A Quill Ladder (11 page)

The solidity of the file in Mark
’
s hands jolted him out of his spiral. He opened the folder. It contained three old maps of the Coventry Hill area. Maps that reflected pre-modern cartography techniques. Maps like none he had ever possessed before. He drew the folder closed and looked around the room to where everyone watched him with various degrees of what he assumed was repulsion and impatience. He rose from his seat carefully, collected his satchel, and then tried not to run for the door.

Out in the hall, Mark turned down the corridor and bolted as fast as he could go.

*****

Ian stood by the curb at Mrs. Forrester
’
s, cradling a cigarette, smoke rising in a twist around his head. He had changed out of the shiny paisley shirt he had worn the previous night in favor of a fitted red button-up shirt with small flowers. He glanced their way when they emerged from the Coventry hill path, dropped the cigarette, and crushed it under his foot, and met them at the edge of the Sinclair driveway.

“
Ian,
”
said Sylvain with a tight smile.

Ian lifted a single eyebrow.
“
Sylvain. Interesting to see you here. Influencing young minds?
”
Abbey couldn
’
t be sure, but she thought Ian put a strange inflection on the word young.

“
Not particularly. Are you responsible for the pruning job that we just discovered?
”

“
Not us. Have you changed your mind?
”

“’
Fraid not.
”

“
Francis still thinks it
’
s possible, with your help,
”
Ian said. Abbey looked at Ian. Was he talking about Mrs. Forrester, or one of the two tattooed guys?

“
I
’
ve been around a lot longer than you.
”

“
Only in a manner of speaking.
”

“
In all the important manners of speaking. I
’
m afraid we can
’
t chat. We
’
re off someplace important.
”

They found Mark huddled alone in the campus bus shelter, his head bowed. Nothing Simon or Caleb could say would convince him to get in the car with
“
the bad man,
”
and in the end Sylvain agreed, somewhat huffily, to follow Simon and Mark on the bus.

Caleb hopped in the front of the car, and Sylvain accelerated the vehicle away from the curb with rather more power than was necessary, considering that he was following a bus.

“
Are any of you adults ever going to tell us what
’
s going on?
”
Caleb said as the Jag idled behind the large square rear of the bus at its first stop.

“
Let
’
s just say that the release of the witches from Nowhere has resulted in some rather unanticipated complications.
”

“
I guess you should have thought of that before you went and meddled in everything,
”
Abbey said, somewhat more tartly then she intended.

But Sylvain seemed lost in thought and it took him several minutes to answer.
“
Yes, pulling one string often results in the unraveling of rather more strings than one would hope.
”

Abbey, Caleb, and Simon gathered in Simon
’
s room after escorting a very relieved Mark to his own bedroom with a pastrami sandwich. Sylvain had returned to his post on the couch with his phone and laptop. Their parents would be home within the hour.

“
Can you do this?
”
Abbey thrust the card at Simon.

Simon recoiled slightly but took the card. He read the text and then cocked his head at it.

“
Caleb can read the hidden words,
”
Abbey said with a tinge of impatience.
“
I can
’
t.
”

Simon flipped and rotated the card much in the same way Abbey had, trying to figure out where the words were.

“
Just concentrate,
”
Caleb said.
“
Close your eyes and make your mind go blank. Find your center like the card says, and then just open your eyes.
”

Simon squinted his eyes at Caleb and then turned his back on them, still holding the card.

“
We also need to talk about the rosebush,
”
Abbey said.

She heard Simon blow air out of his nose in a puff.
“
Shush, Ab. I
’
m trying to focus.
”

Abbey drew her lips into a pout, but she nonetheless retreated into silence. Simon seemed to take a long time, and she couldn
’
t see whether he had his eyes open or closed. Suddenly he lifted the card closer to his face.
“
I can see it,
”
he said with an edge of jubilant wonder in his voice.
“
But not words, just lines
—
parts of letters underneath the message and in the top right corner. I can
’
t read them though. They won
’
t come clear to me.
”

“
In the top right corner?
”
Caleb said.
“
Give that to me.
”
He grabbed the card out of Simon
’
s hand and stared at it. Then he shook his head, closed his eyes for a few minutes, and reopened them. A scowl crept over his face. He closed his eyes again, for longer this time. Abbey scarcely dared to breathe. Caleb opened his eyes again, more slowly this time, and then nodded.

