Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
The next morning, Ben left Sidney at the guest house and drove back into town.
They needed supplies if they were going to stay hidden for any length of time — and if they didn’t want to keep sponging off the Hendersons, who he guessed weren’t exactly swimming in cash.
More than that, though, he wanted to get a sense of how much DAPI presence remained in Silver Hollow.
Downtown Silver Hollow looked deceptively normal.
A few early risers were getting coffee at Eliza’s café, and he spied Tom Lopez walking his over-exuberant beagle on the other side of the street.
Despite the outward air of normality, Ben still noticed the subtle signs of continued federal presence — a black SUV parked near the library, two men in dark suits speaking in low tones outside the post office, and a white van with tinted windows positioned where it could monitor traffic coming and going from Main Street.
Clearly, Dr. Rosenthal wasn’t about to give up just because her quarry had temporarily slipped through her grasp.
Ben kept his baseball cap pulled low and made his stops quickly.
Coffee and donuts from Eliza’s, basic groceries from the small market just down the street from the café, and a few other essentials.
He paid in cash and kept the conversations brief, although Eliza did mention that there were still agents around asking questions.
“About what?” Ben asked, trying to sound just casually curious.
“Oh, the usual,” Eliza said with a dismissive wave of one hand.
“Environmental testing, they claim. But everyone knows they’re really here about the power outages.
” She leaned closer as she added, “Linda Fields is convinced they’re covering up some kind of conspiracy.
She’s been calling for another town meeting, but hardly anyone seems interested. ”
Ben gave a sympathetic nod while mentally filing away that piece of information. If Linda was focused on her political grandstanding, at least she wasn’t adding to their immediate problems.
The drive back to the Henderson farm took him past Sidney’s house, and he slowed involuntarily as he approached her street.
The big Craftsman house looked abandoned, with drawn curtains and no signs of life.
But was it being watched? He couldn’t tell from this distance…
and he sure as hell didn’t dare get any closer.
By the time Ben returned to the guest house, Sidney was pacing the small living room like a caged animal. Clearly, the close quarters were already starting to get to her.
“Any sign of our federal friends?” she asked the moment he walked through the door.
“They’re still around, but they’re trying to be subtle about it.” Ben set the bag of groceries on the cramped kitchen counter. “Black SUV near the library, some suits downtown. Dr. Rosenthal isn’t giving up easily.”
Sidney’s full mouth tightened. “I’ve been thinking about that. About all of this, actually.”
So had he, but it seemed clear she had something she needed to discuss. “Okay,” he replied. “Let me get these groceries put away.”
There weren’t many of them, so the small task didn’t take him very long. Once he was done, he took the two go-cups of coffee and the bag of donuts over to the coffee table, and they both sat down.
Sidney sent him a grateful look and sipped some coffee. However, it seemed as if she didn’t want to delay any longer than that, because she said, “Ben, what if we’re approaching this all wrong?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what if these electromagnetic anomalies aren’t some new phenomenon?
What if they’ve happened before, and we just didn’t know about it?
” Sidney set her cup of coffee on one of the coasters on the table before them, then shifted so she faced him more fully.
“Think about it. My family has been in Silver Hollow for generations. The portal has existed for over a century, according to everything we’ve learned.
So why would the electromagnetic disturbances only start happening now? ”
Interesting. It was a logical question, and one that had been nagging at him as well, although he hadn’t really articulated it fully. “You think there might be a historical precedent for all of this?”
“Yes…and I think there might actually be written records.” Sidney’s eyes brightened with the first real hope he’d seen from her since this whole mess began.
“My grandmother documented pretty much everything that happened in Silver Hollow, especially all the sightings of the unicorn and the other creatures that appeared in the forest. Remember how I showed one of her journals to you when we were trying to get Northwest Pacific out of here?”
Of course. Emily Lowell’s journals had been works of art, the entries supplemented by graceful pencil sketches of the various animals and trees she’d seen in the forest. “Where are they now?”
