Poppy Mayberry, a New Day

by Jennie K. Brown

  This was unreal.

  “We believed the cusp thing for an entire year,” Sam said.

  “Yeah, but Mayor Masters has two powers. How did that happen?”

  Mrs. Prince let out a sigh and looked at Mark. “Your mother is the p—”

  “Person who was experimented on,” Mark finished in a whisper.

  An expression of half-fear, half-anger spread across his face.

  “And that’s how she knew enough to do it to her own son,” I whispered. But I was pretty sure everyone heard. Poor Mark. For a split second, pitied Mayor Masters too. Near death.

  “Follow me,” Mr. Prince said, pushing himself up from the chair.

  He led us upstairs to the room Logan and I had broken into last night—the office of secrets. Logan’s dad stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling bookcase on the opposite side of the room, and then pulled a key from the jar on top. He used it to unlock the drawer Logan and I had tried to break into last night.

  He pulled out a file folder that contained large red letters written across it. “Classified Documents. Do Not Open.”

  Whatever was in that folder seemed serious. Mr. Prince unfolded his reading glasses and put them on his face.

  “Are you sure we should show these to them?” Mrs. Prince whispered in Mr. Prince’s ear. They must have forgotten there were two mind-reading Thursdays in the room. Ellie and I looked at each other and smirked.

  “The secret’s safe with us,” Ellie said.

  Logan’s mom nodded the go-ahead.

  Logan, Sam, Ellie, Mark, and I leaned forward as he opened the file. From what I could see of the papers, the same words written on the front of the file were stamped on every single page. Black marks streaked the pages where certain words, or names, had been blacked out.

  Mr. Prince pointed at the stack of papers. “These are the only documents explaining the origin of the Nova weekday powers.”

  I could feel my heart beating faster against my chest. This was big.

  “The only documents?” Logan asked.

  “Yes, dear,” his mom answered. “When we left Nova, we took these with us. To protect everyone in Nova from a man who could destroy everything they’ve loved about our magical town.”

  Mr. Prince pulled three charts from the back of the file. “And these,” he said, “are the formulas for the weekday powers.” He slid the sheets of paper across the desk. Bar graphs, scientific formulas, and lists of ingredients were scribbled across the pages.

  “Then how are the powers still developed if you have the formulas?” Sam asked.

  Every day in Nova, people are born with weekday powers, so someone was still creating them.

  “When we … left … Nova, there was enough of each weekday serum created and stored to last for a number of years,” Mr. Prince stated matter-of-factly. “And to this day, there are two who still administer those serums as vaccines to the hospitals when new weekdays are born in Nova.”

  Logan cleared his throat. “And who are they? The two who do that?”

  Mr. Prince took a deep breath before speaking. “Oh. I think you are figuring that all out,” he answered Logan, but looked at me. He pointed to the photograph of the four scientists pinned to the wall.

  “Oh,” I said, looking at the other couple in the picture. My heart beat in my throat. “My parents.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  “And now we’ve said enough.” Logan’s mom shut the file and placed it atop the desk. But I barely heard the words coming from her mouth. My parents? My parents are the ones giving people weekday powers in Nova? This was just unbelievable.

  “The five of you must return to Nova before anyone notices your absence. I have a feeling Dr. Nalsom is still living a life in Nova incognito.”

  “In cog what?” Ellie sounded out.

  “Incognito,” Logan said matter-of-factly. “In disguise.”

  Mr. Prince nodded. “Right. And if Dr. Nalsom somehow traces us here, we are all in grave danger.”

  Ellie and I headed back upstairs to grab our backpacks while the boys stayed downstairs with Logan’s parents. I couldn’t believe what we’d just discovered.

  And then there were Logan’s parents. They were just protecting their own son by leaving town. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to pretty much barricade yourself in a house for years, afraid that every person who came to the door wanted to hurt you. Unbelievable.

  But something still seemed off. Why wouldn’t my parents just tell me they worked with Logan’s parents to begin with? Especially with my knowledge of the cusp powers and origin? Then it dawned on me … the less I knew, the better. Especially if there was a mad scientist still out there.

