“You too,” I say, wiping my eyes on the other sleeve of my gown.
“And from now on, I’m not dropping my friends for a boyfriend. Peter will have to wait his turn.” She grabs one of the hospital tissues and blows her nose.
“It’s okay, Charlotte,” I say. “I would have probably done the same thing … if Peter had chosen me.”
She sits back and we share stories of that terrible day-and-a-half. Then she breaks into an excited smile.
“By the way, you’ll never guess what I got?”
“What?”
“An iPhone. See?” She pulls a phone with puppies on the case out of her pocket.
“You too?” I say, reaching back to grab my mine.
We giggle for what seems a full five minutes.
“But I’m not allowed to text. Mom and Dad say I have to leave it in our locker at school.”
“That’s okay. It’s not like we have to text anyway since we’re in all the same classes,” I say.
“True.” Charlotte nods.
****
A few days later at home, there’s a soft knock at the door. Sitting on the couch, my leg propped up on the coffee table, I call Mom. “Someone’s here.”
She hurries down the stairs and opens the door.
“Hi, Taylor,” I hear her say. “Come on in. And you girls too. Kira will be very happy to see all of you.”
My chin drops, and I straighten up as the IGs enter looking as shy as Peter. They shuffle into the living room and make themselves comfortable on the couch.
“We heard you had a bad fall,” says Taylor. “We just thought we’d come out and bring you these.” She hands me a bouquet of flowers.
“Thanks,” I smile as though the Duchess of Cambridge herself handed it to me.
“And something else,” says Samantha. She draws a box of chocolates from behind her back.
“For me?” I say.
They nod and giggle.
I open the box and pass the chocolates around while Mom puts on a pot of tea and serves the IGs like they’re important company. For the first time, we all talk. I find out Samantha wants to be a teacher and that Taylor wants to be a legal secretary. Sydney says she’d like to go to Europe for a year after grade twelve. Turns out they’re all just as sick of Hole, I mean Hope, as I am.
“We actually laughed really hard when we found out it was you and Charlotte who painted the sign,” says Sydney. “Before that we thought you were snobs. Then we realized you were going through the same garbage as us.”
“What garbage?” I ask. “You girls are so popular.”
“Are you kidding?” says Samantha. “How’d you like to go through life being six feet tall and having a butt the size of Montreal?”
“Or to have a can opener of a nose like mine,” throws in Sydney, rubbing her schnauz.
“Your butt’s not big,” I say, reaching for another chocolate. “And your nose is just fine.”
“Yeah, right. Spoken by the skinniest girl in the school who has a ski jump nose,” says Sydney.
We all share a laugh.
“To be honest with you, Kira, I’d give my right arm to be as smart as you,” says Taylor, picking up her teacup. “You really saved me when you helped me with that science project. I had no idea where to start.”
“Well, I wish I had your looks,” I say. “You’re the prettiest girl in the school.”
“Well, you’re pretty too,” she says like it’s common knowledge.
“I am?” My eyebrows shoot up in disbelief.
“Yeah,” all three girls say at once.
“No way.” I shake my head.
“Mm-hm. You’ve got it all,” says Taylor. “Beauty, brains, talent, figure …”
I stop and stare, my mouth wide open. Can it be? Here I thought I was a social outcast when all along the IGs envied me?
“And if you don’t mind standing around on crutches,” Taylor says, after taking a sip of her tea, “you could hang out with us at the Christmas dance.”
My heart soars. “Okay,” I say, “That’d be good since Charlotte is kind of busy with Peter.” I’m smiling so hard I must look goofy. Grabbing the box, I pass around the chocolates again and change the subject. “So what happened with Travis? I was really surprised to see he joined Search and Rescue.”
“Ack, poor guy. He’s always had it so tough,” says Taylor. “His dad drinks too much and keeps getting fired.”
“And then he abuses Travis,” adds Samantha. “That time he got suspended, his dad beat the crap out of him.”
