Best Guess

Originally written Wednesday, December 28, 2005

For instance, Trudy spent the first night of Hanukkah with him and his parents as planned, but being mind-muddled the whole time, the parents (who she says received her gracefully and seemingly in complete oblivion about their son’s now various transformations even without the magical influence) and the vampires passed through the evening as if trapped inside an issue of Better Homes and Gardens. In her words: “On the bright side, I probably left a much better impression on the ‘rents than I woulda if I was myself that night!” I don't doubt her.

Any time she attempted to make contact with him outside, the same thing happened. She saw him pass through Applewood a couple of times during what sounded like a protracted tour of espionage; the first time, she tried to speak with him, only to end up being small-talked away as quickly as he’d opened his mouth to respond. The second time, she attempted to track him from a distance, but as soon as he noticed her, he did the approaching. “If I follow from any farther away,” she concluded, “I’m not gonna be able to keep up with him!”

“Guess it’s time to test whether one charm can prevent distraction by another one,” I offered.

“When the kid gets back?” Patrick, that is. With Bella’s charm.

“Nope. I have another one.”

Her eyes bulged out in surprise the same way mine probably had. I’d already impressed upon her the rarity of the first, and Moshe’s not only distracted but now essentially unapproachable state suggested that the third was in the vicinity, probably in the possession of his captor. “Are you serious? Another charm out of the three? Where the hell did it come from?”

“Originally? Beats me. Richard’s intern brought it over and left it at my house while I was away. He says he got it from the archive, but I’m not buying it. And I’m also not entirely sure he meant for me to have it. But I do. Have it.”

“And you’re sure it does the same thing?”

“Guess we’ll be testing that, too.”

She explained when and where in the Applewood district she’d encountered Moshe. It sounded as though a good deal of patience was required, as his schedule was not regular. He seems to be staying there, although whether voluntarily or not is impossible to say. However, now that the weather is milder than it was the first time I surveyed the neighborhood, the project seems a bit more feasible. It’ll also be a good thing to get done before classes start again next week. At the moment, I can afford to adapt to a nocturnal schedule, but once the new term begins, I’ll have too much work to do. Another thought occurred to me:

“Did you get the chance to ask where he knows Kay from?”

“Course not. Never even thought of it.”

“I know we probably can’t do it as long as he’s under the spell, but do you think his parents would know?”

“Maybe.”

“Think you could ask them?”

She agreed to think of a way to run into them and ask them casually. Knocking on the door and saying, “Hey, who’s this weird pink-haired chick who kidnapped your son? Oh and by the way, he was still kidnapped when you saw him the other night,” wasn’t going to fly. At any rate, she had her assignment, and I had mine.