by Meg Cabot
"Yes," he said. "About that. I didn't mean—"
"Yes, you did," I said. "You meant every word." I looked hard at Special Agents Johnson and Smith. "How much did you guys pay him, anyway, to report my every move to you?"
Jill and Allan exchanged nervous glances.
"Jessica," Special Agent Smith said. "What are you talking about?"
"It's so obvious," I said, "that he was your narc. I mean, he scheduled that one o'clock appointment with me, and then when I didn't show up, he called you. That's how you knew I'd left the camp. You didn't have to sit outside by the gates and wait to see if I'd leave. You had someone working on the inside to spare you the trouble."
"That," Special Agent Johnson said, "is patently—"
"Oh, come on." I rolled my eyes. "When are you guys going to get it through your heads that you're going to have to find yourselves a new Cassandra? Because the truth is, this one's retired."
"Jessica," Dr. Alistair cried. "I would never in a million years compromise the integrity of this camp by accepting money for—"
"Aw, shut up," Shane snapped. I could see that his campaign to be kicked out of music camp had now entered high gear. I hadn't any doubt that the traumatic event in Wolf Cave was going to—for the time being, anyway—have a detrimental effect on his ability to play the flute.
Dr. Alistair, looking startled, did shut up, to everyone's surprise.
Special Agent Johnson leaned forward and said, in a low, rapid voice, "Jessica, we know perfectly well that Jonathan Herzberg asked you to find his daughter, and that you, in fact, did so. We also know that this evening, you again used your psychic powers to find Shane Taggerty. You can't go on with this ridiculous charade that you've lost your psychic powers any longer. We know it isn't true. We know the truth." He leaned back and regarded me menacingly.
"And it's only a matter of time," Special Agent Smith added, "before you'll be forced to admit it, Jess."
I digested this for a moment. And then I said, "Jill?"
Special Agent Smith looked at me questioningly. "Yes, Jess?"
"Are you a lesbian?"
After that, the nurse made everyone leave, on account of the fact she was worried Shane was going to make himself sick from laughing so hard.
C H A P T E R
18
"Doug," I said, trailing one hand through the cool, silver water.
Ruth, sprawled across an inner tube a few feet from mine, gazed through the dark lenses of her sunglasses into the clear blue sky overhead. "Do-able," she said, after a moment.
"Agreed," I said. "What about Jeff?"
Ruth adjusted a strap on her bikini. After six weeks of salads, she had finally deemed herself svelte enough for a two-piece. "Do-able," she said.
"Agreed." I leaned my head back and felt the sun beat down on my throat. It was beating down on other places, as well. After several weeks of spending my afternoons floating across the mirrored surface of Lake Wawasee, I was the color of Pocahontas. I would look, I knew, exceptionally good at tonight's all-camp concert, at which I was playing the piece Professor Le Blanc had despaired of me ever learning, except by imitation.
I didn't have to imitate anyone, though. I could read each and every note.
A shout wasn't enough to break the trance-like daze the sun had sent Ruth and me into, but it got our attention. We lifted our heads and looked toward shore. Scott and Dave were playing Frisbee with some of the campers. Scott waved at us, and Dave, distracted, missed a catch, and landed in the sand.
"Dave," I said.
"Do-able," Ruth said.
"Agreed. Scott," I said, watching as he dove to make a catch.
"Hottie," Ruth said. "Of course."
I raised my sunglasses and looked at her from beneath the lenses in surprise.
"Really? He used to be Do-able."
"He's my summer fling," she informed me. "If I say he's hot, he's hot."
I lowered my sunglasses. "Okay," I said.
"Besides," she said. "That whole thing with lighting the Feds' van on fire? That was kind of cool. You might have something with the whole dangerous-guy thing."
"Rob," I said, "is not dangerous."
"Please," Ruth said. "Any guy who drives a motorcycle as his main form of transportation is dangerous."
"Really? Is that better than a guy with a convertible?"
Ruth shrugged. "Sure."
