Wood Sprites

Jillian pouted and leaned against Louise.

“We like Esme’s bedroom — our bedroom just the way it is,” Louise said for them both.

Anna pressed her lips together and took a deep breath, as if there were dozens of things she was leaving unsaid.

Louise could feel the unspoken words rise up, looming over them, threatening to do harm. If they balked too much, Anna would plow through their protests. Louise understood now why she’d felt that they were so much alike when she first saw Anna at the gala; the twins had apparently inherited the trait from her. “Can we — can we just do Lain’s bedroom — the other room — first?” Louise picked her way cautiously through the landmines of silent arguments. “We can stay in the one room while the work is done.”

Jillian shot her a look of dismay, but Anna sighed again and nodded.

“Come along.” Anna held out her hand.

Nikola bumped into Louise’s other side and looked pleadingly up at her. Despite the danger of bringing him to Ming’s notice, they had deemed it safer for the babies to come with them instead of being in the room while the maids cleaned. Louise hated the idea of leaving him in a house full of dangerous people as they traveled miles and miles away.

“Can Tesla come?” Louise patted Nikola on the head so Anna knew who she meant since they had never introduced him to her before.

Anna gave a startled laugh. “Nikola Tesla?” The question made Louise flinch in fear. “Esme loved Tesla; he was her favorite scientist. She also had a toy dog named after him. She just loved it to pieces.”

“Oh!” Louise looked down to cover her alarm. Had Esme known about the babies? Was that who Esme had seen in her dreams? Or was it just a weird coincidence that Esme had named a dog the same name?

“He’s too big, Louise,” Anna continued. “He’ll take up too much room in the car.”

“He can sit on the floor!” Louise stepped forward to take Anna’s hand. It was an old woman’s hand, veins a vivid blue under the pale, tight dry skin. It was like their Grandma Mayer’s hands, but she had been all sweetness and forgetfulness and prone to sudden naps. She would hold their nut-brown hands in hers and try to guess which twin they were. Anna had always gotten their names right.

Tristan had said his mother was a fortune-teller. Did Anna see the future just like Esme? How had Esme kept her mother from knowing everything? Anna hadn’t known anything until Esme came to see her, and then she had the dreams of the cabbage patch. Had Esme avoided her mother because contact exposed each one’s secrets to the other?

Louise stared at her hand caught tight in Anna’s. If that were true, then every moment with her was dangerous. But jerking her hand free might seem as insulting as a slap to the face. She forced herself to squeeze Anna’s hand tighter. “Please?”

Anna sighed. “Oh, all right. You can bring your toy.”

* * *

They rode in the limo to a furniture store in Manhattan, two different male drivers than last time but both unmistakably elves. Where did Ming keep them all hidden? Was there a separate house stuffed to the rafters with them? Nikola had his nose pressed against the window, staring in fascination at the parts of the city he’d never seen before. Jillian hunched over her phone, answering his silent questions.

The salesman at the furniture store caught sight of the limo and was waiting at the door with badly hidden excitement. He didn’t glance at Jillian or Louise, staying locked on to Anna as if laser-guided. “How can I help you, madame?”

“I need bedroom sets for my granddaughters.” Anna waved toward the twins. “You do sell furniture for children?”

He deflated and eyed the girls for the first time. Obviously children’s beds didn’t fetch as big a commission as adult furniture. “Yes. We do. An entire floor of it. Let me show you!”

He led them to an elevator, and they went up to the topmost floor. The first large room was a vast sea of cribs and toddler beds. The room beyond was devoted to furniture fit for princesses. Most of it was pink. Even the white-painted pieces were accented with ribbons and bows of pink. There was a Hello Kitty set and a coach straight out of Cinderella.

“Gag me,” Jillian muttered darkly.

“We don’t like pink,” Louise stated. “Do you have anything less girly-girl?”

The salesman looked to Anna.

Anna considered Louise and Jillian as if with X-ray eyes. “Do you have anything more exotic?”

“Exotic? Y-y-yes!” The word started as an automatic statement as the salesman thought frantically and then became a solid confirmation as he thought of something appropriate. “In our adult bedroom section. We just got it in this morning.”

Anna flicked her hand, indicating that he should show the way.