him come.”
“ Fine,” Olivia snapped.
She pressed her lips together tightly and breathed in loudly
through her nose.
“ Fine,” Faith repeated.
But she sagged back against the booth in relief. I knew she’d
prefer to be completely surrounded by people the next time we
entered Chimera. None of the things that scared most kids bothered
her. But give her something new, or make her deal with bullies, or
even give an oral report in class, and she got more nervous than a
mouse in a cage full of hungry cats.
And I could tell the idea
of going back to Chimera had her really nervous.
Now that I knew where we’d
gone and more important, knew how to get home, I was actually excited about the idea of going back. I
just hoped it would be easier to get through that tree next
time.
“ We should go today,” Doug
said.
I sighed loudly. “Faith
can’t go tomorrow, so if we don’t go today we’ll have to wait ‘til
next month,” I told him.
“ Like I said! We should go
today. We don’t want to wait a month.”
Urrrgh! He’s already
trying to take over.
“ Yeah, what a shame,”
Faith muttered next to me.
Trying to keep Doug from
butting in again, I asked quickly, “ When do you want to
meet?”
Faith sighed, resigned.
“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
“ Let’s meet next to the
cemetery,” Olivia said.
“ Thirty minutes. By the
cemetery. I’ll be there,” Doug assured us.
“ Oh goody.” I hoped there
was enough sarcasm in my voice. Sometimes Doug could be totally
oblivious.
It was 10:00 am when Olivia, Faith, Doug and I met across from the
cemetery.
“ Should we take some
lunch?” Faith asked. “What if we’re there a long time?”
“ We can come back and get
whatever we need,” Olivia said reasonably, a hint of irritation in
her voice. “Come on, let’s go.”
“ Yeah, let’s go!” Doug
definitely sounded bossy.
“ Don’t push it.” I knew I
sounded impatient, but I didn’t care. “I just spent several minutes
on the phone with Ronny, vouching for you. I told her you promised
to do what The Three say.” Doug rolled his eyes at me, then turned
to follow Olivia across the street.
We hadn’t gotten far into
the cemetery when I stopped. I turned around slowly, trying to find
whatever was making me so uncomfortable. The skin on the back of my
neck was twitching.
Doug said, “What’s the
matter with you.”
“ I swear we’re being
watched.”
“ So what?”
Faith stopped and said,
“That’s not good. What if it’s Andrew or the others?”
“ Who cares if they’re out
there?” Olivia asked, sounding annoyed. “As long as they don’t see where we go.”
I turned around again to
look, but didn’t see anyone. “You’re right. It just makes me
nervous, that’s all.” When we reached the tree without seeing them,
I relaxed.
Olivia leaned against the
tree first. This time, I got to watch her disappear. It looked
completely and totally freaky, like the tree was swallowing her up.
Faith and Doug followed her quickly, and then it was my
turn.
The feeling of plunging
through something cold, thick, dark and damp was just as nasty as
the last time. In fact, it felt even worse than I remembered. Did
it really take this long last time? I felt panic creeping through
me. Sweat broke out on my forehead, then chilled in the cold
darkness.
Note to self — Wear a coat
next time.
Then I realized we hadn’t
warned Doug. For a moment, I forgot the terrible feeling of being
blind, deaf and tumbling through space. I was glad I could feel the
smile spreading across my face.
Serves him right— No one
asked him to come.
“ Holy Cow!” Doug yelped as
we suddenly fell onto the dirt road in Chimera.
“ I thought your mom told
you not to watch The
Simpsons .”
“ Don’t have a cow, man,”
he told me, turning to look around in amazement.
Faith made a gulping sound
and I looked at her quickly. Then looked away. She was a pale
sweaty green. Her stomach hadn’t
“ Fine,” Olivia snapped.
She pressed her lips together tightly and breathed in loudly
through her nose.
“ Fine,” Faith repeated.
But she sagged back against the booth in relief. I knew she’d
prefer to be completely surrounded by people the next time we
entered Chimera. None of the things that scared most kids bothered
her. But give her something new, or make her deal with bullies, or
even give an oral report in class, and she got more nervous than a
mouse in a cage full of hungry cats.
And I could tell the idea
of going back to Chimera had her really nervous.
Now that I knew where we’d
gone and more important, knew how to get home, I was actually excited about the idea of going back. I
just hoped it would be easier to get through that tree next
time.
“ We should go today,” Doug
said.
I sighed loudly. “Faith
can’t go tomorrow, so if we don’t go today we’ll have to wait ‘til
next month,” I told him.
“ Like I said! We should go
today. We don’t want to wait a month.”
Urrrgh! He’s already
trying to take over.
“ Yeah, what a shame,”
Faith muttered next to me.
Trying to keep Doug from
butting in again, I asked quickly, “ When do you want to
meet?”
Faith sighed, resigned.
“I’ll be ready in thirty minutes.”
“ Let’s meet next to the
cemetery,” Olivia said.
“ Thirty minutes. By the
cemetery. I’ll be there,” Doug assured us.
“ Oh goody.” I hoped there
was enough sarcasm in my voice. Sometimes Doug could be totally
oblivious.
It was 10:00 am when Olivia, Faith, Doug and I met across from the
cemetery.
“ Should we take some
lunch?” Faith asked. “What if we’re there a long time?”
“ We can come back and get
whatever we need,” Olivia said reasonably, a hint of irritation in
her voice. “Come on, let’s go.”
“ Yeah, let’s go!” Doug
definitely sounded bossy.
“ Don’t push it.” I knew I
sounded impatient, but I didn’t care. “I just spent several minutes
on the phone with Ronny, vouching for you. I told her you promised
to do what The Three say.” Doug rolled his eyes at me, then turned
to follow Olivia across the street.
We hadn’t gotten far into
the cemetery when I stopped. I turned around slowly, trying to find
whatever was making me so uncomfortable. The skin on the back of my
neck was twitching.
Doug said, “What’s the
matter with you.”
“ I swear we’re being
watched.”
“ So what?”
Faith stopped and said,
“That’s not good. What if it’s Andrew or the others?”
“ Who cares if they’re out
there?” Olivia asked, sounding annoyed. “As long as they don’t see where we go.”
I turned around again to
look, but didn’t see anyone. “You’re right. It just makes me
nervous, that’s all.” When we reached the tree without seeing them,
I relaxed.
Olivia leaned against the
tree first. This time, I got to watch her disappear. It looked
completely and totally freaky, like the tree was swallowing her up.
Faith and Doug followed her quickly, and then it was my
turn.
The feeling of plunging
through something cold, thick, dark and damp was just as nasty as
the last time. In fact, it felt even worse than I remembered. Did
it really take this long last time? I felt panic creeping through
me. Sweat broke out on my forehead, then chilled in the cold
darkness.
Note to self — Wear a coat
next time.
Then I realized we hadn’t
warned Doug. For a moment, I forgot the terrible feeling of being
blind, deaf and tumbling through space. I was glad I could feel the
smile spreading across my face.
Serves him right— No one
asked him to come.
“ Holy Cow!” Doug yelped as
we suddenly fell onto the dirt road in Chimera.
“ I thought your mom told
you not to watch The
Simpsons .”
“ Don’t have a cow, man,”
he told me, turning to look around in amazement.
Faith made a gulping sound
and I looked at her quickly. Then looked away. She was a pale
sweaty green. Her stomach hadn’t
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