Hush-a-Bye

by Jody Lee Mott

  “Pretty,” she said as she undid the red sash around the dress. She gave me a glance, smirked, and stuffed the sash in her pants pocket. Then she placed the doll on the steps leading up to the Gypsum Man’s box and clicked away with her phone.

  I stood there and let her do it. Like I always did. Except this time she’d found a way to grind me under her heel in front of the whole school.

  I could hear them already, pointing at me and laughing until their faces turned red. The Trash Licker with the stone giant for a boyfriend. The weirdo who carried an amputated doll around with her.

  The icy fingers ran cold through every vein in my body. They pinched at every patch of skin, dug in deep, and crawled right through to the bone. I started trembling violently. The tears poured out so hard I could barely see. I wanted to run away, but my legs wouldn’t budge. It was like I’d forgotten how to use them.

  Madison stopped her clicking and frowned at my tear-soaked face. She tapped her foot rapidly on the step.

  “Give it a rest,” she snapped. “I haven’t sent anything yet.”

  I couldn’t stop crying. Madison groaned in annoyance. She snatched up Hush-a-bye roughly by her hair and flung her in my direction.

  The doll skidded across the floor and stopped at my feet. Her unblinking green eyes looked at me. I picked her up, cradled her in my arms, and pressed her hair against my face. No matter how hard I squeezed my eyes shut, the tears kept coming and coming.

  “What do you expect?” Madison’s voice echoed, like she was shouting from the edge of a distant canyon. “You act like this zombie and never say anything. Never do anything. What do you expect is going to happen? How do you think people are going to treat you?”

  “Stop,” I whispered into Hush-a-bye’s hair through gritted teeth. “Please, stop.”

  The tapping started up again. “And then you have this weird doll with no arms and legs you’ve been carrying around for God knows how long. What the heck? Who does that? No wonder everyone calls you Trash Licker.”

  “Please, please make it stop.”

  “You know, I wasn’t really going to send those pictures. It was only a joke—ha ha, funny, see? But maybe I should. Why not? Let everyone see what a loser you are. It’s not my fault. No way. You can’t blame me, you’re such a freaking disaster.”

  “Make her stop. Make her stop.”

  “God! Are you just going to slobber all over that ratty thing? Forget it! I’m sending them now. I can’t wait to see—Ow!”

  Madison’s hurt yelp was followed by the bitter smell of something burning. Confused, I peeked through Hush-a-bye’s curls.

  Madison had one hand clutched in the other, her face grimaced in pain. Her phone lay at her feet. A dark blue flame crackled out of the cracked glass, and a stream of gray smoke rose from it.

  I’d never had my own phone, so I thought maybe she’d overloaded it somehow. But there was something in the way the blue flame danced that seemed unnatural. Like something else had put it there. Or someone.

  “Oh, great,” Madison grumbled, rubbing her hand and wincing. “That’s just perfect.”

  A rumbling sound like distant thunder echoed through the room. The sky through the half-open door was dreary and gray, but there was no sign of rain. Still, the rumble went on and on. It didn’t die away like thunder usually did. The sound was steady and even, like a huge boulder being rolled away from the entrance to a cave.

  I turned to look through one of the high windows in the room, as if the rain might be falling up there for some reason.

  That’s when I saw it. I had to blink several times to make sure.

  Something in my expression made Madison’s eyes grow wide. She looked over her shoulder. A horrible, strangled noise caught in her throat. Without taking her eyes off the thing that caught her attention, she started backing down the steps.

  That’s when I knew for certain I wasn’t imagining it. Madison had seen it too.

  The Gypsum Man was sitting up in his box.

  Madison stumbled on the last step. The giant turned his head, and his empty stone eyes fell upon her. Madison stopped backing away and stared at his stone face.

  The Gypsum Man laid his two large hands on the edges of the box. Slowly, like a gathering storm cloud, he lifted himself up to his full height. His head bashed against a low-dangling ceiling light. It shattered and sent down a shower of sparks and glass. The stone man took no notice.

