#by editing

Darcy smiled. “You’re a pretty smart girl, tell me how do you know all that?”

Tiger smiled and put her bag of lemon candy that she’d just bought into her book bag. “It’s simple. Everyone who uses the buses and is any kind of smart knows the last time the bus runs on each street they normally walk down. The candy store hours are on the door, and on the sign behind you. I’ve seen you working at the café when my mom sometimes takes me to dinner there. Auntie told me to call her if I got lost. You introduced me to your special friend once. Didn’t you call them Ash? And as for the cats, you just look like a cat person.’

Darcy smiled again. “Yeah, Ash is pretty special to me.” She looked at the clock on the wall. “You’re going to miss your bus if you don’t hurry along to the stop.”

Tiger looked up at the clock as well. “Oh my god you’re right. Gotta go, see you later.” She grabbed up her bag and ran to the door.

“Bye Tiger.” Darcy really loved it when Tiger stopped by the shop, she was so full of energy that it seemed to liven up everything around her.

Mr. Mike came out of his office. “Good evening Darcy,” he said with a smile.

“Good evening Mr. Mike.” Darcy returned the smile.

“Will you do me a favor?” Mr. Mike said walking up to her.

“Yeah sure.” Darcy smiled.

“You seem awful chipper today,” Mr. Mike commented offhandedly. “I like it. Here.” He handed her a small yellow and purple plastic card.

“What’s this?” Darcy asked turning it over in her hand. “Loyalty card? I didn’t know we had a loyalty program.”

“We’ve never really had a super loyal customer. But will you give that to Tiger the next time she comes by? It entitles her to a twenty-five percent discount on anything she buys.”

“I think she’d like that. I’ll be sure to give it to her,” Darcy said with a smile.

“Thank you Darcy, I knew I could count on you.” Mr. Mike turned to head back to his office. “Oh, by the way,” he said stopping having suddenly remembered something important. “I got this message for you the other day. Someone came by with it, hoping to catch you. But you were in the back, and I offered to deliver it. But I sort of forgot. I think it’s about your friend Kitty. If I remember right, she’s the archeologist right? Here.” He turned and handed her the folded up note that was in his pocket.

“Thanks,” she took the note. She opened it up for a moment then after reading the first line her face paled. Even if only for a moment.

“Darcy child are you alright? You look a little pale.”

“Oh, um yeah I’m fine.” She glanced up then back down at the note. “Just a question does the name Angela mean anything to you?” The note said that Kitty had met with someone named ‘Angela’ and she asked for help finding her grandfather. The note also said that there was a problem and Kitty might not be making it back for some time.

“Angela? That was my daughter’s name.”

“Daughter?”

“She died in a car accident a few years ago. She was in England at the time.”

“England?”

“Yeah, my daughter often traveled she was an art historian, and a very kind soul. She’d been in England for three years when the accident happened.”

“Oh. So she wouldn’t have been a child. No. This is odd, maybe you’re not the same person Kitty is looking for.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well Kitty is in England right now, and was exploring rumors of a cross in a library that when touched showed glimpses of things that happen. No one is sure if it’s future or past it shows or just random. But while she was there she was talking to some grade schoolers about her job, and one of them heard her say she was from here and asked for help finding her grandfather, a Mr. Thomas Mike. But you don’t have a granddaughter named Angela do you?”

“As far as I know no. But it is possible, I mean I don’t know everything about my daughter’s life in England. It’s possible that when she died she had a child, but the father retained custody, as long as he is a good father I don’t see why that would be a problem. Text Kitty, and ask her if the girl knows her mom’s name, please?”