"I hope he doesn't," said April, tossing a sapphire-colored stone up and down. "The sooner we get him back, the sooner we can think about rescuing my parents."
"Your…parents…" stammered Fern, a look of concern on her face.
"Are you all right?" asked Tegan, resting a hand underneath her chin.
"Er, yes," said Fern with sudden calm. "Just a bit unsettled."
"That's understandable," said Tegan.
"Just a minute, April," Victor chimed in. "Your parents are prisoners in outer space. We can't just walk there and break them out."
"Buster was stuck on another planet," April pointed out, "and we rescued him."
"I'm sure we'll find a way," said Tegan.
Even with Tegan's personality sharing her brain, Fern was anxious to get to gym class before it ended. Frink obligingly drove her to the school, and this time she sat on the passenger side.
"It's going easier than I expected," said Fern, her head craned sideways against the seat. "I thought Fern would put up more resistance, since she's so strong-willed."
"I'm impressed," Frink remarked. "It's hard enough for two people to get along when they inhabit separate bodies. Just ask my ex-wife."
Mrs. Taylor, the gym teacher, wasn't so impressed. The girls were already showering when Fern arrived. "Miss Walters, you're late," the teacher scolded.
"It won't happen again," said Fern in a mature tone.
"Excuses, excuses," said Mrs. Taylor peevishly.
Fern leaned against a wall and gazed at the other girls as they put on their street clothes. The Tegan part of her marveled that they were the same age and size as her. I've turned into another person, she thought. I've got three more years before I have to deal with puberty again. I could stay like this…but that would mean taking Fern's life away.
She peered into Mrs. Taylor's office, where a morning newspaper lay on the desk. The headline declared, CROWN CITY CLEANS UP AFTER WATER MAIN RUPTURE. I'm ten years old, and I can read at an adult level, she mused. This is the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me.
During the lunch break, she searched the cafeteria for the one person she most wanted to speak to—Prunella. The rat girl had set down her tray on a bare table, and no one had joined her yet.
"Hi, Prunella," she said while taking a seat.
"Hi, Fern," Prunella responded. "Where's your lunch?"
Fern's friendly visage became serious. "I'm not hungry. I'm more interested in knowing where Alan is."
Prunella shook her head. "I wish I knew."
"You'd better not be holding out on me," said Fern in a half-whisper. "You were there when he turned Ray Mansch's mind into a blank slate. You know how dangerous he is."
Prunella began to tremble nervously.
"If the Brainchildren don't find him, the police will," Fern went on. "And then he'll spend the rest of his life in a cell, cut off from his family and friends. Is that what you want?"
Her face pallid, Prunella lurched to her feet and shuffled away, leaving her lunch behind.
Fern sighed with frustration. Oh, Alan, she thought bitterly. I wish none of this was necessary. I wish someone else had been cursed with these powers…
"Hey, Fern," said Lisa, sitting down across from her with a plate of salad. "I missed you during gymnastics."
"Sorry," said Fern flatly.
"It's okay," said Lisa with a grin. "You didn't get to see how uncoordinated I am."
"I don't suppose you know anything about the whereabouts of Alan Powers," said Fern.
Lisa stuffed her mouth with arugula lettuce, then answered. "I couldn't believe it when I heard he was missing. I was looking forward to seeing him again. He's such a nice boy, and smart, too."
"And what am I, chopped liver?" said Beat, who had arrived at the table with her tray of meat loaf and pudding.
"Of course not, Beatrice," said Lisa. "You're even cooler than Alan, because you're a girl."
"You don't look like a rabbit," said Beat, looking over Lisa's salad.
"I'm a vegetarian," Lisa told her.
"There are treatments for that," Beat joked.
As the cafeteria began to empty, Arthur and Buster held a brief conference with Mrs. McGrady behind the lunch counter. "I think six dozen brownies should be plenty," said Arthur.
"I'll prepare them in the school kitchen on Saturday afternoon," Mrs. McGrady pledged.
"And one other thing," said Buster. "No quarters this time."
Mrs. McGrady rolled her eyes. "Thirty-four years of faithful service to this school, and all I'm remembered for is the quarters," she grumbled.
As Buster walked off, he felt a pair of fingers pinching his ear. "Hey, Buster," Fern greeted him.
"Uh, hi, Fern," said Buster warily. "Prunella says I'm not supposed to talk to you, because you're possessed, or something like that."
"The only thing I'm possessed with is the desire to find Alan," said Fern earnestly. "You and I need to put our heads together. We're the Fernbusters, remember?"
"Of course we are," said Buster. "But you're so busy with your Mini Moo job, you don't have any time left for detective work."
Right, thought Fern. That recording thing I do on weeknights.
"I'll make the time," she promised. "See you tonight, Buster."
She strolled away, catching a glimpse of Prunella at the other end of the lunchroom. The rat girl eyed her suspiciously. She's the key to it all, Fern told herself. This would be so much easier if she hadn't suddenly developed a resistance to telepathy.
to be continued