Lucy had already thought of that. “Someone will have to keep watch for them, and I’ll show them how to cross the salt without breaking its ring. We’ll see what reaction this gets, if it gets any." It felt a little peculiar, giving them instructions so calmly, as if she really knew what she was talking about. “When Spencer’s back inside, I’ll set up the candle. It supposed to burn for twenty-four hours, and that should be enough to get started cleaning up the place so we can work tomorrow on ending this ... formula." She realized she’d have to spend most of her allowance on supplies, and felt a touch of annoyance; her father wouldn’t approve of her going into her savings to pay for spell-breaking supplies. She’d have to ask the Geeks about this later.
“You going to need more stuff for stopping this?" Curtis asked, as if reading her thoughts. “B’cause I can give you money to pay for it. You bought it all last time.”
“Okay. Thanks,” said Lucy. “I’ll make a list of what I need and you can tell me how much of it the Geeks can cover."
“Good idea,” Niki approved. “We can all kick in, if it’s too much for Curtis alone.”
There was a general noise of willingness, followed by a long moment of silence as the numbers formed themselves into a spiral, moving down to disappear in the center of the screen; they spun slowly at first, then gradually sped up, becoming almost hypnotic.
“I don’t like the look of this,” said Curtis.
“What do you think, Lucy?" Tom asked.
“I don’t know what to make of it yet." Lucy set up the pillar candle on a saucer next to the desktop. “This smells of vanilla. I hope nobody minds.”
“Better than roses or some of those others,” said Niki. “I don’t like those citrusy ones, or the musk.”
Aaron joined the group around the desktop on the counter. “What do those things do? The candle and the salt?”
“I don’t know for sure; they’re said to clean out psychic gunk from a place, and to keep more from forming. All I know is they work." Lucy turned around and looked directly at him. “The books I’ve read say you can use gold-dust just as well as salt. Would you like that better?”
“Sheesh, no,” said Aaron, holding up his hands in mock surrender. “Not if we’d have to throw it away,”
There was a knock on the door and Bruce came in without waiting to be summoned. “Everybody glad to see me?” he asked in a tone that suggested all sorts of slimy things.
Lucy rounded on him. “Did you break the circle?”
“What circle?" he asked, as if he had stumbled upon illicit doings.
“Did you see Spencer outside?”
“Just now? No. Should I have?" Bruce winked at Lucy in a way that made her want to slap his face. He edged past her. “Oh, look. More numbers.”
“What do you make of them?” Curtis inquired a shade too politely.
Bruce shrugged. “I’ll leave that to Lucy." He slouched over to the coffee pot and poured himself the last of what was in it.
“Make another pot before you sit down,” Niki told him. “You know the rules.”
Sighing his distress, Bruce went back to the coffee-maker and rinsed it out in the industrial sink, filled it with water, then went to the small refrigerator and removed a bag of ground coffee, making every part of this chore seem like one of the Labors of Hercules. “I’m going to make it strong,” he announced as he took down one of the paper filters from the shelf above the coffeemaker. “That okay with everyone?”
“Go ahead,” said Tom, and looked at Lucy. “What do you think?”
“I’ll need tonight to come up with something to try against this,” she said.
“Can’t you just do what you did before?" Spencer asked.
“Probably not,” said Lucy.
“Why not?" Aaron made no apology for his skepticism.
“Because if this is being done by the same person who did the last one, there’ll be booby traps in the program that will stop what we did before from working. Besides, why would the person behind this repeat himself? And this time it’s different — the sequence of numbers has all numbers in it, Which means we’ll have to find a way to make it all turn to zero, and that’s going to take some figuring on my part." She tore out the notebook page with the sequence written on it. “I’ll work on it.”
“I guess you don’t want me to email you the sequence,” Tom say, trying to sound amused.
“It’s bad enough that you’ve got this on your machine. I don’t want it on mine,” Lucy said. “Don’t email it to anyone, don’t put it in an attachment, don’t read it off over the phone. Okay? And leave your notebooks at home tomorrow. All of you.”
