by Lauren Child
‘I’m truly sorry sir, but I have no idea what you are talking about.’
The principal gave her one of his hard stares.
‘Vapona Begwell’s behavioural science project was found in your locker. What can you tell me about that?’ he said.
But Del had nothing to say. What could she say? She was as surprised as anyone to find Vapona Bugwart’s behavioural science project in her locker.
‘You’re telling me that you have absolutely no clue as to how another student’s work came to be inside your locked locker?’ said Principal Levine.
Del shrugged. ‘Beats me, I mean why would I even want Bugwar— I mean, Vapona’s project? I’m not judging or anything, but I mean, Vapona’s work isn’t exactly Nobel Prize material.’
Principal Levine took out a file and dropped it onto his desk. ‘Del, I’m not suggesting that you have any interest in Vapona’s work. What I am putting to you is that you have an interest in messing with her life.’
Del tried to look outraged, thought about it and decided it wasn’t really going to fly. The file Principal Levine had in front of him told the whole story. Vapona and Del had a long-running feud – a feud that had brought them both to this room more times than a few.
‘OK, sir, you’re right, Bug— Vapona and I don’t always see eye to eye.’
The principal raised an eyebrow.
‘OK, Vapona and I aren’t friends.’
Again, the principal’s eyebrow got mobile.
‘OK, it’s no secret, we hate each other’s guts. The Atlantic Ocean will probably freeze over before she stops being a royal pain in the butt.’
Del caught Principal Levine’s expression. ‘Sorry, anyway, I might not like her, but I wouldn’t touch her stupid project and I wouldn’t stuff it in my own locker so I would get caught. If I was gonna take it then I would most probably throw it in the Twinford River …’ Principal Levine coughed. ‘I mean, but I never would.’
‘So how are we to explain that the project was in your locker?’
Del shrugged. ‘How should I know, man— I mean, sir. I guess someone is trying to set me up … Maybe Bugwart put it there herself?’
‘And why would she do that?’
‘Like I said, to get me in trouble.’
‘But with no behavioural science project, wouldn’t she be the one to find herself in trouble?’
‘She tipped you off, she told you to break into my locker, this way she causes me a whole lotta grief and gets to hand her project in.’
‘I think that’s unlikely somehow.’
‘Why?’
‘Because Vapona’s been off school for the last couple of days.’
‘Oh.’
‘I regret that until I have some solid answers from you, I have no alternative but to send you home. As of now (he looked at his watch) you are suspended.’
‘You are totally not serious.’
‘I regret, Ms Lasco, that I am – totally serious.’
Del rolled her eyes and exhaled. ‘Man!’ And as she walked through the school secretary’s office she continued to mutter, ‘This is totally not fair and totally not in the interest of truth and freedom.’
Ruby, who had missed the day’s drama, was waiting patiently at Back-Spin.
While she waited, she used the time to fill in the blanks in Clancy’s French homework. Most of it was blanks, but the essay she wrote was really pretty good, though not too good – she made sure there were plenty of mistakes.
‘You doing your homework?’ asked Sal.
‘Clancy’s homework, actually – just killing time until Del shows.’
‘You’re some friend,’ said Sal admiringly. ‘There’s no way I’d do another kid’s homework.’
Ruby waited a little longer, looked at her watch more than a few times and eventually realised that perhaps Del Lasco was not going to show.
She went over to the counter where Sal was chatting to Danny Jupiter. Del would be annoyed to miss him, she had a thing about Danny Jupiter. Ruby couldn’t see it herself.
‘Hey Sal, if Del comes in could you tell her I got better things to do than wait around for her?’
‘Sure Ruby, I’ll tell her,’ said Sal.
‘See you around,’ said Ruby.
When Ruby got home she realised what she’d forgotten. Darn it, Clancy’s homework! It was still sitting on the table in Back-Spin. She called the table tennis café.
‘Sal, could you do me a total favour and give Clancy’s book to Danny and ask him to put it on Madame Loup’s desk tomorrow?’
