19. Chapter 19

nineteen

"Thank you, Bryan, they're lovely!" Harper reached out for the enormous pot of magenta chrysanthemums he'd delivered.

Bryan grinned. "I heard you got off to a great start! So I thought congratulations were in order."

Harper stood awkwardly in the doorway. While she appreciated the flowers and felt flattered by the attention, something about him still made her wary. Then she remembered the help he had given her.

"Thanks again for the tip about the posters and the bookmarks. I think that had a lot to do with my success."

Bryan nodded, a hopeful look in his eyes. He was evidently waiting to be invited in, but today was Tuesday and the shop was closed. He had knocked on the door while she was working on a harvest-themed window display. She made a mental note to stay away from the ground floor on the days she was closed. When people saw her through the glass, they felt free to interrupt whatever she was doing.

Today, after finishing the displays, she planned to comb the park and town for signs of her friends. "I'd invite you in, Bryan, but I have a lot to do today. Can you come back one day when I'm open? I'd be happy to show you around."

Bryan nodded and looked at the hours posted on the door. "Okay, I'll come back on—Thursday, is it? Yes, Thursday afternoon. I'll be back then. I'd like to see what you've done with the shop. You know, you haven't been back by my store since you moved to town. You're welcome to come by any time."

Though she was taken aback at his slightly hurt tone, she was too preoccupied to give it much thought. She wanted to begin searching for her friends. "I promise I'll come by as soon as I get a chance. Thanks so much for the flowers. I'll see you when you come on Thursday."

And with that, she closed the door and pulled down the shade. She watched as he headed up the sidewalk toward Main Street. Something about his posture as he walked away made her feel guilty. She wondered if he was lonely. Really, she knew very little about him. Was it possible he wanted to be friends?

She turned and looked glumly around her shop. She had been so excited about this place for so long. But now that the opening was over and her friends were gone, it no longer held the same charm. Perhaps she was simply tired. But with the fresh river scent absent from the shop, the feeling of peace it had given her was also gone. The atmosphere now seemed sterile and empty. Without the Fae, she wasn't even sure she wanted to run it anymore.

For the rest of the morning, she looked in vain for signs of her friends. Their little room beneath the stairs was neat and tidy. The cushions Tiptoe and Tarryfoot had sewn were stacked in a colorful column in a back corner, exactly as they had been the last time she'd checked. Everything else in their room was neat and tidy, though covered with a thin layer of dust.

She trekked over to the park, walking all the trails. She took the side path to the spot where she had entered the portal and slowly walked back and forth, under the gaze of the owl, examining every stalk and tree. His closeness no longer bothered her; she had given up her fear of him long ago.

"Have you seen them?" The owl blinked at her several times before hooting softly. After leaving the park, she passed Deanna's door on her way home—she had planned her days off to coincide with Divine Coffee's. So she wasn't surprised when the basement door to Deanna's place opened. "Hi Harper! I was just getting ready to go for a walk in the park. Wanna join me?"

"Sure, Deanna." Harper wanted to sound upbeat and happy, but feeling as she did, like an empty windsock, she couldn't pull it off.

"Why're you looking so down? I know you've been super busy since the shop opened. That must make you happy." Deanna looked at her friend, her dark eyes softening to concern. "Tell me. What's the matter?"

"They're gone, Deanna," Harper burst out, her eyes filling with tears. "All my Fae friends are gone. I haven't seen them since the night you and Dashawn came over. I keep hoping they'll show up, but they're gone. What did I do wrong?"

Deanna looked her over. "You're shaking! First, have you had anything to eat today?"

Harper swallowed against her tight throat. "No."

Deanna pulled her arm and led her up the backstairs to her apartment. She instructed Harper to sit at the table in the cheerful, bright yellow and orange kitchen. "Let me get you something to eat. Anything can be handled better with a well-fed stomach. I have leftover chicken salad. How about a sandwich?" She pulled out a bag of croissants and some lettuce.

"Thank you, Deanna. That would be great."

Harper slumped in her seat while her friend bustled around, making her a sandwich, which she placed beside a sliced apple and some red grapes. She served the plate with a steaming cup of tea and a slice of lemon.

