The Phantom Hour

by Kat Shepherd

  “Clio!” Mrs. Lee said, opening the door. “We’re all so excited to meet you! I’m Sharon, and this is Minna.”

  Clio crouched down and smiled, holding out her hand to the little girl. “Nice to meet you, Minna.” Minna hugged her mother’s leg and peeked shyly at Clio from behind Mrs. Lee’s hip. After a moment, she put her hand cautiously in Clio’s. As they solemnly shook hands, Clio noticed the little girl had pink-and-blue hearing aids in both ears.

  “Minna is hard of hearing,” Mrs. Lee explained. “It’s difficult for her to hear consonants and other soft sounds. The hearing aids help a lot, but she doesn’t always catch everything. It can make her a little shy at first.

  “Come on in and meet everyone else,” Mrs. Lee continued. “Adam’s in the back.” She called out something in Korean, and Clio heard a man’s answering call from the rear of the house. Clio followed Mrs. Lee and Minna down a dark hallway past several dim rooms, each filled with heavy, old-fashioned furniture. “Sorry the house is still such a mess. It came with most of the original furniture, and we’re trying to decide what to keep and what to replace. There are some interesting old pieces in here we’d love to preserve if we can.”

  Clio nodded and smiled. “I love old things, too.”

  “I have to admit, though, it’s a little overwhelming. There are some rooms we haven’t even been able to touch yet, so we just closed those doors and decided we’ll worry about them later!” She laughed and led Clio through the kitchen and into a walnut-paneled room with a carved marble fireplace.

  A broad-shouldered man stood up from the sofa and greeted Clio warmly. His short dark hair was neatly trimmed, and he wore a navy cashmere sweater over a crisp white shirt. Near the fireplace in the corner, an ancient, lanky deerhound stretched and lifted his head drowsily from his bed.

  Clio knelt down next to the dog’s bed. “What’s his name?”

  “That’s Wesley,” Mr. Lee said. “He’s eleven. We like to think of him as our first child.”

  Clio giggled and stroked the dog’s shaggy neck. Minna knelt next to her and wrapped her arms around the dog, pressing her face against his bony side. Wesley’s tail thumped.

  As the Lees gave Clio a tour of the house and explained the family routines, Minna soon warmed up and chattered away excitedly. By the time they reached the little girl’s room, she was pulling Clio over to her toy chest to play. Mr. and Mrs. Lee put on their coats and reminded Clio of the list of emergency phone numbers they had left in the kitchen. “The baby monitor is set up down there, too, but I doubt she’ll wake up once she goes to bed.” Mrs. Lee stroked the top of Minna’s head.

  “Unless she’s having a bath, she keeps her hearing aids in until just before we turn off the light, and then we put them in here.” Mr. Lee unscrewed the lid of a small round box on top of the dresser. “And believe me, once this little peanut takes them out, she can sleep through anything!” The parents hugged their daughter goodbye and left.

  A few hours later, Minna’s toys were put away, her teeth were brushed, and she was snuggled into bed, dressed in a pair of cozy, unicorn-printed pajamas. Her hearing aids were safely tucked away in their container on her dresser. Clio turned on the nightlight, blew Minna a kiss, and headed downstairs to start her homework.

  A short time later, Clio stretched and looked at the clock. Her math homework was finished, she had studied for her science quiz, and she had made a pretty good start on her history project. The baby monitor was quiet, and Wesley was snoring by the fireplace. Still thinking about her project, Clio walked into the pantry and pressed the old-fashioned push-button light switch, leaving the door ajar. As she bent down to reach for a granola bar, the light clicked off, plunging her into darkness. She heard the door swing shut behind her.

  Startled, Clio stood up quickly, banging her head on a shelf. She heard boxes and cans tumble to the floor. She turned and slid her hand along the wall, searching for the light switch, but she couldn’t find it. Instead, her hand closed on the doorknob. Relieved, she turned the knob and pushed on the door.

  It didn’t move.

  She rattled the knob again, but the door stayed shut. She tried pulling on the knob. Nothing. The door was stuck.

