“We have a breaking story,” Penny said, getting our Monday lunchtime journalism meeting under way. “It seems that our school board and Pinewood’s are voting tonight on the consolidation proposal. If the measure is passed by both boards, it goes to voters in November.”

The room erupted in chatter and cries of surprise. Although Abby’s speech on the first day of school had hinted that the topic was still hot, I’d hoped that my father’s factory and the new businesses along Main Street had brought enough jobs to the area. While there had been a dozen or so new kids last winter, even I knew it obviously wasn’t enough to offset the two schools merging.

“So what does that mean for us?” someone asked.

“It’s not good news,” Penny said. “The two districts hired a consulting firm whose newly released report favored retaining Pinewood’s high-school building and closing ours.”

Jeers and boos ensued. I had always known it was an unpopular topic but was still surprised by the level of animosity.

“We need to cover this,” Penny said, quieting everyone down with waves of her arms. “Plus, it will look good to fill the seats with supporters of Norse Falls. Let’s get out there on Facebook and Twitter to spread the word on the meeting. And then tomorrow we’ll get to work on a special issue. I expect to see you all tonight. Seven p.m.”

As the fashion columnist, I hardly thought my presence was required. Plus, I was a senior; the earliest the actual merge could take place was next fall. “You mean those who do news stories, right?” I interjected.

“Everyone,” Penny said with an odd glint in her eye. “We’re going to attack this from a variety of angles. And if it means touting our cheerleader uniforms over theirs, we’ll do it. Mark my words: If there’s going to be a building put out of service, it isn’t going to be ours.”

Jinky coughed, a big, hacky bark stripper.

The bell rang, and I gathered my things, turning a shoulder on Penny. She’d been a little harsh on me. She, of all people, knew I wasn’t a hard-boiled gonzo journalist like her. She’d been the one to drag me into it, after all.

Jinky waited until the room had emptied, leaving only Penny, me, and her. “So now I have to read your runes more than ever.”

“What? Why?” Penny asked.

“You finished with a prophecy,” Jinky said.

“Hardly a prophecy,” Penny said. “More marching orders. If we get our community rallied, we get more voters to the polls. It’s not too late to turn the tide on this thing.”

“I don’t know,” Jinky said, tugging on her eyebrow ring; the effect looked like a caterpillar inching across her face. A skewered caterpillar, that is. “I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s an interesting aura about you.”

I knew I had to slash the tires on this runaway conversation. After Jinky read my runes, I ended up slapping on a selkie suit and facing down the Snow Queen and her Frost Giant henchmen.

“You want me to pick you up for the school-board meeting?” I asked Penny in a deliberate subject-changing ploy.

“Sure,” she said.

“What time should I be ready?” Jinky asked.

I pursed my lips, exhaling through my nose.

“We need to get there early,” Penny said. “I want seats up front and I want Jinky getting arrival shots of the crowd. You guys pick me up at six-thirty.”

“I’ll be ready,” Jinky said. She moved to leave, but then pivoted. “Your runes or mine, Katla?”

“Neither,” I said. “We’ll be too busy tonight.”

“Another time, then,” she said, hitching her bag over her shoulder.

Not if I can help it, I thought.

“Do you think Marik would want to come?” Penny asked, catching up with me as I headed out the classroom door.

“I wouldn’t think so,” I said. “He’s an exchange student. Local politics are hardly his business.” Besides, until I figured out what Frigg had to do with it all, what that shriek was, and how to get out of my pact with Safira before Brigid enlisted her, I was trying to keep Marik at bay, not worming into every little facet of my world.

“You’re probably right,” Penny said, her eyes focusing on the ground. “I just thought it might be something interesting for him to see, you know, from a visitor’s perspective. It wouldn’t hurt to ask him, would it?”

I didn’t answer, hoping she’d drop it. I’d be busy enough coming up with my own angle on the developing story and keeping Jinky’s runes in her pocket without having to worry about Marik.