“Dad?” Mia turned away from me, and I looked out the window again. “Yeah, I’m at Mady’s.” My gaze slid over the facade of the white house next door. “See you in five minutes then.”
Mia slid the phone back into her pocket and turned to me.
“My dad. There’s dinner.”
I nodded, and Mia turned to leave.
“One question...” I put in, and she paused while walking, turning to me. “Do you know who these new neighbors are?”
Mia glanced out the window. “An old friend of my father’s.” Then, shrugging, she looked back at me. “That’s all I know.”
Chapter 3
Julian
When I arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Ms. Adams was standing in the kitchen, smiling kindly as always. She had already stowed the groceries in the cupboards, and it looked like she was just waiting for me.
“I don’t know what her problem is, but I really appreciate you helping us out,” she sighed, smiling in my direction.
“Anytime, Ms. Adams.”
My selflessness was at a point today where it hadn’t been in a long time. I didn’t know what had driven me to help this rude girl.
“Julian.” She looked at me urgently. “How many more times? Feel free to call me Diana.”
“Okay, ...Diana,” I corrected myself uneasily.
It wasn’t often that I was treated so well by people of her kind.
Get a grip, Julian. She’s nice. So you are, too.
Maybe it was actually because she was the first of her kind who didn’t make me feel stupid or want me to get out of her part of town.
“Could you please tell your father I said hello? I haven’t seen him in a long time.” I tried to find something sneaky in her smile. Failing. “How are you all doing, anyway?”
“Pretty good so far.”
I wasn’t much of a talker. She already knew that, which is why she just smiled and didn’t dig any further.
“That’s good to hear.” She sounded genuinely interested, which made me feel guilty about whether I had been too curt in answering her. “I don’t want to hold you up any longer.”
“You’re not holding me up, Ms. Ad... Diana.” It was strange to be on a first-name basis with her. She was my father’s age. “But my father just called me to dinner, so from there...”
Diana nodded in understanding and wiped the dust off the stove top with a rag.
I turned to leave.
“Oh, and...” she continued. Attentively, I paused. “Please tell your family that you are invited to dinner with us tomorrow night.”
“That’s kind of you. I’ll pass the word along.” With those words, I disappeared through the squeaky front door and skipped down the porch.
The Adams’ front yard looked like someone had driven his car into it. Dried-up plants lined the ground, and a lot of weeds had grown since Diana had last been here. The garden fence had also been standing three weeks ago. Now it lay across the front of the garden, propping its last standing end against the crooked mailbox.
Something really needed to be done here.
I made my way past the tall shrubs until I stopped on the sidewalk.
A flicker flashed next to Ms. Adams’ car, blinding me for a split second. The setting sun seemed to be reflecting in something...
When I looked closer, I realized it was a sapphire blue charm. I moved closer to get a better look.
A crackling sounded behind me.
I jerked around.
I was prepared for anything. If necessary, I would be able to kill my opponent.
My gaze searched first the footpath, then the garden fence. But there was no one there.
Then I smelled it. Another Senseque was nearby, and I knew for sure that it was not my father. She was here.
I turned cautiously in all directions but felt rather stupid myself because I could always assign all sounds to their sources. Over the years, this ability had clearly faded.
Another crackling sounded in the undergrowth. This time, it came from the direction of our garden.
I quickly picked up the charm, then ran and set to jump, skillfully pulling myself over our high fence without knocking it down this time. I landed with both feet in the garden behind our house.
“You can’t hide,” I shouted into the adjoining woods. “Your smell is too strong.”
