by Zoe Quinn
“Bet it's got big-time memory capacity.”
“Big-time.”
I let out an exasperated sigh and took a huge bite of my pizza.
“Hey,” Josh said, looking up from the camera and giving me a big smile. “I've got a totally amazing idea.”
Since I wasn't about to talk with my mouth full, I just sat there chewing with what I hoped was a “Please tell me because I'm very interested” expression on my face.
“We can go over to the factory grounds,” Josh said excitedly, “search for incriminating stuff, and then take pictures of the evidence. That way, when we show up at the rally on Saturday, we'll have visual proof of what the dirtbag factory owner is doing.”
Well, that was an amazing idea all right—amazingly risky!
“That is…,” said Josh, “if Howie will lend us his camera.”
“Oh, no!” Howie slapped both palms on the table. “No way. Absolutely not.” He shook his head so hard that his glasses slipped down his nose.
Josh looked disappointed, but I was relieved. What if Josh got caught taking pictures on Mitchell's property?
I gulped down the mouthful of pizza. “Well, so much for that,” I said with a shrug. “I mean, without Howie's camera, what's the point in going?”
“Howie can come, too, then.”
Both Howie and I stared at Josh.
“What?” I shook my head hard, not even caring if it messed up the hairstyle I'd worked on so diligently that morning.
“It's perfect,” Josh continued. “We can go tonight.” He looked at me and his eyes seemed to sparkle. “You'll come along, won't you, Zoe?”
Once again, I was distracted by his gaze. Superman had kryp-tonite; Zoe Richards had Josh Devlin's gorgeous green eyes.
“Well?”
It was obvious from the look on Josh's face that he really wanted to do this. It was also obvious that Howie wasn't going to let his camera out of his sight, so if Josh went, Howie would be going, too.
Josh looked determined.
Howie looked terrified.
My mind raced through the facts I had so far: Mitchell had something to hide, and from all accounts he was an unsavory sort who'd take drastic action to keep his secret. If he caught anybody on his property—even a couple of sixth-grade boys—he might threaten them…
Or worse.
It hit me like a thunderbolt. If anything happened to Josh—or Howie, of course—I would be very, very upset. Especially if it was something I could prevent by going along. I wasn't sure how I'd protect my friends from George Mitchell while I was officially on probation, but at the very least there would be three of us instead of two, and Dad always says there's safety in numbers.
“Okay,” I said. “I'll go with you guys.”
“Excellent,” said Josh, and gave me a high five. It wasn't exactly romantic, but it was better than nothing.
We made plans to meet that evening at six o'clock in front of the school; then we'd bike over to the factory.
Since lunch period was almost over, we gathered up our trays and crossed the yard. Howie was rambling on to Josh about the camera when we passed Emily's table. She was sitting with Caitlin. I tried not to let it bother me, but it did, a little.
“What's with the camera?” Caitlin asked.
“Taking pictures for the yearbook?” said Emily.
“Uh… no,” said Josh, and caught my eye. He gave me a wink, then went to return his tray to the kitchen. Howie followed him.
“Emily's coming over to my house tonight,” Caitlin announced. “We're going to cut up magazines and make collages to decorate our lockers.”
Emily glanced at me, like she was uncomfortable with the way Caitlin seemed to have appointed herself Em's personal social secretary. “Hey, you guys,” she said, obviously making an effort to include both Caitlin and me. “I'm going over to the eighth-grade girls' table to ask Megan Talbot where she got that cool eyeshadow. Wanna come with?”
“I've got to go talk to Ms. Krangle about the homework,” said Caitlin. She turned on her heel and strode away. I followed Emily toward the eighth-grade girls' table. When she asked about the makeup, Megan gladly informed us that glitter eyeshadow was becoming passe and natural, earthy tones were coming back into style.
On the way to class, Emily kept looking at my eyelids.
“What?” I asked.
“Just wondering if you'd do better with brown shadow or deep violet or maybe…” Suddenly she looked very upset. “Uh-oh.”
“What now?”
Emily looked horrified.”Oh, Zoe, I'm so sorry! I didn't notice it before, but… you've got a drippy string of pizza cheese stuck to your chin.”
“Do you think it was there while I was having lunch with Josh?” I asked, hoping like crazy that it wasn't.
Emily hesitated. “Probably not.”
Great! First Howie ruins my date, and then I find out that I've had pizza cheese hanging off my face for practically the entire lunch period. Not to mention the fact that that night Howie was coming on what could have been my second date with Josh Devlin.
I wiped the cheese away, feeling like a total dweeb.
bikes kicked up a small tornado of dust and gravel as we skidded to a halt at the fence that surrounded the factory grounds. The sun had already set, and a gloomy dusk was falling. It was cool and breezy, so I was glad I'd changed into jeans and put on a jacket before I left the house.
We peered through the chain link at the looming building. All the windows were dark.
We parked our bikes and made our way along the fence to the gate. It was chained and locked. Big surprise there. The infuriating thing was that if I had already passed my test, I could have jumped over the fence. Or I'd have been able to use my super-strength to bust the chain and lock with one hand—as long as no one saw me.
“How do we get in?” asked Howie.
