#vzyfny

“Now, now, now. No need to talk about that kind of stuff while we’re at the office. Wouldn’t want anyone to get the idea that I’m anything but a hard worker.”

Mai pried his hand off of her mouth. “You do realize that everyone follows you right? Like Naru probably doesn’t really pay much attention, but I’m pretty sure that everyone has seen what you do on the weekends.”

“Yeah, well, there’s no reason to spur anyone stalking more than they already do.” Yasuhara shook his head. “Besides, don’t act like I’m the only one who will be posting loads of pictures this weekend.”

Mai squeaked at the wink Yasuhara sent her way.

“What on earth do you mean by that?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I’m just pretty sure that I remember you talking about how your class trip is this weekend.”

“And?”

“And, as your elder, I remember how raucous my own class trip was! It seems just like yesterday that I and the other young lads snuck off to go find—”

“You say that like you didn’t go on your class trip just last year! And, b-besides! I’d never do anything as scandalous as what you’re pretending that you did.”

“Pretending? I’ll have you know that my compatriots and I barely returned to the onsen that we were staying at unscathed. If we had returned a moment later, then surely I would not be standing here today.”

“Yeah, sure, sure.” Mai looked up at the wall clock and gasped. “Oh no! I promised Naru and Lin I’d make tea nearly half an hour ago!”

Before Yasuhara could say another word, Mai rushed to the office’s kitchenette. It was a wonder she didn’t knock something over in her rush, there were certainly enough knick knacks on the table that she bumped into on the way, but somehow everything miraculously stayed on the table. Yasuhara laughed to himself as he followed his friend at a much more relaxed pace.

“Do you want any, Yasu?”

“If you wouldn’t mind, Boss.”

Mai stuck out her tongue. “You know I’m not your boss.”

“Perhaps, but you still out-rank me at work.”

A blush sent Mai scouring the cupboards for various tea bags.

“I thought we talked about not worrying about that. Besides we’re equal in the office, so don’t start with me.”

“I personally don’t think that you give yourself credit, but whatever you say Boss.”

Mai sent him a glare as the tea kettle started whistling. She went about the process of brewing the tea and, in the meantime a comfortable silence settled over them. Yasuhara watched, contentedly, as his friend went about brewing the tea in the way that each of them liked. Earl Grey for Naru, black with two sugars for Yasuhara, oolong for Lin, and green with a touch of honey for herself.

“I can take Big Boss’s to him,” he offered. “I have to talk to him about a few scheduling things anyways.”

“Okay.” Mai placed the two tea cups on a tray and passed it to him. “Be careful. He’s in a pretty bad mood today.”

“Any reason why?”

“I think he had a bad phone call? I don’t quite know. He hasn’t really left his office today.”

“Alright, I’ll make sure not to poke the bear too much. Thanks for the tea, Mai.”

“Any time,” she laughed as she made her way to the equipment room.

Yasuhara watched her walk away for a short time, lost in thought. He knew that Mai was a pretty private person, but he silently hoped that she would post quite a bit this weekend in order to keep himself occupied. Sure he could do homework or watch a show, but it always entertained him when they did.

“Is there a reason you’re just standing there with my tea?”

Yasuhara shook his head to clear it before plastering an overly wide smile on his face before addressing his superior who was standing in the doorway of his office.

“Hello, Big Boss! You have perfect timing. I was just about to bring you a cup of tea!”

Naru cocked an eyebrow. “You do realize that you don’t work today, correct?”

“Yes, but I needed to come in and talk to you about something really quick so I thought I’d save Boss the trip to your office.”

“I see.” Naru turned around and re-entered his office. Yasuhara followed suit soon after and carefully closed the door behind himself. He offered the tray and Naru took his cup and made his way to his desk. He gestured to the chair across from himself and Yasuhara was quick to sit as well.

“I’m not sure exactly how much I can work anymore.” Yasuhara took a sip of tea and found it as wonderful as always. It helped to calm some of the nerves he had been feeling while on his way over.

“Is there any particular reason?”

“As I mentioned a while ago, my grandmother’s health has been waning these past few years. She had been doing a little better lately, but then she fell this past week. She was living alone, but it sounds like my parents are going to insist that she move in with us. While my mom has been staying at home most of the time, she wants to work a part-time job to help save up for a larger house. Most of the jobs that she has found are in the afternoon and since my father works days most of the time it seems that there would be a window of time where there would be no one at home to assist my grandmother. That is unless I take a break from working here.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Do you think that you would be unable to join us for cases as well?”

“Probably for the first few months, yes. After she’s healed some and is more settled I imagine that I could join on cases again. It would just depend on my parent’s schedules and if they feel comfortable leaving her alone with my younger sister.”

Naru took a sip of tea. “Will you be looking for another part-time job to cover your academic expenses?”

Yasuhara winced. He’d been avoiding the subject ever since he had realized how impossible the task would be now that he was without any income. He would probably be able to cover tuition for the next few months, but his meager savings account wouldn’t be able to last forever. And with his parents now having to take on his grandmother, there was no way that they would be able to afford to help him outside of what they were already doing.

