And Other Stories by Emma Bull Page A

skin was blue. His head was
bandaged. One leg and one arm were in casts.
    Shortly before dawn, a nurse looked
in. “Who’re—”
    I put my finger to my lips, then
followed her into the hall. “Did they catch them?”
    “Catch
who?”
    “Whoever did this.
Were they caught?”
    “They usually aren’t.
How’d you get in?”
    “I flew.”
    She frowned, studied my face, then
nodded. “He’ll be fine. Go home, get some sleep, come back after
school, okay? That’s when visiting hours officially
begin.”
    “Can you tell me what
happened?”
    “I can tell you what
the clues suggest, but they don’t make sense.”
    “Okay.”
    “Someone hit him in
the face with a ball of slush that froze over his eyes. Then
someone took a metal club and beat him until he
collapsed.”
    I nodded, thanked her, and flew
away.
    •
    Steeljack and Chiller sauntered
into the schoolyard about ten minutes before the first bell. They
quit sauntering when I landed on the sidewalk in front of them.
Surprise touched their faces for only an instant, but I could hear
their hearts continue to race like drums in a bad jungle movie.
Kids passing by looked at us, then gave us plenty of
room.
    I said, “Why’d you do
it?”
    “Do what?” said
Chiller.
    “Come on,” Steeljack
told him. “Young Galaxian thinks we did something we
didn’t.”
    “Yes, you did.”
Wanda’s telepathic whisper vibrated in all of our skulls. She
stepped out onto the front steps so Steeljack and Chiller could see
her.
    Chiller’s hand began to frost over.
“Says who?”
    “Says you,” said
Wanda. “Loud and clear.”
    “Forget it,” said
Steeljack. “Mind reading’s not admissible in court.”
    “Who said anything
about court?” Chris appeared beside me. For an instant, a shimmer
of brown and blue ran up the sidewalk to show where he’d been, then
dissipated.
    Steeljack stepped backward. “Oh,
yeah, right. Gang up on us.”
    I said, “You set a fine example.”
Then I said, “Relax. Jase won’t press charges. He didn’t see
anyone’s face. He didn’t hear anyone’s voice. He couldn’t make
anything stick. It worked just like you planned.”
    Steeljack and Chiller glanced at
each other. Steeljack smiled a little, and the soundtrack of their
heartbeats slowed.
    I said, “Legal charges aren’t
Jase’s style. He says if you’ll get counseling, he’ll forget the
whole thing.”
    “Dream on.” A cloud
of cold air shot from Chiller’s throat as he laughed.
    Chris said, “Be kind of rough,
coming to school and never knowing if your clothes were about to
disappear. If you might suddenly have the worst haircut you’d ever
seen. If you might find yourself wearing a clown nose and
diapers.”
    Chiller stared. “You
wouldn’t.”
    Steeljack said, “Wouldn’t dare.”
His hand became a spiked ball on a steel chain that he began to
whirl at his side. “Declare war, and someone’s getting
hurt.”
    “You already declared
war,” I said. “Someone’s already hurt. But you’re right. If we
continue like this, things’ll only get worse.”
    Steeljack grinned.
    I said, “So maybe I should fly you
to the top of Kilimanjaro or Mount Everest. Got a pref?”
    Steeljack sneered. “I’d get back.
One way or another.”
    “Yeah,” I said. “So
maybe I should drop you in the middle of the ocean.”
    “Hah,” said
Steeljack. His hand became a knife that he pointed at me. I stared
at it. He returned his hand to flesh, but continued to point at me.
“You pacifist pussies don’t scare me.”
    “Pacifist pussies,”
Chiller repeated with pleased respect.
    “It’s a problem,” I
admitted. “Wanda?”
    “Meow.” She strolled
down the steps, waving to Chiller and Steeljack like a cat
stretching its claws. “People like you must’ve gone through some
horrible things to turn out like you did.”
    Steeljack touched his chest with
both hands. “Oh, no. Poor little misunderstood me.” He and Chiller
snickered. Steeljack said, “Keep your