“Those are nifty shoes,” said the man, pointing to the lady’s shoes.
“They helped me find you,” she said.
“And find my notes,” he added.
“But next time, I’ll check my shoe before I put it on.” The lady laughed.
They passed Shue without noticing her. She stood up, and a second later I was gone. This time I forgot to prepare myself for the pain, and it caught me by surprise. I screamed. It was sharp, but it was fast, and by the time Mom opened the basement door and called down to me, I had recovered. I jumped up and ran to the bottom of the stairs.
“ASH!” Mom shouted again. She started down the stairs. She stopped halfway down, suddenly seeing me. “Are you okay? I heard a scream.”
“I was excited.” I waved my notebook in the air. “I figured out something in my story—something important.” For once it wasn’t a lie. Well, not a complete lie. I hadn’t written a story, but the figuring-out part was true—and my discovery was important. In fact, it was amazing and almost unbelievable. Miss Sato and Mr. Gripes were in Shue’s wishes. And then, like a lightbulb suddenly flashing above my head, I knew the truth—there were no coincidences; everything was happening for a reason. I didn’t know the whats or the whys, but I couldn’t think about that now. For now, just knowing it was enough. I smiled up at Mom.
Mom was confused. She glanced around the basement. From where she was standing, she couldn’t see the wish jar. She sighed.
“Well, I’m happy it’s going well.”
I nodded and pointed to the chair. “I need more time.”
Mom started back up the stairs. When she got to the top, she turned. “Just half an hour more, okay?” And she closed the door.
I wanted to scream but couldn’t. I forced myself down and sat on the step. I hugged my knees in, pressing myself into a ball. Containing my excitement was hard—knowledge has energy. Miss Sato and Mr. Gripes were the man and the lady in Shue’s wish. I couldn’t believe it—these were real people, people I knew, and I’d seen them in some kind of time warp. The wishes were true! It wasn’t just a fantasy. It was real life. And suddenly I was wondering: the magic, the wishes, and Sam—was it all supposed to happen? And to me? But mostly I was thinking about Ashley and Shue. Were they strangers? Or did I know them too?
I walked back to the chair. I wanted to know more, do another wish, but at the same time I was exhausted and overwhelmed. I picked up the jar and held it in my lap. I looked down at the wishes; there were twenty, maybe thirty left. Suddenly it seemed like too much. Could I last that long? I picked one out and rolled it between my thumb and finger. Now I was wondering again, but this time it was different. This time I was worried. What if I found out something I didn’t want to know? I opened the wish and held it on my leg, smoothing it out with my fingers—only feeling it—and then I forced myself to look down.
I Want to Play with That Girl Again
“Burgundy bear.” I said my test words as soon as I saw Shue. I was getting tired of them, but should I give it up? What if it changed the wishes? What if I needed to say it to keep them working? Something had changed. I wasn’t just watching a story—now I felt like I was part of it. Maybe what I did had power. Suddenly I felt more like Viola Starr, only poorly written and unprepared.
Shue was sitting on some front steps of a house—hers, I guessed. I could hear laughter and screaming coming toward us from down the street. Suddenly I recognized Ashley. She was holding a small brown bag in the air, keeping it away from a boy. It took me an extra second or two, but I recognized his shoes. It was Spencer. Ashley was taller, but Spencer was fast—he was going to get the bag away from her. Shue leaned forward and smiled—they were fun to watch. Suddenly Ashley saw Shue; a second later she called out to her.
“Hey, girl on the step! Come help. I’ll throw this to you, and you throw it back to me!”
Shue hesitated; Spencer made a jump for the bag but just missed it.
“Help!” screamed Ashley.
Shue jumped up and ran behind Spencer. Suddenly the bag was in her hands. It was too much for Spencer—he was outmatched. He tried, but he couldn’t compete. It was monkey in the middle, and he was forever going to be the monkey.
“Just one orange sour,” whined Spencer.
