Gabby Duran and the Unsittables (16 page)

T
here was no time to think. Gabby scooped up rag doll Wutt and ran toward the playground.

“Hey!” she called out. “April! Sienna! Jordan! Madeline! Look what I’ve got!”

Gabby’s voice must have sounded as panicky as she felt, because several parents and nannies who sat on benches around the playground turned around, alarmed. Their faces relaxed when they
saw Gabby though, and they waved and smiled.

The kids were more exuberant. Most of them had known Gabby since they were infants. “GABBY!” they screamed, and stampeded toward her in a swarm. Gabby knelt down as the squealing
kids cascaded over her, hugging every part of her they could reach. Gabby tucked Wutt under one arm and used the other to hug back every kid she could. As she did, she glanced over her shoulder.
Ellerbee stood glowering from a group of trees several yards away. He’d removed the Shoombas to look less conspicuous, but he didn’t dare come closer. Much as he might want to grab
Wutt, a lone man causing a commotion at a kids’ playground would only send every mom, dad, and nanny reaching for their phones to dial 911. The longer Gabby could keep Wutt with the throng of
kids, the better off she’d be.

“Is that your doll?” a little girl named April asked.

“Yes, she is!” Gabby replied. She pulled Wutt from under her arm and held the rag doll out so she was standing on the ground. As always, Wutt had done an impeccable job of
transforming herself. She stood about three feet tall, which was about the same size as most of the kids. Like the real alien, her doll-skin was blue, and she had giant black button eyes, thick red
curls of yarn, and a painted-on smile. She wore a red gingham dress, knee socks, and black strappy shoes. Her face was dotted with freckles just like Gabby’s.

She was enchantingly adorable. The kids backed away a bit to admire her.

“She looks so soft,” a doe-eyed four-year-old named Bianca cooed. “Can I hug her?”

“You sure can,” Gabby said.

Bianca wrapped her arms around Wutt and squeezed her tight. Wutt tried to hug her back, and Gabby had to move fast to make it look like she was the one moving the doll’s arms around
Bianca’s body.

“I love her!” Bianca said. “What’s her name?”

“It’s Wu—”

Gabby stopped herself.
Wutt
would not do for the doll’s name. She scrambled to think of something else.

“Wendy,” she said. “It’s Wendy.”

“Can I hold her next?” a girl named Zara asked.

“And then me?” asked a preschooler named Ella.

That opened the floodgates. Many of the boys had already made their way back to the playground equipment, but most of the girls were entranced. They all clamored for a turn hugging the doll and
reached for her hungrily, but before they accidentally caused damage with their overeager hands, Gabby hoisted Wutt safely onto her shoulders.

“Here’s the deal,” Gabby told the group. “Wendy is very special to me. You can
all
play with her, but it’s very, very,
very
important that you
don’t poke any holes in her, or rip her apart in any way. You can hug her, you can throw her, you can love her up like crazy, but no holes and no rips. Understand?”

Gabby said it with her serious face, which all the kids only saw in the most vital of times. They nodded solemnly, and Gabby gently lowered “Wendy” back to the ground. Immediately,
Ella took one of the doll’s hands, Bianca took the other, and they ran to the seesaw. Gabby thought she might have noticed Wendy’s feet running along the ground with them, but she hoped
if anyone else saw they’d chalk it up to a trick of the sunlight. Soon Wendy was sandwiched between Ella and Bianca on one side of the seesaw, while Zara and a boy named Scott took the other.
For a second Gabby wondered if she’d done the right thing handing Wutt over to this group of strangers, but then she noticed “Wendy’s” painted-on smile. It was twice as wide
as it had been when the girl first changed form, and Gabby wondered if Wutt had ever had the chance to play freely with a group of kids her own age.

Scott’s mom, Mrs. Lewis, frowned and checked her watch. “Gabby, it’s the beginning of eighth period. Shouldn’t you be with Maestro Jenkins in orchestra getting ready for
the concert?”

