showed me?"
Knowing Celia wasn't going to let this one go, Link said, "It was an entry in my mother's journal. She made it shortly before the fire."
"I'm confused. How would she know about both Raythuse and the Harrington Complex? And what do those numbers mean?"
"There's more." Link exited the camera and touched the internet icon. Then he pressed the link to Facebook and searched for the message he'd received from Jim Jim.
Celia looked at him in shock. "That's the same number. Who is Jim Jim?"
"I'm not sure, and I still don't know the significance of the number," Link confessed. "But that can't be a coincidence." He exited the message, touched the screen a few times, and handed the phone to Celia. "Early this morning, I got another message from Jim Jim. Read it."
"Lincoln, you must attack Raythuse at the Harrington Complex!" Celia read out loud. "It is your only chance. The Revelare has confirmed the Ennustaja's vision. You must act now, before it is too late! Use the camera." She scrolled further down the page, but she had reached the end of the message, so she returned the phone to Link.
"Before you ask, I did a lot of Googling. Turns out, we aren't the only ones who know about the Broken and Skia. Rumor has it that a secret organization, going by the name Ordeum, has been battling these things since way back in history. There aren't many references to the Ennustaja, but from what I can tell, they are similar to a prophet. Only, instead of delivering the message they see, they speak through somebody known as a Revelare."
"How is it more people don't know about all this if you could just Google it?"
"There's a lot of information on the internet that nobody would give a second thought to. Besides, unless I was specifically looking for it, I could have spent my entire life surfing the web, and I never would have come across it."
"But even if this is true, are you telling me that we are going to attack Raythuse based on some crazy coincidences and a fortuneteller?"
"No. We are going to save our friend. Celia, if this whole thing really is crazy, there won't be any harm in going to visit him and doing what we can to make him better.. But if there is even the slightest chance that Raythuse is hiding in the same building as Panch, we need to do something. Panch could be in danger."
Celia grew very serious. "Rushing in to attack Raythuse seems awfully risky. Even if we assume our hunch is correct ? that once the camera was mended Panch returned to Neverworld ? wouldn't that also mean the Broken that had been trapped in the film would have returned to Neverworld as well? Even if by some miracle we trap Raythuse, wouldn't taking a picture of Panch release both the Skias as well?"
"I don't think so. I think it would only release the one that bit Panch. But at this point, I'm not sure of anything," Link confessed. "The real question is whether or not we have any other options. The way I see it, we can't risk not going."
"What if this is a trap? What if Raythuse is Jim Jim, and he is baiting you? Do Panch's parents even know we're coming? What if they won't let us in to see him?"
From the top of the stairs, Mr. Hartkins poked his head over the banister and called down, "Link, you all ready? I'd like to hit the road before 10:30. Celia! Glad you could make it. I didn't know you were already here. Go ahead and put any stuff you guys want to bring for the drive by the door. I'll put it in the car as soon as I get a chance."
"I'm all set, Dad. I packed Ayden's stuff as well."
"Great. I'll be down soon," Mr. Hartkins called. Then he disappeared back into his room.
"Ayden is coming? I can't believe your dad is okay with that."
"Actually, Dad thinks we are just going to visit Panch. I've filled him in about the Broken and all that has happened, but I left out the part about the message. He'd never agree to take us if he knew our plan, so make sure he doesn't find out. This needs to stay between us."
"What about Tom?"
Link nodded. "You can tell him, but that's it. Are you ready?"
46
Dead Moushe
Inside the constricted confines of the company car, Celia, Tom, Ayden, Mr. Hartkins, and Link simmered in the hot afternoon sun. The car's air conditioner had given out half an hour into the trip. Link and Celia had each tried to cool off by rolling down the windows, but this had offered little relief. The temperature outside the car was just as hot, if not hotter, as it was inside the car.
Link examined the map once again. The distances on the map hadn't changed since the last time, but he couldn't stop himself. If only they could somehow hit a time warp. He doubted such a thing was possible, but these days one never knew. Link squinted as the sign for Kimbersome Road came into view.
Perspiration beaded his forehead, and the skin under his legs began to stick to the vinyl seats, making a farting noise every time he moved. Link wondered if it could get any hotter. At least they were traveling northeast. It was bound to cool off eventually.
