“Barlow,” Appleton replied as he balanced Miss Patel’s crutches against the wall behind her.
Holbrook’s eyes darted over the table until they landed on Oliver at the far end. His cheeks heated at the barely obscured irritation on the other man’s face. He quickly smothered it beneath a disarming smile.
“Ah, how good of him. My apologies for taking so long to get here. I was unexpectedly detained.”
“Student troubles?” one of the women nearer to the front asked.
Holbrook released a laugh as he opened his briefcase and dug through the papers inside. “No, not right now. I’m onsabbatical, so I get to spend all my time researching magic and getting paid to do it.”
As the others peppered Holbrook with questions about his research while he set up, Oliver fought to stay grounded. He could barely think or hear over three people talking at once. Covering his ear with his palm to block out Reynard and Bisclavret’s conversation, Oliver traced Holbrook’s narrow, looping script. If what was left on the chalkboard since their last meeting was any indication, he hadn’t missed much by leaving early. When Holbrook shed his coat and plucked off his gloves, a small uproar rose from those nearest to him.
“Morris, old man, what happened to your arm?” Appleton asked.
Holbrook quickly tugged his sleeve down to cover the purple and black bruise beneath it. “I slipped and fell on some ice. It isn’t as bad as it looks.”
“You should still let the healers take a look at it.”
“Oh, no, I wouldn’t waste their time when they have patients who need actual care.” Clasping his hands together, Holbrook stood and addressed the room. “Speaking of the society’s healers, I think we should all give a round of applause for the healers in the room with us. Without their hard work, there would have been far more casualties after Sunday’s horrific attack at the charity bazaar.”
Oliver wasn’t certain if there were any healers attending the meeting, he didn’t remember anyone saying that was their power during the first meeting, but when everyone else clapped, he did too.
“Mrs. Cutler is a well-known and beloved figure in our community, and as many of you have heard, she was gravely injured during the attack at the bazaar and is still recovering in the infirmary. If you are the praying sort, I hope you will pray for her continued recovery.” At the nods from those aroundthe table, Holbrook continued, “Unfortunately, the attack on the bazaar has temporarily inhibited our community’s ability to collect much needed funds, so we must redouble our efforts with the open house and put our best foot forward as Mrs. Cutler would want us to do. If I may, let me call roll to see who is missing, so I can forward the minutes onto them. Miss Patel, would you be willing to take the minutes?”
Oliver half-listened as Holbrook called each member of the Mutual Aid Committee in turn. It was only when Holbrook turned back to the board and Gwen gave Oliver a nudge that he realized he hadn’t been called. Oliver raised his hand, but Holbrook had already turned to the board.
“You didn’t call me,” Oliver said.
Holbrook glanced over his shoulder and gave Oliver a once over. “So I did, Barlow. You aren’t on the list of members.”
“I— I should be. I signed up weeks ago, and I came to the first meeting.”
“My apologies. I had assumed you were merely attending in Miss Jones’s stead,” he replied, inclining his head toward Gwen. “I’ll add you to the official list later.”
Oliver had the nagging feeling he was never going to be on the list. As Holbrook erased the chalkboard, Oliver gave Gwen an I-told-you-so look. No matter. He would be the bigger person and pretend the previous meeting and the first five minutes of this one never happened if it meant he could help out. Felipe had his orientation idea, and Oliver would have this. Letting his attention drop to the tether to block out the squeak of the chalk, Oliver checked on Felipe. He was deep in thought and not as alarmed as Oliver expected. Hopefully that meant DeSanto was all right. At a particularly loud squeal of chalk on slate, Oliver winced and looked up to find the names of everyone at the meeting on the board. Holbrook and the others bandied ideasback and forth for what each person would do and how to make best use of their respective areas of expertise for the open house.
Most of what they talked about was the same thing that had been gone over last time they met, and suddenly, Oliver understood why Felipe wanted to crawl out of his skin during meetings. Taking his notebook from his pocket, Oliver copied down what they had so far. As Miss Darling and another man went in circles about how many tour guides they would need, Oliver stared at his notes, but the longer he looked, the more off they felt. Everyone he thought was in a romantic partnership was working with someone else for the open house. That wouldn’t have been that odd, except Holbrook had done it for those who specialized in the same thing.
The four Sybils had been scattered across the organizational side of tasks, paired up with random people to assist them when they worked well together. Bisclavret had been assigned to talk to people about the greenhouses while Reynard would discuss his shifter union and the services they had for recent immigrants, even though they built and ran those services as a team. Fitzroy and hisfriendwere also assigned to totally different sections while both were mediums. Oliver stared at the board, but when Holbrook moved, he realized he was wrong. The couples allowed to work together were comprised of a man and a woman. Appleton and his wife were to guide a tour together while Mrs. Greene and her husband were supposed to talk about the fitness facilities despite the fact that she worked in the archives. Oliver looked around the table, but no one else seemed to notice or object. Maybe he was just being overly critical. He would have to talk to Gwen about it later. For now, she was listening intently, so Oliver tried to do the same.
“The reason I am pushing you all to find the place you fit best is because we don’t have much time to put the open house together. While I need to confirm everything with the properchannels after this meeting, I have moved the date of the open house up. It will now happen on December thirty-first.”
The entire meeting seemed to draw up short. Oliver looked up in time to see the people around the table shoot each other questioning looks.
“But that’s so soon,” Miss Darling said.
“I know it’s a lot of work to put together an entire event in three weeks, but I believe putting the open house on New Year’s Eve is the best way to capture the zeitgeist of change and progress that we all feel at the start of a new year. The best part is that I have a bevy of supplies stationed in the archives, and everything else we need is right here in this room. We have the best minds of the Paranormal Society gathered together, and I know we can pull it off and make this the best open house the community has ever seen.”
Mr. Holbrook flashed that debonair smile as he caught the eye of those who looked most wary, and the stiff silence melted into nods and looks of determination. Oliver didn’t understand it. If he hadn’t seen the man dim the lights with his powers, he would have assumed he had compulsion. Three weeks was not enough time to get everything in place for an event that large, especially if it butted up to the New Year’s Eve celebrations the society always held. With another clap and more of that attaboy tone, Mr. Holbrook returned to the board to shove people into more roles that didn’t quite work for them. Oliver sat in judgmental silence as he pitched to Gwen why she and Ivy should speak to young women about taking a job at the society. Most working class women in the city had jobs. No one needed to talk to them about propriety or how women were allowed to work anywhere at the society. It was 1897 for god’s sake. There were even women working as detectives for the Metropolitan Police, and the society was leaps and bounds ahead of them. Itwas only the more wealthy among them that hadn’t caught up with the times.
“What about the library?” Oliver interjected when Holbrook paused to take a breath.
“What about it?”
“Wouldn’t Miss Jones’s expertise be better served speaking about the library since she’s been a librarian for a decade?” When Holbrook gave him a quelling look, Oliver added, “You mentioned it last week.”
“Yes, well, that was before the date was set so early. We don’t have time to explain the intricacies of the library to newcomers. Most won’t use it anyway, and there are more important matters to cover. Now, Mr. Appleton, let’s discuss your wife’s role since she wasn’t able to join us today.”
“Just let it go for now,” Gwen whispered. “He’s probably annoyed at me for not attending the first meeting. I’ll sing the libraries praises later if I have to.”
