The House in the Cerulean Sea(80)

Useless. Her and Arthur both.

“Adults don’t think about death a lot,” Linus said sternly. “In fact, they barely think about it at all. Why, it doesn’t even cross my mind.”

“Then why are so many books written by adults about mortality?” Phee asked.

“I don’t—it’s because—that’s neither here nor there! What I’m trying to say is that there is to be no more talk about death or dying!”

Talia nodded sagely as she stroked her beard. “Exactly. Because it’s better not to know if we’re about to die. That way, we don’t start screaming right now. It’ll be a surprise. We can always scream then.”

Theodore chirped worriedly, hiding his head under his wing as he sat on Sal’s lap. Sal reached down and stroked his back.

“I can tell you when you’re going to die,” Lucy said. He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling of the van. “I think I could see the future if I tried hard enough. Mr. Baker? Do you want me to see when you’re going to die? Ooh, yes, it’s coming to me now. I can see it! You’re going to perish in a terrible—”

“I don’t,” Linus snapped. “And I will tell you again, while we’re in the village, you can’t go around offering to tell people about what fate awaits them!”

Lucy sighed. “How am I supposed to make new friends if I can’t tell them about how they’ll die? What’s the point?”

“Ice cream and records,” Arthur said.

“Oh. Okay!”

This was a very bad idea.

“Do you think I look good?” Chauncey asked for what had to be the hundredth time. “I don’t know if I got my outfit quite right.”

He wore a tiny trench coat, and a top hat was set between his eyes. He said it was his disguise, but it did little. It’d been his idea, and Linus hadn’t felt like arguing, especially when Chauncey had exclaimed quite loudly that he couldn’t go to the village nude, even though that was how he spent most of his time on the island. Linus had never thought about it that way. And now he couldn’t not.

“You look fine,” Linus said. “Dashing, even.”

“Like a spy hidden in the shadows about to reveal a big secret,” Sal told him.

“Or like he’s going to open his coat and flash us,” Talia muttered.

“Hey! I wouldn’t do that! Only if you asked!”

Zoe was no longer trying to hide her laughter.

Linus turned back around in the seat, staring out the windshield. Merle was still gaping at them.

“Second thoughts?” Arthur asked. Linus didn’t have to look at him to know he was smiling.

“No,” Linus said. “Of course not. This is going to be fine. This is going to— Good God, man! Lower the damn gate!”

“Ooooh,” the children said.

“Mr. Baker cursed,” Talia whispered in awe.

It was going to be fine.



* * *



“We’ll be back later this afternoon,” Arthur said to Merle as they exited the ferry. “I do hope that won’t be a problem. I’ll make sure there’s something a little extra in it for you.”

Merle nodded, still slack-jawed. “That’s … that’s fine, Mr. Parnassus.”

“I assumed it would be. It’s good to see you again.”

Merle fled back to the ferry.

“Odd fellow, isn’t he?” Arthur asked. He drove toward the village.

As it was toward the end of September and therefore the beginning of the off-season, the village of Marsyas wasn’t as bustling as it normally was. Even when Linus had arrived three weeks prior, there were still crowds on the sidewalks, peering into the shops, or children in swimsuits, following their parents who wore flip-flops on their pasty feet, carrying umbrellas and towels and coolers as they headed toward the beach.

The town wasn’t dead, exactly, but quiet, which put Linus at ease. He wanted this to go as smoothly as possible, so they could do it again after he left. The fact that he was thinking in terms of the orphanage remaining as it was never really crossed his mind. That would come later.

But those who were on the street didn’t do much to hide the fact that they were gawking.

Talia, nearest to the window, waved as they drove by a woman and her two children.

The children waved back.

The mother grabbed them and held them close as if she thought they were about to be snatched.

Chauncey, who sat on the opposite end of the bench, plastered his face against the window, eyes darting around. “There’s the hotel! I see it! Look at it! Look at— Oh. My. God. There’s a bellhop. A real, live bellhop! Look! Look.”

And there was, a thin man helping an elderly woman wearing an inordinate amount of fur from an expensive car. They heard Chauncey’s unholy screech, and Linus looked back in time to see Chauncey press his mouth against the glass and blow out a large puff of air, causing his head to expand.

The old woman staggered, hand going to her throat. The bellhop managed to catch her before she fell.

“Wow,” Chauncey breathed as he peeled his face from the glass. “Bellhops can do everything.”

It was going to be fine.

It was.

Arthur pulled into a car lot reserved for those headed to the beach. Since it was the off-season, it was mostly empty, and there was no one in the pay booth, which had been shuttered. He pulled into the first free space and turned off the van. “Children,” he said mildly. “Please exit the vehicle and buddy up.”