Witch Ball - BK 3 (11 page)

"An average kid that no one remembers? He
has to have some friends."

"You'd think so, but I asked around and nada."
Manny made a circle with his thumb and forefinger. "It's like he doesn't exist."

"Well, he must because you found out his address and phone number."

"No one answers at that number. You want to
check out the address tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"Great." Manny glanced down at his leather
watch. "Pick you up at seven?"

"Sounds good."

"It's a date.

"Not a date," I corrected in a firm tone. "A
business appointment."

Manny threw back his head and laughed.

Since Josh wasn't at school, I walked partway home
with Penny-Love. She was floating on a romantic
high and had only one topic of conversation: Jacques
(AKA Jack Carney). This was fine with me because I
wanted to know more about him.

"His carnival booth was really popular," I said
casually. "My sister loved the face painting he did
for her."

"He's so talented. I keep expecting him to be
this temperamental artist, but he's always relaxed
and says the sweetest things."

"He seems cool." We waited at an intersection
while a truck rumbled by. "I heard he went to
Manny's booth. How'd that go?"

"Fabuloso!" She practically skipped down the
road. "The best prediction ever."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He didn't want to do it at first, but I
dared him. I wanted to go with him, but he made
me wait outside the booth where I couldn't hear
anything."

I smiled to myself. Penny-Love thrived on being
in the middle of the action. Waiting must have
driven her crazy. "So how did you find out about the
prediction?" I asked.

"Afterwards he told me."

"And?" I paused on the sidewalk to face her.

"He predicted Jacques would fall for a beautiful girl." She stretched out her arms, then pointed
to herself. "Me!"

"That's great." But not at all what I expected.
Like going to a theater expecting to see a horror
movie and finding a Disney cartoon. "You sure that's
all Manny predicted?"

"Isn't it enough? It's so cool we both have great
guys." With her cheeks blushing nearly as red as
her curly hair, she went on about love and dating.
I nodded at the appropriate pauses, but my mind
drifted. Why had Manny's prediction for Jacques
been so different from the ones he gave Jill and
me? Was the witch ball messing with us? Or maybe
the psycho spirit attached to it liked Jacques better.

After Penny-Love went on to her house, I spent
some time with Nona. I felt encouraged as I watched
my grandmother bustle around the kitchen, showing
no signs of her illness. Vegetable stew simmered in
the Crock Pot and warmed the kitchen with delicious aromas.

When I asked Nona if I'd had any phone calls,
she shook her head. So I tried josh's number, only the machine picked up. I'd already left two messages
and had too much pride to leave a third. I even
checked my email for a message from josh, but nothing. Skimming through my messages, I found a joke
from Dad, two emails from Amy, one from Ashley,
and a dozen spams that I instantly deleted.

Unfortunately my problems didn't come with
a delete button.

I hopped on my bike and headed for the
construction site where Penny-Love said Jacques
worked. It wasn't too far, maybe three miles, in a
part of town that used to be pasture but was quickly
turning into new housing developments.

Right away I spotted Jacques in a group of
grubby guys in yellow hard hats, orange T-shirts,
and grimy jeans. He wiped sweat off his forehead
and raised his eyebrows when he noticed me standing outside the chain link fence.

"Sabine?" he called, slipping a hammer through
a loop in his work belt and climbing off a ladder. He
met me outside the gate. "Watcha doing here?"

"I was biking and ..." My mouth went dry;
my courage faltered.

Away from school, Jacques seemed older,
rougher, and the narrow glint in his eyes bothered me. His tough-looking co-workers didn't reassure
me, either. I recognized one of them from school;
he was rumored to be involved in dealing drugs.
Of course, rumors weren't always true.

Jacques shifted on the oil-stained pavement as
he faced me. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I swallowed. "I wanted to ask you
something, but if you're busy. . ."

"Work can wait." He gave me a wink. "This
something you'd rather Pen didn't hear?"

"Well ... I guess."

"You looking for some action?"

I gave him a blank stare, my pulse jumping. I
wasn't sure if he meant drugs or sex, and didn't want
to find out.

"No," I said coolly. "Definitely not."

"Hey, I was just messing with you. I know
you're cool." He patted my shoulder as if to reassure me-but it did the exact opposite. "So what'd
ya want to ask?"

"About the prediction you had at the carnival."

"Oh that. I don't go in for that mystic stuff,
but Pen insisted, so I figured what the hell?" He
shrugged like he didn't take anything seriously, expecting life to be an easy ride where other
people did the driving.

"Did anything strange happen when you talked
to Manny?"

"Nothing, but that dude was totally stoned or
something."

You would make that assumption, I thought. I
found myself liking him less and less. But I kept
my opinions to myself. "Did the crystal ball seem
... odd?"

