Chapter 12

  After all of us who wanted lunch had eaten (everyone except Ken, who as a ghost doesn't eat anything, and Dara, who as a hamadryad can eat but gets her nourishment from her tree), we broke up for the day. Ariana and Emrys, after promising to touch base in a few days with ideas for making a counter-offer to Oberon, went back to their work. Spice and Shine lingered for a bit with Sparkle before going back to the fairy village outside, Wadsworth went back to work, followed by Penny…

  And I went to practice my spellcasting. I'd been at it for less than fifteen minutes, throwing balls of pure force at the target on the workshop wall, when the phone newly mounted by the workshop door rang.

  Ken went over, looked at the screen, then looked at me. "It's Sergeant Burroughs." He picked up the receiver. "Good afternoon, Sergeant, this is Ken." He listened for a moment and smiled. "Very well, thank you. What can I do for you?"

  I threw another ball of force at the wall. It was surprisingly therapeutic.

  "Oh dear. I shall remind her and see her on her way immediately," Ken said, looking over at me. "It's been quite the morning here, I'm sure it just slipped her mind."

  What could have slipped my…

  "Oh crap, the social hall." I turned and hurried for the door. "Tell her I'm on my way!"

  Ken smiled and did so as I dashed down the hall, calling, "Sparkle! Penny!"

  Sparkle zoomed up to me and Penny melted out of my shadow just as I reached the foyer. "I'm sorry," I said, "I forgot I promised to take a look at the social hall this afternoon, and I want you both with me."

  "Where else would we be if you're going out?" Sparkle asked with a smile.

  "Are you going to change first?" Penny asked.

  I slid to a stop by the front door and looked at my reflection in a mirror that had never been there before. My hair was still pinned up in the princess bun Ken had put it in early that morning. I was wearing a forest green t-shirt that fell to the tops of my thighs, over a pair of plain black leggings, socks, and trainers.

  "Damn it…" I turned and found the door to my bedroom halfway around the curve of the wall. With a smile, I touched the wall and murmured my thanks before going into my bedroom to change.

  Standing in the doorway of my closet, I realized I had no idea what condition the old social hall was actually in. All I had to go on was that it was a relatively cool end-of-summer day out, and who knew how long it had been since anyone had opened up the building, so it was likely to be stuffy inside at the very least. But just as likely to be full of things that I might bang into, trip on, or get cuts and abrasions from.

  And I was weirdly reluctant to go out in public in just leggings unless I was exercising. It just felt…immodest. Undoubtedly a lingering remnant of my Catholic upbringing.

  You don't grow up around nuns without having modesty firmly ingrained.

  I stared at my closet for a moment. I was no longer in the position I'd been in for years, of wanting to present a comfortably modest appearance to offset my exotic features. I was, in fact, interested in being attractive to someone, which was also a first for me.

  Acting on impulse, I threw a pair of short, snug denim shorts on over my leggings, and tucked my t-shirt into the shorts. I was counting on the combination of shorts and leggings to keep my legs reasonably unharmed by anything I banged into while still providing excellent mobility. As I started to make yet another mental note to pick up a pair of Dr. Martens boots at the first opportunity, my eyes fell on a pair of black boots tucked in the corner beside a row of other shoes.

  Dr. Martens 1460's, exactly like Ariana's. They looked well-worn and well cared-for, and were, as I somehow knew they would be when I picked them up, precisely my size.

  Once again, I reached out and laid my hand on the nearest wall, expressing my thanks to the Hall with feelings of gratitude and affection instead of speaking the words out loud. I received an impression of affection and mutual care in return, followed by a gentle nudge of caution.

  I smiled. "I'll be careful, don't worry."

  Then I swapped my athletic socks for lighter-weight ankle socks, and replaced my trainers with the boots. They were heavier than I was used to in footwear, but also provided more support for my ankles and would protect me from being hurt by anything I stepped on by accident.

  And they really were quite comfortable. So I grabbed a waxed canvas hip bag and dropped my wallet, cell phone, and the earbud that connected to the Hall's security system into it along with a few other little things.

  I left the closet, slung my bag cross-body, and pursed my lips. "I have no idea what else to take with me."

  Ken was waiting for me. "Once you figure out what's going on there, you'll be in a better position to determine what you need. Then I can offer advice." He sighed. "I do wish you had a new staff ready to go, or some wands, but there's been no time…"

  "Fortunately," I said with a smile, "someone's been teaching me to make do without foci."

  He nodded, not looking very reassured. "Promise me you'll be careful."

  "She will be," Two voices said together. Sparkle's from the Master Key hanging from my choker, and Penny's from a shadow under the desk behind me.

  I shrugged and gave Ken a whimsical smile. "What they said."

  "Thank you, Sparkle, Penny," Ken chuckled.

