The Curse of Arkady (8 page)

“I won't,” Bailey agreed.

“If you're late to school this morning, just have them call me.” Rebecca Landau lingered for another minute, her briefcase in one hand and purse in the other.

“I will.” Bailey sat, her cereal spoon suspended in midair, waiting.

Her mother sighed. “All right, then. Everything is all set with Jiao. She'll drive Ting over to school, and then I'll see you and Ting tonight. Tomorrow we'll hit the matinee after the school festival, then home she goes.”

“Great!” Bailey grinned gleefully.

Her mother waved and bolted out the door. Even as it shut, she could hear the hurried footsteps running down the corridor. Bailey waited a moment longer, then put her spoon in her mouth and crunched away. She hurried to finish her own breakfast, clear away the dishes, settle Lacey down in her pack rat habitat, and grab her backpack. Lacey wrapped her dark-tufted tail about her body, buried her face, and went to sleep in a nest of cedar shavings and toilet paper, quite unconcerned about Bailey going. She chirped reassuringly at the pack rat anyway. Lacey's tail twitched as though perturbed at being disturbed in her morning nap. Bailey wrinkled her nose.

She checked the time as she turned down the thermostat for the day, and pitched herself out the door. She was late! And, clattering down the stairs and bursting out of the apartment building, she could see the bus pulling away from the stop even as she burst into the morning sunlight.

Grumbling, she hiked her backpack on one shoulder. If she briskly walked the three blocks to the main avenue, she could catch any number of buses headed toward school. Of course, she'd been told not to. But . . . Bailey cast a look at the brisk autumn day. Blue sky, light wind, no clouds. A good day to walk. She hesitated. It wasn't the exercise that bothered her mother. It was the used car lot on the third block, where a very large and frothing dog sat inside the gates, on perpetual guard. He was heavy and mean, and the gates were wobbly. Her mother was of the opinion it was only a matter of time till Ulysses broke free and hurt someone.

Being late to school, on the other hand, was more of a problem than her mom seemed to think. Bailey broke into a trot, her ponytail bouncing in time to her stride. If she didn't look at Ulysses, perhaps he'd not notice her going by. Better safe than silly, as her grandma always said.

By the time she neared that feared last block, however, Ulysses was already at the diamond-shaped wires, barking energetically at a much older and taller passerby when he spun around to see Bailey approaching.

“GAR-woof! Woof! Woof!” he trumpeted, lunging at the fencing. It bounced and chimed as his thick brown body hit it. Spittle went flying from his flapping jowls.

“Ewwww,” Bailey muttered, dodging past the flying globs. She looked at the metal signs rattling against the fence with every bounce of the madly barking dog. G & S Fine Used Cars and Marine Sales. Then a second sign, hanging below it. Beware of Dog. And, written in marking pen under the word dog, someone had penned, Ulysses S. Grunt.

Bailey grinned. That last was her handwriting but the owners of G & S had yet to wipe it off. Maybe they liked it. There was no sign of what Ulysses thought about it, unless it was in the red curl of his tongue and the snap of his white jaws.

Ulysses launched himself at the gate, his great thick head pounding into the back of the sign. It rang like a gong. He fell to the ground, frothing and growling. Then he gathered himself and stood, panting and snarling, on sturdy if bowed legs. She did not wait to see what else he would do. She took to her heels, scurrying past, as the loosely chained gates quivered and wobbled and as he tried to thrust his massive head through the gap.

Both she and a city bus arrived at the corner at the same time. With a quick look at the routing, she climbed aboard hastily, presenting her bus pass. She sat down, slightly out of breath, as the bus pulled away and Ulysses S. Grunt bounced up and down on the other side of the car lot as if knowing she had made her getaway. She wouldn't tell her mother, but if the festival's meeting ran late, they might well miss the last bus and she might have to confront the Grunt twice in one day. And that was tempting fate!

Bailey spent the rest of her short bus ride contemplating various plans to keep herself and Ting out of trouble on the way home, but she knew there wasn't a lot she could do. Ting, as quiet and slender in her American Asian way as anyone could be, had one fault she couldn't seem to overcome. She was late. Always, continually late. And she was so quiet and unassuming that even when she arrived somewhere, she was so often not noticed that it made her seem even later!

It was glorious, though, having her summer roommate just across town. At summer camp's too quick ending, she thought they'd all be flung to the wind like autumn leaves, only to discover that Ting lived just across town from her, as did Henry Squibb. It was a big town, with a population of over 500,000 people. Still, once a month, she and Ting had an overnight. Besides having a friend who didn't think she was
totally
weird, they could share what they'd learned about their crystals in practice, talk about school, families . . . well, in Bailey's case, she only had her mom and grandmother . . . but Ting had become her best friend.

They could giggle and watch DVDs and work on the charms that Ting had started making. She had a Talent, it seemed, for infusing small bits of crystal with a charm spell, mild and not very long lasting, but it was fun to experiment with. They both thought that, eventually, this was how the elder Magickers could make powerful warding stones. Ting seemed very pleased that she might have an ability which later would grow into something really useful. They were going to sell the charms at the All School Fall Festival tomorrow, which was one reason they were getting together tonight, to attend the last planning meeting and to get ready.

As for Bailey, well, she wasn't sure what she could do that was special. Oh, she'd disappeared for a while when she first got her crystal, but it wasn't a matter of being invisible or anything great. And she had Lacey, of course, and there was that afternoon a pondful of frogs decided to follow her around. She wasn't worried, though. Being a Magicker had been incredible so far, and she knew someday something special would trip and fall over her. She had absolutely no doubt. And it would be an adventure to discover it!

