The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black (23 page)

“Want to look at an idea I have?” Noah finally said after a moment of awkward silence.

“For what?” asked Jasper.

“Well, I’d been toying with the idea of using a petrol mixture for combustion in this new engine. In theory, it can generate over ten horsepower.”

“What about the pump problem you said you were having?” asked Wallace.

“Well, I’m not using a fuel pump with this design,” said Noah, and that was enough to send them all to Noah’s house to see what he was doing in his laboratory.

S
OMETHING
R
INGS
A B
ELL
F
OR
J
ASPER

OR

FATE FLIES OFF THE HANDLE

T
hat Saturday evening, all the children were served shepherd’s pie for supper outside. Rosie smothered the top with butter so the potatoes she placed there were crisp. On the side were roasted parsnips with leek soup and bread she had made that morning.

Noah had gotten his wish for a real weekend, or at least a real Saturday. They spent some time looking through his engine designs, then discussed Faye’s problem with her glider’s loft, and they spent several hours playing in the meadow. Somehow, the games, the inventions, and the play felt more real, more authentic, than before. (Wallace was the winner at bowling.)

Later, Myrtle brought out a phonograph and Rosie put on a recording of some very festive Irish songs. The lot of them followed her lead and learned a few steps to the jigs she showed them. The four nannies seemed to know some jigs in common.

“Every true Celtic lass learns to jig,” said Rosie, catching her breath from laughter and dance. By the end of supper, everyone was ready for bed.

“See you in the morning, then,” Jasper said as they headed to
their homes.

“See you in the morning, Jasper,” said Faye, a smile touching the corners of her mouth.

Jasper again felt that hot flush in his cheeks. He turned and quickly headed home, Lucy racing to catch up.

As Jasper and Lucy lay in their beds that night, they listened to Rosie humming and clucking as she turned off the lights in the house and pattered to bed. Though Jasper was tired, he found sleep slow in coming. He thought about how much this day had changed the way he felt about their captivity. Faye was still furious at her parents, whether they were to blame or not, and Faye wanted them all to rise to her passion, to feel her fears and her anger. But Jasper felt calmer and more settled than he had in all the weeks he and Lucy had been in Ohio. Jasper took a deep breath and sighed as sleep finally came upon him.

And then it happened. It happened out of nowhere. Jasper sat up in his bed, his heart pounding. What was it? The ringing, the noise—and then he knew.

It was the bell. The bell he and Lucy had set weeks before when they wanted to know if their parents had come home. The bell was ringing!

Jasper looked at his watch. It was 3:07 in the morning and the bell was ringing. Fumbling, Jasper unhooked the wire. He sat there for a moment, his senses sharpening, the ringing still echoing in his ears.

He listened, straining to hear anything. He slipped out of bed and went to Lucy’s room. She was sleeping. He decided not to wake her. Could it simply be Rosie in his parents’ room? Might she have closed the door? At 3:07 in the morning? Jasper could hear Rosie’s
snores from the nursery and knew that she, too, was asleep.

Jasper tiptoed into the hall. He could definitely hear something, and it was coming from his parents’ room. Quickly, he slipped back into the nursery and went to Lucy’s room. Very carefully and quietly, he reached under her bed. First, he found the green book. Lucy had tied a ribbon around it. Reaching further back, he found what he had been looking for—the mirror contraption Lucy had created.

Taking it, Jasper tiptoed back down the hall and listened for a moment at the door. He then bent down and pushed the mirror into the space between the door and the floor. From there, he could see that there were two men in the room. One was the man with the top hat and velvet waistcoat. The other seemed to be wearing long black robes and a pointed cap. They spoke very softly in a mixture of English and something else.

Jasper could hear some words, but they made no sense. They sounded like “gurnal,” “periklu,” “romak,” “gadim,” and “verit,” but the men were facing away from the door, so the sounds were indistinct. Still, Jasper heard bits and pieces that he could understand.

“Must make fear... capture...”

“Hunt down... keep hidden...”

“Truth... terror... kidnap...”

And then, as the top-hatted man moved aside, he saw that the men were looking into his mother’s drawer—the drawer from which the green book had been taken.

Scrambling to his feet, Jasper pulled back the mirror and ran to his bed. Covering his head with his blanket, he tried to catch his breath. Were those men plotting something? With every
thump of his pounding heart, Jasper felt less and less certain that everything was going to be all right. These men had said “kidnap” and “hunt down”—words undoubtedly meant for them. Or for their parents.

Jasper sat in terror, clutching the mirror, begging for the sun to come up faster than it was willing.

“I’m telling you, I know what I saw and I know what I heard.” Jasper could not keep the fear from his voice, but glancing at Lucy gave him strength. It was for her that he had to be strong. No one was going to hurt her.

