Chapters (38)
- Front Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Cover
With a smug grin, Obscura tucked the dream inside the pocket of her warm-up top, and the killer insect zapped away. A hysterical squeak of a laugh slipped out through Maren’s tears, and she covered it with a sob as she climbed down into the trap room, not daring to look at Amos.
The wheels of her plan had creaked into motion.
Twenty-Eight
Maren waited until Obscura’s footsteps faded away across the stage. Then she waited a bit longer. She silently marked out her routine for the tap-dancing recital four times, then every other combination she could think of, plus a few more she made up. The trap room felt no less creepy and stifling in the daytime, but at least there didn’t seem to be any moths. She wiped her mouth and ran her fingers through her hair, just to be sure. Then she dragged the block underneath the trapdoor and pulled the safety pin from her pocket.
“Henri,” she whisper-yelled, poking the pin up through the crack. “Look what I’ve got.”
No answer. Maren stood on tiptoe and jammed the safety pin up so far that splinters dug into her fingers.
“Henri! Come get this beautiful, silvery safety pin. Here, birdie-birdie.” Her lips were so dry it took her several tries to manage a whistle.
Suddenly the safety pin jerked. Maren almost lost her grip, but managed to snatch it back. From the stage above came an irritated squawk.
“Henri.” Maren poked just the tip of the safety pin up, not enough for him to get a grip on. “Can you say something new for me?”
Henri’s beak scrabbled around, trying to get the pin.
“Henri,” said Maren. “Say, ‘You’ll never, ever wake.’”
“MAREN IS IN THE STARLIGHT THEATER.”
Maren wiggled the safety pin a little so that it would catch the light. “That’s very good, but let’s try this one: You’ll never, ever wake. You’ll never, ever wake. Say it, Henri.”
“TON PERE EST UN HAMSTER.”
“Listen to me, Henri,” said Maren, determined not to let the frustration show in her voice. “This is to help Gran-Gran. You want to save her, don’t you?”
A long pause.
“EVERRR WAKE.”
“That’s it!” Maren pushed the pin nearly all the way out and let Henri get a good taste of the metal, then drew it back. “You’ll never, ever wake until you let them go.”
“NEVERNEVER WAKE, YOU’LL NEVERNEVER WAKE.”
“Good,” whispered Maren. “You’ll never, ever wake until you let them go.”
“UNTIL YOU LET THEM GO. YOU’LL NEVER, NEVER WAKE.”
Maren made him practice a few more times, then jerked the safety pin all the way inside. “Henri, listen to me.”
The bird’s clawed feet hopped one way, then the other.
“Henri, are you listening?”
Another earsplitting squawk.
“Henri, go find Obscura. The jolie mademoiselle. Go to that room with the lamp and find the jolie mademoiselle.”