Supergirl by Norma Fox Mazer Page B

curtains drawn and plenty of beer, and the TV on good and loud, and her favorite pillow for her back in her favorite chair—with all that nice stuff, plus the best stuff of all, none of those rotten little snots around with their snotty-snooty ways, with all that, Mrs. M. was still not feeling the nice mellow feeling that would come over her when she raised her bottle of beer and saluted Dan Rather, "You tell 'em, Dan boy" As he did tell 'em, told everyone, every night, with that sorta sweet but serious little dogface of his, how seriously the world was going to hell. Going to hell in a handbasket, as Mrs. M.'s mother used to say. And where else should it go, and who could better tell 'em that it was going there, than Dan boy. She liked him, and she didn't like anything to interfere with her pleasures. Bottle of beer and Dan Rather. And none of those pig-faced princesses simpering around. The whole thing was set up for her, and now she couldn't even hear Dan boy for the ruckus outside. Never heard so much damn thunder. Damn weathermen and their damn storms, interfering with peaceful people trying to watch TV and raise their level of culture. She turned up the sound on the box.
    Selena was in a cheerful mood as she watched her monster ravage the land. "Go, my darling monster, go!" Heading like an arrow for Midvale School. Good job. She liked a monster who could concentrate. That bulldozer had been a real dud, but this one was nothing less than splendid. Oh, very, very nice . . . and soon, quite soon, the world would have one less Midvale School girl, and all the better for the world. There was only one tiny nagging worry for Selena—what would she do with darling monster once he'd gobbled that nasty little Midvale morsel? She really didn't fancy any more holes in the Ghost Train decor.
    "Do you see what I see?" Bianca said, leaning over Selena's shoulder.
    Selena twitched Bianca off. "Certainly. There's nothing wrong with my eyes." She was sensitive about her eyes. They were the only not-perfect part of her, and they were not-perfect in a way Selena found distasteful. She was nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other. It was like having six fingers or twelve toes. It made people laugh. Selena did not like to be laughed at.
    "Look, look," Bianca said, hanging on Selena's shoulder again. "It's that flying girl again, the one with the cape."
    Just like that, Selena's whole good mood shattered. "Where the devil did she come from?" How had she done it? How could she appear out of nowhere, right under Selena's nose? One moment Selena had been enjoyably watching her monster on the loose, and the next this—this interloper —had dropped out of the sky. And now, standing directly in front of the monster, legs planted squarely, hands on her hips, she looked ready for a fight. Selena's only consolation was that the monster would be no easy pushover like the bulldozer.
    A tiny thought flashed in the corner of Selena's mind, something about the string bean and the flying girl, about them showing up in the same places. . . but she couldn't catch the idea; it was gone as fast as it had come.
    "Did she just say something?" Bianca said. "What'd she say? I wish this thing had sound."
    Outside the Midvale School, Supergirl confronted the monster; its foul breath blew over her like a hurricane, rattling her in her tracks. She tried to raise her fist, but its breath pushed her arm harmlessly aside. "Who are you, you son of darkness?" She tried to keep her voice from shaking. "Leave this place and do no harm"
    Almost before the words were out of her mouth, she was flung against the wall of the dormitory. Green lightning lit the garish scene as a soft-drink dispenser crashed under her weight. Supergirl sprang to her feet, kicking away soda bottles. Help me, Zaltar! The Forces of Evil are mighty! Zaltar . . .
    Did he answer? She felt his presence and took heart. She would overcome, as she had so many times before. She jetted straight into