The Girl Who Knew Even More

by Commander S. T. Bolivar, III

  “He did it!” Mattie breathed. Carter glanced around and then waved for Mattie and Caroline to follow him. Everyone dropped to their hands and knees and scurried into the rosebushes.

  “Ow! Ouch! Yow!” everyone cried, very quietly, and after a few feet of scrambling, all three popped through to the other side. They crouched in the narrow space between the rosebushes and the gym’s outside wall and plucked thorns from their skin. As promised, the air-conditioning unit was right there and Mattie only had to tug a bit to get the top vent hood to loosen. He passed the lid to Caroline.

  “Okay,” Mattie breathed as he held the first cricket container over the open vent. “Here goes.”

  “Perfectly good waste of perfectly good crickets,” Carter muttered. The crickets chirped and squeaked as Mattie gently shook them into the vent. Their hard, little bodies made tiny tapping noises as they hit the metal frame.

  “Sorry, guys.” Mattie poured another box of crickets into the vent. “It’s for a good cause.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Caroline whispered. “I’m sure that makes all the difference to them.” She scooted around to glare at Carter. “Why do all your pranks involve animals anyway?”

  “That’s not true. When I had Doyle spit in Mattie’s soup that didn’t involve any animals.” Carter paused. “Except for Doyle.”

  Mattie nearly dropped his cricket box. “You had him spit in my soup?”

  “Honestly, it didn’t take much convincing. He totally hates you.” Carter paused, eyes far away as if he were reminiscing. “He really put some effort into it too.”

  Mattie gagged. “Why does he hate me so much?”

  “Who knows? It was something about a sponge.” Carter shrugged. “I like to think it’s because you bring out the best in people.”

  Mattie glared. “When did this happen?”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. It was last term. I haven’t done anything to you lately. And”—Carter looked at Caroline, who still looked at Carter as if she would like to set him on fire—“I didn’t do anything to that possum. He was dead when I found him.”

  “And the chickens?”

  “They were alive when I dropped them into the cafeteria. What happened after was not my fault.”

  “What happened after was chicken nuggets,” Mattie said and then wished he hadn’t. Caroline’s face was already flushed a deep, furious red and Carter grinned like he found the whole thing hilarious.

  He probably does, Mattie thought as he picked up another container. “Hey,” he whispered.

  Carter and Caroline ignored him.

  “Hey!”

  Carter and Caroline glared at him as Mattie emptied the last box into the vent and replaced the air vent’s screen. He waited a moment. “Nothing’s happening.”

  “Of course nothing’s happening. Give it a minute.” Carter peeked his head out of the rosebush and used some of Mr. Larimore’s favorite swear words when the thorns tore at his cheeks. “Okay, it’s clear. Let’s go—and be cool, you guys. Don’t look guilty.”

  “I know how to pull off a prank,” Caroline whispered.

  “I wasn’t talking to you.” Carter jammed his thumb toward Mattie. “I was talking about Captain Do Good back there.”

  “It’s Mattie,” Mattie hissed.

  “It’s Dead Man if this doesn’t work.”

  Mattie scowled. It was annoying when Carter had a good point. He followed his brother and Caroline. They knelt behind the arcade and waited.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  Until…

  Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm screeched to life, and two seconds later Lem burst through the gym doors. The scientist tore across the grassy quad as fast as his legs would carry him. “Fire!” he shrieked. “Run for your life!”

  The friends leaned forward and watched him go. Carter mumbled under his breath. “No Weather-matic.”

  The doors flew open again. “Fire!” Two more scientists galloped past, arms waving.

  “So dramatic.” Carter grinned. “We should have done this weeks ago. I’ve needed a good laugh.”

  Mattie really begged to differ. What they needed was the Weather-matic. But in their panic, the scientists weren’t evacuating the inventions. They were just running away. Mattie chewed the skin next to his thumbnail. What if this didn’t work?

  “Carter—” Mattie began, but he never got to finish, because as Mattie, Carter, and Caroline watched, the gym exploded.

  MATTIE FELL BACKWARD, LANDING ON his butt. Caroline hit the dirt and covered her head. And Carter? Well, Carter stared with his mouth open.

