Milton blushed a bit, which was not something the twins had ever seen before.
“Evelyn has never been anything but kind to me,” he whispered, “though I’m afraid I’ve been too wrapped up in my business to appreciate it. Anyway,” he said, changing the subject, “I’m really looking forward to this new trip to the Middle East. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to find something of great importance this time. But don’t you guys worry, I’ll be back before your birthday. I wouldn’t miss this one for the world.”
Dex and Daphna flashed each other a vexed glance but agreed to let this go. He’d said the very same thing before he left on the trip nearly two months ago.
“Oh, Dex,” Milton added, “speaking of the Middle East, I got a very strange e-mail from that Turkish Coffee House owner you must have contacted, Fikret Cihan.”
Daphna looked at Dex, perplexed.
“You did?” Dex said.
“Yes, and he seemed extremely upset. What in the world did you write?”
“Nothing—I—What did it say?”
“He said your message—or my message, since it came from my account—was an intolerable insult. He said his grandfather is dead, but that it’s all already on the way, though he didn’t say what ‘it’ was. He said if I don’t explain immediately, he’ll come here personally to take it all back. Do you have any idea what he’s talking about?”
“I have no idea,” Dex replied.
“Did you ask him to send something?”
“Um, yeah,” said Dex. It was easy enough coming up with a reasonable explanation for that. “I asked him to send me answers to the questions I was supposed to ask, for our assignment, I mean—and also, if he had any authentic items we could use for the presentation. Maybe he sent a bunch of stuff?”
“But he sounded so angry.”
“Maybe my typing was bad or he took something I wrote the wrong way. Maybe his English isn’t all that great.”
“Well,” said Milton, “I suppose anything is possible. Maybe I’ll send him a quick note, just for clarification.”
“I’ll do it, Dad. Don’t worry about it. It’s probably my fault.”
“All right,” Milton said. “I am a bit tired.” He apologized for being so tired all the time.
“That’s okay, Dad,” Daphna told him. “We’re pretty tired, too.” Milton seemed relieved to hear this, so the twins took turns in the bathroom getting into their pajamas, then turned off the light and climbed into their cots.
For a few minutes, they laid in the dark wondering how they’d know when their father fell asleep. But that turned out to be no problem at all because within five minutes, he was muttering, “Not a bad man—not—I—Adem Tarik—Adem Tarik.”
The twins sat up when he stopped.
“When do you want to do it?” Dex whispered.
“We’ve got to wait until everyone’s asleep,” Daphna whispered back. “I’m gonna stay up reading. It’s been like, forever. I’ll wake you up.” Then, with no further comment, Daphna curled into her sleeping bag and switched a flashlight on inside.
Dex glanced at Milton, then slid deep into his bag and switched his own light on.
“Dex!” It was Daphna, whisper-shouting his name. Dex flipped his flashlight off and sat up out of his bag in a haze.
“It’s one a.m.,” Daphna said, noting how tired her brother looked. His hair was shooting out in even crazier directions than usual. She was tired, too, of course, and was afraid to see what her hair looked like. “What were you doing in there? Sleeping with your light on?”
“Yeah,” Dex said, blinking away the daze. “You look like crap.”
“Thank you so much. Let’s go, already.”
The twins sneaked out of the room and padded cautiously into the lobby. Some of the overhead lights were dimly lit, so it wasn’t too difficult to see. Dex walked directly to the door behind Evelyn’s desk, clearly labeled, ‘Records Room’ and tried the knob.
“Locked,” he said, twisting it round. “Check the desk for keys.”
Daphna, already standing next to the desk, tried the drawers, all of which were unlocked. She looked up, shaking her head.
Dex scanned the lobby for ideas. He looked up, remembering how he’d gotten into the ABC, and sure enough, another idea came to him. He walked over to Daphna and pointed up at the ceiling, which was made of square panels resting on thin metal strips.
“Those lift right up,” Dexter whispered, “same as in school. I might be able to crawl into a vent that leads in there.”
