The Strange Power

by L. J. Smith

Chapter 3

 

  "It's not fair for us to take the good rooms before the others even get here," Anna said, gently but firmly.

  "But I need my MTV. I'll die. "

  "Well, I don't care about cable," Kaitlyn said. "But I'd like a room with northern light-I like to draw in the mornings. "

  "You haven't heard the worst part-all the rooms have different things," Lewis said. "The one next door is huge, and it's got a king-size bed and a balcony and a Jacuzzi bath. This one has the alcove over there and a private bathroom-but almost no closet. And the two rooms in back have okay closets, but they share a bathroom. "

  "Well, obviously the biggest room should go to whoever's rooming together-because two of us are going to have to room together," Kaitlyn said.

  "Great. I'll room with either of you," Lewis said promptly.

  "No, no, no-look, let me go check out the light in the smaller rooms," Kaitlyn said, jumping up.

  "Check out the Jacuzzi instead," Lewis called after her.

  In the hallway, Kait turned to laugh at him over her shoulder-and ran directly into someone cresting the top of the stairs.

  It wasn't a hard knock, but Kaitlyn automatically recoiled, and ran her leg into something hard. Pain flared just behind her knee, rendering her momentarily speechless. She clenched her teeth and glared down at the thing that had hurt her. A nightstand with one sharp-edged drawer pulled out. What was all this furniture doing in the hall, anyway?

  "I'm really sorry," a soft southern voice drawled. "Are you all right?"

  Kaitlyn looked at the tanned, blond boy who'd run into her. It would be a boy, of course. And a big one, not small and safe like Lewis. The kind of boy who disturbed the space around him, filling the whole hallway with his presence. A very masculine presence -if Anna was a cool wind, this boy was a golden solar flare.

  Since ignoring was out of the question, Kaitlyn turned her best glare on him. He returned the look mildly and she realized with a start that his eyes were amber-colored-golden. Just a few shades darker than his hair.

  "You are hurt," he said, apparently mistaking the glare for suffering. "Where?" Then he did something that dumbfounded Kaitlyn. He dropped to his knees.

  He's going to apologize, she thought wildly. Oh, God, everyone in California is nuts.

  But the boy didn't apologize-he didn't even look up at her. He was reaching for her leg.

  "This one here, right?" he said in that southern-gentleman voice.

  Kaitlyn's mouth opened, but all she could do was stare at him. She was backed against the wall-there was nowhere to escape.

  "Back here-this spot?" And then, deftly and unceremoniously, he turned up the skirt of her red dress.

  Kaitlyn's mind went into shock. She simply had no experience that had prepared her to deal with this situation-a perfect stranger reaching under her dress in a public place. And it was the way he did it; not like a grabby boy at all, but like . . . like . . . a doctor examining a patient.

  "It's not a cut. Just a knot," the boy said. He wasn't looking at her or the leg, but down the hallway. His fingers were running lightly over the painful area, as if assessing it. They felt dry but warm-unnaturally warm.

  "You'll have a bad bruise if you leave it, though. Why don't you hold still and let me see if I can help?"

  This, at last, catapulted Kait out of silence.

  "Hold still? Hold still for what. . . ?"

  He waved a hand. "Be quiet, now-please. "

  Kaitlyn was stupefied.

  "Yes," the boy said, as if to himself. "I think I can help this some. I'll try. "

  Kaitlyn held still because she was paralyzed. She could feel his fingers on the back of her knee-a terribly intimate place, extremely tender and vulnerable. Kait couldn't remember anyone touching her there, not even her doctor.

  Then the touch changed. It became a burning, tingling feeling. Like slow fire. It was almost like pain, but-Kait gasped. "What are you doing to me? Stop that-what are you doing?"

  He spoke in a soft, measured voice, without glancing up. "Channeling energy. Trying. "

  "I said stop-oh. "

  "Work with me, now, please. Don't fight me. "

  Kaitlyn just stared down at the top of his head. His gold-blond hair was unruly, springing in curls and waves.