  “That. Was. Amazing,” he finally managed.

  Mattie stared up at his brother. Blowing up the school gym was a lot of things, but Mattie didn’t think it was amazing. He jumped to his feet and grabbed Carter by the collar. “We were supposed to make everyone think there was a fire, not actually burn down half the school!”

  Carter shrugged. “Sometimes my brilliance cannot be contained.”

  “Did you know that was going to happen?”

  “Mattie, I took a calculated risk.” Carter paused and everyone watched as a bucket arced through the hole in the gym roof. It looked like an especially odd rocket. “I’m just really bad at math, so, you know, you get what you get. Anyway, you asked for them to bring you the Weather-matic, and now they are.”

  Mattie spun around and realized Carter might be right. Dr. Hoo and a few of the other scientists were now dragging inventions onto the lawn. Or, at least, they were dragging things that could be inventions. Mattie had no idea why a shark tank had been in the gym or why four scientists were now hauling that shark tank onto the grass.

  Mattie craned his head. “None of these are the Weather-matic.”

  “So go get it,” Caroline said.

  “What? How?” And then Mattie saw it. There was a hole in the gym’s side now. Not a huge hole, but definitely big enough to crawl through—and see the outlines of machines stored inside.

  Mattie pushed to his feet before he lost his nerve. He ran along the wall, keeping inside Munchem’s hulking shadow, and then, when he was just across from the hole in the gym’s side, he bolted across the smoldering grass.

  Inside, the gym was hazy with green smoke. Somewhere to Mattie’s left, people were shrieking at each other to move, and somewhere to his right, another alarm was going off. The once-upon-a-time ballroom’s gilded walls were now a decidedly smoky brown, and the spidery-armed candelabras were still swinging from the force of the explosion.

  Mattie tugged the edge of Doyle’s jersey over his nose and mouth—and gagged. That’s worse than the smoke, he thought, eyes watering as he scrambled over the tubes that lay across the floor. Where is it? Where is—

  There!

  Like a finger jammed toward the sky (which you could now clearly see through the hole in the roof), the Weather-matic’s pointed top rose above the smoke. Mattie ran ahead, swatting at his singed pants as he went. He dashed past the giant espresso maker, made a right at a table filled with clown dolls, doubled back at a pot of boiling something, and found it. The Weather-matic was taller than he remembered, and Mattie had to launch himself at it, scrambling up the side.

  The Weather-matic wobbled left and then right. Mattie clung to a bright blue power cord and wedged his arm between two electrical panels, fingers straining for the glowing core. He tugged one wire loose and then another. The machine shook so hard Mattie’s teeth rattled. It trembled and trembled and then went still.

  “Hurry up,” Mattie whispered to himself. He pulled off the last connector and yanked the crystal free. It was still warm and fit exactly in the palm of his hand. Mattie shimmied back down and tucked the crystal into his pocket. For something so dangerous, it was awfully light. Mattie could barely feel it thumping against his leg as he ran between inventions.

  “You there!” someone yelled.

  Someone? It was Dr. Hoo!

  “Stop!”

  Mattie didn’t stop. He went even
faster, pumping his knees and elbows as hard as he could.

  Almost to the hole. Almost to the hole. Almost— Mattie hurled himself through the gap and hit the singed grass running.

  “Stop him!” Dr. Hoo yelled, and if Mattie hadn’t been at Munchem, he might very well have been stopped, but because Mattie was at Munchem—a school filled with students who were bad, didn’t like to follow rules, and definitely didn’t like to follow orders such as being told to stop someone—Mattie escaped. He kept his head down as the students closed in around him, and even though Mattie had to shove to get through them, he made it.

  And Dr. Hoo did not.

  “Is that Doyle?” someone said as Mattie elbowed past him.

  “Too short,” someone else said.

  “He’s getting away!” Dr. Hoo shrieked, still trying to push through the students. The students pushed back. No one was going to help Dr. Hoo catch Doyle. Doyle was like Munchem royalty. “He was inside! Get him!”

