Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (18 page)

Before they could notice her, she had slid into a dark corner behind a nearby doorway and turned her dragon shape locker green.

“…don’t understand why you have to be so difficult,” Eddie was saying. His tone betrayed a hint of impatience—and arrogance, Jennifer noted, thinking suddenly of his father, Hank. “You know what she is. You’ve seen what she really looks like. She’s a clear and present danger. Doesn’t that scare you?”

“I’ll tell you what scares me,” Susan hissed back. “Jerks like you who try to bully people like Skip and Jennifer—or worse, watch the bullies do their work and don’t stand up for their friends!”

“She’s not my—”

“How long until you put a knife in my back?” Susan asked. “If you’re willing to ditch Jennifer and Skip, what’s to stop you from bullying me someday?”

“I won’t do that.” Eddie sounded shaken. “I’m sorry about all that’s happened, Susan. Including what I said last night. But Jennifer isn’t helping herself. She and her family need to consider a strategic retreat—you know, clear out of town.”

“That’s not your decision to make.”

“No, but it’s a smart idea.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Eddie paused. “My rite of passage is coming up.”

Susan hissed through her teeth. “I’m not exactly sure what that means, Eddie. But it better have nothing to do with Jennifer.”

“I’m not sure.” Eddie’s voice cracked. “My parents get to choose the dragon I will slay. I wouldn’t put it past my father. And Jennifer isn’t helping herself with the way she’s acting!”

“Oh, so if your parents tell you to murder Jennifer, it’s her fault? You and your family—all of the people in this town—are seriously cracked in the head!”

“You know, Susan, you could show more thanks for someone who lives under our town’s protection!”

“Oh, really? To hell with you and your protection. My family came to Winoka years ago because it was scared of shadows. But my mother didn’t die of a shadow—she died from a real danger, a real disease! Since then, I’ve learned more about these beasts you and your parents rant about. And I don’t see what the big deal is. Why not get along with the Scales family? Why not give them a chance? Why can’t we all just live on the same block, like normal neighbors?”

“Because she’s not normal!” His shout echoed down the hallway.

So did the sound of Susan clearing her throat and spitting. “Well, hotshot, I’ve got news. Neither are you.”

Eddie stormed down the hallway, passing no more than three feet from Jennifer without noticing her. He was wiping something off of his face in disgust.

Susan muttered something inaudible but plainly unflattering, and then went the other way.

Reminding herself never to get on her best friend’s bad side, Jennifer morphed back and headed to class. On the way, a voice behind her startled her.

“Hey, Jennifer.” It was Skip. “Watchya up to?”

“Oh. Hey, I didn’t think you were around today. I was just…I…”

“I know. I was laying low, too. I saw you listening in on Eddie and Susan.”

“You saw me?” She didn’t know whether to be insulted or impressed. Was her camouflage that mediocre?

“Well, I saw you walking down the hall normally, and then you changed. Since I kinda knew what to look for…well, eyes are pretty sharp in our family.”

“Huh. So why didn’t you go to classes today? I mean, there’s laying low, and there’s completely disappearing. I was worried about you!”

“Someone’s watching us.”

“What? Right now?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. I thought I caught a glimpse of him outside the gym last night while we were running out, but I wasn’t sure so I didn’t say anything. This morning, I caught him looking up at my bedroom window from the street. And then again once or twice on the sidewalks on my way here. I thought I’d check and see if he was following you, too.”

“Who?”

“Dunno. Older guy, maybe forty or fifty. Really white skin. Fringe of white hair. Dark green suit, maybe a size too big. As soon as he saw me looking back at him, he practically vanished into thin air.”

“That sounds an awful lot like a guy I saw at the bea—er, down at city hall a couple of weeks ago. Really thin? Eyes darting all over the place?”

“Sure, I guess. What do you mean, down at city hall? What were you doing there?”

Jennifer tried to make her shrug look offhanded and innocent. “Dad’s architect stuff. They’re planning a development downtown, and he dragged me along. Anyway, I heard his name was Whisper. Rune Whisper. Funny name.”

“Yeah. Funny name.” Skip’s face was skeptical, and Jennifer felt her insides churn at the deceit. “Anyway, you haven’t seen him since?”

