The girl froze. “What did you say?”
“Your name is Melina Manon,” he said. “You were born in Luxembourg in 1899. You came to live with Miss Thrush when you were sixteen years old, and have been here ever since.”
Horace had caught her off guard. She frowned, then made an arcing motion with her hand. The dresser that had nearly knocked me unconscious sailed through the air and then stopped, hovering, directly above Horace. If she let it drop, it would crush him. “You’ve done your homework,” said the girl, “but any wight could know my name and birthplace. Unfortunately for you, I no longer find your deceptions interesting.”
And yet, she didn’t quite seem ready to kill him.
“Your father was a bank clerk,” Horace said, speaking quickly.
“Your mother was very beautiful but smelled strongly of onions, a lifelong condition she could do nothing to cure.”
The dresser wobbled above Horace. The girl stared at him, her brows knit together, hand in the air.
“When you were seven, you badly wanted an Arabian horse,” Horace continued. “Your parents couldn’t afford such an extravagant animal, so they bought a donkey instead. You named him Habib, which means
The girl’s mouth fell open.
Horace went on.
“You were thirteen when you realized you could manipulate objects using only your mind. You started with small things, paper clips and coins, then larger and larger ones. But you could never pick up Habib with your mind, because your ability did not extend to living creatures. When your family moved houses, you thought it had gone away entirely, because you couldn’t move anything at all anymore. But it was simply that you hadn’t gotten to know the new house yet. Once you became familiar with it, mapped it in your mind, you could move objects within its walls.”
“How could you possibly know all this?” Melina said, gaping at him.
“Because I dreamed about you,” said Horace. “That’s what
“My God,” said the girl, “you
And the dresser drifted gently to the floor.
* * *
I wobbled to my feet, head throbbing where the dresser had hit me.
“You’re bleeding!” Emma said, jumping up to inspect my cut.