  A strange sensation swept through Kait, flowing up from her knee and through her body, branching out to every blood vessel and capillary. A feeling of refreshment-of renewal. It was like getting a drink of clean, cold water when you were desperately thirsty, or being drenched with delicious icy mist when you were hot. Kaitlyn suddenly felt that until this moment, she had only been half-awake.

  The boy was making odd motions now, as if he were brushing lint off the back of her knee. Touch, shake off. Touch, shake off. As if gathering something and then shaking drops of water off his fingers.

  Kaitlyn suddenly realized that her pain was completely gone.

  "That's it," the boy said cheerfully. "Now if I can just close this off. . . " He cupped a warm hand around the back of her knee. "There. It shouldn't bruise now. "

  The boy stood up briskly and brushed off his hands. He was breathing as if he'd just run a race.

  Kaitlyn stared at him. She herself felt ready to run a race. She had never felt so refreshed-so alive. At the same time, as she got another glimpse of his face, she thought maybe she ought to sit down.

  When he looked back at her, she expected . . . well, she didn't know what. But what she didn't expect was a quick, almost absentminded smile from a boy who was already turning around to leave.

  "Sorry about that. Guess I'd better go down and help Joyce with the luggage-before I knock anyone else over. " He started down the stairs.

  "Wait a minute-who are you? And-"

  "Rob. " He smiled over his shoulder. "Rob Kessler. " He reached the landing, turned, and was gone.

  "-and how did you do that?" Kait demanded of empty air.

  Rob. Rob Kessler, she thought.

  "Hey, Kaitlyn!" It was Lewis's voice from the bedroom. "Are you out there? Hey, Kaitlyn, come quick!"

  Kaitlyn hesitated, still looking down the stairs. Then she gathered her self-possession and slowly walked back into the room. Lewis and Anna were in the alcove, looking out the window.

  "He's here," Lewis said excitedly, and brought his camera up. "That's got to be him!"

  "Who's here?" Kaitlyn asked, hoping no one would look at her too closely. She felt flushed.

  "Mr. Zetes," said Lewis. "Joyce said he had a limo. "

  A black limousine was parked outside the house, one of its rear doors open. A white-haired man stood beside the door, dressed in a greatcoat which Kaitlyn thought must be terribly hot on this Californian afternoon. He had a gold-topped cane-a real gold-topped cane, Kaitlyn thought in fascination.

  "Looks like he's brought some friends," Anna said, smiling. Two large black dogs were jumping out of the limo. They started for the bushes but came back at a word from the man and stood on either side of him.

  "Cute," Kaitlyn said. "But what's that?" A white van was turning in the driveway. Lettering on its side read department of youth authority.

  Lewis brought his camera down, looking awed. "Jeez. That's the California Youth Authority. "

  "Which is . . . ?"

  "It's the last stop. It's where they put the baaaaad boys. The hard-core kids who can't make it at any of the regular juvie places. "

  Anna's quiet voice said, "You mean it's jail?"

  "My dad says it's the place for kids who're on their way to state prison. You know, the murderers and stuff. "

  "Murderers?" Kait exclaimed. "Well, what's it doing here, then? You don't think . . . " She looked at Anna, who looked back, serenity a bit clouded. Clearly, Anna did think.

  They both looked at Lewis, whose almond-shaped eyes were wide.

  "I think we'd better get down there," Kaitlyn said. />
  They hurried downstairs, bursting out onto the wooden porch and trying to look inconspicuous. No one was looking at them, anyway. Mr. Zetes was talking to a khaki-uniformed officer standing by the van.

  Kaitlyn could only catch a few words of what was said-"Judge Baldwin's authority" and "CYA ward"

  and "rehabilitation. "

  ". . . your responsibility," the officer finished, and stepped away from the van's door.

  A boy came out. Kaitlyn could feel her eyebrows go up.

  He was startlingly handsome-but there was a cold wariness in his face and movements. His hair and eyes were dark, but his skin was rather pale. One of the few people in California without a tan, Kaitlyn thought.

