THE LUNA CHOOSING GAME - Season 7 Episode 30

Julian, Nicholas, Tiffany, Veronica, and I piled into a pair of inconspicuous looking cars and drove to small town. It took around 45 minutes, during which, Tiffany sat amazed at the many dials and knobs that made up the center console of this older-model sedan.

“No touchscreen,” she said for the fourth time. She couldn’t seem to believe it.

Nicholas followed Julian into the village and parked on main street, where a few shops and restaurants took up residence in a stretch of older brick buildings. There was a park at the end of the road, with a graveyard off to the side of it behind a tall gate.

After we had parked and reconvened on the sidewalk, Julian said, “We should split up so we don’t seem so conspicuous, Nicholas, you and Piper head south. Veronica -*

“I will investigate the cemetery,” Veronica said.

Julian considered this, then nodded. “Tiffany and I will go north.”

We each were equipped with the most recent photo of the older couple that we could find. Then we parted ways.

Nicholas and I went into the grocery store first. After all, the couple would need their groceries. However, most of the employees there were too young to remember the couple. Disappointed but not deterred, we left that store and tried another.

We went to a barber shop, a pharmacy, a gas station, and finally a local shop with cards and knick-knacks. The woman at the counter at the knick-knack shop was older than most of the other people we had encountered.

Still, even in a small town, there was no certainty everyone would know everyone else.

Yet when I showed her the photo of the couple, her whole body went rigid. “They’re long dead now. Whatever they did, you won’t get the truth from them.”

Hope soared in my heart. “You knew them? All we are looking for is information.”

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“I don’t know what to tell you, sweetie,” she said. Her nametag read Mary. “They moved into town suddenly, appearing in a house that had sat empty for years seemingly overnight. But they kept to themselves.”

“You didn’t speak with them?” I asked.

“Not any more than “hey, how are you.’ Well… except for this one time…” Mary tapped her finger to her chin. “What happened?” Nicholas prompted.

She looked us both over, as if trying to deem if we were trustworthy. She must have decided, because she leaned forward at once and eagerly began telling the story.

*They would come in from time to time, pick up a card or two, or buy a newspaper. The husband, I saw him more than the wife. He was always going on walks. Seemed to me like he was pacing. Guilt, I think.”

“What makes you think that?” Nicholas asked.

*He came into the store once, real late at night. He needed held with an internet search. He didn’t know much about how things worked. I was happy to help. He was trying to track down a pair of twins. They were in foster care, he said, but he didn’t know where. He didn’t even know their names. It was all very suspect.

“But he was relentlessly searching. He had that look, you know? That grief-guilt look. I figured the twins were grandchildren, but when I asked he wouldn’t say.

*He believed the twins were in foster care?” I asked. Not dead, then. This was very important news! If the lost princesses weren’t dead, then we had a chance of ending this war once and for all.

That the couple nor Mary knew the name of the foster home wasn’t great news, but if we followed their trek from the border, we should be able to narrow down the places they would have had a chance to stop at and drop off

some babies.

This wasn’t a great lead. It meant we still had a ton of work to do. But it was better than nothing, and certainly gave some hope to what the future might bring.

“He did have a photo though…” Mary said. “What happened to it…” She scratched her head. “He gave it to me and asked me to keep searching. I did, for a while. Eventually I figured it was a wild goose chase.”

“Do you still have the photo?” Nicholas asked.

*Somewhere, I’m sure… I really never get rid of anything.” Mary said.

“Do you mind looking for it?” Nicholas asked. “It could be incredibly beneficial to our search.”

Mary narrowed her eyes at him. “Your… search? Just what are you kids up to anyway?”

*Same as him,” I said. “We’re trying to find those twins.”

*After all these years? They are surely out of foster care by now,” Mary said.

*This is the best lead we have,” Nicholas explained.

Mary nodded. “Just a minute then. Let me look in the back.” She turned and disappeared into a back room. We could hear her shuffling around in there, searching through stacks of papers and other things.

*They are likely alive then,” Nicholas said, while Mary was gone.

I nodded, having come to the same conclusion. “A picture would help. I hoped. Truthfully, all babies tended to look very similar. But again, any lead was better than none.

“Ah-hah!” Mary called from the backroom. She came back out to the front of the store waving a photo in her hands. She handed it to me.

The image was grainy and slightly fuzzy, but in it were a pair of babies with identical features. Each were clad in an expensive-looking purple and gold garment.

I passed the photo to Nicholas. He looked at it for a long time but didn’t say a word. Strange.

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After thanking and saying goodbye to Mary, we walked toward the cemetery, which had been our agreed upon meeting place. Veronica was standing near a plain headstone with our couple’s name on it.

Julian and Tiffany arrived at the same time we did.

*All we heard,” Tiffany said, “was how quiet they were.”

“We heard that, too,” I added, but then showed them the photo. “But Mary at the card shop thankfully never gets rid of anything.” I conveyed Mary’s story and all that she said.

Tiffany looked at the picture and then passed it to Julian.

Julian looked longer. A few times, he lifted his gaze to glance at me. Then his eyes met with Nicholas. They seemed to have a wordless conversation that I couldn’t discern.

“What is it?” I asked, when the silence got to be too much.

“Nothing yet,” Julian said and passed the photo to Veronica. “Just an idea.”

“You aren’t going to share?” I asked.

Julian lightly shook his head. “Not until I’m sure.”

I glanced at Nicholas, but he didn’t say a word. I got the distinct feeling they were keeping a secret from me, but

they were both stubborn. If they weren’t ready to share it, they wouldn’t.

Since I trusted them, I knew they would share if it was necessary.

Then, at once, Nicholas and Julian both lifted their heads. They tumed toward the wind and sniffed.

“Time to go,” Nicholas said. “Now.”

Julian agreed and began ushering us out of the cemetery.

“What’s happening?” Tiffany asked. “I don’t understand. We haven’t finished our investigation!”

Nicholas needed only say one sentence to cause us to move.

“I smell a bear.”