“We could try picking the lock,” suggested Josh.
“With what?”
We looked around for something sharp to use as a makeshift key, but all we found was a couple of bottle caps, a grungy golf ball, and a Popsicle stick. Nothing sharp, nothing pointy.
I was beginning to squirm with nervousness about what we were trying to do. Squirming like a… lizard! A Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard, to be exact!
“Josh, look!” I thrust my arm at him; the charms of my bracelet plinked and tinkled.
“Excellent!” he said. (He was practically reading my mind! How romantic was that?)
Naturally, Howie was lost. “I don't get it,” he said.
I showed him the little silver charm. “Do you know what this is?”
“Sure,” said Howie. “It's jewelry. Sterling silver, from the looks of it.”
“It's an endangered species charm bracelet, and this charm is a Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard.”
“Pretty scrawny-looking,” he observed. “No wonder it's nearly extinct.”
I unfastened the clasp and handed the bracelet to Josh. “The point,” I said to Howie a bit impatiently, “is that we might be able to use the long, pointy toes to pick the lock on the gate.”
Josh was already slithering the silver lizard into the keyhole of the padlock. He bit his lip and looked very intense, and way, way cute.
He jiggled the charm carefully, then twisted….
The lock popped open.
“Josh! You did it!” I was actually pretty surprised that it had worked—I didn't think picking locks was something Josh had a lot of practice with.
“Thanks to you. You were the one who thought of the charm.”
“Yeah, but you were the one who figured out how to—”
“Guys…” Howie cleared his throat. “Can we do this mutual admiration thing later? It's getting dark.”
He was right. Josh handed me back my bracelet, and I clasped it back onto my wrist while he opened the gate just wide enough for us to slip inside.
We ran single file toward the building, stopping when we reached the hazmat container. U
p close, it was a lot bigger than it had seemed from a distance. The vat was probably fifteen feet high; it had a metal ladder attached to one side.
“Guys,” I whispered. “I think we should check out this vat.”
Josh and Howie nodded, and we ducked behind the huge metal container. Actually, Josh and I ducked; Howie tripped and stumbled and clonked his funny bone against the side of the vat. He was about to let out a howl of pain when Josh clapped his hand over his mouth.
“Shhhh! We don't want anyone to hear us.”
But Howie's howling would have been the least of our problems. His collision with the metal tank had made a huge noise. The vat was still ringing with a loud, hollow echo.
At that moment, it was one of the most beautiful sounds I'd ever heard. It was the sound of evidence.
“This thing is empty!” I whispered excitedly.
Howie rubbed his elbow and pouted. “So? What does that prove?”
“Howie's right!” Josh said, looking troubled. “Maybe the vat was recently emptied, following proper waste-management guidelines. Just because it's empty now doesn't mean it's always been empty.”
Good point. I considered it for a moment, picturing the stuff I'd seen pouring into the river, and the foaming water. I just had a hunch that this vat had never been used for its intended purpose. And then I had another thought. I was willing to bet a year's allowance that stuff as gross as that would leave something behind.
“If there had been toxic goop in there,” I began, “then even after it was emptied, I'm sure there would still be some …” I knit my brows, struggling to remember the word. Residence? Resume?
“Residue!” I cried.
“Shhhh!” said Howie.
“Okay,” Josh reasoned. “So all we need to do is look inside this vat. If it's got gunky residue clinging to the inner walls, then we know the vat was recently used for holding dangerous stuff. If not, then we know the vat is just here for show.”
“Right,” I said, thinking of the green stuff Mom and I had seen pouring into the river. “And I bet it will be spotless in there! That's probably the thing that opens the lid,” I added, pointing to a big metal wheel near the ladder.
“You guys crank that,”Josh directed. “I'll climb the ladder and look inside. Howie, give me the camera.”
“No chance!”
“Howie…”
Howie clutched the camera to his chest as though it were a favorite teddy bear. “Uh-uh! You'll press the wrong button. Or drop it into the vat.”
“No, he won't,” I assured Howie.
“It's all right,” said Josh. “Howie can climb up and take pictures of the inside of the vat.” He glanced at me quickly, then looked away. Even in the dusky gloom I could see that his cheeks were a little red. “Zoe, I'll stay down here with you.”
Howie approached the ladder. I happened to know that he'd never been crazy about high places, but if he was willing to overlook that detail, so was I. He tucked the camera in his shirt pocket and started his slow climb.
He took a deep breath and lifted his foot to the first rung; then he cracked his knuckles, rolled his shoulders…
Clearly, Howie was terrified. But to his credit, he didn't chicken out. He reached up to grip a higher rung. I actually heard him gulp.
Which, of course, left Josh and me to work the wheel. He took hold of it with one hand; I stood opposite him and grasped it, too.
“Ready?”
He nodded.
“Turn.”
We began to spin the wheel; it must not have been oiled, because it took a lot of effort to get it to budge. But when it gave, we could hear the squeak of the lid rising on its giant hinge.
Howie had reached the top of the ladder. Taking hold of the rim of the vat, he stuck his head under the lid.
“Do you see anything?”Josh called in a whisper.
