Ralfagon jerked up his head and focused on Eldonna. He whispered the same formula she had, saying, “Ah, yes. Hello, Eldonna.” His reply went straight to the stout woman’s ears.
She spoke back in the same fashion. “You’ve forgotten your shoes in your office again. I won’t even mention the mess you left, too.”
Ralfagon looked at his feet. “Indeed.” He chuckled and started toward her.
Suddenly, he glanced around; he sensed something unusual. His eyes passed right over a pickup truck illegally parked up the sloping street; there was nobody inside. He didn’t notice as the truck’s stick shift started wiggling and popped into gear. The tires turned so that the truck veered into the middle of the street on a collision course with Ralfagon. The motor was off, but still the truck sped up.
“Ralfagon, look out!” Eldonna screamed, repeating her voice-throwing trick.
Ralfagon turned toward the truck and opened his mouth to say a formula; with his knowledge, he could have easily stopped the truck or turned it into a can of tomato soup. But instead, he abruptly bent over and clutched at his stomach.
“LOOK OUT!” Eldonna shouted again. This time, she didn’t bother to direct her voice to him: her words split the air like a giant’s roar. Every man, woman, and child on campus grabbed their ears, but that was no help to Ralfagon.
He bent over farther, grabbing at his stomach with one hand and his throat with the other. He gagged and choked, unable to move or to speak.
Eldonna sprinted across the grassy field, but she was too late. The truck smacked into Ralfagon, hurling him back several feet to slam into the pavement.
Just as the truck was about to run him over, the steering wheel turned and the truck swerved away. It bounced over the far curb and into the parking lot, smashing noisily into a parked car. Eldonna ran over to where a small crowd was gathered around Ralfagon.
As Eldonna bent over to check on her boss and Keeper, a flash of light burst out from his overcoat. The gathered people jumped back in fear, especially when they heard a bizarre ripping sound. One man sniffed and looked around. “Did someone tear open a vacuum cleaner bag?” he asked.
People shouted and a few dialed 911 on their cell phones. Eldonna knelt over Ralfagon with tears dripping from her eyes. He didn’t react at all to the salty drops that splashed onto his face.
Only I noticed Mermon Veenie in the crowd around Ralfagon: he was wearing a hat, a false beard, and glasses to hide his face. He also wore a very smug smile.
WHAT CAN A NARRATOR DO?
An ambulance screeched to the scene. As paramedics rushed to aid Ralfagon, the equipment inside the open ambulance was pushed aside, as if some invisible being had climbed in. A slight suspicion crept into my head. As soon as it did, the hooded figure appeared, crouched in a corner of the ambulance. No one else seemed to notice him; Ralfagon was loaded into the vehicle, defenseless against that mysterious hooded menace.
The intruder poked delicately at Ralfagon’s coat, being careful not to alert the others to his presence. That wasn’t hard; they were preoccupied with keeping Ralfagon alive as they rushed to the hospital. I guessed what the hooded figure was up to: he wanted the Teacher’s Edition. But he couldn’t seem to find it! He slumped back, clearly frustrated.
Poor Simon, Alysha, and Owen had no idea what danger had befallen the Book’s previous owner, and worse, they didn’t know what threat might await them. I had never felt so useless, so pointless, as then. There I was, narrating with no way of aiding poor Ralfagon. Even if I broke my Society’s rules forbidding interference in a Chronicle, what could I do?
I was stuck, sitting miserably in my chair, awaiting history’s next chapter.
CHAPTER 15
THE DARK SIDE OF THE WOODS
That evening, Simon barely managed to stay awake through dinner. He went to sleep as soon as he was finished eating and woke up over twelve hours later. After eating a huge brunch, he waited for his two guests to arrive.
As planned, Alysha and Owen showed up at Simon’s house at noon. Simon had insisted they meet there; he wasn’t sure if either would be able to find the woods without him. Sure enough, Alysha and Owen remembered having gone into the woods but had no idea where it was.
“Guys, just trust me,” Simon said.
Alysha and Owen exchanged a look as they followed Simon down Van Silas Way. “I think I’d remember if the forest was here, Simon,” Alysha said. “I mean, those trees were huge! We’d be able to see them from school, wouldn’t we?”
