“Are you going somewhere Blue?” I asked, knowing for a fact that he was.
“None of your business,” he replied, heading for the door.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I spat, madder than ever. “My mother went out to spend her last dollar on food for you – or Johnny – because she was so proud of him but you’re really the one she’s proud of. So what are you going to do about it?”
“Me?” He raised an eyebrow and laughed. “I’ll eat everything your mother puts on my plate.” With a chuckle, he headed out the back door and across the yard. I figured he was cutting across the cemetery to go to town or to find friends.
“Arrgh!” I said, slamming the door behind him. I was chilled by more than just the cold winter air. There was a charming side to Blue, but there was another side to him I was sure was sinister. And that side, I didn’t want my little brother to be exposed to at all. Now I just needed to figure out how to stop it.
“Raven?” asked Candy, stepping around two dogs to get to me. “Are you just going to let him leave?”
“What can I do?” I asked, knowing how boys were. You tell them one thing and they do just the opposite.
“Aren’t you worried about Johnny?”
“Of course I am. But he’ll be back in time for dinner.”
“How do you know that?”
“I know enough about Blue to realize he likes to eat.” I headed to the kitchen to start setting the table.
“Okay, I admit it, I’m worried about the little troll,” I told Candy as I stared out the storm door, watching for Johnny to return. Mother had been home for an hour already and the dinner was just about done.
“Johnny, come down for dinner,” my mother called up the stairs. “Johnny, do you hear me?”
Candy and I exchanged glances. Of course he didn’t hear her because he wasn’t up there.
“Raven, go get your brother so we can eat before the food gets cold,” said Mom, drying her hands on a dishtowel.
Well, the time had come. I was going to have to tell her everything now.
“I can’t, Mom,” I said.
“Why not?” she asked, draining the spaghetti noodles in the sink.
“Because he’s not up there.” I blurted it out quickly, thinking she’d be concerned but it didn’t seem to bother her.
“Of course he is, Raven.” Mother mixed the noodles with the sauce. “Where else would he be?”
“Raven!” Candy pointed out the door. Johnny came stumbling out of the graveyard, heading toward the house. Or at least I thought it was Johnny. It was getting hard to tell Johnny and Blue apart. But when he made his way into the house and looked up at me with confused eyes, I figured I had to help him. Taking off his backpack, I brushed the snow off his clothes.
“Where have you been, Johnny?” I whispered. “Supper is ready.”
“I – I’m not sure,” he said, acting like he was trying to remember.
“You smell like smoke again, and don’t think Mom isn’t going to notice,” I scolded. “Here, take off this jacket and maybe she won’t smell the stench.”
“No!” He cried, gripping on to his jacket, not wanting to take it off. I now regretted more than ever giving it to him. If I had known at the time it would be the bridge between him and Blue, I would have burned the danged thing.
“Johnny?” Mom looked up from the table. “Why are you wearing your jacket in the house? I hope you don’t think you’re going anywhere this time of day. It’s already dark out there.”
“Give me the jacket,” I demanded. Together, Candy and I pulled it off of him and I pushed him toward the dinner table.
“I feel like burning this stupid thing,” I mumbled to Candy, bending down and picking up the backpack as well. It was unzipped, and something fell out.
Candy gasped and held her hand over her mouth. “Raven? Do you see what I see?”
There was a bundle of money on the floor held together with a paper tie. I slowly bent down and picked it up and then opened up the backpack and looked inside. Candy peered over my shoulder.
“We’ve got trouble on our hands, Candy,” I told my friend, opening the bag wider for her to see at least a dozen more bundles of cash smashed down inside Johnny’s backpack.
“Raven, where did he get it?” asked Candy.
“If he stole it, I am going to personally kick his butt.”
“Should we tell your mother about it?” Candy stared at me with wide, blue eyes.
“I don’t know,” I said, looking back at the table. Mother was doting over my little brother. She was so proud of him, even if it wasn’t for real reasons. Maybe I should tell her. Then again, she had finally stopped crying. And I also didn’t want Johnny to go to jail, or possibly even my mother. After all, she had a good motive for wanting money right now since she’d just lost her job. This couldn’t possibly fare well for either of them in the end.
I hurriedly pushed the money back into the backpack, and hung up the blue leather bomber jacket in the coat closet.
“We’re not going to say a word about it,” I said to Candy.
“We’re not?” She seemed surprised.
“Not yet,” I said, devising a plan in my head. “First, we need to know where he got it.”
“How are we going to find out?” asked Candy. “I don’t think Johnny even knows he has it.”
“Probably not,” I answered. “There is only one person who knows where all this money came from, and we’re going to have to follow him to find out what he’s up to.”
“Blue?” asked Candy, looking a little scared.
“Blue,” I answered confidently, knowing I’d do whatever it took to clear my little brother’s name – even deal with the evil nursery rhyme characters in the other realm. I didn’t want to go there again, but it was exactly where I had to go, no matter how frightening it was.
Chapter 8
Johnny was so shaken the night before that Candy and I never told him about the money in the backpack. I was sure he didn’t know about it and that it was something Blue had done.
