A Boy, a Dog Girl and the Weight of Years: Part Three

“I’ve been thinking of Petro. Mister math teacher mustache seems kind of weird. All into Gratham’s work. I guess he’s doing his job, being a potions supply guy and all, but…”

“He smelled like the forest.”

Zack felt the atmosphere somehow grow colder.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been smelling it around the city lately. It’s probably nothing. But I keep smelling the bad men from the forest. The ones who nearly killed us. The man today smelled like them. So does the man who is always with the mean boy “

“Jelks? Are you saying Jelks smells like one of the bandits?”

Honey nodded slowly. The wind whipped the snowy air around them. They could barely hear the sea over the sounds of their hearts pounding. Zack put his arms around her, squeezing her gently.

“Why do you sound scared?” Honey asked.

“Not scared. But I feel like something is happening and I only see ten percent of it. I want to go bust down some doors, but…”

*

“So why give it to me and not Richie Rich?” Zack gestured towards the car.

“You need it more. You remind me of me at your age. Baltz is more cautious. You’ll do something stupid to help your friends.”

“I will indeed. Speaking of, I have to go talk to Chista now.” Zack shuddered, looking at the lit up third floor windows. He turned the charm around in his hands. “I’ll definitely remember this, Jelks.”

“Good. Sleep well, kid. And thanks.”

Jelks walked away. Zack studied the man as he left, the entire night running through his mind as he planned.

“A good luck charm, huh?”

Bullcrap.

Zack’s eyes had been glued to Jelks all night. Each facial twitch. Each word which sounded hesitant. He was convinced something was wrong. He wasn’t sure what, but the man was not to be trusted.

But he couldn’t do anything. Not yet.

He was trying hard to be better. He would not rush into whatever this was. He would gather evidence, then give it to Chistos.

He had time.

*

“If…if I had helped her…and she won a spot…it would have been my…”

He dropped to the ground, falling to his knees. Madam VanVeer walked around her desk and knelt next to him.

“Believe it or not, Zack, the world moves on whether you exist in it or not. This would have happened regardless of your actions. Chista is the one who makes her decisions. We all do. You are not God. You are simply a good boy who wants to help.”

He breathed heavily. In and out.

“There’s nothing I can do, is there?”

“Not right now,” Madam VanVeer said, gently patting his shoulder. “However…tell me about this bad stuff you think is about to happen.”

“Jelks. Baltz’s butler guy. Whatever happened to him, he was part of it.”

“And what makes you say such a thing?”

“Honey. She says he smells like the bandits who tried to kill us. And he gave me this. I’m only starting to learn about artifacts, but this thing feels nasty.”

Madam VanVeer took the small totem from Zack’s hand, turning it over in her hand, a deep frown on her face.

“We need to have a long talk, young man.”

*

“It’s definitely cursed,” Vessria said, looking over the totem. They had all gathered in Madam VanVeer’s office after school. Chistos and Chista, the Allheim sisters, the Bollingers and VanVeer herself. Zack and Honey stood in the center, telling what they knew.

“What is the curse?” Chistos asked.

“Don’t know exactly. Some kind of pain inducer, I would guess. Probably based on proximity. I can’t test it without alerting the other end. I’ve seen these things before. Two objects which look harmless, but one end controls the curse on the other.”

“Can you disarm it?” VanVeer asked.

“I’m insulted you even asked,” Vessria said.

“I noticed subtle imperfections in the potion ingredients. They were within the acceptable margins of errors, but knowing Petro is suspect now…” Gratham hung his head guiltily.

“Don’t feel too bad. Apparently whoever is behind all this works within margins. Patterns you only notice if you know a pattern should exist,” Chistos said grimly.

“So what do we do? Baltz and the others are missing and we have nothing but suspicions about a butler and a business guy.” Chista sighed, her foot tapping restlessly.

“We let them spring the trap.”

All eyes turned to Zack. The boy stood defiant next to Honey, who held his hand in solidarity.

“You are aware you are most likely the target of the trap, yes?” Isadora asked.

“Of course. I got the stupid totem thing. Whatever is going to happen here, I’m part of it. But I know about it now. Which means we’re ahead of whatever Jelks is doing.”

“I know we can reverse engineer whatever was done to those vaccines,” Helline said.

“Right! We’re the famous Bollingers! These scoundrels used us due to our reputation, and we can turn our reputation right back on them!” Gratham said, pumping his fist into the air.

“We’re in. No matter what you need us to do, the Allheim sisters will ride again!” Isadora bellowed.

“You want an excuse to use your sword again, don’t you?” Vessria asked, a sly grin spreading on her lips.

“Children?” Chistos looked over to his daughter and the two young people who had come into his life.

“I’m in. If someone did something to Baltz to get to one of us, it’s partially my fault. Can’t in good conscience let the jerk have the win,” Chista said.

“By jerk you mean Jelks, not Baltz, right?” Zack asked.

“And you are sure, Zack? Honey?” Madam VanVeer asked.

“I’m only sorry I dragged Honey into my mess again,” Zack said softly. She kissed him on the cheek.

“I love your mess. We’ll clean the mess, then dance like normal people.”

“Normal people…” Zack nodded, determined. “Yeah. Let’s beat these dicks at their own game.”

*

“You asked for help…” Skabbart said, wincing in pain as he knelt before them. “Didn’t think you were smart enough for it, boy. You tried to attack my bandit camp single handedly. Guess I pegged you wrong.”

“I have people I need to be less stupid for,” Zack said as Honey embraced him.

“Pretending the totem was hurting us was hard! Am I a good actress?” Honey asked.

“Great one,” Zack said, kissing her forehead.

“So, what now?” Chista asked her father.

“Now?” Skabbart said, a mad glint in his eyes, “Now it is time for plan B. Now…we all die.”