My chin drops and I clap my hand over my mouth. “Oh, my gosh! I had no idea.”
“That’s why we stuck up for him. Somebody had to,” says Sydney.
“But he’s doing a lot better now. Search and Rescue seems to be changing him,” says Taylor.
Her words make me see Travis in a whole new light. The poor guy. No wonder he’s been so angry all this time.
The girls stay for an hour. Watching them walk away through the living room window, I reflect on how good it is to sort of be friends with them, but there’s still one puzzle that hasn’t been solved. Who was stalking me and why?
Chapter 36
The Stalker
I’m practicing my new violin when Constable Douglas and Constable Fortier come to see me. I hear them at the door asking Mom in quiet voices if it’s okay to question me. Mom says sure and lets them in.
They enter on sock feet, testing me with their eyes and exchanging cautious glances. I lay down the Golden Fiddle with care.
“Kira, how are you doing?” Constable Douglas says, seating himself opposite me, his voice extra kind.
“I’m okay, considering.” I gaze down at my cast.
Constable Douglas clicks his tongue. “You know they caught the guy, right?”
“Yeah, I heard.” I offer an uncertain smile.
“Think you’re up to a few question?” he asks.
“Sure.” I nod.
He pulls out a photo. “Do you know this man?”
I glance at the picture and reel, a shrill cry escaping my throat as I relive the memory of the face pushed up against the glass that night. I know now why he had looked so familiar even in the dark.
“What is it?” cries Mom.
“It’s Jim – from the DVD store!”
Mom jumps up from where she’s sitting and grabs the photo, her face a mask of shock. “But he’s such a nice guy,” she says.
Constable Douglas continues. “Not that nice. His real name’s John Petrovsky. He was a convict at the correctional facility over the mountain in Ryder Lake where your husband treated patients every Thursday night. He was let out on parole about two years ago, but made a run for it and never reported back to his parole officer.”
“John Petrovsky,” says Mom, frowning. “That name sounds familiar, but how could he have been in Hope all this time and not been recognized?” She lowers herself down on the couch.
“Because Mr. Petrovsky changed his appearance substantially, shaving off his beard and cutting his hair short. The only one who would have known him was Paul, and he was too sick to leave the house.”
Mom and I exchange an incredulous look.
“So how did you find out it was him?” I ask, my voice small.
Constable Douglas sighs. “Well, after you went missing, he got careless, and someone witnessed him spray-painting the front of the DVD store where he worked.”
“What did he write this time?” Mom asks.
Eyeing her warily, he pauses before answering. “SHE’S GONE FOREVER!”
Mom and I let out a gasp.
Constable Douglas swallows before continuing. “So they took him in for questioning, and he confessed to all the vandalism and to stalking your family.”
“But why us?” I ask.
“It’s a long story.” He leans on his elbow. “When your dad started treating patients at the prison camp, Mr. Petrov kept asking him for narcotics. Of course your dad turned him down
, and so Mr. Petrovsky threatened him, saying he would seek out your family one day and harm you.”
“I remember that now,” Mom says, clutching her hands. “That’s why we had the peephole installed on our door.”
“He told us never to answer the door without looking first,” I say. “And never to open it to someone we didn’t know.”
Constable Douglas continues. “He said he spray-painted your dad’s tombstone because he claimed your dad had promised him the drugs, but then made him go through withdrawal instead. He said it was the most painful thing he’d ever been through.”
“I guess that’s why he wrote the word ‘LIAR’,” I say.
Constable Douglas nods. “Then he broke into the Medical Dental Building where your dad practiced medicine and vandalized his office in retaliation.”
“That would explain the word ‘REVENGE’ at the scene of the crime,” says Mom. “But what about the church? Did he have something against us being Catholic?”
“Well,” says Constable Douglas. “It seems Paul tried to help Mr. Petrovsky out with a bit of religious inspiration, but I guess Mr. Petrovsky felt let down, and decided to desecrate the church too.”
Mom shakes her head. “That’s why he wrote ‘GOD IS DEAD’.”
