I followed Mason, Dwight, and Eleanor out, closing the crafts room door tightly. Henry would get a little more time with Buddy. I would deal with reprimanding him later.
Eleanor and Dwight dropped into chairs at the kitchen table. For once, they seemed tired from all their searching. Dwight still grasped that old flight bag.
I stood awkwardly by the refrigerator, watching Mason suck in air from his inhaler.
Had I really just told him everything? Everything I hadn’t even told my best friend? It felt unreal. And embarrassing.
I watched him replace the inhaler in his backpack. I barely knew him. Up until a little while ago, I wasn’t even sure I liked him. Could I trust him? Would he keep my secret?
Or had I just made a huge mistake?
Mason jiggled his leg and eyed me nervously. “I’m not going back to the party.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m going to text my mom to come get me.”
“Is your asthma still bad?”
“No. It’s okay.” He titled his head. “Thanks for mellowing me out up there. It helped.”
“No problem. Why are you going home?”
“Not really in a party mood. Lots to process, you know?”
I did. “I probably missed the ice-cream part. I might as well text Lily and just meet up at her house for the sleepover.”
“All-night party.” His leg jiggled even faster. “What do you girls talk about for all those hours? Guys? Secrets?”
“Silly stuff.” Then suddenly I knew why he was worried. “I won’t say anything. About what happened. About what you can do. I promise. I’ll never tell anyone.”
He swept his hand through his spiky hair. “Same here. Just you and me. Our secret.”
The warm tingle crept along my skin again. Our connection.
It felt good to have told someone.
The rock in my stomach had grown lighter.
“I was not expecting you home.” Lady Azura entered the kitchen. Her arched brows raised when she saw Mason. “I certainly was not expecting you.”
I explained about forgetting Lily’s gift. Mason stiffened as Lady Azura looked him over. Could she sense his powers? I wasn’t sure. She was definitely looking at him closely. But then again, it wasn’t that often that she walked out into our kitchen and saw me sitting there with a boy. Well, I wasn’t going to tell her. I’d made a promise.
“Got to fly. My mom’s out front.” Mason went to lift his backpack. Eleanor’s pudgy hands were playing with the pins. She grabbed on. Panic seized her shimmery body. I felt her panic.
“Bob?” she whispered.
Mason didn’t hear her, didn’t feel her pull. He yanked the bag up onto his shoulder and left through the back door.
Lady Azura headed to the pantry to make her nightly hot chocolate. I’d been the only one to hear Eleanor. My mind sorted through all the bits and pieces. The flight bag. Avery’s shirt. The pins.
“Is there someone in Eleanor and Dwight’s life who’s a pilot?” I asked suddenly. “Someone important?”
“Yes. They had a son who was a pilot.”
“Was?”
Lady Azura turned. “He died.”
“How?”
“I do not know.”
“Can you find out?” I asked.
“Yes. I’ll ask Mrs. Merberg tomorrow. She mentioned him once. His name was—”
“Bob,” I finished. “His name was Bob.”
Lady Azura leaned toward me. “How did you know that?”
“I figured out who Eleanor and Dwight are searching for. They’re searching for Bob.”
Chapter 15
Even though it was late, Lady Azura went to call Mrs. Merberg.
“Bob was a pilot for the army,” she reported when she returned. “Mrs. Merberg said that Bob—he was her cousin—was on a training flight out over the Pacific Ocean when his plane went down. The army never recovered his body.”
“So he’s dead? Buried at sea?” I asked.
“Most likely. But his parents always held out hope that he had swum to safety.”
“Is that possible?”
“Doubtful. The military officially declared him dead.” Lady Azura sat beside me at the table. Eleanor and Dwight had long since wandered off to some other corner of the house.
“Then what happened?”
“Eleanor and Dwight refused to have a funeral or a memorial for him. The idea upset them so much that they wouldn’t speak of him or have anyone else speak of him. No one has mentioned Bob for over twenty years. It was as if he never existed.”
“And now, to them, he never did. They forgot about him.”
“Not completely. They’re still searching for him. I suspect they fear crossing over and leaving their son behind, though they don’t realize it. His unknown fate is what binds them here.” Lady Azura folded her hands. “They need to reconnect with him, so they can all move on together.”
“How does that happen?”
