Autumn Calling

by T. Lynne Tolles

  “You could put it that way,” Summer smiled covering her anxiety with a little humor.

  Hunter nodded smiling as he examined the blueprints.

  “I was looking at these yesterday,” Summer said. “I noticed there are strange markings here, she pointed to the outer wall by the chimney near the corner room they were all focused on, “and here.” She flipped to the next page which showed the first floor layout.

  “It doesn’t appear to be a window, or a door according to all the other symbols used.”

  “You’re right. I’m not sure what they are? Of course with all this new fangled technology being wired into our homes and lives, it could be anything.”

  “True, but wiring wouldn’t be that big.”

  “Good point. Maybe a wall safe.”

  She nodded, “Yes. That’s would make sense. I was hoping to find a legend somewhere, but maybe they didn’t give me all the pages. I mean, I wasn’t specific about what I wanted. At the time, I just wanted a layout of rooms, but this. This is something. If it is a safe, it would be a pretty good assumption the egg would be inside, don’t you think.”

  “Possibly, though that makes me very sad.”

  “Sad? Why? We may have found what we’re looking for.”

  “You’re right of course, and that is good news, however, there’s a little dragon inside and its being hidden away inside a dark, cold steel box.”

  “I didn’t think of it from that perspective,” Summer admitted. How very sensitive and charming of Hunter to be so concerned about the feelings of the baby. “Guess I’ve been so caught up in finding Project Egg that I forgot it is not just an egg but a living being.”

  “It’s easy to forget, when we’re all so busy trying to solve our own problems, but sometimes it is advantageous to step back and look at the big picture for a moment.”

  “Absolutely. That’s a great way of thinking about this whole situation.”

  “Do you mind if I keep the blueprints? At least for a little while, I’d like to study them a little closer,” Hunter asked.

  “Sure. Just let me take a picture of the symbols I found.”

  “Okay, but why?”

  “Same reason. Hopefully I can find someone who can tell me if that symbol is used as a wall safe or something else. I can also go to city hall again and see if maybe I didn’t get all the pages. Maybe the legend is on some missing page.”

  “Great idea.”

  Summer pulled out her phone and took a couple snap shots of the symbol and the title block for reference for city hall.

  “How hard do you think it will be to get inside undetected?”

  “Damn near impossible,” Hunter said.

  “Hmmm, well at least it’s not impossible.”

  “If nothing else, Summer, at least you have a positive attitude,” Hunter commented rubbing her shoulder in appreciation.

  “Let me know if you come up with anything?”

  “You do the same,” Hunter answered.

  “Definitely.”

  Chapter 18

  The alarm clock buzzed annoyingly at 4:05 a.m. Sully groaned his disapproval and rolled over on the bed with his head on the pillow. “Some friend you are,” she said to him pulling back the covers and sitting up. After a moment she shuffled to the bathroom still half asleep. Flipping the light switch on she squinted at its blinding brightness. She looked at herself in the mirror smoothed out a crazed cowlick that made her hair stand up taller on one side than the other—one of the many noted complaints she had about herself.

  After pressing on it several times in order to tame it, she realized it was futile to continue. She splashed water on her face and brushed and pulled back her hair into a long wavy ponytail attached with an elastic band. She inspected the rest of her face as she brushed her teeth noting a white head on her nose that simply had to go.

  When she was done in the bathroom she returned to the darkness of the bedroom and the snoring dog that now lay diagonally on the bed taking up the warmth where she had recently been. She shook her head at the mammoth hellhound and pulled on a pair of jeans and a wool sweater. Slippered feet padded to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and have a bagel before leaving only to find Daniel there standing in the kitchen leaning against the sink.

  “Good morning, beautiful.”

  Her hand went straight to the zit she’d just popped on her nose. “This early in the morning, No. Beauty takes a little work.”

  “Not for you,” he said slipping his hands around her hips then up her back and ending in a hug.

  He was warm and strong and all she wanted to do was melt into him and fall back into a pleasant slumber, but she had made a promise and pulled herself away from him.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked as he watched her prepare the coffee pot to start its dribble of hot water onto the aromatic grounds of coffee.

  “No, but she seemed….troubled, or saddened. I’m not sure which. I guess if I knew her better, I’d know.”

  “That’s my point. You don’t know her very well, this could be a trap,” Daniel warned.

  “Is it?” she turned to him. He gave her a look she was learning meant ‘please don’t ask.’ “Right. My hope is that showing her good faith, will, in turn, be paid back one day.”

  “And?” he pushed.

  “And, I want so badly to believe I can trust my own sister. Maybe she’s feeling that too and this is how we are to accomplish that.”

  “You are a dear heart, Summer.”

  “Not sure about that,” she said blowing into her coffee cup and taking a sip.

  “Would you like me to accompany you?”

  “Are you kidding? I’d love that, BUT, that would probably defeat the purpose.”

  His eyebrow raised in agreement.

  “Are you nervous?”

  “Oh, yeah,” she said covering her mouth after taking a bite of bagel.

