Arcana
By Athena-Luna
"Emily and Livia"
After leaving the Dodds in the offices, Emily crept through the cold, formal parlor into the two-story foyer. As quiet as she tried to be, her clunky shoes echoed on the marble tiles of the house’s entrance. “God forbid they have a rug or two in here to warm the place up!” She said to herself. She found the library slightly less forbidding, with its warm wood floor and paneling. Floor to ceiling shelves filled three walls, with two leather arm chairs adjoining the windowed fourth wall.
Standing for a moment in the middle of the small room, Emily looked wearily at the thousands of volumes surrounding her. She’d be here looking for hours, if the Beechams didn’t come home first. She fervently hoped the Dodds would find something quickly. She swung her flashlight back towards to offices. She thought she saw Steven in the inner office, but he was so far away she couldn’t tell if he saw her or not. She waved at him anyway. He’s so cute, she thought. I wonder if he really plans to stick around or if he’ll go back to L.A.? She mused about her chances with the eldest Dodd, allowing herself to delay looking for incriminating evidence on the Beechams.
“Jenny?”
Emily gasped and whipped her head back to look at the shelves opposite the window. The voice was a mere whisper, but it was definitely a voice. And it seemed to come from a wall of books.
“Stevie...?” She whispered hoarsely, knowing that Steven couldn’t hear her.
“Jenny, is that you, dear?” Now Emily could tell the voice was that of a woman, an older woman, probably. Who in the world...? But as soon as the thought formed she realized who it must be. Livia! But where was she? Emily swung the flashlight in a dizzying zig-zag over the wall, looking for...well, she didn’t know what she was looking for, but nowhere did she see an indication of where Livia Beecham was.
Then it hit her. Livia had called her ‘Jenny’ -- her mother’s name! Livia apparently knew Jennifer, and must have known her for a long time if she called her ‘Jenny’. The old woman must be able to see her somehow, Emily thought, because she probably looked enough like her mother in the poor light from the window to fool Livia.
“Um...Livia?” Emily ventured, hoping to elicit a further response and allow herself to find the lady. Suddenly she saw a light behind the central rows of books, their growing silhouette accompanied by the sound of wood sliding on wood. The section of books quickly slid away and Livia Beecham came into view.
“Jenny, dear! It is you!” Livia waddled out and clasped Emily’s hand. “Come join me in my parlor, quickly now, before Thomas sees you!” Before Emily could call out to the Dodds Livia had tugged her forward to the entrance to Livia’s ‘parlor’.
Emily stared, rapt, into the brightly lit room. It was small but cozy, with a couple of floral-print overstuffed chairs, a television on an old-fashioned TV stand, and various bric-a-brac on the walls and end tables. On her right was a tall window, and through an open door on her left she spied the beginnings of stairs leading to the basement.
“Let me get you some tea, dear.” Livia moved towards the stairs. “Why don’t you shut the door while I get it?” As she disappeared through the second door stepped through the first and turned to look at it.
The shelves of books had swung into this room on hinges along the left side of the door. On the right side was an open door with a handle on the back and only a keyhole showing on the side that had faced the books. Emily trotted back through the opening and ran for the foyer.
She stopped abruptly and stifled a scream when she ran into Steven and the others, who’d just run through from the offices to find her.
“Guess what I found!” Hillary tugged at Emily’s arm as the other three surrounded her.
“Guess who I found!” Emily said triumphantly.
“Jenny, what are you doing?” The Dodd’s turned with a start at tthe sound of Livia Beecham’s voice, and only then noticed that the old woman was standing in a doorway where only books should be.
“Livia,” Emily whispered, grabbing Steven’s and Hillary’s arms and pulling them after her. “These are friends of mine that I wanted you to meet...I hope you don’t mind that I brought them?” In the dramatic backlight of Livia’s parlor they could not see her face, but after a second she simply motioned them to follow her and disappeared into the light.
* * * * *
Previous Chapter --> The Break-In
Read also:
From Hubie to Pegs
Steven's Intro
The Library
The Plot
