Earthbound: An Otherworld Novella (4 page)

“That’s a ranch, well it’s a ranch style house. I’ll explain the difference later. And that — see that three-story house there? That’s Victorian style.” She glanced at the newspaper, then tapped Yugi on the shoulder. “Turn left on Fitzweizer.”

He obliged. “Whatever you say, Miss Iris.”

I had the feeling they knew each other. As as the road began to wind even more, and houses were spaced further apart, the foliage became thicker than I’d ever expected to see in a city. Even in Y’Elestrial, most of the trees were confined to the parks. But Seattle seemed to be a conglomeration of woodland, city, and small town atmosphere all mixed together. I was beginning to get used to the traffic lights. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how they worked. Red meant stop. Green, go. Yugi slowed down when he saw yellow lights, so I figured that—over here—yellow was a cautionary warning.

“We’re looking for Victoria Street.” Iris glanced at the paper. “The realtor will meet us there.”

“What’s a realtor?” Delilah asked.

“Think of it like a house broker. The realtor acts as the go-between between the owner and the person who wants to buy the house. Realtors occasionally work with rental properties as well. Property is known as
real estate
. Yugi, we’re looking for number 33933.”

Yugi began glancing out of his side window, and Iris did the same on her side. As I looked at the houses passing by, I realized they had numbers printed on them. I pressed my nose against the window. We passed first one house and then another, and then we began passing posts with numbers on them that led into long driveways, where the houses were hidden from view.

After a few minutes, Yugi slowed and turned onto a gravel drive, at number 33933. We bumped along, but I was actually surprised by how much smoother the car was than a horse and carriage.

Trees lined both sides of the drive, overhanging the gravel path. I fell into a comfortable silence. The land here was beautiful, and I had the sudden desire to jump out of the car and talk to the plants. That was one of my gifts. I could speak with certain plants and sense their growth and their energy. Something inside me sparked when I looked at the land here.

“I really want to see this house,” I said suddenly, breaking the silence.

“I thought you might like the Belles-Faire area. A lot of Fae tend to live out here. The house we’re going to see is a little large, especially for just three of you, but I think you might like it. I just had a feeling…” Her voice drifted off as we pulled out of the drive in into the clearing.

Up ahead was a wide expanse of driveway, a half circle of dirt in front of a large three-story house. It was a Victorian by Iris’s description, and as I stared up at the pink and cream monster, something whispered, “Come live here. Wake me up.”

Beside me, Delilah let out a little gasp. “Did you hear that?” She was gazing at the house.

“You mean house?”

She nodded. “I think it’s talking to us.”

Iris laughed from the front seat. “I thought maybe this would be a contender. Come on, get out of the car. The real estate agent should be inside.”

As we entered the house, our steps echoed on the hardwood floors. The foyer was a little awkwardly placed, a T-shaped hall, with a coat closet directly across from the front door. From where we stood, to the left I could see a kitchen, and to the right looked to be a living room. Iris led us into the kitchen where a tall, thin woman was waiting. She was obviously half-Fae, I could tell just by looking at her, and she held a portfolio in her arms. She was wearing the most beautiful makeup I had ever seen, and I had a sudden desire to beg her to let me try it. But I restrained myself. Accosting a stranger for their cosmetics wasn’t exactly the best icebreaker.

Iris introduced us, and the realtor—whose name was Novena—led us on a tour, starting with the basement.

As we examined the tidy little suite of rooms, I thought it might work perfectly for Menolly.

“This has possibilities,” I said.

Delilah nodded. “Not much work to be done, really.”

The main floor contained the kitchen—which was huge, a pantry, the utility room, a cozy bedroom, a bath, a parlor and the living room. Two sets of stairs led up to the second story; one from beside the pantry, the other from the living room.

As we made our way up the narrow staircase, I ran my hands along the polished mahogany railing, listening to the resonance of the wood. The house was happy, but lonely. It needed a family to love it and take care of it.

The second story included three bedrooms and a bath. One of the bedrooms had a balcony overlooking the yard and all I could think about was how wonderful it would be to sit out under the stars, watching the moon. I needed to be out under the Moon Mother when she rode full on the night sky.

