by Harper Lin
“Most magic, whether those are magic spells or magic beings, must follow the rules of space and time,” Bea said, “or else it couldn’t exist and affect itself here. The Unfamiliar transcend those.”
“The Familiars are scared of this one,” Aunt Astrid said. “I’ve gone all over. If worse comes to worst, they won’t help us. They really feel that they can’t.”
“All right. So… the rules of this magic spell are that you can’t resurrect your parents or ancestors, but only your descendants?” Jake asked.
“That’s a good question. We do know that it resurrects siblings.” I drew another moon and the name Dolores Willis Thompson, an arrow, Murray Willis, an equal sign, and the word INTERRUPTED.
Aunt Astrid stood and pointed at the names of the resurrected. “Shelley Marina was first; Dolores Thompson was second. Why this order? Was Topher more eager to have his grandmother back in his life than his wife?”
We thought about it.
“No,” I decided. “The boundary of Wonder Falls again. The fact that spells have to follow the rules of time if they’re going to have an effect on the temporal world… the Unfamiliar started with resurrecting the oldest body that still remained in town. Topher and the Unfamiliar didn’t trade Samantha’s life for Tommy’s, even though Topher must have missed Tommy more than Shelley.”
“So,” Bea concluded, “after Dolores, the next to rise would be Alice Thompson. She wasn’t cremated, and she was the next generation.”
Jake asked, “If Alice Thompson is the next to be resurrected, would the victim be Murray Willis again?”
I quickly scribbled a family tree then changed marker colors to highlight the connection between Murray Willis and Alice Thompson.
“That’s possible,” Aunt Astrid remarked.
“But it’s usually not possible because the sacrificial human didn’t survive,” Bea added. “And therefore ran out of life force to sacrifice.”
“We have a new Plan A then,” I said. “We protect Old Murray.”
Jake frowned. “What was the old Plan A?”
I sighed. “To convince Topher not to keep using the power of the Unfamiliar.”
Unfamiliars confused people. They fed desperations, obfuscated other options, and all the while could only work with what the hosts gave them. Give them nothing—so simple, yet it always proved impossible.
* * *
Later that night, after I’d gone home and gone to bed, I stared at the moon through my window from where I was tucked in and trying to sleep.
Renovations at the Brew-Ha-Ha were complete. With Aunt Astrid doing the baking and cooking—and some of the brewing and mixing—we’d still be understaffed. I’d submitted an ad to the Wonder Falls newspaper. Over the next week, hopefully, there would be applicants to vet and interviews to process.
We didn’t have time for that. The moon shone through my window to remind me that we were running out of time.
Treacle had curled up on top of the quilt, over my stomach. He stretched a paw out to try to calm me down.
“No. I feel like we’re missing something,” I told him. The feeling nagged at me. “We Greenstones have generations of records to study about the way magic works. This Unfamiliar works by trial and error. As Aunt Astrid said, it learns. It’s learning its limits. What if the decisions we’ve decided they’re most likely to make turn out to not be the decisions they actually do make?”
“Life is full of surprises,” Treacle told me.
“Life is full of fatality,” I said.
Treacle yawned. “We can only do what we do.”
And what did any of this have to do with Min Park and his family?
A wide waxing crescent moon shone over Wonder Falls.
Lost
For the next couple of days, I went about my daily routine feeling as if I’d left my wallet somewhere or forgotten to turn off the iron in the house. Nothing regarding Samantha’s murder, the unnatural exhumation of not just one but two of the local residents of Wonder Falls Cemetery, the close call Old Murray had escaped thanks to Bea, or the weird behavior of the Parks family seemed to fit together.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help but worry it all like an annoying hangnail. It didn’t help that while I was waiting at the animal shelter for Min, Blake showed up. He yanked the door open and stopped for a second, looking at me.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped, sounding a lot like the dogs in the back kennel as they demanded their food.
“I’m waiting on Min. And good morning to you, too.”
Blake looked at me then at his watch as if to confirm it was morning. The sun was coming up in the east like usual. I wasn’t trying to pull a fast one on him.
He nodded and pulled Dixie cup from the side of the water cooler across from the waiting room seat I was sitting in. After filling the cup with water, Blake tossed it back quickly. He looked tired. Another sleepless night for him too, I thought.
“I don’t get this.” He flopped down in the seat next to me. “I have turned this thing over and over in my mind a million times. Nothing has clicked, fallen into place, revealed itself, or even seemed to give me a nudge in the right direction. I’ve never had a case go cold and…” He stared into the space in front of him.
As much as I hated to admit it, I knew how he felt. “I’ve been trying to put the whole thing out of my mind so maybe I could look at it later with a fresh perspective, you know?”
“That’s easy for you to do. You work at the coffee shop,” he said, not even looking at me.
I let out a loud sigh, reminding myself Blake was no monument to social graces. Someday he was going to really push the wrong button, and I would not be responsible for my actions. Until then, I focused on the sound of the dogs barking. It was breakfast time. Cody was entering the kennel with their dog food and a watering can of fresh water. All the furry four-legged beasts were happy to see him.
