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"Thanks"

Dustin served us a robust randfather tucked his napkin into the collar of his shirt and picked up his fork and knife

I stared at the pasta, rerocery store with Noah when I had seen Dante on the street "Wait for randfather said "You look gaunt Gaunt and tired I take this toyou busy?"

I picked atauze in the hed

"May I get you some water?" Dustin said fro hisyou a lot at that school"

"Why did you e died was normal, when you kneasn’t?"

"I didn’t want to upset you any more than I already had"

"But you knew that they were probably killed by the Liberum How could you keep that from me?"

He seemed surprised that I knew about the brotherhood of Undead "I wanted to protect you If the Liberuood chance they could kill you too It was easier to keep you ignorant of theo out and find them I wouldn’t put that type of foolish attean cutting his , quick mouthfuls

"What else do you know that you haven’t toldwater "Excusethe headh Monitor Court You didn’t tell me about any of it"

"If I may remind you, this su I said You showed no interest in engaging with the world outside your head" He pulled the napkin out of his shirt

"You’re leaving?" I asked We had only sat down a few o

"Yes," he said "I’ve finished et to work"

"But--"

"If I e the focus of your studies I a your tuition so that you can hone your skills as a Monitor"

"But isn’t learning about the Liberu to hone my skills?"

"No The task at hand is for you to develop technical abilities as a Monitor, not to play detective We have actual detectives for that" Pushing his plate aside, he stood up and nodded to Dustin to clear the table

The next week passed by in a flurry Dustin took it upon himself to teach randfather about anything--the Liberue--Dustin would whiskpin and an apron, and putto distract me

We started withthe counters and floors so that inside looked just like outside After that we raduated to roasting and carving a chicken First, cut along the breast; next, sever the thighs; and finally, dis part was tedious, but dish I didn’t want to ad the carcass

But all I sahen I stared at the bird was the crest of the canary No nore it, the secret of the Nine Sisters kept haunting e--they’d been killed while searching for it If I were braver, I would continue what they’d started I’d co clue that led to the ninth sister, and dig up her secret I would make sure that the Undead who killed e would never find it But therein lay the problehtfall, when the kitchen staff had retired for the day, I went to the huge lazy Susan by the refrigerator and stepped inside, just like I had done last winter, and pulled on the hook on the back shelf The ground wobbled and then began to rotate until I was thrust into the roo Roo books, tools, and paraphernalia, was adorned with a heavy chandelier, hard antique sofas, and anilassy eyes as I scoured through a book on modern Undead theories I meant to search for information on the Nine Sisters, but when I turned to the index, I foundthe list until I found the word Wanderlust

After an hour, I collapsed on one of the sofas,Upstairs, I heard the faucet turn on, the water beating against the ceiling My grandfather was taking a bath Runningthe carved wood of the armrest, I listened to him hum as the faucet turned off There was one other place I could check, but I didn’t haveback into the kitchen, I tiptoed down the hall and through the second door on the right

A single table laht, where papers scraith handwritten notes were strewn about his desk As I lifted the to the floor I bent down to pick them up when I noticed that they were articles and postcards, each stuck with pinholes and pieces of tape Soible notes written in the nized froe’s

The papers suddenly felt incredibly delicate beneath s froet a better look at the, I listened to the drain erandfather’s footsteps as he walked down the upstairs hallway

Gathering the articles incorridor and into the library Snowflakes swirled around the panes as I sat at the desk and picked up the first clipping