Disclaimer: I don't own The Mysterious Benedict Society, but I do admit to hanging out with it's members quite often! ;)
Author Note: Just in case anyone is new to the series and hasn't read all three books yet, I want to mention that this story will contain some possible spoilers since it is set about ten years after the events of the final book.
Our story begins with a 24 year old Reynie returning to Stonetown after two years spent studying abroad...
Chapter 1 (Reynie's POV)
Late autumn was overwhelming Stonetown like a hug too tight. Smoothing my hands along the wooden window frame I couldn't help but smile at both the sight, and the thought. The sight was a busy street, but more than that it was...home. A place I hadn't seen in over two years. But it honestly felt so much longer than that.
The thought was a hug much too tight... An embrace that could leave you breathless. Often times in a very literal sense. Letting out a small sigh I smiled a little more tenderly to myself. But how I'd waited for just that hug...
A gentle breeze came drifting through the open window and ruffled a few locks of my brown hair. Closing my eyes I contented myself to wait just a little longer... Turning away I took a few steps toward the neat pile of yellowing envelopes stacked on my old desk. Pulling out the chair with a creak I sat down and selected the first letter on top of the stack.
Carefully I unfolded the nearly decade old piece of mail. The paper was yellowed and still seemed to smell of lemon juice. The old scent caused a stir of emotions inside me, as if it transported me back in time somehow. The page was half covered with a familiar hurried script that mostly spoke of daily events and the weather. Along with a written self-thought about wondering if birds were in fact smarter animals than most others after all. I smiled as memories of a certain brown falcon filled my mind. The memories were old, yet still seemed so fresh.
Pulling open a drawer I reached for a match and struck it until it flickered to life. Then with caution I lit the small candle sitting at the side of my desk. Even more carefully I held the old letter just over the flame until a light message began to appear. I smiled painfully as I felt my heart clinch in a bitter sweet way.
"It works Reynie! Glad I got to try out this old trick after all! - Kate"
The hidden words were as mysterious, appearing out of nothing, as they had been all those years ago. But secret messages were often expected to contain secrets. When Kate's next letter arrived I instantly recognized the same lemony scent, but the message was no more secret than the plainly written lines.
Leaning back in the chair I let my eyes focus on the flicker of the candle's flame. I was feeling my foolish disappointment all over again. I was only fourteen then...and maybe I was just too used to mysteries to accept that a hidden message had little to say. But I wasn't a boy any longer, so why should I be bothered by a boy's disappointments?
The question didn't have a clear answer. Neither did the feeling I felt fluttering in my chest when I thought of it all.
What had I been hoping the letters would say? The lemon juice letters came for a while until one day I opened the envelope to find the scent was completely gone. More than anything I remembered the emptiness that lingered in the air around that letter.
Turning my head to the side I let my gaze settle on the group photograph of all of my friends. It had been taken some years back, but in all the ways that mattered we all seemed to never change. Constance still wore a playful scowl, Sticky still seemed timid yet courageous behind his spectacles, and Kate...
I reached out to touch the cold glass that separated my fingertips from the photograph underneath. Kate was as bright and energizing as that lemon scent that still haunted me. She never seemed to think herself beautiful, so she never tried to be... But...
I withdrew my hand quickly as if she might just realize my feelings and reject me through this picture sitting on my desk. Taking in a deep breath of air I finally let myself finish the thought that my heart had been compelling me to think for so many years now.
She never tried to be beautiful...but undeniably...to me she was...
Thanks for reading, and please do review if you'd like.