Super Freak (9 page)

I didn’t want to crush her dreams, so I kept it to myself that my parents were afraid. Because, though I would never admit it, if they were scared, it meant I should be too.

“I’m going to do a little searching of my own,” I said. “My dad knows something about all this. Apparently my family is from here.”

Leo’s brow furrowed. “Really?”

“He says the Bennings were one of the founding families. He and Mom inherited the house, they didn’t buy it like they told me.”

“But why would they lie to you about that?” Leo asked.

An answer didn’t come. I’d like to know that myself. “Dunno. But I think one of the journals my dad has might shed some light on things.”

Diana giggled and bounced a little. “Then we will have to find out when I come over this weekend. You be my lookout, I’ll be yours.”

I smiled and Leo smacked a hand to his forehead. “You two are so gonna get busted.”

Diana shoved him a little. “Hey! A little faith would be nice.”

He shook his head. “You might be able to get away with it once. But twice? Don’t you think someone will figure it out?”

A shadow fell across the table. I looked up into the eyes of the principal. “Figure what out?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Math problem. We just have to work a little harder is all.”

He nodded. “All problems have a solution. You just have to remember that sometimes the answer isn’t where you think it’ll be.” A teacher called his name and he smiled. “Well, good luck then. I hope you’re all having a lovely day.”

My potato chip hovered mid-bite in my hand. I looked between Diana and Leo, seeing similar expressions of disbelief. “Did you guys get the feeling he wasn’t talking about school work?”

Leo stared after him, surprise written all over his face. “Mr. Grouseman just told us to keep looking.”

Thursday took forever to arrive. All week, everywhere we turned, one of our parents, or Ms. Widdershins, or Mr. Grouseman seemed to be watching us. Kevin started to follow Leo everywhere, even going so far as to sit with us at lunch. Not fun. Dad started to lock the door to the study. I knew. I tried the handle every night when they were in the den watching TV.

The only thing different was my parents’ attitudes toward the tree in the front yard. They were discouraged and Mom actually came in Wednesday evening crying because she couldn’t get it to talk to her. No matter what she tried, it stayed silent and unresponsive.

I didn’t think her feelings were hurt as much as her pride. But it kept her busy and off my back. I was really starting to like that birch. As I left the house after school on Thursday afternoon, I stopped, balancing my bike in my hands and stared at the mottled bark.

“I don’t know why you’re ignoring Mom,” I said, feeling stupid for talking to a tree that wouldn’t even communicate with my parents. “But I’d appreciate it if you continued until we can figure all this out.”

As I straddled the bike, a sighing sound surrounded me and I stared up at the branches, which bent, ever so slightly in my direction. My heart pounded in my chest. There was no breeze, no reason for that tree to move at all. Unless it was agreeing with me.

“Uh, thanks. I think,” I muttered, then pedaled down the driveway. Trees were a proud bunch. They didn’t speak to me. I wasn’t a dryad and, therefore, wasn’t worth bothering with. But that birch just agreed to help me. Holy crap.

The ride to the newspaper office took five minutes. The entire time I worried someone would see me and know where I was headed. All these people warning us off had started to make me paranoid.

I hopped off the bike in the tiny gravel parking lot, and Diana’s head poked from behind a huge azalea blanketing one side of the small, white newspaper office.

“Over here,” she hissed, waving me over.

I pushed the bike in front of me, using one hand to keep the branches out of my face. A few steps in and it opened into a strange sort of room with the wall of the office on one side and the inside of the bush on the other. Diana stood, waiting for me in the center, her shoulders barely fitting in the empty space.

“Did you do this?” I asked.

She grinned. “Of course. How else would I find out anything interesting? I keep the branches trimmed back, but I’ve just about outgrown my hiding spot.”

I laughed. “I think so. There’s barely room for both of us.”

“Doesn’t matter. Dad left a few minutes early. I thought he’d see you coming for sure, but you just missed him. The only one left is Marjorie, Dad’s secretary, and she’s busy on the phone with her sister. I fed her some juicy story for them to gossip over.”

