by Claire Fogel
He added, “Tacos and Burritos are next. Do you think they’ll like hot peppers?”
“Probably. By the way, we’ll meet Amy and Sean inside the front door at school tomorrow. That was an order from the Chief. Standing outside just makes us targets.”
After Kevin and I said good night, I was getting ready for a nice, long soak in the tub when my phone rang. It was Sean, sounding upset. I wondered who had called him.
“Hey, beautiful. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Who told you about our little problem outside school?”
“I wouldn’t call an attempted shooting a little problem. Sandy spoke to Amy, then called me and filled me in. It sounds like we’re all targets, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, you and your knives can’t be with all of us all of the time!”
I snorted. “Well, I can try as long as I don’t get kicked out of school for carrying weapons to school.”
“Does anyone at school know you carry knives with you?”
“Not until now. The Chief said the one patrolman who saw what happened at school will probably be spreading the word as we speak.” I sighed. “He thinks the entire police force will soon be aware of my skill in knife-throwing. From there, everyone in town will probably know by tomorrow.”
“Oh. I guess that won’t go down well with school authorities, will it?”
“Nope. Mom says all we can do is wait to hear from them. I just hope they won’t suspend me. The thing is, I didn’t use my knife inside school. We were outside when those creeps drove by and pulled a gun.”
“I don’t think they should penalize you for saving someone’s life. That would be ridiculous.”
“I know, but I can understand why weapons shouldn’t be allowed on any school campus. Think about all the school shootings that have been happening all over the country. Mom thinks Thornewood will have a no weapons policy by the end of this week.”
“Yeah, I can see that happening, and I understand the reasoning for it. At least I think we’re all safe when we’re inside school. Between the police and our bodyguards, I can’t see any of Gaynes’ goons getting inside the building, can you?”
“No, I feel safe inside school. But we still have to get to and from school. That’s when I feel vulnerable.”
“Well, I think the Chief is right about keeping our group together as much as possible. By the way, Kevin learned knife-throwing with you over the summer, didn’t he?”
“Yeah. But I don’t think he carries his knives with him like I do. After today, he might. And I think he should. He can throw a knife as well as I can. And I know our bodyguards have their knives on them. I saw proof this afternoon.”
After a few seconds of silence, his voice was soft as he said, “I know we’re all at risk, but you’re the one I worry about. You’re that lunatic’s primary target. I remember that you were practicing non-lethal methods of archery and knife throwing. But if Gaynes comes after you himself, I hope you’ll be able to stop him permanently.”
“Sean, if I ever come face to face with Donald Gaynes, he won’t walk away.”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t having some kind of delayed reaction to what almost happened this afternoon. I keep forgetting how strong you are. You know how I feel about you, but I want you to know how much I admire you.” I was at a loss for words. A few quiet seconds passed. Then he said, “See you at school in the morning.”
“Night, Sean.”
As I soaked in a tub full of herbal-scented bubbles a little while later, I thought about Sean. I knew he wanted to be more than my friend. And then a pair of cobalt blue eyes popped into my mind.
I wondered who would be starring in my dreams tonight.
When I climbed out of the tub, I realized I hadn’t sung for Rowenna in a day or two. I could hear Mom and Dad talking in the kitchen. It sounded like the subject of their discussion was my knives. This was probably a good time to stay out of the kitchen.
Instead, I opened one of my bedroom windows and hoped Rowenna would hear me. With my elbows on the window sill, I leaned out and started humming her song. It was only a few minutes before I felt magic in the air and the sound of heavy wings beating their way toward me. I began softly singing the words to the dragon’s song, the melody drifting from my window into the forest and the sky. As she came closer, her magic wrapped around me like a blanket of silk.
When I sang the last few lines, I looked down and was shocked to see the gleam of Rowenna’s scales on the ground. There was a Dragon. Sitting. In my backyard. My mother would have a stroke. I no longer heard voices coming from the kitchen. What I did hear was that familiar, rusty voice in my head. Beautiful, Cara. Thank you. When I hear you sing, my heart sings.
What should I say? Honesty was usually the best policy. I had nothing else.
“Rowenna, my mother is human. She doesn’t know anything about dragons, or about you. My father and I were afraid it would upset her, and we really don’t like to upset her.”
Cara, I am sorry. I’ll leave now.
I sighed. “I’m afraid it’s too late. You’re about to meet my mother.”
I put on my bathrobe and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. I wasn’t surprised to find my mother at the kitchen window, hands on her hips. My father was still sitting at the table. Judging by the tight expression on his handsome face, he was braced for trouble. I stopped by his chair and he whispered, “I think she’ll probably accept an explanation better from you, dear.”
I walked to the window, reached for Mom’s hand. “Let’s go out on the porch. There’s someone out there I want you to meet.” Mom turned to me, her eyes huge, and asked, “Is it safe out there?”
I nodded and she took my hand. I led her out on the porch, faced Rowenna, and said, “Rowenna, this is my mother, Alicia. I love her very much.” Then I turned to Mom. “I’d like you to meet my friend Rowenna. She was my grandmother’s friend too.”
