47
“You ignorant little sah-vages,” Gazzy said, puffing and screwing up his face. As usual, his imitation was uncanny. I almost wanted to turn around to make sure the headmaster hadn’t snuck up behind us.
Angel and Nudge were cracking up at Gazzy’s recounting of the tale.
“You malignant little fiends,” he added, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“But sir,” Gazzy went on in my voice, “our parents are missionaries. Lying is the Tenth Commandment. They’re innocent of all wrongdoing. What’s a stink bomb?”
Now even Fang was laughing, his shoulders shaking. In his white dress shirt he hardly even looked like himself.
“Is lying really the Tenth Commandment?” Iggy asked.
“No idea,” I said. “Let’s cut into the woods. This road’s making me nervous.”
We’d walked along the main road until we were out of sight of the school. Now we headed into the woods at an angle, knowing we would meet up with one of Anne’s orchards soon.
“So who really did set off the stink bomb?” Nudge asked.
I rolled my eyes. “They did, of course.” I glared at Gazzy, frustrated that my look was lost on Iggy. “I don’t know how, I don’t know why. I just know they did.”
“Well, yes,” Gazzy admitted, looking a tiny bit embarrassed. “This kid was a total j
erk to me on the playground, and someone stuck a Kick Me sign on the back of Iggy’s shirt.”
“I told you I’d take care of that,” Fang said to Iggy.
I sighed. “Guys, you’re going to meet jerks in every situation. For the rest of your lives.” However long that would be. “But you can’t be doing stuff like stink bombs—not right now. We’re trying to blend, remember? We’re trying to not make waves, to not stick out. So making a stink bomb, setting it off, and getting caught was not the right way to go.”
“Sorry, Max,” said Gazzy, sounding almost sincere.
Inside, I understood why they’d done it. I even wished I’d been able to see the headhunter’s face when he’d found out about it. But this stunt had been totally uncool. And dangerous.
“Listen, you two,” I said sternly, as we crested a ridge and found ourselves at the edge of Anne’s property. “You put us all at risk. From now on you’re going to toe the line at that stupid school or you’re going to answer to me. Got it?”
“Got it,” Gazzy mumbled.
“Yeah, got it,” Iggy said reluctantly. “We’ll be more stupid and idiotic in the future. We’ll blend.”
“Good.”
48
Anne was not thrilled with us when we got home.
“I got a phone call” were her first words as we hung our jackets up neatly in the hall. “I guess you’re all adjusting. Well, anyway. Come on into the kitchen. There’s hot chocolate and cookies.”
Way to reward the buggers, Anne. Great mothering. I took the opportunity to give Gazzy another glare, and his small shoulders hunched.
“Let me just say that I’m very disappointed in your behavior,” Anne said, as she started pouring mugs of hot chocolate. She plopped two marshmallows in mine, and I tried not to think about the time Jeb had done the same thing for me, not too long ago.
She opened a package of chocolate-chip cookies and put them on a plate on the table. We all dug in—lunch had been hours before, and we’d had only normal-sized meals.
“I could show you how to make cookies from scratch,” I said, then blinked in surprise. Had those words really left my mouth? Everyone else looked surprised too, and I felt defensive. So, what, I was never nice to Anne?
“There’s a recipe on the back of the chip package,” I mumbled, taking another cookie.
“I’d like that, Max. Thanks,” said Anne, her voice softer. She gave me a pleasant smile, then went to the sink.