Magian High (17 page)

A little before dark, Amity and our family arrived at Sheldon’s home on a street full of shoebox-like houses with tidy yards.  We all made ourselves comfortable sitting on the floor or stuffed onto the one long couch in his modest, but ultra-clean living room while he went into a back room.  He returned with something white and fuzzy behind his back.  Kelsey eyed it suspiciously.  “That’s not a puppy for me, is it?”

“Uh, no,” he said, bunching it up behind his back so that it fit into one hand.  “But I hope you’ll like it anyway.”  He brought the surprise forward and Kelsey unfolded it to find a fuzzy unicorn costume that
looked like a giant Froodles.  “To make up for the damage done to your doll?”

Kelsey’s mouth fell open
, speechless.  She kept rubbing her face in the fur and making happy noises.

“Aren’t you going to try it on?” asked Mom.  “Then maybe Kincaid and Amity can take you Trick-or-Treating.”

“Really?”  She started jumping up and down.  “Really? 
Really?
”  She dropped to the floor and began stuffing a foot into the costume.

“
Now, hang on,” said Mom.  “Let’s go in the bathroom and shed a layer before you put this on.  Mom picked up Kelsey, who still clutched the unicorn costume, and they disappeared down the hall.  I realized Mom had been here before because she knew which of the closed doors to open.

“Trick-or-Treating?  Really?” asked Amity.

“It’s a pretty low-key neighborhood,” said Sheldon.  “A lot of Corporal kids come from around here, and they have a lot of fun with Halloween, but it’s safe.  Besides, everyone knows I’m a cop, so they won’t mess with us.”  He grinned, and his crooked tiled teeth were friendly and assuring.  It seemed funny to remember that my first impression of him was an angry brick.

“What are you and Mom going to do?” I asked
, trying not to tease.

“Pass out candy here and review the recordings you
two made.  I’m going to be taking some notes so I can compare them with what shows up in the reports on Monday.  If there are big enough discrepancies, I’ll be able to call out the corruption with hard evidence.”

Kelsey pranced through at this point, pretending to trot like a pony.  She had Froodles (who had a freshly mended hoof) stuffed into the neck of the costume, held in place by the zipper
, and it made her look more like a fuzzy white rhino than a unicorn, but she was the happiest I’d seen her in ages.  “Can we go?  Can we go?  Can we go?”

Mom gave us the thumbs-
up and Sheldon told us which blocks to go to for the best haul.  As we headed out into the twilight, a few other teenagers and adults shepherded their goblins and princesses past.  We saw a fair share of cowboys and zombies, too.  Kelsey fell into a rhythm of walking with us to each driveway and then darting up the path to the front door while we waited and talked.  Each time, I gleaned a little more information from Amity about the day’s events from her point of view.  She was like a superhero, packing more work into one day than even Sheldon could have done in a week.  At the elevator, she had, indeed, duped Mrs. Bagler, who had apparently been preoccupied with dodging the press.  Amity had pretended that she was looking for her Uncle Clovis, and did the nice lady know where the radiology department was?  The nice lady could only fake being nice for so long before she rudely told Amity to go ask someone else, but that diversion had given us the time we needed to get to Hadley.  Amity had also lingered near the nurse’s station (presumably to ask about radiology) and had seen Mrs. Bagler debrief the cops when they came out of Elizabeth’s room.  Then Amity had run back outside to find the reporter and managed to get her to film a few minutes on her version of the events of last night.

“Even if they edit it down, I got Dad to record me
at home on his laptop.  I tried to word my testimony as close to the same as I could so that if they splice it down a lot, we can release the real version elsewhere and point up the cover-up as part of the story.  I even called the whole Gel Ball gang to verify what stories they told, and Dad helped me make similar recordings of all of them.”

“None of them were afraid?”

“Not of the truth.  They were mad.  They want us all to be left alone.”

“That’s great!”