My mother went to the diner early the next morning to work a double shift, so I didn’t even see her before she left. Candy and I were at the kitchen table having bowls of cereal when Johnny bolted down the stairs.
“You bitches! What did you do with the money?” Well, there was no mistaking that it wasn’t really my brother.
“Good morning, Blue,” I said, looking down to the cereal bowl and not answering his question.
“Morning,” echoed Candy, continuing to eat as well.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be.” Blue’s charm was gone – not that I thought it was real and would really last in the first place. “Tell me where it is or I might have to beat it out of you.” He pulled open the door of the fridge, yanking out some orange juice and drinking straight from the carton. He let out a loud belch and crushed the carton in one hand.
My head snapped up to look at him, and that’s when I saw something I hadn’t noticed before. “Are those . . . whiskers on your face?” I asked him.
“What about it?” He continued to glare. “You know I’m going to find it because I can find a needle in a haystack.”
“I thought once you got around haystacks you fell fast asleep,” I said with a giggle, making Candy laugh as well.
“Laugh all you want, but you’re going to have to get used to me because I’m not leaving.”
“What do you mean?” My heart skipped a beat.
“You’ve seen the last of your twerpy little brother, because I’m here to stay.”
“You can’t do that!” spat Candy, her eyes roaming from Blue over to me. “Can he?” she asked meekly.
I honestly had no idea if he could or not, but panic was setting in. If he could, then Johnny would be lost to the other realm forever.
“Where are my trumpet and jacket?” asked Blue, finding them and heading for the door. “See you two later,” he said, his words sounding more like a threat than a pr
omise.
“What are we going to do?” asked Candy as soon as he left the house.
“I – I’m not sure,” I said. “Candy, let’s walk to school today instead of taking the bus.”
“Why?” she asked. “So we don’t have to watch the pompous Blue acting like an ass on the bus?”
“That, too,” I told her. “But I want to cut through the graveyard on the way there because there is something I need to do.”
Candy was hesitant about the idea and, to be honest, so was I. But Johnny was in trouble and I had to do anything I could to try to help him.
“Hurry up,” complained Candy ten minutes later as I stood there with my hands on Blue’s gravestone. “It’s cold out here and looks like it’s about to snow.” Candy’s teeth chattered together.
“Just give me a minute,” I said, taking off my glove and stroking the crystal shard. My other hand stayed on the gravestone. Nothing happened, and I didn’t know why. But then I started to think of my brother. I felt so sad for him and really missed him.
In that split second I heard the clanging of a bell and felt my head go dizzy. I held on to the headstone with two hands, and when I opened my eyes slowly, Candy was gone and in her place stood my brother.
“Johnny!” I cried, not exactly certain, but thinking we were in an alternate realm.
“Raven, where am I?” Johnny’s eyes were wide as he looked around.
“You’re in Jonathon Wolsey’s world,” I told him. “Or should I say Little Boy Blue’s?”
“Oh.” Johnny looked sad and I couldn’t blame him.
“You need to come back to our world, Johnny.”
“No!” he shouted. “Everyone likes me when I’m him. And he can play the trumpet solo that you know I could never do.”
“So what?” I asked. “Who cares?”
“I do.” Johnny pouted.
“You can’t stay in this realm, Johnny. You don’t belong here and Blue certainly doesn’t belong in ours.”
“Then I’ll just stay here until the Christmas concert is over. Then when I come back, everyone will think I’m the best trumpet player ever. And I’ll have girlfriends. Lots of them.”
“Really?” I asked, not even able to believe he was acting so stupid. “And what happens when you return and can’t play a single note on the horn?”
“I’ll give it up. I swear I will. No one will ever know it wasn’t me.”
For a moment, I have to admit, his offer was tempting. To never hear my little brother botching up another tune on the trumpet is something that would bring peace to all of us. But then I pushed past the temptation of it. After all, Johnny was my brother and Blue was only some conniving ghost that I had the feeling was doing some awful things besides possessing my brother.
“Johnny, it’s not right. It’s not who you are. You shouldn’t want to be somebody else.”
“Why not?” he spat. “My life sucks. I want the life that Blue is living and I’m going to use him to get it.”
“No. You don’t understand. You’re not using him – he is using you. And what about Mother? Do you want her to think that Blue is you?”
He thought about it for a moment and I was sure he was going to agree to come back. But then he, once again, shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest.
“It’s only for a while and then I’ll be back and Mom doesn’t have to know a thing.”
“I’m going to tell her,” I threatened him, playing his little game that he normally did to me.
“No, you won’t,” he challenged me. “If you do, I’ll tell her all about you having the hots for Dex.”
“I do not!” I protested, even though it was true. Time was wasting and Johnny was acting like an immature idiot as usual. I had to bring him to his senses before it was too late. “Johnny, you have to push Blue out of your body and take control. If you don’t, something really bad is going to happen.”
“No it won’t,” he said. “My life is only going to be better because of this.”
“No, it won’t. And you need to stop thinking your life is so awful.”
“Isn’t it? After all, I don’t know any other kids whose fathers abandoned them on their birthdays.”