  "Chiaroscuro," she murmured.

  "What?" Lewis whispered.

  "It's an art word. It means 'light and shade'-like in a drawing where you only use black and white. " As Kaitlyn finished, she suddenly felt herself shiver. There was something strange about this boy, as if-as if-As if he weren't quite canny, her mind supplied. At least, that's the phrase people back home used to use about you, isn't it?

  The van was driving off. Mr. Zetes and the dark-haired boy were walking up to the door.

  "Looks like we've got a new housemate," Lewis said under his breath. "Oh, boy. "

  Mr. Zetes gave a courtly nod to the group on the porch. "I see you're here. I believe everyone has arrived now-if you'll come inside, we can commence with the introductions. " He went in, and the two dogs followed him. They were rottweilers, Kaitlyn noted, and rather fierce-looking.

  Anna and Lewis stepped back silently as the new boy approached, but Kaitlyn held her ground. She knew what it was like to have people step back when you walked near them. The boy passed very close to her, and turned to give her a direct look as he did. Kaitlyn saw that his eyes weren't black, but a very dark gray. She had the distinct feeling that he wanted to unsettle her, to make her look down.

  I wonder what he did to get in prison, she thought, feeling chilled again. She followed the others into the house.

  "Mr. Zetes!" Joyce said happily from the living room. She caught the old man's arm, smiling and gesturing with enthusiasm as she spoke to him.

  Kait's attention was caught by a blond head near the stairs. Rob Kessler had a duffel bag-her duffel bag-slung over his shoulder. He saw the group that had just come in, and started toward them . . . and then he stopped.

  His entire body had stiffened. Kaitlyn followed his gaze down the foyer-to the new boy.

  Who was equally stiff. His dark gray eyes were fixed on Rob with complete attention and icy hatred. His body was held as if ready for an attack as Rob came closer.

  One of the two rottweilers by Mr. Zetes began to growl.

  "Good dog, Carl," Lewis said nervously.

  "You," the new boy said to Rob.

  "You," Rob said to the new boy.

  "You two know each other?" Kaitlyn said to both of them.

  Rob spoke without looking away from the other boy's pale, wary face. "From a ways back," he said. He let the duffel bag down with a thump.

  "Not a long enough ways," the other boy said. In contrast to Rob's soft southern tones, his voice was harsh and clipped.

  Both dogs were growling now.

  Well, there goes any chance of harmony between housemates, Kaitlyn thought. She noticed that Mr.

  Zetes and Joyce had broken off talking and were looking at the students.

  "We all seem to be together," Mr. Zetes said rather dryly, and Joyce said, "Come over here, everybody!

  This is the moment I've been waiting for. "

  Rob and the new boy slowly turned away from each other. Joyce gave the group a brilliant smile as they gathered around. Her aquamarine eyes were sparkling.

  "Kids, it's an honor and a privilege to introduce you to the man who brought you all here-the man who's responsible for this project. This is Mr. Zetes. "

  Kaitlyn felt for a moment as if she ought to applaud. Instead, she murmured "Hello" with the others. Mr.

  Zetes bent his head in recognition, and Joyce went on.

  "Mr. Zetes, these are the troops. Anna Whiteraven, from Washington. " The old man shook hands with her, and with each of them as Joyce introduced them. "Lewis Chao from California. Kaitlyn Fairchild from Ohio. Rob Kessler from North Carolina. And Gabriel Wolfe from . . . here and there. "

  "Yeah, depending on where the charges are pending," Rob drawled, not quite aloud. Mr. Zetes gave him a piercing look.

  "Gabriel has been released into my custody," he said. "His parole allows him to go to school; for the rest of the time, he's confined to this house. He knows what will happen if he tries to violate those conditions

  -don't you, Gabriel?"

