by L. J. Smith
"Hey!"
"Kait, just calm down—"
"Admit it!" Kait told the struggling Lydia. "Admit it and I'll let you go!"
Just as Rob was putting his arms around Kait, trying to pull her away, Lydia nodded.
Kaitlyn let go. "I did a drawing that showed she's working for Mr. Zetes," she said to Rob. To Lydia, she added, "Tell them!"
Lydia was coughing and choking, trying to get enough air. Finally she managed to wheeze, "I'm a spy."
Rob dropped his arms, and Lewis looked almost comically dismayed. "What?"
A wave of ugly emotion came from Gabriel. Images of Lydia being chopped into little pieces and thrown in the ocean. Kaitlyn winced and for the first time realized that her hands were sore.
The others had gathered around the bed now. Anna was somber, and Lewis looked hurt and betrayed.
Rob crossed his arms over his chest.
"All right," he said to Lydia. "Start talking."
Lydia sat up, small and ghostly in her white nightgown. She looked at each of the five rather threatening figures surrounding her bed.
"I am a spy," she said. "But I'm not working for Mr. Zetes."
"Oh, come off it," Kaitlyn said, and Gabriel said, "Of course you're not," in his silkiest, most sinister manner.
"I'm not. I don't work for him… I'm his daughter."
Kaitlyn felt her jaw sag. Unbelievable—but, wait. Joyce had mentioned that Mr. Zetes had a daughter…
She said the daughter was friends with Marisol, Rob agreed.
Kaitlyn remembered. She also remembered thinking that any daughter of Mr. Zetes's would have to be old, strangely old to be friends with Marisol.
"How old are you?" she said suspiciously to Lydia.
"Eighteen last month. Look, if you don't believe me, my driver's license is in my purse."
Gabriel picked a black Chanel purse off the floor and dumped its contents on the bed, ignoring Lydia's murmur of protest. He extracted a wallet.
"Lydia Zetes," he said, and showed the driver's license to the others.
"How did you get here?" Rob demanded.
Lydia blinked and swallowed. She was either on the verge of tears or an excellent actress, Kaitlyn thought. "I flew. On a plane."
"The astral plane?" Gabriel asked. He was very angry.
"On a jet," Lydia said. "My father sent me, and I got the car from a friend of his, a director of Boeing.
My father called and told me where you'd be—"
"Which he knew because he set up a trap for us," Rob interrupted, seizing on this. "A trap with a goat.
He knew if we didn't get killed in the accident, we'd be stranded—"
"Yes. And I was supposed to come along and help you—if any of you were still alive."
"You—little—" Words failed Kaitlyn. She grabbed for Lydia's throat again, but Gabriel was faster.
"Don't bother with it. I'll take care of her," he said. Kaitlyn sensed cold hunger.
Everyone in the web knew what he meant. The interesting thing was that Lydia seemed to know what he meant, too. She flinched, scooting back against the headboard.
"You don't understand! I'm not your enemy," she said in a voice laced with raw panic.
"Sure you're not," Lewis said.
"No, you're just his daughter," said Kaitlyn. Then she felt Anna's hand on her arm.
"Wait a minute," Anna said quietly. "At least let her say what she wants to." To Lydia, she said, softly but severely, "Go on."
Lydia gulped and addressed herself to Anna. "I know you won't believe me, but what I told you in the car was true. I do hate private school, and riding clubs, and country clubs. And I hate my father. All I ever wanted was to get away—"
"Yeah, yeah," Lewis said. Gabriel just laughed.
"It's true," Lydia said fiercely. "I hate what he does to people. I didn't want to come after you, but it was my only chance."
Something about her voice made Lewis falter in his sneering. Kaitlyn could feel his indecision in the web.
"You weren't going to tell us, though, were you?" Kaitlyn said. "You'd never have told us who you were if I hadn't found out."
"I was going to," Lydia said. She squirmed. "I wanted to," she amended. "But I knew you wouldn't believe me."
"Oh, stop sniveling," Gabriel said.
Kaitlyn was looking at Rob. I know I'm going to hate myself for asking this— but do you think it could be true?
