presses.
“Impossible,” Chuda says and I catch him shooting a glare at me. “There are no ways into the D warehouse other than through the doors. We constructed it to be impenetrable.”
“But —” Dervish begins.
“No,” Chuda snaps, staring at Dervish directly.
Dervish stares back at Chuda, his pupils widening. Then he smiles and shrugs. “Guess we were wrong.”
Chuda nods, his eyes still fixed on Dervish. “I guess you were.”
My stomach tenses. It’s not like Dervish to back down so easily. Is Chuda controlling Dervish’s thoughts? Was I right about the browless assistant director? Is he in league with demonic forces?
Before I can challenge Chuda, Juni speaks up. “We need to search there,” she tells Davida. “Or, if you won’t allow us in, send in a team of guards and tell them to search the place with a fine-tooth comb. Because if Kik is in there — and a determined child can always find a way in, no matter how tight the security — she might be in trouble. If we ignore that, and something bad happens to her...”
Davida sighs. “Chuda, assemble a team of guards and —”
“I think you should oversee this personally, Davida,” Juni interrupts. She smiles sweetly at the glowering Chuda. “No offense, Mr. Sool, but you’re too convinced the girl isn’t there. You might just take a cursory glance around, then quit.”
Chuda bristles angrily and squares up to Juni. Before he can speak, Davida says, “We’ll have no infighting, thank you. Chuda, please assemble a team for me. I’ll go with them into the D workshops and make sure every room and cupboard is scoured methodically. Is that acceptable, Miss Swan?”
“Perfect,” Juni smiles and we file out. I walk just behind Dervish, studying him carefully, worried about what might be going on inside his head.
We wait outside the warehouse while Davida and the guards search for Kik. Juni is concerned about Dervish. She asks if he feels all right, if he has a headache. She saw it too, the exchange between him and Chuda. I doubt if she understood it the way I did, but she knows — or senses — something isn’t right.
It’s after two-thirty in the morning when a yawning Davida and her guards emerge. She shakes her head, exasperated. “No sign of the girl. We checked everywhere.”
“You’re sure?” I ask.
Davida doesn’t answer. “We’ll search around the countryside tomorrow,” she tells Juni. “The girl probably had an argument with one of the other children and took off in a huff. Maybe she’ll turn up by herself.”
I smother a snort and mutter, “I doubt it!”
I set the alarm an hour later and sleep in. Stare at the ceiling when I wake, tired and grumpy, finding it hard to get out of bed. Wondering what to do about Kik. Ideally I’d like to tell Dervish what I heard Tump Kooniart and Chuda Sool saying. Insist that Emmet
was
butchered by a demon, and Kik...
But I spoke to Emmet. He wasn’t killed. Unless...
You can do just about anything with movie technology or magic. Maybe Chuda Sool was eavesdropping with Tump Kooniart when I told Dervish and Juni my fears. Perhaps he intercepted the call and faked Emmet’s voice, using either a mechanical or magical vocal distorter. Difficult — but not impossible.
I grab my pants from the chair at the foot of my bed, dig my cell out of its pocket, and dial Emmet’s number. There’s no ringing at his end. His phone’s turned off, or he’s somewhere without a signal.
I get up, dress, and head for class. I think about asking Juni for alternate phone numbers for Emmet and his mom, but she’d probably want to know why I was looking for them now. I don’t want to reveal my suspicions to anyone in case I end up a laughingstock again. So, at the end of class, I casually ask Miss Jaun if she has Mrs. Eijit’s number. I say I’ve been trying to contact Emmet on his cell but haven’t been able to get through. Miss Jaun searches her list of names, then calls the number
“Impossible,” Chuda says and I catch him shooting a glare at me. “There are no ways into the D warehouse other than through the doors. We constructed it to be impenetrable.”
“But —” Dervish begins.
“No,” Chuda snaps, staring at Dervish directly.
Dervish stares back at Chuda, his pupils widening. Then he smiles and shrugs. “Guess we were wrong.”
Chuda nods, his eyes still fixed on Dervish. “I guess you were.”
My stomach tenses. It’s not like Dervish to back down so easily. Is Chuda controlling Dervish’s thoughts? Was I right about the browless assistant director? Is he in league with demonic forces?
Before I can challenge Chuda, Juni speaks up. “We need to search there,” she tells Davida. “Or, if you won’t allow us in, send in a team of guards and tell them to search the place with a fine-tooth comb. Because if Kik is in there — and a determined child can always find a way in, no matter how tight the security — she might be in trouble. If we ignore that, and something bad happens to her...”
Davida sighs. “Chuda, assemble a team of guards and —”
“I think you should oversee this personally, Davida,” Juni interrupts. She smiles sweetly at the glowering Chuda. “No offense, Mr. Sool, but you’re too convinced the girl isn’t there. You might just take a cursory glance around, then quit.”
Chuda bristles angrily and squares up to Juni. Before he can speak, Davida says, “We’ll have no infighting, thank you. Chuda, please assemble a team for me. I’ll go with them into the D workshops and make sure every room and cupboard is scoured methodically. Is that acceptable, Miss Swan?”
“Perfect,” Juni smiles and we file out. I walk just behind Dervish, studying him carefully, worried about what might be going on inside his head.
We wait outside the warehouse while Davida and the guards search for Kik. Juni is concerned about Dervish. She asks if he feels all right, if he has a headache. She saw it too, the exchange between him and Chuda. I doubt if she understood it the way I did, but she knows — or senses — something isn’t right.
It’s after two-thirty in the morning when a yawning Davida and her guards emerge. She shakes her head, exasperated. “No sign of the girl. We checked everywhere.”
“You’re sure?” I ask.
Davida doesn’t answer. “We’ll search around the countryside tomorrow,” she tells Juni. “The girl probably had an argument with one of the other children and took off in a huff. Maybe she’ll turn up by herself.”
I smother a snort and mutter, “I doubt it!”
I set the alarm an hour later and sleep in. Stare at the ceiling when I wake, tired and grumpy, finding it hard to get out of bed. Wondering what to do about Kik. Ideally I’d like to tell Dervish what I heard Tump Kooniart and Chuda Sool saying. Insist that Emmet
was
butchered by a demon, and Kik...
But I spoke to Emmet. He wasn’t killed. Unless...
You can do just about anything with movie technology or magic. Maybe Chuda Sool was eavesdropping with Tump Kooniart when I told Dervish and Juni my fears. Perhaps he intercepted the call and faked Emmet’s voice, using either a mechanical or magical vocal distorter. Difficult — but not impossible.
I grab my pants from the chair at the foot of my bed, dig my cell out of its pocket, and dial Emmet’s number. There’s no ringing at his end. His phone’s turned off, or he’s somewhere without a signal.
I get up, dress, and head for class. I think about asking Juni for alternate phone numbers for Emmet and his mom, but she’d probably want to know why I was looking for them now. I don’t want to reveal my suspicions to anyone in case I end up a laughingstock again. So, at the end of class, I casually ask Miss Jaun if she has Mrs. Eijit’s number. I say I’ve been trying to contact Emmet on his cell but haven’t been able to get through. Miss Jaun searches her list of names, then calls the number
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