The House in the Cerulean Sea(125)

“A little devil, isn’t he?” Helen asked, staring at the closed door in wonder.

“Quite literally,” Arthur replied. “Helen, I don’t think we were expecting you.”

“Sorry about that,” she said. “I—it couldn’t wait. I needed to see you.” She glanced at Linus. “Both of you. It’s important.”

“By all means,” Arthur said, nodding to the chair Lucy had vacated. She sat while Linus moved to stand next to Arthur. He turned redder when Arthur reached up and took his hand, kissing the back of it. He didn’t pull away.

“Getting on then, are you?” Helen asked, a spark in her eyes that Linus didn’t like.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Linus said stiffly.

“Oh, sure. I understand that. Talia told me last weekend that you haven’t slept in the guest house since Christmas. And that they’ve had quite a few sleepovers with Zoe, though I don’t think she quite understands why.”

Arthur laughed as Linus groaned. “Meddling little things.”

“It’s a good look on you,” she said quietly. “The both of you. I’m happy you found each other.” She sobered. “I’ve waited to come to you with this. I wanted to make sure, but I think it’s almost time.”

Linus was confused. He glanced down at Arthur before looking back at Helen. “What are you talking about?”

“A child,” Arthur said. “Isn’t it? You’ve found a new child.”

Linus felt goose bumps on the back of his neck.

Helen nodded. “He’s undocumented. But he has no one else. He’s staying with … some friends. People I trust, but they don’t have enough room, and it was always meant to be temporary. And given … what he is, he’ll need more than they could ever provide.” She smiled, though it trembled. “I know it’s asking a lot, and it might bring down more attention on you than you want, but he has nowhere else to go. They’ve looked for relatives, but haven’t been successful. I think he’s alone. He’s shy, and scared, and doesn’t talk much. Reminds me a little of Sal, in fact. Or, rather, how he used to be. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that boy talk as much as he has in the last few months.”

“Regular chatterbox,” Linus said faintly. “What’s his name?”

“And that’s how I know this could be the place for him,” Helen said, her smile growing. “Because you didn’t ask me what he was, just who he is. I don’t know that anyone has ever done that for him.” She reached inside a pocket on her overalls and pulled out a photograph. She glanced down at it before handing it over. “His name is David. He’s eleven years old. And he’s a—”

“A yeti,” Linus said in awe. He stared at the photo in Arthur’s hand. In it, there was a smiling boy covered in thick, white hair. But it was his eyes that Linus noticed more than anything.

They were cerulean.

“We’ll take him,” Linus said immediately. “Whenever he’s ready. Can we get him today? Where is he? Does he have much? Oh, we’ll have to figure out where he should sleep. The guest house might work but—wait. Will he be all right here? Won’t he like the cold more than anything? I suppose we can work something out. Anything we can do to make him comfortable—”

He felt Arthur squeeze his hand.

He looked down. “Gone off, have I?”

And Arthur said, “You dear, dear man. How I adore you.”

Linus coughed. “Uh. Yes. You too. The same.”

Helen was grinning at them. “I knew it. I knew I was doing the right thing. And yes, he likes cold, though he’s survived more without having it.”

“He shouldn’t just be surviving,” Linus said irritably. “He should be living.”

“The cellar,” Arthur said, and Linus gaped at him. “We could convert the cellar into a cold room. Just for him.”

“Are you sure?”

Arthur nodded. “Yes. It’s time, I think. To let the past rest. Take something filled with anger and sadness and make it better.”

Linus Baker loved Arthur Parnassus more than he could ever put into words.

“Will it cause problems with your petition for adopting the others?” Helen asked, sounding worried. “I don’t want that to be put into jeopardy.”

Arthur shook his head. “I don’t see why it would. This place is still considered an orphanage, though DICOMY is reviewing their guidelines, or so they say. And he is … unusual, just like the rest of us. If he finds that he likes it here, and wants to stay, we’ll do what we can to go through the proper channels. And if he doesn’t, we’ll find him a place to belong.”

Helen looked relieved. “There’s more, you know. So many more.”

“We know,” Linus said. “And while we may not be able to help them all, we’ll do as much as we can for all those put in our path.”



* * *



She left them a little later with a promise of getting in touch soon. There were plans to be made, and she thought it would be best if Arthur and Linus were to go to David first so as not to overwhelm him with all the others.

They agreed.

Linus watched the truck through the bedroom window. Helen was speaking with Zoe through the open window. They were both smiling. Linus hadn’t seen their relationship blossoming, though he seemed to be the only one. It wasn’t until he’d stumbled upon them kissing that he figured out why Helen seemed to be at the island more and more.