Autumn Calling

by T. Lynne Tolles

  “The honor’s mine,” Daniel said, smiling at the slightly flustered Aunt Myrtle.

  Summer found this all to be very entertaining, but she was dumbfounded as to how Aunt Myrtle knew Daniel was a watcher.

  “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know Summer had a visitor. I should let you two talk.”

  “That’s okay, Ms. Myrtle. Summer and I were just finishing up,” he said with a rather devilish smile for an angel. Summer smiled back at him, flushing a bit. “Might I see you tonight?” he asked Summer.

  “Sure.”

  “Good, then I will leave you two to it,” he said as he passed the women and opened the door to leave.

  “Bye,” Summer said.

  “Good-bye,” Aunt Myrtle said. “So where was I,” Aunt Myrtle continued when the door shut. “Oh, yes. I’m so sorry about Sister Mary Louise.”

  “Thank you, Aunt Myrtle,” she said as she sat on the couch. Her aunt followed in suit.

  “How are you doing?”

  “I’m okay, I guess. Still in shock, I suppose.”

  “No surprise there.”

  “Can I get you some tea?” Summer offered.

  “No, dear. I’m good. I just wanted to check on you. How is Tori doing?”

  “I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to her since I dropped her off with Nick yesterday.”

  “Hmm,” she said with concern.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Of course.”

  “How did you know Daniel was a watcher?”

  “His aura.”

  “His aura?”

  “Yes. It’s bright white and almost blinding. Don’t you see it?”

  “No, but he certainly has a presence about him.”

  “Yes. A strong aura does that to a being. How long have you known him?”

  “Since the night Hunter kidnapped Morti and killed Ms. Ash, Sully’s mother. He’s kept me from harm several times.”

  “I imagine so, though I didn’t know he had made himself known to you.”

  “So you knew he was watching me?”

  “All your life.”

  “He said he’d been asked to watch me.”

  “Yes, he had, by your grandmother Ivy. She had been mortally wounded when she abducted you from your father’s family. On her death bed, she asked Daniel to watch over you when she knew she could not.”

  “How did Ivy know Daniel?”

  “Your grandfather Henry and Daniel had been great friends, and Ivy had known him for years through him.”

  They sat in silence for a moment before Aunt Myrtle said, “Sister Mary Louise will be greatly missed. You know, I knew her when she was young.”

  “Sister Mary Louise?”

  “Yes. She was such a funny little thing, always in pig tails, and she had a smile for anyone who came her way.”

  “How did you know her?”

  “She was Ivy’s best friend Barbara’s daughter. You don’t think your grandmother would leave you completely at the hands of strangers, do you?”

  “ I don’t know. I mean, I guess not.”

  “She loved you very much.”

  “Can you answer a question for me? I know we haven’t really talked about it, but I think I should know all I can about what I’m up against.”

  “What is it?”

  Summer reached over to the side table and opened a decorative box. She pulled out a necklace with a sun pendant upon its chain. When Aunt Myrtle saw the necklace, she coughed as if something caught in her throat. “Can you tell me about this and the missing piece supposedly my twin sister has?”

  “Uh, I, how did you find out?”

  “Sister Mary Louise gave it to me when I graduated and left the orphanage. It took me a while to open the box it was in, but Jackson helped me do it. When I pulled it from its box it looked to me as if it was missing something; not complete somehow. It was Daniel who told me about my sister. I imagine she has a similar necklace that somehow makes mine complete?”

  “Yes,” Aunt Myrtle said nervously. “It’s true. You do have a sister. I had completely forgotten that the puzzle box was among your things.”

  “Why didn’t YOU tell me I had a sister and that she will be among the Macabres I have to fight?”

  “I’m sorry dear. I really am. I don’t remember things like I should and I often forget what it is that you know and what you don’t know. It’s all very frustrating, I can tell you.”

  “I know you have memory problems, but this seems to be an important bit of information that you’ve left out.”