  Mattie powered across the lawn and spun around the corner, a pale-faced Caroline falling into stride next to him. She helped Mattie yank off Doyle’s jersey and hat, and they tossed them into an empty classroom.

  Mattie hustled toward the doors at the end of the hallway, smoothing down his Munchem sweater, and Caroline pulled him to a walk. “Be cool!” she hissed.

  “I was nearly set on fire!” Mattie hissed back. He did walk, though, because Caroline was right. They needed to look like they were just two students off to study hall or their dorms or anywhere that wasn’t the flaming gym. They passed through the double doors and walked into the sunshine.

  “Did you get it?” Caroline ducked her head as two upperclassmen ran past, heading for the fire.

  Mattie nodded, still sucking in breaths. Long black snakes of smoke rose above the roofline. “We…blew up…the gym,” Mattie managed.

  “Technically, we just blew holes in it.”

  Caroline was trying to make Mattie feel better. Sadly, she did not. The crystal bumped Mattie’s thigh with each step and his lungs were on fire, which, of course, was an extremely unpleasant reminder of what he’d done.

  They walked past the school’s south entrance, and when they reached one of the courtyards, Mattie flopped down on the closest stone bench, legs shaking. He rubbed his sweaty hands on his knees.

  “Here.” Caroline pulled off her book bag and tossed Mattie her American History book. It almost knocked him over. “Look like you’re reading until you can get up without passing out.”

  Part of Mattie wanted to argue, but the rest of him was too busy struggling to breathe. “How did you even run with that in your bag?”

  “What do you think? I spent my childhood with Eliot Spencer. I’m very good at running. I had to be to survive.”

  Beezus squeaked in agreement.

  “Where is Eliot anyway?” Mattie looked around. Two more students rushed by, heading for the gym. They were so excited they didn’t even look in Mattie and Caroline’s direction. “Shouldn’t he be here by now?”

  Boom!

  Mattie and Caroline looked up as something black shot across the tops of Munchem’s chimneys.

  “What was that?” Mattie asked.

  “A chair?”

  “Definitely a chair,” Eliot announced. Mattie and Caroline turned and spotted him strolling through the courtyard’s entrance. Eliot’s jacket was straight, his fists were deep in his pockets, and as he made his way toward them, his face was perfectly serene. Eliot didn’t look at all like a kid who would use his computer, Marilyn, to help Mattie blow up the gym. In later years, Eliot would call this his Off-to-Sunday-School look.

  “That?” Eliot said once he was standing in front of his sister and his best friend. “That was amazing.”

  Mattie sighed. “Carter thought so too.”

  “Well, Carter was right.”

  “Of course I’m right. I’m always right.” Carter hopped over the sagging wall and dusted off his hands. Mattie looked from face to face. Just as planned, everyone had met up, and just as planned, Mattie had the crystal.

  I really should feel better about this, Mattie thought.

  “Okay then.” Carter kicked Mattie’s sneaker. “Let’s see it.”

  There was no doubt in anyone’s mind what it was. Mattie spent a moment showing everyone the crystal. He also spent another moment breaking out into a cold sweat because anyone could have walked into that courtyard and Carter didn’t care.

  “Believe me, Mattie,” Carter said, examining the crystal with distinct disappointment. “No one cares about us. They have better stuff going on.”

  And as if to underscore Carter’s point, there was a low boom and another piece of the laboratory wheeled through the air. Everyone paused to stare.

  Carter cracked his knuckles. “So what are we going to do with the crystal? Hide it? Sell it?”

  Mattie shook his head. There was only one thing they could do with something so powerful. “We have to destroy it.”

  “PLEASE DON’T DO THIS,” ELIOT repeated as he trotted along behind Mattie. Smoke still streamed from the gym’s rooftop, turning the air gritty. “I’m begging you.”

  “No way.”

  “Then destroy it after I get to use it.”

  “Definitely no way.”

  Above them the loudspeaker screeched to life, and the boys winced. “All students should report to their dorms immediately!” Professor Shelley screamed. “Right now!”

  In the distance, sirens whined. Eliot grinned. “This is so cool. They’re sending in the fire department.”

