“Lia!” Mellie wailed from behind me, the sound flying away.
Gone.
Chapter 8
Lia
MY BODY BECAME MY OWN again. I stumbled at first as feeling returned to my legs. I spun around and dashed out the door. The hallway sat empty. I couldn’t even hear Mellie’s scream anymore.
Holding back a desire to cry, I fumbled to get the phone from my pocket. I texted Coop.
Hugh has Mellie!
He responded immediately.
Coming
I flew to the family wing. In front of my open bedroom door, I paused, gasping for breath. What if it had been a sleepwalking dream? Inside, the bed stood empty, Mellie’s little princess doll lying on the floor. It took all my strength not to blubber as I ran across the hall to the boys’ room and threw open the door.
“Wake up, you guys,” I said. “The ghost has Mellie.”
“What?” Joel asked, sitting up in his bed.
“No way.” Eli leapt out of his.
“We have to find her,” they said together.
“What’s all the racket?” Ezra stood in the hallway, blinking as he fumbled to put on his glasses.
“The ghost took Mellie,” Joel said, his shoes on.
“Not that again.” Ezra turned to go back into his room.
“She’s gone, Ez.” I grabbed at his arm but only caught the edge of the fabric. “She was with me in the library, and—” My voice cracked.
“What were you doing in the library in the middle of the night?” he asked with a frown.
I pointed down the hallway, littered with pieces of armor. Ezra turned an accusatory glare at the boys.
“Are you kidding me?” Eli had turned all righteous indignation. “We didn’t take her.”
Dad’s bedroom door burst open. “There’d better be a good reason why all my children are waking me in the middle of the night.”
“I can’t find Mellie.” I said a silent prayer that Ezra wouldn’t say anything about Sir Hugh.
While Dad stood momentarily speechless, Mom hustled around him, already giving orders to everyone about where to look. By the time we’d checked the rooms in the family wing, the three Montgomerys had arrived.
We all hurried off to search the west wing. Only when my sister couldn’t be found inside the castle did my parents freak. Mom started crying about Mellie wandering into the woods and getting eaten by a wild animal or dying of exposure. Mrs. Montgomery put a soothing arm around her, saying encouraging things.
Dad called Mr. Lee, the head of the volunteer fire department, for help while the rest of the family and I went to get our jackets. Something kept tickling my mind, like a memory just on the edge of my vision. I needed to do ... something. But what?
I made it back to the kitchen and found Coop waiting there.
“Pop’s gone to get flashlights and batteries,” he said. “What happened?”
I told him what Hugh had done. “Where would he have taken her though?” I asked.
“Why would he have taken her?” Coop asked.
My dad pounded down the stairs then, and Mr. Montgomery burst into the kitchen, his arms loaded with flashlights. Coop helped spread them on the table while I opened the package of batteries.
The images of what had happened in the library replayed in my mind. The feeling kept pressing on me that I needed to do something else. But what else would I do?
By the time the other volunteer firefighters and a bunch of village residents had answered Mr. Lee’s call for help, we had the flashlights working. He and Dad divided the volunteers into groups and sent us off to search the grounds and then the woods. They assigned Coop and me to the group led by Mr. Lee.
As soon as I stepped outside of the castle to gather with my group, that weird impression got stronger.
Stay.
I told myself it was just the stress. Yet, with every step I took toward the east woods, my lungs struggled to take in air, the muscles in my legs cramping. It got harder to walk, and I lagged behind. Was I going crazy? I bent over, my hands on my knees, trying to breathe.
“Are you all right?” Coop put a hand on my back.
“I have to go back,” I managed to gasp. I straightened and took a backward step, toward the castle. As soon as I did, the stiffness in my legs and the tightness in my chest eased. I took a deep breath. “Sir Hugh has her.”
“You already said that.” Coop glanced at the others in our group who had reached the woods. He seemed conflicted.
