Chương 22: Chapter 21 - Mission: Christmas

Jacob leaned his head around the corner. A second later, he turned to me, ultra-serious, and nodded.

"All right, Jan," I whispered to the little ghost in front of me.

"Go secure the hall!" Jan went down the hall toward the outer door, then came back.

"All clear," he whispered.

"Perfect. Everyone in place. All lights green. Prepare to engage." Behind me I heard Jacob say, "What's she talking about?" Jan shrugged.

"Are you going to go watch Kappa with Anna, or do you want to watch the door?" I asked.

"I'll watch the door," Jan said.

"Good boy. Let's move out." I crept out of my hiding spot and slunk down the hall in the most ninja-like manner possible. I had to use extra sneak because Conrad was right behind me, and he refused to sneak at all. We'd almost made it to the washroom when Jacky appeared in front of me so suddenly that I smacked into him with an oof. I had long ago stopped trying to figure out how Jack Noctis moved around. You could call it walking, but sometimes it was unaccountable.

He might have come out of the washroom, or he might have appeared there by some wacky spatial magic— I didn't know. My only consolation was that he seemed almost as surprised to see me as I was to see him. He straightened us out by putting his skeletal hands on my shoulders and pushing me back a step.

"Emerra, what are you doing?" I saluted.

"Covert Christmas mission, sir."

"A covert…mission?"

"This is me being all espionage-ly." His skull rose so he could take in the other figures in the hall.

"Is Jan with you?"

"He offered to monitor position three. He's my door guard."

"And Jacob?"

"Position two—securing the hall."

"Conrad, what's your role in all of this?"

"Bemused spectator," the wolfman said.

"He says that," I said, "but he's actually the client. We're here to get him vital Christmas information. I also needed someone to help me with the photos."

"And that information requires you to invade the washroom?"

"I've been assured by my client that none of this is required, and I'm probably being ridiculous. We want to look at Kappa's rock collection so we can figure out what to get him for his present." In my impatience to get past Jacky, I started fidgeting.

"Ah," he said.

"I suppose that makes some sense. Where's Anna?"

"She's watching Kappa at the moment, but since she's a ghost she's going to have a hard time stopping him if he decides to come back." I swept both hands in the direction of the main house, hoping to encourage Jacky to stop blocking the doorway. He stepped aside.

"Don't let me detain you."

"Your cooperation is appreciated, sir." I put Jan just inside the door and told him to give me a shout if he saw Kappa coming. Then I pulled out my phone, opened the camera app, and handed it to Conrad.

"Pull back one of those curtains, will you? We're going to need some more light." While he went to do that, I crawled under the antique wash table where Kappa hid his nest. I turned on my flashlight (I might have been ridiculous, but I was not unprepared) and pointed it toward the wall. There, laying along the top of the stretcher, was his rock collection. I put the flashlight at the end of the line and pointed it along the stretcher so I could see what I was doing. Love what you're reading?

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"Are you ready, Conrad? I'm going to take them out one at a time and put them back in their place so he won't know we've been here."

"Ready whenever you are." It didn't take long. Kappa only had seven rocks. When we had photographed and returned each one, I skulked over to Jan and put my back to the wall.

"Still clear?" I whispered.

"Still clear." He winked at me. At least Jan was enjoying the game. I turned to Conrad, "Agent Jan says we're good to go." As the wolfman closed the curtain, he said, "Ghost agents would really be something. It's a shame Darius can't use them."

"No!" I was still whispering, but it was an appalled whisper.

"They're Christmas agents only. To be used for the benefit of…bog-creature-kind." And Jan, god bless him, went, "Yeah!" I smiled down at him.

"Okay, let's go." I pivoted around the doorway and sauntered through the hall, looking as casual as the coolest kid in class. Jan walked beside me, doing his best to act nonchalant. Conrad came up behind us. He always looked casual. He didn't have to try.

"Does Madam Spy want her phone back yet?" he asked.

"If you please." He passed it to me. As I tucked it in my pocket, I said, "If anybody asks, we were…uh…"

"Doing our laundry?"

"You're pretty good at this, Agent Conrad."

"I thought I was your client."

"You're so good at it, I didn't realize you were an agent until we were almost done with the mission."