“I will perform a séance to bring Bob’s spirit back. In death, he can reunite with his parents. Then they can all go on together to the same place.” Lady Azura exhaled. “It will take a lot of work. A great deal of psychic energy.”
“Mrs. Merberg will be happy you solved her problem. She’ll write about you in her book.”
“It was you who solved it, Sara. You.” Lady Azura clasped my hands tightly between hers. “We will finish this together, if you’d like. Perform the séance together. Bring Eleanor and Dwight their relief together.”
“Really?” I smiled. “I’d like that.”
“Good.” She leaned back. “I have been working too hard. It is not good for me, and it is not good for you.”
“I’m fine—”
“Rubbish. You have not been happy. I closed my eyes to what was in front of me to look beyond. I was focused on the tops of the trees and ignored the roots. You moved here for my help, and I have been helping others instead.”
“Lots of people need you,” I said. I was proud of her. She was much more patient than I could ever be. I’d have sent Eleanor and Dwight packing and never would have discovered how to help them.
“I am taking a vacation. I am closing the business for a month. How does that sound?”
“It sounds great.”
“Hot chocolate?” she asked. “With lots of marshmallows?” She held up the package.
“I can’t miss any more of Lily’s party,” I said. As it was, I had a lot of explaining to do.
“I’ll hold these then. A special treat.” She replaced the marshmallow package in the pantry and waved me away. “Go celebrate. Dwight, Eleanor, and I will see you tomorrow. And tomorrow we will talk more about that boy.”
I felt my cheeks burn at her mention of Mason. “It’s a deal,” I promised.
I ran upstairs. I had to separate Henry from Buddy. First I did a little decorating. I plastered the closet walls with photos of Buddy. “He’ll be with you always,” I told Henry. Then I shut him away, grabbed the dog and Lily’s present, and ran down the street.
Avery, Miranda, Tamara, and Marlee were already arranging their sleeping bags in Lily’s family room by the time I flopped onto the sofa.
“So what’s the deal with you and Mason?” Avery asked as soon as I hit the couch cushion.
“Yeah, Sar, what’s the deal?” Miranda demanded. “I thought you guys didn’t even like each other . . . but the way he went back to your house with you like that . . .” She waggled her eyebrows at me, à la Lily’s favorite expression.
“He was being nice. We’re just friends.” Or at least, we’re finally starting to be, I thought.
“You guys aren’t a perfect match, after all,” Lily admitted. “He’s so up and down. Kind of moody.”
“My big sister had this one boyfriend, and he liked her and then he didn’t and then he did again,” Marlee added. “Mind games is what she called it.”
I fought to hold back my grin. Mason definitely played mind games. But so did I.
I ki
nd of liked that we shared that. Mind games.
“Enough boy talk for now!” I said, wanting to change the subject. “Open my present, Lil!”
Lily squealed and opened her present. “It’s gorgeous!” she breathed as soon as she saw what was inside the box. She unwrapped the necklace, showing everyone. “Is this a crystal from Lady Azura’s collection? Does it have powers? What does it do?”
“It’s a moonstone. If you wear it close against your skin, it helps your most precious wish come true.”
Lily squealed again and fastened the cord around her neck. “It’s perfect. I absolutely love it!”
“What’re you going to wish?” I asked. I already knew the answer. She wanted to do what Mason could do.
“I’m not sure. Until tonight, I thought my wish was to be able to move things with my mind. But I’ve thought more about it, and I’m not sure that’s the coolest power.”
“So have you made up your mind what power would be the best one?” Avery prompted.
Lily nodded and grinned. She looked right at me and her smile grew wider. “I bet you can guess, Sara. . . .”
“Me?” I croaked. “How could I guess?” My head was spinning. What was Lily going to say? Was she going to say she knew about my powers? I knew I had to talk to her about it very soon . . . but not now. Not in front of everyone else.
“Oh come on, Sara! Think about it!” Lily pressed. “You know, right?”
“No, not a clue,” I croaked.
“How to talk to the dead,” Lily said finally. “Lady Azura and I can do it together. Wouldn’t that be so cool, Sara? Talking to the dead with Lady Azura?” Lily pressed the moonstone against her chest. “That’s my wish. This stone will help me be able to do that. I just know it will work. This is the best birthday present ever!”