  Mattie groaned. Forget Mr. Larimore’s big blue vein—his dad’s head was going to explode once he heard about this. “Let’s go,” Mattie said, dragging Eliot toward their dorm.

  They kept close to the school’s edge, watching smoke curl upward. “What if you destroy the crystal after I get to study it?” Eliot asked.

  “No. Way.” Mattie kept going. If he stopped, he might reconsider, and if he reconsidered he might chicken out—or give the crystal to Eliot to experiment with, which was way worse.

  Eliot made a gargling noise deep in his throat. “I thought we were friends.”

  “We are.”

  Eliot muttered something under his breath. Mattie couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like “such a downer” and “no one knows how to have a good time around here.”

  Mattie started to argue but paused as a shadow slipped over them. What was that? He slowed, looking up at the second- and third-floor windows, and then the roof above them.

  “What is it?” Eliot asked.

  “Nothing.” Because I’m seeing things, right? Right, Mattie decided. “Eliot?” Mattie asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “This is happening.”

  Eliot covered his face with both hands and moaned. “Destroy the cloning machine,” he whispered as two other students ran past. “Destroy the crystal. Is there any scientific advancement you don’t feel the need to ruin?”

  Mattie thought about it. “The ones that don’t hurt people?”

  Eliot sighed. “Fine. How should we do it?”

  Mattie wasn’t sure. If the crystal was powerful enough to run the Weather-matic, what would happen if they broke it? Would it explode like cars in movies? Shatter like glass? Catch fire?

  Okay, Mattie knew the last one was a bit of a stretch, but he was jumpy after the gym debacle. Luckily for Mattie, something as small and fragile as the Weather-matic’s crystal would be easy to break, right?

  Right.

  “I think…” Mattie began.

  “Look out!” Eliot yelled.

  Crash! A slate shingle hurtled to the ground, narrowly missing Mattie’s head. The boys jumped back, narrowly missing a second shingle flying down to join the first. The boys stared down at the shattered slate. “It’s kind of a wonder no one’s been killed like this before,” Eliot said at last as the sirens climbed and the smoke stung their eyes.

  Mattie nodded, toeing the bits of roofing as an idea
came to him. “I think I know how we can destroy the crystal.”

  In the end, Mattie wasn’t happy about blowing up the gym, but much like the yellow snow, he was grateful for the chaos. It made for the perfect cover. The professors didn’t notice two boys hustling through the meadow below Munchem because they were too busy yelling at one another, and the firefighters didn’t notice two boys sneaking past because they were too busy with the smoldering gym. The clones saw them, but that was because they were staring up at the still-smoking school.

  “Did you bring me any more of those breakfast sandwiches?” Maxwell asked as soon as Mattie stepped into the cemetery. One eye was brown and the other was red, and Mattie didn’t want to know what was in his hair.

  “Sorry, Maxwell, I had to leave in a hurry. I don’t have any food with me.”

  “Caroline would’ve remembered,” the clone grumbled. Mattie frowned. This was true, but the group had split up after deciding to destroy the crystal. Caroline was probably back in her dorm right now and Carter was, well, wherever Carter felt like going.

  Mattie paused, looking around the cemetery for the fattest angel. “That one,” he said, pointing to a particularly grouchy girl angel standing on a headstone. Mattie fished the crystal out of his pocket and dropped it on the grass in front of the angel, pushing it back and forth until he was pretty sure he had it in the right spot.

  “What’s he doing?” Doyle asked Eliot.

  “Trying to destroy my hopes and dreams.”

  Mattie scowled at both of them. “I need to shatter the crystal. Dropping the angel on it should do it,” he explained to Eliot.

  Or tried to explain. Eliot stood even farther away, arms crossed over his chest. The clones didn’t seem impressed with Mattie’s plan either, but sometimes that’s just the way people respond to genius plans.

  Coincidentally, it’s also the way they respond to non-genius plans too, but Mattie pushed that thought from his mind.

  “I don’t know,” Eliot said, scratching his head until his pale hair stood up. “Haven’t we done enough damage?”

  “You want this done, or not?”