“What’s with him?” Jordan asked, shaking her head. “Some kind of sugar hype?”
Jack shrugged. “It’s Eddie. I don’t think there’ll ever be an explanation.”
“Do you mind if we take it a little slow,” Hannah asked, her cheeks a little paler than before. “I don’t feel that good yet.”
“Sure,” Jack nodded, rushing after Eddie. “I’ll catch up with him and make him wait,” he called back over his shoulder.
Gabriel moved to her side. “Are you okay?” he whispered. “Do you need to sit down?”
Hannah shook her head. “I won’t back down.” Her eyes were determined but by the time they reached the second floor, her breath was coming in little gasps and she leaned heavily on the stair-rail.
“You should sit down,” Gabriel said, keeping his voice low so the others wouldn’t hear. “You look awful.”
“Thanks,” Hannah said. “That’s what every girl wants to hear.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”
She nodded. “And you know that I’ve made up my mind.” Straightening up, she took a step forward and then another. “I won’t give this up.”
Going after her, Gabriel took her by the arm, giving her as much support as he could, and they followed the others down the corridor. At its end, Jack and a reluctant Eddie were waiting for them.
After a few more turns and twists, they found row 11 and started running their eyes over the book spines.
“Here,” Hannah said after taking only a few steps. She pointed at a shelf above her head. “I can’t reach.”
Jack walked over. “Let me.” Reaching up, he pulled all three copies from the bookcase. “Which one is it?” He handed two of the books to Liam and Hannah and they flipped through them. “Anything?” he asked, looking up.
Both shook their heads.
“Maybe you got it wrong,” Eddie suggested, an apologetic smile on his face as he looked at Hannah. “Maybe it’s not in the library.”
“Or,” Gabriel said, “we have to check it out.”
Frowning, they looked at him. “And then?” Jack asked.
Gabriel shrugged. “Not sure. But think about it. If they’d just put the next riddle in one of the books and someone happened to check it out, then what? The whole thing would be over?”
“I see your point,” Jack said. “Let’s try this.”
As they returned to the front desk, Mr. Thompson looked at them through narrowed eyes. “What can I do for you?”
Jack put the copy of Bridge to Terabithia on the counter. “We want to check this out.”
For a second, Mr. Thompson’s eyes rested on the book before they shifted up again. “Why?”
“Why?” Jack repeated, a frown on his face.
Mr. Thompson cocked his head to the side and took the glasses off his nose. “Do you want to check out this book because you suddenly discovered your love for middle-grade classics or…?” Mr. Thompson sounded mildly annoyed.
Jack grinned. “Or,” he said.
Mr. Thompson nodded, looking at each of them. “I see. There are six of you?” They nodded and he reached under his desk. He rummaged through a few drawers and then came back up with a small wooden box in his hands, placing it in front of them on the counter. “Here.” He took the copy of Bridge to Terabithia. “I assume you won’t be needing this then?”
They all shook their heads, staring at the box. “Is this it?” Eddie whispered.
“Let’s go find out,” Jack said and took the box off the counter.
***
Grouping around Jack, they sat down on the side of the steps leading up to the entrance of the library. “You really want to open it here?” Liam asked.
“I want to know what’s inside,” Jack simply stated. “Me too.” Eddie chimed in.
As though handling dangerous explosives, Jack carefully pulled open the lid. Leaning forward, they all peered inside. On top lay another note with a single word written on it, Eureka.
“What does that mean?” Eddie asked. “Another riddle? I thought this was it, whatever it is.”
“It is,” Hannah said. “Eureka is something Archimedes said when he discovered a simple way to determine an object’s volume. It means ‘I have found it’.”
The others stared at her. “Sometimes you creep me out,” Eddie said shaking his head. “Why would you know that?”
“Eddie!” Gabriel scolded.
Hannah laughed. “Hey, all I do is read and paint. What did you expect? This is the only thing I’m good at.”