Daphna thought this was a terrible idea. Dexter was going to get himself killed pulling a stunt like that. On second thought, it gave her a perfect opportunity.
“Well,” she whispered, “go grab a flashlight. It’s probably pitch black up there.”
“Right.”
When Dex was gone, Daphna immediately focused all her attention on the Records Room door. Then she closed her eyes and thought about being behind it as intensely as she could. Slowly and clearly, she spoke the Word Emmet told her about, the one he’d used to get to the dump—the one, incredibly, that took her from her bedroom to her closet that afternoon. Twice.
Daphna felt nothing, but she opened her eyes and smiled. She was surrounded by tall gray filing cabinets in a dark and cramped little room. It worked again! It was incredible. She’d felt absolutely nothing, yet, there she was. There wasn’t time to dwell on it.
Daphna hurried to the door, opened it, and stepped back into the lobby. Dex was just coming back in with his flashlight.
“What? It was—How—?”
“Shhh. It was unlocked.”
“But—I tried it!”
“Shhh! It sticks a bit. Come on already.”
Dex looked at Daphna a moment and recalled how certain she’d been they’d get in. He tried to picture how well he’d worked the knob. The truth was, he was too groggy to remember. Maybe it was sticky. Dex slipped into the office behind his sister, slapping himself lightly on the cheeks.
Fortunately, the door had no window, so the twins were able to turn on the light and move around freely. The narrow little room was lined with cabinets, labeled alphabetically. Daphna dove right into the W’s.
A familiar grunt of self-loathing burst out of Dex before he could stifle it. It was obvious he was going to be of no use, so he sat on the floor. He wished bashing things with heavy objects was necessary again.
Daphna looked up and saw the disgruntled look on her brother’s face. She hurried her search through the drawer she’d opened and pulled a file free.
“Dad’s,” she said, holding it up, but Dex only shrugged. Daphna flipped through the sheets inside, but at the same time asked, “Do you have any idea what that guy, Cifan—whoever Cifan—would’ve sent Dad?”
“Fikret Cihan,” Dex said. “And I have no idea.”
“That’s really weird. And you say you only typed a bunch of gibberish in the e-mail?”
“Yeah. Maybe he could tell I was pissed, or maybe I typed out, ‘Your grandfather’s a nut,’ in Turkish or something.”
“Why would his grandfather have the Book of Nonsense anyway?” Daphna asked. “And why would he force it on Dad like that, just because he came in and asked about Adem Tarik?”
“Well,” said Dex, “Adem Tarik must have given the book to him, and maybe he figured Dad was there to get it back for him.”
“Yeah, that makes sense,” Daphna said. She put Milton’s file back, disappointed that it had failed to explain pretty much anything.
“Nothing interesting?” Dex asked.
“It’s all just medical forms from the hospital,” she explained, pulling the drawer out as far as it would go.
“Hey,” she said, “there’s a huge book in the back here with some kind of straps on it. She reached for it, but noticed a second file with her father’s name on it. It was the last one. “Look at this—” she said, lifting its contents out. “It’s for Dad.”
“A present?” Dex asked. Daphna was
showing him a thin rectangular gift of some kind.
“It feels like a book,” Daphna said, “but it’s almost totally flat. Oh, that’s weird—“
“What?”
“There’s a tiny card attached that says, ‘For my soul mate.’ It’s from Evelyn.”
“Probably some book she thinks Dad wants,” Dex said. “She was hitting on him when they met, on the plane ride we all took moving here. That’s why Latty doesn’t like her.”
“Someone hitting on Dad,” Daphna laughed. “That’s about the biggest joke I’ve ever heard. And to still like him thirteen years later—that’s kind of pathetic, actually.”
“Yeah, it’s like she’s obsessed or some—Wait a minute!” Dex cried. “What if she’s some kind of stalker? It’s kind of a coincidence that she happened to be on that flight from New York with us, isn’t it? Maybe she’s been following Dad!”
“What? Shh! I don’t know, Dex. If you think about it, it’s a coincidence that you meet anyone.”
