Hold Fast (9780545510196)

by Balliett, Blue

  Slipping through the Staff Only door, she walked slowly toward Mr. Pincer’s office. The door was closed. Ms. Whissel was not at her desk. Early could hear a buzz of voices. She took another couple of steps, then realized the buzz was getting fainter. But if she backed up, she could make out some words from inside the room where she’d met Mr. Alslip.

  Early ducked in and looked up at the wall. There it was: a metal vent. She froze, willing her heart to stop thudding so loudly.

  “Stay out … serious … danger.” From the snatches of urgent-sounding talk, she separated out Mr. Pincer’s voice, Mr. Alslip’s, and Ms. Whissel’s. And then there was a long, gravelly cough. Mr. Waive! What was he doing in there? Mr. Pincer must be trying to force some information out of him! Early felt responsible; she’d pulled Mr. Waive into this, after all. She then had the tiniest flash of doubt about Mr. Waive, a question as quick as the sparkle of a snowflake. She pushed it away. Everything she’d learned was making her see everyone as possibly hiding something they shouldn’t. It would be terrible, she decided at that moment, to live the life of a spy.

  A door opened, and Early heard Mr. Waive cough again.

  “You’ve been warned,” Mr. Pincer said. “You are not to reenter this building. Not, not, er, ever again.” The door slammed shut and Early heard footsteps moving off down the hallway and the growly rumble of Mr. Waive clearing his throat.

  Early was dying to follow him and ask what had happened. But what if the conversation between Mr. Pincer, Mr. Alslip, and the others wasn’t over? They might really spill the beans, now that Mr. Waive was gone.

  She listened closely again.

  “Located blurbledy blurb ice blurbledy a slip …” Slipping on ice! Were they talking about the accident?

  And then Early heard, “Finally seen … today … could be gone …” It was Mr. Pincer’s voice, now sharp and ugly. “Up to us … all going, and I mean all.” Early’s heart felt as though it had sprouted wings and shot around the room. The words finally seen! And today!

  Of course Mr. Pincer could have been talking about anything, but just one person, one earthshakingly important person, was gone. Dash! Dash, Dash, Dash! And maybe Mr. Pincer was threatening them all, saying Dash had to be found or they’d all be in trouble! Did this mean that Dash was nearby? And that he was free? And hadn’t she maybe, just maybe, seen him this morning?

  Early wanted to whoop, to shriek, but instead knelt down on the carpet, ready to hide behind the rubbery plant. Whoa! Mr. Pincer’s door flew open, then closed again with a bang. Light, quick steps walked down the hallway. No one entered the room Early was crouching in.

  She thought of Sum and Jubie down on the second floor, and realized she should get them all out of the building, and fast. They might be the first ones to be targeted if someone was after Dash. If criminals wanted to make him appear, all they had to do was capture and hold his family … yikes.

  Standing, she crept to the open door. The buzz through the vent was now fainter. She peeked out into the hall, hoping her nose wasn’t visible. Yes! Ms. Whissel was standing over her desk, with her back turned, head down, a phone held on one ear. Early whisked around the corner and tiptoed at top speed in the other direction, hoping for a stairwell.

  An exit sign! Shoving open the heavy door, she hurried down one flight after another. When a door squeaked far above, she stopped. No steps. Was someone else listening? She froze, standing quietly until the door closed. Thudding down the last few stairs, she burst into the hallway by the Children’s Library and ran inside.

  Sum was reading aloud to Jubie, their heads bent low over a book. Early, out of breath, reached over to hug them both and stumbled onto Sum’s lap.

  “Oof!” Sum gasped.

  “Get offa me!” Jubie giggled.

  “Hurry, no time to lose!” Early huffed as she scrambled back up, but no one moved. “Now!” she finally shouted at them, grabbing their coats in her arms. “We gotta go!”

  As the three scurried out the door, leaving behind a pile of books, the librarian looked after them. Mr. Tumble reached for the phone, hesitated, and began instead to straighten his desk. Seconds later, he walked over to the pile and moved it carefully onto a cart, lining up the spines. He straightened the pillows where Jubie had been playing and checked his watch.

