“Well, today we talked about working in some of the local legends in the area.”
“That’s an excellent approach.” He spins in his chair, rolling over what looks like my brother’s writing portfolio, and faces a listing shelf. He pulls down a book with one finger. “I have some reading material that might be perfect for you. It’s not very well known, and quite old, but some parts could be pertinent.”
I take the ancient book and turn it over gently. The spine is cracked, the binding peeling away from the cover. “It seems very fragile, are you sure?”
“I have another copy in mint condition,” he says. “This one I don’t mind loaning to students.”
I carefully open the front cover, to a pattern of crows lining the inside flap. Unease flares in my stomach again, and I shut the book. “What is this?”
He sits in the chair behind his desk. “A treatise on crows in Appalachian folklore and their ties to the Old World. It was written by one of the original professors here at the college.”
“What was his field?”
“Greek mythology.” He smiles at this revelation, a private joke I don’t understand. The bird squawks in its cage, flapping its wings.
I turn the book over in my hands. The decaying paper smells like autumn leaves. “A Greek scholar writing about southern folktales?”
“The parallels may surprise you.” His statement seems like a dismissal. “I think you’ll find some compelling information in there.”
I stand, and wind through piles of books and papers toward the door. “Julian is going to freak out. He would kill to read a book this old.”
Dr. Anders laughs again. “He does seem to be determined to get his hands on every book ever published.”
“Determined? More like fanatical.”
“Well,” he says, digging around a stack of folders on his desk, “He should be pleased with you for bringing this to the discussion.”
“Or furious that you didn’t give it to him first!”
He laughs again. “You’re all equal members of the team. I know things are rough being down a person. Hopefully this will help.”
“It just might,” I say, as he pushes his glasses up his nose. “Thank you.”
“See you in class, Miss Erikssen.”
*
“You want to hang out after dinner?” Jeremy whispers across my neck.
“I think I have to go to evening activities.” I blink, pulling up the dorm bulletin board in my mind’s eye. Swimming, Movie Night, and Lawn Chat are the options for this evening. “Don’t you have to supervise us?”
“Do you need supervision?” he asks, hand on my lower back and eyes on my chest. I can’t blame him. My dress is low cut and shows more than an appropriate amount of my lace bra, but no one ever says I’m appropriate.
“Definitely. Which activity are you assigned to?”
“Movie night.”
I smile and brush the hair from his eyes. “What film are we not watching?”
He smirks into my cleavage. “No idea. Let me go check on my crew and make sure no one burned down the dorm yet.”
“Okay. Save me a seat in the back.” I watch as he jo
gs across the common area and up the stairs to the boys’ dorm. I don’t usually go for athletic types, but I’d seen him running this morning across campus in the early morning fog, before the heat became unbearable, in nothing but a pair of compression shorts, and, well, that is a memory I replay often. Once he’s inside I go to my own room.
“Hey,” Faye says from her desk. She’s on her laptop for a change, though her desk has five neat piles of tiny leaves.
“How did your date with Ethan go?”