Harper picked up the tea, almost choking as she took a sip. "Oh my God, that's Earl Grey, isn't it?" She burst into tears which quickly turned to wailing sobs.

Deanna looked momentarily stunned. "Oh, I didn't think of our buddy Earl Grey! Forgive me."

"It's okay." Harper took a ragged breath. "It's just that, I've come to care about them, you know?" She hung her head. "I'm really sorry, Deanna. I know I'm too old to be carrying on like this."

Deanna looked out her window. "I don't know what I'd do without my two. You're exactly right—they aren't only help, they're family. And I'm sure the last couple of weeks have been exhausting for you. Never apologize for how you feel."

Harper nodded, miserable yet gratified. "That's exactly it. They are my family. I know it sounds crazy, but I've come to love them just as much as my daughter, and more than the rest of my family. Both my parents are dead. And did I tell you my grandmother … well, she disappeared near here? I really don't have anyone else."

Deanna watched the owl sitting on its branch in the park. "When we get back from our walk, I'll ask my two friends if they know what's happened. Maybe they've heard something. I'll let you know what they say. How does that sound?"

Harper finished up her sandwich and picked up a slice of apple. "Yes, that sounds good. Can I meet your friends sometime, Deanna?"

Deanna looked at her from the corner of her eye. "I think that can be arranged at some point, yes. But I'll leave the timing up to them. Now, how about that walk?" She picked up Harper's empty plate and placed it in the dishwasher.

Harper stood up and put on her jacket. "Do you mind if I share something sad with you?"

Deanna shook her head as they walked out the door. "Not a bit. Maybe one day, I'll return the favor."

Harper walked quietly until they approached the river. "When I told you I think of my friends as family, I remembered something I hadn't thought of in a long while.

"I was an only child. Neither one of my parents talked to me much. They both worked—it seemed like all the time. They owned a real estate firm. And, I think it's fair to say, they liked to party. Most of their big parties were on weekends. When they had those, they usually sent me to stay with my Grandma Sophie. And I was glad about that. I loved my grandma, and I hated to be home when they had their friends over. I could tell you another story about that, but not today. If Grandma wasn't busy doing something else, they were happy to have me go." She released a small sigh.

"But even on weeknights, they sometimes had people over for ‘a few drinks,' as they called it. I hated that, too. I stayed in my room and locked the door. But I could still hear their music. To this day, I hate the songs they played … Tom Jones, ugh. And I hated all the loud laughing. I didn't understand a lot of what I heard them say, but I had a feeling I didn't want to, either."

Deanna nodded. "I hear you."

"They paid me to clean up after those parties. I guess I was around six or seven when they started giving me a weekly allowance to clean up the bottles, glasses, and worst of all, the ashtrays, from the night before. I could do this anytime the next day. We had a dishwasher, so it wasn't too hard, but I had to run soapy water in the sink and wash the ashtrays by hand. I really hated that. The smell turned my stomach."

Deanna wrinkled her nose. "Doesn't sound like a fun job for an adult, to me."

"Well, I don't want to make things sound too bad. My parents weren't abusive. It's not like they were making me bust rocks or dig ditches. And they did pay me. But I still hated doing it."

She looked over at the river. "I guess I remembered that because, while I was washing those ashtrays, I always wished that I had a brother or a sister to talk to while I did it. It would have been nice to have another kid around. Maybe then I wouldn't have been so lonely."

She grew quiet then, and the two friends walked side by side, accompanied by the sound of their sneakers on the asphalt pavement and squirrels chittering in the leaves. It was a breezy afternoon, not cold, just chilly enough make them glad their jackets had pockets.

As they circled back within sight of the buildings, Deanna said, "You don't need to be lonely now. You've got friends here in Whippoorwill Gap and not just the Fae. No doubt we may be annoying sometimes, but we're not such a bad bunch. Like I said, I'll talk to my own friends and see if they might know what's going on with yours. I'll call and let you know when I find out. I don't see them every day, so it may be a day or two before you hear from me. But call me if you need anything or just want to talk."