  Cover

  “I think Dash is okay! Maybe escaped!” Early blurted, still breathing heavily as they hurried up the long flight of stairs to the train platform.

  She’d refused to wear Sum’s jacket, saying she was hot. “The meeting was about something that was gone but had to be found. I heard slipping and ice, and that could only be Dash, right? I only caught a few words, but I’m sure there was some kind of threat made to the library workers, plus Mr. Waive. Seemed like they all might be in trouble now.” Early paused and bent over, a stitch in her side. She had an uncomfortable feeling that they were being followed. She looked back several times, but didn’t see anything unusual.

  “The three of us better not hang around here, waiting for them to catch up. They’re looking for Dash, and who knows, he might be headed to the shelter this minute!”

  Sum’s face was trembly, transformed; so fragile yet filled with light that Early realized with a sinking fear that perhaps she’d spoken too soon. “I wasn’t sure what they were saying. It’s a maybe.”

  But Sum’s face was brighter by the second. “If he’s escaped, you know he’ll find us. And when he does …”

  Jubie’s eyes were huge with fear. “The bad guys gonna get us?” he whispered. “I want Dash! Now!”

  “No worries, son, I’m here,” Sum said, her voice sounding calmer and stronger than it had in weeks. “But you’ve gotta do exactly what I say, when I say it, you understand? And don’t give away any secrets!”

  “Won’t. Give away. Secrets.” Jubie nodded.

  “Good,” Sum said. “Now, Early, baby, you tell me everything.”

  Early tried, sharing the research she’d done yesterday with Mr. Waive, and what she suspected. She was worried that Sum had added up these fragments and spun them into a solid truth, she sounded so strong. She didn’t dare tell her about the profile in the alley. Well, it was too late now to hide the other things from her mother, and perhaps that was okay. Sum had just needed some fresh hope to keep going. Early shivered, and allowed Sum to wrap her in the jacket.

  Dash, I’m sorry! she said to herself. I got Sum all worked up now.

  Before she could listen for a reply, a new worry flooded her mind. “There’s one thing we need to keep top secret, and that means you, too, Jubie.”

  Her brother nodded, his mouth open.

  Early was now whispering, her mouth covered with one hand so that no one else on the train could hear. She hadn’t been able to shake the scary feeling of being watched. “If the bad guys know we have this, it might be used to trap Dash again. That’s the only possession we own that could possibly be important, although why, I don’t know. No place to hide jewels inside it; we’ve turned every page, over and over. But Mr. Alslip was hinting something about a printing today, how it was like a footprint….”

  Sum was nodding. “The first print run can make a volume valuable,” she whispered.

  “That’s secret,” Jubie said in Early’s ear.

  “Yup. Where is it right now?” Early asked her mother.

  “In a drawer,” Sum said. “I slipped it in under our clothing.”

  “Zip the lip, Jubie,” Sum warned.

  He did, with one finger, then grinned and did it again.

  The train couldn’t move fast enough for the three Pearls.

  Cover

  Stepping in the front door, Sum huffed a sigh of relief. Early hurried ahead up the stairs, slipped a hand into the drawer in their cluster, touched the familiar cover, and grinned.

  “Of course,” Sum said, rubbing her arms. “What were we thinking? Got ourselves spooked! Now both of you wash hands before lunch.” Sum was still luminous after the morning’s news,
Jubie, more bubbly than usual, and Early, quiet. The familiar noise and confusion of the shelter felt good to all three, and although the lunch line was particularly long that day, no one complained.

  “Oh, here they are,” Mrs. Happadee said half an hour later, her voice pretending to be cheerful. A police officer stood by her side. “Could I borrow you three for just a moment?” she asked politely. It was then that Early noticed a small crowd by the front door and more men in uniform.

  The three Pearls hopped up, leaving lunch trays on the table.

  “You got bad guys?” Jubie asked, his voice squeaky with excitement.

  Both Sum and Early shushed him, but Mrs. Happadee simply reached for his hand as they all crossed the room.

  A man with a ragged jacket, brown sock hat, and handcuffs looked down at the floor. When he turned his face, Early gasped.