I. . . don't know. Rob grinned suddenly. But maybe we can find out.
He sat on the bed, taking Lydia by the shoulders, and looked into her face. She shrank back.
"Now listen to me," he said sternly. "You know that we're psychics, right? Well, Kaitlyn has the power to tell if you're lying or not." To Kait he said, Go get your drawing stuff.
Kaitlyn hid a smile and brought it from the bathroom. Rob went on, "All she has to do is make a drawing. And if that drawing says you're not telling the truth…" He shook his head darkly. "Now," he said, looking hard at Lydia again, "what's your story this time?"
Lydia looked at Kait, then at Rob. She lifted her chin. "It's the same. Everything I told you was true," she said steadily.
Kaitlyn made a few scribbles on the pad. Her gift didn't work that way, of course, but she knew that the real test here was of Lydia's demeanor.
Well? she asked Rob.
Either she's telling the truth or she's the greatest actress in the world.
Like Joyce? Gabriel put in pointedly. You know, I could probably tell if she's telling the truth. I could mind-link with her.
Yeah, but what are the chances that she'd survive? Rob asked.
Gabriel shrugged. The hunger flickered again.
"Look, what was it you were supposed to do when you found us?" Kaitlyn asked Lydia.
"Keep you guys from going wherever you were going," she said promptly. "Convince you to go to the police or something instead—"
"He wants that? Your father?"
"Oh, yes. He knows he can fix the police. He's got lots of friends, and he can do things with the crystal.
He's not afraid of police; he's afraid of them."
"Who?" Kaitlyn demanded.
"Them. The people of the crystal. He doesn't know where they are, but he's afraid you'll find them.
They're the only ones who can stop him." She looked around. " Now do you believe me? Would I have told you that if I were your enemy?"
Kaitlyn could feel the wavering in the web, and the sudden resolution. Rob and Anna believed her.
Lewis not only believed her but liked her again. Gabriel was cynical, but that was typical Gabriel. And Kait herself was convinced enough to have a new worry.
"If Mr. Z wants us to go to the police—" she began.
"Right," Rob said grimly.
"But we'll never convince my parents," Anna said.
"Right," Rob said again.
A feeling was stirring in Kaitlyn, part terror, part dismay, and part wild excitement.
Lewis gulped. "But that means—"
"Right," Rob said a third time. He grinned at Kait, his grin reflecting her bewildering mix of emotions.
"The search," he announced to the room at large, "is back on."
Gabriel cursed.
Lydia was looking from one of them to another in bewilderment. "I don't understand."
"It means we're going to have to run away again," Rob said. "And if you really want to help us—"
"I do."
"—you can drive us to Vancouver Island. There's a ferry, right?" He glanced at Anna, who nodded.
"I'll do it," Lydia said simply. "When do we go?"
"Right now," Kaitlyn said. "We've got to get out of here before Anna's parents wake up."
"Okay, everybody," Rob said. "Grab your things and let's get moving."
CHAPTER 12
"The ferry leaves from Port Angeles at eight-twenty," Anna said as she and Kaitlyn hurriedly changed their clothes in her bedroom.
"It's started raining again," said Kaitl
yn.
They all met a few minutes later in the front hallway. There were ominous stirring noises from the back of the house.
"Shouldn't you leave a note?" Lewis whispered.
Anna sighed. "They'll know," she said briefly.
"I'll leave them the files," Rob said. "Maybe they can do something with them."
Gabriel snorted.
Outside, the sky was cold and gray. The rain seemed to come at them horizontally as they drove to Port Angeles. If they kept the defroster on maximum, it cleared the windshield but scorched their skin; if they turned it down, the windshield immediately steamed over. If they opened the windows, it cleared everything but they froze.
At the ferry the water was navy blue with just a hint of green. They waited in a line of cars and finally drove onto a large boat. It cost twenty-five dollars, and Kaitlyn paid because Lydia only had credit cards.
On the passenger deck Kaitlyn watched the deep blue water slipping away on either side. We're on our way, she thought. To Canada. She had never been to a foreign country.
