“All of them?” I was horrified by the thought.
“Of course not,” Mom replied. “Just Katie and Kellie. I’ll drop you off on my way and I’ll call you when I can pick them up.”
“What time is that going to be?” I asked.
“Around dinnertime,” she said firmly. “Dad has to take the rest of the girls to their activities and I have a house to show.”
“They have to wear old clothes,” I said. “We’re cleaning out years of stuff.”
Katie and Kellie were thrilled—especially Katie. “Is Dominic going to be there?” she asked when we were on our way to the Mason house.
I hoped not, but instead of saying that, I shrugged and said, “Maybe.”
Volunteers were arriving when Mom dropped us off, including Katrina, Raven, and Dominic.
“I guess that answers your question, Katie,” I said. She squealed and ran off to say hello. Kellie stayed by my side and held my hand. Katie skipped back to us and grabbed my other hand.
Natalie Mason was unlocking the front door when we walked up. Flo, Vinnie, and Slim were beside her. Slim wore an enormous trench coat and beat-up fedora. “It’s dusty in there,” he explained.
“Wonderful,” muttered Andy. She stepped up onto the porch. “I can’t wait to defeat some dust bunnies.”
Flo shot her a dirty look. Andy was usually Flo’s favorite virago in training so I couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied to see her reprimanded.
“I brought extra hands,” I said, holding up my sisters’ hands entwined in mine.
“Great,” Natalie said. “How about a cookie?” She offered the box to my sisters.
“Sorry,” I whispered to Flo, “but I couldn’t get out of the house without them.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Just keep them out of trouble. You and Andy can tackle the attic.”
Katie tugged on Flo’s arm. I’ve never seen Flo look more scared than when an actual child touched her. “Can Dominic and Raven come with us?”
Sure,” Natalie said. “It is a big attic.”
Flo nodded and edged away from Katie. Raven and I tried not to giggle. “Okay,” Flo said. “Vinnie and I will work on the upstairs bedrooms.”
Natalie handed Kellie and Katie a couple of cookies. “The girls can stay here with me for a little while. I’ll bring them upstairs after they’ve eaten.”
She reassured us that the entire attic was fully finished, but cluttered. It was a relief, because Mom would kill me if either of my sisters got hurt.
We walked up the narrow steps to the attic. I heard a rustling sound and froze.
“Rats?” Andy moaned.
“If so, that’s one big rat,” Dominic commented. He pulled on a chain and the light flickered on. The attic was stuffed full of trash and treasures, with boxes covered with years of dust. I expected that, but I didn’t expect to see someone else already up there.
A figure holding a flashlight was rummaging through a steamer trunk. I didn’t wait for explanations. He was trespassing. I gave him a quick chop to the neck and he crumpled to the ground.
Footsteps pounded up the stairs. “What’s going on?” Flo asked.
“We found him searching the attic,” Dominic explained.
The man groaned and put a hand to his neck. “What happened?”
“Hunter?” Flo asked. “What are you doing here already?”
He gave her a wry grin and stood. “You invited me, remember?” I caught a closer look at him. He was tall, with perfect blond hair, and wore jeans and a designer shirt that had been expertly tailored to mold to his thin frame. Not exactly rummaging-in-the-attic attire.
His clothes made me feel like a total yokel. I wore washed-out sweats and my mom’s old Bush T-shirt, and my hair was in a couple of braids. My Chuck Taylors had not one but two holes in the toes.
“How did you get in?” I asked.
“The place was unlocked when I got here,” he said.
Interesting, since I’d just watched Natalie unlocking the door.
He walked over to me and held out a hand. “No hard feelings?” There were strange indigo blue smudges on his hand, but I shook it anyway.
“None,” I said.
“Hunter Verrat is one of the best songwriters in the U.S., maybe even in the world,” Flo told us. She gave him a hug. “He did me a huge favor by agreeing to be one of the judges for the Battle of the Bands.”
“Who else will be staying here?” I asked.
