Sabotage At Willow Woods (5 page)

“Don’t move!” his voice yelled from the darkness, but I still couldn’t make him out or tell where the voice was coming from. He sounded angry now. “Really, Nancy, it’s the least you can do.”

I stood uncertainly on the stump, staring into the darkness.
What’s the least I can do?

Then I was blinded by an overpoweringly bright light. I let out a cry, but it was lost in the ear-melting roar that suddenly came from behind the light, the sound of a hundred truck engines starting up at once. The light started moving toward me, and I realized what it was: a steamroller! And it was headed right at me!

I screamed again. “Barney!” I tried to scramble off the stump, but it felt like
my feet were held by heavy concrete. “I’m stuck here! What do I do? What do I do?”

He slipped up next to me then, as silently and surprisingly as he’d first appeared. His expression held a terrible disappointment.

“Duh, Nancy,” he said, turning to the oncoming steamroller with a shrug. “Just tell them to stop.”

I woke up panting, soaked with sweat. The tree outside my window shifted in the breeze, the leaves making a soft
shhhh
sound, and it only made me tremble harder. I glanced at the clock by my bed: 3:24 a.m.

It was just a dream.
I settled back against my pillows, trying to calm my jangled nerves.
It can’t hurt you. It was just a dream.

I tried counting to one hundred, slowing my breathing, imagining myself at the beach—all the things that usually calmed me down. But nothing seemed to work.

It was just a dream,
I told myself again.

But why did it feel so real?

The next day I stumbled through school, tired and irritable, until my last, free period, when I changed my clothes and jumped into my car. I was back at Boylestown High, filled with a new sense of purpose, just as the bell signaling the end of the school day rang. Sure, in real life, Barney had seemed nice enough, and the goals of the Green Club seemed noble and sensible. If Carrie’s sports complex really was going to cause irreparable damage, then yes, it made sense to let people know. But the events at last night’s fund-raising dinner still turned my stomach. It seemed awfully below the belt to frame Carrie for saying something she’d never really said, robbing of her the chance to explain her views.

As the hallways cleared, I stepped cautiously through the doorway of room 238—sophomore English. “Ms. Meyerhoff?” I asked.

The woman I saw at the desk was not at all what I was expecting for the Green Club advisor and possible
note writer. She was soft and round, with slightly frizzy, long brown hair and warm, gentle brown eyes. I realized that in the back of my mind, I’d been imagining some hip, edgy woman with piercings, organic designer clothes, and a punkish haircut. “Can I help you?” she asked, looking up curiously.

I cleared my throat. “Um . . . I hope so.”

She smiled encouragingly. “Need some help with Shakespeare?” she asked, organizing some books on her desk. “All the English teachers send confused students my way. Just read it out loud. It always helps. It’s amazing how universal the problems seem when you speak the words out loud.”

I pulled my laptop out of my backpack. “Actually . . . I’m an intern for the
Boylestown Bugle
. I’m doing an article on the new football field and sports complex that Carrie Kim is proposing. I’m collecting quotes from a sample of teachers. Would you mind chatting for just a moment?”

Ms. Meyerhoff’s open expression suddenly closed off, and she sighed and shuffled her books into a
messenger bag. “I’m sure you could find more interesting people to talk to, Ms. . . . What was your name?”

“I’m sorry.” I put my laptop down on a desk and held out my hand. “Katrina Vicks. And I’m interested in whatever you have to say, really.”

Ms. Meyerhoff gave me an appraising look, then shrugged and sat back down behind her desk. “Very well. Can we make it quick, though? I have a dentist appointment in half an hour.”

I smiled and sat down at one of the student desks, opening up my laptop. “Great. No problem. Can I ask your name and what subjects you teach?”

She nodded. “Ms. Meyerhoff—Marina—and I teach English and music.”

I nodded too and tapped out some notes on the laptop. “And how long have you been at BHS, Ms. Meyerhoff?”

“Twelve years.”