Owen nodded sadly. “I hate to say it, but she’s right: there’s nothing here.” They reached the end of the street. “Just a dead end.”
Simon smiled. “Uh-huh. Right.” Then he grabbed their arms and tugged them forward. Before Alysha or Owen could protest, they’d stumbled up the curb and across the threshold.
Once again, they experienced the miraculous: the world around them was suddenly filled with towering trees, wild and vibrant foliage, and air that tasted better than ice cream sundaes.
“Ah, it’s good to be back,” Alysha said.
“Sure is,” Owen agreed, as if they’d known the woods were there all along.
Simon stared at Alysha and Owen. “Whatever’s scrambling their brains can’t be healthy,” he mumbled. Then the Breeze washed over his friends and him, and he sighed. “But that wind makes it all worthwhile.”
On the way to the clearing, Simon stopped short as he spotted the bird again. There it was, on a tree branch above him. That pesky sparrow had stalked him most of the week. This time, it was with a cluster of sparrows, all chattering away in that piercing way sparrows had. Simon wondered if the spy sparrow had brought the other birds along so it could try to blend in.
Its white stripe still set it apart, though. Simon noticed it stealing glances at him from time to time. Then it froze, cocked its head to the side, and chirped loudly. It must have been some bird command because all the other birds fell silent.
Simon gaped, and Alysha and Owen took notice.
“That was weird,” Alysha said. “Look at those birds flying off!”
Simon frowned. All but one, he thought. All but the spy. Just then, the sound of angry voices broke out farther down the path.
“I hear something growly, like a lion speaking English!” Owen said.
Alysha frowned. “Yeah, it sounds pretty creepy.”
Simon shuddered at the mean-sounding voice. “Who talks like that?”
“Why don’t we guess after we hide for a bit?” Owen asked. “Just to be sure.”
Simon glanced at the bird, which clearly nodded, like it was agreeing with Owen. “Okay. Let’s go behind those bushes, just in case.”
The trio stepped out of the clearing. Owen winced at every crumpling leaf or crackling branch until they crouched down behind a row of thick bushes. They peeked through the branches and watched the clearing.
I focused my attention closer to the entrance to the woods. Mermon Veenie was walking along, neatly dressed in a tailored blue suit. The fact that he wasn’t wearing a raincoat meant he must not have come through the Gateway.
Oddly, he seemed to be talking to himself. He was gesturing, too, but I could see nobody around him. Then I thought of the hooded figure, and once again, as if my thoughts had conjured him up, he appeared in that long, black hooded coat, walking alongside Veenie.
“I watched carefully at the crash site, Sir,” Mermon said in his gruff, gravelly voice. “Eldonna took nothing. I don’t see how she could have the Book. You searched his coat and I checked his office. Nothing. It can only be here.”
The booming voice split the air in response to Veenie. “Of course it must be here. Itwasmy idea to come, wasn’t it?”
Simon, Alysha, and Owen covered their mouths to keep from crying out. To them, the hooded figure had appeared out of nowhere when his voice rang out.
“Yes, Sir,” Mermon said. “Sorry, Sir. Since we’re alone in Dunkerhook Woods, could you please take the hood off? It makes your v
oice so loud.”
The hooded figure shook his head. “No. I prefer to remain hooded for now so I can avoid that Dunkerhook Breeze.”
Mermon frowned. “But, Sir…wouldn’t the Breeze help with your pain?”
The hooded figure snaked gloved hands under his thick coat sleeves and scratched at his arms. I caught a glimpse of them: they were slender and coated in tattoos of varying colors. “My pain is considerable, yes. But it is a burden I have chosen: a badge of pride. And I will be able to lessen it soon enough, once I have the Book.”
They arrived at the clearing. “I shall begin looking by Ralfagon’s stump,” the hooded figure said. “Perhaps he had some secret storage spot there.”
“You are probably right, Sir. Funny thing, though—I am certain I heard a man near the accident site say something about a vacuum cleaner bag. Was that from something you did, Sir?”
There was a long pause as the deep, dark hood opening was fixed upon Mermon. “Veenie, you fool!” the echoing voice boomed. “You just now mention this to me?”
