“There are characters that come into the shop at night, and all the aunts have seen them, and now I have, too—”
“I think Julia’s just excited about the shop, and also it might have something to do with the heat—”
“One at a time or I can’t figure out what you’re saying,” Antonia scolded. “Aurelia, why is Julia saying that you’ve seen these imaginary characters, too?”
“They’re not imaginary!” Julia exclaimed.
“There are no characters,” Aurelia said, shaking her head furiously at Julia.
“Aunt Aurelia, there are! Tell her!” Julia began crying, her face crumpling so that she looked much younger than her fourteen years. “I already told her, but if you don’t tell her the truth—that you see them too—she won’t believe me.”
Aurelia put her hand over the phone and tried to reason with her niece.
“Julia, we agreed—”
“Yes, but that was before I knew the characters are here for me—they came because ofme—and if I can’t figure out why they’re here before I leave, then I might not get to meet them again. You said they’re different every time. Cuff said so too.” Julia’s speech was rushed and interrupted by gasps as she tried to catch her breath through her tears.
“I’m sorry, Julia, but we can’t—I can’t—” Aurelia tried halfheartedly.
“I want Mum to know, Aunt Aurelia,” Julia said tearfully. “This is the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me! I want Mum to know, and I want her to believe me.”
“Aurelia!” Antonia shouted from the phone.
“Yes, I’m here,” Aurelia said at last, her voice resigned.
“Do I need to come up to London?”
Julia sat down on the armchair, her face streaming with tears as she gulped for air. Aurelia looked at her niece, who was broken with hurt and anger at her own hands, and knew there was no use fighting it anymore.
“I think you do.”
28
Antoniabookedthenexttrain for London and was due to arrive that evening. Julia ran upstairs after their call, refusing to speak to Aurelia. That left Aurelia in the shop, trying to figure out how she’d gone from looking forward to a pleasant night with Julia and the characters to having her world blown apart by a single phone call. They’d agreed that Antonia should make her own way to the shop from the station, so that Aurelia could stay with Julia and make sure she was alright. As Julia had barely left her room all day, however, it didn’t take much doing to keep an eye on her.
Aurelia kept the shop open until Antonia’s arrival just before six. As Antonia walked in the door, Aurelia rose from her desk, walked to the door, and locked it.
“Julia’s upstairs. She’s okay,” Aurelia said as she lowered the blinds and then silently led Antonia to the flat.
At the top of the stairs, Aurelia pointed the way to the guest room.
“I’ll see her in a minute,” Antonia said, nodding. She paced the living room, seeming to gather her forces before turning to face Aurelia, arms crossed. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
Aurelia literally had no idea. She’d thought about it all day: insisting that Julia was inventing things was unfair, especially now that Julia had told Antonia and was so determined to have the truth out. The alternative—being honest—was just as complicated but seemed the only way forward now.
“She was sobbing on the phone earlier. Why is she so convinced she’s seeing characters? Did she hit her head or something? Or were you two kidding around and she got carried away?”
“No, she didn’t hit her head, and we weren’t kidding around.”
Aurelia looked at Antonia and, for the first time in her life, was afraid of her sister—of what she might say or do.
“I’ve seen them too.”
Her words sat there for a moment until Antonia raised her eyebrows, inviting Aurelia to continue.
“It started when I first moved in here. I kept hearing voices in the shop at night—”
