Grim Hill: The Secret Deepens Read online

  When Jasper repeated the question, “Really, what is it girls like?” I apologized and tried to think.

  “Hmm … what do girls like? That’s easy,” I said. “Bubble bath in plastic containers shaped like ice cream sundaes, tiny bottles with flowery smelling perfume, and cut-out dolls with lots of outfits, oh … and fuzzy slippers that look like bunny rabbits.”

  Jasper shook his head and said, “That doesn’t sound much like you, Cat.” He got an odd look on his face and

  pushed his glasses up on his forehead until they rested on his spiked hair. Then he blushed a bit. “Or Mia for that matter.”

  I slid to a stop. “Weren’t you asking for hints about what to get Sookie for her birthday?” My kid sister loved girly stuff, especially “older-girl” items made for littler kids – things like cherry-flavored lip gloss and purses that looked like kittens or puppies. I was about to add those items to the list when Jasper blushed some more and said, “Um … that’s not exactly what I meant.”

  “You are coming to Sookie’s birthday party, aren’t you?” The party was Saturday, and my little sister didn’t exactly have a lot of friends. To be honest, all she had was me and Jasper. That was mostly my fault because I’d become all tied up in that Halloween match and she had to tag along when I was practicing almost 24/7. She never got around to making any friends at her new school. “She’s counting on you.”

  Oh yes, and even if Sookie was only turning nine, she had a serious crush on Jasper.

  “I guess …” Jasper said drifting off in thought, as if he wasn’t even sure. This was worrisome. He was always so nice to Sookie. What had changed?

  “So if you aren’t asking for hints for Sookie’s birthday,” I said, curious now, “what exactly do you mean?”

  Jasper said nothing for a moment, and then as if making up his mind, he gulped. “What do girls like … in a boy?”

  The pieces of the puzzle snapped into place, and I understood why my little sister was not at all on his mind. “As in,” I said, “what makes a particular girl, say, Mia, like a guy?”

  Jasper gulped again.

  Whoa, this wasn’t going to be easy. Jasper had skipped a grade and wasn’t quite thirteen like us. Being a few months younger made a huge difference in the eighth grade.

  Also Jasper was a total brainiac. Guys who hung out every lunch hour in the computer lab or the library weren’t the type of boys who ended up at the school dance with girls hanging off them. As far as I knew, Mia considered Jasper in the same league as my sister – sort of invisible. Certainly Mia hadn’t come to understand like I had that hanging around with a smart guy had real advantages. Besides, I got the feeling Jasper wasn’t looking for just another friend to hang with. Now I saw a whole other reason why he got tongue-tied whenever Mia was around.

  “What do girls like about boys … ” I stalled, and then I figured out a way to let him down easy. It came to me in a flash as I thought about yesterday and all the girls that hung around Clive and Zach’s table. Really it was totally obvious. “Girls like guys who are great at sports.”

  Jasper nodded and dropped the subject, which was a relief. Then, just as we were passing Mr. Keating’s Emporium, I spotted a mysterious-looking box in the window. What a perfect birthday present for Sookie! It wasn’t on the list I had just given to Jasper. Nor was it something I would have thought up – ever. But it was as if the box had Sookie’s name written all over it.

  “C’mon,” I grabbed Jasper’s arm and hauled him into the Emporium. The bell chimed as we walked through the door. Inside, the shop smelled like cinnamon, tangy apples, and fresh-baked bread, or balsawood and turpentine, depending on which side of the store you stood.

  I was never quite sure how to take Mr. Keating. Sometimes I thought he was convinced I was a troublemaker. But today when he spotted me, his round face broke out into a huge smile.

  “Hello, Cat. What can I do for you today?” his barrel voice boomed.

  It was weird, but before I could even answer, he was reaching into the window, and I simply nodded when he brought me the box. It looked so cool – purple satin on the outside, with sparkly silver letters that spelled 101 Amazing Magic Tricks. He pulled off the lid, and I couldn’t believe how many items were tucked inside. There was a book – well, more like a pamphlet – a little wand, cards, a plastic ball and cup set, some little silver triangles, some rope and dice … I reached in to grab the instructions.