“I saw him snatch her, Coop. If he’s tied to the castle, why would he take her into the woods?” As soon as I said the words aloud, the need to return to the citadel hit me again, this time almost like a physical punch. I staggered back a step, away from him.
“You two need to keep with the group,” Mr. Lee shouted from the edge of the dark forest. “The last thing we need is to have to search for you guys too.”
“All right,” Coop called to the fire captain but said to me, “We already searched the castle.”
“We missed something.” I took another step backward, firm in my decision now. “You can go with them if you want.”
“No way.” Together, we turned around and broke into a run.
The kitchen door stood open, and we ran through to the Great Hall, where we slowed. I paused to catch my breath. Coop watched me, waiting. Confident that I knew what to do.
Something soft and warm, with a smell that reminded me of the plumeria fragrance in Mellie’s favorite shampoo, swirled around me, drawing me toward the west wing.
“To the library.” I took his hand, and we ran again.
Once there, Coop flipped the switch, and the large room flooded with soft lighting. Following that sense of gentle pressure, I moved to the fireplace.
My hair swirled around me like it had our first day here. I gasped, and Coop’s mouth dropped open.
“Can you feel it?” I whispered.
“Yeah.” Coop stood still as though afraid movement would scare our ghostly helper away.
But I knew for sure that something or someone was trying to help us. And it didn’t feel like it had when I’d seen Hugh. I took a deep breath. It smelled so much like my sister— But, if it was her, did that mean.... My entire body trembled. Not that, please.
“Mellie?” I whispered against a lump in my throat.
A slight rustling, almost like fabric, came from behind us, and we whirled around. The room stood empty except for Coop and me. I tried to calm my racing heart. I would not believe that the presence could be a dead Mellie.
“What do you want me to see?” I kept my voice soft, calm.
Something soft brushed by my cheek, almost like a finger pointing toward the portrait. I stepped closer.
The last time I’d examined the picture, I’d focused on the little family. This time my attention was drawn to one of the beautifully carved stones in the fireplace behind them. Almost all the rooms in the citadel had fireplaces, but the ones in the west wing guest rooms had mantels with intricately carved stones and artistic patterns in many of the other stones. Like the one Mellie had admired our first day here.
“What are we looking for?” Coop whispered.
“The stonework, I think.”
I examined the mantel in the picture. It looked to be the same as the one before us.
“Ahh,” Coop breathed. “Something behind the stones? Wouldn’t the construction workers have found anything hidden?” Something ruffled his hair, and he snapped his mouth shut.
I searched between the painted stones in the portrait and the real ones in the fireplace. The back and forth motion made me feel a little sick. I closed my eyes for a few seconds. As soon as I opened them again, I saw it.
One of the real stones had a different pattern, the difference subtle. What kind of plan had they used when they had taken the citadel apart and then put it back together again? Had a tired stonemason plastered some stones in the wrong place?
“Is this it?” I touched the st
one in the painting, for the first time recognizing the uniqueness of its carvings. “Does this hide something?”
A strand of my hair pulled like someone had given it a gentle tug.
“You saw that right?” I whispered.
“Oh, yeah,” Coop said, his voice as soft as mine.
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the stone in the painting, then stepped back, so I could see the entire fireplace better.
As I scanned the bricks, I remembered the large Lego sets the boys used to get for their birthdays and Christmas. They had been meticulous at assembling the projects according to the instructions. They’d made the mistake of taking them apart and letting them get mixed in with the rest of the Lego pieces.
I shivered, and Coop put his arm around my shoulders. “What?” he asked.
“We have to find that stone.” Somewhere, mixed among all the artistically placed carved stones in the citadel, was Sir Hugh’s missing Lego piece.
Chapter 9
Lia
A SWEET, LITTLE-GIRL FRAGRANCE wafted around us.
“Do you smell it?” I asked.
“Yeah. Smells like Mellie.”
