Edgewood Series: Books 1 - 3 (56 page)

“Ahh.” Professor Neverman looked resigned. “Down in a blaze of glory?”

“Not necessarily, but that could be arranged.”

Both of the men chuckled, and then Mr. Specter pulled a flask out of his backpack and got up to top off the professor’s cup. As the amber liquid flowed, it was backlit by the fire. Brandy? Whiskey? I didn’t know, but it sure wasn’t tea.

“And Russ Becker?” Professor Neverman asked.

“He’ll do what needs to be done. I’m a little sketchy on the details, but I am sure of him,” Mr. Specter said. “With a little adjustment, he’ll be on board. Believe me, he’s solid.”

“And what about the others—the two girls and that tall boy?”

Mr. Specter shrugged. “Expendable. I don’t see them as major players.”

“What will happen to them?”

“They won’t be harmed as long as they cooperate. Their memories and attitudes will be, shall we say, ‘adjusted’ to our advantage. Some memories will have to be wiped clean,” he said. “We have some new technology in that area. Surprisingly easy to do now. Not like in the old days.”

“What memories would you want removed?” Professor Neverman asked.

“Anything that interferes with our goal. I sense a little romance starting up with Russ and the one girl. That’s going away, I can tell you that much. We need him unencumbered.”

“And if you can’t wipe their memories? What then?”

Mr. Specter said, “Then I can’t guarantee their safety. There may be some sort of fatal accident. Unfortunate, but we can’t have loose ends jeopardizing our work.” He sighed heavily. “Collateral damage. A necessary evil.”

“And you? Do you have your cyanide pill ready?” Professor Neverman said, sounding concerned.

“The equivalent, yes,” Mr. Specter confirmed. “I carry it with me always. Just in case.”

“And how will that go?”

“I’ll keel over from an apparent heart attack. My body will be cremated, and an urn containing my ashes will be transported back to the States. My affairs are all in order. The Guard will sweep the house and make sure anything incriminating is removed before anyone else can get there. And then, my nephew will inherit all my worldly possessions.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Along with all the crap in my garage. I’ve been meaning to clean it out, but just never got around to it.”

Professor Neverman nodded in understanding. “No one ever really thinks they’re going to die.”

“You always think you have more time,” Mr. Specter agreed. “But with the Associates targeting me, it’s either die or be killed. I’d rather be in charge of my own destiny.” They both sat quietly, sipping their drinks.

“I’ve been thinking,” Professor Neverman said, a few minutes later, “that your power, seeing the future, must have been an incredible burden for you.”

“At times. I didn’t always know exactly what I was seeing. I was able to avert some tragedies, but there was much more that I just didn’t understand until it was too late. The wildfire that killed eight hundred people last year? I saw that, and I knew the Associates were going to be behind it, but I didn’t know precisely where and when it would happen so I could do nothing to prevent it.”

“How awful.” Professor Neverman got up to put another piece of wood on the fire, and jabbed at the pile with a poker, making the flames flare and hiss.

“When I was young, I spent hours anguishing over my shortcomings. Every time something happened and I couldn’t prevent it, I felt personally responsible. When my powers faded and I stopped getting the visions, it was almost a relief. I still have notebooks filled with notes and sketches of the scenes that played out in my head. Trying to make sense of it all has been challenging. I’m a little unclear on the next phase, but I know it’s essential to have Russ on our side.”

They talked for at least an hour more, mostly about old friends and what they were doing now, names that meant nothing to me. If this were a normal social setting, I would have been bored, and found an excuse to leave the room. But there was no way I was leaving as long as they were still talking. I didn’t want to miss anything. I had to be the one girl that Mr. Specter mentioned, the one he said was romantically involved with Russ. I thought back—he must have seen us sitting together on the bus.

What did Mr. Specter mean when he said they’d wipe our memories? And how was it that I missed the fact that seeing the future was the power given to him when he was a teenager? And he was going to have a heart attack and die, and travel home as ashes in an urn? Hearing all this was horrifying and fascinating at the same time. I couldn’t keep this to myself. Should I wake everyone up? I couldn’t imagine how I’d do that without waking up the adults too. No, it would have to be first thing in the morning. Collectively we could figure out what to do. I sure as hell wasn’t having my memory wiped clean, I knew that much. I finally did something worth remembering; I wasn’t going to forget it, ever.

