20

7:22 A.M.

A CHANGE OF MIND

"Good morning, Beth."

"In what sense?"

"Sight, sound, smell, all the other senses. It's sunny, and the birds are chirpy, and I'm letting you have this toast that I just put in for myself."

Beth paused next to the table. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing. You are my sister, and I'm making you toast."

Beth plonked down at the kitchen table and looked at her big sister warily.

"Aren't you kind of happy for someone who's grounded?"

Jessica considered this for a moment, watching the elements inside the toaster warm to a red glow. The smell of toast came from the machine, drawing a deep breath from her.

"Toast is good," she answered.

Beth snorted. "If you're going to be all retarded, could you make me an omelette, too?"

"I'm not that happy, Beth." The toaster popped. "Here you go."

Jessica pulled the bread out with her fingertips and dropped it onto the waiting plate, twirled around, and placed it before her sister.

Beth inspected it carefully, then shrugged and started to butter it.

Jessica dropped another pair of slices into the toaster, humming to herself.

She still felt light, as if midnight gravity hadn't completely faded with the blue time. Every step felt as if it would turn into a leap, carrying her across the room, out the window, into the air. All last night she had dreamed of flying. (Except for that hour when she had been flying.)

She and Jonathan had hung out on the big, crumbling Mobil Oil sign atop the highest office building in Bixby. It was a huge Pegasus, a flying horse. The unlit neon tubes that outlined its shape had shimmered with dark moonlight, the spread wings shining like those of some angel come to protect her from the darklings.

The steel framework that held the sign in place was rusty, but Jonathan was pretty sure it was clean. It was in the center of town, where darklings almost never went. He'd been going there for almost two years and had never seen so much as a slither.

For three nights in a row she had felt safe in the blue time. Safe and secure, weightless and...

The toaster popped again.

"Happy," she said quietly.

"Yeah, you're happy. Got it." Beth was spreading jam onto her remaining piece of toast. "Omelette-level happiness yet?"

Jess smiled. "Pretty darn close."

"Let me know. So, Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"This Jonathan guy you got busted with? You like him?"

Jessica looked closely at her little sister. Beth seemed genuinely interested. "Yeah, I do."

"How long have you guys known each other?"

"That night we got busted was the first time we hung out."

Beth smiled. "That's what you told Mom. But how come the night before, when you came to visit me and make that Ms. Mature speech, you were all dressed?"

Jessica swallowed. "I was?"

"Yeah. Jeans and, like, a sweatshirt. You were all sweaty and smelled like grass."

Jessica shrugged. "I was just... I couldn't sleep. I took a walk."

"Good morning."

Jessica started. "Good morning, Mom. Want my toast? I can make some more."

"Sure, Jess. Thanks."

"Looking good, Mom."

"Thanks." Her mother smiled, smoothing the lapel of her new suit with one hand as she took the toast from Jessica. She sat down at the table.

"Wow, you're allowed to eat breakfast with us?" Beth asked. "I thought Aerospace Oklahoma frowned on family time."

"Hush, Beth. I have something to say to your sister."

"Uh-oh. From the toaster into the frying pan."

"Beth."

Beth stuffed toast into her mouth, shutting herself up. Jessica pushed down the toaster lever slowly, her mind racing. She turned and sat down across from her mom, trying to think of what could have given her away. They had left nothing to chance. She always left after the blue time started - it took Jonathan a few minutes to get here from his house, anyway - and was back in bed before it ended. Maybe Mom had found a dirty shoe, or an open window, or taken fingerprints from the tops of buildings downtown....

Beth. Jessica glared at her little sister. She must have told Mom and Dad about Jessica being dressed on Friday night. Beth blinked innocently.

"Your father and I have been talking about your punishment this morning."

"He's awake already?" Beth asked.

"Beth - ," Mom started, then paused. "Actually he was awake early, but he went straight back to sleep. We were both tossing and turning a lot last night. And we both agreed that we should have thought about your punishment a little longer before we decided on anything."