  Gabriel's dark gray eyes moved from Rob to Mr. Zetes. He said one word, expressionlessly. "Yes. "

  "Good. " Mr. Zetes looked at the rest of the group. "While you're here, I expect you all to try to get along. I don't think any of you can realize, at your age, just how great a gift has been given to you. "Your one job here is to see that you use that gift wisely, and make the most of it. "

  Now for the pep talk, Kait thought, studying Mr. Zetes. He had an impressive shock of white hair on his handsome old head and a broad and benevolent brow. Kaitlyn thought suddenly, I know what he looks like. He looks like Little Lord Fauntleroy's grandfather, the earl.

  But the earl wasn't giving any ordinary pep talk. "One thing you need to realize from the start is that you're different from the rest of humanity. You've been . . . chosen. Branded. You'll never be like other people, so there's no reason even to try. You follow different laws. "

  Kaitlyn felt her eyebrows pull together. Joyce had said similar things, but somehow Mr. Zetes's words had another tone. She wasn't sure she liked it.

  "You have something inside you that won't be repressed. A hidden power that burns like a flame," he went on. "You're superior to the rest of humanity- don't ever forget that. "

  Is he trying to flatter us? Kait wondered. Because if he is, it isn't working. It all sounds . . . hollow, somehow.

  "You are the pioneers in an exploration that has infinite possibilities. The work you do here may change the way the entire world looks at psychic powers-it may change the way the human race looks at itself.

  You young people are actually in a position to benefit all humankind. "

  Suddenly Kait felt the need to draw.

  Not the ordinary need, like the desire she'd had to draw Lewis and Anna. This was the need that came with an itch in her hand-and the internal shiver that meant a premonition.

  But she couldn't just walk away while Mr. Zetes was talking. She glanced around the room in distraction-and met Gabriel's eyes.

  Right now those eyes looked dark and wicked, as if something in Mr. Zetes's speech amused him.

  Amused him in a cynical way.

  With a shock, Kaitlyn realized that he looked as if he also found Mr. Zetes's words hollow. And the way he was gazing at her seemed to show that he knew she did, too.

  Kaitlyn felt herself flushing. She looked quickly back at Mr. Zetes, freezing her face into an interested, deferential expression. After all, he was the one paying her scholarship. He might be a little eccentric, but he obviously had a good heart.

  By the time the speech was over, her need to draw was gone.

  After Mr. Zetes was finished, Joyce said a few words about how she wanted them to do their best in the next year. "I'll be living at the Institute with you," she added. "My room is back there"-she pointed to a set of French doors beyond the living room that looked as if they led outside-"and you can feel free to come to me at any time, day or night. Oh, and here's someone else you'll be working with. "

  Kaitlyn turned and saw a girl coming through the dining room. She looked college age, and had tumbled mahogany hair and full lips which looked a bit sullen.

  "This is Marisol Diaz, an undergrad fr
om Stanford," Joyce said. "She won't live here, but she'll come daily and help with your testing. She'll also help me cook. You'll find a schedule for meals on the dining room wall, and we'll go over the other house rules tomorrow. Any questions?"

  Heads were shaken.

  "Good. Now, why don't you go upstairs and fix up your rooms? It's been a long day, and I know some of you must be tired from jet lag. Marisol and I will throw together something for dinner. "

  Kaitlyn was tired. Although her watch said 5:45, it was three hours later by Ohio time. Mr. Zetes said good-bye to each of them, and shook their hands. Then Kait and the others headed upstairs.

  "What did you think of him?" she whispered to Lewis and Anna as they reached the second floor.

  "Impressive-but a little scary. I kept expecting him to introduce 'Masterpiece Theater,'" Lewis whispered back.

  "Those dogs were interesting," Anna said. "Usually I can sort of read animals, tell if they're happy or sad or whatever. But those two were very guarded. I wouldn't want to try to influence them. "

  Something made Kait glance behind her-and she found that Gabriel was looking at her. She felt disconcerted, so she immediately went on the attack.

  "And what did you think?" she asked him.

  "I think he wants to use us for his own reasons. "

  "Use us how?" Kaitlyn said sharply.

