held her hands up, bent down her two first fingers, and said, “Air quote.”
The move emphasized the fact that Kaitlyn couldn’t understand half of the things Quess said, but she enjoyed the girl’s company all the same.
“Did you know that dandelions are edible and in French the name means lion’s tooth?”
“Nope, didn’t know that.” Quess smiled. “It must be strange to have random facts always running through your mind.”
Kaitlyn didn’t reply. To her it was normal so she didn’t know the difference.
It was nice to get outside. Summer was quickly turning into fall. The leaves were beginning to change colors, and the temperature was dropping. Kaitlyn knew they were somewhere in northern Virginia. She had analyzed the dirt and rocks, and compared it to the array of trees. It was mainly the pine trees, dogwoods, and red agate that gave away the location.
Out of curiosity, she had once asked Quess if they were in Virginia, and the girl had confirmed it.
Whenever she looked at anything, she analyzed it.
She could look at Quess’s floral-print dress and was able to find out it was from American Eagle. Further, she then knew that American Eagle was a popular American store located in almost every mall. She didn’t know how she knew this; she just did. The clip in Quess’s hair was harder to narrow down because it was sold in so many stores and produced in several countries.
Quess rambled on about her friends and Facebook, which jogged Kaitlyn’s memory about their last conversation.
“Did you have any luck with the picture?” Kaitlyn asked nonchalantly, trying to hide her curiosity.
“Not yet. It didn’t go quite as easily as I thought. You wouldn’t believe how many good looking blond guys there are out there that match your description. I got a lot of hits, but I need to narrow them down. I wish we knew more about your past. You don’t recall anything? If we knew where you were from it would help a lot.”
“Not really. I just remember the blinding light. And of course, the blond haired guy that always shows up in my dreams. Sometimes I see flashes of scenes, but they don’t make any sense.” Kaitlyn paused. “You don’t think I’m from this area?” She had never given it much thought. It didn’t really mater to her where she was from. She couldn’t go back.
“No. They wouldn’t have taken you from this area. Too many chances of being spotted by someone you know.” Quess sounded sure of herself.
That made sense. They put far too much money into the project to risk someone recognizing Kaitlyn. Not that they really needed to worry about that since she was confined to the massive compound. Everything they needed was within the gates which surrounded over one hundred acres. She still had no idea what they planned to do with her. Everyone kept saying she was almost ready. Ready for what?
“You don’t have an accent, so it’s hard to say. Do you think they changed the way you talk?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Kaitlyn had no idea how much they had altered her. Sometimes she wondered what she used to like to do. She must have had hobbies, a favorite food, a family….
“I’ll poke around and see if I can find anything out,” Quess went on. “Maybe Nanny will spill some secrets. She’s always been a bit of a gossip.”
Kaitlyn stopped and pivoted on her toes to look at the girl. “Do you think she knows anything about who I was?”
Quess flipped her copper braid over her shoulder. “Who knows? But if anyone does, I would say it was her. My grandparents have been married nearly fifty years. I think they tell each other everything.”
Kaitlyn found that hard to believe, but didn’t want to dissuade Quess. She seemed to enjoy the mystery, and it gave her something to do. The girl had said many times how boring it was spending the summer with her grandparents. At least Quess was able to leave the compound to go shopping with her grandmother. That seemed to make her happy. Kaitlyn secretly wished she was able to join them on their outings, if for no other reason then to see if the human world reminded her of who she had been.
“Why don’t you come over for dinner sometime?” Quess asked, her eyes lit with excitement.
“You know I don’t have to eat.” Kaitlyn continued down the path, watching leaves float to the ground as they fell from the trees.
“But you can, right? If you