"Yeah. There weren't any electric cords yet it
blazed like it was on fire. It even floated off the
table. Way cool! How'd he do that?"

"Trick lighting."

"Well, it blew me away. Best part of the show."

"What'd you think of your prediction?"

"Not much. " He spat into a pool of oil on the
pavement. "Total bull."

"But I thought you liked it. Penny-Love raved
about how great it was."

"That's cause I told her what she wanted to hear.
Got to keep my girl happy," he said with another
one of those smarmy winks. "She's a pushover for romantic crap."

"So Manny didn't say you'd fall for a beautiful
girl?"

"Nah. I made that up."

He grinned-then told me the real prediction.

"You're supposed to fall off a horse?" I asked in
amazement. It wasn't as sappy as falling for a beautiful girl, but definitely not what I expected. "Are
you sure you heard him right?"

"I wasn't hung over or anything if that's what
you were thinking."

"That's not what I meant." My hair fell across
my face as I glanced over at the construction site. Falling off a roof or ladder would make sense, but
a horse? This was an area zoned for new housing
developments, not livestock. And Penny-Love told
me Jacques lived in an apartment near Main Street.

"I know what I heard," Jacques said defensively. "That mystic dude said all hollow-like, `You
will suffer a severe injury from a fall off a horse.'
But no way that's gonna happen."

"How can you be sure?"

"I'm allergic to horses. When I was a kid, I had
to be rushed to the emergency room after riding a
pony. Man, I almost died. After that I wouldn't even
go near merry-go-round horses."

"You don't ride at all?"

"Never. I can't look at a horse without sneezing. I steer clear of the beasts."

"That's great," I said, then noticed his look of
surprise, and added that I meant it was great he
wouldn't have a dangerous fall. But I was actually
thinking it was great that his allergy prevented
the prediction from coming true. If his prediction
couldn't happen, the witch ball ghost had no real
power. My prediction wasn't going to happen either.

Jacques glanced over his shoulder to where a
semitruck pulled into the site. "That all you need?"

"Yeah."

"I better get back to work," he said with a wave.

I waved back, then hurried to my bike-eager
to get away from him. His information may have
been good news for me, but his whole sleazy attitude was bad news for Penny-Love. She thought
Jacques was mellow because he was a creative artist.
But I suspected it had more to do with drugs. When
she found out, she was going to be devastated.

Should I tell her? And if I did, would she believe me?

Penny-Love wasn't the only one with a troubled
romance.

When I returned home, I found out that josh
still hadn't called-and I blamed it on Evan. He
must have carried out his threat and told josh all
about me.

Disappointment shifted into anger. I mean, so
what if I'd kept a few secrets from josh? There were
things he hadn't told me either, like all those meetings he had with his magician society. I respected
his privacy, so he should respect mine. But the fact
that he hadn't returned my calls proved otherwise. Well, fine! I didn't need someone around who was
so quick to judge me. If he couldn't deal with my
past, then I'd have to deal with losing him. Still, if
the roles were reversed, I would have told me in
person. Avoiding me was cowardly; not what I'd
expect from josh.

I was staring at the phone, dreading and hoping it would ring, when I heard gravel crunching.
Glancing out the window, I saw a car coming down
our driveway. My heart leaped and I hoped it was
Josh. But no such miracle.

Instead it was Manny, and he'd brought a surprise-Thorn.

When Manny introduced me to Thorn, it had
been mutual suspicions at first sight. She had a personality as prickly as her nickname. Her multiple
piercings, exaggerated makeup, and morbid black
outfits screamed rebel, while I was into casual,
brand-name styles. But Manny pushed us together,
and we'd become friends. Not that this went over
well with my other friends, especially Penny-Love
who had a low opinion of Goths.

I'd gotten closer to Thorn on the trip to Pine
Peaks, learning her real name (Beth), her true hair color (dark blond), and her mother's profession
(minister).

Today she wore black leather pants, a black
jacket, a spiked collar, and a belt woven with barbed
wire. But instead of her black shoes, she wore bright
pink sneakers that matched the pink rhinestone
pierced through her eyebrow.

"Pink is the new black," Thorn said when she
caught me staring. "I'm thinking of getting a pinkand-black wig."

"Go for it." I grinned.

"Manny filled me in on the weird predictions
and I couldn't resist coming along. I hope it's okay."

"It's better than okay," I told her honestly. She
was the first person my age I'd met with a psychic
ability, although she downplayed her skill for finding things as just a game. It had been more than a
game when she helped find a classmate who was
bleeding to death. Her game had helped save a life.

"I figure I can help you guys," Thorn said as
she buckled up in the front seat.

"Because you're a Finder?" Manny teased, knowing Thorn hated labels, especially on her.

"Not even." She shot him a scathing look. "I
can help cause I have a friend who lives in the same
apartment building."