Tyger Tyger (9 page)

"That's not right," he said. "That's for girls. You only carry guy stuff. See?" He dumped his kit out on the table. He had a pair of socks, his Scotch tape, a dull pocketknife, two rubber bands for making traps, a rock that looked like an egg, and his Tamagotchi, which had been sick but still alive when they finally got home.

"Take it off the table, Aiden," Mrs. Wylltson said. "We're getting ready for dinner here." They put out the fine china to match the cut-glass salad bowl and serving pieces Mrs. Santini had brought. Teagan and her mother set the table, and Mr. Wylltson blessed the company and the food, giving thanks for the hands that made it. As soon as he was done, Mrs. Santini took over.

She passed each plate as if she were a conductor and the meal her symphony. Lennie reached across Aiden for a breadstick, and she slapped his hand.

"Mind your manners! You pass the food."

Mrs. Wylltson stopped in the middle of lifting a piece of calamari to her mouth, put it back on her plate, and frowned at the picture of Ginny Greenteeth in the corner.

"Aileen," Mrs. Santini said, "is the food all right?"

"It's wonderful. Excuse me for just a moment." She got up and started searching through the kitchen drawers.

"What's so important you have to leave the table?" Mrs. Santini asked.

"Inspiration," Mrs. Wylltson said. "The words started bouncing around in my head while I was at the book signing, and I thought I'd lost them. They're back. Ah!" She'd found a pen. "You go ahead." She was already writing. "I just want to get this down."

The corners of Mrs. Santini's mouth turned down. "Lennie, pass the salad to Finn. His plate is empty. I don't think he likes my cooking—"

Aiden screamed.

Lennie, who had just picked up the salad bowl, threw it in the air. Finn came out of his chair and caught the salad bowl with one hand, but the lettuce and sweet onions rained down on the table.

"Holy Mother of God." Mrs. Santini crossed herself. "What is wrong?"

"A shadow." Aiden pointed. "There was a shadow by Mom."

"A ... shadow," Mr. Wylltson said. Aiden nodded, clearly terrified.

"Like the Peter Pan shadow you were making a couple of nights ago?" Teagan asked.

"No," Aiden said. "Scarier. It had ears like this." He held his hands to his head, fingers together and thumbs folded across his palms.

"A rabbit shadow?" Mrs. Santini asked.

"It wasn't a rabbit," Aiden said. "Rabbits aren't scary."

"Nope," Lennie agreed. "Not scary."

"There's no shadow," Teagan said. "What would have made it?"

"There was," Aiden insisted. "And nobody made it. It was just a
shadow by itself.
"

Finn was clutching the salad bowl to his chest, studying Aiden. Mrs. Santini was plucking lettuce from her lap, and Lennie looked like he might cry.

"Somebody has had a very busy day." Mrs. Wylltson put her pen down. "Full of Wild Things, freegans, and shenanigans. I'm thinking he's tired."

"I'm not," Aiden said. "Don't talk about me like I'm a baby. I'm not a baby."

"Of course not," Mr. Wylltson said. "And that's why I think you should practice a more manly scream. A ... Tarzan scream. Like this."

Teagan put her hands over her ears as he demonstrated.

"John Paul Wylltson," Mrs. Wylltson said, "you'll not be calling elephants to my table."

Mr. Wylltson looked offended. "Street brawling is acceptable, but calling elephants is not?"

"Not at the table." She came back to her chair, picked up a lettuce leaf, and took a bite.

"Why, Sophia," she said, "I believe this is the best tossed salad I've ever tasted."

"Heh." Lennie looked at his mom.

"My special recipe." Mrs. Santini waved her hand. "More toss than salad."

"That was an amazing catch." Mr. Wylltson took the salad bowl from Finn.

"Thank you, John."

"I did see it," Aiden said as Finn took his place at the table. "But no one believes me."

"Because it's impossible," Mrs. Santini said.

"Don't be so hasty." Mr. Wylltson patted Aiden's head. "To quote the Bard, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'"

"What does that mean?" Aiden asked.

"It means that you might see a shadow that no one else sees."

"Really?" Aiden asked.

"You would have to look for further evidence, of course," Mr. Wylltson said. "Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof."

"I think this extraordinary food demands our attention." Mrs. Wylltson picked up another piece of lettuce. "I apologize, Sophia."

