15. Disappearing Ink #2
“Okay, hang on a moment, Will. That’s more than enough.
” Maida held up a hand to stop him from saying anything further.
She shuddered a little. This was something Arthur had seen Ordinaries do before, when shaking off something magical that they weren’t able to process.
Sometimes it was accompanied by goosebumps and a cold sweat.
And then they usually fainted. At least she was sitting down.
“I just wanted to get some information before I signed. I’m good now,” Maida said. “Where are those papers?”
She seemed to be fine, and he didn’t want to waste any more time. Arthur fanned the contract out in front of her and placed his fountain pen on top of the pile.
“No! I can’t let her sign!” Will snatched the pen away.
“What has gotten into you today, Will? Maybe you should take some time off?” Maida admonished him. She wrested the pen back, and turned her attention back toward Arthur.
He paused for only the briefest of moments before pointing to the signature line on the last page. “Sign here.”
“You know what?” Will pouted and jumped to his feet.
“Have it your way, you two. One of these days, you’ll learn to take me seriously, though.
” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m choosing not to take it personally.
I’m going to order some more donuts.” With this, Will stormed off towards the end of the line in front of the counter.
“Is he always this unhinged?” Arthur asked quietly.
Maida studied Will for a moment, a look of tenderness crossing her face.
“I don’t know. Will is special. He’s very sensitive.
And he has a vivid imagination. Possibly even wilder than my own.
He’d say anything to get me to move back to Boston.
I think he means well.” She flipped through the pages of the contract, taking a moment to review the document before signing.
“Thank you for trusting me to handle this for you,” Arthur said.
While she skimmed, Arthur examined the menu she’d been scribbling on. Besides the house that resembled the Mudpuddle, there was a willow tree. He recognized it immediately.
Arthur spun the page around to get a closer look.
Hanging from the tree was a child’s rope swing. She had drawn it exactly as Arthur remembered it. There was even a cloud of butterflies gathered around the tree. Although the drawing was done in gray pencil, he didn’t have to ask what color they’d be in reality.
“Can I have this?” he asked.
With a flourish, Maida signed her name on the last page and shoved the stack back at him. “Sure.” she shrugged. “Keep it. Though I can’t imagine what you’d want it for.”
“Maybe I’m just one of those weirdos who likes to collect takeout menus.” Arthur smiled wryly. He flipped the last page of the document to the front, in order to make sure her signature was clear and legible and to let the ink dry.
Maida slid sideways towards the outside of the booth. They knocked knees one last time. “I should probably get back home. My place was broken into yesterday and I’ve still got some cleaning up to do.”
“What? Your place was broken into!” Will was back beside the table with abnormal speed. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” The panicked look on his face was a pretty accurate reflection of the alarm bells going off in Arthur’s head.
“I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want you to freak out.” Maida shrugged. “I handled it. I changed the locks. There’s been a lot of break-ins lately.”
“Did they take anything?” Arthur asked, hoping to hear they’d taken cash, electronics, or jewelry. These were the things Ordinary thieves tended to take. It would disturb him more if they had grabbed nothing.
“No, fortunately they took nothing,” Maida said. She yawned and covered her mouth with a hand. “I have to admit I stayed up too late reading last night, so I’m also pretty tired. I’m just going to hit the restroom before I go.”
“You know what? I’ve got to use the restroom as well!” Will said, putting an arm around Maida’s shoulder and steering her toward the back. “Wait here, Arthur?”
“Okay.” Arthur nodded. They had no reason to stick around Laguna any longer but he was suddenly loath to leave.
He thought he should at least walk her home, make sure the break-in was as trivial as she seemed to think.
If not…It was his turn to shudder. At least in Primrose Court there were wards to keep people safe.
Arthur glanced back down at the drawing, running his finger over the swing.
He was doing the right thing, wasn’t he?
No matter what Director Berman had said about Maida’s resiliency, it was safer to resolve the situation without dragging an innocent Ordinary into the thick of a magical community in crisis.
He pocketed the drawing and stared out the window, watching all the Ordinary people out doing Ordinary things on an Ordinary day.
Director Berman had asked Arthur about what might have happened if Buffalo had given up his daughter all those years ago.
It was the wrong question, Arthur thought.
The question that plagued him more was what if Buffalo hadn’t had to make that choice?
He and Maida might have grown up side by side, two magical beings living on the same estate.
What then?
On the surface of the table, something caught Arthur’s attention. An unexpected movement that stirred up microscopic dust and made the air shimmer. He stared down in disbelief at what was happening to Maida’s signature.
Almost as if it were emerging from a cocoon, a butterfly emerged from the bottom of the page.
First one wing slowly poked up forming from the letter M, then the other unfurled from the W.
Next came the body, antennae and finally legs, rising and filling in from all the letters in between.
By the time the butterfly was whole, the signature line was completely blank.
The blue beauty flapped its wings, waving away the wrinkles before attempting to fly. It left a trail of tiny blue dots as it walked off the page.
“Order Up for Arthur Hart!” a slight, elvish man in a paper baker’s hat called out. “Arthur Hart?”
“I’m sorry, did you mean Will Porter?” asked Arthur, still staring at the butterfly.
“No, Will’s gone, dude.” The elvish baker screwed his face up at Arthur. “He and that blond girl went through the portal five minutes ago. But if you’re Arthur, he told me to give you the donuts, and he left a commercial flight voucher for you.”