A Quill Ladder (22 page)

It wasn
’
t Sylvain who showed up to babysit them the next day when their father shuttled their grim-faced mother off to the news conference at which she was to resign as mayor. It was a perky-looking Sandy, with a new more up-to-date hairstyle, dressed in tight jeans and an equally tight white top. She rang the doorbell and greeted them just after the blue bullet, as they called their family van, descended the hill.

Caleb looked gobsmacked as she slipped off her loafers, made her way into the kitchen, and proceeded to start assembling the ingredients for banana bread.

Mark, who had begun to ascend the stairs from the basement for his breakfast, took one look at her and wheeled around to return to his room. Sandy was in the middle of chirping something at Caleb regarding the location of measuring cups, and didn
’
t notice.

Caleb and Sandy were already deep in conversation regarding Maroon 5 and the
Star Wars
prequels, Caleb
’
s eyes resting alternately on Sandy
’
s face and chest, when Abbey announced that she was going to take Mark some breakfast.

Sandy glanced at her and offered a pretty little smile. Abbey tried to read some form of threat into the expression, but it seemed genuine enough.
“
Tell him to come up. I
’
m dying to get to know him.
”

“
I will, but you know. Mark can be a little
…
awkward. He has trouble with other people sometimes.
”

Sandy wrinkled her nose, winked, and flipped a batter-covered spoon in the air.
“
I
’
m sure we
’
ll do just fine. I get along with everyone.
”

“
I
’
ll see if he
’
ll come up,
”
Abbey murmured, retreating downstairs. They certainly couldn
’
t look for the files with Sandy in the house. And anyway, Caleb seemed to have forgotten all about them
—
and about Abbey
’
s promise to tell him what happened in his future.

*****

Mark hunched over his desk, poring over the maps in the green file. He snapped the file closed when Abbey poked her head in the door, but then relaxed slightly when he saw it was her.

“
Hey, Mark. Are you hungry? Do you want some breakfast?
”

He shook his head vigorously. He didn
’
t want to go upstairs, and have to smile and be asked questions and act like he was interested in his half-sister. It
’
s not that he wasn
’
t. He just didn
’
t want to have to act like he was. (And her eye and body movements were a bit rapid for his liking. They made Mark nervous, and when he was nervous, it was even harder to try to pretend he was even the slightest bit normal.) He would rather stay downstairs with his maps.

“
Well, Sandy is going to be here for most of the day, so you
’
re going to have to come up sooner or later.
”

Mark looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, then pulled open the top drawer of his desk to reveal his cache of granola bars and cracker boxes.

Abbey
’
s wide green eyes sometimes seemed too wide for her waifish face. She withdrew from the room at the sight of the bars, but then loomed in again.
“
Don
’
t you want to meet her? She
is
your half-sister.
”

How could he explain? Abbey lingered in the doorway, the circles under eyes dusky in her pale face.

“
I
’
m not good with new people, especially in settings where I have to talk to them directly regarding no set topic.
”

She smiled.
“
Hmm. Neither am I, really.
”

“
I need to see Kasey Miller
’
s map.
”

“
Sorry, what?
”

“
The map. He said he had the other map in his private collection. He said I could come back and see it. It would be very helpful if I could see Kasey Miller
’
s map. I also need to go pick up my map photocopy at the library. It will cost ten GCCs. I need a shifter account.
”

Abbey hesitated, then spoke carefully, as if she was afraid he might freak out.
“
Well, that
’
s going to be a bit of a challenge. We aren
’
t allowed to use the stones. I don
’
t know what a GCC is, and you don
’
t have a shifter account.
”

“
I need the maps to figure out what the dots mean,
”
Mark insisted.

“
What dots?
”

Mark flipped open the file folder and pointed at one of the dots on the map. Abbey entered the room and looked quizzically at the photocopy.
“
Those flecks? Aren
’
t they just from the photocopy?
”
She leaned in closer, and Mark tried not to lurch away.
“
Hmm, I guess not. They seem to be in a bit of a pattern, don
’
t they? The angles look the same, and these two are equidistant from that one. Weird.
”
She brushed the strands of her hair behind her ears and started using her fingers to measure the distance between the dots. Mark passed her his aluminum architect triangular ruler.

