Autumn Calling by T. Lynne Tolles Read Free Book Online Page A

to
her, when did we see her last, that sort of thing.”
    “I suppose they are trying to find the
perpetrator.”
    “Yes. They think her death is very
suspicious.”
    “Do they? I expect that’s quite
possible.”
    “You think? Who in their right mind would
kill a sister?”
    “There are plenty of people not in their
right mind in this world, and many who make it their ambitions to
rid the world of what they deem unacceptable.”
    “But she’s a nun. How can being a nun be
unacceptable?”
    “For thousands of years religion has always
been a topic for debate among humans, and sadly, the cause of
wars.”
    “I guess you’re right, and you would
certainly know.”
    “I certainly would.”
    * * *
    After a moment of silence she said, “I was
hoping maybe you could help me with something.”
    “If I can.”
    “Well, it is something that you’ve told me
in the past you would not reveal to me.”
    “Oh,” he said with regret.
    “But I was hoping under the circumstances,
you might discard your normal protocol just this once.”
    “Hmmm. What circumstances are we talking
about here?”
    “Well, I’ve tried several times to talk to
Aunt Myrtle about the necklace I found in the box.”
    “I’ve already told you too much about that.
I had assumed your Ms. Midnight had informed you of your twin, but
when I saw your face and realized she hadn’t, I knew I had
overstepped my bounds.”
    “Yes, I know you feel you have, but there’s
more to it than that.”
    “Oh?”
    “As you know, Aunt Myrtle has times when she
is lucid and as normal as anyone else, but whenever the subject of
Grandma Ivy or my sister comes up, she falls into some kind of
incoherent babbling or outburst.”
    “Then maybe you should talk to Mortimer. He
should be able to give you the information you need.”
    “Have you met the man? He is not very
pleasant. He barely has the patience to converse with me long
enough to try and learn some new spell or incantation, let alone
speak of something personal, especially of a time when he was not
imprisoned in a cat’s body for heinous magical crimes I still don’t
understand.”
    “I see.”
    “I think it’s clear to see there is no one
else who can tell me what happened to my family. I only have bits
and pieces, and it seems that if I have to go to war with my own
family, I should know how this all came to be and why I have a
sister I’ve never met.”
    “I suppose that does change things a
bit.”
    “I think so. So will you tell me what
happened?”
    “Where is it you would like me to
start?”
    “How about with the birth of my sister and
me.”
    “You were born first, by two minutes, ten
seconds. Your given names are Eliane, you, and Lunette Macabre.
Toward the end of the pregnancy, your mother found it harder and
harder to see what it was she saw in your father that made her fall
in love. She wondered, as her father Henry had suggested when they
were scheduled to be married, that a spell may have been used. He
fought very hard to keep them from being married, but he fell ill
days before the wedding and died the day before.
    “Ivy suspected his death was not from
natural causes and was quite sure the Macabres had been behind it.
The wedding went on as planned and within three months of marrying,
your mother Violet found herself with child. Though Ivy was
thrilled to find out she was going to be a grandmother, she
couldn’t help but wonder if this had been the Macabres’ way of
acquiring the Midnights’ powers in fusing the genes of the families
together in a child.
    “After a couple of doctor’s visits, it was
announced they were not having one child, but two: twin girls. With
frequent visits to the Macabre mansion, Ivy found her daughter to
be more and more distrusting of her new husband, Marcus. So much so
that when she was nearly ready to deliver, she asked her mother to
help her concoct a plan to help her get herself and the girls, once
they were born, out from under the thumb of