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except Zoey. Knowing where she was and if she was okay. That's why he was sitting next to her at the table telling her all the letters for the picture she was making. He didn't know why.

“Hey, I'm heading out,” Noah said. Noah was his roommate. At home, yesterday, Oliver hadn't had a roommate. Not with four sisters. Three of them were somewhere else now, but he wouldn't let Zoey go when they tried to separate them to go to different homes this morning.

“Okay,” Oliver muttered.

“And what's next?” Zoey asked.

“L,” Oliver said quietly.

“I did that one already.”

“I know. There's another one.”

The front door closed, and that's when he heard it: the tinkling of bells. Just like earlier today when...

Zoey slid out of the chair and under the table. He crawled under, too, holding tight to her. He didn't say anything. Not even when her pee soaked his jeans. He was shaking hard, and so was she. All he could do was hang on and wait.

Oliver blinked. He could see Harper on the outside of all the chair legs. She was saying something but he couldn't hear it. He couldn't hear anything but a hollow thudding in his ears.

One of the girls was there. Noah's cousin. She had moved some of the chairs away and crawled under with them.

Josh was there, too, shoving his stuffed tiger into Oliver's hands, and looking at Oliver with serious blue eyes.

“Hide?” he was asking, and wrapping his arms around Oliver. “No...hide... Okay.”

Blinking, Oliver felt his breathing and heartbeat slowing down. His ears unblocked. Zoey was sobbing.

“I said... I said...” she wailed, clinging to him.

“Okay. Guys, listen. It's okay. You're safe here. You understand? Nothing is gonna hurt you here.”

Oliver would have rolled his eyes, but he was afraid that would make him pass out. He knew the truth. They weren't safe. They would never be safe again.

[Image is of red, black, yellow and blue scribbles and Xs.  On the bottom of the page it reads: Zoey, but many letters are backward.  There is a yellow sticker with a dog's face in the midst of the scribbles.]

Charlie was short for Charlotte. But only Charlie's mom was allowed to call her that. And Charlie's mom was not here. That's because she was at the hospital getting better.

Very careful, Charlie folded her mom's letter back up and put it away inside her pillowcase. Ari wouldn't touch it because she knew to respect private things, but Zoey might not know since she just came today.

The crying stopped. Finally. Charlie had been drawing a drawing all about phones at the table when Zoey and Oliver went under the table. Zoey cried and had an accident and Oliver stayed so still Charlie thought he might be frozen solid.

[Image is of a small stick person holding a red blob.  Numbers are written in the lower right corner.  The name Charlie appears to the left.  Beneath the name there is a pink sticker with a cat's face.]

Sometimes, Charlie pretended to be Elsa. She knew what it was like to have dangerous powers that keep people back. She wanted to be good but just couldn't figure it out. How to actually be good and make people like her and love her.

“Hey...” Emma said, knocking on the door even though it was already open.

“Come in,” Charlie said.

“Zoey will be here in a little while,” Emma said, putting down her crutches and looking at Charlie through the railing of her top bunk.

“You can't climb up here,” Charlie said.

“Probably not,” Emma smiled.

“Why?” Charlie asked.

“Remember when Olivia and I came to take care of you, Carter, Josh, Noah and Harper before? I told you my legs aren't as strong as yours. And my balance.”

“I don't remember. Can you read me Green Eggs and Ham?” Charlie asked.

“I will,” Ari offered.

“Thanks, Ari. That's sweet of you.” Charlie watched Emma walk over and get a blue strip of paper to make a link on Ari's chain. Charlie's chain didn't have that many good things on it. That was because she wasn't a very good girl.

–

Noah glanced down at his phone at 10:45 as the alarm sounded on his phone, giving him the heads up that his curfew was in fifteen minutes. He was already on his bike. It was mild this winter, so he was able to ride around outside. He'd left Henry's early 'cause they'd fought. Henry wanted to hang with some total douche bags that made Noah's life a living hell in school.

Henry didn't know about it, so Noah knew he should just explain instead of getting all pissed, but he couldn't just talk about it. It was something he didn't just talk about. It was bad enough that Harper was in eighth grade with him – some freaky genius girl at eleven – so that meant she had the inside track on a little bit of what was happening. But he was careful not to talk to her about anything important. Gossip went around his family like colds or the flu. The last thing he needed was his mom finding out.

