But Tora ignored her brother and kept on talking. “After all, if it wasn’t for you, Maria Abruzzo, Argus wouldn’t be the second-hairiest student in school.”

The laughter doubled in volume, led mostly by Argus.

Maria wasn’t taking the joke very well, and her eyes lit up like a pair of lasers pointed straight at Tora. “You know, Tora, I bet if I went digging through your school files I’d be hard-pressed to find birth certificates for any of you.” She was smiling now. “What do you think?”

Tora was at a loss for words, and she was sure that Noble would have been just as speechless at a moment like this.

“There’s a story there,” Maria said. “Isn’t there?”

None of the pack said a word.

“I thought so.”

Principal Terashita entered the cafeteria then to supervise the lunch hour. All of the students got back to eating their lunches…everyone except for Tora, who suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

Chapter 9

The rest of the school day passed without incident, and Tora, Argus, and Harlan were eager to get home and check on Noble, then maybe go for a run to clear away the tension of the day.

“How’s he doing?” Tora asked Phyllis as they stepped into the house.

“He isn’t any better,” she said, matter-of-factly.

Each member of the pack was silent, knowing the situation was serious.

But then Phyllis’s face brightened. “But he isn’t any worse, either.”

Tora breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was something, she thought. If he wasn’t getting any worse, then maybe in a day or two he could start getting better again. It gave her and the rest of the pack some hope.

“Can we see him?” asked Argus.

Phyllis nodded. “And try to get him to drink some more.”

“Hasn’t he been drinking?” Harlan wanted to know.

“He has, but I’m running out of ways to get him to do it.”

“We’ll do our best,” Tora said, stepping past Phyllis and leading the pack into the bedroom, where Noble still lay on his bed.

Phyllis was right. Noble’s body hadn’t gone through any new changes. It was still caught between a number of different forms that Noble was unable to do anything about.

“Hey,” said Tora as she entered the room. “How’s it going?” It was a silly question considering Noble’s condition, but Tora didn’t know what else to say. What could you say to a brother who was fighting for his life?

“Great,” Noble managed to say. “I’ve always wanted to watch TV all day.” He held up his mutated and misshapen hand. “If only I could change the channel.”

The pack laughed, happy to know that Noble still had his sense of humor.