The Daykeeper's Grimoire (21 page)

My God, it’s going to happen.

As I’m about to scratch some things off my to-do list, I get an IM from Justine. There’s no time like the present to ask a friend to go to Peru for you …

Justinem: Wassup? U still there?

Caitym: omg, thank u for being there! Things have taken a really weird turn and I need your help with some stuff. We have to IM so there’s no email trail … all covert

Justinem: r u joking?

Caitym: no, totally serious. Swear on r friendship

Justinem: what can I do? what’s going on?

Caitym: that rubbing I sent u was what got this whole thing started. It’s some old code and when we decoded it we found it was a poem, like a prophecy …

Justinem: a prophecy?

Caitym: yeah, like one of those things that was foretold years ago and is now going to come tru

Justinem: like Nostradamus?

Caitym: kinda—but not really. Different kind of prophecy

Justinem: about what?

Caitym: about me

Justinem: u?

Caitym: Yep. And yes, I know I sound crazy. anyway, this has to do with that mayan calendar I sent u. I guess my part in this thing is to get kids to use it

Justinem: that shouldn’t really be a problem—after u sent it to me I got the email that u sent to the whole school and I immediately got a bunch of emails from people who want to get together to talk it over.

Caitym: really? all since I sent that a couple of hours ago?

Justinem: Yep. so if u r supposed to get people interested in it, it looks like u succeeded.

Caitym: now I have to get it out worldwide. I have to have some sort of, like, gathering to kickoff using the calendar.

Justinem: from Scotland?

Caitym: No, here’s the tricky part. i have to go to Easter Island

Justinem: those big heads?????????????????

Caitym: xactly

Justinem: and parents are ok w/ this?

Caitym: No, they don’t know a thing.

Justinem: how?

Caitym: This is where u come in …

Justinem: ?

Caitym: can I say that I’m @ your house?

Justinem: of course! U don’t think they’d find out?

Caitym: I think I have it covered, I just may need some help from u.

Justinem: No prob.

Caitym: & one other thing …

Justinem: ?

Caitym: Do u feel like going to Machu Picchu?

Caitym: u still there?

Justinem: wait, u r joking, right?

Caitym: uh, no … but from your answer I get the picture. it’s too crazy

Justinem: wait wait. where is that, anyway? Mexico?

Caitym: Peru … south america

Justinem: Hmmmmmm

Caitym: honestly, I know how insane this sounds and I would not even blame u if u sent the psych ward 2 come get me, but u KNOW me. I’m totally serious about this and would not ask if it were not so totally important.

Justinem: what do I tell my parents?

Caitym: I’ll set it up so they will think u r here.

Justinem: if u can get them to believe it, then I’ll go to Machu Picchu. I can’t believe I just typed that sentence.

Caitym: u have no idea how much I love u for this …

Justinem: when?

Caitym: need to be there june 21, so fly in2 peru on the 20th

Justinem: AS IN 3 DAYS FROM NOW????????????

Caitym: Yep

Justinem: u ARE crazy

Caitym: certifiable. but hey, I’m not making the deadlines here, I’m just following orders. I’ll plan a layover in SF so we can hang & I’ll fill you in on everything

Justinem: alright, sister, it’s a go. bsides what else have I got going on?

Caitym: God, this has been too e z …

Justinem: r u calling me e z?

Caitym: ha ha. Okay, so I’ll be @ the freaky heads, u will be @ Machu Picchu I’ll try to get Amisi Mhotep to organize the pyramid one. u know anyone from Cambodia?

Justinem: Duh. The whole Huy family from your favorite vietnamese Pho soup shop!

Caitym: Oh my God, u r a genius. Is Chantrea still in Cambodia visiting her grandparents?

Justinem: Yep. I was just @ the restaurant 2 days ago. They asked about u, btw.

Caitym: Oh, I’d pay a million $$ for a bowl of Pho right now. Can u do me a huge favor and ask for Chantrea’s email address?

Justinem: Si senorita

Caitym: Practicing for Peru?

Justinem: Si senorita

Caitym: u r the best.

Justinem: no, u r

Caitym: no, u r. hey, guess what? I’m going to ask J Crew to come with me.

Justinem: If u can pull that off u really r the best …

Caitym: doing it tonight, will let u know how it goes.

Justinem: I can’t believe how weird your life got since u left.

Caitym: u and me both. Thanks for trusting me.

Justinem: anytime …

Caitym: ok, I’ll be in touch

Justinem: ciao baby.

Now that Justine has agreed to go, I email her mom with my mom’s fake email address and ask if Justine can come for a visit. This is going to be a harder sell with summer school and all. But Justine is acing chemistry and with her extra tutoring I’m sure she’s scoring huge points.

There’s one more thing I have to do before I go down to dinner, and it’s the hardest of all.

I sit at my desk and force myself to do it. I write on a small piece of paper, “
Alex—Can you meet me at the tower by the hidden names as soon as dinner is over? Very important. Very secret
.” As I slip it in my pocket my nerves start; it feels like caterpillars are crawling around inside my stomach.

As I’m putting on my shoes, Mom pops her head in the door. “Come on in,” I say, glancing over at my computer to make sure my screen saver is on.

“I have a big surprise for you …” she sings.

I try to fake excitement. “What is it?”