Slowly the rest of the Geeks nodded, and Curtis said, “Anything to get rid of it—anything.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow morning, by ten at the latest. I’ll pick up supplies before I get here and I’ll bring receipts." She hoped that by then she would have some idea about how this thing could be destroyed. She promised herself that even if she had to stay up all night, she’d have something to try in the morning.
“Do you want us all here?" Niki seemed edgy.
“All of you,” said Lucy.
“Gweneth’s leaving tomorrow for a week in Santa Fe,” said Tom. “But she’s the only one who’ll be gone.”
“Then everyone but Gweneth,” said Lucy. “That includes Ben,” She took a small box of matches from her tote. “Okay. Once this is lit, make sure it doesn’t go out until tomorrow." With that, she struck a match and set the wick of the candle ablaze. In the next instant, she had to shield the little flame as Spencer returned from encircling the garage with a ring of salt.
“So, Arcane Wisdome, what do you want us to do next?" He handed the nearly empty box of salt back to her.
Lucy almost spilled the box of salt as she set it on the counter near the candle. “Next I want to tell you how to cross the ring of salt without breaking it. And no, you don’t just step across. You make a bridge of salt in the form of a small circle." Very carefully she began to explain.
27
“They’re delaying testimony again,” Melinda announced at dinner, clearly displeased with this development. “More complications. They say one of the witnesses is missing."
“Any idea when they’ll actually do the trial?" Jacob paused in gnawing on his baby back rib, barbeque sauce smeared all over his mouth.
She was able to banish her preoccupied frown. “Not yet. Maybe not until October or November. Maybe next year." She stared at the platter of ribs and slowly helped herself to three.
“Why the postponement?" Lucy asked while she lifted more salad onto her plate. “Is that one witness so important?”
Melinda shrugged. “They don’t tell me those things. There’re two other witnesses to the incident, and they don’t know any more than I do, or so I’m told." She glanced at Lucy’s father. “For now, I can go back to work full-time. That’s something.”
“Sorry that you have to wait,” said Lucy, surprised that she meant it.
“Me, too,” said Melinda with a quivery smile.
Lucy’s father put his hand on Melinda’s. “You’ll get through this, Mel. You’ll do fine.”
“Thanks, Jared,” she said, trying to appear encouraged.
Lucy realized with shock that her stepmother was scared. “It’ll be over in a while, Melinda,” she said.
“God, I hope so,” said Melinda, and changed the subject. “That means we can spend a little more time on our vacation. That’s something.”
“Great!" exclaimed Jason, sitting a little straighter; unlike Jacob, he’d changed out of his school uniform and was in jeans and a Niners T-shirt.
Conan, who was lying near the back door, lifted his head, wagged his tail, and gave a subdued bark of approval.
* * *
By midnight, Lucy had a stack of scribbled notes and a couple of notebook pages filled with numbers. This wasn’t anything she wanted on her computer. She lay on her bed, propped up on her elbow, searching for the technique tha
t would banish the number-stream from Tom’s desktop. Everything she’d read made her think that someone within the Geeks had to be part of what was happening. She thought over the other members and tried to figure out who among them was the most likely to be up to this kind of mischief. Although she wanted to suspect Bruce Paxton because she didn’t like him, she tried not to let her emotions overrule her good sense. She carefully wrote down the names of all of the Gothic Geeks on a clean sheet of paper and stared at them for several minutes. Tom Foster seemed the least likely. Spencer Ryan was hot-tempered, but there was no reason for him to turn on the Geeks. Curtis Ng was another one who didn’t seem to have any reason to do anything like this. She shook her head.
If she had more time, she thought she might try a spell to see who was the culprit. For now, she was stuck with the old-fashioned way of detecting, using only logic to try to figure out who was behind it. “So,” she said to the air, “if Tom and Spencer, and Curtis didn’t summon the infestation, that means Niki or Aaron, or Bruce, or Gweneth did. But which one, and why?”
