Sarah's Inheritance

by Katherine Kim

  “Oh nothing much, really. Just some chamomile and lemon balm and nettles. You had quite a scare this morning, and Kai didn’t know who you are, so he brought you here when he brought in Sebastian to get cleaned up,” the woman came back over to sit in the overstuffed armchair nearby. “You look so much like your grandmother I couldn’t believe he didn’t know right away. You can call me Doc. Everyone else does. Even Rosie did.”

  “Oh! You knew my grandmother? Did you make all those teas at Gran’s house?” Sarah’s eyes got wide. “She has so many funny teas at home!” Doc’s eyes lit up.

  “Well, I helped her make some of them, that’s certainly true. I run The Apothecary— that’s the tea shop— so I could get some of the ingredients more easily than she could, but she preferred to grow or gather her own mostly.”

  “Hey, Doc! Sebastian finally dozed off, so… oh! You’re up.”

  The stranger from this morning strode into the room. She got a good look at him now, and he was actually younger than she’d thought on the dark path. He was tall and very solidly built in a male gymnast sort of way. His ink black hair slid forward over a sharp, well-defined face and the only attention he paid to it was sweeping his fingers back to pull the mess out of his eyes, something he did every few minutes. Sarah felt an urge to get him to a barber and just deal with the problem. There was something about him she couldn’t quite figure out, though.

  “Yes. Um,” Sarah wasn’t sure what to say. Thanks for saving her maybe? But had he saved her? And from what? Fortunately, he solved the problem by speaking himself.

  “I have to thank you. If you hadn’t hauled him off physically, I think Sebastian would have tried to take those things on by himself,” he flopped down in the last of the armchairs and ran his hand through the hair that had slid over his eyes again. “That idiot. I told him not to go out in the first place. What was he thinking? I mean sure, he could probably deal with them on his own if he didn’t let himself get distracted, but I swear to god. He was probably following some damn trail or other and let the thing take him by surprise.” He huffed a breath out and let his head drop backwards to sprawl almost bonelessly in the deep cushions.

  “He was thinking that we have a problem, Kai, and you know how he is when he wants to figure things out. You’ve always been the more cautious one,” Doc frowned. “But we do need to figure out where those things are coming from. It’s the middle of winter. With all those after school things they do, a lot of our kids don’t even get home before dark, and it looks like those things are more of a menace to the neighborhood than we’d thought.”

  Kai rubbed his hand over his eyes.

  “I know, I know,” he mumbled. Sarah frowned and looked from Doc’s worried but patient eyes to Kai’s hand still scrubbing over his face in frustration.

  “Um, what—“ she swallowed the lump in her throat. “What’s going on? What were those things, anyway? I didn’t just imagine them, right? And what happened to that fox, is it ok? And where are we, where did you bring me?”

  Sarah snapped her jaw shut on the increasingly hysterical questions that were pouring out of her mouth. Two pairs of eyes landed on her at once and she shrank into the sofa cushions. Sarah thought she could feel their regard like a physical touch.

  “No, you didn’t imagine them,” Kai said. He sighed and frowned again. “They were wights. From where we have no idea, but they first appeared last week and they seem to have it out for us here, which is unusual behavior for those things to say the least. Seb and I have been trying to figure out how to deal with them. We have families living here. Kids, elderly folks, people who just want to live a nice, quiet life without being plagued by this shit. And now he’s gone and managed to stir them up, got himself wounded, and dragged you into this mess. I’m sorry about that.”

  “Sebastian is fine, don’t worry. Just took a couple of stitches to close up the wound. When he wakes up we’ll go hustle him out into the sunshine and after that, a bit of rest and a little medicine and he’ll be right as rain.” Doc added.

  “I—” Sara started.

  “I told him it was too dangerous to go out by himself! Dammit, this is exactly what I was afraid of.” Kai launched himself out of the chair and started pacing. “And if you hadn’t…” he stabbed a finger in Sarah’s direction, then stopped mid-step and frowned. Sarah flinched back again, away from his gaze and the almost savage energy radiating from him. He noticed her reaction and made a visible effort to calm down.