“But what if she really lived in Israel, and knew him there, and was in love with him, but he didn’t know her—and then he married Mom. What if she was really jealous?”
“So she sent Mom away to get killed, and then followed Dad to Portland? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Well, isn’t that the kind of thing insanely jealous people do? I’ll bet you Latty suspects as much, and that’s why she’s hated her all these years!”
“But,” Daphna replied, “are you saying Evelyn Idun is Adem Tarik?”
“Maybe!”
“Dex, keep your voice down!” Daphna was skeptical. “Okay,” she said, “let’s say she’s Adem Tarik, forgetting for a second that Ruby called their teacher a ‘he.’ I do remember that.”
“So what! She also said the Council was called The Nine! She was a liar!”
“True,” Daphna conceded. “So let’s say she wants to get Mom killed. Why? Let’s say she’s jealous and in love with Dad for some crazy reason. So she lures Mom into the caves and gets her killed. But Dad was there, too. He could easily have been killed as well. He almost was.”
“Us! That’s why!” Dex said. “Maybe Mom and Dad were both supposed to be killed in the caves! Maybe she was going to try to adopt us or something!”
“Okay,” Daphna pressed, “but how does that fit with being obsessed with Dad or calling him her soul mate all these years later? Wouldn’t she have tried to kill him again in the last thirteen years?”
“Dad wasn’t supposed to go to the caves,” Dex declared, adjusting his theory. “She probably figured he’d stay home with us when Mom went for the book! She doesn’t want to kill Dad, Daphna. She wants to marry him!”
Daphna had no reply to this. She had to think about it.
“We should at least try to find out if Evelyn ever lived in Israel,” Dex urged. “We should go search her stuff.”
“Dex, not everything is a crazy conspiracy, you know.”
“Let’s open that gift!”
Daphna hesitated, doubting they’d be able to re-wrap it if it was nothing important.
“Not yet,” she decided. “Let’s slow down, Dex. I have to admit your theory isn’t totally insane, but it’s only a theory, and it’s only our first theory. It doesn’t even begin to explain how she could have been the Council kids’ original teacher. Let’s do what we came in here to do. If we don’t learn anything else, we’ll tear apart everything Evelyn owns.”
“Fine, whatever,” Dex snapped. Daphna couldn’t stand not being the one who figured everything out. The euphoria he’d felt after leaving the ABC had begun slipping away when he’d come into the Records Room. Now it was gone completely.
Daphna, disturbed by the totally unnecessary harshness in Dex’s voice, put the gift back into its file and put the file away. Then she moved to another drawer while he glowered at the floor. It was strange. As long as Daphna could remember, Dex had been falling in and out of his sulky moods, but so much had happened in just the last few days that it seemed part of another time, another life even.
“Here’s Mrs. Tapi’s file,” she said, pulling out another folder, hoping to move things along. “She’s got a phony birth certificate here. I’ll bet most of this stuff is phony. It must’ve been hard for them, having to reinvent themselves every generation. It says she was a librarian.” Daphna knew she was talking to herself, but it helped her ignore the stifling atmosphere Dex was creating in the already stuffy little room.
“Here’s something called an ‘Intake Interview Report’ from the Home’s psychologist,” she said. “The rest home residents must have to do that.” Daphna began reading it to herself as Dex watched with little enthusiasm.
“Not very interesting,” she concluded. “Though it’s kind of sad. It says when she was younger she lost a newborn baby and still seemed upset about it.”
“Nothing about Adem Tarik, though?” Dex asked. “Like an address?”
“I wish,” Daphna said, pleased Dex was at least paying attention.
“Here’s Mr. Bergelmir’ file.” Daphna read through and put it back.
“Nothing,” was her conclusion again. “Just more fake background info. He was a bookbinder. Nothing interesting in the Intake Interview. Let me get Mr. Dwyfan.” Daphna skimmed through the file, then put it back.
“Nada,” she moaned. “He was a publisher.”
“That makes sense.”
“What?” Daphna asked, pulling out another file.
“They were all in jobs related to books.”
“Right, of course—Hey, this is strange—”
“What?”
