Tyger Tyger (7 page)

"He couldn't have been," Teagan said. "I put him in the nest box myself." There was a froth of blood on his snout, and his mouth gaped open. "Who else has been in the office?"

Agnes met her eyes then looked away. "No one else has come in, Teagan. Just you."

Someone had to have come into the lab. Teagan shook her head. No one here would do something so ... evil.

I've seen
a
cat-sídhe
squeeze the life out of a baby bird. Just to hear it squeak.... Cindy told me you had a "scary kitty" with you....

Teagan shook her head. There had to be a logical explanation.

"Agnes will take over the feedings from now on." Dr. Max took the little body from her. "I'll dispose of this."

"Dr. Max, I—"

"Let's follow Ms. Hahn's rules for a while," he said. "No animal contact without supervision. None. I have some paperwork to do."

Agnes turned her back on them and pretended to be busy with paperwork of her own.

Teagan held back the tears until she was at the bus stop. Her vision blurred as they welled up, and the jiggles she'd been catching out of the corner of her eye all morning seemed to swim together into ... a
creature
about a foot and a half tall. It leaned against the wall of the bus-stop shelter, its cat mouth open in horrible laughter.

None of the other people at the bus stop seemed to see it. It's
just tears twisting things around.
Teagan squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed them hard enough to make little stars appear. When she opened them again, there was nothing strange in the bus shelter, just the usual trash and graffiti on the back wall.

When she got home, Abby was waiting for her on the front steps of her house.

"Nobody's here," she said as Teagan walked up.

"They've gone to the library," Teagan said. "Mom's signing books at the Spring Book Fest. Dad is in charge of the whole thing. I'm supposed to go right down to help watch Aiden."

"What's the matter? You look like you've been crying."

"You can tell?"

"Salt puckers your cheeks. You need some moisturizer." She started digging through her purse. "If it's that Irish idiot making you cry, I swear I'm gonna call
my
cousins. He thinks he's got family? I'll show him Family."

"Finn didn't make me cry." Teagan unlocked the door.

"He's trouble." Abby pulled some lotion out of her bag. "I've got instincts about boys, and they're telling me something is wrong with this guy. Something is...
wrong.
"

Teagan washed her face with cold water before she told Abby about Tiny Tiddly. The tears started to well up again, but she pressed the washcloth to her eyelids.

"Dr. Max thinks you left one of those babies out on the floor and then stepped on it? What, is he an idiot or something?"

"No," Teagan said. "He's my boss. It's like everything I've worked for this whole year ... all the trust ... just went away." She threw the washcloth in the sink and put some of Abby's lotion on her face. "Come on, I'm late already."

 

The five acres tucked behind the old brick library building were half library grounds, half city park. Houses had grown up against three sides of the wrought-iron fence, hiding the park from the street. Teagan checked behind the gate as they went in. It was rusted open, making a little triangle-shaped corral full of weeds and completely covered with trumpet vines. Aiden liked to squeeze through the narrow opening and pretend it was his wild house. He wasn't in residence right now, though.

The library lawn was in chaos. Kids dressed as characters from their favorite books ran around under banners that read,
LET
Your
IMAGINATION RUN WILD—AT THE LIBRARY!
and
SPRING FEVER MADNESS: EXPAND
Your
MIND.
There was a crowd of tiny princesses and strange creatures from her mother's books waiting to have their copies signed.

Her dad was lining up the older middle-graders on the far side of the lawn for the costume contest. A few wore the predictable Harry Potter themes. A bespectacled girl with a notebook was sitting on a tree branch; Harriet the Spy, Teagan decided. A boy who had a pair of sneakers hung over his shoulders by their laces could have been Maniac Magee or Stanley Yelnats. Stanley, she decided when she saw the shovel he was carrying. A diminutive Jack Sparrow swung a fake sword. He wouldn't get any points from her dad, even if the movie had been turned into a book. John Wylltson was a purist.

Closer to the trees, teen vampires mingled with High Elves and angels. A lone werewolf wandered the grounds, seemingly torn between the cake table and a group of girls gathered around the old willow.

"There he is." Abby pointed.

Aiden, in a wolf suit like Max from Where the
Wild Things Are
, was riding on Lennie's shoulders.

Lennie's face was painted like the biggest, toothiest Wild Thing, and he had pinned a feather boa to his pants for a tail. Aiden was bouncing on his shoulders, swinging a stick at a banner.

