Necromancy for the Greater Good

single defining feature about her except tall and thin.”

  “Ok, so we agree it is weird and maybe does mean we should investigate, but we do have a show,” Nora said.

  “Nora does bring up a good point. We need to rehearse, and we need you,” Isabella said. “So we'll help you find out about this girl, because the sooner you get your answers, the sooner we can take care of business.”

  “Because despite our supernaturally themed misadventures, solving mysteries is not actually our job,” Leah said.

  “Do you have any idea where to start?” Isabella asked.

  “Not really,” Maryann said. “We should at least try to get her last name, even if it's not her real name.”

  “Don't be thinking I can hack school records or anything,” Leah said. “Geek I may be, but hacker I am not.”

  “Well, you can run ordinary internet searches, I guess,” Isabella said. “Although I doubt we'll find much.”

  “I'll talk to my sister and get into her room. I'll look through Frieda's stuff, but I doubt there're any clues there. And I'll have to think of an excuse for why I care, so that'll be fun,” Nora sighed.

  Nora's sarcasm was justified. Leah spent several boring hours and money she should not have spent at the local coffee shop using the free wi-fi. Maryann tried her hand at some divination spells. Nora's day was the least boring in that she got to spend a few hours with her sister, although her sister was confused that she wasn't rehearsing. Isabella prepared for the show as best she could missing most of the band. They regrouped at their hotel room with only a couple of hours before their show.

  “What a waste of time,” Leah said. “She has no presence on social media. Also, I had about three iced coffees, so I am pretty buzzed right now.”

  “Great. I got another look at her side of the room,” Nora said. “There are no books, no magazines, no pictures, no posters, and no clues to her personality. There is absolutely nothing personal about her. Everything she owns is generic.”

  “I tried a Tarot reading. I got the Moon, the Magician, and a whole bunch of swords. But not much of it made sense in context,” Maryann said.

  “I don't speak Tarot,” Nora sighed.

  “Well, swords are the suit of air, which is intellect, and the Magician is also a scholar, so clearly she has something to do with academics.”

  “Thank you Captain Obvious,” Leah retorted.

  Maryann glared at her. “And the Moon is hidden power and sometimes deception, so she's hiding something.”

  “Oh, yes, I'm so glad you spent your time on that divination,” she replied wryly.

  “Listen, ladies, we have a show to do and Maryann, I know this is important to you, but we can't spend any more time on this today,” Isabella said. “We'll get in a quick rehearsal and then we need to get made-up and head out.”

  “Oh, fine,” Maryann said, “but I don't think we should leave Philadelphia until we get this figured out.”

  Nora and Leah started to look upset, but Isabella defused the situation. “We'll worry about that after the show. Now, focus on the show, alright?”

  The band managed to get their act together and put on a pretty good show. They could see Sharon in attendance with several of her friends. It was late that night, or early that morning, before they finally got back to their hotel room.

  “Too bad Frieda didn't show up,” Maryann said with a yawn.

  “What good would that have done?” Nora asked.

  “At least we would have figured out her taste in music.”

  “Oh, yes, I'm sure that would lead us to figure out her identity in no time at all,” Leah said.

  “Sleep now. We'll make a plan in the morning,” Isabella said.

  Maryann hoped to have another dream to help guide her to answer, but she only had the usual types of dreams and awoke with no particular insight.

  “Any dreams last night?” Isabella asked.

  “No.”

  “So what's the plan?” Nora asked after breakfast. “We need to hit the road. And I can't think of any more options. No social media, no personal belongings, no friends, what else is there? I mean, she certainly isn't normal, and maybe Sharon's right that she's an alien, but how are we supposed to figure that out?”

  “I think we should just talk to her,” Leah said.

  “What, just come right out and ask, 'Are you an alien?'”

  “Well, no, but tell her the truth.”

  “Oh, yes. 'Frieda, our friend Maryann had a dream where the goddess Athena told her you're not what you appear to be. So what are you really?' Yes, I'm sure that will go over well,” Nora said snidely.

  “Do you have a better idea?” Leah snapped.

  “Ladies, ladies,” Isabella said. “If it works, it's certainly going to be quicker than anything else. Since this is Maryann's task, I'll leave it up to her, but you ought to know we're leaving no later than 11 this morning.”