  “I’m sorry. It’s been a little stressful lately with all this going on and then Sebastian went and got himself injured and you were both attacked and I’m just a bit tense right now. What’s your name, anyway? I’m Kai Russell, and Seb probably owes you his life. Even if he is an impulsive idiot. Especially because he’s an impulsive idiot.” Kai held his hand out and his hair flopped back into his eyes. Sarah stared for a moment before slowly reaching her own hand out. Kai’s palm was warm and slightly callused, and his fingers were firm but careful when they wrapped around her hand to shake it.

  “Er,” Sarah blinked. “My name is Sarah Richards. And I’m glad he’s okay.”

  “Thanks entirely to you,” Kai retrieved his hand to shove the hair out of his face again. “You hauled his hairy hide away from a fight, then shielded the both of you long enough for me to get there. That was some quick thinking, and I’m honestly grateful. I’m in your debt for that,” Kai flashed her a brief smile that completely changed his face before flopping back down into the chair.

  “Well, Rosie suspected her granddaughter had talent. She always regretted that she couldn’t spend more time with you, Sarah,” Doc reached over and patted Sarah’s knee, her face sad.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, either of you.” The pair was beginning to sound like lunatics, frankly. Kai was talking about a fox like they were actual relatives, and somehow Doc didn’t sound she meant Sarah’s piano lessons. She heard her mother’s voice warning her about talking to strangers she met in the street. Formal introductions through people she knew and trusted was definitely a safer way to meet people though there wasn’t much she could do about fainting in public, she admitted. Still, now that she was awake, she should probably leave. “Look, I really appreciate you not leaving me on the path out there, but I should probably be going home.” She stood up, carefully laying the blanket over the arm of the sofa, and looked around for her things.

  “Oh, I washed your jacket. Sebastian made a real mess, poor boy, but it all came out fine. The dryer should be done fairly soon, if you’ll just wait a bit. I’ll go check.” Doc stood and bustled out of the room. Sarah watched her go, wondering how someone who seemed so practical could also sound so crazy. Now that she was standing she felt the cool floor under her feet and looked down to realize that her shoes were missing as well. All of her courage left her in a rush and she dropped back to the sofa, deflating. Kai was watching her, and she tried not to squirm under his gaze. It was bizarre. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black, but as he stared at her she thought she caught flickers of amber and gold in them. She blinked and he was scrubbing his hand over his face again and sighing.

  “Are you okay?” Sarah couldn’t stop herself from asking. He just looked so tense and worried.

  “I’ll manage. It’s been a really long night, that’s all.” He said, then he straightened in the chair and leaned forward. “Listen. If you’re living in Miss Rosie’s house we’re really close by, and we owe you for this morning so if you need anything just call. Besides, Miss Rosie was practically family, which means you are too.” He scribbled down some phone numbers on a notepad he pulled from his back pocket.

  “This is my cell phone, this is Sebastian’s, and if you can’t get either of us, these are Doc’s phone numbers— cell and at The Apothecary. I know Miss Rosie had all these, but I don’t know if she just had them memorized or in a phone book or what.” He handed her the paper.

  “Here it is! Fresh and warm from the dryer!” Doc came bac
k in with a bundle in her arms. She quickly unfurled Sarah’s fleece and flung it around her shoulders, letting the snuggly dryer heat do its work. “It was just shutting off when I got in there. Come on, I’ll walk you home to make sure you’re not still wobbly.”

  Sarah allowed herself to be bustled out the door— her shoes had been placed beside the mat and were also cleaner than they’d been this morning— and wondered what the heck she’d gotten herself involved with.

  Four

  Doc led the way around the outside of a short apartment building. It looked comfortably mid-scale and there were potted plants and patio furniture on most of the balconies. Sarah looked around the courtyard they’d stepped into and realized that the complex was made up of at least five buildings in a sprawl that surprised her. People walking past smiled and greeted them cheerfully. Sarah had to laugh at a little girl on a swath of grass near another building trying to pet a cat who was clearly teasing the toddler into taking a few more steps for her furry goal.

