Wyatt opened it and noticed that Nordin had placed Audrey McCarthy’s information first. “I see she’s at school not far from here. Mia, do you think you can infiltrate a Catholic girls’ school?”
“Not dressed like this.”
“The school’s uniform is in the bag at your feet,” Nordin told her.
Mia opened the bag. “I’m not going to ask you how you did all this in the time we were in there, but man, you’re amazing.”
“Mia, don’t flatter him. He’ll just get more annoying,” Wyatt warned. “I would go with you into the school, but I’m not sure having a demon walk the halls of Notre Dame High School is going to be good for its reputation.”
“It’s not a school anymore,” Mia said. “Audrey told me they closed in 2016.”
“Still, let’s not cause an early closure due to demon infestation. I doubt they are equipped…”
“Actually, Father Alessandro would be the go-to guy. I think you’re right to wait for me out here. Or should Murph and I find another way back?”
“No, we’ll chance it. Now I’ll avert my eyes so you can get changed.”
Mia, who already had pulled the pleated skirt over her pants, grinned. There wasn’t much to hide. She’d be lucky to pass for a freshman with her flat body. She transferred the contents of her pockets to the blazer before pulling it over the starched white blouse. The knee socks and shoes went on. “How did you know my shoe size?” she mumbled.
“I’m a good guesser,” Nordin said. “In the bottom of the bag is a headband. I wasn’t sure of the hair regulations of this school, but let’s assume that a ponytail is a no.”
Wyatt, who had put up with Mia’s arms and legs invading his space in the process of changing, sighed.
“What?” Mia asked. “Did I get something wrong?”
“You need a cross.”
“Maybe it’s under my blouse?”
“Do you know how to cross yourself.”
“I’m not planning on attending church. I’m just going to wait in the hall until I can connect with Audrey. But I have spent some time in the company of Jesuits and Roman Catholics. Wyatt, you are dealing with a woman in her third decade.”
“I keep forgetting that. Mia, I see a child. A trusting child.”
“I should remember what I look like and recreate this persona when I OOB,” Mia said thoughtfully.
“No,” Murphy said firmly. “Time to go.”
Mia winked at Wyatt. “You heard the man.”
Nordin pulled up to the front of the school. He exited and walked around and opened Mia’s door.
“They’re going to think I’m a rich kid,” Mia said through her teeth.
“I find that wealth opens doors,” Nordin said.
Mia walked up the steps, and the doors were indeed opened. The sister who stood there didn’t even ask her a question about why she had arrived so late in the day.
Mia volunteered, “Dentist appointment.”
“Wait quietly in the hall until the next class,” the nun instructed.
“Yes, Sister,” Mia said.
Murphy walked beside Mia, stopping only to tip his hat to the spirit remains of a former teacher. Mia had seen her too but averted her eyes. She did not have time for an uncomfortable conversation.
Mia found a bench halfway down the main hall on the first floor. Mia lowered her voice and spoke to Murphy, “I’m not sure exactly what Audrey will look like. I assume red curly hair and pleasant freckled face. And no nails. She would have bitten them off. I remember her telling me that the nuns frightened her more than the ghosts we’ve run into.”
“I’ll go through the classrooms. How old is she?”
“She’d be a junior. She’s just about Burt’s age.”
Murphy nodded and moved through the tidy line of lockers into the first classroom.
Mia sat with her hands folded in her lap, knees together, ankles crossed. A duo of nuns moved down the hall coming towards her. Mia started sweating, expecting to be interrogated, but they just kept moving past her.
The bell rang overhead. Mia stood up and scanned the hall for Audrey.
Murphy had reached the end of the hall, moving quickly through the classes on the east side with no success. There were a few redheaded students, but upon closer look, they weren’t Audrey. He had just started to cross the hall when the bell rang. He concentrated his search on the students exiting the west-side classrooms.
Mia’s height was a disadvantage. She was just starting to climb the bench to get a better look when she heard a familiar laugh. Mia turned around and followed the sound.
Audrey McCarthy was a positively delightful person already at sixteen. Her hair had been pulled back tightly and two clips helped to hold the curls flat to her head. But the radiance that was Audrey’s true positive nature could not be cowed by the severe hairdo nor the uniform. She was taller than Mia, and when Mia waved her hand in front of her face, she looked down at the pale blonde with amusement.
“Who do we have here?” she said to her companions. “Are you the transfer student from Norway? Or did you have a problem with a bottle of bleach?”
Mia wrinkled her face and almost forgot why she was there. “Are you Audrey McCarthy?”
“Yes.”
“Sister Mary Margaret asked me to fetch you.”
“Why would the gym teacher need to see me?”
“I’m just the messenger. She said to fetch you,” Mia replied. She hadn’t known what class this particular Sister Mary Margaret taught. She only used the name because Father Santos had assured her that if you call out Mary Margret into a group of women born in the fifties, four would raise their hands.
“Very well.” She turned to her chums. “I must have left something undesirable in my gym locker.