  “Uh … uh,” teased Mr. Keating as he pulled back the box playfully. “Magic is very secret, so the instructions can only go to the magician.”

  “I don’t know, Cat,” Jasper whispered in my ear. “Do you really think we should be encouraging your sister – ”

  “How much is this?” I blurted before Jasper could finish.

  “Twenty-five dollars,” said Mr. Keating.

  Wow, that was over my budget. Disappointed, I turned away. Then I said to Jasper as we were leaving, “I thought it would be perfect because it’s strictly a kid’s toy. Sookie would love it and maybe it would help, you know, make her a little happier.”

  Ever since my sister had her run-in with the fairies, she seemed restless. At night sometimes, I’d catch her staring up at Grim Hill, just looking out her window for hours, or other times she’d be humming eerie tunes that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

  “You could be right,” said Jasper. “If Sookie can’t get Grim Hill out of her mind, maybe giving her a safe hobby of learning a few card tricks would be a good compromise.”

  “But it’s too expensive,” I sighed.

  Jasper smiled. “What if we go in on it together?”

  We shook hands and I went back to give Mr. Keating our combined funds. I tucked the purple box under my arm, then Jasper and I left the Emporium. We headed to the pool where I was picking Sookie up, and my happier mood made me chatty. I confided in Jasper how I thought the girls might beat the guys’ team.

  “We should set up a sucker trick.”

  “What is that?” asked Jasper.

  “One of us runs to our defender as if we’re going to take the ball,” I said. “But instead at the last minute we give up the ball, then race in the open space and wait for the defender to kick us the pass.” We knew more sophisticated strategies than the boys because of all the moves we’d learned before the Halloween match.

  “Everyone at school is talking about this game, even the teachers,” said Jasper. “They’re calling it ‘the battle of the sexes’.” Jasper got that calculating look on his face. “You do know all the boys on the team will be taller and will have longer legs and more lung capacity. That means more endurance.”

  Somehow, the way Jasper reasoned didn’t outrage me as it had with Clive and Zach. “We still have an edge on them.” I tapped my head. “Strategy.”

  So everyone was excited about the game, and I was the one who got it going. That made me feel even better because this was an event we created ourselves. It wouldn’t be fake as if everyone had fallen under some kind of spell. There was a way to be popular at Darkmont without the help of evil fairies. I started thinking of how my life at school was going to go a lot better. I got so distracted I hardly noticed when Jasper said goodbye and we parted ways at the pool. I guess

  we both had a lot to think about. Before he left though, I handed our gift to him. Sookie would drive me crazy all the way home demanding to see what I was carrying.

  Sookie came out of the changing room a little later with her hair already dried into a golden bob. “Sunshine girl” – that’s what our father always called her before he left. I was his “October girl” with dark hair and green eyes. My throat tightened as I wondered what he would think, now that I had a couple of green streaks in my hair since my fight with the fairies. We hadn’t heard from our dad in awhile.

  “Is it cold out?” Sookie asked. “Teacher said Father Winter is coming so we should be sure to button our coats right to the top.”

  “You won’t need your winter
gear yet,” I said as Sookie dug in her pack and fussed with her mittens. “It’s actually not too cold, considering it’s the end of November.” Except for the cloudy skies, it wasn’t bad at all. As we walked back to Darkmont to meet up with Mom, Sookie babbled about learning to swim under water.

  “I made it across the whole pool,” she chirped.

  “That’s pretty far,” I said doubtfully.

  “Well, sideways across,” she admitted. We laughed.

  I dropped her off at the office with Mom. Sookie got started on her homework while she waited, and I decided to see if anything was happening on the soccer field.

  The boys were practicing, so I climbed the bleachers to check out how they played – which was fast and furious, but sloppy. All power, but no control. I leaned over and watched for a while, until a soccer ball came hurtling out of nowhere and slammed me in the shoulder.

  “Ow!” I shouted. Pain burned down my arm and side, making me feel dizzy and a little sick to my stomach.

