“I do not want to go to Hell!” Marty blurted out.
“What about forgiveness?” Murphy offered. “Maybe have them do good deeds and then bring on the light.”
Mia scratched her head. “Ted, do you have a suggestion?”
“No, pumpkin, this isn’t my area of expertise.”
“What if I took you somewhere where you could pan for gold? I’m not promising you anything, but there are areas that are too dangerous for living humans to be.”
“Is there gold there?”
“According to a book in my library, there are quite a few rivers in the higher elevations that are inaccessible to the living that are rumored to have gold in them,” Mia said. “We could dig up the rest of you two, tote your bones to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, and leave you to search for gold. But if I hear you’re bothering people, then I’ll have to slay you. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, but for you there will be no rising up. Do you understand?”
Both convicts nodded emphatically.
Elenore walked off the porch and tapped Mia on the shoulder. “I’d like to go too.”
“You want to spend eternity with these guys?” Mia asked, surprised.
“Yes. I know them. I don’t know anyone who would have made it to Heaven, and Hell is a distinct possibility for me too.”
“Andy, I would like to hire you to find and remove as much of these gentlemen’s remains as you can. I’ll transport all three to the mountains.” Mia turned to Elenore and clarified, “No words will be said over you.”
“I understand.”
“Okay then.”
Andy pulled the box out, and Mia looked at it before she unlocked it. Andy pried off the top. Inside were two jawbones she set aside. She took the spell book out but left the other contents for now. “Hopefully, I can set the spirit guides free too, if Gloria’s death has not already done so. I’ve got a little research to do first,” Mia said.
Maeve let out a little cry.
“Andy, she knows you’re here,” Ted said.
Andy walked over. He looked down. “I’d pick you up, Maeve, but I’ve been digging in the dirt.” He showed the infant his hands.
Maeve burbled.
“The office is open. Go in and wash up,” Ted said.
Andy took off running.
Ted looked at Mia. “I wonder if Ralph was like that?”
“I think Ralph would have skipped,” Mia said. She turned to Marty and Cecil. “Don’t you give Andy a hard time. He’s a professional. He’s a third-generation caretaker for the Big Bear Lake cemetery. When he says he’s going to recover your bones, he’s going to do so with reverence.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Cecil said.
“Marty, look at me,” Mia ordered.
The convict shook a bit but looked at her. “I’m sorry for shooting at you. I thought you were going to destroy me.”
“I forgive you, Marty. I feel obligated to give the three of you the rules regarding haunting.”
“Mia, let me,” Murphy said. “You enjoy your family.”
“Thanks, Murph,” Mia said and walked with Ted towards the house. Andy caught up with the two there and sat down in a rocker with Maeve.
Mia picked up Genevieve, and Ted headed back to the office.
Ted heard Murphy lecture the ghosts on the proper behavior. He sounded like a Marine Corps drill sergeant.
Cid walked over and shook his head as he met Ted at the office door. “I wonder how many of those rules Stephen has broken?”
“As long as the new crop of ghosts don’t know, I really don’t care,” Ted said.
Dr. Cooper walked out of the garage into the office. “Ted, could I talk to you in private?”
“I’ll go and see if I can help Lazar with lunch,” Cid said, excusing himself.
Ted turned and gave Charles his full attention.
“I just got a call from the caretakers of my condo. There was a lot of activity there early this morning. They said it sounded like someone was tearing the place apart. When they entered, all the books were off the shelves.”
“Do you think it was a burglary?”
“The electronics were all there. Could you have your team look the place over?”
“Charles, why don’t Mia and I go…”
“Not Mia!”
“You think it’s Amanda, don’t you?” Ted accused.
“When Bev disappeared, I asked a few questions of Ed. He told me they took my sister back in time after stripping her of her magic. I think she was keeping Amanda prisoner like that Monroe woman was keeping those NOLA ghosts, or Amanda was hiding out from Beverly.”
“Wasn’t Amanda cremated?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand. Weren’t you at the crematorium and brought back an urn?”
“The urn is empty. Amanda’s body is entombed in a friend’s family’s mausoleum in Rosehill.”
Ted was angry. “Why the deception? After all the pain you put Mia through, why continue to lie to her? Don’t you think she would have wanted to visit Amanda’s grave?”
“It’s because of the pain, I didn’t tell her.”
“You need someone’s bones to enslave them, Father,” Mia said from the doorway. “I doubt even Beverly is capable of stripping a fresh corpse. It just took awhile for Amanda to come back. It’s a coincidence, nothing more.” Mia took a breath. “I’m sorry for intruding, but I wanted to tell Ted I was going to go up with Andy after he returns with some equipment. I’m going to change into my gravedigger clothes. As you know, I have a lot of experience with bones,” Mia said, casting dead eyes on her father. She turned to Ted and brightened up. “Nanny will feed the girls, and Lazar will pick up Brian if you can’t.”
“Mia…” Charles started.
“Not now,” Mia said and turned heel and walked out of the office.
“I’ll let Burt know you’d like to hire PEEPs,” Ted said. “Now if you would excuse me.” Ted turned around and waited until Charles left the office before he slammed his hand down.
