The Demon Notebook (15 page)

Ms. Lemon and Mrs. Quinlan made a curious pair when waiting together at the school gates. The French teacher stood solemn and still, while her moth-eaten companion made faces at the schoolchildren who pointed and stared, even resorting to sticking out her tongue at a passing busload of unmannerly youngsters.

“You know,” she said, sniffing, “might not be so bad to let this bully child get run over. One less smelly teenager in the world wouldn't bother me any.”

“You don't mean that, Vera,” Ms. Lemon replied evenly as she carefully scanned the gathering crowd. “And there's no point trying to fool me. I know you better than that.”

“
Pssh
.”

Mrs. Quinlan sniffed loudly again, casually inspecting the growing mass of noisy students.

“There they are,” said Ms. Lemon.

The four girls approaching them looked haggard well beyond their years. Their sunken eyes were sticky with tiredness, and they huddled close together, warily glancing left and right as they reached the gates.

“Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it now,” Grace said.

She pulled the orb from her schoolbag and held it out, hoping that one of the women would take it.

“The non-Una's after us.”

“She turned up at the Stone House.” Jenny took the orb and planted it firmly in Ms. Lemon's hands. “She nearly killed Rachel.”

Ms. Lemon looked into the orb, then picking up one end of the scarf around her neck, began to polish it gently.

“You're all very brave,” she said, “and we need you to be brave just a little longer.”

“We can't!” Adie exclaimed. “You didn't see her.
It
! It's going to kill us!”

Ms. Lemon took Grace's hand and placed the orb back in her palm, closing her fingers around it.

“You've dealt with the consequences of each of your spells,” the teacher continued softly. “You found Vera when you needed help. You've taken on demons and defeated them and collected an orb full of wild spirits. You've done things even the most experienced witches have never managed. I'm very proud of you all.
We're
very proud.”

She nodded to Mrs. Quinlan, who just curled her lip in reply.

“And you have one task left,” said Ms. Lemon.

Mrs. Quinlan pulled out two coils of thin rope from the folds of her clothes.

“These have been soaked in several carefully prepared infusions,” she said, holding them out. “Loop them around the demon's wrists and hold on tight. They'll help cement it to the spot.”

Rachel and Jenny took one each and pushed them into their jacket pockets.

“This very simple verse is all you need.” Ms. Lemon handed Grace a small rolled-up piece of paper and patted her hand gently. “Whisper it into the orb and let it go.”

Grace took the verse and nodded slowly.

“Right,” Mrs. Quinlan said firmly, “my part's done. I'm out of here. Best of luck, and all that.”

“I'll stay in the school until this is all over,” Ms. Lemon said quickly, noting their dismal faces. “Just keep reminding yourselves why you're doing this.”

“We don't want Tracy Murphy to get killed.” Grace sighed. “And—”

“We want Una back,” Adie finished.

Ms. Lemon smiled.

“Girls, you know what to do. Go get her.”

***

Hours later, Grace sat on a table in their lunchroom, turning the blue orb carefully in her hands. Rachel stood by the window biting her nails, while Jenny rolled M&Ms off a desk and into a wastepaper basket waiting underneath. Adie sat with her head in her hands.

They hadn't been able to find the non-Una. They'd looked everywhere, and it was the one problem they hadn't foreseen. They couldn't think of anything else to do now but wait until she showed up.

At least they knew Tracy Murphy was alive and well, thought Grace ruefully, if the heavy tread she could hear in the corridor was anything to go by.

“Is there a party in here or something?”

The Beast strode in, flanked by Trish and Bev, both of whom had made considerable effort with their hairstyles that morning. Bev even posed momentarily at the door to allow the girls a second to appreciate the full effect.

“Hardly,” said Grace, tipping the orb into her open bag as discreetly as she could.

“Where's the Freak?” Tracy snapped.

“Don't know,” Jenny replied glumly, rolling another candy across the table.

Tracy snatched the wastepaper basket and emptied it angrily over Jenny's head.

“Well,” she snarled, tossing the basket into Jenny's lap, “you can tell her
I'm
looking for her!”

“Tell her yourself!” snapped Jenny.

Grace leaped off the table as the Beast grabbed Jenny by the collar and lifted her out of her seat.

“You tell her I'm looking for her! Or else I'll come looking for
you
. Got it?”

“We get it, we get it!” Grace pleaded, catching hold of Jenny as she was plunked back onto her chair. “We'll tell her.”

“Good,” Tracy sneered. “See you later now.”

The henchmen waved and smiled as they followed their leader out of the room.

“I'm sick of her and her stupid cronies!” Jenny shouted, wiping M&Ms and other pieces of garbage from her sweater. “We're jumping through hoops to save her life!”

“I know, I know,” Grace soothed.

“Doesn't matter what we're doing if the non-Una doesn't turn up,” said Adie. “Rach, knock that off or you'll make your fingers bleed.”

Rachel spat out a bit of a fingernail and clasped her hands in her lap.

“If she doesn't show up soon,” she said, “we'll have to go looking for her again.”

Scouring the town for an enraged demon was a daunting prospect. If she was hiding from them, she could be anywhere. And they were seriously short on time.

***

“Heya, Grace.”

Grace fumbled with the lock on her locker door, so stressed she couldn't remember the combination.

“Not now, James.” She sighed. “I'm not in the mood.”

“Oh. Sorry you're having a bad day. Is there anything I can do?”

“You can go away,” she snapped, banging her hand on the metal door before finally remembering her combination and swinging the door open, almost grazing his cheek. She winced. “Sorry.”