Jack turned the sheet of paper in his hands. “Look, there’s something else. The wise shall understand,” he read. Again all eyes turned to Hannah.
“Guess that’s you,” Eddie said, then his gaze shifted back to the box. “What else is in there?”
Handing the note to Jordan, Jack looked inside. Then he laughed.
Inside they found six leather wristbands, colored and knotted, with a silver-red cardinal, tied into the strap. “Wow!” Eddie breathed, eyes fixed on the small bands.
Gabriel looked up, seeing an equally confused expression on Hannah’s face. “What’s so great about those?”
“The cardinal is the school mascot,” Jack explained, skimming a thumb over the small silver item in his hand. “Only overachievers are given one of those. It doesn’t matter what you’re good at but you gotta be one of the best.”
Liam nodded. “It’s an honor.” He reached for one of the wristbands. “I never thought I’d get one of these.”
Jordan grinned from ear to ear as she looked at them. “Here,” she said, holding out two of the wristbands to Gabriel and Hannah. “We would never have solved the riddles without you.” The other three nodded along. “We’re glad you two crashed our little party this summer.”
“Thank you,” Hannah said, putting the band around her tiny wrist. “This means so much to me.”
But only Gabriel knew how much it really did mean to her.
Chapter 20 – A Wonderful Dream
The sun high in the sky caught on the silver mascots dangling from their wristbands, drawing the eyes of everyone around them. One by one, kids started to notice as the six of them appeared at the Dive for another day of swimming and diving, or in Eddie’s case falling. Word quickly got around that one team had actually solved all the riddles and found that which no one had ever found before. Stares and whispers followed them wherever they went that day and those that followed.
Holding their heads a little higher, they enjoyed being the center of attention. Eddie had already gone over to spreading the word of their heroic deeds in tricking Mrs. Hall, enlisting Cat’s help and just their ordinary riddle-solving adventures. His voice echoed across the lake.
“He is unbelievable,” Jordan laughed, sitting with Hannah and Gabriel under their usual oak tree. “From how he tells it you’d think he did everything himself.”
A huge smile on her face, Hannah stared at him. “He knows how to live life to the fullest.”
Gabriel looked at her a little solemnly but Jordan just laughed. “He knows how to steal people’s thunder. But you know what always follows thunder, don’t you?” She grinned at them. “Lightning. He should be careful not to get hit.” She rose to her feet, eyes blazing with mischief.
Hannah shook her head. “Usually lightning comes first.”
Jordan shrugged. “That depends on your perspective.”
“What are you going to do?” Gabriel asked turning his head to look at the others splashing in the lake. “You can’t go in the water.”
Shooting a disgusted look at her cast, Jordan’s eyes narrowed. “There are always ways around things.” And she walked off.
Hannah turned her head to Gabriel. “She does too.” When he frowned, she added, “Know how to live life to the fullest. She might be a bit reckless but she does know how to make it count. She doesn’t back down, no matter what. I really like that about her.”
His eyes turned to Hannah then, t
rying to read her face. “You think I don’t.”
Not looking away, she nodded.
Gabriel sat back, crossing his arms. “And you do?”
“I do what I can,” Hannah said. “My life is not the same as yours, and yours is not the same as hers. We don’t all have the same decisions to make, but we all have decisions to make. I’ve made mine. Have you?”
He felt his eyes narrow and heard himself snap at her. “Have you always been such a smart-ass?”
Hannah laughed. “I get why you’d get mad, but it’s not me you’re mad at.”
“Oh really?” Gabriel glowered at her. “Then who?”
Hannah didn’t look away and her face didn’t change as his had. “I’m not sure but my guess would be your parents…and yourself.”
Gabriel’s gaze shifted to the lake. He couldn’t look at her any more.
“You don’t like your life,” Hannah simply stated. “You’re not happy.”
“Is it my fault that my parents fight all the time?” Gabriel growled.
Hannah shook her head. “Of course not, but you’re choosing to ignore it and it’s not making you happy. Maybe you should try something else.”
