Heather nodded. “OK,” she agreed, and put the bottle in her pocket.
“All right, come on. Let’s get out of here,” I said.
As we closed the study door behind us, Tom and Izzy were rounding the top of the stairs.
“Anything?” Izzy asked.
We told her what we’d found.
“How about you?” Heather said.
“Nothing downstairs,” Tom replied. He nodded to another staircase. “You been up there yet?”
I shook my head and started toward the stairs. “Let’s go.”
I was halfway up the staircase when Izzy grabbed me. “Jess!” She pointed out the landing window. It looked out over the long driveway. The driveway along which a large German shepherd and a very tall man were marching none too happily toward the house.
I froze.
“What do we do?” Izzy whispered.
Tom bit his thumbnail. “We need to go. He’ll be here any minute.”
“What about Max?” I insisted.
“He could be anywhere,” Heather said. “We’ll never find him before Finch gets home.”
“Heather’s right,” Tom said. “If we’re still in Finch’s house when he gets back, it’s game over. He sees us and we’re toast.”
That was it! Of course! We couldn’t run the risk of him seeing us. That meant we couldn’t be here. But it didn’t mean I couldn’t be here.
“You go,” I said. “I’ll stay.”
Izzy shook her head. “We’re not leaving you. We’re in this together. We’re a team.”
“I’ll make myself invisible. I’ll be silent.” I shoved them toward the stairs and switched my phone onto silent. “Go, all of you. Out the back door. I’ll lock it behind you. He’ll never know you were here. Hide somewhere nearby and text me so I know where to find you. I’m not leaving here without Max.”
Heather looked worried. “You’re sure?”
“It’s the only option. Go on. Go. Quickly.”
“We’ll be hiding near the end of the driveway,” Izzy said. “We won’t leave till you’re both out of here and all right.”
A minute later, the three of them had gone and the house was quiet. I turned myself invisible and breathed a sigh of relief. OK, I was safe.
For now.
I was on the top landing when I heard the front door open. I’d had a quick look in two of the rooms and had another four to go.
I opened another door. Nothing. Where was Max?
I tiptoed out of the room and back into the corridor. “Max!” I said under my breath, cursing myself for not having simply shouted out his name the minute we’d entered the house. I certainly couldn’t do it now.
Three more doors on this floor. All closed. I tiptoed toward the first one and turned the handle. The door wouldn’t open.
“Oscar?” A voice called from inside. Max! I’d found him!
“It’s me!” I whispered.
“Jess?”
I leaned close to the door. “Shhhh. I’ve come to rescue you. The door’s locked.”
“There’s a ledge at the end of the hallway,” Max said. “It’s where he keeps his spare keys.”
“How do you know?”
“I heard him get it once. He has a key ring there for emergencies. He doesn’t usually use it, but once he must have forgotten his key. Hopefully he won’t miss it if it’s gone.”
My heart racing like a runaway train, I ran to the end of the hallway as silently as I could. Then I stood on my tiptoes, reached up, and ran my hand along a dusty shelf. My fingers hit on something metal. Got it!
I ran back to Max’s door and fumbled with the keys as quickly and quietly as I could. There were about ten of them on the ring, and I couldn’t find the right one. I was trying the fourth when something else suddenly became a bit more pressing.
The dog.
It started barking from the downstairs hallway. “Jess, quick!” Max yelped from inside the room. My hands were shaking so much I could barely hold the keys, let alone use them. Finally, I put another one in the lock, and miraculously, I’d gotten the right one this time.
I pushed the door open and crept inside.
“Lock the door again or he’ll be suspicious!” Max said right away.
I did. Then I turned to look at him. He seemed thinner — which was ridiculous because I’d only seen him yesterday. But he definitely looked different. He’d lost his cocky swagger. His hair was even more of a mess than usual. His eyes were dark.
He was sitting on a bed in a corner of the room, peering vaguely in my direction. “I’m guessing you are actually there,” he said.
I’d forgotten I was invisible. “Oh, yes. Sorry, I’ll — ”
“No!” Max stopped me. “Stay invisible. In case he comes in.”
The dog must have come up the first set of stairs, as the barking and whining had gotten louder.
“Ivor, stop it. Behave!” Finch’s voice called from downstairs.
I stood, frozen like a statue, and waited to see what was going to happen next.
“There’s nothing there. What’s the matter?” Finch snapped.
I knew what was the matter. Ivor could tell there’d been intruders. He could probably still smell me.
A second later, Ivor had clearly had enough of being told there was nothing there. I heard him bound up the second set of stairs and along the hallway, growling. He stopped outside the door and barked furiously.
“Ivor, come downstairs this minute!” Finch was shouting. “What on earth is wrong with you?”
I looked at Max. His face was as white as mine probably would have been — if I hadn’t been invisible.
“What do we do?” I whispered.
Max shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe he’ll calm down.”
The barking grew louder and snarlier.
“You think?”
Max swallowed.
Finch shouted up the stairs. “Do I have to come and get you?”
NO! No, please don’t!
It seemed he answered his own question, though, as a moment later I heard footsteps on the stairs. This was it, then. I had about thirty seconds before becoming dog food.