  Clio reached into her back pocket for her phone, hoping to use the flashlight to find the light switch. But her pocket was empty, and her cheeks grew hot when she remembered that she had left her phone with her schoolbooks on the kitchen table. My very first time at the Lees’, and they’re going to come home to find me accidentally locked in the pantry?

  Clio patted the wall, and at last she found the brass plate of the light switch. She pressed it with a loud click, and the light flickered on. With a sigh, Clio turned to survey the mess she had made of the pantry. Bags of chips and scattered boxes of pasta and crackers littered the floor. A few cans lay on their sides, rolling gently at her feet. She picked up the cans and stacked them neatly back on the shelf. As she bent to gather the boxes, she heard a small click and felt a cool draft against her neck. She looked behind her.

  The pantry door had opened by itself.

  CHAPTER

  3

  CLIO GAPED, HER skin prickling. That door had not budged when she’d tried to move it. How had it opened by itself? She reached out one hand and tapped at it. It swung easily on the hinges.

  Clio glanced at the fallen boxes of pasta, then back at the empty doorway. She dragged a heavy bag of dog food over to the door, propping it open, and bent over to gather the boxes. The bag rustled slightly behind her, and Clio whipped her head around. Had something moved? The door stayed in place.

  She hurried to put the boxes away, keeping one eye on the pantry doorway. She shoved a granola bar in her pocket and grasped the doorknob firmly before scooting the dog-food bag back into place and stepping out of the pantry. She clicked off the light and closed the door behind her.

  Clio’s books and papers were exactly where she had left them. Wesley slept soundly in the TV room. Everything was still. Images of supernatural creatures flitted at the edges of her thoughts, but she pushed them away. There’s no way it could happen again, Clio thought. This is just an old house. Doors get stuck. She looked back at the pantry. And then unstuck …

  Clio walked over to the baby monitor. She could hear Minna’s even breathing. She checked the back door. Locked and bolted. Maybe I’ll finish my homework next to Wesley, Clio decided. She stacked the books and slid them across the table toward her chest. As her hand closed around her phone, it let out a sharp buzz! and Clio jumped. Her math book slipped out of her arms. She grinned wryly and shook her head at her skittishness. She picked up the phone and saw the text was from Tanya.

  Clio smiled and typed back.

  When Clio next checked the time, she saw the Lees were due back soon, and she wanted to make sure the house was in order before they got home. She fluffed the sofa cushions, pushed in the kitchen chairs, and checked that there were no dishes in the sink. As she walked into the hallway, she paused by the pantry door. It was closed and the light was off, just as she had left it, yet Clio couldn’t help but quicken her step as she passed. Am I really going to be scared of a pantry, just because the door got stuck? She made herself turn around and stand in front of the door. “There. See? It’s just a regular door,” she said out loud.

  A sound drew her into the dark front hall. A rhythmic ticking, like a mechanical heartbeat. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Clio flicked on the hall light to find a tall, antique grandfather clock, its brass pendulum swinging to and fro behind the glass door of its cabinet. How did I not hear this before? Clio wondered. Now that she noticed it, the sound was oppressively loud. She examined the clock’s face. The Roman numerals were etched into a tarnished silver faceplate. A moving panel behind the plate depicted a midnight sky scattered with twinkling silver stars. A sliver of moon with a woman’s face peered impassively out from behind the left edge of the panel.

  Clio looked out the front window, but the sky was cloudy. She pulled her phone out
of her pocket and texted Tanya.

  The phone buzzed a few seconds later. Clio grinned. Tanya probably hadn’t even looked it up.

  The moon on the clock matched the moon outside. It didn’t just mark the hours; it marked the lunar calendar, too. “Neat,” Clio whispered. She had read about old clocks like these, but she had never seen one up close. She could see the winding holes in the faceplate, where the Lees inserted the key to keep the clock working. Old clocks had to be wound regularly or else they would stop. The pendulum moved evenly back and forth, making the steady ticktock sound that filled the front hall.

  The clock was tall, six feet at least. There was something carved on the dark wood at the top of the clock’s cabinet. It looked like an owl. Clio stood on her tiptoes to get a better view. She reached out one arm to the clock’s cabinet to help her keep her balance. As her hand touched the wood, the ticking stopped.

