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Sometimes, just sometimes, your mom gets it. She just has to look in your eyes, and she knows how important something is to you. She knows that it is something you just have to do. And at that moment, Jackson’s mom got it.

She smiled at him. “I’ll get the car keys.”

“Can Great-Aunt Harriett come?”

She paused. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It might hurt her heart to see her house gone. And it might bring back some unhappy memories about Josh.”

“Please?”

“Okay, go get her. I’ll start the car.”

Chapter 70

A Chapter that Involves the High Price of Lattes

Jackson ran up the stairs and found Great-Aunt Harriett packing her bag.

“Great-Aunt Harriett, would you like to go for a drive?” he asked.

“Yes, (I translated again for you so we can finish this story and get on with our school day, work day, life in general…) yes, I do hear the birds! They are so lovely this time of year,” she said. She stood up and looked out the window. The soft breeze blew, but nary a hair on her head moved.

Jackson took her hand and carefully led her downstairs. “Yes, Great-Aunt Harriett, the birds are lovely this time of year. Why don’t we go for a drive and look for them?”

“Coffee? I don’t want to go for coffee! Land’s sakes, child, it’ll me keep me awake until next week! And the prices for a chai latte! Ridiculous, if you ask me!”

Chapter 71

A Chapter that Involves Anticipation, a Car Ride, and Cow Poop

The car ride was very long. Jackson sat in the back seat, alternatively looking outside and at the two photos he held in his hands. The rows of houses gave way to trees, and the trees gave way to open fields. Farmhouses with red roofs and red barns with tall silos could be seen in the distance. The smell of cow poop hung in the air. The pavement soon turned to tar-and-chip roads and then to dusty gravel. During all this time, Jackson entertained many, many thoughts. Such as:

I wonder if the house is still there. I wonder if it has changed much. I wonder if I can visit Meeka again. How on earth am I going to climb back into Great-Aunt Harriett’s hair? I wonder if she’d notice. Gosh, I am so tired! I can’t let my mom know that I’m tired because then she won’t let me read in bed anymore! I don’t know if she’d even believe me if I told her where I’ve been! Or maybe she would. Huh. I wonder if the house will be the same on the inside. I wonder if Eleissa will be in one of the rooms, reading her big book. I wonder if Rayaa will be outside hunting crubbies? Do crubbies actually exist? Did I just dream all of this? How could it be a dream if I’ve got a key and two white stones in my pocket? I wonder if I can see Meeka again. Why did I see Josh if he died so many years ago? Am I losing my mind? What if I turn out like Great-Aunt Harriett and don’t know a tuba from a bassoon? What is the cosine of 7.88? And how do you say ‘couch’ in Spanish?

And so on.

But the one thought that returned, the one thought that made him hold his breath the whole way there, figuratively speaking, of course, was, I hope the house is still there. Jackson was on the edge of his seat with excitement, fear, and expectancy. It just has to be there. It just has to…

They turned a corner.

Chapter 72

A Chapter that Has More Words in the Title than in the Chapter

There it was.

Chapter 73

In Which a House Is Found

The house was faded red brick with a wraparound porch covered with peeling white paint. There were weeds blocking the path from the road to the door. The roof’s black shingles were curling back with age. The trees out front were overgrown and ugly. The house was old and tired.

It was beautiful.

Jackson jumped out of the car and ran up the weedy path.

“Jackson! Be careful!” his mom cried out.

Jackson leapt up the front steps, avoiding the large hole in front of the door. He brushed off the wispy spiderwebs and flipped away gargantuan spiders with hairy backs. He feverishly pulled at the boards nailed over the door, and they came away in his hands. He turned the