"What's he doing this time?" Abby asked.

"Making mischief of one kind and another," Teagan said.

"Is he carrying a purse?" Abby asked.

"A kit," Teagan said. "It has socks and Scotch tape in it."

"Scotch tape?"

"We didn't have any duct tape," Teagan explained.

"What?"

"Never mind. Aiden! Stop that!" Teagan said as they walked up. "Hi, Lennie. You have to put Aiden down now."

"Okay." Lennie pulled Aiden off his shoulders and set him down gently. "Hi, Ab-by. Are we in trouble, Tee-gan?" He looked like he might cry.

"No," Teagan said. "But you almost were. You shouldn't help Aiden tear things down."

"No." Lennie stared at his feet. "That would be bad."

"That's right," Teagan said. "Is your mom here?"

"I came by myself," Lennie said proudly. "I'm going to get cake. Mom said to come home after cake. And not to eat too much. She's making lasagna."

"Lasagna!" Aiden shouted. It was his favorite food. He'd probably try to sneak over to Lennie's for supper.

"If you want cake, Lennie," Abby said, "you'd better get some now. It looks like it's going fast."

"Okay," Lennie said. "Want some, little guy?"

"I already got some." Aiden patted his purse. "I put it in my kit."

"Okay," Lennie said. "See ya."

"Wouldn't want to be ya," Aiden said, and they both laughed.

"Where is Finn?" Teagan asked Aiden.

"By the willow." Aiden pointed. "With the
girls.
"

Finn's back was to a tree. A teen vampire—the sexy kind—looked like she was getting ready to sink her teeth into him. Molly Geltz, Teagan's lab partner from Chemistry class, was there, and several girls that Teagan didn't know. None of them was close enough to talk to Finn, though, except the Queen of Darkness.

"Oh, my god," Abby said. "Like attracts like."

"Finn's not a vampire," Teagan said.

"He's a good guy," Aiden agreed.

Abby wasn't listening. "Is that walking wardrobe malfunction Kiera Jones? That girl is so skanky. I swear that vamp costume's about to fall right off her. He shouldn't even be talking to her, after what he said to you!"

"What did he say to you?" Aiden asked.

"Nothing important," Teagan said.

Abby snorted. "We'll straighten him out now and put a stake through his heart later. Nobody messes with my best friend like that." She started toward the trees.

"Abby, don't..." Teagan pulled Aiden after her.

Abby pushed her way through the girls and stood between Kiera and Finn. "So. You're into trash, huh?"

"
Abby!
" Teagan said.

"Teagan!" Finn smiled at her, completely ignoring Abby. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"Yeah, you looked like you were wondering real hard." Abby folded her arms.

"Did you just call me trash?" Kiera asked Abby.

"I was talking to lover boy here"—Abby jerked her head toward Finn—"but if the foo shits..."

"Abby!" Teagan said. "
Stop it.
"

"Do you eat out of garbage cans?" Abby had Finn's attention now. "That's what I heard."

"Skinner tell you that?" Finn said. "She needs to mind her own business."

"Did you really
scavenge?
" Molly had gathered enough courage to join the conversation. "That's so cool."

"I think trash is disgusting." Abby looked at Kiera. "All kinds of trash."

"Maybe some people don't think it's disgusting." Kiera adjusted her top to show a little more flesh. "Maybe they think it's
tasty.
"

"Why shouldn't people use things that have been thrown out?" Molly asked. "Some people never buy anything in the stores. They collect it from garbage cans and recycle it. They're called 'freegans.' I ... I would totally live like that." She smiled wistfully at Finn. "I'd be a freegan."

Abby and Kiera both looked at Molly.

"I would." Molly pushed her glasses up defiantly.

"You don't have any idea what we're talking about here, do you?" Abby asked.

"Of course I do." Molly's glasses were slipping down again. "I did a report on recycling."

"Oh, my god," Abby said.

"You want some cake, Finn?" Aiden asked. Everyone turned to look at him. "It's going fast."

"That I do." Finn stepped past Abby and took Teagan's arm. "I think Teagan does, too."

"What?" Molly was saying as Finn pulled Teagan away. "It was a great report. Tea proofread it for me..."

THANKS, my man," Finn said. "That was quick thinking."

