Finders Keepers

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

WHEN HE WOKE UP the next morning, still dressed in the clothes he’d worn the day before, Ken’s first action was to check to see if an open notebook lay on the nightstand by his bed. With enormous relief, he found it.

So it hadn’t been a dream. And he’d done the right thing — he’d written the instructions down. He read them over and over, until he committed them to memory.

It was early — his alarm wasn’t set to go off for another two hours. This was good news, as he had a lot to do before the start of school. As he took a shower and changed his clothes, he went over the plan. He would go back to the Fisher house and catch Stevie before he left for school. He’d tell the boy how he’d had a message from his father, and he’d show him where his father had left the lottery ticket. He bet Stevie would be really surprised to know that his father had a secret place where he kept important things — under a loose floorboard in the back of a rarely visited cupboard full of old junk.

Stevie’s mother could cash in the lottery ticket and save the family home. Little Dena could see a real doctor about her rash, and Cindy could have a new pair of shoes. And best of all — for Ken at least — Stevie would know that Ken was a good guy, that he had never been a part of Serena’s scheme to steal the ticket. Maybe he and Stevie would remain friends and Ken could be like a big brother to him.

There was only one small problem. Two, actually. First of all, Stevie wasn’t going to be very happy to see Ken back at the Fisher house. Ken was going to have to do a lot of fast talking to persuade Stevie to let him in.

But it was the second problem that really made him nervous.To accomplish this task, he would have to let Stevie know about his gift.

He’d argued with Madame and others in the class about this. He hadn’t believed that his gift had any value to whatever enemies the class had, and he’d been sure that none of the others in the gifted class would be in danger if he revealed his gift.

Well, events of the past week had proved he was wrong about the first part of his assumption. Bad people had tried to use him. And if he could be wrong about that, he could be wrong about putting the class in danger.

But Stevie needed that ticket. And now that Ken knew where the ticket was, how could he do nothing? How could he let Stevie and his family suffer — lose their home, live in poverty — when they didn’t have to?

His mother was in the kitchen when he came downstairs.

‘What are you doing up so early?’ she asked him.

At that moment, Ken learned that he wasn’t such a bad liar after all. ‘I’ve got a meeting at school with my science project group.’

His mother was impressed. ‘Well, you kids must be excited about this project if it’s getting you out of bed. What is your group doing?’

He couldn’t lie that well. He looked at his watch. ‘Oh wow, I’m late. I ’ll tell you about it later, Mom.’

‘Don’t you want something to eat?’ his mother called after him, but he just yelled back another whopper.

‘No, thanks, I’m not hungry.’ And he was out the door.

But now what? He still hadn’t worked out how he was going to fix Stevie’s problem.

His mobile rang. He flipped it open and held it to his ear.

‘Hello?’

‘Ken, this is Tracey. I hope I didn’t wake you up.’

He scowled.What did she want? He was still very much annoyed by the way the three girls had behaved. ‘No, I’m up. What do you want?’

‘I couldn’t sleep, I felt so bad about yesterday. We shouldn’t have made those plans without telling you.’

‘It was Jenna’s idea, wasn’t it?’

‘Yeah, but Emily and I went along with it, so we’re just as guilty.’

Ken doubted that. He knew how pushy Jenna could be. And Tracey sounded really sorry.

‘It’s OK,’ he relented.

‘I wish I could make it up to you,’ Tracey said, sounding sincere.

Ken stood very still. A brilliant idea had struck him.

‘Actually, Tracey, you can. If you’re really sorry, you can help me do something right now.’

He told her all about his visit to Stevie’s house the night before, and explained that he now knew where the ticket was. Then he told her his new idea. Ten minutes later, they met up at a corner halfway between their two homes.

Tracey was nervous. ‘It doesn’t always work, you know. I mean, I’m getting better, but sometimes I just can’t do it. And even when it does work, I never know how long it will last.’

But she completely understood why he’d come up with his plan. And she was willing to try as hard as she could to make it happen.

When they arrived at Apple Creek Road, Ken pointed out the house.

‘I can’t walk through walls, you know, ’ Tracey reminded him. ‘I’m going to have to wait for someone to come in or out.’

Ken looked at his watch. ‘Stevie should be leaving for school pretty soon. Can you get ready now?’

He told her about the cupboard and the loose floorboard. Tracey nodded.

‘OK. Here goes,’ she said. She stood very still and closed her eyes.