  “Cat, we’re so sorry,” Zach said as he came running up. “I don’t know how that happened.”

  I quickly blinked back my tears. Then I heard a less-concerned voice beside me.

  “Spies deserve what they get. And sorry, but if you’re going to be playing with the big boys, you’d better toughen up.”

  I spun around angrily and stared at Clive’s conceited face. That did it. All my guilty feelings evaporated. We were going to beat these guys, and I was going to make him sorry.

  Then I spotted someone by the goalposts that made my stomach flip worse. “What’s Jasper doing on the field?” I choked.

  “He just tried out for the team,” said Zach. “He’s really fast. And everyone knows he’s smart. We’ve signed him up.”

  “Seems some of the guys thought he could bring some strategy to our game,” said Clive in a voice that hinted at my worst fears.

  Good move, Cat. Tell Jasper that girls liked boys who played sports. Then let him in on a few soccer tricks. Plant your own seed of destruction. Who’s the sucker now?

  What exactly had I told Jasper about my soccer plans?

  CHAPTER 3 Practicing Deceit

  ALL NIGHT I tossed and turned in my bed as if I was sleeping on a net of soccer balls that rolled beneath me. My back and head ached as the silver light of a November morning peeked through my window shade. I kept going over yesterday in my mind and what soccer plans I’d revealed to Jasper. And then I realized I hadn’t told him anything really – just one soccer trick. Nothing wrong with that. There were lots more plays besides that one – right?

  Sitting down at my desk, I began to scribble down soccer strategies. The big rule was to keep the ball moving and to get it to the right person, the player who has the most time and space. That was about skill, not strength. Passing thoughtfully, dribbling with control – that would be our strategy. As I placed my pen down, I tapped it against the desk. Tap. Tap. We needed something more.

  “Cat, breakfast!” Mom called.

  My chair scraped against the wood floor as I teased the idea that was simmering in my head, but I had no luck. The idea stayed hidden. Maybe food would help.

  Downstairs, Mom had made us waffles with sliced strawberries and bananas. I smiled at the treat, but Sookie only played with her fork.

  “Can I have my cereal on top?” she asked mournfully. My little sister loved her frosty oats.

  Mom sprinkled a few oats on top of Sookie’s waffle to make her happy. “So are you getting excited about your

  birthday party on Saturday?” Mom asked her.

  “Uh … huh …” Sookie said with a smile.

  “I was thinking, maybe we could go to a movie,” Mom said.

  I knew my mother was trying to plan an event that covered up the fact Sookie didn’t have any friends.

  “I want to play Monopoly,” said Sookie. “With friends.”

  My heart sank. Jasper was her only friend. But now he was a traitor who had moved over to enemy territory. How would I be able to explain that to my little sister?

  “We play Monopoly all the time. What if we try something different?” I suggested. “Maybe a girls’ night out?”

  “I’m the birthday girl, and I get to choose.” Sookie got that stubborn look on her face.

  That meant I’d be spending an entire Saturday afternoon entertaining my kid sister and my traitor neighbor in a boring Monopoly marathon, instead of playing soccer. Just great.

  The more I thought about Jasper and the boys’ team, the more I wrote and rewrote soccer strategies, so by nighttime, I actually had run out of ink in my pen. Then I spent another long night in bed as uncomfortable as the night before, trying to think of ways the girls could win. By morning I could hardly open my eyes, and it took a lot of effort to step on my icy cold bedroom floor and get ready for school.

  Over night we’d had a bit of frost. As I walked Sookie to school we crunched along the frozen field, the grass icy stiff and sticking up straight like a crew cut on a giant’s head.

  “Jack Frost has been out painting all the grass,” said Sookie. “Teacher says he paints the windows as well, announcing the arrival of winter.”

  I was about to mutter something about how “it’s all

  make-believe,” but that just might be confusing to a little girl who lived in a town where pretty strange things could happen. Instead we had fun smashing the ice that glazed over the puddles, and snapping frozen grass stalks that glittered as though they’d been coated in diamonds. By the time my sister ran into the playground, the sun was beating down and the grass started wilting.

