Read Online Magic Nation Thing by Zilpha Keatley Snyder - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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sure to tell other people, like…”
“Like?” Tree asked, but her smile said she could guess what the answer would be.
“Yeah,” Abby admitted. “Like my mom.”
Tree nodded. “Yes, I suppose they would mention it to Dorcas. But you know, Abbykins, what I don’t understand is why you don’t want your mother to know. I think she’d be delighted. I know she was when you came up with the idea that the Moorehead kid and her father might be at Disneyland.”
Abby cringed. “I know,” she said. She paused, looking at Tree thoughtfully for a moment. “Has my mom ever talked to you about how she thinks that I, well, both of us actually, can do weird things, like suddenly knowing things that we haven’t any way of knowing, and stuff like that?”
Tree shook her head slowly as if she wasn’t sure. “Well, not exactly,” she said. “But she does talk about hunches quite a bit. She seems to have hunches quite often herself, but…”
“Go on,” Abby said. “But what?”
Tree looked a little bit embarrassed. “I’m not saying your mom isn’t a good investigator, because she is. She’s hardworking and fantastically good at picking up on important details and remembering them, which is terribly important in our work. But as far as hunches go…” Tree shrugged. “Most of hers don’t seem to help a lot.”
“I know.” Abby couldn’t help sounding a little triumphant. “She’s always telling me about the great hunches she’s had, but most of them happened a long time ago. Like maybe she had good ones when she was a kid, but she’s pretty much outgrown them now.”
“But yours, on the other hand—” Tree began, and Abby hastily interrupted.
“Most of mine don’t work either. Most of my hunches are no good at all.”
“Well, another thing…” Tree looked uncomfortable. “When I went in to see Mr. Walters—he’s the investigator at the insurance company—to urge him to get the search warrant, I told him I’d talked to someone who thought she’d seen Barker in the area on the night of the fire.”
Abby grinned. “Which is the truth, in a way,” she said. “Isn’t that sort of what I told you?”
Tree looked even more embarrassed. “I know, but I implied that it had been some neighborhood woman. I don’t know why, except I felt that getting the search warrant was urgent, like before Barker had a chance to get rid of the evidence. And I didn’t think they’d take me very seriously if I said…”
“Yeah, if you said it was a kid who saw Barker. And especially if you said that the kid had seen him in a kind of…” Raising her eyebrows, Abby let her voice trail off.
“Vision?” Tree asked.
Abby shook her head hard. “No. Like I told you, it was just a guess.” A disturbing idea occurred to her. “But what if the insurance people or the police want to talk to the person who saw Mr. Barker?”
Tree shook her head. “At this point I don’t think they’ll feel they need to. I told them the person who said she’d seen Barker didn’t want to be identified.” She grinned. “Which is true, right? And besides, when they found all that evidence in Barker’s house and car, he more or less confessed. He admitted that he’d been there that night and might have set the fire accidentally.”
“Some accident.” Abby shrugged into her backpack. At the door she turned long enough to say, “Well, that’s it then. It was you who figured out who the arsonist was. Nobody else. Okay?”
Tree grinned, sighed, and said okay.
So that was the end of the arson episode—except where Paige was concerned. Paige was absolutely hung up on the whole thing and how the case had been solved. And of course Paige, like everyone else—almost everyone else, that is—thought Tree had come up with all the clues that had solved the case. For a while it seemed to Abby that she and Paige were never going to talk about anything else besides the arson case—and Tree Torrelli.
The trouble was that
“Like?” Tree asked, but her smile said she could guess what the answer would be.
“Yeah,” Abby admitted. “Like my mom.”
Tree nodded. “Yes, I suppose they would mention it to Dorcas. But you know, Abbykins, what I don’t understand is why you don’t want your mother to know. I think she’d be delighted. I know she was when you came up with the idea that the Moorehead kid and her father might be at Disneyland.”
Abby cringed. “I know,” she said. She paused, looking at Tree thoughtfully for a moment. “Has my mom ever talked to you about how she thinks that I, well, both of us actually, can do weird things, like suddenly knowing things that we haven’t any way of knowing, and stuff like that?”
Tree shook her head slowly as if she wasn’t sure. “Well, not exactly,” she said. “But she does talk about hunches quite a bit. She seems to have hunches quite often herself, but…”
“Go on,” Abby said. “But what?”
Tree looked a little bit embarrassed. “I’m not saying your mom isn’t a good investigator, because she is. She’s hardworking and fantastically good at picking up on important details and remembering them, which is terribly important in our work. But as far as hunches go…” Tree shrugged. “Most of hers don’t seem to help a lot.”
“I know.” Abby couldn’t help sounding a little triumphant. “She’s always telling me about the great hunches she’s had, but most of them happened a long time ago. Like maybe she had good ones when she was a kid, but she’s pretty much outgrown them now.”
“But yours, on the other hand—” Tree began, and Abby hastily interrupted.
“Most of mine don’t work either. Most of my hunches are no good at all.”
“Well, another thing…” Tree looked uncomfortable. “When I went in to see Mr. Walters—he’s the investigator at the insurance company—to urge him to get the search warrant, I told him I’d talked to someone who thought she’d seen Barker in the area on the night of the fire.”
Abby grinned. “Which is the truth, in a way,” she said. “Isn’t that sort of what I told you?”
Tree looked even more embarrassed. “I know, but I implied that it had been some neighborhood woman. I don’t know why, except I felt that getting the search warrant was urgent, like before Barker had a chance to get rid of the evidence. And I didn’t think they’d take me very seriously if I said…”
“Yeah, if you said it was a kid who saw Barker. And especially if you said that the kid had seen him in a kind of…” Raising her eyebrows, Abby let her voice trail off.
“Vision?” Tree asked.
Abby shook her head hard. “No. Like I told you, it was just a guess.” A disturbing idea occurred to her. “But what if the insurance people or the police want to talk to the person who saw Mr. Barker?”
Tree shook her head. “At this point I don’t think they’ll feel they need to. I told them the person who said she’d seen Barker didn’t want to be identified.” She grinned. “Which is true, right? And besides, when they found all that evidence in Barker’s house and car, he more or less confessed. He admitted that he’d been there that night and might have set the fire accidentally.”
“Some accident.” Abby shrugged into her backpack. At the door she turned long enough to say, “Well, that’s it then. It was you who figured out who the arsonist was. Nobody else. Okay?”
Tree grinned, sighed, and said okay.
So that was the end of the arson episode—except where Paige was concerned. Paige was absolutely hung up on the whole thing and how the case had been solved. And of course Paige, like everyone else—almost everyone else, that is—thought Tree had come up with all the clues that had solved the case. For a while it seemed to Abby that she and Paige were never going to talk about anything else besides the arson case—and Tree Torrelli.
The trouble was that
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