by Lia London
“Your father thinks they’ve already started construction of the Academy,” said Mom.
Amity’s eyes narrowed. “Like they know they won the bid already.”
“Uh huh,” said Sheldon. “Even though no one is even asking for a private Institute for Mages…yet.”
“They must be pretty sure we’re going to screw up,” I said, rubbing my fingers through my hair.
“And with pranks being done by teachers…” Mom shook her head. “It doesn’t look good.”
“So what’s the sting?” asked Amity.
“Well,” said Sheldon, “for now, let’s wait. But I’m going to keep an eye on that property and an ear on the Board of Education’s deliberations. If either starts getting bigger, I want to go in and prove that Bagler’s sabotaging the schools for her own personal gain. Can I count on you two to keep things going over there at Magian until I call?”
“We’ll do what we can, sir,” I said. “Do you think it’ll be long before something happens?”
“Oh, I expect things to happen every day for you, but hang tight until I call about the sting. If we move too soon, Bagler will just withdraw the bid and we’ll lose our chance.” He shifted moods suddenly. “Now where’s that daughter of yours, Elaine? I brought her something—a little gift to make up for the scary night of the party.”
Mom blushed. “That’s very nice of you, Jed. She should be home any minute now.”
Elaine? Jed? Mom blushing?
“It’s the least I can do to offset the blundering of a fellow officer.”
Amity kicked me under the table and then cleared her throat. “Is it okay if Kincaid and I get to work on our homework? History of Mage stuff is…um…anyway, I need his help.”
Detective Sheldon and Mom both murmured assent while looking at each other. Meanwhile Amity dragged me upstairs and shut the door to my room. “That is so cute!” she half whispered, half squeaked. She stopped suddenly and looked at my face. “Are you okay, Kincaid? Oh. Is this the first time your mom has ever…you know…been alone with a guy other than your father?”
“I think so.”
“Well, didn’t you tell me he was nice and honest?”
“Yeah.”
“So, are you happy for her having a guy friend?”
I thought about the fact that he was secretly a Mage. If he liked her—and showed it—it could strengthen her magic again more than me and Kelsey. That was worth something.
“Are you?” asked Amity again.
“I think so.”
Chapter Seventeen: The Bleachers
In chemistry, I nudged Amity. “Max has a crush on a Wiser girl. He told me all about her during P.E.”
“What’s her name?”
“I think he said Lindsey.”
“No!” shouted Amity, suddenly tensing.
Everyone turned and stared at us as the bell rang. YakYak closed the door and glanced back at us, too. “Is there a problem back there?”
Amity fumbled. “I…um… Sorry, I thought he’d forgotten our project sheet, but it’s okay. He has it.” She cast me a we-need-to-talk look and added under her breath, “You do, don’t you?”
“Of course.” I held it up for all to see.
YakYak nodded. “Well, I’m glad we cleared that crisis up. The next one will be what to do with the two of you now that your lab station is officially closed. None of the equipment seems to work. Mr. Riley, please come up here with Mr. Clifford and Mr. Stanton. Miss Griffin, you’ll be over there with Miss Radcliffe and Miss Braden.”
“You’re splitting us up?” asked Amity.
“Yes, Miss Griffin. The time has come to share you with some other students. Mr. Riley can’t rest his whole chemistry grade on your coat tails.”
Amity and I stared at each other wide-eyed before numbly walking to our new partners. We each had to pull our stools with us and crowd the side of the work stations. I was mad at being separated from Amity—especially when I’d apparently given her bad news and I didn’t know why, but class went on and I had to get to work. I found out Misters Clifford and Stanton were actually Corporals named Jason and Noah. It turned out they were pretty good, moving swiftly through the experiments, but they relied on me to analyze and diagram stuff. Amity had taught me well because it came easily. Anyway, they seemed like nice guys, and I figured I might recruit them if I could verify that they liked Magian well enough.
After class, Amity rushed over to me. “I can’t talk now or I’ll be late for class, but the Max-Lindsey thing is not good. Not good at all.”
