And now this.
“Anyway, I’m the only one authorized to handle the mail here, so they’ll lock up this counter until I get back,” Rose was saying, sorting through a pile. “And your Wally seems like such a serious fellow—I wouldn’t want him to be upset at having to wait a week.”
“That’s very kind of you,” I managed.
She handed me a couple of envelopes and then marked them off as delivered in her book. “Well now he’ll be happy,” she pronounced. “Thanks for your help.”
“No problem at all,” I said. I was deadly curious now about what sort of mail Wally might be receiving, but I didn’t want to look nosy in front of her. I tucked the little bundle into my pocket and waved our grocery list at her. “You have a safe trip,” I said.
Once I got back to the car, I took the envelopes from my pocket. I didn’t recognize the handwriting on any of them, but they were all from local addresses. So, Wally wasn’t writing to Professor Johansson or anyone else at our university, then. I wouldn’t have suspected that of him anyway—of all of us, he was by far the most dedicated to maintaining the secrecy of the impossible town.
But then why didn’t he have these letters sent to the house? Why would he need to hide them from us?
Two of the envelopes were well sealed, but the third had weak adhesive, the entire flap practically dangling free. I couldn’t resist.
I didn’t understand at first.
The note inside was made out to the Cartographers. It was very short. Only a few lines—more like a list. A man’s name, an address, a phone number, a couple of dates for the coming week, and a short description at the bottom.
“Not sure what year you’re looking for, but it’s the right maker. Fair condition. Some fading along the folds from use, and a little tear in section A5. Found it in my uncle’s old car last week after he passed away. My wife and I will be at the house until evening most days helping clean it out, come by anytime.”
At first, I didn’t know what to do—if I should confront Wally alone and ask him what was going on, or if I should tell the group first. I didn’t want to accuse him of something if I was simply mistaken, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad might be going on.
In the end, I split the difference. I decided to tell Eve first, to see what she thought.
I should have gone to Romi, I know. But Eve was the one who had noticed the news story that first day, and I was already so used to keeping secrets with her.
Or maybe that was an excuse. Maybe I was looking for a reason to be near her again.
The next day, Wally still hadn’t returned to the house yet, and I wanted to figure out what was going on before he did. When we got to Agloe and went out to survey another neighborhood for Tam and Romi, I showed the letter to Eve.
“Are you sure it was him, in Scranton?” she asked when she’d finished reading.
“No,” I said. “But who else would want something in the geography section of a high school library?”
“He has been gone for days now,” Eve allowed. “But this letter makes it sound like he’s trying to buy another copy of our map. Not steal it.”
“Maybe not everyone will sell,” I said.
We were standing in a part of Agloe we hadn’t surveyed before, one of the outermost neighborhoods, farthest away from where the others were working.
“Hey,” Eve said, pointing. “That’s Wally’s, isn’t it?”
On the ground beside the door of one of the buildings, there was a little roll of film half-buried in the grass.
It had to be—none of the rest of us had a camera.