Not like his mom cared what he did anymore. It used to be just the two of them until he was eight. Then she married William, and it was cool to have a guy in the house to count on to protect both him and his mom, but it also messed things up, because Noah didn't know his place anymore. It had been super lonely, too, until two summers ago, when they announced they were gonna foster a little boy who had been hit by a car.

Josh had been the first kid his mom and William had ever fostered. He'd been two years old when he moved in, and still really hurt and needing constant care. Noah liked sitting with him, reading to him and watching hours of the same Daniel Tiger episodes with him.

Then, that fall, a bombshell dropped when William's ten year old daughter Harper from his previous marriage showed up on the doorstep with a bag. Noah didn't know all the details but she ended up staying permanently. And after that, more foster kids kept coming and going. Noah didn't mind much, except now he had to share a room. He'd never had to before. Harper was the only one of them who still got to have her own room.

Noah rode into the driveway and punched the code for their garage, putting his bike away and walking into the house. He blinked, shocked, to find Liv at the kitchen table waiting on him.

“Where were you?” she asked softly.

On stealth mode, he checked the clock behind her head: 10:58. Home with two minutes to spare, so why was she freaking out? “Out,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket, and hanging it in the front closet. He turned to go to his room, but Liv called him back.

“Sit down.”

Warily, he did. Liv was usually his favorite relative, but he never wanted to be on her bad side, like ever. “What?” he asked. “Did something happen? Is it Gram?”

“No. Are you kidding me right now? It's you. Do you know what time it is? Do you know how worried we've been? I called Grace.”

“What's the big deal?” he asked, crossing his arms. “I'm home by curfew.”

“Excuse me?”

“I'm thirteen. The city curfew says that on Fridays and Saturdays I can be out 'til 11:00.”

“Your mother lets you go out without telling anyone where you're going or when you'll be back?” Olivia asked, keeping her voice down, aware that Carter and Josh were asleep a few feet away.

“Yes. She doesn't care where I go. And I did tell somebody I was going out.”

“Who?”

“I told Oliver,” Noah said, lifting his chin.

“Noah. Listen to me, please. I love you and I do care about where you are. So, while Emma and I are here, I want you to tell one of us where you're going to be and when you plan to be back.”

“Sorry,” he muttered.

“On Christmas?” she asked incredulous.

“Yeah. I went to Henry's. I asked Mom last year and she said I could as long as I was back by curfew. I thought it would be the same now.”

“I want you to make an effort to be with us this week. You are just as much a part of this family as I am and we need each other right now. Did you put a piece of paper in the box?”

“Not yet.”

“I'd love it if you'd do that. I wanna know what's important to you. And more than that, I want you to know you're important.”

Slowly he stood, nodding. “Okay. Night.”

He turned away before she could tell that he was swallowing a huge lump in his throat. How did his cousin always know the right thing to say? How did she always know exactly what he needed to hear?

Pushing the door open to his room, he crept inside and scribbled down a note to drop in the box before going to bed. Lucky for him, Oliver slept with a light on all the time, so he wouldn't risk waking him up. He wrote the note, and stuck it in the box, remembering what Liv had said about it being like a door, and how no one was allowed to get anything out of it without permission.

[Image is a blue Post-It note that reads: "Liv and Emma - I apologize for the trouble tonight.  Thanks for coming over."  Then, beneath a horizontal line, it lists "Family, Friends" and "Being included" and ends "Sincerely, Noah"  A blue star is stuck to the right bottom of the page.]

Carefully, he set his note on top, and said good night to Liv again, who was crashing on the couch in the living room. “Love you,” he murmured as he was walking through, and she caught his hand, and squeezed it in the dim light.

In his room again, he climbed in bed with all his clothes on, and dug between the wall and his bed to pull out the ratty blue Care Bear he had hidden in stealth mode since Oliver moved in. He was too old for it. It was just nice to have something to hold onto as he was falling asleep.

Maybe it would be different this week. Tears tracked down his face, thinking about how his mom had left today. How she had left without even asking if he wanted to go along. Harper got asked and Gram wasn't even technically her grandma.

He hoped she was okay. He hoped everyone he loved would stop disappearing.