In addition to Scott, Mrs. Lewis had an older son named Andrew, who was in orchestra with Gabby and Satchel. Gabby hated to lie to her, but there was no good way around it.

“Maestro Jenkins didn’t want me over-rehearsed. He gave me the class time off so I could perform with more energy.”

It was a semi-plausible lie, since Maestro Jenkins had made offers like that in the past, but Mrs. Lewis still pursed her lips. “I love that you’re here playing with the kids, but
I’m assuming this isn’t the kind of rest he had in mind. And I’m positive he wouldn’t want your concert dress to look like that.”

Gabby looked down at herself. Her white blouse was streaked with bright green grass stains and splotches of brown dirt, her knee-length black skirt was wrinkled and twisted the wrong way around
her body, and her black tights were ripped at the knees. She lifted a hand to her face and could feel the layer of grime. She gave Mrs. Lewis an embarrassed smile. “I have a change of clothes
at school. And I can clean up there, too.”

“I hope so,” Mrs. Lewis said. “After all, I’m sure you’ll be playing solo. You need to make a good impression.”

Gabby didn’t have the heart to tell her that she wouldn’t be at school until
after
the concert, when she’d deliver Wutt back to Edwina. She was thrilled when a moment
later, Mrs. Lewis took Scott home to grab a snack before the concert. Now she wouldn’t have to keep up appearances. She could concentrate on Wutt and on Ellerbee, who was still lurking in the
trees. At some point she’d have to find a way past him, but so far she had no idea how.

In the meantime, the kids played with Wutt. From the seesaw, they all scrambled to the slide, and took turns going down with “Wendy” cuddled in their laps. Then they brought the doll
with them for secret clubhouse meetings at the very top of the play structure and afterward gave her a turn getting her legs buried in the sandbox. They even strapped her into the baby swing and
took turns pushing her as high as she could go.

Despite everything, Gabby felt warm and happy inside. Earlier in the day she’d thought the best thing she could do for Wutt was teach her about Earth through her school classes. Now Gabby
understood she was giving the little girl something far more important—the experience of not just understanding Earth, but
belonging
on it.

The kids moved away from the playground equipment to play catch on the lawn. “Wendy” was the ball. Gabby imagined how free and fun it would be to soar through the air and not have to
worry about hitting the ground. She could imagine Wutt’s happy giggle with each toss and the comfort of landing in a pair of little hands. Or getting scooped up again after a tumble into the
grass.

Gabby wasn’t the only one charmed by the kids’ games with Wutt. Several parents and nannies stopped their sideline conversations to watch the fun, and when the kids asked for a
couple of grown-ups to throw Wutt, so the children could all stand between them for Monkey in the Middle, April’s mom and Zara’s dad eagerly volunteered. Zara’s dad tossed Wutt to
April’s mom, and all the kids leaped and squealed as they reached for the flying doll. The same thing when April’s mom threw it back to Zara’s dad.

“Throw her
far
, Daddy!” Zara shouted, and then all the kids joined in. “Yeah, throw her far!” “Make Wendy fly!” “Make her fly through
air!”

“You really want to see her fly?” Zara’s dad asked. He grinned at April’s mom and waved for her to move back. She did, and the kids beamed eagerly as Zara’s dad
wound up to throw Wutt. Even Gabby was excited to see her friend soar across the field. Zara’s dad cocked his arm back and threw…

…but he didn’t know his own strength. Wutt soared not only high over the heads of the kids, but also over the head of April’s mom. Wutt flew well beyond the woman’s
leaping reach, all the way toward a group of trees.

The
group of trees. The one where Ellerbee was hiding in wait.

“NO!” Gabby wailed. She raced toward the still-soaring doll, but Wutt was on a beeline for Ellerbee. Long before Gabby was even close, the janitor stepped forward and held out his
hands, eager to make the catch. He looked so hungry for success that Gabby could practically see him drool.

Suddenly, the roar of a motorcycle made everyone look up, but only Gabby died a little inside at what she saw.