  I knew how I’d be spending the train ride back—figuring out how I’d approach all this new knowledge with Mom and Dad. I’m an almost thirteen-year-old who deserves to be trusted. If my dad wouldn’t tell me because he was afraid I’d reveal Nova’s big secret, then he had nothing to worry about. My lips were sealed.

  But your mind isn’t, Ellie thought to me.

  I turned to see her zipping closed her pink duffle bag.

  Of course, that had to be it. If we knew too much, then our thoughts would tell that truth. I guess it was a little too late now.

  A train ran out of Nova in just over an hour, and it was only a matter of time before we had to leave for the Morlantown station. I had to admit, even with this newfound knowledge, it was nice to know our trip back to Nova would be stress-free. That was, until I got home and had to explain things to my parents. Rather, until I asked them to explain things to me.

  “Ready kids?” Mrs. Prince’s voice wafted up the stairs.

  “I’ll be down in a sec. Need to find my bracelet. I think it might have fallen off in the bathroom,” Ellie said, while I headed downstairs.

  A few minutes later Ellie joined us outside. It was a short, silent car ride to the train station. Too much emotional weight.

  I looked out the window as we passed families strolling hand in hand down the street. Little kids ran out of Ice Cream and More with cups of what I assumed to be milkshakes. Parents chased after them, yelling for them to slow down. In Nova, it would take a quick flick of a Monday parent’s wrist to stop the kids in their tracks. Sure, that was safe, but it was also not normal. Just two years ago, the only thing I was worried about was moving things—anything—with my mind. And here I was lying to my parents, sneaking out of town, breaking into Power Academy, hearing about an alternate origin to our powers, searching for and finding Logan’s parents, and just being content with a normal life in Nova. What happened to the innocent little red-haired, freckled-faced Poppy?

  But there was one thing I knew—I was itching to use my Monday power again without worrying whether or not others saw me.

  Mrs. Prince turned around to face us. “Now, don’t forget, the only train traveling into Nova is number 47. When you board, you must say exactly this to the porter, ‘If only there were more days in the week.’”

  “Why?” Logan asked.

  His dad chuckled. “Now how do you think Nova’s been able to keep to itself all these years?”

  “Like a secret password!” Ellie said excitedly.

  Although it was rare for people to leave Nova, people still left. But outsiders on the other hand—they never visited our town. It was almost as if Nova were in its own little magical bubble, separated from the rest of the world. And I kind of liked it that way.

  We reached the train station, and Ellie, Sam, Mark, and I gave Logan and his parents a moment to say goodbye to one another. There was a little bit of crying and a little bit of hugging. Who knows when he’d see them again.

  But there had to be a feeling of satisfaction just knowing they’re alive. Their tearful goodbye reminded me of how much I missed my parents—especially my mom. And Pickle. I always missed my furry little girl. I couldn’t wait to get home and give her scratches behind her ears.

&nbs
p; “All aboard,” the conductor shouted.

  “We love you, Logan,” Mrs. Prince called.

  Logan turned and waved.

  We stepped into the threshold of the train as the porter shoved an open hand in our faces. We pushed our tickets into his hand. “If only there were more days in the week,” Logan said confidently.

  As the doors behind us slid closed, the man winked and then I read his thought. To Nova, it is.

  We were on our way home.

  We rode in silence for the first twenty minutes. I didn’t know if it was because we were exhausted from little sleep the night before, or if we were just drained by … well … everything we’d learned in the last few hours.

  “Chips?” Sam asked, breaking the silence. He held an open bag of bar-b-cue crispy goodness in his hands.

  Ellie scrunched her nose. “Where did you get them?”

  “The pantry,” he said through crunches.

  Ellie fake-smacked him on the arm.

  “What?” Sam screeched, shrugging. “They said to make ourselves at home.”

  Logan laughed, and then a second later we all laughed. It was a much-needed moment of levity. But that moment didn’t last long.

