Grim Hill: The Secret Deepens

by Linda DeMeulemeester

  CHAPTER 16 The Spirit Cabinet

  SOOKIE BECKONED HER assistant. Skeeter strode toward the audience with the confidence of a star performer. He didn’t look one bit nervous. Some parents in the audience broke into a few chuckles as the ridiculous turban wobbled on my sister’s head. But their laughing quickly became more hesitant as Sookie’s voice rang out across the stage and echoed through the gym.

  “Magic is mysterious,” she said in a spooky voice. “And magicians have their secrets. I am about to conjure a trick for the ages.” With a flourish of her arm, Sookie pointed to the trunk. “This is a spirit cabinet. And it contains many mysteries.”

  The trunk was standing upright like a magician’s cabinet, and draped across the front was the silver-sparkled blue curtain. Sookie pulled the curtain. Skeeter, who’d been standing to the left of the cabinet, ducked and stepped inside. Yanking the curtain closed, Sookie stepped back from her cabinet, and we couldn’t even see the tips of Skeeter’s red sneakers sticking out from behind the curtain.

  “I will conjure the disappearance of my assistant,” Sookie said in that peculiar, distant voice. “Then, I will make him reappear.”

  My heart fell.

  How would Sookie manage such an illusion? This wasn’t our living room where Skeeter could hide objects under a rug or behind a curtain when we all looked the other way. Sookie was now high up on the gym stage. And another thing: this was Skeeter she was trying to make disappear. She couldn’t exactly slip him under her sleeve. I began to worry that my sister wouldn’t win the talent show. That I’d – I mean– she’d be humiliated. Then Sookie began to sing an eerie song, and it was as if an ice cube slid down my spine. I started shivering violently. “Foothee-on-lan-ive!” she shouted when she finished her song. The spirit cabinet rocked, and when Sookie whipped the

  curtain open …

  Skeeter wasn’t there!

  The audience clapped loudly – louder than they had for any other act. But I couldn’t concentrate. There was a buzzing in my head as if a smoke alarm was going off in my brain, screeching “Danger!”

  Turning the cabinet from front to back, the Queen of Mystery displayed that there were no hidden curtains, ropes, mirrors, or anything that would help with such a big illusion. I should have been ecstatic about my sister’s success; after all, she managed to pull off an awesome trick. But all I could think of was, hurry Sookie, bring Skeeter back.

  Once more, Sookie closed the curtain. Then she began singing her creepy tune again. Jasper emerged from the back of the audience, squeezed into my row, and knelt down beside my chair.

  “Something is really wrong here, Cat,” he wheezed.

  I could hardly answer him because my throat had turned to sandpaper. But I gulped, “Wait. She said she’d bring Skeeter back.”

  “Th-oe-rum-on-wa-je!” Sookie called out.

  Again the spirit cabinet tilted and shook. Then the whole stage shuddered, and the red and green paper lanterns above the stage swung and appeared to swirl with a ghostly white glow. Even the gym floor vibrated under my feet.

  Sookie opened the curtain, and I let out a huge sigh of relief. Skeeter stepped from the spirit cabinet. “See,” I said to Jasper, although the alarm bell still clanged in my head. “Everything is okay.”

  Skeeter began walking. Then he stumbled and fell flat on the stage.

  “What happened?” people shouted as everyone rushed to the stage. “Is he hurt?”

  The town doctor was in the audience and she hurried up to the stage to examine Skeeter. Her daughter, the little pianist, clung to the doctor’s pant leg. “Help him, Mommy!” she cried and then she burst into tears.

  The girl wasn’t the only child who was upset. I stood on the stage looking behind the curtain at Sookie who had gone so pale, I thought she might faint. When I looked back at Skeeter lying lifeless on the hardwood floor of the stage, my heart lurched. Clive and an elderly woman hovered over him.

  “Don’t worry, Gran,” Clive said in a perfectly worried voice. Then he asked people to step away from his brother while the doctor examined him.

  Jasper had rushed to Sookie and put his arm around her. He was speaking quietly, and Sookie nodded. Mom came up to me and said, “I’ve called an ambulance.”

