He squeezed her hand. “Then I’ll come get you, wherever you are when it happens. We’ll be okay.”

“But what about everybody else?”

He stared out across the river, nodding slowly. “My guess is, everybody else is in big trouble.”

9

7:15 A.M.

MISS TRUST

At the kitchen door the next morning Jessica breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe for a few more minutes—Beth wasn’t up yet.

“Morning, Jess. Toast?”

Jessica checked for signs of imminent re-grounding in her mother’s expression but saw only sleepiness and the usual lines of stress. Apparently Beth hadn’t raised any alarms last night.

“Sure, Mom. Thanks.” Jessica sat down at the table. Maybe Jonathan was right, and the trick to dealing with Beth was to call her bluff.

Somehow, though, Jessica didn’t think it was going to be that easy.

Her mother popped two slices of bread into the toaster, then turned her attention back to the coffeemaker gurgling happily on the counter. “Any plans tonight?”

“Um, no.” Jessica frowned. “Hang on, was that question a subtle recognition of the fact that I’m not grounded anymore?”

“Not exactly subtle,” her mother said. “I don’t do subtlety before coffee.” She splashed milk into an empty mug, her eyes remaining fixed on the black brew now dribbling into the pot.

“Well, you’re tons more subtle than Dad. Yesterday afternoon he said he was keeping an eye on me.”

“He is.” Mom looked at Jessica. “But I’m just going to say that I trust you. How’s that for good parenting?”

“It’s great. But didn’t you used to be the bad cop?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Her mother gave the coffeepot a look of intense concentration. “Takes too much energy, though. At least your father’s taking up the slack somewhere.”

“Well, thanks anyway. I won’t let you down.” The words came out automatically, but Jessica felt a twinge of guilt as they left her lips. She had crossed a new line just the night before. It was one thing sneaking out during the secret hour, which hardly counted as breaking curfew; when every clock in the world was frozen, surely time was a meaningless concept. Plus there were darklings to slay and lost kids to rescue.

But last night she hadn’t gotten home till about 2 A.M., cutting solidly into school-night real time. Crusty sleep still caked her eyes, and red Oklahoma dust had spun around the drain for a solid minute while she’d showered.

Not that she regretted it. Their visit to the motionless river had been worth any amount of lost sleep. Just like air during the blue time, the water had been as warm as a summer day. Jonathan said that you could go swimming in the middle of winter. With the current arrested, the broad river was like one big heated swimming pool. The water had seemed to wash away the pain in her slither-bitten hand, not to mention all the tension between her and Jonathan.