He dropped his arm and pursed his lips. "Best two-out-of-three?"
I stepped to the side and backward toward the stairs with my hands clasped behind my back. "Just think of this as an opportunity to create that father-daughter bond."
Orion sighed and looked to the girl. "Yeah, great."
I sighed and tilted my head to one side to study him. "You sure you don't want me to go first?"
He shook himself and stood at attention. "Don't worry about me. They don't call me Wakeful Werewolf for nothing."
I rolled my eyes and gave him a wave before I spun around and sped up the stairs. My pajamas and the comfortable bed awaited me. I got a nice, long, peaceful sleep.
The only problem was it turned out to be too long.
CHAPTER 5
The bright morning sun reflecting off the snow is what woke me up. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. One glance at the late hour on the clock next to me told me something was wrong.
I flung aside the covers and hurried downstairs. I skidded to a stop at the back of the couch and grasped the top as I leaned over.
Orion sat on the floor and his back leaned against the coffee table so he faced the couch. Or he would have if his head had been up. Instead, his chin lay against his chest and his eyes were closed. A distinct whistling noise emanated from his nostrils.
My eyebrows crashed down. "Orion!"
His eyes flew open and he started up. He whipped his head left and right, and his eyes settled on me. Orion sheepishly grinned at me and rubbed the back of his neck. "Your shift already?"
"A little late for that," I retorted. I pointed at the empty couch cushions below me. "Where's the girl, Wakeful Werewolf?"
Orion looked at the couch and his eyes widened. "She's gone!" He leapt to his feet and swept his gaze over the room. "Hey! Where are you?"
I climbed over the top of the couch and plopped myself on a bouncy cushion. "Perfect. We've lost a girl who's name we don't know who was being chased by phantoms called by some unknown person at a time we have no idea. Do you at least know when you fell asleep?"
Orion furrowed his brow and glared at the floor. "It was about a half hour after you went upstairs."
I snorted. "Then we passed each other on the dreamland express."
He shook his head. "I don't think I fell asleep voluntarily. I think the girl did something."
I arched an eyebrow. "Did something? Like hypnotize you or something?"
He raised his hands and studied the palms. "She wouldn't go to sleep, so I thought we play a game. She suggested paddy-cake-"
"You don't happen to have photo evidence of this, do you?" I inquired.
Orion pursed his lips and shook his head. "It wasn't a game. As we played she spoke a rhyme that cast a sleeping spell on me."
I sat up. "Like a witch's spell? You don't happen to remember any of it, do you?"
He furrowed his brow. "It went something like 'blackbirds, blackbirds, sitting in a tree, singing sweetly just for me. What does their music say? It says-" he stopped and shrugged, "-and that's when I blacked out."
The corners of my lips twitched up. "She was a smoother customer than we thought, but not smooth enough to get those Messengers off her tail."
Orion folded his arms and frowned. "A spell like that wouldn't ward them off."
I glanced out the rear door to the backyard. A weak sun shone through the partially cloudy sky. I sighed. "I guess we should go look for her."
Orion smiled. "For the scoop?"
I shook my head. "No, because there's something going on around here, and I don't like that. The last time we found a skeleton in somebody's closet, and this one's looking like it's a whole ship full of them."
He raised an eyebrow. "And you think this girl's involved in that?"
I hopped to my feet and looked him in the eyes. "You think it's just a coincidence that a little girl with amnesia and witch powers happens to come to town the same night a ghost ship sails up the river?"
He shrugged. "It could happen here."
I shook my head and pushed past him. "There's weirdness, and then there's cause-and-effect. I'm voting for the former here."
Orion sighed and followed me to the door where we snatched our coats. "I guess that means we should check out the downtown. She might have-" A faint crackling from his coat pocket caught our attention.
Orion pulled out the receive given to him by Orso the previous night. The receiver picked up on a message from the dispatch:
All officers in the vicinity of the library, please respond to the alarm. There may be a theft in progress. Be advised the perpetrator may be dangerous.
