A.N.: Ok I just want to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited my story! You guys are the best and I am so glad that you are enjoying my little story. It's the summer now so hopefully I'll be able to update more often but I am still going to be working Monday to Friday so some slack would be nice even though you guys are so nice about my random updates!

P.S. Was just on my holidays for the past 2 weeks, so really really sorry about that!

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own The Kane Chronicles.

THIS CHAPTER STARTS HERE….

After lunch everyone gathered together to read again, this time joined by the Fausts.

"I would like to read" announced Ruby, picking up the book and going to sit beside her husband.

"Kidnapped by a Not-So-Stranger," Ruby read.

"How can you be kidnapped by stranger who's not a stranger?" asked Robert. "That's a preposterous chapter title and reasoning."

"Well, these books are by your grandchildren, emphasis on CHILDREN" reasoned Desjardins.

"Yes, we know that, thank you" retorted Robert. " I can't actually wait to hear about them."

Julius and Amos looked at him incredulously.

I just love family meetings. Very cozy, with the Christmas garlands round the fireplace and a nice pot of tea and a detective from Scotland Yard ready to arrest.

This led Aisha and Catherine to having a very boring conversation about family gatherings. Well, not completely boring…

"Well my family gatherings aren't exactly normal. I remember one time back when I was a little girl and all my uncles had come over on Halloween. They all decided to come over dressed up as drag queens and then ended up having a fight over who made the most attractive woman" recalled Aisha.

She received some strange looks for that.

Carter slumped on the sofa, cradling Dad's workbag. I wondered why the police had let him keep it. It should have been evidence or something, but the inspector didn't seem to notice it at all.

"Hmm, how odd…" muttered Iskander.

"How could they not realize that the boy held important evidence?" questioned Robert.

He didn't get an answer, no ne knew, but he didn't know that.

Carter looked awful—I mean even worse than usual.

"Well, if he looks like Julius…." Joked Amos.

"Oh shut up, Amos!" reprimanded Ruby.

Ruby herself was then reprimanded by her mother. "Ruby! Language!"

Honestly, the boy had never been in a proper school

"What?! You never brought that grandson of mine to a school? I know that he travelled the world with his father since he was eight but he was eight and he never went to school?!" asked Catherine. "And you two being the geniuses that you both are? I am ashamed."

"I am not sure of what happened in the future before the point in time that we are reading about Mum, we don't know why Carter never went to school" explained Ruby.

, and he dressed like a junior professor, with his khaki trousers and a button-down shirt and loafers.

Julius looked down at what he was wearing and back up again while Amos, Desjardins and now Robert began snickering.

He's not bad looking, I suppose.

Julius sat up straighter while Amos imitated him behind his back.

He's reasonably tall and fit and his hair isn't hopeless. He's got Dad's eyes, and my mates Liz and Emma have even told me from his picture that he's hot,

"Ooh! Sadie's friends like Carter!" squealed Ruby, suddenly back to a girly girl. Julius really can't keep up with all her mood swings; girly, sad, in control, tomboy. But he still smailed back at her when she clapped her hands in delight and looked up to him.

which I must take with a grain of salt because (a) he's my brother,

"Understandable" agreed Amos. " I will never be able to think of Julius that way."

"I'm extremely glad to hear that, Amos" said Julius, flashing his brother his most charming smile.

" I sure hope not" muttered Ruby.

Oh great, thought Julius, now she's in her jealous mood.

and (b) my mates are a bit crazed. When it came to clothes, Carter wouldn't have known hot if it bit him on the bum.

"Sadie Catherine Kane! Language!" reprimanded Catherine.

"Sadie Catherine?" asked Ruby. "What makes you think that I would make your name my daughter's middle name?"

"I am her grandmother" replied Catherine as if that answered everything.

"Well, just for that I'm going to make her middle name….. Lilianna" announced Ruby. "Her paternal grandmother's name".

Julius knew that Ruby was probably only doing this because she wanted to show her mother that she was a fully grown woman and could make her own decisions but he was still touched that she thought oh his mother who died only 4 months ago.

"Bum isn't even a swear word..." muttered Robert, confused.