“I can’t fix my parents’ problems.”
“But you can fix yours,” Hannah said. “And I think you know how.”
***
Hannah’s words made him think and for the next few days Gabriel withdrew from his friends. Summer was drawing to an end and he knew that Hannah was right. He needed to make a choice, but what was even scarier; he needed to make himself heard and he had never been good at that. People tended to overlook him, even his parents, especially his parents. The past few weeks Gabriel had almost forgotten what it felt like to be invisible.
His grandparents saw him. Whenever he walked in the door, they looked up and smiled at him. They asked questions and they listened to his answers. His friends saw him too. They valued his opinion. They needed his help. They enjoyed his company.
With a confused smile on his face, Gabriel remembered his mother promising him that his stay in Kenton Woods would only be for a couple of weeks. Back then, he couldn’t wait for the end of that time. Now, after spending almost the entire summer here, he thought about going home.
Gabriel sat in the old armchair by the window and, looking across the coffee table at his grand-parents watching a game show, he remembered something his grandfather had told him about returning from the world in his books. Home is where the heart is.
***
“Gabriel.” Slowly, his grandmother’s voice reached his mind. “Gabriel, wake up.”
Blinking, he raised his head off the pillow. By his bed, his grandmother stood in her night gown, phone in hand. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“Mr. Hamilton just called,” she said and Gabriel finally noticed the sadness in her eye. “Hannah’s in the hospital.”
He sat up, staring at her. For a moment, the world seemed to stand still again, like the day Han-nah had collapsed.
“Get dressed,” his grandmother said, pointing at the closet. “Grandpa is already getting the car.”
As she turned to go, Gabriel asked, “How do you know?”
“Mr. Hamilton called us,” she said, smiling at him. “About a week after you first climbed through her window.”
Gabriel’s eyes went wide. “He knew?”
“Of course he did.”
“Why didn’t he say anything?” Gabriel asked shaking his head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you?”
His grandmother shrugged, a smile lighting up her face. “Seemed like you didn’t want us to know.”
Pulling on the first clothes he could find, Gabriel rushed out and jumped in the car. The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. When he couldn’t take it anymore, Gabriel quickly texted the others. He wasn’t sure if they already knew. He just thought that, no matter what, they should be there. They would want to and he was sure Hannah would want them to as well.
In the dark, Kenton Woods General looked like an ice block. The moon light bounced off its white walls and shiny surfaces. Walking in the front door, the interior didn’t look much different and Hannah’s words echoed in his mind. White walls and machines, buzzing and beeping here and there.
A nurse gestured them down the hall and they rode the elevator to the second floor. As they turned around a corner, Gabriel saw an old man sitting in one of the plastic chairs. His elbows on his knees, he had his face buried in his hands.
“Mr. Hamilton,” his grandfather said, approaching the man.
Hearing his name, the man looked up, his face streaked with tears. “Hello,” he said, standing up and offering his hand. “I’m glad you could come.” He brushed away his tears and his eyes shifted to Gabriel. “I think she’ll want to see you.”
Gabriel didn’t know what to say. He felt numb as though this was only a dream and all he had to do was wake up.
“How is she?” his grandmother asked, putting an arm around Gabriel’s shoulders.
Mr. Hamilton shrugged. “I’m not sure. The doctor is with her right now.” He looked at the closed door to his right. “We should know soon.”
While his grandparents talked to Mr. Hamilton, Gabriel sat down on one of the plastic chairs aligned along the wall and stared into the distance. He didn’t know how much time passed but eventually he heard hushed voices and footsteps coming in their direction.
“Gabriel.” He recognized Liam’s voice and looked up. “What’s going on? Did she have an accident?”
For a moment he just stared at them. They had all come, with their parents, and Gabriel realized that he’d never met Eddie’s mom. It was the strangest thing to wonder about in that moment.
Almost instantly two groups split off. The adults stood circled around Mr. Hamilton while their children turned to Gabriel.
