“Hello!” Ralph called out. “It’s me! I was here a few days ago.”
Orrin moved closer, but he didn’t look any happier.
“I know you’re closed,” Ralph said loudly. “Sorry, I just have a few questions.”
Orrin was twenty feet away. It was clear now to see that not only was he unhappy, he was carrying some sort of antique tranquilizer gun over his shoulder.
Ralph and Sam took a couple of steps back.
Orrin walked up to the bars. “You might have noticed the sign. We’re closed for testing.”
“I see that,” Ralph said. “But I have a couple of questions. It won’t take a second.”
Orrin grimaced.
“I have a first question,” Sam blurted out. “What’s with the gun?”
Orrin lifted the gun off his shoulder and looked at it as he held it in both hands. It was old and the stock was elaborately carved out of wood.
“It’s a tranquilizer gun. We’ve had a little problem with mountain lions. I’m taking a great risk even being out here. But when someone leans on their horn repeatedly, I feel I have to at least investigate.”
Ralph wasn’t really listening. He pulled the photo from his front shirt pocket and unfolded it.
“When we were here before, you showed me two of the students you work with.”
“Yes, I remember. Two of our toughest. Such a sad situation. And…?”
“And while we were in the city, I found this picture in a frame at a yard sale.”
Ralph handed the picture to Orrin. Orrin looked at the picture closely and then flipped it over and read the names on the back.
“I don’t think I understand what the connection is,” Orrin said through the bars.
“I think they’re the same kids.”
Orrin studied the picture again. “I don’t believe so. But if they are, that wouldn’t surprise me. I think I remember hearing that they were from the city.”
“I thought you said your students were brought in from all over.”
“I might have, and that’d be true. But we do receive some from within the state. And I believe these two were from the city.”
“I thought you said they weren’t the same kids,” Sam asked suspiciously.
“Well, I don’t believe they are.”
“Can I come in and see them again?” Ralph asked.
“I don’t think so,” Orrin said. “They are of no concern to you. Besides, the boy has been returned to his home.”
“In the city?”
“No, his family lives elsewhere now.”
“Where?” Sam challenged.
“I can’t divulge that information.”
“Listen,” Ralph said desperately. “This is really important. I know it’s not how you usually handle things, but it’s all I have to go on. Do the kids have a last name?”
“I can’t say.”
“Please,” Ralph begged.
“Fine, it’s Burkenfield. But you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Thank you. You don’t know how—” Ralph stopped talking and his eyes widened. “What was that?”
Orrin spun quickly to see what Ralph was looking at. There was nothing but the cobblestone path and trees. “What was what?”
“I think I saw something moving behind those trees,” Ralph said.
Orrin pointed the tranquilizer gun in that direction.
“It must have been that mountain lion,” Orrin said nervously. “I need to get inside. Good luck with your quest. I’d say I’d be happy to help you further, but there’s nothing else I can offer. And I’m not particularly happy at the moment.”
“Wait,” Ralph insisted. “That picture might have been dropped off by a woman named Martha. Are you positive you don’t have any Marthas here?”
“I’m positive of two things,” Orrin said, bothered. “I’m positive that there’s no one named Martha here, and I’m positive that you should leave immediately. How much help can a man give? Because I have given you more than a fair share. Now, good day!”
Orrin turned and started a weird-looking jog back to the school.
“Can you imagine him at a party?” Sam asked. “Everyone would leave.”
Ralph and Sam got into the taxi and began the drive down the steep switchbacks.
“I don’t think that was a mountain lion in those trees,” Ralph said with concern. “Did you see it?”
“I didn’t see anything,” Sam admitted. “I was too busy wishing that guy would stop talking so we could get the heck off this mesa. Did you see him? His eyes are two different colors. Something’s wrong with the water here.”
“I don’t know about the water, but I know what a mountain lion looks like, and that didn’t look anything like one. I think it had feathers.”
“Listen, Lumpy. This is a dead end. It was weird finding that picture, but it was just a coincidence.”
“It could be more,” Ralph said. “I got a last name.”
“It’s probably not connected to you. I hate to say—”
Sam slammed on the car’s brakes as he swerved to miss an animal darting across the road. He safely swerved back and continued driving.
“Wow. That’ll make your heart race.”
The two grown men took a moment to breathe.
“What’d you almost hit?”
“I’m not sure, but it wasn’t a mountain lion.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
Sam drove the taxi swiftly down the mesa and away from Witherwood.
CHAPTER 18
TASTY DETECTIVE WORK
Waiting is the worst. Waiting for a train, waiting for your break, waiting for a movie, waiting for your waiter (which is sort of ironic), waiting for the seasons to change, waiting for your life to begin, waiting for this sentence to end.
Waiting stinks.
Some people wait for the mail. Some wait for a better world. Others seem to be waiting for the world’s end. We all have to wait at certain points in our life. I can’t wait until that’s not the case. Of course, there are always those weirdos who enjoy waiting. That man who loves long lines. That woman who hopes Christmas will never arrive. That child who would watch commercials all day while waiting for his favorite show to start. I just don’t understand people sometimes.
