was rehabbing."
Marta said, "I can't sleep, either. I've been thinkin' about everything that's been happening at school, and here's what I figured out: Mrs. Starch is a witch."
"Not this again."
"No, I mean a real witch. Think about it-she and Smoke dropped out of sight at about the same time. Suddenly he's back in school, and it's like he got a complete personality transplant. I bet Mrs. Starch put a spell on him!"
Nick laughed. "This isn't Hogwarts, Marta. It's the Truman School."
"I didn't say she was a wizard. I said she was a witch."
"Whatever-"
"Okay, smartass, let's hear your brilliant theory."
"I don't have one, " Nick admitted. "Something weird's going on, that's for sure."
"Thank you, " Marta said.
Nick agreed that Mrs. Starch's excuse for taking a leave of absence from school-the so-called family emergency-sounded bogus. The woman hadn't missed a day of teaching since the Stone Age.
Yet even more startling and suspicious had been the appearance in class of the new, improved Duane Scrod Jr. - alert, neatly combed and dressed, academically responsible. A complete stranger, basically.
Nick had the uneasy sense of being in one of those short stories that led you off in one direction, then ended someplace else with a total surprise.
And the weirdness had all started on the day that Smoke ate Mrs. Starch's pencil.
Marta said, "Are you sitting down?"
"I'm lying down. In bed."
"Good. Guess what I saw this afternoon after school? Remember that blue Prius with the 'Save the Manatee' license plate-the one just like Mrs. Starch's car? Well, guess what: it was Mrs. Starch's car. Had to be."
"How do you know?" Nick asked skeptically.
"Because I saw it flying out of the parking lot of Ace Hardware going, like, fifty miles an hour. And guess who was chuggin' a Mountain Dew in the passenger seat- Smoke!"
"Get out, " Nick said.
"Swear to God. In his Truman blazer!"
"But who was driving?"
"Looked like a guy with a black ski beanie pulled tight over his head-but I bet it was Mrs. Starch. You know, witches can change themselves into anything, " Marta said confidently.
"Yeah, well, who changed you into a space case? There's no such thing as witches, so knock it off."
There was silence on the other end of the line. Nick was worried that he'd hurt his friend's feelings.
Marta said, "You don't believe me."
"I just don't believe in all that Harry Potter stuff, okay? But I do believe you saw Smoke in the blue car today, " Nick said, "and I also believe the car belonged to Mrs. Starch. It's Just too freaky to be a coincidence."
Marta was relieved that Nick didn't think she'd made the whole thing up. "So what do we do now?"
"Now?" said Nick. "Now we've gotta find out who's driving Smoke around town in Mrs. Starch's car, and what they've done with Mrs. Starch."
"Awesome!"
Although Nick stayed awake for a while longer, his imagination was no longer consumed by the Baghdad rocket attack that had maimed his father.
Instead he was thinking about the Black Vine Swamp, and what secrets it might hold.
TEN
Nobody saw the helicopter land, because no bus tours or school classes were visiting the Black Vine Swamp that morning. Drake McBride stepped from the chopper and hurried toward a truck that had the Red Diamond logo painted on its doors. Jimmy Lee Bayliss emerged from the driver's side and greeted his boss with a grim nod.
"What in creation happened out here?" Drake McBride asked.
"Pretty much what I told you on the phone."
"Is that him?" Drake McBride jerked his chin toward a figure huddled inside the truck.
"Yes, sir, " said Jimmy Lee Bayliss.
He opened the passenger door and an unhappy-looking young man got out. It was impossible not to notice that he was stark naked under a makeshift robe of clear bubble wrap, the same sort of material used to pack valuables for shipping.
"What the heck?" Drake McBride exclaimed.
"It was all I had in the truck, " Jimmy Lee Bayliss said. That's why I
Marta said, "I can't sleep, either. I've been thinkin' about everything that's been happening at school, and here's what I figured out: Mrs. Starch is a witch."
"Not this again."
"No, I mean a real witch. Think about it-she and Smoke dropped out of sight at about the same time. Suddenly he's back in school, and it's like he got a complete personality transplant. I bet Mrs. Starch put a spell on him!"
Nick laughed. "This isn't Hogwarts, Marta. It's the Truman School."
"I didn't say she was a wizard. I said she was a witch."
"Whatever-"
"Okay, smartass, let's hear your brilliant theory."
"I don't have one, " Nick admitted. "Something weird's going on, that's for sure."
"Thank you, " Marta said.
Nick agreed that Mrs. Starch's excuse for taking a leave of absence from school-the so-called family emergency-sounded bogus. The woman hadn't missed a day of teaching since the Stone Age.
Yet even more startling and suspicious had been the appearance in class of the new, improved Duane Scrod Jr. - alert, neatly combed and dressed, academically responsible. A complete stranger, basically.
Nick had the uneasy sense of being in one of those short stories that led you off in one direction, then ended someplace else with a total surprise.
And the weirdness had all started on the day that Smoke ate Mrs. Starch's pencil.
Marta said, "Are you sitting down?"
"I'm lying down. In bed."
"Good. Guess what I saw this afternoon after school? Remember that blue Prius with the 'Save the Manatee' license plate-the one just like Mrs. Starch's car? Well, guess what: it was Mrs. Starch's car. Had to be."
"How do you know?" Nick asked skeptically.
"Because I saw it flying out of the parking lot of Ace Hardware going, like, fifty miles an hour. And guess who was chuggin' a Mountain Dew in the passenger seat- Smoke!"
"Get out, " Nick said.
"Swear to God. In his Truman blazer!"
"But who was driving?"
"Looked like a guy with a black ski beanie pulled tight over his head-but I bet it was Mrs. Starch. You know, witches can change themselves into anything, " Marta said confidently.
"Yeah, well, who changed you into a space case? There's no such thing as witches, so knock it off."
There was silence on the other end of the line. Nick was worried that he'd hurt his friend's feelings.
Marta said, "You don't believe me."
"I just don't believe in all that Harry Potter stuff, okay? But I do believe you saw Smoke in the blue car today, " Nick said, "and I also believe the car belonged to Mrs. Starch. It's Just too freaky to be a coincidence."
Marta was relieved that Nick didn't think she'd made the whole thing up. "So what do we do now?"
"Now?" said Nick. "Now we've gotta find out who's driving Smoke around town in Mrs. Starch's car, and what they've done with Mrs. Starch."
"Awesome!"
Although Nick stayed awake for a while longer, his imagination was no longer consumed by the Baghdad rocket attack that had maimed his father.
Instead he was thinking about the Black Vine Swamp, and what secrets it might hold.
TEN
Nobody saw the helicopter land, because no bus tours or school classes were visiting the Black Vine Swamp that morning. Drake McBride stepped from the chopper and hurried toward a truck that had the Red Diamond logo painted on its doors. Jimmy Lee Bayliss emerged from the driver's side and greeted his boss with a grim nod.
"What in creation happened out here?" Drake McBride asked.
"Pretty much what I told you on the phone."
"Is that him?" Drake McBride jerked his chin toward a figure huddled inside the truck.
"Yes, sir, " said Jimmy Lee Bayliss.
He opened the passenger door and an unhappy-looking young man got out. It was impossible not to notice that he was stark naked under a makeshift robe of clear bubble wrap, the same sort of material used to pack valuables for shipping.
"What the heck?" Drake McBride exclaimed.
"It was all I had in the truck, " Jimmy Lee Bayliss said. That's why I
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