“Probably, though I’m not sure I’ll find one that would have the right schedule.”

“I see.”

They sat in silence for a while before Naru set down his teacup, stood from his desk, and went to one of his bookcases. He ran a hand over the books, lost in thought. After a few moments he turned around purposefully and pulled out a large stack of heavily marked up papers from his briefcase and set them on the desk.

“How good is your written English?”

“Pretty good. It probably isn’t as good as someone like yours, but I did excel in it during secondary school, and I am currently minoring in it.”

Naru nodded as he parted the stack of papers to an unmarked page. “The final draft of my next article is due to the publisher in about three months. I’ve found it difficult to devote my time to editing it. If you are interested, you could edit what is left in the next two months.”

Yasuhara gaped at Naru.

“Of course, I would pay you for your trouble. All I would need is for you to document the time that you spend on it just as you would while researching for a case.” He picked up the page and offered it to Yasuhara. “Do you think that you would be able to edit this?”

Yasuhara took the page and carefully read it. It was somewhat confusing since it was in the middle of a passage, but he was able to read it rather well. It wasn’t much more difficult than Naru’s previous book, and there weren’t too many grammatical errors that he could see, but there were a few technical words that took him a moment to understand.

“I believe so. It make take me a bit of time, but I imagine that it wouldn’t be too difficult.”

Naru took the paper back and replaced it on the top of the stack. He then carefully put the rest of the stack back on top and then replaced it in his briefcase. “I imagine that there will be quite a bit of information that will be somewhat foreign to you, but most of my research is in this briefcase. I can make copies of all the relevant information should you need to refer back to it.”

“Thank you.”

Naru paused. “You’re welcome. Though I believe that I should thank you instead. I can now focus on upcoming cases instead of wasting my time trivializing over adverbs and epithets.

“I cannot send it with you right now, but I have your address and will be able to drop it off sometime in the next few days. Is there a particular time that you would be available?”

“I should be free around this time every day.”

“Great. I will stop by tomorrow.” With a short nod Naru stood. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Naru chuckled as he leaned against the counter next to Yasuhara’s workspace. “No. I rather enjoyed my mother’s eggplant parmesan. But I am curious as to why you chose this specific dish to make.”

“I was looking at vegan recipes online and this one was highly recommended.”

“I see.” Naru smirked. “That is quite the coincidence.”

“Yes it is.”

Yasuhara went back to cutting the eggplant in an attempt to ignore everything that he was feeling. The hyper-awareness of Naru’s proximity to his left arm. The break-neck speed at which his heart was racing…

He had just finished the eggplant when he heard a noise come from behind him. Whirling around, he found his grandmother grimacing as she leaned heavily on her walker. He immediately dropped what he was doing to help her.

Yasuhara felt ashamed. In his preoccupation with his guest he had completely forgotten about his grandmother in the process. Thankfully it appeared as though nothing had happened to her in the meantime, but as he helped her to the new dining table he made a note to be more attentive in the future.

“Thank you, dear.”

"Of course. Did you need something? I’m sorry if I didn’t hear you call for something earlier.”

“It’s alright, Osamu.” His grandmother gently patted his arm. “I just wanted a bit of company.”

“Okay. Would you like something to drink?”

“Tea, if it’s not too much of a bother.”

“Sure.”

“I can make it,” Naru volunteered.

“Thank you. You should be able to find everything you need in the cupboard over there.” He gestured to one of the cupboards near the stove as he returned to preparing dinner.

“I don’t believe that Osamu has told me what it is that you do, Mr. Shibuya.”

“I am a paranormal investigator.”

“And what do you do in that line of work?”

“Primarily I investigate locations where there is suspected paranormal activity. When I have time I do what I can to work on my dissertation and other academic projects.”

“Oh my. No one mentioned just how accomplished you are,” Yasuhara’s grandmother said in a tone that Yasuhara knew all too well. Sure enough, when he paused in the middle of coating the eggplant he found her looking at his boss with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I told you that I was helping him with an academic paper.”

“I apologize. I assumed that, with your cavalier attitude that you were lying to your mother to spare her feelings. My mistake.”

Yasuhara felt like dying when she winked at him.

“Grandmother. I can assure you—”

“Oh, calm down, Osamu,” his grandmother laughed. “There’s no need to get so flustered, I’m merely teasing you.”

Yasuhara sighed and decided to ignore her in favor of finishing the preparations. At least for the moment he could use it as an excuse to not look at Naru and see how he had responded to such an insinuation.

Most everyone in their group of friends was quite understanding about all sorts of things. But this wasn’t exactly something that any of them talked about. And beyond that Yasuhara wasn’t even sure how he felt about any of it. Sure he’d equally teased most everyone at this point, but there was a vast difference between teasing and seriously considering romantic affection for any of them.