Abbey accepted the ruler, scooped up a pencil, and jotted a few measurements on a scrap piece of paper. Then she let out a hmpf-ing noise.
“
Of course the distances between these dots would be in the golden ratio,
”
she said, almost to herself.
“
Where do you think the library was on this map?
”

Mark pointed to an area slightly east of the center of the map, where, based on his estimation, the library in the future stood.

“
What
’
s on the other maps?
”

Mark blinked, realizing that Abbey may have already asked this question twice while he had been thinking. He hadn
’
t worked a lot with the golden ratio, but he knew that, from a mapping perspective, Mecca was considered to be situated on the golden ratio point of the Earth, based on its distance from the north and south poles and the prime meridian.

Mark lifted the map they had been looking at to reveal the one underneath
—
the one with the two crisscrossed lines running precisely north-south and east-west, intersecting at the center of the map.

Abbey stared at this one.
“
It
’
s a plus symbol, or a cross,
”
she said.
“
What do you think it means?
”

Mark shook his head. He had no idea. He passed her his sketched transparencies of both maps and Abbey placed the two maps on top of each other.

“
The north-south line runs through one of the dots,
”
she said. Mark nodded; he knew this already.
“
And the east-west line almost runs through a dot, but not quite. Do you think that
’
s a mistake?
”

Mark was about to shrug, but Abbey just continued talking.

“
What
’
s on the other map?
”
she said, lifting the photocopy.

“
Anyone for blueberry smoothie?
”
Sandy
’
s chipper voice rang through the doorway. Mark snatched up the maps and slammed closed the folder.

Up close, his sister
—
or half-sister, he corrected
—
was even scarier, her pert face wreathed in smiles, two glasses of milky purple drinks in her hands. Mark felt ungainly and like he might in fact be as slow as many people had often suspected, even though he knew he was not.

“
So this is your room now, huh Mark? I see you like maps.
”
Sandy entered the room and plunked herself down on the bed. A small amount of the smoothie from one of the glasses dripped onto the duvet. Mark expelled his breath from his nose heavily in short snorts. Abbey looked alarmed, and Mark started counting by threes.

“
He would prefer if you didn
’
t sit on the bed, I think,
”
Abbey said quietly.

Sandy looked confused.
“
Oh. Sorry. I didn
’
t know.
”
She rose and placed one of the smoothies on Mark
’
s desk and handed the other to Abbey. The drip from the side of the glass formed a ring on Mark
’
s desk.

“
So, what do you want to do today?
”
she said.
“
It
’
s a beautiful day. We can
’
t spend it inside. Your Mom and Dad hope to have Simon home by mid-afternoon. But we should go out and do something before then.
”

Mark considered the potential horrors associated with this. What if she suggested going to a park, or the mall, or the Farmers
’
Market?

“
I need a map,
”
he said.

Sandy gave a little laugh and gestured at his walls.
“
Looks like you already have lots.
”
She winked, but when she saw he wasn
’
t laughing in response to her ribbing, she sobered.
“
What did you have in mind?
”

“
I need the map from
…”
He almost said
“
the very bad man
’
s office,
”
but stopped himself in time and plastered a tight grimace on his face.
“
Your dad
’
s office.
”

Sandy wrinkled her nose.
“
I suppose the college is a nice enough place to go for the morning, but I don
’
t have the keys to his office, and he
’
s busy today.
”

“
Can you get the keys?
”
Abbey said.

Sandy shifted her eyes to Abbey.
“
I guess. But what
’
s this about?
”

“
Your dad promised Mark a copy of the map, and then I think he
’
s just been a bit too busy, what with you coming home and all. I think he might have forgotten. And Mark is
…
well, he
’
s quite obsessed with maps, and once he gets something in his mind, he really, you know, has to have it. He gets really upset sometimes when he can
’
t get things he wants.
”
Abbey darted exaggerated, meaningful looks in Mark
’
s direction, as if he couldn
’
t understand what she was saying. Mark had never heard Abbey speak this way, and he concluded after a bit of consideration that perhaps she was putting on a show for Sandy
…
to get Sandy to help them find the maps. Perhaps he should play along.