Jake popped up.
“They just keep hurting her.”
“Cid’s coming back,” Jake said. “I’m sure he heard everything. Go be with Mia.”
Ted got up.
“I’ll pick up Brian. Lazar is distracting Varden,” Cid said, walking in. “Mia’s upstairs crying.”
Ted ran out of the office and over to the house. He took the stairs two at a time and burst through the door, picking up the little balled up creature that resembled his wife and holding her while she cried her eyes out.
“I know, Mia, I know,” Ted cooed.
“And Baxter wonders why I have Daddy issues,” Mia sniffed. “I’m sorry for being Little Nell, but thank you for this. He’s been so good with Varden and Adam. I have to look at what kindness he can show to others.”
“Mia, I think he acted out in grief and then, as Coopers do, compartmentalized it. I doubt anyone else knows.”
“But this friend? Who’s the friend? Santos? Angelo? My god, if it’s Ralph or Bernard, I’m going to need to be put away.”
“I don’t think it’s anyone who loves you, Mia.”
“I can just see him living and caring for her until he’s ready to join her.”
“No.”
“I just put away Bev for not being able to let go of a corpse. What if it’s the curse and he’s in the same situation?”
“I think you’re letting this…”
“I’m losing it, Ted. I can’t seem to let go of all this anger.”
“Tell you what, I’ll call Ed and have him help Andy. He’s qualified.”
“He certainly is.”
“Then you and I are going to go and talk to Baxter, together.”
“Together?”
“Well, I’ll probably be tossed out of the office, but I’m going to be there for you.”
“Or you could just talk with me.”
&nb
sp; “Mia, I know my strengths, and I know my weaknesses. I’m very upset with your father right now. The only reason I’ve not kicked him out is because I worry he will sit in that apartment with the ghost of your mother like some horrific Dickensian character. He needs our help.”
“Quentin’s father is the one who cursed the Coopers.”
“Then we really need to go and talk to both of them,” Ted said.
~
Baxter cleaned his glasses as he listened to Ted describe what had happened. He looked at Mia, and she wasn’t quite ready to let go of the safety of Ted yet.
“Mia, I’m going to tell you a few things that may embarrass you in front of Ted. I don’t believe in keeping secrets from your husband, but in this case, it won’t help the anger you’ve already transferred to him.”
Mia seemed to come out of her funk. “I’m sorry, Ted, I wasn’t thinking.”
Ted, although relieved, felt uncomfortable. “Baxter, if she needs me to be calm, I’m going to be calm.”
“I’m not sure what she needs, but my best advice is to let me counsel her for a little while, and then I’ll have you come in, and we’ll talk calmly about what we need to do.”
“He’s right,” Ted said, looking down at Mia. Instead of lifting her chin like a child, he knelt. “Minnie Mouse, I’ll just be in the other room if you need me.”
“Thank you for bringing me here and understanding. I don’t know where I would be if you hadn’t insisted you were the man for me.”
Ted smiled. Mia’s sense of humor was back. She was going to be fine for a while without him. “In the gutter with all the other gutter rats.”
Mia giggled.
Ted got up and walked out, closing the door softly behind him.
“Mia, I’m worried that I’m feeling a lot of emotion right now,” Baxter said.
“I’m sorry, it must be roiling off of me.”
“No. I’m upset.”
“Are you mad at me?” Mia asked.
“No, just the opposite. First, you have to deal with Bev’s betrayal and, now, maybe your father’s. I would like to speak with him to find out what he was thinking. I suspect he wasn’t thinking. I’m not defending him, so stick you lip back in. Honestly, you’re not a child.”
Mia frowned.
“Does Ted know about the primal demon genes yet?”
Mia shook her head.
“Maybe hiding things that may distress one’s loved ones is a Cooper thing,” Baxter observed.
“He knows I made myself sterile, just not how.”
“That’s avoidance. But we’ll leave this for now. Mia, just remember, Ted is your greatest ally, your biggest advocate - and damn, he loves you, regardless of any changes you go through.”
“Yes, sir.”
“We didn’t have a chance to talk after the Magic Council. May I read your memories?”
Mia walked over.
Baxter took off his glasses and placed his forehead on hers. When he had finished, he gently put a hand on her arm and guided her to the sofa and had her sit down. He sat next to her and said, “Tell me about the mural you found left by The Balance.”
Mia did so, even though she knew he had seen it in her memories. “My problem is, if fate has already planned out my life, what control do I have over it?”
“Mia, let’s remember your trip into the past via the candle. It created a new timeline. Each time you change, I imagine a new line is created. It’s complicated, but I imagine that mural changed with each incarnation of you. If it didn’t, the mural would have had dark hair and a pinched sour look on your face.”
“Oh,” Mia realized. “Now I feel stupid.”
“Ted didn’t get it either, so don’t feel stupid. I’ve seen my image change in a hundred ways over the centuries.”
“And Altair thinks I shouldn’t seek you out for advice.”
“Let’s talk about his defection.”
“Yikes.”
“How many times has he left you?”
“Many times over the years. For various reasons. He came back from a place he really loved to save my ass.”