Not too much later the kettle cut the silence that hung in the air. Yasuhara could hear Naru brewing the tea, but he refused to look over as he finished up. Once Naru had brought the teapot over to his grandmother, Yasuhara placed the dish in the oven and set the timer.

“Thank you, dear,” Yasuhara’s grandmother said kindly.

“You’re welcome,” Naru said. “If you’ll excuse me I’ll be back momentarily.”

Once Naru was outside of earshot, Yasuhara came to sit across from his grandmother. She smiled apologetically and reached for his hand which he easily allowed.

“I’m sorry, dear. I assumed that by now you were confident about things like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well when you were younger your mother told me about how you had a boyfriend and a girlfriend in the same year. As with most things I thought that it had solidified while you were in high school. I see how that was wrong of me to assume and I apologize.”

“It’s okay. Though I don’t remember ever having that happen to me. When was that?”

“Your first year of school.”

Yasuhara suppressed the urge to bury his face in his hands.

“No wonder I don’t remember something like that.”

His grandmother laughed. “Well from what Nagi has told me about your escapades—”

“Why does everyone assume that I’m some playboy?”

“Because you flirt with anything that walks,” Nagi said from the doorway.

Yasuhara nearly jumped out of his skin.

“You really have to stop doing that.”

“What? Coming home?”

“No, sneaking up on people. Imagine if you had done that to mom or grandmother here.”

“Oh don’t worry about me, dear. I think you’re the jumpy one here.” She winked at him.

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I try to be dear. I have to keep my mind sharp somehow you know.”

Nagi walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of her favorite soft drink. She took a few sips before looking around the kitchen in confusion. “Where’s your boyfriend at?”

“He’s not my—”

“I believe that he went to the restroom,” his grandmother said.

“Ah.” Nagi joined them at the table and sat beside her brother. “Well, whatever he is to you, don’t forget that I’m the founding member of my school’s boxing team and if he so much as—”

“You know, typically it’s the older brother who threatens potential suitors,” Yasuhara countered.

“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure that we’re not really a typical family.”

“Touché.”

Naru returned a few minutes later. Nagi immediately vacated the seat and gestured for him to take her place.

“There’s no need to—”

“I have to get changed anyways. Mom doesn’t like it when we eat dinner in our school uniforms.”

She made a point to leave her bottle in front of the seat beside their grandmother. Yasuhara was willing to bet that she was trying to force Naru to choose the seat next to him. And, while he appreciated the gesture, there was a part of him that was relieved when Naru chose the seat farthest from him.

They had been on the road for roughly five hours now, not including rest stops, and were finally within the park.  Rolling green fields gave way to rust brown moor, rocky tors dotting the wild, desolate landscape.  Hills stretched on to the horizon, where they met overcast sky.

Martin soon stopped the car and led them on a short hike, where he made the twins and Lin climb up on a tor so he could take their picture.  Once again, Noll had to question why Lin was there, a question the man seemed to be asking himself as he stood awkwardly with them on the rocky outcrop.

Afterwards, they returned to the car, and before long were winding through claustrophobic, maze-like country roads flanked on either side by tall hedgerows.  At times these roads grew so narrow, the hedges brushed right along the sides of the car, branches scraping and snapping as they squeezed through.  It seemed Martin had been right to rent such a small car.

Noll sighed.  Martin had promised that the first village they came to, they would stop to have some tea.  This was the only thing he had to look forward to.  He had already finished reading his book on Dartmoor legends, and so now was forced to actually listen to the conversation in the car.

“You think we’ll see some Dartmoor ponies, Martin?”

“I’m sure we’ll find them roaming around soon enough.”

Inevitably, the bulk of it was between Gene and Martin.  Lin tended to only respond when spoken to.

“So, Lin, studies going well?” Martin asked, in a blatant attempt at involving the man in conversation.

“Yes, thank you.  I should be earning my degree in spring.”

“Splendid!  Will you be looking for employment soon, then?  Or I suppose a talented young man like you would already have something lined up, I imagine?”

“Not yet.  Though I will always have my family’s business to fall back on, it would not be ideal.  I am hoping to find something in the technical field.”

“You don’t say?  Given your background, I wouldn’t have guessed!”

“I…have a passion for computers.”

“Did you hear that, Noll?” Martin called.  “Won’t you have a need for technical experts in the new lab?”

“We’ll have a Mechanic Team,” Noll nodded.  “I don’t think they’ve begun hiring yet.”

“Well, there you go, then!  That’s one possibility.  And I’d be happy to write a recommendation.”

“Thank you, Professor.”  Lin paused.  “…I’m sorry, what is this ‘new lab’?”

“Oh, haven’t we mentioned it yet?  SPR is creating a specialized research institute right in Cambridge, due to open next year I believe.  Noll’s worked tirelessly to secure funding for it,” Martin chuckled.

“We have a generous donor,” Noll muttered.

“Yeah, but you went all out, didn’t you, Noll?” Gene teased.  “Broke out the magic tricks and everything.  You should’ve seen it, Lin!  My brother, trying to be social.”

