“Where are they, Fezz?”
His only response was to rub his cheek against her nose.
25
Afterarestlessnight’ssleep, Aurelia awoke no closer to figuring out why the characters hadn’t appeared the night before.She’d gone upstairs to change for bed, then had come back down and popped her head through the door to the shop to see if they’d arrived: no.She woke up twice before dawn to try again, but still, no one had appeared.
It was a slow morning in the shop, punctuated by Mark’s weekly visit, giving Aurelia time to review her notes and continue writing out possibilities for Vronsky’s future.She tried to put thoughts of something going wrong, of not being able to see the characters again, from her mind.It helped remembering that Cuff had told her not to doubt that it could, and would, all happen again.In fact, she was sure Cuff would have an explanation, if only she could be patient enough to get through the hours until midnight to find out what it was.
By four thirty, when no one had darkened the door of the shop for over an hour, Aurelia decided she might as well close early and get a head start on her evening nap.
Waking at eleven thirty wasn’t difficult—she practically leapt out of bed—but keeping her emotions in check until midnight was a challenge.Why hadn’t the characters appeared last night?Would they appear again tonight?By the time she got downstairs to wait out the last two minutes before midnight, she was chewing her lip and shifting from foot to foot as she stood by her desk.Midnight finally arrived and she let out a breath of relief as she saw the mists rising from the books on the table.
When the characters were in solid form (or as solid as they could be) Marmee and Elinor approached Aurelia.The others, however, nodded and smiled at her before nonchalantly walking around to chat with one another.Vronsky, as usual, stood apart, collecting himself as he gazed around the shop, a sad smile playing across his face as he nodded hello to the others.
“What happened?Where were you last night?”Aurelia burst out.
“Weren’t we here?”Marmee asked, her face mirroring the worry in Aurelia’s tone.
“No, I was late coming home.It was after midnight.”
Marmee’s eyebrows unbound themselves and rose upwards in surprise.
“Oh, it’s alright.People—women—in my time often stay out late,” Aurelia explained.
“Hmm,” Marmee mused in slight disapproval.“Go on, then.”
“Well, when I came into the shop you weren’t here.I waited, and checked a few times, but none of you came.”
Sergeant Cuff had sidled over to the small group around her.
“You say you entered the building after midnight?”
“Yes—again, that’s perfectly normal in my time,” Aurelia said defensively.
“Ah, that explains it then,” Cuff said cryptically as he turned away from them.
“What does it explain, sir?”Elinor asked.
“It explains why we did not appear.”Cuff began to turn away again, but at the sight of many mouths opening with more questions, he stopped.“In my experience, there are two occasions when we will not appear in the shop.One occurred last night.”He paused, but impatient faces urged him on, and he continued.“We cannot appear when the shop owner is not in the building at midnight.Entering the building after the hour inhibits our arrival.”
“Interesting,” Aurelia said, relieved to know that what had happened wasn’t a fluke but just a bit of the shop’s unique magic.
“I was not aware of a lapse in time,” noted Vronsky as he approached their circle.
“I failed to feel it myself,” Elinor agreed.
“You mentioned there’s another time when you can’t appear?”Aurelia asked.
“Quite so.The second occasion is when someone else, someone other than the owner, is in the shop.”
Aurelia’s face fell.She’d guessed it was true, but knowing she’d never be able to share the experience with her sister or friends felt like a real blow.How could she tell them about the characters when she’d never be able to prove it was all real?
“We cannot appear if someone else is here?”Vronsky asked.
His voice brought Aurelia back to the moment, and she looked to Sergeant Cuff for his answer.
“Correct,” he confirmed with a nod.
