Page 27 of The Vanishing Bookstore
They sat that way for some time, Dora and the pet crow she never knew she had, reunited with each other after how many years? How was she going to explain all of this to Katie? Oh God, she never even rang her to see if she was okay with the shop! She looked at her phone. It was almost seven. She had no idea what the time difference was. Instead of phoning she sent her a message.
Hey, hope today was okay for you and there were no problems. You wouldn’t believe what’s going on, but I’ll tell you over the phone tomorrow, it’s far too complicated over Messenger. Thank you for looking after the shop, speak soon Xxx
The message was sent, but the log didn’t show that it had been delivered. She decided she would ask Lenny. And then it came flooding back to her: Sephy and her pink boots, meeting her at the airport, the gorgeous house, the warmth and feeling of coming home to a family she couldn’t remember. Maybe she wouldn’t tell Katie about Hades just yet, it might be too much for her. Blimey, it was too much for Dora.
She yawned and stretched. ‘Sorry, bird, I need the toilet and I’m starving.’
As she opened the bedroom door, she heard laughter coming from a room down the hall, proper full-on giggles, and it made her smile. She hadn’t heard Lenny laugh like that for a long time and she liked it. Not wanting to intrude, she made her way to the bathroom. She still felt a little out of it, but at least she no longer felt queasy. She splashed cold water on her face to wake herself up then lifted her head and screeched to see Lenny standing in the doorway. Her eyes were shiny, the pupils huge, and she hada smile on her face. For once she looked relaxed although Dora could tell she was also a little drunk.
‘Dora darling, how are you feeling now?’
‘Much better thank you.’
Sephy came out of the room behind Lenny, softly closing the door behind her with one hand while balancing a tray with an empty jug and three used martini glasses.
‘Dora, you look much better. You must be starving. Let’s go down and eat.’
Dora stared at the door, there had been several different tones of laughter. Lenny saw the direction of her gaze.
‘Whose bedroom is that?’
‘Mine,’ said Sephy. ‘Sorry, did we wake you? We were having a little celebration; it’s been so long.’
‘Why did you need three glasses?’
‘In case you woke up and felt like a little drink, but we were greedy and drank the lot. I’ll make some more if you feel like it.’
Dora smiled, she didn’t acknowledge that the spare glass had the tiniest amount of black liquid in the bottom or that it had a straw. She didn’t want her aunts to think she was being rude, but she knew they were hiding something from her. It was quite obvious.
‘Hades. He can talk.’
Sephy smiled. ‘That bird used to be such a chatterbox, but he hasn’t been like that since you left. He can sulk for England. It must be seeing you again, Dora.’
‘How old was I when I left? Because I don’t remember any of this. There are tiny memories, from what seem like a very long time ago, just bits and pieces really. I must have been young?’
Lenny gently touched her sister’s arm.
‘You were a tiny little thing, and you didn’t speak much except to Hades and then you babbled to him in a language thatno one else understood, but he did. He’d listen and chatter back to you.’
‘Why did I leave?’
Sephy’s cheeks had been flushed pink and now they were a deep red.
‘Is that the time?’ She was staring at the large grandfather clock on the landing, the ticking of which had soothed Dora’s sleep. ‘I really must be going; I have to open the shop tonight, I have a couple of customers who will be waiting for me. Please excuse me, help yourself to whatever you want, and Lenny knows the recipe to make you a little black magic.’
Sephy turned and rushed down the stairs, leaving Dora staring after her. Lenny breathed out the loudest sigh Dora had ever heard.
‘Always runs away from anything slightly confrontational, always has done and always will do. I have no idea how her plan is going to work if she can’t even face her own niece.’
‘What plan? Please Lenny, can you just tell me what is going on? I feel like Alice in Wonderland when she fell down the rabbit hole. Everything is beautiful, strange and it’s really making me feel weird that out of the blue I have this whole other life and family that I can’t remember.’
‘I need more alcohol, then I’ll tell you what I can, but you have to trust me that it’s not for me to fill in the blanks. I brought you home because you need to remember yourself, Dora, you need to dig deep inside of your soul and find all those memories you chose to forget this time around.’
‘I was only a baby, how am I supposed to do that?’
Lenny walked down the stairs and Dora followed her. ‘If you don’t, this lifetime will end. I can’t let that happen, we won’t let that happen, but you have to work with us, Dora. On the next full moon Sephy and I can perform a ritual that might help you torelease what’s buried inside of you, but you have to do the work, we can’t do it for you. All we can give is a helping hand.’
Hades, who was watching the women from the banister, called out.
