Author: Stephanie Gildart

One moment, I was screaming as incorporeal forces dragged me forward, sneakers squealing on hardwood.

The next, I was standing on the threshold of a grand ball.

The voice I most wanted to hear flowed through Mx. Cardoso’s door and into my ears. I paused at the threshold, out of sight. Was Char back to school today, or was I imagining it?

The bed-and-breakfast Mx. Cardoso recommended to Rowen was on my way to school, more or less, so I swung by Tuesday morning to check on her. I wouldn’t be driving over to pick up Char—still no car—or riding my bike to Char’s to ride along with her to school, so I had to fill the time up with something.

No one invited me to the meeting between my mother, Mx. Cardoso, and Rowen, but I knew it was going down Monday night. I spent my school day juggling between distractions—pretending not to notice that Char wasn’t there, sending my potential buyer everything I had on Silphium and the town meetings up to this point, hyping up this option to my mother, trading messages with Sly about nothing important.

This time it was Sly feeding unexpected treats to Mx. Cardoso’s mouse familiar Arcie, while I was the one explaining that magic was real, the animated glass cat had to be enchanted, Hugh was a vampire, and he’d just hit Sly with some kind of charm.

In which Kerry tracks down the glass cat while Sly handles a vampire lawyer customer

In which Kerry and Sly open a secret compartment and discover a surprise inside.

I gave Rowen a rundown of everything I knew, all the intel I’d been gathering on Silphium for my mother, a play-by-play of the city council meetings regarding the sale of Paxwood House. She took it all in stride, jotting down notes in a small personal journal as I spoke. I wanted Mx. Cardoso to pipe up and contribute anything about the actual magic around Paxwood House and its ghostly residents, but they just ate their strawberry rhubarb pie and let me drive the info session.

Sunday, 19 May 2019, AfternoonPaxwood, Whatcom County, Washington, USAEyewitness: Kerry Maisey’s Diner had been a Paxwood staple since it opened in the fifties. Local, fresh, and classic—the menu hadn’t changed much, and neither had the decor. There was something novel

Sunday, 19 May 2019, Early AfternoonPaxwood, Whatcom County, Washington, USAEyewitness: Kerry Through the open repair bay door at Cardoso Auto, I spotted Dominic Cardoso working on a car. I moved close to the wall before he could spot me. Active