The Gallery of Lost Species by Nina Berkhout

wide open at the chest, still captivated by his uncanny resemblance to Liam.
    Then we passed through courtyards hidden among the rooms of art. One of them enclosed a shallow square of rippling water. I saw my moon-faced reflection in the pool. I threw a nickel at it, wishing I looked more like my sister, but without the shaved head.
    My father left me at the garden court and went to find Viv and Constance. In the plot of trees and tropical flowers, I wrote my postcard to Liam. You have to come see this place, I told him. You’re already here.
    I took in the stillness and the sense of relief the gallery spaces gave me. I had a premonition I’d be back. I dreamt my sister’s paintings would be on the walls, and I would be their caretaker.

FIFTEEN
    V IV GOT TOO SKINNY . Her complexion faded and she coughed a lot.
    One Saturday morning, she and Constance had a screaming match over a pack of cigarettes that dropped to the floor from Viv’s biker jacket. Until then Constance hadn’t noticed Viv was smoking because the smell was all around her anyhow.
    I didn’t want to listen to their fighting. I went into the painting shed, but the space heater had short-circuited. It was late November and there was snow on the ground. I decided to walk over to the Coin Shoppe where at least it was warm and I’d get tea. My shift didn’t start until noon, but if it meant a few hours of free labour, Serena would let me in.
    I took the alley entrance that connected to the downstairs kitchen, where Serena would hear my knocking. Peeking through the dusty window, I saw her drift by in a green bathrobe, her red hair piled loosely on top of her head like the Klimt woman from the Gallery.
    She opened the kitchen cupboards in slow motion, as though she was still half asleep and dreaming. I didn’t want to frighten her. I waited for her to turn my way.
    Standing on the tips of her toes, she retrieved mugs from the top shelf. She went over to the coffee machine and poured herself a cup, leaning against the yellow counter before taking a sip. Then she poured another cup. An arm reached out for it and I recognized the frayed sleeve.
    My father appeared with his back turned to me. He put his cup on the counter and moved in too close to Serena. He took her cup and put it down. She pressed her hands against the counter’s edge and my father held her face and pulled it toward him.
    My knees were buckling when Omar poked his head out of the annex window. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know. Why do you think you got the job?”
    I stared up at his epileptic smirk. In that instant I despised Omar. I despised my father and my sister and my miserable mother. Most of all I despised Serena. I wanted to get away from them all.
    â€œOf course I knew,” I told him. “And I changed my mind. I want in.” Constance had been making me put my earnings into an account I couldn’t withdraw from. With Omar’s scam, I’d have enough to leave them all behind me. Start fresh in another city, even.
    â€œCool.” He vanished a second then poked his head out again. “Don’t move.”
    I waited around the corner, puffing on my inhaler. The chemicals irritated my throat and made my heart race. Omar came back to the window and flicked a piece of metal at me that landed in the mud. I picked it up and wiped it off on my jacket. The coin was too light. The thin skin of yellow gold on the surface wasn’t real. I rubbed its waxy sheen.
    â€œStart with a Constantine coin. Cherrywood cabinet, back left. Code’s 4321.” The window thumped shut.
    I stood there not moving as the wet snow turned to ice rain.
    *   *   *
    N EARING THE BOX stores a few blocks away, I thought about telling Con what I’d seen.
    Earlier in the week, after a heated argument with Henry, she stormed down to the basement where I was sprawled under a quilt, immersed in Wuthering Heights. She told me