Jessica looked at her mother warily. "Does this mean worse punishment or less?"

"Yeah," Beth said. "Are you guys caving?"

"We're thinking that you're new to this town, and you probably feel a need to be accepted. What you did was wrong, Jess, but you weren't trying to hurt anyone."

"You are caving!"

"Beth, go get ready for school."

Beth didn't move, just sat there with her mouth wide open. Jessica couldn't quite believe what she was hearing. Dad was always the one who gave in, or tried to, but Mom always stopped him, explaining that any punishment open to negotiation was meaningless, which was something they apparently taught you in engineering school.

"We're also thinking that you need to make new friends now. You need stability and support. Keeping you locked up in your room isn't healthy. It could lead to more trouble later on."

"So, what's the deal? I'm not grounded?"

"You're still grounded, but you can go out to visit friends one night a week. As long as we know exactly where you are at all times."

Beth made a noise that was only half stifled by toast. Mom reached across the table and held Jessica's hand. "We want you to have friends, Jessica. We just want them to be the right friends and to make sure you're safe."

"Okay, Mom."

"Anyway, I'm late. I'll see you both tonight. Don't be late for school."

After she had left, Beth took the untouched toast from her mother's plate and started to butter it, shaking her head.

"I'm remembering this conversation next time I get in trouble. You got Mom to redefine grounding in a whole new way. Nice work, Jessica."

"I didn't do anything."

" 'Have some toast, Mom.' 'Nice suit, Mom,' " Beth mimicked. "I'm surprised you didn't make her an omelette."

Jessica blinked, partly awestruck by what had just happened and partly confused by her own reaction. She'd been happy before her reprieve, but now she wasn't so sure. A trickle of nerves had started in her stomach. Flying to safety with Jonathan every night had been wonderful, like a dream. But now she had no excuse to delay Rex's plan, no good reason to put off going to the snake pit. She would have to face the darklings head-on.

"I'm not sure, Beth. I don't think it was the toast."

"Yeah, I bet Dad caved. He's cracking up."

Jess shook her head. "I don't know. Mom seemed pretty intense about it, like she's thought about it a lot." She turned toward Beth. "But thanks for not mentioning that... walk I took Friday night."

"Your secret is safe with me." Beth smiled. "Until I find out what your secret is, that is. Then you're dead."

Jessica reached out and squeezed her sister's hand. "I love you, Beth."

"Ewww, no fair! Mom being all flaky is bad enough."

Jessica frowned. "Maybe I just scared them, sneaking out like that."

"Maybe," Beth said, and shoved the last piece of bread into her mouth. "The whole thing's scaring me."

Later that morning, the library was dead quiet.

Jessica and Jonathan had been the big gossip for a couple of days, but the story was getting old. Now that it was the second week of school, work was starting to pile up. Everyone was actually using study period for studying. Even Constanza was reading what looked suspiciously like a history book.

Jessica was buried in her physics textbook. The last few nights Jonathan had been helping her with the basics while they were together in the secret hour, and she was really starting to understand the equal and opposite reaction business. Bounding around mostly weightless every night had made the laws of motion much more interesting, and having to run for her own life had given her a very real appreciation of inertia. But all the formulas were still giving her trouble, so she'd decided to get some help from Dess.

It took most of the period for Jessica to get up the nerve to tell Dess what had happened at breakfast.

"So, you know the whole snake pit expedition?"

"Yeah, we're still working on it. Rex and I are trying to come up with a way to get you out there safely," Dess said. "Anyway, it sounds like you're having fun avoiding the baddies."

"That's true." Jessica smiled. The ever present danger made her secret hours with Jonathan much more exciting than regular hanging out would be. "But I've got news, Dess. I found out at breakfast that I'm not grounded anymore."

"Really? That's great."

