Dorothy’s Derby Chronicles: Rise of the Undead Redhead

by Meghan Dougherty

  “And pizza,” Gigi said. “I could go for a slice of their pepperoni right now. Hot and greasy.”

  “Eww,” Jade said, making a face.

  “Hey, just because you don’t eat pepperoni doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy it.”

  Jade sighed. “Whatever, meat eater.” She turned to Dorothy. “I hope it’s okay, but we gave your uniform a makeover while you were sleeping.”

  “Wait. You what?” Dorothy’s mind had been wandering. She was remembering how she had not been allowed to go to her best friend’s tenth birthday party—just because it was at Skate Land.

  Her mom had said, “If God wanted us to roller-skate, He would have given us wheels instead of feet.”

  Just like my dream, Dorothy thought with a shiver.

  “Your outfit. We’re fixing it. It’s almost done and close to cool now, see?” Gigi said, holding up a pink blouse and a short, pink plaid skirt. “Jade came up with the design and did all the sewing and stuff, but I helped with the dye. It’s still pretty wet.” The bottom of her skirt had been transformed into a killer scarf and belt.

  “That’s my uniform?” Dorothy said, sitting up to get a better look. She felt so happy she could cry. “It’s amazing!”

  Jade blushed and looked out Dorothy’s bedroom door. “Hey, your house is cool,” she said. “You didn’t tell us you lived in the funeral home.”

  “Just moved in,” Dorothy said, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “The top floors of the mortuary aren’t used anymore, but it’s still creepy. Grandma’s a retired mortician, so she’s collected some weird stuff.”

  “Like that?” Jade was pointing at the wardrobe closet standing in the corner of Dorothy’s small room. It was made from two coffins joined together.

  Dorothy nodded and bit her lip. The dark wood and satin lining was pretty, but it gave her nightmares. Last night she’d dreamt that Dracula and his wife were living inside the closet. The vampire couple had spent the whole dream arguing about whether they should drink all of Dorothy’s blood in one sitting or drain her slowly night after night.

  “But if your grandma’s retired, why’s she working for the funeral home?” Gigi asked.

  “Oh,” Dorothy said. “Well, she still owns the place, and she likes to work part time. Plus, they say nobody can fill in a bullet hole like Grandma.”

  “Nice,” Jade said darkly.

  “Oh sure, I can’t eat pepperoni, but you get all giddy over dead people and bullet holes and stuff,” Gigi said.

  “It is not the same thing,” Jade argued.

  “So,” Dorothy said, changing the subject. “You guys want the tour?”

  Dorothy escorted her new friends around the three-story Victorian house. From outside it looked like a haunted house, minus the broken windows, cobwebs, and ghosts. At least Dorothy hoped there weren’t any ghosts. The mortuary had an excellent view of Prospect Cemetery. The bottom floors of the building were a working funeral home, and the top two floors were Grandma’s house. They had been converted into living quarters when Grandma retired and sold the business to a young couple just out of mortuary school.

  Other than adding a separate entrance, Grandma hadn’t made many renovations. It was still every bit a funeral parlor. Instead of buying new furniture, Grandma “got her craft on” and turned the old funeral gear into furniture and decorations. Mortuary couture, she called it. You hardly knew the top floors weren’t a working funeral home. There were flower arrangements everywhere, rolling gurneys for couches, and an embalming table for a dining room table, complete with church kneelers instead of chairs. Grandma said it was good for the core, but bad on the knees. Religious symbols dotted the walls, too, although Grandma had never been the churchgoing type.

  Grandma slept in Slumber Room Number 1 (at least that’s what the plaque on the door said), and Dorothy’s and Sam’s rooms were in the attic. There weren’t any plaques on their bedroom doors, which was just fine by Dorothy. Because Grandma still worked at the funeral home they had the run of the place, although Dorothy was too spooked to wander much. The fewer details she knew, the better. The whole place gave her the willies.

  “Home sweet home!” Dorothy said when the tour was over. At least until Mom comes back. If she comes back.

  Chapter 5

  By the time Grandma and Sam arrived home, Dorothy, Gigi, and Jade had shared a bag of chips and watched three episodes of Cupcake Smackdown on the Food Channel. Dorothy’s outfit was finally dry, so she quickly changed out of her bloodstained jumper and they all piled into Grandma’s hearse. Gigi estimated a fifteen-minute drive to Galactic Skate, but it couldn’t have been more than six minutes before they were pulling into the parking lot. Still plenty of time for Dorothy to check her cell phone a hundred times for messages from Mom. It would be like Mom to not check in for days and then call right as they were going roller-skating.