“Just stay invisible, and Finch won’t know you’re here,” Max said. “And try not to panic. Dogs can smell fear.”
Oh. Lovely. Thanks for the great advice, Max.
I heard Finch’s voice grumbling, a key turning — and then the door opened.
“Now, what’s all the fuss about?” Finch asked, looking around the room as he held on to Ivor by the collar. “It’s Max,” he said, sugar sweet. “He’s our guest. You know Max. He’s nothing to get upset about.”
I tried to do what Max had said and stay calm, even though I felt as if my heart were about to bounce right out of the top of my head like a jack-in-the-box.
It wasn’t easy. See, Ivor knew better than Finch. He was still growling, his teeth bared and white saliva dripping from the edge of his mouth. Ivor wasn’t happy at all.
His lips curled as he narrowed his eyes.
The eyes that didn’t seem to care that I was invisible, because they were looking directly at me.
I had to get out of there. Mainly because if I didn’t, I was about to get mauled to death by an angry dog. Also, Finch was no idiot. If he knew anything about the superpowers, it wouldn’t take him long to figure out that someone invisible might be in the room.
Besides, I was finding it harder and harder to keep my mind calm and blank. A couple of my fingernails had already started to show, so I did the only thing I could.
I held my breath and edged as carefully and quietly as possible out of the room.
Ivor’s eyes followed me. Luckily, Finch was holding on to his collar so he stayed where he was. For now.
I tiptoed past Finch, terrified that he’d move and bump into me. He didn’t. I made it out onto the landing. I took a breath and tried to calm down enough to think about my next step.
“See. That’s better, isn’t
it?” Finch was saying to the dog. “Now, then. Let me deal with my next problem.” He turned his eyes to Max. “You.”
“M-me?” Max said in a voice I’d never heard him use before. He sounded much less like the tough guy he pretended to be and more like the terrified boy I imagined he actually was right now.
“Someone’s been giving me the runaround,” Finch replied. “I waited at the lab for half an hour. No Dr. Malone. Why’s that, huh?” His voice was smooth like honey, but with a thin strand of cold steel running through it. “I don’t like being jerked around,” he said slowly. “People who wrong me do not go unpunished. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes,” Max replied. “I didn’t . . . I haven’t . . . I — ”
“Enough!” Finch cut him off. “I’ll think about what to do with you later. Right now, I’ve got work to do.”
Work? In his office? No! I couldn’t let him go in there! He’d see that everything was gone. What was I going to do?
“Come on, Ivor,” he said to the dog. “Dinnertime first.” Finch turned back to Max as he paused in the doorway. “I don’t want to hear a peep out of you,” he said. Then he closed the door and locked it behind him.
I had to hide, before Ivor sensed me out here. I looked both ways and opened the first door I could see — which led into a closet filled with boxes, books, and about twenty pairs of boots. I slipped inside, pulled the door closed, and waited in the darkness.
I heard Finch lock Max’s door, and to my relief, he and the dog headed down the stairs. Luckily for me, the word “dinner” clearly had more appeal than an invisible intruder who now seemed to have left — aka me.
A moment later, the hallway was silent and my body remembered how to breathe.
I opened the closet door and peered out. The coast was clear. Silently, I crept back to Max’s room. “Max,” I whispered through the door. “Are you OK?”
I heard a sound from inside. I couldn’t be sure, but I think he might have been crying. “I’m fine,” he said, “but I have to get out of here. Jess, you’ve got to think of something.”
What could I do? I was here on my own, the others had gone, and Finch was not in a good mood. Surely we were out of options.
“Max, maybe I need to call the police,” I said.
“No! It’s too risky. We can’t let them know about the lab. My dad could lose his job. He might even go to prison. And we’re inside Finch’s house! He’ll find some way to twist it. You don’t know what he’s like. He’ll probably say we broke in and have us arrested.”
Max was right. And, in my case at least, Finch would be telling the truth. I had broken into his house.
“Please, Jess, think of something else.”
“I’m trying,” I whispered. I pretended I hadn’t noticed the gulping and sobbing noises in between Max’s words.
Come on, Jessica. Think. Think. I probably had about five minutes. If only Izzy were still here. She’d know what to do.
Wait. Izzy was still here. OK, she was outside hiding, but she’d said they’d wait. Maybe she could do something. Knock on the door. Say she was lost. Come up with a way to get us out of here. I knew she’d think of something.
I pulled out my phone and typed as fast as I could. “Found Max. Locked in back room on top floor. Help! Need to get out. Do something!” I sent the text to Izzy. Then I got Finch’s spare keys out of my pocket, silently turned the key in the lock, and let myself back into Max’s room.
Max glanced up and quickly dragged a sleeve across his face as I came in. “I’ve got a cold,” he said quickly. “Hay fever.”
I locked the door behind me and made myself visible. It was exhausting trying to remain invisible, and at least for a few minutes, it didn’t matter. “It’s fine,” I said, and Max nodded miserably.
“What are we going to do?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. If worst comes to worst, we’ll just have to make a run for it. Sneak out of the house somehow.”
“We can’t! He’ll catch us. Ivor will kill us!”