“No. Hadn’t really thought of him until you brought him up just now. You think we should tell my parents?”

“I guess.”

“Ms. Scales. Mr. Wilson.” The sound of the wheelchair immediately followed Mr. Slider’s voice down the hallway. “You are the umpteenth students I have seen wandering out of class this afternoon. I’ve seen Ms. Elmsmith slip one way, Mr. Blacktooth march another, Mr. Stowe glide in late, Ms. Harrison use a water fountain for a makeup mirror, and Bob Jarkmand argue—apparently with himself—over which way the gymnasium is. Does anyone in this school actually attend class?”

“Sorry, Mr. Slider…”

“Hold on, before you go. Skip, I wanted to talk about your independent study assignment. Have you thought of a topic for your paper on trigonometry in the real world?”

Skip shrugged. “Not really. Things at home have…”

“Things at home will always be what they are,” Mr. Slider interrupted as gently as possible. “But that doesn’t mean what happens at school is any less important. No matter—I have come up with a study topic for you, if you’re willing. Construction has begun on a new center for the blind here in Winoka, as a new wing of the local hospital. In fact, I believe if you ask your girlfriend here, you’ll find her father—”

“I’m not his girlfriend!” Jennifer barked, immediately regretting it. “Um, I mean, not yet.”

Skip’s wounded look was unforgettable. “Not yet? What does that mean?”

“Well, it means…I mean…we just really haven’t talked about this.”

Mr. Slider’s look was inscrutable. “I see. Nothing fascinates me more than the romantic adventures of children half my age, but if I can get to the point—”

“Talked about it? You won’t even come over to my place for dinner,” Skip pointed out. “My aunt gave you an invite weeks ago, and you never followed up.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. It’s just that—”

“And we haven’t made it to the Mall of America like we planned—”

“I know. So much has happened, and I didn’t know if you wanted—”

“—but you never even ask what I want—”

“—you’re right, I should do a better—”

“Ms. Scales. Mr. Wilson.” Mr. Slider was almost hissing the words as he wiped his palms on his well-creased pants. “If I could get up out of this chair and kick you both, I would. Perhaps you could continue this inane babbling at the construction site for the new rehabilitation center across town, where construction workers will be making considerable use of trigonometry to make sure the building doesn’t fall down and take the existing hospital with it. Jonathan Scales is the architect. It would make for a fabulous independent study paper for Skip. That is all I have to say. Good day!”

He wheeled his chair around and set it to top speed. As he disappeared down the hallway, he added one more thought.

“Get back to class!”

CHAPTER 11
Suspicions

«
^
»

“I’d be happy to take you over to the site,” Jonathan assured them the next day. He was doing weekend gardening, snipping the brown stalks of several plants—“winterizing,” he called it, though Jennifer didn’t see the point of “winterizing” plants that looked dead this time of year. “How does next Thursday work for you?”

Skip bent over to pick up the dead plants from Jonathan’s hand and stuff them in the plastic bag Jennifer was holding open. “Thanks, Mr. Scales. My family feels pretty strongly about math, and I’d like to ace this paper. I don’t want to disappoint them, or Mr. Slider.”

Jonathan spoke carefully. “I noticed mathematics is pretty important to your family, and…others like you.”

“Yeah. Spatial relationships, quick measurement—it’s in our blood, you might say.”

Jennifer stared off into the bare branches of oaks and maples, torn between boredom and tension. Why was her father picking at Skip’s spider family? And did Skip really just use the term spatial relationships?

“My daughter tells me she’s learning about logic in Mr. Slider’s geometry class. I have to admit, I’ve tried to apply some logic to what Evangelos is doing, and who he really is. I could use another brain on the case, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Where do we start?”

“Well.” Jonathan gave Jennifer a quick glance, long enough for her to see his concentrated effort to draw information out of Skip. “Evangelos hasn’t been here forever. I’m guessing he showed up a few weeks, maybe a month or two, before Jack Alder died.”

“Okay.”

“We could look at the most recent arrivals in Winoka—see who’s been here only a month or so, and maybe pare down the list of suspects.”

“But wasn’t that—” Jennifer stopped herself before she added, “what the beaststalkers were doing at the trial we stopped?” “Wasn’t that what we figured Evangelos was afraid of? Winoka, and all the beaststalkers around here? Why would he be living in this town?”

