“While Esme was still on Earth.” Jillian wrapped her arms around Louise. “If I were leaving Earth like that, I would know that I was never coming back. And that I would never see you again. I would want the last time we’re together to be all good memories — and that certainly wouldn’t work if I dropped a shitload of crazy on you.”
Louise shuddered at the idea of losing Jillian. “So, you think that Esme would have left a note or something that Lain could read after they’d said good-bye?”
Jillian nodded. “I would. A big long sappy note of everything that hurt too much to say.”
“Like what?”
“You know. Like how I was going to miss waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare and knowing that I wasn’t alone. And how scary everything was going to be without you with me. You’re the brave one. I couldn’t do half the things we do without you leading the way.”
“Me? Brave?”
“Yeah!” Jillian squeezed her hard and then let her go, embarrassed. “Anyhow, I’m betting Esme did tell Lain before she jumped.”
The homeroom bell rang, ending their moment of privacy.
“Okay,” Louise said. “We’ll call Lain.”
Mr. Howe was standing in the hallway with Miss Hamilton. They had Elle with them plus the two boys, Darius and Carlos, who were playing Wendy’s younger brothers. Darius had been picked for John because he was the best of all the fifth-grade boys at remembering lines after Iggy. Carlos was the smallest of the boys and thus had been picked to play Michael, the baby of the Darling family.
“Girls, there’s been a change in plan. The flying instructor is here. They’ve installed the wires for the play, and you’re going to be spending today learning how to use it.”
Jillian breathed out a curse that only Louise could hear.
“Today?” Louise asked fearfully.
A weird side effect of playing with the spells was that the residual magic seemed to be giving Louise horrible nightmares. One of the recurring ones was Jillian falling, and it had them both a little edgy about the flying.
“Yes, we were originally scheduled for last Wednesday but. .” She paused as the sentence led her to the bombing. The teachers seemed reluctant to discuss it, as if they had been repeatedly told not to bring it up.
“But I thought it was moved to tomorrow,” Louise said.
“There was a conflict in schedules, and we got bumped to today. Go down to the theater with Mr. Howe.”
He held up his hand to check them and stepped into 502. “Behave!” Mr. Howe growled at his class. “I’ll get a full report, so don’t think I won’t know.”
With that warning, he led them downstairs. The twins followed, exchanging glances that spoke volumes. The flying instruction was a full-day affair. Jillian was better at lying, but she was going to be strapped into a harness and suspended from the ceiling all day. Louise would have to be the one to call Lain.
The flying instructor was a giant. He towered over the twins and was nearly a foot taller than even Mr. Howe.
“I’m Rob Noble. I’m with Flights of New York. In the next two days I’ll teach you how to operate the equipment and help you choreograph the entire play. I’ve done hundreds of productions of
He held a harness that was a belt with wide suspenders and straps that looped through the legs. The reinforced back had one large ring. “We’ll be using these flying harnesses, and only them. Safety is very important, so never try to hook the wire to something like a belt or a piece of clothing and expect it to hold. The harness goes under a costume. It can’t be dyed or painted, because that might weaken the material. You’ll want a T-shirt on under it; you don’t want it up against your skin. Stage manager?”
Louise put up her hand when she realized he was asking who was acting in that position.
“Okay. Before any practice or performance, it’s your responsibility to check the harness for wear. If it looks like it’s fraying or breaking in any way, you have to tell your teachers that it can’t be used. I’m leaving lots of spare harnesses with your teachers, so don’t try to jury-rig something. Do you understand?”
Louise nodded.
“I will be double-checking the equipment, too,” Mr. Howe said.
