“I don’t understand.” Polly shook her head. Though it appeared she spoke to a gnome statue caring a gnome baby on the side lawn, her words were about Dante and Lily. “You can’t do anything. It’s like you’re…” Polly lifted Dante’s arm and jiggled it. “Not magical.”

“I told you this was insane,” Dante dismissed. “I think I’d know if I had magic powers.”

Lily agreed with her brother. She found the whole situation to be insane. She had a hard time thinking of this giant Victorian as hers. It didn’t feel like anything she’d own. It felt like an antique store, or a kitschy bed and breakfast that couples stayed at while on vacation. The furniture was beautiful but belonged in a Jane Austen novel. Lily was more of a Bohemian girl with a farmhouse style—weathered tables, decorative scarves, paintings with strange sayings done by amateur artists. This house might be vaguely familiar, but it wasn’t her home. If she had lived there, it was when she was a toddler. The only home she remembered with Marigold was in the car, and maybe squatting in a trailer before that.

Lily was inclined to agree with her brother. They weren’t witches. If they had some ability, it would have surely come up before now.

They’d been attempting to use their magic all afternoon but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t mimic any of Polly’s tricks. It was clear the woman had some special gifts. She grew flowers where there had been only rock, swept dust and paint peels across the porch with a hovering gesture of her hand, and shot sparkles out of her fingertips.

“And another thing, talking to the stupid gnomes is creepy.” Dante’s blood sugar was low from not eating which always made him more irritable than usual.

“He doesn’t mean—” Lily tried to soften her brother’s behavior, but Polly interrupted her.

“Now, you listen here, Mr. Grumpy Pants. I understand you’re having a hard time and I’m willing to give you leeway, but don’t think for a moment I won’t swat your bottom if you don’t show a little more respect to those trying to help you.”

Dante lowered his head. “You’re right. I apologize, Polly.”

“And…?” Polly prompted.

“And, I will try to be more respectful to you and appreciate the work you’re doing for us,” Dante added.

“And…?”

“Um?” Dante glanced at Lily. She didn’t help her brother out.

“Don’t you think you owe the gnomes an apology?” Polly gestured toward a gnome by the tree which looked to be sitting on a toilet with his pants around his ankles, reading a paper.

Dante again looked at her, and Lily just shrugged before motioning toward the toilet gnome.

“I’m sorry, toilet gnome,” Dante said.

“Harold,” Polly supplied.

“I’m sorry, Harold. I hope I didn’t disturb your, ah, private business... that you’re doing... out in public.”

“That’s better, Florus.” Polly nodded. “He accepts your apology and asks that you stop staring at him.”

“Maybe the magic skipped a generation,” Lily said. On the surface, being magical sounded like fun, but life had taught her that reality rarely lived up to expectations.

“Why would it do that?” Polly patted Lily’s shoulder as if to say, “That’s adorable, you silly child.”

“Then we’re just not meant to use it.” Lily stretched her arms over her head. “We’ve been at this for hours. Dante, are you about ready to head back into town to get something to eat?”

“You can’t go,” Polly said.

“We’ll be back in the morning,” Lily assured her. “I’m going to make a list of the supplies we need for tomorrow to knock some things off that list of citations.”

“No, I mean, you can’t go back to the hotel,” Polly clarified. “I told them to check you out of your room. You live here now. Why would you stay in a hotel when you own a perfectly fine house? Plus, the hotel is about to become home to a family of mice that a very precocious five-year-old keeps as pets and is about to set free.”

Lily stiffened and automatically turned her attention toward the three-story Victorian. “But, our bags…”

“Already in your rooms,” Polly said. “I put you close to me, Florus. I wanted to listen in case Herman got any ideas during the night. He doesn’t like you.”

Dante made a little choking noise.

“So, you are planning on living here, too?” Lily asked. “In this house?”

“Of course. I’d never abandon you in your time of need.” Polly skipped around the side of the house toward the front. Her square-dancing petticoat swished back and forth under her skirt. Lily and Dante were slower to follow. When they turned the corner, Polly was already on the porch going inside. “I think the gnomes are trying to tell you something. Hurry!”

Lily took a deep breath. After foster and group homes, she had never desired a roommate other than her siblings. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Polly moving in but didn’t think it polite to kick her out. It could be the woman had nowhere else to go, and she was family. Lily was not like her mother. She would never turn her back on family.

Polly ran up the stairs. Lily saw a gnome with a green hat placed on the bottom step. She moved past him. A second gnome stood near the top with his hands on his hips.

“Lily, I’m serious,” Dante said, “if you let Polly stay, we need to find a way to get rid of these gnomes or we’re going to have to rename this place the Garden Gnome Bed and Breakfast.”

They followed the trail of gnome statues to the third floor where Polly waited for them. A gnome in a green dress holding a bouquet of blue flowers stood next to the small locked door near the top of the stairs.

“What now?” Lily asked.

Polly lifted the gnome out of the way and set her aside on the floor. “You should look in there.”

Dante jiggled the knob, showing it was locked. “Do you have a key?”

“Oh, right, you have no magic.” Polly ran her hand over the door and then threw her shoulders back as she spread her arms wide. “I command you door to open!”

Dante shook the lock. It still didn’t open.

“Is that a spell?” Lily asked.

Polly laughed. “No. Just theatrics. You two seemed to want a big production. She reached for the knob and turned it. The door opened as if it had been unlocked the whole time. “I will leave you two to look. I’m expecting a delivery.” Polly disappeared down the stairs, her steps sounding more like hops as she left them alone.

“I hope the delivery is for mattresses. I don’t remember any of the rooms having them,” Lily said.

“It’s probably a shipment of refugee gnomes seeking sanctuary.” Dante picked up the green-dressed statue and turned her so she faced the other direction.

The room was dark, and Lily pulled out her phone to shine her flashlight app. The ceiling was high enough for her to stand but low enough to make her feel claustrophobic. There wasn’t much to look at, but she did notice a trunk shoved against the far corner.

“Didn’t the lawyer say something about your inheritance being in a trunk in the upstairs storage area?” Lily asked.

“Yeah.” Dante had never mentioned wanting to find it.

“I think this is it.” Lily gestured that he should go inside.

Dante looked as if he might refuse but finally ducked his head and went in. He started to reach for it but then stopped and jerked back.

“I think something is alive in there,” he whispered. “I hear scratching.”

Lily leaned into the room but didn’t go all the way in. “Stop avoiding. I don’t hear anything. That thing has been sealed up for who knows how long. There is no way a living creature would survive in there.”

“Rats,” Dante quipped.

Lily swept her light over the floor. “I don’t see any droppings. I think you’re safe. Just open it.”

“Whatever is in here won’t change anything,” Dante said.

“Florus, I think things have already changed for us. There is no going back. We can’t ignore the present for the comfort of the familiar past.” Lily moved the light so it spotlighted the trunk. “Now open that damned thing.”

“I hope you know you’re starting to sound a lot like Polly,” Dante grumbled.

“Bite me.”