It was Sunday afternoon, and the five children were on their way back to Miss Brett in a big, single, black motorcar. Jasper had waited until they were moving along to tell them—until the noise of the road kept their voices from the driver. Jasper filled them in on what he saw the night before, but also on what he and Lucy had seen the night the man in the velvet top hat had bounced on their parents’ bed and found the book among their mother’s nightclothes.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Jasper?!” cried Lucy. “Why did you let me sleep through the danger?”

“It wasn’t danger then,” said Jasper. “It’s just... I think Faye’s right. She’s been right all along.”

“Jasper, come on. This is not how you felt before,” Noah said.

“Well, it is now.”

“It’s been almost a month and no one’s been attacked or hurt,” said Noah. “Are you sure Mistress Faye’s fears aren’t catching up
to you?”

“What is this book you said the other fellow took out and kissed?” asked Faye.

“It’s just an old shell of a book—an old book binding, actually,” said Jasper. “It was used to press flowers, as far as we can tell.”

“Maybe it belonged to a queen or a prince?” said Wallace.

“It would have if it had been in my mother’s drawer” Noah said. “Now, if Faye can find something evil in that—”

“Noah, you are a fool in so many ways,” Faye said. “Have you not noticed that we haven’t heard from our parents at all? And hunted? Kidnapped? Doesn’t that sound familiar? If our parents were really fine, why haven’t they contacted us? They could have sent a letter.”

Leaning forward, Lucy slid open the driver’s window and shouted to the driver “Why don’t our parents write us?”

The driver turned around as Jasper pulled Lucy back and shut the window. “What are you doing?!” Jasper said gruffly, hiding his fear behind a scolding.

Lucy looked up into her brother’s eyes. “I... I... you shouted at me.”

“I didn’t shout, Lucy, but I don’t want them knowing we know something’s amiss,” said Jasper.

“But I always ask,” Lucy said in her defense. “I keep asking where our parents are in case someone has an answer.”

Jasper opened his mouth to argue, but felt the sting of truth in the power and innocent wisdom in Lucy’s approach. Ask until someone has an answer. Jasper hugged Lucy.

“What do you suggest?” asked Faye, uncomfortable watching the embrace.

“I don’t know, but we’ve got to think of a way to get to our parents,” said Jasper. “We absolutely must.”

They could see the orchard across the green field as they arrived at Sole Manner Farm.

“Promise me we’ll work on a plan,” said Jasper as the carriage came to a stop in front of the schoolhouse.

“Of course we will,” said Faye. “I’ve been telling you all along that we’ve been prisoners. I’m the one who said it from the beginning.”

Just then, a loud thump hit the carriage window. Lucy, her nose pushed against the glass, looked down and cried.

“Oh, sweet wee little thing!” she said, climbing out of the carriage. She bent down and scooped up a tiny little bird in her hands. The children climbed out of the carriage to see. It was ruffled and scruffy and very, very small.

Miss Brett came out of the schoolhouse door.

“Welcome home, my sweet angels,” she said, beaming. “I have just put some—”

“Miss Brett, it’s a baby!” cried Lucy, bringing the bird to Miss Brett.

Miss Brett took it from Lucy and they all went inside. Miss Brett brought the tiny thing over to her desk.

It was not a baby bird, but it was very young. Fortunately, it was not strong enough to have been going very fast. It didn’t look terribly injured. It was mostly just stunned.

“That may have been his very first flight,” Miss Brett said. “I think he will be all right.”

“It could have broken its neck,” Faye said. “It happens because they see a reflection of the outside and don’t know they’re flying
into glass.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like anything is broken,” said Miss Brett.

“Oh, can we keep him?” asked Lucy. “He can sleep with us, can’t he, Faye?”

“I’m sorry, Lucy,” Miss Brett said gently, “but he needs to be free. He’s a wild creature and needs to be in the wild.”

“But he doesn’t look like he can fly,” said Lucy.

“I think he’s just a bit dazed,” Miss Brett said. She looked at Lucy, who seemed so very determined to play nursemaid. “I do think he needs a little care, however. Lucy, why don’t you make a soft bed for him—a place where he can rest and regain his strength?”

“I will, Miss Brett,” said Lucy, “I will, I will.” Turning to the bird, she said, “Don’t worry, Samson. We’ll take good care of you.” Lucy ran around collecting soft cloth, making a little bed for the bird.

“Wonderful,” said Miss Brett. “Then we’ll put the little fellow in Lucy’s hospital bed and let him rest. We’ll open a window and place the bed in the frame. That way, as soon as he is able, he can take to the skies and escape.”