The next day — Jenny could not believe it was merely the next day — she found herself the focus of attention as the four of them sat around, taking stock of the previous day’s events. Well no, she corrected herself, only three of them were sitting around. Sid was actually standing on Mr Symarian’s desk, in his usual spot.
“Jenny, is there is something you are not telling us?” Mr. Symarian was asking.
“I’m sorry Mr. Symarian, I didn’t expect anything like this,” she said. “I’ve missed Grandma terribly since she’s been gone, and I thought this whole finding a key thing was a sign that I could reach out to her in some way. When Sid appeared, I thought it meant there was a real chance.”
“Except,” Josh said, “you were expecting somebody nice.”
Jenny nodded. “Exactly! Grandma was just about the kindest, sweetest person you could ever imagine. That’s why we all loved her so much. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body. But yesterday, when we conjured up that, that … thing … it felt all wrong. Like it wasn’t really Grandma at all. I mean it was her, but it wasn’t her. If you see what I mean.” Jenny looked around expectantly.
“Yeah kid, I get ya,” Sid nodded. “You’re close to Grandma, you got some kinda bond thing, like you’re connected. You figure that’s gonna continue, even after the old lady kicks it. I’d figure it the same way if I was in your shoes. Not that I would wear shoes.” he added hastily.
“But why does it matter,” Josh asked. “Your grandmother’s gone. Why would you care about a picture on a table?”
“Because it means she’s not gone,” Jenny said. “It’s not like she’s in heaven or whatever. Something’s happened to her — something bad. Sid, are there bad demons that could do something like this?”
Sid rubbed his wings together thoughtfully before replying. “I gotta level with you here. We ain’t all as good hearted as me. And we certainly ain’t all as good looking. Like the man once said, sometimes you gotta take the meat with the gravy.”
“Are you sure you got that last part right?” Josh asked.
“Quiet Josh!” Jenny said. “This is serious. I think we have to rescue Grandma.”
“Well,” said Mr Symarian. “That means we will need all the tools we can get to reach out to her and pull her from the Astral dimension. Let’s start with the basics. Jenny, what was your Grandmother’s first name?”
“Her name,” Jenny said, “was — is — Amelia.”