“This would be perfect for you,” Delilah said.

“I was thinking the same thing.”

We headed up to the third floor. The layout mirrored the second second story, for the most part. Bedrooms and a private bath, along with a narrow attic.

Delilah clapped her hands. “I could get used to it up here. Look how high it is!”

She opened one of the windows and leaned out, staring out at the branches of a huge oak tree brushed the eaves of the roof. The next moment, before I could stop her, my sister turned into a tabby cat—a blur of long golden fur and razor blades. Her clothes changed into a little blue collar around her neck.

“Delilah! Don’t you dare!” I dove for her, knowing what was coming next. But I hit the floor face first as she leapt to the windowsill and out onto the roof, scampering out of reach into the oak’s branches. I groaned as Yugi helped me up.

“Are you okay? And what the hell just happened?” Yugi stared out the window at Delilah, who is delightedly chasing a butterfly on to another branch.

“Welcome to my family,” I said, shaking my head. “In case Chase hasn’t told you, Delilah is a werecat. Only she has a problem with self-control. What the hell are we going to do now? I’m terrified of heights and if I tried to climb out there, I’ll fall off the damned roof and break my neck.” It was true. Heights, mountainsides, cliff sides—they did not mix well with my fear.

Iris snorted. “You’re not getting me out there.”

Yugi let out a sigh. “What will she do if I go after her?”

“Probably run. We need something to entice her back inside. The only thing she likes better than chasing bug are shiny things. Either of you got something like that?” I glanced over at the realtor who was stifling a grin. “You wouldn’t by chance have any ideas on what we should do?”

“Well, I might have something to help. Stand back and I’ll see what I could do. I promise I won’t hurt her.”

Novena waited until we were out of the way, then leaned out the window. She reached out one hand, and fluttered her fingertips. As we watched, a ribbon of sparkling lights unfurled from the palm of her hand, trailing out the window until it reached Delilah, who was now focused on chewing on a leaf. The dancing lights tapped her on the left haunch. Delilah jumped, her head jerking around. At first she looked startled, but then when she saw the lights her eyes grew wide. I stifled a laugh, not wanting to scare her off.

The next moment, Kitten was bouncing along behind the lights as the realtor drew them in along the branch. They rolled up just like a ribbon on a spool, but Delilah hadn’t figured out that we were baiting her. As Novena slowly stepped back, the lights followed her inside and she aimed them toward the floor. Delilah paused at the windowsill, glancing behind her at the branch, then with one mighty leap, she pounced on the sparkling lights. I slammed the window shut behind her.

Realizing that she had been conned, Delilah flashed us a nasty look and raced out of the room. I charged along behind her, but only managed to trip on a fold in the runner in the hall. Once again, I landed face first. With a groan, I rolled to the side, giving Yugi room to pass.

“Don’t let her get outside!”

The realtor followed him, as Iris helped me to my feet. Feeling bruised and battered, I stood, shrugged my shoulders back, and straightened my hair. Menolly had given me the go-ahead to make the decision on the house for her, and since I figured Delilah had already covertly approved it with her antics and loving the ‘way up high’ rooms, I turned to Iris.

“Well, I think we’re home.” And without further ado, we had found our house.

Chapter 4

The realtor pushed and less than two weeks later, we owned the house. We were able to negotiate moving in early and since we were paying cash for the place, the owner had no objections to closing quickly, especially since she had already moved out of town.

A week after finding the place, we were moved in, albeit with a conglomerate of thrift store furniture. Menolly had already started working at the Wayfarer, and we were in a taxi, on the way to the Indigo Crescent. I was about to see my shop for the first time.

“I need to head over to HQ,” Delilah said. We were already referring to the FH-CSI as our headquarters. “Chase wants to discuss my new business”

Iris frowned. “We’ll get you a ride over there when we get to the shop. But listen, girls, you have to learn how to drive this month. I know it’s a lot to take on so soon, but I’ve been running my ass off finding you rides.” Not only was the house sprite helpful, she was endearingly blunt. “I don’t mind playing secretary for a while longer, but I’ve got better things to do with my time. I’m going to set up lessons for you girls—all three of you. It will have to be at night. At least for Menolly.”