She takes my hands, “Justine’s mom, Erin, has offered to fly you to San Francisco for a few days to surprise Justine as an early birthday gift!”

“And you said yes?” I say, jumping up and down. “Please please please?”

I may be overdoing it.

“Of course we said yes! Dad and I will take you to the Edinburgh airport and then you’ll be on a direct flight to San Francisco.”

“Oh my God, I’m so excited! Thank you, Mom!” I say as I hug her.

“You should thank Erin; she’s the one who arranged all this.”

“So when do I leave?” I ask.

“We’ll get on the overnight train late tomorrow night and be in Edinburgh in the morning. I’m glad it’s only a few days,” she says as she gently pulls on one of my curls and lets it spring back up again. “I miss you already.”

“Me too.” For some reason my eyes well up. I walk away mumbling something about leaving my sweater in the bathroom and dab my eyes.

————

During cocktail hour I corner Uncle Li and Tenzo and tell them my plan. They have all sorts of reasons I shouldn’t do this, of course. But what can they do? Neither of their names or birthdates is carved in the wall upstairs.

“So will you cover for me?” I ask Uncle Li. “You have to distract my parents with some big feng shui project they have to do or something.”

“Certainly,” he replies coolly. “I’ll do what I can.”

“And Tenzo, Bolon said to ask you about PEAR.”

“The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research lab?” he asks.

“I don’t know, he said you would know somebody at something called ‘PEAR’ that could measure whether or not this worked. But to be honest, I’m not really sure what you would measure. Do you even remotely know what I’m talking about?” I ask.

“Of course. The PEAR lab runs the Global Consciousness Project that gathers information about whether there is this sort of ‘collective mind’ that all people are plugged into. Bolon told you about that?”

“Yep.”

“I’ll send an email to my friend at PEAR tonight. You said summer solstice, right?”

“Just like
that
you can get someone to use a big lab at Princeton?” I ask.

He nods. “If it’s too short notice for a formal experiment, he’ll do it off the record for me.”

“Must be a good friend,” I say. It’s hard to imagine that Tenzo has many pals.

“Actually, he is the only person at the University I could call a real friend,” he replies. “We grew up on the same block. Happy coincidence that PEAR is where you need the favor!”

“Coincidence is just a fleeting glimpse at wholeness,” I reply. They both look at me like flames are shooting out of my nose. “That’s just Bolon talking.”

The three of us sit together at dinner, and while all the guests re-live their super exciting “stranded for a night in Single Malt Scotchland” experience, I explain quietly to Uncle Li and Tenzo about the emails and the plane reservations and all that I’ve done so far to make this trip happen. At one point, surprised at how well I am deceiving the authority figures in my life, Tenzo asks if I think all of this is ethical. I don’t really know what to say, but Uncle Li immediately defends me by saying, “If ever there were a case of the ends justify the means, this is it!”

Then, as if my trip to Easter Island isn’t shocking enough, I tell them about what Mrs. Findlay had told me about Thomas and his brother Donald. Their mouths hang.

“So do you think it’s Donald who locked us in?” whispers Uncle Li.

“Has to be. It can’t just be a coincidence that Donald stole two ancient Sanskrit books—”

“We should talk to Thomas tomorrow to see what he says about all this,” I say.

When Alex reaches for my plate after dinner, I slip my note into his hand. He walks to the kitchen, comes back a few seconds later to clear my glasses, and then nods his head discretely. My stomach does roller-coaster flips and I stop breathing for a moment at the thought of being alone in the moonlight with this beautiful creature.

And then the nervousness sets in. How can I ask a guy I’ve only known for a couple of weeks to run across the world with me?

When my parents rise from their chairs and the guests get up and mingle, I slip out the side door into the kitchen. Mrs. Findlay is making a racket washing an enormous pot so I am able to pick up Mr. Papers and creep out the back door without even being noticed.

In Scotland, the midsummer sun never goes far enough below the horizon to get really dark, so even at ten o’clock it’s still twilight—dark enough for stars, but light enough to see your way. When I arrive, I see Alex is already there, leaning against the tower.

I take a deep breath to keep my cool.

“What’s this all about then, Superspy?” he asks with a grin. His teeth shine in the moonlight like glowing Chiclets. “It’s all very ‘cloak and dagger’ now, isn’t it?”

I’m glad to see he’s amused and not annoyed.

“Hey, about the other day, I’m just so sorry, I really—”

“Stop,” he says, holding up one hand. “I’m the one who needs to apologize, mate. I had no right to say those things.”

“You didn’t say anything that wasn’t true,” I reply.

“Let’s just forget about it, shall we?”

“Great, I’d love to. Because there’s something I have to ask you, and I’m not sure …” My voice trails off. “God, where do I start?” I say under my breath.

“The beginning?” he says.

“Okay. Right. The beginning.” I exhale. “When I first got here I discovered this hidden room off of me bedroom. And in that hidden room is a passageway into the tower.”

Alex points to the small door on the outside of the tower. “There’s one right here, too …”

Does he think I’m an idiot? I shake my head. “The one upstairs goes to a different place. You know how this door leads to stairs that go up around the outside of the tower? Well, they’re twisting around a hidden inner core, and in this core is a huge room with all this crazy stuff in it.”

“What kind of crazy stuff?” From the look on his face I assume he is picturing medieval torture devices.