Anthony (Tony) Kane woke up at the crack of dawn because it was time to milk the cows.

He worked two jobs, one on a small dairy that didn't have a milking machine, and one at his local library, in the afternoons.

Normally, his sister Hope Ann would have been up at the same time to feed their chickens and walk the dog, but only his parents were up.

"Where's Hope?" Tony asked as he grabbed a quick breakfast to go.

"Hmm?" his mom said, looking up from her crossword puzzles she did most mornings.

"Hope, she's not up. Is she sick?" Tony said.

"Hope?" his father said.

"Yes...my sister, Hope, usually up whistling 'Good Morning' from that one musical right about now," Tony said, gesturing with the milk like "duh."

"What an odd thing to joke about." His mom frowned. "Why are you saying that? It's not funny."

"Yeah, that's not funny, Tony," his dad said.

"Is she gone for some reason I  was supposed to know about?" Tony said uneasily.

Doctor's appointment? Did she go visit family? Why wouldn't anyone have mentioned that to him?

"Still not funny," his dad frowned.

"If you wanted a sibling, you could just have said it and not made fun of us." His mom frowned. "We tried, you know. That's not amusing. And it's too late now. Why bring it up?"

"Mom, now, this isn't funny," Tony said. "I'm talking about my sister, Hope, who's always being a pain in the neck. Why are you treating this like it's some kind of prank? Because it's not funny either."

"Stop it." His dad was getting mad.

"You guys stop it!" Tony began to get freaked out.

"Maybe you had better just go to work." His mom looked angry.

"Maybe I better!" Tony left in a hurry.

What was with that messed up practical joke?

He dialed Hope's cell phone. It rang, but she didn't answer.

Tony dialed again.

He tried three more times before he even got to work, and nothing.

"What's wrong, Tony?" Caitlyn, one of the other people who worked at the dairy, asked, putting on her work gloves.

"My parents were acting weird this morning, and my sister's not home, and she's not answering her phone," Tony said. "Which is weird for her. If I called this many times, she'd know it was important."

"You have a sister?" Caitlyn said.

Tony looked up. "That's not funny, Cate."

"I wasn't trying to be funny. You've never mentioned it," Caitlyn said.

"Uh, you've met my sister," Tony said. "She's picked me up from work when my car was in the shop? Tall, blonde girl? Loud. This isn't ringing a bell?"

He was being a little rude, but she was freaking him out.

Caitlyn shook her head. "Maybe I wasn't here that day."

"You were there. She helped us load milk into the delivery truck!" he almost blew up.

"I don't remember anyone else being there the time you had your car in the shop." Caitlyn sounded scared. "But you know, I have terrible memory. I'm sorry.... No need to get mad."

"I...sorry." Tony shook his head.

"What's going on here?" their boss, Jerry, walked up, frowning. He never let his employees have fights.

"Nothing, just my sister's MIA. I think she might be having a problem," Tony said.

"You have a sister?" Jerry said blankly.

Jerry was not the type of guy to joke about things like that.

Tony stared at him.

Then he said, "I think I need to take the day off. I'm not feeling well."

He'd started to look pretty unwell. Jerry didn't even bat an eyelash.

"All right, but better go to the doctor," he said. "You look like you might be overworking yourself."

"I can cover for you," Caitlyn offered.

"I can call one of our backup people," Jerry said. "My nephew helps sometimes when someone's out. It's no big deal. Don't want any worker who's not feeling well."

"I hope it's not serious, with your family," Caitlyn called, as Tony left.

Tony didn't even know what he was going to do, but he rushed home and ran up to Hope's room without saying a word to either of his parents. In fact, his dad was already gone to work himself.

"Tony, is that you?" his mom called up the stairs.

Tony went into the room.

Everything was still there, but Hope wasn't.

However, he did find her cell phone on the nightstand.

He dialed again, and it rang. 

"Tony, what are you doing in here?" His mom appeared in the doorway.

"Hope left her phone here," Tony said.

His mom frowned. "Why do you keep saying this? Is something wrong?"

"Mom, this is her phone." Tony held it up. "Come on. Why would she have left it home? You need these for everything now. She'd have come back to get it. What if she got in an accident?"

"Did you have some girl here while we weren't home?" His mom sounded furious.

"No, Mom, don't pretend you don't know what her phone looks like. You freaking bought the case, for the love of Pete," Tony said.