I examined the room intently, wondering if I’d see a form like I had that time with Hugh. Nothing.
“Do you know where it is?” I asked the entity. My answer came as a now-familiar, feather-light touch on my cheek. “Can you take us to it?”
What followed turned into a frustrating process of trying to understand the ghostly signals. Trying to differentiate between floors drove me crazy. Sometimes I wanted to scream.
Finally, in front of the door near the middle of the hallway on the third floor, everything stopped. Coop and I stood still, waiting for the next signal.
Nothing.
“Maybe here?” I touched the doorknob with my fingertip.
Nothing.
But I got no other impression either. I nodded to Coop, who slowly opened the door, watching me for any sign.
Nothing.
We eased into the room, pausing after every couple of steps. Only when I moved toward the fireplace did I finally sense something … and it was not toward the fireplace. Instead, I felt drawn toward a huge, antique armoire.
“That wall?” I asked.
Nothing.
Biting back my frustration so hard it made my jaw hurt, I took a breath and moved toward the fireplace. An overwhelming need came over me to go toward the furniture again.
“I guess it’s here,” I said.
“On the wall,” Coop asked, “or behind the dresser?”
“I think …” I paused, listening. “Behind?”
“Of course,” he said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “Why not have the ghost, or whatever this spirit thing is, lead us to the right stone behind the heaviest piece of furniture in the citadel?” Coop took off his jacket.
“Maybe he, she … it can go through walls?” I took one end, but Coop shook his head.
He opened the large doors and took out the drawers first. It still weighed a ton, but we walked it away from the wall enough to get behind it. Where some stonemason had mortared a single, carved stone near the floor.
“Is this it?” I pulled out my phone. “Come look.”
He grabbed the flashlight from his jacket pocket and knelt beside me. I held my phone next to the carving. They were the same.
“Now what?” I felt the mortar around the stone. It wasn’t any looser than any of the plain ones.
“Hang on. Your dad and I were doing some work in the next room.” Coop got up and jogged away. He returned with a toolbox. “I’ll need some room.”
I got out of the way, and he took my place, carrying a chisel and a mallet. Coop went to work breaking away the mortar. At first, he didn’t seem to make much progress. I knew from working with my dad that some old concrete, and I assumed mortar too, could even get harder as it aged.
Once Coop got a good crack in it, though, it only took a few more hard hits for the stone to come loose. A couple more, and he slid it free from the wall.
“It doesn’t feel right, like its balance is off. Maybe that’s why the workers hid it here at the bottom.” Coop hefted it, then tilted it back and forth. Finally he handed it to me with a shrug. “Any ideas?”
“Let’s ask.” I held it up. “Can you help?” Something brushed my fingers at the bottom of the stone. I turned it over. The only thing I saw was a tiny indentation. I tried pressing my index finger in it, but nothing happened.
“Try this.” Coop handed me a ballpoint pen.
I pressed the indentation and a clever drawer popped out a tiny bit. Coop held the box so I could open the drawer the rest of the way. The aged but still-soft quilting fabric must have acted to muffle the sound of the necklace inside the brick. A little thrill ran through me. It looked just like the one the child had worn in the portrait.
“Now we just have to find Sir Hugh and my sister.”
The Mellie fragrance got stronger, and I thought I could almost feel little hands pressing on the small of my back, hurrying me, toward the northwest tower, the locked one we hadn’t done anything with yet. Hadn’t someone searched it? Or had my mom not located the keys yet? We had to try.
“The northwest tower.” Clutching the necklace in one hand, I grabbed Coop’s with the other, and we ran.
Chapter 10
Lia
WHEN WE REACHED THE LAST door in the northwest turret, we found it locked. No surprise, but I still wanted to kick the door. I had to get to my sister.
“I got this.” Coop lifted a foot and gave a monstrous kick to the door handle.
