Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

" I don't understand." Ivy squinched up her nose and looked at me in the bathroom mirror as I attempted to untangle a particularly stubborn knot in her wet hair. She said, "Why does Summer think you're lying?"

I stilled the comb and tried to figure out what to say. A few hours had passed, and Summer hadn't come around. I was as lost as Ivy was, but as the mom, it was my job to have the answers.

"Sometimes it's easier for people to come up with their own truth when reality is too hard to process," I said.

"She's lying to herself. Summer's too old for make-believe," a soft voice said from the hall.

I'd thought Citra was in her room watching Hugo. I glanced over my shoulder and found her leaning on the wall in the hallway gently holding Rabbit Hugo.

I turned and leaned on the counter so I could see both girls. "I didn't want to believe Hugo turned into a rabbit, either."

"Or that you did," Citra said.

"Exactly. It's easier to explain weird things away when they only happen once. I really believed turning into a rabbit was a dream when it happened to me," I said.

"But you told Summer the truth," Ivy said.

"It's easier for her to believe he's at work at the fire station," I told her. "He stays overnight there a lot."

"She knows he's not working," Citra said. "She knows he was in Uncle Davey's kitchen with you."

I nodded because I didn't have a better explanation. Everything they were saying was true.

"Maybe her world is built on a bed of lies," Ivy said,

Bed of lies? It didn't sound like something Ivy would say.

"Like you say about the baby men at your work," Ivy said.

"Man babies," Citra corrected.

Oh, those were my words coming out of Ivy's mouth. That made more sense.

"Maybe," I said, but I doubted it.

"How'd it happen?" Citra asked. "Why did he transform?"

"I bet she kissed him," Ivy said. "Like she kissed the first Bunbuns at the farmer's market."

Both girls looked at me.

Heat rose up my neck and settled in the tops of my ears. "I…."

"You should kiss me, too, Mama!" Ivy formed her hands into fists and shook with glee. "Then I won't just have a Bunbuns. I'll be Bunbuns."

"Whoa, whoa," I said. "Who said anything about kissing? I didn't say that."

"You can do it when you kiss me goodnight. I want it right here." Ivy pointed to her cheek.

If it was a kiss that turned me, and a kiss that turned Hugo, then why hadn't I turned the girls already?

"You haven't kissed me since you turned into a bunny." Ivy's expression dropped. "Does that mean you don't want me to be a bunny like you? I just want to be like you, Mama."

The girls didn't have my freckles or my hay-straight hair. Having completely different genetics also meant they wouldn't inherit my dad's high blood pressure, my mom's bone spurs, or my neurotic need for everything around me to stay perfectly in place.

"You're both like me in the best ways," I said. "You're driven and confident. Plus you have way better hair. Ivy, you have so much artistic talent that you color the world around you. Citra, you shock me with your intelligence, and the hard work you put in at soccer shows me that you have serious grit. Plus, I'm not a rabbit. That was a one-time thing. It's over. I'm regular. And Hugo will turn back into a person and be regular, too."

"You really think you turned into a rabbit once and it's over? Never again?" Citra asked, her voice lifting with what sounded like optimism.

I really really hoped so. "Yes."

Ivy sighed and dropped her shoulders. "Well, that's disappointing. Will you kiss me just in case? I'll still enjoy being a bunny for a little while, even if it's not forever."

Forever?

"Nope," I said. "No kisses until I'm certain this is resolved."

Ivy huffed. Then under her breath, she said, "Maybe I'll have to sneak in and kiss you while you're sleeping."

Then she smiled brightly at me with a look that suggested she hoped I hadn't heard that.

"No kisses," I said, this time more sternly. Maybe it'd be best if I locked my bedroom door tonight, and every night until I was one-hundred-percent sure it was safe.

The doorbell rang.

Summer must have realized Hugo wasn't at the fire station. She had to have a billion questions to ask me. And she probably wanted me to turn him over.

"Okay, time for bed." I reached for Hugo.

Citra handed him over. "I'm not ready to sleep."

"That's okay, just rest."

"I want a kiss," Ivy said.

I grabbed her and pulled her to my side. I wiggled a finger at Citra, too. She joined us in the bathroom, and I gave them both a squeeze. "For now we'll have to settle for really great hugs."

The girls grumbled and headed off to their rooms. I hurried downstairs and opened the door.

