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turning away quickly and roughly pushing the back of her hand against her cheek. “Best be getting a move on. Don’t want to keep all them folks waiting on us.” She left Piper’s room abruptly and bustled down the stairs.
    Piper took one last look around the only bedroom she’d ever known before picking up the old bag and reluctantly leaving. When she opened the porch door she noticed that the fancy cars were packed up and the men in dark suits were waiting next to them at the ready. Dr. Hellion smiled when she saw her. “All ready?”
    Piper nodded sadly. Off to the side, Joe stood forlornly waiting.
    “I’m going now, Pa.”
    Joe sighed, thrusting his hand into the pocket of his overalls and pulling out a beautifully carved wooden bird. He handed it to Piper and she took it gently, turning it over reverently.
    “Was gonna be for your birthday,” Joe spoke slowly. “I expect now’s as good a time as any. Made it myself.”
    Tears sprang into Piper’s eyes. “It’s beautiful, Pa. Most beautiful I ever saw.” Piper’s fingers traced the delicate lines on the feathers of the bird that Joe had painstakingly spent hours creating. It was truly a labor of love.
    “We’ll be waiting right here for you when you’re ready to come back to us.” Joe patted Piper’s shoulder awkwardly. He wasn’t used to so much talking.
    Piper nodded through her tears. She felt Dr. Hellion’s gentle hand on her shoulder and allowed herself to be guided away. Agent Agent lifted her up into the helicopter and expertly fastened safety straps across her chest, which firmly held her against the soft leather seats. The next thing she knew, the door was closed and the engine was revving up. It was all happening so fast.
    The helicopter lifted off and Piper watched the strong wind created by the blades blasting against her ma and pa. They stood stalwart against it and waved as the helicopter rose into the sky.
    Piper kept her eyes fixed not on the sky but on the waving hands of her parents. Although she knew that they couldn’t see, she waved back.
    Long after all of the fancy cars had sped away and the dust had settled, Betty and Joe McCloud kept their eyes fixed firmly on the horizon where they’d last seen the helicopter. Neither of them moved for a long time.

CHAPTER SIX  
     
     
    T HE HELICOPTER flew due north at such a speed that green forests quickly became white with snow. Then the trees disappeared altogether and there was an endless stretch of wintry tundra that reached in every direction as far as the eye could see. Not that Piper noticed any of it. Slumped over in the luxurious leather seat, Piper’s thoughts stayed on the farm, her parents, and how much she missed them already. Dr. Hellion, who was seated next to Piper, reached out and gently squeezed Piper’s small hand reassuringly.
    “I’ve never been away from my ma and pa before. My ma always says she can’t figure where I’ve come from. She says that there wasn’t ever another McCloud like me. Sometimes I thought that was a good thing ’cause I don’t want to be just like everyone else. But then I got to thinking and it got me worried. ’Cause I am a McCloud, and if I’m not a McCloud, then what am I? A person likes to feel like they belong somewhere.”
    “For some people that path to belonging is more difficult than others.” Deep understanding resonated through each of Dr. Hellion’s words. “I promise you I will help you find it, though.”
    “You reckon?”
    Dr. Hellion smiled and nodded. Relieved, Piper smiled too. There was something about Dr. Hellion that was so calm and assured. Everything made sense to her in a way that it never had to Piper, and she longed for that same knowledge. Maybe she’d learn that at the school as well.
    “Roger that. ETA is ten hundred,” Piper heard the pilot say, and she began looking out the window to catch her first glimpse of her new home.