Finders Keepers

CHAPTER ELEVEN

KEN HAD NO FAITH in what Jenna had told him about the medium. He wasn’t stupid. He knew exactly what she was trying to do, and this had nothing to do with anything she claimed to find in Cassandra’s mind. Jenna just didn’t want him to reveal his gift, and she’d say anything to keep him from helping out at the seance.

He’d been furious at her when she stormed into the seance, but after sleeping on it, and thinking about it, he wasn’t angry any more. He thought he knew why Jenna had tried to stop him from getting involved.

She was scared. She believed all that stuff Madame said about the enemies who were out to get them, and Ken supposed there could be some truth in it for some of the people in the gifted class.

But the bad guys weren’t out to get him.

What bad guys?

Ken frowned. Jack, I wish you wouldn’t just jump into my head like that. I’m entitled to my private thoughts.

Hey, man, we never had secrets from each other. What bad guys are you thinking about?

Madame says we can’t let anyone know about our gifts because there are bad guys out there who want to use us.

What could they use you for?

Not a clue.

Besides, who’s going to believe you can talk to dead people?

Lucy believes, Jack pointed out.

Yeah, I bet that’s just because she wants to believe so she can keep in touch with me. I don’t think she’ll ever get over me.

Uh, Jack.

What?

I’m sure Lucy misses you a lot, but she’s getting on with her life. I mean, she wants to go out with other guys.

Not Simon Dowell!

No.

Who, then?

Ken sighed. Me.

You’re kidding!

Honestly, Jack, I tried to play the big brother role, but I guess she misinterpreted it. She thinks I want to go out with her.

Do you?

No! But how am I going to let her down easy?

There was a long silence before Jack responded again.

You could.

I could what?

Go out with her.

Are you crazy?

Really, Ken. I don’t want her to go out with jerks, guys who are going to put the moves on her. I trust you. And if the other guys think she’s with you, they won’t bother you.

Jack! I don’t want to go out with Lucy!

Why not? You don’t like that Amanda chick any more, right? And there’s nothing wrong with Lucy. Don’t you think she’s hot?

She’s OK, she’s just not my type. Jack, I don’t want to start anything with Lucy.

Aw, c’mon, be a pal. You don’t know how rough it is for me, thinking about her, not knowing what she’s doing, who she’s seeing. Can’t you do this for me? Please?

It was Ken’s turn to plead. Can we talk about this later, Jack? I’ve got stuff to think about for school.

OK, OK. But remember, you’re my best pal. Don’t let me down.

Jack was gone, and Ken could get back to his own thoughts. What had he been thinking about before Jack interrupted? Right, the bad guys. The ones who were not out to get him.

It was like he’d said in class — his gift just didn’t have any criminal potential. And despite what Madame had said, he honestly didn’t think that talking about his gift would endanger anyone else in the class. He just had to convince Jenna that this was true and assure her she had nothing to worry about.

He was prepared to do that in the gifted class that day. He even hurried to class so he could take her aside and have time to talk to her before Madame arrived. But when he arrived at room 209, he changed his mind — even before he went in.

There was a glass window in the door, and he could see a few students were already there. Jenna, Emily and Tracey were huddled together, obviously having a private conversation. And Ken had a pretty good feeling he knew what it was about. Jenna was trying to get the girls to gang up on him, to stop him from going to the seance and offering to help the medium. He sighed in exasperation. What did they think they could do? Tie him up and sit on him?

No, it was more likely that they were planning to hound him and nag him till he broke down and gave in. Or threaten never to speak to him again. Or cry? No, not those three.

Like he cared anyway. Like these girls were more important than a kid whose family was about to lose their home. As far as Ken was concerned, Jenna, Emily and Tracey were being selfish — more concerned with their own safety than the suffering of others. And the minute they started bugging him, he was going to tell them that.

He opened the door, looking at them in scorn as they practically jumped out of their seats. The three of them wore almost identical guilty expressions. Ken went to his seat and opened a book. But before he began reading, he gave each one of them a long, hard glare.

It was pretty effective. The girls didn’t approach him.

Jenna didn’t even bring up the subject in class. Actually, she didn’t have a chance — Charles and Martin got into an argument about some stupid thing. Martin felt like Charles was making fun of him, and his gift came out. When he attacked Charles, Charles made a light fixture fall on Martin’s head. Even though neither of the boys was seriously hurt, it was utter chaos in the classroom. But at least it kept everyone’s attention off Ken.

He was still concerned about Jenna’s efforts to stop him, and when he arrived early at the seance that evening, he spoke to Cassandra before the others arrived.

‘If that girl comes by here tonight, don’t let her in. Actually, if any girls come by, don’t let them in.’

Since he couldn’t see Cassandra’s face, he had no idea if she was puzzled by his demand. She didn’t act disturbed. In fact, she changed the subject.

‘I’m glad you’re here early, Ken,’ she said. ‘There’s something I want to talk to you about.’ She motioned for him to sit on her sofa, and she sat by his side.

She spoke softly. ‘Ken, I hope this won’t sound presumptuous. I haven’t known you very long, and yet I feel as if I do know you. In a unique way.’

Ken stared at her. ‘I–I don’t know what you mean.’

She continued. ‘I believe we may have something in common. Something very deep and profound.’

Ken swallowed hard. He didn’t know what to say.