Could the moonstone really have that kind of power? I leaned back on the sofa cushion and cringed. What kind of present had I just given her?
From now on, I was only handing out gift cards.
The front door swung open, taking me by surprise. I sucked in my breath, startled to see him.
To see him with Lily.
I’d just jogged up the Randazzos’ walkway. I hadn’t yet reached out my hand to ring the bell, and there he was.
His green eyes sparkled with recognition. I did everything to keep my lips from curling in a smile. We held a secretive gaze for a moment, before I looked away.
After all this time, it was strange to see him in front of me. No longer just words illuminated on a tiny screen.
“Sara!” Lily cried. She hadn’t been expecting me, but it was a hot day in August and I was bored. It was the kind of day meant for showing up at your best friend’s door “This is great. Mason’s here.”
“Hey there,” I said softly as I shifted my weight uncomfortably.
“Mason’s hanging out with Buddy,” Lily continued. Her little brown dog panted beside Mason’s ankle. Buddy had been Mason’s dog but his mom was allergic, so Lily’s family had taken Buddy in. “His mom dropped him off while she went to the doctor.”
Dr. Shiffer, I wanted to say. He specializes in migraines. Mrs. Meyer has been getting super-bad headaches lately, and Mason has to watch his brother and sister. Mason’s mom heard about Dr. Shiffer from a friend and is hoping he will be able to help her.
But I couldn’t say that.
I couldn’t say that and not say a whole lot more.
“Sara and I’ve spent the whole summer on the beach,” Lily told Mason, not knowing that Mason already knew that. That Mason knew pretty much everything that was going on with me. She pointed to the black Nikon camera I wore around my neck. “She’s been doing this thing where she takes a photo of the same spot on the boardwalk every day at three thirty. Same background but always different people doing different things.”
“Really?” Mason actually sounded surprised. As if he knew nothing about my hobby. As if he didn’t call me “Eye Spy” in our texts. “What are you doing with them?”
“She’s been printing out the photos,” Lily answered. “She’s going to mount them on a large board—”
“Actually, I’m thinking of binding them together and making a kind of flip book,” I interjected. I fixed my gaze on my orange sandals. I couldn’t look at Mason. The flip book had been his idea yesterday.
“Oh, I love it!” Lily’s maple-syrup-brown eyes widened. “You could sell that at one of Stellamar’s souvenir shops, you know. Print a lot of them. Mason, isn’t that totally original?”
“Totally.” Mason smirked. “One-of-a-kind. I can’t believe you thought of that, Sara.”
He thought he was being funny, but he wasn’t. I smiled my biggest smile back at him, playing along. I was confident he wouldn’t dare spill our secret. He knew Lily could never know about us.
If she knew, she’d ask questions.
Questions neither of us wanted to answer.
My stomach twisted. I felt bad. Lily Randazzo was my best friend. She’d be humiliated if she knew Mason and I were playing at barely knowing each other.
I also knew what Lily would think if she found out that we’d been texting almost every day for the last month. She’d think we liked each other. She’d think we were together.
But we aren’t.
We’re just friends. I scratched my shoulder and flinched as bits of post-sunburn skin flaked off. There was no way Lily or any of our other friends would believe me. I didn’t text with any other boys. Plus, Mason wasn’t even from our school. He lived almost thirty minutes away. And he was cute. Really cute. White-blond hair. Tanned skin. Wide-set eyes.
If I didn’t like him, she’d want to know what I was doing. Why I was talking all the time to a supercute guy. Guys and girls our age usually don’t talk all the time unless they like each other. What could we possibly be talking about? she’d want to know.
And the answer to that question was complicated.
About the Author
Phoebe Rivers had a brush with the paranormal when she was thirteen years old, and ever since then she has been fascinated by people who see spirits and can communicate with them. In addition to her intrigue with all things paranormal, Phoebe also loves cats, French cuisine, and writing stories. She has written dozens of books for children of all ages and is thrilled to now be exploring Sara’s paranormal world.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
Simon & Schuster, New York
saranormalbooks.com
Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at
KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Text by Heather Alexander
Cover illustration by Erin McGuire
Cover design by Laura Roode
ISBN 978-1-4424-6852-8 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4424-6853-5 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4424-6854-2 (eBook)
This book is is cataloged with the Library of Congress.
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