  In just a few minutes, we heard the whoop whoop of the siren. When the paramedics opened the gym door to bring in a stretcher, a brutal gust of icy wind blasted through the gym. Everyone threw on their coats and scarves. I heard the doctor speaking to Clive and his grandmother as the paramedics took Skeeter out in a stretcher. “He’s unconscious, but his pulse is steady and his breathing is regular.”

  For some reason, all I could think of was Raj and Toni again – and even Buddy – and how they all slept on and on and on … A cramp of worry tugged at my insides, and for a sick moment, I wondered if Skeeter would ever wake up. But of course he would … they all would. It was just a bad flu going around, that was all.

  Clive’s grandmother left with the ambulance, and parents began bundling their kids and heading out the doors. That was the end of the Drearden talent contest. Nobody cared about who would win anymore. I watched Clive as he stood alone amongst the crowd, and I felt I had to say something. But what do you say to the boy you detest when a terrible thing has just happened. Slowly I walked over to him.

  “Skeeter’s a great kid,” I said sincerely. “I just know he’ll be okay.” But would he? My insides cramped up again. Then Mom offered to drive Clive to the hospital. “Are you coming now, Cat?” she asked.

  I looked at Jasper and he shook his head wildly. We had to talk.

  “Is it okay if I walk home with Jasper?”

  Mom nodded, “But don’t stay too late. It’s dark out and you have a long day tomorrow – with the game and then dinner in town.” She led Clive and a very subdued Sookie out of the gym and to the car.

  Jasper and I lingered behind, and as soon as most of the people left, we discussed the event. We were both really shaken, and despite our differences lately, he was the only one I could talk to about Grim Hill and the secrets it held – that is, without me appearing crazy.

  “Jasper, I’m worried. I don’t think Skeeter was the first person Sookie made disappear and reappear. As a matter of fact, I bet that was what was happening to every one of Sookie’s assistants. Each time she had a rehearsal, I’m sure she was practicing making her assistant disappear. Plus, it seems every one of her friends – and even her pet – have fallen asleep right after she made them reappear.”

  “I think you’re right,” agreed Jasper. “This isn’t good – there are a lot of sick kids.”

  “And they haven’t woken up,” I said as a horrible feeling now came over me. “I can’t shake the idea that there is a connection. A connection to you-know-where … Grim Hill.”

  “I’ve been trying to tell you there’s something just not right about all this magic Sookie’s into.” Jasper slammed his fists together.

  “We don’t know that for sure,” I said a bit defensively. But I thought about what Amarjeet had said – about being so worried for her brother who was now in the hospital. I rubbed the back of my neck. It was aching like crazy. “If kids were getting ill anyhow, and they were spending time out in this cold weather going back and forth to rehearsal, that could make them worse, right?”

  “Then how come no one in our school has the flu? Or Sookie?” Jasper wondered. “Or any other kids in the elementary school? Almost everyone in town was here for the show – except the families of your sister’s assistants.” Jasper scratched his head and said, “I don’t like where this is going – it reminds me how the fairies tried to steal children at Halloween.”

  “No … not steal … no one is missing,” my words stumbled out. Every kid was accounted for – except they had a weird flu. But there was that connection to Sookie. They’d all been her assistants. And as for her incredible magic – why hadn’t I noticed before? Why didn’t alarms clang in my head earlier?

  The last of the
boys and girls from our soccer teams left the gym. When they opened the doors, the temperature, which was already cold, plunged again. Jasper and I hurried to put on our coats and scarves and then hightailed it out of there. Ms. Dreeble who was locking everything up, chased after me.

  “Cat, your sister left this on the stage.” Ms. Dreeble handed over Sookie’s turban as if she couldn’t wait to get rid of it.

  I stared at the purple turban with the black feather sticking out of the glittering ruby brooch. Automatically my fingers stretched out and stroked the silky plume. But that feather didn’t feel silky at all – not like another feather that I was starting to remember. The black feather felt sharp, almost as if it was a thistle. Suddenly, before I could pull back my fingers, it was if a dark veil was pulled over my face and everything in the room seemed to stretch out and fade away. Haunting music filled my ears, and a deep, liquid voice melted inside my head. I couldn’t quite hear the words, but they sounded weird – like the words Sookie had chanted in her magic act. I dropped the turban onto the floor and the light grew brighter in front of me. I stood for a minute letting my world go back to normal.

