Poppy Mayberry, a New Day

by Jennie K. Brown

  As much as I would want to ask my own grandparents in a situation like this, I understood Logan’s reasoning.

  “Well,” I said, “from the ‘grandparents leaving this world’ thing, it looks like you were intended to find this a little later … ”

  “Glad I found it first,” Logan said through a half-smile, passing the envelope from one hand to the other. “I bet there’s more to find.”

  I stood. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  Chapter Five

  It had been forty-five minutes. Sam had already gone home, and it was just Ellie, Logan, and me searching Logan’s grandparents’ house for a sign—any sign—to point us in the right parents-are-still-alive-so-where-did-they-go direction.

  Logan searched his grandparents’ bedroom, because there was no way the three of us felt comfortable digging around in there. I was in charge of the kitchen and living room areas. Ellie took the dining room and office.

  After no luck at all, we reconvened back in the living room. I plopped myself down on the floral-patterned couch, and the plastic cover scrunched underneath me. Ellie and I giggled in unison.

  Across the foyer, Logan rearranged the dining room centerpiece. “Did you put everything back exactly like you found it?” he asked us. “Gram and Pop are super particular.”

  I was extra meticulous about my placement of items as I searched.

  “I think,” Ellie said, pulling her lips to the side of her face.

  “Mm hmm,” Logan muttered.

  “Is there any place else you can think of to check? I mean, I went through every single book on that shelf.” I pointed to the hundred or so books lining the wall. “Nothing slipped out at all.”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange they put the note in a random book? Why wouldn’t your parents keep it completely out of sight?” Ellie asked, once again surprising me with her insightful question.

  Logan shrugged. “Beats me.”

  “Can we see it again?”

  In the blink of an eye, Logan disappeared. Five seconds later, he reappeared in the living room. “Here,” he said, opening the letter once again.

  Our Dearest Logan,

  If you’re reading this, it means your grandfather and grandmother have left this world. I’m sure you have many unanswered questions about what happened to us, but know we love you more than anything. One day we hope to return to Nova, but until it’s safe, know that you are always on our minds.

  With love,

  Mom and Dad

  “Know that it’s safe?” I said. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Safe from what?” Ellie asked.

  “Or maybe from who?” I added.

  Ellie perked up. “Maybe it’s Mayor Masters?”

  “Yes! It has to be her!” I exclaimed. “Mayor Masters is in jail, so if we can find out where Logan’s parents are and then find a way to get a message to them that Mayor Masters is put away, then maybe they’ll come back.”

  “What do you think, Logan?” Ellie asked.

  Logan slouched on the chair across from us. It scrunched underneath his butt, but Ellie and I didn’t laugh this time. It was difficult to laugh at someone who appeared so miserable.

  “What do you think?” I repeated excitedly. “Then they can come back.”

  Logan nodded slightly. “I guess so.” Then he sighed. “I just don’t get it, though.” His head dropped to his hands. “Why wouldn’t they just tell me? Or take me with them? Why would they let me think they’re dead?”

  And that’s when it hit me. Nova. Our powers. The secrets. It was easier to be like everyone else in Nova—have your one power, accept that, and go on with your magical, powerful life—no questions asked. But maybe that is part of growing up—having to acknowledge change, discoveries, and the darkness that sometimes comes with it.

  I slowly walked over to Logan, sat down next to him, and put my arm around his shoulder. It was then that he did something I never expected. Cry. Like really cry. His shoulders and hair bobbed up and down with each sob. This was just devastating. I read the same feeling from Ellie’s head.

  Maybe we should give him a moment, she thought to me.

  Just stay a bit longer, Logan thought, knowing I was reading his mind.

  So we did. After a few minutes, Logan turned to me. “Are you sure you don’t mind looking a little bit more?” he asked.

  Ellie stood up. “Of course not. That’s what friends do, silly.”

  I wasn’t going anywhere, and Logan knew it.

