Strange Relations

Chapter 21

The cleanup after the poltergeist incident took several days and a lot of angry glares in Laurel's direction.

Dale flopped down across her bed. "Thank goodness that's finally done."

Wyatt looked up at her from where he sat on the floor, books spread out around him along with a pile of Men of Letters file folders. "Aramintha did a whole lot while she was part of the Letters."

"That's what we're calling them now?"

He shrugged. "It's faster than saying Men of Letters all the time."

She scooted off the bed and sat on the floor beside him. "So, what has she done?"

He picked up a notebook and flipped several pages. "She single handedly cleared out a nest of demons praying on souls in Antioch, California."

"Easy for her, she's an angel."

He nodded. "A whole pile of artifacts are credited to her."

"Like she found them?"

"Yes." His brow furrowed. "Though, many of them disappeared around the time she left the Letters."

"Well, isn't that coincidental," she said with a healthy dose of sarcasm.

"Not likely, I mean quite a few of them were thought to be holy relics." He showed her the list he'd made in the notebook. He pointed to an object listed. "The thorny crown of Christ."

"Christ had a crown?"

He grinned at her. "Not religious, huh?"

She shrugged. "Not particularly."

"The thorny crown is the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head when he was crucified. It's supposed to be in pieces at various holy sites."

"Yeah, well I'd guess those pieces aren't the real thing," Dale said.

Wyatt nodded and continued down the list, poking at different things and telling her what they were.

"Whoa, wait, does that say Excalibur?"

"Oh, yeah. Neat huh? I'd love to see that. I mean, come on Arthur and Merlin, who doesn't love that?"

Dale grinned. "Fantasy nerd huh?"

He scowled at her. "You guys need to expand your minds and stop referring to me as nerd boy just because I happen to have an IQ of 155."

She nudged him with an elbow. "Hey, you're smart, that's cool."

"Really?"

"Yup, totally." She pointed to the list. "So, you figured out everything Mintha was involved in during her time with the Letters?"

"Yes, the ones highlighted in yellow she found on her own, green she was partnered with another Letters member, and everything in pink disappeared when Mintha left the Letters."

"Everything has pink."

"Yup, everything disappeared, including a few things she wasn't directly involved in." He flipped pages and showed her the list of other objects that vanished with Aramintha.

Dale whistled. "That's a lot of artifacts, wonder what she did with them?"

Wyatt stood. "Let's ask her."

Dale dropped onto her side on the floor, laughing hysterically.

Wyatt sent her a disapproving look. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, sorry, but when has she answered any of our questions directly?"

His shoulders dropped. "Never." He straightened up. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try!" He turned and marched out of the room.