  When Jasper picked up the turban and touched the feather, he said, “I think Sookie has done something terrible.”

  CHAPTER 17 The Nightmare Begins

  JASPER HAD IT all wrong.

  “Sookie would never hurt anyone!” I shouted so loud my ears rang. “Never!” And before Jasper could say another word, I tucked the stupid turban under my arm, making sure the black feather pointed away from me, and I ran out the door.

  “We’re supposed to stay together – it’s too dark for either of us to walk home alone.” Jasper stood shivering by the door as snow began to fall. “It’s freezing,” he complained. “That’s another thing,” he called after me as I raced away. “This town has never been so cold. This winter weather isn’t natural.”

  I was a block away before I stopped, tossed the turban onto the street, and began zipping up my jacket. It was a pitch-black night, and it was bitterly cold. My fingers were so numb they fumbled with the zipper. Running from the gym was not the brightest move. But Jasper had no right to say – to imply – that my sister had …. except, maybe Sookie had done something dreadful. She might not have done it on purpose, but all the same, her new magic hobby wasn’t safe. So why had Jasper gotten me so angry? I wound the wool scarf one more time around my neck and slowly picked the turban up from the ground. Snow was already sticking to the sidewalk, making it really slippery. As I made my way home, the inky night closed in, and I wished I’d waited for Jasper. It seemed tonight that I could almost hear whispers in the rush of wind. I neared my street, and Grim Hill rose before me. I could see green and yellow lights spark and flash between the snow-laden trees. It was as if some disgusting sulfurous gas had leaked out of the hill. Closing my eyes, I turned my head away.

  By the time I stepped inside my house, my teeth were chattering from the cold. Sookie had already gone to bed, and Mom, who was dressed in her fuzzy white bathrobe, handed me a steaming cup of hot cocoa. As I drank it, the liquid helped me defrost while I changed into my warmest fleece pajamas and pulled on a pair of thick wool socks. I threw the turban into the black depths of my closet. I didn’t want Sookie going near that creepy hat. Then I collapsed into bed and pulled up my quilt and the extra-warm wool blanket Mom gave me when the latest cold snap began.

  My head spun with the worries, fears, and the grim reality that once again, there were dark mysteries happening. And I knew I had to face something. Once again, I hadn’t wanted to see it. Jasper blamed Sookie, but I was the one who’d encouraged her.

  Plus, what did the black feather have to do with Sookie’s magic? Bit by bit, I began to recall more vividly another feather – one that made me feel quite opposite to the way the black feather made me feel. But I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Finally, I drifted into a deep, exhausted sleep.

  A rattling sound seeped into my dreams. I dreamt about a chorus line of skeletons dancing on our gym stage. Click, click, click. There was a bunch of skeletons all in a row, dancing and singing, their jaw bones clickety-clacking as the sinister song spun through my ears. When a hand touched my shoulder, I sat up with a screech.

  “Oh, Cat, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Mom soothed. “It’s just that you’ve slept so late and you have to hurry to school.”

  As I stumbled out of bed, I saw that my closet door was wide open. “Were you in my closet?”

  “No, Cat,” said my mom. “If some of your clothes are missing I suggest you check under your bed. I haven’t borrowed a single thing.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” I said a bit grouchily. I felt sweaty under my heavy pajamas, as if a fever just broke. And there was no time for a shower. Quickly I climbed into the skinny brown jeans and orange turtleneck sweater that had been rumpled up on the floor. It took that time before I could shake my nightmare off and force myself to look inside my closet. But I already knew that Sookie’s purple turban wouldn’t be there.

  When I got downstairs, Mom handed me a peanut butter and banana sandwich. “Here, eat this in the car. Good thing I’m starting work a little later this morning so I can give you a lift to school.”

  “Where’s Sookie?”

  “Oh, she was up bright and early. She went to school with Jasper.”