[Oh, don't look at me like that, Carter. You know it's true.] At any rate, I shouldn't have been too hard on him. He was taking Dad's disappearance even worse than I was.

"Oh my poor baby…" cried Ruby, cuddling into Julius chest.

"What?" mouthed Amos to Julius.

"Hormones" he mouthed back, causing Amos to nod his head in understanding.

"I know your both whispering about me" said Ruby, looking up to meet Julius eyes.

"What? No…no, no," disagreed Julius, shaking his head.

He had to stay strong for everybody…..even if he was the world's worst father of all time.

Gran and Gramps sat on either side of him, looking quite nervous. The pot of tea and a plate of biscuits sat on the table, but no one was having any.

Catherine frowned but Robert, quickly realising what she was about to ask and not having the heart to lie to his wife gestured to Ruby to just keep on reading.

Chief Inspector Williams ordered me into the only free chair. Then he paced in front of the fireplace importantly.

"Because we all look so important when we pace in front of fireplaces" drawled Amos sarcastically.

Two more police stood by the front door—the woman from earlier and a big bloke who kept eyeing the biscuits.

Catherine smiled, glad that someone appreciated her biscuits.

"Mr. and Mrs. Faust," Inspector Williams said, "I'm afraid we have two uncooperative children." Gran fidgeted with the trim of her dress. It's hard to believe she's related to Mum. Gran is frail and colorless, like a stick person really, while Mum in the photos always looked so happy and full of life.

Catherine frowned, turned to her husband for comfort as tears gathered in her eyes.

"I'm not colorless, am I?" she asked him, thoroughly upset.

Meanwhile, Julius was silently cursing the fact that his daughter had unluckily inherited his way of thinking blunt, rude things about the way he saw people simply because no one could stop him.

"They're just children," she managed. "Surely you can blame them." "Pah!" Gramps said. "This is ridiculous, Inspector. They aren't responsible!"

"Thank you for trying to sway the detectives into believing that they were innocent Mum, Dad" thanked Ruby quietly, upset with herself about getting so angry at her mother.

"Thank you" echoed Julius.

"It's so good to see that you are all finally getting along well together!" cheered Iskander happily. "Family should be united not divided".

Gramps is a former rugby player.

"What is rugby?" asked a slightly confused Jamal, he had become used to not knowing some of the terms used in this book.

"What is rugby?!" echoed Robert, astounded. "Only the single greatest sport ever known to mankind! I'll have to explain it all to you later!"

Ruby shook her head and caught her mother doing the same. Dad could talk about rugby every second of every day forever, she thought.

He has beefy arms, a belly much too big for his shirt, and eyes sunk deep in his face, as if someone had punched them

"No they're not!" Robert protested.

Everyone looked at him, he was right. Where was Sadie getting all these ideas from?

Julius chuckled, he remembered daydreaming about punching him…

(well, actually Dad had punched them years ago, but that's another story).

All eyes turned to Julius who just smiled and looked away, creeping everyone out before quietly whispering an apology to Robert. He didn't want Amos t think that he was a pushover.

Gramps is quite scary looking. Usually people got out of his way, but Inspector Williams didn't seem impressed. "Mr. Faust," he said, "what do you imagine the morning headlines will read? 'British Museum attacked. Rosetta Stone destroyed.' Your son-in-law—" "Former son-in-law," Gramps corrected.

Robert also mouthed his apology to Julius. He can't be seen as a man who didn't know where his loyalties lie. He had seen the movies involving secret organizations, the guy who didn't know what to choose always died. Always.

"—was most likely vaporized in the explosion, or he ran off, in which case—" "He didn't run off!" I shouted. "We need to know where he is," the inspector continued. "And the only witnesses, your grandchildren, refuse to tell me the truth."

"Actually officer they are telling you the truth you just do not believe them because they're children!" retorted a seemingly fired up Aisha.

"She fights for children's rights" explained Amos to the Fausts, not taking his eyes off Aisha in case she turned on him for some, yet unknown, reason.

