It took three minutes to fly to Anne's big, comfortable farmhouse, where we'd lived for almost two months. Where at least some of us had felt relatively happy and safe.
Where at least thirty Erasers were swarming over the land, the orchards, out of the barn, all around the house.
Jeezum, that was fast.
Meanwhile, Angel was peering down at the yard, looking through the trees in the orchard.
Please don't let Total be snoozing in front of the fire, I prayed silently. Let him be paying attention.
"There!" said Angel, pointing over to the pond. Sure enough, Total's small black body was racing excitedly around the edge of the water. An Eraser was chasing him, but Total was amazingly fast on his short legs.
Angel tucked her wings in and dived.
"Fang!" I said, and Fang immediately went after her.
The sound of an engine made me turn, and I saw Ari's van tearing up the long driveway.
Over by the pond, Angel was rocketing down. Erasers nearby were shouting for backup and starting to run toward her. Fang was right on her tail, ready to attack if necessary.
"Total!" Angel shouted. "Come!"
Instantly Total raced toward her, and when he'd gotten up speed, he bunched his small muscles and leaped into the air with all his might. I saw him sail upward as if he'd been shot out of a cannon, higher than any dog had ever leaped. Fifteen, twenty, almost thirty feet into the air, the height of a three-story building. Angel swooped down, scooped him into her arms, then surged upward, her beautiful, pure white wings working with hard, smooth precision.
The Erasers roared below. Fang took Total from Angel, making a "yuck" face as Total licked him happily. They rejoined me, Nudge, and the Gasman.
"About time you got here," Total said, wiggling against Fang. "I thought I was going to have to bite some ankles!"
89
"Okay, guys-it's time to get the flock outta here." I'd been wanting to say that for ages.
"Wait-," said Nudge, watching Anne's yard.
"No, we have to go," I said more strongly. "Ari and the rest will be after us any second. Let's get a head start." For once.
"There's Anne," said Nudge, pointing.
Sure enough, she was on the front lawn, striding toward an Eraser. Not something most humans would do. She shouted at Ari, waving her arms angrily, not afraid of him.
A nondescript black sedan pulled to a stop by the house. A black sedan. What a cliche, I thought acidly.
The door opened and Jeb Batchelder stepped out. Wonderful. His arrival added the perfect touch of anguish that had been missing from this picture.
Jeb walked up to Ari, who was now yelling back at Anne.
Anne, get out of there, I thought, unable to look away. True, I didn't think she was totally on the up-and-up, but she didn't deserve to get her throat ripped out. She was holding her own, though, even poking a finger into Ari's chest. With a loud snarl, he grabbed her hand and twisted, making her cry out. Jeb smashed Ari's hand away. Anne stepped aside, rubbing her wrist, looking furious.
Jeb pushed Ari, forcing him to back up. Ari looked crazed with fury, his jaws snapping, beady red eyes burning. He kept pointing at us, high up in the air, and seemed to be arguing with Jeb. I was torn-I wanted to race out of there, put as much distance between us and the Erasers as possible. But, as usual, seeing Jeb created all sorts of mixed emotions. Rage being the primary one.
Jeb, Anne, the Erasers, Pruitt, the other teachers. They were all parts of a bigger picture, but right now the picture looked as if it had been painted by drunken monkeys-nothing added up.
"Look, we just have to go," I began, when a voice behind us said, "Yo."
In case you're wondering, it is in fact possible to jump a foot in the air when you're already hovering in the air. Gasping, heart pounding, I whipped around and gaped.
"Oh, my God! Iggy!"
90
"Iggy! Iggy!" All of us were shouting and trying to rush him at once. He made a wry Iggy-face that I interpreted as deep happiness to be here. I edged closer and tried to hug him without getting our wings tangled. We managed sort of an arm's length air kiss. The boys slapped high fives with him, and Nudge and Angel managed air kisses too.
"I went by the school," he said. "They seem to be having a bad day."
I gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Do I hear a ruckus down below?" Iggy asked.
"You do indeed," I said, then I realized that he was here. "Oh, no-Iggy. What happened?"
"Well," he said, his face grim, "they didn't mind the wings. In fact, they loved the wings. Especially since they got eight different publishers and magazines into a bidding war for the all-exclusive rights to my life story, complete with photographs and interviews with the freak himself." His voice was indescribably bitter.
"Oh, no," I said. "They were going to tell people?"
"They were going to turn me into a sideshow freak," Iggy said. "I mean, a really public one."
I beat back the rush of joy I felt at having him here and let my sympathy get some air.
"I'm so sorry, Ig," I said, reaching out to rub his shoulder. "I thought they were the real thing."
"That's just it," he said, anger showing on his face. "Maybe they were. I don't know. Maybe they weren't. But they felt like the real thing, and the real thing wanted to make money off me."
I couldn't help reaching out to touch him again. "I'm so sorry, Iggy, really. But I'm so happy you're back."
"I'm glad to be back too," said Iggy. "Even before they went nuts on me, I just missed you guys too much."
"This is great, and we'll have a group hug later," Fang interrupted, "but can we pay attention to what's happening below?"
Oh, right. Way down below, Jeb, Ari, and Anne were still shouting at one another. Teams of Erasers were starting to report back, since obviously we weren't on the premises. Several of them shaded their eyes to look up at us, five hundred feet in the air.
"Hmm," I said. "Something's missing down below. Some important puzzle piece. Oh, I know: It's me. Hang on, guys." I folded my wings and aimed myself downward.
91
I shot toward the ground at two hundred miles an hour. It was a total rush, over in a split second, and then I was braking, snapping my wings out to catch the air. I began running before my feet hit the ground, and came to a stop fifteen feet from the Terrible Trio.
Aware of the Erasers at my back, I walked up to Anne, Jeb, and Ari.
"Well, looks like the gang's all here," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "Anne, meet Jeb. Jeb, meet Anne. Oh, sorry... looks like you two already know each other really well!"
"Hello, sweetheart," Jeb said, gazing at me as if I held the secret to the world. Oh, wait, I guess I did.
"I'm not your sweet anything," I said.
"No-you're mine," Ari spit, pacing angrily.
"In your nightmares," I said, sounding bored, and he lunged at me, snarling. Jeb shot out an arm and held him back. Anne looked at me with concern.
"Are you all right?" she said. "I got a call from the school-"
"I bet you did," I said. "Their school emergency plan went to heck in a handbasket. Well, they were too rigid anyway." I turned back to Jeb. "What do you want? Every time you show up, my life nose-dives. And believe me, it's not that far till I hit rock bottom."
"You got that right." Ari sneered.
"Shut up, dog boy," I said. I felt sorry for the seven-year-old Ari who'd been victimized. This creature shared no part of him.
"Max, as always, I'm here to help," said Jeb, channeling sincerity. "This... experiment isn't working out. I'm here to help you get to the next phase."
"You're out of bounds here," said Anne angrily. "This is my situation."
Jeb's anger flared. "You don't know what you're doing. Max is a multimillion-dollar, finely tuned instrument. You've almost ruined her. She's not a lapdog! She's a warrior-the best there is. I made her what she is and I won't let you destroy her."