“Here,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her.
“Kincaid, I have to get all the way to room 219.”
I picked her up and Flash Jumped three times before stumbling a little into a locker bank. Amity glared at me. “I hate that! Why did you…?” She caught sight of where we were standing. “You’re brilliant! Thanks.”
I’d deposited her less than ten feet from her destination, and the crowds of students hadn’t started arriving yet. “Lindsey was one of the Protesters that day, remember?” she said quietly. “She’s really smart. Like…almost as smart as me, and she hates it here. She wants to go back to Wiser in the worst way because—”
Some girl called Amity’s name, distracting us for a moment. When she’d waved and greeted the girl, Amity turned back to me. “Get to class. We should have lunch on the top tier of the bleachers with Elizabeth and Hadley.” She hesitated. “And maybe just them for now. Go! Don’t be late!”
I Flash Jumped back through the crowd and made it to class a minute before the bell.
***
“Tell me again why we’re out here when it’s so cold and windy, and the world’s worst pep band is practicing on the stands?” grouched Hadley.
We were in the upper corner while the band hogged up most of the middle section. Their unpolished noise scared the other students away, but at least that meant no one could hear us talking. Amity explained to the others how we’d have to be careful what we told Rikki in case she told Max who might tell Lindsey who might undo it all. My reminding her that we weren’t actually doing anything to be all secretive about didn’t go over well.
“We’re just trying to make friends across old district lines, aren’t we?”
“It isn’t that simple,” said Amity. “We’re trying to build allies.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?” I asked.
Amity groaned. “Don’t you pay attention in history?”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” asked Hadley.
“Countries make alliances with other countries even if they don’t like them because it’s mutually beneficial to do so. And sometimes countries like each other fine, but they don’t enter into treaties because they can’t count on the other guys to be strong enough to help in a war or something.”
“Or one of them is neutral,” said Elizabeth, catching on.
“This whole thing is giving me a headache,” grumbled Hadley.
“No, it’s the band that’s doing that,” I said, trying to cheer him up with the joke. The band obliged by blasting out a really ugly chord and then failing to find a unified rhythm. It seemed like they were all doing their own thing and even the bleachers were groaning in complaint.
“What’s that sound?” asked Elizabeth, suddenly looking alarmed.
“Duh,” I said, pointing.
A really big gust of wind rattled the benches and Elizabeth yelped. Amity rolled her eyes. “I swear everything at this school is falling apart.”
And then it did. Slowly at first, and then we felt the lurch. The whole scaffolding of the bleachers seemed to buckle underneath us and we started to slide the whole length of the top tier. Screams and screeching metal and crashing instruments filled the air with confusion, and it took me until the second before we hit the ground to grab Amity up into my arms and fly up enough to avoid being crushed. Elizabeth and Hadley likewise hovered in the air beside us, and we stared in horror down at the wreckage. T
he band members had fallen into a heap at the edge of the crumpled bleachers, and a crowd of students and teachers poured out of the building, all crying or shouting.
Someone pointed up at us, and sirens blared. I realized how high up I was—way higher than I’d ever flown before—and then I fell. Hadley whipped down and pulled Amity to safety before I crashed. I lay in the grass hearing all the crazy sounds of the accident and feeling a sharp pain in my leg, wondering what had happened.
Mr. Whittle stood over me, concern on his face. “Kincaid, what have you done?”
“I think I broke my knee!” I winced and tried to move my left leg, but a searing pain gripped me, and I couldn’t do anything more than hold my breath and will myself not to scream. A minute or so passed, and I saw Curry above me, his stony face covered with sweat. He reached down and picked me up as if I were Rikki and flew me off onto the football field. Amity, Elizabeth, Hadley and Rikki were waiting there with Miss Flinckey.
The second Curry touched down, Miss Flinckey reached for me. “Where do you hurt?” she asked.
“Left knee,” I groaned.
“Hold still and breathe,” she said, wrapping her bony hands around my leg. She closed her eyes in concentration and the worst edge of the pain subsided, but it still throbbed, and I found it hard to speak.