  What was Jasper up to? He had no right bugging my sister and making her feel responsible for whatever it was that was going on in this town. If she had somehow caused Skeeter’s collapse or the other kids getting sick at school, it was by accident. No doubt, there was a diabolical force behind my sister’s actions. I had to find out if someone or something was pulling my sister around like a puppet. And I didn’t like it one bit that she was wandering around outside with Jasper and that evil turban.

  I was so rattled that I almost forgot my soccer uniform and cleats. Somehow the game today had become an afterthought. Sure I had been excited about it, but now I had to find out answers. I just couldn’t miss the intramurals after school. I was team captain and my team depended on me.

  Maybe there was a way I could manage to do both.

  As soon as we arrived at the school, I went inside, turned around, and went out the other side of the school. I didn’t care if I got in major trouble later. I was going to see if the Greystone sisters were home, and this time, I wouldn’t let a few pieces of junk mail on the porch turn me away.

  ***

  The steps and the porch of the Greystones’ house had been swept clean – that was a good sign. But after I knocked and the door opened, I blurted, “Who are you?” Mom wasn’t with me, but I could practically hear her shout, “Cat, how rude!”

  A woman with brown hair tied in a bun, and a pencil tucked behind her ear stood in front of me. She was wearing clunky jewelry of polished stones and shells.

  “I’m sorry, I mean, is Ms. Greystone home?” I tried to ask more politely.

  “Which one?” she answered in a rush. “Well, no matter, as neither of them is here. They are both traveling abroad.”

  “Will they be back soon?”

  “No, they’re not planning to be back until January,” she said.

  I hung my head.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  “It’s just that the Greystone sisters were experts on … fairytales … and I was looking for their advice.”

  “Who is calling?” asked the woman, and she sounded a bit odd – almost suspicious.

  “Cat Peters,” I said.

  The woman brightened. “Cat! Alice and Lucinda told me you were a good friend of theirs. Please come in. Perhaps I can be of some help to you.”

  I didn’t see how that could be possible, but I stepped into the front room of the Greystones’ house anyway. There had been a few changes since I’d last visited in early November. Dozens of photographs set in pewter frames lined the mantle, end tables, and what they called the “credenza.” In each picture, Alice and Lucinda beamed cheerfully at the
camera and they had their arms wrapped tightly around each other. One photo had the Eiffel Tower in Paris in the background. The other had the Colosseum in Rome. I was pretty sure the big clock in the photograph on the end showed London’s Big Ben.

  “Wow,” I said. “You really meant it when you said they’re traveling. They didn’t waste much time!”

  “Mmm hmm,” the woman said rather distractedly as she gathered up a huge pile of books on a blue velvet chair and offered me a seat. That was another thing that was different about the Greystones’ usually tidy house. It had been overtaken by an army of books and strange artifacts of stone carvings. I even had to watch where I stepped on their Oriental carpet.

  The woman finally introduced herself. “I’m Forenza Greystone. My grandfather was Lucinda and Alice’s cousin. I didn’t even know I had any relatives on my father’s side, but they emailed me at the most perfect time and invited me to be their house sitter.”

  “Perfect time?” I asked, gingerly taking my seat and trying not to disturb a pile of papers perched on the arm of the chair.

  “They said their home would be a very good place for me to work on my paper for the university.” Forenza beamed. “I’m finishing off my doctorate in Celtic mythology and fairy lore.”

  Forenza started shuffling through another stack of papers on top of an oak desk. She turned to me, opened and closed her eyes several times and said, “It’s my field – so perhaps I can answer any questions you have.”

  “Well … do you know any legends or tales where fairies were supposed to be real creatures, and evil … and that they enchanted people?”

  Again Forenza got a look on her face that I decided was more alarmed than suspicious, but either way she wasn’t smiling. I couldn’t tell her the truth about everything as she’d probably phone my mother and tell her I needed to see a doctor, so I added, “You know … for a story in my English class. Sometimes Alice Greystone helped me with my school papers.”

  “Ah, okay then,” she smiled and looked relieved. “Well, there are lots of tales about cruel fairy enchantment making people sleep for centuries – like in Rip Van Winkle and in Sleeping Beauty.” Forenza moved some of the books on the table. “And there’s the story of Brigadoon where a whole town fell under an enchantment for centuries.”