Judith Goodhope || Mother's House of Horrors

The Hermit of Darnell Library

Judith stooped at the triangular front window of the apartment on the third floor of the library  and thought back over the last few days and her introduction to librarian Kris Kent.

"I am so sorry. I hope I did not frighten you." Removing the hermit hood to reveal not gray but night-black hair cut short. Removing the false beard and the robe itself to reveal a branch-thin body clad in black and blue. "Welcome. You seem new. I am Kris Kent, they/their."

"Hi. Judith. She."

Kris hadn't recognized any of Abigail's pictures, but they caught Judith up on the long history of disappearances in Carsden. Kris in fact had a sister, Sophie, who had disappeared six years ago.

"Apologies again about the costume."

"Is it for this festival that's happening?"

"...Yes! That is correct. It is for the festival."

Judith had expected to have to spend all day combing through ten years of back issues of the town newspaper - oddly titled the Heretic Report - for any mentions of missing persons, but Kris maintained a whole file at the library just for disappearances, given how frequently they occurred.

"This is awful to look through. How do you stand to face all of this? I mean, why do you stay here?"

"Bad things happen everywhere, Judith. This is my home."

They had found nothing about Abigail, at least not by name.

"What made you think she might have come to Carsden?"

"I guess I have to call it an anonymous tip. And a strong feeling. And there have been... signs along the way, if that doesn't sound silly." Clutching her bag, feeling the edges of the tarot box within.

Kris had a very intense way of making eye contact sometimes, something you could feel in the back of your head. "That is not silly at all, Judith. Those feelings must be listened to."

Kris had walked her directly to the library's oversized occult section, and left her there while they made some tea. Over tea and books on witchcraft, Judith and Kris had bonded. Judith found Kris's age very hard to place. They had antiquated mannerisms but a youthful face, a formal way of speaking but a modern queer identity.

"Where are you staying?"

"At a boarding house. Primrose?"

"Primrose St. Clair? No. Do go and get your things, and you will stay here with me. I live on the top floor of the building here. I have an extra room."

The decision had been final, as far as Kris was concerned, but Judith had become incapable of making a decision like that without consulting the cards. With Kris's penetrating gaze burrowing into her mind, Judith had to fake a sneeze to break it and go into her bag for a tissue. While her hand ruffled through the things in there, she popped open the tarot box and pulled out the first card she could get two fingers on, sliding it out just enough to identify it.

The Fool.

It put her so at ease that she forgot she was supposed to be looking for a tissue. The decision was made.

Kris Kent knew everyone in town, it had seemed over these last few days. (No hermit, they, Judith had thought, and smiled.) With their help, Judith had shown Abigail's picture around to most of the local businesses around the square and plenty of passersby that Kris had flagged down, not to mention everyone that had come into the library. (Carsden had a very active library culture, and almost everyone who came in went straight to the occult shelves.) But there had been no recognition, no information, no sign.

The window she now stooped at overlooked the town square, a beautiful view, at least as far as you could call this strange town beautiful. A perfect tower for a hermit, she thought, had there actually been one living here. The light rain falling grew heavier as Judith watched a couple down in the park having some kind of heated discussion.

The Fool was supposed to be a card of positive force. It could mean acting before thinking, doing something just for fun or with a kind of frivolity, but it was essentially the tarot deck version of a big "Go for it!" Kris had already become an invaluable ally, but something was off. Their penetrating gaze had become a kind of imperative almost impossible to say no to, their odd mannerisms became more off-putting the more time you spent with them, the door behind the desk led to a staircase that went down into the only part of the library Judith wasn't allowed to go. And after running all over town together the last few days looking for some sign of Abigail, Judith and Kris hadn't seen each other at all today. Judith assumed Kris was down in the library, but they'd been gone when Judith woke. And every time she went to the door to go down there, or even thought about leaving the apartment, something unfocused her mind and made her feel like staying.

The card was reversed.

She almost dropped the teacup she had been drinking from.

The card had been reversed.

She had reached into her bag and slid the card out of the box just enough to identify it. She had seen the printed name: The Fool. Because the card had been upside-down. A card reversed had a different meaning. In this case: The decision made would be a foolish one.

The door opened and Kris Kent appeared.

"Sophie has been seen at the Harbour."

"Who?"

"My sister Sophie. Someone has reported seeing her, after six years, down at the Harbour. Let us go."