Death, and the Girl He Loves

“I remember.”

“Well, he had other children with another woman. It was from that line that Dyson descended. The husband had retained many of Arabeth’s documents. Among them was a grimoire. She never used it. Said its power would sour the user. Would foul the mind. Dyson had inherited it along with some other of Arabeth’s other writings. He had it translated and he realized what it was. He started using the spells it contained and, well, started turning his life around. He got very rich very fast and he figured, why stop there?”

“So all this boiled down to two lines of descendants that had never stopped fighting.”

“That’s my take on it. Oh, and there was someone in there looking for you.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Found her!”

Ms. Mullins walked out of the dining hall, carrying a plate and a red Solo cup.

“Thanks,” she said, clearly not meaning it.

“Sorry, I got sidetracked.”

She looked in horror toward the forest. “I can see that. What on earth?”

I patted to an empty chair next to me. “Boys. They’re all crazy.”

“Except me,” Glitch said.

Brooke scoffed. “If I’m remembering things correctly, and I’m pretty sure I am, you once believed turtles were going to take over the world.”

“I still do,” he said, completely serious. “They have beady eyes and sharp beaks.”

I was just about to ask what that had to do with world domination, but Mac interrupted.

“What did you say?” he asked Glitch. He seemed astounded by something Glitch said.

“Turtles,” he repeated after taking another bite of his burger. “They’re going to take over the world. I saw it in a dream when I was a kid. Also, one bit me once. They bite hard and it got really infected. I hate them.” He took a drink of his orange soda, then continued. “I hate them all.”

Brooke fought a grin as Mac said, “That’s amazing.”

That got our attention. “What?” we asked in unison.

“You may find this a really bizarre coincidence, but Dyson’s real name was Norman Terrapin-Sydow. He dropped the Terrapin early on, then later changed his name entirely to Jake Dyson. But terrapin, it’s a species of freshwater turtles. He changed his name after he got into some trouble back East. That’s why it took me a while to locate him. He went by Terrapin for most of his life.”

“See!” Glitch said, thrilled that he was right all along. “What’d I tell you?”

“He even had a huge tattoo of a turtle on his back.”

Brooke and I blinked, a tad horrified that Glitch had been right all along.

“I win,” he said, taking another bite. “Don’t ever doubt me, girls. You’ll live to regret it, I promise.”

Brooke turned to me, still in shock. “Is this going to go to his head?”

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “We could be in some real trouble.”

“Was that a human?” Ms. Mullins asked, her eyes wide in alarm.

“Probably,” I said to her. “They’ll be okay. They do this all the time.”

She nodded, lifted a forkful of potato salad to her mouth, then let it hover there as she listened to another crack followed by a loud groan. But the part that really seemed to horrify her was the evil laugh that drifted toward us.

I wasn’t sure if I should tell her or not, but since the war was basically over, having never been started, I didn’t think it would hurt anything. I leaned over to her and said quietly, “I know you’re the observer.”

She put her fork down. “How did you know?” she asked, her eyes shimmering in the firelight.

“Are you remembering like all the others?”

After she sighed haplessly, she said, “I am. I wasn’t sure what to say. What to report to the Vatican.”

“If you don’t want to tell them I know, don’t. I’m not going to tell anyone. Unless they remember from the other reality, no one but me will be aware of your position.”

“So,” Dad said as he came out and crouched down between us. “The observer, huh?”

Mac blinked in surprise. “You’re the observer?”

“She sure is. And a darned good one, from what I’m told.” He patted her back. “Welcome to the fold. Now that you’ll be kicked out, we’ll always have a place for you.”

He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, frowned in the general direction of the sound of a tree falling, then went back inside.

I looked that way, too. “Never mind.”

Ms. Mullins finally put the fork in her mouth, chewed a moment, then said, “It was fun while it lasted.”

I felt bad. They would replace her now, though I had no idea why. What else could happen?

Tabitha pulled up then, her stereo blaring, her sports car flashing red even in the low light as she slammed the door and marched toward me. Straight toward me. Fists on hips. Mouth forming a thin line of anger.

“You didn’t,” she said, then paused for dramatic effect before adding, “come over. I had no idea what to wear to this stupid party.”

I stood and took Brooke’s and Glitch’s plates before turning toward the dining hall. Brooke winked at me mirthfully. “Sorry, Tab. I was a little busy.”

“Too busy for me? Your best friend? Your go-to girl?”

I walked to the trash barrel just outside the dining hall, tossed in the plates, then turned back to her. “How come we’re best friends only when you want to be best friends?”