She was drinking a vending-machine Coke that Rob had brought her when Lewis rushed up, breathless.
"Trouble," he said. "I just talked to some kids in the bathroom. They said if you're under eighteen, you're supposed to have a letter of authorization to get into Canada."
"What?"
"A letter. From your parents or something, I guess. Telling who you are and how long you're going to be there."
"Oh, terrific." Kaitlyn looked at Rob, who shrugged.
"What can we do? We'll just hope they don't ask for one."
"I'm eighteen, anyway," Lydia said. "I'll drive and maybe the rest of you can fake it."
An hour later they cruised into Victoria Harbor. Kaitlyn's breath caught. The sun had come out, and the harbor was a picture begging to be painted. There were lots of little sailboats and lots of clean-looking pink and white buildings.
But she couldn't keep staring; they had to go downstairs again and get in the car. They waited in another line at the customs checkpoint while the knot in Kaitlyn's stomach wound tighter and tighter.
"Where do you live?" a sunglassed customs officer asked Lydia.
Lydia's fingers barely tightened on the wheel. "In California," she said, smiling.
The customs officer didn't smile back. He asked to see Lydia's driver's license. He asked where they were going in Canada and how long they'd be staying. Lydia answered everything in a careless, sophisticated murmur. Then the officer bent a little at the waist to examine the inside of the car.
Look old, Kaitlyn told the others. They all sat up straight and tried to look mature and bored.
The customs officer didn't change expression. He glanced at each of them, then straightened.
"Any of you under eighteen?" he asked Lydia.
Kaitlyn's stomach gave a final sickening twist. Their driver's licenses would show the rest of them were all under eighteen. And then he'd ask for a letter…
Lydia hesitated imperceptibly. Then she said "Oh, no." She said it lightly, with something like a toss of her head. Kaitlyn admired that. Although Lydia was slight, her manner was sophisticated and assured.
The customs officer hesitated. He was looking at Lewis—the one of them who looked youngest. Lydia glanced back at Lewis, too, and although her face was calm, her gaze was almost desperate. Pleading.
Lewis's jaw set, and Kaitlyn felt a ripple in the web.
The customs officer had something hanging at his belt, a pager or walkie-talkie or something. Suddenly it began to shriek.
Not beep. Wail. It went off with a sound like an air-raid siren, a vibrating sound that put Kaitlyn's teeth on edge. People turned to look.
The customs officer was shaking the walkie-talkie, pressing buttons. The shrieking only went up in volume.
The officer looked from the device to the car as if hesitating. Then he grimaced, trying to muffle the electronic shrilling. With an impatient hand, he waved Lydia on.
"Go, go," Lewis whispered excitedly.
Lydia put the car in gear, and they glided off at a majestic five miles an hour. When they reached a main street, Kaitlyn let out her breath. They'd made it!
"Easier than I thought," Rob said.
In the back seat Lewis was chortling. "How about that? One for the home team!"
Kaitlyn turned on him. That ripple she'd felt in the web just before the shrieking began… "Lewis—did you?"
Lewis's grin widened, his eyes sparkling. "I figured if those creeps could sabotage us with long distance PK, I could handle a walkie-talkie. I just made a few little adjustments to give it some feedback."
Lydia glanced back at him again, and for the first time there was something like appreciation in her gray-green eyes. "Thanks," she said. "You saved my you-know-what." Lewis beamed.
Even Gabriel seemed grudgingly impressed. But he asked Lydia smoothly, "Who are those creeps, by the way? The ones who've been trying to kill us with psychic attacks."
"I don't know. Truly, I don't. I know my father has been doing something with the crystal—and he may have people helping him. But I don't know who."
"I wonder if they've stopped," Anna said suddenly. "I mean, there wasn't an attack last night. Maybe they've lost track of us."
"And maybe they're relying on somebody else to keep track," Gabriel said, with a meaningful look at Lydia. She gave something very much like a flounce without interfering with her driving.
"Where am I supposed to go now?" she asked.
There was a pause. Then Rob said, "We're not sure."
"You came here without knowing where you're going?"