When the flask was empty and the two men had finished the last drop in each of their cups, Professor Neverman yawned and declared he was ready to head for bed. “The medication makes me so tired,” he said. “Even sitting and talking wears me out nowadays. I hate to be the one to cut the evening short—”

“No, that’s fine. We’ve had quite a good visit,” Mr. Specter said, rising and smoothing down the front of his pants. “But before I forget I wanted to show you my latest invention.”

“Oh?”

Mr. Specter set the backpack on the chair and rummaged around for a few seconds before pulling out what looked like a thick pair of goggles. He held it out to the professor, letting it dangle from one crooked finger by the attached elastic strap. “This is my biggest success yet. A major breakthrough that took a long time to perfect. You’re one of the first to see it.”

Professor Neverman turned it over to view it from all sides. “Fascinating.” He looked up. “What is it?”

“Remember the View Masters from when we were children?”

“Most definitely. I clearly remember my first. It showed all the wonders of the world. I still recall what a thrill it was to see the Taj Mahal in 3D.”

“Then you’re going to love this. Go ahead, put it on,” Mr. Specter urged.

The professor placed the view finder over his eyes and fumbled the elastic into place on the back of his head. “Not very comfortable,” he said, “and if I’m supposed to see something, I don’t. It’s quite dark in here.”

“That’s fine. Now close your eyes.”

“Close my eyes?”

“Yes, please.” A slight wait. “Are they closed?”

“Yes, they’re closed.” Professor Neverman sounded slightly perturbed. “What is this all about, Sam? It’s not fair of you to toy with me like this.”

Mr. Specter reached back into the backpack and pulled out a remote control. “Just give it a minute, professor.” He aimed and pushed a button. “This is very important so listen carefully. Keep your eyes closed until I say the word.” A pinpoint green light on the side of the goggles suddenly came on. “Now open your eyes, and stare at the screen in front of you. Do you see something now?”

“Oh yes!” Professor Neverman’s voice was filled with wonder. “My, it’s beautiful. My word, I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“Keep staring. Don’t look away.” Mr. Specter pushed another button on the remote. The professor jerked in his seat and said. “Oh! It’s suddenly gotten very intense. This is incredible.”

“I know it’s intense, but you have to keep looking. Do not close your eyes!”

“I won’t!” The old man’s voice rose in excitement. “I’m still looking.”

“Now, listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you,” Mr. Specter said. “You will forget everything we discussed tonight pertaining to the Associates and the Praetorian Guard. You will remember this evening as two old friends getting caught up on each other’s lives. We had some laughs, shared some drinks, and reminisced about the good old days. Everything else we discussed will be gone from your memory forever. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” the professor said.

“Just for good measure, I will repeat it again.” And Mr. Specter repeated it word for word, ending with, “…and reminisced about the good old days.”

“The good old days,” Professor Neverman said in a faraway voice.

“Everything else will be gone from your memory forever. Understand?”

“I understand.”

“Excellent,” Mr. Specter said, chuckling and shaking his head in delight. He clicked a button on the remote and the professor slumped back against the chair, as if he’d lost consciousness. Mr. Specter removed the goggles from his friend’s head and then shook his shoulder as if to wake him up. “Oswald. Oswald? Can you hear me?”

Professor Oswald stirred. “I’m so sorry, Sam. I didn’t mean to drift off. No reflection on you. It’s the medication.” He yawned. “It makes me so sleepy. Did I miss anything?”

“No, nothing at all. We were about to call it a night anyway.”

The professor pointed to the goggles, still dangling from Mr. Specter’s hand. “What do you have there?” he asked groggily.

“Oh, this?” He looked at it as if just noticing it. “This is my new invention. I call it the Deleo. But it’s not important. I’ll show it to you another time.” He stuffed the Deleo and the remote into his backpack, and pulled out a flashlight. “Can you make it to your bedroom by yourself?”

Professor Neverman harrumphed. “I’m not so bad that I need another man’s help getting to my bed, Sam. Between you and Elena fussing over me all the time, a person would think I was dying. And believe me, I have no intention of letting that happen anytime soon.”

“Of course not, Professor.”