Ashley shook her head. “No way! You ate your candy; this is mine.”
Spencer tried for the bag one more time, but the girls were too fast. He scowled at Ashley and walked off in a huff.
Shue looked worried. “Is he mad?”
I could tell she was feeling guilty.
Ashley shrugged like she didn’t care. She leaned to the side and looked behind Shue. “Is that your house?”
Shue nodded.
Ashley pointed down the block. “We just moved in. The brown house.”
Shue nodded again. Ashley opened her bag. She looked inside and held it open for Shue.
“You can pick anything you want, just not the orange sours—those are my favorites.”
Shue smiled. “They’re my favorites too.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a long string of red licorice. She smiled. “But I like this too.”
Ashley picked out an orange candy and popped it into her mouth. She scrunched up her face. I guessed that was the sour part. She closed the bag, shoved it into her pocket, and walked down the sidewalk toward her house. Halfway there, she turned back and waved. I smiled; I liked this, knowing how they met. And then slowly I felt myself fading away. There was no pain, but I sat in the chair thinking about what had just happened. I’d changed my mind—I liked beginnings.
I didn’t know how much time had passed. I was a little worried that it had been hours, but when I got upstairs, Mom smiled and said, “Oh, good, perfect timing.” She and Claire were going through Mom’s boxes for the yard sale and sticking on the prices.
Mom picked up an old rusty spoon and stuck a price on it. Who was going to buy that? Her hair was in her eyes and she looked tired. I had a feeling this yard sale was more work than she’d imagined. She looked over at me.
“Is your box ready? We’re almost finished with these.”
I nodded. I didn’t have much in my box—Claire had taken most of it—but still, it was better than nothing.
When I got to my room, I collapsed on my bed. I wanted to rest, but my head was full of thoughts. Swirling and spinning and making me dizzy. I needed a break—fresh air. I grabbed the box and carried it downstairs.
I dropped it in front of Mom.
“Is that all you have?”
I nodded and told her about Claire. Mom looked in the box again, and then over at Claire. She was probably trying to imagine what Claire had pulled out. I didn’t say anything, but Claire was like Mom—a junk lover. And Claire’s room was starting to look a lot like the basement.
Mom pulled the box away from Claire. “Let’s leave the rest for the sale.”
It was crazy that Mom was worried about having enough stuff for the sale. This was going to be the biggest yard sale our neighborhood had ever seen.
Claire stood up. “Can we do my scavenger hunt now?”
She was always catching me by surprise, asking for things when I wasn’t expecting it. There was an old page-boy hat in my box. She pulled it out, stuck it on her head, and turned it sideways—the girl definitely had a way with fashion. When she was sure that I was watching, she pulled it off and waved it at me.
“You can use this for the scavenger hunt,” she said. Claire looked at Mom. “If you hide it, and I find it, I get to keep it.”
Mom sighed and shrugged. She couldn’t say no to Claire. I didn’t say anything, but I felt the same way.
An hour later I was on my bike and headed to the thrift store. It was another new first—totally unexpected, totally not me, and one hundred percent because of Claire. It felt weird riding on my own—like I’d lost an appendage or something. It was faster and smoother, but I missed Claire being behind me. I parked outside the thrift store and locked up my bike. It w
as a secret, me coming here, at least from Claire. Mom had been shocked when I’d told her where I was going. I knew how she felt—I was shocked too! Can you surprise yourself? Absolutely.
Looking around the thrift store still wasn’t my favorite thing, but it was better than I thought it would be. Having a mission helped. After about forty-five minutes I had everything I needed: a shirt, a vest, a dress, a skirt, a jacket, two scarves, and a belt. I wasn’t sure how it would all work, but Claire was good at that—putting things together. I took everything to the counter and waited in line. There were two old ladies ahead of me. They were slow, but I didn’t mind listening to them. Suddenly something on the shelf across from me caught my eye. It was staring at me, not blinking, and hard to ignore. It was a large plastic owl. That was Lucy’s favorite animal! I had to get it for her. I grabbed it, but suddenly I was holding too much and things began to slip loose. The belt and the vest fell on the floor. I shoved the owl under my arm, shifted things around, and bent down to pick them up. And then, there in front of me, on the bottom of the shelf, were Claire’s red shoes—the ones she’d been wearing around the store.
