Page 66 of Haunting the Deep

He blinks out.

Susannah and I sit on one bed and Alice and Mary on the other. Laptops, books, and handwritten notes about theTitanicsurround us.

“I’m not finding anything else about Myra. Are you guys?” I ask.

Mary shakes her head.

“Nope,” Alice says. “Your letter tells us almost as much about her as anything else I’ve seen.”

“It’s just so weird. Even Elijah couldn’t find her.” I chew on the end of my pen.

Alice looks over her notes. “Let’s run through these connections again. It started with the dress and a note from her.”

“And in my nondreams people accept me as the Harpers’ niece. I’ve spent time with Henry, but I’ve never seen Myra.”

“That letter you found was about her. The key Alice got was to her stateroom. And we’re assuming that the dog collar could be from Myra’s Pekingese,” Susannah says. “It’s probably fair to assume the seasickness spell is connected as well.”

Mary lies on her stomach and props her head on her hand. “Didn’t that letter talk about Henry being sick with ‘grippe’? I looked it up. It’s an old-fashioned word for the flu. And if he had the flu on theTitanic,he would definitely feel seasick,” Mary says nonchalantly, and we all look at her.

“Not a bad theory,” Alice says. “And any which way, seasickness refers to being on a boat. So that only leaves the bowler hat.”

There’s a knock at the door. I cover the old spell book with a pillow.

“Come in!” I say.

My dad peeks his head in. “You girls need anything? I’m headed to bed, but if you get hungry, there’s enough food in the kitchen to feed the whole town. Don’t stay up too late. Make sure you get some sleep.”

We nod in agreement, and he closes the door behind him. We listen as his footsteps disappear down the hallway.

“Are you going to tell him about Mrs. Meriwether and the potion?” Susannah asks.

“I just don’t see how that could turn out well. You guys see my dad all friendly and happy. But I’m telling you, he doesnotreact well to anything magic-related.”

“Whatever you do, just don’t get yourself grounded. It will seriously interfere,” Mary says. “Parents worry.”

“Not mine,” Alice says. “I’m not even sure they know what my name is sometimes.”

Mary wraps her arms around Alice. “I know I should feel bad for you, and I do. But I also selfishly love that you stay at my house all the time.”

Alice leans her cheek into Mary’s curly head.

“Maybe we could just remake the potion from Mrs. Meriwether’s garden and save you the conversation,” Susannah says. “We have the spell book.”

“She would know immediately if we went over there,” I say. “Plus, it’s only just getting warm out, and I’m not sure she’s even growing all those things yet. I’m just gonna have to figure something out.” I pick up the spell book. “But in the meantime, there’s a memory spell in here that might be worth a shot. Maybe help with my nondreams?”

“Can I see it?” Susannah asks, taking the book from my lap. She skims the page. “We could definitely try this tonight after we call Myra. Although it looks like a potion might be the better way to go for potency.”

I glance at the spell book. How am I going to slip all this spell casting past my dad and Mrs. Meriwether?

Alice puts down her notebook. “Speaking of which, we should get started.”

Mary frowns. “I just want the record to state that Ireallydon’t like this.”

“Since we can’t easily move the Myra painting from the attic, and it’s where you found the letter, I’m thinking we should just do the spell there,” Alice says.

“I was actually going to say the same thing,” I say.

Mary groans.