  Several shards rained on Madison and startled her out of her daze. With a terrified wail, she twisted about and ran for the half-open door. Just as she reached it, the door slammed shut.

  Madison yanked frantically at the doorknob, but the door wouldn’t budge. She beat her fists against it.

  “Help me! Someone, please!”

  All the while, I hadn’t moved an inch. Even when the giant lifted his long stone legs over the side of the box and slowly thumped down the steps, I held still.

  Not because I was too scared to move, and certainly not because I was brave. But I knew something Madison didn’t know. I knew Hush-a-bye had sent the Gypsum Man to help me.

  Of all people. Me.

  I saw the panic and the fear written all over Madison’s face as she edged against the wall, desperately trying to find a way out. I drank it all in, and I smiled.

  That’s right. I actually smiled.

  This is what you get Madison, I thought, kissing Hush-a-bye on the top of her head. This is what you get when you mess with us.

  The Gypsum Man lumbered toward Madison. She screamed and scrambled under a rickety square table, kicking out the chairs at the giant’s legs.

  The stone man flicked them away like gnats. Madison whimpered. Her face was as drenched with tears as mine had been just a few minutes before.

  Now you know, I thought. Now you know what it’s like.

  “I think that’s enough, Hush-a-bye,” I whispered. “She won’t forget this too soon.”

  The doll said nothing, but I thought I saw a tiny glimmer in her green eyes, like she was winking at me.

  I waited for the Gypsum Man to turn back, wondering what I should do next. Should I be gracious and hold out my hand to Madison and let her blubber on my shoulder? Or should I pretend I hadn’t seen a thing, and watch her tie herself in knots trying to explain to her friends how a stone giant attacked her. I could imagine the look on their faces.

  I started to giggle, but then I stopped. Something wasn’t right. The Gypsum Man still hovered over the table where Madison cowered.

  “Fe, fi, fo, fum.” The Gypsum Man’s voice, deep as the ocean, filled the whole room, although his mouth never moved. “I smell the blood of a nasty one.”

  “She’s already had a good scare, Hush-a-bye,” I said, puzzled by this strange show the Gypsum Man was putting on. “Let’s put him back in his box, okay?”

  But the giant didn’t back away. Instead, he raised his massive stone fists high above his head.

  “For all the terror and poison she’s spread,” he roared, “I’ll break her bones until she’s dead.”

  The stone man thrust his huge fists down at the table. Madison screamed. She dove out from under it a half second before the table crashed and splintered. Shards of wood exploded across the room. The giant’s fists smashed into the floor tiles, shattering them.

  I stared blankly at the mangled table and broken floor where Madison had been only a moment ago. Why did he do that? I thought frantically. This isn’t what I want. He almost killed her!

  A vision of twisted limbs lying in a heap flashed in my mind. My stomach squeezed tight, and I thought I might pass out. Only the sound of Madison screaming brought me to my senses.

  The Gypsum Man had Madison backed into a corner. She’d flattened herself against the wall like she was trying to burrow into it. Her eyes were wild, and her usually pink face was now ash-colored.
The giant reached out his wide stone hands and grabbed Madison by her waist. She whimpered but didn’t try to resist. The fight was all gone from her.

  “No,” I said, and shook Hush-a-bye. “This is too much.”

  The Gypsum Man lifted Madison off the ground. Her head lolled to one side. Her eyes were open, but they looked glassy and vacant.

  “No more!” I yelled at the doll and shook her harder. “Put her down!”

  The stone man raised his arms above his head. Madison’s dark hair brushed against the ceiling. He slowly turned about with Madison in his hands lying limp as a rag doll.

  “Stop it! Stop it!” I screamed at Hush-a-bye. I screamed until my throat was raw, but it didn’t make any difference. And it suddenly dawned on me what was really going on.

  Hush-a-bye didn’t want to just scare Madison. She wanted to hurt her, to murder her. I couldn’t let that happen.

  I ran up to the stone man and stood in front of him. I cradled Hush-a-bye with one arm and hooked my fingers under her chin.