Should I get them? I grabbed them. Maybe she could use them for dress-up. I smiled—she’d be so surprised. It was a struggle to hold everything, but I made it to the counter without dropping anything else. This had gone even better than I’d expected. I wasn’t a thrift store convert, but I got it. The thrill of the find was kind of exciting. And getting it all for seven dollars and thirty cents—well, that just made it even better.
When I got home, there was a postcard from Lucy on the table. I still missed Lucy, but it was different from before—not so desperate. The postcards had helped. Now I knew something new. Distance wasn’t going to pull us apart. Lucy and I would be friends forever.
There was a lot about Claire—Lucy’s Claire—in the postcard. I was surprised, but reading about them doing things together didn’t make me jealous—not even a little bit. It was nice that Lucy had someone to hang out with. I wanted her to be happy.
While Claire and Mom watched a movie, I organized the scavenger hunt for the next day. It had a theme—fashion. My fingers were crossed that Claire was going to love it.
chapter thirty-five
Find
Claire woke me up super early. She was excited about the scavenger hunt and couldn’t wait to get started. I was glad that I’d done the clues the night before—thinking of clue riddles at six in the morning would have been impossible. I made her go back to her room and wait, so I could get the clothes out of the laundry and hide them. I’d set my alarm to get down to the basement early, but that had been to do something completely different. Now there wasn’t going to be time for wishes until after the scavenger hunt.
At the last minute I decided to not give Claire the red shoes. I was bent down hiding them under the sofa when all of a sudden a new plan flashed in my head. Were the red shoes like my adventure hat? Could they do the same thing? For the right people some ordinary things had special powers—time travel powers; they could take you back in time. Maybe the red shoes could do that for Miss Sato and Mr. Gripes. Could seeing them remind them of how they used to be in love? They looked like the same kind of shoes from the wishes; maybe they would work.
It was crazy, but I wanted to keep my promise to Claire. Suddenly I could see how important that was. I ran upstairs and put the shoes away for later.
Claire screamed when I gave her the paper with the list of clues. I don’t think I’d ever seen her so excited before. It felt good. Like her excitement was giving me a boost of energy and happiness. I was glad Mom was up; waking up to that scream would have been shocking. After about five minutes it was obvious—the scavenger hunt was too easy. Claire had no trouble figuring out the clues and finding all the clothes I’d hidden. At first I was disappointed, but then I decided too easy was probably better than too hard. At least she could do it by herself. Every time Claire found a new piece of clothing, she put it on. I had done a pretty good job with the sizes, and everything seemed to fit. The last thing she found was the second scarf, and she tied her hair up with it, just like Wendy, the girl at the VS Depot, had done. Mom got her camera and took a picture, which was good, because two seconds later it all came undone. I guess tying your hair up was harder than it looked.
When you get up early, you can get a lot done. By nine o’clock we were already on the bike and ready to ride down to the VS Depot. I couldn’t find my backpack, so I used one of Dad’s belts to attach the big plastic owl I’d bought for Lucy to my back. It was a strange way to transport it, but it worked, and Claire said she liked how it was looking at her while we were riding. I had to take the red shoes too, but that wasn’t as tricky—they were small and not hard to carry in a normal plastic bag. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get the shoes down there without Claire noticing them. As usual, she was full of questions.
“Why are you taking those? Are they yours? They look like the shoes I had in the thrift store. Can I try them on?”
I ignored her. There was no way to explain any of it so that she would understand. I just hoped she’d forget about them and get distracted by something else when we got to the store.