Summer wasn't standing on my porch.

Davey was.

He was wearing a pink shirt, which the old Davey would have hated, and a beaming grin that made my stomach churn. I could've sworn he wasn't only more muscular than he used to be, but taller, which was impossible. It must have been ridiculously good posture creating the effect.

Brianna hurried up the walk behind him. At least she looked like she always had, with her tiny stature, red glasses, and shrewd expression.

"Davey," I said, more confused than anything. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled brightly and pulled me into a bear hug. I quickly adjusted bunny Hugo to the side so he wouldn't get smashed.

"We said we were coming," Davey said.

When did he say they were coming?

"Now we're here." He waved his arms like ta-da and released me.

"So I see." I cleared my throat and took a step back.

Davey smelled different. He felt different. Everything about him was different. I hated it.

Brianna brushed between us and grabbed my wrist on the way, pulling me inside, through the living room and into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We need better light." She flipped on every wall switch, brightening the previously dark room like a stadium. Then, adding to the blinding effect, she flipped her phone flashlight right in my face.

I shielded my eyes and took a seat. "What is this? An interrogation? What are you two trying to accomplish here?"

"We want to help," Davey said.

"Is that your friend?" Brianna aimed her light at bunny Hugo in my lap.

"Yes," I said.

Brianna asked, "What did she eat before she turned?"

"He had a sip of coffee," I said. "Though I tend not to keep food diaries about my neighbor's habits. What is this whole routine you're doing, Brianna? I need to know what's happening. Now."

"He?" Brianna set down her phone and sat down beside me at the table.

"How is that the standout information you're taking from all of this?" It was like we were having two entirely different conversations, both of us completely perplexed by the other.

"Brianna's a witch. We thought you were one now, too," Davey said.

"Religion, really?" I sighed. Apparently all three of us were having different conversations. "If Brianna wants to be a Wiccan, that has nothing to do with me or my situation."

"I'm not that kind of witch." Brianna adjusted her oversized glasses. "One day after eating some chicken, I turned into a literal chicken."

Was she joking? She had to be joking. I stared at her, waiting for her to break into a smile. She didn't.

"I've also been a bear and a rabbit," she said.

The last bit hit differently. I stared at her harder, a million thoughts racing through my brain, all too fast to catch.

"It's true," Davey said.

"It was my magical awakening. There are others, too, friends of mine who had their own awakenings, almost all in their forties. It's probably what's happening to you," she said.

There was something there though, some sort of hesitation in her words. I made a guess. "But this is different somehow."

"Each of my coven sisters has her own type of magic. No two are the same," she said. "All of us are women."

"What does that mean for me and Hugo?" I asked.

"I don't know," Brianna said. "But I'd like to help you figure it out."

The things she was saying…it was all too fantastical to believe, but that seemed to be the norm around here lately.

Completely unsure about everything, I said, "Thank you."

"That's what family does," she said.

Family helps each other. I'd tried to take that approach with her after Davey disappeared. She hadn't accepted, even when it meant she eventually lost the house.

Whispers came from the other room. I turned around and looked toward the stairs where the girls were crouched, watching us.

Ivy squealed as soon as our gazes met.

"I told you two to go to bed," I said.

"I can't sleep," Ivy said.

I sighed.

Davey raised his hand. "I could read them some stories?"

His offer took me by surprise. "That would be nice, actually."

He grinned and took off toward the steps, snatching a girl in each arm. They laughed and squealed as he carried them back upstairs.

When Brianna and I were alone, she pulled out a bag filled with smaller bags. And she handed one to me. "We'll start with this."

"What is it?"

"Chicken jerky. Eat it."

I considered a moment, but I couldn't see any better way to figure things out. Might as well take her up on her offer to help. I opened the bag and popped the jerky into my mouth.

I chewed and swallowed. Then we sat and waited.

"Any tingles?" she asked.

"Nope."

"Tell me when you feel anything."

"Okay."

Silence. Sitting. Stewing.

My skin prickled like I was wearing a wool sweater in the dead of summer, and for good measure, that sweater was covered in burrs.

I wanted to ask all the questions that had plagued me since my brother's mysterious return from who knew where. I wanted to say nothing at all, because it was way more comfortable than some of the answers I might get.

Brianna cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. "Feel anything yet?"

I shook my head.