  It was Mr. Alslip! Something made her stay quiet, at least until she knew whether he’d done something good or bad.

  Velma was in the crowd and stepped forward. “I saw him follow you three in the door. He was pretendin’ to empty garbage, but I was watchin’. Sometimes I just know things. He saw you three head upstairs and still pretended to be busy, like he belonged, but followed you on up. When you three came down and he didn’t, I thought I’d better take a look. Caught him red-handed, emptying your drawers into a big garbage bag. Grabbed him from behind.”

  Here Velma wheezed with delight. “Looked like a scared mouse, he did.” She chortled. For the first time, Early felt a tiny bit sorry for the man.

  “Oh, Velma!” Sum hugged her. “Thank you so much, all of you. But can I check that bag before you take him away? I’d feel better if I knew every last thing was in there….”

  Sum was taken to the office, where Mrs. Happadee had locked up the bag. Early and Jubie stood awkwardly to one side of the crowd, and Early glanced shyly at Al’s face. He raised his head just enough to give her a quick wink.

  She sent back the tiniest of nods, and at that moment she felt she’d captured his rhythm. Or maybe even changed it.

  Sum was back in a moment. “Looks fine, Officer.”

  After the police and Al were gone, Mrs. Happadee walked the Pearls back to her office and said, “I have a room with a lock on the door for you three. Third floor, where some of the other families stay. You don’t mind being on the floor that has a few dads, do you?”

  “Oh, of course not. That’s wonderful, Mrs. Happadee,” Sum said. “You’ve been great!”

  “No problem,” she said, but looked puzzled. “Any reason that man might be after your things? No jewelry or anything. I mean, I didn’t notice any when the policeman looked through it.”

  “I’m not sure,” Sum said.

  “It’s a mystery,” Early added quickly.

  “No secrets.” Jubie nodded. “Don’t know any secrets.”

  Mrs. Happadee smiled at him. “Such lovely kids you have, Mrs. Pearl,” she said as she took them up to their new room, Sum hugging the extra-large garbage bag that now held everything they owned.

  Cover

  “Oh, my,” Mrs. Happadee said, and opened the window a crack. A metal safety guard prevented it from going any higher.

  The room was one of those gloomy ones that shoe-rockin’ Darren had been in. With the narrow window looking out on a wall, it was dark and smelled like a cross between wet coats on the train and used diapers.

  The walls were peppered with sneaker prints, bad words written in pen, and jagged scratches, as if someone had been attacking the plaster with a knife. “I’ll be right back with your sheets and blankets. And some cleaning supplies,” Mrs. Happadee said.

  Early went with her to help. As they gathered up bedding from the old cluster, Mrs. Happadee paused to look closely at a shiny piece of metal on the floor.

  “Goodness, it’s a razor blade!” she said. “Must have come in with that man. Awful!” She slipped it carefully into a front pocket on her shirt.

  Sum, Early, and Jubie spent the afternoon scrubbing. The room needed a brighter light so they could read in bed, but it looked and smelled better. When the drawers had aired out, Sum carefully unloaded the black bag, folding each piece of clothing as if neatness would make the room feel more like home.

  “Aw,” she said, turning over The First Book of Rhythms. “This dear book is so beat up now.” She frowned. “And it’s got a new tear. How on earth did that happen?”

  “Let’s see.” Early reached out a hand for it. A sharp, clean cut had been started at the end of the spine.

  The cut was almost unnoticeable, maybe a third of an inch long, but too perfect to be a tear. “Whoa,” Early breathed. “The razor blade. We need some tape.”

  Sum had turned away and was talking with Jubie. She didn’t hear what Early had said, and Early didn’t repeat it.

  Frowning, she ran her finger down the rest of the spine, which was still in one piece, but lumpy. She turned the book sideways and tried to see inside the narrow, sturdy tunnel that was a part of the spine, but all was dark. Then she shook it and a crumb of dried glue fell out. Since both ends of the spine were open, Early had never thought that something could be hidden there. But what had Al been up to?

  Sum had folded the empty black bag neatly inside a drawer. It was a heavy-duty garbage sack, just like the ones that families moving in and out of the shelter carried; the Pearls had never had one before. Al must have swiped it from a box near the front desk on his way in. Early pulled it out now. “Just checking to see if some part of the book fell inside,” she said.

