Following two slow dances, the DJ played several fast songs. After the third one, I pulled Michael off the dance floor, fanning myself with my hand. “I can’t believe how warm it is in here!” I fairly shouted to be heard over the thrumming music.
Michael pulled me closer to him and bent his head over my ear.“Do you want something to drink? I can get us some sodas or water over there in the corner.”
I nodded. “Please. I’ll just sit right here.” I plopped down in the nearest empty chair. “Recovering.”
“Resting up for the next dance, you mean,” he teased.
I rolled my eyes. “Just get me something to drink, please!” As he strolled off toward the refreshment table, I scanned the room quickly, looking toward Nell’s table. Even through the dark, I could make out Liza and Madeline sitting there along with a few other girls I didn’t recognize because they had their backs to me. But I could clearly see that neither Amber nor Nell were at the table. I looked at the dance floor, then all around the room. As far as I could see, there was no sign of Nell’s flaming red dress. I jumped out of my seat and met Michael on his way back to me, holding two bottles of water.
“Couldn’t wait? Just had to get back out to the dance floor?” he teased.
I shook my head. “Did you see Nell or Amber over there anywhere?”
His smile fading, Michael shook his head. “No. Why?”
“They’re not at their table, or anywhere I can see in here. I’m going to check the ladies room, and if they’re not there….” I met his eyes anxiously. “We’ve got to assume the worst.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Go check, I’ll make the rounds in here, just to make sure they’re not just hanging out in the shadows.”
The girls’ rest room was small, with a long line outside. I paused, considering the best way to find out who might be inside. Desperate times, I decided, called for extreme measures, so I stood in line, closed my eyes and relaxed my mind.
The murmur of minds coming from the line was the first thing I heard before I stretched out my parameters. Inside the bathroom itself, it sounded as though there were three people, including one at the sink. I winced as I tuned into their very private thoughts, but it was fairly simple to be sure that none of the girls were Nell or Amber.
As I turned to leave the line and find Michael, I nearly ran right into Casey. Her light red hair was gelled back away from her face, and the short green dress she wore made her look even more like an adorable pixie than usual. The look on her face as she stepped away from me was far from cute, though.
“Do you mind!” she exclaimed, annoyance dripping from her voice.
I didn’t have time for the niceties. “Casey, I didn’t see you. Sorry. Where is Nell?”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows lifted in surprise and sardonic amusement. “Excuse me?”
“I don’t have time to explain right now. I just need to find her.”
Even as her mouth opened to stall me further, I shook my head in impatience and concentrated on listening to her, ignoring what she was saying out loud to me.
What is the deal with this freak? Like I would tell her anything about Nell. If I tell her Nell left, she’d probably rat her out to some teacher.
“Did she leave alone?” I interrupted Casey’s sarcastic reply to my last statement.
She looked at me, startled into honesty for once. “Yes. She was alone. She said she had to get something ready. I don’t know, Nell can be… cryptic sometimes. I just thought she was preparing—well, never mind. Why would you be looking for her?”
I didn’t bother to answer, just walked away from Casey and looked around frantically for Michael. I spotted him across the room, moving away from the table where Liza was still sitting.
“They’re not here,” I reported as soon as he was near me.
“I know. I just got it out of a very reluctant Liza, that Nell left about half an hour ago, and then Amber got a call and said she had to leave, too. It’s too much of a coincidence. It’s got to be tonight.”
“But where?” I was panicking, feeling helpless. “The only ones who might know are Nell’s friends, and they’re not going to tell us any more than they have.”
Michael looked as stressed as I felt. “If I start asking them, can you listen, to hear what they might be thinking and not telling?”
I nodded, and we both turned back toward their table. Liza was walking past us, and Michael grabbed her arm.
“What is your deal?” she shrieked at him. “You know, you used to be halfway normal, until she got here. I don’t know what your problem is.”
“I need to know what Nell’s been up to, Liza. I’ve been hearing rumors, and I want to know where she is right now.”
I closed my eyes and focused on Liza’s mind. How could he know, what does he know? Is he bluffing? Can’t say anything to him, Nell will kill me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Like I told you when you dragged it out of me, Nell said she had to leave a little while ago. Maybe she wasn’t having a good time here. Who knows? What do you care?”
Could Nell be up to something the rest of us don’t know about? She’s been so secretive lately, even more so than usual. Maybe she’s planning something.
“Where do you hang out, all of you? Is there a special place Nell might go?” I knew Michael was trying to get information without giving away too much of what we suspected.
“Look, I don’t know what your problem is. I’m not going to tell you anything about Nell. We both know that. So why don’t you just leave me alone and get back to whatever it is people like you do at dances?”
Would she go to the woods? Without the rest of us? I thought before she might be going there more often than just when we had our meetings, but she told me I was wrong. It’s not safe for her to be there by herself.
I saw a flash of images in her mind, pine trees, girls in the dark, but it could have been anywhere. I thought of the acres of wooded fields and forests that lay between the boarders of town and Sawood Nursery, land I saw every time Michael drove me out to his house. It would be impossible for us to find Nell and Amber there, and I wasn’t even certain those were the woods Liza was remembering. The entire town was surrounded by trees like that.
I shot Michael a pleading look. “I need more,” I whispered. “She’s not being specific enough.”
Liza was looking at the two of us suspiciously. “What’s going on?” Her voice had lost some of its rancor.
I could tell that Michael had decided we had to risk a little more, in order to get what we needed from Liza.
“Nell’s involved in something, and it’s putting both her and Amber in danger. You need to tell us what you know, so maybe we can stop anything really bad from happening. That’s all I can tell you.”
Liza was unsure. Her eyes darted back and forth between us, and her thoughts were scattered and sketchy.
“I don’t know,” she breathed. “Nell will be so angry at me. If you’re lying to me—if you’re trying to use me to hurt her—”
“Liza.” I put all the urgency I was feeling into my voice. “I promise you, we’re trying to help. This is serious. You’ve been suspicious about what Nell’s been doing. You’re right. Please, tell us where she would go.”
I could feel the moment she gave in. “We—we sometimes meet in the forest out by Lake Rosu. You park at the lake, then follow the trail at the east end. There’s a large rock in the middle of the trail that divides it in two. You turn off the trail at that point, just walk straight to the east. There’s a clearing about—oh, I don’t know how far it is, we always just know when we get there.” She dropped her head and sighed. “That’s all I can tell you.”
Michael grabbed my hand. “I hope it’s enough. Come on, Tasmyn.”