"I know," Aiden agreed solemnly. "You might not have gotten any cake at all."

Abby caught up with them halfway across the lawn.

"No bite marks," Finn observed. "Did you put a stake through her heart?"

"I wasn't talking to her," Abby said. "I was talking to you. And I still have some talking to do. But first, I've got something for you." She pulled a squirt gun out of her purse and squirted him in the face.

"What the cr—" Finn glanced at Teagan. "Heck ... was that?"

"Holy water," Abby said. "Does it sting?"

"You're crazy." Finn wiped his face.

"Is heck better than crap?" Aiden asked.

"A lot better," Teagan said.

"Why?"

"I don't know why. Ask Dad."

Abby and Finn were having a stare-down.

"Abby!" Abby's older sister Deirdre was standing at the park entrance, her cousins Angel and Donnie on either side of her. Leo leaned against the hood of a stretch limo pulled up at the curb.

"Abby!" Deirdre yelled again. "Get over here."

"I'm busy," Abby bellowed back.

Rafe, the youngest of the brothers, got out of the passenger side of the limo. While the rest of the Gaglianos were dressed in everyday clothes, Rafe was wearing a three-piece suit that made him look like a mini-mobster from a bad TV series. Mrs. Gagliano said it was some kind of phase he was going through. He stood on tiptoe to whisper in Deirdre's ear. She nodded.

"Ab-i-gail Gagliano!" Deirdre screeched. "Your mother's in this car. She says to get your butt over here! You're late for Uncle Vito's party, and we're not going without you!"

"Your butt is being paged," Finn said.

"I swear I'm moving out the day I turn eighteen," Abby said. "Tea ... are you going to be all right?"

"I'm fine," Teagan said. "Really."

"Why wouldn't she be all right?" Finn asked.

"She's having a bad day." Abby glared at him. "You and me are going to finish our conversation later."

"We were having a conversation?" Finn said. "I thought you were washing me down with holy water."

"ABIGAIL GAGLIANO!"

"I'M COMING!" Abby screamed back. "Then you should have been listening a little closer. We're going to talk." She stalked off toward the limousine.

"She's your best friend?" Finn asked.

"We're like sisters," Teagan said.

"They always drive around in a limo?"

"One of her uncles owns the company. Abby's cousin Leo drives for him, and sometimes he takes the limo home."

There was no cake left when they reached the table. Mrs. Wylltson had finished signing books and was packing her extra copies, fliers, and props into Aiden's red wagon.

"I forgot to feed my Tamagotchi," Aiden said.

"You can feed it when we get home," Mrs. Wylltson told him.

"No, I can't wait. If I don't feed it now and clean up its poop, it will
die.
"

"I'll walk him home, Mom," Teagan said. She couldn't take any more death, not even pixel death, today.

"You might as well take the wagon, then. One less thing I have to keep an eye on. Dad and I will be home as soon as we have this cleaned up."

"I'll bring it along." Finn took the handle.

Great. She was going to have to walk home with him. It had been fine with Abby in between them, but she didn't want to have to deal with the sizzle. Not today.

Teagan tried to walk quickly enough that she'd stay ahead of him, but it didn't work. His legs were longer, and he wanted to walk beside her. That didn't mean she had to be talkative, though. He kept glancing sideways at her, and Teagan pretended she didn't notice.

"Go this way," Aiden said when they were halfway home. He made a bee-boop-boop video-game noise and pointed at an alley. "It's faster."

"Are you sure?" Finn asked.

"Yes, I told Dad once, and now that's the way I go with Dad and Lennie. It's our shortcut. We've got to hurry."

"Doesn't seem to head the right direction," Finn said.

"It will if Aiden says so," Teagan said. Getting home faster would be good. If Finn didn't go to his room, she could go to hers. And stay there until she figured out how to deal with this chemistry thing. "We call him the human homing pigeon."

"I'm not a pigeon!"

"Human GPS, then. He never gets lost."

"Yeah," Aiden said. "I never get lost." He led the way, his wolf tail wagging behind him.

The alley ran behind the trendy shops on Clark Street, but the buildings looked different from back here. A few windows were broken, and others boarded up. There were big Dumpsters, some gaping open like mouths too full to chew, showing boxes and scraps, some with their lids down, lips tight. All of them smelled bad. Aiden marched ahead as if he knew exactly where he was going.