“That's okay,” he said. His crestfallen face broke into a smile. “You can make it up to me by letting me walk you home.”

“I'm not walking home. Look, James, I can't deal with this right now. My friend is missing and if I don't find her—”

“Which friend?”

“Una.”

“With the short, dark hair? I passed her in the B block a while ago. I'll help you look for her if you like.”

“What do you mean? You saw her—today? In
school
?”

“Yeah, before last class. Do you…hey, what's the rush?”

Grace threw the rest of her books into her locker, slammed the door shut, and started running. She reached the corridor and stopped suddenly. Her bag was too light. Swinging it from her shoulder, she emptied the contents onto the floor. A pencil case, a cell phone, an uneaten sandwich wrapped in tinfoil and…nothing else. The orb was gone.

She took off at a run, leaving her belongings scattered on the floor, finally catching up with the others in the main hall.

“She's here,” she said, panting. “James saw her at school, in the B block.”

“Then let's go,” said Jenny.

“Wait!” Grace said, holding her hand up. “The orb. It's gone.
She
must have stolen it.”

“What?” Jenny went pale, then took a deep breath. “Okay, we'll have to split up.”

“Split up!” Adie squealed. “Are you nuts? We have to stay together!”

“I agree,” said Grace. “We need to watch out for each other. She could be anywhere.”

“Fine,” replied Jenny. “But we need to get our rears in gear if we're going to find her.”

“And what then?” said Adie. “She's got the orb, so we can't do Mrs. Quinlan's curse. We're powerless without it.”

“Then we have to get it back,” Grace said firmly. “Find her, take back the orb, and finish the curse before she gets away.”

***

Trish and Bev stood huddled outside the school gates as Tracy leaned against the wall beside them and picked her teeth.

“What is it?” said Trish, weighing the blue orb in her hand.

“Don't know,” shrugged Bev, “but Grace was looking at it like it was made of gold. Maybe we could sell it or something.”

“
I
know what it is—it's a paperweight. For holding down papers. Who'd buy a paperweight?”

“It's not a paperweight,” said Bev. “A paperweight's got a flat bottom.”

“How do
you
know what a paperweight looks like?” Trish sneered.

“My
mom
has one.”

Trish held up the orb to the light. “It's all swirly inside, like it's moving. Freaky.”

“Give it here.” Bev tried to snatch it from her friend.

“No way! It's mine. Get lost.”

“
I
stole it!”

“And then you gave it to me. Finders keepers.”

“
I'll
have that,” Tracy snapped, grabbing the orb and stuffing it into her coat pocket, “and the two of you can shut up.”

The two girls dropped their attitude before Tracy got angry.

“
Tracy
Murphy!
” A voice was calling from the school parking lot.

“Who's that now?” Trish muttered, trying to make out the nicely dressed figure running toward them.

“It's that French teacher, what's-her-face. Orange,” said Bev.

“Lemon,” corrected Tracy. “And what the hell does she want?”

“Tracy Murphy,” Ms. Lemon wheezed, gasping to catch her breath as she reached them. “I need to see you in my classroom immediately.”

“Whatever it is, Miss, I didn't do it, and it doesn't matter anyway 'cause it's time to go home.”

“I realize that, Tracy, but this is rather serious. I'm afraid you'll have to come with me.”

“I don't have to go
anywhere
. I'm waiting for the bus.”

Ms. Lemon's lips tightened, but none of the girls noticed the scared look in her eyes.

“Unless you'd like a month's detention, young lady,” she said, “you'll come with me
right
now
.”

“Whatever,” Tracy snarled, picking up her bag and following the teacher back to the main building.

“That's what she gets for stealing my paperweight,” said Trish, as she and Bev watched them leave.

“It was
my
paperweight, and I'm telling her you said that,” said Bev.

“Don't.”

“What's it worth?”

“I'll give you back your paperweight.”

“If Tracy gives it back to you?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

***

After the four girls had persuaded Ms. Lemon to detain the Beast in her classroom for her own safety, the search for the non-Una began in earnest. Block by block they checked each classroom, each toilet stall, and even each storage closet. As the sun began to set and the halls got darker, the school seemed emptier and scarier than it ever had before. Shadows bounced across the walls as the girls hurried from room to room, trying to ignore the sound of their footsteps in the eerie silence.

“This is taking too long,” said Grace. “I think you're right, Jenny. We'll have to split up.”

“Grace!” Adie said with a pained look.

“We
have
to, Adie. We're wasting time. Jenny, you and Rach head to the C block and work your way down. Me and Adie will go the opposite way and we'll meet in the middle.”

“Okay.” Jenny nodded.

“Scream if you see her.”

“I'm sure we will,” Rachel said over her shoulder as she trotted up the corridor after Jenny.

“Right, Adie, let's go,” said Grace. “B block first.”

“I hate this.”

“I know.”

The first two classrooms were empty and quiet. In the third, Grace absentmindedly ran her finger down the whiteboard, accidentally leaving inky fingermarks all over it, as she glanced around.

“And nothing here either,” Grace sighed. “Girls' bathroom next.”

She stood at the door watching as Adie nudged open each stall door. Her eyes drifted to the mirror on the opposite wall. There! There was definitely a reflection of a moving shadow beneath one of the doors.

“Adie! Wait—”

She was too late. The stall door flew open, smacking Adie on the cheek and sending her stumbling into the far wall. Before Grace could move, the non-Una had snatched Adie by the collar and bolted for the exit, jamming her elbow into Grace's chest as she ran. With blurred vision through watering eyes, Grace could just make out the two figures disappearing down the dim corridor before her winded lungs allowed her to scream.