  “That doesn't give me a lot of choices,” Maryann protested.

  “I'm sorry, but we need to get on the road.”

  “Fine. I'll talk to her, if I can find her. Nora, you have to come with me so I have a way to get on campus.”

  “That's easy. I can get us all on campus, as long as any of Sharon's friends who saw the show want to meet us,” Nora said. “And I think there's a few.”

  “Oh, so one solved mystery and new fans. Sounds like a good plan,” Leah said.

  “What if she's dangerous or something?” Maryann countered.

  “Hey, I have to hang out with Sharon,” Nora said.

  “And I need to go with Nora,” Isabella said. “I'm sorry, Maryann, but Nora's the most outgoing of all of us and I might have to answer some of the logistical questions.”

  So it was settled. Some of Sharon's friends did want to get together with the band, so the excuse to get on campus was easy to obtain. Maryann and Leah went to wait for Frieda in front of the dorm since they couldn't get inside.

  “I really wish we knew where she was going to be,” Maryann said. “We could wait here the whole time and she might not even show up.”

  “Well, without knowing a darn thing about her, the best thing we've got is where she lives.”

  Suddenly, Maryann remembered her divination attempt. “Not here! The Moon Bench!”

  “What?”

  “Didn't you pay any attention to Sharon's tour?”

  “Yes,” she retorted. “But maybe not all my attention.”

  “Come on,” Maryann said, and started walking.

  “Wait, I thought this thing was something only a senior could sit on or something?”

  “No, not exactly. But the Moon came up in my reading, so I'm going to take a chance.”

  “And if that doesn't work, are you going to find a magician or some swords?” Leah asked wryly.

  “If you can't be nice, I'm not going to talk to you.”

  They hurried across the campus to the Moon Bench. It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning and the bench was completely empty.

  “Unless Frieda is invisible, she's not here,” Leah said.

  “Darn it.”

  “Excuse me, but why are you looking for me?” asked a low voice.

  Maryann and Leah whirled around.

  Frieda was standing right behind them. She was holding a plain, cloth satchel and wearing clothes just as ordinary as the day before.

  “Okay, that's just weird,” Leah thought. “I know she wasn't just standing there a second ago. No one is that forgettable.”

  “You're not going to believe this, but...” Maryann started, and then explained the situation to Frieda.

  The tall, thin girl blinked a few times, and then looked as though she was going to cry. “This place is so hard! I-I'm just trying to fit in and finish my studies. I'm not trying to bother anyone at all but everything just happens so fast and I can't keep up with it all!”

  “Um, we're sorry. It was just a dream,” Leah said quickly. “
No one is trying to hurt your feelings. If you're having trouble with your classes, I'm sure the counselors here would be happy to help you.”

  Two tears rolled down her face that managed to make her plain features seem almost beautiful. “They can't help,” she whispered. “But I just want to learn!”

  “Maybe we should sit down and you tell us the whole story,” Maryann said. “Not on the bench, of course.”

  She sniffled cutely.

  Leah shook her head slightly to clear it. She didn't have the best senses for supernatural happenings, but something about the girl was making her think of an animated character.

  Maryann, while not thinking of the same thing as Leah, was making the same observations. She gently led Frieda to a bench not so loaded with tradition.

  “It's always been my dream to come to a place like this. There's so much tradition and structure and so much to learn. Everything is so old and yet modern. I studied so hard to get here so I could study your history. I thought I could keep up with the pace, but I'm starting to fall behind. Everything happens so fast. And everyone here is so busy with other activities. I'm getting so overwhelmed!” A gentle breeze artfully wafted a stray lock of her dark blonde hair across her face.

  “'Your history?'” Leah thought.

  “I try to keep to myself so I have more time for study. I try not to distract myself. But it's difficult. And the culture is so different from my home.” Her eyes shone preternaturally bright. “It's nice you're worried about me, but I will make it through.” The sun highlighted the gold in her hair.

  “Cue dramatic scenery,” Leah muttered to Maryann.

  “That's it!” Maryann said.

  “Um, what?” Leah asked.

  “Um, what?” Frieda asked, suddenly