  “You’ll be fine,” Daniel said encouraging her.

  “You’ll be there if something goes awry?”

  “I’m always with you. You need only say my name to see me.”

  “That is a great comfort,” she said checking the time. “I better go or I’ll be late.”

  “Be safe, Summer.”

  “I’ll do my very best,” she said as he pulled her in close for a lingering toe curling kiss. With a smile on her lips, she grabbed her phone and the cloaking stone from the glass jar in the cupboard.

  He stood watching her from the doorway of the cottage as she made her way to the barn and the tricycle within. She turned and waved over her shoulder to him.

  * * *

  Sailing through the icy air, the wind cut at her face like glass shards. Summer practically fell off the seat of the flying tricycle when she thought she heard the caw of a crow, but nothing came of it and she wondered if it was her mean-spirited mind playing tricks on her. She checked her GPS several times before floating down into the woods towards a small cabin well hidden by shrubs and trees. She pushed the trike the last fifty feet or so since the tires could barely handle the deep litterfall and duff.

  A single light shone from the tiny window, letting Summer know she was in the right place. She deposited the cloaking stone into a pouch she hung from the handle bars making the bike invisible. She went to the door of the cabin and knocked lightly.

  Summer heard a metal latch disengage and the door squeaked open revealing the dark haired woman she had shared her time in the cave with.

  “Summer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Come in.”

  “Thanks,” Summer said entering the small abode and rubbing her hands together for a little friction warmth.

  “Did you have any problem finding the place?” Autumn asked.

  “Not at all. Your directions were perfect though I still used a GPS.”

  “Good,” Autumn said pacing and rubbing her hands together.

  “Are you okay?” Summer asked sitting down on an ancient looking couch.
/>
  “Yes. No. Not really.”

  Summer patted the seat next to her inviting her to sit. “What’s this all about? What can I possibly do to help?” she engaged the nervous looking Autumn.

  “I should have written down some of the questions I have, because now I’m blank.”

  “Autumn…take a deep breath. Sit down. Tell me how is Vixen doing.”

  “Vixen? Oh so much better. I can’t ever repay you for all you’ve done for that crazy girl. I swear she’s going to waste her nine lives before she reaches three.”

  Summer smiled. It had worked. Dr. Stuart had always told Summer that when you’re around someone who is very nervous or anxious, bring up a subject near and dear to their heart to break the ice or just to set them at ease. Autumn looked much better after talking about Vixen.

  “Uh ha, I see what you did there. Very clever.”

  Summer raised and eyebrow at smiled a little.

  “Thanks, Summer. Like I said on the phone, I just feel like I don’t know who to trust anymore.”

  “I feel the same,” Summer admitted.

  “This whole ‘kill all the Midnights’ seems so archaic. Why must I be the combatant for something I’m not sure I even understand.”

  “Exactly. What is it between these two families that have made them so bent on killing one another. I get that there have been devastation on both sides brought on by the other, but violence doesn’t solve the problem; it just brings on more violence.”

  “I know, right?” Autumn agreed. “But what can we do about it? Nothing.”

  Summer didn’t know what to say. She felt the same, but realistically, this ball had been rolling down hill for so long it was unlikely to stop now.

  “You don’t suppose there is something we could do to stop the fight, do you?”

  Autumn thought on that statement for a long while before offering, “I just don’t see how.”

  “Yeah, me neither.”

  They both sat, turned toward the dark sooty hearth, where many a fire had been built, but now held no warmth or comfort in its stone box. If thoughts and ideas could be seen, the small must room would have been filled with a million of them—bumping into one another, meandering through, converging with others and then disappearing to afford room for another. The silence was stifling, but necessary for both women to ponder their situation.

  Summer broke the silence with, “What if we had a advocate.”

  “A what?”

  “A follower in our cause.”

  “A follower, you mean someone who felt as we do in the family? Not a chance.”

  “It wouldn’t have to be someone who completely agreed, but someone who wished for peace, just had a glimmer of hope, you know.”

  “I think I understand what you’re saying, but there’d have to be one on both sides. Yes. Someone who could promote peace, subtly to the others in the family. One for the Midnights and one for the Macabres.”

  “You mean besides us, right?”

  “Yes. This person would have to have more history with the family and know the inner workings of it and how to manipulate the other members without their knowing. Like chipping away at a great piece of art without letting them know what the final statue would look like.”

  “Do you know someone on the Midnight side who might be willing to help?”

  “I think I might. What about you? Is there anyone on the Macabre side who might want to see peace between the families?”

  Autumn sat not saying anything for a while as if she was unsure if she should. Was there someone she had in mind? Or was it just a blank canvas of darkness on the side of the Macabres.

  “There might be someone,” she finally relented.

  “Really? That’s awesome,” Summer said, but Autumn didn’t look so very convinced.

  “What I propose we do is test our theory. In a safe place alone from the other family members who might intrude and disassemble our attempt, we probe the family member to see if they are even open to the thought.”

  “How would we do that?”

  “By planting a seed of hope.”