Orion and I glanced at each other. We were both thinking the same thing: Death's Messengers, and our little parental problem.
We raced out the door and slid into the car. Orion kicked the vehicle into high gear, spinning the tires a few seconds before the chains found traction and pulled us down the road. The beat up old pickup flew through town to the large park and its stately library. We pulled up and found two police cars already on the scene.
We stepped out just as the doors to the library opened. Two police officers marched out. They were partially transformed into their bear selves. Between them was our little girl herself. She thrashed and squirmed in their hold like a little wildcat. In one hand was a thin black book with a thick cover and a clasp.
"Let go! Lemme go!" the girl demanded.
Orion hurried up the steps and blocked their path. "I'll take her."
The two policemen glared at him. "Don't bother us, Orion," one of them snapped.
Orion nodded at the girl. "She's my-um, my cousin. From out of town."
"We're supposed to believe that?" one of them growled.
Orion grinned and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He held the phone out to the guys. "All right, you don't have to believe me, but which one of you is going to call my mom and tell her you're arresting her niece?"
The men glanced at each other. They simultaneously released the girl. She stumbled down the stairs and behind Orion. She glared at the pair from around his arm.
Orion smiled and put his cell phone away. "A good call. Now what's she done?"
The lead officer frowned at the girl. "The alarm went off near the forbidden door. When we got here we found the girl trying to climb out a window. She had that book in her hand. "
She wrapped the book in her arms and pressed it against her chest. "The man said I could keep it."
Orion raised an eyebrow. "Man?"
One of the officers nodded. "Yeah, the Librarian. He said it belonged to her and she could have it, but we really need to take her down to the station for the theft."
"What if I made sure she never does it again, and nobody calls my mom?" Orion suggested.
The officer pursed his lips and sighed. "Fine, but you'd better mean it about your mom." The pair tromped past Orion and the girl, and got into their cars. They pulled out and drove away.
I walked over to the two just as Orion turned to look at our hardened criminal. "Why'd you bail out on us last night, and where'd you learn that trick to put me out?"
The girl frowned and shook her head. "I don't know and it's none of your business."
I folded my arms across my chest and studied the runt. "You didn't happen to remember something, did you?"
She glanced over her shoulder and glared at me. "Why do you care?"
Orion nodded at the book. "Is that really yours?"
She squeezed the book tighter to herself and stuck her tongue out at him. "Yes, it is."
I glanced at Orion and jerked my head toward our midget criminal. "Is it just me or did she develop an attitude overnight?" I furrowed my brow and leaned back. "And did she get taller?"
Orion knelt on his step so he was face-to-face with the girl. "Could you at least tell us what's in the book?" The girl hesitated.
I rolled my eyes. "We saved you from the Messengers, remember? We're not going to throw you back out just because you swi
ped a book from the library. Besides-" I leaned down and glanced from the book to her face. A smile slid onto my lips. "-I'd like to know how you got past the Librarian."
The girl pursed her lips, but held the book out to Orion. He took the small slip of bundled papers, and I noticed something flutter to the ground at his feet. I made a graceful scoop to pick up the paper before I slid up beside him.
He read the cover aloud. "Black Arts of the Seas."
I glanced at our short companion. "Some light reading material for a long bathroom visit?"
She glared at me. "What did you expect? A book of fairy tales?"
I looked to Orion and jerked my head at the book. "How dangerous is a book like that in the wrong hands?"
He pursed his lips. "Very dangerous. Normally only the mayor and some of the higher-casting witches and wizards are allowed to check out such books."
She squeezed the book and frowned. "He said I could take it. He said I'd need it."
I glanced at the library doors. The lights were off and the shades in the windows were drawn. "I get the feeling the Librarian isn't up for asking questions right now."
Orion nodded at my pocket. "
Orion turned his attention to me. "Speaking of reading, what was that note you picked up?"