Before Blake arrived to spread his cheer, I’d tried to talk with Burger again for a little more information. He wouldn’t say a word, at least not to me. The pack mentality was nearly impossible to crack through, so even if he had told the other dogs something about his human or that night, they weren’t talking to me either.
When Cody appeared again, the bag of dog food in his hand was visibly lighter. No sounds but happy crunching came from the kennel. Cody walked into the waiting room with us and set down the bag.
“So what is Min meeting you here for?” he asked in his usually awkward way, shifting from left foot to right then back again, looking at the ground before letting his eyes meet ours.
“Well, he was thinking of making a little investment in your animal shelter,” I said.
“Do we need that? I mean, I think Old Murray and I are doing pretty well on our own, right? Would he be working here too, then?”
I saw Cody was a little nervous about a stranger coming in and up-turning the apple cart. He was comfortable with Old Murray. They were close, and I could understand how a kid like him would prefer things not change.
“He just wants to help, you know, if you guys need more room or repairs. He’s looking to give assistance.”
“Will he be my new boss?”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that. He’d invest some of his money, but you and Old Murray would still manage the place like you have been.”
Cody’s face visibly relaxed. That made me relax. Until I saw Blake’s face twisted in a scowl of deep thought. He aggravated me by just sitting there. I was about to say something rude to him when my phone rang and cut me off. It was Min.
“Hey, Min. Where are you?”
“You won’t believe this, but I got lost.”
“How do you get lost in Wonder Falls? You’ve just lived here your whole life.” I couldn’t help but tease him.
The truth was if you weren’t from Wonder Falls, it was quite easy to get lost. Most towns were planned around a grid pattern with the majority of the streets running north, south, east, and west
. Wonder Falls was designed like a snake pit with dozens of windy roads that changed name and direction without warning. One-way streets and dead ends could make a tourist feel as if they are trying to maneuver through a maze. Min had grown up here, but he had been gone for years, and a lot had changed since he was a teenager.
“Where are you now? I’ll talk you through it.”
“No, no. I’ve found something interesting.” Min’s voice was excited.
“Yeah? What is it?”
“The Wonder Falls Orphanage.”
I swallowed hard and pursed my eyebrows. Blake looked at me as if he thought he saw a clue on my face. I turned my back to him. It was childish, but the truth was my conversation didn’t include him.
“Orphanage? Where? Are you sure you’re in Wonder Falls?” I asked. “Maybe you stumbled into unincorporated Frankfort. I didn’t know there was an orphanage here. Is it even open?”
“Yes, it’s open. There are no children here, if that’s what you mean. But it’s still open. You’ve got to see this place. It’s exactly what I’m looking for.”
“Well, give me the address, and I’ll be right there.”
Blake’s head looked in my direction, but I didn’t acknowledge him. Instead I stood and headed out the door to my car, giving Cody a wave and smile good-bye.
As I got the address from Min, I tried hard to remember it without writing it down, and I noticed a shadow following me. At first I thought I had to break out magic in full view of anyone who might be innocently walking by, but then I realized it was nothing magic could ever make go away. It was Blake.
I hung up with Min and stood at my car with my hand on the door handle. “Yes?” I snapped.
“I’m going with you,” Blake said.
“What for?”
“Call it a hunch. A detective never ignores a hunch.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You don’t even know where I’m going.”
“You said the orphanage.”
“Yes, but I didn’t say what orphanage or where. I could taking you on a wild goose chase to parts unknown,” I said, hoping he’d reconsider.
“It’s the Wonder Falls Orphanage on County Road 57 and Cline, right?” he said as if that was the hottest spot in town and everyone who was anyone knew about that orphanage. The twinkle in his tired eyes also let me know he was enjoying this a little.
I opened the driver’s door. “How did you know?”
“I’m a detective. It’s my job to know things.”
I could have sworn he was trying to tell me he knew a few things about yours truly as well. I gave him a scowl and got in behind the wheel. Leaning over, I unlocked the passenger side door, and Blake climbed in. I couldn’t be sure because I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of looking in his direction, but I thought he was smiling.
House of Records
Much to my dismay, Blake knew exactly how to get to the orphanage, and it was set pretty far off the beaten path. The building wasn’t surrounded by lush trees or wildflowers or even a forlorn playground, long rusted over from disuse. That was what I had envisioned when Min told me where he was. Nope. This place was in the rougher part of town that was full of buildings sporting plywood windows and address numbers sprayed on with black spray paint.
At that hour of the morning, the neighborhood wasn’t bad, but I felt the residue of negativity from the night before. I caught sight of an alley cat skulking around the corner of a brick building. It had a few jagged edges to its ears as though it had been in its fair share of fights.
“I recognize that smell.” The thought from the alley cat came to me clearly. “You are with that animal that likes to sneak around where he doesn’t belong. I taught him a lesson once to stay out of this part of town. If he comes back, I’ll do it again.”
Treacle. This cat knew Treacle.
“From the looks of things, there’s plenty of food and space for all you strays. Why worry yourself over one more cat?” I hoped my thoughts sounded confident even if I was worried. I’d never had a cat, stray or domestic, intrude on my thoughts so hard.
