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When they returned to the Quest compound, they recieved a call. It was Estella, and she was planning to go to the Bannon estate in Manhattan. Race was the one talking to her.
"Estella, that is a really bad idea right now."
"Race, look, we have to go back there some day. We have to face the memories." Race made sure Jesse couldn't hear.
"You look, Jesse and I just faced the memories. OK? She ran into three of Jacob's old friends at his grave about a week ago, and then got a call from Robert. We just got home from making a report at the police station."
"Report of what? What happened?"
"Turns out Robert wasn't quite the angel we thought. He tried to rape Jesse!"
"What?!"
"Yes, and he also gave rather obvious clues that he had something to do with Jacob's death. We have no real proof, but none of trusts Robert enough to give him the benefit of the doubt." He heard Estella sigh deeply. Then Jesse came in.
"Who is it, Dad?" Race hessitated.
"It's your mom, Jesse." Jesse looked at Race with a smile.
"Really? Can I talk to her?" Race sighed.
"I guess. Here you go." Jesse took the phone.
"Hey, Mom!!"
"Jesse?! Oh, are you alright, baby?" Jesse sighed. (Author's note: lot of sighing, ey?)
"I guess Dad told you about the mess with Robert, right?"
"Yes, and I'm glad nothing happened. Look, I hate to do this after your latest adventure, but.....we need to go back to Manhatten. To the house." Jesse stood there motionless.
"Well, I don't know." Jonny and the others walked in, smiling. Jonny saw the look on Jesse's face.
"Jess, are you OK?" Jesse pulled down the reciever.
"I'm talking to my mom. She wants to go back to our old Bannon home. I don't know if I should, though." Jonny walked over to Jesse.
"Jesse, I think maybe you should. But if you do, I'll go with you." Jesse smiled. Dr. Quest nodded.
"Is it alright if I come as well? I've been wanting to take a look at the Bannon estate." Jesse pulled the phone back up.
"Mom, we'll come. But Dr. Quest and Jonny are coming with us, alright?"
"Wonderful! Well, I'll meet you there as soon as you can get there." Jesse nodded and hung up. Then she remembered something.
"Oops! We forgot about Jenny and Hadji!" Jenny giggled.
"Oh, thanks. We just happen to be standing right in the room." Dr. Quest laughed.
"Well, if you want I suppose we can call Estella back." Hadji looked at Jenny and she shook her head.
"That's OK, Dad. Hadji and I'll stay here to take care of the house." Dr. Quest gave a discerning look.
"Ummm..you mean you and Hadji wanna stay here? In this house? Alone?" Jenny laughed.
"Don't worry, Dad, we'll be good. You know you can trust Hadji. And I'm your daughter, so it'd be sorta mean to not trust me!" Dr. Quest, looking a little worried, gave his approval, and soon things were on a roll.
They arrived at the house in the evening. Estella greeted them and let them in.
"Welcome everyone!" Dr. Quest entered first, followed by Jonny, Jesse, and Race.
Jonny was shocked.
"Wow! This is where you used to live?! It's huge!" He gazed around at the large living room, filled with beautiful furniture and stylings. Jesse smiled.
"Glad you like it. It is pretty big. Then again, most housings built on estates are mansions." Jonny rolled his eyes.
"I know that. I just wasn't expecting it to be this big!" The front door was set near the kitchen, towards the corner of the living room. From the living room, a wide but short hall opened up across from the front door. The hall had about five doors, seperated to allow room for whatever was behind them. At the end of the hall was a large staircase, with beautiful scaffoldings made in the Greek-revival design. The same design was used through-out the house. Jonny started to head down the hallway as Race came past with luggage.
"Scuse me, Jonny, but I need to get these up to the rooms. Jesse, why don't you show Jonny around the downstairs rooms while I work upstairs?" Jesse nodded.
"Come on, Jonny." She motioned for him to follow. They entered the first door of the hallway and were greeted with blackness.
"Jess, could we turn on a light in here?" Jesse giggled.
"Jonny, this is known as our thought room. When ever someone in our family needs to think about something, we come in here." Jonny bumped into something.
"Yeah. You're bound to think up a storm walking into unknown objects." Jesse laughed lightly and went across the room to the other wall. Jonny couldn't believe that she never ran into anything. In a flick, the room was filled with an almost radiant glow. As Jonny's eyes focused, he began to see planets and stars looming around him. He saw constellations take shape and enlarge. All the while retaining the eerie glow. Something touched his shoulder and he jumped.
"YAAH! What the?!" Jesse giggled almose histerically when he turned around to look at her.
"So?" She smiled with delight. "What do you think?" Jonny turned around and looked once more at the room and the designs of light that filled it.
"Well, it is very beautiful. I see how you could think in here. But is that the only use for it?" Jesse walked passed him and then turned back towards him.
"It's the only use we've found. Can you think of one?" Jonny gave his lop-sided smile and moved closer to Jesse, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Well, I can think of something this privacy could be good for." They closed eyes and moved together, preparing to kiss. Then..
"*Ahem.*" Jonny let go of Jesse and turned towards the door. Jesse looked down at the floor.