Suddenly, Link remembered the question he had meant to ask Celia earlier. He pivoted his body so that he could see her better. "Hey, Celia."
She looked up. Her haggard face revealed that she felt every bit as miserable as Link, but even the heat lacked sufficient power to erase her smile. "What's up? Besides the temperature I mean."
"Why does your mom hate Mrs. Greta so much?"
Celia cocked her head to the side and shifted her gaze. "Do you hear that?" she inquired.
"Why are you changing the topic?" Link asked.
"I'm not changing the topic. Well, I am...but listen." She held up her finger. "Do you hear a low humming noise? It sounds like buzzing."
Link listened. At first he thought Celia was being paranoid, or simply trying to avoid the question, but then he heard it, too. "Yeah. So? Probably just a car or something. So what's the deal between your mom and Mrs. Greta?"
Celia appeared unconvinced by Link's explanation of the noise. "I'm sure there's a lot more to the story than what I know." Celia kept her head tilted as if listening to both Link and the noise outside. "But from the snippets I overheard from Mother, it has to do with the death of Jeremy, Mrs. Greta's four-year-old son."
"Mrs. Greta had a son?" Link asked, a bit nonplussed by the new information. That would explain why she had all of those toy trains and why she seemed so partial to Ayden. But for some reason it was hard to picture her with any kids other than Kaylee.
"Mrs. Greta used to be the head of the NGP," Celia resumed, "long before my family lived here. In fact, she was the one who invited my mother to join. For a while they were good friends. All that ended after Jeremy died. Mrs. Greta claims that a bunch of rabbits attacked him in the backyard. She swears she saw the whole thing from her back window. By the time she reached him, Jeremy was already dead."
"Rabbits?" Link asked dubiously.
"Let's not forget we were attacked by a polar bear," Tom argued.
"Good point."
"Anyway," Celia resumed, "nobody actually believed her. Mrs. Greta started saying crazy things, insisting that our block was infested with demon spirits. In fact, I remember one time she actually called a neighborhood meeting about it. Meanwhile, the police were investigating her for the murder of her son.
"The story of her son's mysterious death was plastered all over the local papers for months. It was a horrible mess, and the NGP grew worried that the bad publicity would devastate home values in the neighborhood. So they voted Mrs. Greta out of the committee and elected my mother to replace her. The charges were dropped, but it didn't matter. By that time, everyone's mind had already been made up."
Mr. Hartkins, who appeared astonished by the information, said, "That's awful. And to think I allowed her to babysit Ayden. What kind of father am I? I allowed Ayden to be watched by an acquitted killer."
"Mr. Hartkins," Celia said, "she wasn't charged. Mrs. Greta didn't do anything wrong. She was no guiltier than you would have been if that polar bear had finished us off in your kitchen."
"Still," Mr. Hartkins said, "I really should do a background check from now on,
just to be safe."
"So, if we assume that the demons she was talking about were the Broken, is that how she knew about the camera?" Link asked.
"Who knows? To be honest, before this week I was one of the people who thought she was crazy. No offense, Watcher, but I thought the same thing about Mrs. Kidacki. I had no idea she was your grandmother. As it turns out, I was wrong on both counts."
"I'm cold." Ayden broke in, voicing his displeasure with the current temperatures.
"Don't you mean hot?" Celia corrected.
"I'm cold," Ayden said, even more adamantly than before.
"You can't possi-"
"Give up now, Celia," Link said from the front seat. "We've tried to convince him that he has hot and cold mixed up for months now. Once Ayden gets something in his head, it's almost impossible to change his mind."
The car pulled up to a red light and eased to a stop. When the light turned green, Mr. Hartkins pressed the accelerator. The car lurched, and everyone was thrown forward against their seatbelts as the car hit something that felt like a speed bump.
"It's kind of like the whole mouse thing," Link said.
"The what?" Celia asked.
"Moushe!" Ayden called from the back.
"For the last time, Ayden, it's not a mouse. It's a squirrel. Squirrels are the ones with the big bushy tails. A mouse has a thin, fleshy tail. Squirrels like nuts. Mice like cheese. They're totally different. Can't you-"
"Moush wook mad!" Ayden interrupted. This time he pointed out his window at something to the rear of
The Broken Page 32
