Ice Shock(20)

Although right now I can hardly imagine what friends …

Mom takes my hand. “I’m sorry. This has all been terrible for you, I see that now. I’m sorry if I was wrapped up with my own problems before. But don’t you think we should be together—the first Christmas without your father?”

“I think that you need the praying and the talking and stuff … and I don’t.”

“And what do you need, Josh, to stay up late, hanging around with girls, listening to loud music?”

I grin and shrug. “Well, yeah, Mom, I’m fourteen!”

“Who would you stay with? Tyler? Ollie?”

“Probably not, actually. I might stay with Emmy. From school.”

“Emmy?” Mom eyes me suspiciously. “Is she your girlfriend now?”

“No! She’s just a friend.”

“Because I don’t think you should stay with a girlfriend.”

I groan. “Mom!”

“Anyway,” she continues, “in case you were wondering, Rodrigo called me back yesterday. About that whole business with him thinking he’d seen your father. Rodrigo checked his calendar. Turns out he was also in Saffron Walden a couple of months before, in April. They made the recording then, in the same church. He’s been wondering if he could have had the occasions confused. Seen your father the first time he was there, not in June.”

I’m stunned. “He actually said that?”

“Well, he wasn’t sure. To be honest, he still thought it could have been June. But the facts simply don’t match with June, do they?”

I chew my lip. Now that I’ve actually been to Saffron Walden, I know that the facts show that it was June. But I can’t let on.

“I suppose they don’t.”

Mom seems satisfied. “Well, Josh, I’m going on that retreat. I feel strongly that you should come too, but you’re too old to be forced.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I say seriously. “Thanks for thinking I’m old enough to choose.”

She sniffs. “It’s a pity I don’t agree with your choice. But I suppose that’s how it is when your children grow up.”

Mom looks happier now. And I’m happy too—happy that I’ve found a way to keep Mom out of any danger while I investigate all the weird things that have started happening. I have this unexpected feeling of being Mom’s protector, instead of the other way around. It doesn’t feel bad, not at all.

We agree on some dates for Mom’s retreat, and I promise to call Emmy to set up a week at her house. Then Mom leaves me alone in my room.

I lay the postcards on my desk, in order. Another puzzle.

What key holds blood—has to be a reference to my father and me.

Death undid harmony— darn right it did.

Zombie downed—blatantly, the body in the airplane.

This is about my father’s death. Someone, somewhere is trying to tell me something.

Well, to be precise, it’s someone in the state of Veracruz. I don’t know anyone who lives there, which makes that clue a bit of a dead end.

I’m stumped. I look back at my Mayan codex puzzle. Nothing makes any sense. I can’t think straight. There’s just too much going on. My head actually starts to hurt.

I need to talk to someone—just get away from this for a while.

I look at the list of people on my instant messenger program. Just like most days, Tyler’s listed as “Away” and Ollie’s not logged on. But “St_Emmy” is.

This is as good a time as any to ask about staying at her place for Christmas …


Hey, Emmy.

Hey, Josh. Sup?

Not much. You?

Mikey’s party.

Mikey … ?

You’ve seen my band, right? He’s the bass player.

Party? On a school day?

’Tis the season to be jolly. Last week of school. Plus it’s his fifteenth today.

Cool.

I never see you at parties anymore.

Yeaahhhh … I know. I’ve gotten lazy.

You should come to Mikey’s.

Mikey … where does he live?

Old Marston.

He wouldn’t mind?

He won’t notice!

Okay. Got his address?


I can’t remember the last time I went to a party. Before my dad died, definitely. Right now, though, I’ll do anything to be out of the house and talking to someone else. And to be honest—if I’m going to ask for a week-long sleepover, it had better be in person.

Mikey lives in a big cottage in the old village of Marston. I take the bus and my skateboard. I manage to remember to change out of my school uniform, and wear an old black Nirvana T-shirt over jeans.

I arrive before Emmy, unfortunately. Mikey’s friends are mostly kids who aren’t particularly friendly with me.

“Hey, weirdo! Seen any UFOs lately?” one of them says to me, then laughs like he’s told an award-winning joke. The crowd he’s with doesn’t seem to understand his comment, so he spends the next minute or two explaining the background to them.