ballsy to add "Falls" onto any town's name unless there are ... you know ... falls there. Still, it was a nice walk for shaking out your sanity, and my sanity desperately needed some shaking out.
I tucked an old sweatshirt into the bottom of my worn army-navy messenger bag, and set the mug bunny inside. Immediately, it curled up and seemed to go to sleep. I threw on my sneakers, gray sweats, and L'EGGO MY EGGO T-shirt, pulled my hair back into a half-assed ponytail - who was going to see me, anyway? - slid my bag over my shoulder, and went out my front door just as Tobias was turning from the sidewalk onto my walkway.
"Hey," he said, smiling up at me as I froze where I was at the top of my porch steps.
"Hey," I said. "I was just about to take a walk. To the falls."
"Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." I smiled at him, feeling shaky and tense but somewhat comforted just by the sight of him. "I'd like that."
"Great." He motioned for me to join him, and I fell into step beside him. As we navigated the sidewalks of the village, then the dirt at the edge of the two-laner that passed for Nodaway's highway, we spoke on innocuous subjects, town talk mostly. Maurice Greeley had been in the day before showing off his granddaughter, that kind of thing. Then, when we hit the path in the woods, we started talking about the waffles he'd made for me the other night; I asked him for the recipe, and he told me, and I retained none of it. Then, deep in the woods, we talked about nothing, just went silent and walked together. We reached the falls and sat on the big, flat rock overlooking the inconsequential brook. For the first time in a while, I felt peaceful and at ease.
And then, Tobias spoke.
"So," he said, "I guess your power came in, then?"
I froze, not sure how to respond, and then finally, I said, "My ... power? What, you mean, like ... my electricity? It wasn't out."
He looked at me, his expression frank, and I felt my heart clutch in my chest. "Oh. You mean..."
"Yes."
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"About the magic. About the ... things I can do."
"I know about magic, yes."
I shook my head, trying to absorb this. "You knew."
"Yes. Day or night?"
"Day. You knew?"
He nodded. "How does it manifest?"
I joke-punched his upper arm. "Bruises. That's how it manifests. Don't skip ahead. You knew?"
"Get mad at me later," he said. "Right now, I need answers. How does it manifest?'
"I'll be mad at you now if I want to be mad at you now," I grumbled, but at the same time I reached into my messenger bag and pulled out the mug bunny and handed it to him. "I turn household objects into woodland creatures, household pets, and common vermin."
He flipped the mug bunny upside down, inspecting the bottom, and the little feet flailed wildly. Then he turned it back upright, and handed it back to me.
"Cute."
"Yeah. It's a growth industry." I tucked the thing, wriggling in objection, back into my messenger bag, and took a moment to breathe and sort out my building fury before turning to look at him again. "So, all that, 'whatever you want to tell me, I'll believe you' stuff. That was about getting me to admit to the magic."
His expression was impenetrable. "I have a job to do. It's important to that job that I know what's going on."
"It's important to making waffles that you know about my magic?"
He shook his head. "No. To protecting you."
"Protecting me? That's your job?"
"Yes."
"So all that 'there's a good reason why this is a bad idea' stuff ... that was about the job? Of protecting me?"
He met my eye, and for the first time since we started the conversation, I could see some evidence of regret. Not a lot, but it was there. "Don't sleep with the job. Things get messed up when you get emotionally involved."
"I'm a job. Great." I digested that for a minute, then said, "Wait, who hired you?"
"I was hired by your sister to protect you," he said. "She was worried that someone might come after you."
A rush of excitement ran through me, and I jumped to my feet. "My sister? You know Holly? Where is she? I need to find her, I need a blood relative to - "
His eyes met mine, steely dark and businesslike as he said, "She's dead."
I