“
It says: The final lesson is at 309.
”

“
309, what?
”
Abbey said.
“
Is it a room, an address, what?
”

Caleb looked all over the card, flipped it over and back again, and then finally shrugged.
“
It doesn
’
t say.
”

“
So great, the two of you can read magical writing and I can
’
t.
”

“
Can
’
t
yet
, Abs,
”
Simon corrected.
“
And I couldn
’
t read it either.
”

“
That
’
s just because the two of you have no ability to clear your minds,
”
Caleb said.

“
Yeah, well, that
’
s probably because there
’
s a whole lot more
in
our minds, bro.
”

Caleb shot out a fist and gave Simon a firm punch on the shoulder. Simon went to grab Caleb
’
s arm and pull it behind his back, like he used to do before Caleb outweighed him. Abbey shoved her hand between the two of them.

“
Stop! We don
’
t have time for this. I met with Jake today. He
’
s the one that gave me the card. Ian gave it to him. Jake says several people have come looking for him to help them use the docks. Someone has cut away the rosebush, and every last adult around us is acting crazy. We need to figure this out.
”
And I have a list from my adult self
, she added in her mind. She should tell them both about the list.

Simon and Caleb stopped their wrestling and separated.

“
You need to tell me what happened that night you went over the stones,
”
Caleb said.

“
You need to tell us what you were doing going to the stones with Mom this morning,
”
Abbey countered. Simon jerked his head up in surprise. He hadn
’
t known about that.

“
You first,
”
Caleb said.

Abbey looked at Simon. He lifted his hands to say he didn
’
t know what to do.

The sound of a car in the driveway made them all jump. Farley started to bark in the living room. Simon flicked one of the slats of his closed blinds.

“
It
’
s a police cruiser,
”
he said, his face oddly pale and his voice thin.

“
What?
”
Abbey exclaimed. Maybe their parents
were
in a trunk.

The engine was cut and footsteps and a sharp rap at the door followed. Farley
’
s lunatic woofing was cut off by a reprimand from Sylvain. Abbey, Simon, and Caleb poured out of Simon
’
s room. Abbey
’
s heart throbbed with fear.

Sylvain had risen to his feet and stood in the hallway.
“
Is one of you expecting someone?
”

“
It
’
s the police,
”
Abbey said. She wanted to add,
“
What did you do?
”
but thought better of it. Sylvain elevated his eyebrows, but didn
’
t appear excessively perturbed
—
not like a total criminal would be expected to look.

He approached the door after ordering a surprisingly obedient Farley to his bed, and they all crowded around behind him, looked at each other, and then dispersed around the room as if to look casual. Sylvain opened the door.

“
Coventry Hill police department,
”
the officer said.
“
We
’
re looking for a Simon Sinclair on charges relating to hacking into the City Hall computer system. We have a warrant for his arrest. We
’
re here to take him into custody.
”

Abbey
’
s whole body stiffened. Simon. He was guilty. He had done it. Simon shrank against the living room wall, his face a ghastly shade of puce.

“
I
’
m afraid the children
’
s parents are not here,
”
Sylvain said.
“
Would it be possible for you to come back later?
”

“
We have instructions to take him into custody. He
’
ll get two phone calls from the detention center, and you can contact the parents yourself. Ms. Beckham is under investigation too, as obviously she is the new mayor and may have received pertinent information as a result of the hack job. Which one of these boys is Simon?
”

Simon raised his hand.
“
I am.
”
His voice quavered through the deeper tones of manhood.

“
All right, son, we
’
re going to read you your Miranda rights. We
’
re not going to cuff you, unless you give us reason to do so. Can you please come here?
”

Simon stepped forward, looking half his age.

“
Who told you about this?
”
Abbey demanded.

“
I
’
m afraid that information is part of the investigation.
”

Tears streamed down Abbey
’
s face while the officer read Simon his rights and then marched her brother out to the car and drove away.

Simon was gone.

“
You shouldn
’
t have let them take him. I
’
m calling Mom,
”
Abbey declared with a fierce glare at Sylvain, who still stared out the living room window, bemused.
“
She
’
ll fix this.
”

“
Maybe,
”
said Sylvain.
“
She
’
s definitely not going to be happy.
”

Abbey and Caleb watched Mark eat his fourth slice of pepperoni pizza with anchovies. Sylvain occupied the head of the table, wearing a stilted smile. Their parents were in meetings with lawyers. Because of the potential conflict of interest and involvement of their mother
—
which Abbey was sure was
not
possible
—
the police were reluctant to release Simon into her parents
’
custody on bail, but rather wanted to retain him at the youth correctional facility. Their parents were trying to force an immediate hearing so that Simon could come home, at least temporarily, and Sylvain was apparently to stay with Abbey, Caleb, and Mark until their parents returned home later that evening.