"Remind me to ask M for a raise." When we got to Jacob, I told him to inform Anna that we were all clear and that she could find us in the library. Conrad and I knew exactly nothing about rocks, so we had decided to ask Iset for help. She lingered over each of the seven photos.

"Well, I can tell you what kind they are." She tilted my phone as she stared at the last picture.

"And I can tell you how they were made, geologically speaking, but as for why he might have chosen them over another rock—that'll be more difficult."

"Is there some kind of pattern? They weren't one color. Were they all one type?"

"No. There's quite a variety here. Some of them look like they could have been chosen for texture, but these others…" She shook her head, then looked up at me, "Emerra, how did you know about this collection?"

"He showed it to me once. He was trying to cheer me up."

"He thought that would cheer you up?" Conrad said.

"Rocks make him happy."

"Did he say anything about them?" Iset asked.

"Yeah. He said one was pretty, one was colorful—""Which one?"

"Uh…let me see if I can figure it out." I held out my hand for my phone. Iset handed it over.

"You don't remember?" I sat down on the couch beside her.

"It was dark, so I couldn't really see what he was showing me, but I might be able to remember what they felt like." I paused at the third photo and leaned over so Iset could see it.

"This one. He said this one was pretty. That's the right shape." Two pictures later, I said, "And this one's his favorite. I remember that edge." I flipped through the last photos, then went backward. When I was back at the beginning of the series, I frowned and started to flip through them again.

"What is it?" Iset asked.

"I can't find the colorful one—although…this one looks like it's the right size. It was smaller. But it's not very colorful, is it?" Conrad leaned over the back of the couch so he could look at the photo.

"No," Iset sounded puzzled, "it isn't."

"Maybe he likes gray," Conrad said. Suddenly Iset laughed.

"We're all so blind, aren't we?" Conrad and I stared at her.

"Can you see it, Emerra?" She tapped the phone.

"No?"

"I guess your eyes only see into the spirit realm."

"As opposed to?" Conrad said.

"The ultraviolet spectrum." Iset stood up, walked over to her desk, and opened her laptop.

"If I'm right, then Kappa sees a very different world than we do. Give me an hour or two and I'll have a few recommendations for rocks he should enjoy."

"Thank you," I said. She stopped and looked at me.

"Emerra, how are you feeling?" I blushed.

"I'm fine. I promise." I wondered if it'd be presumptuous of me to apologize.

"You're not tired?"

"No." That was mostly true. I wasn't tired, per se, although I had less energy than I was normally gifted with.

"Then I'd like to ask you for a favor."

"Me?" I blurted out.

"You mean, me? Oh, yes!"

"You seem excited."

"You're always helping with everything. This is the first time I can be useful to you." She shook her bandaged head.

"Oh, Emerra."

"What can I do for you?"

"I'd like you to go into town with Darius. He's leaving after lunch. I should warn you, he's probably going to be there for a while, so bring a book in case you get bored."

"No problem." My brain corrected me, and my heart sank.

"Slight problem. I'm afraid I don't have any money, so I won't be able to pick up anything for you."

"You don't have any—oh. That's right." Iset picked up a pen and pulled over a small block of post-it notes.

"We'll have to get you some paperwork. But this time, at least, you won't need any money."

"Cool! I'm going to the library." Iset stopped writing.

"What makes you say that?"

"It's one of the few places you can hang out without spending any money. Am I wrong? Does our town not have a library?" Iset finished writing her note.

"You're almost right. Our town does have a library—not a big one, mind you, but it's respectable. However, that's not where I'm sending you."

"Then where am I going?"

"The Westcott Historical Museum. There you will find the world's most worthless fossil, and all the archives he refuses to upload to the internet."

"I'm picking up on a little frustration there, Iset." The mummy threw down her pen and turned to me, one hand on her hip.

"You would think, in this day and age, that the historical society would be able to find someone who knows how to use a computer."

"Well, by the time someone's joining a historical society, they're probably pretty old. Lots of old people aren't comfortable with technology."

"If I can do it, they have no excuse." I decided it wasn't my place to argue about ageism with a three-thousand-year-old mummy.

"All right, Iset, what would you like me to look up for you?"

"Anything and everything about the Krusen Patroonship."

"The what?" She picked up her phone and typed something. A moment later, my phone dinged; she'd messaged me the proper spelling of the words. I stared at them as she spoke.

"It was a small Dutch colony that used to be in this area. I think it might be where the children are from."