Wow. I leaned back, digesting this. My dangerous boyfriend was driving up to watch me perform at the concert that night. So was my family. I wondered what would happen if I introduced Rob to my mother. Frankly, I couldn't picture my mother and Rob in the same room. It was going to be very—
I felt something brush against the hand I was trailing in the water. I screamed and yanked my fingers away, just as Ruth did the same thing.
Two snorkel-fitted heads popped up from beneath the water and promptly began laughing at us.
"Ha-ha," Arthur cried, pointing at me as he treaded water. "You screamed just like a girl!"
"Like a girl," Lionel echoed incoherently. He was laughing too hysterically to speak.
"Very funny," I said to them. "Why don't you two swim over to the deep area and get a cramp?"
"Yeah," Ruth said. "And don't bother calling for us, because we won't come fish you out."
"Come on, Lionel," Arthur said. "Let's go. These two are no fun."
The two heads promptly disappeared. I watched the ends of their snorkels slice the water's surface as they headed back to shore. The two had become fast friends, once Shane was out of the picture and Lionel no longer spent every waking moment in fear of being tortured.
As I'd predicted, Shane's ability to play the flute had mysteriously disappeared shortly after the Wolf Cave incident, and though it was too late to get him into any self-respecting football camp, several had offered him scholarships, based on his size alone, for the following summer. Mr. and Mrs. Taggerty were not, it was rumored, happy about this, but what could they do? The boy was, according to more than one coach, a natural.
Off over in the direction of Wolf Cave, a cicada began its shrill call—one of the last ones I'd hear, I knew, before they all sank back into the ground to hibernate until next summer.
"So did Dr. Alistair ask you to come back next year?" Ruth wanted to know.
"Yeah," I said, with some disgust. "I suppose so he can supplement his income again by ratting me out to the Feds."
"How'd you know it was him, anyway?" Ruth asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know. I just did. Same way I know they're still monitoring me."
Ruth nearly lost her balance in the inner tube. "They are?" she sputtered. "How do you know?"
I pointed out toward the trees on the side of the lake closest to us. "See that thing over there, glinting in the sun?"
Ruth looked where I was pointing. "No. Wait. Yeah. I guess. What is that?"
"Telephoto lens," I said, lowering my arm. "Watch. Now that he knows we spotted him, he'll drive to some other spot and try again."
Sure enough, the glint disappeared, and far off, we heard the sound of a car engine.
"Ew," Ruth cried. "How creepy! Jess, how can you stand it?"
I shrugged. "What can I do? That's just the way it is, I guess."
Ruth chewed her lower lip. "But aren't you … I mean, aren't you worried they're going to catch you one of these days? In a lie, I mean?"
"Not really." I tilted my head back, letting the sun warm my neck again. "The trick, I guess, is just never to stop."
"Never stop what?"
"Lying," I said.
"Isn't that going to be hard," Ruth asked, "now that … well, you know? Now that your powers are getting stronger?"
I shrugged. "Probably." It wasn't something I liked to think about.
"Hey," I said, to change the subject. "Isn't that Karen Sue over there, on that pink inflatable raft?"
Ruth looked, then made a face. "I can't believe she's wearing one of those headbands in the water. And is t
hat Todd she's with? He is so not Do-able. Did you hear him rehearsing that piece he's playing tonight? Bartok. What a show-off."
"Let's go tip them over," I suggested.
"You've got to be kidding," Ruth said. "That's so …"
I raised my eyebrows. "So what?"
"So childish," Ruth said. Then she grinned. "Let's do it."
And so we did.
About the Author
Jenny Carroll
Born in Indiana, Jenny Carroll spent her childhood in pursuit of air conditioning - which she found in the public library where she spent most of her time. She has lived in California and France and currently resides in New York City with her husband and a one-eyed cat named Henrietta. Jenny Carroll is the author of the hugely popular Mediator series as well as the bestselling Princess Diaries. Visit Jenny at her website, www.jennycarroll.com
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Document creation date: 18.4.2011
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Meg Cabot
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