The Whisper
Page 24
Alistair knew what he had to do. There was only one place his story could lead. He lifted the pen and, rather than looking at it, he watched the reflection. As the ink stretched and yearned and finally touched the skin of his face, the face disappeared.
In its place, many faces flashed in the reflection. For a moment, there was a girl with a scar on her cheek, followed by a boy, who looked similar to the girl, as if he could be her brother. Then there was a procession of visages. Boys and girls, different shades and shapes. Werner, Chua, Rodrigo, Boaz, and Polly.
Among them was Fiona. Fiona, her dark eyes staring up from the water, her crooked nose perfectly crooked. Fiona, not a fake one, the one from home, the one from his memories. She mouthed something.
I’m here. We’re all here. You can bring us back.
Finally, there was Charlie. The real Charlie, the kid Charlie, not the monster Charlie. He didn’t mouth anything, but he looked up with jealousy and admiration, with anger and love.
And when Charlie’s face was gone, when all the faces were gone, there was one clear, unchanging reflection. There in the pool was the Riverman. There was the Whisper.
November 19 and 20, 1989
A whisper is a story with many endings. Joyful, tragic, inevitable—it depends on who’s listening. There are whispers in the water, but only some of the time. There also must be silence.
It was dead quiet in Fiona Loomis’s basement when Alistair stood with his hand on the boiler, which was tall and round again, complete. After all he’d been through, he was back where he began.
Climbing the stairs, he tried to find himself, his own memories, within the maelstrom of his mind. A boy’s face in the water—that was his anchor. A boy’s face looking up at him.
In Fiona’s room, he loaded a tape into her tape player, pressed Record, and started to talk, because he needed to talk. He needed to remember who he was, who he had been before. When he finished talking, it was the next day, but the sun hadn’t risen yet.
So he crept out of the Loomises’ back door and snuck all the way home through the darkness of neighbors’ lawns. In the swamp behind his house, next to a rock that looked like a frog, by the light of police cars moving up and down the street, he buried the tape recorder with the tape still in it. Then he walked around to the front yard and sat down in the grass. He looked up at the stars.
That’s where his parents found him. That’s where the police, flashlights head-high and angled down, joined them. Among the barrage of questions, the one they all kept asking was, “Where’s Charlie? Where’s Charlie?”
They might as well have been asking him where his soul was. Alistair didn’t make a sound.
Acknowledgments
Second volumes in trilogies are notoriously tricky things. They often feel like they’re, for lack of a better term, all middle. When I wrote The Whisper, however, I focused on the new. My daughter, Hannah, arrived in the world as I was trying to figure out how to make a crazy, unwieldy sequel come together, and her beautiful, babbling presence inspired me to treat it as an origin story—not just of the Riverman and Aquavania, but also of Alistair and Charlie’s relationship and of Fiona’s reluctant journey into adulthood. I wanted to show why the first volume was told the way it was told, and I wanted readers to anticipate the third volume with a fresh perspective on events. If I achieved that goal, I certainly didn’t do it alone. The following people guided and encouraged me along the way:
Joy Peskin was the first person who read The Whisper, and she infused it with her brilliance and a healthy dose of confidence and clarity, which is what all books need. Therefore, in my humble opinion, she should edit all books. I’m not sure she has the time, though. Maybe with Angie Chen’s help she can do it. Actually, together, they definitely can.
Michael Bourret, the man I’m honored to call my agent, continued to trust me, advise me, and keep me sane through the entire publishing process. Why? It’s because he’s a sorcerer. Everyone at Dystel & Goderich, including Lauren Abramo, dabbles in sorcery, actually. How else would they understand these byzantine contracts and represent such an awe-inspiring group of authors?
Beth Clark had an even trickier job designing this book than she did with the first volume, considering all the multiple narratives and their unique appearances. Did she pull it off? Come on! Of course she did.
Yelena Bryksenkova created yet another stunning cover that I’m sure people will tell me is stunning, when they really should be telling her. Now they have no excuse. Tell her: yelenabryksenkova.com
Mary Van Akin has been an advocate like no other. She’s tireless and talented and you better watch out, because she will make you read this book. Perhaps she already did, by handing you the copy you’re holding right now. If so, thank her and the rest of the gang at Macmillan Kids for me.
Kate Hurley and Karla Reganold have taught me a lot about writing with their essential copyedits. I would look like a fool without them. I really wood (sic).
Some other authors read The Riverman and said some amazingly kind things about it. Jack Gantos was the first, and I’m still flabbergasted that his words graced the cover of volume one. Following in his sizable wake were Kurtis Scaletta, Laurel Snyder, Nova Ren Suma, Bryan Bliss, Steve Brezenoff, Kelly Barnhill, Kim Baker, Stephanie Kuehn, Kate Milford, Robin Wasserman, Jeff Kay, Laura Marx Fitzgerald, Stephanie Bodeen, Dan Poblocki, and many others I’m sure I’m forgetting. I hope they read this book too. And I hope you read their books, because they are better books than this one.
All the bloggers, librarians, teachers, journalists, booksellers, festival organizers, and fans who have reached out to me and helped me share my stories, I don’t know what I’d do without you. Probably pursue a career in break dancing, which would be unwise.
Thank you to my family. To Jim, Gwenn, Pete, and the extended Wells and Evans clans. To all the Amundsens and Starmers out there. To Tim, Toril, Dave, Jacob, and Will, because this is a story of siblings and kids. And to Mom and Dad, the finest and most caring creators I know.
Finally, Cate and Hannah, you inspire me every day, and I love you dearly. Now put down this book and let’s go get into some more adventures together!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aaron Starmer was born in northern California, raised in the suburbs of Syracuse, New York, and educated at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. His novels for young readers include The Riverman, Dweeb, and The Only Ones. He lives with his wife and daughter in Hoboken, New Jersey. aaronstarmer.com. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
November 19, 1989
But First, Another Tale
In a Year Before Years
Much Later
Chapter 1
1989
Chapter 2
1981 to 1983
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
1988
Chapter 5
Potoweet’s Story
Chapter 6
1984
Chapter 7
November 19, 1989
So Let’s Start Another
In Another Year Before Years
Much Later
Chapter 8
1989
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
1988
Chapter 11
1987
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
1988
Chapter 14
November 19, 1989
Much Like This One
In a Year in a Dark Age
&
nbsp; A While Later
Chapter 15
The Maestro’s Story
Chapter 16
1987
Chapter 17
1989
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Fiona’s Story
Chapter 20
Fiona’s Story: Coda
Chapter 21
November 19, 1989
But Perhaps This Was the Beginning
In the Year 1983
Six Years (or Eons) Later (Depending on How You Look at It)
Chapter 22
1986
Chapter 23
November 19 and 20, 1989
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
175 Fifth Avenue, New York 10010
Copyright © 2015 Aaron Starmer
All rights reserved
First hardcover edition, 2015
eBook edition, March 2015
mackids.com
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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Starmer, Aaron, 1976–
The whisper / Aaron Starmer.
pages cm. — (The Riverman trilogy; 2)
Summary: Twelve-year-old Alistair continues his quest to find his missing friend, Fiona, in Aquavania, a world where wishes can nearly come true, but he learns that the Whisper, once a boy named Charlie from his own world, has plans for Alistair and has used Fiona to try to get to him.
ISBN 978-0-374-36311-6 (hardback)
ISBN 978-0-374-36312-3 (ebook)
[1. Friendship—Fiction. 2. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.S7972Whi 2015
[Fic]—dc23
2014013168
eISBN 9780374363123