‘No problem,’ said Sal.
That taken care of, Ruby made herself a sandwich, poured a glass of banana milk and went up to her room. She found Bug waiting for her. He looked pleased to see her and got to his feet, tail wagging.
Ruby flumped down on the beanbag, reached for a yellow plastic chicken and dialled Del’s number.
‘Yeah?’ came Del’s reply.
‘Hey, Lasco, where were you? I thought you wanted to play table tennis?’
‘You haven’t heard?’
‘Heard what?’
‘I got busted, is what. Levine sent me home – suspended for the duration, I guess, and now majorly grounded too.’
‘How come? What have you done?’
‘It’s a mystery to me. Apparently I stole Bugwart’s behavioural science project and stashed it in my locker.’
‘Why would you do that?’ asked Ruby.
‘Because I’m a duh brain,’ said Del.
‘What?’
‘I didn’t do it, dope!’
‘So what happened?’ asked Ruby.
‘Someone framed me, that’s what happened.’
‘But why?’ said Ruby. ‘Why would anyone do that?’
‘You don’t believe me?’ said Del.
‘Of course I believe you,’ said Ruby. ‘What I’m saying is, if you want to find out who set you up then you need to think why.’
‘I don’t need to know why,’ said Del. ‘I just want to find out who it is, and when I do, I’m going to punch their lights out.’
‘It’s weird though, isn’t it?’ said Ruby. ‘I mean apart from Bugwart, who’s got a problem with you?’
Del was silent.
‘OK stupid question,’ said Ruby.
‘Look Rube, I appreciate your concern here, but if you don’t mind, right now all I wanna do is turn my stereo up real loud and eat my corn dippers.’
Chapter 48.
Locker 237
THE NEXT DAY TWINFORD JUNIOR HIGH WAS ABUZZ WITH THE DEL LASCO PROJECT THEFT. Turn any corner that Friday morning and someone was talking about it.
‘I don’t get it,’ said Ruby. ‘I mean why does anyone think Del would do something that means she’s bound to get caught? Sure, she can be dumb sometimes, but this is off the idiot scale.’
‘Yeah,’ said Clancy, ‘it’s not her style. She’s a lot of things, but she’s not a planner.’
‘It’s not a very good plan,’ said Mouse.
‘Good plan, bad plan, that’s not the point,’ continued Clancy. ‘What I’m saying is, she hasn’t got the patience for a plan.’
‘No,’ agreed Elliot, ‘she’s strictly sock you in the nose and ask questions later.’
It was during that morning that the whole sorry incident was explained. It didn’t make the least bit more sense than it had yesterday, but it did get Del Lasco off the hook. Fortunate for Del, less fortunate for the poor schmuck who was about to take the blame.
Ruby had gone off to the City Library; she needed a particular translation of a book she was studying for music class, Sounds and Furies in E Minor, and she had been granted a couple of hours off campus.
Clancy, meanwhile, was in his behavioural science class, standing up front explaining why and how he had come up with the idea for his project and the lengths he had gone to collecting the evidence.
‘I set this camera up in the main corridor that leads to the lockers. I wanted to prove that the locke
r areas are invaluable to students.’
Vapona yawned.
Mr Cornsworth said, ‘Put a sock in it, Miss Begwell.’
Clancy continued. ‘My theory is that it is important for students to gather, talk, hang out, and the lockers are instrumental in strengthening bonds between individuals. Students migrate to the lockers not only for practical reasons but also because it helps bring about natural collisions and allows people to engineer social interaction without fear of losing face.’
Vapona was cleaning her ears with a pencil and generally making a big display to her friends about how bored she was. Gemma Melamare was checking her nose in the mirror of her compact.
Mr Cornsworth was trying to look encouraging. Not every student put so much effort into the projects he set, so he was appreciative of Clancy’s hard work.