  “I guess there is one more place we haven’t looked,” Logan said through sniffs.

  Ellie’s eyes widened. “Where?”

  “The attic.”

  Okay. So over the past two years, there were three times I was truly frightened. The first was in the haunted forest when we searched for our belongings two summers ago at Power Academy. Stupid Headmistress Larriby had hidden my poor Pickle, and we had to traipse through the woods to find her.

  The other time was just over this past summer when we found the missing cuspers in the basement of Nova Power Corporation. That time, it wasn’t Pickle or some inanimate objects that went missing (like the summer before with not only Pickle, but Ellie’s bracelet, Logan’s soccer ball, and Sam’s clarinet), instead it was actual human beings. That Mayor Masters was up to no good. And the third time I was frightened was … well … now. Not so much at the prospect of running into a ghost, but more about what else we could find out. I wasn’t sure I was ready for more revelations, but something deep down in my stomach felt off. Like this would be the start of even crazier discoveries.

  Logan pulled on a cord dangling from the second-floor hallway, and in an instant, a wooden ladder fell from the ceiling.

  We climbed up each creaking step and arrived to the top floor of Logan’s house. Just like the rest of the home, the attic was organized to perfection, every item in an exact place. Boxes lined the sides of the wooden planks, and each was labeled by a different colored sticker—clothing in red, toys in blue, photographs in yellow, and miscellaneous in green.

  “How long do you think we have?” I asked.

  “Well, Gram and Pop usually get back a little after seven, so I would say around half an hour.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Then what are we waiting for?”

  We took separate corners of the attic. Toys filled my corner. Old jack-in-the-boxes, a few board games, and playing cards were just a few of the items I dug through. I emptied out all the contents of the boxes, hoping another note would fall from one of them. Fail. The only thing that tumbled from my containers was a bunch of dust and the occasional piece or two of mouse poop.

  “Gross!” Ellie spat.

  “Any luck?” I shouted to the other two.

  “No,” they said in unison.

  I rifled through two more boxes. “Nothing,” I huffed to myself.

  “Ahhhh!” Ellie shrieked.

  I jumped. “What, Ellie?” I assumed she saw one of the mice the droppings belonged to.

  “I think I found something important,” she said. Logan teleported across the attic so he was directly next to Ellie. I had to do the non-teleportation thing—walk.

  “What is it?” I asked, looking at the photograph dangling from Ellie’s fingers.

  Logan squinted. The light from the single bulb didn’t illuminate the photograph enough to see any detail. “Why did Sam have to leave?” he asked to nobody in particular. I agreed; his Wednesday power would come in handy right about now.

  Ellie walked it over to the light and pointed a perfectly-shaped fingernail to the center. From what I could see, there were three people standing in the middle of the picture, and they stood in front of a building that couldn’t be mistaken—Power Academy. I could tell the man and woman on the right were Logan’s parents, not only because I read it from Logan’s mind, but also because the man in the photograph had the same shaggy hair as Logan. A few strands of hair even
fell in his eyes like Logan’s did just now. The woman next to him was thin and had the same crooked smile as her son.

  “What are they doing with her?” Ellie pointed to the other person in the photograph. Ellie’s finger touched the picture where the other woman stood. There was no mistaking that person at all. Headmistress Larriby.

  “I have no idea, but I know how we can find out,” Logan said with a mischievous grin.

  I guess we were going back to Power Academy after all.

  Chapter Six

  It seemed, no matter how much I wanted to stay away, something always brought me back to Power Academy. That first summer, I was forced to attend the Academy to “perfect” my weekday power—only to find out I actually had two powers. The next time, I was lured there as a camp counselor at the first sound of money. Even though I was given the 200 dollars promised for my role as counselor, that trip to Power Academy revealed more about my magical powers, and all the powers in Nova, than I ever imagined.

  And now, as I walked under the giant arches that canopied the entrance of Power Academy yet again, I realized this visit was completely by choice. I sighed.

