Yesterday and Today

by Phoebe Rivers

In June we read how workers under contract from the Pennsylvania-Jersey Coastal Lines were beginning work.

  In late July we found this article. Lily and I read it in silence.

  Stellamar Depot Site Explosion and Cave-In Engulfs a Score

  Nearly twenty workers perish. Buried in tons of debris fifty feet down, while others slide into Death Pit.

  Mayor Directs Recovery.

  An explosion of gas shook the neighborhood as there was a cave-in at the construction site for the train depot on Culver Street yesterday morning, burying, it is believed, at least twenty persons fifty feet below the surface. A flood of water from broken mains added to the calamity.

  Scores of firemen, policemen, and other municipal employees attempted rescue, but danger of further cave-in meant the impossibility of recovering the victims.

  Experts believe that the old drains running beneath the mains created the deadly buildup of methane gas and led to the cave-in.

  I stopped reading. “This is the evidence we need, Lil,” I said. “We have to make a copy and show this article to your dad.”

  Lily rocked back and forth in her chair in excitement. “The article even mentions ‘old drains.’ If they were old back in 1908, then they must be really old now. My dad will totally pay attention to this!”

  We managed to take a decent, readable picture with Lily’s cell phone, which had better quality than mine. Then we packed everything away again, turned off the machine, and headed upstairs.

  “Thanks so much, Great-Aunt Ro!” yelled Lily over her shoulder as we raced out of the front door.

  Great-Aunt Ro was sitting on a low stool in front of the display case, restocking brochures. “You’re welcome, girls!” she called after us. “Come back soon!”

  We ran back to Lily’s house, where we found her dad in the study, reading over a long, legal-looking document. His new reading glasses, which Lily had told me he’d finally decided he needed, were perched on his nose somewhat awkwardly. Like he wasn’t quite used to wearing them yet.

  “What’s up, girls?” he said distractedly, without looking up from his paper. “Kind of busy. Have to finish looking this over before I get it off to the lawyer.”

  “Wait! You mean you already signed the contract?” shrieked Lily. “I thought you weren’t signing the paperwork for another couple of weeks!”

  Lily’s dad shot her a bewildered look, as if he didn’t understand why it had upset her so much to learn he had signed the paperwork early. “Well, we moved ahead with it yesterday. Signed the paperwork right at dinner last night. Your mom and I talked about it, Lil, and we decided to just do it.” He smiled as he said it, but he sounded a little tense. “There’s nothing to worry about,” he added.

  “But Daddy, you have to look at this,” said Lily, striding into the room. She looked as panicked as I felt. She set her phone down on top of the document.

  “Lil, I don’t have time to look at pictures or videos right now,” he said, moving the phone off to the side. “Honey, I want to talk about whatever is bothering you, but can it just wait just a bit? I promise I’ll be all ears soon. . . . I just need to run this over to my lawyer before he closes at noon.”

  “Dad, you have to listen to me!” Lily said firmly. “This isn’t about a problem I am having. This is about a problem you are going to have if you don’t stop and look at what I am trying to tell you!”

  Maybe it was the urgency in her voice, or maybe it was the fact that Lily had raised her voice to her father, something she would never ordinarily do. But she had his full attention now. He sat down in his chair and looked her in the eye.

  “Tell me,” he said, a worried frown appearing on his face.

  So Lily and I told him what we’d discovered. Lily pointed to the article on her phone for emphasis, but we didn’t even really need it. He listened as she explained what we had learned. How there were older pipes at the site he had just purchased, far below the later ones. How they had to be excavated before anything could be safely built there, otherwise there would be a risk of another cave-in. We of course didn’t say anything about the spirits. We stuck to the facts. Lily presented everything in a calm, steady voice. I chimed in every now and then, but really Lily had it all under control.

  I had never been so impressed with my best friend.

  Mr. Randazzo sat back in his chair as he digested everything he’d just heard. “Wow, girls, this is a nice piece of detective work. How in the world did you think to look this up?”