Howie popped his head up. “Nope. Clean as a whistle.”
Josh and I exchanged broad smiles.
“That means Mitchell has never used this vat to contain the gunk left over from manufacturing detergent. Which means he must be getting rid of it somewhere else. Like dumping it straight into the Sweetbriar River!”
“We were right!” I gushed. “And the pictures will help us prove it.”
“Start taking photos!” Josh called up to Howie. “And use the flash. It's getting darker by the second.”
And it was. But I found I didn't mind at all. The sky had turned the color of blueberries, and only a pale pink glow remained on the horizon. The air was cool but not unpleasant, with a mild breeze. I couldn't believe I was standing there, alone, with Josh Devlin.
“Good thing you wore your bracelet,” he said,”or we'd never have gotten in the gate.”
I felt myself blushing. “Good thing you figured out how to use the Coachella Valley fringe-toed lizard charm to pick the lock.”
“I guess that means we're a good team.”
“I guess it does.”
The moment was so amazingly sweet that I began to feel a little dizzy with happiness. A couple of stars had begun to twinkle above, and the whole world smelled of spicy autumn leaves.
And soap …
I ignored it. I wanted to just sit there under the stars with Josh and talk about what a terrific team we were. But the breeze carried the scent straight to my nose, and with every windy rustle of the tall grass, the soap smell grew stronger.
Too late, I realized that I wasn't dizzy because Josh was flirting with me, I was dizzy because of that darned soapy smell. And that was when I saw the security guard creeping up to the vat— his dazzlingly clean uniform must have just been washed in the factory's laundry detergent.
“What do you think you're doing up there?” the guard's voice boomed.
Howie was so startled, he bobbled, then wobbled; his foot slipped from the top rung and he began to fall.
Instinct took over and I prepared to execute a superpowered flying leap to save Howie Hunt… again! I could feel the power surge in my legs, and I was about to lift off when Josh leaped in front of me from our hiding place beside the vat and positioned himself bravely beneath the swiftly falling Howie. He held out his arms like a fireman prepared to catch a person leaping from a burning building.
Howie was safe, but it wasn't Josh who'd caught him. It was the security guard, who'd nudged Josh aside in the nick of time and grabbed Howie himself.
“Gotcha!” the guard said, then turned to Josh. “Got you, too.”
I was still in Super mode. I knew I could take off into the night and escape. I'd be such a blur of motion that the guard probably wouldn't even notice me. But I couldn't do it. Not just because I was on probation, but because I couldn't bail on my friends.
The tingle of strength fizzed around my calves for a moment more and was gone. I stepped out from the dark shadow of the vat.
“You got me, too,” I said.
We waited in the security office for my father to pick us up.
The guard had demanded our phone numbers. He'd called my house first and explained everything to my father, who told him he'd come down and collect the whole lot of us. My mother would call Howie's and Josh's parents to give them the heads-up.
The security office was a small room on the ground floor of the factory, and the smell of the officer's clean uniform was making my stomach turn. I sat on a bench between Howie and Josh while the guard filled out an incident report.
“Where's the camera?”Josh whispered across me to Howie.
“In my pocket,” Howie whispered back. “I slipped it in there right after the guard caught me.”
“Good thing the guard didn't frisk you.”
Howie nodded.
Ten minutes later, the door of the office opened. My father had arrived.
And he didn't look happy.
we dropped off Josh and Howie, Dad headed for our street.
I sat in the backseat, silent. Dad didn't say anything, but I could tell he was fuming, finally he pulled into our
driveway and we trooped indoors, still in silence. Mom was waiting in the living room.
I sat down on the sofa, folded my hands in my lap, and waited for the explosion.
“What in the world were you thinking, young lady?”
“Do have any idea how dangerous that little stunt was?”
“You were trespassing on private property…”
“… completely irresponsible …”
“… reckless…”
“… not to mention illegal.”
The words came at me so fast it was hard to tell who was saying what.
Not that it mattered; it all amounted to the same thing:
“You're grounded, Zoe Richards….”
“Do you understand?”
“Grounded!”
Yeah. I understood, all right. “I'm sorry,” I said in a tiny voice.
Mom and Dad were quiet for a long moment. I kept my head down while Dad paced back and forth in front of the fireplace and my mother folded her arms and tapped her foot. When they'd had enough of that, they sat down on the couch, one parent on either side of me. When I finally got up the guts to look my mom in the eyes, I realized that she didn't look angry anymore.
She looked… guilty.
“I'm sorry, too,” she said.
This floored me. Dad looked just as surprised.
“What do you have to be sorry for?” I asked.
“I'm afraid I didn't set a very good example the other day,” she admitted. “When we were at the factory and I went walking over by the river…”
“You did what?” Dad's eyes went wide.
“She snooped,” I clarified. “But she didn't trespass, honest. She…we… stayed outside the gate.”
That got Dad pacing again.
“Maria, a rally with hundreds of people and police protection is one thing. But wandering around by yourselves—”
“I know it was a foolish thing to do,” said Mom. “Zoe, you and Howie and Josh should never even have entertained such an idea. What if something had happened to the three of you way out there? No one would have had the slightest idea you were in trouble.”