Amity gave me a worried look and then dropped to her knees beside Flinckey. She put her arm around the old woman’s shoulders, patting her back affectionately. “You can do it, Miss Flinckey. You’re the best healer in the school.”
Miss Flinckey’s eyes popped open. “Thank you, Amity,” she said, smiling through her concern. She looked at me. “Hang in there, Kincaid. You really did a number on this. Bones, ligaments…I don’t know what all…”
I closed my eyes and let my head drop back. As the Healing continued, I focused on the sounds around me. The screaming had died down, and the sirens from the emergency vehicles had been turned off except for one that sort of pulsed weakly every three seconds like a child not willing to give up a temper tantrum. I could also hear the others talking.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Elizabeth. “Everyone knows he doesn’t have Earth magic.”
“It either took a bunch of kids or a couple of really strong adults to take down a structure that big,” said Curry. “The support posts were dug way deep in the ground.”
“But some people are saying there was Wind, too,” said Hadley.
“It’s fall. Duh,” said Amity.
“It makes no sense to pin this on Kincaid,” said Elizabeth angrily.
Pin it on me? I was about to open my eyes and sit up when I heard Flinckey say, “Unless someone had something to gain by it.”
I decided to play dumb and flickered my eyes open like they do in the movies. “Is anyone else hurt?”
To my surprise, Curry stood close by with Rikki perched on his shoulders, peering across the field at the fallen bleachers. “I think I’ve seen two people loaded on stretchers,” said Rikki.
“Yikes,” said Elizabeth. “That means they were in worse shape than the teachers could fix.”
“This is bad,” said Amity. “Very bad.”
“Yes, it is,” said Miss Flinckey grimly. She let go of my knee. “All better yet, Kincaid?”
I tried bending and straightening the leg. It felt really stiff and swollen at the joint, but the pain was gone. “It’s good enough, Miss Flinckey. Thank you so much!”
She smiled for only a second and then sighed heavily. “Brace yourself, Kincaid. This is only going to get worse for you.”
I leaned on her for support and stood up. “I’m sure my mom can help, too. I’ll be okay.”
“Not your leg,” she said. “Your reputation—and that of all Mages.” She shook her head and muttered. “This is the kind of thing she hoped for…”
I glanced around. The others were distracted by the action, so I tilted my head closer to Miss Flinckey. “Mrs. Bagler?”
“You know?”
“I keep learning more.”
“Remember what I said, Kincaid. Don’t let them drain your magic by provoking you. You do what you do best, and tell the truth. It’s the only hope we have.”
“Is NMI going to win the bid?”
She looked surprised and then embarrassed. “I don’t know, but your old friend, Mr. Petercriss is certainly working hard behind the scenes to get the sale.”
“What do you get out of being on that Board, Miss Flinckey?” I asked.
Her eyes brimmed with tears. “The knowledge that I have, once again, put my trust in the wrong people.”
Before I thought about it, I hugged her. Startled, she accepted my embrace. Amity and Elizabeth appeared and joined in, and Miss Flinckey laughed. “My goodness, I can’t breathe!”
“Sorry, Miss Flinckey,” said Amity, releasing her. “We’re just grateful for you fixing Kincaid and for being so nice.”
“Trouble coming!” called Rikki, dropping on light feet to the ground. “Mr. Blakely’s headed this way with a cop.”
I exhaled slowly. “Let’s meet them like we’re not afraid, then,” I said.
Curry’s face cracked for a moment. “You are innocent, aren’t you?”
I had a feeling he meant naïve, but didn’t argue with the guy who’d helped me get out of a dangerous spot again.
“Kincaid!” shouted Mr. Blakely. “Kincaid, you have a right to counsel. You don’t have to—”
“That’s my job, bub,” said the cop, frowning at Mr. Blakely. It was the same guy that had taken me to see Detective Sheldon that one day. This time, he did read me my rights.