Wait, maybe that’s what makes life so interesting.
For Tobias, the worst part about Witherwood was the waiting. Now that he had a clear mind, things seemed long and tedious. And since he was monitored constantly during the day, he had to wait (there’s that word) until everyone was asleep at night to ever get anything important done. So while preparing food and doing dishes, he had to grit his teeth, play dumb, and count the seconds until he would be returned to his room.
Today was particularly painful, because Tobias had a plan and he wanted to act on it. Unfortunately, his plan required him to do a few things first, and he couldn’t do those things during the day while every Gulp and Himzakity was watching him like an Orrin.
Tobias went through his routine, working on breakfast, going to class, eating sandwiches at lunch, and spending the rest of the day listening to Himzakity talk about bad children becoming something good. The worst part was that there was never an opportunity to see Charlotte or his friends. So, like usual, the long day had no bright spots.
At the end of the school day, Tobias was brought back to the kitchen to help with dinner. As he worked, he struggled with playing dumb, and he also struggled with the desire to forget what he knew about the pudding and just eat it anyway.
Today the staff had been serving extra-large doses of the dessert, and Tobias had brought hundreds of cans up from the kitchen cellar. The ingredients listed on the can looked normal, but Tobias knew that Ms. Gulp always mixed something extra in.
One of the things Marvin’s voice did to a person’s brain was to make them lose all curiosity. So Tobias knew that the moment he began snooping around, it would look suspicious. He decided to play superdumb as he was helping the s
taff prepare the dinner. He brought up ten more cans of pudding and gave them to Ms. Gulp. She took the cans to a small room on the side of the kitchen. After waiting a few moments, Tobias took a deep breath and then walked directly into the small room while pretending to look for something.
Ms. Gulp spotted him immediately.
“What are you doing in here?” she barked.
“I’m fine.”
“I didn’t ask how you were. Now out.”
“Okay.” Tobias just stood there with a smile on his face, staring at Ms. Gulp.
“You’ve got the brain capacity of a marble.”
Tobias tried to take in everything he could without moving his head or looking interested. He could see Ms. Gulp standing over a large metal bowl filled with pudding. There were empty pudding cans all over and a large black glass jar near the bowl. Tobias let his jaw go slack to look even less intelligent.
“I don’t know why I bother telling you anything,” Ms. Gulp said with disgust. “What’s the point of talking at someone so dim? It’s like talking to a Paul. Here, stir this.”
Ms. Gulp handed Tobias a long wooden ladle and moved aside.
“Mix it until I tell you to stop.”
Tobias started to mix. He turned his arm in a clockwise motion over and over again.
Ms. Gulp picked up the black glass jar and walked over to the wall, where she placed it in a cabinet and then locked the cabinet door. Tobias slowed his stirring as he watched her.
“Stir faster,” Ms. Gulp commanded.
Tobias stirred like the wind.
“It’s amazing what Marvin’s voice does to you children. They should broadcast his voice over the world, get every brat to fall in line.”
Tobias smiled as he stirred.
“I could say anything and you’d do it.”
“Yes,” Tobias said happily.
“Stick your hand in that pudding.”
Tobias did exactly as she ordered. He stuck his right hand deep into the large bowl of pudding. The cold chocolate pushed up through his fingers and covered his wrist. He was confident that he was breaking some sort of health code, but as far as orders went, it could have been worse.
“Stir.”
Tobias moved his hand in a clockwise circle, stirring the pudding.
The smell was fantastic!
“What a dolt,” Ms. Gulp said, laughing. “A real fool. Eat a handful.”
Tobias was both sad and happy about the new command. He knew there was something bad about the pudding, but he had missed the dessert. Cupping a large fistful, he brought some chocolate treat up to his face and sloppily pushed it into his mouth.
Ms. Gulp giggled.
“Take some and smear it in your hair!”
It seemed like a waste of perfectly delicious pudding. But Tobias did as he was told. He took a giant handful and plopped it on top of his head. He smeared it around, smiling.
Ms. Gulp loved it.
“What a dumb kid,” she hooted. “Now hum something.”
Tobias began to hum “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” He had never felt more idiotic, but he knew that if he said no or stopped obeying, she might take him back to Marvin.
“Do a little dance!” Ms. Gulp clapped like she was a child who had just received the Christmas present she had always wished for. “A little dance!”
Tobias hummed and swayed. It was not his finest moment.
“Eat more pudding!”
Tobias hummed and swayed while shoving pudding into his mouth. It tasted great, but it was still an embarrassing moment.
Ms. Gulp was bent over laughing. Her red hair was spilling out of its clips and her square body was shaking like a package of fatty Jell-O. She stamped her feet in little circles and acted as if she had never in her entire life had so much fun.
Tobias was covered in pudding. The stuff in his hair was dripping down his head and back, and the pudding that had missed his mouth was covering his neck and chest. It looked like he was wearing long, dark, fancy gloves on both of his hands. He resembled a dancing pudding pop that had melted and then exploded.
Ms. Gulp was crying with laughter.
