Mallory could hear her father downstairs puttering around in the kitchen. He was probably making himself a baloney and cheese sandwich, something that Ephraim’s father could no longer do, and would probably never do again.
She pulled a book from a stack on her desk, tucked it under her arm, and headed down the stairs. He was sitting in the armchair, the sandwich sitting on the small table next to it. The Patriots were playing the Giants on television.
“You really are a bachelor now,” she said.
He smiled, but she could tell that her joke had stung. “Are you hungry?” he asked.
“I made myself some mac and cheese earlier,” she said. “I ate it in my room.”
“What are you doing up there?”
“Working on my explorer project,” she said. Ephraim had found a scrapbook of articles about the expedition—gathered by the same E. Darling who had kept the science journal, and, she assumed, created the map. She had been going through them.
“Ah, the great explorer project,” he said. “Due soon, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “Next week. Who did you do?”
“What? Oh, we didn’t do that project way back in the stone age.”
“But you must have. Uncle Edward did it. Mom, too.”
“Oh?” He stared fixedly at the television. “I guess I forget, then. Mustn’t have been anybody as exciting as Henson.” He picked up a sandwich and took a bite. It wasn’t like her father to forget these things, but she figured these weren’t regular times. “Did you need something, honey?” he asked.
“Actually, I wanted to show you something. I drew a picture of you,” she said. “Do you want to see it?”
“There’s nothing I want more in this world.”
She flipped open the book to the drawing. He muted the television and took the book from her.
“It’s beautiful,” he said.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“I didn’t know you still liked to draw.”
“I kind of hide it,” she admitted.
He grinned. “By drawing in books, I see.” With his thumb in the book to mark the page, he looked back at the cover. “Properties of Electromagnetism? Well, at least it’s something I’ll never need.”
She decided not to tell him about the dozens of other books she had defaced.
“I’m glad you’re still here, Dad.”
“Mallory, I’m not going anywhere. Ever. Wherever you go and whatever you do, you’ll always have a home to come to.”
“Because of the Water Castle,” Mallory said.
He shook his head. “That’s not what ties me here. That’s Eleanor’s duty. It was her family that made that promise.” He rubbed his palm on his forehead. “I’m here for you. I may not always stay here in this house but wherever I am, that’s a home for you. Do you understand?” he asked.
She nodded her head.
“So are there any other pictures hidden in here?” he asked.
He slid over a little and she squished into the chair with him. When she was little, she’d been able to slide in right beside him, but now the space was tight. She felt the flannel of his shirt against her skin. Even though he had showered after work, he still smelled like oil, and she breathed deep.
He flipped through the pages and stopped on her picture of the tree. “It’s really lovely, Mallory,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“If you want to take some classes, or need supplies—”
“You don’t need to buy me things.”
He turned the page and revealed Price’s face. Mallory reddened. “You got his likeness very well.”
There were no more pictures in the book, Mallory knew, but she liked sitting in the chair with her dad. She closed her eyes and tucked into his chest.
“Brushing up on a little chemistry?” he asked.
She fluttered her eyes open and saw notes in the margin of the book. “I didn’t write that,” she said.
“Well, if you had, I’d send you right off to MIT. That’s advanced stuff. And some Latin, too.” He pointed to three words: Nemo can teneo.
“Can you read it?” she asked.
“There was a time when I was a Latin superstar. Not as good as your mother—” He shook his head. “It’s all gone now. Been too long since I used it.”
Her heart was beating faster. “It’s probably nothing,” she said. “I think I’m going to go to sleep.”
“Okay.”
She climbed out of the chair and took the book back from him. She turned the page and saw more writing. Pages and pages of it, mostly equations. And then, scrawled across a page: “You have to burn the water.”
She read it twice, but it still didn’t make any sense.
“Show me your next drawing, okay?”
“Sure, okay. Good night.”
“Good night,” he replied. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
Mallory raced up the stairs, hoping her science skills were strong enough to understand what was written in the book.