  “Put her down,” I said, trying to steady the trembling in my voice. “Put her down right now or I’ll tear your head off.”

  The giant, still holding Madison above his head, looked down at me. There was no sign of life in his stone eyes, but his stare sent shivers through me.

  “I’ll do it.” I pulled up a little on Hush-a-bye’s chin. “I’ll rip it right off and stomp it into little pieces until there’s nothing left.” I pulled harder, until there was a cracking noise from the doll’s neck.

  The Gypsum Man tilted his head to one side like a curious dog. I took a step back, still keeping my fingers hooked under the chin. Sweat ran into my eyes, stinging them. I blinked it away as best as I could.

  For what seemed like forever we both stood there, looking at each other, not moving. Then, ever so slowly, the giant lowered his arms and laid Madison out on the floor on her back. She didn’t move, but I could hear her breathing.

  The stone man strode across the room. I moved back against the wall, never loosening my grip on the doll. The giant climbed the steps, then eased himself back down into his stone coffin. The room went dead silent.

  For several seconds I stayed still, my eyes glued to the Gypsum Man’s display to see if he had really stopped moving. Slowly, I crept up the steps to edge of his box. The stone man lay in his coffin just like the first time I’d seen him, nothing more than a man-shaped rock.

  I drew in a deep breath, then dashed down the steps, shoved Hush-a-bye deep in my bag, and bolted toward the door. It opened without any problem. And I would have shot right out of there, except my way was blocked by Ashley and Gretta and the gang of smirking kids clustered behind them.

  There must have been something about the look on my face, because they shrank back from me like I had the plague.

  “What is your deal, Trash Licker?” Ashley said, curling up her lips in disgust. “You got rabies or something?”

  “Madison,” I said breathlessly, pointing back into the room. “She was . . . Help her.”

  I barreled straight ahead. The crowd jumped away from me, probably wondering if Ashley had a point. I ran as fast as I could, not even bothering to look behind me when Ashley and Gretta started screaming.

  17

  ONCE I’D LEFT Madison, I’d headed straight for the bus. No other kids were there yet, and the bus driver only glanced up from his newspaper and grunted when he saw me. I bowed my head low and waited.

  Not too long after, there were sirens and the flashing lights of an ambulance. A few minutes later, Madison was rolled away on a stretcher while the other kids gawked. Ms. Crozzetti, with her glasses set on top of her head and her arms flailing like a broken windmill, tried to herd the class back on the bus.

  Ashley and Gretta spotted me through the bus window. They whispered to Ms. Crozzetti and pointed in my direction. Ms. Crozzetti stared up at me with a look of complete bewilderment.

  A streak of lightning cut across the sky, followed by a ripping clap of thunder. And then rain dropped out of the clouds in huge, fat sheets. I moved my bag off the seat and tucked it under my feet as the kids ran onto the bus, soaked to the bone.

  Ms. Crozzetti sat next to me the whole ride back, tapping her damp clipboard with a single chipped fingernail. She didn’t say a word to me. She didn’t even scold the kids when their buzzing chatter grew to a decibel-shattering loudness.

  Once we’d returned to school, she ordered the class to brave the downpour and get to their last-period class. Then she took my hand and marched me straight to the principal’s office. I barely had time to snatch my bag.

  * * *

  —

  “You can trust me, Laura,” Mr. Hendershot said. He wore a fake smile that wouldn’t have fooled anybody. “Was there anyone else there with you and Madison Underwood at the Gypsum Man display?”

  I barely moved my dripping head from side to side, but it was enough for Mr. Hendershot to consider it a no. My fingers were twisted together tight in my lap. It was the first time I’d ever set foot in the principal’s office. It was tinier than I’d imagined, and it smelled like cough drops.

  Mr. Hendershot nodded and scratched something on a yellow legal pad. He’d long since given up plying me with any open-ended questions once he’d realized that was going nowhere fast, so he stuck with ones I could answer without words.

  That was fine by me. Besides, what could I tell him that he’d ever believe?