"Oh, hello, Daddy. I didn't see you standing there." Race rolled his eyes.
"That got me off the subject when you were little, Jesse, but it's not likely to work in this situation." Jesse's face turned red. Race laughed, remembering back to the day before Jesse turned 6. He shook his head, then turned to present matters. "Well, I have a feeling Jonny might like to see the rest of the house. So, why don't you two shut down the thought room and get on with it?" Jesse nodded and walked over to the light switch.
"Wait!" Jonny held up a finger, turned, walked out of the room, then nodded. Jesse rolled her eyes. She turned off the light and left the room. Closing the door, she walked to the other side of the hall.
"These three rooms," she pointed to the doors that were closer together than the two from the other side, "are guest rooms. They're about the size of the normal rooms at the Quest compound." Jonny nodded, then pointed back across the hall. About a room away from the thought room was a set of double-doors. Jesse looked at them and smiled. "This room," she walked over to the doors and pushed them inwards to open them, "is the music room." Jonny followed Jesse as she walked in and gasped. The room was lined with shelves against each wall. The shelves were filled to capacity with pamphlets and booklets and more. There was a royal-style arrangement of furniture, surrounded by stands and instruments. Jonny couldn't believe his eyes.
"Jesse, I haven't seen this many instruments since we attended the performance of the Metropolitan orchestra." Jesse smiled.
"This was my brother's favorite room. Mom and Dad kept this room stocked with all the instruments he could play. Every time he learned a new one, they bought it for him." Jonny raised an eyebrow.
"Jesse, that's impossible. There's no way a little kid could play this many instruments." Jesse giggled.
"Well, he could. Jonny, my brother was a prodigy, a child genious, and he proved it many times. He loved music and could play better than the rest. The first instrument he ever learned to play was the flute. And his flute was the one instrument that he cherished over all. And one year, about two years before he died, he gave it to me." Jonny looked at Jesse's glowing face, then walked over to the shelves.
"He must have really loved playing. There is a ton of music here." Jesse took Jonny's hand lead him to a stand with no music and no instrument.
"Jonny, he didn't just play all the music in this room." A confused look crossed Jonny's face.
"What do you mean?" Jesse reached into a pouch she had been carrying and pulled out music and a flute case. Taking out the flute and putting it together, she sat down in front of the stand where she had put the music. She pointed to a spot on the first sheet where the composer's name should be.
"If you went through all the music in this room and looked in this spot, it would be empty. All these musical pieces have nameless composers. Or composer, I should say. Jonny, he didn't just play them all, he composed them." Jonny rocked back on his heels.
"He composed them?! All this?! Before he was even a teenager?!" Jesse nodded, then turned her attention back to the music before her.
"This piece he wrote the night before my sixth birthday. That day, he gave me his flute. And this piece." She put the flute to her lips and started to play. When she finished, she heard clapping from both in and outside the room. She turned to the doorway where Race, Estella, and Dr. Quest were now standing. The doctor walked to Jesse's side and looked at the music.
"No composer? I imagined seeing either Bach or Mozart's signature." Jonny walked over to his father.
"Dad, this piece was composed by Jesse's brother when he was eight!" Dr. Quest looked at Jonny in surprise. Then Jesse. Then the music. Then he turned to look at Race and Estella.
"An eight-year-old wrote music as well as Beethoven?" Race nodded. Estella walked around the large room, following the shelves.
"Our little Jacob wrote all of this music, Benton. He was very talented. He even taught Jesse how to play the flute. As you heard." The doctor nodded. Race closed his eyes.
"He could make even the worst moments seem wonderful. Every time Estella and I fought and forgot to tell him not to interfere, he would act like he didn't know and would start playing something. Usually the piano. It was amazing what that kid could do with an instrument. God, I miss him." He inhaled shakily, trying to hold back tears. Estella walked back to his side and put a hand on his arm. Shaking his head as if to clear it, Race decided to change the subject. "Well, how about we leave this place in peace for awhile and get something to eat or drink?" Everyone agreed and exited the room, closing it.
Later that night....
It was a raining heavily as the group sat talking and laughing in the living room of the Bannon mansion. Jesse stood up to get more to drink.
"Would anyone else like some more cocoa while I'm up?" They all declined and she headed towards the kitchen.
*Knock, knock, knock.* Jesse froze as she returned from the kitchen and was near the others.
"Who could that be?" They all looked at the door. Jonny was second to get up.
"I think the better question would be who is insane enough to be out in that storm at this time of night." Jesse walked to the door.
*Knock, knock, knock.* Slowly, she opened it. A dark figure stood in the shadow of the porch.
"Hello? Umm...who..who are you?" The tall figure stepped closer, just as lightning flashed outside. "It..it can't be." The figure had a pony tail and was wearing an overcoat. He seemed slightly distant with eyes that could pierce steel. "Dad...M-Mom, you...you two should come see this."
"What is it, Ponchita?" Race and Estella rushed to the door. Estella looked at the figure and gasped rocking back slightly as if she were about to faint. The figure stood with the same look. Never changing.
"It is." His voice seemed gruff as the thunder rolled outside. Jesse reached up and touched the young man's face.
"J...Jacob?"
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