Page 19 of A December to Remember
“Dad said it would teach us about the transience of material things,” Simone chimed in.
“Which I’d always thought was a little hypocritical given that the building he owned had been in his family for generations,” said Star, which earned her a hearty agreement from Simone before she seemed to remember that she wasn’t technically speaking to her and sat up in her chair, scowling.
“It was one of the few games he played with us, that and hide-and-seek,” said Maggie. “In fact, didn’t we hide the pieces once because we didn’t want to play?”
Augustus had done his best, but his talents were better suited to setting up magical adventures and scavenger hunts for the girls to go on—at which he excelled—than actually spending time with them. Once a whole miniature porcelain tea set appeared in their tree house, alongside tiny jam tarts and cookies, apparently left by the fairies. Another time the pixies left clues to buried treasure written on rice paper—which the sisters had to eat immediately to prevent the pirates from finding the treasure before them. Augustus was a brilliant activities captain; it was too bad, Star thought sadly, his one-on-one relationships weren’t adventures.
“Yeah, we did. I think we wanted him to play hide-and-seek again,” Simone said, pondering. “It was too hot for concentrating on board games, and we started acting up.”
Star gasped. “Oh my god, we totally did, I forgot about that. We scattered the Monopoly pieces all over the woods and then couldn’t remember where we’d hidden them.”
“Yes!” Maggie laughed. “It was a vintage edition as well.”
“Augustus North: The Revenge,” said Simone dryly.
Vanessa smiled and nodded at their remembrances. “Didn’t I come to help?” she asked.
“You did. I think you stayed for a sleepover.”
“Yes, that’s right, itwasthat night. We stayed in the tepee in the back garden.”
“It was the only time I ever remember him being even remotely cross with us,” said Star.
“And even then, he was only mildly perturbed. I don’t think he had the anger chip,” Maggie agreed.
“That’s rather nice, really, to have a parent who never gets angry,” Vanessa mused.
They were all quiet for a moment, and Star wondered if maybe Augustus’s plan wasn’t quite so silly after all. Already they’d found a common ground that had been notably absent for the last few years.
“Well, whenever you’re ready, you’ve each got a key still?”
The sisters nodded.
“Good. I’ve got spares if anybody needs them, but otherwise you can start whenever you like. But you must work together. That stipulation was very clear. Good luck!”
7
It was unanimouslydecided—a miracle in itself—that Maggie, Simone, and Star should go straight to their father’s shop and make a start on finding the Monopoly houses.
“Didn’t you go into the shop when he died?” asked Simone as they hovered around the door. Maggie held the key but was struck by a sudden reluctance to push it into the lock, as though once she turned the key there would be no turning back.
“Why would I? I only needed to get into the flat,” she replied, as though rebutting an accusation.
“You weren’t tempted at all? Even just to look around?” Simone pressed.
Maggie tried to articulate her feelings. “You know the old question ‘If a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound?’ Well, that’s how I’ve always felt about the shop when Dad wasn’t here. As though it doesn’t exist without his presence, or it does exist but it’s an empty shell, dead and blackened.”
Maggie waited for Simone’s derisive laugh, but it didn’t come.
“I actually know what you mean.” Simone nodded. “I kind offeel the same way about the flat too; that’s why I was surprised you stayed there by yourself, Star. I’m not sure I would have.”
“The flat’s different,” Star said. “It feels like home—to me anyway. It was the only place in my life that remained constant.” The wistfulness in her tone didn’t go unnoticed by her sisters.
The flat above the shop could be accessed by a separate entrance, via a wooden gate built into the Tudor limestone wall that faced the high street. The North land in its entirety—including the building, gardens, and extensive woodlands—was enclosed within ten-foot-high walls. Those high-security walls had granted the sisters much freedom growing up, lending them ten and a half acres to play in. How could it not feel like an enchanted place, insulated from the world outside, surrounded by ancient trees and lawns that stretched out like daisy-covered carpets? Even the shop had felt charmed, with hidden panels in the walls and shiny things glinting out from every surface.
Maggie was still holding the key to North Novelties & Curios, as though hoping someone would take it from her, but neither of her sisters seemed inclined to do so. The blinds were fully down at the windows and thick cobwebs had layered in the corners of the frames; black bodies of cocooned insects were suspended in the voluptuous froth of white. On the outside, most of the paint on the frames and sills had flaked off, and what remained was brittle and bubbled. The overall impression now was more haunted than magic.
“Whenwasthe last time you went in?” Simone asked.
