Part 18 (1/2)

But Zavion had made it to Luna Market.

Its window was taped up with a piece of cardboard and half the s.p.a.ce was dark, but the lights were on in the front and Zavion could see a woman carrying a box down an aisle.

Okay, then.

They would walk in together.

He and Fear.

He reached into his pocket and touched his marble.

He would stand here for a few minutes, until he could walk in as a trio.

Zavion, Fear, and a Magic.

chapter 40.

HENRY.

”Help-”

A m.u.f.fled voice called from somewhere.

Henrys heart froze, and what was already quiet became silent.

He instinctively reached his hand into his pocket to touch the marble. But of course it wasnt there.

”Help-”

The voice sounded louder.

Henry leaned forward and peered into the street. Had one of the skateboard boys called out?

”Help- h.e.l.lo-”

The voice was coming from inside the house.

A switch flipped in Henrys heart, and he felt the rush of blood pumping through his body all the way down to his feet, which began to move without Henry even thinking about it. He walked up the porch steps and into the house.

Jeezum Crow!

Water had pushed up through the subfloor in the entryway. And the subfloor had pushed up the tiles above it so they were frozen in wavelike shapes, some up and some down. A long narrow rug that lined the hall just past the entryway was covered with a thick brown sludge.

Henry stumbled over the tiles and sank into the muck on the rug. The living room was just past the hall. Or he thought it was the living room. He couldnt quite tell. A desk and a bookcase and a-was it a was.h.i.+ng machine?-had risen up from their spots on the floor and floated across the room. Dropped back down somewhere strange and new. Chairs were on their sides, broken in half. A table was turned upside down and looked like a turtle, its legs stuck helplessly in the air. Henry thought of Nopie on his back, silver boots flailing. The shelves from the bookcase were scattered around the room and the books were almost disintegrated, globs of white mush, like snow.

Henry walked around the rest of the downstairs. There was a coffee table in the kitchen. Another bookcase laid across the bathroom door. A lamp on the stairs, a rug on the couch, a toaster in the hall. A big armchair, a trunk, a piano, fans, French doors. All strewn across the house like a giant hand had scooped them up and tossed them back down without caring where they landed.

A brown watermark ran in a horizontal line around the entire first floor. After he had checked everywhere for the voice, Henry began to climb the stairs. He imagined the water rising. The water climbing the stairs one by one. He followed the watermark.

He slipped. There was so much mud.

In the corners of the stairs, the mud was thick with pieces of rock and gra.s.s and garbage. Henry stepped over what he thought might be part of a dead snake. He stood quietly for a moment when he reached the second floor.

”h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo-”

Henry found the room the voice was coming from and opened the door.

He scanned the room. A dresser on its side. A broken window. A closet door off of its hinges. A chair. A bed.

No one.

But clothes were laid out on the bed for work, or school.

Henry got down on his knees and looked under the bed.

No one.

He walked over to the closet and picked up a pile of clothes.

No one.

He scanned the room again. The dresser. The window. The closet door. The chair. The bed- ”h.e.l.lo-”

-a birdcage.

A birdcage with a cloth thrown over it sat on the floor next to the foot of the bed.

Henry lifted the cloth. Underneath was the most beautiful bird he had ever seen. A parrot. With a brown head the color of the woods behind his house, twelve shades of brown, and a bright yellow band around his neck, a lime-green chest, and stripes along his back. Stripes. A tiger parrot. He had never seen a live one before. It stared right at Henry, its deep brown eyes piercing his.

”h.e.l.lo,” he said again. ”Help, wouldja? You wash the dishes and Ill sweep the floor.”

Henry hadnt realized he was holding his breath. It tumbled out with laughter. ”Okay, okay, Im here to help you, buddy,” he said.

To Henrys left, a blanket lay on the floor. Two gla.s.ses and an empty bottle were tipped over on top of it. Two plates sat empty at either end. Henry scanned the rest of the room. Mud, watermarks, furniture in strange places. All things he had already come to expect. But the bed looked weird. He leaned against it. There were pieces of paper taped onto each back bedpost.

”What are those?” asked Henry.

The bird didnt answer.

He untaped them and sat down on the bed to read.