“Back at my house.” Sidney shook her head, as if annoyed at herself for leaving something so valuable behind.
“They used to be hidden in an old rolltop desk in the attic, but I brought them down last month so it would be easier to go through them. Right now, they’re in a box in the downstairs office. ”
This was massive. If Sidney’s grandmother had documented previous electromagnetic anomalies, that information could change everything. They might be able to understand the pattern, maybe even predict when the disturbances would occur.
But then reality set in. “Sidney, your house is probably under surveillance. If Rosenthal has her agents watching — ”
“I know it’s risky,” she broke in. “But what if the answers we need are sitting right there? What if my grandmother documented incidents just like what we’re experiencing now? We can’t make informed decisions if we don’t understand what we’re really dealing with.”
She was right, and they both knew it. The journals represented their best chance of understanding the true scope of Sidney’s abilities and the electromagnetic phenomena. But….
“How would we even get there without being seen?” Ben asked.
Sidney smiled, and for the first time in days, she looked genuinely mischievous.
“I grew up in this town, remember? I know every path, every shortcut, every way to move around without being noticed. There’s a trail that runs behind the Henderson property, connects to the old logging road, and comes out near the back of my neighborhood.
We could approach from the forest side.”
The impish glint in her eyes was gone, replaced by a determined set to her chin.
It seemed clear that she’d already made up her mind about this, and honestly, he was starting to think she was right.
They needed more information, and sitting in the guest house waiting for Dr. Rosenthal to make her next move wasn’t getting them anywhere.
“All right,” he said. “But we do this carefully. We get in, grab the journals, and get out. No unnecessary risks.”
“Agreed.” Sidney took a large swallow of coffee and then stood up, the nervous energy he’d seen earlier gone as if it had never been. “Let’s do this.”
They spent the next half hour or so planning their route and timing.
Sidney sketched a rough map of the back trails, showing him the path that would take them from the Henderson farm to her neighborhood while staying well away from the main roads.
As much as it chafed both of them to wait, they ultimately decided it would be better to hold off until late afternoon, when the shadows would provide better cover and most of the DAPI agents would likely be focused on something other than a house that had clearly been empty all day.
“There’s something else,” Sidney said as she folded up the map she’d made. “If we find evidence of previous electromagnetic events, we need to look for patterns. When did they happen? How often? What triggered them?”
He tilted his head. “You think they might be connected to specific events…maybe another vandal like the guy who carved all those Ogham letters in the forest?”
At once, she shook her head. “I think they might be connected to my family. It sure looks as if Rosenthal believes I’m the one who’s really generating the electromagnetic disturbances.
But what if that’s not new? What if the women in my family have always had this ability, and it just… manifests at certain times?”
That was distinctly possible. If Sidney’s abilities were hereditary, that would explain why she was so much more powerful than anyone could have anticipated. It would also mean that Dr. Rosenthal’s interest in her was even more dangerous than they’d realized.
“Only one way to find out,” he said.
Now they absolutely had to get their hands on those journals.
They left the Henderson farm a little after five, using the back trail Sidney had described. The path was narrow and overgrown in places, clearly not used regularly, but it was passable. Sidney led him swiftly and surely, while Ben followed, trying to match her quiet, careful pace.
The afternoon air was cool and damp, heavy with the scent of wet grass, thanks to a light rain that had fallen a little while before they left the guest house.
Somewhere in the distance, Ben could hear the faint sound of traffic on the main road, but their immediate surroundings felt isolated and peaceful.
It was hard to believe that federal agents were searching for them less than a mile from here.
“This way,” Sidney murmured as she led him down a slope toward what looked like an old deer path. “The logging road should be just ahead.”
Sure enough, they emerged onto a gravel road that was clearly abandoned, with weeds growing up through the center and fallen branches scattered across the surface. Sidney oriented herself quickly, then led him east along the road.