A Quill Ladder (30 page)

Mark started to twitch and breathe heavily through his nose.
“
I left them on my desk last night. Right in the middle. I didn
’
t put them in a file. I left them on the desk. They were perfectly aligned with the edge of the desk.
”

Abbey
’
s parents exchanged looks.

Abbey
’
s dad reached out a hand to touch Mark
’
s arm, but he flinched away and bolted back into his room, where he sat on the edge of the bed and started to rock and pull at his ears.
“
It was the very bad man. He took them.
”

Peter Sinclair raked his fingers through his hair in a move that reminded Abbey very much of Caleb. She thought again of Selena
’
s words, of her apparent friendship with Abbey
’
s dad.

“
Is it possible you misplaced them somewhere else, buddy?
”
Abbey
’
s dad said.

Mark didn
’
t answer. He just let out a strangled scream.

“
Let
’
s go upstairs,
”
her mom said.
“
We can leave Dad and Mark to sort this out.
”

Her mother turned and started walking up the stairs, giving Caleb and Abbey pointed looks to follow her. Caleb trudged up the stairs behind her, but Abbey lingered behind.
“
Mark, you could just redraw the maps,
”
Abbey said.
“
I know you know exactly what they look like. Just redraw them, like you did with the map of Coventry Hill. I can help you if you don
’
t remember something. I looked at them too, and maybe when you
’
re done, we could go and look at Kasey
’
s map. You should start now, while they
’
re still fresh in your mind.
”
She smiled broadly at Mark, and hoped that her dad didn
’
t ask who Kasey was.

Mark quieted a bit, but continued to rock. Abbey nodded at him encouragingly. Mark pursed his lips.
“
I won
’
t be able to get them perfect, and I
’
ll need to ground-truth the locations,
”
he said.
“
And I require the bad man or the very bad man
’
s map.
”

“
Let
’
s go with the bad man,
”
Abbey said.
“
He seems friendlier.
”

“
Who
’
s the bad man?
”
her dad said.

“
Sylvain, I think,
”
Abbey said.

“
Right, I see. And the very bad man?
”

“
Dr. Ford.
”

Her dad laughed.
“
Well, he
’
s probably got his ordering correct. Who
’
s Kasey?
”

“
Just the map guy at the library,
”
Abbey lied.

“
All right, well, by ground-truth the locations, I assume you mean going around town. You may go, Mark, but please don
’
t take Abbey, Caleb, or Simon with you. They
’
re pretty much grounded until further notice. I
’
ll give Sylvain a call about the map.
”
Her dad flashed her a hint of a sad smile.

Mark nodded and rose from the bed.
“
I will draw the maps. The hachures are going to be very challenging, as is the watermark.
”
He settled at his desk, pulled out a piece of 11 by 14 inch paper, and started drawing.

Abbey
’
s father made his way out of the room, and Abbey followed him out into the basement hall.

“
Thanks for being so good with Mark, honey,
”
he said quietly.
“
I know none of this has been easy on the three of you either.
”

Abbey opened her mouth to ask her dad about Selena, but then, thinking better of it, decided to stick to the maps.
“
Dad, Mark did have some maps. I saw them. Someone must have broken in and taken them.
”

“
Not with Farley around. Are you sure Mark hasn
’
t just misplaced them? Where did you see them last?
”

She had seen the maps at the college last, with the dogs. So maybe Mark had just dropped them. But Farley went up Coventry Hill with her mother this morning, so there was definitely a window of time when the house wasn
’
t guarded.

“
Dad, we need to know more about what
’
s going on.
”

There was an ache of exhaustion around her father
’
s eyes.
“
I know. But your mother and I are trying to decide what to tell you, and the events of the past few days have kind of prevented us from fully working it out. And now we have to focus on Simon for the next little bit. Just stay away from the stones, and strangers, and we
’
ll figure something out in terms of what we
’
re going to tell you after Christmas. The stones, and this whole witchcraft thing, have an addictive quality. The more you know about them, the more you can
’
t help but use them, and we
’
d just rather if the three of you didn
’
t have to go down that path. It
’
s just too dangerous. Please, just go about your normal life. Try to forget you ever even saw the stones, and as soon as your mother and I have resolved some things, we
’
ll talk. I promise.
”

Her dad looked so sincere, so worried, that Abbey forced a smile.

She went back upstairs to her room, flipped on her computer, opened Facebook, and saw with relief that Sam had replied to her note. He provided a few suggested references, and then came the part that made Abbey
’
s stomach do a flip.