It was full dark outside now, so the dragon wasn’t completely visible. The light from the house and from the almost-full moon shone on her scales, creating a strange, glittery creature of some kind sitting in the grass. The only things that were clear were her bright, golden eyes.
Mom said softly, “Hello, Rowenna. I’m always happy to meet Cara’s friends. Although I have to admit, you are quite a surprise.”
I could hear the dragon’s rough chuckles. I am happy to meet Cara’s mother. Alicia. A beautiful name. Please know that I will protect Cara just as you always have. She is a special child. You are lucky.
I had heard Rowenna’s words in my mind, but I was amazed to hear Mom say, “My daughter is the light of my life. I’m happy to know she has yet another protector to keep her safe. Thank you, Rowenna. By the way, I like your song too. It’s lovely.”
Chuckling again, the huge dragon spread her wings and gracefully rose into the sky. I looked at Mom. “You can hear her words too, can’t you?”
“Yes. Your father once told me I was a surprisingly good receiver, although I can’t send a message the way he can.”
“So, you’re not upset about the dragon?” I was still surprised at how calm she’d been.
Shaking her head, she took my hand and led me back inside where my father waited for us, looking far more relaxed than he had when I came downstairs.
We sat down at the table and she said, “With all the fantastic changes in your life during the past three or four months, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that as unbelievable as it seems, you have a friend who happens to be a dragon.”
She turned to my father. “I think I’ve reached my limit, Brian. I love you both, but I need a break.” She sounded exhausted. Then she simply closed her eyes and put her head down on her arms.
My father looked at me, clearly worried. He got up and moved to the chair next to hers. At first he hesitated, but then he simply reached around her and pulled her over against his broad chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he started whispering things I couldn’t hear.
It was time for me to go to my room.
Unfortunately, there were no pleasant dreams that night. I kept seeing a hand holding a gun pointed at me.
The next morning I drove around the corner with Ryan and picked up Kevin and Patrick. It was early enough that we found a parking space almost in front of school. Sean’s father drove up right after we did, dropping off Sean, Amy, Gabe, and Neal just as we reached the main doors.
Inside the main entrance, Amy reached out and grabbed me, hugging me tightly. “Cara, you will always be my very best friend no matter how old we are. You saved my life yesterday! I think it took all night for the whole thing to sink in.”
Once I could breathe, I hugged her back. “What are friends for?” That broke the tension and got everyone smiling.
Kevin put his arm around Amy and said, “So you’re wearing nothing but black now?” Amy was dressed completely in black from head to toe. She’d even painted her nails black.
She looked at me. “I don’t want to stand out. Ever. Again.” Kevin surprised me by bending down and kissing Amy’s cheek. His voice was husky as he added, “You’d stand out in a burlap bag, Red.”
Of course, when he realized what he’d done, he turned bright red. With a grin, Amy kissed him back. “Thanks, Kev. I needed that.”
I must have been a little slow that morning, but I finally realized there was an arm around my shoulders. I looked up at Sean, who was gazing at me with so much affection in his eyes, I could feel my face turning pink. I was about to remind him that we were just friends when the first bell rang and the principal stepped out of his office and motioned to me.
“Miss Connelly, may I have a word?” Mr. Weiss was an easy-going man and a favorite of the student body, so I wasn’t too nervous. But I knew the word he wanted would be about the knives I carried.
Sean gave my shoulder a squeeze and whispered, “good luck.” Amy and Kevin left for their classes, both giving me the thumbs up sign. I followed Mr. Weiss into his office.
“Please sit down.” He sat down behind a big desk that was piled high with papers and file folders. “I think you know what we have to discuss. Chief O’Donnell stopped at my house last night to explain exactly what happened after school yesterday.”
His dark eyes were sympathetic. “He also filled me in on some things that I wasn’t aware of. I didn’t know about your kidnapping last spring, or about the threats you received just recently. I have to admit that I was rather curious about the group of new students who showed up last spring, and then again when school began yesterday. But the head of the School Board insisted that they had to be admitted right away, and they do seem like nice young men.”
He smiled and I knew he understood more than he was saying. “I now know that these boys are bodyguards for you and your friends. I completely support the need to protect our students. And I understand that you did exactly that yesterday when you threw a knife at a gunman who was aiming at Amy Strauss.
“I understand why you feel you have to protect yourself. But with the police presence in school now, and the fact that you and your friends have bodyguards with you at all times, I don’t believe that you need your weapons when you’re here, attending classes. You’ve always been a good student, a well-behaved young lady; you’ve never been in trouble of any kind. I know that none of our students are in any danger from you. Nevertheless, I can’t allow you, or any student, to be inside this school armed with weapons.” My heart dropped a little.
“So here’s what I propose we do. Come to my office every morning when you arrive at school, and turn your knives over to me for safekeeping. When you leave at the end of the school day, I will return them to you. Is this a solution you can live with?”
“I think so, Mr. Weiss. You’re being more than fair. To be honest, I expected to be suspended.”
He smiled and stood. “I’m glad we’ve been able to settle this without bloodshed.” He nodded. “You can feel safe here at Thornewood High. I wish I could say the same for the world outside our doors. Now hand me your knives and then you can get to class.”
