Read Online Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? by Liz Kessler - Free Book Online
Authors: Liz Kessler
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crystals from the same shop where Nancy had bought my necklace!
But what did all this mean? What did he want with the crystals? What were all the test tubes for? And what on earth was I to make of his notes?
I kept silent and watched the man work. After a couple of minutes, he left his test tubes and crossed the room to start punching buttons on one of the machines. A moment later, a handheld gadget on the table beeped. He picked it up and read the screen. Still holding it, he moved over to one of the computers. I silently dodged out of his way as he came right past me. Glancing at the screen of the gadget in his hand, he started typing into his computer.
I stood behind him, holding my breath, and watched as he typed. He was muttering to himself, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
It looked like he was inputting data into a spreadsheet — numbers and words. I peered at the screen, and a moment later, I had to bite my finger to stop myself from yelping out loud.
Among all the gobbledygook, three words had jumped out at me as if they were written in bright-red capitals and underlined three times: ROSE QUARTZ: INVISIBLE ?
For a moment, I just stared. My thoughts dried up. My blood froze in my veins. What did this mean? Was he the person who had given me superhuman powers? Was that what this place was about? Injecting weird liquids into crystals to make them do what the rose quartz had done to me? Or had he just discovered the rose quartz’s properties like I had?
Either way, something super weird was going on, and if his chart was anything to go by, this man knew a whole lot more about it than I did. I tried to make some kind of sense of his spreadsheet, but other than those three words, the rest was a complicated mass of data that meant about as much to me as it would have had it been in another language.
If it hadn’t been essential that I remain silent, I would have kicked myself. Why hadn’t I concentrated better on the spreadsheet lessons in school? I might have been able to make
some
sort of sense of it then. If only Izzy were here with me. She’d understand it much better than I could.
I had a thought.
I slipped my hand into my pocket and drew out my phone. Double-checking that it was on silent, I found the camera button and took a shot of the computer screen.
Then I hit the button to open a new text. I typed my message and sent it to Izzy.
“Get me out!”
“You again!”
The man was standing in the doorway, blocking it completely.
Izzy was outside, a bottle of lemonade in her hand and her bag slung over her shoulder. “I just wanted to let you know that I found number twenty-three, in case you’d been worried.”
“Good,” the man said. “I wasn’t worrying about it, actually, but I’m very happy for you. Now, if that’s all . . .”
“Yes, that’s all,” Izzy said. “And, thank you.”
“All right. Well, you’re welcome.” The man was starting to close the door.
No! Izzy, don’t go! I’m still inside!
Izzy turned to leave, but as she moved, she tripped, dropping her bottle on the ground. “Whoops, sorry,” she said as lemonade spilled everywhere. The man jumped back. Instantly, I squeezed through the doorway and didn’t stop running till I was down the path and halfway up the road.
Izzy caught up with me as I was crouching low behind a hedge, turning myself visible again. “Thanks!” I said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
As we walked, I filled Izzy in on everything I’d seen. At the bus stop, I got my phone out and showed her the picture of the computer screen. “What do you think?”
“I don’t get it,” Izzy said, squinting at the photo. “What does it all mean? What are those numbers? And why all the other crystals?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I figure he must either be experimenting on them all to see which ones make you invisible or doing something to the crystals to make it happen.”
“I agree. But even if he is, we
But what did all this mean? What did he want with the crystals? What were all the test tubes for? And what on earth was I to make of his notes?
I kept silent and watched the man work. After a couple of minutes, he left his test tubes and crossed the room to start punching buttons on one of the machines. A moment later, a handheld gadget on the table beeped. He picked it up and read the screen. Still holding it, he moved over to one of the computers. I silently dodged out of his way as he came right past me. Glancing at the screen of the gadget in his hand, he started typing into his computer.
I stood behind him, holding my breath, and watched as he typed. He was muttering to himself, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.
It looked like he was inputting data into a spreadsheet — numbers and words. I peered at the screen, and a moment later, I had to bite my finger to stop myself from yelping out loud.
Among all the gobbledygook, three words had jumped out at me as if they were written in bright-red capitals and underlined three times: ROSE QUARTZ: INVISIBLE ?
For a moment, I just stared. My thoughts dried up. My blood froze in my veins. What did this mean? Was he the person who had given me superhuman powers? Was that what this place was about? Injecting weird liquids into crystals to make them do what the rose quartz had done to me? Or had he just discovered the rose quartz’s properties like I had?
Either way, something super weird was going on, and if his chart was anything to go by, this man knew a whole lot more about it than I did. I tried to make some kind of sense of his spreadsheet, but other than those three words, the rest was a complicated mass of data that meant about as much to me as it would have had it been in another language.
If it hadn’t been essential that I remain silent, I would have kicked myself. Why hadn’t I concentrated better on the spreadsheet lessons in school? I might have been able to make
some
sort of sense of it then. If only Izzy were here with me. She’d understand it much better than I could.
I had a thought.
I slipped my hand into my pocket and drew out my phone. Double-checking that it was on silent, I found the camera button and took a shot of the computer screen.
Then I hit the button to open a new text. I typed my message and sent it to Izzy.
“Get me out!”
“You again!”
The man was standing in the doorway, blocking it completely.
Izzy was outside, a bottle of lemonade in her hand and her bag slung over her shoulder. “I just wanted to let you know that I found number twenty-three, in case you’d been worried.”
“Good,” the man said. “I wasn’t worrying about it, actually, but I’m very happy for you. Now, if that’s all . . .”
“Yes, that’s all,” Izzy said. “And, thank you.”
“All right. Well, you’re welcome.” The man was starting to close the door.
No! Izzy, don’t go! I’m still inside!
Izzy turned to leave, but as she moved, she tripped, dropping her bottle on the ground. “Whoops, sorry,” she said as lemonade spilled everywhere. The man jumped back. Instantly, I squeezed through the doorway and didn’t stop running till I was down the path and halfway up the road.
Izzy caught up with me as I was crouching low behind a hedge, turning myself visible again. “Thanks!” I said. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
As we walked, I filled Izzy in on everything I’d seen. At the bus stop, I got my phone out and showed her the picture of the computer screen. “What do you think?”
“I don’t get it,” Izzy said, squinting at the photo. “What does it all mean? What are those numbers? And why all the other crystals?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I figure he must either be experimenting on them all to see which ones make you invisible or doing something to the crystals to make it happen.”
“I agree. But even if he is, we
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