But Stevie needed that ticket. And now that Ken knew where the ticket was, how could he do nothing? How could he let Stevie and his family suffer — lose their home, live in poverty — when they didn’t have to?
His mother was in the kitchen when he came downstairs.
‘What are you doing up so early?’ she asked him.
At that moment, Ken learned that he wasn’t such a bad liar after all. ‘I’ve got a meeting at school with my science project group.’
His mother was impressed. ‘Well, you kids must be excited about this project if it’s getting you out of bed. What is your group doing?’
He couldn’t lie that well. He looked at his watch. ‘Oh wow, I’m late. I ’ll tell you about it later, Mom.’
‘Don’t you want something to eat?’ his mother called after him, but he just yelled back another whopper.
‘No, thanks, I’m not hungry.’ And he was out the door.
But now what? He still hadn’t worked out how he was going to fix Stevie’s problem.
His mobile rang. He flipped it open and held it to his ear.
‘Hello?’
‘Ken, this is Tracey. I hope I didn’t wake you up.’
He scowled.What did she want? He was still very much annoyed by the way the three girls had behaved. ‘No, I’m up. What do you want?’
‘I couldn’t sleep, I felt so bad about yesterday. We shouldn’t have made those plans without telling you.’
‘It was Jenna’s idea, wasn’t it?’
‘Yeah, but Emily and I went along with it, so we’re just as guilty.’
Ken doubted that. He knew how pushy Jenna could be. And Tracey sounded really sorry.
‘It’s OK,’ he relented.
‘I wish I could make it up to you,’ Tracey said, sounding sincere.
Ken stood very still. A brilliant idea had struck him.
‘Actually, Tracey, you can. If you’re really sorry, you can help me do something right now.’
He told her all about his visit to Stevie’s house the night before, and explained that he now knew where the ticket was. Then he told her his new idea. Ten minutes later, they met up at a corner halfway between their two homes.
Tracey was nervous. ‘It doesn’t always work, you know. I mean, I’m getting better, but sometimes I just can’t do it. And even when it does work, I never know how long it will last.’
But she completely understood why he’d come up with his plan. And she was willing to try as hard as she could to make it happen.
When they arrived at Apple Creek Road, Ken pointed out the house.
‘I can’t walk through walls, you know, ’ Tracey reminded him. ‘I’m going to have to wait for someone to come in or out.’
Ken looked at his watch. ‘Stevie should be leaving for school pretty soon. Can you get ready now?’
He told her about the cupboard and the loose floorboard. Tracey nodded.
‘OK. Here goes,’ she said. She stood very still and closed her eyes.
‘What does it feel like?’ Ken asked curiously.
She opened her eyes. ‘Be quiet. I have to concentrate.’
‘Sorry,’ Ken said.
He’d never seen the process in action before. Tracey had developed her gift back when her parents ignored her and she felt invisible. She was a much happier person now, and Ken knew it had to be difficult for her to recapture the feeling of being a nothing, a nobody.
But she did it. Right there, before his eyes, she began to fade. It was positively eerie, like watching a special effect in a science fiction movie. And then she wasn’t there.
‘Tracey?’ he asked.
She must have already taken off. He looked at the house across the street. He couldn’t see her, ofcourse, but if she was following the plan she was waiting just by the door.
Something could still go wrong, and Ken knew it. Maybe Stevie had already left for school, or maybe he wasn’t going to school today. Maybe nobody would go in or out of the house at seventy-two Apple Creek Road all day. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
But he could stop tormenting himself. The door of the house opened. Ken ducked behind a tree and peered through the branches. A woman stood there — Stevie’s mother, Ken guessed. She had a small child in her arms. That had to be Dena.
An older girl appeared at the door, a nd then Stevie was there too. They kissed their mother. Then they started walking away, the mother went back inside, and the door closed.
Ken let out the breath he’d been holding. There had been plenty of time for the invisible Tracey to get inside. Now she had to stay invisible long enough to accomplish her mission, and get herself back outside.
Ken stared at the house, even though there wasn’t really anything to look at. It was weird, not having a clue as to what was going on inside.
An eternity seemed to pass. He kept looking at his watch, and he could see that only a few minutes had gone by, but it felt like much longer.
The door to the house opened again, and Mrs Fisher came out. She was holding little Dena’s hand. With the other, she locked the front door. Oh no! Ken thought. Would Tracey be trapped inside until someone came home?
‘I’m here.’
He looked in the direction of the voice. ‘Tracey?’
Even though he couldn’t see her face, he could hear the excitement in her voice.
‘I found it, Ken! It was right where you said it would be, under the loose floorboard in the cupboard.’
‘What did you do with it?’
‘I put it on the refrigerator door, under a magnet. They can’t miss it.’
Ken frowned. ‘Isn’t that a little obvious? I mean, wouldn’t they have noticed it before?’
‘Haven’t you ever searched everywhere for something and then found it, right in plain sight?’
She had a point.
‘I guess we better get back to school. We’ve got a long way to go.’
‘Yeah, OK.’
‘And you can come back now,’ Ken added. ‘Nobody’s watching.’
‘Actually. I can’t.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, it’s weird. I’m getting better and better at disappearing when I want to, but it’s not so easy to make myself reappear. It’s like, the invisibility has to wear off on its own.’
‘How long does that take?’
‘I never know exactly. But it’s usually within an hour or so. I should be OK by the time we get to school.’
Ken found it surprisingly easy to talk to an invisible Tracey as they walked back to Meadowbrook. He considered holding his mobile to his ear, so anyone passing by wouldn’t think he was talking to himself, but he was too happy to really care.
‘So, things are going to be all right for Stevie and his family,’ he said.
‘Yeah. Of course Stevie won’t ever know that you found the ticket for him. He’ll still think you’re one of the bad guys who tried to steal it.’
‘I know. I’ll just have to live with that.’ He was disappointed, but he knew it was for the best, because this way he didn’t have to tell Stevie about his gift. ‘Speaking of bad guys. do you get freaked out when Madame keeps talking about how much danger we’re in?’
‘Not so much,’ Tracey replied. ‘Not for myself, at least. If I can disappear, no one can really hurt me. I worry about everyone else though.’
‘Including me?’
‘Sure. You didn’t think bad guys would be interested in your gift, and look what just happened.’
‘So I suppose we really should try to keep our gifts secret.’
‘Absolutely,’ Tracey declared. And then she laughed.
‘What’s so funny?’
‘I’m thinking about kids at school — regular people, not criminal types. If they found out what each of us can do. ’