“Talulah Crank, who owns Cranky Kitten Records,” Flo said. “And Mitch Peverell, a big music agent.”
“We should get started clearing out the clutter then,” Dominic said. He didn’t seem particularly interested in the news that a talent agent was in town.
“You’re right,” Flo said. “Hunter, I’ll show you your room.”
They left the attic, but not before Hunter gave a longing look at the trunk he’d been rummaging in when we’d found him.
I stared after them for a long time. “Wonder what he was really doing up here?” I asked.
“Why would he want any of this?” Raven said, gesturing to a box of ratty old Halloween decorations, which was next to a pile of old clothes. She lost interest in the subject and began to sort through a box of fusty knickknacks.
“He wants something,” Dominic said.
“What do you think he was looking for?” I asked. I crossed to the approximate location where we’d found him and opened the steamer trunk.
A delicate porcelain box with its lid askew lay at the bottom of the trunk. A fine indigo powder spilled out of the box. It matched the stains on Hunter’s hand.
I didn’t want to touch it, but I didn’t want to leave it there for him to find again. I didn’t know why, but I’d taken an instant dislike to Flo’s friend. Maybe because he’d lied to our faces.
There were plenty of hiding places in the attic, but I wanted to find the least likely spot.
“What did you find?” Dominic asked.
“I’m not sure, but it’s something.” I grabbed a stack of yellowing newspapers and wrapped the container carefully in a few sheets. There was a dollhouse castle in one corner that was taller than I was.
I peered inside. A medieval family of dolls sat abandoned in the kitchen, so I placed the bundle inside one of the tiny bedrooms on the third floor of the castle.
“Natalie should look through some of this stuff,” Andy said. “It could be valuable or she might want to keep some of it for sentimental reasons.”
“Good idea,” I said. “Let’s sort it into three piles: one to throw away, one for recycling, and one for Natalie to look at.”
We worked for a couple of hours and then Andy suggested a break. We went downstairs, and Natalie, Kellie, and Katie came into the living room, carrying a pitcher of iced tea.
“That looks delicious,” I said.
“I grow the mint in the back garden,” Natalie said. Vinnie and Flo wandered in holding hands. I thought she’d tell us to get back to work, but instead she said, “I see we all had the same idea about taking a break. The second bedroom is almost finished.”
“We’re almost finished with our bedroom too,” Natalie said. “Jessica, your sisters have been a big help.” I poured drinks and Kellie and Katie handed them out to everyone.
The doorbell rang and Natalie went to answer it. She came back accompanied by a tall woman with short, choppy black hair and green eyes. She carried a large black bag in one hand and a laptop in the other.
“This is Talulah Crank,” Natalie said. “The owner of Cranky Kitten Records. She’ll be staying here once we’re all finished cleaning it.”
Talulah didn’t wait to hear our names. “Thanks for taking me in,” she said, dropping her bags. “I’ve got a dinner meeting, so I’m going to get going.”
She followed Natalie out of the room without acknowledging us.
“If she’s one of the judges, our band doesn’t stand a chance,” Dominic said. “She was frosty.”
<
br /> “She’s probably just tired,” I said.
But the remaining guest was prickly too. We were back in the attic cleaning when we heard a man downstairs bark, “Don’t touch that!” Shortly after that, a door slammed.
Dominic, who had been downstairs getting trash bags, returned to the attic with an offended expression on his face. He told us that he had seen the talent agent, Mitch Peverell, arriving with a pile of designer suitcases.
“I just offered to help him,” Dominic told us, “but the guy practically bit my head off.”
“I wonder why he was so sensitive,” Raven said.
Dominic shrugged. “He said there was some confidential paperwork in there. As if I have any interest in that. He went straight to his room.”
All three guests had behaved oddly, but maybe it was just part of being in the entertainment business.
I did a check on the kid sisters and saw that they had found the dollhouse.
“Look at this, Jessica,” Katie breathed.
“Katie, Kellie, get away from there,” I said. My voice was sharp with anxiety.