‘OK,’ said Clancy, ‘you can run the tape.’ Mr Cornsworth switched out the lights and everyone stared at the screen. The film flickered on and students began walking up and down the school corridor. Clancy had sped up the playback so several days’ observation could be covered in just a few minutes.
It was during the very last section, the final frames of the film, that something peculiar happened.
A slight girl with long dark hair walked down the corridor to the bank of lockers. She was wearing a pair of jeans, Yellow Stripe sneakers and a short sleeved T-shirt with the word Bozo printed across the front.
As she walked, she looked around her like she was watching to see if anyone was coming, then out of her satchel she took a file. On the file was written, clear as day: Vapona Begwell. The quality of the picture captured by Clancy’s camera was really very good.
The girl could then be seen reaching for something in her back pocket. Her hair was kept in place by a fly barrette; the barrette kept her hair from falling too far over her right eye.
The girl pushed the key into the lock of locker 237, Del’s locker, and looking around her again, just checking the coast was clear, she yanked open the door and quickly but deliberately stuffed everything in. When she was done, she could be seen hurrying off in the opposite direction.
She looked shifty, sure, she looked satisfied, and most of all she looked like Ruby Redfort.
Chapter 49.
Always better to know
IT WAS NOT A HALF HOUR AFTER THIS REVELATION THAT MRS LASCO GOT A PHONE CALL. It was from the school secretary, Mrs Bexenheath.
‘Mrs Lasco, could you please bring Del back to school. Principal Levine would like to have a chat with her.’
Mrs Lasco replied, ‘I don’t see how she can have got in any more trouble, she’s been sitting right here in my study – I’m watching her.’
Ruby Redfort was blissfully unaware of what had just transpired. She had been deep in a movement in E minor when at 11am the behavioural science group was being given an inside track into her true nature. She didn’t actually leave the library and arrive back at school until noon and by then everyone in Twinford Junior High knew what kind of kid Ruby Redfort really was. By now, Del Lasco also knew.
As Ruby walked her way down the main corridor she got a weird feeling like a tsunami might be about to hit. People weren’t quite looking her in the eye, they were muttering. It all seemed eerily quiet.
‘Is it me who’s the zombie? Or is it everyone else?’
No answer.
‘Hey, Del,’ she called.
Del didn’t answer.
‘Del!’ she shouted. ‘Is all forgiven? Did they catch the true culprit?’
Del Lasco merely turned her head, pausing for just a few seconds, barely giving her the time of day. ‘Redfort, I just thought you were cooler than this,’ she said.
‘What?’ said Ruby. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about.’
‘Yeah right, you get in a bit of trouble with your mom and dad, your crabby neighbour and the local law enforcement, and it’s payback time, is that it?’
‘What …?’
But Del had already turned on her heel and was walking off down the corridor, her hand raised in the internationally understood ‘Save it for someone who gives a darn’ gesture.
Ruby was sort of frozen, unsure what she was meant to do. What exactly had just happened and why was Del so mad at her? She didn’t need to wait long to find out – five minutes later and she too was sitting in front of Principal Levine trying to figure out what on earth was going on.
She was then sent straight home. Neither of her parents could be contacted and it was Mrs Digby who picked up the happy news.
‘Child, what in tarnation is going on?’
‘Beats me, Mrs Digby, but I swear someone is out to ruin my life.’
Mrs Digby put her hands on her hips. ‘Something is strange, that’s for darn sure. I might have to start reading your horoscope, see if I can’t figure it out.’
Ruby glanced at the kitchen clock.
‘So when are mom and dad getting back?’ she asked. ‘I don’t think I’m in the mood for a grilling.’
‘You’re in luck,’ said Mrs Digby. ‘They decided to leave for Washington this morning. They won’t have to hear about this little fiasco until Monday night.’
Ruby spent the next couple of hours reading a book on psychological training. It was all about how to develop strength of mind and character. With Blacker out to get her and someone framing her at junior high – not to mention some threat out there that had got Hitch worried enough to send her to kung fu school – Ruby figured her mind could use some strengthening.
