“Why do you think? I was miserable!” Gwendolyn began to cry, too. “I didn’t want to see either of you!”
“Gwenny, we’re sorry. We shouldn’t have made it so hard on you,” her father said. “Will you come inside?”
Gwendolyn turned back to Bruno instead. “Can I come with you?” she pleaded. “I don’t want to go in there.”
Bruno shook his head gently. “You have to give them the chance to fix it.”
“Who is this?” Gwendolyn’s father asked.
“It’s my friend Bruno,” Gwendolyn said. “When he found out I was alone for Thanksgiving, he invited me to his house.”
“I think he did more than that,” her father said, and he looked at Bruno. “You were the one who left us those messages, weren’t you?”
“You did what?” Gwendolyn whirled back to Bruno. “You told on me?”
Bruno thought back to Halloween weekend, when he had waited for Gwendolyn to leave for the grocery store and gone in through the unlocked front window to copy her parents’ phone numbers off the pad on the hall table. “No, I didn’t. I told them you wanted them to come home. I didn’t tell them you were alone.”
“I’m glad he did,” her mother said, coming down the walk. “Bruno, I wish we weren’t meeting like this, but thank you for doing what you did.” She shook Bruno’s hand. He smiled politely at her, while he felt Gwendolyn’s angry eyes bore into him.
“You said you would keep a secret,” she said quietly.
“I’m sorry. But you know I’m right.”
“No, you’re not.” Gwendolyn’s voice was hard.
Her mother put her hands on Gwendolyn’s shoulders. “Gwenny, please, let’s talk. I think we can figure this out. We owe you an apology, that’s for sure. We’re not angry with you. And no one is going to leave until we sort this out. Okay? Please come inside.”
Gwendolyn looked at Bruno, and he could tell she was struggling. “You should go. You can punch me on Monday,” he said.
“I’m going to,” she said, and went up the walk with her parents.
When Bruno got back into the car, Sylvio said, “What did you do?”
“Hopefully I’ve replanted a family tree.” Bruno looked up at the Winsome house, every window brightly lit, as they drove away.
“What does that mean?”
“Never mind.”
ON THE MONDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING, Bruno was sitting with his friends in the library when Gwendolyn approached the table. “Can I talk to you?”
“Sure.” Bruno got up and went with Gwendolyn to another table.
“I’m not going to punch you,” she said. “I was really mad, but I understand why you did it, and it turns out it was a good thing after all.”
“What happened?”
“We talked for hours. They were really upset—they both cried a lot. But they weren’t as upset with me as they were with themselves, for being so caught up in how unhappy they were that they didn’t even suspect the other one wasn’t at home with me. They both got to the house really soon after you picked me up, and once they figured out that neither of them had been there for three months, they spent the rest of the time talking about everything. By the time I got home, they were so ashamed, they weren’t really mad at me for lying to them anymore.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah. So they’re still getting a divorce, but Dad’s coming back home to live. He probably would have before. He was living with his girlfriend because he thought Mom was in the house, but I don’t think that’s working out.”
“So that’s good, right?”
“It is. They both apologized for everything. They apologized so much, eventually I had to ask them to stop. And now they’re going to talk directly to each other instead of passing messages through me, so I’m not going to be able to fool them again.” Gwendolyn smiled a little sheepishly. “They asked me to thank you.”
“No problem,” Bruno said. “It was the right thing to do.”
“I know. So I want to say thank you, too.”
“You don’t have to. I’m glad I could help, even if I went behind your back.”
“It wouldn’t have worked any other way. I never would have let you, if you had asked me.”
They sat for a moment, unsure what else to say. “So can we be friends, in school? I know I’ve avoided you, but I really wanted to talk to you.”
“Sure,” Bruno said. He was nervous he was agreeing to something else, but he didn’t know how to avoid it.
“Good,” she said, exhaling.
They got up and stood awkwardly. Then she hugged him, and Bruno helplessly put his arms around her.
“Thank you,” she whispered. Then she gathered up her things and left.
Bruno returned to his friends to hear the expected comments.
“New girlfriend?” Regine asked.
“She’s cute,” Celia said sincerely.
“Does this mean you’re going to drop us?” Marco asked.
“It’s not like that,” Bruno said.
“Silver told us about Thanksgiving dinner. It’s okay,” Regine said. “We’d love to meet her.”
“It’s not like that,” he repeated.
“Okay,” Sylvio said. “Sure it’s not.”
“It’s not,” Bruno said. “I have to go shelve books.” He went off to help out, even though Lois wasn’t expecting him.
“BRUNO! IT’S BEEN AGES! How’ve you been?” Gardner’s happiness to see him surprised Bruno.
“I was sick for a while. I thought you might know about it.”
“Because of the liminal in the library? I wondered if you realized what was going on there.”
“Wait—the library is a liminal, too?”
“It’s just a name for it. And that passage under the stairs. Glad you’re well again. So, where are you off to?”
“The bookstore.”
“And I’ll see you back here in five minutes, then?” Gardner regarded Bruno half in amusement and half in exasperation.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you go inside? Do you even cross the street?”