Delilah frowned. “Driving seems fun, but I have to admit I’m a little nervous. It’s not quite the same thing is steering a horse and buggy.”

“You certainly didn’t have any trouble learning how to use a cell phone.” Iris grinned at her.

Delilah snorted. “That’s different. I can’t kill anybody with a cell phone.”

In the past week, besides moving into our house, Iris had put us on a crash course in getting used to technology. She made us buy a blender, a toaster, a microwave oven, a mixer, a laptop computer, a television, a CD player, and a number of other gadgets we never would have thought of. Most of them were fairly simple, although the mixer made me nervous and I was grateful it was on a stand. The laptop was another matter, but Delilah immediately took to it. She also had fallen full-force into the joy of television and was headed toward full-scale addiction. Menolly loved the CD player, and we all thought the washer and dryer were a gift from the gods.

“Tell me about the store. What do I need to know?”

“It’s a bookstore. You sell books. That’s about it. I’ll show you how to use the cash register and how to make change, but most of your day will be talking to customers and helping them find what they’re looking for. Since I’m going to work with you, it shouldn’t take you too long to get the hang of things. You will have to learn how to set up and use an accounting system, and keep track of your profits and losses. But I don’t foresee any difficulties.”

Menolly had taken to her job in a way that none of us had expected. She had been working for the past three nights, and her mood had altered in a subtle, but noticeable, way. She didn’t seem quite so angry and I even heard her humming at one point.

As the taxi pulled into the curb and Iris paid them, I jumped out of the backseat and wandered over to stare at the bookstore. A sign that reminded me of an old-fashioned pub sign hung over the street, projecting from the face of the building. It read
The Indigo Crescent
, and had the image of crescent moon with a book balancing on the bottom point of the crescent.

I pressed my face to one of the large windows and stared into the dim space. I could see shelves lined with books and a glass counter that ran the length of the front. Feeling inexplicably excited, I turned around as Iris fit the key into the lock and opened the door.

She glanced at me.” Welcome to your new world.”

I stepped inside, gasping at the shelves filled with books. “We have storytellers in Otherworld, and we have our own form of books, but nothing like this. So many books…” I stared around, taking in the embarrassing wealth of visions and dreams and tales. “How can you even hope to read a quarter of all these books in a lifetime when you’re human? My mother’s people are…” My voice trailed off and I shook my head. “When I do go home, you can bet I’m taking a store’s worth of books with me.”

“Oh, this is a fraction of the books available.” Iris laughed. “You love to read?”

“I love stories. I love reading, storytelling, and everything that goes into it. I could never
be
a good storyteller—that’s not my path. But when I was little, my mother used to tell us stories. Every time our father was sent Earthside on a mission, she’d have him bring back books. She taught me to read when I was little, and I taught Menolly and Delilah.” I whirled around in the middle of the shop, my skirts swirling. “I’m so glad they assigned me this job. Maybe that freak of a boss of mine had some spark of regret in his heart, though I doubt it.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re happy. Come on, let’s see the rest of the place.” She led us through the store. It was all fairly basic. There was an office for me to keep accounts and business in, a storeroom, a very tiny break room, and a bathroom. The back of the store had a door leading out to an alley. And out front, a narrow staircase led upstairs to the suite of rooms Delilah would be using for her detective agency.

We headed upstairs to the dusty suite of rooms, Iris tallying up a list of things we might need. The OIA had ensured that we had the foundation—furniture, and for the Indigo Crescent—stock. But there were no personal touches or anything to make us stand out in any way.

“What now?” Delilah asked.

I frowned. The OIA had really tossed us into the river without a boat. “I guess we do our best to make this work, if for no other reason than to thumb our noses at the OIA. Iris, this afternoon, would you teach me about the business? And do you know anybody who can take Delilah shopping for whatever she needs for her business?”