A long time.
I typed that down as well, thinking that Ms. Meyerhoff had been at BHS long enough to develop some strong opinions.

I looked up. “And—Ms. Meyerhoff—can you tell me honestly, how do you feel about the proposed sports complex?”

Ms. Meyerhoff shook her head and looked down at her sweater, where she pulled at a pilling bit. “Well, honestly? I’m sure it will be nice for the athletes, but I wish that money could be spent on arts education instead. Did you know we had to let two art teachers go last year, because there wasn’t enough money? But we have money for a new state-of-the-art sports complex. I know the woman proposing the complex was some kind of sports prodigy when she was a student here. I just wonder about this town’s priorities sometimes.”

I nodded dutifully and wrote all that down. Then I paused and looked Ms. Meyerhoff in the eye. “So the environment doesn’t feature at all in your concerns?”

Ms. Meyerhoff didn’t blink. “The environment? What about it?”

I pulled the flyer Barney had given me from my backpack, unfolded it, and handed it to her. “Are you
familiar with these conflicts? This flyer was handed out by the Green Club.”

Ms. Meyerhoff took the paper from me, glanced down at it, then up at me. “Yes, I am familiar with these. And?”

I cleared my throat. “Are you opposed to the sports complex for the reasons detailed in the flyer?”

She shook her head. “I’m more concerned about what it says about how much this town values sports versus art education.” She glanced at her watch. “Is that all? I’m running short on time.”

I kept pressing. “But aren’t you the faculty sponsor of the Green Club?”

Ms. Meyerhoff stopped short and gave me a curious look. “I’m sorry. What kind of an interview is this?”

I tried to smile. “A thorough one?” I glanced down at my laptop, pretended to type something, and added, “I’m really just hoping to get a wide range of opinions on the proposal, Ms. Meyerhoff.”

She stared at me for a moment, bemused. “Yes, I
am
the faculty sponsor for the Green Club, but I have little
input—the kids run the club themselves. I’m sure they put a lot of research into this flyer, and it was written by one of my best students. Would you like to talk to her?”

I nodded vigorously, then tried to slow myself down, lest I look insane. “That would be very helpful, yes.”

“It’s Eloise Stromberg,” Ms. Meyerhoff said, then spelled it. “Did you get that?”

“Yes.” I typed the name into my notes, then looked up at Ms. Meyerhoff.
She really doesn’t seem like an angry note writer,
I reflected.
She seems like someone’s kindly, artsy aunt.
“Thank you very much. I hope I didn’t make you late to your appointment.”

With those words I closed my hand around the flash drive we’d pulled from Carrie’s sound system the night before and then dropped it onto the classroom floor with a loud clatter. “Oh no! I’m sorry—could you get that for me, Ms. Meyerhoff?”

I really just wanted to see if the teacher had any reaction to the flash drive—a momentary panic, a quick paling of the skin. But Ms. Meyerhoff just knelt down and grabbed it, then handed it to me. “Okay?”

I nodded sheepishly. “Okay.” I was getting the sense this whole visit had been a dead end. I had wasted a perfectly nice teacher’s time. And worse, I was no closer to finding out who was sabotaging Carrie’s campaign.

“Thank you for taking the time to speak to me, Ms. Meyerhoff,” I said, shoving the drive in my pocket and heading for the door. I was in such a hurry to get out of there that I nearly collided with a tall, skinny boy walking in.
Barney!

“Hey there!” he said, his face lighting up when he looked down and recognized me. “Katrina, right? Hold on, I just need to stick our club dues in Ms. Meyerhoff’s desk, and then we can talk.”

I turned around and waited while Barney greeted the teacher—he seemed surprised to find her still there—and handed over an envelope filled with bills. Ms. Meyerhoff shot me another curious glance, one eyebrow raised. No doubt she was confused about how I knew Barney. Barney turned to me, his face wide open and smiling. “Anyway, let’s get down to business,” he
said jokingly. “Like, are you going to join the Green Club or what? We could really use you.”