Mermon’s harsh voice struggled to sound apologetic. “Sir, I didn’t notice anything important about it!”
“The smell of a vacuum cleaner bag, where there was clearly no vacuum cleaner, could only be the stink of time and space bending! Ralfagon’s last conscious act must have been to send the Book away through space and time. It could be anywhere. Worse, it could be anywhen!”
Mermon hung his head, quivering with fear. Whoever this hooded figure was, his power was enough to terrify the vicious Veenie. “I am so sorry, Sir, I had no idea. My formula has nothing to do with time or space. How could I know?”
The hooded figure nodded. “Yes, yes. Your ignorance is astounding. Ralfagon kept the greatest powers hidden from his Order, which is why you are aiding me, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Sir. I like power very much. But I also hate Ralfagon. I would gladly see that old fool dead.” He coughed. “On that note, Sir, I’m puzzled. Why didn’t you want Ralfagon killed yesterday?”
The hooded figure swiveled his head to stare Mermon in the face. “Are you questioning my judgment, Veenie?”
Mermon’s tiny black dot eyes managed to widen into larger black dots. “No, no, no, Sir. I was just…curious.”
“Curiosity is a good thing, like onion soup. But too much onion soup makes your breath smell terrible. And too much curiosity can make your whole body smell terrible, if it causes you to be dead.”
Veenie nodded carefully; it was a strange threat, but a threat nonetheless. “Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.”
The hooded figure waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m sure you are. Don’t worry about my plans for Ralfagon. I have reasons, I assure you.” The hooded figure continued to walk around Ralfagon’s stump, poking at it with gloved hands.
Mermon roamed around the cluster of shorter stumps, soon passing near the kids’ hiding spot. Suddenly he squinted, his eyes shrinking even smaller (impossible as that seemed) while he scratched his slicked-back hair. “Sir? I…ummm…”
The hooded figure uttered a loud, rude word. “Veenie,” he said, “I told you to go before we left!”
“No, Sir, not that. There’s something you should see.”
The hooded figure didn’t bother to turn around. “If it isn’t the Book, I don’t care.”
Mermon frowned; he scratched his head again. “Oh.” He paused. “But, Sir…”
A loud sigh echoed out from the hood. “What, Veenie? What is so important that you would risk my wrath again?”
Mermon Veenie pointed in the direction of the shrubs where Simon, Owen, and Alysha were hiding. “One of those bushes is trembling.”
CHAPTER 16
THE HOOD COMES OFF (AND SPARKS FLY)
The bush Owen was hiding behind started to shake harder. Alysha and Simon grabbed him to make him stop trembling, but that only made their bushes rustle, too.
“There, do you see it, Sir? That’s odd behavior for bushes, don’t you think?”
“Odd behavior for bushes? You need to start using a less toxic hair gel.” The hooded figure walked to Veenie and looked at the bushes. “Stupid hood ruins my depth perception.”
With that, he pulled back the enormous hood. Shockingly, the hooded figure was really an un-hooded woman. A beautiful one with sharp green eyes and shoulder-length hair so brightly golden it almost shimmered.
“Much better,” the woman said. Without the hood, her voice was sweet and melodic. She squinted at the bushes. “Now let’s see…” She pulled up one sleeve of her black coat and glanced at a series of different-colored squiggles and shapes that were tattooed along her arm. They clearly weren’t normal, though. They were so vivid and almost three-dimensional that they seemed alive instead of just ink.
“Where did I put it?” she asked. “I tell you, Veenie, these tattoos are almost more trouble than they’re worth. Forget the strain of bearing them; simply finding them is a horror.” She frowned as she twisted her arm to check by her elbow, then switched arms and scanned the squiggles there. “Aha, here we go.”
She stared at a vibrant yellow tattoo—a set of thick, sharp-pointed lines and small circles—that virtually pulsated on her shoulder. She spoke several bizarre words, but the process was nothing like the peanut buttery sound of the Orders’ formulas: it sounded more like the woman was speaking while chewing glass. The tattoo glowed brightly for an instant, and the whole field of bushes’ leaves crumbled into bitter-smelling ash. The woman winced but nodded in satisfaction.