The feline watched me with slow and lazily blinking yellow eyes. “You just make sure to tell him, or he’ll look very different next time you see him. And it won’t be just a scratch on his forehead.”
I gasped.
“What is it?” Blake asked.
“Oh, nothing.” I coughed quickly. “For a minute, I thought I saw a rat.”
I looked at the cat once more but said nothing. I’d have a long talk with Treacle about the dangers of slumming, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. The streets were his home. That sounded like a bad rap lyric.
“Is this it?” I asked, looking at a very nondescript red brick building that looked more like an abandoned bank than a place that had, at one time, housed children with no parents.
“Yup. It is.”
“You don’t think there are still children in there, do you?” I asked, my heart ready to sink if he said yes.
“Not at all. This place hasn’t been in operation for some time. But it doesn’t seem to be completely deserted.”
“What makes you say that?” I was afraid he was going to say he’d seen some ghostly apparition in a window or something equally creepy. Being a witch didn’t make me feel any safer from those mysterious things that go bump in the night, and even with the sun shining, I felt a shiver run up my spine.
“There are half a dozen cars in the parking lot.” Blake jerked his chin toward the right of the building.
For sure, in a small parking lot surrounded by a chain link fence were a handful of cars. One of those cars was Min’s. It was hard to miss the silver Mercedes, especially in this neighborhood.
Then some movement at the front of the building caught my eye. When I looked, I saw Min waving to us near the front door. He looked excited as he thrust his hands into his pockets. He must’ve gotten there just before Blake. As happy as Min looked, I could tell he was wondering what Blake was doing with me.
“I just thought I’d tag along. I hope it isn’t a problem.” Blake said. His eyes seemed to be searching every door, window, sidewalk grate, car, and garbage can that fell into his line of vision. His eyes finally settled on Min.
It was obvious that after Min had been a suspect in the deadly explosion of the Brew-Ha-Ha that had killed our cook, he and Blake would never be anything more than civil to each other. I couldn’t blame Min. Blake was a jerk and hadn’t held back when he interrogated Min. Blake had stuck to the rules, used his bullying tactics, and seemed to have the strangest ability to make people feel nervous around him even if they didn’t do anything.
But to his credit, he was dedicated and willing to turn every stone, even if it kept him up for days at a time. And sometimes, when the light hit him the right way, he looked handsome. But then he would open his mouth and ruin everything.
Min shook his head at Blake then focused on me. “Cath, I think this place is just what I was looking for. A diamond in the rough.”
“Well, it’s not an orphanage anymore, right?” I asked. “There aren’t any children here?”
“No. The last child that was adopted at this facility went home with his new family back in the 1960s.”
“So what is this place?”
“Well, it’s become sort of the Wonder Falls house of records.” He grinned again as we made our way up the steps, and Min held the door open for us.
As soon as I stepped inside, I was hit by a very familiar smell from my childhood. It was the smell of old carpet and paper. I had grown up when carbon copies were just starting to be replaced by Xerox, and my school had smelled like this place. Tons of paper and a swatch of carpet big enough to sit on for story time. It was a weird smell but one I never forgot. But on top of that, the air shifted. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I could tell something was there that wanted to be noticed.
Had I been with Aunt Astrid and Bea, I would have leaned in and asked if they felt it too. But
looking at Blake, who acted as if his head was on a swivel so he could look in all directions, I leaned a little in the opposite direction and kept my interpretations to myself.
“House of records?” I asked, knowing I looked confused. Then I heard another loud voice.
“Good morning!”
It was an unfamiliar voice but a friendly one. Even Min jumped a little at the startling greeting. Blake stood still and stoic.
“My name is Riley. I’m the custodian of this building. Is there anything I can help you with? Needless to say we don’t get many visitors, so this is a surprise.” He smiled cheerfully, his fat cheeks pushing his eyes into the shape of crescent moons.
Min stepped up and introduced us all. In a quick couple of words, he asked to speak to the chief administrator.
“Well, Detective Samberg, is there a problem?” Riley looked intrigued, as if he were hoping there might be some kind of scandal in the making and, for a moment, forgot about Min and me.
“Not at all. It’s really Mr. Parks who is here to inquire about the building.”
“Oh, I see.” Riley noticeably deflated a little, but within a few seconds, his cheery demeanor was back. “That would be Madeline Molitor. She’s down the hallway this way.” Riley led us down a lonely corridor. Our footsteps echoed throughout the building. “Are you looking to buy?”
“Min is a local boy who’s looking to do a little good in his hometown,” I bragged, making Min’s cheeks color a little as he smiled.
“Is that so? That’s mighty nice of you,” Riley said. “I don’t know what you’d want with the old place. It’s long been forgotten. A skeleton crew comes in to turn the lights on and off, chase the spiders away, and keep the records in order.”
“What kind of records?” I asked.
“Well, there are the documents of every adoption of course. But the new City Hall building that was built in 1999 was constructed without an insulated basement, so all the town records from there were put into these file cabinets. You’ve got marriage licenses, death certificates, building permit requests, traffic tickets, building permits, property lines. You name it, the paperwork is probably here.”