No matter how she concentrated on the matter, she couldn’t bring herself to think that Niki or Gweneth had done anything so foolish. Both girls were careful with the computers and took great care to make sure that they were properly used. Summoning something like these number sequences didn’t fit in with the way either girl behaved.
She sighed and lay back, thinking that maybe she should try scrying. She didn’t have a crystal ball, but the information she had read had described other means of scrying. She could pour water into a clear glass bowl and use that. Or stare at a pool of ink until she saw something. If she had more time, she might try it, but she doubted it worked, in any case. Her eyes grew heavy, and in a few minutes she was asleep.
* * *
She wakened abruptly at three in the morning. Her light was still on, and three books lay open next to her; her notes lay in disarray around them. Sitting up in bed, Lucy fought down a burst of panic. This wasn’t the time to sleep. She had too much to do. Rubbing her face and wiping her eyes, she forced herself to review what she had written, and looked over the notes one more time. Quickly she did the adding again, and she was pleased to see that her results were the same. Telling herself one more time that she had found the key, she copied out her formulae, checking the sequences twice before she allowed herself to turn off her lamp and fall into a restless sleep. Her last thought before she faded into a dream was I really hope this will work.
* * *
By nine-thirty Lucy had her tote over her shoulder and was on her way down Sacramento Street to the Office Depot and Walgreens to buy the supplies she would need; the morning was still cool from the fog, which was burning off, and she had put on a light sweater over her tank-top to keep from getting chilled. She was almost at the store when she saw Ben coming out of the Office Depot with two large bags in his hands.
“Hi,” he called out to her. “Thought you could use a hand. Sorry I wasn’t around last night.”
Lucy blinked in surprise. “Hi,” she responded.
“I’ve got more banner paper, three marker pens with broad tips, a container of paper plates for salt and candles, a canister of thumb-tacks, and a roll of masking tape." He grinned at her.
“That’s great,” Lucy said, recovering herself a little.
“What else do you need?" Ben asked as he came up to her.
“I’ve got another box of salt in my tote, so I need a couple more pillar-candles and some ribbon.”
“You didn’t use ribbon last time,” he said.
“No, but I want to make sure this gets done properly, so the thing can’t come back." This was the part of her plan that she was most unsure of, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit it.
“Great." He went with her into Walgreens and watched as she purchased candles and ribbon. “I bet the clerk thinks this is for a party,” he said as they left the store.
“Some people might see it that way,” she said, a grim note in her voice. “And if it doesn’t work, that’s what it will probably be.”
“Hey, Lucy, I didn’t mean anything against what you do. I think what you do is ... is remarkable." There was concern in his eyes, and Lucy realized with a start that Ben liked her—uber-liked her.
“Th-thanks,” she said, feeling herself blush. Why did this have to happen so soon after Ditch Day? Maybe it was just a crush and would be gone before she had to decide what to do about it. Why couldn’t she have figured it out before now, or better yet, before Ditch Day? What if she didn’t like him as much as he liked her? That could make things really bothersome and the last thing she needed now was bother. Besides, he was a nice guy — she didn’t want to be on bad terms with him. She steadied herself and said, “I hope I can make it stop, you know? I keep thinking about what I’ve figured out, and I hope I’ve got it right.”
“You will make it stop,” Ben said confidently, and Lucy felt her heart sink, afraid of what he would think of her if she failed to end the manifestation.
“Let’s hope,” she said, and marched off toward the Foster’s house, Ben staying right beside her all the way.
* * *
“I slept on the sofa last night,” said Tom, pointing to the semi-folded blanket on the old piece of furniture. “It’s longer than the couch, but not by much." He craned his neck, working a kink out of it. “The candle stayed lit, and the numbers kept coming. At least I think they did. The candle was still lit this morning”—he pointed to it—“and you can see the screen.”
“You told the others to leave their notebooks at home, didn’t you?" Lucy asked, feeling nervous.
