Mirror of Shadows by T. Lynne Tolles Page B

Ella wondered if he was serious or joking. “You know, there are other ways of getting rid of things. This albatross is probably worth a fortune. Why don’t you just let me take it down and store it somewhere? Out of sight, out of mind,” he suggested.
    “Fine. I don’t want to ever see it again,” she agreed.
    “Fine.”
    “By the way…what’s with the blue pin striping on your hammer?”
    “It’s how I know what tools are mine. When you work a big job, your tools are bound to get mixed in with other contractors’ tools. The blue tape makes it easily identifiable,” he explained as he labored lifting the large mirror off the wall and setting it on the ground.
    Ella tried not to look at it when she responded to Jeremy’s statement with, “Smart idea.”
    “I thought so,” he said as he got a better grip on the mirror and lifted it again. Heading down the hall and towards the back of the house he said over his shoulder to her, “You’ll have to explain to me sometime why you felt it necessary to ‘kill’ the mirror.”
    “Kill the mirror,” she repeated to herself. “Very funny.”
     
    *****
     
    Later that day, a knock came at the door. Ella had been loading the new washer with her seventh load of sheets that had covered the furniture in the house, and playing with Boo. She picked up the kitten and petted her as she made her way down the hall. She smiled as she passed where the mirror had been, now only an outline on the wall made from years and dirt. She was very pleased to have it gone and she stroked Boo as another knock came at the door.
    “I’m coming,” she said as she approached.
    She found Marlin on the other side greeting her with a smile.
    “Marlin. Come in,” she said, opening the door wide.
    “How are you doing? I see you survived your first night.”
    “Mmm. Yes, I suppose I did,” she said thinking back on her strange dream.
    “Rough night? These old houses make all kinds of moans and groans. It can take some getting used to,” he said, hoping to ease her mind.
    “I suppose,” Ella responded uncertainly.
    “You seem kind of shaken? Are you okay?” Marlin asked with concern as he sat down on an old Victorian chaise.
    “Just a bad dream, I guess.”
    “An imagination could run into over-time in a place like this,” he tried to reassure her.
    “That’s probably it. It just seemed so…real…the mirror, the mud.”
    “The mirror? What mud?” he said as he furrowed his brow.
    “It’s nothing. I really don’t want to talk about it. It was just a bad dream,” she said trying to dismiss it again.
    “Well, you have been through a lot in the last few days, with your grandmother’s death, the blow up with your mom, and moving into this old house. Cut yourself a little slack. Truthfully, I’m not sure how well I would fare sleeping in this old house by myself,” Marlin said, laughing a bit.
    “Oh, but I wasn’t completely alone,” she corrected.
    “I can see that. You’ve already found a little friend to keep you company,” he said as he reached out to Boo and scratched behind one of her ears.
    “Yes. This is Boo. I found her in the house yesterday, but that isn’t what I meant.”
    “Oh no?” he said, still petting Boo.
    “Jeremy is staying here. He’s using the bedroom in the front of the house.”
    Marlin stopped petting the cat and a look of fatherly concern washed over his face.
    “I’m not so sure that is such a good idea, Sweet-pea,” Marlin said.
    “Why? He doesn’t have a place to stay, and I’ve got this huge empty house. He’s going to be working here for quite a while, so it seemed only logical.”
    “You’re a sweet girl, Ella, but you don’t know very much about him. He’s had some run-ins with the law. I just don’t think you should take in every stray you find,” he said as he stroked Boo again.
    “He said the same thing to me, then he went on to tell me how you two met. He told me he’s made some mistakes. He’s been