At the next house, she turned a more serious face to me.  “Curry’s having a hard time.  He really has no support at home, and by siding with us, he has cut himself off from everybody he knows or cares about.  He’s not scared that they’re trying to scapegoat him, but he’s afraid for Rikki. He’s been feeling really alone this year even
with
her.”

“He never had so many friends
as he does now!”

“Not real ones
, that’s for sure.  He’ll be okay.”

At the corner, she suddenly remembered something good.  “G
uess what?  I saw Miss Flinckey at the store.”

“That’s nice,” I said, not really knowing what more to say.

“Not as nice as how she was getting around.”

“What? 
A new car?” I asked.

“I saw her hovering.”

“Hovering?  As in flying?”

“She called it ‘resting her feet’.  Isn’t that great?  I
saw
it.”

“But
how
?”

“Who knows?  But I guess our little efforts to be kind to her are adding up!”

***

“Miss Flinckey?
  We were just talking about you, but…what are
you
doing here?”

Our school counselor sat next to Mom on the couch, and Sheldon sat on the coffee table facing them.

“Honey, can you turn the porch light off?” asked Mom, her tone matching the concern on her face.  “We don’t want any more Trick-or-Treaters right now.”

I flipped the switch on the wall and closed the door.  “What’s going on?”

Amity ushered Kelsey into the back, whispering, “Let’s get you out of that hot costume and then we can count your candy.”  She gave us a knowing look, and Sheldon nodded gratefully.

“Hi, Kincaid,” said Miss Flinckey.  “Sorry to intrude upon your fun here, but I
found something I thought Detective Sheldon should know about.”

Sheldon stood and passed me a
large envelope.  “It looks like the NMI has upped its construction schedule.  They’ve been ordering all kinds of supplies for a school—odd if it doesn’t already exist.”

“And the local chapter
just appointed Mr. Petercriss as the principal of the new school,” said Miss Flinckey.

“What?!”

“Honey, you need to sit down,” said Mom.  I did, feeling shaky, and Sheldon and Flinckey explained that she’d been at a meeting for the local chapter of NMI when Petercriss’ appointment was announced.  Since there hadn’t been any kind of discussion, or a vote or application process, she had grown suspicious, and when the meeting adjourned, she’d stayed after to ask about the break in protocol.  However, the others had been in a hurry to leave, and she was left alone in the room.  That was when she spotted an envelope that had fallen to the floor between the seats.  She opened it hoping to discover who it might belong to and found order forms and receipts from the Bagler-Farrell Foundation.

“None of this had been approved by the whole board of directors,” she said.  “They were keeping us in the dark, and I
can’t think why they’d do that.”

“I’m confused,” said Mom.  “How connected are NMI and the Bagler-Farrell Foundation?”

Miss Flinckey sighed.  “They’re supposed to be two different entities.  The NMI is national with local chapters throughout the country wherever there is a high Mage population.”

“And the Bagler-Farrell Foundation?” asked Mom.

“That’s a private investment company,” said Sheldon, “who wanted to bid on a possible land deal to provide a school for NMI.”

“Isn’t that a kind of conflict of interests?
  To be on the board for both?”

“I didn’t know about the land deals,” said Flinckey.  “I thought
the Foundation would be using investments to earn money for seminars and scholarships.  Things like that.  I had no idea Mrs. Bagler was trying to get herself a real estate deal with a national institution.”

“
Wanna see my candy?  I got thirty-two bags of Snuffles!” cheered Kelsey, entering with Amity.

Mom’s eyes popped comically, and the room rippled with laughter.  Kelsey took over the coffee table and poured out her bag of candy.

Sheldon pulled me and Amity aside.  “Any chance you want to come with me out to that property and see what kind of work they’ve been doing?”

“Tonight?” asked Amity.  “It’s Halloween.”

“Good.  Everyone will be distracted.  And if a group of teens are going around together, it won’t seem out of place.”

“A
group
of teens?” I asked.

He gave me a hopeful look.  “Think you can scrounge up
a couple of your friends?”

“Do we tell them what’s going on?” asked Amity.