“Yes. They all know not to bring them." Tom sighed. “No one wants to get this on their notebooks, or tablets.”
“And we better be careful with phones, if anyone’s carrying one,” Tom said.
“I’ll turn mine off,” said Ben, and pulled out his new phone to do it.
Curtis, who had arrived just before Lucy and Ben, carried a box of doughnuts and doughnut holes which he put on the coffee table between the couch and the sofa. “Help yourselves.”
Lucy asked, “Are there any simple cake ones? I don’t need a sugar-rush just now.”
“Two. One has icing, the other is plain,” said Curtis, opening the lid of the box. “Take it. It’s yours.”
Lucy claimed the cake doughnut and went to pour herself a cup of coffee, certain that Melinda wouldn’t approve of such a breakfast. She came back to the sofa and plunked herself down on it, dropping her tote from her shoulder, and motioning to Ben to bring the bags. “Okay, as soon as we’re all here, I’ll show you what we’re going to do.” With that, she bit into her doughnut and did her best to quiet her mind.
* * *
Spencer and Niki arrived ten minutes later and were given a brief report by Tom. Finally Aaron and Bruce came sauntering through the door, both of them chuckling.
“What’s funny?” Niki asked sharply.
“This,” said Aaron.
“So New Age-y,” said Bruce with a suggestive glance at Lucy. “I wouldn’t have thought you guys would fall for such ozwonked shi — ”
“Hey, if it works ... ” said Tom.
“If,” Aaron interjected.
“It worked last time,” said Spencer. “No reason to think it won’t again.”
“If you say so,” Bruce said with a smirk.
Tom swung around in his chair, his computer screen partially blocked by his head and shoulders. “Look, you Geeks, leave off. We’ve got work to do. If you don’t want to help, you don’t have to stay.”
Aaron glowered at Tom. “I can’t believe you’re going along with this. And yes, I left my tablet at home, just like the rest of you did.”
“Going along with this?" Tom echoed. “I asked Lucy to bring her equipment and do whatever it is she does to get the computer working properly again.”
“It’s still ozwonked,” Bruce said, and reached down for a doughnut.
Niki shook her head
at Bruce, and gave her attention to Lucy. “So, tell us what you want us to do.”
“There are some number sequences I need you to write on this banner-paper.”
“Like before,” Spencer said.
“But these sequences are a little different. They’re called cumulative by the mathematicians who came up with them. They’re intended to transmute a malign sequence into a good one." She pulled her notepad from her tote, ignoring the sniggers from Bruce. “You need to write this in one continuous line on the banner." She showed the page. “Copy this exactly as you see it here. Make all the numbers very clear. Leave a space between the completed sequences — if they run together, the formula won’t work. 5*53*7*815*2*6545/5*8*7*5*2*2/4*3*4/2 Then, at least six inches underneath this, write: –5 –5 –7 –3 –2 –9 –5 –8 –4 –5 –6 –5. Make sure the minus at the beginning is really clear, because this is the sequence that breaks the original sequence.”
“Move the doughnut box,” said Niki, handing it to Spencer, who picked it up and put it down on the counter next to the coffeemaker.
“Who’s got the best handwriting?" Ben asked.
“Curtis,” said Tom. “And Niki. And Bruce.”
“Leave me out of this part,” said Bruce. “I’m just here to watch.”
“Big of you,” said Niki.
“I’ll be happy to write,” Spencer said.
“I need you to circle the garage with another ring of salt,” said Lucy.
“More salt?" Spencer asked. “Okay; okay. I know the drill. No breaks in the salt, even in the bridge. Go clockwise around the garage and make a small circle to link the two ends of the salt for a bridge — am I right?”
Lucy handed him the box. “Absolutely." She did her best not to reveal the doubts that had taken hold of her.
“You got it,” Spencer said as he trudged off to pour another ring of salt. This time he didn’t bother muttering.
“Any preference for color?" Niki asked, spreading out the markers.
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