Tyler was summoned to breakfast the following morning by Gerard, rather than Miss Lindsey. The children were sitting at the table, eating cereal, and he helped himself to a bowl of his own as he took a seat next to Ryan.

The mood was different than most of the other days at the Ballato Estate. Gerard was quiet as he sipped some coffee and stared absent-mindedly out the window. Frank wasn't eating or drinking or rambling, as he normally was at this time of the morning, but was laying on the floor, his chin resting on his paws. The children talked and joked as per usual, but there seemed a slight tension in the air, one that took no time for Tyler to pick up on.

Miss Lindsey, most notably, was nowhere to be found.

"She's out on business," Pete said. He seemed to recall, then, the rule on invading people's minds, and his neck went red. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Tyler shrugged a little, shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth. He knew Pete didn't mean it. Truthfully, he was more concerned about Miss Lindsey's absence; Frank and Gerard both seemed a bit more subdued. He got the feeling that she didn't leave the Estate much like this.

Frank and Gerard looked after the children for the day, with Frank watching over them and Gerard helping them with their lessons. Tyler quickly found out that while Gerard was very smart, he wasn't very good at teaching subjects like math or science. Art, however, he excelled at; Tyler found himself rather impressed by the man's skill and creativity.

After lessons were over for the day, Tyler went out in the garden with Sarah and Jenna. It was chilly, but the sky was clear and bright, which made Tyler squint frequently. Sarah was touching the plants, causing them to grow stronger; gorgeous flowers spread their petals under her hands. Watching her, Tyler noted, it looked almost as if the garden itself were reaching out to her, desperate for her magic touch.

It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful place, but Tyler couldn't relax entirely. The tension that had begun that morning had continued throughout the day, and he, too, found himself worried about the woman who had so graciously taken him in.

"Does Miss Lindsey leave often?" he asked Jenna, as she admired a tangle of ivy clinging to the arbor.

She hesitated, gently brushing a moth away from her eye, then shook her head. "No. Only to bring other children, and she always gives us a warning first."

Tyler frowned a little. "Do you know when she'll be back?"

"No. I'm worried," Jenna admitted. "She's like a mother to me."

She seemed genuinely upset, so Tyler touched her arm, careful not to disturb any of the handfuls of moths fluttering about or crawling on her body. "I'm sure she'll be back soon."

One of the moths crawled onto Tyler's hand experimentally, and he yelped, shaking his hand until it fluttered back onto Jenna. She laughed as the moth burrowed itself into her long blonde hair, and Tyler had to laugh too. She pulled him along the path again, eager to show him the rest of the garden, and he tried to forget his worries for just a little while.