“Where’s Daddy?”
“Hm?” Sara poked her head out from behind a box and looked at Emma.
“Where’s Daddy?”
“He’s probably unpacking some of the boxes in the basement, Bug.”
“No. He’s not. He’s not here.”
Sara sighed and pushed herself up from the floor. She had been sitting so long that her hips felt a little stiff, and standing was a relief. As she glanced out the window she noticed Jasper’s car wasn’t in the driveway. “Oh…”
“See, I told you so, Mommy.”
Across the room, Sara noticed a piece of paper on the counter, along with a green gel pen, neither of which had been there when she cleaned up after breakfast. She went over to take a look.
Went to the hardware store. Be back soon. Didn’t want to interrupt your focus. Love!
“Looks like Daddy went to the hardware store.”
“Again?” Emma whined and rolled her eyes.
Sara chuckled.
They had moved into their dream house two months ago, and kept finding things that needed attention. That’s what you get when your dream house is a sprawling early Victorian. Despite being very well-maintained, there were always so many little things that need attention in old houses. And the bigger the house, the more little things there were. Jasper and Sara had debated, initially, whether it was too much house. But the attached carriage house would be the perfect space for Sara to use as a dance studio, there would be space for family to visit, they’d both talked about hosting foreign exchange students, and they hadn’t completely ruled out trying for a second child. Most of all, you couldn’t beat the price. The older couple that had owned it before were eager to leave New England winters behind and to spend their remaining retirement years closer to their grandkids. So, even though the house was bigger than they’d planned to purchase, Jasper and Sara decided they could just dream a few more dreams to fill the space.
At the moment, though, it was still mostly filled with boxes. Neither of them had wanted to use up precious vacation time for something so banal as unpacking. So, they’d made sure to locate the necessities, and decided to tackle the rest during weekend sprints; after all, if this was their forever home, they had plenty of time.
Sara had just finished breaking down an empty box when she heard the faint sound of a car pulling into the driveway. A smile played on her lips, and she called to Emma, “Daddy’s home!”
Emma skittered into the room, stocking feet sliding across the quarter-sawn oak floor. She reached the door just in time to open it for her father. “You’re back! Wanna play?”
“Soon, Bug. But first…” Jasper set the paper bag he’d carried in on the counter. From it, he pulled out two identical items sealed in plastic clamshell packaging.
“What are they? Are they games?” Emma knew what a display panel and buttons meant. “Like Tamagotchi? Olivia has one of those!”
“No. They’re called a Kill A Watt. We’re going to use them to find out how much electricity things use. Then we can be less wasteful.”
“Really?” Sara cocked an eyebrow as she stuffed the remnants of packing paper into the recycling bin.
“Really. Some of the guys from work were saying that heating a place like this in the winter is going to be a nightmare. So, I thought I’d see if I can find ways to balance it out by saving on the electric bill. I’ll just set up a spreadsheet and see where maybe we can switch things or unplug things we aren’t using to save on power.” Jasper smiled down at Emma. “And we’ll be Earth Helpers!”
Emma pumped her fist in the air, “Earth Helpers!”
Summer had been good, if hot. Sara had learned how to prepare nearly a dozen different chilled soups, and an astonishing array of salads, having taken a principled stand against using the stove in such weather. She also took a stand against using the dryer, and took to planning laundry day around the weather forecast so she could hang the washing on the clothesline. Jasper fully supported this, and noted that it would also reduce their energy bill.
Emma had spent most of her time outside. She built fairy gardens under the two old sugar maples that stood sentinel outside the front door. In the evenings, her parents would take turns reading to her in the hammock. The shade of the tree canopy had provided welcome relief from the sweltering heat of summer, when it was often more oppressive inside the house than out.
The one location where that wasn’t true was the basement. The perimeter walls were the original granite foundation. The plug and feather marks were still visible on the larger blocks near the grade level, and they were all held together with lime-washed mortar. The stone always felt surprisingly cool to the touch, and smelled faintly of moss, though none was visible. The space had been divided into a labyrinth of smaller rooms. Jasper had set up one of these as a second work from home space, for the days when the upstairs office was unbearable.
“Jasper?” Sara called down the stairs to the basement. There was no response. This wasn’t a surprise. There was something about the space that seemed to swallow sounds. She made her way to what they now called ‘The Summer Office.’ Even though it was late fall now, Jasper still ended up down here half the time. He said he’d grown used to it.
When she reached the door, he was in there. He sat at the desk, brows furrowed, muttering to himself as he stared at the computer screen. “It makes no sense…. I don’t understand…”
“Earth to Jasper…”
He startled a little and looked up. “Sorry, didn’t hear you.”
“Whatcha doing?”
“I’ve been looking over my Kill A Watt data, and it’s really weird.”
“Weird how? You know we’re going to have higher usage numbers since we’re inside more now, right?”
Jasper paused and took a breath to control his tone. “That’s not what I mean. What’s weird is that the Kill A Watt readings are totally different for the same device, depending on where in the house it’s been plugged in.”
Sara stared at him for a moment. “I’m sure it’s normal to have some variation.”
“Not like this.”
“Maybe you made some mistakes when recording the numbers.”
“That’s what I thought at first, but I’ve been extra careful since I first noticed.”
“Is it costing us a lot?”
“No…”
“Then why do you care?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense.” Jasper sighed.