“I just want to see her for a little.” Bruno knew he sounded pathetic. He sometimes wished he could make it through this clearing without meeting Gardner, but that didn’t seem possible.
“Are you ever going to make your case with her?”
“Not while she’s dating Tomasi, I won’t.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because it wouldn’t be right!”
“Suit yourself.” Gardner waved him through.
When he emerged from the alley across the street from the bookstore, Bruno looked for Celia in the front windows, but he only saw the petite woman with white hair at the front counter. He waited, but nothing changed. Wouldn’t Gardner have told him if Celia wasn’t there? Maybe it was time to go into the bookstore.
The tiny woman looked up when Bruno entered. The place was warm and dim, with a relaxing aroma of paper and spearmint. Piano music bubbled like a quiet brook. “Can I help you?”
“Is Celia here?”
“No. Are you one of her friends?”
“From school. I’m Bruno.”
“You’re Bruno? She’s told me about you. She says you are quite extraordinary.”
“She does?”
“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Everything in Celia’s life is extraordinary, it seems.” The woman’s eyes crinkled when she smiled.
“Is this your bookstore?”
“It is. I’m Lippa.”
“I’ve never been here before,” Bruno said.
“Well, I’ve been waiting,” the woman said. He looked at her curiously. “That was a joke, my dear,” she said, laughing. Bruno blushed.
The front door opened, and Lippa and Bruno turned to find Alice and Gertrude coming in.
“Bruno! What a lovely surprise!” Alice said.
“You know each other!” Lippa was delighted.
“Bruno is our neighbor.
” Alice beamed at him.
“It’s so good to see you up and about again,” Gertrude said. “He was sick for nearly a month,” she explained to Lippa, then turned to Bruno. “You are not old enough to be all consumptive and bedridden.” He nodded, wondering what consumptive meant.
“Have you been here before?” Alice asked, and Bruno shook his head. “You have found the best bookstore for miles around. Lippa is a peach.”
“You flatter me.” Lippa feigned modesty.
“And I do it with pleasure,” Alice said.
Lippa changed the subject. “Bruno knows Celia.”
“You do?” Gertrude said, “Of course, you go to Suburban, too! She is just a doll. So smart, so stylish, and so creative. Have you seen her drawings?”
“I have,” Bruno said. “They are amazing.”
“I’m sorry she isn’t here,” Lippa said.
“Well, I’ll come back another time.”
“Please do! It was so nice to meet you.” Lippa pressed his hand.
Bruno was heading for the door when someone called his name. He turned to find Van standing by a table of books, looking completely out of his element and wearing a strange expression. “Van?”
“You feeling better?” Van asked.
“Yeah. What are you doing here?”
“Someone told me I should avoid this place, so I thought there might be some answers here.” Van wasn’t as imposing as Bruno remembered. “Hey, I’m sorry for being a jerk before. I tend to overreact to things.”
“It’s okay, I—”
“Are you an Ambassador?” Van blurted out.
“What? Am I a . . . what?”
It was as though Van’s question had opened a floodgate in him. “I just can’t figure out what happened, and it’s the only thing that makes sense. Are you? An Ambassador?”
“No!” Bruno glanced around the bookstore. Over by the counter, Lippa, Alice, and Gertrude were staring oddly at them. “Come outside.” He pushed Van out the door and around the corner. When they were alone on a dimly lit patch of sidewalk, Bruno said, “What are you talking about?”
Van wasn’t dissuaded. “I lost my power, and all I know is that my admonition told me to beware an Ambassador. I have no idea who or what that is, but you’re the only other powerful person I know, except . . . So if you took my powers, it means you’re an Ambassador. Are you?”
“I am not an Ambassador. And you have to be careful—people could overhear you!”
“Why should I care? I’ve lost all my powers! What difference does it make?”
“Are you Unkind? Were you Unkind?”
“I was. I had just gotten started, and now it’s over. Why did you do it?” Van seemed to be torn between fearing Bruno and wanting to beat him up again.
“I didn’t do anything! I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, you must be something. Are you Kind, then?”
“Yes, I’m Kind. And please, keep your voice down.”
“You didn’t draw me out? My admonition said to beware the Ambassador who would draw me out.”
“Oh . . . no, I didn’t draw you out. Listen, I’m sorry you lost your powers, but did you really want to be Unkind anyway? Would you really want to do worse and worse things, and get worse and worse, yourself?”
Van looked at the ground. “It changes you, being Unkind. It’s like it shuts off parts of you, and then intimidating people was pretty much all I did. I could touch people and they’d lose their sense of purpose, like I’d just sucked the happy out of them. And it was awesome. Now, I don’t know why I felt that way.”
“You were doing that?”
“Yeah, and I should have realized there was something up with you earlier, because you didn’t get all depressed when I punched you. That should have put you out of commission.”
“How much do you know about all this?”
“Not a lot. I just started being Unkind at the beginning of the school year. How much do you know?”
“That’s none of your business. Who got you started?”
“You really don’t know? Right there at Suburban, and you have no idea.”
“You have to tell me.”