Mr. Lau, his cape flying out behind him, rode the bike. He zoomed toward Ellerbee, and without slowing for even a second, he stood on the foot pegs, reached one hand off the handlebars, and
plucked Wutt from the air. In a single motion, he stuffed her into a large metal box on the side of the bike, then flicked a lock to seal her in.

“Ha-
ha
, old man!” he cried to Ellerbee as he zoomed away. “You lose—I
win
!”

“NO!” Ellerbee roared. He struggled to put on his Shoombas again so he could chase Mr. Lau, but Gabby didn’t stick around to watch. She tore after Mr. Lau’s motorcycle,
pumping her arms and legs as hard as she could. When her dress shoes got in her way she kicked them off. She felt the bottoms of her tights give way until she was barefooted, sprinting over grass,
dirt, and through clumps of brush. She ignored the pebbles and sticks that poked her feet, ignored the low branches that tore her tights and scratched her legs and arms. She ran long after the
motorcycle was out of sight, ran toward the sound of its engine until even that was gone. She ran until every breath clawed its way into her throat, and when she finally stopped she bent double,
her hands on her knees, gasping for air. Her lank curls hung in her face, damp with sweat.

Wutt was gone. Mr. Lau had taken her to Houghton. To a man who wanted to “eradicate” her. Gabby had thought she was a big hero, giving Wutt a real playdate with humans her own age,
but all she’d done was give Wutt’s enemies the chance to capture her…which they had.

Wutt had trusted Gabby. Wutt’s parents and Edwina had trusted Gabby—trusted her with Wutt’s
life
—and now the girl was gone. Gabby could see Wutt’s face in
front of her: the blue skin; big black eyes; red curls; toothless, trusting smile. She could feel Wutt’s arms around her neck and the weight of her small body in her arms.

Gabby couldn’t hold herself up anymore. She toppled onto the ground, curled her knees into her chest, and cried.

“Wutt?” a small voice asked.

A tiny hand touched Gabby’s arm.

Wutt was back! She got away from Mr. Lau! An atomic blast of joy exploded inside Gabby, and she sat straight up, already beaming and ready to hug the girl close.

Except it wasn’t Wutt. It was Evan, a two-year-old boy who had been at the playground. His nanny, Davida, crouched down behind him. Both Davida and Evan’s faces scrunched with
concern.

“What?” Evan asked again. “What wrong?”

“Are you okay, Gabby?” Davida asked. “Maybe I should call your mother.”

Gabby couldn’t explain this to her mother. Not yet. She needed time. “No, it’s okay,” she said. “It’s just the doll. It was really important to me.”

Davida nodded. “Yeah, that was strange what happened over there. We asked the Scottish guy about it, but he didn’t say much. The other one…I’m afraid he’s long
gone.”

The words clanged in Gabby’s stomach. She nodded dully.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to call your mom?” Davida offered again. “You’re kind of…well, you’re kind of a mess.”

“I know,” Gabby admitted. She tried to scrape the last of her mental energy for some kind of excuse, but came up empty. “I overreacted, I guess.”

Davida smiled. “You’re twelve, right? I remember twelve. It’s the hormones coming in.”

Gabby didn’t have the strength to be mortified. She just nodded and let Davida help her up.

“You need a ride anywhere?” Davida asked. “I’m taking Evan home; I could drop you on the way.”

Gabby knew Davida. Accepting a ride from her would be fine, but the only place Gabby wanted to go was some small, windowless room, far away in another country, with nothing in it but a giant bed
with layers of comforters and a blanket with a silky edge. Then she could crawl in, rub the blankie edge on her cheek, and sleep for years and years and years until maybe she could forget
everything that just happened.

She had a responsibility, though. She had to let Edwina know what happened. She had to admit her failure and face the consequences…which hopefully wouldn’t include the entire planet
being blown to bits.

“I need to go to school,” Gabby said. “Can you take me there, please?”