  “It was not my call to keep things from you. The Brotherhood of Reformed Order Of Magic, better known as the BROOM, thought it best.”

  Summer hoped this statement was true, but it seemed that if she didn’t ask the right questions, no one would ever tell her the whole story of what was going on and what was about to happen.

  “Keeping secrets was never my strong suit. Often times I’d have to write things down, but Ivy, she was good with secrets,” Aunt Myrtle said, reminiscing, or was she entering one of her episodes where she would soon be ranting and angry? Summer and Tori often times had to cut classes short with Aunt Myrtle because of these maniacal fits she’d transition into.

  “Are you okay, Aunt Myrtle?”

  “I am most certainly fine. What is it I’m doing here? I have so much to do,” she said getting up and moving for the door.

  “But wait, you were telling me about my sister.”

  “Sister? You don’t have a sister,” Aunt Myrtle said, mumbling something irate under her breath as she shut the door behind her.

  Something about this story of her sister and her grandmother abducting Summer from the Macabres’ seemed to bring on these outbursts in Aunt Myrtle. If she was going to get answers, it would have to be from someone other than Aunt Myrtle.

  This was the second time Summer had tried to get the woman to confide in her, with the same result: nothing. But if not her, then who? Morti was less than inviting, and he didn’t seem very receptive to chit chat beyond what was absolutely necessary for the lesson plan of the day. Hunter may know, but he was hundreds of miles away with Jackson, and that only left Daniel, who had already told her once that he was not supposed to reveal details of her life for fear of changing her path, whatever that was.

  But things seemed different with Daniel now. Maybe he would be more forthcoming knowing that Myrtle was incapable of revealing the vital information she needed. She knew Daniel took his position as watcher, not teller, very seriously, but she hoped maybe given the circumstances, he might oblige her this one time. It was at least worth a try.

  * * *

  She thought she should check on Tori and see how she was doing with the loss of Sister Mary Louise. She texted her in hopes she’d answer.

  “R U up?” she wrote.

  After a few moments her phone chimed.

  “Yup.”

  “How R U?”

  “OK. You?”

  “The same. Want to go have pancakes?”

  “Idk. I look like crap—eyes R puffy.”

  “Me 2— We could wear sunglasses.”

  “It’s raining.”

  “2 cover our puffy eyes, LOL.”

  “Oh. Ok. I’ll meet you at IHOP in 20.”

  “I’ll be there.”

  She thought since she had to kill some time, she would check the office out, make sure the mail was picked up and such. When she headed for the back gate, Sully came sliding up all muddy and soaked as if he was going with her.

  “Oh, no you don’t. You’re covered in mud and water, boy! I won’t be gone long.”

  Sully cocked his head at her and then turned as if insulted by her put off.

  “Don’t sulk,” she said as he walked away. He turned one last time to see if she’d changed her mind due to his pouting, but when he found she hadn’t he became distracted by a leaf that went tumbling by with a push of the gusting wind.

  She smiled at him as she secured the gate and drove of
f.

  She pulled into the empty parking lot of Paws and Whiskers. As she made her way to the door, a woman ran up behind her.

  “Please, can you help me?” she said. She was soaked to the skin and carrying a black cat with a white tuft of hair on its chest in the shape of a diamond. The cat looked unconscious.

  “The clinic isn’t open. The doctor’s on vacation.”

  “Please, she’s hurt,” the girl pleaded. Summer agreed and let her in, turning on a couple of lights on their way to an examining room.

  The dark-haired woman with shockingly green eyes laid the cat on the table as gently as she could and hovered over the cat, while Summer washed her hands.

  “Can you tell me a little about what happened?” Summer asked over her shoulder.

  “Um, well she was on my window ledge and this horrible mocking bird kept dive bombing her from the air, squawking up a storm. One of the attacks on her must have knocked her off her balance, and she fell from the second story.”

  “Let me take a look at her. What’s her name?”

