Beautiful Darkness(78)

Jump or stay in the boat.

It wasn't really a decision, not anymore. I'd made it a long time ago, when I first got out of my car on Route 9, one night in the rain. I had jumped. There was no staying in the boat, not for me, whether Lena and I were together or not. I wasn't going to let John Breed or Sarafine or a missing star or the wrong kind of moon or some crazy Caster skies stop me now. I owed the girl on Route 9 that much.

“Liv, I can find Lena. I don't know how, but I can. You can track the moon with your selenometer, right?”

“I can measure variances in the magnetic pull of the moon, if that's what you're asking.”

“So you can find the Claiming Moon?”

“If my calculations are correct, if the weather holds, if the typical corollaries between the Caster and Mortal constellations stay true …”

“It was more of a yes or no question.”

Liv tugged on one of her braids, thinking. “Yes.”

“If we're going to do this, we have to go before Amma and Marian wake up.”

Liv hesitated. As a Keeper-in-Training, she wasn't supposed to get involved. But every time we were together, we found our way to trouble. “Lena could be in a lot of danger.”

“Liv, if you don't want to come —”

“Of course I want to come. I've been studying the stars and the Caster world since I was five. All I've ever wanted was to be part of it. Up until a few weeks ago, the only thing I'd done was read about it and watch it through my telescope. I'm tired of watching. But Professor Ashcroft …”

I had been wrong about Liv. She wasn't like Marian. She wouldn't be content shelving Caster Scrolls. She wanted to prove the world wasn't flat.

“Jump or stay in the boat, Keeper. Are you coming?” The sun was rising, and we were running out of time.

“Are you sure you want me to?” She didn't look at me, and I didn't look at her. The memory of the kiss that never happened hung between us.

“You know anyone else with a spare selenometer and a mental map of missing Caster stars?”

I wasn't sure her variances or corollaries or calculations were going to help me. But I knew the song was never wrong, and the things I saw tonight proved it. I needed help, and so did Lena, even if what we had was over. I needed a Keeper, even a runaway Keeper with a crazy watch, looking for action everywhere but inside a book.

“Jump,” Liv said softly. “I don't want to stay in the boat anymore.” She turned the handle on the screen door quietly, without making so much as a click. Which meant she was going inside to get her stuff. Which meant she was going with me.

“You sure?” I didn't want to be the reason she was going, at least not the only reason. That's what I told myself, but I was full of crap.

“You know anyone else dumb enough to search for a mythical place where a rogue Supernatural is trying to call a Claiming Moon?” She smiled, opening the door.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”





6.18





Outer Doors


SUMMER SCHOOL: NEVER STOP LEARNIN’ IF YOU WANT TO START EARNIN’.

That's what the letter board said, where it usually read GO WILDCATZ. Liv and I stared up at it, from the bushes lining the front steps of Jackson High.

“I'm reasonably sure there are G's in learning and earning.”

“They probably ran out of G's. You know, graduation, GED, Get Outta Gatlin.” This was going to be tricky. Summer or not, Miss Hester would still be sitting in the attendance office, keeping watch on the front door. If you failed a class, you had to enroll in summer school. But that didn't mean you couldn't ditch — if you could get by Miss Hester. Even though Mr. Lee never made good on his threat to fail us for not showing up at the Reenactment of the Battle of Honey Hill, Link had failed biology, which meant I had to find a way to get inside.

“Are we going to hang out in the bushes all morning?” Liv was getting cranky.

“Give me a second. I've spent all my time thinking up ways to get out of Jackson. I never put much thought into how to get in. But we can't leave without Link.”

Liv smiled at me. “Never underestimate the power of the British accent. Watch and learn.”

Miss Hester looked over her glasses at Liv, who had twisted her blond hair into a bun. It was summer, which meant Miss Hester was wearing one of her sleeveless blouses and knee-length polyester shorts, with her white slip-on Keds. From where I was hiding under the counter next to Liv, I had a clear view of the bottom of Miss Hester's green shorts and her buniony feet.

“I'm sorry. Who did you say you were with?”

“The BEC.” Liv kicked me, and I edged toward the hall.

“Of course. And that would be?”

Liv sighed impatiently. “The British Educational Consulate. As I said, we're looking for high-functioning schools in the United States to use as models for educational reform.”

“High functionin’?” Miss Hester sounded confused. I made my way around the corner on my hands and knees.

“I can't believe no one informed you of my visit. May I speak with your headmaster, please?”

“Headmaster?” By the time Miss Hester figured out what a headmaster was, I was halfway up the stairs. Beyond the blond, even beyond the brains, Liv was a girl with a lot of hidden talents.