"We don't know exactly. We're looking for—"
"Something," Gabriel said, interrupting Rob. Lewis frowned and Kaitlyn gave Gabriel an impatient look.
We decided to trust her. And she's going to find out anyway, as soon as we find it…
"Then let her wait until we find it," Gabriel said aloud. "Why trust any further than we have to?"
Lydia's lips tightened, but she didn't say anything, and she didn't flounce again.
"I figure we have two choices," Rob said. "We can drive up and down the coast blindly, or we can ask people around here if they know where the—" He changed for an instant to silent speech: the rock towers are. "If Anna's mom recognized them, people on the island should know them."
"Can't you remember anything, Anna?" Lewis asked. "Your mom said you were on that trip, too."
"I was five," Anna said.
They decided to ask around. A man at a tourist shop sold them a map and directed them to the Royal British Columbia Museum. But although the museum people recognized Kaitlyn's sketch of an inuk shuk, they had no idea where any might be found on the island. Neither did anyone at the camera shop, or the bookstore, or the British imports store, or the native crafts shop. Neither did the librarians at the Victoria Library.
"Is it time to start driving around blindly?" Gabriel asked.
Lewis pulled out the map.
"We can drive either northeast or northwest," he said. "This island's sort of like a big oval and we're at the bottom. And before you ask, nothing on here looks like our Griffin's Pit. There're thousands of little peninsulas and things all over the coast, and no way to tell any of them apart."
"It's probably too small to be on the map, anyway," Rob said. "Flip a coin: Heads we go east, tails we go west."
Kaitlyn flipped a coin and it came up heads.
They drove northeast, following the coastline, stopping to check the ocean every few miles. They drove until it was dark, but they found nothing resembling the place in their dream.
"But the ocean is right," Anna said, standing on a rock and looking down into the blue-gray water. Gulls were crowded thickly around her—they took off when Kaitlyn or the others came near, but tolerated Anna as if she were a bird.
"It's almost right," Kaitlyn temporized. "Maybe we need to go farther north, or to try going west." It was frustrating to feel she was so cl
ose to the place, but not to be able to sense where it was.
"Well, we're not going to find anything tonight," Gabriel said. "The light's gone."
Kaitlyn heard the note of tension in his voice. Not just ordinary Gabriel-tension, but a fine edge that told her he was in trouble.
All day he'd been quieter than usual, withdrawn, as if he were wrapping himself around his private pain.
His control was getting better, but his need was getting worse. It had been nearly thirty-six hours since Kaitlyn had caught him on the beach in Oregon.
And what on earth is he going to do tonight? Kaitlyn wondered.
"I beg your pardon?" Rob said, looking at her quickly.
She'd forgotten to screen her thoughts. Desperately hoping he'd only caught the last bit, she said, "I was wondering what on earth we're going to do tonight. To sleep, I mean. We're almost broke—"
"And starving," Lewis put in.
"—and we certainly can't all sleep in this car."
"We'll have to find a cheap motel," Anna said. "We can afford one room, anyway, since it's off season.
We'd better head back for Victoria."
In Victoria they found the Sitka Spruce Inn, which let them have a room with two twin beds for thirty-eight dollars and didn't ask any questions. The paint inside the room was peeling and the door to the bathroom didn't shut properly, but, as Anna pointed out, it did have beds.
At Rob's direction the girls got the beds. Lydia chose to share with Anna—clearly she hadn't forgotten the strangling. Kaitlyn curled up on the other, pulling the thin coverlet over her. The boys, sleeping on the carpet, had usurped the blankets.
She slept, but lightly. All that evening Gabriel had avoided her, refused to speak with her. Kait could tell by his cold determination that he was bent on solving his problem alone—and she didn't think that he was going to lie there and quietly endure it again tonight. By now she was closely enough attuned to him that she thought she'd wake up when he did.
It worked—mostly. Kaitlyn woke when the hotel door closed with a click. She could sense that Gabriel wasn't in the room.
Getting out of bed stealthily was almost routine now. The only shock came when Kaitlyn looked at the other bed and realized that there was only one figure in it.