"I've never seen that phone before," his mom said. "And if you let anyone in this guest bedroom, and they mess anything up, I'll skin you alive."

She seemed dead serious.

Tony freaked out even more and ran out of the room without another word, taking the phone with him.

He got back in his car and drove into the town. He figured she would have gone to her college or her work. Her car was nowhere to be seen.... Come to think of it, it could have still been in the garage at home.

He drove up to her work and went inside, finding Mrs. Steele.

"Hope Ann?" she said, when he asked. "No one of that name works here, Tony. Who are you looking for?"

Tony backed up out of the shop and ran back to the street.

His heart was still pounding. He drew some deep breaths.

The whole town could be in on this joke...

Suddenly, he looked up and saw the woman, Karen Shingle, who'd come in the day before, walking down the street towards a black car.

Tony's eyes narrowed.

He dashed across the street towards her car and got in front of it just as she was opening the door.

"You!" he said.

Karen's eyes widened. But clearly she recognized him.

"What's going on?" Tony was sure that she had something to do with this somehow. "You remember my sister, right?"

Karen blinked at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

But she was lying, he thought. The look in her eye wasn't right.

"I think you do," he said in a low voice. "I found her phone, but no one is acting like they know who I'm talking about. You went on about curses and crap yesterday."

"Oh, come on, Mr. Kane, you're not really a superstitious kind of guy," Karen said, oddly. "Are you?"

"I've...had my moments of wondering about certain stuff..." Tony said uneasily. "I'm not sure enough to rule it out. I'm sure you know what happened."

"Even if I did know what you were talking about, what makes you think I'd tell you anything about it?" Karen said. "Would ruin the story."

"Lady, you'd better tell me what you did, or I'll--" Tony began.

"You'll what?" she cut him off. "Call the police? File a missing person's report? For who? You won't find her anywhere on the records. No one is going to say she's missing except you."

Tony stared at her.

"What kind of witch are you?" he said.

"I'm not a witch." Karen sounded offended. "What a thought. I'm just someone who believes in magical things, that's all. And your sister, if she's real, doesn't. So what could have happened to her?"

"Tell me what you did with her," Tony said. "Is she kidnapped?"

"Mr. Kane, even if I could kidnap her, how would I have erased everyone's memories of her existence?" Karen said smoothly. "Be logical."

"I know you know what happened," Tony pressed. "Maybe I can't call the police, but I won't leave you alone until you do."

"Well, then I can call the police," Karen said. "Tell them some young wack job is stalking me."

"You want the police to look into your personal life?" Tony said that on a hunch, but this woman was suspicious as heck, and he doubted he was the only one who thought so.

And, to his surprise, it got results. Karen looked uneasy.

"Of course that would complicate things," she muttered to herself aside.

Tony frowned.

"All right." Karen looked up. "If I tell you what happened to her, will you leave it alone? What if I said no harm will come ot her as long as she follows the rules?"

"Not good enough." Tony didn't like the sound of this. "And why do I remember her?"

"Ah, that..." Karen said. "Step into my office."

She just got in the car.

It seemed like a bad idea, but no other choice, so Tony stepped in.

He kept his hand on the door.

Karen didn't drive away though.

Instead she opened a sort of briefcase-looking bag and pulled out a very crudely made notebook.

"The reason you remember her is because you were the only other person there when I spoke to her," she said. "I can't erase that kind of personal experience. It's too strong."

"But you can erase the entire rest of someone's life, how? With drugs?" Tony said.

"The effects aren't permanent," Karen said. "In 3 months, everyone will remember her. And if all goes well, she'll be home safe and sound."

"And if all doesn't go well?" Tony said.

"Well, I try not to think about that," Karen said. "Usually all goes well. And she won't remember a thing about being gone. There, is that satisfactory?"

"Not at all. Are you some kind of psycho?" Tony said.

"No, no." Karen waved her hand. "Look, Mr. Kane--can I call you Tony?"

"No, you can't."

"Tony, I have very important business to conduct, and sometimes I need a little...help, shall we say. I'm looking for qualified people to help me. I gave your sister a job offer, and she's taken it."

Tony frowned. "And that includes casting a spell on everyone so they don't remember her?"

"It's top secret," Karen said. "I can't have the public know about this. It's very high clearance kind of stuff. Not many people know about it at all."