  “That excited?” Logan asked. I’m sure my face complemented my sigh just fine. There was no use in hiding my emotions about being here tonight.

  “What do you think?” I asked, smirking.

  It was the night after we had all met at Logan’s house. Ellie’s parents requested her presence at a fancy function. She mentioned something about a gala for the big donors to the Nova Library. I could imagine her stepping out of her parents’ chauffeured car in a pink, frilly dress with matching pink kitten heels. Not only had I seen that exact outfit in her ginormous walk-in closet over the summer, but I also read it out of her head during English class this afternoon. Of course, Mrs. Bonbon droned on about figurative language, and so Ellie daydreamed of her pretty-in-pink outfit for this evening.

  “Do we just knock on the door?” Logan asked.

  We’d spent enough time at Power Academy to know the inner workings of its security. For example, there were two cameras right inside the main entrance angled at the doorway. Since Logan and I both could teleport when together, who was to stop us from teleporting right into Headmistress Larriby’s office? It wasn’t necessary, though. It wasn’t as if Logan and I were on bad terms with the good ole’ headmistress at this point, so breaking in didn’t even have to happen. Not gonna lie, it disappointed me a little bit. I was getting used to this new mischievous sleuthing thing.

  I brought my hand up to the large wooden door. After three quick raps with my fist, it opened.

  “And who do we have here?” a voice squeaked from the familiar man who stood in front of us. The man wore pants two sizes too big, thinning hair combed across his shiny scalp, and a forest of hairs emerged from his venti-sized nostrils.

  Logan chuckled, almost as if he read the last thought from my head.

  “How are you, Mr. Grimeley?” I asked through a forced smile.

  It had been a while since we saw the Nostril-man Grimeley. He hadn’t changed a bit. His lips curled up in a snarl.

  “Well, well, well.” Headmistress Mayella Larriby pushed her way through, and Grimeley’s small body bounced off the frame. “Look what the cat dragged in,” she bellowed and used her butt to nudge him out of the doorframe the rest of the way.

  Some things never change, I thought.

  “Did you already forget I’m a Thursday too, Miss Mayberry?” Headmistress Larriby asked.

  Nope. I knew what I was doing, I thought right back at her and then stuck out my tongue.

  Ugh. This woman was just as pleasant as the first time I met her. And when I say pleasant, I don’t actually mean pleasant. But I got her back. I’ll never forget the way I used my Monday power to slide her chair right out from under her that first day of Power Academy, so she fell flat on her jiggly butt in front of the entire summer student body.

  “I’ll never forget that either, Poppy,” she growled, now leading us toward her office. Logan and I quietly followed.

  “Now.” Headmistress Larriby shut the door behind us. Mr. Grimeley had shuffled away right before we reached her office door. She sighed. “I’ve already explained to you I know nothing more about your new-found powers.”

  I knew what she really wanted to say was that she couldn’t tell us any more about our new-found powers, or our new-found knowledge.

  “That’s actually not why we’re here,” Logan said, reaching into his pocket. Larriby tilted her head in curiosity while Logan pulled out the photograph we had found last night in his grandparents’ attic. He pushed it across Headmistress Larriby’s desk. “This,” he said, staring at the photograph, “is why we’re here.”

  I couldn’t understand the expression on Headmistress Larriby’s face. For a flicker of a second she looked equal parts pained, surprised, and upset. But that expression quickly changed to flatness.

  “I … um … I’m not sure who those people are,” she said. Her eyes darted away from the photograph and to the clock above the door behind us. I attempted to read her mind—read her true feelings. But those were coming up blank. Headmistress Larriby erased the thoughts from her head. I just knew it.

  “This is you, though. Right?” Logan asked hopefully. Was he actually buying her lie?

  “Well. It does look like me. And it is in front of Power Academy where I’ve worked for most of my life,” she said through a forced chuckle. She also said all of that without actually looking at the picture.