“I’ve got Mrs. Kunyan. In her interview she said the most difficult ordeal of her life was giving birth to a stillborn baby.”
“What’s strange about that?”
Daphna, her interest piqued, pulled out a thick file with Mrs. Deucalion’s name on it and read through papers for a while. Despite himself, Dexter grew increasingly curious as she read. Finally, Daphna looked up at him and held out a blue sheet of paper. “Her medical report,” she said. “Guess what.”
Dex had no idea what she was talking about. “What?”
“Under ‘Health Notes,’ it says she suffered some internal damage due to a complicated miscarriage.”
“And?”
“Don’t you see, Dex? All three of the women on the Council lost babies.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” said Daphna, “but Mom was on the Council, and we didn’t die.”
“Wait a minute!” Dex cried, jumping to his feet. Maybe he had been too hasty condemning Evelyn.
“Shh! What?”
“I just remembered something Mrs. Tapi said in the park before Emmet got her!” Dex tried to keep his voice down, but it was difficult. “She said that when Mom told the Council she was quitting the search, they weren’t surprised. She said—I remember her exact words—she said they weren’t surprised because ‘several of us did the same over the years, though our own tragedies brought each of us back.’”
“That’s right!” Daphna cried. “They all left the search to have babies, even though they were all so old. But they all lost them—the tragedies—so they all went back. What does it mean? Why were they all trying to have babies?”
“I don’t know,” Dex said. “Didn’t Mom say she just wanted a normal life in her note?”
“The note!” Daphna fumbled it out of her pocket once again. It was starting to tear.
CHAPTER 11
family matters
My Dearest Children,
I am writing to you now, just minutes before I leave on a most unexpected journey.
For so very long I have been searching for a book. This search has consumed my time in this world and denied me what I truly seek, what we all seek: to live, to love. May you never know loneliness like I have known. May you be surrounded by those who love you all the days of your lives. How blessed you are to have each other!
I broke my wo
rd, Children, and renounced the search. I found Love. Uttering those two small, simple words, “I do,” set me free. And now I have you and my joy knows no bounds.
Only now it seems that the book may be within reach. I am going to find out. I expect the best, but something I cannot put my finger on worries me, and so I must write you this note. There is a man, Asterius Rash, who will go to any length to find this dangerous book, including murdering children. Should you ever cross his path, run! Under no circumstances should you have anything to do with this vile man.
It is my profound wish that you never read this note, for if you do, it will be because I am gone. I love you so much. I must admit I did not think it possible that you two could ever be. Two little miracles! Latona did me the greatest favor in my long life when she encouraged me to try for you. I need you both to
“STOP READING!” Dex ordered in a barely stifled scream.
“What?” Daphna cried. “We’ve got to be quiet! You scared me to death! What?”
“Daphna,” Dex said, coolly, “what if it wasn’t actually the women’s idea to have kids. Or, what if someone took advantage of the fact they all wanted to and talked them into trying, someone who wanted them to have children for some reason. You just read the answer, Daphna. ‘Latona did me the greatest favor in my long life when she encouraged me to try for you.’ Dad told me the same thing earlier today!”
“Oh, my God, Dex,” Daphna gasped. “Latty! Oh, my God, Dex. Oh, my God!”
“She took that supposed phone call,” Dex realized. “There was no call! And she’s the only one who had a story to tell about what happened in the caves. I think she’s Adem Tarik! She probably just faked those cuts and bruises! And—and—”
“It makes perfect sense!” Daphna shouted, unable to keep her own voice down. “At some point she works her way into one of the female Councilor’s lives. She sets them up with some man, then talks her into having a child, but the baby dies, so she moves on to the next one, and the next one, until she gets to Mom. Mom’s kids are born okay, but just to make sure, she waits a few months—”
“That’s why Dad went into a coffee shop when he doesn’t even drink coffee!” Dex said. “Latty plans his itineraries!” Dex slapped himself in the forehead. There it was, the explanation that kept eluding him, keeping a germ of doubt about his father festering. It all made sense now.
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