“And the school?” I ask, recalling the dead eagle.
Constable Douglas pauses, eyeing me. After a moment, he speaks. “It was a message to your family that he was coming, that he hadn’t forgotten his vow. Hence the graffiti, ‘I REMEMBER’.”
I shiver at his words and hug myself.
“But what’s with the dead birds?” Mom asks.
Constable Douglas sighs. “He’s not all there in his mind. He’s fried his brain with hard drugs and has some strange idea that if he could live off the organs of birds, that somehow it would give him more strength and enable his spirit to soar above the world.”
“Oh, that’s so sad,” I say, truly sorry for the man who had seemed so kind.
“He kept trapping and killing birds, and devouring their organs raw. Then he’d dumped their carcasses as a calling card at the crime scene.”
“When we brought him in, he kept babbling something about an angel,” says Constable Fortier.
My ears perk up. “An angel?”
“Yeah. Claims you were protected by some red-headed guardian angel that appeared every time he got near you.”
My heart begins pumping wildly. “What else did he say?”
“He said the night of the concert he saw you and your friend painting the sign. He couldn’t believe his luck, and just as he was about to grab you, the red-headed angel appeared. Said he was terrified and took off like a bolt of lightning.”
My insides are jumping.
“He also said a few nights ago, knowing you’d be alone since you told him so when you rented a DVD, that when he was throwing rocks at your place, this same angel appeared, so he booted it out of there.” His forehead creased. “Not that I believe in that stuff, but maybe there was an angel, and she looked like Kate McDonough? Kind of explains why you thought you kept seeing her.” He shrugs like it’s a mystery that will never be solved.
Speaking of which,” says Mom. “I was so disappointed to hear she’s left us.”
“I know,” says Constable Fortier. “She was what this town needed. Something to get the kids away from computer games and TV. Our town has never been so united. It was really special, but she said she had to move on. Something about her work is done. I don’t quite know what she meant.”
I hide a smile.
“That’s too bad,” says Mom. “I was so enjoying the fiddling. Where will I ever find another fiddling teacher like that again?”
“I don’t know,” says Constable Douglas. “Perhaps we can advertise in some of those Cape Breton newspapers.”
“That’s a good idea,” she says. “But in the meantime, I’ve had the wind taken out of my sails.”
“You can learn from me, Mom. I know a whole bunch of the tunes.”
“You?” Mom points a finger at me.
“Unh-hunh.”
“Okay,” she says with the biggest grin I ever saw. “You’re on.”
Chapter 37
Charlotte’s Trip
Everything’s changed – absolutely everything!
Sitting at my desk, my chin resting on my knuckles, I stare out the window to the tulips below. It’s spring.
I’ve got Charlotte back now that she and Peter have broken up, and she and I are actually friends with the IGs. The IGs! Who would have ever guessed last fall? Well, maybe not the best of friends, but at least we talk now. And boy, has Travis come a long way since his parents started counselling. It helps too now that Kyle moved away. Apparently, he was a bad influence. Who would have thought when he hardly ever said anything?
My mind slips back to yesterday at school when Travis found me at my locker. He walked like he was in a real hurry, and then suddenly stopped and faced me.
“Wanna hear a good joke?” he said, his mouth turned up in a slight grin.
“Sure.” I say, taking out my books.
“What’s brown and found on piano benches?”
I looked up to the ceiling, thinking. “Umm, I don’t know.”
“Beethoven’s last movement.”
Never having been a person who gets jokes easily, I furrowed my brows for a few seconds.
He looked worried, like he thought he had offended me, until I burst out laughing.
“That’s funny, Travis.”
Before I had a chance to close my locker, he hurried away, looking pleased with himself.
Mom had a huge surprise back in February when she found a mysterious hand-written envelope from Vancouver in the mail. Tearing the top off, she began to read. Her eyes grew huge and her hands began to shake. She let out a shriek.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” I said, a chocolate chip cookie frozen in mid-air between the plate and my mouth.