  Gabriel shrugged, looking bored. "How should I know? Maybe to improve his corporation's image-

  'Silicon Valley Company Benefits Humankind. ' Like Chevron financing wildlife programs. Of course, he was right about one thing-we are superior to the rest of the human race. "

  "And some of us are more superior than others, right?" Rob asked, from the stairs. "Some of us don't have to follow the rules-or the laws. "

  "Exactly," Gabriel said, with a rather chilling smile. He was walking around the hallway, glancing into each bedroom. "Well, Joyce told us to pick our rooms. I think I'll take . . . this one. "

  "Hey!" Lewis squawked. "That's the biggest room -the one with the cable hookup and the Jacuzzi and . .

  . and everything. "

  Gabriel said blandly, "Thanks for telling me. "

  "It's much bigger than any of the others," Anna said with quiet heat. "We decided it should go to whoever rooms together. "

  "You can't just grab it for yourself," Lewis finished. "We ought to vote. "

  Gabriel's gray eyes narrowed and his lip lifted in something like a snarl. With one step he was close to Lewis. "You know what a lockup cell looks like?" he said, his voice cold and brutal. "It has a two-foot-wide bed and a metal toilet. One metal stool attached to the wall and one built-in desk. That's all. I've been in a cell like that on and off for two years. So now I figure I'm entitled. Are you going to do something about it?"

  Lewis scratched his nose, looking as if he were considering it. Anna pulled him back a step.

  "MTV isn't worth it," she told him.

  Gabriel looked at Rob. "You, country boy?"

  "I won't fight you, if that's what you mean," Rob drawled. He looked half-disgusted, half-pitying. "Go ahead, take the room-you sad bastard. "

  Lewis made a faint sound of protest. Gabriel stepped inside his newly acquired room and began to shut the door.

  "By the way," he said, turning, "everyone else had better keep out of here. After you spend so much time in lockup, you get to like your space. You get kind of territorial. I wouldn't want anybody to get hurt. "

  As the door closed, Kait said, "Gabriel-like the angel?" She could hear the heavy sarcasm in her own voice.

  The door opened again, and Gabriel gave her a long, measuring look. Then he flashed a brilliant, unsettling smile. "You can come in any time you like," he said.

  This time after the door slammed, it stayed shut.

  "Well," Kaitlyn said.

  "Jeez," Lewis said.

  Anna was shaking her head. "Gabriel Wolfe-he's not like a wolf, really, because they're very social.

  Except for a lone wolf, an exile. One that's been driven out of the pack. If wolves get driven out far enough they go a little crazy-start attacking anything that comes near them. "

  "I wonder what his talent is," Kaitlyn mused. She looked at Rob.

  He shook his head. "I don't really know. I met him back in North Carolina-at a place in Durham, another psychic research center. "

  "Another one?" Lewis said, looking surprised.

  "Yeah. My parents took me to see if they could

  make any sense of the weird stuff I was doing. I guess his parents did the same thing. He wasn't interested in working with the staff, though. He just wanted his own way, and the hell with other people.

  A girl ended up. . . getting hurt. "

  Kait looked at him. She wanted to ask, "Hurt how?" but from the closed-off expression on his face, she didn't think she'd get an answer.

  "Anyway, that was over three years ago," Rob said. "He ran away from the center right after it happened, and I heard he just went from state to state, getting in a heap of trouble everywhere. Making a heap of trouble everywhere. "

  "Oh, terrific," Lewis said. "And we've got to live with this guy for a year?"

  Anna was looking at Rob closely. "What about you? Did that center help you?"

  "Sure did. They helped me figure out just what it was I was doing. "

  "And just what is it you do?" Kaitlyn put in, staring significantly from him to her leg.

  "Healing, I guess," the blond boy said simply. "Some places call it therapeutic touch, some places call it channeling energy. I try to use it to help. "

  Looking into his steady golden eyes, Kaitlyn felt oddly ashamed. "I'm sure you do," she said, which was as close as she could come to saying "thank you. " Somehow she didn't want the others to know what had happened between her and Rob earlier. She felt strangely confused by him-and by her reaction to him.

