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I lifted Charlene closer to my face and asked.“Are you sure you can’t hear anyone?”

“Nope,” the little kitten confirmed. Usually animals had no problem understanding each other, but then again, I’d never spoken with insects before. I’d never heard them until now. I swear, this honeymoon of ours just kept getting stranger and stranger.

With my companions unable to offer assistance, I pressed forward all on my own.“Hello, bees. I’m talking to you. I’m sorry about the trampled flowers and that someone almost hurt your queen. I can help, if you’ll talk to me.”

I waited as the voices whispered amongst themselves, clearly not wanting to be overheard until they reached some kind of unanimous decision about me.

Finally, one plump bee flew out to greet me face to face.“Greetings, human. I am Aldrin and this is Lightyear.” He waited as a second buzzing insect joined us.

“Hello. I’m Angie.” I stayed stock still, but Charles jumped behind me.

“Oh boy. More bees. I’m just going to go grab my EpiPen, just in case. I’ll take Charlene too.” As soon as I transferred the kitten to his arms, my husband took off like a shot.

“You do not fear us, human,” Aldrin noted, bobbing in the air.

“Angie,” I reminded him with a gentle voice. “Call me Angie.”

“Apologies. We have not spoken to any human before. Are you the one who lives in the house?” I couldn’t tell whether this came from Aldrin or Lightyear. I wasn’t sure that it mattered, since the bees all seemed to act and think as one.

“No, I’m just here on vacation.” I chose not to point out that Madame Blue and I looked nothing alike, seeing as she was several decades older, much shorter, and much louder as a general rule. I’d guess that all humans looked the same to bees, the way all bees tended to look the same to humans.

The two bees buzzed back and forth to each other, communicating with a series of movements rather than words. When at last they seemed to agree, they spoke to me again.“Then would you share our complaints with the human who does?”

“I can try,” I answered truthfully. I could barely share my own complaints with Madame Blue and Billy, and I was a paying guest. I didn’t think they’d agree to do anything to help the bees, but I would at least try.

“Good enough for us,” Lightyear decided, and both bees bounced up and down.

Aldrin was the one who delivered their list of grievances.“Our gardens used to flourish, giving us an abundance of delicious honey, but lately the landscape is looking bleak. Some of our favorite flowers are disappearing, only to be replaced with poor substitutes.”

“The skunk cabbage,” I said, thinking back to last night plus Charles’s later identification of the plant.

Both bees zigzagged in a frenzy before calming down enough to speak again.“Skunks are natural enemies of bees. Someone is attempting to threaten us, and we do not take kindly to it. Our honey is also being over-harvested, and it’s not leaving enough to nourish our hive. We are happy for humans enjoy the fruits of our labor in moderation, but now our sustenance is being stolen right from under us. We work hard and yet our bellies remain empty into the next day.”

“I’m really sorry. That sounds horrible.” I sympathized with them even though I had little basis for understanding the secret lives of bees.

“It is quite horrible,” they said in unison, moving in a synchronized aerial dance.

“I will see what I can do for you,” I assured them. Maybe if I asked some questions about the skunk cabbage I’d found and where I could buy some local honey, Madame Blue would inadvertently open up to me.

“That is all we ask,” one of the bees said before both flitted back to the hive somewhere out of sight.

Charles and I had come to this old stone mansion nearly a thousand miles away from home to get away from it all. Yet somehow we found ourselves plagued by mystery after mystery. If it weren’t for one very sweet kitten needing our help, we would already be gone. But since we were stuck for the time being, we might as well try to solve a couple of these mysteries and hopefully leave the place better than we found it.

11

Once the bees left me, I decided to wander the property line in hopes of finding Charlene’s mother. The entire yard was marked with a red brick fence running around the perimeter, but there was plenty of nature on the other side of the fence, too. Maybe we should expand our search to the neighboring properties as well. I’d ask Charles for his thoughts on the matter when he returnedwith his EpiPen.

Halfway through my second circle around the garden, Blaire barged out through the front door, shouting into her phone. The sunlight reflected beautifully off her multi-hued hair, making me wonder if I could pull off such a bold look myself.

I tried not to listen to her conversation as I quietly continued my search, but Blaire’s voice carried across the open space.

“Maybe I don’t want to come home! Did you ever think about that?” she practically snarled while I busied myself inspecting the hydrangeas.