Sheldon thought about this.  “Let’s wait on that until they actually show up.”

“How do we justify taking them out there?” I asked.

Sheldon smiled.  “You’re Kincaid Riley.  Surely you can think of something.”

“Is this the sting?” I asked.

Sheldon shrugged.  “It could be.  Make sure their cell phone cameras work, huh?”

After waiting for fifteen minutes, we figured no one else was coming.  I scanned the faces of my friends: Amity, Elizabeth, Curry, Max, Rikki, Noah, Kameko and polymer guy.

“No Hadley?” I asked.

“I…think he’s still recuperating.  Emotionally,” said Elizabeth confidentially.

“All right then,”
said Amity cheerfully.  “We ready for another adventure?  We have found the most amazing location for a Gel-Ball game of epic proportions!  If we can get pictures of it—you got cell phones?—we can make a slide show to present to Mr. Blakely and Mr. Whittle to see if they can get us cleared for one big school-wide game before they continue the building project.”

“No risk of Punkers showing up?” asked
Noah.

“They’re all still in lock-up,” said Amity.

“Except Jack,” said Rikki.

“He won’t dare,” said Curry with quiet certainty.  “He doesn’t have his guys with him, and he knows he’s been named.  He’s probably home eating candy and trying to look innocent.”

Everyone except me, Elizabeth and Curry piled into mom’s car.  Mom said Amity could drive it, but only because Sheldon would be following behind.  Curry, Elizabeth and I would fly to the site directly.  As we headed out of town, taking it easy along the straight path over houses, Curry soared closer to me.  “This isn’t about Gel Ball, is it?” he asked.

I froze mid-air and actually dropped altitude before catching myself from hitting the top of a gas station.  “How did—?”

“Detective Sheldon’s beater car is following us,” he said pointing west a few blocks.  Sure enough, I could see a car trailing several lengths behind Amity and the gang.

“Good eye,” I said, regaining composure and resuming the journey.

“So?” asked Curry.  “What are we doing?”  He and Elizabeth scooted closer.

“Nailing Bagler for corruption and saving Magian High.  I hope.”

Curry squinted at me and leaned forward so he was more horizontal.  “You really think you can stay ahead of her?”

“
She’s so smart?” I asked.

“
She’s got so much of the town in her pocket,” he said matter-of-factly.  “She’s either bought friends or fooled people into thinking everything she does is good.  It’ll be hard to get anyone to believe otherwise.  You see what they’re trying to do to me.  If this goes wrong and any of Bagler’s cops show up, I’ll be locked away for sure.”

“Not with all the witnesses we’ve got.  Everybody from last night vouched for you in a recording, Curry.  You’ll be fine.  We even told
The Morning Edition
the whole truth this morning at the hospital.”

“Why
would you do that?”

I stared at him in the darkness.  The streetlamps lit us from underneath.  “You’re turning things around,” I said.  “Everyone needs help with that.
”

“
Besides,” said Elizabeth, “we’d rather have you as a friend than an enemy.  You’re big.”

He laughed, as I’d hoped he would, and we
flew on in silence.  At length, we saw the open field and the scattered work lights of the construction site.  Even from over a mile away at night time, I could tell the work had progressed rapidly.  I slowed down and hovered near the property line, glancing back along the road to where the car approached in the distance.

“What is this place?” asked
Elizabeth.

“NMI’s new school,” I said.

“The enemy’s new school?” asked Curry.

I articulated more carefully. 
“NMI.  National Magic Institution.  It’s got chapters all over the country, all hoping to better the world for Mages, so they can rule the world.”

Curry snickered. 
“King Curry, huh?”  He dropped down for a closer look.  “That thing looks huge.  It’s a
school
?”

“It’s the new Magian High, if Bagler gets her way. 
Mages only.”  I hoped he cared enough, and that he’d understand what I meant.  “The land would only be needed if desegregation didn’t work and Mages were forced to leave the district.  Technically, it hasn’t even been sold to the NMI yet, but someone is pretty sure the deal will go through, don’t you think?”