“Why should I? You’re not the only one with powers.”
“But your powers are gone, and while I didn’t do it, there are things I can do.”
“If I tell you, will you protect me?” Bruno nodded, hoping he wasn’t promising something he couldn’t deliver. “I can’t believe you really don’t know. It’s—”
Suddenly Van was gone, sucked up in the air as though pulled by a bungee cord. Bruno jumped back and heard Van yell in alarm. Bruno looked up to see where he had gone.
Van was suspended a few stories up, his head down and body limp. Next to him, a figure stood on thin air, holding Van by his shirt collar. Bruno gaped up at the two of them, but against the night sky he could make out only a silhouette of dark trousers, a dark cloak, and a head of Medusa-like wavy hair that hovered in tentacles around a shadowy face.
In that moment it became clear to Bruno that there was a lot more at stake than he had realized.
Then the cloaked figure shot up higher into the sky with Van in tow, disappearing like a comet. Bruno took off running across the street and down the alley, then crashed through the bushes.
“What happened?” Gardner asked.
“Who was that? The thing in the sky who took Van?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I have to go to Celia’s house,” Bruno said. “Which way?”
“There.” Gardner pointed, staring at him.
Bruno ran through Celia’s backyard and around to the front of her house. He rang the bell, and after a moment Mrs. Balaustine opened the door. “Bruno! How are you?”
“Hi, Mrs. Balaustine. Is Celia home?”
“Sure, would you like to come in?”
“Could I wait here?”
She looked at him oddly. “Sure.” She turned to the stairs and called for Celia. “You’re sure you don’t want to step inside? It’s cold out there.”
“No, thank you.”
Celia grabbed a coat and came out onto the front porch, closing the door behind her. “What is it?”
“The figure you told me about—the one who was there the night you fought the chemistry teacher? I just saw it!”
“What? Where?” Celia took Bruno’s arm and pulled him farther away from the house.
“I was at the bookstore, and Van was there—”
“You were at Lippa’s?”
“I . . . wanted to see where you worked. And to tell you I’m not interested in Gwendolyn.”
“Okay . . . And Van was there?”
“He was, and he asked me if I was an Ambassador. He told me his admonition said an Ambassador would draw him out. When you drew him you stripped him of his powers!”
“Oh!”
“But he thought I was the Ambassador because he followed me up those hidden stairs, so he knew I had some kind of powers. He never realized you had anything to do with it. He just started being Unkind at the beginning of the school year. But there’s another Unkind at Suburban, too!” Celia inhaled sharply. “He was just about to tell me who it was when he got sucked up off the sidewalk! When I looked up there was this other person holding him there, standing in the middle of the air. And then they just shot up into the sky like a rocket!”
“That’s what happened last year in my backyard!” They both looked up nervously, and Bruno imagined Celia standing behind the house last year, watching the sky while a human spaceship flew away.
“What happened to Van?”
“I don’t know! He’s gone. He was the one making kids depressed—he could do it just by touching them.”
“Whoever that figure is, I think he wants to make sure we don’t find out about him. Was it a man or a woman?” Bruno shrugged. “Mr. Sumeletso was going to tell me something on the night I fought him off, but that figure prevented him from saying an
ything. Whatever Van was going to tell you, that person didn’t want you to hear it.”
“What do we do now?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think we’re in danger. If whoever it is wanted to hurt us, wanted anything from us, it would have happened.” Celia was quiet for a moment. “So you went to the bookstore to tell me you’re not interested in Gwendolyn?”
“It just seemed like everyone assumed—”
“Bruno, we were just giving you a hard time. Why don’t you ask her out?”
“I don’t like her like that.”
“She likes you, though—you realize that, don’t you?” Celia saw his discomfort. “That’s okay. It’s hard when you realize someone likes you, and that person is really nice, and someone you really like . . . but you just don’t feel the same way. It’s a helpless feeling,” Celia said carefully. They looked at each other for a moment.
“Well, I just wanted you to know,” he said.
“I believe you.” She smiled sadly. “I do think you should go out with someone, though. It doesn’t have to be anything serious. Ask someone to a dance.”
“It’s okay. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I just remember, last year, I was so hung up on someone, I didn’t date anyone all year, because I was hoping . . .”
“What happened?”
“Well, we started dating.” She reddened. “Bruno, I know you like me.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re a good guy and you have too much integrity to pursue someone who’s in a relationship. And that makes me like you more,” she said.
“I should go.”
“Bruno . . .” she said, but he ignored her and went back around her house to the Ebentwine clearing.
“Did she help you?” Gardner asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Bruno said, not slowing down.
“What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Suit yourself. I’m on your side, you know. I want to see you get what you want.”
Bruno stopped and turned back to him. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
“You don’t have to. You’ve fulfilled your admonition, and soon enough your power will grow. Who knows, maybe you don’t need my help at all. You’re getting stronger by yourself. They say becoming one of the Kind is a lonely thing. But you’re never entirely alone, even if you feel you are. You can go it alone if you want, but I will always be here.”
Pull Down the Night (The Suburban Strange) Page 17