“That’s because he’s a hero, like you, like Murphy, and like that tall beaked creature pacing my hall.”
“Sariel said Altair’s too attached.”
“Possibly. It’s very easy to become attached to you because you’re so accepting.”
“You don’t seem to have a problem.”
“I’m a professional counselor.”
“You’re attached to Quentin.”
“That’s different.”
“Is it?”
“Mia, I’m going to call Nicholai over here to tan your backside if you don’t stop the direction of your banter.”
Mia flushed beet red.
“Nicholai’s your Daddy issue, not me, not Altair. He’s the father you always wanted to have. Someone who would keep you safe. But please remember, you have a father. A father who brought you back to life when your mother had smothered you.”
“You make a good point, but I only think he did it because he thought she’d get locked up for longer this time than she did when she killed her lover.”
“Damn it. Where is he?”
“I don’t know, home maybe.”
“You stay here,” Baxter said and left the room. “Don’t let her leave,” he instructed Ted.
Ted walked in. “What’s going on, pumpkin?”
“I think I’m giving Baxter a migraine.”
~
Charles was tossing his clothes into his duffle bags when there was a knock on the door. He opened it. A mild-mannered bespectacled gentleman stood there.
“Dr. Cooper, I’m Baxter. We met at the battle of the frost giants and then again at the christening.”
“Mia’s shrink.”
“I need you to come with me and talk with your daughter.”
“She made it clear to me that she wasn’t interested in talking.”
“I promise you, she’ll listen to you now.”
“I’m sorry but…”
“Do I have to ask He-who-walks-through-time to drag you there? Because I will.”
Charles glared at the man. He set his handful of socks on the bed. “Lead the way.”
Baxter put a hand on his arm, and they walked out of the room and into the hall of the mansion.
“What the hell?”
“I forgot to tell you, Mia’s here at Quentin’s house,” Baxter said.
“You really ought to warn a fellow before you go through a portal.”
“Would you have come?”
“No.”
“Very well then. She’s in the office.”
Baxter opened the door, and Ted almost fell out. He had been leaning against the door, keeping Mia in.
Mia looked up at the men and scowled.
“Come, Mia, I’m going to take you home,” Charles said, extending his hand.
“No, both of you are going to stay here with Baxter until each of you have had your say,” Ted insisted. “Both of you have come so far in establishing a friendly relationship. You both care for each other. Don’t let this misunderstanding or betrayal on Charles’s part destroy your bond.”
Baxter looked from Ted to the father and daughter. “Well?”
“I need answers,” Mia sighed.
“I need to explain,” Charles said.
“Fine. Ted, go be with Quentin.”
“I’d rather be here.”
“I know. I promise not to pick on Mia, too much. I need you to keep her emotional half-uncle amused because, believe it or not, he’s one raised voice from taking Mia away from here. Charles, you may not have accepted your half-brother, but he’s taken on Mia as family. And family he will protect at all cost.”
“Understood,” Charles said.
Ted squeezed Mia’s shoulder affectionately before he left.
Baxter lifted his hand and the door locked.
“Sit down across from each other.”
Mia pulled two chairs over and sat in one.
Charles stood there. “Is this really necessary?”
“Trust me, Father, you don’t want to be standing for this,” Mia said.
Charles sat down.
Baxter took off his glasses and walked over. “Charles, Mia is going to hold your hands and enter your memories. She is going to appear to you, most likely, in her gutter rat persona.”
“Thanks a lot, Baxter.”
“She’s not going to want to go anywhere where you and Amanda were sexual.”
“Oh gross,” Mia said, realizing that that could happen.
“Take her to the day when you saved her from Amanda.”
“I can’t do that to Mia,” Charles said alarmed. “It was the most horrible day of my life.”
“It’s important for Mia to see. I will be there with you both. Listen to my words. I will guide you.”
“Why can’t I just tell her?”
“Mia doesn’t trust your words anymore.”
Charles looked at his daughter and saw the hurt in her eyes.
“Your memories may be tainted by time, but they don’t lie when visited this way,” Baxter explained.
Mia’s hands shook when she raised them. Her vulnerability moved something deep inside of Baxter. He was quick to contain it. Today, he was a healer. What he was about to do would push the limits of his power. He was going to piece together what happened, taking in all the clues when Mia was dead and Charles was yet to arrive.
“Just so you’re not surprised, Father,” Mia said. “Bev admitted she was with Mother when she killed me. Do you remember her being there?”
“I remember there being a houseful of people…” Charles said as he took Mia’s hands. “I think Ralph organized it…” He closed his eyes.
Mia entered his mind, followed by Baxter. She stood in the living room of the old brownstone and watched a very animated Ralph walking with a tray of hors d’oeuvres. The tray was trimmed with pink bows. Bernard was mixing up a pitcher of martinis. Charles looked so dashing and tall to Mia. He hadn’t yet developed the permanent dusty look to his appearance. His eyes kept darting to Amanda who was in an animated conversation with his sister Beverly.
Mia saw a flatpack crib box, unopened with a big pink bow on it, leaning against a wall. A basket of baby clothes and supplies sat on the dining table. Mia knew without reading the cards that they were from Ralph and Bernard.
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