  “Earth to Dorothy!” Grandma was standing at the Galactic Skate entrance, a leopard-print duffel bag hitched over her shoulder. Gigi, Jade, and Sam had to have already gone inside. Dorothy blinked. After exiting the car, she had been mesmerized by the huge mural on the side of the large, square building. Three disco-era roller skaters whooshed across the brick wall: a fist-pumping woman with a huge red afro, a tall woman with dark skin and bobbed pigtails, and a thin Asian woman with long hair that rippled behind her like a black flag.

  “Coming!” Dorothy called. I can’t believe I’m going roller-skating. Mom’s going to kill me!

  They bought skate passes from a fat, balding man with a thick salt-and-pepper mustache and then walked toward the food court area. The inside of Galactic Skate was dimly lit and stank like old french fries. Dusty ceiling fans spun around at awkward angles, and the star-patterned carpet felt sticky under Dorothy’s feet. Near the entrance there was a tiny concession area with tables, chairs, and a few video games with out-of-order signs taped to the screens. Farther in was a large wood-floor rink surrounded by a waist-high wood partition covered in the same dingy carpeting. A narrow skate changing area was positioned at the entrance to the rink. Dorothy could see a couple of teenagers exiting the skate floor through a gap in the wall, but otherwise the place was empty.

  “I’m hungry!” Gigi said as they passed by an unmanned concession cart where two flies danced on a half-eaten hot dog.

  “I don’t know about this,” Dorothy said. “Galactic Skate is, um…”

  Jade coughed something that sounded like “armpit?” and pulled a bottle of hand sanitizer out of her messenger bag. She pumped several squirts into her already clean hands.

  “Girls!” Grandma scolded. “Galactic Skate is like a second home to me. This is where I met the love of my life,” she added nostalgically.

  Sam squealed with delight. “Our grandfather?”

  Grandma chuckled. “No, Sam. Well yes, I did meet your grandpa here, but I’m talking about this.” Grandma pulled a pair of black, sneaker-style roller skates out of her bag and kissed them on the laces. The black leather was clean but creased with age and use, like an old Harley jacket that had seen plenty of adventure.

  Jade gagged audibly, but Dorothy’s fingers itched to touch the forbidden skates.

  “Enough memory lane, G-ma,” Gigi said. “It’s skate time.”

  Dorothy’s heart thumped against the cell phone now tucked inside her shirt. The time had come to break Mom’s number one rule: No roller-skating. Ever.

  Sam cartwheeled. “Hooray for roller-skating!” she cheered.

  Dorothy sighed. I don’t get it. Sam isn’t worried, she’s excited. Why am I such a chicken?

  “Brown bombers over there,” Grandma said, pointing to a wall of bookshelves filled with worn leather skates. A rocket-shaped rental desk sat next to the shelves, and an old man dozed behind it, snoring loudly. His skin was as wrinkled as the weathered skates.

  Gigi, Jade, and Sam raced to the d
esk, but Dorothy’s feet felt like anchors. Was she really capable of betraying her mom like this?

  “Hey, Dot,” Grandma said. “Why don’t you come with me instead?”

  Dorothy breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she wouldn’t have to skate, after all. She had passed out at school today, right?

  Grandma led Dorothy to a corner booth. “You know,” Grandma said, placing her black skates on the table after they had sat down. “I always wanted to give these babies to your mom.”

  Dorothy eyed the skates longingly. “But Mom hates roller-skating.”

  Grandma nodded. “And that’s why she can never know about this.” Grandma winked and rolled the skates over to Dorothy.

  Dorothy’s jaw fell open and she caught the skates in her open hands. The leather was worn but supple. “For me?” A bolt of rebellious excitement flashed through her body. “You really want me to have them?”

  “Yep. All yours,” Grandma said. “And I bet they’ll fit you, too. I was about your age when I started skating.”

  Dorothy swung her feet to the side of the bench and kicked off her clunky black shoes. With skates like these, who cared what Mom thought?