“That…is difficult to imagine.”

“You should come to the next party!  I bet the patrons would love to meet you!”

“Oh, no…I couldn’t possibly…”

By now they had escaped the hedgerows, and drove down a road with trees on one side, and a low stone wall separating them from the moor on the other.  Treetops flashed by, a swirl of gold, scarlet, and copper.

Then without warning, a dense fog descended, obscuring their way.  Martin slowed the car.

“Whoa, this is spooky!  I feel like anything could jump out at us now!” Gene chirped, as if such a thing would be desirable.

“A spectral dog, perhaps?” Martin suggested, with equal enthusiasm.

“Yeah, a hellhound!  Like from The Hound of the Baskervilles!”

“Or perhaps even a headless horseman!”

“Ooh, a dullahan?  Noll, we’ve got some Irish in us!  Maybe it’ll think we’re cousins!”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Hey, I know!  It’s almost Halloween, and this is the perfect atmosphere!  We could trade scary stories!”

Lin let out a small sigh.  Noll couldn’t help but agree.

“You first, Noll!” Gene grinned.

There was no point in arguing.  “Once there was a boy named Eugene.  He spoke too much, and so a witch put a spell on him, causing his mouth to sew itself shut.  He spent the rest of his life mute.  The end.”

“Is that really the best you could come up with?”

“I included a witch.  I thought you would appreciate that.”

Both adults chuckled.

Gene pouted.  But before long, the mischievous grin was back.  “Okay, now it’s my turn.  I’ll tell a story that’ll even get you spooked, Noll.  After all, it is a true story~”

He knew at once that nothing good could come of this.  And sure enough, Gene launched into a familiar tale, one from long ago…

———

It must have been when he was four or five, back when they were living in Boston.  While their mother used to answer the door when they were very young (or, more frequently, ignored the door bell entirely), once the boys had grown tall enough to open the door themselves, that task had automatically fallen to Gene.

That night, however, Gene happened to be stuck on the toilet.  When the door bell rang, Mother called drunkenly from the kitchen.

“Eugene, answer the door!”

“Mama, I can’t!” Gene called from the bathroom.  “I’m pooping!”

The bell rang again.

“Answer the door!”

“I can’t!”

It rang again.

“Eugene!”

“Mama!”

At the time, Noll had been sitting in the living room, gazing at a newspaper Nuptadi had given them the other day.  He couldn’t read any of it, of course, but he liked to look at the pictures and imagine what the words said.  But all this racket thoroughly disrupted his concentration, and annoyed, he got up to answer the door himself for the first time.

It couldn’t be that difficult, after all.  He just had to open the door and check who was ringing.  It would probably just be Nuptadi anyway.

But Nuptadi was not who greeted him at the front door.  As soon as he pulled it open, a chorus of voices rang out.

“Trick or treat!”

Noll’s eyes bugged out at the sight before him.  Three large, orange heads planted on bodies clad in black leotards.  Their faces grinning horribly down at him.  They must have been only teenagers, visiting the house out of a misguided idea that its shabby appearance was intentionally done to look spooky.  But to a young Noll, they appeared to be giants.

“Oh my gosh, look how cute!” one of them squealed upon seeing him.

“Awww!”

“Watch out, kid!”  One of them, a male, made a clawing motion with his hands.  “If you don’t give us candy, we might just eat ya!” he growled.

“Don’t say that!”  Another one elbowed him in the side.  “You’re scaring him!”

Noll just stared, frozen in place.  What did these creatures want?  Candy?  What?

One of them crouched down.  The grinning orange face loomed closer.  “Hey, where are your parents, little guy?”

Mother chose that moment to call from the kitchen.  “Eugene, who’s at the door?”

“I’m not at the door, Mama!  I’m on the toilet!”

“Oliver, who’s there?”

Noll seemed to have lost his voice.  What could he say to describe what he was seeing?  How could he possibly find the words?

“…I don’t know these people,” he finally said, and slammed the door on their big pumpkin faces.

———

Noll shuddered at the memory.  Gene, on the other hand, burst out laughing.  “Our parents never told us about Halloween, so Noll was totally convinced they were actual pumpkin people!  Can you imagine…!”

Noll glared at him.  This wasn’t funny at all.

Fortunately, Martin only chuckled lightly.  Lin gave a weak smile.

“Okay, Lin!  Your turn!” Gene said, rounding on him.  “You’ve gotta have some interesting stories, right?”

“I…”

But Lin was spared the humiliation.  Just then, the car gave a massive jolt.  Martin hit the brakes.  Fortunately, since they weren’t driving fast to begin with, they came to a stop without issue.

“Is everyone all right?” Martin asked.

They all mumbled in reply,

“What was that?” Gene asked.

Martin sighed.  “I’ll go and take a look.  Boys, stay inside.”

He opened the driver’s side door and got out of the car.

“What if it’s the Hairy Hands?” Gene said.  “You know, that legend about a pair of spectral hands that appear and take hold of the steering wheel?”