Above us, Mellie cried out my name. She was alive! I fought back a primal scream, needing to get through that door. Coop kicked the door again, harder. He continued to kick until the wooden door jamb broke. Hand in hand, we took the stairs two at a time.
At the top of the turret, the clear, dark sky seemed wide open after the closed rooms. The moonlight cast a ghostly glow on the scene before us. I swallowed a sob. On the opposite end of the tower, my little sister stood before a kneeling man. He bowed his head over his hands, and his shoulders shuddered.
Mellie didn’t leave him but sent me a pleading look.
“Sir Hugh?” I took a step closer.
“You can see him?” Coop whispered, squinting.
“Yes,” I whispered and took another step. “Sir Hugh, I think I have something you’ve been looking for.” I held up the necklace.
“Please don’t cry anymore, Mister.” Mellie tapped his shoulder. “Here’s Maire’s necklace. You can give it to her.”
The ghost raised his head at my sister’s words. When his eyes met mine, he seemed to fade out a little before coming back into focus. I held the necklace higher; his entire face lit up. He rose to his feet.
“They mixed up the stones when they put the citadel back together.” I held it out to him, wondering if the necklace might drop right through his hands. It didn’t.
“Thank you, my dear,” Sir Hugh said.
I glanced around. Wasn’t it time for the ghostly light show? He had his necklace. I sent Mellie a questioning look. Now what?
She smiled, looking behind me. “Come on, Phoebe.”
I spun around and saw her then, my dead little sister. Hazy and faded, but there. A knot in my throat choked me, and my lips trembled. How often had I dreamed of seeing her again? Coop must have seen her too because he sucked in his breath.
With a huge grin, Phoebe ducked her head a little as she walked by me. Just like she used to do when still alive, after she’d done something she shouldn’t. My eyes burned. I blinked them rapidly, afraid she might disappear. She paused and brushed her fingers along mine, making the hair on my arm stand up. I reached out to touch her, but it was like trying to touch a cloud.
She moved beside Mellie, who looked so much older now, even though it had only been two years since Phoebe’s death. Mellie acted like she could feel her twin’s hand as she placed it in Sir Hugh’s.
“Mister, Phoebe is going to take you to your little Maire.” Mellie said. “I’ll bet she’ll be glad to have you back.” She turned to Phoebe with a quivering chin. “You be good.”
Mellie stepped back and pressed against me. Her cold shoulders shook. I started to pull off my jacket, but Coop had already scooped her up. He slid her inside his jacket, against his warm chest. After wrapping her up, he put his other arm around me.
When I looked up again, a strange mist had developed. Phoebe and Sir Hugh now rose in the air above the tower. The roiling mist grew until it merged with incoming clouds, reminding me of the way the fog crept over the San Francisco hills.
“Thank you, sweetie,” I called. “I love you.”
The two shapes transformed into Sir Hugh’s signature blue mist, swirling and mixing, until they were gone.
“I’m going to miss her.” Mellie turned her face into Coop’s shoulder, her little shoulders shaking.
Phoebe’s leaving burned like it had when we’d lost her before. I kissed Mellie’s hair and cried with her. Coop simply held us.
In the distance came the sound of voices. The searchers must be returning from the woods.
“We have to let them know she’s safe.” Coop set Mellie down, handed me the flashlight, and took off his coat. He wrapped it around her.
“We found Mellie,” I shouted from the tower crenel, waving the flashlight toward the voices. It took a couple more tries, but they finally heard and started running toward the tower.
I typed in a quick text to my dad and clicked Send. “Phoebe’s been with us all this time?” I asked Mellie.
“It was too hard.” She shivered a little. “She stayed for me, but she wanted to go to the light for a long time.”
“Why now, then?” I knelt down and pulled Coop’s big jacket tighter around her.
“She said I’d be okay now.” Mellie gave a little shrug.
“How are we going to explain this?” I asked.
“Don’t tell. They’ll say we made it up.” Mellie looked first at Coop and then at me.
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