Chapter Eighteen: Accused Again
Mom was at the police station waiting for me, and within a few minutes, she and I were sitting across from Detective Sheldon in his office. He shut and locked the door. Mom kept fussing over my knee, but Sheldon looked mad. He sat on the edge of his desk with his fist covering his mouth like he had the first time we met. It took a full minute before he spoke, but then it was calmly and quietly.
“This is disturbing on so many levels, but I want you to rest assured that Kincaid will be cleared. Preliminary investigation of the site shows that Wind and Earth magic were both used, and we know that Kincaid has neither.”
Mom glanced at me nervously.
“You told him?” I asked.
“You’re going to have to come clean on that, Kincaid,” said Sheldon. “And we need to make the announcement nice and public.”
“But won’t they just call me a liar?”
“Better a liar than an attempted murderer,” he said bleakly.
“Murderer!”
“Two of the kids are in critical condition.”
“What about Kelsey?” I asked, keeping my eyes on Mom.
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes. She’s a kid, and no one ever ended up pressing charges after the party. Right now, our top priority is to get your name cleared from this bleacher collapse.”
I nodded. “How do I do that? Is there going to be a trial?”
“Not likely. You’ve got to be indicted first. If you and some long-time acquaintances can vouch for your magical…limitations…you’ll be in the clear. Got any suggestions on who to call?”
I shrugged. “Mr. Blakely? Miss Flinckey?”
Sheldon nodded and rounded his desk, checking a number in a pocket notepad. Punching numbers into his landline phone, he pressed the speakerphone button and turned the receiver towards us a little. The secretary’s voice came on. “Magian High School main office, can you hold please?”
“No, I really can’t,” said Sheldon forcefully. “This is Detective Sheldon and I need to speak with Mr. Blakely immediately about the incident at the school today.”
“He’s still out on the field, sir. Can I get you someone else, or should I send someone to get him?”
“Who else have you got?”
“The vice-principal, Mr. Whittle is in the building somewhere.” Sheldon looked at me questioningly, and
I nodded.
“Get him on the line, please,” said Sheldon.
The speakerphone switched to a sappy version of our fight song and a cycle of the same four announcements over and over. By the time we’d heard about Homecoming the third time, Mr. Whittle’s voice came on. “This is Ron Whittle. How can I help you?”
“I’ve got one of your students down here at the precinct, Mr. Whittle.”
“Riley?”
“Yes.”
“Are they going to indict him?”
“Not if you can help it. Can you vouch for him and his magical abilities as manifested in your presence for the last three-odd years?”
“Absolutely!”
“Please do so. Can you find others?” He looked at me for help.
“Miss Flinckey,” I said.
Mr. Whittle’s voice sounded excited. “Kincaid, is that you? Are you okay?”
“Yes, sir,” I said. “I need some people to tell the police what a useless Mage I am.” Pathetic joke, but it made Mom smile a little and Mr. Whittle chuckle.
“Uh, I can honestly say I’ve never been asked to give that kind of recommendation before, but…I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’ll try to bring Mr. Blakely, too. Will four o’clock be too late? We still have to get all the kids released home and parents notified and—”
“Yes, of course. Take care of the mess there, and then come here,” said Sheldon.
“With Flinckey!” I added, but the line had gone dead.
We let out a collective sigh and leaned back in our chairs.
“Thanks, Jed,” said Mom, wiping her eyes.
“No problem. I think you’d better go home for Kelsey. She may be needed down here to prove she was the source of Wind magic the night of the party.”
Mom cringed. “Really?”
“I hope not, but just in case.”
She nodded. Cupping my face in her hands, she looked at me deeply. “I’m so glad that you’re okay.” Glancing at her watch, she said, “Kelsey’s bus drops off in about half an hour, so I’d better hurry. I’ll be back, honey. I love you.”
“I love you, too!”
A few minutes later, I was sitting in a holding cell staring at the cracks in the cinder block and marveling at how scratchy a cot could feel. I felt really sick to my stomach thinking about the kids who got seriously hurt. If this disaster proved to be part of getting the NMI Academy pushed through, there had to be a lot of money involved to motivate that.