After Professor Neverman had struggled out of the chair and left the room, and Mr. Specter had exited through the courtyard, I wished myself back to my room. Even after I was back I was so hyped up, I had trouble sleeping. Just when I would start to doze, I’d hear odd creaking noises from elsewhere in the building. And to make it worse, my mind stirred with troubling thoughts—how could all of us have misjudged Mr. Specter? He was supposed to be our protector, the one who looked out for us, our guide. Instead, he turned out to be a completely self-serving, evil man. I thought of my mother and all her irrational fears about the dangers of the world. It turned out she was right after all.

Finally, when I was tired of obsessing, I astral projected to Russ who was blissfully sound asleep. He looked so sweet, lying on his side, one arm outside the covers. I tried to mentally nudge him awake, but he was out cold. Finally, even though I knew he couldn’t hear me, I told him everything I’d heard and seen between Professor Neverman and Mr. Specter. “I’m worried, Russ. I’m really worried,” I said at the end. “He’s going to try and wipe out our memories and replace them with other memories. And then he’s going to make you go undercover. I’m afraid I’m going to lose you.” Russ exhaled suddenly, and made a sharp exclamatory kind of noise. It almost seemed like he heard me. “Russ?” I tried. But he just rolled over, and didn’t acknowledge me at all.

I finally went back to my room to try to get some sleep. It had been such a long day.

Russ

Mrs. Whitehouse was firm that Nadia shouldn’t be disturbed the next morning. Just as I was about to knock, she pulled me away from the door. “No, no, no,” she said. “Let her sleep. That little lamb was up late with a terrible headache. I heard her rustling around in there all night long. Leave her be.”

I still had my hand raised. “But—”

She shook her head firmly. “Give her another hour or so. The poor thing has to be exhausted.”

Mallory dug in her purse to find pen and paper, wrote a quick note saying we all went down to breakfast, then slid it under Nadia’s door. Even with the note it felt weird to leave Nadia behind, and not just because I promised her dad I’d watch over her. “What if she can’t figure out how to get to the kitchen?” I said to Mallory, as we all clomped down the stairs. It was entirely possible. The place was a maze.

On the stairs below, Mrs. Whitehouse overheard me. “Don’t be fussing about that,” she said with a slight turn of her head. “Nadia’s a smart girl. She’ll be fine.”

“I know she’s smart,” I said, to no one in particular. That wasn’t really the point.

“I’ll come up myself and get her after we eat,” Mrs. Whitehouse said. “Goodness gracious, I wish I had a gentleman who was as concerned about my well being.” She clearly directed this at Kevin.

Kevin Adams, rubbing his eyes, said, “Don’t look at me; I can barely take care of myself.” He cleared his throat, a guttural early morning sound, like he was getting warmed up. I had the feeling that he’d rather be sleeping. He had the shadowed look of a man who hadn’t bother to shave.

Mallory pulled Jameson and me aside on the landing, and whispered, “Do you want to hear some gossip?” Her eyes shone with excitement.

“Sure,” Jameson said. I shrugged.

“Kevin told me last night that Mrs. Whitehouse has never been married. Whitehouse has always been her name. One day she just randomly decided to make it Mrs.”

“Interesting,” I said, mainly to be polite. I looked back up the stairs, wishing that Nadia would appear. Her not being with us was just wrong.

“I don’t get it though,” Mallory said. “Why would someone pretend to be married?”

“Maybe she’s pretending to be divorced,” I said.

“Come on, kids. Try and keep up,” Mr. Specter called out, and we jogged down to catch up.

After a delicious breakfast of eggs and sausage, cooked and served by Elena, we were ushered into a nearby room for our briefing. “About Nadia?” I said to Mrs. Whitehouse, after she’d plopped herself onto the most comfortable chair in the room.

“Yes, Russ,” she said, sounding irritated. “I haven’t forgotten. I’ll go check on her.”

But she didn’t move. “I can go get her,” I said, heading to the door.

“Stop right there!” she said. “I said I’d go and I will.”

I paused in the doorway until Mr. Specter calmly said, “Come back, Russ. Let Mrs. Whitehouse go up and get Nadia. You’ll need to hear the presentation.”

“Doesn’t Nadia need to hear the presentation?” I asked.

“We’ll get her caught up later,” he said.