FACT: Forget it. There was no time to think about facts.
I dabbed my nose. The bleeding had stopped. Good riddance metal box. Good riddance Camels. Now it was time for an explanation.
Our Great-Aunt Juniper stood in the middle of the walkway that led to the monument, people streaming past in both directions. She’d taken hold of Tyler’s arm for balance. A few days ago we hadn’t known anything about her, yet there she was, the cause of all this mess. She motioned wildly at us. “Come on,” Jax said, running down the steps.
She looked so much older than in the photos. Her skin was wrinkled and covered in old-age splotches. Her shirt was untucked, her braids were coming undone. Dark circles hung beneath her eyes and a fresh bruise covered her right cheek. There was also a bandage on her right temple. I don’t know what I’d expected, maybe a hug for her niece and nephews who’d basically saved her life, but instead she grabbed Jax’s shoulders and said, “For the love of God, please tell me you figured it out. Please tell me you have the jar.”
“Yes, we have it,” Jax assured her, tilting her head toward the backpack.
“Good.” She let go of Jax. Her eyes were watery and slightly cloudy. “Did they hurt you? They told me they were going to hurt you. I never intended to put you in harm’s way. I . . .” Her eyes brimmed over, tears spilling onto her cheeks. “I’m so very sorry.”
“I’m fine,” Jax said. “Please don’t cry. We’re all fine.”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Tyler confirmed. “But you look like someone beat you up.”
Had Mr. Camel used “stronger methods”? How could a man hit an old lady? If he was capable of that kind of brutality, what could he do to Jax? To us?
I handed Juniper a clean tissue. She wiped her face, wincing when she touched the bruise. I was going to ask her about the blood on the kitchen floor but she wobbled, as if about to faint. Tyler took her arm again. “I’m feeling a bit . . . confused,” she said.
“Do you want to sit down?” I asked.
“There’s no time,” she said. “Give me the jar and I’ll be on my way.”
“You can’t leave. You have to tell us everything.” Jax started squirming as a bunch of questions shot out. “Where did you get it? And how come you sent it to me? Why does my mom hate you? And where have you been all these years? Why do the Camels pray to Pandora? And—”
“Yes, of course, I owe you an explanation.” She wobbled again. “But I don’t want to put you in any more danger.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me, but do you have any idea what we’ve been through? My car window was bashed in. Jax broke into a motel room. My friend Walker is totally perturbed because we’re supposed to be working on level six of Cyclopsville. And Ethan’s had about a million nosebleeds because this whole thing has turned him into a basket case. You owe us an explanation.”
“Uh . . . that’s kind of insulting. I’m not a basket case,” I mumbled. “I’m the one who got the box out of the safe, remember?” Give Caution Boy some credit when he deserved it.
Juniper turned her wrinkled face up at me. “You get nosebleeds?” I nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. I’m afraid you’ve inherited them from me. Overly sensitive genes.”
Inherited? Genes? I almost smiled at those words. I’d always been told that my nosebleeds were psychological. That I was the only one in the family to suffer from them. That if I could just be more confident and less shy, I wouldn’t get them.
“Hello?” Jax said. “Can you please tell us about the jar?”
“Yes, of course. But not here. Martha and George won’t leave the country without the jar. They will forge a new plan and then come after it.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why do they want it so badly?”
Juniper looked very seriously at Jax. “Even if Martha wanted to forget the jar, she wouldn’t be able to. It got into her head. You know what I mean, don’t you?” Jax nodded. “Only females can sense it.”
What was she talking about? Only females?
“And George Camel will use force if necessary. He does whatever his wife tells him to do, just to make her happy.” Juniper touched one of the backpack’s straps. “Please carry it carefully, as if you were carrying a nuclear weapon.”
“A nuclear weapon?” I said, my voice cracking. Two passing tourists turned and looked quizzically at me.
“Lower your voice,” Juniper warned.
“Sorry,” I said. Wait a minute, why was I apologizing? She’d sent a weapon in the mail and we’d been carrying it around. “It’s not really nuclear, is it?”
“No, of course not. But I’m afraid it can be used to hurt other people.” She pressed a trembling finger to her temple.
Powers beyond belief. That’s what Mrs. Camel had said.
The security guards stood outside the memorial entrance, watching tourists come and go. They weren’t paying any attention to us—three kids and an old lady. They had no idea that our backpack contained something dangerous. Backpacks were suspicious items these days. If Tyler set it on the ground and walked away, a SWAT team would be called in. The jar would be confiscated. Maybe that would be an end to all of this.
“Give her the jar,” I told Jax between clenched teeth. “Give her the jar and let’s go home.”
“No,” Jax said. “We’ve come this far. I want answers.”
“Agreed,” Tyler said. “The quest is not complete until we get the truth.”
I like truth. Facts are true. Science is true. But at that moment, every cell in my body screamed, walk away. Go home. The truth doesn’t need to be known. The truth doesn’t always set you free.
“I’ll explain as soon as we’re in a safe location,” Juniper said. Then she began to cross the manicured lawn. Tyler and Jax followed like eager puppies. I reached into my shorts and pulled out a five-dollar bill, all that was left after buying the bag of apples and the chips and doughnuts. Five dollars wouldn’t get me back to Chatham. Crud!
Who was I kidding? I couldn’t leave. Juniper was no longer a name—she was a person who’d been bruised and battered. She shared my overly sensitive genes. And Tyler might have been a genius, but he didn’t always have the best grip on reality. And Jax, who craved adventure, had been acting like someone under a hypnotic spell.
Call me a partner or call me a sidekick, either way, they all needed me.