She sounded like some cult leader. Tony was getting more and more creeped out.

"And is it dangerous?" he pressed.

"Not usually so," Karen said. "To put it simply, your sister has to navigate the story I'm writing. Just as if it was real life."

"You mean you have her somewhere she can act out your story?" Tony said. "Like in that dumb Austenland movie?"

"Yes, I mean like that." Karen's eyes lit up, but not in a nice way. "And she's not able to contact anyone from her home the whole time, just like that movie. Great movie by the way."

Tony had thought it was actually really bad, and this wasn't changing his mind.

"And you've got some voodoo power that lets you just erase people's minds? That sound pretty Twilight Zone to me," he said.

"You are a cultured young man, aren't you?" Karen said.

"You're, like, 10 years older than me, tops," Tony said.

"I'm sure you think so," Karen said oddly. "But Twilight Zone or not, those are the rules. If you want her to make it out, you have to leave her alone. In 3 months she should be home."

"And you expect me to just accept that, when you're being a total creep about it?" Tony said.

"Well, frankly, Tony, you don't get much of a choice," Karen said, starting her engine. "You can't do anything to stop me. I'm leaving town. I suggest you go about your life normally until your sister gets back. Try not to lose hope." She grinned.

"You sociopath!" Tony cried.

"Get out." Karen opened his door by pressing a button on hers.

"Freak!" Tony got out, not sure he wanted to know what she'd do if he stayed in.

Karen shut the door and started to back out of the parking spot she was in.

Tony backed up, but then he slipped his phone out and took a picture of her license plate while she was looking out for oncoming traffic.

He walked away. Frowning.

* * *

I didn't know anything about what Tony was doing while I was sitting in the danged garden.

I really would have found it calming, normally--it was so pretty and peaceful. But the very beauty of it seemed to bore into my brain.

The flowers were too bright, the scent was too thick, the lack of bugs was uncanny, and it was almost too balmy out here, not natural.

It could have been all in my head, but I thought the magic of the place was glaring and unsettling.

The servant watching me was utterly kerflummoxed by how I kept rubbing my arms and taking deep breaths and trying not to look at anything interesting.

"Shall I get you anything else?" he offered.

I wanted to be alone.

"No, just get away," I said.

"Ma'am, that is not my duty," he said.

"Oh, confound your duty!" I hurled at him, unfairly, I knew. "Can't you let a body have a moment alone? Or is that not ladylike either!"

He jumped and hurried to the end of the walk. I didn't know what he thought I would do to him if he ignored my wishes. At the moment, I didn't care.

Left alone, I gave in to the urge to cry. If no one was looking, I didn't care how pathetic it was.

Anyway, I had some excuse. This was a living nightmare after all, only crying wouldn't make me wake up, nor would screaming. I could yell forever, and no one would think anything except I was crazy.

I shouldn't have indulged those thoughts because they only amped up my panic attack, but I kept playing them in my head like I was determined to make myself more upset.

I think I would have sat there for hours doing that if I hadn't been interrupted by something entirely unrelated to me.

Some boy about 12, I think, came running out of a side walkway that had a trellis of flowers over it so it was bit less visible than the one I was in and not in broad daylight, and he then jumped over a bush to the same side I was sitting on and ducked under the tea table I was next to.

He didn't seem to notice I was having a panic attack. He just hissed at me, "Don't say anything."

I stopped crying for a moment to give him an odd look.

Someone else came out of the trellis tunnel. I think they were a house servant but not a maid.

"Pip? Pip, where are you?" she yelled. "I know you're not far."

She held out a feather duster like the one my grandma used to have in her pantry.

"When I catch you, you'll catch it, mark my words!" she called. Then she looked at me. 

"Did you see a small boy go through here?"

I stared at her blankly.

She seemed to take in my tear-streaked face and fine clothes.

"Oh, oh, my lady, I'm sorry. I didn't realize, I'm sorry." She began to back up. "Of course, I won't bother you anymore. Please don't mind me."

She ran off before I could say a word.

I was glad she was gone. I wiped my sleeve across my face and peered at the kid.

"Hey, what was that all about?"

"You don't talk like a duchess," he said bluntly, coming out.

"I know," I said grumpily.

"You don't look like one either." He pulled an apple out of his pocket and started to munch on it.

"Did you steal that?" I asked. I hate stealing.

