The Mysterious Benedict Society Meets the Mysterious Miss F

Chapter 17

 Constance and Bex walked to lunch together, laughing and chatting as Constance continued to tell her about the Mysterious Benedict Society, and Bex exchanged stories about her crazy brothers.

"Oh! And there was this one time Rex was messing with Dad's potions from the shop and purple fumes were spreading fart smells. Dad had to evacuate the customers and everyone thought a fire had broken out! If only they knew it was my brother!" Bex shared, laughing at the memory. Constance chuckled with her.

"Here's my locker. I need to put away my books. You can go on if you want, I'll catch up." Bex said, stopping in front of a blue locker with the number 64. She licked the DNA lock and made a face of disgust. "Kelpie pee. Seriously, who picks these flavors?" She muttered. Then, Bex began to pack away her stuff.

"I'll wait." Constance said, thankful she had decided not to use her locker and trying to act cool. In truth, she wasn't too confident considering how to get to the cafeteria.

After a few minutes, Bex shut her locker with a click. "Done! Let's go." Constance and Bex walked through the academy's maze of halls and got to the cafeteria quite quickly, much to Constance's surprise. It was buzzing with students. Most were already seated with their friends and starting on their meal. Therefore, the food line was a lot shorter and the two friends didn't have to wait for long.

Constance picked a carton of food that was fluffy, pink, and labeled "puffy pizza". She really hoped the name wasn't deceiving, because all the elvin food looked... suspicious to her.

"I can't wait for the weekend." Constance sighed.

"Why?" Bex asked from behind her.

"I'll be eating normal, obvious food."

Finally, the two friends grabbed their lunches and weaved through the tables and chairs. "I see Dex!" Bex called, waving to her older brother. Constance squinted across the room and noticed Marella next to him. Looking put-off and having her back turned to Dex.

"What's wrong with you?" Constance asked the blonde girl with small braids. Marella said nothing and did not turn around. I don't have time for this, Constance thought grudgingly. "What's wrong with her?" She said, this time asking Dex.

"I... don't know." Dex said, but he was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Whatever is going on between you two, can you sort it out later? We need to talk." Constance said, taking charge. Marella turned around reluctantly and Dex tried to throw a small smile her way, which was quickly shot down with a glare.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. So what's up?" Marella asked. Constance could still hear the disdainful tone in her voice, but at the moment, she did not care in the slightest. "Bex, this is Marella. Marella, Bex."

"Hi." Bex said warily, probably wondering why Marella seemed so put-off.

"Hello. Pretty sure I know you. Dex's sister, triplet, a little on the crazy side, definitely more of an extrovert. Yeah, I do know you."

"Well, I've never met you but nice to meet you, I guess." Bex said, taking a seat across from Marella. Constance sat besides her. "So, can ya'll fill me in?" 

As Constance, with the help of Dex and Marella, told her about the investigation going on, Bex listened attentively and seemed to take everything in.

"Alright, so what do we do now?" Bex asked when they had finished.

"Marella, did you talk to your dad?" Constance got straight to the point.

"I did." Marella responded, her expression unreadable. Constance was at the edge of her seat, practically bouncing from excitement and suspense. "And... I think we've come at a breakthrough."

"Skip the show and get to the point!" Bex demanded, her periwinkle eyes glimmering. Constance nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with the Diznee triplet.

"My father said... well, he said that Joseph Contaire had absolutely everything to do with the Black Swan. Long ago, when the Elvin world was not cut off from the human world, Joseph Contraire was an Elvin official. He... he worked with Mr. Forkle and was one of the original founders of the Black Swan."

"I thought the Collective-" Dex started.

"Not everyone in the collective are the original founders. Take your mom for example-" Marella began but then clapped a hand over her mouth and glanced at Bex.

"What do you mean, my mom?!" Bex demanded.

"Mom? No one said anything about Mom." Dex said, feigning confusion.

"Yeah, you must be hearing odd things. Maybe you should get that checked." Marella said as Bex glared at her. Before the Diznee could respond, Marella hurried on, "So anyway, Joseph was an original member, and he and Mr. Forkle were very close. Dad didn't know alot... but he knew Joseph was most certainly not a human; he was a telepathic elf. Joseph and Dad were on friendly terms but hardly knew each other. Anyway, Dad also said that Joseph just left one day; vanished. That was when all human connection to the elvin world was disappearing and the council was after the Black Swan. Joseph... well, the counselor seemed to cover their tracks pretty well. An "accident" happened; a mysterious fire. But Dad... Dad thinks the council had something to do with his... disappearance."

And that was a lot of information to take in. Constance could not believe her sense of hearing... her dad... an elf. "But... the files... They said he was human."

"And he had green eyes." Dex added, remembering a detail from the file that Constance did not.

"He must've been wearing contacts." Bex murmured.

"How do you know that? Pretty sure that's a human thing only." Dex asked skeptically.

"You're not the only one with an interest in other species." Bex said.

"Anyway," Marella continued, "I'm not sure why the file classified him as 'human' but my dad seemed very confident last night when I asked him. However, I think we all know how to really solve this mystery." She looked pointedly at Constance.

"Mr. Forkle." Constance realized. "I've got to talk to Mr. Forkle. Right now."

"You mean we have got to talk to him." Bex corrected automatically.

"I was actually thinking of me..." Constance started to say with uncertainty, looking at the elves' faces of amusement.

"You think you're doing this alone?" Marella smirked.

"No way." Dex added. "We've been in it together and we're going to finish it out strong."

Constance didn't know what to say. She was used to doing things with her friends back home. The Mysterious Benedict Society; they were family. Constance had known them for years. She'd only met these strange, new elves a couple of days ago. Reynie, Kate, and Sticky were always there for her... but I never told them about this, Constance thought with sudden guilt. She had barely given her friends a thought since she'd arrived in the Lost Cities. Would it be the same when she came back? Would letting Bex, Marella, and Dex come along with her betray her friendship with the Mysterious Benedict Society? Swirling pits of unease restled in Constance's gut.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste." Bex declared, forcing Constance to look at her. "Mr. Forkle should be at Grady and Edaline's house today... My parents are going too. Something about a meeting for work? If we go now, he should still be there!"

"Okay." Constance said feebly, then shook herself. "Okay." She repeated, louder with more confidence. "To the Ruewen's house we go."