Curry’s lips formed a thin line, and he glared at the mammoth cement shape.  We landed on the gravel by the roadside and waved down the
car.  Amity pulled over and the kids got out.  A few seconds later, I noted Sheldon driving on by, as if not part of the group.  He would be waiting on the site, making sure we were safe to explore.

“Is this trespassing?” asked
Elizabeth.

“Don’t ask,” said Curry.  “And don’t
worry
.  We’re not gonna do anything illegal.  We’re just looking for the best game of Gel Ball ever.  If all of us move quickly and get good pictures, we won’t have to stay too long.”

Curry was so good at this.

We moved across the field as a group, and Elizabeth sidled up to Amity.  “Shouldn’t Claudio be here?  You know, as part of the Unity Team?”

“He couldn’t come,” said Amity.

“You called him?” I asked.

“
He’s got a family activity for Halloween.  I don’t know that he’s the Gel-Ball type, anyway.  Might mess up his hair.”  She winked back at me.

“What do we do about the barbed wire?” asked
polymer guy when we reached the chain-link fence that kept us several yards back from the building.

“Kincaid and I can
fly you over,” said Curry.

“What if we need to make a speedy escape?” teased
Kameko.

“Then
Max and I can
throw
‘em over,” answered Curry, almost smiling at Max.  “Quit worrying.  Let’s just take some pictures of the place and get out of here.”

Curry, Elizabeth and I tugged everyo
ne up and over the fence easily, and we divided up to get shots of the site.  No doubt about it.  It would make the most amazing Gel-Ball arena ever.  The perimeter had work lights placed about every twenty feet, but not all of them were on.  However, enough light shone for us to see pretty well.  The shell of the entire basement was in place, complete with rooms and stairs.  Pipes for plumbing and natural gas jutted out in places, so we could tell where bathrooms would be.  Over half the main floor had been laid down over it, creating a high ceiling, and girders marked where the remaining support would go in.  The whole thing was like a concrete maze on two levels with the higher level affording a view of the basement.  Teams of Gel-Ballers could have a hey-day working out strategies, and I almost forgot that I was on a more important mission.

“Do you see Sheldon?” I whispered to Amity.  Max
was busy framing a shot, and Curry was leading Rikki and Elizabeth downstairs.  Kameko, Noah and polymer guy had slid around the first corner.

“Is that him, over by the
Porto-Potty?”

“Can’t tell,” I said, crouching lower. 
“Could be the night watchman.”  I cupped my hands and hissed, “Stay low!”  Max dropped to his stomach and held his cell phone camera out over the basement. The three of us slipped behind the outer wall and jogged along the side until we found a hole meant for a door.  Inside was a lot harder to see anything even with the giant holes left for windows. I realized the ruse of taking pictures wouldn’t last long.  Following the sound of muffled footsteps, we found all the others downstairs.

“This place is so
awesome!” said Rikki, sweeping a flashlight around the hall.  “What a great idea.”

“
Do you think they’ll ever approve us being here for a game?” asked Noah.

“If we get in soon enough, before they start doing detail work,” said Curry smoothly.  He sure lied well.  I had mixed emotions about that.

“Is this place going to be one of those mega fitness gyms?” asked polymer guy.  “Looks like a pool over there, and—”

He stopped short because we all heard something.  In the dimness, we looked around.  I could barely make out more than our silhouettes against each empty doorway.

“Someone’s coming,” said Kameko, slinking quickly back towards the stairs.  We held our breath and watched her as she moved carefully up and peeked onto the ground floor, careful to keep the beam of her flashlight low.  Suddenly she jerked back down and ran over to us.  “A man is coming this way,” she whispered into the huddle.  “Quick, let’s go…that way!”  She darted in the direction of the thing polymer guy had called a pool, and the others followed.

Amity grabbed my wrist.  “Flash Jump up there and see if it’s Sheldon.”

“What if it isn’t and the guy sees me?”