“Gene, if such a thing had appeared, wouldn’t you have noticed?”

“Hmm, good point.”

“Besides, that legend has already been debunked.”

Martin opened the door again and peered in.

“Bad news.  It appears we’ve hit a nasty pothole, and have a flat tire.”

Noll sighed.  He wouldn’t be having tea for a while now.

“Lin, would you come help me with this please?  Boys, I’m afraid you’ll have to get out as well.”

They all exited the car.  Lin examined the tire with Martin, then they went to open the trunk.

Noll decided to just stay out of the way, and sat on the low stone wall with Gene.  After a few minutes, he glanced at his twin, who had gone suspiciously quiet.  Gene stared out at the misty moor; something had evidently caught his attention, but when Noll looked, he could see nothing.

This wasn’t exactly unusual for him, so Noll chose to ignore it.  He began flipping through his book again.

Minutes later, as Martin and Lin got the jack into place and began working on removing the flat tire, another car approached from the opposite direction.  The road here wasn’t as narrow as it had been earlier, but it would still be difficult to squeeze past.  The other car slowed to a stop in front of them and the driver leaned out the window, presumably to ask what the problem was.  As Noll watched, Martin and Lin went over to explain.

Suddenly, Gene got to his feet.

“Gene?”

Without even a look back, Gene climbed over the stone wall and went marching off into the moor.

Noll stared.  What was that idiot thinking?

“Martin,” he called.  “Gene just ran off.”

But Martin did not seem to notice, too busy talking to the other driver.  Meanwhile, Gene faded into the mist.

Noll clicked his tongue.  Usually he wouldn’t bother, but knowing Gene, he might just go sink into a peat bog and disappear, not even leaving a body behind for dissection.

“Stupid medium.”  He gave chase.

———

In the end, the other driver had no choice but to turn back, as their car could not be moved aside just yet.  Lin returned to replacing the tire with Martin.  

“I do apologize for the trouble, Lin,” Martin said.  “This trip hasn’t turned out quite as I’d hoped.”

Lin shook his head.  “It’s fine, sir.”  Actually, he was glad to be outside, stretching his limbs after hours of being trapped inside that cramped car.  And he did not mind the mechanic work.  He would rather be doing this than forced into strained conversation with the twins.

As if reading his mind, Martin asked, “By the way, how have you and Noll been getting on, if I might ask?”

“He has shown remarkable improvement.  Oliver is an excellent student.”

“Yes, but on a personal level?”

Lin pursed his lips.  “It has been…courteous.”

In truth, though Lin had been training Oliver for several months now, their relationship was still stiff and cold.  For one, Lin was not good with children.  And it certainly did not help that Oliver was socially awkward as well.  The two of them seemed to have decided unanimously that their interactions would not go beyond the Student-Teacher relationship.

Which made this trip all the more awkward.  Martin had clearly invited him along hoping it would be a bonding experience for them, but they had barely spoken a word to each other the whole time.  At this rate, he saw no hope of things improving.

Not to mention, the fact that the boys were Japanese still bothered him.  He knew that was unfair.  They had as much to do with those atrocities as he did.  But he could not help the aversion.

He did feel sorry for them, though.  If he weren’t already sympathetic to Oliver’s plight, learning of their history alone would have been enough to get him to agree to teaching him.

“…I must admit, it still surprises me,” Lin said quietly, thinking back to the conversation in the car.  “How lightly those two take their past.  Eugene in particular.”  Though the story itself had been amusing, Lin could not bring himself to laugh, considering the context.

“Indeed, though that goes for Noll too,” Martin nodded.  “The first time we introduced them to relatives, Noll told them of his mother’s death to break the ice.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I believe that was the only way he knew how to garner sympathy.”  Martin smiled sadly.  “Unlike Gene, he has a very difficult time making friends.”

“I see.”  So that explained it.  Normally one wouldn’t push their son to become friends with a man twice their age, but it seemed Martin was desperate.

“Speaking of which…”  Martin stood, stretched, and peered over to the opposite side of the car.  “How are you boys holding up?”

But they were gone.

Lin looked around.  The twins were nowhere in sight.

Martin just sighed wearily.  “I suppose I ought to have expected this.”

“Does this happen often?” Lin asked.

“Those boys have a propensity for wandering off on their own.  Sometimes I wonder if they simply forget that they are wanted.”

The two of them called the twins’ names.  But they heard no answer.

“Now where could they have gotten to…” Martin murmured, his gaze turning to the moor.

“Perhaps they’ve gotten lost.  Especially in this fog, it would be very easy to lose one’s way…”

How long had they been gone?  There was no telling how far they might be now.

Martin heaved a heavy sigh.  “Well, I’m sure they’ll turn up eventually.  Those boys are smart and gifted, they will surely manage…”  But he did not take his eyes off the moor.

When Lin remained silent, the older man attempted a chuckle.  “It’s a good thing my wife isn’t here.  She would be worried out of her mind.”