  I narrowed my eyes. “Here,” I said, watching her closely while pushing the photo into her hands. “Look again. Closer this time.”

  This time Headmistress Larriby muttered something about not having on her glasses—glasses I’d never actually seen her wear. She squinted. “Yes. That is me,” she said, only glancing briefly at the photograph and then sliding it back to our side of the desk. “I suppose I met a lot of people over the years. Whoever they are must have been taking a tour of the academy.” Her eyes met Logan’s on the word “they.” “Perhaps they had a child who needed some work with their powers,” she offered.

  Logan narrowed his eyes.

  Nope. Still not buying it.

  “Just look once more, please?” Logan pleaded. “Anything you can remember about them would help.”

  Now headmistress Larriby narrowed her eyes at Logan. She did it so hard all the features on her face squished together like one of those face stress-ball thingies Mr. Grimeley handed out at the start of summer sessions at Power Academy. “And why are you asking about this photograph, Logan?” she asked.

  I knew Logan wasn’t ready to tell anyone, let alone Headmistress Larriby, about the note he found from his parents. But he had to come up with something.

  “I’m writing this essay in English class about our summer, and it’s made me think a lot about my parents.” He let out a small smile. “I found this old picture when I was doing some research, and I just hoped to learn anything I could about them.”

  Headmistress Larriby shifted in her seat, but it seemed she bought Logan’s story. “Well, I’m sorry I can’t help you,” she said sharply. “Now I must get to a remedial after-school program committee meeting.” She stood and then yelled, “Mr. Grimeley.” In a flash, as if he were standing right outside her office door, Greasy Grimeley appeared in the entrance to her office. “Please see Mr. Prince and Miss Mayberry out.” She wiggled herself from around the back of the desk and practically sprinted out the door. Any attempt at reading her mind still came up blank. She knew something, and I just hoped Logan noticed it too.

  As Mr. Grimeley ushered us out of the building, a thought of Logan’s came rushing in my head. I don’t trust her, he thought.

  “I agree,” I said aloud, just to throw Grimeley off. He snorted.

  “Goodbye, kiddos,” he called as we walked down the entrance staircase.

  “Did you see how weird she acted in there?” I nodded towar
d the door.

  Logan sat down on the stairs. “She knows something,” he said quietly. I took a seat next to him and sighed.

  Logan ran a hand through his hair and then pulled the letter from his parents out of his back pocket. “But I can’t stop now,” he whispered and then turned to me. “I need to find them, Poppy.”

  I pushed some rocks around with my shoe. “Well … we’ve looked everywhere for clues, and we’ve asked pretty much everybody. But,” I paused and moved toward Logan so our knees touched. “But Power Academy has been full of so many secrets, I think I know what we need to do next.”

  Logan turned to me and smirked. “It looks like we’ll be breaking into Power Academy after all.”

  Chapter Seven

  I turned to Ellie and smiled at her choice of clothing—black yoga pants, a black tank, a black hoodie, black converse, and painted black fingernails. I thought back to the first time she got all decked out in her sleuth attire that first summer at Power Academy. At least she’d traded in her black kitten heels for a more sensible pair of shoes this time.

  “I’ve learned a few tips from you, Poppy.” Ellie winked, obviously reading the last thought with her Thursday power.

  There was a knock at the door. “Are you about ready?” Sam asked. I opened Ellie’s bedroom door to see he’d changed into his camouflage hunting uniform that doubled as spy attire. Logan stood next to him. He looked cute in his dark jeans and black hoodie. I blushed, knowing Ellie just read that “cute” comment right out of my head.

  “Just waiting on these to dry,” Ellie said, turning her hands around so the boys could see the freshly-painted polish. “Raven black.” Only Ellie would announce the exact shade of nail polish to boys who clearly didn’t care.

  “I like it,” Sam said, smiling.

  One of the boys cared, I guess.