The Death Catchers (25 page)

 

The Epilogue

Dear Mrs. Tweedy,

I don't think I've ever been as happy as I was the day you handed me back my defense paper and told me that I was going to get an A for my semester grade. Honestly, at first, I thought you were joking. It really is a small miracle. That's my best grade this year. Heck, it's my best grade this life.

Mom's going to flip.

I also want you to know that I followed your instructions. I took my paper and I locked it away. I haven't shown it to anybody, just like you told me.

You said that all you wanted in return for showing me leniency with my final project was an update in two months' time on my “story.”

How exactly did you phrase it again?

I think you said, “No story is complete without closure, and yours is missing an epilogue.”

So here it is. I guess, after thinking about it, I agree with what you said about my lack of resolution. You said that I was the protagonist of the story, even if I didn't want to be, and that you wanted to know how things were left with Mom. I think you used the term “short shrift” when referring to how I left things. Yes. That's what you said. I remember now. You said readers don't like to get the “short shrift” when it comes to major relationships in a story.

Actually, I have Mom to thank for straightening things out with Drake. See, she was pretty frantic after I broke my ribs. When she asked Bizzy what had gotten into me lately, my grandma felt like she had to tell Mom something.

I can't really blame Bizzy—Mom was starting to get permanent worry lines on her forehead every time she looked at me. So, Bizzy told her about the DWOR and my crush on Drake, leaving out all the stuff about the Death Catchers and Morgan le Faye and
The Last Descendant
. Mom was the one who came up with the whole plan of Jodi writing the letter to Drake. She and Bizzy figured out the details together.

We were sitting at the kitchen counter a few days after I returned to school when it popped out.

“I'm sorry I've been acting like such a crazy person lately, Mom,” I said. “Bizzy told me it was your idea to have Jodi write the letter. Thank you.”

Mom smiled over her cup of tea. “You're quite welcome. Judging by the amount of time you've been spending with Drake lately, I'm assuming everything worked out?”

“Things are going good,” I said.

“
Well
,” Mom corrected. “Things are going
well
.” I rolled my eyes. Mom continued. “Have you started reading
Pride and Prejudice
yet?”

I shook my head.

“I only ask because if you had read it, you would've realized yourself that there are very few misunderstandings a well-written letter can't fix.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. The idea came straight out of
Pride and Prejudice
, though I suppose there was a dash of
Emma
thrown in. You see, Mr. Darcy writes Elizabeth this incredible letter that clears up her misconceptions about that rascal, Mr. Wickham.” Though I was quite used to Mom talking about characters in books like they were real people living down the street, it still made me laugh.

“You laugh, Lizzy dearest, but one day you will see it my way. The solution to every one of life's problems,” she said, pausing dramatically. I knew the end of the sentence by heart and jumped in.

“Can be found within the pages of a good book,” we said in unison. Though I often made fun of Mom's favorite phrase (Bizzy called it Mom's
only
pearl), I was beginning to think she was right. Mom hadn't even read
The Last Descendant
. If she only knew. At the end of the day, I've realized, when you have a problem or a question, a book is certainly a safe place to explore your options (as long as you don't encounter a death-specter, of course).

“Well, I'm so pleased you seem happy again,” Mom said.

“I'm sorry I told Bizzy about the Drake stuff before I told you,” I added quickly.

“I understand your grandmother is very easy to share things with. But you should try me out sometime. If you let a secret fly to me, I won't shoot it down.”

“I know that. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'd never shoot anything, ever. Except maybe someone who burned books.”

Mom laughed loudly. “I suppose it would depend on which books the person was burning.”

That night, on a whim, I started reading
Pride and Prejudice
. Not only did I read it, but I didn't even skip any parts. I finished it in three days.

It might be my Right Book! I'm as shocked as you probably are. But my namesake, Elizabeth Bennet, is a fictional character I can really get behind, you know? Mom was thrilled, of course, and she keeps giving me romances to read, but I don't like any of them as well as I liked
Pride and Prejudice.
It may be some time before Mom finds me another Right Book. Part of me, though, thinks that she enjoys the chase more than anything else.

I kept my promise to Jodi. See, though I'm seeing a lot of Drake these days, she and I are still best friends. Occasionally, she even manages to talk me into visiting the cemetery. When we do, I can't help but stare at Old Arthur's tomb. Sometimes I wonder if he always knew when he set sail for Crabapple so many years ago that his lineage would once again fatefully intersect with Avalon's.

I like to think that he did.

As for Bizzy, she's still as nutty as ever, but I can't imagine life without her.

The Death Catcher/Keeper thing is still not normal to me yet, but it's getting there. In fact, just this morning I had my third death-specter while I was reading the comics.

But don't worry, Mrs. Tweedy. It's not you. Of course, I couldn't tell you if it were. Life's a gift, so why waste it thinking about all the bad things that might happen? I can't help but believe whatever time we have here together is better spent thinking about all the good things we can
make
happen.

I guess you could call that one of Lizzy's pearls, free a' charge.

Anyway, even if my latest death-specter were about you, Mrs. Tweedy, I wouldn't worry too much. The Die-namic Duo's on the case, after all.

 

Acknowledgments

I want to thank my parents, Clare and John Kogler, for the countless story conferences and their unflagging enthusiasm. I am, indeed, the luckiest.

A number of people were incredibly helpful as first readers as I wrote
The Death Catchers
, including Lizzy McCloskey (whose name I borrowed as well), Kristy Cole, Jodi Wu, Mary Steffens, Lisa Hart, and Bradford Lyman. Marnie Podos helped me deliver the knockout blow.

Though my first introduction to all things Arthurian was most likely
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
on television, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the many wonderfully talented authors who made the Arthurian legend their own before I did. These books have inspired me as both a girl and an adult, including Geoffrey of Monmouth's
Historia Regum Britanniae
, Thomas Malory's
Le Morte d'Arthur
, T. H. White's
The Once and Future King
, and Marion Zimmer Bradley's
The Mists of Avalon
.

When I began to write this story, I was making a number of appearances at middle schools across the country. I want to thank the long list of welcoming librarians, English teachers, and other educators, who do vital and greatly underappreciated work, as well as the many bright students I met along the way. I hope Mrs. Mortimer, Jodi, Lizzy, and the gang do you all proud.

Many thanks to my wise editor, Emily Easton, for all the guidance and faith and, finally, the magnificent Faye Bender, without whose help affording health insurance would be a mere pipe dream.

Copyright © 2011 by Jennifer Anne Kogler

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

First published in the United States of America in August 2011
by Walker Publishing Company, Inc., a division of Bloomsbury Publishing, Inc. E-book edition published in August 2011
www.bloomsburyteens.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Walker BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Kogler, Jennifer Anne.
The Death Catchers / by Jennifer Anne Kogler.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-8027-2184-6 (hardcover)
[1. Death—Fiction. 2. Grandmothers—Fiction. 3. Supernatural—Fiction. 4. Lady of the Lake (Legendary character)—Fiction. 5. Morgan le Fay (Legendary character)—Fiction. 6. California—Fiction. 7. Letters.] I. Title.
PZ7.K8215De 2011                [Fic]-dc22                2010031904

ISBN 978-0-8027-2343-7 (e-book)