This was getting painful.  “I will go look for them,” Lin finally said.

Martin looked at him in surprise.  “Are you sure?  It wouldn’t do for you to become lost as well.”

“I will be fine, Professor.  I have my own methods.”

“I should go, they are my responsibility…”

“No, one of us should stay with the car.  And I believe I have a better chance at finding them.  I promise I will bring them back safe.”

Martin stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded.  “Very well.  I place them in your trust.”

He nodded back.  He didn’t know exactly what he had done to earn so much trust from the man, but he knew he had to honor it.

“But what if he leads us to an archeological treasure?  We could become famous!”

“We’re already famous,” Noll sighed.  “How much more fame do you need?”

“You wouldn’t be so grumpy about it if we had a camera capturing the whole thing.”  Gene stuck his tongue at out him.

True.  If he could get any decent data out of it, it might be a different story.  But unfortunately, neither of them had cameras, and that wasn’t the real issue here anyway.

“I still don’t understand what made you think this was a good idea.”

“I wasn’t thinking, okay?  Anyway, I’m curious where he’s taking us.  Just a bit farther…”

Noll sighed.  He knew it would be hard to discourage him at this point.

He didn’t know how much farther they walked, but it felt like far too long.  By now, Noll was slightly out of breath, and the cold mist chilled him.  Shivering, he stuck his hands further in his jacket pockets.

Suddenly, he heard something rustle in the grass nearby, coming from his right.

“Gene?”  But no, Gene was walking ahead; it couldn’t be him.

The rustling grew closer.

“What’s wrong?”  Gene turned to look at him.

“Something’s coming this way.”

“What?”

“Listen.”

They both paused.  It sounded louder now.  Rustle rustle.  Snap.  Rustle.  Faster now.  He saw a large figure approaching in the mist and steeled himself.  It was getting closer—

A black face jumped up at him.

“MEEEEH!” it cried.

Noll stumbled backwards in surprise, nearly falling over.  But then he saw the fluffy white wool.

It was only a sheep.

The next moment, Gene was laughing hysterically, clutching his stomach.  The sheep pranced away, unconcerned.

“The look on your face!”

“Shut up,” Noll muttered darkly.  “What happened to that spirit, anyway?  Did you lose sight of him?”

Gene looked back up ahead.  “Actually, he’s…waiting for us.”

He didn’t like the sound of that.  Though Noll didn’t believe in such things as fairies or pixies, legends usually had some kernel of truth in them, and Dartmoor had more than its share of stories of people being led astray by pixies.

“Gene, that’s enough.  If we go any further, we won’t be able to find our way back.”  Actually, they had probably long crossed that point already.

But Gene took no heed.  “Noll, look!”  He pointed up ahead.

Something seemed to be sticking out of the ground.  Many somethings, in fact.

Looking closer, he saw it was a stone row— a line of upright stones marking a path through the moor, placed there by ancient hands.

“I think we’re almost there!”  Gene sped up, walking alongside the stones.  “This place…it feels sacred.”

“Like Stonehenge?”

“Yeah, just like Stonehenge!”

Hm.  This might be interesting after all.

The stone row eventually led to a stone circle.  And in the middle of the ring of stones, they found a kistvaen; an ancient Celtic burial tomb built out of large slabs of granite.  It resembled a four-sided stone chest, about three feet long and two feet wide, built into the ground so that the top edges were flush with the surface.

From the looks of it, the grave had been desecrated ages ago, the moss and lichen-covered capstone pushed aside to reveal the shallow cist within.  Noll had to admit, this lent support to Gene’s theory that the spirit was of Celtic origin.  Was this where he had been put to rest?  Or was it only a coincidence that he had led them here?  After all, Dartmoor had many such burials…

He was just about to ask what the spirit was currently doing, but Gene seemed distracted again.  He looked around, frowning.

“Do you hear that?”

Noll strained his ears.  Actually, he did hear something.

“Is that someone crying?”

“So you hear it too?  It’s not just me?”

It sounded like a young child.  The two of them exchanged looks and hurried in the direction of the voice.

It didn’t take them long to find the source.  A little girl sat atop a rock, crying and clutching a stuffed rabbit in her arms.  She looked to be about five or six years old, with red hair tied up in pigtails.

Gene approached at once.

“Hey, there.”

The girl gasped in surprise and looked up.  Then gaped at them in wonder.  “Wow…you look the same.”

Gene smiled.  “That’s right.  We’re twins.  I’m Eugene.  And this is my brother Oliver.  Can I ask your name?”

“…Cathy.”

“What’re you doing out here, Cathy?  Are you alone?”

The girl nodded.  “I was with my Mum and Dad.  But then I followed some ponies and got lost.”

“How long has it been since then?” Noll asked her.

“A long time.”

“How many hours?”

She gave him a blank look.

He sighed.  “Has it been longer than half a day?”

The girl shook her head slowly.

“Was it foggy like this when you got lost?” Gene asked.  “Or did the fog come in long after?”