They gathered the rest of the greens from the table, and by the time the last leaf was collected, everyone was laughing.

Everyone but Finn. He ate quietly, studying each face at the table in turn. He didn't look away or even blush when Teagan caught him staring at her. His face was still and somehow sad.

After the Santinis had gone home and prayers had been said, Teagan lay in her bed with the covers pulled up to her nose. It felt like she had lived three weeks in one day, and they hadn't been good weeks. Her eyes welled as she remembered Tiny Tiddly and the blood on his little snout. She kept coming back to the figure she'd seen at the bus stop, with its awful mouth open in laughter. The longer she thought about it, the clearer the picture became. But it couldn't have been real, could it?

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

Wasn't Tiny Tiddly's crushed body extraordinary proof of ... something?

***

It was past midnight when Teagan came fully awake, cold with sweat and shivering from her dreams. She had dreamed of running, hunted by something with a bloody muzzle and ember-bright eyes. A sound from inside the wall made her jump. It took her a moment to figure out that Finn was going down the maid's stairs hidden behind the paneling. She listened for the door to open in the hall by the bathroom, but it didn't. He wasn't headed to the bathroom.

Teagan threw her sheet off and ran down the stairs.

Finn was at the back door, his kit strap over his shoulder.

"You're leaving?"

"I am."

"But ... why?"

"Because the
cat-sídhe
are not the worst of the things that follow me, Tea. I'm sorry I brought them here."

"So there
are
shadows with nothing to cast them?"

"There are, and I'm hoping your brother didn't really see one. The best thing I can do for Aiden ... for you ... is leave. The way Mamieo talked about Aunt Aileen, I thought you would have dealt with the goblins before. If I'd known you hadn't, I'd never have come."

"You think they'll follow you away?"

"They will. I'm making it easy for them, going at night through the alleys and darkness. They'll come after me. You're not going to wake anyone?"

"No."

"You're a corker, aren't you?" He brushed her hair back from her face with his fingertips and tucked it behind her ear. Teagan felt electricity arc, rippling across her skin where his fingers passed. "Can I kiss you, girl?"

"No," Teagan said.

"No?" He sounded surprised.

"My plan hasn't changed."

Finn nodded. "Probably for the best. It's been nice knowing you, Teagan Wylltson."

"Finn!" Teagan said as he opened the door. "What happens if the goblins catch you?"

"They won't." Finn's smile flashed, white in the darkness and crooked from his swollen lip. "I'm the Mac Cumhaill, remember?"

 

"You have no idea where he went?" Ms. Skinner glanced at the police officer who was taking notes.

"None," Mr. Wylltson said.

"The state will decide what is best for the ... child." Ms. Skinner sniffled. "I had reservations about allowing him to come here in the first place. They are on file."

"A Mrs. Gillhelm called us," the officer said. "It seems her sons were beaten up by a street gang yesterday afternoon. It happened not far from here."

"They were hitting Lennie," Aiden said. "Finn saved him."

"He was involved in a fight and you didn't call me?" Ms. Skinner did not look pleased.

"Finn gave the hooligans what they deserved," Mrs. Wylltson said.

"Who's Lennie?" the officer asked.

"He's the boy who lives across the street," Teagan said. "His mom, Mrs. Santini, is always home. I'm sure she'd be happy to talk to you."

"Right across the street?"

"Yes, sir." Teagan pointed out the house through the front window.

"If Finn contacts you," Ms. Skinner said, "you are to call me immediately."

"It's a police matter." The cop glanced at Ms. Skinner, then handed Mr. Wylltson a card. "We'll take care of it. Call my cell."

Teagan watched the policeman and Ms. Skinner cross the street and knock on the Santinis' door. Lennie opened it, and they went in.

"Tea," Mr. Wylltson asked, "did you do that on purpose?"

"Yes," Teagan said.

Two minutes later, the Santinis' door opened again. Ms. Skinner and the cop hurried out, practically scrambling down the steps. Mrs. Santini followed them, her arms waving and housecoat flapping in the wind, exposing thunderous calves and dimpled knees above fuzzy pink slippers. She was still waving her arms as they retreated to their cars.

Mr. Wylltson sighed. "Do you think we can find Finn before they do?"