  "Oh!" I reached up and touched my hair. "Would you redo this as my usual braid? I don't want it falling apart on me if anything…exciting happens."

  Ken smiled and nodded, scooping up one of my mother's old silver Celtic knot hair clips and gliding around behind me. "Of course. It'll take just a moment. Hold still."

  I did, and felt my hair collapse out of the bun in a long sheet down my back. Then the usual tugging sensation as he pulled my hair into place, but not tightly, and a few seconds later Ken glided back around in front of me, holding the pins that had kept my hair bun in place. "All set! You look ready for action."

  "Let's hope there's not too much," I said. "Sparkle, Penny, let's go!"

  I took my car, because I didn't want to make D.T. and Clark wait any longer than I already had.

  When I pulled up in front of the old social hall, D.T. was waiting out front in her short-sleeved duty uniform. She still had her stab vest on over it, of course - she'd said it was standard duty protocol these days - but from the way she stood I didn't think she was fully loaded on gear. She looked me up and down as I climbed out of my little red VW and whistled. "Hey there, sexy legs. Did you bring Caley with you?"

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  I felt my cheeks burn, but smiled in spite of my embarrassment. I was glad she liked my weird, informal fashion statement. "Stop that."

  D.T. laughed. "Why? The look on your face is adorable." She gestured up the street. "Clark's next door, getting the keys from Father Hill."

  The Oakwood Social Hall was a long, nondescript, two-story building, about as wide as two of the old-fashioned townhouses that dotted Oakwood. It looked like it had been built sometime in the 1960's, and was…very beige, and had a general air of definitely having seen better days.

  Beside it stood the parish church, a much older structure built of native stone in a fairly traditional Victorian Gothic style. It had the same sense of solidity to it as most of the older buildings in town, but also radiated a quiet warmth that surprised me. After a moment, I realized that I was actually feeling quiet warmth from it in a magical sense, and unconsciously stretched out my left hand toward it, spreading my fingers and trying to get a feeling for its energies.

  At the very least, it was well-warded, but not in the closed-down way that Oakwood Hall's wards were, where I had to silently approve anyone I wanted to come onto the grounds. Instead, it fairly hummed with a quiet, pervasive, protective power. Come inside, it seemed to say, nothing evil will touch you here.

  "Huh," I said, reconsidering my initial assessment of Father Hill.

  "What?" D.T. asked.

  I shook my head. "Nothing, really. Just mentally kicking myself for underestimating someone."

  "Mmm…nice Doc Martens, by the way," she said. "I thought you said you didn't have a pair yet."

  I shrugged. "They were in my closet when I was changing to come into town. I figured they'd protect my feet better than trainers."

  "Good for kicking things, too," D.T. agreed. "Does it ever weird you out, clothes just popping up in your closet like that?"

  "Not anymore," I replied honestly. "It freaked me right the heck out at first, though."

  "I can't even imagine," D.T. said, shaking her head a little. "Ah, here they come."

  The two men had just emerged from the church and were coming down the sidewalk toward us, Clark lifting a hand in greeting and calling out, "There you are!"

  "Sorry I'm late," I said as they reached us. "I had a busy, crazy morning."

  "No trouble, I hope," Father Hill said.

  I gave him a curious look, and resolved to make the time to get to know him. "No, no trouble. Just…complexities and puzzles. Things I have time to figure out; this is more pressing. You hold the keys to this place?"

  Father Hill nodded. "It's supposed to house the town offices on the second floor, but…as I understand it, not long after your mother died, the social hall started being…weird. Your father never had the time or bandwidth to deal with it, so one of the previous parish clerks left the keys in my predecessor's possession."

  Clark was looking at Father Hill in an amused, off-kilter sort of way. "Bandwidth?"

  Father Hill gave him a warm smile. "I'm only in my sixties, Clark, and I try to stay conversant with both modern problems and modern technology."

  Clark looked abashed. "Sorry, Father."

  "Quite all right. So, how do we want to do this?"

  I felt surprise wash over me. "We? I figured just Sergeant Burroughs and I would go in…"

  Clark and Father Hill shook their heads together, and stepped on one another's words in a brief hash of sound, followed by an almost comical exchange of 'you first' comments.

  "I could," Father Hill said finally, "withhold the keys unless you allow me to join you. But…I've lived practically next door for the last few years, and have bounced off of it on one memorable occasion. I feel a compelling need to genuinely know what's going on in there. To understand it for myself, first hand."

  I gave him a curious look. "That's an awfully worldly viewpoint for a man of faith, Father."

  He shrugged. "Not as much as you might think, perhaps. I have faith in God. But faith should never blind one to the realities of the world. Also, I have more first-hand knowledge of the phenomena here than anyone else in town."

  I smiled, finding myself liking him in spite of his collar and my upbringing. "Fair enough. Clark?"

