Aunt Candy and the Mysteries

Five.

It all starts in the backyard of our old home. The crummy patio still trying its best to hold together long enough for one last party. My mom is cooking burgers at the grill, and the wafted scent makes me smile. My dad on the other hand, is talking to Aunt Candy, most likely telling her the story of the time he 'fought off' a beaver during our vacation in Canada. He tells that to everyone he meets, whether they've heard it before or not. In truth, all he did was pick up a larger stick and poke at the poor thing until it went away. The way he tells it though makes it seem more like a tragic tale, not an unfortunate encounter.

I sit at the edge of our pool wearing my favorite bathing suit: white and made to look as if it's made of lace. In the water, Katchina, Brooke, Birdie, Peter, and Luke, are all playing what looks like a pool version of either volleyball or nukem. My eyebrows knit in confusion. "Where's Cedar?" I ask aloud, looking around for him. "I'm right here darling." he says, coming up behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders before delicately kissing my head. His handsome face displaying a smile as he takes a seat next to me at the pool. I rest my head on his shoulder and watch as the others play.

"Fire!" I hear my mother's voice yell behind me, not even giving me a moment to breathe in the perfection of that moment. "Fire!" she cries again. I turn around quickly to see what's the matter. What I see, shift my whole world, making it dark and ashen. I'm in my bedroom, Peter beside me. The walls of the room framed by flames that lick at them greedily as if they were the most magnificent thing they'd ever tasted. Just beyond the doorway stand my parents, clinging to each other tightly as if doing so will ward away the flames. "Mom! Dad!" Peter shouts beside me, but makes no move to help them. I do the opposite. I do not cry out for them, but run to the doorway as fast as my feet will take me. But instead of making it through to them, the flames gobble the doorway whole, nearly taking me too, leaving my side pounding with pain I'm too shocked to feel yet. "We can't save them!" Peter says, yelling over the sound of our collapsing house. I shout words of protest hoping that somebody--anybody-- will hear and make this treachery end! But instead, the house collapses. Everything outside of our door falls down. Down. Down. I reach for Peter's hand grasping it so tightly, I can feel his hands growing cold from lack of circulation. Wet, crystal, teardrops fall quietly from my eyes, dripping down my cheek. My throat too filled with ash to scream at the injustice I've just witnessed. It shouldn't have been them. The flames could have chosen anybody, anybody at all, and they chose the two people who deserved it the least.

I hear a voice around me.

"Shh" It says "You're alright."

I open my eyes. The first thing I notice is the gooeyness of my eyes. Gooeyness that forms when you cry for too long and much too hard. I feel a hand stroking my hair soothingly as I hear violent sobs escaping my throat.

"It was just a dream" Aunt Candy says

But it wasn't. It was a memory, the worst part anyway.

I sit up and wrap my arms around my Aunt, burying my face in her pajama clad shoulder. She runs her hands up and down my back. "Deep breaths, Deep breaths." She instructs me. I do as she says, working to steady my breathing. Soon I'm calmed down enough where a drippy nose is the only reminder of what happened, besides my puffy eyes. I look up, only now seeing the audience I have. All the kids, Peter included were standing at the foot of my bed, eyeing me with concern and pity. I meet Peter's eyes and he instantly knows what I'd been dreaming of, if he hadn't already know. If he had, then that gaze was just confirmation. His eyes fill with sadness as he continues to watch me with the other kids, his shoulders drooping with his face. Weighed down by the weight of being so young and having seen too much.

"That's it." Aunt Candy says, noticing my breathing slowing. "How about some hot chocolate, hm? Would that help?" She asks, making me wonder why I every thought she was cruel. I nod my head with a small laugh. Hot chocolate sounds like a lifesaver right now. "Would anyone else like some as well?" She asks the other kids, who all nod their heads quickly. "Then let's head on downstairs. Surely sleep is now out of the question with this much excitement." She helps me out of my bed, my pajamas still a bit damp with sweat.