  My eyes widened at the sight in front of me.

  “Hey,” I said, hitting Logan on the arm. My friends were still laughing at Sam as he shoved the last few chips in his mouth, crumbs flying everywhere as he exaggeratedly chomped.

  “Guys,” I said louder, pointing at the two men standing in front of us.

  “What are you two doing here?” Logan asked. Gross-y Mr. Grimeley and Mayor Masters’ weirdo sidekick, Mr. Fluxnut, stood in front of us with grimaces on their faces.

  This was so not good.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Seeing these two in front of us explained the uneasy feeling I experienced over the last two days. It looked like we might have been followed after all.

  Mr. Grimeley shuffled toward us. “Come on, now. You didn’t think you could just leave Nova without anybody noticing, did you?” His nasally voice became more annoying as the years went on. Ugh.

  “What do you want?” Sam ordered, standing up to the two men in front of us. Were these guys really here to intimidate us?

  “All we want is the file.”

  I looked to Logan.

  He stood in Grimeley’s face. “We have no idea what you’re talking about,” Logan said with authority, stepping even closer to Grimeley. I loved that he wasn’t afraid of him.

  “Those formulas don’t belong to you,” Mr. Fluxnut jumped in, grinning to reveal his yellow teeth. Then he looked at Logan. “Or to your parents.”

  “Yes, but Mayor Masters belongs right where she is—in jail,” I added. Oh no! I looked toward Mark, afraid that my comment might have upset him. “Sorry,” I mouthed to him.

  “You two are totally ridiculous,” Ellie snarked. “Did Mayor Masters send her two little minions to do her dirty work? Wasn’t it enough to torture her poor son?”

  Both Fluxnut and Grimeley began to laugh. “You stupid kids. You actually think Mayor Masters sent us?” Grimeley asked in his nasally voice. “HA!” He looked at Mark. “The worst she did was experiment on a silly, no good, powerless little Saturday like you,” he spat, looking Mark in the eye. Mark’s lip curled up in a snarl, looking like he was about to punch Mr. Grimeley right in his oversized nostril.

  Grimeley continued, “The person who wants these files wants to do much more damage than measly Mayor Masters ever could, anyway.”

  Fluxnut took a step closer to us. “Yeah, so just give us the files and nobody gets hurt.”

  Gets hurt? I thought. These two scrawny guys were nothing to a bunch of powerful weekdays. With the flick of my wrist, I used my Monday power to pick up Logan’s backpack and then hurl it across the train. Grimeley ducked just as it reached his head. The bottom of the backpack skimmed the top of his hair, making the gel-infused strands stick up straight.

  I lifted my arm to pick it up again, but just as I did, I noticed the gun that suddenly appeared in Fluxnut’s hand. “Don’t even think about it,” he shouted at me. I tried to swallow down the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

  “Hands up!” Grimeley demanded, gesturing toward the gun Fluxnut held. We did as he said. There was no fighting back when someone pulls out a weapon that powerful.

  “Now sit down,” Fluxnut added, pointing to the seats across from him.

  At this point, I hoped somebody had heard the scuffle in another car, but as I looked through the connecting door’s window, I could see all seats were empty.

  Because of the way Fluxnut hid the gun in front of his body, even if someone were to look in our car though, nothing would look super suspicious.

  Should we try our double power? Ellie thought to me. But it was worthless.

  No way, I thought back. Our lives were at stake this time. This was beyond stealing little dogs and jewelry. This was even beyond kidnapping people to do weekday experiments using Tasers. This went from bad to worse, turning into a real life or death situation.

  Mr. Grimeley sneered. “Now, tell us where we can find the formulas.”

  Ellie rolled her eyes. “We don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

  “Ha!” Fluxnut said in his high-pitched, overly dramatic voice. “We’ve been keeping a close eye on you all since our time together at Power Academy. It was only a matter of time until you’d eventually go ‘searching.’ And look. You led us to exactly what we need.”

