After about a month of hiding, Gracie sat down next to me on the couch with a letter in her hand. "It's from North Carolina," she whispered so Ashton wouldn't hear from the other room. I moved closer to her as she opened the envelope. Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her face. She handed the letter to me.
Dear Gracie,
Please inform those who would be concerned that the magic has been concealed completely. However, simple joys must be found in exchange for extraordinary feats.
Sincerely, A
Gracie watched me with gleeful anticipation. She didn't know Pippin (or Andrew) well enough to decipher the message.
"Your brother wrote that, right?" she asked.
"Yes," I responded, "but it's not all good news." I folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. "Basically, he said that we're safe now, but we can't go home." I had feared for the past month that that would be the case. Who knew how long we'd have to wait to see each other again, or even to communicate freely. That cryptic note was going to be one of many.
I got up and started to walk to the guest room, clutching the envelope to my chest, when Gracie asked, "So what's going to happen?"
I stood in the hall for a minute before speaking; all I had was a very loose plan. "I'm going to find work, Ashton's going to go to school, and we're going to find an apartment somewhere." I turned to Gracie. "I'll need to change our last names first."
She jumped up, "I know a guy who can help with that."
"Great. Will he keep it a secret?"
"Of course. Let me give him a call."
As Gracie searched for her notebook full of old phone numbers, I ripped a piece of paper from a small, spiral notebook and took a pen from the coffee table. I wrote a short message for my brother:
Dear A,
Those who are concerned are happy to hear from you and will hopefully find simple joys in no time at all. They assume you're doing the same.
Sincerely, J