The bus came to a halt at the corner near the school. Bailey jumped up and was down the stairs almost before the doors finished opening. She just had time before the bell rang to visit her locker and switch a book or two. Today would be a great day, absolutely. It always was.

That was, of course, before she got bumped in the hallway and dropped her backpack, causing her papers to be scattered everywhere. And before the cafeteria ran out of pizza slices and she had to settle for chicken nuggets. And before they decided to play field hockey instead of getting onto the courts and playing volleyball. And before the English teacher assigned a five page essay. Of course, into every life a little rain must puddle. Nothing momentous to ruin her high spirits with a Friday night sleepover, and a Saturday movie to look forward to.

Of course, when the last bell rang, and the school parking lot cleared out, and Ting still wasn't there for the meeting, Bailey began to feel a little disgruntled. She sat on the brick planter outside the office, swinging her sneakered feet, and waited. It being the last day of the school week, no one lingered besides those who were there for the last planning session and to get the booths set up. Not the teachers, not even the janitor, and certainly not the students! The wind picked up a little, with just an edge of chill to it. She wondered what the weather would be like for Halloween next month.
Please don't let it rain like it did last year!
she begged silently. She then wondered if Ting could make a weather charm. Now
that
would be something to see. Imagine a Magicker strong enough to charm away storms!

That thought brought a small sigh. She'd be happy for Ting, of course, but . . . what lay ahead for her? Anything? Surely a vast world of possibilities, but of what kind? Perhaps as many possibilities as there were types of people, since the Magickers felt that all Talents came from within. So who was she, and what could she do?

She took her crystal out from under the neckline of her shirt and pulled it off over her head, a brilliantly purple amethyst on a pretty, twisted silver chain, and stared into it for a moment as it rested in her palm. Some Magickers could focus their crystals just by touching them, but she was still new at it, and found it worked best when she held her crystal nestled in her palm. The slant of the late afternoon sun played into the amethyst, bringing a glow to its faceted sides. Many crystals were common quartzes, but not all, and hers was as valuable as it was beautiful, but that wasn't why she'd chosen it. It had called her, somehow, to touch it and bond with it. From the moment she'd touched it, it had warmed to her and even now lay in her palm with a faint welcoming tingle. It was a beautiful gem, and all hers.

Bailey crossed her legs, studying her crystal, wondering how it was she'd managed to stare into the amethyst and get lost in it the very first time she'd held it. Could it ever happen again . . . ?

“Bailey! I'm here!”

Ting's soft high voice carried over the noise of a car pulling up and the door opening and shutting, yanking Bailey out of her thoughts and putting a welcoming smile on her face. She bounced to her feet, shoving her amethyst deep into her pocket chain and all as Ting swung her overnight satchel over one shoulder and they hugged.

Ting's mother leaned out. Jiao Chuu smiled although she looked faintly tired and worried. “See you tomorrow night, honey!”

“Okay!”

“Remember,” Bailey added. “My mom will drive her home!”

Jiao smiled, her soft wings of shining dark hair pulled back from her round face. Ting had told Bailey that Jiao had several meanings in Chinese, charming and tender and lovely. Bailey thought Jiao was easily all of those. “Thank you, Bailey. You girls have a good time.” The car pulled away slowly. Ting heaved a sigh.

“Wassamatter?”

“Grandmother isn't doing well. We may have to go up to San Francisco for a few weeks.”

“You, too? What about school? You're staying tomorrow, right?”

“Mom says she can home school me for a few weeks or I can even transfer for a month or two, if we have to stay that long. My dad will take us up, then come back for work and to take care of my sisters.” Ting had an older and a younger sister. Bailey sometimes thought she was so quiet because she'd been sandwiched in the middle.

Bailey looked at her in dismay. “Months?”

Ting nodded. “Mom's pretty worried about things. She won't tell me everything, but it's what she's
not
saying that bothers me.” She paused. “Grandmother may be dying, I don't know.”

“Oh, Ting! Don't think it.”

“I can't help it. You know how you know things are really serious, but nobody will tell you? It's like that whenever they talk about my grandmother. All I catch are whispers.”

The two of them fell into step, heading for the conference hall.

“They do it to protect us.”

“I know, but wondering is worse. I mean, I keep wondering if she's got cancer or what.” Ting shivered slightly, and Bailey hooked her arm through her friend's in warming comfort.

“If you go, what will I do? We just got the computer ring set up, too.”

“We'll take my brother's laptop. She already told me that. I can't be on it long, but I can talk to you every night. She says it's easier than everyone phoning everyone. She can talk to my dad and uncles, too.”

“That's not so bad, then. Maybe your grandmother just needs some help for a while?”

“I hope so. I'm going to try and make a health charm. Want to help me?”

“Sure! Two heads are better than one, if all those extra hands and feet don't get in the way!”

Ting laughed then. “Bailey!”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.” But Ting was still smiling widely as they ducked into the big gymnasium.

Decorators had already been at work on it, and harvest wreaths and banners hung everywhere. Piles of dried gourds and newly picked pumpkins lay by the door, and the immense hall had been cleared except for a few large round tables. Cardboard booths were being assembled as fast as the older students could get them together, and Mr. Nicholas, the music director, was orchestrating everyone as cheerfully as he did the school band. They got in line for their booth assignment, and Mrs. Nicholas, his wife, looking only slightly less cheerful and a trifle more harried, smiled at them as she sorted through a deck of cards.