Just when I had all but given up hope, I heard that tiny voice in the back of my head assuring me, Don’t worry. I won’t let Tina kill you. Just be patient. There’s got to be some way you can escape!
Lien Hua? I thought. Finally I recognized the voice, and for once I had brains enough not to yell, “Stop doing that!” It was Lien Hua all right. I saw her smiling at me from over in the corner.
But how can I get away? I thought back. Tina’s obviously going to kill me and Leah and Mr. Talbert tonight. How can I possibly stop her?
There’s always a way, thought Lien Hua. Just leave it to me.
Like I had a choice!
She smiled and then she said out loud, “Tina, before the sacrifice, shouldn’t we offer a ceremonial prayer to Athena?”
“A ceremonial prayer?” Tina repeated, interested.
“Yeah, you know,” said Lien Hua. “We ought to pray that our sacrifice will be acceptable in her eyes.”
“Sacrifice?” Leah whined in terror. “I don’t want to be a sacrifice! I don’t want to be anyone’s sacrifice!” She batted her eyelashes like there was no tomorrow. “Get me out of here!”
“Shut up!” I told her. “Screaming’s not going to do you any good.”
So Leah tried whining. She seemed so pathetic, like a tiny puppy dog wearing too much mascara. I almost started crying myself, as a matter of fact.
“Jamey!” Tina commanded, sounding solemn. “Run to the utility closet and get me the ceremonial knives.”
“You’ll never get away with this!” I told her. I didn’t know what to say, and that’s what they always say in the movies. Then I thought of something else. “Why don’t you go upstairs now, Tina, and leave the room for a few minutes?”
“Nice try, Jendra,” Tina said tossing her hair, “but I’ve seen that movie.”
“Really?” I squeaked. “What movie was that?”
“Shut up!” snapped Jamey Fitzhughston, giving me the evil eye.
I closed my mouth fast, but I was getting pretty worried and sweating pretty hard. The pompon shelf was starting to glow again, and I didn’t like that one bit—believe me.
“Athena has spoken her divine word,” Tina announced, climbing to her feet. Jamey returned from the recesses of the room with silver-tipped knives, daggers, and swords. That did not look too encouraging. Predictably enough, there were thirteen of them.
“You see, Jendra,” said Tina, grabbing a long silver sword, “I’m the judge, and the verdict is guilty. The sentence, of course, is death.” She stepped closer and drew the sword, pointing it at my throat. “Jamey,” she bellowed, “how do I make the ceremonial cuts?”
“I don’t know,” Jamey whined. “Just kill her. We’ll worry about the ceremonial stuff later. As long as she’s dead, she can’t cause any trouble. Just hurry up, Tina.”
I shut my eyes tight and started saying my prayers. At first I couldn’t really think of any prayers to say. Then I meant to start reciting the Lord’s Prayer, but I was so nervous, I accidentally started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance instead. I get all that memorization stuff mixed up.
“Jendra!” Leah whined, wrinkling her nose. “What the heck are you talking about!”
“Oh, well,” I decided with a sigh, “at least I’ll die a patriot!”
I shut my eyes tight again, sure I was really done for. But all at once, Lien Hua came to my rescue by saying the one word that could set me free.