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“Terry’s not feeling well,” Jelly said.
“I brought him some homework,” Amanda said. It was a white lie, because in fact she and Fi
“That’s sweet of you, girl. I’ll be sure to pass it along.”
Amanda said, “Is it the flu?”
“Not exactly the flu,” Jelly answered. “You want to leave him homework, that’d be fine. But right now, I’ve got a lot do.”
“Can I help you?” Amanda offered. “Can I fill in for Terry, if he’s not feeling well?”
“Well…Terry’s asleep upstairs. That would be very good of you, Amanda. Thank you for offering. I’m happy to pay you, though I can’t pay much.”
Fi
Fi
Then the obvious hit him: that other landing below the adjacent windows. If he could make the jump…
Fi
He got to his feet and peered in. He saw a television room with some very nice pottery scattered around. The next window, considerably smaller, was covered on the inside by a thick curtain—a bathroom, perhaps.
Fi
Maybeck.
He was asleep in bed— with the shade up and the lights on, Fi
Fi
Maybeck didn’t budge. If Fi
But he did slide the window up and stick his head through.
“Maybeck!” he whispered harshly. “Maybeck, wake up!
“Fi
“Jelly’s coming up there!” Amanda warned frantically. “She heard you!”
Fi
For a fraction of a second, it seemed that he’d misjudged the distance, that he would fall, crashing in a pile of broken bones right in front of Amanda. But he made it. He climbed over the railing and hurried down to ground level.
“Fi
“Hello, Jelly!” Fi
“You sneaking around back here?”
“No, ma’am.”
“’Cause that’s what it looks like.”
“I need to talk to Terry,” Fi
“You can’t. Terry’s sick. Not well.”
“Sick, or asleep? He won’t wake up, will he?”
Amanda snapped her head in Fi
Jelly said, “You stay right where you are, young man.”
Jelly took her time. “Listen,” she said, emerging through the back door. “This is not something I want going around school. You understand?” She met eyes with them both. “Terry’s got some kind of sleeping sickness.”
Fi
“We can’t wake him up. He’s not got a fever. Not been bitten by anything. No sweats or shakes.” She took a long look up at Maybeck’s bedroom window. “Doctor says to let him be one more night. Tomorrow, he goes to the hospital and they start doing tests. But I’m saying my prayers. Nothing seems wrong with him. Doctor says he’s fine in all the important ways.”
“He’s stuck asleep?” Amanda said.
“That’s a fu
Fi
Maybeck was still crossed over. Fi
“Can’t wake him up?” Fi
“That’s right,” Jelly said.
Fi
“Is this some kind of joke? Because it’s in poor taste, young man. Terry’s extremely ill.”
“Fi
“Before he went to bed last night—maybe even yesterday afternoon—did Maybeck…did Terry…get a phone call ?”
Jelly took another step away from him. “What’s with you, boy?” She was not pleased. She looked on the verge of tears.
“He did, didn’t he? And I’ll bet he came away from that call excited, didn’t he? Because it was from a girl, wasn’t it?”
“Her?” Jelly said, pointing at Amanda, not realizing she’d just confirmed that Fi
“No,” Fi
“I’m supposed to trust my Terry to a thirteen-year-old boy?” Jelly said, incredulous.
“Fourteen,” Fi
22
Back riding their bikes, Fi
“He’s not asleep, is he, Fi
“I don’t think so.”
“Then what?”
“Trapped over there,” Fi
“What’s that mean?”
“It means we left him, and we shouldn’t have, and now he’s stuck back there. On this side, he’s asleep. Over there, he’s still a DHI. Who knows what’s happened to him.”
“You think he’s been caught or something?”
“I hope not,” Fi
Though Fi
Fi
“Just like the car wash,” she said.
Fi
He scoured the immediate area for any sign of Maleficent.
He saw only cars, storefronts, and power lines.
Black cars, red cars, blue cars, and white.
Small cars, big cars, dull cars, and bright.
Where did they come from? Where were they going?
Some cars were driving; some cars were towing.
“Do you ever think in rhymes?” he asked her, wondering where that had come from.
She glanced over at him, gravely concerned.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re thinking in rhymes?”
“So what?”
She answered, “It’s one of the signs—it’s something….” She caught herself. Her voice trailed off.
“What signs?”
She allowed her bike to fall behind him so far that he couldn’t see her. So Fi