"Nobody's going to find Finn." Mrs. Wylltson rubbed her temples. "Not unless he wants them to. I ache in my very bones this morning. I'm going back to bed for a little while."

Mr. Wylltson made himself a sack lunch, then took a cup of cocoa to his wife.

"Can you call in today, Tea?" he asked when he came out of the bedroom. "I think your mother has a migraine coming on. She'll need some help with Aiden, and I have to work all day."

Mrs. Wylltson came into the living room an hour later, walking a little unstably.

"I hurt, and..." Her words slowed, slurred, and seemed to rearrange themselves. "Tá ... táa
mé tuirseach.
"

"Mom?" Teagan said.

"I remember. Oh, my god, Roisin. I promised! Tá áthas
fearg,
Roisin. Tá
áthas fearg!
" Her knees buckled, and she pitched forward.

"Mom." Teagan knelt on the floor beside her. "Mom!" She wasn't moving. "Aiden!" Teagan yelled. "My phone's in my room. Get it!"

She dialed 911 while Aiden crouched beside his mother, smoothing her hair. As soon as the ambulance was on its way, Tea-gan called her father at work and told him what had happened.

When the paramedics carried Mrs. Wylltson out on a stretcher, Aiden leaned into Teagan and buried his face in her shirt. She put her arms around him.

"It will be all right."

"No, it won't, Tea," Aiden whispered. "The shadow man touched her. Last night while she was writing, it touched her. I should have made it stop."

"How could you stop a shadow?"

"I don't know," Aiden said, and started to cry.

TEAGAN?" Molly passed the calculus handout to her. "Are you all right?"

Teagan nodded. She couldn't take her eyes off the window on the other side of Molly's desk. Teagan held her breath as the woman walking past turned ... and then she breathed again.

"Oh." Molly had turned to follow Teagan's gaze. "She looked like your mom, didn't she?"

"Only from the back."

"You're not crazy," Molly said softly. "After my brother died, I thought I saw him on the street all the time. Sometimes I still do. It's like that when you lose someone."

Teagan nodded.

Aileen Wylltson had been in a deep coma by the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital. She died three days later, with Tea and Aiden sitting by her bed, and John Paul Wylltson holding her hand. She'd never even woken up to say goodbye.

The final bell rang, and Teagan picked up the papers and tucked them into her notebook. She didn't have zoo hours this afternoon, so she might be able to catch up on some homework. It was hard to get her brain around homework again after spending the summer taking care of Aiden and her dad.

Her cell phone vibrated, and Teagan pulled it out of her pocket. Aiden. Her life would be so much easier when he learned to spell well enough to text.

She flipped it open. "Aiden? What's up?"

"Tea?" His voice was barely a whisper. "I need you. Come quick!"

"Are you at Mrs. Santini's house?"

"I'm at home."

"Where's Dad?"

"I don't know. I'm hiding in the closet."

"Get out of the closet and go back to Mrs. Santini's house."

"I can't. The
Skinner is here.
"

"You're sure Dad's not home?" Teagan glanced at the clock. He was supposed to be home for this meeting with Ms. Skinner.

"He's not. I need you, Tea!"

"Trouble?" Molly asked. "I can give you a ride home if you need one."

It would only take fifteen minutes to get home if she had a ride.

"Okay, I'm coming, Aiden. Just wait. I'll be there soon." Teagan hung up. "Thanks, Molly."

"Is everything all right?"

"Dad just missed a meeting," Teagan said as she dialed her father's cell. "I have to get home to take care of my brother." The call went directly to voicemail. She hung up and dialed the library number.

"Mr. Wylltson hasn't returned from lunch, Tea," the library aide said. "We were expecting him hours ago."

She started to dial Mrs. Santini, then stopped. Mrs. Santini would be worried if she found Aiden gone. And she would explode if she found Ms. Skinner waiting on their doorstep. She'd never forgiven the woman's attitude toward Finn.

Molly finished loading her backpack. "I have to drop off some books. Meet me in the parking lot."

Teagan pushed her way through the press of kids in the hall. The school crowding was so bad this year that even seniors were sharing lockers. Abby was already at the locker when Tea got there.

"You want to come down to Smash Pad? I'm giving an art show. We're hanging fake nails, just like it was a real art gallery."

"Can't." Teagan reached past Abby and grabbed her Literature book. "I've got to get home."