  Clark smiled. "It's my job to be your liaison with the town. I can't do that properly if I don't have a feel for what's going on myself."

  "That sounds suspiciously like boredom talking," D.T. said dryly.

  "Maybe a little," Clark admitted.

  I sighed. "All right. But you really need to not talk to anyone else - except Malcolm and Judy, I suppose - about anything you see me do in there. There are people out there who don't seem to like 'mundane mortals' knowing about this sort of thing, and I don't know yet how serious they are about it."

  They both agreed readily. Well…introducing them to Sparkle and Penny ought to satisfy some of their curiosity, at least.

  Father Hill held out a ring of keys. "Who wants to do the honors."

  I started to reach for them, but D.T. beat me to it. "Let me," she said. "This way, if anything happens, I can at least claim that it was an official investigation into something. Possible intruders seems plausible, all things considered. Or even just an initial inspection before trying to re-open it." She grimaced. "We should've had a building inspector here."

  I touched her arm gently. "I appreciate your attempt to make it plausible, but let's face it…this town is weird, and nothing we can do will change that. I don't think I'd want to. Let's just take this as it comes, and clean up any messes after the fact."

  She nodded. "Sorry. It's my first real paranormal investigation, and I'm wavering back and forth between excited and nervous."

  Father Hill chuckled softly. "Never fear. God will watch over us."

  I resisted the urge to grimace or make a sarcastic comment. I had a feeling that he really meant it, and was genuinely trying to be reassuring. I could respect that. But it was a bit of a relief anyway to see D.T. roll her eyes as she leaned in to unlock the building.

  The social hall's double front doors, which turned out to have just a thin veneer of wood over metal cores, opened onto a huge, dim room that ran the entire length and width of the first floor. D.T. pulled the same small but extremely bright flashlight I'd seen her use the first night she'd walked me home from the pub, and flicked it on, illuminating the nearest part of the room quite clearly, and throwing the rest into contrasting shadows.

  "Close the doors behind us, please," I said to Clark and Father Hill as I followed D.T. inside.

  As soon as Father Hill had done as I asked, shutting out the daylight and casting the room entirely into the deep shadows cast by D.T.'s flashlight, I looked around. "Has anyone been paying the electric bill for this place?"

  "Oh yeah," Clark said. "It's been a bone of contention on the council for a couple of years. Hang on, the master switch panel is right here by the door…"

  I heard a click, and all around the room, elegant four-bulb hanging lamps came on. For just a moment, the room was well lit and friendly-looking. I saw lovely, honey-colored wood flooring and paneling that went about halfway up the wall. The top half was covered in a faded, but still pretty, abstract lines and floral print wallpaper.

  Then several of the light bulbs exploded violently in showers of sparks, and every light in the room went out at once.

  D.T. gasped out, "Holy shit!" as Clark just yelped in surprise. Father Hill grunted, but didn't seem particularly surprised otherwise.

  I just sighed. "I half expected that," I said. "This is probably going to get pretty weird before we're done. Father, Clark, before we go any further I need to introduce you to my other two companions. Sparkle, Penny, come out and say hello, please."

  Sparkle detached herself from the Master Key and grew to her natural fairy size, hovering between me and the two men as she bobbed a polite curtsy. "Hello!"

  At the same time, Penny - in her natural form - melted out of my shadow and sat down beside me. She was still difficult to pick out from the room's shadows, and winced a little when D.T. swung her flashlight around to illuminate her for a moment. But she gamely added a polite bow of her head and a gracious, "Greetings, gentlemen."

  "Father Hill, Clark, allow me to formally introduce you to Sparkle, a genuine fairy, and Penny, a dusk fox." I smiled. "They go everywhere with me."

  "How wonderful," Father Hill breathed reverently, leaning in a bit to get a better look at Sparkle. "Greetings to you both."

  "Wow," Clark said, blinking dazed eyes behind his glasses. "Wow. So…it's all real. Really real."

  D.T. and Penny both chuckled softly as Sparkle giggled behind her hands.

  "Oh yeah," D.T. said. "It's all real." She took the light off Penny, who made a relieved sound, and slowly played it around the room. "So, whatever's here doesn't want us to have ow!"

  Whatever she was about to say was cut off as she dropped her flashlight. Just before it hit the floor and went out, I saw her shaking her hand.

  "Are you all right?" I asked. "Sparkle, give us a bit of light, please, but not too much. Thank you, dear."

  Sparkle's gentle purple radiance spread around us, but didn't push the shadows back yet.

  D.T. held up her hand, palm towards Sparkle, and peered at it in Sparkle's dim light. "I've never had that happen before. Damn thing gave me a good, sharp shock. I don't think it burned me, though." She lowered her hand and looked around. "As I was about to say, something in here doesn't want us to have any light."

  "I would say you are correct," Penny said quietly, sniffing the air. "We must be cautious. I smell fae."