After they said goodbye, Harper found herself energized enough to stay busy cleaning for the rest of the afternoon. She called Olivia that night. Her daughter seemed sincerely pleased the opening had been such a big success.

On Thursday, as she was heading downstairs to open the shop, Deanna called her with worrying news. All Harper's friends had been seen heading to the Faery Realm a few nights before the grand opening. Now they were apparently trapped there, held against their will. That's all that Deanna's Fae friends would reveal.

Deeply troubled, Harper went downstairs to open the shop. She hoped they were okay. What could "they were trapped" mean? Did that mean they wanted to come back, but couldn't? Was Grandma holding them there against their will? She couldn't imagine that was the case. They had warned her nefarious beings existed in that realm. Could it be that some of these others had harmed them? The longer she thought about it, the more distraught she became.

She felt she had no other option than to go there herself to find her friends. The longer she waited the less likely they were to come back. How long such an expedition would take was anyone's guess. She needed a plan that would give her enough time. Her next day off was Tuesday, which, as luck would have it, was Halloween. It wasn't ideal, but she couldn't think of a better alternative.

Her friends had told her Halloween night was a big celebration for the Fae. The barriers between the realms became thin, and many beings from that dimension, realm, frequency—or whatever someone wanted to call it—made their way over to this side, the Earth Realm, seeking mischief. While some of it was in good fun, not all of them had friendly intentions. Halloween, as Alida had so charmingly phrased it, was when "the horrid hordes" rampaged in that world and this. Harper didn't know if there was anything to these stories or not, but she knew that, no matter what happened, she had to make that journey.

Hawthorne and Ivy had been cautious about her safety on the last trip. This time, she'd be entering the Faery Realm, on Halloween, alone. The thought terrified her, but she made up her mind to try.

Both Bryan and Quinn made it by the shop that afternoon. She was too distracted with her upcoming journey to be disturbed by anything they said. Bryan looked around while trying to make small talk. She tried hard to be pleasant, and she was grateful when he didn't mention them working together. She promised to make a trip to his bookstore before Christmas.

Quinn insisted on offering, yet again, to work for her in exchange for books. She flatly told him no: any unorthodox payment arrangements were off the table. If he wanted to work for her, it would be for hourly wages only. And she told him, for what seemed like the thousandth time, she wasn't interested in hiring anyone yet. When he asked when she would be, she almost laughed out loud. "When I make a decision to hire someone, Quinn, I'll let you know."

As the next four days creeped by, Harper found she could manage the workload on her own just fine. But she also understood that, if the Fae didn't come back, she would need to cut back her hours or hire someone else to help with the housekeeping and in the shop. She had completely underestimated how much labor was involved in keeping a bookstore stocked and attractive. Her pre-opening vision had been of herself sitting behind the desk while reading and drinking tea until a customer needed tending. Now that idea struck her as hopelessly na?ve.

In her spare moments, she formulated her plans for her solo visit to the Fae Realm.

The day before Halloween, Deanna dashed through the pouring rain after closing the coffee shop to check on Harper.

Harper stared out the front windows at the rain. "Have you ever been to the Faery Realm, Deanna?"

Deanna's eyes bugged out. "No, I've never been there! My companions told me people like us can't even get in there without one of them at our side. It's a bad idea, Harper. Even if you get in, you might never return. You could be hurt. They told me it's dangerous for humans to travel there."

None of this made Harper feel better. But neither did it change her mind. "I have to try."

She invited Deanna upstairs for a cup of tea, but Deanna shook her head. "I'm sorry Harper, I've got to get Halloween treat bags ready for tomorrow evening. You do know that the merchants in town always hand out treats to the kids on Halloween, don't you?"

Harper groaned. "No, I seem to remember hearing something about it, but it didn't register. I guess I'll have to miss it this year. It may not matter anyway."

"I'll check and see if Abby and Nate can stand in front of your shop and hand out candy for you. How does that sound? At least that way all the townspeople will know you were thinking of the kids."

Harper gave her head a listless bob. "That'll work. I'll run out now and buy some bags of candy. I'll put them in buckets and drop them by your shop. How much should I pay them?"

