“But still…”
“Do you believe in zombies?” Mia asked him.
“Yes.”
“Explain them scientifically?” Mia challenged.
“It’s a sickness…” Ted started and continued to state all the facts as he saw them.
Cid groaned and muttered to Murphy, “This is going to take forever.”
“As long as we are walking towards your house, who does it hurt? Your friend has an audience. Let him talk.”
“But he never stops talking,” Cid warned.
“He’ll stop, watch,” Murphy instructed.
Mia grabbed Ted’s hand. It was as if someone took the needle off a record. Ted looked down at Mia.
“Now that’s magic,” Murphy said.
“No, that’s chemistry,” Cid corrected.
“It used to bother me to see them that way,” Murphy confessed.
“You like her more than a friend, don’t you,” Cid observed.
“You always seem to know things before everyone else does.”
“It’s these ears of mine. I hear more in voices than most people,” Cid said. “In the short time we’ve been together, I could tell that Mia feels something deeper for you, but I also know she fears it.”
“Remember how Mia said magic has its own rules?”
“Yes.”
“Well, when Mia is an adult, I’m not allowed to love her…”
“Why?”
“It’s called a ghostly intrusion. I could be sent to the Dark World for doing married things with her. She won’t risk that. So, she refuses to think of me as anything other than dead. This is what keeps us out of trouble.”
“But you still love her.”
“Yes.”
“Can I ask you something extremely personal?”
“I’ll do my best to answer you.”
“At the Duprees, Mia died. You could have been ghosts together. Why didn’t you let her die?”
“Because that’s not what heroes do,” Murphy said simply. “There is more at stake than me getting the girl.”
“I know. I’m amazed that a man from your time knows this,” Cid admitted.
“Just because I lived in the past doesn’t mean I’m stupid. Look at your philosophers, they have been dead longer than me, but their observations are still relevant.”
“Touché,” Cid said.
Ted and Mia walked in silence for a while holding hands. Cid had run ahead to his house to check if his sister was there.
Murphy disappeared and sought out the solace of nature. He didn’t mind sharing his secrets with Cid. If they were successful this time, he wouldn’t remember what they had talked about. He knew what was at stake. He was surprised how devastated he was when Ted and Burt were killed. These were two men in the future who would take Mia’s heart - but two good men. They were men who allowed him to stay in Mia’s life. In Murphy’s time, this was an impossibility. Wives didn’t have male friends other than their husbands. Mia was such an independent soul, he doubted she would have made a good wife for him. Although it didn’t stop him from loving her. It wasn’t this Cooper curse they bandied about. He wasn’t instantly awestruck with the girl when he met her. If there was a curse, it happened before she came back to live in Big Bear Lake. He smiled remembering that she admitted she came back to be near him. Maybe this was enough.
Cid waved them into the house. Mia smiled at how Cid had taken the lead. She was going to let him do this because it was his wish, and she had failed so miserably. Cid insisted they all eat something before they made plans.
Mia excused herself and used the facilities. She took the time to look at herself in the mirror. Sure, she was a goofy-looking girl, but she could at least make an attempt. She washed the Kansas dust off her skin and pulled her hair back from her face, borrowing a scrunchie from Cid’s sister’s supply. As she wound the material around her hair, she thought about what they may have to face when they arrive. It would be just the four of them. The Duprees weren’t going to be included - too far away, too much explaining to do. They needed to leave this afternoon, and that meant they were going to have to navigate the woods just as it got dark.
The aroma of food pulled her from her thoughts. She left the bathroom and walked quickly to the kitchen.
Ted watched her walk in. She seemed too familiar with the house. Cid had explained that they had already met and failed at the first attempt to rescue this Burt Hicks guy. How long had she spent here? She and Cid were way too at ease with each other. Why did he care? Why was he feeling insecure? What was wrong with him?
“Earth to Ted, Earth to Ted,” Cid said.
“Ted to Earth,” he answered. “Sorry, stuck in a thought.”
Mia slid over and sat next to him. She grabbed his hand. “It’s time to tell you everything. Please, Teddy Bear, try not to argue too much. We can’t explain why things happened, but we can tell you that they did happen. Listen, and maybe you can tell me where I went wrong.”
“Go ahead, I’m all ears,” he said, releasing her hand so he could think with the right brain.
Murphy watched the teens as he sharpened his axe on the soapstone he had unearthed from Cid’s garage. Cid handed Ted a pad of paper when he noticed Ted taking notes on the kitchen table. When Cid and Mia had finished the story, he sat for a moment and looked at his notes and waited.
“Well?” Mia asked.
“This Wyatt calling the Dupree house set in motion the Others. You should have gone straight for the mental hospital instead of staying the night at the Duprees. This delay gave the bad guys time to set up. What aren’t you telling me? The story has a hole in it.”
“You’re surprised by two thugs while you’re handling a percussive