  Mr. Fluxnut stepped closer so we could see up his nose. “When Grimeley saw you skulking around Power Academy asking questions about some stupid picture and Logan’s parents, we knew something was going on,” he spat.

  Grimeley snarled, “Then I overheard you asking Headmistress Larriby about Logan’s parents, so when I saw you get that train out of town, I knew you’d found something out. We’d been told to follow you wherever you went ever since then, so we did just that.”

  “That’s right,” Fluxnut said. He waved the gun around the train car and then quickly hid it under his jacket.

  Mr. Fluxnut extended a hand. “So where are the files?” he spat. “Give us the files!”

  “They’re not here,” I said meekly, my confidence gone.

  “Oh, really?” Mr. Grimeley said through a knowing smirk. “Then where, oh where, could they be?” His eyes zeroed in on Ellie.

  I gave Logan a side-eye glance. If anyone was going to give away his parents’ location, it was him.

  “We don’t know,” Ellie spat right back.

  Calm down, I said to her. You don’t want to upset them.

  “It’s a funny thing,” Mr. Grimeley said.

  I scrunched my nose. “What’s a funny thing?”

  “Well … here the four of you sit. The Four Musketeers.” He shot Mark a disapproving look. “Plus the worthless weekend.”

  Mark looked to the floor in embarrassment.

  Gross-y Grimeley continued, “Together ever since that first summer at Power Academy.”

  Sam rolled his eyes. “Your point?”

  “Well, best friends tell one another everything, right?” Grimeley asked, smirking. I wanted to smack the smirk right off his ugly, skinny face.

  I shifted in my seat. “What are you getting at?”

  Now Grimeley’s attention was on Ellie. “Do you want to tell them or should I, Miss Prescott?”

  Ellie fidgeted with her hands. “It’s Preston.”

  “Tell us what, Ellie?” I asked. I tried to read her mind, but she wouldn’t let me in. “Ellie?” I asked again, louder this time.

  “We’ve been keeping a close eye on you all,” Fluxnut said, still staring at Ellie. “A very close eye,” he added, looking right at her on the word “very.” “Do you want to give them to us, or should we just take them?” he asked, reaching his hand toward Ellie’s duffle bag.

  She wrapped both arms around it and squeezed.<
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  “Think carefully, Ellie,” Mr. Grimeley said. “I’ve been paid good money to find these documents. No matter what. Now people will believe us when we reveal Nova’s big secret. And when we take these formulas beyond Nova—billionaires!”

  Ellie slowly unzipped her pink bag, and I hoped there had been some mistake, that Mr. Grimeley and Mr. Fluxnut simply thought Ellie had the secret files with the information about our powers.

  My hope was dashed as soon as the corner of a folder poked out.

  “Ellie!” I gasped as Mr. Grimeley pulled the folder labeled “CONFIDENTIAL” from her pink satchel.

  I glanced over at Logan to see his face was back to the beet-red shade. I could practically see the steam pouring from his ears. “What were you thinking, Ellie?” he asked through gritted teeth. “Whose side are you on?”

  Sam shifted away from Ellie and settled in the seat two down from her.

  “I … I … didn’t know exactly,” Ellie stammered as tears welled in the corners of her eyes. “They were just there, right in front of me once you all went downstairs, and I just thought that … ” her voice trailed off so we could barely hear the next words she spoke. “I thought if my mom saw proof we are all just normal to begin with, she would understand. She would love me more.” Her eyes shifted quickly from me to Logan to Sam to Mark. “I was going to bring them back! I swear. Just as soon as Logan’s parents moved back!” Ellie pleaded. “Eventually,” she whispered through sobs.

  This was what power and the lack of it does. It tears people apart. Maybe it was best for Nova’s secret to be exposed after all.

  The train lurched to a halt as it stopped at the next destination. Chambersville. I hoped and prayed that someone … anyone … would step into our car.

  Nobody.

  But then I caught a glimpse through the window of someone entering the next car over. Help us! I thought as loud and as hard as I could without actually looking at the woman on the other side of the door. Slim chance she was from Nova and could actually read my mind, though.