  Winter wasn’t here yet, plus Mom had told us it never got really cold in this area. Sookie’s teacher was getting her worked up about a big winter for nothing. I began walking to Darkmont.

  “Cat, wait up.”

  Instead, I began walking faster.

  “Cat, it’s me!”

  Exactly. I started jogging.

  “Cat?’

  I left Jasper behind as I raced toward school. Then I slammed to a halt. I had this all wrong. The last thing I should do is avoid Jasper – what was that saying about keeping your enemies close? I dug my hands into the pockets of my quilted vest and waited until he reached me.

  “Cat, what’s up with you? I had to shout a bunch of times,” Jasper’s rapid breath puffed out in bursts of fog.

  “I was wearing my headphones,” I lied, but I patted my pocket pretending my mp3 player was inside.

  Before Jasper could say anything, I started chatting. “I was thinking about soccer practice after school and how we’re going to be working on our long shots.” It had just occurred to me that I should feed Jasper false information. Deceiving him could be the best strategy.

  “Look, Cat, you should know that I took your advice and joined the boys’ soccer team.” Then he grinned as if there was nothing traitorous about that, saying, “so I think we might have what you call a conflict of interest.”

  My advice? That he should become a spy for the boys’ team? That wasn’t exactly my advice. Even though he was being upfront, it irked me the way he seemed to think the whole situation was amusing. But I held my tongue and replied, “Right, um, I’ll have to be more careful.”

  He didn’t seem to notice that he was supplying all the conversation the rest of the way to Darkmont.

  ***

  After school, the girls gathered in the gym for soccer practice; Darkmont’s one scruffy field had already been taken over by the boys’ team.

  “How come they get the field?” complained Amarjeet. She kicked the ball hard and it slammed against the wall. The bang echoed throughout the gym.

  Ms. Dreeble, who had just bustled in from class, was still slipping out of her lab coat and tying up her gym shoes. She said in a rush, “Not to worry. The office will post a gym schedule tomorrow. So let’s work off our steam by playing some good soccer.”

  We couldn’t argue with that, so for the next half hour we practiced scissor kicks and center
passes. It felt good to focus strictly on physical stuff as I perfected dekeing the ball.

  “Okay everyone, divide up and let’s have a few soccer plays.” Ms. Dreeble blew her whistle three times. “Remember, the team that moves with the ball – and that shares the ball – gets the most scoring opportunities.”

  Ms. Dreeble actually seemed to know something about soccer. I tried thinking about what she’d said, and as I ran, I

  tried to think more than one moment ahead. Instead of just kicking the ball away from my opponent, I tried spotting the player who had the best setup. This was harder than it sounded.

  Girls darted in and out of my vision like flecks of color in a kaleidoscope. I knew there were patterns, but I couldn’t quite spot any while I was in motion. And I couldn’t stop or I’d get my feet tangled up. We thundered around the gym. Gradually, the game got contagious as the thrill of soccer worked its way through my blood again.

  Quickly, I spotted Mia playing center and Emily who was her right flank. I dived for the ball and then side-angled it and watched with satisfaction as it sailed and dropped in front of Mia. Then she set Emily up for the goal. I raced ahead so fast, my lungs almost burst. But I got there just in time to run alongside Emily so that when she kicked, I could tap the ball right into the goal. This could be the beginning of a beautiful play.

  “Well done!” shouted Ms. Dreeble. She spent the rest of the practice having the three of us rehearse our setup.

  “Cat, a little faster – you need to keep up with Emily,” she’d shout, or, “Cat you have great control of the ball, show the other girls that shot again … and again.”

  “Whew, I’m winded,” I said after the grueling practice.

  “Me too,” agreed Emily. Then, as our captain, she shouted to the rest of the team, “We should all take a few laps around the field to build up our strength!” There were no other takers, but I agreed even though I already had a stitch in my side. As Emily and I left the gym later and approached the field, we saw that the boys were still practicing. I suggested we hide underneath the bleachers.