But back at home several hours later, that heaviness returned slowly—perhaps it was in his shoulders or his eyes. She noticed it even through his smiles as Julia told him about all the things she wanted to ask Kitty that night. Aurelia couldn’t be sure what it was, and it was hard to get a minute alone with him to ask. Sensing that something was wrong, or at least not quite right, put her slightly off kilter, too.
“We have a plan for tonight,” Antonia announced as they settled around the living room.
“We do?” Aurelia asked.
“I mapped out a few more experiments. Tonight, Oliver and I are going to hide in the back room.”
“In the shop? That’s not going to work,” Julia said, shaking her head. “You can’t be in the shop.”
“We won’t be. We’ll be tucked away. But maybe with the door to the back room cracked open, we’ll be able to see them. And maybe hear them a bit better than we could on the stairs.”
Antonia turned to Aurelia as if waiting for her to give her opinion, though it was clear from Antonia’s expression that her mind was made up already.
“I think it’ll count as part of the shop, but you could try it. I suspect if the door to the back room is open, the characters won’t appear at all.” Aurelia repressed a smile at the thought that she sounded just like Sergeant Cuff. “Who knows, though. We can see if it works.”
“Mum, this isn’t fair. I’m going to lose an entire night with them—again.”
“Maybe not!” Antonia said cheerfully. “Anyway, you have a lifetime to spend with them, Julia.”
“Yes, but only another week and a half for right now.”
“I have a few more ideas to try, but I promise—after that, you can get back to spending time with them on your own.”
Aurelia looked at Oliver, who had been sitting silently next to her. As Antonia and Julia continued discussing the plan, Aurelia asked him quietly, “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” he said, smiling.
It looked like one of his genuine smiles, but Aurelia felt a twinge of doubt that she couldn’t shake for the rest of the evening. With no real chance to push him on whether he really was ‘fine,’ Aurelia was left to cross her fingers that this latest experiment would work.
43
“Itoldyouitwouldn’twork,” Julia said for the millionth time as they stood around the kitchen the next morning.
“We know, Julia. Stop gloating—it’s annoying.” Antonia raised an eyebrow at her, then turned back to Aurelia. “Tonight we have a better plan. Two experiments in one, and neither one likely to make the characters shoo unexpectedly.”
“More experiments?” Julia asked, failing to keep the frustration from her voice.
“Yes, but two at the same time,” Antonia reminded her. “If these two don’t work, I don’t have any other brilliant ideas at the moment. What about you, Oliver?”
“These seem like the last best shot.” He caught Aurelia’s eye and added, “We don’t have to do it tonight if you don’t want to?”
“Good idea,” Julia said, biting into her toast. “Let’s put it off for a bit.”
“Julia!” Antonia exclaimed, exasperated.
“No, let’s try it tonight,” Aurelia said encouragingly. “What are you planning?”
“First, we’re going to set up a camera in the shop to see if we can spot them on film.”
Aurelia’s jaw dropped open, but Antonia didn’t seem to notice.
“Second, we’re going to ring the shop—you’ll have to answer, of course—and we’ll see if we can hear them better over the phone.”
“We can try the phone, but the camera…” Aurelia couldn’t manage to get the words out. It seemed like trying to capture aliens or ghosts on film, like putting over a trick on the characters.
“It’s kind of creepy,” Julia finished for her.
“It’s not like we’re spying on them in a dressing room or something,” Antonia said.