She read until her stomach reminded her she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, and decided it was time to head down to the kitchen.
Hitch was there, eating a Digby club sandwich (a Mrs Digby special) and he raised a hand in greeting when she walked in.
She returned the gesture, took some juice from the refrigerator and picked up the evening paper that was lying on the counter top.
Drip, drip, drip.
‘What’s that sound?’ she said.
‘Leaking tap,’ said Hitch. ‘The plumber is on his way.’
‘You couldn’t fix it yourself?’
‘Sure I could,’ said Hitch. ‘It’s a simple case of replacing the valve, which if I’m looking at it correctly is a 3/4 inch ceramic. But I’ve got bigger fish to fry.’
‘Some butler you are.’
‘House manager,’ corrected Hitch, ‘and nowhere in my job description does it say I have to fix taps.’
‘You don’t have a job description,’ said Ruby, ‘you’re not actually a house manager.’
‘Exactly, so let’s wait for the plumber.’
Ruby spread out the paper. There was a piece titled TELL US YOUR WORST FEARS. Several interviewees had told the Twinford Hound about the things they most dreaded. One woman, Julia from Apple Oak County, had claimed dry hands were right up there in the nightmare department. Greg from Mountain View had claimed meeting a brown bear as his greatest fear and this Ruby felt was a little more on the scale.
‘One of my worst fears, I guess, would be having the whole of my junior high school think I’m a lowdown lying sneak.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that worst fear came true,’ said Hitch.
‘Oh it’s OK,’ said Ruby. ‘I’m sure it’s character building – I’ve been reading up on psychological strength and training.’ She took a big swig of juice. ‘Mrs Digby told you what happened, huh?’
‘Yep,’ said Hitch, ‘she thinks there is something wrongly aligned in your stars.’
‘Maybe’s she’s right,’ said Ruby. ‘Something somewhere is out of whack, that’s for sure, not that my parents are going to see it that way.’ She made a face. ‘Nope, when they find out about this I’ll be right back in the dog house.’
‘You’ve got a couple of days until they get home, you might as well enjoy your freedom because by Monday evening I reckon you’ll be back on Lemon duty.’
‘You’re right,’ said Ruby. ‘I think I might go out, breathe the air as a free person while I st
ill can.’
She took Bug with her and she was glad of his company. She rode the subway to Chinatown, and left the dog sitting outside the dojo while she trained. There was no chance of Bug walking off: he would wait for her no matter what. There was no chance of him being dog-napped either: he knew how to defend himself.
It was after her training, as she stepped off the train at Greenstreet, that she was particularly grateful to have him at her side. The feeling of being watched, observed, followed, was perhaps heightened by the day’s dramatic events, but however much she wanted to, she didn’t think she was imagining it.
It was a relief to slam the door behind her, turn all three locks and sit in the cosy light of the kitchen, drinking her drink and listening to the drip, drip of the tap.
The plumber had obviously not made it after all. The drip of the tap was not so different from the drip drip beyond the window; the rain seemed to have set in for the duration and Ruby stared at the droplets running down the huge expanse of glass.
She sat there for a long time just thinking, until the kitchen sounds were interrupted by the perky ping of the doorbell. Ruby didn’t answer. Mrs Digby was out at her blackjack class, and Hitch … she had no idea where he was.
She didn’t stir from her seat until she became aware of the knocking on the back door and then a familiar…
‘It’s me, Clancy – are you there?’
Only then did Ruby finally get up and open the door.
He sat down next to her and without any preamble came straight to the point.
‘I know it wasn’t you in the video footage, and don’t worry because I am going to prove it, though I feel kinda bad that it’s because of me that you are in this mess.’
‘It’s not your fault,’ said Ruby.
‘I know, but I still feel bad,’ said Clancy.
‘Well don’t,’ said Ruby. ‘Do you remember how you were telling me about that magician guy a month back?’
‘The one with the stupid name?’