“Yeah, there is that,” I admitted. “Look, I’ve texted Izzy. She’ll think of something,” I went on, trying to sound more confident than I felt. I glanced out the window. “Does this open?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Max came over and pushed the window open. “Not that there’s much point,” he said. “We’re three floors up and there are no pipes or ledges to climb out onto. I’ve looked out of here at least a hundred times trying to find a means of escape, but I thought if I didn’t kill myself, at the very least I’d break every bone in my body.” He closed the window again.
“Finch knew what he was doing when he chose this room.”
“Yup.”
I looked at my phone. No reply from Izzy. Had she received my text? Was she thinking of a way to get us out? Why wasn’t she knocking on the front door to distract Finch? Why wasn’t she doing something? We were running out of time. As soon as Finch had fed the dog, he was going to his office — and then he’d see that it had been ransacked.
Where was she? What if Finch had caught them? What if Izzy — ?
My thoughts were interrupted by a tapping sound. “Max, stop drumming your fingers on the desk,” I said. “I’m trying to think.”
“I’m not drumming my fingers,” Max said woodenly. Then he gasped. “Jess!”
I turned to look at him. “What?”
He was pointing at the window. “Isn’t that Izzy?”
I swung around to face the window. It was Izzy! She was here! Outside the window. Hovering in the air three floors up and gesturing wildly at the glass!
Did she want to come in? I couldn’t let her. Finch would be back soon. I couldn’t let him catch all three of us!
“OPEN IT!” Izzy mouthed, jabbing her hand even more frantically at the window.
Just then, a familiar sound started up on the other side of the door. The sound of a barking German shepherd coming up the stairs. He’d obviously finished his dinner and decided it was time for dessert — aka me.
Finch’s voice wasn’t far behind him. “Ivor!” he boomed. “If I have to come up there and drag you down, there’s going to be trouble.”
He had that right. A whole lot of trouble. For me and Max, though — not for the dog. Ivor would be a hero.
We didn’t waste any more time. Max opened the window, and I ran over to join him.
“Get on my back!” Izzy told Max.
“Get on . . .”
“My back. Yes. Hurry.”
Max looked at me and I suddenly realized why he was in so much shock. The last he knew, Izzy didn’t have any superpower, and now she was flying around in the sky and ordering him to join her. I was almost as shocked myself. I’d only seen her rise a tiny bit off the floor. I guess this is what happens when you spend all afternoon practicing something that’s been a lifelong ambition.
“We’ll explain later,” I said to Max. “Go.”
Without another word, Max grabbed his bag and clambered out of the window and onto Izzy’s back.
“Hold tight,” she said. Over her shoulder, she added, “I’ll be back for you in a couple of minutes.”
As they flew off, Max clutching onto Izzy, Izzy looking as if she’d been flying all her life, I prayed that a couple of minutes would be soon enough.
Thirty seconds. Izzy and Max flew over the lawn.
A minute. They were out of sight.
A minute and a half. Ivor was right outside the door. And so was Finch. “All right,” he said from the other side of a tiny bit of wood. “What on earth is going on?”
I used every bit of mental energy I had to calm enough of my mind so I could turn invisible again. Not that it would do much good. As soon as that door was open, the dog would be on me. Plus, it would take Finch about a squillionth of a second to register that Max was gone.
A minute and three quarters. The key was turning in the lock.
Izzy! Please hurry!
I probably had ten seconds before Finch and Ivor w
ere in the room and I was dessert. I was about to give up. Tears burned my eyes. I wished I could have said good-bye to Mom and Dad. Wished I could have done better at school. Wished I —
“Jess!”
Izzy! She was back!
Still invisible, I clambered out of the window and onto Izzy’s back so fast that I almost jumped right over her. I grabbed onto her sweater to stop myself from falling.
“Ouch!” Izzy yelped.
“Sorry! I was in a hurry!”
I straightened myself out and held on firmly.
“Ready?” Izzy asked.
“Ready.”
As we flew away from the house and across the lawn, I glimpsed the room I’d left behind — the door opening, a slathering German shepherd bounding through, Finch close behind, his shocked face.
“NOOOOOO!” he screamed. He probably screamed lots of other things, too, but we didn’t hear the rest of it. We were too busy flying to the bushes at the edge of his yard, landing softly to join the others, and getting the heck away from there as fast as we could.
“I can’t believe we did it!” Izzy said, smiling broadly as the five of us slurped our drinks back at the Corporation Street Café and listened as Max told us about his time with Finch.
“How did he get away with it?” asked Tom. “How did he get you there in the first place?”
Max frowned. “I was an idiot. He drove past while I was waiting for the bus to school and he offered me a lift. I decided it would be a good opportunity to confront him about being at the lab, so I got in the car. He was super smooth. Said he could explain everything, but we’d have to take a detour. I wasn’t exactly upset about not getting to school on time, so I agreed.”
“Couldn’t you read his mind while you were in the car?” Heather asked.
Max grimaced. “The leather cord for my hematite skull snapped this morning when I was getting dressed. I’d been planning to fix it when I got to school, so the hematite was in my bag.”