  I had no idea how to answer that. Luckily, Lily spoke up.

  “We were wondering why the place is supposed to be jinxed. We knew a lot of businesses had been attempted there and things just kept happening. We figured there had to be a logical explanation behind all the superstitious talk. So we did some investigating at the visitors’ information center.”

  Lily’s dad came around his desk and engulfed us both in a quick hug, one on each side of him. He was a big man, much bigger than my dad, and solid as an oak tree.

  “I’m really grateful to you two,” he said.

  “But what are you going to do, Daddy?” Lily asked, her composure seeming to waver now that the story was out and her dad believed us. “You already signed the contract last night. Can you get your money back?”

  Lily’s dad looked pained to hear the worry in her voice. “It will be okay, sweetheart. The fact that I know all of this up front—before we began any work—is what really matters. I’ll talk to Cousin Dominick. He can come out with his heavy equipment team. Seems like excavating down another fifteen feet should solve the problem. It’s going to cost a lot. But he’ll give me a good price, I’m sure.”

  Lily and I exchanged relieved looks.

  Mr. Randazzo picked up Lily’s phone again and reread the headline. “I’ll have Ro make me a copy of this article,” he said. “I’ll bring copies of it to the zoning commission meeting. It makes me shudder to think I might have commenced construction without doing this. You girls have probably averted a potentially huge second disaster.”

  As Lily’s dad strode out of the room, his phone in hand, no doubt ready to make a bunch of calls, Lily grinned at me. “We did it, Sara. Thank you so much. You’re the best friend ever, in the history of the world.”

  And that was pretty much the best thing to hear, ever, in the history of the world.

  Chapter 15

  When I got home a short time later, I found Lady Azura up early—for her—and bustling around her séance room. She was setting out stones. They looked like ruby crystals.

  “Ah, there you are, Sara,” she said, her tone brusque as if she meant business. “Do you still have that ruby crystal I gave you last summer?”

  This startled me. Was she going to talk to me about my love life?

  “Yes,” I replied warily. “Why do you ask?”

  “Have you noticed that it’s been more active recently?”

  I nodded. “It’s been vibrating, like, nonstop. And sometimes I feel it heat up. What’s going on?”

  As if to answer, the ruby crystals on the table all trembled noticeably, as though they were in an earthquake or something. Lady Azura looked at me and nodded.

  “The ruby crystal is a very special gemstone. As you know, it has properties that can help to make love bloom, but it has even greater powers than that. It is also the gemstone that represents the sun. A solar event is coming, Sara. The ruby crystals are vibrating because of the impending solar event.”

  “A solar event?” I had no idea what she was talking about.

  “Yes. Do you remember when I told you that I was picking up on atmospheric disturbances? Well, this is what I was sensing.” Lady Azura spoke quickly, and I could tell she was really excited. “Solar flare activity has been steadily increasing for the past few weeks. Ever since the hurricane. I have learned that it is about to reach its highest point in almost thirty years. So now is an excellent time to think about your wish.”

  Ordinarily I would have asked Lady Azura how
she had learned this—she wasn’t exactly one to surf the web—but I was too distracted by her mention of a wish.

  “My wish?” I repeated.

  “Yes, Sara. You need to think long and hard about what your deepest wish is and put it out there into the universe. Wishes made during the time of peak solar flare episodes will come true if they are destined to be so. This is a marvelous opportunity. Very exciting.”

  She picked up a ruby crystal from the table and wrapped it in her palm and held it close to her heart. “This is especially true for you, because your chart is so heavily influenced by the sun. I believe the peak is supposed to be tomorrow sometime. So you must meditate today to decide what your wish is. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

  Something clicked in my mind.

  “Was my mom’s chart also ruled by the sun?”

  Lady Azura looked at me curiously, and then nodded. “Yes, it was, in fact. Why do you ask?”