“It got foggy right after I followed the ponies…”

“So it probably hasn’t been that long, huh.”

“Almost as long as we’ve been lost, you mean,” Noll said bitterly.

“But that’s good.  It means her family is probably still on the moor, looking for her.”  Gene gazed into the mist.  “Hopefully they haven’t gotten lost themselves…”

Cathy grasped Gene’s sleeve.

“Are you going away?” she sniffed.

“No, of course not.”

“Cause there was an old man here, but he went away.”

“You saw him?!”

She nodded.

Gene hissed in Noll’s ear.  “See, I told you he wasn’t dangerous!  He didn’t lead us astray.  He led us to her.”

Noll gave him a dubious look.  “Sure, whatever.”

Cathy’s eyes welled up again.  “…I wanna go home.”

Gene smiled gently down at her.  “Don’t worry.  We’ll get you back home.”  He turned toward Noll expectantly.

Noll sighed.  He looked the girl over, and immediately took note of the stuffed rabbit in her arms.

It looked handmade, not store bought.  Made out of pastel pink cloth, it was slightly worn, with red buttons for eyes.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing.

The girl blinked.  “Mr. Cuddles?”

“Did someone make it for you?”

She nodded.  “My Mum made it out of my old blankie.”

Perfect.

He held his hand out.  “Let me have it.”

She held it protectively to her chest.  “Why?”

“I just need it for a moment.”

“No!  You’ll steal it!”

Noll rolled his eyes.  As if he’d want that ragged old thing.  And he was just about to say so, when Gene cut in.

“Hey, can I tell you a secret?  My brother actually has a magic ability that lets him find lost people!”

Her mouth dropped open.  “Magic?”

“Yup!  But he’s going to need Mr. Cuddles’ help to use it.  Do you think you could let him hold him for a bit, so he could find your parents?”

“Well…okay.”  She handed it over.

Noll held the stuffed toy in his hands and closed his eyes.

It would be only too easy to fall into the girl’s memories, but that’s not what he was looking for.  Instead, he zeroed in on the mother, who had left a strong emotional imprint of her own.  The blanket had been in their possession since the day the girl was born.  He couldn’t ask for better material.

He saw the mother standing on a tor, frantically calling her daughter’s name along with her husband.  The tor overlooked the surrounding moor, but the ground below was shrouded in fog.  The woman sounded desperate, panicked.  She was a terrible mother.  She should have never taken her eyes off of her.  Her little girl must be so scared.  Oh, Lord, please protect her.  She would give anything…

Noll opened his eyes.

“Well?” Gene asked.

“I have a landmark.  They’re on a large tor.  Hopefully they will stay there for a while, so we can drive around and find it.”  He sighed.  “That is, assuming we can even find our own way back.”

“Well, I think Lin is tracking us, so I’m not too worried about that.”

“What?”

“I saw one of his shiki floating around earlier.”

“And you didn’t think to mention that sooner?” Noll scowled.

“Well, for now, we could just follow the stone rows back.  That ought to point us in the right direction, at least.”

The three of them set off.  They had been walking for several minutes, leaving the last of the stones behind them, when Noll heard a rustling in the grass again.

“Oh, what now–”

It came out of nowhere.  The next thing he knew, a fluffy white blur had launched itself at him with a resounding “MEEEEEEH!”

This time, he did fall over, feet tangled in the heather.

“Noll!  Are you okay?!”

He grunted.  A sharp pain shot through his left foot.

The sheep let out a triumphant “Meeeh!” and bounded off again.  Noll didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this treatment.

Cathy giggled.  “I don’t think that sheep likes you.”

Noll glared at her.  He sat up and tried to climb to his feet…but then immediately crumpled back to his knees, gasping in pain.

“Noll?!”

“It’s my ankle,” he winced.  “I think I’ve twisted it…”

Gene swore.

Just what he needed.  Could this day get any worse?

But just then, a familiar voice called.  “Oliver?  Eugene?  Is that you?”

“Lin!” Eugene called back.  “We need help!”

They heard quickened footsteps and saw his tall figure looming in the distance.  “What happened?  Are you both all right?”

“We’re okay, except Noll twisted his ankle…”

“Who’s that?” Cathy asked.

“Um…a family friend, I guess?”

Lin stepped out of the fog.  He blinked down at them.

“…Oh.  There are more of you now.”

———

Shortly after, the twins explained what had happened and introduced him to the girl, Cathy.

Having now heard the whole story, Lin could only sigh.  “That was highly irresponsible of you two.  Do you have any idea how much you’ve worried your father?”

“But we found Cathy!” Eugene protested.

“Don’t lump me in with him,” Oliver grumbled.  “I was making sure he wouldn’t get himself killed.”

“And yet you are the one with the injury,” Lin deadpanned.

Oliver looked away.

The boy looked paler than usual, and there was sweat running down his temple.  He seemed to be in quite a bit of pain.

