Scott Westerfeld - Blue Noon

Jonathan smiled again, his brown eyes flashing in the light of the dark moon. “It’s kind of tricky to explain. But you get a lot more skips than on regular water. Swimming’s fun too.”

“Okay,” Jessica said. “I could use some fun.”

“Come on, then. I’ll show you.”

Jonathan offered her his hand, and she took it.

“You kids have fun now,” Dess called.

“Okay,” Jessica said. “See you, Rex.”

The seer only nodded, his hands still shaking. Even in the blue light she could tell his face was ashen. What had happened to him before they’d arrived? And why had the darkling run away while she was still finding her way here, if its minions were sacrificing themselves to hold her up?

She shook her head. Evidently Rex and Melissa were still keeping secrets from the rest of them.

They leapt up and over the trees, finding their way back to the railroad bed and then across Jenks, until Jessica could see the glimmer of the river in the distance. From the air it looked like a giant slither winding its way down from the black hills, glowing with the cold light of the dark moon.

“You know,” Jonathan said as they flew. “Maybe it’s better for Cassie. Forgetting about all this.”

“Maybe. Doesn’t seem fair, though.”

“Sure, but think about how much it would scare a kid like that. Knowing about all these weird creatures crawling across her while she’s frozen for an hour every night?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Jessica said. “I mean, it scares me, and I’m the all-powerful flashlight-bringer.”

“And on top of the fear factor, everyone would think she was totally crazy. Eventually, since she’ll never see the blue time again after all, she’d probably decide they were right.”

They landed on a stretch of not-quite beach, a narrow strip of dry earth dotted with patches of scrubby grass. The river stretched out before them, motionless wavelets glittering like scales made of diamond, reflecting a shattered image of the dark moon.

It was beautiful, but Jessica shivered.

“Not cold, are you?”

“No. It’s always warm here.” She shook her head. “I was just wondering if Cassie might see the blue time again. I mean, what if Dess is right? What if the secret hour swallows all of Bixby—or even the whole world—forever? And everyone gets sucked through, like Cassie was? Suddenly cars and electricity don’t work, and people can’t even make fires anymore. Only five of us on the whole planet know anything about using thirteen-letter words and stainless steel to protect ourselves. What happens then?”

He squeezed her hand. “Then I’ll come get you, wherever you are when it happens. We’ll be okay.”

“But what about everybody else?”

He stared out across the river, nodding slowly. “My guess is, everybody else is in big trouble.”

At the kitchen door the next morning Jessica breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe for a few more minutes—Beth wasn’t up yet.

“Morning, Jess. Toast?”

Jessica checked for signs of imminent re-grounding in her mother’s expression but saw only sleepiness and the usual lines of stress. Apparently Beth hadn’t raised any alarms last night.

“Sure, Mom. Thanks.” Jessica sat down at the table. Maybe Jonathan was right, and the trick to dealing with Beth was to call her bluff.

Somehow, though, Jessica didn’t think it was going to be that easy.

Her mother popped two slices of bread into the toaster, then turned her attention back to the coffeemaker gurgling happily on the counter. “Any plans tonight?”

“Um, no.” Jessica frowned. “Hang on, was that question a subtle recognition of the fact that I’m not grounded anymore?”

“Not exactly subtle,” her mother said. “I don’t do subtlety before coffee.” She splashed milk into an empty mug, her eyes remaining fixed on the black brew now dribbling into the pot.

“Well, you’re tons more subtle than Dad. Yesterday afternoon he said he was keeping an eye on me.”

“He is.” Mom looked at Jessica. “But I’m just going to say that I trust you. How’s that for good parenting?”

“It’s great. But didn’t you used to be the bad cop?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Her mother gave the coffeepot a look of intense concentration. “Takes too much energy, though. At least your father’s taking up the slack somewhere.”

“Well, thanks anyway. I won’t let you down.” The words came out automatically, but Jessica felt a twinge of guilt as they left her lips. She had crossed a new line just the night before. It was one thing sneaking out during the secret hour, which hardly counted as breaking curfew; when every clock in the world was frozen, surely time was a meaningless concept. Plus there were darklings to slay and lost kids to rescue.

But last night she hadn’t gotten home till about 2 a.m., cutting solidly into school-night real time. Crusty sleep still caked her eyes, and red Oklahoma dust had spun around the drain for a solid minute while she’d showered.

Not that she regretted it. Their visit to the motionless river had been worth any amount of lost sleep. Just like air during the blue time, the water had been as warm as a summer day. Jonathan said that you could go swimming in the middle of winter. With the current arrested, the broad river was like one big heated swimming pool. The water had seemed to wash away the pain in her slither-bitten hand, not to mention all the tension between her and Jonathan.

“That’s Jessica, all right: Miss Trustworthy,” Beth said from the kitchen door.

Jess wondered how long she’d been standing there. Maybe she had been waiting for the sounds of Jessica getting up and had followed her down the hall.

Not much fun, having a spy in your own house.

Jessica cleared her throat. “That’s me.”

Beth came in and flopped down on a chair, smiling sweetly at her sister. “Get it?” she asked. “Miss Trust?”

At the exact same moment Jessica’s toast popped up and the coffeemaker’s gurgling ended with a final sigh.

“I got it, Mom.” Jessica jumped up and pulled a knife and fork from the drawer, wielding them like chopsticks to remove the toast.

“Put some in for me?” Beth asked.

Jessica glanced at her mother, who was giving Beth a puzzled look with her sleepy eyes, the pot in one hand, mug in the other. The coffeemaker let a last few drops fall onto its hot metal plate, which hissed like angry slithers as they boiled away.

“Be polite, Beth,” Mom finally said. “Say ‘please.’ ”

“I’m very polite. Aren’t I, Jessica?”

“Amazingly polite.” Jessica depressed the toaster’s handle and stared down into its double maw, watching as the elements glowed red. “For example, you’d never hang around when you’re not wanted.”

“Yeah, and always on time. That’s me.”

“ What are you two talking about?” their mother said.

Jessica glared at her little sister, daring her to go ahead and blab to their mother about everything: her sneaking out the night before, Jonathan, whatever she wanted. It gave Jessica pleasure to think that no matter how much Beth snitched about, she didn’t know half of what was really going on.

And for that matter, what difference did being in trouble make? Yesterday Jessica had discovered that everything she knew could disappear at any time—maybe in a week, maybe this morning—her whole reality swallowed by the darklings. She definitely wasn’t going to let a little twerp like Beth push her around in the meantime.

Besides, her boyfriend could fly. Grounded was a relative state of affairs.

She stared at Beth and thought, Go right ahead.