Whispered Magics by Sherwood Smith Page A

volleyball court?” Kelly asked.
    “Not just yet,” I said. “I want to make sure Fred is okay.”
    Marissa squinted toward the field as we walked down the hall.
“I don’t see the boys,” she said. “Anyway, I thought Fred’s report was kind of
cute. Did he make all that up?”
    “Not Fred,” I said. “Whatever he saw, he believes it was the
real deal.”
    “Did you see it, too?” Marissa asked.
    I shook my head. “None of us knew what he was working on. He
told Uncle David and Aunt Pearl that it was a surprise, that he was conducting
an investigation completely on his own.”
    Kelly nodded. “Your aunt would like that, her nephew following
in her footsteps. But why UFOs?”
    “Uh oh,” Marissa breathed, and I swung around to look.
    Jason and three of his buds, plus Ashley and two girls known
for being mean, had backed Fred up against the fence. I went straight over.
    “ . . . teacher’s pet,” Jason was saying.
“You didn’t even do a real report. Just made it up.”
    “I did not!” Fred yelled, his voice squeaking.
    “You did too, geek. Go on, admit it,” Jason said, shoving Fred
in the arm.
    Since Jason is six inches taller than anyone in the class and
a lot heavier as well, it didn’t take much to make Fred stagger back. Jason’s
friends laughed nastily, and then Jason saw me.
    “So, here comes big sister to protect the little creep,” he
whined. “I suppose you saw Freddie-frog-eyes’ alien spaceships, Lisa?”
    “If he says he saw ’em, he saw ’em,” I said. “Now back off.”
    “Oooh, she’s sooo-ooo tough,” Jason said, hands on hips.
“Gonna get some leather boots and a motorcycle?”
    “Right after school,” I said. “Want to help me pick them out?”
    By then more kids had gathered, and several of them laughed.
    Jason glared. “Look, everyone else had to do real work, and
your teacher’s pet baby brother gets away with fairy tales, just cause he skips
grades.”
    “Fred does his work, and the teacher knows it,” I said. “So
just put your nose back in your own business.”
    Jason knew he was wrong, but of course he just had to push it,
because half the class was watching. “Maybe it’s time to see if you’re as tough
as you talk,” Jason snarled, punching my arm.
    Or he tried to, anyway. I sidestepped easily, and put my hand
on his wrist. Using his own muscle and force, I pulled him off-balance so he
fell sprawling in the dust where he’d tried to make Fred fall minutes ago.
    “So you like rough stuff?” he yelled.
    “I hate it,” I said. “But nobody pushes me around. Or my
family. Or my friends. Okay?” I made my voice even on the last word, and held
out a hand to pull him up.
    He ignored it, scrambling to his feet and glaring over his
shoulder at me as he walked away. The crowd of kids broke up.
    “Come on, let’s play some volleyball,” I said to Kelly and
Marissa.
    o0o
    On the bus home after school, Fred was quiet and gloomy.
    When we settled into our bus seats, I said, over usual howls
and screeches, “You okay?”
    We both ducked some flying gym socks.
    “I guess,” he said. And then, quickly, “No one believes me.
Not even the teacher. I got a B, and a comment ‘wonderful imagination’. And I
had field notes, and everything.” He looked up at me, his brown eyes huge
behind his glasses. “Do you believe me, Lisa?”
    “It might have been some kind of mistake,” I said.
    “A mistake?” He looked really upset. “You think I faked it,
too?”
    “Oh, I believe you saw something,” I said. “But maybe it was a
blimp, or some kind of secret military test, or something. You gotta remember
that I wasn’t there,” I said. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
    “I really wanted to get proof, and on my own,” he said. “Like
Aunt Pearl. I mean, no one else in the family seems to believe in life on other
planets like I do, so when I saw the ship . . .”
    “So what about your proof?” I asked.
    “Well, the things I tried