“I don’t suppose you will be able to walk in that condition.”

Oliver kept his eyes carefully averted.  “…I can manage.”

“Really, Noll?”  Eugene gave him a doubtful look.  “You could barely stand a minute ago.”

“Look, just find me a big stick, and I’ll walk.”

“In this terrain, that wouldn’t be wise,” Lin said.  “You could easily injure yourself again.”

Oliver frowned.

“I will have to carry you.”

Now his head snapped up.  “What?  No!”

Eugene nodded in agreement.  “That’ll be the quickest way.  We have to find Cathy’s parents too, so we can’t dawdle.”

“I said I can walk.”  Gritting his teeth, Oliver got to his feet again, but immediately stumbled.  He landed back on the ground with a grunt of pain.

Lin was getting annoyed.  He’d thought the boy was sensible for his age, but when it came to his pride, it seemed stubbornness overtook his common sense.

“Oliver, I am trying to help you.  It will take us twice as long to get there if you are limping the whole way.  You must realize that?”

“I don’t care!”

Lin reached down to pick him up.

Oliver flinched away.  “No!”

And now his patience snapped.  “Lest you forget, you are a child!  I am the adult here!  You must listen to what I say!”

“But—“

“No but’s!”

“Hey, hey…” Eugene interceded.  “Let’s all just calm down, okay?  Shouting won’t get us anywhere.  And you’re scaring Cathy.”

Now that he mentioned it, the little girl was staring at them, eyes wide.

Eugene turned to his brother.  “Noll, what’s the problem?  Lin wouldn’t hurt us.  You know that.”

“Obviously.”  Oliver shuddered, looking down at his shoes.  “…Just can’t help it, that’s all.”

Then it clicked.  Yes, he knew that feeling well.  And now he recognized the look in the boy’s eyes.  Fear.

A small smile came to Lin’s lips.  “…Perhaps we can find another way.”

He scanned the area, looking for anything that might help.  Then he spotted several large figures moving their way.

“Something is coming…”

Oliver groaned.  “It better not be that sheep again.”

“No, they seem larger.”

“It’s the spirit!  He’s leading them here!” Eugene exclaimed.

“Leading what?”

“PONIES!” Cathy squealed.

Sure enough, a string of wild Dartmoor ponies appeared.  They came in different colors— black, white, gray, and brown, with long, shaggy manes and tails.  There seemed to be a dozen of them at least.  And rather conveniently, they stopped right in front them.

Before Lin could stop her, Cathy ran excitedly up to one of the foals and began petting it.  At the same time, the largest of the ponies walked up to Oliver, and stood next to him expectantly.

Oliver stared up at it.  “…Wait.  This doesn’t mean…”

“I think it wants you to ride it, Noll,” Eugene grinned.

“No way…”

“It seems we’ve found our solution,” Lin smiled.

“But…”

The pony whinnied and nudged Oliver’s head with its nose.

In the end, Oliver relented.  He managed to climb shakily on a rock to hoist himself onto the pony’s back, where he scrabbled to hold on.  But finally, with his knees hugging the pony, and hands gripping its mane, he found the right balance.  Only then did the pony begin to move.

“Over here!” Lin called, and led the way towards the direction his shiki indicated.  He wasn’t sure the ponies would listen.  But the pony that Oliver was riding followed after him, and the other ponies followed suit.

“No fair!  I wanna ride a pony!” Cathy whined.

“No.  That is too dangerous,” Lin said, point blank.

“But he gets to!”

“They’re pretty big, Cathy,” Eugene explained, taking her hand.  “It’d be bad if you fell off of one.  What would we say to your parents then?”

Cathy continued complaining.  Eugene continued placating.  Oliver, meanwhile, stayed silent, face screwed up in concentration as he focused on maintaining his balance, and wincing every so often.

Lin looked back over his entourage; twins, ponies, little girl and all.  The Professor would sure be in for a surprise when they returned.

———

How’re you holding up, Noll?

Noll glanced at his brother.

How do you think?

Gene smiled sheepishly.  Sorry about everything.  I should’ve have run off like that.  It’s just…

He looked pensive.  Noll frowned.

What’s wrong?

I was thinking about that spirit.  I think I know why he feels different now.  It’s not just that he’s old, but he’s almost completely lacking in ego.  But he’s not hollow like Lin’s shiki.  It’s more like…like he’s become a part of the moor itself.  Even if I could talk to him, I get the feeling he wouldn’t even remember his reason for lingering.

Gene looked back regretfully.

At least he doesn’t seem to be suffering.  And I guess, if you’re going to be stuck anyway, that’s not a bad way to spend your time.  Helping people, I mean.

Noll looked back as well.  It was probably just his imagination, but he thought he could make out a faint, human-shaped figure in the mist.

A spirit that had been there for millennia, as unchanging as the moor.  Would he ever find peace?  Or was he destined to wander forever?

Well, there was no use in thinking about it.  Noll faced forward again.  It didn’t concern him anyway.

———

Author’s Note: