Elegy

EIGHT Ransack

“Well, this clearly isn’t working,” Marcy said, as Daniel dangled his legs through the hole in his ceiling.

He’d been crawling around in the narrow attic above his house. The only way in or out of the attic was through a square doorway in the ceiling above his closet, and he slid through it before dropping to the ground.

“Sorry, Gemma,” Daniel said as he brushed dust and cobwebs off his clothes. “There’s nothing up there but mouse poop and a skeleton from a bat, which was actually pretty creepy.”

“Nice,” Marcy said, nodding in approval.

Gemma leaned past Daniel and peered up into the darkness, as if she’d be able to spy something that he hadn’t been able to see with a flashlight.

The whole time Daniel had been searching his attic, Marcy had been sitting on his queen-sized bed. While he was out of sight, she’d taken the liberty of going through his nightstand drawers. Now that he was back, she was absently leafing through the worn copy of The Old Man and the Sea he had on his nightstand.

“Have you even read this?” Marcy asked Daniel, and gestured to the book. “I bet you haven’t even read it. I bet you put it on the nightstand so people would think you’re smart. Do you think Hemingway impresses Harper?”

“No, I think that was my grandfather’s book, and I have read it,” Daniel said. “Twice.”

“I have 101 Ways to Live Longer on my nightstand, so if I die in my sleep, when the paramedics or mortician or whoever come in, they’ll see it, and be all, ‘Well, I guess that book didn’t work,’ and they’ll have a good laugh,” Marcy said. “It’s important to laugh in times like that.”

“Are you sure you didn’t miss anything?” Gemma asked. She was standing on her tiptoes and leaning on the T-shirts Daniel had hanging in his closet.

“I looked in every nook and cranny,” Daniel assured her. “There’s nothing up there.”

Gemma sighed. “There has to be something we missed.”

“Why? Why does there have to be something we missed?” Marcy asked.

“Because.” Gemma stepped out of Daniel’s closet and ran a hand through her hair. “If Thalia was a muse, there just has to be something, and I looked through all her papers last night—”

“I know,” Marcy said, without looking up from Daniel’s book. “I was there. I helped, remember?”

After the visit to Cherry Lane Books, Harper had called Gemma and instructed her to immediately start going through the box of Bernie’s stuff she’d left in her bedroom. Gemma did as she was told, and when Marcy returned from Sundham, she joined Gemma.

They’d spent hours going through the box, making sure to look over and analyze every scrap of paper for any possible clue or hint to Thalia’s true nature. Unfortunately, it all ended up being fairly ordinary.

It seemed to be Bernie’s collection of Thalia’s things, his memories of her, and not any of her actual stuff. Mostly it was photographs, wedding programs, and newspaper clippings about their marriage and about Bernie buying the island and building the cabin. He’d even pressed flowers from her bridal bouquet and a few from her funeral.

Nothing pointed to her being a muse or supernatural at all, and there was definitely nothing about how to break the curse or kill the sirens.

“My point is that there has to be something,” Gemma said.

“You keep saying that, but I don’t get why there has to be anything,” Marcy reiterated.

“Marcy, can you give it a rest with the negative commentary?” Daniel asked.

“I’m not trying to be a bitch. I just really don’t understand,” Marcy said.

“Penn, Lexi, and Thea ransacked this house looking for something.” Gemma turned to Daniel. “You remember that night back in June, when I ran off with the sirens? We came out here because they were out here. They killed Bernie, and they were tearing his house apart.”

“You think they killed Bernie because they were trying to find Thalia’s notes or whatever?” Daniel asked.

“Right. They believed that something was here,” Gemma said. “I think that’s why they came to Capri in the first place. Looking for something in this house. And I’m not saying that it will break the curse, but it’s something they thought was important.”

“Are you sure they haven’t already found it?” Marcy asked, setting Daniel’s book on the bed next to her.

“I don’t think so.” Gemma furrowed her brow, trying to remember that night. “When I got here, they were still going through stuff. I think Thea was digging around in the kitchen. If they’d found what they were looking for, they wouldn’t have still been searching.”

“But they left without it,” Daniel said. “And Penn’s been back to the island a few times, and she hasn’t looked for anything.”

“Penn’s been back?” Gemma asked, and he immediately lowered his eyes and scratched the back of his head. “Like, to visit?”

Daniel shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “It’s not like I can just tell her to get lost.”

“Actually, you can,” Gemma said.

“Not if I want to keep the peace.” He looked at her then, his hazel eyes imploring her to understand. “We both do what we need to do to keep the people we care about safe. Right?”

“Yeah but…” Gemma trailed off. “Does Harper know about this?”

“Does Harper know about all the things you’re up to?” Daniel countered.

Gemma sighed and stared up at the ceiling. Of course Harper didn’t know everything. In fact, Gemma knew about Penn’s interest in Daniel, and she’d specifically chosen not to tell her sister about it. She trusted him not to do anything to hurt Harper, and telling her sister would only make her worry.

But Gemma hadn’t known that Penn was visiting him. That changed things. Gemma kept things from Harper that would only scare her—not things that could actually hurt her.

“So … what’s going on with you and Penn?” Marcy asked.

“Nothing.” Daniel shook his head. “She just has a crush on me or something, and I tolerate it because I don’t want to piss her off.”

“Tolerate it how?” Marcy asked. “With sex?”

“Marcy.” Daniel scoffed, but he lowered his eyes again.

“Daniel,” Gemma said firmly, and moved so he’d have to look at her. “We made a deal, remember? We said we’d tell each other everything, so we could have each other’s backs.”

“No, that wasn’t the deal.” He shook his head. “The deal was that you’d tell me everything so I could have your back. I can handle myself, but really, there’s nothing to handle.” He forced a smile. “Nothing’s going on.”

“But if something is…” Gemma paused, choosing her words carefully. “If something happens. You can tell Harper. She’ll understand.”

“I know,” Daniel said. “I do, and I will, if anything does happen. But right now, I can’t bother her. She’s got way too much on her plate, with school and all the siren stuff.”

“Yeah, and don’t forget her roommate from hell,” Marcy added.

Gemma turned back to Marcy, relieved by a break in the tension. “Oh, you mean Liv?”

“Yeah.” Marcy tilted her head, looking confused. “I thought you said she was nice when you met her.”

“She seemed nice enough,” Daniel agreed. “Kinda forgettable, I guess, since I don’t remember her that well.”

“She’s a siren now, so she’s a bit more memorable,” Gemma said.

“What?” Daniel asked.

“She’s what?” Marcy asked, almost in unison with Daniel.

“How long has she been a siren?” Daniel demanded. “You let Harper live with a siren?”

“No, no.” Gemma shook her head and raised her hands defensively. “Liv hasn’t been a siren that long. A week, tops. But she moved out on Tuesday, and that’s when I found out she was a siren. So I haven’t told Harper.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell Harper?” Daniel asked with mystified anger.

“Because Liv was gone and out of her hair, and I didn’t want to worry Harper about there being another siren,” Gemma hurried to explain. “I thought I’d tell her this weekend, when she’s home, so I can make sure she doesn’t freak out.”

“Well, you should have told her sooner,” Marcy said. “Liv was a total psycho. She like trashed the room and attacked Harper.”

“What?” Gemma asked, and it was her turn to sound shocked. “When?”

“What are you talking about?” Daniel asked.

“I don’t know. I think … Tuesday or something?” Marcy shrugged. “You guys really need to talk to each other. This whole keeping-secrets thing is bullshit.”

“I’m not trying to keep secrets,” Gemma said. “She’s already under so much stress, I just don’t want to add anything on top of it.”

“Why didn’t she tell me about it?” Daniel asked no one in particular.

“Probably for the same reason you haven’t told her about Penn’s visiting you,” Gemma said.

Marcy sat up straighter, and her blank expression seemed to brighten. “I just realized that I’m the only one completely in the loop. I know everything that’s going on around here.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not true,” Daniel said.

“Wanna bet? Try me,” Marcy said.

“Okay.” Daniel thought for a minute before asking, “Where are more papers from Thalia?”

“I don’t know.” Marcy raised one shoulder in a half shrug. “In some secret hidden space.”

“Thanks for illuminating that for us,” Gemma said dryly. “It’s really helpful.”

“No really, what if there’s a secret space that’s not out in the open,” Marcy expounded on her earlier statement. “You bend a candlestick to the side, and a door pops open, or you move a book, and the bookcase twirls around to reveal a hidden chamber. That kinda thing.”

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest. “Since this is a one-bedroom cabin, and not a mansion, and every square foot is accounted for, I don’t think that’s an option.”

“Then try under a loose floorboard or something,” Marcy suggested. “That’s where I hid all my personal items when I still lived at home with my parents.”

“Are there loose floorboards?” Gemma looked up at Daniel.

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “I guess we’ll look.”

The three of them split up to search for loose floorboards or any kind of “secret” nook they might have missed in the house. Marcy attempted to take Daniel’s bedroom, but he shooed her out and suggested she try the living room.

Gemma went into the bathroom and tried to peel back any loose tiles. She didn’t find anything, but she did manage to break a porcelain tile in half. She was on her hands and knees, looking for any loose boards in the kitchen, when she heard Marcy swear.

“Did you find something?” Gemma asked, and she instantly got to her feet so she could look over the kitchen counter.

“No.” Marcy was kneeling beside the couch and scowling at her fingers. “But I got a splinter trying to pull a board up.”

“I don’t think there’s anything under there.” Daniel sighed. He came out of his bedroom and shook his head sadly. “I haven’t noticed anything loose or creaking, and I think this is a dead end. And you have to be at the theater soon for the play.”

“Dammit.” She’d forgotten, and she dug her cell phone out of her pocket to check the time. “I have at least another ten minutes before I need to leave here. Let’s just keep looking.”

Marcy stood up. “Is there anyplace we haven’t looked?”

“I don’t know.” Daniel glanced around his living room.

“What about that?” Marcy asked. She’d started sucking on her finger, presumably in an attempt to remove the splinter, but she pointed to the fireplace with her free hand.

“What?” Gemma asked.

“In the fireplace.” Marcy took her finger out of her mouth so she’d be easier to understand. “That stone’s a different shade of gray.”

The whole fireplace was done up in large river rocks. Most of them were varying shades of light to medium gray, smoothed and polished to look nice. But one stone near the end of the mantel was a very dark gray with a bluish tone to it.

“Did you replace that stone or something?” Gemma asked Daniel, but she could already feel her heartbeat speeding up.

“No, I didn’t.” He shook his head and walked over to the fireplace, with Gemma right at his heels.

Slowly, almost gingerly, Daniel touched the stone. He started to wiggle it, and at first, nothing happened. Then he started pushing and pulling at it harder until it finally began to budge. As he started to slide the stone out, Gemma held her breath.

“Here.” He handed it to her, then he reached into the dark hole left in the fireplace and began to dig around. “I found something.”

“What is it?” Gemma asked.

“I don’t know. I think…” He let his sentence trail off as he pulled out a small, leather-bound book. “It’s a book.”

“Oh, my gosh.” Gemma nearly dropped the stone trying to take it from him, but Daniel caught the rock and set it on the ground. He stood behind her, peering over her shoulder as she flipped through it.

As soon as she saw the words, she knew. The small, delicate cursive matched the handwriting on the back of some of the pictures they’d gotten from Bernie’s house.

“‘On June 16, 1961, I married my one true love, Bernard McAllister,’” Gemma read aloud. “This is it, you guys. This is Thalia’s journal.”

“I told you I know everything,” Marcy said.

“Does it say anything else?” Daniel asked. “Like anything about sirens?”

“I don’t know.” Gemma flipped through the pages with trembling hands, scanning the faded ink on the yellowed pages. “It seems to be a lot of day-to-day stuff. Their garden. How much she loves Bernie.”

Then Gemma flipped to the back, and her heart sank.

The journal had been divided up into three sections—a calendar at the front, the journal pages in the middle, and a “notes” section in the back, for important information, like birthdays and addresses.

Writing covered the last section, written over the typed words, in the margins, sideways, to the ends of the pages and off them. Thalia had completely filled it … and all of it was written in symbols and shapes—a language that Gemma didn’t understand.

“Crap,” Gemma said. “It’s in Greek or something again.”

“Maybe it can help Lydia with the translation she’s working on,” Marcy suggested.

“We could bring it out to her tonight,” Gemma said. “See if she can make anything out of it.”

“You can’t,” Daniel said. He’d been reading over her shoulder, but he took a step back now.

“What? Why not?” Gemma asked.

“The Taming of the Shrew opens tonight. Remember?” he asked.

She waved him off. “No, I have an understudy or something. I need to stay and read this.”

“No, you need to go be in the play,” Daniel said.

“That’s insane.” Gemma shook her head. “This could be the piece we’ve been looking for.”

“You can’t even understand all of it,” Daniel said. “And if you skip the play, Thea and Penn will know something’s up, and that could be bad news. You don’t want them breathing down your neck while you’re trying to figure out this journal.”

Gemma sighed. “Good point.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said. “Now come on. I’ll take you guys back to the mainland.”

Gemma grumbled, but she did as she was told. On the boat ride back, she sat down in the sleeping quarters, safely away from the spray that might damage Thalia’s journal. She sat cross-legged on the bed and decided to read the parts she could decipher, and she started from the beginning.

In big letters in blotchy dark ink, Thalia had written an important inscription on the back of the front cover:

My dearest Bernard—if ANYTHING happens to me, you need to dispose of this. Nobody can ever find the secrets I’ve kept within these pages. It could be dangerous if in the wrong hands. For your safety, please destroy this.