‘What does it feel like?’ Ken asked curiously.

She opened her eyes. ‘Be quiet. I have to concentrate.’

‘Sorry,’ Ken said.

He’d never seen the process in action before. Tracey had developed her gift back when her parents ignored her and she felt invisible. She was a much happier person now, and Ken knew it had to be difficult for her to recapture the feeling of being a nothing, a nobody.

But she did it. Right there, before his eyes, she began to fade. It was positively eerie, like watching a special effect in a science fiction movie. And then she wasn’t there.

‘Tracey?’ he asked.

She must have already taken off. He looked at the house across the street. He couldn’t see her, ofcourse, but if she was following the plan she was waiting just by the door.

Something could still go wrong, and Ken knew it. Maybe Stevie had already left for school, or maybe he wasn’t going to school today. Maybe nobody would go in or out of the house at seventy-two Apple Creek Road all day. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

But he could stop tormenting himself. The door of the house opened. Ken ducked behind a tree and peered through the branches. A woman stood there — Stevie’s mother, Ken guessed. She had a small child in her arms. That had to be Dena.

An older girl appeared at the door, a nd then Stevie was there too. They kissed their mother. Then they started walking away, the mother went back inside, and the door closed.

Ken let out the breath he’d been holding. There had been plenty of time for the invisible Tracey to get inside. Now she had to stay invisible long enough to accomplish her mission, and get herself back outside.

Ken stared at the house, even though there wasn’t really anything to look at. It was weird, not having a clue as to what was going on inside.

An eternity seemed to pass. He kept looking at his watch, and he could see that only a few minutes had gone by, but it felt like much longer.

The door to the house opened again, and Mrs Fisher came out. She was holding little Dena’s hand. With the other, she locked the front door. Oh no! Ken thought. Would Tracey be trapped inside until someone came home?

‘I’m here.’

He looked in the direction of the voice. ‘Tracey?’

Even though he couldn’t see her face, he could hear the excitement in her voice.

‘I found it, Ken! It was right where you said it would be, under the loose floorboard in the cupboard.’

‘What did you do with it?’

‘I put it on the refrigerator door, under a magnet. They can’t miss it.’

Ken frowned. ‘Isn’t that a little obvious? I mean, wouldn’t they have noticed it before?’

‘Haven’t you ever searched everywhere for something and then found it, right in plain sight?’

She had a point.

‘I guess we better get back to school. We’ve got a long way to go.’

‘Yeah, OK.’

‘And you can come back now,’ Ken added. ‘Nobody’s watching.’

‘Actually. I can’t.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, it’s weird. I’m getting better and better at disappearing when I want to, but it’s not so easy to make myself reappear. It’s like, the invisibility has to wear off on its own.’

‘How long does that take?’

‘I never know exactly. But it’s usually within an hour or so. I should be OK by the time we get to school.’

Ken found it surprisingly easy to talk to an invisible Tracey as they walked back to Meadowbrook. He considered holding his mobile to his ear, so anyone passing by wouldn’t think he was talking to himself, but he was too happy to really care.

‘So, things are going to be all right for Stevie and his family,’ he said.

‘Yeah. Of course Stevie won’t ever know that you found the ticket for him. He’ll still think you’re one of the bad guys who tried to steal it.’

‘I know. I’ll just have to live with that.’ He was disappointed, but he knew it was for the best, because this way he didn’t have to tell Stevie about his gift. ‘Speaking of bad guys. do you get freaked out when Madame keeps talking about how much danger we’re in?’

‘Not so much,’ Tracey replied. ‘Not for myself, at least. If I can disappear, no one can really hurt me. I worry about everyone else though.’

‘Including me?’

‘Sure. You didn’t think bad guys would be interested in your gift, and look what just happened.’

‘So I suppose we really should try to keep our gifts secret.’

‘Absolutely,’ Tracey declared. And then she laughed.

‘What’s so funny?’

‘I’m thinking about kids at school — regular people, not criminal types. If they found out what each of us can do. ’

‘How do you think they’d react?’ Ken asked.

‘Well, unless they see us in action,’ Tracey said, ‘we’ve got nothing to worry about.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Think about it, Ken. Hi, guys, guess what I can do? I can disappear! You know Jenna Kelley? She can read minds. Emily sees into the future, and Ken talks to dead people.’

‘I think I get your point,’ Ken said. ‘They wouldn’t believe it.’ He remembered Jack telling him the same thing.