Emma first started complaining about headaches that fall. It was around the first time they’d had to turn on the heat. Sara remembered that was a danger with old furnaces. A technician came and tested the system for carbon monoxide leaks, but found found no problems, and reassured the her that it had been impeccably maintained.
Next they hired a mold inspector. That inspection, too, had come back negative.
Even though radon doesn’t cause headaches, they tested for that, as well, just to be careful.
“Maybe it’s the house,” Jasper suggested one night, after Emma had gone to bed.
“But we’ve checked for carbon monoxide, and mold, and radon. We’ve changed lights, and set up an air filter… what else could it be?” Sara was growing increasingly anxious as each potentially easy fix was removed from the table.
“Whatever it is that’s been causing the irregular Kill A Watt readings.”
For a while Sara had humored Jasper’s fixation. She had patiently reviewed the spreadsheets and agreed that the numbers were weird. It was subtle, but consistent. A laptop plugged in on the north side of the house used more electricity than if it was on the south side. Same with a lamp. Or a toaster. Or a curling iron. It was even more pronounced in the basement. Together they ran tests, trying to control for any other possible variables. The numbers remained weird.
Eventually they had hired an electrician to come assess things. They’d had a home inspection prior to closing, but thought maybe something had been overlooked. They asked the electrician to inspect everything: the breaker box, any junction boxes, the outlets, the light fixtures. The electrician gave them a funny look when they pressed him about whether he noticed any anomalies. And he looked dumbfounded when they asked if maybe less sun exposure or being underground might result in an appliance drawing more electricity. “Uh… not that I’ve heard of.” Then he slapped his thighs and said “Whelp, everything looks normal, invoice’ll be in the mail,” as he beelined for the door.
As Emma’s headaches grew more frequent, though, Sara shifted her focus. While it had been fun playing detective with Jasper, she had bigger concerns than why it cost a couple cents more to use a lamp downstairs than upstairs. She turned her attention to learning about potential health hazards in old houses, and causes of pediatric cephalagia. She tried to get Jasper to join her, and sometimes they would spend a little time reviewing articles together. But most of the time he remained absorbed In his spreadsheets, convinced that a little more time and the right formula would provide the key to solving the puzzle.
Sara pressed her fingers against her temple and closed her eyes for a moment. “Jasper. Please.”
He was getting more animated, gesticulating. “Hear me out. The human brain operates on electrical impulses. Maybe the same thing that is causing the weird readings is also drawing extra electricity from Emma’s brain. Maybe we should move her bedroom…”
“Do you hear how ridiculous you sound? We live in the twenty-first century. We get answers from psychiatry and neurology and science! Not supernatural speculation!”
“I was just thinking…”
Sara cut him off. “Have you stopped to consider that maybe the problem is you? And that she’s stressed out because you spend all your time obsessing over your stupid numbers and don’t have any time to play with her anymore? Have you thought of that?”
Jasper looked down at his hands. “That’s not fair.”
Before Sara could respond, Emma’s sleepy voice cut in. “Mommy? Daddy? What’s going on? You were loud.”
“Sorry, Bug,” Jasper scooped Emma up into a big bear hug. “We just forgot to use our inside voices. Let’s get you back to your cozy bed.”
“Can I have an extra blanket, Daddy? It’s cold in my room.”
“You can have two!”
Sara watched them disappear into Emma’s bedroom and wiped the frustration tears from her eyes.
A week later, Sara got a call from the neurologist’s office. They’d had a cancellation and wanted to know if she could bring in Emma the next day. It was short notice, but better than waiting a couple more months for the original appointment time. She said yes immediately.
After she hung up, she made a couple of calls. The first was to Jasper, to explain that there was a surprise opening and she was planning to drive down today, since it was a two hour drive. And that she and Emma would probably stay down there a few days, make it into a little trip. Jasper wished he could come, and Sara believed him. They both knew, though, that he couldn’t call out of work. The second was to her sister, who lived in the same city as the neurologist.
Then she found Emma.
“Hey, Bug, guess what! The special doctor made some time to see you tomorrow. So, we’re going to pack our bags and go stay with Aunt Katie for a few days.”
Emma smiled. “Really?”
“Yeah, we’ll have some time for the doctor stuff, and then some time for fun city adventures.”
“Can we pack a Kill A Watt?”
Sara frowned. “Why?”
“So I can teach Aunt Katie how to be an Earth Helper!”
“... Sure.”
It didn’t take long to pack. They picked out clothes and toiletries, a few books and a favorite plushie. Sara also packed some snacks for the car and filled a couple of water bottles. Emma helped carry everything to the car, chattering excitedly about all the things she wanted to do in the city. But as Sara was locking up the house, Emma suddenly grew quiet and looked around.
“Wait, where’s Daddy?”
“Daddy can’t come, Bug. He has to work. This will just be a special girls only adventure.”
Emma considered this. “Maybe we shouldn’t take the Kill A Watt. He might need it.”
“It’s fine, Bug. He’ll survive a few days without it.”
“Okay.”
As they drove down the road, Sara realized she was glad that Jasper couldn’t come. She felt bad about it, but a little space from his crazy ideas would be nice. Maybe things would be better come spring, when they could spend more time outside.
“Do you think Aunt Katie’s house smells like moss, too, Mommy?”
“What was that?” Sara had been lost in her thoughts and realized she should have been listening to Emma.
But Emma didn’t repeat her question. “I hope so. It’s nice. But I hope it’s not so cold.”
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