-1Chapter Three

The two made their way slowly through every room in the theatre. Nothing jumped out at them. No lights flickered. Not even one floorboard creaked. Fi was beginning to get tired when Bricriu spoke up for the first time in two hours.

"It looks like we'll be seeing nothing in here today, Little Duck." As he finished his sentence, the room temperature dropped several degrees.

Fi looked up suddenly, no longer interested in her own feet. "That is usually a sign of something spirit-like."

"I know." Bricriu looked around slowly, pulling the camera from around his neck. "I should see what pictures I get, eh? That way, if there is something, at least Jack will remember it."

"You mean, he can't see what's going on right now?"

"Oh, he can. But sometimes separating from a spunkie can be damaging to the memory of the time in which the spunkie occupied the person. So, I'll be taking pictures for him. And when this is over, I'll remain in his head long enough for him to write the report, so as to not interrupt his grades."

"Well, that's nice of you," an elderly voice whispered from behind the two. They both jumped and turned to find the proprietor standing behind them.

"Mr. Curier, sir!" Bricriu yelped. "I didn't hear you coming in here."

"Well, it seems I'll be needing to straighten up around here for your mother's concert tonight. So, Jack, if you and your sister could leave now. I'm sure you'll have time to explore after the concert, tonight…"

Bricriu nodded and backed out of the theatre, grabbing Fi's hand and pulling her along.

"Well, that was short-lived," Fi whimpered. "And what about him teaching us about the place?"

"Fiona?" Bricriu was using Jack's voice once again, though Fi hadn't even noticed when he'd slipped into his odd Scottish drawl. "We should get to the hotel… now."

"What? Why?" Fi looked at her watch. "It's not even one yet. He got in there early. What's going on?"

"Fiona… He knows I'm a spunkie." Bricriu checked the street before crossing, then grabbed Fi's arm once again, pulling her into the hotel. "He heard me speaking. He was there nearly the whole time. It's not smart for a spunkie to give away his location. Especially not to the kin of that dead theatre man."

Fi gasped as Bricriu stopped in the lobby. She stared at him, wide-eyed for a moment. Molly and Irene came up right then, and startled her out of her study.

"You two finished for the day?" Molly asked "Jack."

"Yeah, Mom," Bricriu replied. "Mr. Curier, the owner, wanted to do some cleaning up before tonight, so we kind of got kicked out."

"Curier?" Irene questioned, looking over at Molly. "He gave you guys a different name than the one he introduced himself with to us. He called himself Joseph Stocksturn. Curier was the name of the owner that died."

Bricriu turned and looked at Fi for a moment, then back at Irene and Molly. "Maybe I need a nap. Which rooms are we in?"

Molly produced two card keys and handed one to each of them. "Girls 14B. Boys 14C. That's 14th floor, B and C."

Bricriu nodded and took Jack's key before heading toward the hotel elevator and disappearing behind the doors. Fi looked up at her mom.

"Any chance you two are going out for food?"

Molly laughed. "Well, we were going to have lunch and then check out some of the shops near here. Do you want to join us, sweetheart?"

"I'm famished. Yes!" Fi smiled and grabbed her mom's arm. The three left the hotel with barely a glance back.

End of Chapter Three

Needed something slightly… normal.