"We did tell you the truth," Carter said. "Dad isn't dead. He sank through the floor." Inspector Williams glanced at Gramps, as if to say, There, you see? Then he turned to Carter. "Young man, your father has committed a criminal act. He's left you behind to deal with the consequences—"

Doubts about what kind of parent he would be began running rampage through Julius' mind. Well, not really running. They were more, skateboarding through his mind and doing 180s.

"That's not true!" I snapped, my voice trembling with rage. I couldn't believe Dad would intentionally leave us at the mercy of police, of course. But the idea of him abandoning me—well, as I might have mentioned, that's a bit of a sore point.

Ruby began worrying about Julius. He seemed to be taking all of the kids negative comments to heart. I mean, sure this is what happens in the future but, they can change it now. For the better. She'll have to talk to him about it later.

"Dear, please," Gran told me, "the inspector is only doing his job." "Badly!" I said.

"Really Ruby, you ought to have taught this girl better manners", reprimanded Catherine, she shook her head at her daughter.

"Oh mother…" said Ruby.

Oh great, thought Julius. Here comes misunderstood teenager mood.

"Let's all have some tea," Gran suggested.

"Your stupid tea..." muttered Ruby.

"No!" Carter and I yelled at once, which made me feel bad for Gran, as she practically wilted into the sofa.

Catherine seemed offended at being portrayed as such a weak character. Ruby's death must have really affected her. Wait, what was she saying? Of course Ruby's death affected her! Sure she doesn't see her often but she still loved her very much so Ruby's death would have really devastated her.

"We can charge you," the inspector warned, turning on me. "We can and we will—" He froze. Then he blinked several times, as if he'd forgotten what he was doing.

"Ooh! Someone's busting out the magic!" said Amos.

"Don't go all gangster on me Amos" pleaded Julius. "It just doesn't suit you, it scares me."

Gramps frowned. "Er, Inspector?" "Yes..." Chief Inspector Williams murmured dreamily. He reached in his pocket and took out a little blue booklet—an American passport. He threw it in Carter's lap.

"Okay…."

"You're being deported," the inspector announced. "You're to leave the country within twenty-four hours. If we need to question you further, you'll be contacted through the FBI."

"My grandson is going to be deported?" asked Robert, baffled. How could this possibly happen? They were just a normal, hard-working, English family. That was until his daughter decided to be a magician, and then married a magician, and got pregnant with a magician.

Carter's mouth fell open. He looked at me, and I knew I wasn't imagining how odd this was. The inspector had completely changed direction. He'd been about to arrest us. I was sure of it. And then out of the blue, he was deporting Carter? Even the other police officers looked confused.

Aisha started to giggle. He was so confused, both of them were, or, will be…

"Sir?" the policewoman asked. "Are you sure—" "Quiet, Linley. The two of you may go."

"Ooh, that's a nice name!" interrupted Aisha. "We should add that to the list Jamal! After all, we've only got a month and a half left!"

"Really?" asked Ruby excitedly. "I've only got 2 more months! We should so schedule a play date for Carter and your daughter!"

"Ooh! Definitely!"

The cops hesitated until Williams made a shooing motion with his hand. Then they left, closing the door behind them. "Hold on," Carter said. "My father's disappeared, and you want me to leave the country?" "Your father is either dead or a fugitive, son," the inspector said. "Deportation is the kindest option. It's already been arranged.""With whom?" Gramps demanded. "Who authorized this?"

"Thanks for caring so much Robert" said Julius, nodding at Robert.

"Well, he is my only grandson" replied Robert, which was his own way of saying "your welcome".

"With..." The inspector got that funny blank look again. "With the proper authorities. Believe me, it's better than prison." Carter looked too devastated to speak, but before I could feel sorry for him, Inspector Williams turned to me. "You, too, miss." He might as well have hit me with a sledgehammer.

"How?" asked Desjardins. "She is American or is she not? Surely she should be glad to be going home?"

"Ah, but what if it is no longer home to her?" questioned Jamal. "She has lived in London since she was 6 years of age. She is used to London, it is her home."

"You're deporting me?" I asked. "I live here!"

"See?"

"You're an American citizen. And under the circumstances, it's best for you to return home."