I dropped my jaw in disbelief. I mean, it was still attached to my head, but my mouth fell open. Nobody, in the many, many centuries since the Knowledge Union first formed, had ever made a formula into a tattoo. Yet she had just enacted a Chemistry command from one. She had several more on both arms, and as each tattoo’s color indicated, they were from several different Orders. I saw more yellow for Chemistry, as well as blue for Physics, green for Biology, and even silver for Astronomy.
The woman leaned forward and smiled at Simon, Alysha, and Owen huddling behind the bare bushes. “And who have we here?”
Mermon sputtered. “Outsiders? How? Dunkerhook Woods has safeguards!”
The no-longer-hooded woman glanced at Mermon. “I found a way around some of the Union’s rules; why couldn’t others? Though I am surprised that children managed it.”
She glanced at the kids and frowned. “Mermon, find out what they’re doing here,” she said in a bored tone.
Mermon bent forward, lowering his beady eyes toward them. “You punks!” His growling voice became a low roar, and the kids cowered. “What are you doing here? Tell me before I tear you apart!”
The woman sighed. “Veenie, behave. They’re not in boot camp. Step aside.” She frowned and snapped her fingers. “Hi, kids. So, explanation. Why are you here?” Her voice was gentler than Mermon’s, but her tone was firm.
Alysha stood up from her crouched position and, I noticed, clenched her knees together to stop them from shaking. “Why are we here? Just who do you two think you are? We came in here to have some privacy, thank you very much. Why don’t you and Señor Growl Face get lost before we tell the police that two strangers came after us in the woods!”
The woman chuckled. “I doubt anyone would understand what you meant if you mentioned these woods.” She gestured around her. “You shouldn’t even know they’re here.” She paused. “You are right about one thing—there’s no need to be strangers. Why don’t your friends join the conversation?”
Simon tugged at Owen’s sleeve, and they both stood up next to Alysha; the Book was safely hidden in Simon’s backpack.
“’Bout time; ever hear of chivalry?” Alysha muttered.
The woman tossed back her beautiful hair and smiled, but it was a cold smile; she looked as friendly as a crocodile before it took a nibble. “Now, as I was saying, let’s be friends. My name is Sirabetta, but you can call me Sir if you want. All my friends do; I insist upon it. My associate, Mermon Veenie, and I are looking for a
big blue book. It would bore you with all its dull science information, but it’s very important to us. Have you seen it?”
“Look, See-ruh-whatever,” Alysha said, “I don’t know what you know about kids, but on weekends, we try to get away from books and school. I mean, reading on a Saturday? Please!”
Simon and Owen glanced at Alysha, impressed by her display of attitude.
Sirabetta frowned; she didn’t seem as impressed. “Our Book. You. Seen it?”
Alysha rolled her eyes while Simon and Owen just shook their heads. “If you’re not going to leave, we will,” she said. “We have better things to do, right, boys?” Without waiting for an answer, Alysha put a hand on each boy’s shoulder and turned them away.
“Good,” Mermon growled, loud enough for the kids to hear. “Let’s get them out of here so we can keep searching.”
“Fool,” Sirabetta hissed. “Did you ever think that they might be lying?”
“Sir…why would children want it?” Mermon asked. “It looks like a schoolbook, and they wouldn’t be able to even open it.”
“Why?” Sirabetta shouted. “Who knows? But that one has a backpack which is the perfect size to hold the Book. Furthermore, they weren’t surprised by those leaves miraculously disappearing.” She arched an eyebrow. “Either they’ve been around some very rare foliage, or they know something. Veenie, show them what happens if I get upset.”
Mermon nodded and spoke a formula. He held his hands in front of him, and they gave off a bright blue-and-white glow. There was a loud humming like a guitar amplifier being switched on, and then a thick, blue-white bolt of lightning roared out of his fingertips.
The kids jumped as the lightning streaked past them, splitting the air with a terrible roar of thunder before shattering the trunk of a small tree.
Sirabetta smiled coldly as the kids huddled together. “That was a warning shot. Now. One more time. Are you going to tell me what you know, or does Veenie make you extra-crispy?”
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