  Mr. Hendershot’s phone rang. He listened, rapping his pencil against the desk, then hung up without saying anything.

  “Excuse me, Laura,” he said with that same fake smile and left the room, closing the door behind him. Either because it wasn’t a very good door or the walls were thin, I heard every word.

  “What is it with Laura? Can’t she talk?”

  “Her name’s Lucy,” the office secretary said. “She’s just shy. I doubt she had anything do with Maddie.”

  “Who?”

  “Madison Underwood. I just received a call from the hospital. She’s awake now, and she’s claiming she’s been assaulted.”

  “Assaulted by Laura? That scrawny girl? She doesn’t look like she could beat up a bag of potato chips.”

  “It’s Lucy. And no, she didn’t hurt Maddie. That’s the thing. The poor girl is claiming the Gypsum Man attacked her. You know—the stone statue.”

  Several seconds passed in silence. Then the door opened, and the fake-happy face of Mr. Hendershot poked in.

  “You can go back to class now, Laura,” Mr. Hendershot said. “Mrs. Bailey will give you a pass.”

  Twenty minutes later, I was riding the bus home alone. Antonia had another tutoring session that afternoon. I was glad I wouldn’t have to explain anything to her right away. A few kids shot me strange looks in passing, but no one said boo to me. I shivered in my still-damp clothes and kept the bag tight on my lap.

  When I finally got home, my luck held out. Mom’s car wasn’t parked by our trailer, so she was still at work. I let myself in and headed straight to the bedroom, closing the door behind me. Without even bothering to take off my wet clothes I dropped the bag, collapsed to the floor, and burst into great big sobs.

  After a long, long while, when I’d pretty well emptied myself out, I wiped my face with the back of my sleeve, crawled forward on hands and knees, and, with the last bit of energy I had left, heaved myself onto my bed.

  “Ow!”

  Something hard dug itself into my ribs. I rolled over and noticed something was under the blanket.

  I skittered off the bed and fell back onto Antonia’s bed, then kicked off one sneaker and threw it at the lump. It didn’t move.

  Feeling slightly relieved it wasn’t a garter snake that’d found its way into the trailer, I got up and took hold of the top of the blanket. Then I froze. Even before I’d pulled the blanket back, I knew what I
’d find under there. But even knowing didn’t keep me from shuddering.

  I slowly drew back the blanket. And there on my faded, striped bedsheet, laid side by side, were two pale doll’s arms.

  18

  “SHE’S ALMOST WHOLE,” I whispered, staring at the doll’s arms.

  Almost whole. Only Hush-a-bye’s legs were missing. And once she had those, then she’d . . .

  I blinked. Then she’d what? What would she do when she was finally complete? I had no idea.

  The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t know anything about this doll. What was she, anyway? A witch? A monster? Or something that didn’t even have a name? And what did she want from me and Antonia?

  The questions piled up one on top of the other like so many dead leaves, and not one single answer peeked out and hollered from under the whole mess.

  Even worse, there was no one I could turn to for help—not Mr. Capp, not May, not even Mom. What would I say? Excuse me, I think this doll is possessed? No one would believe me. No one except Antonia.

  I bit my lip. Antonia. She’d believe me, all right. But I could never tell her what happened with Madison and the Gypsum Man in a million years. Because then I’d have to admit to Antonia why I snuck Hush-a-bye out in the first place. And if I did that, the truth about being the Trash Licker, and all the lies I’d told Antonia to keep her from finding out, would come crashing down on my head. The thought of the pained look on her face once she’d seen who I really was—that scared me more than anything.

  I started to feel a little dizzy, so I closed my eyes. Think, think, think, I told myself. What can I do to learn more about Hush-a-bye and figure out what’s my next step? Should I search the island again? Or along the riverbank? Maybe do some research in the library—

  My eyes snapped open. “The book!” I’d been so caught up in wondering what evil schemes Madison had planned for me, I’d forgotten about the chapter in the book I’d started reading in the library. The one with the picture of the doll who looked like Hush-a-bye.