He shrugged a bit sullenly. "The cook doesn't feed us enough anyway. They'll never miss it. What's it to you?"

"Hmrph, I might not be duchess material, but I think you're not supposed to talk to me that way," I said, not sure if I found him refreshing or annoying.

"You don't seem like you know much about being a lady," he replied flatly. "Sitting in a garden and crying like a baby. What do you have to be sad about? You're not hungry."

"Actually, I'm starving," I said, realizing just then that it was true. I hadn't eaten all day.

"Really?" He looked at me dubiously.

My stomach suddenly growled, as if to prove my words.

The kid laughed, but not meanly.

"Here." He pulled out a green apple and handed it to me.

I didn't know if it was clean, but heck, I'd collected apples off the ground before and eaten 'em. Dirt never hurt anyone. So I took it.... It might be stealing, but I figured, this was a fake world, so it doesn't really matter.

Karen could just magic up some more fruit if she was sore about it.

"Well, you're all right, Pip," I said, after taking a big bite.

"Didn't they feed you genteel folks inside?" Pip asked.

"Nope." I shook my head, between mouthfuls.

"That's not very nice," Pip said wryly. "But the Duke is forgetful these days. If you ask me, he should just let his two sons take over now that the war's done."

"What do you know about ruling a...dukedom?" I found him amusing. 

He was reminding me a little of Tony when he got all pedantic when he was in highschool--and now, actually.

"More than you think." Pip pointed to himself. "I hear stuff. I heard some of the duke's lawyers say that he should just pass on the dukedom now before he goes senile and can't anymore."

"They say that about their boss?" I said. I'd have gotten sacked if I ever talked like that about Mrs. Steele, and then my mother would have lit into me at home.

"Only when they think no one's listening," Pip said offhandedly. "So who are you? Some new bride for one of the duke's sons?"

I started laughing, unexpectedly, but then, I'd been near hysteria a few moments ago. I was a wreck.

"Land sakes, no!" I tried to smother it. "I'm only here because my family dragged me here to pay our respect to the Duke for making such an important person of my...father."

That felt wrong to say.

"Lord Laurel?" Pip said. "I heard that, in the kitchen. But the cooks were saying that they think he only brought his daughters so that the Duke could see if they'd make good brides."

"That is so Jane Austen," I muttered to myself. "Wealthy men must always be looking for wives."

"I hope I'll never have to," Pip said, as if he was dead serious.

I took it he was at the age where boys do not like girls--he wouldn't be for long, if I had to judge, but it made no difference to me what he thought.

But since he was the most normal person in this world so far, I was disposed to like him. Though I did have the impression I was talking to one of those NPC's who just show up to give you information.

But this was a book, not a video game, so I wasn't sure what Pip was. A side, comic relief character, I'd have to guess, and if so, he was probably harmless for me to talk to. They never do much to either help or hurt the main characters.

Turning my mind back to figuring out the story made me calm down. I realized that I didn't know if I was a main character or a side character in this story yet.

If I was a side character, my chances of survival were probably better; less danger would happen to me. But then I wouldn't have plot armor. So I could die to show the high stakes. If this was a more serious story.

But if it was a romance, then it might be comedy...but what if Karen liked tragic romances?

It was my first day here, and I knew nothing about it, and I wanted to just go home and curl up and not think about it, but if I was going to navigate this world, I realized, I shouldn't waste any time learning about it. Even eating dinner here might be dangerous if I failed some kind of rule that everyone should know about if they lived here.

How could I learn about it fast? Research, maybe? I was a college student--I should know all about that.

No computer here meant books were my only option.

"Hey, Pip," I said aloud, "would you know if there's any library around here?"

"There's one inside the mansion." Pip pointed to some large windows all in a row. 

"Can anyone go in?" I asked.

"I guess if they're visiting," he said. 

"Can you show me where it is?" I asked.

"Can you pay me?" he said.

I had no money.... I didn't even know what the currency of this place was.

But I thought maybe I could get some, if I said I had a good reason.

"Afterward," I said aloud, hoping I wasn't lying to him. I felt guilty already.

"All right," he said. "Follow me."

He took off.

The servant who was waiting at the end of this pathway gave me a strange look.

"I'm going inside to cool off," I said to him stiffly. "Don't follow me, all right? I'll just wait for my family in there."

