Page 26 of Girl, Empty

If Ella didn’t know any better, she’d think that Emma was playing a trick on her.‘Yes, actually, but there’s an old quote I like to remember: evil is unspectacular and always human.Even when something seems impossible, there’s always an explanation.’

‘Like magic.’

‘Like magic,’ Ella said.

‘Want to see something?Something magic?’

‘Sure.’

Emma undid her ponytail and pinched the hair tie in her fingers.‘Do you have one?A hair tie?’

‘Here you go.’Ella unhooked the one around her wrist.‘Go wild.’

‘Thanks,’ Emma said.She took it and stretched it with her thumb and index finger.Then she put her own hair tie in the gap between the first tie and the webbing on her hand.Then she stretched that one too.

‘Look.The ties are locked together, see?’

‘I see.’

Emma gesticulated wildly to prove that what she was saying was true.The hair ties were locked together.‘Now watch.All I need to do is give a little blow, and…’

Ella found herself surprisingly transfixed by this impromptu display of magic.There was something wondrous about taking everyday objects and turning them into a spectacle, even more so if it was a child doing the magic.

‘Ta-daa,’ Emma finished.The hair ties came apart.‘They’re free.Did you like that?’

True to her word, the hair ties were no longer bound.Ella was momentarily bedazzled.‘Ha, that’s awesome.How’d you do that?’

‘Magic.’

‘Of course.’

‘I actually don’t know how it works.My mom’s friend taught it to me.’

‘Your mom’s friend, huh?’

‘Yeah, David.He does magic.’

Ella made a mental note of the name, as vague as it was.‘What kind of friend is he to your mom?’

The young girl returned Ella’s hair tie.‘Mom and dad aren’t….what’s the word… together?They’re still my mom and dad, but they sleep in different rooms.Do you know what I mean?’

This was news to her.From everything Ella had heard so far, she assumed Michael, Sarah and Emma had been a typical suburban family.Dad with the high-stress job, mom with the swimming practices, and a kid with too much awareness for a nine-year-old.

‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.Are you doing okay?’

‘I thought it would be hard, but it’s not that bad.I never see dad anyway.He’s not coming home, is he?’

Ella’s lips might as well have sewn themselves together, because no words were forthcoming.This was her chance to soften the blow of tragedy, but she couldn’t rip the Band-Aid off.‘What makes you think that?’she finally managed.

‘Cops.Well,FBI.Mom is over there crying, and Dad promised he’d be here and he’s not.Something’s wrong, isn’t it?’

Ella wondered if she should put her hand on Emma’s shoulder for that minor comfort, or maybe let her mother deliver the news in a way she knew Emma could process.

No.She had a responsibility, and besides, she felt a connection to this girl despite the twenty-plus-year age gap.

‘You’re right, Emma.Something bad happened to your dad, and we’re trying to find out who did it.’

Emma rubbed at her eyes, but there were no tears there.The girl clearly had a strong grasp on her emotions; something rare to see in a kid with an absent father.‘Is my dad an X-File?’