  Worried that she had somehow broken it, Clio stepped back. The ticking resumed. Sensitive old thing, Clio thought. Through the front window she could see the sweep of the headlights of the Lees’ car coming down the long drive. She heard the gravel crunch as the car pulled in front of the garage behind the house. Smiling, Clio walked down the hallway to the back of the house to let them in.

  As she passed the pantry door, her blood froze.

  The door was open.

  CHAPTER

  4

  “WAIT, SO THE door was open when you walked by again?” Maggie asked, her eyes wide. She took a bite of her turkey sandwich, dropping a blob of mayo on her pink-and-gold ROCK STAR sweatshirt.

  Clio stirred a pinch of wasabi into her dish of soy sauce and dipped her sushi in the mixture. She raised her voice to be heard above the din of the lunchroom. “And the light was on.”

  Rebecca dropped her backpack on the floor next to the lunch table and slid her tray next to Maggie. “What’d I miss?”

  “Clio’s just telling us about spending the night alone in the creepy old Plunkett Mansion. Spooo-key!”

  “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.” Clio took a bite of her sushi. “I was definitely a little freaked out, but it was mostly fine.”

  “Well, you did still manage to lock yourself in the pantry,” Tanya said, scooping a spoonful of hummus onto a pita slice. “Did you tell the Lees about the wonky door?”

  “They said they would check it out and make sure it doesn’t get stuck again. I just hope it’s not, you know, anything … weird.” Clio wanted to believe that all the girls’ supernatural troubles were finally in the past, but she couldn’t help but think of the portal again. What if some other nightmare had slipped through at the last full moon?

  Tanya picked up a sugar snap pea. “I’m sure it’s not. You know how old houses are.” She pulled a Sandman comic out of the pocket of her army surplus jacket and flipped it open.

  “Maybe,” Clio said. She snapped the lid back on her sushi container and tucked it into its matching red bag, waiting for someone else to say something about the Lees’ house, but her friends seemed unconcerned. She shrugged it off and pulled a blue-and-white brochure out of her backpack and laid it on the table. “Are any of you applying for the Student Fellowship this year? The winner gets to go to the Student Leadership Conference in New York!”

  “Ooh, New York!” Maggie grabbed the brochure and leafed through it. “Ugh. Never mind.” She tossed the brochure on the table. “It’s just to visit the boring United Nations. Unless it’s Broadway, no thanks!”

  Tanya shook her head. “It looks cool, but I’m already busy with my project for the National Science Fair competition.”

  Rebecca finished her Tater Tots and pulled a Tupperware container out of her backpack. “I was thinking about it, but the independent research project looks like a lot of extra work, and I’ve already signed up for two new baking classes after school. You should definitely do it, though, Clio.” She opened the lid. “Anyone want some mistake brownies? I added too much caramel sauce, so they look a hot mess, but they’re really good.” She passed the container around, and the girls helped themselves.

  “Mmm … these are amazing, Rebecca,” Clio said, leaning back in her chair. She closed her eyes, relishing the flavor, until someone slammed into her chair, almost knocking her over. “Ow!” She opened her eyes to a forest-green backpack millimeters from her face. “Watch it!”

  Trent Conrad pushed his floppy blond bangs out of his eyes and shoved in closer to the table, his backpack jamming into Clio’s chest. “Brownies! Sweet!” He crammed a brownie into his mouth and grinned, his braces smeared with chocolate. “Thanks!” Chewed brownie crumbs flew from his mouth. As he bounded away laughing, his backpack sent Rebecca’s Tupperware lid skittering across the cafeteria floor. Trent didn’t even turn around.

  Maggie’s green eyes followed him. “Rebecca, do you think you could make those brownies for tomorrow, too? Maybe he’ll come over here again.”

  Rebecca stood up to rescue the lid, tugging at her vintage RUN DMC shirt. “Ugh, Mags! Seriously?”

  “Trent is the worst,” Clio added.

  Maggie pulled a mirror out of her backpack and checked her reflection, straightening her hot-pink feather earrings. “No way. He’s totally funny, and super cute. I don’t know why you guys don’t get it.” Clio and Rebecca looked at each other over her head, and Rebecca shrugged.