I grinned as I dug the paper out of my pocket. "You're learning fast."
"I am a hunter," he reminded me.
I unfolded the paper and read the few short paragraphs aloud.
To whom shall find this please ask your god to forgive me. I have lost my beloved, and I am to blame. I was blind to the dangers, and scorned a man I should have destroyed. Now we must live apart until I can find a way to lift the curse and join us together again.
Forgive me, my Dear Captain.
I glanced up at Orion and arched an eyebrow. "Does this sound like a love letter to you?"
Orion took the letter and traded it for the book. He studied the handwriting and frowned. "I'm not sure, but I know someone who will. Come on."
We walked down the steps, but paused halfway to the car when we both noticed we were missing something. We turned around to find the girl hesitating on the steps. "I don't want to go there."
Orion frowned. "How do you know where we're going?"
She shook her head. "I don't know, but I don't want to go there. I'm not supposed to go there."
Orion glanced at me. I looked to the girl. "Who told you you weren't supposed to go where we're going?"
The girl clasped the stone that hung from her neck. "I don't know. It's just a voice. It told me I'm not supposed to go to the diner."
Orion looked over the area. "Staying here much longer would be more unsafe. We don't know where those Messengers are, but a curse like that is never far from the cursed person's heels, at least not in the open like this."
I sighed and walked over to the girl. I stretched out my hand. "Come on. I'm not letting you be Messenger chow after saving your butt yesterday."
She took a step back and glared at me. "You don't want to help me. You just want to get a story."
I dropped my hand to my side and arched an eyebrow. "How'd you know I was a reporter?"
That's when the girl bolted.
CHAPTER 6
The girl shoved past me and took a sharp right toward the far corner of the library. Orion sprinted ahead of her and cut the girl off halfway down the sidewalk.
The girl skidded to a stop and clutched the book to her as she backed up. "I can't go there! I just can't!"
Orion opened his arms and smiled at her. "But you won't be going there. We're going to be going there. Besides, we've got you out of trouble once we can do it again."
The girl's eyes flickered from Orion to me and back to him. "B-but-"
Orion laughed and slipped beside her. He wrapped his arm across her shoulders and walked her back to me. "You trust us, don't you?"
Our young charge frowned and shook her head. "No."
"She's smart for her age," I quipped. The girl stuck her tongue out at me. I snorted. "Since she can't remember her own name I've got just the tag for this little squirt. What do you say to Toughs?"
The girl furrowed her brow for a moment before she smirked and nodded. "Not bad. I'll take it."
"And we'll be taking you to the diner," Orion spoke up.
"Before I freeze to death," I added.
We walked to the car and made sure Toughs was in the rear seat. Orion slammed the door behind her and turned to me. "You're not too bad at convincing kids to do what you want."
I shrugged. "It's all just a matter of a sharp mind over sharp sass." I glanced at the short figure in the rear seat. Toughs sat there studying the closed book in her lap. I leaned toward Orion and lowered my voice. "But I think you might be playing with something sharper than a sassy mouth. Do you really think we can keep those Messengers away from her long enough to find out who's working them?"
He pursed his lips and shook his head. "I don't know. It's going to be tricky keeping from getting more than a cut from those things."
There was a quick rap on the window. We glanced at the car door. The girl had flattened her face against the window. "Are we leaving soon or are you two just going to stand there talking all day?"
We looked at each other. Orion smiled and shrugged. "You heard the lady."
We climbed in and drove the few blocks to the main street. Orion parked us in front of Mab's diner. The window shades were still shut and the interior was dark. The three of us stepped out and Toughs was quick to scurry behind Orion. She followed him like a shadow up to the door where he peaked inside.
"Damn. . ." he muttered as I came up behind them.
I heard a commotion and looked down the block. A large crowd was gathered near the corner. I pointed at the gathering. "I think that guy's thinking the same thing."