“Get over it, Johnny. You can’t control what others do. Only what you do. Now take control of your life before you’re stuck in this realm forever.”
He looked suddenly horrified. “You don’t think that will happen do you, Raven? I don’t like it here. Everything is gloomy and spooky, and I miss Trapper.”
Before I could comfort him, Cardinal Wolsey appeared wearing some kind of cloak with the heads of four blue leopards on it. He was sweating and dabbing his brow with a cloth.
“There you are, Son,” he growled. “Now give me back the money.” His breathing was labored.
“Raven? Who’s that?” asked Johnny, pointing at the man.
“He’s your father and you’re his illegitimate son,” I explained.
“No, he’s not. No, I’m not.” Johnny shook his head and backed away as the cardinal walked toward him with blazing eyes of fire.
“Hand over the money,” screamed the man. “You no good, rotten boy.”
“What money?” Johnny looked at me in terror. “Raven, you’ve got to help me.”
“I’ve got the sweating disease and won’t live long. Now hand it over before you become sick, too.”
I took a step forward to help Johnny, but just then I felt myself starting to shift out of this spooky realm. I tried to stay but I couldn’t control it.
“Run, Johnny,” I yelled as I fell to ground, feeling like I was about to pass out. “Run and hide.”
“Raven, wake up!” Candy kneeled on the ground next to me in the snow, shaking me.
My eyes slowly drifted open to find myself on the ground in the cemetery in front of Blue’s grave.
“Candy, Johnny needs my help,” I said. “I need to get back to the other realm.”
“Well, your help is needed here as well,” Candy told me.
“What do you mean?” I got up and brushed the snow off of me.
“Look!” Candy pointed to the flashing blue and red lights of a squad car chasing a group of kids down the street, just outside of the cemetery.
“What’s going on?” I asked her.
“I’m not sure,” said Candy. “But I am sure that I saw Blue in that group of kids running away from the cop.
“Do you think this has something to do with that money we found in his backpack?” I asked.
“It could be,” said Candy. “Raven, we’d better turn it in to the cops.”
“No, we can’t do that,” I said, feeling more panicked than ever. “If so, Johnny is going to go to jail for something he didn’t do.”
“Where did you hide it?” asked Candy.
“It’s in my room,” I said, suddenly feeling terrified. “What if the cops come and search our house? Candy, I might be the one ending up in jail.”
“We need to do something about it. We have to move it. Find a different hiding place.”
“I agree,” I said, not liking the whole idea of harboring a criminal in our house as well as the stolen money. But still, we weren’t even sure what was going on. “Just until we can ask Blue about it. I’m not even sure the money is stolen,” I told her. “In the other realm, Cardinal Wolsey is looking for the missing money.”
“Cardinal Wolsey?” asked Candy. “The guy we studied about in history class?”
“He’s the one,” I said, feeling a sense of doom overwhelm me. “He’s also Blue’s father and now he is after Johnny. Candy, Johnny doesn’t want to come back. Not until after the Christmas concert when Blue plays the solo for him.”
“Raven this is bad. Really bad,” said Candy, shaking her head.
“I agree,” I said. “And the first things we need to do are move that money and talk to Blue.”
Candy looked at her watch. “Well, it’s going to have to wait because, as it is, we’re going to
have to run to get to school before the last bell.”
“Dang, I didn’t know it was that late.” I looked over to the house, contemplating going back to move the money.
“Come on,” said Candy, taking me by the arm and starting to run to school. “If either one of us gets another pink slip for being late, we’re going to detention. We’re already living on borrowed time.”
“You’re right,” I said, looking back over my shoulder once more and taking off at a run. I didn’t want the principal phoning my mother about my behavior because something was really upsetting my mother lately and it wasn’t just losing her job. I think it had something to do with my father. And that was something else I was going to have to try to fix.
Chapter 9
“Ms. Birchfield and Ms. Willowsby, you are late,” said Mr. Sprat, my biology teacher, as Candy and I ran into our first class just after the bell. He pulled out pink slips and started to scribble something on them. “You’ll both report to the detention hall after school today. I will have to send a full report to Principal Devlin since you two have been getting into a lot of trouble lately.”
I let out a sigh and walked to the front of the class to get my pink slip. Candy was right behind me. True, we were late a few times, but what he was really referring to was the trouble we had gotten ourselves into when Muffet had taken over Candy’s body. I had hoped that was all behind us now, but apparently some ghosts of the past were hard to shake.
“Good going, you two delinquents,” said Janelle from her desk, looking into her compact mirror and rolling a thick layer of lip gloss over her mouth.
“Ms. Thompson, put that away or I’ll be writing up a pink slip for you next.”
Janelle snapped closed the compact and stuck it back into her purse. As we walked past, I could feel Dex and Brett staring at us from the desks next to Janelle.
I looked over at Dex and flashed a smile. He did the same back. Then with my head down, I went over to my desk and sat down. I couldn’t concentrate, because I kept thinking about Johnny. I never should have left him. He needed my help! Then again, the kid was being stubborn, not wanting Blue to leave his body. This whole thing was a mess.
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