Well, he must have been an outdoors servant anyway, because he didn't protest.

Glad that had worked, I hurried after Pip as fast as I could.

Now that I wasn't hysterical, I looked up at the mansion and felt as if I was in a video game again. It was just so big, it almost was like it was out of focus.

I hadn't seen a building this big since I went to a large city on a field trip. Even my college had smaller building than this one.

It wasn't as tall as a skyscraper, but it was much wider and longer and looked like it should be on Capitol Hill, if anywhere in the USA.

But it wasn't American, that was for sure. I couldn't place it. I didn't know what Karen was basing her story off of.

And I realized I needed to know that. If she did follow any customs of the real world, it would be important for me to know what country it was. I could work with it if I just knew.

I had to bet it would be France or England--that was the most popular. Or Russia. People just loved the style of those places for their spin-off worlds in these stories.

If it was France, I'd probably be fine--as long as it was pre-Revolution type France.

England I could manage with some work on my mannerisms.

But Russia...well, if it was like the real Russia, I knew it would be very different from the cultures I was used to. I'd be lost then.

I cursed the US school system mentally for not teaching people more about any country that's not part of the USA's immediate allies.

If only it was like Canada--I'd have had the easiest time in the world. They were so nice.

I knew, of course, that that's just a stereotype, but I pegged Karen as the type of writer who'd use stereotypes, based on how this whole world was set up so far, and I thought I could outwitted her world if that was true.

But if I was wrong...

I tried not to go there again. I couldn't break down like that inside--someone would be sure to tell someone important, and I'd get held up.

No one stopped me and Pip from going up the hallways to the library. It was a short walk.

The only thing any maid asked was where we were going, and Pip lied glibly that we were looking for the lavatory.

Actually, I wondered when I would have to use one. I'd not eaten or drunk anything, so I wasn't feeling the urge right then, but...what did they use here?

I wished part of the fantasy part of this was that I wouldn't have to do anything so normal as eat, sleep, or...the other things, but if the other characters did it, I would probably have to also. I wasn't Barbie.

Pip finally spotted a set of big french doors that led into the library, though there was no sign that said so.

He held out his hand.

"Once we're done in here," I said.

"We?" he said.

"Can't you stand guard? Tell me if anyone's coming?" I asked, as I yanked the doors open.

I was glad I was strong as a horse, because that door felt like it weighed over 50 lbs easy.

Pip sighed, but he stood there.

I could get used to being obeyed like this by everyone.

The library was only lit by the open window, and it looked dusty. Most of it seemed barely touched.

It was like the one from Beauty and The Beast: rows and rows of books and then shelves of them along the middle.

I smiled finally. At least this looked familiar.

* * *

Tony went to the DMV where one of his old school friends worked at one of the counters.

"I need you to run this plate for me," he said, after the longest line ever to get to the counter.

"I'm not supposed to do that for regular citizens," Mark, the friend, said.

"Mark, I swear this could be life or death. I can't explain it now," Tony said. "Someone might be in trouble if I don't find this person."

Mark raised an eyebrow.

"This isn't one your jokes?"

"No." Tony looked dead serious at him.

Mark hesitated.

"I guess as long as you're not hurting anyone, I can check..." He typed some things into the computer.

"The plate belongs to Shingle, K," he said after a moment.

"I knew that part. What's her home address?" Tony asked.

"I can't give you that," Mark said.

Tony shook his head. "Someone could die, Mark."

"Shouldn't you go to the police?" Mark said.

"She threatened me. If I do that, it won't end well," Tony said. "I need this. If I don't know more, I can't give them enough information to trap her anyway."

"Tony, if you hurt someone because I gave you information, I could go to jail," Mark said.

"I won't lay a finger on her," Tony said. "I just need to find her. I swear."

Mark winced.

"I'm so getting fired for this..." he muttered. "I'll print this out...then I'll accidently leave it on the counter while I go get a coffee. I hope it'll be here when I get back."

He clicked some things and then went and pulled the sheet of paper out of the printer and put in on the desk and said, "I need a coffee."

Then he walked away.

Tony picked it up.

"Connecticut," he said. "She's a long way from home."

Then he realized that Mark had actually left two papers there. One had her home address...and one had the name of the car rental place she'd gotten that vehicle from. It was about 20 miles away.

Tony shoved both papers inside his shirt while no one was looking and hurried out of the DMV.