  “A seed. This is starting to feel like a really dumb idea,” Autumn said.

  “Wait. Give it a chance. The idea is to plant a thought of ‘what if’ in their minds. What if…we didn’t have to fight. What if…we could work things out. What if…we could be a family one day. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not even next year, but eventually put all this hate and death behind us for good.”

  “But even if we could get this seed planted in our advocate, as you call it, the others would never go along with it.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. But even just one family member on either side is more hope for peace than we had yesterday.”

  “I see what you’re saying.”

  “Look, I realize this may not stop the fighting completely, but maybe it would be enough to get the others thinking. It’s certainly not the easy road by any means. What do you think? Is it worth a try?”

  “It’s worth a try, I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? They say, no way and we are in no better or worse position than we are now.”

  “Precisely.”

  “So shall we give it a whirl and meet back in, say, a week and compare notes?”

  “Okay. I can commit to that.”

  “Cool. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

  “Well, yes. I was wondering if you could tell me more about Mother.”

  “Our mother?”

  “Yes.”

  “I wish I could, but I imagine you could get more details from Father.”

  She seemed disappointed by that statement. “I did confront him with the fact that Juliette was not my mother. Things have been….weird ever since.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Basically, Juliette is not speaking to Dad now and she’s giving me the evil eye all the time. Dad refuses to talk about it. The only thing he made very clear was that they did not share a bedroom—ever. Her bedroom was connected to his by a door giving the illusion of going to bed every night in the same bedroom, but she simply entered her room through his.”

  “Maybe if you could get him out of the house and away from the family you might be able to get him to open up about her, especially now that the facade has crumbled.”

  “I suppose that’s possible.”

  “Of course, it is.”

  “You’re not going to be the annoyingly optimistic sister are you?”

  “Could be,” Summer said devilishly.

  They both had a little laugh. Soon after, they said their good-byes and agreed to meet at the cabin in a week’s time to see how things had gone. Summer left feeling hopeful and she thought Autumn might have had a bit more confidence in the task at hand too. All in all, it was a good talk and the best thing was they weren’t trapped in a cave this time.

  * * *

  The following day was Tori’s grand opening of The Gypsy Wagon – Apothecary and Herbs and it was a glorious day indeed. The sun shone brightly and the sky never seemed more blue. From the monitor atop Dr. Stuart’s desk, Summer could see just about everyone in town came for a looksee. Having worked at the clinic as long as Tori had, she’d met just about everyone, at least who had a pet. It made Summer’s heart jump for joy at seeing the great turn out.

  She had samples of exotic and favored teas laid out for customers to consume with large thermos type contraptions housing gallons of hot water. Shelves of the shop were lined with all kinds of dried, crushed, and ground herbs labelled artfully in bottles of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Herbs hung in bunches from the bare beams of the shop tied with colorful ribbons. Bulk herbs stood in large stout glass jars on an old shabby chic looking table in the middle of shop.

  People stood outside, waiting for their turn to enter the tiny shop and get a peek at the wares. Many pointed and whispered as they passed by the bookshelves that contained books on the metaphysical, crystals of all sorts, and stacks of tarot cards, crystal balls, an
d do-it-yourself kits on just about anything related to gypsy magic.

  The best part was when Dr. Stuart made his way up to a beaming Tori, and leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Next thing she knew Tori looked right into the camera and winked at Summer. Though Tori couldn’t see her, Summer waved back. Summer even made herself a cup of tea to enjoy along with all the shoppers in the store.

  It was a good day. She rode her bike home, a smile on her face and the warm sun on her back. The wind kept her a perfectly comfortable temperature.

  Chapter 19

  Aunt Myrtle was one of the guests at Tori’s shop opening, so Summer got a verbal account of things going on that she couldn’t see from the camera point of view. She was tickled by Dr. Stuart’s generosity and intended on telling him so with a note via snail mail. Myrtle’s comment was “It’s much more civilized and proper to get a thank you in the mail than by some phone spitting out two letters to express the sentiment.”

  Summer had to agree she was right. She’d find it lovely to get a card expressing thanks compared to just a ‘ty’ in a text, but that was the way of the world these days. No one seemed to have time or the inclination to do things formally as they did in Myrtle’s generation. Either way, she knew Dr. Stuart would be thrilled to get a card or letter voicing her thanks in helping out.

  Today they went over more potion lessons—Summer’s favorite. She and Aunt Myrtle had really come a long way since last spring when Myrtle only had a sour face for her. In some ways, she had been very much like Morti was treating her now. Maybe it was a family trait. If that was the case, she could only hope she and Morti would make the transition, and soon, as far as Summer was concerned.

  “Aunt Myrtle, I was hoping you and I would have some time to talk—alone.”

  “Oh? What about, dear?” she said chopping away at fresh ginger root Summer just dug up in the garden.

  “The Macabres,” Summer said tentatively hoping not to send her into one of her episodes.

  Aunt Myrtle swallowed hard, but maintained her composure and continued, “Yes?”

  “Are you all right with that?”