"Yeah, I guess so. It was kind of weird, though. My parents were totally ready to lock me up for good. Then this morning my mom gives me this whole speech about making new friends."

Dess shrugged. "That happens. My parents do it all the time. Last spring, the first time I got busted with Rex and Melissa for breaking curfew, they said they were going to send me off to psycho camp once school was out."

"Where?"

"It's like a summer camp for juvenile delinquents. Run by the state and very jail-like. My dad works on oil rigs, and he's a big believer in hard work to purify the soul. But a couple of days after the bust they completely changed their minds. Since then they've been pretty cool. They've even started to like Rex and Melissa."

"Well, my parents weren't going to send me away, I don't think. But it was still weird to see Mom backing off like that." Jessica sighed, rubbing her hands nervously. "So I guess we should try to do that snake pit thing."

"The sooner the better," Dess said. "Once we know what your talent is, we can figure out why the darklings are so scared of you. Constanza's party is a perfect opportunity."

"I don't know," Jessica said. "Mom didn't say anything about late night parties."

Dess leaned closer. "It's the surest way to get you out there before midnight. We have to untangle ourselves from Rex's dad and my parents. We might have to fight our way out to the snake pit. With you along, that would get hairy. It's not that we don't like you, Jess. But you do attract a bad element."

"Oh, right," Jessica said glumly. "Jessica Day, disaster magnet."

"The darklings have been getting worse every night, especially out in the badlands. It's not like downtown."

"But once the party freezes, I'll be alone out there."

"You'll practically be at the snake pit. It's right in the middle of the Bottom," Dess said. "Just take a walk five minutes before midnight, and you'll be inside my defenses. Melissa can drive me and Rex to the edge of the Bottom. We'll walk from there. Without you along, we won't get swarmed by darklings if we're late."

Jessica gulped. The thought of making her way to the infamous snake pit, all alone at midnight, didn't make her very happy. "We'll really be safe there?"

Dess nodded. "Absolutely. I've been working on protection all week. I've got a ton of metal ready to go. Rex and I can set it up after school tomorrow. The darklings won't be able to get within a hundred yards of the snake pit."

"Really?"

"We'll be perfectly safe. Of course, remember to watch out before midnight."

"For what?"

"The snakes."

Jessica blinked.

"You know," Dess said patiently, "in the snake pit."

"Oh. I thought maybe 'snake pit' was just a colorful nickname, not to be taken literally."

"Well, don't let the name fool you," Dess said. "It's more of a sinkhole than a pit. A sinkhole full of snakes."

"Great, I'll keep that in mind." Jessica shivered, remembering the slithers that second night. The idea of real snakes didn't make her much happier. "But maybe this party thing isn't going to happen. I don't even know if I'm still invited."

Dess looked across the library at the older girls' table. "There's only one way to find out."

A couple of Constanza's friends looked up when Jessica came over. She still drew some stares, especially in the lunchroom with Jonathan. Jessica ignored them and knelt next to Constanza.

"About the party this Friday?" she whispered.

Constanza looked down at her. "Yeah?"

"I kind of got, um, ungrounded."

"Really?" Constanza smiled broadly. "Wow. The police bring you home and you're partying a week later. Not too bad, Jess Shady."

"I guess not. So how about that party at Rustle's Bottom? I mean, I know you're probably - "

"Great."

"I mean, if there's already too many - "

"Sure. Come along."

Jessica swallowed. "I don't really know how to get there. And it's probably too far - "

"I'll drive you. You can sleep over. That way your parents won't be freaking when we get home super-late."

"Oh," Jessica said, "good idea." Excuses and bailout lines were still rolling around in her head, but Constanza's beaming smile silenced them all.

"Come home with me tomorrow from school? We'll have a great time."

"Cool," Jessica managed.

"I can't wait for you to meet some of the guys at this party. I know you like that Jonathan guy, but trust me, Broken Arrow men are much more fun than the boys from Bixby. Much more mature. You're going to have the night of your life, Jess."