“Not as much as he does in Charlie,” Nora said.
Charles gave a small laugh at that. “No, I’ll grant you that. Charlie definitely inherited your father’s fearlessness and ease with life. But just as Martin left to make his way in the world, you found your way home.”
21
The little red house had been invaded. Nora returned to find Patty in the living room with Richard and Ruby. Her eyes ping-ponged from suspect to suspect, finally landing on the empty seat where her brother should have been.
“Where’s Charlie?” she demanded.
“The girl has a catchphrase,” Richard muttered.
“He’s downstairs with a stomachache,” said Patty. “I keep trying to check on him but he’s locked the door.”
Good, thought Nora.He’s finally using sense.
“I thought you were bringing that to Vic,” Nora said, jutting her chin towards the rope Patty held in her lap.
Patty looked down to the rope, then back up to Nora, her expression verging on sheepish. “I got a bit sidetracked.”
Nora didn’t bother dignifying that obvious lie with a response. Instead she hurried through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement. She rapped on the bedroom door with one crooked finger.
“Charlie? It’s me. You okay in there?”
The lock clicked and the door opened. Charlie stood in itswake with Jessica perched on his shoulder. Both looked more disheveled than usual.
“Patty brought a rope,” said Charlie.
“I saw.”
“That’s a fucking weird thing to bring to your parents’ house, right?”
“It’s not great.”
Nora stepped inside the room and locked the door behind her. “How long has she been here?”
“She got here about ten minutes after you left.”
Shit. Nora’s gut was right. She should’ve come straight back.
“And you’ve been holed up in here since?”
Charlie nodded.
“Okay. Good. You did good, Charlie.”
“It wasn’t me,” said Charlie. “I heard Jessica start flapping around and going nuts pretty much as soon as Patty got here. I had to stomp around a bunch and pretend my foot was asleep so Gram and Gramps wouldn’t hear her. Then I made up some bullshit about having tummy troubles and got my ass back down here before anyone could ask any questions.”
Nora looked at the bird, who looked back at her with nothing behind her eyes.
“Did you get anything out of Uncle Charles?” added Charlie.
Nora shook her head. “Not much. Apparently, Great-Grandpa Oliver is a bit of a hermit, but he wasn’t always. No idea what changed, or why he’d need to be even more isolated than he already was in a place like this. I think…” Even as the words were coming out of her mouth, she regretted them. “I think I need to talk to him directly.”
That stone house drowning in trees flashed into her mind’seye, the hunched man with the bright white hair and dark eyes staring back at her.
“Cool,” said Charlie. “I’ll come with.”
“Absolutely not,” Nora said. “It isn’t safe. We don’t know the story with him yet.”