"See?"

"Oh don't you two start!"

I just stared at him. I couldn't remember any home except this flat. My mates at school, my room, everything I knew was here. "Where am I supposed to go?"

"She has a point" said Ruby. "She has lived these past few years with Mum and Carter travelled everywhere with Julius. Where would they go?"

"With me of course!" exclaimed Amos, throwing his hands up in the air and flashing her a charming smile.

"Over my dead body!" joked Ruby, forgetting about how true that statement was and then pretending that she didn't notice her mistake.

"Inspector," Gran said, her voice trembling. "This isn't fair. I can't believe—" "I'll give you some time to say good-bye," the inspector interrupted. Then he frowned as if baffled by his own actions. "I—I must be going." This made no sense, and the inspector seemed to realize it, but he walked to the front door anyway. When he opened it, I almost jumped out of my chair, because the man in black, Amos, was standing there.

"Amos, what are you doing scaring Sadie?" Amos asked himself.

"Well Amos, I believe I am there to save Sadie and Carter from the annoyance known as the law" Amos answered himself.

"I always knew he was different" interrupted Julius, fake crying into a tissue. " But now he really has gone round the bend." And with that he twirled his finger in a circle beside his head as if to prove his point.

Amos shot Julius a pointed glare but sat back in his chair with a huff.

He'd lost his trench coat and hat somewhere, but was still wearing the same pinstripe suit and round glasses. His braided hair glittered with gold beads.

"And I make it look damn fashionable!"

"Shut up Amos!"

"Yes Ruby!"

"Ugh!"

I thought the inspector would say something, or express surprise, but he didn't even acknowledge Amos. He walked right past him and into the night.

"Well, he is forgettable…" trailed off Desjardins.

"Hey!" pouted Amos.

Amos came inside and closed the door. Gran and Gramps stood up. "You," Gramps growled. "I should've known. If I was younger, I would beat you to a pulp."

"Why would you say that?" asked Jamal. "That's no way to treat your daughter's brother-in-law".

"The Kanes and myself used to not get along quite so well" explained Robert tightly.

"Hmm….." said Jamal.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Faust," Amos said. He looked at Carter and me as if we were problems to be solved. "It's time we had a talk."

"Ooh, I'm going for the mysterious approach!"

( A.N. You can guess who said that can't you? Honestly, I'd be kind of disappointed if you couldn't.)

Amos made himself right at home. He flopped onto the sofa and poured himself tea. He munched on a biscuit, which was quite dangerous, because Gran's biscuits are horrid.

"My biscuits aren't horrid are they?" asked Catherine, looking around at everyone.

"I've never had one" said Jamal.

"Me neither" said Aisha.

"Or me".

"Nor me."

Catherine looked over at Robert, Ruby, Julius and Amos waiting for an answer.

"Em, why don't we all continue on with the story?" proposed Ruby.

Needless to say, everyone agreed.

I thought Gramps's head would explode. His face went bright red. He came up behind Amos and raised his hand as if he were about to smack him, but Amos kept munching his biscuits. "Please, sit down," he told us.

"Then again" started Jamal. "Maybe it isn't quite so questionable.."

And we all sat. It was the strangest thing—as if we'd been waiting for his order. Even Gramps dropped his hand and moved round the sofa. He sat next to Amos with a disgusted sigh.

Robert huffed.

Amos sipped his tea and regarded me with some displeasure. That wasn't fair, I thought. I didn't look that bad, considering what we'd been through. Then he looked at Carter and grunted.

"Well, that's nice…." Said Aisha, looking at Amos warily.

"Hey! I am harmless Aisha, don't worry!" said an offended Amos.

"Terrible timing," he muttered. "But there's no other way. They'll have to come with me." "Excuse me?" I said. "I'm not going anywhere with some strange man with biscuit on his face!"

*Insert laughter here*

He did in fact have biscuit crumbs on his face, but he apparently didn't care, as he didn't bother to check.

"Well that's not very hygienic!" said Catherine giving Amos a pointed glare which he then pointedly ignored.