I pulled my knives out of my boots and he put them in the top drawer of his desk. “I’ll see you at three o’clock. Have a good day.”
I left his office feeling a great sense of relief, as Ryan and I rushed to my Science class. When I slid into my seat next to Sean, he mouthed, “Is everything okay?” I nodded and smiled, and he reached for my hand and squeezed it.
There was so much stuff swirling around in my head, I don’t remember much about that class, but I promised myself I’d read a few chapters in my textbook that night.
On our way to History, Sean said, “Weiss didn’t suspend you, did he?”
“No, Mr. Weiss was really cool about it. I just have to hand over my knives when I get to school, and he’ll return them to me when I leave.”
“Well, that’s a great solution. Weiss obviously understands the situation.”
“Yep. Chief O’Donnell paid him a visit last night. Mr. Weiss was really great.”
We’d reached the door to History class before I realized my hand was wrapped up in Sean’s. I guess it felt so natural, I never noticed when he took my hand. I looked up at him, slightly confused.
He dropped my hand, sighed and pulled me away from the door. “I know that to you, I’m just your friend. But to me, you’re a lot more than a friend.” He looked down, turning slightly away from me. “If you don’t want me to touch you, or even hold your hand, just tell me.”
I could almost hear his heart pounding, and I heard his voice in my mind. “I can’t stay away from her. She needs me even if she doesn’t realize it.”
My heartbeat picked up a little too. I couldn’t hold back a smile, so I took his hand and muttered, “Shut up, Sean,” and pulled him into class. The relieved smile on his face showed me he was happy.
During class, I found myself thinking of Adam sporadically. I felt slightly disloyal but didn’t understand why.
At lunch everyone was relieved I hadn’t been suspended. Our bodyguards glanced at each other and Ryan said very softly, “It’s a good thing we’re not being searched.” It was only then that I remembered that our bodyguards were well armed too. I looked around to make sure no one would hear us. “How many knives are all of you carrying?”
Ryan said four, Gabriel three, Patrick two, and Neal two. I was grateful.
When we were leaving the lunchroom, Sean again put his arm around my shoulder and said he’d call me that night. I wouldn’t see him after school because of football practice. He smiled and told me that Coach was trying, unsuccessfully, to recruit Gabriel for football. He gave my shoulder a squeeze and left us with Gabe on his heels.
After my last class, Ryan and I stopped at Mr. Weiss’ office where he returned my knives and told Ryan, “Take good care of her.”
We met Kevin, Amy, Patrick and Neal at the front entrance and walked out together. When we were all safely inside my big car, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Kevin said, “Nobody seemed very hungry at lunch today. If any of you have recovered your appetite, we have three things to celebrate today. First, Cara’s not being suspended from school. Second, no one tried to kill us today. And third, I just received a big check for ‘Zombie Revenge.’ The video game producer I work with loved it and added a nice bonus to my check. Burgers and milkshakes at The Grille are on me.”
Amy and I both congratulated him. She said, “You’re probably Thornewood High’s most successful entrepreneur, Kev. I think we’ll all be happy to help you spend some of that big money.”
I grinned at Kevin and muttered, “Last of the big time spenders, huh?”
He laughed. “Well, girls and boys, what good’s money if you don’t spend it? I’ve got my eye on some new computer gear too. And,” he chuckled, “as a gift for my mother, I’m going grocery shopping after school tomorrow. I plan to fill up that huge, empty refrigerator-freezer sitting in the kitchen. I’m beginning to feel guilty about mooching me
als from Cara’s mom all the time.”
“Well, that kinda hurts, Kev,” I said. “We love having you come over for meals. If you stop coming over, Mom will be disappointed.”
From the back seat, I heard laughter. Patrick said, “I’ll be happy to take his place.”
We all laughed, and for a while, I wasn’t thinking about threats or men with guns.
When the doorbell rang after dinner, my father opened it to find Chief O’Donnell on the front porch. He’d stopped by to let us know his men had found the two men in the black van. They’d been hiding in Gaynes’ empty office building at the edge of town. They admitted they’d been hired by an unnamed third party to come to Thornewood and cause trouble for a certain list of people. The kind of trouble specified included shootings, arson, kidnappings, and anything else the men could come up with. They’d been given our names, addresses, and even pictures taken from our Facebook pages.
Even though both men were now in jail, I felt terribly vulnerable, realizing how much information about us was available to the criminal world. Just thinking about it made me feel slightly nauseated.
The Chief sat down at the table with us and warned us not to feel over-confident about our safety. He felt sure Gaynes would just hire more men to come after us. I was sure he was right.
Mom had recently developed dark circles under her eyes. She handed the Chief a cup of coffee. “So we just wait for the other shoe to drop. Do you know who the third party is?”
“All we have is a phone number, but every law enforcement agency is working on it. Gaynes can’t stay hidden forever. For the time being, nothing will change here in town. The police will continue to be everywhere, plainclothes police will continue to be present inside school, and I’m sure we can count on your men, Brian, to keep an eye on everyone.”
