“Look, you need to know—”
But Daggert heard a click. Madam Director had ended the call.
Seated behind her desk, she put down the phone, smiled, and said, “I must apologize for that interruption. Let’s get to know one another. Tell me your names again.”
Two children — a boy and a girl — were sitting side by side on Madam Director’s leather couch. Perfectly still, hands folded in their laps. They were no more than seven or eight years old. The boy was dressed in a pair of bright, white running shoes, new blue jeans and a crisp, red, buttoned shirt. His hair was combed neatly to one side. The girl was dressed in similar shoes, pale pink jeans and a white blouse. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail.
“Let’s start with you,” Madam Director said to the girl. “What’s your name?”
“My name is Peggy,” she said quietly.
“That’s a pretty name. And how about you, young man? What’s your name?”
“My name is Timothy,” he said warily.
“Peggy and Timothy. How nice. What lovely children.” Madam Director smiled. “I’m so happy to have you here.”
“Can we go home soon?” Timothy asked.
“Why are we here?” Peggy asked.
Madam Director waved her hand, dismissing the questions as unimportant. “All in good time. But before I answer any of your questions, I have a very, very important one for both of you.”
The children waited expectantly.
Madam Director got out of her chair and came round from behind her desk. She got down on her knees in front of the children so that their eyes were at a level. She took the boy’s hand in her left hand, and the girl’s in her right and gave each of them a squeeze.
“How would you like it,” she asked, “if you could be the smartest, most clever, most amazing children in all the world?”
Timothy thought about that and said, “I guess that would be okay.”
Peggy wiggled her nose around, pondering. Finally, she said, “It’s good to be smart.”
Madam Director said, “Oh, yes. It’s going to be very, very good.”
Thirty-Six
“We should go.”
The voice startled Jeff. He’d been staring at his phone, trying to comprehend what Chipper had told him, struggling to get his head around the significance of those six words.
They killed your mom and dad.
“Hey, pal, we should hit the road.”
He looked up from the phone to see Harry Green standing off to his left.
“We need to get you away from here and come up with a plan,” he said calmly.
“Yeah, right, okay,” Jeff said.
Jeff took another peek at the phone.
The dog leaned in and licked his face.
“How much more is there to tell me?” Jeff asked.
“What?” Harry said.
“Sorry — I was talking to the dog.” He glanced down at the phone.
A lot.
Harry gave Jeff a questioning look. “Okay. So he does more than solve math problems? He talks to you?”
“I can try to explain it on the way,” Jeff said, “to wherever we’re going.”
Harry shrugged. “You can try, but don’t expect me to understand.”
Jeff slid off the big rock and walked back over to where Emily and her father were standing.
“Have to go,” Jeff said.
“I’ll probably never even see you again,” Emily said.
Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we—”
Emily hugged him for a good ten seconds, then dropped to her knees to give another hug to Chipper.
He licked her face enthusiastically. Chipper was glad he and the boy were going to stay together, but he was really going to miss Emily. We might need her again, the dog thought. We just might need her again.
Harry was already by his van, holding the side door open. Chipper and Jeff jumped in and let Harry slide the door shut. They sat side by side in the middle row.
Jeff looked through the window at Emily and sadly waggled his fingers at her. Chipper gave one farewell bark.
Harry opened the driver’s door and got settled behind the wheel. He had his own phone out.
“I don’t have a fancy GPS system built into the car,” he said without turning around, “but I got it on my phone. Just going to check the best way to get out of here without going through Canfield. We might get spotted there.”
“Okay, Harry,” Jeff said.
Jeff reached over and patted Chipper softly on the head. “Whaddya think’s going to happen, sport?”
The answer came right away.
I wish I knew.
While Jeff talked to Chipper, Harry looked at his phone.
He was not looking at a map program.
He was sending a text, because even a dog with hearing as good as Chipper’s could not tell what someone was saying in a text. It read:
I have them. The boy AND the dog.
Harry put the phone away and said, “You ready to go?”
“Ready,” Jeff said. “Thanks so much, Harry. You’re the best.”
Chipper chimed in with a thank you bark.
“Hey,” said Harry, “what are friends for?”
TO BE CONTINUED...