Her face was white when she collapsed onto one of the kitchen chairs, put her head between her arms, and burst into tears.
“Mom?” My blood raced through my veins. “What’s wrong?”
She didn’t answer for a minute, then looked up at me, her lips trembling. “My father’s found me.”
I dropped the cookie. It broke in pieces on the porcelain plate. “What?”
“My dad. My birth dad. Look, here’s a picture of him.” She held up a four-by-six photo of a handsome, older man with the same curly hair as hers. “His name’s Rick. He says he’s been looking for me for years ever since he found out my birth mother had a child out of wedlock before she died. Apparently one of her old band members told him where she had left me.”
A tingle ran down my spine, and I swallowed. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” Mom grabbed a Kleenex. “And that’s not all. You’ll never guess who my birth mother was?”
“Who?” I asked, keeping a straight face since Kate already told me.
“Melody. You know, like in the Sockhoppers!” Her face was contorted with emotion.
“No way!” I tried to act surprised.
“Anyway, he says he wants to meet me.”
“Oh, Mom! I can’t believe it.” I hurried around the table to hug her.
“Does this mean I have a new Grandpa?” asked Dylan, jumping up from where he was sitting on the carpet and running to Mom.
“I guess so,” Mom said, stretching out her arms to catch him.
“Hurray! A new grandpa!” Dylan cried.
I thought Uncle Jack would never get over Kate. He moped around for a couple of months after she left, sometimes sharing whispered stories about her with me, but we’d always kept it a deep, dark secret who she really was. Then one night, some woman named Jan showed up at the Stompin’ Boot for a special Karaoke night and stole his heart when she sang, of all tunes – Danny Boy! After hearing her sing more songs, he asked her to join his band, and I’m keeping my nose right out of it. But I still can’t help but chuckle a
t the fact she has red hair.
Then there’s Charlotte. Her parents finally took her on the promised trip to China to find her roots. She said she’d write every day, but so far I’ve only received one e-mail. Mom says it costs too much to text from somewhere else in the world, and that it’s really hard to find internet, let alone a Canadian keyboard.
I sit down at my desk and reread her message for the umpteenth time.
Kira,
I saw the place where my birth mother left me in front of the orphanage today. It was a really safe spot that couldn’t possibly be missed. Obviously my BM cared whether I lived or died. The orphanage is really nice. Not only is it an orphanage, but also a senior’s home. Can you believe each senior is assigned a baby that they cuddle and play with so no one feels sad or neglected?
China is great so far. There are hardly any white people here, so I fit right in, except for the language, but everyone points at Mom and Dad all the time. The other day, they even got chased down the street by some people who wanted their pictures taken with them. Now they know how I feel being the only Asian kid in Hope!
Charlotte
I chuckle like I do every time I read her e-mail. Then I click on refresh to check for any new messages. Several come up. One is from Taylor, asking me to help her tonight with her math again. Her grades have really come up since I started tutoring her back in January. I type a quick ‘sure’, and then scan the rest of my e-mails. It’s there – the long-awaited message from Charlotte. My heart racing, I open it.
Kira,
You’d never believe what happened today. A woman and a girl showed up at our hotel. When we let them in, I was shocked to find myself face to face with someone who looked exactly like me. Turns out it was my birth mother and my twin sister! Can you imagine? Sok Yin, my BM, cried when she saw me, and I don’t mean normal crying. This was a really hard, wrenching kind of sobbing. She said she couldn’t believe how beautiful I was. The concierge interpreted for us and said that my BM had been forced to give me up because the Chinese government has a one child policy. My BM said abandoning me had been the hardest choice of her life. She said she flipped a coin to decide which baby, and then bawled her eyes out for days after leaving me in front of the orphanage. Mai Ling, my sister (it’s so strange to say that), is so much like me it isn’t funny. Even you would get us confused. Can you imagine what Buddy would think seeing the two of us?
A Town Bewitched Page 20