“Can I play with it?” Katie begged. “Please?”
“You can have it,” Natalie said. “If it’s okay with your parents, that is.”
I tried to protest over the girls’ squeals of delight, but I was overruled.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I finally asked her.
“I’d love for them to have it,” she said. “It was my grandmother’s, but I was never allowed to play with it. I’ll be happy if I never have to see it again.”
Flo and Hunter came back to the attic and I shot Dominic a meaningful look.
“Returned to the scene of the crime?” I asked, trying to sound like I was kidding, but meaning it sincerely.
Flo gave me a look and I shut up quickly.
“We came to see if you needed any help,” Hunter said. He kept his smile in place, but his eyes scanned the attic. They came to rest on my sisters’ new toy. I cringed when I saw a smudge of blue on the front door of the dollhouse.
I was sure Hunter had spotted it too. His eyes narrowed. “That’s an interesting piece,” he said. “How much would you take for it, Natalie?”
“I’m sorry, but it’s Katie and Kellie’s,” she replied.
Katie stood in front of it protectively. “Can we take it home now, Jessica?”
“I’ll give you a hundred dollars,” Hunter said. He ignored Natalie’s frown and my sister’s adamant shake of her head. “Two hundred.”
Katie looked ready to cry. “I wish someone would get a life,” I muttered under my breath.
“I gave it to Katie and Kellie,” Natalie said in a subject-closed voice.
Hunter finally took the hint and quit harassing my sisters.
“We’ll take it to your house,” Dominic said.
“Now?” Katie asked. “Can we go now?”
“That’s a great idea,” Dominic said. He picked it up and carried it down the stairs. My sisters followed close behind.
“We’ll be right back,” I said.
“Don’t be gone long,” Flo said sternly. It was an order, and I knew I’d better follow it or I’d be running suicides uphill for the next month.
We put the dollhouse in the trunk of Dominic’s car, an older black Honda.
“I didn’t know you had a car,” I commented as we started off.
“I just bought it,” he said. I noticed he was a good driver.
When we got to our house, nobody else was home.
“I want to clean up the dollhouse first,” I said. “So let’s put it in my room for now.” Besides, Katie and Kellie shared a room and it was always a mess. Like messier than Eva’s room, and she’d been collecting props for a future horror movie since sixth grade.
I needed to move the box with the indigo powder somewhere else, but the dollhouse could use a dusting. I grabbed a Ziploc bag from the kitchen. I didn’t want that weird powder getting all over the place. My mom would kill me, and besides, I didn’t know what it was. Natalie’s grandmother had been a very powerful witch.
Katie and Kellie hung out downstairs while Dominic and I hauled the dollhouse to my room. I grabbed the small porcelain box, but a little spilled out and rained down on the dolls on the first level.
“I’ll have to clean it up later,” I said. I looked around my room for a place to hide the box and finally settled on my soccer bag.
I rounded up the girls and we headed back to Natalie’s house. As soon as we opened the door, the smell of food led us straight to the kitchen.
“Slim’s cooking,” I said. My stomach gurgled loudly and Kellie giggled.
“I’m hungry,” Katie said.
“It is dinnertime,” said Dominic. “Let’s see what’s on the menu.”
Mom was supposed to pick up the girls soon. I checked my cell phone guiltily, but there weren’t any messages.
“Looks like Mom’s running late,” I said. Kellie ran to the kitchen and Katie followed her.
“Flo’s going to kill me,” I said. “She hates kids.”
“I’ll help keep an eye on them,” Dominic said easily.
Natalie and Slim were serving up soup and sandwiches. Hunter was gone, but some of the other members of Side Effects May Vary had shown up. Everyone but their guitarist, Jeff Cool, was in a good mood.
Flo and her boyfriend Vinnie, the drummer, were cuddling at one end of the table.
“How am I supposed to eat with you two making me sick?” Jeff asked in a whiny voice. Flo shoved a sandwich in his mouth.
“Chew,” she said.
