The Pantheon (16 page)

“
Go!” Zach shouted. He clicked the button. Lewis was gone. The boy ran around the track. He was a blur. Zach stared at the line in deep concentration. The green t-shirt flashed in front of him. He pushed the button again. He could smell rubber burning.

“
Holy cow!” Zach shouted. “Lewis, good God, four point three-three seconds!” That was as close as they could get with a stopwatch.

Lewis rolled on the grass next to Zach. He was laughing and his shoes were smoking. The soles were gone in some places, revealing singed sock. Lewis himself seemed immune to the friction. “My sneakers caught fire!”

Zach looked up from Lewis’ smoky soles and saw a woman leaning on the fence. “Oh shit, Lewis. Someone saw.” He didn’t know if they should try to run. It wouldn’t make any difference either way. The best he could do was stand here and hope that she’d arrived just after Lewis’ flash performance.

“
It’s alright,” the woman called as she passed through the gate. “I won’t tell.”

Zach and Lewis saw, as she approached, that it was Dr. Davis. “That’s a pretty neat trick,” she said when she was only a few feet away from them. “How long have you been able to do that? April? May?”

“
Uh... yeah.” Lewis and Zach were both frozen in place. They didn’t trust her but neither of them saw another choice but to answer.

“
You can relax,” she crouched down and ran her hand along the tips of the blades of grass on the field. They were brown and dry from a recent heat wave, namely Lewis’ sneakers. When she touched them they blushed green and rose again to full height. “I’m really in no position to tattle.”

“
Did you just--” Zach started.

“
Yes,” she cut him off, “and I don’t think you and I are the only ones, Mr. Mercer.” Her eyes went to Zach. Struck by lightning. Twice. “Mr. Jacobs, have you spoken to Dr. Livingstone lately?”

“
Uh...no. I have an appointment with him tomorrow.”

As she had thought. He had said he had a student who shot sparks out of his fingertips. “Well I’m pretty sure I know what that is about. Tell me, were you struck by lightning or were you the lightning?”

She knew the answer when his body tensed and his face turned white. She nodded. There was a break, a small game of chicken. Who would confess more first?

Lewis finally spoke up. He was usually the first to open his mouth in almost any situation. He had an abundance of curiosity and an extreme lack of patience. “Who else do you suspect? There’s more, right?” It seemed illogical that these three random people were the only ones.”

“
Have you heard Miranda Rutherford rattle off whole books after reading them once?” She wasn’t going to name Penny first. She was still reluctant to let even Jason in on that secret. Penny didn’t even know that she knew. Besides, she already had Minnie psyched for their little meeting Sunday.

“
Yeah, that’s a bit weird, but I mean something solid,” Lewis folded his arms across his chest, “clearly inexplicable. Not just ‘she claims she only read it once’ inexplicable.”

“
Frank,” Zach said. “I’m not sure how strong he is, but let’s just say we’re talking less like Schwarzenegger and more like the Incredible Hulk.”

Celene hadn’t seen that one. “Francis Guerrero? The Center from Miami?”

Zach nodded, “And June, she does this freaky lie detector thing that doesn’t work on me.”

“
Or me.”

“
Or Minnie Rutherford,” Celene said, remembering the lab makeup a few weeks back. “It doesn’t work on anyone else with powers, but Dr. Livingstone, who is completely normal, seems convinced.

“
We’re having a meeting on Sunday,” she said. “Dr. Livingstone is speaking to a few students he’s been working with and I’ve got my own list. It will be at my apartment, first floor of the grey house across from the florist down the block, eleven thirty in the morning. We want to see who else is out there and what we have in common. It might give us some answers. But this is not to be discussed with anyone who isn’t displaying some kind of gift, got it? To anyone who asks it’s an invitation only, interest meeting for a science competition.”

Zach and Lewis checked in with each other by way of a quick glance. Each of them felt nervous about exposing themselves to others, but eager to lean more. For Lewis it was a matter of knowing just how special he was that tempted him to go through with it. For Zach it meant uncovering the secret to why his junior year had not gone the way he had planned. He’d already lost football for the season and it was putting a further strain on his relationship with June.

Zach spoke for the boys, “We’ll convince June.”

It was odd to see two football stars conversing with a science teacher alone on the track. Celene knew she should move along before someone joined them out there.

“
Sunday then. Be punctual, please.”

Celene started back toward the gate. “And please, until then, stop showing off.”

“
Yes m’am,” Lewis did a mock salute. Now that they had a mutual secret, he figured he could get away with a little cheekiness.

Dr. Davis left and headed to her car. Zach and Lewis stared at each other for a minute, each feeling unsure what to say now that it was clear this thing was bigger than the both of them; there was no way to gauge, yet, just how big it was.

Lewis finally spoke, “I need new shoes.”

Zach laughed. The bottoms of Lewis’ cheap-o sneakers were almost gone. “Yeah you do.”

“
In union there is strength.”

-Aesop

xiii.

Along each side were placed five tall gilded chairs.

Each was a seat for a handsome governor.

Earth, sky, and sea were all represented here.

Two thrones faced the doors.

The statuesque men and women sat in their chairs.

They exchanged glances as their minds raced wildly.

They had an important decision to make

from their lofty thrones.

The ruler of the underworld sat below.

His living bride sat silently beside him.

It was offensive that they were excluded

from this decision.

