More smoke.
Calisa waited, but it didn’t resolve into any more words. “Can you only answer yes-or-no questions?”
No.
“Then will you please tell me where I can find the inn’s logbook?”
No.
She blinked at the mirror. That was not what she was expecting. “Why not?”
I don’t want to.
“Um, okay, is there anything I can do or say to get you to change your mind? Is there anything you want or need? Are you…trapped inside the mirror? Do you need help?”
I’m fine. Go away.
Despite herself, Calisa laughed. “That’s a whole mood right there. Wow, this place.” She turned away from the mirror to study the lobby. If the mirror, which was stuck to the wall, knew where the records book was, then it was likely someplace visible from the mirror’s vantage point, which also made sense given how quickly Auntie Zee had accessed it when Calisa checked in.
She contemplated the desk and the wall of keys, which was clearly in the view of the mirror. And she noticed there was a hinge on one side of the board that held keys.
Like a door hinge.
Huh.
Striding toward it, Calisa pulled the board open and faced an iridescent purple swirl, about two feet by two feet. She shot a grin at the unfriendly shadow mirror and then reached into the portal.
She felt cold prick her skin, and she wondered if the air in other realms was ever toxic. Or radioactive. Or just generally unfriendly. She reminded herself that Auntie Zee had done this, and Calisa hadn’t seen her wear gloves. Feeling around, her fingers brushed against what felt like hard leather. She put her hand down flat. A book?
She grabbed it and pulled.
The logbook fell out of the purple portal into her hands.
“Yes!” Calisa shouted, and then immediately regretted the shout.
Glancing around, she saw no one except for the mirror. It had returned to swirling smoke. She hoped it was ornery enough not to tell anyone what she’d done. She clutched the registrar to her chest and darted down the hall and into her guest room.
The firebird danced on the hearth as if it was happy to seeher.
“Our little secret, okay?” she asked the firebird.
It flapped its wings over the logs, fanning the flames higher, and she wasn’t sure if that was a yes or no or if it understood her at all. She waited a moment, but the bird didn’t seem as if it planned to flee with the news that she’d absconded with Auntie Zee’s hidden logbook. Perhaps it knew she’d stolen it in order to find the missing innkeeper? Perhaps it approved?Or perhaps it’s just a bird. Made of flame.
Opening the cover, Calisa studied the pages.
It began with a date that was 150 years ago.
She’d had no idea the Faraway Inn was that old. She wondered who had owned it before Auntie Zee. A relative? Was this a family business, passed from one generation to the next? She wondered if Mom-Kate had ever thought about staying and running the inn. She tried to imagine what it would have been like to grow up here, to be surrounded by doorways to realms and guests from places she didn’t know existed…togrow up alongside Jack. If her mom and great-aunt hadn’t fought, she could have had that life. She could have always had magic from other realms.
Even more, if Mom-Kate had stayed, the inn wouldn’t have fallen into disrepair.
But maybe Mom-Kate hadn’t wanted that to be her life. Brooklyn was a long way from Vermont. She could have wanted a different adventure, with Mom-Elise.
Calisa couldn’t imagine not wanting to be at the Faraway Inn if she’d had a choice. She wondered again what their fight had been about, why they hadn’t returned for a visit in over a decade, why Auntie Zee was still so angry at Mom-Kate that she hadn’t wanted Calisa to come and help when she clearly needed help.
Had they fought about the inn?
It was a leap to assume that. They could have fought about anything. But it was certainly possible.Focus on this,she told herself. What was past was past. She had to fix the future.