“You are so bum,” she wailed incorrectly. “When the universe was passing out brains, you thought they said pasta.”
It was at this moment that Orrin walked in. He took one look at Tobias and slapped his hands to his cheeks in disgust. Ms. Gulp tried unsuccessfully to stop laughing.
“What are you doing?” Orrin demanded. “He’s not even supposed to be in this room.”
“Don’t worry about him,” Ms. Gulp said, trying to catch her breath. “His brain is so gooey, he’ll do whatever you say.”
Tobias continued to dance and hum.
“This is highly inappropriate,” Orrin pointed out.
Orrin’s statement almost made Tobias laugh. Witherwood was a school that captured children, brainwashed their minds, fed them suspicious food, and aged them. And Orrin thought the pudding dance was over the line?
“Lighten up, old man,” Ms. Gulp said. “This is my kitchen and he loves it. Just look at him.”
Tobias continued to hum and dance.
Orrin’s shoulders relaxed. “He really is under Marvin’s spell, isn’t he?”
“Completely. Watch this. Stick your head in that bowl.”
Tobias bent over and stuck his head directly into the large bowl of pudding. It squished up around his ears and covered his eyes. He kept his head in the bowl until he was told to take it out.
“Now you tell him to do something.”
“Fine,” Orrin said, still acting as if the whole situation was a bit beneath him. “Recite the alphabet.”
“A, b, d, c, e, f, g, h, i, k, j, l, m, n, o, p, q, s, r, t, u, v, w, x, y, z.”
“I should have known you’d ask him to do something boring,” Ms. Gulp complained.
Orrin was offended. “Well, we shouldn’t be doing this at all. Look at all the pudding you’ve wasted. You know how important each serving is these days. The children won’t be ready for extraction unless they have the proper dose.”
It was working. Tobias was covered in pudding and still quietly reciting the alphabet aloud, and Ms. Gulp and Orrin were so convinced of his brainwashing that they were talking freely in front of him.
“I put extra in the batch,” Ms. Gulp said. “They are getting at least twice the amount they usually get.”
“You mean extra in that pudding?” Orrin asked while pointing his bony white finger at Tobias.
“It’s still good,” she insisted. “What they don’t know won’t hurt me. Besides, there’s plenty more. I know what Marvin wants, and I know we must have all students extracted before the new group arrives. I’m aware of what’s on the line, Orrin.”
“Good, because we will have our biggest payoff this season. The money will be phenomenal. We’ll be wealthy enough to buy the very product these children are making.”
“Good. I don’t spend my days making meals for these ungrateful brats just to retire old and poor. I do it because I want to retire to my own private island where there are no children and nothing but servants bringing me food and drink.”
“Our brand is growing,” Orrin said. “There will be a well-stocked Gothik hidden in every major city soon. The rich will have access to our product like never before. Of course, that can’t happen if you’re smearing pudding over all our students.”
Tobias was still repeating the alphabet incorrectly.
“Will you knock it off?” Ms. Gulp ordered. “See, he’s as dumb as a plastic post. Now leave. I need to get dinner ready and I have a new batch of pudding to make.”
Tobias stood still, hoping she would make the pudding with him in the room. He still had not seen or heard what the secret ingredient was.
“Oh,” Ms. Gulp added. “Take him with you. Have one of the orderlies get him cleaned up. Then get him back. We’ve got children to feed.”
“Come,” Orrin said.
Tobias followed. He had
gotten some pudding, which was bad, and some information, which was good. All in all, it was a pretty decent shift.
CHAPTER 19
FINDING FIDDLE
Tobias pushed at the bottom corner and then gently slid the metal panel down. He entered the dingy boiler room to find that he was the first to arrive. These were the most important moments of his day. Everything else felt fake and frightening, but meeting up with the others made Tobias feel like he was alive and that there was a possibility they could make it out. Plus, he would get to see Charlotte. His days had been much less comforting without her to tease him. He looked at his watch.
11:32 p.m.
Tobias tipped over a wooden crate and sat down. The boilers were humming weakly, like bulky robots that were overweight and in need of exercise.
The metal panel slid down. Tobias moved the flashlight to see Charlotte coming through. He tried hard not to look too pleased. Meghan was directly behind her. He tried hard not to look pleased about that either.
“Are you okay?” Tobias asked his sister.
“I’m trapped in a school and having to travel through dark paths between walls just to get to a boiler room to talk to my brother. Yup, I’m doing great.”
“Good,” Tobias said, smiling. “For a moment I was worried.”
“Patrick and Keith aren’t here?” Meghan questioned needlessly. “They usually beat me.”
“I can hear a lot of voices roaming the halls tonight,” Charlotte said. “Maybe they’re being extra careful.”
“Maybe.” Meghan reached in the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a pack of matches. “Here you are. Just like I promised. I found them in Ms. Ratter’s break room.”
Tobias took them from her. “You’re good.”
“When people think you’re dumb, it’s easy to fool them.”
“Yeah,” Tobias said. “I learned that today.”
Tobias told Charlotte and Meghan the pudding story. He didn’t leave a single thing out, and they didn’t hold back a single muffled laugh.