“You are good at this, aren’t you?” I said, admiration creeping into my words. I got the impression this wasn’t Diana’s first covert mission into the newspaper office.

She led the way to the back of the building, and giggled softly. “I’ve had lots of practice. But never when it’s been strictly forbidden before.”

There might have been a note of concern there, but I didn’t question her.

Diana stopped at the back door. There was a chain link fence separating the back of the newspaper property from the body shop behind it, and most was overgrown with ivy and a few stray saplings.

“Stay here and keep an eye out for my dad. If you look around the other corner, you’ll have a clear view of the entrance, but it will be hard for them to see you. If you see him coming, whistle. I don’t think this will take too long.”

I nodded, my heart pounding in my ears, as she slid a key into the lock and slipped inside the door. I moved to the corner of the house, my eyes trained on the empty parking lot. All we needed was for him to find us here. He’d yell at Diana, then he’d call my parents, we’d both be grounded until we were thirty, and we’d never find out anything at all.

I didn’t know how long I stood out there, focused on the road. Each time a car drove by, my entire body tensed.

The world got blurry as I focused, afraid if I blinked I’d miss the car turning in and we’d be caught. In fact, I was so intent that when a hand landed on my shoulder I yelped, stumbled forward, and caught the side of the building, swinging around to land on my rear.

Leo grinned down at me, just barely holding in his laughter. “Geez, a little intense, aren’t we?”

I stuck out my tongue. “Yeah, well, obviously not enough if I didn’t see you coming.”

He stuck out a hand and helped me up. “I came up from the other direction. Where’s Diana?”

I glanced at the road, checking to make sure I hadn’t missed anything in the two seconds I looked away. The parking lot was still empty. “She’s inside. I’m keeping a lookout for her dad.”

Leo’s grin dimmed a notch. “He was headed back this direction when I rode by. And he was walking. She’s only got a few minutes.”

“Crap.” I pursed my lips, tried to whistle, and nothing came out. Licking them, I tried again, heading for the back entrance. When Diana didn’t immediately appear in the doorway I whistled louder. A brief knock made me look up at the tiny window high on the wall. Diana’s face appeared before the glass pushed out.

“I can’t get out. Marjorie decided now was a good time to file something right outside the door.” Her voice was so low I had to strain to hear it. “Is he out there?”

Leo moved forward, “Not yet, but he’s walking, and he’ll be here soon.”

“Great hairy boogers,” Diana murmured. “You guys have to distract Marjorie. But you’ve got to do it quick and get out. He’s not stupid. If he sees either one of you, he’ll know something’s up.”

We were so dead. Diana looked away and then pulled the window shut. Turning to Leo, I wrung my hands. “What are we going to do?”

He paced. “I don’t know. We could just go in and ask her a question.”

“Do you know the phone number for the newspaper?” I asked. It might not work, but I had an idea that didn’t involve either one of us going in.

Leo whipped out his phone, his fingers flying over the touch screen. “I do now. What do you want me to do?”

“Call the newspaper office. When she answers, tell her someone has information about something. A house fire, arrest, aliens, something that will get her back to her desk.”

He nodded, already pressing the phone to his ear. While he mumbled into the phone, I moved around the edge of the house, watching. Diana’s father came into view, and fear coated my tongue. I moved to the back again, where Leo was still on the phone. Even from here we heard the front bell ring as he entered the building. Leo stammered out some sort of apology that he’d gotten his info wrong and hung up. At the same time, Diana slid out the back door and we all took off around the side, back into the cramped quarters of the azaleas.

“Holy cow that was close. And what are you doing here anyway?” Diana said, the words melting together as she dropped to the ground, panting.

“Saving your rear, apparently,” he said.

I sat next to her, trying to stay inside the hollow area. Leo was bent double, far too tall for the tight space. With all three of us it was very crowded.

“Did you find anything?” I asked, holding my breath.

She smiled. “Oh yeah. But I didn’t have time to do more than look at a few things. There were a couple of newspaper clippings from the eighteen hundreds about a trial held for a missing woman, and another about the kidnapping of a local blacksmith. There was a picture too, with my dad, your parents,” she nodded at Leo, “someone who looked a lot like Widdershins, and a couple other people I didn’t recognize. It looked like someone was missing, but the picture was old and torn. I think it was a picture of the town founders from the first Founders Day celebration.”

