Chapter 10
Billy and Sarah had slipped into the side of a yard where there were plenty of bushes to provide cover. They leaned against a large tree, shaking and taking the time to catch their breath.
“Did I really see what I just saw?” Sarah finally asked. “What the heck happened, and what was that all about? Was that Mr. Phelps or not?” Sarah’s face reflected fear and confusion, but mostly total disbelief.
“That was like being inside a fright night movie, and they sure did a good job at casting the teacher,” Billy answered. “That was beyond believing, but we both saw it happen. I would say that Mr. Phelps just earned himself a failing grade for after-class conduct.”
Sarah was breathing deeply, trying to stabilize herself. “Maybe correcting the Schultz twins’ test papers finally got to him,” Sarah said with a weak smile.
“Right about now, I can say I’ll pass on an invitation to stay after school. Things were pretty crazy. Sarah, just shove it all out of your head, for now, so we can think straight.”
Sarah nodded.
“We better not wait here or at school for my mom. We can cut across to the church parking lot from here. I’ve got a funny feeling that we better not dare get back to the apartments before my mom does because he might be waiting for us. But first off, I’ll bet he will probably be checking the streets for us. Are you OK now?”
Sarah shook her head in agreement. “Yeah, if he spots us, and he’s in his car, let’s not forget that he’s over the edge already. I’ll bet he could get a case of road rage pretty easily. Billy, this is just downright insane.”
They crossed the street and ducked behind the church just as a group of guys were gathering to start a street hockey game. Billy stuffed the scope under the stairs out of sight. He reached in his pocket. The mouse seemed fine but extremely grateful to stretch his legs.
Sarah sat down on the stairs, rummaged in her backpack, and slipped a hooded sweatshirt over her head. “My orange shirt is a dead giveaway even at a distance.” She jammed her hair up and under the baseball cap she had pulled out of her backpack. The mouse sat down by Sarah’s shoe and began checking the burns on its tail.
“You’re right. Good thinking.” Billy pulled a windbreaker out of his backpack and slipped it on. “You’re going to have to keep Mouse in your front pocket. Just don’t forget he’s in there. OK?” Sarah looked for the mouse and saw it sitting by Billy’s backpack, chattering and gnashing its teeth. The mouse calmed down when Sarah picked it up, and she tucked it in her hand warmer pocket. Billy tossed their backpacks under the stairs.
“Mouse was clicking his teeth nonstop all the time we were hassling with Mr. Phelps. While he was in my pocket, I could feel it continue. Go figure that one.” Billy shrugged.
“Well, I guess this is what they call going undercover,” Billy said. “Come on, Sarah. We have to talk, but it’s time to make ourselves inconspicuous.” They headed over towards the game that had started. Billy picked up two hockey sticks lying in the grass. He handed off one of them to Sarah. “Here, hold it in front of you and sort of lean on it and watch the game, so we look like part of the group.”
One of the players called over, “Hey, you two want in the game?”
“See you in a couple of minutes,” Billy yelled back.
“Billy, I’ve got to admit this whole thing is pretty scary to me. Part of me says it couldn’t be true or have happened. It doesn’t make any sense for a teacher to act like that. He was like a robotic monster. I can wait forever before I have to face science class Monday.” Sarah swayed back and forth like Billy and kept her head low with the brim of her baseball cap covering her face.
“I’m sure we’re in a heap of trouble. The only pluses are that we still have your ant and the microscope to examine it some more.”
“Actually, it was Mr. Phelps that caused all the problems. It was my ant and your microscope.”
“Yeah, but when those specimen jars started rolling around and breaking, I have to admit I did take something out of the lab. A jar rolled out of somewhere or other with five ants in it. I’ve got it in my backpack. Maybe they’re just regular old ants, but now I feel like I desperately need to be sure. Wow. As I recall, we were going to ask him for help. I think not. Sorry, but we only have ourselves to trust to get to the bottom of this.”
“Somehow, someway,” said Sarah. “We will figure out what’s going on.”
They both recognized Mr. Phelps Volvo as it began to cruise the church parking lot. It was moving so slowly that there was no mistake that he was trying to see if he could spot Billy and Sarah.
Sarah gave Billy a quick glance that was laced with fear.
“Don’t run, and don’t lose it now. Nothing could be as strange as what we saw. Come on,” said Billy. They made their way into the thick of a group of players who were taking a water break.
Billy walked up to the guy who had called over to him. “Hey, our group got shut out of playing at the Countryside complex. Bad accident with a dumpster.”
“Yeah, I heard. Well, you can bring the guys over here. We could use more players, and I’m sure it’ll be OK with Father McCully. He plays with us most of the time. Got your own goalie, I hope? Truth be known, we wear ours out good and proper. My name’s Jimmy, but they call me Jimmy the Stick.”
“Yeah. Then I guess you can call me Billy the Goalie. We have nine, maybe ten players, and maybe three are pretty slick.” Billy could see the Volvo had stopped, and the driver seemed to be watching the players.
“We can hit the lot any day of the week except when Father needs it for a parking lot. Just go stop to see him, and he’ll fill you in. Father is cool. He played ice hockey at St. Joe’s. He’s a priest, but he’s into any kind of hockey. He’s hoping we get enough players to have a hockey church festival. You can even store your net here if you want to. She plays too?” Jimmy motioned toward Sarah.
Jimmy didn’t say it in a negative way, so Sarah piped in, “Nope, but I can learn to keep score if you need help with that.”
“Talk to Father. He would rather play with us, but he usually ends up having to keep score and get things organized. I sure bet he’d love some help.”
Sarah acted casual while she watched the Volvo turn around. It began making its way out of the parking lot and out onto the street. She nodded to Billy.
Billy took a couple more minutes to wrap up the conversation just to be sure that the coast was definitely clear. “We’ll be back on Saturday to get things arranged,” he finally told Jimmy.
They left the sticks where they had found them, grabbed the gear they had stowed under the stairs, then cut through a few backyards while heading toward the complex.
It seemed a smart idea to stay out of sight, so they headed toward the apartment clubhouse, but they quickly spotted the Volvo cruising around the parking lot there. They hung back toward the hiking area by the edge of the woods. Billy found a spot where they could see his mom pull into the place she usually parked.
They were still within the time frame Billy’s mom had given them, but it was time to call her and change the plan.
Billy dialed her work number. “Mom, it’s me. I got done early. Are you coming straight home because I’ve got a big surprise for you?”
“Sure I can. I’m leaving now, but I have one quick stop to make. I should be there in twenty minutes or so. A big surprise, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s a huge one. So can you promise to wait in the car until I get there?”
“Ok. You know I positively love surprises. Love you. See you in a bit. By the way, don’t forget you can’t call my cell phone. Something’s wrong with it. So no more changes in your plans.”
“Got it,” Billy said and hung up. Billy and Sarah looked at each other. Billy rolled his eyes. “Well, the big surprise isn’t the half of it, and I know for sure it’s not the kind of surprise my mom will truly enjoy.”
“Or mine. That’ll be a new one for Mom. I’ve never, ever gotten into trouble.” Sarah looked a bit apprehensive.
“It almost seems like the older you get, the more confusing moments you have and the easier it is to get into trouble. Actually, it’s nothing I want to get into regularly.” Billy added. “Don’t worry, Sarah. They usually go easy on first-time offenders.”
“You never realize how safe you feel until you suddenly aren’t,” Sarah mused. “It doesn’t help that what we have to tell them is beyond belief.”