“C’mon,” Jordan pressed, good hand on her hip. “Tell us what happened.”
Gabriel took a deep breath. He’d never thought it would fall to him to tell them. “She didn’t have an accident,” he said, slowly lifting his eyes to look at them. What he saw there scared him more than the white walls. “She is sick.”
“Sick?” Jack asked, eyes narrowing. “How sick?”
“Very,” Gabriel replied. They all drew in their breath and he could see that they read on his face how bad it was. “She told me she would die.”
“What?” Eddie exclaimed, staring at him. The others did too. “That’s not true. You understood her wrong.”
Gabriel shook his head. “I wish I did. It’s something with her heart.” He felt tears running down his face and he didn’t bother to brush them away. “Her mother died the same way.”
Slowly, one by one they sat down, resting their heads in their hands. Staring ahead into the distance, they didn’t say a word but let his sink in.
An eternity passed before the door to Hannah’s room opened and the doctor came out. He seemed surprised to see so many people waiting in the hall.
“How is she?” Mr. Hamilton asked.
Gabriel and the others got up and drew closer, but Gabriel wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.
For a moment the doctor hesitated, looking at all of them before he turned back to Mr. Hamilton. But Hannah’s grandfather just nodded and said, “Just tell us.”
“I’m sorry,” the doctor said and Gabriel felt his fingernails dig into his palms. With every second the pain grew and Gabriel wished it was the only pain he felt. “I give her a couple of hours, maybe a day, not more. You should get her parents here ASAP.”
Mr. Hamilton nodded, fresh tears running down his cheeks. “I already called her father. He is on his way.”
The doctor nodded. “Good. I’m sorry I can’t tell you anything else.” As he walked away, his footsteps echoed down the corridor.
***
Her dark burgundy hair spread across the white pillow, Hannah looked even paler. If it weren’t for the beeping monitor, Gabriel would’ve thought she was a
lready dead.
“Hi,” she breathed, her eyes barely open. “Don’t look at me like that.”
With the others a step behind him, Gabriel approached the bed. Through the blinds, they saw the sun slowly rising above the horizon. Any other day they would have been at the Dive, and so would Hannah. But there was nothing normal about this day.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said when they all remained silent. Her chest rose and fell with every labored breath. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“It’s all right,” Liam said, taking a step forward. His eyes grew heavy as he looked down at her. “I’m so, so sorry.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe this is real.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Jack asked, an arm around Jordan, her head resting on his shoulder. “Do you need anything?”
Hannah shook her head. “I’m just glad you came.” Her eyes closed for a long second, then opened again. “And I’m glad we solved the riddles.” She glanced at the wristband on her arm. “This summer was a dream.” Again her eyes closed and stayed that way. “A wonderful dream.”
Her breathing evened but the ghost of a smile remained on her face.
“We should let her sleep,” Gabriel said as he turned around. “Her dad will be here soon. We should give them some time.” They left Hannah’s room and stepped out into the corridor. A bit farther down they saw their parents still talking, their faces streaked with sadness.
“Listen,” Gabriel said, pulling them into a corner. “There’s something I want to do for her but I’m going to need your help.”
Without hesitating, they all nodded. “Sure, whatever you need?” Jack said.
Gabriel glanced down the corridor. “I need you to clear your parents out of here and then meet me at Hannah’s. I’ll tell you everything then.”
Again they nodded and slowly drifted down the hall to their parents.
“Jack,” Gabriel said as he turned to go. “Thank you.”
For a moment they just looked at each other, then Jack nodded. “We don’t leave our people behind.”
Chapter 21 – Choices
By the time they got back to the hospital, the sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon. Gabriel desperately hoped they were not too late.
Few cars stood in the parking lot and they saw even fewer people walk in and out the front entrance. Night was settling over town, blowing a soft, warm breeze down the streets. As they lifted their eyes to the second floor, they saw a dim light shine out through Hannah’s window. For a second they just stood there, remembering all the times they had climbed the tree outside her room.