  A boy with olive skin, dark curly hair, and a dimpled chin skated up to their booth. He was wearing silver roller blades, dark blue jeans, and a long-sleeved T-shirt. He looked a couple of years older than Dorothy. He tapped Grandma on the shoulder.

  “Max, my boyfriend,” Grandma said. She stood up and exchanged a complicated handshake that involved a shoulder bump, several hand slaps, and a move that looked like a zombie doing the robot dance.

  “Don’t tell me you’re skipping ladies’ night to come to Galactic Skate,” Max said.

  “Let’s just call this little ladies’ night,” Grandma said, nodding to Dorothy. “This is my granddaughter.”

  Max glanced over at Dorothy, who had managed to get herself into an unladylike position while pulling on her new skates.

  “Um, hi. I’m Dorothy,” she said, looking up from a tangle of laces.

  Max nodded and gave Dorothy a lopsided grin.

  He’s smiling at me, Dorothy thought. A cute boy, smiling at me. Wait, can he see my underwear? Frappit! My short skirt! I’m such an idiot.

  Dorothy quickly crossed her ankles. But with her laces still tangled, she lost her balance and tumbled forward off the bench. Max leapt to Dorothy’s rescue, catching her mid-fall before returning her to her seat.

  “Uh, thanks,” Dorothy said, her cheeks hot.

  Max politely dropped his gaze to Dorothy’s feet. “Hey, those are Sally’s old skates!”

  “Yup. And now they’re Dorothy’s,” Grandma said proudly.

  “Here,” Max said, swiftly unknotting the laces and turning them into bows.

  Even the top of his head is cute, Dorothy thought, admiring Max’s short-cropped curls.

  “You’re a regular Prince Charming, Max,” Grandma teased.

  Dorothy felt her face grow even hotter. “Uh, thanks again,” she said.

  Max winked. His eyes were like those chocolate pools in the Willy Wonka movie. “No worries. I work here, so it’s kind of my job to help.”

  Just then, Gigi, Sam, and Jade rolled up. “Ready to go?” Gigi asked, pulling Dorothy up onto her wheeled feet.

  “Uh-huh, sure,” Dorothy said, gripping Gigi’s arm tightly. The skates fit perfectly, but she might as well have been wearing live eels on her feet for how unsteady she felt.

  Grandma went to order some pizza, and the four girls rolled arm in arm to the vacant skate floor. Dorothy felt like one of those moving dollies, standing stiff and letting herself be wheeled along, but she didn’t dare move her feet. Not yet. They entered the rink through a gap in the carpeted wall, and Dorothy realized that, ready or not, she was officially roller-skating. High above the floor, a gigantic mirrored disco ball spun in a shaky circle, reflecting colored pools of light on the worn wood. Mellow saxophone music pumped in from two huge, precariously hung speakers.

  Dorothy’s ankles buckled inward and she struggled to stay linked to Sam and her two friends. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, Dorothy thought, glancing over the wall to make sure Max wasn’t watching her. Nope, gone. Galactic Skate was a ghost town.

  The jazz song ended and the music switched to a funky bass guitar line.

  “They’re playin’ my song!” Gigi squealed, breaking away from the chain of girls. She twirled around so she was skating backward and belted out song lyrics like a karaoke diva. “She’s a super freak! Super freak! She’s super freaky.” She kicked one foot and then the other, bouncing and shimmying while waving her arms in the air.

  “Gigi’s a jam dancer,” Jade yelled over the music. Gigi windmilled into a one-armed handstand and scissored her legs. “But I didn’t know she was good.”

  “Good?” Gigi yelled back. She dropped back onto two skates and weaved her feet in figure eights. “I’m the local Jam Groove Champion for my age-group.”

  Sam broke away and joined Gigi. “Look at me,” she said, mimicking Gigi’s hip-jutting, finger-pointing dance moves.

  “Wow. Your sister’s a natural,” Jade said. “Are you sure you two have never gone skating before?”

  Just then Dorothy’s wheels whipped out from under her. THUD! She was suddenly staring up at the mirrored disco ball from the floor. “First time,” she croaked.

  Jade peeled Dorothy off the floor. When they reached the wall, Dorothy clung to it like it was the only life preserver on a sinking ship.

  “Uh-oh,” Jade said, staring at the front entrance. “You’ll never guess who just came in.”