His brother could never know he was jealous.

He reached for his bride’s warm hand; his was cold.

She had hated him when she’d first arrived here,

but she warmed to him.

She could never love him after what he’d done,

but she could try not to be miserable.

She could use her power to help poor lost souls

find their way through death.

She was at once his wife and his prisoner.

She often looked up at the mountain above

yearning for a life at her mother’s right hand

on the mountaintop.

That life could only be here for half a year.

That rightful place at the eternal council.

She spent the other six months in bleak darkness

with her cold husband.

“
Know thyself.”

-Delphic Maxim

XIII.

Celene Davis was baking cookies when Penelope wandered out into the kitchen in her pajamas. She saw the cooling racks out and frowned. Penny double-checked the clock to make sure she hadn’t slept too late. It was ten in the morning. “Why are you baking this early?”

“
Get dressed! People are coming over in less than an hour and we still have to clean.” Celene waved her spatula in the air as she ran to the oven to retrieve the latest batch of chocolate chip cookies.

“
Who?”

“
Uh...” Celene set the fresh pan of cookies on top of the stove and ceased bustling around the kitchen for a moment. She supposed she couldn’t avoid the topic any longer. She’d been postponing this discussion all week. “Sit down.”

Penelope knew this couldn’t be good. “Sit down” usually meant “Sit down so you don’t fall down.” Penny sat at a barstool next to the counter and watched her mother expectantly. Celene took off her apron. The kitchen counter was covered in plants that she’d let go thirsty and wilt for a few days. She knew she’d need a demonstration later today.

“
I know what you can do,” she began. “What you can do with plants.”

Penelope looked away from her mother. Was someone from a lab coming to cart her away? Was her mother selling her to science?

“
I can too.” Celene picked up a plant and touched the leaves. It perked right up. Penny looked from the plant to her mother, her eyes wide. “And the people who are coming are some people who can do things... other things.”

“
Like what?” Penny asked, apprehension evident in her voice.

“
One of them can remember everything, and I mean everything. There’s a boy in the tenth grade who can run about a kilometer a second.”

“
Really?” Penny sat up straight. “So we’re like, having a freak meeting?”

Celene nodded. “Yes, to see who has any idea why and form a support network.”

“
I should invite Peter.” Penny ran to get her cell phone from her pink polka-dotted purse that she’d left on the kitchen table.

“
Peter?” Celene’s worst fears all seemed to center around Peter these days. “What can he do?”

“
He talks to ghosts. He sees them as real as you and me. He saw Dad in September.”

Celene couldn’t move. Richard? He’d spoken to Richard? She tried not to think of her late husband except at night when she was alone. She still missed him terribly. Her heart ached to know that he had been within reach. Why wasn’t he at rest? It had been so long since he had left her with their little girl to raise alone.

She remembered the afternoon when she’d come home to find Penny and Peter in the hall. “That day you said you fell.”

Penny nodded, “I thought we were crazy.” She found Peter in her contacts. “I’m gonna go change and call him.” She hit send and walked to her room.

Celene sat down at the counter, her head in her hands. If Peter was one of them, then maybe these dreams were more than metaphors.

She stood up and started to transfer the cookies from the baking sheet to the cooling rack. She had work to focus on before the others arrived.

Peter Hadley got there as soon as he could. He’d been looking for an excuse to get out of the house anyway. “Biology tutoring” had proven to be a nice cover. Whether he was doing the tutoring or being tutored was up to interpretation. His father never cared either way.

He arrived first, which made everything a lot more awkward in the Davis household. Zach and Lewis were next. June came right behind Zach. Miranda Rutherford and Valerie Hess pulled in at the same time.

A small engine rumbled close. Celene looked out the window and saw Evan Fuller limping up the front steps. His motorized bicycle lay on the grass in front.

“
Evan saw me use my... gift to help his mom,” Zach explained to her. “And he’s got an instinctual knowledge of how machines work.”

Celene stepped away from the venetian blinds as Evan came in the front door. Devon Valentine pulled up in a hot little red car that she’d gotten from her rich daddy. June glared at Zach as if her presence here incriminated him for some infidelity. Lewis covered for him. “We didn’t invite her.”

June met her in the doorway, ready to send her packing, “Alright, who invited you?”

Devon raised an eyebrow and smirked, amused by June’s territorial display. “Doc Livingstone had Lewis invite me.”

June shot a glare back at Lewis, who scratched the back of his head and pretended to be fascinated by a baby picture of Penny.

“
Fine, get inside before somebody sees you,” June snapped.

Nick Morrisey and Teddy Wexler showed up in Teddy’s purple Jaguar. Zach went outside to meet them in the gravel driveway. “Private party,” Zach said, making eye contact with Nick.

“
It’s cool,” Teddy said. “We got the invite from the Doctor.”

“
Which one?” Zach asked.

“
Oh, right. Doctor Nurse.”

“
Can we come in or what?” Nick was very impatient.

“
Yeah, fine. Get inside.” Zach decided to stay outside to be the keeper of the gate. Just as the screen door was swinging shut behind Nick and Teddy, a silver pickup pulled up. It was boxy, a throwback from the eighties, but the body looked well cared for. Astin and Diana Hill jumped out of the high cab. Lewis recognized them first.

“
Oh Didi, you’ve been keeping secrets from me,” Lewis called as he pushed past Nick to get out the front door.