  “Um, I can’t explain right now. But Lady Azura, thank you for telling me this. I promise I will talk about it more with you later, but right now I have to go do something. Is that okay?”

  It wasn’t something I usually did—ask her permission to leave her room. But I didn’t want to just leave her hanging. I needed for her to know that I knew this was important.

  She knew.

  “Go ahead, Sara,” she told me, a smile playing on her crimson lips.

  I nodded and headed upstairs to my room. Closed the door. Logged on to my computer and researched solar flares in my area. What I found confirmed what I had already figured out.

  There was a lot of solar activity in the fall of 1984. An unusually large amount of activity. Just at the time when my mother was keeping her journal.

  My mother’s powers must have been heightened by the solar flares. The same way my own powers seemed to have been heightened recently. I had never before had so many visions. I believed it was the solar activity that was causing me to be able to have all those visions about my mom. And the way I had just known that the spirits I was seeing were somehow related to Lily’s dad’s land deal . . . that was definitely out of the ordinary. I was sure the solar activity had made my intuition stronger.

  And there was more, I realized as I sat on the floor of my room, my thoughts tumbling around in my mind. My mom’s wish to get rid of her powers must have coincided with the peak of the solar flare. She made it almost without thinking, not knowing that an environmental phenomenon she had probably never even heard of was going to make her wish come true. There was no way to know that for sure, but I felt it was true deep down and in my heart.

  That was all the proof I needed.

  I suddenly felt a new bond with my mother. We were experiencing almost the exact same solar event, thirty years apart. But unlike my mother, I could make my solar flare wish knowing the power it held. I would be able to choose my wish wisely.

  I decided not to cancel my date with Mason. But I also decided to make it happen on my terms, rather than his. I texted him and asked him to meet me at Scoops at seven.

  He didn’t sound that happy about the change in location. But I was pretty firm. And then he agreed.

  He was waiting for me when I got there. He’d chosen a small booth as far from the door as you could get. Almost like he didn’t want to be seen together. Again.

  I said hi and slid into the seat across from him. I think he must have sensed a change in my attitude. He held the huge, laminated menu up in front of him like a shield. Which was funny, because no one ever looked at the menu at Scoops. The ice-cream flavors were all posted behind the counter, and the toppings were all on the tables.

  “What do you want?” I asked, standing up. “My treat tonight.” I still had fifteen dollars left over from the money my dad had given me for the arcade the previous Sunday.

  “Uh, chocolate milk shake,” he replied. “Are you sure? I mean, I was going to treat.”

  “Yep, I got it,” I said.

  I returned a few minutes later, putting his milk shake down in front of him and then sliding in with my sundae. We slurped and spooned in awkward silence for a few moments. Then I spoke up.

  “So I almost canceled,” I said.

  He set down his milk shake. Swallowed. Raised his eyebrows in question.

  “Yeah. It’s kind of been bothering me about how uncomfortable it seems to make you for us to be seen together.”

  He shrugged and became deeply engrossed in studying his spoon. I waited for him to say something. Finally he did.

  “I guess I’m just not ready to be so out there with . . . you know,” he mumbled.

  “With what? Our mutual powers?”

  Nod.

  “Well, I’m pretty comfortable with mine,” I said. “I’m really glad I have them. I guess I can understand if you’re not comfortable with your own, um, situation, but I feel like you’re not comfortable with mine, either. My powers. With who I am, I mean.”

  I was rambling a little bit, but I knew I had made my point.

  “Listen,” he said, setting down the spoon and looking me straight in the eye. “I think it’s cool how strong you are. But I just don’t want to deal with all this stuff with powers right now. It’s been weird enough, being at a new school with all these new kids, right after telling my parents about . . . everything I can do. It’s just a lot to deal with, and I’m sick of it.”

  “But that’s just it, Mason. You kind of have to deal with it. Do you see that?”

  Several napkins flew out of the dispenser on our table, twirled around a few times in the air, and then landed gently on the table in front of us. Mason’s face turned red, and I saw him glance around, checking to see if anyone had noticed.

