Deadly Pink by Vivian Vande Velde Read Free Book Online Page B

Frank.
    Because I am so quick on my feet and such a great conversationalist, I said, “Huh?”
    “Did you give them two coins?” he asked. “Three?” “Just the one.”
    I saw him glance at Ms. Bennett.
    “What?” I demanded.
    Good-Looking—he had to be the Adam Ms. Bennett was substituting for Sybella—said, “Wishes start at one coin, but they get more expensive depending on how complicated they are.”
    “So they took my money and tried to kill me for shortchanging them?” I asked.
    Adam shook his head. “They didn't try to kill you.” Before I could protest, “You weren't there,” he said, “They only granted you a portion of your wish. The kind of spell you asked for, transporting you ... well, I don't know without looking it up how much it would cost, but more than one coin. You gave them a portion of what the wish cost, so the sprites transported you a portion of the way there. Like getting tossed out of a taxi when your fare exceeds what you've paid for. It was just coincidence that your money ran out while you were passing over the edge of a cliff.”
    “So you're saying it was my own fault?” If I'd been more daring, I could have pointed out that Rasmussem seemed to be saying that everything that went wrong was my family's own fault.
    “Well, yes,” Adam said. Then he gave a smile nice enough to make me feel inclined to forgive him his lawyerly ways. “But it shouldn't have happened. I've made a note.” He handed Ms. Bennett the clipboard he had carried into the room. To her, he said, “No callbacks from the boyfriend yet, or the roommate, but I spoke to the Residence Advisor at her dorm, and one of the teachers. I asked Sybella to cover Emily's phone contact list.”
    Ms. Bennett read over what he'd handed her and said, “Hmmm.”
    Mom put things together faster than I did. “You're checking up on the people who know Emily?”
    “Yes,” Ms. Bennett said.
    “I already told you she's doing well in school and she has lots of friends.”
    “So you did.”
    Mom shook her head, obviously miffed.
    But I could see Ms. Bennett's point. It's like when you've lost something, and you search in all the places it should be, and it's not there. You have to start checking in places it shouldn't be, because if it were where it was supposed to be, it wouldn't be lost. Obviously, we had missed something about Emily.
    Since this guy Adam was somewhat reminiscent of Emily's Frank, I figured she had to have hit it off with him, even if— for whatever reason—she had neglected to befriend coworker Sybella. So I asked him, “Do you know my sister?”
    “I'm engaged,” he said.
    Which was a lot more, and a lot less, than I had asked.
    “Congratulations,” I told him.
    “I met her.” He squirmed. “We never really talked.”
    I glanced at Ms. Bennett to see if she looked as skeptical as I felt sure I looked. But her face didn't give anything away, and she didn't say anything.
    Mom didn't seem to have caught that exchange—probably because she wasn't interested in Adam, only Emily. She asked, “So what does Emily's RA say about her?”
    “That she's quiet,” Ms. Bennett said. “A bit of a loner.”
    Mom snorted—which I would have done, too, except what if I snorted and something came out? I was trying to appear cool for Adam—even if he was seven or eight years too old for me, and walking around announcing his prenuptial status. Mom said, “Then this RA doesn't know her well. Or has her confused with someone else.”
    Ms. Bennett said, “And the teacher, her psych professor, says she's got a good solid C.”
    That didn't sound like Emily, either. Her marks were generally better than mine. And she had been telling our parents all semester long that she was doing fine.
    “This is all wrong,” Mom said.
    Well, no kidding.
    Mom turned to me. “Did you see Emily? Did you learn anything?”
    Facing her please-please-please-give-me-something expression, I couldn't tell her how Emily had been so