  “Vixen,” the woman said.

  Summer pet the cat gently. “Vixen, what a cute name,” Summer said as she roamed her hands all over the cat feeling for internal injuries and broken bones. Then she put her stethoscope on and listened to her breathing as she said, “And how old is Vixen?”

  “I guess five or so.”

  “Well, she’s a very pretty cat and in very good health. I need to take an X-ray on this one leg,” Summer said as she gently lifted the cat. “You can come if you like…” Summer paused for the woman to voice her name.

  The woman looked greatly relieved and said, “You can call me Autumn. Thank you I would.”

  They walked back to the lab and Summer laid down the cat. The machine made its mechanical sound and a second later Vixen meowed.

  “Oh good, she’s awake. What perfect timing, Ms. Vixen. Why don’t you give her some love, and I’ll check the results of the X-ray.

  Summer examined the film finding what she suspected and then came to inform the woman of her findings.

  “Hi, Vixen,” she said, gently giving her a pet. “How are you feeling, girl?” Summer said, petting the cat to ease her anxiety.

  “Why did you say Vixen had perfect timing?”

  “Well, normally to get a cat’s X-ray they’d have to be sedated.”

  “I see.”

  “Well, it’s as I suspected. She came down hard on her back legs and has a tiny hairline fracture on her left metatarsus. It doesn’t need to be cast, but it should be tightly wrapped for a few weeks, and I’m sure she’s not going to like that very much.”

  “But she was unconscious,” the woman said.

  “Yes. The pain can knock her out for a time, but it looks as if she has a slight concussion. She should be fine, but you’ll need to monitor her for the next twenty-four hours. Can you do that?”

  “Yes, definitely.”

  “You’ll have to keep her off her feet as much as you can, and if she sleeps you need to wake her up every couple of hours to make sure she’s coherent. Normally I’d keep her overnight, but as you can see the clinic is closed and I have no staff to help watch her. I don’t see why, under these circumstances, you can’t do that job. I’ll give you my number and you can call anytime with any questions or concerns. Let me get her leg wrapped and then you can take her home. No outside time for a couple of days until we know all is well and there are no lingering problems.”

  “Thank you so much, Doctor.”

  “Not a problem. If you could write down your number, I’d like to call later and check to see how she’s doing.”

  The woman thanked Summer again on their way out of the clinic and Summer headed to IHOP to meet Tori.

  Chapter 5

  It was good to talk with Tori. No matter how sad Summer was, Tori knew how to cheer her up, and she likewise knew what made Tori happy. Since they both had a good cry the night before about the sadness of Sister Mary Louise’s departure, they talked instead of all the fond memories they had of her. Summer also told Tori what Aunt Myrtle said about having known Mary Louise when she was a child and her connection to her grandmother Ivy.

  It was heartening that the woman they loved so much was practically family in more ways than they originally thought. Pancakes and comforting talk of past adventures was just the ticket to make them feel better.

  As they were finishing up their late breakfast, they got a text from Sister Margaret, asking them to come to the orphanage to talk to the police. They had some general questions to ask and thought it would be easiest if they all met there since the Reverend Mother had no intention of going to the police station. She had played her “I raised you, boy” card with Joey Bertrand, the sheriff, and won hands down.

  The sisters were right, the questions were mostly, “When was the last time you saw her?”; “Has she been in contact?”; “Do you know anyone who might know where she went?” It was all very disturbing. Summer felt if maybe she had made more of a fuss about her being missing that maybe she wouldn’t be dead.

  But Sister Louise had always talked about one day stealing away on a journey by herself, so when the Reverend Mother said she had left, Summer didn’t think anything sinister had happened, only that she had finally taken her trip and one day she’d get a postcard telling her and Tori how much fun she was having meeting people and seeing the world. Sadly that wasn’t the case, and the guilt ate at her insides.