  I didn’t check. I didn’t really care if anyone had seen it. But that was the difference between us.

  “You know what I think?” I said slowly. “I think maybe it would be better if we didn’t go out right now. Maybe when you’re more comfortable with your powers, who you are, we can start hanging out again. But for right now, it doesn’t seem like we’re a great match together.”

  I had a weird out-of-body moment. I heard the words coming out of my mouth like I was standing next to myself, listening. I was amazed to be hearing myself saying them. I would never have had the confidence to say something like this to a boy even a few months ago.

  Mason nodded. “I guess you’re right,” he said. “But for the record? I think you’re a pretty cool girl.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Mason,” I said. “I think you’re pretty cool too.”

  Chapter 16

  I headed straight to Lily’s the next morning, Sunday.

  She hugged me when she saw me, and then pulled me inside and closed the door. “So much to tell you,” she said. “Let’s go to my room.”

  “I have so much to tell you,” I said, brimming with happiness that I had such a wonderful best friend. I followed her upstairs.

  Once we were in her room with the door closed, Lily gave me another huge bear hug. “Everything is going to be totally fine!” she squealed in excitement. “My dad’s lawyer talked to the seller’s lawyer, and even though they’ve already signed the contract, they agreed to split the cost of excavating those old, crumbly pipes. And then because half the town’s zoning commission is related to us, my dad told me he’s ninety percent sure the town is going to help out with the cost too! And a reporter from the New York Times called us! They’re sending a reporter out to do a story on the cave-in and everything!”

  “That’s such amazing news, Lil,” I said, taking her hand and squeezing it. Then I told her about Mason, and how I kind of, sort of broke up with him, but that I wasn’t feeling terrible and didn’t think he was either. “I feel really mature,” I said. “Instead of running away, I talked it all over with him, told him just how I felt. I don’t think either of us is going to, like, hide when we see each other.”

  “I’m really proud of you,” said Lily, her dark eyes sparkling. “I kind of, sort of broke
up with Cal last night too. I was just so sick of doing all the talking when we got together. I mean, I know I’m talkative and he’s, well, boring, so that shouldn’t surprise me, but I think I’m better off with someone who has a personality. Any personality! I’m not that picky. Even though he is quite good-looking.”

  She’d spoken so fast, without taking a breath, that she’d kind of run out of oxygen by the time she got to the end of her speech. Which made us both crack up.

  But then her brow furrowed.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked her.

  She flopped down into her chair. “I just feel like you’ve been bothered by something recently, and I suspect it’s the diary, because you haven’t once mentioned it, even though I’ve delicately tried to bring it up with you.” Her words tumbled out rapidly again. “And even though it’s none of my business, I feel like I should be helping you deal with whatever it is that’s bothering you. But I don’t want to pry or anything.”

  I sat down on the bed across from her chair, so our knees were almost touching. I smiled gratefully at her. “You’re right. I have been kind of bothered by it.”

  I told her about what I’d read in my mom’s diary. About how ashamed I’d been feeling because of the way she had treated Lady Azura. How confused I was that she didn’t want powers, and that she spent so much of her time wishing them away. How desperately she seemed to want to conform socially. “It’s just really hard to think this about my mom, who I’ve wanted to meet my whole life. Now, when I come as close as I’ll probably ever get to meeting her, I don’t really like what I see.” I felt a huge lump rise in my throat. It was really hard to swallow. “I couldn’t even get all the way through the diary. I just shoved it on a shelf in my closet. I’m not sure I’ll ever finish it now.”

  Lily stood up from the chair and sat down next to me on the bed, so we were sitting shoulder to shoulder. “You know, Sar, I also keep a journal.”

  “You do?” I managed to swallow down the lump so my voice came out more or less normal. “I’ve been trying too. But I decided to do it through photos, since I’m more about visuals. You’re such an awesome writer. It’s probably a great journal.”