Nita rang the doorbell.
She waited for about twenty seconds before a familiar pair of brown eyes peered through the stained glass to the side of the door. Then the door swung open, revealing her partner in wizardry. "Hey, Neets. I got your message. What's up?"
Nita was about to tell him everything she had realized—but that was before she noticed Kit's appearance. He had black smudges under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept for days. Kit was wearing the same clothes he had the day before at school. His manual sat rather limply in his hand. "God, Kit... Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I guess." Kit rubbed his eyes. "I've just been having trouble sleeping, that's all."
"Because of"—Nita was almost afraid to say the name—"Ponch?"
He winced, and Nita immediately wished she hadn't said anything. "Uh, yeah. I guess. I mean... I don't—Never mind. So do you want to talk to Carmela?"
"Sure. Is she here?"
"Yep." Kit stepped to the side to let Nita in, and she walked through the door and to the stairs. "In her room. Thinking. Yeah, I know," he added, as Nita turned to stare openmouthed at him. "She actually said she wanted to go upstairs and think for a while. I thought Pop was going to fall out of his chair."
Nita shook her head and headed upstairs. She couldn't help thinking that Ponch should have stayed on Earth. Even though he was helping tens of civilizations throughout the galaxy. There had to have been a better solution. The humor was heartening, though. She wondered if Kit's parents were worried about him.
She reached the door with the "Keep Out" sign on it. Nita knocked twice, tentatively. "Mela? You there?"
"Go away!" came the muffled reply.
Nita swallowed. "Mela, it's Nita. Can I please, please come in? I have to talk to you. Soon."
Silence.
Then Nita heard Carmela toss something off her bed—probably a pillow—and slide off her bed. The door opened, and Carmela appeared. She looked rather hopeful. "Hi Neets. What's up?"
Nita drew in a deep breath. "I need your help, because Dari's looking for Roshaun, and everyone else I know is either recovering from something monumental or doing something monumental, and I thought maybe you could help, because I'm scared to death that—"
"NITA!"
"Okay. Okay." Nita tried to breathe deeply. It was all coming crashing down on her head at once. Carmela was staring at her. The look on her face was one of shock, confusion, annoyance, and something else that Nita couldn't identify. Nita hadn't often seen that look on any face, let alone Carmela Rodriguez's.
Carmela grabbed Nita's arm and steered her into the bedroom. Nita blinked at the brightness of the walls—apparently Mela had put up some new posters—for a few seconds before going to sit on the bed. Carmela faced her. "So tell me slowly—what's up?"
Nita took a deep breath. "Okay. Last weekend, when I was in the attic bringing up an extra chair for Dad's dinner guest, I saw Dairine's pup tent against the wall. I looked inside and there was this dress, which I know Dairine wore to Wellakh, on a chair or something. I thought maybe she'd just been cleaning out or something. So I forgot about it.
"Then, a couple of days later, I was in Dairine's room looking for one of my shirts she borrowed, and I noticed this paper on her desk. It had all these symbols in the Speech on it, all that I'd seen before, but I had no idea what any of them meant. The Sunstone was next to it. So I thought, huh, maybe Dari's doing extra research on Wellakh or something. I wanted to ask her all about it. She had left a few hours earlier for her friend Miranda's house, and I phoned Miranda and asked if I could talk to my sister. But Miranda's mom said Dairine wasn't there. Actually, she knew nothing at all about Dairine even going over.
"Dari came back that evening after dinner. Dad yelled at her for a few minutes, but she said she'd been doing a 'project.' That's what we call working with magic," Nita explained, seeing the puzzled look on Carmela's face. "So I forgot about it AGAIN. But Dari's been gone more and more these past few days, and the Sunstone keeps turning up everywhere. I have no clue what to do, Mela! Everything seems to say the same thing. Dairine's looking for Roshaun, and I just know she's going to get herself killed."
Carmela stared at Nita until she stopped breathing hard, then said, "And you came over here why? I—I mean, like, I would expect you to talk to Kit or something. Why me?"
"Um, I..." Nita suddenly felt foolish for having thought that Carmela Rodriguez could actually help her now. "I guess, uh, I assumed you could help me talk to Dairine, or something, or help me stop her."
"Why not Kit?"
He's still recovering, and I don't really think I can rely on him right now, said Nita's mind. "I don't trust him with this," said her mouth.
Mela's eyes widened. "You what?"
Well, I've done it now, thought Nita grimly, mentally slapping herself. No going back. Maybe it's true. Why else would I be able to say it? I'm a wizard, and I can't lie.
Carmela, however, was paying no attention to Nita whatsoever. "But, but I'm not a wizard! If not Kit, why aren't you asking Ronan, or Sker'ret or Filif, or that whale?"
"S'reee? I..." Something hard formed in Nita. "They're all too busy," she practically spat. "They don't need me to nag them about anything."
"Well, all right." Mela backed off hastily. "I suppose..." A glint of mischievous fun was beginning to light her eyes.
"So how can I help?"