I hesitated. “I—well, I’ve definitely been thinking about it!”

Barney nodded. “Good to hear! Come with me; we can chat about it some more.”

I glanced back at Ms. Meyerhoff briefly and nodded my good-bye; she was still regarding me with some suspicion, and I figured it was just as well to have an excuse to get out of there quickly. Barney touched my shoulder and led me out of the classroom into the empty hallway, lined with lockers. There was an echo in the hallway, which made it seem even more deserted.

“What’s holding you back?” he asked. “Are there any questions I can answer? Because I really can’t see any downside to your joining the Green Club.”

I couldn’t help smiling. Whatever the Green Club was up to, there was no denying that Barney was sort of charming—in an unguarded, eager-to-please way. “You know what?” I said when I felt we were too
far from Ms. Meyerhoff’s door to overhear. “You’ve convinced me. I’m in. Do you know where I could find Eloise Stromberg? Ms. Meyerhoff said I should talk to her about getting involved.”

Barney’s eyes widened in pleasure and surprise—like even though this was exactly what he wanted, he couldn’t believe it was really happening. “Do I?! Katrina, I can take you to her right now. Let’s get this party started!”

I blushed for him a little then. So Barney was also a little too enthusiastic. But I still couldn’t help liking him. Not in a romantic way—I already had a boyfriend, of course—but like a sweet little brother. I wanted to buy Barney a puppy and let him show me all his favorite eco-friendly toys. I followed cheerfully as Barney thundered down the hall, leading the way toward the BHS gymnasium.

Right before we got to the gym, Barney took a sharp left and led me up a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a heavy metal doorway that he pulled open, revealing a big, dark room. He stepped inside, and I followed. There was just enough light for me to
make out Barney holding his finger to his lips in the universal sign for
Shhh!

I looked around and realized we were standing at the back of the audience for a small black-box theater. Most of the lights were off, save a bright spotlight that shone on the girl who stood center stage. She had long, curly dark hair and huge brown eyes, and she was wearing long, feathery earrings and a twisted-folded kind of top that I knew Bess would know the proper name for. She looked exotic and cool. Even though I didn’t go to this high school, I felt a little intimidated at the sight of her.

It took me a minute to realize she was in the middle of reciting a poem.

“And then there was only empty earth!”

Her voice thundered through the small space, fueled by anger. It burned from her big, dark eyes, and suddenly she seemed a little scary—like a mother bear whose cub is being threatened.

“Because we has torn all the trees away!

And the earth bled, and the birds all fell from the sky

For we had taken all their safe places to perch.”

Her voice softened then—sadness crept in.

“And the people realized what a grave mistake they’d made. Thank you.”

Scattered applause came from the audience. I looked down and realized that about ten or fifteen kids were seated there, spread among the hundred or so seats. They were a varied assortment of high school types: a couple of goth kids; one short boy with dreadlocks and a vintage Tribe Called Quest T-shirt; a girl with huge, dark-framed glasses and a cute skirt printed with baby deer—definitely a cheerleader. That final one made me do a double take: a cheerleader at a poetry slam?

Barney cleared his throat as the applause died down, and I felt a little trepidation as he waved to get Eloise’s attention. “What’s up, Barney?” she demanded,
in a not entirely friendly tone. We stepped closer, and she looked me over as I came into the light. She pushed her mouth to the side, thoughtful, as Barney led me up onstage.

“I think I have a new recruit!” If Barney noticed Eloise’s lack of enthusiasm, he showed no evidence of it. His face was pink and happy, and he gestured to me with the excitement of a spokesmodel on a game show as the host announces, “A BRAND-NEW CAR!!”

Eloise’s eyes flipped from Barney’s face to mine, her unimpressed expression unchanged. “Yeah?” she asked.

I nodded then; I was feeling the need to pull myself together and stand up to this girl. “That’s right,” I said. “I wondered if I could talk to you about the Green Club? Ms. Meyerhoff said you’re in charge.”