"I'm no stranger, Sadie," he said. "Don't you remember?" It was creepy hearing him talk to me in such a familiar way. I felt like I should know him. I looked at Carter, but he seemed just as mystified as I was.

"Ha! You are forgettable!" teased Desjardins. "I on the other hand…"

"Yes, I must agree with you Mr. Jesarins" agreed Aisha, but not without sending Amos a wink to let him know that she was secretly on his side.

"Well, eh, thank you Aisha, and please, call me Michel".

"No, Amos," Gran said, trembling. "You can't take Sadie. We had an agreement."

"And you should have said…." Started Ruby, looking directly at her mother and father.

"You can't take Sadie and Carter" they droned lifelessly as if this was something that they had drilled into them so many times that they know off heart and understand but are still forced to practice.

Like maths, or geography, or science.

"Julius broke that agreement tonight," Amos said. "You know you can't care for Sadie anymore—not after what's happened. Their only chance is to come with me." "Why should we go anywhere with you?" Carter asked. "You almost got in a fight with Dad!"

"He has a point", pointed out Jamal.

I really have no idea where all the point related words are coming from, so don't ask.

Amos looked at the workbag in Carter's lap. "I see you kept your father's bag. That's good. You'll need it. As for getting into fights, Julius and I did that quite a lot. If you didn't notice, Carter, I was trying to stop him from doing something rash. If he'd listened to me, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Amos here happens to be wearing Pink Panther underwear" said Iskander, unexpectedly.

"I…..I….I…..have nothing to say".

I had no idea what he was on about, but Gramps apparently understood. "You and your superstitions!" he said. "I told you we want none of it."

"I take that back, I was wrong".

"Thanks Dad".

Ah, back to normal Ruby, Julius loves normal Ruby.

Amos pointed to the back patio. Through the glass doors, you could see the lights shining on the Thames. It was quite a nice view at night, when you couldn't notice how run-down some of the buildings were. "Superstition, is it?" Amos asked. "And yet you found a place to live on the east bank of the river." Gramps turned even redder. "That was Ruby's idea. Thought it would protect us.

"I'm glad you both decided to listen to me on this" said Ruby.

But she was wrong about many things, wasn't she? She trusted Julius and you, for one!" Amos looked unfazed. He smelled interesting

"Well, that's… different" commented Amos.

No one else dare comment.

like old-timey spices, copal and amber, like the incense shops in Convent Garden.

"Ahhhhhhh" collective realization.

He finished his tea and looked straight at Gran. "Mrs. Faust, you know what's begun. The police are the least of your worries." Gran swallowed. "You... you changed that inspector's mind. You made him deport Sadie." "It was that or see the children arrested," Amos said. "Hang on," I said. "You changed Inspector Williams's mind? How?" Amos shrugged. "It's not permanent. In fact we should get to New York in the next hour or so before Inspector Williams begins to wonder why he let you go."

"Oh you're not going to be taking Dad's boat?" asked Julius incredulously.

"Well how else is future me going to get to New York in an hour?" replied Amos.

"Portal?" said Julius, in a duh! Voice.

"Oh you know I'm awful at those!"

"Boys! Why don't you both continue this later?" suggested Ruby.

"Yeah sure"

"K"

Carter laughed incredulously. "You can't get to New York from London in a hour. Not even the fastest plane—" "No," Amos agreed. "Not a plane." He turned back to Gran as if everything had been settled. "Mrs. Faust, Carter and Sadie have only one safe option. You know that. They'll come to the mansion in Brooklyn. I can protect them there." "You've got a mansion," Carter said. "In Brooklyn." Amos gave him an amused smile. "The family mansion. You'll be safe there." "But our dad—" "Is beyond your help for now," Amos said sadly. "I'm sorry, Carter. I'll explain later, but Julius would want you to be safe. For that, we must move quickly. I'm afraid I'm all you've got."

"Well he'll have Robert and I from now on" said Catherine. She was determined to change this future, she would be there for her grandson, no matter who he looked like.

That was a bit harsh, I thought. Carter looked at Gran and Gramps. Then he nodded glumly. He knew that they didn't want him around. He'd always reminded them of our dad. And yes, it was a stupid reason not to take in your grandson, but there you are.