  The sunshine and the perfectly normal, everyday bustle combined to chase away the last remains of the strangeness from this morning. And the odd way Kai had been talking about that fox… how would an animal have a cell phone, anyway? Most of it must have been a stress hallucination.

  “It’s a nice place to live. Kai and Sebastian have made some really nice improvements,” Doc grinned. She waved to the child’s mother. Sarah had been looking curiously at the buildings that made up the complex.

  She realized that they all looked fairly normal from this side, but the courtyard they had left felt rather more like a town square, with tables scattered around and kids playing on the lawn, and all the ground floor apartments had huge windows with people bustling around. She wondered if there was a coffee bar or something in the leasing office that would explain the number of people with paper cups at those tables. It felt more like a community than she could remember feeling anywhere else— more like a small town somewhere than an apartment complex so close to San Jose.

  “What do you mean they made improvements?” Sarah looked at the older woman. Doc was maybe in her sixties, but she was letting her chestnut brown hair go grey as it pleased. She was comfortably pear-shaped and the cheerful energy she exuded with every movement was infectious. If you discounted the way she had talked about the fox this morning, Doc seemed like a really grounded, reliable sort of woman and Sarah could easily see her as Gran’s friend.

  “Well they actually started the remodeling before Keiko died, but she encouraged it, and everyone agreed that the buildings could use some work, so those boys just sat down one day and plowed through the details of what needed to get done. They started talking to architects and contractors maybe two weeks later.” Doc said, strolling down to the sidewalk and turning into the neighborhood. “They’re a good team, and we all feel pretty lucky that they came back to take over.”

  Sarah took a breath. Doc was a friend of Gran’s and she trusted Gran’s judgement, but there were a few things that had to be straightened out. And frankly, walking in the cheerful, bright sunshine of broad daylight the whole nightmare adventure felt like just that. A nightmare. She’d probably fallen and hit her head or something and hallucinated the whole thing. That was the only sensible explanation, so she would ask sensible questions.

  “So Kai and Sebastian run this apartment?” she asked. That would explain why Kai looked so stressed out. Sarah figured that apartment management wasn’t an easy job, after all.

  “Well, of course. They own it,” Doc laughed. “Their grandparents bought a lot of the land around here, and built a small community on it. Over the years they attracted more tenants and ended up building the apartments. When Keiko finally died last year, she left it to her daughter, but she isn’t likely to come back to live here, and Kai honestly isn’t likely to live anywhere else if I know him at all, so the whole thing was signed over to Kai and Sebastian which has suited everyone very nicely. We’re all pretty pleased to have Keiko’s grandsons in charge.”

  “Wow. That’s amazing.” Sarah looked back over her shoulder towards the buildings that were already obscured by trees. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”

  “It is, and they take it seriously. They’re good boys. We’re all pretty proud of them.” Doc smiled and lifted her face to the sun, soaking in the warmth and Sarah decided not to push it. After all, some people treat their dogs like children, why not their foxes?

  “Wow. And I thought it was a bit overwhelming to inherit Gran’s house,” Sarah sighed. “I wonder why she left it to me and not Mom or my uncle. Or my cousins. I bet they’re pretty angry about it.” Doc shook her head and looked at Sarah.

  “The house and everything in it was always for you,” Doc said. “I’m sure that your cousins got something. Rosie was far too proud of all of you to not have made provisions for them, but the house and the gardens especially. They were for you, because you are the only female descendant.”

  “What?” Sarah stopped and stared at Doc. The other woman stopped too and turned back to look at her sadly.

  “I don’t know how much you know of your family’s history. I’m sure you know that your mother quarreled with Rosie and kept you away from her, and that broke her heart.” Doc said. Sarah nodded.