<
I
’
m going to be out your way in three weeks just before the holidays, heading home to my folks for Christmas. Want to meet for coffee, or tea? We can talk about your paper. If it
’
s not too late
. >

Abbey
’
s fingers fell over themselves in her reply.

<
Not too late at all. Text me as soon as u r in town.
>

“
It feels tight,
”
Abbey said as she pulled the emerald green dress up for the third time.

“
You look lovely,
”
her mother said.

“
It
’
s pretty short, don
’
t you think?
”

“
Abbey, it almost touches your knees. Based on what I
’
ve seen the other girls wearing around town, I think you
’
ll be fine.
”

Abbey stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her kohl-lined eyes looked enormous in her wan face, and her mutinous expression was probably far from appealing, but she had to admit, the dress matched her eyes perfectly and the crisscrossed fabric that formed the sweetheart neckline almost made it look like she had a chest. Thank God it had straps.

The Snowflake Dance had been her mother
’
s idea, and the dress a surprise. Caleb, thrilled to be getting out of lockdown, was dancing in front of the bathroom mirror in a tie, plastering excessive amounts of aftershave on his unshaven face.

Abbey turned once more. The way the skirt swished was somewhat mollifying, but it didn
’
t make up for the fact that she was going to have to spend the night in a room full of sweating, swaying teenagers making out while she watched.

Her mother rose and kissed Abbey
’
s forehead.
“
I know you plan to be the smartest woman in the world, honey. But that doesn
’
t mean you can
’
t also enjoy being beautiful on occasion.
”

“
Well, that
’
s never going to happen.
”

Her mother gave a patient smile.
“
I think we might need to get you some glasses.
”

Abbey turned back to the mirror. Objectively, her mother
’
s efforts to tame Abbey
’
s hair and add some vibrancy to her eyes hadn
’
t been completely ineffectual. Abbey just had no idea what to do with pretty. That was all.

“
Okay, so, do not, under any circumstances, leave the school. No trips to the stones. No going to the hospital. No going to the college library,
”
Abbey
’
s dad said as he drove. Caleb flipped through radio stations.

“
Dad, most parents are lecturing their children on not going to back alleys or to parties right now,
”
Abbey said.

“
Well, I guess that makes us unique then. Don
’
t go to back alleys or parties either.
”

“
Groovy,
”
Abbey said to the window. Maybe she
’
d at least get the chance to talk to Jake.

The dance was, as Abbey had predicted, a sea of bodies in a variety of blacks and fruity colors pinned tightly together on the dance floor, and it wasn
’
t even a slow song. Caleb issued a perfunctory
“
See ya later
”
before vanishing, leaving Abbey to skirt the dance floor feeling like the biggest sore thumb in the world. She might as well be carrying a placard.
“
Brainac geek-loser genius
—
in a dress.
”
She would just look for Jake, see if she could chat with him, and then slip out to the hallway to read the book she had stowed in her evening bag.

Becca
’
s blond hair was piled high on her head in a poof of curls that reminded Abbey a bit of a cocker spaniel. She had her hands clasped tightly around Jake
’
s neck and her head nestled against his chest. Abbey froze. What had she been thinking
—
that she could talk business with Jake at a school dance? That he would care, even remotely, about the stones at this point in time? Becca and Jake rotated so that Abbey was directly in his line of vision. She turned away and peered at the red and green lines that marked
“
keys
”
and
“
three-point lines
”
and other sport-related zones that she could never keep track of. When she looked back, Jake was staring at her.

“
Do you want to dance?
”

Abbey jumped and let out a yelp of surprise. Russell Andrews stood at her elbow in a fitted white shirt and navy pinstriped pants, his green eyes almost as intense as Jake
’
s.

She was too dumbstruck to answer. Russell took her silence as a yes and guided her out onto the floor. Jake, she noticed, had narrowed his eyes. Abbey blinked at the expanse of white of Russell
’
s shirt as he placed his arms around her waist and pulled her close to his body and started moving in time to the music. At least this song was actually a slow song. Abbey fluttered about with her hands before finally letting them come to rest against the outer part of Russell
’
s shoulders. The book in her bag banged against his elbow. Then she tipped her face up to Russell
’
s. Surely he must want to talk, to find out what she thought might be on the Physics final, or something like that.

Russell rewarded her with a faintly leering smile, and his breath smelled a bit like licorice, which seemed odd.

“
You
’
re looking good, Einstein,
”
he said, drawing her a little more snugly against his groin.
“
Very good.
”