Julius put an arm around Ruby to comfort her. "This is all in the past" he said. "Even if it's in the future!"

This made Ruby giggle, so some people (Amos and Desjardins) began to wonder what the pair were whispering about. Hey! They are newly weds! Kinda…..

Well, Carter can do what he wants," I said. "But I live here. And I'm not going off with some stranger, am I?" I looked at Gran for support, but she was staring at the lace doilies on the table as if they were suddenly quite interesting. "Gramps, surely..." But he wouldn't meet my eyes either. He turned to Amos. "You can get them out of the country?" "Hang on!" I protested.

"Ooh! Sadie being backstabbed!" shouted Amos.

"No, Mr. and Mrs. Faust here are simply looking out for the well-being of their granddaughter, even if it means a huge self-sacrifice on their part for it to happen. They should be proud."

Iskander, bringing you wise words of wisdom since who knows when?

Amos stood and wiped the crumbs off his jacket. He walked to the patio doors and stared out at the river. "The police will be back soon. Tell them anything you like. They won't find us." "You're going to kidnap us?" I asked, stunned. I looked at Carter. "Do you believe this?" Carter shouldered the workbag. Then he stood like he was ready to go. Possibly he just wanted to be out of Gran and Gramps's flat.

This made Robert and Catherine feel hurt. Their own grandson wanted to leave not only their apartment but their street, city, province, country, continent, side of the planet!

"Well" thought Robert. "That shall have to change. I'll teach Carter all about rugby and football and how to be a real man!"

Hey, not everybody's perfect!

"How do you plan to get to New York in an hour?" he asked Amos. "You said, not a plane." "No," Amos agreed. He put his finger to the window and traced something in the condensation—another bloody hieroglyph.

"You know, I'm starting to get the feeling that they might be getting sick of hieroglyphics" said Jamal.

"You know Jamal, I think you're really on to something" praised Aisha.

"Yeah, what?"

"The award for being Captain Obvious!" and with that Jamal received a playful smack on the back of his head.

Aisha was studying how Ruby and Julius and Catherine and Robert interacted with each other. Ruby and Catherine were much more themselves around everyone than Aisha was. So she decided to try and do the same.

"A boat," I said—then realized I'd translated aloud, which I wasn't supposed to be able to do. Amos peered at me over the top of his round glasses. "How did you—" "I mean that last bit looks like a boat," I blurted out.

"Smooth" Amos chuckled.

"But that can't be what you mean. That's ridiculous." "Look!" Carter cried. I pressed in next to him at the patios doors. Down at the quayside, a boat was docked. But not a regular boat, mind you. It was an Egyptian reed boat, with two torches burning in the front, and a big rudder in the back. A figure in a black trench coat and hat—possibly Amos's—stood at the tiller.

"And you did take Dad's boat!" said Julius.

Amos simply shrugged as way of response, making a non-committal sound in his throat.

I'll admit, for once, I was at a loss for words. "We're going in that," Carter said. "To Brooklyn." "We'd better get started," Amos said. I whirled back to my grandmother. "Gran, please!" She brushed a tear from her cheek. "It's for the best, my dear. You should take Muffin." "Ah, yes," Amos said. "We can't forget the cat."

"What is so special about Muffin?" asked Desjardins, fed up about the stupid cat already.

"We shall have to simply read and learn more on that matter".

He turned towards the stairs. As if on cue, Muffin raced down in a leopard-spotted streak and leaped into my arms. She never does that. "Who are you?" I asked Amos. It was clear I was running out of options, but I at least wanted answers. "We can't just go off with some stranger." "I'm not a stranger." Amos smiled at me. "I'm family. "And suddenly I remembered his face smiling down at me, saying, "Happy birthday, Sadie." A memory so distant, I'd almost forgotten. "Uncle Amos?" I asked hazily.

"See? I am NOT forgettable!" exclaimed Amos happily.

He even did a little victory dance to accompany his shout of joy.

"That's right, Sadie," he said. "I'm Julius's brother. Now come along. We have a long way to go."