When we get to the kitchen, Aunt Candy immediately pulls out a pot and fills it with milk, setting it on the stove to let it warm, adding in the chocolate syrup bit by bit as it does. I hug close my sweatshirt I grabbed before leaving my room, it's blanket like texture welcoming. All seven of us sit on the barstools at the kitchen island, none of us knowing quite what to say. We stay quiet until we're presented with the cups of cocoa. "I don't know if this is a bad time to bring this up," Katchina says, thankfully breaking the awkward silence. "But I just finished a piece if you'd all like to see it?" A hopeful note in her voice making every piece of me want to say yes. Not to mention, I have been quite curious about her claimed dancing talents. "Well, I wouldn't mind changing the mood." Aunt Candy says with a smile. "Does anybody have any objections?" She asks us, causing us all to shake our heads at various speeds. "Wonderful!" She exclaims, "Feel free to bring your drinks with you." She tells us as we all head to the studio, coffee mugs of cocoa in hand.

Entering the studio makes me feel as if a wave of inspiration has passed over me. Be that from the walls or many windows, I just feel suddenly compelled to breathe art. Katchina walks over to the cabinet in the corner, where the music box sits on the vanity like middle surface, waiting for instructions to begin playing. Katchina opens one of the side doors of the cabinet, pulling out a pair of ruby colored pointe shoes. "Ah, Kat darling," Aunt Candy says when she pulls out the shoes "Perhaps we should save those for a later time." Katchina looks down at the shoes in her hands, causing her eyes to go wide for a moment with a mixture of surprise and what seems to be... fear? She put the ruby shoes back in the cabinet, pulling out another pair of normal pale pink pointe shoes. Aunt Candy nods her head with a silent seal of approval as Katchina laces the shoes expertly around her ankles before walking to the center of the studio. "You're in for a treat." Luke says, taking a seat on the floor in front of the wooden bench Aunt Candy and a few others sit on. I take a seat next to him, preparing for the show. Katchina looks quickly over her shoulder at Cedar, who is sitting on the side of the bench closest to the cabinet. Understanding what she's wordlessly asking, he gets up and walks over to the speaker, and pressing the little button with the triangle. Play.

Almost instantly, a rush of music fills the room, the high ceilings making it seem much more surreal. Just as quickly as the music starts, Katchina starts with her dance. She glides effortlessly across the wooden floors, constantly switching between on pointe and flat footed, pirouettes or a light ballet run that reminds me of swans on water. Her moves mix beautifully with the music, as if they were meant to be the personified version. I can't look away. She leaps, her legs a perfect split, then lands in fifth position proceeding to point her foot in front of her and bring it back just as quickly before repeating the motion once more.

The dance continues for a couple of minutes, ending with one arm raised in fifth position, and the other in first while she stands on pointe in a perfect passé. We all clap at the beauty that is Katchina's dancing. She walks over to us, her pajamas now evidently soaked with sweat. "So, what did you think" She asks us all. Each of us responds with a form of 'incredible'. I personally said breathtaking, as it was. She wasn't kidding when she said that Aunt Candy adopted prodigies. But that also makes me wonder: If they're all prodigies, what are Cedar, Luke, and Birdie's talents? How do they fit in here?

I make a mental goal for myself to figure it out myself. Asking them would be too easy, not to mention awkward. Hey, so I hear you're a prodigy! Why? Yeah, 'cause that would end well. Besides, it'll be fun to figure it out on my own. I'd be like Nancy Drew uncovering a mystery.

We all finish our drinks while discussing Katchina's awe inspiring dance then proceed to put the mugs in the kitchen sink and heading back to our rooms to hopefully get some more sleep. I know that I personally won't be sleeping anymore tonight, but I can use that newly gained time to figure out a plan.

Nancy Drew doesn't solve cases on whims, and neither will Scarlette Holft.