Orion turned to me and followed my finger. I pointed at a scraggly man who stood on an old crate. His face was unshaven and his long gray-brown hair hung over his shoulders. He wore a ragged overcoat with frayed hems and his pants were held up by a frayed rope. His feet were attired in shoes cobbled together some time two centuries before Christ, but he was speaking in perfect tongue.
"The end! The end is nigh!" he shrieked. He waved his hands above his head and his eyes flickered from one onlooker to the other. "The ship has come and the tree is sick and the dead have risen! All is ending! All is ending!"
The crowd around him grew larger. People whispered to each other and cast furtive glances at neighbor and nut.
"Prepare! Prepare for the end!" the man yelled.
A police car flew past us and parked close to the crowd. Orso stepped out with an officer and walked over to the soapbox with its dirty preacher.
"Come on, Elliot, you know you're not supposed to block traffic," Orso scolded him.
The wild-eyed wielder of words glared at the chief and wagged a finger at him. "Don't deny the truth its day in the sunshine, Chief! It must come out of the deep pit of shadow, or else one must come into the darkness and retrieve it! The pit! The pit!"
Orso stretched out his hand and grasped the man's arm. "I'll help you get it, but off the box and not with a crowd." He pulled the man from the box and turned to the crowd. "All right, everyone, move along before you block traffic." His fellow officer picked up the box and tucked it under his arm.
Orion walked over to the officers, and Toughs and I followed. "Hey, Orso! Need some help?"
The chief glanced in our direction and snorted. "The only thing you bring with you is trouble, and I've got enough of that on my hands."
The weathered man broke from Orso's hold and wrenched the box from the officer. He scowled at the pair of uniformed men. "A man can't even tell the truth around here!"
"Not when it obstructs traffic," Orso scolded him.
"Or makes a great headline," a voice spoke up.
We turned to see a woman in high heels striding toward us. Her ample hips swayed from side-to-side, as did her ample chest. She ha
d an hour-glass figure everyone woman envied and a sly smile on her lips every married man feared. The woman wore a pair of thin suit pants and a blouse with jacket that showed off her curves. Her long blond hair bounced against her shoulders and cascaded down her back. In one hand was a tablet phone.
The woman used her hips to nudge past Orso and into the midst of our small group. She held her phone up to Orion's face and smiled with her ruby-red lips. "A lot of strange things have been going on here. Care to give this reporter an exclusive?"
Orso cleared his throat. "The police department is trying it's hardest to find the cause for the ship's sudden appearance."
The woman turned to him and eyed the man with her sly smile. "Come on, Chief, you and I both know this isn't your party. You've got your best friend dealing with the gritty detective work while you deal with that." She nodded at the dispersing crowd and the hobo who stood off to one side with his crate. "And from what I'm hearing things are about to get more interesting."
Chief Orso's eyebrows crashed down. "The department would appreciate if you wouldn't spread his ramblings in your paper."
She smiled and shrugged. "Business is business, Chief. The people love good gossip, and the man on that box has the juiciest stuff in town."
"The people don't need your help to panic them with gossip," Orso argued.
The woman turned to Orion and held her phone to his face. "All the more important I should get a statement from the lead investigator. Besides-" her eyes flickered over Toughs and me, "-I never took you for a family man, Orion."
He smiled and shrugged. "They just sort of ran into my life."
"Or were dragged. . ." I muttered.
The woman turned her attention to me and held out her hand. "I don't believe we've formally met. I'm Loretta Hopper, a reporter for the Daily Brew."
I took her hand and gave it a brief shake. "I'm-"
"Trixie Lyal, one of the newest editions to our 'fine' community," she finished. She dropped her hand to her side and glanced at Toughs. "But I don't recognize this little girl."
Toughs glared at her. "I'm not a little girl."
Loretta laughed. "You've got yourself quite a handful here, Orion." She frowned and squinted at the book in the girl's arms. "What's she got-"
"I think we should leave," Orion spoke up. He grabbed a hand from Toughs and me, and dragged us away from the little group.