"Pay them? Abby and Nate? They'll do it for free! Teenagers and college kids beg to help with this. Trust me, they will have enough fun to make it worth it. I'll give them each a bag of treats to take home to pay them for their help. And Dashawn and I will be in front of the coffee shop handing out treats too. We'll keep an eye on them, if that makes you feel any better."

"Sure. That all sounds good. But I'm not worried about Abby and Nate. I think they can be trusted." Harper turned to the water running down the sidewalk in front of the shop. "I wonder what the weather is supposed to be like tomorrow."

"Rain in the morning followed by a partly cloudy and windy afternoon and evening. The kids should bundle up because it's going to be chilly."

"I guess I'd better wear a jacket then." Harper bit her lower lip.

Deanna gave her a stern look. "I wish there was something I could do or say to stop you. But I know there isn't. I asked my friends if they could escort you there, but they told me no. They need a specific type of bond, whatever that means, with someone to take them safely. I guess their rules are different."

Harper knew she had an advantage over most humans. She'd been there before, and her grandmother happened to be queen. While this gave her a small store of confidence, it felt unwise to tell Deanna about her grandmother or her prior visit to the other side.

After Deanna left, Harper threw on a rain jacket and walked to the Great Green Grocer's, where she bought honey sticks and individually wrapped cacao candies. Then she loaded them into buckets and took them over to Deanna's. Back upstairs, in her apartment, she wrote a farewell letter to Olivia, which outlined how to find her will so she could claim her property and other assets. She'd leave the letter on the kitchen table in the morning, just in case.

That night, when Harper pulled out her mirror, she spoke to its dull surface. "I'm coming to see you. I want my friends back. If they don't want to come back, I want to say goodbye to them. I don't know what's going on and I'm scared. Please guide me, Grandma."

The rain let up during the night, but an ominous dark red sunrise greeted Harper through her kitchen windows on Halloween morning. The winds picked up speed as more rain clouds rolled in from the west. The last remaining leaves on the trees were ripped from their tethers, scattering across the parking lot behind Harper's apartment. Harper ate the most substantial breakfast she could manage that morning—oatmeal with pumpkin butter and black walnuts. She drank a cup of regular coffee and packed herself a water bottle with a package of trail mix in a small black backpack. On her way out the door, she grabbed her grandma's mirror and shoved it in her hoodie's pocket.

Then, heart pounding, she made her noiseless way into the park, her footsteps muffled by the sodden leaves. As she crept down the little path to the river, she felt relieved to hear the owl hooting. At the river's edge, it perched on the low limb of a hornbeam tree right above her. This was the closest she had ever been to it. She peered at it through the curtain of hair the wind had ripped from her ponytail. Then she looked at the riverbank to where the portal had been. Closing her eyes, she clenched the mirror in her pocket, breathing deeply to steady her nerves. When she opened them, to her astonishment, the portal gaped open before her, exactly as it had on the day she entered it a few months before.

She remembered Hawthorne's warning to leave the mirror behind. Pulling a black bandana from her backpack, she wrapped the mirror inside it. She carried it to a spot underneath an overhanging rock that jutted from the riverbank and looked up at the owl. "I'm going to leave this here for a while. Will you watch it for me and make sure nothing happens to it?"

In response, the owl hooted, holding her gaze. It was an intense look. Harper turned back toward the portal. But to her horror, it had disappeared; thick vines covered the spot where it had been. Looking at the spot, it was impossible to tell an entrance had ever been there.

Oh no! Harper thought desperately. Once again, she looked at the owl. But instead of looking at her, he was looking at the spot where the mirror was lying. He left his branch and flew down to it. He turned his head to look Harper in the eye, then abandoned it there and flew back to his branch, hooting loudly. Harper went back to the rock, picked up the mirror, and unwrapped it from the bandana. His message was clear.

Going back to the spot where the portal had been moments before, she clutched the mirror and closed her eyes. When she opened them, the portal had reappeared. She looked back up at the owl.

"I have to take it with me?" It blinked at her. "Who-whoooo."

Harper nodded, pushed the mirror into her pocket, and stepped inside the tunnel.