“Then Flash Jump until you
find
Sheldon.  We’ll need him.  He’s got to be around here somewhere.”

“Do you think we have enough pictures?” I asked, stalling.

“Go!”

Two seconds later, I crouched like a cat on the top step, peering into the shadows.  A
heavy-duty flashlight beam rounded a corner, sweeping back and forth, and that told me it wasn’t Sheldon.  Someone was either doing a routine sweep, or they were searching because they’d heard us.  I turned slowly, about to Jump back to the others—

“Kincaid Riley?”

I froze.  The voice was familiar, but…  “Mr…Whittle?”

“Kincaid, is that you?”  He came
closer, the beam of his flashlight tilted downward, so as not to shine in my face.  “Kincaid, you shouldn’t have come here.  You’re trespassing.”

“How did you—”

“Claudio told me you’d be here.”

I straightened.  “We mean no harm.  We—”

“Where are the others?” he asked.

“Down below,” I said, pointing down the stairs.  “I’ll get them and we’ll leave right away.
  I’m sorry, sir.”  I started down and he followed.  With his flashlight, we found them all by the “pool”.  It was then that I noticed he carried some kind of propane gas tank in one hand.

When
the kids saw Mr. Whittle, a moment of confusion followed, and then Amity stepped forward.  “We won’t get expelled for this, will we, Mr. Whittle?  We didn’t do any vandalizing.  We—”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about expulsion,” he said calmly
, setting the tank down casually.  “Claudio said you were looking for a Gel-Ball arena, but you shouldn’t have come.  It’s not safe here.”

I went over to Amity and took her hand.  The group of us exchanged embarrassed glances and then moved to
leave.

“Oh, no.
  You can’t leave now,” said Mr. Whittle, backing up slightly.

“What?”

Amity squeezed my hand nervously.  Through her teeth, she said, “I never told Claudio
where
we were going—”

Three things happened in rapid succession: I noticed the gassy smell in the concrete room, Mr. Whittle flicked a tiny spark at us and disappeared, and Amity kissed me really hard.

And then everything slowed down like I was having one of those dreams where I’m underwater and can’t move full speed.  Amity released my lips and spoke urgently, even though it came to my ears sluggishly.  “We have to get everyone out of here before the place blows.  The propane tank is leaking, and the spark will ignite a line right into it, like a fuse on a bomb.”

I blinked for what felt like a couple of seconds and turned
my head to see the spark—like the world’s smallest ball of fire—hovering in the air where Whittle had been standing.  Moving closer, I stood next to it, squinting, and could just make out movement.  It reminded me of a tiny comet, hurtling through space towards—

Everyone else stood frozen with varying looks of surprise on their faces.

“What’s with them?” I asked, talking as if I was sleepy, and yet I wasn’t.

“We don’t have much time!” shouted Amity.  “Hurry and help me!”  She ran—
she ran!
—and grabbed Elizabeth.  Instantly Elizabeth moved, though still with unreal slowness.  She shook her head as if to refocus and then stared at us.

“What
—?”

“The spark is about to ignite,” said Amity, touching
Kameko.  “Flash Jump out of here.  Fast!  As far away as you can get.  Take Kameko with you.”

Elizabeth took a second to understand and then
grabbed Kameko by the hand and Flash Jumped up the stairs.  But I could see her.  It looked more like a leaping version of flying, and was only a little faster than I could have run.

“Grab
Rikki!” yelled Amity.  I practically tackled her in my physical grogginess, heaving her over my shoulder before Flash Jumping upstairs and out into the field.

“Run for the
car!” I shouted once I got up there.  Rikki, Kameko and Elizabeth stumbled like astronauts, bounding over the grass.  As I Flash Jumped back, I wondered at how I could have seen Elizabeth when Flash Jumping usually rendered us nearly invisible.  From the top of the stairs, I could see the others.  Curry was moving now and picked up Max like a sack of potatoes and Flash Jumped super slowly up the stairs past me.  I followed suit with polymer guy, and then Curry went back for Noah.