"While we wait, why don't you tell me more about what happened when you changed into a rabbit," she said.

"It was the evening after the market last Saturday," I said.

"What happened at the market?"

The girls yelled about penises. I hacked and gagged. The hottest man on the planet witnessed the entire fiasco.

Instead of that, I said, "Uh, we walked around, picked up some jams, I kissed a rabbit."

Brianna twisted her lips in disapproval. "Did you eat anything?"

She was really set on my malfunction being food related. I tried to remember what we'd gotten. We'd eaten a regular breakfast at home. Then Hugo had found us, attracted by the girls' yelling, and he'd given us cookies.

"A carrot cookie," I said.

"That could be it," Brianna said.

"I've had them before. Nothing strange happened after."

"I'd eaten chicken countless times before the first time it turned me into one. Not all the changes that happen in our forties have to do with wrinkles and gray hairs."

"I thought you said this food catalyst scenario had to be meat related."

"It is for me. It could be carrots for you. We need to get one of these cookies and?—"

"I have one." I set Hugo gently on the floor and grabbed a cookie from the box by the fridge.

"It could make sense why your male friend had the same reaction if he ate one of these cookies as well. It's possible you're not a witch at all. It's likely even, since there are two of you, that what's happening is related to a shared action."

"Like they're cursed cookies?" I guessed that could be a thing. It'd certainly be nice to shift the blame. "The girls have eaten plenty and nothing happened to them."

Brianna shrugged. "Magic isn't particularly predictable."

Magic—the word repeated in my head. I didn't feel like I'd been touched by magic, even for a short time last week during my transformation. I felt exhausted and stretched to my limit. I felt like a regular, if not slightly neurotic, middle-aged single mom.

But magical? Not even a smidge.

I ate my cookie.

"To cover all of our bases, what else happened the day of the market? You mentioned a rabbit." Brianna asked.

"The girls wanted me to take a picture with a rabbit," I said. "At the little petting zoo area."

"Tell me more about that."

A chill brushed the nape of my neck. "Like I said, I kissed it."

It was the kiss. It had to be. That's why I'd turned into a rabbit. It's why Hugo was a rabbit now.

"I kissed Hugo right before this happened." I pointed to his fluffiness on the linoleum. Looking at him in this state made my heart feel like a bruised peach, fuzzy and tender in my chest. "Can kissing something turn a person into one? Is this a magic thing your witch friends have dealt with?"

Brianna frowned. "I'm not sure. It's a solid lead though. Do you know where we can find the rabbit from the petting zoo?"

A sliver of hope seeped through the cracks of my worry, but I was afraid to let it fully take root. I said, "Yes."

She rose from her seat and typed on her phone. "You and I are going to check this out right now."

Her phone dinged twice with incoming texts.

"Okay," I said with a nod. "What about the girls? And Hugo?"

"Davey's got them. Everyone will be safe."

Because she seemed so confident about this plan, I followed her outside.

Streetlights cast long shadows on the pavement as we walked side by side down the sleepy street. Stars twinkled in the sky above while the sounds of early summer filled the balmy air. Katydids sang, frogs croaked, and fireflies danced across manicured yards.

I cast a quick glance at Brianna. Her face was half-illuminated, her expression unreadable. Every few steps, I could hear her draw a breath as if to speak, then she'd let it out slowly like she'd decided against it.

The night buzzed with unasked questions and unsaid words, pressing down on us with an almost tangible weight.

Finally, all the not-talking became too much, and I had to ask, "What really happened to Davey?"

"It's just like we said." She adjusted her glasses. "He was struck by lightning."

"And that made him forget who he was," I said. It made him forget me and the girls. It made him miss their birthdays, every holiday, and the chat sessions we always shared after where we complained about the grass-like substance Mom still insisted on putting in her meatloaf.

Brianna said, "Yes, it made him forget everything."

Except that wasn't the whole truth. I knew it wasn't.

"And after Davey left and forgot everything…he was gone for a year, doing what? Then out of the blue, he just came back. Only he went to you in a different town, and not here, to his home." To me. They'd been on the verge of divorce, so it didn't make sense.

"I waited here so long for Davey to come back, for news of what happened to him, for answers of some kind."

I knew. I'd been waiting, too.

"When my dad got sick, it only made sense for me to go to Marshmallow to help him with the restaurant. I was lost."