‘I believe,’ Cassandra said, ‘that you may have a special awareness of the spirit world. As you know by now, I am receptive to their messages, and thus I am highly sensitive to others who are receptive. I think you and I may have similar gifts.’

Ken nodded. ‘I was going to talk to you about that tonight. Sometimes, dead people contact me.’

The medium nodded. ‘I suspected this might be the case. And tonight, Ken, I may need your help.’

‘With Stevie?’

She pressed her hand gently on his. ‘Oh, I was right — you are perceptive! I so desperately want to help this boy find the lottery ticket. But you see. ’ she lowered her head. ‘I must confess that while I do have a gift, I am not the strongest medium in the world. And for some reason I’m finding it very difficult to communicate with Mr Fisher, Stevie’s father.’

‘Do you actually think I can help?’ Ken asked. ‘I’ve never even tried to contact spirits. They come to me.’

‘If spirits can find you, you can find them,’ Cassandra said. ‘With my assistance, of course. Will you try? For Stevie’s sake?’

Ken nodded. ‘Absolutely.’ Then he asked, ‘Could we keep this just between us? I don’t want everyone to know I have a gift. No offence, but I don’t want to get into the medium business.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Cassandra said. ‘They won’t even be aware of what’s going on. You just pass whatever you learn on to me.’

Margaret arrived at the apartment then, followed by Stevie and then Dahlia.

‘Margaret, could you help me in the kitchen for a minute?’ Cassandra asked. The two women disappeared into the other room.

‘How ya doing?’ Ken asked Stevie.

Stevie actually smiled. ‘That money you paid me. my mother was able to buy Cindy some shoes from the thrift store. They’re not new, but at least they fit her and they don’t hurt. And she found some cream at a pharmacy that’s helping Dena’s rash.’

‘That’s great,’ Ken exclaimed. ‘So things are better, huh?’

Stevie nodded, but his smile faded. ‘But the landlord came around again. He’s only giving us another week to get the rent money together.’

‘Well. maybe by then you’ll have the money,’ Ken said. He didn’t tell the boy about his plan to help the medium because he didn’t know if it would work, and Stevie had already had enough disappointments in his life.

Margaret and Cassandra returned, and to Ken’s surprise, Cassandra was holding a tray with glasses. Margaret carried a pitcher of red stuff.

‘This is homemade strawberry punch,’ Cassandra announced. ‘I have a good feeling about tonight — that it’s going to be special. So I thought we’d have a little pre-seance celebration.’

‘Shouldn’t we have the celebration after the seance?’ Ken asked. ‘I mean, if it’s successful?’

‘One has to establish the ambience for success,’ Cassandra declared as she set the tray down. ‘Success is more likely to come when the appropriate feelings are in the air.’

Her reference to ‘feelings’ bothered Ken. He looked at the punch suspiciously. ‘Is there alcohol in this?’

Cassandra let out a tinkling laugh. ‘Of course not, Ken. I would never serve an alcoholic beverage to young people. I don’t even drink alcohol myself — mediums rarely do. We are afraid it could dull our senses and make us less accessible to the spirits.’

He felt foolish for having asked. He should have known Cassandra would be the responsible type.

‘Margaret, will you pour?’ Cassandra asked.

Margaret picked up the pitcher and turned her back to the others to face the coffee table. Ken approached her.

‘Can I help?’ he offered.

‘No!’ Cassandra answered for her. ‘Margaret can do it herself. Aaah!’

Surprised by the strong reaction, Ken turned to Cassandra. But she wasn’t protesting his offer of assistance. The scarves that covered her face were coming off. And they weren’t just falling — it was as if invisible hands were ripping them from her.

Invisible hands. that could only mean one thing. One person. ‘Tracey!’ Ken yelled in outrage. She must have followed him! But in an instant his fury turned to something else. Something more closely related to utter shock.

The medium’s face had been exposed, and he recognized her.

‘You!’ he cried out.

At that very moment there was pounding on the door. ‘Go away!’ Serena Hancock shouted.

‘Police! Open this door immediately or we’ll break it down!’

‘Good heavens!’ Dahlia exclaimed. ‘Isn’t this exciting?’ She went to the door and opened it. Two uniformed police officers strode in. Ken gaped, and his mouth dropped even further when, just behind the policemen, Emily and Jenna entered. And then Tracey was there too.

Emily pointed at the student teacher/medium. ‘That’s her! That’s the woman who threatened me two months ago at Meadowbrook!’

‘She’s crazy!’ Serena screamed.

‘I recognize her too,’ Jenna declared.

‘So do I,’ Tracey cried out.

‘So do I,’ Ken echoed in a whisper. He was still in a state of shock. But somehow he managed to blurt out, ‘I think there’s a scam going on here.’

One of the police officers produced a pair of handcuffs. Ashe was locking Serena’s hands together behind her back, the woman yelled, ‘I’m not going down alone for this.’ She jerked her head at Margaret. ‘She’s in on it too! Margaret Robinson!’

‘That’s not true!’ Margaret declared hotly as the other officer began to cuff her. ‘I’m not even Margaret!’

But the police weren’t giving either of them the opportunity to protest further. The two women were hustled out the door, leaving behind three stunned seekers of guidance from the spirit world — and three girls with expressions that were just a little bit smug.