  "I'm sure we all do," Rob said, again simply. His smile was slow but infectious-irresistible, in fact.

  "Well, we try," Anna said. Kait glanced at Lewis, who just widened his eyes without saying anything. She had the feeling that, like her, he hadn't worked too hard at helping people with his powers.

  "Look," Lewis said, clearing his throat. "I don't want to change the subject, but. . . can I pick my room next? Because I'd like . . . ummmm, that one. "

  Rob glanced into the room Lewis had indicated, then stepped down the hall and looked into two other doors. He turned and gave Lewis an oh-come-on look.

  Lewis wilted. "But this is the only one left with cable. And I need my MTV. And my computer and my stereo and-"

  "There's only one fair thing to do," Rob said. "We should make that room a communal place. That way, everybody can watch TV-there isn't one downstairs. "

  "But then what do we do?" Lewis demanded.

  "We double up in the small rooms," Rob said briefly.

  Kaitlyn and Anna glanced at each other and smiled. Kaitlyn didn't mind rooming with Anna-she was actually glad. It would be almost like having a sister.

  Lewis groaned. "But what about my stereo and stuff? They won't even fit in one of those small rooms, especially if there's two beds in there. "

  "Good," Rob said relentlessly. "Put 'em in the common room. We can all listen to them. Come on, we'd better start moving furniture. "

  The first thing Gabriel did was scan the room, prowling around it with silent, wary steps.

  He looked in every corner, including the bathroom and closet. It was big, and luxurious, and the balcony offered a quick escape route-if it turned out that escape was necessary.

  He liked it.

  He flopped on the king-size bed and considered whether he liked anything else about this place.

  There was the girl, of course. The one with the witch eyes and the hair like flame. She might be an interesting diversion.

  But something inside him twisted uncomfortably. He found himself on his feet and pac
ing again.

  He'd have to make sure it was just a diversion. That kind of girl might be too interesting, might tempt you to get involved. . . .

  And that could never happen again.

  Never. Because . . .

  Gabriel wrenched his thoughts away. Aside from the girl, there wasn't much to like here-and several things to hate. Kessler. The restrictions on his freedom-being under house arrest. Kessler. The stupidity of the whole study these people had planned. Kessler.

  He could do something about Kessler if he wanted. Take care of him permanently. But then he'd have to run, and if he got caught, he'd end up in lockup until he was twenty-five. It wasn't worth it-not yet.

  He'd see how annoying Kessler turned out to be. This place was tolerable, and if he could last out the year, he'd be rich. With that much money, he could buy freedom-could buy anything he wanted. He'd wait and see.

  And as for them testing his powers-he'd see about that, too. Whatever happened, it was their problem.

  Their fault.

  He settled down on the bed. It was early, but he was tired. In a few minutes he was asleep.

  Kait and the others didn't get much moved before Joyce called them down for dinner. Kait rather liked the feeling of eating at the big dining room table with five other people-five, because Gabriel hadn't come out of his room, ignoring all knocks at his door. It was like being part of a large family, and everyone seemed to have a good time-except maybe Marisol, who didn't talk much.

  After dinner they went back to furniture arranging. There was plenty of furniture to pick from; the jumble in the hall and rooms seemed to include every style ever invented. Kait and Anna's room ended up with two mismatched single beds, a cheap pressed-wood bookcase, a beautiful French Provincial chair, a Victorian rolltop desk, and the nightstand that had attacked Kait in the hall. Kaitlyn liked all of it.

  The bathroom in between the two small rooms was designated the girls' bathroom-by Rob's decree.

  "Girls need to be nearer to their stuff," he said obscurely to Lewis, who by then only shrugged. The boys would use the bathroom off the common room.

  Going to bed, Kaitlyn was happy. Indirect moonlight came in the window behind her bed-north light, she noted with pleasure. It shone on the beautiful cedar-and-cherry-bark basket Anna had placed in their bookcase, and on the Raven mask Anna had

  hung on the wall. Anna herself was breathing peacefully in the other bed.