“I think we need to separate the beast from the person,” Jonathan suggested. “In proper disguise Evangelos would have little to fear from anyone. He could walk anywhere, talk with anyone. In fact, it’s probably how he’s getting acclimated to being around the rest of us. It’s just in his other form that he’d be more cautious.”

“But how could someone so hell-bent on hurting you manage a calm disguise of some guy just living in Winoka? Wouldn’t he just go nuts if he saw you on the street?”

Jonathan shrugged. “I’ve been pretty careful not to spend much time out in the open. I pretty much stick to home, the work site by the hospital, and the cabin. Besides, history is full of people who manage to lead seemingly normal lives—but aren’t normal at all.”

“You mean, like, leading a double life?” Skip’s voice was soft, but the words still sounded hard.

“If you’re suggesting that Jennifer and I might already know something about leading a double life, then you’re right, Skip. What Evangelos does isn’t much different in character from what we weredragons do, or werachnids—what you will do someday yourself. We all lie a little to the outside world. We do it to survive, or to make ourselves feel safer. Or smarter. Or better. Or all of these things at once. The difference with Evangelos is not in what he does. It’s in the intensity.”

“So you’re saying lying is okay, as long as you don’t tell a really big lie.” Jennifer knew her father was passing on another opportunity to talk about her mother. She found herself steaming about continually deceiving Skip. And she was most angry at herself, for going along with it.

Her father gave her a level look. “I guess I’m saying we should be looking for what Evangelos has in common with us, rather than what makes him different.”

Skip seemed to measure them both. “Okay, what does Evangelos have in common with us? Besides the shape-shifting thing.”

“He’s intelligent,” Jonathan began. “He picks and chooses times and places.”

“Sure,” agreed Skip. “And if he’s smart, he’ll pick disguises that would get him close to us. Like at school.”

“Or work. And here’s something else we have in common: He’s curious. He takes the time to learn how to do a disguise right. After all, nobody has shown up in town with clothes or mannerisms that stick out—”

“That’s not completely true,” Skip interrupted. “There’s this guy I’ve seen. Jennifer saw him, too—Rune Whisper?”

“Huh. That’s right.” Jonathan wiped his gloves on his jeans and thought for a moment. “We should definitely put him on the list. But we also have to consider the possibility that this Rune Whisper is just an eccentric fellow, and Evangelos has taken enough time and effort to learn how people act and talk in this world. That’s no small feat.”

“Okay.” Skip seemed enthusiastic at their progress. “What else does he have in common with us?”

“I’ve got one,” Jennifer offered coldly. “He’s got a problem with the truth.”

Jonathan shot back a baleful look, but Skip seemed genuinely curious. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it seems maybe he likes circling around the heart of the matter, rather than confronting his problems head-on. If he’s got a problem with Dad, he could just go after Dad, you know what I mean? Instead of dragging out the hole thing. Dragging it out hurts family and friends.”

She and her father held each other’s gray eyes for some time, both thoughtfully chewing their tongues. He broke first, returning his attention to the garden.

“Jennifer’s right. Evangelos does appear to want to take his time. Sometimes people take their time to draw out the pain. But other times”—and he looked back up at Jennifer again—“it’s because they’re not certain of what they really want. They try to convince themselves they really want something, but there’s a part of them saying maybe it’s not such a great idea.”

“Huh.” Once again, Skip appeared to consider both of them carefully before going on. “Well, it sounds like we ought to start with Rune Whisper. I had noticed him anyway, so I was thinking of following him…”

“That’s a horrible idea. Not safe at all.” Everyone jumped at the voice of Elizabeth Georges-Scales from behind them. She was wearing flowered coveralls and held a dirty spade in her hand. “If you’re right and Rune really is Evangelos, then you would find yourself facing this thing alone. I doubt your aunt would thank us for putting you in that position.”

“You wouldn’t be putting me anywhere,” Skip objected. “I want to check this guy out!”

“What if I go with him?” Jennifer said, reaching for Skip’s hand.

She was certain she actually saw all color drain from her mother’s face. “Jennifer, you can’t handle this thing on your own.”