  A pale boy with glasses and a blue-dyed streak in his bangs picked up the lid and carried it over to Clio. “Hey, did you drop this?”

  “Oh, thank you! That’s mine!” Rebecca took the lid and dusted it off on her distressed black skinny jeans. She held out the open container of brownies. “Want one?”

  “Sure,” he said, carefully selecting a brownie. “Thanks.” The boy smiled shyly and walked away.

  Clio picked up the Student Fellowship brochure and tucked it in her backpack. “Maybe I’ll start working on this when I babysit later this week.” She looked around at the others, her face clouded. “That pantry thing was a fluke, right? Are you sure I shouldn’t be worried?”

  “Fooling around with an old door doesn’t sound like anything the Night Queen would bother with,” Tanya said. “Trust me, you’re fine.”

  “I don’t know about that,” Maggie said with a twinkle in her eye. “It sounded to me like the beginning of half of my favorite horror movies. I say watch your back.”

  Clio swallowed thickly, and Rebecca shot Maggie a dirty look.

  “What?!” Maggie said. “I was kidding!”

  Rebecca shooed a laughing Maggie away. “Listen, if anyone would know something spooky were going on, it would be me, considering all the stuff that happened when I babysat Kyle. But Minna seems normal, and there’s no strange whispers or creepy handprints, right?” Clio shook her head, and Rebecca continued, “It honestly just sounds like an old house to me.”

  Clio felt herself relax. “Okay, good.” She picked up her backpack. “Thanks, guys.”

  The girls headed to class, and Clio listened as the others chatted excitedly about potential Halloween costumes. I’m lucky to have such good friends, Clio thought. It was such a relief to hear them so certain that there was nothing to worry about at the Lees’ house. Clio thought again about the pantry door and felt a tiny flutter of anxiety. I just hope that they’re right.

  CHAPTER

  5

  LATER THAT WEEK, Clio could hear the grandfather clock just striking five when she pressed the bell at the Lees’ front door. Minna came running down the hall with Mrs. Lee following close behind. As soon as Mrs. Lee unlocked the front door, Minna rushed forward and grabbed Clio’s hand, dragging her inside.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you about that clock,” Clio said. “It’s really beautiful. I read about clocks like this, that keep track of the moon and the time, but I’ve never seen one in person.”

  “We were lucky. It was here with the house when we moved in. It’s such a unique piece, isn’t it?” Mrs. Lee said.

  “Definitely,” Clio agreed. “Do you kn
ow the story behind it?”

  “There was no mention of it in any of the estate papers,” Mrs. Lee said. “It’s almost like it popped out of nowhere!”

  Minna pulled at Clio’s arm and held up a large plastic dinosaur. “Clio! Look what I got!”

  “We went to the natural history museum last Sunday, and now she’s all about dinosaurs,” Mrs. Lee explained. “She’s been dying to show you her new collection of dino figurines.”

  “It’s a suchomimus!” Minna cried, carefully enunciating each syllable of the dinosaur’s name: sook-ee-mime-us.

  “I can’t wait to play with it!” Clio said. “First I have to finish talking to your mom for a few minutes, and then I’ll come up and play with you.” The little girl ran upstairs.

  “Adam’s at the restaurant tonight, and I’ll be at a client dinner until about nine. And we sanded the pantry door, so hopefully you won’t get stuck again,” Mrs. Lee said with a smile. “There’s dinner in the fridge for you and Minna, and emergency numbers are on the bulletin board in the kitchen. Have fun!”

  Clio and Minna were soon engaged in a complex pretend play with dinosaur figurines and a few stuffed animals thrown into the mix. Minna’s suchomimus had just finished giving a dramatic speech when Clio heard something downstairs. She looked at the clock beside Minna’s bed. It was almost six o’clock: dinnertime. “It sounds like Wesley’s getting hungry. Do you want to help me get our dinner on the table, or do you want to stay up here and play?” Minna didn’t look up from her toys, so Clio tapped her on the shoulder and repeated the question so the little girl could read her lips.