  Kaitlyn's old life in Ohio seemed worlds away- and she was glad.

  Tomorrow's Sunday, she thought. Joyce promised to show us the lab, and after that, maybe I'll do some drawing. And then maybe we can look around town. And on Monday we'll go to school and I'll have a built-in set of friends.

  What a wonderful idea. She knew that Anna and Lewis, at least, would want to eat lunch together. She hoped Rob would, too. As for Gabriel-well, the farther off he was, the better. She didn't feel sorry for him at all. . . .

  Her thoughts drifted off. The vague discomfort she'd felt about Mr. Zetes had entirely disappeared. She slipped easily into sleep.

  And then, suddenly, she was wide-awake. A figure was standing over her bed.

  Kaitlyn couldn't breathe. Her heart seemed to fill her mouth and throat, pounding. The moonlight was gone and she couldn't make out any details of the figure-it was just a black silhouette.

  For a wild instant-without knowing why-she thought, Rob? Gabriel?

  Then a dim light came through the window again. She saw the halo of mahogany hair and the full lips of Marisol.

  "What's wrong?" she whispered, sitting up. "What are you doing here?"

  Marisol's eyes were like black pits. "Watch out-or get out," she hissed.

  "What?"

  "Watch out. . . or get out. You kids think you're so smart-so psychic-don't you? So superior to everyone else. "

  Kaitlyn couldn't speak.

  "But you don't know anything. This place is different than you think. I've seen things . . . " She shook her head and laughed roughly. "Never mind. You'd just better watch out-" She broke off suddenly and looked behind her. Kaitlyn could see only the black rectangle of the doorway-but she thought she heard a faint rattling sound down the hall.

  "Marisol, what-"

  "Shut up. I've got to go. "

  "But-"

  Marisol was already leaving. An instant later, the door to Kaitlyn's room silently closed.

  By the next morning, Kait had forgotten about the strange visit.

  She woke up to a distant clanging, feeling as if it were very late. A glance at her bedside clock showed that it was seven-thirty, which, of course, meant it was ten-thirty in Ohio.

  The clanging was still going on. Anna sat up in bed.

  "Good morning," she said, smiling.

  "Good morning," Kaitlyn said, feeling how wonderful it was to have a roommate to wake up with.

  "What's that noise?"

  Anna cocked her head. "I have no idea. "

  "I'm going to find out. " Kaitlyn got up and opened the bathroom door. She could hear the clanging more clearly now, and along with it, a weird shouting voice-and a sound like mooing.

  Impulsively she knocked on the door that led from the bathroom into Rob and Lewis's room. When she heard Rob's voice calling, "Yeah, come in," she opened the door and peered around it.

  Rob was sitting up in bed, his rebellious blond hair tousled into a lion's mane. His chest was bare, Kaitlyn noticed with an unreasonable feeling of shock. In the other bed there was a lump of blankets which presumably contained Lewis.

  Kaitlyn suddenly realized she was wearing a T-shirt nightgown that only came down to her knees. It had seemed quite natural to walk around in it-until she was confronted by the indisputable reality of boys.

  She looked desperately around for the source of the clanging and mooing as a distraction. Then she saw it.

  It was a cow. A cow made of white porcelain, with a clock in its stomach. The measured, hoarse voice coming from it was shouting in a marked Japanese accent, "Wake . . . up! Don't sleep your life away!

  Wake . . . up!"

  Kaitlyn looked at the talking alarm clock, and then she looked at Rob. Rob smiled his slow, infectious smile-and suddenly everything was all right.

  "It has to be Lewis's," Kait gasped, and began to giggle.

  "It's great, isn't it?" said a muffled voice from under the blankets. "I got it at Sharper Image. "

  "So this is what I can expect from my housemates," Kait said. "Mooing in the morning. " She and Rob were both laughing together now, and she decided it was time to shut the door.