  Dorothy’s head shot up and her hand went to chest. “Mom?”

  “Uh, no. Were you expecting her?”

  Dorothy blushed at her stupid mistake and willed her heart rate to return to normal. False alarm. No Mom. Just three girls in sparkly pink tank tops, leg warmers, and frilly sheer skirts, who began lacing up white, boot-style roller skates. Two of the skaters looked like they were probably in high school; the taller one had straight blond hair and pinched, angular features; the shorter one had curly brown ringlets and an upturned button nose. The third girl appeared to be about Dorothy’s age. She tossed her blond head, sweeping a long, silky ponytail over her shoulder, then locked eyes with Dorothy.

  Dorothy gasped. “Alex.”

  Chapter 6

  “Well lookie what the cat dragged in,” Gigi said, rolling over to Jade and Dorothy. Her song had ended and the quiet saxophone music had returned.

  “Have you ever seen Alex here before?” Jade asked.

  “Nope. But I’m never at Galactic Skate on Wednesday,” Gigi replied, propping her elbows on the carpeted wall. “I only skate weekends.”

  Why is Alex wearing sequins? Dorothy wondered, remembering how horrified she had been when she saw Dorothy’s sparkly gym outfit.

  As if reading her thoughts, Alex pointed at Dorothy and then ran her finger across her throat like an invisible knife. With a flip of her ponytail, Alex rolled back out the front entrance and was gone.

  Gigi frowned. “Was it just me, or did Alex just order her friends to kill us?”

  Jade sighed. “We should probably just go.”

  “Go? No way,” Gigi said, furious. “This rink doesn’t belong to Alex. Besides, those prissy girls are no match for these.” Gigi flattened her hands into blades and cut at the air.

  “Where’s Sam?” Dorothy said, suddenly feeling protective. She located her on the other side of the rink doing cartwheels. Sam wobbled on her wheels when she landed, but for a novice skater, the trick was impressive.

  The tall, pinched-face girl swooped into the rink right next to Sam. “Nice cartwheel, midget,” she called out, her voice echoing across the skate floor. She circled Sam like a shark.

  The short, curly-haired girl skated in after. “Of course it would loo
k better if it was more like this,” she said, doing a perfect cartwheel followed up by a tight spin.

  “Or this,” the taller girl said, doing three consecutive cartwheels, then twirling around Sam like a wicked ballerina on wheels.

  “Leave her alone!” Dorothy shouted.

  “We’re just giving her a free lesson,” the tall girl sneered. She grabbed Sam’s hand and dragged her away like a puppy on a leash.

  “I’ll give you a free lesson,” Gigi said, bursting into a sprint.

  Jade followed, propelling herself with long, sweeping strides.

  Dorothy wobbled behind, but fell to the floor before she could get very far.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the shorter skater asked, suddenly appearing behind Dorothy and grabbing her collar.

  “Let me go!” Dorothy shrieked.

  The girl laughed and dragged Dorothy backward across the worn wood floor. “Help me!” Sam yelled.

  Dorothy tore at the skater’s hand, but the grip on her shirt was too tight. Dorothy grabbed for anything she could reach and yanked. The girl’s skirt shot downward, dragging tights and leg warmers with it. The girl yelped, but held tight to Dorothy’s collar. Dorothy yanked again and the skirt twirled into the skater’s spinning wheels. She lost her balance and let go of Dorothy’s shirt, crashing forward.

  Too jittery to stand, Dorothy scrambled away on her knees.

  On the other side of the rink, Gigi caught up with Sam and the tall skater. The tall girl seemed to be slowing on purpose and smiled dangerously as Gigi skated alongside her. Dorothy opened her mouth to scream, “It’s a trap!” but it was already too late. Gigi thrust her hip to the right and the skater whirled out of reach. Gigi smashed into the wall like a bug hitting a windshield.

  The tall girl cackled as she skated past Dorothy, dragging Sam just out of reach.

  Jade shot forward, gaining on Sam and her captor. The tall skater glanced over her shoulder, taking in Jade’s movements. Jade stretched out her hand and touched Sam’s fingers, but the bully whipped Sam out of reach. Jade almost toppled forward, but deepened her knee bend and regained her balance. She caught up to Sam again, but just as before, Sam was yanked out of reach. Jade made a third attempt. This time the skater slowed slightly and Sam and Jade linked hands.