"I didn't know about your dad. I'm sorry." I wished she'd told me. Not that there was anything I could've done, but maybe I could have been a better source of support.

"Thanks. It's fine. He's good now." She waved a hand, dismissing the subject. "Six months in, I had to call a repair guy one day to the restaurant."

Based on my brother's current occupation, I made a guess. "Davey."

Brianna nodded. "He didn't know who he was."

"So he was just living another life there the whole time?"

"Yes."

"Davey doesn't fix things."

"I know! Well, he didn't used to. Then he shows up at the restaurant, behaving like a completely different person, and lightning came from his hands?—"

I grabbed her shoulder and stopped walking. "Lightning came from his hands? How is that possible?"

"Apparently he's been struck by lightning multiple times since the first time when it made him forget."

"That's horrible."

She shrugged. "It's not exactly like it sounds."

"How is it then?"

"He controls it."

"He controls lightning," I repeated because it made zero sense.

"Yeah. I know it doesn't sound real, but it is."

She started walking again, so I did, too.

"And you turn into a chicken."

"Among other things. You should know, parts of your brother are the same as they used to be. He remembers everything now, and he misses how close you two used to be."

I wasn't so sure anything about him was the same.

"Feeling anything yet?" Brianna asked.

I blinked at her, confused.

"From the jerky. Any tingles?"

"No."

When we finally reached the farm, I was grateful for the opportunity to shut down our conversation. We headed straight for the hutches at the back of the barn.

Both hutches were completely empty.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Brianna asked.

"Yes. The owner, Mr. Hanson, let me bring the girls by before. The rabbits were right here."

I remembered then that I'd run into Mr. Hanson after work one day and he'd said he didn't own a white rabbit with black ears, which of course was ridiculous. It didn't matter now anyway, since there didn't seem to be any rabbits here at all.

Brianna leaned closer to the cages. "They're clean. Not a single dropping."

"So he takes good care of them."

"Or someone else cleaned out every trace."

Someone else collected the rabbit poop? "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, but the air here feels…." She wafted a hand in the air and filled her lungs slowly.

"Feels what?" I asked.

"Unnatural."

It felt normal to me.

"Magical," she said. "The Library was here. I'd bet money on it."

She put so much emphasis on The Library, it was clear she meant it as a proper noun. But libraries generally didn't go places, as they were buildings and had no legs to carry them. "You're not making any sense."

"Librarians," she said, "with their magical portals and penchant for swooping in to arrest people."

"I think you're confusing librarians with police," I said. Also, magical portals?

"They're like the police of all things magical."

As I watched Brianna sniffing around and speaking absolute nonsense, I realized something.

It wasn't just my brother who was different. Brianna was different, too. Maybe they'd fallen prey to a cult or something and both had gone bananas. Whatever was going on, there were no answers here. Maybe there were no answers to any of this at all.

And suddenly I was exhausted. I wanted to curl up in my bed and pretend this whole day never happened. Then in the morning, Hugo would be a person again, and everything would be back to normal.

I said, "With the furry rabbit felons safely arrested, it looks like we're done here."

Brianna gave me a strange look. She gave me several more looks on our walk back home, ranging from curious to concerned.

When we got back home, the house was quiet.

"Hugo?" I whispered as I looked around on the floor.

"He went home," Davey said softly from the sofa.

Did my brother decide to set my rabbit neighbor loose? Cold dread settled in my chest. "What?"

"He turned back into a person, got dressed and went back to his house," Davey said.

Hugo was human again. That was good. Relief took me back down a peg. "Okay. But, did he remember everything? Was he freaked out? Did he seem all right?"

Davey shrugged. "He seemed fine."

But Davey didn't know him. Hugo had to have been either really confused or really freaked out.

I asked, "And the girls?"

"Asleep," Davey said.

I nodded. "Thanks."

"I'll have to make some calls in the morning," Brianna said. "See if any of my connections have any answers."

"I'm going to bed," I told them both, though I was more likely to spend the night stress-scrubbing the house down. "You two should head home."

Davey looked at me with concern. I had no energy left for it.

"We do have an appointment in the morning. I'm sure we could all use some rest." Brianna turned to me. "Feel anything yet?"

From the food? "No."

But if she was asking what I felt from the talk about my brother, the wild ideas that came out of her mouth, and the fact that Hugo was gone? All kinds of messed up.