  “I know. I remember it. We were actually out here for a visit. I think I was in middle school at the time, but I could hear them shouting through the kitchen door. I was out in the garden reading and Mom came storming out and yanked me to the car and that was that. We never came back again.” She shuddered at the memory. Her mother’s face had been twisted into an expression that Sarah had never been able to understand. Fury was in there and stubbornness, but something else she didn’t recognize, and that frightened her more than anything else. Doc was nodding.

  “Middle school sounds about right. You would have been hitting the right age to start learning more about what Rosie did, and your mother didn’t want that. Refused to allow Rosie to teach you about, well, about a part of your heritage that your mother didn’t approve of, I suppose is the best way to put it,” Doc turned and started walking again. Sarah realized that they were only about a block from her grandmother’s house. No, it’s my house now.

  “You mean like telling me about shady ancestor or something? Like some of the family used to be criminals? And what do you mean what Gran did?”

  The feeling that they were taking a turn for the bizarre again washed over Sarah. She wasn’t sure she wanted to continue this conversation, but that same feeling of needing to escape from a cage that had driven her out of New York was growing again, this time she felt like she needed to escape her own ignorance. The sense of unreality was seeping back into her bones, and she wanted to go back to last night when everything was definitely normal: no crazy people claiming wild animals as relatives, or otherwise sane seeming ladies hinting at dark family secrets.

  “I said to Kai that Rosie believed you had talent and she did. She told me that she was sure you had an enormous potential, and she wanted to teach you to use that talent the way she did her own. The traditions and skills that your mother refused for you and rejected,” Doc fell silent and frowned, searching for the right words. Sarah walked along beside her, turning the corner and feeling her heart lift at the sight of the familiar fence posts. She needed to paint the house, she thought, distracted by the view in front of her. Doc finally sighed deeply and shook her head. Shen Sarah looked back at her, the woman had tears in her eyes and a worried expression.

  “Sarah. I don’t think it’s my place to discuss your family. Not like this anyway. Rosie myst have left you something that would explain everything. She loved you so much and was so proud of you,” Doc stopped at the corner of the driveway and laid her hand on Sarah’s arm. “She was always telling us about what you were up to and how you were doing. I know that she worried about you being unhappy and lonely all the way out on the East Coast. She wouldn’t just leave you all this and not leave any sort of explanation of what she mean
t with it all. If Jennifer didn’t have a letter to give you then there must be something here, in the house. If you don’t find anything, I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have.”

  “I don’t understand,” Sarah finally said after several minutes. She could see the reluctance on Doc’s face, and the concern, but it made no sense.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just… I feel like I’m stomping on sacred ground here,” she said. “I’m sure that Rosie left you a letter of some sort, somewhere. Have you looked?”

  “No,” Sarah shook her head. “I guess I thought that if there was anything like a letter or something, Jennifer would have given it to me.”

  “She would, if she had anything to give you. She’s a stickler for things like that,” Doc looked past Sarah to the house and tears started to sparkle in her eyes. “Rosie wouldn’t leave you unprotected and ignorant. She wouldn’t.”

  “I…” Sarah shivered, nerves making her cold. “I guess I’ll go look.”

  “You do that,” Doc gave her a quick, fierce hug. “You look and if you don’t find anything, you come find me and I’ll tell you everything I know. It’s not much, about your family specifically, but I know about Rosie’s work. She’s the one who taught me, after all.”

  Sarah nodded and turned away. As she walked across the small square of grass that passed for the lawn, she could feel Doc watching until the front door closed behind her, shielding her from the unnerving conversation and the strangeness of the morning.

  She leaned back on the reassuringly boring wooden panels of Gran’s front door and swept her gaze around the small living room. Sofa, TV, bookshelves, armchair, fireplace— all perfectly normal. There was a desk in her workroom office, but that was pretty average as well, nothing that even hinted at a world that contained animals that could understand English and were acknowledged as family members that owned property, or tall, person-shaped holes in the fabric of reality that brought cold with them like a tsunami to sweep away all traces of warmth and hope. She thought back to all those secret phone calls to Gran through high school and college, then the longer ones through her adult life. They’d all been so cheerful and, well, normal.