A MINOTAUR IN NEW ORLEANS: Part 6

Z.J.'s mom's shop was still closed, so he and Phoebe went up the fire escape in the back and through the kitchen terrace doors. His mom was at church, so Z.J. attempted to make Phoebe breakfast while she wandered around the kitchen, gazing at the little paintings of fairy tale figures on the wall near the living room.
   "I have to open up the shop," he told her after they'd finished a pot of coffee. "We can talk down there."
   His first customer, five minutes after he turned the sign to OPEN and unlocked the door, was Anna from Fair Hollow. She and Phoebe regarded each other warily. Z.J. said, "She knows."
   Anna set the umbrella she'd been carrying on the counter. "I brought it for you."
   "It's very pretty." He doubtfully regarded the umbrella of bleached wood with its illustrations of Alice, the White Rabbit, and the Mad Hatter.
   "What, you think I'm simple?" Anna tapped the umbrella. "It's made of mistletoe wood."
   Z.J. took hold of the umbrella and ran his fingers across the puzzled-together pieces of wood. He touched the point at the top. "I can keep this?"
   "It's yours."
   He thought of stripping the umbrella of its frivolous bits and driving it through the minotaur's heart. But they don't have hearts.
   "Anna." He raised his eyes to the other girl. "Who gave this to you?"
   Her mouth curved. She turned and walked toward the door. Her voice trailed softly back, "A fool who is a king."She opened the door and vanished in the hazy sunlight.
   Phoebe walked over and looked at the umbrella. "How do you kill them?"
   "You were going to try and kill Clementine without knowing how?"
   She shrugged and cast her gaze down. "I thought blessed silver did it?"
   "Sometimes. Not if they're old. And I think Clementine is as old as the goddamn bible."
   Phoebe looked tired and drawn out. "And the minotaur?"
   "Minotaurs are ancient. But mistletoe . . ." Z.J. ripped the pretty Alice in Wonderland fabric away from the umbrella handle. "Mistletoe is deadly to them. I need you to leave New Orleans. Do you have anyplace to go?"
   She shook her head.
   "If I take you to Clementine, will you refrain from killing her?"
   "Will she tell me where my brother is?'
   That's when his mother returned. Z.J. introduced Phoebe as a friend. His mother asked Phoebe if she'd like her cards read and Z.J. said "No" and pulled Phoebe out the door.
   As they walked along the street, Phoebe told him how her twin brother had vanished when they were fifteen, that he'd sent her a letter telling her not to worry, he'd found someone in New Orleans who would take care of them, a young woman named Clementine. He'd promised to send for Phoebe.
   He'd never sent for her. She'd never heard from him again.
   "When did the minotaur begin haunting you?"
   "A while ago. I ran away, here, to find Theo."
   "What aren't you telling me, Phoebe?" He turned to her.
   She looked stubborn. Then she shoved her hands in the back pockets of her jeans. He demanded, "What else did your brother say in the letter?"
   "He said there's a hidden world and he found a way into it. That he wasn't afraid of anything anymore."
   Z.J. felt as if his stomach had plunged into his boots. He didn't let it show on his face.
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