Free Finding Midnight by T. Lynne Tolles Page B

and asked, “Are you all
right?”
    “Damn door,” Ms. Midnight said with spite,
and then addressed Summer with, “of course I’m all right.” She
brushed Summer’s helping hand away. “It’s about time you got here.
What don’t you understand about ‘urgent’?” Ms. Midnight turned and
mumbled something under her breath as she waddled to another room.
Summer wondered if she should follow or wait there until called
upon. She decided to follow. The entry was decorated and furnished
elegantly in what had probably been the height of fashion when the
mansion was built. Though it could use a good cleaning, it was like
walking through a door into the past.
    Summer followed the mutterings of Ms.
Midnight into a beautiful room she could only assume was a sitting
room or salon. The room was dusty and worn with age, but beautiful
art adorned its velvet and foil wallpapered walls. A huge stained
glass floor lamp that looked to be an original Tiffany shed light
on a well-used velvet cushion of a Victorian fainting chaise. By
the tall stacks of books within an arm’s distance from the chaise,
and the gorgeous thick afghan that looked like it had just been
flung back, Summer guessed this was where Ms. Midnight spent most
of her time.
    Ms. Midnight was clearing a stack of books
from a chair near the chaise, making a place for Summer to sit, and
Summer rushed to help her. Out of breath, Ms. Midnight fell with a
thump into her spot on the chaise.
    “Are you okay, Ms. Midnight? Can I get you
water or something?” Summer asked.
    The scowl on Ms. Midnight’s face answered
her question in volumes. Once she caught her breath and covered her
legs with the afghan, she focused on Summer—who wasn’t sure if she
should start the conversation or if she should just keep her mouth
shut.
    “Per our agreement,” Ms. Midnight started
with a raised eyebrow, “I’ve asked you here to have you find
something of mine that is of great value. You need to find this
item immediately. No other task is more important. I don’t want you
dilly dallying with this like you have been with the garden.”
    “Ms. Midnight, I do have a job, I can’t
just—”
    “NOTHING is more important than finding this
item. Your silly job is trivial. You need to drop everything and
get to finding my item,” Ms. Midnight said forcefully.
    “Okay, well, I suppose I have some vacation
coming. I’ll see if I can work something out with Dr. Stuart, if
it’s so urgent,” Summer offered.
    “I don’t care how you do it—just do it and
immediately,” Ms. Midnight demanded.
    “I’ll do my best. What is the item you’ve
misplaced?” Summer asked. To Summer’s surprise, the comment seemed
to anger Ms. Midnight. Her face reddened, her eyes bulged and her
lips tightened into such a thin line Summer could barely see them
any longer. A wash of fear came over her. What had she said that
angered the woman so?
    “I do NOT misplace things,” Ms. Midnight
exclaimed, then continued to mutter under her breath words Summer
couldn’t make out.
    “I’m sorry if I’ve made you upset, Ms.
Midnight. It certainly was not my intention. Please tell me what
you would like me to find.”
    After a moment more of incoherent grumbling,
Ms. Midnight said as she got up and headed to the stairs, “You are
to find the RAT immediately and Ms. Ash has gone missing too, but
the RAT…you must find the RAT or the BROOM will have my head.”
    “The rat, Ms. Midnight?” Summer called up
the stairs after her.
    Ms. Midnight turned on the landing and
looked down at Summer, clearly irritated by her question. “Yes,
girl. The RAT!” she shouted and then clapped her hands together
twice and said a shrill, “Now chop, chop…get to it!”
    Before Summer could respond or ask another
question, Ms. Midnight was out of sight, stomping up stairs and
slamming a door shut.
    Summer stood astonished and befuddled. A
rat? She wants me to find her rat? Not sure what else to do,
she shrugged her