checked his cell. “It’s five,” he reported.
“What?” Danton yelped. “Really? My mom will kill me, she’ll boil me alive, she’ll ground me for a year. I gotta go! Catch you tomorrow.”
Before Edward could say a word, Danton took off running. Boy, he was fast. He ran in great bounding leaps. Just watching him made Edward want to lie down and take a nap. He gave his head a small shake and headed for home.
Neither of them noticed the little red-haired figure who slipped out from behind an oak tree. She stood in perfect silence, watching them. She waited till they were both gone from sight, and then she approached the stone wall and stared over it into the shifting fog. After a while she turned and she, too, headed for home.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Gingerbread House
Feenix stood outside the deli drinking in the cold air with relief. Escape from school. Escape from the big white-faced clock. Escape from Blabificent Beatrice who seemed to have almost nothing to talk about except other people’s hair. Now if only something not boring would happen. If only some adventure would overtake her.
She reached into her pocket for the Three Musketeers bar, but her fingers brushed up against something else. What was this? Oh, yes. She pulled it out and smiled. Dweebo’s stone. It was really a nice little stone—pearly pink and gray. About the size of a small potato, but much lighter than it looked. She brought it to her nose and sniffed at it again. What was that smell? She couldn’t figure it out. Something that had been in Dweebo’s pocket? But why would Dweebo’s pocket smell like rain and rushing water and some kind of tree in flower?
She put the stone back in her pocket and found the Three Musketeers bar. She finished it in four bites as she strode into the wind. Now what? She couldn’t go home. She’d gotten in trouble in French class for Krazy Glueing Mademoiselle Krigsman’s teacup to her Larousse French-English dictionary. By now her mother would have gotten the call about the detention thing tomorrow, but detention was out. Detention was the same as Chinese water torture, since you had to sit at a desk without moving and you weren’t allowed to do anything, not even homework or reading, just sit there and think about all the supposedly vicious things you had done like arriving after the first bell or glueing a teacup to a French dictionary.
Also, by now her mother might have opened the credit card bill and noticed the charge for the Thousand and One Nights Arabian Bazaar Bracelet she had ordered online. Feenix just wasn’t ready to deal with the whole “what is wrong with you are you crazy?” tantrum. There were still a few hours left in the day. She would walk up to the park and see if anybody was hanging out by Ninth Street.
At Dizzy’s restaurant, she paused to look in the window. Along the bottom of the glass someone had enthusiastically painted a wintry scene of people wearing back-in-the-day clothes and skating along an icy blue pond. On the other side of the glass you could see real people sitting in the warm interior of the restaurant. She recognized some kids from school drinking hot chocolate and laughing loudly. She felt a sharp pinch of envy. They looked so comfortable with each other. It would never be like that for her. She had friends, but most of them she couldn’t stand.
Never mind. Everything could change in an instant. Comfort wasn’t her zone. She needed . . . something else. An adventure. A great mission. Something to make the rest of the world sit up and stare at her in astonishment. The wind pushed at her back. Time tugged her forward. She flew up the hill. But then skidded to a halt. Something had snagged her attention.
Wowie zowie. It was a new yard ornament. She was sure she would have noticed it if it had been there before. It stood in the front garden of a brownstone building. A little man holding on to a lantern with one hand. Its other hand was upraised as if trying to
“What?” Danton yelped. “Really? My mom will kill me, she’ll boil me alive, she’ll ground me for a year. I gotta go! Catch you tomorrow.”
Before Edward could say a word, Danton took off running. Boy, he was fast. He ran in great bounding leaps. Just watching him made Edward want to lie down and take a nap. He gave his head a small shake and headed for home.
Neither of them noticed the little red-haired figure who slipped out from behind an oak tree. She stood in perfect silence, watching them. She waited till they were both gone from sight, and then she approached the stone wall and stared over it into the shifting fog. After a while she turned and she, too, headed for home.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Gingerbread House
Feenix stood outside the deli drinking in the cold air with relief. Escape from school. Escape from the big white-faced clock. Escape from Blabificent Beatrice who seemed to have almost nothing to talk about except other people’s hair. Now if only something not boring would happen. If only some adventure would overtake her.
She reached into her pocket for the Three Musketeers bar, but her fingers brushed up against something else. What was this? Oh, yes. She pulled it out and smiled. Dweebo’s stone. It was really a nice little stone—pearly pink and gray. About the size of a small potato, but much lighter than it looked. She brought it to her nose and sniffed at it again. What was that smell? She couldn’t figure it out. Something that had been in Dweebo’s pocket? But why would Dweebo’s pocket smell like rain and rushing water and some kind of tree in flower?
She put the stone back in her pocket and found the Three Musketeers bar. She finished it in four bites as she strode into the wind. Now what? She couldn’t go home. She’d gotten in trouble in French class for Krazy Glueing Mademoiselle Krigsman’s teacup to her Larousse French-English dictionary. By now her mother would have gotten the call about the detention thing tomorrow, but detention was out. Detention was the same as Chinese water torture, since you had to sit at a desk without moving and you weren’t allowed to do anything, not even homework or reading, just sit there and think about all the supposedly vicious things you had done like arriving after the first bell or glueing a teacup to a French dictionary.
Also, by now her mother might have opened the credit card bill and noticed the charge for the Thousand and One Nights Arabian Bazaar Bracelet she had ordered online. Feenix just wasn’t ready to deal with the whole “what is wrong with you are you crazy?” tantrum. There were still a few hours left in the day. She would walk up to the park and see if anybody was hanging out by Ninth Street.
At Dizzy’s restaurant, she paused to look in the window. Along the bottom of the glass someone had enthusiastically painted a wintry scene of people wearing back-in-the-day clothes and skating along an icy blue pond. On the other side of the glass you could see real people sitting in the warm interior of the restaurant. She recognized some kids from school drinking hot chocolate and laughing loudly. She felt a sharp pinch of envy. They looked so comfortable with each other. It would never be like that for her. She had friends, but most of them she couldn’t stand.
Never mind. Everything could change in an instant. Comfort wasn’t her zone. She needed . . . something else. An adventure. A great mission. Something to make the rest of the world sit up and stare at her in astonishment. The wind pushed at her back. Time tugged her forward. She flew up the hill. But then skidded to a halt. Something had snagged her attention.
Wowie zowie. It was a new yard ornament. She was sure she would have noticed it if it had been there before. It stood in the front garden of a brownstone building. A little man holding on to a lantern with one hand. Its other hand was upraised as if trying to
Similar Books