As soon as we got to the VS Depot, she jumped off the bike and disappeared inside. I followed behind. Peter smiled when I walked in. I dropped the owl onto the counter, and he picked it up and put it on the scale. I guess nothing surprised him anymore.
“So has the countdown started? How many days until camp?”
I counted them off in my head. I couldn’t believe it. I held up three fingers.
Peter nodded. “Wow, that’s soon.”
We both looked at Claire. Were we thinking the same thing? Was she going to be sad when I left? She was staying an extra three days after I was gone. I had a feeling she was probably going to be lonely with only Mom and Dad to hang out with. Luckily, she was looking at something near the back of the room and wasn’t paying attention to us. I changed the subject. “I finished the book.”
Peter smiled but was quiet. He stuck a stamp on the back of the owl’s head.
Peter looked up. “What did you think of the ending?” He put the owl headfirst into the bin behind him. It looked funny with its feet sticking up in the air.
I took a deep breath. “I loved it!” It was the truth. I did. Even though I’d had trouble with it, in the end it had all been worth it. “I really like how everything came together.” I thought for a second. “I don’t usually like endings, but this was different—it was satisfying.”
Peter grinned. “You mean it’s all wrapped up, finished, no loose or uncomfortable ends sticking out.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way, but he was right—that’s what I liked. It was all done—there was nothing left to worry about. I nodded. Plus it wasn’t really the end—Viola Starr would be back in the next book.
I fiddled with a sign on the counter. “It’s too bad that can’t happen in real life.” I was thinking about Lucy, and how different everything was going to be without her. That wasn’t like the book: it wasn’t wrapped up—there was still a lot to worry about.
Peter arranged the papers on the counter into a neat pile. “Sometimes it happens in real life, but it’s rare—so when it does, it’s pretty special.”
I pulled the red shoes out of the plastic bag.
Suddenly Peter was surprised. “Two things today?”
I shook my head. “These aren’t for Lucy. They go somewhere else, and I think I need a box.”
While Peter walked to the back of the store to get one, I wrote down Miss Sato’s name and the address of the hospital. When he came back, I was all ready. I slid the paper across the counter.
“Can I send it without my name and address on it?” I didn’t want Miss Sato to know they were from me. That would raise lots of questions. It had to be anonymous. Peter looked at the paper and thought for a minute. “We could put the name of the store on it. Would that work?”
I nodded an
d put the shoes inside the box, and Peter taped it up.
I didn’t have a lot of time. The box needed to get to Miss Sato as soon as possible. Mr. Gripes and Miss Sato had to fall in love in the next couple of days—it had to happen before Claire left. I knew that Miss Sato was sick, but if she could blink her eyes to answer questions, then maybe she could still fall in love. Love was an inside thing; she didn’t need her body to be working for that.
“Can it get there tomorrow?” I tried not to sound desperate, but I was nervous.
Peter punched in some numbers on the computer and said, “Twenty-six dollars.” I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t have anywhere near that amount of money.
“But it’s not even out of town,” I complained. “How come it’s so expensive?”
Peter shook his head and held up the box. “Next day is always expensive. How much money do you have?”
I pulled out my money and put it on the counter. I had a five-dollar bill, and thirty-six cents in change. Suddenly I had the feeling that nothing was going to come together for me.
Peter picked up the money and said, “Let me see what I can do.”
Claire had come up beside me. She held up the drawings she’d made and waved them in front of me. I tried to smile, but I was still thinking about the shoes. What would happen if they didn’t get there on time? The answer to that was easy: nothing! I tried not to think about it. I nodded at Claire and smiled again but didn’t do a very good job of it. I could tell she was disappointed.
Peter put his hands together and said, “Why don’t you go out and unlock your bike. Claire and I are going to have a little talk. I’ll bring her outside in a minute.”
Claire was suddenly interested. “Is it a secret?”
Peter nodded. I was confused, but I left the store. I couldn’t see what they were doing, and by the time I was done unlocking the bike, they were at the door waiting for me.
Dreamer, Wisher, Liar Page 18