"Where is it ..."
The sounds of rummaging coming from Fliss' bedroom in Willow Manor was never an unusual sound, but when the voice muttering about finding something was Liv, it usually meant that something had gone wandering from her desk. She didn't mind the kids borrowing her highlighters or binders or anything else from the desk, so long as they put them back, but sometimes things just disappeared for no apparent reason.
It should have been easy to find the missing papers - they'd been in the spare drawer, usually handed out for coloring and drawing on because the information on the other side was no longer necessary. Fliss' room was normally a complete mess, with the most recently pilfered items right out in the open, but somehow the teenager had completely turned herself around and started keeping her room amazingly clean and tidy. Which, unfortunately, meant that Liv did not have the first idea where to look for the papers she needed.
With Bess napping downstairs with Alex and Maria doing their homework, Johnny still at work, and the teenagers hanging out at the Foster's house, she had the perfect opportunity to go rummaging, and thus far had come up empty.
"Oh, this is ridiculous," she huffed, straightening up in frustration. "How can one piece of paper go missing?" She'd checked the trashcan, Fliss' desk, Fliss' homework binder, Fliss' notebooks ....nothing. Where else could the girl have put it"
Giving up, Liv turned toward the door, exasperated and more than a little upset. She was going to have to call Sol and tell him she'd lost the contact information for the Seven Towers, and she never lost anything. The thought of admitting to the man who had done her job perfectly for the last five months that she'd made a mistake in her first week back at it was more than enough to stick in her craw.
A thump behind her made her look back. There was now a binder in the middle of Fliss' perfectly made bed, where there hadn't been one before. Liv looked around hurriedly, suspicious that she wasn't alone.
"Alex" Maria?"
A small voice called from downstairs. "Yes, Mama?"
"Are you both still down there?" Liv called, eyeing the binder with deep suspicion.
"Yes, Mama! Do you want us to come up?"
"Not just yet, sweetie," she answered her son, knowing her daughter understood every word even if she couldn't answer verbally. "Did you move anything up here while you were downstairs?"
There was a pause, and Alex eventually piped up with, "Can I do that?"
Liv swallowed a laugh, not wanting to upset him. "Yes, you will be able to eventually," she called to him. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure this is just me being paranoid."
"Okay!"
Sighing, Liv approached the binder on the bed warily. She opened it, and there, on top of everything, was the one piece of paper she had been looking for. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "How very convenient," she mused out loud, scanning the room for any sign that anything was out of place as she scribbled the contact information down on the back of her hand. "Of course, I don't know where this binder came from, and if Fliss realizes I've been rummaging in her room, I will never hear the end of it."
Rising, she turned to head back to the door, unsurprised this time to hear another thump. When she glanced back, the binder was gone, and the imprint she had made on the bedcovers had been smoothed away. Interesting.
Now, if this had been Alex or Maria, they would have immediately torn the room apart looking for whatever was responsible. Even Johnny would have begun a hunt for whatever was apparently living in Fliss' bedroom. Liv, on the other hand, had paid attention to a few of the stories told by Lyneth and her parents over the last couple of years. She thought she knew what was going on here.
Heading downstairs once again, she transferred the information on her hand into her own contacts book, and headed for the kitchen to check on the children. Lifting the phone out of its cradle, she dialed Orchard House, and spent an instructive few minutes talking to Piper about household fairies.
When she was done, she was smiling. Of all the things Fliss could have accidentally brought home from the market ....a brownie wasn't so bad.
The sounds of rummaging coming from Fliss' bedroom in Willow Manor was never an unusual sound, but when the voice muttering about finding something was Liv, it usually meant that something had gone wandering from her desk. She didn't mind the kids borrowing her highlighters or binders or anything else from the desk, so long as they put them back, but sometimes things just disappeared for no apparent reason.
It should have been easy to find the missing papers - they'd been in the spare drawer, usually handed out for coloring and drawing on because the information on the other side was no longer necessary. Fliss' room was normally a complete mess, with the most recently pilfered items right out in the open, but somehow the teenager had completely turned herself around and started keeping her room amazingly clean and tidy. Which, unfortunately, meant that Liv did not have the first idea where to look for the papers she needed.
With Bess napping downstairs with Alex and Maria doing their homework, Johnny still at work, and the teenagers hanging out at the Foster's house, she had the perfect opportunity to go rummaging, and thus far had come up empty.
"Oh, this is ridiculous," she huffed, straightening up in frustration. "How can one piece of paper go missing?" She'd checked the trashcan, Fliss' desk, Fliss' homework binder, Fliss' notebooks ....nothing. Where else could the girl have put it"
Giving up, Liv turned toward the door, exasperated and more than a little upset. She was going to have to call Sol and tell him she'd lost the contact information for the Seven Towers, and she never lost anything. The thought of admitting to the man who had done her job perfectly for the last five months that she'd made a mistake in her first week back at it was more than enough to stick in her craw.
A thump behind her made her look back. There was now a binder in the middle of Fliss' perfectly made bed, where there hadn't been one before. Liv looked around hurriedly, suspicious that she wasn't alone.
"Alex" Maria?"
A small voice called from downstairs. "Yes, Mama?"
"Are you both still down there?" Liv called, eyeing the binder with deep suspicion.
"Yes, Mama! Do you want us to come up?"
"Not just yet, sweetie," she answered her son, knowing her daughter understood every word even if she couldn't answer verbally. "Did you move anything up here while you were downstairs?"
There was a pause, and Alex eventually piped up with, "Can I do that?"
Liv swallowed a laugh, not wanting to upset him. "Yes, you will be able to eventually," she called to him. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure this is just me being paranoid."
"Okay!"
Sighing, Liv approached the binder on the bed warily. She opened it, and there, on top of everything, was the one piece of paper she had been looking for. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "How very convenient," she mused out loud, scanning the room for any sign that anything was out of place as she scribbled the contact information down on the back of her hand. "Of course, I don't know where this binder came from, and if Fliss realizes I've been rummaging in her room, I will never hear the end of it."
Rising, she turned to head back to the door, unsurprised this time to hear another thump. When she glanced back, the binder was gone, and the imprint she had made on the bedcovers had been smoothed away. Interesting.
Now, if this had been Alex or Maria, they would have immediately torn the room apart looking for whatever was responsible. Even Johnny would have begun a hunt for whatever was apparently living in Fliss' bedroom. Liv, on the other hand, had paid attention to a few of the stories told by Lyneth and her parents over the last couple of years. She thought she knew what was going on here.
Heading downstairs once again, she transferred the information on her hand into her own contacts book, and headed for the kitchen to check on the children. Lifting the phone out of its cradle, she dialed Orchard House, and spent an instructive few minutes talking to Piper about household fairies.
When she was done, she was smiling. Of all the things Fliss could have accidentally brought home from the market ....a brownie wasn't so bad.