  When Summer got home after her jaunt with Tori and talking to the police, she stopped in at Aunt Myrtle’s. She found her still in her agitated state, so it was likely lessons would not be conducted today. She called Autumn to check on Vixen. Thankfully all was well and she was resting comfortably at home. Summer did a little gardening under the watchful eye of Sully until he decided it was time to play, and he dropped the slimy ball he carried around when he wasn’t pestering Morti on Summer’s foot.

  “Okay, okay, I get it,” Summer said as she clapped her hands together, releasing any loose dirt, and brushed pebbles from her knees. She threw the ball as hard as she could. With glee the giant puppy leaped over a cross-shaped tombstone and nearly ran into another, before bounding back to her for another throw. This continued for a good fifteen minutes or more until she found the hellhound pup taking longer and longer to retrieve the ball. This was a sure sign he’d had enough for the time being, and he plopped down on the ground, chewing on a discarded branch from a tree—the bigger and drier, the better. She teased the pup that he was better than any wood chipper, and much cheaper.

  The day faded, and the darkness and shadows invaded the landscape where it had once been bright and glorious. Unable to continue in the garden, Summer headed back to the cozy cottage with Sully at her heels, stopping first at the shed to put away tools. When she came out, she saw a dark figure of a portly man in a hat lurking about the perimeter of the property.

  Sully heard a branch crack beneath the man’s foot and stormed off in the direction of the intruder. Summer felt sure any man seeing a giant hellhound with glowing eyes, smoke pouring from his nostrils, and flames spouting would be prompted to seek safety on the outside of the property. Summer wasn’t worried.

  With the land tucked against the woods, they sometimes did have people mistakenly find themselves on the property. Sully wouldn’t hurt anyone who didn’t try to hurt him first, so she was confident he could take care of himself and headed back to the cottage.

  She found Daniel on the porch, leaning against the doorjamb looking incredibly handsome. He was a welcome sight and she greeted him with a smile and hug, before they entered the house.

  “It’s good to see you,” she said. “Can I get you anything?”

  “No, I’m good. How are you feeling about Sister Mary Louise?”

  “Better, though I feel maybe I should have told the police when she first went missing.”

  “You told me you weren’t too worried about it. That you had assumed she’d gone on a trip.” />
  “That is what I thought, but maybe if I hadn’t jumped to that conclusion, she might still be alive.”

  “You can’t second guess what Father’s path is for his children. There are too many possibilities. You’ll make yourself crazy or sick.”

  “Maybe, but can’t help feeling guilty about it.”

  “Well, try harder. She would not have wanted you to burden yourself with such ideas. You know this.”

  “I do. It’s just,” Summer said, flopping onto the couch.

  “You must. It’s not good for you, and you have such weight on your shoulders as it is.”

  With her eyes she agreed with him, but it didn’t change the ache in her heart.

  She pondered that a moment and said, “Tori and I had to talk to the police today.”

  “Really? What about?”

  “They just had questions about Sister Mary Louise.”

  “What kind of questions?”

  “Like when was the last time we spoke to her, when did we see her last, that sort of thing.”

  “I suppose they are trying to find the perpetrator.”

  “Yes. They think her death is very suspicious.”

  “Do they? I expect that’s quite possible.”

  “You think? Who in their right mind would kill a sister?”

  “There are plenty of people not in their right mind in this world, and many who make it their ambitions to rid the world of what they deem unacceptable.”

  “But she’s a nun. How can being a nun be unacceptable?”

  “For thousands of years religion has always been a topic for debate among humans, and sadly, the cause of wars.”

  “I guess you’re right, and you would certainly know.”

  “I certainly would.”

  * * *

  After a moment of silence she said, “I was hoping maybe you could help me with something.”

  “If I can.”

  “Well, it is something that you’ve told me in the past you would not reveal to me.”

  “Oh,” he said with regret.

  “But I was hoping under the circumstances, you might discard your normal protocol just this once.”

  “Hmmm. What circumstances are we talking about here?”