Chapter Two

After Jared reluctantly went into the house, he went up to the room he and Simon would be sharing for…well…he didn't know how long. When he entered the room, he found Simon unpacking his things.

"What are you doing?" Jared wanted to know.

"Uh…unpacking," Simon said, as if it were obvious.

Jared rolled his eyes. "Why? I told you: it's only temporary. Dad's coming tomorrow, and he's gonna take us back with him." Jared smiled at the thought of his dad. He couldn't wait for him to come and visit…and then Jared could finally escape this creepy old house and go back to New York.

"I know that Dad's coming," Simon said, sounding concerned. "But…what about Mom?"

"She can have Mallory," Jared said, emphasizing that he wasn't thrilled with their older sister at the moment.

Simon didn't look that convinced.

"Come on, Simon," Jared said. "We can't stay here. I mean, look at this place. It's the house that time forgot." He picked up a blanket and sniffed it. "Ugh, and it's got that-"

"Old people smell," Simon finished, laughing. "I know."

"And what's this?" Jared asked, speaking more to himself than to his twin as he walked over to the windowsill. He ran his finger along a powdery-looking substance that covered the sill and put it in his mouth.

"Salt," he said, truly amazed. "There's salt. On the window!"

"I know," Simon said. "It's on all the windows."

"Yeah, and that's totally not weird," Jared sarcastically remarked.

"I'm guessing she put it there," Simon said, walking over to a picture that hung on the wall. It was a family portrait of Arthur Spiderwick, his wife, and their young daughter, Lucinda.

"Is that the nut bag and her husband?" Jared asked, joining his twin.

"No. That's Arthur Spiderwick," Simon said. "You know, our great-great-uncle. The little girl's the nut bag. I mean…" He trailed off, not wanting to be rude. "Aunt Lucinda, his daughter. She's the one who lived here before they took her away to the…um…to the…"

"The nut house," Jared finished.

"Yeah…" Simon said. "Right."

"And why'd she get taken there?" Jared asked, knowing full well why.

"Because she said her father was abducted."

"By?"

"By…faeries."

"Exactly!" Jared said, smiling widely. "Our crazy aunt stayed here her whole life and never left. Ever! It's not gonna happen to me. Or you." He walked back to his bed. "End of discussion."

...

Later that night, Simon and Jared sat at the kitchen table, eating their spaghetti in silence.

"Has anybody seen my keys?" Helen asked, walking around the room and stopping at the counter. "I know I left them right here."

She looked up at the shelves full of bottles of honey that lined the walls. "I guess Aunt Lucinda liked honey with her oatmeal, huh?" she asked, thinking out loud.

"And tomato sauce," Simon piped up, referring to the many jars of tomato sauce that they had found.

Mallory stormed in, obviously still in a bad mood. "Where's my fencing medal, Jared?" she asked angrily.

Jared was a bit confused. "Hanging on your bed?" he asked, knowing that was where Mallory usually kept that kind of stuff.

"It's not there anymore," she said, still aggravated.

"Well," Jared said, "find the bed, and you'll find the medal. It's very simple, really."

"I'm not talking about the bed, twerp," Mallory snapped. She thought for a moment. "You know what?" she said, sitting down. "I'm not acknowledging your existence until you bring my medal back."

"Is that a promise or a threat?" Jared asked.

"Well, actually," Simon cut in, trying to prevent a potential fight, "you'd have to acknowledge his existence in order to receive your medal from him."

Mallory gave her brother a nasty look. "Thanks, Spock, you're the pride of the federation."

"Jared," their mother said, still looking for her keys, "give it back."

"I didn't take the stupid medal," Jared said.

"You're such a liar!" Mallory said.

"Conflict…" Simon said quietly.

"Shut up, Simon!" Mallory and Jared hollered at their brother.

"HEY!" Helen shouted, and the three siblings closed their mouths.

After a minute of silence, Helen continued. "We're not gonna do this," she informed her children. "I know it's a new town…a new house…I have a new job…but this is our new life." She made her way over to Jared and hugged him. "Let's not fall into old ruts, okay?"

She sighed. "I know this house isn't perfect…but we can make it work if we want to make it work." She picked up a pan and walked to the sink. "All right?"

"All right, Mom," Mallory said, smiling smugly at Jared.

Jared was about to say something when he heard a yelp behind him. Helen had turned on the faucet, and the water had shot right at her face. She was drenched.

Jared and Simon started to snicker. "Shut up!" Mallory hissed.

As Helen dried herself off with a towel, her cellphone rang. She picked it up. "Hi," she said in a bored tone of voice.

Jared, Simon and Mallory all looked at each other. That tone of voice could only mean one thing: "Dad."

"Yeah, we made it…" Helen was saying. "What's that noise in the background? You know, scratch that. I don't want to know…just…because I don't."

"I'm gonna go look for my medal," Mallory said, getting up.

"I'll help you," Simon said a little too eagerly, following her out of the kitchen.

As soon as they left, Helen held the phone out to Jared. "It's your dad," she said.

Jared smiled and took the phone.

"Hi, Dad," Jared said.

"Hey, buddy!" his dad said on the other end. "How's the Adams' Family mansion?"

"What?" Jared was confused. Then he realized what it meant. "Oh, the house? Yeah…it's great…if you like big, creepy houses in the middle of nowhere."

"Now, come on…"

"Seriously! There's nothing here! You'll see."

"Yeah…" his dad said, a little uncomfortable. "Well…listen-"

"You're still coming tomorrow…right?"

"Yeah, maybe. I'm gonna try…"

"Why maybe?" Jared wanted to know.

"Look," his father said. "Don't worry. I'm coming." He sighed. "There's something we need to talk about. But tomorrow might not work out, okay?"

"Yeah," Jared said, disappointed. "I understand."

"Okay. Good."

"You'll try though…right?"

"Absolutely. But I'll see you soon, though. Definitely."

"Okay."

"See ya, Son."

"Bye, Dad," Jared said. He hung up the phone and looked at his mom.

"What did you say to him?" Jared asked, hurt.

Helen said nothing. She took the phone and started to walked away.

This made Jared mad. "Can't you at least pretend you want him to come and see us?" he yelled after her.

But his mother didn't look back.