‘Exactly. I mean, I wouldn’t go around talking about what we can do. But if a rumour starts spreading around school, well, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. By the way, do you know where Amanda went? The real Amanda?’

‘No. Maybe she’ll be back at school today and we’ll find out.’

‘I think it could be fun to live someone else’s life for a while,’ Tracey said. ‘If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be?’

They were able to entertain each other with candidates all the way back to Meadowbrook. Tracey wanted to go into space as an astronaut or be a jockey on a horse that could win the Kentucky Derby. Ken admitted to a secret dream of performing as a hip-hop artist. They were so caught up in their fantasies that Ken completely forgot he was talking to someone who wasn’t physically there. He only remembered as the school came into view.

‘Better lower your voice,’ he cautioned Tracey as they approached the building. ‘Actually, it’s still early, there aren’t many people around. But we probably ought to stop talking before anyone notices us.’

‘They can’t hear me,’ Tracey told him. ‘You’re the only person who’s ever been able to hear me when I’m invisible.’

‘I guess I’m just more sensitive to people who aren’t really there,’ Ken replied.

‘I can’t believe I’m still invisible,’ Tracey grumbled. ‘I hope I’m back by this afternoon — I’ve got an appointment for a haircut.’

Ken didn’t reply. He’d just spotted Lucy standing alongside the stairs leading up to the main entrance. She was alone, and when she spotted him, she waved.

He winced. He hadn’t written that apologetic email yet. He was going to have to apologize in person. Well, so be it. He squared his shoulders and started towards her. It dawned on him that Tracey might still be by his side, and he should tell her to go on, that this was something personal. But now it was too late. Lucy would be able to see him speaking to no one if he did talk to Tracey.

He tried to put his companion out of his mind and focus on the girl in front of him. ‘Hi, Lucy. Listen, I want to apologize for last night. I was in a really bad mood about something, and I took it out on you. I’m really sorry.’

She didn’t seem upset. ‘That’s OK, I forgive you,’ she said with a smile. ‘As long as you take me to the eighth-grade dance this weekend.’

‘I’m in the ninth grade, Lucy.’

‘I know that! But we’re allowed to bring people from other grades as our dates.’

He took a deep breath. ‘Listen, Lucy. you’re a cute girl and all, but — well — I’m sort of into someone else.’

He could have sworn he heard a sharp intake of breath, like a gasp, and it hadn’t come from Lucy. Damn! Tracey was still there. And now she’d want to know who Ken was talking about.

Lucy didn’t seem to care. ‘Well, she’s out of luck, whoever she is. Because I want you to be into me.’

Ken shifted his weight from one leg to the other. This was not going to be easy. ‘Like I said, Lucy. you’re really nice, and I know Jack was crazy about you, but I’m just not interested in you that way. I hope we can be friends, but. ’ His voice trailed off as her expression changed. There was something cold in her face now.

‘Don’t forget, Ken, I know something about you.’

He looked at her stupidly. ‘Huh?’

‘I know what you can do. How would you feel if I told people that you talk to dead people?’

It was Ken’s turn to gasp. ‘Lucy! You wouldn’t do that, would you?’

‘Not if you go to the dance with me. And other places.’

It took Ken a moment to respond. ‘Are you — are you trying to blackmail me?’

Lucy laughed, but it wasn’t a pretty laugh. There was something very mean about it. ‘I never thought I’d have to threaten a guy to go out with me, but I’ll do what I have to do. I want you to be my boyfriend, Ken. I think we’d be good together, and once you get over your hang-ups about me being Jack’s ex-girlfriend, you’ll be happy with me.’

‘Lucy, this has nothing to do with Jack. No offence, but I’m just not into you!’

Her voice hardened. ‘Then get into me. Or everyone at school is going to know about your weird conversations.’

He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. ‘You’d really do that?’

‘Sure.’

He looked at her thoughtfully.

‘Well?’ she asked, smiling.

He smiled back. ‘Go right ahead.’

Her smile faded. ‘What?’

‘Tell them. Tell everyone I hear dead people. Write an article for the school newspaper. Or announce it over the intercom.’

She was speechless. Ken’s smile broadened.

‘Because it’s not like anyone’s going to believe you,’ he said. ‘I gotta go. Hope you find someone to take you to the dance.’

He knew Tracey was by his side as he walked into the school. She was still invisible, but he could have sworn there was a huge grin on her invisible face.