We were all silent for a moment. Diana leaned her head back against the wall. “It isn’t much, but the newspaper articles mentioned the Bennings, and the other article had Grouseman in it. I just didn’t have time to read.”

“Then that leaves my house. There are more clues. We just have to find them.” I said.

Diana nodded. “But for now we’d better all get home before we’re found out. I want to be able to go to your house and look.”

Leo nodded. “Make sure you two call if you find anything tomorrow. I’ll see what I can find around my house, although I don’t think it will be much. Kevin knows we’re up to something, and he wants to know what. It took me twenty minutes to lose him today.”

“That sucks,” I said. And I meant it. His brother was a pain. We waited until Diana’s dad left again, and waited several minutes after that to be sure he’d really gone. Then, one by one, we slid from the bushes and headed home.

Friday would have gone well if I could have just skipped Paranormal Ethics. Ms. Widdershins seemed to know we had done something rash. How she would have found out I had no idea. But the lecture was about yet another ethics’ case. I couldn’t understand why we had to memorize the stupid things, but Ms. Widdershins loved them. This week’s seemed to be directed to us specifically. Jack vs. Golden Goose.

She paced the classroom, her hands clasped behind her back, barking out questions like a drill sergeant giving commands.

“Caroline–what was Jack’s first mistake?”

Getting caught?
“Stealing from the giant.”

“Incorrect. Diana, can you help Caroline out?”

Diana just looked around, confused. “I don’t understand why that is the wrong answer.”

Kevin snickered beside her.

“Does anyone know?” Ms. Widdershins asked, looking around the classroom. No one raised their hand. “Let me give you all a hint. What was Jack supposed to do in the beginning of the story?”

Kevin raised his hand. “Sell the cow for medicine for his brother.”

“Yes. But he didn’t, did he?” She didn’t wait for us to answer. “The point, children, is that if Jack had done as he was told, he’d have come home and his brother would not have died.”

Leo raised a hand. Ms. Widdershins looked like she didn’t want to call on him, but she did anyway. He cleared his throat. “But then Jack wouldn’t have climbed the beanstalk, found the giant, or anything. His family would have been poor.”

“But his brother would still have been alive.”

“There was no guarantee that his brother would have lived. And if he hadn’t gone, wouldn’t someone else eventually?”

Ms. Widdershins’ face began to flush as Leo made his arguments. Finally, she stopped him. “That may all be true, Leo, but the case of Jack vs. Golden Goose is about doing something for personal gain instead of thinking of the greater good.”

Leo fell silent and Ms. Widdershins continued the lesson as if we hadn’t spoken. When she turned to write on the board, I gave him a thumbs-up and Diana pumped her fist in the air. Kevin sulked, watching his brother with an expression that switched between irritation and respect. I don’t think Leo showed off his spine often. But when he did, it was definitely effective. And judging by the way Diana kept trying
not
to look at him, she liked it.

I counted the minutes on the clock, each one taking twice its normal time. Diana would come over straight after school this evening, and we had tons of room to cover, secrets to find.

The only time I managed to forget about everything was Mr. Darcy’s class. When I walked in, piskies were flying around the ceiling and Mr. Darcy was standing at his desk, watching them closely. My mind was so focused on creating a plan for searching the house that I nearly lost an eye when one of the obnoxious things threw a box of pencils at my head. Around the room, students were sitting under their desks, watching the things circle as if they were dragons with bombs.

Mr. Darcy nodded at me, but didn’t take his eyes off the piskies.

“Caroline, if you would join the others, we’re going to begin class a bit early today.”

I dropped my book bag and slid under my desk with the others. A container of fish food hit a desk nearby and exploded into a cloud of fish-scented confetti.

I heard the door shut, and Mr. Darcy clapped his hands. I couldn’t see him, but I could listen.

“Now, today we’re going to talk about dealing with pests in nature. Your task for the day is getting the piskies back into their cage. Anyone know how?”