We were just finishing dinner when Mom showed up. After we said our goodbyes, Dominic, Raven, Andy, and I headed to the attic and got back to work.
We’d been working over an hour when Raven found a cardboard box in the corner. “Come look at this stuff,” she said.
The box contained a candelabra with black candles, what looked like the skull of a rat or other small rodent, a sharp knife with an ornate handle, and bundles of strange-smelling herbs.
“It’s like something out of a Vincent Price movie,” I said.
“Natalie definitely needs to look at this stuff,” Andy said. As much as I would have loved for Eva to have it for her prop collection, I agreed. We put the lid back on the box and took the box to the Natalie pile.
Slim came upstairs a few hours later. “You’ve made a lot of progress,” he commented.
“We found a few unusual items,” I said. “Including something we think Natalie should look at.” I pointed to the box and he looked inside.
“Tools of dark magic,” he said. “We need to get rid of this.”
Dominic and I looked at each other. Was that what Hunter had been looking for?
When I got home, I was way too tired to even think about cleaning out the dollhouse.
I grabbed a quick shower and then collapsed into bed.
As I fell asleep, it sounded like someone was playing a tiny piano. It was barely audible, tinny and far away, so I told myself I was already dreaming.
Chapter Six
Even though it was my birthday, I reported to virago training just after sunrise on Saturday.
Everyone else was already gathered in the park when I arrived. We were practicing there to stay out of the way of the guests at the Mason house. But at the park, we had to dodge Hamlin fans and their makeshift campsites. Nightshade was filled to capacity.
During our run, Andy kept trying to pass me. I finally let her. She gave a loud victory crow as we reached our unofficial stopping place in the park. We all dropped to the ground under the shade of an old oak.
“It seems like all we have been doing is running,” Raven said. “Flo, can we do something different next week?”
Andy nudged her. “Be careful what you wish for.”
Flo cracked a rare smile. “I’ll make sure to plan something interesting for our next workout.”
“That sounds ominous,” I said. And I meant it.
&n
bsp; After practice, Flo brought out cupcakes and they sang “Happy Birthday” to me.
“What are you doing for your birthday?” Raven asked. She licked the chocolate frosting off her cupcake.
“Same old thing,” I told her. “Dinner with my family.” I took a bite of my cupcake. “These cupcakes are good, Flo.”
“Slim made them,” she said. “He says happy birthday, by the way.”
When I got home, I was tired and sweaty. Katie met me at the door. “Jessica, we got your cake,” she said.
“That’s nice,” I said. “I’m going to go take a shower.”
“Don’t you want to take a look at it?”
Sarah came up behind Katie. “A shower is a good idea.” She held her nose.
“Funny,” I said.
“But I want to show Jessica her cake,” Katie said.
“Not now, pipsqueak,” Sarah said. She was in eighth grade and thought she was quite the mature teenager.
Her bossiness made me contrary. “It’s my cake,” I said. “I’ll look at it if I want.” I ran into the kitchen and to the fridge, but Sarah beat me to it.
She stepped in front of the refrigerator. “I’m under strict orders. No peeking.”
“What’s wrong with it?” I demanded.
“There’s nothing wrong with your cake,” she said. But when she saw I wasn’t going to budge, she added, “It’s a surprise. Now go take your shower.”
“Okay,” I said. Mom had probably gone all out and ordered something different besides the white cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It had been my favorite when I was five, and she’d ordered it for every one of my birthdays since.
Somehow, the idea made me happy. Maybe this birthday would be different, I thought, as I headed upstairs. I didn’t know how different it would be.
Mom came into my bedroom after I got out of the shower. “Jessica, Eva’s here and we’re ready to cut the cake.”
“Why didn’t she come up?” I asked.
“Uh, Katie wanted to show her the cake,” Mom said. She gave my ratty old sweats the eye. “Is that what you’re wearing?”
“It’s just cake and ice cream with the family and Eva,” I said.
“It’s your fifteenth birthday. Put on something nice,” she said firmly.