  Sum, busy lining up toilet articles along the top of the dresser, nodded. Early crinkled open the bag and reached deep into every corner, running her finger along the seams.

  She touched something tiny, tiny and hard — an object about the size of a dried pea, but not perfectly round.

  Glad she was facing away from her mother and brother, Early opened her palm, holding it toward the window. It was then that the smallest of rainbows flashed against her skin, as if alive.

  A diamond.

  “Sum —” she whispered, then stopped, closed the hand, bent over, and coughed like mad. Her mind was racing. If Sum knew, she might have to tell the police, who might not believe that Dash was innocent in all this. She coughed some more, her fist against her mouth.

  Her mother patted her on the back. “Must be all the dust,” she murmured. “Go for a drink of water.”

  Early did, slipping the stone quickly into the pocket of her jeans. She walked with her hand flat on the leg of her pants, covering that tiniest of bumps in the fabric. The bathroom was full of kids and their moms, everyone talking and washing. Early shot into a stall and sat down. Now what? she wondered.

  She couldn’t stay in there all day, and her thoughts weren’t getting any clearer. Think, Early, think! she said fiercely to herself as she stood, straightening her clothes. She then leaned over the row of sinks after drinking, water dripping from her mouth, and looked up at the mirror.

  Dash said I was a rainbow. Diamonds hold rainbows. Maybe I can be as strong as a diamond, a pearl that’s also a diamond! Dash would like that one. The thought even seemed a little familiar — click! — as if it were one of Dash’s pictures.

  But hiding this from Sum? It felt creepy; it was such a huge secret. Early shivered. And if she didn’t tell, would she really be protecting the other three members of her family? Or just protecting some gang, bad people who might end up hurting the Pearls to get what they wanted?

  Sometimes keeping a secret was the worst thing to do.

  Cover

  Much darker than the open sleeping area had been, their new room felt like a shoe box once the door was shut.

  “Sum? Can you come sleep with me?” Jubie asked after a few minutes.

  “Sure,” Sum said, and Early thought she sounded relieved to climb down into Jubie’s bunk.

  Early flipped over for what felt like the hundredth time. The right-wrongs and good-bads were so confusing and hard to see! She w
as tired of trying to understand and make choices. Tired, tired, tired.

  “Okay, Early?” Sum whispered.

  “Tired” was all she replied.

  The only 100 percent untroubling thing she could think of that night was the plan for homes. Just moving that idea around in her head, looking at it from all sides, made her feel good. And tomorrow the tutoring room would be open again. Mr. John would be there.

  Early drifted off, imagining how surprised and proud Dash would be. Moments later, there was a loud bam-bam-bam! from down the hall. “Police, open up!” shouted a voice. Early, Sum, and Jubie startled awake, and all had the same frightened memory: the pounding on their apartment door, the silence, the waiting, and the huge crash.

  “Oh, no …” murmured Sum. Jubie began to whimper.

  “Police!” the voice shouted again. They heard a door opening and a lot of unhappy shouting and crying. Someone thumped or fell against a wall.

  “That isn’t my stuff. It’s not!”

  The Pearls stayed behind their closed door, although Early got down in the lower bunk, with Sum and Jubie. Sum lay on the outside, facing the door. Jubie, in the middle, curled into a ball against his mother’s back. “Don’t! Don’t let them come in,” he moaned over and over.

  Voices continued in the hallway long after the police had left, taking a woman with them. The Pearls heard Mrs. Happadee walking back and forth, quieting everyone down. Somewhere a child was sobbing. A bit later, there was the familiar bump-drag sound of black Hefty bags being pulled down the hallway, carting away a life.

  We’re getting used to the sound of emergencies, Early thought to herself. I won’t say it because that’ll upset Jubie, but it’s horrible and feels wrong.

  If we were in our own home, it would be quiet. Just the nighttime sounds of snow falling.

  And not on a sad field, she added fiercely. Not like the end of Langston’s poem, “for when dreams go, / Life is a barren field frozen with snow.”

  No barren field for us.