Then it came to him. What Charlie had said. About how she’d set him up to settle her debt with Clatter. As if he were just hearing the news for the first time, Josh felt overcome by shock and anger. Charlie had lied to him, and she might have gotten Firecracker in trouble as well. Josh had to find out. He had to help his friend.
He walked slowly, trying not to jar his body too much. After a few minutes he felt a little better, although he could tell that his face was pretty badly cut up. How was he going to explain that to his parents?
Tell them you were knocked down, he thought.
The story would probably keep him from getting in too much trouble tonight. Then he’d just have to figure out what to do about Charlie and how to find out what happened to Firecracker.
Something else occurred to him. Once Clatter found out that Josh knew about the Z, and about what Scrawl might or might not have done to Firecracker, it was pretty much guaranteed that Josh would be next on his list of problems to solve. Which meant one thing—Josh had to get to Clatter before Clatter got to him.
18
Josh didn’t go home.
He made it as far as his block, even as far as the sidewalk in front of his house, but as he set his foot on the first step, he realized with absolute certainty that if he didn’t do something now, it might be too late. Firecracker was still missing, and Charlie had told him too much. Maybe she would just keep their conversation to herself, but maybe she would run to Clatter and tell him everything.
He turned his back on his house and walked to the corner. How was he going to find Scrawl? He didn’t even know where he lived. And what if Charlie had already gotten to him? Then he would know what Josh was after.
Still, he had to try. He leaned against a light post and thought. His head was throbbing, but he forced himself to concentrate. What did he know about Scrawl?
Nothing, he thought with some surprise. He’s a blank page. If someone had asked him a minute before what his relationship with Scrawl was, Josh would have said they were friends. But now he realized that although Scrawl was always nice to him, Josh knew very little about him. It was as if Scrawl had deliberately kept himself a mystery.
But there had to be something, some clue Scrawl had let drop, maybe in conversation. Josh tried to remember anything they’d talked about. His mind came up empty, and he felt frustration growing in him. It was stupid to think he could handle this on his own. He should just call the police and tell them what he knew.
Then, from the depths of his memories, something rose up. Something Scrawl had said to him when they met. What had they been talking about? Comics, he thought.
That was it—the Pageteria. Scrawl had said that he lived a couple of blocks away from it. It was in Farside, on the other side of the city. That seemed like a good place to start.
He went to the subway station and looked at the interactive map. Punching in where he wanted to go, he waited for the route to be highlighted on the map. After memorizing it, he passed through the gates, scanned his fare card, and went to the right platform. Fortunately, the train came only a minute later.
The car was sparsely populated, and by the time the train reached the first stop in Farside, it was almost empty. Josh waited until the cyberconductor called out the stop he wanted, then exited into a dingy station. Water dripped from the ceiling, and the lights flickered in protest. The white tiles of the walls were dirty and broken, and the place smelled like garbage. Josh hurried up the stairs to the street.
He walked the four blocks to the Pageteria. It was closed, but he hadn’t come there to check out the collections. He just wanted to use it as a reference point for looking for Scrawl’s house. But now that he was there, he didn’t have a clue where to begin.
Just ask, he told himself. Someone around here must know him.
“Right,” he said aloud. “Because there are only, like, four hundred houses around here. Why don’t I just knock on all the doors, one at a time?”
He looked around. The streets were mostly empty, although a block away he saw a small group of people hanging around outside what looked like a bar. As he got nearer, he saw that it was three women talking to a man. The man had a mechabird on his shoulder—a beautiful blue and gold parrot—and the women were talking to it.
“Who’s a pretty bird?” one woman said.
The parrot cocked its head. “You are,” it squawked. The women laughed as the man grinned. Then the man noticed Josh standing there. “What are you looking at?” he said gruffly as the women eyed Josh up and down.
“Nothing,” Josh said. “Actually, I’m looking for someone.”
The man laughed. “Who isn’t, kid? Aren’t you out a little late for a school night? Why don’t you just run on home now.”
Josh forced himself to keep talking. “His name is Scrawl,” he said. “I was supposed to meet him here, and—”
“Never heard of him,” the man interrupted him. The parrot ruffled its feathers. “Never heard of him,” it echoed.
Josh turned around. “Thanks,” he muttered as he walked off, trying to think where to go next.
“Wait a minute,” a voice called out.
Josh turned to see one of the women walking toward him. She was balanced on heels so high, Josh wondered how she kept from tipping over, but she wobbled only slightly as she approached. “You want to talk to Scrawl?” she asked.
Josh nodded. “You know him?”
The woman smiled. “Everybody around here knows Scrawl,” she said. “But only about half of them will admit it. Let me guess—you want to talk to him about getting something.”
“Umm, sort of,” said Josh.
“You and half the city,” the woman said. She regarded him for a long moment. “You look like a nice kid,” she said. “And you look like you’ve had a hard night. You go on over to 1372 Barber Street. It’s two blocks that way. Apartment 3D. Tell him Lola said it was okay.”
She smiled at Josh, who smiled back. “Thanks,” he said. “Thanks a lot.”
“No problem,” Lola said.
Josh watched her walk back to her friends, then walked to Barber Street. A few minutes later he was standing in front of apartment 3D. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. A moment later the door opened and he was looking at Scrawl.
“How’d you get here?” Scrawl said, clearly surprised to see him.
“Lola,” Josh said. He wasn’t in the mood for giving explanations; he wanted to hear some. “I want to talk to you about Firecracker. And Z.”
If Scrawl was shocked, he didn’t show it. He simply nodded and held the door open. “Come inside,” he said.
Josh entered the apartment. The furniture was stylish, and the walls were covered in framed artwork. Josh looked at the closest piece and saw that it was a drawing in ink of a costumed figure.
“Green Lantern,” Scrawl said. “It’s just a sketch, but it cost me four months’ pay. It’s an original Gil Kane.” He handed Josh a towel. “Dry off,” he said.
Josh toweled off his head, wincing a little at the pain.
“What happened to you?” Scrawl asked.
“Just a little accident,” said Josh.
“I assume you didn’t stop by just to say hi,” Scrawl said.
Josh looked him in the eye. “What did you do to Firecracker?”
Scrawl didn’t blink. “We had a little chat,” he said.
“What about?” Josh said.
Scrawl shrugged. “I just asked him to stop following Charlie around.”