Creatures

Chapter Seven

“Okay,” said Beth. She started talking slowly then sped up the more she talked. “You guys are good. I mean, really, good. You had me going, I’ll admit it. I’m the new girl and you had your fun. I actually believed you, for just a minute there. When the Principal banged on the roof, I’ve got to say, that was pretty wild. I mean, what is the deal? Was she up there the whole time inspecting it or something?”

“Beth-” I began, but that was all I managed to get out.

“Hold it! Stop right there! I know what you are going to say. You don’t have to keep shoveling out the fairy tale stuff! The fun is over now and I want to know where this bus is going. Maybe I should go ask the driver.”

“Her name is Mrs. Terry,” Jake said helpfully.

“Yes, whatever,” said Beth. She was tugging at the white fluff of her hood and winding it up with her fingers.

“It’s all true, Beth,” I told her gently. “Try not to freak out. Just sit back and watch. You aren’t in any danger. We are pretty harmless.”

“I’m not harmless,” said Danny from behind us. I noticed he was listening to us, but he wasn’t sticking his face into our conversation anymore. He glared at me with scrunched up eyebrows. He still had ketchup sticking the hairs of his left eyebrow together, I noticed.

I ignored him and turned back to Beth. I didn’t want her to freak out and run off. I liked her. “Just stay calm and watch everything that happens. If you don’t get it, ask me or Jake, we’ll fill you in.”

“So why don’t you just turn into a toad for me, to prove it?” she said to Jake.

Jake looked ashamed. “No.”

“He’s not happy about being a toad,” I told Beth.

“What about you then? What can you turn into?”

“I don’t know yet. I haven’t turned yet. Most kids my age have, but I’m still waiting. It could be anything.”

“Well, isn’t that convenient,” said Beth. She fluttered her eyelashes and gave me a mocking little smile. “I’m not buying any of this, just for the record. You can all have your big laugh on the new kid, but I’m in on it now. The fun is over, everyone. I’m so sorry I’m only gullible, but not extremely gullible. I’m sure you would all enjoy this even more if I were.”

“Okay,” I said, “you don’t have to believe any of it now. I’ll just tell you some things about our town, so you know what to expect.”

“This should be good,” she said, crossing her arms.

“You see the Principal up there?” I asked, pointing to Miss Urdo.

Our Principal had sat down up at the front of the bus in the seat right behind the driver. She and Mrs. Terry were having a hushed conversation.

“You mean the hawk-lady?” she said, sounding like she didn’t believe it.

“Yes. She’s probably going to give you a chance to get out of this. She’ll ask you for your Aunt’s phone number and she will call and get you a ride home.”

“Why?”

“Because you are not one of us, and we are all headed to the Estate.”

“Who says I’m not one of you?” she asked. “I’m related to someone from this town.”

Jake and I looked at each other. Could she be a creature too?

“I suppose it’s possible, but people from around here don’t leave too often. I think your parents would have told you.”

“Okay, well, whatever,” she said making a flapping motion in the air with her hands. “What is this about? The Estate thing, I mean.”

I chewed my lip and thought about it. I wasn’t sure I should tell her.

Danny finally leaned into the talk again. “Good thinking, Connor,” he said. “She’s a mundane. Don’t give away all the family secrets.”

I was so tired of Danny. I decided to tell Beth about Vater, if only because it would bug him.

“It’s all about Vater,” I told her. “He’s the original creature, from a long time ago. We are all related to him.”

Danny made a disgusted sound and leaned back in his seat.

“Vater? What kind of a name is that?” asked Beth.

“It’s Swiss, I think. My parents always say he’s from the Alps.”

Beth nodded, but kept her lips pursed up in a doubtful expression.

“Vater is our great, great, great grandfather. Actually, I should probably put about five more greats on there, but you get the idea. The guy is really old and our clan is really a very large family that is all descended from one person. We don’t say his real name, we just call him Vater. That means something in the old country, where we all came from about a hundred years ago. But nobody has seen him since long before I was born. Some people even thought he was dead, until now.”

“So, he is some kind of super-old dude? How old can he be?”

Jake and I looked at each other.

“Well, Mr. Waldheim, that’s the dean, he says he’s very old,” I said.

“Mr. Waldheim is an alligator,” said Jake, jumping in.

“An alligator?” asked Beth, rolling her eyes.

“He’s really more like a monitor lizard,” I said seriously, “when he changes I mean. You see, sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly what kind of animal a person is because they only change part way, and they keep part of their human look.”

“You don’t want to get detention with him when he gets mad,” added Jake.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Beth, sighing. “You were talking about Vater.”

“No one really knows exactly how old he is,” I said. “At least if they do, they don’t tell us kids.”

“Half-human alligators? Centuries-old grandpas?” she said. She threw up her hands. “Now I know you guys are full of it.”

The bus stopped then. We hadn’t been paying attention to where we were going, but now everyone looked outside. The white-frosted trees crowded up to the bus on both sides of the narrow lane. A huge gate of black iron bars squatted in front of us. Beyond the gate, the road ran uphill to a big, strange-looking house. It was huge and rambling and my mom always called it “Victorian”. It had shingles on the walls, lots of balconies and turrets like a castle. There were stained-glass windows and complex designs made of wood everywhere. There were statues too, carved things like animals and gargoyles that crouched on the roof. Even though it was morning, up high, maybe on the third floor, a pair of yellow lights shined in the windows. They looked like eyes staring down at us.

“This is the Estate?” asked Beth, her voice filled with awe at the sight of it. “Who lives there?”

“No one really lives in the mansion. It’s Vater’s home. We take care of it for him.”

“That’s wild! It looks huge.”

The gates slowly swung open. We heard them creaking, screeching on their rusty hinges.

“What’s in there?” she hissed to us excitedly.

“Lots of stuff,” I said. “We usually get to go in only once a year, for Vater’s birthday celebration in the summer. We have a cake and everything, but he never comes.”

“What’s up in those top rooms? In those towers and things?”

“I don’t know. I’ve only been on the main floor,” I said.

“Cool!” she said. “I want to check out those towers.”

I smiled. Beth was no chicken. Maybe she would do all right in this town after all.

“Listen,” I said to her, “if you want to come along, I’ll help cover for you and tell you what is going on.”

She looked at me and chewed her lower lip. “Okay,” she said.

The bus didn’t move, not even when the gate was open. Mrs. Urdo got up and walked down the aisle. Her steps were graceful, measured and sure. She stopped in front of us and crouched down so her face was at our level. She looked at Beth seriously.

“I’ve called for a ride for you,” she said.

Beth looked at her for a long moment. Everyone else on the bus stared at us.

“I don’t want a ride,” she said finally.

“You aren’t from here,” said Miss Urdo gently. “There’s no need for you go with us.”

Beth and Miss Urdo locked stares for a moment. “I do belong here,” said Beth. “My Aunt is from here. I’m just like everyone else.”

Urdo stared at her for a moment longer without any expression. Then she glanced at me. Her gaze always made me squirm. Then, finally, she gave us a tiny smile and nodded.

She walked back up the aisle to her seat and the bus lurched into gear.

We headed into the Estate grounds.